Things I Think I Think:

1. Oh my God! I though I've seen it all. But today's game between Letran and Perpetual really had it all. All game long, Letran never led and was down by 20 points midway through the 3rd quarter but came back furiously and finally won on two free throws with 2 seconds remaining. Only in college basketball. They say it ain't over till the fat lady sings. This game definitely is in my top five best games I've seen in my life. Wow.
2. On the other hand, UST, my alma mater, blew an excellent chance to keep pace with league leading Ateneo as it lost to archrival La Salle by 1 point yesterday. The loss dropped them to 1-2. What was Pido thinking? This guy had a massive brain cramp on crunch time as he devised a play that had a rookie shoot a three pointer with 23 seconds left and La Salle on the penalty. Right now is a very frustrating time to be a UST fan. I just wish we had a coach like Louie Alas. We need a coach, not a clown. Sigh.
3. True to form, a typhoon graced my birthday. As if that was not enough, I got sick. A double whammy of sorts. Happy 30th birthday to me. Wow, I thought for a minute there that it was my 25th. Boy I'm old. No wonder kids call me kuya. hehe
4. With gas, rice, fares, & basic necessities going through the roof, the last person I would want to be is GMA. She probably is the saddest & the most stressed person in the country these days.
5. Eight weeks into graduate school, I'm finally catching up. Or so I think.
6. I think, no, I know I have the best wife in the whole wide world. I love you Chabs. Thank you for making my birthday fun. Without you, I'm lost.

Things I Think I Think:

1. Have you seen THE fight? Of course you did. What a masterful display by Pacquiao. In knocking Diaz out, Manny did what no Filipino or Asian has ever done before. He's the first Asian to ever win 4 world titles in 4 weight divisions. And the way things are shaping out, it looks like it will be 5 next year. The legend just keeps on growing. And we're witnessing it. Enjoy the show folks. This is once in a lifetime.
2. Just when everything's going well in our economy, the oil & food crisis put the brakes on our takeoff. One can draw a parallelism to the Asian financial crisis during Ramos' administration. One can't help but think. Our country is really cursed. Really, think about it.
3. Strange but true: I saw on television yesterday that on Saudi Arabia, mineral water (bottled water) is costlier than gasoline. Goodness gracious! Why can't our government leaders negotiate with them Arabs? Let them pick from Wilkins, Agua Vida, Absolute, etc. In exchange, we'll accept unleaded or premium. hehe
4. The UAAP & the NCAA are in full swing. Time to show your true colors. Mine's yellow. Growl.
5. With gas prices rising through the roof, the MMDA has unwittingly discovered the solution to our traffic woes. Bayani was heard trumpeting that we should raise gas prices even more. haha
6. Of all the major banks, Banco De Oro (BDO) is the dumbest, most inefficient, most insensitive of them all. Maybe you have noticed their atms offline during payday? Or when you visit the bank itself, surprise of all surprises, the bank itself is offline. And you say this is a major bank? I'm missing Equitable Bank already.
7. A week from now, I'll celebrate (or should I say mourn) another birthday. Malapit na ako mawala sa kalendaryo. Hay. I wonder where the fountain of youth is...

Things I Think I Think:

1. In the course of history, for every great hero there is a corresponding villain or villains. This villain will do everything to make life hard for the hero. Initially, they will succeed. But as we all know, in the end, the hero triumphs.
   And haven't you noticed, almost all villains stink & look hideous. Case in point: Max Alvarado, Romy Diaz, Bomber Moran, Bella Flores. So do your own real-life villains.
2. Today is Friday the 13th. I don't know why a lot of people dread this day. But I don't. In fact, I love Friday the 13ths for the sole reason it's payday. hehe
3. They say competition brings out the best or worst in people. I think, more often than not, based on experience, it brings out the worst.
4. When I think about it, I only have a few friends left in the country. Most have gone abroad to seek greener pastures. I begin to wonder. Is the grass really greener at the other side of the fence? Does it taste sweeter?
5. On Ces Drilon & company, you don't play with fire & not get burned. They definitely got burned as they got kidnapped (or should it be adultnapped?) by the Abu Sayyaf. Abu Sayyaf? I didn't know they still existed. It turns out they were just biding their time.
6. I think the Lakers will come back next year. They're just too small to compete against the big boys of the Celtics this year. You have to hand it to those Celtics. They played with a lot of fire.

Movie Title of the Week:

Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita

Things I Think I Think:

1. Going back to school was a blast although I was clueless most of the time. It's fun being a student again. Being part of a class, taking notes, taking part in group work, making assignments, photocopying, etc. are a welcome change from selling to Americans everyday.
2. On a related matter, what the hell are phonemes, logograms, ideograms, adverbs, rebus writing? I didn't know the English language was that complicated. Sigh.
3. Wow! Last time I looked (which was Friday), gas prices were 51 pesos per liter. When we had our tank filled last Sunday, it was already 53 pesos. Somebody's going to pay for this. As is always the case, it's us who's doing the paying. Damn.
4. On the Meralco squabble: Get this done & over with. We don't care who controls the God-forsaken utility. What we care about is lower electricity rates. Are there any honest businessmen in the world anymore?
5. What's with ants suddenly being active & aggresive? I'm in this annual battle with these insects over territory. I wouldn't have a problem with them if they just kept out of our house & went about their ant business elsewhere. But they won't. And so this means war. I'm about to unleash armageddon or it's equivalent to them in the form of my weapon of mass destruction: Baygon's chalk. Prepare to get annihilated ants! Bwahahaha! (Wow, this must be what Bush felt when he invaded Iraq.)
6. NBA Finals. East vs West. Lakers vs Celtics. Kobe vs The Big Three (Garnett, Pierce & Allen). Showtime vs Celtic Pride. Phil Jackson vs the ghost of Red Auerbach. LA-LA Land vs New England. The NBA goes Retro. It feels like the 80's again. The NBA needed this. Everybody's getting caught up. I'm getting caught up. Can't wait for the series to get started.
   Fearless Forecast: Lakers in 5 or 6.
7. A thought to feminists (like Gabriela): why don't they give a hoot when women are given undue rights & privileges over men & shout to the high heavens when they don't get equal treatment? Case in point: the MRT & LRT cars exclusively for women. Aren't they supposed to fight for equality? Where's the equality in that? Nothing against feminists. Just a thought.
8. Since I got back to school, I'm finally getting to enjoy writing again. Looks like my love affair with the pen (or in this case, the keyboard) is in full bloom again.
   

Arivederci.

The Transformation & The Quandary

The transformation is complete. The man who was first Green
& White (Paulinian) then Blue and White (Louisian) then
Yellow (Thomasian) is finally, reluctantly, Green (La
Sallian).

Last Saturday, I enrolled at DLSU's Graduate School where I
will take up a masteral course for teaching the English
language (MA-TEL). In two years or so, I hope to acquire the
knowledge & skills necessary for me to be able to teach
college students the beautiful language we all aspire to
learn.

At the very first paragraph, I wrote that I'm a reluctant La
Sallian now. Reluctant because I'm a proud Thomasian.
Reluctant because of those so many wars our schools have
waged on the UAAP. Reluctant because of "Tuition niyo baon
ko lang." Reluctant because of the cheer "Bobo La Salle."
Reluctant because... I can go on all day enumerating the
reasons why La Salle would have been the last school on
earth I would've enrolled on. But alas, times has changed.
Realities, too, has changed.

Sad to say, our beloved alma mater's graduate school has
stubbornly resisted the realities of today. In fact, truth
be told, it has very meager facilities that does not befit
it's lofty reputation in the academe. From the year I've
graduated (2000)to now (2k8), UST's graduate school is still
sharing facilities with the High School Department. And with
this, compared to other reputable schools (UP, DLSU, Ateneo)
it has the gall to charge exorbitant fees. Sure, the
university has made strides in improving it's graduate
school through the Research Center, subscriptions to
journals, etc. But it simply is not enough.

In the end, as much as I wanted to enroll at my grand old
alma mater, economic realities told me not to. It just could
not beat DLSU's trimestral program, facilities & tuition &
fees.

This transformation will be difficult when the UAAP begins.
Will I be chanting D-L-S-UUUUUUUU or E-yo, E E E-yo? Or Go
La Salle, go go La Salle or We are the Tigers, the mighty
mighty Tigers? Will I do the wave or will I give you the
elitist stare or glare? What a quandary.

It would be difficult too when my friends & I get together.
Surely, I will get it from them. I will get ridiculed &
villified for switching sides. Drawing comparisons from
Anakin Skywalker drifting to the dark side of the force &
becoming Darth Vader.

I'm writing this like an apologetic Thomasian would to his
former comrades in arms. Even if it appears I've left you,
I've never really abandoned you my friends. I have not, and
will not wander to the dark side of the force. And even if
I'm a La Sallian now, once the cage wars begin, I'll show my
quality, my true colors. To the very end, to the very last
breath, in my mind & in my heart, I'm still a yellow-blooded
Thomasian.

Animo Tigers, beat De La Salle! Beat De La Salle!

Cinco de Mayo at Puerto Galera

Time really flies so fast that one can easily lose track of it. Moreso when one gets older. Last May 5, Chabs & I celebrated our much anticipated first wedding anniversary. And what better way to celebrate it by doing what we love most. Traveling.

Since it was summertime, it was a perfect time to go to a beach. We had some places in mind and after briefly considering going to either Boracay or Bohol, we ultimately decided to do otherwise due to the prohibitive cost in going to those vacation hotspots. Although we're still planning to go to those places in the near future. And we're looking forward to it.

With Bohol & Bora out of the picture, Chabs & I thought Puerto Galera would be perfect. And it was.

I've been to Puerto twice already & Chabs once so we know what to expect in the island. We burnt our skins, ate grilled food, I had a henna tattoo, she had her hair braided, we had a good massage on the beach & partied at night. Plus I got to try the banana boat. And boy, it was a blast even if my whole body felt sore after. But still, it's one ride I'd recommend to all. Overall, our Puerto experience, like all our past travels, was perfect. And much of the credit goes to Rianne, our travel agent who made sure we had a very nice place to stay in. She was so intent in making life easier for us she more than exceeded the bounds of customer service.

Looking back, we had a charmed 1st year of marriage. We always say that we are a lucky couple and it sure is that way. We see other couple's marriages and compare it to ours and we can't help but feel very lucky indeed. Sure there are the usual petty quarrels & disappointments but the happy moments far outnumber them. And these moments galvanize our relationship even more.
This is our first year together and we know that we will be celebrating many many more anniversaries. And consequently, a lot more traveling is in the pipeline.

The heat is on!

Global Warming - It's real & it's here. If you haven't noticed, the temperature this past few days is as hot as a fever.
After so many years being in denial, a lot of people, including me have come to realize that the geeks led by Al Gore were right. That the earth is heating up. Hence the term "Global Warming".
If you saw "The Day After Tomorrow" or "The Inconvenient Truth", you have to be scared at our prospects.

The geek squad theorized that with the world's polpulation growing (6 billion people and counting) and their wasteful destruction of the planet's resources & their wanton burning of fossil fuels rapidly accelerate the build-up of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

For the uninitiated, greenhouse gases trap heat in our atmosphere. So the more of these stuff in the air, the hotter it will be. And consequently it doesn't take a genius to know that with this, more ice in the polar ice caps will melt resulting to rising sea levels & receding shorelines that will directly affect low-lying countries. Some experts has also identified Global Warming as the main reason why we have stronger typhoons now & a more prolonged wet & dry spells. Does Milenyo, Katrina, La Nina & El Nino ring a bell? No, they're not names of bimbos.

To think that Mother Earth gave us a break when Pinatubo erupted. The eruption lowered global temperatures by 2 degrees for two years as the sulfur ejected from the volcano enveloped the atmosphere. Now the sulfur are all gone. And we're back to our race to the boiling point. Literally.

What's funny is that people from poor countries like ours get to pay for all of the excessess of the developed world (US, Europe, Japan, etc.). Especially the US. What's more, the US with it as the biggest polluter of them all, has the gall to refuse ratifying the Kyoto Potocol that will set a cap on their carbon emissions. So typical of the ugly American. So arrogant & pompous. So while these Americans drive around on their gas guzzling SUVs, we're being toasted by the heat or getting drowned in flashfloods. I'm crossing my fingers here, I'm hoping they wouldn't endure another Katrina. But odds are, they will. And maybe then, they will finally go green. And when they do, will it be too late?

In the end, we cannot wait for these damn Americans to lead the way. We have to take it to ourselves to make a green revolution. Let's leave a lesser carbon footprint. i don't know, do it however you want. Either by planting more trees, carpooling, recycling, etc. Bottomline, just do it already. Every little thing we do will add up.