New Year and Old Stuff to Resolve

The day before New Year's my family and I headed off to the Eden Nature Park where we'll be partying and parting ways with 2008. I was a tad pessimistic about the scenario because 1) we've been doing it for 2 years 2) it was getting boring 3) my cute nieces Mavis and Maddi weren't around 4) the rain was pouring 5) means we'll be stuck in our cottages instead of going fishing or ziplining aka non-boring activities.


(Taken the next day; Failed to catch anything. PHISHING PHAIL!)

The trip was quick. After watching one episode of Gossip Girl on my PSP, we were about 3/4's there. But that doesn't change the gloomy outlook -- it was raining a lot harder in Eden than the city that we left behind. To make matters worse, we were assigned to a tiny 2-bed room that was farthest from all the other rooms where my cousins are staying. I forgot to mention I was with my mom and my brother, both of whom I can't stand because of their heavy snoring. After much grumbling from my mom, we were moved to a much bigger room, one with 4 beds. Ah, good job mom! I also learned that my cuz Ria will stay there too. Ok, that time it was around 4pm and the four of us were becoming restless in our room because of the rain and the lack of things to do. My mom decided to take us to the cafe where there's free wireless Internet and food to eat. On cue, Ria and I took our Nokia N82 phones from our holsters and logged on to our favorite website -- Plurk.com. Ria was flustered because her phone couldn't get a decent signal. I, on the other hand, was able to access to site, albeit intermittenly.

I ordered a regular ham and cheese sandwich, while my big brother had himself a club sandwich. Mom and Ria ordered banana fritters. The folks at the cafe got my drink wrong. I specifically asked for a mint iced tea. They gave me a Nestea. I pretended to be in shock after drinking half of it and realize it had no trace of mint in it. They promptly provided me the correct replacement drink. :P



Afterwards we headed back to our storm shelter and waited for another hour before the New Year's mass. I'm not the religious type and I admit I dread going to church. That's why I suggested to my mother that I wait at the cafe to reserve seats for our 25-member clan. My bro and cousin liked my idea and volunteered as well. My mom thought it was a marvelous idea too and allowed us to skip mass.

At that same cafe we were at that afternoon, we were surprised to see the number of people already there and exploring the buffet tables! We left our jackets on our reserved tables to get our plates. There was hardly a line yet which was good because I was already hungry as hell. Ok, in retrospect, I wasn't a fan of the food at Eden, but this year they went above and beyond my expectations. The appetizers were great particularly the toasted bread slices with dried tomatoes. Out of the main entrees, I liked the pasta that had dried tomatoes and olive oil in it (or pesto? I don't remember LOL) For dessert I had a spectacular slice of red velvet cake.

The highlight of the night began when I took out my camera. Camwhoring times!! I'm the official family photographer during important events and that night was hardly an exception. Let the pictures speak for themselves :P

















For me, the photosessions were way more exciting than the countdown that happened downstairs. Everyone was going insane! I continued to take pictures because I'm not much of a dancer.

To end my obligatory New Year's post let me jot down a list of things I need to do and change for the year 2009. 2008 was a nice year. 2009 will be a year full of challenges. Good challenges I hope :p

1) I hope to stick to my diet and fitness plan and lose 5 more pounds
2) Remain tobacco-free
3) Blog more!
4) Go bungee jumping in Malaysia or Thailand or Macau or anywhere
5) Be a better friend to my friends
6) Become more sociable and meet more fantastic people online or offline
7) Work harder. I slacked a bit in 2008 because of laziness and Plurk :c
8) Become more financially stable (aka richer)
9) In relation to #8 I should stop being an impulsive shopper and use my credit card less often.
10) By hook or by crook, I'm going Hongkong!!
11) Learn a new skill, perhaps dancing? haha
12) Learn how to take better photos. Does that mean I'm buying a DSLR? We'll see about that!

PS - Did you notice my new layout?! :P

Bloggers Christmas Party

A few pictures from our Christmas party yesterday!!


[Me, Ria and Gwing]


[Jude(?), Angel, Jim, Chattee]


[Angel, Jim, Chattee]


[Me and Gwing]


[Angel and Dominique (who was also celebrating his birthday)]


[What are Chattee and Brendel doing?]


[Gwingston FTW]


[Andrew, Gwing, Ria, Winston]

The party was held at the World Palace, which is practically on the same street as my house, Gwing's, Blogie's and Ria's hahaha. Talk about convenient. The food was great particularly the calamares (squid rings) and buttered chicken. I could have stayed a bit longer had my tummy behaved appropriately. But I had fun! Till next time!

Merry Christmas and Then Some

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

This year's Christmas has been the same for me for the last ten or so years. Boring, lame, lethargic. The food, although deliciously cooked up by my talented mom and aunts, fail to liven up the party. And I'm on a diet. The most exciting part of our celebration has to be the kris kringle part. A few weeks before Christmas my cousins and I pick our manitos/manitas using an online application I made up 3 years ago. It is simple: you login, click a button, and the system picks out someone whom you should buy a gift for. There's also a wishlist where you can put in what gifts you want from your secret santa. Since most of us are already in our twenties and thirties (ehem), working or out of town, we barely have any time to do this manually, that is, roll up our names in pieces of paper and pick one out from a jar. Some of my cousins wonder if I'm leading them to think that they are actually picking a name randomly but in reality they have already been assigned their manitos right from the beginning. They can think whatever they want. What's important is the app does its job and it does its job well!

* * * * *

Leading up to the holidays I have been hitting the gym almost everyday. I am absolutely addicted to this group exercise called 'spinning'. You have an instructor in front of you, yelling at you and telling you what to do. There's very loud thumping music and ten other people on stationary bikes. Fun! One of the instructors named Jet tells us that an hour's session burns 500-700 calories. Whoa. That is a lot! That's why I've been so engrossed in it because I wanna lose my belly so bad. Like desperately bad. I know I'm not exactly the type that needs to lose weight, but despite my thin frame, my belly is disproportionately big. I get that from my dad. But anyway I am seeing some success with my regimen. I've lost about 2 inches around my waist and around 6 pounds. My belly still needs some work. So far I only have a "two-pack" instead of a six-pack. Haha. Gotta do more of those ab exercises I guess.

* * * * *

Tonight we're having a Bloggers Christmas Party here in Davao City. It was organized by my friend Blogie. We're supposed to buy a gift worth P150 for another round of kris kringle. I bought a Melody Mouse worth P180. Problem is, I don't know who I'm giving it to. :] I hope to have a good time tonight.

Hottest Searches - December 20, 2008

Google:

1. rca dome implosion
2. a very brady christmas
3. paul rhoads
4. miss uso
5. ethan bortnick
6. paul rhodes
7. picower foundation
8. world gsm chip
9. gooey duck
10. miss uso mayra veronica

Yahoo:

1. sock and awe game
2. evan rachel wood
3. cheryl burke
4. rachel weisz
5. chace crawford
6. lindsay lohan
7. nfl
8. lisa rinna
9. hi-5
10. walmart

Big differences in search trends between Google and Yahoo. Google tends to be more relevant to current events, while Yahoo's users are more after pop culture than anything else.

Depapepe

I was listening to a nice instrumental song at Kangaroo Cafe that sounded Christmas-y and eerily Korean, but I wasn't sure what it was. I asked a barista if he knew the title. He didn't know. He said it was an Mp3 file playing off of a USB stick, and generously offered to give me a copy. I scanned through about 200 songs in the drive. Ugh, it was not until the last 20 songs that I found it. It's a song called "Spur" by "Depapepe", a guitar duo composed of Takuya Miura and Yoshinari Takuoka. Honestly I was a bit thrown off by their name. "Pepe" stands for a female sexual organ in Filipino. Lol, now I see why they're not that popular here. But seriously I love the style and composition of their songs. To think they are limited to only two guitars, which is not a lot. Although some tracks have violins and pianos occasionally mixed in, the pair's superb guitar skills stand out in every track.

Depapepe's music is the type that you listen to when you wanna take it easy or simply "chill". You can say it's kinda what you hear in Korean soap operas (they're Japanese). Out of all their albums, my favorite songs, besides "Spur", are "Days", "Summer Parade", "Hoshi no Kazu Dake Negai Todoku" and "This Way". If you want to experience a different genre of music, Depapepe's worth a try.

Here they are playing Spur:

Money: Does it Make You Happy?

At the risk of sounding materialistic and sad, yes, money makes me happy.

Not always, anyway. It's the kind of happiness that is fleeting. It never lasts more than a day. I'm triggerhappy when it comes to my money. My bank account isn't quite the bottomless pit that I'd like it to be, but I like digging into it. On crazy days, very deeply. What the heck do I buy with my money? I like buying clothes, gadgets and expensive food (burp). I'm kinda high maintenance. These days though, I'm feeling the crunch of the crisis happening in the US. I earn in $$$. Anything bad happening in Uncle Sam's turf affects my financial well-being. Yeah, when I know I'm losing money, it makes me feel cranky. I guess money doesn't always make one happy, eh?

Money gives one a sense of security, but I have to stress the all-important mantra that money isn't everything. It just would be sad if your world revolves around money and nothing else and no one to share it with. But take the case of my office assistant. I talk to her all the time. I can tell her everything and she tells me her problems too. Unfortunately, she belongs to the large percentage of the Philippine population that is poor. She had her fourth child only recently. Her salary is minimum wage; her husband earns a little more than her converting swine waste into biofuels. Before she gave birth, I would take her out to Kopi Roti and Chow King to grab a bite. Our out-of-office trips were always interesting for me because she had lots of interesting stories to share. Oftentimes, she would tell me how difficult it was to feed her family. Aside from her day job, she processes government documents as a sideline. But despite that, the money was never enough. There were days when she couldn't come to the office because she didn't have money to commute. On rare occasions I see her beaming with a big smile on her face. She says it's a "good day", she even offers to treat me out to Kopi Roti. But I hate it when I see her crying because I know it's about money again.

Despite the monetary problems, I couldn't help but applaud her for her tenacity to reach her goals. She was able to build a comfortable house for her family and that was when her husband was for a time jobless. She is able to send her 3 elder kids to school. Though she borrows money from other people, she is able to settle them eventually. One time, while we were heading back to the office, I asked her if money made her happy. She says, without hesitation, a resounding "Yes!". I couldn't blame her. I would feel as depressed as her if I knew my family was starving. But I know in my mind that she loves her kids to death. And I know it's them that truly makes her happy.

Money, in the end, can make or break you. If you know how to manage your money and spend it on the right things, you will go far in this world. You keep the people you love and the friends you admire. If you squander money, deceive people and run away from bad debts, no question, you'll lose them all. My mom always said never to do business with relatives or friends. Somehow there is some truth to that. But ultimately it's the way both parties respect each other. With that, money becomes a non-issue. The moment it becomes an issue -- the personal relationship deteriorates into a mere business relationship. And we all know how chilly businessmen turn out to be when something's not right. It's all about trust and honesty. Without that any kind of relationship is doomed to fail.

Celebrity Lookalikes

And this is what happens when I'm bored:



I don't know half of the celebs I supposedly look like hahaha! And who the heck is Takizawa Hideaki?!

Counting Calories

The funny thing about me is I'm very conscious about my weight but at the same time I eat like a hungry trucker. Since last week I began my quest to lose my belly -- a trait from my dad that hasn't fully manifested itself yet thanks to my yo-yo dieting. I'm having some success in building my upper body after two freakin' years of hitting the gym. I was super skinny before, it ain't even funny. To build my upper body, I had to eat a lot of protein. And what better way to eat protein but with lots of carbohydrates, ergo, rice. As a result my tummy ballooned to unprecedented (dis)proportions. So now I'm focusing on cardio exercise such as running and playing badminton and not so much on weight lifting.

If you're trying desperately to lose weight, what works for me is halving my rice intake. If you're the type that consumes a pile of rice and little viand, I say STOP, now na! Thankfully, I'm not like that, but I love rice. Anyway, limit it to half a cup for lunch and another half for dinner. Another bane to my diet is Iced Tea. I'm a confessed Iced Tea addict like my pal Jay. Unfortunately, my evil friend Aileen also introduced me to Kopiroti's equally evil Iced Tea with Milk while I was in Manila last month. Ugh, I drink it at least 3 times a week now! Zzzzzzz. Did you know that a glass of Nestea iced tea contains 125 calories? A bottle of it has 250 calories. ZZZzzz!! I tried desperately to avoid it by drinking Coke Light or Coke Zero instead. But I discovered that caffeine and me don't mix. So I'm back with Nestea. Since this is a post about dieting, don't follow my example lol! Stick to clean, natural, fresh water. *cough* boring *cough* Ohhh have you tried those awesome Chocolate shakes at Shakey's?? Hahahaha.

Side Story:
Odd story about my ex-badminton group. I was introduced to it by my friends Tom and Paolo. It was weird because it was like an organization with a President, Secretary, Treasurer, division heads and even a set of rules!! I didn't really like everyone so I stopped playing with them. They were strict about not showing up! You had to pay a penalty. Are they whacked or what!? Now Tom and Paolo stopped going with them too. Pffft.

Hello Kitty!

Here's a clip of me and my niece Mavis talking about Hello Kitty O__0

Life is Full of Pain

What? An emo post by Andrew??

Noooooooo!

No really, my life is full of pain because my neck and back hurt like hell!!

Since my trip to Singapore I stopped going to the gym. It was only two days ago when I came back and look what happens. Last night I couldn't even enjoy my dinner because of the pain. :( So I got a massage at a nearby spa, which helped a teeny bit. I wanna go back and get another one! Ok, addict.

No, I ain't going emo on my 6-7 readers. Well, things are quite dandy except for this stupid pain on my back. Nothing to emo about then. :) Lol.

* * * * *

BTW, there's a Davao Hotel you might want to stay at while you're in town. Check it out :)

What in the World is Ginanggang??

Ginanggang is grilled banana on a skewer brushed with butter or margarine then sprinkled with sugar. It's pure heaven, and it costs a measly three pesos (~7 US cents)!



Sorry for the ugly pictures, I used my camera phone.

Techno-Stressed I Am

So far this week I have not stepped into a cafe to "wifi". My cousin Ria can attest to that. Why? Because I'm techno-stressed as my friend Aileen lovingly calls it.

From now on I promise myself not to wifi more than three times a week. It's not only taking a toll on my body, but also on my wallet. It ain't cheap ya know! For now I am relaxing even though my work tasks are piling up. I plan on getting another massage tomorrow and see if I can get any work done in the evening. Next week, when I *hopefully* get my mojo back, I'm gonna finish up all pending work so I don't have to worry about them while I'm in Manila for iBlog4. I've made tons of plans already with Aileen, Ria and Migs and hopefully other bloggers can join us too.

If you're techno-stressed like me it helps to blog about inane stuff like photography. Ok don't get me wrong but I love photography, but I consider it only a hobby of mine. I love to blog about my pictures as you can see and it makes me forget things that stress me out. If you do like taking pictures try making a photoblog because all you have to do is post the pics, say a few stuffsss and voila... you are know a photoblogger. Hehehe. Alright it's getting late gotta get some rest.

On The Cover of Model Magazine

Yes! And it's made possible by MagMyPic.com! :D

Gucci Gang in Singapore

My Gucci Gang pic. 'Nuff said. Hehehe.

Barack Obama Should Get A Grip

Can you honestly say he would be in his position now if he weren't black? No, I don't think so. One glaring facet of this campaign that lot of Americans are turning a blind eye on is that on one corner, we have this amazing, experienced lady seeking to become the first woman President and on the other, a young, idealistic man who would become the first Black President. What's not to love? So why is that when we make comments that begin with "if she were a man" or "if he was white", people go ballistic?! Clearly a wave of change is about to happen (as Obama asserts quite so often), and there is no turning back from it. If both of them were white men, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be half as excited watching CNN as I am now.

I'm completely with Geraldine Ferraro when she said that the Obama camp had gone overboard by calling her racist JUST because she's on Clinton's finance team. He's really turning out to be big headed brat who doesn't hesitate to twist any truth to his advantage. Ferraro was merely pointing out the obvious. Obama's black, and the people love it. I would even go as far as saying that Oprah Winfrey went out on a limb for him because he is black. Would she do it if he was Caucasian? Not in a million years! Sure, he's qualified and all, but being qualified alone will not make Ms. Winfrey fall for anyone like she did for Obama.

My message to Obama is: Embrace your blackness. People are rooting for you because you are black and you represent change. I actually like you. Don't blow it!

Singing in the Drain

Last week, I started taking voice lessons at Dom's Notespell studio, which he says he a acquired through some bizarre hostile takeover. OK, why the hell am I taking voice lessons? It's one of those things I've thought about doing but never had the guts to until now. When I heard weeks ago from Dom himself that he owned a music studio, that was my cue!

Fortunately, it turns out that I'm related to my voice instructor. All throughout my first session, Mam Vicky kept on saying that I looked familiar. Did she see me on TV? Did she watch my newest blockbuster movie? Did she catch me in my latest commercial? AH. Neither. Wake up silly. Finally she asked me who my dad was. I said, Dion dela Serna. She went berserk. "Tito Dion's your dad?!" "Ah yeah." "Tita Baby's your mom?!" "Yup. So, you know them?" "We're cousins!!" "No wait, what?" Apparently, her mom is my lola's first cousin. That makes her technically my aunt, but we're the same age, so I avoid calling her tita (she kinda hinted that she'd kill me if I called her that).

Getting back to the subject, I have no grand plans of entering showbiz any time soon or sing in front of an audience (big or small). Hell no. I just wanna learn how to sing and hit all the right notes. Mam Vicky says I sing decently. On our next session, she wants me to learn how to sing an OPM song, which I don't normally listen to. I guess I'm gonna give Ogie Alcasid a test run. Bakit ngayon ka lang? Bakit ngayon ka lang dumating sa buhay ko? Ooh, snap. Just shoot me.

Zakoya Japanese Restaurant Review

Last December 19, 2007 (yeah that's a looong time ago) I had a wonderful time eating dinner at the Zakoya Japanese Restaurant with fellow bloggers Oliver, Maria, Winston, Dominic, Eric, Dennis and Ria (formal ba?). Apparently, the place is crowded with Japanese people (what's the politically correct way to say that) because Zakoya is as real as it gets when it comes to authentic Japanese cuisine. Anyone who knows me can attest that I love Japanese food. That's why when Blogie said that we were going to eat at Zakoya for our Food Trip, I was pumped!

The owners of the restaurant treated us to an eat-all-you-can buffet meal. I particularly enjoyed the Maki and Sushi bar, since there was a lot of items to choose from. Right beside it was the Yakitori grill and the Tempura. Whoa, I couldn't get enough of the tempura either! The nice thing is Zakoya keeps their buffet tables constantly filled with food. They definitely weren't skimping on us!



If you're in Davao City craving for real Japanese food, be sure to check out Zakoya! It's located at Door #3 DavCon (Davao Convention Center) Autoville, along Torres Street.

Top Problogger, Me?

Got a nice surprise a few days ago when Michael of Basapa.com included me in his list of Top Pinoy Probloggers of 2007. My thoughts? Hmm, I'm not a problogger. I earn pennies from blogging. But it's things like these that make you feel good about yourself. Being among the likes of Abe, Janette, Jayvee, Noemi, Anton, Rico and Sasha is reason enough.

My site, Ratified.org, also ranks Filipino bloggers. As I write this Leyte blogger Sustines Laplana is ranked first. While Michael ranks his list according to blog juice, I rank mine using PageRank, Feedburner and Technorati stats. Which gives me an idea... I might do a wrap-up post for Ratified.org before the year ends.

Oh yeah, I was about to make an excuse for not posting for a long time. But it's gonna be lame so I just cut to the chase. Hehehe.

My Dad Doesn't Get It

I just had the most annoying conversation with my dad. See, we rarely talk to each other because I'm here in Davao and he lives in Manila. Now, we're having this big family reunion in December and he wants me to design a souvenir program for the affair. Problem is, I simply do not have time to do it. Apparently, he still looks at me as his bum-son who spends the whole day playing games on the computer. It sucks because I never spent the whole day playing computer games. Sure, I bummed around a bit, but that was a long, long time ago. He found it so hard to believe that I have an honest-to-goodness career going on. I worked so hard to get to where I am today. It's depressing that he can't see that. He even asked me how much I'm making. I gave him a scaled-down figure, but he didn't look convinced. As if he didn't hear a thing, he said he'll pay me a measly P5000 to do the souvenir program. I turned him down, not because of the ridiculously low pay, but because I have responsibilities left and right that I cannot abandon. The discussion ended abruptly when my brother stood up and motioned that we were leaving. Next time we talk, I'm pretty sure he'll still be the same condescending father all over again.

Workout Progress Report

It's been about 4 months since I started hitting the gym again and I'm happy to report that I am seeing some progress. Not that you'd care though. Haha.

When I started, I weighed 68 kilos or 149 pounds. That's slightly overweight for someone of my height. My body mass index was at 24 and my waist was 34 inches.

Now, I'm down to 63 kilos or 138 pounds. That now makes me slightly underweight. What gives? But anyway, my BMI's improved to 18 and my waist is now 31 inches. My BMI is still not within the "Fit" range. But it shouldn't be too difficult coz to be "fit" my BMI has to be 17, which is only a point away.

I still find it hard to diet. But I've managed to cut down my intake of rice by half. I consume only a cup of rice per day, a half for lunch and a half for dinner. I reward myself in the weekends with a hefty meal at a favorite restaurant. I don't know why but lately I'm always craving for pizza, particularly the Manager's Choice pizza at Shakey's.

I find it sad that now at my age I can't eat all the foods that I want and I actually have to work out to speed up my metabolism and lose weight. Oh well. Anyway, here's something that'll make you laugh. Upon enrollment this girl who evaluated me wrote some funny stuff on my card:



Too bad it's kinda blurry. But notice that she checked Female under Sex. Beside Goal she wrote: Loss Weight, Tunning. Could help but snicker every time I start my workout

Where Ya From? The Di-Prom!!

So I came from a quick trip to Manila recently and all I can say is I'm a certified promdi!! Hehehe. Although I spent a mere 3 days there, it was fantastic because I got to meet up with many of my friends. On my first day, I went to Glorietta mall in Makati to eat a late lunch at Friday's with Miss Google Earth Aileen Apolo. I also met Jay of TitikPilipino.com. I had to apologize to the both of them because I haven't taken a shower for more than a day. I smelled like crap. Hehehe.

Next, I met up with the DotaStrategy.com crew, this time clean and showered and dressed in fresh clothing. We munched on delicious Italian food at the Sicilian Express, located in front of the Metro Walk in Ortigas. It was extra special because it was the first time the mod team were complete! I promised them we'd do another round come December.



(L-R Alvin aka quickbrownfox, Ronie aka nidoking, Marx aka yukino_silvermaine, Andrew aka drew and RJ aka orochi)

We did a little road trip from Ortigas to UP Diliman and Philcoa to play Dota. I had a lot of fun!!

As if that weren't enough, I headed to my friend K's house for a small barkada reunion. Besides K (yes, that's her only name), my other lawyer-friends Paolo, Vanessa and Eric (K's hubby) were there. I wonder why I didn't become a lawyer. I am quite good at lying. Anyway, Eric offered me some wonderful salmon sashimi that I gobbled up in less than a minute. Having no sleep at all since my flight, I was already groggy when suddenly it rained pretty hard. I had to wait 3 hours before I can leave. My friends were chatting about legal mumbo-jumbo while I lay on a chair half asleep. Oh my, what a way to start a vacation in Manila!!



Next day, Saturday, it was my cute nieces' birthday party at the Grand Terrace in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. That was the main reason I came to Manila since my father paid for my ticket and I was dying to see my nieces. I didn't realize how spoiled they were until I saw the place. It probably cost my father a good 25,000 pesos to rent the place just for the party. Back when I was 3, the best birthday party I can get would be a small spaghetti and coca-cola affair in our backyard. Still, I'm quite happy for my nieces especially the older one named Mavis. She said after the party: I'm sooo happy! That in itself was worth the price. On a side note, that shirt I'm wearing is the same shirt I wore the night before because I was required to wear something white! Gross!!

To be continued :)

Adonis Needing Delights and Rapturous, Erotic Worship

Yeah, who doesn't need rapturous, erotic worship?

Hehe. Kidding. Actually, you too can have your Sexy Name Decoded. It's genius. You enter your name and gender, then it churns out an acronym you find only in sleazy romantic novels. Give it a try! If you wanna gross yourselves out, try your parents' names! Ewwww.

My dad Dion:

Dreamboat Imparting Orgasms and Necking

My mom Baby:

Babe Adeptly Bestowing Yeses

Again, EWWW!

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

More often that not, when I help someone WITHOUT asking anything in return, they think I owe them something for helping them out. They even have the guts to make me wait and tell me, ok, you can help me now. This applies to many people close to me. If it hits you, too bad.

One person whom I'm trying to convince to blog thought the same thing .. that s/he was doing me a favor by starting a blog. My, my, whatever happened to gratitude? Has it died a sudden death? I attend an event and is asked to take photographs. So I take pictures, but the ones who asked tell me to stop and do it later. What?? Sadly, this happens to me. I'm Mr. Dependable, Mr. Driver, Mr. CD Burner, Mr. Photographer, Mr. Fix-it-all -- all in one. And yet, on my birthdays, I get nothing from these vermins that I've helped. Not even one lousy gift. They'd rather spend it on their cellphone credits. But like I said, I don't expect anything in return. But any little token of appreciation would be great you know!! One cousin of mine calls me his/her favorite cousin only when s/he needs something from me. Sorry, again, if this gets to you, I hope you choke on what you're eating right now!

Fortunately, it's my friends who assure me there's hope in the world. Too bad though that many of them aren't here. But I do know they appreciate me for what I am, and for me, that's a thought good enough to get me through the day.

Bwiiii-Zit

There's a freakin' giant zit sittin on my right cheek. Actually, it started as something small and slightly painful. That's until I began touching and squeezing it in my attempts to get rid of the pus. Naturally, it got irritated and infected. It's grown 3X its original size. I suddenly remember all those stories about people who die just from squeezing their pimples. I'm restraining myself from doing so! But I'm vain! Ahhhh!

Abs-olutely Difficult

For the past few days I've become very serious about my diet and workout regimen. Basically, I'm trying to get rid of my belly and yes, get one of those elusive 6-pack abs. My friends and cousins are telling me that I didn't need to workout since I'm very slender-looking. Well, yeah, with my clothes on! But don't get me wrong, you won't see me posing naked in a porn magazine anytime soon. It's just that I'm not getting any younger and the thought of inheriting my dad's basketball-belly freaks me out! (Love you dad) My dad was thinner than me at my age, so my future doesn't look too good.

My ab routine takes longer than everything else during my workout. I do 150 declined crunches, 150 ball crunches, 150 more for obliques on the same ball, 100 reclined leg raises and 100 side cable bends. It's pure torture, I'm telling you. But I'm going to ask my trainer to include a couple more to really push me to the limit. So far, I'm seeing some progress. My cargo shorts fit me better and I do notice that my tummy's becoming leaner. All my boxer shorts are also looser. But for me to make my abs popout I have to get rid of all the fat around my waist. Yikes.

For my diet, I've been binging on a combination of pasta and tuna. I'm cutting down on my rice intake drastically. For the pasta I only eat a little of that since that is still carbohydrates just like rice. I try to avoid beef and pork altogether. If my mom serves chicken I only eat the breast part, which I'm learning to enjoy. I'm a big fish eater, so I can live with my cans of Century Tuna if I run out of options.

I usually like to hit the gym with my gym buddies, Christine and Gil. Either one of them will do, as long as I have someone to talk to when I'm bored. But when I'm alone, I just go about my business and do the deed as fast as I can. One old guy is harassing my friend Christine by saying hi's and hello's at her whenever he can. He better not do anything crazy or else ... well, he's bigger than me so let's cross the bridge when we get there lol :) I heard that he's a lawyer too but that doesn't scare me. I usually don't pay attention to anyone I don't know but there's a couple of chubby girls who seem to have a peculiar interest in me. Lol. Unfortunately, my groupies don't stop there and I'd rather not talk about the rest of them. *goosebumps* As for me, like I said, I have the attention span of a dumbbell so anyone who's attractive should slap me in the face for me to notice them.

When I do get those abs I'll take some pictures and post them here, God forbid. :D

Hitting the Courts Again

Ahhh. Yesterday I finally got to play my favorite sport again, Badminton! It's been more than 2 months I think since I last played. Good thing I bumped into my friend Tom while I was working out. I was actually resting from my ab exercises that time. The workout area is at the second floor and as I looked down at the courts, I saw him! So I came down to chat. He invited me to join his group.

My performance was so-so. Well, blame my two-month hiatus. I also have this problem of getting tired easily, albeit only initially. I get all my energy back after a few minutes of rest and I'm like the Energizer bunny all throughout. I'm still a bit rusty on my smashes. I think I charge at the shuttlecock too late or too low. I dunno. Most of my attempts do not end up going over the net. I think I have to analyze the situation to know when a smash is or isn't a good decision. Today I'm hitting the gym with a friend of mine. I'm trying to achieve my lifelong goal of having abs. Meh.

What Sells More? Salable or Bestseller?

There's a new byword in sales pitching: SALABLE.

I've been hearing this aplenty here in Davao City. When I ask for recommendations from baristas, waiters, salesladies, managers or chefs, they say, "Sir, this is salable po". From what I know, the word simply means "it can be sold" or "available for purchase", not necessarily selling like hotcakes.

Whatever happened to BESTSELLER? Has that become an obsolete word? I cringe when I think of bookstores labeling books as salable.

On a side note, I also find it off-putting when someone says "For a while" when I'm asked to wait on the phone. Who invents these phrases??

Meme Again?

Ria tagged me.

What makes your blog unique?

Are we talking about this blog? Well, it's unique because it's Andrew dela Serna's one and only personal blog. No one else can say that, unless we have the same name.

When did you start blogging?

I started about 3 years ago, albeit on and off. This blog is only 3 weeks old.

What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

I hope to be able to rant all I want and practice my blogging skills.

What are your feelings on the “blog popularity” issue?

Who doesn't want to be popular? I think everyone who says they don't care about it are lying to themselves. Although it shouldn't be the primary reason to blog, popularity is the ultimate measure of your blog's success. What good is your blog if nobody reads it, right?

What’s your favorite childhood memory?

My favorite childhood memory was when I peed my pants in class when I was in second grade. Imagine the looks on my classmates sitting beside me. I also peed while waiting in line at Universal Studios, so say my brothers.

Are you a spiritual person?

No. But I believe in what Jesus said about doing unto others as you would have them do to you. I can be confrontational sometimes, so if someone smacks me in the face maybe it's what I deserve.

Do your moral values affect the way that you blog, and if yes, how?

I haven't been paying attention if they do. But I guess when it comes to political issues, a few moral values come to play. I've stopped blogging about politics already, thank goodness!

8 Secrets!

Aileen tagged for this meme wherein I have to reveal 8 secrets about me. Hmm, this shouldn't be that difficult.

First, here are the rules:

- Each player must post these rules first.
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok, now brace yourselves!!

1. I'm vain. Actually, I was vainer when I was in college. But now with all the crazy things that keep me busy, I don't have the luxury to be, which makes me not vain anymore! Hahaha. But I still like taking pictures of myself sometimes, or staring at the mirror. Oh, and I dry my hair with a fan. I just don't like leaving the house with a sponge on my head.

2. I take 5 different multivitamins: GNC for Men, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Saw Palmetto, MSM and B-Complex.

3. I'm a hypochondriac (proof in #2). When I feel something slightly wrong with my body, I feel like I'm gonna die. Worse, I'm afraid of taking medications.

4. I use a for-kids toothbrush, with a Mickey Mouse design at that! Adult toothbrushes freak me out. I imagine steel brushes grinding in my mouth.

5. I am the family PC technician. I have about 20 cousins living in the same village as I am. If something goes wrong with their computers, I am at their beck and call.

6. I love sneakers and rubber shoes. I bought a new pair a few days ago. Leather shoes aren't my thing.

7. I love playing practical jokes! I also like making up stories and asking obvious questions to dupe people.

8. Call me a modern-day Peter Pan. I just don't grow up!

I can only think of a few people who'll do this: Kim, Ria, Jehz and Winston.

Becoming a Godfather

A while ago I attended the baptism of my niece, Gabrielle Martina Abella Limpin, the first daughter of my close cousin Ina and husband Greggy. She is my 4th goddaughter and I'm happy that I was among those chosen to be her ninong. I don't know a lot about the godfather's role in a child's life except that I'm obliged to give them gifts on their birthday, the holidays and important milestones in their lives. I have to say that it ain't cheap being a godfather. But if the child needs anything from me, I'll provide it as long as she doesn't ask for a house, a car or my soul. Notice the "she". I'd love to have a godson too. I think the whole "godparent" deal has lost all its real purpose other than giving away material things. But if that's the only way I can help, why not?



I have a few godmothers who now tell me that it's time for me to return the favor, meaning I should give them gifts now because I have a job. What? Do yours tell you that too? When I become ancient, I'll NEVER oblige Danielle, Maxene, Maddi or Gabby to give me gifts. Even if they become millionaires!

Trio Loco

Ahh, the beauty of this personal blog is I can talk nonstop about utter nonsense. And I'm free to do all these cool meme's. I was tagged by Sir Blogie for this one.

Three Things That Scare Me

1. Rats
2. Lizards
3. Cats

Three People Who Make Me Laugh

1. Jay Leno
2. Conan O'Brien
3. Michael V.

*Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a sense of humor kaya celebrities na lang :D

Three Things I Love

1. My websites
2. My laptop
3. Food

Three Things I Hate

1. Bagoong
2. Bulad
3. Stupidity

Three Things I Don’t Understand

1. Physics
2. Philosophy
3. People who understand #1 and #2.

Three Things On My Desk

1. Cellphone
2. TV Remote
3. My wrists

Three Things I Am Doing Right Now

1. Doing this damn meme
2. Listening to Jason Mraz
3. Smelling my new pair of shoes

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Travel the whole world
2. Sing with an orchestra
3. Have enough money to be called a billionaire

Three Things I Can Do

1. Play the piano
2. Crack my knuckles on my pinkie fingers for like, forever
3. Beat anyone in a game of Dynomite

Three Things I Can’t Do

1. Sleep early
2. Have abs (at least not yet)
3. Get my own pad (at least not yet)

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To

1. Yourself
2. Maroon 5
3. Your mom calling you for supper

Three Things You Should Never Listen To

1. Kris Aquino
2. President Arroyo
3. Stupid people

Three Things I Would Like To Learn

1. Sing opera
2. Spanish or French
3. Juggle

Three Favorite Foods

1. Chicken Mami
2. Cheese
3. Prime Rib Steak

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid

1. Transformers
2. G.I. Joe
3. The Smurfs

Let me tag Marc, Jun and Kim for this one.

My Workout

It's going to be a month since I began working out here at the Smashville gym. What is nice about this place is it's not that crowded. When I came in this afternoon, it was just me and my friend on the treadmill machines! Cool! But shortly thereafter, one person entered. Meh. But still, 3 people ain't a crowd.

Yes, I am actually at the gym waiting for my friend to finish freshening up. She has the penchant for saunas, which gives me plenty of time to write this post. It's cool here because there's an Internet station with 6 PC's that only us gym members can use anytime we want. I usually check my emails after a 20-minute run on the treadmill, then head up to the gym for my stretching and weightlifting program. When I'm done I quickly get into my clothes and go back to recheck my emails and approve blog comments. I don't like taking showers in public baths by the way and I hate saunas!

I've been on and off on my workout routine since college. I'm definitely not the muscle-bound type as you'd imagine. I'm still very slim. But since I reactivated my so-called healthy lifestyle last June, I did gain about 12 pounds. Before that I was just pathetically underweight and lanky. Anyway, I stopped again in April when the new gym I went to became too claustrophobic. I hate it when people go to the gym only to socialize. You know, those types who take their sweet time on exercise machines chatting without really giving a damn that others are waiting on them. That gym is Holiday Spa. And I got the worst gym instructor in the whole world.

By the time my birthday arrived (June 5), I had wanted to go back working out. Out of the 12 pounds I previously gained, it's gone down to 7. Since I haven't seen my friends in a while, I decided to treat them out a few days later and one of them said she and another friend of ours (who wasn't there) had recently become members of the Smashville gym. Excited, I immediately tagged along with them the following day and got a free trial workout. Impressed with the facilities and the *sweet* absence of people, I signed up right then and there.

Since I didn't want to bulk up too much and look like Popeye, my gym instructor Eric gave me a "toning" program. The program is focused on a lot of stretching and abdominal exercises. Boy, I didn't know stretching could be so tiresome! I freakin' failed the stretching test during my pre-workout checkup! At the beginning, I had such a difficult time stretching my legs up straight. Clearly I'm not gonna win the Mr. Flexible title anytime soon. But after a month, I'm much more comfortable now. Eric even gave me more difficult exercises, which is fine by me. After stretching, I have to do a few weightlifting stuff for different parts of my body.

I've become addicted to my new "healthy lifestyle" that I recently bought a box of cereal to replace my fat-infused midnight snacks! Funny though that I'm already halfway through the box! My diet hasn't exactly changed yet. But I am trying to eat more fish in place of beef and pork. I'm going to renew my membership this weekend. Hopefully that is a good sign of things to come.

Panic at the Kitchen

Last night was a nightmare.

Let's back up a bit. Yesterday afternoon, our help cleaned my fish aquarium without my supervision. I thought that they wouldn't have such a difficult time because they've cleaned it several times before. Only then I realized that they were new. Our maid turnover rate is pretty high, you see.

Fast forward to last night. It was about 11PM. I came down to check on the aquarium. Something was wrong with the filter. The water that it was spewing out was flowing erratically. It wasn't installed correctly after the aquarium was cleaned. So I removed the top covering to check it out. That's when all hell broke loose. Since it wasn't correctly installed, the hose connected to it was not fitted tightly enough. When I took off the cover the water was gushing out like crazy!! It was one of those moments in life when I screamed like a little girl. What really scared me was the outlet was right behind the darned thing and the water was going right at it. Good thing I lived to tell the tale! I immediately unplugged the filter and the water quickly subsided. It was a total mess. The kitchen counter was flooded with water. The medicine rack beside it wasn't spared. I shamefully woke up my mom to help me do some damage control. Damn, obviously I didn't know how to clean up after myself. Ah, the sheltered life.

Good thing my mom didn't get pissed off that much. After the ordeal I had to take another shower coz I stunk like fish. Speaking off, I have four socially inept parrot fishes. They like burrowing their own holes and hide. That's why I don't like them. But they're there. I wish they'd just die so I can buy a new set of fish. Before them, I had two parrot fishes too, but they were bigger, more attractive and didn't hide too much. Unfortunately, our maid's idea of feeding them was filling the whole aquarium with pellets. So they died almost instantly. I rarely get attached to pet animals, but that incident really left me depressed and angry.

I'm thinking of riding the Flowerhorn craze going on here. My cousin has one. At first I didn't understand what was so special about it when I first saw it at their home. It was small and looked like any other fish I'd see at a pet store. But after a few months it grew quite big and colorful. Ahh, now I get it. The Flowerhorn is quite the looker. I warn you though. It's a carnivorous fish like the Arowana. My cousin put a smaller Flowerhorn in the same aquarium thinking they'd get along. The next day they were shocked to see the poor little thing impaled with only 75% of its body left dangling.

Here at home we also have a black Labrador named Temi. He's very friendly. Initially, I was frightened by him. But he's grown on me. I still won't pet/touch him though.

At The Malagos Garden Resort

Yesterday, Me and fellow bloggers Aileen, Migs and Blogie drove down to the Malagos Garden Resort here in Davao City for some nature tripping. We were supposed to visit Eden Nature Park, but we figured since Aileen had been there before, it would be nice to see something different. It was my first time there too, and Migs'.

The entrance fee cost us P100 each. I wasn't expecting much, thankfully, because the place was not well maintained. It reminded me of the Eagle Park. A shame. But I enjoyed it nonetheless, because of the company I had (teehee) and all the interesting wildlife we encountered. I was surprised to see obese chickens as we walked toward the Butterfly Sanctuary. I'm not kidding. They're fat as hell!

Here's one of them:



And another:



Some of the butterflies we saw:



Although most of them were black and white, they were still a great shot!



As my friends began to notice, I was afraid to go near the ostriches. For me, they're modern-day velociraptors!



Look at how ferocious they can get!! Rawr!



I loved this bird because it had a mohawk:



And this bird was funny. Whenever we walk past it, it seems to stand frozen in time. That's why it's the easiest one to photograph!



This is the gang cooling off at the Roofdeck Cafe:


(L-R: Migs, Andrew, Blogie, Aileen)

I ordered a Club Sandwich that was pretty good. Aileen had a Ham Pizza while Blog had Empanadas and Migs a Chicken Sandwich. Let's just say that Migs and I were the only ones who enjoyed our food. ;)