The Christmas Post, 2009

The past few years, I believe I’ve been posting about the holidays with a rather dour note. That was because back then—as today—the end of the year approaches myself and the people I know with a rather dour ring, a scorching taste of not-quite-defeat. Not quite, because there’s always the promise of a new beginning at the start of next year.

Is it because I share a defeatist attitude with the rest of my acquaintances? It’s a possibility. Is it because really, life, at that moment, is that bad?

I hardly hope so. That'll mean that every year, we'll have to put up with an increasing sense of dread quelled only by a faint glimmer of wishful thinking for the next year.

This year's hardly any different as opposed to last year. We're all a year older, friends. A year wiser? Maybe. One can't be sure about these things.

However! while enjoying oneself is hardly a matter of mind over, well, matter, this time of year is still supposed to be one of merriment. And it quite possibly still is. Whether you’re going ape to celebrate or to forget, a reason to have fun is, in fact, still a reason. And while I am currently at a loss as to what my reason for celebrating Christmas and New Year will be despite this feeling of uneasiness, well.

I’m going to try to party as hard as I feasibly can. This time, I’m going to work on my positivist attitude. If I can only party for around PhP100.00 worth, then I shall make sure that each peso of that hundred is damn well worth it. If I can only rock for an hour and a half, each minute of that hour will be epic.

So chin up, guys, and make each peso count, each moment poignant. Merry Christmas, and may all the gods of the universe watch over all of you.

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I’m Back!

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted something here, hasn’t it?

Well, you know what they say, no rest for the wicked. A lot of things have been happening over on my end, which more or less explains the lack of updates.

On the other hand, some of my other friends have been just as lacking in the updates corner of the blogosphere. Which leads me to wonder if microblogging is slowly taking the place of the real thing?

Something to ponder about while in the can, folks in the SEO biz. Meanwhile, in the past few weeks, I have undergone the following eventualities:

• My laptop was taken from right beside me at SM North Edsa. Nins and I were at Sbarro’s at the time, and while I understand that fretting over spilled milk will do me as much good as a swift kick in the groin, I still wish that my old laptop would spontaneously combust whilst being used by the man who burgled me.
• In the meantime, since I more or less relied on a laptop for work, I had to get myself a new one. Nope, no desktop dinosaur for this man. Instead, I got myself a nice and shiny Lenovo Ideapad Y450. If you can discount the fact that the machine runs on Vista, the Lenovo has been a good girl and has served me, given me a pedicure, cut my hair, and threw in a nice back massage gratis. In other words, I am happy with my purchase. Don’t ask about the price, though.
• Ondoy was like an old, homeless hobo who had no streetcorner to pee in, so he decided to wage aquatic war with the depths of a tin can. In case the analogy escapes you, Manila was that tin can. With the floodwaters inside our house, you could have built an indoor swimming pool. Now, if I were a kid, I would have loved that (much to my parents’ dismay), but let me tell you, getting a mild electric shock while wading waist-deep in an indoor flood is not fun.
• That was just the part of Manila that didn’t have to suffer too much from the storm. Other areas became virtual lakes overnight—friends of mine lost a house, as did the brother of an acquaintance. Some people had to be rescued from normally dry subdivisions via speedboat. Cue my dreams to have my own tugboat as a kid.
• Thankfully, nobody I know was horribly devastated by the storm. But the civic action that took place within the metro soon afterwards was nothing short of breathtaking. The only people who weren’t helping were from the government—but we’re pretty used to that anyway, so no big deal.
• Nins joined the relief operations at ICA. I’m damn proud of her. Plus, that photo of her diving over a pile of donation bags is priceless.
• Speaking of Nins, she gave me a copy of Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. I have to admit, I am entertained. This book deserves another post altogether, and I shall get to that soon. Trust me.
• Lastly, I must just mention that the new season of TV shows in the US has recently just begun. I have House, Heroes, How I met your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Burn Notice, and Castle on my list. How about you guys?

Well, that’s it for my recap. I’ve got to get back to work now, so I’ll leave you guys here. Let’s hope my abysmal updating skills improve enough to let me update at least twice a week, lest my blog forsake me and decide to use my blood as porridge. Ta-ta.

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Long Time no Post

Let me break the monotony, then. By posting about what could possibly be the most important month of the year. At least, for me. So bear with me as I reminisce a little bit. It's been a long four years.

I think it was three years ago on this month that I found out about SMSI, and how they needed a writer. It would lead to a nearly year-long battle with reality that ended rather abruptly on the eleventh month of the next year.

Two years ago, on this month, my mother had a stroke. That changed my life in more ways than I can ever imagine.

Last year, I welcomed the month with news that crushed me terribly. Little did I know, however, that later in the same month, I would meet a lifesaver of sorts. Not the one you pop into your mouth, nor the one you toss into the open sea, but one that is as refreshing and as reliable). And that’s only a small portion of what she does.

I do not know how to greet this month. I’m anxious as to how things will go for me, but at the same time, I don’t want to know. But there’s nothing we can do about that, is there? When you start walking, there is no taking a step back, so no matter what else may await me and the people I live my life with, I go forward.

Forth Eorlingas! My personal new year starts here.

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I must Post About the Angry Whopper.

I rarely come across a treat from a fast-food restaurant. You look at McDonald’s, Jollibee, KFC and the like, and you know you’re really not eating anything special. I mean, sure; everybody knows that the fries over at McDonald’s are the best, the hot n’ crispy chicken of KFC is awesome, and Jollibee has awesome spaghetti. But still, that’s nothing out of the ordinary.

All that changed—at least for me—last night.

I was meeting up with Nina at Burger King along E. Rodriguez in New Manila for dinner. Now, commuting through Taft, Quiapo, and Espana at rush hour is NOT NICE. Not nice at all. I was dizzy with heat and pollution after an hour in the bumper-to-bumper situation ALL THROUGHOUT my ride, and I vowed to cab home afterwards (I did, too, and nearly slept on the cab ride).

But the journey was worth it. So worth it, just because of this little baby:

Okay, this will have a little bit of bias on my part; I have always attested that the best fast-food burgers I have tasted this side of the planet comes from Burger King, and the Angry Whopper just made my decision more adamant. But the fact is this: the Angry Whopper, for all it’s facetiousness, is almost—if not as—good as a proper steakhouse burger.

And no, while the ad goes to bill it as a “hot” burger, the bite doesn’t really come in until after you bite into the jalapenos. It’s mostly a sweet burger. But it packs quite a punch in the belly—I just had an Angry Whopper Jr., and seriously, all the hardships I had to encounter commuting to E. Rodriguez more or less melted away into a satiated smile.

As for the ad: well, just check out the angry farmer torturing the poor, harmless onion:

Technorati Tags: Martin Cruz,Kilawinguwak,Burger King,BK,Angry Whopper,Whopper Jr.,Burger King Philippines

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A Break from the Dearth

Actually, I just took this opportunity to say that I need to blog more. Boo to bad time management; that’s a lot of prospective collateral going to waste in this blog.

I don’t know. I just can’t find something blogworthy in my life recently. Maybe that’s because I’m stuck sitting my big behind in a desk all day long, but with the Internet, that’s no excuse. Maybe I’m just really lazy to write something that’s non-work. I mean, I’ve a blog post about the unholy dinner sitting in the oven, but I guess I’m just much too disgusted to even spend another minute wasting my time with Her Excellency’s face-stuffing.

Anyway. Back to your lives, you kids. What's that, you say? Oh, you want something that makes your visit worth your while?

Well who am I to deny you guys.

Heh. Back to work, maggots.

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