Don't Click Unless You've Got Nothing Else To Do

That line should be posted on every frigging point-click, escape-room games.

Of course I had a ton of things to do. I was going to bake revel bars for Nards and fudge cupcakes for Leslie. After which, I wanted to attack the Neil Gaiman book. In the interest of saving time, I planned (very unwisely) to bake and later on read while the computer was downloading huge files (which usually take hours). So yesterday, I turned on the desktop, switched to the download drive, opened this website, clicked on the files for downloading. I opened the documents that contained my recipes so that I could print it. THEN (and this is the tipping point), I opened the forum to check if there were any responses from the Rock Ed event we had on for tonight. This somehow led me to a thread for point-click, escape room games. That led me to The Shochu Bar. (For review, click here.) That glued me to my seat and on the computer screen for H-O-U-R-S.

Now it's 7:30am. I've finished the game. (You're the 73124th person to solve this game. Time: 12:22:58)

(Hep, hep. Tama na ang sermon. Natulog ako, ok? I'll bake this morning. After this blog entry. And maybe checking my email. And maybe checking the forum for any responses to the Rock Ed event tonight.)

Transformers, A Review

Great movie!

Click here for review.


Photo source: http://www.transformersmovie.com

Transformers The Movie

Nards and I, together with Cat and Pepe, just got home from the Transformers premiere at Eastwood.

It rocked!!! Optimus Prime rules!! (As well as the other Autobots.)

Review to be posted within the day. Will just sleep for a few hours.

Lolita

Nards and I watched Kamikaze Girls at Eiga Sai in Shangri-la. (Click here for review.)

For those who intend to watch film festivals at Shangrila Mall, here are a few things that you need to know:

1. Read up on the films that are being shown. Usually, the festival sponsors release literature about the films online and on the theater itself.
   
2. Check out the schedule of the films being shown. If you're planning to see more than one film, you'll need to plan the sequence of the films you'll watch.
   
3. Get tickets at least an hour before the scheduled time. If it's the first day of the film fest, make sure you get there a few hours before because there'll be a lot of people vying for the limited seats;
4. Line up outside the designated theater as soon as you can. Seating is free for all; on a first come first serve basis. For big groups, the earlier the better, unless you don't mind sitting apart (what's the fun in that?)

To see the trailer, click here.

One Rock Ed Nation 2

okey. congratulations. hindi na ito fling. 2nd year anniv na naten. cheers. ipagpatuloy ang kaunlaran. sama kayo. game. dalawang concert para sa dalawang taon ng pawis, paos, at puyat. isa sa saguijo at yung isa naman sa eastwood. mag donate ng mga lumang libro. game. angkulitnanamen. ito na rin ay isang rally for good governance. dahil walang kwenta ang humiyaw na wakasan na ang kahirapan kung hindi man lang tayo humingi ng maayos na pamamalakad mula sa gobyerno. sa inggles, we have no business talking about ending poverty if we stay silent and do nothing to demand a rational government. ending poverty is not the rock star's business. it is the government's --and it is ours. let artists be artists, someday. but for now, let them be our voices. pero sama kayo. dalawa yan. game. tumulong, mag volunteer maski saan, deserve your voice. we don't want your money, we want your voice. sa tagalog, hindi namin kailangan ng pera niyo, pero kailangan ng Rock Ed Philippines ang boses mo. join the voice. no more excuses. enough.

there will be a new volunteers' orientation on our anniversary day itself. JULY 1 2007. SUNDAY. 3pm sa 3rd floor ng Garage Multi-Media Training Center, JesCom Bldg, sa Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Ave Quezon City. For details text 0916-409-2378. si Leslie yan. Good luck, masungit yon.

*text by Gang Badoy

Binondo

One afternoon, Nards suddenly said, "let's go to Binondo." It was almost six pm, and I was tired from work, but I eagerly said yes. It was an interesting trip. It's what happens when he gets cabin fever and I have the craving for the perfect dimsum.

Click here to read what happened.

Photo credit: Leonardo Coll

No TV

I have to confess. I have always been a TV addict. It was my babysitter. Everyday before I started going to school, I sat before it, as my yaya was busy doing her other chores or taking care of my infant sister. Sesame Street, Candy Candy and Voltes V. Later on, when I started going to school, I was allowed one hour of TV after homework everyday. Weekends were free for all. As a high school student, with parents that are strict and protective (read: I'm not allowed to go out much), I spent most of my evenings in front of the tube. 21 Jumpstreet, Star Trek: TNG, Tranformers. In college, I was so used to not going out much that I actually enjoyed just sitting reading but mostly watching TV. X-Files, Frasier, Friends.

Now, that I've moved out, I have resolutely decided not to have a TV. Well, we do have a television set, but we don't get any reception, not even the local channels. (Goodbye indie film and documentary series in channel 5.) We buy DVDs and we take a few hours in a week to watch a movie or to do a tv series marathon. But we don't let it consume our daily lives.

Interestingly, I've accomplished a lot of things that I have always put off because my favorite show is on. I can't believe how many hours of my life have been spent just sitting glued to the screen. I get to listen to the radio more often, and discover new bands that have great songs. I finally started a scrapbook and I'm able to put together a page at least once a week. I miss watching the news and witnessing actual congressional/senatorial proceedings, but then I get to read the newspaper while sipping hot chocolate (tablea, milk, cinnamon and a few more secret spices). I unwind from work by blowing bubbles out to the children below the window. I get to blog more (teehee!). I get to read! (Oh! I've missed burying my nose in books for hours!) I'm hoping to finish the scarf I'm knitting for Mitzie before the cold season hits their place. I've progressed (somehow) in my photography endeavors. I get to bake a lot (as evidenced by the increasing weight of certain people). I get to devote more time volunteering.

I'm so happy we don't have TV.

Je ne suis pas l� pour �tre aim�

Nards and I saw this film at the French Film Festival this year.

Check out the review here.

Next Door Neighbors

At my parent's home, we encounter and live with an odd assortment of neighbors. There's a family with 13 children. When they were all still living together--before anyone got married--the eldest was 28 years old and the youngest was 2 years old. There's a Japanese family on our left, and their youngest boy, Aseki I think, plays with his ball and inevitably tosses it (maybe on purpose) in our backyard. He knocks on our door daily to retrieve it which forces some sort of interaction with my Dad everyday. (Honestly, I think he likes my Dad. My Dad is very good with kids.) His parents never fail to give my Mom a token gift every time they return from a trip to Japan. There's also the other neighbor that never fails to give us a savory dish or two whenever they have a family gathering. Or the nice family a few doors down who always looked in on us kids, whenever our parents were out late.

There are the obnoxious ones too. Those who likes to walk their pure breed dogs to get the entire canine hood that are kept in, positively rabid. Those who are incapable of parking their own cars and expect you to move around your own vehicles in your own property for their convenience; and harass you (let the air out of your tires and scratch fenders) until you give in. There's also this family who stole my favorite shitzu (back then there were six), Sofie (5 out of the 13 children from the big family saw her trying to get out of their house). And the most annoying neighbor we have, is this couple who adopted two children, a boy and a girl, and everyday, we wince at the verbal abuse that they hurtle on them. (I've called Bantay Bata on them, but they said I should ask the baranggay to accost them or to catch them in the act of the abuse.)

I miss that neighborhood.

Where I'm living now, I have an interesting picture of my neighbors. I say this because I rarely see or interact with them. (Not even to borrow a couple of eggs or a cup of sugar.) There are these girls down a few doors, whom we suspect to be Las Vegas Showgirls in training. Or the brothers across the way, who seem to be concocting a secret invisibility formula in their kitchen. There is also this guy who may be a environmental vigilante because he's rarely home, and on the few occasions I see him, he's carrying either climbing gear, or a skim board, looking all prepared for a covert operation of some sort. (Or maybe he's a low profile rich kid who doesn't work and only goes camping or bumming on the beach all the time.) I forgot this little boy, who looks no older than five, who plays near our front door, and consistently tries to us engage in a conversation but changes his mind at the last minute and runs in the opposite direction whenever we pay attention to him. (Hey, he did give us this little paper heart once.)

I wonder what they think we are... (oh, there goes those odd camera-toting-laughing-all-the-time neighbors who are probably planning to take over the world...)

Filipino Cannes Winners

The Haircut. :)

I love it!

Twit! Twit!

Egad. Twitter is upgrading its site. Withdrawal symptoms creeping in.

Dali Twitter Daliiiii.

Unwinding

A few seconds ago, I was out on the balcony, blowing bubbles. The sunlight is really nice at this time of the day. And there are a lot of interesting things to see down the street: there are the colorful townhouses that're being built a few blocks away (colorful is da wurd: yellow, pink, blue, green per unit - it's making me crave for jellybeans.), people coming home from work in all sorts of state (tired, excited, undefined), children making quite a racket, and (HAHA!) the horrible traffic on EDSA (swear the buses on the flyover hasn't moved much in between the first sentence I typed, up to this point.)

I feel exhausted from the frenzy of activities this afternoon. Weird. I was just sitting behind my desk, researching online and making a lot of phone calls. Must be the coffee (which I shouldn't have drunk in the first place).

A Trip to Sonya's Garden

A leisurely drive to Tagaytay to have a delayed joint birthday luncheon at the much hyped Sonya's Garden. (Check out the review on how the place was.)

Click the photo for whole album.

3 June 2007
Sonya's Garden, Tagaytay City

Kung Fu Shoes

Okay, here I go again over shoes.

The minute I tell any member of my family that I want a pair of red kung fu shoes, I will never here the end of it. Already, when I told my sister just a few seconds ago on YM, she immediately typed "hahaha!" If she wasn't on meebo, she'd probably have that rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emoticon. Auntie Lirio memories notwithstanding, I really don't care. I'm just concerned that when the material gets wet, the color will run and stain my feet. (Which the seller assures me won't.)

What's wrong with kung fu shoes anyway? Particularly a red pair? I was randomly checking out multiply sites, when I came upon this one. The first photo album was on the kung fu shoes that were on sale. Check on the link, and tell me if it's just not the most practical (if not froufrou) pair of shoes. (By the way, I'm getting the plain pair, can't have those embellishments. With my luck and skill, they'll be popping out within minutes of wearing them, leaving sad loose threads.)

Going back to the photo album on Irene's site, the title was what caught my attention. "...As Seen on Pirates of the Carribean..." If I had that album and I were to type a title, it would be: "...as seen from your first grade nightmares..." I used to wear kung fu shoes. (Ok, no smart remarks on the age please.) And I remember running around all over school on all sorts of terrain in them. There were no teasing back then, because everybody was wearing them. But it doesn't mean that we liked them.

I can just imagine my parents doubling over with laughter if I come home wearing them. There'll be a lot of told-you-so's and Auntie Lirio's name would be mentioned in each sentence they can manage. Oh well. I'm still getting the red pair. I think it's practical. And fab. =P