Return of teh Vampire

Due to a sudden twist of unfortunate events, I find myself going back to being the nocturnal animal I used to be back in ACeS. I think I need not emphasize the fact that that lifestyle really had detrimental effects on my health. This is why I was thankful that when I was transferred here in my new office, I had to do the graveyard duty only *once* a week.

Sadly, until we have enough manpower, I have to do 3 night shifts per week. *sigh*

Apart from the hassles associated with such shifting schedule, another significant reason had got me wanting to go and tender my resignation right away (LOLz). I'd have just shrugged all of it off if not for that peculiar timing with which all of these had to take - I already had plans that had been set several weeks/months before. I'd just reset the plans if I could, however the plans involve going to events that occur only *once* a year. *another sigh*

Things such as this are among the reasons why I no longer see a future in this company. Nagtatrabaho ako para mabuhay, di ako nabubuhay para magtrabaho (I work in order to live, not the other way around). Really now, don't the higher ups realize that small things such as this are pushing the employees to seek greener pastures? These days, I don't think they do.

Abrupt Changes

In the light of several events that happened over the past few days, I've decided to effect several changes to my plans (both short- and long-term ones). The core objectives are likely the same, but I'm gonna do some major overhaul over the plan of actions.

This is basically why I didn't bother blogging for a whole week - I figured that I needed to think back and pinpoint what exactly I must be doing for the future (and yeah, I'm largely referring to money matters here). Among many other things, this blog's direction is also greatly affected, since I'm abandoning a few plans I thought of setting into action (well, like putting google ads, for instance).

My immediate course of actions include wrapping a few loose threads here and there, and preparing for the bigger goals I've set. I just hope I can bring my ideas to reality, and finish those I must. Two years more 'til I can go to the next levels - can't wait (ie., my resignation letter is pretty much full of reasons/justifications right now). XD

Commemorating Language Month

EVERY August, this country I'm in commemorates the father of our national language (Manuel L. Quezon) by having what is called, "Buwan ng Wika" (Language Month). Yeah, I'm in the Philippines and the national language is Filipino (an amalgamation of several leading dialects, actually, but prominently Tagalog-based). Of course we speak English, considered our second language, because of several reasons (the top ones would be since the economy's also depending on foreign trade and since it provides jobs to call boys and girls. puns intended. Hehe) =P

During the "Buwan ng Wika", everyone is enjoined to speak the national language as a sign of respect for that which is considered the nation's soul. However, as oil can't be mixed with water, there are several aspects of our day to day existence that just can't go with that flow of patriotism (this blog included, because I think there are those of other nationalities who happen upon it one time or another).

And then came one moment when my idle mind came up with another crazy idea: why not, under the guise of national pride, dedicate a whole day when everyone in the country should use Filipino exclusively? It's plainly absurd, yes, but I have listed down a few things here that could offer some 'compromise.' ^^,

1. Telecoms

Really, among the industries that will certainly be greatly affected would be the very same I'm in. This is where my absurd ideas of Tagalizing began, actually, since everyone in the country knows the spiels, whether through voice announcements or through text messages, are in English.

Just picture this, a subscriber dials a number that is out of coverage area. He/she will hear this message instead, "Ang numerong pinindot ay di maabot. Iba na lang ang pindutin." (I won't try to translate this in English, haha! For those who don't understand the message, please come back some other day for the usual stuff.)

And yes, I have a sample message for a text spiel. Remember those call buckets readily available for say, twenty pesos for 5 one-minute calls (or something)? After the sixth attempt, the subscriber's call will not be connected, and he/she will get this text message instead, "Ang iyong kaligayahan ay pinutol na dahil hanggang doon lang ang iyong binayad." =D



2. Banking and Finance

Here's another industry heavily dependent on the English language. Business terms are almost always in English, but I think we can have these appear on bank records on that "special" day: "Dagdag", "Bawas", "Pagpaparami", etc. in lieu of "Credits", "Debits", and "Interest" XD

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Note: I'll just update this post some other time. I'm quite sleepy now. :)

Return to status quo

I'm quite calmer now that I've vented out on my last post. Therefore, things around here will be going back to the way they were before (since I still don't intend to stray from the usual mood of this blog). I have some topics I lined up for discussion, and I would have blogged about them if not for those recent happenings in the country that prompted me talk about current events.

Also, I'm joining the Blog Action Day again, as I did last year. Topic this time around is poverty, and I think I can express what I have in mind as regards the matter over the next few weeks.

On Philippine Current Events

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Planting in Ipo Reservoir

SINCE I have been harping much about environmental awareness lately, I thought it’s about time that I really do some concrete actions and get my hands dirty by actually doing… something. =P

So, I took advantage of an opportunity that came swinging my way – a tree planting activity organized by our company. Get that. Organized. By. The. Company. And yeah, we were kinda paid to do so. ^^,

Alright, alright, I don’t wanna sound like a hypocrite here. I’d still do it even if I weren’t given a one-day community service leave. Anyway, I could do with the exercise (and the trek) as I’ve been increasing my body mass index (BMI) ever since I was relocated in my new office, and, more importantly, I love plants (need I elaborate, or should I just point you guys to one of those posts preceding this one?) =P

Oh yeah, this is where we planted the narra seedlings:


Ladies and gentlemen, Ipo Dam – one of the three reservoirs that provide a steady supply of water to the capital city (er, if my memory serves me right, it’s the smallest of the three – with the La Mesa topping the list, and Angat the second). So yeah, you people in the capital might soon be drinking the water that washed my feet after the tree planting. Hehe. ^^,

The activity was fun, although very short. As a matter of fact, our travel time far greatly exceeded the duration of the tree planting (we only planted for about an hour vs. the more than 5hour-journey). And while I was replanting the seedlings, I was also noting the environment (feeling adventurer/explorer, hehe).

There were lots of giant forest millipedes, and of course, mosquitoes! XD Too bad I left my camera phone behind – I was afraid it may fall on the water, as we had to ride a boat to get to the planting site – I’d have taken lots of pictures of the things I found there (yeah, there were wild *orchids*, but they’re not in bloom, or else I’d have snitched them and brought them home *joke*).

Despite the fact that I was only able to plant at most 50 seedlings (I was hoping to get a most-planted-seedlings-award, haha!), the activity was satisfying enough. I did manage to accomplish much, if not all, the goals I’ve set – ie., getting away from work, sweating out excess poundage, and going places. I really look forward to doing this again (next year, since we only have on community service leave per year). =P

Paningit lang...

Please don't mind the title if you don't understand it (it's a phrase in the vernacular, btw). I just wanna say that trying to update on a daily basis is, er... something I'm not gonna do anymore. I just realized that I can't do it, for several reasons. XD

Shii's Song

WEEKS ago, my friend James introduced me to Shii via a post in that_message_board that I used to frequent. And ever since I first saw the video on Youtube.com, I have loved the song mainly for the nice melody and the solemn message. The video, Shii's song, is a flash rendition of Shii the cat singing her version of Wind's Nocturne.

I loved the song enough for me to consider replacing the current playing song on the background ("Where Love Doesn't Reach") with it. But I decided against it in the end. =P

Still, I have the song playing continuously whenever I'm at the office and there's nobody else around, especially when I want to sleep. Hehe. It's very much relaxing, both for mind and spirit, and it helps me snooze off quickly (while on duty, that is.) ^^,

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Note: Post updated to suit the standard BLUE PHOENIX style.

First Anniversary =P

I really have quite forgotten how long it had been. Turns out, Sandra here had been with me for a year already. And as if to commemorate our anniversary, she produced these nice flowers. =P

There they go...

THERE they go... again. And this time, the family’s gotten bigger. Plus, they’re out to prove that two thousand years of existence ain’t enough for some people (namely, Zi Yuan and Lin) to come up with a simple solution to a simple problem. YRLY.

Alright, I’m supposed to be doing the usual movie review after watching a film, but I just can’t seem to maintain neutrality (as I always did) on THAT particular movie (hint: it’s about a mummy, a tomb, a dragon and an emperor). But I ain’t saying it’s very bad – not at all, sir/madam - it’s just bloody retarded in the end.

Well, for those who at this point still haven’t figured the insinuations, I’m talking about "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" – the movie I watched a couple of days ago (four days and running, to be exact). The reason for the late review is my usual laziness coupled with the usual weather disturbances and recurring power interruptions.

First off, the good: this movie had everything; the bad: maybe a tad too much.

True, the story is quite solid enough, following a few years after the last Mummy storyline. The original couple, now retired, is happily living a monotonous English life somewhere in London while their son had taken over the task of tomb raiding (albeit secretly in the beginning). As expected, the mummy (in this story, a Chinese emperor) is resurrected through a bizarre twist of events and wreaks havoc. And as if in conformity with the two preceding films, the resurrected villain needs something to achieve completion (and conquer the world) and manages to clear those necessities one by one – only to be defeated in the end. Defeated, mind you, by being stabbed on the heart by a cursed dagger - the very dagger that could have killed him long before had Zi Yuan just thought of resurrecting him one sunny day and driving the blade the instant it was possible. But no, it wouldn't make for a good movie, would it? The mother and daughter tandem just had to wait for the O'Connells to finally put things to and end.

In other words, the movie was quite predictable. Furthermore, it tried to squeeze in lots of scenes and story material in such a relatively short span of time (2hours) such that some shots are noticeably hurried and under-exposed.

On a subjective viewpoint, I’d say I didn’t enjoy it as much as the producers would have wanted, plainly because I personally didn’t like what they did with the third movie. This is coming from one who truly liked the first two movies.

If I were to put it bluntly, this movie just isn’t the sequel I was hoping for. But it could be just me, of course.

Yes, the movie ain’t so bad. In general, it’s worth the ticket, I daresay. I’d still give it a 7/10 despite the shortcomings I listed above, mainly because watching it was a nice enough experience (really better to watch it on the big screen instead of on the_usual_channels). And yeah, it is a good date movie, if I may add. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so, but I guess that it’s good as it is anyway.

With the Blowing Winds

HEAVEN knows what all things will lead to, and for my case I rest the outcome of my decisions to the winds. There are things that are just beyond the scope of human abilities – and it’s better to watch the consequences and react from there.

But not always of course.

Still, the inevitable fact remains that human wisdom will never be sufficient to fully understand a complex reality such as the future. No amount of planning, no amount of precaution, nothing within a mere mortal’s powers can prepare everyone for what is to come.

And although it’s wise to save up for the rainy day, it’s always better to savor every moment spent under the sun. Live life to the fullest, so as not to regret every step taken, and not long to bring back every second that has already passed.

Finding Our Purpose

I suppose I should make a follow-up to the post immediately preceding this (or something of the matter). Ahhmm... But I don't think I have enough to say about the environment at this point to make another full blog update. Oh well, I think I'd just blog about that-which-came-upon-me- through-the-usual-channels. =P

What I'm talking about? The animated movie from Pixar, Wall-E, which is a nice film over-all, that's what. And yeah, it's not yet released in this part of the Globe planet. Hehe.

Alright, let's all glance over the_usual_channels I spoke of, and just focus on the film. It basically succeeds in it's objectives as a kiddie movie (er... was there ever one?). Nice graphical renditions, good storyline, a nice plot (pretty straightforward without any plot twists) - in other words, kids should enjoy it. (I'm a kid at heart anyway, so at least count me in). ^^,

The reason why I thought a review of WALL-E is a good follow-up to the preceding post is that this movie also talks about the ill-effects of bastardizing the environment. Set in a gloom futuristic earth, the movie very much implants a clear picture of how the planet may end up if the pollution problem is left unchecked. In other words, the planet will die and human beings may be forced to settle in outer space.

WALL-E succeeds in reaching out to the viewers plainly because of a very simple approach (ie., a children's film approach). It also manages to relay it's message effectively, if I may add. And the movie also proves that there's no need for in-depth, fancy dialogs to build up a nice story about love between two (seemingly) sentient robots. (Well yeah, I didn't expect that the two can very well carry out a conversation despite their ability to only say "woll-eee" and "ee-vee")

But if there is something the movie wanted to convey to the audience, I think it would be: we should all act to save the planet because no one else will do that for us. We should at the very least find our purpose, our part in the collective effort to save the planet. And after knowing what we are to accomplish, we should put them into action and not wait until things are already too late.

A Fundamental Step

NOWADAYS, the world is getting a beating from the forces of nature, which seem to be becoming more and more violent as the years go by. Yeah, global warming is a large factor behind these weather disturbances (and whatnots), and I do believe we should all really seriously think about our future.

Come to think about it, nature really isn't going against us. The cataclysmic weather phenomena we are experiencing for the past few years is directly, or at times indirectly, caused by humans, who seem to be not acting their part (and behaving like animals, in a sense).

I do believe that one of the first steps we need to undertake is to acknowledge the fact that these hardships we are going through is caused mainly by our own actions and inactions. These catastrophes - typhoons, hurricanes - are naturally-occurring mechanisms that balances and maintains the equilibrium, although their disastrous effects are worsened by recent human activities.

Again, I'd quote the Filipino saying, "Ang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makararating sa paroroonan." We should always bear in mind the past errors we've committed, try our best to rectify these mistakes and avoid repeating them yet again.

Just a quickie

Seeing that it's already August, I decided that I should first put up a short advisory before going on with blabbing about mundane stuff. I'll try to make it as brief and concise as possible, because that's what advisories should be about, right?

Well, last month I was able to churn out a total of 27 posts. Hopefully I can go beyond that this time around, since my actual target is a blog post a day. Owkay, I didn't quite do just that in July - I rather made two posts a day in the latter part of the month. =P

Hopefully I can stick to that plan for the succeeding months (although I already have a backlog of three posts). And I also hope to carry out other plans with the remainder of 2008 (such as losing all the excess poundage I've gained ever since I stopped frequenting the gym).

AAAANNDDDDD... I'm also yet to pay my credit card debts. XD