So Obsessive Compulsive...

Its 1am in the morning.. I promised myself to go to bed at 1030pm the latest because of sore aching muscles that kept me sleepy eyed the whole day yesterday.

But instead here I am, ended up still awake at this ungodly hour with an aching back and a very sore right arm (I seem to have worked out my biceps unequally...urk).

The reason: that new little addition at the side bar with the list of sites I usually link to (Under the heading "Daily Dose That...") . Well, that and watching some TV shows.. :P

Omg, I'm sooo rusty I can't even do simple html. :P

Wel, at least its finished. Time to go to bed! G'night!

Man Behind the Oracle askTom Site

One of the more prominent personalities in the Oracle community has put up his own blog, and it'd be interesting read to see what the mind of the person behind the popular Oracle askTom site, Tom Kyte, is like.

Head over to his personal blog at http://tkyte.blogspot.com.

Its strange how much we know and recognize the prominent people who are within our field of work, and yet be complete oblivious to the people outside our circle of interest. (Eh, ask me who owns the company who makes ipod - see i dont even remember the company name at the moment - and i'll just shrug)

Oh, Did I Mention...

... they made a really great choice by getting Christian Bale as Batman? Really talented actor there!

And Batman Begins...

I cant believe I spent all my weekend mornings watching movies... but that's alright. I can't even imagine I spent my whole weekend watching 2 good, recently released, mainstream movies. Now that's something that doesn't happen quite often.

Usually if I do watch movies back to back, its only because one of the two movies are feature films; something that has been released previously and has had good reviews, and therefore, prompted cinemas here to open up a showing. Even then, its really rare that I watch 2 movies in one weekend... I dont think that's happened.. oh wait. I just did about a month ago. But that didn't count; I watched Episode III a second time around only because I wanted to accompany a friend to watch it, then afterwards I had a peek at Kevin Costner and Joan Allen's Upside of Anger. Didn't like the second movie that much, and as for Episode III, I've never watched a movie twice, except for Spiderman. (thrice, actually... oh I sound so much like a geek watching the same movie three times. *embarrassed*)

But I think both movies I've seen this weekend could beg for a second viewing. Both are nice... I've already mentioned my opinions on Initial D, now its time to put in the opinion on Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.

Its true what you've read in reviews; they say this Batman movie is the most grounded and realistic comic movie you've seen, and they're right. Director and writer collaborated pretty well to produce what suspiciously seems like a normal movie. Actually sometimes you'd even forget that Christian Bale is Batman... it feels so different from the previous Batman movies, you wonder if this one is rooted in the same comic franchise. And you know at the back of your head that it is. But it just feels so.... normal.

And people, that's a very good thing and a really interesting compliment: its such a tricky thing to screw up people's minds and make them believe they're watching a movie that seemed like it was never rooted in a comic page. Its very much different from Spiderman: All throughout the movie you know that its a comic book based movie.. you know its a Spiderman movie. He slings webs, he jumps around buildings and leave cobwebs, fights ferocious enemies like the Green Goblin and Ock Doc.. its just so.. fantastical, but yet so good. This one, without the last part of the movie when Batman makes a show of all out, it feels like you're watching a great movie that was all about a person overcoming his fear, and eventually learning that he needs to uphold justice. Its a strange feeling. All throughout I was enjoying the movie, and yet I also have to remind myself that this story is about a comic book character. I constantly had to stop and remember that this is the story of Batman.... the mere fact that I had to think about this, consciously trying to convince myself, is one absolutely awesome achievement on the director's part. Christopher Nolan has just acquired a new fan; I thought Memento was excellent, but this movie just shows that its not just distinctive storylines like Memento that prompted the director to come up with an absolutely original idea for filmmaking, he has just shown with Batman Begins that he can direct and organically tell a wowie fantastical story like Batman to a super standard, regular-joe kind of story.

He could've done it in a lot of different ways you know. Paint it like how Tim Burton did with the first Batman.. give it a dark, brooding, no touch kind of feel. Or fantastical, like Spiderman. The audiences wouldn't have minded. Batman is a comic book character. Or like how Adam West did his version of Batman, funny, nice, good 'ol fashioned jolly Batman... so many other possibilities and perspective .. and he picked this one.

Amazing... just the thought,... gives me the shivers.

I'd like to see how he'd direct a horror/suspense, or drama. He definitely intrigues me now. The whole grounded perspective leaves such a strange feeling after watching it.

As I've said, its nicely done. And I must add, like Spiderman, there's no gaps in the movie that were wasted. One of the things that I usually take notice in a movie is the way its edited and set up; if I can think of any scene in the movie that can be taken out without disturbing the continuity of the whole storyline, then in my book, it could become a crappy movie. Most of it depends on the how many scenes and how long a scene can be cut away. If I encounter a movie that had a 5 minute continuous clip that can be taken off, I usually label it as sloppy work on the director's part. Unless that clip was actually spectacular, (and nothing can be THAT spectacular... unless it was one of those nice car chases in Bourne Supremacy :) ) it should have no business being in the movie. Us ticket payers want the most of our money, and we want something that will move us in 2 hours, not trash. If we wanted something that can add fillers, we'd just stay home and watch TV. For goodness sakes, the film is only 2 hours long, unlike tv shows that have the luxury of having up to 24 hours per season! Movie directors should make the most our of moviegoers money.. I mean, hello, TV is free!

hahaha I think I've rabbled enough. I'm glad to say, there's no much of that problem with Batman. Christopher Nolan did make good use of the full 134 minutes, and not a lot has been wasted. Each scene explains something, and that's usually a good sign.

As I've said, the movie is so grounded, you feel like the whole Gotham City is actually located somewhere in the world. And even the other locations, (some of it was implied that it was somewhere in Asia.. probably Tibet.) look very.. REAL. That's the most wonderful thing about this movie, and I can't say enough of the "realness" of the movie without making it sound like its a not a real movie I've just seen. I'd suggest you guys better go watch it yourselves... maybe then you'll also be tricked into believing that you're not watching a Batman movie,... but just a good, very well made movie.

Haven't seen it yet? You should. (Although, unfortunately, nothing still tops my opinion of Spiderman as one of the best movies for comic book based ones.)

Happy viewing! Cheerio!

A Mistake, methinks..

Was that a GTR or a GTO in my previous entry? I seem to remember seeing the words GTO in the subtitles for the Initial D movie, but after watching the anime version, it seems like it might be GTR instead...

And was that Mount Akina, or Akima? Well, im really not an otaku for Initial D, so if I made a mistake or offended any Initial D fans who read this blog, .. sumimasen, sempai. Didnt mean to do it...

Anyway, I'll try to find out which one is correct.

Interesting anime, btw. I can learn a few things about cars just by watching it...

Jay Ch... whoops sorry, Initial D (2005) Movie Review

....

Its better than I initially expected.

I'm not a fan of the anime series, nor am I a sports car freak or a street racing fan (You'll definitely not catch be hoooting and cheering along the sidelines of a street/drag racing session alongside busty women in short shorts.) ... BuuuUUuuut... I just may make an exception when Jay Chou is going to make an appearance.

Hence, me, Saturday morning, moviehouse, lights off, watching a cantonese movie.

Unless the movie is really, REALLY good, I usually don't spend my money on cantonese movies. They've usually been crappy, with some exceptions, of course, but in general, cantonese movies like Initial D where a cast of whiny teenagers go around doing whatever it is they do normally - isnt really my thing.

Of course, I've already mentioned Jay Chou as a deciding factor to be silly... sometimes.

I admit, against my boyfriend's complaints, I still keep on crooning and gushing like a little girl when I get the chance to see one of my favorite singers on video. My boyfriend has demanded that I keep my distance away from any Jay Chou material, just because it's shamefully embarrassing to be acting like a giggly fan, I know, and at my age too. You'd think that I'd grown out of those teenage, star struck years... but the guy is simply... adorable. :)

Well, now all my readers know I'm a Jay Chou crazy fan, and its the kind of thing that prompted me to buy tickets for his transition to moviedom. I have to be frank and say that he's not really a good actor at the moment.. I never liked any of his videos when he's acting. He's still a far better singer/songwriter than acting. But he's been typecasted for the lead role, so there's not much acting into this, anyway.

So really .. on with the review. I'm serious. :)

I was actually expecting a crappy movie... the one where you sleep through when your favorite actors aren't looming over the 80 foot screen. Lets see, there's Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, and Chapman To. These names dont impress me much, and I've never liked their acting. I've yet to see Infernal Affairs 2, where the first two mentioned starred, but for others.. I feel like they act as pretty boys in a screen picture drawing in crowds of girls for pumping up ticket sales. But surprise, they dont need these 2, they just need Jay Chou to do that for throngs and throngs of HK girls. (It always come back to him when I'm talking, doesnt it?)

What I was actually impressed with was the fact that Anthony Wong played Jay's character's father. His presence actually gave the film a lot of lift and substance ... at least up until the end. Typecasted Jay Chou plays the lead role as Takumi, an shy and introverted 18 year old kid who helps with his perpetually drunken dad (Anthony Wong) with the tofu business. Takumi is asked by his father to take over and go through the twist and turny Mt Akima route to help with the tofu deliveries, and learns to do it, real fast and pretty smooth, over time. Unknowingly, he's named as the Driver God of Mt Akima by street racers in the area, and with his identity virtually unknown, fans all the racers' curiosity alike. With the thrill of challenge from a ghost driver, these racers set out to find the identity and challenge Takuma and his AE86 with their expensive GTOs. Begrudingly, Takumi gets into the racing scene, and finally wins the audience's attention: Despite having Jay Chou marketing, or Anthony Wong actors' credibility, nothing is more spectacular and exciting in the movie than the racing scenes themselves.

The characters spout out car terms that I dont recognize; So most I just let them drift by. Having no previous exposure with car mechanics or physics, this film easily overcomes the terminologies by giving the audience a very clear and easier explanation: The racing scenes are what the movie's made of. Despite my inclination towards loving Jay Chou's character, I can't help but be at the edge of my seat when the final race is in play. That's where the magic is,.. and at that point, I'm not distracted by my never ending Jay Chou obssession - there's no time to be distracted; You'd have to make sure you catch each and every turn and twist from each racer, every skid, every drift, every break and flooring... and in that way, I think the movie is actually worth mentioning AND watching.

Anthony Wong gives substance, Jay Chou gives great marketing (and soundtrack, too!), Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, I think might have again made a decent movie. It wouldn't hurt their portfolio, and I'm sure it would help with the ticket sales too, especially when hordes and hordes of girls wanting to see the movie and Jay Chou... and like me, ending up enjoying everything else.

Cheerio! :)

Hummus!

The first time I've tried this Mediterranean dip was when a good friend of mine recommended a Greek mainstream resto in the Philippines a few years back.. I think it was called Cafe Mediterranean. He recommended an appetizer plate of various dips for pita bread, and that's when I had my first taste of Hummus (and the equally satisfying Tzatziki). I loved the it immediately, and once I had the handy resource of the Hong Kong Central Library, it was one of the first things I looked for in the Cookbooks section.

Generally I don't like dips; I'm the last one to reach over and have my potato chip dipped into sour cream and onion, or barbeque. I like things au naturel. Potato chips are potato chips, they're meant to be tasted first as how they are, especially chips. Of course there are exceptions, for example I absolutely love anything vinegarish, so I'm an avid fan of Lay's Salt and Vinegar. Amazing stuff by the way.

On with the dips. The thing I dont like the most about conventional dips is the thick, creamy or milky taste of a dip, particularly commercialized ones. You can actually taste the oil and fat when you put them in your mouth, and I've always had a problem with this. The thing with Hummus and Tzatziki is that it has a light quality to it. Its not heavy nor is it extremely creamy, but as a dip it is loaded with an amalgamation of different tastes. Much like Indian food, where they constantly use different spices that vary the taste of each dish.

Hummus has a smooth, blended texture very much similar to mashed potatoes, but is comparatively more grainy. The commercial ones are less grainy, but is still less smooth compared to pre-packaged ready-to-mix mashed potatoes. It has a sharp, pungent smell but tastes slightly nutty and with a dewy aftertaste. The main ingredient for Hummus is chickpeas, a part of the legume family which by itself has a very mellowly flavor, with a nice, light nutty smell similar to almonds. Since it is comprised of nuts, avid Atkins followers will likely avoid this as much as mashed potatoes, but regardless, having it will leave you feeling filled after a dollop or two.

Its been a while since I've made it myself, but feeling that particular craving last weekend, I made myself a good batch. If in any case you're interested, its relatively easy to make one, as long as you can get a hold on its ingredients:

Hummus

* 400g Chickpeas, either from the can or the dried ones. But remember that the 400g referred here is for the rehydrated version.
* Juice of 1 Lemon
* 4 Tablespoonfuls of Tahini (Mediterranean white sesame paste)
* 2 teaspoons of cumin seed, grounded if possible
* 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
* 1/2 teaspoon of salt
* optional chilli, paprika, olives, olive marinade (from the olive can)

Add everything into the processor/blender except the chickpeas.
Blend until all ingredients are properly mixed together.
Add in the chickpeas into blender and continue to blend until smooth.
Adjust taste with salt if desired.

Put into container and be sure to add a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil to avoid the hummus from drying out.
Store in fridge.

Now isn't that easy? Enjoy, peeps. I'll be enjoying mine for the rest of the week.

No, That's Not Funny

So much for being consistent. Lets see.. the last time I made any specific entry to going to the gym was... this one.

See the date? oh my, its like.. Nov 27, 2004. Needless to say, I've declined back to .. ok, chronologically based on my blog entries... dream obsessed, stressed working , statistics calculating, nightmare fearing, tv series watching and potato chip eating coach potato.. in short, one big, fat ass.

On a snippet of a conversation with a friend when I went back to the Philippines 2 weeks ago...

"My goodness Claire, did you get fat?"
"Oh yeah.. that's because I'm already 3 months into my pregnancy."
Friend looks at my boyfriend. Friend looks at my stomach. Friend looks at my boyfriend, then again at my stomach, then slowly looks back at me, still uncertain and trying to figure out if its for real. He glances at his wife who is around 5 months into her pregnancy. He stares back at me again, unsure, but thinking that it all makes sense.

"No, really, are you serious????"

*roll eyes*

I went back to the gym last week. After receiving those unflattering comments from my friend, and even from that very nasty building guard who rarely talks to me but makes a joke out of it, asking how many months into the pregnancy I'm in.

So much for having a realistic looking 3 month-stage-pregnancy stomach.

This time I'm resolved to going make it past the 7 week mark. So far that's the longest continuous gym routine I've had since I started blogging. I've had longer before, but I figured, that doesn't count.

At least I'm able to pick up on attending intermediate step aerobics last week. *sigh*

Ugh. Horrible. Wish me luck.

Rain, Rain Don't Ever Go Away For Another Day

I love wet weather... And I also love pouring rain... They're generally nice, especially during the spring, and occasionally during the summers, when it drops the temperature to bearable levels. They're not as nice when they're drizzles during summer though, I'm sure everyone hates the extreme humidity that comes after. Those things I try to avoid by staying indoors and cranking up the air conditioner. But for the general concept of rain (the same ones that you associate to "rain" when you were a 5 year old) I think they're the greatest thing one can come across.

And yesterday, it was pouring. Its fun in a gloomy sort of way, when you look out of the office window and see overcast clouds and pouring rain; I especially like looking at the windows because you feel like you have a personal display of waterfall beside you. Close enough to appreciate it, but not close enough so that you get wet. It's soothing and relaxing at the same time, especially when it creates that thump thump sound everytime the rain drops hit the windows; There's a fine quality, nature-induced rhythm to it that can lull you to a well rested sleep.

I know there are a lot of people who hate the rain though. It gets us wet when we're on our best Sunday clothes, and its also a bad experience when you've been getting ready for a hot big date with the girl of you dreams, and later get splashed on by a passing truck (Think Bridget Jones 2). In fact, drenched pants isn't really the best way to win a girl's heart, unless you were, in fact, braving the horrendous rain just to impress her with your determination (which could later in fact be taken as a sorry, cheesy way of impressing her, depending on how she sees it).

I actually had my share once of getting horribly drenched. If I remember correctly, I was along the roads outside my university. Maybe waiting for a ride, or waiting for the red lights to go green so I can walk across. Either way, the whole thing is basically me waiting on something, holding the umbrella up, and unsuspecting anything bad was about to happen. Rain was pouring, and water levels rising, and puddles were starting to become raging floods along the sidewalks. In less than a second, a speeding car passes by and releases this HuuuuuuuUUuuuge man made tidal wave about 5 feet tall. Needless to say, I was drenched in road-mixed water. Bad enough I was wet, but I couldn't bring myself to think whatever stuff's found on the road that got mixed in all that liquid. All I could say is, "Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts!" for the rest of the day until I came back home for a bath.

Of course, not all experiences with rain are bad. Like I said, rain makes the weather cool and bearable. If you can actually find a sweet spot of a shelter to cover you from the rain while still a safe distance from getting drenched, but still near enough to feel light droplets float down on your feet and hands, that's the best setup. Most of the time, you'll feel alive while enjoying that, just because rain has this eager, active and infectious quality to it - Its always on the move, it never stops, and it will always keep you on your toes. The best ones have a slight gale to them, keeping the droplets airborne and reminding you that it will persist and keep up with you wherever you go.

Remember when you were young and your parents insisted that you wear a raincoat, boots and an umbrella when its raining? Or sometimes, they don't even let you out of the house because they're worried sick you might catch a cold. But the thing that's on your little mind at that point is that you really, really, REALLY want to go out; You want to step outside, get wet, enjoy the rain and play with the puddle, just jumping around and laughing and giggling while the winds just keep on whistling to you. You don't think how dirty the water would be. You don't worry about catching a cold. You just dash out into the pouring rain. Its really infectious. Its fun, and it perks you up. It just can't help itself and calls out to the child in you, bringing you back to the time when all you wanted to do is step out into the rain and jump around splashing just about everywhere.

And when they say the dreary weather just makes you want to cry and dampens the spirit? I'd like to think otherwise. Remember all those times you've watched a movie and they always use rain to show how down the character is? Even if its just a tool to express depression, it doesn't really mean you're depressed and alone. When you're down and its raining cats and dogs, you get the feeling that the world weeps alongside with you, too, and when you think about it, its actually a comfort to have it when you're depressed. In a sense, you can't help but feel that its trying to console you. Bad enough that you're depressed and alone, but with a rain alongside, you get the comforting feeling that "Hey! The world actually agrees with my situation". You don't actually feel so alone as you thought you were. I personally think the situation would be worse when compared to feeling depressed on a sunny day, cause it seems like the world is getting along fine whether you're depressed or not.

You really just can't help but feel alive and feel that rush when you're happy and its there, and consoled when you're down and depressed.

I remember this one time during lunch a working day. Some friends of mine decided to have lunch a few blocks from our office building. The weather was fine when we left for lunch, but just right after eating lunch and on the way back, it just started pouring out of nowhere. Its either we decide to sit it out, or end up coming back late. Neither one of us had an umbrella to go around with, and but we still decided to try and run across... and we did, running like crazy with no cover at all, and end up getting really drenched and wet to the bone. I had to change my clothes when I came back, and a lot of people thought we were just crazy, being soaked as if we just jumped into the swimming pool with our clothes on.

But then, maybe we were. We spent the rest of the day just giggling and laughing at the mess we made of ourselves. But in the end, all of us had a good time. Wouldn't you have liked it if the rain made you laugh a little, and sometimes, cry a little?

I would. Besides, isn't that what life is all about? :)

Campbell's Soup Lunch

Deciding to save money for lunch, a month ago I headed off to the supermarket downstairs to get a couple of cans of Campbell's. I've never liked Campbells actually, but seeing that the places they have around the office area serve soups for HK$15 that taste bland and ordinary and suspiciously like Campbells, and offer nothing else, I decided to be smart about it. No way am I going to get ripped off by these restaurants.

So I got a can of Chicken and Mushroom, Borsch, Minestrone, Pumpkin and Chicken and Cream. These don't really need a pot to cook; They're essentially cooked and merely concentrated. Just add water, and plop it into the microwave. (Aahhhh.. the conveniences of technology.)

I've already managed to finish three of them for the past couple of weeks. In fact, I'm having the Borsch at this very minute. The whole setup is agrees with me. I like soup. Since I can't get a decent soup around here, I might as well get the cheaper, out-of-the-can ones. They taste they same anyway. A can probably costs HK$6, but I cant really finish the whole can in one sitting, so I end up having 2 soup lunches for a can. Compared to a measely HK$15 for a small cup, I thought this was a very good deal. And besides, I hate waiting for seats and going around with crowds and crowds of people.

There's actually a point to this, if you just read on for a few more lines.

I just needed to say that the Borsch Campbell soup tastes ABSOLUTELY AWFUL.

And the Cream of Chicken and Mushroom does not readily agree with the whole pop-into-the-cup-add-hot-water-and-into-the-microwave setup. It gets watery, and the rest of the soup gets concentrated at the bottom. They dont disperse. They just stay there. Like eating jello in water.

If there is a way to go, go with the Minestrone soup. Its good enough for consumption. And it doesn't taste as metallic, jello-y or as crazy-sour-sickening as the Borsch soup.

There. I've just let it off my chest. I have this thing against canned goods and ready to cook food, but if i'm just going to be faced with the same thing for double the price at some fancy looking lunch place, I'd rather have them. No point in wasting money.

OMG

I'm so dizzy at the moment after putting all the colors in.

A Day Spent Hurrying...

(continued...)

Morning: Woke up late. Didnt have time to prepare, was given a 5 minute heads up. In 5 minutes, what can you _really_ do? I opted to brush my teeth and forget the hair. Put on a shirt, shorts and a pair of slippers. Went to Tutuban. Proud to say I mixed riiiight in. La la la.

Mid Morning: Went to my maternal grandmother's. Dum dee dum dee dum.

Lunch: Jay-Js (?) in Timog. My oh my, I look like I came out from Divisoria Magazine cover. Special mention! One of the stuff in my list has just been crossed off! I had TURON!

Early Afternoon: Hurry up, hurry up. Trying to catch the 6pm flight. Its already 15:30, and we're still at home...

Early Afternoon 1: And true to form, I'm still munching on lanzones on the last day of my vacation, in the car, on the way to the airport. Man I'm going to miss these little suckers.

Afternoon: Hanging out by the Customer Service Counter. Baby oh baby.. its 16:45pm and we havent checked in yet.

Afternoon2: There's three check-in lines for the flight we're taking. They're all loooOOoong lines. Since we have a baby with us, we're given priority and directed to the "express" lane. After 30 minutes, the three lines mentioned have now less than 4 people each. And we're still hanging around the express lane. Have not checked in yet. There's still people in front of us. Strange. People still keep on calling us. Panicking a bit.

Afternoon3: Brother and Sis in law busy. Baby faucet drool running all over my arms. Very interesting experience. Just passed by immigration.

Afternoon4: Finally in the plane. Which gets delayed for like, 30 minutes.

Night: In Hong Kong. So what's new? Its still horribly humid here.

Midnight: Hang out in my room.... in my bed, my throne, finally getting some sleep...

(The End)

A Day Spent Partying...

(continued...)

Midnight: Grandma's birthday. Following chinese tradition, we're supposed to eat misua and boiled egg first thing in the morning to celebrate the occasion. The whole extended family is expected to come, and so I hung around the kitchen until 3am helping out with the preparations. ...

Morning: Happy Birthday! rowdy bunch, whole family is here . Rowdy rowdy. Kids, babies, uncles, aunts, cousins.. blah blah blah yada yada yada. All in red, of course.

Mid Morning: Went around minding my own business. Rest of family leaves for engagement. Can't go because. I'm stuck at home... doing nothing. *whistle whistle*

Lunch: Greenhills. Hitched a ride with my sis in law. Had lunch. Sat with my future sis in law's family. Nice funny bunch. Was glad to have exchanged seats. Love observing and meeting new people. They're really great because they don't come off as formal traditional family. Not saying they're "liberated" though. They're just fun to talk to and sit with!

After Lunch: This is a special mention. I finally got my Books of Magic: Death After Death graphic novel from one of my Atenean friend. Been waiting for it for months. To my surprise, they told me not to pay anymore and insisted that its my advance birthday gift. Swell.

After, AFTER Lunch: Was so tired. Slept in the car. Sitting beside niece and nephew. From what I heard, all three of us fell asleep, and our heads all thrown back, and mouths slightly open. No drool, at least I wasn't told about anything related to drooling.

Afternoon : Shangrila. Went with my eldest brother, sis in law, niece and nephew. Need to cross off a couple of the stuff I have in my need-to-get list I'd get from National Bookstore. (yes, its still there) Couldn't find Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. I've actually read it, but I think its a really good book, so I want to own one. Blink is from the same author, but personally, I like the first one better. The latter one isnt really THAT impressive. Neways, couldn't find that one, but I did find something I was looking for for quite some time. Dermatographs. Hahaha. I could never find one in Hong Kong. Must be because HK is so high-tech, they only have highlighter pens. I got thwee! Afterwards had a shopping experience... not for me, but shopping for my mom. We both forgot that she left the house keys with me, and we went our separate ways after lunch. Now she's stuck at the house.. she can still get in, but not into her room. And she _NEEDS_ to change into a red dress. Part of the birthday thing. So me and my sis in law was running around looking for decent clothes for my mom to wear. Nothing expensive, mind you.

Dinner: Red, Red, Red and all Red. Birthday party. Also really rowdy, whole family is there. Highlight of the evening? Liked the crabs fried in crab fat batter. (No, I'm not an avid fan of crabs. They're just really good for the past few meals. I normally dont even touch them because I'm too lazy to crack the shell and painstakingly have to fish out the meat, so there.)

After Dinner: Gwad, I'm so loaded. Headed off to Greenhills Promenade to try out Go Nuts Donuts. One of the things in my list. See what the hype I've been hearing about for the past few has been about. ... Uhm, its good, the dough is soft and texture is light.. but it was as good as I expected it to be. Maybe because it wasnt freshly made (it IS around 22:30 then. Doubt they'll still be making fresh batches at that time of night)

Late Night: Time zone. Have this funny thing happen with this paddle and flat disc 2-person game. Each couple went against the each other; unfortunately, we were an odd numbered bunch.. me being the odd one out. Didnt really mind it much; after all, I pride myself in actually having a good time when everyone else is minding their own business and ignoring me. Must be the imagination. Have this really good talent in becoming invisible.. or is it because poeple dont like hanging out with me? bwahahaha. WHO CARES!

Midnight: Went to this japanese coffee shop, still in Greenhills Promenade, near the proximity of Tender Bob's. I seem to have forgotten the name. Had a good time there, great drinks too, highly recommended. I think I'm going to have to make a separate entry for the resto. Its really THAT good. Strangely enough, every body seems to be sleepy and tired except me. Being the way that I am (enjoying my time even when no one talks to me) I spent the time enjoying myself watching everybody. There's really something fascinating so strangely about people....

No I'm not a voyeur.

Midnight Midnight: Going home... I think everyone is dead tired already. Before I headed off to bed, I eagerly flipped through a few chapters of the graphic novel... consisting Bedtime storyof Dark Towers, openers, magicians and Wobblys...

(... to be continued)

A Day Spent At Ortigas-Makati...

(continued...)

Morning: Too lazy to get up.. Hung around the whole morning listening to music on the pc and trying to beat myself to get a higher score on advanced level minesweeper on the family computer.. Still snacking on lanzones.. An irritating stupidly courageous fly buzzing around the room and interrupting my concentration by boldy landing on either my hands or my arms. He will regret ever doing that, if I can help it.

Mid Morning: Arranged a ride with my brother to head off to SM Megamall to meet a fellow blogger who _really_ loved Meltykiss chocolates. I offered to bring her some from Hong Kong, which involved going around the greater CausewayBay area trying to see if it is still in stock (its a seasonal chocolate, they usually only pop up during winters cause it's so sensitive to heat; summer normal room temperatures actually melt it) I eventually left home for Ortigas, but ran into with traffic at Cubao. I was already so worried cause I was already running late, (I hate being late, although I procrastinate a lot) and then my phone runs out of load/credits. That leaves me unable to send a message or call my blogger friend informing that I'll be late. How embarrassing. Oh, did I also tell you, before leaving the house, I took the fly squatter and made sure that pesky little flyboy this morning will never interrupt anybody ever again? He's definitely regretting it now, I'm sure. In Fly Heaven. I wonder what fly heaven looks like? What's the normal lifespan of a fly? Isnt it really short? If there ever was a fly heaven, that place would be terribly cramped.

Lunchtime: Met up with Mia@Powerbooks. Got the new Jack Johnson cd and a copy of Jason Mraz Live. Went to Globe to recharge my load. Also met up with my S.O.

Afternoon: We went to Market!Market! walked around. Watched Mr and Mrs Smith... It was ok. Fun movie, but just ok. You get the feeling that Its kinda dragging after a while. Oh did I mention I had dinuguan, nilagang baka and laing for lunch? Its not really much though. Afterwards I made sure I had enough space in my stomach to woof down a McDonald Quarter Pounder (I've been looking forward this soo much for months already... they seem to have discontinued serving quarter pounders here in Hong Kong Mcdonalds. At least I know its not on the menu anymore) Still cant' believe up until now that the cheapest Mcdonald meal costs 40php. That's a long way off from 4-5 years ago's 25php...

Nite: Met up with my college barkadas at Greenbelt 3. Had dinner at Sentro. Had a really great time, felt really sentimental, at that point I realized how much I missed hanging out with the people I shared 5 years of my life in Ateneo. Had to scram and leave early though, my parents are expecting me to get home at 23:30, otherwise my mom will turn me into pumpkin soup.

(to be continued...)

A Day Spent At Home...

For my own sake, I'll be writing down the stuff I've been doing for the past few days during my trip back home.. I'll put this in a chronological, bullet point type format, so its not actually writing at its best. You're probably not going to be interested, but frankly this is for my benefit only. Dont say I didn't warn you :P If you have anything to say though, feel free to click on the "comment" link at the bottom :)

Morning: Good ol' pandesal for breakfast, and some left over bacon and eggs, while wearing my embarrassingly girlie pink jammies.

Snack: Loads and loads of lanzones for snacking. Bananas on the table snubbed and ignored.

Lunch: at home... having lunch with home cooked meals...

Afternoon: Headed off to Aqua Water Spa along Del Monte for an eagerly awaited massage, only to find out that they only have hydrotherapy massage and no hands-on massage. While my brother regretted having to leave the place without trying it out (it was around 480php entrance fee for 4 hours' worth use of its wide range of facilities. It was actually a good deal, but us ladies were desperately longing for a swedish massage) my sister-in-law and I convinced him to head off to a nearby known massage place called Holiday Spa.. they we're good, so nuff said.
Snack: Still loads and loads of lanzones my parents got for me. They seem to have caught on and realized that I'm a real sucker for lanzones. Talk about a ploy to keep me at home and tight on a short leash :P

Dinner: With the whole family at home. Had a dish of sauteed crabs that was loaded with tons and tons of crab fat. Afterwards, what a ruckus, everyone was so excited to see my 6 month old nephew, including my sister in law and my two adorable niece and nephew.

Nighttime: Spent the rest of the evening trying to install a DIVX encoder so my brother can watch some tv series I've brought home. I'm soooOOOoo not used to a dial up connection already!

Color Coding

I've nothing else better to do so I'm going to do color coding.

If you've nothing better to do see if you can follow the next 4 entries.

Green - Something neutral/Information
Orange - Something I want to do
Red - Angwy angwy..!!!
Purple - Something nice that happened; Something nice, period.
Blue - Something, someone, somewhere that's on my to-list
Cyan - Something amusing

Human Pinball, Anyone?

Bugger bugger. I am soo messed up right now. Its been a while since I went to the gym (for those of you who read the blog since it started... hmmm.. i think there's only one or two readers out there :P ) I've since been slacking off since the last time I went back to the Philippines.. that's.. oh, what... 6 months ago? EGAD.

Since then I've been preoccupied with work (work work work ugh) and tv series. If its not sitting in front of my work PC chucking candies to keep me perked up, its pulling all nighters handling some crackpot system for work, or generally spending my time watching seasons of Alias, 24, CSI, Lost, Malcolm in the Middle and Dead Like Me. The sheer amount of time I spent sitting on my "throne" has my ass has blown up and is probably now the size of New York (fine admittedly, New York isn't as big as the other states, but its still big as compared to the normal bullcrap ass). Not to mention the inactivity. omg. I am so washed up. Not to mention my recent experience with walking. That was definitely the last straw.

Walking is pretty innocent activity, no? Well, not if you're crossing the street. Aside from the fact that you dodge high speed cars and also try to shelter yourself from the occasional rain/drizzle, sedentary lifestyle people encounter the dangers of becoming real life pinball along the road. Bad enough for a reckless driver who likes to play imaginary roadkill pinball (oh that's TEN points! that feisty lady over there is going to be 50 points! GOooooOOoooo!!!) occasionally exists along roads and highways, but to be glued at the middle of the road with no hope of moving will definitely be a disaster waiting to happen.

What happened? Ugh. I got cramps. Really bad. On both calves. while crossing the damn street. I suppose it was my fault to try and beat the light, but then, whoever liked waiting? I ended up (fortunately) a little after the middle section of the road. It was still on the road nonetheless. For my life's sake, I wobbled (yes, and I wobbled terribly) with excruciating pain on both calves freezing up on me to the end of the road to save me from pinball hell. I had to wait 5 minutes before it went away. Imagine if i was in the middle of the road when I got the cramps? If I was lucky, some arsehole with a vivid imagination might come up and play pinball on me. I'd probably be there, stuck for five minutes while the green light goes from red to green to red again.

Yes, it could've been a lot worse. Scared me shitless enough to drive me to grab my gym bag and start working out again.

And here I thought gym was only for making you look spanking good. We definitely don't live in a jungle anymore to need lightning quick reflexes, (thank god for out ancestors!) but its still a jungle out there in the urban world. No way am I going to get caught frozen in the middle of the road again.

Dammit.

我不難過 (孫燕姿)

This is one of the songs from Stephanie Sun. I personally think she's an amazing
singer, and I love all of her songs. She can sing rock or alternative, but
usually its pop or sentimental music. She's Singaporean and has this really strong,
expressive voice, much like Tori Amos. In fact, she did record one Tori Amos song
(there might be more, but I'm not awater of them) and she has done a great remake
"Hey Jude". Really amazing singer.

This song is one of my favorites, and I figured I better post the lyrics to remind myself
when I "look back" :) I'll leave you guys with the song and its lyrics.. uhm sorry for the non
chinese people, I'm too lazy to translate. :P

我不難過
作詞：楊明學　作曲：李偲菘　編曲：Kenn C.

又站在你家的門口　我們重複沉默
這樣子單方面的守候　還能多久
終於你開口向我訴說她有多溫柔
雖然你還握著我的手　但我已不在你心中
我真的懂　你不是喜新厭舊
是我沒有　陪在你身邊　當你寂寞時候
別再看著我說著你愛過　別太傷痛
我不難過　這不算什麼
只是為什麼眼淚會流　我也不懂
就讓我走　讓我開始享受自由
回憶很多　你的影子也會充滿我生活
我並不懦弱　你比誰都懂
雖然寂寞　這會是我最後的寬容

終於你開口向我述說她有多溫柔
雖然你還握著我的手　但我已不在你心中
我真的懂　你不是喜新厭舊
是我沒有　陪在你身邊　當你寂寞時候
別再看著我說著你愛過　別太傷痛
我不難過　這不算什麼
只是為什麼眼淚會流　我也不懂
就讓我走　讓我開始享受自由
回憶很多　你的影子也會充滿我生活
我並不懦弱　你比誰都懂
雖然寂寞　這會是我最後的寬容

抱緊我　再抱緊我
這一份感動　請你讓我留在胸口
別在說是你的錯
愛到了盡頭　是非對錯就讓它隨風
忘了所有　過得比你快活

我真的懂　你不是喜新厭舊
是我沒有　陪在你身邊　當你寂寞時候
別再看著我說著你愛過　別太傷痛
我不難過　這不算什麼
只是為什麼眼淚會流　我也不懂
不要再說　或許這是最好的結果
現在分手　總好過你不愛我一拖再拖
鬆開你的手　離開你左右
我向前走　這會是我　真正的解脫

Insomia 3

Three has to be the sweet number. I'll try again.... I hope the next time I put in an entry it will be proper morning.

Insomia 2

uhm. Not working. Trying again.

Insomia

Strange. I cant seem to sleep tonight.

The song seems to have gone off my head. I cant even remember the lyrics anymore, and I cant remember the tune either. This is good.

What to do at 1:30 am on a Friday morning ? I can't sleep at the moment.

dum dee dum dee dum. badu-badup. pa da pa pa pa-dam. rolly polly wants a cracker.

Would you like an apple pie? Did I tell you I had a swag of Smirnoff mixed vodka with Lemon the other day? It tastes interesting. Sent my head throbbing til the next day, too.

Have you met baby tiger? No I better not. Just in case you plan to kidnap him.

omg I'm blabbering. Let me try to take a swag at shut eye again....

How Much Are Intentions Worth?

What do they mean to you?

Are intentions the rule by which people are judged, or should actions be more a base of judgement rather than intentions?

We all know how people can sometimes do or say one thing and mean the other. They say "No I'm impartial towards any difference in race." But when tested, they show obvious signs of racial inclination. People are sometimes lead to believe one thing and do only the direct opposite to achieve the ends. An ideal, peaceful world, to be created by destroying the defective genes that reside in "defective" people. How will you judge that? A madman has killed thousands of men, and his defense is that he is doing this for the good of the greater number of people. His role is to achieve peace, but to what means? Machiavellian thought, end justifies the means.

Is it acceptable?

Innocence until proven guilty, or is it the other way around? what is the state of being guilty? Do intentions of a person play a vital role in determining his fate and justice? But then intentions can be ambiguous and be a tool for the sly in creating deception: An innocent "I was doing it for the best of the people" can easily replace "I wanted to conquer the whole world because I am power hungry". When does consideration for a person's intention start and stop? who has the say? It seems like believing in intentions can be as dangerous as playing with fire or opening pandora's box.

I don't really have an answer to the question. I just thought it might be nice to post this into the blog. The future will supply an answer to the intention question, but the answer isn't coming anytime now.

Any takers?

And The Song Just Keeps Playing ...

.. and playing.. and playing.. and playing...

UGH. Like energizer bunnies. Disgusting.

Everytime I forget myself, I start humming the tune. Or whistling it. Or singing it. Its an infectious disease.

And to commemorate it, I will post the stupid lyrics on my blog. Maybe this will stop it from plaguing me. Ladies and Gents..., here I present you with the song "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile":

Hey, hobo man
Hey, Dapper Dan
You've both got your style
But Brother,
You're never fully dressed
Without a smile!

Your clothes may be Beau Brummelly
They stand out a mile --
But Brother,
You're never fully dressed
Without a smile!

Who cares what they're wearing
On Main Street,
Or Saville Row,
It's what you wear from ear to ear
And not from head to toe
(That matters)

*Whew*

Fun Thing!

Its the most interesting thing that's happened to me since I came to Hong Kong!

I never intended to go; its not my thing, its not in my personality, and it violates my golden rule: Better to have not tried than show the world you failed and make an ass of yourself. But it happened, and I got dragged into this Annie audition for a relatively moderate sized showing on October this year.

To be honest, I've secretly convinced myself for the longest time that I am a star waiting to happen. If only people will hear me open my mouth, sing and drag out those nice vocal tartlets from the pits of my stomach, I will become an overnight sensation, much like super pop star Jay Chou. The world will bow at my feet, and cry themselves when they hear me sing. But I am modest, and shy, and I refuse to attend an audition to show the world my wonderful singing voice.

And yet I stood among 20 plus people in an school building in the Mid Levels area (hard to find the school by the way. tricky tricky.) learning to sing "Hey Ho Bo Man, Hey Dapper Dan ... " without a piano with other play wannabees. It was horrible to begin with, each of us having our own variation of the song (There's the broadway version, the movie version, the harry connick version, yada yada yada,... and no one even had the sense to confirm which version we're supposed to sing) and no starting note, and each variation and tone clashing with one another. Its like screeching cats. Then afterwards we all ended up trying to learn a couple of simple steps the choreographer has just showed us so we can sing and dance simultaneously for the audition. It was definitely for an impromptu "newbie" audition. Me I just danced away, feeling like the whole thing was a funny aerobic exercise. We had a couple of trials until the actual audition. The director entered, asked us to sing in groups (and he passed by and listened to us one by one) and then asked us to repeat the choreography. I just croaked like there's no tomorrow, and danced like no one was looking. (Please, its embarrassing. Dont let me repeat myself.) No telling if it worked or not.

I'm not really worried right now if I got accepted or not. Actually, I would be surprised if I was accepted. I wasn't even contented with the way I sung, and besides, I usually use a "diaphragm" falsetto-like voice when singing, and I dont think that type is actually appropriate for a play like Annie. And as I've said, I danced like no one was looking, which is in short for dancing and jumping like a monkey :) But the thing that got me is that, I never thought auditioning was so much fun. The whole thing gives you a whack on the head on how far away/along you are from most people when it comes to singing and dancing, so there's really no way you'll get a big head. Each person has something interesting that they can do. Others can dance really well, but sing horribly. Others sing really well, but you can't help but giggle when they try to shake their ass. Others just are really professional looking. Others you just wonder where the hell they got the courage to even show up. Its just a motley of people, and its the most fascinating thing I've ever been to. But the thing I like the most, is that you can get just wild doing the audition. Give it your best shot. Do your best. Shake that booty ass and wiggle those hips, and croak at the top of your voice. Anything goes, just as long as you do your best. There's this rush that you feel afterwards that's irreplaceable. You feel liberated, like you just conquered the world.

And I met a couple of nice people, too. Its a shame I didnt get their number, but maybe I'll see them in the next audition. Now I'm really glad I went; I have my friend to thank for dragging me into it. I won't probably get into the play, but I'm almost sure he will, cause he did really well during the audition. (Thanks Bryan!) At this point I know what I am, what I'm lacking and where I stand when it comes to performance. I'm probably not the closet super diva that I thought I was, but I know where exactly in the spectrum I'm in. Its the best feeling when you come to the realization and the truth, and at what point you're standing on.

No more illusions, and there's no way but forward. With the rush and thrill of the game, I think next time I'll confidently head off to an audition without anyone having to drag me; and the next time, I'll come in prepared, better and closer to the diva I'd imagine myself to be. Thank god this audition was of Annie and not Rent or Les Miserables. I'd probably die if I ever miss a chance with those two plays, even if I was just the scum at the background. (No offense to Annie fans). Would've been a great experience to be able to get into the Annie play, but as of now, I'm perfectly content just being able to attend that audition. It rocks. Cant wait for the next one.

Oh I just thought of a perfect way to describe my experience. Its called "grabbing life by the balls". AMAZING.