Vacation's Over

(For those of you who read my blog entitled Who's The Boss?, there is another side to my discussion with the HOD that I deemed appropriate of writing on a separate post. So here it is.)

I've always trusted my instincts. When my 1st contract here was expiring last 2003, I had a funny feeling that I'll get renewed. The missus, still my gf back then, didn't believe my vibe coz she said why would I get renewed when in fact I was doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING 95% of the time? Of course my instincts were correct. I got renewed for another year (and a salary-increase for all that "work").

Late 2004 my contract was near expiry again ---and again my "sixth sense" told me I was getting renewed. I signed another contract until Jan.10, 2005.

Prior to my discussion with the HOD, I tried to feel what my instincts would say about the prospect of getting another year's contract. Unlike my last two vibes, I felt that I was not going to get renewed at all. By this contract's end I'll be 3 years here. Most of the expats have stayed for 3 years or less. I don't know if it was an HR-rule, but I just trusted my guts and conditioned myself that I'd better start looking for other prospects.

So last Thursday, after the HOD discussed my new role, he came to the subject of my contract. I was ready to face the music since I had a similar discussion with him last year (He was particularly keen on asking if I have tried applying somewhere else since HE felt that I might not get renewed. To his surprise, and mine, I would stay for another year). I knew that if he ever discussed my contract again, he would go about the same line.

So here's the decision: I'm getting renewed for another contract....

Hold it! Hold it! I'm not yet finished!

I'm getting renewed for another contract BUT until early-April 2006 only. He was kind enough to fight the matter over higher-management to renew me for another year but 6-months is the longest that they could give. 6-months FROM NOW, that is. Thus April 10, 2006 will be my last working day here. That is, of course, if there won't be any change of plans by the management. Who knows, I might be outta here as early as January?

As I was driving back that day after that conversation, I just started memorizing everything to every minute detail: the houses with the red roofs, the freshly-paved roads, the Proton and Perodua local-cars, the mall that we regularly go to, the Chinese take-out shop that I regularly buy my dinner, and the people going about their business. All were unaware that I'll be leaving soon. I've said to myself, "Mamimiss ko talagang lahat ng 'to."

*sigh*

So my Malaysian-adventure will be ending soon. I have enjoyed living in this country for the past 33 months so another 6 months will be a bonus. I will definitely miss the diverse culture, the food (damn! the food!), the sights, the pirated-DVDs, the popularity of football, and of course, the people. There's nothing left to do but strain my eyes out and suck up all the beauty that Malaysia has to give. As the missus and I have discussed, we'll just look back fondly on our stay in this wonderful country on how we enjoyed this vacation away from the Philippines.

Yes, we're looking at this as just a vacation. A very long one. When I first took this contract I told myself that I will just stay here for ONE YEAR and that's that. Who would've thought that I'd still be here until now? It may have been due to the fact that I've grown to like it here. Add to that the undeniable fact that I'll be earning in 3 years the amount that it would take me in 3 LIGHT-YEARS in the Philippines.

Frankly, I've never lived so comfortably in my entire life. But living permanently in another country is such a foreign thought to me. Iba pa rin kase sa Pilipinas. Like my friend BN, I want to settle in the Philippines for good (after saving money from job-contracts, of course). Like any other vacation, I will always have that need to go back home. Back to the real world where family, friends, and tapsilog await.

But until April comes, I would have to consult my instincts again. My Mom, the eternal optimist, once said: "Naku sana naman ma-assign naman kayo sa ibang bansa para naman may bago akong pupuntahan." How's that for motivation? You can't help but love her for that.

Maybe my Mom's predictions will come true. By some weird work up in the heavens, I might be going off on another "vacation" by then. (wink wink)

Banned(?)

The movies below have been somehow banned for showing in Malaysia. Too bad since the missus and I were raring to go last Thursday to watch Drew Barrymore's film (actually the title Fever Pitch was changed to The Great Catch for the Malaysia release) when the guy in the ticket-booth said that it has just been banned in Malaysia (the opening day, at that).


I'm really wondering why they banned these films. Was it too much sex? Too much swearing? Or did the censors felt that Chris Rock had too much bed scenes with one of the prison-inmates?

Well whatever the reason was, it only proves that the censors feel that Malaysian movie-goers are still immature at being presented with these types of films.

Yes the censors here are damn strict. Buti pa sa 'pinas pag na-rate ng MTRCB ang isang pelikula ng "XXX" eh napapakiusapan pang ibaba ng Rated-PG (remember the classic film Live Show?).

Well anyway, good thing I'm at the pirated-DVD-capital-of-the-world so I'll just wait for the next few months for the DVD-release at my favorite DVD-shop (pirated, of course).

Who's The Boss?

Our new HOD (Head of Dept) talked to me this morning about my future with the Company. Alas, my time has come to play musical-chairs once again since the latest reorg is being set up for October. Finally, he has asked me to step-up to the role of Head of Intelligent Network (IN) Operations.

The role has actually been running away from my sights since I first reached these shores 2.5 years ago. The reason for my prying is that I was initially hired for THAT ROLE but then I ended up doing something else. It's like Michael Jordan being sent to Mogadishu thinking that he'll train the national basketball team but instead is given an AK-47 and is told to start shooting at them American-varmints (pardon my simile). It may have been due to departmental-politics or insecurity, I assume, but nevertheless I made good use of my time here. I've developed my skills in non-IN systems, mostly to the admiration of my peers and my boss, but hey, you always have to be alert for the reorg that often happens once (or even twice) a year.

The decision was quite easy. It's either I stay with my current role (part of a team managing mobile-data systems) or move back to the IN-group where my expertise is PLUS I can begin my career-shift to a more managerial position. Of course, I chose the latter. I've been doing the role of "systems-engineer" for far too long (10 years in fact) that I need a change by handling a more complex component of the Company: people.

That, I think, is where the challenge will be. The current group of IN-engrs and I treat each other as friends, lunch-buddies, badminton-buddies, mp3-sharing-buddies, what-color-do-you-recommend-for-my-house-buddies, I-saw-you-pushing-the-grocery-cart-last-weekend-buddies, your-boss-sucks-and-I-have-the-email-proof-buddies, etc. I may have to tell them that I'll expect a little more when I'll be heading them, and I think they'll be kind enough to give something back. I've learned a lot with my current boss (however absurd his views are, according to most of the people he's met that I've met) and I hope to implement his useful ideas to this new group.

The only hindrance that I could think of if he (my current boss) will have violent-reactions to my new role which meant moving out of his group. But of course you have to follow your boss' orders and his boss' orders are for me to report directly to his boss. That means I'll be in the same-level as my current boss, which was supposed to be in the first place (whew! ang daming boss! hehe).

Harddisk kaput

Kung mamalasin ka nga naman, I suddenly heard a "cracking" sound on my laptop today---specifically in the harddisk area. The Windows welcome-screen upon startup just seemed to stay there forever, the progress bar endlessly illuminating from left to right like that of Michael Knight's car.

I removed the battery and put it back on again. Still the same thing happened. I tested my patience and waited for it to finish booting ---cracking sound in tow.

Well I can sadly say that the harddisk may be faulty. The occassional cracking sound, aside from being annoying, seems to be telling me that it has taken the last straw from all my WMV and MP3 downloading.

Our IT department says the harddisk replacement will come in 2 weeks' time. So I will have to bear with this for a little while longer. In the meantime I'm backing-up all my important files to our server (good thing it has a lot of space; gigabyte heaven!).

Damnit! There goes the cracking sound again! Arrrrghhhh!

Scaredy-Cat

Don't you have those times when you said to yourself you'll never do it again, but still you do? And, as you're done with it, you only have yourself to blame for the repercussions.

For me, it's the subject of horror films. I've never been a fan of watching horror shows/films. I recall when I was a kid, the first time I got scared was when I watched a tv-documentary on Jack The Ripper. I had sleepless nights just thinking about it. I promised myself I'll never watch another horror flick again.

Then came Ring-O.

Ohhh man! It was damn scary. My kid sister recommended that I should watch it. The missus, my girlfriend at the time, swore that I had one of the loudest screams in the cinema (Greenbelt-3 pa naman yun). Yeah it wasn't really one of my "knight in shining armor" moments. Knowing that my then-gf lived near Balete Drive was not a comforting thought either. After I drop her off I would hit the gas on the way home via Balete Drive, not looking at my rear view mirror, afraid that Manang would be waving from behind the rear-seat, hitching a ride to Cubao.

I said to myself that I have to cure this. So I bought a VCD of "The Eye" on coming home to Manila. Yup it was another recommendation by my kid sister (dang! does she get a high on watching horror flicks?). I watched the movie with her, but I was only able to finish the 1st scene. I told her kindly, "Putek ayoko na! Manood na lang tayo ng TV-patrol!"

You have to be amazed at the evolution of horror films these days, specifically those from Asia. Except for the depressingly funny Feng Shui, the success of Ring-O has been honoured by The Eye, Sigaw, and lately, The Maid.

Oh yeah I watched The Maid. It's a Singapore film that starred our very own Alessandra De Rossi. I didn't know much about the film but when I saw that it starred a Filipina actress, I knew the missus would like it since she misses Philippine Showbiz. The film description stated it was of the "horror" genre but I was not deterred since I knew that I've gotten over my fear since I last watched Sigaw last December.

Needless to say that I was covering my eyes and scared outta my mind like a sissy-boy on most scenes of the entire film. Yup, it was damn scary. I think I even had trouble sleeping that night, afraid that Ah-Soon (one of the characters there) would creep up and pull my legs down to hell.

To my kid sister: yes you better watch it if it's showing near you. You'll definitely gonna love it so much that you'll want to sleep in Mom & Dad's room for the next few days.

What? Not showing there? Don't worry. I'll buy you the VCD-version for Christmas. Hehehe.

Hanep!

Ang galing mo parekoy!

Da Vinci Code (Fin!)

After almost a month, I've finally finished reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. This is only the 2nd fiction-novel that I have read from cover to cover in my entire life, so imagine the amazement I'm feeling right now. Yeah, I should've paid more attention to my Reading-Comprehension classes when I was in elementary. But heck, recess and lunch-break were more important matters at the time. Well the only advantage of that is until now I still have perfect 20/20 vision. Di kase nagagamit ng madalas. Hehe.

Finally I get to experience what you book-worms feel when you see a film based on a book. Btw, I've read somewhere that Tom Hanks will play the lead-character in the movie-version so that's a big plus already. I now get a chance to utter "Ay mas maganda yung libro kesa sa film-version."

Dan Brown's story-telling is remarkably impeccable. I have to admit that what drew me to reading this book was "What the hell is all this hype/controversy about?" I was lucky to have borrowed a copy from my sister who's classmate has forgotten to claim it back from her (btw, as a side-note, that classmate of hers had a verrrry 'shitty-episode' in our car, but THAT's another story).

His method of presenting accurate facts and inserting questionable fiction may draw the unwary reader into believing/protesting on what he has written, but of course, that's all for the reader to decide. It's just Brown's way of "spicing up" the plot, to get the readers hooked.

Bottomline, I don't believe in Dan Brown's concoctions (it's just FICTION my friend, so stop squabbling that your "decisions may be unconsciously influenced by it." That, I believe, is a lot of bullsh*t). But the STORY per se, was appealing. It was like watching HBO and Discovery Channel at the same time. Unputdownable, if there ever is a word.

Btw, here's the movie-trailer and the list of actors portraying the roles in the novel. It opens in the US on May-19, 2006.

Yeah, I know. It's gonna be a long wait.

Say YES to lap dancing...or else

I found this article on Yahoo-Odd-News. I guess my init-friends have a new excuse when caught red-handed:

But honey! I had no choice!

Hehe.

Salamat Fibisco!

Here's what the missus brought back from Manila:


The box at the top has already been emptied by yours truly. Hee Hee Hee.

Back To The Beach (Day18)

It’s been quite a big effort on changing my eating habits for the past 18 days. I can only count around less than five occassions when I had a cup of rice for lunch or dinner. My meals were basically ham and low-fat cheese sandwiches, canned-soup, salads, fried fish, and 3-in-1 packs of oatmeal, and apple juice. Add to that the occassional wantan mee dry noodles, diet coke, kitkat, and about 2 packs of cheese-rings. Oh, of course, there was the slaughter of 12 choco-mallows to boot.

Our inexpensive weighing scale has somehow been cooperative, indicating a loss of 8 pounds in 18 days. That loss doesn’t really show since I still notice my love-handles and my beer junk-food belly greeting me at the mirror. I’m undeterred about it so I still try to exercise thirty-minutes a day, thrice a week.

We finally had our formal training for one of the new systems that came in 2 months ago. Our trainor, named Frank, was from California. He looked like he was in his 50’s. We had a casual conversation while we were waiting for the test-server to finish the installation.

He knew I was Filipino even if I didn’t mention it. Hmmm…. Maybe my cool, cable-tv english-spokening accent gave it away.

Well anyway, we somehow arrived on the topic of dieting (I guess it’s something Californian). He mentioned that he was overweight sometime ago but he was able to lose 30-lbs in 3 years. Yup I agree with what you’re thinking. “Why did it take that long to lose 30-lbs?”

He mentioned that his diet was done gradually. What he did, as he so aptly put it, was a ‘change of lifestyle.’ He stopped eating junk food (McD’s included) and gradually changed the way he was eating. He was also religious in his daily-exercise, at least one hour a day.

It really helps when you get to talk to someone about common interests, in this case, losing weight. It has somehow inspired me on continuing this ---whatever it is. If I do go down to my ideal weight, sooner or later I’ll be flying back home. Next thing you know, it’s the Holidays, and the dieting cycle starts again.

Second-Hand

One of the malls here holds a flea market every Sunday. It's an array of assorted second-hand stuff that the average collector will surely love. They've got almost everything. From old stamps, old coins, old paper-bills, old phonographs, pocketbooks, cassettes, LPs, cassettes, CDs, and more.

Whenever I'm there on Sundays, I always go to the old hippie guy selling second-hand CDs and LPs. Hoping I could find something I'd like. The last time I went there I was able to buy a Third Eye Blind cassette. I had an amazing find yesterday. I chanced upon this:


Yup, it's an original 1992 Tears Roll Down album of one of the greatest bands of the 80s: Tears For Fears. I remember this album during my college-days when I was able to borrow the cassette from a college buddy. I can honestly say that this album is, shall we say, sulit. Sulit in the sense that I know AND like all the songs in it. Finding this album has always been at the back of my mind ever since but then I never really had the time (or memory) to buy it. Who would've thought that I would be able to see it here, on a second-hand stall?

The CD-cover is not in mint condition but the original owner still took care of it, preventing from getting it teared or smudged. Needless to say I bought it for 20-ringgit (around 300pesos) off the original 22-ringgit tag price set by my old hippie seller. Why not a pirated or download a copy from the 'net, you might say? Well, some things are just not right to be pirated, especially this one.

It's quite nice to buy something used. It's like I've inherited something. As in the book "Second Hand" by Michael Zadoorian, "Secondhand. The word says it all ---other hands have touched that object.....Think of all the stuff you've ever owned, that's ever passed thru your hands, where it all might be right now."

"Don't.......you'll ruin it"

I went to my favorite [pirated] DVD shop earlier today. It's been quite a while since I last bought some so I thought it was high-time to replenish my [pirated] DVD collection. I bought 2 films, one of which was entitled A Lot Like Love which starred Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet.

Well, I loved it. I loved it so much that I can't wait to watch it again with the missus. As Charlie Arceo of the now-defunct Movie Magazine would say, I give it "ffffayb ishtarsh!"

What can I say? I'm a sucker for romantic-comedy films. I can't agree more with what my Dad often says, "Bakit di tayo [mga Pilipino] makagawa ng ganyang pelikula 'no?"

Blood-suckers

I think the mosquitos here are immune to the anti-mosquito sprays. For as long as I’ve been here, I’ve bought ALL the sprays available in the supermarket to kill these irritating varmints ---but to no avail. They seem to be either immune or have access to the use of micro-size gas masks.

Ever had the experience when you think you’ve been bitten by one of these critters but when you look, nothing’s there? It’s as if they were invisible, or their dead coming back for revenge. It’s really irritating, especially here on the couch.

I have to convince the missus to bring in some Raid-brand mosquito sprays when she arrives this week (yup they don’t have Raid here). I have this theory that *maybe* these blood-suckers are immune to the local brand so they may get the shock of their lives when they inhale something new ---hopefully bringing fatal results. Secondly, I can honestly say that Raid IS more effective than the other brands from experience.

I remember when we were still living in an apartment in Makati we’d have infestations regularly (cockroaches, mostly). I night’s spray of Raid kills almost all the stupid bastards by the next morning ---to the screaming delight (or horror, that is) of my younger sisters.

Bottomline is that I think the mosquito-sprays sold here are more of fragrance-sprays (“sissy-spray” is more applicable). They don’t really have that fatal punch to exterminate this little sons of b*tches.

Crap! There goes another "invisible" mosquito-bite.

You Don't Say?

It's been a long a time since I've heard about Pat Robertson. When I was young I remember having to wait for The 700-Club to finish since the next program was any one of my awaited cartoons of the week: Voltes-V, Mekanda, Daimos, Granddizer, or Mazinger-Z. I'd wait patiently everyday until the government decided that anime was bad for kids so I ended up with Sesame Street instead.

Anyway, I was watching CNN last night when I heard the anchorman say "Pat Robertson" in his news report. In case you didn't know about it, he mentioned something very....oh how shall I put it....stupid...towards Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As mentioned in the news:

On Monday's telecast of his Christian Broadcasting Network show "The 700 Club," Robertson had said: "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Very unbecoming, don't you think? As PK, an officemate, would say:

"D*mnnn stupid M.F."

Tweaking

Nothing much to do today so I decided to change my blog-banner (nice ey?). I found the default header-design too dull. Anyway it has served its purpose for the past few months so it was high-time for my site to get a nose-job.

Last night I was flicking through the tv-channels hopelessly so I turned it off and grabbed my acoustic guitar from the cabinet and strummed some chords. I *may* have come up with a song but no lyrics yet (the rhythm was just being accompanied by my ridiculous humming which I think the neighbors may have heard). That's why today I surfed the 'net hoping to find an audio-mixer so I'd be able to record this on mp3. And eureka, I found it (the internet is such a wonderful world of free stuff, don't you think?)! (grin)

I may have to reduce my rice-noodle intake since the scale-pointer HAS NOT MOVED from my weight last Saturday (damn it). Let me tell you that even weighing on the damn scale stark-naked didn't make it budge. So yep, you're right, it must be the food. And I've got the rice-noodles as the culprit. Take note that I'm only *reducing* the volume of those deliciously prepared pork & wanton dry mee. Mmmmm....

Sigh....this so-called diet is getting ridiculous.

Stuck In A Moment

I got this from a former officemate. An old ad, but definitely hilarious.

Best Man

size: 656kbytes

The Ride

With the stationary-bike in front of the TV, I was watching "Along Came Polly" on HBO last night. Even though I've watched the movie sometime ago, I just can't resist Jennifer Aniston (who wouldn't?).

Anyway, here's a memorable line from the movie said by Reuben's father:

"It's not about what happened in the past, or what you think might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for Christ's sake. There is no point in going through all this crap, if you are not going to enjoy the ride. And you know what... when you least expect it, something great might come along. Something better than you even planned for. "

It kinda hits something in the chest, doesn't it?

Somewhere in Shaw...

To my delight, this morning I received Z's email containing our 2 studio-recordings ("Cumbersome" and "Name"). Not bad for a first try, especially "Name" when we had to scrap off "Home" by Dishwalla at the last minute since we found it difficult to play.

I was awed and privileged to have experienced studio-recording. It wasn't easy as I predicted. There were a lot of retakes on "Cumbersome," for example. And Z had to "copy/paste" the guitar-part on the intro of "Name" to perfect it, plus he also had to add the lead-guitar part. Need I say that Mang Mando, the studio technician at the time, was a genius with the mixer-controls.

Well, we hope to record Z's original composition when I meet up with them again. But that'll take a while.

Back to the beach (Day 6)

The past 6 days have breezed by without a hitch ---except for a gang of choco-mallows being obliterated from the face of the earth. I have to admit, I'm guilty of 12-counts of 1st-degree choco-mallow slaughter. They simply had no chance. They were all strip-naked, in batches of course, and suffered the most gruelling of fates. Guilty, as charged.

Yeah yeah I have a penchant for sweets, and choco-mallows seems to be "up there" on my personal list. I remember when I was still dating the missus, I would fetch her from her office at the Citibank building in Ayala. I would park the car at one of the side-streets and wait for her. Sometimes I would come early so this gave me the chance to do my covert-op. I would leave the car and walk towards PCI-Bank building were my accomplice, let's call her Mrs. Fibisco, or Fibi for short, is waiting.

She sells smuggled(?) choco-mallows and chocolate-crunchies at a cheaper price since they don't have the package-wrapping yet. But the taste is still the same (magnifique!). I think it's a dozen mallows per bag. I'd by one bag (or two) and go back to the car where I "sumptuously" wait for the missus.

Fast-forward to the present (or 30 or so pounds later). For the past 6 days I haven't eaten rice (except on one occassion when my favorite noodle-stall was closed and I was left with chicken rice for lunch). I've only eaten fried fish, sandwiches, salads, and noodles. Add to that 20mins a day (for 3 days so far) on the stationary-bike and a pitiful site of abdominal crunches (yup it was a real pitiful site, me on my back trying to reach for my knees...arrrghhh).

Actually the missus argues that the noodles I've been eating are, in fact, rice noodles (doh!). "But they don't LOOK like rice," was my contention. So I can say that I'm not eating rice, per se. (wink)

I guess my so-called diet is working coz when I tipped the scales this morning, I *seem* to have lost 4lbs. I inserted the word "seem" since our weighing scale is of the cheap-type, those that when you weigh yourself 10 times you get 10 different readings. I think the deviation for error is big, so I'm not that enthusiastic of the 4lb-loss.

Anyway I'll keep on with this, as the missus has put it, "change of lifestyle." It's a battle of the bulge, it seems, as the missus has bought one of those sauna-belts that you see on home-tv-shopping. They say it reduces your waistline without any effort whatsoever. The missus seems to believe so. After her first try, she said she lost an inch after 50-minutes on it (yeah right, and I can write this blog without the use of my hands, hehe).

The only way we'll be able to see any improvement is when I fetch her from the airport early next month. Any response similar to "Wow pumayat ka!" will do nicely. Until then, it's gonna be the Bike versus the Belt.

Absolute Reality

Since the creation of Survivor there has been a steady flow of reality-shows on TV. The missus, in particular, is an avid fan of The Amazing Race, American Idol, and recently, Rockstar INXS.


I've heard of the bandname INXS before but I'm not really familiar with their songs. Is it right to say that they were of the same era sa Duran-Duran and Spandau-Ballet? Kita mo na di ko sila kilala. Not until their TV-commercial had "New Sensation" playing on the background that's when I said, "Ahhh INXS pala ya-un!"

It's a good 3-fold gimmick for the band, actually. First and foremost, money. I believe they have a share in the profit from the worldwide text-voting. Secondly, recognition. People get to be familiar with the band's members and songs. Lastly, they get to pick their new vocalist voted by the majority of the tv-audience. This means more band following since most have become "attached" to these contestants.

Take the missus, for example.

The missus has all her chips on Mig Ayesa, a Filipino who migrated to Australia (as many other Filipinos would do if you see the politics going on there, but that's another issue). For once, a Filipino has a good chance of winning it. He's good, actually. But I think it will be a battle royale between him and Marty Casey in the end.

I can imagine the missus will be totally disheartened if Mig loses. I can recall the time Bo Bice lost to Carrie in American Idol 4. She could totally not believe it (among other die-hard Bo Bice fans). She never drifted from the issue for a couple of weeks ---actually, she's still disappointed by it until now. The only way Bo could ask for her forgiveness is for AI to hold an Asian Tour which I expect the missus will be insisting that we watch. I can already hear her, "It is a matter of life and death that I should watch Bo live!" Translation: It'll be my death if we don't watch it. Hehe.

Yes the missus is a die-hard Bo fan. May I say that she has even MEMORIZED Bo's every move from the songs he performed on the AI show (I was *forced* to download the video-files from the 'net). I can remember the time I grabbed my acoustic guitar and started playing some tunes from our 1000 songs songhits (Yes, 1000. Only in the Philippines). Anyway, I came across "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" which was sung by Bo during one of the AI episodes. As I sung the first line ("I can't light..."), I can swear that she blushed! "Kung maka-blush ka akala mo ex-bf mo si Bo ah!" I retorted. We were both laughing at the incident.

My friend BN had already watched the show with his wife in Dallas. She too is a Bo fan so much so that she deleted ALL OTHER pics (which may have included their vacation pics) in her digicam just so she can accomodate all of Bo's pics in the digicam's memory card. Married life....ah yes.

Except for Fantasia Barrino, the missus has so far had a string of losses with regards to her favorites on these types of shows. The Twins and The Clowns lost in Amazing Race, and Bo Bice lost in AI. I can imagine the "disaster" she'd feel if Mig doesn't win, and I'd surely be hearing about her loss over and over like that time with Bo.

Oh well, life is often unfair.

More Coffee?

Another one from allposters.com (same source where I got the brain&bacon earlier this week). Good thing I switched from cafe mocha to iced chocolate, hehe.

It's a small small world

My so-called career has been revolving on the telecoms world since 1995. I'm currently on my 4th job, jumping from vendor to operator to vendor and now to operator. For the past 10 years I can conclude that the telecoms world is very small that the chances of working again with an ex-colleague is very high. I've made the table below to stress my point:


The table summarizes some of my ex-colleagues and the companies that they've worked for and are currently working in. As an example, Guy 1 (obviously me) is reunited with Guys 16-19 in Operator M (they met previously in Operator G). Side note: there must be something wrong with Vendor A and Operator G since all the guys listed from there have left for another company. Hmmm....veeeewy inteh-westing.

It's nice to know that all my ex-colleagues from the different companies will eventually meet each other when they move to different companies since, as I said, the number of telecom companies are limited. Of course we also have to assume that they don't change their field of expertise (from telecoms to nuclear physics, for example, but that's a long shot).

Moral lesson? Never burn bridges. One way or another, the [telecom] world will conspire for you to meet again.

It's a small world after all...It's a small world after all...It's a small world after all...It's a small...small... world.

Making A Point

Back to the beach (Day 1)

After a week of gluttonous pleasures, I've decided to go on a diet ---South-Beach style. Actually I'll modify it to suit my needs since I'm not supposed to eat foods that will further increase my uric-acid and cholesterol levels. So it's not going to be as South-Beach as it will be. No salty or fatty foods so I'm wondering now what THE HELL am I left to eat?

I was able to do Phase I of the SB-diet early-December last year. I lost about 8lbs for the two-week period, much to the despair of the missus since she only lost 2lbs (which I believe was caused by a calibration error on the scale, so she may not have lost any weight at all). Unfortunately the next two weeks ushered in the Christmas season with Santa Claus' sack full of lechon baboy, lechon manok, hamon, etc. so the 8lbs came back with a fury....with a few more pounds added for good measure.

I weighed in this morning to the tune of 170lbs on our cheap bathroom scale which we think is actually -8lbs of my real weight. Anyway, the important thing is to use the same scale after 2 weeks so that I see the improvements, if any.

I started off breakfast this morning at the cafeteria. So far, so good. I had a boiled egg, 2 pieces of sardines, about 4 spoons of boiled veggies, and a small-carton of orange-juice. Add to that a small bottle of mineral water which I drank all morning.

Well let's hope for the best. I'm actually thinking of the Choco-Mallows that I brought back. They are nestling quietly in the ref, their soft white mallow-internals protected only by their chocolate-skin. It only takes a few seconds for the carnage, unwrapping their aluminum clothes before I give in to the munch.

Arrrrggggghhhh....this is gonna be tough.

The Verdict

Well we got the blood-test results yesterday morning. I was in "normal" range for sugar and thyroid levels although I got a "high-score" on uric acid and cholesterol, as I suspected. All that food-intake has finally caught up with me. At least I'm not (DEFINITELY NOT) as heavy as that Zuce guy on the news. First thing I'll do once I get back is to watch that "Supersize Me" DVD again for motivation.

The missus was normal on all tests except for cholesterol and thyroid (T4) ---to her delight. Well, as fast as you can say "thyroid-pills" she went to the doctor to ask for the prescription. According to the internet, expect "sudden weight loss" after taking the said pills. "Iiwanan ka na sa kangkungan" was the missus' dare to me on our race to reduce weight.

Unfortunately, even before she showed the doctor the results, the doctor said she doesn't have a thyroid problem since she didn't have any of the symptoms. I guess we'll both have to do the diet and exercise then.

Last night was my sister's birthday so there was a sumptuous dinner at CPK. Mental note: the Apple Crumble was heaaaven!

I might as well scrap the diet 'til next week....we've yet to have dinner at JT Manukan (Bacolod Chicken style) and there's a CPK outlet at Tomas Morato. Hehehe.

Milky

Yesterday, the missus and I went to Unilab to have our blood taken for tests. Sugar count, cholesterol, uric(?) and thyroid complete the set of tests. It's not that we're feeling anything weird. We're just doing it to reiterate to ourselves that we n-e-e-d to lose weight. But I doubt how long we'll be able to sustain the momentum since food is really our vice.

The missus, in particular, is somehow hoping that she tests positive on the thyroid thingy. She read from somewhere that being overweight may be due to thyroid deficiency. Most who take thryoid-level correction pills will experience weight loss ---something that the missus hopes will happen to her. I can imagine her reaction if the results come back as negative: she wouldn't know if she'll be relieved, or depressed that all that weight needs to be removed without the aid of medication, i.e. diet and exercise.

Yesterday afternoon the clinic called us and said that they need to draw blood from us again. The missus and I could not stop laughing when we heard the reason why. According to the clinic-personnel, our blood was too "milky" that it could not be tested. Malagatas to be exact. We were able to conclude that the culprit was my Mom's kare-kare that we had for lunch PLUS her Mom's special bulalo that we had for dinner the day before. Ahh yes, there's nothing like the taste of Mom's home-cooked meal. It was a deadly combination of fat and yumminess that eventually had nowhere to go but into our bloodstream.

So earlier today we had to face the needle again, something that the missus doesn't want to look forward to. She hates the sight of needles piercing the skin. We only had small portions of pakbet Iast night so I hope the blood taken today would be to the tester's satisfaction.

I think after this vacation of mine I'll start the South Beach diet again. It's too early to start today since we still have a lineup of restaurants that we still need to pillage and conquer.

By the way, we headed to Tapaking after the clinic. ;-)

I'm leavin'....on a jet plane...

So far this week, the missus and I have been runnin' around the malls for last-minute buys before our trip. Just a few hours ago during my lunch break, I fetched the missus and headed straight to the mall to buy some more stuff ---bilins to be exact. R, her friend, asked her to buy two packs of Cadbury 3-in-1 Choco drinks. Nothing wrong, right? Except that I think I've seen those being sold at Landmark (do correct me if I'm wrong, baka nalingap lang ako) so I don't see the logic getting it from here. I think she just wants the thought that she's getting something 'imported.' Well if that's the case then I should've bought her a Kilometrico ballpen instead.

My luggage is about 40% full so there's still a lot of room left. I'm thinking of putting in my badminton gear just in case some friends would invite us to play. Btw, last night EM joined me, the missus, and my officemates for badminton. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He was all over the court desperately chasing after every shot, much to my amusement. He kept saying that my tall officemates had better reach but it may just be the simple fact that he needs to do more strategy (90% mental, 10% physical right?). I do forgive his performance since it's the first time he played against our group. Of course, me creating a lot of errors myself was unforgiveable, losing to the missus and her teammate 17-14, after my team led all the way and got stuck at 14.

I might meet Z tomorrow evening. He's not finished with his composition yet but I might come over to see the new Ibanez guitar he got from Japan. Heck, I might as well pack in my bass and amp in the car and do some impromptu open-air jamming session.

Lately I've been receiving news from some friends and some co-workers that they've resigned and moved on to other work. I guess it just goes to show that there's no such thing as "Company Loyalty."

Enjoy the weekend!

Cool Ad

Got Milk?

It was during one of my afternoon tea-breaks when my officemates asked me if I could teach them some Filipino words. I told them that some Filipino words are similar to Bahasa Malaysia like putih, aku, and kanan.

Looking at the chocolate-milk carton on my hand, I told them that the Malaysian word for milk has a different meaning in Filipino. Here's the front and back view of the carton:


I think all you guys will agree that the translation is correct since milk comes from breasts. Of course there were some reservations among my officemates.

A few minutes later our female officemate sat on our table with, guess what, a milk carton on her hand. So imagine all my "students" saying things to her like:

"Ohhhh so you have susu."

"Let me help you open your susu!"

"Does the susu taste great?"

"Hmmm I guess I'll buy some susu."

She was a sport so there was no harm done. We were all laughing on the way back to our office spaces.

I guess that's the last time they'll ever ask me for translation.

Getting Ready

Whew! What a weekend! We had the missus' sis and her in-laws come over for a visit and we took them to the usual tourist and shopping spots here. Needless to say that the missus and I crashed into bed after sending them to the airport last Sunday. The missus, in particular, was more tired than me coz she had to travel with them to see the sights in Singapore (more walking and commuting there). Well at least we had the satisfaction knowing that they enjoyed their brief visit here.

There was still more walking last night as we bought last minute pasalubong. I think we bought too much since one of our two luggages is half-full already. Hope everything squeezes in by this week.

Z has sent me the lyrics for the original-song he's doing ---arrangement to follow. Hope it's something as melodic as songs by Dishwalla or Blind Melon. But, more importantly, hope we get to record it as planned. As I told Z, I've been listening to the cover-song we're gonna do ("Home" by Dishwalla) for at least 30 times since I got it and I think I've got it right on the lyrics. I'll need to grab my bass first chance I get so I can tackle the bass-line.

"Youuuuu Pilipino?"

P, the missus' long-time best-friend, was working in Singapore back then when she rode a taxi to work. She had an amusing conversation with the driver, which went something like:

Driver: "Youuuu sound like from Pilipins. Youuuuu Pilipino?"
P: Yes.
Driver: "Waaah all you Pilipinos very good in singing. Can you sing me a song?"

Of course P didn't sing. She could have replied "I'm an exception" but of course, she didn't.

Yup we're well-known in this region for our singing abilities. Even S, my Indian officemate who's also a drummer of a popular local-band, says that Filipino-bands are the best when it comes to playing in the night-circuit. Most of the hotels and bars here have Filipino bands.

Last night I had the chance of listening to 3 Filipino bands in KL. Me and my ex-colleagues from a former company went to HardRock after a sumptuous dinner. The band was called Deviate. I had a feeling they were Filipino from the onset since the accent of the vocalist was not local. They kicked-off with "I Don't Wanna Be Lonely No More" by Rob Thomas then "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon-5.

G then got a piece of paper from the waiter and wrote his request. Actually, his requestS. I guess he believes in the saying "more entries, more chances of winning."

The paper then reached the vocalist, who was a stubby fellow with a short goatee and semi-spike hair. He then called our names and, the Pinoy that we are, we waved and "Hooo-ed" loudly.

"You Pilipino?" he asked.

We gave a nod.

"Eh kaya pala nag-gagandahang lalake eh!" was his reply.

Definitely, Filipino.

The problem with HardRock was that the room-acoustics were designed more for listening to the band and not for kwentuhan. So imagine all 5 of us in one table 1m x 0.5m trying to hear what the guy next to you was saying.

So we moved to the lounge at Concorde-Hotel. There were 3 bands alternating (6 sets each! whew!) 2 of which were Filipino. The crowd was mostly Caucasian foreigners with their GROs in tow, most of whom were Filipinas.

The lounge-bands pleased the 60%-Filipino audience by singing Lupa, Pangako Sayo (G was invited to sing onstage with the Malaysian gay-vocalist and I've got pics to prove it, hehe), Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang (M also sang onstage with the female vocalist, too bad he sucked on the high-notes ---possibly earning Simon Cowell's vocabulary of "No's."), Spagetthi (Yeah unfortunately for non-jolog fans like me it has reached KL), and of course, the Freddie Aguilar classic Anak. Note that Anak was performed by the Malaysian band and they got the rhythm and lyrics correctly.

It was a fun night (morning) so I got home at 2:30am. Needless to say that my body is wanting for lack of sleep so I'll be dropping to bed when I get home. The missus is coming back from Singapore at 9:30pm so I hope to wake up before that time.

Hopefully I wake up. Hehe.

Spanish Police

Good work boys!









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Source: EvilWhiteGuy Blog-site

Addictive

It's the latest thing that keeps me and the missus stay up late: TEXT TWIST! It's the mobile-phone version of the popular Yahoo online game.

Actually it's the missus who's getting hooked on it. The first time she played she was awake until 3 or 4am. The driving force was that she wanted to beat my score of 37,000+. She managed to beat it the next day, coursing through it to 145,000+ (dang!).

Even R, who gave me this game, says his wife is also addicted to it. She slept late so much that R had to make his packed-lunch for himself, a chore his wife usually does. Hmmm...must be a wife thing.

Here's the installation file. Note that this will only work for Series-60 Symbian phones.

Don't worry, this game's FREE.

In the meantime, I hope to beat the missus' score soon. Pride is at stake. Hehehe.

Business

Until last year I've no interest when it comes to reading the Business Section or watching the Business News on TV. It's just that I was never directly affected by it that I never seemed to care.

It was only last year when I started to take notice. During one lazy day here at the office, I somehow got to the Philippine Stock Exchange website (don't ask me how). I noticed that there was a "Game" icon and of course, you know me, I like online games (I've put up 2 online Formula-1 leagues for my officemates and ex-officemates to play in).

Anyway the game was actually to test one's skills on trading stocks. You'll be given 1 million pesos as your "game-money" and you can either join an existing league or just play as if you were trading real money. I've invested in PLDT stocks and so far I've earned 50 thousand pesos from buying and selling. Too bad it's only play money. I could've bought an original Gibson electric guitar with it, to the missus' disapproval. Hehe.

Since then I've tried to keep myself up-to-date on the Business News, particularly those that affect the exchange rates (Philippine Peso, Malaysian Ringgit, and US Dollar). I guess the interest is now there because I'm directly affected by it (remittance, time deposit, etc).

It's funny really. 15 years ago I would never have thought to be engrossed in Business News. Back then I would just scour for the Comics Section of the Manila Bulletin everyday. THAT was my daily news. Cesar Asar, Blondie, Pupung, and Baltic and Co.

Ahhh yes life was so simple back then.

The Present

Finally I've finished reading this book by Spencer Johnson entitled "The Present." It took me 3 months to finish such a thin book which the missus took only several hours to finish. Yeah I'm real lazy at reading, averaging 2-3 pages a night. I don't know why but by the 3rd page (regardless of the book) I get sleepy. Oh well, to my advantage I've kept my 20/20 vision in-tact. Hehe.

The book was actually recommended by my boss. "Read it lah," he said. So I did. I remember I bought this book during our last trip to Singapore. Actually I bought 2 copies. One copy I kept to myself and the other I gave to Tess as a parting-gift who was leaving for Germany at the time.

The book's message, although it was repeated over and over and over again, is pretty basic. Too basic, in fact, that in my opinion we have neglected it. This book will make you be aware of what one should be doing to live a happy and successful life.

The book's message was in 3 parts:

1. Learn From The Past. Not live in the past, but LEARN from the past. For example, when at work, once mistakes/accidents happen, you cannot do anything to correct it. But if you learn from it, you'll be able to be prepared next time.

2. Live in the Present. This is the fundamental message of the book. The "present" being explained here is the "now." Deal with what is IMPORTANT right NOW, at this very moment. When you're at work, your work is the most important thing AT THAT MOMENT. But when you're at home, your family is the most important thing AT THAT MOMENT.

3. Plan for the Future. According to the book, this is very important if you want to live your life with purpose. If you just live in the present but don't plan for the future, your life has no purpose. You're just reacting to everyday situations but not being pro-active.

Well those 3 key-points were repeated over and over by the book, apparently to hard-code (brainwash? hehe) to the reader's mind so that it's not easily forgotten.

It's a good read on my list, something practical that I'd be able to use in my everyday life (assuming that I won't forget it in the future....hehehe).

Walkathon

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
--Redd Foxx

The missus and I have discovered a new exercise routine: walking. We've been walking around the condo's inner ring (estimated to be 300m) for the past two evenings at about 40-50mins. According to a website, walking 3.2kms 3x a week can help reduce weight by 1lb every 3 weeks. So if I'm 35lbs overweight (according to the BMI table), it'll take me approximately.........33 weeks....or 8 months of walking to lose all of it.

8 months.

8 months????

DEHHHHMN!

That long??? Oh crap.

I remember when I was in college. I was a skinny 120-pounder who'd go to the gym trying to add on weight. I would eat 2 cups of rice for lunch and Wendy's for dinner but I'd still weigh the same. The missus saw my college pics and to put it kindly, nadirian sya sa itsura ko. She said I would never be her boyfriend if she met me at that "USA For Africa" condition.

I think the pounds started coming when I learned how to drive. The ease of moving from one place to another may have accumulated the calories since I ate the same amount but walked less.

Ten years and 56lbs later, I'm trying to lose 'em.

I do exercise, mind you. It's just a lack of consistency (the only regular exercise I do is badminton once a week and that's just for 1.5 hours).

Add to that a whole lot of eating. "Buffet" is my favorite word nowadays. Yeah I guess I would have to cut down on food too.

We did the South Beach Diet last year and I lost 8lbs in 2 weeks. The SB-Diet was Alan G's influence. He's a college-buddy who works in Singapore who visited us last November. D*MN he lost weight....and a whole lot of it. But something really looked weird. I think the SB-Diet left his head at the same size so he looked more like a matchstick....with a pea at the end. Yeah really weird. My friend who's taking up medicine says cutting down on the carbs is not healthy. So scrap the SB diet. I think I'll just lessen the rice on my meals. And besides, I packed in more weight after the SB-Diet since it was followed by the Holidays (mmmm.....hamon).

Well tonight the missus says that we should go malling to buy pasalubong for our trip home next month so walking is out for tonight (yahoo!). Hopefully I can convince her to eat at Hartz for dinner. Hartz, in case you don't know, is actually short for Hartz Chicken Buffet (double yahoo!).

Anthropic Principle

Yesterday I suddenly got into band-mode. It must've been the after-effect of too many songs (Blind Melon, Dishwalla and "Slowhand" Clapton) being played on my Winamp all week (d*mn you bit-torrent! hehe). Add to that the chat I had with Z about their recent studio-recording. I guess it got me itching to meet up with my "non-band" and go back to the studio.

Well the plans are being laid out. I've already emailed Z and X about it: jam 2 or 3 songs on a cheap venue then once we've perfected it, move to a recording studio. X has mentioned that I should try composing 1 song. I'm really not a song-writer so I doubt if I'll be able to make one in such short-notice. Hmm...you're right. At least I'll give it a try, yeah?

It's a small & short project really, so I don't know where this will go. I've been wanting to do this mainly for posterity reasons. Something that I could look back to and say, "Been there, done that!"

Hopefully we'll have some output next month. Btw, that's one of Z's recommendations for our band name. Cool huh?

How NOT to disarm a bomb

WARNING: Extremely graphical content.

Now you really wanna see it, don't ya?

Click here.


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Source: EvilWhiteGuy.

Out of Duvet and into Vista

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.

--Robert Anthony

I grew up reading self-help books. Not that I needed one, but my Mom's a Values-Ed & Psychology professor so the shelves were abound with Covey, Canfield&Hansen, Mandino, Buscalgia, and Albom, to name a few. Even to this day I'd rather buy a self-help book, not like the missus who'd prefer romance and thriller novels like that of Patterson, Roberts, Hannah, and the ever-popular Sheldon.

[Just a side-note: though I'm "illiterate" in terms of fiction novels, I introduced her to Patterson as a gift I decided to buy when we were dating. My reasons for buying was that (1) it had a fancy front cover, (2) the acronyms FBI and CIA were mentioned on the back cover, which she mentioned she liked to read about, and (3) it had the phrase "#1 on the NY Times Best-seller List" on the cover].

Over the course of reading these self-help books, it made me wonder if true happiness and peace can be really achieved in one's lifetime. Although the theories and advices that the authors came up with seem feasible, they might often be construed as oftentimes eccentric, unpopular, or weird. After a fresh read, yes, I may be able to live out some of them but what I've learned seem to attenuate over time. There is a need to have living reminders that let you stop and say, "Hey wait a minute! What am I doing with my life?"

Enter A.S.

A.S. is a Punjab who's settled quite comfortably here. I learned from him that the reason why Punjabs wear turbans is to cover their hair. Their hair, it seems, has never been cut since birth (much like the daughter of those over-protective parents that decided to put her in a tower; away from the testosterone-overloaded princes who'd do anything to "get" her).

Working in different sections but in the same department as mine, we'd often pass each other in the corridors and he never fails to greet a friendly hello and a smile. I remember having only one chat with him. It was that time when I still didn't have a car and I rode with him on the way home after a department-brainstorming event. He talked about how he has enjoyed living in this country, how life has been generous to him, and how he never forgets to thank his Creator everyday by stopping by a Hindu Temple on the way home. He had basically found happiness and peace.

I received an email from him 2 weeks ago. It had the subject "Out of Duvet and into Vista." In the dictionary, Duvet means "comforter" while Vista meant "prospect." The email message, as below:

"People, It has been a wonderful journey ....I have developed and learnt so much from this organization. The world out there is waiting for me with open arms and I just could not resist the hug. I believe this is due to the vivacious mindset that led the incitement in me to vivify myself on the principle that change is required for growth. Today is my last day....my sincere thanks to all of you who have supported me in many ways."

It turned out to be a farewell email ---the best farewell email that I've read in my life. From his choice of words I couldn't help but be envious of what he has found, whatever it may be. A.S., as I've learned recently, did not resign in lieu of another company. The reasons are yet unknown but I have a feeling it involves being spiritually happy. Whatever it is, I wish him all the best.

Angry Alanis

At the request of the missus, I recently got hold of Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" album. Now I'm not really a fan of Alanis, but I do know most of the songs on that album. I first heard the whole album from my sister who bought a cassette some years back. I never really paid attention to it since my musical tastes back then were more of The Eraserheads and Yano. So, just a round of listening to JLP (I think I didn't even finished it), and I never really quite liked it back then.

Well, years passed and "cassette technology" can be said as a has-been. One of my conversations with the missus led to the JLP album topic again, and she sounded like she'd really like to hear JLP real bad. Scouring for a copy of the album on the record shops was difficult, and no way I'm gonna buy from E-Bay (some E-bay sellers, those b*stards, mark-up the shipping/postage costs as additional profit). This forced me to look into the great big beyond called The Internet.

Thanks to the Internet I was able to download the whole album. I have to say that I got blown away immediately right after the "All I Really Want" intro ---especially with the crisp guitars blasting thru my earphones. "You Oughta Know," Hand In My Pocket," "You Learn," "Head Over Feet," "Mary Jane," "Ironic" ---Alanis' songs, as you may well know, are full of angst but the lyrics are so personal and real. Lyrics like "I heard your losing weight again, Mary Jane. I wonder who you're losing it for" makes you think, "Now how the hell did she came up with that line? And how in John Lennon's name did she insert it so delicately in that song?"

Pure genius, don't you agree?

I think when I'm in Manila next month I'll look for that cassette on my sister's drawer. I hope it's still there, and in good working condition. I've burned the songs to a CD but the cassette has the original album cover ---this makes it a keeper, like those mint-condition comic books that a college-buddy of mine named Eduard used to collect.

This album is a pure work of art: angst plus honesty plus melody. I think it's up there on my Top-10 albums of all time.

"...And everything's gonna be fine fine fine..."

mp3s and KitKat

I've been playing my mp3s all day today while at work, munching on a mini-KitKat. The mp3s are under one folder called ERE. It's an acronym for Essential Reality Experiment, my "would've-been" project-band. We compiled our mp3 wish-list and I was able to collect all the mp3s to this folder.

I conceptualized ERE last year together with two college-buddies from Rattleheads, a heavy-metal band where I play bass guitar on occassion. Sad to say, all ERE got to show for was one cover song ("Cumbersome" by 7Mary3) when we jammed April last year on an underground studio in Makati. Naaah we weren't able to dub it.

Needless to say, I really wished we were able to play more. Listening to songs by REM, Dishwalla, Fuel, Default, Matchbox20, and Audioslave just gives me that aching feeling to setup my bass and just jam away.

Well I'm coming home for a week next month (not saying when...hehe) and it may be a good time to resurrect it. Jam 3 or 4 songs and dub them to mp3s so that as I sit again on my office-cube and pump in the winamp to my ears, I'll have that jolly feeling of having jammed some of the best alternative songs around.

Easy money

This was found by an employee working in Makati shortly after the anti-GMA rally earlier this week. I've heard of lunch coupons, gift certificates, etc. but rally-cash-coupons are ridiculous!

As in the song "Limbo Rock" by the Hand-Jive:

"How looooow can you go?"

[tanantantan-tanantanan...tanantantan-tanantanan...]

Malaysian Driving

Here are some interesting points to remember when driving in Malaysia:

• LTO licenses (non-pro, pro, or international) can be auto-converted to Malaysian driving licenses without a need for an exam. You just need to get a certificate of authenticity (or something like that) from the Philippine Embassy and present it to the JPJ-office (that's what their LTO is called here, sorry I can't remember what the acronym stands for coz it's in Malay). You'll get a Probationary License (or P-License) immediately which is valid for 2 years.

• P-License holders are obligated to stick a big "P" sticker on the front and back windshields of their car. This is to allow other motorists to be aware that you're a probationary driver. It's like saying "I'm a newbie driver and I don't care when and where I turn so you better get the f*ck outta my way!"

• Right-hand drive. Everything you learned from driving in EDSA, the South-Super Highway, or even Quiapo, just inverse it: keep left if you're slow, overtake only on the right, shift-stick on the left, wiper-toggle on the left, signal-turn toggle on the left, tissue-box on the left, latest pirated CDs on the left, handsfree which you forgot to put on is on the left, phone ringing which you pick up on the left, oncoming 8-wheeler truck in front, forced swerve to the walking old-couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on the sidewalk on the left, a prisoner named Samson who'll want you to be his "bunk-mate" for the next 30 years on your left, etc.

• Horn. Malaysians never use their car horns during traffic. They will only use the horn if and only if they are really really pissed, which seldom happens. In the Philippines, you'll hear a barrage of honks when the traffic-light goes green, as if it help the first jeep in the intersection to move coz he still has two vacant seats to fill for his next trip.

• No potholes on the highways. Yes you read that right. There are no potholes. I think it's because they have a Formula-1 circuit here that they are obligated to impress the international community by making their highways as tip-top as possible.

• Toll-fees are cheaper. If I base from the length of the Magallanes-Bicutan leg of the Skyway in Manila to a similar skyway here with the same distance, the toll is cheaper (P75 vs P21 for the same distance).

• Gasoline is cheaper. Gasoline (or Petrol, as they'd call it here), is lower. The unleaded petrol, for example, is P10 cheaper here compared to that in the Philippines. The reason is that the Malaysian government subsidizes a portion of these prices.

• There are no "gas-boys" in the petrol stations. Filling-up of gas is self-service, something that I enjoy doing coz I've been curious as how it is done before I got to Malaysia. Just don't let the phone ring while you're filling-up or else.....KA-BOOM!

• Park with care. Car-thieves are abound here, especially in KL. They say that stolen cars are either sold at the Malaysia-Thailand border or it is chopped for spare parts. I heard from an officemate that in January 2003 alone, there were over 700 Toyota-Altis there were stolen in the KL-area.

• Cars are expensive here, especially the imported ones. The local cars, Proton and Perodua, are protected by the government by imposing high taxes for the imported cars. For example, the money you spend here to buy a Toyota-Altis would be enough to buy you a Mitsubishi Pajero in Manila ---the latest model. Perodua has deals with Daihatsu that's why their models look alike. Same for Proton, who has deals with Mitsubishi.

Well that's about it so far. Do try to avoid me on my Perodua when you're here on the road ---the one with the P-sticker. Hehe.

Alien Planet

I was channel-surfing some nights back and came across a program on Discovery Channel entitled "Alien Planet."

It's a fictional story on what would happen when Earth sends two probes (named Ike and Newton) to a planet called Darwin IV to explore the possibility of life there. What made it interesting was that the plot revolved on Ike's quest to find Newton that somehow got lost in its own exploration.

Along the way, Ike discovers a variety of aliens on Darwin IV and records it to be beamed back to Earth. Later he finds a metallic-object which is a remnant of the Newton probe that later leads to the lost probe itself ---dead and left to rot. I don't want to give away the ending, but it had some resemblance to that of the Blairwitch Project I. Let's just say that it was very eerie.

I hope Discovery has a replay of it this week so that I can watch the whole program (I was able to watch only the 2nd half during that time).

Isn't it a disturbing thought? What if we're not alone? What if the Big-Bang Theory was really true? It makes you think of your life in a whole new way wouldn't it?

In the meantime, as I leave you with that thought, I guess it's aliens-week for me since I'll be watching "War Of The Worlds" tonight at that THX cinema in KL. Yahooo! Hehehe.

Neighbors

We live in a 5-storey condo just outside KL. The location is strategic, actually, coz it's right smack in the middle going to the office, two work-sites, a nearby theme-park, a mall, and an expressway (skyway, if you will) that gets you in KL in 15 minutes.

As far as I know, the missus and I are the only Filipinos staying in this place so "getting to know the neighbors" has not been that successful. It's not that we're anti-social, but we like the peace and quiet of this place. It's really wonderful when you wake up coz our side is where the sun rises so the view of the park with swimming pool is picturesque. Morning's a nice time to lie in bed while reading a good novel, waiting for lunch. Nope that's not me but the missus since I'm at work. Ahhh yes I do envy her when she's very relaxed while I'm hurrying up to go to work coz I've overslept again.

Although we haven't been introduced to the neighbors, we have somehow known them as we go up to our floor and pass by their units or when we see them in the park.

There's this Malay family on the ground floor that the missus always, and I mean a-l-w-a-y-s, looks through their living room window everytime we pass by (Pinoys are very usi don't you agree?). She says their place looks like a refugee camp minus the UN peacekeepers. There is an average of 8 pairs of slippers and shoes on their front door at any given time, so I assume that if a family member arrives from work late, he'll end up sleeping on the living room carpet.

Adjacent to them is this Indian family who can compete with the number of slippers and shoes anytime. It is always jampacked on Sundays. Their front door is nearest to the stairway leading to our unit so we always have to make sure we don't step on the slippers that have been left on the front door, lest we want to get DNA samples of their smell. One time I was so irritated by the mess (and smell) of the footwear that I told the missus that I wanted to split the shoes on their unit and throw one pair each to somewhere in the park. Make them play treasure-hunt or "find the other pair of your shoe" in the dark. Hehe. That would've been nice to look at from our bedroom window. Another idea of mine was to interchange the shoes and slippers of the Malay family with the Indian family. Ohhhh I would love to do that! Hmmm....that'll teach 'em. Hehe.

Right below our unit lives Ricky and his wife. I was able to introduce myself to him when I had a plumbing problem. The rusty pipes that ran up from the ground floor from the side of the building to ours needed replacement. The plumber suggested that he's not Spiderman so he asked me if we could go to the unit below mine and put some pipe holders. Anyway, Ricky worked in a trucking firm that, get this, is only about a few meters from the condo. What's weird is that he'd always take his car going there. Not a good way to save gas in these troubled times, ey? But I guess he has his reasons. A few months ago I noticed a small delivery truck (similar to an L300) parked in his spot. Our cars were parked next to each other so I thought that this truck must be from another unit. Then I saw Ricky doodling some stuff to the truck. I assumed that he resigned and started his own mobile-food business. Yup I was right. Much to the disappointment of my missus, Ricky left his company and ventured into the food business. I hope he's doing well. Everytime we see each other in the parking lot, we never fail to say a quick hello. Yes, only one word: hello.

There is this one neighbor that we're quite bothered about. We haven't seen her. But we've heard her. You see in some afternoons we'd hear her cry, as if she was being raped. The missus and I have been banging our heads as to what was the reason we'd always hear this, and we came up with several possibilities: one, she could be an abused wife where the husband "violates" her when he feels like it. We removed this theory since we only hear crying but no "slapping" sound, which I have heard many times when people have sex in porn movies. Two, she could be going through a tremendous heart-ache or breakup, although I've never heard of such "rape-like" crying when Julia Roberts got shot down in My Best Friend's Wedding. And three, she could just be a nymphomaniac passing the time by playing around with a dildo. This could be the strongest reason. But we'll never know. I guess we'll wait 'til we hear her wail again.

When we smell something good cooking, no doubt it's "auntie" on the unit adjacently below us. The smell of her cooking is amazing, although we can't figure out what she's cooking since it's most probably Chinese. We see her on her kitchen stirring up the food while her right elbow is placed on the window sill so she can cook in a relaxed fashion. Hmmm....could be a technique I should do sometime.

We haven't seen Balyenski in a long while. She's a middle aged Indian around 200lbs that the missus often sees in a one-piece bathing suit in the pool. Now I don't exactly call it swimming since she never moves from one place in the pool because of her own version of the breaststroke. It's a pitiful site, really, since doing a breaststroke without goggles will be difficult especially if you noticed from the pool floor that you're not moving. Sometimes she even does a headstand in the pool, much like those shows in Water World. I really don't understand why she does that. Thus the name Balyenski. I was kidding the missus that Balyenski will overtake her in the battle of the bulge but the missus is undetered. Well it's been 2months since we last saw her waiding in the pool. I guess she stopped swimming coz she noticed that there was no change when she tipped the scales.

Finally there's this Indian family that owns the only convenience store in the condo. The husband, which we shall call Ganesh, would always (always!) mistake me for a Malay. So he'd always talk to me in Malay even if I respond in English. Well I guess it's partly my fault since I still haven't picked up the language even after 2 1/2 years here. The wife, which we shall call Tesh, would often insist that you buy more than you came for. It happened to me during my first trip there. I came in to buy only a loaf of bread but ended up buying 2 mineral water bottles and a small cup of ice cream. Fortunately I've learned from it and has never happened to me again.

Weird as it seems but everytime I'm there I always hear Ganesh and his daughter, which we shall call Ganitesh, shouting at each other. As I don't understand Tamil (Indian talk), I just leave it to the imagination that it could be about the store, her school work, or her boyfriend (except that I estimate her to be only 12yrs old, so scrap that last one). Even in the evenings when I wash the car I'd still hear them shouting. Hmmm....could it be that it's just the way they talk? "Daddy can you help me with my work?" "Stupid child! Haven't I told you that I'm not a human encyclopedia?! One plus one is three!" Or something like that.

Watching the neighbors has already been an art for us. Unfortunately if I get renewed next year or if the missus gets pregnant (whichever is earlier), we'd have to move to another condo since this one doesn't have an elevator. Climbing 10 short-flights of stairs with an excess-weight airport baggage or 5 bags of groceries is not really my idea of exercise. Moreover, it's not safe for the 1st trimester of a pregnant woman as Discovery Channel explains.

I'm sure we're gonna miss all our current neighbors. But it will definitely be exciting to meet the new ones if we move.

Expectations

I chanced upon my cousin being online at YM last week. It has been a long time since I had a chat with her ---the last time we met was in Baywalk in Roxas Blvd during one of my dinners with the missus. The chat started with the usual hi's and hello's. Then, as if on cue, she said:

"Wala pa ba [kayong anak]?"

Earlier today even my ex-officemate asked the same thing. Now why is it that when I meet somebody I haven't met in a long while, they always ask me that same question?

"Wala pa ba?"
"Kelan kayo magkakaanak?"
"Si kwan nagkaanak na, kayo kelan?"

You may have encountered a similar question yourself, for example:

"Kelan ka magkakatrabaho?"
"Bakit di ka pa nagkaka-girlfriend? boyfriend?"
"So kelan ang kasal?"
"Kelan kami makakatikim ng mainit na sabaw?"
"Si kwan lumalaki na baka di na maging flowergirl/ringbearer nyo. Kasalan na ba?"
"Kelan masusundan yung panganay nyo?"

Here's a classic from my former 70+ year old landlady from Makati. Without battting an eyelash, she said:

"Tirahin mo na!"

The list just goes on and on.

Isn't it just plain irritating if you keep on hearing it over and over? Everyone is always expecting everybody to be at some life stage that they unconsciously pressure the individual to be in the "in-group."

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not pressured in any way. I'm just plain irritated. Irritated that of all the intelligent questions one can ask, that's all he or she could muster up.

Asking those sort of questions defeats the individual's purpose of discovering life at his/her own pace. It's like being forced to play your favorite song in fast-forward mode that you never get to hear the lyrics nor enjoy the melody. I guess that's why most people have regrets because they pushed themselves too much to satisfy the expectations of others that they forget to pamper themselves first. They miss out on life as they ought to see it, not as others see it. I do pity them. Although, as an old saying goes, "be careful for what you wish for, you just might get it."

Seeing my cousin's question pop-up, I then immediately replied:

"Eh....bakit di ka pa nagkaka-boyfriend?"

To which she responded:

"Eh bakit nyo ba ako pinepressure?"

Well, I think she got the idea at that moment.

I hope we all stop asking those sorts of questions to anyone. It just adds unnecessary pressure, self-disappointment, or, for my case, it's just plain irritating. A simple "Kumusta ka?" will do, don't you think??

So.....kumusta ka na?

Words for the Weekend (#27)

Menudo. Cooked by Mommy-Q last Friday. D*mn delicious! Iba talaga pagkaing Pinoy. For once I was grateful there were leftovers so I was able to eat ALL of it the following day for lunch. Rap-sa.

Coincidence. Isn't it too much of a coincidence that since Mommy-Q arrived, the flush in the main toilet didn't work, there was no water supply to the kitchen on Saturday night, the swimming pool's water motor wasn't working until Saturday, and the GPRS (internet) connection isn't working 'til now? It makes you think of how much probability that her flight back to Manila will be delayed. Well I guess my hunch was right. I called Air-Asia just now and her 3:30pm flight on Wednesday has been rescheduled to 5:10pm. Hmmm.

Putok. The missus and Mommy-Q rode a bus from the LRT station after a trip to KL. Since it was rush hour, the bus was very packed. They had no choice but to inhale the unsweetened air emanating from the mix of underarm sweat and halitolic breath of the locals that may eradicate SARS or bird-flu. Add to that the loss of air-conditioning and cramped space. Sad to say the missus had the greater damage: her nose had too much of the "fumes" that she caught a cold which had escalated to a running nose.

IKEA (ay-keh-ah). A warehouse store originating from Europe, I think. Guys should always remember that when a woman says "I have no plans of buying anything there," it is not applicable in IKEA. True enough, after 30 or so bucks later, we got back to the car with 3 bathroom mats, a fork/spoon tray, and a set of wooden spatulas that Oprah will be d*mn proud of.

Tandas. Toilet, in Malay. I think I never had a trip to anywhere where my first destination is always the toilet. It's like before entering a church, but instead of the holy water, I "bless" the mall with it. Aaaaahhhh...relief! Some mall-toilets here need you to pay 20c before entering. I guess the toilet-management is getting extra profit from me. 7-8 glasses of water a day for a healthy you? Naaah, I'll pass...or piss for that matter.

Stuffed. That's what me and the missus have been every night since Mommy-Q was here. We've been eating like kings come dinner time. I'm really amazed at Mommy-Q's appetite. For example, one time I brought home a pack of Chinese-fried rice and fried-noodles (North Park style). Looking at it, she said, "That's too much for the both of us!" But 10 minutes later, the bar-table was similar to Phuket when it was hit by a tsunami. At least we thought of not wasting the food amidst the famine in Africa, right?

Dapat. Often followed by the words "light lang lagi ang dinner naten" or "lagi tayong nag-eexercise sabi ni Oprah." Well I guess as long as the food here is great, I'll never get to commit to that word. As they say, "Live right, eat right, die anyway."

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