First in the "Emergency" Room

After lunch today, I thought I was feeling sleepy. Turned out it was worse than that. My head began achin' again. Same thing happened yesterday. Asked Nikks to give me some of her magic potion, well, it's just white flower. I also took some Ponstan (Earl was kind enuff to ask Nikks for it).

Joyce advised me to use the "emergency" room (not sure how it's called). It's a meeting room converted into a room for those employees not feeling well. Mama Butch prepared the room for me. We arranged the bed, the fresh sheets, the fresh pillow, and the fresh blanket. I quickly took a nap. Could hear myself snorin'.

After one hour, I felt better. Checked my blood pressure to see if I need to see a doctor again. It was high but no cause for emergency. Went home around 8 and continued my sleep.

My Name Is Earl

If you haven't seen any episode of this very entertaining sitcom, then lemme tell you this, you better start episode 1 now.

Jason Lee (famous for his role in "Almost Famous") stars and produces this enlightening show. It's about a guy who was struck by a car after winning the lottery. In his hospital bed, he watched Carson Daly talking about karma in his own talk show. This inspired him to do good. He's created a list of all his wrongdoings and he tries his best to correct 'em.

Earl's brother, Randy (played by Ethan Suplee), helps him in his missions. He is so adorable in his role. Catalina is smokin' hot ;oP

I've watched an interview where Jason Lee told everyone that he had to gain weight in order to look the part.

It's about time that a teevee show makes you feel good after watching every episode. Hmmm... I miss "Touched by an Angel". Don't worry about not finishing an episode because each episode only lasts about twenty minoots ;oP I wish for more air time though. This is now one of my favorite sitcoms!!!

Movie Marathon

Been busy for weeks now. So this weekend, I thought of just relaxin. I spent it at the orphanage in QC. I haven't seen mom in weeks so I took a raincheck on the invitation of my SOLV brothers for a weekend in Batangas. Well, I was just in Batangas last weekend so that's otay.

Brought my laptop with me so I could watch my long list of movies:

Corpse Bride - I love the scene where the corpse bride turned into fluttering butterflies. I repeated it many times! B-E-A-utiful indeed.

Dukes of Hazzard - Love the outtakes. Knoxville and Scott were quite alright for their roles. "Jackass" was on my mind the whole time they played the tricks. I like Uncle Jesse's character.

The Fog - I miss Selma Blair so it's nice to see her again here, but her talent wasn't maximized. Superman Tom Welling was otay, but I'm afraid he was only used in the film as an eye candy. And to quote Mr. Simon Cowell, "Appalling!" Don't bother watching this sequel. Eeekkkk!

Saw II - Hmm, I was expecting more gore. I failed to see the first one though. The ending was kinda unexpected. While watching the film, I kept thinking where I last saw this hot chick... *light bulb flashing* She's Dr. Bryce in Smallville!!!

Monster - Very intense. A must-see!

Let's Talk About...

My Friday night is normally spent perfecting my singing prowess (bleh!), dining out, shopping, watching movies, or just plain drinking with friends. Last night was no different.

For starters, we had the usual videoke session. Forgot the songlist so we had difficulty singing our favorite songs. Not too many people sang too.

For some strange reason, people were not getting high scores. Earl scored high with the ladies in his version of "I Will Always Stay In Love With You". He got 91. Got the same score in my version of "A Long, Long Time Ago". Of course, face-off ensued. Jane and Ning picked "Trip" by Parokya ni Edgar. Earl told me to go first. I thought, "I was doomed!". Not really a fan of the band. When I heard the first few notes, I thought, "whaddyaknow, it's the Tagalog version of Creep!" Got 81. Then it was Earl's turn. He got 80. Teehee...

Earl sang his highest for the night, "Baby, Come to Me". He got 95. We all clapped at this achievement ;oP Before having our dinner, I sang "If You Asked Me To" and got 96. I was happy with that.

Had dinner at our office pantry. We covered from relationships, love, and sex, to stuff we used to eat when we were kids (this got Beng bored). Teehee...

My First Cigar

Asked Earl to accompany me to LKG 'cause I was cravin' for Gudang. It's been awhile since I last smoked this cigarette from Indonesia. When we checked out LKG, the stall where I used to buy this cigarette was nowhere to be found. Bummer!

Earl suggested to check out PBCom. He's pretty sure we can get some there. Sure enuff we were able to buy some. The saleslady was pretty friendly too. Teased her for a kiss 'cause it's my "birthday" ;oP

Thought of trying out a cigar for the first time. There were many flavors to choose from. Asked Earl what brand to try out. He suggested Hav-a-Tampa. He got the sweet (smells like choco) and I got vanilla.

When we got back to Standard Chartered, we lit our cigars. It took awhile for us to finish it. Sweet!

Back to work. Got a message from Arlyn that she's having her break at Brother's. Kept her company until she rode back to her apartment.

Illustration Friday: Cats

This is my first Illo: Friday submission in a very long time. I created this artwork more than a decade ago, using only a mouse and an old version of Microsoft Windows Paint. An article in Times Magazine about "The Lion King" was an inspiration for this artwork. I love that film and it never fails to make me cry when Mufasa died.

Let's All Drink Asahi!!!

Imagine 6 cans of cold beer, 2 mugs (you can enjoy with your buddy), and someone... errr... sumpthin opening your beer for you and pouring in into your mug perfectly? Well, imagine no' more 'cause it's FINALLY here! The best thing is, you can get it for free. Yay! All you need to do is to collect 36 seals found on specially marked Asahi beers. Ain't that easy?

Uhm, Earl buddy, how many Asahi beers can you consume in your 1 1/2-month stay in Japan?

What Were They Thinking???

Thanks, Beng, for sending me this.

I'll Miss You, Chelita

Two nights ago, my angels (Chel, Cathy, Pasaway, and Arlyn) had dinner with me at my place. After a hard day's work, I went home and quickly prepared our meal. I fried some leftover rice. Then I cooked our main dish, "Ampalaya con Knottydon" ;oP I think I must have put too much agua but my friends told me it's delicious. Arlyn brought also some menudo and pesto that she cooked. It was a feast. Cathy bought some chips and soda. The salted egg that Chel and Shawie bought was bad so we didn't eat it anymore.

Then the singing began. Pasaway sang most of her favorites, "My Heart Will Go On" (got a 90 there), "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal", and "If I Ain't Got You". Cathy sang "Power of Two" and a Bamboo hit. Chel sang "From a Distance".

Arlyn and Pasaway left around 2. Chelita and Cathy slept over.

Chel is flying to Australia this Saturday. I'll miss her company =o(

Bukayo, Anyone?

During lunchtime yesterday, Noel saw some bukayo (grated coconut cooked with sugar) on our pantry table. He told me about his childhood days when he used to eat bukayo with rice. I said, "what?" I really couldn't believe it. I wasn't aware that bucayo can be a good viand.

A few minoots later, Randy and Earl joined us. Randy, too, shared his experience in the province where he also used to eat bucayo for viand. Sometimes, he had salt with rice too or mangoes or bananas. Sumpthin that I haven't tried yet.

Randy mentioned that he's from Rizal. I asked about my birthplace. He informed me that "Pasig, Rizal" is now "Pasig City". My jaw dropped. "Whaaaat?!!!!" It's an interesting day indeed.

Before we finished our chit-chat, Bimbo saw the bucayo and exclaimed, "I used to have this with rice!"

I rest my case ;oP

Dinner with Lyndoh

Met my highschool mate, Lyndoh, at Starbucks last night. He's bought me some goodies from London. He got me a nice.. lemme make sure I got this right... FCUK shirt. I hope it fits though. Teehee. Along with the shirt, I got three wicked headbands for my dreadies ;oP

We proceeded to Greenbelt 3 for our dinner. Along the way, we caught up. It's been three years since I last saw my best buddy.

Had dinner at DiMarks, an Italian resto. We had pizzas and pasta. He also made me try a drink he has tried in London--Sambuca. We had straws and we sipped the flamed drink straight up. According to a website I visited, there are three ways to drink it:

Boring way - dilute with water and drink
Traditional way - chew 2 coffee beans, light the drink, put it out, and drink
Wicked way - take the drink but don't swallow yet, wipe your lips (make sure your lips are not wet), tilt your head back, have someone light the sambuca inside your mouth, wait until you feel it burning, close your mouth, shake it around, and swallow

Now which way would you like to do it?

Calling Out All Babe Lovers!!!

This is so adorable. These are speakers you can connect to your puters, laptops, iPods, etc. One thing I love about this is the curly tail. You can adjust volume with it!!!



Wanna get one? Click here.

You Made Us Proud, Pacman!

It's 8 o'clock in the morning and I woke up to Candy's requesting everyone to wake up. Forced myself to go back to slumber. Only had 4 hours of sleep, for Pete's sake!!! And so when I opened my eyes again, it's already 9 and I was alone in the room. Called Beng and asked where they were. I brushed my teeth and had brekky. Well, what's left of Nikks' breakfast that is. I had a super bland ham & cheese sandwich. Didn't know that I still had to request for mayo and catsup to go with my sandwich. Bummer! Jun & Mike played billiards and the ladies played pingpong.


Later on, we swam in the pool again. Some Koreans were checking out the shell items being sold and one Korean guy was having his pedicure. These guys were here for the wakeboarding services that the resort offers. In fact, we're pretty sure that that's the reason why the group of BJ was here too.


We (minus Tabel) checked out the beach. According to a big signpost, it's the South China Sea. Unfortunately, it was still low tide so we had to walk a mile before we found a suitable place for swimming. We found a few starfishes (remembered Zambales) too.


Around noon, we decided to walk back. Manny Pacquiao was scheduled to have his rematch with Erik Morales in a little while. While walking on the dark sand, we noticed some movements. These bluish crablets were walking in groups. 'twas amazing to watch.


While waiting for the rematch, we watched some guys wakeboarding. Tim Cone was good. Geoff fell many times. The Koreans were pretty good. I wanted to try it though. Maybe next time.


The main event that Filipinos have been waiting for started around 1. When the Philippine national anthem was sung, tears rolled down the face of Manny. An ole-looking Jon Secada sang both Mexican and US national anthems. Honestly, at first I rooted for Morales. But when I saw how determined Pacquaio was to win this rematch, my heart went out to him.

We prevented ourselves from reading text messages to avoid spoilers. Some people just don't have enuff courtesy of letting others enjoy the element of surprise.

Our welcome drinks that were supposed to be given last night were delivered to us this afternoon too. I also ordered adobong pusit but it ain't good. Bleh!

We all jumped for joy when his battle ended on the 10th round. Yahoo!!!


Had our photos taken before leaving the resort.

On our way home, we saw 2 fights on separate occasions. One involved a group of men and the other was two kids throwing punch at each other. Tsk! tsk! tsk!

We had our uber late lunch at ChowKing in Tagaytay. I had noodles, boneless bangus, and kangkong with bagoong. Bought some pasalubong before heading back to Makati.

Reached Cityland around 7:30. "All By Myself" was being played on the radio when I left Tabel all alone. How appropriate!

Heard mass at Don Bosco. Was tearful when "Offer My Life" was sung.

Gave Arlyn my pasalubong after mass.

First Tan in 2006

Around 3, I met my friends (Candy, Jun, and Tabel) at Waltermart beside my condo. We're tasked to do the grocery. We checked out first the winery section. Since it's our first out-of-town gimmick for 2006, we thought of not getting another Emperador brandy. If you've been reading my posts lately, you'd remember that we've had this brandy for 2 consecutive Fridays already. We got a Fundador this time. Jun asked the stockperson for the cost of this imported brandy. He said, "345 pesos". We compared the price of the local one and guess how much it is... "61". We guffawed at this. In short, we got the local brandy.

Continued our grocery. We bought chips, nuts, canned sisig (for pulutan), water, and plastic utensils & plates. We thought of our breakfast for Sunday so we headed to the bread section. Candy made a remark that "Gardenia tastes bland" so we got "Real Good" instead. Apparently, one stockperson overheard Candy's comment. He approached our friend and interviewed her. He also asked her mobile number, address, and additional comments. On the side, we teased Candy like highschool students ;oP

Around 4, we're done with our grocery. I went back home to get some plastic cups, pitcher, and a leftover Emperador brandy. We proceeded to the office to fetch the rest of our barkada: Mike, Beng, and Nikks. Uhm... Earl was supposed to join us BUT he backed out at the last minute due to ... *rolling my eyes now* anyhoo.

Tabel had her van radio tuned in to my super favorite station, 96.3. As expected, we sang along on most of the songs... even the station identification.


First thing to do was to have some dinner in Tagaytay. We passed by some resto offering views of Taal. This place called "La Trobada" caught our fancy. We had our pictures taken before having our dinner, composed of Bulalo (a must-try) and fried tawilis. Two guys entertained us with their fancy guitar playing. We sang along too. We're a cool bunch, eh?

Second item on the itinerary was to find a resort in Batangas. We tried first some unknown resorts. They were too jologs for us. We found closed resorts. We reached dead ends. That scared the wits out of everyone. Teehee...

Checked out "Munting Buhangin" but they don't have tv in any of their cottages. I bought my MagicSing, y'know, and we plan to watch Pacquiao's fight tomorrow. It's really important to have teevee. The walk back from the reception was hell (poorly lit and too steep). How could they let their customers suffer?!!!

We were amazed by the grandeur of "Kawayan Cove" but unfortunately, it's for members only. Candy thought the guard was cute though. It's an interesting place and we all thought of having our company outing there. Well, it's worth a try.

It's past 9 and we still haven't seen any place to spend the night in. We're tired already. Jun thought of checking out "Punta Baluarte". En route to that resort, we (more of they 'cause I was taking a nap) found a pretty cool place called "Lago de Oro".


Their villas looked clean and new. They have marbled floors, balcony, and hot water!!!. The rooms are spacious and could accomodate 4 people. We preferred to sleep in one bedroom. Candy used her credit card for easier transactions. The very accomodating receptionist named Carla informed us that Tim Cone with his family, BJ (Bernard Palanca) and Geoff Eigenmann were in the house. That made the eyes of our ladies sparkle... Beng's, our RP, most especially. True enuff, we found BJ & Geoff playing billiards with their friends.


After depositing our stuff in our room, we immediately changed into our bathing suits and checked out the pool. They also have sauna and jacuzzi. We were told that it's only open till 11 pm. We were discouraged to swim because they just put chlourine in the water. Well, that wouldn't stop us from swimming. Jun ordered beer from the bar. Ahhh, finally we got to relax!


Around midnight, we went back to our room, took our baths, and started drinking our grape-flavoured brandy. Of course, we sang our hearts out. Too bad for our neighbors though. Candy tried singing "Hiram" but she got lost in the chorus. Beng rendered "I'd Still Say Yes". Tabel sang "New York, New York", complete with cabaret dancing. When I sang "Take On Me", Tabel started jumping on the beds. Turned out to be a pretty cool idea so Nikks joined in the fun.

Jun started to feel hot. We teased him that Beng, our RP (curious now as to what this means?), was all ready for him. Teehee... Jun kept rubbing ice on his forehead. Later on, he left the group and just slept. A few minoots later, Mike also zonked out on his chair. So it's just me, Tabel, Candy, Beng, and Nikks who were drinking, singing, or eating chips. Wish Earl or Ogz or Tomas was here. They're pretty good at staying up late.

Around 3 or 4 am, it was only Beng and I who were singing. We even got a mysterious knock on our door. We didn't bother to know who did it. When Beng positioned herself on the bed, I rendered my last song and gave in to the call of the bed I shared with Jun.

End of Support Training

At loooooong last, my support training that started last December ended today. Instead of relaxin last holiday season, I've been busy preparing my training materials. The first three weeks was good. Did some product trainings. But the last two weeks was kinda hectic. I had one week off to prepare for the support training. The support training was fun. I evaluated the participants' call handling with the help of my colleagues.

And what a way to end my work week, it's videoke time again. Tonight, it's the men who preferred to sing. OJ sang "Lead Me, Lord" and got an "81". Jayjay did a nice version of "Lullaby", complete with the Rockstar accent and "Earth Angel". He also sang "Ipagpatawad Mo". According to him, he likes Marvic Sotto's version but the way he sang it Janno Gibbs' style. Bibam sang The Dawn's "Salamat". Joel sang River Maya's "Liwanag sa Dilim". I love his version of RiverMaya's "A Love to Share". James E. sang Toto's "Africa" and 6CycleMind's "Sige". Erwin gave us an encore performance with his "Love Hurts".

Alwyn rendered "Tears in Heaven" (he knows how to adjust the key). A must-hear is his powerful version of "Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin". He was hilarious in his version of "Better Days". Earl sang "Each Day With You" and got the lowest score of the night (2) for "The Journey". Arman delivered wonderful versions of "You", "Say That You Love Me", and my favorite, "Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin".

As for the ladies, Jane started with 4NoneBlondes' "What's Up?". Josche sang a pretty good version of MYMP's "A Little Bit". Ning did a Rachel Alejandro hit, "Nakapagtataka", and Carpenters' "I Need To Be In Love". When Bulilit arrived, he sang the same song and complained of the pitch. Teehee.

"Nakapagtataka" was heard four times.

Tomorrow, my friends and I will go to Batangas for our first tanning experience. I miss the beach ;oP

Look, Ma, No Pads!

Brandon Routh has got to be the most muscular Superman ever. His suit requires no padding.. well except, of course, on the "sensitive" area. What you see is what you get, ladies ;oP

Can't wait to see this movie. Superman + IMAX = Uber fantastically cool!!!

IMAX in Manila

One word, "Finally!" I remember the first time I saw "Everest" in an IMAX theatre in Chicago. It was a great experience. The screen was so big that it looked like you're part of the film. And now we will have one here in Manila. Sweet!!!

For more info, read on here.

A Shocking 24!!!

If you've been a fan of this teevee series, you'd be very surprised as to how they started their fifth season. The first 4 minoots was shocking enuff to keep you glued to your seats. Wait till you watch further. Lemme tell you this, it's graphic and intense alright. It's fun to see ole faces like Tony Almeda, Michelle (she looks hot), Chloe (my fave), and of course, Frank (a.k.a. Jack Bauer). Bring back Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) and we'll all be one HAPPEE family ;oP

You won't believe who drops by at CTU around 10 in the morning...

Transform!!!

Thanks, Alwyn, for this ;oP

This One's For You, Beng!

Upon entering Standard Chartered, I saw a familiar face... it's Erwin "Angel" Bustamante. Caught up with him a bit while waiting for our lift. Updated him on who left the company already.