Arn Goes to the North Pole

Sorta…

I opened the window from my apartment and it felt like hell just froze over. The streets were white and there were no people outside. It was like in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” except that the plot made more sense.

It was -18 C, which is literally freezer temperature. (By the way, the average fridge temperature is 5 C while freezers are -17 C). But wait, wind chill was -27.2 C… wind chill is basically the real temperature outside. It’s the adjusted temperature after factoring in the intensity of the wind. No idea what I’m talking about? Open your freezer and put your hand inside, cold isn’t it? Now put your hand in, put a fan inside and set it to max. You can’t feel your hand? Good, I made my point.

I think the weather froze my brain as well since a few minutes later, I was outside with my heaviest winter gear -> complete thermals, 2 pairs of socks, 2 shirts, fleece jacket then my outdoor jacket, gloves and a bonnet. I had my camera so I can go picture taking.

You read right… picture taking

Hey, I’m a Filipino. Filipinos go picture taking whenever, wherever, however they want.

As soon as I stepped outside my cheeks felt like they were being pricked by needles and my eyes were all watery. I walked all the way to the bridge… where the wind was strongest.

The river was smoking.

I walked further and took a picture of the Wacker Drive clock then I walked downstairs to get a closer look at the river.

Poor pigeons. The one in the lower right actually walked towards me. I checked my pockets and I had nothing but my apartment keys and a Snickers bar. (Who walks around with a slice of bread in his pocket anyway?)

I went back up to the street but then I couldn’t feel my nose anymore and my cheeks felt like they were peeling off. The cold was also going through my bonnet and my gloves which are now freezing my hands and ears. I feel the cold creeping through my shoes and freezing my shins and my calf. Uh oh. While I’m known to have an extremely high tolerance to the cold, this was just too much as I ran back home. This weather is more fit for polar bears and penguins.

Side Note

Thanks to everyone who reached out to me after reading my previous entry - to everyone who commented and gave their own “oks lang yan dude!” pat on the back. For me, posting that feels like one big monkey off my back as finally I can laugh this off.

Comedy equals Tragedy plus Time

my so called music career

We had this party over at 1000 N La Salle and we were playing Rockband. Someone was already holding the lead guitar, the bass guitar and the drums. The mic was just laying on the floor.

Someone picked up the mic and gave it to me since I was the person nearest to the mic who wasn’t eating.

I had the strangest feeling of Déjà vu and my mind went blank for a minute.

Let’s flashback to 2001, when Arn was still Arnold, when he sported a bald look and when he was still of great physique.

It was our friend’s party and we decided to form a temporary band and play her favorite songs. One played the guitar since he had guitar lessons back in grade school. One played the drums since his brother had a set and one played bass since he thought it was really cool. I had no idea how to play any of the instruments and so guess who got the mic.

It was my childhood dream to play for a band especially since I grew up loving alternative and grunge music, mostly Nirvana and Guns N Roses

We practiced for weeks, memorizing chords, beats and we played well during the party. We had so much fun that we decided to play on. We held bi-monthly practices, took individual trainings and played in our other friends’ parties. We released an “album” which sold 8 copies. The band was named “The Arnold Band” which started as a joke until it stuck.

Life was happy. Despite all the usual college challenges, band life for me was extremely happy and satisfying. For me, I started out my site and named it ArnoldRocks to chronicle my band life, our gigs and any bit of news.

After a few years, we decided to take it to the next step and play semi-professionally (semi since it was still an on a side thing and we played more for experience than for money). We changed the name of the band. We played in small unknown places near Paranaque for free as opening acts. It was great, but something was off. Something was wrong and yet no one in the band minded, except for me. One day we had an audition and some talent manager pointed out our problem. That same problem we all knew but refused to talk about. Our lead guitarist was already great since day one. Our drummer received lessons from his older brother and was fast developing. Our bassist has shown steady improvement throughout those months. The spotlight was on the lead singer.

He sucked.

He was fat.

He didn’t have any stage presence.

He wasn’t talented and wasn’t even good looking.

The band was held back by this guy. I stood there quietly as I heard more and more criticisms but I wasn’t listening anymore. I just remember nodding and giving out fake smiles and laughs. See, I knew about this after our first few practices. While they all grew into great musicians, I was showing no improvements. I had little practice. I couldn’t afford voice lessons. By the time I did, it didn’t matter anymore.

It wasn’t my personal failure that really hurt. It was the thought that I let my friends down that felt excruciating.

After that audition, we went to our old practice room but no one sang anymore. I was outside, smoking near a drainage ditch. They were my band mates, but as agreed since we first formed, we were friends first, band mates second, businessmen third. They defended me and told me the band will only have me as the front man. I was too hurt and ashamed to go on. I left the band against their wishes.

To quote a phrase from my journal entry at that time: “No one must walk away from their childhood dream. No one.”

Years passed and the band eventually got their new singer but eventually disbanded once they graduated from college.


Head back to 2008 when “Arnold” evolved into “Arn”, grew even fatter and now sports a menacing long hair and goatee. Imagine the feeling of holding a mic again, with your drummer behind you, lead guitarist to your right and bassist on the left. I know Rockband was just a game but it sure opened old wounds.

It took a minute before that blank stare on my face turned into a big smile

Things change. Time heals all wounds. I’ve already accepted what happened to my so called music career. It didn’t matter to me anymore that people used to boo me for having a singing voice like a drowning cat. I still have my greatest fan. I sing for her and my songs make her smile. She told me she listens to the songs I recorded for her and how it made her happy.

So maybe Jaye has an unusual interest for the sound of drowning cats. Who knows?

But for me, she was all that mattered.

It Just Shows How Athletic I am

I was on my way home from the office and it was snowing real hard. I was a few minutes away from home but I was starting to freeze fast because of the strong winds.

I was approaching the pedestrian walk when the walk sign started to blink red. Since I didn’t want to stand there for an extra minute or so, I decided to run for it. Full speed.

Halfway, the blinking red light stopped blinking and stayed red.

The motor from the stopped vehicles started to roar.

Fat guy had to run faster.

I reached the other side of the street with full momentum only to be met by a huge patch of snow and ice. I decided to skid my shoes so I can slide and stop ... you know, like ice skating.

Turns out, ice alone is slippery. Snow AND ice isn’t.

My shoe didn’t slide, it planted itself on a pile of snow and I did a half cartwheel – half somersault then landed on my back. I couldn’t get back up right away since I was still exhausted from running.

I sat up and found myself at the feet of this one family with the kid laughing hard and the dad telling the kid to stop since it’s rude. The mom wanted to laugh but was trying hard not to. The dad looked away. I just laughed and told them I was fine and I was just trying to impress them.

Once a clown, always a clown.

The Onshore Pictorial

I was at the memorial shrine along Wacker drive one Friday morning. I had my tripod with me and my 2 cameras – one with the wide angle and the other with the zoom lens. I wasn’t sure I’d even touch the zoom lens since it wasn’t the right one for this photo shoot but I brought it along just ib case.

A few days ago, John, the Chicago site lead contacted me and asked me to hold a photo shoot for all onshore people. Since the picture will be used in a postcard memo which will be sent to all Manila personnel, he wanted this to look good and so he contacted me. With that I think he meant he wanted this to look good but they probably can’t afford a professional photographer and so they used the cheapest alternative. :P

I was at the location early to scope and frame the place. John arrived and we discussed the shots they needed and what I had in mind while waiting for our “models” to arrive. The weather was great in terms of lighting as it was a bright and sunny day (Thanks to my honey who prayed for a beautiful day :D). In terms of temperature, well, it was freezing and so everyone was bundled up and given that the location was directly beside the Chicago River, the winds didn’t help at all. No wonder out of the 150+ people invited, only 15 showed up (mainly because they lived nearby and they didn’t have much work to do).

Like what I do with studio shoots, I took some pretty basic classroom type photos first just to warm everyone up. After the first two poses, my hand was starting to freeze since I couldn’t operate the camera with my thick gloves on. We took the usual classroom shot, a happy shot, a serious shot, a jumping shot and a wacky shot while moving the group here and there to get different angles and different backgrounds.

This one’s my favorite:

I love holding pictorials like these. Hey, they get their pictures, I gain experience and believe me, I learn a lot more through hour long shoots like these than by reading books all day.

It started with a can of New England Clam Chowder

I was in the grocery where I picked up a can of soup - there’s nothing like a bowl of hot New England clam chowder with croutons on a cold day while watching TV.

I passed by the rack with all the croutons which weren’t on sale and so I decided to just make them myself to avoid unnecessary purchases (Never buy what you can make right?).

Back home, I prepared the croutons, preheated the oven but then I remembered I don’t have a baking sheet so again I had to improvise. I took a big sheet of aluminum foil and placed the croutons on top.

Next challenge: how to place the flimsy foil and all the croutons on it into the oven. I took the cover of our rice bin and used it as a tray so I can slide the foil into the oven. It worked at first but then half the foil was not properly centered on the oven grills. While holding one side of it with the tongs in my right hand, I had to move the foil with my free left hand. Since I didn’t have any oven mitts, I had to stick my left hand inside the oven, push the foil further inside then take my hand out IN ONE FLUID MOTION.

After doing some practice strokes, I stuck my left hand in, pushed the foil and took my hand out. While taking my hand out though, my right hand (the one holding the tongs) went up a little and my pinkie was pressed against one of the hot grills.

The tong fell to the ground.

Croutons went flying around.

There was a very loud shout that could be heard all throughout the 23rd floor but only Filipinos could have understood.

Li’l pinkie was burned. =(

I scrambled to my laptop to search for quick burn remedies. I dipped my hand on some ice water while scrambling to find my wallet, my keys and my jacket so I can run downstairs and pick up some burn cream. Minutes later, the pain started to become unbearable. Jaye told me to put toothpaste on it to soothe the pain so I did. I was wondering why it wasn’t working until I realized I didn’t have toothpaste… I had one of those gel toothpaste so I ran to Mags’ place and covered my pinkie with white Colgate.

You know what’s funny?

Colgate was a lot more effective than the burn cream.

I opened my drawer and found oven mitts.

While removing the charred croutons from the oven, I discovered that the oven had a hidden drawer and contained 4 different baking sheets.

Croutons went on sale the next day.

Jeremy

RULES:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds!

1. If someone says "Is this okay?" you say?
“Losing my Religion” - REM

2. What would best describe your personality?
“Spolarium” - Eraserheads

3. What do you like in a girl?
“Bubbly” – Colbie Caillat; Makes sense…

4. How do you feel today?
“With a Smile” – Eraserheads; Somewhat true :)

5. What is your life's purpose?
“One Step Closer” – Linkin Park; Again, somewhat true…

6. What is your motto?
“Torete” – Moonstar 88

7. What do your friends think of you?
"Kahit Kailan" – South Border; Wha?

8. What do you think of your parents?
“You and I” – Jason Mraz

9. What do you think about very often?
“Pare Ko” – Eraserheads

10. What do you think of your bestfriend?
“Without You” – Rent OST

11. What do you think of the person you like?
“Do my Baby” – Prince; Wha?!? (by the way, that’s the song Chris Tucker was singing in the opening sequence in Rush Hour 3)

12. What is your life story?
“She will be loved” – Maroon 5

13. What do you want to be when you grow up?
“Coffee Shop” – Landon Pigg; To be a barista?

14. What do you think when you see the person you like?
“Rockstar” - Nickelback

15. What do your parents think of you?
“You’ll be safe here” – Rivermaya

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
“How Did You know” – U Turn; Awww… galing!

17. What is your favorite hobby/interest?
“The Day You Said Goodnight” – Hale; My hobby is saying good night?

18. What is your biggest fear?
“Maybe” – King; Hmmm, was… but di na… turns out love na love pala niya ako :D

19. What is your biggest secret?
“Awit ng Barkada” – Itchyworms

20. What song will be the title when you repost this?
“Jeremy” – Pearl Jam

The Chicago Skyline

One of the weirdest days in Chicago (in terms of weather) turned out to be the day I shoot my first landscape photo for the year.

It was 66F outside and so I decided to head out to the Adler Planetarium to take a picture of the Chicago Skyline. I was already there some time ago with Gea and Pat but it was too cold for me and basically I chickened out. I brought my trust tripod with me and set it up just beside a busted up lamp post. No lamp post light = better skyline picture.

Somehow I ended up with this. Not bad right? There's a bigger version of the picture here



Of course, the Filipino that I am, I decided to shoot one with me in it :P It was blurry though since I was basically focusing this blindly. :P Arrrgghhh! My haaaaiiirrrrr!!!

The Year 2007

Probably one of the best years I’ve had hands down as it was full of accomplishments, excitement, love, and most importantly, progress. I’ll admit there were bloopers and blunders along the way but overall it was truly a great year for me.

My 2007 Summary:

In one word, why 2007 was a happy year. “Jaye”

Still my excuse why I didn’t lose weight this year. “Lose weight” was NOT one of my resolutions for 2007.

2007 Resolution that had no chance since day 1. Learn to play the guitar.

Just proves how geeky I am. I received 2 certifications this year – one for database design and another for database administration using Microsoft SQL Server.

Proves that geekiness is contagious. Jaye received her certification for design with me.

Where most of my money went from January to June. Expensive car repairs.

Like a pawn promoted to queen. I got promoted to team lead. Anything would have been better compared to last year when they “increased” my salary just enough to put me into the next tax bracket (which means I actually lost more money).

At least I didn’t hurt my knee. I badly sprained my right foot and developed a defect on my right eye. My foot still hurts but my eye problem is permanent (the problem helps a lot though in photography)

Most lopsided loss. Jaye beat me 137 – 82 in bowling.

Not that it matters. I beat her in our next game 108 – 102.

Enjoying long hair. 2007 was the year of my monthly haircuts (it used to be every 2-3 weeks) until June 13, when I had my last haircut.

I wouldn’t feed this to my enemy. I cooked chicken adobo with Coke.

Why I’m such an evil roommate. I let my roommate taste it without telling him about its dark little secret.

Best Conversation of the Year. With Mike, my American friend:

Mike: “Hey Arn! How’s it going?”
Arn: “It’s…going… on...”
Mike: “Huh? What’s going on?”
Arn: “You know… life…”

(Weeks later I learned that the response should "I'm doing well, how about you?")

Why my friends from Ateneo didn’t talk to me for a month. De La Salle University won the UAAP crown in men’s basketball.

Why my friends who were die hard New York Yankees fans didn’t talk to me for a month. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series.

Most important technology I learned. Torrent

Most expensive Purchase. My Nikon 70-200mm lens.

Most expensive thing I sold. My Nikon 70-200mm lens.

Happiest Day. December 12, 2007.

Movie of the year. Shrek 3

Based on my iTunes play count stat, my song of the year. Alapaap by 6CycleMind by a hair over Rivermaya’s Balisong and You’ll Be Safe Here.

Stupidest Thing Done. I woke up one day and saw my water jug in the medicine cabinet.

Which means…? I opened my fridge and saw my GNC multivitamins inside.

My trump recipe card and the only thing I’ll bring during potluck, my best dish. Arn’s famous wet beef tapa.

The whole year I tried using this as an explanation as to why these things happen and for some reason it always make sense. “Kung gusto maraming paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan.”

Split in half down the middle. I spent the first half of the year in Manila and the second half in Chicago. I left Manila on June 15.

He doesn’t look like he belonged to this store. When I bought my Wii from Toys R Us, the guy who punched in my order was a big muscular man.

That’s not even the funny part. His name was “Jaye”.

I should have been an action star. While taking pictures of the flags during one windy night (the picture is entitled “Wind” in my Chicago at Night gallery), the wind blew my camera and my tripod. I dived and caught the camera before it fell into the ground. I scratched my elbows but the camera was fine.

Most important lesson learned. There are people who are just plain jerks. Learn to see through them or else you'll only know about this when they stab you in the back.

Chicago’s onshore next top model - most viewed model from my gallery. Leah Rebosa

Most viewed landscape picture from my gallery. Chicago at Night.

Cooking with Arnold

Fish and Veggies

Start the year right with a healthy meal as I cooked my first fish dish in Chicago. The curse of being a better cook – no more bloopers or kitchen disasters.

Nothing much to this dish though as it's just catfish fried in butter then placed on top of stir-fried vegetables. I didn't even think if the two went well together but they sure looked good picture-wise. I guess I'm a photographer first, chef second.

The Gym People

Believe it or now, I DO visit the gym sometimes. No, I’m not building muscles or even doing cardio stuff. I just need to rehab my balky knee and foot. It’s funny who you run into the gym though. Below is a summary of who I’ve run into the pros of having them around and of course, the cons. Since I don’t know them by name, I gave them my own nicknames.

(you can sing "Who are the people in your neighborhood?" if you want...)

Musky McMuscle

You can see the veins in his arms. His shirts are all tightly fitted and you can see his abs right through his shirt. Heck, even his muscles have muscles. He lifts those 50 pound dumbbells with ease and he can do a hundred plus pushups without breaking a sweat.

Pros: You know this guy is a pro. If you watch him everyday and study his regimen, you’re almost sure that those exercises work. You can see the technique he uses – how he lifts weights with his legs, not just his arms, how to do proper push ups and how to use the machines. It’s like watching one of those gym videos.

Being a tough guy means you have to maintain your reputation as well. One time, I entered the gym and caught him watching Desperate Housewives. When he saw me he immediately changed the channel to ESPN. I wanted to ask him what happened in DH but I was afraid he’d put me through the wall or something.

Cons: You can’t help but compare yourself to him. When he’s done, he drops the weights, flexes before the mirror and his muscles bulge as if to say “good night everyone!”. When he leaves, you try to lift the things he lifted and use the machines in his settings and you realize how wimpy you are. You flex before the mirror, your muscles let out a big “zzzzzz” and the rest of your body just jiggles.

Mr. Grunt

He’s fit, not muscular. He lifts those heavy weights that I think are too heavy for his size. Everytime he lifts something or uses the machine he gives out a big “AARRRGGGHH!!”.

Pros: You can see his intensity, which transfers on to you like a war cry. He roars and you suddenly realize you need to pump your guns as well.

Cons: Distracting. Even with my earphones on, it sounds like someone’s slaughtering a pig.

Skin and Bones

She comes in and checks herself out in the mirror. She’s thin. Her arms are thin. She has no belly. She’s wearing something from the kids department. She frowns, shrugs her head then gets on the treadmill.

Pros: You start to check what’s wrong with her. Are her legs not proportional to her arms? Is she just doing this for maintenance? Is she just showing off her new gym outfit? You analyze and analyze and you don’t realize that you’ve already finished your routine for the day. Maybe she wants to know how many ribs she’s got.

Cons: If she thinks she’s fat, I wonder what she would think of me. Maybe I should do those jiggle flexes in the mirror the same time she’s checking herself out.

The Skunk

He comes in and no one notices. He works on the treadmill then a few minutes later, everyone knows he’s there.
Pros: Once he enters, others leave. Since Filipinos have high tolerance to bad smells, most of the time it’s just the two of us left in the gym. Also, you don’t need to keep track of the time you’re using the treadmill. After 5 minutes, he smells like fish. After 15 minutes, he smells like rotten bananas. After 30 minutes, he smells like rotten fish with decaying bananas. After 45 minutes, if a dead fish and a homeless person had a baby and the baby puked and a dog ate the puke, he smells like the rear end of that dog (which means it’s time to leave now).

Cons: After your workout, you go up and rest on the couch. You suddenly smell something and you check if you stepped on anything. You check your hands if you touched something. You check your shirt and immediately you take it off and throw it to the washing machine for emergency laundry. Wow, the smell just sticks to anything!

Of Photography Plans and Dreams

The only major complaint that my friends have with me and my photography is that I only managed to post 6-7 measly entries in my blog the past month. Sorry everyone, especially to my frequent visitors. I havent been able to update this site because:
- I’ve been reading through my photography books.
- I’ve been processing photoshoot pictures. I also covered our Christmas party and was the official photographer. Pics are in Mags’ and Kath’s multiply site.
- I’ve been updating my online gallery… more on that later.
- I’ve been planning on the photo gear I need to setup.

Excuses… excuses… I know.

I guess I’ve evolved from the casual shutterbug to a serious amateur. Planning to go pro? Why not? I’m concentrating now on portrait photography and so I turned my apartment unit into a studio and I have all my friends as my models. I also upgraded my gear.

If you’ve ever shopped for camera equipment, you know that gear upgrade = $$$. I use a beat up second hand Nikon D80 by the way. My favorite lens is my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens (my wide pro lens). I plan to buy only the basic gear. Perfect example of this is the lamp I use in my studio which is just a fluorescent lamp inside a Quaker Oats container lined with foil attached to a translucent umbrella. Buy low end equipment then buy one good high end lens… that was the plan. I had my eyes on the holy grail of photographers…

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens.

It’s an extremely high end lens. It’s expensive. It can shoot in low light even in zoom. It’s expensive. It has vibration reduction which means less blurry pictures. It’s expensive. It’s extremely sharp and I think it costs a lot. I think.

All these months of saving and settling for low end stuff, I was able to save up for it. I ordered it just in time for Christmas. It’s my combined birthday/Christmas gift to myself. Me to this lens was like Luke to his light saber, Frodo to the ring, Harry Potter to his wand. My greatest and most powerful weapon.

So why did I return it?

Plans change.

Dreams evolve.

Am I giving everything up? Not really. Immediately when I got my money back, I picked up another 70-200mm lens. It’s not a Nikon. It doesn’t have VR. It cost a LOT less though. Imagine Luke Skywalker trading his light saber and facing Darth Vader with a fork.

“Consuelo de bobo”.

It doesn’t make sense now but someday it will.

Another unusual move… why invest on an online gallery? Why put the carriage in front of the horse? Galleries are for pros.

I guess it’s my chosen approach. Who says I have to be linear in everything? Besides, though I haven’t released it, my gallery has already a few fans (and plenty of review points :P)

16 months and still trying to understand...

I’ve always wondered why. As I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t see.
How someone as beautiful as you can love just someone like me.
I’m not exactly a magnificent physical specimen.
There are no bulging muscles behind all these flab.
I don’t follow my recommended regimen.
And I have just one mighty big ab.
Yet “You’re one good looking guy” you always tell me.

Maybe you need to have your pretty eyes checked out.
Or maybe I just need to understand what you’re talking about.
As I’m not a model of male beauty.
I don’t have straight teeth or gorgeous hair.
I’ve never been even called a cutie.
And I dress like I just got mauled by a bear
Yet you show me I’m beautiful, and you never ever ever doubt.

At Landmark, I danced along aisle three with a shampoo bottle in front of a crowd
In the elevators, people hide behind me like the sun behind a cloud
One time at KFC, I ate chicken with seven cups of rice.
One day, I accidentally wore brown shoes and black pants to work.
I sleep at the movies we wanted to watch together… twice
I dance, I make fun, I sing, everything that makes me look like a dork
But you still look at your goofy boyfriend with a smile so big, so proud

I'm truly blessed and I'm thankful every minute, every hour, every day
that someone as special as you is making me feel this way

Happy 16 months honey =)

Thanksgiving 2007

The US holiday to give thanks for the things one has at the end of the harvest season. My family celebrates this back home mostly as a reason to cook stuffed chicken (it used to be turkey but well… budget cuts…)

Today will be the second time I’ll celebrate Thanksgiving in the US and the first away from my Jaye. For this year, my friends and I decided to prepare the food. It’s one thing to have a thanksgiving dinner, it’s another to prepare for one. I was amazed by the level of trust they gave me to prepare the spread. I volunteered to help out in the turkey as well as make my mom’s famous stuffing. They obviously haven’t browsed through my “Cooking with Arn” series. We had…



Bread crumbs stuffing. Prepared by TA. The second fastest dish we were able to whip up.

Macaroni and cheese. Prepared by Lui and Gea. Rich and creamy! Nothing else we would have wanted for the Thanksgiving pasta dish.

Cranberry Sauce. Prepared by TA. It was better than that gravy in a jar we bought. The fastest dish we were able to whip up. TA opened the can and I threw it into the garbage can. See? Team effort.

Meat stuffing. Classic Filipino – stuff meat with more meat. This one was mom’s special recipe and I feared I’d screw this up. I was already 4/5 along the recipe and it was nothing like the stuffing mom made which was supposed to be color red, sweet, tasty and tender. I was staring down a big bowl of white pork meat with no flavor and no color. I wanted to abort the whole thing and just settle with probably torta or something.

Trust mom. They know best. So I did.

I placed a can of tomato sauce and cranked up the heat. Nothing else I can do but hope for the best. A few minutes later, the tomato sauce evaporated and colored up the dish. It also sweetened the dish and it now tasted so good.

Thanks mom! Never doubted.

Turkey. It took a team effort to nail this dish. I cleaned the turkey and Lui, Lei and Gea prepared the marinade. Gea and I prepared the foil tent. TA and I came up with the ingenious way of lowering the turkey into the oven without burning ourselves (a series of inclined planes to slide the tray). Lui basted and determined the cooking time. TA took care of the turkey’s presentation.

This is the first time I handled turkey and I’m not familiar with its structure. While cleaning the turkey, there was a paper bag inside labeled “giblets” which I had no idea what to do with. Inside the belly of the turkey I pulled out something long. I had a confused look and just thought that this was probably a male turkey, a very male turkey. Lei tapped me on my shoulder…

“That’s the neck.”

The turkey cooked for 5 hours under its foil tent and Lui’s marinade recipe. The end product was just awesome. The turkey was so moist and flavorful. Everyone agreed and it really was delicious. No gravy needed. They made me carve the turkey since I “cooked” the turkey.





No I didn’t. We all did. Eating dinner and enjoying with friends were as happy as preparing everything and spending time with them. Isn’t that the thing that makes Thanksgiving so special?

Shopping for Shoes

Can be oh so complicated.

Thanksgiving sale (aka Black Friday). I was at the Gurnee Mills mall at Gurnee, IL shopping for casual shoes. I was at Famous Footwear who had a buy one – get the second at half off sale and immediately, I knew I might be buying two pairs that day. I took a good long look at this Skechers shoe which was exactly what I was looking for. I called it the country club shoe. It was right down the middle – not too sporty, not too formal and it had plenty of class. I checked the price tag and immediately my credit card ran away from the front flap of my wallet and into the inner flaps between my driver’s license and my library card.

80 bucks? Poor credit card was like a dog in a doghouse hiding from its weekly bath.

Flashback to a week ago, I was at Nordstrom Rack with TA. I saw these so-so Steve Madden shoes priced at 40 bucks. I walked away from it since it was too expensive and it haunted me for the rest of the week. Shoulda… woulda… coulda… oh well.

80 bucks? Quick convert it and that’s 3500 pesos. I checked out the shelves and couldn’t see any other shoe (that would go half off). I’ll put it in the maybe list. I took the shoe, placed it in the box and placed it upside down in a different shelf with ugly shoes. I can’t reserve it so might as well hide it.

I went to this other store and checked out their merchandise. I saw this great brown shoe and it’s… 100 bucks for a shoe?!? I picked up a similar design and what?!? 200 dollars? Hell no and I stormed out of the shop and back to Famous Footwear.

I picked up the Skechers shoe and tried it on. Felt great though it didn’t go well with the shirt I was wearing. I think I’ll buy this IF I can find a good second shoe to maximize the sale. I looked and looked then finally I was back to my chair with two more pairs of shoes. Great. Now I have three pairs to choose from.

The country club shoe was candidate number 1. I was now choosing between a rugged brown shoe or this beige shoe that looked like a golf shoe. The debate took a few hours as I was pitting them against each other – color coordination, fit, size, what I already have back home, cost, material (and how it will hold up against the acidic snow). Eventually, the golf shoe lookalike won because

- It was cheaper by 20 dollars
- I already have a brown shoe back home
- I don’t have any beige shoes.
- While deciding, 3 people approached me and asked if I was purchasing the beige shoe. When I told them yes, they asked where I found it. For some reason, the shoe started to look better as I stare at it. One guy tried it on and it looked good. The other shoe started to look so plain.

So there I was, walking away from the store with my Credit Card taking a $110.00 hit for two shoes and a shoe cleaner. My conscience started to nag me now about the 40 dollar shoe I walked away from because it was too expensive, how this will skew the budget I planned for the next few weeks, how this will mess up the lens I was saving up for and the countless budget cuts I made just to be offset by making a purchase like this.

The devil and the angel appeared on my shoulder. The angel took the devil’s pitchfork and speared my conscience then gave each other a high five.

I love these guys.

Studio De Arn Arn

I opened my photo studio!

Sorta…

I guess when people say photo studio, they think about a big room with a set, big lights, big umbrellas, reflectors and a computer system for post processing. I set up mine but it’s nowhere close to that.

I was able to save up and purchase some basic items – a reflector, 2 shoot through umbrellas, a silver umbrella, 2 white lamps and stands. I also bought a tripod a few months ago to replace my infamous monopod (made out of a plastic broom stick). I have a reflector that’s made out of a Quaker Oats container lined with foil. Never buy what you can make.

I’m still in the process of learning photography and all its aspects especially lighting and composition. I use a beat up second hand D80 but I invested in some good lenses to compensate.

One day I invited my friends for a photoshoot. I posted the pics here -->
http://arnoldrocks.multiply.com/photos/album/10/My_First_Photoshoot_ACN_Portals_Team_

I say there’s plenty of room for improvement but it’s not bad for a first shoot.

My Birthday

I didn’t have anything planned and I approached this day the same way I do regular days. Maybe it was because I never realized it was going to be my birthday until the weekend when Jaye greeted me. Maybe it was because I had another day in mind – December 27, Jaye’s birthday. Maybe I’m getting too old.

I wasn’t expecting much on this day other than the clinic telling me to go have my annual checkup (they send those memos on your birthday). If life gave me lemons the past few weeks, this day it threw me curveball after curveball after curveball (in a nice way). Here are the highlights for the day:

My “Noah’s Ark” meal. Gea, Lui, Lei, TA, Nats and I ate out at Delmonico’s for lunch which is a few blocks away from the office. It’s set up like a buffet but you have to pay based on the weight of your food. I walked around and wanted to try everything getting two of each (ergo, Noah's Ark). My favorites were the crispy shrimp and the catfish.

Uncanny. When they greeted me and asked me how old I was, I told them to guess. No one got it wrong. Wow. Imagine if I didn’t shave my 3 week old moustache that I started to grow when the Red Sox were down 1-3 in the semifinals (I stopped shaving and they never lost again. They won the World Series. Welcome to the world of Boston Red Sox fans and weird superstitions.)

Celebrating with the project. My project mates visited me in my cube with a cake and a balloon. They tied the balloon around my wrist and they cut up the Mint Chocolate Ice cream roll cake from Baskin Robbins. The ice cream was rock hard and we ended up “sculpting” the cake. Delicious!


“Hoppy Binthdy Arnold!”

“Something’s Waiting For U”. I received an email with this subject from Lei (Hufana), Ate Jen and Rache. The body of the email just tells me to check it out in the 5th floor pantry fridge. There it was, a Baskin Robbins Chocolate Chip ice cream cake. I was full but Arn passing up a chocolate chip ice cream cake is like Arn passing up a free burger (don't you hate it when you use the same thing in an analogy and it still makes sense?). The three of them with John, Arvin and RJ dropped by and ate the cake from my cube. 2nd cake of the day. Diet Schmiet.


“Huppy Birthdyy Arnold!’” (that guy over at Baskin Robbins must be drunk...)


Party at my cube!

Fogo De ArnArn. I can’t think of a place where I can have my birthday dinner out with friends (without me having to wash dishes for a week) so I decided to just fry up whatever was in my fridge. I had enough to marinate 1.5 pounds of beef and invited whoever was available over. I cooked the one thing I can make consistently delicious – my (now famous) beef tapa.

They said my tapa was very good. I’ll pat myself on the back for that one. After all the failed tapa marinade blends I made, finally I nailed one on my birthday. If you've been reading my "Cooking with Arnold" series in this blog, I'll pat myself on the back for you.

Classic Arn. What’s dinner without a kitchen blooper by Arn. I decided to fry the first batch in a little butter to give it a little flavor. I heated the pan and tossed in the butter. I didn’t have my spoon thingie yet so I just picked up the pan, shook it and the butter was gone. Where’d it go?


It went UNDER the sink?!?.

The Brown Basket-like thing. Rico brought it out of the shopping bag encased in clear plastic. What the…? Is that a…? Why that’s a…


One WHOLE Portillo’s chocolate cake?!?

I’d crawl all the way to Portillo’s for a slice of their chocolate cake. For one whole, I’d do it in just my hearts boxers in the freezing gusts of Chicago.

“Galing ke Jaye.” he said and I just smiled. Wow! My favorite cake from my favorite girl.

Most loved thing. My gossip magazines (I bought them for my mom ok?) and Wii Tennis. Lianne was convinced to get one for herself. Lui, Gea and Leah were glued to the magazines.

Most hated thing. I brought out my digital weighing scale. Almost everyone weighed in and it received loud gasps and screams. Anonymous person 1 gained 5 pounds. Anonymous person 2 pushed me before I could see his/her weight while screaming. Anonymous person 3 declared my scale defective. Funniest moment of the night.


Class picture before eating the cake


With Li and Gea (while waiting for the others)


With ‘Ta Lei


Gea, Me and Lui

Gifts. I’m too old for material gifts. I didn’t get showered with boxes and shiny things but there are so many things I extremely appreciated on this day:

- Everyone had calls and yet they still came over for dinner.
- Gea had a major production issue but took her meetings in the hallway.
- Rico carrying the heavy cake in the cold.
- Louvre taking his call from his room (instead of in the living room where he usually takes it) and he cooked the garlic rice.
- Lianne cooking better eggs – the one thing I couldn’t master.
- Jude covering for me during the meeting that night (I requested permission to skip it for this night).
- Jaye, the cake, the greetings, the messages, the love and the warmth. She reminded me the meaning of this day and what it meant to us.
- Everyone for coming and taking time to greet me.

I’ll take all those over any wrapped box anytime, anyday. ‘twas indeed a very happy birthday. Thanks guys! =)

They say the older you get the less festive and less special this day becomes.

Less festive? Maybe.

Less special? Not one bit.

Poplar Grove, IL

Home of Edward’s Apple Orchard… where we went apple picking! :D

It’s the last day for apple picking this year as temperatures begin to dip down and we couldn’t have picked a better day for this event.

Here's how it works: you’re given a basket and you fill it with apples. A tractor drives your around the different apple orchards – red delicious, granny smith and golden delicious. At the end you weigh your basket and pay at the cashier. The funny thing is that you really don’t get to save a lot since apples will cost around a buck each. So why bother? Well, it’s the experience of picking apples straight from the tree and being close to nature. Also, you can eat apples there and since it’s not in the basket, you don’t have to pay for it! :P



I enjoyed fresh apples. It feels odd though since I haven’t tried apples this fresh before. It’s not as pretty compared to the ones in the grocery since it’s not waxed and it’s not washed so it’s dusty but it’s very juicy. I just enjoyed walking around, looking at the trees, looking at the apples on the ground while eating. It’s nice to get away from the city once in a while.


Wow, polar bears CAN climb trees!

Why I Smile

Why I Smile
by Arn

I smile as I sit on my office chair
As I wait for my SQL query to end
I compile my notes for later to share
The big boss meeting I’ll later attend

I smile as I sit on my office chair
As I read and type while doing my tasks
Stress makes me scream and pull out my hair
“When will this end?” to myself I ask

I smile as I sit on my office chair
As I yawn, stretch my legs and rest my eyes
Thinking how much lack of rest I can bear
And that weighing scale I so much despise

I smile as I sit on my office chair
As I glance at my ring as bright as day
It says "Chin up, keep strong, I love you, take care"
And why I’m lucky to have someone like Jaye

“I love you too, I’ll be fine” I’d tell her
As I look straight towards this ring I wear
And so people pass by, look at me and wonder
Why I always smile as I sit on my chair

When Life Gives You Lemons

Yeah yeah, I know… make lemonade.

then flowers will bloom, birds will chirp and the sun will sing with you. If only life was THAT simple.

Last Saturday, I was up for overdue leisure time after getting sick the past 2 days. We had plans to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden and take tons and tons of pictures – landscapes, portraits, HDR’s, the works. The same morning, my new zoom lens was delivered and what other way to test it out but in the gardens.

Then fate played the game we all know and love…

Phone goes “ring ring”, Server goes “A runtime error was encountered”, Arn goes “D’oh!” and all hopes of going to the Gardens were flushed down the drain as I ended up having to do work. I went to 7-11 to pick up my camera lenses but they lost my package AGAIN.

Lemons… a basket full of lemons.

I still ended up having a great day. I was able to fix the problem on record time. I spent the afternoon with friends, shopping around State street. I took lots of nice downtown pics (even finally taking a picture of Lake St under the “El”). For dinner...



Portillo’s Ribs and Chocolate Cake!

When life gives you lemons? Tell life you don’t want it and give it back. Life is too short for worrying what to do with lemons.

My Culture Stories

1
I was sitting at my desk, working with my earphones on when suddenly someone stopped by to say hi. He’s an old friend from here who I haven’t seen again since I left last year. With a loud voice he goes “HEY!!! You’re back!! Look at YOU! Oh wow! You look great! You have the long hair and the goatee going on! The glasses! Oh MAN! The chicks must be CHASING you!!!”

And I was just sitting there terrified with a “wag po koya” look.

2
I was at this bar with these people from another nation. I was introduced by my friend, “Hey everyone, this is Arnold, the specialist from Manila.”. Upon hearing my name they repeated it “Arnold?”, “Arnold!” “ARNOLD!!!” then all of them flexed their biceps.

I did my Schwarzenegger voice and told them “Yess Ah’m Ahhnoold. I tohd yu Ay’d bi bak.” and they all laughed really really hard. Wow, that joke never worked in Manila.

3
I had this guy over at my cube and we were going to discuss some designs. He would say something really really fast and I end up smiling. He repeats what he just said and I just smile more. I didn’t want to be rude but really, I had no idea what he just said. He repeated it once more and I just told him to send me an email since I had a meeting in 2 minutes.

A day of jogging... well... sortof...

I need to go jogging. For some reason, when I hurt my foot and I couldn’t do any exercises for the past few weeks, my clothes shrunk in the dryer.

Weird.

My foot is not yet ok but I think I can jog now though I have a hard time sprinting, turning and stopping. I decided to try and visit old Lakeshore drive. I took out my running shoes, wore my heavy ankle support, had my iPod on then left the apartment.

Usually I walk all the way first to Lakeshore then run from there but since I had a conference call in an hour, I decided to run right off the front door. 2 blocks away my foot started to hurt and I had to favor my left leg. 2 more blocks and now my knee started to hurt and I had to sit down the sidewalk. After checking and stretching, I decided to rest first then call it quits. I turned around and lo, a big red and yellow “M” sign. Ahh, the golden arches of McDonald’s.

If I had the “Hallelujah” song on my iPod I would have played it.

I think I’ll just shop for more clothes.

10 Reasons Why It Was a Good Week

1. Such a pretty sight.


(pic from Rogeena's blog)

2. The Boston Red Sox
They won the AL East division and they’re in a good position to win it all. They won game 1 the other day.

3. Wii
I got myself a Wii! Finally after scouring the different shops here, I was able to find an unreserved unit at Toys R Us. Playing Wii is just about all the exercise I’m getting because my right foot is still injured… well, that and walking to Portillo’s.



4. The Chicago Cubs
Fine, so I’m not a Cubs fan but with them in the playoffs, I can’t wait to see downtown draped in all sorts of Cubs decorations. The Cubs are an interesting bunch with a deep and colorful history marred with curses and disappointments. I have some friends who are big time Cubs fans and discussing Cubs history with them is like talking to one of your friends back in college who had a girlfriend, lost much of his allowance wining and dining her only for her to run off with a richer and more handsome dude who was the starting point guard of the basketball team. (oops, overshare...)

5. Diet Schmiet
This week, I ate at Joy Yee Noodle House (a small restaurant in Chinatown), Portillo’s (pasta/burger joint… it’s like a cross between Sbarro and Hotshots), Hooters, New Orleans Kitchen and Singha.

How much weight did I gain? I have no idea since the batteries in my scale died out. Ahh, that wonderful feeling between eating a big meal and checking your weight.

6. The Foot Goes Down
3 weeks and counting since spraining my ankle. No, I’m not yet back to 100% but at least I can walk now. I can’t jog or run or jump yet and watching me “run” across pedestrian walks with a blinking red light is like watching a penguin running away from a leopard seal.

7. Took 6 shots and just got hungry
I drink but I don’t allow myself to get completely wasted. I was out with some friends one night and they brought a bottle of vodka (I brought a Heineken draught keg). I didn’t really count how much I drank that night but I’ll estimate around 6 shots of vodka and 3 glasses of beer and that wasn’t enough to bring me down. I wasn’t even dizzy. I was just hungry.

I walked home at 5am with Louvre and Oliver and what was the first thing I did at home? Yup, check my work emails and did some work. After a few minutes I got a headache and fell asleep.

8. I won the fantasy baseball championship in our league.
This is the first time I joined a baseball fantasy league and I’m proud that I took home the crown this year. This is sweet considering I won none last year in fantasy play. Can’t wait for the basketball season.

9. Teri Hatcher
The new Claire Danes. No, I don’t support the comments she made in one episode of Desperate Housewives against Filipino med workers. Filipinos were not happy about it as they united and lobbied for an apology from the ABC television network. Look on the bright side, along with Manny Pacquiao, they are the only individuals who can single handedly unite the Filipino people.

10. They posted my article in the company newsletter.
I’m officially a contributor to the company newsletter (no surprise they gave me the wacky section). What? Oh, you didn’t know that? Can’t believe it? Yes, it’s true! I’m not kidding.

Our company really does have a newsletter. :-/

New Gap Ad

John Meyer, Selma Blair, Ken Watanabe and some fat dude they picked off the streets of downtown Chicago

Picture Taking with Jaye

My favorite model is so far away but we could still have a photoshoot right?



Sometimes it just takes a little creativity. =)

Why I Wouldn’t Be a Barista Someday

I haven’t used the coffee maker all my life but I’m tired of coming to the office and be greeted with an empty coffee pot. One day I observed one of the employees and how they setup the machine to make coffee. Monkey see, monkey do. I found out it was very easy – place filter, put coffee grounds on it then press the brew button.

One day, I arrived in the office, sleepy and groggy and I wanted some coffee and whadayaknow, it’s empty! I still remember how the guy changed filters the other day. This lady then came and wanted some coffee but saw that I was already working on it. I recognized her, she’s a big boss on one of the projects here. I had a meeting with her once and she never smiled one bit. It looks as though she had never been hugged for years.

There’s a sudden burst of anxiety on me while she watched me with crossed arms take out the round filter filled with old coffee grounds. I held it by pinching two sides of the filter when disaster struck.

The filter flopped on the opposite sides where I was holding it, spilling coffee grounds and splashed coffee all over the floor, all over her shoes, all over the lower part of her pants… all over her white shoes and beige pants.

The pantry looked like the home of a Chihuahua with severe diarrhea who decided to hump her leg.

I wanted to throw a one liner and say something like “sh*t happens?” but both the angel and the devil on my shoulder were shouting “no! no! no! no!”. She gave me the judge Judy look.

I cleaned up the floor but she took a few steps away while she cleaned her shoes and pants. A few “sorry”s later, she walked away from the pantry with a cup of tea while I had a cup of iced water instead. What a disastrous morning but at least I wasn’t sleepy or groggy anymore.

The Aftershock

Damage check. Yup, it’s an ankle sprain –- second degree sprain on two ankle ligaments and now my ankle is bigger than a tennis ball and more purple than Barney.

This injury sure changed a lot of plans since:

• I was supposed to go to a concert in Chicago’s House of Blues which is just a few blocks away from my apartment the same day I got injured. There was no way I could go (I could crawl there but that's just plain creepy). Good thing CeeJay dropped by with a big bowl of Carbonara while Feliz and Louvre went home right after the concert to check up on me. (thanks guys!)
  
• Sundays plans were all wiped out and I had to do everything from my bed. Laundry, cleaning my lenses, cleaning my room, etc.
  
• My next four meals after the injury were cheeseburger – cheeseburger and carbonara – cheeseburger and cheeseburger. When I ran out of burger patties, I checked my cupboard and saw the only edible thing remaining. “Well, well, look who’s come crawling back.” says the Quaker Oats guy.
  
• Twice I accidentally kicked the leg of the table. Once I dropped a big water bottle on my bandaged ankle. All of which will make me have this facial expression for a few seconds – the same facial expression you had when you saw Britney at the MTV Awards. I know, that was really painful. Here's a better version.
  
• For the second straight day I had to work from home which honestly, I hate doing. Doing work at home is like going to McDonald’s to eat the Chickenjoy you ordered out or Gabby Concepcion having a concert in Chicago. It's just plain wrong.

Of Travels and Unfortunate Accidents

It was a nice peaceful Saturday. I was lying on the couch, feet up on the furniture with a remote control while watching TV and eating Ruffles potato chips. I need a drink. I tried to stand up but I had to sit back down. I rolled off the couch and into the ground and crawled my way to the fridge where I kneeled up to get a can of Coke before crawling back to the couch.

Flashback to 3 hours ago. I was walking to the train station in Des Plaines, Illinois, a city a few miles northwest of Chicago. The train going back to Chicago will be arriving in 5-10 minutes. I just completed my photography work in Des Plaines and so I had my full gear – a big backpack and camera equipment. I had to cross the street but the pedestrian light was red. The cars were stopped since the traffic light was red too. While the light was red, I ran across the street then as if I was shot by a sniper, I collapsed to the ground. My cellular phone went flying and I found myself face first down the ground. I sat up writhing in pain for a few minutes. There were people who started to approach me but I stood up and gave them a thumbs up since the train was arriving in a few seconds.

Back in Chicago. I had to zombie-walk all the way to my apartment since I only had 4 bucks and couldn’t afford a cab. 40 minutes later, I was able to crawl on to my couch and rest my severely sprained ankle.

I’ve had sprains before but most of them I was able to walk and laugh off. This one? I was wincing in pain for the next few hours as it started to stiffen up. The pain was so much that I had teary eyes and I developed fever. I couldn’t put any weight on it and I had to hop around on my left leg. Since my left knee isn’t strong enough, it started to hurt and I had to resort to crawling around like a fat Gollum.

Don’t you love the irony? The last 2 years, I’ve gone skiing, played basketball, ran along Lakeshore drive, played tennis and have regular gym workouts and at worst I only got minor cuts and bruises. I cross a street and badly sprain an ankle. The next morning the swelling was worse than I thought as its swollen on both the left and right side. The blood clotted around the injury and foot looks like an eggplant.

The flies are just for effect...

It’s always interesting when fate plays a game called “Up yours, Arnold”.

Cooking with Arn XI

Why stop now? Tapa rhymes with chamba? Here's my next... uh... attempt:

Chicken something something

I have no idea what to call this dish. Anyways, Jewel-Osco had a sale on chicken split breasts – buy one take one. I had no idea what “split breasts” are but well, buy one take one e.

Back in my kitchen, I found out that “split breasts” didn’t have the word “fillet” in it and so I had to find a way to debone it. How? I have no idea. I guess cut them up where there are no bones.

Eww... this looks like road kill

I took out a pan and sautéed garlic, onions and green pepper on butter. Once they were half cooked, I chopped up the chicken and dropped it into the pan. I placed some soy sauce, stir fry sauce, rice wine and sesame oil into the mix. Why? Well, the entire thing looked Japanese and I checked my cupboard and got all the Japanese looking ingredients. I figured the soy sauces and rice wine will give flavor while the sesame oil will give that extra kick. Minutes later, the whole thing was done and it was time for the taste test.

I called my roommate over.

He said it tasted great. I tried it and… hell yeah it tasted great. I knew it should taste decent but I never knew it would taste this good. Perfect blend of ingredients for a powerful but not overwhelming taste. It tasted like something from a restaurant – it was THAT good.

The problem? I never measured anything. I added this and that. Salt here. Pepper there. Something here, something there and I never took notes. I wish I could make this again.

Of Road Trips, Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance

Tinley Park, IL.

A village south of Chicago and venue for the Projekt Revolution tour which includes Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Placebo and Taking Back Sunday. There’s also what’s their name and something something but well, I’m not a big time rocker so I wouldn’t know.

I’ll be honest, I love Linkin Park but only because of their first album, Hybrid Theory. My Chemical Romance? I like their songs “Welcome to the Black Parade” and “Famous Last Words”. I’ve already seen Taking Back Sunday in Chicago’s House of Blues a year ago.

I decided to go anyway. After a long week of work, I needed a break badly. Anywhere without a laptop should be ok for me.

Off to Tinley Park we went via 2 cars – one rented and Vince’s blue bullet.

I was sitting in the backseat just observing the south side of Chicago when I suddenly became dizzy and went out like a light. Guess that’s what 3 hours worth of sleep would do to you.

We arrived at the venue where the opening bands were already playing. The other went around to watch while Feliz, Louvre and I looked for concert shirts.


30 bucks for a shirt?!? You mean the shirt is more expensive than my ticket?!?

We arrived there at around 1pm. The main bands don’t play until around 6pm. So much time to waste…

Things I observed:

- Plenty of rocker weirdos. Believe me, for me to call you a weirdo means you’re really really really weird.
- People really lined up to buy the shirts! Some were spending almost 200 dollars for Projekt Revolution merchandise. They’re weird but they’re rich weirdos.
- I bought myself a pretzel which was covered with white sprinkle dots. It turns out that those “dots” were chunks of salt and the whole thing just tasted terrible. Worst pretzel ever.
- The “F” word is mentioned in every sentence throughout the event and not just by the bands but everyone there. “I’d like a f*ng pizza”. “Ok, that’s 8 f*ng dollars.” “Here you f*ng go”. “thank you, have a f*ng day”.

At last the main stage was open and we camped on the lawn. The big bands were now playing. People were going wild in the mosh pit. Everyone else was either drinking, smoking and having fun. As for me?

I was asleep on the lawn.

I woke up one time then someone told me that Taking Back Sunday was already playing. I looked at the stage and thought I’ve already seen them and went back to sleep. Wheee… what fun I was having.


The view from the lawn

I only woke up when My Chemical Romance started playing. They have great pyrotechnics and the artwork behind the band was stunning. Am I really getting that old? I go to a rock concert to sleep. I didn’t drink any beer, I didn’t really listen to the music and I simply observe the stage props more. Maybe I’m losing it.


Me and RJ while waiting for Linkin Park

Linkin Park was the best though I only recognize the songs from Hybrid Theory. I like their new songs where Chester just screams "yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh" and "oooooooooooooooohhhhhh". Come to think of it, all Linkin Park songs have that. I like it anyway.

Overall I really had a great time. 10 hours straight with no thoughts of work? Believe me, sometimes that’s all I ask.


er... di ko sila kilala...

The Red Sox Series – Day 2

The game was at 2pm but I had to work in the morning. It was pretty important work and around 9am, I predicted around 40% chance to make the game. While I could ditch everything and come up with an excuse, well, I don’t do things like that. 12 noon came and I was monitoring a batch run. There were 8 jobs that need to be completed and I could only leave if and only if all those complete in time.

For an hour, I waited and waited for this progress bar and at 1pm, it was finally done. The moment I saw the word “success”, I took a bath and from the bathroom, my clothes were waiting for me in front of the door since I laid them down on the floor in the proper order so I can literally jump into my clothes.

I still had my gear from last night but I dumped the umbrella (it wasn't raining anymore) and I brought my trusty Nikon DSLR camera. The same blur came out of the backdoors but instead of the red line, it made a turn and dropped by Popeyes. I was hungry. I run fast but I need to eat something first.

This weekend was about facing plenty of problems but lady luck has really supported me big time. I ate three pieces of chicken tenders and while eating, a chunk of ranch dressing fell on my shirt. IT made a mess and I didn’t have time to go home and chance. I cleaned it with a tissue paper and suddenly, I didn’t realize the shirt I was wearing.

I had it on backwards. I flipped it inside out and the stain was gone.

From Popeyes, I walked to the red line (sorry, I can’t “blur” with a tummy full of chicken tenders) and faced the same Red Sox crowd, heard the same Red Sox cheer, took the train but ended up in a different seat as I was now near right field.

I took tons of pictures using my camera and my 200mm zoom lens. I didn’t take plenty of videos and I was able to observe the game and the place more.

- On TV, after innings, we end up with commercials making me think, what do they do in between inning?. The players play catch. Videos are played on the screen and the fans get food (except those who had a big chicken meal on the way to the park).
- I had a good view of the Red Sox bullpen (the bench for pitchers). One inning they came out and were stretching together like those aerobics shows in the morning.
- I was sitting by White Sox fans who were extremely frustrated because the home team was making plenty of stupid mistakes.

After the game, I stayed longer to take pictures of the park – the diamond, the empty seats, the view of Chicago downtown. It was another great day however I had to run back for work since I had a conference call setup. :-S The perfect timeout on a busy weekend =)

"Your fly is open!"

The view from my seat

The Sox bullpen

Where's Waldo?

For some reason I was heavily distracted by a Big Mac, Fries and Nuggets racing

Boston vs Chicago!

Empty seats after the game

We believe!

The diamond after the game

The Red Sox Series – Day 1

Just great. My Red Sox series is on the weekend when I expect to have the heaviest workload throughout my stay in Chicago. I am a big fan but I am a professional – if I have to miss these games because I had work to do so be it but as long as I can go and there’s nothing important going on anyway, I’m going.

Friday. With the help of Feliz, I was able to shake off work early. I left the office and ran home to change, drop off my laptop and prepare my camera. There was a 50% chance of rain so I had to bring an umbrella. The game was at 7:00pm. 6:30pm I was still in my apartment. 6:31pm, the backdoors of our apartments opened and a blur came out running towards the Red Line trains over at Clark and Lake street. Down in the subway, it was like being in Boston. Probably 70% of the people were wearing Boston Red Sox shirts and jerseys. 20% were wearing the local White Sox jerseys. 9% were wearing normal clothes and 1% didn’t have any shirts on.

Then came the familiar roar of the red line train which was followed by cheering of the people with a “Let’s Go Red Sox” chant. I saw the train’s headlight then when it slowed down, it was like back in Manila again – it was full. I skipped the train and went on the next one which had a few seats left.

A few stations later, there was this old woman who stepped in and was crushed by the standing people. I gave up my seat and got myself crushed. The price of being a gentleman.

35th / Sox Station. The red line stopped and I jumped out only to be greeted by a swarm of red who clogged up the escalators and stairs. Welcome to the US Cellular field – home of the Chicago White Sox! I made one quick check where my seat was and I was able to find it easily. Good, I only missed a few at bats and it was still scoreless.

Things I observed:
- My seat was in the “500 section” which was the highest part of the park. I was directly behind home plate and I was still able to enjoy the game.
- Food were priced like Disney, 4.50 dollars for a hotdog? 6 dollars for a beer?
- There were more Red Sox fans in the crowd than White Sox fans.
- It wasn’t a sold out event and so seat numbers are merely suggestions. Sit where you like. If someone flashes you a ticket and they’re supposed to be there, just move to the next best seat.
- Unlike NBA games which take 2 hours to finish, baseball takes 3 – 4 hours with plenty of breaks and delays. Now I understand why people who watch baseball games but are not fans get bored easily.
- People don’t come in for the 1st inning. The stadium was packed only around the 3rd inning and most already left after the 8th.
- There was a scoreboard on the right side which showed the Yankees losing.

I stayed until the end of the game which was already past 10. I waited for the crowd to leave while I take pictures and when I stood up, the lights went out and it was pitch dark. What happened?!? Are they locking me in? Suddenly, something shot up the air and exploded. There was a fireworks display and I stayed even longer to see it. It was cool.

I took the train back home and went to Portillo’s. It has been a great day, might as well finish it with style. I entered and there was something new in their menu called a “Big Beef” which was Italian Beef but 2x longer. I checked my pocket and I had enough money to order it (plus a side order of fries).

What a day. =)

The Red Sox Series – Day 0

I’m a Boston Red Sox fan.

“So what?” you ask? Well, it helps if you’ve watched “Fever Pitch” starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. I’m a diehard Fenway Faithful.

I keep track of their games, check who’s pitching today, what updates did they do on their roster, who’s injured, who’s hot and where they are in the standings. Being a Red Sox fan means of course I automatically dislike the Yankees.

I joined the Red Sox Nation BEFORE they won the whole thing in 2004. Yes, I was cheering them on in 2003 and yes I wanted them to take Pedro out early and yes it was a very heartbreaking loss.

On my calendar, 4 dates are circled in red. Finally, after two years of missing them in the US, the Red Sox are coming back here to Chicago to face the hometown Chicago White Sox. The first step is obtaining the tickets, which surprisingly, thanks to Ria (who taught me stubhub a year ago), was extremely easy.

I got myself tickets for three out of the four games. I have no idea but for some reason, the cheapest ticket for the 1st game was 60 dollars plus shipping which was way beyond out of my budget. I love my Sox but I can’t throw away money just like that.

I’m excited to go to the games however, I can’t help but miss Jaye more. She’s not into baseball but she’s into the Red Sox mainly because of me. She knows from my face whether the Sox lost (and/or the Yankees won) and she knows I’ll never miss Sox – Yankees games on TV.

Friendly people are common. Understanding people are somewhat rare. Supportive people, especially if it’s nothing for most but means the world to you are gems. Thinking about the fact that I have someone who has those traits (and more) makes me feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world

The Photographer

So many things I want to do in my life.

video editor… check
teacher… check
basketball coach… check
basketball manager… check
software engineer… check
cook… judges? Hmmm… sige na, check

Now meet Arn the photographer. I just re-entered the field of photography (I used to do dark room film processing before when I was in school) however there’s still so much I need to learn.

I covered my first event as a freelance photographer – Margaret’s 1st birthday. Click here to see the pictures I took. No, they’re not of pro quality as I’m still a student of this art so don’t expect much.

http://arnoldrocks.multiply.com/photos/album/5/Margarets_Birthday

How much did I charge for this? A plate of lechon and pansit. I also received some crab rangoons for tip. =)

Of Happy Places

Toys R Us always had a special place in my heart. I remember back when I was a kid when the kid next door whose family frequented the US always had new and imported toys. He said all these came from a store called “Toys R Us” and I’ve always felt that it was this one magical building where all kinds of toys were made and sold.

I carried that feeling of mine for years until finally I was able to visit a real Toys R Us store in Hong Kong. Since we were on a budget, I remember buying two toys – a real microscope and a sea monkeys set. I was probably the happiest kid in the world having been able to visit the store and confirming that it’s not a mythical place after all.

A happy happy place.



One rainy afternoon here in Chicago, Louvre, Feliz and I dropped by the nearest Toys R Us store. After hours of roaming around inside, Feliz and I were done while Louvre was scouring the Thomas and Friends boxes for a good train set. In that section, there was an assembled Thomas and Friends set where a kid was playing. I sat down and thought that this was Toys R Us was all about – happy feelings. The kid was having so much fun playing with this huge train set. Louvre was happily rummaging through different boxes trying to find the ones he knows his kid would love (and there’s no greater joy to a dad than making his son happy). Feliz was sitting down and hugging the stuffed unicorn she picked out. Me? I was there sitting on the other side just enjoying this place and having no thoughts of work or problems. Heck, even my support phone couldn’t get a signal inside the store. What a place!

Like so many years ago, I’m still on a budget but I got myself my two toys. I wanted something that (1) would make me think but not stressed and (2) solved life’s tough decisions.

Cooking with Arn X

I miss home cooked Filipino meals. There’s an eat all you can Filipino buffet here along Clark street called “Little Quiapo” where you can eat inihaw na baboy and crispy pata until your heart jumps out and slaps your face.

I don’t eat there much though. It lacks that home feel since their meals taste more like cafeteria food. Besides, that restaurant is located between two cemeteries and it’s not a good location to chow down tons of Crispy Pata.

I want a home cooked Filipino meal and nothing says that more than...

Tapsilog

The famous Filipino food portmanteau. It’s the Filipino equivalent of America’s ham and eggs. It’s basically tapa (fried marinated beef), sinangag (garlic rice), itlog (egg) with atchara (pickled papaya), sliced tomatoes and vinegar with soy sauce and chopped onions. *drool* Oh, for the eggs, I like mine sunny side up and really runny. Mmmm!

Enter Arn – the sous (maryosep) chef.

I went to the market and picked out the meat. There was this woman there who was smelling, poking and thoroughly analyzing (as if there was something printed in the meat) the meat. I don’t know anything about determining if it’s good meat or not. I walked by the meat section, analyzed the price tags, grabbed the cheapest meat and walked away. What cut is it? Is it fresh? Is it proper for tapa? Heck, I have no idea. Who cares? I only have a few dollars with me so I grabbed the cheapest one. Life is simple nga diba?

Back home I sliced up the beef and marinated it in soy sauce, garlic, pepper, salt, sugar, etc then left it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I cooked up half the batch. I fried up an egg and pan fried the rice with garlic and pepper. The egg was cooked nicely. The rice was perfect and the beef, well, it was too black to tell if it’s burned or not anyway.

Next, the taste test. I took a bite and there was silence. I chewed and swallowed and there was still silence. I looked out the window and I saw a pig flying around.

Arn burning food or messing it up is pretty normal. Arn preparing a decent meal is unusual is rare but not surprising. Arn cooking a great meal? Unheard of.

The tapa tasted great. It was tangy just the way I want it. It was even better than the tapa I eat at Goodah! and this can beat the crap out of the fast food tapa meals back home. I’ll even say this was the best tapa I’ve ever had. The eggs are just the way I like it - crispy edges but runny in the middle. It was so good it felt weird because I’m used to the overcooked, underseasoned mess I always have for lunch.



Maybe it's about time the cooking gods gave me a break right?

A Day Without Perfect Vision

Ontario and State street. Here’s a guy walking with big badass sunglasses. He’s walking normally but really he can’t see much as everything to him is a blur. He walks and walks until he rams his right shoulder into a bus stop. People were looking at this weird fellow as he dusts off his shirt and continued the long painful way home.

If you're a long time reader, no need to introduce the guy. First time reader? Meet Arn.

Imagine a day with severely blurry vision. Better yet, imagine a day where you have to wear your friend’s thick eyeglasses.

I had my eye checked at the Northwestern Hospital over at St. Clair and they dilated my eyes. It was the first time I had that type of eye exam and I initially thought it will just make me light sensitive. Wrong! Actually, after the exam, I could take the light by squinting. What made my day interesting was how my vision got blurry for most of the day.

From the hospital, they gave me these weird sunglasses. They looked hideous, but then they did the job. I looked like a fat dragonfly.

Hey, at least it did the job.

I walked home and as I mentioned, I accidentally rammed my right shoulder into a bus stop while turning. Ouch! Everything was a big blurry blob though I was able to read big print like store and building names. What I couldn’t read was small print like my cell phone or newsprint. Back home, I left my computer on but I have no idea what’s on it. I think someone IM’d me in MSN and I think that’s my outlook open but I couldn’t read anything

I was in no condition to work. I know I’m a shock trooper but in this case I have no choice here but to rest, stay home and take the day off.

So how do I call my manager? I can’t recognize anything from my phone. I don’t have her number memorized.

I gave my roomie my phone but he says her phone number wasn’t there. I couldn’t send even send emails or IM’s. Ugh! I walked all the way to the office to tell her I was pretty much useless for the day. Feliz was kind enough to walk me home and made sure I wouldn’t fall into the Chicago river. Back home though I couldn’t watch TV or surf the Internet.

Interesting day. Not bad. Interesting is more like it.

I started to get my vison back after lunch but then it gave me a terrible headache because it wasn’t 100% yet and it was like reading underwater. I decided to wait until my vision is completely back before doing any reading.

Without perfect vision, I thought my other senses would be improved. In my case, I just got hungry and ate and ate and ate. Daredevil lost his eyesight and developed superhuman hearing. I got blurry vision and it just made me hungry. Life’s not fair.

CeeJay, Feliz and Arn in Chicago and Oak Park

For all those requesting that I post more pictures from Chi-town -->

http://arnoldrocks.multiply.com/photos/album/4

Enjoy!

Me and Nikki

One freaky day when we had matching pants, shirts and tummies.



... then again she's carrying baby Logan while I'm carrying Panda Express. :P

Exploring Oak Park

Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace and Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. Two landmarks associated to two famous Americans located in Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway was a writer while Wright was an architect both considered one of the greatest during their time.

I took CeeJay and Feliz to Oak Park via train to see these two landmarks. We wanted to do something different and see other areas near Chicago (and well, we were low on funds). Oak Park is comparable to Makati’s Forbes Park. In a word - “sosyal”. The houses all look good, it’s an obvious rich neighborhood and all the people are nice. We took a stroll across downtown Oak Park until we reached Hemingway’s birthplace. A few more blocks and we reached the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright. We took plenty of pictures and enjoyed just walking around the neighborhood.


Ernest Hemingway's birthplace


Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio

Can’t help but compare Pinoy houses and American houses. American houses have:
- a front yard with garden
- a driveway and a garage
- a mailbox with the red mailbox flag
- a backyard
- picket fences (for some).

Pinoy houses have:
- a crude basketball court (or just the rim)
- No mailboxes (if there was one, mailboxes are not used my mailmen anyway... IF they managed to correctly deliver your letter)
- A small grass patch (for some)
- 10 feet high bakod with…
- Broken glass on top of the bakod -- high tech way for warding off intruders.
- A BaGua mirror (despite the fact that they’re Catholics).
- An old palaspas that was there since Ramos was in office.