Long Overdue Post is Long Overdue

Recent and not so recent events prevented me from blogging.. anywhere. If you check my other blogs, those have not been updated for weeks, if not months. I could not get into the nitty-gritty. I will, soon, when things improve.

My trip to Singapore and Malaysia is coming up in a couple days. Really excited about that. Will be traveling with five of my friends. Should be blast! Will make sure to blog about some places while I'm there. Surely when I return, I'll be broke as hell. :(

Next March, my dreams of seeing Paris again might come true after all. :) LOL

That's all I can say for now. See you Singapore and Malaysia!

Going to Manila

I'm heading to Manila a few days earlier than my team. This gives me the chance to spend time with my dad and nieces who I cannot wait to see!

Also, I'd like to invite you guys to try PicLyf.com. It's my startup company's pet project. It allows you to take pictures and share them easily through your social networks. I'm testing our Android app but it's a little buggy when it comes to logging in. I hope to test it full blast while in Manila.

Ohhh.. I'm looking for people to play badminton with! So far Gail, Marc and Poyt said yes. Hope we could reach 6 people. :) Shoutout to my other friends Mica, Winston, Jehz, Maki, Cai, Aileen, Jay, Fritz etc.. laro tayo!

My Next Trip: Singapore and Malaysia

WordCamp Philippines 2010 is only a few weeks away!!

It's been a crazy roller coaster ride but being a part of it gives me a sense of accomplishment and I can't say I'm not enjoying every bit of it.

So... here I am again talking about my upcoming trip. I'm going back to Singapore!! Universal Studios, here come I! I was supposed to go to Singapore with my friend Aileen today, but so much work still has to be done for WordCamp. Work before play, as the saying goes.

As luck may have it, three of my friends invited me to come with them to Singapore and Malaysia in November. That's cool because I've always wanted to go back to Malaysia. I was in Kuala Lumpur last year with the same people, but this time we're making a side trip to Penang as well. Before we settled for Penang, I asked my travel sensei Nina for her wisdom. Our three choices were Penang, Kuching (also in Malaysia) and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. She said Penang had nice historical sights and good food, while Ho Chi Minch was cheaper and more laid back. She's never been to Kuching. So I asked her straight away.. if she were to choose between going to Penang and Ho Chi Minh, where will she go? You guessed it.. Penang!

I booked myself a Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore two days ago. My mom helped me book it through the phone coz buying it online would have cost me double (to the tune of US$600 O_O). I also booked tickets on AirAsia and Tiger Airways for my trips to KL and Penang. My friends, however, got Cebu Pacific flights to Singapore. I fly to Singapore earlier than they do and a bit later going back to Manila. I plan on spending my last night in Singapore in a five-star hotel. Ritz-Carlton perhaps?? LOL

After WordCamp, normal blogging operations will resume here at Yeah, Drew. :)

What's Keeping Me Busy

^^ Yes folks, this is what's keeping me busy nowadays. I'm a WordCamp Philippines organizer and everyday we are feeling the pressure building up! About 250+ happy, geeky campers have registered for the event. We promise the coolest, bestest WordCamp Philippines yet!


A while ago I designed a WordCamp shirt that I hope everyone will like. My co-organizers Chattee, Brendel and Lyle seemed to like it. :) Thanks to Chattee for the concept. Also, I'm working on a secret project for those attending the event. It's about 95% done. All we need to do is have it undergo a 'stress test' before going public. Watch out for it!

Oh, and see you at WordCamp!

The Real Deal

Yesterday I saw another doctor and what was great about this guy is he tells things as they are. It was like having a session with a shrink, minus the shrink and the crazy person (I'd like to think I'm not crazy.. yet.) Anyway, he said that there is nothing wrong with me. He told me to go back to my usual routine, that is, going to the gym almost everyday, eat all the food that I like (though he said to take it easy) and drown myself in work (I dunno about that one lol) The doc said that I was a young growing boy with a lot of things to look forward to. Wait what? So yeah, let this be the day where I try to go back to the life that I miss so dearly. Honestly, what keeps me going are my family, friends and my online readers. Thank you for sticking around!

So my mom was with me that time and she and the doctor ended up gossiping about Kris Aquino and Coco Martin. I didn't know that they were linked together. Wow Kris, get yourself together! The funny things that happen in the doctor's clinic... Tsk

Hiatus

I'm taking a short hiatus from blogging here in Yeah, Drew. Don't worry, I will be back as I am recovering from my back injury that's causing me dizziness and quite a bit of pain. I am slowly getting better and I hope to be back to my old self by the end of the month. Frustration and sadness are what I feel sometimes but I'm lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who love and support me. And of course, I'd like to thank you, my blog readers who never fail to drop by even if I haven't written a lot lately. Please pray for me coz I really need it. Thanks! :)

Dizzy

My head is spinning!

I'm suffering from a bout of vertigo. It ain't fun. It keeps me from doing stuff I love to do (such as work out), even stuff I hate to do (like real work). I can't move around freely. It's like I'm in a prison.

My meds sort of help in easing the nausea, but they're making me groggy. Last night I slept for 11 hours!! That's too much!! Hey Mr. Bert E. Go, give me my old life back!

Hong Kong Day 1

The day started out like any first day of traveling. Lack of sleep, waiting in long ticket queues, terminal fees here and there, not to mention the flights that suck the energy out of you. That pretty much describes my voyage to Hong Kong today. I'm here in the Marco Polo where I'm booked. My mom is asleep, doubly tired of the day's events. She's wearing a funny looking set of pajamas.


This is Hong Kong's ginormous airport. It's so huge we had to catch a train going to the baggage claim area. LOL


Our room in the Marco Polo Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. The beds are tiny.


Camwhoring while my mom checked out our bathroom.


For dinner, we ate at the Silvercord mall, which is very near our hotel. Their food court, located in the basement, had a dozen of establishments to choose from. We picked Mi-ne Sushi where we enjoyed their sushi carousel. Mi-ne is a do-it-yourself (DIY) restaurant. I'll review them in my food blog.


One of the things I made sure of is to taste HK's milk tea! In the middle of the food court they sold all sorts of drinks, including Black Tea with Milk and Tapioca (HK$12). It is the strongest milk tea I've tasted but I loved it! I told my tea addict friend Aileen that I'm having it for breakfast tomorrow. :)


Long day tomorrow. Gotta sleep!

Memories of Eiffel

Lame pickup line: "Are you that famous tower in Paris? Coz when I saw you, Eiffel in love." Huh.


View of the Eiffel from the Arc De Triomphe


Took this while on top of the Notre Dame Cathedral


My cousin acting stately during a cruise on the Seine.


A nice shot of the tower at night.

>
Amidst fireworks on Bastille Day.


I'm making it my goal to come back next year to see it once again!

Delayed

My flight to Cebu is delayed! We should be boarding by now. Waiting for the status of my flight. I might go to a beach resort today if things go well. :-)

Cebu This Week

I'm so pumped about going to Cebu this Thursday to attend the Cebu Blog Camp, a blogging conference organized by my good friend Winston Almendras. It would be the first blogging event I'm attending in the Visayas region. Friends from Manila and Mindanao are flying in for that too. Should be loads of fun catching up with them. My cousin Ria will be speaking about blogging communities while my babe Mica will talk about Blogging 101. My badminton buddy Dulce of Padd Solutions is a sponsor.


On the day I arrive (Thursday), I'm tagging along with Aileen, Jay and Miguel as they tour the city. It would be Miggy's first time in Cebu, so Aileen wants to make sure that her son sees everything he needs to see. I'm looking forward to taking lots of pics of Cebu's landmarks. And, more importantly, eat their world-famous lechon! Even Anthony Bourdain was impressed with Cebu's take on this native delicacy that he had to feature it on his show. As I asked around for things to do in Cebu, "lechon" was almost in every answer that I got. Aside from that, Casa Verde's Baby Back Ribs, Siomai from Harbor City, Barbecue at Larsian and Golden Cowrie's native food. Somewhere in there, Moon Cafe was also mentioned. I wonder how I'm going to fit that all into my 3-day schedule!


On Friday, we're planning to hit the beach. We haven't decided which resort yet. We're choosing between Tambuli, Maribago and Plantation Bay. Mica might be able to hook us up with a discount at Plantation Bay. I hope she gets it coz I'm dying to go there. In the afternoon we're going back to the city to continue our food binge tour. lol Aileen and I will then meet up with other geeks in the evening.


Saturday is CBC day. I believe it starts early in the morning and ends late afternoon. I'm not familiar with the event's agenda. I hope the lineup of talks will keep me and the rest of the attendees engaged. I'll do a little partying afterwards then go back to my hotel coz I have an early flight to catch the next day.


It's 1:46AM on my clock. Getting dizzy and sleepy! Good night! See you all in Cebu!

Busy Eating

This cute and cuddly logo is brought to you by... ME.

The Davao Food Appreciation Tour (DFAT) begins today! Will be busy eating this weekend. I'm excited to meet bloggers from GenSan, CDO and Manila!

Famous People I Have Seen

Here are the most notable famous persons I've seen:


International

Alicia Keys - Saw her talking to a couple of fans on a New York sidewalk. Too chicken to approach her. I remember her as being very tall.






Julia Stiles - Saw her walk past me one winter morning in New York. She was very pretty and white. Yes, white.







Claire Forlani - The actress whom I remember from Meet Joe Black. She was eating lunch on 6th Avenue. I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in real life.

Madonna - Does this count? Watched her Drowned concert in Madison Square Garden. One word: limber.

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman - I think I saw them on Chelsea Street while eating lunch with a cousin. My cousin noticed them first coz my back was facing them. I only got a glimpse of their spines. Because of that Uma isn't the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in real life. :s

Spencer Breslin - Ok, this kid isn't that famous but he played the young Bruce Willis in the "The Kid". Bumped into him on Bleecker Street.






Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - He was waiting for his flight in O'hare airport when I saw him. I was starstruck but again was too chicken to ask for an autograph. But I have to give props to the teenage boy who asked him upfront: "Are you the Rock?" and ended up being ignored.

Roma Maffia - Another semi-famous actress who played Dr. Liz Cruz on Nip/Tuck. She was standing outside Puck Building with a couple other actors who I didn't recognize.






Pope John Paul II - Saw him inside the "Pope-mobile" in a motorcade near Malacanang Palace.

Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephon Marbury, etc - Saw all of them in a Knicks Vs. Nets game in New Jersey.

Local

Richard Gutierrez and Georgina Wilson - Holding hands at the Fort LOL

John Lloyd Cruz - Chatting with Richard Gutierrez at Embassy.

Anne Curtis - Ran into her in Greenbelt. WOW. Move over Claire and Uma.

Cheska Garcia - Cheska was walking behind Anne Curtis. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. My female cousin Ria went gaga. Literally and embarrassingly.

Akihiro Sato - I know a lot of girls and gays go crazy about this Brapanese model. I saw him in Friday's.

Ryan Agoncillo - Saw him at Powerplant mall.  He's short!

Judy Ann Santos - Saw her at Ever Gotesco Mall on Commonwealth. LOL

Cure Natural Aqua Gel

Cure Natural Aqua Gel

At the risk of sounding like a beauty product endorser, I am endorsing the above product, Cure Natural Aqua Gel.  What does it do?  Read on:

Cure Natural Aqua Gel is a gentle and natural exfoliating gel that removes dead skin effectively without causing undue stress to the skin. Unlike chemical peels which use strong acid, Cure is very gentle on the skin and only removes the unwanted dead skin. It does not dry or thin your skin which causes your skin to be vulnerable to sunlight.

Note to self: I will not rave about Cure like a rabid fanboy.

I'd go far as to say that it is partly responsible for why I have good skin. I learned about it through my Plurk friend Sophie Uy, who was selling it at a Christmas bazaar last year. I purchased a bottle from her (P1,700) after hearing incessant praises from Jayvee and Fritz. Cure works by binding to your dead skin and sloughing it off by the gentle rubbing action of your hands. Right after my skin looks and feels fresh, smooth and firm. Ergo, I look cuter. They should rename it to Cute Natural Aqua Gel hehe. Use it only 3 times week tops.

As I blog this, Sophie is selling a new batch on her Multiply site, Beauty & Minerals.

**Squeals**

Blast from the Past

Universal Studios, Circa 1996

The pic above was taken during one of the darkest eras of my life. Bushy brows, fake tan-like tan, gap teeth, braces and fake golf outfit. I found this souvenir pic sitting in my mom's office storage recently. I haven't seen it in a long time. It should have stayed that way until somebody decided to resurrect it out of its tomb! It's ok coz I couldn't help but laugh at myself every time I see it. Yeah, laughing at myself is my best medicine!

OT: This afternoon, I was driving my cousin home from the gym and we ran behind a passenger jeepney filled with girls in their tweens. When they saw me (yes, me, not my cousin) they started waving at me. My cousin was like "hey, they're waving at you". So I waved back. The girls screamed. LOL

Precarious Saturday

I can't quite recall the last time I saw or spoke to my uncle Rene. He is my mother's first cousin, the son of my grandfather's sister. He also happened to be my high school English teacher, of which I have fond memories of. Outside of the classroom, conversations between me and my uncle were limited, if not non-existent. At parties he would sit in one corner and not talk to anyone other than my aunts and uncles. That could explain my amnesia. Early this year, Ria invited Tito Rene to hold a workshop on creative writing for bloggers. I thought it was brilliant. My uncle had the knack for entertaining people and I was certain he could bring that aura of fun to this workshop. It took months of planning and meetings with fellow officers of Davao Bloggers to make it happen, though I have to admit I didn't do a lot. I served as the perennial go-to guy who took care of picking up the food, the LCD machine, the LCD screen and take photos. As dull as it seems, I do a fantastic job at it. Last Saturday, things finally came together. It was the day we will find out if we're any good at what we are attempting to do -- create events for bloggers of Davao City. Most of us have had experience organizing blogging events, but this is the first time we would do it under the Davao Bloggers umbrella. I had no doubt the workshop would be a success. Tito Rene has that instant name recall that will make people sign up. Who doesn't know him? He's a famous columnist for Sunstar and an accomplished author. For me and thousands of others, he's the cool English teacher we had the luck of having in high school. I'm sure he prefers to be remembered that way.

True enough, Tito Rene brought that same energy and exuberance to the workshop. The participants gave their all in the individual and group exercises, and I myself did the unthinkable: I talked to strangers (without coercion by my cousin Ria) and I chose to be my group's spokesperson. That in itself is a personal accomplishment. During the course of the discussions, I was glad to learn that Tito Rene and I had something in common. We each had a list of cliche words to avoid when writing. His list contained words that are all adjectives, while mine are mostly adverbs. Yes, adverbs that I have not used in this blog post so far. Tito Rene asserts that in writing, one has to be concise and specific in picking words. He says we should avoid meaningless words such as "good", "bad", "fine" and go for more profound alternatives, say, "brilliant", "nefarious" and "spellbinding". But he is quick to point out that the words should remain in context.

He adds that we should draw inspiration from our personal experiences and pour it into our writing. View the <textarea> as an empty canvass and fill it up with a slew of colors, textures and brush strokes. It is a matter of having a keen understanding of what you want to say, and say it in the most concise and creative way. I'll keep that in mind from now on, though I'm worried it might take me nine times longer to finish an article. My past blog posts were written in all but 5-20 minutes each, in a veiled attempt to be seen as a blogger who writes often. That may not be such a bad thing. Readers tend to be more forgiving of blog writers than legitimate online journalists. One small mistake from a journalist can make tomorrow's headlines. One small mistake from people like me goes virtually unnoticed. That doesn't take away from the fact that there is room for improvement in my writing skills. There are lots. Okay, heaps. One thing I learned from Tito Rene is I can be better. His workshop was the first step. He insisted for a second one. I guess we're that awful?

Here comes the obligatory part where I post spellbinding pictures of the event.


The speaker, Mr. Rene Lizada


Ria, me and Tito Rene (yes, I wear glasses!)


Group pic with all the participants

Thanks to my fellow organizers Ria, Chattee, Lyle, Brendel and Dulce for a job well done. Thanks to the participants too! Hope to see you in future events.

I Dunno...

Looks to me that I have to become underweight to fulfill my dream. I am binging on a lot of protein lately to make up for the weight loss but my weight keeps dropping. Today I lessened my cardio to 5 minutes of jogging (about 1km) and spent the rest of the time lifting weights and doing ab exercises. I'm famished! Looking forward to a heavy dinner at a new Japanese restaurant I discovered. :) Best part of it is my mom is paying! lol

Beautiful Mess

Filler post!

Jason Mraz's song, "Beautiful Mess", is my favorite song of all time. This performance of his at the 2008 Nobel Prize ceremony sent chills to my spine.



If Jason asked for my hand in marriage, I would in a heartbeat! lol jk

Bastille Day in France

Bastille Day is an important national holiday celebrated in France every July 14. It commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison that led to the eventual dissolution of the monarchy and the establishment of France's first Republic. My cousins and I were lucky enough to be travelling in France that day! We *kinda* slept in the entire morning, thus we missed the festivities held on the Champs Elysee. We heard that there's gonna be a fireworks display in the evening, so we're going to see that instead. As we headed off the the Trocadero, we caught eye of military vehicles parked near the Opera. We stopped by to take pictures, of course.


Front: Steve, Me, Kathy, Pierre.
Back: Jacques and Jean-Claude. Haha


Salut!

The fireworks weren't going to start until 10 in the evening, but we figured that people are going to go in droves so we might as well start early. The subway route to the Trocadero was confusing as I try to recall it. And I couldn't forget the distance that we walked to get to the place where we could camp out and wait. It was made more difficult because many roads and bridges were closed. After hours of walking, we finally we found a comfortable spot on a sidewalk to sit. We got a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower:


Nice.. leaves..

Due to boredom, we had no choice but take pics.


Clarice, Steve, Kathy


7 hours later ... still no fireworks. This is one of the very few pics where the four of us were together. Thanks to the nice lady who took this pic <3

One thing I learned about the French is they're always on time! At 10pm sharp, the first signs explosions of light began. Due to our obstructed view (see above) we had to find a more strategic position to take good pics. It was hard to take pics of the fireworks because the camera needs to be set on a slow shutter and I was standing on my feet with no support for my arms. The results were mostly blurry pics. Shame. Here are my most decent shots:









Admittedly, I was not able to appreciate the fireworks coz I was busy focusing on my camera. Fortunately, I took some videos which I'll upload soon.

As if our way to the Trocadero was chaotic, nothing prepared us for our way back! Everyone was crowding into the subway!


People everywhere! Arghhh

My cousins said that Bastille Day was our most exhausting day of walking. Indeed it was. I think I lost 5 lbs that day alone lol. Bastille Day was tiring, but it wouldn't have been an enjoyable day without Cleng, Steve and Kathy. You guys rock!

Sea Dragon

It's been ages since I've gone to a perya (fair). One night, my friends and I went to one and challenged amongst ourselves to go on what appeared to be a "tame" ride, the "Sea Dragon".



The Sea Dragon works like a pendulum. At the end of the pendulum, a boat-shaped contraption (where passengers are seated) is swung from left to right in increasingly sharp angles and speeds. If you've been on Enchanted Kingdom's "Anchors Away", then you're in familiar territory. I was excited about the Sea Dragon since Anchors Away was easy pickings and I have been on some of the world's worst roller coasters. But all that bravado was short-lived, unfortunately.

The ride started okay. Slowly but surely. We were getting higher and higher, but that is expected. Then I realized that the ride was taking a little too long to reach its climax. Like waaaay long. After 5 minutes, I felt my internal organs rearranging. Just when I thought the thing was about to stop, it goes even higher! My friend Lyle was having a nervous breakdown. Chattee was swearing at the operators who appeared to be laughing at our misfortune. Faust was asking what medicine to take for his churned tummy. Brendel was the only one who was able to maintain her sanity.

After 10 grueling minutes, the Sea Dragon finally came to a halt. I felt nauseous and on the verge of barfing. Lyle looked like he just ran a 10km marathon. He was drenched in sweat and visibly unwell. He asked Brendel to get him some Bonamine for his dizziness, but the pharmacy across the street was closed. I said we had Bonamine at home and that I could drive us to our house which was like 5 minutes away from the fair. When we reached our house, Lyle's situation grew worse. I won't give the blow-by-blow account but let's just say that everything Lyle ate took the wrong exit :P Chattee and I popped a pill of Bonamine to be sure we won't suffer the same fate.

Afterwards, we grabbed some coffee and food at Blugre MTS. Lyle felt 50 times better. He ordered tea to help soothe his stomach. Despite our bad luck, it was a memorable evening we will always look back on decades from now. :P