XMEN 3: Spoiler Warning -- Read at Your Own Risk!

XMEN 3 was hot!!! Or rather, Hugh Jackman was hot, haha! But yeah, the movie met my expectations. And even exceeded them at some points. The story twists were good. I didn't expect important people to actually die. It's probably the happy-ending-seeking Filipino-movie-goer in me. I like Iceman too... he's growing up . ;p And the plot the development's really exciting! Can't wait for the next installment!

I love the X-Men. I used to watch the cartoon series every Friday, channel 2, 7:30 pm. I still remember the first episode, the one in wherein they got to meet Jubilee and brought her back to the mansion to become one of them. I used to see myself as Storm. She has one of the coolest powers. I always had a crush on Cyclops, hehe. I even collected trading cards (the big ones, the small ones, original and fake) and even bought original toys and comic books. At one point, I think I memorized all the X-Men's profiles and back stories, and even the level of their powers, haha. They fascinated me so much that I remember wishing I was a mutant. I really had a hard time comprehending why the humans in the series feared the mutants when they were amazing! X-Men the best Marvel animated series ever. :D

Funny, Letti was smiling all the way back to UP after watching the movie. Why? She kept thinking about the scene where Wolverine kills Jean Grey. And not because it's a moving scene.. but because he's topless! Hahaha! That led us to talking about our top ten gwapo men list. Here's mine (in no particular order):


1) Hugh Jackman -- X-Men, this movie with Ashely Judd and the cow theory (super gwapo!!!)

2) Brad Pitt -- a recent addition to my list. Didn't like him that much before. Meet Joe Black, Ocean's 12

3) Pierce Brosnan -- James Bond of course! and The Thomas Crown Affair (which i really liked by the way)

4) Tom Cruise -- first foreign celebrity crush! Top Gun, The Firm and Mission Impossible

5) Josh Hartnett -- Pearl Harbor!!!! Hangar scene!!!! Waaaahhhh!!! Self-explanatory. Hehe.

6) Jude Law -- Music from Another Room, Gattaca

7) Ethan Hawke -- Gattaca

8) Matt Damon -- Harvard guy!

9) Tom Welling -- Superman!!!!!

10) Tobey Maguire -- As Spiderman


;P

The Bat and Sunflowers in Unnatural Habitat

The wall of the bat cave caved in. Oh, that was ironic.

*****

In the tradition of nonsensical and utterly release-oriented blog entries, I now write. So this is how I'll get all the thoughts that are muddled up inside my head out?! Psychologists say it's an effective way to know what it is that bugs someone the most. Or what he feels strongly about at the moment (notice the consistent use of the pronoun 'he' when referring to a person of uncertain sex in general... i adhere to the traditional English grammar taught by the the Great Ms. Vendiola...just a fact pointed out).

*****

My sister passed UP. Now that the hard part is over, the harder part's next: DECIDING is she is actually going to study in UP. Oh, I know that most of my blog's regular readers (who have streaks of academic snobbishness in them...o, wag ikaila, aminin!) would say that it's a no-brainer. Of course, she has to choose UP! Yep, that would be the case... if the world were round and sunflowers grew in all the front porches of people's houses...and if all people had front porches. But no, we don't have a front porch. So this one's going to be difficult. Tsk, tsk... I feel for her.

*****

MATT got evicted from the Big Brother House!!! :C

*****

The SM Mall of Asia is HUGE. My legs definitely got a workout yesterday. Saw Richard Gutierrez there. Tall and gwapo! Didn't like the honey-colored streaks though. Chynna Ortaleza was with him *haha, flashback*. Saw Anna Capri at the parking lot. And lots of Chinese businessmen and businesswomen in full suits and corporate attire walking around the mall, a very unnatural sight. It was like they were taken from their natural habitat and... basta, they seemed off in a casual, mall setting when they're in full regalia. Loved Surplus Shop. And the fact that I'm down two sizes! Woohoo!


*****

A friend of mine is the happiest guy on earth as of the moment... and he forgot to tell me!!! *smiles* Whee, it's a sign!!! Hahaha! (and nobody understood that but me and a non-blog reader)

Down in the Dumps

It's that certain feeling, when everything around you's fine and unperturbed and everyone's quite happy and satisfied with what's going on in their lives... everyone but YOU.

Why Men Don't Listen to Women

To kill time while waiting for my sister's interview (she's applying to transfer to geog in UP), I browsed through the Geog 1 projects scattered in front of some professor's faculty room. And, I found some interesting material included in one of them. A study by the University of Sheffield in U.K. apparently conducted a study on the reason behind men's difficulty with listening to women. The reason, as it turns out, is because of difference in brain functions.

Yeah, it is confirmed. Iba nga talaga ang takbo ng utak ng mga lalake sa mga babae. It is in the male's manner of processing the sound of the woman's voice. Men process it in the auditory section of the brain, the part where music is processed. They say this is so because women's voice has a melodic quality to it, similar to music. Men are attracted to that sound (because it's pretty, hehe) but it is harder for them to understand what the sound means because of its complexity, or something like that. And that is why men usually have a hard time understanding and communicating with women. In fairness, there is actually a scientific explanation to that, haha.

In short, men are generally slower than women. It's not their fault they're built that way so women, don't be too hard on them. Hehehe... ;p

The No Rice Movement

Yesterday, I made the toughest decision of my life. I decided to give up eating rice. Haha, hardest! ;p Well, difficulty is relative (like almost everything else) and this specific act is extremely difficult for someone like me who seriously considered placing I AM MORE OF A RICE PERSON THAN AN ULAM PERSON as answer to the "I am more" part of our yearbook page (oh yes I did. I know...tsk, tsk).

What led me to that decision? I don't really know exactly...I just felt like trying to last a week without it. And perhaps this too is probably spurred by the NO RICE Movement of Ethel and Mace, which in fairness, has already shown noticeable effects on them. And the pigging out sessions during our stay in Sorsogon, that too. This serves as some sort of concrete action in hope for a reversal of the ugly, fat-inducing effects of eating non-stop for five days while not doing much physical activity.

What's good about this NO RICE thing is that I get to eat all the other stuff aside from rice (but I still don't even if I can, hehe). And as of the moment, I am craving for butterscotch (Yummy...), the ones sold in our canteen back in high school. Wala lang, just had to say that. :D

I'm in day two of this project of mine and I may say that so far, it is going so good . I do hope this lasts for a week at the least. Wish me luck!

More Trip Thoughts Giving Birth to Others

Having a taste of what barrio life feels like got me thinking: "Would I thrive in such an environment?"

I love the fact of waking up everyday to the most amazing scenery, and the peace and the quiet that comes with that kind of life, but am I up to having that permanently? Well, I actually think I could get used to the simple life, with my daily routine beginning in the wee hours of the morning by going to church, then attending to household chores, and perhaps to my small business in the poblacion (which is just a few short steps from where I would be living), and then going home to my kids and my family and having delicious, home-cooked dinner. Living in a place where people actually know their neighbors would be really nice. Hmm...

*****

While riding the boat back to the pampang after whaleshark watching, my friend and I got to talking about our dreams and what exactly we wanted to do when we had the funds to do anything that we liked to do. She wanted to go back to climbing mountains, go back to training (she was part of a mountaineering org before). That and of course, all the more important stuff like taking care of the family. And yeah, i agreed with her. I wanted to climb mountains too. And, if work schedules permit us, we agreed on applying to a mountaineering org together.

But that's not the only thing I want to do. I have grown very fond of the sea the past year, having discovered how beautiful it is down there. I want to take in more of that beauty. So I'd like to seriously learn how to scuba dive. Then I'm diving off to the Great Barrier reef.

Oh, and of course, I'd love to experience other cultures. I like the thought of living in a country for a month at the least in a year, just to savor the authentic way of life there. Or even two to three months. Or even six. I want it long enough to make new friends and taste the authentic dishes and get invited to weddings. To just take in the culture...whatever culture it may be.

So, I want to reach the tops of mountains. I want to explore the seas. And I want to savor the culture of at least one country a year. That would leave a lot of time for work, won't it? Hahaha. Not unless my work entails constant gallivanting around the world. Hmm...

*****

I just realized that I've been on a lot of trips before. Wala lang, marami-rami na rin pala akong napuntahan, in fairness. But this last trip of mine is my favorite trip ever so far. :D I am really looking forward to our first (because there will be others!) Bugsy out-of-the-country trip. Yay! I love it when I have something concrete set to look forward to. It increases my drive to do things.

Enumeration Lang: The Bugsy Sorsogon Trip (PART II)

Hmm... naisip ko lang mag-enumerate ng mga iba't ibang bagay-bagay na nangyare sa trip naming last week... Eto sila:

Highlight ng First Day: Ang "Dora Rat" Experience ni Jham sa bus


Highlight ng Second Day: Natutunan naming lahat ang poker (yeba, favorite sport! Hahaha, sport talaga e!)

Highlight ng Third Day: Hmm..it's a contest between Pinoy Henyo and the feat na mapagkasya ang kalahating drum ng tubig sa anim na katao

Highlight ng Fourth Day: The Don Romantiko Music Video sa beach!!! (Oh yeah, contender ito sa highlight of the trip award, hehehe)

Highlight ng Fifth Day: Butanding watching sa Donsol, Sorsogon


Runners-Up:

- Authentic Bicol Dinner: Bicol Express, Tinuktukan (ata, not sure kung tama). Sarap!

- Frisbee on the beach

- Yung nakaka-awestruck na ganda ng view ng Bulusan Volcano paglabas ng simbahan nung Sunday

- Cagsawa side trip to see Mayon Volcano

- Tableas!!! (Ang sarap talaga ng tsokolate, da best!)

Ang Kolokoy na si Caloy: The Bugsy Sorsogon Trip (PART I)

After 5 years of planning, natuloy na ren kaming mag-out-of-town ng mga HS friends ko!!! Oh yeah! So imagine niyo na lang ang kasabikan naming lumabas ng NCR at ng CALABARZON area (dahil lagi na lang kaming nag-s-sleepover sa bahay either ni doyti or ni dana..though enjoy din naman talaga, hehe). At ang tatanda na namin para di pa lumbas ng malayo, ah. Kaya naman nung bumili kami ng ticket sa Philtranco noong isang Sabado, grabe, feel na feel ko tlga na tuloy na tuloy na ito, na there's no stopping us na! Yeah!

At ayun na nga, lumarga na kami ng May 10 ng gabi. VIP bus ng Philtranco. First time kong magVIP bus, in fairness, maluwag. Sayang di na namin naabutan yung dating VIP bus na may chicken joy pa at may stewardess pa sa loob...alam mo nang cost-cutting na e.

Teka, may katamaran din pala akong mag blow-by-blow account ng mga nangyare...kaya napagdesisyunan kong wag na lang. Hanggang dyan na lang yan. Mag-e-enumerate na lang ako ng kung anu mang maisip ko, haha. (Pero kung gusto niyo ng blow-by-blow or tagpi-tagping blow-by-blow account, daan kayo sa blog nina mace, ethel, ish, mae, tonet, tidoy, joey, jham (may blog ka ba?) at migs...yan ay kung kakilala niyo sila, hehehe...)

To cut the long story short, binagyo kami sa Sorsogon. Yes, it is the first bagyo of the year. Para namin shang sinalubong ng malugod tuloy, haha. At hyper bagyo sha ha, in fairness to Caloy. Yun na ata ang pinakamalakas at pinakanakakatakot na bagyo na naranasan ko ever! Tama ba namang mabuwal ang mgqa puno sa kapaligiran namin at matanggal ang mga bintana ng bahay?! Scary talaga... tapos dahil din sa kanya, nagbrownout at nawalan ng tubig. Oh yeah, di ba? First two days tuloy nauwi kami sa pag-p-poker, pusoy dos, pagkain, at walang tigil na kwentuhan. Kamusta naman at pumunta pa kami ng Sorsogon para gawin namin ang lagi naman naming ginagawa na sa Maynila di ba?! Hehehe...in fairness, todo bonding ever. :D Sabi nga ni Migs nung pag gising namin ng 3rd day, "Grabe, nagdadaldalan pa ren sila!". Oh yes Migs, madadaldal talaga kami. Hehehe. :D

So PBB / Survivor ang naging tema ng trip namin. Walang ilaw at tubig..tapos nasa loob lamang kami ng iisang bahay ng two days. Hahaha, in fairness, masaya naman. :D

Di ko nga akalain na matutuloy pa ang pag-b-beach namin ng day four e. Pero buti nautloy, fun kase. Kahit na ang sakit ng mga coral, magaganda naman sila. Tapos ang saya ng Ultimate frisbee game namin! (Go Team KE, Dana, Mae, and Jham!!!) At hanggang sa beach nadala ang pagkaSurvivor-themed ng trip sa pagkamay sa pancit na saucy. And the fantastic photo ops (nasa friendster ko) Pero da best ang Don Romantiko video na ginawa namin!!!! Wahahaha, tripping kung tripping...at game talaga lahat, wala man lang nagresist na di sumali sa sayaw! Hahahaha!

And the Butanding ng last day. Akalain mo ba namang makakita pa kami ng Butanding (whaleshark) after a recent storm?! Ang swerte namin, nakakatuwa!!! The best talaga yung tatalon ka sa gumagalaw na bangka (pero aaminin ko, nagulat ako nang malaman kong kailangan kong tumalon HABANG GUMAGALAW PA YUNG BANGKA! Pero wala nang panahon para matakot ren e, hehe. Tatalon ka na lang talaga.) tas lalangoy ka ng mabilis para makita yung Butanding e!!! Coolness talaga ever! Astig. Super. Nature trip kung nature trip. I love the seas talaga. Tas nakakita pa pala ako ng Walo-Walo (sea snake), wala lang.

At, nagstop-over kame ng Cagsawa to see Mayon Volcano up close (well, kinda). Ang ganda. Astig talaga.

Basta, super fun nung entire trip. :D Super memorable. Sa totoo lang, kahit naman di na kami natuloy ng beach at Butanding sa Donsol, keri na lang ren naman... kase sa kasalukuyan, wala na akong ibang mas pipiliin pa na makasama na mastranded sa loob ng isang bahay habang bumabagyo ng walang ilaw at kuryente sa malayong lupalop kundi silang mga kasama ko. :D

Okay Bugsy, next stop, MACAU na!!!

On the PBB Teen Edition

In fairness, I find PBB Teen Edition amusing. Nakakatawa talaga minsan kase ang petty na talaga ng mga issues nila. Parang kamusta naman ang kabataang Pinoy, di ba kung ganun?! Pero in fairness to them naman den, may mga times na may pagkamalalim din naman sila.

Dalawa dun taga-sa amin. Si Bam at si Joaqui... na ika nga ni Tonet, di talaga benta sa mga tao, haha. But no, sabi ng kapatid ko ganun daw talaga si Bam. As in kung anu sha sa PBB, ganun talaga sha sa totoong buhay. As in yung mga "Much Love and Respect" niya, yikes, ganun talaga daw yun. At mabilis ren daw talaga ma-in love nga. Yun na eh. Kabarkada kase ng kapatid ko sa school, haha. Si Joaqui naman, nakaka-walking ng tita ko dito sa village namin tuwing umaga. At sabi niya gwapo daw talaga sa personal. Haha, sana matanggal na sha! Ayoko sha e. Sayang talaga at natanggal kagad si Aldred. Sha pa man din yung crush ko talaga nung una. Gwapo e, ganda ng dimples! Hehe. Pero kung ganun nga lang ang reaksyon niya sa loob ng Bahay ni Kuya, mas makakabuti ngang lumabas na lang sha. At least nasa guestings na sha ngayon sa ABS-CBN shows! Yeah!

Ang gusto ko, on the other hand, ay sina Kim (cute and sweet and nice) at Jam (ang ganda e) sa girls at sina Gerald (ang gwapo talaga e!!!!), Mikee (in fairness, ayos sakin si Mikee e) at Matt (reminds me of...hmmm... ;p) sa boys. Hmmm..sino kayang mananalo sa kanila? Early final four bet ko ay sina: Kim, Matt at Mikee. Three lang pala, wala akong mailagay na pang-apat e. We'll see...

F1 Dreams, Here I Come! Hahaha!

Just came from one of my lolos' 71st birthday dinner (whoo, I'm so full of sushi and tempura at the moment, YUM!!!). Since it was a lolo's dinner, we were mainly adults (I was the youngest person present). I was with old people literally. So they were talking about stuff they do nowadays, their jobs, businesses, children and grandchildren, usual oldies talk. My other lolo said he wanted to buy beachfront property in Coron, Palawan. But before acquring that he first wants to buy a helicopter. At first I thought he wasn't serious (he was actually asking my tita to look up helicopter for sale ads in eBay) but as it turns out, he was. Coolness. I wish I had the funds to do that too...but I want to be younger than he is...around 40 at least when I do get the capacity to buy whatever I want. Para maenjoy ko naman, di ba? Sabi nga nila bumabalik daw sa pagkabata yung lolo kong yun e...puro kase kinda pamabata yung mga binibili.

Then the same lolo started talking about Formula 3 racing, and how he's into racing right now because his friend who was an ex-Formula 3 racer has a son who's racing right now in the Philippines. He was discussing that with my tita and tito (the next youngest people present), and they didn't know anything about it. On the other hand, I understood everything he was saying (since I'm sort of a semi-F1 fan). So we ended up talking about F3 and F1...and my lolo invited me to come with him one of these days to Sto. Rosario Race Track to watch an F3 competition!!! WOOHOO!!! :D I hope I get the chance to ride one of those things!!! And to meet Matteo (is he F3 already?)!!! F1 dreams, here I come!

Peanut Butter Cake

A thought just occured to me. I have yet to taste a peanut butter / peanut-flavored cake. And that thought was triggered by the teaspoon of peanut butter in my mouth, the only edible, no-need-to-cook "food' I could find in the house. But I really think peanut-flavored cake would taste nice...especially if it's tastes like Reese's cups . Yum. :D

I am net-whoring. Thank God for unlimited net access during weekends. I feel like I'm making up for all the net time I lost not being able to go online during the week.

Weird but I find staying at home all the time okay...I am even getting used to it. I could almost feel like not going out and just staying put and doing things here inside the house. And that's after four hectic years of not being able to do that. It really feels nice to be around here a lot... *Hmmm...* :D

I'm blog-hopping. And I just ran out of blogs to hop into. I tried using the random blog thing of blogspot but I can't seem to find any blog that interests me. Hohum.

The Meaning of Success

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Such an inspiring quote. Idealistic but at the same time has some truth to it. Just thought of posting it here because I know a lot of people who are at the start of their own roads to success. Happy trip!

A Liga of Their Own

The basketball enthusiast in me that has been asleep for quite a long time has been awakened. And no, not by the PBA-NBA All-Star game held at the Araneta last Monday (although I would have loved to watching that, given the funds), but by our village liga.

Yes, the village liga. Wherein my two brothers play for our village's team. Wherein my two brothers and their VERY CUTE friends play for our village's team. Hahaha! :P

I love watching my brothers'games. I didn't notice how actually (hectic four years of college, tsk, tsk...) but they turned out to be pretty good players. Patrick is center of his team in his age bracket, "Supalpal King", with his height (5'10'' and only 14 years old!). The younger of my brothers is even captain ball / star player of his team! At one game, the Juniors (the older liga basketball players) of our village chanted "WE WANT MICHAEL" when they began the game without him in the starting line-up! That was so cool...hehe. My sisters and I always cheer for them at the games. Good thing the court is in front of our house. But I think I would have gone to watch their games even if they were held in other courts. Proud ate the me. My father would've been so proud of them.

Yesterday was a Special Day

Why, you ask?

(1) Because it was Jaymie and Miko's birthday celebration (Happy Birthday!!!)

and

(2) Because I managed to jog FOUR acad ovals straight for the very first time!!!! WOOHOO!!!! Such an accomplishment for me! Hahaha! Imagine, after many jogs, I finally completed more than two ovals (which was my previous record, hehe). That's 8.8 kilometers straight, woohoo!!!

And for that, I'd like to thank the people who made this possible:

- Maggie, my very first jogging-pace buddy
- Lags, Desh, and Arvon... once part of the jog club
- Letti, who's the only remaining jogging buddy i have at the moment (hehe, lazy people you. :D)
- And to the one who inspired me to jog / lose weight. You know who you are...but I don't think you read my blog. But thanks anyway! ;P

Yeah! I am ready for the 5km marathon on May 28!

I. AM.BACK!!!

Wahahaha, at last, I'm online!!!!! Grabe, di ako mapakali talaga pag di ako nakakanewt for a certain span of time... parang ang weird na di ako nakakanet at di nakakablog. At kamusta naman, ilang blog entry na ba ang nagawa ko sa utak ko habang di ako makaonline?! Haha, kinda weird sha pero di lang naman ako ang ganun (Hi Des!:D)


Blogger na talaga ako! hahaha. :D

It's great to be back online! Woohoo!