I can’t believe I’m turning 35 this month. It doesn’t seem like I’ve been living in this world for that long. I think I would need a long ride soon to celebrate life.
The Longanisa Project 3.0
Me and My Longaniza
Filed under life …
The Obsessive-Compulsive Me
I guess I am a bit obsessive-compulsive when it comes to making the house neat and tidy. It’s already 1:33 in the morning and I can’t stop myself from doing a quick sweep of the floor, changing the sheets, washing the dishes and putting things where they belong. I think tomorrow I’ll wash the rest of the glasses, hang the freshly-ironed clothes (No, I don’t know how to iron. They just arrived from the laundromat), and maybe put out the trash. The bad side to this is, if your things are just lying around, don’t expect to find these in the same area. I think I got this trait from my mother.
I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but one of the virtues that you need to practice when you’re living in a condo with limited space is honesty. With me being in a constant editing and pruning state, I always have to ask myself if I truly need an item, or if I’ll still eat the leftovers in the refrigerator, for example. Most of the time, it’ll end up in the trash can. Sometimes it’s tough. Sometimes I feel guilty. But that’s just it — I need to throw it now, learn from that mistake and pray that it won’t happen again.
It’s 1:45 a.m. I need to go to sleep.
NBI Shit
I’m currently having lunch here at Burger King SM City Marikina. I went to two NBI kiosks already to have my NBI clearance renewed but the lines were just too fucking long.
The first one was in SM Megamall. The kiosk was stationed at the basement level but the line goes all the way up to the fourth level. I figured, I will never line up for that.
The second one was at the Riverbanks in Marikina. The line was shorter but they only service up to 700 people a day, and the numbers are all given away.
Just got a call from Dennis saying that the NBI satellite office at Park Square might be a better option for me. I don’t know. For one, I’m not aware that there’s one in that area. Well, since my day is a big fail so far, why not go down with a bang?
Makati, here I come!
UPDATE:
The NBI kiosk at Park Square is a godsend. Unlike my experience with SM Megamall and Riverbanks, the process here is blazingly fast. It took me fifteen minutes or less to get my NBI clearance renewed. Now isn’t that awesome?
There were two lines: the first one is where you submit your old NBI clearance form, and the second one is where they take your pictures. That’s it. The last part is just affixing your right thumbmark to the form, and you’re out the door.
For those who are thinking of renewing your NBI clearance, better bring a your personal copy. If you lost it or you don’t have one, better head your way to the main office in Manila instead.
On Being Connected and Walking Adventures
I find it wonderful that I choose to walk to the station and ride the MRT rather than waiting in line for a cab to go home. It’s nowhere near riding a bus, an FX or a jeepney, but this still makes me feel connected to the masses somehow. And if I wasn’t wearing my Simple shoes, I would’ve done something crazy tonight and walked from Quezon Avenue to Pioneer just for kicks. That would’ve been quite an adventure.
Happy New Year!
It’s been a long time since I last posted an entry in this blog. In contrast, my other blog, Bisikleta.ph, is doing very well and getting at least four updates a month, lately.
I’m now blogging using my brand new 11″ Macbook Air – a gift I got from Charo this Christmas. Now ain’t that cool or what? I’m getting spoiled at how how smooth the trackpad is and how light the whole thing is, that it takes a while to get used to my old late 2007 Macbook.
So what’s up with me? Well if you’re reading my other blog, you know that I just finished a four-day bikepacking in the island of Mindoro. That’s a feat I’m really proud of. And because of that I’m planning to have more bikepacking trips this year. I’m thinking of doing Batanes, Baguio and Palawan.
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
On Being the Taong Bahay
In a way I kinda like being alone in the house. I can walk around naked and sweaty after a bike ride and no one’s complaining! Hahaha!
I can help improve lives
I woke up asking myself why I’m willing to be stuck in an office, managing projects today when I could be on my way to Northern Luzon to help those that were badly affected by Typhoon Juan. I can do better things. I can help improve lives. I can help ease the pain.
Ninja Shoes
I’m wearing my brand new Toms shoes today and I love it. It makes me walk silently. It’s as if I’m a ninja. Now if only I can get a sword.
Hello August
And just like that it’s August already. Boy, that was fast. For all you corporate people just like me, it’s the second month of the third quarter! Pretty soon we will be hearing Christmas carols in the airwaves. That’s when the crunch begins.
Happy Sad
Tonight I attended the wedding reception of my ex-girlfriend and barkada. I wasn’t there during the actual ceremony because I mixed up my schedule. I thought the wedding was tomorrow. Good thing my other ex-girlfriend and barkada texted asking me where I was.
There were two opposing things I felt during the celebration – joy and sadness. Joy because I’m genuinely happy that she finally found the person who makes her smile and treats her right. After everything she went through, she deserves a happy ending. Sadness because I wish I spent more time with her after college. For some reason things just drifted apart despite having the means to communicate.
To Myles and Mark, I wish you both well. There will lots of challenges. All I can say is enjoy the ride.
Good morning!
I was up early today for no apparent reason. I was up 15 minutes before six in the morning to pee. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. But instead of feeling tired and groggy, I feel good, surprisingly. A li’l bit sleepy, though.
As with almost every waking day, I turned on the laptop and went online to check on my Baked City (That’s my city’s name) in Social City and Rottenboyz, Inc (That’s the name of my company) in Ponzi – the two flash-based games that I currently play on Facebook. I also checked the news and read techie stuff on my favorite tech blog sites.
I fixed myself a bowl of cereal (it was one of those healthy no-fat versions) and a glass of water of wash it all down. I figured that since I’m up I better start the day right.
We have a Mancom meeting this morning at 9:30 a.m. I don’t know what will happen today.
Good morning!
First Post of 2010
I actually have nothing much to say, really, for my first post for 2010. I just want you guys to know that this blog is still alive. I have a nice update in my bike blog on the first philippine-designed and made full suspension mountain bike. Check that one out. Ciao for now.
Reflections on Making My DVD Player Region-Free
In my quest to make my Samsung HT-Z210 region-free, I managed to fuck it up. It worked a while for about three months and then suddenly it can only play US discs (region 1) and not DVDs that I bought from the Philippines (region 3). What irony!
I went to the web searching for possible answers. I saw one post in a forum of a guy who experienced the same problem but there was no response from others. After reading that, I started to feel helpless until I visited the product page in the Samsung site and saw that they have a guide for firmware updates.
Hmmm. Seemed like I had nothing to lose (except for the DVD player) so I downloaded the PDF guide and the firmware file and followed the steps. I have to admit this isn’t exactly the most user-friendly manual in the world, but I managed to figure things out. Now my DVD is back in tip-top condition. It can now play region 3 discs and I’ve yet to try if it can still play region 1 discs as well. If it won’t, it doesn’t matter. I have my new Blu-ray player to do that job.
The moral of the story? I can think of several:
1. It’s OK to play around with your stuff as long as you can fix it or at least be willing to pay the consequences.
2. Common sense is way better than Google.
3. Don’t be greedy. If I didn’t wish for a multi-region DVD player, I wouldn’t have had this problem in the first place.
Condo rules suck
It’s my first time to live in a condo, and in these few weeks that I’ve been here, all I can say is it sucks.
In our old place, you can have stuff delivered and assembled any time we want. Here, you can’t just do that. You got to get a gate pass from the administration building and a separate working permit that has to be approved by the building engineering department. In addition, no work is allowed on Sundays and work people should wear pants and shoes. What the fuck!
Just to illustrate, I bought a closet from one of the furniture shops at Market! Market! I had to put it on hold for a week because the first schedule fell on a Sunday (They don’t allow people to work on stuff on that day). It’s arriving today, but I had to call them up to say that they better hurry because the window for delivery and installation is until 5:00 p.m.
I hate it.
And now the news…
UPDATE (10:33 a.m.): Passed by Burgundy on my way to work. I was expecting to see the place teeming with cops and media men, but instead there was none as if nothing happened. Weird.
_____
I woke to the news of a bomb explosion in Katipunan, Quezon City. I’ve only read it from tweets, and based from these the explosion was in the 7-11 convenience store in Burgundy Place. They say that the place now is infested by cops, and I’ll be able to get a first-hand eyewitness account of that later when I pass by on my way to work.
Also in the news, a fresh new typhoon is forecasted to hit Manila and other parts of Luzon this weekend. A signal number three alert level might be announced. That’s one typhoon every weekend, and super typhoons at that.
What is this world coming to?
