One Week at K.L.

I just got back from Kuala Lumpur last Saturday night. I attended a one-week training course for a simulation program that will be core to my current job assignment. The program is a very challenging application; it can even get on your nerves because of the configuration and troubleshooting. Thank goodness that the class (there were 12 of us), place, topic and instructors were such that learning was conducive, fun and satisfying.

That's the work part of my trip. On the non-work part:

1. On a daily basis, I grab either an irish caffe americano or a double mocha to-go at the Starbucks in front of my hotel. Hehehe... it's a nice feeling for me to sip on coffe on my way to Petronas Towers.

2. Finished reading two books: The HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova, and The THIRD SECRET by Steve Berry. Both were satisfying reads; I'd recommend both books to other readers. Kostova's book had a more tedious plot though. Because I'm such a bookworm, I've been sleeping 4-5 hours a day only during that trip.

3. Had dinner at Benny and Anne's apartment; met their 1+ year old baby angel ANGEL. Sabi ni Anne, mukhang "charming" daw ako sa mga bata. Wala pa daw kasing 10 minutes eh dumadaldal na sa 'kin at nagpapa-impress while oftentimes ANGEL tends to be a shy person.

4. Exchanged stories with Benny and Anne -- career, work gossip, personal stuff (pakasal na daw ako), own beliefs, choice of books, how to take care of kids, etc.

5. Bought some casual shirts at a factory outlet sale.

6. Scrounged K.L.'s version of Greenhills for a PS2 accessory. I almost bought a PSP because they've got units that can play pirated copies of the game!

7. Had to bear with the dragon dancers every night around 1030 pm when they do their thing at every floor in the hotel.

8. Dinner at hawker's center with Anne, Benny, Ronn, Cris, Erick and Cong. This is the only time na nakapag-pork ako sa KL. Kuwentuhan uli (ang ingay namin!) over a sumptuous dinner of chicken fish, lemon chicken, pork spareribs and Tiger beer.

9. Went to the hotel's gym on T/Th 630-800 a.m. just to stick to my physical fitness program.

10. Visited my favorite KL shop: Kinokuniya bookstore bwahaha. Bought only one book though.

11. Partied with Cris, Ronn, Tim and Kodaka-san on Friday night --- went to the Beach Club, then off to Hard Rock Cafe, and finally at the Zouk Club. Got myself a free shirt from a launch party at Zouk.

12. Meals -- I've only narrow options because I have a weak tolerance for curry. Buti na lang there's a Yoshinoya at KLCC, so I alternated Japanese food with Hainanese Chicken Rice. hehehe. :D

Many thanks to Frat (who gave me a premier pass at KLIA so I was able to breeze through immigration), Benny & Anne, Cris, Ronn, Erick and Cong for a great week at KL!

Promil Kid

I totally agree with Calvin.

Secret Project Status

Damn! I know so much on my "secret projects" but I can't share the output with my colleagues! I'm currently bounded by a high level confidentiality agreement.

Project TAAL is now on Phase 2.
Project CUPID just finished Phase 1.

I know so much i know so much i know so much i know so much... but what's the sense of knowing all of these if I can't make kuwento to my colleagues?

Must...Control...Myself...

3-Things-That-I-Want-To-Do-and-Can-Afford-To
but am controlling myself:

1. Go to Singapore and watch the Oasis concert
2. Buy an HP Notebook R51
3. Get a tattoo

and-why-I-can't-do-them:

1. I'm saving all my vacation leave allowances for a US or Australia trip this summer.
2. I cannot justify it's necessity to my current work-and-play lifestyle.
3. I don't know where to put it.

Can somebody help me decide? :D

Memoirs of a Narnian Flux

Hahaha... this recent weekend was a totally couch-potato experience for me -- I found the time to watch three films.

A. Memoirs of a Geisha

Interesting enough. I'm partial towards Japanese-based films, and more brownie points to the movie if it's a period film. I haven't read the book, but I think the movie is pleasing enough to give the non-reader a good overview of "Memoirs".

After seeing the film, I think I now understand why some of my Japanese-lady friends have that pasttime of "catch a man with just one look". It's a geisha skill. Kairi often does this, hehehe.

In my personal rating scheme, I'd give Memoirs of a Geisha 7.5/10 rating. It could hav been an 8.5 max, but the English dialogue is too thick with the Asian accents (making it hard to catch some of the conversations) and the transition among the 3 parts of the movie was done a bit awkwardly.

B. The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Wahooo! Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings!

Okay, I'll admit that I wouldn't bother seeing "Narnia" if I haven't come across Carmela's post at her blog. You see, based on my impressions of her (and her intelligence), I think Carmela's opinions value a lot when it comes to film and literature critiques. Plus, I tried skimming as early as two years ago (at that time, I was searching for a new series to collect) through C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles" and I wasn't really impressed.

Fortunately, the film version was a "two thumbs-up" pleasure for me. The cast selection was good, the settings were great and the visual effects were splendid. I wouldn't argue on the plot because that (I assume) is a given.

Best scene: what else, but the war scene. The Witch was astounding in her battle gear and polar-bear driven chariot. The fire arrow that became a phoenix that became a fire-line was also great.

Personal rating: 8.8 out of 10.

C. AEON FLUX

Three things:
* Charlize Theron can kick ass.
* Futuristic environment.
* The concept and plot is good but the fight scenes were mediocre.

Best scene: cover-fire provided by snipers

Personal rating: 7.1 out of 10.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

In Calvin's viewpoint, this is the reason, hehehe.



I love this kid. Just bought for myself "The Complete Collection of Calvin and Hobbes". =)

Year-ender Closing Credits

Thanks to the following for making 2005 fun, if not bearable. Hope that all of you will be still around in 2006!

0. The whole Cruz clan
1. Quito and Maqui
2. Fishy-fishy gang: Chard, Tin, MJ, Mond.
3. Badshots Group
4. Weekend warriors: Tito Gabs, JJ, Roroy, Alex, Macky, Tin, Mad, Chie, Nikko, Dee, Bettina, Ru, Annelle
5. Team Mission Specific: (patay, di ko memorized lahat ng names nila hehehe..) Nikko, Ru, Bettina, Dee, Keysa, Mon, Tin, Mad, Jumar, Jon, Roms, Seggy, Lean, Lennard, Usman, Mikko, Rhichie, Berns, Kara, Syo. May nakalimutan ba ako?
6. My coffee partners: Ube, Denise, May and Weng. =)
7. Phuketeers: Tin, Mad, Chie, Carmela, Roms, Chard
8. Hannah
9. Gym group: Kaye, Jackie, Jourdan
10. Tabangao Bachelors group
11. Wan-or-tu regulars: Emer, Glenn
12. Chito Flores and Kaye Legasto
13. RBG Mercenaries
14. College buddies: John, Tom, Fiel, Pin, Mats, Shierry
15. Lissa Sumpaico
16. Power-up Climbers: Mad, Chie, Bambi, Onyok, Jeff, Tin
17. Ka Paqui and Tita Cels Duenas
18. Tito Pip
19. Mrs. Balocating
20. Pao, Maloy, Elips, Choy, Ruel, Toyang, Alglyn, Rely, Tante
21. Ms. Lynn Elsenhanns
22. Andrew Castueras and Brandy Brandares
23. Batangas Airsoft Team
24. Maroon5
25. Sony Computer Entertainment America, Square-ENIX, Konami
26. Apple Computers and JBL Sound systems
27. Linang and Allan for the DVD supply
28. Papa Jun - favorite gunsmith
29. Team SOE + Kasmot + Boo and Teriboo + Caloyski
30. Shell Badminton Club

Thanks to all of you!

Kulitan Lang

Christmas party ng airsoft team namin. Kulet nyong lahat!



Eto, mas matinong group pic, pero makulet talaga yung dalawang katabi ko.



Update ko na lang 'tong post pag nakakuha ako ng kopya nung pics galing sa christmas party ng workmates ko dito. =)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Sana next year makulit pa rin kayong lahat!

Sweating the Small Stuff

This is me making a big deal out of a small thing.

On December 23rd, a friend of mine made plans to have a coffee get-together for our small group of 4 (yup, having coffee is the current norm for getting together in the various circle of friends I have, much the same way as the FRIENDS sitcom gang meet up at Central Perk).

As I currently have limited transportation means (read: I crashed my car a couple of weeks ago, and it'll take 5-6 weeks to repair it), I made a plea to have the coffee get-together at Rockwell instead of Fort. I've been hitching rides home since my car accident, and my drop-off point for my Dec 23 hitch is at Rockwell.

Me: Can we have it at Rockwell instead?
Friend: Fort na lang. Baka kasi ma-traffic dun e.
Me: Okay fine.

At 915 pm, after all the Christmas errands at Rockwell, I was finally okay to get going to Fort. So I waited at the mall's taxi stand. I was 7th in line.

Not so lucky number 7. 40 minutes later, I became number 6 in line. Goodness!

Friend, via sms: Alis kami ng 11 dito (Fort) ha?

At 1050 pm, I was still sixth in line. Damn.

So I decided to walk all the way from Powerplant Mall to EDSA (it's a good 20 minute brisk walking) where I was able to get onboard a bus.

Got home a little past midnight.

If the get-together was done at Rockwell, all of us would have been sharing stories and laughs instead of me standing and jigging with a dozen other strangers in a taxi stand outside Powerplant Mall.

And I didn't bother going to the coffee get together anymore. Nor will I attend any coffee get-togethers organized by this friend in the near-future. I realized that my worth as far as my friend is concerned is only as good as a 10-minute traffic inconvenience in Makati.

This is me making a big deal over a small thing.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a naturally good and understanding person. But occasionally, I do have some quirks both negative and positive. But those are what make me lovable and interesting, bwahahahaha.

By the way, belated Christmas greetings to all my readers! =)

Snow"FALL"

Dunno until when will my brother keep this on the web.

The guy in the video is him. He's somewhere in New Jersey. :D

This is proof that clumsiness does run in our family.

http://hostinggenesis.com/snow.html

Rain rain rain

It's been raining non-stop for the last 3 days here at Tabangao.

Masarap matulog, mahirap gumising. Haaaay...
And it makes the December mornings more chilly than the usual. =)
Perfect for hugging someone.

-------

Played in a badminton tournament last night as an 'endurance player' in a Davis Cup tournament format. I played in both the open singles division and in the mixed class division. Got a runner-up finish in both categories.

Then went to a birthday party of one of our lab testers afterwards. Downed 6 shots of Fundador in less than half-an-hour, hahahaha.
Sarap ng tulog ko.
But I woke up with an aching left chest and left quads.
Still raining.

Tagaytay RAaaaArrrR!

We had a funny 'exercise' over tequila, vodka ice, vodka and beer last weekend at the balcony of niks/atsi's house in tagaytay.
Everybody got to participate.
And everyone was spontaneous.

Opener: Sino pa ba na pwedeng i-set-up kay *toot*? Criteria eh single, mas matangkad dapat kay *toot*, mabait at mature.

"he's a Religios Roman catholic."
"Respected."
"Responsible"
"Resourceful."

"let's think of their ideal date."
"do you like flowers? Red Roses?"
"... na naka-wRap!" tawanan.
"for dinner, will you be ordering Ravioli?"
"with Red wine."
"baka masyadong matapang yung Red wine, so they can have Rootbeer instead."
"tapos dessert will be Raspberry icecream."
"or Reese's chocolates."
.... pause ...
"ano bang ideal music?"
"siyempre it has to be something Romantic."
"pwede ring Rap..."
"at pwede ring "RaaR" n B!" [eto panalo 'to, c/o Syo]
"tapos yung sasakyan nya eh dapat Rav4!"
"yeah, para may 'rooom! rooom!' -- engine sound"
"(out of topic) where's RuRik?"
"madali lang 'yan. he's on the Road na." [bwahahahaha... galing!]

... pause uli ...

"so san kaya sila magandang magtravel?"
"siyempre sa Rome!"
"pwede rin sa Romania!"
"bwahahahahahaha!!!!"
"o, why are you turning Red?"
"baka ma-wRestling ka dyan."

... *toot* stands up. papasok uli sa house.

"hey, sa'n ka pupunta? sa RestRoom?"

there's tons more, but I think my brain got dulled from the alcohol. baba ng tolerance ko that night since I'm close to 24 hours up and jsut came from a physically demanding day. :D

yiheeeeee!

That drinking session was brought to you by the letter R.

Other highlights:
1) atsi, for the second time in a row, surprised me. she'll surprise the rest of the team with her news, i think.
2) tequila doesn't agree with niks.
3) syo has a high tolerance for anything alcoholic.
4) tin drank way beyond her tequila limit (i was surprised!) at sinabayan ni syo.
5) the 'chocolate-or-vanilla' question over dinner.
6) "So Dee, kamusta ka na?" scripted dialogue.
7) Someone mistook someone for Sandara Parks at the Duty Free shop.




8) the 1300 Php 'show', by art and syo.
9) tequila+vodka+atsi+dee = 30 minute non-stop laughing and giggling
10) ru in an electric blue jacket with no shirt underneath
11) firecracker at syo's feet
12) tulog, at last = late lunch at Viewsite


:D