Joyeux Noël à tous!

"Reason for the Season"

I've been very blessed throughout my life. I've never had a bad job, and I've always been good at managing the little money that I make. I've also never been much into charity (I never really believed in it)... but this year, I felt like doing something different. The Virlanie Foundation is selling Christmas cards, which I bought to give out as gifts to my friends. For a few of my closest friends, I decided to secretly pledge a year (hopefully I can afford to sustain it much longer) in their name. They will get a letter from their sponsored child. as well as regular updates from Virlanie. It's not much, but I hope that the little I can give would at least inspire some of them to donate (or convince their employers or companies to do so) as well.

Virlanie feeds, clothes, houses, and most importantly, educates homeless children with the hope that they may make a better future for themselves than what life has dealt them.

favorite quotes...

I've recently found a few quotes that I really seem to like now...

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
- Charles Darwin

"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow."
- William Pollard

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
- Arthur Schopenhauer

"Every time you look into the future, it changes... because you looked at it."
- Nicholas Cage in the movie Next

Fairy tales can come true...

My entry for JPGmag's new theme "Fairy Tale"

"Not by the Book"

Thanks to everyone who attended my sister's book launch "Not by the Book". The exhibit will still be running until Sunday in Greenbelt 3.

Read about it here... Style Bible Ph

Wine tip for the day

Do NOT serve any wine above 20°C (68°F)

Spring cleaning...

Having a cold keeps me from going out... still wanting to be productive (or out of sheer boredom), I decided to continue my never-ending saga of spring cleaning.

I'm just amused at some of the things I found in my pile of junk (It's like an Indiana Jones archeological dig!)... most of them are still functional!

Windmill of my mind...

...on living and dying...

"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."-- J.D. Salinger

SonyEricsson WorldView 2008

Please vote for any/all of my photo entries on SonyEricsson's WorldView 2008.

Their site is a bit buggy, the direct link voting doesn't seem to work, so to vote, do the following

If none of the direct links work (SE's site is kinda buggy)

Click here
Then when the new window pops up:
1) On the bottom bar, click China & APAC
2) Select Philippines
3) Look for any of these photos. :P

Parisian sunrise

Tour Eiffel

Place des Vosges

Falling...

Beach wood

Candlelight

*You can vote for all of my photos. :P*

God will save me...

There was an old man sitting on his porch watching the rain fall. Pretty soon the water was coming over the porch and into the house.

The old man was still sitting there when a rescue boat came and the people on board said, "You can't stay here you have to come with us."

The old man replied, "No, God will save me." So the boat left. A little while later the water was up to the second floor, and another rescue boat came, and again told the old man he had to come with them.

The old man again replied, "God will save me." So the boat left him again.

An hour later the water was up to the roof and a third rescue boat approached the old man, and tried to get him to come with them.

Again the old man refused to leave stating that, "God will save him." So the boat left him again.

Soon after, the man drowns and goes to heaven, and when he sees God he asks him, "Why didn't you save me?"

God replied, "You dummy! I tried. I sent three boats after you!!"

------------------------------

I was watching "Pursuit of Happyness" on HBO again, and I remembered this part of the movie... John's moral... some people are just dumb... hahahahaha...

...made in China...

I think it's sad that the world had to wait for this whole milk crisis thing to happen... but in a way, I'm glad it did. I'm so sick of everything being made (poorly) in China. I'm sick of the whole fantasy of having 'cheap quality'... sorry to all the delusional economists out there... you get what you pay for. In the end, the idea of having 'better, cheaper, faster' products... one will always be sacrificed, and in this day and age of microwavable-I-need-it-yesterday-crap... 'better' is always the first to go.

I'm happy that in the search for alternatives to China, companies are now looking to closer neighbors. Some Austrian & German companies are outsourcing to Poland or the Czech republic. US companies are going back to outsourcing in Mexico. Makes more sense, with the rising fuel prices, pay less for logistics, and more for labor. Buy local, buy quality... don't buy just because it's friggin' cheap.

Hopefully this teach consumers a lesson as well. Quality over quantity.

...poor me...

...snif...snif... to ease my "Parisian homesickness" ... I'm now in Bohol to comfort myself by having wine on the beach... hehehe...

..I miss walking...

...I miss walking in Paris... not just for the sights... but walking to everything. I miss walking to my corner baker to buy my breakfast. I miss walking to the Metro. I miss walking along the Seine at night. It's funny because I'm not exactly the type who longs for exercise. I would walk a total of at least 10km everyday.

I actually walked to the local deli tonight to buy bread to make myself a sandwich. I think I can do this tomorrow morning... I've always wanted to be a "morning person"... it's just that the morning always comes so early! Hahahaha. But I enjoyed walking to the deli. Maybe I can make this my morning walk...and give myself an excuse to watch the sun rise.

Take my hand... we're of to Neder, Nederlands...

I met a lady who lived in a shoe! Hahahaha...

Happy Birthday!

Most of the things I've learned in life, I've learned from my Lola. When she passed away a couple of years ago, it was the first time I had ever lost anyone that close to me. I do miss my Lola a lot... more during the happy occasions (Christmas, her birthday, family gatherings) than her death anniversary or anything.

It's funny but I still can hear her voice of wisdom whenever I need it. I think it's because when you're really close to someone, a part of their consciousness gets passed on to you. Although, logically, I think this is just my subconscious telling me the right thing to do and using the memory of someone I respect to get me to listen to myself... No matter how you look at it, my Lola still guides me now.

And if there's anything I learned from her, is that life is too short... live it to the fullest, happiest, and funniest!

a Paris rarely seen...

A little known fact about Paris... the twin sister of a well known lady resides here...

I'm back!!!

After backpacking around France... it feels so good to be back in Paris!!!

following a star...

A surprise find in Lyon... apparently a very special car resides here... I can't begin to express how much I love unexpected surprises!

Lyon Lights

The beautiful lights of Lyon

It's a beautiful day in Marseille!

Mediterranean Sunset

Bucket list...

What if you had one month to live? Have you done everything on your "bucket list"? Being in France has made me realize that, well... my bucket list is pretty much complete. This trip was initially one of those things you keep planning for but for some reason, always gets pushed back... until I realized... I kept making excuses for why I wasn't doing what I wanted to be doing. Call it practicality, call it logic, call it whatever you want... at the end of the day, I wasn't living the life I wanted, because I kept finding excuses/reasons on why I wasn't in France.

I realized that it's so easy to come up with reasons... "Life" always gives us reasons. Until we wake up and see that the only reason... the ONLY reason we haven't done (or aren't doing) what we want to do... or are not where we wanna be... is because we accepted those "reasons":

-not enough money
-not enough time
-waiting for a better time
-waiting for a better oportunity
-not the right time
-work first to save up

I can think of a thousand reasons why I wasn't in France... until I just decided to go. Then, when I stopped making excuses for myself... things fell into place... not just perfectly... but effortlessly. I'm so glad I stopped planning this trip. It arrived faster (and is turning out better) than I expected! I just love how life always throws nice surprises and knocks you off your feet when you least expect it! And if there's anything I've learned here in France... is how to live life, and not just watch it go by! As the French say... C'est La Vie!

Votre santé

Started my "backpacking" trip around France by heading off to Bordeaux. Happened to chance upon a wine school that was holding classes while I was there, so... where else can one learn about wine but Bordeaux?!?! And of course, after I finished the class, I made my way to visit a couple of Chateaus (one that specialized in sweet white wine, and the other that made red & dry whites)... this is THE place for wine lovers... the passion & refinement they have for wine is just on a totally different level! Next stop... Marseille...if I don't get lost! Hahahaha...

Après dix ans! Je suis enfin de retour!

au revoir tout le monde!

nouvelle famille...

un et demi...

YAHOO!!!

DEUX!!!!!!!!

trois...

quatre...

5...

6 days to go!!!

tick tock...

7 days to go!

7 Days to go!!! I'm excited and a bit nervous at the same time...

Smells like chicken!

While waiting for BMW to produce a ZEV, it's nice to see that the Phil is moving forward in the alternative fuel area.

Inquirer Article

"Patrol cars powered by used cooking oil-diesel mix

MANILA, Philippines – Don’t be surprised if the air smells of fried chicken, instead of gasoline, the next time a patrol car of the Makati Police Department whizzes by.

The patrol cars of the city’s police force are now powered by a blend of used cooking oil and diesel, as part of efforts by the department to lower costs through the use of alternative energy sources."

not annoyed...

Ok... guestbook is working again... no longer annoyed... hehehe

annoyed...

Ok, I'm really annoyed... for some f***ing reason... my guestbook is gone... grrrr....

on being OC...

There are a lot of times when we need to produce copies of important documents... birth certificate, driver's license, financial documents, etc... I've been making copies of all my documents... but then I decided to make things easier... I scanned all my important documents... and made one single 'print ready' PDF which I can now print anytime, anywhere... and I keep a copy of it on my phone just in case!

I'm a Good-natured Realist

Good-natured Realists are warm-hearted, helpful personalities. They do their work conscientiously and have a pronounced organising talent. They often feel they are committed to traditional values. The family in particular is extremely important to Good-natured Realists. Their greatest pleasure is making themselves useful and taking care of other people. But they do not like pushing themselves to the fore; they prefer to fulfil their tasks out of the limelight. Click the circle to read more about the Good-natured Realist and to take your own free personality test.

When censorship goes bad...

Sometimes... *bleeping* and *blurring* things out, gives the wrong impression...

why... so... serious?

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Either way... for those that lived long enough past the horrible 8.1 earthquake on July 18, 2008 ... go see this movie... THX certified cinemas only...or IMAX if you can.

...it may not be German...

I'm still hoping BMW comes up with something soon...
This is a UK built American car (ok, a bit confusing)
It's essentially a Lotus Elise...with a twist.

...time...

Ok, I may not always be punctual, but I really hate it when I'm late. I can't understand how some people REALLY don't seem to have a concept of time. I mean, it's ok if it's just "hanging out time" in a friend's house where there really is no plan other than to just hang out. But if it's to meet up somewhere to do something, like watch a movie... or have dinner... I really get annoyed when people are late simply because they don't keep track of time. I know it sounds a bit anal... but time is something you can't buy back. Money is easy... you can always make more money... find a better job that pays more money. But time... once wasted, is gone forever.

And I can't imagine how some people can just continue to waste their time. Even worse is when their inefficiency wastes MINE... if you wanna drive like a friggin' snail... then MOVE THE F*** OUT OF MY WAY!!! Don't waste MY time if you can't figure out which gear you're supposed to be on!!! You'd think these people owned gas stations with how slow they drive!

...yawn...

this weather is just sooooo conducive to curling up in bed...

the next best thing to flying...

If you ever wanted to fly... diving is the next best thing! We left Manila at 5am, and we were back by 3pm. 2 dives. Visibility was great! Water was clear... no strong currents... lots of fish!

The Car Maintenance Bibles

The Car Maintenance Bibles

For all gearheads, petrolheads... or anyone that's just curious about cars. This is a very informative (albeit technical) site about every single system you find in your car.

Whether it's for performance upgrades, general maintenance... or just sheer curiosity on how cars (and their subsystems) work. This is a great site for all that information!

Enjoy!


***photo is of the new BMW M3 S65 V8 engine glowing a lovely orange (my fav color!)***

...on Wanderlust...

...where to go...
...where to go...

...ever have that feeling that you just need to go somewhere?

...I've got a strange feeling of excitement of going somewhere...
...like the feeling you get when you're about to go on a vacation...
...except I have no idea where I wanna go yet...

...let's see what the future has in store!

AFTERSHOCK!!!!

Wow, I didn't even feel a single aftershock! There were 106 recorded aftershocks yesterday, and another one today (which I didn't feel again) I hope everyone is ok!

Metro rocked by 106 aftershocks: Phil Star

...whew...

Just got back from a long day at UP Los Baños to do a documentary on IRRI (Int'l Rice Research Institute)... learned a lot about rice... pretty neat seeing so many great minds working towards a common goal with no desire to profit from it. All research materials are free, and in the public domain. They even give away free seeds to farmers to help them grow better rice! I LOVED their cold storage room!!!! -20C!!!!! Hehehehe!

...yesterday...

Ran off to Anilao yesterday for a day dive trip... really fun, really quiet & peaceful when the weekend Manila "tourists" aren't there. Beats a day in the city w/ all the traffic! This was my 2nd dive using my camera... I'm pretty happy with the pics, considering I didn't color correct them yet. I really need to get a color card to white balance underwater...

BMW Lifestyle...

Klassik BMW, over at Araneta Ave, gave a tech talk on the new BMW Navigation System...as well as a sale on BMW Lifestyle items (caps, shoes, etc.)

Although, they didn't have it in stock, I saw this in their product catalog and I thought it was pretty cool... hehehehe

reposting...

It was brought to my attention that the Top Gear episode I posted was taken offline, so I edited my previous post to include an updated link of the video.

car nut...

Just a few videos (and a personal article on hybrid technology)

BMW M3 vs. Merc C63 AMG

BMW M3 vs Toyota Prius for fuel economy

...

...

Hangin' ten!

Woohoo!

"Smile!"

my new toy! still getting used to white balancing under water...
(click for photos)

Water world...

Surf camp was so much fun... was one of the faster learners (according to the instructors)... by the end of the class, they were already teaching me more advanced techniques. I only started falling when they told me to start doing the harder stuff.

Now I'm off to dive! Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Wipe out!

Took a while to balance... but I had such a great time. Will be going back for sure!

surf's up!!!

Wahoo! All day tom!

sick...

I hate being sick...

Back topside...

Relaxing day trip to Anilao. Just went on 2 dives. We tried out the newly finished Star Tollway that goes straight to Batangas... NICE! None of us had any idea where we were going, even the guys we were convoying with never tried the new road, but we all agreed to give it a shot. We got lost 2x, hahaha, but no big deal... now we know where the other 2 roads go! The new road is a much longer route, but the road is way nicer & it ends up being a shorter trip since there are no trikes or jeeps that stop along the way.

Going diving is gonna be so much easier now! :)

Another day... another dive!

Just packing for my dive trip tomorrow in Anilao. Just going for the day... trying out a new "toy"... hehehe... report & review when I get back.

Dream work desk!

I WANT! I WANT! I WANT! HAHAHAHAHA!


More info on Ergoquest.com

Tan tah nan taaan...

ok... that doesn't work so well without the music...

rainy weekend...

Was supposed to go diving this weekend, but the weather & the fact that I woke up late Saturday morning, made me decide against going to Anilao.

It was a blessing since the weather in Anilao was bad as well, and my friends that were there decided to abort their dives. Not to mention the fact that one of my friends was attacked by a triggerfish ... hehehe... he probably pissed them off.

So I didn't miss anything. Ended up hanging out with some friends for DVD night! (I prefer hanging in someone's house for movie nights, rather than going clubbing.) Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Here comes the sun...

Read a short article about them in the newspaper today. It's so nice to see companies like this in the Philippines. For anyone interested in unplugging from the power grid, I recommend visiting their website & getting in touch with them!

Solar Electric Company

TGIF!

A little humor on a Friday!

...there's nothing wrong being square...

A round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves.

Smart Japanese Farmers have forced their watermelons to grow into a square shape by inserting the melons into square, tempered glass cases while the fruit is still growing on the vine.

...never...

I will never turn my back on you...
I will never hide the truth from you...
I will never tell myself how I should (or shouldn't) feel towards you...
I will never shut the door...
I will never erase the memories...
I will never tell my heart that it's wrong...
I will never stop wanting to make you laugh...
I will never apologize for making you happy...

No matter how much you hate me... wish I never existed... or even delete every blog entry that refers to me... it won't change the truth... If this is how things must be for me to love you uninhibitedly... then so be it. I'd rather love you from a distance, than lie to keep you close. Loving you hurts less than pretending to just be friends.