Music, Love and Life

The BER Months

2011-09-13T21:44:00.001+08:00

August was a really busy month. As you may have observed, I only have one post for that month. A lot of things happened from a crazy Korn concert to a peaceful and fun Cynthia Alexander gig at Conspiracy. Things are going well and I got to replace my lost iPod touch with a 64Gb so I'm a happy camper :)

Now it's almost mid-September. We're having a team outing by October 1 and it's going to be Vince's first time to be out of the metro. I guess I'll be joining the Christmas rush when I survive Vince's first birthday in November. It's either time flies, or I'm blinking my eyes too slowly.

happy birthday prince!

2011-09-13T01:29:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was prince's 36th birthday and we went to Yakimix Trinoma for dinner. Their customer service improved a lot since I blogged about the unfortunate incident and I appreciate it.

Way to go DFA!

2011-08-08T12:34:00.001+08:00

July was a very busy month. It went so fast that I didn't even notice it's already August.

We had an appointment at the DFA to renew my passport and apply for baby's first one. It's nice to see that part of my taxes were used for a good cause as the DFA office right next to S&R is way better than the one I remember going to six years ago. I booked two appointments online: one at 1:30pm for my passport renewal and another one at 3pm for baby's new passport application. We arrived at 1pm and went to the table with the huge label "STEP 1". A guy in front of a computer asked how I'm related to the baby [which proves that some common sense isn't that common at all], so I said I'm his mother. He then asked me to go to the second floor where they have courtesy lane for infants [not more than 1 year old]. Both our passports were processed on the same lane for Php1,200 each and we're all done by 2pm. Now this is PUBLIC SERVICE! Precise, efficient and not complicated.

Our passports arrived after more than two weeks through LBC. :)

Goodbye Touchscreen Phone!

2011-07-18T11:01:00.004+08:00

The first 'touchscreen phone' experience for me was when I bought my Sony Ericsson P1i in 2008. I loved it as it lets me choose to use the qwerty keys or touchscreen and the stylus can just be snapped at the back. This phone is the only touchscreen, WIFI phone I had that can take decent photos. The only thing missing is that this isn't a walkman phone but the audio quality isn't that bad at all.

Then the full touchscreen phones came out and I was into pink phones. It made me buy the Samsung Star WIFI which I only used for about a month and then accidentally left it in a cab when I was on my way to work with morning sickness. :(

I was then encouraged to buy a new pink touchscreen phone that has 3.5mm audio jack which lead me to an LG KM555e. Unlike other touchscreen phones, this one doesn't have any attached stylus so it pains to text, go online or do anything else that requires typing.

A few months after using this full touchscreen-WIFI phone, I realized that the full touchscreen isn't really for me. I then longed for the simple, bar type, non-qwerty, non-wifi phone that allows me to text and call without thinking of pressing the wrong part of the screen. Patiently, I waited for a white Nokia C2-00 to be available in the market and now, 3 years after my first touchscreen phone experience, I'm back to basics.

While everyone is into touchscreen and BlackBerry phones, I find nothing fancy about Nokia C2-00 and that's why I like it. :)

IKEA Philippines PLEASE!!!

2011-07-08T02:52:00.002+08:00

When will we ever have IKEA here in the Philippines? I've been seeing a lot of online sellers that sell IKEA items 50% more expensive than it's original price [or more] and it's just not fair. :(

All the other stores we never thought would possibly be here - Muji, Forever21, etc. - made it so should we expect IKEA Philippines anytime soon? PLEEAAASSE?

Enveloped Ideas - A Tribute to The Dawn

2011-07-03T02:40:00.006+08:00

Being one of the most respected bands in the Philippines since the 80's, I guess it's just time to pay tribute to The Dawn. The Enveloped Ideas album launch was held at the Hard Rock Cafe, Makati last Thursday, June 30, 2011.

The album packaging is really nice. Took me back to early 90's which is probably the last time I received a mail with this kind of envelope, hehe. :)

I may be biased but I have to say that Lip Service's version of the song Living Seed is one of the most intense track out of the album. It's evident that The Dawn themselves liked it when Buddy Zabala and Jet Pangan approached them after such a nice performance on stage. The band is just very vocal about being grateful to be part of the album. I also liked the performances of Enemies of Saturn, Flying Ipis, Rubberpool and Techy Romantics.

The night ended with The Dawn playing three of their most well-known songs Iisang Bangka, Salamat and Enveloped Ideas with a little version of Foolish Heart on the side, hehe. It was a fun-filled event and everyone just can't help but sing their hearts out as we look back at all the good things and, as quoted from Lip Service's vocalist, Pat Co, "Mabuhay si Teddy Diaz!"

A Rain Story

2011-06-21T16:09:00.000+08:00

June is the official rainy season in the Philippines. My nieces stayed in our apartment for the weekend. Long weekend, that was due to our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birthday. It rained pretty hard and I remember our youngest sister's story about rain.

My eldest niece's favorite color is pink. She would always be fuzzy and then turns bratty when she's given something to use that's not pink. All her clothes, shoes, bags, etc. has always been pink. One day, her mom came home with a new yellow dress for her and she started crying because it's not pink. My youngest sister then told her that, "If you would only choose pink, the other colors of the rainbow will start getting jealous and cry. Their tears will turn into rain, it will rain very hard that children will not be able to play outdoors." From then on, she stopped monopolizing pink. The end. Creative storyteller, hehe. :)

Makati Mayhem

2011-06-16T01:20:00.001+08:00

I went to Makati this morning after my shift at past 7am. Let's just say it's going to be the last time I'll ever go to Makati during rush hour.

I took the MRT at Cubao station and I was deceived by the ticket booths that gives the peaceful [READ: not crowded] impression. The real riot is happening at the platform as people who are south bound are so eager to get in. Trains are arriving every five minutes more or less but it's not enough to cater commuters at all. It took me more than 30 minutes to get inside [the people around me literally will push you to get in] the train.

The fun never stops as when I got out of the train in Buendia station at past 8am [an hour to travel 6 MRT stations?!], there's this dilemma on which public transportation to take so I can get to the office in Ayala to meet the 8:30am appointment. I can take a cab and it should be super easy and fast. But there's no cab for some reason. I can take an FX or jeep but the lines are endless. I tried to take a bus but the crowd is worse than the Cubao MRT station. I decided to request that the appointment be moved to 9:30am instead as I wasn't expecting this kind of armageddon. I was finally able to take a cab at 9:05am and took another 15-20 minutes to get to my destination.

More than 2 hours will take me to Pampanga, Laguna or Batangas. I gotta be thankful I'm a QC person.

McDonald's Shake Shake Fries

2011-05-26T13:07:00.002+08:00

Shake Shake Fries & Float Combo

Found this during lunch break at the McDonald's branch across our office building. Almost the same as the seaweed flavored fries that I had a few years ago in Singapore. Their version in the Philippines comes in cheese and barbecue flavors only. I tried the cheese flavor [without the float combo as I'm not really into carbonated drinks] and it's ok, will try the barbecue flavor later today and I hope it tastes better. :)

**UPDATE as of May 29, 2011** Tried the barbecue flavor last Friday and it didn't disappoint! Love ko 'to! ;)

♫You'll Be Lookin' Groovy..♬ - The Mr. Big Hangover

2011-05-26T12:51:00.002+08:00

So the Big Day passed and I'm still in this post-concert hangover. You can't blame me. Words can't describe how I felt that day.

Wild World, Wild Crowd.

And the day before that.

Press conference/Meet and greet at the SM North EDSA Skydome.

General Luna and Lip Service did a great job as front acts for Mr. Big. To be handpicked by such a legendary band is a huge deal and I am just so proud. Eric Martin is the most vocal about his fondness for both bands.

General Luna

Lip Service

That was an evening to remember. Spotted in the crowd are some of the local musicians Barbie Almalbis, Aiza Seguerra and Vinci Montaner [of Parokya ni Edgar]. Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Eric Martin and Pat Torpey gave us all an awesome night.

The Big Dome, The BIG Performance

6th Month [well, almost.]

2011-05-16T01:20:00.006+08:00

Vince is about to turn six months this week. At this time, he's already able to push himself up, crawl, rollover and his legs are very strong that it's really tiring to hold him as he tends to do "pseudo-jumps" all the time. Yesterday, mom told me he's able to say the word "Papa" twice and I know Prince is very happy. I'm not in a rush, he'll always be a baby to me no matter how grown up he becomes.

Getting ready for his last shot of 5in1 vaccine.

First taste of Yakimix's chocolate fudge cake. Yum!

The gifts that were given to him for his baptism last month are all very useful. Most of them are toys so I guess we wouldn't need to buy him any more toys until his first birthday. He's a very active baby so play time is crucial. From time to time, he's getting runny nose but we're blessed that he's generally healthy. :)

Be it unto me...

2011-05-15T22:35:00.000+08:00

God allows things to happen for a reason. I have faith that He's got great plans. I am praying for things that I want, He knows what my heart desires.

Reunion and Mothers' Day

2011-05-11T11:05:00.001+08:00

Few weeks ago, I was browsing Facebook while mom, baby and I are all in bed.

NIX: Ma, do you know anyone named "Charina"? She's got the same last name as ours and she's based in the states.
MOM: I'm not sure but I think your father might know him. Why?
NIX: I've got a friend invite from her few months ago, I never accepted it since I don't know her.
MOM: Accept it. She might be a distant relative.

And so I did. She then added me to a family group and I found this post of another member asking if anyone knows my grandfather. Turns out that a simple "accept friend request" will lead us into finding a long lost aunt that my father and his siblings have been looking for since my grandpa died about six years ago. Last Sunday, at my grandpa's old compound in Kamias, a reunion happened.

[clockwise] Tito Pando, Tita Ruby, Tita Neng, Tita Rodora and Tito Ramon carrying Vince

Too bad dad and their other brother is in Sibuyan [grandpa's province] at that time and couldn't join them but I know this is just a beginning of something new. Happy Mothers' Day and welcome to "Mang Rudy's Family", Tita Rodora! :)

Home Bound on Holy Week

2011-04-22T18:51:00.000+08:00

I didn't realize that I've been very busy in the past year's holy week. When I wasn't working yet, holy week was spent in a relative's resort in Limay, Bataan where the pool's waters are super cold as it stream from the mountains or in grandpa's house in Sibuyan, Romblon where we often go to town feasts, swim in the beach or in Cantingas River and sometimes burn our skin by boating in the middle of the afternoon. There used to be a lot of things to do.

When I started working, holy weeks would be spent in the office even when a lot of business would be closed, I enjoyed the holiday's double pay. This year however, I am home bound. Well since Wednesday, that is. Malls are closed and there's nothing much to do except for checking out the tv news and going online. I am about to go to work again in a few hours and I expect a traffic jam-free Metro Manila. A lot of people are out of town and I can just be thankful that I could skip the SLEX/NLEX traffic.

Somehow the idea of going out of town with Prince and baby could mean a little less relaxing trip. I never imagined myself traveling with a baby before but maybe we should do it soon. For now, I'll drag myself back to work.

A Present and A Dilemma

2011-04-21T13:42:00.000+08:00

Prince upgraded my iPod touch as a birthday present.

I love that the 4th generation's got two cameras [front and back] that both can take HD quality videos and pretty decent photos [depending on the light]. The 32Gb storage is enough for me although it's also available in 64Gb.

There's a catch though. We found out that the new iPod Touch is not compatible with the Tiger OS of my macbook as it uses iTunes 10 [Tiger OS can get up to iTunes 9 only]. I don't want to give up the Comic Life application which is not available in Leopard and Snow Leopard [I must purchase it seperately]. There's also a news going around geekland that Apple's releasing the new OS, Lion, in a few months.

So I guess patience, patience, patience for now. :)

I Officially Hate WordPress!

2011-04-19T10:27:00.000+08:00

After moving in to blogger, WordPress just showed their ugliest side and today, I officially hate them. Number one, for there's no option to completely delete your account. They can only delete your blog and not your username, hence, you technically still have a WordPress account. Number two, for being unable to restore my photos posted in ALL of my blog entries. After a few weeks of moving out, the blog posts together with the photos can be viewed perfectly fine. Today, everything just went nuts and all photos shows a little blue question mark in all my previous posts. This is just ridiculous! I would just try my best to come up with all those photos that I can still retrieve, re-upload and edit my posts again. I have more than a hundred so good luck with that. Arghhh!!!

Vince's Baptism

2011-04-18T15:39:00.001+08:00

Last Saturday, Vince's baptism was held at Our Lady of Hope Parish. They don't have special baptism during Saturdays so we had to share with seven more babies. It's no biggie but definitely made the event less intimate.

The reception at Gerry's Grill in Tomas Morato is good except for the change that we're not advised of - from serving the food per table, it was served buffet style instead.

The function room was simply designed with blue and white baloons as well as a banner courtesy of Gerry's Grill.

We got the cake and cupcakes from Mitchelle's Sweet Kiss. I love the moist chocolate and the butter icing that's not too sweet.

The candles and invites are D.I.Y., thanks to iWork's Pages ;)

And we just bought his shoes and clothes from Landmark, TriNoMa.

Thanks again to everyone who celebrated with us on our baby's special day. :)

5 Days of Silence

2011-04-10T07:30:00.001+08:00

I was having a not-so-serious cough last Friday night when I was preparing to go to work. Before my shift ended, I lost my voice. I went to The Medical City that is closest to our house and when I opened my mouth, the doctor already knew I am working in a call center. Then I was told that I am having an acute laryngitis.

I've been working in a call center for more than 5 years and it's the first time that I lost my voice. I must say that it's quite irritating that I am forbidden to do, eat and drink a couple of things:

I can only drink water. No softdrink, tea, coffee, fruit juice, etc. JUST WATER.
No sour fruits. No pulpy fruits. Basically, the only fruit that the doctor said I am allowed to eat is banana.
No talking unless if it's really needed. [The doctor's example is when I need to scream, "There's a fire!"]

Following the first two rules is easy. The third one however is something I need to work on. I never imagined myself being in a complete voice rest for at least 5 days. The doctor said that if things isn't getting any better, I need to go back to him so we can do a more intense check on my throat. Scary. So I need to take the medicines that he prescribed [and I can't believe that treatment for this could be so expensive], avoid the food and drinks that I'm not allowed to intake and keep my mouth shut. Wish me luck. :(

Yakimix TriNoMa

2011-04-07T15:00:00.001+08:00

Last year, Earl brought us to Tomas Morato so we could try out Yakimix - the eat-all-you-can restaurant that's got Japanese, Korean and Cantonese cuisine. I must say, it was great although the queue seems never ending, they got me with the smokeless grill. Prince and I were even considering them to be the venue of reception after baby's baptism so our guests can eat as much as they want. I thought it would be the same on all branches but I was SO WRONG.

My mom wanted to try it as well so since we're just close to TriNoMa, we decided to take the queue even when baby's with us at that time. I got number 24 when they were serving number 3. We stayed in front of the receptionist who calls out numbers and after 1 hour of waiting, she got to call number 6. Prince went home [our house is less than 15minutes away from TriNoMa] to get more milk for baby. Mom and I took baby to the ladies' room for a quick diaper change and when we went back to the receptionist.. VOILA! IT'S NUMBER 25's TURN!

I asked the receptionist if she can consider calling us next as we've been waiting for more than an hour already but all she told me was, "No, you have to queue and get a new number." which at that time is already at around number 40 something. She's very cold, not bothering to display empathy as if she's underpaid and don't really want such job. We walked out right away because I felt like she's going to humiliate me if I insist on my request and I don't want to burst out my anger. Great customer service you got there. Consumers, BEWARE!

Cyber Home

2011-03-31T23:17:00.000+08:00

So I just moved to Blogspot after a couple of years I spent with WordPress. I was amazed on how easy you can import and export blog entries these days. I wouldn't have known if I didn't move out of Wordpress. Now, let's keep the good things rolling, shall we? ;)

PULP Magazine Features Lip Service

2011-03-31T23:12:00.001+08:00

This month's Pulp issue features Lip Service, the return of Wolfgang, a cover art of Mr. Big (awesome work by JP Cuison) and many more.

Great photography and layout. Lip Service is out for more. Their songs Chandeliers and Patintero are both getting good number of votes in a couple of radio stations and they're just warming up. See them live this Saturday with The Dawn, The Pin-Ups and Threadstone so you can see what I mean. ;)

I'm Missing Kiss

2011-03-20T18:28:00.001+08:00

The foodcart business took streetfood into a whole new level in terms of packaging as well as the quality of taste and cleanliness. I must say that Kiss, King of Balls is probably one of the pioneers of this business here in Manila. The usual pushcarts that carry fishballs, squid balls, etc. doesn't look very tidy so when I first saw this Kiss foodcart when I was in high school, I knew it's going to be a big hit. It's more presentable than the ones in pushcarts and their version of the sweet sauce is just something no other vendors can offer. And then Kiss was everywhere. There was a time when almost all the MRT and LRT stations that I know had their own Kiss and I would always dig it.

After more or less 10 years, I still crave for Kiss. However, I noticed that Kiss branches has been closing until the only Kiss that I know that's left is the one in Ayala MRT station.

Please let me know if there's any other branch that's still operating, I'm not a regular in Makati area and I really miss my Kiss.

STP and The North Park Incident

2011-03-11T09:55:00.001+08:00

Prince and I are regular customers of the North Park restaurant in Makati Avenue as well as the TriNoMa branch. We love the Boneless Honey Lemon Chicken, Beef with Broccoli and Yang Chow Rice but once in a while we try other stuff in the menu such as some congee and dimsum. Makati Avenue branch is open 24hours so we can drop by and have good food even when the gig ends at 3am. I've always been a satisfied customer.

Last night, however, was different. Prince went to the Stone Temple Pilots concert in Araneta Coliseum which is very successful, as expected, so congrats to STP and we hope that you can come back for some more. :)

Prince waited for me and my officemates to take our break and we tried the North Park branch that recently opened in the Araneta Coliseum. It's open 24hours so perfect for people in graveyard shift as well. We arrived at around 1am, there's about three tables occupied with customers and a male staff took our orders. He said waiting time is 10-15minutes. He gave us hot tea and one of us asked for sweetener. He said they only give sweetener if we order drinks (we all had water). When we asked why other branches give sweetener even without having to order drinks from the menu, he said ok and gave it anyway. Our orders arrived after more than 20minutes, after a follow up that we had to ask from one of the female staff. I noticed that other unoccupied tables are very messy.

Try to zoom in this picture and you'll see a couple of chopsticks, chopstick wrappers, the table surface looked sticky and used water pitcher can be seen even without zooming in. We stayed there for more than 30minutes but it remained that way before and after we ate. Nobody in their staff seem to care to clean it up. Maybe because they think that since there's not a lot of customers around, there's no need to clean up for the FEW customers eating at that time. It's the first time that I got disappointed with their service. I guess the Araneta Coliseum branch needs to keep up to the standards that other branches never fail to give to their customers.

The BIG Day!

2011-03-03T23:26:00.001+08:00

Since we missed the Gin Blossoms concert last November because baby chose to be born on the same day, I will never forgive myself if we ever miss this one.

May 10, 2011 is THE BIG DAY as Mr. Big will be playing at the Big Dome, Araneta Coliseum. I can't imagine how starstrucked I will be when Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey play live in front of me.

In 2009, Billy Sheehan was here for the bass clinic by Yamaha and this is how I looked like.

Stunned and smiling the whole time. Hihi. :)

See you there people!

Precious Moments Makati

2011-02-26T00:26:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to visit and try out the Precious Moments Showroom/Restaurant in Makati so Prince and I had a post-valentine date last Tuesday. It's a good thing Prince is familiar with the streets of Makati, I'm more of a QC person, hihi.

The facade looks like a regular apartment unit but I was amazed when we went inside. There's a small reception area where their nice group of staff are ready to accommodate guests. It's like a heaven of Precious Moments dolls and figurines!

The dining area reminds me of the Belini's atmosphere in Cubao X. Very homey and the size encourage intimacy.

I wasn't able to take pictures of the food but it's quite good. They have generous servings and the price is very reasonable. Now I only wish they have a branch here in QC as well.