ABL Game 3

Just a recap, we've now had 3 games in the basketball league in our company. I missed the 1st game because I had a conference call. I played in the 2nd game but I really didn't do anything except run back and forth and launch an airball from a very goofy angle.

The third game came and I wasn't as giddy anymore. It was just like any other game for me and I was actually feeling better this time because my physical rehab has been coming along well. We were up against a good team and so I know I'll probably play during garbage time or not at all. The game was your usual game and we eventually lost since they were just that good.

I got to enter the game once in the second quarter and I started the fourth quarter. I played a total of four minutes and it was the usual game for me - I run back and forth, wave my arms like an idiot and shoot the occassional airball. I finished 0-2 with one airball and one foul. Three interesting incidents though:

- I played forward in this game which means I had to rebound. The opponent took a shot and missed. As soon as it hit the rim, I jumped and severely mistimed the rebound. I'm not sure what happened, maybe I thought I was seven feet or I was playing NBA Live.

- I was battling for a rebound with this tall guy. The fatso that I am, I do my rebound battles on the ground by shoving you. If it becomes a jumping contest, I'm the last guy on the team you want for that. Tall guy jumps and gets a rebound while I pathetically jump and try to swipe it from him. I didn't reach the ball (hey, I couldn't even reach his elbows). I got called for the foul and I complained to the ref that I couldn't even jump and touch the guy, how could that be a foul?

- Funny sequence: we scored so I ran back on defense. After crossing midcourt, we stole the ball so I ran back. They missed the layup and I ran back on defense again. We quickly got the ball back and everyone ran for a quick offense. I was already panting and wheezing at that time. After we scored again I ran back as fast as I can on defense and went into position complete with the textbook defensive stance. I looked for my teammates and they were... on the bench drinking water? They called a time out and I was alone in the court looking like an idiot.

Jaye arrived during the fourth quarter. Good thing she was able to catch up since she had a conference call as well that night. I was already done though and I've loosened up my shoes and my knee braces. Jaye was standing beside Des who's the girlfriend of our team's best player, Don. On the court, Don was sprinting down the court, eludes two defenders off the dribble and finished with a contested reverse lay up. Everyone cheered as he ran back. Everyone was watching this guy while Jaye was watching this other guy on the bench who's highlight of the quarter was drinking a liter of Gatorade and going to the rest room every other timeout. It made me realize more how lucky I am.

Hot Be Careful

Here's another interesting picture. Wendy's has this small booth downstairs and they've recycled their materials for other products. With this, it was my first to end up a frosty that was "Hot, be careful"

Thai Take Out Food

I love Thai food even those that come from take out boxes. It's just a bit awkward ordering take out from somewhere called "Thai in a Box" because face it, not all people will pronounce "Thai" properly.

Punch Out!

ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy ohboy!!!

There are three (so far) Wii games I’m looking forward to this year. One of them just arrived today in the Philippines, it's now distributed by the local software shop and it’s now reserved under my name *ultra big smile*

Remember this guy?


Yup, that's King Hippo and he's from the old Punch Out game for NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Man, did I love this game. I played this a lot with my childhood chums while it was still too hot out to go biking, play patintero or to play in nearby construction sites, particularly the sand mountains.

There were other family computer games that are close to my heart but Mike Tyson’s Punch Out is one of the closest (it’s right there with Twin Bee, Contra, Ice Climber, Jackal, Adventure Island, Double Dragon and my ultimate favorite: Mario 3). The family computer was one of the defining things in my generation which one would automatically belong as to if you knew "up up down down left right left right B A B A" and what it did.

I had a big rush of nostalgia back in 2007 when I was assigned to Chicago. I was bored one day and stumbled upon an old NES emulator application and a site where I can download some old roms. Punch Out was one of the things I looked for right away and playing it again after so long felt so happy. I was still rusty though and I had trouble playing it through a keyboard and even old Piston Honda (the level 3 opponent) put me down. I felt like a kid again.

A few months ago, I caught this ad while watching Red Sox clips online announcing that Punch Out will be making its return to the Wii gaming platform after so many years. I was just sooooo happy happy happy happy. *ultra big smile again*

Eventually, the game was released in the US and I was eager for it to arrive in the Philippines. I frequented the nearby software shop from my place but they didn’t carry it. They didn’t even know what it was. Over a month has past and still nothing, not even a peep. I was getting worried since I know I’m probably part of a small population that buys original games and it’s possible that not all games would make it here to Manila.

If it will come, it will come and true enough it did.

I called the shop again to ask about a different game (Grand Slam Tennis) and they said it was just recently released and it will probably take weeks before it arrives… “but oh, Punch Out’s available now, would you like to reserve one?”.

“ummm... ok”

Now define coincidence. That software shop is just beside the shop Jaye and I will be dropping by later (we’ll be getting some drivers for our laptop). That plus, it's a holiday tomorrow.

Oh happy day. =)

CG3 vs GT Towers

That's the Cybergate 3 building on the left. GT Tower is on the right.

When I was a new hire, I was assigned first to the PSE building where I took my training. After a month, I was assigned to 6750 then to MSE then eventually to GT Towers where I stayed for almost 5 years. Last month, we packed our rolling bins and went to Robinson's Cybergate 3 in Mandaluyong. I'm still try to get used to life A.G.T (after GT) and I can't help but compare the last 2 offices I've worked in. Which one's better?

Office ambiance
Let’s start from the outside. GT is found right smack in the middle of Makati. Working in Makati gives you the same sense as working downtown (in the US) where all the big businesses are based. Look outside the window and you'll see PBCom (the tallest building in the Philippines) and RCBC (one of the most modern buildings in the Philippines). Look at the office directory and you'll notice you share the building with other major international companies.

Look outside CG and you’ll see a regular office building (Globe). On the other side, there's the Pasig river and a construction site where shirtless workers play basketball every afternoon. While some businesses are near CG, suddenly I don’t feel as big as before. Knowing that you share the building with local businesses doesn't help either.

CG3 is also known for thefts. We get stories of items being stolen from the desks and even from inside the bins. Sad isn't it?

If I stand up, I see people working side by side like in a factory assembly line or an internet cafe. There are barely any decorations and the pantry is small. There’s also just one microwave oven so you need to fall in line early. Toilets are ok if you’re a guy since there are two on each side. There’s only one ladies’ room, go figure. Conference rooms are the same but CG3 has these huddle rooms for small meetings.

Working in GT is like driving my mom's car. It's clean, it's nice, there's a CD collection on the visors and the car stereo gives justice to the good music I listen to. Working in CG is like driving my dad's car. There are newspapers, shoes and clothes in the backseat. There are onions below the seat. The radio barely works and the inside smells like old socks. Yes, it takes you where you want to go but there are days when the rolling onions aren't really funny anymore.

Advantage: GT

Stores and Restaurants
GT boasts the 12th floor “Food and Art Galerie”. Being a photographer, I love it when they hold exhibits because the entries are really good. The cafeteria has a variety of snack stands and big booths. While I like the food they serve, the prices are high since a normal meal would cost 80-100 bucks. They also have a single booth for drinks and they really jack up the prices. How can they serve mocha fraps that are almost as expensive as Starbucks?

CG3 has this dinky cafeteria in the ground floor. It has small booths that serve decent food. They’re pretty much unknown except for Country Style Donuts and Wendy’s. There are also some small restaurants up front and they all serve relatively cheap food. There’s also a mall 15 minutes away you can go to in case you're suddenly craving for KFC's famous bowls.

So who wins? Both have nearby Ministop stores. Both are within walking distance from a Starbucks and a McDonald's. CG3 though has rumors of rat related stories and there are some people who refused to eat downstairs and wouldn't tell why. Let's put it this way, if I told you there were rats in GT, would you think I'm lying?

Me neither.

Advantage: CG3. I'm gave a minus point to GT for all those Fitness First agents that harrassed me but I gave it plus points since it was somewhat near to a Jollibee. Hmmm, maybe that's why they harrassed me.

Amenities
GT had a Metrobank machine in the 12th floor and in the ground floor. GT is beside a BPI which has this ATM machine that has that automated cash deposit. GT is also beside Cityland where Jaye pays her apartment fees. GT is also closer to Jaye’s apartment so we can have lunches over there. There’s also a nearby camera shop where I buy my stuff so it’s easy to head out there during lunch breaks. On the business side, everything’s there however on the leisure side, it’s close to zilch unless you love shopping at Book Sale.

CG3 doesn’t have a Metrobank machine. CG3 doesn’t have that fancy BPI ATM booth. It’s close to a mall so you can buy there all the small items you need (Mercury Drugstore, grocery, department store, National bookstore, etc…). There’s a big badminton court beside CG3 (though I haven’t been there).

Advantage: CG3. I’m really a mall kind of guy and I’ve been itching to play badminton again with Jaye.

Parking
GT charges 130 per day. CG3 charges 80 per 12 hours (then 10 bucks per hour afterwards). The backup for GT is RCBC while the backup for CG3 is CG2 and the mall parking. Space is scarce though since the parking space in CG3 is full by 8:30am compare to 10:30am in GT.

Advantage: CG3. The lack of parking space made me come in earlier and I guess that’s a good thing. The weird spiral ramp also gives me a chance to work on my drifting skills.

Location
Let me put it this way. Travel time to GT: 1.5 hours. Travel time to CG3: 30-45 minutes. That's almost one hour less battling with EDSA buses, FX drivers and less strain on my knee stepping on the clutch. I also don't miss Makati's weird one way streets.

Advantage: CG3… by a mile.

My Final Verdict:

Cybergate 3. Location and distance were major categories but I'm going with CG3 since Jaye's here as well. =)

The Comeback (Sort Of)

It’s nice to be back on the basketball court with my uniform and my sneakers on for my first game since my major injury. Is it a coincidence that I’m playing on the court (sort of) where I last played tournament basketball 5 years ago?

There are a lot of things that have changed.

5 years ago, I wore my red And1 basketball shoe, my only red shoe at that time. Last night, I wore my second ever red shoe – my Nike Air Zoom Kobe IV.

5 years ago, I wore a thigh sleeve. Last night, I wore metal knee braces on both knees.

5 years ago, I wore a headband to keep sweat off my eyes since I had very short hair. Last night, I wanted to wear a headband to keep my hair off my eyes (but didn’t since my white headband didn’t go with the rest of the uniform).

5 years ago, I’m the scorer type – running fast breaks, hitting open three’s and harassing dribblers. Last night, I was on the post setting screens and just jumping around senselessly. I couldn't shoot anymore and I couldn't even last long on the court with my poor stamina.

5 years ago, well, I was 20 pounds lighter and I wasn’t undergoing rehab then. I’m still in stage 2 of my rehab which means I can have limited lateral movement and I can sprint in bursts. Still a long ways to go but then, it’s a long season.

My stats last night – 10 minutes, 1 assist, 2 fouls and one wild tear drop that barely grazed the rim. We won by 16. My knees were already numb, my foot was giving out, my ankles were screaming and my thigh felt like it was poked with syringes. The pain’s there but I never really felt it and I still had a big smile.

5 years ago, I was alone in these games. I lost games alone. I won games alone. This time, Jaye’s on my side and I almost pity her since she’s cheering for the worst and fattest player on the court. Last night, I've never been so happy playing this game after 5 long years.

Analyzing Idol

That, I never saw that coming.

Nothing against Kris (though I’ve been giving Ria, my Kris Allen fanatic friend, a hard time on this), but I called this to be heavily in favor of Adam Lambert and boy was I wrong. I even considered how the votes from the female population would swing given that Kris is the “FOGI” (as Ria would say) boy next door while Adam is the… well, flamboyant one. So why did he lose (from my point of view)?

- The finale song “No Boundaries” just reeked. There wasn’t anything you can do about it. The lyrics were sappy and the tune was just plain weird.
- Adam’s studio records were inferior to his live performances. It’s also tough to sing Adam Lambert songs.
- He was the judges’ pet. AI was actually renamed by some to the “Adam Lambert Show” sensing it was an easy win and this cost votes.
- Maybe America just isn’t ready for a gay (as in really gay) idol.

Either way, despite my best bet losing in the 2nd to the last round, I still think this is one of the best seasons ever. =)

It's Idol Season

Jaye and I love idol season. Last year we were big David Cook fans and we were so happy he won the whole thing.

This year, Jaye picked Danny Gokey to win the whole thing in the episode where he auditioned for Idol. His audition episode – that’s when she first saw the guy. She really has an ear for singing skills. She also had a second pick – Adam Lambert but he’s a distant second since he barged into the competition with a punk rock reputation. Jaye’s not into those. I on the other hand cannot differentiate a guy singing in tune from a guy snoring. I didn’t even have a pick early in the season.

Now the competition is down to 5. Danny Gokey had a strong performance from “Rat Pack” week. I was going with Danny as well when the top 13 was introduced but I was keeping an eye on Adam. I remember his first few performances were all screaming and shrieking but if he can pull off a slow ballad he’d be my bet to win the whole thing. I want Danny to win the whole thing but I think this will be Adam’s year because he can hit a note that only he could reach (and only a few dogs could hear). All he has to do is find a way to use this note in his arrangement and it’s a sure hit. He could sing the Seiko wallet theme song and still win a Grammy. What I love in this season is the depth of the competition.

Last year, it was a 2 horse race between the two Davids. This year, I think it will be a Danny – Adam finals with Kris Allen and that girl who looks like Ruby Rodriguez a perfect song away from an upset. That guy who thinks he’s Justin Timberlake? I think he’s going home.

Longing for the Tube

The Nokia 5800 aka the "Tube".



Don't you hate it when you want to buy something but you just can't seem to justify it?

I'm a big gadget freak but for some reason, I'm not a mobile phone kind of guy. I still do upgrades though as my current Nokia 6300 is actually my 6th phone however I always stray away from the high end ones.

Until now.

I first saw the Nokia 5800 when I bought a new charger at this phone store at the mall. I was fascinated by it and started to set aside a budget to purchase it. After a few weeks of analyzing and arguing with myself to buy it, I decided that this was an unnecessary purchase and that I should purchase some basic photography lighting equipment instead since I needed that more. I bought the lights and scrapped my plans for the 5800.

The phone seems to follow me everywhere still and now I'm considering purchasing it again.

The One Minute Manager Book Review

I was asked if I write. I said I kept a blog. They asked me to do a book review. I said writing a book review is different than posting blog entries. They insisted. I agreed to write the entry only if I write the whole thing my way. They agreed.

So one of the most unusual book reviews was finally written:

The One Minute Manager Book Review
by Arn

One must appreciate the beauty of working in such a competitive environment as it brings out the best in us in so many ways. To succeed, we must perform better than our peers. If they can close fifteen tickets in a day, you close twenty. If they deliver requests in four days, you deliver it in three. If it takes them three minutes to get coffee from the pantry, you get yours in two… you get the idea. It’s no wonder that most, if not all are willing to learn new tips and tricks to ease work and increase their productivity and efficiency.

Enter the One Minute Manager book written by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. It’s one of the most popular management and self improvement books around because its message is simple and it’s easy to read. The book tells a simple story about a young man and his search for the most effective manager which led him to a man they called the “One Minute Manager”. The One Minute Manager is not a wizard on a quest or a vampire who drives a Volvo but he’s this cool guy who has a simple strategy to get the most out of his people and keeping them happy at the same time. He’s not an autocratic manager who concentrates only in results or a democratic manager who looks out only for his people. He’s there right down the middle and his technique is further discussed in the book.

The book won’t bore you with complex philosophies, charts, calculations, catchy acronyms (as if we needed more) or any big words. It concentrates on three major concepts and how to use them effectively together: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praises and One Minute Reprimands – all of which are not really new to us in Accenture.

The book, apparently written by Captain Obvious explains that setting goals, commending and reprimanding people at the correct time are all important. A little too simple isn’t it?

If it’s so simple, why is the book such a big hit? Why do some companies have this as a mandatory reading material for all their leaders and managers? Personally, I believe it’s because most of us have over-analyzed our managing skills and have implemented complex changes to improve. The book reminds us some of the basics of managing, most of which we probably strayed away from. Think about it: do you set realistic short term goals or just say “to do my best and get promoted”? If someone did a good job, do you approach them right away to tell them or just IM them with an animated thank you smiley? After reprimanding someone, was it done in such a way that that someone walks back to his/her desk to do a better job or storms off to the 12th floor to smoke?

Sophisticated problems are mostly solved with very basic solutions – a powerful message from a short book.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but my recommendation comes with a waiver. It’s a good read for everyone however I don’t recommend doing exactly what the One Minute Manager did in the story. You have to analyze why it worked for the One Minute Manager, analyze your own current situation and customize your own processes keeping in mind the basics discussed in the book. Remember, the book uses a generic setting with examples which can be applied to virtually any industry.

Again, the book can certainly improve your productivity and efficiency and can give you the edge you’ve wanted, unless of course everyone has read it which means you’ll need to check if someone has already written “The 20 Second Manager” (No, I checked and it doesn’t exist yet. Sorry.)

The Server Move Release

97 hours.

That’s how much work I logged last week alone. If you do the math, there are 168 hours in a week which means 57.7% of my time was spent on working. The remaining 42.3% would be for sleeping, eating, and driving to and from the office. This isn’t even counting the work I’m doing while stuck in traffic as I have my laptop with me on the passenger seat. This doesn’t even include the 3 additional hours I did last Sunday AFTER I passed my time charges at 7pm.

I wasn’t alone though as my entire technical architecture team – Jeff, James and Fred were all part of this. I told my team at the beginning that this particular week would have a reality show aura and I was dead right.

This is Jeff showing off his shirt. I took this picture when I took over the day shift on Sunday.



The whole experience (including the previous 2 weeks) brought out the best and the worst out of us. I saw emotion from people I’ve never seen before. I never saw people acted like this before and I guess stress has that effect on people.

What kind of work did we actually do? Well, we were moving our servers from Little Rock, Arkansas to Chicago, Illinois. Believe me, it's not as simple as it sounds. Even though we already drew up plans for these things, half the time we were scrambling for alternative solutions. We had to be creative enough to make MacGyver proud. The last two days – the actual deployment weekend were the worst days of the activity simply because none of us had any gas in our tanks left.

This was our team picture when the day shift team (me and Fred), relieved the night shift team (Jeff and James). Yes, I wore shorts to the office since they turned off the air conditioner and there weren't any fans around. To complete this outfit, I even wore my blue Crocs.



The good part about this? The project sponsored our food. I ordered this Yellow Cab pasta for lunch.



Sunday mid afternoon, I had a massive headache and I officially declared myself a zombie. I couldn't think anymore as all I could do was sleep on my desk. I also had a tummy ache and my back and my legs were all sore. I was in such a sour mood... until an angel dropped by to visit. Yep, Jaye dropped by to visit me and bring me drinks. I was so happy! My body aches were gone. Too bad she had to leave a few minutes later but her short visit made the difference that afternoon as that enabled me to finish the day strong.

Sunday midnight and we were done. We passed over the tasks to Chicago who will be finishing up the rest. We were all so beat up and stressed. Fred was bored while Jeffrey and James were stopping by the condo unit to rest up. I was walking to Jaye’s but then we decided to stay a couple of hours more in the condo unit to talk about what happened and to relax. Past experiences have told me never to sleep with too much on my mind and so I thought this was a good idea, I could spare an hour anyway. We picked up a couple of beers and hanged out.




We didn’t have any bottle openers though so each of us had to think of a way to open up the bottle.
Fred tried to open his with a spoon. (He did but got a gash on his finger).



James tried to open his with a knife.



And Jeff tried to open his with the side of a spoon. (He did and ALSO got a gash on his finger)



Me? The lead that I am, whoever opened his bottle used the same technique to open mine. What a great leader :P





My team (Jeff, me, Fred and James)

The Eclipse

A lunar penumbral eclipse.

Ok, I know “lunar” and “eclipse” but penumbral sounds like a part of your body. Oh, google it up (in simple terms: it’s a part of a shadow)

The Monday night skies were the stage for a lunar penumbral eclipse which is perfect to my newfound mission to take a really good shot of the moon this year. If you read my last moon entry, you’ll know how sentimental I get when staring at the moon so this day, I dragged Jaye along to take another moon picture.

The eclipse was scheduled from 8:30pm until just past midnight. I setup my tripod and my camera and looked up.

Clouds. Clouds. Clouds.

The clouds were so thick we didn’t even have an idea where the moon was.

We were looking up the rest of the night until eventually, we realized that the clouds looked so pretty and the light bounced off the moon had a cool effect. We took a picture of the clouds instead.

Starting The Year

2008 was a crazy year.

While it was generally a happy year full of love and laughter, it had its share of struggles and challenges. Life taught me a lot of things and I spent the final 2 weeks of the year figuring things out.

2009 came and it was time to change strategies. Instead of taking on the new year with resolutions and promises, I spent the entire month of January on the sidelines observing things and getting rid of bad habits. Before I introduce new habits, I have to get rid of the old ones. This time, I’m being more patient with myself.

I watched myself do things I usually do – observing my routines, how I deal with problems and constructed my overall pattern. Funny how that works though since I became ultra passive with my actions. I didn’t make any major decisions, I didn’t purchase expensive items, I didn’t have major activities. It was just one month spent resting, healing up, analyzing and strategizing. Heck, I didn't even post a single entry here.

Things have been weird with me doing things the way I normally don’t. The month ended and I didn’t know myself anymore.

I guess the plan worked and now I’m excited.

I plan to live all the days of my life from hereon.

The Day The Earth… Huh!?

Mom bought some DVD’s and while we were going through the titles, we noticed something off.

Well, technically, if it “stood still” it is “stopped” right?

Either way, mom got gypped.

Kris Kringle

I really suck at Kris Kringles. I guess it's because I always insist of giving the right gift to the right person. I don't fall for the commercialization of Christmas wherein you just give gifts for the sake of giving. I don't agree at all.

Another factor is that most (note... MOST... not all) people don't take Kris Kringles seriously and you always get something that fits the criteria but is far from useful.

This year, we had 4 categories.
- cute and heavy
- funny or naughty
- geeky
- chemical

There was a 50 Peso minimum requirement. The workaholic that I am, I was late with my weekly gifts and ended up having to shop for all of them at the same time at the very last minute.

Cute and Heavy. Paper weight? Scotch tape dispenser? Paper weight? Really now, office supplies are the second worst gifts you can ever get. The worst gifts? Christmas decors! We'll discuss that some other time though. What's cute and heavy? Paper weight. Darn it! I can't get paper weight out of my head! After walking around, I settled with this photo holder (which doubles as a paper weight :P)

Funny or naughty. My personal experience - never go with naughty. If you HAVE to go with naughty, go with the most conservative "naughty" gift you can find. Why? Let's flashback to 4 years ago - Kris Kringle of 2004 which had a "naughty" gift requirement --> a senior executive holding out a pair of thongs and a very embarrassed dude in the background. Poor guy. This time, I was going for funny. Almost all the time you'll get a Pugad Baboy or a Pupung comic book. At the last minute, the sponteneous guy that I am, I suddenly went with naughty with probably the most straightforward gift I've ever given, a keychain that says "Naughty".

Geeky. It was the first time I had to shop for something "Geeky". I had one thing on my mind though - a Sudoku book. Easiest gift of the day.

Chemical. Another first time category. cleaning agent? too household. cologne? too complicated. scented oils? nah. I decided to go with a fancy soap and pray that my gift "baby" is a girl.

The Christmas party came and like all events in December, I missed it because I had to work. My "baby" was Tina who thanked me for the gifts. She said a lot of thought really went into the gifts and there was no way it could be from a guy.

Hmmm, I'll take that as a compliment.

How about the stuff I got?

Cute and heavy - a souveneir jeepney. I never saw that coming but it was actually more than decent. I find it hard to see jeepneys as cute though :-/
Funny or naughty - a Shrek 2 VCD. One of my favorite movies! Too bad I already have it in DVD.
Geeky - a Sudoku book.
Chemical - alcogel, which is actually in my shopping list. :)

We oughta do something else next year... :)

Driving Through

It was close to midnight on a weekday. Mom and I picked up my brother at the MRT station and on our way home, as "payment", we went to a drive through at a nearby burger chain. Itago natin sa pangalang "Burger Ming"

Our car trigged the sensor and the voice box greeted us "Welcome to Burger King!" (este... Burger Ming pala... sorry sorry)

My brother wanted combo #4. I wanted combo #1. Mom wanted combo #6.

I said we'll have #1 and #4 with large fries and a number #6.

"So sir, you ordered for combo meal number 1, 3 and 6."?

I quickly corrected her: "No, it should be 4, not 3".

"Ok sir, that's one number 1, one number 3 and one number 6".

I looked at my brother who gave the same bewildered look back. I repeated my order and slowed down: "number 1, number FOUR, and number 6!".

No response.

We heard discussions in the background from the crew as they were asking each other what the meals were and what the numbers were for. (?!?)

She repeated my order: "So isa pong number 1, number 3 and number 6?".

I glanced at my mom and she gave me that "If you won't do it I will" look.

Before I repeated my order, I told them to look at the security cameras. "Number 1 with large fries" (while holding up my pointer finger). "Number 4 with large fries" (while holding up 4 fingers and point at them one by one with my other hand as if counting it slowly). "Number 6" (while holding up 6 fingers together with my other hand).

We continued to the second window and there was this van with a very angry driver. He was pointing at something and returning the plastic bags. It looks like he also got his orders crossed. The guy sped off and it was my turn. I decided to give them a break... I think that other guy already gave them a hard time. I opened my plastic bag and confirmed my order. What do you know... they DO know what number 4 looks like :P

I Hate These Days

Weekday. 5am.

My alarm goes off and I try to sit up. My chest hurts. My body hurts. My head hurts and my nose is all clogged up. I lie back down to reduce the shock to my body. Makes me wish I hadn't let myself get wet in the rain two days ago.

I sit back up again. My head now stings a little. I'm a bit dizzy but I can walk and read. My coordination's a bit shaky but overall ok. My body hurts but it's more of an inconvenience than a hindrance.

I hate being half sick. I am sick enough to feel I am but I'm not sick enough to miss work.

Ugh.

Che Che and Elmer's Wedding

Che Che's married!

Che Che is one of my closest friends back when I was in Chicago for the first time in 2005. We were the one-two punch sent by our project to work as liaisons in the windy city. She knew me before I met Jaye. She knew Jaye before Jaye and I fell in love. She knew Jaye and I when we were still friends and now she knows us as a couple. :)

Che Che and Elmer Buan tied the knot on November 26 with a beautiful wedding ceremony at Christ the King church in Pasig and followed it up with a memorable reception at the Shangri La hotel.

They also sent out the most creative invites I've seen to date. The invitation was a passport and a boarding pass. The story behind this is that they both met for the first time in an airport. Pretty neat!

Nov 26 was a Wednesday work day but Jaye and I filed leaves ahead of time so we could leave the office early. Jaye had her hair done at the office right in her office cube with all her officemates watching.



From the office, we dropped by McDonald's for a quick bite then went to her apartment to change clothes. Jaye wore a simple chic brown dress while I was wearing my congressman barong we bought just 2 nights ago.

I'm still not used to wearing barongs. I'm really more of a suit and tie type of guy. I know barongs are meant to get wrinkled one way or another but well, I move like a robot when I'm in a barong. Besides, I look fat in white.

and red, orange, yellow, green, blue, gray, brown...

Jaye and I arrived at the church and sat at the back since we were a tad late. She was checking out the flowers, the dresses and the motif. I was checking out the equipment used by the photographers. After the wedding, it was picture taking time and when it was time for the bride's friends to come on down, we ran to the altar to greet a surprised Che who probably thought we would miss the church wedding. A few pictures and a few hi's and hello's to CeeJay and Gegs and we were on our way back to our seats.





After the wedding, Jaye and I left the church early so we could make our way to Shangri La for the reception. Upon parking the car, we followed the "lift" signs.



We saw another sign "lift" sign and followed it.



at the end... we find stairs. Nice.



The ballroom was big! The decorations were nice and simple. The food was great too as we had so many options - salads, fish, meat, rice, pasta and dessert.





I whipped out the card that Jaye and I bought and she asked me write on it. I wrote "Best wishes and Gob Bless!"

"Gob"?

I was staring at the card thinking how I could misspelled "God" while Jaye was laughing her butt off. I quickly changed b to d and ended up with...



Gold bless? Close enough.

Overall it was a great event and though it lasted for more than three hours, there wasn't a boring part in it. They even had a photo presentation (just like the surprise videos we created in Chicago) with Jaye and me in it (though there was no way you could have recognized me).

Che's sister approached me and asked if I was Arn. I told her yes and she followed it up with "Ah! IKAW pala yun!". Yikes!


Congressman Arn with his beautiful wifey


Jaye, Gegs and CeeJay


Che Che and I had our picture taken then we realized it looked like WE got married. :S


The happy couple

Last comment for the night: Parking was 190 bucks for 4 hours?!?

Of Surveys and Gas Stations

I was on my way to work when I stopped by a nearby gas station to fill up. I was in a hurry because I wanted to beat the morning rush in Pasig and Makati. The attendant did a quick job and he handed my my receipt and something else. He asked me to fill it up.

It was a customer satisfaction survey.

I didn't mean to be rude but I really had to be on my way. I told him I'll pass for now. He told me it was required.

A required survey?

He added that I could win some souveniers. I checked the form and there was no place where I can place my personal details. If I "won", how could they bring me my prize?

I told him no thanks but he was really persistent that I answered his survey.

Fine.

I wrote his name down. I gave him a 0 for courtesy, a 3 for promptness and gave him a 0 for everything else. I handed him his survey and smiled. I hate conflicts during that time of the day but that was an exception.

Back to Blogging

It has been THAT long since my last post? Wow, I never realized I was that overworked the past few months.

Work has been brutal.

Life has been unreasonable.

I learned a lot the past few months. Plenty of things happened and while for most I would start writing, I’d end up saving the draft then delete it afterwards. Like Gwen’s, I intent to keep this a happy blog.

Sure, I could have written about all these but I’d rather talk about it as I’ve learned…

It’s so easy to misquote me. For some reason, people love to take my words out of context. I trusted they won’t, and yet they did. This brings us to lesson number two:

I trusted people, and I got stabbed in the back. Sad isn’t it? The sadder part is the “kick you while you’re down” bit. You do all these great things for them and this is how they pay you back. This sets up the third lesson:

You don’t always fight fire with fire. My instincts tell me to do so but as Jaye taught me, I shouldn’t. This starts a vicious cycle. Violence begets violence. We’ll deal with these things the right way. Some people are just plain jerks.

There were more lessons but you can derive those from these three. I guess that sums up the past what has happened the past few weeks. I’m bouncing back though. I promised myself not to write a lick about these things until I have a plan and until it’s on its way.

I learned that work becomes brutal when life is unreasonable. Life is unreasonable when you stop fighting.

Ladies and gentlemen, the gospel of Arn.

Saving Someone's Life

It's not like I dramatically jumped in front of someone getting shot or running across a street to save someone from getting hit by a car. I'm not sure if my story is even cool at all.

I was at a nearby mall on my way up to the 3rd floor to buy some printer ink. I took the escalator going up and 3 steps in front of me, there was a mom, her kid and a grandma. The kid was horsing around and so grandma tried to settle her down but in the process she lost her footing and fell back first where "super Arn" saved the day.

Actually I wasn't able to catch her. I wasn't able to react fast enough. She fell towards me, bounced off my tummy and landed on her feet.

Super Arn: tummy so big, it can catch falling grannies! Nah, I'm not the superhero type. I look terrible in tights anyway. It still feels good to save someone though... accident or not. =)

CIO Best Dance Crew

Olympic Thoughts and Updates

The Summer Olympics in Beijing was underway late last week and unfortunately, it's not really having a big impact for Filipinos other than the guys watching Team USA basketball games especially since they have some good games coming up with China, Spain and Greece.

The Philippines hasn't won a medal since Onyok won the silver back in Atlanta. Hmmm, do you really "win" a silver? Doesn't "winning a silver" really mean you "lost the gold"? Think about it.

We sent 15 Filipinos to Beijing and analysts are not expecting anyone to bring anything home. Our flag bearer isn't even an olympian (it was Pacquiao). Out of the 15, there are four people who are long shots (Taekwondo, Shooting and Archery). Malay mo nga naman diba? Stranger things have happened. Maybe we can ignore the fact that we sent better prospects in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004) but still wound up with nothing. Maybe we can build from the moral victory we had in archery back in Athens. Maybe our lone boxer will win something... anything.

By the way, the shooting (trap) event has concluded. Out of the 36 nations who qualified, the Philippines finished...

36th. :-/

(... isipin nyo na lang... may 14 pa)

Bye bye Long Hair

I finally said good bye to my Fabio-esque hair. I went to the salon one day and told them I want a new clean cut look. The stylist walked closer, looked at my scalp and noticed right away how dry it was. She suggested that I get treatment and since it was one of these boring Saturdays, I told them to go nuts.

They shampooed my long locks and gave it a quick towel buff. The stylist cut my hair and immediately told me “Ser! Mas bagay sa inyo!”



After cutting my hair, she told me it was time for my hair/scalp treatment. She whipped out some plastic wrap and…

What the hell is that?



Next, she took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around my head like a bandana. I looked horrible.





Good thing she didn’t use the…


Oh no no no no


No no no no no


Noooooooooooooooo. Bye bye pogi points =(

In fairness my scalp wasn’t dry anymore… for the next 2 days.

The Rise and Fall of a Band Named Rakista

It started with three ladies sharing an apartment in downtown Chicago. One loved to sing. One loved to play the drums. The third one... well, she wasn’t much into rock music but she played the guitar now and then. Looking for a full time guitarist, they obtained the services of this third roomie’s love interest. The band was called Rakista and they entered the Chicago music scene playing around in certain places and earning fans here and there.

Looking to boost the band’s popularity, they added a hunky* singing phenom* to the group. He was too hunky* though that his tight fitted shirts were too distracting and so they let him play the bass in the background instead.

It was a decision that worked as the band earned more fans. More fans meant more money and so the group decided to play in New York, Boston and even Los Angeles. Fans grew from the hundreds to the thousands and everything seemed to go right.

It always does… until comes a series of unfortunate events and bad decisions.

One time, without the lead guitarist, the group tried some new and harder songs and these were met with boos from the crowd. The band also tried some new twists to their existing playlist and they struggled and lost more fans. They found it rough and the bassist started playing while lying down on the floor – bored. More and more fans left and the band was going nowhere.



The bassist, sensing that he would do better as a solo artist, left Chicago for the Philippines and started his own band with him as the front man. He bought a mirror and realized that his tummy was just too big (that’s why his shirts were tight fitted).

The lead guitarist, still frustrated with how he’s being ignored by his love interest, left Chicago as well and flew to the Philippines where paparazzi photographers caught him having dinner with another certain someone. He quit the music business.

The drummer, continued to rock on and is now reportedly “radioactive hot”. She recently arrived from her tour in Toronto.

The lead singer, continued her career but without a band, she focused on learning how to play the piano from lessons posted on youtube. She was physically with this band but her heart is in another.

A sad story for a once promising band. They released no albums and made no money yet their legacy continues:




Don’t you just love playing Rockband?

Of Ria, Dinners and Fun Time with Friends

Dinner with friends: One of the best stress relievers. Period.

Ria flew home from Singapore and was in Manila for a few days. We organized a quick dinner for the onshore people over at North Park along Ayala Ave and it was nice to see these people again. I think the last time we were together was either eating out at some restaurant in downtown Chicago or at some apartment. I miss the gool ol’ days.

Thanks Ria for the dinner treat! =)




You still owe me a hot choco though...

What's Beside the Children's Books?

I'm not an expert on arranging items on grocery aisles, but I don't think those should be there...

The Pacquiao – Diaz Fight Commentary... er... thoughts

Too bad this match didn’t have the same hype as the one with Marquez. This match was shown locally via delayed telecast and so I already knew that Pacquiao bludgeoned Diaz to submission even before the match started and I was already fast asleep before the 4th round.

I was waiting for the match over at RPN 9 but when I found out they were showing it instead over at GMA 7, I knew right away that I was in for a long afternoon. You see, GMA 7 is notoriously known for long commercial breaks. I actually did a stopwatch test between round 2 and 3 and the result was just under 7 minutes (6:52).

7 minutes?!? I can get abs waiting for 7 minutes right? Didn’t it take just 4 minutes for Justin and Madonna to save the world? Didn’t Michael Learns to Rock take… oh wait , let’s not go there.

True story though a few years ago: I was boiling water while watching this show at channel 7. When the commercials kicked in, I dunked in two packs of instant noodles, cooked it through, drained te pot, placed the seasonings and when the show returned, I was 2 bites away from finishing my merienda.

Anyways, I wanted to do my usual round per round commentary but the commercials were too long that I fell asleep between rounds 3 and 4, woke up in the middle of round 5, was asleep again between rounds 5 and 6 and I woke up next 4 hours later.

Drat! I wasn’t able to watch how Diaz got knocked out. I ended up downloading a grainy video of the whole match from the Internet. Wow, the match was more lopsided than I thought. By the 6th round, the commentators were talking about merciful knockouts and that Diaz should just lie down and give up. By the 7th round they were talking about the importance of living to fight another day and in the 8th they were talking about Diaz’ health. Finally he went down in the 9th. Hey with a chin THAT big, how can Manny miss?

Diaz was able to get revenge though. After the match they saw each other along the corridor and Diaz hugged Manny. Diaz continued to assault Manny with English (note that Diaz is Mexican-American and speaks good English). Poor Manny. When Diaz blurted his 4th English sentence I was begging the referee to intervene and stop the match… I mean conversation.

What does this mean to Filipinos? A happy ending to a week that started with a ferry disaster, one more day of unity and just more and more Pacquiao ads.

Of Gay-Love and the NBA

During the NBA draft (it's when NBA teams pick new players from college), the Memphis Grizzlies selected center Kevin Love from UCLA. So Memphis drafted a guy named "Love". It wasn't really a big deal until I realized that Memphis' star player was named "Rudy Gay".

I was laughing my butt off since Memphis will be fielding a team with Gay-Love. They also have a center named "Kwame Brown".

"Brown rebounds the ball and passes to Love. Love turns to Gay and takes it to the hole! Brown Gay Love does it again!"

Unfortunately, Memphis immediately traded Kevin Love to another team and got a guy named "OJ Mayo" back in return and "Gay-Mayo" is just not funny :(

Playing One on One

I was leading 23 to 18 against my brother in a half court game of basketball. I was breathing heavily and my head felt like it was made of marshmallows. I was dizzy because I was already exhausted and I couldn’t think properly to figure out how to score 7 more points to win the whole thing.

My brother and I play our backyard half court basketball one on ones seriously. We played years ago when he was a runt who couldn’t shoot a free throw and we’re still playing now though he’s playing for the college league over at La Salle. He made bigger adjustments and improvements in his game than I did. His weaknesses (height, slow lateral movement, inaccurate jumpshot) are now his strengths and his strengths (high jumper, faster, shot range) are now his specialties. Me? Well, I got fatter and slower.

So basically, he’s faster and he’s stronger.

I was dribbling the ball and I faked to my right and drove to my left switching hands in mid-air. He knew what I was doing and he slapped away the shot.

So he’s faster, stronger AND smarter. Damn, I thought I had the last one to my advantage.

I DID outsmart him in one play. I flipped the ball with my left hand and I know he was going to block it. I extended my right arm and counter-slapped him the other way. Instead of blocking my shot, his hand hit mine as if giving me a high five and the ball went in. Weird play.

So again I was dribbling the ball while leading 23 to 18. My knees hurt too much to do direction fakes and I couldn’t bend my back more so I was doing a high dribble which was extremely easy to steal. He reached in near my tummy but I bent over and he got his arm stuck in my belly gut! He couldn’t get it out! I drove to my right side and laid the ball in with his arm still stuck in my belly. It’s not a foul on me. It’s not a foul on him. He was laughing hard since I invented a new signature move: the “bilbil clamp”

I followed up this play with a line drive three pointer. Since I was two points away from winning the game, he shot a three pointer easily and uncontested.

Next play, I drove wildly to the basket, spun around and flipped a right handed hook shot. It hit the board and nothing else. He got the ball and shot another three pointer. It was clear he could score if he wanted to.

Last play, it was make or break. I drove hard to my right and went up for a shot. He was waiting for me midair so I flipped up the shot.

It missed so bad it hit the side of the board and dropped it front of me for a wide open follow up shot. Game over. I win.

I was breathing so heavily and I was walking around. My brother was shooting more jumpshots. I walked a little more until I threw up. My brother was practicing his lay up… and he was fresh as a daisy. He gave me the ball and I tried to take a jumpshot. I bent down and my knee just gave way and buckled.

I think I just reached my physical limit and I looked extremely out of shape. Good thing you don't get points for playing pretty.

The Philippine Independence (non text book version)

Happy Independence day! Oh wait, was it June 9? Wait wait, it’s still June 12? What is this I hear that July 4 is our real independence day?

Let’s see, according to text books, the Philippines declared our independence on June 12, 1898 from Spain. Later that year (December 10 to be exact), Spain surrendered the Philippines to the US which means our independence was not really recognized by other nations.

On July 4, 1946, the US finally gave the Philippines independence and exactly one month later, President Macapagal changed the date to June 12 in the name of nationalism and as advised by historians.

This year, it’s still set to June 12 but is celebrated on the 9th so we’ll have a long weekend. The president cancelled the yearly June 12 parade to cut costs. Whatever happened to nationalism? Where are the historians? How can this happen especially when our current president’s dad is the same president who changed the date to June 12?

With this, I greet you with the new standard Independence day greeting:

“Happy independence day! Kelan nga ba?”

The Mental Block

It was 10:30pm and Jaye and I just finished a grueling day at the office. We stopped by the ATM to withdraw money and we needed to take out 15 thousand bucks. I inserted my card, entered the amount but the machine gave me an error message. It says I can only withdraw 10 thousand per transaction. Oh ok, so I withdrew 10 thousand bucks then inserted the card again for a second transaction.

“Enter PIN.”

I stood there with a blank stare and my mouth open. Jaye looked at me and asked what was wrong.

I forgot my PIN.

“But you just entered it a minute ago!”

I know. But I forgot. I looked at Jaye with a “No, really…” look.

Let’s see, I was assigned onshore for almost a year and I never used my card that time. The moment I landed in Manila, I took out some money from the ATM and I remembered the PIN without trying.

How can I suddenly forget in a span of 5 minutes?

It was the same PIN I used for years and years and years and I never forgot it. Take note that I was sent onshore twice and I was able to remember the PIN when I returned twice. I tried to insert the card and maybe the number key pad can remind me.

Nothing.

We left the booth since someone else was in line. I stood up and gave it a good long thought. 2 numbers appeared in my mind. I don’t know what those are but I went back to the ATM and tried it.

"Incorrect PIN."

I tried the other number.

"Incorreect PIN."

Jaye told me that I just a long day, was just tired but I’ll surely remember it tomorrow. I tried not to think about it that night and went to sleep. The moment I woke up in the morning, I tried to think about the PIN. No dice.

Here’s the funny part: I went through my old archives and found my old journal with my PIN written somewhere in the middle. I saw the PIN. It was labeled. I looked at the PIN. I stared at the PIN.

The PIN didn’t make sense.

It was like I’ve never seen this combination before. I wrote it down and went to the mall still wondering why I wasn’t “OH THAT! YEAH! NOW I REMEMBER” and all. I ran to the ATM machine and inserted my card. I entered the PIN combination from my notes.

It worked.

And it still didn’t make sense.

Am I getting that old?

The “Guess What Happened to Arn” Contest

Remember my last post? Remember when I said I just left the office for “personal matters”? I didn’t give out details and it left my office mates awfully curious. I did mention that I had to deal with something and that it had something to do with my car, chicken and smelling like garbage.

So they held a contest.

A “Guess what happened to Arn” Contest.

If you haven’t read my last post you’ll know that there was rotting chicken fat on my windshield which I had to get cleaned ASAP since the smell somehow got into my clothes.

Pretty interesting entries… We’ll judge them using 3 criteria weighing 10 points each. Creativity, How well you know Arn and how close to what really happened.

Entry 1
“Habang nag dridrive sa C5 na naka open yun window ng car ni Arn, sa harap nya meron open elf na nagdedeliver ng live chicken. Then accidentally nag open yun door nun elf and yun mga chicken nagliparan, most of the chicken e pumasok sa car ni arn through the window.”

Creativity (8/10) – It looks like a typical Arn story.
How well… (7/10) – I don’t drive in C5 anymore ever since the construction began on that overhead U turn pass.
How close… (5/10) – Way off. Again, Garbage was outside and it was chicken meat, not an actual live chicken.

Entry 2
“Open and window ng sasakyan > May dump truck > tumapon yung garbage sa loob ng car”

Creativity (6/10) – Pretty straightforward.
How well… (6/10) – I don’t open my car windows anymore.
How close… (5/10) – Way off. The garbage was outside the car.

Entry 3
“Hmmm… me street accident involving garbage collectors… nag offer si arn na magsugod ng casualties(mga garbage collectors) sa nearest hospital… "

Creativity (8/10) – again another typical Arn story though it may be a tad dramatic.
How well… (6/10) – I’ll be honest here: I probably wouldn’t. I’ll probably cause more damage since I have close to no knowledge on medical procedures. The proper thing to do there is wait for an ambulance so they can do it right.
How close… (7/10) – It’s off but they got the fact that I smelled like garbage right.

Entry 4
“Pag dating ng stop light sa corner ng C5 and Ortigas Avenue, suddenly, isang gusgusing bata na may hawak ng sampaguita, ang nag knock sa window ng car right in front of his, na parang nagmamakawawang bumili ng sampaguita. It looks like the driver of the car in front ignored the little kid, by the senyas na di sya kukuha. Alas! ang ginawa ng little kid ay biglang sumenyas sa dalawang kalalakihan na nakatayo sa di kalayuan. Biglang kinabahan si Arn, pero naka red light pa rin at talagang super traffic nung time na yun. Pag dating nila sa tabi ng kotse in front ay sabay sabay nilang binunot yung kanilang mga kamay at saka sabay sabay silang tatlo na nangulangot! Sabay sabay din nilang pinag didikitan ng kulangot ang windshield, side mirror saka handle ng pinto ng kotse in front!

Dahil sa pagkabigla ng driver nung car in front, nangulangot din sya at dali-dali nyang dinikitan ng kulangot sa kamay ang bata, gumanti naman daw yung bata at pinunas naman ng bata ang kanyang sipon sa may bandang bibig ng driver nung car in front. Samantalang lalong nagalit daw yung dalawang kalalakihan, kayat ang ginawa nila ay palit-palitan nilang pinag duduraan yung kotse in front, may Mga halong plema daw at sipon yung nagdikitan sa kotse. Fortunately, nakita pala ng traffic police yung nangyari, kayat tinulungan ng traffic police yung driver na yun, pinagduduraan nya naman yung mga lalaking angdudura. Nakita rin ito ng ilang drayber kaya tinulungan din nila yung driver in front, nakipag duraan din sila sa mga lalaki na nandudura.

During that time may garbage truck na nasa kanan at elf na truck nanagdedeliver ng live chickens sa kaliwa ng kotse ni Arn. Nagbato yung isang palero ng bag of garbage sa mga dumudura pero ang natamaan yung hood at windshield nga auto ni Arn. May mga basura din na tumama sa elf na truck w/c actually opened the door sa elf na truck at lumipad yung mga chickens. Since open yung window ni Arn nadali siya sa basura, manok at ng sipon and plema-crossfire. Ng mag green na yung traffic light, naging green na rin daw yung kalsada dahil sa mga hilaw na plema at mga kulangot na nagkalat. On top of that may mga balahibo pa ng manok at basura. Kaya mag-ingat kayo pag dumadaan kayo sa intersection na yan…”

Creativity (10/10) – Wow! Now that’s a story!
How well… (10/10) – This guy knows me too well, it’s creepy. A bit too gross though...
How close… (8/10) – Way off but does it still matter?

It's not even close! Winner: entry 4!

Weirdest Excuse for Going Home Early from Work

The day started like all my other mornings. I woke up, showered, got dressed, got my stuff, walked to my car, closed the door and started the engine. I suddenly stopped...

Something was wrong. Something… stinks. Something was rotting.

I checked my messy backseat to see if there was something unusual - A .Net book, Blue (my stuffed penguin), air compressor and a bunch of hangers. Nothing. I drove off slowly and saw a garbage truck beside our house. Culprit found. I turned on the radio and sped away. I turned on the air conditioner and got face full of stink. Eww! Luckily the smell only lasted a few seconds and it was back to normal.

Traffic was crazy. Libis was full. Ortigas was jammed. Julius, who was also on his way to the office, texted me and told me he was stuck in traffic as well. I asked him if there was something up today and we assumed it was just “cars on the road” day. I picked up Jaye at her place, went to the office and parked in my usual parking slot. I took out my long sleeved shirt from the back seat and put it on.

There’s that smell again.

It smelled like that garbage truck. You know that liquid that drips on the side of garbage trucks? That’s what it exactly smelled like. It’s impossible that the smell stuck to my tires.

Or is it? Nah. I was then thinking maybe a mouse crawled somewhere and just died.

Jaye took her stuff, I locked the door and we started walking towards the elevators. She gave a small shriek:

“Ewww! Ano yan?”

Something was splattered on my car hood. The liquid dripped down to my headlights and my air vents (which explains why my air conditioner “farted” earlier). There are traces of translucent liquid on my windshield. I checked that pit below my windshield wiper and saw something.

Jaye walked away and coughed in disgust as the smell wafted towards us.

I walked towards it (kunwari macho) to have a closer look.

Something was there. Something was dead. That something was a chunk of meat. Yuck!

Jaye checked and she says it was chicken… chicken fat to be exact. I took one of the old hangers from my backseat and flipped the chicken fat off my windshield. It landed beside the car and I kicked it to a corner so we won’t step on it later. The smell was starting to be irritating. I have something against the smell of rotten stuff which is why taking out the garbage is my least favorite house chore. I threw the hanger into the garbage can in disgust.

Jaye and I left for the elevators as we decided to just have it cleaned later. While in the elevator, the stranger beside me noted that he smells garbage. Uh oh. I smell it too.

Jaye went to her floor and I went to my cube. I worked for a few minutes and immediately I smelled THAT smell again. It’s my shoes. I splashed alcohol on it but it still smelled like a dead skunk. I went to the men’s room and washed my shoes. I went back to my cube and removed my shoes but it now smelled like a wet dead skunk. Something else caught the smell.

Oh no… my pants.

Should I remove… nah.

Maybe it was when I flung the chicken fat. Maybe I brushed against something. I was hopping mad and severely irritated. The smell was driving me nuts and I couldn’t concentrate anymore.

My office cube started to smell like a garbage dump. Tina dropped by and asked something. I told her to step back but she just laughed, thinking I was joking. Julius arrived and I asked him to stay away (which he did after giving me a weird look).

Next came my weirdest excuse for missing work. I just told my officemates that something came up and I just had to go. Never write emails when you're angry (and never promise anything when you're happy). I had a quick lunch with Jaye and went to my car.

Inside the elevator, my 2 onshore friends with there – Leah and Alfred. Yup, they were parked near my car. They didn’t comment but I think they noticed. The section I parked in smelled like garbage! Yuck! I went inside my car and drove off.

Outside, I saw my old officemate JK. I opened my window to say hi but the smell suddenly gushed inside the car as if it was sprayed. JK gave me a dazed look wondering why I would call him then make faces.

Back home, I parked outside washed the car and gave it a big dose of Lysol.

Now comes the interesting part: HOW?

We didn’t get it from the office parking lot since Jaye arranged my windshield wipers before leaving. I didn’t notice anything when I parked my car last night. I did park in front of this house while I brought out the groceries to Jaye’s place. Maybe I got it there. Hmmm… here are the only possible causes:

- A chicken flew into our garage then a cat came and clawed its guts out. The cat didn’t eat the fat since it was on Atkin’s.
- Someone threw garbage while I was driving past a pedestrian flyover.
- Some A-holes placed it there as a prank.
- It fell of a garbage truck on my way home.
- High prices of gasoline (they say it’s the cause of all our problems).

Hmmm… did that garbage truck I saw in the morning has to do anything with it?. If it happened while I was parked at home, why my car and not my brother’s? Why chicken (we didn’t have chicken that day)? Why oh why?

So many questions.

Idol Thoughts

This is the first time I watched the Final 12 of American Idol because well, I guess this is the first time I honestly rooted for someone. During Season 3, I was rooting for Jasmine Trias but honestly it was more because she was Filipina more than she was a good singer.

Jaye and I were both rooting for David Cook. I wasn’t really into Idol during the early part of the season but I first heard of David Cook when he sang “Hello”. I also saw an entry of him in Vench’s blog comparing his version of Billie Jean with another Idol contestant before. The first David Cook song I loved was “Always Be My Baby”. I bought that from iTunes (as well as the video) and was rooting for him since. David Cook had Jaye at… er…”Hello”.

During the finals we both wished David Cook would win against David Archuleta. David Archuleta is a great guy and a great singer but, he’s just not my idol. I would want to watch him but not to be him. He’s too predictable and he has signs of the “Britney Syndrome” where all his songs tend to sound alike (not because of his voice but his arrangements). Let me guess, his debut album would be a close up picture of him smiling against nature or a plain background. His album would be named something like “Believe in Dreams” and his singles are almost certain to have cheesy names (I’ll post an entry once it comes out to confirm).

I have nothing against Archuleta and you can go ahead with your anti – cook comments from his “arrogance” (come to think of it, I think this is more because Archuleta is so polite that he makes the pope look like a drunk uncle), or his songs are too “noisy”. You can also read all the side stories behind these two contestants from Archuleta’s dad to Cook already releasing 4 albums prior to his Idol audition. The Cook vs Archuleta final is simply a choice between two styles and genres. My mom prefers the Groban style and she was behind Archuleta. Jaye and I love rockers so we’re behind Cook. My dad got confused and rooted for Archuleta because he was “Filipino” (“Archuleta” nga naman…).

Speaking of Filipinos, you’ve probably heard of Renaldo Lapus as the second Filipino in the American Idol finale stage singing the now famous “We’re Brothers Forever”. He stole the spotlight from Ramiele Malubay who sadly "disappeared" on the show. Sad to say Ramiele is more famous for her controversial pictures posted online where she was touching er… uh… you be the judge (at least she didn’t pull a Vanessa Hudgens).

Going back to Renaldo, why do I have a funny feeling that people call him… “Tito Boy”.

The Arn Quiz! Part 2

1. What’s new with Arn since Quiz #1?
a) He trains dogs.
b) He joined Digital Photographer Philippines.
c) He bought a new Nikon camera.
d) He got injured again.
e) He’s into lomography.
f) He finally cleaned his room after almost 5 years
g) He took pictures of the moon.
h) He went to Batangas just to take a tear jerking picture of the sunset.
i) All of the above.

2. While taking pictures along Marikina River, Jaye and Arn…
a) Were asked to obtain a permit first before taking a picture of the river
b) Were told by the mall guard that they OWN the river
c) Were told that their area was from the mall up to this Mango tree near the Marcos Highway bridge
d) Went to the bridge and took a picture of manong guard… for kicks.
e) All of the above.

Answer to #1: I

3. Which of the following does Arn think they're hiding in the river?
a) The droids with the circuit plans.
b) Weapons of mass destruction.
c) The "second envelope" during the Erap trial.
d) An underwater lab for mass producing pirated DVD's of "The Hottie and the Nottie" (starring Paris Hilton)
e) Carmen San Diego

Answer to #2: E

4. Arn and Jaye left Marikina River because
a) They were overwhelmed by the brain pinching logic of manong guard and the no picture taking policy.
b) You just don't argue with people carrying shot guns.
c) The place is a dump. There were no decorations, gardens or any establishments. There was garbage everywhere and the river looked like Satan personally peed on it.
d) In exactly 2.3 seconds, you've already seen what needs to be seen in that place.
e) All of the above.

Answer to #3: Does it even matter? I think it was A though...

5. Arn was eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Arn took out the foil wrapper and ate the whole thing. Why was it funny?
a) Arn doesn’t like peanut butter.
b) Arn prefers Snickers.
c) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup has a black paper wrapping under the foil wrapper.
d) The black paper was not edible.
e) C and D

Answer to #4: E

6. Arn sleeps on:
a) A big bed with plenty of pillows, a blanket and a comforter.
b) A pile of boxes with a pillow
c) Piles and piles of money
d) The floor

Answer to #5: E

7. One morning, Arn strained his thigh and couldn’t walk for 2 days. He got injured while:
a) Sleeping
b) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA what a wimp!

Answer to #6: B (they threw out my old bed while I was in the US)

8. While jogging, Arn recorded his fastest “lap” in nearly 4 years because of:
a) All his hard work, patience and determination
b) His magnificent physique
c) Lower body strength and stamina
d) 4 stray dogs

Answer to #7: A (I got cramps while sleeping and I wasn’t able to wake up and “correct” my leg)

9. Because of #8, Arn jogs with:
a) A golf club
b) Pepper spray
c) A tennis racket
d) A samurai sword
e) A permit to take pictures along Marikina River.

Answer to #8: D

10. It’s performance evaluation time in our company and I gave a list of my accomplishments for the past year. What did I include in my list:
a) Solved world hunger
b) Captured Osama Bin Laden
c) Saved 4 kittens from drowning
d) All of the above.

Answer to #9: D

11. What American product or establishment arrived in Manila and made Arn really happy?
a) Krispy Kremes
b) Playboy Philippines
c) Hooters
d) Ben and Jerry Ice Cream
e) All of the above

Answer to #10: D (They're lies though)

12. Arn was the official photographer in the HR Apps beach outing. How many pictures did he take? (clue: he set his new personal record)
a) 750
b) 850
c) 950
d) 1050

Answer to #11: A & D.... 0:)

13. Out of those pictures, how many pictures had Arn in it?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 10
d) 1050

Answer to #12: D

14. Arn started his diet this May. Which of the following diet restrictions did he actually follow?
a) …
b) …
c) …
d) …

Answer to #13: B

ESSAY: In 500 words or less, explain how Arn's craving for a healthy plate of california maki ended up ordering a Chickenjoy meal with fries and extra rice.

Coincidence

Guy 1: "Pare anong ibig sabihin ng 'coincidence'"?
Guy 2: "Pare ewan, pero weird, yan din iniisip ko ngayon!”

Arn and the Wedding Photographer

It was mid 2007 when I decided to take up photography and attempt to make a side career with it. I started with taking pictures of squirrels at the park then moved to covering small events and gatherings then moved to portrait photography then to photojournalism and just plain art photography. Basically I’ll take pictures of anything and I always considered myself as a non-conventional photographer as I take pictures not by the book by based on what I see as beautiful. Wedding photography is considered an option and hopefully, something I can break into.

As of May 2008, I’m categorized as a portrait photographer and my style is more photojournalistic than anything else. To state the obvious: I am no wedding photographer.

News about Arn and his “art” reached a couple who wanted me to be a backup photographer on their wedding and I took the “job”. For my services, she offered me her desk lamp as payment which I willingly accepted. No, I don’t charge for my services as I’m in it for the experience and the fun (and weird payments like desk lamps).

Again, again so from squirrels to landscapes to small parties then to portraits, switching to weddings is a huge huge HUGE jump. Honestly, the job scared the heck out of me and I started worrying about so many things – do I have the right equipment? Which lenses do I use? Do I need to buy new stuff? What if something goes wrong?

The most alarming questions were: What pictures do I take at weddings? How do weddings work? What can I do and cannot do at the church? It was clear that I haven’t been to any weddings for a long time.

Before anything I had to prepare myself mentally and so I listed down the following notes to myself.

I am no wedding photographer.
A photographer at a wedding doesn’t make him/her a wedding photographer. Besides, I was doing backup which means I won’t take the same pictures the official photographers are taking. If I went out there thinking I’m someone else and attempt Lito Genilo or Dino Lara type shots, I end up with plain garbage. I’m not one. I’m not expected to be one. So why act like one? Simple right?

Learn and Enjoy.
There was no pressure. I talked to the couple and I told them I had 0 experience and so they were literally expecting nothing. If I shot nothing but pictures of rats swimming in a pond, well, ganun talaga. I’ll simply focus on observing what I see and enjoy the event.

Let Arn be Arn.
If I wasn’t the wedding photographer then what was my role? Simple. Let Arn be Arn. I’ll take my typical Arn shots the same way I took pictures at parties or while walking around Chicago. In other words: stick to what I know best.

Bottom line, Arn and the wedding photographer are two different people. Maybe some day these two will be the same person.

Just maybe.

For now though… wish me luck! :D

Toaster Defrost?

I was appliance shopping one time with Jaye when I saw this toaster with a defrost feature.



If you don't want to defrost, you can also just reheat it.

Honestly, I have no idea what these features are for. A toaster is one of the easiest appliances to figure out since it's designed to do one thing... hence called a "toaster".

When was the last time you had a loaf of frozen bread and wished you had a toaster to defrost it? When was the last time you were stuck with cold bread and wished you could reheat it?

Go figure.

Lang Kwenta Kausap

(my office phone rings...)

Tech Support: Arnold? Check ko lang kung ok na yung issue nyo sa laptop nyo.
Arn: May sira pa rin e.
Tech Support: Ah talaga? Sige daan na lang ako mamaya to check yung machine nyo. Ok lang ba around 5pm? May virus issue pa kasi ako.
Arn: Ahh sige, Ok lang. Get well dude.

The Manny Interviews

Ano daw?

The Monday Morning Drive

It was the usual Monday morning drive to Jaye's house on our way to the office in Makati. I called ahead and told her I was in Ortigas already but she told me she needed more time to prepare, like an hour or hour and a half.

Since I had the privilege of taking my sweet time driving along Ortigas and along EDSA, I had one of my worry free Monday morning drives ever. There was a jeepney driver who cut in front of me and I let him. He was followed by this van who I allowed to cut as well. There was another jeepney behind that van and guess what, I let him through too. Heck, I would have let the balut vendor in the corner cut in front of the way I was driving.

The intersection came and I didn't rush the yellow traffic lights. Along EDSA, I left every public utility just cut from both my left and right side and I just smiled while listening to another double meaning joke from Chico and Delamar. I exited the highway and parked in front of Jaye's place.

I was 45 minutes early.

It was the fastest I've been to the Makati when leaving the house at 7:30 in the morning.

Isn't it funny how sometimes you can go faster by going slower? =)

Conversations

Arn: “Miss, may voltage regulator kayo?”
Girl: “Meron po 500 watch”
Jaye: (whispers) “Wag mo na patulan hon!”
(I hope she meant Watts)
~
Arn: “Puedeng isang order ng mango? Yung ripe na yan diba?”
Waiter: “Ay hindi po.”
Arn: “Ah ganun? Ano meron kayo”
Waiter: “Yellow mango lang ho.”
~
Arn: (While shopping for a fluorescent light bulb) “Anong equivalent output nitong 11 watts?”
Guy: “Ah… 11 watts po.”
(Oo nga naman... Identity property: A = A)
~
Arn: “Kasama na ba yung bulb pag binili ko tong lamp na to?”
Guy: “Ay hindi po. Provide po siya”
Arn: “Provide?”
Guy: “Opo provide po.”
Arn: “Anong provide?”
Guy: “It means po ser kayo po bibili.”
Arn: “Ah… sige san yung mga provide nyong bulbs?”
Guy: “Andito po sa tabing aisle. Sa mga bulbs.”
~
*tutut* “Now attending… ACHOO!....... arn…”

Of Car Repairs and Sound Effects

I was driving home from work on night when my car’s engine started to sputter, like it had a bad case of the hiccups. I was at the Casa the next day with my sick car and I was talking to the guy at the desk. His name was Jay.

Jay: “Ser! Ano ho problema?”
Arn: “Makina e… may sira ata.”
Jay: “Naku! Ano ho yung tunog?”
Arn: “Vrooooom! Vroooom! Vroooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuouououououoouououououum!”
Jay: “E paano po kung di nyo nirebolusyon?”
Arn: “Ganito naman… oooooououououououououououououo”
Jay: “hmmmmm”
Arn: “Ano sa tingin mo yung problema? Sira yung sparkplugs?”
Jay: “Hindi e. Hindi ganyan ang tunog ng sirang sparkplugs.”
Arn: “oooooououououououououououououo!”
Jay: “Alam nyo ser. Air control valve ho yung sira pag ganyan. Buksan ho namin yung makina tapos tawagan kita”

2 hours later they called me up and told me that the air control valve was damaged and that my sparkplugs were ok. I gave them permission to order the part and have it installed ASAP.

I honestly have no idea what an air control valve is but when you can imitate a car engine including its sputters… that’s talent!

Shooting the Moon

I was doing my usual light jogging in our village when I suddenly stopped to check out the sky. The stars were out and the moon was just beautiful.

The poet in me wanted to just sit and stare and let the good thoughts flow in hoping that Jaye would be looking at the moon as well.

The photographer in me wanted to run home to set up the camera+tripod and take plenty of pictures. Since the jogger in me gave up and wanted me to just go home and have dinner that’s what I did.

I set up my tripod and camera just outside our house, updated my camera settings and fired away. For the next few hours I was just there taking shots and changing settings. Shoot, change, shoot, change, shoot, change. Every 5 minutes I had to change the setting of the tripod since the moon was moving faster than I thought and the higher the moon went, the brighter it became. Finally at around 1am I got the shot I wanted:

I love taking pictures of the moon. I guess when you think about it, everyone else is taking a picture of the same thing just from a different angle. Some will have better pictures. Some will have worse. As long as you worked hard for a certain picture to make it look exactly the way you wanted it to be, you wouldn’t trade that with anything else in the world.

Full moons make Arn sentimental. :D