Shooting Churches, Eating Noodles (Year XX)

BANGKOK ON A VISA

2026-10-12T08:16:24.440+08:00

"I'll see what I can do" said The Voice, 30 minutes before the embassy closed down for the day.

She came through at 5:02 pm after a brutal day at the freezing halls of an Imeldific floating volume of concrete where support for gender equality in the energy transition was expounded.

It was a huge relief, a comforting bowl of Nagoya pork ramen with raw sea urchin gonads on the side.

That evening, a carnal dream fidgetted with darkness so intense it induced a specialized travel pouch tucked in a hotel safe and a leather satchel entrusted at the airport lavatory to squirt the detailed outline of the game plan in Bangkok for a recipe of a heavenly Tom Yum soup with a platter of Moo Pad Prik that cheered a roadside parade of red plastic chairs and tables.

The Virtuous appeared confused and Miss Universe has not slept in the last 2 days.

Thus was how The Moderator stepped into the 7th floor of Chulalongkorn University to ease a roundtable about the equitable extraction of critical minerals before slipping out for an appraisal on strategic business develoment in a virtual longtable of Moo Grob and Sai Ua that extended down to the basement of the Siam Center.

The inbox was mined at the breakfast buffet of the Mandarin Hotel where misplaced phones are also displayed.

Aid diversion, terrorist screening, fraud control, and forex losses were in the menu.

The Rubenesque Volunteer watched over an inception meeting as the working girls of Nana argued about phasing out fossil fuels, loud enough to disorient the trains that run on Phad Thai and Leng Saeb.

Back at Chula, qoutes were extracted from long speeches.

"An Asia that should be for everyone" echoed during the long walk back to reveal curvaceous and buxom blurs.

The sky finally cried as forecasted, and rained with Moo Sam Chan Tod Nam Pla and what is called a condensed egg.

The visa is good until January 2027 but for a single entry only.

So complimentary drinks, noodles, and a fruit basket were packed but a slab of expensive swiss chocolate was left in the fridge for the barefoot housekeeper.

At the Suvarnabhumi Airport, I was tempted to invite the most exquisite natural beauty I've encountered to share a lunch of bananas.

But I got distracted by The Mature-ILF so no, I don't actually need a visa to Bangkok for the next trip.

Said so our tattooed barkeep in Bakal 2.

A VISA PARADOX

2026-10-05T09:09:09.907+08:00

A decameron at least.

That is the required number of days in applying for a non-immigrant visa for Thailand.

It was chaos until finally, the online payment button was discerned by The Ironman while engaged in the apprehension of Ted Kaczynski amidst a slew of emailed correspondence.

But in lieu of a visa, 10 bottles of ice cold beer crushed an Entered Apprentice's frozen slices of salmon sashimi instead.

The decameron looms.

A champion emerged in the podium of Comparative Bid Analysis to qualify for a substance screening and an outline review.

But the entry permit remains in limbo, an eerieness that spooked the weekly catch-ups, scary enough to resurrect a lost driver's license --- rabies-free and decorated with a refrigerated bunch of grapes and reheated litsong manok bathing in a cup of kinamatisang kalabaw and a saucer of menudo that were imbued with the gaminess of carinderia dinakdakan and kilaweng kambing.

The Royal Thai Embassy acknowledged payment made, enough assurance for the The Phantom Biker to keep to his morning routine of clandestine disposals and provisioning for the evenings.

A scandal of Korean nipples and butts packed printed travel documents in a 2-page note about the ritual of the First Degree.

For the first time, breakfast at the San Lorenzo Sunday Market tasted of uncertainty.

Yet we walked on along car-free Ayala Avenue where I lose my thoughts counting joggers with the sexiest outfit and those with the darkest armpits.

It may be a tough call, chewy like the casing of New York-style hotdogs at Paseo de Roxas.

But when life is pelted with lemons, have a ramen feast and that's what we did before checking in my Philippine departure and Thai arrival cards...

BELTLESS IN BANGKOK

2026-09-28T06:48:03.694+08:00

Bold courage in traditional combat is not enough for the man who left his strap, whose sphincter yielded, who tried to grow his waist with daily doses of the Holy Trinity and a retinue of kor moo yang, nam tok neua, pla tubtim tod, and kai jeow.

And every morning, the Chef de Cuisine prepared breakfast for a fundraising strategy with the following ingredients:

125 grams of internal and external appraisal dried sticks
2 tablespoons funding pipeline analysis puree
3 tablespoons of packed grant writing
1/2 sliced financial planning
2 chopped localization and southern leadership
3/4 cup of of firm gender and safe programming
2 lightly whisked compliance and organizational readiness

Anatalya though was a no-go.

In the fourth round, the Final 3 argued their case on how the program logic should inform a results framework to ensure a win within the premises of Room 7097.

A brave food delivery broke through the downpour under the protection of the spirit house.

Misplaced tap keys were surrendered to a sales associate despite failing to stock on cord strings.

Thus was how the rains in Manila were smuggled --- in a loose denim that were emptied in the streets of Bangkok.

The Generalist detected a viral infection.

The Specialist diagnosed an ocular hypertension.

A pack of bruised lanzones was rushed to the emergency room for a retouch...

POST-HABAGAT LIMERICKS

2026-09-21T06:30:36.645+08:00

Fiery and dark, the god of wind and rain got extinguished
Dry and trampled, in the pavement of Ayala it lay vanquished

Sunday Markets applaud its extinction

Whores came out for mass in Poblacion

Age is a fine wine but not Chava whose beauty time has ravished

The Phantom Biker purge daily wastes from the inbox

Slags, a trimestral conversation spiced with clever angst

A willowy seller, a lanky barber

Chained, wheeled like clingy lovers

Visions of the age of AI conjured from a routine podcast

Three champions emerged from the jungle of the fourth round

Victors of a fortnightly learning that weigh less than a pound

Bangkok booked for departures

Emails for the oculist in Melbourne

The Ironman counted hours and planted stubs all around

Charred marinated chicken devoured by a red horse in a hotdog

A final payment and the second disputed account is flogged
An extension card misspelled

One application reactivated

Old pussy flicking the bean like a downstairs DJ on the phone

CHEF'S RCOMMENDATIONS

2026-09-14T06:25:00.282+08:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL

A starter of early emails and two meetings, an entree of smoked milkfish with blanched vegetable pear tops and sauteed tomatoes, the evolution of a Climate Action Week in Bangkok for dessert with either a flute of polite refusal from a premiere universal bank or a Burgundy glass of chasing a mediation

SPECIALTY OF THE HOUSE

An elegantly platterred policy win from the ASEAN front with a plateful of an introduction to fundraising and safe programming, and a bowl of beef with mushroom gravy on the side

CATCH OF THE DAY

Vinegar-stewed milkfish marinated in morning emails with 5 dips from a selection of 27 applications seasoned with three quick calls about a deficient research outcome and topped with an eggplant omelet and stuffed meatloaf, garnished with a pork and liver stew, boxed, and signed

DAILY SPECIAL

Kitchen trash riding on a bike, virtual work and siopao bridging breakfast and dinner, Ilocano-style sizzling pork for The Ironman in a setting of sprayed air coolers and pavement, a weekend housework of dried fish and duck stew

FLAVOR OF THE DAY

Clarinet lessons in cutlery finishing quickly for the unleavened wafers of spiritual cleansing, leftover sauteed mung beans paired with preserved meatloaf and aged anchovy, and chased with hot water wthout the tea

(almost) SMOKELESS IN BANGKOK AND PHNOM PENH

2026-09-07T08:53:49.382+08:00

The Holy Trinity

Knowledge and impact were compressed into 7 slides in under an hour to steer a parallel workshop in Singapore and break the ground in Phnom Penh where impact stories and 35 candidacies will be sown.

But Step 3 is one salary for several timesheets, just enough for a mountain of spicy pork bone soup and a plate of grilled fish wrap to honor the Guardian Lion.

The seeds were prepared for cultivation despite Monday's insipid khai jiao that was almost eclipsed by Tuesday's fibrous French toast, so the task force gathered at the banks of the Chao Praya River for a cruise with grilled shrimps, baked mussels, and salmon sashimi that were herded by folk dancers for the benefit of the Weaponized Leopard.

Prayers of gratitude and continuing patronage were conveyed to the Creator God Phra Phrom and Supreme God Ganesha in comemoration of a brave heart, of our own story of hope and faith, of soft-boiled eggs and stale croissants that broke the impasse on mandate and governance to conclude the Bangkok Annual Meeting.

The response to Melbourne's inquiries sounded like the crunch of crispy fried pork and the final sigh of a steamed seabass as a bucket of strength, honor, and good fortune was poured for The Elephant.

The Transition

27 of the 35 survived the first reaping, two trains trailed the scent of a cold sandwich to the airport, grilled Khmer pork was etched into pale lagers as a modern wordmark.

The A Team

Personality profiles unlocked commitments and responsibilities to deliver the A Team's modus operandi, to usher the dominant crispiness of deep fried morning glory with grilled beef that relegated a Khmer-style steak into a steady second place because its accompanying prahok was not enough to infuence a parade of roaring tigers that were led by the North Star into the sillhoutte of Angkor Wat.

I was smokeless in Bangkok until the distinct smell of kretek led me to a conclave of feminine slim from Yangon, toasted tobacco from Dhaka, and the familiar flavor of of mild filters from Manila while in Phnom Penh, the neighborhood shop still sell Mevius for 500 riel per stick that can only be lighted at a street corner food cart.

The last of these coffin nails were smoked after PR 2622 landed at the Salcedo Saturday Market before breaking our fast with failed imitations of Vietmamese noodle, 4 hours before lunching in Baloc and another 4 hours prior to the presentation of lechong paksiw for the MILFs in Bakal 2, a day before an impromptu bar celebrated 36 years of campus activism.

THE DELEGATION

2026-08-31T10:06:02.381+08:00

There were the usual Docusign requests and a couple of sign-offs.

The delegation to the Bretton Woods annual meeting in Bangkok was finalized but I'll be representing in September instead of October as a possible pink badge pulled me closer to Anatolya, a consolation for missing a workshop in Singapore that could have spiced up a boring regional meeting.

The assigned collection agency was relentless but I've made my last payment and they will get nothing because Killing Eve during an Interview with the Vampire detonated Macondo.

A loan was remitted and brunch, as assigned to the boys, turned out to be chewy French lamb shank, delicate Hainanese chicken, and tender American roast beef.

Dissecting critical mineral in Singapore and performance tracking dcumentation were delegated; an updated budget, a draft contract amendment, and a self-service ticket to fix broken interactive forms were conveyed as requested; the ASEAN mission was expounded and exploratory impact stories conceived; instructions for a team building were deployed.

Through all that, the Monday meetings were spiced with crunchy dilis that smelled like fried tilapia stuffed with boiled peaputs and litsong manok then steamed in the way of siopao, siomai, and the purging of an inbox.

Apprently, a certain universal bank is a farce but another was able to email an assessment; old shoes were restored and a new debit card activated wth two insurance policies; digital departure and and arrival cards were inscribed in domestic chores as a reimbursement carried the Phantom Biker through the Bakal 1-3 loop into the market and a Jollibee breakfast.

The eye and skin doctors of San Jose melted into the crowd of the Legazpi Sunday Market so we took off to offer our prayers and gratitude to our patron at Our Lady of Guadalupe's National Shrine before placing our weekly lotto bet and crawling through a flooded highway.

The Grab driver can't find the hotel lobby so I asked to be dropped off by the street, walked around with my luggage, found it and checked-in, before bearing with a bullshit 7-11 microwaved dinner for my first meal in Bangkok after a long while.

OF SOLVENCIES AND PLASTIC MONEY

2026-08-24T05:37:09.091+08:00

My financial standing is low-medium risk [late payments to mobile carriers apparently increases the risks].

A treasury claiming to be the future of banking counter-offered [another touting of having the best costumer experience was apparently hijacked by a trickster].

So documents and requirements were conveyed to a government financial institution [an espoused depository alleged of being a premiere universal bank].

The inbox was purged to start the week [notes on fraud risk management, fiscal oversight, case histories, and personnel matters were relayed].

There were weekly convenings [a one-on-one and a quickie, a bi-weekly and an employee experience session, a request for guidance and a one program report].

Stale submissions were finally liberated [reviewed contracts and survey responses were adjusted].

Oplan Pink Badge was an introduction to organizational preparedness [a recruitment to update timesheets for a team building exercise was advertised].

Two phantom rides delivered pandesal and garbage through a drizzle of banana-wrapped tilapia and bangus, spontaneous sisig, and kaldereta-topped birthday pansit [dinakdakan and adobong bibe seasoned an initiation in Baloc].

The Marauder's Map showed Pugad Baboy walking through Hogwarts without credit cards [the college still stands, the high school is under renovation, the naked concrete man is still naked].

THE CASE OF THE MISSING OTPs

2026-08-17T06:53:52.839+08:00

A one-time password is supposed to be the first line of defense against digital criminals.

It was breached with a deluge of 188,620,000 Vietnamese Dong that was surreptitiously and fraudulently charged to my card.

PNB falsely claimed that these charges were securely authenticated by an OTP.

I did not receive any OTPs, and thus was how Pugad Baboy's PNB accounts were secured at LBP.

PNB is comparable to chasing a delayed report and addressing the red lights in an enterprise resource planning system.

So I conversed with my machine how a global advocacy survey muted sexual diversity and gender identity and expression in the preparatory meeting for the IMF annuals.

Two case studies are missing but the annual reports are ready for a fiscal oversight framework.

In my emails, my squads and line manager agreed that OTPs are not required for the advertisement of a call for applications and contract reviews.

A team development in Phnom Penh will investigate the missing OTPs with the findings to be included in the final cut of an annual report.

Perhaps the OTPs melted with the incessant rain of Dutch and Singaporean beers that smelled of garlic buttered sugpo, tokwa't baboy, tiim na pata, popcorn, and the familiar aroma of watered and extra-strong lagers.

Where are the OTPs?

The Phantom Biker searched the portals of RCBC and UB and walked to the church to plead for divine intervention before finally hying off to Mr. Bob of the Central Bank.

MAYMAY AND LUIS

2026-08-10T07:40:07.035+08:00

Maymay and Luis are the Bonnie and Clyde of weather conditions.

They represent siginificant disruptions that are at par with Manila's hostaging of a deadline, Africa muting a short-term contract offer, and dealing with a bratty Prajnaparamita.

Luis and a returning victorious warrior came with the Monday emails just as a delayed appointment with a specialist was consumated with 58 bottles of birthday beer, 58 strands of delicate tiim na pata, 58 chunks of curnchy lechong kawali, 58 thin inihaw na liempo slices, and 58 cups of scalding sinampalukang manok.

Luis was persistent but the amendments will be generated by the system alone, by the acceptance of statements despite foreign excange losses --- the supervisor said so at the drugstore counter where invoices are issued as a neurologist's press release on phasing out coal.

Maymay offered a lull long enough for a Jollibee breakfast but was more intense and unforgiving, aborting a Thursday ride that somehow got an evaluation madate moving through a bike-by at a rising McDonald's.

Reimbursements nudged the Bangkok Training and Oplan Anatolya but the daily rain shut out Cambodia from the system despite an offering of reheated birthday leftovers, a pouch of Japanese nuts, and plastic bowls of cold menudo, lechong ulo strips, and sour pindunggo to placate Apo Tudo.

It rained in Macondo for 4 years, 11 months, and 2 days which is the equivalent of almost 2 weeks in Bakal 2.

Luis is a tropical depression while stormy Maymay interrupted our weekend walks but not our weekly lottery bets.

She is Kujira after all.

THE REIGN OF THE AIRLINES (and their air money)

2026-08-03T05:44:53.624+08:00

Airlines rule.

The Regulator made me understand so, that my complaint againt Philippine Airlines should be lodged somewhere else, perhaps in repetitious SAP Form submissions through a worthless Footprint Report that escorted the unwelcome intrusion of a contested rating.

The Lodge was therefore convened.

Crunchy deeep-fried sosohong permeated a delicate sinampalukang kambing as The Brethren gaveled an updated toolkit content, the fnal draft of an endline evaluation ToR, and a passdown allocation that mitigated The Teeth's struggle with a rubberry dinakdakan while recalling an airline's accountability in disputed credit card charges.

Is St. Jerome also the Roman God of Commerce?

The Phantom Biker would not know so he searched the chat box about how OPA amendments can absorb foreign exchange losses, provisions to a contract offer that The Physician, in her absence, was uploaded into the OPP by The Ironman of Bakal 2 as they walked into the tarmac that isn't there.

The Teacher at 80 smelled like a 53-year-old pussy that looked like a fried boneless chicken feet, the inihaw na hito served as an inflight meal of an untouchable airline, apparently.

ORTIGAS IN 5 SCENES (Before, During, After)

2026-07-27T06:16:28.499+08:00

SCENE 1 (Yugen Japanese Restaurant): Plastic cards protest why highball was not served in a mug, why ramen noodles were omitted in the pre-departure chores that were loaded in the bus before being printed into briefing papers for an abbreviated weekly catch-up.

SCENE 2 (Asian Development Bank 1): The Minister skipped the Tuesday quickie prior to receiving recommendations that will secure the well-being of the barkeeps at Engkanto Taps.

"Green Lava got Lost at Sea of Crook-O-Dile Tears from Hop Coolture"

SCENE 3 (Asian Development Bank 2): Social protection for the servers at Lola Cafe and the karaoke singers of District Brewing Company were expounded from the podium for the Timor Leste delegation and a Mentimetered discussion group.

"Cruise Control at Crossing Ibabaw yelled Who is Your Daddy, to which Simon Says Belgian Wheat Beer"

SCENE 4 (O and The Firm): Carinderia adobo overpowered McDonald's daily pancakes to sign-off Round 1 of an endline evaluation at 150 Panay Avenue where Racks of ribs fell from The Firm.

SCENE 5 (Bakal 2): Timesheets, a reimbursement, and a pass down were prepared for the Bretton Woods annuals but it was the Phanthom Biker's mobile wallet that paid for the tinola, the quarterly bloodworks, and the sisig and inihaw na bangus for The Ironman's dinner on pruning day.

"Homeland finally retreated into the Outander's House of Cards"

NOTES FROM THE JAKARTA ASSEMBLY

2026-07-20T05:47:46.601+08:00

There was a Golden Bee conductor who punched pre-departure emails requesting social protection for the big beautiful women of PR 535 to Jakarta.

He complained how the lamb chops were done medium, an incident attributed to phasing out coal in Asia and the steep price of Bintang at The Marketplace.

At the launch of the Bangkok Working Group Meeting, a mandate was circulated through an interview that surveyed the traditional dance landscape for the Bridge Builder awardee.

Rice noodles, cold soba and beef noodle soup with cow tendon, and chicken noodles with dumplings were presented as three colors of polo barongs for the logic model chairship.

Islamabad finally responded and was fined with a pre-departure dinner of nasi goreng, satae ayam, tongseng kambing, and 6 bottles of airport Kopi Susu Batavia.

In Manila, Sheldon's Texas barbecue platter intervened beween hospital appointments to confirm a happy image analysis, prelude to the coverage of a presidential run in Cabanatuan.

Luncheon meat and pork barbecue seasoned tasteless jackfruit chips from Kerala to close the week in Bakal 2...

HAI[na]KU REVERSED (74-78)

2026-07-13T06:16:37.020+08:00

-74-

The Barber's kaldereta

virtual and signed-off

edited conversation

-75-

Rice, drugs, and 60 bottles

spring meeting chased

full topline blockage cleansed

-76-

Safety net secured and moored

doctors kiss lawyers

bankers, dentists headhunted

-77-

The first 1,000 emails

roasted transition

Kerson Fruit, hotdogs

-78-

QR codes to Jakarta

wet rub from the rain

she's back, a cleavage to bust

THE 5TH SESSION

2026-07-06T08:43:00.000+08:00

Ramen simmerred in a cold highball soup for the throng gathered in homage of St. Sebastian and the market that did not burn after radiotracers were released to trap positron emissions and guide gamma rays in highlighting hotspots that is prayed to be absent forever.

Five headhunting basura rides disguised as anxiety management preceded the 5th PET Scan to spawn a project idea from the Phnom Penh Workshop.

Thus was how confirmations were secured for the Jakarta Assembly and a draft framework agreement for an editorial review, accruals, and a style guide was authenticated.

The arbitration took off despite the revocation of social protection due to an unresponsive system and while the internet was down, a lively chat purged the inbox to initiate the process for a final assessment.

In Bakal 2, a medical reimbursement was paid for with pritong tilapia, Alfamart siomai, overdone SNR steak, and crunchy chicharong baboy.

The Central Bank's assignment of a handling officer ushered adaptation to the reality of coping with the implications of disputed fraudulent transactions.

THE PHNOM PENH DINNERS

2026-06-29T05:54:00.000+08:00

There was a a monk who bestowed a cowl upon a shivering worker, a hooligan shaped by hip-hop culture as a symbol of isolation, an emblem of the Unabomber and Mark Zuckerberg.

The Hoodie is in the hood to power a future shaped by people, to protect them from intense solar radiation amidst a challenge against an evaluation that required adjudication as published in recycled notebooks.

Blue is indeed a warm color, almost a grilled fish and gut salad, nutty like the Russian Market on a mid-afternoon that ignited a bonfire of frogs and pork belly in the streets of Phnom Penh on the night when a climate initiative was finally grasped.

From a fire drill emerged barbecued offal and an updated charter, the evolution of a staffing covenant that was reviewed with a supervisor before the day's finale of grilled beef and pork ribs.

With the announcement of the annual plan's approval and the arrival of the business development counsel, cigarettes were sold by the stick at Hotel Cambodiana for the price of a Khmer steak, steamed fish, and fried corn in a cosmos of skyscrappers and monuments.

Craft beer and cheeseburgers were tucked between royal Khmer lunches of the Phnom Penh Workshop where Scenario B was signed-off with a Tim Tam prize and a condensed policy brief on financing coal phase-out, enough wins to justify another dinner between heaven and earth a few hours before a half-full plane took off for Manila.

The banks were on mute, the scent of a woman from PR 2622 lingered in the bus to Bakal 2, a flat tire responded to a fire alarm in Munoz...

GOOD MORNING GMAIL!

2026-06-22T10:30:00.000+08:00

A Babyonian greeting clay tablet was sent to St. Joseph on his death anniversay since no one was picking the phones in Bakal 2.

The front desk at the Manila airport lounge explained that they only have altar wine from the Sunday eulogy for the dead miners.

Outside the Techo airport, a chauffer flashed a signage announcing the sequestration of the 3rd Sunday of June.

On Father's Day, the lady cashier of a Khmer carinderia in Phnom Penh overcharged a solo lunch of grilled pork belly and boiled egg by $0.50.

An early morning Gmail ritual has preceded the daily basura rides but the dreaded bank notices did not come through, not yet, perhaps because the father-at-hand (AKA the Phantom Biker) had a door jamb updated through a payroll withdrawal that also paid for provisions of a renewed internship, not at the newly opened minimarket but for the replacement vehicle that was received with a housewarming and a sinadag.

Notebooks and jackets were prepared for inpress as the last visa was secured for the Phnom Penh Workshop, but what wil be the contract type, how will the confrontation conclude?

Daily Gmail checks punctuated catch-ups, a quickie from the Bali Workshop aborted project grants closure but spawned the Jakarta Assembly.

The bus driver serenaded Bulan with a birthday song from Munoz up to the Manila airport where 28 pairs of ice cream, yogurt, beer, and wine were served.

Gmail remained opened for the hawkers of the Chaktomuk Walk Street where fathers were treated with sweet meats, grilled fish, toasted bread, and lots of cold beer.

HOGWARTS RELIVED

2026-06-15T05:28:23.129+08:00

This is the story of 6 angels and a mischievous imp, of dead cats marinated in formalin, beaus that came and went, and a frayed toothbrush in the back pocket that smelled of the BPI Enigma being escalated for mediation --- moments reminisced during a lunch of kare-kare, tiim na manok, and lumpiang sariwa at Lingap Kalikasan where once upon a time, a memory vomited Tanduay Rhum through his nose.

It was unfortunate that the enthusiasm for a full reunion was hostaged by a petty domestic tiff whose intensity was measured by indicators of tinumis, kaldereta, and reheated lechon --- the prologue and epilogue for a compendium of impact stories and the procurements in Phnom Penh in response to the inquiries from Melbourne.

The acacia tree still stands, a Zen garden has sprouted from the seismic fractures of Room 305 where tilapia and carabaos are now raised for an aberrant ice cream that is sold at the Old Market --- a brand that will stay despite its relocation, an upgrade, and a post-evaluation angst that echoed from the walls of a diner in Munoz where the Water Boy from Bakal 2 supped on 3 cans of beer.

Our Hogwarts predated Harry Potter by 6 years --- the Pensieve where memory strands from the last 36 years were revisited including the Phantom Biker's daily morning ritual of disposing trash on the way to the bazaar, to the Siever that now stands guard at the Main Gate near the place called Marketing where the ageless Polly Jacob holds court prior to the reenactment of a 1990 moment at the Admin that was celebrated with an ice cream-topped banana cake in Talavera.

We are D'JARMMS and reliving us in Hogwarts concluded with Episode 5 in the shadows of a subterranean garage where commuters traversing a cutoff road by-passed the community shopping mall for a direct route to a nature park and a legal counselling of the 3rd Degree.

THE BPI ENIGMA

2026-06-08T13:37:35.839+08:00

Dear Bank of the Philippine Islands,

You should take down your slogan of "Building a better Philippines --- one family, one community at a time" because it does not reflect what your people actually do.

Pressuring me to pay 342,270.65 pesos of disputed credit card charges that I did not authorize, execute, and gained from despite plausible explanations, and premised on "archaic, and legally untenable adhesion clause" within your Terms and Conditions is a misanthropic, uncompassionate, and callous manisfesttion of your corporate parasitism that only reinforces the prevailing impression of banks being heartless corporate beasts.

I dispute, I depose, and I protest such inequity in the presence of Craftsmen and the Thursday Group.

This is gross injustice, a Strava glitch running over empty egg trays, an erronous water bill snatching a purple bag of provisions from the streets of Bakal 1 and Bakal 2 to evolve a final workshop and procurement in Phnom Penh into flavors of a reheated lumpiang shanghai, sweet pork barbecue, fried tilapia, and three interpretations of the pata.

The evil shadow of thhis monstrous adversity stole the alleviating sense of relief from succesfully petitioning for reinforced concrete design, the approval of Year 5 goals, the resolution of a persistent reimbursement, and the confirmation of a hybrid work arrangement that got the inbox purged through the initiation of a consultancy extension and the clarification of indiators that will measure Swiss and Nordic donors.

I pray that the other bank will be easier and reassuring like a recent ultrasound result diagnosis that justified Friday's sinadag for a straightforward medical reimbursement submission to avoid the infamy of BPI, a memory best forgotten and glossed with a surreal afternoon in the park one rainy Sunday afternoon in Zaragoza where the first episode was casted.

REPLACEMENT CARDS

2026-06-01T08:24:36.721+08:00

A House of Cards shuffled 6 times was dealt through 8 seasons of the Outlander.

Thus was how the plastic replacement cards were activated --- through the conveyance of a final blueprint for the conceptualization of the future after a performance assessment and the definition of targets for the next 12 months under the patronage of San Geronimo.
Bills were settled partially and fully, bikes --- both motor and mechanical --- got fixed, accummulated garbage disposed, the week's lotto bets placed in Baloc, but the stench of fraudulent transactions still linger at least for the next 10 or 45 banking days whatever is the case.

Impact stories will be published in recycled notebooks and emblazoned in UV jackets.

Such will be the final procurement and disbursement of the last month, without the social protection of a confirmed budget, with the application of a couple of reactions, and the assistance of a shoe cobbler.
Leftover beer was paired with inihaw na hito, bones of adobong bibe and pinatisan piled after a visit to the dead, bingo cards were served in a nonagenarian birthday buffet on the day octogenarian music was played for the last time...

CON AIR: THE AFTERMATH

2026-05-25T18:13:00.000+08:00

A 10-headed monster goaded the Firedancers of Gabah to roast a primate for the solidarity dinner but the evil fire burned through fraudulent transactions instead to expose PAL's coded message that for a moment seemed like the triumph of righteousness over darkness.

Still, the acrid aftertaste of being conned lingered until it was finally drowned in a mountain of babi guling samsam, a bowl of delicate gulai kambing, 15 skewers of sate kambing, and a Tim Tam Slam.

Patterns then emerged from chaos to align themes and generate recommendations for multi-source feedbacks with red codified as an approved reallocation for Phnom Penh while olive green is a sanction for the Manila proposal --- the prerequisites for convening the Holy Trinity in Legian Beach for a a unified session on annual employee experiences.

From the Island of Gods, a pouch of emails caught up at the Kingdom of Pee on a morning too early for the andrologist but just right for a first cut of next year's roadmap and the last remaining tiim na bibe in Bakal 2.

On her exeligmos minus 33 days, budget constraints aligned with the beneficiaries of two impact stories from Santa Marta that were documented in a dozen Bintang cans and burning meat from an upper middle class warehouse club.

In Alaminos, the sea breeze smelled of Japanese beer, Argentinian Malbec, and pinispisang kambing, a zephyr that pressed drunk early morning conversations into the crevice of the Old Scout Island's tiny beach where it echoed as a call to lunch for novice snorkelers who, after escaping from the suffocating throng at Pilgrimage Island, jumped from the cliffs off Marcos Island to harvest oysters that were steamed and and sold to the taklobo watchers at Governor's Island before the hurricane was unleashed from the walkway of Quezon Island.

Then dinner in Binmaley after surviving a traffic jam at Sual, the incident aboard PR 538 obscured for the moment...

THE EXORCISM OF BALI 2023

2026-05-18T10:52:00.000+08:00

In December 2023, a travel authority was tucked in 2 of what were supposed to be 3 luggages to fill the void created by an unexpected death in the family before Christmas, a haunting that lingered for almost three years begging to be exorcised.

The dispossession of that sad memory finally occured in the 2nd week of May 2026 with a silent prayer to the deities of the Mehru Towers at Pura Taman Ayun requesting them to sanctify a procession through the beaches of Bali that culminated at the Gate of Heaven and the giant swings of Ubud.

Pura Taman Ayun is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site that was first built in the 17th century "to worship the ancestral spirits of kings" of the Mengwi Kingdom.

Being our first destination in 2023, it naturally was the first step of our own cleansing rite prior to the convening of a final preparatory meeting for the Bali Assembly.

Our 2023 Bali holiday started with a walk to the Legian Beach, and concluded with beer, coconuts, and a setting sun at Kuta Beach before our return flight to Manila.

Thus in 2026, we revisited the chaotic maze of surf boards and a parade of g-string bikinis at Kuta and Legian that culminated in a debriefing of beer and coonuts in small tables with red plastic chairs as the sun burned off the waters of Seminyak Beach.

The haunting of 2023 was fully exorcised at the Gate of Heaven --- the candi bentar that represents the boundary between the physical and spiritual realms.

That was the pinnacle of the ritual that reversed a 2023 exclusion and invoked the protection of the guardian of the east from its sanctuary in the Island of Gods, a catharsis that burnished grief with happy moments at the giant swings of Ubod.

Bali is of course the land of babi guling, hot and spicy like that of Pak Malen's in Seminyak, subtle and mild like Ibu Oka's in Ubud.

It is also about padang dinners at Sarimande Natrabu and Sanur Nusantara minus the happy hour cocktails and a firedance.

So it was done.

The haunting of 2023 has been buried in the documentation of a stocktaking in preparation for annual reporting, the review and polishing of annual plans, and possible post-project scenarios.

THE WEEKEND BETWEEN BALI

Then we got robbed, a surreal mid-air experience aboard PR 538 that stole the flavor of a complimentary champagne, a supernatural incident that the nubile servers and vocalist of Poblacion failed to banish.

The palate did came through after walking through Ayala Avenue's car-free Sunday for a lonnganisa platter at the Legazpi Sunday Market that were presented in the luxurious buffet tables of the Vikings.

As anticipated, the runaround strategy was applied by Philippine Airlines but the autogates of the I Gusta Ngurah Rai International Airport finally worked.

BETWEEN NAGOYA AND BALI

2026-05-04T14:21:00.003+08:00

PR 437 from Nagoya to Manila plus 100 is PR 537 from Manila to Bali, the former replete with hot ramen bowls and a cold morning pint that were smuggled to Bakal 2 in duty free bags as chilled cans of Japanese beer and boxed bottles of sake...

....the latter denied by failed credit card transations, flavors that tasted like watered canned Chinese beer and insipid soup in a taijitu of three hot pots warmed by the waves of Manila Bay.

At Hogwarts, a desperate petition for Reinforced Concrete Design netted an apprenticeship outside the summer class that nailed a welcome pack, two presentations, a final agenda, and arrival requirements upon the foreheads of the Bali Assembly moderators.

At the City of Angels, old historical houses safeguarded a refugee of the power outage in Bakal 2, an insistence on brand development that will gather content and raise funds for the initiation of social protection from the huge doors of Pisamban Maragul, temporarily closed in protest of Aling Lucing's stagnating sisig, and in defense of a delayed acquittal report submission.

In Bakal 2, a sinister motive was detected from the team in Manila who unexpectedly agreed to have the Bali Workshop rebooked and the frozen tulya thawed with reheated tahong which smelled of canned Budweiser and kalderetang baka that looked like tiim na manok but tasted of sweet and sour pampano.

In San Rafael, a crime was uncovered with a request to open the doors at the convent of San Juan de Dios and liberate Sisa, Basilio and Crispin from allegations of scalping the reservations at Vikings to redirect the crowd to Four Seasons.

The lounge was finally accessed an hour before boarding, just enough time to cure a highball with a mug of beer 4 hours before the e-gates of Gusti Ngura Rai International Airport confirmed its refusal to scan crtain passports...

FUJISAN

2026-05-04T11:04:00.191+08:00

In our Japan itinerary, an encounter with Mt. Fuji up close and personal has been strongly insinuated by the wife.

That we consider as the bidding of the Cherry Princess, the godess of Mt. Fuji itself, so we scratched Kobe (we can have Kobe beef somewhere else) and mined Google on where it will be best to view Japan's holy mountain.

Our research indicated that Mt. Fuji will be visible in the morning of May 3 in Fujinomiya which is 219 kilomters away from Nagoya.

Thus, we started walking to the Nagoya Station at 4:30 am for a fast but expensive Shinkansen ride to Shizuka where we took a regular train to the Fuji Station.

It was on the last train ride to Fujinomiya when Mt. Fuji slowly revealed itself in an almost striptease way.

Outside the Fujinomiya Station, the mountain is fully visible, framed with medium rise buildings.

Some 750 meters from there is the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, a symbolic representation of a "mountain of water" that was opened in 2017 to celebrate the listing of Mt. Fuji as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a complex cooled by water from the mountain's springs that empties into a reflection pool.

Nearby is the ancient Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine, the cnter of worship for Mt. Fuji that is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But being a Sunday within a Japanese Golden Week which is the equivalent of a Filiino long weekend, Fujinomiya is deserted.

We found a small teppanyaki shop with an "open" sign, its door ajar but no one inside.

That's when we decided to return to Nagoya, relying on a liquid diet from vendo machines for breakfast and lunch, counting stops and train changes as we endured a 4-hour trip until finally, a table at a popular yakiniku shop we booked the previous day.

We smelled of grilled pork skirt, wagyu steak, chicken cartilage, beef tendon, thinly slice beef tongue, and marinated pork intestines after being smoked for 2 hours but it was the best way to conclude the first of our Japan adventures.

I had a highball and Sapporo beer, and we have a 5-year visa to Japan.

NAGOYA REDUX

2026-05-03T08:23:00.010+08:00

My lasting memory of Nagoya Castle are two Japanese ladies clad in the sexy Joshi Kosei mode (JK Style) that were actually the main subject of a photo I took of the edifice.

But we came too early this year and there is none of that, yet.

We did encounter a number of these Lolita-influenced fashion as we traveled through 3 train lines to Nagoya, our biobatteries charged with a ramen brunch at the Kyoto Station that enabled us to lug our bags through the streets of Nagoya to a superb dinner of the city's famous tebasaki, must try oroshi karaage, cochin oyakodon, a specialty tamagoyaki, and tonkatsu at the Nagoya Maruhachi Shokudo.

I had a highball and a Morita Kinshachi Craft Beer.

That was our prelude to a 360-degrees view of the Nagoya Castle that we captured in several frames by walkng around and killing time, before breaking our fast at one of the breakfast trucks parked just after its entrance gate.

Someday, I too will build have a a teahouse within my own Japanese garden where I can drink shots of sake while watching a monkey do a lap dance.

At the Osu Kannon Temple, we offered prayers to the Buddha of Compassion.

I tried recalling the flea market spot where I was sold a fake katana and the small shop where I had a lunch of ramen topped with raw egg 20 years ago.

Instead, buntings of the Philippine flag at the Osu Shopping Streets led us to a lunch of gyutan, a Wagyu steak, pork donburi, and mackerel.

I had a highball and Yebisu Beer.

At the Atsuta Shrine, we clapped our hands twice before and after our prayers to commune with the deities, to heal us of our sickness, and to request for a graceful exit into the sunset.

This ancient Shinto shrine is home to the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (Heavenly Sword of Gathering Cluds) which is one of Japan's three sacred treasures and imperial regalia, and honors Amaterasu-Omikami, the supreme sun god, and all other deities that is connected with the sacred sword.

I rode a bike to the Atsuta Shrine from the JICA Chubu, maybe once or twice 20 years ago.

I once had a 1993 Toyota Corolla for company use.

Just recently, my mother-in-law bought a Toyota Hiace Commuter De Luxe van for Bulan

It was then inevitable for us to visit the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology in Nagoya that showcased the company's evolution as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works into its incorporation as the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1937.

We saw models of its Model A1 passenger car that it frst produced and the Toyopet Crown that apparently broke the market for Japanese cars, and were serenaded with a crappy violin concerto by Toyota's Partner Robot.

Then it was dinner, a meal we failed to find at Sakae's red light district where once upon a time, I desperately scrounge for a bottle of San Miguel Beer that will be used for our commencement ceremony in lieu of our flags.

The options around the vicinity of the Nagoya Station turned out to be beyond what we are wiling to spend so we walked until stumbling into what seemed to be a newly opened and empty shop between rows of full izacayas.

We were prepared to be surprised and that's how it turned out with the superb ramen and and donburi nbowls we happily found out to have ordered.

I had a Kirin beer.