Facts ‘Bout Me

Posted on April 13, 2008 at 12:01 pm | 16 Comments
Filed under Random Realities

I decided to rewrite my “About Me” page. I started from scratch again and I come up with an seven-paragraph introduction to myself. I decided to post it here so that it’ll get the attention that it will need. The front page is always the best part where you can put stories that you want your audience to notice.

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During the year I started blogging, my answer to the question “What’s your ASL?” was 14/M/Pampanga. Now that almost four years have passed since I first encountered that question, my answer is still the same, except for the age part which you have to add to four (that’s equal to 18). But of course, giving you a two-digit number, a letter that stands for “male”, and the name of a province here in the Philippines is not enough for you to know me. So the purpose of rewriting my short description of myself is for you to visualize me better on your head. Feel free to make your own image of myself. I’ve also provided links to my previous posts, that you can freely read (minus those password protected entries) which can help you know more about myself.

I was born three days after Christmas in the year of 1989. December 28, 1989 was the start of my journey here on earth. Eighteen years later, I’m already 18 years old, obviously. Kidding aside, I think, I’ve achieved a lot of things but there are still many things to conquer. Currently, I’m a college student but I still have to learn how to love my course and I still think that college is synonymous to hell.

Reading books has been my main source of entertainment since sixth grade when I first read JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Since then, I have read more than 50 books which include the whole Harry Potter series, two of Dan Brown’s controversial books, reads by Mitch Albom which are all talking about death, and even books that are more disturbing like Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner which is my most favorite book, by the way.

Other forms of entertainment that I enjoy include watching American TV shows especially Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes and The Amazing Race, ridiculing incompetent teachers, sleeping, surfing the Internet, and most recently, listening to indie music by Feist, Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, The Postal Service, Hellogoodbye, Jack Johnson, and many more. As a matter of fact, because of my obsession to indie music, I named my iPod touch as Gibbard, in honor of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service’s singer: Ben Gibbard. Just visit my Last.fm account to know my listening patterns.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also love writing. I was actually the news editor of our official student publication for two consecutive years back in high school. But until now, I still don’t know how I was able to get that position because of my faulty grammar. I know, my grammar sucks. And if it were not because of Firefox’s spell checker feature, I would have committed lots of misspelled words. I need an editor, really. Haha. But despite all of those reasons I’ve mentioned, I’m really thankful for my adviser who trusted me. Writing news never gave me pleasure. You have to be specific with the facts and you can’t give your own points and using adjectives is a big no-no.

Now, I want to tell you what I’m not: I’m neither a singer nor a dancer (I suck at both). I’m not also a cellphone and SMS addict, I can leave even without a phone. I hate PE classes (I’m just glad that I will not wear my PE uniform ever). And oh as some of you might already know, I don’t have the ideal body weight (take a guess if I’m overweight or underweight) and I don’t look like an 18 year old student (I look younger… lol).

I’ve got more things to tell you but I guess, I’m already boring you. Just watch out for the next version of this introduction to myself to know more about me. But if you need something or you just want to leave your two cents, feel free to contact me.

*****

DanHellbound and Dre tagged me to post facts about myself. BTW, Mr. DanHellbound tagged me way back in December of last year. Dan says I should post seven facts, and Dre says that I should post eight. But obviously, I broke the rules. Lol. And oh, I didn’t make this post because of these memes. It’s just coincidental. Of course, everyone is invited to post random facts. Yeah, I’m tagging you everyone!

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An Expensive Treat

Posted on January 8, 2008 at 9:49 pm | 19 Comments
Filed under Bulky Books • Daily Dose

As what I have written in my previous update, I’m now going to continue recounting our recent trip to Manila. After we had a sumptuous lunch at the very extravagant Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila and lingered a few minutes at the pool side and take photos (you can read more about it in my entry entitled “So Sofitel“), we went to Trinoma.

I thought that we would go to Mall of Asia instead of Trinoma because MOA is situated near Sofitel. Actually, we have seen it from the pool section of the hotel, erected on the reclamation area. After more than seven months from the day Trinoma was opened, it was my first time to go there. The mall is big and I got lost trying to locate — what else — Power Books because of the confusing structure of the mall. When I decided that it was time to ask somebody, I asked at the concierge BTW, I was at the right floor and Power Books was just a few meters away. My parents and siblings went to SM North Edsa, leaving me there alone.

The branch of Power Books in Trinoma is smaller than the other branches I have been to. It is relatively smaller than the nearest Nation Bookstore branch from our home. But of course, unlike NBS, the majority of the products that they sell at Power Books are books. Lol. I tried to look for a book of Adeline Yen Mah in their biography section. I was not even sure if the books were arranged by title or subject at first. But to no avail and after checking most of the books’ authors and titles, I haven’t seen any book written by her.

I’ve seen good reads but they’re way too expensive. One of which is Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.” Because the book is hardbound, there is no question why it was priced as Php 1000 plus. I think I’ll just wait for the paperback edition. I’ve also seen “The Emperor’s Children” by Claire Messud. I have expressed in Twitter that I wanted a copy of it. But after reading the synopsis of the book, I was turned off. Time was running out and my father called and told me that he would fetch me and we would go to SM North Edsa. And because I know that it could take months before we’ll go back there I was determined to get something to read. So I decided to take anything that have an appealing cover, without even caring to check the writer’s style1.

The Namesake The first book I have seen appealing to my eyes was Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake.” I’ve already finished reading it, just today. It’s the second book I have read this year. The story revolves on how Bengalis name their children. The main character named Gogol struggles in the USA with his very weird name. The book can be summarized from the words uttered by Gogol who changed his name into Nikhil later in the book: “There is no such thing as a perfect name. I think that human beings should be allowed to name themselves when they turn eighteen. Until then, pronouns.” When I read that, I burst into laughter. I can’t imagine how people would call somebody who is below eighteen using pronouns all the time. It’s a nice book. Book lovers who are looking for a book written by somebody who has not have American or British blood running in their veins should try it.

Daniel Isn't Talking Just below the shelf where Lahiri’s book was displayed, I’ve seen this book by Marti Leimbach entitled “Daniel Isn’t Talking.” The front cover features a kid with his arms raised. The book looked interesting. And yes, it really is. This is the first book I have read this year, and it’s a very nice book to start with this 2008. I didn’t know that it was about an autistic kid. The last time I read a book with an autistic kid in the story (”The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon) I wasn’t impressed. Maybe, if I knew that autism was involved in the book, I would not have bought it. But this one is really good. What I liked about the book is that behind the drama of the story, some humorous lines were inserted to make the book a lot interesting.

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Falling Leaves When I was already in SM North Edsa, I went to another bookstore, this time, Fully Booked. I must say that it’s my favorite bookstore. They have so many books! I went to their biography section, where I have seen an Adeline Yen Mah book (”Chinese Proverbs”). What I wanted was “Falling Leaves” so I asked the salesman if they have other books of Mah. And guess where he brought me? In the children’s section! And her books were under the general fiction. Weird. You see, “Falling Leaves” is a biography and not a product of Mah’s imgainations. “Chinese Cinderella,” which I have already read is also a biography so it was also shelved on the wrong place. Another book that I have seen by Mah was “Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society.” It’s fiction, so they got that one correct. Maybe, whoever shelved her books were confused where they would put them because their titles sound fiction-like. In the end, I bought “Falling Leaves” and “Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society.” Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society

I got these four books for almost Php 2000. But I’m not complaining. I consider this as a treat to myself. Besides, I really like reading, it could take me anywhere around the globe without moving even just a fraction of an inch. So, any titles that you can suggest?

[EDIT] My father saw my passbook, and because I used my ATM to buy these books (the transactions I made are recorded there), he shouted at me, saying that I’ve spent too much money. [/EDIT]

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And because of this, we arrived back here in Pampanga around 11PM. I was not able to go to the party of my friend. I can’t believe that I missed it. I believe that most of my high school friends were there at the party. I have missed the chance to mingle, laugh, chat, and laugh even more with them. Maybe, next time, I would be able to see and meet my friends again, that is if there is a next time. Lol. Whatever.

  1. I check the author’s style via the Internet if the books are sealed with plastic. Unluckily, the books were covered so I don’t really have the chance to read even just a few pages of the books. Obviously, they don’t want private reading. [↩]

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One Time, Big Time

Posted on December 28, 2007 at 11:31 pm | 9 Comments
Filed under Daily Dose • Featured Flicks

Seriously, I didn’t plan anything for my 18th birthday today. I just let the day unfold in front of my eyes, and yes, I enjoyed my birthday.

Earlier this day, I went to hear mass. The priest’s homily was about protecting the sanctity of life. He talked about how euthanasia and abortion removes the dignity of a person. You see, today is the Feast of the Holy Inocents. Upon hearing the news that Jesus was born, King Herod gave orders to kill all males aged two years and below. So you see the conection of the gospel and the homily, eh? Hmm… this is where Niño (popularly known as Talamasca) got his name who also celebrates his birthday today!

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As my high school friends lurves anything that is “on the spot,” I only invited them this morning. Lol. Luckily, five of them turned up. Some of them were shocked because they know that I’m kuripot1. Lol. Well, maybe I’ll talk about that in another entry. We met at SM City Pampanga at around noon, but two of my friends can’t get as soon as possible there and my friends that were already with me were already hungry so we decided to eat. I treated them in Chef d’ Angelo. I love their jumbo-sized chickens and pizzas. Delicious! Haha.

We had a good time talking about our high school memories like Intramural,
a particular speech choir presentation2, how we hated our valedictorian (I won’t comment about this… haha), press-cons, and our school’s success in the recently concluded Sinukwan Festival.

By the time that we were done with our lunch, our other friends were not yet there so we decided to roam around the mall. And oh, according to a billboard seen here in Pampanga, it’s the longest mall in the country. Hmm… so it’s longer than Mall of Asia? Interesting. After a few minutes, the people that we were waiting for turned up at last.

We then went to Robinson Starmills to watch a flick. As it’s still the Metro Manila Film Festival today, there were no films from other countries. We decided to watch Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo of Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo. Compared to other Filipino movies, this movie is really good. Yes, I have written in one of my entries that most Filipino movies are corny, but this one is an exemption. This one is unique and it has its originality. Well, I won’t talk more about it because I don’t want to spoil it for you!

There are other things that I want to write here, but I think this is enough for now. To everyone who greeted me a Happy Birthday, thank you very much!

PS: I’ll be in Manila tomorrow and hopefully, Mall of Asia. But I need to get back here in Pampanga by 6PM because I want to attend one of my high school friend’s party. It’ll be an overnight party and they even own a resort… this is exciting!

  1. The nearest English translation of this word that I know is extremely thrifty [↩]
  2. The piece was written in Tagalog by the way. [↩]

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My Frustrations

Posted on April 3, 2007 at 5:44 pm | 29 Comments
Filed under Boggling Blogs • Internet Insanity

This year, two events for bloggers here in the Philippines were held. Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend even just one of the two.

I’ve been blogging for almost three years and since then, I haven’t met even just a single blogger physically (unless you’ll count my cousin). Those two events were great opportunity to meet bloggers. I badly wanted to go to those events. Obviously, I wasn’t able to. Why? I don’t know if this is a good reason, but I don’t really know how to get to Metro Manila.

During my childhood years, when there was still no SM here in Pampanga, my father and I would go to SM North Edsa. Well, SM North Edsa and UST are the only places in Metro Manila that I know how to go to. Also, I would not go to Metro Manila alone! I know how terrible that place could be and I don’t want my life to be in such peril.

Nevertheless, congratulations to the winners1 of the recently concluded PBA 2007:

But wait, this entry is ain’t finished…

Have you heard of iblog3? It’s yet another event for Filipino bloggers. It’ll be held on April 13 and 14, 2007 at the School of Economics Auditorium, in UP Diliman, Quezon City. I hope I can attend this one. I want this vacation to be my most memorable one because you see, if I’ll not be able to shift to another course, this will be my last vacation. I don’t care if I’ll not be able to attend our so-called closing party which is going to be on the 14th.

With this, I’m calling for bloggers from Pampanga who would attend the said event to contact me. I — call me desperate — would be glad to be your chaperon (or is it the other way around?). Okay, I’m tagging Euri and Ivy. Would you like to go with me? Haha. I’m dead serious. I really want to attend iblog3! So if you’re somewhere near San Fernando, Pampanga and would like to attend it, please, contact me.

I have my ways on confirming if you’re saying the truth or you’re just one of those people who can be a finalist for the next April 01’s Man of the Day. XD

And for WP users, I have a great news for you! Versions 2.1.3 and 2.0.10 were released!

  1. Full list of winners here. [↩]

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Our Ancestral House

Posted on April 2, 2007 at 11:06 am | 10 Comments
Filed under Daily Dose

The house where distant relatives go when they visit Pampanga is the house that my grandpa owned until he left us last September, but now I don’t know who exactly owns it now. That house is very old, older than my grand father. I haven’t seen concrete evidences that gave me the exact year when the house was built. But looking at the structures, the house looks like it was built a century ago or even centuries. I have this theory that it was built during the time when the Spaniards colonized the country though it may sound implausible.

The gate is made up of steel, it has the same design with those of the other old houses’ gates. The double doors are made of antique wood and when you enter the house, an old worn out piano would greet you, each key would give you only a single distinctive sound, I think it’s even beyond repair. If you would look around, you would see old furnitures that could be sold for a good price at an antiquities shop. In the sitting room, there is this Standard electric fan which is older than me. What’s impressive is that we still use it for daily use. There are three big cabinets near the long dinning table, each cabinet contains cutleries. My grandmother disposed some of these because they were not used for years and dirt has already compiled on these.

The staircase is purely made up of wood. The second floor has three spacious rooms. Actually, there should be four but two rooms were merged. In every room, there are gigantic windows that are made up of wood and glass. There are also aged cabinets in every room. I don’t know exactly what they contain, especially the wardrobe that has a tall mirror. I haven’t seen it open. There is also this cabinet just near the landing where we put our school stuffs from school like books and notebooks. Last year, I had the chance to look at the contents of the cabinet. I skimmed my old books from grade school and laughed at how horrible my handwriting is. There was this drawer that I’ve only noticed then. I asked my aunt if we could open it. She agreed, and it revealed silverwares that were not used for many years. The silverwares were engraved with the initials of whomever owned them. I asked my aunt if they could be used but it looks like they’re not.

In the 90’s the first floor has gone renovation while the second floor remained intact. The first floor is now made up of pure concrete but we still use the old furnitures. Recently, the cellar and the old kitchen were destroyed, and now, they turned it into a place where we can welcome the guests that go to our house.

I haven’t encountered a ghost in that house. Those people who take care of that house now says that they had encountered the ghost of my grandpa. I don’t know if I’ll believe them because I have not encountered a ghost yet. Basically, the house is not haunted.

Well, I just miss the old house, it’s been a month since I’ve visited it because I’m so busy at school for the last month. I’m just glad that it’s already the vacation, and not to mention the Holy Week had started yesterday. That means, I can now go with my parents whenever they go there. I’m sure, distant relatives will visit our ancestral house this week though I don’t want to see some of them. I’m no social animal. Lol.

*****

And oh, could you please tell me in your comments if I’ve fooled you yesterday? I’ve changed the smilies. A credit is due to Aneesah.

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