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this is pretty cool. how would you like a shoe drawer inside your staircase? or a minimalist ‘melted’ lamp to go on your sidetable? these cool inventions are so ingeniously funny and cute, you should see them for yourself.
how about a penguin teaboy or a straw to make your pucker much more dramatic? 
compiled by zuza.
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there’s a weird little creature staring up an (equally strange) underwater camera lens and it’s not a bit shy. the surprise at finding each other was probably mutual as scientists plunged into the deepest parts of Celebes Sea.
A team of filipino-american scientists has discovered several unknown species in that remote sea south of sulu, and this square jawed semi-transparent fish is one of them.
“The animal’s deep red hue is actually common among these jellyfish, according to the Woods Hole team. Although it is not visible in the ocean’s dark depths, the color masks any bioluminescence given off by prey trapped inside the jellies’ guts.” -NGC
sinister. and that, my friend, puts the philippines on the map once again.
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Tags: ocean, celebes sea, sea creatures, national geographic channel
i remember going on a roadtrip with my friends in summer last year. (i don’t remember blogging anything about it, so here’s my more-than-a-year belated post). we went all the way to the northernmost part of luzon, which is most famous for its pristine beaches, killer waves, and untouched landscapes. pagudpud is actually just a small town in ilocos norte and is 561 kilometers away from manila, one way. it can be reached via air where you land in laoag, ilocos sur, then take a 2-hour bus ride to the town.
i still have the itinerary i compiled from a lot of resources on the web, but this one was the most helpful. with just this in hand, a couple of printouts on probable acommodations along the way, my friends and i set out on an adventure.
we left early morning on a thursday and got as far as laoag by nightfall. amazing, because the road all the way to pagudpud was cemented and we had no problems at all (all that investment of imelda marcos paid off). we just had a lot of stopovers kasi, that’s why it took us that long. we stayed there overnight and set out again in the morning. by around 10am, this awesome sight greeted us:
if you have the cash to burn you can stay in one of the beach’s prime hotels, Saud Beach Resort, which hosted the Bb. Pilipinas candidates a few years back. If not, there are several places to stay in that are really quite affordable and comfortable enough. we stayed at Arinaya Beach Resort. we had a great view of the beach and had the perfect spot to play cards and eat our own cooked meals!
my only regret is that we weren’t able to visit the tourist spots of pagudpud like the patapat viaduct, the lighthouse, the mairaira beach (or the blue lagoon, and i can only imagine how breathtaking the place is), kabigan falls, and the bantay abot caves. we just contented ourselves lounging on the beach, eating whatchamacallit crabs (sarap ng fresh!), and getting henna tattoos. we visited the windfarm, though.
overall, these were good times. nothing beats going on a road trip with people who get your drift for adventure and who know how to have fun. so kahit saan ka pang paraiso pumunta, pero kung ang kasama mo naman puro killjoy, wala din diba?
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p.s. if ever you’re planning to go to pagudpud and you need an IT of sorts, email me at iris14@gmail
cheers!
a Discovery Channel special
this is what happens when species of the same breed are put together inside an enclosed area for long periods of time.
(trip to majayjay, laguna last june 2007 with cousins)
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i was tagged by k to do this; it originated from chimeric day dreams. im supposed to write about seven blogging people who inspire me, but i’m not supposed to say who they are.
(hirap mag-credit anonymously)
. but more than my tech support, she is also a friend. she is always a reasonable person to talk to when advices (for my problems, technically, spiritually, and emotionally) are wanting. tag, you’re it: patty, kuya tops, ate ida, azrael, jayme, meeya, ate kengkay, ate pao
have you ever seen anyone sing and dance this good?
deym, i would love to learn these moves. beyonce is so ahead of the game and it seems like a good thing that she went solo, don’t you think?
Blogged with Flock
Flock, Inc. The Social Web Browser!
gone are the days when i was scared of rss feeds and media streaming. it’s the era of convenient blogging, streaming, blurking, networking (and stalking? haha), and file sharing. and flock has just opened up a new world for me.
with flock it’s so much easier to keep track of news, blogs, social networks, and even your email. i don’t have to click on the links on my sidebar one by one to see updates on blogs i read; flock does that for me since its feed reader keeps everything in one place so you can view what’s new anytime.
what i love also about flock is the media bar. unfortunately i’m subscribed to just flickr and i only have a few friends there so it’s still not loaded as much. but for the photojunkies, it’s a sure winner.
(why do i sound like i’m in a commercial?)
this is really one of the best stuff i’ve discovered on the web (thanks to ate pao), and for a non-techie person like me, that’s saying a lot.
Blogged with Flock
DSL newsÂ
i cannot contain my excitement.
my connections are all working now. akalain mo yon, pagbukas ko ng laptop ko a few minutes ago, it started to search for wireless networks within range (im supposed to connect to my cousin’s myDSL account that we’re sharing thru a router) at bigla nalang nag-log in yung YM ko! automatic! it didn’t prompt for anything like it usually does before.
yesss! it’s finally working!
tag you’re it
and now, finally, i can work on a pending tag from jayme for reading her blog (i was so pissed off before i decided to boycott blogging until the freakin dsl works)
this is my workstation at home. im not posting the one at the office anymore for confidentiality purposes anyway, gulo no? you really don’t want to see the rest of my room. hehe. pero as i always say, i’m organized in a messy sort of way. im the only one who can find anything in my room even if it’s all cluttered. but i love my room even if it’s up in the attic, it’s quite roomy and i get lots of sunlight so i don’t really need any light in this corner.
so i’m tagging patty, moks, kuya john, ate ida, misha, meeya, yang, k, and the love coach
happy tiredÂ
yup you read that right, i’m tired but happy. just got over that weekend hangover with mia and some friends. i just had to pay a really high price for having fun. i got bedridden-sick last sunday and had to stay home till yesterday and i thought i had dengue. the fever’s gone now, but i’m still feeling a bit sluggish (and my insides aren’t that all functioning well) so i might have something else.
anyway, i finally tested my supermommy powers to see how far i can go with just mia and me. i thought, ‘this is a piece of cake. i’ll just put her on her stroller and push her around’. by the time we got to leslie’s i was a bit on my nerve’s ends because mia wouldn’t sit still on her high chair and would grab anything within her reach.
or, she would reach out to mommy to take her somewhere else where she can see the dancing lights and tree leaves a little closer. mariel, tin, and jeff tried to be the sub but mia wouldn’t last that long with anyone else because she wanted mommy, mommy, mommy!
i did manage to enjoy the bulalo, bangus belly, and lechon kawali i really had to be a party pooper afterwards for asking to go home because i was really tired by then. we didn’t even stay for coffee anymore to wait for one of our other friends, aurie.
lesson learned? never dare to tag the little one along on long trips without a certified untiring yaya (like lola). hehe
love DSL?
finally we got broadband internet. yeah yeah you can call me ancient for getting dsl this late when everybody’s up to wireless broadband already! me and my cousins finally decided to split the bill to have everyone connected to pldt myDSL. they bought a router and finally tested it last night. it works! i was asleep (trying to, actually) already, though, so i wasn’t able to test if the wifi works on my laptop.
by the time i post this entry, i would’ve found out already
after one night and one day…
and yeah, i did find out that it sucks. either that, or we’re just trying to troubleshoot the connections by ourselves and we suck. my cousin who’s already techie enough couldn’t figure out what else is wrong with my network settings. para sa mga hindi techie, you’d know how i feel. gusto ko ng itapon sa labas tong laptop ko.
news bit #1: stonefreak!
had a really great time catching up with 2 friends, onee and joey, at shangri-la last night. i had to meet up with ons because i’m the lucky one who gets to surprise them with two avps for their wedding in january. though ’surprise’ isn’t exactly what onee would want for her perfect wedding, so i guess i’ll be having the first screening for her first. good times.
and of course me being at the shang means there is an ulterior motive. just a secret, but i really wanted us to meet there because stonefree was playing. *wide grin*. loved the band’s rendition of beautiful girls (originally by jojo and this dude…).
i miss watching live bands, really. i think the last time i was at a concert was in UP pa. Ang tagal na non! *hay* i miss the feeling of being in the middle of a crowd with pounding music especially when the act’s not a show band. good music, good times.
newsbit #2: lights, camera, action!
there’s a tv commercial shoot right out there on our dead-end street. Â
it was a little bit irritating because as early as 530am they were banging those metal things around and mia naturally woke up because of all the ruckus. i mean, they can’t just come parading into people’s sleeping neighborhoods can they? ano ngayon kung shooting pa yan nung kung sinong pontio pilato? i mean, for us who have sleeping babies, it’s just not appreciated much. pero in fairness, maganda yung model ng tvc.
direk erik matti: “cut! i loove-et!”
newsbit #3: exhausted
and because mia was awake really early, i didn’t have to meme her to sleep again around 10.
she just did while playing with her milk bottle. hehe
newsbit #4: letters from the crypt, este, highschool
i was cleaning old stuff in my room and i came across these letters from way back in highschool from my bestfriend, nat.
and i just realized how fun it was to write letters with your own hands back then and you found even the littlest pieces of scrap to write on. those letters don’t even have any of the “important and adult” stuff in them like, “To whom it may concern”, “Cc:”, or something like,
This is in clarification of the note sent earlier at 0900 hours during English class regarding plans of extended bonding hours at the mall. Will it be suffice to provide 5 minutes after class before proceeding with the activity? The undersigned is concerned that some academic authorities might intercept the plan and have them undergo extreme detention penalties for said assignation. Please advise.
that would be very scary. imagine if we were all adult-thinking when we were in highschool. true, a lot of teenage pregnancies would have been prevented, and a lot of adolescent angst would’ve been non-existent, but it would’ve been utterly boring.
newsbit #5: my frustration
so while i’m at it, i unearthed some story boards i did for an advertising class back in college. i loved that class. i especially loved my prof, since he always gave good grades (and i mean i keep getting 1.0’s hehe). i learned a lot, so that’s not all bola. actually that’s when i decided i wanted to go into marketing or advertising when i graduated.Â
i really want to produce this still. those papers aren’t really much, after all, i’m not a good artist, but i really think they’re good. (hehe love your own). it’s just one location per story so not that much off-site production. all my friends are in the film/advertising industry so what if i bring this up with them no? tamang-tama over coffee in tagaytay
direk iris: “cut! ano ba yan dingdong, ayusin mo naman!”
 :)
newsbits
got my N70 back from the Nokia Center and cost me six hundred ten bucks of what was left of my already-diminished pay. tsk. but it’s working now so i can take pictures of mia and the road again. lesson learned: don’t leave your cell phone out on the beach with only a knitted little pouch to protect it from sand and water.
found neil gaiman’s journal on the web from one of the blogs i lurked in. brilliant, brilliant work i tell you. i love his style, his imagination, the worlds he create. in one of his blog posts, he talks about his story plots like they were live beings; they run around until what he started with end up differently. and this, my friend, is a fascinating take on best loved nursery rhymes.
slight problem
i have this ‘problem’ with mia, my little girl, who is growing cuter and more adorable by the day, but quite the feisty little girl she’s becoming.
i think i have the common working mother’s dilemma. 12 hours a day i spend away from mia so just about when she’s starting to recognize who the important people in her life are and i’m not there most of the time, i’m a bit worried. she still knows me, of course, but lately when i tell her to come to mommy, she’d rather amuse herself with other colorful little things, or if my mother is nearby she clamors for her instead.
(not that i wouldn’t want my mom to be close to her.) i just want mia to know that i’m still her mommy and mommy’s always welcome to get smiles and hugs and kisses from her. i’m worried that i might be away so much that she won’t come running to me when i get home.
tell me, am i having valid mommy fears or am i overreacting? i know none of child psychology stuff so i just don’t know how to deal with this. i’m hoping she (and i) grows out of it soon. or do you?
ang dahilan kung bakit maraming barumbado sa kalye ng pinas? sobrang dali kumuha ng lisensya.
kaka-renew ko lang the other day at akala ko kailangan ko pang dumaan sa normal na process ng pag-renew. but nooo. unang window palang sa ‘evaluator’ tinanggihan na ako ng hanep na lalaking empleyadong yun. di na daw sila tumatanggap ng renewals (2:30pm pa lang noon) dahil quota na daw sila for the day. kumpletuhin ko daw muna ang requirements saka ako bumalik bukas ng umaga para tapusin ang renewal process.
shempre di ako makapaniwala at gusto ko na sanang mag-amok dun sa lobby ng LTO kapitolyo pasig para sabihin sa kanilang lahat doon na hindi dapat ganon ang government service. they’re supposed to work for me, hell my taxes should be working for me! pero shempre napangiti nalang ako at nag-decide nalang akong makisama sa mga bureaucratic sons of b**ches na yon at sinubukan ko kung makakalusot ang excuse ko. may hinahabol kasi ako sa office kaya dapat makuha ko yung license that same day.
triny ko din magpa-cute, pero nooo, sanay na sanay ang lolo mo (kuya #1) sa mga ganon. pinaalis na niya ako para magpa-”requirements”. at apparently may ka-tag team siyang nag-aabang pala sa tabi ko. inescort naman ako ni kuya #2 sa gilid ng building para magpa-drug test, sabay hirit sakin, “Alam mo ma’am, kung ako yun papayag yun. Makukuha mo din lisensya mo.” Hanep no? May hidden agenda pala.
At dahil desperado nakong mapa-renew ang license ko, tinanong ko na kung magkano. Sus naman, magpapaka-demure pa ba ako sa kaniya eh yun lang naman talaga ang trabaho ng mga fixers? Teka lang daw at tatanungin niya si kuya #1.
Php500 lang naman daw, all in na. Pero excluded yung drug test and medical exam fees. Php300 din yun. So in short, nalakad yung lisensya ko, with additional Php50 dahil professional pala license ko (me and my big mouth; dapat di ko na nabanggit), at nakuha ko within 1 hour and 10 minutes.
madami din akong natutunan habang nagiintay doon sa lobby ng LTO kapitolyo pasig. pag tiningnan mo lang yung mga window counters, walang pila at hindi mashado nilalapitan ng maraming tao, pero ang daming nakaupo sa mga benches sa harap. lahat ng lumalapit sa window, fixers nalang. per fixer siguro 3 o 4 ang inaayos. wala na yatang dumadaan sa normal na process except sa umaga sigruo dahil walang excuse si kuya #1 na naka-quota na sila.
pag hapon mas madaming naghahabol, kaya mas desperado ang mga tao, hence mas kailangan ng fixer para mapadali ang proseso. yung iba nga dun, siguro mga jeepney or taxi drivers, nagpapa-fix pa. eh sobrang dali naman magpa-drug or medical test. pinipirmahan lang yun tapos na. i doubt kung may mga analysis pang nalalaman yung mga “drug test centers” sa tabi-tabi lang doon. yung sakin nga, nag-”please” lang ako kay ate #1 dahil hindi ko na kaya mag-wiwi ng madami, hinayaan na niya.
so in short, sa sobrang dali kumuha ng lisensya, kahit sino pwede na kumuha. ano ngayon kung hindi ka marunong magbasa ng road signs or traffic regulations? bayaran mo lang yung mga tao doon, ok ka na. ano ngayon kung walang road ettiquette sa bokabularyo mo? ok lang yun, para sa maliit na halaga, nandyan si kuya #2 para ilakad ka.
lesson learned? renewed pro license: P600. speedy processing: P200. LTO experience: priceless.
i can’t believe i just scored this comic book at half the price:Â
i was on my way to get my N70 from the ‘Nokia hospital’ (that thing on its underside which connects with the USB cable is broken, mostly because it keeps flying around, guess who the culprit is) yesterday when i took a shortcut through National Bookstore and happened to glance at the bargain books table.
the bargain books table! where everything is at least 50% off! what are the chances that this book would be left lying around at the discount area?? i grabbed and paid for it as soon as i saw it.
these things wouldn’t usually be on sale at Fully Booked, mind you. lucky, lucky day.
i love calvin and hobbes. their combination is just the right stuff when you want to appreciate childhood (even politics, parenting, and social issues) along with a lot of sarcasm, wit, and loads of humor. i’ve been a fan ever since i got this one from the US eons ago.Â
watterson’s genius has been really valued a lot; Fully Booked sold a collector’s edition of all his works compiled in one big volume (forgot the title) and it cost as much as P7k. oohh-lala! if i had the money and was selfish enough i really would’ve bought it
Fresh from a perfect vacation at one of the sparkling beaches of
Is it not possible that your boss won’t miss you for a couple of days? You silently complain to your carry-on luggage, your only companion on the trip. You were suddenly pulled back and you realized that the name tag on your carry-on was caught in a snag and had fallen off. You didn’t pick it up anymore since you had no need for it anyway.
As you continue your check out from the airport and into a hectic life and survey the surroundings, you smell a different kind of smell. It was of cement just recently laid on the walls and floor, of fresh paint, and of something malevolent in the air. You thought you were hallucinating, when for a split second you think you also smelled something decaying nearby.
You quickly dismiss the thought that something so big and shiny and new could be unkept by the airport administration. It was impossible because they had just reopened Terminal 3, the infamous port named after Ninoy Aquino. It had been a decade before it was finally ruled to be opened by judicial courts; before that a number of legal disputes had erupted contesting its legality. And you were one of the lucky commuters who have just used it.
Nobody was waiting for you outside the arrival gate because you hadn’t bothered letting anyone know when you were flying back. It had been a surreal event, a month ago, when you had abruptly told your boss you were going on a one-month leave and your parents that you simply needed to go away.
It’s just stress, ma. I’ll be more relaxed if I just get on that plane and spend some time alone. You had told your mother who was perpetually worried about your health and the long nights in the office.
As you neared the exit sign, at one side, the smell of burning candles and a slight aroma of flowers made you turn to your right where it was seemingly coming from. There was a makeshift memorial for some people who died. As to who, you didn’t know, and you did not bother to find out. You are just anxious to go home and get a good afternoon’s rest.
———–
The television flashed the grotesque images of three gunned down bodies, the two near their home seemingly, and one in front of his. One was a known magistrate who ruled in a case against some corporation. Foul play and blackmail, the police were saying. It would not be the last news bit for the networks were replaying unsolved massacres of old involving the infamous Terminal 3.
The tv in the living room continued to flicker while the inhabitants of the house regarded it with faded interest. The floral cream-colored wallpaper changed its colors as the hues of the television changed in each flash. Meanwhile, a cold draft seeps in through the slight gap between the door and its frame. It was the middle of summer but the inhabitants of the house shuddered.
———–
After a well-rested sleep, you take a cold shower to wash off the residues of vacation from your mind. You were thinking that it might probably help prepare you for work the next morning. In the shower you smile at the fading memories of your trip, and you suddenly feel someone had entered the bathroom.
Hey. You say to nobody in particular. Maybe you’re still dreaming. You go back to scrubbing your back but there’s still that nagging feeling that someone was indeed looking at you through the shower curtain. You pull the curtain back with a jolt; nobody was there. Silly, paranoid, you thought. Must have been the cement in the airport that was still wafting in the air when you arrived.
You finish your shower quickly and decided to open your computer to check your mail. Your inbox must be bouncing off emails already. The computer boots up and takes a million years before the blue prompt screen shows up. You check the CPU. The LED light that’s supposed to say the computer is still reading has stopped. You wait for a few minutes and nothing happens. A bit irritated, you turn off and on the AVR to restart.
Even the computer missed me, you muttered to yourself. Staring at the black flat LCD screen, you notice a slight movement in the reflection. You turn around and see that everything was in order: nothing moving back there, you say. You sighed. You realized you must be really tired for imagining these things.
You settled then on leaving the computer alone for a while and scanning the three day-old newspaper left on the living room coffee table. You see nothing of great importance. After all, it will take a report on natural calamity to get your interest piqued at any breaking news. You just weren’t the politically-conscious type. Who needed to hear about squabbles of selfish men masquerading in barongs and briefcases?
But one particular headline caught your attention: “NAIA Terminal 3: Cursed Airport?†Curiously, you clicked on the link to read the whole story. The opinion column was criticizing the slow movement of investigation of unsolved cases, particularly those of two distinguished government officials related to the NAIA Terminal 3 controversy. And now, the ceiling that caved in for the second time since its construction.
You continued to read on because you had just come from that airport and you remembered if the memorial outside the arrival gate were connected to that. You find out that a major beam that supported one area of the terminal’s ceilings had collapsed, taking down with it several passengers. The reconstruction had still been weak and probably faulty (since it had caved in earlier in its construction phase), despite the government mandate that the defect be fixed before being expropriated to Philippine management. However, a legal hodgepodge of technicalities had bogged down whatever improvements were needed on the structure, until the issue was pushed into the hindmost of court hearings. There were about 141 passengers and personnel who died that day, many of which were destined for Thailand.
And so because of this, the column writer had concluded, Terminal 3 (very aptly named) had taken its latest victims, as if punishment to the ones responsible for it.
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Ewan ko ba, Jun. Para bang kinilabutan ako nung pumasok ako sa kwarto ng anak mo. Narinig kong nakabukas yung shower, pero hindi naman. Tapos yung computer parang nakabukas din, your mother says glancing towards your bedroom. She had just gone in to get her your framed graduation picture to display by the coffin.
Your death had not been easy on your mother, or any of your family, but she had to fulfill her duties. Your father gives her a tight hug and clutches your frayed name tag on one hand.
———– Since its commissioning in 1997, the abandoned airport terminal had accumulated several wrongdoings to its name. Some have died, trying to question the legality of its contracts. True enough, the Philippine justice system have found that its country was done wrong by its main contractor for the project, Philippine International Air Terminals Co., Inc. (PIATCO). The contract was declared null and void, and a year later Judge Henrick Gingoyon, who presided over the government’s expatriation decision of the terminal, was found dead. A year after that, Solicitor General Nestor Ballacillo and his son were also gunned down. The older Ballacillo was also one of those handling a case against PIATCO.To date, Terminal 3 is still abandoned. No conclusion as to who and why the two were murdered can be found in any news archive as of yet.
This story is fictional. However, the deaths of the 2 government officials are a fact, as well as the series of legal events that the Terminal itself went through. The second caving of an area of Terminal 3’s celing is fictional.
–
© 2007. Read my other shorts here. Please credit the author and site if you want to share this post.
i would like to thank ate pao for this award, it means so much to me!
 
 hehehehe. pwede na ba ako sa Famas?
so i hereby pass on this award to the following people whose spaces i like
more awards to follow!
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i am a sidebar junkie. thank you thank you para sa mga widget-stuff links i’m so happy scouring the web for ‘ sidebar junk’! hehe.
i have a new one right there on the right. check it out!
