In Memory of Vincent Corporal

Yesterday we had a terrible news from an officemate,... Vincent Corporal died in a motorcycle mishap on a highway very late evening. We will be attending the funeral by tomorrow to pay a visit and a one last look. He's been a very good artist, very polite and very humble. He will be missed dearly.

What's to thank for this friday?

It's Friday, and i assume to have a good end of the week... that was what it seemed like until this evening. As every friday we always set up for watching Survivor just after working hours, and my bet Gary was just voted off the game. Sad but that's how it goes.

That's not the worse thing though, just after watching survivor, a friend of mine just steamingly sent a message and called me a liar. I dont know where that came from and what the hell he's angry about... but one thing i can say is that he doesnt have any idea how it bothered me, so bothered that it made me teary-eyed. I dont know if he's just joking around or what but i never expected this to happen. I did not intentionally ignored him if he felt that way, he usually just logs in right after working hours.

So what's there to thank for? friday sucks.

Camera!!!!!!

I just got a new camera! bought the Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom with a great discounted price! It's a real bargain, though i have some little issues with it... but it can be resolved somehow.

Anyways, pictures galore very sooooooon!!!

Oi! Update!

Oh yeah, the bad cat is back from a long long pause from this blog. I don't know, i did actually planned along to write some stuff but got lazy eventually. A lot did happened and a few details might be too personal to post. Interested about those details? you just gonna have to ask me about it.

Anyways, other than that... it's all the same stuff, work after work after work... although i dont have to deal with the pressure just like before. I am somewhat glad that everything cooled down for a bit. Haven't been spending time to go to the other office and that's a breather for them (i'm like a guy that brings bad news whenever they see me).

Got a new hairstyle, got some new online friends... one from UK and another is from USA. The American guy i met in Silent Hill Talk, a forum for the game Silent Hill. We're quite in an ok friendship, we do talk a lot.

The office is crazy about Survivor Guatemala, we had this bets on who is going to win. We already have our chosen players and whoever gets to win will not pay in the Yellow Cab Pizza and Ice Cream treats (now that's an early merry christmas). Survivor 11 is almost over, just around 3 episodes away i think, and i still have my player "Gary" in it... but i have a slim chance of winning.

So what's in store in the coming weeks? I may have to say that i might be buying a digital camera (whoohoo! at last). Just have to make sure that what i saw is real and i have to buy it fast if it is. Almost 16,000 pesos for an Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom, and i've been eyeing on that since last year! (usually comes at around 24-30k pesos price).

So that's it for now, hope this is cool enough for an update! (and look, it's not so negative, haha!)

Not Much...

Not much action being done in this blog of mine... actually, there's no action at all, that's why i am doing this right now. Anyways, i have some plans of posting stuff but i am too lazy to do it right now (maybe before christmas comes). Right now, i am just going to change my avatar... for a change no?

I'm Turning Into A White Guy

To my surprise today, i received my medical exam (wow, that was fast)... and what shocked me is that they have remarked me a condition that i have never expected i'd have. I have HIV and i havent had sex nor needles!... hehe, no that isn't it. They wrote that i have a mild anemia... what?! are you serious?

I pretty much believe what they said about my health condition coz i have been not feeling so well lately and that's probably because i have deprived myself from getting enough sleep. It's not that serious... yet... and so they recommend that i have to get some treatment and also do a recheck on the blood count.

Sigh, i always like to have a light skin complexion... but not like this :P.

Sigh of Relief

Ok... a day after my rant, i feel better somehow. Still, i became childish about it, i should not bring about it in such a big deal... it's only a birthday. So hope i shall be forgiven.

*happy thoughts*

The Forgotten One

Yep, birthday passed, and as i have expected... the only people i mentioned were the only ones that remembered. I was hoping that some of my good old friends like my buddies in college and even my online friends would remember, but hell yeah... none of them did... not one.

I really dont blame them... i should really be blaming me for pushing myself away from them. I have isolated myself from their attention by not talking or starting any conversation and thinking by that way i'd be away from peer stress and conflicts and would eventually be a healing process. Funny that everything turns out the way that i wasn't expecting.

If only i have a birthday wish that would come true, you'ld probably guess already what it is. As for now... i'll just continue to live life and then maybe someday, all will be back as it was. I'll have my birthday next year, so i'll see how it will go by then :). (Actually, i really dont have to wait for that long. Maybe in a short period of time i'd be able to face and talk to everyone again... just dont know where to start. Oh well.)

I Am Sixteen Going On Seventeen...

That's probably what i am singing on this very same day eleven years ago. In a few days, i'll be turning 28... and it's really a big number already (i am so old, buhuhuh). I am just wondering who will be able to remember my birthday... one thing for sure is that my officemates knows about it, and very much anticipating. Why you may ask? because they want a treat... yes, a treat from those whoever is going to have his/her birthday. It's probably weird but it's been like that, the celebrant is the one who shall suffer financially on his day of celebration. Besides them (and my family) i dont know who will remember. I guess i'll update this blog after my birthday.

New Chapter in IRC

After 4-5 years of stay in the quiet, desolated channel of #silenthill, it's officially a registered channel. With the help of some new found Hungarian friends (that pushed me to take that step of applying for registration) and some old online folks of mine for helping out, it's now a reality. I manage the channel and learning how to manage it. It's quite small for now but bigger than before... so i dont have to complain. Plus with the upcoming movie and game installment (Silent Hill 5) by next year... hopefully it gets bigger. Anyways, just happy for now that it's no longer that silent :).

Done

Well, for something of a good news... i'm done with my exam... so i have less worries now.

All gets worse

As a recent incident where a lot of artists got involved in cheating on the evaluation exam and was given a memo, things now are getting worse. I just learned that there's already a lawsuit filed against the company regarding to this matter. It's not good eventually, even if one side will win this battle, at the end of it all is that the company will surely suffer whatever the outcome.

One funny thing is that i am somehow being blamed too in shitful ways... but i am no longer surprised. You really cant dodge 'em when you're supervising a big project team, the blame is always towards who leads them even if you dont have any idea of the accusations. It's already far-fetched, but i am just keeping my cool. I just don't know what i might do when i am already had it. First and foremost, nobody wants this to happen... but there are people that are just like that... and it's just sad, very sad.

It bites

We're now formally doing the certification exam in the office for the artists and now it's coming in like a shark bite. Batch one and two has begun this past week and currently there is already one casualty in the laboratory office. John didn't made it to the deadline and thus getting disqualified (just don't know how extensive is that disqualification). With that being said, it's now a big reality check that we are really in danger of losing our jobs. It sucks, but like in the batman movie says "it's what you do that defines you". John seems like wasn't serious enough about this exam, and now he's a victim of his own action. He will have a little chat with our boss next week and i dont know what will happen from then on. Probably get demoted, or given another chance, i just don't know... and it's really a scary thought. I personally dont want my team to fall apart... but reality bites, there's a posibility that it will.

So far, it's been a nice week.

After that grueling project that we endured last week with all that overtime and overnights, this week somehow gave our belts a bit loose and let us breathe for a while. That's a good thing coz if it still like that, i don't know what i'll do... maybe go in a massacre frenzy (in counterstrike that is).

Although the week started with a bit of a bad news, was informed by Mr. Inoue that there is going to be a test... and he mentioned that the laboratory artists are included. I dont know if that's the real plan but it did made me tick. All those hard work that we did to save the butts of the artists from seventh floor and eventually save the credibility of the company from the client were not actually gratified. I dont want to comment in a rude way but it was something like a slap on the face. They said what we've done was cool and they are very much happy about it and yet here we are, facing an exam that will probably change our course.

Anyways, enough about ranting... let's talk about the good stuff. So like i said, not much of a severe work load... but there is work. A new gal is in the office and her name is Angie. She's very nice and quite approachable... she's even ready to go play with us on counterstrike. Well, she said that she's already used to work in an office dominated by men... so i guess that's a good thing for her. I also got to do swimming as well today at the Ultra Sports Complex today, it was fun even i was just alone. I could have wished that it was an indoor pool but hey, it's alright with me. This may become a weekly habit for me to get myself fit. Speaking of fit, my blood pressure is getting normal. Yesterday, i had my bp checked and told that it was on 125/80... which is quite good compared to my normal bp before that is 130/90 or worse 140/90 to 150/100.

So all is good,... somehow :).

It wasn't for me

I was eyeing on this Olympus c-770 in this ebay-type of site, it was already used (about 6 months) and he's selling it for less 30% of the market price... and it's better because there are additional accessories included in the package such as extra memory card, extra lithium-ion battery, and a hama bag. I had some second thoughts and it took me weeks to finally convince myself that i should buy it. Unfortunately, somebody already bought it a few hours earlier on that exact day.

I guess it's just wasn't for me to have...

It's been a while since i got the chills

Because of the overexposure from Silent Hill, i kinda had this immunity already from scary stuff. I don't get frightened most of the time, and if i do... it will just last for a few minutes. But recently, i had the guts to watch the film "The Amityville Horror" and i thought it was just some movie flick that would eventually just be something that i'll forget... but it didn't. I was scared really to the point that in one scene i closed my eyes. It's just disturbing and it did gave me some chills (which is actually what i have been waiting for... hehe, call me nuts).

By the time i got home, nobody's there. My mind was already playing and this one scene got stuck and playing over and over. So i say it did worked, kudos to those responsible for it.

Glad to have a break

Just arrived from our Company Outing in Quezon Province. We went to Monte Vista, which we already visited last 2000 when the company was still small. Just like 5 years ago, i had a wonderful time... so much fun that i already neglected sleep time. Now, all i want to do is to go home, eat dinner, and sleep... i just don't know if i still have the energy though to do it :P.

The Breaking Point

I am now to the point where i am coming back to my depression... physically, mentally, and emotionally drained from work... and sorry to say that my social life isn't getting any better as well, and it makes my depression even deeper. I feel i am all alone... but i'm trying to stay strong.

Work rant continues...

Well, just like what i've ranted the last time... work is such a pain. This week i had to stay longer than the usual working hours, spend overnight, forget sleep, just finish the damn project. We did finally get to finish the project but it got me really bad. Right now i am suffering from a bit of a sickness, but not that serious... just a cold. Not only that, karma did played a little game on me too. We basically finished the project last friday night and me and my officemates went out and ate dinner almost midnight at McDonalds (we don't have a choice, it's the only restaurant available at that time), joke about the situation and i told them that i will close my cellphone off to prevent me from getting any call for emergency work. Funny it happened the day after... i didn't turned my cellphone off and the project need immediate attention. So i went to the office, worked on my own (i know it's kinda selfish and didn't asked for help but i wanted this to be done... as in finally be done!) until night. So much for life, i just hope it is really the end.

... but i still doubt that it is.

Hoped It Won't Happen Again... But...

I am just in a ranting mood coz as work (if work is a person) says it right now, my cancer is back. A time that we get trapped on a situation and that the salvation of the project is in your hands, fail it and you're doomed. Well, not as intense as the PS2 project, just equally mortifying as the house projects last year. I really hate it when this happens but what can we do, we're in the middle of the battlefield... or i can mildly compare ourselves now as the net at the middle of a tennis court.

Sigh, but then again... i can't just rant and do nothing. We have to get ready for tomorrow's work and finish it once and for all. I... make that we... hope that it won't happen again... but that's just a wishful thinking.

The Majaducon-Mendoza Nuptial

Ok, i've mentioned before here in my weblog about my friend's beach wedding, so i'm going to post a few pictures that taken with Mike's phone-cam.


this is just a fun stuff we did while we were down at the beach (in clockwise order starting from top: Jojo - Luchi's friend and suitor, Franklin - the groom, Me - ehm... no explanation, Mike - college classmate, Melissa - the groom and Mike's highschool buddy, and Luchi - their highschool buddy as well.)


Another picture at the beach with jojo, luchi, frank, and melissa.


This is at a valley up in the mountain early in the morning. This area is where Julieth (the bride) lives. It's quite remote but it's actually lovely to be there.


On the actual beach wedding, Me, Mike, and Christian (groom's highschool mate) prepares as it is about to start. We're dressed in a very articulate designed Philippine National Costume called the "Barong Tagalog".


Frank and Julieth getting blessed by their principal sponsors during the wedding ceremony. I kinda noticed how the wedding was done, it's a bit different from the traditional wedding that i usually see.

Well, that's it :)

Feeling Human Again

With all the socializing that i have been on for the past month, it's indeed a great way to refresh yourself and get connected with people. I've been to places that i have ignored for years... my birthplace where i met my relatives and old friends, my alma mater where i got to mingle with my close college buddies, to a remote location for a friend's wedding, and expecting more in the following weeks. I've mentioned this to Doug, a good online friend of mine, and he comments "man, you're becoming human!". It might sounds sarcastic in a funny way, but i think he's pretty damn much correct... and this does give me positive energy.

Stairway to Heaven's Soundtrack tidbit

Korean telenovelas dominate nowadays the primetime slots on Philippine TV (besides the telefantacia that comes before their timeslots). From all of these shows, two got my attention because i somehow seen the first episodes and had some followings (so it gets you attached to it). Two of those shows are the melodrama "Stairway to Heaven" and romantic-comedy "Full House".

What's worse about this is that the songs played in these shows are addictive (well, that's on my part and probably on most people who watch it). The songs never faded in my mind and even craved for more... so i went to search the net... and fuck, it was very very difficult to locate one.

Fortunately today, after weeks of attempts... i finally found a site. Downloaded the songs, and after that i'm all relieved. Ok enough talk, i'd like to share one song of Stairway to Heaven entitled Ave Maria (right click on the title to download). It's heavenly and relaxing... hope you'll enjoy :)

Tiring but Overwhelmingly Fun Weekend

Last weekend (starting march 04, friday night) i had a fully booked appointments with some people (relatives and friends) that i haven't seen for years... starting off with my good ol' pal Francis Legaspi. He said that we havent seen each other for 4 years already (that long already? i know it's been long but i dont think it was that long.) We met in Tower Records, Glorietta around 8pm since my office is just a kilometer away. It was very nice to see him again, and damn... he still looks the same, just a bit chubby. He claims that he looks older than his age should show, but i dont see it that way. Anyways, we ate dinner and had some conversation... just updating ourselves on what had happened during those years.

After that meeting with Francis, i went straight ahead to my birthplace Marikina City (which i haven't visited for years as well... maybe 3 years) to meet my relatives and greet my cousin on his 40th birthday. Unexpectedly, the old kids of that compound was there as well already chatting with my siblings. It was an instant reunion and had some talk about their love life and their kids and stuff. I was kind of the loner there coz i was the only one in my batch/level (since there was this age heirarchy during our times... my batch was already in the 4th level, the youngest batch). Lots of reminiscing as well, all those crazy stuff that we experienced in that compound. So much talk that it took us until 4am the next day. Me and My siblings still went home to Laguna and had more than 2 hours of travel.

At that same day (saturday), we went back to Marikina and went swimming with just the close relatives... it's just a continuation of the birthday bash. Later that evening, me and my siblings went out to play billiards with our old friends. It was so much fun, and i had a lot of beginners luck (i play billiards quite rarely, just to let you know ;P). Again, finished around 2am the next day and still have to go home to Laguna.

Sunday evening, went to my Alma Mater... University of Santo Tomas and met Franklin (who is going to tie the knot this coming week.) We as well had some interesting conversation... we even got pushed away coz the University is already closing most of its premisses since it's already late. We waited there to meet Francis which he arrived at the exact time that he mentioned (8pm). We then went to McCafe in Quezon Avenue, and continue with our conversation. It was kinda short though since we already have to think about work the next day. Even though it was short, it was worth it. I arrived home in Laguna around 1am the next day.

Sigh, it was really tiring yet such a great experience... such overwhelmingly fun. I wish that it would happen again soon, it does get your spirit high. Anyways, i guess i'll just have to wait again for that opportunity.

Weird Dreams

I am just going to make a quick post of my 2 recent dreams... the first one was kind of an accident, can't really clearly recall what happened... but as far as i remember i was electricuted inside the room of Samantha (my adopted cousin with special needs). I didn't perished after getting electricuted, no physical damage whatsoever... but got me a little weird curse. All saintly statues around tends to look at me wherever i go. It's kinda spooky and got me afraid and made me running. In this dream, Ms. Joanne and Ms. Lychel was also there... don't know what they're doing, just accompanying me i suppose. Then after i arrived to this building (don't know what building it was because it wasn't familiar), rain pours in hard and flooded the city. Flood went so high that we have to go on higher levels. It's like the end of the world.

The other dream that i have (which was just last night) is sort of a get-together of officemates, then the contestants of the reality game Amazing Race comes in. Me, being a big fan of the show, mingled and joined them on the race and went to a San Miguel Factory/Plant to search for clues. After that, i came back to the party and there was this one announcement of an officemate (will not going to mention the person's name) and told everyone that he's going to die in a couple of days. Everyone got sad.

That's all, hope this doesn't bring any bad information... nor comes true in real life.

Bloody Valentines Day

Well, like most single person would probably think that valentines day just sucks, it just got worst yesterday... and some couples alike share the same sentiments. As Valentines Day was being celebrated, terrorism struck down right here in Makati City around 7:30 in the evening as one bus got blown away by a modified bomb, killing around 6 people and injuring almost a hundred innocent bystanders. Two other cities (Davao and General Santos City) had some bomb blasting as well and at almost the same time it happened in Makati. I was lucky enough not to be in that place at that moment because i usually go there to take a bus ride (guess i have to thank for something about staying late at the office). Unfortunately for an officemate, whom i am handling in the project team, was a few meters away from the site. He's safe, no physical injuries whatsoever, but the trauma is there of course. He rested at home for today so he can emotionally recover from the stress.

Guess when you ask, "how's your valentines day?"... the probable answer would be: "it was a blast :)".

Happy Valentines/Single Awareness Day to everyone!

Almost Over You

Just heard again a version sung by Regine Velasquez, a local artist in my country, and her interpretation was quite good that i can't get over with it. An original of Sheena Easton, the song is entitled "Almost Over You"... very lovely (and another break-up themed) song. Hehe, why do i choose such songs these days... doesn't make any sense. Anyways, i'm going to post the lyrics:

===================================

Almost Over You
by Sheena Easton
-----------------------------

I saw an old friend of ours today
She asked about you, I didn't quite know what to say
Heard you've been making your rounds 'round here
While I've been trying to make tears disappear

Chorus:
Now I'm almost over you, I've almost shook these blues
So when you come back around after painting the town
You'll see I'm almost over you

You're such a sly one with your cold, cold heart
Maybe leavin' came easy, but it tore me apart
Time heals all wounds they say and I should know
'Cause it seems like forever, but I'm lettin' you go

chorus

I can forgive you and soon I'll forget all my shattered dreams
Although you left me with nothing to show, full of misery

chorus

When you come back around after painting the town
You'll see I'm almost over you

Agony

1. Losing weight.
2. Already on Stage 2.
3. Body Aches.

Good versus Evil

I was browsing around (due to boredome... not very surprising isn't it?) and come about to a website/rant page of an online friend (namely B-Rob) and saw this thing about the percentage of the evilness and goodness of the site.

"Hmmmmmnn............. wonder how evil is my site?"

and this what pops out on the gematriculator's weird calculation:



I guess i am still good, but the power of the underworld is slowly devouring... mouwahahahahahahah! *burp*

Made My Own Silent Hill DVD Collection

last month, i have decided to make my own dvd collection of my fav console game Silent Hill. I've finished the latest installment of the series and this is the backdrop:



looks neat, with all the animations, contents and stuff but i wasn't that satisfied... i wanted to do more and make it perfect. But hey, i dont have all the time.

Now i am thinking of doing the same thing for the second and third installment for the series but that will take a lot of time... probably may take even next year :|. Anyways, see how it will go.

First Quarter of 2005: Marriage Season

No... i'll say it now that i am not the one who is getting married. It's kinda unlikely for me to have it since i dont even have a partner to begin with... so on to the topic. This first quarter seems to be the time for lovers to tie the knot (why so? i don't know, maybe it's kinda cold and they wanna get warmed up? :P). I've been invited already for 2 weddings... one on February, one on March. Not excited though, but happy for them. It'll be nice to see some of my old college buddies... and some of the ones that i think will irritate me.

Anyways, it'll be fun and best of luck to the "soon to be newlyweds". They will live happily ever after... or is it? sooner or later reality will have a big bite... and fairy tales are just fairy tales.

(Ever wonder how cinderella or snow white grow old or how they lived after their famous story? could be ugly)

Haha! i am being negative again... "come to the dark side!"

Tada!

After 3 weeks of blog vacancy, i'm back... tada!

Nothing much to do or to say though, just enjoyed my 3 weeks of laid-back times. Work isn't that of a problem since there's nothing much to do. We certainly have projects and was done on time, no rush at all.

I also got hooked (together with my officemates) on the game of Counter Strike. We usually play it after office hours and what i like about it is the team effort to win the battle. The game is good, although still gets into my nerve when i die almost instantly and have to wait for the others to finish the round.

Other than Counter Strike, i've also been to the cinemas just like before but not as often. For this month i only had 3 movies watched (namely Kung Fu Hustle, Blade: Trinity, and White Noise).

So until the end of january, i'll have my jolly good time (since boss isn't around yet). I'll post again when something comes up :).