Monday, January 29, 2007

at the crocolandia
















in my bag



and in my stomach...



ang sikwati ug ang francis bread

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

the lyrics, bay!!!

OVERJOYED

Overtime, I've been building my castle of love
Just for two, though you never knew you were my reason
I've gone much too far for you now to say
That I've got to throw my castle away
Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true,
Though you never knew it was of you I've been dreaming
The sandman has come from too far away
For you to say come back some other day

Chorus:
And though you don't believe that they do
They do come true
For did my dreams
Come true when I looked at you
And maybe too, if you would believe
You too might be
Overjoyed, over loved, over me
Oh, oh, oh

Over hearts, I have painfully turned every stone
Just to find, I have found what I've searched to discover
I've come much too far for me now to find
The love that I've sought can never be mine
(Chorus)

And thought the odds say improbable
What do they know
For in romance
All true love needs is a chance
And maybe with a chance you will find
You too I like
Overjoyed, over loved, over you, over you

Sunday, January 21, 2007

a long story that ends with a "z"

too bad i missed this year's Sinulog festival. again.
last year, i went out with a friend, and just stayed at the mall doing the "regular" things. and this year, i slept my ass off while everyone was out there in Cebu City having the grandest time of the year. bless me!

bless me for i was drunk the other night, crawled into bed at past 5 in the morning. there was already a plan to go out later in the afternoon today, but...i got back from dreamland at way past the agreed time and was already too tired to ride (and walk) back to the city.

anyway, do not try Cafe de France's "mocha frappe!" it's P70, and tastes like shit. and their brazo de mercedez is equally unsatisfactory. there's only one good thing that this place is worth coming for though, it's its relaxing ambience (i prefer the Mango Square outlet) that can be best welcomed with a cup (or two) of mochaccino. there are other variants too, just never order that mocha frappe or i dunno what you might want to do with it. i almost threw mine to the barista, eh. just joking.

brews point. our next stop last night. and the place where i left that mocha frappe, pasidaan ba's mga tawo nga "woi, wa ni lami." hehe! this place, btw, is just a walking distance from cafe de france. i always stop here when i'm at this place, and when im with people who just love to sit and listen to music. there's music, beer, food (pizza, pasta, etc), wine, and boys. well, the band playing last night was composed of really cute boys. i missed their band's name though. i just started really watching them when they played "overjoyed," my new fave. always delayed reaction, eh.

from there, we walked to Ayala Center. amazingly, we did it without complaints. one of the best things during Sinulog is that you get to save a lot of your fare money coz the streets are close for vehicular traffic. luoy nuon imo tiil ug sandals. mayo nalang naka-tsinelas ra ko. so we did arrive at Ayala's TJ's after a few minutes of walking. mango ave is actually not that far from Ayala. mga ten thousand steps lang ngali. ha ha!

at TJ's, there was this band playing one.song.at.a.time. coz they'd rather spend most of their appearance, that we paid for, making stupid jokes and talking non-sense that only they could understand. unsa ba! there were three vocalists: one girl who looked like she just came straight from the Basilica, a guy sporting an Afro hairdo, and another guy who was dressed like South Border's Jay but was acting like Berwin Meily bec of his stupid belly dancing and corny jokes. i swear, me and my friends had a grand time watching the smoke come out from our respective noses. literally. and when they left, it was heaven. in fairness, the songs they played were good. i just could not stand watching them dancing in a concert-performance-level way when the song they were playing is not supposed to be done that way. feeling nagconcert? pahuway!

the clock was already ticking non-stop, and everyone was drunk (more than 4 hours at TJ's and countless bottles of Colt 45). so we moved back to mango ave, this time to jo'bee to relax and slurp some coffee and sotanghon to kill the power of beer. in my case, it was the taxi driver--who too me home--who got me back to my senses when i saw him from his rearview mirror sleeping while the cab was speeding fast in the highway. shet! after several minutes of not winking and just closely focusing my eyes to his so he would be constantly reminded that he was not in his bed YET, i got home in one piece.

and then zzzzzzz...

Saturday, January 20, 2007

while tide is a miracle, youtube's a blessing

...a blessing for those who don't have time to sit infront of the tv coz they'd rather spend most of their whole day making money, and the rest of it spending what they just earned. Well, yeah!


"Hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just died,"--Art Buchwald (1925-2007)

Columnist Art Buchwald was quoted in a video taped in Martha's Vineyard last July (after he had revealed that he was suffering from kidney failure and was likely to die soon) saying that line. He died on Wednesday. During that interview, he humorously expressed his desire to be cremated and that his ashes be dropped by a navy plane "over every cocktail party on Martha's Vineyard." Nyahahah!

And on the other side of the planet, hillary duff got punk'd. click -->> here.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

beautiful!



"Ugly Betty" minus her thick eyeglasses and stupid-looking braces equals America Ferrera. "Messy" as she was when she accepted her best actress in a comedy trophy at the Golden Globe awards yesterday, she is still that nice yet rebellious girl Anna we knew in Real Women Have Curves (2002) and that practically same girl (Carmen) in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie.

Her speech: "Sorry, I'm so messy..." And big. hehe...

Anyway, although she was crying while she was saying her thanks, I even feared she would falter and screw herself up somewhere in the middle, she was just amazing...did her speech very well, and with a punch line: "mabuhay ang mga tambokikoy!" Yiheeee...

Sunday, January 14, 2007

my new love



Fujifilm Finepix S3500

I am currently in love with this one. Can't wait for the Sinulog. Acting photog ;)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

this is how it's gonna be for the rest of my blogging life

that is, if di mapul-an. anyway, starting today, this blog will have a new format. char! i have been contemplating (yes!) of categorizing my entires so as to have a system or something that, although it is not a requirement in blogging, has to be done to have a new direction in this hobby, that, i think, will last for a long long time...when boredom won't find its way here, that is. so i will have these categories (which come out in any day i want)...

WORLD--everything that is happening around the world including Cebu and Talisay City, of course. News and not so newsworthy stuff.

ENTERTAINMENT--films, music, both local and international. and anything i find entertaining (including kids), and reviews, too.

HEALTH--sports and food. and everything.

PHOTO OP--pictures...my own. lifted. any shots that capture my attention.

OPINION--mine, of course.

BISDAK NI--syempre, bisaya entri.

and for this day...

PHOTO OP

This is what you get when you buy TF's Jan 10 ish.


Our congressman Eddie Gullas (in yellow polo) and the residents of barangay Linao at a medical-dental mission sponsored by the former (and the city officials of Talisay). This blogger is somewhere in the background looking for her photog, who, as you can see (or not really), is busy taking pics. I had no idea.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Plutoed

The American Dialect Society has chosen "plutoed" as 2006's Word of the Year.

It's planetary status is already a history, and to give its name a good use "pluto" is now used "to demote or devalue someone or something," much like what happened to it last year. At least there is still this group of people that remembers this outcast member of the solar system. Now, I go back to work before I get "plutoed."

Monday, January 08, 2007

film review

Blood Diamond

Leonardo DiCaprio (the diamond smuggler), Djimon Hounsou (the farmer), Jennifer Connelly (the journalist)

It may be full of atrocities like killing without second thoughts, child soldiers doing the same, among others, but these are no non-sense scenes--put to explain the title of the movie. And to give us an "overview" of how diamonds have killed thousand of people in Africa, specifically in Sierra Leone, where the setting of the story is. Well, not exactly diamonds doing the crime, but people (the government, and the businessmen, and the consumers) become greedy because of them. Ah, that's self-explanatory na. Anyway, did I hear reports DiCaprio's possibly getting nominations for his role here? He's really good, and I won't be surprised if he brings home a trophy or two for his performance here. I like that scene when he is almost dying and he is really like dying...so naturally. Oops! Did i just say he died in this film? Sorry. But don't worry, it's for a good cause ;)

Diamonds. They are soo fascinating. Not only their beauty (and value), but their history as well. I've read one of Danielle Steel's books that tells about diamond mining, and its risks. She also based her story from real accounts. Can't remember though much of the story except that diamonds, according to her, can be found just along the shorelines flashed by big waves. And people die fighting just to get a piece of this stone. And for how much? Ambot, I don't own a single diamond. Ask Imelda. :)

Sunday, January 07, 2007

night cap

Mee-Shee: The Water Giant

It is sooo cute. I love that little girl named Pawnee, shes so adorable :) The story isn't that good though...just concentrate on the cute scenes and your day will be saved. They saved mine, eh. :)





The Covenant


The fight scenes matched with brilliant special effects are really good...keeps you wide awake. And yeah, hunks (and mammas) are all over this movie...enough to keep you tuning in. Steven Strait leads them. What's lacking though is some mystery that, if given, should at least make you think while you stay glued for almost two hours in front of your tv set or pc.

addendum

Garylao (his full name combined, i dunno why we, at the editorial, would love to use longer names to call each other, when people, in general, would pick nickies for a shorter version of their names. say, Gary Lao, Wennagirl, Jasmin Uy--kuwang nalang ang middle initial , RyanMark, Jessica Alba, etc) is assigned sa Street Smart, a new (half-page) section of TF, which comes out everday. His job is to ask people in the streets, of course, of just about anything under the sun. Mostly current events man ni iyang ipangutana. And just this week, he went out (armed with his pen and camera) and saw a high school student. Then Garylao asked if the younger guy knew about Saddam Hussein, and since he said yes, the former went on with his question...

Garylao: Kabaw naka nga namatay si Saddam?
Younger guy: O! Ang-ang.
Garyloa: Unsa may namatyan niya beh?
Younger guy: Gidunggab!

*toink*

Saturday, January 06, 2007

bisayang daku

nakabasa ko bag-uhay lang sa TF lifestyle section (gisuwat man to ni Jad Conde) nga ang karaang Sugbuanung mga letra or titik (hala pasagdi ko kay wa ko kahibalo unsa'y bisaya aning yatia ni. words ba sa ininglis pa) naglakip ra sa mga ordinaryong "consonants" (nah, unsa kaha'y bisaya ani noh?) nga sigurado wala'y labot ang "Z," "V," ug uban pang naggikan sa laing cultura. Ug ang mga "vowels" nato mao ra gayud diay ang "U," "I," ug "A" samtang ang "O" ug "E," ambot kinsa'y nagbuot-buot og sagol sa unta tinud-anay nga "gahi" natong pinulungan. Kadiyot sa, ang paggamit nako ron sa "o" aning entriha ni, bunga lang sa akong nakat-unan sa akong pagdako, kay ang-ang naman sad og mag-sige lang ko og "u" ug "i" pwerte na gayud nako'ng gahia ana, di ba? Gahi sad biya ko manulti, gani di man ko kahibalo magtinagalog, kay matud pa sa akong amiga, kinahanglan pa kuno ko og "steamer" haron mahumok akong tagalog. Nyahaha! Ani sa'ng "ug" ug "og," libog sa? Apan giingnan ko ni Sir Joe, papa ni Jihan Sesican, nga kay libog man gayud ning atong pinulungan, nga naa ta'y mga words nga daghan og meaning sama nalang sa "piso," na tay piso nga anak sa manok, ug piso nga manghud sa dos. Ug bag-uhay lang, kining "papa." Kaniadto gamiton ra ni nato sa atong amahan, karon hasta na sa atong mga hinigugma ug mga higugmaon pa lang (niak!). Mao ni'ng natawo ang linya'ng: "pagsure woi!" Balik ta sa "ug" ug "og." Ingun pa ni Sir Joe, nga tungod lagi kay libog kanus-a ta mag-"ug" ug unsa'ng orasa ta mag-"og," gikasabutan sa mga Sugbuanong gamhanan nga ang "ug" gamiton lang as a conjunction pareha sa "and" sa ininglis, samatang ang "og" isip usa ka "article." Dili ko sigurado masabtan ba ko, apan naningkamot biya ko, kung kahibalo lang mo, dili gayud ni lalim akong gibuhar ron, sama sa paghinlo nako sa among kasilyas bag-uhay lang. Nanimaho pa gani ko ro'ng muriatic acid, kay bisay dili unta angay muryatikan, kay lagi gustong magdali, gibubuan gayud nako ang bowl sa maong isug nga kemikal. Ug mao to, nalimpyo gayud siya, samtang ako, mura pa og nalipong sa maong kemikal bisan og humana ko og kaligo. Mao na'y giingon og "kinsa man nang sa nimo." Bitaw sad.

Sa laing bahin, mahinayon man kuno ang ASEAN Summit ining petsa 12 hantud 15 karong buwana. Sigurado na diay kuno ni uy, busa dili na "kuno." Wala naman sa'y hugyaw ang maong talagsaung panghitabo kay, tan-aw nako, nahupas na ang kadasig sa mga tawo sa dihang gusto na unta ni sila'ng (mura'g apil ko ato da) magbakasyon sa ilang mga probinsya (wala sad nuon ko'y probinsya gawas sa Sugbu) samtang magbinayloay ang mga dagko'ng tae, este, delegado og mga utap ug budbod ug tikoy ug unsa pa ilang gusto'ng ibaylo, apan kay lagi niabot man si Seniang ug nahadlok ang atong presidente nga mapadpad unya ang utap ug mabasa ang tikoy, giusab nalang niya ang eskedyul sa maong panagtagbo. Mao ni karon nga balik na usab kita sa uno: limpyo diri, pintal didto, etc. Maayo unta dili na matalaw ang presidente aning higayona. Mag-ampo kita.

Sa pikas bahin, mao ni akong nagdunggan (sa akong palibot) nga hagbay ra unta nako'ng isuwat diri apan lagi kay busy man kaayo ta karon ra gayud ko nakahigayon. Pasalamat gayud ko nga Sabado, wa'y trabaho, aw naa diay, hapit lang gayud ko nalimot da uwan man gud. haha! So mao ni ang mosunod...

Moingun man gayud na ang simbahan, di ba?, nga ang angay ipangalan sa mga bata isubay gayud sa ngalan sa mga santos, haron naa'y mobantay kanila. Mao na, usa ka higayon, sa simbahan...

Pari: (sa mga inahan nga nagpabunyag sa ilang mga bata) Basta ha, ngalan sa mga santos ipangalan sa inyong mga anak.

(duol sa unang inahan)

Pari: unsa'y ngalan sa imong bata?
Inahan 1: Rafael

(human bunyagi ang unang bata, pari niduol sa sunod inahan)

Pari: iyang ngalan?
Inahan 2: Maria

(human bunyagi ang ikaduhang bata, pari niduol sa ikatulong inahan)

Pari: ngalan sa bata?
Inahan 3: Sto. NiƱo!

niak. niak. niak!

---

Pari: Lawas ni Kristo
Ako: Thank you.

(nagduka gayud ko ato, pramis)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

magyawyaw sa ko

Our justice system has become more and more pathetic, it makes me want to become this country’s president and pocket all the money I can lay my hands on because I know I will still get to live in a mansion and visit my mother on her birthday even if I get convicted for my crime. Very hospitable we are to VIP convicts, and more so to visitors, especially to Americans.

US Marine LCPL Daniel Smith, a convicted rapist, is now enjoying such hospitality when we had him transferred from the Makati City Jail to his own embassy last December 29. Is it because we love to make him feel at home while he is serving his term? Hmmm...

And Gonzalez said he does not see any unconstitutionality in Smith’s transfer. You bet! From the start sir, you’ve been very vocal with your opposition in holding the trial here (for reasons only you and your shadow know). After hearing most of your views on a lot of major things, I am beginning to like you sir. Hopefully, we become close in the future. *Puke*

Gonzalez said custody of US personnel could be in an American facility but within Philippine territory so that judicial proceedings would not be obstructed and should a final conviction be reached, "the Philippines would retain its authority to impose the proper penalty pursuant to jurisdiction that it had previously obtained."—lifted from Philstar

Okay, not that I’m so eager to see this American soldier be eaten alive by bugs and whatever insects we breed in our city jails, I just want justice to be carried out. What’s the point of slapping him the life sentence to be served in Makati City Jail (I’m pretty sure, the trial court decision did not mention US embassy) when we will only have to hand him over to his country?? Why bother having the trial here in the first place? Cripes! This is really getting cozier! Aren’t we satisfied with giving him the “best” cell we have in our jail (plus the regular visits from important people and not to mention, some amenities we afforded to him) that we have to move him to a “safer” and nonetheless more comfortable place??

If it is true that the executive body has a hand on this, I don’t think the judiciary can’t say “no” to a “plea bargaining.” The latter is supposedly an autonomous branch—free from the tentacles of the president--to decide on its own. Well, that is what it is as I last know of. Or perhaps it has become a “was” as our people there got greasy hands and friendly nature.

The president, for her part, said she only wants to protect the strategic relationship between the Philippines and the US. So it is her idea. Again. Fine!

I need a vacation.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Year's Day story

New year’s day was spent with food and more food. Now I am literally bloated up, I can barely breathe. But what can I do, I was with people who are so addicted with food. At least food ra, dili shabu. Hehe!

I slept at a friend’s house way past bedtime (about 3am of Jan 1. what a way to start my year but bleh it was so good) so we could have an early start the next day. But damn, her idea of an “early start” was before the sun rises. Ggrr! What can I do, I’m in her turf.

So we ate (my first for the day) rice and practically all edible stuff that were on her table (fruits included).

First stop was to visit our other friend (a long-time tradition that even if we don’t get invited, we always come to her “rescue” to help her and her family consume their food supply. Hehe!) Three of us were practically “cleaning up” this friend’s table of food. Her mom was actually cooking more food while we were devouring what this friend served us. In fairness, we left before her mom’s food was cooked.

Next stop was at my place (after playing badminton non-stop!) to get the red wine I promised. I was supposed to bring it the day before, but I intentionally forgot about it ‘cause chances are, I would get to drink most of its content just like what happened last Christmas when I was so drunk by my own wine bec my friend chose to indulge in beer. So there, the Year of the Pig came to life, when they saw some food (including my fave chocs!) in the fridge. FYI these people are not really big, I don’t know where they put all the food they consume. As to my case, everything that gets into me is so evident (extra flab everywhere, double chin, etc).

We all came back to barangay Poblacion (the hangout area ‘cause it’s where we all live, uh, except me ‘cause we moved out of this place four years ago) to, again, lose some calories by playing badminton. We don’t actually do it to lose fats, but to be “fit!” I think, we are getting good after playing almost everyday for the past weeks. We even had this “tournament” that day, and unfortunately, my team lost in the game, of which prize was Coke. So you can imagine what was in our minds after the game. Right, another eating binge! Then play again. Even under the rain. I only had three hours of sleep the other night, and I felt like floating everytime I tried to catch the shuttlecock. But heck, this only happens rarely as two of these people (as of last count, we are down to six—from 11--as the others are working outside the country) have to go back to their b-houses, where they are staying.

It was almost dark when we stopped the game. And because it was yet early to go home, we went to the beach. Our beach is famous for its inasal and kinilaw and sinugbang nokus ug isda. You just can’t resist the sight (and smell) of this food, can you? So we yielded! We were supposed to have a quick swim, but what happened was a good hour of eating and fighting (we always do). Oh food!

By this time, some of us were already complaining of too much food intake in just a span of just less than a day. But the complaining stopped, when, after we bathed and changed, another friend asked if we could have “buwad” for dinner. Sheyt, magdinner pa diay mi??! But buwad, my love, we will dinner, amiga!! And since most stores were close that day, we had to scour every store that was on business just to buy her “buwad.” We saw one opened three blocks away. And we cooked the buwad at another friend’s house, that had “utan” on its table. The buwad and their rice were gone in seconds. We are sinners, yeah!

So well, I think this year's celebration was one of the best. Forget the extra flab and weight, and the soaked shirt and pants (from the rain), it was a day of fun and a happy New Year!!!