Through Australian Eyes

I'm excited to go to my blogfriend -- Henry Bateman's first exhibit here in the Philippines. He's an australian who has been living in our country for the past three years, and I've enjoyed reading about his troubles getting a PLDT connection, or how taxi drivers try to 'hustle' him into going round and round the metro just to get a bigger fee. He harps about basketball on the streets, the energy of riding a jeepney... things we Filipinos usually overlook because we've been here all our lives.

Now, here's our chance to 'see' our country through an Australian's eyes. Here's a copy of the invite he sent to me. For you guys who want to see great art and think at the same time, drop by Henry's exhibition:


Through Australian Eyes
One Workshop Gallery
2241 Don Chino Roces Ave, (formerly Pason Tamo) corner Sabio St, Makati City
March 4 to April 4
Opening Reception Tuesday 4th March at 7pm


Living in the Philippines has been an eye opening experience for Australian artist/photographer Henry Bateman.

For the last 3 years he has been a resident of this Island Nation and its influence has seen his work expand in ways he never imagined possible.

“There are aspects of Filipino life that stand in stark contrast to an Australian lifestyle,” Bateman said. “With my work I have tried to capture not only the physical differences but also the cultural differences that the Filipino lifestyle imposes on Australian sensibilities,” he added.

A painter who embraced digital photography 8 years ago, Bateman manipulates his digitally captured photographs on his computer to delve below the composition of the recorded moment. From each of his photographs he builds a new image that explores the underlying motivation that caused the shutter to be pressed when it was. “It is a journey in which the image dictates what directions to take,” Bateman said. “My major contribution is knowing when a destination has been reached,” he added.

“Through Australian Eyes” will be Bateman’s 14th exhibition, but his first in the Philippines. His work has been shown in Australia and the US with the most recent being a solo exhibition at The Australian National University in September last year.

My pc is dead! Long live the pc!!

It's been a week or so now that John and I finally gave up on my pc. It needs a new motherboard, and perhaps a new video card. A kick-ass processor sounds good too... but the point is, with the upcoming wedding, starting on a new house, and bulk payment for my parent's medicards, procuring the requisite parts may take longer than what I can tolerate (if you have to know, the next minute's already my limit.)

While I languish in this pathetic state of being pc-deprived, dreams of forming a spanking new system have been awakened in me. And while I know it's out of the question these days, one should never deprive himself of a dream.

Presenting the HP Blackbird 002...



Forget that much-hyped macbook air -- give me a true gaming system any day. This baby kicks ass on almost all current (as of second week January) gaming systems. To the enthusiast, here's a rundown of the goodies:

Processor: Quad Core - Intel(R) Core2(TM) Extreme Quad-Core 3.0GHz QX6850 performance enhanced
RAM: 4 GB 1066MHz CORSAIR PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM SLI Ready
Coolant: CPU and Graphic cards liquid cooling (NVIDIA gfx)
MoBo: ASUS Striker Extreme 680i
Video Card: Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8800 ULTRA, with 768MB of GDDR3 SDRAM (LC)
Physix Card: Ageia PhysX(tm) 100 Series PCI-E GFX Accelerator Card (Physics Acceleration)
Audio Board: Creative Audio Sound Blaster(R) X-Fi(TM) XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional
Power Supply: 1.1KW Power Supply
Storage: 1) RAID (0) Performance - 3 x 160GB 10,000 rpm SATA (primary OS storage)
2) RAID (1) Data Reliability - 2 x 750GB 7200 rpm SATA (secondary Data storage)
Optical Drives: 1) Super multi-drive, slim slots with Lightscribe (DVD+/-R/RW+/-DL)
2) Second Super multi-drive, slim slots with Lightscribe (DVD+/-R/RW+/-DL)
3) Blu-ray Rewriter and HD DVD-ROM Super multi-drive with LightScribe (CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW/RAM, +R/RW, +/- R DL)
Displays: HP LP3065 30-inch LCD Monitor
Sound: 1) Bose Companion(R) 5 multimedia speaker system
2) Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
Peripherals: Logitech Force 3D Pro

Configuration: $10,501.96 USD* or even with the relatively strong peso, it's around Php420,000. It's Godzilla-powerful AND matrix pretty. Crazy? I know. But what's the point of dreams if they're just run-off-the-mill?

And while I wait for a more opportune time for a PC upgrade, here's something my thumbs are busy with in the meantime:

* photos from the Hewlett Packard site and http://bobmeetsworld.com/

Free JVC video cam

Not for you, sorry. It's me who got the free JVC video cam from the company Christmas raffle.


The versatile JVC GRD796 includes a powerful 34x optical zoom and convenient Dual Recording capability for shooting still images during video recording. A large 2.7-inch wide screen LCD monitor aids the recording process, especially when shooting in 16:9 wide mode. The GRD796 comes with two data batteries for twice the recording time.

34x Optical Zoom/800x Digital Zoom
MiniDV Format, 1/6-Inch 680k Pixel CCD
2.7-Inch Wide Clear LCD Monitor
USB Interface, DV Input/Output (IEEE 1394 Compliant), AV Input/Output, SD Memory Card Slot
16:9 Wide Mode (High Quality), Dual Recording Capability
Auto Illumination Light
Digital Still Function (640 x 480 Pixels), HG Digital Still (Progressive Shutter)
3-Dimension Noise Reduction (3D NR)
Color Viewfinder
Stick Control
Power-Linked Operation
Data Battery (x2)
Auto Macro, Auto Iris
F Stop: F2.0 - 4.7, Shutter Speed: 1/60 - 1/4000
Full Range AF/Manual Focus
Full Auto/Manual White Balance
Super High-Band Processor
Multi-Languages On-Screen Display (7 Languages)
Data Button
AUTO Mode
Power-Linked Operation
Program AE/Digital Effects
Scene Transition (Wipes/Fades)
Dimensions: 2.44" W x 3.75" H x 4.50" D
Weight: 0.91 lbs.

This is great! I'm so happy! There's only one catch: I just don't have any idea what to do with it

This will probably suck

Stop me if you've heard this before... Life was going smoothly in the kingdom of Ehb when one day, a marauding band of Krug -- animalistic brutes in thrall of... nevermind, just think "Urukhai" -- descends upon the countryside, killing everyone in their path. Wait -- they didn't kill everyone. For some reason, they kidnapped a woman -- the wife of a hardworking farmer, who is now hot on the Krug's tail, bent on revenge. In his journeys, he will be joined by various companions, including the King's Magus, Merick, who will help him in his quest to save the kingdom from evil.

Sounds familiar? It should be. In the Name of the King is the film version of Microsoft and Gas Powered Games' RPG, Dungeon Siege.

The film is packaged as 'epic' and the 'most anticipated game in January'. Maybe... but I'm not getting my hopes up. I don't know... maybe films like Eragon taught me a harsh lesson not to expect too much from post-LOTR fantasy flicks. Maybe it's also the actors -- they look... displaced. Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) now plays a magus, the relentless robo-babe from T3 is now an amazon (?), the lobotomized Krendel from Hannibal plays the black mage, and the transporter is now 'the Farmer'. Is it just me or is anyone else half-expecting a cell phone to ring in the middle of a swordfight?

A fantasy medieval movie starring Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, and Jason Statham. Who knows, maybe it will work. Stranger things have happened.

Devil May Cry

Cliched plot? Check. Over-the-top acting? Check. Repeating enemies? Check. Still fun? CHECK! CHECK! CHECK! and CHECK!

Devil May Cry is an unabashed action adventure lightly peppered with a few puzzles to solve. It's a crash-through-the window, get-your-guns-blazing action from the get-go, and it's all fun fun fun.

You play as Dante, a half-human, half-devil demon hunter. Initially unknown to Dante, he's a descendant of the legendary demon Sparda, who vanquished a hell Lord out to conquer the mortal realm more than 2000 years ago. As these stories go, the hell Lord awakens (of course), and it's up to Dante to stop him once and for all.

As plots go, Devil May Cry offers only a thin excuse for a story. There's a big bad out there, and you're out to prove that you're an ever badder ass. Even the voice acting is done in overly serious tongue in cheek fashion -- emphasizing that you shouldn't really take this game seriously. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a disadvantage or a shortcoming of the game. Devil May Cry just has better things to offer than plot twists and fancy storytelling. The game is about action -- and a lot of it.

As a descendant of a legendary demon, Dante has powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. He heals from wounds that should have been fatal (is that my heart you got in your sword?), and has powers that are more than a match to hell's denizens. With Dante's rage unleashed, the devil himself may end up crying.

In the game, Dante will pick up a few guns and melee weapons. The choice isn't that varied, but each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages. Dante's special attacks even depend on the melee weapon he's using. Use the Alastor and throw thunderbolts from the sky; don the Ifrit and burn your enemies to cinders.

Dante's twin handguns -- ebony and ivory -- may well be the most useful range weapon you'll have. The damage isn't overwhelming, but the guns give you an amazing 'hang time' when you rapid-fire while jumping. You can avoid the monster's devastating attacks and damage them at the same time simply by doing this 'hang time'.

The game challenges you not just with the monsters Dante will face -- although they become harder to kill as you progress, the monster types are actually repetitive and their attacks are formulaic -- instead, the game awards skilled gameplay. Dante's combos and attacks can be done only by tapping the proper keys at the appropriate time. It's not hard to do, but it's not mindless button mashing either.

It's a short game -- you could probably finish it in 12 hours or so -- and offers little replayability. But for those 12 hours or so, Devil May Cry let's you experience the joy of relentless demon ass kicking.

Gamespot Reviews

I like Gamespot. Whenever I think about buying a game, I head there first and read their reviews to know exactly what I'm getting. And since most of the office's productivity vanishes the closer we get to Christmas, I have a little time each day to head there and browse.

They have this feature where registered users can post their own reviews. No one really reads it because they have like 500 or so reviews per game, especially if it's a new release. But it's fun, and it's good practice, and I guess it's marginally better than just blindly stumbling because when I write, I'm actually producing something.

So I wrote some... and I plan to write more, since it doesn't take much time from me -- di naman pinag-iisipan talaga to eh. It's just fun.

So what's the point of this post?

I'm going to upload my reviews in my multiply, para din may permanent record on the blog. Yun lang. Announcement lang, so if you're interested, you can go there.

I've already uploaded a review of Company of Heroes and Neverwinter Nights 2.

Yun lang po. Bow.

The glory of 'peeling'

For most of us, the mind-numbing drudgery of our everyday jobs is as far removed from the promised glory of doing God's work as the east is from the west. The endless reports, the sales quotas, the unending presentations, the ever-looming deadlines... most often our hearts whisper if we are living a lesser life -- a life that does not ring true from the promised glories of being an heir to the eternal Kingdom.

Yet as I try to place myself on the shoes of the superstars of the faith and even of ordinary people on the bible, I do not see a continuous pillar of fire enlightening their way, but a sense of days upon days of ordinary everyday living punctuated only by sporadic (visible) contact with the Almighty.

To read the rest of the essay, click here or visit the Joy Student Fellowship site.

RPG Dreams

I'm an RPG-kind of guy. Drop me off to a fictional world with black and white goals, give me freedom to fashion fantastic characters I will develop on my own, allow me to immerse these characters in magic and mayhem, and you'll make me a happy man.

The original Diablo game introduced me to the genre. It's sequel and its concurrent expansion set, Diablo II, remains as one of my all-time favorite hits. Microsoft's Dungeon Siege I was yawn-inducing; fortunately they improved on Dungeon Siege II. Neverwinter Nights I welcomed me into the more traditional class-level type of RPG. The sequel, Neverwinter Nights II, continued the joy and enabled easier access to prestige classes. I have also played a host of other RPG games I cannot recall now, and some hybrid para-RPG types such as StarCraft, Warcraft III, Dragon Shard, and Heroes of Might and Magic (1, 3, 4, 5).

Any gamer familiar with the titles I have mentioned would realize that as games go, these are already old. The current dry spell only whets my appetite. Admittedly, there are two critically-acclaimed RPGs I haven't played: the Elder Scrolls' Oblivion, and Blizzard's World of Warcraft.

Oblivion is supposed to be the pinnacle (so far) of the elder scrolls series -- all the goodies without the boring hour-long walking from town to town. The problem is that I can't play first-person games. Something in my equilibrium (my eye?) goes crazy when playing those games and I end up throwing up.

World of Warcraft is an MMORPG employing a persistent world based on the Warcraft series. It is currently the closest thing to an RPGamer's wet dream -- a whole world (well, now 2 worlds with the Burning Crusade expansion) to explore, guilds to join, monsters to kill, treasures to plunder, and characters to level up and up and up and up and up...

But even WoW isn't perfect for my taste. For one, it only allows one playable character to be controlled. I'd rather have control (with nominal AI assistance) of a whole party, especially since there are certain areas and quests only achievable by teams. Another thing is its lack of world-changing events. Players may feel that they keep going on mission after mission without a tangible effect on the Warcraft world, but with millions of subscribers, I guess it would be hard to have a player-malleable world.

Nevertheless, that is my current dream game. Give me an RPG where I could create my party at once (and not get me stuck on pre-selected allies); provide an unimaginably large world with various unique continents, characters, and monsters; make it persistent, yet affected by players' (or factions') actions; and provide an engaging plot that would keep the players playing for months.

And yeah, make it free too.



That's not too much, isn't it?

ice capades

I have always dreamt of gliding on ice.

I've watched the movies. I've seen the skaters. They looked so graceful, so efficient, so... natural. With a shake of the shoulders, a simple bend of the knee, they're off! And they do magic on the ice.

"I could do that," I say. It feels so inherent to me... like I was made for that kind of speed, and grace, and beauty.

yeah right.

It was a fun-filled Saturday morning when we had to leave the car for its 20,000 km-check at Honda Pasig. With nothing to do, we decided to spend the morning trying something new -- ice skating!

I didn't know it was that hard! Watching those young kids zoom in and out of the ice fooled me into thinking I could do this thing. Balancing was tricky... but doable. It was the moving part that was frustrating. How do skaters get that initial burst of speed? If it weren't for the handle bars at the side of the rink, I wouldn't have been able to move in the first place.

Leah did better. Slowly but meticulously remembering instructions of her friends when she first went skating, she was soon moving around the rink. She stayed near the handle bars, yes -- but she was moving on her own.

There were a lot of laughs, a bunch of frantic squabble to hold the handle bars, sweat (yes, i told you it was hard!!!), and silent satisfaction when we were both able to go around the rink, but there was envy too. I wish we could go as fast as the other kids. They were having a lot of fun -- we were still working for it.

I guess we could do better next time. The ice is always there, and not dropping on our asses even once should encourage us to try again.

Movie Review: Enchanted

Enchanted is a comedy-fantasy-musical film by Walt Disney Pictures. It tells the story of Giselle, an animated maiden who falls in love with a handsome prince with puffy sleeves and plans to get married the next day. Happily ever after was supposed to follow, until the wicked step mother of the prince (of course, there is one -- what did you expect?) shoved Giselle into a magical well. This is basically the condensed version of every Disney classic, and the film propels from here.

The queen planned to send Giselle to 'a land where no happily ever after exists' -- so she promptly arrives on 21st century New York City. She emerged from a manhole near Times Square -- and immediately almost gets squished by oncoming traffic.

If watching Enchanted reminds you of earlier Disney classics, don't be surprised -- that's fully intentional. Most of the movie's props, dialog, music, action, and references are in tribute to earlier Disney hits. While spoofs of Disney's formula movies have been in vogue for quite some time now (Ella Enchanted/Shrek), Enchanted's approach is to keep things light that will make you laugh with the movie instead of at it. The jokes rarely miss, and we are left with a refreshing and funny tale.

You have to check logic and the need for suspense at the door -- Enchanted makes no excuses for itself, and that is the wellspring of its enjoyability. There is no question to whom the lady ends up, and everyone who read fairy tales while growing up knows what will happen on the succeeding scenes. Enchanted embraces the whole genre with open arms -- complete with impromptu musicals, the all-important ball near the end, animal friends, witches, charming princes, and princesses we all love.

At the same time, Disney pokes fun at the stereotypes that has been its cash cow for the longest time. The musical number with 'animal friends' (translated into Manhattan, the local fauna means cockroaches, rats, flies, bugs, and pigeons) is both funny and disgusting (even the lyrics included words like 'scum' and 'filth'); Prince Charming is a self-centered, dim-witted 'hero' -- eager to slay trolls and dragons for his love, but will run away from an irate woman bus driver; the lady's true love turns out to be this reluctant romantic who has a hard time accepting the possibility of happiness because he's too fearful of the possibility of pain. More importantly, while other kiddie movies tend to sugarcoat reality and foster faulty expectations, Enchanted "maintains a delicate balance between wish-fulfillment fantasy and a recognition that the world inhabited by its audience is filled with disappointment as well as with joy."

The two things most enjoyable in this movie are the music and the acting. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz weaves magic into the movie with their tunes. That's How You Know is a delight to watch -- an infectious smile spread like an epidemic at the cinema while this was playing. A personal favorite is So Close -- the longing expressed in that song stays in the heart.

The real gem is the acting of the stars in this film. Susan Sarandon -- like all evil stepmothers are wont to do -- steals the scene from the main characters. James Marsden plays the self-centered Prince Charming perfectly... down to the puffed up sleeves and shiny sword. Amy Adams is the amalgam of every Disney princess. Naive, strong, innocent, pure, and loving, she plays Giselle with full abandon that she's the one who enables the audience to jump from the 2D classic cartoon into real life. I suspect Enchanted would be the movie to Adams as The Sound of Music was to Julie Andrews. Patrick Dempsey's (Robert) performance seems subdued and underplayed... but maybe that's deliberate because he's the one from the 'mundane' real world.

In terms of message, this is where the movie stumbles. Enchanted basically says that happiness can only be found in the person you love (even Giselle's animated form was concerned only with finding her 'true love'). From a man who plans to raise a kid or two of his own one day, I take serious issues with this. Our notions of 'love' have been corrupted enough by all that Hollywood crap that we don't even know its true form (for a guide, read the bible, or even C.S. Lewis' essays). Love isn't the i-can't-help-it, head-over-heels, this-is-beyond-me lie that Hollywood perpetuates. But I guess that's the one that helps fuel capitalism.

Even disregarding my disgust to Hollywood's definition of love, the movie stumbles over its own thesis. By presenting a maiden straight out of the fairy tale pop-up books and pairing her with a disillusioned, hardcore Manhattan lawyer (a 'shark'), Enchanted has a rare opportunity to present a unique picture of true/real love. But in the end, the film fails to do this. Giselle champions commitment, yet throws it out the window. Robert emphasizes the importance of getting to know your partner, yet contradicts himself by choosing Giselle over his girlfriend of five years. It was as if the writers of the movie teased us into believing they will offer something new and insightful, and real (what's the point of traveling to real-life New York, after all?) with all the hopes and dreams that power fairy tales, but ends up too timidly to challenge the tried and tested formula of Disney's earlier films.

In the end, Enchanted is much like Julia Roberts' Pretty Woman. If analyzed under the feminist perspective, that movie bombs -- everyone should hate it. But the truth is, feminism notwithstanding, I enjoyed watching that film too. I give Enchanted the same allowances. I'll just have to keep my critical analysis under wraps -- after all, whoever said I can find answers to life's questions inside a fairy tale? -- and just enjoy the show.


* Disney owns the images used in this review

speedybagal

According to this, I am able to write with 10 fingers:

You reached 321 points, so you achieved position 9265 on the ranking list


You type 421 characters per minute
You have 79 correct words and
you have 1 wrong words

421 characters... is that fast?

Tomorrow we dream anew

Name the clouds, take note of each blade of grass. There was much joy in the day, and tomorrow we dream anew.

One More Chance

Reviewing (and watching) Star Cinema's One More Chance is an emotional roller coaster... mainly because the story is a little too familiar to my own. As Popoy's (John Lloyd Cruz) killer line said:

"She loved me at my worst. You had me at my best. Pero binalewala mo lahat yon."

I had no intention of watching this film (I thought it was a typical teenybopper movie) before I heard that those lines were in the film. When Leah, John, and I watched it, we couldn't help but give our undivided attention to what we were seeing. Leah was crying uncontrollably -- identifying fully with Basha (Bea Alonzo), my heart was thumping vigorously as I continuously screamed at Popoy, and John was wide-eyed and biting his shirt... probably due to the sight of Bea Alonzo, Nikki Gil, Maja Salvador... and Popoy's pathetic (lovestruck) antics.

Was the movie really that good? Not really. But virtually having one's love story immortalized in film tends to soften one's heart... but also to wish more from it. The movie was funny (at times), and moving (maybe because it's familiar?), and more than what I expected. On the other hand, they had such a rich and promising material... but the film makers weren't able to fully mine that lodestone. It was also frustrating how underdeveloped were the motivations of the characters. We barely even got a glimpse of Trisha (Maja Salvador) -- she was a critical part of the conflict in the story, and would have made the story so much richer if we knew her more.

For some reason, the movie was also made to have some surprising sex scenes. I said 'surprising' because they could have done without those scenes and replace them with other scenes that could have made us root for the characters more. It was as if the script writers got lazy doing their job and just put in those sex scenes just to establish that they 'love' each other.

Despite the frustrations, One More Chance is one of the better Filipino movies that I've seen. It's a story that says that even finding the one that you want to grow old with doesn't assure an automatic happily ever after. Sometimes we have to go through the bitterest of journeys so we know how sweet it is to come home. But hey, it feels like an autobiography to me, so maybe you shouldn't take my word for it.

"In brightest day, in blackest night..."

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 70% Spider-Man 55% Hulk 55% Supergirl 53% Robin 52% Wonder Woman 48% Catwoman 45% The Flash 45% Superman 45% Iron Man 40% Batman 35%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


Hal Jordan! Cool! One of the tragic stories in the DC Universe. But I wonder why I wasn't Batman?.... probably because of my un-traumatized childhood.

Two new reviews

I have been fortunate enough to watch several movies these past few weeks. The latest I've seen are Beowulf:

While there is significant diversion from the original Old English story, the movie was still able to retain certain flavors from the Nordic tale. This is good, considering that a lot of stories have been influenced by Beowulf.

The real joy I found in the movie, though, is its strong evangelistic themes. The original tale already had many Christian elements (Grendel and his mother have been traditionally analyzed as descendants of Cain in Genesis). But the animated movie's plot is even more obvious -- it is the tale of every man and his utter inability to stand against sin.

and Lust, Caution:

Prior to watching the film, I have heard such vociferous quips from various people describing the film as "sooooooooooooooobrang gandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." And once again, the world knocks me over the head for listening to the babblings of others without doing a little digging of my own.

This is not to say that the film was bad throughout. The cinematography is an automatic thumbs up for me -- anything that I can see in sepia or monochrome elicits affection in my heart. The editing did its job -- smoothing the flow of the plot enough that you hardly notice it. The acting was another good thing going for the movie -- even with the usually effective Tony Leung on the screen, newcomer Tang Wei held her own, and shone in her own luminescence.

To read the rest of the reviews, click here for Beowulf, and here for Lust, Caution. Or you could go to our multiply site by clicking here.

Our worth in gold

Planning to get married takes financial concerns to a whole new level. While I grew up in a lower-C class family, I have managed not to center my focus and energies on the endless pursuit of money. Forming a new family, however, brings these questions to fore.

To read the rest of the entry, click here or visit my multiply site.

Rizal Retreat

We've been crazy-ass busy the days before, but (fortunately) we were able to join the JSF retreat at the Rizal Re-Creation Center last November 3 and 4.

My cousin Jolo was unable to join us so it was just Leah and me who took the long drive to Rizal. No breakfast? No worries with a whole Yellow Cab New York's Finest pizza to share just between the two of us!

What's the first thing we did when we got to the site? Eat again! Who'd want to waste that all-buffet lunch they prepared anyway?

Then came the team-building activities. John and Leah initiated a 'getting-to-know-you' activity for the new and old church members. It was fun, albeit confusing -- especially with Maeng 'Charity/Chabelita' Estropia befuddling all the non-oldies people with his... err... less-than-truthful embellishments.

Then came the group activities. A few days before, without rhyme or reason, I (Moks) unexpectedly volunteered to facilitate the team-building activities we need. Whatever happened to the anti-social, dark and brooding me?

The first challenge was to fit the group (around 35 people)to a steadily-decreasing number of hoola-hoops. Initially, they just laughed off the trip-to-jerusalem like activity. But with fewer and fewer hoops, pretty soon things got serious!




Then there's six legs and a funeral -- how do you get an 8-person group across an entire field with only three sets of feet touching the ground? After a half-hour of sweat and toil, what was the lesson that the group learned? NEVER GET MOKS AS CAMP DIRECTOR!!




Next came blind man shooting. An activity about leadership, the challenge to the groups was to get a ping-pong ball rolling on a tray across the field and shoot it to a basket... blindfolded!




Last was a cerebral game -- an expanded tic-tac-toe. In the end, can't we all win?

Even though the challenges were hard. Everyone had a great time. But I think the group laughed the most while they were planning revenge on me...




Had a late night talk with Abe and Timmy about time management and the differing perspectives of the nobyo versus the nobya. That was fun too.

The next morning was sweet -- church time plus some time for pictures. Here's a sample of what we did:

There it is! Although the retreat was a blast, we had to go straight to Leah's office afterward to work.


Lord, thank you for the break. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have fellowship with our churchmates and with each other. Thank you for entrusting us to share the lessons you've taught us. Bless this family we're building, O God.

What's my theological worldview

Saw this in Kuya Mhac's site, and of course, I tried it for myself:

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Neo orthodox 75% Emergent/Postmodern 54% Classical Liberal 54% Reformed Evangelical 50% Fundamentalist 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Roman Catholic 29% Modern Liberal 25%

I'm methodist-influenced? Never saw that one coming :p Who needs labels anyway? :)

Sugar rush

It's only four months, six days, and two hours (I looked at the countdown timer on our wedding blog), before the big day, so let me share this with you: (If it matters, John, this is the same dessert buffet that your uber-crush Claudine had on her wedding)

Here's what's included in this dessert bar:

Vanilla Mousse

Chocolate Mousse

Mango Panacotta

Creme Brulee'

Fruit Salad

Coffee Jelly

Buco Pandan

Leche Flan

Fresh Fruits

Chocolate Fountain (with various dips)


Sugar overload tayo, sabay talon sa lake (I'm getting married on a dock!)


I. AM. SUCH. A. GIRL.

checking in, whistling out

I was trying to write a post about me, my dad, and my lolo. Here's what I have so far:

Self-made man

“A self-made man” is usually a complement every male would want to be bestowed on him. It speaks of strength and of independence –- common virtues attributed to a MAN. If the main question a man asks in his life is “am I enough?,” being a self-made man answers that with a resounding yes, and more.

By any indication, I have surpassed my father (and his father before him) on academic achievement. Both of them were unable to finish college, while I passed mine with honors. With how the world judges one’s worth, on some aspects I have reached heights and garnered achievements that have proven beyond my father and my grandfather.

But as I look at them, I know -- I’d be lucky if I’d grow to be half the man they are.

That's it. That's all I have for now. In my head it's beautiful -- I just hope I could translate it on paper. Every father is a hero to his kid, they say, and in here I'm going to tell why my tatay and my lolo are my real heroes. Let me work on it some more. Hopefully, my lolo will still get to read it once it's ready.

I'm also working on what I'm going to share this Sunday. A year ago I spoke about women -- the question that defines their lives, and their biblical role. Now, I'll take a stab at men, and to be frank, I'm kind of afraid. Because once I talk about men and their brokenness, I will expose how short I fall from who I should be. But facing the truth is the start of redemption, right? I just hope that I could adequately point to the One who bestows true masculinity and help men in my church in the process.

I'm also reconnecting with friends, and that's always a good thing. John and I have a date later doing what we enjoy -- talking while dota-ing; and in the weekend I'm meeting my high school friends and strengthening the ties that bind us. In a twist I never saw coming, I am more open now to actually meeting people and talking to them than just putting my thoughts in paper. Is this growth?

Leah and I checked our wedding expenses and compared them with our incoming monies and -- well, let's just say we're going to get through it with just a shadow of a buffer. I'm not actually worried about it -- The Lord takes care of His children and I am at peace with that. But I'm also willing to do my part. So if you have some rakets you can throw my way, I'd be glad to take on the extra work. Don't worry, if I can't handle it, or if I'm too busy with other stuff, I'll tell you right away. The last thing I would want is to shortchange the people trying to help me.

That's not what a godly man would do, innit?

And that's what this week is all about.