Facets of Perception

Moving out of blogspot

2007-08-25T12:39:00.000+08:00

My blog has been permanently moved to http://darkhalf.multiply.com/journal

Please use the new site to read my blog entries. :)

The Road to the Pokemon League

2007-07-13T16:12:00.000+08:00

***** SPOILERS WITHIN THIS BLOG *****
(or works as a walkthrough, whichever way you wanna look at it)

FROM THE JOURNAL OF SINNOH REGION POKEMON TRAINER: ZED

*** JOURNAL ENTRY: 12 July 2007, 10pm ***

FINALLY, after 59 hours and 16 minutes of going through the Sinnoh Region, I emerged from Victory Road to arrive at the entrance to the Pokemon League.

Here's the Team I brought with me for my Pokemon League challenge:

Torterra - Lv. 51 (evolved from a Turtwig received from Professor Rowan)
Moves: Giga Drain, Solarbeam, Crunch, Earthquake
Luxray - Lv. 52 (trained from a Lv. 4 Shinx)
Moves: Thunderbolt, Shockwave, Crunch, Leer
Staraptor - Lv. 48 (trained from a Lv. 4 Starly)
Moves: Fly, Defog, Aerial Ace, Wing Attack
Infernape - Lv. 48 (evolved from a traded Chimchar)
Moves: Flamethrower, Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength
Empoleon - Lv. 48 (evolved from a traded Piplup)
Moves: Surf, Waterfall, Blizzard, Cut
Gengar - Lv. 44 (evolved from a hatched Gastly)
Moves: Hypnosis, Mean Look, Spite, Dark Pulse

I was levelling up Gengar so that I could catch the 3 legendary pokemons of the lakes. I had originally planned to bring Lucario with me to my League Team, but decided to see if Haunter would be a better choice since having a 2nd Fighting/Steel type on my team leaves me at a bigger disadvantage against multiple-types, compared to having the Ghost/Poison combination (which my other pokemon don't have).

I have been training the first 5 pokemon on my team from the very beginning of my pokemon journey, while training multiple pokemon (such as Gyarados, Haunter and Lucario) for the 6th slot. I had to use some of my Rare Candy, HP Up, PP Up and TMs in order to get some of the pokemon above the way they are. Also, I gave all of them items to boost some of their attacks, except for Gengar who has the Exp. Share for levelling purposes.

Even though I was advised to NOT attempt fighting the Elite Four + Champion until ALL my pokemon reached at least Lv. 55 or higher, I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. Anyway, if I lost (the correct phrase was "when you lose" as my brother pointed out when I told him I was attempting to battle the Elite Four with the team above), my pokemon could always use the experience.

So after using up my money on all the Hyper Potions, Revives and Full Restores that I could buy, I went in.

===================================
ELITE FOUR, FIRST BATTLE: Aaron

Aaron used mostly bug-type pokemon, which were easily killed with 1 or 2 hits from Staraptor's Aerial Ace, or Infernape's Flame Thrower. But the Drapion (darn combination type), fainted them a lot of times before I thought to try using Torterra's Earthquake. Torterra's high Defense/Sp. Defense stat helped make the job easier.

Beat him quite easily, thanks to Staraptor. Whoopee!

NOTE TO SELF: I noticed that Aaron had Full Restore at his disposal whenever I knock the opponent pokemon's HP into the red. I should assume that the other trainers must have the same, and must be wary to try to KO the opponent as quickly as possible.

===================================
ELITE FOUR, SECOND BATTLE: Bertha

Again, thanks to Torterra, I was able to survive a barrage of attacks from Ground-type pokemon. Since my Grass-type moves on Torterra were a bit slow, I had to use up a lot of Hyper Potions before I could knock out her pokemon. Empoleon's Surf was a BIG HELP, provided it didn't get knocked down by the opponent's Earthquake attacks. Bertha's Hippowdon was the hardest to knock down, took me a good 10 to 15 minutes.

But I beat her!!! :)

===================================
ELITE FOUR, THIRD BATTLE: Flint

Flint's supposed to have Fire-type pokemon, but I guess due to the lack of fire-types in the Sinnoh Region, he had the most diverse team. Empoleon took care of the Fire-types with Surf, provided he got to attack first. Infernape took care of the other 2 pokemon in Flint's arsenal, while Torterra and Luxray had a Crunch of the Drifblim. Torterra needed the experience points, but I switched out because it kept attacking second; Luxray's speed allowed it to use Crunch before Drifblim could attack.

I won, I won, I won! It took a while, but I won! Took a relieved breather.

===================================
ELITE FOUR, FOURTH BATTLE: Lucian

My brother swears he hates this trainer. I quickly figured out why. His Psychic-type pokemon were mostly combinations in REALLY HIGH LEVELS (think Lv. 59 to 63), so they couldn't easily be killed with a fast Dark-type attack. Alakazam is a very fast pokemon with high Defense/Sp. Defense stats too, so my Luxray took a real beating, plus most of my turns were used on Potions (otherwise Luxray would faint and I wouldn't have a strong Dark-type attack anymore). Bronzong is a monster, since it could easily knock out Infernape with a Psychic attack. Thank goodness Flamethrower almost always takes the first turn. And it was after multiple revives of Luxray and Torterra before I finally figured to use Staraptor on the Medicham. Medicham was a bit faster than Staraptor, so I had to keep Staraptor's HP up all the time to survive the attacks.

I had the hardest time with Lucian, I think he kept me occupied for about 30 minutes, but yes I still won. At this point, I have used up about 15 Hyper Potions/Full Restores and maybe 8 revives. But OMG, I survived! I couldn't believe it! I beat Lucian! Huzzah!

===================================
POKEMON LEAGUE CHAMPION: Cynthia

I have to spend a lot of words on this part. This battle was heart breaking for me.

Being Champion obviously means she has the best-made team, on top of having pokemon 10 levels higher than mine. 5 out of 6 pokemon were combination types that had hardly any weakness, while the single water-type pokemon had such high HP and stats (both Attack and Defense) that it was a struggle surviving this round.

Her Spiritomb was immune to Dark-type attacks, so I just used Luxray's Thunderbolt on it. It should have taken me only 3 hits, but because of the Full Restore, I used up 6 PP on it.

Milotic is a monster Water-type that's faster than Luxray, sadly. Luxray kept fainting before I could get a Thunderbolt attack in.

My Infernape survived most of Lucario's pounding, but it was still quite a while before I finally got it with a couple of Flamethrower attacks.

Gastrodon was matched up to Torterra, and was pretty easy to beat.

I should mention at this point that Gengar (who was absolutely useless throughout the whole League battles was already fainted here, and I only had 2 pokemon in green HP levels while the others were either fainted or newly-revived). Ohh, good luck to me!

Garchomp is a Dragon/Ground type. I had Blizzard in my arsenal, but it's not that effective against Ground types so Empoleon wasn't much help. Surf was more useful here, but Empoleon is slower than Garchomp. Infernape kept fainting from Earthquake. Garchomp kept knocking out Torterra, Luxray and Staraptor BEFORE I could land an attack. On Garchomp ALONE, I used up about 10+ revives and about 30+ Hyper Potions. Guess how I knocked it down?

It ran out of moves, used Struggle, and knocked my Torterra and itself out from the recoil.

My adrenalin was up. I only had to beat 1 more pokemon, and I would be Pokemon League Champion on my 1st try!!! But... my one last remaining pokemon was Staraptor. Everyone else had already fainted. Staraptor had full HP though, so I was hopeful.

Roserade was the last pokemon to beat. As a Grass-type, it was weak against Flying-type... so all I had to do was survive till I could get the first turn of attack. I used Aerial Ace.

Unfortunately, fate decided to go in Roserade's favor, because Staraptor got KO'ed from a single, critical hit with an Energy Ball.

After 2 hours, 4 Elite Four battles, 50+ Hyper Potions, 10+ Full Restores and 20+ Revives, my Flying-type got beaten by a Grass-type.

Sucks.

...

...

...

On a happier note. What did I learn from my entire battle? I believe I put together a good team. I was only battling with 5 Pokemon (Gengar didn't get to battle at all!), I was only battling with Pokemon who had WAY LOWER levels than the opponent pokemon (granted I was surviving from Potions, hehe) and I was only one Pokemon away from becoming Pokemon League Champion on the first try! I think it was a fantastic experience for me! :) I guess I couldn't really expect to beat the Elite Four and the Champion with the Team I brought with me, but I was close, eh?

I brought my weary Pokemon to the Pokemon Center at the League Entrance. I'm happy to find they are recovering nicely and none of them were unhappy with me for losing. My pokemon still love me as much as I love them, and we WILL become Pokemon League Champions together! All our hard work and training will be worth it some day.

For tonight, I must rest and rethink my battle strategy. Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, our Road to the Pokemon League will be complete.

*** END OF JOURNAL ENTRY ***

6 Weird Things About Me

2007-06-22T23:53:00.000+08:00

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about you. People who got tagged need to write a blog entry of their own 6 weird things. They should state the rule clearly as well. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I'm too happy-go-lucky. One perfect example would be that there was news of a possible retrenchment in our office. Instead of taking to the bottle like my officemates did, I was excited to be one of the people to get laid off-- it just means it's time for me to move on to better things!

2. I love accessories and kikay stuff. Earrings, bracelets, trinkets, high heels, gimmick clothes, skirts, etc. But I stick to my basic accessories of 3 stud earrrings (I have 3 earring holes) and rubber wrist bands, and my basic attire of polo shirt/t-shirt, jeans and rubber shoes. Go figure. In fact, I have 7 pairs of Nike Rubber shoes, and only 2 pairs of shoes that I would consider really feminine-- and I only wear these 2 during formal occassions wherein I have to wear a dress.

3. While all the guys were trying to escape ROTC, I joined ROTC in college and became an officer with the 3rd-highest position in the Corps of Officers (Corps N1 and Adjutant-- N1 since we were under the Navy). I was also the first female ROTC officer in the history of DLSU. :)

4. I have a penchant for cars, weapons, military gear, gadgets and rubber shoes, I prefer to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers over Carebears, I would rather stay home and play video games than go shopping, I prefer shirts+jeans+rubber shoes over the typical girly outfits... but despite all these tomboyish traits, I have NEVER been mistaken for a lesbian. It's gotta be the overall attitude.

5. I have a violent reaction to children. I'll leave you to try to figure out what this means, but Teejay says that I'm the only person he knows who reacts the way I do towards children.

6. If Donatello was a real-life character, I'd want him for a boyfriend. Even if he IS a turtle. XD (Sorry Teej!)

I'm not weirder than (this was hard to compile, since I know few people weirder or are just as weird as me... I ended up just putting down some people who I found more peculiar than most of the people I know):
1. Sean
2. Faye
3. Dominic (my brother)
4. Gem (she's already tagged me)
5. Claire
6. Marco (Teejay's friend)

After 3 years of eBay... ARGH!

2007-05-18T14:49:00.000+08:00

After 3 years of doing buy-and-sell on eBay, I think I have finally encountered the worst transaction possible... sad to say, it's from an eBay member who has a 100% feedback score and a blue star rating (for those who are unfamiliar with eBay rankings, a blue star rating means the person has had 50 to 99 unique and successful transactions. More info at eBay's Star Icons info page).

First of all, let me point out that all of my item listings have my preferred meetup points (Makati: General area of Starbucks Insular and for QC: General area of Orthopedic Hospital along Banawe) indicated. Complete with specific location, dates and times (since I have to work too, after all), and I have a note on every listing to please feel free to contact me for any concerns.

Going on to the story:

A potential buyer contacted me May 13 via email to ask if I could meet him on Election Day for the transaction. I said I was out of town at the moment, and would be back in Manila on Thursday, May 17 and if we could meet then. Buyer said OK to this and bid on the item.

On May 16, I clarified with the buyer that I can only meet at my QC meetup point on Thursday due to schedule restraints, and OK for the QC or Makati meetup points on Friday. Buyer said to meet at Makati since will be coming from a province, so will have to be Friday. OK'ed by both me and buyer.

On Friday morning (let's say 830am), buyer texted me to let me know we can meet at 1pm, and to change the order from a black-colored model to a blue-colored model. I replied with a text message: "Sorry, no other colors available at this time. Ok for 1pm at Starbux Insular."

Buyer replied to me: "I come all the way from ___ am not familiar with that place. Can we meet at Glorietta 4. Your ad said other colors available."

So I replied: "No stock yung other colors na. It was specified in the item description about the meetup point. You should have asked me first if we can meet up at a different location. Can I give you a call?"

Buyer calls me up, asking "Was it specified in the description about the meetup point?" I said yes. Then buyer says "I'm coming all the way from ___ and I have to meet you on your doorstep to buy the item? eBay is a place for buyer and seller to respect each other and come to compromise in order to do a successful transaction."

At this point, I explained first that the reason why sellers put meetup locations in the item description is so that buyers are already guided as to whether the meetups are reasonable to them or not. Ok lang to meet elsewhere, pero sana naman the buyer asked me first if this was possible, and not spring up a location change to me at the last minute.

And that's where all hell broke lose. Buyer started saying things like "mutual respect about buyer and seller", "how long have you been on ebay", "if you check my feedback i'm not a scammer", "glorietta is a public area so safe for me and buyer to transact", "i've been doing transactions on ebay for a long time ikaw lang yung di maayos kausap."

And buyer was saying it in a patronizing tone of voice, without even giving me a chance to explain. Basta satsat siya ng satsat. Obviously, I was irritated at this point. I didn't shout although I did have to raise my voice a little to get my point across, which buyer was rebutting with things like "we're both educated" and "i don't want this transaction to go sour" and other stuff.

Ah... and buyer even had the audacity to tell me "iha, bata ka pa" and "wag mo ako tarayan."

What does this information have to do with the meetup location? Tsaka pag sinabihan ka ng ganyan ng total stranger, how the hell does one expect you to react???

In the end, buyer told me "Iha, di tayo magkakasundo, wag na lang." As to which I replied "Next time, please read everything in the listing."

There were some other points about the item that we argued about, like the item color and availability, but this was the part of the conversation that really irked me.

I've had meetups with other buyers before who come from far away, and I've also had a lot of transactions where I had to go far from my meetup points to meet the buyer, but within reasonable distance and agreeable to us both WAY BEFORE the meetup date. And if this buyer has the audacity to tell me that buyer has had so many ebay transactions before with no problem, then why couldn't the buyer pick up on a simple thing as "Meetup Point" in the item description. All the buyer had to do was ask if we can meet at Glorietta the first time I was contacted. Then I could schedule my day to try to meet the buyer at Glorietta. Diba?

Geez.

My First Crumpler!

2007-05-04T11:00:00.000+08:00

So, how does it look?

Review to follow later on!

HOT!

2007-04-25T13:37:00.000+08:00

I didn't post for a over a week. No excuses, but I'll tell you that I wasn't idle during those days.

60% of those times were work-related (project nearing completion crunch time, so overtime is mandatory to get the job done), and the other 40%, you can see for yourself here-- and hey, it's not even complete yet. :)

Anyway, my airconditioner broke down last Sunday night. It's blowing out air, but when I turn the dial to "Cool", it makes a noisy choking sound which intermittently goes away and comes back, but the temperature doesn't change. In other words, it's currently working as a very expensive electric fan.

It chose a really lousy time to break down. Why couldn't it have broken down last February when the temperature was below 20 degrees? The summer evenings are averaging between 30 to 35 degrees, without counting humidity. It's sweltering nowadays, and I sweat easily too.

I have 2 electric fans in my room, a wall-mounted type and a 12" floor fan which I use to keep mosquitoes away from my legs when I'm working at the computer table. The wall fan doesn't blow strong enough even if I aim the fan on the bed and put the speed setting on high. The 12" floor fan sits on a stool I keep in the room, and it's not enough either.

Don't get me wrong... I wouldn't want you to read this thinking I am living the luxury life with the aircon and all. :D But come on people, you gotta admit that it's HOT. Yes, I turn on my aircon every night, but I don't leave it on for too long. We bought a timer thingy wherein I can set the aircon on for 1 to 2 hours-- just to cool the room to a comfortable sleeping temp, and then it will shut off the aircon and automatically turn on the electric fan, which is good enough for me as long as I don't sweat while sleeping.

Going back, I dislike leaving my window open at night, so you can imagine the air circulation in my room: hot air moving around in circles. I'm a bit of an agoraphobe (as opposed to being claustrophobic) coupled with slight nocturophobia, so I absolutely REFUSE to open the windows. It also doesn't help that I like to watch monster/horror/thriller movies and that my wild imagination makes me think that something will be coming in through my window if I leave it open. My windows have bars and a screen door, but still... yeah yeah, the HEAT! I KNOW! But I'd rather suffer the heat than like awake at night wondering if I'll see something looking in on me when I open my eyes in the middle of the night.

I blame it on the JeepersCreepers2 movie.

And you know how service centers are in the Philippines. National said they could come look at it on Thursday (tomorrow). While I have my doubts about my old aircon unit still being servicable (I think it's over 10 years old), I'll wait till tomorrow's verdict before looking at shops for a new one. I've already got the dimensions written in a piece of paper in my bag, hehe.

For the sake of saving money though, I hope the aircon is still serviceable with a reasonable price tag.

...

As an afterthough, getting a new aircon means I'll be able to save electricity when I use it, since the newer models consume less power than the old ones. ;P

PLDT myDSL Sucks

2007-04-14T00:38:00.000+08:00

I hate PLDT.

I've been a PLDT myDSL subscriber since July 2004. Back then, the internet packages were something like P2500 for a 768Kbps (or was is 786kbps?) connection. In those days, a 768Kbps connection was already pretty good.

Technology and the internet has kept on advancing in the past 2-3 years, and as of August 2006, the PLDT myDSL packages look like this:

Plan 999 = 512Kbps
Plan 1995 = 1.2Mbps
Plan 3000 = 5Mbps
* Note that the prices are exclusive of VAT.

Where am I going with this? Well, did you know:

1. PLDT did not provide flyers regarding the new DSL packages to existing subscribers.
2. Existing subscribers do NOT get an automatic upgrade.

Which means that UNLESS you storm over to PLDT to get your plan changed (only after your 2-year lockup period has passed, of course), you will be paying good money for poor service.

My 2-year lock up ended last July 2006. Technically, I have been paying P2545.56 (with 12% VAT) for a 768kbps connection, but newer myDSL subscribers pay only P2035 (with 12% VAT) for a 1.2Mbps connection -- they pay less for better service.

And get this...

1. When you ask PLDT to upgrade your speed under the same plan, my P2545.56 per month will only allow me up to a 1Mbps speed upgrade.

2. When you ask PLDT to upgrade your plan to upgrade to a higher speed, they call it a DOWNGRADE, since they make less money (they get P2545.56 for 768Kbps VS getting P2035 for 1.2Mbps).

3. When you ask to "downgrade" your plan, the telephone customer service people will tell you that you have to pay a P5000 service charge (F*ck that, I'd rather terminate my DSL plan. Besides, I'm WAYYYY past my 2year lockup period, stupid! DUH!)

4. When you ask for a rebate to compensate for the overpayment you are making (versus the current DSL packages), they'll tell you this is not possible since the old plan is still in effect.

5. When you tell them that they should've automatically "downgraded" the plan, they'll tell you they don't change current plans without the advise of the subscriber.

6. When you tell them that they should've provided the new packages information to existing subscribers (hello, they send useless ad flyers with your PLDT phone bill), they'll tell you that the information has been available since the day the packages were made available to the market.

Oh... I had to ask all of these via a Business Center because their telephone customer service hotline SUCKS BIG TIME!

I hate PLDT.

The only reason I have a PLDT DSL subscription to begin with is that my company was the one who applied for the DSL subscription (since it's a work-related benefit). Since the 2year lockup is over, I have the option to switch to Bayantel. Unfortunately, Bayantel does not offer competetive rates / speed. I need a connection of at least 1Mbps, and Bayantel can't give this to me at a reasonable rate. Globelines is not available in my part of Metro Manila. *sigh*

For now, I've decided to retain my DSL subscription (but I made them "downgrade" it to Plan 1995, but have to wait for 2 weeks before the changes take effect), at least until August. By then, I will be moving to my new place in another part of Metro Manila, and I'll have to get a new subscription with whatever carrier will be available there (screw PLDT if they're still the provider in that area). It would be too much effort to change to a Bayantel subscription if I'm only going to be able to use it for 5 months, when there is a lockup period to consider, plus the ludicrous rates).

But damn, I hope I'll be able to switch to a better provider then.

Space filler

2007-04-12T22:11:00.000+08:00

Didn't have the time to make a decent entry today.

I got home at 12mn last night, went to sleep around 1:20am, got to sleep for 4 hours before I had to take my mom to the airport, left the house at around 530am, got to Centennial around 6am, decided to go straight to the office (I live in QC, so if I went home to sleep, I would've gone South from North, North to South and then South to North again... wag na lang), took an emergency call while on the way to the office at 630am, worked the whole day straight for the emergency case till 12:45pm, went down to the food area and got a hotdog sandwich at 1pm, took it immediately up to the office and ate at my desk till 1:30pm, continued the emergency case and stayed in the office till 4pm, left to go to my supplier and arrived there at 5pm, took a snooze in the car till 5:45pm, had dinner at 6pm, left my supplier's office at 7:20pm, went to pick up some design materials and arrived there at 8pm, got home at 8:15pm.

*breathes*

As you can see, it's been a full enough day as it is.

It's now 10pm, time to doze so that I can get my brain pumped for a better blog entry tomorrow. I actually have 3 pending topics I can write about since I want to rant/rave about some experiences that happened in the last 2 days.

Good night!

Resolution # 2

2007-04-11T07:17:00.000+08:00

Holy sh*t!

As of 2007 April 09, I officially weigh 118lbs.

Damn it.

I've now (re)discovered resolution number 2.

RESOLUTION # 2: Lose Weight!

At a quarter less than 5" in height, my ideal weight should be 93 to 98lbs, based on the BMI (Body Mass Index), if I remember correctly. My actual weight before I joined my present company was 103lbs. I'm not overly weight-conscious, and I abhor the thought of dieting, so if my weight fluctuates between 100lbs to 105lbs, I'm good.

I'm an avid eater (I love food), and I don't really exercise since I get to do a lot of walking. I know that I have high metabolism, so I depend on that as well to keep... fit is not the right word... from getting big. I have never minded being slightly overweight (hello, what is slightly?), as long as I have minimum "jiggly" and "orange peel" skin. My philosophy on eating is don't skimp, eat heartily and finish every morsel.

But

When you see that you are 20lbs++ over the ideal weight AND 2 of your favorite pair of pants AND you can no longer wear those fit shirts you bought a few years go, it might be time to change that philosophy about eating.

I guess it's time to start being conscious about what I eat. I'm developing an aversion to pork (as friend says, it's sticky), so I don't have to worry about removing that from my diet since I don't crave for it... unless we're talking about liempo here. ;P I hardly ever eat the fats, but it's now time to stop eating them entirely. I love fish and veggies, but since they are pricier than meat servings when eating out, I will have to increase my food budget for those. Cutting down on junk/snack food is the most difficult part, since pizza, fries and potato chips are major cravings-food for me. Hmmm... I guess I will have to add soda to this list as well.

This also means I can no longer afford to skip breakfast, since I've noticed that an 8am breakfast of cereal or oatmeal (my usual breakfast choices, mind you), keep me feeling full for a good 6 hours.

Again, I don't believe in dieting, so I'm not going to stop eating those just because I started getting weight conscious. I just have to minimize my servings and cut down the frequency of the munchies.

*sigh* Good luck to me.

5 days later...

2007-04-10T14:00:00.000+08:00

Argh! I missed 5 days of writing!!!

But I have a valid excuse... :D It was Holy Week! So I chose not to open my laptop while I was out of town. Hey, I'm not going to spoil my resting days just to post a blog, and I was definitely not going to lose my head over not being able to access the internet for 5 days. I'm not THAT technology-dependent yet! :)

It was a good Holy Week for me. I got to rest, I got to visit 9 churches, I got to go to Zoobic Safari (posting videos later on), I got to simply hang out with friends, I got to resist the temptation to eat liempo on Good Friday and I got to attend the Easter Vigil mass.

We didn't have our annual easter egg hunt at my granny's house this year though, bummer.

Yeah yeah, this isn't a real blog post, fine! I have another blog entry which I will be posting tomorrow so that it counts as tomorrow's blog entry. ;P

Anyway, busy now. See ya tomorrow!

April 2007 Resolution: Resolution #1

2007-04-04T17:28:00.000+08:00

It's actually a bit late to be making New Year's Resolutions, but I've always thought that later is better than never.

I've come to a realization in the last few months... actually, I've come to this realization ages ago, but have FINALLY decided I seriously want to act on it. I don't know what brought this on, and I can't really explain it. All I can say is that I believe it's a good start. :)

RESOLUTION #1: Regain my lost writing skills.

My writing has been stagnant since I graduated high school in 1996. That's been almost 11 years ago. While I can still speak english the way I used to, I find that it has not improved (vocabulary-wise, among other things). I find that I am no longer able to cohere my thoughts with my words, especially when it comes to composing something on paper.

I'm still able to edit existing paragraphs to a better, more-readable prose, but can no longer CREATE any long compositions on my own. I've backed myself into an intellectual corner.

Time to get out.

How to do it? Well, I figure I could start small... like writing blogs.

Blogging is a modern way for me to start writing again. Since blogging is free-form (no themes in particular, no stories or epics to continue...), I should be able to come up with entries that improve as time goes on. It should be easier than trying to start writing stories again, since I can talk about any topic under the sun. I have also decided to blog every day. At least 1 decently long paragraph that is coherent, cohesive and able to convey a thought properly.

This is my starting point. I hope you readers will come with me on this journey. :)

Nokia Siemens Networks Trademark

2007-04-02T08:40:00.000+08:00

February 7th, 2007

PepsiCo sues to block new Nokia Siemens Network Logo citing trademark infringement.

Purchase, NY—Frito Lay, a division of PepsiCo filed suit today in federal district court seeking to block the use of the logo representing newly merged Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Citing the similarity between the NSN logo and the popular Ruffles brand potato chip, attorneys for Frito Lay are seeking an injunction baring Nokia Siemens Networks from launching any marketing campaign using the newly created icon.

Charles Nicolas, Vice President of Public Affairs for Frito Lay, insisted at a press conference earlier today that irrevocable harm to the Ruffles brand would result from any use of the NSN logo. “Consumers associate delicious Ruffles Potato Chips with the distinctive ridged shape,” Nicolas said, “we had to act to make sure there would be no confusion in the marketplace.”

Chip lovers have come to know that “R R R Ruffles Have Ridges!” The thick ridges of Ruffles Potato Chips help hold more great potato chip flavors and stand up to the thickest dips. “We’ve delivered the Triple Play of Ruffles, Dip, and an ice cold Pepsi, now Nokia Siemens Networks is attempting to confuse consumers with their ‘voice, data, and video’ triple play.” Nicolas asserted. “How well does a Flexi Base Station Platform stand up to a thick ranch dip fresh from the refrigerator?”

Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO-designate of Nokia Siemens Networks disagrees with Nicolas’ assertion. “First of all, the Flexi Base Station is housed in a high impact ABS plastic housing, which, one would assume, could support more dip than all but the thickest potato chip” Beresford-Wylie retorted. “Second, Nokia Siemens Networks is offering an integrated product portfolio that allows our customers to offer the quad play of voice, data, video, and wireless. How does Frito Lay intend to step up to the quad play? By adding a napkin?”

Legal analysts give the lawsuit little chance of success, but concede that the Nokia Siemens Networks logo does look remarkably similar to both Ruffles and Lay’s Wavy potato chips.

Ruffles Potato Chip

Nokia Siemens Networks Logo

Article taken from Dan Covey's CRAPPIBlog

DS Lite Delight

2007-01-03T10:22:00.000+08:00

Some background info:

I love Pokemon! I have collected the entire TV episodes
(Seasons 1 to 8, all complete) on DVD, and have got almost all the
movies. I say almost, because I haven't see 2 of the titles here
yet, so maybe they're not available locally. I also used to play
Pokemon on my brother's GameBoy and I am hooked on it.

Prelude:

On my last evening in Bangkok, I was in Platium Fashion Mall, having
my last Thai dinner. There were only 30minutes left before the
mall closes, so I thought I would hang with some officemates who were
with me at the time.

Beside the table where we had dinner, there was this little booth
selling game cartridges for GBA (GameBoy Advance), Nintendo DS, PSP,
etc. It turns out that one of my officemates is a regular buyer
there, because after he finished his dinner, he got up to have a look
at some games he could pick up for his kid. Mind you, I have been
going to Platinum almost everyday during my stay in BKK since it was
across my hotel, but I've never bothered to have a look at this
booth. Anyway, I got up to join him.

The price range for the games are around THB400 to THB900 for
regular games... P500-or-less of course. ;) While some
268games-in-1 sell around THB2200. Not interested.

Then I saw the Pokemon games... THB800 each.

After a bit of price haggling... okay, a LOT of price haggling, I
was able to get 5 Pokemon GBA cartridges for THB300 each (about
PHP430). I just had one teensy weensy tiny little problem.

I don't have a Gameboy unit.

Okay, so it's a problem.

I didn't buy the unit in BKK for a couple of reasons... the mall was
closing, it was my last night in BKK, and I since I had no original
intention to buy GBA cartridges, I certainly didn't canvass to know how
to compare the prices of the GB units in BKK and back home in the
Philippines.

I came back to the Philippines on Dec22, but decided not to mesh
with the last-minute mall crowd in the malls, so I went home.

December 23 and 24 was used up determining which unit I wanted to
buy (GBA, GBA SP, Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite) and canvassing from
friends how much the price ranges were. I finally decided on the
Nintendo DS Lite... mostly because I found out that Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon
Diamond (both games made for Nintendo DS), will be available in
April 2007. :)

The purchase:

I decided to shop for my DS Lite in Greenhills (known to have the
most competitive prices for Gadgets in the market) on December
26. Bad move and right move at the same time.

It was a bad move, since I arrived in GH at 2:10pm and discovered I
had stumbled upon the post-Christmas-I-have-money-from-angpao/aguinaldo
mall crowd. There were so many people in Greenhills! And
mostly in the gaming shops too, bummer! I started my canvassing
at 3pm, going back and forth from VirraMall and Theater Mall through
the damned crowded "tiangge", and by 430pm, the black and white DSLites
unit at 1 store had disappeared from the shelves already!!! Most,
if not all the game shops I went to were hot and overcrowded with
people, kids and adults alike.

I wanted to get the converted unit in order to play all the games
available-- as per my brother and cousins anyway, since I don't know a
thing about Nintendo DS Lites except that I wanted one! By 5pm, I
finally decided to buy from an uncrowded store in VirraMall. The
price was P8500. While not the best value for money in
Greenhills, it had the least crowd inside the store, so I didn't have
to battle my way to the counter. However, they only had the pink
unit. Ugh. The other 2 stores who sold the converted unit
for P8500 also had only the pink DS lite left.

Since I aboslutely HAD TO HAVE my DS Lite that day, I decided to get
an unconverted unit and just get it converted later on-- one store I
asked could convert a DS Lite for only P500 while-I-wait. I
braved my way back to Theater Mall and picked the store with the best
referrals from friends and had the cheapest price for the unconverted
units. I had to wait awhile to complete the transaction, since 4
out of 5 black-colored DS Lites we tested had a single broken pixel in
either the top screen or the bottom one. Bummer.

When I finally asked the saleslady if we could pop in a game for
testing-- lo and behold, she popped in a P500-or-less cartridge and it
worked!!! I thought you needed a converted DS Lite to play
those??? Needless to say, I bought that one. I also bought
a polycarbonate case with silicon inserts for my new toy, as well as a
screen protector.

Finally D(S)e-LITE-ed: <-- you gotta read
this aloud really fast to understand it! Silent S!

Ta-da! My new toy! *wub wub wub*

I've been playing Pokemon Emerald on my DS Lite now. I can
hardly bring myself to put it down, it's just so... pretty!
:D You can tell from the picture, cantcha?

I Am Not a Bar Person

2006-07-06T16:41:00.000+08:00

While I have often stepped into a bar for drinks and such, I can't understand how people can make themselves stay in a bar for over 2 hours. I just can't. I'm not talking about those (cheesy) bars where guys like to pickup girls and where girls go to get picked up. No, I'm taking about your regular, run-of-the-mill, decent bars where you can either find a nice cozy spot to chat with friends, or listen to a live band play their music.

I only started going to a bar regularly when I met my boyfriend, who has been patronizing this certain bar since he and his buddies were in college... so that means they've been going regularly for over 10 years. It's like a tradition for them to be there every Friday night (and sometimes they get together on weeknights as well), talking about work and what-nots.

I've been going to this bar for over 2 years now. The novelty has worn off in the first 3 months, and while I like the place and I like the people who go there, I still can't understand how people can stay there for over 2 hours. Aside from the fact that I don't really like beer (I'm more of the hard liquor type), I don't feel comfortable sitting still for more than an hour. The people I'm with talk to me, no arguements there. I know the bar manager, the names of most of the regulars and their girl/boyfriends, and the servers! But I'll take a quiet evening alone inside a coffee house over a bar any day! You can stick me in a coffee house for a whole day, and all I'll need is a good book or a companion to talk with. I can never get that certain ambiance when I'm in a bar, even one that I frequent. Don't get me wrong, the company I'm with in the bar is great. There's just this really huge "But..." going on in my head.

Then there's those bars that have live bands playing on certain nights. One of my boyf's buddies is a musician, so on "gig nights", we all try to troop to the bar where they'll be playing to show our support. I will honestly say that even though his band doesn't play the type of music I listen to, I *DO* listen, because I personally know the band members. I can't explain why, but I'll say that this familiarity with the band members adds something extra to the music.

But going back, another reason why I don't quite enjoy going to bars is the type of music they play. I forgot what music genre my boyfriend placed it under, but to me, it sounds like it's been influenced by jazz, trance and/or electronica. The music feels moody, dramatic, mysterious and floaty, even when the lyrics talk empathically about some psycho muthafucka killa on the loose.

While I have an open mind when it comes to music, I have to honestly say that some types just put me to sleep. Sadly, the music type played by these bands in these bars are almost all the same... and it's the type that puts me to sleep, too. It's not just that either. After one band plays the songs in their set, the next band starts, and OMG, they sound almost exactly like the previous band! I know that it's the same genre, but the songs sound too much alike. Even if the influences were the same, I don't believe that the songs being played are supposed to sound alike. I guess it's partly due to me not liking the music type in the first place, but... Well, let's put it this way: ask me to hum a tune from one of the many gigs I've attended, and I'll not be able to, even if all the songs sound alike.

I just can't dig the music, even though I want to look like I'm enjoying myself.

Why do I still go then? Because my boyfriend likes the music genre. Because my boyf's buddy, who has also become my buddy, needs our support. Because I'm trying to see if I could make myself like going to bars as much as my boyfriend and other people do. Because I can't understand why people stay in bars for over 2 hours.

I get lucky sometimes; there would be a band who's music is just a little bit more interesting than the rest. I'd perk up in my seat and order a coke or something (not good to always drink hard). I've rarely been impressed enough by a band for me to start bobbing my head in time with the beat. But after the set is over, it goes back to the same, sleepy music, and I slump back in my seat, uninterested.

It's not really a big improvement over going to a bar to just have drinks and then stay there for over 2 hours.

To each their own, I suppose. I'll always be one of those who feel out of place the minute they step into a bar.

Maybe I should just stick to coffee houses...

I Quest for the Dark Tower...

2006-06-26T14:07:00.000+08:00

I quest for the Dark Tower!

This has been my YM status message for the past few weeks. Why? Because I have just finished reading "The Dark Tower" book 7, which is the final book of Stephen King's magnum opus.

If you haven't read the series, you are missing out on more than half of your mortal life already! Stop reading this blog entry, and go pick up the first book (The Dark Tower 1 - The Gunslinger) to begin your quest.

If you've read the DT series, but have not finished reading Book 7, stop reading this blog entry, otherwise, I will spoil the book ending for you as I plan to discuss it a bit. Believe me, you WILL NOT enjoy having the story spoiled for you.

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Decided to continue? Very well then, folken...
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I started reading the DT series sometime back in either grade school or high school. I don't remember when exactly, but the timeline would be some 10 to 12 years ago. Yes, dear reader, it took Stephen King over 15 years to complete this masterpiece epic.

I've been hooked on the story of Roland's quest ever since I began. It wasn't really so much that I wanted to know the ending, but rather, I wanted to join Roland on this "Knight's Quest" to save the Dark Tower. Each time each DT book came out, I was so desperate to continue the journey onwards. Waiting 10-12 years for an end to the quest is not pretty. As I said, I wanted to join Roland on his quest, and it was a long and weary path to the Dark Tower, say thankya. Not only did the waiting time for the books make it long, but the way the story progressed made it seem so much longer.

I wanted the quest to end happily (I am such a sucker for happy endings), even though I was pretty sure that the losses incurred during such a journey would be great-- too great, in fact, to pass off as another event. Each loss that happened to Roland and his ka-tet cut through me like a hundred knives each time. My eyes watered with unshed tears when the ka-tet first broke with Eddie's death, and then gushed freely not soon after as Jake (my most beloved character in the story) died shortly afterwards. To quote one person in the DarkTower forums, "King is a cold and cruel bastard." It was true... but then again, what else would one expect when the gain is just as great? There must always be a balance in the wheel of Ka, and when the scale tips to one side, Ka dictates that the balance be regained.

Of course, while I was not happy with the ending, I must say that there was no other ending that could have been possible, and that no other ending could have finished the quest better. For Roland to keep having a "Groundhog Day" (as in the Bill Murray movie) until he finally lives his life right is the only way to serve one's destiny. The only path to living life. Ka is a wheel. That is the only truth there is.

What is life about anyway? Why are we born? Why do we live the way we do? Why are we here? Why do we exist? Is there any greater purpose that we must fulfill before we can say that we really lived? Are we all destined to repeat our lives again and again until we fulfill the destiny we are given? If one does not believe in destiny, what is the purpose of life? Of existence? Are we supposed to live a fulfilling life? How can we say that we DID live a fulfilling life? What are the factors that make life seem fulfilling? What drives us to do what we do? What do we need to do for the wheel to stop turning? The questions go on and on.

And so I quest for the Dark Tower.

Note: I know this was a very vague piece of monologue, but if you've read the DT series, then you know exactly what I am talking about. :) So go pick up the books and quest for your own Dark Tower!

Writer's Block

2006-06-21T02:43:00.000+08:00

Holy crap!

It's been months since my last update... and yet, I find that I have nothing to talk about still... :(

Well, I do have a couple of gripes.

I've been going through some of my extra curricular projects list, and whoa! It's long and getting longer still... most of it are writing-related (such as this blog). Man, I used to be such an avid writer. Does the working life really kill your inner abilities? Does it really kill the special skills one develops over the growing years?

Take for example, my writing (and back to that again...)

Man, I used to be such an avid writer (yes, I'm repeating myself to stress this into my poor, overworked, stressed brain). I used to be able to put down unintelligible thoughts into coherent words and sentences merely by putting my hands to a keyboard and typing away. I stopped being an avid writer some time during 4th year high school. I was a "dead writer" all throughout college, then started writing again a few months after I graduated. It was a good flux of thoughts and ideas for a few months, then I lost the drive again.

It's been an off-again, on-again thing for me ever since.

Take for example, the Inu Yasha fanfic that I started working on a few months after I graduated. I posted this publicly (courtesy of www.fanfiction.net), and I updated that fanfic regularly, adding a new chapter at least once every 2 weeks. One thing about updating regularly is that you soon get a fan-following... which was really encouraging. The knowledge that people I don't know were actually taking time to sit down and read something I've made was inspiring, to say the least. I was on a roll.

Then near Chapter 9 of my 2nd fanfic, I backed myself into a plot-corner, and got the worst case of writer's block I've ever had the misfortune to experience.

That fanfiction has been waiting for Chapter 10 for almost 2 years.

I was able to get myself out of it after I finally made myself sit down and WORK on the damn thing. After Chapter 10 was posted, however, I once again found that I "lost the touch". :(

So here I am, in my favorite Starbucks haunt with my laptop, looking at an open word document with "Chapter 11" screaming in front of me... still very blank.

Now what?

While staring blankly into my screen, I started thinking about my other, unfinished (and ongoing) projects, such as my 3 blogsites (you're reading 1 of them right now), my 2 fanfics, my unfinished entries for numerous fiction-writing contests that ended months ago and my not-yet-started epic fiction story that I've had in my head for over 10 years. I doubt this epic fiction thing will ever get written... it involves a lot of necessary historical and mythological research, which I simply cannot find time for.

Well, here's one good thing... bemoaning the loss of my love for writing enabled me to update my blog. *rolls eyes*

Useless update, bah...

Bemoaning Public Toilets

2006-03-18T17:28:00.000+08:00

Well f*ck.

This is going to be a litany, I can tell.

I hate using toilets in public places. Why? I don't think I need to explain why. But for the sake of a conversation, let me tell you:

By the way, this is going to be one-sided for Ladies' Toilets, since I have never been in the Mens' Toilet...

1. People don't know how to clean up after themselves.

Dammit! Everytime I go to a public toilet, there's always some yellow liquid sitting on the toilet bowl. Not just a drop of two, but a whole spray of them on the seat! And sometimes, it's not just ON the seat, but AROUND the seat as well! Then sometimes there's a puddle on the floor.

What gives?! Don't these people know how to use a toilet? Damn, you don't have to sit on the seat, FINE. Because of germs and blah blah, YEAH I KNOW! But clean up your mess! If you feel disgusted about your own piss, then how do you suppose the next person feels cleaning up YOUR piss?

The worst part of it all is that this happens even in high-end malls with high-end shoppers. Like Shangri-La! So these high-end people are not so well-educated after all.

I'd rather pay P10 to use a Pay Lounge in malls (if there are any). Call me stupid for paying to use the toilet, but I think P10 for a clean toilet, with soap and tissue paper and someone who cleans up the cubicle after each use is money well spent. Less germs to worry about, and I don't get hot-headed about all the dumbass, inconsiderate b*tches out there.

Comments: Kudos to Rockwell and Greenbelt for well-kept public toilets. I always see attendants present ALL the time, keeping busy keeping clean. Good job!

2. People don't know what a trash can is for.

I'll understand if you're 2 years old and below. 25 months and up? You ought to know that a trash can means "dump your trash here and not elsewhere".

The used, crumpled toilet paper is scattered all over the floor NEAR the vicinity of the trash can. And the trash can isn't even overflowing nor full. People are too damn lazy to properly put their trash away. Trash can has a cover? Put your shoe on the pedal at the bottom of the can... it will magically open wide to eat your trash. Trash can cover is a see-saw? Push on one side to swing it open so that no one else sees or saw your trash. No trash can? Then flush it down the toilet, HELLO! Toilet is biodegradable!

Need to toss a sanitary napkin? Roll it up and dump discreetly OUTSIDE your cubicle. All toilets have trash cans!

And speaking of which, last night I was in a bar that I frequent. Guess what was waiting for me in the Ladies' Toilet? *shucks, i should've taken a picture on my mobile phone*

There was this nice, dark RED, sticky-looking puddle on the floor.

By the way, there was LOTS and LOTS of toilet paper available. There was also soap by the sink!

I called the attention of the owner, of course. But still... geez! Anyway, going back...

Nobody wants to look at your bloody mess anymore than you do!

Comments: My high schools' toilets had little hanging boxes where cut-up newspapers and telephone directories are placed. The girls are supposed to wrap their used sanitary napkins with the provided papers, then throw it away properly. Malls should do this, if plastic bags are too expensive to provide.

3. People should know that toilets are for people, not food.

Ever seen a sink with disgusting bits of food in it, causing the sink to clog? Yep... mall employees are washing their plates in toilets. Calling the attention of mall owners! This is a no-no!

Comments: Wash your plates at HOME, will ya?!?!

4. People should know that toilets are toilets, not a conference room.

What is it about girls going to the toilet in groups? Or talking on the cellphone while taking a piss? And chatting away at the top of their lungs, to boot. I've always wanted to hit these airheads. MOVE OVER AND STOP BLOCKING THE SINK THAT YOU'RE NOT EVEN USING!

Comments: No one else cares that you broke up with your boyfriend, or that your husband is a jerk, etc.

5. People don't know how to form a line.

Look lady, everyone inside the toilet needs to take a piss as much as you do, so get back in line! The queueing system in the Philippines is all wrong too! It should be first come first served, not first in, boxed out then served!

For the uneducated many, the queue line is ONE SINGLE LINE that starts in front of the very first cubicle door in the toilet. It's not supposed to be the line in front of every cubicle door in the toilet.

Meaning, that if there are 5 cubicles, there should only be 1 queue line, not 5 queue lines.

Comments: In other countries, if you try to fall in line behind the door of a cubicle while the queue line begins at the toilet entry, the women in line will rip your throat out. I dare you to try it.

6. Toilet paper and soap should be provided.

Mall owners should be told: don't bother to have public toilets in your malls if you can't provide tissue and soap. Soap is a must. Do you know how many germs are spread in toilets? Everyone needs to and should wash their hands after using the toilet. As for the toilet paper, if it's too damn expensive, then setup a tissue dispenser NEAR or INSIDE the toilet! And make sure you dispense sanitary napkins too.

Comments: Gateway Mall does not have a tissue NOR sanitary napkin dispenser inside their toilets. Maybe the owners don't wipe themselves after they take a piss, hence the neglect to install these dispensers?

*sighs*

_

Happy New Year! -- part 2

2006-03-18T17:20:00.000+08:00

I am realizing more and more that the longer I put this off, then I will never get it done at all. So here it is.

7. Finish what you started... and try not to start anything new until you finish the previous idea, otherwise you'll never get anything done (as displayed above).

8. Take up drawing again! And put that damn comic into black&white so it doesn't cause a bottleneck for all your other ideas.

9. Behave intellectually.

10. Start the day with a positive attitude and a *great* smile.

The secret to life. I'm beginning to notice that my New Years' Resolutions are becoming more generic and less-geared toward the way I live my life.

Ah hell. Maybe I'll just scrap the whole thing altogether and just go with the flow.

Carpe diem!

Philippines' State of Emergency

2006-03-08T10:16:00.000+08:00

I think I'll hold off my (very delayed) New Year's Resolution part 2 in lieu of this enlightening message I got in my email recently.

And for the record, I concur wholeheartedly with what this anonymous writer had to say.

==========

Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Media people, Leftists, and all Bleeding Hearts Out There:

I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of all you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos. I feel like screaming every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you obviously are just thinking about yours.

You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have made. In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.

I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded to your calls, and our response has been very clear - we chose not to heed your calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not love our country or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even more. Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights just to move this country forward.

You may counter with your ideological propaganda and give me all the dire warnings about the evils of Martial Law, authoritarian rule, suppression of freedom, etc., but quite frankly all we see are your pathetic efforts to defend your right to continue fulminating, filibustering, and sabotaging this country until you wrestle power for yourselves. You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights, but who told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that my rights and my freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and fight for them myself. I have done in the past, and I will do it again when I SEE THE NEED FOR IT, not when you tell me to do it.

You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because she has done immoral acts. As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you do), I may have become jaded. I may have lowered my standards about what a leader should be. Guess what, Tita Cory, you lowered it yourself. When I accepted your incompetence and fought for you during the many attempts against your government, I already lowered the standards to ridiculous levels. Guess what, Senators and Congressmen, you lowered it yourselves when you ran for office and won and now make fools of yourselves in the august halls of congress.

But the simple truth that you try to obfuscate is this: you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative! On the other hand, GMA has bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way. From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join you in your moral pissing contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things from another perspective. You say she is the problem. I say, we are - all of us is the problem; more to the point, I think you are a bigger problem than she is. Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a bigger problem: you. That is right, YOU!

While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the elections and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher moral ground and forgiven her. Yes my dear bishops, I have done what you have told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral thing to do: forgive. Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be defiant, continuing to insult us everyday with his protestations - and he is part of your cause now! Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after all.

I know you do not think that GMA's apology was not enough, or that she was insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral fiber of society. The real reason is because you smell blood and wants to go for the kill.

Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you even more. I may not trust her, but you know what, I do not trust you even more.

You know why I do not trust you? Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country. You belittle every little progress we make, conveniently forgetting that it is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them. Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that. Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil hard everyday in our jobs. Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the eyes of the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your sorry point. In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakingly try to build. So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause. Do not be surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven and earth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core. For all your efforts, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I say enough.

Don't get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal. But you have tried to prove your accusations all these time and you have not succeeded, so it is time to let things be. Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable. The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists - the same people who have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap and the Marcoses.

So please wake up and take a reality check. In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her. A flawed leader is better than scheming power hungry fools who can not even stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest.

Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people who only want power but not the consequences and the sacrifices that go with the quest. Your one and only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse does not work. You are nothing but BULLIES who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task for your cruelty. You call for the rule of law and respect for authority, but so brazenly display your defiance and disrespect for the same things you claim to be fighting for.

I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making all kinds of lame excuses. You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us.

Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the government when THAT IS THE ONE AND ONLY ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DESPERATELY TRYING TO DO in the last many months?

We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our share to make things work. We the people will and can make it work, if only you get out of the way and let us do it. If you only do your jobs, the ones you are supposed to be doing, things would be a lot simpler and easier for all of us.

The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more dangerous and a serious threat to this country t han GMA is. We have seen what you are capable of doing - you are ready to burn this country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point. If there is something that we need protection from, IT IS PROTECTION FROM YOU.

_

Happy New Year! -- part 1

2006-01-02T14:00:00.000+08:00

Good god almighty!

It's been practically a year since I updated this blog. :( Where does the time go?

I've been thinking about my never-ending New Years' Resolutions... I say never-ending because once I finish my list and get on with my daily doings (whatever they are), I find that I keep adding to my list:

1. Get the most out of my gym membership

2. Eat right; less junk food (I am missing my potato chips already...)

3. Get up earlier to avoid rush-hour traffic (If I don't leave the house before 7am, I don't bother to leave until it's 9am, since leaving-at-7am = 2 hours-in-traffic VS leaving-at-9am = 40 minutes-in-traffic...)

4. Keep in touch with old friends... constantly (I have come to realize that I started becoming a lousy correspondent when I switched jobs)

5. Start writing again! (I miss writing... I read my friends' stories wistfully...)

This is what I have so far... I'll probably come up with more while I'm writing this.

I came up with these during the latter part of 2005. None of these are material things... I don't consider "I must buy that new pair of shoes by March..." as a resolution... ;) and most of them came to me as a slap in the face... particularly number 4, when I got to hang out with a really old friend of mine...

*sigh*

6. Gather coherent thoughts... *then* write them down, not the other way around...

_

The Digital Pinay Joke

2005-01-25T14:47:00.000+08:00

Focusing on current issues worth mentioning in this blogspot, have all of you heard about the Digital Pinay contest? If not yet, take a look at my friend Sean's blog about this, as well as Sacha's (a cyberspace colleague way back when there was no such thing as the internet) blogs about it.

This may come a little late as the PCS has already decided to amend the "Beauty Pageant" part that caused the whole issue in the first place, but anyway...

I completely agree with Sacha's initial reaction/opinion. While I have nothing against beauty pageants per se, I have never really seen the whole point of proclaiming one person, either a man or woman, more "beautiful" over the other contestants. Even for the international pageants like Miss Universe or Miss Earth or whatever, while they try to make a theme and add big points for talent, personality and the like, it will always be beauty that is the first item on the list of appeals to consider. But then again, you expect that from beauty pageants, right?

Now, when you hear about a contest to find a woman who best embodies the skills and values of the IT industry, I really REALLY doubt that the beauty criteria would come to mind right away. I would be more interested in how she works, how she talks to her bosses and clients, how she manages her time between work and family, how deep is her knowledge of today's technology, how up-to-date she is with the industry, how her personality affects the people she works with, how this and how that.

It doesn't really matter what her vital statistics are, right? I mean, she could be an overweight, vertically-challenged woman managing a demanding career, a husband and maybe 5 kids. But she could be the epitome of a Digital Pinay, and looking her over just because she doesn't fit the beauty criteria would be just plain stupidity.

I applaud Sacha for her efforts in turning about the PCS criteria for this contest. I can't wait to see how things turn out.

_

Facets of Perception

2005-01-21T12:55:00.000+08:00

I once abhorred the thought of creating an online blog. My single most sensical reason was "Why in the world would anyone want to write their personal thoughts or opinions out in the open for everyone to see?"

After going through a couple of my friends' online journals, as well as the blogs of online strangers who just happened to have a couple of interesting insights about life in general, I was beginning to see another angle of blogs-- this is a way for me to share *my* perceptions about the world around us human beings. This is a way to tell the world "HEY!!! Everyone is different!".

Let's face it. Some people think the world revolves around them. Some people are so inconsiderate of others and just don't give sh*t about everything else that could be happening around the world. Of course, there are those who believe they know everything about the world as well.

So... here's my contribution to the world of personal opinions. Let's see I can do some good with the thoughts I would like to express.

To quote myself when once asked by my philosophy teacher to define truth:

"Truth is a matter of perception. People believe in what they grew up knowing as the truth."

1. If half of the world's population believed all their life that the earth was the center of the universe,
2. while the other half of the world's population believed all their life that the sun was the center of the universe,
3. and there was absolutely no way to prove which one was correct,

what would be the truth?

Facets of Perception... the title itself should tell you something already. ;)