SQME Trainings for QA Testing (Naintindihan Mo?)

I'll be off the office come tomorrow and Friday for some training slash seminar slash "socializing" that the company provided me and my co-team leader here, Kring. It'll be on Richmonde Hotel somewhere in Ortigas (that I still don't know the exact location until now... bahala na bukas... bahala na si Batman).

It's iffy that I'll have to be on business wear again. It was like almost a year and a half now that I din't wear those long sleeves terno for work. I'm half-excited with the fact that I might get to know more peeps from other companies that are from the same field as I do.

More reports when I get back.

Byers for now.

Are you Ready, Kids? I Can't Hear You!

Watched "Pirates 3" with my bro yesterday after attending a mass at the Malate Church. I was supposed to sail with Gelo for a practice yacht race in Manila Bay but we received words the day before that there's an engine failure on the boat we'll gonna use so it din't push through. I'm still curious with the adventure of actually manning a sailboat so yeah, I'm still looking forward to that "next time".

Before hitting the cinemas of Rob Malate, we chilled at Tita Nine's again. Same thing after we finished watching the movie. Palipas oras lang to catch up with Pinoy Big Bro. Have to remind myself to look for Kian's Persian Grill here in Makati so Pinsan Idol and I could try out their cuisine some time. Nakaka-bwisit lang. I was digging for the exact address of the establishment on the net in vain! The websites kept on describing the resto and what it offers but kept on either giving vague locations (Makati lang ang nakalagay!! Kamusta, bayan? Anlaki ng Makati!) OR telling that it's somewhere in Paseo Center, Salcedo Street. Huh?? Kelan pa napunta ang Paseo Center sa Salcedo Street?? That was like on two different villages of Makati Business District! Arayko! Magpa-plugging lang sablay pa.

I was under the notion that it was supposed to be Salcedo Village since Paseo Center (just a couple of backflips from our office) is actually in Salcedo Village OR that it was supposed to be Sedeno Street - the actual street where Paseo Center is located. Well, I guess I have to found out myself.


Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

The third installment to the tale of the swashbuckling corsair, Jack Sparrow, followed the story of Lord Cuttler Beckett's quest to purge all pirates and establish ultimate rule over the seas. With it, he has control over the heart of Davy Jones (from Part 2) which in turn gave him leverage to command his dreaded Flying Dutchman in a whim. Beckett's success was imminent (and so is the pirates' end) so the only solution left was to convene the Pirate Lords around the world and propose a joint attack against the formidable British fleet.

On this line, it became apparent that they will be needing help from the infamous Captain Sparrow so with unlikely aid from the Singaporean Pirate Lord Sao Feng, the former crew of the Black Pearl journeyed to the World's Edge to bring him back to life. The voyage was a success and along with it, they sailed back to the "real world" with Jack and the Black Pearl, itself. Insidious pacts and trades led to the unexpected rise of Elizabeth Swann as captain of the Singaporean fleet. She spearheaded the notion of a combined attack against Lord Beckett's fleet during the convocation of the Pirate Lords, where she was declared Pirate KING (yes, it was explicitly told she was a KING).

In the end, it was a standoff against the British Fleet plus the Flying Dutchman versus the allied pirate fleet. The Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl sailed ahead of their armadas for the greatest naval mano a mano I've ever seen on a movie! The battle ended with Captain Sparrow opting to have Legolas destroy the heart of Davy Jones (killing Squidhead on the process) in order to protract his existence. However, this meant that Legolas (actually, Will Turner) will have to be the new Davy Jones and captain the Flying Dutchman. With it, the Dutchman and the Black Pearl annihilated the Endeavour - Lord Beckett's flagship.

Lord Beckett's death is the cheesiest naval death I've ever seen, on the other hand. Hahaha.

Let's not talk about CG's, special effects, props, costumes, and the whole production itself. They're all "WOW" *put lots of exclamation marks here* for the lack of words to describe it! I was pointing at the Kraken's tentacles to my bro telling him they (effects crew) thought of making it consistently float on the beach and put much details on the suction tubes even when the monster's scene on the film lasted what... 30 seconds?!? That's how they worked with the rest of the details and the effects were getting more and more awesome since the first Pirates film.

It's a very suitable ending for the "prologue movie" which is Pirates 2. I've immediately watched Pirates 1 as soon as I had the chance after I arrived from Sydney last year and I stand in my opinion that Pirates 2's storyline is nothing but a preparatory film for this sequel. Nothing interestingly more. Pirates 3 is as winding and long as Pirates 2 but "At World's End" is fast paced and easier to keep up with, at least. Ok, it still has those confusing sub-storylines: Calypso, Nine Pieces of Eight, Davy Jones's Love Story, the Pirate Lords. But, these has been inserted to the plot in a way that they din't become vague enough to follow unlike those introduced in Pirates 2 which were mostly just "pushed it" too much... to make the movie long(?) or look adventurous(?), who knows?

Johnny Depp's witty antics are still a hit but this time, I have to admit that he din't single-handedly carry the film. The story was guile enough to highlight the need of the other roles to shine on the film: Elizabeth Swann and her rise to power, Will Turner and his quest to save his father, Davy Jones and his unsettled business with Calypso, even Lord Beckett has his own shot to stardom as the ultimate antagonist. The plot this time din't revolve mainly on Captain Sparrow but it was participated evenly by the major characters. This, I dig since the stars selected for the major roles were worth the exposure anyway. I find Chow Yun-Fat a little lacking though but I have this feeling that I might have just thought of that because I was used to see him in kung-fu moves and stunts that din't require him to actually "act" that much. Haha.

This movie like Pirates 2 is still not recommended to be watched if you haven't seen the prequels. It was chock-full of its own mythology that it will make you just keep on bugging your seatmate for info (and prolly annoy him/her in the process). Just think of it as this: it's not your typical sit-back-enjoy-the-adventure flicks we commonly see on the likes of Waterworld or The Island. Plot lines here are branching (if not just "popping" out of something) everywhere and it's up to the moviegoers to have a grasp of these and establish a coherent path to understand everything. Ang saya noh?

Six out of ten gulaman.

Ano ang Nasa Dako Paroon?

Last Sunday, our airsoft team hiked up the ridges of Antipolo for an invitational game on this abandoned building, formerly known as the Antipolo Hotel. The route we took along Sumulong Highway is pretty familiar until we turned towards this remote area along the perimeters of Hinulugang Taktak (or so I think). That was where I went on saying "Meron palang gentong lugar sa Antipolo." Haha... it was really really freaky!

Screaming BB's
L-R: Nancy, Omeng, Jubay, Inggo, Jeng, Obi, Gudz, Hans, Garr, Rik

Attendance: Nancy, Rommel, Inggo, Jeng, Hans, Obi, Jun, Gudo, Ricky, Lloyd, Garrick, Sir Gem + 2

If you've watched the TV series "Scariest Places on Earth", this location would be a good addition on their list. Firstly, it was erected on a slope surrounded by low-lying vegetation and the road going inside the compound was obviously neglected for a long time - rugged and uneven. Then, looking at it alone from the outside, the 80-ish meter stretch of dilapidated building looks like the perfect hideout for goons and kidnappers - gloomy in most spots, lots of rooms with tattered walls and groundworks, and the passages were as convoluted as hell (haven't been to hell though, take note). Lastly, the place itself has a startling history... its basement used to be a morgue!!! *insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*

*insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*

First thing me and Garrik did when we arrived was to scout around the building, and it was no mere small time hotel. The place is huge!

According to stories I overheard, the place was a resort slash hotel. It's still evident until now that it could have been a top-class location back then because there were wall sculptures and paintings, landscaped entryways, and a nifty sense of architecture. After an earthquake (they din't say from when the earthquake occured) that probably damaged the place (?), the building was restored to be a home for the aged while its lower floor was converted to a morgue *insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*!!! The tale went on that the place ultimately was decommissioned after a girl accidentally fell from the topmost floor (the building has four stories).

2nd Floor Hallway

Hindi ko alam kung kwentong barbero lang ito or an actual event but regardless of it, the sense of foreboding when you're on the place can't be denied, man. It's just that we're naturally stubborn and airsoft adiks that we still went on gaming on that site. As mentioned before, "null" naman ako kaya medyo kalpante ako na hindi ako makakaramdam ng kahit anong kababalaghan. It was unlike what the others felt when they first played on the building a week ago: may sumisitsit kay Gudo, mya nakikitang kung ano mang itim sila Jun at Ricky, and other funky stuffs that were discussed in-between games. Ako, takot lang talaga kahit wala naman akong naramdamang kahit ano. Kaya nga nitong Linggo, hindi na ginamit sa laro yung basement. Games were restricted to the upper floors and by late afternoon, along the grounds of the compound.

"Nardong Putek versus Boy Bawang "
Nardo: Maliit ang Tondo para sa ating dalwa, Boy!
Boy: Hindi, kung buburahin kita sa mundong ibabaw, Nardo!
Nardo at Boy (duet): Haaaaayaaaaah!!!!

The games were still fun. There were lots of negligible injuries from BB bullets taken at close range but there was one instance that a player from the other team had a bloody open wound on the finger. But it was none too serious, sabi nga: "part of the game".

By the way, it was not ALL scary when you're on the premise. Turn your back from the creepy building and you'll be facing West on what most people before call it the "Overlooking", the same sight you'll be gawking at when you're on Cloud 9 or Padi's Point - Antipolo. Ganda, pramis. Pag may kasama ka ngang ka-love team wala kang pagkatalo: sa sobrang scary ng building pwede kayo magyakapan sa takot tas pag humarap naman kayo sa "Overlooking", ang romantic naman ng setting.

"Tara sa Overlooking!"

E ang kaso mo, yung gusto kong kasama wala.

Yun yun eh! Haha.

*****

More pics in my Multiply site.

Matamis na Pagtakas

The General Manager here in our Philippine office came up with this idea of spearheading a newsletter that will showcase the local events and miscellaneous subjects of interest. This will be available in online format so that our Sydney and London counterparts could peruse at it on their convenience. I was appointed as a contributor and recently just finished an article about our latest excursion in Zambales. With it, I was also given the task of giving out a review of sorts to any up-to-date song I could think of (since they unanimously think that I am the "music-guy" around here).

I checked out the latest Australian charts, compared it with the International Billboard tally, and immediately came up with my song - "Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani featuring Akon! The song landed at number two in the Australian music charts and seventh in the Billboards so I reckon our foreign mates should have at least an idea about the hit.

I so like the song. It does make my booty shake and get me in the mood, no matter how bad the reviews it got from foreign critics. For most of em, this song (and the album itself) was a crappy follow-up to Gwen's first solo package - "L.A.M.B." and a bad rip-off of the "styles" of BEP's Fergie and Miss Ciccone herself, Madonna. I say, the song has proven that Gwen Stefani is versatile enough (and not afraid) to create an image of her own, shy of what we've came to know her as the feisty vocalist of No Doubt.

Here's my newsletter piece:

*****

Music Review

“Sweet Escape”
Music and Lyrics by Gwen Stefani
Featuring: Akon
Album: Sweet Escape
Label: Interscope Records

After her successful solo effort on the 2004 released album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", Gwen Stefani is back with the album "Sweet Escape". Her first single off the album already topped the charts early this year and her second track, also entitled "Sweet Escape", is already taking the airwaves by storm as it currently ranked seventh on the Billboard music charts.

"Sweet Escape" showcased yet another of Gwen's attempt to shy away from the classic urbane sound of the band No Doubt where she started out as a lead singer. Its funky rhythm and bubbly tune is easy to the ears and could simply induce one to sway to its beat. Her approach with the sassy lyrics is pretty straightforward but totally complements the overall escapism theme of the song, thus effortlessly drives listeners to feel as if on a ride to "joy-land".

Collaborating with her on this single is singer/rapper Akon, who provided the catchy warbling that has been the signature of the song. Akon has been known for his smooth upbeat music hits and his contribution to "Sweet Escape" is none less remarkable. If you're into contemporary pop that caters not only to the teenage genre, this song is a good addition to your music collection.

SST Trivia: The song “Sweet Escape” was used by the SST-PH Outing Committee on their teaser video for the company's 2007 Summer Excursion.


Lyrics: “Sweet Escape”

Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo

If I could escape
I would, but first of all let me say
I must apologize for acting, stinking, treating you this way
Cause I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor
It's your fault you didn't shut the refrigerator
Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

If I could escape
And re-create a place as my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
We can make it better
Tell me boy, Now wouldn't that be sweet?

(I wanna get away, to our sweet escape)

You let me down
I'm at my lowest boiling point
Come help me out
I need to get me out of this joint
Come on, let's bounce
Counting on you to turn me around
Instead of clowning around let's look for some common ground

So baby, times getting a little crazy
I've been getting a little lazy
Waiting for you to come save me
I can see that you're angry
By the way that you treat me
Hopefully you don't leave me
Want to take you with me

If I could escape
And re-create a place as my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
We can make it better
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?
Sweet escape

Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo

(If I could escape)

Cause I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor
It's your fault you didn't shut the refrigerator
Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

If I could escape
And re-create a place in my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
Forever, we can make it better
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?
Sweet escape

Mullings of the Sick

Body's still in pain from our basketball games last Thursday. It din't even become a factor for me, though, to not to stay late last night and paint my miniatures till three this morning ("Music and Lyrics" running on the background). We had this miniature game tournament today and I'm still in our local tambayan here in Katipunan... a couple of cartwheels away Ateneo Gate 3 (actually, tis nearer to what we fondly call the Ateneo Gate 2.5). I sucked bigtime on the tourney. Nothing biggy for me though. It was good fun.

This noon, I was in Fortress... a friend's hobby store in Virramall. I had this deal with another friend who bought some of my miniature figs for a good amount. I, then, treated Arvs and Jan Jan for lunch before the former accompanied me here in Katipunan. It was searing hot outside and the traffic was horrible even on our supposed shortcut passing White Plains! Where was everybody going at 12 noon??

Tomorrow, Team Screaming BB's will head to Antipolo for another invitational airsoft wargames on a abandoned hotel (simply called "Antipolo Hotel"). What intrigued me was the fact that its basement used to be a morgue. I'm a "null" and haven't had any experiences with the "quasi-entities" but I don't want to challenge my luck. Have to take a mental note not to visit the lower floors of that damned establishment alone.

Dunno what time to go home today. The local military dudes announced we'll have a power interruption by 10pm and I decided to stay at Tita 9's instead. Still, I have to pass by our house and pack my things for the wargames tomorrow. It was two Sundays already that I wasn't able to hug my gun in combat. The gun ban sucks us, airsoft players, during elections.

Pinsan Idol just texted. Might need to come home early anyway. Istarbuko na lang siguro kami around the area later tonight.

Teka teka... have to cut this out. Lamon time na daw sabi ng tropa. Byers muna.

Ang point ko lang naman all in all with this is that I need more stuffs to fill my time while I miss Pouty. Hehe.

Yun yun e!

Super Mommy and the Mama's Boys

It's never too late to express your mom how much you care, so...

Happy Super Belated Mom's Day, Mommy... and Cheng na din!!!

We opened that Sunday by attending the noon mass at the Malate Church. It was me, my younger bro, and my mom (yes, the typical Mama's Boys bunch). Idol pinsan tagged along and had her religious jujus blessed by the attending priest after the ceremony. He literally sprayed the holy water on us that I looked as if I just came out of a thunderstorm. Haha. Exagge. Pero parang ganun na din.

We then chilled at Tita 9's place. Kitten the Humping Dog-Goat din't waste its time and started showing off its signature moves to Mommy... yes, including the "hump"! I've also asked Kimay to edit my primary photo in Friendster. Tada...

Bugbog sarado magsabing pink to! Sinabing violet eh.

'stig!

By 4pm, I dragged the group to Rob Malate for some R and R. Walang katapusang ikot hanggang mahilo. Mommy was able to buy stuffs for herself and I also asked her to pick something for Cheng. I, on the other hand, got this cool "vintage-y" shirt and bought some additional plates for my dumbbells. Yep yeps... I was on minimal weight lifting lately. Have to keep my arms from sagging since I've been significantly shedding off weight. (Pero napaparami na ko ulet ng kain!)

We dined at Bacolod Chicken Inasal after the spree, then had a grocery run before going home. Atin-atin lang 'to ha: "Di ko trip yung lasa ng pork sisig sa Chicken Inasal." Turn off. Sarap pa naman nung ibang ulam.

Anyway, that was a cool night. It was always gratifying to spend extended quality times with my Mommy. Lalo na ako, na halos on the go 24/7 and doesn't chill much at home. Mabuti na ring may mga gento kaming chances to show her how much I love her and appreciate ALL the great things she did for us. Oo na, may pagka-Mama's Boy na ko... hehe, but isn't it an honor to be a Mama's Boy to the most bestest Mommy in the whole wide universe??

Think about it.

Chikka-minute!

Tengenengeneng yan. Parang pinaparusahan ko sarili ko, men. To miss someone this much is driving me nuts when I've been used to not care at all and just go on with what life has to offer. Masama na tama ko netong lagay na to, pramis. Haha. Sometimes it's starting not to be funny at all that I wished I haven't allowed myself to get lost deep into this state.

Anyway, emo aside, I was at Romy's office last night in Greenhills for our weekly dose of gaming and detox tambay. Twas a record-holding night as we reached a cap of 11 dudes in a single night.

Attendance: Bata Isip, Obi Daisy Sais, Bad Beef, Not So Tiny, Pork!, Oh Shavah, Kei, Cocoy, Monroe, Crispy Beef Ribs, Shin Kim

Grub: Piggy Pops, Quarter Pounder, Salad Greens, Cox Lots!, Gelo Binalot, Sarsaparilla

Photos to follow. Kei's got this cool toy lightsaber that we goofed around with. Angas. Me wants to have one. Dispersal time was at around 1:30-ish in the morning.

*****

I was sort of compelled to create a Multiply account when I was digging through my picture cache and found out that my harddisk was dropping space like crazy by sheer number of my photos. Iniisip ko tuloy bumili ng external harddisk para may mapaglagyan lang.

Enter Kalbong Lakwatsero - ang bagong kong Multiply account!

I picked a guitar-ish theme for my background because that black stratocaster on the corner actually looked almost the same as Buttercup, my guitar. I'm still into familiarizing myself with the console but once I got the hang of it, iL start transferring the rest of my pics there.

And speaking of pics, I stumbled upon my photos from Sydney and can't help feeling nostalgic. Twas almost a year now since we were last there and I really enjoyed the stay. They're next in line to be put on my Multiply as soon as I got the time.

As the soda bottle says... Solo! (our condo unit in Crow's Nest)
*Just woke up... look't the table... chocolate for breakfast! Hee Hee.

Sugalan sa Sydney (Cheeky's condo unit in Oxford)
Left to Right:
Dens... "Huh? Pano nanyari yun?!?"
Tian... "I knew he'll gonna bust my trick soon."
Obi... "Question? Pwede mag Phone-A-Friend??"
J.Lao... "Hee hee... nagulat ka Dennies noh!"
Yuki... "Sisimplehan ko ng bunot sa tapon tong mga to... nuninuninu."
*featuring Pip, my N3650!

*****

Was writing an article for our company newsletter last Friday at Tita 9's. Humiga nako para matulog at around 2-ish in the morning when this wordplay (inspired by a spur of senti streaks lately) suddenly hit me and made me grab back my pen. Natutuwa lang ako sa kanya kasi para siyang nursery rhyme crossed with an ala Lewis Carroll gibberish. I should have made it longer, pero inantok na ko.

Three Disses
by: Obi (05/05/07)

Three disses now.
Three disses all in all.
The first seemed promising,
The next doomed to fall.
It might have been me.
It might have been them, unwanting to wait.
It might have been those lil words I hardly can say.
It might have been fate.
The last appeared a fairytale,
Till a lot lost to confusion.
The dreams,
The moments,
The memories,
Were things of misunderstood delusion.
Farewell now lil last one.
Farewell now treasured dears.
Where there have been three disses,
There's history wrought in tears.

*****

Basketball games later at the Makati Stock Exchange. It's exactly 5:50pm on my PC and we're sched for 7pm-9pm tonight.

[emo mode: ON]

Twas a good thing I've got so many outlets in life that emotional troubles seemed to seep my mind only in my sleep or during the long dark walk back home. I am enjoying life... no doubt about it. I've already amazed a lot of my peers on how I juggle my activities hither and thither, and make the most out of all of em. But still it won't help when human nature kicked in. There'll always be something missing. There'll always be an empty space in me where no one has ventured for quite some time. And now that it has involuntarily opted to share itself, its vulnerability of reality bites.

[emo mode: OFF]

Wushus, drama mo!!! Sakitan na ng katawan!!! Byers muna.

:D

Gagambang Tao

Saturday
Slept the day before at Tita 9's in preparation for Emp's wedding bash in Intramuros. Prior to that, I met the Geloman and his wedding planner cousin in Aristocrat then we checked out Ermita Church and a hotel near it. Geloman's scheduled to be wed too this year thus the scouting. Tisk tisk tisk. The barkada was biting the dust one by one. O pota, walang hihirit ng kung kelan ako. Suntukan na lang. Haha.

We should be trying the ogre-look. I can't help smiling.
L-R: Jumping Johnny, Phatboy, Hesukristo, Bad Beef, Jestoni Alarcon

Twas quite hot for an early afternoon wedding at San Agustin's. It sure was hillarious to see the Shak Boyz in their formal wears. It's not everyday you'll get the chance y'know. Photo ops lang and then the reception was held on a nearby garden compound. My opening prayer indicated the formal opening of the second most important part of the occasion after the "exchange of vows"... the chicha time!! Kaaaainan na!

Shakkattendance: Ninong Oberon, Sponsor Pork, Sponsor Arvs, Phatboy Jason, Jumping Johnny, Marky Mark, Mayor Gelo in Suit, Gyudon Warrior Jake Pookiemonster, Bestman F Pantyman, Fred 10g, Kim Possible, syempre si Groom Emp and Bride Jaycee

That's the most serious pose we could make.
L-R: Mark, Gelo, Arvs, Obi, Jason, Jaycee, Jake, Emp, Pork, Fred T., Fred E., Kim

Welcome to da Shak fold, Jaycee and Emp Junior... ahuhuhuy! Classic ang regalo namin sa mag-asawa: a very durable, non-stick pan! Panghampas kay Emp kung sakaling loloko-loko. After mangulet sa reception, trippings kaming pumunta sa tambayan sa Katipunan ng mga naka formal attire. Gelo even played network games on his black suit. Fluffy arrived at Hobby Haven to catch up with the boyz. Tambay sa Shak afterwards.


Sunday
Attended the noon mass at the Malate Church with Sponklong and Idol Pinsan. Watched the Mayweather-Dela Joya match at Tita 9's afterwards. By 4pm, I stormed the Rob Malate cinemas with the bro to watch Gagamboy 3. I was also able to buy another Star Wars book that day. This new set is about the next series of events after the "Dark Nest" trilogy. Need to catch up with my banyo reading soon. Onga pala, I bought two kiddy books for the twins: starters in Alphabet and Numbers.


Spiderman 3
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

Spiderman is back and this time he's prepared to snatch his Mary Jane for a wedding proposal. Everything started well as Peter Parker continued his regular stints as a photographer for the Daily Bugle while his wall-crawling alter ego is fast becoming a beloved icon in the city. On the other hand, Mary Jane Watson hits it off as a broadway performer on a sassy local theater. Happy happy!

Enter catastrophes!

A convict (believed to be the gunman of Peter's uncle) escaped from prison and, by a freak accident on some physics lab, was transformed into Sandman - bent on stealing moolah for the hospitalization of his sickly daughter. Harry Osborn's back too with a hipper costume as the New Goblin, still wanting to avenge the death of his father which he blamed on Spidey. Along came an alien psymbiote that hosted itself on Parker's suit, making Spiderman vulnerable to corruption when he wears it. To top everything, MJ was sacked for a bad performance and our geek guy, Parker, was in danger of the same fate within the Daily Bugle as a competition surfaced in the name of Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer.

One event lead to another and in a bizarre intertwining of fate, everything fell on the wrong side of things for Spiderman. He eventually seemed to be loosing the love of MJ as she sought comfort to their bestfriend Harry Osborn which on the latter part of the movie used this leverage to make Peter's life more miserable by inciting the breakup of the lovebirds. Down in depression, Peter gathered strength to move on by wearing the psymbiotic "Black Spider Suit" and thus fall into taint. With it, he sought revenge against the Sandman and humiliated Eddie Brock... and dated his love prospect, Gwen Stacy.

Later in the film, Peter Parker would be able to forcibly take off the psymbiote which apparently has a weakness for loud soundwaves. Coincidentally, Brock was in the place where Spidey removed the Black Spiderman psymbiote and the alien entity transferred on Brock to gave birth to the Venom!!! Wait... TO THE VENOM!!!! *insert thunderous sounds here*

Venom, spiteful of what he suffered from the hands of the web-crawler, tagged along with Mister Sandman to kill Spidey, using MJ as a bait slash hostage. Spiderman, being renewed from his brief exposure to the "dark side", battled it out with the two villains in vain. In came, the spunky New Goblin, who turned to the "light side" when he realized Spiderman din't actually kill his father. He aided to the death of Venom and Sandman's cheesy shift to consider "talking it out" with Spiderman instead, but the eventual payback was his own filthy rich Goblin life.

Maybe it's the hillarity of the badboy Peter Parker and his swinger antics but I didn't like how this sequel turned out to feel lighter than its predecessors. Sure, I had good laughs on most of the comedy lines but that's exactly what's upsetting. I believe the movie should better off making viewers go "oooohh" and "aaaahh" rather than laughing their arses off their seats. Don't take me wrong though. The CG effects were awesome *insert triple exclamation marks here* Have you seen how Sandman first restructured his body from the sandpit? That's just wicked! Total hands up on the quality of effects and production.

The down side...

There were several sub-plots for the major roles in the film (Brock, Parker, Miss Watson, Harry, Sandman, and even briefly, Gwen) tied into one cluttered storyline. OK, the writer pulled off bridging these sub-plots to be coherent enough for viewers to piece it all up along the film. However, in exchange for this, the character developments were done hastily in a poor attempt to just give each of them enough time to have a real "effect" on the narrative flow. That, I don't dig. As usual, there's a LOT of happenings that would challenge the laws of physics and logic but they were tolerable enough since the movie was comic book-adapted anyway. But mind you... some really looked outright dumb like on the last parts of the film when Sandman just suddenly got into his wits and "sit it out" with Spiderman for some tear-jerky talk and sympathetic make up... AFTER POUNDING SPIDEY FIST AFTER FIST OF GOD KNOWS HOW MANY TONS OF SAND TO DEATH earlier on that same scene!!!. Bwahehehehe.

The casts are cool. Nuff said on that. The only person lacking for me is Gwen Stacy (Dallas Howard)... so so performance. She's not one of those comic book character anyway so yeah... oks lang. The others fit their roles like nuts and bolts. Hands up on that too. I also liked (always liked even on Spiderman 1 and 2) the way how the writers portrayed Spiderman as someone who was as vulnerable to his "human" problems as he was when he's on his alter-ego mode. Napaka "human" niya so to speak.

To sum up, the movie has considerably awful flaws but the mix of light approach to the mood and some very sympathy-inducing scenes would actually make you think your money's worth it. I did. It's a "fun" movie to watch in the most shallow meaning of the word, but not the "classic" material that is worthy of such a cool iconic hero. Six gulamans worth!


Monday
Just went home early (Alleluia!! Alleluia!!) and played with the twins. They liked the books! Lei was mewling like a cat when she saw the kitten pics. Ang kyut kyut.

Painted my miniatures afterwards.


Tuesday
Went to Gilligan's with my friends. Astig ng mga phone nila so I thought of goofing around with those, took shots of myself and set it as their wallpapers without em knowing. Behehehe. Ganti na lang sila kay Bakex... ang super ultra hi-tech phone ko na Nokia 3758! Haha. Kung meron man nun. Shot lang kami tas nag-uwian na din.

Menu -> Option -> Set as Wallpaper

Ako ay May Love-nat

Grabe. Tinatablan pa pala ako ng lagnat.

Last Monday I knew I was not in my tiptop shape to work: my body's aching, my arm muscles were throbbing in stress, and I got this clogged nose that was lobbying for my head to pain me more. Normally, this would have been the case after a frantic day spent playing airsoft so I was quite used to endure these stuffs regularly. Kaso, it was on that afternoon that I felt lightheaded and knew a flu was going to hit me soon.

Badtrip.

Balak ko pa naman gumala that night since wala namang pasok the other day. Actually, I played with the thought of STILL going to Greenhills despite the condition. Eto naman yung type ng lagnat na carry ko pa din na hindi ihiga e. Kaso, nanaig ang tawag ng pahinga. Awk! I just went straight home that night with an aching head and an aching heart. Wushus!

Anyway, updates muna for posterity:

Friday
Pumunta ako ng Greenhills. I and Kim should be checking this Spindepence event by Planet Zips. They're this local group of people who do "poi". This "poi" thing really intrigued me lots simula nung napanood ko siya sa TV some years ago. Eto yung mga nagpapaikot-ikot ng colorful strings to do patterns and all, and most of the time they do it with flames on its ends. Astig yung mga yun. Very fascinating just staring at em do their thing. If only I could find even some ounces of spare moments to commit another hobby into my already jampacked time.

Four of their girls were featured on Maxim (either the February or March issue... I forgot) and one of them's Amanda Lapus. I so find this girl really cute ever since her Modess(?) commercial days waaay back several years already. Eto yung commercial - themed "Set your spirit free" - where tinamaan siya ng bola sa isang arcade center by this barkada of dudes. She picked it up and tossed the ball back to the ring with a basket, and smirked back at the guys. I was only able to remember her name because my sister has a Candy magazine with her on the cover.

That's her and the other Zip girls on one of their gigs.
L-R: Amanda, her sister, and Cat

Ayun balik sa istorya, Kim was the one who did the website for Planet Zips and he personally knows Cat. I gave him my issue of that Maxim so maybe he could have it signed kahit from kay Cat lang. Tas yun, sabi niya pag nagka-event na lang sila ulit we could personally meet them for the autograph tas pakilala niya daw ako. Gusto ko lang naman ng photo ops sana. That would be cool.

Kaso mo nga umulan ng malakas last Friday and I guess the event was postponed or something. Sa open area kasi siya ng Promenade yata supposed to be held and the place was deserted when I got there. Si Kim naman naipit sa trabaho. Argh, foiled! Uh well. There's always a next time.

Tumambay na lang ako sa Fortress sa Virramall. As usual, andun si Crispy tsaka si Little John. Some friends passed by too in trickles. Dumating din si Geloman. Nung nagsara na sila ng shop, we headed to Arv's crib and cooked pasta for the Shak dahil birthday ni Garrboy last 25th. Birthday nga din pala ng sister ko last 26th.


Happy Birthday Cheng!!!

After everything was cooked, we rushed to the Shak to be welcomed by the ravenous denizens!

Attendance: Obi, Arvs, John Liit, Jumping Johnny, Garrboy, Jeff, Pork, Geloman, Jubay, Topher, Mussolini, may nakalimutan ako for sure...


Saturday
I spent the morning playing with the twins, reading this "Dune" book, and painting miniatures.

By afternoon, I packed my stuffs for the airsoft invite in Pampanga scheduled on the following day. 6am ang kitaan sa Shak and for sure hindi ako magigising ng ganun kaaga kung sa bahay ako manggagaling so I decided that I'll spend the night at the Shak instead.

Nag sidetrip muna ulit ako sa Virramall. I saw Sultan on the way. He came from Fortress too. Pag dating ko dun, the store was jampacked with friends. Ano ba talaga yun, tindahan o tambayan?!? Hehe.

Attendance: Lloyd, Hans, Arvs, Jeng, Fluffy, John Liit, Obi, JC, Mike, Beerbelly, Charles, Lance, Oberon

Tambayang malupit until around 9pm then we closed the shop then happened to pass by on an amateur boxing event along our way to the car. It was in the open space by the Promenade. Astig. Parang mga basagulerong pinag-suot lang ng gloves. As in, you could outright see that they're not playing the scientific way of boxing. They're literally "brawling" kaya mas nakakatawa panoorin. We just heckled our hearts out regardless of some passers by staring at us. May mga female boxers pa and in my opinion, their matches seemed better to watch than their male counterparts'.

Deretso kami sa Shak. Jampacked as usual. Kain. Chillax. Tas hinatid na namin si Fluffy sa Pasig then headed to Marikina at JC's crib. Madaling araw na ito so let's jump to the next day.


Sunday
Inabutan namin yung koya(?) ni JC playing an online game. We planned on hanging out in their crib until 5am before picking up Ricky in Masinag. Anything under the... moon(?) talks! Sa tulong ng bubblegum kung supermint at kapeng barako, we were able to last the whole morning up and sparky.

Dinampot na namin si Ricky afterwards, then headed back to the Shak. The boys trickled in to prepare for the journey up north to Angeles, Pampanga for the airsoft invitation handed out by Team Semper Fi. Syempre, kasama na naman namin ang aming sister team - Apocalypse!

Team Apocalypse and Screaming BB's, featuring Jamilla Obispo

Attendance: Jubay, Crispy, Obi, Zeb, Kuneho, Rommel, Inggo, Jeng, Hans, Lloyd, Kornplakes, Garrboy, Val, Ricky, may nakalimutan ako sigurado...

Natulog lang ako during our push to Shell-NLEX where we met up with Team Apocalypse. Photo ops and goofs off gallore ensued! Partida, most of us haven't got any decent sleep at all. Mga adik! Grubs at Burger King then a dude from Team Apocalypse showed us his latest issue of FHM. Huddle up boys! Basically, minolestiya ng bayan yung kopya niya.

After everything, we went back on the track towards Angeles City. Natulog ako buong trip. It was somewhere in Barangay Cutcut and the game site was actually more cool than I imagined. It was a four hectare field of customized bunker field. Thus, its name - Bunker Wars. Out team - Screaming BB's - were notorious for our powerful guns but Semper Fidelis has their own weapons to boast - gas powered BB poppers! Aray! Tunog pa lang parang ayaw na namin sumugod. Haha.

Worm's Eye View. Kita utak oh!

Still, the whole day went (as expected) fun! Natulog ako after my second game para lang mag recharge but the rest of the afternoon was crazy cool. Before sunset, we charged the NLEX traffic back home - that's after a much-needed dinner at Petron-NLEX. Drop point is, of course, at the Shak before the denizens dispersed to their respective cribs.

What a day.

Squad Spartans.
L-R: Ian (AK47), Ricky (G3 Taktik), Obi (SAR Offizier), Lloyd (M4 CQB)

Madami pang ibang pics sa multiply ko --> Multiply ni Obi

Oo, napilitan na ako gumawa ng Multiply account. Napupuno na kasi itong PC ko ng ritrato. Mahirap na. Baka biglang masira harddisk, sayang mga iningatan kong pics. Visit or add me at that account.


Monday
Back to work. As mentioned, nilagnat ako nun. Siguro dahil sa init sa Pampanga tas biglang super lamig naman dito sa opisina. Heard a couple of remarks about the immortal "kulang lang yan sa kiss-pirin at yakap-sul". Don't know why no matter how vague that line is, it's still being delivered and to top that, there are still people who gets entertained with it! Behehe.

As usual, I don't take medicines with common flu. Sankatutak lang na juice at tubig to flush out toxins. Umuwi lang ako that night, despite compulsions to still hangout elsewhere. Tinext ko sila Batgurl and Idol prior to that day kung free sila manood ng Spiderman 3 premier night. Turns out they're not. Medyo good thing since iL sure be off the mood with this flu around. The bad side is I still won't have to see Iday. Olats. Missing her like crazy.


Tuesday
Spent the whole morning painting my miniatures, playing with the twins, and basically, waiting for the flu to pass. By around 4pm, I packed up and hit the road to Greenhills. Usual suspects in the house!

Attendance: Fluffy, Arvs, John Liit, Wolf Dick, Pork, Mussolini, Pookiemonster, Jumping Johnny, dumaan din daw si Jubay + wife, Xerxes at si Munggo

Chillax lang while the guys pit themselves for some miniature gaming actions. Kwak Doktor Arvin Kinkytops suggested that I drink Gatorade tis he said is good against flu. The boyz agreed. Gatorade it is! I, then, went for a walk with the Great Maw - Jake Pookiemonster - while he hunted for some CD blanks which resulted to a sidetrip to V-mall's foodcourt. Grub time. Meryenda lang daw sabi ni Jake but we had rice and pork! Aray. Verily, none shall satiate the eternal hunger of our Gyudon Warrior.

After we closed the shop, the denizens packed towards Mien Sann somewhere in San Juan to chow down on some mainland chinese deli. After that, off to Shak we go!

Joe was there, passing time doodling on his sketchpad as usual. The groom-to-be Emp dropped by with another copy of his wedding invitation. Gelo appeared from thin air after getting his car AC fixed. Alas, may kasabay na ko pauwi! Doc Marco was there too and Bikerdude Caloy.

The Shak was getting more boisterous and da Shakboyz wilder as the night went deeper! The natives are restless so to speak so we need to take the noise away. Buti, Geloman invited us to his friend's bistro in V. Luna Extension for a couple of Saint Mike's barley. Ocho Bar nga ba pangalan nun? Basta, it's not bad. The food's good, but I could be biased. Sakin kasi basta masarap ang sisig patok na sakin yung lugar! Hahaha. Maraming kumakain. Mostly yuppies and students from nearby schools (malapit na siya around Ateneo, Maryknoll, at UP).

Shot lang konti tas we headed back to the Shak na din. Tas chillax lang konti sabay dispersal!

SQME Trainings for QA Testing (Naintindihan Mo?)

I'll be off the office come tomorrow and Friday for some training slash seminar slash "socializing" that the company provided me and my co-team leader here, Kring. It'll be on Richmonde Hotel somewhere in Ortigas (that I still don't know the exact location until now... bahala na bukas... bahala na si Batman).

It's iffy that I'll have to be on business wear again. It was like almost a year and a half now that I din't wear those long sleeves terno for work. I'm half-excited with the fact that I might get to know more peeps from other companies that are from the same field as I do.

More reports when I get back.

Byers for now.

Are you Ready, Kids? I Can't Hear You!

Watched "Pirates 3" with my bro yesterday after attending a mass at the Malate Church. I was supposed to sail with Gelo for a practice yacht race in Manila Bay but we received words the day before that there's an engine failure on the boat we'll gonna use so it din't push through. I'm still curious with the adventure of actually manning a sailboat so yeah, I'm still looking forward to that "next time".

Before hitting the cinemas of Rob Malate, we chilled at Tita Nine's again. Same thing after we finished watching the movie. Palipas oras lang to catch up with Pinoy Big Bro. Have to remind myself to look for Kian's Persian Grill here in Makati so Pinsan Idol and I could try out their cuisine some time. Nakaka-bwisit lang. I was digging for the exact address of the establishment on the net in vain! The websites kept on describing the resto and what it offers but kept on either giving vague locations (Makati lang ang nakalagay!! Kamusta, bayan? Anlaki ng Makati!) OR telling that it's somewhere in Paseo Center, Salcedo Street. Huh?? Kelan pa napunta ang Paseo Center sa Salcedo Street?? That was like on two different villages of Makati Business District! Arayko! Magpa-plugging lang sablay pa.

I was under the notion that it was supposed to be Salcedo Village since Paseo Center (just a couple of backflips from our office) is actually in Salcedo Village OR that it was supposed to be Sedeno Street - the actual street where Paseo Center is located. Well, I guess I have to found out myself.


Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

The third installment to the tale of the swashbuckling corsair, Jack Sparrow, followed the story of Lord Cuttler Beckett's quest to purge all pirates and establish ultimate rule over the seas. With it, he has control over the heart of Davy Jones (from Part 2) which in turn gave him leverage to command his dreaded Flying Dutchman in a whim. Beckett's success was imminent (and so is the pirates' end) so the only solution left was to convene the Pirate Lords around the world and propose a joint attack against the formidable British fleet.

On this line, it became apparent that they will be needing help from the infamous Captain Sparrow so with unlikely aid from the Singaporean Pirate Lord Sao Feng, the former crew of the Black Pearl journeyed to the World's Edge to bring him back to life. The voyage was a success and along with it, they sailed back to the "real world" with Jack and the Black Pearl, itself. Insidious pacts and trades led to the unexpected rise of Elizabeth Swann as captain of the Singaporean fleet. She spearheaded the notion of a combined attack against Lord Beckett's fleet during the convocation of the Pirate Lords, where she was declared Pirate KING (yes, it was explicitly told she was a KING).

In the end, it was a standoff against the British Fleet plus the Flying Dutchman versus the allied pirate fleet. The Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl sailed ahead of their armadas for the greatest naval mano a mano I've ever seen on a movie! The battle ended with Captain Sparrow opting to have Legolas destroy the heart of Davy Jones (killing Squidhead on the process) in order to protract his existence. However, this meant that Legolas (actually, Will Turner) will have to be the new Davy Jones and captain the Flying Dutchman. With it, the Dutchman and the Black Pearl annihilated the Endeavour - Lord Beckett's flagship.

Lord Beckett's death is the cheesiest naval death I've ever seen, on the other hand. Hahaha.

Let's not talk about CG's, special effects, props, costumes, and the whole production itself. They're all "WOW" *put lots of exclamation marks here* for the lack of words to describe it! I was pointing at the Kraken's tentacles to my bro telling him they (effects crew) thought of making it consistently float on the beach and put much details on the suction tubes even when the monster's scene on the film lasted what... 30 seconds?!? That's how they worked with the rest of the details and the effects were getting more and more awesome since the first Pirates film.

It's a very suitable ending for the "prologue movie" which is Pirates 2. I've immediately watched Pirates 1 as soon as I had the chance after I arrived from Sydney last year and I stand in my opinion that Pirates 2's storyline is nothing but a preparatory film for this sequel. Nothing interestingly more. Pirates 3 is as winding and long as Pirates 2 but "At World's End" is fast paced and easier to keep up with, at least. Ok, it still has those confusing sub-storylines: Calypso, Nine Pieces of Eight, Davy Jones's Love Story, the Pirate Lords. But, these has been inserted to the plot in a way that they din't become vague enough to follow unlike those introduced in Pirates 2 which were mostly just "pushed it" too much... to make the movie long(?) or look adventurous(?), who knows?

Johnny Depp's witty antics are still a hit but this time, I have to admit that he din't single-handedly carry the film. The story was guile enough to highlight the need of the other roles to shine on the film: Elizabeth Swann and her rise to power, Will Turner and his quest to save his father, Davy Jones and his unsettled business with Calypso, even Lord Beckett has his own shot to stardom as the ultimate antagonist. The plot this time din't revolve mainly on Captain Sparrow but it was participated evenly by the major characters. This, I dig since the stars selected for the major roles were worth the exposure anyway. I find Chow Yun-Fat a little lacking though but I have this feeling that I might have just thought of that because I was used to see him in kung-fu moves and stunts that din't require him to actually "act" that much. Haha.

This movie like Pirates 2 is still not recommended to be watched if you haven't seen the prequels. It was chock-full of its own mythology that it will make you just keep on bugging your seatmate for info (and prolly annoy him/her in the process). Just think of it as this: it's not your typical sit-back-enjoy-the-adventure flicks we commonly see on the likes of Waterworld or The Island. Plot lines here are branching (if not just "popping" out of something) everywhere and it's up to the moviegoers to have a grasp of these and establish a coherent path to understand everything. Ang saya noh?

Six out of ten gulaman.

Ano ang Nasa Dako Paroon?

Last Sunday, our airsoft team hiked up the ridges of Antipolo for an invitational game on this abandoned building, formerly known as the Antipolo Hotel. The route we took along Sumulong Highway is pretty familiar until we turned towards this remote area along the perimeters of Hinulugang Taktak (or so I think). That was where I went on saying "Meron palang gentong lugar sa Antipolo." Haha... it was really really freaky!

Screaming BB's
L-R: Nancy, Omeng, Jubay, Inggo, Jeng, Obi, Gudz, Hans, Garr, Rik

Attendance: Nancy, Rommel, Inggo, Jeng, Hans, Obi, Jun, Gudo, Ricky, Lloyd, Garrick, Sir Gem + 2

If you've watched the TV series "Scariest Places on Earth", this location would be a good addition on their list. Firstly, it was erected on a slope surrounded by low-lying vegetation and the road going inside the compound was obviously neglected for a long time - rugged and uneven. Then, looking at it alone from the outside, the 80-ish meter stretch of dilapidated building looks like the perfect hideout for goons and kidnappers - gloomy in most spots, lots of rooms with tattered walls and groundworks, and the passages were as convoluted as hell (haven't been to hell though, take note). Lastly, the place itself has a startling history... its basement used to be a morgue!!! *insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*

*insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*

First thing me and Garrik did when we arrived was to scout around the building, and it was no mere small time hotel. The place is huge!

According to stories I overheard, the place was a resort slash hotel. It's still evident until now that it could have been a top-class location back then because there were wall sculptures and paintings, landscaped entryways, and a nifty sense of architecture. After an earthquake (they din't say from when the earthquake occured) that probably damaged the place (?), the building was restored to be a home for the aged while its lower floor was converted to a morgue *insert Pinoy Thriller overture here*!!! The tale went on that the place ultimately was decommissioned after a girl accidentally fell from the topmost floor (the building has four stories).

2nd Floor Hallway

Hindi ko alam kung kwentong barbero lang ito or an actual event but regardless of it, the sense of foreboding when you're on the place can't be denied, man. It's just that we're naturally stubborn and airsoft adiks that we still went on gaming on that site. As mentioned before, "null" naman ako kaya medyo kalpante ako na hindi ako makakaramdam ng kahit anong kababalaghan. It was unlike what the others felt when they first played on the building a week ago: may sumisitsit kay Gudo, mya nakikitang kung ano mang itim sila Jun at Ricky, and other funky stuffs that were discussed in-between games. Ako, takot lang talaga kahit wala naman akong naramdamang kahit ano. Kaya nga nitong Linggo, hindi na ginamit sa laro yung basement. Games were restricted to the upper floors and by late afternoon, along the grounds of the compound.

"Nardong Putek versus Boy Bawang "
Nardo: Maliit ang Tondo para sa ating dalwa, Boy!
Boy: Hindi, kung buburahin kita sa mundong ibabaw, Nardo!
Nardo at Boy (duet): Haaaaayaaaaah!!!!

The games were still fun. There were lots of negligible injuries from BB bullets taken at close range but there was one instance that a player from the other team had a bloody open wound on the finger. But it was none too serious, sabi nga: "part of the game".

By the way, it was not ALL scary when you're on the premise. Turn your back from the creepy building and you'll be facing West on what most people before call it the "Overlooking", the same sight you'll be gawking at when you're on Cloud 9 or Padi's Point - Antipolo. Ganda, pramis. Pag may kasama ka ngang ka-love team wala kang pagkatalo: sa sobrang scary ng building pwede kayo magyakapan sa takot tas pag humarap naman kayo sa "Overlooking", ang romantic naman ng setting.

"Tara sa Overlooking!"

E ang kaso mo, yung gusto kong kasama wala.

Yun yun eh! Haha.

*****

More pics in my Multiply site.

Matamis na Pagtakas

The General Manager here in our Philippine office came up with this idea of spearheading a newsletter that will showcase the local events and miscellaneous subjects of interest. This will be available in online format so that our Sydney and London counterparts could peruse at it on their convenience. I was appointed as a contributor and recently just finished an article about our latest excursion in Zambales. With it, I was also given the task of giving out a review of sorts to any up-to-date song I could think of (since they unanimously think that I am the "music-guy" around here).

I checked out the latest Australian charts, compared it with the International Billboard tally, and immediately came up with my song - "Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani featuring Akon! The song landed at number two in the Australian music charts and seventh in the Billboards so I reckon our foreign mates should have at least an idea about the hit.

I so like the song. It does make my booty shake and get me in the mood, no matter how bad the reviews it got from foreign critics. For most of em, this song (and the album itself) was a crappy follow-up to Gwen's first solo package - "L.A.M.B." and a bad rip-off of the "styles" of BEP's Fergie and Miss Ciccone herself, Madonna. I say, the song has proven that Gwen Stefani is versatile enough (and not afraid) to create an image of her own, shy of what we've came to know her as the feisty vocalist of No Doubt.

Here's my newsletter piece:

*****

Music Review

“Sweet Escape”
Music and Lyrics by Gwen Stefani
Featuring: Akon
Album: Sweet Escape
Label: Interscope Records

After her successful solo effort on the 2004 released album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", Gwen Stefani is back with the album "Sweet Escape". Her first single off the album already topped the charts early this year and her second track, also entitled "Sweet Escape", is already taking the airwaves by storm as it currently ranked seventh on the Billboard music charts.

"Sweet Escape" showcased yet another of Gwen's attempt to shy away from the classic urbane sound of the band No Doubt where she started out as a lead singer. Its funky rhythm and bubbly tune is easy to the ears and could simply induce one to sway to its beat. Her approach with the sassy lyrics is pretty straightforward but totally complements the overall escapism theme of the song, thus effortlessly drives listeners to feel as if on a ride to "joy-land".

Collaborating with her on this single is singer/rapper Akon, who provided the catchy warbling that has been the signature of the song. Akon has been known for his smooth upbeat music hits and his contribution to "Sweet Escape" is none less remarkable. If you're into contemporary pop that caters not only to the teenage genre, this song is a good addition to your music collection.

SST Trivia: The song “Sweet Escape” was used by the SST-PH Outing Committee on their teaser video for the company's 2007 Summer Excursion.


Lyrics: “Sweet Escape”

Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo

If I could escape
I would, but first of all let me say
I must apologize for acting, stinking, treating you this way
Cause I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor
It's your fault you didn't shut the refrigerator
Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

If I could escape
And re-create a place as my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
We can make it better
Tell me boy, Now wouldn't that be sweet?

(I wanna get away, to our sweet escape)

You let me down
I'm at my lowest boiling point
Come help me out
I need to get me out of this joint
Come on, let's bounce
Counting on you to turn me around
Instead of clowning around let's look for some common ground

So baby, times getting a little crazy
I've been getting a little lazy
Waiting for you to come save me
I can see that you're angry
By the way that you treat me
Hopefully you don't leave me
Want to take you with me

If I could escape
And re-create a place as my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
We can make it better
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?
Sweet escape

Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo
Whohoe, whihoo

(If I could escape)

Cause I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor
It's your fault you didn't shut the refrigerator
Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

If I could escape
And re-create a place in my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet
I know I've been a real bad girl
I didn't mean for you to get hurt
Forever, we can make it better
Tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?
Sweet escape

Mullings of the Sick

Body's still in pain from our basketball games last Thursday. It din't even become a factor for me, though, to not to stay late last night and paint my miniatures till three this morning ("Music and Lyrics" running on the background). We had this miniature game tournament today and I'm still in our local tambayan here in Katipunan... a couple of cartwheels away Ateneo Gate 3 (actually, tis nearer to what we fondly call the Ateneo Gate 2.5). I sucked bigtime on the tourney. Nothing biggy for me though. It was good fun.

This noon, I was in Fortress... a friend's hobby store in Virramall. I had this deal with another friend who bought some of my miniature figs for a good amount. I, then, treated Arvs and Jan Jan for lunch before the former accompanied me here in Katipunan. It was searing hot outside and the traffic was horrible even on our supposed shortcut passing White Plains! Where was everybody going at 12 noon??

Tomorrow, Team Screaming BB's will head to Antipolo for another invitational airsoft wargames on a abandoned hotel (simply called "Antipolo Hotel"). What intrigued me was the fact that its basement used to be a morgue. I'm a "null" and haven't had any experiences with the "quasi-entities" but I don't want to challenge my luck. Have to take a mental note not to visit the lower floors of that damned establishment alone.

Dunno what time to go home today. The local military dudes announced we'll have a power interruption by 10pm and I decided to stay at Tita 9's instead. Still, I have to pass by our house and pack my things for the wargames tomorrow. It was two Sundays already that I wasn't able to hug my gun in combat. The gun ban sucks us, airsoft players, during elections.

Pinsan Idol just texted. Might need to come home early anyway. Istarbuko na lang siguro kami around the area later tonight.

Teka teka... have to cut this out. Lamon time na daw sabi ng tropa. Byers muna.

Ang point ko lang naman all in all with this is that I need more stuffs to fill my time while I miss Pouty. Hehe.

Yun yun e!

Super Mommy and the Mama's Boys

It's never too late to express your mom how much you care, so...

Happy Super Belated Mom's Day, Mommy... and Cheng na din!!!

We opened that Sunday by attending the noon mass at the Malate Church. It was me, my younger bro, and my mom (yes, the typical Mama's Boys bunch). Idol pinsan tagged along and had her religious jujus blessed by the attending priest after the ceremony. He literally sprayed the holy water on us that I looked as if I just came out of a thunderstorm. Haha. Exagge. Pero parang ganun na din.

We then chilled at Tita 9's place. Kitten the Humping Dog-Goat din't waste its time and started showing off its signature moves to Mommy... yes, including the "hump"! I've also asked Kimay to edit my primary photo in Friendster. Tada...

Bugbog sarado magsabing pink to! Sinabing violet eh.

'stig!

By 4pm, I dragged the group to Rob Malate for some R and R. Walang katapusang ikot hanggang mahilo. Mommy was able to buy stuffs for herself and I also asked her to pick something for Cheng. I, on the other hand, got this cool "vintage-y" shirt and bought some additional plates for my dumbbells. Yep yeps... I was on minimal weight lifting lately. Have to keep my arms from sagging since I've been significantly shedding off weight. (Pero napaparami na ko ulet ng kain!)

We dined at Bacolod Chicken Inasal after the spree, then had a grocery run before going home. Atin-atin lang 'to ha: "Di ko trip yung lasa ng pork sisig sa Chicken Inasal." Turn off. Sarap pa naman nung ibang ulam.

Anyway, that was a cool night. It was always gratifying to spend extended quality times with my Mommy. Lalo na ako, na halos on the go 24/7 and doesn't chill much at home. Mabuti na ring may mga gento kaming chances to show her how much I love her and appreciate ALL the great things she did for us. Oo na, may pagka-Mama's Boy na ko... hehe, but isn't it an honor to be a Mama's Boy to the most bestest Mommy in the whole wide universe??

Think about it.

Chikka-minute!

Tengenengeneng yan. Parang pinaparusahan ko sarili ko, men. To miss someone this much is driving me nuts when I've been used to not care at all and just go on with what life has to offer. Masama na tama ko netong lagay na to, pramis. Haha. Sometimes it's starting not to be funny at all that I wished I haven't allowed myself to get lost deep into this state.

Anyway, emo aside, I was at Romy's office last night in Greenhills for our weekly dose of gaming and detox tambay. Twas a record-holding night as we reached a cap of 11 dudes in a single night.

Attendance: Bata Isip, Obi Daisy Sais, Bad Beef, Not So Tiny, Pork!, Oh Shavah, Kei, Cocoy, Monroe, Crispy Beef Ribs, Shin Kim

Grub: Piggy Pops, Quarter Pounder, Salad Greens, Cox Lots!, Gelo Binalot, Sarsaparilla

Photos to follow. Kei's got this cool toy lightsaber that we goofed around with. Angas. Me wants to have one. Dispersal time was at around 1:30-ish in the morning.

*****

I was sort of compelled to create a Multiply account when I was digging through my picture cache and found out that my harddisk was dropping space like crazy by sheer number of my photos. Iniisip ko tuloy bumili ng external harddisk para may mapaglagyan lang.

Enter Kalbong Lakwatsero - ang bagong kong Multiply account!

I picked a guitar-ish theme for my background because that black stratocaster on the corner actually looked almost the same as Buttercup, my guitar. I'm still into familiarizing myself with the console but once I got the hang of it, iL start transferring the rest of my pics there.

And speaking of pics, I stumbled upon my photos from Sydney and can't help feeling nostalgic. Twas almost a year now since we were last there and I really enjoyed the stay. They're next in line to be put on my Multiply as soon as I got the time.

As the soda bottle says... Solo! (our condo unit in Crow's Nest)
*Just woke up... look't the table... chocolate for breakfast! Hee Hee.

Sugalan sa Sydney (Cheeky's condo unit in Oxford)
Left to Right:
Dens... "Huh? Pano nanyari yun?!?"
Tian... "I knew he'll gonna bust my trick soon."
Obi... "Question? Pwede mag Phone-A-Friend??"
J.Lao... "Hee hee... nagulat ka Dennies noh!"
Yuki... "Sisimplehan ko ng bunot sa tapon tong mga to... nuninuninu."
*featuring Pip, my N3650!

*****

Was writing an article for our company newsletter last Friday at Tita 9's. Humiga nako para matulog at around 2-ish in the morning when this wordplay (inspired by a spur of senti streaks lately) suddenly hit me and made me grab back my pen. Natutuwa lang ako sa kanya kasi para siyang nursery rhyme crossed with an ala Lewis Carroll gibberish. I should have made it longer, pero inantok na ko.

Three Disses
by: Obi (05/05/07)

Three disses now.
Three disses all in all.
The first seemed promising,
The next doomed to fall.
It might have been me.
It might have been them, unwanting to wait.
It might have been those lil words I hardly can say.
It might have been fate.
The last appeared a fairytale,
Till a lot lost to confusion.
The dreams,
The moments,
The memories,
Were things of misunderstood delusion.
Farewell now lil last one.
Farewell now treasured dears.
Where there have been three disses,
There's history wrought in tears.

*****

Basketball games later at the Makati Stock Exchange. It's exactly 5:50pm on my PC and we're sched for 7pm-9pm tonight.

[emo mode: ON]

Twas a good thing I've got so many outlets in life that emotional troubles seemed to seep my mind only in my sleep or during the long dark walk back home. I am enjoying life... no doubt about it. I've already amazed a lot of my peers on how I juggle my activities hither and thither, and make the most out of all of em. But still it won't help when human nature kicked in. There'll always be something missing. There'll always be an empty space in me where no one has ventured for quite some time. And now that it has involuntarily opted to share itself, its vulnerability of reality bites.

[emo mode: OFF]

Wushus, drama mo!!! Sakitan na ng katawan!!! Byers muna.

:D

Gagambang Tao

Saturday
Slept the day before at Tita 9's in preparation for Emp's wedding bash in Intramuros. Prior to that, I met the Geloman and his wedding planner cousin in Aristocrat then we checked out Ermita Church and a hotel near it. Geloman's scheduled to be wed too this year thus the scouting. Tisk tisk tisk. The barkada was biting the dust one by one. O pota, walang hihirit ng kung kelan ako. Suntukan na lang. Haha.

We should be trying the ogre-look. I can't help smiling.
L-R: Jumping Johnny, Phatboy, Hesukristo, Bad Beef, Jestoni Alarcon

Twas quite hot for an early afternoon wedding at San Agustin's. It sure was hillarious to see the Shak Boyz in their formal wears. It's not everyday you'll get the chance y'know. Photo ops lang and then the reception was held on a nearby garden compound. My opening prayer indicated the formal opening of the second most important part of the occasion after the "exchange of vows"... the chicha time!! Kaaaainan na!

Shakkattendance: Ninong Oberon, Sponsor Pork, Sponsor Arvs, Phatboy Jason, Jumping Johnny, Marky Mark, Mayor Gelo in Suit, Gyudon Warrior Jake Pookiemonster, Bestman F Pantyman, Fred 10g, Kim Possible, syempre si Groom Emp and Bride Jaycee

That's the most serious pose we could make.
L-R: Mark, Gelo, Arvs, Obi, Jason, Jaycee, Jake, Emp, Pork, Fred T., Fred E., Kim

Welcome to da Shak fold, Jaycee and Emp Junior... ahuhuhuy! Classic ang regalo namin sa mag-asawa: a very durable, non-stick pan! Panghampas kay Emp kung sakaling loloko-loko. After mangulet sa reception, trippings kaming pumunta sa tambayan sa Katipunan ng mga naka formal attire. Gelo even played network games on his black suit. Fluffy arrived at Hobby Haven to catch up with the boyz. Tambay sa Shak afterwards.


Sunday
Attended the noon mass at the Malate Church with Sponklong and Idol Pinsan. Watched the Mayweather-Dela Joya match at Tita 9's afterwards. By 4pm, I stormed the Rob Malate cinemas with the bro to watch Gagamboy 3. I was also able to buy another Star Wars book that day. This new set is about the next series of events after the "Dark Nest" trilogy. Need to catch up with my banyo reading soon. Onga pala, I bought two kiddy books for the twins: starters in Alphabet and Numbers.


Spiderman 3
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

Spiderman is back and this time he's prepared to snatch his Mary Jane for a wedding proposal. Everything started well as Peter Parker continued his regular stints as a photographer for the Daily Bugle while his wall-crawling alter ego is fast becoming a beloved icon in the city. On the other hand, Mary Jane Watson hits it off as a broadway performer on a sassy local theater. Happy happy!

Enter catastrophes!

A convict (believed to be the gunman of Peter's uncle) escaped from prison and, by a freak accident on some physics lab, was transformed into Sandman - bent on stealing moolah for the hospitalization of his sickly daughter. Harry Osborn's back too with a hipper costume as the New Goblin, still wanting to avenge the death of his father which he blamed on Spidey. Along came an alien psymbiote that hosted itself on Parker's suit, making Spiderman vulnerable to corruption when he wears it. To top everything, MJ was sacked for a bad performance and our geek guy, Parker, was in danger of the same fate within the Daily Bugle as a competition surfaced in the name of Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer.

One event lead to another and in a bizarre intertwining of fate, everything fell on the wrong side of things for Spiderman. He eventually seemed to be loosing the love of MJ as she sought comfort to their bestfriend Harry Osborn which on the latter part of the movie used this leverage to make Peter's life more miserable by inciting the breakup of the lovebirds. Down in depression, Peter gathered strength to move on by wearing the psymbiotic "Black Spider Suit" and thus fall into taint. With it, he sought revenge against the Sandman and humiliated Eddie Brock... and dated his love prospect, Gwen Stacy.

Later in the film, Peter Parker would be able to forcibly take off the psymbiote which apparently has a weakness for loud soundwaves. Coincidentally, Brock was in the place where Spidey removed the Black Spiderman psymbiote and the alien entity transferred on Brock to gave birth to the Venom!!! Wait... TO THE VENOM!!!! *insert thunderous sounds here*

Venom, spiteful of what he suffered from the hands of the web-crawler, tagged along with Mister Sandman to kill Spidey, using MJ as a bait slash hostage. Spiderman, being renewed from his brief exposure to the "dark side", battled it out with the two villains in vain. In came, the spunky New Goblin, who turned to the "light side" when he realized Spiderman din't actually kill his father. He aided to the death of Venom and Sandman's cheesy shift to consider "talking it out" with Spiderman instead, but the eventual payback was his own filthy rich Goblin life.

Maybe it's the hillarity of the badboy Peter Parker and his swinger antics but I didn't like how this sequel turned out to feel lighter than its predecessors. Sure, I had good laughs on most of the comedy lines but that's exactly what's upsetting. I believe the movie should better off making viewers go "oooohh" and "aaaahh" rather than laughing their arses off their seats. Don't take me wrong though. The CG effects were awesome *insert triple exclamation marks here* Have you seen how Sandman first restructured his body from the sandpit? That's just wicked! Total hands up on the quality of effects and production.

The down side...

There were several sub-plots for the major roles in the film (Brock, Parker, Miss Watson, Harry, Sandman, and even briefly, Gwen) tied into one cluttered storyline. OK, the writer pulled off bridging these sub-plots to be coherent enough for viewers to piece it all up along the film. However, in exchange for this, the character developments were done hastily in a poor attempt to just give each of them enough time to have a real "effect" on the narrative flow. That, I don't dig. As usual, there's a LOT of happenings that would challenge the laws of physics and logic but they were tolerable enough since the movie was comic book-adapted anyway. But mind you... some really looked outright dumb like on the last parts of the film when Sandman just suddenly got into his wits and "sit it out" with Spiderman for some tear-jerky talk and sympathetic make up... AFTER POUNDING SPIDEY FIST AFTER FIST OF GOD KNOWS HOW MANY TONS OF SAND TO DEATH earlier on that same scene!!!. Bwahehehehe.

The casts are cool. Nuff said on that. The only person lacking for me is Gwen Stacy (Dallas Howard)... so so performance. She's not one of those comic book character anyway so yeah... oks lang. The others fit their roles like nuts and bolts. Hands up on that too. I also liked (always liked even on Spiderman 1 and 2) the way how the writers portrayed Spiderman as someone who was as vulnerable to his "human" problems as he was when he's on his alter-ego mode. Napaka "human" niya so to speak.

To sum up, the movie has considerably awful flaws but the mix of light approach to the mood and some very sympathy-inducing scenes would actually make you think your money's worth it. I did. It's a "fun" movie to watch in the most shallow meaning of the word, but not the "classic" material that is worthy of such a cool iconic hero. Six gulamans worth!


Monday
Just went home early (Alleluia!! Alleluia!!) and played with the twins. They liked the books! Lei was mewling like a cat when she saw the kitten pics. Ang kyut kyut.

Painted my miniatures afterwards.


Tuesday
Went to Gilligan's with my friends. Astig ng mga phone nila so I thought of goofing around with those, took shots of myself and set it as their wallpapers without em knowing. Behehehe. Ganti na lang sila kay Bakex... ang super ultra hi-tech phone ko na Nokia 3758! Haha. Kung meron man nun. Shot lang kami tas nag-uwian na din.

Menu -> Option -> Set as Wallpaper

Ako ay May Love-nat

Grabe. Tinatablan pa pala ako ng lagnat.

Last Monday I knew I was not in my tiptop shape to work: my body's aching, my arm muscles were throbbing in stress, and I got this clogged nose that was lobbying for my head to pain me more. Normally, this would have been the case after a frantic day spent playing airsoft so I was quite used to endure these stuffs regularly. Kaso, it was on that afternoon that I felt lightheaded and knew a flu was going to hit me soon.

Badtrip.

Balak ko pa naman gumala that night since wala namang pasok the other day. Actually, I played with the thought of STILL going to Greenhills despite the condition. Eto naman yung type ng lagnat na carry ko pa din na hindi ihiga e. Kaso, nanaig ang tawag ng pahinga. Awk! I just went straight home that night with an aching head and an aching heart. Wushus!

Anyway, updates muna for posterity:

Friday
Pumunta ako ng Greenhills. I and Kim should be checking this Spindepence event by Planet Zips. They're this local group of people who do "poi". This "poi" thing really intrigued me lots simula nung napanood ko siya sa TV some years ago. Eto yung mga nagpapaikot-ikot ng colorful strings to do patterns and all, and most of the time they do it with flames on its ends. Astig yung mga yun. Very fascinating just staring at em do their thing. If only I could find even some ounces of spare moments to commit another hobby into my already jampacked time.

Four of their girls were featured on Maxim (either the February or March issue... I forgot) and one of them's Amanda Lapus. I so find this girl really cute ever since her Modess(?) commercial days waaay back several years already. Eto yung commercial - themed "Set your spirit free" - where tinamaan siya ng bola sa isang arcade center by this barkada of dudes. She picked it up and tossed the ball back to the ring with a basket, and smirked back at the guys. I was only able to remember her name because my sister has a Candy magazine with her on the cover.

That's her and the other Zip girls on one of their gigs.
L-R: Amanda, her sister, and Cat

Ayun balik sa istorya, Kim was the one who did the website for Planet Zips and he personally knows Cat. I gave him my issue of that Maxim so maybe he could have it signed kahit from kay Cat lang. Tas yun, sabi niya pag nagka-event na lang sila ulit we could personally meet them for the autograph tas pakilala niya daw ako. Gusto ko lang naman ng photo ops sana. That would be cool.

Kaso mo nga umulan ng malakas last Friday and I guess the event was postponed or something. Sa open area kasi siya ng Promenade yata supposed to be held and the place was deserted when I got there. Si Kim naman naipit sa trabaho. Argh, foiled! Uh well. There's always a next time.

Tumambay na lang ako sa Fortress sa Virramall. As usual, andun si Crispy tsaka si Little John. Some friends passed by too in trickles. Dumating din si Geloman. Nung nagsara na sila ng shop, we headed to Arv's crib and cooked pasta for the Shak dahil birthday ni Garrboy last 25th. Birthday nga din pala ng sister ko last 26th.


Happy Birthday Cheng!!!

After everything was cooked, we rushed to the Shak to be welcomed by the ravenous denizens!

Attendance: Obi, Arvs, John Liit, Jumping Johnny, Garrboy, Jeff, Pork, Geloman, Jubay, Topher, Mussolini, may nakalimutan ako for sure...


Saturday
I spent the morning playing with the twins, reading this "Dune" book, and painting miniatures.

By afternoon, I packed my stuffs for the airsoft invite in Pampanga scheduled on the following day. 6am ang kitaan sa Shak and for sure hindi ako magigising ng ganun kaaga kung sa bahay ako manggagaling so I decided that I'll spend the night at the Shak instead.

Nag sidetrip muna ulit ako sa Virramall. I saw Sultan on the way. He came from Fortress too. Pag dating ko dun, the store was jampacked with friends. Ano ba talaga yun, tindahan o tambayan?!? Hehe.

Attendance: Lloyd, Hans, Arvs, Jeng, Fluffy, John Liit, Obi, JC, Mike, Beerbelly, Charles, Lance, Oberon

Tambayang malupit until around 9pm then we closed the shop then happened to pass by on an amateur boxing event along our way to the car. It was in the open space by the Promenade. Astig. Parang mga basagulerong pinag-suot lang ng gloves. As in, you could outright see that they're not playing the scientific way of boxing. They're literally "brawling" kaya mas nakakatawa panoorin. We just heckled our hearts out regardless of some passers by staring at us. May mga female boxers pa and in my opinion, their matches seemed better to watch than their male counterparts'.

Deretso kami sa Shak. Jampacked as usual. Kain. Chillax. Tas hinatid na namin si Fluffy sa Pasig then headed to Marikina at JC's crib. Madaling araw na ito so let's jump to the next day.


Sunday
Inabutan namin yung koya(?) ni JC playing an online game. We planned on hanging out in their crib until 5am before picking up Ricky in Masinag. Anything under the... moon(?) talks! Sa tulong ng bubblegum kung supermint at kapeng barako, we were able to last the whole morning up and sparky.

Dinampot na namin si Ricky afterwards, then headed back to the Shak. The boys trickled in to prepare for the journey up north to Angeles, Pampanga for the airsoft invitation handed out by Team Semper Fi. Syempre, kasama na naman namin ang aming sister team - Apocalypse!

Team Apocalypse and Screaming BB's, featuring Jamilla Obispo

Attendance: Jubay, Crispy, Obi, Zeb, Kuneho, Rommel, Inggo, Jeng, Hans, Lloyd, Kornplakes, Garrboy, Val, Ricky, may nakalimutan ako sigurado...

Natulog lang ako during our push to Shell-NLEX where we met up with Team Apocalypse. Photo ops and goofs off gallore ensued! Partida, most of us haven't got any decent sleep at all. Mga adik! Grubs at Burger King then a dude from Team Apocalypse showed us his latest issue of FHM. Huddle up boys! Basically, minolestiya ng bayan yung kopya niya.

After everything, we went back on the track towards Angeles City. Natulog ako buong trip. It was somewhere in Barangay Cutcut and the game site was actually more cool than I imagined. It was a four hectare field of customized bunker field. Thus, its name - Bunker Wars. Out team - Screaming BB's - were notorious for our powerful guns but Semper Fidelis has their own weapons to boast - gas powered BB poppers! Aray! Tunog pa lang parang ayaw na namin sumugod. Haha.

Worm's Eye View. Kita utak oh!

Still, the whole day went (as expected) fun! Natulog ako after my second game para lang mag recharge but the rest of the afternoon was crazy cool. Before sunset, we charged the NLEX traffic back home - that's after a much-needed dinner at Petron-NLEX. Drop point is, of course, at the Shak before the denizens dispersed to their respective cribs.

What a day.

Squad Spartans.
L-R: Ian (AK47), Ricky (G3 Taktik), Obi (SAR Offizier), Lloyd (M4 CQB)

Madami pang ibang pics sa multiply ko --> Multiply ni Obi

Oo, napilitan na ako gumawa ng Multiply account. Napupuno na kasi itong PC ko ng ritrato. Mahirap na. Baka biglang masira harddisk, sayang mga iningatan kong pics. Visit or add me at that account.


Monday
Back to work. As mentioned, nilagnat ako nun. Siguro dahil sa init sa Pampanga tas biglang super lamig naman dito sa opisina. Heard a couple of remarks about the immortal "kulang lang yan sa kiss-pirin at yakap-sul". Don't know why no matter how vague that line is, it's still being delivered and to top that, there are still people who gets entertained with it! Behehe.

As usual, I don't take medicines with common flu. Sankatutak lang na juice at tubig to flush out toxins. Umuwi lang ako that night, despite compulsions to still hangout elsewhere. Tinext ko sila Batgurl and Idol prior to that day kung free sila manood ng Spiderman 3 premier night. Turns out they're not. Medyo good thing since iL sure be off the mood with this flu around. The bad side is I still won't have to see Iday. Olats. Missing her like crazy.


Tuesday
Spent the whole morning painting my miniatures, playing with the twins, and basically, waiting for the flu to pass. By around 4pm, I packed up and hit the road to Greenhills. Usual suspects in the house!

Attendance: Fluffy, Arvs, John Liit, Wolf Dick, Pork, Mussolini, Pookiemonster, Jumping Johnny, dumaan din daw si Jubay + wife, Xerxes at si Munggo

Chillax lang while the guys pit themselves for some miniature gaming actions. Kwak Doktor Arvin Kinkytops suggested that I drink Gatorade tis he said is good against flu. The boyz agreed. Gatorade it is! I, then, went for a walk with the Great Maw - Jake Pookiemonster - while he hunted for some CD blanks which resulted to a sidetrip to V-mall's foodcourt. Grub time. Meryenda lang daw sabi ni Jake but we had rice and pork! Aray. Verily, none shall satiate the eternal hunger of our Gyudon Warrior.

After we closed the shop, the denizens packed towards Mien Sann somewhere in San Juan to chow down on some mainland chinese deli. After that, off to Shak we go!

Joe was there, passing time doodling on his sketchpad as usual. The groom-to-be Emp dropped by with another copy of his wedding invitation. Gelo appeared from thin air after getting his car AC fixed. Alas, may kasabay na ko pauwi! Doc Marco was there too and Bikerdude Caloy.

The Shak was getting more boisterous and da Shakboyz wilder as the night went deeper! The natives are restless so to speak so we need to take the noise away. Buti, Geloman invited us to his friend's bistro in V. Luna Extension for a couple of Saint Mike's barley. Ocho Bar nga ba pangalan nun? Basta, it's not bad. The food's good, but I could be biased. Sakin kasi basta masarap ang sisig patok na sakin yung lugar! Hahaha. Maraming kumakain. Mostly yuppies and students from nearby schools (malapit na siya around Ateneo, Maryknoll, at UP).

Shot lang konti tas we headed back to the Shak na din. Tas chillax lang konti sabay dispersal!