The Macats Blog - With Wit

I Lined Up For 5 Fcking Hours Just to Fcking Vote

2010-05-11T13:23:00.000+08:00

hi. how was your election day? mine was f*cked up. only-in-the-philippines style.

we lined up at 3:30pm. cast the f*cking vote at around 8:30pm. that's five f*cking hours of doing nothing but watching the "volunteers" flaunt their short term authority towards the poor f*cked-up voters such as myself.

FIVE F*CKING HOURS MY FRIENDS.

it took that long because the PCOS machine in our precinct was failing. FAIL.
they had to wait for the technician to arrive before the voting continues. FAIL.
meanwhile the wise "volunteers" resorted to get-a-number-and-we'll-cal

l-you strategy that your suking telecom company you love to hate uses. FAIL.
they had to shout out the name of the voters and their corresponding numbers, one by one,
and had to argue with the voters every now and then hence wasting more time.

FAIL.

--

but wait, there's more!

--

so its time to go home.
but then we can not get out of the school because the gate was locked. by order of the principal.

we were trapped inside the f*cking school and its almost 9pm and we dont know how and when can we get out. that after lining up for 5 f*cking hours just to add one f*cking vote to people we don't personally know whose names we see every-f*cking-where. how f*cked up is that?

turned out the principal ordered to have the gate closed at 7pm, so that nobody not in line gets to vote after the cutoff time. makes sense. but how are the voters inside going to get the f*ck out of the school?

she pointed out there was supposed to be a guard at the gate to allow people to go out. the guard was nowhere in sight.

FAIL.

people outside were angry. they were trying to destroy the gate. i dont know why they're angrier than the people inside. they're not the ones who were trapped. probably because people inside were hungry.

a lot of shouting and gate banging went on for 15 minutes. i really thought there was gonna be a riot. the people inside even called the police.

a few crashes before the gate gave up, the guard who had the key showed up. he had colds. i can see light shimmering from under his nose. may god bless his soul. but still, f*ck him. he almost caused a riot due to negligence.

right after we got out, the police came.

--

man, this country just bleeds FAIL.

except for Noynoy. he's winning. not far behind is Erap.

Dearest Maynilad

2009-02-11T11:14:00.072+08:00

Here's our water situation at home for the last 3 consecutive days:

Monday. No water all day. Call center said there was wreckage in Baesa. Fine. Water flow returned to normal flow by 6pm. Baesa wreckage apparently overhauled.
Tuesday. Weak flow all day. Is Baesa still wrecked?
Wednesday. No water again. F*ck!

Reasons? I don't know. Based from historical evidence, this problem is 100% not 100% technical. We have all the reasons to doubt whatever explanation you give us. So now, let me shout out how I feel about you which I think is the only thing I can do.

You suck Maynilad!

I checked your website for advisories, reloading it for like 5 times because it is so slow it couldn't handle 1 visitor. I found nothing but a 2-month-old advisory, and your hilarious company profile.

Here's your "Vision".

"We are a world-class water service company committed to excellence and improved quality of life."

You are definitely not world class. You are not committed to excellence. You don't improve our quality of life. Maybe yours, but not ours.

And you call that Vision? That's a freakin' company description. Try using it on your friendster profile.

Here's your so-called "Mission".

"We will delight our customers with reliable and high quality water and wastewater services at fair price"

We are your customers and we are not delighted. We think you are unreliable. You just increased your rates. We are your customers who have all the right in the world to rate your service, and we say YOU SUCK.

"We will protect the environment to conserve our water resources for future generations"

Hooray for the heroic-sounding sentence found in every environmentalist website, and every boys comfort room.

"We will promote efficiency and productivity to enhance shareholder value"

Of course, it's not about us getting your water. It's about your business. Your profit. Your revenue. Your market value. Bullsh*t.

"We will attract and retain the most qualified individuals and enhance the personal and professional well-being of our human resources; and

We will conduct ourselves with integrity, honesty and accountability in accordance with the highest ethical standards in serving our various stakeholders."

I just called your call center. Your operator sounds like a bureau of immigration employee 30 minutes before lunch break. Enough said.

By the way, your website is not only slow, it's ugly too. Visitors beware.

I sure wish there is a way to switch water lines, but as far as I know, it's not possible. All I can do is call Maynilad a worthless son-of-a-bitch here in the interwebs to let the hatred out and make me feel better. Unfortunately, crapping feels much more better, but it's hard to crap when you have this crap.

Where's our water!?

Walang Tubig!

2009-02-09T17:17:00.041+08:00

Mula nung lumipat kami dito sa Project 7, ilang beses kaming nawalan ng tubig. Dati, Manila Water ang linya namin, at wala kaming naging problema. Ngayong Maynilad na kami, bleh.

One time, ilang araw kaming walang tubig, kasi bumababa daw yung level ng tubig sa Angat Dam. Okeyy.. So mas importante pala yung maintenance level ng dam kesa sa maka-tae tayong lahat sa inidoro. Hindi ko rin maintindihan kung bakit ganun ang rason nila, tag-ulan naman noon.

Nabalitaan ko na lang na niturnover na daw ng mga Lopez ang Maynilad sa gobyerno. Ayun! Yun pala yun. Hindi ko maiwasan isipin na may kinalaman talaga ang gobyerno sa ilang araw na wala kaming tubig. Naisip ko baka niputol talaga nila yung linya hanggat hindi sumusuko si Lopez, at our expense! Kung ganun nga ang ginawa nila, ay talaga namang ang kukupal nilang lahat.

Ngayon naman, may advisory si Maynilad na mawawalan daw ng tubig Feb 7-8, mostly sa southern part ng Metro Manila ang maapektuhan. Aba'y Feb 9 ngayon, at nasa northern part kami. Asan ang tubig namin?

Tinawagan ko si 1626. Busy. Naka-15 ako na dial hanggang may sumagot. Sabi nila may wreckage daw sa Baesa, at pamonitor na lang daw. Pamonitor? Ano ito, ticket queue na may SLA?

Astig. Pag may ORA error sa production, parang life and death matter. Pero pag walang tubig, wala lang. I just hope Maynilad treats this matter as how we IT guys treat BSOD-like failures. Life and death. Urgent. Critical. Severity 1. Kasi parang wala lang sa kanila e.

Ang hirap ng walang tubig. Lalo na pag natatae ka na!

GMA. PNP. MRT. WTF.

2009-02-07T15:22:00.027+08:00

Pustahan tayo mapapaWTF ka rin sa balitang to, lalo na kung isa kang MRT commuter araw araw.

Papalitan na daw si Lastimoso as general manager ng MRT. Nakakatuwa diba? Dahil alam nating lahat na wala siyang kwenta. Ang nakita ko lang na ginawa nya sa MRT ay yung request na itaas ang pamasahe kasi marami daw pasahero.

At ang papalit sa kanya? Pulis din. Si Berroya.

WTF!

Tanong para kay GMA, ano po ba kinalaman ng pagiging pulis sa pamamahala ng sistema ng tren? At ano ba meron sa MRT at puro pulis ang ginagawa mong boss dito? Ang kelangan ng MRT ay problem solver, capacity planner - an engineer!

Parang wala din mangyayaring pagbabago kung ganito.

The Big Bang Theory Fuss

2009-02-06T12:35:00.018+08:00

Yes, I want Penny and Sheldon to end up together. And yes, I can see this comic happening anytime soon.

Thanks for the comic, Irrel. We love it and we want more!

Canonically I Am Ready For Summer

2009-02-03T21:35:00.034+08:00

You know why people go to photo expos? Discounts!

Had good deals with the 58mm CPL, lens pen, and Velbon tripod I bought this evening from the photoworld expo at glorietta. Got the items from the booth of JT Photoworld, the same shop where I got Sirius. Kuya Orly still owes me a crumpler strap, but he's still as nice as ever - he remembers me! Visit their website at: http://dponline.com.ph. They offer cash-on-delivery services.

Sirius and I are ready for summer. Now, for my man-boobs..

Of Salary Negotiations and Almost Resignations

2009-02-01T22:57:00.087+08:00

A few days ago I had salary negotiations with another uber-large IT company when I was referred by a friend who works there. I didn't even know how much minimum should I ask for because I'm lazy and I don't care and I wasn't in job-hunting mode. So I did a few research about salaries per job here in the Philippines and found this site:

http://www.payscale.com/index/PH/Job

The averages seem quite low, but the numbers make me look like I'm doing very well. LOL!

I decided to stay because: 1) those numbers make me look like I'm doing very well 2) i am actually doing very well 3) it's not the best time to job hop 4) lots of freaky coincidences tell me I should not leave yet, and lastly 5) I only have one problem with my job, which can be easily resolved by working from home.

How about you? Hope you're doing good during these tough and risky times.

I'm-A-Mac Guy is Gay And Hilarious

2009-01-27T13:13:00.040+08:00

Justin Long is hilarious.

If you haven't heard of him before, he's the I'm-A-Mac Guy from the I'm-A-Mac ads, sidekick to Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4, and boyfriend to Drew Barrymore.

In his latest movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno, he does the best cameo appearance of all time as the boyfriend of Superman. And he shines! Watch and see what I mean.

Kevin Smith, please make a movie about Brandon St. Randy starring Justin Long. And make the title "Salutations". I'm sure it'll be box office hit.

Ermita Thinks Obama Should Learn From GMA

2009-01-21T19:35:00.003+08:00

Barack Obama has been sworn as the 44th President of the United States of America. The whole world celebrates, with the US being the coolest country at this moment.

In his speech, he tells the world (obviously) that "those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent are on the wrong side of history".

And then Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita tells the world (hopefully) that Obama should be learning from Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

WTF! OMG! LOL! [insert 3-letter acronym here denoting surprise and disgust]

Learn to do what? Take money and get away with it?

Yes, Ermita actually said that. Believe it or not. He said it. In a press conference. With television cameras. He said it like our government is extremely significant and powerful in global issues.

I can't wait for cartoonists to interpret his bold statement.

Link:
Palace aide: Obama can learn from Arroyo

TWS means Tuesdays of the Week Suck

2009-01-06T12:49:00.005+08:00

It's my first work day of the first work week of the year here in TWS and I'm too tamad to work. So here's a few pseudo-one liners just to not-work, and to update this blog of mine. Dobol porpos pareh.

TWS = Tuesdays of the Week Suck. If your work is at Two World Square and your WFH is on Mondays, you can use this acronym definition for free.

MWSS = Mondays of the Week Super Suck. This is for the rest of you.

I love Coke. Science says I don't have to worry about its health risks, because I have a large butt. Here's why.

Yes, I have a large butt. See?

Visited the newly-opened SM North Annex last night. While the interior design is oomphalicious to the eyes, the malling experience is tiring. It's too big, and the escalators are too far from the next one. Oh, and there's an optical shop called Eye-Pod. Really!

I'm going to have less gadget-canvassing in malls this year. There is an online mall-price checker of gadgets here in Pinoy-land. Link: cgena.com

Speaking of gadgets, this year is gadget year. I have to upgrade my PC at home. I need a new phone. I want a kit lens upgrade. I want an external flash. I want an HP mini-note with 3G. But "want" is, you know, "semi-need".

This just in: HP releases the Mini Note 2140. It's basically the same old mini-note with an Atom processor, and a bigger LCD, and same crappy trackpad button placement. WTF HP? [Link]

Have you heard the latest Macworld news? Apple introduces a revolutionary new laptop with no keyboard. It couldn't be simpler, could it? [Link]

Wrapping up, here's a poem "of" my new year's resolutions:
Be more productive at workee.
Get serious in being funny.
Decrease flabs and acne.
Without losing the big booty.
Because science says it's healthy!

Links:
Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Telegraph.co.uk - Having a large bottom could help protect against diabetes, claims study
Cgena.com - online gadget price checker
HP Mini 2140 Notebook

Why I Like Christmas Day Than New Year's

2009-01-01T23:26:00.010+08:00

My first blog post for the year 2009 is how I rationalize my opinion on why the Christmas celebration is better than New Year's, as far as the culture I am aware of is concerned. I know it's pointless, but, bleh.

Parties. December is the month when all people celebrate Christmas parties in each group they belong to, like at work, at school, etc. They don't have New Year parties, do they?
Decorations. There's no such thing as New Year decoration, New Year mistletoe, New year tree. Would you like to hang a "sinturon ni hudas" in the kitchen as decoration? Of course not.
Television. Before Christmas, everybody shows countdowns til Christmas. Before New Year, everybody shows blood and guts and amputees. WTF!? More on this later.
Countdown. Speaking of countdowns, countdown to Christmas starts as early as September. Countdown to New Year starts 10 seconds from New Year, or even less. And it's not even synchronized with the UTC.
Atmosphere. On Christmas day, it smells like Christmas. And gift wrappers. And it is peaceful. On New Year's day, it smells like napalm in the morning and I hate it.
Gifts. There are Christmas gifts. And New Year coins. Gifts > Coins.
Mascot. Christmas has Jesus Christ, Santa Claus, Non-Legolas elves, the President of the Philippines. This point ends here.
Food. I never felt "media noche" as the official term of the night before New Year. And New Year food is Christmas's leftover. Dinagdagan lang ng bilog na prutas.

Most importantly, The Aftermath.
What comes after Christmas? Vacation. And New Year.
What comes after New Year? Work. Reality. Yuck.

Kayo? Ano mas gusto nyong icelebrate? Pasko o Bagong Taon?

Anyway, Happy New Year! Can't wait for Christmas!

The Year That Was 2008

2008-12-29T15:48:00.005+08:00

If I would describe my 2008 in one word it'll be "makulay". Ang daming naganap na kakaiba ngayong taon na to para sa kin - lots of first times, laughters, sadness, emoness, successes, failures, Jollibee. Alam kong marami na kayong nababasang blog posts wrapping up the year, at syemps, hindi ako papahuli. Next year na next day, and today should be the day I write about the year before the next year arrives the next day. Got it? Read on!

Bohol. If it wasn't for my cough, this would have been the perfect vacation for me, mainly because Bohol is so beautiful. We loved the place so much that we are planning to go back there this summer. [Blog] [Photos]

HP Basketball League. It was the first time I joined an actual basketball tournament with uniforms and numbers and a 3-point shootout. We had lots of fun in all 5 games, especially the last one where we won by a point against another win-less team. That game was intense, brutal and hilarious at the same time! [Blog]

Graduation. It's the year of graduation. My siblings graduated from college. My parents graduated from having school kids. Most importantly, graduate na rin ako sa pagiging panalo sa tinapay. [Blog] [Mae Photos] [Mon Photos]

Work From Home on Mondays. I never have to commute on Mondays. My office work week is from Tuesdays to Fridays. Para sa isang normal na empleyadong katulad ko, it's kinda cool. [Blog]

First time at Puerto Galera. I've been to Boracay and Bohol first before Puerto Galera. Kaya siguro hindi ako masyado nagandahan sa place. I think it is overcrowded and overrated. Seriously. And I hated that one-hour vomit-uous boat ride. But when you're with uber-cool people, who cares? [Photos]

Joanne is now 25. It's an adult age, yet she loved the Elmo toy I gave her. [Blog]

Quarter Life Crisis. For a few months I was feeling so sad and emo and depressed. Thanks to google, wikipedia and email forwards, I diagnosed myself as having this quarter-quarter life crisis. [Blogs]

Blues. When I was trying to find out more about the blues I was having, I found this video of Eric Clapton bluesin it out with a delicious Martin acoustic guitar that got me started getting interested in blues music. It changed my life forever. [Crappy Evidence]

Pinky Blue. And that forever started with my first electric guitar purchase, Pinky Blue, a standard Squier Stratocaster. Haven't performed with it in front of an audience yet, because as of now I prefer "bantering". There's a kilig story behind the purchase, which I will share with you sometime soon. Obviously, it has something to do with love and life and lovelife.

Leaving RS. Here's another life-changing moment this year. I was starting to love our workplace when suddenly we get relocated to the middle of nowhere. Work relocation is the b*tch! [Blog]

McKinley Hell. This causes work relocation to be the b*tch. 2008 has passed and I still hate the place. [Blog]

DOST Final Clearance. No more faxing DOST's always-busy fax machines. No more going to Bicutan. No more going to Immigration. No more Immigration-related bullsh*t everytime I go out of the country. I hope. [Blog]

Jolec Season 5. 2008 is our fifth year together. High Five! [Blog]

Hong Kong. I did not expect 2008 to be the year I visit Disneyland, but 2008 will always be the year I first visited Disneyland. [Blog] [Photos]

The Macats Blog Facelift. I was able to have my own blog design that I liked so much, so much that I blogged a lot last October. Just in case you don't know yet, my inspiration in this design is the refrigerator. Yup. This is probably the only refrigerator-themed blog in the whole internets. [Blog]

TV. There's the usual The Office and How I Met Your Mother. There's the unusual Heroes, because I don't know why I keep watching Heroes. Then the new additions (and addictions) to my comedy collection - The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, and The IT Crowd. If you love clever comedies, you'll love these shows too.

Sirius. After two years of wishing-wishing, I finally bought myself a Canon EOS 450D. Needless to say, I'm loving it. One of my main wishing-wishing next year is to have a Canon Lens, you know, to satisfy the Lust. [Blog]

Tagaytay. We went to Tagaytay this year not once, but twice - with the same itinerary, same hotel, same volcano, same dinner. Ang sarap kasi nung chicken biryani sa Taj of Tagaytay. [Photos]

I am now 25. Yuck. I feel old. [Blog] [Photos]

Kagwang Awards. It's a one of a kind Christmas Party: Italian Job convoy, on a Sunday evening, swimming in Pansol, Kagwang Awards night, on a very tight budget. Loved every moment of it, except for the excruciating toothache at 3am (see next item). [Party Photos] [Awards Photos]

Wisdom Tooth. Sa lahat ng buwan ng taon, bakit ngayong December pa napili ng ipin ko na sumulpot at barubalin yung gilagid ko? Marami tuloy akong hindi nagawa sa paborito kong buwan ng taon. [Blog]

Christmas. Our christmas this year is special because it's the first time my siblings contributed to the handa, and got gifts for everyone of us. [Photos]

Jolec Pasko in Bulacan. Two words: counter-top. They have a small, simple house beside a farm somewhere in Bulacan and it has a counter-top ala bar in it. How awesome is that? Kulang na lang ay neon lights. [Photos]

Sabi ko nga, 2008 was a colorful year for me. Sana ay naging makulay din ang taon nyo, at maging makulay ang mga pagkakataon natin sa susunod na taon.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Pasko 2008

2008-12-24T20:51:00.000+08:00

alam kong cliche na to, pero ang buhay ay talagang may pagka cliche.

merry christmas to all!

Nang Dahil Sa Kirot ng Tumutubong Wisdom Tooth

2008-12-18T19:45:00.004+08:00

Hindi ako nakapag videoke masyado nung madaling araw nung christmas party ng team namin.
Hindi ako nakatulog nung Lunes
Hindi ako nakasama sa Subic. (Mga pogi, pwede ba magset ulit tayo ng Subic? Inggit ako e.)
Hindi ako nakapagenjoy masyado nung EAO Party
Hindi ako nakatulog nung Wednesday
Hindi ako nakapasok ngayon
Hindi ako nakapagwithdraw ng allowance dito sa bahay
Hindi ako nakapagbalot ng regalo
Nabawasan ako ng isang buong araw na nakalaan dapat sa christmas shopping
Hindi ko maiwasan igoogle ang wisdom tooth. Marami palang human beings ang nagkakaproblema dito. Isa palang error in evolution ang wisdom tooth.
Hindi ko alam kung bakit tinawag tong wisdom tooth. Nakakabobo ang ginagawa nya sa kin.

Sa ngayon, nakalabas na ang enamel ng wisdom tooth ko, at medyo namamaga pa siya. Wala namang nana. Narerelieve naman siya ng Advil. At ng Coke. Oo, ng Coke.

Kainis. Kung kelan December, kelangan pa mag pa dentista.

Kayo ba? Binobo din ba kayo ng wisdom tooth nyo?

Update:
Hindi ako nakauwi kina Joanne sa Bulacan nung Lunes.
Hindi ako makakain ng matino.

My Simply Awesome 25th Bday

2008-12-10T00:45:00.004+08:00

Started Dec 9 with midnight video call with Da Bubu.
Midnight greetings from the Macats Pamili.
Gtalk greetings from my SA buddies. Got myself a Jollibee lunch date with them on Friday.
Outlook greetings from my HP mates. Finally finished the Kagwang Awards list. [sample Kagwang Award]
YM/Multiply greetings from friends.
Dinner date with Da Bubu at Five Cows, in Trinoma.
Got myself an awesome gift from Da Bubu - awesome because it tops my short wishlist this year.

Finally, a midnight snack with the Macats Pamili at home.

Thank you all for the awesome day.
And of course, many thanks for Da Bubu for the simply awesome gift, and for simply being Da Bubu.

Link: Photos

Today is December 9

2008-12-09T00:00:00.003+08:00

I am pretty excited about how my favorite day of the year will turn out for me.

As long as I am here at home with my loved ones on this day, I am very happy.

Just like last year.

OMG I'm so 25 na. It's like an adult age and I'm so gurang na like my batchmates. They're not my kuya/ate anymore.

Nevertheless, happy birthday to me!

Check out the "other" significant events on this day.
Wikipedia - Dec 9

Gadget Updates

2008-12-08T13:31:00.004+08:00

I was surprised the pretty sleek HP Mini-Note 1000 and the ugly Dell Mini Inspiron is now available here, at the Octagon shop to be exact. I didn't see the price tag of the HP, but the Dell sells for P24,500.

Another one that surprised me is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. With SE's products always getting delayed, I never thought this will ever get released. It retails for P40k in Cellway.

I guess those rich kids have one more thing to "gift" themselves this christmas.

Manny Pacquiao Pakyaw's Money

2008-12-07T13:21:00.003+08:00

Or Money Pakyaw for Manny Pacquiao.

From now on, let's call Manny the Golden Man.

Golden Man > Golden Boy.

Who would've thought Mr. Pacquiao of the Pilipins can make Mr. Oscar De La Hoya quit? Nobody. Including Bernard Hopkins.

Sa suntukan ng gwapo vs. panget, pumusta ka sa panget, because he has nothing to lose. Hindi naman ito Mr. Universe contest.

Oscar De La Hoya cares too much about his face. It's one of his puhunans. Kaya nga sya tinawag na Golden Boy. Dagdag yan sa iniinda nya, maniwala kayo sa akin.

Si Pacquiao? He doesn't care about his face. Nobody cares about his face. Wala nang inda inda. Pango pa ilong nya. Wala cartlige sa nose bridge. Bawas sakit sa mukha.

See? Sa mukha pa lang, mismatch na.

Kung mapapansin nyo, puro pogi nakalaban ni Pacquiao, na kanyang pinapanget. Yan ang isa nyang motivation mga pare. It's either that or panget lang talaga si Manny.

--

Manny Pacquiao is filthy filthy rich. I don't understand why politicians continue to give him money. He doesn't need money. He is Manny!

My point is, pwedeng sa amin na lang yung money for Manny? Hindi kailangan ni Manny ng money. Marami nang money si Manny. Why would you give money to the most popular (and probably richest) Filipino in the whole world today?

Only in the Philippines, where Boxing and Politics has something common in their Venn Diagram - Money and Manny.

The Smile in the Sky

2008-12-01T20:32:00.006+08:00

I saw a smile in the sky this evening, at around 6pm Manila time. It was actually the convergence of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon in a way they form a smiling face. The right eye was Venus, Jupiter was the left eye, and a crescent Moon the smiling lips. Pretty cool! Happens once every blue moon, but in this case, the moon is a grin. Rarer.

Speaking of rarity, these three celestial objects also converged last february, but the Moon was not in the position to form as lips. Nevertheless, these are times a guy wishes he has telephoto lens, a big tripod, and a safe neighborhood.

Links:
A smile in the sky as planets form happy face
Venus, Jupiter and the Moon: watch and photograph a smiley face in the sky

Natatae Ako Blues in A - Now With Subtitles

2008-11-27T13:55:00.003+08:00

Late post, but what the hey!

Music: Alec
Lyrics: Alec, Second, and Kurt
Location: 34F Robinson's Summit Center
Date: May 28, 2008

Description: Jamming late night at the office. Except for the first verse, yes, this is on-the-spot improvised. And no, nobody was drunk that night.

Make sure you turn on the caption to see the english translation of this tae song.

Unfortunately, we can no longer do this since we moved to another office. Good for the world!

Sigh. It was fun at our old workplace.

Links:
YouTube Video
Second's Multiply Post

Here's One Disadvantage of Employee Discount

2008-11-26T13:41:00.003+08:00

I bought an HP F4185 all-in-one printer a few months ago, for P3990, minus employee discount.

Now, they are selling the more recent model HP F4280 through HP's Employee Purchase Program for almost half the price of its former self.

Buying technology is depressing after a few months.

PS: Sabagay, I got a Nokia 3210 for P8400 in the year 2000. Now it's almost free. Or even less.

December Mode

2008-11-25T14:39:00.000+08:00

May symptoms na ko ng December Mode maski November pa lang:

nagiisip ng ireregalo sa mga reregaluhan
nagiisip ng pang exchange gift
nagiisip ng wishlist
nagbubudget
nagiisip ng pagkain sa Pasko
nagsschedule ng activities sa December
nagaantay ng 13th month. in my case 12.5 month.
hindi makapaghintay sa christmas break
tinatamad magwork
antukin. lamig na kasi.

December na next week. Saktong isang buwan na lang Pasko na. Merry Christmas to all!

My Sister is a Licensed Teacher!

2008-11-16T21:45:00.000+08:00

Roll of Successful Examinees in the
L.E.T. - SECONDARY - All Regions
Held on SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
Released on NOVEMBER 15, 2008 Page:217 of 378

Seq. No. N a m e
10751 MACATANGAY, MAE ANNE ROSAL

Woot!

Source:
PRC Exam Results for LET Teacher Secondary Level - September 2008 - M to Z

Fact: MRT-3 is the Worst Train System in the World

2008-11-13T00:00:00.011+08:00

We all know that.

But this just in - The MRT, aka EDSA-Metrostar Express, beats its own record as "the worst train system in the world" by achieving the title "the worst train system in the history of human kind of the past, present, and future".

How come?

MRT is pushing for a fare hike. Minimum fare of 10 pesos will increase by 75% to 17.50 pesos, while maximum fare of 15 pesos will increase by 67% to 25 pesos.

If that's not a catch enough, you know why they are asking for a fare hike? Because their trains are overloading.

Yup. That's their reason why they are asking for a fare hike. Their trains are overloading.

Aren't you proud our own public officials think that way?

Read this article and be upset like me. Let's analyze, shall we?

"MRT officials were quoted as saying that the fare increase is needed to remedy the transit’s congestion problem as MRT’s coaches have been overloaded in the past few months."

Okeyy.. So the solution to passenger overloading is fare increase. Not adding trains, not regulating train intervals, not streamlining the stations, but fare increase.

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Public service at its best people!

"Lastimoso explained that the fare increase could reduce the government’s subsidies to the MRT-3. "

Really? I don't think MRT even needs government subsidies. I bet they earn a lot from their ugly trains being uglier with all those spyware-looking advertisements scattered everywhere like garbage.

"Citing figures from the DOTC, the television report said the government could save as much as P1.2 billion as it subsidizes P42 per passenger daily."

And where would that 1.2 billion go? With that number, all I can think of is another number.

2010.

"The report however said MRT riders are not too keen on the proposed fare hike."

D-uh.

"The Light Rail Transit (LRT), for its part, said it will not propose a fare increase."

Of course. Because there is something wrong about the MRT. Or I'll say, MRT is different because it's just WRONG.

By the way, there was news about MRT wanting to "borrow" trains from the LRTA. Another is about MRT "buying" the old trains of the LRT. Ano ba talaga kuya? I don't know what ever happened to those plans, or what is really their plan! Perhaps they were scrapped because the bigger badder fare-hike plan requires less overall work, and makes more money.

Oh, and I found this snippet in wikipedia:

As of 2006, the Department of Transportation and Communications has sealed a deal with the city government of Vienna to obtain 48 second-hand Vienna U-Bahn trains as part of the MRT's expansion program, designed to expand the MRT's current capacity of 23,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd) to 48,000 pphpd. The trains are a donation from the Vienna city government. It is unclear, however, when the trains will arrive and enter service.

Where are those trains? Broken down, melted and sold to the Chinese by kilogram?

I don't want Bayani Fernando to be the next President of the Philippines. I want him to kick Lastimoso in the ass, slash his head off, and be the next General Manager of the MRT.

Oh god I've got to find an alternative commute!

Links:
GMA News - MRT pushes for fare hike - report
Inquirer - MRT-3 plans to buy LRTA’s old trains
ABS-CBN News - DOTC eyes 40 LRT train cars for MRT

Trailer: Pixar's Newest Movie "UP"

2008-11-11T14:06:00.002+08:00

I love Pixar movies. My favorite is Ratatouille, mainly because my favorite villain of all time is Anton Ego. Fact: Ratatouille is a veggie dish, and its pinoy counterpart is another favorite of mine - pinakbet.

Now, Pixar has just released the trailer of their next movie "Up" and I can't wait to see it. See the trailer below.

Meet Sirius

2008-11-10T12:48:00.006+08:00

I started drooling for a Canon Rebel more than 2 years ago before our trip to Cebu, and it took me that long to get myself one.

Yes. Finally! I got Sirius, my shiny new Canon EOS 450D. Why Sirius? Well, my favorite Harry Potter character is Sirius Black, it is a black gadget, and there's Joker.

"Why so Sirius"?

Didn't bother shooting my new main shooter, because all 450D look the same, but check out some of the first photos I shot with my new main shooter.

Now I want to shoot people.

50 Skills Every Geek Should Have

2008-11-08T10:42:00.005+08:00

Check out Gizmodo's fun list of the 50 skills that every geek should have. I struck out the skills I have, and apparently I am roughly a .5 geek.

1. Install a hard drive in a laptop
2. Perform a clean OS install on a machine with two OSes
3. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone
4. Jailbreak an iPhone
5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
6. ~~Use BitTorrent and RSS to automatically download new shows from trackers~~
7. Use an A/V receiver to its fullest capability (every port is taken)
8. Calibrate an HDTV without the manual
9. ~~Use a DSLR in full manual mode~~
10. Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor's Wi-Fi
11. ~~Solder cleanly enough to get around a circuit board~~
12. ~~Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point~~
13. Shove the guts of a modern game console into a retro game console
14.~~Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat~~
15. ~~Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo~~
16. ~~Abstain from buying extended warranties~~
17. ~~Know where to buy cheap cables and accessories~~
18. ~~Fix your parents' computer over the phone without looking at a computer~~
19. Enter the Konami code
20. Comment on Gizmodo from your phone
21. ~~Type quickly using T9 texting~~
22. Program a universal remote
23. Contribute code to the Linux kernel
24. ~~Hide porn from your significant other~~ - from everyone else to be more specific
25. ~~Avoid DRM on everything~~
26. ~~Know how to back up your data to networked storage—and actually do it~~
27. ~~Watch TV shows on the internet for free~~
28. ~~Edit together digital video ripped from YouTube~~
29. ~~Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator~~
30. ~~Reset expired trial software by messing with the registry~~
31. Hackintosh your PC
32. Download pre-release movies from Usenet
33. Hack the Wii to play homebrew games
34. ~~Get around web content filters on public computers~~
35. ~~Get into a Windows computer if you forgot your password~~
36. ~~Securely erase your data so it can't be recovered~~
37. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network
38. Build a fighting robot
39. Write your own Firefox plugins
40. ~~Navigate and reorganize the files on your computer in DOS~~
41. Get something on the front page of Digg
42. Get through to executive customer service
43. ~~Rip a CD to V0 quality MP3s~~
44. ~~Rip a DVD to DivX~~
45. Build your own computer from parts
46. Swap out the hard drive in your DVR for a bigger one
47. ~~Get an NES cartridge working again by blowing in it~~ - every kid does this
48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system
49. ~~Play downloaded games on a Nintendo DS~~
50. ~~Talk about things that aren't tech related~~

That makes 26 out 50. How about you?

I think they forgot a couple:
51. ~~Have your favorite torrent-downloaded TV shows organized in your hard drive~~
52. ~~Remove a virus on a windows PC manually - without using an anti-virus~~

Link:
Gizmodo - Tests: The 50 Skills Every Geek should have

Google's G1 is Here in the Philippines

2008-11-07T12:41:00.000+08:00

Well, I was wrong.

First, I thought the latest technology in Google's G1 smartphone will come after 20 years. The Infomax Gold shop in Trinoma is selling the first Android phone for P44,000, probably open-line.

And second, the phone does not look plasticky at all. It does look nice and sleek I wish I could've touched it but it was inside a glass display and I was too shy to even snap a photo of it.

They are also selling cool gadgets not found in other shops for some reasons.
Nokia N810 internet tablet - P23k
HTC Touch Pro - P50k
HTC Shift
HTC Advantage

10 Things I Absolutely Love Right Now

2008-11-06T10:14:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was full of hate because I was having a terrible cold and my acne won't go away and I have to go to McKinley Hell, ride the MRT and eat at Mcdonalds. Today is full of love because yesterday was full of hate, and this morning I dreamed Mr. Sinister killed me with a sonic death ray or something like that and I went to my own funeral. Scary.

Anyway, I just want to share the top 10 things I love right now, because yesterday I shared the top 5 things I hate.

The Internets. I spend more than half of my awake time interneting - whether it's playing games, downloading stuff, blogging, chatting with friends, working, searching for the answers, or just killing time. Like you.

Doritos. With various dips. Yummy. It results to tight pants, but still yummy. Wash it down with Coke and I'm like in heaven, but with tighter pants.

Coke. It's the staple drink of our family. It effectively dilutes the bagoong in our Ilokano blood, which in return dilutes the coke in our cokey-blood. Kinda like equilibrium.

SM North. Home 10 minutes away from home. I'd choose SM North over any malls in the world, because they got it all for me. Except for free wifi.

Jollibee. Ah. Jalibi. What's not to love?

Gala gala. I love it when I have scheduled outings to look forward to. So far I got one this November, at least a couple this December, one in March, one has yet to be scheduled, and more to come.

Budget Flights. Perfect for kuripot lakwatseros. If it weren't for budget flights I wouldn't have been to places outside Luzon for pleasure.

American Sitcoms. The Office. Big Bang Theory. How I Met Your Mother. My week is not complete without watching all three of em.

My iPod. A trusty companion during MRT tough times. Keeps me from going berserk due to MRT management's absence of common sense to solve trivial problems happening every day since it began operations almost a decade ago.

Flexi Time. Who doesn't want to scrap Mondays on their workweek, go to the office anytime and go home anytime? I mentioned in my previous blog that McKinley Hell is one main reason in case I will resign from my current work. This is the main reason why I am staying.

5 Things I Absolutely Hate Right Now

2008-11-05T11:51:00.005+08:00

McKinley Hell. Far from home, difficult to commute to, under development, no Jollibee, unpleasant CRs, lots of cubicles. If ever I'm going to leave my current not-so-bad work with all those benefits, uber-flexi-time and uber-cool teammates, this will be the main reason. See how I hate this place? They say Mckinley Hell is going to be the best place to work at 5 years from now. Well, I say today is not 5 years from now.

Code milky green. Gooey liquid consistently trying to get out of my nose, whether through the nostril, throat or the trachea, is very uncomfortable and uncool.

My acne. My face's freakin flaw-ful. When will it stop breaking out?

MRT. It's like hell with ventilated sometimes-working-aircon. The only difference is that - hell's leader Satan is wise, MRT leaders are the complete opposite.

Mcdonalds. Guess where I'm going to eat today, tomorrow, and probably next week.

Wow. Full of Ms.

Inflation via Junk

2008-11-03T22:26:00.004+08:00

Inflation is defined as the rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. This is how I am seeing it:

The McDonald's burger is getting smaller and smaller that it almost looks like a muffin.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is no longer big and large and huge as it was known before.

The dressing of Jollibee's Jolly hotdog is getting less messy, and less fun, that you can eat it without needing a tissue.

The delicious cheesey powder found in Jack n Jill's Tostillas is going going gone that it approaches to being a plain nacho chip product.

The heavenly delicious BreadTalk Floss used to look like a hairy shitzu but has been shrinking and balding it now looks like an dirty old askal.

Etcetera. You know what I'm talking about.

While it is understandable that they increase the price due to inflation, I don't understand why they have to remove something to save up, affecting what we buy from them as consumers - the quality and quantity of their products. I dunno, but it seems these companies benefit from inflation!

One word comes to mind: greed.

I am just depressed about what they're doing to my favorite foods.

Frie(nd)s

2008-10-31T14:46:00.005+08:00

jo: ano kinain mo?
alec: burger
alec: at friends
alec: fries pala
alec: hahahahaha
jo: friends? :o
alec: hindi ako kumain ng friends ha?
alec: cannibalism yun

Typo errors are funny.

But who cares!? Everyone wants to have a taste of french friends.

Those Googlers are Boombastic

2008-10-30T16:10:00.004+08:00

Check out how some of those fun-loving Googlers cut off travel time to their main building's cafeteria by emulating a Mr. Boombastic fire escape. Instead of walking to a bridge too far, they cross a stream by rolling across a zip-line. [link] [map]

Did not last long though, the local government spoiled the fun and asked to take it down.

But man, those people do have fun out there.

Now, can't we use this trick to commute from Robinson's Summit to Two World Square? All we need are some metals for the cable stations, 5km of rope, a set of durable hangers, and some crazy guinea pigs. It's green, eco-friendly, not to mention dangerous. And outrageous. Here's how it'll look like.

See how those people have fun solving problems, while all we can do is make fun of our problems. When will Google build a base here in the Philippines? Paging Google!

But if they ever will, I hope it's not in Mckinley Hill.

The Next-Gen HP Mini Note Looks Good in Black

2008-10-27T17:02:00.007+08:00

Seems the HP Mini Note is going to have a successor sooner than I expected, and I am liking the stuff so far. Here are the confirmed specs:

Starting price of $399 - For PHP 20k, that is good.
Weight begins at 2.25 pounds, which is a little less than the HP Mini-note. - That is better!
Under 1-inch in thickness - That is better-er! Backpack manufacturers should start manufacturing little backpacks for netbooks. Most laptop backpacks as of today are for biggie laptops only, like for 14" and above.
Like the Acer Aspire One, the left and right mouse betters truly are left and right... of the trackpad. - I wonder why they keep on putting the clickers beside the trackpad. I think it's crazy because it's making me crazy!
The large screen bezel of the 8.9-inch Mini-note is gone; we're guessing a 10-inch display. - I am glad they removed the holes beside the monitor, the old Mini Note looks like a mini CRT flat screen television with the side-speakers.

And here is my specs wishlist:

Intel Atom processor instead of VIA. - confirmed. Yay!
No pre-installed OS option. - with Linux.
A headphone jack - Yay!
Be released to us employees with uber-discounts while I am under "The Temptation".

In case you're curious on why I want a netbook for myself, well, there's the extreme portability, and another is that I want to watch movies/tv shows while lying down before going to sleep, and my work laptop is kinda heavy for my soft tummy.

Update:
The HP Mini 1000 is now official and will be released on January. You can check out the specs here.

Source:
HP Mini 1000 netbook comes out of hiding, starts at $399
HP Mini 1000 hands-on - Engadget

Lechaim, Lechaim, To Life!

2008-10-22T22:26:00.003+08:00

Apparently, this is how an out-of-this-world genius acts when drunk - singing To Life from the musical Fiddler on the Roof with the piano while drinking a no-longer-a-virgin Cuba Libre.

Fact! Fiddler on the Roof was discussed by the characters in the same episode, when the geeks preferred watching the musical over helping Raj from his woman crisis.

I am going to say this again, I love Big Bang Theory!

Links:
Lyrics - To Life
Video - Fiddler on the Roof - To Life

Assertively Actualize Competitive Content

2008-10-20T16:07:00.001+08:00

Also known as a performance appraisal.

Performance appraisals are among the things ordinary corporate people go through during the Ber-months besides being depressed about discovering they are going to work during the Holidays and being disappointed that they won't have a bonus again this year.

I found a handy tool for generating content for your self-appraisals, minimizing nose-bleed, making your managers happy about you, thus keeping you from having the aforementioned depression and disappointment.

Behold: The Corporate BS Generator!

It's quite similar with the Office Bingo buzzword generator, but just as fun.

Good luck on your performance appraisals!

Link:
Corporate Bullsh*t Generators

Coffee Cups and Girlee Cups

2008-10-19T12:14:00.002+08:00

Study says coffee can shrink the size of women’s boobs.

Interesting.

This means a new rule for girls is in order.

"The more cups you have, the less cups you'll have."

And perhaps a new logo for Starbucks.

Hehe.

Watch your cups girls!

Link:
Cupp coffee gives girls a smaller cup

Sabon. Kula. Palo Palo.

2008-10-18T22:18:00.008+08:00

Pumalpak ako last last week. I was soaped.

Pumalpak ako last week. I was soapad again. Bleached. With Clorox. By Clorox.

In tagalog, sinabon na, kinula pa. Na may Clorox. Ni Clorox.

Ngayon pumalpak na naman ako. Malamang sasabunin at kukulain na naman ako. Takot ako baka may kasama nang hilod at palo palo. Masakit yun.

Pero ayos lang, libre tanggal libag.

Mas prone talaga pumalpak ang taong pagod. Wala pa ata akong matinong weekend pahinga since the Hong Kong times. At hindi eto valid excuse.

Ang tamang excuse ay tinatamad talaga ako magtrabaho. Gusto ko na magshopping at gumala at maglaro at manood at matulog at kumain.

Hay..

Next week kaya papalpak ako? Wag naman sana.

Performance evaluation na kasi.

Ang tawag dyan, perfect timing.

PS: Kung hindi nyo gets yung Clorox part, at gusto nyong magets yung Clorox part, you may ask me through private message for an explanation.

Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang HP Mini Note?

2008-10-17T10:24:00.006+08:00

I was hoping for HP to sell the Mini-Note to us employees with uber-discounts back in April when I was drooling for one.

Now they are. For 23K pesos. 7k off the mall price.

Yikes!

But they're only selling the Vista version. And the touchpad buttons-on-the-sides STILL feel more psychedelic than futuristic. And our HK trip, where having a light lappy to carry around that could have decreased my physical stress, is over. And HP announced they will release a 10" netbook before the year ends. And my budget's already been planned until Christmas. And it does not include a purchase of an uber-discounted HP Mini-note because I was not expecting one.

The only thing I can do now is sing.

Bakit ngayon ka lang?
Bakit ngayon kung kelan ang aking bulsa..
Wala nang laman..

And sing..

I let you go
I let you fly
Why do I have
lots of reasons why

On the bright side, this decrements the number of items on my Christmas wishlist. It's much easier to choose from a set of two items.

Links:
HP 2133 Mini Note Specifications
HP shows off Vivienne Tam-designed Digital Clutch -- the 10-inch Mini-Note?

Sheldon Looks Like Mr. Bean

2008-10-14T17:34:00.015+08:00

.. especially when he's smiling. Oh yes, as Wolowitz describes it: "Oh crap! that's terrifying!". Watch the clip and LOL.

Lenard looks/sounds like Greg Proops as I've mentioned a couple of posts ago.
.. the raised eyebrows, the high-pitched voice, the glasses, the sarcasm, the sophisticated banter - the resemblance is uncanny.

Penny and Wolowitz definitely look like somebody else (or "something else" for the latter) but I have yet to find out. As for Raj, he looks like someone I know from college. Haha!

I love The Big Bang Theory!

Links:
Video of Sheldon Trying to Smile
CBS - The Big Bang Theory
Wikipedia - The Big Bang Theory

Wikimapia-ing is a Hobby of Mine

2008-10-13T14:49:00.000+08:00

For example:

A few minutes ago I saw that cool photo of a cool complex highway intersection on Digg.

A few minutes later I found the place on Wikimapia. It's in Bangkok, Thailand.

That's one of the things I love to do - place hunting on Wikimapia. If that's not geeky enough, I am excited about the massive overhaul of Google maps with higher resolution images taken from Google's recently launched satellite. I can't wait for the update of Metro Manila because I think it sucks that until now The Block is a parking a lot, Mall of Asia is under construction, and so is McKinley Hill.

Soon we'll be seeing everything, everywhere, perhaps everyone online in real time, sorta like Big Brother. Scary, but look on the bright side. We don't have to climb the roof to count the birdie poops.

This Wikimapia thing could be freaky geeky for you, but this freaky geeky thing I love to do served me very well on our gala-gala.

Speaking of Bangkok..

Now that I saw Bangkok on satellite level, I would love to see Bangkok soon on sea level.

Schrödinger's Cat = Starting Relationships

2008-10-12T00:53:00.010+08:00

I like trivia, you know - general info on history of the world, astronomy, geography, even quantum mechanics and particle physics. Like, I don't know why I know when the Large Hadron Collider was opened, and what it's supposed to look for but for some reason, yeah, I know. Point given, I never imagined the Schrödinger Cat experiment can be associated with "starting a romantic relationship" by one of the greatest minds of the 20th century who never had a romantic relationship. That came from the same TV show where someone used a light saber as a flashlight.

Hilariouses! I can't wait for them to associate the Heidenberg's uncertainty principle into something mundane.

Though the main character Lenard looks/acts/sounds like Greg Proops, and his best friend Sheldon reminds me of Dwight Schrute, The Big Bang Theory is the latest addition to my collection of TV shows deserving eternal megabytes on my hard disk platters. Listening to uber-geeks converse using geeky technical terms and freaky english is highly amusing.

Here's another one to watch for the "i love american tv shows" people such as myself. Thanks to Da Bubu for introducing me to this show. Lovin' it!

Google Translate Knows Filipino

2008-10-11T10:53:00.004+08:00

But not much. The translation sounds more like Psychonyotic than English.

Take for example this text from this blog post of mine:
"Sa totoo lang, hindi ako na-excite sa Singapore trip namin. Pakiramdam ko kasi nun hindi sapat ang lahat ng aking paghahanda. Alam mo yung feeling na todo aral ka before magexam pero hindi ka pa rin confident na makakapasa? At masama talaga kutob ko sa mangyayari sa kin sa Immigration."

Google translates it to this:
"In fact, I do not have Excite trip to Singapore we. I feel kasi nun not enough in my preparation. You know the feeling that sound magexam lesson you before but you still confident that makakapasa? And really bad happens to my nose to the Immigration kin."

O-M-G! (Pronounced as ow-em-geee) It's like so konyotic my goodness! Nothing bad happened to my nose noh, and as far as I know, the filipino for nose is "ilong", and english of "kutob" is thunder. LOLz!

Worst of all, Google thinks I am a standardized child. Translate the "About The Macats" section and laugh.

Even worse than that, Joanne calls me Bibi, which translates to young duck.

emblems13
September 24, 2008 3:57 PM
nice blog young duck .. :D hehehe .. i can imagine a bald young duck playing with his G1 .. :D :*

Now you have yet another amusing time-waster. You're welcome.

Links:
The Macats Blog in Psychonyotic
Google Translate - http://translate.google.com/

Stuck Pixel Fix

2008-10-07T20:38:00.001+08:00

Try saying that 3 times.

My LCD monitor at home has been stuck with a "stuck pixel" for weeks, and this is the only time I thought I should get rid of the annoyance. I started by doing everyone's default first step in problem solving: googling. Enter "fix stuck pixels" in the google toolbar and voila - solutions! What's not to love about google?

The high-contrast re-energizer, no matter how cool it sounds, did not work for me. I fixed my monitor by covering a round edge of a pen cap with a towel and gently pressing it over the sick pixel. After a few presses I saw the green pixel flickr a bit, and slowly disappeared. Cool!

Is Gmail Under Attack Right Now?

2008-10-06T22:29:00.008+08:00

Gmail is on the hot seat. Is it under attack right now? Of any kind?

There's this news: GMail's Achilles Heel: Terrible Customer Service
And this news: How You Could Get Locked Out of Your Gmail Account for Weeks
And this news: Can’t Open Your E-Mailbox? Good Luck
Then someone googled "gmail last account activity hack" arriving at my last post.

Kinda coincidental with what I experienced recently. Am I not the only one having problems with Gmail as of this moment?

Someone Tried To Hack My Gmail Account

2008-10-05T00:21:00.017+08:00

I decided to post my gmail address as part of my blog's upgrade last Tuesday. Within 2 days someone already tried to get in, and probably got in.

Thursday. I received 4 "Google Password Assistance" mails on my secondary email account. All of those mails were sent Oct 02, 2008, between 5:46AM - 6:14AM. Someone must have "forgotten my password" and wants to retrieve it first thing in the morning.
Friday. I checked the "Last Account Activity" of my gmail account. It says I logged-in from an IP not belonging to the ISPs of where I was that day: HP, Jollibee Trinoma, and here at home. Good thing I was still able to login, so I immediately changed my password to "!L0v3Y0uP!0!0".
If you thought that was my new password.. geeshh..
Checked Sent mails. Clean. Checked Chat. Clean. So far, I received no notifications from my contacts that I sent them something awful, like photos of the worst celebrity plastic surgery disasters, or something awful-er, like announcing i love Piolo.

Thought this might help you be aware that there are jerks out there who'd like to get into your mail, and there are tools available against this activity - those links and this link. Don't take your email's security for granted guys. You don't want to be locked-out from your googling lifestyle right?

Doodle Deux

2008-10-01T09:00:00.000+08:00

Since last week I had a lot of opportunities to slack off, este, work here at home instead of wasting a lot of my time commuting to the far side of the world. Using all the time I saved from being lost forever to retarded MRT experiences, I produced a file system reorganization project proposal, a Severity 2 fix, a bunch of blogs, a new blog theme, and a doodle deux.

I doodled Da Bubu before using da Doodle YM IMvironment. For this one, I used MS Paint. I like this one better.

P.S.: I need an office chair here at home, such as these, and scrap the less hi-tech one I'm currently using that gives me backaches. I love working here and I should do this more often! I'm much more productive, and fatter.

Behold The New Macats Blog

2008-09-30T09:00:00.004+08:00

Finally!

I scrapped my slightly-tweaked-minima template and made my own. I know this is long overdue, should have done this a year ago but I got busy with my new work and forgot about it.

FYI, Apple is not my inspiration on this design, but rather - those cool refrigerators displayed at SM Appliance Center with the sleek metal finishes. Refrigerators are literally cool, you know, especially when plugged. Also, MRT turnstiles. They're shiny, metallic, and our country takes pride on them. Naturally I should too because the turnstiles work properly, sometimes.

Hope you like my cool refrigerator-theme plugged into this incongruous blog of mine.

Update: If you're using Firefox 3 and my banner tagline seems blurred, then you've come across a bug. Fix this by issuing Ctrl + 0 to reset the sticky zoom setting.

Uso na naman ang Mandu

2008-09-29T18:37:00.003+08:00

Mandu. Mandurukot. Magpapasko na kasi. Ako nga nakaengkwentro ng tingin kong mga mandurukot sa loob ng dalawang magkasunod na araw.

Friday. MRT ako pauwi. Meet ko si Joanne kaya ka-text ko rin sya nun. Nakapwesto ako palagi sa gitna ng coach kung saan maluwag kasi lahat ng tao nasa pinto ng MRT sa hindi malamang dahilan. As usual, paglampas ng Cubao station halos mabilang mo na lang ang nakatayo, at ineexpect ko na ako na lang ang nakatayo at nakasandal sa bandang gitna.

Ngunit, nang prumeno ang tren sa Kamuning station, epekto ng inertia ang pagtalsik ng tao sa direksyon kung saan patungo ang tren, nagulat na lang ako na may panget na mamang halos nakadikit na pala sa likod ko at nakita ko ang kamay nya malapit na sa bulsa ko kung asan ang selepono (cellphone) ko. Dahil sa inertia, huli ka boi! Sabay lipat ako ng pwesto at tingin sa kanya. Siyempre, ngiti sya at palusot. Tingin tingin siya kunwari sa paligid. Hanap siya kunwari upuan. Tingin ko sa kanya mandurukot na walang nadukot. Kung hindi ko siya napansin kagad, I doubt na makukuha nya telepono ko, kasi maski ako hirap kunin yun sa bulsa ko. Ang taba ko kasi.

Sabado. Kasama ko si Joanne at ang kanyang mga magulang ng tanghali. Tanghali. Mataas ang araw. Papunta na kami Trinoma galing SM, kaso sira yung escalator paakyat. Kaya naglakad pa kami papunta sa entrance sa bandang Mindanao Ave. Marami kaming kasabay na taong tinatamad din umakyat. Siyempre, ako si paranoid boy, may background job akong nagrurun every 3 seconds instructing me to check my back kung may nandurupit na ng mga gamit sa dala kong backpack.

Ngunit, nang malapit na kami sa gumaganang escalator sa main entrance, ayun, paglingon ko kita ko meron ngang panget na mamang halos nakadikit na sa likod ko at mukhang bubuksan na yung zipper ng dala ko. Dahil sa paranoia, huli ka boi! Sabay lipat ko pwesto ng backpack, nilagay ko sa gilid ko, at tinignan siya. Siyempre, ngiti sya at palusot. Tingin tingin siya kunwari sa paligid. Hindi naman pala siya paakyat. Nagpunta siya sa pinakamalapit na poste. Nagtago. Tingin ko sa kanya mandurukot na walang nadukot. Kung hindi ko siya napansin kagad, nawalan ng suklay si Joanne. Buhat ko backpack nya e.

Ingat kayo sa mandu ha. Lalo na ngayong magpapasko.

Hong Kong in 3D

2008-09-28T22:50:00.003+08:00

This is uber-cool - a cute map in 3D with mini buildings and roads and flyovers that look like toys. This is even cooler because it's a Hong Kong map in 3D complete with Hong Kong mini buildings and roads and flyovers that look like toys. I've seen those buildings in person, and it amazes me that I am now looking at them in mini 3D form, that look like toys.

It becomes less cool when I should have stumbled upon this earlier before we went there. It would have been easier to plan the itinerary, as it was easier to imagine what to expect to see.

Be warned, it is confusing at first because the map doesn't point north. Just imagine your compass points southwest, on the lower left side of your monitor, and you'll understand the map better.

There is also a Macau 3D map, with hi-res 3D details of the casinos. Check out the mini-figure of the alien looking Grand Lisboa.

The best thing about these maps, they are free and available for everybody to use!

Now, for our very own Manila, it's very ugly as seen up there. Would you like to have a 3D map of Manila for the whole world to see for free? Shanties would be very difficult to render. And MMDA footbridges. And our government won't allow it unless the service is profitable and they have a share on the revenue. Manila is better off with 2D road maps. You can get one from National Bookstore for 99 pesos.

Links:
Hong Kong Map in 3D - http://hongkong.edushi.com/?L=en
Macau Map in 3D - http://macau.o.cn/index.jspa?locale=zh_tw

Gee.. It's The G1

2008-09-24T15:24:00.013+08:00

It's now official. Google's newest evil minion is a phone, the T-Mobile G1, and its open-source operating system the Android.

I have a couple of takes on this medical breakthrough. Medical because it heals the disease we currently have in the mobile market: clunky proprietary software. Naive and corny but I don't care, I just have to let that out, and whatever I say about gadgets don't make me richer.

Anyway..

Design. It looks plasticky. I think it will tremendously benefit from a metallic shine, kinda like Samsung's or Apple's designs. Blame Steve Jobs on this one - consumers prefer cool-looking shiny devices, because it makes them feel cool. Perhaps a chrome finish will make it look cooler, and an obvious namesake with Google's second latest evil minion, the.. uhh.. Chrome.

But hey, I haven't seen it yet in person because I live in a country where latest technology comes after 20 years, so I could be wrong with that plasticky thing. I'll let you know if it's plasticky after 20 years.

Prediction. Because of Android being open-source, different flavors of mobile operating systems will pop out one by one. The giant phone manufacturers will surely like to get involved with this, and they will release new phones that:
- are packaged with Android itself, or some other available Android flavor
- are compatible with the Android platform, or some other available Android flavor
- have an option to be hardware only for easy installation of any OS the consumer desires
- will be (almost) idiot proof on mobile operating system installation, like installing Windows on a PC

In short, we are going to have real PCs in the form of mobile phones soon.

Then again, I live in a country where latest technology comes after 20 years. It means, by the time I have a real PC in the form of a mobile phone on my hands, I'm already suffering from mid-life crisis, and bald.

Sigh.

Links:
T-Mobile G1 Official Site
Engadget - The T-Mobile G1
Wikipedia Article - Android
GSMArena - HTC G1
Lifehacker - What Android Could Bring To Your Phone

Fantastic Contraption Bonus Stages

2008-09-20T16:41:00.002+08:00

Saw these links somewhere. Enjoy!

http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966560
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966589
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966613
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966642
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966658
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966669
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966687
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designid=966720

Ang Panget Talaga

2008-09-19T09:39:00.011+08:00

Ang ganda ng tourism website ng Japan.
Ang ganda ng tourism website ng Singapore.
Ang ganda ng tourism website ng Hong Kon g.
Ang ganda ng tourism website ng Thailand.
Ang ganda ng tourism website ng Malaysia.

etc..

Ang panget ng tourism website ng Pinas. Parang website ng batang nagaaral mag mano mano ng HTML sa geocities at gumamit ng adsense. And it's not user friendly and informative at all. Take a look at the Hundred Islands entry. No directions. No info on fees. No pictures. Just an address with Times New Roman as font. Very helpful.

Ang panget din ng WOW Philippines website. Ang ingay. Ang panget ng wallpaper. Ang daming ads na masakit sa mata. Nagmimistulang ang purpose nya lang ay kumita, at hindi mang-engganyo ng turista. May page hits pa.

They're so Web 1.0. They look like troll blogs, not tourism websites of an independent state.

Pati ba naman sa websites nahuhuli tayo sa teknolohiya. We do have good web designers out there, don't we? If we have decent looking and informative tourists websites, I bet the tourism business in our country would be stronger.

Spare me the debate. Check 'em out yourself.

Our HK Trip Gave me 3 Acnes

2008-09-15T12:18:00.012+08:00

Because I was stressed.

It was freakin hot in Hong Kong.
It was freakin hotter in Macau.
The locals are suplado and mataray.
No sufficient rest.
No lutong bahay food.
My butt was housing (namahay yung pwet ko).
Lots of walking as usual.
I have to buy a new strap for my camera, it hurts my neck.
Wait..
I have to buy a new camera. Pogi is showing signs of age.

Because I was pressured.

It was my first time being THE tour guide for a lot of people and it was not easy.
I designed the itinerary for 8 people.
I tallied the required expenses of each person.
I coordinated the lodging for 8 people.
I balanced the lodging payables.
I consistently led the way.
I was frequently deciding what to do next, except for shopping.
I consistently was trying to please everyone regarding the places to visit.
I feel guilty when they complain about their tired feet and discomfort due to the heat.
I hope they liked what I volunteered for.

But..

I consider what I did my work and I'm proud of it.
I did it for free and I don't mind.
I think this is my passion.
I would love to do it again. Paging Batch 5 friends.
I learned a lot from the experience, and I loved every moment of it.

5th Jolec Week: Teaser

2008-09-13T21:46:00.009+08:00

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

Thursday.

Friday.

Photos, kwento, and tips coming soon.

5 years of Jolec

2008-09-08T15:43:00.005+08:00

ang aming taong panglima
equals a kalahating dekada
napagdaanan marami na
mapa-hirap man o ginhawa

isang linggong pag-gunita
sisiguraduhing masaya
kaya kami ay pupunta
sa disneyland

yebah!

Chrome says my OS is Mac XP

2008-09-06T16:53:00.006+08:00

I loaded my blog using Google's latest evil minion, the Chrome, and guess how sitemeter described my visit:

Operating System: Macintosh WinXP

Browser: Safari 1.3 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/0.2.149.27 Safari/525.13

Look at that. Macintosh WinXP! And all types of browsers except Opera.

I don't know if this has something to do with sitemeter's program logic, but it makes Chrome look like an evil minion, carrying all browsers' signatures currently in existence.

Scary.

September na!

2008-09-03T23:04:00.004+08:00

8 - 13 - Jolec Season 5 special 1-week celebration.
9 - Apple will release their new iPods.
10 - The Large Hadron Collider will be started.
13 - Dad's 49th Birthday. Crispy Pata!
14 - NASA September Celebrants' Treat. Will this push through?
22 - How I Met Your Mother Season 4 first episode
22 - Heroes Season 3 first episode
25 - The Office Season 5 first episode

Oh yeah, I love the -ber months!

Naaadik ako sa Fantastic Contraption

2008-09-01T11:08:00.008+08:00

Fantastic Contraption is the greatest flash game ever. Too bad there are only 21 levels, and you have to pay 10 bucks to gain access to the full version. Damn!

That one above is my alternative solution to the last level. Alternative because I did not use the given U-turn. Hit the image to see the animation.

Update:
This is my favorite design ever: ChainGear Hook

These are some of the contraptions I built.
Rock Roll
The Great Digger
Lots of Balls
Full-Fill-Up
What Gap?
What Hump?
Wag The Tail
3-Point Shot
Moto-X Show
Tank, Ramp, Chain
The Precision Truck

Try it. It's quite difficult, but fun and addicting.

Link: http://fantasticcontraption.com/

DOST Final Clearance

2008-08-13T23:49:00.004+08:00

My life starts to get more and more interesting. Like you, I am now free!

Fatigue from Commuting

2008-07-31T23:49:00.005+08:00

is not only bad for your health, but for your career too

my uber-tired-ness from commuting is now affecting my work

recently i can't think clearly like i used to

and then i made two major boo-boos

in two days

one on each of my two accounts

both database recovery related issues

then i got two soaps (sabon) from two different bosses of each of my account

its funny how i make databases "recover" and made mistakes out of it

guess it just says im the one who needs recovery

because im tired.

Ayaw ko sha SHONA

2008-07-28T16:08:00.006+08:00

Baket?

1) GMA sha ABS. GMA sha IBC. GMA sha RPN. GMA sha GMA. Kahit shan mo ilipat, maririnig mo yung boshesh ni GMA. oh shet.
2) Hindi na kashi ako eshtyudent. Wala nang "wala nang pashok" pag SHONA. Buti na lang work from home ako every lunesh.
3) Hindi ko alam kung bakit pinapalakpakan pa rin shi GMA, mashki shobrang political cliche na yung mga pinagshashabi nya.
4) Yung VAT daw ang shagot sa problema ng bayan. Pagshabi nya nun, there wash applaush. Anak ng taksh naman oh..
5) Liesh liesh and more liesh. Ash ushual..

Isha lang gushto ko sha SHONA, yung reactionsh ng tatay ko after every shentence ni GMA.

"utot mo"

"utot mo"

"utot mo"

Yeah. it'sh entertaining.

Ikaw? Gushto mo ba ng SHONA?

PS: shabi ni GMA, 50 shentavosh na lang daw yung text. ish thish true?

Update: HP Mini Note is Here!

2008-07-24T11:59:00.005+08:00

Nagkalat na ang Mini-Note sa SM Cyberzone sa Carpark, at ang sakit ng kalooban ko kasi gustong gusto ko na magkaron nyan kaso ang dami ko na namang rason para hindi bumile - like sobrang init daw neto after hours of usage, nasa gilid yung touchpad buttons, magrerelease daw ng Intel Atom/VIA Nano version ang HP within 6 months, at kakabili ko lang kay Pinky Blue. Wah!

should I buy it should I buy it should I buy it should I buy it?

PS: Mini-note with Vista retails for P29,950. Linux versions are quite rare, and are retailed for P27,950.

Link: Make Mine an HP Mini
Link: HP 2133 Mini-Note PC Specs PH
Link: HP: Eee PC Missed the Mark, We’ll Take It from Here

Mckinley Hell

2008-07-10T13:18:00.004+08:00

that's what they call this place

takes me 5 rides to go here, travel time an hour and 20 minutes.

trike. jeep. mrt. jeep. jeep. emo-walk.

no decent food available at "anytime". only mcdonalds. who wants mcdo food "anytime"?

jalibi is "anytime" food, but not mcdonalds.

elevator is so freakin slow.

no big windows.

travel by foot to jeepney terminal is a 6 minute uphill emo-walk.

cubicles. nothing but cubicles. and conference rooms.

it's like a maze of cubicles. so maze-y a compass won't be able to help you find your cubicle.

nearest hangout place (and jalibi) is one emo-walk and jeepney ride away.

we call it P!P! which stands for Palengke! Palengke! yeah.

its fine for the first few days, but i can't imagine myself having this kind of life for a long time.

Is This the End of my Emo Days?

2008-07-09T22:34:00.006+08:00

i was emo for almost 2 months due to a lot of reasons, and it was only yesterday i admitted to myself that i was starting to feel happy again..

probably because i am gwapo again
probably because i spent an extra whole day at Robinson's Summit
probably because i ate at Jalibi with our team's favorite darling
probably because i ate a snack of Mcdonald's fries with my favorite curly friend
probably because i saw this video of clapton's beautiful music that makes me almost cry
probably because i discovered i have lots of classic blues mp3s of BB King, Derek and the Dominoes and SRV
probably because i am already comfortable with the E-blues scale
probably because i finally decided to purchase a bullet strat
probably because i got an "im so funny" nod from the birthday girl and friends at Europe
probably because i confirmed with Joanne that we are going back to Volet's for the nth time
probably because i realized that i am a person who just needs to express myself, a lot

i won't mind if you call it artistic, autistic, or whatever..

and it was today i knew the answer why i was starting to feel happy again..

life is full of unexpected stuff.

Last Day at Makati

2008-07-04T09:51:00.005+08:00

sa buhay ko, dalawang lugar lang ang matatawag kong "home away from home": ang UP Diliman campus, at ang 34th floor sa Robinson's Summit Center. nakakalungkot na hindi ko na mababalikan ang buhay estudyante sa UP bilang batang estudyante, at ang lungkot lungkot ko lalo ngayon na iiwan ko na ang 34th floor sa Robinson's Summit Center. eto lang naman ang ilan sa aking mga dahilan kung bakit ako emo sa pagalis ko dito sa makati.

Friends from Previous Job. aka FPJ. hindi na nila ako mayaya maglunch anytime. hindi na nila ako mayayaya magstarbucks anytime. hindi na ako makakasama sa mga pakain ng mga umuuwi galing Europe. ang layo ko na kasi. bye guys.

Location. ang layo ng lilipatan namin. hindi pwedeng lakarin papuntang MRT. dalawang alanganing sakay from Ayala MRT. isang malayong sakay from Guadalupe MRT. hindi tulad ng location ng building namin ngayon, nasa centro ng kabihasnan ng buong pinas, malapit sa lahat, sa glorietta, sa greenbelt, sa jalibi, sa bugong, sa MRT station, at sa rally pag may rally. katabi lang kasi namin yung istatwa ni ninoy. ang iniisip ko na lang, sa lilipatan namin malinis at walang pollution, malapit lang kasi kami sa park ng mga yumao.

Emo. Ang lungkot sa lilipatan namin. sabi ko nga, katabi namin sementeryo. nakakalungkot diba? ang layo layo pa sa kabihasnan. wala pang masyadong tao dun. walang jalibi. mahirap magcommute papunta. sa loob ng building, wala kang makikita kundi puro cubicles. ang emo emo.

Jollibee. walang jalibi dun! sure, pwede magpadeliver, but nothing beats the feeling of queueing up at the jolly counter and gawking at the jolly menu and choosing what to have and noticing which jolly food item got more expensive and complaining that they don't have nacho fries and interacting with the jolly cashier and having the feeling that jalibi is around the corner that i can visit anytime. walang jalibi dun. wala na akong reason para maging jali.

It's the 34th Freakin Floor. wala pang isang taon ang stay ko dito, napamahal na ko sa place na to. dito namuhay ang da best na team sa HP. mamimiss ko talaga yung cubicle ko, yung "trainings" sa palawan, pantry moments, ets-pi moments, heyyy moments, PMWTOAOA, late night jamming sessions, emoness, at ang magic ng NASA. hindi ko alam kung kaya pa namin maging makulit ngayong lilipat na kami dun. and nothing beats my view of the ugly manila pseudo-skyline.

Sentimental Value. maski papano, naging major part ng aking life ang pagstay ko sa makati. nahihirapan akong tanggapin na lilisanin ko na ang lugar na to nang ganun ganun na lang, kaya pagbigyan nyo na ako dahil isa talagang rason yun para ako ay mag-emo.

Broken Hearted

2008-06-26T12:46:00.000+08:00

i dunno, but someway somehow i can't stop watching this clapton and mayer performance over and over again..

there, i said over and over again again..

Saddest = Funniest

2008-06-24T14:35:00.006+08:00

im most hilarious during these days my heart is brain dead.

i could not believe it.

im so funny at work people laughed when i literally told them to laugh.

twice.

unbelievable.

no, they're not crazy.

i should probably start recording all my banter and hirits that made ngalangalas appear everywhere, for self-amusement and self-improvement.

it's something that i love to do, that makes me feel important, and i think im quite good at it.

i wish i remain this sharp when i recover from these painful heart beats on my brain, aka depression. i believe i will recover.

guess it just tells me that humor does not result to happiness.

laughter is a relief from sadness.

it is the simple things that make people happy.

i know i am not that good in making people i do not know laugh, which includes you, my dear reader. heck i don't even know how to interact with people i do not know properly.

but i'll work on it.

meanwhile, LAUGH!

You Know How Emo I Am?

2008-06-20T23:08:00.004+08:00

I've been listening to Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah over and over..

and over..

and over..

and over..

The Coolest Coolness of the Cool 3G iPhone

2008-06-12T11:53:00.007+08:00

Yes yes. You may now have heard that the 3G iPhone is released and it will be officially landing the Philippine soil soon. With its $199 price tag, it just sounds too good to be true and so darned irresistible to have, and makes you wonder if there is a catch. But what do we expect from Pinoys when this coolness of an iPhone invasion finally reaches our shores ?

More multiply albums featuring photos of cool people with their cool iPhones.

More mirror self portrait shots of cool people using the cool camera of their cool iPhones.

More cool people flocking starbucks flaunting their cool iPhones.

More wishlist from about-to-be-cool people that they want a cool iPhone.

More friendster / facebook status of cool people about how they love their cool iPhones.

More instant messaging status of cool people that they are using their cool iPhones.

More cool emails from cool people saying their cool emails were sent using their cool iPhones.

More cool people showing everyone how cool they are because they have their cool iPhones.

More cool people.

Yikes!

While all this coolness may not stop warming my head over and over in annoyance, wish it would stop warming the globe instead.

Scary.

Let's face it, Steve Jobs has superpowers, he turns anything into something that when touched it will make any people automagically cool. What do you call that again?

And of course I was being sarcastic.

Anyway, it might have been the phone that I was waiting for, because I love 3G so much and I'd love to exchange my hugely disappointing N80 for something else, but I don't want my best friend to retire yet so..

-- posted using my iPod Touch.

Yet Another Quarter-Life Crisis Post

2008-06-03T18:17:00.004+08:00

This was forwarded to me by a friend of mine, and my goodness, it felt like it was written specifically for me. Much of my problems right now, and probably yours too, are right there so read on!

--

They call it the “Quarter-life Crisis.”

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones.

What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger.

You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t.

One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life.

You feel alone and scared and confused.

Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you.

You lay in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better.

Maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap.

Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself.

And while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

--

sigh

The Unhuggables

2008-06-03T15:07:00.002+08:00

Check out this yet another creative commercial about my favorite drink of all time.

Now I wonder why they left me out of the unhuggables, those creatures got one more hug than me.

Life is unfair.

Oh wait, it's just a commercial.

Change? Fine.

2008-05-29T22:56:00.002+08:00

I am fine. I am ok.

It's just the time of my life when change seem to happen everywhere, at the same time, and I no longer have the strength and confidence to deal with them.

It is a cliche that "change" is permanent, and the world is often unkind to "change", but let us consider that "change" is also unkind to the world.

Now it is being unkind to me.

But I am fine. I am ok.

Seriously.

I am not one of those people who repeatedly say they are happy when they're clearly not.

It's just the time of my life when I lost all the strength and confidence, but also the usual pessimism in me.

I believe I can handle this.

I told you I am fine.

I don't give a damn

2008-05-20T22:30:00.012+08:00

I really don't care about what people think of me.

I don't give good first impressions and I don't mind.

It is difficult, even impossible, for me to hide my emotions, especially when I'm upset.

It's just me. It's written in my DNA. It's how my brain works. It's how my blood flows.

And it is not likely that I will change, as much as a hug-hater will change for the sake of world peace by participating in the free hugs campaign.

Nevertheless, I don't think these make me a bad person.

By the way, if you happen to know where the nearest free hugs campaign is, let me know. I'd like to sign up, because I feel so alone right now and I need a hug. Who knows, maybe a hug from a hug-hater would make me better, better yet a better person.

Wow I am still an Oracle DBA

2008-05-19T23:23:00.005+08:00

I just recovered a standby database of a large company that crashed because of a filesystem that became full.

It feels good.

But I still don't know if I should be doing this my entire life. Sometimes I like being an Oracle DBA, sometimes I don't.

Let's see.

Likes
There are relatively few DBAs in this country.
I get to formally share my "quite rare" expertise among several people, which is something that I like to do.
I learn a lot. And I mean a LOT. And I still need to learn a LOT.
Prestige.
Power. Terabytes of data is in my hands. :evil grin:
Cool factor. Haha!
And Tom Kyte.

Dislikes
Being on call.
Highly important job that is taken for granted by a lot of people.
Endless arguments with the developers.
Index Rebuilds.
Being at the end of the technical escalation chain.
No room to be lazy. I am lazy.
I'm not confident enough.
Sometimes, I feel like an idiot.

Regardless, I'll stick to this discipline for a few more years. I have to.

Dude it's a Weird Day

2008-05-15T23:13:00.012+08:00

Weirdness #1. I was walking along the sidewalk in our neighborhood this morning when suddenly a jolly pickup truck passed by. I did not notice if it was a convoy or what, because the pickup truck was carrying one thing that might cause convoys, and I mean one. It was a waving Jollibee. But who cares? I just high-fived with Jollibee this morning when it was in a rolling pickup truck.

Weirdness #2. I was seated next to a grandpa, and I mean like his age is grand, in the jeepney along Ayala when suddenly he dialed using his right pinky. Hardly. Deeply. When he pulled he counted the things that came out with his pinky, snapped them like there are no people around, then dialed again. And again. A few moments after he stopped I thought I was safe from his gooey mini-missiles, he asked me what hotel we just passed-by. I told him the answer, and he thanked me with a pat on the shoulder, and a pat on the leg. I don't have anything against grandpas, but dude, he touched me with his booger infested hand.

Weirdness #3. Remember the story of the grandpa who wiped his booger infested hand on a dude's shirt and pants? That dude was wearing pink. And most people on that day were wearing pink, except for Jollibee, grandpa, and dude's girlfriend.

Weirdness #4. Cebu Pacific is brilliant in marketing, now they are calling their promo "Zero Fare". Yeah, for most of us it's like "Wow! Like the seats are absolutely free dude!" But dude, the difference between a tax-pumped Zero fare and tax-pumped Piso fare is literally a Piso. Say the round trip flight to Neverland is P3,406.35 in Piso fare promo, the zero fare value is P3,405.35. A Piso. It's still an effective marketing strategy though. How? Everyone's talking about it, and their website almost died.

Weirdness #5. I was planning to buy the gray-orange Nike Free that looked like my citrus-apple theme today, but when I tried it on, my wide feet did not like it. It was NOT comfortable. The stitch-folds inside the shoe were rubbing against my inflamed foot phalange (try saying that three times). I bought the black one instead.

Shoeses

2008-05-14T12:49:00.008+08:00

One of my favorite hobbies is malling, and one of my favorite sub-hobbies under malling is shoe-watching. Gawking at those expensive Nike and Adidas shoes makes me feel good, but not good enough for me to shell out cash to buy a pair. They're expensive and I'm kuripot, I only buy during mallwide discount sales, which happens every August at SM North.

But then last week, Nike released this one.

OMFG! It's gray! And orange! And it's a Nike Free! And I haven't bought a pair of rubber shoes in 2 years.

I want to have it. I have to have it. I am in love with a pair of shoes. Unfortunately for me, it's P4500.

Sigh.

I hate myself for always having a reason not to buy something I would love to have.

Wait, I still have my Sodexho GCs...

Not a Good First Time

2008-05-12T22:46:00.006+08:00

My dad left for Shanghai this morning to attend a training for a week. It was his first time to fly out of the country.

Sadly..

China was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the middle of the country. It was so strong tremors were felt up to the far east, in Shanghai.

Good thing there's wikipedia, it said the quake struck at 2:30pm, my dad touched down at around 5:30pm. Yeah, for sure he's safe.

WFH

2008-05-04T23:14:00.007+08:00

I'll be working here at home every monday starting tomorrow. Statistically per week, it's -2 god-damned MRT rides, -1 lunch, -3 snacks, and minus the Monday blues in the office forevah! Hell yeah! That's less Makati fat, less MRT crap and a little more peso savings.

That's cool of course. Especially if your company's transferring to McKinley Hill where the traditional way of the Pinoy commute, and Jalibi, do not exist.

But there are downsides. My chair's a plastic stool. Backache! And my mom's noisy. Earache!

See you starting Tuesdays!

I Feel the Blues Right Now

2008-04-28T20:07:00.006+08:00

Reasons?

Work Relocation. I have been working here in Makati for 4 years when all of a sudden we are transferring to somewhere further, in the middle of nowhere, away from civilization. More on this later.

I'm too lazy to finish my pending documents. Who doesn't?

I want an HP Mini-note but.. they're not offering it to us HP employees with uber-discounts yet.

I want a Canon EOS 450D but.. I'm not comfortable to shell out cash of that amount yet. And I haven't figured out what lens is best for me.

MRT still sucks. Of course. There's no hope in that.

US Dollar is still worth 40~ pesos. I feel terribly poor.

The Office Season Finale on May 15. Near! Have to wait long months before they air season 5.

It's Monday right now. Monday sucks. I am glad I'll start working from home every Monday starting next week.

It's April and it's raining. Is it supposed to rain on April?

Quarter-Life crisis. I've already discussed this a few posts ago.

I have three new cystic acnes. Gross! One on my nose. Two on my left cheek. They showed up when the rest of my face was starting to be smooth again. Perfect!

My cavity-rich right molar tooth aches. I'm too lazy to go to the dentith.

I'm getting more and more bloated. And I'm too lazy to go on a diet, even go to the gym.

My next trip to the beach is still weeks from now. sigh.

I wish I had less responsibilities in life. groan.

I want to emo. Tara emo tayo!

Finally. Tinimbang ako, sumobra, pero may kulang pa rin e. Labo no? Pero astig.

Good thing I stumbled upon this, 10 Things You Can Do to Cheer Yourself Up, it kinda helps.

Si Bubu 25 na..

2008-04-23T23:19:00.009+08:00

Nalulungkot ako hindi mo nagustuhan yung regalo ko na original Pretty Woman VCD. Hindi mo ba naisip na yang movie na yan ay starring A-list Hollywood celebrities Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Original pa yan hindi magagalit sa tin si Bong Revilla. O si Edu na ba? Pinili ko yan kasi woman ka na, at pretty pa rin. Kaya Pretty Woman (Naks)! Actually, walang stock yung SM ng original VCD nung pelikula ni Marian at Richard.

Sabi mo pa nga wala man lang effort. Hindi ko na talaga binalot kasi ayaw ko takpan yung pretty face ni Julia Roberts, at Earth Day kahapon kelangan magtipid ng papel. At saka tinanggal ko naman yung price tag ah.

Despite that, the best pa rin ang ngiti mo. Nakakahawa. Nakakawala ng pagod. Nakaka-inlove.

Pero naisahan pa rin kita. Hindi pa rin kumukupas ang aking one-of-a-kind surprise-the-bubu talent. Nasorpresa pa rin kita maski ang ibibigay ko sa yo ay yung gusto mo.

Maligayang Bati sa iyo! Masaya ako't nakasama kita ngayon sa kaarawan mo, ang layo mo kasi sa kin last year. Mahal na mahal ko ang Bubu ko!

Link: Pics!

Hilod

2008-04-14T10:16:00.003+08:00

Hilarious. More pics here.

The Canon EOS 450D has landed

2008-04-10T22:28:00.003+08:00

It retails for 39k body only, and 42k kit at Canon stores, and 35k at Hidalgo.

Shout out to my genuinely creative, genuinely passionate, and genuinely dollar-rich friends onsite in Europe right now: this is it guys!

A Simple Little Problem

2008-04-08T22:00:00.005+08:00

I have a simple little problem and I hope you will help me out.

Our team summer outing to Puerto Galera is scheduled on April 11-13. I really want to come because I haven't been there yet, and I wasn't able to come to our HP summer outing last March. But on April 12, my mom is celebrating her 50th birthday, her golden anniversary. We planned to hold a little celebration here at home, and we invited a few of our relatives to come over. With that I chose not to go to Puerto.

But there was a change of plan. An uncle came home from Saudi last week, and now he is holding an overnight swimming get together at Pansol, his treat, on Saturday April 12, on my mom's birthday. The people we invited are going there, including my family, and they will be celebrating his return and not my mom's birthday.

Should I go to a place I would want to go but won't be able to be with my Mom who is turning 50 but will be celebrating something else and not her birthday? Or should I go to a family reunion I don't want to go to with my family and my Mom who is turning 50 but will be celebrating something else and not her birthday?

My mom said she would want me to go Puerto. What about you?

Update: That was fast, I now have a solution. I will go to Puerto and celebrate her birthday some other day. Mom likes it that way too. Thanks everyone for such wonderful advises!

The HP Mini-Note is Released

2008-04-08T14:46:00.011+08:00

I'm a fan of ultra mobile PCs, I think they're cute and cool and sexy. Sure I would want to bring my digital life everywhere I go for just 3 pounds off my back. But I don't think I'll get one for myself yet because we are in the Philippines and I commute (you know what I mean), I hate carrying a laptop around, I think wifi cards are expensive per minute, and I go to Starbucks only because of friends.

Until HP releases the Mini-note.

Cool!

It's really the first time I really felt I really want to have one of these ultra-portables. Really. Probably because of the discount I'll possibly get. It's from HP!

Then again, it's a nice addition to the ever growing uber-portable notebook family, making everyone have wider options on which to buy. Technology nowadays is really exciting!

Links: LaptopMag, Notebooks.com, PCMag

The Worst Time to Watch Johnny Depp

2008-04-07T06:32:00.009+08:00

So I just watched Sweeney Todd last night when I am scheduled to go to a barber today. Talk about wrong timing eh? Now I am little bit worried about two things: shiny silver razors as sharp as samurai katanas, and a duet with my barber, the latter being the queasier and cheesier of the two.

Funny thing is, there's a Julie's Bakeshop near the barbershop. Wonder if they sell meat pies. mmmm.. flesh meat!

Speaking of Quarters

2008-04-02T00:00:00.001+08:00

How time passes and it was a busy busy busy first quarter for me and boy, have I nothing more to blog about but lists and lists and lists. The first month after the first quarter is exciting for me, and also the month after that, and from now on actually, and yeah, here's yet another list of stuff why April is exciting for me that keeps me preoccupied and smiling.

Post-grad hangover. Our home is changing, evolving, the domestic hype of my siblings' graduation hasn't faded yet. We have two happy bums at home who have parties all throughout this week, and I am so envious with their freedom. I've got to push them find work so that I can retire. By the way, there's a job fair at Trinoma on April 3-4 for those of you who are interested.

Krispy Kreme. A new store opened near our office. A nocturnal teammate of mine seemingly won a dozen donuts per week this month. I've been gobbling down their original-glazed donuts since Monday.

Canon 450D Release. Finally I'll be able to know its retail price here in the Philippines. This needs to be released as soon as possible, so that price will drop as soon as possible.

The Office is coming back. The Office US is one of the best TV shows ever written in my opinion. I waited too long for new Jim Halpert pranks, Dwight Schrute survival tips and Michael Scott quotable quotes. Damned writers strike!

Am I the only The Office uber-fan here in the Philippines? My friend Ian went to the US and is going back next week. You know what I asked him to buy for me? Not gadgets, but DVDs, this one and this one. Yeah, uber-fan indeed.

Birthday of my favorite cousin Tubol on the 5th. Yup. That's what everyone, including himself, calls him. I can't wait for our counter-strike bonding like we used to do when weren't worrying about the world yet.

Last but not the least, April is the birthday month of the girls I love the most.

Birthday of my Mom on the 12th. Her 50th. She's now golden but still young.

Birthday of the Bubu on the 23rd. Her 25th. She's now silver, but still Bubu.

Yeah. Life is still beautiful no matter what.

I think I'm suffering from Quarter-Life Crisis

2008-03-31T23:49:00.007+08:00

* feeling "not good enough" because one can't find a job that is at one's academic/intellectual level - bummer.
* frustration with relationships, the working world, and finding a suitable job or career - yebah!
* confusion of identity - no longer as confident as before.
* insecurity regarding the near future - yeah. i don't see why so.
* insecurity concerning long-term plans, life goals - yeah. as days and days go by, my dreams seem more and more impossible to reach.
* insecurity regarding present accomplishments - i believe i don't have to, but i do.
* re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships - for bubu, not at all, but for others.. hmm...
* disappointment with one's job - i want to become a cast member on whose line is it anyway.
* nostalgia for university, college, high school or elementary school life - yeah. but only college.
* tendency to hold stronger opinions - yeah. like there are a lot of posers out there, and natalie portman is hotter than scarlett johansson.
* boredom with social interactions - i just want to lie down.
* loss of closeness to high school and college friends - oohhh.. interesting.
* financially-rooted stress (overwhelming college loans, unanticipatedly high cost of living, etc.) - yeah. i don't why.
* loneliness - sort of.
* desire to have children - oopps.. not yet!
* a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you - are they?

That makes 14 out of 16. I definitely have quarter-life crisis. That explains everything. For my agemates, do you have quarter-life crisis? Stop pretending, I'm sure you do.

Note: List taken from Wikipedia.

This is the Day

2008-03-27T00:23:00.004+08:00

For my parents. It's the day all their kids are now college graduates. They are proud of us.

For my siblings. It's the day they are now college graduates. They are proud of themselves.

For myself. Ngayon masasabi ko ng nakapagpatapos ako. Not once, but twice. Yeah, I'm proud.

Today is the best day of our lives, but as Homer Simpson puts it, the best day of our lives so far. Today is the Macats day.

More on this later. For now, we'll celebrate!

B is 4 Bitin

2008-03-23T13:43:00.012+08:00

This post is a couple of weeks late but last week was kinda holy and I spent my time reflecting.. in front of the mirror as this is another long vacation and I was less stressed and my pimples are disappearing one by one. Yay!

So how did our 4 day vacation in Bohol go? 4 words: 4 days aren't enough. Here are 4 reasons why 4 days are not enough.

Mother Nature screwed up. I was expecting unreliable Cebu Pacific to screw up but it didn't. I was expecting saturated online reservation asiatravel.com to screw up but it didn't. It is March and it is summer and I did not expect Mother Nature to screw up, but it did. It was sunny when we came to Bohol, but when we arrived at Balicasag, it rained. It was sunny when we left the hotel on Day 3, but when we arrived at Chocolate Hills, it rained. And it was sunny sunny sunny at the beach on our last day. Damned tropical unpredictability!

One day is not enough to explore the countryside. The 8-hour Mang-Juan-tour-package only consisted of these more famous spots: chocolate hills, man-made forest, butterfly land, hanging bridge, loboc river cruise, tarsier, python sanctuary, baclayon church and blood compact site, but Bohol has a lot more to offer. When we go back here, we will definitely not miss watching the whales, and have a romantic Bohol Bee Farm dinner at sunset.

Alona Beach in Panglao is unexpectedly SO beautiful. Now I know why they often compare Panglao's white sand with Boracay - it is as white, as fine, and as beautiful as that of Bora's, if not, even better. We wanted to extend our stay but it won't be practical for us because we are traveling with piso fare.

4 days are not enough. Recursively, it is a valid reason why 4 days are not enough. And I want more time at the beach because I am not tan enough!

I once said that a lovely place deserves a lot of lovely photos. Well.. But you'll appreciate Bohol more if you go there yourself. Among the places that I have already visited, I love Bohol the most and thus easily tops the list of where I wish to return.

Note: I will put links on these photos to our multiply albums once the uploads are finished.

B is for Bohol. B is for Tarsier.

2008-03-03T13:29:00.012+08:00

Hindi ko namalayan this weekend na pala Bohol namin. Ang bilis talaga ng panahon lalo na pag sobrang busy, nakakapagod nga lang. Excited na ko! Bakit ako excited?

Sobrang excited na ko makakita ng tarsier. Sabi kasi nila tarsier LANG daw makikita sa Bohol. San ka ba makakakita ng unggoy na kasya sa daliri mo. Ang lupet diba? Bale 5-digits ang gagastusin namin para lang makakita ng tarsier.

NOT!

Seriously, the tarsier is not my real reason kung bakit gusto ko magpunta ng Bohol at kung bakit ako excited. It does not start with the letter B, at marami namang tarsier dyan sa tabi-tabi. Punta ka lang sa multinational, makakakita ka ng ilan, yung iba nakashades pa.

Here are my real reasons kung bakit ako excited sa Bohol.

Bakasyon. Since november pa ko active, mula nung paguwi ng aking Bubuds. Naging uber-busy na talaga ako nung february at dahil dun bumigay katawan ko last week at nagkasakit nang dahil sa pagod at stress. Kelangan ko na talaga magbakasyon ulet.

Beach. I love the beach! I love the smell of the sea, the sand, the breeze, the sun. Going to the beach always makes me thrilled.

Burn. sa face. Kelangan ko na rin talaga to, ang flawful na kasi ng mukha ko. Kaya pogi ako nung college kasi mabilis mapalitan dead cells ko sa face ng new cells dahil sa nakakababad ako palagi sa araw. Oh, and I like myself dark. You know, pag dark ako kelangan ko na lang tumangkad para makasali ako sa cliched-hunks club. har har!

Bohol. It's the world famous Bohol! Hindi pa kami nakakapunta dito, kaya mas exciting.

Balicasag Island. Isa lang syang maliit na isla, 30-minute away by boat galing Panglao. It's basically a white sand beach with seemingly no ends, dahil sa kanyang bilog na hugis. At dahil malayo sya sa kabihasnan, meron kaya signal ng smart dun?

Bohol Beach Club. Ang ganda daw dito sabi ng friends ko, maraming starfish.

Burol. Na Brown. Na Bilog. Sikat yan sa buong Earth. Sino ba hindi excited makapunta sa isang lugar na nakita lang nating nakadrowing sa aklat na hekasi nung tayo'y nasa grade 4?

Bubu. Siyempre, kasama ko ang aking Bubu.

Kitams. Walang tarsier sa list. But as a tourist living in a cliche-infested world there's no way I will miss taking my picture with the diminutive primate that clueless people think Bohol is only about.

Retro

2008-02-28T15:03:00.002+08:00

Tingnan mo naman yan, nakakatuwa. Ang simple simple at ang saya saya ng buhay noon nung ako'y eschoodante pa lamang at hindi pa nagbabayad ng tax. Ang sexy ko pa noon. Haha!

The Train Metaphor

2008-02-23T14:14:00.009+08:00

“Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train - Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you’re just sitting still?” - Jean Paul Getty

I'd like to comment on this quote posted by my friend Aldous, because I work for a large company, and I've been riding the worst train system in the world daily for almost 5 years.

I've always disliked corporate metaphors, especially "milestones" and that lame "don't burn bridges" thing. I think of them as an established tactical political statements used by corporate top brass and even the tragic low-life employees such as myself to impress. We can always use them for office fun though. This quote is no exception but I'd like to try to relate myself, in metaphors.

How fast the train goes is not my concern, and I don't care about how good it looks, how cool it is, how hi-tech it is, how many people it can carry and how many trains it derailed. I rode the train because of one thing, to get to my destination. And I am a lazy person so I prefer sitting still. It's tiring to do other stuff in a moving train other than sitting still, and that includes pondering how fast I am going.

What's more important to me is the ride. I'd like to enjoy life at present, and I'm glad that I am actually enjoying my ride right now. It's one of the best things that can happen to a person who just got out of the worst train in the world. This time, I am not talking about the MRT.

So what's the destination you ask me? Retirement. hehehe.

What the hell were they thinking

2008-02-20T17:21:00.002+08:00

I used to think Bench advertising is good, until now. I don't know what you think, but for me this is just.. inappropriate.

Holy Beets!

2008-02-18T13:40:00.006+08:00

How can I NOT notice that!? It has been quite a while!

I just realized right now that I know somebody who think and act like Michael Scott. But worse.

I'm not as good as Jim Halpert when it comes to dealing with idiots and show-offs, so everytime this person's around, it is really hard. That's what she said.

Watch The Office! Why on earth would you watch the Office? THAT is an excellent question. Thank you for asking.
1) Fact. It's one of my favorite shows ever.
2) Fact. Dwight Schrute is the best beet farmer that you will ever know.
3) I learn a lot from Kevin.
4) So that you'll know what I mean.

Number 1

2008-02-17T16:25:00.004+08:00

We won! For the first time. And last time. By one point! Versus another winless team! Hence the Number 1! Go Boleros! haha!

It was fun! And hilarious! Now that our basketball tournament is over, I finally got back my Saturdays. Bad news though (for me at least): I apparently didn't lose any pounds because I can still construct a tangent line off the shadow of my mid-section, and I still have to work next sunday. Damned dictionary-managed tablespaces!

I miss my laid-back-literally weekends.

G-A-S-T-O-S

2008-02-14T11:01:00.007+08:00

Ang dami ko na ngang ginagawa, ang dami ko pang gastos ngayon.

Graduation ng mga kapatid ko. Malamang ako sasagot nung graduation fee. Malamang ako rin sasagot nung pang-grad pic. Malamang ako rin sasagot nung handa. Hooray for the kuya!

Apat na araw sa Bohol. Gastos yan for sure. But, for sure, we won't regret it! I just hope cebu pacific, asiatravel.com, and mother nature don't screw up and spoil everything.

Shopping. Kaka-sale lang sa SM last week kaya namili ako ng polo. At shades. At bagong mini-bag. At kinukulit ako ng nanay ko na bumili na ko ng bago kong brip, medyas, sapatos, t-shirt, at kung ano ano pa.

Tulips. Balemtayms na naman. Mahal ang tulips. Girls, may difference ba sa inyo ang tulips sa roses sa gumamela? There's the price of course, but they're all products of plant pollination for me.

Overtime. Not really an actual expense, kaso hindi pa nadagdag sa sweldo ko ngayong Feb yung nifile kong overtime since December. Kung nacredit lang yun e di sana mas comfortable akong magbayad ng utang ngayon.

Statement of Account. This is it, the epitome of gastos. Kakarating lang ng statement ko this week, I owe HSBC a five-digit amount. Sigh. Oh by the way, ngayon ko lang nalaman na ang HSBC ay based Hong Kong at Shanghai. Haha.

Update: It's nice to pay bills online via bpiexpressonline if and only if I can access it with my laptop! How come my teammates can access it while I can't!?

Sabi nga nila pana-panahon lang yan. But anyway, happy belemtayms to all!

Luna-Venus-Jupiter Convergence

2008-02-11T11:30:00.001+08:00

best viewed large on my flickr.

took this with a point and shoot A620 exactly a week ago at about 5am. at times like this, i wish i had an SLR with an uber-zoom lens. i used to like astronomy you know. sigh.

more details about the convergence on the NASA website.

My iPod Calendar is Pointy

2008-01-31T14:36:00.000+08:00

Like the one above, which is obviously not mine, but anyway..

So my tuesday and thursday evenings are for jogging with Da Bubu, wednesday evenings are for basketball with friends, sabadays until March are for the HP basketball tournament (though we are hopeless in getting wins, I am hopeful in losing pounds), 2nd week of February is for UP fair, there's balemtayms day of course, Feb 8 and 22 is for my first ever Oracle Knowledge Sharing (aka Training) for my younger teammates, March 8-11 is for Bohol, last week of March is for my siblings graduations (finally!), and summer is for outings. Yay!

I haven't joined an HP club yet, but look at that schedule. At least I'm home this year.

Bohol: Prelude

2008-01-29T17:54:00.001+08:00

As of writing this post we already have hotel accommodations for 4 days, 1st day on Balicasag Island, the remaining days in Bohol Beach Club. The only problem I have left is the countryside tour. We still have more than a month to prepare so I guess there's no reason to cram.

Unfortunately for me I'm going to miss a couple of events because of the Bohol trip: the HP ITO offsite and the Incubus concert.

Because of that we should make this vacation way better than expected. But I think we don't have to worry about the great expectations, I hear Bohol is paradise. Judging from a flickr search, I'll say it really is a beautiful place. I can't wait for our Bohol trip!