On the Bus

To add to Mayn Man's post, here are two pictures I took while commuting to Makati:

beside it was..

The Complainer 3: Complaining on "Holidays"

If there is one term that I hate more than anything especially during this time is the greeting "Happy Holidays!"

It's disrespectful to the specific occasions held during these time of the year. It's like greeting people with "Great Vacations!". It's stupid. It's Christmas not Holiday. For some people it's Hanukkah, again, not Holiday.

It's bad enough that we've forgotten the real meaning of these occasions but now we've even glossed over their names.

Merry Christmas everybody. I'll punch the face of the next person who greets me Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings.

Noche Buena Tips

[Note: This article came out last December 20, 2008 in The Philippine Star]

Noche Buena Tips by Francis Maynard S. Maleon

Christmas is here once again and a lot of us want to make sure that our families have a good one. As usual, the Noche Buena is the most significant meal during this Christmas Season and we all want it to be as special as possible. At the same time, these days we have to be smart in buying food for our feast as sometimes we buy stuff that we do not really eat. For those of us who want to have a great Noche Buena Feast without breaking our Piggy Banks, here are some tips.

Tip no. 1: Set a Budget

During Christmas Season, we always fall under the “Pasko naman e” mentality. We all know what this is. We buy every food that we like reasoning out that it’s Christmas anyway. While this may be fun while buying the food, it’s not nearly as fun when you check your wallet after. For a family of five to seven, a PhP 1,000.00 peso budget for Noche Buena is just about right.

Tip No. 2: Go shopping for food after you had a meal

One of the worst things that you can do when shopping for Noche Buena food is to go to the grocery when you are starving. This is because when people enter the store with an empty stomach, your mind signals you to buy a lot of food which are in fact related to your current state of hunger and not on what you would want to eat during Noche Buena. What happens is that your stomach takes over your brain and before you know it, your cart is full of non-Noche Buena food stuffs which would either be wasted or consumed before Noche Buena. By eating before going to the grocery, you have a much clearer mind and you can choose the right kinds of food to eat while thinking of sweet baby Jesus.

Tip No. 3: Remember the Food Groups

Another problem that people encounter during grocery shopping for the big day is that everybody just tends to buy their favorite food without thinking of whether or not it would match all the other items in the dining table. This is why we sometimes have pancit and spaghetti as well as other forms of pasta at the same time. Then we have barbecue, porkchop, pork adobo and inihaw na liempo at the same table. While I am sue that you would love and could, much to your heart’s protestations, eat them all, it is nevertheless not a good idea to do so. Always remember that you want variety in your table and not just variety in the way of cooking the same type of food. During Noche Buena, vegetables and seafood like fishes always seem to be forgotten and gets pushed in the background in favor or chicken, pork and beef. Remember that Jesus was born in a manger and Joseph and Mary did not kill the cow, chicken, pig and sheep to celebrate His Birth.

Tip No. 4: That Special Christmas Food

Noche Buena should be special and should rise above those usual celebrations that you have during the year. It should be better than your birthday party because we are celebrating Jesus’ birth here and not a lowly mortal like yourself. To make things distinctly Christmassy you should always have something that would signify that it is a Christmas celebration. Ham for example is one type of food that makes the celebration a little extra Christmassy and would make your feast a true Noche Buena.

Here is a sample of a Noche Buena with a limit at PhP 1,000.00:

Ham- PhP 250 pesos

Chicken barbecue – 6 pieces, leg parts 120 pesos

1 Kilo Rice- 45 pesos

Fish Fillet- 180 pesos

Pancit or Spaghetti – 200 pesos

Juice -60 pesos

Leche Flan -120 pesos.

Noche Buena does not have to be costly to be special. Use your heart when thinking about Jesus this Christmas. For everything else, use your brain.

Boracay LOOONG Weekend

Who's coming? Le's GO!

I'll be there with my boss on Friday, August 15th 'til Tuesday. Let's hang out girls and boys. I'll probably work in the morning but if you ask me to go out I won't think twice, ya heard?!

The Complainer: Premiere Issue, the UP Oval

Confused about a lot of things in our society?

Don't understand what's happening?

Well so am I.

[Note:All my complaints, big, small, absurd, understandable, incoherent, logical, illogical, twice blended will be posted under this heading.]

Effective March 26, 2008, the UP Administrators lost their marbles.

On that date, the UP Academic Oval traffic scheme was made into a one-way traffic route similar to Quezon City Circle. This is clearly a case of over management.

Apparently, the administrators decided that they can do so much more than planting and replanting sunflowers along University Avenue and decided to do this. Approaching from Philcoa, you can no longer turn left upon coming face to face with Fernando Poe Sr.'s rock hard... physique.

The explanation of course is to increase traffic flow. In this, the UP Administrators are simply illogical.

Granted, increased traffic flow is almost always welcome. This however does not apply in a crowded campus. In fact., inside a campus like UP, the slower the cars the better. This prevents possible accidents caused by speeding student-driven cars whose drivers are intent on getting to Mang Jimmy's as fast as possible.

Secondly, I have never been caught in a traffic jam inside the Academic Oval. Everybody knows that the only traffic jam in UP occurs in the registration line during Reg Week and the line for the free screening of an art(read:X-rated) film.

Lastly, I love driving on that road at night with all the lined up trees and yellow light from the lampposts. Actually, I love driving along that road all the time. It's relaxing, serene and carefree. Exactly what UP should be.

Now they ruined it. Now the corners leading to it are filled with metal barriers, forcing drivers to go one way only. It killed the stress-free environment inside the campus.

I may be alone in this. But I know I'm not.

Complain with me.

The Complainer

A Blessed New Year

"Resolutions are made to be broken.. Promise!" --Inday Badiday

Amazing Video #2

Amazing Video #1

Amazing Video Teaser

Wheatnezz

Spot the difference.

Boracay 2007

I'm feeling lazy so I won't write much about the trip. Maybe one of these days. Take note of Lito's Colonel Sanders Henna Tattoo. (click to enlarge)

I added more pics on multiply. It's easier to browse pics there.

Welcome Back Si

I really don't have anything. I just miss blogging.

Watch Californication. David Duchovny is the shit.

Buy yourself a DivX DVD player for Christmas. Watching your torrent series on TV is way better. Samsung has 5.1 players equipped with USB port. Loves it.

Please Comment

click to view larger image

The Hills Are Alive

..with the sound of music. By hills I meant the blog; by the sound of music I meant nothing. After some misunderstanding with Blogger people, the site is back on. Apparently the site was tagged as spamming. I don't know how that happened but fortunately it wasn't the case. No spamming, no spyware, no problem!

So let's continue our blogging ways, my great authors!

By the way, we will be moving to a new location. Once I finish spending all my dollars at PokerStars! I promise to keep you all posted on that -- and on the new location. lol-u

Slide.com

Thank You, Mentos

I would like to thank Perfetti Van Melle for giving me an Xbox 360.

I think it was a month ago when I got the call from Xylee that I had a letter from Perfetti. I was in Fontana then, attending a friend's wedding. "Perfetti?," I asked.

"Perfetti Van Melle," said Xylee.

"Van Melle, the creators of Mentos?"

Initially I thought it was an invitation for an event. Or maybe an interview schedule for a job opening. And so I told Xylee to read it for me.

"Congratulations! You have just won a Microsoft Xbox!" Yey! Yeyeyeyeyey! Six yeys after.. Xbox.. That's it? I would like to have fries with that please. And by fries I meant 360. "Nope. That's it. Microsoft Xbox." Damn. Oh well, it's still free! Maybe I can sell it and buy myself something useful.

The day came for me to pick-up the prize. Excitement level was at a minimum. Add to that the time it took for the lady to get my prize.. I was practically sedated. But not for long.. Here comes the prize: Kaboom. There was a 360 after all. Not only was I excited, I was rudely impetuous. I kept thinking that there was some sort of mistake. The 360 belonged to someone else. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Before you realize it's not really mine.

"Kindly sign here," she said.

The two ends of my mouth sliced my face in half. I couldn't help it.

Ka Gerry: "My Girlfriend is so Funny!"

“My girlfriend is so funny!”

Two words: There’s no such thing. A girl that is funny is either an old friend or a stupid seatmate who hates the boss and always rants about how much work she’s doing while the boss just sits around all day surfing the net. Your oldest friend is funny only because you’ve been friends with her for such a long time that you almost always know what each other is thinking – thus, she is only funny because she thinks like you. Same with your seatmate, you both hate your boss so it’s funny to hear your thoughts through the lips of someone else who might get in trouble for it.

Girls, let me tell you a little secret. If a man laughs around you, it could only mean two things: either he wants to sleep with you or you did something stupid. If you are hot, you can be certain it’s the former. You’re not funny. Your jokes are corny and the delivery is just horrible but a man will still listen to you simply because you’re hot. On the other hand, if you’re not a very attractive woman, a man will only laugh at you because you did something stupid that too him is funny. Let me clarify that, you are not funny, it’s the humiliating yourself part that is funny.

Of course, there will be times, rare times, when your girlfriend can make you laugh with a brilliant joke or a limerick of some kind but that doesn’t make her a funny person. Most of the time, you just smile to applaud the time and effort your girlfriend put in for trying to be funny. It’s cute, yes, but then again not really funny.

Think of it this way, being funny is different from having a sense of humor - having a sense of humor means being able to appreciate funny while being funny means being able to make fun of anything – preferably people - around you. Funny thing is that men are better at making fun of other people (some girls are good at that too but that’s just wrong and mean – that’s why it’s funny to us, men, too); girls, most of them at least, in contrast, are too kind to do that so they make fun of themselves instead, which is exactly the reason why you don’t want a funny girlfriend. People will laugh at her and of course, at her stupid boyfriend as well.
The question really is, why would you need a funny girlfriend for? You get a lot of funny from your friends, colleagues, from TV and Radio, and from everywhere else. What you need is someone you to enjoy these jokes and funny moments with. You can make fun of other people, you can laugh all you want about anything, just make sure that it is at the expense of other people and you will live happily ever after.

Suddenly Craving for Manila

After going through this blog, reading and reminiscing, this sudden craving for all things 'Manila' came over me. I miss hanging out with old friends (not that my friends here are aren't great though, but high school and college peers are just sui generis), the Katipunan traffic, watching movies in Eastwood or Rockwell, Dencio's sisig, CHOCNUT!!!!...sigh..the list goes on and on. And the mini Philippine Flag stuck on my monitor doesn't help tame the homesickness at all. Funny how one can have more national pride living 20,000 miles away...I guess distance really makes the heart grow fonder.

Jas an observations...

Last Monday Night, for lack of anything better to do, I watched the WNBA on BTV. I forgot which teams were playing. Anyway, there was this player who was making almost all her shots. Of course, she was black. Her name was Tan White. Hahaha. Black, named Tan White... Determining her color is almost as difficult as Arcilla trying to alphabetically seat Villamor Rosete in History class...

Tomtom in Puerto Galera