pirates!

For the long break (or what's left of it), I visited the local haunt for pirated DVDs and bought these:

- Ethan Mao (Audience Award for best feature film at the Turin Lesbian & Gay Film Festival)
- Four Brothers (feat. Mark Wahlberg)
- Flight Plan (feat. Jodi Foster)
- Must Love Dogs (feat. John Cusack, Dermott Mulroney, and Diane Lane)
- The 40 Year Old Virgin (feat. Steve Carrell)
- The Longest Yard (feat. Adam Sandler and Chris Rock)
- The Phantom of the Opera (the Joel Schumacher movie adaptation)

Okay, okay, I am guilty of buying pirated DVDs. But I just couldn't resist them,what with a measly retail price of 60-pesos (US$1.07) each. Whew! Sometimes, it's amazing to find award-winning (read: Sundance, Cannes, and a slew of award-giving international film fests such as the one cited above) titles sharing selling space with the latest blockbusters, classics, foreign language films, and soon-to-be-released movies. I am telling you, even you would go crazy!

the one with 3am, green tomato and Friends; get ready for your close-up

It's five minutes past three in the morning and I just got home from a night-out with friends. Then a chilling thought came to me - this is the so-called witching hour, the deepest of the night. Somehow, this hour started to freak me out ever since that recent incident at a hotel we stayed in. You see, three of us left awake were telling ghost stories to each other, then a story about the 3AM-phenomenon was brought up. Upon hearing the time reference from the story teller, I asked them what time it was. Before they checked their watches, and told me to not look at mine, I slipped out my cellphone and found out, to my horror, that it read 3:00. Freaky! Some forces might have been listening to us all that time and have found a way to make their presence felt. Happy Halloween!

So my friends and I dined in this restaurant called Green Tomato, which served pastas, pizzas and a bunch of antipastos. We had three different kinds of pastas - one with tuna, another with chicken and mushrooms, and yet another with hungarian sausages. We also had rosemary chicken with a potato salad siding and two nine-inch pizzas. Now those are only for the four of us, imagine that! They were all damn fine, so it was a nice find after all. We were all bloated and had a hard time peeling our asses off the chairs.

Skipping the sucky movies, we went to my friend's unit and binged on yet more food. We gorged on a Sansrival ice cream, which I found to be a tad boring, as well as some chips and cookies. I found a DVD of the Friends' finale episode and we popped it in her player. Friends is one of those feel-good sitcoms that just makes you look at life at a sunnier perspective. Yes, there were heartaches and petty bickerings, but at the end of the day, you still find yourself in the midst of friends. Imagine, ten years of Phoebe (my favorite of the gals), Joey (of the guys), Chandler and Monica, and of Ross and Rachel. I hope another sitcom like this comes along.

Cut to a different story. I read this morning that Mars, for the second time in nearly 60,000 years, will swing unusually close to Earth today, appearing as a yellow twinkle in the night sky. True enough, I think I saw it right above our house a few minutes ago. What I saw was the brightest of the stars, so I am assuming that that's the fourth rock from the Sun, now only 43.1 million miles away. The normal distance between the Earth and Mars would be around 140 million miles, so tonight's close-up of the moon is highly rare, something which will not possibly happen again until 2018. I might be wrong, my eyes might have just been playing tricks on me, but if you happen to be gazing at the sky tonight, look for a small brilliant dot. If you have a high-powered telescope, you could be looking at a very luminous ball, or even be able to see the details on the planet's surface including its southern ice cap and white clouds. Now that's the closest you could get to seeing Mars.

On another close-up incident, let me recall an uncomfortable up-close with a guy at the spa last night. I was leisurely enjoying the warm jacuzzi when this gay dude joined in. There was the usual testing-the-waters silence at first until he chatted me up. I usually put on a talk-to-me-not face when in the spa, since I want some quiet downtime by myself. This guy was just persistent. And it was just amusing how he tried to sway his way with words. First, he asked me if I am doing weights. Saying they are toned nicely. What the *beep?! I know my arms, and obviously, they are shapeless slabs of appendages, sans the contours of muscles. Then he comments (note: I didn't use the word compliment since his sincerity was dubious) that I am goodlooking, well, extremely goodlooking, since he used the local word for it twice. Errr, okay... He even went to explaining how my face comes close to, if not, perfection because of the distance of my eyes from each other, the shape of my nose, my brows, my mouth, and the whole face anatomy blah blah blah yada yada yada, which he says he is quite familiar with since he's in the fashion industry. Okay, those were rather nice things to hear about myself, but sorry, I. Am. Not. Buying. It. He might have felt I was getting more and more freaked out by the minute, or he might have seen this one guy walking into the steam room, because he bid goodbye, finally! Much to my relief because the water has pruned my fingers and I was itching to sit butt-naked in the dry sauna.

Oh, well. Gotta hit the sack. I hope you'd be able to have a close-up view of Mars tonight and I wish you the sweetest of dreams.

la la long weekend

Once one escapes college and starts working, gone are the long seasonal vacations that come by during semestral breaks, Christmas holidays, and sizzling summer months. And worse, working in Manila does not afford the hardworking employee leisurely long breaks from the mundane, clockwork confines of his job. Call it corporate milking at maximum. Thank the heavens for our incumbent president, she likes moving holiday dates that fall mid-week to either Friday or Monday, so Saturday and Sunday breaks are stretched to three-day offs.

This time around, I will enjoy not three days off work, but five (plus three, for the next weekend)! October 31 and November 1 were declared holidays in remembrance of the dead. I was able to offset my overtime working hours on November 2 for yet another day of rest and relaxation. It sucks though that I have to work on Thursday, before another 3-day weekend comes by, thanks to the Ramadan celebration (or the end of it, I don't really know).

Now this rare break calls for an escapade into the local world-class beach or a quick sojourn in a neighboring country hotspot destination. Well, too bad I would have to save up for my quasi-week holiday in Hong Kong 11 days from now. While my colleagues are in Boracay, Singapore, and Shanghai during this long break, I would just have to make do with a weekend at the mall and DVD marathons in my room. Not bad at all. Besides, it's time to catch up with sleep and look my freshest and finest for HK and KM.

Later! I'm off to see the three best gals in the world for a movie and dinner. I hope we find something better than Legend of Zorro, Doom, and Lava Girl-something. Otherwise, it's a terrible weekend for the movies. Eek!

be my amazon godmother

Christmas is only a few calendar leaves away, and it's just so in-the-mood to wish for gifts I want this year.

Enter my Amazon's Wish List, a treasure trove of the fancy shmancy things my materialistic, travel-thirsty, and TV-series-junkie soul desires. From an array of Gucci, Rayban and D&G eyewear to complete sets of Sex and the City and Queer As Folk dvds. From a measly yearly subscription to Time Magazine to an eye-popping Eyewitness Europe travel guide. And oh, don't forget the 4GB black Ipod Nano I squeezed in there! Just in case, y'know. Haha!

Well, okay, so this entry is just a filler for this non-thinking blogging mode I am currently in. God, nothing interesting is happening in my life now! Well, except for that trip I am taking 12 days from now. Woohoo! Note to self: check Lane Crawford for Kowalskis on sale.

So going back to Amazon, I plan to order a Cranium Turbo Edition and the hilarious "Letters from a Nut" book set, as Christmas gifts to myself. This time, I would get to save on the shipping charges since my colleague has generously offered that her sister in New York, who's coming back to Manila in December, receive and bring the goods here. Ah, sweet, sweet savings!

So if you want to be my Amazon godmother this Christmas, do take a look at my Wish List and keep those gifts the love coming in!

On a side note:
While continental US has salivated over and my bestfriend has seen it on the local MTV channel, I have yet to watch in awe Madonna's Hung Up video. I haven't tuned in to MTV in the past years, so now is the time to do so again. For any local schedules that you might know (of the program where the video will be shown, or any program feature on Madonna and her newest album), please leave a note in the Comments section. Muchas gracias!

sayonara tokyo, hello hong kong

After my third visit to the Japanese Embassy and weeks of lusting over everything Tokyo, it is with sadness that I was denied a visa would have to put this dream trip on hold.

With a quick change of travel plans, I would instead be going to Hong Kong on the second week of November. Last time I was there was 2003, so new attractions have been set in place like the Avenue of Stars and Disneyland. But I don't know if I'd spend money and time in Disneyland, maybe I'd have to postpone that until more rides are in place and my nieces are travelling with me. Maybe a daytrip to Macau would be more eventful. I'll see. Well, 'nuf said, time to book my flights.

Still not in the mood for blah-blah-to-death entries. My eyes are dead from last night's cheap wine drinking and a last-minute sleepover invitation. My body's tired from the string of events over the past weeks and a TV-feature shoot this afternoon. My mind's blank from too much beating and lack of sleep. So pardon me and surrender me to dreamland, while I wish you a good morning, afternoon, or evening - wherever you may be.

easy saturday, real love

Last night's work of packaging goodies for retail store executives from Asia and Europe coming to Manila ended past 1 am (well, for me, as some of my colleagues stayed until much, much later). You see, I do PR, but from time to time, it's a breather to wear a new hat and dabble on things that you don't usually do. Sometimes, it's best to ease your mind from thinking and writing and strategizing. And those are the kind of things I don't want to be doing at 1 in the morning. So it was "factory" mode and I happily went tying ribbons, putting on beads and shells, and repackaging expensive toiletries and sweet delicacies into boxes made of local materials to give those delegates a taste of Filipino flair. It was easy, it was fun; despite that bit about burning a part of my thumb with hot glue and the even hotter nozzle of a glue gun. Oh well, easy peasy.

So after a night week of work, I slept until 12 noon today. It's not enough time to replace those lost sleep-hours of the week, but it was all good. Still feeling weak, I decided to skip work but phoned the office to check if they're good sans me. Feeling guilty, eh? *snickers

The whole afternoon, I got a good dose of blogatopia and added a few new links, the fab Pink is the New Blog and Perez Hilton. For a taste of the fab life, go visit these.

Today, Knut and I celebrates our 16th month of being together, though far away from each other. You see, I am in a long distance relationship with a great guy. It's kinda sad that we are not living in the same time zone and we only get to see each other sporadically. It's frustrating that we can't go out on movie dates, romantic dinners, and weekend escapades. Some people find it unreal. But for me, it's all real, precious, and special. And that's all that matters. We have plans, yes, and they are slowly taking shape.

Happy monthsary, darling! See you very, very soon!

And though the world would never understand
This unlikely union and why it still stands
Someday we will be set free
Pray and believe
- You'll be safe here, Rivermaya

vexed by visa: an update

Oh fuck.

It's going to be another trip to the Embassy this coming Tuesday. I'm too tired and sleepy to go into details. I am sad when I should have been rejoicing now.

I'm still hopeful despite it all.

stripped and scared

Gah!

I feel so naked without my cellphone.

I left it at the office today since I rushed sneaking out of our room, in a bid to escape yet another night of overtime (sorry, guys!). I guess this is instant karma. Oh, well. And worse, I'd be able to retrieve it only by tomorrow afternoon since I would be at the Embassy in the morning. More of that later...

I am totally dependent on my cellphone. It's one of those things I can't live without. I receive important text messages and calls, both from here and abroad, daily. Knut sends me messages 12 midnight onwards Manila time, which I am only able to read the morning after (a rather nice thing to wake up to, indeed). I don't wear a wristwatch, so I depend on my cellphone, which is timed in sync with the office bundy clock. Not a minute late or advanced, mind you.

Anyway... So tomorrow, I will just bring my old Kenneth Cole watch (with a broken strap) so I could keep track of time while at the Embassy. It will be the verification stage of my application, something which I am totally clueless about. I am anxious, yes. I am sure my knees will fall weak again tomorrow. Okay, I. Am. Scared. I hope to the high heavens that I would be given a visa, so I could spend a wonderful week with Knut in that oh so beautiful land.

Wish me the best of luck! Merci!

soundtrip no. 2

Bonnie Bailey's Ever After from Hed Kandi's Beach House 04.04
While on our second night of overtime (thank God tonight's was immensely shorter), this became our anthem. It's an addicting bubble pop tune. We all sang along like frogs gone wild. It has got some nice lyrics thrown in there, too.

'Cause life is a pleasure with you by my side, and there ain't no current in this river we can't ride. I still believe in ever after... with you.

Michael Buble's Home from It's Time
Life may take us to the places that once filled our fantasies, whisk us away to the bright lights of the big city, or shower us with a once-mythical pouring of snow. Yet, in the coldness of the night or in moments of solitude, loneliness blends into longing. And you just find yourself yearning to go back home.

Home is that place where your heart has learned how to love and how to care. That place where memories of good times gone by draw themselves back to your consciousness. That place where, at the end of the day, you would be at your happiest.

Let me go home, I'm just too far from where you are. Let me go home, it'll all be alright, I'll be home tonight... I'm coming back home.

Royksopp's You Remind Me from Melody A.M.
Introduced by Knut, Royksopp (duo Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland) is yet another cultural learning of Norway. But more than that, it's great music to listen to. Really. As described in Amazon.com, Melody A.M. is filmic, dreamy and finds uncommon beauty in the study of contrasts. It was one of the best releases of 2002 and unquestionably one of the most original, too.

At once frosty and lush, austere and joyful, ambient and wildly detailed, Melody A.M. is equal parts classical, electronica and film score, but with way better optics. Yes, optics--or at least that's how it feels, Amazon.com adds.

And everywhere I go, there's always something to remind me. Of another place and time where love that travelled far had found me.

And then I realize, all these tunes remind me of you, my darling.

tick tock tick

It's quarter past two and I'm still here at the office. The office is running at full speed; body clocks are a-ticking and the printers a-revving. I don't know what made me stay, I could have gone home as usual, a little past seven. But the idea of spending yet another night peeling into day with my crazy, crazy officemates sounds really tempting and fun.

You see, we are a crazy bunch of workaholics. That's the fun thing when you work with people in your age range and who have the same, if not common, fields of interest. Suddenly, the idea of clockwork tolling fades away. Suddenly, working is easy. There's a fine line between work and play, hell yeah. But at the end of the day, we still get the job done - with less wrinkles at that. It's also good when your boss is not some stroke-invoking ego-bitch from hell. While money matters, it's the good times and the relationships you make with people that clinch a long-time deal with your office.

Before the witching hour dawns on us, and the spirits of the sighted dead owner of our company and her bevy of visitors come rising, we gotta finish our stuff and head home. Good thing we could all go to work a little late than usual tomorrow later.

And so my bed beckons.

money money money money

I skipped my Monday dose of voyeur-vitamin via the local franchise of the Big Brother, for the premiere of the fourth installment of The Apprentice (don't go here if you're in Manila and you don't want spoilers. It's already week 4 in the States).

It's an interesting show to watch, what with the fired debates and fueled conceptions, cutthroat corporate drama and ugly boardroom betrayals.

Tonight's initial outing was rather smokin'. It's a sex-split for the season, which kinda stumped realtor Clay, the openly gay contender for a Trump job. His strategy was to admit being gay, which would then not intimidate the guys, and would make her the girls' bestfriend. False alarm. But still, I hope to see him lick kick some straight guy's ass. I haven't seen the best of him yet, but his presence would surely make the show interesting to watch.

The losing female team fell short of $11 in gym class earnings, which led them to the inevitable boardroom firing. What followed was a heated argument between lame team leader Kristi and obnoxious Melissa, who admitted she couldn't work with women and was hated by all the women in the team for her negativity.

In yet another surprising twist, the winning team was given the option to vote for the exemption - or not - of team leader Markus should their team lose next week. Only two voted on the affirmative. Ouch!

More of The Apprentice 4 every Monday, 10 pm, local time.

so beautiful

It was a slow Saturday today; spent an hour in the hotel pool before checking out at twelve. Checked out the sale at Rustan's but picked up nothing. This black shirt (with thin yellow stripe accents in the collar and sleeves) from 4You was rather nice though, I just found the sleeves a tad too short for me. Then bam! I saw Uma from the local franchise of Big Brother wearing the same shirt in one of the live videostreams shown earlier tonight.

Anyway, was doing some random bloghopping and I found this - the most beautiful surprise of the week.

You see, other than Madonna, the only artist I would buy front-row concert seats of is Darren Hayes. My adoration and respect for Darren as an artist is way beyond words. I adore his talent, his words, his hauntingly beautiful voice. From his "I Want You" calisthenics to the melancholic "Dublin Sky" off his most recent album, Darren just keeps on writing beautiful music.

The single So Beautiful is from Savage Garden's forthcoming greatest hits compilation "Truly Madly Completely." The single is already at radio in Australia, Asia, the U.K. with plans for release in the U.S. and Japan in January 2006, mentions darrenhayesnet.com. It also reports that Darren's third solo album will be released early 2006.

More news on Truly Madly Completely, due for release on November 1 in Japan, November 7 in Australia, and early 2006 in the US, at darrenhayesnet.com. I think I wet my pants when I saw the track listing! Not to mention the two brand new songs written by Darren.

Send Darren your love. Trash the pirates and buy only original CDs of Truly Madly Completely from your favorite music bars.

Then life would be so much beautiful.

going, gone

Going...

I pushed through with my visa application today. It was so bad to wake up before the world does; it was way too freakin' early for my system! Standing in line with a thousand (so, okay, that was an exaggeration) applicants for three hours was worse. I was like a sore thumb sticking out of the crowd, what with my crisp white shirt, my dark gray pinstripe pants, and a gray jacket that I had to keep in my case since the people beside me might think I was too much. Well, I just wanted to look fine, that's all. It's not everyday that you submit yourself to a consul who ultimately decides if you'd be given a visa to enter their oh so beautiful land.

It's not so bad, standing in line with the thousand (yet, again) other applicants, after all. You'd be amused actually. You'd want to dart a killer look to that heavily made-up bitch blah-blah-ing to death on how to go about with the application, at a decibel rate louder than the passing traffic. Or scream back to that screaming (crying is an understatement, dear) baby. Or that one guy dressed in an ill-fitting undershirt, a baggy pair of jeans, and a killer boots made for a go-go boy to match. Eek!

Well, anyway, we entered the airconditioned (thank God!) hall after three hours and with my heart pumping at a thousand-beats per hour, I waited until my number - 56 - was flashed on the marquee. The interview wasn't so bad as I expected. The interviewer was a rather nice woman, probably in her early 30's. She seemed Japanese to me, but her English sounded so Filipino, so I was confused. Kicking that aside, I think I answered her questions briefly, to the point, and most of all, honestly. Whatta relief that she was smiling most of the time in the course of the interview, asking me basically what I'd be doing in their oh so beautiful land, checking if I got my name and significant dates right, that sort of stuff, all clocked at under five minutes. That was rather fast, I hope that's a good thing. *crosses fingers* I was asked to return after one week for the verification stage.

Until then, wish me luck guys. Please, please, pretty please!

Gone.

I'm off to a farewell party for one of the dearest people in the office. She's not moving out until mid-November, but we are throwing her a celebration (yes, a celebration, you read that right) in a hotel tonight. She's dying to move out and on to join another company after her five-year stint at our office.

This fantastic woman is more than a boss to most of us at the office. She's a very good friend and a fun, crazy bitch (in a good way), too! You will be missed deeply. See you again, soon!

i've been tagged

I've been tagged by the wonderful Shigeki, here goes...

Here are the rules to the tag.
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

Indeed, the Brothers Grimm brought forth the yarns responsible for some of the world's wildest dreams and darkest nightmares for centuries...

Eh? I didn't even write this stuff. It's actually from the production notes of the movie The Brothers Grimm, which I posted in my mini-review of the film. No need to ponder for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas. Maybe a confession would do?

Okay, so I don't know much about fairy tales.

I don't remember being exposed to the bevy of princesses - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White - their history, the littlest detail in between their loves and losses, the whole shindig. I don't know the story of Thumbelina, of the Princess and the Pea, of the Shoemaker and the Elf. I only came across these characters sometime in the blurry past, and recently, when we were doing a modern-day fantasy-archetypes PR campaign for Christmas. Maybe it's because I am not a classic-literary-tales pig.

Either that, or my childhood is really a blur. I always say that. Really. I don't know what I was doing in 2nd grade or when I was ten. I am amazed by people who could actually remember what they did for their 7th birthday or that time they went to this planetarium for a grade-school field trip.

Is this a disorder? Has the universe conspired to erase my memories after a ten-year incubation period inside my subconscious? Will I remember this very moment 20 years from now?

Now it's your turn: Dean, Noel, Karen, Moja, and Tenchu.

it's time for that buble magic

Dashing Canadian crooner Michael Buble casted his enchanting spell once again to Manila with a one-night performance at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was a perfect evening. Love filled the air. Michael brought with him his trademark swooning, insurmountable charm, and memories of times gone by.

Known for his interpretations of classics such as 'Kissing A Fool,' 'Moondance,' 'That's All,' and 'The Way You Look Tonight,' Michael performed to a swaying and a swinging crowd songs from his latest album, "It's Time" like 'Save The Last Dance for Me,' 'Under My Skin,' 'Feeling Good' and my favorite of all, his original composition - 'Home.' Now this guy can write beautiful music, that I am sure of.

And he sure knows how to give one perfect show. He sang one song after another for almost two straight hours. He enlivened his already enjoyable performances with a comic rendition of Michael Jackson and a new take of Maroon 5. Best of all, he broke all concert rules and did the stopper move (well, only for a moment since everybody went crazy): running across the Coliseum in wild abandon, hanging onto the arena's rails and climbing up the ascending bleachers to get up close with audiences from the Lower and Upper Box seats, and kissing one lucky old-age viewer by surprise. Crazy, crazy bastard!

I then remember the first time I met and worked with Michael. It was September of 2003, his first visit to Manila. I was a part of the team that handled the publicity of his first venture into the Philippine spotlight. Everybody loved the guy! His charm was (and still is) so disarming, his smile so melting, and his voice so soothing. I loved Michael since. And I love him even more now.

You can come home to Manila anytime. And as you once said back in 2003, you are still one heck of a loudmouth big kuya (brother).

But I have always loved you for that.

mind challenge

I found a piece of paper on my workmate's desk. My eyes were drawn. My mind worked wonders. So could yours. Read further.

Can you raed tihs? Olny srmat poelpe can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rsaerech at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed tihs, psas it on.

vexed by visa

an update from previous post:

This just in, at 10:18 pm, 11 minutes after my previous post, Knut sent via fax all the necessary documents: copy of passport, daily itinerary, invitation letter, proof of relationship, and confirmed flight and hotel details. Sweet!

Thanks, my love! You never cease to amaze me. Hugs and kisses!

----------

So my planned trip to the embassy tomorrow would have to wait until later this week. You see, my Oslo-based partner Knut and I have been planning to meet again this November in this oh so beautiful land. I would keep the dream destination to myself (well, and to a few close friends) until the travel details are final.

It will be my first time to personally apply for a visa; and in this case, the visa at hand is highly elusive. So after booking my flight today with my travel agent, she advised me to bring to the embassy all the necessary documents to establish the veracity of my trip and my relations with Knut, apart from the documents I already have proving my ties with good ol' Philippines and that I would go back to my country after the trip. Well, you know the drift, you've heard it so many times before. Back on track, Knut would be able to fax and email the documents needed only by tomorrow.

I wish I could just say "I would go back to Manila after this trip. Promise." Then that would cut off the rigorous process and stress of sweating and blood-letting for this valuable stamp of approval.

So I still have a few more days to prepare for the day. And I am crossing my fingers until I get the visa and am all ready to take off.

only in the philippines

Taal Volcano, a volcano within a lake within a volcano within a lake, and known to be the smallest volcano in the world, is not a property of the Philippine government, but of two legendary families living in Southern Luzon.

I heard this from a radio broadcast this morning, in the framework of a news that a Korean company was interested to redevelop the area. Apparently, the land titless are in the hands of the Laurels and another prominent family.

Meanwhile, in its bid to boost local tourism among Japanese travelers who ranked second in terms of tourist arrivals for 2004, the Department of Tourism recently launched the "Island In Your Name" promotion.

The idea is to raffle off the naming (not owning; for a period of one year) of 25 islands of the Hundred Islands, a long-popular group of islands and islets, looking like giant turtles, scattered off the coast of Alaminos in Pangasinan, northern Luzon. The Secretary of Tourism explains that this aims to lure more young and adventurous Japanese tourists to visit the Philippines.

Finally, in yet another attempt to promote the Philippines as a brimming tourist destination, Wow Philippines goes to London via the city's famed gleaming black cabs, liveried with the country's cultural icons and hottest destinations like the Banaue Rice Terraces and Bohol's Chocolate Hills (full report at the Philippine Daily Inquirer).

So if you are in London, hail those freshly-designed cabs and ride around town, baby!

hung up

an update from Madonna

hung up in lisbon

Now here's another reason why I ought (and deserve) to be in Portugal.

"The world will be watching on November 3rd, 2005 when Madonna performs the first single off of her new album for the first time in front of an audience! Madonna.com is announcing that Madonna will be onstage in Lisbon singing Hung Up at the 2005 Europe Music Awards."

hung up on you

For all karaoke con Madonna fans out there, I suggest you go to Madonna.com now and sing to a little Madge Karaoke. Abba's Gimme Gimme Gimme greets you initially until the Flash machine starts spewing fresh lyrics from Madonna's new single. Go sing!

underw(e)ar

Boxers vs. Briefs

This morning, I remember engaging in the age-old "Boxers vs. Briefs" debate some weeks ago with another male colleague, when I went out wearing my only pair of boxers under a pair of slacks. And for the record, I was (and still am) on the Briefs camp of the issue.

Without going into ehem, nasty detail, wearing a pair of boxers only proved my point that briefs offer that much-needed constriction during hard times, eliminating the need for a bag, a big notebook (as in Romy and Michelle's Alan Cumming's Big Notebook), or for this morning's matter, today's newspaper.

I remember several points raised by my straight male contender: boxers come in cool designs and patterns (now when did design matter for straight guys?), the front fly is much easier and convenient to use (without having the need to pull down the waistband), and crotch temperature is cooler, thus possibly higher sperm count (now when did this matter to me?).

I, on the other hand, raised these points: briefs prevent dangling (which with the right amount of friction may lead to yet another hard situation), briefs won't bunch up under your pants (now, that isn't so sexy), and that classic white briefs look so much sexier hugging a tight round ass (not that I am sexy, nor have ehem, ehem a tight round ass). A quick mind-review of the porn I have amassed seen over the years, reveal that close-to-zero percentage of actors (okay, remove the amateur-military-college-frathouse set) wear boxers. Well, wonder why?

A quick survey on my female colleagues that day revealed, to my horror, that they prefer their men wearing boxers. Not that this matters to me (or that Freudian lingo "what women really want", haha!). But a quick Internet search said that boxers are easier to take off. Hmmm, don't we apply the same precise swift movement of pulling the band down to reveal the jewels? Now this continues to boggle my mind.

While men continue to battle it out in the underwear department and this question continues to linger in modern pop culture, I'd settle with my so-called tightie whities or my occasional (brilliant hybrid) boxer briefs, for reasons known to any gay man. Send in the water hose and get wet, wet, wet!

ah... weekend comes!

I haven't been blogging and blabbing for the last few days since I was swamped with too much work and had nothing really exciting to tell.

So Shigeki was right and I was a silly cow about that guessing part. The destination shown in the previous post is in Portugal. I sooo deserve a trip to Portugal after all the work I have put in in the ongoing Portuguese Festival in Manila. We, that'd be Rustan's and the Portuguese Embassy, kicked the festival off with various press events, which I am heavily responsible for. The last two weeks have been a Katrina of coordinating, writing articles, making phone calls to media groups, and making the hell sure they come. Now this is not some easy task, unlike what one of my highschool friends who I saw recently in a mini-reunion thought. When she asked about my work and learned that I am doing PR, she bluntly said 'yun lang?' (that's all you do?). Well yeah, that's what I do. I am happy. I don't work on Saturdays. I get paid. The end.

Well anyway, so I want to go to Portugal, and hopefully sometime in the next three years. I met one fine Portuguese business executive who is actually a third-generation member of the owners of Silampos (a leading kitchenware brand in Portugal who pioneered the production of pressure cookers). He said that I am welcome anytime to meet up with him should I find myself in Portugal. Well, I'll see you then, Bernardo! And it was really nice meeting you.

Among other things, Portugal is famous for its bacalao (codfish) cooked in 365 days, egg tarts, Fado, long coastlines with beautiful beaches, world-class golfing, frontier castles, Magellan, Fatima and her Lady, and of course, Lisbon, the beating capital of this country, situated on the right hand bank of the river Tagus.

So Ambassador, give me a round-trip ticket! And have you got a visa to spare? :) That would make me very (h)appy! Haha!

So a weekend coming up, got nothing planned except the well-deserved visit at the local spa to purge my (mental and physical) toxins with an aromatherapy massage and some quiet downtime in the sauna. Ah, sweetness!

Hopefully, after two weeks now, I would get to see my bestfriend Ish, who just came back from a romance sojourn in China. Welcome home, again! Now that the madness at my work is over, let's catch up and see each other already, damnit! Hahaha! Miss you much! :)

Have a great weekend ahead, you guys!

take me here!

One more harrowing week.

I sooo deserve to be here when all of this is over.

Now, guess where this is.

soundtrip no. 1

In my failed attempt to install Radio Blog in my blog (thanks to are-you-talking-Greek-to-me FTP thingiemadongs), I sink and resort to posting the songs that currently make me:

1. Sing along in you-can't-shut-me delight.
2. Think (and reminisce) of Penang.
3. Happy. Just happy.

Here goes...
- Gwen "I love you" Stefani's Cool
- Infernal's From Paris to Berlin
- James Blunt's You're Beautiful
- Keane's Everybody's Changing
- Radiohead's No Surprises

eye candy

an update from Madonna


Madonna releases the cover art for her new album Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Madonna collaborated with Steven Klein and Giovannin Bianco to create this dazzling album artwork. The 12-tracker has the following set: Hung Up, Get Together, Sorry, Future Lovers, I Love New York, Let It Will Be, Forbidden Love, Jump, How High, Isaac, Push and Like It or Not.

Confessions on a Dancefloor will be released on November 14 in international markets, November 15 in the US.

blog-hop no. 1

I would like to direct you all to Shigeki's highly-addictive and superbly-creative blog, Somewhere in this world.

I first chanced upon Shigeki's fab site while doing some random blog hopping and what a wonderful find! I got hooked the first 5 minutes and added his bloglink to my site without even asking for his permission. Fortunately, he didn't mind at all and plugged mine in his, too. He is from Tokyo, by the way, so if you plan to swing by Japan (or to some other place as he is quite well-traveled), it is then a must that you hop over to his blog for insights and sneak peeks into his beautiful, beautiful country.

Today I had the chance to read his posts from Day One and I've fallen more in love with his blog. It has got these ingenious stuff squeezed in there: those charmingly-heady Voice Mumblings, that Flash Sunday Short Story, the Cultural Differences experiment (a HUGE winner in the laughs department!), the seasonal blog designs, and all the intelligent, fun (and funny), and inspiring things in between.

In Shigeki's trademark au revoir, "You have a fabulous day!"