2011

No matter how many times I’ve said it, I still feel I have to say it again – and this probably wont be the last time: I wish I could blog so much more often!!

If only I could spend at least an hour or two a day to blogging, I’m quite sure I’d be one happy camper (one because that I’ve got stuff to blog about and I very seldom blog unhappy stuff! two, I’m blogging at least once a day because I’ve got tons of happy stuff going on and I’m so rolling in dough that I pretty much don’t care about anything but blogging!) But back to the plane of reality, to traffic at Katipunan, to hours with the punching bag that I can’t seem to find, to people so evil it’s hard to believe they aren’t f*****g demons. So, that off my chest, let’s go to 2011!

To kick off my very first blog of 2011: I had a great Christmas season – wait, that’s 2010 and for another blog. So, to 2011. First things first and of importance to the female population of the world: colour of the year!

It’s called (drumroll) honeysuckle. Not hot pink, people, honeysuckle. I like that word, I really do, kinda makes you hungry, the colour certainly is to die for. Pantone released said colour of the year and the exact shade is this:

I love this one

Have to say, its a boost up from last year’s turquoise. Haven’t got nearly enough accessories in this colour to date, but I’m confident I will pretty soon. In fact, I just realized this is a near perfect match to the stack of post-its I’ve accumulated last year! So yes, you can bet I’ll be making use of that. Just occurred to me someone made a gift of a quality shawl to me for Christmas, and it’s honeysuckle. Cheers!

To another thing a lot of people look to on a daily basis: Horoscope. Even someone who isn’t an avid fan of this should know this: a new star sign has been added to our star charts! Weird, right? It’s called Ophiucus, and this is what I’ve got on the topic, off Wikipedia:

It is located between Aquila, Serpens and Hercules, northwest of the center of the Milky Way. The southern part lies betweenScorpius to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is best visible in the northern summer and located opposite Orion in the sky. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a serpent; the interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, which are nonetheless counted as one constellation.

I dunno about you guys but what’ll stay with me about this new star, Ophiucus, is what MX, one of my cousins, told me about it. This was how our conversation went:
MX: You didn’t know that? That there’s a new star sign?
Me: What? (disbelief) The hell. What’s it called?
MX: Ophiucus, afer Optimus Prime

So there. Before, I didn’t like my decisions being influenced because of something I read – you follow the horoscope or you take the other route specifically to counter the horoscope, but either way it greatly influenced your decision making! Now, I have another reason not to read horoscope: I wouldn’t want to be influenced by Optimus Prime. I mean, red, blue, yellow, silver… he’s nearly got the entire color wheel there…

Now to another area of interest to most Filipinos, Fil-Am personalities. Charice Pempengco, or simply Charice as she’s now called, was among the 11 to watch out for in 2011 of E! This is some source of pride as she looks so Filipina and yes, moves much like one. It’s no secret I waited by the minute for her Glee episode and my only disappointment was that she didn’t spend the whole episode singing, but I can live with that. I sure hope she gets at least two more episodes there this year. This is hopeful, so let’s wait. Some people have also told me that Mark Salling, who plays Puck in Glee, spent Christmas at Boracay West Cove. Apparently, when his flight out was delayed he supposedly tweeted something like: another day in paradise. Also, he supposedly he caught our Pound for Pound King, Manny Paquiao, there and our champ obliged for a pic and even paid for the guest’s meal – now that’s a world class Filipino. No, I’m not a stockholder or promotions officer of Boracay West Cove, but yes, ‘paradise’ was my exact word for the place the first moment I got there, and resounding yes, every Filipino should go there at least once in their lifetime. It’s one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever go to, Miami beach included. People, the Brangelina bunch vacationed there, its that great. It’ll be something akin to a bloodbath to get reservations for the summer, so book yours now. If you’re lucky, they’ll still have a room or two open. And you may even catch a glimpse of Paquiao, one of the owners, there, now that is what I call incentive.

To the must have gadget. Yes, yes, I know the iPhone4 was released last year, but as the apple tag line says, this changes everything, again. They sell the 16Gb at Greenhills for only 37,500.00 and I say only 37,500.00 because it goes for 39,950.00 at Globe. Is it worth it, time will tell. But it certainly is an eye candy; so much so that for me it carries over as the 2011 must have gadget – to date at least. So I’m all set for 2011 as I just got mine, and I looove it! I deliberated over the color for a while – I’d normally pick black without a second thought, but this time I hesitated. Both looked good when I hold it in my hand with my beloved 8801 – and theres no way that I’ll replace that phone unless my father gives me his Sirocco or Ferrari Vertu – so I had a problem.

The ultimate in glamorous basic mobile phones. No fussy apps, no fancy cases, just pure class.

The metal strip at the side of the iPhone 4 made the decision for me. If you look at the iPhone 4 from the side, with the metal strip in the spotlight, the white suddenly looks tacky, at least for me. Just as suddenly, the black one killed.

I originally wanted to post a picture of my black iPhone4, but I also wanted to take the said pic with my iPhone4's HD cam. Seeing as thats impossible, I just posted one off the web

I’ve had my phone since Friday night and I must admit we haven’t spent a lot of time apart yet, and won’t until about after a month or two. I’ve still got tons to load into the monster memory space…

My cousin MX did the jailbreak for me (what is past tense for that, jailbreak?) like he did the jailbreak of all the iPods of our side of the family. He even gave me ringtones of my choice! Five stars for MX.

My sister is considering the Galaxy which would be so useful to a med student like her mainly because it’ll carry her ebooks and allow for bigger fonts while reading them as opposed to her iPod touch, but then she’d be a funny sight what something that huge pressed to her ear, right. (lols) The ipad would be great but it isn’t a phone and a bit too big for her to tuck into her scrub suit and smuggle into the OR during operations. I told her to look into HTC, but I don’t think she’s buying. I think the Galaxy would be great, if you don’t mind talking into a mobile phone with a size that shouldn’t be mobile. Maybe we’ll get a perfectly sized one soon.

And I’ve still got tons of stuff to do, so it’s bye until, hopefully, next week!

Summer stretches forever…

Came across some pics and I suddenly realized that yes, dammit, it’s as summer as summer gets right now so everyone go outdoors, bask in the sun or soak in the waters and have tons of fun with a capital F with absolutely no thought for school, work or the like all day! To justify this, here are said pics:

to give credit where its due, learned this one from a very good friend. Though she’d probably endlessly lecture me on minding how I look when doing this shot.

I look absolutely hideous here with light causing all sorts of distortions and undue shine (well... maybe not undue. Or untrue...), but I still like it

Tell me this never crossed your daydreams…

(note: not advertising a particularly good brand of flavoured vodka, just so we're clear)

and don’t ever think of denying you’ve tasted dirty ice cream as a kid; we had this before Tom n Jerry’s and Haagn-Dazs  arrived in the country, and we loved it!

(from chicogarcia.wordpress.com) brings back childhood, doesn't it?

You know that monster of a sandcastle lit with torches that tourists flock at Miami beach? We have a smaller version @ Bora. Seen it before, but no matter who I’m there with, they always, always, insist on having a pic with it… go figure. As I’m more or less not thrilled by it, I cropped most of the castle out (lol) how’d you see me otherwise??

@ night by that sandcastle @bora that's ALWAYS there

You know how your hair is never ever behaved when your on the beach but its all right, quite all right actually, just because you’re on the beach? This one’s a picture perfect example of that

now we've got just the right shine here, courtesy of Body Shop's Dry Olive Oil Mist, my fave

and when you’re secretly not comfortable with riding a small boat to the next island, this pair of YSL sunglasses will nicely cover that fact, and give you a pound of style

to Samal Island w/ D aboard an itty bitty boat

This one was taken on a trip to Cavite. Gorgeous light, wouldn’t you say (just don’t pay much attention to my pose here…)

I don't have an effin' clue what sort of pose I was striking here, an' only w/ a Bishop!

the kind of shot you get when you’ve spent the night with Jose Cuervo, music in the background, an assortment of grilled food before you and a bunch of funny people – and you have to get up at 6AM the next morning, and you wanna play with the camera again

needless to say, @ Island cove

These are two really just letting out their frustration that we got locked out of our house, and its dinner time and mother has the keys (the other sets are inside the house, which we forgot to bring with us in case we get home before she does, which is exactly what happened, and which got us told off) and she isn’t home yet. In short, yes, they were going bonkers

cousins Shaun and Matt after an afternoon of war games

a shot of the girls on that night with Jose

(we reserve all the right that these here are in fact not us, but groggy look alives with no sense of style whatsoever)

I realized too late that the white specs on the lower left were dolphins! You wouldn’t believe how I kicked myself for this

view from the resto of Bohol Bee Farm

one should not go through life without tasting the flower salad, tastes best during the summer. Its refreshing, and surprisingly spicy! yum!

said flower salad, during summer

When your friend insists on going swimming and she hasn’t got a single pair of swim suit, and has only a vague and very general idea on the concept of swimming, and I have a cam, this is what you get:

yes, she has socks on

and this is what happens after a seafood feast of a dinner, on a bamboo rack with a hut perched on it, floating along an unbelievably peaceful ocean – and you feel like posing for the cam

no, no photoshop involved. water looks great, doesnt it

I think Tarsiers are nearly extinct, so they are being well cared for by the Boholanos (if thats not the word for it, then we’ll just call them the people of Bohol). Some facts:

1. they commit suicide when subjected to much noise

2.you wouldn’t believe how light and fragile they are to the touch

3.theres  a soft spot smack center of the head where there is  hollow on their skull

4.its against the law to take ‘em out of Bohol

5.if you wanna get your picture with a tarsier, you have to shed some bucks

6. and you can’t touch ‘em as they’re nearly extinct, very fragile and just that precious

7.I touched ‘em as shown in this picture because yes, I am a VIP (wink wink)

cant go to bohol without an encounter with the tarsier

close of of the tarsier, and the shot you get when you’re not a VIP like some, ahem, people

you can tell it doesn't like being disturbed much

packing up after a day of war games. I’m wearing my flag jacket to cover up how transparent my inner shirt had become during the course of the afternoon (yes, damn hot) and one of the players who shall remain nameless, kept following me around and singing the national anthem, the moron

from top L: me, matteo, my sister B, and Shaun

Airsoft is fun when the people you’re playing with are doing so for fun. There’s so much more comedy than you could ever imagine. A useful thing an airsoft veteran taught me: when the game starts and people are turning around and running for cover, run forward and keep tabs on as many opponents as you can. And of course take ‘em down right away if you can; after all, the game HAS started. And unlike other games it’s so much fun playing newbies, this is something you have to experience to truly appreciate.

when the two teams confirm by yellong 'mask down!' and the marshal yells 'game', you run for your life

This dude is an airsoft legend in the country. He also sets up all of our airsoft guns, advises us as to anything and everything airsoft, and he’s won the airsoft costume thing for YEARS. Oh, and this gun is used by his kid, Kim. That girls the devil with this thing!

w airsoft legend kuya larry @the Maynilad gamesite. That multi-color water gun-looking this is an airsoftgun capable of firing bbs at 500fps. the model for looks can be deceiving

Some of his winning costumes. You can tell that he really puts in the effort. By the way, credit where its due – I grabbed these from various sites and I cant remember them anymore.

He’s the one on the ground dressed as an abu sayyaf. There was also a pic of him with a 9210mobile phone and burger, whilst in costume. It was really a funny pic, that one

the caption for this was: sinamaKitaTaposIkawNanaloEtoSayo (lol)

closer shot. tell me you wouldnt mistake him for the real thing? he had to go barefoot for this one

nice, eh?

Decide for yourself how kickass this one is. His model is right there on the lower left hand

as a navy seal

to one of my great love: vehicles. Another brilliant way to actually ENJOY the SUN and HEAT, is to be behind a steering wheel- preferably with the vehicle moving in high speed. And to all the chauvinists out there, whenever a female can drive, she can drive like hell. Point in case is our kart team. Our, yes, all girls team made the finals and placed, thank you very much. In fact, my sister and I tied for fastest lap honors during the eliminations.

w/ my sister and her venom crash helmet during the final round of the inter-school kartfest

L to R: my sister, Pam, Krish and Me

thats organizer and pinoy racer JP Tuason congratulating us (drivers in red button downs over the racing suit, rest of the team in black team shirts). Now famous pinoy racers like mateo were students of his

Now. If that didn’t make you want to get out of the house/building/bunker/garage/whatever else it is that you’re under and have a huge doze of FUN during these summer days, then you’re completely and utterly hopeless!

Continue having a great summer, guys!