The Road to 5K

I’m not built for running.

If people were cars, I would be your usual gas guzzling and bulky SUV. There were three distinct events in my life where it proved I was not destined to run.

- Back in grade school, my classmate Joe (Almonte) and I had to rush across the field to get a microphone for one of our projects. Joe is this tall, thin guy and I was the short, chubby one (think Mario and Luigi). I asked Joe to give me the mic so I can sprint back to the recording room only to tire out in the middle of the field and ended up walking. Joe took the mic and pranced to the recording room like a deer. LESSON: fat = slow, thin = fast = deer.

- In Chicago, there was this guy who I thought was mugging me. Terrified, I started sprinting away but I ended up running around in circles (as if I was running away from a cloud of bees). LESSON: I can’t run straight to save my life.


- Just recently, I went to Runnr, a shop in Bonifacio High Street for running gear. They had this high tech gizmo that scans your foot arch and running patterns. I tried on their arch measuring device and learned that my right foot is unusually flat. They asked me to run on their treadmill (which caused a loud “THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!” heard across the store… kinda spooked some of the customers) and when they were doing a slow motion of my running angle, basically my entire mechanics is wrong. LESSON: I’m not built to be fit. I God wanted me to touch my toes, He would have placed them on my knees.

The past few years were difficult for me as I had to deal with various major injuries to my leg, my knees, my ankles and my feet. I’m still undergoing rehabilitation but finally, the doctors cleared me to run and play basketball earlier this year... and lay off the Big Macs once in a while.

Now I’ve decided to join the 5K run. 5K is just a walk in the park (literally) for others. For me, it’s like my personal Bataan Death March. My physical limit is 3K after that my foot starts to hurt, then the right side of my tummy (they call it the “side stitch”… whatever that is), then after that I start to get really dizzy. I’ve never run farther than 3K even during my size 32 days.

So why run the 5K? Why not stay home and harvest crops (Farmville)? Well, I did my “50 things I need to do before hitting 30” and this is item number 10. Why did I include this in the list?

I’m Arnold… since when did I make sense?

Pinoys and Elevators

Jaye and I started with one observation about Pinoys and elevators. Having been to other countries, we can't help but compare how us Pinoys have unusual quirks when it comes to using elevators especially from office buildings. After making one observation, we started observing things more closely and came up with the following:

How come Pinoys press the buttons even if it’s already activated? Ganun ba kasigurista mga Pinoy?

How come Pinoys do this Indiana Jones-like scene where they would sprint towards a closing elevator door and lunge forwards to keep it from closing as if a serial killer was chasing them.

How come Pinoys who enter elevators also enter this parallel world where everything is the opposite? If you ask them to hold the door open, they will close it. If they get an alarm that the elevator is full, they still force themselves into the elevator (but more quietly this time… baka nga naman di mahalata ni manong elevator).

How come Pinoys treat elevators like MRT’s during lunch breaks? Kahit puno na yung elevator, they would still force themselves in like that scene in 300 with the Persians on the cliff.

How come Pinoys panic so much when the elevator sends out an alarm that the door has been kept open for too long? “Ayan kasya pa… *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*… “AAAYYYY!!!!! DALI!!! DALI!!!”

How come Pinoys ask if it’s going up when there’s a big up arrow on the side that’s blinking? If you point to the blinking arrow they'll tell you you're rude. So? It's better to be rude than stupid.

How come Pinoys are absolutely terrified when elevators creak, bangs or make unusual movements? It's like a vertical moving jeepney: it creaks and sputters but it will take you there.

How come Pinoys never talk to the operator over the intercom if they are asked if everything is ok? "M'am? m'am? Ok po ba kayo dyan? M'am?... *deadma*"

How come Pinoys never go to the back of the elevator?

How come Pinoys, especially a group of friends would only ride elevators all or nothing? If they’re a group of 6 and the elevator can only hold 5, no one gets on.

How come Pinoys don’t wrap up their conversations with someone who’s getting off a floor? “Ay oo, kumain kami kanina sa Mc… *door closed*”

How come Pinoys continue their conversations with someone who’s getting off a floor by holding the door (even with other people in the elevator)?

When an elevator stops on a certain floor, how come Pinoys still press the open door button? They also press the close door button while the door is still opening. Yep, every second counts.

How come Pinoys talk very loudly in elevators?

How come Pinoys continue phone conversations inside elevators then would be surprised if their conversation gets cut then finally, blames their service provider for such crappy service.

In a full elevator, how come Pinoys never ask someone else to push the button for their floor? They would try to reach around a couple of people to press the button for their floor ala plastic man. Oh right, note that the button is already pressed. Again, they just want to make sure.

How come Pinays would stand so close to the elevator buttons that it’s impossible to press the buttons without brushing against… you know. Yeah, I’ll just catch for the round trip. Baka kung ano pa mapindot ko.

Of Flat Tires and Good Samaritans

I was driving along C.P. Garcia inside the UP compound on my way to Jaye’s place. I had my iPod set up with my Glee playlist on (playing “Proud Mary”) and I was rolling, rolling, rolling past some old UP buildings. Suddenly there was a loud thud (sounded like metal on metal) and my car started skidding violently to the right. It was a good thing there were no pedestrians or street vendors there or I would have done a “GTA: San Andreas” on them (though in that game, I do that on purpose).

I stepped out, checked my car and lo, I had a blown front right tire. I whipped out my air compressor and started airing it out but it just hissed and hissed. It turns out there was a huge crack on the side of the tire, probably caused by that wild skid. (I wanted to write “I left huge skidmarks on the road” here but I didn’t want to be quoted on that).

I popped my trunk and moved all my office stuff to the backseat of my car then I noticed there was this seedy looking dude in his early 20’s standing beside me. I continued to move my stuff when 2 more guys (one was bigger than me) walked by and scouted the contents of my car, how bad the tire damage was and probably, if they can take me on. Something's not right. I closed the trunk and tossed my jack and my cross wrench back into the passenger’s seat. I also started drafting my plan:

If the big guy attacks, I’ll kick him in the crotch, hop in my car and flee on a busted tire.

If the smaller guy attacks, I’ll kick the big guy in the crotch, hop in my car and flee on a busted tire.

Ok, look. I’m a photographer/database administrator… I’m not Jackie Chan. All I know is to take pictures, maintain SQL Server 2005 and kick people in the yagballs.

This is where reality kicks in. In that Sam Milby movie, he blows out a tire and Toni Gonzaga drops by to help him. When I blow out a tire, I get 4 dirty looking guys. What gives?

Out of nowhere, this old guy from a nearby landscaping shop comes in and asks me to take my car to his parking lot so I can change my tire there. Apparently that street is known for blown tires, seedy kids and city tow trucks who’ll charge you big time. He had this very warm and mellow voice and he kept laughing and smiling. He was like Santa Claus without the beard, 3 feet shorter and wears a sando. The 4 guys left though they would still look back from time to time but wouldn't bother me again.

I drove over to the parking lot of his shop and changed tires. He even loaned me his alligator jack. I checked out the tire and it’s really FUBAR now. Sigh. These Falken 205/45R17’s cost a fortune. =(



When I was all set, I returned the jack to this old guy and offered him 200 bucks which he refused. Technically, yeah he didn’t really do anything other than point his parking lot but I was really grateful that I didn’t have to deal with those 4 characters. I asked for the name of the shop.

He said “Andy’s Rose Garden”.

I asked who he was.

“Andy.”

Wow, the owner was the one who helped me? I asked for a calling card in case I’ll need anything from there in the future. He said he was just happy to help, still with a big smile and he walked away. I drove off and arrived at Jaye’s covered in dirt and grease.


Andy's Rose Garden

It feels good to know that genuinely good people still exist in this world. =)

Not a Good Year for Sports

… if you’re me.

I'm a big sports fan and I feel I was heavily cursed this year. It was like fate decided to pick on me and doomed all the sports teams I root for. To all those who hang out with me, you know I'm a die hard fan of the Boston Red Sox and DLSU basketball. I'm also into our local company basketball league, the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and fantasy basketball.

How about those Pacquiao victories over Hatton and Cotto? Yeah, those two felt good. It made me happy that a Filipino is one of the greatest boxers in history however, I'm just not passionate about boxing because:
1. I can't take up boxing since I'm heavy enough to fight Mike Tyson.
2. I don't want a sport that highlights your weight.
3. I find it weird when two shirtless guys hug each other during the fight in front of thousands of people.

Meikkolodeon
Our ABL (the basketball league at our company) basketball team had a tough start in the season before gaining momentum, finishing the season strong, making the playoffs and making our senior manager buy us lots of boxes of pizza and donuts.



… and then? Our first game in the playoffs was against this tall team who abused our obvious flaw: we were a team of small guards. We only one had one true big guy in Tholitz and he wasn’t available for that game. In fact, the team was so small the guy they depended to rebound couldn’t even jump over a bottle of coke (guess who).

… the kick on the crotch. I only scored two points the entire season. I had video clips of almost all our games and I didn’t even have that shot, the only one that went in, on video. Oh, I also had severe conditioning problems... take a look at our team picture above. I played the least minutes in the team and yet I looked like I just came from a 21K marathon

… on the bright side. Kudos to Don who coached the team, scored the points, laid out the game plan and played defense. Being the coach was his toughest task. Can you imagine the team being tired in the 4th quarter in desperate need of scoring help then him looking at the bench for help and seeing no one but me gulping a big bottle of Gatorade. It’s like you being mugged, you reach out to your pocket for any defensive weapon you may have and find out you have nothing but cotton balls.

De La Salle Green Archers
DLSU fielded a young team this season who were supposed to blend in with our veterans. We still believed in the team since every year we fielded weak teams on paper and yet do surprisingly well in the season and in the playoffs.

… and then? Bader Malabes happened. La Salle had two quick losses then a couple of good games in the first round of the season. The second round was so horrible that I wished we were just suspended.

… the kick on the crotch. Simon Atkins.

… another the kick on the crotch. Ferdinand. (No first name, he’s like “Madonna” or “Cher”)

… another the kick on the crotch. James Mangahas.

… another the kick on the crotch. Peejay Barua.

… another the kick on the crotch. Franz Pumaren leaving the DLSU program to be replaced by his brother Dindo.

… the final kick on the crotch. This:

… on the bright side. The veterans will be graduating. Those who will stay can opt to just leave unless they work hard during the off season. We also have lots of Malabes jokes and that funny video of Hitler finding out that La Salle was eliminated.

Holy Cows
This was my 2009 fantasy basketball team. I started off slow due to key injuries but made key pickups from the waiver wire. I was also able to manage the games played well and I ended up playing all games until the end of the season.

… the kick on the crotch. Amare Stoudemire, his scratched cornea and me without any other centers in the team.

… another kick on the crotch. I dropped the only two point guards I had – Jameer Nelson (who later was named to the all-star team) and TJ Ford.

… on the bright side. I finished first… tied with Don. I was one turnover away from the title and my prediction on the last day was wrong. I played the last game safe and ended up tied at first.

Sacramento Kings
It’s a rebuilding team in the NBA but they can train their young stars. Kevin Martin has been unstoppable at times and Jason Thompson fast became a good draft pick. Garcia and Hawes were becoming solid players.

… and then. The team finished last in the league. Thompson fizzled out an got tired while Martin got injured.

… the kick on the crotch. Beno Udrih, with a game as unusual as his last name.

… another kick on the crotch. Despite having the worst record in the league, the Kings didn’t get the #1 pick in the lottery which would have been the promising Blake Griffin.

… the final kick on the crotch. The LA Lakers, Sacramento’s archrivals, won the NBA title.

Boston Red Sox
The team started strong even running a good streak against the Yankees. We had too many good pitchers, too many relief pitchers and for the hitting, we even added Victor Martinez. Big Papi also came out of his hitting slump and became the Papi of old.

… and then? The team slumped at the worst possible time. Matsuzaka and Wakefield got injured. Our two big game starters (Beckett and Lester) lost close games and the final game was lost when our invincible closer suddenly became mortal.

… the kick on the crotch. Boston lost most of the games in the latter part of the season against the Yankees.

… another kick on the crotch. Manny Ramirez.

… another kick on the crotch. Kat Castrence, Jhon Magtalas and Lure Sese.

… another kick on the crotch. The hated Yankees cleanly won the World Series.

… on the bright side. There’s one?

Basically, it's a year where Ateneo, the Yankees and the Lakers are all champions in their respective leagues. You know what really concerns me now? All of them are poised to repeat the next year...

Yikes!

Things I'm thankful for

Happy thanksgiving! While it has been interesting and challenging year, there are so many things to be thankful for:

1. tall Café Lattes.


2. my Nike Sportsband


3. my beat up running shoes.


4. Manny Pacquiao for putting the Philippines in the map though the world now thinks all 97 million Pinoys are boxers.


5. Kaye Flores’ blog who gave me the idea of the “Something new every week” bit.


6. Efren Penaflorida, the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year, who for one day had all major newspapers feature a headline that did not involve politics, natural disasters and Manny Pacquiao.


7. Bader Malabes who single-handedly transformed me from DLSU basketball fan to DLSU basketball analyst.


8. Sausage McMuffins and hash browns


9. my 2009 hideous Starbucks planner


10. my Logitech wireless mouse.


11. the relocation of our office from Makati to Mandaluyong. No more Makati rush hour traffic!


12. Hershey, my Chihuahua who listens to me whine all night and still thinks I’m a good guy.


13. my subleads – KC Caringal, Jeff Bandejas, Gerie Elman and Ester Fernandez who have managed to understand my orders no matter how incoherent I am on most days.


14. PLDT WeRoam which allows me to watch SportsCenter in traffic.


15. my unusual love for writing


16. my Nokia 5800 which gives me a decent camera phone, a radio and access to the Internet using my personal laptop.


17. Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Bucholz, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Martinez, Ortiz, Papelbon for a good year.


18. weekends and holidays


19. my iPod Touch which not only provided me with music but also served as my photo portfolio, games and handy dandy notebook.


20. Dr. Gregory House who showed me that the world can coexist with an obnoxious, cocky, weird and limping team leader.


21. Photoshop


22. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. which reminded me that everything in life can be laughed at if you really want to.


23. Apocalypse: The Second World War, the special at National Geographic that made me appreciate world history a lot lot more.


24. Beef Yakiniku from Tokyo Tokyo


25. Carlos Mencia who gave me a different angle on how funny life is.


26. my Nikon DSLR


27. Plants vs Zombies which helped me forget about my troubles and showed me that you’ll be safe from zombies as long as you have a peashooter, sunflowers, garlic and some walnuts around.


28. Spencer Johnson who told me to move with the cheese.


29. My Nike Zoom Kobe 4 basketball shoes which I wore in all my games in the ABL. Yes, I was riding the bench most of the time, I got tired for standing still, I had more airballs than fouls and had more fouls than points… but at least I had cool new shoes.


30. The CIO Space Management team for letting me tag along in their team building.


31. Facebook which enabled me to reconnect with my friends despite a horrible work schedule.


32. Farmville which made me think how strawberries can grow in 2 hours while wheat takes 3 days.


33. Mafia Wars which taught me you can beat a whole group of people using Monkey Brain Stew and mashed potatoes.


34. Restaurant City… it was fun while it lasted.


35. Café World which taught me that you can get an existing concept, modify it a little and market it as your own while claiming all ownership of it.


36. Fishville which made my mom wonder why I spend 7 times a day feeding my virtual fish when my real fish at home is THIS close from evolving arms and legs so it can climb up and open the jar of fish food himself.


37. Dan Brown for showing me that there are 750 peso paperweights out there. Sorry for still not reading your book.


38. Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert


39. my car which despite nicks and scratches, a busted air filter, chipping paint and an oblong wheel never bailed out on me and never hit my wallet.


40. Ria for her dinner treats, Ben and Jerry’s in Singapore and the Portillo’s cake recipe.


41. my Diana Lomography camera for reminding me that I’m not a photo genius after all.


42. The hot air balloon festival.


43. the pesto panini sandwich from Joey Pepperoni.


44. Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street which makes me believe I was back at Borders in Chicago, one of my true happy places.


45. Bill Simmons


46. Digital Photographer magazines for giving me photography projects that I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) complete.


47. life who showed me that I miss 100% of shots I don’t take.


48. Jaye’s family who have welcomed me with open arms.


49. my family who have always been supportive despite all the practical jokes I played on them.


50. Jaye who has seen the darkest side of me but still thinks I’m more handsome than Piolo and John Lloyd combined, have more abs than Jacob Black, better in basketball than Lebron James, faster than Usain Bolt and more humble than the pope.

The Lost Holiday

November 27… you probably had this date circled on your calendar but for some reason, you’re at work, nothing’s special happening and you feel like something’s missing... or stolen.

Yep, it’s supposed to be a non-working holiday today in Manila.

(I’ll give you a moment to curse the Department of Trade and Industry)

They kept it mysteriously quiet the past few weeks when earlier this month, we had multiple announcements about how the government and the government alone (hugas kamay tactic) modified the holiday to be in effect in the ARMM only (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) after being pressured by the DTI citing decreased productivity and typhoons as the main reasons. Apparently the DTI thinks that all businesses and employees are currently located in the Marikina area.

So we have to work today. Big deal, right? The real concern with employees however is how this will affect future holidays. If we’ve already lost two holidays (both with uber lame excuses), what’s stopping the government from going after the other holidays?

By the way, today I issued an offer to my co-workers: “Tell me what holiday today is and I’ll let you work from home”. … we’re all here in the office.

Here are my predictions on how the government will mess with the other previously declared holidays:

Nov 30, 2009 – Bonifacio day
The government announces that the holiday will only be in effect in Fort Bonifacio which will draw ire from companies based there and will end up forcing their people to work… sorry, I meant “giving employees the opportunity to personally take part in improving productivity for our company during these challenging times”. "our" pa talaga no?

(bato bato sa langit...)

Dec 24, 2009 - Additional Special Non-Working Holiday
The government announces that all employees will still be required to work since this holiday is really celebrated in the evening.

Dec 25, 2009 - Christmas
The government brings up the debate on when Jesus was really born and slaps a temporary restraining order on the holiday.

Dec 30, 2009 – Rizal Day
The government announces that everyone’s required to work… then gives a memo based on an article by Fr. Jose Rodriguez

Dec 31, 2009 and Jan 1, 2009 – New Year
The government announces that these 2 days will be non-working holidays. The government however orders all TV stations to air nothing but “Galing at Talino” ads, prompting everyone to work rather than endure another ad from Gibo.

Apr 01, 2010 - Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
The government announces that the holiday is only effective in the ARMM. Go figure.

Apr 9, 2010 - Araw ng Kagitingan
The government announces that the day commemorates the battle of Bataan but suddenly cancels the holiday when they realize “teka… talo tayo dun a!”

May 01, 2010 - Labor Day
The government announces that employees must do labor on labor day.

(Ugh, I’ve been running this joke for 4 straight years now.)

May 10, 2010 - 2010 National Elections
The government renames the day “Vote for Gibo” day. Employees are excused from work only if they provided proof that they voted and one more condition which they can’t mention. Let’s just say only 4% were validly excused.

June 14, 2010 - Independence Day
The country celebrates its independence… from GMA.

Aug 30, 2010 - National Heroes Day
The government announces it’s National Heroes day. Employees take their well deserved day of rest as they learn bit by bit on the importance of this day. Everything’s as planned. Hey, it’s a new government.

Updates on the 2010 Starbucks Planner

I finally got one! After 16 cups of coffee, I was able to collect enough stickers to get myself a 2010 planner, which is somewhat stupid since what the heck will I do with a 2010 planner in the middle of November?

Admittedly, I’ve been gulping more coffee than I usually do the past few days thanks to lots of late night work, morning meetings and weekend deployments. The tough part is, at the same time, I’ve grown tired of the coffee they serve here in the office – it tastes like mud, it’s randomly mixed and it’s four times as strong as Starbucks brew. I’d pick an overpriced cup of Starbucks coffee over a free cup of pure concentrated caffeine solution. I tried softening the blow to my wallet by skipping my usual McDonald’s breakfast however, the impact was still significant. You know you’re having financial problems when all you have in your wallet are Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena. I have a hundred peso bill but, let’s just say Roxas is on leave.

The cover is hard-bound contrary to my initial review when I thought it was just sturdy plastic. The cover feels a lot more elegant. Again, sorry but I can’t stop comparing this to last year’s ghastly "manong guard" logbook.

You get two extra months since it goes from December 2009 (actually, November 30) all the way until January 2011. It sounds cool but unless this is the only planner you have, won’t these 2 months be redundant? Do you think you can buy a 2011 planner that goes from February to December?



Each day box is not ruled. If you bought a ruler and drew the lines yourself with a sign pen, you really need to get a life.

While it doesn’t come with a pen (you can always swipe one from the office naman right?), you get coupons with it for free coffee beans, free upsize, free coffee, discounts and extra shots. By the looks of it, you’ve already availed the 2 extra months.

The bookmark looks like a petrified coffee bean tied to a string. It’s so dull I couldn’t even write a joke about it.



Saturday and Sunday are still both crammed. I complained about this in my previous entry but then again, I’ve never really filled up a weekend box before. I browsed through my weekends this year and I’ve mostly written down single word events like “sleep”, “basketball” or “Jaye”. The only entry I had that was longer than one word was “Pu**%$~#@(& Conference Call”

Buti pa nga ang planner ko, may weekend. Ako, wala.

New Moon, you know...

Firepower: Pacquiao vs Cotto Random Thoughts

It’s not fair. Manny Pacquiao moves up from 106 to 144 lbs and he’s called an athletic freak of nature. I moved up from 135 to 210 lbs and they tell me I have issues.

The event is named “Firepower” with the main event being Pacman vs Cotto. Can’t they think of better titles? “Akin ang Pinas, Iyo ang Puerto Rico”?, “Paparapa-cquiao…. Love Cotto” (that McDo jingle)? Ok fine, we’ll stick with “Firepower”.

I’m not even going to write a background for this fight anymore since the past few days, all they showed on TV were special features on how Cotto is bigger (but slower) than Manny, Manny’s interviews and the historical implication of this fight (Manny’s gunning for a title in a 7th weight division). Even shows that had nothing to do with sports somehow were able to incorporate Manny in some way.

I’m no boxing expert but I’m going to say this goes into the late rounds with an even fight in the beginning, Cotto running out of gas in the middle rounds and starts dropping in the 7th and 8th rounds until eventually Manny just sweeps him off the ring. Manny in 10 for me or even earlier depending on how much the sponsors want him to go on (remember that his last fight with Hatton only lasted two rounds).

I’m looking at the weigh in photos the night before and I can’t help but notice that Manny has bulging muscles just below his chest, under the armpit area. What is that? I checked mine and it’s just all flab. Are men supposed to have those? Wow, Manny really is a freak.

By the way, Manny is Ring Magazine’s #1 pound for pound fighter. Cotto is ranked 7th. Interesting who’s at #6 – Nonito Donaire who won in his last bout against the swine flu.

Little is said (at least on local TV) about the huge advantage Pacquiao has of having Freddie Roach in his corner. Cotto has Joe Santiago, his nutritionist who I’m guess is picking up boxing tips by playing Punch Out and Fight Night. Maybe he’ll tell Cotto to just parry Pacquio’s punches then hit “A”. Maybe during the fight he’ll be shouting “B!”, “A!”, “B!”, Down! Down!

A couple more predictions:
- Manny in 10 with Cotto’s corner throwing in the towel.
- Almost 100% of the TV ads will feature Pacquiao. We’ll also see movie trailers for Wapakman.
- We’ll get political infomercials and these will be of the subtle variety.
- Completely bias TV commentary.
- Cotto will try something dirty which will be the hot topic in forums.

I was going to do a live blog update on this fight until I realized they were not showing the fight live on local TV. During the actual match, GMA 7 was still showing the Yuri Foreman – Daniel Santos fight. Thank goodness they skipped the Chavez – Rowland fight afterwards.

La Diva sung the Philippine National Anthem. I really hate to sound ignorant but… who?

Michael Buffer does his thing. Don’t you just love his job? He just reads what’s written on a piece of paper and pretends to know what he’s talking about. He already has what it takes to be a supervisor.

Round 1: Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Cotto looks fast and Pacquiao is getting hit with a lot of unusual combinations as they both feel each other out. If I wasn’t talking about boxing, the previous sentence is a really gay one. The round ended and it’s credited to Cotto.

Here it comes! The first political ad and it’s not a subtle one! It’s one for Dick Gordon who’s running for… uh… er… wait, is he running at all?

Round 2: More jabs to the face of Manny. A few more combinations from both fighters before Cotto lands a left hook bomb to Manny’s head. Pacquiao tries to unleash combinations but most are blocked. Manny looks fast but Cotto looks like a tank. Again, this round goes to Cotto.

I was wondering why LBC is showing these ads with Edu Manzano until I realized he was now running for vice president. Didn’t he already lose to Binay a few years back?

Round 3: Same story as Manny is still eating a lot of punches. Manny throws a combination which partially hits Cotto. Cotto somewhat slips while trying to avoid it causing him to land on his knee. Technically, it’s a knockdown but I wouldn’t get that much excited since it practically means nothing at that point other than an automatic 10-8 score. Cotto wasn’t even hurt.

Round 4: Manny AGAIN gets hit in the face. I don’t get his strategy, he’s standing against the ropes in a guard position while Cotto pummels him. Finally they switch positions (ala FPJ fight scenes) then the two engage in a street style fight wherein both throws all punches, no blocking. A left hook lands on Cotto and down he goes. Unlike the knockdown in round 3, this was a clean one. Cotto looked wobbly. That must have really hurt.

Round 5: Cotto gets a new life bar. He still looks strong at this point and he continues to hit Manny who is now able to answer back with combinations of his own. Here’s the difference though: Cotto’s punches connect solidly while Pacquiao’s somewhat graze Cotto. Manny is certainly absorbing a lot of punishment. We know makapal ang mok-ha nya and it has been showcased all throughout the match

Round 6: Cotto is a gear slower. His punches are there but it wasn’t as crisp as it was back in the early rounds. With Manny still almost at 100%, Cotto is starting to get hit as his trainer now opens up his laptop and starts googling articles on what to do next. “Help me Wikipedia!”

Round 7: Cotto has a lot of nicks and cuts as if he shaved in the dark. Pacquiao is still getting hit but the punches don’t seem to have any effect on him now. Cotto looks tired and he’s now backpedaling which is an obvious thing to do. If you’re on the verge of losing anyway, why would you continue and waste time and energy? You should learn to quit especially at times when we all know you’re not going to win in the elections, I mean match.

Round 8: Another gear lower for Cotto which enables Manny to pepper him with more punches. I think it’s over since each Pacquiao punch drains the life and fighting spirit out of Cotto. I almost feel sorry for the guy now.

Round 9/10/11: It was all the same story in these rounds. Cotto looks really terrible now as he’s not even engaging Manny anymore. He’s backpedaling and is avoiding Manny which draws boos from the crowd. I doubt he’ll come out of his corner for the 12th round.

Round 12: Cotto continued to fight and Manny hits Cotto with a combination. Referee Kenny Bayless made a quick check on Cotto, immediately stopped the fight and wondered what Gollum was doing in the ring.

As predicted, it was Manny’s speed and power that led to his victory. Was the match fun to watch? Definitely especially in the early rounds. Worthy of a trilogy? Nah. I don’t think Cotto can do any better than he did on this match.

For sure there will be another motorcade, more Manny ads and new Manny jokes. In fact, I already got a new one:

Q: Why did Manny paint his house again?
A: Because the priest told him to go and repent.

Congrats Manny and good luck with "Money" Mayweather!

The 2009 Birthday Diary

I'm now officially at the edge of my twenties! Turning 29 isn't so bad though especially since I'm really more into preparing for next year when I hit my third decade. This year though, my day was very uh... eventful.

I'm not sure if there's a relation between you and celebrities you share your birthday with. If it does, I'll have some concerns since I share my birthday with Jolina Magdangal, Janette McBride, Shaina Magdayao and Ana Ivanovic.

12:15am - I got my first greeting over the phone from Jaye who was just on her way home from work. I've been wondering why she had to work late but more on that later.

12:30am - I got a greeting from Ria over YM and an unusual gift... a recipe for a replica of the chocolate cake from Portillo's. Portillo's is this restaurant in Chicago that servers burgers, cakes, pasta and the best Italian Beef ever. Their chocolate cake is my absolute favorite with an icing to die for. Oh drat, I think I just drooled over my keyboard.

6:30am - Woke up and told myself that I'd better be prepared for an interesting day.

6:45am - I was about to take a bath when for some reason, my driver's license came popped in my mind. OH NO! I just realized that my license was set to expire today. I completely gapped it. I spent the next 30 minutes googling up the LTO process and found out that there was a license renewal center in SM Megamall. Spending the day in a government office, ugh, what could be worse than that? Oh right, spending the day in a private office... nevermind.

7:50am - I was at Starbucks to pick up a Toffee Nut Latte. The barista gave me my change, my receipt, my coffee but then he lost my sticker card. He was frantically looking for it behind the counter for the next 15 minutes. He was so worried that he was already speaking in Tagalog. I mean, 15 minutes ago he was all "Good morning sir! May I take your order" with complete English accent and now he was "PARE! Putek di ko makita yung istiker buk! Syet!". Apparently for some reason he stapled my card by accident to this set of forms. Interesting day indeed.

8:15am - I arrived at my office cube - decorated with this "Happy Birthday" banner and three long balloons. Jaye apparently went to my cube late last night to put in these decorations. My associate manager doodled something on my whiteboard, I still had no idea what that was.

10:00am - I told my manager about the whole license problem and he cancelled our morning meeting so I can have my license processed immediately. I ran downstairs, hailed a cab and went over to SM Megamall. He asked me if it was ok to take a longer route to avoid the traffic and I said ok which was idiotic he ended up driving me all around these sidestreets in Ortigas Center and spiked up the fare by 10 pesos.

10:30am - I picked up the form at LTO, filled it up then went over to the medical center so they can take a picture, answer some medical questions and pee in a cup. The eye test was easy mainly because I've been standing in front of the eye chart for the past 30 minutes and I've already memorized the table.

11:30am - I submitted the forms back at LTO but then instructed me to go back after lunch. I wanted to make a joke where I ask if lunch will be provided but then government employees do not have any sense of humor at all. It was like the office has sucked out all that is funny within its premises.

12:10pm - I dropped by Comic Quest to pick up some Archie comics. I've been collecting Archie comics since I was a little boy and I learned a few weeks ago that they released this series where Archie finally got married. The 6 part series shows both scenarios if Archie chose Veronica (part 1 - 3) or Betty (part 4 - 6). Part 2 by the way had the first bed scene ever.



12:20pm - Jaye was on her way to Megamall so I had a decaf frap while waiting. I reserved a table at this New Orleans restaurant - "Gumbo" and they gave me a coupon where if I ordered two main entrees, I get an appetizer (potatoes) and another entree (seafood platter) for free. I ordered some crab cakes while Jaye had the jambalaya and when all the plates came in, they didn't even fit the table (It didn't help that they served us bread and olive oil on a big freakin' chopping board).

1:30pm - My waistline officially mutated by 4 inches. I had to loosen my belt to prevent me from turning blue. Oh, I got my new license!

2:30pm - I returned back to the office and was greeted with a major database issue in our production environment. If we don't fix it by 9pm, it will cost us a couple thousand dollars. I wish birthdays came with "Get out of jail" cards.

4:00pm - I took a quick break and checked out my Facebook account. Wow, my page was flooded with greetings. I realized this was my first "Facebook-era" birthday and greeting people now are so easy and cheap. A couple of years ago, my uncle would give me a crisp 500 peso bill. This year, I got a quick note and an untraceable cell phone. If you laughed, you play too much Mafia Wars.

9:00pm - The issue got fixed but it took a toll on my brain. My mind was exhausted and my soul was tormented by LTO (imagine it being filled with dementors). Jaye and I had to cancel dinner plans at Bubba Gump and decided to go to a place that always cheers me up.

11:00pm - After devouring 7 wings, my energy was low, my brain alertness was low and my cholesterol was way up. I'm already over my coffee limit and I was getting sleepy really fast so we decided to head home and continue the celebration over the weekend. It was the ideal way to spend the day - special in a simple kind of way.

It was certainly a special day and I wouldn't have spent it any other way except, well, I would have renewed my license earlier and I would have fixed the production issues faster but oh well, take what life gives you. I appreciate all the greetings my family and friends sent out.

Thanks again everyone for all the greetings!

As you get older, gifts become more subtle yet more meaningful. =)

The 2010 Starbucks Planner

It's that time of the year again when people shell out money for even more overpriced coffee for stickers which you can exchange for a planner. Yep! It's back! Not sure why they market it as "Wish". I asked the Barista and she tried to explain in English but stumbled and bumbled so bad I had to focus on not laughing in front of her. I did the polite thing by smiling, walking away and posting it on my blog instead.

I've heard of the Starbucks planner a couple years back but it was only last year when I got one for myself and I couldn't have picked a worse year to do that. The 2009 Starbucks planner was just awful - it had no freebies, no coupons and it looked like manong guard's logbook. The hardbound cover design (or lack thereof) was horrible and it came in three dreary colors: boring black, dull blue and uninteresting red. It reminded me of my thick 3 in 1 pen back in high school.


The 2009 planner. I couldn't take a picture of the 2010 planner from the store because the bastar... I mean baristas won't let me.

The 2010 cover is somewhat better. It's no longer hardbound but the cover is still sturdy and a lot more elegant. The cover has an dark earth/brownish shade and a picture of the following: a coffee mill, an espresso shot or coffee cherries like those Christmas cards. Try googling for a picture in a couple of days.

The content is almost the same as last year but the most noticeable change is the layout. Last year you get Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the left side then Thursday, Friday and a very crammed Saturday and Sunday boxes on the right arranged from top to bottom. This year, the days are arranged from left to right which means each day is a thin vertical column. This is good if you keep lists per day, bad if you write long sentences, scribble or doodle a lot. Not sure how this will work for you but you can write sideways if you want.



Getting one is almost the same as last year: they give you a card and you collect 17 stickers - 9 holiday beverages and 8 regular ones. Same "fine print" rules apply. The card they gave me had a free sticker in it which means an extra Php 130 goes to my savings.

The holiday beverages include Dark Cherry Mocha, Toffee Nut Late and Peppermint Mocha as either hot, iced or a frap. The regular beverages does not include bottled stuff and fruit drinks. Basically, anything that's cheaper than 80 bucks is excluded I guess.

The Toffee Nut Latte is very sweet and creamy. It's like drinking flavored milk with a nutty aftertaste. The Peppermint Mocha is also very sweet and tastes a lot more like a minty hot chocolate than coffee. The Dark Cherry Mocha, I haven't really tried since I'm not a fan of cherries but it shouldn't be far from the Peppermint Mocha.

I still think it's weird that a fancy planner would cost 17 cups of coffee, roughly Php 2,500 and 1,300 mg of caffeine.

Oh well, happy drinking fellow weirdos! (gulps down the rest of the tall peppermint mocha for "Armold")

2009 Pinoy Halloween Costumes

Skeletons? Star Wars characters? Bunny rabbits? Boring... Why go with the traditional ones when you can try these modern, up-to-date get ups:

1. The Basketball Player Fan Mauler



Getting the look: Slap on a Burger King Whoppers jersey, basketball shorts and basketball shoes. If you have a friend, he can play as the rowdy fan. If you have a lot of friends, dress them up as security personnel who just stand around and not doing anything. Bonus points if you can reenact the fight scene together with punches and kicks that never connected.

Cons: You'll probably get banned from the party you were attending which is fine because you need all the time you can get explaining to your American friends that while their NBA has the "Lakers" and the "Celtics", we have the "Whoppers" and the "Texters".

2. The Rolex Robber


Getting the look: ski mask, black shirt, black pants and a pistol or a rifle. You can also get a cardboard cutout of a mall guard which was as (in)effective as the one in the actual heist. Of course, you need to have the actual Rolex... or a Bolex. Bonus points if you arrive in a blue Honda City.

Cons: Gold just doesn't go with black.

3. The Noynoy



Getting the look: Wear a yellow suit with glasses and you're almost set. Your girl friend can come depends on her personality. If she's pretty, make her go as Shalani Soledad. If she's annoying, she can be Kris. Bonus points if you arrive to the party straight from Pink Sisters or if you shaved your head.

Cons: You arrive at the party and the crowd cheers for you. You sneeze and you still get an applause. If they ask you what you've done in the past few years, try not to look absolutely stumped.

4. The NDCC (National Disaster Coordinating Council) Chairman



Getting the look: Standard issue barong or suit. You're supposed to go to the party but you weren't ready and you end up missing the whole thing.

Cons: After missing halloween, you become ultra-prepared now for All Saints day. You bring a truck load of candles, flowers and food but you have to deal with people telling you the "Aanhin pa ang damo..." quote all day.

5. The Bader



Getting the look: DLSU jersey and beard. You can also come as a goat or a black sheep, we all know it's the same thing. Your friends can come as Atkins, Barua and Mangahas ghosts - which was the same as this season where you can see them... but they're not doing anything at all. Bonus points if you bring your own bench.

Cons: You'll get booed off the party by the Lasallians but you''ll surely be a hit with the Ateneans. Don't bother hitting on anyone though as we all know you'll trip, make mental mistakes and you never ever score. I won't be surprised if you do pick up someone and end up heaving her into the 4th row in Araneta.

Of Fans, PBA and a guy named Wynne

The video was all over Facebook and Youtube.

Wynne Arbo… wait. His name is Wynne? as in… the pooh?

Anyways, Arboleda is now tagged as the Pinoy Ron Artest after our version of the "Malice at the Palace". After committing a flagrant foul, this fan at courtside shouted something. Next thing we know, we have a ticked off Arboleda charging towards the fan and throwing kicks and punches before being restrained and escorted away.

Now, I’ve been to these games before and fans shout a lot of stuff. If you commit a turnover, you’re immediately a “bano”. If you commit an obvious foul and still complain to the ref, you’re a “best actor”. If you throw up an airball, you’re a “duling”. If you run slow, you’re a “pagong”. If should know since this happened to er… uh… a close friend of mine.

I’m curious as to what the fan shouted to make Arboleda blow up. I’m guessing the fan shouted the Arboleda will not get promoted, will not get a salary increase and will have to work 5 quarters in a game to stay competitive with this league in another country.

Arboleda has apologized but was slapped with a season long suspension. The fan however, is suing and wants Arboleda to be banned from the league for life. The reason? I lifted this off the Internet:

“I now endure not only physical suffering, but mental anguish, uncontrollable fright, serious anxiety, a besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, social humiliation, and other similar emotional and psychological injuries because of the respondents’ actions.”

I don’t see that statement coming from a rowdy courtside heckler. I wish he’d drop the whole thing while he’s still the good guy in this story. Once he flexes his muscles and brings in his lawyers, he twists the story into this power mad jerk who’s picking on an innocent basketball player. Poor fan though... imagine getting beat up by "Winnie"?

The Rolex Heist

Last week, the Rolex store in Greenbelt 5 was robbed by armed men wearing bomb squad uniforms in broad daylight. They went to the basement parking then told the guards that they were responding to a bomb scare. They stormed the store and did the ol’ smash and grab until they were confronted by the bodyguards of the Taguig City mayor who was having lunch nearby. One robber was shot dead while the others were able to get away.

The dead robber was carrying a .45 caliber pistol while the others had Armalite rifles. I pity the guy who drew the short stick and ended up with the pistol.

How did they pass through the entrance? Weren’t the mall guards supposed to frisk them? Maybe the guards frisked them and checked their bags but as always, they have no idea what they're looking for!

Didn’t the basement guards notice anything funny when the “bomb squad” arrived riding a Honda City and a Toyota Corolla? In our office building, it’s already a big deal when pizza delivery boys arrive in tricycles instead of their motor bikes.

Poor mall guards. Reports say they were overpowered and didn’t offer any resistance. Who could blame them? They were only armed with a batuta, a flashlight and a long stick used to “search” bags.

Can you imagine if the robbery went really wrong and they didn’t reach the Rolex store? What if they ended up robbing Pink Soda? Headlines the next day: “Really Gay Robbers Robs Pink Soda: Escaped but Looked Fabulous”

What if this was a big misunderstanding? What if they obtained a cellphone from one of the robbers with a text message “Here na us in CALTEX GREENBELT 5. Where na U?”

Parking at Greenbelt is so expensive that the robbers had to use one of the watches they stole as payment for their basement parking fee.

I heard there was supposed to be one more of them but one robber got lost and ended up at Timex.

Investigators say the whole heist was well funded but poorly executed. A rich powerful man but ridiculously stupid… hmmm…? Isn't he running for... uh... nevermind.

Here’s the thing, according to reports, the robbers ended up stealing only the “Tudor” watches. They were not able to get any Rolex watches. This means it’s like storming a local bank then making away with the bank’s ballpens and manong guard’s columnar notebook.

I pity the people who were planning to give away Rolex watches as gifts for Christmas.

I pity the people who bought those black “bomb squad” shirts in Green Hills.

Seriously though, I wish establishments would beef up security now, not just for malls but for everywhere else. Who knows where they could hit next. At least I know they couldn't hit the place where I work. Before they could get to my floor, they would have given up on those looooooooooong lines for the elevator.

WTF: Work Time Fun / Wala Tayong Facebook

According to this article in Inquirer, more than half of US companies do not allow employees to visit social networking sites. 54% of these do not allow access to these sites at all.

Bummer, especially for me who’s normally a grazer worker – meaning I take frequent breaks within the work day just like my Internet service provider.

In our company, they have this site blocker thing that redirects you to this page whenever you access certain non work sites such as youtube, facebook and other networking sites, sports sites, entertainment sites, forums and emails. Basically, they blocked all the fun sites. They do give you access to search engines, Wikipedia, technology sites and news sites. Can you imagine how fun surfing now is? Inquirer >> Philstar >> CNN >> wikipedia >> MSDN >> Inqui… zzz…

It was only then did I realize that reading the local headlines and related articles can really make you feel upset, angry and depressed (in that order).

I don’t blame the company especially since it’s a fact that some people are abusing this privilege. Take away Facebook and we have more time working (and less load for the network). At least we still have our MSN messe… oh wait, no we don’t. Well at least we can use the DVD drives to listen to mus... oh wait, no we can't. How about just listening to music in our USB driv... oh wait... crap.

Now here’s the thing. We’re not just regular employees, we’re Filipinos! Kung gusto, maraming paraan! I must admit, I saw some pretty creative ways on how to deal with this site blocker thing. I don’t think aything can really get in the way of Pinoys and their Facebook.

Hello HR Team and Security Team, I know you’re reading this and NO, I'm not going to tell you how. Try searching for that other blog, you know, the one from that guy who writes... you know... the one with the… you know…

Just a Thought

Personally, I don’t see the difference between person A who visits Facebook, person B who visits CNN, person C who reads a book and person D who plays with his/her PSP during office hours. Let’s throw in Person E who’s sleeping. If persons A, D and E are reprimanded, shouldn’t B and C as well? I mean, all of them are as productive as Lito Lapid anyway. Diba?

I don’t get it…

31 pesos for a 1L Real Leaf green tea drink. I’m really ok with the price but I don’t understand why their cashiers get really really irritated when I don’t have a 1 peso coin with me. Maybe it’s because there are times when I know I have 75 cents in my pocket, I take out each 25 cent coin one by one then hand them a pocket lint with a “ay, bitin!”.

2009 Fantasy Basketball

It's Fantasy Basketball Season Again!

Last year, I walked away as the co-winner in our league and I can't wait to defend my title. This year, I was picking 4th in a "snake" format with rotisserie scoring.

By the way, I know fantasy basketball is big in the office but I had no idea it was THIS big. My style has always been reading articles over the Internet, making personal notes and ranking players manually. Some colleagues of mine even purchase extensive draft kits which have full, in-depth analysis and predictions of the players’ performances this season.

Here are the picks I made this year. Instead of using the same old pictures of them, I decided to use random odd pictures... wala lang, para maiba lang.

#1 Chris Paul, PG - They already picked Lebron, Wade and Kobe in that order. The 4th pick is always Chris Paul and the 5th pick is always Dwight Howard. This is as predictable as sunrise. Chris Paul is a very quick point guard who scores, passes and defends well, until he's kicked in the yagballs.

#2 Chris Bosh, PF - I was looking for another point guard and while Deron was gone, Nash was still on the board. Do I risk picking an aging point guard or an injury prone forward? Nash just signed a fresh contract while Bosh is on the last year of his. Greedy players are good but I don't think cowboy hats go with basketball jerseys unless they're doing some sort of Brokeback basketball.

#3 Carmelo Anthony, SF - I'm not sure how he slid this far but he was available so I took him. Honestly, I made this pick first before thinking about it. It's like craving for some Hotshots from KFC but opting to get the chicken wings because there's only one order left.

#4 Mehmet Okur, C - Memo on the 4th round? There were only a few good centers to go around. Pau Gasol, Al Jefferson, Howard, Brand and even Brook Lopez were already gone. There were still lots of good forwards and guards but I just had to pick a center... and a played with a name that doesn't start with "C" and could play basketball in a suit.

#5 Stephen Jackson, SF - I was going for Arenas but he was picked right before my turn. I wanted Rashard Lewis but he'll be having a bad year with VC clogging the position. I wanted Boozer but I know he'll be playing for half a season only this year. That plus I don't like his name.

#6 Mo Williams, PG - I wanted to go for a point guard and so can't explain why I picked a fake one. Mo is listed as a point guard but he neither points nor guards. He's a chucker which makes him a true shooting guard. I passed on Okafor for Mo based on a gut feeling... or deep inside I know Okafor has no power and can't run forward. Besides, how can you go wrong on a guy named “Mo”?

#7 John Salmons, SG - He was the best player available. If already had Anthony and Jackson so why pick another played with the same skill set? Well, there were two other good players available - Al Harrington, a center who plays like a small forward and Andrea Bargnani. I'm not picking a player named "Andrea".

#8 Zach Randolph, PF - My first true risk. Zach is playing on a new team which is good, but he's playing with Iverson which is bad. He had good numbers last season which was good but he was injured a lot which is bad. Zach is really good when's good and really bad when he's bad. Does that makes sense? Just do me a favor and don't get into fights too much ok?

#9 Eric Gordon, SG - I wanted Felton here but Gordon is another risk. In theory, Eric should have a superb year with a year of experience. In theory, he should be a superstar next season. I've heard of the sophomore jinx as well where second year players play terribly for the entire year, but that's just a theory.

#10 Raymond Felton, PG - Funny. Ever since round 2 I said I was looking for a point guard and I picked my second guard in the 10th round. Felton was the best available player available who happens to be a point guard. Sorry Raymond, not that I don't believe in you, well... actually... I don't. While other players do fist pumps or show off their biceps after doing something spectacular, here you are showing off your... armpit?

#11 Marc Gasol, C - Beasley, Kaman and Bynum were both gone at this point and I wanted to make sure I had another decent center. Tyrus Thomas would have been the high risk - high reward pick but I opted for this big lug who loves reporters instead.

#12 Leandro Barbosa, PG - I'm predicting Steve Nash will be injured for most of the season and so Barbosa will be a beast. If Nash ends up playing all the games for Phoenix and Barbosa gets another bad year, he’s the first player I imagine I would drop back to the waiver wire.

Overall, I'm pleased with my picks. I know by half the season I’ll be dropping half of them anyway for surprise players or players having breakout years. Ah, Fantasy Basketball… It’s that thing that makes guys come to the office early, keep stats on paper and start cheering individual players and not the teams. Funny isn’t it?

Back from Blog Leave

I'm back from blog leave!

It was a crazy month of September as life gave me lots of lemons and I wasn't sure if making lemonade was the smart thing to do. It was a month when reality finally set in, true friends showed themselves and big decisions had to be made.

During these times, I promised myself to think about things very carefully, to set aside my emotions and to slap a temporary restraining order on blogging.

Don't promise anything when you're happy. Don't blog when you're... well, in my case, emotional.

It's a good thing things are back to normal now. Tuloy ang ligaya!