Dear Gyro

Remind me five years from now what video game console you wish to have for either your birthday or as a Christmas gift.

I'll also support any artistic or athletic endeavors you may develop interests in --- play the violin, or your dad's saxophone, or swimming, or peewee soccer, or taekwondo. I enjoy wargames, mountaineering, badminton, wall climbing and recently, ultimate frisbee. I'll tell you about the time your dad and I played some wargames in the housing compound and how we ended up being surrounded by a platoon of real soldiers.

I'll hand you your first comic book as soon as you are able to read. I'll explain to you why Batman is the most kick-ass superhero around, and that you should idolize him.

I'll tell you to go to Tito Emer if you want to widen your musical perspective. He's the dark dude in the photo.

I'll introduce you to Tita Val, so she can tell you how to be popular among girls. She's the other woman in the photo.

The Chinese guy in the photo is your Tito Jay. At all costs, you should not believe in everything he says. Verify his statements either with your dad, mom or me.

Be sure to be obedient to your mom and dad. They are really good people, and they know what's best for you.

That being said, welcome to the Christian world!

- Ninong Stip

Sunday

This Sunday:

1. I'm attending the christening of Gyro Benavidez Pamplona. Born last Dec 28th, looks and makes faces exactly like his dad Glenn. Gyro will be my third godson. Of course, I'm very honored to have been picked by Glenn and Janice to be their firstborn's godfather.

Hehehe... I cas see myself spoiling Gyro as he grows up.


2. First game day of the New Year League.

I'll admit it... kinakabahan ako about this league.
Because we're playing in pool A. There are a lot of other players who are in the lower bracket, pool B, who are much, much, much better than I am at playing ultimate frisbee.

Because we're like a bunch of Davids going against a horde of Goliaths.

Oh well, if I'm gonna get battered with the rest of my team, I might as well enjoy the league. It's going to be a really challenging experience.

Funny Story

This is the first funny story that I've heard this 2009.

"Ahhhh... We're at Paris, dude!"

First time namin ni Butch pareho sa Paris. So excited kami sobra to get up to the Eiffel Tower. Kahit sobrang lamig, takbo kami paakyat sa tuktok! Sira kasi yung elevator... peste talaga yang mga Pranses!

Finally, when we reached the top, we were surprised pare! Tired as we were, we got shocked and awed at the same time!

Number 1: There were many people on top. Check.
Number 2: All the people at the top of the Eiffel Tower were COUPLES!
Number 3: Nobody was using the telescopes, and nobody was taking in the magnificent view of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower!.

Biruin mo yun, couples left-and-right were cuddling, kissing and some were even groping each other! Geeeessh...

After being stunned and realizing what the other couples were doing there, slowly nagkatinginan kami ni Butch and nag-meet yung mata namin....

"F*ck you, pare! Don't even think about it!!", we blurted out simultaneously with our fingers pointing at each other.


There's supposed to be a lesson behind this story, but all of us at the dining table were laughing so hard by then.

- as narrated by Cris Taga, aka "Johnny Bravo" in our group, over a small reunion dinner at the Aganda household. Cris is still currently a bachelor (although we seriously think that his happy days are about to end soon. *kindat*)

RIOT, Squeaky Clean

1. RIOT

Arrgs... The frisbee league is starting on Sunday. I'm excited about it, but at the same time a bit anxious. Our team is moving up in the pool bracket, and we're going against the more elite players in the disc community. Our team has merged with another team and decided to brand ourselves Team RIOT for this tournament.

We played pick-up games with three other teams at the Sunken Garden last weekend. Ang daming tao! Seems like the whole frisbee community is preparing hard for the first league of the year.

Blue, the captain of the other team that merged with us, taught us a complex drill --- a "2-man go-to" drill. It was fast-paced, required some nimble footwork and more importantly, precise passing.

But, it wasn't my best day for frisbee. I twisted my ankle. I fumbled the disc four times in a row (which my teammates noticed).

But at least my passing was decent.

After the games and drills, we went to Shakey's for dinner and Cantina for drinks, and had ourselves a RIOT kind of time!

2. Shower shower shower... shower

I technically had to take four baths yesterday. Hahahaha!

I practically spent most of my free time soaking myself under the sun. The chilly and cloudy weather for the last few weeks at Batangas made me appreciate it.

Ten Circles of Hell

I was cooking some chili late last night when I decided to pop-in a DVD on my player and watch a Hongkong horror movie. I bought the movie many months ago but hadn’t had the time or interest to watch it until last night. It was Neraka 19.

Neraka is Hindu for hell.

The movie has its selling points – an interesting storyline, good acting, and some pretty nice girls. The only disappointment for me was it wasn’t a hair-raising, voice-muting horror movie. Japanese horror movies are much better.

Anyway, what fascinated me about the movie is that apparently there is a Chinese belief that there are 18 gates of hell, and that there are cultists who believe on the existence of a 19th gate. Hence the movie title Neraka 19.

Yeah, I know. I have a slight interest in this religious-occult genre.

I tried to do some research on these 18 gates of hell, but I couldn’t get a good match so far. But based on what has been presented in the movie, there is only one good parallelism between the Oriental belief of the 18 gates of hell against the 9 Circles of Hell presented by Dante in his Divine Comedy.

Both concepts of hell distinguished between an Upper Hell and a Lower Hell.

In Dante’s hell, as one goes lower and lower into the further circles, the space becomes smaller and smaller. Like a funnel. In the Chinese concept of gates of hell, the “hell” beyond each gate is limitless. Dante’s concept was based on the gravity of the sin at each circle – the higher the gravity of one’s sins, the deeper he goes into the circles of hell, and the more severe the retribution is. The soul carries out the punishment at his ultimate circle only.

In the movie, the Chinese gates of hell have to be passed successively for all souls. The belief was that beyond each gate of hell, one needs to survive the retribution waiting for him. The punishment is equivalent to the sin (well, as far as the movie and artistic concept implied) --- for example, the first gate of hell is “The Torture of Tongue-Cutting”. Those who have used words to offend others will find themselves cutting off their tongues themselves if they are guilty of this sin. Those who are innocent of this sin are guided on to the next gate.

Because of this, Dante’s concept of hell is eternal damnation. There is no redemption. In the movie, it was portrayed that there is a chance of redemption. If your conscience remains clear at each gate, you pass the test of the gate. When one clears the 18th gate, his soul is redeemed.

Now what happens beyond the 18th gate? Is there really a 19th gate? Based on the movie, there’s none.

The parallel question to that is what if there was a circle of hell? What punishment will be there? In Dante’s 9th circle, Lucifer is there, conscious but unable to move, frozen in ice along with the souls of the sinners “worthy” of accompanying him.

I think, just to toy with the idea, someone more evil than the devil himself would be found at the 10th circle.

This brings to mind a local joke here at our office which names a few personalities more evil than Satan. Hehehe.

Ultimate Weekend - 2009

* groan *

My battle scars last weekend:

A stiff left forearm,
Really tired hamstrings,
Sore calf muscles,
Tense shoulders,
And a hurting shin at my left leg.

The 2009 season for ultimate frisbee has started! Wahoo!

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The team came over to our place in Batangas last weekend for some practice games and a party afterwards (Jungle-themed). I really can’t figure out which thing is our team better at: playing or partying, hahaha.

We played a couple of games at a field here in Batangas --- really great field for diving, lay-outs and rolls. I think the whole team was really excited in the weekend’s practice game. Everybody was running faster, passing better and making some awesome catches. The enthusiasm level was so great that it didn’t stop anyone from playing despite some minor injuries incurred by some players during the game.

My highlight: intentionally blocking off JP’s running lane during their side’s 1-2 play. Unfortunately, JP didn’t see me when I positioned for the block so he rammed into me (and his cleats dug into my shin). Sent me flying on my back, and the momentum was so great that there was enough for me to execute a back-roll and get back on my feet. The adrenaline rush was good, and for the rest of the game it dulled the ache on my left shin and ankle.

No pain, no gain.

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I was surprised to find out that Orange, Vern and Erick can sing superbly well on Rockband. Astig! I found myself a new set of jammers!

HO HO HOS!

(this blog post gets appended for the various holiday 'moments' that i'll find myself in. Season's greetings!)

3. The Godfather

Quito hosted lunch last Tuesday and brought his mom and my godson Maqui along. I got to the restaurant earlier, hence I was already seated comfortably when they walked in.

Maqui comes running to me.

"Ninong Stiff!!"
I stand up and extend my hand. "Oy Mak... Merry Christmas! Bless?"
Maqui takes my hand to do the mano gesture.

"Ninong Stiff, exchange gift tayo!"
"Huh? You have gift for me?" Maqui's five years old.
"Yes, I have a gift for you! Di ba Papa Quito?"
"Yeah man. Maqui's been excited the whole morning... he's been counting the days when we'll get to meet para makapag-exchange gift daw siya sa 'yo."

Mrs. S leans towards me for a kiss on the cheek. "Oh yes, Stiff. Maqui's been busy the last two days for your gift. I think ikaw lang yung ninong who's getting a gift from him."

....
...
..


2. Delivering Chrismas Presents

I did my milk-run of Christmas gift deliveries for my parents earlier this week. Had to go through Alabang Hills, PhilAm Las Pinas, Villamor Air Base, Palanan in Makati and then head north to Valle Verda V and Wilson in Greenhills. Mom made her traditional rellenong manok and leche flan, complete with storage and serving instructions, as her gifts to family friends.

At every stop, I had to get off my car and walk up to their respective gates. In almost all of the houses that I stopped, I got invited in by my parents' friends for snacks or coffee at their gardens or salas or kitchens.

My parents' friends meet up more frequently than I do with my college friends, so there's none of the usual "how's your mom/dad?" interview. Instead, I got interviewed! Some of them haven't seen me for 4 years. They would give me their own snippets of what it is that they best remember me for. I liked Tita Jing's story best -- of how she and my mom connived to set me up with her daughter when I was about to graduate from college (hahaha!).

I'm so glad to do this errand for my parents. Got to re-connect with some family acquaintances. One of my dad's friends even gave me a 500-peso pamasko (he insisted!).

1. HO-HO-HO BQ 25 Christmas Dinner HO-HO-HO
It’s been a while since I’ve hosted a big dinner. All my past dinners were limited to at most 10 people. Having more than 10 people is a bit difficult hosting-wise --- the food, the utensils, table settings, etc.

Now, Christmas is just around the corner, but I haven’t heard of any parties for the bachelors’ group at our workplace. Planning for that is a major time-drain and will require significant time and resources to prepare for it.

So, I compromised a bit.

I hosted Christmas dinner for my housemates and some choice friends, even though if it meant planning it for more than 10 people. There’s the food to prepare, setting up the tree and holiday decors, sending out invitations and of course… the gifts!

I didn’t need to prepare any games.
Nor did I have a difficult time managing everyone that I invited (that’s one of the challenges of being a host --- making sure everyone’s comfortable).
And I did manage to enjoy the party myself despite being the host.

Almost everything about the Christmas dinner turned out well (one invitee decided not to go though) --- lots of food, hearty conversations, wine (*no beer!*) and plenty of laughter. One of my friends commented that he found the party relaxing and reminiscent of how their generation used to have bachelors’ nights.

Ho ho ho ho!

The Circle of Life's Successes

“At age 1, success means being able to stand up by yourself.
At age 6, it’s being able to use the toilet on your own.
At age 7, success is being able to ride a bike.
At age 17, it’s getting your driver’s license and driving your own car.
At age 20, success is having been able to make love, or get laid.
At age 25, it’s landing your first job and being financially independent.
At age 35, success is having a loving family and looking after their well-beings.

At age 60, success is still having a loving family with everyone’s well-being in a good state.
At age 65, success is leaving your last job financially independent and secure.
At age 70, success is still being able to make love and/or still be able to get laid.
At age 75, success is still being able to drive a car and ride a bike on your own.
At age 80, success is still being able to use the toilet on your own.
At age 90, success is being able to stand up by yourself.”

- shared by Boss Andrew this afternoon at our office over chocolates and coffee, right after we commented that his hair is noticeably more gray ever since he got assigned as our facility’s Operations Manager.

Economics

... is defined as the study of how resources, profits and losses are allocated to maximize happiness.

I just completed a regional course on Refinery and Supply Economics; its arguably the best learning course I've gotten so far in my corporate stint.

My favorites:

1) Application of John Nash's "Game Theory" (global optimum is achieved when everyone thinks in their best interests AND the interests of others), and seeing how the default behavior of most economic deals are a result of Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" theory ("the best solution is achieved when everyone thinks in their best interests, and an 'invisible hand' takes over to guide them to the optimum solution). John Nash was right, Adam Smith was wrong.

2) Investment economics is loosely based on the story of the bear chasing two men. Don't worry about the bear; worry about being better and faster than the other guy.

3) Risk management is about the rabbit in the middle of the road. If the rabbit stayed in the middle of the road, there's no risk management. If the rabbit chooses whether to stay on the left lane or the right lane of the road because it thinks it won't get roadkilled there, that's risk management.

4) Oil futures and Trading Economics is nothing but a paper market of guarantees. Only smart people can make money using Trading Economics, but engineers can't make sense of how is it possible to make profit out of guarantees. Therefore, engineers aren't smart enough to take Trading as an occupation.

5) Accountants will give you a numerical answer for a "How much is...." question. An economist must give you a counter-question of "Why do you want to know?". The accountant's answer is absolute, the economist's answer is always relative.

It's been great to be in a classroom again.

Ramblings in a Hotel Room with the newest Stephen King book before me

is nike the god of speed? can't really remember.
climb sweet
dream rock
smash quick
dive frisbee.
work.
play.
party.
talk.
swoosh.
fight.
sing.
think.
peace.

id.
in a few days, all these words will mean something. and hopefully more.
thanks.

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I got to meet up with my cousin Pao in Singapore this morning. He was all beaming happy when he got to see me. He's been homesick pretty bad ever since he started working as an OFW two months ago.

Both of us are mama's boys -- we spent an hour talking about our respective moms' dealings-with-life. Then the talk shifted quickly to the fun we had with our batch (we were classmates from 1st grade until senior year). We reminisced the many times he acted as a big bro for me in the classroom or in outings -- always keeping me in check and in line (believe it or not, I am the more "evil" cousin between us two). Too bad Elips or Maloy weren't around because the winning story for the day was reminiscing the time when we got the two of them "introduced" to magic shrooms and its induced euphoria on a rainy summer night on the beach.

In a nutshell, both of us enjoyed the few hours of reunion and wished it were longer ("Pao, baka umiyak ka na naman mamaya... hahaha). There'll be a next time bro, don't worry.

And next time, we'll party. On me. It's my turn to be the big bro.

The Birth of STD Nights

16 pieces of good-sized crabs prepared in 3 ways and shared among 5 guys.

Welcome to the 1st S.T.D. night!

Last week, Jay sent out this photo of a crab dish he craved for to me, Emer, Glenn and Bai. It looked really really mouth-watering on the photo and soon all of us wanted some of it. Too bad that it's a plane flight away just to get that particular crab dish.

So we settled for the next best thing. We cooked our own! Hahaha...

I went to the SEASIDE seafood market last Sunday afternoon to pick out and purchase crabs. Got a really good bargain for it (~240 Php/kilo after some intense negotiation, medium sized, plump crabs).

Brought the crabs to Batangas, cleaned all of them that night, steamed them, chucked them in the ref and had 1 beer after.

Monday night: Glenn took care of the rice and drinks, Jay did the chopping of the spices to be used, I cooked the crabs and Bai and Emer brought their appetites (hehehe...). After a half-hour of chopping, frying and baking, we had:

* Oriental-Style Fried Crabs
* Baked Chili Crabs
* old-fashioned Steamed Crabs

Spreading all of the cooked crabs on the table was like looking at an oasis in the middle of the desert. We dug in! Sarap!

Until next month's STD night. Hehehe. And we'll have photos of the dishes next time.

Did you know that "crabs" is a term for a particular sexually-transmitted disease? Just in case you haven't figured out yet why last night was the 1st STD night.

Move It

I like to move it, move it...

1.
It felt like I was on Amazing Race again last Saturday. Left Batangas at 10 am, lunch with my cousins at Alabang, sped thru SLEX and C-5 to be at Ateneo by 3pm for my frisbee game, Ortigas at 6 pm, then finally Mall of Asia by 8 pm.

Whew…

2.
I skinned my knee area, right arm and chin on separate goal attempts during my weekend frisbee game with the team. The injuries are not that bad though as compared to Eric’s and Pretty Boy’s (who by the way has earned a new alias --- Iced Tea Boy) who both had longer cuts on their legs. The field was deceivingly dry, packed and hard.

I think I’ve slightly upgraded my passing and catching skills. Hey, I was able to throw an air-bounce during the game. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t intend it to be an air-bounce pass. And all of my backhand passes were good. As for catching, I’ve been able to execute a full sprint-jump-one-handed-catch combo many times over.

3.
Madagascar 2’s a good movie. I used my brother’s last batch of free IMAX tickets to treat the fishyfishy group (plus Emer) for the animation’s IMAX screening. King Julian and Maurice are still funny, but this time around the penguins with the Mafia attitude steal the show --- from launching off their Air Penguin plane to tricking safari tour groups in leaving their vehicles and finally negotiating with monkeys about maternity leaves.

After the movie, we had a couple of sub-zero-degree San Mig Light beers at the San Miguel by the Bay just across Mall of Asia. Having a supercooled beer on a cool evening… woot!