Monday, June 26, 2006
- i love waking up with rain outside my window. the roaring sound it makes is actually quite relaxing, plus the gloomy skies are a welcome sight after late nights. there's less sunlight to motivate me out of my bed, thus i snuggle deeper into my covers... also, psychology-wise, i sudddenly feel cool. i guess coming from pinas where the weather gets hot, rain can be a welcome change.
- speaking of pinas, rains usually meant no school. no school is always fun.
- i also had begun to love watching the trees sway and move with the strong gusts of wind. yes, even during typhoons. nature is an amazing sight to watch and truly a force to reckon with.
- i love walking/playing in the rain. childhood memories take me back to times i'd make boats and watch them go along the canals... then i'd play on a street nearby, where the water would cascade down to form pools. (of course, i'd take a bath after everytime i did this. my mom would not stand for me to be just dripping germs and all that)
- rain reminds me of the time of the Great Manila Traffic/Flood back in 96. got stuck in the road for 14 hours. being cramped up in the van with some friends. good conversations. eating lechon kawali and rice with our hands, then washing them later in the rain. walking around, going inside convenient stores, and surprisingly seeing familiar faces. it was actually fun.
- i love hiking in the rain. ok, i did this just once, but because hiking was a strenous exercise then, the rain calmed me. it made things a hell lotta slippery, but mud can be fun, too. haha, i'm weird.
- i love how the earth would smell - the freshly watered grass - after the rain.
- i even wrote a fiction (for an english class) involving the rain... with one hilarious result in particular.
- i love sipping hot soup or chocolate while its raining. mmmmmmmmmmm...
the comes the HATE. there's the fact that before and after the rain, i'd hear the frogs croak like they were this mad choir or something. i hate frogs. despise, loathe, detest them. but as long as i couldn't see them, i figured i was ok.
then came driving in the highways. absolutely HATE rain in the highways! i had the first experience of it in pinas, and it was my exam for my driving class! stick shift driving, to boot!!! can you imagine, driving along roxas boulevard and south superhighway - known as venues for some fast mad driving skills, plus reckless jaywalking. and all the while, you have an instructor in the passenger seat! it was a horrible position to be in, one wherein i was most painfully conscious of every single thing around me. how could you not be? i tried not to get myself and the instructor killed, keep the car in one piece, AND pass an exam at the same time.
omg. it is a memory that will always haunt me.
i was reminded of it again earlier. had another horrible experience. worse, i got caught in the evening... again! could hardly see anything. a truck would pass by, and there would be a huge splash of water covering the windshield for 2 seconds, and i'd pray for dear life that nothing would be in my path. the wipers are not fast enough against the onslaught of rain pounding the windshield. i'm always afraid the car would hydroplane (it never did, thankfully). another splash, this time to the side of my car, and i'd be jolted out of my concentration, just by the sheer force of it.
i'm now safely back in the house. sipping soup. i'm back to loving the rain again... that is, until the next time i drive in the highway.
*** UPDATE: at one point, i felt like Cher in the movie Clueless. totally paranoid in the highway scene. i wanted to laugh, if only i wasn't so afraid and busy praying.
0 comments // 7:57 PM
Thursday, June 22, 2006to all you lost junkies...
this video is soooo intoxicating.. the moves.. the music... (it's the UK promo)
i can just watch it over... and over.... and over... again...
0 comments // 9:24 PM
Wednesday, June 21, 2006ok. so i promised that i'd post pics..... laterrrrr... :P
something just happened today that i'm just compelled to write. um. it's really nothing interesting (eeeh, so why write about it?!?!)
our boss asked a favor from us today, wherein we had to hand-write some typewritten english essays. um. ye. there was a reason behind it, but i didn't understand at that time. i was just saying ok immediately, seeing that our boss (who's extremely cool, btw) hardly makes us do anything in the first place. so ye, i'll do that favor!
like i said, what it was was pretty simple -- just copy the typewritten essays by hand.
two sentences in, my right hand was COMPLAINING.
it just dawned on me how much i relied on technology. for this instance, i had gotten soooo used to TYPING already, it was like -- writing, what's that? and now that i look back, i can't remember when i had to ACTUALLY write an essay. first year highschool? that's like... wow, ages ago. omg o_O
just can't imagine how i'd be able to keep up this blog if i did all the entries by hand.
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fine, fine... here's some pics from the lancaster sertoma bbq!
what's that... the park's on fire?
the smoke gets heavy...
it's a sacrilegous offering?!?!
... oh.. some guys doing some heavy bbq-ing
... ooooooohhhh. it's a fundraiser...
lots of boxes for cars to pass by and pick up.
i pass by as well... and pay $7 (steeeeeep!)
tada!
weeeee! food!
(taken at home -- the chicken is freakin' huge!!!)
lovely day to eat at the park
dang. was hoping he didn't see me for this candid shot. i did get his respective other getting a huge bite out of her food, hihi
... you can feed the duckies...
... the cute duckies...
... the really cute duckies, up close... (they were an arm's length from me, i swear!)
satisfied? more pics soooooooon!
0 comments // 7:39 PM
Monday, June 19, 2006i generally hate what-if scenarios. there have been many times in my life that seems that the present could've drastically changed had i done something else, decided differently...
what if i had made the move instead...?
what if i didn't go to lasalle and went to UP instead?
what if i answered this guy...?
what if i had stayed in the philippines?
to this last one, i believe i had an answer. i was chatting with my former boss (whom i also met up with at washington 2 weekends ago) just a while ago... mind you, he was in a meeting while we were chatting. let's call him AV.
here was the update -- all the people at our real estate project got promoted. everyone, including the assistant that i had before i left. my former bosses are now the heads of the company, not just the project. while i'm sincerely happy for them, its the comment from AV that had me thinking -- "if you had stayed, you could've been the VP of the project".
...
what else could i say...
i think i could've handled it. no, i KNOW i could've handled it. it would've been exciting, too. nerve-wracking, TONS of work, but exciting. the best thing about it is, i could've stayed in pinas. yes, i'm overly attached to it.
nevertheless...
there's no turning back. i'm here. while i COULD go back, it would just show me as a flacker. i hate that. i know i'm indecisive, but not on a large-scale. and i already have a plan right now. i have to finish it.
i can't say i regret being here. tons of stuff have happened, not career-wise, but in terms of how i am.. or became when i got here. as much as i remained Mitch, i DID change. and things happen for a reason. and besides, i met some great people here. and the philippines won't be going anywhere. i must though.
(voice inside my head says: or maybe i'm just comforting myself...) sigh.
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anyhoo, my blog has been text-intensive lately, so let me post this two pics to break the monotony:
here's one of the islands in pinas.. in one of the rare moments of GOOD news about my country, it has been declared the world's center of marine bioversity.
unfortunately, it's also the one most threatened (groan...)
and then there's google earth. this gem of a program allows you to zoom in on any place in the world! it works well for US, but with the philippines, i had to manually zoom in and trace every street (thank goodness i'm a landmark-kind of person). it's painstaking, but well worth it in the end. in fact, i was chatting with my bro as i was trying to look for our house (yes, that's the one in the pic right now). when i told him i had an image, i asked him to look at the color of the rooftops of the houses beside ours. he was so excited, he went ahead and even looked at the houses BESIDE the houses beside our home. (yellow roof! blue roof! red roof!) that was fun :)
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on other news, i went to the flea market last saturday with kat! i went and bought stuff (kat u bad!).. and took pictures like the camera whore that i am. pics soon! (gack, too much stuff that needs to be uploaded! washington.. sertoma... flea market..)
0 comments // 8:56 PM
Friday, June 16, 2006omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg!!!!!!!
for those of you updating with manga tsubasa (let's see.. wait... its just me!!!). it's from clamp, the group that made the popular card captors sakura.
...... *crickets
o whatever! this is my blog --- i'm going to talk about it anyway!
anyway, their latest chapter just hit me with a HUGE FREAKIN' TWIST. run-me-over-didn't-see-it-coming BOULDER of a twist. and i'm sure all tsubasa fans are feeling the same way, too. it's just... awesome. i mean... wow...
if you feel the need to catch up, here are the images:
room of requirements
... and then the translations:
i hyu because... (chapters 1-80)
pikari-san's translations (chapters 81-present)
i'm currently at chapter 119 already.
and the thing is, as much as i am shocked by it all, i STILL can't fully comprehend what happened! even after i kept rereading it for, like, 5 times!
omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg!!!!!!!
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a warning though. i would understand if you don't have the patience to go through them -- the images are all in japanese, and you have to flip thru each page, then go to the translation sites to understand them... ye, i know, i'm REALLY patient. or just obsessed).
but oh, you non-manga-anime lovers, you miss a lot...
fine. here then, is another shout-out i mentioned a few posts ago... it's a webcomic i can recommend (i'm passing on what my friend got me into recently) -- inverloch if the story doesn't grab you, the top-notch graphics will.
0 comments // 6:17 PM
Wednesday, June 14, 2006worrrrrrrrrrrrrrk...
these 3 days had been quite hectic. i took advantage of the fact that my aunt and cousin were out of town to do some serious on campus work. it's only for a week, i tell myself.
i did NOT expect the deluge of work though.
granted, it's probably just a random occurrence (which just had to happen on those 3 days... grr.. other days were light). aaaaaand, i've handled much worse back in the philippines. THAT was strenous. NOTHING would beat that. EVER. imagine me working 7 days a week. 8:30am-12pm weekdays, 10-4pm saturdays, 6am-6pm sundays. yes, that happened. regularly. i survived.
sooooo, i guess i really shouldn't be complaining about my work here.
baah. who am i kidding. i want to whine. LET ME COMPLAIN!
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on another note, i was introduced to a new obsession a week ago. i'm now an avid reader of inverloch, and let me tell you, the graphics are top-notch. what's even more amazing, the creator regularly updates her comics (twice a week!), which has me happily looking forward to it on the web.
weeeeeeeee!
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'superman returns' is looking to be TIGHT! (um, no pun intended on his tight outfit) seriously, if this is the reason bryan singer (director of first 2 xmen movies, i think) had to leave the 3rd xmen installment (which sucked, from what i hear), then this movie HAS to be good! the trailer looks amazing!
and then there's 'devil wears prada'. there's anne hathaway (the role suits her) and meryl freakin' streep (awesome actress!!!). what a chameleon streep is. me love her lots!!! and of course, this is a movie about fashion!!!!!!! i will SURELY go to the theatre for this one!
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i reread 'spring moon' yesterday and was struck by some lines... the beauty of rereading is, sometimes, even if i had read the story over and over again, something new pops up... takes hold of your attention... and the story is like new again...
the story is quite long, but the scenario that i was looking at had a couple fighting about being unwillingly separated from each other.. they were yielding to their culture... something i'm quite familiar with...
anyway...
"do not see what is wrong?" he cried. "what is wrong with you, me, us? with golden virtue? with all chinese? with the old empire? with the old ways?"
"yielding! that is what is wrong. in the end, we always yield -- to tradition, to foreigners, to family, to authority, to duty. to everything and everybody, living and dead -- except our needs, our dreams, our passions! if we do live for ourselves, it is not for long. a moment here, a month there. as long as no one knows. as long as nothing is truly changed. then once more we yield. once more we live as others would have us live."
she walked toward him, her arm outstretched. he would not look at her. she took his face in her hands. "we shall survive," she said. "we shall eventually think our separation is a natural state. yielding more, we shall desire less. so it is with us chinese. so you have often said."
"we yield and we survive, spring moon, but to what end? to what end?" (guy)
"a life of sacrifice -- of duty -- of honor," she said.
"it is not enough..." (guy)
it's poignant. it's true... but at the same time, sad. i'm sad...
must read inverloch again.
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speaking of chinese... i had a shirt today with some chinese characters. pretty simple shirt, gray, with some designs... the characters were cool-looking. of course, the drawback to wearing one like it is if you have no freakin idea what they mean.
a taiwanese friend came up to me and said, depending on how you look at your life, your relationship, it can say --
"you like someone, but he doesn't like you back"
WHAAA---
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i MUST put up some pics. i have still to post some stuff about my washington trip, and many others.
and i want to play my PS2 game!
and i WANT to change my layout!
i want i want i want me me me me mine mine mine mine now now now now... (GUESS WHICH MOVIE THIS LINE CAME FROM!!!)
1 comments // 6:31 PM
Monday, June 05, 2006ye ye ye. 3rd post in 1 day.
i went online today to check up on old ps1 games that i enjoyed playing back in pinas. why, i dunno. maybe i was hoping to play them again. of course, there's xenogears. perhaps my all-time fave game. the close second is suikoden2...
looked up online to see the rates for used... $100 for suikoden2!!! dang!
i'm only too glad i have my own copy. apparently, suikoden2 was released at an inital poor supply-demand, but it turned out to be one of the better rpg games. which makes my copy really pricey, i guess. too bad its waaaay back in pinas, and i do hope my bro did not throw it away. my rpg games are very preciouuuuuuuus to me (and i apologize that there were times i hogged the ps, but mengs, you have the PS all to yourself now! just don't throw away my games!).
suikoden2 is really a fun game. the mini-games were worth it. but wow, $100...
there's always xenogears i guess. aaah, i miss both of them.. huhu...
0 comments // 4:33 PM
had to share this one ----
my dad came to visit me this weekend. had to cancel some previous engagements for it (sorry, kat), but it went ok. he's still... dad... (only my siblings know what this means).
on a side note, here's a little scenario that happened on the first day he arrived. i showed him my car Charlie, and offered to give him a ride to Park City. on the way, insanity hits me (it happens) and i exclaim:
"HAH! THIS IS MY CAR! I'M THE DRIVER! YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING! YOU WILL GO WHERE I WANT TO GO!"
hahahahaha.. haha.. ha... ha...
*crickets*
i honestly thought i was in trouble. he smiled, but he didn't laugh with me.
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2 days later, i find out he didn't register me as an alternate driver for our rented car for our Washington trip.
0 comments // 3:28 PM
mitch's guide to the philippine lifestlye. part1
HAVING GUESTS-
the good: the food. it's that time where all the BIG RECIPES are laid out, those SPECIAL DISHES made... be prepared to pig out.
the bad: you spend a minimum of one week cleaning up the place for their visit. every nook and corner will be inspected
another bad: cleaning up after the visit/party.
another bad: you might have to move out of your room to accomodate the guests.
seriously, the food more than makes up for all of the bad... i think.
TRYING THE FOOD-
be warned. it can get extremely addicting and.. fattening. 'death-on-a-platter' fattening. think cholesterol. crispy pata. lechon. yuuuuumm....
it can also get weird sometimes, like dinuguan (blood pudding), isaw (pig's intestines)... but all that aside, food is wickedly awesome.
in particular, one american lady had this to say about leche flan (a filipino dessert) -- "IT'S BETTER THAN SEX!!!". lololololol
GETTING TO KNOW THE CLAN -
once you get into a filipino family, be prepared to know a loooooooooong list of relatives and friends. yes, you will be expected to know each of them. do you remember this guy? he is the cousin of your dad's uncle. aside from the name recall game, be prepared for long family stories as well. reunions can get scary.
REGARDING DADS/FATHERS -
whatever age you may be (26, 29..), you will always be 16 to him. ALWAYS.
on the plus side, when he says it's his treat, he really treats. take advantage of the situation!!!
REGARDING MUSIC -
filipinos love music. if you happen to be musically-gifted, good for you. you will be treated very well and liked very much. will always be sought after during reunions. math genius, pooey. you sing/play instrument, you DA STAR! (of course, it has it's downsides as well. expect to perform per reunion). always have an 'impromptu' show to do (example, the duet for "something stupid").
REGARDING TECHNOLOGY -
it's always up-to-date. if not, it sure has truckloads of features. if you run out of topic, look no further than the cellphone. the owner will only be too glad to show/display/describe it to you, with matching story of how cheap/expensive it was.
REGARDING GREETINGS -
whereas americans, and maybe other races, would greet you with "how's the weather?" or "what have you been up to?", the filipinos way of hello is consciously calling attention to your physique -- "hey, you look great!", "wow, you're so thin already!", "wooooooah! you got huge!!"... my personal fave (sarcasm) -- hindi ka naman tumaba a... (hey, you didn't grow fat...)". EVERYTIME. it. never. fails.
more in future posts.
btw, i went to washington this weekend. as chance would have it, it was also the time for filipinos to celebrate 100 years of philippine migrants to US. sooo, there was a parade, music, and lots of stalls. regretfully, not tiangge prices, but still pretty good stuff, tho. pictures to follow!
0 comments // 2:40 PM
