Thursday, May 29, 2008

Wala kang load?


Eto pa. Isa pang sign ng kahirapan sa Pilipinas: gagawin ang lahat para lang magkaload!



Just received this message from 09156006665 yesterday:

"hon d2 ka nalang reply or call asap mahalaga sasabihen ko sayo send ka load 100pesos last txt na e2"


First, no one's calling me "hon" and I don't address anyone that way either, so I knew right away that this is a scam. Desperate, cheap and pathetic scam.

Dati, libo libo ang nananakaw ng mga text scammers na ito. Ngayon, 100pesos na lang. Tsk tsk!

Nasira araw ko...amf!


The Lakbayan tag


After quite some time, someone tagged me again. Dakilang Bayani thought I travel a lot but based from Lakbayan, I should explore more of the Philippines' 7000+ islands. I got a failing mark of D! Ouch!

The link is already going around our office, so I'm passing this tag to everyone! Cheers!
___________________________________________________________________

Show me how much of the Philippines have you travelled &add your link here…
1) Mind bubbles, 2) May, 3) VANITY KIT 4) SOMETHING PURPLE,5.) A DETOUR, 6) Big Eyed Gal, 7) The Chronic Shopper,8) Free IT and Blogger's EBook, 9) Ness 10) Mica11) Bernadeth 12. Bernisaac 13. Expressions and Thoughts14. Our Family Story 15. Mumsified 16. J-B-L-O-G-G-E-D17. Dakilang Islander 18. Ely



My Lakbayan grade is D!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.


Check it out at Lakbayan - created by Eugene Villar.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Drama

I takes a lot of courage.



Aaminin ko na.










Hindi ko ikahihiya.












Papanoorin namin ang Caregiver bukas!!!


I am not a Sharon fan, but when I've heard she's doing Caregiver, I thought I should watch it. When I saw the trailer, I know I should really go and watch it.

My sister is also a caregiver.

When she took a vacation three years ago, I remember having this conversation with her:

Me: "Ayoko mag-work dito sa Pilipinas. Mag-aabroad na lang din ako. Mahirap ba?"

My sister, thinking that I was referring to her job goes, "Mahirap. Klangan mahabang pasensya. Matanda aalagaan mo, masungit, mumura-murahin ka. Paiba-iba takbo ng isip. Lahat may schedule; pag-inom ng gamot, pagkain...dapat marunong ka din magluto, at hindi basta-bastang pagkain lang niluluto mo kasi maselan sila. Mahirap maging caregiver..."

Out of nowhere I replied, "At bat naman kasi ako magki-caregiver?"

That left her speechless.

Later on I was pondering on what I have said. She must have been hurt with my words. I mean, that time, I was graduating from college. Fresh and still confident about getting what I want once I face the real world.

"At bat naman kasi ako magki-caregiver?" (Kasi nga college graduate na ako!) A big insult from me. And I want to tell her how sorry I am.

See, my sister graduated from law school. She took the bar exam once but failed. She got married two years later, and just like the hundreds and thousands and millions of OFW's out there, she made that very hard decision of leaving her family and take care of strangers instead of her then two-year old daughter.


That's one, huge sacrifice.




I'd surely be moved by the movie. We'll be bringing packs of Joy, 2 plies, so no worries. :)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

the Zambales misadventure


RC, Mae, Joy and I were so excited for our Zambales trip. We’ve been preparing for it for almost a month. Food, drinks, cameras, tents… they’re all set. All we need is to get there and make the most of our last summer outing for this year.


It was a Saturday morning after work, we first feasted on Mae’s home made spaghetti, got inside RC’s car and were so ready to go. There’s a slight problem though. Looks like it’s going to rain. God, no! Pleaze…Not this time!

I might have dozed off, I didn’t realize we’re already in Pampanga and the worst thing is already happening. It’s raining! I felt so upset especially when Joy told me about the typhoon. And it’s going to our destination too.

I was still hoping that it would stop. To divert our frustrations, we made fun of the “how to get there” instructions that we printed out of the resort’s website where we’re headed. (double click to enlarge na lang, hehe)


We arrived just on time. We hurried at the information counter and demanded for our room keys. The girl was handing us some money instead, the money we sent for our reservations! They’re closing the resort because of the bad weather! WTF!


Not to spoil the fun (more), we decided to check for resorts nearby while I was swearing non-stop and made a promise never to go back to that place again.

We found this resort somewhere in Subic.

Brownout. Can’t use the AC and no lights. We were provided candles, nagkaroon na lang kuryente madaling araw na. We thought the waves were not safe enough for swimming so we spent the night eating and playing cards inside our room, and lots of picture taking!

We were up early the next day. Sinulit na lang maligo sa beach.

If not because of the typhoon, we should have been to the famous Anawangin. Nanay Belen shared this tragic story about an incident happened at Anawangin before. Hmmm, maybe I should never think about going to that place anymore.


Friday, May 23, 2008

Me and my big ears


I was born with the nickname Al. My aunts chose to call me Al, after Al Tantay na sikat daw 20 something years ago. Growing up, my play mates use to call me "al-alya", an Ilocano word for ghost. I really had no problems with that.
Then they started calling me lapayagan because of my bigger than the normal size ears. Lapayagan is an Ilocano term used to call someone with "big ears". I thought that's synonymous to being ugly so I hated it when they tease me because of that.

As a teen, I've tried to hide them. Thanks to my theeek hair. I've been sporting a long hair ever since even with a "no proper haircut - no exam" policy back in high school. All just to hide my ears.

Two years ago my brother in law and I decided to get a hair cut. It was December and was freezing cold in Baguio, and out of nowhere we decided to go bald. My friends liked it. For some reasons, no one noticed my ultra big ears anymore.


Kaya ayun, kalbo ulit ako.


Thursday, May 22, 2008

The best David won

I had no plans to blog about this but I got a bit excited last week to see another perfect top 2 in American Idol. We had the best top 2 last 2005. Followed by a weird pair in 2006 then the weakest last year. This time America got it all right, so right that I didn't really care who's gonna win, David or David, they're both talented.

I thought David A.'s gonna win the voting though, based from the trend since day one, but if I could vote, I would have voted for David C. I think he's more ready than his very young competitor.

I noticed that Simon, so as the other two judges also wanted David C. to win. Simon has been trying to make him appear as the underdog by giving favorable comments for David A., that would gain David C. more sympathy votes, which he deserve, and he did. So the early favorite, I mean big, huge favorite David A. (looked like he) was robbed. Well, he's still young. A career is waiting. He doesn't need to win.

It's been another great season for American Idol.

For me the best part of the show last night was Carrie Underwood's number. She's my favorite Idol winner so far.
The worst part: The "I am brother, best friend forever..." by, uh... a Filipino. What a shame!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Masaya na ako sa pipty!


I've noticed, the Dollar-Peso exchange rate has gone up to Php43 = $1.00


Yehey! Sana bumalik ulit sa pipty!


I used to argue with my friend about this. Kasi daw pag tumaas ang halaga ng Piso, sisigla na ang economy ng Pilipinas.

Blasphemy!


Tag-hirap pa rin kahit bumaba pa yan hanggang 30. Nung tumaas ang value ng piso, tumaas din lahat ng presyo ng bilihin, pamasahe, at ayan may rice shortage pa!

I'm sure, kung meron man nakinabang, si Gloria lang at mga kalahi niya. Amf!!! Amf silang lahat!

Ngayon, ipinagdadasal ko na sana bumalik ulit sa ang palitan sa $50! Sigurado, sisigla din ako...


...sa pagbablog!



Cheers!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

I'm Back!


Revisiting Baguio...




The last time I went to Baguio with a group was in 1994. It was a class field trip.

Year 1998 when I decided to live in Baguio for 5 years, which was extended to 7, then 8, which became 8 years and 8 months.


I was supposed to go there during the flower festival last February but thinking about the over 1 million people na makakabanggaan ko sa daan, I changed my mind.


Two weeks ago, our team planned a trip…to
Baguio. We were there last Saturday-Sunday.

Too lazy to write, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.




















Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Where do the papers go?



This I understand:


This, I also understand:


But this, I don't understand:


(Sa bukid walang papel, tubig lang talaga, tubig!!! Hehehe) I don’t understand why we’re not supposed to throw toilet papers into the toilet bowl and just flush it! Where should the papers go?

I thought this is just an “only in the Philippines”, but my friend who’s been to other countries said he has seen the same messages abroad. I don't really look at the trash cans inside public restrooms and with signs like this, I won't dare to do so.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

My zero Photoshop skills.


Been planning to change my banner since last month. I've always been aiming for an orange hued image before but after playing with the colors, i got that green instead, which I'm changing now.

This time I'm getting back the orange.


I chose to work with this photo. It was taken from a hotel window in Puerto Galera last February. I thought it best fits the Water World concept that i was talking about here

And because I am still convinced that Photoshop is the most complicated software ever created, I relied with the oh-so-simple, user friendly picture editor that came with the scanner i bought back in 2004.

It's called Ulead Photo Express. Actually I wasn't aware that it was installed in my computer. I wasn't paying attention to the installer except for the next button since all I wanted is my scanner to start working. I just discovered the Ulead icon on my desktop later on.

It has been my "photoshop" since then, my tool in editing pictures, including the banners that I used in this blog.

Back to the banner, I started by cropping the original photo horizontally. Wanting to insert my pic, i resorted to cutting my face into two, took the right side and pasted it right here:

I chose the text because i like how it laid flat in the end.

Viewing it full screen, I realize it's kinda boring so i added the spotlight effect. My 3 year old nephew picked this when i asked him which among the three is the best:


I had a hard time creating a good contrast between my picture and the original image so i got rid of my photo eventually, I thought it's ruing the entire look anyway, I also changed the text, so here's the end result:


It didn't make wonders like Photoshop could, but good enough for my blog.

Cheers!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

One year ago, this blog was born...



Kaboom!!!

Woohoo! My blog just turned... one!

It's been a year.

Inspired by Honney, my officemate-blogger, I created this blog. By that time, the only blog I know is Friendster, which I use to update once in a blue moon.

Then I've heard of monetized blog. I never stopped bothering Honney since then.

My blog has been a shock absorber, a witness to my ludicrous personality, my confidante extraordinaire.

I'd like to express my gratitude to the following blog-o-personalities who kept and still helping me to keep this blog alive:

1. Alternati - A friend who's talent at writing is impeccable. Malou Fernandez and the Gucci gang members (who write) are a no-match! Sadly, that managerial position has been keeping him too busy to update his blog lately.

2. Honney - She has always been my guide at blogging. Our friendship is as old as my blog, for obvious reasons. Goodluck and congrats sa promotion! hehe.

3. Vince- One of the first comments here came from him. A religious adviser.

4. reyn - One of my first visitors. Thanks for the HTML lessons.

5. reynaelena - Wala ako masabi. hehe. Also one of the few na napadpad dito one year ago. My social-climbing mentor. Welcome home!!!

6. IvanHarry - Ang dakilang Lolo. Medyo busy na kaya hindi na nakakabisita.

7. Eilanna - Also one of my early blogosphere friends.

8. footiam - A fellow blogger from Malaysia who frequents my blog too.

9. pusa - The pretiest cat (of them all). Who shares the same passion at photography, got me so envious with her shots so I put up my own photoblog. Magkikita kami sa National Geographic someday. hehehe

10. dorkzter - Also one of my first readers. Oist update na!


Happy Birthday to my blog.
CHEERS!!!