Gionna in Thailand

Bumped into your manager (Jonas) during his birthday party before he left for Thailand a couple of days back. He's so excited and proud of you and I know the whole country is. Keep up the good work. We're praying for you!

And the new American Idol is...

Note: This is an article from FOX's website

He came from Alabama. She came from Oklahoma. Both places are a long way from Hollywood – literally and figuratively – and there’s only one way these two small town talents could have ever been seen by big-time record producers. Only one way they would ever have had a chance at getting in front of a major record label. American Idol. Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood took the same first step over 100,000 others did this season. They stood in a long line and waited days for their chance to audition for American Idol producers.

They easily passed the first two rounds, which put them on a collision course with Randy, Paula and Simon. The excitement and accomplishment of making it through to this point could be wiped out with one bad comment. But the three judges know real talent when they see it, and Bo and Carrie were easily sent through to the Hollywood round.

Months pass between the original audition and the trip to Hollywood. Upon arrival, Bo and Carrie are merely two of the 200 plus who were good enough to make it this far. Bo immediately stuck out. His long hair, carefree attitude and rock singing made him vastly different from the typical Idol contestant. Carrie, with a more traditional look, was separating herself from the pack with her country stylings. The cuts starting coming. 120 left. 60 left. 50 left. When the final 24 were announced, Bo and Carrie were part of the mix. Everybody knew they were good. But could they dominate such a talented field?

This year saw a change. Rather than groups of 8 performing once in an effort to make the finals, 12 guys and 12 girls would have to perform for three straight weeks until the final 12 was determined. More pressure, yes, but also more of a chance for the truly talented to shine. Bo and Carrie quickly announced that they were here to stay with great performances in each of the semi-final rounds.

When the finals began, there seemed to be five or six clear cut favorites. But as the weeks progressed, and contestants were sent packing, it seemed more and more obvious that Bo and Carrie would stick around for a while. Their images, while staying true to themselves, became flashier. Bo started wearing sunglasses inside. Carrie tried new hairstyles, new clothes. More importantly, they stuck to the songs that suited them. And as Constantine, Anthony and Vonzell dropped out, only Bo and Carrie were left standing.

In the CARRIE UNDERWOOD proved to be the better performer with her powerful voice that wowed the crowd at the Kodak Theater and around the world. Congrats Carrie!

The best watch

My Kenneth Cole Watch,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

Got a Kenneth Cole watch as a gift from my better half the other day and was so happy with the watch so I decided to share some tips on buying the best watch for you.

What do you have to consider when getting yourself or someone a watch? Of course, the watch's primary function is to be able to tell the correct time but there are also things you have to consider like the design / style, technology, brand and of course is it worth your money. You also might want to think of the right watch to wear on what occasion. Are you gonna wear it for day, evening, sports or just for leisure.

Let's start with the design / style. Watches can be worn in different occasions depending on its style. For day and evening watches the classic ones would work. If you engage in sports on the other hand getting a watch depending on your need without compromising style is the best. If you need a watch that's water resistant or a watch that keeps track of your heart beat that would depend on you. If you are into fashion colours, style, brand, bracelets and shapes are things you might consider looking into.

Technology is also something you should consider. Would you be more interested in getting an automatic, kinetic, eco-drive, or a quartz powered watch. Each has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Might want to ask your watch dealer which will best suit your needs.

The brand would usually depend on your budget but then again who needs an expensive watch if you just want to use it to give you the correct time. Then again if you are into functionality you might want to invest on a watch that you can use for a long period of time.

I wanna watch Starwars III... NOT!

Well been thinking of watching Starwars since Tuesday (advanced screening) here in Eastwood Cinema... Thanks to that big billboard on the Eastwood tower next to the building where I work that's been buggin me since the day they set it up. (Yoda never looked better on that billboard by the way. hehehe!)

Then why not watch Starwars? It's not that I don't want to watch the movie, it's just that I don't want to watch it anytime soon. For one, I don't want to watch the movie in a crowded cinema. Secondly I don't want to watch the movie JUST for the sake of being able to say that I'VE SEEN IT! Third and last reason is that I don't have anyone to go and watch the movie with me. Either I'm busy or my friends are busy and we can't schedule a date to watch it... Well I guess it could wait until next week.

Miss Universe 2005 Philippine Bet

Miss Philippines 2005 - Gionna Cabrera


Here's a picture of my friend Gionna Cabrera for this year's Miss Universe 2005 Pageant in Thailand.

Bring home the crown Gionna! We're praying for you. Good luck!

To those who are avid fans of the yearly pageant... here's an excerpt from the Bangkok Tourism Site

Miss Universe 2005 Pageant held in Bangkok

Bangkok will host the 2005 Miss Universe Pageant in Bangkok. The show will broadcast in the US on NBC and Telemundo on Monday, May 30, 2005 at 9 PM ET ( May 31, 2005 9 AM Thailand Local Time ) and will be distributed around the world to nearly a billion viewers. The pegeants will greatly promte Thailand's tourism and showcase to the world that how beautiful and ready Thailand is to welcome visitors.

This is sooo cool!

Click to Enlarge

Ever wondered how they made that big billboard for Closeup? The one that holds the title of being the biggest photo mosaic. Well also wondered how they made it so I did some research and asked around.

My friend told me it's simple... you just need to download a software and use it to create a photo mosaic of your own. Don't know if this is the same software that they use but I asked for a copy of the software and used it to check for myself.

Above is the sample of the image... Pretty cool!

Filipinoism 101

Well these words are definitely unique to the Philippines and are definitely funny even to the locals... Some are really being used in regular conversations while some are mostly used to deliver jokes.

These are the words that are so unique and loaded in meaning that they will never find a direct translation in the English language. Forget traditional dictionaries.

1. Achuchu (A-chu-chu). This refers to the pointless insincerities being said during long, involved conversations about nothing at all.

2. Ano (A-noh) The all-around, all-purpose word for everything.

(2.1) Pronoun in interrogation: Ano? (What)

(2.2) Noun: Where is your ano? (Where is your father/mother/dead-uncle's-second-cousin)

(2.3) Verb: Anuhin this. (Paint/kill/maim/castrate this.)

(2.4) Adjective: This is so ano. (This is so pretty/big/astounding.)

(2.5) Interjection: Ano! (What the hell!)

(2.6) Substitute for genitalia: Did you ano your ano?

The use of ano is quite dangerous for the untrained ear, and must be put into the proper setting. "Honey, the ano is too long, we have to cut it," must be accompanied by the proper understanding of the context, as results may be critical to a couple's future.

3. Booba (boo-bah). A female blessed with larger than usual mammary glands, which can be used as weapons of mass destruction.

4. Checheboreche (Che-che-boh-re-che) Same as achuchu. It is interesting to ponder on the reason why there are so many words in the Filipino language that beautifully describe meaningless chatter.

5. Epal (Eh-pal). An individual who believes he is God.

6. Gigil (gee-gil). An uncontrollable desire to bite something.

7. Hipon (Hee-pon). Literally "shrimp," whose body is eaten while its head is thrown away, this refers to a female whose body is to die for and whose face looks like it belongs to the dead.

8. Kikay (kee-kay). Refers to individuals who carry a brush, hand wash, moisturizer, lip-gloss and various other facial enhancements in a case (aptly called a kikay kit) inside her bag. Recent inspections of various backpacks have led to the conclusion it is not a purely female trait. This breed cannot resist checking themselves out on mirrors, glass windows, bread knives, sidewalk puddles and plastic-covered notebooks.

9. Kaekekan (Ka-ek-e-kahn) Same as achuchu and chechebureche.

10. Kilig (keel-leg). A rush of excitement due to the actions, presence or even mention of he whom you see as the future father of your children.

11. Laglag-brip (lag-lag-brip). The female counterpart of laglag-panti

12. Laglag-panti (lag-lag-pan-tee). A man so incredibly hot, so heart-stoppingly gorgeous and oozing with masculinity that female underwear (whether worn by males or females) falls to the ground without effort whatsoever.

13. Indyanero (In-jan-neh-ro). An individual who fails to appear at an appointment without prior warning. Not to be confused with individuals who appear according to Filipino time (approximately 10 minutes before the meeting is to end)

14. Japorms (Jah-porms). Describes an individual dressed differently from the usual (typically involves clothes that have been laundered and pant legs of roughly the same length).

15. Lagot (Lah-got) A prophesy of evil things to come.

16. Para (Pah-rah). A term that informs the driver of a jeep to stop and pause (usually in the middle of the road) as the individual speaking intends to leave the vehicle. Dangerous for individuals as drivers seem to believe having one foot in the air is all that is necessary for descent.

17. Takusa (Ta-kuh-sa). Derived from takot sa asawa (afraid of wife), this is a term used to describe the silent (very silent) minority of males married to feminine reincarnations of Hitler.

18. Torpe (tore-peh). A gentleman who is desperately attracted to a female yet by some strange compulsion is reduced to a frozen mound of stuttering male whenever that female is near.

Kids of Faith

Hey guys! Just had a conversation with my long lost friend Faith Malazarte and thought of sharing you this. Well I've known Faith way back in college and haven't seen her for quite some time now. I found out that she is busy with a group call "KIDS OF FAITH" club.

The KOF club's vision is simple, to share God's love for the children who have Cancer and are either confined at the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital (POH) in Banawe Ave., Quezon City, Philippines OR at the Philippine General Hospital in Taft Ave., Manila.

These kids come from destitute families and some of them have even come from provinces outside of Metro Manila. Right now the focus of the group is more at the Orthopedic Hospital. Additionally, the children at PGH are being taken care of by, Annie, a wonderful soul, who has been doing it for more than a year now. Annie has setup "House of Treasures" in PGH, a library for cancer patients & their companions at the hospital. She holds parties, fundraising and more for the kids at the PGH. Right now, Faith is helping Annie out at the PGH, learning more on how to minister to these angels lovingly in the best way possible.

Please check out the pictures, and drop a line to anyone of the kids here! It will surely bring a glowing smile to their faces.

If you want to write to anyone in the club, simply click "Club Member Profiles" and browse thru the profiles of each kid, choose one that appeals to you. Write and send it to:

(name of the cancer patient)
KIDS OF FAITH
c/o Faith Malazarte
Blk. 7 Lot 14 Ph.6 Area 1,
GoldenCity Subd., Taytay, Rizal
Philippines, 1920
http://www.kidsofaith.org

If you prefer to email them, you can email them at kids@kidsofaith.org. But please supplement it with postal mail. It's more exciting for the children to receive their very own personalized mail!

Let us share God's love to these children! God bless you mightily!

Equal 10

Hi Cyberspace Friends!

My Friend LILY is part of the Equals 10 Best Bodies Search and just for the sheer fun of it please try to logon on to www.femalenetwork.com/equal and vote for her!



She's number 15 for the month of May, the thumbnail on the lefthand bottom side of the collage :)

Thanks a bunch!

The new and improved Friendster

Friendster,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

So I guess you already noticed that cool new welcome page in friendster. (if you have one... you have one don't you?)

I've been using Friendster for 2 years now and basically saw how the site improved. There was a time when messages would be delayed by 3 sometimes 5 days, bugs when you try to update your profile, pictures not showing up and many more.

Friendster has come a long way... now it introduces a number of new features like chat, friendster blog, and photo album.

Although these features are not yet free from bugs like the chat (that originally was intended to be used by users from Canada during it's first implementation --- but there's a trick to it... you just need to change your location to show you're from Canada and there you go). Its own Friendster blog (as if there's not enought blogging sites out there... hehehe!) and its own photo album that is taking too slow to load.

Anyway I guess Friendster is here to stay... besides it's the first of its kind that really made its mark and the rest... well just followed.

Chikka Free Text for everyone

Chikka,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

Wanna text for free using your computer from the US to the Philippines?

Download Chikka now...

For more details on how to configure your computer you can visit http://www.chikka.com/

MoBlogging in Blogger

Hey guess what fellow bloggers?

Bumped into this article in Blogger and thought you guys might be interested. According to the article, we (blogger users) can now post articles and photos by sending an e-mail from a mobile phone to go@blogspot.com. After sending the post a separate blog will be created and users will need to claim and register their blog if they want mobile posts to be posted in their existing blog.

Well this is not new because blogging through email has been available for quite some time now (go to Settings > Posting and setup the blogging by email setting) but at least now blogging is made more accessible to everyone.

For more details visit: http://go.blogspot.com

Battle of the BOXES

Ok so Microsoft unvailed it’s XBOX360 this May 10 and has been creating noise among the tech savvy community, but do you think it’s gonna last? Sony recently announced that they will be releasing sometime this year or early next year their much awaited Playstation 3.

My friend went gaga over the news and searched the web for the reviews on the new PS3. Being a gamer he thinks that the PS3 will dominate the market once it’s released. I guess he’s right with the nice reviews and the tech specs of the PS3 it seems like it will be the next big thing in the gaming world.

By the way here are the comparative tech specs of the two boxes. Enjoy!


PS3

PlayStation 3 Specifications

CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS

Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)

AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE
Sourced from SONY CORP.


XBOX 360

XBOX360 Specifications

2 types of Xbox Live:
Xbox Live Silver (no subscription required)
Xbox Live Gold (subscription benefits)

Features for Gold service
* Also for Silver
# Also for Offline

- Seamless transition to Xbox Live account from Xbox to Xbox 360
- Access to MMOs (additional fees may apply) *
- Free Xbox Live weekends *
- Multiplayer online gameplay
- Avatar for gamer profile * #
- Motto for gamer profile * #
- Personalized look for Xbox System Guide * #
- Offline achievments * #
- Online achievements *
- Access to other players’ Gamer cards via Live *
- Cumulative gamer score * #
- Location/language profile * #
- Reputation *
- Enahnced matchmaking using above
- Skill level matchmaking
- Gameplay style profile (casual, competitive, etc.)
- Recent players list *
- Free and premium download game content *
- Free and premium downloadable movies, music, tv *
- Downloadable demos/trailers *
- Microtransactions *
- Custom playlist in every game * #
- Play music from portable devices * #
- View images from digital camera * #
- Strem media from Windows XP * #
- Interactive screen savers * #
- Track info for CDs * #
- Communication with voice, video or text *

360 HW:
1. Support for DVD-video, DVD-Rom, DVD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-Rom, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 cd, JPEG photo CD
2. All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing
3. Customizable face plates to change appearance
4. 3 USB 2.0 ports
5. Support for 4 wireless controllers
6. Detachable 20GB drive
7. Wi-Fi ready

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU
- 3 symmetrical cores at 3.2 GHz each
- 2 hardware threads per core
- 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core
- 1 MB L2 cache

CPU Game Math Performance
- 9 billion dots per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor
- 500 MNz
- 10 MB embedded DRAM
- 48-way parallel floating-point shader pipelines
- unified shader architecture

Memory
-512 MB GDDR3 RAM
- 700 MNz DDR

Memory Bandwidth
- 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
- 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
- 21.6 GB/s frontside bus

Audio
- Mulitchannel surround sond output
- Supports 48khz 16-bit audio
- 320 independent decompression channels
- 32 bit processing
- 256+ audio channels

Poly Creativists

Poly Creativists,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

Ok so I promised my friend I'll check out his photo exhibit.

Something long overdue since I was not able to go to the launching last May 12. Anyway was able to go last Friday and finally check out the exhibit. Although was not able to see my friend Andy Maluche, it was still a delight to see his work, mostly photographs from parties, fashion shows and big events of last year.

If you guys wanna check out the exhibit you still have until tomorrow - May 16 2005. Andy Maluche: Poly Creativists at the Magnet Gallery, Paseo Center, Makati City Phone: +63.2.817.78.95

PUP Alumni Badminton Club

PUPABC,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

To those who are interested...

Hello fellow PUPians!

Last August 7, 2004, an egroup called PUP Alumni Badminton Club was created, an idea of two badminton enthusiasts from the 1994 batch of Accountancy to gather together alumni of PUP who are very much into badminton.

We currently have around fifty alumni members to date, and we are hoping to grow in numbers next year as word about the club spread.

We invite you, both alumni and current students of PUP, of whatever college or campus, to come visit and join the club's egroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PUPABC

Let your other friends know of the club also

Thanks :-)

Noel Guinto

Best Blogs in Asia

Hey guys this site was also nomited for Best Blog in Asia (Philippines Category).
You can vote by going here.
Just go to Philippines and click on Crazy world of Ayan to vote.
Thanks in advance!

Philippine Blog Awards 2005

Crazy world of Ayan is nominated in this year's Philippine Blog Awards. This is sooooo cool! To the other nominees good luck!

Click here to view all the entries on this year's Philippine Blog Awards

Starcruises

Starcruises,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

Just had my principal interview today for a position at Star Cruises and I hope I get the job as a cruise staff.

By the way for those who are not familiar what Star Cruises is here's something from their website www.starcruises.com

Star Cruises, the third largest cruise line in the world is a global cruise brand with a combined fleet of 21 ships in service and under construction, with more than 32,000 lower berths, cruising to destinations and islands in Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mediterranean, Bermuda and the Antarctica under the Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries brands. A letter of intent has been signed for another newbuild with an option for an additional ship.

Vessels operating under the Star Cruises' brand in Asia-Pacific are SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Gemini, Star Pisces, MegaStar Aries and MegaStar Taurus.

The NCL group has a fleet of fifthteen ships in service and under construction under three brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines. The NCL fleet includes the Norwegian Dream, Norwegian Majesty, Norwegian Sea, Norwegian Wind, Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Star, Norwegian Crown and Norwegian Spirit. The Norwegian Jewel is scheduled to be delivered in August 2005 whilst a fourth newbuild, yet unnamed is presently under construction. Norwegian Sea is scheduled to join the Star Cruises' fleet in September 2005 and renamed SuperStar Libra to be based in India.

NCL America currently operates the Pride of Aloha, which will subsequently be joined by the Pride of America in June 2005 and The Pride of Hawaii in April 2006 . Orient Lines is an award-winning single ship line with the Marco Polo offering niche destination-focused cruises.

Both NCL and Orient Lines market primarily in North America but also extensively in the UK, Europe, South America and Asia whilst NCL America offers inter island cruises in Hawaii.

The Cruise Ferries brand, which was launched in 2001 presently, comprises the m.v. Wasa Queen.

A thankless job

This is an email I got from my co-worker that I would like to share with you guys especially to those who are currently, previously or are thinking of working in the call center industry. It's a letter made by a Filipino based in Manila who's working as a call center agent for an ISP (Internet Service Provider) company based in the US.

Thanks to my friend / co-worker Karell Cruz for sharing this email with me.

This is a thankless job. I am working 8 hours a day (or night...whatever), talking to people of another race in another timezone about problems with the products they are using of which I care nothing about.

I work in a call center. And I am about to call it quits.

I start work at a time when my family and friends (most of them, anyway) are into their first REM cycle. I eat "lunch" during my brother's breakfast time and I come home to say "goodnight" to my mother cooking lunch. I miss all outings, I don't go to church with my sisters (I work Sundays) and I can't tell what day it is.

I am in limbo.

The people I talk to everyday (night...whatever!) put me in a state of limbo. Some are so stupid (I apologize, I'm only being truthful here) that they won't know the difference between a potato and a cucumber. Some are so funny that I have to hit the mute button ten times in a span of three minutes to guffaw. For crying out loud, everybody knows how to type in a "colon" right? Some are so technical (but still stupid just the same) to blame their ISP (that's the client) of blocking his emails just because he's using MacAfee Scan Mail. Naturally, I told him it scans his emails and rejects them, labeling them "virus". They just don't get it.

I hate my job and I love it.

I hate being yelled at (as if it's my fault they can't get their mail when their mail servers are f*cked up) and being cussed at (of course I release the call after three misses. Hehehe...) and blamed for problems in a country I never dreamed of seeing (the hell with the American dream). I hate being called "stupid" even when I'm doing my best to get them connected to the Internet (guess who turned out to be "stupid" for not having the phone line plugged into the computer?) so they can surf those sick porn sites?

But, as I said, I am in limbo.

May mga taong ang sarap tulungan... (there are those who you'd love to help)

There's a lady who was very upset because she kept getting disconnected. A simple modem init string and I stayed with her for five minutes to make sure she stays on... and she showered me with thanks. A lola (grandma) wanted to get her email because her grandson is sick and her health can't stand another five-state crossing. When we got her Outlook Express configured, she gleefully shared with me the news that her grandson made it to his first birthday and offered to email me the pictures. An old couple in Montana thanked me profusely for connecting them to the internet: their petition to adopt a Chinese baby girl has been granted and they could get her next week.

I love my job because a simple Thank You makes it all worth it. To hell with the obnoxious know-it-all idiots. These special customers give my existence one more reason for continuing.

One time, I told my supervisor that my job is thankless. He told me to stick around and let it grow on me. One of these days, he said, you will see why we all stay.

Last night, I got an email from our corporate headquarters. Remember that woman who kept getting disconnected? Management barged in on that call...and I got another word of thanks.

In an environment like this, "thank you" is the greatest treasure of all.

So maybe, this job is not that thankless after all.

But a raise won't hurt, would it? I sure won't mind saying "thank you" to a thankless job like this.

Back to the real world...

Well things are getting better... (I guess). Had 6 hours of sleep today and am feeling good. Slept at around 10 am this morning and woke up betweek 4 or 5 this afternoon and had a snack with my flatmate Rose.

It's really nice to have a flatmate for a change. Well it has it's advantages and disadvantages but since Rose is like a family to me it's a lot easier plus my bestbud Uma gets to hangout with me and his sister more often cause his place is closer now. That is if he gets time off from his regular rehearsals and classes...

Only thing I wasn't able to do today was to go the gym but I guess I could always go tomorrow

Problems... Problems... Problems...

I wish problems would go away after a long sleep. I wish life is as simple as it was when I was alot younger.

Lately, it seems like my problems are getting more complicated, more complex, more stressful. I just can't understand why they don't seem to stop coming; just when you're about to get a breather from the last problem here comes another one.

I guess keeping yourself sane is a consolation nowadays. Waaaaaaaah!!!

Dude, ang cute... pink!

When you hear the names of Brad Pitt, Keannu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Justin Timberlake, David Beckham what comes to your mind? You’re right! All these guys are blessed with good looks and are branded metrosexuals. These are the guys who believe in making sure that they look great all the time.

Metrosexuality is the rooted in the concept of narcissism or vanity of men. The Filipinos are slowly catching up with the idea and it’s no longer a taboo for Filipinos to pamper themselves in salons, spas and commercialized gyms in the metro such as Golds, Slimmers, Fitness First just to name a few thereby setting the standards higher to the majority of the Filipino guys.

Contrary to popular belief, metrosexuals don’t get the girls or their dreams as easily as most people would think. The main reason is because, not all ladies dig the fact that their boyfriend is as or even exceeds their vanity.
Media is partly to blame for the emergence of these beauty loving men because media dictates what is beautiful and what is not. Media made it easier for self-proclaimed male showbiz metrosexuals to become vocal about undergoing facial treatment, liposuction, and other self-enhancing cosmetic operations.

To sum it all up, men becomes vain because they just want to be accepted by the society and acceptance sometimes entails a certain standard of vanity.

Spiky new me

After giving it some thought I've decided to have my haircut. I'm now sporting a short spiky hair like I used to have 4-5 months ago. Back then I told myself I'll grow back my hair so I could do more with my hair when it comes to styling it, but I had to cut it short due to a number of reasons.

Starting to like it though, especially now that it's been so hot. My flatmate, rose (yes you heard it right, I now have a flatmate) thinks it's better than my long hair. My co-workers and friends thinks the same. I guess I made the right decision.

Joke time with Manay Letty!

Got this funny email from my friend Aldrin Collantes and decided to share it with you guys... This is about Manay Letty a fictional character that gives advise to people through snail mail. Read on!

Dear Daughter Dearest,

Medyo mabagal akong magsulat ngayon dahil alam ko na mabagal kang Magbasa. Dito na kami sa probinsya para tirahan ang bagong bili na bahay pero hindi ko maibibigay sa iyo ang address dahil dinala ng dating nakatira ang number para daw hindi na sila magpapalit ng address.

Maganda ang lugar na ito at malayo sa Manila. Dalawang beses lang umulan sa linggong ito, tatlong araw noong una at apat na araw naman nung pangalawa.

Nakakainis lang ang mga paninda dito katulad ng nabili kong shampoo dahil ayaw bumula. Nakasulat kasi sa labas ay FOR DRY HAIR kaya hindi ko binabasa ang buhok ko pag ginagamit ko. Mamaya ay ibabalik ko sa tindahan at magrereklamo ako

Noong isang araw naman ay hindi ako makapasok sa bahay dahil ayaw bumukas ang padlock. Nakasulat kasi ay YALE, aba eh namalat na ako sa kakasigaw ay hindi pa din bumubukas.

Mayroon nga pala akong nabili dito na magandang jacket at tiyak na magugustuhan mo. Ipindala k! o na sa iyo sa DHL, medyo mahal daw dahil mabigat ang mga butones kaya ang ginawa ko ay tinanggal ko na lang ang mga butones at inilagay ko sa mga bulsa. Ikabit mo na lang pagdating
diyan.

Nagpadala na din ako ng tseke para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo, hindi ko na pinirmahan dahil gusto kong maging anonymous donor.

Ang kapatid mo nga palang si Jude ay may trabaho na dito, mayroon siyang 500 na tao na under sa kanya. Nag-gugupit siya ngayon ng damo sa Memorial Park, okey naman ang kita, above minimum ang sahod.

Wala na akong masyadong balita. Sumulat ka na lang ng madalas.

Nagmamahal for life,
Mommy Dearest

P.S. Maglalagay sana ako ng pera kaya lang ay naisara
ko na ang envelope.
********************

Dear Mommy Dearest,

Utang na loob naman Inay, bakit naman wala pa ring kupas ang inyong katangahan? Kaya naman dalawang beses na inaatake sa puso si Itay dahil sa konsumisyon sa inyo eh. Tulad ng tinitigan nyo ng isang oras yung ! karton ng orange juice dahil nakasulat dun "concentrate", o nung sinabi nyo na puno na yung sinehan dahil nakasulat sa may pintuan "pull". dyoskoday, mabuti na lang at ang kagandahan ko lang ang namana ko sa inyo.

Para sa iyo, Mommy Dearest (at kailan pa nga pala kayo nagpalit ng pangalan from "Inay" to "Mommy Dearest"?):

M.A.N.I.L.A. - May All Nights Inspire Love Always.

Nagmamahal forever,
Manay Letty
-----------------------------------------------------------

Dear Manay Letty,

Mayroon akong dalawang katanungan na kung inyong masasagot ay makatutulong sa nakararami, at sa katunayan ay maaari pang makapagdulot ng world peace. Una: Ang kikiam ba ay kiki sa umaga? At pangalawa: Ang uod ba pag namatay ay inuuod din? I thanks for you!

Thin Girl
********************!
Dear Thin Girl,

Bago ko sagutin ang iyong mga tanong, gusto ko munang i-address ang ating Dear Readers, especially ang mga hindi taga-Pilipinas na hindi bihasa sa "textese" rhymes with "ch! inese"), ang unique language ng mga pinoys na ginagamit sa texting: usually ginagamit ang "am" or "pm" instead na "morning" o "evening" para mas maiksi i-type, for example: "gud am HoneyBunny!" o "gud pm my sweet LecheFlan Cupcake!". Kaya ang question ng ating mahaderang letter-writer ay kung: "kiki" + "am" "kiki sa umaga"? Actually hindi din ako sure sa sagot kaya tinanong ko ang sa kong kaibigan na lalaki. Ang sabi niya ay "yes" daw ang sagot dahil pareho lang naman daw ang lasa nun.

Ang reaction naman ng inyong asumptionistang lola (meaning ako, gaga!): "YUCK! YUCKADIRI! YUCKADIRI TO DEATH!"

Para naman sa 2nd question mo, Thin Girl: malalaman lang natin ang sagot dyan pag pumanaw ka na, dahil sigurado akong mukha ka namang uod. By the way, alam mo bang magiging bastos ang pangalan mo kapag si German Moreno ang nag-pronounce dahil "tingle" ang lalabas? Wala lang, FYI lang... o sya, heto ang iyong food for thought:

C.A.N! .A.D.A. - Cute And Naughty Action Develops
Attraction.

Nagmamahal forever,
Manay Letty
------------------------------------------------------------


Itong susunod na liham ay hindi talaga para sa "Dear Manay Letty" kundi para talaga ito sa aking friend at sa friend nating lahat dito sa TristanCafe, si Tristan. Totoo itong letter na 'to, believe it or else! . Uulitin ko, ACTUAL LETTER ITO PARA KAY TRISTAN. Naaliw ako ng husto dito kaya ako, ang inyong ever-beautiful Dear Manay Letty, ang sasagot...

Hi Tristan. Good and you make another new website that is cooler and neater. But my only criticism to your website is that, it has a lot of grammar error that has need to be correct. Tristan, this is a website and not just mail or something that here you can use fragment sentences
or something like that. Since this is a Website, you must be careful to your words, your verbs, your sentence structure because there are thousands of People or so are visiting this Filipino website. At isa pa, kung ang mga grammar mo dito sa website mo ay hindi pa rin nagbabago, what would I highly recommend to you is that you better remove this website here because ang kalalabasan tuloy niyan ay magiging kahiyahiya lang ang mga pilipino.

Oh, Tristan i do not know how could i help you to correct your
grammar but what can i suggest for you is to read a grammar books just like constructing sentences book. Gemini
********************

Dear Gemini,

My gas! Did you sure? What does your proof? You're cannot be seriousness! I'm really embarassment at that criticize, so these
is my comments at you:

P.A.S.I.G! - Please Always Say I'm Gorgeous!

Nagmamahal forever,
Manay Letty
-----------------------------------------------------------


Dear Manay Letty,

Letty, anak, ikaw ba yan? Dalaga ka na pala.

Natatandan mo ba ako? Si yaya Mitring mo 'to... natatandaan mo nung bata ka pa! , hinuhugasan ko ba ang singit mo? Miss na miss na kita. Sana dumalaw ka naman dito sa Basilan para sa fiesta. Sige iha, wag ka sana magbago ha, sana ikaw pa din ang mahal kong Lettygirl.


Yaya Mitring
********************

Dear Yaya Mitring,

Kamusta ka na? Natatandaan talaga kita, ikaw yung nagnakaw sa amin bago ka umalis, impakta ka. Kamusta na pala si Loring, yung anak mo na kalaro ko noong araw? Napatawad niya na ba ako sa paghulog ko sa kanya sa bangin noong mga dalagita pa kami, at nung itinulak ko siya sa ilog na may mga buwaya? Wala naman akong masamang hangarin sa kanya noon, hindi ko naman siya sinisisi sa pag-akit niya sa aking kasintahan ng mga panahong yun.


At pakisabi sa panganay nyong si Tonton, ang aking pers lab: salamat sa mga matamis na alaala. Sana naman ay tuli na siya ngayon.

Para sa iyo, Yaya Mitring:
K.E.N.Y.A. - Keep Everything Nice Yet Arousing.

Para kay Loring, na nawa ay nakakalakad na ulit:
F.R.A.N.C.E. - Friendships Remain And Never Can End.

At kay Tonton, who still brings a twinkle to my eyes:
C.H.I.N.A. - Come Here...I Need Affection.

P.S. Taga South of France ako noh! Anong Basilan ang
sinasabi mo dyan... sa ganda at sosyal! kong 'to...

Nagmamahal forever,
Manay Letty
------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Manay Letty,

Ako po ay 19 years old na pero hindi ko pa rin po alam kung totoo ba yung sinasabi nilang pag malaki ung paa nug lalaki malaki rin daw yung kwan nya. Ang size ng paa ko sa U.K. eh 9 1/2,

Jack Stevens
********************
Dear Jack Stevens,

Hindi ko din alam kung totoo nga ang kasabihang iyan, pero ikinagagalak kong sabihin sa iyo na may isang paraan para natin matiyak ang kasagutan sa iyong tanong. Kailangan mong magpunta sa akin para masukat ko mismo ang iyong, uhm... pagkalalaki. Don't worry, I'll be gentle. Tsaka it's for the sake of art and the sake of science, malaki ang maitutulong ng ating gagawing, uhm... experiment sa ikauunlad ng Pilipinas. Maghubo para sa bayan! ! O diba ang ganda ng battlecry mo? 9 1/2 kamo ang size ng paa mo? Ngayon pa lang ay ipinagdarasal ko na na sana'y totoo nga ang kasabihan.

Para sa iyo, Jack Stevens, dahil 19 years old ka lang, virgin at spring chicken (pero not for long), dalawa ang para sa iyo:

T.O.N.D.O. - Tonight's Our Night, Dearest One.

At kapag kasinglaki nga ng iyong paa ang iyong, hm... uhm... o sya sige na nga ang iyong talong, schlong, longanisa, whatever, ito ang aking masasabi:

I.N.D.I.A! - I Nearly Died In Adoration!

Nagmamahal forever,
Manay Letty

Ito po ang inyong Manay Letty na nagpapaalam at nagsasabing...

Remember, there's a Manay Letty inside every one of us!

Mabalos

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Green Tea Addict

Green Tea,
originally uploaded by AyanD.

Ok I'm guilty! been drinking green tea for almost a month now and have started to develop a sort of addiction to the substance. Hehehe! Green tea (Camellia sinensis) have been commended for it's health benefits way back 4000 years ago by the Chinese people and this year green tea is getting more hyped up I guess mainly because of the growing population of health conscious Filipinos. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go you'll see promotional materials on the benefits or drinking green tea. (Take for instance the whopping billboard for C2 Green Tea along EDSA in Guadalupe)


Although Green Tea has not been officially recognized as a medical agent, it is known to be effective against diarrhea, fatigue, indigestion and upset stomach while boosting mood and energy. Green Tea also fights cavities and plaque and it is also known to fend off certain types of cancer, particularly of the stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, breast, lung, and pancreas.

While it has so many benefits it is also suggested to take it in moderation or even avoid by people with weak heart, kidney disease, an overactive thyroid, susceptibility to spasms, or a tendency to anxiety or panic attacks. If you have a weak stomach, Green Tea may cause acid stomach, stomach irritation, and poor appetite. Intake of large amounts can lead to constipation or diarrhea. Adding milk to the tea will usually eliminate these side effects by reducing the potency of the tannins. People who are under alkaline medications should also ask their doctor's go signal cause it can also interfere with its absorption. As for pregnant and breastfeeding women it is advisable to limit its intake to no more than 5 cups daily during pregnancy due to it's caffeine content. For nursing mothers it should be taken in small amounts because, like other beverages containing caffeine, it can cause sleep disorders in infants.

To prepare as a beverage, steep a teabag or teaspoon of tea for 3 to 10 minutes. When taking Green Tea for diarrhea, allow extra time. The longer Green Tea brews, the stronger its antidiarrheal effect. Commercial extracts of Green Tea are available in tablet and capsule form. (The usual recommendation is 3 to 4 cups of tea a day. If you are taking Green Tea extract, a dosage of 300 to 400 milligrams is typical. Because potency may vary, follow the manufacturer's instructions whenever available.)
Although it is impossible to drink enough tea to be fatal, drinking of excessive doses (1,500 mg. of caffeine (about 5 cups of tea) can cause restlessness, tremors, and exaggerated reflexes. The first signs of outright poisoning are vomiting and abdominal spasms. It could also cause irritability, sleeplessness, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and headache.

Goodbye Ate Watty

Got a text from my friend and schoolmate, Jeanelit asking for a short prayer for the soul of our friend and ex-colleague, Ate Watty. It took the whole night before I could react to the text message or maybe my mind was just not accepting the fact that our dear friend died of breast cancer. I didn’t know she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer until now. I just would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ate Watty. May your soul rest in peace with the Lord.

Update:
You can visit this link for more information about cancer (e.g. breast cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, etc.).