Captain America

From playing the Human Torch in the 2 Fantastic Four movies,

Chris Evans is now playing

Steve Rogers aka Captain America

in the new movie,

Captain America: The First Avenger.

Celtics vs Lakers

In 2008, the Boston Celtics defeated the LA Lakers to win their 17th Championship. This year, Boston is gunning for its 18th, while the Lakers are looking for their 15th. It doesn't get any better than this, the two winningest teams in the NBA in the NBA's biggest stage for the 12th time.

Let's get it on!

NBA Finals 2010

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be on Friday, June 4 (Philippine Time). Although I'm not really a fan of Boston, me and a lot of my friends will be rooting for them to beat the Los Angeles Kobes. Both teams match up with each other pretty well so it's going to be an exciting series.

Go Celtics!

On Top of the Pyramid

The little girl with a big, beautiful voice is now a lady.. with a bigger and more beautiful voice, and topping the Billboard charts in the U.S.

Congratulations Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, who just celebrated her 18th birthday and was recently baptized as Roman Catholic.

Comparison

A lot have been asking about how faithful The Last Airbender movie is to the series. Well, this gives us an idea, and it's looking good.

Best AI

With another season of American Idol coming to a close this week, I look back at my most fave American Idol with his song that brings me to tears every time I sing or even just listen to it. For me, David Cook will always be The American Idol.

Charice NOT joining Glee

The hottest news these past days is that Charice will be joining the cast of Glee for next season. That excited a lot of fans, most especially the Filipino Gleeks. I don't know where that started, but the rumor is NOT true.

It would have been really swell to see Charice on the show, but unfortunately, not she, her mom nor her handlers have talked with anyone from the show.

Fame and Disappointment

I was very, very disappointed and angry with last night's Pilipinas Got Talent Semifinal round. Between Sherwin Baguion and Geraldine Fame Flores, no matter how you look at it and no matter what criteria will be used, Fame is way better than Sherwin. Sherwin's voice is very common, something you can hear from the videoke bars all over the country. In fact, a lot of non-singers in videoke bars sound a lot better and have a higher range than him. Fame on the other hand, is a rare gem, someone who has the looks (oh, she's really so beautiful) and a world-class talent at 19 years old. Aside from being an amazing classical singer, her emotion's just overflowing, especially when she's performing.

Freddie Garcia voted for Fame, while Ai Ai delas Alas and Kris Aquino voted for Sherwin. Kris also made a comment that showed everyone how stupid she is, trying so hard to project an image she is not. She told Fame that she "should have chosen a song that's age-appropriate for her like maybe a song by Charice." I think that's just plain stupidity! Hello! This is a TALENT search, NOT a singing contest! Fame's talent is classical singing, so no one, especially the judges, should tell her on what kind of songs she should sing and how to sing it. And to think that so-called judge can't even carry a simple tune.

Funny though that Kris mentioned Charice, an international superstar who also didn't win in ABS-CBN's singing contest before, even if she was head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of talent. I know that Fame will go the same route as Charice. This disappointment in PGT will just make her star shine brighter. Ever since she was born, she was already destined to make a name for herself, and rightfully so, her name says it all, FAME.

DVD Saturday

I was supposed to attend the Grand Alumni Homecoming of the very first class that I taught when I started teaching almost a decade ago. I wanted to attend, but wasn't able to because I didn't have enough budget to travel. It was held at the school where I once worked, which is 1.5 hours away from the city. Yes it would cost a lot for back and forth transportation, and my salary is still a little more than a week away. It would have been wonderful to see a lot of familiar faces, my very own students who are now professionals, but there's always a next time. Hopefully.

It was just me and my daughter the whole day. While she was watching her cartoons, I was also watching a couple of DVDs of new movies, both action-packed and worthwhile movies. First was Ip Man 2, a sequel of one of my most fave movies of all-time, and The Losers, a movie I didn't expect to be good. Right now, I'm watching Kick-Ass and so far, it's been really enjoyable, not to mention unpredictable.

Despite the change of plans for the first day of the weekend, it was still a relaxing and enjoyable one.

Goodbye, Heroes

Some individuals, it is true, are more special. This is natural selection. It begins as a single individual born or hatched like every other member of their species. Anonymous. Seemingly ordinary. Except they're not. They carry inside them the genetic code that will take their species to the next evolutionary rung. It's destiny.

Thank you for the
wonderful memories, Heroes.

Series Update

The seasons of both Smallville and Supernatural just ended last week, Glee has 3 more episodes left for Season 1, and Heroes has just been canceled by NBC. I haven't been really following House anymore because I just got bored with it, and I stopped watching 24 after I forgot how many seasons because the clock that's always showing the time was just too annoying.

There are 2 new series that I am looking forward to, The Cape (which will replace Heroes) and No Ordinary Family. But until they premiere, I don't have any other series to watch anymore, and for those of you who read this blog regularly, watching series and DVD's my way of relaxing during my rest days.

For the meantime, I am planning to buy the complete set of Charmed. I used to remember my college days when Charmed was my only favorite series, and I was following it faithfully until our antenna got messed up and we were no longer able to get Studio 23 on our TV. I forgot until what season I was, but I'm looking forward to start with episode 1 of Season 1 soon. I miss the Halliwell sisters. It will be fun watching all 8 seasons soon.

Absentee Employee

For someone who's always criticizing everyone in the office for not following certain policies, he's a model employee-for-not-following-policies himself.

For the past 2 days, I have been working for 12.5 hours because he has been absent. I don't mind him not coming to work, but we've always had the policy to inform the office before your shift (2 hours at least) so we would be able to cover up. The other day, we didn't receive any notice from him so I texted him more than 2 hours after the start of his shift and asked if he's coming to work. I received a reply from him saying that he sent a text earlier, and that maybe I just didn't receive it. Yesterday, I received a text less than an hour before his shift that he's still sick and can't make it to the office. Today, no word from him. I already sent 3 messages, no reply. This will be my 3rd straight day of doing overtime and it's not funny anymore. I have not been able to spend time or even just talk to my family anymore because everyone's asleep when I get home, and they're still sleeping when I leave for work. This guy should have followed the simple protocol and informed us so we can make the necessary arrangements and adjustments. The only reason acceptable that he's not able to send even a single text message is that he's either dead or dying.

The wolf is slowly shedding the sheep's skin he's been hiding in the past months. He's showing his true colors. The people didn't even like him when he was still a sheep, how much more now when they realize that he's a wolf.

We Will Rise Again

(music and lyrics by Jude Gitamondoc)

(Performed by Raki Vega)

I can see it now

Crystal clear as day

My people will rise again

Someday soon, somehow,

Somewhere down the way

My people will rise again...

My people, we will rise again

We will learn to spread our wings and fly again

Like an eagle to the distant dawn...

We will rise again.

No more hollow words

No more shallow lies

For tomorrow, we will rise again

No more shattered hopes

No more tattered lives

This time tomorrow, we will rise again...

My people, we will rise again

We will learn to spread our wings and fly again

Like an eagle to the distant dawn

From out the shackles of the past

We'll be flying free at last

And rising with the morn

We will stand and we will rise again.

And nothing or no one can take my dream from me

I won't let them, I won't let them, no, I won't

For tomorrow, we will rise again...

My people, we will rise again

We will learn to spread our wings and fly again

Like an eagle to the distant dawn...

From out the shackles of the past

We'll be flying free at last

And rising with the morn

We will stand and we will rise again...

My people, we will rise again.

Fave Characters

Two of my most favorite characters in
The Last Airbender

Commander Iroh


Aang

What Now, Cavs?

For the nth time, King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have disappointed us yet again. For the second straight year, the Cavs had the best record in the NBA and Lebron was again named the MVP of the league, but also for the second straight year, the Cavs were outplayed, outmatched and outhustled by the better team. Last year we were kicked out from the Conference Finals by Orlando, and this year, the best chance we have for a championship, we didn't even reach the Conference Finals. Boston whipped our butts in the Conference Semi-Finals.

In the following months, we will know if Lebron played his last as a Cavalier. As much as I hate to admit it, he has been a major disappointment in the playoffs this year, his 7th year in the league. It took the great Air Jordan 7 years to get his first title and his supporting cast was not as talented as King James' crew.

Now that there are just 4 teams left in the NBA, I'm rooting for the Celtics since they beat my Cavs. Well, any team as long as it's not the Lakers is okay for me.

Salamat, Green Team Cebu

My wife and I just arrived from the thanksgiving and farewell get-together of Green Team Cebu. Though we had fun, it was also a very emotional affair as it will be the last time that the group will be together as GT Cebu. The group was created with the sole purpose of helping Gibo Teodoro to be the next president of our country, and to disband right after the elections. Since February 2010, when the Cebu Chapter was formed, the group had a great time planning and using a lot of new strategies and activities for campaigning. Everyone of us volunteered to join the group and we even used our own personal resources in the different activities all for the love of our country.

The Cebu chapter became the model chapter because of the new and innovative strategies we introduced and brought campaigning to a whole new different level, that the opposite camps even said a lot of bad things about us, like we were "paid" and "too organized to be voluntary." Ha! not even a single centavo with the face of Lapu2x did we receive from the Party. We did everything we could because we love our country, and we believe (we still do) that Gibo is the most qualified presidentiable by far. And we were organized simply because we put our heads together and planned everything out before doing them. We've had a lot of activities already copied by the rival camps, but as they say, nothing beats the real thing.

As our chairman said today, Friendship will remain, but it will not be fair to use this group, Green Team Cebu, in any other activities. We wish to preserve the good image of the organization including the memories and experiences we had the entire campaign period.

I met a lot of really cool people in GT Cebu, and I've learned a lot from them. Yes, the friendship and the camaraderie will definitely remain, as will the memories of an amazing couple of months. It's a great honor to have been among such intelligent and passionate individuals who fought this good fight with me.

As GT Cebu ends, the watch for our country begins.

Sulong Greenies! Sulong Pilipinas! :)

We Missed the Flight

Gibo Concedes

This is the press conference called by Gilbert Teodoro, Jr. to admit his defeat in the Presidential race. This is the same press conference where a lot of us cried listening to our candidate, and how honest and real he was.

What a great President he could have been.. *sigh*

Thank you, Sir Gibo

In my previous blog entry, I talked about how sad I was with the election results in our town. Now, I am even more depressed that the most qualified candidate for President has conceded because of his poor standings in the total number of votes so far collected. I am in tears because we're losing our best chance of improving our country. I have carefully weighed everything a few months ago before choosing which Presidential candidate I will vote for, and I chose Gilbert Teodoro, Jr. because he simply outshone all the other candidates in terms of credentials and experience. As I've mentioned in my previous entry, the educated and the informed are still outnumbered in our country, and that's very disheartening.

Gibo Teodoro have always emphasized positive campaigning and just for that, he was admired by a lot of people, even by his opponents like Former President Joseph Estrada. He always emphasized professionalism and the idea of competence. He's a big loss to our country because of what he could have done. Come to think of it, Gibo didn't lose in the recent elections, we did. It's our loss. Yes, I am proud that I voted for him and I am not ashamed to admit that I cried when he conceded to his cousin. Sayang.

Thank you, Sir Gibo, for the inspiration and for giving us hope. One of my life's highlights was meeting you face to face, and I will always be proud to have fought for and with you. My little daughter already knows you, and will grow up remembering you and what you stood for. I will continue to do what I can do in my own little way to improve and hopefully help others improve too. You changed our lives more than you know, and we will be forever grateful.


I have served my country the best I could. I don't think anyone can ask more of me. I did not fight for a political position for myself but for an idea. What can we do right for the country? Winning or losing is secondary. We fight for an idea - an idea of competence. Basic education reform, college graduate opportunities for every family, food security, genuine sustainable agrarian reform, localized peace processes, strong foreign relations, and several others.

- Gilbert Teodoro

Dirty Politics

I voted in the country's first ever automated elections yesterday, and true to its promise, the results are very fast especially in our town, 1.5 hours away from Cebu City. The winners haven't been proclaimed yet, but looking at the results, it's safe to say that my father failed to enter the top 8 for the councilor position. It's so sad to know that despite being the most qualified in terms of credentials and experience, he lost to the people who know nothing about being a councilor because of money. Yes, he was the only candidate who didn't have money when he announced his candidacy. He only had his complete plans and platforms, and his heart to serve the town where he grew up in. And because he didn't have money, he didn't have people working for him in putting up posters and tarpaulins and giving out flyers. He did everything all by himself, with my mom helping out with the flyers. I could have helped but I was here in the city working.

My dad was confident he would win because he worked hard most especially with his platforms. He made sure that he thought everything over and over and he included plans and platforms that are really doable and would benefit the people. He was already helping a lot of people ever since with different projects even if he was just a private citizen. He was looking forward to help a lot more once elected into the town council.

His plan failed because the other candidates, most candidates actually, gave out money to the town people, and the people, thinking that they owe those candidates much because they were given 20 or 50 Pesos, voted for those vote-buying candidates.

We were all very disappointed with the outcome since we expected him to win. It's a sad fact to know that the uneducated and the uninformed (or misinformed) still outnumber the educated ones in our town. The people, for a mere 20 Pesos or 50 Pesos, have sold their future, at least the next 3 years, to incompetent individuals. How do I know that they're incompetent? Well, almost all of them are re-electionists and have been in the town council for the past 3 or 6 years, and not a single law have been passed. How do you improve a town when its council members are either clipping their fingernails or playing with paper airplanes during the council sessions?! And now, they're given 3 more years to continue their worthlessness. I hope they cut their fingers and not just their fingernails!

HK Day Two

We left the guest house early so we'll have a couple of hours head start towards Disneyland. It's another adventure as the only thing we have is the MTR map going there.

We went to the Tsim Sha Tsui station and rode the MTR to Lai King. From Lai King, we again rode the MTR to Sunny Bay, and then from there, we rode the Disneyland Resort Line MTR to Disneyland. The Disney Express was a our first taste of Disney and yes, it was already magical. The windows and the hand rails were shaped like Mickey Mouse's head and bronze statues of Disney characters are displayed inside.

We bought our tickets and went in. An adult ticket costs HK$ 350, and a child from 3 to 11 years old is HK$ 250. They also give senior citizens (65 years old and above) a cheaper price at HK$ 170. I was almost in tears the moment we went inside Disneyland. It was a lifelong dream for us, and it finally came true now that my wife and I are both 29 years old. The feeling was just surreal.

I knew that we wouldn't be able to enjoy the place as much if we'll be bringing our luggage the whole time so we left them at the luggage storage for HK$ 60 per luggage. We left the 2 big ones.

We got a map of the whole place and before starting to explore, we ate at the Starliner diner and ordered their burger meals (the most affordable) for the three of us. Total for our lunch was HK$ 146. Converting it into Philippine Pesos is Ouch! :)

After lunch, we went around Disneyland, experienced the different rides, took a lot of pictures, watched their different shows, and just had a lot of fun. Real fun. They were not kidding when they called Disneyland as the Happiest place on Earth. It really is. Imagine walking around the park and seeing Princess Aurora, Cinderella and the very beautiful Belle in person. I also bumped into Buzz Lightyear outside the Restroom, and met two Muppet characters, Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker.

I was again in tears watching the Golden Mickeys, a "Disneyfied" version of the Academy Awards. It combines live-action theatre with film, video, music and pyrotechnics in a memorable salute to Walt Disney and his legacy of classic animated films. My dream roles were live on-stage singing my dream songs. It was a half dream come true. :)

Mickey's Philharmagic, High School Musical, The Grand Parade, It's a Small World, The Lion King Adventure, and the amazing fireworks dubbed as Disney in the Stars are just some of the many more magical experiences we experienced.

The Disney in the Stars was the finale before Disneyland closed for the evening, and what a spectacular sight it was. And yes, it was so hard holding back my tears watching it. It was the end of a beautiful experience, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. And what a way to end the fulfillment of that wish I had when I was little than to watch the sky light up with that Disney magic.From the Happiest place on Earth, we again rode the MTR to Sunny Bay, then took another MTR to Tsing Yi and finally the Airport Express to the Airport. We were shocked to see the price of the Airport Express tickets on the Ticket Issuing Machine. HK$ 150 for 3 one way tickets to the airport! We went to the customer service counter to have our HK$ bills exchanged for coins, but we ended up buying the same ticket for only HK$ 120. Turned out, customer service were selling a package of 3 tickets promo.

We arrived at the airport at around 8:30 PM, checked in at 9 PM to a very friendly Filipino Cebu Pacific guy, then went through immigration. I was told I can't bring my half-filled 500mL mineralized water inside so I left it with the immigration officer. And yes, they call it mineralized. We slept for a couple of hours at the waiting area before we departed for the Philippines at 12:40 AM.

It was a very tiring and painful (my feet!) 2 days but also something we will never forget. For my daughter, it was the first of many more adventures with her parents, for me and my wife, it was an experience 29 years in the making. Yes, we were drained but it was damn worth it!

To all who come to this happy place: -Welcome - Disneyland is your land.
Here age relives fond memories of the past...
and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.
Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams,
and the hard facts that have created America...
with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration
to all the world.

- Walter E. Disney, 1955

Today, Tomorrow

Today is for Our MOTHERS..

Tomorrow is for Our MOTHERLAND ♥

Hoping that we, Filipinos, will make a stand tomorrow and choose the best and most qualified candidates who will lead our beloved country in the next 6 years. I believe in the New Philippines, and I will do my part tomorrow.

Sulong Pilipinas!

Mom's Day 2010

A Mother is an undying love,

A love beyond compare.

The one you take your troubles to,

The one who truly cares.

Mother, you're all of these and more.

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY

to All the Mothers

in the World! ♥

I Love Nicola

I'm in love with Nicola Peltz. ♥

Too bad she doesn't know me.. yet! :P

Oh, for those who don't know her (yet), she's playing Katara in
The Last Airbender movie.

*sigh* I'm in love ♥

HK Day One

Our plane landed 30 minutes before midnight, and since the hostel that we had a reservation with would not accept check ins before 9 AM, we decided to rest at the airport until morning. Though we were tired and sleepy, it took us a while to finally sleep because of the adrenalin rush of being in a different country.

Woke up around 5:30 AM and followed the signs to the bus stop. It was an adventure because we had nothing but a map and the name and address of the hostel we were going to. Nice thing about the city is that there are a LOT of signs and directions that even if you're lost, you won't feel scared.

We boarded a bus towards Kowloon, got off at the Park Hotel bus stop, and went to the Lee Gardens Guest House. It was around 7:30 AM, and since check ins start at 9 AM, and we were told to come back later. We decided to walk around and look for a place for breakfast. Burger King was something we don't have in Cebu so my wife and daughter wanted to try it. We ate a sumptuous breakfast and killed time, then went back to the hostel and was finally able to check in.

My wife didn't want to waste any time so we just freshened up then went out again. The plan for that day was Ocean Park. It was a challenge going to the place since we didn't have any guide, just our handy map, and the maps posted all over the city.

We arrived at Ocean Park shortly before noon via bus, and wasted no time in going around. Spent the entire afternoon trying the rides and going around the different buildings. It was very hot and tiring since Ocean Park is such a huge place with a LOT of things going on. It's the first time I've been there but I already recommend it to anyone who plans to visit Hong Kong. It was a wonderful experience even if I almost died there. Yes, I almost died, and no, I'm not exaggerating. We rode a steel "mine train" roller coaster perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking Aberdeen Harbour, and even if I was wearing seat-belts, I was also holding on to dear life because every time there's a turn, I get lifted from my seat. If I didn't hold on, I'm sure the seat-belts would break and I would have been thrown out 85 meters down. I would NEVER EVER ride that again, even if you pay me a million bucks.. Make it 2 million and maybe I'll think about it. :)

Another ride that scared us was the cable car. It was a great but really scary experience. It was long ride that took us from one part of Ocean Park to the new part which would require you to pass by a lot of mountains to get there. It was a slow, breathtaking ride 205 meters above sea level, and we were very careful not to make quick or big movements since it would rock the car. Yes it was VERY SCARY but I don't mind experiencing it again in the future.

We left Ocean Park late in the afternoon, and went to the Avenue of Stars along Victoria Harbour. The view was spectacular and it was fun walking along the street where the greatest film legends of China once walked and left their prints. We were able to take a lot of pictures but we weren't able to really see all the stars nor wait for the world famous symphony of lights because our feet were already aching.

Again using the map and road signs, we walked towards the hostel, getting lost every now and then, finally arriving around 7:30 PM. We freshened up and went to bed. Well, my wife and daughter went to bed, while I went out to look for dinner. There were a lot of stores nearby, but the prices of the food were quite expensive considering that every HK dollar is equivalent to almost 7 Pesos.

After almost an hour of going around, I finally chose KFC. I was looking forward to eating 1 original recipe chicken and 1 hot & crispy chicken with a cup of rice, macaroni salad and Pepsi. I got disappointed when I saw their menu. They had mostly roasted chicken and just a few crispy chicken. They had no macaroni salad and you had to order rice separately too. And being used to seeing working students working for KFC back home, I was surprised to see half of the KFC crew in HK being the same age as my mother. Nothing wrong with that, it was just surprising.

I ordered a 2-piece original recipe chicken with a cup of mushroom rice and Pepsi. The chicken didn't taste like it was from KFC at all, and the rice had spices in it. I've always known that for KFC outlets all over the world, there's only one taste with their chickens, but in HK, it really tasted different. I even thought that the KFC outlet I went to was a knock-off outlet, a poor copycat of the original KFC frachises.

From the KFC nightmare, I went to Burger King and bought 2 burgers for my wife and daughter and a Cream Soda Float for me, then went home.

A full but definitely fun first day at Hong Kong.

Back to Work

Our 2 days in Hong Kong was very tiring but it was all worth it. We didn't have much time to rest as we made sure to maximize our short time there. Yes, we were able to pretty much go to the places we wanted to go to, even if we got lost a lot of times. It was just me, my family and a map. It was truly an adventure of a lifetime, and we got to know Hong Kong, its places and how to go around by experience. We arrived early this morning and right now, I'm back to reality, back to work in the graveyard shift.

I have a lot of pictures and videos to edit and upload, and I have a lot of stories to tell, but for now, I have work to do, so I will do those next time.

Zuko

Dev Patel plays Zuko in
The Last Airbender movie.

"I always thought this scar marked me;
the mark of the banished prince,
cursed to chase the Avatar forever.
But lately, I've realized
I'm free to determine my own destiny,
even if I'll never be free of my mark."

- Zuko

Aang

Noah Ringer plays Aang,
the Avatar and the Last Airbender.

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people.
I'm going to make a difference this time."

- Aang

Two Months to Go

Just finished watching all the episodes of Book One of Avatar, the Last Airbender series, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far with the trailers released. By the trailers, I can say that the movie is faithful to the original series so far. I know that it's hard to compress 20 episodes in an almost 2-hour movie, but I really hope they don't mess it up. I have faith in the director though.