The J-Bar

I have Visual on Target

2011-10-13T17:47:00.006+08:00

Approaching Rendezvous Point. Positive ID.
Subject: Nacino1
Location: Munich Train Station, Main Terminal

A Baby Who Likes Cameras...

2011-05-20T15:25:00.001+08:00

Her finger was right on the lens. Hehehe...

the hole in guatemala city

2010-07-25T03:28:00.002+08:00

didn't have a helicopter so i can't show you the depth, but this is the view from the street

to see the news pic, select the link

http://www.barnorama.com/gigantic-sinkhole-opens-up-in-guatemalan-city/#78

my pic:

What I Do When I'm Not Weeding Chinese Spam Out of My Blog

2010-07-06T16:59:00.002+08:00

At this moment I am massively uncomfortable; I would have preferred to stay home but I had a hearing to attend and a legal document to draft and sign. I've been having dizzy spells that are at times so severe that it feels as if my brain wants to climb out of my skull and go ballroom dancing somewhere, and is already getting a head start. I can actually go home now, but I'm too lazy to get up and go out into the blazing heat. It's not even supposed to be this hot anymore; rainy season started well over a month ago and yet we're still having blazing hot afternoons. The only difference is that they're now blazing hot, HUMID afternoons and are invariably followed by rain-soaked evenings.

My body does not seem to like me very much right this very moment. I virtually had to force-feed myself today to keep from getting hungry later on, and even then I wasn't able to gulp down very much.

Boy I hate being just on the edge of sickness.

philippine development pt2

2010-05-22T11:25:00.002+08:00

so here are more controversial ideas for getting the rp into the 21st century:

a. abolish the military like in Costa Rica (whichever president does this could get the nobel peace prize) and put the money for it elsewhere. such as medical care.
b. remove customs tax and make everything duty free. why? well, being an archipelago, we will always have more expensive prices than countries in a continuous land area, such as in the main asian continent, where price-wise everything is lower. but of course! you don't need to depend on expensive things such as (long) bridges, ships, and other pricier means of transport. we will have access to quality goods and just make the standard of living better because it's cheaper
c. open to other cultures. the rp does not embrace its immigrants. it is a mostly homogeneous race, with the exception of some chinese blood. we will definitely benefit from an infusion of other races: people from india, africa, europe, etc. people will be prettier and be less racist. immigrants are what made the usa strong.
we will also benefit from increased choices in food, approach, etc.
d. have a goal such as being a carbon neutral country by 2030
e. increase the land area of protected forests
f. establish a national park service.

my attempt at making up words

2010-05-22T11:20:00.002+08:00

so if there is no word for the unmixed powder of a flavored drink (ex. nesquik chocolate milk, nestea iced tea, etc)
i have come up with
" glunked " which is something like
glued gunk clumped put together.

i am putting it out there to see if it will catch on

graffiti

2010-04-01T01:26:00.001+08:00

nuke the gay whales for black jesus,
the writing said on my door.
how do people come up with these things? i wondered.

i hate establishment cool
like people who play bob marley or the beatles in a social setting.
of course i enjoy their songs but sometimes i get this feeling that they are played because they're considered cool and thus, safe.

pinoys in popular fiction

2010-03-07T03:09:00.004+08:00

starship troopers -robert heinlein (rico, the protagonist, is pinoy, not south american)
the beach -alexander garland (he learns how to hold jellyfish from a pinoy and the rp is one of his favorite destinations)
11 minutes -paulo coelho (a pinay sex worker teaches him about the benefits of moaning)
twilight - stephanie meyer

why jason bourne will kill me

2010-02-25T08:20:00.004+08:00

the bourne supremacy
13:25 minutes into it

marie:
are you sure?
how can you be sure?

bourne:
it's just wrong.
the guy. the car he's driving. what he's wearing.
it's just wrong.

american psycho

2010-01-29T07:52:00.000+08:00

let's see Paul Allen's card.

look at that subtle off-white coloring.
the tasteful thickness of it.
omg. it even has a watermark.

merry christmas and happy new year!

2009-12-28T22:32:00.000+08:00

merry christmas and happy new year!

support for my proposals

2009-11-19T00:04:00.001+08:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_mcdonough_on_cradle_to_cradle_design.html

the storm drain roof, apart from being "green" also has tourism aspects to it

i'm a woman and i have rights

2009-11-06T04:29:00.000+08:00

i'm in your face

2009-11-06T04:26:00.001+08:00

vader's girlfriend

2009-11-06T04:11:00.002+08:00

how to be a ninja

2009-10-16T01:33:00.002+08:00

aim for their heads, baby jesus!

2009-10-16T01:31:00.002+08:00

philippine development projects

2009-10-06T06:18:00.003+08:00

characteristic of a lot of countries i have seen:

1. an 80 floor bldg with a viewing tower at the top
2. a nice zoo (ala singapore or san diego)
3. a chinese garden
4. a japanese garden
5. an embarcadero (basically a port area shopping/entertainment area)
6. garden for large sculptures
7. museum of natural history,
8. museum of contemporary art
9. museum of art
10. national museum
11. a pleasant farmer's market (ala pike place in seattle or the one in L.A.)

ryan's suggestions for giving it a distinctly "philippine flavor"
1. balinese garden (yes i know it's indonesian)
2. more open spaces/plazas. use pools and water installations to cool down the place and relax the eye
3. have a more dynamic opera/theater/ballet with flyers and stuff
4. an equivalent of 'zagat'
5. tree lined boulevard for beaches (and everything actually). why is there no shade anyway?
6. 'fun' festivals like thailand's full moon party or oktoberfest. it has to be authentic though. think "ateneo/lasalle rivalry" that everybody can rally behind rather than some slick marketing gimmick. you can't just setup something like a lambanog festival.
7. masterplan an area and designate it a strictly electric car area.
8. renovate luneta park. the statues are uninspired. it's just not postcard pretty enough. it needs some zing.
9. the zoo can showcase local animals instead of all the usual ones.
10. require roofs to be the ones with grass on top, to ease storm drain runoff (and prevent flooding)

how to make the experience better for travellers:
a. better roads
b. construct national highways to bypass traffic areas
c. purify gas better
d. clear out philippine customs personnel and make the experience completely transparent.
e. require catalyst converters on all cars. (maybe work with the DoH on this one)
f. put all government services on the web (decongest roads)
g. share currency with other asian countries.
h. create a special gov't agency to better streamline 'the customer experience'
i. put road & street name signs everywhere (prohibit changing the names of streets)
j. increase the pedestrain walkway size.
k. have the MRT/LRT connect to the airport
l. naia 1 needs a facelift
m. expand the MRT to be as complicated as what you can see in tokyo or mexico city.

where the money will come from:
create chaebols that will make the philippine's own
boats/cars/tvs/radios/cellphones/etc.
create industry
develop farming (mango, banana, guava, seafood, etc)

kukulkan is coming

2009-09-27T02:06:00.003+08:00

in 2012.

circular rainbow outside today

Calvin and Hobbes and Susie

2009-09-18T01:32:00.002+08:00

Calvin and Susie (and Hobbes)

2009-09-18T01:30:00.001+08:00

Calvin and Hobbes and Playstation

2009-09-18T01:29:00.000+08:00

Calvin and ...

2009-09-18T01:28:00.004+08:00

Calvin and Hobbes

2009-09-18T01:28:00.001+08:00

send link

2009-09-18T01:20:00.001+08:00

grammarfiti

2009-09-18T01:11:00.001+08:00

Halley's Comet

2009-09-18T01:04:00.002+08:00

nazi vs. Jesus

2009-08-13T23:32:00.002+08:00

music players

2009-08-13T23:31:00.000+08:00

someone's jealous

2009-08-13T23:29:00.002+08:00

bromance

2009-08-13T23:26:00.000+08:00

points to the person who can name them

text death

2009-08-13T23:25:00.002+08:00

putin rears his head

2009-07-28T12:08:00.000+08:00

smallville plug

2009-07-24T13:27:00.002+08:00

you know it's quality when an evil genius uses the mill case.

the versatility of "dude"

2009-07-24T03:32:00.002+08:00

cat porn

2009-07-24T03:15:00.003+08:00

haha! it's the cat's expression...

send link

2009-07-24T03:09:00.002+08:00

retired

2009-07-24T03:05:00.001+08:00

read the fine print

thunder! thunder! thundercats!

2009-07-24T03:02:00.003+08:00

(of course just ignore the fact that that's tygra and not lion-o)

the moonwalk superstar

2009-07-08T02:45:00.000+08:00

we can rebuild him...

2009-06-26T03:08:00.000+08:00

not coming to grips

2009-06-04T03:14:00.001+08:00

i keep thinking of myself as 27 but i'm not. i'm 34. that's 7 years older than what i'm saying.

4J Moments

2009-06-02T19:51:00.003+08:00

Of all the J-Boys, Sandy Arespacochaga had the last name that twisted the most teachers' tongues. My three favorite incidents of confusion were:

1. Mrs. Bautista, first year Filipino teacher, "Arespachochaga!" (so close, yet so far)

2. Mr. Brazal, third year Religion teacher, "Aressssss...Aressssss" (two syllables out of six ain't bad...)

3. Fr. Macayan, third year resident despot--este moderator/geometry teacher, "Arescopachaga!" (well that just speaks for itself, really...)

the island of research

2009-06-02T09:04:00.000+08:00

more cool stuff from ryan

savage dragon

2009-05-29T02:59:00.002+08:00

calvin and hobbes

2009-05-27T05:31:00.000+08:00

when i'm sad...

2009-05-27T05:09:00.002+08:00

ryan geographic

2009-05-26T12:22:00.011+08:00

the winter nesting grounds of the monarch butterfly.
they all bunch up in trees

here is the turtle release camp. the newborns hatch from eggs and are collected into a container. the tourists then place them near the shore. this day we did 300 turtles

the far side,

2009-05-26T05:16:00.001+08:00

to get a "the far side" t-shirt,
i once ran a marathon.
this was the route in golden gate park, san francisco.
when i last checked, there seemed to no longer be an association between the marathon organizers and the cartoonist. (i.e. it was just another marathon)

mobile armored strike kommand!

2009-05-22T09:37:00.001+08:00

A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist.

2009-05-22T09:09:00.002+08:00

Knight Rider - A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist.

Michael Knight, A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

... you just hit the jackpot

2009-05-22T06:23:00.000+08:00

can of whoopass

2009-05-22T04:36:00.000+08:00

miller - good call

2009-05-22T03:29:00.000+08:00

the future

2009-05-20T08:18:00.001+08:00

The Zombie Survival Guide

2009-05-20T03:19:00.000+08:00

my out of control spending & time wasting

2009-05-18T08:41:00.006+08:00

while in mexico, i caught up on my movie watching.
i have some more in SF & RP so if you come over for a visit, i have enough stuff to rot your brain for good.

B = bad copy

movies
----
Outlander jim caviezel (B)
Leatherheads george clooney, renee zellweger
Walk the line joaquin phoenix, reese witherspoon
Xxx 1 vin diesel
Margot at the wedding nicole kidman
Cheaper by the dozen1 steve martin, tom welling
Good luck chuck jessica alba
Honey jessica alba
p.s. I love you gerard butler, hilary swank
spy kids antonio banderas, carla gugino
anger management adam sandler, jack nicholson
Harold & kumar escape from Guantanamo bay
La vie en rose marion cotillard
Despereaux matthew broderick
Commando arnold schwarzenegger
Perfume
milk sean penn
21 grams sean penn, naomi watts
Nixon/frost
Invincible mark wahlberg
Marley & me jennifer anniston
Sex drive
Heart break kid (ben stiller)
Scooby-doo
Scooby-doo2
Lions for lambs
kane see no evil
the mummy tomb of the dragon emperor
journey to the center of the earth
bordertown (j.lo, banderas
my mom's new boyfriend (meg ryan, banderas
pride & glory (colin farrell, norton)
lolita (kubrick)
the love guru
what happens in vegas (ashton kutcher, cameron diaz)
made of honor (patrick dempsey, michelle monaghan)
conversations with other women (aaron eckhart, helena bonham carter)
mirrors (keifer sutherland)
wall-e
ratatouille
clone wars
elegy (ben kingsley, penelope cruz)
mama mia (B)
ratatouille
nick & norah's infinite playlist
penelope (christina ricci, james mcavoy)
city of ember (saoirse ronan, tim robbins, bill murray)
pineapple express seth rogen
operation valkyrie tom cruise
madagascar2
bee movie
mullholland drive (naomi watts)
how to lose friends & alienate people (simon pegg, megan fox, kirsten dunst)
corpse bride (timothy burton)
bangkok dangerous (nicolas cage)
max payne
changeling (angelina jolie)
the spirit (samuel jackson)
pan's lab yrinth (guillermo del toro)
twilight
passengers (anne hathaway)
doubt (seymour hoffman, meryl streep) B
7 pounds (will smith)
american crime (ellen page (B))
body of lies (leonardo dicaprio, russel crowe)
eagle eye (shia labeouf, michelle monaghan)
x-files 2
baby mama (amy poehler, tina fey)
rock & rolla (gerard butler)
the wackness (ben kingsley)
miami vice (colin farrell, jamie foxx)
hellboy 2 : the golden army
nim's island (gerard butler, jodie foster)
hamlet 2: rock me sexy jesus
mission babylon (vin diesel)
shoot em 'up clive owen, paul giamatti
haunted mansion eddie murphy
meet dave eddie murphy
goya's ghosts javier bardem, natalie portman
the rocker
crumb biography
city of lost children FRENCH
Elizabeth cate blanchett, geoffrey rush
frida salma hayek
stardust claire danes, michelle pfeiffer
kung-fu panda
appaloosa (viggo mortensen, ed harris)
barry lyndon kubrick
deception hugh jackman, ewan macgregor
great houdini catherine zeta-jones, guy pierce
kung fu panda: secrets of the furious five
tropic thunder ben stiller, jack black, robert downey jr
national treasure2:book of secrets nicolas cage
skin walkers
treasure planet
I now pronounce you chuck & larry adam sandler
the air I breathe brendan fraser, sarah michelle gellar, forest whitaker
michael clayton george clooney
prince caspian: chronicles of narnia
mr. magorium's wonder emporium dustin hoffman, natalie portman B
sweeney todd johnny depp
shooter mark wahlberg
10,000 bc
jumper (samuel jackson, hayden B
wanted angelina jolie, james macavoy
crank jason statham
click adam sandler
underworld evolution kate beckinsale
lady in the lake m night shymalan
hancock will smith
forgetting sarah marshall B
strangers liv tyler, scott speedman
don’t mess with the zohan adam sandler
doomsday rhona mitra
hulk 2 edward norton
cloverfield
the happenning m night shymalan
fool's gold matthew mcconaughey, kate hudson
get smart (steve carrell, anne hathaway)
rachel getting married anne hathaway B
8 below paul walker
hulk vs wolverine, thor
yes sir! jim carrey
australia nicole kidman, hugh jackman
slum dog millionaire
vicky cristina barcelona javier bardem, scarlett johansson
flawless demi moore, michael caine
firewall harrison ford
last king of scotland forest whitaker
the fast & the furious 2
the fast & the furious 3: tokyo drift
sleepwalking (charlize theron, woody harrelson)
ghost town greg kinnear, tea leoni
welcome home roscoe jenkins
batman: gotham knight DUPLICATE
strange wilderness (happy madison)
van wilder2: rise of taj
no reservations catherine zeta-jones, aaron eckhart
little mermaid2
sex and the city movie
invincible iron man
the grand (woody harrelson
peter pan rachel hurd-wood
house bunny anna faris
fragile calista flockhart
be kind rewind jack black, mos def
burn after reading brad pitt, george clooney
death race jason statham
wedding daze jason biggs, isla fisher
speed racer wachowski brothers
beowulf zemeckis
the duchess keira knightley
blindness julianne moore
into the wild emile hirsch
the international clive owen B
the unborn odette yustman B
quantum of solace B
fun with dick & jane jim carrey, tea leoni
seraphim falls pierce brosnan, liam neeson B
day the earth stood still keanu reeves
crossing over harrison ford B
sky high kurt russel
platoon
rumor has it jennifer anniston
flicka alison lohman
merchant of venice al pacino B
daddy day care eddie murphy
RETURNED: you me and dupree
bring it on kirsten dunst, eliza dushku
sahara matthew mcconaughey, penelope cruz
teenage mutnat ninja turtles
spiderwick chronicles
v for vendetta
the women meg ryan, eva mendes
my best friend's girl jason biggs, kate hudson
outlaws penelope cruz, salma hayek
family stone jessica parker, diane keaton
billy madison adam sandler
happy gilmore adam sandler
punch drunk love adam sandler
perfect stranger halle berry, bruce willis
terminator schwarzenegger
mr brooks kevin costner
around the world in 80 days jackie chan
children of huangshi chow yun fat, radha mitchell
forbidden kingdom jet li, jackie chan
batman:gotham knight
next avengers
ultimate avengers
ultimate avengers2
ladder 49 joaquin phoenix, john travolta
water horse
the game plan the rock
clash of the titans 80s
jason and the argonauts 80s
final destination 3 mary elizabeth winstead
the kingdom jamie foxx
the hills have eyes emilie de ravin
watchmen: tales of the black freighter carla gugino
cadillac records adrian brody B
southland tales the rock, sarah michelle gellar
black christmas michelle trachtenberg
new in town renee zellweger
bride wars anne hathaway, kate hudson
the queen helen mirren
street kings keanu reeves
final destination2
nights in rodanthe richard geere, diane lane
dedication mandy moore
hostel2

tv series
--------
battlestar galactica (the new one) s2
jlu season2
smallville season 4,5
big bang theory s1
madmen s1 (i was watching it free online, but cannot outside the usa)
family guy s3-7 (i've seen the earlier seasons, but i got them for a deal)
heroes S1,2 (i've never seen a full episode, but i bought it anyway)

uk

2009-05-15T11:13:00.002+08:00

i found this helpful in clearing up when something is GB or UK

If browsers were women...

2009-05-15T06:24:00.000+08:00

Bill Stickers

2009-05-15T00:16:00.000+08:00

The Madness of Mission Six

2009-05-14T01:04:00.005+08:00

"In 1976, Cosmonaut Nikolai Peckmann was sent alone to an orbiting space station for what would be called Mission Six- to study the radiation levels and strange circumstances that killed all four crewmen of the last research mission.
By the third day, Peckmann's broken transmissions were coming back to ground control filled with increasing paranoia and delusion. He claimed that the spirits of the dead cosmonauts were coming to claim him, and that he had to keep moving to evade them. He shouted that if he could capture consume these spirits himself while he still had strength, he could move to the next level of consciousness...Truly the rantings of an insane man.
Indeed, video recovered later would show Peckmann running around the confined but maze-like station, downing emergency sedatives like a madman....pausing in a corner momentarily, only to throw back vitamin pills and give chase to his invisible demons.
He had exhausted the entire cargo of vitamins, pills, and fresh fruit well ahead of schedule. There was no way another crew could be assembled to rescue him before he starved. After one rather violently garbled transmission, the static cleared and the last live image on record is that of Peckmann's empty, wilted spacesuit on the cabin floor.
It was determined that another mission to recover any remains or gather any more research would be a waste of the people's money, and the station was allowed to drift out of orbit and into space- a failure never to be mentioned again. It was ordered and assumed that all video and paper evidence had been destroyed."

watching on the tube

2009-05-13T13:28:00.003+08:00

i watch and i read, but i forget so many things.
what good is it if i forget all the details?
if i read or watch it again, it is almost like i just wasted time doing it the first time around.
i know i've watched all of star trek: the original series, not once but twice.
the thing is, i find it hard to remember the stuff that happened. that goes for DS9, TNG, Voyager and Enterprise. (yes, i've watched them all. i am actually more knowledgeable than my brother (he's limited himself to ST:TOS) who i consider to be the trekkie in the family)
not only that, my head's swimming in new information everytime.
i try and take what i can from my tv & movie watching.
i don't believe tv rots your brain.
it is a source of new ideas. some are done by people who have an advanced understanding of things i have never bothered to look into, so i gain new insight.
other advantages include learning new words, or sometimes learning how to pronounce words i already know (but never heard spoken.)
other times, i get insights into political situations. i was appreciative enough of
"lions for lambs" to seek out "the kingdom" (same author)
actually, the latter turned out to be more hollywood drivel, but anyway...
other times movies explain emotional truths.
ive been enjoying adam sandler's later movies since "50 first dates," though adam has been finding his groove and getting it since "anger managment."
with "click" (i know you didn't like it jim but i agree with jay t) being his best work.
watching dvds on my computer allows me to pause whenever i hear the latest slang words so i can look them up ("nick & norah's infinite playlist")
or even introduces me to esoteric mathematical concepts ("big bang theory")
lastly, i get to make note of songs that i like and can add to my library

jewjitsu

2009-05-13T04:19:00.001+08:00

joke of the day

2009-05-12T11:31:00.000+08:00

hearing AIDS

2009-05-12T03:10:00.003+08:00

2009-05-10T00:56:00.000+08:00

Cobra Commander

2009-05-09T03:20:00.004+08:00

Kaslap!

2009-05-09T03:00:00.003+08:00

hamburgers

2009-05-06T12:08:00.002+08:00

when i eat at a burger joint like mcdonalds or burger king, i order the regular hamburger. nowadays, you dont even see it in the menu. usually they advertise some other burger that is 10x more expensive and has all these other ingredients.
i never really got into the big mac, or any of the gimmicky burgers-of-the-month.
i like, as the big bang theory people say, the meat to bun to condiment ratio of the regular hamburger.
my family thinks i'm being cheap when i order it, as if i was saving money or something. nothing can be further from the truth. i genuinely prefer the flavor of the regular hamburger. (for wendy's, i like the deluxe classic in the RP. it is not available in any wendy's out of the country)
all the other hamburgers are just too messy with the sauces (or something) spilling out of the burger. i like the neatness of the plain burgers.
sure, i appreciate other ingredients, but i grew up with this type of hamburger back in the day when the selection was smaller and simpler, so it is what i am used to.
it depends on my mood what kind of hamburger i'd get. usually i prefer a fire grilled burger. In the RP, this style of cooking is done by Hotshots and Brothers. Among the big chains, BK is my preferred brand. I am also used to the flavor of Mickey D's so I crave for that too. Jollibee, when i can get it, I prefer without their special sauce, and then i just add ketchup.

4j one liners

2009-04-29T22:16:00.002+08:00

sonny "i've got a big dick" pasimio
joel "eh binabastos mo ako" ilao
jim arroyo:
("hey willy! your dick's too old for sex")
xander "who the hell elected you" lao
Bob: "If you don't vote wisely, your class will suffer!"
Efren: "I can be a fighter when challenged!"

partial list of cities

2009-04-15T09:05:00.002+08:00

this lists my travels following college graduation to the present. i am unable to list areas where there are no cities, such as Herschel Island (canada) or Tubbataha Reef (Philippines.) They do a good job of places in the USA (and the Philippines as well, surprisingly), but a poor listing of cities in malaysia, china and well, most every other country. There is also no provision for WHS or other scenic areas apart from the USA national parks.

Beijing, China

Jiuzhaigou County, China

Hue, Vietnam

Zhangjiajie, China

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Semporna, Malaysia

El Nido, Philippines

Hangzhou, China

Yangshuo County, China

Chongqing, China

Borobudur, Indonesia

Cambria, CA, USA

Sausalito, CA, USA

Miami, FL, USA

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

San Francisco, CA, USA

Lijiang, China

Laguna Beach, CA, USA

New Orleans, LA, USA

Arches National Park, UT, USA

Mesa Verde National Park, CO, USA

Huangshan, China

Moresby Island, British Columbia, Canada

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, AK, USA

Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada

Portland, OR, USA

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Quezon City, Philippines

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Al Fresco

2009-04-12T10:54:00.008+08:00

Ford Shelby GR-1 Concept in 1/18 by AUTOart

Porsche 997 GT3 RS in 1/18 by AUTOart

the history of the 4j boys:

2009-04-06T10:13:00.009+08:00

#1 who was the "father" (i.e. the first organizer) of the 4j boy barkada:
a. joey
b. bob
c. dino
d. miko

#2 what was the very first movie of the 4j boys?
a. Pacific Heights
b. Memphis Belle
c. Army of Darkness
d. Cool Runnings

#3 what was jan t's favorite restaurant?
a. merced
b. pizza hut
c. jollibee
d. sbarro

#4 on a rainy day, which mall would we usually go to ?
a. robinson's galleria
b. sm city
c. glorietta
d. sm megamall

#5 who was the first person to ever bowl a 'turkey' (at least, in front of other 4j boys?)
a. tini
b. carlo
c. jim
d. rhochie

#6 which carnival would we usually go to christmas time?
a. fiesta carnival
b. payanig sa pasig
c. star city
d. the one in greenhills

#7 what school is the only one from the list below that we did NOT have a soiree with
a. assumption antipolo
b. assumption san lorenzo
c. maryknoll/miriam
d. holy spirit
e. st. paul's pasig

#8 who is not originally a 1k boy?
a. manny ongpin
b. glenn gaudencio
c. axe nolasco
d. carlo v.

#9 what is the order of new 4j arrivals?
a. carlo, tc, jay t, arnold g
b. jay t, ax nolasco, arnold g, tc
c. jay t, ax nolasco, arnold g, carlo
d. tc, carlo, jay t, arnold g

#10 who scored the highest in the hardest chemistry exam ever?
a. rhochie
b. aa
c. tini
d. jim

BONUS:
#11 who is the only person that is actually 4j?
A. gail vitug
B. efren ty
C. manny ongpin
D. mm morales

VOTE!
who is the most memorable 4j character?
a. jim
b. aa
c. glenn gaudencio
d. paolo quimson

who was the hottest teacher?
a. lalu
b. mrs. perez
c. bermio
d. galban

who was the weirdest teacher?
a. mr. vargas with his hollow block cracking head
b. mr. figueroa for his gay reading of jonathan livingston seagull every morning
c. mr. edilbetro cruz and his runner guy story

PIVOTAL MOMENTS in 4J history 1989-1993 (not quite in sequential order):
-bob says the class will suffer if he is not elected to office
-jay a becomes class president
-mm morales and some people get held up in sm city
-ryan becomes ching's bitch
-dino forms the kupalogs
-xander holds some parties.
-jay d begins the live concert tours
-class overnight. we watch "the simpsons" (whose house was that anyway?)
-joey begins what is now the 4j group
-jel becomes known as the slo-mo man
4j boys hang out in galleria for bowling billiards, movies and arcade games
-aa is named 'the flash'
-james otayza holds overnights. one time, everyone sort of gave a personal message to a wrapped-up-with-a-blanket-virgin-mary-like jim
-otayza also is the star of the 2nd year choral presentation. "wachak!"

(ok, i will explain wachak because even at the time, i think only 3 or 4 people actually got the joke. this is from an old tv commercial. i forgot what the product was exactly. it might have been a soy sauce. in the commercial, the lead actor would become even more delirious with delight, saying "wachak" everytime the sauce was used on food)

-film class (brought out from being a recluse, tc begins becoming a part of the group)
-bam2 confesses he feeds beer to his dog
-class is separated into math tracking
-some 3j guys become security guards for SEP.
-miko says the classic line "buns and burner"
-rhoch scores the highest in a chemistry exam
--beloy is thrown & kept out of the classroom nearly nekkid in time to scandalize an oncoming lalu. (i'm pretty sure she liked it though)
-jim starts the bald head fad
-ryan does flatliners and gets horribly disfigured
-aa does the most chin-ups in P.E.
-carlo holds overnights.
-philip and woo2 create a home video kungfu action/comedy movie. i think only i have seen it. i still have the copy. it was funny.
-4j boys play gotcha
-part of the class is segregated into 4x
-tini bowls a turkey
-sandy a now always says to me "really now man"
-paolo brings out his gun in tagaytay
-joel succeeds in becoming slim
-verayo, one of our very best basketball players, bungles the 15ft basket question, costing 4j 1st place in the interclass contest. funny story though.
-sonny's catalog of past humiliating 4j sayings & happenings becomes apparent
-4j boys born in feb have a party at jay d's place. chicks from all over descend to witness the event
-jan t lures unwary j boys into a gay bar and insists on finishing his beer.
-some 4j boys backpack the philippines

supplement the list by submitting your meme today!

who supplied the 3j muse for intramurals?

Answers
#1 A. joey
#2 B. Memphis Belle
#3 D. Sbarro in Sm City Annex
#4 A. galleria. megamall & glorietta werent open yet
#5 A. tini. in sm city annex
#6 B. payanig sa pasig
#7 B. Assumption S.L. (kasi sinolo ni tyrone ) also technically D. Holy Spirit because it was an "interaction"
#8 C. Axe nolasco. the answer isn't carlo because he was originally on the 1k list
#9 D.
#10 A. rhochie
#11 B. efren

reflection paper

2009-04-06T10:07:00.001+08:00

everything tastes better with whisky now. as i turn to drink to help me forget, i realize i am always discontent and tire of things quickly. i dwell on the failures in my life and i never look on the bright side. thankfully, i am not suicidical.
unfortunately, i find most things dissatisfying.
always, i need more.
i can guess the future by thinking logically and seeing what the natural progression of things would be if things are left as they are. it is smart for me to do this because it allows me to see the horizon, so to speak, while others who don't have a similar inclination would not see the forest for the trees.
but even with a plan, or a forward thinking vision, i am unable to reap substantial rewards from it for lack of resources.

i have become very good at distracting myself.
i watch movies, tv, read, etc.
it isn't just that i enjoy them. it's also anything to keep me from thinking about the disappointments in my life.
but then, i have heard that an unexamined life is an unlived one?
would i even be writing this if i had a war chest of millions of dollars to better effectively keep me from reflecting on things like this?

i like cataloging and keeping lists. it helps to remind me since i seem to forget a lot of things.

How About a Change of Scenery?

2009-04-05T08:52:00.006+08:00

I used to talk about my hobby of toy cars, but I figured, hey a picture is worth a thousand words...This is a Porsche RS Spyder, scale 1/18, by AUTOart

This is a Ferrari F40, scale 1/18 by Kyosho

This is a Porsche 911 (997) GT3, scale 1/18 by AUTOart

my UNESCO World Heritage List

2009-03-28T20:00:00.006+08:00

i go see all the places that make up one site. sometimes it's difficult and misleading, like "the baroque churches of the philippines" which is in actuality 4 different churches in 4 completely different regions (one in iloilo, another near vigan, etc.), but only has one listing. i feel my tour is incomplete if i haven't gone to them all. a good example is Hue, Vietnam. Gia Long was great, but it is one of many on the "multiple locations" list for this site and thus easily overlooked. the tourists who are prone to hurry think they've seen all they want with one or two nearer sites but in the same way i didn't think the Bayon (a specific temple within the area but built at a different time period) looked anything like angkor wat (another, more famous temple in the same area) (Both are under the heading "temples of angkor"), Gia Long (vietnam) didn't look like the others in the "multiple locations" hue list. doing justice to each WHS is time consuming and expensive but hey, i'm already there. It won't ever get cheaper to see it. and anyway, i think it's well worth it. come to think of it, even the 3 main tombs on the hue tourist list didn't look like anything like each other. they were all wonderful palaces, visually distinct from one another.

i also do all nature trails in national parks that take less than 1 day. i gave up doing them all when 1 trail in yosemite (usa) went all the way to, i think it was mt rainier (2 states away, hours away driving very fast by car) the other park trails were too intimidating, like going smack dab in the middle of the winter wasteland of the entire st. elias/wrangell/etc superpark (on foot, not a plane ride.) the park area's larger than several entire medium-sized countries put together.
sometimes i am disappointed by WHSs with only 1 trail. like ujung kulon's took days & i didn't see a rhino or elephant or jaguar, (i saw way too much trash washing up on shore though) and apparently not even the guides who do it for years have seen any. of course i realize the animals probably knew we were coming from far away and left. they might even have still been there, but remained hidden so i couldn't see them, like a where's waldo drawing.

i have posted up some pictures on facebook and multiply. i have so many i'm still inconvenienced in this era of 250 gb hard drives on laptops.
i do all the stuff on the WHS tentative lists as well. It is a bit of an effort locating them on a map. Once again, sometimes they are great (sanqingshan, now an official WHS) and sometimes they are not.
i've seen some inscribed properties that i'm unhappy with, making me believe the list is bloated. sure i realize some sites are important or significant in some way, but just the same, i didn't need to see it. the WHS could also add some additional sites i know of that aren't even on a tentative list, like Sipadan (Borneo.)
overall, i'm glad i've heard of the WHS list. i'd never have been to places like guanajuato or lijiang (china) without it.
i do believe i learned how to scuba dive because of the WHS list.

As of April 28, 2009:

Cambodia
1. Temples of Angkor

Canada
2. Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek # * 5
3. SGang Gwaay

China
4. Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang ****.5
5. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
6. The Great Wall
7. Mount Huangshan
8. Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
9. Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
10. Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area
11. Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
12. Lushan National Park
13. Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
14. Classical Gardens of Suzhou
15. Old Town of Lijiang
16. Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
17. Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
18. Dazu Rock Carvings
19. Mount Wuyi
20. Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun
21. Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
22. Historic Centre of Macau
23. Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries - Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains (1/3)
24, Kaiping Diaolou and Villages
25. South China Karst
26. Fujian Tulou
27. Mount Sanqingshan National Park
28. Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties ***.5

Indonesia
29. Borobudur Temple Compounds
30. Prambanan Temple Compounds
31. Ujung Kulon National Park
32. Sangiran Early Man Site

Korea, Republic of
33. Changdeokgung Palace Complex

Malaysia
34. Gunung Mulu National Park
35. Kinabalu Park
36. Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

Philippines
37. Baroque Churches of the Philippines *****3/4
38. Tubbataha Reef Marine Park
39. Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
40. Historic Town of Vigan
41. Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park

United States of America
42. Mesa Verde National Park
43. Grand Canyon National Park
44. Independence Hall
45. Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek * 28
46. Redwood National and State Parks
47. Olympic National Park
48. Statue of Liberty
49. Yosemite National Park
50. Chaco Culture
51. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
52. Pueblo de Taos

Vietnam
53. Complex of Hué Monuments
54. Ha Long Bay
55. Hoi An Ancient Town
56. My Son Sanctuary
57. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Brasil
73. Historic Town of Ouro Preto
74. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas
75. Historic Town of Diamantina

Peru
76. Historic Center of Lima

Mexico
58. Archeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes
59. Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila
60. Historic Centre of Morelia
61. Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara
62. Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
63. Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
64. Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro
65. Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines
66. Historic Center of Zacatecas
67. Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro
68. Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
69. Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco
70. Luis Barragán House and Studio
71. Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
72. Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco
77. Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl (2 of 14)
78. Historic Center of Puebla

Our Childhood is Further Eviscerated.

2009-03-27T11:34:00.004+08:00

I remember buying comic books in the dingy Greenhills Arcade, then later in Shoppesville. I remember going with my family to buy our PCs and software (i.e. GAMES!!!) in holes in the wall in Virra Mall. I remember ogling really cool Macross, Gundam and Transformer toys (you know...before they were declared antique collectibles) and diecast cars. Recently (i.e., within the new millenium) Virra Mall got a facelift and the Greenhills complex got a brand new building with the Promenade.

Apparently, though, it doesn't end there.

In the last two years I've revisited my childhood, in a manner of speaking; I've taken to collecting diecast toy cars of varying scales and detail levels, and most of the places that offer decent prices and the models I like are found in Greenhills. I'd been going there for a year and a half and it was yesterday that I found, to my shock, the staff one of my favorite merchants had packed all of the 1/43 scale cars that had once lined their store windows. To my shock I asked what was going on, and they told me they were leaving because the owners had raised their rent by P10,000.00, effective Monday. Not just one, but two of my favorite diecast car stores based in Shoppesville's "Blue Lane," along with a slew of other collectable toy retailers, were going out of business due to the ridiculous rates.

I basically went "sobbing" to the diecast car forum to which I belong, telling them the terrible news, and in the replies that ensued, someone shed light on what was going on, and what the grand plan of the Ortigas Group is.

Apparently, Shoppesville, Uni Mart and Theater Mall are all set to undergo major renovation with the intent of making the Greenhills Shopping Center the next SM or Robinson's, or, more ambitiously, perhaps the next Greenbelt. This sounds rather grand, but there's just one problem that I can see with that.

One goes to SM or Robinson's (and to a lesser extent Eastwood and Gateway) to cool down, have lunch or dinner or watch a movie. One goes to Greenbelt to do the same things, more or less, but to be seen and to look ridiculously affluent in the process.

When one wants to actually BUY something, and not be caught in sweltering heat, as one would in Divisoria, the destination of choice has, for YEARS now, been Greenhills, which is known to be the place to find great, CHEAP stuff.

With this planned renovation, which is reputedly set to be a multibillion peso project, the rents of the tenants are destined to go through the roof, and so they're not likely to be at all friendly with their pricing after that.

Greenhills, with the demolition of Goldcrest, and other similar shopping destinations around the metropolis, remained one of the few malls left with any real character. It isn't a total shithole like Harrison Plaza but it is certainly a lot more interesting, with its nooks and crannies, than a boring old SM or Robinson's. Even after Virra Mall was renovated there were still a lot of places to look for good bargains on all kinds of stuff, like Shoppesville and the teeming tiangge. It's worth pointing out that even with this setup, Greenhills attracts tons of people; parking there is quite often difficult unless one does it very early in the morning, and the human traffic even on weekdays is quite considerable.

I don't know why the Ortigas Group thinks they're trading up; if their ambition is to be the next Greenbelt, they should ask themselves how often they see people actually BUYING anything from the stores there. They may be the savvy businesspersons while I'm the working stiff, but in my humble opinion they run the real risk of killing the flock of geese laying golden eggs.

My beloved die cast car stores are safe for now; after the shocking news I heard yesterday apparently building admin backpedaled and said they could stay at the old rates until December.

Essentially, then, we have the rest of the year to enjoy the Greenhills we've known and loved for all of our lives. After that, well it's a whole new world, and I'm not at all sure that's a good thing.

no i am not living in the usa

2009-03-26T08:56:00.003+08:00

there seems to be some confusion, but i do not live in the u.s. and i haven't lived there for years.
i am, seriously, always on the road, usually in some other country.
well, i have travelled the us, going around to different states, but that is quite different from "living" there (i.e. staying in one place, having a job, meeting new people, etc)

Expectations

2009-03-24T14:57:00.002+08:00

Last Friday my family and I buried my 93-year-old Lola, and oddly enough though I was certainly saddened by her death I found myself more afraid than anything else. I wondered, almost out loud, if when the time came for me to bury my parents, I would be able to do so. Specifics on my personal finances aside, I haven't exactly put aside a whole lot of money for a rainy day. I asked myself just what I've been doing with my life.

It then hit me that by 2011, the youngest of us will have turned 35. Though thanks to medical advances, this number no longer necessarily represents middle age, it certainly means that the excuses we used to give for not being able to achieve what we set out to do when we graduated from college are a lot fewer now. Questions will arise if we've lived up to the potential that people like our teachers and parents saw in us when we were still snot-nosed, awkward, rebellious teenagers.

I've noticed that with a few notable exceptions I can think of (no names now), those of us who've achieved some measure of professional or financial success have had to leave Philippine shores to find it, something that is more an indictment of the lack of opportunities for decent work here than it is of our abilities. Others among us are able to hold down respectable jobs with relative if not altogether certain stability, and others still are just basically winging it.

Whatever degree of success each of us has experienced, it's pretty clear none of us is exactly running the world just now, though that's more of a dilemma we'll come to face in our forties and fifties, I guess. So for a number of us the question remains a valid one: are we where we hoped we would be ten or fifteen years ago?

I'd like to think that I fall into the "respectable job" category, but often (especially in '06 and '07) it's felt like I've fallen by the wayside. In short, the answer to the question "have I lived up to expectations" is a big fat "I don't know."

I take some small degree of pride knowing that as a lawyer and even as a law student, I have spent a fair amount of my time helping people and not just the people who wanted to hang onto their money but quite often the people who don't really have any, so if nothing else I can say I have, to an extent anyway, lived out the "man for others" credo we were taught in high school. But still, I ask myself, shouldn't someone be able to be a man for others and able to put a roof over his family's head? And I fall back into that state of frustration and inadequacy.

I wonder how the rest of you guys feel about this.

A Year Ago Today

2009-02-25T10:25:00.002+08:00

A year ago today, I waited in quiet dread for news I didn't want to hear but was virtually certain that I would.

A year ago today, I got a text message that I didn't want to get, and then another saying exactly the same thing, thereby breaking my heart twice.

A year ago today, I stared at his inert form, too stunned to believe that what I was looking at was real.

A year ago today, I saw his mother cradle his head in her arms and call him "my baby" and felt the urge to completely break down and cry.

A year ago today, my son lost a godfather, and I lost a soul brother.

It's been a year, and life has been kind to me for the most part, but I can't help but remember him and how a year ago today, he left us all.

I would like to believe the tears have dried up, and that I'm happy to know he's in a much better place than this world, with its tattered economy, wars, environmental rape and endless political scandals. But now that I've stopped to think about it, I realize how much I still miss him.

This one's for you, Jay.

party

2009-02-24T20:33:00.002+08:00

while going around mexico, i kind of got the feeling the latin americans were all in this cool fun club and they all knew how to party.
of course i have no facts and figures to back this. it is just that, well, watching them salsa and do all their other many dances, you kind of get the impression they are more relaxed and not so high strung.
i am now in brazil.
i went to the sambadrome last night and finally checked out carnaval.
while it would depend on the school presenting of course, i would say that the floats are by far the most creative and colorful that i have ever seen. the floats in mardi gras (in new orleans) are bland in comparison to the in-your-face color and vivacity of this brazilian version

You SHOULD Always Be Able to Go Home Again...

2009-02-20T10:53:00.003+08:00

It's been a year since one of 4J's central pillars, Jay Tan, died and almost a year since one of its most indefatigable organizers, TC Montano, pretty much dropped off the face of the earth, or at least the space inhabited by 4J. In the time that has passed, 4J has become a strange and noticeably different place.

More than the exchanges of snark over contributions for parties or boys'-nights-out there's an undercurrent of unpleasantness that, more than once now, has reared its head and I can pretty much sum up the problem in one word: exclusion.

Suddenly, the j-boys who have taken up residence abroad have been branded as people who "don't give a shit" and excluded from e-mail updates.

It's been nearly two years now since I blogged about how wonderful it is to belong to a group like the J-Boys precisely because one CAN belong to such a group without some kind of requisite, like having passed a professional exam or paid some kind of membership fee. Now, apparently there's some kind of residency requirement, or at least someone would like there to be.

It's wrong to begrudge those of us who are abroad their chose to build their careers or lives there. People should be free to live where they want and in this economy it's hardly any wonder that some people would want to try to earn a living wage elsewhere. It's grating to work eight hour days and barely have enough money to support one's own family, so I can perfectly empathize with the people who would search for greener pastures, but more than that they have the freedom of choice which no one should try to take away from them.

4-J is NOT an exclusive boys' club, and that's what's made it such a wonderful group of people for nearly TWO DECADES. What has made us so special is that we were bonded by our years together in high school (and college, for some) and that this bond persists because we CHOOSE to keep it alive. The voluntary nature of the bond is one of the reasons it's so special and is defeated when some of us start dictating things the group should do, or, even worse start giving "my way or the highway" ultimatums.

I'll admit I get annoyed when certain people show up on mailing lists and start talking about their bully-boy high school days like they were the shizz (whatever that means), but for better or worse, those guys are J-Boys and I'm no about to begrudge them their memories of what 4J was like. I think it's even worse to hold the fact that someone has chosen to live abroad against him, but that's what appears to have happened lately.

I think if there's only one rule that should govern the J-boys, it should be that the door will (or at least should) always be open.

ramblings again

2009-02-20T08:47:00.005+08:00

i'm a little disturbed i'm the only one contributing to the 4j blog.
business-wise, i have wished for some sort of collaborative effort so that my friends and i can enjoy the good life. right now, i think we don't need to be billionaires, just have enough money to live a quality life.
back when i was younger, i was thinking we would form the 4j economic bloc, but now i see it would never work. hardly anyone likes my ideas. despite my proof of (very) small business success, no one rallies behind me.
nowadays, i'm afraid i provoke envy rather than inspire.
even now, i consider my life unsatisfactory, though i can see how it may seem glamorous to other people not in the know.
with the passing of time, people grow in separate ways and it saddens me that i don't know what's happening with everyone else.

lately, i have come across an email from rj, wherein he is excluding anyone not in manila. i have never encountered such divisive tactics before.
considering he was never part of the barkada up until recently, i found it quite surprising. who were his friends in high school anyway? because i can't think of anyone. well, aljay, but i think we all know how he made fun of him behind his back. this is the side of him i have always seen, that he is not a true friend that you could rely on. and it is why i have never appreciated his company.
i am, as jay would have told you, his oldest friend, which of course does not necessarily translate as his best friend, though he has said so at different times in his life. it of course disturbs me that i am not apprised of the goings on in manila. i couldn't speak as to how other people abroad consider jay, but i would think that they too miss him, and would like to know how things are back home.

in its earliest form, the barkada would watch movies.
later on, the barkada got larger as more and more people warmed up to each other.
we played billiards and bowling at paeng's, and the video games around the corner.
those were the days.

public art

2009-02-20T08:34:00.005+08:00

the first one is an eskinita decorated with tiles from around the world (Lapa district, Rio. also seen in Snoop Dog's "Beautiful" music video)
the second is a bubblegum wall (seattle, wa) anyone can contribute to this disgusting piece of artwork
the third is a strange geometric tower made of glass bottles and other items (watts towers, LA, CA)
The first and the last are the work of single artists that just started expressing themselves

touring

2009-02-07T10:04:00.004+08:00

i've been talking about a country's lesser-known sites that are in actuality more worthwhile to visit than the famous places, or what is in people's "head knowledge." el nido is an excellent example.
when you think philippines, you think manila. while touring manila is fine, i don't advise this for travellers on a limited budget and even lesser time.

in a nutshell, el nido can be described as "spectacular karst formations in a beach setting."

though i've been disappointed by offers to go touring around on a boat before, el nido is one of the few exceptions where i would advise you to go do so.
though el nido is relatively expensive, it is "undiscovered" by even the philippine upperclass, so it is the best time to visit. additionally, the waters are cleaner than what they could be if el nido ever does become hip.
when you see how the rock formations sort of restrict the water flow you will know what i'm talking about.

anyway, if you just visit major cities, you are really limiting your tour. i meet a lot of tourists who have been to the philippines. at best, they just go to manila. sometimes boracay. this is unfortunately, quite humiliating for me because i feel this is not a good representation of the best of the philippines. unfortunately, tops on my list are sites that are underwater, necessitating knowledge of scuba diving. only thereafter would i recommend stuff topside, like the rice terraces, (which are best seen according to the planting season) beaches (if it is the rainy season, it will affect your impression.) and the WHS.
rice terraces are not unique to the philippines, and can be found in several countries. china's in particular, are also very nice.

The philippine WHS list is unfortunately not the best, and have sites that make me think the list is bloated. additionally, several are more of like what the USA Park Service would call monuments, which by their nature are relatively small, making a long trip getting there to see it not quite worthwhile (like the church in iloilo)

some more pictures

2009-02-07T09:47:00.003+08:00

in a rare starring role, my car re-enacts a ripley's believe it or not illustration

circles of latitude

2009-02-07T09:38:00.004+08:00

in the one picture you can see my car

different types of travellers

2009-01-24T04:51:00.005+08:00

i am not a one city, one country guy.
i have learned, quite some time ago, that a country generally has several, nothing-less-than-fantastic sights to offer. they are ALWAYS not famous, but they are just as beautiful, if not more so.
this is why i don't appreciate the "country collectors," as i call them.
yes, the "i have been to L.A., therefore i have seen the USA. Next country!" type.
most any country is far too large & diverse for me to dismiss it that way.
LA is very different from NY. San Francisco and New Orleans are their own distinct and beautiful cities. the dry, spectacular rock formations of the Southwest are nothing like the wet Pacific Northwest, and both look nothing like the bayous of louisiana. Never mind that Alaska and Hawaii have things to offer nowhere else seen in the country.
i understand the appeal of "country collecting."
people like wherethehellismatt get to see many different things, whereas the problem with my style is that i see altogether too many churches/Wats/temples at a single time. however, the financial and environmental impact of their ways is enough reason for me to believe in the superiority of my style.
off the top of my head, the problems that come hand in hand with their style include the large carbon footprint they leave because of their jet-setting ways, the overlooking of very worthy sites, and the overall cost in time and money. individually or collectively, those reasons are enough for it to be completely off-putting for me.

the other type of traveler is the ewan macgregor type, who are all about getting from one end to another (ewan rode a motorbike from europe to africa.) i've met (human powered) bicyclists like this who were in the midst of riding from seattle to LA, and from mexico to panama. this is fine with me, except of course, i've learned there are quite a few sights one will miss in this way, especially since you'd have to pony up for more visa fees if you're going to do it again in another area of the country. (an additional problem if doing the trip by human muscle power is that the world is too large and this way would be too time consuming.)
then there are the richard branson/jules verne type (aroundtheworldin80days) who attempt some kind of record going around in a hot air balloon or some other contraption. not dissimilar from ewan, but still different enough for me to make a distinction.
lastly, there is me. i haven't met any like me. yes, i am sure they are out there, i just haven't met any. my experience and total travel time put in have distinguished me from others. an ex-gf of a friend scoffed at me when i said i was dissatisfied with travel writers because i knew more then they did. that i thought they were unsophisticated in terms of what they can appreciate. she thought i was trying to impress her, but the thing was, i wasn't bragging. i was complaining.
in general, people aren't aware of the extent of my travels. if seen from space, my travels would form an ELE crater. yes, i know that doesn't quite make sense, but i am waiting for an email and there's nothing i'd rather do right now than sleep.

on the road

2009-01-24T04:40:00.005+08:00

as the world's most GQ traveller, it is my responsibility to look good while going around. it wasn't always like this.
looking back, the origins of my wanting to look stylish stems back to my golden age of travel when i would be in the most spectacular of surroundings, yet look like sh*t in the picture. deciding that i was ashamed to show off the photographs, i henceforth resolved to make a change.
years later, having grown in wisdom and beauty (actually tumaba lang ako, but it sounds better the other way) the fruits of my labor have bloomed. sure, i get all kinds of flak from other, unsophisticated travellers, but the stylish clothes serve a dual purpose.

movies

2009-01-24T03:04:00.003+08:00

i have fortunately been able to catch up on new movies lately, especially since i've been missing a lot for the past few years.
unfortunately, since i am almost completely indiscriminate, that means a lot of movies that i am willing to watch.

after a while, i notice certain directors make movies that appeal to me more. i definitely prefer the wachowski brothers over the coen brothers. i like zhang yimou movies (except for the CoGL)over akira kurosawa's. stanley kubrick over woody allen. hayao miyazaki over... well, i ran out of names.
i have seen enough movies to tell where something is weak. my taste, though, is not as universal as i would have thought. i have disagreed with 2 of my friends whose opinions i respect.
good movies don't necessarily translate to big box office sales of course, so everything is in the eye of the beholder.

miko club

2009-01-24T02:58:00.003+08:00

the latest word in fashion is "miko club" bags

stuff i enjoy

2008-11-25T02:29:00.003+08:00

i like magazines like GOOD and Wallpaper. Good is a new discovery of mine. It has relatively short articles, with the point generally being summarized in an excellent graphic that is easily understandable at a glance.
i consider it so much more efficient, time-wise, than to sift through seas of words.
Wallpaper is a stylish mag that appeals to my sense of design.

Good also has a website, from which i wasted the morning away reading through. here are some articles that i found interesting

http://thevisualdictionary.net/

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/the-bible-according-to-google-earth/

http://lifehacker.com/5096769/five-best-desktop-customization-tools?skyline=true&s=i

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/20/video-grow-a-living-treehouse-with-terreform/

http://www.inhabitat.com/

ramblings

2008-11-23T00:55:00.001+08:00

traveling, i see brands i haven't seen in a long time. like mennen. remember that? are they still around in the RP?

going around cebu, i also saw mango brutus and Hahn (they had hunting knives and stuff at the top floor of robinson's galleria)
actually, in cebu there were several stores that had me reminiscing, but i can't enumerate them all now.

i would almost count heno de pravia (i remember all their old tv commercials) but i think you can still buy the soap in the supermarket.

right now, i am going around mexico and i have the opportunity to study the mexicans.
i'm fascinated by just how closely they resemble the malay race. certainly they have features that are different, but given skin color, height and shape of face we are not dissimilar. vicki's (sorry to mention her) facial structure i see here. looking at frances and carlo's dad, i'm wondering if carlo isn't actually part mexican?
mexican contribution isn't really mentioned in our history books but we did have a manila-acapulco galleon trade.
a lot of things are similar.
manner, for one. mexicans are patient and nice even in disagreement. to contrast, caucasians are way more ornery and more prone to violence than mexicans & asians. the religious culture here is not just similar, but exactly the same as in the philippines. (the wood carvings, the devotion, etc)

the pastries and cakes are prepared similar.

the way we celebrate our nov 1-2 i believe is actually mexican and not spanish as i originally thought, for some reason. i don't know what gave me that idea.
well, it is also possibly indigenous to us, i guess. but the practice pre-dates spanish occupation of mexico. ("pre-columbian")

columbus is the only guy other than jesus christ to have a time period centered around him.

i look at the beautiful ruins here and i think it was a great waste to have such a special architectural direction be cast away in favor of colonial architecture. since the spanish got around 500 years ago, you can see this type in too many places. (macau, latin america, etc)

boy i ramble a lot and go off in different tangents.

mexican chicks are hot, they get my blood boiling. especially the mestizas.
art is a big thing here, and i find myself buying a lot of souvenirs. i also find myself buying a lot of clothes because they look very nice. i'd probably never wear them except to a wedding or some other formal event. i'm such a dandy. i buy them but i NEVER wear them. what a waste.
thing is, i'm traveling and the money it would cost to fly over to my family and friends when they have events is considerable, and that's money that i can stretch pretty far here. it would have to be a special event, known weeks in advance and even then it puts me in a difficult position.

i don't know how long i'll stay in a place i'm visiting until i'm actually there. most likely, it is some remote place and not a major city, where the large airports with flights abroad are. i hate bypassing places i want to visit because i'd have to doubleback to see them. again, quite costly. having no set itinerary leaves me with no idea when i'll be where.

i hate what they've done to magnolia premium milk (and chocolait.) it is no longer real milk like they serve in canada/usa/mexico but some chemical preparation. thing is, they still call it "premium" and charge a disproportionate amount for it. it's total b.s.

on the plus side, mexico has yakult, the japanese preparation i am addicted to. so i get my yakult fix regularly.

authentic mexican food's fantastic, i can eat it days on end and not miss other types of cuisine. i usually have food from different countries at different parts of the day. unfortunately, mexican interpretation of japanese food and pizza does not suit my palate. they don't use the right rice in japanese food here (at least in the cheaper japanese restaurants) making eating maki a weird experience.

food from other countries is always different. chinese food in the philippines little resembles food in mainland china and the USA. the menu selection and food preparation is different.

take for example singapore. i would go to indian restaurants and be distressed they offered different foods from what i would normally see in an indian restaurant in the US. yes, they were still good of course. i just got confused.

anyway, i'm glad that usa interpretation (yes, i know it's still mexicans preparing it) of mexican food is horrible in comparison to what you get here.

international vagrant

2008-11-19T16:22:00.002+08:00

in the picture is our intrepid hobo, as yet collecting information for my eventual contribution to humankind. despite failing to convince comelec officials (and banks and pagcor and everyone else) to adopt my ideas i have nevertheless not given up in trying to bring everyone into the next century. to do this, i have chosen to concentrate in introducing a product rather a method or attitude or any of the myriad ways of "leveling up" (sorry, long time video gamer) mankind. yes, my hubris is that i believe i am the proverbial evolution button, and if i fail in my task, i am perhaps doomed in the afterlife where i have to answer for my inability to get it done. while what i do now pays the bills, i can't help but feel i am a failure, marketing aesthetic playthings when i should be producing a next generation product. like electricity, if this were the 19th century. or tall ships, if this were the middle ages. i would prefer to present to the world interplanetary craft, but i lack the skills to do this.

macking with the chicks

2008-11-19T16:05:00.002+08:00

here i am macking with the chicks, sporting my brad pitt mr & mrs. smith haircut.
sure the one is the lovely mrs. bob and the other is the somewhat controversial miriamite true love of he-who-shall-not-be-named, so my proof that i am some sort of international playboy may still be questionable

his face says it all

2008-11-15T11:39:00.003+08:00

jose cuervo tequila production

2008-11-05T11:12:00.002+08:00

the blue agave plant has its leaves taken out with a type of spade and the remaining pineapple-like thing is steamed and juiced.
it seemed a very simple and much smaller operation than i thought.

sunset over mazatlan

2008-11-05T10:46:00.000+08:00

sunset

2008-11-05T10:39:00.000+08:00

racism

2008-11-05T01:41:00.002+08:00

in the news today, comments made by prominent politicians show how their perceptions have undertones of bigotry.
underlying racism just make me burn

"America is electing a new president, but for the Germans, for Europeans, it is electing the next world leader," said Alexander Rahr, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

"We see new challenges coming up, not only Islamic extremism, but a newly resurgent Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea — everywhere there are fires," he said. "And we, as Europeans, can't solve these problems without America. A world without American leadership is, for most Europeans, a world of chaos