in retrospect…

ok, i know i have been too remiss in my posts this past month… i actually have several in my plate right now, and i am having a hard time dealing with them… but slowly and surely, they’re all going away one at a time, and i hope to be back regularly posting in the next week or so…

to give all of you a rundown:

have you ever been fired from the company you were working from?? if you were and you want to get back, then, your bestfriend will be the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)… if you really have a valid claim, then go to the NLRC along E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City, file a simple form detailing the owner/general manager of the company you are filing a claim against, then have your claim raffled off to an arbiter… the arbiter will then set a date for a conference between you and the company or its representative at a later date…

if, during or after the conference, which is set for 2 days, you or the company representative do not agree on a settlement and decided to bring this to court, you have 2 choices: either 1) you get a lawyer to create and file a position paper for you; or 2) you can drop your claim if you think you don’t have the time or resources to go through with your suit…

me? i decided to go through with it since i know i have a very strong and very valid case… or at least, that’s what my lawyer was telling…. LOL

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i will be going to several blogging activities during this month… two of which will be A Taste of Asia at the Mall of Asia [July 3] and a food writing workshop [July 14]… last Tuesday [June 26], we also went to the opening of the Krispy Kreme DriveThrough in Greenhills, the 1st ever in Asia and the Philippines… we got to bring home to big boxes of their very tasty [but very fattening] donuts for free!! weeee….

we will now become regulars of the blogger badminton every Thursdays which include the likes of Abe, Gail with husband Marc, Bimbo and wife Des, and others… Abe invited us specifically to challenge the husband and wife teamup of Bimbo and Des… hehehe…

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i am now an avid player of PerfectWorld from LevelUp… you’ll be able to read a very extensive review of the game [at least from my point of view] from my game site…

a softlaunch of the game was held July 1 at the Robinson’s in Malate and i was able to get a set of installer CDs for the open beta which will start on the 18th…. but again, that news is not meant for this… watch out for that in my game site…

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it was a very good thing that i wasn’t very active in any activities, if there, where i need to take pictures, since i don’t have my Pentax with me… i have to bring it back to where i bought it from, and they, in turn, have to send it back to Japan, for repairs on the built-in flash… this i did last May 6, and only got my camera back last Friday, June 29, in time for the softlaunch yesterday afternoon…

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and finally, i have a new job… it is a project management job, and the guys i work with are all very good at what they do… as far as relationships go, i still am very new at the company, and will find out about that in the coming weeks and months… but we came off a good start, at least… so i am keeping my fingers crossed…

that’s it?? that’s it!! for now…

Ciao, sweetie…

a question was posed by Yuga in his blog and he asked “Is technology slowly enslaving us?”

for the longest time ever, i always find myself with one gadget or another that i definitely cannot live without… back in college, all that i ever needed for school was my scientifc calculator… all the calculations that i need to do for my BS in Geodetic Engineering classes can be done by this small calculator, and my notes, if ever i need to jot them down, are in small pieces of paper borrowed/stolen from classmates and can be found in the nook and crannies of that calculator… it’s sort of a personal digital assistant [PDA], or at least, close to it…

then, i also had my taste of my first ever computer… an IBM PC-XT [who can remember those??] which had about 16K of memory, no hard disk, green monitors, and a cluinky [read: very big] keyboard… no mouse, yet, then… and all i used it for was to run Wordstar or Lotus 123 for the work i was doing with my uncle in his brokerage firm… as for communications, i was using those large bulky cellphone-types, much like what the military in the field was using… made my back ache lugging them around that’s why i threw them out the window after some time…

after graduating from college, my needs also graduated to more newer stuff… i basically got to use all kinds of PCs from the AT to the newest model today… as for cellphones, i got my first taste of a *really* portable lightweight cellphone in the late 90’s when then Bayantel offered me a Motorala phone for about P1750 a month, i think… i also graduated from that to Sony Ericsson T-series to newer ones K-series about 2 years ago…

as for other gadgets, i still have my Palm T5 which i cannot live without as it has my personal planner, datebook, hundreds of contacts, and several books in digital format i am reading at the moment… i have a portable USB card reader for my Pentax K100D dSLR camera, a set of rechargeable batteries with charger [opkors], a USB fan, a bluetooth earphone connecting to my SE K700i, several hundred charges and whatnot lying around the house, and a score of others i don’t know [or forgot] the use of… haaayyy…

and no, i am not a slave to my gadgets, though i definitely cannot live without them…

Ciao, sweetie…

every male [yes, including me], have at one time or another envied the package of the next man… we sneak a look at that bulge, and wished we have the same… or when we watch porno movies and we loook at the penises of known male porno stars Ron Jeremy, Mr Marcus, or the ever-famous-with-women-who-love-butt-plugs Peter North, men cringe when they do not measure up to these porno stars’ baggages… the length and the width are our main points of comparison…

and yes, yesterday, i suffered penis envy… but not the regular kind… what i really suffered from was camera envy… more to the point, camera lens envy… :$

cameras of all makes, models, and lenses of all sizes were on display at the 1st PinoyPhotography.org Badminton Tournament held at ClubBadminton in Makati City the whole day yesterday… photographers and badminton players, or both, trooped to Makati yesterday to join in the celebrations… some have played badminton till they dropped from exhaustion, some took photos of players and models that were all over the place, including Ms Daisy Reyes and Rachel Lobangco, or did both… and with Epson and Canon printers in attendance, shooters printed their images till they can print no more…

and the cameras??

goodness!! take a look at these babies!!

aren’t they the beauties?? and i was exposed to them the whole day, and it took all effort on my part not to drool… a lot… okay, maybe a bucket or two, but definitely not more than that… there were even lenses which costs way more than 6 of my own Pentax K100D!! sheeessshhh… :S

anyway, one good thing that came out of that yesterday was me and my partner won the Men’s Doubles Level B championship… hehehe… i got a medal and an EPSON R270 Photo Printer out of it…

not bad at all for a typical sunday, eh?? for more of the pictures [you'll be so glad you looked at this set, believe me] go to my picture gallery…

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ badminton | penis envy | camera | photography | camera lenses ]

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, everyone!!

don’t do what i wouldn’t do…

leaving Manila by 3am, travelling 105 kilometers, spending 180 pesos in toll fees, and another 300 pesos for entrance fee, we finally arrived at Clark Air Base situated in Angeles City in Pampanga for the 4th and last day of the 11th Hot Air Balloon Festival at about 4:30 in the morning…

instead of boring you with my words, let my pictures tell you our story today, instead…

simply click on amy image to go to the gallery…

going back home at around 10am because of the heat, we travelled another 105 kilometers, spent another 180 pesos in toll fees, and around 500 pesos for lunch, it was definitely one of the best days we had so far… here’s looking forward for more…

Ciao, sweetie…

constant edits will happen to this particular post… these edits will happen as often as i find new material, so come back often if you want to be updated… this will form part of the talk i will be giving during iBlog3: The 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit entitled Blogging for Newbies

with the rise in number of pinoy blogs popping up left and right, it is only assumed that setting up a brand new blog is as easy as A-B-C… we often forget that there are newbies who don’t have the faintest idea on how to start setting it up… so, how do you start a new blog??

there are several things you have to take into consideration and options you can choose from, software to use, server, hosting, blog genre, etc, etc… but first things first… what is a blog??

a blog is short for weblog, an online journal [or diary or newsletter] that may or may not be frequently updated, where the author posts informal journals: his/her thoughts, comments, and philosophies… it can be private or public… it can be a group blog, or a blog all your own…

the love month is now upon us, and for all those whose Christmas is cold, don’t let Valentine’s Day be equally cold, if not worse…

and, to all of you who doesn’t have a date yet, i pity you here is a dating guide so that you can finally experience that first kiss you’ve always been yearning for, but cannot seem to get…

i have this girl i’ve been eyeing… can i text or call her for a date??

by all means, communicate with her one way or another using your cellphone… she’d think you’re cool… or better yet, save up all those credits and simply text her something like “dig kta, dig mo me? date tau!!” or something along those lines… then wait by your phone the whole day, you just might miss her response… and when she does respond, don’t text right away… she might think you’re eager… and that’s uncool…

a friend is setting me up for a blind date… how can i be sure it won’t bomb??

because you are so cool and can’t be bothered to find your own date, you’d rather wait for a friend to set you up… if you go that route, your blind date is already on its way to blowing up in both your, and your date’s, faces… but if you really want to go ahead with the blind date, keep an open mind about it… to be really really sure, agree on what you both will wear, but you wear a totally different thing, then go to the location… scout her first, and if she’s nothing short of beautiful, simply tell her that you tripped over yourself going to the date that you messed up your clothes… but if she’s butt-ugly, then run like there’s no tomorrow…

but then again, an ugly date is better than nothing!!

first up will be the Lovapalooza which will be held at the North Parking Lot at the SM Mall of Asia 6pm on February 10th… about 5,800 couples are being called upon to smooch on the 10th to finally reclaim the Guiness Book of World Record for the most couple kissing in one event… lots of kissing, and i am sure, pictures [i am sure my 55mm will do fine for this], after the event… **mwah**

the next day at 3 in the morning, Apples and I will be going on a road trip to Clark Air Base in Pampanga for the 11th Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta… of course, the whole event will start on the 8th, be we’ll only be able to attend the last [and hopefully most exciting] day of the event… i sure hope i have a 200mm lens to capture all those ballons, kites, and planes high up in the air… but alas, i still only have one lens, and i’d have to make do with that…

hmmmm… i wonder if Sanly can loan me one, then that would be very very nice, indeed!! calling Leo!! hehehe…

remember, the 10th, Lovapalooza at the MOA… on the 11th, the 11th PHABF at Clark Air Base in Pampanga… oks??

Ciao, sweetie…

went to the Activity Center at the Glorietta in Makati today for the Photo World 2007… if you are a photo enthusiast, or already a pro shutterbug, this is the event to go to where you no only try out the latest models of cameras, lenses, and other accessories, or attend free photo clinics, but use these same cameras [or your own, if you bring one] to take pictures of models that are all around the activity area…

during my stint there the whole day today, i was able to spot Ann and Giv, along with an unknown lady over at Fuji/YKL booth, Ivy from Canon, and Heine from Pentax, and took a couple of shots of these beauties…

for the whole set, please head on to my Gallery…

now, i am salivating for the SMC PENTAX-FA 1:4.5-5.6 80-320mm [with image] telephoto lens… ngiawrrrrr…. maybe i should now create a wish list?? hmmm…

Photo World 2007 runs from today until February 6… so head on over at the Glorietta Activity Center, bring your camera, and have fun with the ladies…

Ciao, sweetie…

let me ask you some questions: what has tattoos of all manner and in all locations, beautiful women, pierced ears, lips, noses, and in other locations you are not supposed to look, and celebrities got to do with basketball?? what does band instruments and basketballs have in common?? chicks with balls in hand?? rockstars and school PEs?? do i ask too many questions?? am i superman?? [errrr, that one got away, sorry...]

plenty, in fact, if you ask Rock Ed Philippines and the bands who participated in the Rockerpark Series for the first of 2007s last-Monday-of-the-month games… in cooperation with Toby’s, who provided the basketballs being used in the events, and bands like Dicta License, Urbandub, Chicosci, Kjwan, Queso, The Ambassadors, Ciudad, Bagetsafonik, Yuzon Brothers Plus, Hilera, Team Admit One, Team Terno, Sponge Cola, Brigada, and Pupil, rockstars of all ages and makes gathered at the Eastwood Central Plaza yesterday afternoon to participate in a 3-on-3 streetball challenge meant to collect used sports equipment to donate to public school PE programs…

this is one nice way of giving something back to a good cause, and another way of burning off those excess fats, too!!

oh, and before i forget… guys, wanna see some realy beautiful women [of all ages]?? then, i suggest you free up your schedule for next month’s last Monday, and every last Monday after that… you can ogle at bootilicious babes [did i just say that??] like this one at the right, or have your pictures taken with them [but no touching!! some of them are the bandmember's girlfriends... but there's no harm in trying, is there?? ]… they’re free [the picture taking... tsk tsk tsk...], anyway… and i’m sure you’ll have lots of fun watching the games, too!!

another thing, don’t forget to bring used sports gear and equipment, ok?? this’ll be given to kids in public schools, so you’ll be sure to have given something to a worthwhile cause…

click on any of the images for more pictures of this fun event…

Ciao, sweetie…