12.31.2004

Shoutout

First of all FUCK Meralco. I was almost done with this post when the power was interrupted. I made this really nice year ender, so now I have to write it again!!

Ok, now on the serious shit part.

To the IT kada, Shirl, My, Cind, Gen, Milet, Claire, Paul, Dex, Cads, Tom, Louie

To the boyfriend, girlfriend units and the esposa group Ed, Mars, Christine, Kurt-
welcome to the barkada

To batch 3, i had a good time at work guys, so sorry I just have to do this.

To FR91, special goes out to Annie. Ei u! =)
The Kikay princess, Olive, and to her didi.
The ones who stayed in touch, Les, Rose, Kathy, Barbie, Gigi, Miles, Quincy, July, Jules and Lloyd

My schoolmates at Nihonken, most especially Anna, Frances, and Hieda-san
To Alfred, Alice and Niaga-sensei, domo arigato gozaimashita

The bloggers, Sheryl, Cherie, Jenijin and Jules.
Cherie, I am coining your "boyfriend unit" phrase and am hereby creatingthe "girlfriend unit", bwahahah =P

The LP people, Paski, Eevee, J-Anne

The Neo-malate people, Tappy, Nix, Jemps, Eddy, Erica, and of course Gigi!Mudpie!!!

The Chatters, Ives, Patti, Nikki, Twey, Khaye, Jenai, Bob, Scott, Bryan

To the better friends,
Kate, Wish you were here!
Abby, o ano? kinuha mo na offer? kelan ba tayo gigimik huh? hehe
Cay, yayoo!! Libre ko huh hehe
Kre, maniwala akong nanaba hehe =P
Tins, all the best sa atin, mwah! Sideline huh!! hehe
Pam, ano na sunod na idodownload natin? excited na ako hehe
Von, alam kong maganda ka, so i know maliit lang maitutulong ng binigay ko hehe
Roan, wag magpaputok huh! Ingatan ang baby, hehe
Minette, EK huh kasama si Ro at 'drew, usapan na yun =)
Lil sis, pustahan, hanggang 2006 kayo dyan sa project na yon o, umalis na kayo hehe
Juicy Joan, ano gurl? gimik ba? hehe
Mitch!! Mitch!! Miiiiiiiiiitch!! hehe wag tayo sa absinth, korni dun. =)
Johnny, pare kita kita tayo sa US one day. Or.. sa JAPAN, pwede rin hehe
Mitsubachi! Ano saa.. doko e iku no ka?

[ This was supposed to be longer. But again, Meralco just needed attention. ]

Did I miss anyone? that was quite short. Happy new year everyone!


posted by Urban Warrior @ 11:55 PM 0 people have something to say

12.30.2004

Last Minute Stuff

I really thought that this year was done already when christmas ended, but well I guess life has its way of telling us things we will never understand just yet.

- The Loss -
A few days back I was having a chat session with a good'ol buddy of mine over a girl he lost to the girl's ex. What really sucked about the whole thing was that the girl never told him about her ex's still being around the whole while that he was courting her.

Someone shoot her, but I don't think my friend deserved that from her. Probably because my friend would not be spending anymore time with her if he found out the score earlier. Well she can't have her cake and eat it too.

- The Destruction -
I was shocked at the news of a Tsunami coming out of nowhere hitting Indo, Malaysia and Thailand.
Just goes to show that if it's your time, it's your time, no matter where you are and how you are. I hope that Victoria's secret model who clinged for 8 hours to a tree with a broken pelvis recovers. Uh oh, I have a feeling that Jules will say that "she's just a person like everyone else, how come she deserves special mention?", right Jules? hehehe

Stay tuned for my year-ender post tomorrow. It's gonna be a blast.


posted by Urban Warrior @ 11:50 PM 0 people have something to say

12.27.2004

Losing it

As usual the 25th and 31st have been spent on the BIG family gatherings. We had ours too. Towards the end of the christmas day gathering, I got to talk to the elders and exchanged some stories. I was sad at what I heard from my cousins (who are now married). They are seemingly becoming less excited about attending the new year gathering (accdg. to their kids).

I could not believe what I was hearing. We never fail to hold the new year gathering. And now that it's 2005 in a few days and economic times are getting even harder, the main house (host) is also considering postponing the new year's eve gathering (because not everyone feels like going).

I have no right to dictate to them what they should do since they're the ones paying. But killing a tradition almost 20 years old is just disheartening. Actually, I really don't care much if we hold the gathering at a different place. It's just that I'm concerned at what their kids will grow up and get used to -- not having a gathering on such a grand occassion. Most of my cousins (in my generation) can understand because they're of-age. But when little hungry minds are drafting their values, don't they deserve to experience the same traditions we have had since we were little?

No, no, I'm not wanting to be one of the elders just yet. I would probably do something once we're the ones who sponsor the event. It's just a bit sad to know, that my nephews will grow used to not having each other around at least even during the holidays.

posted by Urban Warrior @ 4:56 PM 0 people have something to say

12.20.2004

A notch higher

I have this long unbeaten record during weddings.

I have always avoided the garter when it is tossed. I have kept this record for years on end.
Wedding coordinators have come up with ingenious ways of involving bachelors in this traditional wedding ritual so what the heck, "just play along and don't get caught" - that was my philosophy.

Yesterday though, my luck run out at a former officemate's wedding. I caught the garter.

They played the bachelor's game where multiple boxes were passed around, one of them with the garter in it. So I was really done in when the music stopped and I saw the other boxes opened. Gak! Mine was the only one left unopened! So there, I was it.

[ take note: Believe me or not -- I wasn't even looking as to who caught the boquet. Usually, guys would decide if they'd wanna have it at the garter depending on the girl who catches the boquet. So this occassion was in all fairness ]

It just so happened that the lady who got the boquet was the bride's maid-of-honor, who happens to be among the most babe-licious babes in the entourage. So I guess I was lucky.

Nope.. I was DAMN lucky.

And so came the um.. "exciting" part of the game. Putting the garter aroud the lady's leg. I could've have sworn the groom and the bride we're jokingly shouting "use your mouth, use your mouth, no fair no fair!". They'll pay for this one day, hahaha.

Anyway, lucky for me again, the lady was a really good sport and kept her shyness despite her being "game". She was in a long flowing gown so no matter how high your hands were, no one could see them. I quickly whispered "pardon me", then joked "shriek early so we can finish already" hehehe.

but when I had my hands around her leg and raising the garter, she was just smiling at me and said "sige pa" (keep going). Looks like she wasn't going to let out a shriek soon. My hand was already around by her knee. Everyone was shouting "higher pa higher pa". I'm glad I only know half the guests there. I would have died.

If I went a bit higher, she would probably call it quits already, so I did (raise it) to a bit past her knee.

About a second after raising it, her leg twitched. Her smile widened and her eyes lighted up as if she was tickled. That was the cue for me to stop. I will not mention upto where did I raise it. She will probably kill me if she gets to read this. :D

The bride and groom finally concurred. Two kisses followed. I will have the bride fire the cameramen for having us do a second take. Secretly though, kissing a complete stranger twice ain't bad at all :D

After this experience, looks like I only have a few more weddings to attend (because 3/4 of my friends are married), but this time I'll probably try catching the garter, not because I want the same experience, but because I noticed that the more I tried to elude it, the faster it made its way to me.

And there is another reason..

My season of fall will be over soon, and it's probably time for the season of love to bloom.


posted by Urban Warrior @ 10:36 PM 0 people have something to say

12.18.2004

Door Trauma

There's this one accident that I witnessed which always reminds me why we should always look behind before opening a car door.

One day about a month ago, while I was waiting for the ride for work to fill up, I was watching an intersection. I was about 15 feet away from the road. The road was two-way traffic with two lanes each. Traffic was negligent. On the right lane, on the innermost lane, there was a car with 3 people in it. The driver, and 2 passengers (female students) , one seated on the front and rear passenger side respectively. The shoulder lane (right of the car) was open. The student on the rear passenger side, seeing that the there was no car, opened the door to get off. Suddenly, after a few inches from opening the door, a water delivery truck came speeding. The driver of the truck was not able to stop in time to see the opening door..

The truck hit the door. The door broke from the car and went flying opposite the truck's direction. It hit a guardrail and there was a loud crash, followed by smashed glass scattered all over the road. The door was totally smashed.

Now I've watched a lot of action movies in where door's fall off when hit, but I was pretty sure that this is the real thing.

Now you ask, what happened to the girl? Well, apparently, the truck hit the tip of door farthest from her. So basically, the door was ripped from the car a split-second from the girl's opening the door. So the girl wasn't injured. She was however in a deep state of shock from the whole thing, since she could have been the day's first statistic.

The truck driver didn't stop, and just went on. In as much as he didn't stop, I'm sure it wasn't the truck driver's fault, since the driver wouldn't have enough time to stop the truck.

The following day, I saw the same car, this time with a newly attached door that's differently painted. Now that girl will most definitely not forget to look behind before opening a car door EVER AGAIN.



posted by Urban Warrior @ 8:41 AM 0 people have something to say

12.12.2004

On balance

In any lifestyle, stress comes with it. We will all need fixes to alleviate this stress. Some of them expensive, some of them free, some of them difficult, while some of the are easy.

One way of taking off stress effectively in life is satisfying the need to create value. This boils down to the things that you don't need compensation to motivate you -- you just do them. In a nutshell, they are the things that we value; they make us happy (yes, this means just being with your significant other takes stress away).

Most of the things on the "value" category are on recreation and hobbies. I believe that they are just as important as working, because they strike a balance in one's schedule. The absence of work makes you dull and useless, while the absence of recreation makes you crazy. So you see, you really can't do without either.

They remove stress by making you "recharged" and happy, thus making you ready for the next gruelling week. They make you feel good because you're getting something that you've WANTED to do accomplished. And this is what we live for-- this is why we actually work.

While basically you already create value when you're at work, why let it end there? Make your free time spent on things of value as well. So take that out-of-town trip, go on that window-shopping spree with your pal, play that game, download that MP3, climb that mountain, watch that movie, WRITE THAT BLOG *snicker snicker*, the list goes on. Keep in mind that they're just all as important as working.

So now, it's just a matter of making time for those things that strike the balance.


posted by Urban Warrior @ 8:15 AM 0 people have something to say

12.06.2004

"I'm not here"

There was a time before, I was with Anna and Ces (my friends in NihonKen) shopping at Addidas in Greenbelt 3. They were particularly looking for a pair of jogging pants. Anna mistook a customer for a salelady because she was in rubber shoes, short shorts (and I mean short), and a blue jersey. Anna politely asked the girl while pointing to a folded pair of pants:

"Miss, would you have a pair of this pants in blue color?"

The girl answered in a somewhat irked tone:

"Ah, sorry I'm not here eh"

For a split-second there, I thought to myself:
(What the ____ did she just say? She probably meant to say "I'm not from here eh")

The girl, now having realized the mistake in her speech, just lolled her eyes from side to side, turned and went to another part of the store.

With the most poker-faced of faces, I turned my back and whispered to Ces ("I'm going out of the store, it's getting chilly").

When I finally made my way out of the store, I eased myself to a vacant bench and discreetly covered my lower face with my right arm. Then...

I WAS LAUGHING MY ASS OFF!!

yeah yeah I know, someone shoot me hahahaha
I just couldn't stop laughing. The girl was conio, and then that..!?

Shortly after, Anna and Ces stepped out of the shop.
They finally let out their suppresed giggles.

"Anna, it must've been probably very difficult for the real salespeople present to contain their laughter, hehehe"

I'll make it a point to drop by that store again.

posted by Urban Warrior @ 8:30 PM 0 people have something to say

12.04.2004

The Last Great Battle

Ever watched those movies where people "train" for this big fight towards the end of the movie?

I will be doing just that in a couple of hours --
I will be fighting a battle that I have long prepared for.

The Nihonggo Proficiency exam is tomorrow. Strangely, I do not feel any stress from weeks of reviewing. Everything feels perfect. This is most probably from proper preparation. Compared to my takes in the previous years for san-kyu level, man I really didn't study and I was like.. 10-14 points off the passing mark. Pretty pathetic, but I didn't feel bad coz I deserved to fail then. It's quite simple -- I didn't prepare.

But this time, imma nail them exam ass..


And afterwards, I will be pigging out on a giant banana parfait and a 20 ounce Capuccino, and staring the day away at a coffeeshop in Alabang or Malate probably. How low.. hahaha

posted by Urban Warrior @ 7:39 AM 0 people have something to say