The Comfort Rooms

One freaking poster says it all. Amen.

Surely, fans in the Philippines will go crazy about this December slug fest between Pacman and Golden Boy. This fight will further boost Pacquiao's popularity and market value. For sure, this will be the biggest ever boxing match that a Filipino will ever face.
We Filipinos feel it is a win-win situation for Pacquiao. Why? Because of the fame and fortune that this fight will benefit him. De la Hoya should be the most celebrated non-heavyweight boxer after Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson and he chose to fight Pacquiao on his very last boxing match. Some analysts say it is a mismatch. De La Hoya is five inches taller than Pacquiao and is obviously, the bigger fighter. Others have managed to even comment that De la Hoya should take someone his own size and not somebody smaller.
What are your thoughts about it?

10. Kare-kare (Beef Tripe in Peanut Sauce)

9. Goto (Congee with Beef Tripe)

8. Rellenong Bangus (Stuffed Milk Fish)

7. Sapin-Sapin (Assorted Sticky Rice Cakes in different colors)

6. Fishballs!

5. Sinigang na Bangus (Milk Fish on Tamarind Broth)

4. Chicken Tinola (i don't know how it's called!)

3. Sinigang na Baka (Beef on Tamarind Broth)

2. Beef Pares (Slow-cooked Beef)

1. Tapsilog (Beef Jerky, Fried Rice, and Sunny Side-up)

To say that the Philippines is one big dissappointment is one fetching understatement.
Where were Eric Ang and Harry Tañamor? The swimmers were okay and Mark Javier showed some guts but however, his was not enough for a medal.
I feel bad for the taekwondo jins Toni Rivero and Tshomlee Go. I know they did their best out there and I just felt really sad for both of them. They really deserved a medal each.
However, we have a consolation medal courtesy of Willy Wang. He won a wushu gold, far and away from most Filipinos consciousness. At least there's some wound-licking for us, an ego booster after a string of disappointments of Olympic-sized proportions. C'mon, a Filipino citizen from the Philippines has won an Olympic event. Ain't that reason enough to be happy?

A gold's still a gold, even if it's just a demonstration event.

1. Whistle, "Right Next To Me"

2. Radiohead, "Creep"

3. The Wonders, "That Thing You Do"

4. Blessed Union Of Souls, "I Believe"

5. Keith Urban, "Tonight I Wanna Cry"

6. Eagles, "Desperado"

7. The Beatles, "If I Fell"

8. Jamiroquai, "Virtual Insanity"

9. Weird Al, "You Don't Love Me Anymore"

10. Chumbawamba, "Thumbtumpin'"

*Any appeals can be made through the comments section. Thanks!

I had one of my bitterest fights with the academe earlier this morning when I had my Accounting Midterms exams. It was a 4-hour long test that required nothing but solving problems, pointing through the calculator, and creating a hell out of my brain, deciphering where on earth did I go wrong and I can't seem to balance off on two problems.
Once I finally got to finish the test, I decided to not talk to any of my classmates, abhoring the sight of everyone until I got off the school parking lot. It's been a while since my mind was challenged that bad. I realized that I'm not really a BS (Bachelor of Science) student and I'm better off as an AB (Bachelor of Arts). But hey, it was some feat for me, a left-brained person, more keen on the arts, to do some stuff that right-brainers excel in. And besides, I was doing this because I wanted to graduate on a credible business school and I wanted to get my MBA soon. So, even though my left-brain doesn't really suit the calculations of science, I will just persevere.
So after school, I felt like rewarding myself. I felt like rewarding myself with something edible. Something I will enjoy till the last bite. Something I really enjoyed for decades. Something like Jollibee Chickenjoy. To think of it, it has been a while since I last gorged on food. Half-rice, wheat bread, oats, tuna, egg white, tofu, and grilled skinless chicken breast sprinkled with sodium-free seasoning for like forever can be tiring as well!
So I went to Jollibee, ordered two-pieces Chickenjoy and two cups of rice, with caramel sundae for dessert. While ordering, I kept on muttering to myself "What the heck?!" I will be enjoying this!"
And off I went on eating my two-piece Chickenjoy. I think that was my first Chickenjoy meal for the year. Yeah, it really was my first Chickenjoy for the year! I really thought I deserved to grease my fingers with those oh-so-juicy chicken legs and that crispy, crispy, crispy chicken skin. Dunk it into the very yummy gravy, put the gravy-soaked moist chicken parcel to your hot and steaming rice, and yum! Ahh, such good stuff.
I enjoyed my chickenjoy in ten minutes. Pretty fast huh? I'm usually a slow eater. But boy, I craved for Chickenjoy for so long! While eating, I remembered the face of my fitness instructor. I thought of the oil that would clog my arteries. The grease that would make my blodd thicker. The cholesterol that would potentially snap an important vein near my medulla oblontgata. Is eating this Chickenjoy really worth the work-out that I was making an effort into? How about the various drinks that I've been drinking to further lose my weight?
How many hours should I do the treadmill and the bike? How many hours should I spar with sparring mates? How much Herbalife, MRT, and Del Monte Fit N' Right should I consume?
Ah, that would only be the first of only two Chickenjoy meals that I would be having this year. Pray for me!

Rafael Nadal has finally closed out the chapter of the once invincible Roger Federer in men's tennis. After all, Rafa has been the number one-in-training for the past three years. His 2008 season has just been amazing. From quite a slow start (Novak Djokovic, the one we thought would replace Roger, almost took the number two ranking from him), Rafa was invncible. Starting from Hamburg up to Beijing last week.
Eight titles in a few months time is no easy feat. Add to that the fact that Roger Federer was not being himself, it was just a matter of time before Rafa would take over Roger's ranking. I believe Nadal's historic win over Roger on Wimbledon was the formal transfer of the tennis top ranking. None of my fellow Roger Federer die-hards reacted negatively to what happened. We all know that time will come that Roger will eventually lose and someone will take over the top spot. Rafael is really the most deserving heir. Who else? Novak, Andy, Juan Carlos, Carlos, Marat and Lleyton are the only former champions left. But all of them still paled in comparison to both Federer and Nadal. Although I'm still confident and hopeful that Roger will still win a French Open one day and will surpass Sampras' record 14 grand slam titles. If Roger can't be number one forever, so does Rafa's reign on the Parisian hardcourts!

I was not yet even born when Ninoy Aquino was shot dead out of the tarmac of the Manila International Airport 25 years ago. Though that moment ended a man's life, never did that incident halted the cause of throwing away an autocrat's rule mired with scandals, corruption, and crises.
It has been 25 years yet the case is still unsolved. If Ninoy only turned and faced his back, he would have seen who had the gun. It is one thing to see who did the actual shooting, but who was the brains behind it?
Cases have been opened but none of them have even gone close to solving the quarter-century mystery. Why hasn't anyone have got the balls to point fingers? Or the question that I have here is, do we still need to do finger-pointing to reveal who the real culprits were?
Whenever we get to see videos and tv specials about the martyrdom of Ninoy, don't we all seem to point fingers on a handful of people as the brains behind this assassination?
He knows who's behind all of this. Even his wife Cory knows who's behind the tragedy. The question is, where are the evidences and witnesses that would support her belief? We may all have failed for the past 25 years to determine who was really behind all of this. But gut feel and instincts tell us otherwise. It is true that rank and file soldiers have been put into prison for what they have done. But aren't soldiers subject to the orders of their commanders? It is not absolutely at random that these soldiers did the inevitable. It must come from the top echelons and from the head of state himself.
With that, I accuse three people to be the brains behind the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. General Fabian Ver, Imelda Marcos, and Ferdinand Marcos are the three foremost brains behind this all. The two are dead, but Imelda is still alive. The secret is still safe with her.
We all know it is Marcos. And I know all of you agree with me.


"But i knew that somehow, i will regain my freedom. maybe not in this world, but elsewhere. and i knew, that sometime,
somewhere mister marcos and i will meet. and in that meeting, i will have my satisfaction."
---Ninoy Aquino

I don't know which particular parts and services does Alisbo Memorial Chapels offer. I wouldn't even wanna know. Will the parts and services they offer have a one-year warranty with them? How about a 30-day money back guarantee offer? Can I have it delivered at home? Would reservations be required and I can't pay for any parts and services upon entering the store?
How about the employees? Will they receive salaries through commissions? What will be there basis for a potential employee of the month? Should there be a job opening, what special qualifications should they ask from job seekers? How do the store clerks even look like?
Say, I would become a frequent customer, would they offer points for me or give me gift cheques and discount cards allowing me to buy more from them in the future? Will this store ever go on sale?

Aliboso people, speak up!

*Photo above courtesy of http://www.oblivionated.com.

If you wanna be an Olympic champion, you have to live like one. For starters, let us pry on what Michael Phelps (don't tell me you don't know him) eats that make him the greatest Olympian of all time that he is (now you know!).


Breakfast: 3 fried egg sandwiches, 2 cups coffee, 5-egg omlette, bowl of grits, 3 pieces of french toast, 3 chocolate chip pancakes


Let's try! He consumes at least 10 eggs per breakfast! Hopefully, that will make us Olympic champions as well!

1. Harry Tañamor lost on an emphatio fashion, ambushing any hope and expectation for an Olympic gold coming from him. What went wrong?

2. The life of the common Filipino is centered on only these few things: family, friends, work, daily transport, boxing, basketball, showbiz, and gossip. All they know is that the gas and food prices just go up and the president doesn't do anything about it. But they don't even have a clue that we buy our oil overseas, thus, we are dependent on the prices the Gulf States post. When asked about economics, charter change and the advantages of a federal government, they won't be able to answer a thing and quickly lash out at the President. To add, their knowledge about national issues are LARGELY DEPENDENT on what local media would feed them, which is full (fool) of crime news, telenovelas, and fantaseryes (fantasy/drama). Can we at least partly blame Filipino media for not at least elevating the Filipino mind-set?

3. Ninoy Aquino's Assasination will be remembered again on August 21st. It will be 25 years since his murder. Who's to blame? Why is the case still not solved? Who will have the biggest balls and pinpoint the real culprit behind it all? Can we dissolve the PCGG because they almost never seemed to work? I remember Mrs. Aquino in a Philippine Star interview years ago that she knows who killed her husband (no kidding). Why can't we put that person to jail? If lack of sufficient evidence still is the problem, at least mentioning the name of the people behind it would put some people into pressure to squeal the long-hidden secret.

Now, can you answer my questions?

Remember him? He achieved brief international fame way back in 2000 when the Olympics was held in Sydney, Australia.
When most Olympic swimmers would clock below 52 seconds at the men's 100m freestyle, Eric clocked a 1:52.72 and won, because the two other competitors Karim Bare and Farkhod Oripov were disqualified for taking a false start. His time was more than twice that of his faster competitors, and outside even the 200m world record. However he had set a new personal best and national record.
Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate. While Pieter van den Hoogenband set a world record of 47.84 seconds to win the gold medal, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in slightly more than twice that time.
Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practiced in a 20 m (66 ft) pool at a hotel in Malabo.
Being true to the Olympics' citius, altius, fortius theme, it still boils down to surpassing human achievement. And Eric did that magnificently. When others have become so engrossed with amassing as much number of golds as possible, Eric just did his best to surpass his human limitations.

Since midterm battle will be on next week (freaking accounting subjects!!!), let me chillax for a while. It is better to take a test with a rested mind. Enjoy the song!

I started this blog exactly 365 days ago. No, make that 366! 2008 is a leap year, right? I was back then an obscure newbie blogger, unsure of what to write, doesn't exactly know what he was doing. All I knew then was this singular fact, I loved writing and having my own blog would only quench that insatiable thirst to write about things that I wanted to talk about.
I'm proud of this blog. Though it may not rank highly on Technorati and on any other all-knowing website, people still come over to my site, posts still were made, and Google still showers me with a nice page rank.
How my blog has metamorphosed from its unsure and obscure beginning from what it is now is just amazing.
To you my wonderful reader, THANK YOU SO MUCH! If ever I found out that I was the Sultan or Mr. Stanley Ho's distant relative, in a heartbeat, I'd fly you to Maldives or Seychelles to enjoy a lavish weekend!

10. Buloy by Parokya Ni Edgar

9. Overdrive by Eraserheads

8. Banal na Aso by Yano

7. Harana by Parokya Ni Edgar

6. Laklak by Teeth

5. Five Years by Sugar Hiccup

4. Hinahanap-hanap Kita by Rivermaya

3. Butterfly Carnival by Sandwich

2. Pare Ko by Eraserheads

1. Huling El Bimbo by Eraserheads

I waited for like 3 hours for the Philippine team to arrive. IT TOOK THEM LESS THAN TEN SECONDS FOR EVERYONE TO WALK THE PARADE OF NATIONS. Amazing!

And Manny Pacquiao was there, I saw the swimmers somewhat jumping for excitement, no Gloria Arroyo in sight applauding, but the blue barong tagalog was amazing.

Four Golds! I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Sabah will always be a sensitive topic to me. How a part of my country has been unjustifiably denied recovery of its property is still a big mystery in my part. I can't deny the fact that my country failed to do in all its power the effort to really recover Sabah from our neighbor.
It is funny because the Sultan of Sulu (the rightful owner) continues to receive lease from that country. That only justifies that our neighbor recognizes our sovereignty over Sabah.
It is true that our neighbor is well-off compared to us. But, come to think of it, they haven't experienced not even a half of what my country has gone through for like what?! At least a century? If and when they have experienced the hardships that we have had, that will only the time that they will realize how we Filipinos felt about ourselves. We feel embattled, tired, humiliated, strip off the respect that we once enjoyed throughout this region. And your discrimination towards us will only make our wounds worsen.
Why would your country have the nerve to deport all of my countrymen from Sabah? It is our property, remember? You still PAY LEASE to the Sultan, you might have forgotten. That only means that you still are aware and is RECOGNIZING the fact that we still are the rightful owners of the northernmost part of the island of Borneo.

Here's my good ol' elephant arse for you. Your country deserved that.

The Olympics is just less than 24 hours away. At 8:08 pm tomorrow, the whole world will be watching the greatest sporting event that happens only once in 4 years (I still think it is bigger than FIFA World Cup).
While the world's eyes would be glued over the China-US-Russia three-way race to the top, I wanna focus instead to the miniscule delegation that is coming from my country. I've been in contact with two of our participants (Daniel Coakley and Miguel Molina) and I'm just really proud of these guys and to everyone of them.
Imagine, they hardly get fetching support from the government and the private sector usually come a tad too late to offer support to our athletes, and yet they have dedicated their time and efforts to make the country proud. It is dedication and patriotism at its finest.
Out of all the Filipino athletes that will be competing, I can name four athletes the most who could give us medals (hopefully golds). Here are my predictions, including those who have outside chances of making at least a bronze.

Sheila Mae Perez (Diving). Could place from 4th to 6th on women's 3m springboard. But a bronze would be great!



Daniel Coakley (Swimming). Could make it to the 50m men's freestyle final. A bronze would be wonderful! It has been 78 years since the country won a swimming medal!

and now for our gold medal bidders...

Eric Ang (shooting). Mostly uncelebrated because of the sport, he will be good enough for a medal, hopefully a gold.



Tshomlee Go (taekwondo). At least a bronze will do for him, but I hope he will win the gold. It is possible, but the question is will it happen?



Harry Tañamor (boxing). Only one person stands on his way. And that is Zhou Simming, from China, no less!



Toni Rivero (taekwondo). I just think she is the country's best bet for a gold. I know she won't make the same mistakes she did in 2004 and she will win at least a silver medal this year!




Mabuhay ang Atletang Pinoy!!!

From Capoeira, to Jiujitsu, to Havianas, to Bossa Nova, and even to their models, Brazil is conquering the world!
My very first experiences of Brazilian lovin' came in the late 90's when Leila Barros led the Brazilian women's volleyball team and conquered the hearts of millions of Filipinos. Their FIFA World Cup wins plus its overly-supportive crowd made me fell in love with this country. If the Philippines is a karaoke country, Brazil, for one, is samba nation.
I just thought Brazilian models are everywhere! From John Estada's Priscilla Mereilles, to Cesar Montano's Mariana del Rio, to BiSEAN's Akihiro Sato and Misterhub's Leandro Okabe, these Brazilians are slowly making it to mainstream Filipino consciousness.
Will the Philippines get a Brazilian actress or an actor soon? Hmmm, perhaps Priscilla Mereilles has the most mainstream imprint in the country so far. Will others, especially the three abovementioned ones follow suit?
How about Brazilian UFC stars? Will I ever see Noguiera or Belfort come to the Philippines and perhaps, do Filipino fans some favor by holding a few matches here?
One of my plans in life is to have my own restaurant, a Brazilian-Filipino fusion to be exact. I wanna name it Manila de Janeiro. Do you think it's a good name? Just wanna share it if in case in a few years, a person might steal my idea of good Brazilian restaurant here in Manila.
Anyways, to end my Brazilian lovin' let me end it with a plethora of pictures, all Brazilian. Enjoy!

*TOP (L-R) Gustavo Kuerten, Priscilla Meirelles, Akihiro Sato
Bottom (L-R) Leila Barros, Leandro Okabe, Mariana del Rio

I just finished reading the blog of a blogger friend and I noticed he kept on sharing a few personal things about himself. I thought nothing was really wrong about it and I thought it was a good thing because his blog breathes life. At least the reader would know that somebody human is writing and sharing his thoughts on his online journal, a blog that is.

Not that anything is wrong with my posts about tennis, basketball, mp3's, or my love for the country, its just that I felt that I needed a little breather by sharing a little bit more about myself.

1. Honestly, I have a hard time classifying myself whether I'm smart or lightweight.
2. I hate pork, even the smell and sight of it.
3. I love books but I seldom finish reading them.
4. I can watch sports the whole day.
5. I can cook! My favorite recipe is Seafood Marinara with cashews. I made that one up.
6. I'm not good with drawing!
7. I love snakes but I hate mice and roaches.
8. I just think Albino pythons are very beautiful.
9. I prefer you not killing an animal (except for bugs). But please, killing frogs, spiders, and snakes will never be an option.
10. I'm loveless right now. I'm pretty much on hold.
11. I prefer late night talks than going to the club.
12. We can spend an entire night on a cafe.
13. I can get away with being alone. I don't mind.
14. It's pretty hard to make me laugh. But once you got me, my laughter can be uncontrollable.
15. I have a pretty soft voice. I don't speak loudly.
16. I always indulge on catnaps. I'm still hoping to grow a few more inches. :)
17. I can play the piano. That's the only instrument that I can play. I already experienced playing for a men's quartet, with me messing up on one note which was pretty obvious!!!
18. My taste in music varies from time to time. Right now, I'm into triphop.
19. I still haven't graduated in college!
20. I spent two years in the Southern Philippines and it was really an eye-opening moment in my life.
21. I'm a spendthrift.
22. I don't get lost easily.
23. I'm 23 years old.

Call me a copycat. A couple of bloggers have already done this. I guess it really won't really be all that bad since I won't be outright copying their works. Others have written about a list of things that they liked. It was all at random. I don't know, I just thought of doing the same thing. But, I'm a do it differently. Instead of listing my favorite random things, I'm a list the things that I hate the most. Just random things, those things that passed through my mind. Maybe twenty things? Let's get started...

1. Pork
2. Pork Fat
3. Jeepneys that cut me out of nowhere.
4. Game shows that glorify people unnecessarily.
5. Leftists who instead of offering solutions to problems, offer effigies, shouts, spits, smelly sweats, and overly-used megaphones to national crises.
6. Hairy Boars (ewwww....)
7. Dogs that have become hairless because of parasites.
8. Bavarian-filled donuts.
9. People with their own Copernican theories (they thought the universe centered on them).
10. Loser politicians.
11. Men(?) on checkered scarves (the ones that looked Palestinian).
12. Men(?) on wintry scarves on tropical Manila.
13. Girls with overly powdered faces on denim jackets and pants with white knitted socks over leather girly shoes (I don't know how they're called!) with "Baguio" bonnets covering their heads (here in sunny Manila!).
14. Excessive camwhores.
15. Regine Velasquez on Kim San Soon.
16. Noisy people on restaurants.
17. PDA on Cinemas (sorry...)
18. People who don't know how to mute their phones.
19. Tourists who would take pictures just about everywhere (especially on street signs). I never did that (although I would if ever I would step foot on Abbey Road).
20. Internet Outage!!!!!!!!!!!

Whether we admit it or not, all of us come into a phase wherein we need to fill the need to reminisce, emote, be sentimental, and just punish ourselves with that sullen feeling that would make anyone of us to curl up in bed or finish a gallon of ice cream in just a sitting.
All of us has a well-loved song to accompany us in times of dire emotion-fest. Whether it is Mariah's whistle tones or Boyz II Men's vibratto, or maybe even Rob Thomas' commanding vocals, these singers and their songs have for sure helped us recover, forget, remember and bask in the moment of our emotional lowdowns.
Here, I have compiled the ten songs which I believe best accompany us on our moments.

*And oh, it doesn't necessarily mean that I like all of the songs written below!

10. Last Chance by Allure.

9. After The Love Has Gone by Earth, Wind and Fire

8. Cupid by 112

7. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

6. I'll Be by Edwin McCain

5. Stay by Lisa Loeb

4. One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men

3. Of All The Girls I've Loved Before by Julio Iglesias

2. My Immortal by Evanessence

1. Love Takes Time by Mariah Carey

*If you thought I missed out on other chessy songs to die listening into, please mention it here at the comments page. Thanks!