Vanishing Point

If its too loud

2011-06-27T13:47:00.000+09:00

Good morning to all,

It is in my best interest (and yours too) to let you know, that I have a hearing deficiency of maybe -25%. ..Umm that’s about not being able to hear you calling my name from a distance of 10 feet or less, depends on what’s playing on my portable player.
It is not something new, and I believe I have had the problem ever since I partied in the 80s!
That said, as I am constantly affixed to the monitor solving infinity loops on the database, if you find yourself calling my name twice, three or more times, please do not take it that I am ignoring you.

Best regards,

HR Information Analyst

Eternal toggling of the spotless lens

2009-06-22T14:50:00.002+09:00

Eternal toggling of the spotless lens.

Alo alo, it’s a damn camera article once again, and that’s all there is on the title too. Today is camera retrospect day.

The Canon G7 came, shot, conquered and sold. It was one of the best compacts I had. Wuz. It had great stills in ample light and sometimes surprising results even in low-light. But the bulk and weight just did it wrong. That brick can really get brickier and brickier the longer it hangs around your neck. Forget about slipping it in your pocket, it just won’t. It doubles as a weapon though. I still love it, but priorities change.

Like sunbeam parting clouds, it unfolded one day. You can never ever get a compact to perform like an SLR and vice versa…well, at least yet (before the digital Olympus Pen) so you need to get both – an appropriate consumerist response. Review, review, then voila!, TZ5 = all around compact. I then sorted my way to justifying a DSLR because of what the compact was not…and I was getting married soon so I needed decent pictures.

And so it was the TZ5, it was great while we lasted, a short relationship and it is now shooting happily with my co-worker who gave up a few clams for a decent 3-month old compact, she made a smart choice, it was a bargain at $180 (the TZ5). Wide at 28 and narrow at 10 (the TZ5). A compact, but not really, unless you are into deep pocketed low-rise look-me-undies-are-showin jeans. The TZ5 did it all, you name it: face detect, choose the scene and ISO for you, shoot video, wicked zoom, format select, vacuum room, teleport and all bunch of craps that you will not remember when its time to shoot. It was almost perfect, it became – utterly boring. My biggest peeve was the flash being under the zoom lever which eventually gets covered by my finger. I know, it’s not her, it’s me. But we can’t go on making pictures with half of my subjects lurking in the dark.

An angel came to my dreams and told me it was time, I will be-get-ting a DSLR soon and it shall be called Canon450D, Lumix G1, Olympus E420, … a Nikon D60! And so I became a Nikonian and trashed those bloody user-interface-challenged Canon users. I made good results with city lights taken from the roof-deck of a building tower…tower-building. ..A building that is tall. Tall building. But, it does not have “live view”. Most people got confused and their mouths frothed when they realized they can’t see subjects on the screen. My patience was challenged every time I had to explain why a “real” or “like a pro” camera cant display the subject on the screen. It’s not her, its them.

Every so often I would see a nice Kodak-moment opportunity. I needed to be fast and furious but often end up slow and infuriated, hoping I had the “real” camera with me. And then I realized…(yes, half of my life is spent on realizations) that there it was, my D60 zoom set that I was NOT lugging around. The sleek AF-S DX VR 55-200MM F/4-5.6G IF-ED lens with all the codes they can slap on it; waiting as pristine and unused. The adage lives on, a compact in your pocket beats any DSLR that you don’t have with you. It was gone in 60 days.

Enter Eleanor…errr LX3. I now attest to Pannie’s success in flooring its camera business from zero to 60 faster than any of the old boys. Which also begs to ask why Sony failed - even with the Minolta legacy under its belt. I’ve went around 3 Lumixes now. I can say Pannys are fun. They’re like the Tamiyas in the RC world, never a champ at competitions but always comes out with the most interesting and fun factors; like Wild Willy’s and Lunchboxes, fun, fun. But I digress, the LX3s selling point are: the rangefinder look, F2 lens, wide at 24 and all the crap that I’ll never use. The bummer: short 2.5 zoom and a missing view finder. My D60 had a good view finder and no live view and now this has a live view but no v-finder. Irony rules.

The Jurassic lunch box casio camera begat casio compact, which begat panny Zoom camera which begat lumix pocket camera (again), and everybody in da house went hoooow~hoo~oow, pocket camera begat canon brick enthusiast camera which begat panny zoom compact which was joined with entry level Nikon DSLR.

Now that I look at it, I remember that day when I was at a Japanese roadside festival shooting with my manual, a Canon AE. , I saw this guy shooting around with what looked like a tiny version of my SLR, I moved closer and a Leica M7 it was. From then on I thought I will have somethin like that. Soon. The LX3 is the closest (at that moment) and most affordable rangefinder (that is not really a rangefinder), that I was probably wanting all along.

“Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t care where…” said Alice
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

Wintel has gone and I found God

2009-06-20T22:01:00.003+09:00

Hillarious Engrish site at Engrish.com

We has to check your sick

2009-05-02T14:20:00.002+09:00

Grammar cop caught this breaking news on the Swineflu panic, pandemic, manic/ outbreak. There never seems to be enough resources to hire or find that one person who can construct grammatically correct English in Japan. Even Reuter's caption was not spared.

Ang Pintorero - Budding artists of Mandaluyong

2009-02-05T13:20:00.004+09:00

http://www.pintorero.blogspot.com/

Its up, its up. After some time. 8 years to be exact when we had our petty exhibit. Who knows where the budding (desperate) painters ended up after that. Carlo for one got picked-up by the Boston Gallery, the rest will have to settle for building portfolios... some went full time and some opted for a day job.

Fast forward 2009, by sheer luck I had a friend who wants Amorsolo replicas, and since I dont have the patience and time for landscape paintings, especially farmlands, I contacted wellers - which contacted conyat, then the deal was set. When we first had our exhibit, I guessed we've learned a lot from each others work, perhaps this time again, on a whole different dimension.

scents continued

2008-08-07T12:22:00.005+09:00

Drakkar Noir – Its opening notes are unmistakable, basenote is pleasant and the entire universe smelled like this when it was a hit, includes; shampoo, soap and other cheap colognes . I wouldn’t dare wear this now in fear that I would unearth somebody else’s good/dark memories. I wish they’d make scents that last long as this.

Polo RL green – I sniffed on this last time I was in our stockroom (where the abandoned stuff reside) and wondered how the hell I carried this scent. Its way bigger than me...and way older.

If you love Poison® you will love Enchantment - nyahah! There was a time when copy cat scents abound, and it came in spray cans, was cheap and readily available. I once sprayed this all over like mad then went into a fully seated classroom. I remembered the class went still for about 10 seconds, and everything after that was a blur…I must’ve erased it in my memory.

Chaps – Argyle socks, bitin pants, and lotsa hair gel. No eyeliners tho.
Paco Rabanne Pour Homme - It brings sad memories.. dahil nanakaw sa classrroom!
Jazz YSL – An ex girlfriend told me she loves the scent.. coz her ex wears the same... I thought , that's cool.... now that I think bout it… that was lame.
Kouros YSL - Knowing I like these things my sister was my dealer of scents. I have no complaints, It was free.
Pleasures – Estee Lauder – my graduation from puberty, to part time adulthood. This toilette is light and pleasing. I barely know its there til I get compliments.

Perfumes can be boring or exciting, repulsive or attractive depending on the temperature, the whos, wheres, and whens. I find light fragrances best for the office due to close proximities, and it works well on Summer. Interesting scents are best at night, coz everyone have the right to smell unusual in the dark. As i grow older I also try to adjust what I wear, Johnson's baby cologne feels a tad bit too close to old home -or the crib. And when I smell baby ginger scents on old women, my brain gets confused. I have yet to understand the point of Old Spice and other barbero scents.

Scents and Sensibilities

2008-07-03T10:36:00.006+09:00

I was looking for the male version of this perfume. The last time I tried it on, I was repulsed by its strong, tentacle-wrapping scent … I smelled of someone pulled out of a chocolate cake and dunked in coffee. The scent affixed on my coat, the coat hung in my closet and for some time was not worn. Then it started to smell pleasant and I began to like it. I actually started to sniff it when I’m rummaging through the closet.

Fastforward to one shopping day…there I was looking at perfumes and I recognized the shape of the bottle, I wasn’t sure it was the one I tried or if it was for men, it didn’t say “pour homme” (poor homey..nyahahaha) but I should’ve known better that “parfum” is exclusively women’s – but my nerdiness got the better of my judgment coz technically, “parfum” means a stronger concoction over ”eau de toilette” – and since I remembered it was a very strong scent then that must be it. Bought.

Surely enough the norm is not inclined to my geeky mind and after checking the net…I found out I bought the girl’s version. I’d say it is sweeter but generically the same as the men’s version, unmistakably Angel. Yummy at cooler temps but would probably smell like a bakeshop in hot or humid weather.

There is a magical thing goin on with scents, for one, you cant see it but its there, it can bring back memories as good if not better than thoughts….thats because the memory and smell brains are neighbors...neurons are…blah blah …geek speak.

I like scents and my wardrobe goes:

Cool Waters – Davidoff , a backburner scent, when I just feel like it..a scent most people would recognize these days coz their boyfriend/husband/uncle wears it.
Eternity – CK , I used to wear this with a slight thought that my scent is like my love to my ex which is forever….
Escape – CK , I bought this to try if it can subliminally tell ex I’m ready to abandon ship … and my mom goes crazy with this… crazy as in “I hope your co-workers are ok, my goodness you are making me dizzy!!”
True Star – Tommy Hillfiger , my first aqua, it was ok from d bottle, how it is on me, no idea, so far no one complains.
Curve – Curve, Chill, Crush – Liz Cairborne a set I got myself for Christmas. a cologne and a waste of money.
Magic Pheromone oil – got this from ebay, add says it will attract women…. didn’t say what kind of women…mosquitoes love it.
Johnson’s Baby cologne – after a steak meal, popcorn, and all the compounded restaurant smell, dabbing this around my lips n chin makes me believe I don’t really smell like food.
Bvlgari Pour Homme – Bvlgari , I loved it on first try, Im on my third bottle and its my when-in-doubt ‘toilette. Actually wore this on my first date with my fiancé…I think it worked.

And of course back in the good ol years I used to spray/dab on: .....to follow on next blog…..

Whale with wasabi

2008-06-23T07:51:00.004+09:00

I'd like to see how this one turns out.

Junichi and Toru, the pro-whale activists have been arrested in Japan for exposing the truth about corruption in the taxpayer-funding whaling programme. Turns out that they've tracked where the whale meat ends up after it is "studied" which surely enough as every activists accusses the whaling programme - consumers. Japan is set to hunt and kill thousands of whales per year under the cloak of Science, dubbed "for research" . The government programme (wow!) insist that it isnecessary to kill the animal to study its life... oxymoronic ...hehehe... and this is from one of the most advanced nation on the planet... oh by the way, dolphin and whale meat is on the menu of the Japanese household.

We probly wont hear much from the Chinese consumers on this issue, as the populace is also gung-ho on shark's fin. The argument, as much as I've heard from Sino and Japanese acquaintances is: its downright meat. You eat cow meat, we eat whale meat. Some Japanese are used to eating them much like you would eat beef.

My way on putting it would be: Some Filipinos can eat dog meat. If they (Japanese whale-dolphin eaters) arent disgusted yet, they'd probably be at least balking on the idea of consuming pet friends. Same meat. Different mindset...and I havent even brought up the legality of specie endangerment.

When we were Malays and Negroids

2007-11-06T09:27:00.000+09:00

The Austronesians:

“These first settlers landed in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Over the next thousand years up until 1500 B.C., their descendants started to spread south to the rest of the Philippine islands, Celebes (modern-day Sulawesi), northern Borneo, Molucas (modern-day Maluku), and Java.

The settlers in Moluccas sailed eastward and began to spread to the islands of Melanesia and Micronesia between 1200 B.C. and 500 B.C. repectively. Those that spread westward reached Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and southern Vietnam by 500 B.C.

The oceanic Austronesians reached Polynesai in 0 A.D. and spread to its three furthest points Hawaii in 500 A.D. New Zealand by 1300 A.D. and Easter Island between 300 AD and 1200 AD. In the Indian Ocean they reached Madagascar. Wikipedia on Austronesian People

The concept of a Malay race (Malay: Bangsa Melayu) was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich M Blumenbach (1752-1840). Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races. However, the term Malay is still often used in this context, and it is the basis for Malay identity within the Malaysian nation.

By 1795, Blumenbach added another race called 'Malay' which he considered to be a subcategory of both the Ethiopian and Mongoloid races. The Malay race were those of a "brown color, from olive and a clear mahogany to the darkest clove or chestnut brown." Blumenbach expanded the term "Malay" to include the inhabitants of the Marianas, the Philippines, the Malukus, Sundas, as well as Pacific Islands such as Tahitians. He considered a Tahitian skull he had received to be the missing link; showing the transition between the "primary" race, the Caucasians, and the "degenerate" race, the Negroids. - A Racial expert being Racist!!

Philippine context

“In the Philippines, many Filipinos consider the term "Malay" to refer to the indigenous population of the country as well as the population of neighboring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. This misconception is due in part to American anthropologists H. Otley Beyer who proposed that the Filipinos were actually Malays who migrated from Malaysia and Indonesia. This idea was in turn propagated by Filipino historians and is still taught in schools. However, the prevalent consensus among contemporary anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists actually proposes the reverse; namely that the Ausronesain people of Malaysia and Indonesia originally migrated south from the Philippines during the prehistoric period.” Wikipedia on Malay Race

Degraded, misled and misinformed through the colonial educational system unto the very essence of ones' true heritage. Punyemas naman oh, all this time and what have the Philippine intellectual-smart-ass "scholars" been doing? Balik nyo tuition koooo!!

2007-11-05T10:49:00.000+09:00

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Jolenz

2007-09-27T09:15:00.001+09:00

Meron kang jolenz... konting creativity and me negosyo ka na, the design is inspired by traditional glass floats used by the locals in fishing ...dats long time ago..they use plastic floats nowadays.

Shisa

2007-09-27T09:07:00.000+09:00

Okinawan funky shisa

Compliments Shkomplimench

2007-07-30T16:12:00.000+09:00

In a group conversation today, Chris commented on my "cool" K-Swiss shoes.
Another lady in the group asked why he always seem to comment only on what I'm wearing while he never had any on the women's.

Here's the cut; When a guy appreciates another guy's stuff, it is a statement of common likes - that we have the same "good taste". But when a guy starts checking out women's dress, accessories and what have they, - it sets an alarm that sexuality maybe in question. U wont hear Arnold Scwarrgrrghre say "hey, I like your skirt!" - that might even land him into a sexual harassment case. Women on the other hand can do it because they can appreciate style and fashion verbally and actually wear boys stuff and nothing can be implied. Its normal that way, lest bi-sexuality and weirdness is your cup of latte.

Complimenting looks. "You look great today". Now thread on this one slowly because there are two premises hereto; one is that you never really looked good, and the other is you look good only today. This scenario had a more sinister play on me when I wore a pink shirt at work and my co-worker commented "you look clean today" - I convinced myself that it was just the limited English vocabulary that most Japanese tend to suffer from and get them close - but not exactly near to what they mean... I replied, "you mean "neat" right?" ... she paused but so wantonly decided to have me in that trap and responed , "No, you look "Clean" : ) ..." wooookey... thank you very much, I'll do my best to always look "clean" all the time. Women are lovable-mean monsters.

Rename ??

2007-07-16T09:33:00.000+09:00

Who is that muppet in Microsoft that decided "Rename" and " Delete" should be close together??? fire tha bitch!!

Summer 07

2007-05-26T15:45:00.000+09:00

May 11th - arrived at the Centennial airport.... ahhh i'ne never thought i'd welcome that familiar smell of diesel. Driving around Manila is like playing a road rage arcade game, steer away from unpredictable pedestrains and test your nerves on a singitan contest...honking earns extyra points.

12th - It was hot. When I melted into what appears to be a wimpy piece of soaked rag, I decided to stay indoors.

13th -Migraine, migraine, migraine.

14th - Hotel hunting for sis.

15th - Sis arrives. - 22nd All sched for sis.

20th - Mallof Asia - same stuff, just bigger. Dampa was cool.

22nd - LASIK - farewell eyeglasses - hello starbursts, halos and blurry-vision-up-close and some hazy stuff. Dr. says its temporary. I really hope so.

23rd - Bed rest at hotel. breakfast at local carinderia. Heavenly.

24th - St.Luke's, follow up eye-check. Grocery for birthday. Japanese cuisine tonite.

25th - Shopping

26th - Dermatologist check

27th - 28th - Baguio

29th - Eye Check. Dental appt. Derma - whoooa ..overhaul.

30 - Cemetery, bid father farewell. San Agustin church - reflection and closures.

June 1 - Back to Okinawa.

Hate Me by Blue October

2007-05-05T10:03:00.000+09:00

__________________________________________________________

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head

They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed

Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone

Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home

There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain

An ounce of peace is all I want for you.

Will you never call again?And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?

And will you never try to reach me?

It is I that wanted space

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways

Yeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for 3 whole months it's one accomplishment that you helped me with

The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again

In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night

While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight

You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate

You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take

So I'll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind

And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways

Yeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave

Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made

And like a baby boy I never was a man

Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand

And then I fell down yelling t'make it go away!・

Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be

And then she whispered How can you do this to me?

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in waysYeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

For you

[Children voices:]If you're sleeping, are you dreaming,

if you're dreaming are you dreaming of me.

I can't believe you actually picked me

[Girl:] Hey Justin! [x12]

The Station

2007-05-04T13:58:00.000+09:00

The Station
by Robert J. Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There sill be bands playing, and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering ... waiting, waiting, waiting, for the station.
However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

"When we reach the station, that will be it !" we cry. Translated it means, "When I'm 18, that will be it ! When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes Benz, that will be it ! When I put the last kid through college, that will be it ! When I have paid off the mortgage, that will be it ! When I win a promotion, that will be it ! When I reach the age of retirement, that will be it ! I shall live happily ever after !" Unfortunately, once we get it, then it disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today. So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot oftener, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

...... i will not buy another camera because my G7 is it!, I will not buy a D40 because it will give me better pics, I will not buy a D40 because it gives better edge on low-light situations, i will not buy D40... I will not.. I will nnn... I will probably...I will

The Model 7

2007-04-20T09:03:00.000+09:00

...almost in a whisper, the camera shop seller explained the importance of the Powershot G7 among the Canon line of cameras. Other than its overall superiority to other P&S in the market today, he added a brief story about Canon and the number 7 that made me proud of my purchase. "In Canon's history, the model number 7 have always had a significance to it". The name Canon (religious laws), came from a former name "Kwannon" - which is the name of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. I assume that the twisty syllabication and its Kana (a form of Japanese writing for foreign words) prompted the change and at the same time made it more appealing to a broader international market. The "Canon" name is still based on a religious term - a set of religious laws.

From this religious aspect, Canon model numbers has been said to be aligned to its significance in numerology as well. In Japanese culture, the number 7 is an important number, there is the 7 Gods of Luck and Happiness, there is the 7 principles of the Bushido, 7 days of mourning, 7 reincarnations, ..so on. EOS 7, EOS Elan 7, Canon T70, Rangefinder 7/s are all worthy of praise and according to my story teller, it is the same with the G7 as Canon would forever protect the integrity of this model number. And why would I believe my sales guy? he is after all selling me something... well, the story was told after I made my purchase and while he was packing the goods. Ah, my first (among many) digital cameras that I intend to cherish and keep.

Canonized

2007-03-27T11:59:00.000+09:00

After all the brain-draining deliberation of the little people inside his head, the jury has finally reached its verdict; Nelson's next camera upgrade is going to be a....

The Need: To have a point and shoot compact that can do all features: Weather-proofing, a Nikon interface, Fuji's Honeycom CCD, rangefinder look, 28mm wide if possible and some decent zoom and does not cost a kidney like that sonuvagun rangefinder Leica M8. Pixel count is not important as I wont print any larger than 8 x 11 anyway.

The Subjects:
Panasonic Lumix TZ3 - Powerful 10x zoom on a compact that starts with a remarkable 28mm Leica Vario Elmarit wide angle lens.
Panasonic LX2 - Retro styled with a wide lens angle on a 16:9 screen ratio.
Canon TX1 - New entry of Canon that promises the 10x zoom and High Def video recording in a very compact body.
Nikon P5000 - Still warm from the factory, the P5000 promises to fill the gap between the DSLR and compact cameras.
Canon G7 - Canon's G series that only comes once every 3-5 years promises full manual control much like an SLR could
Fuji F40fd - Fuji kicked everyone's dark butt by introducing the highest useful ISO settings in a compact camera without being overly noisy on the pics.
Olympus SP550 UZ - 28mm to 504mm , that's 18x optical zoom !! , yeah baby yeah!! Not that its that shagallistic but that is one long stretch of a zoom.

Elimination of losers:
It was a tough call, the subjects were all capable of the need: Compact, great pictures, Wide angle possibilities, Zoom and all the works. The process of elimination threw out the Olmypus zoomer and Fuji F40fd first as they failed the most; The SP550 was a great zoomer and oh what long lens it has when it stretches to 504 mm, but the pictures are just so so and it aint really a compact unless you can take on the idea of a big bulge on your pocket. Fuji F40fd's design is consumer- taste inspired - butt ugly. But lo! it is still the reigning king of the dark world, no compact comes close to its ability to take great pix even at the high 400-800 ISOs level, but it lacks the manual controls, not having a wide,neither a zoomer. If one doesnt mind style and other bells and whistles - Fuji F40fd wins hand-down. The Canon TX1 might have it all except for the wide angle, but as hybrids often are : Jack of All Trades- Master of none, it can give just slightly good photos, slightly better videos than the TZ3 and a 10x zoom ..and that's it, its purpose in life is yet to be discovered. The LX2 have had a great following for those who were still nostalgic of the 35mm rangefinders as its shape is rather slim and long, but beside the wide lens and styling, the price is just $30 less then the G7, finally LX2 bears the curse of all Lumixes - Noise.

The Final 3
The Nikon P5000 felt really comfortable and very compact, it boasts of a 3200 ISO (at 5mega pixels though) and Nikon's new (old story for the rest) stabilized system. It has a lot of manual controls including a wheel for fast ISO and F Stop adjustments. Superb and I'd say one of the best user interface, easy to navigate, easy to control and far better shutter response than the G7. The hotshoe for external flash is a plus. Wide and Telephoto adapter lens available ( at approx $160-$200 each , nuts!). Price $350

The Panasonic TZ3 is the most compact of all wide-tele digital camera out there, followed perhaps by Ricoh's R series. Its got all the bells and whistles and the reliable Paanasonic stabilization system that really helps at the far end of the zoom. What it lacks however is the manual control as it was targeted for the great majority of point and shooters. The 10x zoom and video capability would be of great value to soccer mom's and dads but may be lacking for enthusiasts. Zoomers cant have it all, thus this one suffers from noise and over use of noise reduction - the Achilles heel of Panasonic Lumix cameras. Price $440. Winning point: 28mm Wide to 10x Optical zoom.

The Canon G7 like its previous G models are targeted for those on the border but not yet wanting to cross to the SLR camp. It features full manual controls yet still capable of working as a P&S camera. It has 6x zoom and an image stabilizer which is becoming standard these days. ISO ranges from 80 to 1600, max at 3200 (dont know how usable that is). Its a brick and I wish the magnesium alloy was used here instead on the P5000. It takes time to master and controls are not easy to find. A hotshoe can take in external flash, Wide and Tele adapter lens available (not cheap if u need this, just get an SLR). Price $480

Its not a gazillion dollar purchase like an RD1 or Leica M8, but heck I have all the time to pry nooks and crannies for my point and shooter. The TZ3 will have to go, as though it has everything I would want in a compact, it failed to impress on all of it. The P5000 is as great as its price, nothing more ,nothing less. The downside and what turned me off is the cheap feel as it is really very light (why the magnesium alloy?), for me Its Nikon's attempt to match the G7 but tried to cut corners to lower cost and ended up looking like an A640. The G7 leads the P5000 in every aspect except ease of operation - can deal with that...as I like complexity, it matches my state of mind. With the G7 and P5000 comparison, Its exactly like paying for the xtra stuff, more zoom, more controls, heavier, sturdier feel = more $$. In a year or two I will be drawn to new models and in this context, I believe the G7's resale value will far exceed any compact models around. And so it is cast, the G7 is going home with me.

As I was patiently waiting for the camera shop staff to inspect the package contents and write my warranty papers, I casually asked what he thinks about the P5000 compared to the G7.... he stared at me with a slight twinkle in his eyes as if waiting for me to ask that question ....coming next on my blog

After the Rain

2007-03-20T23:02:00.000+09:00

Apt view

Yin Yang

2007-03-20T22:55:00.000+09:00

The Good and The Bad

Good: Two eggs to complement the bacon

The Bad: Cholesterol galore.

On Taking Time

2007-03-16T15:49:00.000+09:00

A watch is about: Quality, Elegance, Accuracy, Luxury, Extravagance, Craftsmanship, Respect, Taste, Character or show? A regular Jaeger will cost you $50k- that is about 2.5m Pesos, more than enough to send a kid to school from elementary to college. Extravagance in my point of view. In 1999 the most expensive watch ever sold, a 1933 gold Patek Phillipe with 24 complications, was auctioned off at Sotheby's for $11 million.

I am Nelson and I am a watchaholic. My watches are not as expensive as the Pateks and Piguets (funky names if you ask me). From my own economic perspective, (single-selfish-dont care and employed) my watches arent that much, but for some who arent crazy bout watches and those who are in a tighter budget, my watches are impractical and extravagant. Same shit, different scale. Fine, I agree that I am among them who tread the path of senseless extravagance, nothing to be proud of...but a teeny bit of something's gotta give.

More alibi. Most of the time, it pays to dress for success - one can expect to be treated as one looks. if you look cheap, you will be treated like one. Psychologically, it can be a confidence booster - not that i need it, but self improvement is always good, lest it harms others.

The right piece at the right time. I wear my accessories according to the occasion and location. I've never worn Cartier in Manila, everybody will think its a knock-off anyway. I do however wear the fakies in Japan where nobody cares because people can actually afford the real deal.

I can see my watch collection as a benchmark for my personal achievements, a tool to enrich my life and from time to time a means to validate my time-space existence.

Categorized by its function are my passion-driven-time-accessories:
Swatch Skin, Racing Numbers chrono - One can never have enough Swatches in their lifetime. This watch is for forgetting it was there.
Casio MTG700M - From hiking to fending Divisoria mobs on a xmas rush, this watch has never let me down.
Dunhill Dunhillion- for that job interview, you have to look like you are not really desperate about the job.
Early 90's TAG 2000 Series (now tagged as a classic 2000 - you just know you're getting old) - My first pricey watch. Although the bezel is loose, and the date has gone berserk, it still tells time accurately and goes with any style, also used for offending other officemates who sport Formulas.
Orient Automatic - Clad with a black dial and wrinkled black leather, for calmer days, Wednesdays and I don't care what you think, my watch tells time kind of days.
Timex Leather Expedition - TGIF, perfect watch as I eject from my cubicle to after-work gimiks.
Techno Marine Maori (funky and fake) - Am not that nuts to buy this model, just wanted to try it... cool enough but with the real one weighing like an anchor and with just a Swiss movement up its sleeve, I dont think its worthy of its price tag.
Must 21 Cartier - Funny, the only person who commented on it was an old lady boss, it tells time accurately, other than that its just a name.
Rolex GMTII (Greenhills special, I still dont know what's so great bout Rolex' , except for the GMTs - its darn ugly, again just for trying and seriously enough, am not convinced) I'd go with an Omega Moonwatch or Seamaster anytime.
Wired - Offering uniquely designed watches (online Japan only) Seiko's experimental venue for watch nerds offer these high quality timepieces. I have 2 of them, a squared digital that gets quite a lot compliments and a gigantic-sparkling blue chrono that makes my tiny hand even tinier. Except for the non-Saphire glass, the build and quality of the Wired XYZ models are great.

And this year's Christmas gift from girlfriend - A titanium, 5 motor, 5 band wave ceptor, solar powered, world-time, chrono, 10 alarm, auto adjust to 3 continents, perpetual calendar, GMT, self-correcting Casio Oceanus with a manual 20 pages long. And yes, I have a need for all those functions for my daily existence.

Here's one for you

2007-02-20T11:33:00.000+09:00

Fujifilm recently churned out their new batches of disposable cameras, with improved retro colors and one catchy model gesture that can surely make you look twice. Grab one now or you get the finger!!

let's drink to this...

2007-02-07T08:36:00.000+09:00

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007
Asahi to sell 1 million yen ($10,000) brandy.

Asahi Breweries Ltd. said Monday it will market Louis XIII Black Pearl French brandy with a price tag of 1 million yen per 700-milliliter bottle. Asahi will sell 60 to 70 bottles produced by the Remy Cointreau Group, the internationally acclaimed French brandy maker which will limit the number of bottles it produces to 786, Asahi said.

The brandy will come in a special crystal bottle designed by French crystal vessel maker Baccarat. Louis XIII Black Pearl is made by blending 1,200 unblended brandies. The crystal bottle reflects colors such as silver, black and charcoal gray depending on how light is shone on its surface, it said.
_________________________________________________

$71.42 per per bloody tablespoon!!!

On Prophechies

2007-01-12T13:52:00.000+09:00

"Now, about this time the Sodomites, overweeningly proud of their numbers and the extent of their wealth, showed themselves insolent to men and impious to the Divinity, insomuch that they no more remembered the benefits that they had received from Him, hated foreigners and avoided any contact with others. Indignant at this conduct, God accordingly resolved to chastise them for their arrogance, and not only to uproot their city, but to blast their land so completely that it should yield neither plant nor fruit whatsoever from that time forward."

Jewish Antiquities 1:194-195

Didn't it resemble the first and second atom bombs? or perhaps an event soon to unfold?. The descriptive annihilation resembles so much of a nuclear explosion aftermath. The God of that age must have had nuke-like powers with him. Just like the gods we have these days.

reflections

2006-12-22T00:10:00.000+09:00

...I am but a minute particle; in the grandeur of this universe spinning on my kiln-fired okinawan glazed mug...whatever.

2006-12-21T11:45:00.000+09:00

Ely of Eraserheads.

No, this is my cousin Mike.

... me in my senior hs days?

Whatever happened to the Filipino youth he called on?

Catch

2006-12-21T10:13:00.000+09:00

Catch, The Cure

Album: Galore 1997

Yes I know who you remind me of

A girl I think I used to know

Yes I'd see her when the day got colder

On those days when it felt like snow

You know I even think that she stared like you

She used to just stand there and stare

And roll her eyes right up to heaven

And make like I just wasn't there

And she used to fall down a lot

That girl was always falling

Again and again

And I used to sometimes try to catch her

But I never even caught her name

And sometimes we would spend the night

Just rolling about on a floor

And I remember

Even though it felt soft at the time

I always used to wake up sore

You know I even think that she smiled like you

She used to just stand there and smile

And her eyes would go all sort of far away

And stay like that for quite a while

And I remember she used to fall down a lot

That girl was always falling

Again and again

And I used to sometimes try to catch her

But I never even caught her name

Yes I sometimes even tried to catch her

But I never even caught her name

25 Golden Rules for Writing Well

2006-10-31T08:31:00.000+09:00

25 Golden Rules for Writing Well

1. Don't abbrev.
2. Check to see if you any words out.
3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
4. About sentence fragments.
5. When dangling, don't use participles.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
8. Just between you and I, case is important.
9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
10. Don't use commas, that aren't necessary.
11. Its important to use apostrophe's right.
12. It's better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.
13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.
14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop
15. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
16. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas to keep a string of items apart.
17. Watch out for irregular verbs that have creeped into our language.
18. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
19. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.
20. A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
21. Don't write a run-on sentence you've got to punctuate it.
22. A preposition isn't a good thing to end a sentence with.
23. Avoid cliches like the plague.
24. 1 final thing is to never start a sentence with a number.
25. Always check your work for accuracy and completeness.
Now put pen to paper
But, don’t forget the rules!!

The water and the stoopid

2006-09-26T12:02:00.000+09:00

Beam me up Scotty!! and hurry damnit!
I never though I'd be in that age of humanity when people start paying for water like it is a manufactured product.

By "manufactured' I meant that the raw materials did not resemble the end product. A bottled water cost $1.00 for the 20oz. Pepsi in comparison, cost the same, but with value-added nuritional stuff like: carbonated water, sugar, caffeine , some weird acids, number-coded colors and other artificail alien secretions that we probably dont want to know.

The Aquafina bottle says: "All bottled waters are not the same. Aquafina's state-of-the-art hydRO-7 TM purification system consistently removes substances most other bottled waters leave in. So the only thing you taste in your water...is water".

Straight from their Marketing slogan, there's nothing in it but water. They gave us damn pure water, there werent minerals, no Sodium, not even a single calorie in it!! And like mindless creatures, we actually love and pay for it. I must be damn rich because I bathe, tub and flush with the same stuff everyday! If you make it, they will dumb.

A Country of Our Own

2006-09-14T14:13:00.000+09:00

This might just be the answer to the Philippines' worsening situation.

David Martinez believes that the nation-state is dead. I believe it never had a chance to develop. Both students of the "Philippine phenomenon," we see the past and the present in the same light, and differ only on the probable outcome of what appears to be an imminent, self-fulfilling implosion.

Martinez makes no claim that his is the only, or the total, truth, but those he identifies
and dissects lie at the heart of our malaise. His overall perspective is refreshingly honest. It singularly challenges most of the other "truths" that have been conventionally conditioned into the population by our ruling elite. His is the voice of veracity, one certain to upset all who insist that the nation-state exists, or that it will survive and evolve while its character and configuration remain in the exclusive hands of those who have traditionally held the reins of power and controlled the resources of the country.

Reflecting on the variety of social, economic, and religious impositions inflicted on our people for 450 years, Martinez and I find our deepest agreement in condemning our ruling elite's self-serving [and self-defeating] practice of enforcing conformity in the guise of achieving unity. The diversity of our vibrant and distinct cultures, which has always defined Philippine society, should have been --- and ought to be --- the source of national strength. Martinez is right: history cannot be edited to serve the ends of arbitrary nationalism. A "na-tional language" ought not be coerced on our various cultures at the expense of our other indigenous tongues; nor should the greed of the few outweigh the needs of the many. To achieve nation-state status and solidarity, cultural identity must be honored and cultural uniqueness promoted until the best of each becomes a light unto itself and to others. Instead, our diverse cultures have been subjected to policies designed to privilege one and marginal-
ize the rest, deepening rather than bridging divisions that affirm Martinez's view that we are less of a nation today that we were a century ago.

Local, national, and global dynamics compel us to seriously re-evaluate our present-day formats of governance, economics, and social justice. More profoundly, they compel us to reflect even deeper on the social norms and values which ought to shape our choices. An ominous, defining crisis of unprecedented proportions looms before us, whose outcome will confirm or disprove the views that Martinez and I happen to coincidentally hold. My own hope is that the Philippines will survive, the pain of this crucial catharsis etching the lessons of past mistakes into our collective soul. I believe in my heart that this is immensely achiev- able, but only if we heed and learn from the provocative truths so well laid out in this chal- lenging book.

Jose Ma. "Boy" Montelibano
Spokesman, COPA [Council on Philippine Affairs]
and Philippine Daily Inquirer Online [INQ7] Columnist

Ace Ventura's

2006-07-12T13:16:00.000+09:00

I never knew there really is such thing ... was it part of the pun after all?

I went bumblebeetuna! to everyone in the office while flashing it...and i think they all thought I was weird...wait, they already thought that way even b4.

For those not on the know, watch Ace Ventura II- When Nature Calls.

MANILLA SKY

2006-07-11T09:41:00.001+09:00

My celphone rang and a name in my address book that I never thought I still have was on the display. I quickly answered and the caller casually asked if I wanted to have a walk at the malls today. I was speechless for a little while, trying to conjure a logical explanation to what was happening - as this person would never in her existence, call me, ever... but, I was quite glad to hear that voice again, and I simply responded that I'd meet with her any time. We decided to meet at the Greenhills shopping center. How romantic can I get - I realized a moment later.

She was a little chubby-er than I used to remember, but she still has that disarming smile and the sense of homely comfort that only close friends can give. At that brief moment, all the years gone by were bridged; creating continuity in my present...and it didn't seem that long anymore. I asked her quickly, trying to get straight to the point, as her answer was all that matters that moment, "I thought you were going to get married soon?"... silence...she blankly stared back. I realized I actually didn't ask the question. Hearing the truth probably would not mean much but bring me back to the pang of reality.

We walked along, like we used to. Looking at the clothes, shoes, bags, sharing out quips on the design, the price - unimportant filler words. "I wish we can stay a bit longer", I said. Then she gibed at her watch and I instinctively followed and realized it has only been 3 minutes. "Well, I meant, do this often". She just smiled. Her silence was loud, a muted concierto of what was going inside her head. I still didnt know where to start. She checked her phone and said, "I have to hurry back home and prepare the things I'll bring on my trip".

We jumped into a cab and when we came at her house, her mother was at the front door, looking very glad to see me. She greeted; "thank you for coming over, grandma has been asking about you all this time". I went to grandma who was staring at a distance and kissed her on the forehead. "Where have you been and where are you going, sir?" she asked. I politely replied that I have been quite busy but will try to visit more often. She smiled.

Her mother's eyes were saying; "yes, you two would have made a good couple, a perfect one indeed, but I am sorry that I do not know why you are not". Her acceptance of the situation was admirably sweet. We walked around their neighborhood and I asked, "I emailed you a lot of times, trying to re-connect, but you never replied". She snapped back, "but even if I replied, what good would that do? You are thousands of miles away while my fiance has been right here with me all the time." A concise reply that will probably hole up in one of those rooms in my head - and one whole truth to bring everything back into perspective. "I am going away where you will never see me again," she added. I think I knew that a long time ago but the romantic in me kept holding to a fantasy that this must be a good story that usually ends happily ever after.

"I need to get some water for the house, can you come with me down the village to fill up the containers?," she asked. I told her that it would be easier if we rent a tricycle, load the containers and just pay the driver the cost for everything. She hailed one passing by and I asked the driver how much the task would cost. The tricycle driver replied, pointing with his lips, 50 pesos for that 10 galon container... I was a bit hesitant but then gave in as I found the time with her more precious than 5 pesos per galon of water. I reached for my wallet and as I raised my head back, she was gone. I looked around, ran back to the house, but found no one there too, I glanced back at the tricycle and it too had gone.... piiii-piii-piii-piiii-piiii-piiiii - my alarm clock went.... I opened my eyes, dazed, and gave a sigh.

On realizing dreams...and the Return of Eternal Child

2006-05-23T10:31:00.000+09:00

Ever since Bandai started out anew the Chogokin (Diecast) series, I was already praying for my favorite heroes to be revived. Die cast toys especially of the anime kind are unique to Japan and can be traced as far back as the early 70s. Chogokin which means super-alloy (what Mazinger Z was supposed to be made of) was popoularly introduced by Popy(later Bandai). In the 70s to the 80s, Japan's robot anime was on-air on almost all continents.

In the Philippines, anime was relentlessly streamed accross the airwave. To name some that i remembered; Mazinger Z, Voltes V, Daimos, Mekanda, Jeeg, UFO Grendizer (Goldrake in Europe) , Getter, Danguard Ace, Candy Candy, Heidi, Yamato , Macross,etc. Thanks to then President Marcos, it all came into a halt. That was the first time I remembered having concerned myself with politics.

Voltes V, Daimos and Mazinger Z were the three fore runners of the anime saga, at least from my perspective. Each having its own twist of drama and the most often predictable but still enjoyable fighting sequence, which I still know by heart (much like Fernando Poe Jr. getting beaten at first and rallying at the end to beat hthe bad guys) . Every kid in my block and at school would die to have a robot replica - which at that time only came in its original imported source and at an exhorbitant price. We had a schoolmate who had the Voltes V set and all the rest of us poor chaps can do was talk about how cool it is and how it can actually snap together to form a robot. It was the holy grail of toys. We pretty much managed with posters and stickers.

And now, behold, Bandai started churning out these Chogokins on the toy shelves again, re-introducing the robot heroes of our past. First came Mazinger Z GX-01- the all time favorite in Japan, then the series moved on with UFO Grendizer, Combatra V (the precursor of Voltes) , Getter Robot, and so on. I waited and prayed for Voltes V, and last year, prayers were answered as toy magazines announced the protoype GX-30. The international release date was May 22, 2006. I got it on the 20th : ).

And though it came 3 decades late for me....it still came. Dreams do come true.

On moving out to move on

2006-05-22T15:36:00.000+09:00

What do you pack to pursue a dream, and what do you leave behind?
—Sandra Sharpe

Last week I officially started my new life living on my own. Yeah, i know it took a while but at least I finally did it. I now live at a 3rd floor flat called Leopalace21, where residents are mostly the "not permanently settled" - students, long term vacationists, long term appointments, still dont know what to do with life, etc. The setting is a single's pad, with all the convenience molded into it. It is has an above average cost for such a small 28sqm flat, but quite makes up for the furnishings like an IH stove, modular tub and bath with built in clothes dryer - yup you get to hang your clothes dry in the bathroom, video intercom- which I really dont find useful unless i'd love chatting with a visitor that way. The location is quite perfect too as it stands just right accross a chain of small-scale malls. I can actually walk my way to the electronics store and bookstore at my pleasure...and I'd be there too frequently, that the staff may soon get to greet me with my name!

This moving out thingy, although a bit late for Japanese and American standard, (I am turning 34 on Wed, arghh), can be virtually unobserved in the Philippines, as siblings often stay with their parents before marriage and sometimes even after. I would assume financial capacity playing more part in it more than culture does bacause family members can utilize finances better if they can share expenses. Of course those who can afford it would find themselves living separately from their parents. So i'd debunk that generalization that Filipinos are a very close knit family... they would, if they could get away from each other as this is how nature intends it.

I moved for a lot of different reasons, to find myself, to look back, to learn life in a different perspective. Into each life one must find himself at a crossroads, one leading to the beaten path of comfortable redundancy , the other an immeasurable distance of the unknown - i'd choose surprises all the time.

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
-Sidney j. Harris

Music

2006-05-01T10:54:00.000+09:00

I am Robot and Proud
The Electricity in Your house wants to Sing

A great portion of Electronic-pop playfully criss-crossing into the New Age genre, with R2D2 on the vocals, calm and loose, this group has the right recipe worth taking for a spin. I get easily dumbed with repetitive tunes from the likes of Chemical Brothers and other techno music...and think to myself "you sing that line one more time and I swear I'll >> to the next song".

I am Robot and Proud sure is a strange name for a band, and I cant help but connect my thoughts into Asimov's laws and tinker on the use of "Robot' as a proper noun. It is in the lines of Kraftwerk but not as experimental and neither as demanding as Bjork's electronic inuendos. The slight use of traditional instruments gives more variety to the tunes - which,I am glad, is not limited to the synthesizers. I almost purchased the entire album on iTunes but held back as it may be just a few minor hits and a lot of misses, but as I listened to it at work it just blended in with the whirring of a set-to-high-resolution-scanner, the erratic keyboard strokes of my officemate and that buzzing noise that gossips create a few meters away. With that kind of band name, rejoined with that blatantly playing-with-your-mind album title, what it spells is what it actually plays. Recommended tunes; Me and Heidi, The Electricity in your House wants to sing.

Because Things have not changed.

2006-04-24T12:17:00.000+09:00

Imelda Marcos: Still angry after all these years

By DAVID McNEILL
Special to The Japan Times
The beautiful half of one of the 20th century's most notorious dictatorships, Imelda Marcos has spent two decades fighting attempts to jail her and trace a reputed fortune of billions. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution that ousted her and Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, she talks exclusively about her wealth, their legacy -- and those shoes.

"Poor" Imelda Marcos during her interview at home

Twenty years ago this week, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were settling down to exile in Hawaii, after millions of Filipinos had jeered the couple out of Manila's Malacanang Palace during the so-called People-Power Revolution. Television pictures captured protestors waltzing wide-eyed through the palace's drafty corridors and uncovering Imelda's hoard of 3,000 pairs of shoes in a joyous celebration of the oppressed.

By the time the brilliant ex-lawyer and his beauty-queen wife boarded a U.S. helicopter on Feb. 25, 1986, they had become synonymous with the corruption and cronyism that made the Philippines one of the poorest nations on the planet. To his eternal credit, Marcos ordered his army not to fire on Manila crowds before he left, but then he expected to be back within days. Instead, he was to die in Hawaii three years later, leaving Imelda to carry on the Marcos legacy.

Today, astonishingly, Imelda is back in Manila and again a force in Philippine politics. Many believe the beautiful young country girl who caught the eye of the ambitious Marcos and helped him win a million votes in 1965 was the real power behind the throne by the end of their reign, when Ferdinand was desperately ill. Her political survival "makes a mockery" of the 1986 revolution, according to one of her biographers.

Now living on the 34th-floor suite in one of Manila's most exclusive apartment blocks, the former first lady seldom gives interviews because she is invariably skewered by incredulous journalists when she brandishes her innocence and new poverty. She was, after all, once one of the 10 richest women in the world.

"I am poor not only in material things but in the truth. But I believe the truth will prevail. The truth is god and if you are on the side of truth and god who can stand against you?"

Outside, Manila's smoggy landscape stretches into the distance; inside, the walls groan with original art works: a Picasso here, a Gaugin there. A Michelangelo bust peers over a collection of photographs on the piano showing Imelda in her prime with the great and the good: disgraced U.S. President Richard Nixon plays the piano; Chairman Mao kisses her hand; Japan's Emperor Hirohito stands stiff and helpless beside her retina-burning allure.

Oil paintings even hang in the toilet. "I love beauty and I am allergic to ugliness," she sniffs, as a half-dozen servants in white coats scurry around ministering to her needs. "Beauty is god made real."

Her lawyer Robert Sison explains: "You have to realize that when Mrs. Marcos talks about being poor, she does not mean poor like you or I. She is being relative, compared to the life she used to lead before."

The woman once dubbed the "Steel Butterfly," the beautiful half of the sticky-fingered conjugal dictatorship that ruled the Philippines for two decades of chaos and plunder, is now a doughy 76. Although the famous jet-black bouffant is still stubbornly in place, the beauty that charmed everyone from Henry Kissinger to Pope John Paul II has faded, replaced by a sort of flinty, hard-worked glamour; the once sultry topaz eyes now rheumy and guarded.

Imelda, though, remains enraged at her subsequent treatment. "We found ourselves in Hawaii, penniless, homeless and name-less," she says, slapping the table for emphasis. U.S. Customs records showed the family arrived with nearly $ 9 million in cash, jewelry and bonds.

When Ferdinand died in 1989, aged 72, Imelda had to fight U.S. federal grand jury charges alone: principally that the couple stole over $ 200 million from the Philippine treasury and spent it on a real-estate spree in New York. After enjoying the backing of five U.S. presidents, and the close friendship of Ronald and Nancy Reagan (with whom she shared an interest in astrology), the shock of America turning on her was profound.

"They did this to me when I was alone, widowed and orphaned," she says, on the verge of tears. "Even the Bible says there are special places reserved in hell for those who persecute widows and orphans. And it was not individuals who did me in, it was governments and superpowers."

Though acquitted, few expected Imelda to survive the humiliation of being ditched by the White House, lampooned in the media and chased across the world by prosecutors who accused the pair of plundering the Philippines of $ 10 billion or more. But showing the irrepressible energy and brazenness that made her a legendary force in Philippine politics, Imelda bounced back, returned to Manila in 1992 and won a senator's seat in 1995 after a failed bid for the presidency.

Today, she is again the matriarch of a minor political dynasty. Her son, Ferdinand Jr., is governor of Ilocos Norte Province in the north of the country, where daughter Imee is a congresswoman. Her nephew, Alfred Romualdez, sits in the congressional seat she vacated, and her brother is mayor of Tacloban City. She has been acquitted several times on domestic charges of corruption and extortion and, of the 901 separate cases she claims were filed against her family, she is now down to the last three. Considering her regime was recently ranked as the second-most corrupt (after Suharto's Indonesia) of the late-20th century, it is not a bad end to a life. "I am still standing up at 76, fighting superpowers."

Still, there remains the question of the origins of that mind-boggling wealth in a country where eight out of 10 people live in grinding, $ 2-a-day poverty. Tales of Imelda's bacchanalian extravagance could fill a telephone book: her $ 5 million 1983 shopping spree in New York, Rome and Copenhagen, or the time she dispatched a plane to pick up Australian white sand for the opening of a new beach resort, or her reputation as the world's largest collector of gems. And then the final Marie Antoinette moment, when ordinary Filipinos raided her palace closets after she fled -- to find bullet-proof bras, gallons of perfume and 3,000 pairs of shoes.

Imelda dismisses criticism of her extravagance, saying it was her "duty" to be a star for the poor. "You have to be some kind of light, a star to give them guidelines," she once said. She is adamant that there was nothing ill-gotten about her gains. "My husband was rich before I met him," she protests, dismissing claims that she raided the treasury, squeezed businesses and pilfered World Bank loans to finance their lifestyle. "He was a gold trader. He had a mountain of gold when he entered politics in 1949."

By the late 1950s, Marcos had a personal fortune of 7,500 tons of gold, she claims. "This is the first time I'm telling anyone this." In the 1970s, after gold went up to $ 800 an ounce, the Marcos family, she says, was worth a staggering $ 35 billion when Bill Gates was still a dropout software developer.

Why did the man who professed to love his countryman "like a father loves his children" not give this wealth to the people he ruled? "You can't just give money, you know," explains his wife. "Henry Ford II told me it is hard to make money properly, but harder still to spend money properly. First, he had to make institutions and introduce freedom, justice and democracy."

Marcos' contribution to freedom, justice and democracy was to declare martial law, lock up his opponents and close the few newspapers not already run by his cronies. "The Communists were in the streets and in the gateway of the palace," cries Imelda. But analysts say martial law made radicals out of thousands of ordinary Filipinos. Washington looked the other way, content that Marcos protected U.S. bases and businesses; in 1981, then U.S. Vice President George Bush toasted Marcos at a reception, saying: "We love you, sir, we love your adherence to democratic principles."

Where did it all go wrong? Certainly greed did not help. In the 1980s, the president decided to take over the country's mines, a decision taken, claims his wife, for the sake of "the people."

"He said to me, all of these mines I am not entrusting to anyone except a foundation that will ensure it belongs to the Filipino people to serve as a guarantee for all development programs unto infinity," says Imelda, displaying the curious blurring of the public and private that was a hallmark of their regime.

"When he was president there was no distinction between him and the country and the world in general, because he had three visions: [for him], for his people, for his country. He said: What is good for all is good for me."

Sitting atop his mighty mountain of gold, Ferdinand sent Imelda shopping for New York real estate in the 1980s. After rejecting the Empire State Building (which was going for $ 750 million) as "too ostentatious," Imelda bought the $ 51 million Crown Building, the $ 60 million Herald Center and two more prime slabs of Manhattan. All were subsequently seized and sold, along with much of her jewelry and the bulk of the art she had collected over the years. She still has a glossy catalog of what was taken -- 175 pieces; more Michelangelos, Botticellis, Canelletos.

"They sold them for a song," she laments, flicking through the catalog pages, eyes again brimming with tears. "Why? I had already placed them in a museum. They took it all, including my shoes. But that was my No.1 defense, because when they went to my closet they found no skeletons."

Many of those famous shoes are now on display in the Marikina City Footwear Museum in Manila, which Imelda opened in 2001 in another example of her breathless chutzpah. "The shoe industry of Marakina was worth about half a million dollars and it is now worth $ 100 million or more. The shoe industry I supported is a symbol of gratitude."

Has she cut down on her shoe consumption? "I probably have more now. Everywhere I go, the people give me shoes. I'll end up having more than what they stole from me. I am such an optimist. I believe I'm in heaven."

As proof of her optimism, she outlines her pet projects: a plan to build a tunnel across the center of the country, and the development of hydrogen water power -- a revolutionary clean energy that involves extracting hydrogen from water by splitting the water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen gas, which is then converted into electricity. The seas around the Philippines, she says, have the world's highest concentration of heavy hydrogen -- deuterium. "Our problems are temporary. All I am waiting for is for my lawyers to end these cases against me and I will bring about a new economic order."

On the wall, a poster shows a triangle superimposed over the Philippine archipelago with Gold, Oil and Deuterium at each corner: GOD.

She is bounding around the apartment now, pointer in hand, with the energy of a woman 20 years younger, screening a power-point presentation "proving" that the Philippines was one of the most democratic countries in the world during the Marcos reign. The presentation begins with a mythical Filipino version of Adam and Eve, and concludes with a beatific portrait of her and her late husband. She ends with a flourish: "The bigger we are as human beings the more greedy we become," she says, again slapping a table.

It is not difficult at times like this to imagine the young, naive, fun-loving Visayas beauty dazzled by the ambitious senator Ferdinand Marcos and the jet-set life he promised; much harder to put this tearful, almost childish woman together with the picture painted of her in many biographies. Did she really offer her archrival Benigno Aquino $ 1 million to stay in U.S. exile, then order his 1983 assassination in broad daylight and in front of the world's press when he returned? Would the money she and her husband embezzled really, as many say, pay off the Philippines foreign debt?

And the biggest mystery of all: why have the people who threw her out accepted her back?

"Some people look at the chaos now and think things were probably better then under Marcos," says taxi driver Mike Avila. "He was strong and kept people in line. Things don't seem to have improved much since they left."

Imelda has no doubt that history will be good to her, despite the enormous odds against it. "Why is Mrs. Marcos still accepted by the people? The truth is coming out; the best test for the truth is time. My philosophy in life is that the only things we keep are those we give away. Long after I'm gone, the hospitals I built, the cultural centers, the hotels, the this, the that; many of these things were not built with government funds. It was my creativity. And they will be there after I'm gone."

The Japan Times: Sunday, April 23, 2006

Somewhere Only We Know

2006-04-19T12:19:00.000+09:00

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me?
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?

On sudden stroke of cheezyness

2006-04-11T11:35:00.000+09:00

Find me in him.
Beyond the skin, to the soul that looks back.
Stare through your mirror of truth.
Find your soul in the reflection of your vivid past.

We haunt, yet we know not.
From the red, sun drenched Summer frozen in that capsule of time,
To the halls of that formidable place where sweet silence echoes loud.
Listen to it, for it's our soul's needle-prick whimpers reaching out.

Non any sweeter than love held back.
Non any painful than reason-fed love.
Non a life more wasted than an unhearkened soul.
It is all but a short journey, nothing to spare and nothing to lose.

On Sudden Rains

2006-04-11T09:35:00.000+09:00

It was a rather pleasant morning as I pulled out of the parking lot today, I am early than usual...where my usual means..late. As I near my office, the weather went berserk, dark clouds came in like props. Then it poured, like there were no tomorrow. I was ready to sprint into the building lobby when I saw my officemate signalling me to join her in her umbrella. I ran towards her and joined her in -now I realized, a rather tiny umbrella. As much as we wanted to run, we cant, coz we have o keep pace with each other. We pretty much made it dry at the lobby - well each half of us that is.

As we were drying off I told her she better have her hair ran through tap water to wash away the rain and prevent her from having a cold. Then she asked, is that a Filipino thing? I paused...tried to come up with a smart response then answered , yup!. I really dont know how to make logic out of that thing. From what I learned from my childhood, they say we have to take a shower if we get soaked in the rain...otherwise we will get sick. It is probably the same one as the one that says, "do not sleep with your hair wet, or you'll be blind".

Funny thing is, even the Japanese believe in that sleeping with wet hair thing, although their version results in pulmonary problems when you get old - a little bit less harsh and forgiving than waking up blind...how do you get to wake up blind anyway?? . My point is, things that we were taught by our elders - customs, traditions, folklores, sayings, though unexplainable and sometimes down right absurd, have been there longer than we have been in this world - old practices woven into the fabric of the culture - like a gene that would not go away as it is passed from one generation to another. And just like strong genes, its presence remain because time and time again it has proven itself worthy. One day we might find scientific connections to these practices but until then, I am going to the restroom wet my hair and practice my culture, because there arent much to lose...only problem now is we only have paper towels.

On things that are not as it seems

2006-04-07T16:03:00.000+09:00

Dilbert's Principle:
17. After any salary raise, you will have less money
at the end of the month than you did before.

I thought this was a figure of speech...in the lines of: having more money means spending more, until I saw my paycheck. I was already budgeting the extra pay for a digital cable subscription until I realized I'm actually getting less than I had before. How is this possible? Well, it looks liker the pay increase I had just bumped me on a higher income tax bracket and increased everything else tax wise.

It makes sense for the tax-er but its as hell as a bummer for the tax-ee. It means that there will be times that a pay increase is an actual increase and there will be times when all it does is the reverse. What if I request to accept the promotion, put it on record, skip the monetary pay increase and make it a cummulative pay increase later when it actually becomes a plus on my net pay. Probably not in this universe Nelson.

Predictions Schmedictions I

2006-03-21T08:09:00.000+09:00

I am going to make a prediction, call it baseless, senseless and idiotic but call me a genius if it comes true.... Sony's Blue Ray Disk will lose to HD-DVD because its logo sucks.

Lumix SLR

2006-03-01T09:54:00.000+09:00

What does Panasonic, Matsushita, Leica and Olympus have in common?
Well, soon to have anyway. A brand spanking new SLR.... finally.

I have been a photo buff ever since my mom gave me my first manual camera. ..ye old Canon AE-1.
My second SLR was a Minolta Maxxum which was eventually sold to a friend during a time of need, it was replaced by a Canon Elan 2 which I enjoyed so much playing with its Eye Control thingy...also sold to my buddy when I realized I'm more interested in the story than the quality of the pix - hoping to replace it with a Contax G2 - very small and very retro... but then the digital camera got my attention and I scored my first one with a very crappy $120 ebay camera , (its so crappy cant remember its name) it took approx a week to resell it. I shopped and found a sale at $350, it was a high-end (that time) Casio 1.2 megapixel lunchbox, errr camera. From thereon I have been a very unfaithful camera owner, changing models from time to time. I had the Exilim - too shaky , gave it to my mom, the Kyocera with Contax lens - defunct, sold away. At present I am just having fun with my Lumix FZ5. At 430mm equiv zoom, basic manual controls - I couldnt ask for anything more..well a sharper image perhaps. Nothing is perfect, I had to do away with the picture quality to be able to have a good camera all the time. Thank goodness for pix editing softwares. Anyway, I've dreamt of having a Canon SLR or a Nikon perhaps? (para kay Marvin and his Nikonian philiosophies) , but everytime I try it out - the bulk and weight just turns me off...I want it portable demit.

So, I've got something to drool about again, I hope it aint that big but the specs are really promising; Leica Vario Elmarit lens with (take note) built in stabilizer (yey tripod free) Olympus sonic dust removing thingy working with the Venus III engine (parang spaceship). ..but then It'll probly cost a fortune...sighs, grabs the ol camera' and cleans the lens...hope that helps.

ilaw sa gabing madilim

2006-03-01T09:21:00.000+09:00

where can you find these lights?
ok, ok its the Baywalk lights at Malate.

On Protests over Danish Cartoon

2006-02-22T09:58:00.000+09:00

This is like a kid saying "Hey Yo momma so big..." ... then the other kid replies..in our house we slaughter anyone who calls momma "big".

Stay in your house kid.

Honored Guests

2006-02-17T14:29:00.000+09:00

On my birthday last year, I invited the Queen of England, the Prince of Wales, the Socialites of Paris, the Artists of New York.... and a lot of calebrities and dignitaries..... these are their cars...parked at the grand reception lawn....

On Love

2006-02-14T14:01:00.000+09:00

Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people,
and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them
in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant:
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
that you may become sacred bread for God`s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you
that you may know the secrets of your heart,
and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life`s heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only
love`s peace and love`s pleasure,
Then it is better for you
that you cover your nakedness and
pass out of love`s threshing floor,
Into the seasonless world where you
shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,
and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself,
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say,
"God is in my heart," but rather,
"I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course
of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving:
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love`s ecstasy:
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in you heart
and a song of praise upon you lips.

(excerpt from Kahlil Gibran The Prophet)

back to reality

2006-02-08T13:06:00.000+09:00

I tried to capture that going-home-on-a-Sunday-night-got-work-tomorrow kinda feeling

Measured by the Inch

2006-01-31T10:15:00.000+09:00

I've heard that one can measure one's wealth based on the size of their TV screens. If that's the case, I want a flat panel then...not because Im profoundly drunk with consumerism but rather because of the plain fact that mainland Japan has turned digital and my TV is still very much analog... the devils, they gave me a reason.

In leau of my excitement to get one, I felt sick of this Plasma-LCD wars, much as I am really getting sick of all the proprietary differences of all other things: - Blue ray disc, HD DVD, mp3 - AAC, WMA,.. why cant they just use one freaking format?? dream on...for as long as man is incorporated, greed will be inevitable.

Having to consider if its; digital ready, High Vision , HDTV, TFT and all other acronyms that I dont really give a hoot, I've decided to stick with what I thought casted the best glow on the display booth. I bought a 32 incher AQUOS... I dreamt of a 45 " but since the $4k tag price is still absurd for me, and the shape of things to come are as mysterious as De Kooning's paintings, I decided to get one that would not defunct after a year or so...defunct, I like that word. (remember Sony Clies and Kyocera cameras - went funky dead = defunct). Add the fact that in case TV formats change again into something like digital 2.1 or whatever crap they'd come up with, I could use this one as my computer monitor..whooohooooo a 32 inch PC monitor!! Totally nerdy i like it. I bumped my TV from a 26 inch CRT to a 32 inch LCD, do I feel more successful? You bet.

Brands I swear by

2005-12-01T10:14:00.000+09:00

In this flat World we live in ( been readin Friedman's The World is Flat ) , businesses are in a constant frenzy to make sure we keep doing what we love doing - consume. Out of the pile of rubbish products out there, this is my list of "Things and Brands I Swear By, Peksman"

Casio - The G. You might not survive a plane crash but The G-Shock will. A great watch that you can wear around Manila without gettin robbed because its too, well, plastic. Every gadget-man and catastrophy-paranoids should have one.

Doc Martens - When you just cant decide whether to go Friday casual, mall-junkie or whatever lies ahead, the Docs are as rough and refined as any Briton can get. They also last like forever, the Volvo of shoes.

Clorox - cleans anything on contact, i mean anything, this thing is so strong you can actually watch mildew disappear before your eyes. Whitens anything on contact too - most particularly your favorite jeans, shirts and just about every textile you love. The smell, I suggest rinsing really-really well, coz the smell sticks like glue, and you'd end up walkin around smellin like..yup, sperm.

Zwilling Henkels - If you are a cullinary junkie, you will never want to be caught using a dull knife, nor a cheapo one. As Anthony Bourdain puts it - you will be cursed by the kitchen gods if your knife sucks. The knife is a revered instrument for Japanese cooks - where a $2,000 price tag is not unussual. Being the case, JAHenkels plays the chopping board well. Its brittle, so better not use it for fastening screws.

T-FAL - There's a lot of em Teflon covered pans out there, but trust me I've thrown every one of em except for my T-FALS, coz they were the only ones that remained non-stick all throughout.

Pentiums - Twice I had Celeron processors, and twice I've been pissed with it. My recent upgrade was a Celeron D (i thought it meant dual core before) - grinning at the fact that I have 3.2 gigs processing power at a bargain, I felt like my PC is a powerhouse....until I ran games and photoshoped. If you're as much as a nerd as I am, skip Celeron, they keep crashing like its their job.

Made in Japan - anything with this mark seems to top and outlast anything without this mark. I used to tell myself "what's the big deal where it was made??, its the same shit , just different place" ..but I''m now a born-again believer that technology can be transferred, but quality doesnt always come with it.

Leather - Anything leather is beautiful. Being a shoeholic, watchaholic and bagaholic, I have now focused my attention on the upper range of my addiction - yes , leather. They last longer, age beautifully and goes with any fashion statement you're in. Italians still hold this realm, trust them. To authenticate, I've learned to scratch and sniff - if it doesnt scratch its fake, if it doesnt smell like one, then its not. When you suspect a fraud - test burn it, a good 3 seconds wont do leather any harm but would definitely melt faux.

Yoshida Porter Bags - Made by Yoshida & Co. these bags cost like: "two bloody hundred bucks for that!!" , they're often made of plain black textile. Canvass is their signature, but of course its no ordinary one, its as tough as a nail and are made to be passed on to your siblings, and your siblings siblings...whether they like it or not..." Ey Juan, here's a really worn-down canvass bag that I got from your grandfather, you can use it when you go to college"..."oh!, you can also have the Casio after you graduate".

Cupie Mayonaisse and Kikoman Soy Sauce - You havent tasted good mayo til you try this Japanese brand. Sushi aint sushi w/out authentic Jap soysauce.

Sharp,Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba (in that order) - The guys that kicked Sony's butt and sent it home with a whimper. It might have taken more than 1 brand to topple Sony's domination of the electronic market, but they sure beat em good. With Sony losing consumers faster than they can pull out their nasty- encoded CDs, this is another lesson in arrogance...no matter how big you are, esp in this new non-boundary info age we live in, you should never piss off consumers.

This list will go on as I further discover more stuff to throw my hard-earned money in. I consume, therefore I am.

Age becometh

2005-11-01T15:36:00.000+09:00

Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye, 1988

I burned a selection of my favorite 80s music folder and labeled it "You're still listening to that?". I have to , one way or the other , someday, somehow come into terms that I'm getting old.....blink....... every bit of momentary standowns lead to the same generalization - that I'm actually doing things that adults do. I used to wonder why old people love old songs...what's so great about the funky twang of the 70s guitar? Perry Como's hAAAaaaaAAAAA!!!, whats so wonderful about Elvis? .. then one day, a younger friend casually said "Queen is a great "Classic" dude". I almost laughed, but the jolt of reality came faster. My music is slowly easing into the vintage category - I am one of them now, lovers of the past. Add the fact that the only new albums from my favorite groups often begin with: The Best of ......... - and marked 50% off.

Aside from my usual visit to the shoes, watches, bag and electronics sections (a personal agenda on all places that qualifies as a mall). I still visit the Toys section...of course with a snubby pretense that I'm looking for something that is not for me but for a kid I know. As I scan through the rows of my favorite die-cast cars and robot collectibles ....go away already you annoying kids, you cant afford em..I greedily mumble, ... poor old nerd ...they must have been thinkin.

Looking around, I realized that the things I possess havent changed that much, except that now, I actually pay for them and they've just become more expensive.
The liberty of being able to do and buy what you want - this is the only reason I'd never want to be a child again..its fun! Life aint about potholes and suffering shmufferings, its about how much fun you had and you can have...w/out malice of course. I aint gonna live constrained. Freedom!!! FreeeeeeeddOOOOOmmmm!! Life is an inconsolable shiny-happy monster.

2005-09-08T16:27:00.000+09:00

Andrew Carnegie. Industrialist, Philantropist.

The U.S. refused to recognize any Philippine right to self-government and on February 4, 1899, Aguinaldo declared war against the United States for denying them independence. Some Americans accused the Filipino nationalists of Jacobinist tendencies, and US government officials repeatedly stated that few Filipinos were in favor of independence, although this conclusion was questioned by some. In the US, there was a movement to stop the war; some said that the US had no right to a land whose people wanted self-government; Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and steel magnate, offered to buy the Philippines for $20 million and give it to the Filipinos so that they could be free.

I've never heard this from any of my teachers, nor have I ever read its account...until now. I pay tribute to the man and I hope someday Filipinos would know that sometime ago, during US occupation, an American cared for their welfare.

Philippines: Singular or Plural?

2005-08-08T12:39:00.000+09:00

I was looking for materials for my NTT studes (ESL lessons), when I chanced on this website that promised to be an English Language website. On one of the lessons, the author tried to explain the use of Definite Articles. He explained: (Italics his)

Remember the rule that countries with two or more parts to their name need
a definite article. This is also true if one part of the country's name is
left unstated:
ex:
The Philippines (the Philippine islands) will get richer soon.

Ok, I spotted something wrong with this example and emailed the webmaster:
To whom it may concern,
The Philippines - is not an unstated form of "The Philippine Islands"
its official name is "The Republic of the Philippines".FYI.
Respectfully, Nelson

from which I got a reply:
Thanks for your point. You are quite right of course in the offical name.
But I think we say "Philippine islands" (no plural) when the reference is
to the seveal thousand islands that make up "The Philippines".
chris

- which just made me a bit annoyed so i replied:
My point is that the word "islands" is not part of the name of my country.
The sample sentence above is referring to the country, not the thousands
of islands that will be getting richer soon (hopefully). Nel

But as resilient as a cheap tsinelas, his reply was:
The reference may be misleading, but the point referred to is the plural 's'
in "The Philippines" - your country is called this with the plural because
it refers to islands, not states as for example in "The United States" - it
may or may not be part of the official name, but the 's' on the end of the
word is because it is a plural. chris

Its getting dumber, so I decided that I'll just give my final comment and leave it all up to him: (putragis na to marunong pa sa may ari eh)

Sir,
First you misquoted the Philippines when you referred to it as "the Philippine islands"in your sample sentence. Then you miss the point that it is a singular noun and not plural .
I assure you, "Philippines" and "The Philippines" is a singular noun, and the "s" is part of the name. if we were communicating 50 years ago I would have agreed with you that "The Philippines" would equally mean "The Philippine Islands", but its 2005 and that's not the case anymore. "The Philippine Islands" is a historical title, a reference to what the country was known before. If you would insist, then we should go back to calling Belize as British Honduras, or Ghana as Gold Coast, or Singapore back to the Stratis Settlements.

Official Name:
Republika ng Pilipinas
short form: Pilipinas
int'l long form: Republic of the Philippines
int'l short form: Philippines

Can you find any "Islands" in the given names above? The "s" is part of the name, not a designation of a plural noun.

You can either read the history of the country or I can point you to Steinberg, David Joel. The Philippines, A Singular and Plural Place. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2000. Or you can view another grammar website that uses the name as an example of a singular name: http://smccd.net/accounts/sevas/esl/reviewlesson/agree3a.html

And for further clarification:
The Commonwealth of the Philippines constitution remained in effect until 1973. It marked the transition of the nomenclature of the Philippines from the colonial plural ("Islas Filipinas" and "Philippine Islands" of the Spanish and American colonial periods), to the unitary singular, "Philippines" as a sign of unity, sovereignty, and national identity. Respectfully, Nel

I havent received any reply after that, but If he still wouldnt bend to reason...there's always the all-reliable pinoy way to settle a dispute -a brawl. ..which can lead to "ubusan ng lahi", to international dispute..to the US invading the Philippines and since we only have WWII planes against the Stealths and Raptors hence we can always smile and say Mabuhay Ser!! "Welcome to the Philippine Islands". kamote.

The Ghost at San Agustin Church

2005-07-29T15:23:00.000+09:00

For I remember walking through the cold, familiar halls, I was with someone who wasnt there.

As we stepped and blened through the shadows, our last setting sun we shared.

I turned to the bench that waited for two, but today, there was just one to take the offer.

The saints whisphered "where is she, where is she?" , I replied, here, inside me.

Hard to see, but she was there that day... I wish, I wish she'd go away.

Episode III (Taxi 3)

2005-07-25T13:08:00.000+09:00

I was thinking of a satired Star Wars title for my third and final article about my lampooned vacation, but it just wouldnt fit... Taxi - the movie, now that's really an action-packed, mind-perplexing- B movie- in-all-its- glory that I'd love not to see again, entertaining and silly... just like the story that goes like this...

There's an old saying that if you come back to the place where you became a man, you will remember all those things you need to be happy... That saying never made sense to me, but I thought it was worth a try.
-- Henry Bromel, Northern Exposure

I went out with my buddy and his family to Star City - an amusement center in Roxas Blvd.... Insert reminiscing scene here....back then, when the world was young and Michael Jackson was still black, Yuletide was rejoined by the opening of these huge carnivals, there was "Payanig sa Pasig", "Big Bang sa Alabang"... we were hoping for a "Dagundong sa Mandaluyong" but that was only wishful thinking. These "peryas" (fairs) used to have freak shows like "See the Incredible Mermaid caught in Palawan" - she's not always pretty, but probaby because of Western influences, she must always be doned in her long-golden-wavy hair that is teasingly arranged to cover her nipples (double-sided tape?) and wearing a not-so-convincing fish outfit on the lower half of her body. it was actually my first exposure to live nudity. I think freak shows are wicked. Anyway, the big unpaved carnivals were always packed, the lines stretched to oblivion, the machines were rusty and forebearing but we didnt care, "never postpone happiness" was our motto. These places used to be the highlight of Christmas, one can never be complete without being able to share these experiences with friends. You misss it, you're a loser.

Anyway, back to the present, So there I was, hoping to get a slight feel of the past...waiting...still waiting...hold on...dang, its just not the same anymore. Hellooow, maybe because its May and its brutally hot, or maybe because the whole place is cemented, or because the mermaid show is gone, or maybe the worst of all my fears have come...Im an ADULT...ngiii..shivers. Star City was probably nice when it was new. But now, I wont vouch for it unless you have a good tolerance for stench. The rides were more for kids. The thing I enjoyed however was the "Chicharon Bituka" stall (deep fried crunchy pig intestines) ..barbaric? not until you try one! this treat, in all its greatness is the ultimate source of bad fat, it has a smell that only fish sauce users can love. Dipped in spicy vinegar ~ Nirvana ~.

The ride home was actually the one that thrilled me the most. Here was a cab with 3 adults and 3 children inside, zig-zagging at land speed record on the narrow and dark streets of Sta.Ana. At every intersection and corners I was unconsciously pushin my non-existent brake pedals. The car's winkers are relatively useless in Manila as no one uses them. Finally when I cant take it anymore, i blurted to the driver "buddy, I really dont understand why there is a need to hurry, are we chasin somethin?" ... of which I got a stone-face reply. We took another cab.

Taxis, bus, jeepneys, private vehicles, everyone drives like mad. Amazingly though, there are not much accidents , I agree that this may be because Filipinos are very good in swerving and squeezing in tight spaces, but it is a grave mistake to brand that as good driving. Good Drivers have discipline, they follow the rules, even with ot without the element of punishment. Good driving is not just about good handling of a vehicle but more of being mindful of everything else outside the vehicle like pedestrians, other vehicles and traffic order.

The driving attitude in Manila relatively reflects the attitude of the Filipino as a culture; everyone wants to be ahead, everyone wants to beat the pack, everyone will grab any opportunity - it doesn't matter that others may be harmed as long as it benefits them. In Manila a driver would flash their headlights to another vehicle to indicate "Im going first" , In Japan this is the same signal for "you go first" - an exact contrast. Discipline is not related to being rich nor poor, educated or not... it is a universal gesture for Courtesy and Respect...maybe its because when we were young, we were taught to respect our parents and the elders, they did not mention though that we were supposed to respect everybody else too. Paraaa , sa tabi na lang po.

Moments of Decision

2005-07-12T13:29:00.000+09:00

A feather landed on your girlfriend's shoulder:

A. You pick it out and show it to her and say "hey, look you're turning into an angel"
B. You pick it out and show it to her and say "hey, look you're turning into a chicken"

If you choose:
A - this means you are a hopeless romantic...and bloody boring.
B - this means you are full of fun and you dont know the aftermath of this comment. Be prepared.

Nelis Milkfish (To the tune of Kelis' Milkshake)

2005-07-11T11:43:00.000+09:00

My Milkfish brings all the pinoys to the yard, and they're like , more bayabas than yours, Damn right more bayabas than yours, I can give you but I have to charge.

First Aid

2005-07-08T11:01:00.000+09:00

+ Problem: Sleepy probably
Symptoms: Twitching Eye
Cure: 3M clear tape
Indication: Cut an inch of 3M Office Standard clear tape, plaster half to eye lid, other half to eyebrow.
Contraindication: In case twitching persist, secure more tape around eye. In events where boss or snooping co-workers suddenly jumps from behind like they always do, immediately raise hand to forehead as if having a headache. Repeat procedure when necessary.
Precaution: Do not pull out tape quickly, this action will cause severe humiliation as patient walks around with a half shaved eyebrow.

Episode 2 (A bag full-o' Clones)

2005-06-23T10:22:00.000+09:00

From a country far, far away.....the second episode of my vacation...

I had it all scheduled from day one, first of course was my visit to my father's grave..."you should've waited", I stubornly told him for the nth time..again. Then a courtesy call to relatives and friends... amazing thing, Time is, ..fat, bald, sexy, ugly, kinder, meaner...everybody changed.
Then to the task at hand - Shopping, what's a visit to PI without going to the malls. Megamall is still damn huge, no matter how long I stayed in it, I always leave with my satisfaction meter half empty...dont start on me with that half full thingie, its always gonna be half empty. My cousin, who was also vacationing from LA said, "look at 'em, its 3pm, its mid-week, and they're all here...so...jobless." I giggled...pause....hmmm...that's sad. It must have been the heat. I gave up Megamall, too many people, too little time.

Off to Greenhills, where anything that is less..is the price, and the quality. Its imitation heaven...like eBay, except its real. Who cares, as my best friend puts it " it doesnt matter if you're wearing the authentic one or not, because in Manila, fakies are so common that most of the time people would think you're wearing a fake, even if its the real thing." At Greenhills the game is all about knowing how to spot good forgeries and haggling, talents I believed I am very good at.

I bought a $25.00 Armani bag, the saleslady said its real leather, i didnt mind the brand, I only wanted a leather bag...two days later the seams split and revealed a very not-so-leather inner Iining. The DVD movies I bought, when played, had tiny silhouette heads bobbing around, add the laughing crowd in the echoing sound and It beats Dolby Surround in realism- like you're really there..inside the theater that is. An Anti-Virus program I bought didnt even have anything in it, the list goes on. Its was all like buying an Ipod, that broke, and when you tried to pry it open, revealed a mini a cassete recorder inside..double whammy.

"You moron", my buddy tells me as I closed with what I thought was a good deal. All The tell-tale signs of a deceitful sale was there: the speed at which my item was wrapped as soon as i offered my price, the look of glee from the other sales ladies and the frenzy to show their other stuff made me realize my buddy was right. I caught on it later... when the price gets right, they act as if the sale would be a loss on their part, this keeps the haggling nailed within that price and then they act like bitterly giving in, buyer feels happy he outsmarted them. Stupid buyer.

One should take this as the final lesson when going cheap. Fakes are fakes, it will always get back at you with a frustrating reminder that when you go with forgeries you also expose yourself to its meaner cousins: Lies and Deceit. ...makes me wanna spell it deceipt...That is the risk I took and I cant complain because I was an accessory to the crime. Quality comes with a premium. In the long run, I think I actually spent more for things that I used only once because it broke, already in bad shape or just plain unbearably ugly now. Stupid buyer.

Episode 1 (The panting menace)

2005-05-23T13:09:00.000+09:00

From Okinawa to Taipei at a perfect 26 degrees....Manila Airport...the last door on the way out ...final baggage number check...as I stepped out from the last guard, the last continuity of my flight, whoooshhh the heat~~~ tangina and inniiiiiitttt!!!!!!! (sonofabitchy hottt!!!(I dont curse..but this time it was even an understatement).

Well, its Manila's way of saying "welcome my prodigal son, welcome to the hard reality of your past". "Sir mineral water??" a stranger blurted. "Taxi Sir??" I nodded, "Thank you Sir...a few gifts from your kindness would suffice for our mid-day snack"..the porter said in a rehersed tone. I gave him $2.00. As I eased myself in the cab, I requested for the AC to be in full blast, the driver replied "todo na po ser" (its in the max sir, ..honorifics included) then a funky slogan plays in the radio "kailangan pa ba ime-morize yan"..then the slogan is rejoined with a jingle.... a jingle that will eventually haunt me to all my taxi-riding days in Manila. Day one, objective: get to my buddy's place before i get killed with the high-speed, non-regulated driving in EDSA, or dehydration... whichever comes first.

2005-05-13T09:07:00.000+09:00

New Order / Waiting for the Siren's Call

They're back!! they might be gramps now but heck you cant tell the difference. I heard "Krafty" when I was shopping at a shoe depo and I was like.. eyyy thats my band...(like its mine)...which album?? ... then it struck me...could it be... no, really could it be???

As soon as I got home I frantically searched for NO fresh released album...and there it was. Dernit! Its been more than 25 years... i wonder what their grandchildren think...grampa has a techno what??? or...my grampa plays the bass in New Order..cool!! and these guys can still kick techno-post punk music. I immediately scheduled my after-work hours to a CD quest at Book Box or Tsutaya Music for this album...dang! in Japan...what are the chances of them havin it....zero.

Luckily, this week my girlfriend went on one of her Tokyo trips, having access to US mil PX, she managed to find it..fforward >>... After downloading it to my iPod, I let it blow on my PC speakers ...whew, unmistakenly New Order, the familiar bass melody and rhytm guitar, the techno punk effects, electronic drum beats and that close-to-wailing-off-tune voice of Bernard Sumner. It was just like any other NEW Order album, un-aging, worth every penny, uneasy to get sick of and fun...its like "Techno-kids, I am your Father" music.

I cant share my glee enough with my peers...what peers?? Im in Japan. Im surrounded by older-than-me people who thinks Hawaiian music is Jazz, I have a few younger-than-me friends... but they think anything from the 80s is a Classic. Suddenly I find myself in my mom's shoes as she tries to convince me that the Beatles is the coolest ever. period.

The Cure, New Order...the 80s - this was my era. .. as the 60s, 70s, 90s, etc. .were for other people. My music is welded in me, no matter how good the old were and the new ones become, the music that I grew up with will always be the best. It doesnt just bring me back old memories, it confirms my bonafide membership to the world...which there was an era I can proudly say that I belong. Confirming Existence. Check.

On being John Malkovich

2005-04-22T13:54:00.000+09:00

Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich!
Posted by Jerry Kindall on April 19, 2004 at 1:05 PM

Jerry, thanks for the "Being John Malkovich" reference. That made me laugh out loud.
PS, Oh, and in answer to your statement: Malkovich; Malkovich...Mal-kovich, dammit!
Posted by Jim on April 19, 2004 at 1:30 PM

Office Defibrillators

2005-04-14T14:29:00.000+09:00

I have always wanted to do this, hold em heart-starter thingies, rub em together and say "clear!!"...glance at monitor and say "damnit man, we're losing him",... "clear!!!..bzzzzttttttt~.

We have that thing installed in the hallway. Its a bright funky-green gadget housed in a "break glass in case you have to bring a dead person to life" box. But Lo! Before you decide to break the glass you have to at least be certified to operate that thing. They dont want you to be zapping dead people's butt or other body parts, or worse frying them unintentionally.

Ok, I agree with that...but suppose some lame guy suddenly dropped dead in front of me, do I:
A.Give him CPR... ewww ..good thing I'm not certified.
B.Call 911, the nearest hospital is about 4km..too late.
C.Run around the building looking for that certified defibrillator prick...if there is one.
D.Drag his lifeless butt near the "Automated External Defibrillator" , break glass open and apply electrocution process...with joy.
E. Stay put, act like you thought he just fell asleep (literally).

If I'm wise enough I'd probably choose E. This seems to be the most weasel-like of the choices, threfore would land me in a safe-unblameable position.To free myself from guilt, I'd probably enrol myself in the "How to pronounce Automated External Defibrillator and Cardio Pulmonary Rescucitation Course"...next time same incident happens, I'll be a tad bit ready. Technology...and ignorance wont do much.

2005-04-11T18:49:00.000+09:00

A steady night shot, full apperture opening, zoomed from the 3rd floor, reflecting light from parking lot.

2005-04-11T18:45:00.000+09:00

Joining the transparent background project, Nelson proves that if one nerd can do it, so can the rest.

Puzzling Dream

2005-04-06T13:48:00.000+09:00

The dream started when I saw myself with a rocket-propelled grenade aimed at a convoy of renegade trucks, I squeezed the trigger and hit a big truck which was piggy-backing an old red volkswagen beetle. Realizing the grave stupidity of my action: any moment now the foot soldiers will definitely find the perpetrator...umm that would be..me! fuck the others, i ran for my dear life... I took the river trail, dogs cant sniff me out from there i was thinking..then I remembered something...ummm I felt I left something, what was it??...Ooops, my girlfriend. She is in the secret room of the house. I went back...was caught...held hostage or prisoner of war, and here is the interesting part: As I was being pushed around the house, I came face to face with the "secret door that leads to the secret room" Instinctively I would have looked or touched it , but I didnt because I was strictly focused on thinking what were they up to in letting me wander around the house freely. In a flash, I realized they were trying to find the secret door just by observing my movements. So with my quick wit I glanced blankly everywhere not giving any reaction to anything.

The dream went crazy after this, with my officemates joining the hostages, then they decided to re-design the curtains of the house, cellphones were confiscated except for mine because the rebel leader (who happened to be a gorgeous fashion designer) liked me., a tsunami hit, the building collapsed, I visited an old elementary classmate who was part of the hostage crisis and was rattled awake because damn its 0630 uggh! gonna be late for work.

As I recalled the dream while driving on the way to work I realized something. Characters in our dreams are made by our minds, they think and act according to what we know, believe and think. But why, o why didnt I know that trick. I have no recollection where I got this idea of finding out clues by observing a persons action. Ive never been to boot camp, never been in the military and the closest I got to any counter intelligence stuff is by watching spy movies. That was something new I learned there. Freaks me out this dream. It was fluid, fast and impromptu. Dreams are freaky but this one has got me thinking.

On Feet

2005-04-06T12:50:00.000+09:00

She's wearin strap sandals today... and there it was, gorgeous feet... the most gorgeous feet I have ever seen. Jap-white complexion, and I'll be darn if it aint well cared for coz it really looks almost buttery. I aint got any feet fetish whatsoever, but when i saw her feet during lunch ..It was so attractive.. i wanted to put it on my plate...strange thing what this "Attraction" does, but feet??

On Empathy

2005-04-04T14:11:00.000+09:00

Here are two contrasting issues; Terri Schiavo and the overwhelming publicity it is getting, the other, the truth of other deaths taking place.

For quite a while a lot of people (in the US primarily) were into this empathic-frenzy over the fate of one vegetative-state patient. Suddenly it seems like everyone cared about the life of one individual. People flocked the hospital to show their support, they called on the President, the Governor, the Senate, they threatened, they cursed, they prayed, they wept ..they were gadamn gonna be there to save the life of Terri. Empathy.

Time magazine, March 14, 2005; "There are 8 million people a year who die just because they too poor to live". Now, in the light of all this mumbo-jumbo I see something plain...These people flocked to show their concern on the life of one, one who never needed it... but ignored the call of 8 million souls begging for help. Hypocrisy.

2005-03-25T22:07:00.000+09:00

stoopidddd

Things that keep the world in order

2005-03-24T17:24:00.000+09:00

Inspired by the Flickr.com gig: What's in your bag?

· The tin case - (upper right), holds the paperworks, passbooks, passport, insurance, Inkan (Jap personal stamp) This case keep the things that attest to the truth of my existence, without em I walk among the dead...Nelshawn of the Dead.
· Pillbox - Because this mortal suit sometimes functions erratically out of sync.
· Cellphone – Because I didn’t come with a tracking device.
· Digital Camera – Because it can capture and explain a more realistic visual rendering of an event far better than my brain could.
· Ze iPod - Because music is a great company, now all of em can tag along.
· An Electronic organizer – Because it was advertised to put all of humanity's wants (not needs) in one nifty package...it has a camera(not that great), video camera(sucks), mp3 player(plays only with stoopid memory stick), Organizer (excellent!, but I found out that I actually have no use for it).
.100 yen multi-purpose tool - commonly referred to as "Swiss Knife". – Because I didn’t come with Wolverine’s adamantium claws…sigh.
. Inside the pouches – a 2.5 inch 6Gb Hard Drive – Because some of my computer junk wouldn’t fit on a USB Stick, A paperback and a PSP– Because idleness happens.

As I look into my bag I've come to admit to myself that yes, I've become a gullible consumer, I've bitten the fruit of materialism and taken its promises that I cant possibly live without these things...and in the course of all these conditioning, I really felt the coffee-like dependence. The bag carries the things that help me connect – to my social needs, to systems, to culture, to fashion and to all the needs that the great geek A. Maslow stated. My bag tells me who and what I am...not completely, but its in that ballpark. Geek!!

Ginataan for the Wandering Soul

2005-03-21T15:54:00.000+09:00

Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago. -- Horace Mann

As lunch time progresses, everyone's eager to see what i have for the day. Being the only non-supervisory-guy-who-eats-lunch-with-the-rest-of-us, I also happen to be the only foreigner within the group. I was raised in the Philippines...therefore I cook Filipino ...duh. As always, everybody awaits then tries whatever weird stuff I have for the day. They've come accustomed to: Adobo - a vinegar-soy sauce based viand, Sinigang - a clear sour soup, and Tinola - your regular chicken soup with ginger, Longganiza (sausage) and Tocino (sweetened pork). Other than these, I try to limit my lunch menu into non-offensive-smelling cullinaries. There are certain rules/adjustments that I have learned as far as my cooking/food intake is concerned:

1. Patis - Unless you are a Thai, Indonesian or Filipino, fish sauce is not welcome in any place where people breathe.
2. Bagoong - shrimp paste is as worse as 1.
3. Filipino taste is extreme. Shake the salt down.
4. Tuyo -dried anchovies shares the fate of 1 and 2.
5. Avocado in Japan is to soy sauce , as it is to condensed milk in the Philippines.
6. Oil is not a basic ingredient, and yes, you can fry food without the unnecessary oil depth.
7. Animal fat and oil should be avoided like its some kind of a potbelly-inducing ingredient...it is.
8. Potato and Rice whatever the manner it is cooked is as redundant as eating tinapay-palaman fried rice.
9. Dinuguan - Swine blood in vinegar, is considered a barbaric and just plain eeky food... I can only eat it alone, at home...with the lights off.

My taste buds were honed in the carinderias of Manila, therefore its highly accustomed to extreme tastes; really sweet, salty, sour, or spicy. But in time, as I have learned to adopt to the Japanese cuisine (which is by my first impression, bland), I've relearned to identify the natural tastes of food.

Magoro-toro (a pricey fatty Tuna) sushi for example, has a lot of stages in taste. From the time it enters your mouth to the time you swallow it...the first experience after dipping on the Jap-brewed soy sauce is its salty and alcohol-like fermented spirit spreading on your tongue, then as you chew, the creamy fat of the fish spreads out, making the taste totally indescernible from that of an Avocado (mentally connect to no. 5), then the raw Tuna taste kicks in, followed by the nasal arrest of the horse-radish...you pause to take a deep breath from your nostrils to ease the wasabi tang, then back again to the enjoyment of the whole sushi as its taste conjures up into one dynamic sensation. But in contrast, I used to remember how Aling Ising's Sinigang tastes like... sour...dip to Patis..salty..ease away with rice, repeat.

I still enjoy authentic Filipino food. But now, it just became a tad bit too tasty. The Ginataang Hipon that I used to order at the Fil resto here , as I have realized lately, was really salty ...they didnt change the recipe, my taste has changed...and maybe my perception of food, and perhaps ...life itself.

2005-03-15T21:30:00.000+09:00

The book was featured in Time magazine, it talks about first impressions, instantaneous judgment... something in the lines of - "analyzing events, actions or a person's character in a whim". Bought it, skeptical about it at first as the author starts to talk to me like Im a gullible kid, ...further down the chapter all skepticism were dismissed...this book should not make it to your bookshelf. Its got great reviews but it just didnt taste right. Uncooked book. Its like your grand father telling you great stories about his life, part of it you believed, part of it you thought was just added exaggeration to fire interest to the story...but this book inclined itself more on the latter. Gladwell being a writer for The New Yorker , a Marketing guru (as articles say of him) ...makes me suspect he's using his skills to get people to buy his stuff.. indecent..you bad, bad writer you.

A Forest

2005-03-11T11:13:00.000+09:00

Come closer and see
See into the trees
Find the girl
While you can
Come closer and see
See into the dark
Just follow your eyes
Just follow your eyes

I hear her voice
Calling my name
The sound is deep
In the dark
I hear her voice
And start to run
Into the trees
Into the trees

Into the trees

Suddenly I stop
But I know it's too late
I'm lost in a forest
All alone
The girl was never there
It's always the same
I'm running towards nothing
Again and again and again

The Cure

Late nite family calls

2005-03-08T11:21:00.000+09:00

So warmed up was my bed, on a chilly night nothing beats a goose down blanket... then the mobile rang...,its either mom or my sis, if its mom I'd predict shed want me to drop by and get some food she made...if it was sis, then shes most likely to have discovered a new way to make her skin better and she would want to share the precious discovery. I glanced at the screen ...its sis. I tried to sound bed-ready...and said " yep??", and she went, "hey boy, its like 10 o'clock even my kids are still awake"...then I went " well your kids dont go to work at 7", then she went, "I sleep at 1am and wake up early to prepare for the hubby and kids", and I threw back my infamous one liner, " Well, you chose that life, I chose this one™". Thats the usual salutation to a wonderful late night call from sis. So the topic tonite:"Meri Discovers That Things Happen for a Reason (Patent pending)". She was so happy to recount her teenage days and connect them to meaningful present co-existences...( buy her a Celestine Prophecy book for her bday).

I just let her babble through it. I can sense her stress, her bacteriaphobia, acrophobia, aviatophobia and all the other fears that dwell in her seeped through the entire conversation.
Girls have to talk, its either they talk or they're gonna be walking time bombs. After realizing that my mobile has started to melt, I just had to tell her good nite and I'd call her if I have some discoveries of my own. Well, as for me, its comforting enough to be reminded that with a discovery or not, I have a family who I can turn to anytime, at any hour of any day.

Sour Balls

2005-02-23T08:32:00.000+09:00

After I'm dead I'd rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one.
-- Cato the Elder

Employee Recognition day. Frustrated 'cause got none.
I think the object of the game is to flaunt and thicken your broth, all cosmetic, and frankly, pathetic. Der Supervisor got the award..no, really I'm happy...not that because she got it, but because she credited us for it, and that makes a mighty big difference.
Today, out of the multitudes of bogus awardees, before me stands a decent one.
Der Supervisor deserves our love....p.s. my grapes aint that bloody sour 'eh?

The Mocking Past

2005-02-18T11:45:00.000+09:00

Tis the time when Principles become the root of suffering,
a time when Idealism is stained with the politics of needs.
It is now that Religion, again is used for destroying.
Murder, devastation and hatred, believed to be noble deeds.

It is this time that we regress to the old verse,
when justice becomes again, "An eye for an Eye".
Whilst the morals of man is in full reverse,
all the grandeur of our advances are but a sigh.

With our puny claims as the greatest of all generations,
dear History had just been repeated.
The kings and gods of time forgotten laughs at our dellusions,
for we have never really left off from where we started.

Made by Two

2005-02-02T13:05:00.000+09:00

They were dysfunctional.
They werent together, but they were always there.
I dont really know Ginko enough , but she tried.
Nick is funny and we have common friends and buddies.
I became like them in some ways...I tried to pick only the good stuff.
Despite a disability, I was not cradled with compassion...
They held back, knowing well that helping me will only render me brittle in life.
That, I say to the world is Love. To the two, a good person i became because of you.

i'm-mature

2005-01-24T16:24:00.000+09:00

When will I learn. Im getting that “tied up” feeling again - with a perfectly fine relationship. I just miss being alone now. I miss being able to paint with just music to accompany me. I miss eating by the PC, I miss going out shopping and getting completely mindless about the time, I miss dancing like stoopid and laughin at how silly I look, I miss staying in the library halls just jumping around one topic to another for as long as I can endure, driving around the island lookin for someplace to explore…and , getting lost..and scaring myself silly..awouuu~~

But back then when I was alone, I was in the opposite mindset, often lost in thoughts on how great it would be to have somebody to share my thoughts, my intimate details, someone who’ll help me see things in a different light, .... Thats what the 80s can do to you.

Is there such thing as a perfect relationship? Soul mate-shmould-mate? Is it always a compromise…does it have to be? Is it plainly simple to see that single-hood is just the perfect state if you are on the free-spirited side of life? What’s so great about marriage anyway? I need enlightenment. I need a vacation… Or I just need to grow up.

2005-01-21T22:52:00.000+09:00

My space, my freedom. Is it because of the Gemini thingy???... do you know its pronounced as je-mee-knee.. gemini cricket..gemini snicket

Somethin's burnin'

2005-01-19T16:15:00.000+09:00

We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.-- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

I know I have to do it, Its either I dont want to do it or Im too lazy to do it. Either way, I will force myself to rid of haunting pasts, the one that got away, the one that made a terrible mess, the investor who stole my money, her smile..i'd wish Faith would stop haunting me, the things I could have done, the things I have done..that I wish I have not, and all the could haves and the should haves.

Burn bridges to make new ones...I must let go and start anew , I have reinvented myself a million times, I was a geek teen turned punk-turned geek again-turned-anarchist-turned-pious-turned smart-ass banker-turned-merchant-turned-academic-turned web merchant. Now, im just a plain office geek. I am in perfect order right now, well oiled, but somehow I feel chaos is gonna be bangin at my door screaming "Its due!!" ...not that I wanted it to come nor I am subconsciously attracting it, but sometimes I think a little chaos can put things back in a much interesting order - oh what irony.... burning bridges, burning bridges ...and its fallin' down, fallin' down.

2005-01-03T13:00:00.000+09:00

This mortal Coil.

The Legend of 2004

2005-01-03T01:05:00.000+09:00

The year came in quickly and left just the same. I have a serious problem with time, I see it as just one continuous event, divided into 3 parts: a moment ago, now and the next credit card bill. I would never remember dates but im keen on remembering the details of an event. I used to photograph a collage of all the things that represent the year that was... I would put together things i wear daily (watches, silvers, etc, except undies dummy) things i cant live without, things i love and bought from that year.. it was a very nice and effective way to remember that year for me... now if only I can remember wher I placed those pics.

This year I screwed up in the office big time. I sent a supposed to be anonymous email to the CEO... how big is he? "Asst Chief of Staff" is the first few words on his job title... I expressed my distress blatantly, telling him the system sucks, Management is soo incompetent and I told him to talk with the staff and front people to know the reality of things. It was anonymous but it still was a very professional Jerry Mcguire stint. But as stooopid as I was, the email return address showed my name. Boy was I caught red handed, my boss, who is two levels below the CEO called me in, read the email verbatim on my face... gaspp!!~ wheeeze~~chest tightening~ I was teary eyed and braced for the worse. Well, I did not defend my case and regretted all the stuff i said... I was not fired. I whined, but I also offered solutions, I guess that made the difference.

This year I got my Jap driver's license. It was a real pain. I failed on the first driving test, well, everybody else does. It was Japanese culture at work, precision. I failed because I did not turn my winker on within 30 metres upon approaching a turn... I did it in maybe 12 meters..thats like the length of two cars. Its good at least I nabbed it on the second try. Most foreigners who were taking the test were on their 6th to 9th take. Its still way better compared to the locals who were mandated to attend and finish a 4k worth of driving school. Damn thats 4000 buckos and they still are just student drivers after that. They are being robbed blind, I got my Phil license for $10 , lunch included.

Bush got re-elected..you want wood??, boy that cracked me up and made me like him a bit. His strength of conviction is unparalleled, it makes him. Arafat died, I dont know exactly what it has to do with me, but hes cool too. Che Guevara is not a brand...but everyones got em printed everywhere, Andy Warhol's principle is making sense to me now. Ipod got cheaper, thanks Steve, now youre not as greedy as I thought. Starbucks is everywhere, used to be cool to hang out there, not anymore, when you see families holed in those small tables and chairs you start to wonder... are they selling fries soon? Gadgets keep updating..fast!. My camera was top of the line 8 months ago, now its on sale at half the price...which makes me want to get the latest ones...they've got me!! gakkk!! Im a certified gullible consumer!!

2004 is gone, it doesnt make much difference to me. I started my New Year when I learned how to think, and in my world, New Year's Eve wil be when I close my eyes and never open them again.

Necessity invented me

2004-12-31T01:20:00.000+09:00

I wish I can enjoy pandesal in the morning... led to a baking mischief. I made bread..... a handful of flour, a whip of butter, egg, condensed milk, gotta have baking soda, yeast..a little of it. I have no freakin idea what these powders do but since im as proud as a hippogriff, and as hungry as a starved goldfish, I made bread.

I kept telling myself, if the ancient Greeks can make it, if nan bread looks so simple as a bloated blob of thing, Jesus probably even knew how to make bread - he was the first worldwide advertisement for it.... then I believe i can make it. Its gotta be somewhere in my genes.

First things first. Mix em. Mix and bake, 2 steps, no biggie. Except for the eggshells, everything blended in well, it looks so much like the ones i see on TV. I was happy rollin and flattenin. Now i gotta use some grey matters here.. its gotta prevent itself from stickin to the pan... duh!! The dough was formed into what i believed is the right thickness, laid on the oven, and set the fire to "insane" degrees fahrenheit. I have no time for slow cookin excuses.

The first set went out incredibly fine. Ok it didnt, after like 4 minutes, it was turnin golden brown... cool, that was fast. Took it out and let it cool. I felt kinda hard, typo, I meant "it" felt hard..the bread...so i decided to add water on the dough... which i think it didnt like coz it went nasty soggy. Whatever form it was it went in the toaster this time.. duh! oven sucks, Ogg use toaster this time.

Ding!, the toaster rang, Ogg the infamous caveman went to the micro volcano cooker and fetch his invention, it was an odd shape, it was as dead as a nail and its pippin hot. Fresh brewed Amoretto coffee, sunny eggs, fresh veggies and the main entre~ .... cardboard cookies.

They turned out into cookies from hell. Well, add butter, dunk into jelly, hold coffee, bite and chew..refrain from spitting it out, swallow and gulp coffee and it actually went fine. Next time Ill try to make cookies, it might turn into bread. Ogg learneth to use recipe and patience hereafter.

Segunda

2004-12-30T15:21:00.000+09:00

Sinundan kaagad. Ganda ng titulo ng page ko, pintor na pintor. simulan ang Segunda ng New Years resolution...walang kamatatayang resolusyon.

1. Kailangang bawasan ang carbs, more meat?? en mag eksersays... mashiki na talaga ang butonesan ng mga pantalon.
2. Mag ipon bago mag plano. mas madaling isipin kung ano dapat bilhin kung me pera ka na...and you tend to be damn stingy when you have enough... ayronik somehow.
3. Keep up with the No-smoking campaign. Kalahating taon na, pink na lungs na ulet.
4. Mag aral mabuti...., tanda mo na nag aaral ka pa ren, wenoh!!!
5.Will not steal nor buy pirated music. sabi nga ni Michael, " if yu wana make dis world a better place, take alook at yourself then make that change...nananaaaa~ nananaaaa~"
6. Stop buyin those damn earhones! pang 4 na pares na to, gotta be satisfied... nothing is perfect...arrrghh!!! ok, last pair... pramis. Lesson: buy expensive once, so u dont have to buy over en over again.
7. Eye care, darn it, my eye sight went twice as bad. Gotta learn to blink blink then stare far away once every few mins.
10. Once en for all. Give up the old flame. You loved her and thats ALL there is to it now... she better stop gettin into my dreams dern it.
11. Let go of the past. Throw em things that you need not hold on to. Stop wearing, listening to those 80s stuff... for pete's sake that was 20 years ago!!!
12. Live more, with passion, with truth, with honesty...this is starting to sound like that "Life's Little Instruction Book".

At marami pang iba... pero eto muna.