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

The Pacquiao Fight Commentary

Finally I was able to catch a replay of the Marquez – Pacquiao fight last weekend. I was out with my family the first time it was aired and though we were able to watch bits and pieces of the fight, I wasn’t really able to observe (and I was more concentrated on finishing off the big plate of baked mussels I ordered). After watching the replay, for the sake of my friends who totally missed the fight, here’s my full analysis of the fight (and everything else):

Round 1 – With every Filipino expecting Marquez to fall down in the first round, Manny gets hit by a 1 – 2 punch square right into the jaw. Manny looked awful as he was hit hard in this round. Give it to Marquez for a 1-0 round lead.

Oh great, here comes the Manny ads. "Pag masakit ang massel at parang pinipilipit na tale, i-Alaxan mo lang!". Manny sure could use some right there.

Round 2 – Both Manny and Marquez landed solid blows and this round would have gone either way but in the final 10 seconds Manny gets hit by a three hit combination making him slightly losing his footing. Before he could counter the round ended and so the round clearly belonged to Marquez. Don’t you hate it when that happens? It's like meeting the perfect girl - pretty, smart, funny then you find out she likes girls too...

Funny thing about that CDO burger ad as they sing all the things you can do with a burger patty - burger steak, hawiian burger and adobo burger. They didn't even mention hamburger sandwiches. The test if you're truly pinoy? If you didn't get the joke and you found nothing wrong in this paragraph.

Round 3 – The commentators were obviously panicking after seeing Manny get pounded the first two pounds and get hit by combinations early in the 3rd round. Late in the round they both switch to Manny’s “away kalye” style and surprise surprise, Marquez gets hit and lands on his back. He gets up and he’s greeted by more punches. You should see his facial expression as he uses his face to block the punches.

I just love the way referee Ken Bayless counts. Hey, he just counts 1 to 10 but he puts emotions into it as if he’s shocked with his eyes wide open. Hey, if you see someone like that, wouldn’t you stand up right away?

End of the round and Marquez and Manny both walked towards the same corner. Does Marquez want to sit on Manny’s lap on the same stool? Happy round for Filipinos since the knockdown just put Manny back in the fight.

Round 4 – The commentators are now predicting that Manny will finish the fight in this round. For the 105th time they mentioned that Marquez is a counter puncher. Manny punches and he gets punched back. The round dragged on and there was nothing.

More and more and more ads... Filipino ads can be categorized into the following themes:

A) A pretty face tells you to use this product. They have lines but it doesn’t make any sense. Take that Samba Corned Beef ad for example. A pretty girl knocks on the door and tells the guys in the room the she brought her friends. They party and they eat corned beef. Look closely and in that party, everyone is holding a can of corned beef instead of beer. What will they use for shots? Knorr bouillon cubes?
B) A jingle or a song. Again it doesn’t have to make sense but it should be catchy. There must be dancing too with plenty of backup dancers. Remember old comedy movies where the ladies would get kidnapped, rescued then they would all dance in Luneta?
C) Attempted humor aimed for the early grade schoolers. They use puppets and ultra corny jokes.
D) The direct approach. “Use this”. Wala lang. Basta use it.
E) Utter nonsense ended by mentioning the product name. A couple couldn’t sleep and so the husband goes up to the roof to lie down. Suddenly it rains and his wife shows up with an umbrella and they kiss. “Boysen: shelters you well”. Ok where do I start?
a. If he was lying down and checking out the sky, wouldn’t he sense it will be raining soon?
b. It wasn’t the roof paint that sheltered you, it was the lady’s umbrella.
c. Rain doesn’t pour just like that.
d. When was the last time you woke up in the middle of the night and decided to sleep on the roof since it's more comfortable and relaxing there?

Round 5 – They say in this round, Manny switched to a “Counter the counter” technique. He punched Marquez but it was blocked. Marquez countered with a right hook to Manny's jaw. So he plans to counter the counter with… his teeth? Marquez gets this round and leads 3-2.

Hey whatever happened to Manny’s flame shorts?

Round 6 – Really? Ginebra San Miguel has been here since 1834? Manny starts up by just standing and blocking. The commentators explain that Manny doesn’t want to punch since Marquez will just counter it anyway. Marquez comes in and punches Manny on the left cheek. What a weird technique. That's like saying you don't need to take baths since you'll end up dirty again anyway. Marquez now leads 4-2 thanks to Manny’s wet paper towel defense.

Round 7 – Marquez gets hit by a head butt and starts to bleed. A few punches here and there but nothing really exciting. Marquez now leads 5-2.

My brother called me over and showed me Abalos’ hamburjer clip in youtube. Now THAT’s comedy.

Round 8 – Both fighters are bleeding. Marquez started by hitting Manny’s left eye until it was closed and with just one eye, Manny couldn’t defend himself. No surprise there, he was fighting as if both eyes were closed the past 4 rounds.

My brother came back from the kitchen with a bottle of “Cobra” energy drink. He says he saw it from an ad on TV. This guy drank it while shouting “COBRA!”. Funny how these ads work for Filipinos.

Ah they showed that Boysen “nagging wife” ad. Finally, a quality ad.

Round 9 – Marquez gets a HUGE cut on his right eyebrow. What did Manny do? Stuff his gloves with razor blades? There was still no defense from Manny but at least he inflicted enough damage to win this round. 6-3.

Round 10 – Pacquiao starts the round by charging him and raining him with punches just like what you see in basketball games in village leagues or in congress. It should be enough to give him this round 6-4.

Round 11 and 12 – Marquez looked tired in both rounds and so did Manny. Ok I'll be honest, I missed round 11 since I was busy looking for corned beef. There were no more techniques in the final round as it was now a drunken brawl. Punches were barely connecting and both fighters looked real silly. After hitting each other with counter punches all night, both would punch each other and immediately, both would cover their faces at the same time. The bell rang and automatically, you should act as if you won the fight. Manny tried to grab Marquez but Marquez ignored him. Manny just laughed.

The fight was over and Manny won split decision. Based on my scoring it should have been a tie but since Marquez was knocked down on the 3rd round, Manny gets an extra point and the win by an eyelash. Marquez claimed he was cheated (as always). When the fight was aired live, we were having a family lunch over at Dampa near Mall of Asia and when they announced Manny as the winner everyone just cheered and jumped. I even high fived this shirtless guy beside me who smelled like feet.

They showed more replays of Marquez falling down. Minutes later, everyone was quiet as they saw Manny suffering from a bad nosebleed. Was it from Marquez’s punches?

Nah.

They were interviewing Manny.

...in English.

Manny struggled through the questions and you can see the viewers feel the pressure and the pain of knowing perfectly what to say in Filipino but have no idea how to translate them directly in English. Poor Manny. Too much English gives you nosebleeds. Funny comment from the crowd during the interview: "KAYA MO YAN MANNY! YES KA LANG NG YES!"

Flight to Manila Random Thoughts

I flew back to Manila! It was a grueling weekend for me from packing my stuff until surprising my parents who had no idea I was flying home. While I could write the whole story how it went, I took the liberty of summarizing the interesting events:

- You can call it "luggage science" I guess. I had two luggages for check in with one weighing 70 pounds and the other at 75 pounds (the limit over at Northwest is 70). I moved some stuff from one luggage into the other and weighed them again - both now weighed 67 pounds. Go figure.

- My carry on gym bag weighed 45 pounds since it contained all my camera equipment, my Wii, my external drives, documents, wires, PSP, iPod and two big books. This gym bag was different from my laptop bag which contained my laptops, photo magazines, jacket, cap and laptop accessories. How did it feel? Well, both my arms were sore, my back hurt a lot and I was just past the Chicago customs on my way to the gates. I gave up and paid 3 dollars each in Chicago and Detroit for luggage carts. Good thing the carts in Nagoya and Manila were free.

- The most gruesome part of the flight is the Detroit to Nagoya. Good thing I had an aisle seat with no seatmate. Wow! My “babies” (my stuffed monkey, penguin and turtle) had their own seat. Sosyal!

- Chicken or Beef? Beef or Chicken? What's the point? They all taste the same.

- One thing I noticed, Filipinos traveling from the US to Manila always wear something that tells them where they came from in the US. There was this guy wearing a University of Hawaii shirt. One had a Bulls shirt. One had a Golden State Warriors shirt. Pinoy na pinoy.

- The first “taste” of the Philippines is really when you walk from the plane though the tunnel and into NAIA and when your skin suddenly becomes damp. The bag was too much to carry and since my wrist, my hand and my forearms were already sore, I lifted up my bag and carried it on my shoulders ala kargador.

- I was in line for immigration. The center booth were reserved for OFW’s. Some guy appeared and announced that “IF YOU HAVE A PHILIPPINE PASSPORT, YOU CAN FALL IN LINE IN THE CENTER BOOTH”. Of course this was followed by a stampede. Me, I stood still because of my uber heavy bag. Once the line was set, the guy followed “… IF YOU ARE AN OFW”. Hay… Manila.

- I waited for my bags in the carousel. When I finally saw one, I grabbed the handle but had no strength to reel it in. I was extremely tired, sleepy, hungry and thirsty. I had to let go and the guy on my right was laughing. After standing back up, my second luggage whizzed by and I just started at it. I’ll catch them on the next round.

- Next round, I grabbed a bag and tossed it to my right. It wasn’t mine but I had to get it out of the way. I grabbed my heavy bag and wrestled it to the ground as if it was an alligator. After I pinned my bag down I stood back up as fast as I can since I knew my second bag was next. I grabbed its wheels and dragged it to the floor as well hitting the guy beside me in the shins. A minute ago he was laughing and now he’s in pain. I'm such a jerk.

- While at the car and my brother driving, there was this truck filled with chickens being transported to somewhere in Pasig. Suddenly, one of the chickens was able to escape and fell off the truck, tumbling into C5. Really now, when do you think can you experience something like that in Chicago?

- Dad was asleep and I sat down on the bed. Using my mom’s voice (I can copy them both), I asked him where my brother was. He woke up, answered but was shocked that mom was too fat. He screamed like a girl (again).

- Mom was in the bathroom cleaning up and I came over and knocked. I told her I needed to use the bathroom (using my dad’s voice). She believed at first however something gave it away and she recognized me. She opened the door and hugged her long haired fat baby.

- I went to Jaye's place and pretended to be the landlord. She opened the door and had no idea what was going on. She saw me and stood there with a blank stare. She cleared her eyes then tried to look at me again but I hugger her til she turned purple.

- Everything was just the way I left it. Well almost. We don't have Solar Sports, ETC or Basketball TV anymore. :-/ There's also an entire station for crime stories called "FoxCrime" which airs CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI and ... more CSI. I wanted something less gorey and dramatic and all I found was this new channel called "Balls" which I was glad that it wasn't what I initially thought it was.

- Curious about how everyone reacted to my "new look"? I have an entire entry for that ;)

Chicago Short Stories

That’s got to be the gayest cement mixer truck I’ve ever seen. I won't be surprised if this was driven by two cowboys.

When you see something interesting, you know who to call. May, my Chinese friend from Chicago, IM’d me and told me Lake Michigan was frozen and that the ice was breaking up. She showed me a picture and it looked like the lake was full of floating broken glass. I went to the lake the next day and saw the melting ice but it wasn’t as dramatic as May’s pictures. Darn. Photography is about lighting, technique and a little bit of luck.

Déjà vu? Maika, my Filipino friend (who looks Chinese), called me and told me that the Chicago river was frozen. I grabbed my tripod and my camera and ran downstairs. While at the revolving doors, I ran into Norman and Byron and asked me what was going on. I told them “The river’s frozen! The river’s frozen!” as I blew past by them. Somehow they didn’t find it weird

You know what would be perfect? An “Arn” signal that works like the bat signal.

Nothing as simple yet as special as dinner with friends. It was Lei’s birthday and she treated us to Lawry’s Prime Rib restaurant. It was so good and the steaks were so tender. The place was also so posh and while our total bill cost an arm and a leg (actually, it costs 20 arms and 15 legs), Lei took care of the bill. Thanks Lei! I had fish and a bowl of peas for lunch the next day and my tummy was extremely disappointed after tasting lobster and prime rib the night before.

Lunch isn’t that bad as well. Mags and Jen asked me out for lunch over at Cheesecake Factory since they wanted a more personal farewell event. Awwww, so nice of them.

A “scouring pad” cake. Rache cooked me lunch while Lei baked me a sponge cake and it was her first stab at baking. The chicken with mangoes and cumin was good but the sponge cake was a bit tough and so I called it a scouring pad instead of a sponge cake. What a jerk… she goes through all the trouble of baking me a cake and I insult it…

What’s Going On? While taking pictures over at Millenium Park, a group of college students approached me with a video camera. They asked me to just say one line: “What’s going on?”. Immediately, I knew what this was for – they’re doing a music video like the one released back around 2000 where people would sing “What’s Going on?” from people of various gender, age, race, looks etc. That time I was carrying a camera bag and had my hair down and facial hair untouched for a week. I guess they needed a bum in the video.

A Pat on the Back. Work has been brutal and I’ve been working for eight straight months with no vacation. I worked through sprained ankles and various illnesses. The worst was when I collapsed and fainted in my apartment after work. I gained consciousness right away but I couldn’t move my legs. I remember reaching out my arms, grabbing my running shoe and using that as a pillow. Though I know how to pace myself in work, I always work until the wheels come off and unfortunately, a week before my assignment ended, the wheels came off… all the way off.

When you sit and stare outside the window and ask yourself what the hell I’m doing, you’re fine… you’re just stressed.

When you sit and stare outside the window and ask yourself who the hell you are… shut down the laptop dude, you need a break.

Look Before You Leap. Funny thing about this picture. While walking along Lake Michigan on my way to Target, I decided to setup the camera on a tripod and take a picture of myself here. With the camera set, I pressed the shutter release and the timer started. I ran towards the edge and jumped. While in mid air, I suddenly thought if this was actually pavement covered in snow or if it’s already the river – iced up and covered in snow. Because of this last minute thoughts, my form was wrong and I landed on my butt. The answer? It was pavement (whew!). I stood back up quickly and posed.

Sum up work in a picture.

My last "suppper" from my previous apartment:

The Arn Quiz!

1. Arn went to Foot Locker to buy an extra pair of shoelaces. He ended up…
a) Spending more
b) With new shoes
c) Still with no extra shoelaces
d) All of the above

2. Arn accidentally put what in his coffee?
a) Black pepper
b) No really, black pepper.

Answer to #1: D. I got myself an Air Max 180 running shoe.

3. Arn tried to steam fish. After 30 minutes, the fish was still raw. Why?
a) He forgot to turn on the heat.
b) He forgot to put water.
c) He forgot to put the fish.
d) Because he puts pepper in his coffee.

Answer to #2: A. Don’t ask.

4. Arn saw a “typical Arn movie that only Arn would love”. What was it?
a) “Cloverfield”
b) “Meet the Spartans”
c) “Rambo”
d) “Definitely, Maybe”

Answer to #3: B. At least it’s not C right?

5. After his treadmill routine at the gym, Arn cooled down by
a) Walking for 5 minutes
b) Sitting down and watching TV
c) Dancing that Totoy Mola macho dancer dance
d) No matter what I write here, I know you’re still trying to visualize the previous item (eeewww)

Answer to #4: B.

6. Arn stopped what he was doing in #5 because
a) Another person entered the gym
b) Arn didn’t see this person enter the gym
c) This other person probably thinks it’s a “cultural” thing.
d) All of the above.

Answer to #5: C.

7. During Xbox 360 night, Rache, Lei and Jen discovered that:
a) Arn used to play Dance Revo all day.
b) Their floors are extremely strong to take this kind of beating.
c) A fat guy dancing Jungle Boogie is extremely funny.
d) All of the Above

Answer to #6: D.

8. During karaoke night, all the onshore people heard
a) Arn’s voice crack and croak when he sang “Balisong” by Rivermaya
b) What should only be heard by Arn in his shower.
c) Something horrible
d) All of the Above

Answer to #7: D.

9. During lunch time while at work, Arn went down to the office lobby then went outside. It was -12c and people were looking at him. He went back up because he forgot his:
a) jacket
b) brain
c) common sense
d) All of the above

Answer to #8: D.

10. One morning, Arn messed up his garlic rice by
a) Burning the garlic
b) All of the above

Answer to #9: D.

11. Arn was at the treadmill and people were looking at him. Why?
a) He was skipping
b) Who the hell skips on a treadmill?

Answer to #10: A.

12. Arn was supposed to pick up Maika so they both can go to the office together. Arn…
a) Forgot to pick up Maika and went to the office alone.
b) Made Maika wait
c) Sorry Maika

Answer to #11: A.

More Gym Stories

I’m becoming more of a gym rat lately. I’m happy though that I haven’t seen any of the “gym characters” I wrote about before.

After my usual cycle + treadmill routine, I decided to do some free weights. It’s been a long time since I last used dumbbells so I picked up two 10-pounders, faced the mirror and did some bicep curls with small grunts (for effect).

There’s this huge muscular guy beside me wearing a tank top and he was curling 40-pounders… easily.

He was smiling as if there was a camera behind the mirror. I was frowning because I was having a hard time lifting these stupid things and my left arm started to hurt.

I stopped, looked at him and said “We look like that before-after ad for Hydroxycut!” (Hydroxycut is a weight loss pill by the way). He stopped, dropped the 40 pound weights into the mat, went down on his knees and started snickering while feeling and stretching his bicep. I think he hurt himself but he was still laughing.

He stood back up and tried to lift again. He glanced at me but he started chuckling again. I wasn’t even doing anything. He went to the treadmill instead. I think he’s ticked off because he couldn’t continue his lifting.

Oh great, just what I need… a big hulking guy who wants to put me through the wall. At least he had a sense of humor.

Arn Goes to the North Pole

Sorta…

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

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

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

You read right… picture taking

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

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

The river was smoking.

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

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

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

Side Note

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

Comedy equals Tragedy plus Time

my so called music career

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He sucked.

He was fat.

He didn’t have any stage presence.

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

But for me, she was all that mattered.

It Just Shows How Athletic I am

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

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

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

The motor from the stopped vehicles started to roar.

Fat guy had to run faster.

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

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

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

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

Once a clown, always a clown.

The Onshore Pictorial

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

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

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

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

This one’s my favorite:

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

It started with a can of New England Clam Chowder

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

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

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

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

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

The tong fell to the ground.

Croutons went flying around.

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

Li’l pinkie was burned. =(

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

You know what’s funny?

Colgate was a lot more effective than the burn cream.

I opened my drawer and found oven mitts.

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

Croutons went on sale the next day.

Jeremy

RULES:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Chicago Skyline

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

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

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



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

The Year 2007

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

My 2007 Summary:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Most important technology I learned. Torrent

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

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

Happiest Day. December 12, 2007.

Movie of the year. Shrek 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cooking with Arnold

Fish and Veggies

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

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

The Gym People

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

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

Musky McMuscle

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

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

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

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

Mr. Grunt

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

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

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

Skin and Bones

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

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

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

The Skunk

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

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

Of Photography Plans and Dreams

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

Excuses… excuses… I know.

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

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

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens.

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

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

So why did I return it?

Plans change.

Dreams evolve.

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

“Consuelo de bobo”.

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

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

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

16 months and still trying to understand...

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

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

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

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

Happy 16 months honey =)

Thanksgiving 2007

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

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



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

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

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

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

Trust mom. They know best. So I did.

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

Thanks mom! Never doubted.

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

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

“That’s the neck.”

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





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