SPY | SPIN

There's hope for me after all

2004-11-04T14:53:00.000+08:00

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

2004-11-03T21:17:00.000+08:00

my niece's halloween costume

stuff

2004-11-02T23:12:00.000+08:00

I blame my lack of posts on the fact that my sister's boyfriend is currently in Taiwan and she has been hogging the computer to chat with him. Just now I had to beg for her to stop with the mushy ym messages and give me some time to use the computer before I go to sleep. It's been a busy busy week... there are quite a few things on my plate. The first is my impending work as a Junior Ass. in the Big Law Firm... I was set to start on the middle of November but almost everyone I know who works has advised me against it since "this is the only rest you'll get in a long time!" So I'm toying with the idea of starting on December instead. Second, I was invited to join a business venture and it's been interesting. I have the opportunity to experience first hand how to set up a corporation and so far I've learned that it doesn't really differ from high school group work -- issues on distribution of work, a little backbiting, people coming in late to meetings -- but in a larger scale and instead of a mere grade, it's now actual money at risk. Also, Cricket and I did some volunteer work at Museo Pambata. It's a pretty nice place pala. My older sister and I plan to bring our nieces there one time and give our cousin, their mom some peace and quiet. Speaking of older sister, she's taking a test tomorrow on some insurance stuff -- Good Luck!!!!

***

I got my first flat tire a while ago. It made me appreciate extended families.

***

The US Election is now underway... I'm rooting for W for selfish reasons.

Give something back -- Volunteer!

2004-10-25T13:22:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wanted to volunteer for some worthwhile project but found that the event fell on a busy day, was too far, time-consuming or you felt you weren't qualified for it? If so, then joining Hands on Manila is the perfect solution for you!

Hands on Manila foundation provides an array of volunteer opportunities you can choose from depending on your availability, location, skill and interest. They coordinate with charitable institutions and organizations and put together a calendar of events every month so you can plan ahead for which activities you'd like to take part in.

If you enjoy working with children, you can opt to read storybooks for sick kids, prepare fun activities for street children or teach simple computer programs like Word and Excel to highschool level students. If you're a nature lover you can choose to plant trees or care for animals. You can even volunteer from the comfort of your own home like creating websites for livelihood programs. There are so many activities to choose from, and the best part is that you would really be a big help in addressing the urgent problems our society faces everyday.

Visit http://www.handsonmla.org if you're interested.

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My friends and I formed a small volunteer group (5 people pa lang but if you're interested to join, call me!). We're planning to start with our first project this saturday - storytelling at the Museo Pamabata and we'll take it from there. Our goal is to do something once a month. For example, on February there's a marathon for the Pasig River and while we don't intend to join the actual marathon, we plan to sign up to man a booth that will give out t-shirts and certificates to the runners. It's a small thing but I guess every little bit will help too :)

i saw the survivors

2004-10-22T16:39:00.000+08:00

Just saw the survivors, ethan, jenna and shii an in glorietta a while ago. For an instant I thought of having my picture taken with them but they were surrounded by around 5 scary looking guys, and they looked too busy shopping anyway.
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You are 11% geek

OK, so maybe you ain't a geek. You do, at least, show a bit of interest in the world around you. Either that, or you have enough of a sense of humor to pick some of the sillier answers on the test. Regardless, you're probably a pretty nifty, well-rounded person who gets along fine with people and can chat with just about anyone without fear of looking stupid or foolish or overly concerned with minutiae. God, I hate you.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

2004-10-21T23:24:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted to go back to divisoria and tutuban. The last time I went was a couple of years ago when my financial situation forced me to buy cheap gifts for my inaanaks... hehe... I've always wanted to go back but I never found the time and there was a bomb scare if I remember correctly. Well, now, after the bar, with a lot of time on my hand, I decided to revisit this place. I've almost forgotten how amazing it is there. If you can suffer the traffic, pollution, dirt, smell (ugh, the smell!) it's a veritable goldmine. With a little over 2000 pesos, I was able to buy 2 shirts, 4 pairs of pants, 3 blouses, a pair of denim capris, socks and a hamper. Not bad.

Another great thing about divisoria, is that it is a very interesting place. I truly think it, not the Makati Central Business District, is the heart of the Philippine economy. For example, when I saw at the Sunlife Financial Building along Quintin Paredes st., I had no doubt that they really invested in the building. It looks like a pretty darn expensive place. Compare that to the Sunlife building along Paseo de Roxas, which is old, dingy and looks a little neglected. I scanned the buy and sell tuesday edition... lots in makati are selling for 30,000 per square meter while lots in divisoria sell for double that price. I was also struck at the contrasts I observed. Brand new pajeros parked alongside pedicabs and isaw carts was a common sight. You would find a fair-skinned chinese mestiza wearing a rolex hawking a tank top "200 miss, sige last price 180." If only I brought a camera and if I wasn't scared of being robbed, it would really have been a good photo subject.

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The Boston Red Sox won over the New York Yankees in a surprising, nay, shocking, unprecedented upset. I just remember the times Conan O'Brien made fun of the Red Sox. One time he compared the Yankees to an SUV and the Red Sox was a little kitten trying to scratch it. Well, the little kitten succeeded quite nicely this time.

it's time

2004-10-20T10:14:00.000+08:00

When should i start working? That's the question in my mind these past few days... I've gotten used to the bum lifestyle... watching tv, internet, reading, gym whenever i feel like it. The thing is i think I've gotten soft. A lot of people have told me to take a rest first since I'll be working naman for the rest of my life and with an allegedly slave-driver firm at that. On the other hand, I think I've rested enough. I am actually excited to be in touch with people outside of my immediate family members and the household help (since I'm just at home for 5 days a week). I read this saying which inspired me to get up and go! :

Believe while others are doubting
plan while others are playing
study while others are sleeping
decide while others are delaying
prepare while others are daydreaming
begin while others are procastinating
work while others are wishing
save while others are wasting
listen while others are talking
smile while others are pouting
commend while others are criticizing
Persist while others are quitting.

So i have decided to not procrastinate but to begin.... Nov. 15 --> Target Date

of mice and sawa

2004-10-15T17:56:00.000+08:00

i saw a disgusting piece of news on a morning program. There was this 6 to 8 foot sawa (i'm not sure about the accurate english translation: python? boa constrictor?) which was caught by a person about to eat his rooster so he started killing it. According to him, when he saw the snake, "Nanggigil ako." So he started beating the snake up until it was dead. If that's not bad enough, the footage showed his neighbors, mostly children poking the poor thing with barbeque sticks, and mercilessly tossing the remains around.

I can't help but compare it to what I see in Animal Planet. There's this particular episode in Miami Animal Police where a snake was found inside a suburban house. The parents then called the Animal guys to get it. When they arrived and saw the snake, they had a huge respect for the animal and they carefully removed it from the house. Now back to the Philippines. I'm sure the guy who killed the snake was enraged when he saw his rooster being attacked but did he do the right thing? If human lives were in danger, there wouldn't be any question about it but apparently, that was not the situation. He said he asked help from the barangay officials but only after he killed the snake... hmm, yeah, how smart. But what really sickened me was how the other people gleefully played around with the remains of the snake. Aren't people taught to respect life, whether human, animal or plant? The way these people were treating the dead snake was very sadistic. I wonder whether this small event reflects on the Filipino people at large. Beneath all the rhetoric about being a loving people, are we in truth, cruel and downright heartless?

You're fired!

2004-10-13T10:57:00.000+08:00

Finally, that weasly Sam has been fired! I'm hooked on The Apprentice (in Star World, not channel 5 so medyo delayed) and I've been so annoyed at that Sam guy. He was delusionally funny. There was one scene from last night's episode where he gets miffed because no one greeted him at the door. He said that in his house he always gets greeted at the door. Hello! Of course because that's your house! Why would total strangers, or even friends rush to the door to greet you like some lap dog? To drive home his point, he undressed and even slept by the door while everyone ignored him. Hilarious!

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"8 na lang kami!"
"What?"
"8 na lang kami!"
"Na what?"
"8 na lang kaming di nagkaka-boyfriend pa!"

My friend NB was looking at an old class picture - HS 1997. She counted those who can be categorized as no boyfriend since birth and bewailed her situation. We laugh about these things but I can see that she's quite worried.

"Well anyway," I quip, "you are going to the US next year. Benta ka doon."
"You think?"
"Tanned and curvy? You bet!"
"Sige, watch out. Mwahahaha!"

camille's bday

2004-10-12T14:22:00.000+08:00

camille's birthday

What makes a fun party? Beer? Pot? Music? Boardgames! (my best friends and I are self-confessed reformed high school nerds ;) We celebrated Camille's birthday last saturday. The food was great, classic spagghetti and Becky's Swiss chocolate cake among others. But what better to bring out girls' natural competitive spirit in a non-destructive form than with board games? Even the boyfriends were forced to play and I think they had fun too. Outburst has proven itself to be a good choice and Cricket finally convinced us to try Guesstures, the fast-paced version of charades (which the twins were pretty good at with their acting background) which was suprisingly entertaining. In the end my team won (yay!). I have to admit I have hints of Monica Geller tendencies. Next time though I'll make sure Laveena's in my team with her quasi trash talking skills.

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I also finished reading The Rule of Four over the week-end. There are parallelisms with the Da Vinci Code in that the protagonists try to solve a puzzle hidden in a Renaissance book called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. But that is where the similarity ends. The heart of the Da Vinci Code is a secret kept for two thousand years -- that Jesus was a feminist and that he married Mary Magdalene and had children -- and the conspiracy to keep this secret hidden. On the other hand, the solving of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is not the focal point of The Rule of Four although it does play an important role in the lives of the two lead characters Paul and Tom. The book is more about friendship, love, passion, ambition, father-son relationships and choices. To appreciate The Rule of Four, I had to realize that it belongs to a thoroughly different genre. Its beauty did not lie with the secret message a Renaissance author encrypted in his book but instead take a look at the different relationships of the characters. It is well-crafted and intelligently written but I have to admit that as a suspense thriller afficionado with a penchant for conspiracy theories, I still prefer the Da Vinci Code.

strength of a bear

2004-10-08T19:24:00.000+08:00

I'm typing this while I'm waiting for my mom's email. My mom's so cute, she's learning how to send email for the first time from her computer. For the longest time she's been computer illiterate and it's fun watching her learn. Go mom!!!

I'm so exhausted... I went around Glorietta the whole afternoon with my boyfriend in search of gray Oakley Valve sunglasses. We were able to find a pair in Sarabia optical. This is his 2nd pair of new shades in a month because he just loves his Oakleys. After he went home I went to the gym for some strength training. It's the first time I ever tried weights and i'm pretty sure my body will be sore all over when I wake up tomorrow morning. There was this tall foreigner guy who was such an extrovert. He said hi to me and made some small talk then after feeling close na siya! When I passed by he patted my hair (coz he's so tall siguro) and laughed. Then I thought to myself, friend ko ba to? I didn't mind naman but it's funny how we Filipinos usually keep to ourselves, at least in a new situation. I think even if we're nice and hospitable (cliche!) we're still inherently shy. Even if we can make small talk with people we've just met, we tend to stay in the friendly zone and are careful not to be too forward lest we be thought of as being overly-familiar. But sometimes I do envy those people who seem to be able to strike up a conversation with anyone and anywhere. Maybe I'll try it next time I'm in line for something and practice my PR skills.

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The strong take from the weak. But the smart take from the strong.

- The Rule of Four

Rule of Four

2004-10-06T17:45:00.000+08:00

I just bought a copy of the Rule of Four and I'm very excited to read it. According to some critics it's as good as the Da Vinci Code, and if that's true then I'm in for a treat because I loved the Da Vinci Code. While I was in Fully Booked, I also saw a copy of Holy Blood, Holy Grail and I was so tempted to buy it. But due to budgetary constraints, next time na lang.

I went to the gym today to get my fitness exam and guess what, I'm average! hahaha, i'm so happy i'm not below average! Since I started law school I've led a very sedentary lifestyle (except for a few jazz dancing classes a couple of years ago) and I'm glad it didn't really wreck that much havoc on my phsyical health. However, even if I am quite mediocre in the physical aspect I'm still worth exactly $2,219,000 according to www.humanforsale.com. ;)

Gosling-fest

2004-10-05T00:37:00.000+08:00

The thing with having loads of free time on your hand is that you have the tendency to indulge yourself... and i 've been doing just that. I've watched my third Ryan Gosling movie in a week -- The United States of Leland, Murder by Numbers and The Believer (I watched the Notebook a month ago and Remember the Titans a long time ago) and in all three films played a psycho guy, well that may be too harsh, let's just say he was very disturbed. In the Believer he was a disturbed Jewish Nazi who gets killed in the end, in Murder by Numbers he was a disturbed spoiled rich kid with criminal tendencies who gets killed in the end and in the United States of Leland he was a disturbed passionate teenager who killed a mental retardate because he empathized with him and he gets killed in the end. He gave very, very good performances but i have to confess I'm quite biased.

My memorable moments:

The Believer -- (while he was hitting a teenage boy): Hit me.... Hit me.... Hit me, hit me, hit me, Please.

United States of Leland - when Ryan and Jena Malone were walking down the street, then it rained and then they kissed... haaay.

Murder by Numbers - when he was in the car, trying to convince the girl to go ride with him and he does this little shimmy. sobrang cute grabe! :)

Hmmm... It's high school all over again. I'm regressing na yata. In the Believer, his performance has been compared to Edward Norton's in American History X. So let's do some comparing...

Edward Norton
Neo Nazi
skinhead + pretty buff body
has a huge swastika tattoo
bad-ass fighting skills
spends time in prison for killing a black guy
is reformed at the end of the movie
past object of affection

Ryan Gosling
Jewish Nazi
skinhead + pretty buff body
wears a shirt with a huge swastika image
bad-ass fighting skills
has to undergo sympathy treatment for picking a fight
is reformed at the end of the movie
current object of affection

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Change topic. I went to the gym for the first time a while ago... did some cardio and attended a belly dancing class. Feeling gym bunny!

Champion na 'to!

2004-10-01T11:30:00.000+08:00

ANIMO LASALLE!

Yay! Congratulations to the DLSU Green Archers for winning the UAAP Championship. The game was super exciting... I thought lasalle had it in the bag with around 6 minutes to go when we had a 10 point lead but three 3 point shots made it really close. Buti na lang JV Casio shot that miracle 3 point shot with 15 seconds to go... When i think it was Miranda who missed the shot after, i thought to myself, "champion na to!" hehe, that was a banner that i found so cheeky and amusing.

On a sad note, Franz Pumaren announced he was leaving the team na. I can't blame him, i guess he wanted to end on a high note. He did have a particularly hard time this season when people were putting the blame on him for lasalle's early losing streak. I'm glad he was able to redeem himself... but actually he didn't have to. Winning a 4 peat is already a huge achievement in itself. So once more, congratulations... we're really gonna miss Franz Pumaren... hope our next coach will continue with the tradition.

Congrats also to FEU. It was hell of a good fight. :) Animo Lasalle!

Rashomon

2004-10-01T00:25:00.000+08:00

Just watched Rashomon, a 1950’s Japanese film. It was very interesting… The brilliance of the film lies in the seemingly simple plot – a woman was raped and her husband was murdered. The conundrum arises when it comes to the narration of the persons involved as well as an eye-witness to the whole thing as all of them have different versions of the story. It tells a lot about human nature – the inevitable bias that arises whenever we see or watch something. At the end of the film the eye-witness says something about the selfishness of people. I think self-centeredness or ego would have been the more appropriate term. In one version, the bandit admitted to killing the man. In another version, the wife admitted to killing her husband for blaming her for the rape. In yet another version, the man, through a medium said he killed himself. In the end nothing is revealed except the truth about human nature. For we tend to think about events primarily in how they relate to us… and this is how different versions of the story are born. I liked how the film was very simple and yet had the uncanny ability to blow your mind away. But that’s just my version.

today is another day

2004-09-30T07:00:00.001+08:00

three days into my vacation i've turned into a total bum already. sixteen hours in front of the tv cannot be good. and so i've decided to blog in an attempt to inject some meaning into my sloth-filled days... well at least my brain is starting to work again.

Here are some pictures from last sunday's salubong (courtesy of my sister who always has a camera on hand):

2004-09-29T16:57:00.000+08:00

one big fight! --> bar
animo lasalle! --> uaap

2004-09-29T16:07:00.000+08:00

blue and white

2004-09-29T15:59:00.000+08:00

taft mania