after the storm

the sun is shining brightly today, as if the storm that we had yesterday noon was just a dream but every broken tree and debris in every street tells me that the typhoon was real. the whole of luzon was covered in darkness, because power lines were destroyed, luckily for us at caloocan we have electricity already when I woke up this morning, but the others are not so lucky coz they are still relying on generators and candles. some roads are fortunately getting passable after the flood but too sad, death toll is increasing due to landslides. a lot of people got injured and died because of those huge billboards (those people kept on talking about how dangerous these billboards are but not doing anything bout it, maybe they will now.. but that’s too late huh). that milenyo is the worst typhoon i’ve ever experienced in my life, it’s scary seeing the strong wind coupled with the rain bashing everything on its path… i still cant believe that a wind can actually break and uproot even the most sturdy looking tree. i was actually stupid enough to go to work yesterday even though it was declared as signal no. 3 in metro manila, and i even saw the satellite image of the storm covering the entire luzon prior to the announcement, kinda scary but experiencing the actual storm is actually scarier. it actually took me an hour from buendia to paseo due to flooded street and heavy traffic!

since our office is at the 14th floor, we can see that much what’s happening outside, trees falling, roofs lifted, just across our building is the paseo carpark and the parking booth, fully cemented collapsed in a nearby parked car, i pity whoever owns that car, and some of my officemates even saw a van toppled at valero street. you can hear the howling of the wind and it seems that our windows will break because of its strength. it was lunch time when the eye of the storm crosses metro manila, getting hungry, gina and i bravely went down to buy some food, at the ground floor, we’re like oh my god, it’s even scarier outside but that didn’t deter us going out since we’re really hungry, we opted to go to henlin since it’s the nearest just around the corner, but it was closed when we get there. no power, no nothing… what’s worse is that we even thought we’ll gonna die out there coz this strong wind just blew just when we we’re at the corner and our umbrella was turned upside down (so much for thinking that it was strong coz it was big) i even thought it will carry the two us down the road along with this huge chunk of tree that fell on the ground and got strewn right in the middle of the road. no choice but to go back to our building where it’s much safer, hungry and all and we just got ourselves wet.

back at the office, we learned that somehow, some of the windows got opened by the wind and a couple of rooms got beaten, one room’s ceiling even fell. anyways, with all the excitement that’s going on, we’re still hungry and the fear made us more hungry. since, it’s a desperate time, we took on desperate action, we actually raid the ref and check out what can be eaten, I even got a can of coke hahaha, we managed to eat leftover rice, tuna, and ate betsy’s tocino. empty stomach problem, solved!

next to our worries is how to get home, hr already declared halfday but we got work to do and a deadline to beat, why do i have to be so damned concerned, why oh why… anyways I stayed up till 4pm, monitoring what’s happening to the outside world through online radio, people were stranded, so i also figured better stay at the office and wait till the flood at least subside. figured I’d rather be home just in case it get worse again, finally decided to pack up and plan which route to take just in case. Darn, darn darn, why is it I don’t have my own car, anyways I’m pretty sure i will only get stuck in the rain if I have car anyways. the president of our company offered his home just in case we got stuck but I wish he just offered us a car and a driver (but that’s wishful thinking hehe). outside, the strong wind has stopped but it’s still raining and it seems to me that almost all the trees fell, actually the newly opened coffee bean store’s window got broken, and the park near pse looks like Jurassic park, it’s a mess…, luckily I was able to get a ride from pse to buendia but omg it took us more than an hour to reached buendia and I was getting hungry again. At buendia, I immediately crossed the street and bought bacon mushroom melt (yummy) at wendys for fear that it would take me another hour before I get home since the lrt is not operational as well. good thing there is this abad santos route fx and he just asked for 40pesos. we traveled along roxas boulevard and only one lane was passable since most of the trees fell of the road… it was too dark actually to see the extent of the damage… good thing there’s no traffic and it seems all the people are already home. so i got home safely but there’s no electricity, not much to do, but at least I’m home.

a friend forwarded these "laws" to me and i've kept 'em as my personal mantra

5 LAWS OF LIFE YOU CAN DEPEND ON

1. This too shall pass. Nothing stays the same. The only constant in life is change. With every decision we make, we initiate change. Even when we decide not to decide, life still goes on, and changes still occur. When we are in a state of discomfort, sadness, grief, or pain, we know that because life goes on, change will bring us some kind of relief. And because even comfort, happiness, and all good things also pass, we know that we need to appreciate and cherish each precious, fleeting moment.

2. Time heals. The timepiece of life never stops. Neither does it pause for those who celebrate, speed up for those who are impatient, nor slow down for those who fear tomorrow. Time ticks a regular rhythm that steadily brings new moments, new days, and new seasons. As time pushes forward, we take new steps, face new challenges, and create new opportunities. And as life goes on, we are forced to move past our episodes of disappointment, sorrow, or despair. More than anything else, time heals not just broken bones but broken hearts as well.

3. Ask and you shall receive. People won't know what you want unless you ask for it. Dreams and goals are just wishes until you act on them, and acting on them often requires that you ask for answers, for assistance, or for something tangible. It takes a lot of courage to ask for help, but when you come forward, only then will the world know what to give you. Just ask and know that miracles can happen.

4. You can have anything, but not everything. Life offers us infinite possibilities. With hard work, determination, and perseverance, we can achieve anything. If we are willing to pay the price and go the extra mile, we can have whatever our hearts desire. But no matter how hard we try, we can't have everything. Life is a balancing act of wins, losses, and trade-offs...we gain some and we lose some.

5. What goes around comes around. It's the universal law of nature: do to others what you want others to do to you, because whatever you sow, you reap; whatever you give, you get back ten-fold. It doesn't hurt to smile, or be kind, or extend a helping hand. You never know when or how, but every act of goodness always returns to the GIVER. Give one today and receive ten tomorrow

R.I.P. Mamay Pilo

I’ve been to San Juan, Batangas last weekend to attend Mamay Pilo’s funeral, and it was fun in a peculiar way… don’t get me wrong in here, I know that losing someone is painful and knowing that that someone is never coming back is worse but you have to accept that life is like that. Maybe, I can only say these things because I haven’t really experienced losing someone that I’m really close with and hopefully I won’t have to experience it in the near future.

Anyways, as I’ve said my visit to san juan was fun. Actually, it was like we didn’t visit a wake at all, the place had this fiesta atmosphere, maybe it's because most of my relatives were there and it became an instant reunion of sorts … maybe it’s because death brings people closer. But one thing is for sure, Mamay Pilo has lived his life to the fullest. He’s tall and thin just like his brothers (my grandfathers… I guess it runs in the blood, being tall and thin I mean), short white hair and he really looked outstanding when he and Nanay Pinay celebrated their golden wedding anniversary five years ago. I will always remember him as the lolo who can capture bayawak (iguanas). I can still recall those summer vacations and our visit to their house to look at his collection of iguanas. May this good old sturdy man rest in peace.

photographs... and more photographs

I’ve made the best of our 2 days stay in San Juan and took some photographs, mostly of flowers. Nice to be with nature and enjoy it’s natural beauty. Besides I’m a frustrated photographer J

Me and nasnip Rose went kuhol hunting (a big snail or what the French calls escargot). That’s us in the field hehehe... i'm getting used to photograph myself

Would you believe that these tiny things are eggs of snail? Love these pink eggs!

found out new things as well..., just look at this goat's eyes!!! i've always thought that pupils are circles in general but here is this goat glaring at me with his rectangular pupil

sitaw anyone? my first time to see sitaw from its vine, didnt know before that you have to pick it one by one, i thought they grow in bunch as what you see in the supermarket

looks familiar? baby super inggo?

CK ... our very own super inggo, doesnt he looks like makisig? that's why we love this new tv show from abs cbn

how to download videos from youtube

hey guys, am pretty sure that you've heard about www.youtube.com and you have definitely watched videos from there. And yes, the “Keys Me” song/video debuted in youtube. I’ve discovered nice videos there, especially rare hello kitty videos and I’ve wanted to download/save them so much.

Unfortunately youtube doesn’t allow you to save these videos… good thing there is http://youtubex.com (thanks yam for giving me this site) .. You just have to paste the url of your favorite video in the youtubex website and presto you can already save it in your computer. But you have to save the file in .flv format (flash video) and you gotta have the flv player, which you can download for free at this site http://www.martijndevisser.com/blog/article/flv-player-updated

Enjoy watching your videos :)

SPOILERS, SPOILERS!!!

I’ve come across this site http://www.eyezmaze.com/ which offers cute puzzles presented in flash, I love the grow games and the thrill of finding out how to make the whole bunch grow. I’m going to post my solutions here and if you don’t want to know the answers, stop reading now.

But if you can't answer them and want to throw yourself in the window already, just highlight the solutions to see my answers. enjoy!

The first game is called cube. http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/cube/index.html
There are 10 items in all and you just have to figure out which should be grown first. You should click the boxes in this order: man, water, plants, pot, tube, fire, dish, bone, pink ball, and spring… then you would see this cute congratulations!

the grow cube ver.2 http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/v2/index.html
solution: cone, cube, paper, cylinder, oval, circle





the grow cube ver.3 http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/v3/index.html
solution: blue mountain, gray cube, orange circle, ladder, egg, pipe or tube, gear, fan, tornado, dish, another gear (the last icon), rectagular black box





grow rpg http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/RPG/index.html
solution: house, tree, castle, water, building, rock, treasure chest, stairs

the evil sore eyes

Its official, i have sore eye as confirmed by dr. zagala, though my conjunctivitis is still in the first stage. She prescribed me a steroid drop to prevent further inflammation of my eyes, I was like what? You want me to put steroid in my eyes!!!?? Well anyways, she said I should apply it 4x a day and if my right eye feels itchy too, I should put medication on it as well.

I already knew that I was going to have it coz mami Dorcas had the virus and infected me hehehe….so I was saying I already felt it coming coz when I woke up last Sunday morning my left eye feels different, it’s itchy and stingy at the same time, and yes lots of muta (that gummy yellowish secretion in the eye) and when I check myself in the mirror, my eyes are puffy and my left eye is pinkish. I was like, oh no and at the same time welcoming the virus coz it means leave from work hahaha. But after washing my face the redness is gone, so ok, I don’t have sore eyes pa pala, sayang! Hehehe.

So, even though I was feeling uncomfortable with my eyes I still went to the office yesterday, if only I haven’t had that weird dream I really would have filed sick leave. And I had to attend a meeting, and I was secretly wishing that they get infected as well, they have a good chance of getting the virus since we’re all cooped up in the conference room hahaha. But nothing happened.,, life goes on.

Anyways, I still went to the office today, need to finish something first for the project that we’re working on, and my “former boss”, as what he calls himself, came to my desk and ordered me to go and visit a doctor. I was like, I know I have it and I already know the remedies and what not but he insisted I should visit a doctor for antibiotics, etc… so ok, I was ordered and need to comply, besides what a good excuse to leave the office for an early lunch hehehe. but still I came back to the office, and they we’re like, omg don’t infect us, go home. Yeah right! Am not sure if I’ll be able to go to the office tomorrow… i’ll see through my reddish puffy eye

dragons and dinosaurs

Ever wonder if dragons and dinosaurs were still alive? What would you do if they still walk in this earth and crashes in on your backyard? Would you be scared of getting trampled or eaten? Or you’d be brave to hunt and cage them and locked them in a zoo? It’ll all be just ifs and hypothetical now, forever wondering how it would be… but I think it would be fun, just look at my nephews enjoying the company of these huge creatures.

Butterflies

Butterflies have always fascinated me, even as a child,… it holds mystical allure to me. I dunno why, but they remind me of fairies. Their colorful wings are so nice to look at… I used to draw butterflies a lot when I was a kid, you can play with the colors and they will still look fantastic. Unfortunately I am living in the city and butterflies are scarce as the trees, its really rare that you see a butterfly now. I only get a chance to see them when I’m at the province or when at a park.

That’s me in the Butterfly Garden at Subic some years back. They have different species of butterflies there and what’s so good is that the butterflies there seem to love camera, they even pose with you, I swear.

Butterfly watching is really fun, which reminds me I need to go to Luneta and visit the Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion, shame on me, the Orchidarium has been there for years and I haven’t visited it yet.

Just Kidding!!!

Have you smiled without any reason at all? Have you ever laughed out loud in a quiet room even though you are alone and no one’s talking to you… and people started staring at you as if you’re some kind of a looney. And when somebody brave enough to approach and ask you why you’re laughing you just shake yer head and smile (that just confirm their belief that you’re nuts)… well it does happen to me when I remember something really funny about something or someone, actually I even laugh at myself sometimes.

This hello kitty comic strip is owned by www.sanrio.com