Two in a row... beach bummed

Sheesh... I'm such a loser. I'm in the office right now on a Sunday night doing some long overdue work. The clock is ticking, deadlines... my head hurts and I really can't concentrate. So the hell with it. I just wanna daydream on sunset beaches for a while... =p


Boracay! Take 1! Wow... it has been a while since I stepped foot on a sandy beach. The last I remember was when I was in Panglao last November 2005 with my ex (hehe), her sister and her sister's ex (double hehe) and of course my good friend, Vistan.


Anyhooos, Boracay beach on the second week of September. Man, I loved that trip. Well because aside from the fact that I was with my new girl (hwat?!?! more on this one soon! =p), it was a very relaxing trip. Not-so-many people, a nice walk along the shore, yummy breakfasts, good sunshine, and even the occasional rainshower were a big welcome. We even got ourselves a massage and just letting the afternoon pass us by. Pero bitin sobra. Two and a half days on the island isn't just enough.


Boracay! Take 2!! Wahoo! Two weeks after the first one, I got another! Hehe. This time I was with my barkada and their significant others. Unfortunately, Tots could not come with us so I was stuck with Jonas as my partner, hehehe.

Four things to describe this trip: 1) Fun, 2) Fresh, 3) Good conversations, and 4) Impeccable timing. Fun, because we drove all the way from Ilo-ilo to Caticlan, and vice-versa. We were supposed to be enjoying the sun in Guimaras island but unfortunately Petron had other things in mind. Fresh, because almost everyone is new in the barkada. Dale & Yeng are just barely a year, Brian-Julie 7 months, Vistan-Socs 5 months, Me-Tots 2 months, and Jonas-J****e (secret pa ba to? hehe) 2 months. Good conversations, because we just love having a great time talking about *stuff*, as witnessed by Yeng. And impeccable timing, because it was the exact moment storm Milenyo struck Metro Manila. Though we had a great time, I was distraught on the destruction and lost lives the storm left behind... Pero bitin pa rin. Another two and a half days on the island is still not enough.

Okay... back to work... I think I'll just go home.

Bowling champ

Bwahahaha! My team bagged the Gold for this year's Bowling Competition sponsored by our company. Not only did I wear a medal around my neck, I also happen to have the top score around my belt--a whopping 172! Hehehe.

Okay, okay, some of you real bowlers out there might look down on this score. But mind you, I rarely bowl and it's not one of my regular sports either. I just happen to have found my formula to drive my score beyond 100 in just a short time.

1. Pick the right weight -- Some dudes want to look macho by lifting a much heavier ball. Others justify that bowling a heavier ball means a bigger chance of getting a strike. True? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it has something to do with Force and Momentum. Anyway, in short, the heavier the ball, the bigger the force to knock down the pins and the bigger the chance the momentum of knocked pins can knock other pins. And no, because you might sacrifice precision and consistency. Just pick the weight you are most comfortable with. The trick is, if your forearm is sore after just one game, then use a lighter ball; mine's a 10-pound ball. Accuracy is highly dependent on the degree of fatigue in the muscles of your arms. If you try throwing a ball that's too heavy for you, chances are your muscles tire faster and your accuracy fails.

2. Be consistent with your groove -- Be consistent on how you bowl. I start by standing three paces from the foul line, and at the left end of the lane. I start the move on my left foot and end up with a bowler's kick on right foot. The trick is not to mimic on how other people bowl. Just feel your groove and be consistent on it.

3. Don't care if you can't spin -- Some bowlers a very good in placing a spin when the throw the ball, much like throwing a curve ball in baseball. Others, like me, doesn't put any spin (actually, I don't know how to, hehe). As long as it hits either the left or right side of pin #1 you'll be fine.

4. Don't get frustrated -- Don't you just hate the gutters? At first, the bowling balls love gutters. With practice and point #2, you'll get over it. Hehe.

5. Eye on the pins -- Concentrate on the pins and imagine how they all crash down right before you throw the ball. Don't look down at the ball! It's the same as driving a car and looking at your steering wheel.

6. Have fun -- Playing the sport of bowling is fun, especially if you're with friends. Have fun, don't try to compete as to who has the highest score... Well, if you can't avoid it, at least try to show it's just a game. =)

Cheers!

If we were only just a point ahead, we could have landed 3rd place on our cheering competition (Yep, ala-Eng'g Week!). And held up 150 points instead of only a hundred. Oh well... but not bad for having to practice only 2 days, all of which were done after office hours! =) So what was my role then? Cheer dancer? No way! I was the tambolero-dude doing the beat on a cajon. I'm on the right side of the pic, in front of the chick in black ;)

Earthbound

Three days ago I was searching across our corporate network for something interesting (Isn't it obvious that I'm still not motivated to work? ;p). I landed onto one of our servers and voila, a goldmine of installers, ebooks and mp3's! The most interesting part though are the chillout mp3's.

There was this one particular song that overly relaxed my already-steady mind. hehehe. The sound is so tranquile and the melody is just perfect for spacing out and staring at a blank wall. But when you read through the lyrics, it talks about a lover who went away while his partner patiently waits and longs for his return. Time passes and things became uncertain and unclear for both of them, because of well, how we are all earthbound. The music is from Paul Scwartz. You can listen this song on-line as well the rest of the album. Hope it'll be interesting for your ears. =)

Side Comments

I haven't been doing any much work lately. The long list somehow seem scribbles. I just don't have any motivation. So... to kill time, I tried modifying my blog. Hehehe. Talk about free time. Anyway, I added some new sections, mostly of my interests. I'll keep the sections updated as often as possible... or add some more sections... but then it'll get too crowded, and I'll have to modify it again... sheesh.

Erik Mongrain

Follow-up. The guitar-tapping dude below is Erik Mongrain. Check out his home page. You can also download some his originals, too!







Thanks, Pia G, for sending the link! =)

Coolest guitar tapping ever

I just can't stop wondering how good this guy is. Guitar tapping, probably, at its greatest! Watch and play it over and over again as often as you want. Damn! Want to learn how to do something like this...

Flavor of the Month

It was as if all negative kharma came down pouring on me. That month of June was a month to remember. Like they always say, "sh*t happens!", and sh*t indeed.

1st of 4 weeks... Title: Dumped
My girlfriend (ex-girlfriend, rather) of 6 1/2 years dumped me. Yep, this kind of sh*t can happen to anyone. But this one was birdsh*t. Youl never know when it'll drop onto you. Without any warning, she broke it off. And her reason? ahem... and i quote, "It's not about you, it's about me." Yeah... right... And what do i think was the real reason? She got bored, tired of the relationship maybe. She wanted something fresh to explore, i guess. I was her first boyfriend anyway. I went mad trying to uderstand that statement. An overture: Don't try to better understand women, it will just get you more confused.

2nd of 4 weeks... Title: Stomped
Work is hell. I was handling this project that has been handed down to me from n generations ago. So where's the sh*t in that? It's the project I tell you. Business leads (BL) and technical leads (TL) come and go. I was BL #4. Heck, even TL #'s 5, 6 and 7 gave up. Anyway, it came to a point where my big big big boss was already breathing down on my neck. Why isn't the project finished yet... what's taking too long... why haven't the vendors been paid yet... blah blah blah. But in the end, it was just the motivation I needed. An overture: Don't wait for someone to tell you that you have sh*t on your pants.

3rd of 4 weeks... Title: Canned
Work is hell yet again. Remember that same boss from the 2nd week? This time, he had some issues on an existing system that i put up, like why does he always receive non-updated alerts and why is the service responding slowly. Well, sir, uhm... it's because the servers suck. But needless to say, i swallowed my pride and assured that my team is on top of the situation. And oh, where's the sh*t? It's that feeling of getting canned twice by the same boss.

4th of 4 weeks... Title: Dad
I love my Dad. He's a proud man and takes pride in everything he does. He's a politician and I'm pretty sure he is quite a powerful man in my home province. But one thing i dread the most is when he suffers emotionally due to a physical condition. My dad was diagnosed with diabetes 15 years ago. Time has taken its toll and it was confirmed that he has kidney failure. The immediate solution was to undergo regular dialysis, and ultimately a 1-million-peso kidney transplant. Well, you can probably say dialysis is just an ordinary, normal and painless routine and money will not be a problem. What sucks is that you have to be the stronger son, comforting your old man everytime he stares into space teary-eyed. Someone might need to draw strength from you, so be strong even if you feel weaker.