February 22,2010: Monday
So i just got home from The Gym; it was Grandmaster Jorge Ramos' 69th birthday celebration. He spent decades passing the chinese martial art of Shaolin Hung Fut Kung Fu to the filipino community. Everyone was there, old students, new students, and everyone in between.
Grandmaster Jorge(pronounced Georgie) is a simple yet tall man, heavily-built. The type of guy that just observes and puts in his two cents when he sees a student practicing incorrectly; with a big smile and a warm stature. He started learning Kung fu in his twenties, in the old Kung fu school in Binondo, manila, called Hung Sing. Hung Sing was an international chinese martial art school, similar to chin woo(jing wu men). while there, he met a quiet, middle-aged man who was just observing in the bleachers and corrected him one time he was doing his forms. the young jorge felt that the mysterious man was knowledgeable, so he started to seek his tutelage.
this man was jose poon sin, also known as "mang joe". he was a carpenter by trade, and one of the select few who possesed the power training secrets of the hung fut system. this man was trained by another master, named ho tien po, who fled from his native land in china to escape the cultural revolution(period in chinese history where martial arts, among other traditional chinese things, were banned. all who knew how to fight were executed for fear of uprisings against the government)
sir jorge tells us that during his time, he didnt know why the chinese were so secretive with their real names, taking on assumed identities while here in the philippines. he only became aware of the situation when he saw a documentary on national geographic about the cultural revolution. he realized that the kung fu masters from china went here in the philippines to hide and passed on their respective arts. lucky for us, one of them passed on very important power training methods--ho tien po taught jose poon sin, his distant relative.
i keep hearing of the extraordinary feats of strength that mang joe could do, like:
- squeezing a can of alpine milk(the huge kind) to the point of combustion.
-grabbing and lifting a sack of rice, almost his own weight or heavier with one arm
-had other people attempt to bend his index finger with two hands, to no avail
-could parry attacks even from close range, using only minimal hand slaps
these all might sound farfetched and fiction-y, but with what i've seen these people do so far, I BELIEVE THEM. sure, kung fu might not be practically appealing to most modern fighters, but rest assured,ALL the movements have their own purpose and use.
so i arrived at the gym around before 7pm, i got off early from work. when i arrived, there were already a lot of people there, although, i expected the headcount to be more. tables were set up etc, but the food was still being prepared. i greeted them all with our standard chinese salute and proceeded inside the doorway to put my things. since i'd like to maximize my time there, i started to condition my hands, like i usually do when im there. first, i grab the sand bags, starting with the 5kilos then on to the 3kilos. after getting the feel, i switched to the iron palm stand, and hit my palm and backhand 400 times each hand. after that, dinner started.
looking back, here's what i learned after:when doing iron palm: stand up straight, no need to drop on horse stance,as it reduces impact.
pebble piercing: spine must be straight, weight involves toes in relation to fingers. don't hunch forward.
bags:horse stance
iron palm: let back of hand hit, not the top of the wrist.
iron fingers: the highest level is finger thrusting(with the fingers apart) a small cloth bag filled with stainless bolts and nuts.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event an 8 out of 10
March 7, 2010: Sunday, Wing Chun workshop with Duncan Leung
okay, so i heard about this through one of my IGDA contacts, Ryan Sumo. he forwarded me this message on facebook about one of the IGDA members post about an upcoming wing chun workshop in Quezon City. Ryan remembered i was into martial arts so he sent me the message. The guy was Yuri Timg, a peruvian native, the former head of Suspended Animation, a locally based art studio. I invited one of my kung fu teachers, Sifu Edwin to join me attend. It was for free,actually; and the venue was in a school along commonwealth avenue in Q.C.
So we arrived a bit late(okay, one hour late. so sue me :P) and we were directed toward the gymnasium where the workshop was ongoing. There was this old man with a microphone, talking to the people sitting on the bleachers. This, i supposed, was Duncan Leung, student of Ip Man, classmate of Bruce Lee. With him were his group of students, among them Yuri.
one instance, Mr. Leung asked for a volunteer for a demo of wing chun. Sifu Edwin kinda pushed me to volunteer(my knees were actually shaking from the stage fright and the fact that this old man in his seventies can kick my ass from here all the way to hong kong) so his english was a bit better than other chinese people's, but still had an accent. I can't really remember what he did to me, but it wasn't anything i didn't already know at the time. just some applications when being attacked.
after this short demo, i went back to the bleachers beside my sifu, my knees still shaking from the stage fright. a few more talks here and there, and after everything, they asked if there were any audience members willing to try it on the spot. we got up, went to the mat, and joined all the other audience volunteers(who were clearly martial artists too). Mr. Leung set his students to teach every group some basic wing chun techniques. I had learned a bit of wing chun from sifu edwin who was a bit well versed in other styles aside from our own. he studied ziranmen kung fu(natural boxing), a bit of wing chun, choy lee fut, and our own hung fut. the student who taught our group was this short caucasian dude from europe. he explained that they dont use the wing chun standing stance in actual combat, rather, they modify it by spreading the legs a bit more and positioning them in such a way that resembles a xingyiquan stance.
after the sessions, i got to talk with Yuri, introduced him to sifu edwin, and learned he's been studying wing chun for 7 years now. he also mentioned he'd been offering wing chun lessons to those who want to learn, in exchange for having a partner to practice with.
i also met this guy there, mike co. this bespectacled guy seemed very knowledgeable about martial arts in general. he was a bit smaller than me in stature, but had more mass than i did. we got talking about martial arts, and as usual, sifu edwin tries to avoid having to let others know what martial art we practiced(i didnt really see the point, this was a free country), and just went on with the usual "ah, tai-chi, tai-chi." we met this one bald chinese guy who practiced ngo cho kuen(five-ancestors fist) and learned that ngo cho also has hard and soft aspects to it, not just the hard,external stuff we normall see from the local school of ngo cho in binondo.
there was this one guy we met, who was inviting us to join this uber-exclusive jeet kune do workshop the following week. the guy's name was joel ramos. problem was, the fee for the workshop was expensive. nevertheless, sifu edwin kept it in mind.The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 7 out of 10
March 13 & 14, 2010: Saturday & Sunday, Jeet Kune Do Workshop with Mark Stewart
and not long after, i got pushed to join the jeet kune do seminar i mentioned above. sifu edwin made me a deal; he was gonna pay for my first day of the two days, and i pay for my second day; and he wasnt coming since he had other duties, he sent me instead to learn what these people have. i arrived early, the venue was in makati, near cash and carry mall. (convenient since i live near the vicinity)
the first people i met were regular students, one was marc, a guy in his mid-twenties, (who also resembled local actor dennis trillo) who had a background in wushu. he told me he really sought out jeet kune do, thats why he was there. the others arrived, and i was introduced to joel ramos' students, a lot of them from different backgrounds and different body types. joel arrived, and we talked about the terms of my fees. he gave me a discount though, 200 off(not bad, but coulda been better :P). i had to ask a lot of questions about their art since i was only gonna try it for 2 days, and my mission was to learn as much as i can.
the stuff i learned from the students pre-training: stay relaxed, no tensing. the fists must be relaxed enough that you can hold an imaginary egg. keep the torso curved inwards, the feet should form a 90-degree angle with the lead foot facing forward. the fist should always hit before the foot lands when doing the straight lead. advancing requires the heel to hit the ground first before the ball of the foot:
the basics: normal stance, open stance, side stepping/evasion , leg shuffling when kicking, attack with your nearest weapons(your lead side), combinations, kick catching, etc. bottomline, the same concepts were being taught to us back in hung fut. this one's more expensive though, so no thanks,jkd.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 7 out of 10
Going back to training:
after attending that JKD seminar, it revived my passion for martial arts; i havent been training for a long time, and somehow i lost the drive. good thing the current events that happened pushed me physically and mentally back into shape. i missed the gym. i missed the iron palm boards. i missed the punching bags. i missed the sand bags and the feeling of getting physically stronger than i was before.
April 17, 2010: Saturday, Cagbalete Trip
my friend pidik invited us to join their block's summer outing at cagbalete island(cagbalite for the natives) off the east coast of quezon province. nice opportunity, since i know quite a lot from their section back in college. two of our other friends also joined; bert and aurelio but they don't hang out with the block much. the night before, we were all having dinner at mister kabab with the whole orgrum gang. we havent seen each other for quite a while, and a friday night dinner seemed an appropriate atmosphere for a mini-reunion/hangout. after the dinner, we were supposed to hang out at our jerome's place to kill time since our bus departure is at 2am.
instead, we went to the nearby starbucks, spent a considerable amount of time there, and finally left for mcdonald's in Q. avenue, to meet up with bert. we didn't sleep at all that night, after hanging out in mcdonald's we went straight to the bus terminal in kamuning area to wait for our other acquaintances. some arrived early, some arrived late, and some were to be picked up along the way. the bus ride lasted for around 3 hours from edsa kamuning going to quezon province; then we switched to a different bus when we got to a mall down there. the bus ride took around 2 hours, the roads were a combination of asphalt, rocky mountainsides and jungle terrain. we reached the town soon after, where we stopped by for breakfast at a small dining place. the contact person for the venue was stationed there, and the trip organizer talked with him for a bit. we then headed through tricycle to the pier,where the next transportation was via a small ferry boat ride to the island itself which was a few dozen kilometers.(i think) that ride also took around 1 and a half hours to 2 hours.
we reached the island around 10am-ish, and walked the shore til we arrived in our cabin, lunch was served on the outdoor huts, and the food was awesome. :D we had some fun on the beach after:
this island had a special feature: when the clock reaches 11am-5pm, low tide occurs. and this island is famous for its VERY shallow seabed, so when the water level dropped, a landmass appeared along the shores, extending up to 2 kilometers outwards. we saw a lot of lifeforms stranded in the dried land,like some huge-ass starfish. we trekked a large percentage of the landmass that appeared; it was a very unique experience, only sunburn got us down eventually. after trekking, we went back to the hut; afternoon snacks were being served. after eating, i fell asleep on the bench, and when i woke up, it was time for yet another eating session. after that, i fell asleep again, and woke up. felt like i was livin the easy life. lol. we got into drinking late into the night, we tried their liquor; not much, only the bar among other hard drinks were available there.The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 10 out of 10
May 1-2, 2010, Saturday-Sunday, Caliraya Trip
every year, my friend Ram's family invites us to join them on their family outings; usually in caliraya or subic. those trips usually involve large amounts of alcohol in the form of beer and tequila, swimming, and boating. this year was kind of different; in the number of guests. aside from us, the usual suspects, they invited our other orgroom friends; composed up of 2 couples, nikka and berns, aya and jl and ajine. the more the merrier seemed the motto this year, and it would be interesting to see how the others would be like after we've downed the usual 3+ bottles of jose cuervo. we stayed overnight at the lee family's house as usual; departure time was around 4am-5am. we went for a pit stop somewhere north, our route was thru antipolo going to caliraya.
we arrived there around afternoon, set up our tents, and assisted inflating the banana boat. this banana boat could carry around 7-10 passengers at a time; i wasn't sure if this was the same banana boat we used back in subic all those years ago. anyways, we had it inflated, and then we spent the remaining daylight hours in the water
riding the banana boat felt like riding toothless in how to train your dragon. judge lee was pulling us using his jetski, giving us obstacle courses in the waves and curves he creates. i've managed to stay on the boat more often than not, this was a good test of balance and coordination. one memorable moment was when i celebrated too early, judge pulled a dirty harry on us, and i fell off,dragging aurelio behind me. lesson learned :P
i also had the unique experience of riding one of these:
(pic from the net, because i never got to have my pic taken while riding the standing jet ski)it was another balance game, i got the hang of it after after a few wipeouts.
aya and jl had to vamoose early because aya's parents weren't too comfy with the idea their only daughter will be spending the night with a large group of strangers. we escorted them via van to the bus terminal.
so night fell, and the bottles were opened. we used some of our delaying tactics to escape the immediate threat of drinking under peer pressure. mission success--we managed to avoid having to drink as much as before. good thing judge lee had a few more friends with him, helping them finish the booze. that night, while we were letting our drunken selves stabilize, we got into talking about a lot of stuff, mostly i was asking them questions, like whats it like having a girlfriend(the couples were fast asleep in their tents--or were they? :P) and all that jazz. once again, i've managed to successfully steer the conversation away from myself when they try to ask me about the same topics. not that im avoiding having to answer, but i dont think i CAN answer properly. come to think of it, i DO have this habit of avoiding lovelife topics when im with that group of friends. i dont know why, but i'm just not comfortable sharing it with them. we were all seated in a circular fashion as if on a bonfire, exchanging our pieces. then judge lee came over, telling us we should sleep, because our voices could be heard meters away, and everyone was sleeping already.
the next morning--well, i don't really remember much about the next morning(not because i was hung over,i never get hang overs) it's just as i'm writing this, months have already passed and i can barely recall the events. whats important is we enjoyed the outing, and we came back home tired but happy.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 7 out of 10April 25,26,27 2010:Sunday til Tuesday, Puerto Galera Trip
okay, so the company im working for, anino games inc. held a company logo-making contest for the company's new casual direction. we each had a weekend to come up with logo designs. the prize was not yet announced, as it was still being kept a secret. but we were so busy that only a few were able to make their logos and submit them in time; so they arranged for 2 hours from the company's time for us to make logos to add to the existing choices. cutting to the chase, i won the contest with this baby:
and then it took quite a while before i knew of the prize. it wasn't cash, wasnt some high-end gaming console, or a psp. it was a trip for 2 to puerto galera. it was okay, though for corporate identity design, it usually fetches around 40k and above depending on the client. according to my count, the company spent only 10k for the whole trip package. jeez. but i took it anyway, seeing as i've never been there before.next problem: who to take?
i had only a few people in mind, but they weren't available during those certain days(work) or parents won't allow. i wanted to take a girl along because if i took a guy along, then that'd be like..so gay. walking along the beach while the sun is setting, taking dips in the water, that kind of stuff. so i asked around a bit, then chanced upon someone who was available.
5:30am.
I leave the house, back pack ready. The sun was rising, and the birds were chirping. It was, by far, the earliest i've woken up for an out-of-town trip. Made my way towards the highway, commuting to the pick-up point at a hotel in Ermita, Manila; and will wait there for my two companions. The hotel was serving breakfast, and there were foreigners abound; i felt like i stepped into a different country. Nikka's friend Sheena finally arrived 15 minutes later, she showed up with her older sister Clarisse. I met Sheena during the Manila International Book Fair last 2009, and this was the first time i was introduced to her atsi, who, my other friends speak highly about.
We boarded the bus, and headed off to Batangas Pier. There was minimal traffic, since it was a sunday morning--and there were only a few of us on the bus, so the trip was fairly relaxing. We arrived at the Pier by 9am, and was greeted by the travel guide. He conversed with us using english, thinking we were all chinese nationals. I talked to him in tagalog, reassuring him we understood the language. We then switched to the ferry boat. It wasn't big, more like an oversized fishing boat, judging by the bamboo poles on its sides used for balancing. It seems like the standard mode of transportation there, and passenger counts were always high.
The boat traversed what felt like the high seas, as we were journeying towards puerto galera. the sun was high, the waves were huge, and the passengers were sleepy. Travel time was around an hour or two, and we reached Puerto Galera at around noon.
the boat made a stop at Muelle Port for the passengers who will be staying there, mostly the foreigners. After which we then headed off to white beach as our last stop. The ferry cruised along the island borders on the way there. The mountains were clear, the trees were viridian green, and the waters were cerulean blue . It was truly PARADISE.
--and then something unexpected happens. The motor of our ferry boat experienced a malfunction, and we were stuck off shore for about 10-20 minutes. The crew members had other ferry boats tow us along to the shore via fastening ropes. We got to land shortly after, and made our way to the hotel(the one with the huge blue-colored signboard on its roof).We settled in, and went down to the hotel restaurant to get some late lunch. They have large servings per order(good for 2-3 people per viand) and delicious seafood. So it took us quite a while to finish eating; and after that, we then stayed in our room to cool down. The temperature was so high outside, that a few minutes out there, and one is guaranteed to sweat profusely. Me being the restlessly curious guy, decided to go out and explore our new environment. The sisters declined, and stayed in the room to rest.
I walked away from the beach area, towards the town to do some exploring, pokemon-style. the houses there were very much the same as in manila, congested, minus the tall buildings. Near the town's exit, there were hordes of tricycles; and from what i read, they're a bit pricey. I asked one driver how much it would take to reach sabang(the nightlife capital of puerto galera) and he replied 400pesos (to and from san isidro). I expected them to raise the price whenever someone inquired, good thing i did a bit of research before coming there. I went back to the beach, realizing there was no other place i could reach by foot. I went to the nearest shade, along the shore, and took some more photos(pardon the quality, we weren't able to bring any decent cameras)
After taking in the sights, i went back to the hotel room to check up on the two. They were ready to go out, and i took them to the rocky shore shade with the nice view of the beach. We then strolled together to the other end of white beach, enjoying the sand and afternoon breeze.
As night fell, we went back, got some dinner (the beach front is full of restaurants and souvenir stores) and went back to the room to chill out. That too, was the first time i saw "kimmy dora", it was on the local cable channel.
We woke up the next morning at around 9am, prepared ourselves for breakfast, and got to another place to eat since the hotel food was a bit expensive, and we already tried their dishes. We then decided to tour around puerto galera instead of just staying at the beach area. We got a tricycle, and we negotiated the price terms for a trip to Tamaraw Falls, since Sabang was too far and would cost more. (and besides, it was daytime and that area was basically asleep)
We rode along the winding hills beside the mountains, the view was breathtaking, as one can see the very far reaches of the sea, as well as the landscape that lie beyond the horizon. We passed by the town in Muelle, where i saw the re-elect campaign posters of former Mayor Teo Atienza , and i remembered my dad telling me that the well-known doctor in puerto galera was our relative and that the family has inherited land in puerto. the tricycle driver shares that the doctor was Teo's daughter; and i thought of visiting them when i come back to puerto galera to acquaint myself with family.
We arrived at Tamaraw falls at around noon, and took some pictures. The access point for tamaraw falls is via the main road, the mountainside road, then a few stairs downwards to the resort situated in the falls. There was an entrance fee of ten pesos,which we did not enter because we didn't have our swimming clothes/bags with us.
the tricycle driver then offered to take us to the hidden paradise area in puerto galera, another tourist spot. After consulting with the sisters, we agreed to go there.The way to Tukuran, the hidden paradise, was a long one. It takes one from the main road, turning southwards, along the rice fields and across the hills. We arrived at a certain area where we had to switch transportation; from the motor tricycle, to the humble carabao-powered wodden cart. There was a fee of 300 for the ride to and from Tukuran. So we rode in the cart, and the slow but powerful carabao pulled our weights up some hills, across 4 rivers, and through the lush vegetation of the forest. The guides were not far behind, as they take shortcuts walking across the forest.
We reached tukuran in an hour; it was this hidden valley paradise with falls where the rivers stream from:
There were also a bunch of koreans there, enjoying a dip near the falls. Our tricycle driver (who happens to know the place very well) guided us up beyond the waterfalls, where the water gushes from. It was a rocky segmented complex where there were different pools connecting to the falls:
and we found this neat spot where we stayed for the rest of the trip there. The girls took a dip, me just standing by, prepared for battle just in case the tricycle driver gets unruly or takes their valuables.
i couldn't resist, of course, and joined them in the dip. :))
We stayed there for an hour or so, before heading back, trekking along the rocky crevasses. Sheena used to be in the mountaineering society back in UST, so she was very comfortable scaling the rough terrain:
--not before one last round of picture-taking,though. :)So we headed back to the base camp at the foot of the valley, had a few coconut refreshments:
Coconuts were priced at 25 per coconut, and you can have them broken in two after, if you want to eat the cococnut meat. The rate for the place is 45pesos per person. When we were about to leave the place, there was this sudden inflow of caucasian tourists arriving; and it was fortunate that we had the private pools all to ourselves. It seems that even weekdays(it was a monday) were no stranger to tourists.We rode the cart back past the forest and rivers, and to the tricycle. We saw a few more carabaos along the rivers, just relaxing half-dipped in the cool waters. We rode the tricycle, and were planning to head back to the hotel; but we made a quick stop-tour at port muelle, the area we saw the day before, to check out the place. There were a lot of people offering boat rides and scuba diving sessions to every person that passed. We walked along the port, there were lots of stores and restaurants, groceries and whatnot. We bought some supplies while we were there, knowing that water was an expensive commodity back in white beach.
Arriving back at white beach, we paid the driver around 2000pesos for the whole trip(which was not bad, knowing how much more the other drivers would charge for the same amount of traveling we did) and went back to the hotel. We went outside for our last chance to swim, it was our last night in puerto galera, and we never even got wet in our own beach.
It became dark soon, and we were enjoying night swimming. Made a huge sandcastle in the sand near the shore, which stood for more than an hour before getting devoured by the waves. After a while, it started getting really cold, and we went back to our room to bathe and have dinner.Nighttime at white beach was lively in itself, there were all these loud music, and fire dancers abound. I could only imagine how wild the nightlife gets way up in sabang. Not to mention all the gay people performing dances while serving guests. We stayed at a nearby bar to enjoy the sounds, ordered some seafood, and i finally had a chance to taste the signature "mindoro sling". it tasted like "tempra" the medicine,though; i expected more.
The following morning, we woke up early, since the calltime for boarding the ferry was 7am. We checked out of the hotel, rode the ferry, and left at around 8am. It was a fairly relaxing and enjoyable trip overall. The bus ride home was also very interesting, but that's a story i'm willing to share at some other time ;)
Who knew designing a logo could get me to the far reaches of my philippine map? Although corporate identity/logo design usually fetches us graphic designers at around 10-50,000pesos(sometimes more,depending on the company) per design, Puerto Galera for 3 days, 2 nights was a pretty sweet deal too.
--P.S.: if you guys were wondering why this particular part in the post is longer, i was asked to write an article by my company to be posted in our website. but they decided not to go with it because it was too long. and then when i reduced it by half, they decided it has nothing to do with my job as game developer, so they asked me to rewrite.(i was thinking, WHAT THE FUCK,man. it was a VACATION, its got NOTHING to do with my job in the first place. assholes.) so i didn't rewrite. screw them.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 9 out of 10
Depression Nights
i've been getting depressed a lot. been walking the long dark road every night after work. even walked from office to home once again; thinking. just thinking. i wonder if there's anything wrong with me, why am i still single(i know why, but i wonder why i never get the opportunity to have mutual feelings with someone. it's always one-way) i try to hang out with friends as much as possible, its just that--they have their own lives to live, and i feel like i've got nothing and no one. so its been dry,these couple of depressing days. no one's available for hanging out, and i don't have my family with me. i feel ALONE. so ALONE.
May 29 2010,Saturday, Drunken Docksmen Pub Crawl
My college friends, Patrick and Javy invited me to this event; the international pub crawl. it was this event where people gather to a certain area, drink, and move on the next area via walking. Patrick has been to one pub crawl, and from his feedback, im intrigued to try it for myself.
This year's pub crawl was held in makati; which was in the same area as our office. around that time, i was still working on our project: despicable me for iphone and ipad, we were in a sort-of-crammy state, working during weekends, and sometimes sundays. so it was during a saturday that this happened; after getting some work done, i headed off to greenbelt to meet them(it was only a few blocks away). the plan was, to go drinking in 14 pubs in makati, and when i got there, they had already gone to a few. the group was composed of a couple of english-speaking kids, and javy told me this was where he came from; they were his schoolmates.
the next stops were closed, so we skipped a few and went to chili's, this latino place(idunno if mexican or spanish) which offered bottomless nachos. this wasn't in the itinerary but we went there as an alternative. javy even had several printed papers indicating the itinerary of the pub crawl; which places have which specialties, and details like opening and closing time. in chili's, i had a few fajitas, and a huge (and i mean REALLY huge)glass of one of their cocktails, i forgot the name, but it sure was a fancy drink. i think it was El Niño(tequila+orange juice)
we then moved on to the itinerary proper. overall, i had--
El Niño(tequila+orange juice) Mango Tango(mango juice, cream, vodka,etc) Budweiser Guinness Beer Chimay
--and a take-home beer, ASGAARD. which i drank almost a week later.we didn't follow the rule which stated that participants should walk to every pub/bar. Javy had a driver and a huge van to carry us everywhere. for the last parts of the crawl, we ended up in the red light district of makati. this was where all the foreigners hung out, and the bars are a\plenty.
the last stop was the hundred beers place; which, by their namesake, had a hundred different beers onsite. it was a semi-classy little cozy place with a few couches. across our table was a local celebrity(i forgot who she was, and she wasn't that familiar in the first place, since i don't watch tv). we hung out there til closing time, and it was a nice end to a great crawl.
we were able to go through more than half of the list of pubs in the itinerary, and only our wallets gave in.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 9 out of 10
June 12, 2010: The Karate Kid
okay, so i've been hanging out with the San Juan girls for a while(Eiya, Cy, Pam, Kat), sometimes chilling at greenhills, sometimes watching movies. This time i was gonna watch The Karate Kid with Nikka and her beau Berns, Camille and her sister Mabel, and Aya. I also invited Cheska over, since the area was in greenhills, and she was with her family there. We were supposed to watch it in greenhills promenade cinema. i met with aya and berns first in robinsons, then we headed to camille's place in san juan to pick her up. her sister was also there, and they didn't have any other plans so we pulled them along our little movie quest. everyone met up at their place, and then we walked to Greenhills shopping center, and met up with Cheska. We lined up at the cinema, but the screening schedules were booked, so we had to switch to SM Megamall. we rode the shuttle van that went straight there, and watched the movie. after which was early dinner, then the others were planning to hang out at Camille's again. Cheska had to go home, and i escorted her to their place in QC. there i met her family and their house Cat, Muimui :3. An Orange tabby. So cuute. We played a few games before i headed off back to Greenhills, and on the way out, she noticed that their dog didn't bark at me. It usually barks around new people, so idunno, maybe i have an affinity to animals? or something. I made my way through España as the Jeep i rode's route is españa going to taft. I got down on Araneta ave, since i knew of a shortcut to san juan instead of going to morayta. I took a bus and when i got to camille's, they were watching Ip Man 2 on the huge tv, with camille's dad and brother. After a few minutes, we left for Metrowalk in Ortigas to have a few drinks. Turns out, Earl and other CFAD people were there, also having drinks. So we joined up with them.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 7 out of 10
June 19-20 2010: Saturday-Sunday, Toycon
This year's toycon was same as every year's except for the new crowd. everyone's the same people we see every Toy convention in SM Megamall. I hung out with Joanne, a new (old)friend for most of the first day, and met a lot of new people at the event too. I met Agent Kia(i don't know her real name, only met her at plurk.) who was a living snow white because of her complexion, i also met Carol, a fellow CFAD Graduate a.k.a. Jao Rung Wo(I keep seeing her back in college, and i always notice how much she looks like an instructor we had, ma'am Mortel). I also met Max, a.k.a. Makuu, a fellow Kamen Rider afficionado who i also met on plurk thru common friends(who also, is a vocalist for a local band XD). Another new person i met was Jen Ching, a new cosplayer who makes a bit of headline because of her beauty and skimpy costumes.
I didn't get any new stuff from the event, because what i was looking for wasn't available there. My current faves are the miniature Kamen Rider Figurines, been collecting them and displaying them on my office desk for the lolz. this is what my office desk looks like now:
--plus a few more additions.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 9 out of 10June 30, 2010: Parkour Night
I went on a date that day; the girl asked me out. I figured she was trying to cope with her recent breakup, and i didn't take the whole thing seriously, since she's just on the rebound phase. So we went out on a friendly date--and when i got home; went to the door,i realized that they locked the door; even if i texted the seamstress to NOT lock the door because i left my house keys inside(and yeah, SEAMSTRESS. We used to have a dress shop at home, until my Grandma left to live in the province). i went to the other side of the house to call on the seamstress' window, only to find out she wasn't home. The only person inside was my Grandfather, who was, i assume, fast asleep due to drunkenness. I tried the doorbell, but he still hasn't woken up. I tried calling inside, but no one answers. I realized that the only working phone that time was in his office in the ground floor. I gave up my attempts to contact him by phone, and went outside the gate to formulate a plan of action on how to infiltrate the stronghold that is my house.(will post a comic of how i got in a bit later)
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 10 out of 10
July 2, 2010: Toy Story 3
I went on another sudden socializing trip, and asked my friend Cy to go watch toy story 3. She was a bit excited about the film since she was a certified Disney-Pixar fan. I invited people from plurk too, the more the merrier. only Carl responded though. I met Carl at the Open Gaming Meet; i also met the pinoy geek community through that event and by joining star wars philippines. So we all met up in Savory Restaurant in theater mall, Carl arrived shortly, and with him was Dek(K or C? idunno.) who was a freelance director. I met her before through my then officemate Shin, who introduced her as his mentor. So we hung around Fully booked a while after eating, since the tickets we got were for the last full show.
I kept hearing a lot of hearsay that Toy Story 3 was a definite tear-jerker, that it touched the emotions of even the most stern of people. Given this premise, i was more intrigued to give it a try. Im not hard to nudge emotionally, i may look like a stiff guy, but i'm definitely sensitive compared to the average male. When the movie was playing, there WERE some scenes where the overall mood/ emotion was clearly emotion-inducing. And pretty soon, i can hear and see my companions crying over the sad scenes. For me, it was bittersweet in the way that i think; "it's for the best." that may have been a factor why i never cried or shed a tear during the whole film. Cy, same as me, never cried. She was an emotionally strong person, always have been. In fact, i've never seen her in any sort of negative emotion, like crying or sad, or even angry. Not that i'd like to, i'm sure she'd be a HELL of a character to put up with if provoked. Anyways, she's cool that way. We finished the film and gone on to our separate ways. At this point while i'm writing this, trying to recall what happened that night--i can't. i forgot. I'm gonna halt at this point for this story instead.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 7 out of 10
July 4, 2010: Epic Dream
I had an awesome dream--
I was studying in a ninja school, she was there, accompanying me as a very close friend. We were hanging out, watching tv together while sitting in my bed. I took her to meet my powerful ninja yakuza family,who didn't approve of her due to recent complications-a blood feud with another clan. i let her sit at the side,while i consulted the head of the family-the grandfather ninja told us what happened--one of our relatives had been giving us problems because she wanted to take over one of our castle islands.
After the meeting, i took her to a steep ledge outside the window and asked her if she trusted me. She paused, and i opened the secret sliding wall behind her to reveal a secret room,and talked to her about the situation; she understood fully well; and suddenly the whole household was attacked by an enemy clan, who greatly resembled the water tribe from avatar:the last airbender. We turned out to be similar to the fire nation,but not firebenders. Our palace was on fire, and our only escape route was only a window on the door which could only be broken via waterbending. Our pursuers kept attacking us by using bending skills, which i used to trick them into opening the window. We jumped outside, and our other friends followed suit. One of our companions stayed, said he was a traitor,but it seemed like he was making a ruse for us to escape. We escaped to the beach shoreline, and decided to transfer to our new headquarters. She wanted to go home first to check on her family. I offered to accompany her, wanting to meet the parents. I felt conscious though, since i was only wearing my pants, shoes, and belt-shawl. She said it was okay,they wouldnt mind at all. We rode a jeep in chinatown, and it passed through under the LRT and arrived at a large area(combination of steampunk and traditional japanese design) and there we were greeted by another rival gang, which had giant martial artists as their muscle. They captured us, and tortured her by binding her hands and feet spread outwards in a vertical hanging position, and lowering her into a lava pool. She endured the torture while we made a break and attacked our captors. The rival gang then acquired a scroll in which they learned who their true enemy was, and regrouped suddenly. It was the kenpo clan, and the giants attacked us all indiscriminately. Using our agility, we defeated the giants by hitting their pressure points. I rescued a man and his family who were held hostage by a woman traitor in a car. my close friend was nowhere to be seen--and then i woke up.
crap.
Looking back, i realized "she" was a combination of 2 people that i like. one is a meek, silent, intellectual, insightful introvert. The other is an outgoing, fun-loving silent extrovert. Yin and Yang. It would seem that the qualities i love most about these two people merged together to form a girl that only exists in my dreams. *sigh*. But my feelings linger toward the introvert more. Maybe its because of the connection i feel when we talk, or how i think we'd enjoy the simple things in life. Overall, i really think i'd be happier with her. IF.
The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 1 out of 10.(it was only a dream. go figure D:)
July 24, 2010: Cosplay and Tekken Premiere
So i was contacted by a Cosplay.ph admin, inviting me to cosplay as a character from the series: AVATAR: The Last Airbender.
I was reluctant at first, seeing as this was a promotional event for the much-failed bigscreen adaptation. But i went anyways. Just for the Lolz. I arrived there, turns out i was the ONLY Avatar character cosplayer who made it there. The girl who was supposed to be Katara couldn't make it. So i was hired to walk around the SM Cinema lobbies, dressed up as Prince Zuko, and get pictures taken with kids. NOT MY PROUDEST MOMENT. It was bad enough feeling weird cosplaying in a mall, it was worse feeling weird(er) cosplaying with no event happening. I felt like an absolute Jackass. Everyone was staring of course, and it felt a little like a public humiliation-initiation thingy. Why then, do you ask i was there? Simple. I was HIRED to do it. So i grit my teeth, hope nobody recognizes me(and dear God, someone did.) and get on with my life after.The only consolations were i get to make kids smile(just like a clown), and i got a free advanced screening ticket for SALT starring Angelina Jolie. I tried to ask for another extra ticket, but i would know the day before, sunday if there are any left. After the gig, i segway'd the conversation with my handler(liason with SM Cinema) if i could get in line to meet Jon Foo, the star of Tekken the movie. He was gonna appear there in the cinema lobby to promote the film. She told me she could get me past the long line, which was awesome. I had planned to go to THAT event officially first, while keeping the cosplay thingy second priority. But i got both, and with great benefits. I got to meet Jon Foo a couple of hours later:
--oh, and Gary Daniel's pose is from Tiger Style Kung Fu. They can't even tell the difference; passing it off as a pose from a Military Kickboxing style. Jeez.
--On another note, i got my ass kicked by some guy's girl in Tekken arcade. They set up an arcade machine as part of promotion.My friend Ron and his girl Robina arrived, they won tickets to the advanced screening of Tekken. I got into a convo with my handlers from the previous event a few hours ago, and got them to get me in to a free pass for Tekken. Sweet. So we waited, lined up for more than an hour, but at least we got what we came for: an encounter with Jon Foo, and a free movie. :D
--oh, not to mention the funny menu at the place where we had late dinner--Reyes Barbecue:
--MEGA LOL. :))The TIEN-o-Meter gave this event a 10 out of 10
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