A Funny Horror Story

It's about time that I share this horrific but funny incident. Sorry Kits, hehe.

Remember that some years back, the most terrifying movie would be RINGU? It was the original Japanese version of the movie re-made by Hollywood as "The Ring".

Anyway, it was a very stormy Friday night. I took the risk of driving to Manila as soon as I got off from work at Batangas. Because of the heavy rains, the South Luzon Expressway was flooded so I decided to pass time at Alabang Town Center.

At the mall, my best friend Quito chanced upon me at Starbucks. We get to meet about once every couple of months as I'm already employed while he was still technically 'bumming' around. He just came from the liquor store to re-stock his and his mom's respective liquor stash --- whiskey for him and brandy for her.

He and his mom were planning on drinking that night (he's got the coolest mom that I ever know). To make the story short, he invited me to wait the storm at their house nearby and join them for drinks.

We arrived at Quito's house shortly. His mom hasn't seen me in a while, and in-between generous pours of hard liquor, she'd grill me on my work and if the company is treating me well (her husband used to work for the company that I am working for now, and she has some hinanakit about it). The rains and winds were becoming stronger, and because of the amount of whiskey I've downed so far, Quito's mom offered me to spend the night there. A quick call to my mom was done and it was settled.

Quito suggested that we go watch "RINGU", which he just borrowed earlier that day from one of their neighbors. Both of us are horror movie buffs. After changing into my pangtulog and setting up the movie, we watched it with the lights out. I was on the couch, Quito was on a La-Z boy while his mom seated herself on a rocking chair. Quito's mom brought out blankets for the 3 of us. The blowing wind and pouring rain added a bit of spookiness to the situation. Occasionally, one of us would let out their own version of a scream, jump off from our seat or cringe inwards. It's a really scary movie.

His mom adjourned at around 11 pm, about halfway into the movie. She found the movie too scary and begged off.

Remember that the last scene was that of a dried-up well where Sadako comes crawling out, and transcends the TV dimension and crawls out of the TV itself? At that point, I and Quito were already kidding each other who gets to turn off the TV and VCD player when the movie's done. After some persuasion and logical arguments (Quito was closer to the TV), Quito had to do it.

The player is located below the TV --- when you want to switch it off, your face will be just in front of the TV. When the movie ended (with some residual scaredy-cat feeling in the house), Quito got up reluctantly to turn off the TV and the VCD player. I kidded that "Hala, malapit ka sa TV. Kukunin ka ni Sadako bwahahaha."

"F*ck you, man. Unless Sadako calls at sinagot ko yung phone, that won't happen man, he replied.

At the point where the VCD tray was dispensing out the CD, the phone rang.

Nagkatinginan kami ni Kits.

The phone was still ringing.

On the third ring, Quito dashed to the couch where I was sitting and jumped on me. Major ouch.

At that point, Quito's mom came out of her room with the intent to answer the phone. When we saw that she was about to pick up the phone, Quito and I both shouted "WAAAAAGGG!!!".

Nagulat siya. She goes, "Why shouldn't I answer the phone? And Kits, bakit mo dinadaganan si Stiff?!"

Since we couldn't explain it, she picked up the phone despite our pleadings not to answer it.

"Hello? Ahh... Dinjo. He's here. Andito rin si Stiff.... yes, you can come over. They started drinking earlier..." A few more words, and Quito's ma put down the phone.

"Quito, Dinjo's coming over daw. May dala daw siyang bagong horror movie na Japanese, nood daw kayo."

At that point, the two of us were already laughing.

Hahaha.

Happy halloween, everyone!

7 Reasons Why I Wouldn't Take the Blue Pill

1. The blue pill doesn’t interest me. I’ve already taken a blue pill before and I didn’t like the experience.

2. The blue pill is a one-way ticket to the Waste Lands where there will be nothing to amuse nor distract me, and no one to palaver with. I will surely degenerate into a zombie.

3. The blue pill dissolves your environment into a cubicle. That is not the environment I want.

4. The blue pill rescinds the spotlight and leaves you in the shadows.

5. The blue pill comes with chains and shackles.

6. My 5 senses prefer the red pill. There is no sensory benefit with the blue pill except for what I think will be a bitter taste.

7. I think it’s time for me to be selfish. Even heroes choose their challenges. I will not take the blue pill because it is forced on me.

Weekend Warrior: Masskara 2007

As a greenhorn photography hobbyist, I took advantage of the cheap flights being offered by Air Philippines to Bacolod to go and see the city's Masskara Festival. So I filed a 5-day leave, booked my flights and 'hotel', and stepped on Bacolod soil-and-cement for the first time last Thursday.

First impression sight-wise: Bacolod isn't that much different from the Southern Cebu area. Lots of open spaces, wide streets and pleasant people. The weather's a bit sombre with grey clouds looming above the whole city. From the airport, I and Geland (who joined me on this trip) made our way to the pension house we're booked at.

SALTIMBOCA Pension House at 15th and Lacson Streets is a great deal. For 600/php a night, we got a clean airconditioned room with two beds. And the pension house is one of the few with it's own jacuzzi and 'lounging' pool ('lounging' -- no good for laps). No TV too. That's okay since this is a budget trip. Toilet and shower facilities are shared with the other 4 rooms in the unit. The staff are very friendly and accommodating.

As we arrived on a Thursday, there wasn't much to do yet so we visited St. John's Cathedral near the central market plaza. At Lacson Street, flag a jeepney with a sign saying it's bound for "Bata". Fare is at 7 pesos.

St. John's Cathedral is one of the major landmarks of Bacolod City, along with the Central Market Plaza and the newly constructed SM Bacolod (at the reclamation area). Outside the church, vendors selling Masskara souvenirs are all around. The decorative masks cost from 30 pesos to 250 pesos each, depending on the size and the design intricacy.

Inside the cathedral is a very familiar image of a man giving instruction and guidance to a couple of children. You'll find a larger version of it along Taft Avenue in Manila. It's an image of St. John Baptist de la Salle.

That day was also the day of the school dance competition for the 2007 Masskara festival, but unfortunately I wasn't able to catch it.

The following day was Friday, with two event highlights. First is the city parade in commemoration of the city's Charter Day. Second is the first "Elektrik Masskara" event organized by the festival committee.

The city parade was done in the early afternoon along Lacson Street. Schoolchildren clad in band uniforms, high school cadets marching, a convoy of vehicles giving away freebies from various sponsors, big bikers, vintage vehicles, and of course movie stars (dunno the names, but I overheard from the onlookers that it was Zardo and Lastikman). No Philippine festival parade would be complete without the presence of at least one TV or movie personality.



Later at night, select dance troupes of Bacolod paraded and danced for the Elektrik Masskara event. Dancing to various R&B, hiphop and folk music, the performers literally wowed the crowd and photographers with their dance choreography and colorful costumes. Some used light sticks for props and most were wearing masks creatively lighted with LEDs.

Saturday was a hectic day. Got to meet up with Buddy and Tin (toting their babies -- a brand new Nikon DSLR and their old reliable Fuji Finepix). Geland decided that we go visit the nearby town of Silay for a view of the old houses in the area.

The town of Silay is a 10-peso jeepney ride away from Bacolod City. It's about a 35 minute trip, passing through several sugarcane fields. The key attraction of Silay is the Bahay Negrense, the ancestral house of the Gaston family. The Gaston's are of German descent whose forefather was the pioneering sugarcane miller in the province. Local folklore say that the Gaston family has been the subject of several witchhunts and ostracism in the old times because the natives believed that they were bampiras. The portrait of the Gaston patriarch seems to serve as proof of this tale because he does look like Bram Stoker's Dracula.




We returned to Bacolod City after lunch so I can catch the Masskara baranggay competition at the Central Market Plaza. There were more than 20 entries, each of which performed the year's Masskara medley. It was difficult to obtain a good view of the dance competition, so I settled with mingling with the baranggay dancers at their waiting areas. It was a motley of costumes, masks, children and tourists! The colors that you see and capture there makes you want to snap pictures away endlessly.

At night, it was the street party along Lacson Street, Bacolod City's main avenue slash business district. Four large stages are set-up at various landmarks along the street, with each stage featuring its own performer. At this point, Sam and her very pretty sister Stef met up with me and they gave me a bar tour of Bacolod. Bacolod City's "place-to-be-seen" is Sorrento, their version of probably Eastwood. With five upscale bars and a coffee shop, the rich, pretty, good-looking and VIPs seem to congregate at this place. The three of us lounged a little, drank a bit, talked anything about Bacolod and looked at the people.


Sunday was our last day. Geland and I took an Oceanjet ferry to Iloilo. Flights going to Manila are 2000+ pesos cheaper if you take it from Iloilo, hence the side trip.

We only had enough time to make one stop at Iloilo City --- to hear mass at the city's JARO Cathedral, one of their more prominent landmarks.

This is getting to be a long post, and I haven't talked about the food yet!

It's hard to say that the trip was relaxing. I've been going from one place to another like on some sort of race, with no real time to relax. But the sights and the pictures I got were worth the hardship.

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Bacolod tidbits:

1. Elementary schoolchildren do not need to pay jeepney fare. They get to ride for free.
2. The proper way to eat chicken inasal and rice is sans spoon-and-fork. Eat with your hands as the locals do.
3. The reclamation area is now where SM Bacolod stands.
4. Bacolod's elite dresses up to the part. When they go malling, they're dressed as if they're going to a fashion party. That's how they advertise their social status. (This explains why most of my Bacolod-friends do dress fashionably...)
5. All the ladies I've talked to in Bacolod were always smiling. City of Smiles indeed.

Abstinence

Last Wednesday night, I started to abstain on two things: smoking and "B-Nights". The reasons for abstaining from each are different though.

About every 6 months, I completely abstain from nicotine consumption for a week or more. I can recite several benefits of smoking, but everything is meaningless once you go beyond the 4-sticks-a-day limit. I read somewhere that smoking 5 sticks of cigarettes a day puts you at the same cancer risk as a one-pack-a-day smoker.

The nicotine abstinence is a personal test --- am I already dependent on the nicotine high in order to relax (or de-stress) and think clearly? Have I developed an uncontrollable nicotine craving since the last time I abstained?

A lot of things happened in the last 6 months for me that may have aggravated my smoking habit --- an increased degree of difficulty at work, new learning curves, less exercise (I completely stopped from going to the gym since February) and beer-drinking nights.

Save for second-hand smoke, I've been nicotine-free for the last 4 days. No major worries (or withdrawal symptoms) so far.

My decision to abstain from B-nights (gatherings of the bachelors' group in our workplace) was unfortunately triggered by two words. Stephen panis. I didn't like the sound of that. That actually caused my vision to dim last Wednesday (rage, what else?), but I managed to hold my bearing. I really wanted to drop everything there and then. Mob-dynamics aside, I'd really like to find out who started it.

I wanted to bash somebody's face with my camera and throw in a couple of punches but fortunately, I was able to control my temper. I wouldn't mind if a 50-grand Canon camera gets whacked. I think the momentary satisfaction of releasing my rage on somebody I detested at that time is a good deal for a voided warranty.

B-nights, I'll be abstaining for I don't know how long.

Could be a tipping point.

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Out-of-topic Postscripts:

1. MASSKARA at Bacolod is okay. Pictures to be posted soon.
2. Sis treated the whole family to dinner at CPK Alabang Town Center tonight.
3. Thanks to Sam and Stef for the bar tour of Bacolod.
4. For the second time, my release window was not made available to me for an assignment I'm applying for at work. Boo-hooo. Curses!

Loving Bohol

Wish you were there. =)

A great way to spend the long weekend --
soaking in the sun,
walking along the beach,
enjoying the views,
savoring the local cuisine,
drinking to your heart's content
and laughing heartily among strangers and friends.

HAIL HAIL HAIL!

I'm proud to be from this school.

At a Crossroad

This morning, one of my office colleagues -- Bai -- forwarded to me a broadcast for a career opportunity with another group in our organization. I suddenly found myself at a crossroad, standing there and gawking at three possibilities.

If I take the first route, I decide to stick with my current job --- a lot of number crunching and technical report writing. There's the occasional preparation of high-level presentation materials. All the activities in this route shall eventually lead to a 300-million-dollar project for my company. What's bad about this route is that it's already boring to me. Imagine yourself driving along a very beautiful farmland. At first, one feels energized with the landscape. But if the scenery stays the same for the next 300 miles or so, one gets bored of it.

The second route is an unchartered road. Nobody knows what you'll find there. If there are monsters or bogpits that can trap you, you can die on this road. There are rumors though that somewhere along it is the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If ever that I'll be trodding on this road, I need all the good luck charms and guardian angels I can muster. I have two further options on WHEN to take this road: either (1) I wait until someone calls me forth, gives me a map and a packhorse with all sorts of supplies to journey down the road, or (2) I lose all sense of practicality, gather my guts and take the first step blindly.

The third route has a clear sign, saying "This Way to the Kingdom of S and D, and we'd like to have you there!". It's a well-used road with several journeymen plying it, ask directions from and have one-or-two grafs with. The problem with this road is that it's downhill all-the-way, a relatively easy journey. Settling at the Kingdom of S and D will not be a problem for me or my short-term career wants. But what if in the future I need (or wish?) to leave the Kingdom of S and D to pursue other wants? Nobody knows for sure if that the King of S and D fancies you, he'll let you take your leave. Then it's going to be an uphill climb for me again in order to return to the crossroads.

I really need to be careful in deciding which road to take. I've already made the mistake of taking the BLUE PILL before. (The BLUE PILL will be my next post).

GREEN-WHITE-FIGHT!

"2 is greater than 3" -- Franz Pumaren, head coach for DLSU Green Archers, after winning over Ateneo in yesterday's game.

If there's one thing that can quickly kindle my La Sallian pride, it's an Ateneo-La Salle UAAP game. Even if I have to be content with watching it from my televesion set (it's really a great challenge just to get hold of those tickets), I get this feeling of ecstasy every time an Archer does a nice jump shot or makes a good steal. Hell, you'd see me shouting at the TV set cheering my alma mater on.

Yup, I'm not cheering solely for the basketball team. I'm cheering for my alma mater.

And when the team wins, it's the whole University that wins -- the students, faculty, alumni and even the support staff (janitorial, security, concessionaires, etc.).

I also believe that as far as most La Sallians are concerned, last night was THE championship game. Although DLSU still needs to face undefeated University of the East this week, it doesn't matter much for the community. If DLSU wins against UE, it's just icing on the cake. If we lose, I don't think it'll sting us much.

photo courtesy of ARCHERPRIDE.COM

Now what did Coach Franz really mean when he remarked that "2 is greater than 3"?

A member of my alumni group couldn't have answered it better:

[1] Winning 2 games that really matters is greater than 3 games
[2] DLSU Men's Basketball team's current 2nd place standing in UAAP 70 is greater than Ateneo's 3rd place
[3] DLSU's No. 2 Philippine University ranking in the educational survey is greater than Ateneo's number 3.
[4] All of the above. =)

Bill Sison writes that this rivalry "is a passion that will never die out".

"When you leave an Atenean and a La Sallian in a room together, one will always think that he is number one, and the other is number two. They simply refuse to lose to each other. It's as simple as that."

Hail!