Saturday, July 31, 2010

when do you cry?

Only when things get REALLY unbearable for me. Like unbearable anger, pain, sadness, etc. I don't usually show it to other people, but I did have my moments.

On the lighter side, I do cry during scenes of unbearable emotion (i.e when mufasa died in lion king haha). Even some romantic teen comedies make me cry.

I'm a very...uhhh...empathic person i guess, I get swayed by strong emotions easily. :P

Ask the Joy

Monday, July 26, 2010

M.Nightmares

There are times where the best is naturally shown through talent. Then there is The Last Airbender. Sometimes being the best means to look at the stuff that show otherwise so we are shown the right path. hahaha!

http://www.cracked.com/funny-5806-the-last-airbender-movie/

Thanks to maw for the link. :P


Thursday, July 22, 2010

Lemme Show You How It's Done

I have always LOVED the show So You Think You Can Dance. Being a frustrated dancer (as in really frustrated), The show's contestants always amaze me on how much they can accomplish through movement. Sometimes, I like it better than American Idol (or maybe because I like to watch people dance rather than sing) in such a way that there's more to watch and the different styles are more diverse. But here in the show, when you see something amazing, it truly is AMAZING, no gray area of it's okay or it's good enough. An example of this is a person named Alex Wong.

He joined last year's season but couldn't continue because he was invited by the American Ballet Company. He is a REALLY good ballet dancer, no exaggeration. But when he joined again this season, He had to do a routine with Twitch, a REALLY good hiphop dancer. You guessed it, it was a Hiphop routine choreographed by none other than NappyTabs, A REALLY good pair of choreographers. So what do you get when you put together a REALLY good ballet dancer, a REALLY good hiphop dancer, and REALLY good choreographers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SAy_wEsXKg&feature=related

MAMAW! Alex Wong, ikaw na.

Of Absences and Beaches

I have been absent in posting these past few days because of numerous (albeit some of them geeky) reasons. For the most part, I have been entertaining my relatives who are visiting us from the U.S. That's one. The other is that as part of this entertaining role, I went on a family trip to Cebu and Bohol (which by the way are really AWESOME places to spend your vacation). Since I had an awesome time there, might as well tell the little details of my family trip.

First off, CEBU. I spent a total of TWO (2) days there and I liked what I experienced. It felt a little like Manila at times (uhhhh..Hi SM and AYALA) but overall, I like what Cebu offered me during my stay. My family and I stayed at Tambuli Resort East Wing. (http://www.tambuli.com/accomoeast.htm) The Resort was nice enough: they offered decent rooms, WIFI!!!, free breakfast, a pool, and a beach front. For a family on a budget, it's a great resort ALTHOUGH, transportation between resorts can be EXPENSIVE! Just a fair warning.

                               This was exactly the room I stayed in                                        Poolside

Then there was the second resort we went to:
Shangri-la Mactan (http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/cebu/mactanresort). Ang MAMAW nung place! Really awesome resort design, awesome staff and amenities (the service is so good, there is someone literally greeting you a good day EVERY 5 yards or so...I counted :p). Although the pools and beach fronts are supposedly exclusive for hotel guests, as my friend would say, "just pretend that you belong."

                                                                 LANDSCAPING WIN!


Next Stop: BOHOL!

Bohol (Panglao to be exact), is what Boracay was 10 years ago (relatively). The white sand was there, the island-ish and isolated vibe was there too. I liked it actually. Felt homey unlike Boracay now which for me feels like one big Embassy. Most of the people there are either Koreans or Americans, which I got to talk to during my stay (wassup STEVE! :p). 

We stayed at Lost Horizon Resort (http://www.losthorizonresort.net/) while my balikbayan relatives stayed at Amarella Resort (http://www.amarelaresort.com/). Lost Horizon was a really nice place considering it was only 1.7k a night. It had WIFI, an LCD television, Aircon, Pool, and was located near the beach. Not bad for a burgeoning island paradise. The beach located near it is not much but the thing about Bohol is that you need to ride a boat to get to the pristine turquoise colored water beaches the province offers. The boat ride, amidst haggling like mad, comes down to 1.5k but you can bring around 10 people so it's not that expensive. Once we got a boat a lot of things became available: Dolphin Watching, Fish Sanctuary Snorkeling, Sand Bar Swimming, etc. It's a days worth of stuff to do! I recommend it actually. If you have at least 3 days in Bohol, I'd suggest devoting one day in beach tours, then a day land tours (chocolate hills and tarsiers, which are really small by the way) so you can get the most out of your stay.

But like the movie The Beach, even paradises like these are discovered eventually. Our resort was dubbed, "Mini Boracay" for its nightlife. Small eateries and bars open at night and some even have dinner entertainment like jazz singers and bands. It was still nice to walk around, but it was getting eerily close to the boracay set up. Add to this the news that Bohol is building an international airport in Panglao, then I guess the it'll catch up to the Bora style of things in the coming years.

Either way, I really had a blast. It was four days of relaxation and fun. I needed it actually, I'm glad I was able to go. So that's why I haven't been able to post here. Don't you worry, I picking up the slack as they say. I'll be posting more stuff soon! Can't wait to go back with my friends! Yes, it's a lot of fun with family, but it'll be awesome with friends.

And who was the one taking the pictures?



Until the next time!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Music to make your heart stand and your troubles leave

I just came from a REALLY awesome gig last night! Kudos to Stories of Now for producing a night of celebrated artistry and overall good times. The bands who participated were all awesome in their own right: some up-and-coming while others seasoned veterans. Can't wait to hear more from them in the future Songs and Stories productions.



But one band in particular stood out. Maybe because it has been a while since I got to watch them perform. But after months of not seeing them, One Walks Away is as electrifying as ever! (and I'm not talking about the electrocuting that was happening that night haha :p) It's good to see them back in their game. And to think, they went on a break because some members of the band were fathers-to-be! haha! MAMAW talaga! If these guys start doing regular gigs again, you guys owe it to yourselves to catch them.

To give you a taste of their awesomeness..here is a video from their "acoustic phase" back when they were called streamline. This is an original by them entitled Leave. Hope you enjoy the song (or appreciate what the song talks about hahaha)! :)


*To all aspiring musicians out there, just continue to play, no matter what!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Smile!

Everyday, whenever I walk around the city, I see people walk with their "outside" face on. Now when I say "outside" face, I mean like a game face without playing any game. It's like everyone is gonna bite you when you greet them or something. To be fair, they just have walls to protect them from strangers, after all, we are not safest city in the world. But it is here that I see a chance at changing people's lives at the small scale.


A simple smile can turn around anyone's day for the better. A smile from people you smile to can actually guarantee it. That smile they gave you can make them more up beat for work that day, or make them forget about a problem and help them focus more on what's at hand. It's an imprint that you make, although not permanent, that will change the course of that day for them. I try to do that all the time. Letting someone take your spot in the elevator while smiling at them. These are actions that people shrug off at the end of day, but what they remember is that the day was different. You made it different. It's not a lasting change, but hey, it's something to be proud of.

Being the best at what you do is one thing, helping people be the best at what they do is another. To end, here is a video that I find really inspiring. Get a group of friends and try it out! Enjoy! :)


To start of my "new" blog, here is a video of a REALLY awesome violinist who not only is a geek, but makes geek look really cool. Enjoy!

*Thanks to "maw" for showing the video to me. :)

Welcome to my "new" blog.

I've decided to make this my general purpose blog and gear it towards a more "positive" direction. I got myself a new look and decided to write anything I'm interested in. More importantly, however, is this little goal I have for myself and this blog. And since this is a rebirth of sorts, I'm going to explain the new concept now:

MAMAW.

A colloquial, Filipino word used by people in my generation (kids these days don't actually use it anymore...I think they use "imba" now). It means, literally, monster. Applied to skills and talents, it means one has monster skills and talents. That word is reserved for people who excel. To people at their best. Now you know the concept, now to share my goal:

To make myself and others MAMAW.

I won't be including this theme in all of my posts, but I will direct them in this general direction. So not everything will be inspirational, but most of it will be positive. Not everything will be relevant, but most of it will be interesting. Being the best, and sharing the best, so that others will be at their best (sounds like a tagline haha).

So stay tuned for this new direction. And welcome. Mamaw starts now. :)

Wednesday, July 07, 2010



This is the beginning of a new age for my blog. Call it a rebirth if you will.
Stay tuned.