Saturday, July 24, 2004

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t

It’s been my experience that many Filipinos are afraid to directly hurt other people. It can be something as simple as declining to go to a person’s birthday party (and saying something like “I’ll come late” instead) to something as complex as breaking up a relationship (“I’ll stay with him/her even if I don’t love him/her anymore since his/her grades have dropped whenever I’m away from him/her”). It doesn’t matter that in the long run, the other person will get hurt, just as long as it doesn’t originate from them.

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Write Write Write

I usually try to write something every day, at least for this blog, since doing so is very easy. Unfortunately, either my life is terribly boring, or it's terribly busy that I don't have the time to write.

Of course posting a very long entry doesn't really make up for it.

Busy Busy Busy

So yes, this week has been a very busy week. I've been scrambling to get my NBI clearance, have my medical check-up, and still manage to pass by Comic Quest every evening in an effort to get people to play Settlers of Catan.

On a tragic note, not only am I currently broke (and actually indebted to a certain someone but some of the Settlers of Catan components are actually missing, so I can kiss P2200 worth of investments goodbye.

Rain Rain Rain

Yes, it's been raining for the past week. Yes, I've been drenched in the rain, braving the streets even when there's a storm and it's dark as night at 4 pm.

Of course it's even more annoying when you're wet not because of the rain but rather because of vehicles passing you by at high speeds that you get splashed on.

Plug Plug Plug

Comic Quest has a new egroup which you can sing up so that you can get the latest news, such as when the stocks will arrive and what issues will be arriving (once Vin actually sends me the email with the supposed data).

It can also double as a moderated public forum for discussions and the like.

(Comic Quest, for those uninformed, is a Philippine-based comic shop which has retail stores in places like Mega Mall and SM North EDSA.)

Money Money Money

No, I don't have any more money these days. And since I don't play any actual RPG games anymore, I just might give up D&D. It's not like I'll be able to play anytime soon, and once work starts, definitely not for the long term.

Also, since the book fair has been moved to mid-August, every peso saved counts!

Cosplay Cosplay Cosplay

Cosparade on Ice (Anime on Ice)

July 31, 2004

SM Mega Mall Ice Skating Rink

P80.00 entrance fee

Starts at 4 pm

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Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Borders

Just came from my pre-employment check-up and as I was filling out the forms and answering questions, I did notice that I had to think of my answers rather than coming to me automatically.

It's because of the multi-faceted life I live. I blame part of it to my parents. Because of the lies they told people, the lies they told me, and the lies they tell themselves. And of course, the lies that they perpetuate still. But not everything is their fault.

Of course the borders that I'm crossing does not concern solely myself. I mean it affects many Filipinos as well.

Look at the Philippines. It's listed as under Asia and yet is in many respects Polynesian. Culturally, we're a mishmash of several things, including (both in a positive and negative way) America.

English or Pilipino/Tagalog? Add in my background and you have Chinese (fookien or mandarin?). In the end, a number of us end up speaking a combination of both (called Tag-lish or in my case, Chi-Tag-lish) but experts in neither (which is to say that some can't speak fluent English nor fluent Pilipino). I'm not even adding the other dialects of the country.

As for religion, we could be Catholic or Muslim, yet there's still some folk practices sprinkled here and there (we have, for example, "anting-anting", which is the equivalent of a magical talisman or charm). For the Filipino-Chinese, there's the Buddhist-Christians and Buddhist-Catholics. In my case, I'm a Catholic-Protestant (for several years, I thought I was Catholic and went to a Catholic school because my parents never told me that the church I was going to was actually a Protestant church and that my faith differed from my classmates... and they even had me Catholically baptized and consented to my first communion).

Personally, my name has and always will be a big problem. Which as I said before, I blame my parents. I mean I have my mother's maiden name as my last name legally, and yet they (my parents) expect me to use my father's family name. I won't even go through the numerous aliases I have, almost seemingly as if given at whim, thanks to my parents (it's really strange when you have a medical appointment, for example, and my mom gives off two possible names as a patient, as if it were normal).

The location of my home is intriguing. I live in Mandaluyong, but if you go south just a few meters away, you'll find yourself in San Juan. Similarly, go north and you'll find yourself in Pasig. It's also amazing how you still get mail even if you use the zip code of the former even when you actually live in Mandaluyong.

"Sample"

One of the requirements for the check-up was to give a feces sample. Honestly, is there no better way to give this without putting the bottle (or in my case, a film tube) up your ass? Perhaps wait for "it" to land on the toilet and sweep it with something. Or perhaps a portable bowl that you can give the medical doctors.

I won't even go into the details of how women probably find it difficult to give a urine sample. That, at least, isn't too complicated for guys.

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Sunday, July 18, 2004

Settlers of Catan

Currently, I've been indulging myself with Settlers of Catan which can be played online via a Java server.

Of course The University of Catan has a FAQ for the game.

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