THE HALL PASS

Went to the Queen City of the South last May with Donna and her college buddies. Most of our trips to the south have been to sunny Boracay. Cebu's a definitely a welcome treat especially when it comes with a trip to the island of Malapascua, reputedly known as the next Boracay. Our friend Clint describes the place as a "thinking man's Boracay". I wonder if that "thinking man" ever saw this? Ex-hubby of "Dime" Moore? Anyways, the port to Malapascua's a good 3-hour from the city. The boat trip was breathtaking, with seabirds doing fly-by's and schools of small fishes jumping out of the water. Malapascua Island is certainly a find. Though creature comforts like beer, beer and beer were a bit pricey, we were astonished to find that it's a beachcomber's paradise. During high tide in themorning, one can take a morning dip in the clear waters. No waves here, just a peaceful, lazylapping of the water. Once the tide ebbs in the

Between the months of July to September, I was able to retouch/letter 2 mangas. The last one was a bit difficult, citing lack of sleep and time. Even the most well-planned schedule will eventually fail due to human (that's me) error. To my boss, I'm really, utterly sorry. Whew! Good news is, the house is just about done. We're thinking about moving the furniture in one at a time. Kudos to my foreman, Ike, my lead painter, Andy, and their minions for a job well done! They built a beautiful house. Designed a movable kitchen counter. Designing a sofa/coffee table. Fixing/customizing a computer table. Searching for a consul table. Pondering on a doing landscaping project. Pondering on which cable TV, phone and internet provider to subscribe to. Replaced Junior's front tires with brand new ones. Goodyear Fortera R15/25/70. Also had the front brake pads changed from re-lined ones to decent, branded replacement pads (Bendix, Aussie-made). Now the squeaks from braking are almos

This was taken from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. Other than "Radio Gaga" by, heheh, "The" Queen, the inmates danced to "Jumbo Hotdog" and "I Will Follow Him". Sure made me smile today.

This must be the busiest time of my life...

Sketch of himself - Ink Bureau of Public Libraries - Sent to Dr. Blumentritt in 1887 " Men are born equal, naked and without chains, They were not created by God to be enslaved, neither were they endowed with intelligence in order to be misled, nor adorned with reason to be fooled by others, It is not pride to refuse to worship a fellow man, to enlighten the mind, and to reason out everything. The arrogant one is he who wants to be worshipped, who misleads others, and who wants his will to prevail over reason and justice." ( Jose Rizal - "Message to the Women of Malolos" , Europe, February 1889)

Looking at this, there's still a big part of the country I think I'd like to visit... Palawan? Batanes? Davao? My Lakbayan grade is C! How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan ! Created by Eugene Villar .

I could say that there have been some "considerate" improvements to driving around Metro Manila these days. Some streets are even showing some little improvement and organization. Now, we've got road safety signs, barriers and dividers to make driving a little easy for us. Of course it does take a while to get used to them but at least someone's making an effort to make them aware to the motoring public. What's gotten my irk though is the current color scheme they're following. Heavens, PINK ?! BLUE ?! What are these people thinking about? At least they should have the decency to color the concrete barriers/fences in yellow . That color's easier seen whether in a dark road or during foul weather. We regularly tune in to the morning shows on TV every morning. Road accidents concerning cars being flung from concrete barriers or ramming on to the steel fences have somewhat become a regular feature on the shows. Whether it may have been the driver's fault

A couple of years ago, my wife's friends encouraged us to join a badminton club. Since I've been thinking of getting serious with the sport, we joined without much hesitation. Just like any club, we met and played with several folks, some became very good friends. Aside from that, we were able to hone our skills thanks to training sessions and tips from member-coaches. Last Saturday, I was one of the players from our group who participated in the annual inter-club tournament. Players from their respective mini-groups called pocket e.b.'s (eye balls) were matched with other pocket e.b.'s from the club's ever-growing roster. The whole idea of the event was meant to foster camaraderie among fellow members and not so much on whose team had the most wins. Alas, somehow the whole event reminded me of an inter- barangay basketball league gone bad. Well, at least no such things as fisticuffs and the dreaded patayan ng ilaw (setting up a free-for-all by turning the light

What happens when the T.O.D.A.S crew composed of Ritchie D' Horsie, Val Sotto and Joey De Leon decide to spoof Jojo A. & The Tigers , that dance group from Penthouse, Live! ? Hilarious... Oh, there's also a clip from the original Penthouse and the real dance group. Thanks to Nostalgia Manila and YouTube for showing this... masakit na tiyan ko sa kakatawa...

Spent another weekend at Subic last April. This time with Donna and her family. Most of my trips to the former U.S. base were on business. It was actually my first time to venture out to the other attractions like the Zoobic Safari and Camayan Beach. Had loads of snap-happy fun with my camera especially at the zoo. :D This is my lovely niece Bea, with her lovely mom Lea at Max's. View at Camayan Beach Port. When you look down, you can see fishes already! Beboygum and Ray A., Lea A. and Chocnut Choo-choo! Us, Dennis and Shane and our ride. Zoobic Safari... And now for some Animal Crackers... And finally...

Spent a weekend with Donna and our Baddicts! pals in Jala-Jala, Rizal. It's always fun going to the provinces, this one nestled just before the Rizal-Laguna bounds. View of the Bay at Dawn The scenery was wonderful and lush, with green being the constant color, highlighted by Laguna Bay's blue. The Rape of the Dalagang Bukid. Bulawan Restaurant, April 14, 2007 We enjoyed some fresh, unpolluted air, homemade food that didn't seem to run out, beer in our bellies and our friends' good, warm company. Donna, Jonas and I went down to the lakeshore to take pictures. It was a surprising to find cows, goats and horses grazing about. Of course, them animals also had their own surprise waiting for us... Ick! LANDMINES! Kudos goes to Roy, Lara and little Ryan for bringing us there. We really enjoyed ourselves and had a chance to recharge our vacation-yearning, work-weary batteries!

Anejo Rhum 15 Years Old proof: "Nakatikim ka na ba ng kinse anyos?" -This ad really raised a lot of eyebrows when it came out. The same people behind that campaign are back with a new slogan, this time for a brandy ad: Gran Matador Brandy: "Nakatikim ka na ba ng GRAN-MA?"

I've been having my own Macross Flashback lately. Last week, I saw the movie "Macross: Do You Remember, Love?" . It's now up there on my favorite movies list after watching it for the nth time. For me, it's the ultimate space opera, a love story incredibly woven around explosive space battles and the survival of the human race. Released way back in 1984, the production was certainly top-notch, even considered ahead of its time. To continue my little Macross "revival", I got to listen to one of Mari Iijima's special project CD's, "Mari Iijima Sings Lynn Minmay" . Ms. Iijima is the voice actress behind Lynn Minmay and also happens to be her singing voice as well. Seven tracks make up the CD with six of them being re-arranged, updated versions of popular Lynn Minmay songs "Angel's Paints", "Love Goes Away", "Zero-G Love", "Cinderella", "My Boyfriend's A Pilot", "Do You Remembe

This was one pet peeve I've always had. At work, we usually tune in to GMA 7 around lunch time to catch Eat Bulaga! and the rest of the Drama-rama block. The current slew of shows consists of Daisy Siete, Muli, Princess Charming and capped-off with the Koreo-novela rerun, Full House. Okay, before anyone starts commenting that I've got waaaay too much time on my hands, we don't really "watch" these shows. We just listen to them and go on our usual tasks. It's just been a habit that has made our afternoons more bearable and less boring. Believe me, listening to them is fine. Just fine. So, how about a lazy critique? Daisy Siete Season 14: Siete-Siete, Mano-Mano The latest season of the "phenomenal" Sex Bomb Girls opens with what seems to be an action-packed theme song. I think the story revolves around the girls trying to get into a URCC -type fighting tournament. Throw in a case of bad stepfamilies, evil, conniving co-workers, a little dancing, hunky

Been through a lot the past few weeks. Getting all sorts of work done. It's fun, scary, stressful and very tiring. With all the hats I'm wearing, I hope me and Donna get a vacation soon... Looking forward to white sand beaches and that ocean air! Sigh!

Been seeing Quickchow's Veggie Pancit Canton commercial. The ad shows a mom who lovingly prepares a meal of fried chicken, rice and vegetables. The food was even decorated to look like a face. Fun, 'no? Well, instead of appreciating his mom's hard work, the stupid brat becomes disgusted with the meal! Mommy gets frustrated and in comes the pancit canton. Tuwang-tuwa si bata! Namputcha! bilib na bilib si Mommy sa pancit canton na may gulay! WTF! We're feeding this junk to kid's these days for the flimsy reason that they're supposed to have (dehydrated) vegetables!!! Alas, this culinary(?) abomination is right up the same alley of the pancit ulam . Vegetables! Goodness gracious! These people think they're artificial noodles are supposed to replace real honest-to-goodness vegetables?!! Kung tutuusin, it did come from the producers of a famous artificial juice drink. Go figure.