San Juanico

Giving the title of 'Samar' or 'Leyte' wouldn't be fair since it's my first time to got to both places. San Juanico, the name of the longest bridge in the Philippines and the bridge joining the two islands would be a more fitting title.

First stop, Tacloban.

I was seated at the starboard side of the plane; window seat. The view must have been great. The wing was blocking most of the view below. When the plane was on its final decent, there was the usual announcements by the pilot and the flight crew. When the plane was aligned to the runway (or so I thought because it was getting lower faster and was going straight), I noticed something. Are we going to land on the water? Lower and lower the plane went but all I see is sea on my side of the plane. But when I looked at the windows one the port side, land. Then I figured, the runway must be very close to the sea, and it was. Nice view. But I wasn't able to take a picture, because the camera was deep inside the bowels of my bag.

I stayed at a Luxury Suite. It is located along P. Burgos, just above Gerry's Grill. Their room rates ranges from Php 650 to Php 1000 a night for single pax. All the rooms have the amenities that usually look for; it's air conditioned, it has hot and cold shower, towels, soap, and cable TV. Plus, it has WiFi, and if you don't like to use WiFi, they have computer terminals for your use, absolutely free. I took the suite room and that costs Php 1000. It was the only room available within my budget. It had one matrimonial bed and one single bed. I thought to myself, 'the single bed must be for the bodyguard.'

For dinner, the hotel clerk recommended I try SUNzi Bar. It was walking distance from the hotel. It was a Spanish themed restaurant. It was a small place. I counted around 12, 1.5'x2.5' tables. I thought the tables were quite small. How would a family or a group of friends eat here. Only after my meal arrived (that was after a good 15 minutes) that the restaurant was more of a date place. And the small tables offered a little bit of intimacy between the dating couples. Besides the fact that I was the loner in the restaurant, the food was great.

Off to Calbayog.

From Tacloban to Calbayog, one must definitely cross the longest bridge in the Philippines, the San Juanico bridge. It was built during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos and it's foundations were believed to have the blood of sacrificed children but, that's just urban legend. The bridge would have been easier to construct if it went straight from Samar to Leyte. Instead, it is somewhat shaped like an 'S' and 'L', the first letters of the names of the islands it joins. And yes, I took pictures of this momentous event.

I stayed at the I's Plant Hotel and Restaurant, a highly recommended place. Their room rates ranges from Php 750 to Php 1050 a night for single pax. The amenities are the same as Luxury except the computer terminals and the WiFi is only available at the restaurant but that's not really a problem. There, you can eat and do your on-line business altogether.

Now for the low down for both places.

Where to sleep: As stated above; Luxury Suites for Tacloban and I's Plant for Calbayog.

What to eat: Like any Visayan Island, Seafood.

Where to go: San Juanico bridge. It's not like you'll miss it if you to both places.

Mode of transport: The main mode of transport within both cities are the ever famous, tricycles. Going in between cities, you have buses and vans. It is, however, recommended that you take the van for security reasons. There are other forms of transport such as the pedicab (bicycle with the sidecar), the PUJ (if you wish to go to nearby towns), the helicopter (not the flying one but a motorcycle with a roof), and calesa (some places have it).

Palawan Before the Year Ends

Almost seven months have passed since the last time I came here to Puerto Princesa. The first thing I've noticed when I got off the plane was the welcoming band. Yes, there was a marching band (but they weren't marching) at the tarmac to greet the deplaning folks. That included me. On my way to my destination, I noticed very little changes to the largest city (in terms of land area) of the Philippines; almost none. The weather was fine; it wasn't too hot, nor cold, nor humid. But the sun's rays were stinging my skin.

I stayed in the same hotel, RAQ (may be considered an ad), but this time, not in one of their cottages. Instead, I had a room on the top floor of the main building, third floor. The buildings here to go over five floors (at least I haven't seen one over five). I'm wishing I should have taken one of their cottages. They were fully booked so I couldn't.

I had lunch at a restaurant that serves local-specialty noodles that the locals call 'Chowlong.' It's homemade noodles in soup (I have no idea what kind of soup) with your choice of beef, chicken, or pork. Some calamansi, and bean sprouts are served separately in case you would like to add them to the bunch. The noodles are think and a bit transparent like 'udon.' This is usually paired with toasted garlic bread. One serving fills you up real good.

Night time. On my way to the hotel, there was a bit of a traffic jam. I thought there was no such thing in Palawan but I guess traffic jams are everywhere.

Hotel room. Tired. But there's no rest for the wicked. I still have some cable TV watching to do. One of the few things I enjoy when I go out of town.

This is just one day. Next time I come here I'm extending my stay and go places.

Now for the low down:

Where to sleep: Puerto Princesa has a lot of hotels to choose from. Just be sure to book in advance so that you're sure to have a room. Plus, your hotel of choice picks you up from the airport free of charge. You even get a complimentary drink. At least I did.

What to eat: Seafood! Unfortunately for me, I'm allergic to most type of seafood but not fish.

Where to go: Being a tourist destination, Palawan offers a number of places where a you could go; El Nido, Dos Palmas (Rico Yan's 'death room' is quite famous), the underground rivers. You can also go dolphin watching, firefly watching, tour the city and a lot more. Be sure to check out your travel agent's or hotel's travel package to get discounts.

Mode of transport: Tricycles are the most common mode of transport; the next one would be multicabs. A multicab is a smaller type of jeepney.

District 9

District 9 is an alien movie done in a very unique way. It's like a mixture of your usual movie, Blaire Witch (since it's an alien movie, Cloverfield), and a documentary.

District 9 is a unique alien movie altogether. Instead of the usual alien movies that we have seen in the past (killer alien, happy alien, benevolent alien, dumb alien, human-eating alien), here we see oppressed aliens. And by who? By humans. Interesting, isn't it? Another interesting one would be the aliens' chosen contact site. It's not the usual US of A, Japan, or Europe. It's Africa. This movie showed the raw human traits of greed, selfishness, arrogance, and the ever present mob mentality. The traits were very well portrayed. The movie didn't have your usual 'faith will save you,' or 'word of honor,' or 'the cavalry arrives just in time.'

The aliens' mother ship hovered and stopped over Johannesburg. They settled below their mother ship and the settlement was called District 9. Two decades have passed and they never left and District 9 turned into a slum. A shanty town. Like the hand-held camera type movie fashion (though the entire movie isn't really shot that way), the end leaves much for the imagination. Lots of possibilities at to what might happen after three years. You might want to watch the movie know the actual events.

This being my first movie review in quite a long time, lets give them ratings. Visuals: 8 out of 10. Well, this pretty much covers CGI, costumes, mattes, etc. Audio: 8 out of 10. Though there were portions of the movie that I didn't hear well but it was mostly the fault of the theater (that would be Robinson's Movie World at Bocolod City).

Past is Past and Now is Just Not That Exciting

There has been a whole lot of things that I've wanted to write about over the past few days but I never got around to writing them. I was either too busy or too lazy. I haven't even written anything about the second Transformers movie and it's way too late for that now.

The one week airport security. LRT line 1 Monumento Station had an X-Ray machine and a couple of metal detectors for a week. That was after the recent bomb scare right June 2009 if I'm not mistaken. There were a whole lot of flaws in the checking system. Sure they get to check everyone's belongings but were they sure they gave everyone their right belongings. I mean the bags kept going into the X-Ray machine but was piling up fast at the end of it. People were crowded grabbing their bags. I wonder if everybody got their own bags that time. Another thing was it was only Monumento Station that got that treatment. All the other stations got the usual security checks. In short, pointless. Unless it was a study.

My trip back to Manila from Cagayan. Tropical Storm 'Kiko' brought in heavy rains that resulted in landslides and floods. My trip back from Cagayan was the longest. I had to look for alternate routes home because I didn't have the budget for extending my stay. There were flooded roads, muddy roads, and the landslides created the longest traffic jam I have ever seen. I left for Manila on a Friday morning and got there on a Saturday night. So that's how being stranded feels like.

The First Metro Comic Con. Comparing it to the already established Toy Con, well, it's hands down Toy Con. But hey it's the first one so you have to give it some credit. As the name suggests there are a whole lot of comics; from Marvel to DC, local to foreign, incorporated to indie, usual comic book to manga. There are also comic book-related toys and other articles. There was also a cosplay event but I didn't see it anymore. Everything I saw was calling out to me, "Buy me." I had to get out of there or my budget would suffer. Any longer and I would have spent too much. I did get myself one comic book set.

G.I. Joe. Yes. The Real American Hero has a live action movie and it's quite good, too. The whole movie hints of a second one and maybe even a third. Now that another of the childhood favorite cartoons have a live action movie, I can't wait for another one. The Transformers. G.I. Joe. You know what I want to see next? MASK.


Basketball stars in my hotel. On the day that I leave Roxas City, PBA players checked in to the hotel I stayed in. From the looks of their shirts, they were from the teams Sta. Lucia and Pure Foods. I had no idea who they were because I'm not really a basketball fan. If I were, would have done some major picture shooting.

A(H1N1) Certified

With my days in Quality Control, the word certified after an alphanumeric thingy means that something is following a standard: ISO22000:2005 certified, HACCP certified, Halal certified, and the like. It also means that something is safe and clean.

However, if someone is A(H1N1) certified, that is bad.

I think I'm A(H1N1) certified. At least I think so. I didn't bother taking the test. I didn't want to know the result.

Sunday. Night. Sore throat and a little cough.

Monday. The work load gave me a whole lot of sweat not to mention me walking under the sun. Sweaty. When I got on the train, the cabin was cold. After I got off the train, rain came. Sudden change in weather.

Tuesday. It's the last day of the quarter. I had to finish all my work load. Gotta work. Same thing; sun, rain. Night time. Fever galore. Colds and bad sneezing. Each sneeze gave me excruciating pain all over my body.

Wednesday. I took the day off because my body's aching bad. Running nose. A slight fever. It was a DVD marathon all day.

Thursday. Good thing it's a holiday. I still have the body aches, a wee bit of colds, and a wee bit of fever. Yes. DVD marathon.

Friday. I feel better. Still coughing off some phlegm. I know, eew!

Saturday. At long last. It's over. At least I think so.

Sunday. I can go outside and roam around town now. But not just yet. I still need to rest. It's like my body is used to the sleeping and lying down.

Monday. Back to work. A couple of my co-workers came to work all hyped up. After the day was done, both of them were sniffing and sneezing. Am I still carrying the potent virus? I wond

I may not be A(H1N1) certified but the symptoms says that I was… or by my co-workers' conditions, I am. Good for me, after the onslaught, I am now immune.

Slowest Fast Food Service... Ever

Monday. I feel sick as hell since the night before but I need to finish my field work before the month ends. The sun and heat isn't very good for someone with headaches and a little fever. All the sweat didn't help either.

After checking one warehouse in the morning, I decided to take a lunch break before going to the next one. From Sta. Ana, I went to UN Avenue and had my lunch at Chow King at Masagana Superstore. I ordered Pork Chow Fan with toppings and large iced tea. I took my number and looked for someplace to sit. I found a place and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

More than ten minutes have passed. Longer than the usual waiting period. I could see that everyone else in the store was irritated with the very slow service. At last my Chow Fan came. But wait, the topping isn't there but I started eating because I was already hungry. Not to mention my iced tea wasn't served, yet. I had to eat slowly so as not to finish my rice before the toppings, and iced tea get to me.

I've already finished three quarters of my Chow Fan when my iced tea came but no toppings in sight. I've had slow service before but this was too much. I have finished my Chow Fan and half finished with my tea when the toppings came.

That was the slowest service I had ever had. It wasn't just me, the folks at the table beside mine was there before I came and they got their order after I had finished. I know it was lunch time and there were a lot of orders to fill plus Chow King isn't really a fast food chain but slow is still slow. This is supposed to be the time when they are fast.

Chowking UN Avenue at Masagana Superstore has the slowest service I have ever experienced.

Toycon 2009

June 13 and 14, 2009. At long last I was able to attend another convention after almost two long years. It's all the financial crisis' fault.

There were almost 10000 attendees on the first day and a lot fewer on the second. I should say. There was a killer line to the ticket booth on the first day that lasted until after lunch. The two mega trade halls were packed. There were a lot fewer cosplayers this time around compared to the previous conventions.

Anyway, here are a few of the pictures that I have taken of the event. I wish I had a better camera.

From Bubblegum Crisis, I pressume.

Nice... Hell yeah.

Con-Ass

Constituent Assembly is one way to 'change' the constitution. Change is essentially good. However, in this case (Now, here in the Philippines 2009), there is somewhat a controversy. This is because all those in favor of the Con-Ass are allies of the current president of the Philippines. I don't have to mention that the current president isn't the best president. She's not very popular when it comes to accomplishments. The tyrant had more accomplishments way before he became the dictator.

How disappointing that Congress is pushing thru with the assembly. Even undermining the Senate. They (Congress) were voted to represent the people of their locality or the group they represent. But I don't think the people are well represented. I'm sure only a handful of people are represented by them. This is evident to the sheer number of people that are against their decision.

Now down to my own view of this Con-Ass. First, let's break down the term. 'Con' in Spanish meaning 'with.' And 'Ass' is self explanatory. Together, with ass. And with ass, there's crap. A big load of steamy crap. Actually, this is what I first thought of, the first time I heard the term.

There's a lot of things I would like to write down but unfortunately they are just too personal to write and show in public. I can't make a point if I didn't include names but I am avoiding direct finger pointing due to some… reasons.

Anyway, this is just a gist of what I think of this big load of crap.

How Not to Write a Love Letter

I was browsing a few old compositions and I saw something that I'd like to share to my readers (if there are any out there). Just a few tips on how NOT to write a love letter. How to write one? I have no idea. All of the examples sited are actual excerpts from actual love letters. The grammatical errors alone make them worth reading.

First. It is important to use a different sheet of paper before writing it on your very precious stationery. You wouldn't want to make any erasures on your scented stationery. Second. Make sure to check your spelling. That's what dictionaries are for. For the grammar, you better consult your grammar books for that. Third. Don't give out-of-season greetings; Merry Christmas when it's still August, or Happy Valentines Day in December. Not even when you insert the word 'advanced.'

Here are some line that you might want to avoid writing:

"I know your be surprise upon receiving this"

It has bad grammar written all over it. I'm not saying how it suppose to be written. That's what grammar books are for.

"I know your astonish upon receiving this message letter of mine."

What in the world is a 'message letter?' I did get what he's trying to say but this is too much. Keep it simple.

"When I first see you I know that your attitude is good and most especially respecting to each other."

Uh... I don't know what he's trying to say.

For these lines: "But please don't be angry.", "But again I thought of you getting angry for you might misinterpret my intentions.", "I'm very ready to accept everything, everything that you'll slap my face."

Angry? I don't think the receiver would be angry. Happy perhaps. Laughing is more like it.

"Now: I need you. Someday: I meet you. Because: I love you.", "Love is forever if no one can breaker."

You have got to be kidding me. First, corny. Second, this isn't one of your slum notes.

"From the lowest to the highest common denominator of my heart. I have a survey from east to west, north to south an I found out that your structural design in connection with your body is the most magnificent or the most significant in engineering technology."

That sounded like a cross between engineering and pornography if you ask me.

Maybe a few of these lines would show your humorous side. I mean most women like men with a good sense of humor. But don't overdo it. If you do, your just showing your unintelligent side.

WTF Stop Over Resto

I went to Bataan one day for my usual trips. I had to take cutting trips to get to my destination because there was no bus going directly to where I was going. First bus I took was from Cubao to Lubao, Pampanga. The next one was from Lubao, Pampanga to Pilar, Bataan but, that's not the main concern here. My topic is all about the stop over restaurant at Lubao. More specifically, the stop over restaurant used by Genesis bus lines.

Anyway. When the bus arrived at the stop over, I got off and went to the restaurant to get myself something to eat. I was looking at the menu posted over the counter and picked an order. I asked the cashier which among the breakfast items was available. To my dismay, she said, "Wala na po yan. Wala na po lahat niyan. (We don't have those anymore. We don't have any of those.)" WTF! Are they serious? If they don't have anything posted up on the menu, why don't they take it down? They even have tables. What are those for if they don't sell foods served on a plate?

Frustrated, I bought myself a bottle of iced tea and some crackers. And, of course, I used their one of their tables. I sat there until the bus I needed came. When it came, I scattered some cracker crumbs on the table and left. As bad as it may seem, I left it in a mess.

From now on, I'm not riding on a Genesis bus line when going to Bataan just because they use this particular restaurant.