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Showing posts from 2004

First Time...

I've done a lot of things in my life, and I never thought you could have a lot of first-times in the span of one day. There are a few first things that I got to do between yesterday and very early today. Here's a list: 1. First time I watched a Filipino movie in a cinema where I nearly wept... 2. First time I had stuffed bread sticks... 3. First time I had Bacolod Chicken Inasal... 4. First time I got into Sibil (Timog)... 5. First time I found out that chorizo's in pizza do not taste good to me... Think about it, what are the tings you did today for the first time? CHill...

Misunderstood

Is it me, or she just doesn't really understand me? I don't feel like a self righteous Ahole even on my blog because I keep it short and simple. It might be true that when you use more words to express how you feel, it just bites back. Or, If you try explaining something to someone who doesn't want to listen, then maybe it has the same effect. I was having a nice day, but from what I read, you always save the best for last. My day was going right until she tells me to shut up and let the actions do the talking. Somebody help me out here, she wants to feel more important than anything else in my world -- which isn't really practical and rational -- and then when I do make an effort to reach out and make it right, she tells me to shut up. Maybe I asked for this -- she already said she was a brat, and she already said she was high maintenance but no, I kept it going. Yes, I did bring this onto myself -- I could only do so much and I could only give so much. Lemme quo

Barely Breathing

I am barely breathing, and I can't find the air. I haven't had a smoke in 3 days. 3 days! But then I'm not yet shivering, and feeling hungry all the time (not that I don't eat all the time, but that's something else). I really just love getting a call from my cousin (thanks to Sun Cellular, with that 24x7 unlimited service). Everytime he calls, there's always something happening -- something to talk about, and something to laugh about. I personally like laughing -- a lot. I live a very clowny life, and I appreciate happy people around me. Especially if I make them happy, or at least make them laugh. I remember times when I just be my goofy self and start doing stupid funny things when I'm with my housemates. Sometimes it's something I say, sometimes it's something I do. Sometimes it's something I ask, or a sly remark. Sometimes, it's just when I laugh -- and I don't hold back laughing. Then that's just pure fun, and a very very

Bright Lights

I just got a new set of speactacles. Eye glasses. One for the hip and outgoing guy, and another for the office business person. And for the first time, I could afford these things. Not entirely just because I have a job now, but mainly because I need them too. How could you work effectively if half the time you're reading or writing you need to squint to read them darn letters? Maybe when your work doesn't require you to read then vision improvement aids like eye glesses won't be too much of a necessity. But when your work involves reading through tons and tons of code, documentation, and bad handwriting and poorly written correspondence both on paper and through a monitor, these eye glasses really help. But I'm not counting on just these glasses to do the work, I am urgently needing people to work with on a stream of projects coming into the company. I don't know if I should be advertising this, but to people who are needing jobs, and are qualified to work in

Inspired

It's barely a day after my last post, and here I am in the middle of the night tacking away at my keyboard, with drooping eyelids and a brain full of ideas. I just got off watching "Absolute Power" in Star World Asia, and this particular episode gave me an idea about a good way of actually exploiting the dynamics of the streets and any "mature" social animal with the desire to be on the leading and cutting edge of the headlines. The episode had something to do with finding out and helping out (err, actually screwing) Mr. X for allegedly being involved in some bar room brawl -- a place where he shouldn't be found mainly because he's the health minister and because the place is known for being the hangout for "Men-or-so-others-say". Anyway, that's not the idea I derived from the episode -- I have taken interest in the idea of actually setting up something like an NNTP service, but more just for short messages and gossip. Take this idea:

Christmas Used to Be...

Ok, here you're thinking here we go again with a sentimental blabbering post. Well you might be right, but then again you might be wrong. So here goes. I've been gone a few weeks from Calauan, Laguna and it'w really quite fitting that I get back the day before christmas. I used to think that life here in the middle of somewhere would be really boring and something I wouldn't miss when I get to a different place like well say, Manila. But some things never change. Like the place you grew up in. See, it's people who change. Not places, not events, not anything else -- people change. Christmas is still christmas to everyone -- however people who experience christmas change. The appreciation of christmas changes as people change, not because of age, and not because of anything else, but mainly because... well... because we just do. Maybe you missed a lot of things while growing up. Maybe it's because you don't have time anymore. Maybe it's because y

Stuck...

Do you know how it feels to think you'll be doing something just for a couple of days and end up doing it for a couple of weeks or months even? It's not a fun feeling. Especially if the circumstances that cause that event are beyond your control. But it's not that the stay here in the provinces in the Philippines isn't fun. It's just that the comfort of familiar environments and familiar people are not there. We've been stuck in the hotel for a couple of weeks already, mainly due to some unavoidable circumstances. And it's not that we're not working, it's just that we're really having a nice time here while we're not which makes it almost bearable. Until you start thinking of what you've left behind, or what you're missing. I'll be paying rent again for the month of december, even though I've only been in the house/apartment just for a couple of days. I'm not complaining, it's just really something I miss -- the

Work Work Work...

Imagine writing a whole manual for training BY YOURSELF. And then writing quotations for clients without supervision... You could put in whatever amount you want, and do everything that your boss does -- while he's not here. And when he basically gives you the go-signal, you actually do everything he does -- with all the hassle and work that comes with it. But then there are also the bad things -- like insomnia, thinking of all the work to be done, and the ones that have to happen ASAP. I enjoy it really, working. I could be someone you could call a workaholic. And I'm looking for people who aren't so that I could get something from them. Or, I could actually help them. Or they could help me. Whatever. But right now, I really need additional manpower, because doing everything yourself is something nobody wants to do. Unless others can't. But that's another story. Right now, that manual thing is getting to my nerves. I haven't done the first chapter, which

Hiatus...

I've been out of the blogging scene for quite a while -- I don't even remember the last post. I've been to so many places (well, not that many), and gone through so many things, and have met so many new people, that it's really just a chore to actually write everything down. But then I must, and just after reading inspiring stories I'm in the mood to write. So then I'll get to it. There are some things in life you can let go of -- sometimes it's other poeple. Just when I thought I was going to stop hurting people I love, I end up hurting the person I've genuinely loved since well... I really don't remember the last time I fell in love like THAT. So there, the only person I really truly loved, I managed to hurt and break her heart. All I could be is sorry for who I am and what I do to people, that sometimes it's just not fun anymore. I remember telling her that "You shouldn't be sorry for who you are..." -- but right now that&#

Preparation...

I am currently enjoying my work, and it seems that my boss is also enjoying working with me, or at least watching me work. That's the impression that I get, and I've already been with meetings on the upcoming projects we have (which I cannot talk about). However, I'm going to have to brace myself for an ~8 hour drive from here in Makati to Iriga in Bicol. That's quite a long ride, and I'm not sure what to do aside from sleep, watch the windows in the middle of the night, and listen to radio. Anyway, I should be enjoying the sights, and the setup. I get to travel, and work, and enjoy both at the same time. I just hope baby would understand, and not worry too much. And I hope my parents understand, since well, it doesn't seem to me that I would get the opportunity to go home in 2 consecutive weekends because of work. I'm taking this seriously, and I hope the company takes me seriously too. It looks so in the outset, but I have yet to see how far I could

Why I Try...

I've just started to work and things have been looking up. I'm currently adjusting to the office environment, and the work that I'm doing. I've also been adjusting (quite well) with the housemates I have and the commute from Boni ave. to Ayala Ave. Now why I try convincing my girlfriend that I love her is something else I cannot fathom. I don't know why I need to convince her, or why I even try. I love her, that's sure. But she's having issues with me working and being far away from each other. I don't seem to have any problems, but I can sense that she's not fine with it. Now I have to worry about work, and eventually school which starts tomorrow (I haven't registered yet even). I was fine with talking over the phone, and thanks to the Sun cellular network, calls are free (but are cut at 15 minutes, which I don't mind much). However my girlfriend has times when she'd want to talk until the wee hours of the morning, which I couldn&#

Work or Play?

I would first off like to say I love my Baby. I would rather keep her anonymity intact, and would not dare divulge her identity in the near future. As for now, let me just say that I love you baby, and hope you're reading my blog. Now as for the real motive of the blog, I'm just waiting to sign the contract with my employer, with whom I will be working for starting tuesday. I'm at another crossroads where on my way to graduating, I would be working and actually earning money doing work that I would (supposedly) enjoy. From what I'm hearing, the arrangements sound great. The starting pay isn't really spectactular, but considering that I'm going to start probationary, I would take the offer nonetheless. The company is based in Makati, and I would supposedly be doing field work too, travelling all over the country and maybe out of the country. I'm definitely looking forward to that, but then I would still have to worry about the last 10 units of my college l

Exception to the Rule

Just when you think life is this boring thing you just go through, God lets you meet someone who will make life so much more than something you never thought you had. If you're not happy with your life, I pity you. If you want to be happy in your life, look for a reason to live -- your purpose, your passion. Don't take it from me, but I've found my love (and life) at a time when I was cynical and turning into someone I didn't want to be. It can be theraputic, especially when you think life is not going the way you wish it would. Look at me now, I'm just plain happy. I've never felt this before -- alive, happy, unconditionally in love with someone. She's just what I've been needing in my life. I found her when I wasn't looking, in the place I always envisioned meeting the person for me. I thought I was in love then, but I realize that I was wanting to be in love. I courted someone for two years, but wasn't really entirely sure if she was the on

Pasta and Why I Love...

Yesterday, I had the chance to cook pasta for my relatives. I should say, it was the product of a *ahem* experiment I did, a day after I came from Puerto Galera. I did mention that we cooked Fetuccine Carbonara (thanks Kim) when we were there, and I got the confidence to actually try and cook pasta. I never really did so before because I didn't know how to cook the friggin noodles. Now that I know how to cook the noodles (thanks to Kim again), I can experiment all I want. So here are the ingredients: 1 white onion, chopped 1 head garlic, chopped 2 kalamansi (or if you have small lemons, better) 4-6 tomatoes (depends on the size, all finely chopped) 4 cherry tomatoes (squished)* 3 green bell peppers (chopped) 1/2 kg Spaghetti noodles 100 ml Olive Oil (preferrably Extra Virigin) 2 cans tuna flakes in oil a couple of spring onions (chopped) (enough salt, pepper) parsley (finely chopped)* oregano leaves (dried)* cheese (cheddar or parmaesan, grated) Procedure: P

Love, Life, and Luminescence

I just got back home yesterday from the Puerto Galera gimmick of the UPLB Swimming Team. We got bonded quite well, learning a lot of things about pretty much everybody. We know the little quirks now, some personal history, and we came out of the outing with a better idea of who each of us really are. We got really close over drinks, and we were able to enjoy time with each other as friends. It was all well and good while we were at Puerto Galera, but at some point in time you need to come back to reality. And that happened yesterday. I'm already reeling from a very nice time with the Swimming Team when we got back to UPLB yesterday. However I had to find out what my grades were in my Computer Science subjects. To boot, I was having a blast enjoying time with my teammate who I'm currently courting. We discovered so much about each other in a span of 3 days, and we are really just enjoying each other's company. I love her though, and I won't mind spending more time wit

To Puerto, Or... NOT?!

To Puerto Galera or NOT... Should that even be a choice? But when you're 21, living with your dad, and you're mom's in California -- you need to ask permission. And for a while back there, I was inches away from not being allowed to go to Puerto Galera TOMORROW!!! :D I might not be blogging from tomorrow until friday, since I don't know if there are internet shops in that part of the Philippines. I'm willing to bet there are places there with internet access, but going there would be a last resort for satisfying my blogging urges. I might resort to writing down with pen and pencil, and keeping my thoughts to myself. But somehow, I'd want feedback from whoever is reading my writings. And if the blogging urges are too strong, I can always commute to Calapan (an hour to two or so from the Poblacion of Puerto Galera) and satisfy my urges there. If that's not an option, I could just shower with cold water. I had to ask permission from my mom who's half

Gimmick Yet Again...

Congratulations to my cousin Jeffrey and his wife Menchie. They just got married yesterday, and I must say it was a beautiful day. The chapel at Calaruega, Tagaytay is really something else -- the effect of the rays of the sun of midday streaking through the windows into the hall while my cousin and his wife are getting married is really special. I'm not much of a sentimental person, but if I may say I was holding back the tears while they exchanged their vows. At the reception, I was the emcee along with Menchie's friend. It was a classic case of the impromptu clueless host show -- we were making up things we were going to say on the spot. It went well as far as I'm concerned but there were a few delays due to unforseen technical difficulties. After the programme, people were congratulating me and my co-emcee for a job well done -- I don't know if it's patronizing us, out of courtesy, or ture. I may never know. During the reception, the cameras and the camera

Finals...

A while earlier, I took the final exam for CMSC 150 at the Institute of Computer Science in UPLB. I've taken it a year ago, and failed miserably. And that might just happen again since I didn't have 1 sure answer in the 50 item multiple choice exam. I didn't study and I will deserve whatever grade I have, but I'm thinking "oh no, what about my varsity membership? how about the SCUAA?!" That exam was really something else. It was supposed to test your understanding and mastery of the concepts. I know half of that I learned from CMSC 150, and I could even explain them to you. However, if you put it in writing and ask me "Which among these statements are true about LU Decomposition?" -- then I'll start having a problem. I can't complain because I didn't study (at all) but I know I could have done so much better. I just hope my lab instructer will allow me to do extra work to catch up for the passing grade -- I have a bad feeling that the

No More Drinks for That Guy...

I woke up a couple of hours ago, after sleeping 8 hours. Started sleeping at around 430 in the morning and then woke up around 1 pm. Haven't eaten lunch yet, or anything real from then till now, but I'm not complaining. I've had too much fun yesterday, it's almost unimaginable for me to complain. Gimmick at Blue Onion at Eastwood, Libis. That was one fine place, and with family around me, it felt so much better. Went out with counsins from the first and second degree and we had so much fun, some things couldn't be mentioned out of discretion. However, I will have to say that alcohol gets to me pretty well (not quick, but just effectively). I've pretty much freaked out my cousins with my dance moves, and am just thankful that we're family. After the gimmick, I treated my cousins to shawarma and kebab at this place at Quezon Avenue (Mr. Kebab is the place if I recall correctly) and I've been treated to the best shawarma and kebab I've ever had. T

Oh hell...

I just came home from a pathetic excuse for an exam. I didn't study, and I will deserve whatever grade I get for the exam. The exam doesn't even encourage you to answer the questions... Why? Because it's an all or nothing exam. See, if you don't answer it correctly, there goes the item. And it's an exam on computation . Computation, not analysis or identification, or true or false. It's an all or nothing exam on computation . Who the hell makes an exam like that? For a numerical analysis/scientific computing class, it's just unacceptable. It could be, if you really know what you're teaching and that you really teach -- and teach well enough that students actually understand what you're teaching. I could have imagined an all-or nothing take home exam, but one in two hours involving just you, your pen, your calculator, your 2 blue books, a proctor with sore eyes, and 5 questions involving computations -- down right stupid. I wouldn't wonder why

Zero to Done...

I just got home from an overnight hackfest at my groupmate's place. We were faced with a pretty simple problem nobody wanted to solve: How to parse and extract content from an ATOM feed and create a data structure containing articles/entries to be rendered by either a GUI frontend, or some webservice others might want to build. *hint* *hint* So there we were, 11 pm in the evening still sifting through the documents we could use for the crafting of an ATOM parser. Of course my conscience couldn't take just getting a ready made parser from the web and puttin it into our project. That wouldn't be very nice of me would it... Even if it was open source or something, it doesn't show what I can really do with my knowledge and abilities. And besides, my groupmates counted on me to get something working... Even I was counting on me to get something working, so I had to get at it with all my programming powers in high gear. So after a couple of bags of chips, dimsums, mata

ME Blog Addict!

Thanks to YOU and Joey Alarilla for featuring the tanggero of the most recent UPLB Computer Science Society gimmick. Click here to read the feature. :D Chillin' big time...

Frustrations and Guilty Pleasures

I just got home from a night out with my lady development communication teacher friends. It was quite a day I had, and I'm prepared to share notable details about it... So friends, countrymen, and passer-by's, hold on to your beer. I woke up around 10 am in the morning feeling refreshed from a very very nice workout Coach had us do the day before: 20 laps warmup, 20 laps with the improvised-but-effective power paddle + pull buoy (freestyle/crawl), 20 laps with the kickboard (flutter kick), and 20 laps "cool down". But apparently, the 80 laps were not enough, and we did sprints and swimming form checks. Oh, and my teammates are getting stronger, so I should take this training a lot more seriously. So back to my day... Woke up at 10, swirled in bed a little, and had my nutritional diet fix for brunch (technically lunch because I had it at around 11:50). Then, I got to pay the electricity bill, and on the way I was texting (SMS'ing) the girl that sent me on a t

More, More, More...

I just got home from swim training. Yesterday was a killer day, having swam from 2pm (in the not so high sun of the October day) to 6pm in the evening. 4 hours of swimming, although in a very relaxed or should I say controlled pace. I never thought this exercise of mine would do wonders for my endurance but low and behold, I just swam around 80 laps today. And talk about feeling sexy by the day... Although looking sexy is something I'm really working on. HARD. Been spending a lot of time lately with this teammate of mine who's got me going into a tailspin. She makes me feel oh so nice, warm and fuzzy inside. We're just enjoying our time, and I am really thankful that she's taking the person that I am in stride. However, I am wondering if I could really court her for 2 years... Perhaps that's something I should see for myself. But I always do like a challenge. And I've already done that, so I shouldn't be worried... Too much... Right? Anyway, I've b

Blog Whoring...

I've been too duped the past two days that blogging something worth blogging (like drinking and Jose Rizal ) wasn't really in the list of things to do. So I guess I went around cyberspace and through my blogroll and read through what other people have been writing about. I especially have gone fond of reading through Jo Disini's blog. She's a lady in New York living alone trying to get by and journal things that have been happening to her in her daily life in the busy metropolis. I actually look to read her posts almost everyday now, and it fascinates me how much things you can get to learn when reading other people's blogs. Another blog I've been visiting quite often is Joey Alarilla's blog. He's a writer at Inq7.net, and writes a column (@Play) on the online component of inq7.net (Infotech section). The last I checked, Jo Disini's blog was being featured at his column. Now I'm getting why this blogger thing is a great tool for meeti

Remind Me Why...

Can somebody please remind me why I drink myself to death and live to tell about it? Maybe because someone's going to have to do it. See, when you're the youngest among the drinking group (according to UPLB COSS tradition) you get to pour the drinks for everyone. With that tradition, I became the "IT" person who pours the drinks for everyone yesterday. That was until things turned out for the worse. See, what was neglected to be mentioned (or the fact of the position) is that when you pour too much, you drink it. Or, when you open a bottle of any liquor, the devil's part is yours. Read again: The Devil's Part is YOURS. That effectively makes you the devil, or more prone to being "bedevilled" in the near future. And believe me, that happens pretty quickly to me. So there I was among my brods and sisses, and I pour the drinks for everybody. I try my best to put in as little as possible so that everyone gets to drink from the whole bottle. We went

Swimming, Teamwork, and Individuality

It's been a while sice I last blogged about significant things in life. Well, mainly because events in my life have been put on a halt, thanks to swimming training, competitions, and a new outlook and more new goals. I've been training hard for the past few weeks, and now I'm feeling comfortable with my ability. I have to improve my kicking power for all the strokes, as well as my endurance and pace. However the technique of my strokes seem clean enough that now I'm just going to have to work on the power. Yesterday morning, I had the chance to represent the organization that I belong to (UPLB Computer Science Society) in the swimming events for the intra-collegiate sports-fest. I swam in the 50m men's freestyle and the 3x25m freestyle relay. Aside from feeling great because of the meal replacement diet that I've been taking for the past week (which are by the way VERY effective), I had a feeling of confidence in my skill even before getting into the pool.

Carbo Loading, Sprints, and More...

Just got home an hour ago from swimming training. We supposedly had a hard day of training for sprints in a 25m pool, but somehow I got through it. I don't know whether it's because of the rest (5 days rest without swimming) or because of the carbo-loading I did over the weekend until Monday evening. This is what I ate for the last few days (or what I could remember at least that I actually ate): Saturday: no breakfast; lunch = ?; dinner = grilled liempo and 4 cups of rice ; after-dinner = beer, grilled tilapia, fish crackers, deep fried peanuts. Sunday: no breakfast; lunch = omelette with cheese and garlic fried in butter salted and peppered to taste, a loaf of white bread; dinner = grilled liempo and 4 cups of rice. Monday: no breakfast; lunch = kinulob na itik and 3 cups of rice; merienda = pizza and ice cream ; dinner (after 4 hours) = pasta in olive oil fried garlic and pamaesan cheese. Tuesday: no breakfast; no lunch; merienda = 5 servings of Jollibee Spaghetti

Everybody's changing...

Yesterday (September 19), I saw keane's video of their single titled "everybody's changing". It struck a chord in me, and realized a couple of things that are pertinent in life. I have my own interpretations of some of the lyrics of the song, but the gist is something along the following lines: Everybody's changing, and I don't feel right. (Ok, so that was one line... This should be the second). But there could always be a duality to this: I'm changing, and everybody else is changing their attitude towards me. Maybe this could also be true, but nonetheless it never feels right whenever change is in the equation. It rareley is, until everything sinks in, and you tend to accept the changes as they come. This might be true for some people like me, but others like the status quo. There's an interesting article I read from Peyups.com about the apolitical intellectual. There are a lot of praises as to the well written piece (which in my opinion w

So much for that...

I just came home from the seminar regarding my proposed load balancing algorithm. I tried to get as candid as I can, but still half of what I said was jargon -- which made me explain the thing in layman's terms and using more colloquial examples. I was wearing a black suit, (chinese collared americana suit that is), gray slacks, black leather belt (perry ellis), and leather shoes (by bristol). I'm beginning to sound like a caption to a fashion mag's pic, but I digress... So there I was, waiting for the seminar to start. As a speaker, I conducted myself properly and tried to get things cleared out with my co-presentors. I was asuuming that they knew at least half of what they were supposed to talk about, and that they knew how to speak in front of a crowd. BUT NO... I sat through two presentors, the first one reading the presentation of the projection, and then doing no explaining whatsoever. I didn't get that because she prepared her own slides, and prepared the hand

The Pain and The Gain...

Been swimming for the past three days, and I feel great. I've missed this feeling ever since I stopped training with the swimming team. I've always wanted to feel the pain of lactic acid building up in my muscles as I work on my stroke and finish the workout given by my coach. I like the feeling of improvement, and the feeling of accomplishment even in such a small scale. Maybe it's my self-competing spirit that's enriching me again. I just love counting the strokes and checking it while keeping in mind that I'm working for my ever so sexy self. One day, it will happen (I pray). I've been going through a lot lately, mainly academic stuff. My thesis is going along real fine, and I'm already formally analyzing the significance of my study. Performing the ANOVA tests on the data I have come up with in the tests is a daunting task, mainly because of the number of treatments I will have to check. Not to mention the amount of writing I have yet to do. That'

Why settle for less?

I've been going around UPLB and Calauan, and have noticed a simple fact of life: Nobody wants to get less than they deserve. However, there is a corollary to this: But if there's a bargain in the next corner, go for it. The corollary isn't really something new, but I have an anti-thesis: If you can get some now, then why wait for tomorrow? Seize the day. But how do you know how much you deserve? In life sometimes we get a choice between abundance and abstinence. Sometimes we have a choice between indulging and controlling ourselves. But when do we know when enough is enough? How much is enough? They say too much is never enough -- but where is the line? Would you settle for second best? Of course you wouldn't -- but when do you know that you're just getting the next best thing if you haven't heard of/seen the best deal? Are you going to second-guess yourself everytime you commit to something or subscribe to something you think you believe in? Would you kno

Swim yet again...

Feeling great, and now I'm enjoying what the swimming has been doing to my body. I feel lighter, stronger, and finally ready to take on whatever I need to take on in life so that I could go on and finally graduate next semester. :) I will be talking to Dr. Albacea regarding my thesis and whether it would be possible for me to not graduate this semester and instead get the grade for my thesis next semester. Just for the SCUAA competitions. :) As for other things going on in my life, I'f finally traced that one friggin' bug that causes my tests to SEGFAULT in certain situations. I've seen the results of the tests, and I would say that they seem encouraging... In fact, the times for the MRADA test and the control test seem awefully close to each other. I have yet to see the whole picture though, but they are encouraging nonetheless. So much for that, I need to study for the CMSC 150 exam on monday. The last exam wasn't encouraging at all, and I'd need to lear

Bamboo, petals, and roses...

I got sick for a couple of days, brought down due to sinusitis. Spent whole wednesday in bed, recovering from the fever which was brought about by the infection that comes with *anything*-titis. Oh well, I miss swimming, and I miss the feeling of working through the ~2k workouts I was just getting used to. Maybe I should have taken more rests while I was doing my sets last Monday (August 31st). Or, I should have taken a paracetamol right away after getting off the pool. I should definitely try doing that next time I go swimming. Oh, and thanks to my bestfriend Mapet, this brainteaser has given more life to my otherwise lifeless day: Petals around the Rose . It's definitely worth a hack at, specially for the brean-teaser lovers. I'm not one of them, but I enjoy them brain teasers (and lovers) once in a while. I've been itching to do something here at my cousin's place, especially do something about the crashed hard drive on the other "more powerful" system.

Email-blogging...

Trying out some neat features offered by www.blogger.com... And if I may say so, if this message gets published at my blogsite, it should definitely be something worth looking at. No more logging in through the website, and aside from that you could send email from practically anywhere nowadays that this feature makes blogging so much easier. :) Chill...

Ads...

Ok, just a chance to maybe make some money out of this blogging thing... :) So friends and welcome readers, please scroll down a little and click on the right hand side where it says "Please Click". :D That should be enough to give me some cash to deal with someday. :D As for the swimming, It's going great -- doing 15.89 on 25m sprints. Might try timing the 50m swims, but maybe on a longer pool. Anyway, I need to think about life seriously right now since the deadlines are fast approaching. Must get serious fast. Chill... P.S. -- Moved the ads up a little so that they get more attention... Better placement like they always say is crucial for an effective ad campaign. Location, location, location...

Shut Up and Train...

Been taking the swimming training seriously and yesterday I did a whopping total of 1900m swimming. This set includes: 20x25m easy swim warm-ups, 16x25m side kicks, 20x25m one-arm pulls, 10x25 fast/easy interval freestyle laps, and 10x25m cool down laps. Feeling really great, but unfortunately the tropical depression did not allow us to train today. I could only hope that tomorrow I can get some easy swims in the morning, and the training sets in the afternoon. I'm currently contemplating on whether I should graduate ASAP, or get 12 more units for next semester so that I could at least join the SCUAA games next semester. Either that, or I finish all the requirements this semester, except for my manuscript so that I could be eligible to join the games. I feel the urge to train and represent UPLB after all the things that UPLB has done for me. I feel this is one way I could somehow repay UPLB a little while I am a student. Unless someone talks me out of it, I'm decided on d

Swim, swim, swim...

Last night, I had two. Today, I had 1 for lunch. If this goes on forever, I'm not sure if I could achieve the sexy body I so long to have someday. But then that's more for me than for anybody else, so I need to get motivated. FAST. I sure hope later the electricity will allow us to train in the Baker hall pool. So that I could burn off all the energy I amassed from yesterday till today. The chicken sandwiches with tomatoes (?), onions, pickles, and cheese work their way into the digestive system at a snail's pace... and I hope they get to my muscles in time for my training later tonight. BTW, the concert has apparently been rescheduled since the flooding in the Manila area has rendered the office of the record company. So it looks like we'll be having more time to practice for the concert... :) Chill...

It's been a while...

Got invited to a party. A very important person invited me to a party. And I went, saw, and enjoyed. Bon voyage to Ms. Sacha Chua bound for Japan. Ok, there are a lot of things happening in life, and I am very eager to say that I'm swimming again. I have the nerve to say this after 2 chicken sandwiches from Burger King, after not swimming today. But nonetheless, I am now starting to train myself again for competitive swimming -- although I might not qualify for any of the regional contests as a member of the UPLB swimming varsity. I do this, because I love swimming, and I know that swimming will help me achieve a sexy body I so yearn to have someday... But then again, I'll take it one step at a time. Been hacking on problems using Java, and I'm rediscovering the joys of libraries, ready to use ADT's, and lowe and behold: Object Oriented bliss. Now I'm in touch again with my object oriented paradigm of work, and getting the hang of it as I go along. However, I

XUL Rocks...

Need I say more? Just jump on over to www.xulplanet.com and find out for yourself what XUL (read: zool) can do to your application development life... Might change your perspectives on old web technologies you thought were just there because of the "hype". But then again, we can all just stick to what we know. That works too. :D Chill...

Intellectual Leftism...

I'm really amazed that there are actually people that read my blog. I always thought that I'd be very lucky if I had someone other than my friends reading my blog -- more because I asked them to. And somehow, I'm beginning to think that there is such a thing as luck. I spent last night with my lady friends from the College of Development Communications in UPLB, and a group of high-ranking army officials being trained by my friends from the college of Dev Com. Friday the 13th started out as a good day going worse every hour I spent. That's until it was dinner time, wherein I rediscovered the joy of intellectual discussion and why I enjoyed it (and debating) a lot. The proposition was, that the educational system of UP promoted rebellion and being "leftist". Of course we from UP wouldn't agree to that. We love being critical and vocally enjoying our rights, that the mere notion of the UP system promoting something other than critical thinking is practi

Oh, goodie...

It's been not a long while since my last post, but what the heck. I've had first hand experience from trying out TopCoder 's Single Round Match very early today -- started at 1 AM and ended 2:30 AM here in the Philippines. I got 137.5 points for the 250-point problem, but not knowing that unsuccessful chellenges take away 50 points, I blew almost all of it out on 2 unsuccessful challenges. Talk about stupid mistakes. At least now I know what NOT to do when in a Single Round Match. Going solo on a programming contest is a nice experience, giving me more reasons to go out of my way and polish my skills in both C++ and Java development. These exercises prove that knowing the algorithm is just half of solving the problem -- the other half is actually implementing it. And with this, I shall work on all the pending projects I have lined up in my computer with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. Ah, but lowe and behold: the magic of forums and blogging and real interpersonnal comm

Conforming to Norms...

I just came from an STS (Science, Technology, and Society) class where we had NO ELECTRICITY (yet again) to power the building facilities -- no lights, no aircon, no electric fan, and a lot of sleepy people. I realized a lot of things while sitting in my armchair and wondering why the University of the Philippines couldn't afford to get electricity from Meralco instead of the lackluster and less than desirable service of Napocor. Why UPLB cannot afford a lot of things beats me and is beyond my control/knowledge but I nevertheless could say a lot of things regarding OTHER things. We touched upon the issue of brain drain, and why Filipino researchers and scientists tend to give knowledge away to foreigners or people from other lands easily or with less fuss than expected. It seems also that the socialist idea of knowledge/property for everyone is parallel to the rationale behind file sharing and open source. But I will be talking about that later. First off, people who would li