Waves of Terror

Spent a bit of time surfing the net and looking up stories on Sunday's disaster. Feeling lucky the Philippines is on the OTHER side of Indonesia and was spared the destruction. The landslides that came after the twin typhoons sound trivial compared to the tsunamis.

Reading first account stories, their descriptions make me remember the dream I had years ago of evacuating to higher ground and watching a city go down under the waves. The huge waves in that dream were vivid in my memory. I don't remember now if my fear of large bodies of water came after that dream or before. I do know now however that what I saw in the dream is a tsunami or a tidal wave.

Film Fest and Deadly Tsunamis

Met Sam at South Mall at 10 am ... actually got there earlier and we had to wait for the mall to open at exactly 10. The cinemas still closed, we ate breakfast at a Korean restaurant.

First watched "Enteng Kabisote ... Okay Ka Fairy Ko the Legend". Starts out well but looks like they ran out of story at the ending. Sam was right in deciding we watched it first. When we got out the theatre, loads of people-mostly children were lining up.

Watched "Mano Po 3 ... My Love" next. Sam admitted not being able to relate to it. That means she had no idea why I had tears in my eye.

She was tired after that and instead of watching a 3rd movie, "Aishite Imas", we went out for coffee and then went home.

Now, I felt woozy when I was in the van going to Southmall, and I attributed it to probable lack of air or being stuck up in a vehicle that's under the hot sun and whose aircon unit doesn't have enough horse power to keep the temp cool. I thought the other time I felt that was coincidentally when a big quake hit Japan... but I thought it was silly to put the 2 together.

When I got home though, on the news was the great loss of lives that affected Indonesia and nearby countries because of a magnitude 9 quake.

Just creepy. The right lobe of my brain gives me a mild headache and sneezes before a heavy downpour ... while the left lobe makes me woozy after a quake.

PJ in Town

PJ's in town this week. She was one of those who responded to the Overseas Group's ad looking for people for overseas operations work. She passed the written exam in Cebu, now the bank flew her in for the interview.

She passed by the Dealing room as promised, with her supportive husband Jerry tagging along. Vikki, Cristy and I treated them to lunch at Tostado at the Blue Wave.

Gave some toys for her to bring back to her daughters Michelle and Praisel.

Boracay 2004

Really cut it close Friday morning ... twas almost boarding time when I arrived at the airport. The clerk, or whatever you call him, told me they were just about to close the counter. Point is, I didn't miss the plane and they were still open. There was this chubby lady in front of me with a familiar face ... and while I was waiting for my turn, I wondered if she was the comedianne on TV. Anyway, she took her time pulling out things from the bag that she hoped to hand carry but the airport guy said must be checked in. I found it amusing that most of her things were girly - that means in shades of pink and/or other pastel colors.

Esther, Rhoda and Jeng were in the same flight I was.


To read about our activities in Boracay, go to my pinoytourista page:
http://pinoytourista.blogspot.com/2004/11/boracay-2004.html

Happy Halloween!

It's raining pumpkins!

Whee!

Tina asked permission to avail her first 5-day leave from Tita Es but was denied. Reason? The IAS thing may start anytime now. Tina advised me to avail my leave if I can before IAS starts.

Therefore asked Boss Jun if I could avail my 2nd 5-day leave before IAS starts, and would he prefer I be gone next week or last week of October. He called up Boss Mar (my former boss in SMO) who's the head of FAD and leader of the IAS project. From what I gathered from Boss Jun's end of the conversation, Boss Mar's expecting the go signal anytime now and he doesn't think it's a good idea for me to be on a 10-day leave. Boss Jun explained that Treasury folk have clearance for two 5-day leaves and I'd only be gone 5 days. When he hung up the phone, Boss Jun told me to better make it next week.

Ofcourse I was excited to have another 5-day leave. Buddy isn't that happy though. Vikki's on her 5-day leave this week and when she comes back next week, I'm the one to be gone. Told him he could handle me being gone another 5 days - Vikki would leave me alone at the desk last year when she availed her leave and I managed. He was particularly concerned on whether he would be able to attend the Bloomberg seminar next Tuesday - Jeng and I told him Vikki could manage being left alone at the desk. He he he!

Flu

Vikki was on leave yesterday because one of her sons is sick. We were joking about sick leaves but I certainly didn't expect to wake up with an aching back this morning coupled with bouts of sneezing alternating with a runny nose. With the gross greenish stuff, I am sure it is a virus and not a reaction to a tropical depression (75% of the time, I have a sneezing bout just before a heavy rainfall).

Hoping to watch the DVD's I bought/rented. Unfortunately, my PC will not run 2 of the movies I rented, and only one of the DVD's I bought is working well. Have decided to learn CorelDraw since I'm stuck in the house.

Errands

Went to PNB with the intention of depositing some money in my PNB account. I'm one of those people who do not remember their Bank account numbers, and PNB is one of those banks that give you an ATM card with a number that's different from your account number - for security reasons and the fact that you can link two accounts in one card. It's not a problem because I just ask the new accounts teller to swipe my ATM card to get my account number. Unfortunately, the system was off line this morning and I had no intention of waiting since I had other things to do.

So, I just passed by Treasury to get my ham from the freezer, left PNB and deposited my money in my BPI account instead. Buddy saw me make an appearance in the dealing room but I didn't stop to chat ... intentionally. I had a feeling he was hoping I'd help him with entering some deals in OPICS. Thing is, I am on leave. I was answering his text messages, though, so no one can say I wasn't helping. Passed by BPI Family Bank to deposit Sal's check then headed to Ayala Mall, Makati.

Took my wrist watches to a repair shop. Been putting that off for a year or more and using my cellphone's clock instead.

I had accumulated PHP200 worth of rebates from National Book Store which will expire 15-Sept so I used them today. Found out they were giving another round of rebates last week. If I had gone then, my total purchases today would've given me about PHP100.00.

Bought a copy of SIMS2 before heading home.

Born in the Philippines

Was searching at imdb.com and realized that Filipinos have been entering a lot of their beloved movie actors/actresses into the database. Wondering how many Philippine actors (and movie-industry people) have made their way into the list, I ran a Place of Birth search for Philippines. It belched up more names than I expected, and gave me an added treat.

Filipinos are more or less aware when a known Filipino artist goes abroad and does well in his chosen profession (Lea Salonga). We also are quick in recognizing Filipinos who, even though previously unknown, become successful abroad either in the Music or Movie industry (Apl.de.Ap). We're even quick at tracing Filipino roots of foreign artists (Tia Carerre).

The following is not meant to be a list of successful, or known artists abroad; just a list of artists/entertainers who were born in the Philippines (not necessarily Filipinos), left the country virtually unknown, and ended up working in the entertainment industry of other countries. Some achieved fame, some remained unknowns:

-----edit 1 (17-Feb-2008): the following were all taken from imdb.com at the time of original writing***end of edit-----

Leo Abbey (1900-1990)
.....extra in American movies, whose only credited appearance was as Torres in the 1951 movie "I Was an American Spy", which starred Ann Dvorak and is about a woman spy during the Japanese occupation of Manila (Philippines)

Robert Alonzo (1970- )
.....stunt choreographer/coordinator, stunt double and bit actor in Hollywood action movies
.....last seen/credited in the movies Angel (Puerto Rico, starring Jimmy Smitts) and Terminator 3 (USA, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger), his latest project is the sci-fi film Ultraviolet (USA, in post-production as of August 2004 - starring Milla Jovovich) ... is this the same Ultraviolet of the UK TV series?
.....go to this site to find out more on this guy: http://www.stuntservice.com/robertalonzo/

Apl.de.Ap (1975- )
.....co-founder (with Will.i.am) and member of the American multi-ethnic rap crew Black Eyed Peas (BEP. The group's debut album was Behind the Front released in 1998. Their 3rd and latest album, Elephunk, was released in 2003.
.....Apl.del.Ap probably means Allan Pineda Lindo (his real name) de Angeles Pampanga (his birthplace). His mom is Filipino but his father is African American (he never met his father though and was raised solely by his mother).
.....this is BEP's official website: http://www.blackeyedpeas.com/

Luis Eduardo Aute (1943-)
.....Spanish composer, director, writer, actor, painter and performer of the Canto Nuevo music style (Latin music).
.....Catalan father and Filipina mother (Spanish descent). The family moved to Spain in 1954. .....his official website: http://www.clubcultura.com/clubmusica/clubmusicos/aute/home.htm

Miguel Ayesa (1970s? - )
.....Australian pop musician/writer, film and theater actor and sometimes voiceover actor.
.....he's appeared in some TV shows and in the American movie "Queen of the Damned" (2002). Recently starred in the play "We Will Rock You" (2003-2004) in London, a tribute to the rock group, Queen.
.....this is his clan's website: http://www.lacocinadetitamoning.com/the_family2.html

Ericson Balcita (1971 - )
.....American actor who appeared in the little known film "Southie" (1998) starring Donnie Wahlberg and Rose McGowan

Escolastico Baucin (1892-1965)
.....extra in American movies, credited appearances were in the 1942 movie "Texas to Bataan" (Known as "The Long, Long Trail" in UK) and "I Was an American Spy" (1951, see notes on Abbey, above)

Gil Rivera Blas (1970s?-)
.....still photographer and extra in American films and TV shows

Wil Castillo (1976-)
.....voice over actor for english version of animes like "NieA under 7" (2000) and "Nazca" (1998), and writer/technical director of the indie movie "U.P., Michigan!" (2001)

Emil Castro (1986-)
.....dancer/performer who appeared in the TV special "MGP 2002 - de unges melodi grand prix" in Denmark.

Trey Farley (1975-)
.....producer director of Hong Kong's Channel V, currently host/presenter in British TV. His father's English, his mother's Filipina.
.....more on this website: http://www.rdfmanagement.com/clients/trey_farley.html

Von Flores (1960-)
.....Canadian actor who appeared in several American and Canadian TV shows and movies. Best known for playing the character "Sandoval" in the TV series "Gene Roddenberry's Earth:Final Conflict" (1997).

Kim Fowley (1942-)
.....American/Irish music writer, arranger, producer, singer, musician, comic, promoter, publisher, disc jockey and manager who has contributed to the development of rock and roll in the 1960s
.....son of American actors Douglas Fowley and Shelby Payne
.....note that some write-ups say he was born in Los Angeles California and not in the Philippines
.....his official website: http://www.kimfowley.net/

Ceferino Garcia (1906-1981)
.....Philippine boxer who ended up being an extra (playing boxers/fighters) in American movies.

Charles Gemora (1903-1961)
....."Hollywood's greatest ape". For most of his career he appeared in Classic American horror movies in a gorilla suit. Sometimes he was an alien. Eventually became a make-up artist, costume designer and creature creator.

Alex Havier (1911-1945)
.....extra in numerous American movies, mostly uncredited appearances. Found dead (suicide) in Los Angeles California, his last performance was in the movie curiously titled "Nobody Lives Forever".

Billy Hinsche (1951-)
.....member of the American rock act "Dino, Desi and Billy" in the 1960s - his band mates were Dino Martin (Dean Martin's son) and Desi Arnaz, Jr. (Desi Arnaz, Sr. and Lucille Ball's son)
.....later performed/toured with the Beach Boys (1970s)
.....recently reformed his old band, but this time, it's "Ricci, Desi and Billy" - as Ricci took the place of his older brother Dino

Allan Shishir Inocalla (1947-)
.....Canadian martial arts expert who has done stunts in numerous American action movies and TV series.

Leon Lontoc (1908-1974)
.....started as an uncredited extra in numerous American movies and tv shows... eventually became a regular in the TV series "Burke's Law" (1963-1965) playing the character of Henry the chauffer/valet.

Don Pancho (1979-)
.....member of the Aussie band "The DNA Rock" and one of the finalists in the Australian TV show/contest "Popstars Live!"

Lou Diamond Philips (1962-)
.....American actor who first got noticed in "La Bamba" (1987), and later starred in the "Young Guns" movies (1988 and 1990). He is also a writer, director and producer.

Willy Santos (1975-)
.....American skater (skateboard) who appear in TV sports shows and does skateboard stunts in movies.
.....this is his website: http://www.willysantos.com/

Ramon Sison (1940s?-)
.....Doctor and lifetime MENSA member who would sometimes dabble in acting for American movies or TV shows (a few roles called for him to portray a doctor)

Ralph Soncuya (1896-1963)
.....extra in American movies, usually uncredited

Juan Torena (1898-1983)
.....appeared in American movies, usually those done in the Spanish language.

Doug Torres (1969-)
.....assistant director in a number of American films, director of music videos, and lately ventured into directing, writing, producing, and playing a bit role in his own movie, "That Brief Moment" (2002)

Joe Wong (1903-1978)
.....actor in American movies

Brian Yuzna (1951-)
.....producer, director, writer of American films. Built a reputation as producer of gory horror films ("Re-animator" 1985), but he also wrote/produced kiddie films like "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" (1989)
.....his children Zoe, Conan, Noah and Logan Yuzna were extras in his movies

Neile Adams (1936-)
.....Broadway actress who appeared in American movies, once married to Steve McQueen with whom she had children (Chad and Terry). She wrote "My Husband, My Friend: A Memoir" (1986), a biography of her late ex-husband McQueen.

Anisa (1972-)
.....appears in American adult movies (translate: at least x-rated), sometimes credited as Kim/Kimi Lee or Naomi Wang

Meliah Bautista (1980s?-)
.....appeared as an extra in some American movies made in Hawaii

Mylin Brooks (1975-)
.....alumna of that Disney TV show Mickey Mouse Club (1990-1992), commercial model, appeared in the movie "Starship Troopers" (1997), songwriter and recording artist. Her latest album, "The Best of Mylin", was released in 2002
.....write-up in MMC online: http://www.geneofun.on.ca/mmconline/cast/mylin.html

Tess Broussard/Boussard (1968-)
..... "Eurasian" commercial model and sexy actress who appears in American commercials, TV shows and movies - some of which could be considered as porn.
.....her website: http://www.tessbroussard.net/index.html

Lourdes Faberes (1975-)
.....British theater and TV actress.

Doris Fitton (1897-1985)
.....Australian theatrical actress and director who appeared in a couple of films. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981 for services to the theater.

Cassandra Hitti (1977-)
.....American actress, appeared in "Time Lapse" (2001)

Layla (1980-)
.....appears in American adult movies

Leanni Lei (1978-)
.....appears in American adult movies

Loni (1970s or 1980s?-)
.....appears in American adult movies

Brenda Marshall (1915-1992)
.....actress of classic American movies, once married to William Holden

Mei-Yu (1978-)
.....appears in American adult movies

Meiling Melancon (1980-)
.....extra in American action movies and TV shows

Vanessa Minnillo (1980-)
.....Miss Teen USA winner turned sexy American TV host (1998)

Angelica Pamintuan (1970-)
.....Mystique magazine model, and extra in American movies

-----edit 2 (17-Feb-2008): have checked the imdb this 2008 and details written for A. Pamintuan have changed from what was written in 2004. Since I could not find any direct link from Playboy to her on the net, and she has given interviews denying ever having been a Playboy playmate, I have erased that from the above***end of edit-----

Susan Penhaligon (1949-)
.....British theater and TV actress

Cristina Raines-Crowe a.k.a. Tina Herazo (1952-)
.....American TV actress

Pia Reyes (1964-)
.....Playboy playmate for Nov 1988 and appeared in sexy/adult movies. She and husband Christophe Rocancourt (they had 9 children!) were arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2001 on charges of fraud

Pilar Seurat (1938-2001)
.....appeared in numerous American TV shows in the 50s and 60s, as well as some movies. Mother of Hollywood writer/producer Dean Devlin and half-sister of producer (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, 1996) Alana H. Lambros.

Camile Velasco (1985-)
.....finalist in the TV show "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2004)

Giselle Lynn/Yum (1977-)
.....appears in adult movies

April ONE

Did some searching in Google for April 1 events.

To start with, Veneralia was celebrated to honor Venus in ancient Rome (we're talking about the whole empire, not the city). It is said that the festivities to herald the start of the year in the old Julian calendar extended to April 1 or near the date, and when Europe shifted to the Gregorian calendar, the celebration morphed into what many countries observe today as April Fool's Day.

Other events that happened on this day:
1803: France sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States
1826: The internal combustion engine is patented by Samuel Morey (USA)
1866: The US Congress rejects veto of Pres. A. Johnson on Civil Rights Act (passed April 9)
1875: The first newspaper weather map is published by Sir Francis Galton in England
1889: First dishwashing machine introduced in Chicago Illinois, USA
1933: Organization of the Anti-Jewish Boycott by the NAZI Germany
1938: Seigel and Shuster's Superman debuts in Action Comics #1 (June 1938 issue, USA)
1939: General Francisco Franco officially ends the Spanish Civil War, Franco Gov't recognized
1947: First Jewish immigrants disembark at Port of Eilat, Israel
1952: Big Bang Theory proposed in Physical Review by US scientists Alpher, Bethe and Gamow
1960: USA's NASA launches TIROS1, the first weather observation satellite
1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in California, USA
1979: Iran becomes an Islamic Republic.
1979: Nickelodeon Network (originally Pinwheel) debuts on American Cable TV
1982: US formally transfers Canal Zone to Panama
2001: First legal same-sex marriage in Netherlands and Quebec Canada is celebrated

Real people born on this day:
1578: William Harvey, d. 1657
............English Physician known for Discovery of (Blood) Circulation
1776: Sophie Germain, d. 1831
............French Mathematician who worked on the Theory of Elasticity (Metals)
1815: Otto von Bismarck, d. 1898
............Prussian prime minister, founder and chancellor of the German Empire
1873: Sergei Rachmaninoff, d. 1943
............Russian/American composer, pianist and conductor
................."Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is one of his known works
1908: Abraham Maslow, d. 1970
............American philosopher and psychologist, best remembered for his "Hierarchy of Needs"
1926: Anne McCaffrey
............American science fiction author, most associated with the Pern series of books
1932: Debbie Reynolds
............American actress/dancer
.................Best Actress Academy Award nominee for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (1964)
1938: Ali MacGraw
............American actress, shot to fame in the movie "Love Story" (1970)

Fictional characters supposedly born this day:
1978: Fred and George Weasley - "The Weasley Twins"
............Characters from the 7-book British Harry Potter series (1997- ) by J.K. Rowling
1980: Bartholomew J. Simpson - "Bart"
............Character from the US Cartoon show, The Simpsons.(1989- ) by Matt Groening
.................Note: Birthday could also be Dec. 17, 1979 or June 25, 1982

http://www.jkrowling.com/ and alt.fan.harry-potter

Finally looked up JK Rowling's official site ... and got some updates on Harry Potter. No wonder I often see the topic "Half Blood Prince" in forums these days ... never read them thinking it was another fanfic title - surprise! It's the actual title of the 6th book. When I first saw the name Ginevra Weasley in a fanfic, I thought it was a joke - found out that Rowling said it is the character's real name. Someone please tell the lady that the name brings to mind a brand of gin in the Philippines - Ginebra San Miguel. Hey, what about someone creating a fanfic character with the name Virginia St. Michael? He he he!

Once you get tired of looking through the official Harry Potter sites of Scholastic, Warner Bros., and Bloomsbury, as well as the sites of Rowling, and HP movie actors like Felton, Waylett, etc. ... and you find no interesting HP fanfic in fanfiction.net, reading the posts in the "alt.fan.harry-potter" newsgroup is very interesting. Actually, I just go to Google : Groups, type "harry potter" or similar keywords, and read whatever catches my fancy.

A recent topic is making me chuckle - people are seriously discussing the theory that Dumbdledore and Ron Weasley are the same person. If I got it right, Ron supposedly went back in time and was Dumbledore. Wouldn't be surprised if the person who started this idea has read T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" (love this novel) where Merlin ages backward.

Then they analyze just about every scene and character. Sheesh!! If I ever write anything that gets published, and these guys start analyzing it, they'd end up knowing more about the novel than I do. Wonder if Rowling feels the same way?

Haven't finished the thread yet ... and I am amazed at the length the proponents of the theory have gone to in order to prove their point. Hilarious, but AMAZING.

Mulawin

Finally had the chance to watch an episode of the GMA-7 TV series Mulawin ... and it has promise. Irritating though that F*R*I*E*N*D*S, Charmed/Jake2.0 and Mulawin are more or less on the same time slot.

Just woke up to a weird dream ... a person had written a song ... I think I have actually heard the song in real life although I can't remember when... so maybe this is a dream of how a person wrote a song.

Ofcourse nothing beats the dream I had (this happened around last year) of Legolas seducing Aragorn. The only reason I could think of having that one would be I had read a slash (fan fiction featuring male/male relationship) story about LOTR characters. I woke up because the scene was disturbing, then had a good laugh after I realized the effect fanfiction was having on me.

Finally got around to buying myself a new bag and wallet ... the bag I used to bring (gift from Sal) gave out 2 months ago, and the wallet I was using (gift from Boss Jong) is about to fall apart.

King Arthur

Jeng gave me three movie passes for King Arthur. She got them from Buddy who in turn got it from the head of the MTRCB who used to work in PNB.

I brought Jon and Sam to watch the movie with me. Sam was on the way home when I texted her the invite so she got to SM South Mall first. Then I got there after 6:30, met her at Chow King, then I texted Jon to meet us in front of the Cinema. Jon took a long time to get there because he took a detour and bought a set of Motorola walkie-talkies for Ma and Pa's use.

Few people were watching the movie, sad to say. Although the premise was okay, the movie had no solid story line ... Arthur and his knights start out on a mission to evacuate an important Roman family from Britain (shades of Saving Private Ryan), they find themselves outnumbered by Saxons in war (Sam is reminded of Lord of the Rings - Two Towers), there's some interaction between Arthur and Guenevere (not much romance), Lancelot dies (in the beginning, he's doing the narrating, so this is not a story from a person's point of view), Arthur is made king.

It was past nine when we left the theater. No more restaurants open in South Mall so Jon and I headed back to Pacita. Stepped into Jollibee to eat a quick dinner, but gauging from the couple ordering in front of us, there's not much of the menu available and we have to wait before we get the food. Decided that if we're going to end up waiting to be served, might as well eat in Shakey's.

Bee!

Yvette called me but I wasn't anywhere near my phone, then she texted me. I saw the message on the bus ride home. Since I haven't figured out yet how to save new numbers to my address book from a phone call or a text message, I ended up calling her number a few times, dropping it just before the connection was made or she picked up the call.

I was at the check-out line in the supermarket when Yvette called me. I must have looked funny trying to handle a phone call while putting my purchases on the counter and getting out cash from my wallet. Since I haven't talked to Yvette in years, I wouldn't think of asking her to "call later".

She got my number from Rach, and they made contact after so many years through friendster.com ... Hmmmn, now that I know four people in Friendster, I think I may just activate my account which I opened months ago. I still couldn't figure out what use this site is for me, apart from finding lost friends.

Catwoman

Watched Catwoman with Sam at South Mall. Adored Halle Berry. Since she is NOT Selena Kyle, they made it appear that there have been many catwomen through history starting from ancient Egypt where the goddess Bastet takes the form of a cat.

Did not like her final outfit, albeit the guys would love seeing Halle in the thing.

It wasn't a "took my breath away" experience of a movie, but I enjoyed it just the same. Sam seem to like it more than I do ... she has the rebellious streak and loves cats (she has cats for pets). Unfortunately, Sam hates heights.

Got my New Phone

Finally exchanged my old Nokia 3350 with a Sony Ericsson T230. Looking at the logbook Budget asked me sign, I was the last one on the page to exchange my phone. I think my phone was available around OPICS conversion but I was too busy to get it.

Now have a phone that's got polyphonic ringtones, capable of recording sound, has MMS, has an e-mail inbox/outbox, can create groups (so I don't have to send the same text message more than once to different people) . If I want the camera features, I must buy the accessory. Don't think I will.

PNB Anniversary

It's been a whole day feast.

Breakfast was cinnamon and mocha care of Bank of New York.

We had 2 lechons for Lunch care of Wachovia and Banque Paribas.

Invited the bank president, directors, other senior officers to lunch ... some came without invitation. They must have enjoyed the experience - someone asked when Treasury will have its next feast. Try Christmas.

The bank theme being Filipiniana, the dealing room had banderitas. Since we wanted to have some semblance of a costume while not having to wear ternos like the Cash people decided to do, the dealing room men wore barong/camiso chino, jeans and bandana on the neck, while the women wore black long sleeve shirts and black slacks with a long piece of cloth hung from the left shoulder and the ends tied near the waist on the right. Milette lent me a folded malong, which is easier to use because I don't have to tie it.

The marketing folk planned some games like "palayok" (try to hit the hanging pot while blindfolded), and Boss Jong actually placed baby powder in the candy-laden pots. We had the janitor cleaning the floor every time the game was played. Then there was the dating game, which was hilarious. Jan gets top marks for having the most outrageous answers.

Had eaten a lot that I didn't eat the dinner provided by the PNB for free.

I, Robot

Advance Screening of I,Robot at SM Megamall 7pm today. Got three tickets which Marketing raffled off earlier this week. Sam said she'd meet me at Dulcinea. Jon and I have finished eating and still there was no Sam in sight. Apparently, Dulcinea was previously located in a different place and Sam thought there was no Dulcinea restaurant in Megamall anymore. She texted us to meet her in Goldilock's instead. We didn't find her there either. It was 6:30 and we saw a line at the cinema so I texted Sam to find us in the line. It was Jon's unfortunate lot to have someone at the back of him asking about "AVP" ... the "Aliens vs. Predator" movie.

Advance Screenings usually being fund raisers, therefore a pseudo-social event, the movie did not start at once. We were subjected to a barrage of commercials from the sponsors, then sit through an "emcee" thanking the sponsors and talking about the foundation, listen to a testimonial from a graduate of the program, then endure another round of the same set of commercial adverts. I sighed in relief when the movie finally started.

Being a "casual fan" of Isaac Asimov, his books made me like robot movies even though some people think they could not connect to the robot character. Therefore I liked A.I. and this one. Sam would have enjoyed it as well if there was little tech talk ... I had to "translate" some terms for her.

Left the mall after 10pm, and since the MRT's last trip's at ten, Sam joined Jon and I on the bus to Alabang where we accompanied her to the stop for Las Pinas-bound jeepneys before boarding a Pacita bound jeepney ourselves.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Opened June 2 in Manila. Sam and I watched it. Watched it again twice after that. Following is a copy of my post in an online forum (June 13):

Love the movie. Watched it 3 times, 3 difft movie houses, with difft people (on two occassions anyway coz watched it alone once), and found out newer things with each viewing. Would have watched it today for the fourth time. I think I would have noticed more things in the movie.

Having had a dose of 2 previous HP films, 3 LOTR films, and Troy, I've had enough of expecting movies being true to the books 100% - they simply won't. Makes me enjoy the movie better, too.

Based on the reaction of people who saw the movie but aren't familiar with the book, two things can either happen:

1. They don't understand the movie because some characters pop in and out without too much introduction.

2. Those who understood the movie would have missed the other parts of the book that didn't make it to the screen. They'd know that Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter were classmates, but not know they were the same Padfoot, Mooney, Prongs and Wormtail in the map. They'd probably figure out Snape knew James, but not really digest that they were in the same batch in school. No one questioned why Lupin knew how to read the map - they assume he used magic to figure it out. They wouldn't know Ron and Hermione had a falling out because of the new broom because the said broom didn't arrive till the last part of the movie. They wouldn't think Crookshanks COULD be a magical cat (that fact was not affirmed in the book).

Other comments, and in no particular order:

Believe it or not, my favorite in the movie is THE tree with an attitude - the Whomping Willow ofcourse! Irritated with chirpy birds, would get rid of snow if it could - a real all-around grouch personified in a tree.

Malfoy is a real sissy here - a contrast from the slightly malicious kid of the previous two movies.

Ron in this movie is the apologetic coward, and is not much different from the sissy Malfoy. Brilliant facial expressions in some scenes, overdoing it in others.

Hermione's turned superwoman - didn't her arms ache at throwing Harry into the passageway under the whomping willow?

Harry's more the regular kid here. I liked that.

Dumbledore's more mischievous, but he's not coming across as the wise old man that vibrates strong power. Harris lacked the mischief, Gambon lacked the "presence". Wish Gambon would recreate Dumbledore into someone between the two characterizations... otherwise he's just the mischievous old man.

Once I have the DVD I would freeze the frame on the news article that had the Weasleys in Egypt. What does Bill look like? Was Scabbers on Ron's shoulders as he was in the book?

The charms professor had a makeover ... barely recognized him except for the height

The hippogriff looked grand. Awe-inspiring creature yet adorable - can't get enough ferrets, it seems.

Crookshanks didn't have much exposure, which disappointed me a bit. But maybe that's because my family loves cats (can't help loving the creatures - the oldest one we have is smart - she woke everyone up when a snake got in the house, and her male kitten amuses us because he watches TV as if he understood it - his brother and sisters don't watch TV though, just sleep on the TV sets).

I haven't read Book3 for a long time, but is the song sung by the choir at the opening of Hogwarts in the book? The words are just very familiar to me, I could have read it somewhere else if not in the HP books ... although in my mind it's a woman's voice saying the words.

I fear the onslaught of Remus/Sirius slash fiction ... the friend who watched it with me on opening day (Jun 2) was giggling at the shrieking shack and wolf transformation scenes ... she wouldn't be the only one thinking about a slash plot. Same person thinks Hermione's turning into a two-timer (playing Ron and Harry). With her making me giggle at even Harry saying to Snape, "Put down your wand", I just had to watch the movie a second time - alone, with a "pure" mind, and no one distracting me with silliness!

First King: A Tale of the Children of Gibon

I had an idea to write stories based on the epic Darangen. It would be my version ofcourse and I will take a lot of liberties in changing the story to suit MY taste. Problem is ... very early on I ended up having a block ... or rather, my schedule just didn't lend enough time for me to continue writing ... I got addicted to the PC game Sims and Sims2. Click on the Title above if you want to check what I managed to write down at Fiction Press. My one reviewer seemed to like it.

Lost Something?

If I hadn't left my camera with the cinema usher yesterday, I wouldn't know what the Security Office of SM South Mall looks like, or where it is for that matter. You get to their small office following a long white walled corridor.

Would have been uneventful if it weren't for the other client who was in there with me. She was in her late forties, lost her key to her Mazda, and was telling a long story on how the key ended up on the parking lot floor. The long story was unnecessary, all the guards wanted was proof that she owned the car, and unfortunately, her driver's license does not say that she owns the car in question. It was a distressing situation for her, but I was trying hard to keep a straight face while waiting for the guard to release my camera. Why? She was trying to impress the guards by speaking english but she wasn't good in speaking the language ... made the guards more suspicious if you ask me. If she was pretending to speak fluently in another language, can't she be pretending to own the car as well? She would have fared better speaking Filipino, with or without an accent.

Subic Trip, A Recital, and 50 First Dates

March is about to end so I decided to avail of the free overnight stay in Subic International Hotel as the offer is good till March 31 only. This is the prize I won last December in MART's Christmas party.

Read more here:
http://pinoytourista.blogspot.com/2004/03/my-so-called-subic-trip.html

After lunch we hopped on a bus bound for Manila and got to St. Scholastica's College around 4:30pm. One of Sam's friends had a recital (choir conducting) at the chapel and she was invited. When her classmates saw her, she was asked to help turn the pages of the pianist's music sheet.

After the recital, there was food (just found out that in the Music Department, it is a custom for the students to prepare some food after their recital, and if it's a grand recital, people expect cocktails ... expensive course, huh?).

After we ate, Sam and I hopped onto another bus, got down at SM South Mall and watched 50 First Dates (Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymoore). The usher insisted I deposit my camera with them (not allowed in theaters). Since it was the last show for the day, the usher had gone home by the time the movie was over. Not in the mood to find out where "Security" is to get my camera, I decided to come back for it another day.

Another trip to Chinatown

Sam and I was in Binondo this morning.

This time, we were into Chinese food:

Check my pinoytourista blog entry: http://pinoytourista.blogspot.com/2004/02/food-in-chinatown.html

Valentine Lunch at Marina

Those in the dealing room who got promoted this February treated everyone to lunch at the Marina. That's 5 buckets of oysters, 3 platters of rice, 3 pots of kare-kare, 2 platters of pinakbet, 2 platters of eggplant salad, 3 sizzling plates of tanigue, 2 plates of a big fish some thought to be pla-pla (I'm not good at identifying fish unless it's bangus, lapu-lapu or tilapia), bottomless iced tea, a few bottles of San Mig Light and SMB pale pilsen, and leche flan for dessert. Whew! We were sleepy by afternoon because our stomachs were full and a number of us chose to stand rather than sit in front of the screens.

Lunch with Sam at Pier One

Sam dropped by the bank to make some deposits. She had planned to go to school afterwards and then do some research at the Folk Arts Theater library. The line at the main branch is long as usual and it totally ruined her mood. She expected me to pull some strings so that she could bypass the line ... except that I don't pull strings for myself when I need to transact anything at the main branch so I wasn't much help to her.

We ate at Pier One for lunch. We ordered Crispy Pata and when the food came, we realized it was good for around three or four people. We ate half then Sam took home the rest. We had some coffee at the Courtyard Cafe afterwards.

In the afternoon, Sam called me to tell me that she ended up passing by the hospital for high blood pressure. It was the food. Ouch!

Babies, babies, babies

Text message:
"Text from PJ: I gave birth 2 a baby girl last jan22. We named her michelle grace coz she's a grace fr d lord."
Sender: Jeng
Sent: 30-Jan-2004 18:15:44

First baby of the year. Around end of February or March, Cris will give birth to a boy. In July, Es will also give birth. Zhet also gave birth last month.

Lots of babies, huh?

Who in the world is Princess Greniger?

I left late because I finished my laundry ... I had to if I want to have fresh clothes to wear tomorrow. If I had left 30 minutes earlier, I'd probably still be late. Today's a day for enduring painstaking traffic.

There's traffic in EDSA because a couple on a motorbike got hit by trucks whose drivers were racing each other. The couple had helmets on but the trucks smashed the helmets as well. In other words, they're dead. One of the truck drivers was arrested. The other escaped. That's the cause for the traffic north of Manila. At the south super highway, which is my route, a truck caught fire and therefore caused another traffic. It's one of the rare days where there are accidents caused by traffics at both entry points to Manila.

I could have spent time sleeping in the bus but i was preoccupied listening to the two students seated behind me. One of the girls mentioned that a professor gave her an assignment which was to make paper on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Piece of cake? Not for this girl.

Her only exposure to the legend of King Arthur is the movie "First Knight" starring Richard Gere and Sean Connery. Tsk. tsk. I've seen the movie and I could say that it's not a good start ... it dwells on the love affair of Lancelot and Guenevere and not much on the other aspects of the legend.

The other girl, trying to be helpful, told her about seeing another movie about King Arthur but this time a person from the present was transported back in time to the King's court ... I was shaking my head a bit by then. The kid was talking about "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" or a tale derived from that classic. Once again, not a good reference material if you really want to find out about King Arthur and his Round Table. If they're going to go with movies ... I'd suggest they try to rent Camelot which stars Richard Harris.

Then the helpful girl offered whatever info she knew ... that there is King Arthur, and there are some knights, and a princess or a queen whose name is Greniger. I had to stop myself from laughing and tried to muffle my chuckles.

While they were discussing First Knight, I had thought about telling them to try looking for Thomas Mallory's "Le Morte d' Arthur". When the Connecticut Yankee movie came up, I thought of recommending T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" which is a witty take on the legend. However, when I heard Princess Greniger, I wanted to tell them to head to the nearest Children's Library and grab one of the many books on King Arthur ... so that they'll have the names correct for starters! As funny incidents go, this is a classic! What's funnier, although it's also ironic, is that I think both are studying in St. Scho.

I texted this to Rachel, Sam, Jeng and Mimi. Rachel pitied me for having to endure them, Sam laughed and said the kids are out of this world, while Mimi told me to do the girls a favor and straighten them out ... and she meant tell the girls how to do their paper right. I told Mimi that 1. The girls have switched on a walkman and are now singing out of tune while sharing the earphones, and 2. I run the risk of being branded a nosy person to try telling them what to do. And I really mean out of tune.

Are kids really ignorant of King Arthur these days? These girls aren't really dumb ... when someone texted them that the heavy traffic is due to the fact that Wednesday is Baclaran day, they said that's crap and they even know the term psychologists use for people's tendency to make up excuses to explain otherwise unexplainable events. Maybe the professor gave the girl that paper because he was aware that kids today hardly know who King Arthur is.

Well, this is the Philippines, not England. It is not such a sad thing.

Where'd my voice go?

I woke up this morning to find out that I don't have a voice. My voice was already hoarse yesterday but I never expected that today I won't be able to make a sound louder than a whisper.

Major dilemma!

I had no problem riding the bus ... the bus conductor collects fares by approaching each new passenger. I could whisper and he'd still understand that I'm headed for Makati. When my stop was near, I raised my hand when the conductor asked if anyone would be going down at Buendia ... I was seated at the front so he saw me and told the driver to stop.

The problem was with riding a jeepney. I had to wait for someone to pay so that I could include mine with his/her fare. Then I had to hope that someone would be dropping off near Tordesillas St. which was my stop. All that just to avoid speaking. It hurt to speak and it's bordering on comical to be whispering.

When I entered the computer room at Ateneo for the CSST exam, the proctor asked my name, I motioned that I had no voice so he had to wait till I reach the front for me to whisper who I was. Comic relief before the exam, thank you very much.

According to Ben Gomez, who's always been the proctor for the BAP certification exams, statistically none of the first three to finish the exams have failed. I finished early, but dreaded to be among the first to stand up ... people notice that. During the FX exam in 1997, I waited for Cris to finish and then we left ... being among the first to leave. We passed and everyone had the impression that we were very confident to leave without waiting to hear the exam results ... er, we didn't know we were supposed to wait.

I decided to note down the gist of the exam questions instead as I bided my time. Very naughty, but at the time I thought it was something to do for kicks. When Ben decided to walk around, I packed up and hit the "finish" button on the computer then left.

Everyone in this week's batch passed. Irma of Bank of Commerce and Linda of BPI invited us to eat outside to celebrate. Pia had a lunch date, and I declined, foreseeing the probable difficulty I would have ordering and engaging in conversation without a voice. Iris didn't want to join them on her own so she also declined.

I headed home immediately and checked up on my SIMS .... did I mention that eversince buying that game last January 10 I had been addicted to the SIMS? So far I've got the "House Party", "Living Large", "Hot Date", "Vacation", and "Unleashed" expansion packs. I want to buy the "Superstar" and "Making Magic" expansion packs but I think I don't have enough gigabytes to spare the game from crashing.

2nd Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

Victor told me earlier this week that there would be a sci-fi fair at the Rockwell Mall this weekend. Asked Jon if he wanted to check it out and he asked what the schedule of activities were. I found the sched at their website. Jon picked Sunday - and I think he did so because he wanted to listen to the talk on customizing scale models ... which he was into.

When we did get to Rockwell, the fair was a small event held at the parking lot and I could probably go through the whole thing in less than 10 minutes. Frankly, I expected more. I left Jon listening to the scale model guys while I went through the tents. Most of them are just selling stuff.

When Jon had finished listening to and talking with the scale model folk, we had lunch at Dulcinea. We ordered Paella, but it wasn't as good the one from Illustrado in Intramuros. While we were eating, a waiter dropped a water glass 2 tables away. Minutes later, the glass sheet at a second floor railing cracked. That was weird.

After lunch, we checked out the Powerplant Mall shop by shop. We had intended to return to the convention to see the costume contest but forgot about it. We were checking out a toy store when the costumed convention goers passed by - they paraded around the mall so technically we didn't miss seeing the costumes at all.

When we've combed through the small mall, we flagged down a cab and headed to Glorietta where Jon bought some groceries and I bought the SIMS De Luxe before heading home.

Hopefully, the next convention would be more fun.

So, you can actually find this blog on Google...

Text Message

Discovered GRAPEVINE while surfing d net. Can't beliv i'm part of some of ur stories. Like wat u said in ur site, we shld be vry afraid... Ha! Ha!

Sender:
Rach Yapchiongco

Sent:
15-Jan-2004
23:37:56

I was surfing d net 2 kill time. i google-search myself & 2 my gr8 surprise i found my name in a site. Quite amusing. How much do u pay w maintain d site or is it free? Hans' growing cuter each day. Syempre, lov ur own. :-) Btw, wala na yung dark marks arnd my neck. I gues, dat was part of pregnancy. Ha! Ha!

Sender:
Rach Yapchiongco

Sent:
16-Jan-2004
08:26:05

Returning for Return of the King

Broker Prebon Yamane Phils. sponsored a special screening of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King tonight at the Theater 3 of the Glorietta 4. I got three tickets - one given to me by Prebon, and the tickets given to Vikki and Jong. I gave one ticket to Jon and gave the other ticket to Cheryl so that her husband Bong can join her... she only had one ticket which was originally given to Boss Boy.

Jan, Cheryl and I hitched a ride with Cris to Glorietta, we had a brief snack at Food Choices. Met Jon there - he was lugging a huge bag of groceries which Ma asked him to buy.

If the crowd at the advanced screening was hooting at some scenes that are "slashy", and the crowd last Sunday had teenage girls swooning at Viggo and Orlando, tonight's crowd - composed of bank traders and family/friends was quiet. .. Which brings home how serious this crowd is... and explains how boring I could find my fellow traders to be. He he he!

Screening was at 8pm, so we got home past midnight. I kinda slept through some parts since this is the fourth time I'm seeing the movie (the December screening and watching it 2 times with Sam last Sunday) and I do lack some sleep.

Another day in Manila

While I was looking for the Praise Song Book and had everyone else in the house looking for it as well, Ma found Pa's class picture when he was training in the army just before World War II came to the Philippines. Jon scanned to enlarge it and today we went to Ocana at Gil Puyat to have the scanned picture printed onto photo paper. Paid PHP100 for 2 copies. Had some of Pa's certificates photocopied as well.

Afterwards, we went to De La Salle University where I enrolled for residency. I didn't know today was the last day so I found myself waiting for my turn at the Accounting office in a looooong line. Gave Jon a copy of the Asian Wall Street Journal while he was waiting at the gate.

It was almost 12noon when I finished, so Jon and I ate lunch at Pizza Hut Harrison Plaza. We had planned to tour Intramuros, but decided to go to Binondo instead. But before we left HP, we bought some PC CDs. I bought the SIMS and a program you can use to design houses. Jon got the latest version of Adobe Photoshop.

To read our adventure in Intramuros, Binondo and CCP Complex, go to my pinoytourista blog here: http://pinoytourista.blogspot.com/2004/01/intramuros-binondo-and-ccp-complex.html

A Day in Manila

Met Sam at Beraldi's Cafe in SM Southmall. We could have gone to Tagaytay, but went to Intramuros instead.

read the rest of the adventure in my pinoytourista blog:

http://pinoytourista.blogspot.com/2004/01/day-in-manila.html