jurong bird park

be forewarned. the pamphlet says you may take bus 251 or bus 194 from the boon lay mrt station to get to the jurong bird park. do not. i repeat. do not take bus 251 unless you want a tour of the factories of singapore! though i did get to see the khong guan biscuit factory. but it ain't worth the extra 30-minute tour. so just take bus 194 if you are truly excited to see the birds.

here are some of our pictures. there are 158 of them. but the raw photos... around 800. bwahaha! the trouble three people with a digital camera each. hehe!

view from the back

because i knew that sting would probably just be a dot from where we are, i put dixie to maximum memory of 10MB so i can zoom in so he won't be too pixelized.

so for those waiting for what he looks like from where we were, ta-daaaaah!

so what can you say about those jeans and shirt! tight ain't it? and how old is he? older than 50, right? does. not. look. it. trudy is a lucky woman. damn her.

oh yeah, this is a the police concert and not sting's. so just look for adam and stewart in this slightly zoomed in photo cropping.

and the concert is over. this is the only picture i might ever have with the police. hehe!

them hidden actors

there was this one lazy saturday at my house when tatit, jan and i were just too lazy to move after a UAAP game. don't remember if we won or lost but the post-game ended up with an unintentional guillermo del toro-doug jones tandem movie marathon.

we watched hellboy first, then pan's labrynth next. after those two, i was an absolute doug jones fan. who he? why...he's the fishy man in hell boy and the faun and the pale man in pan's labrynth. being silver surfer must have been easy after wearing a foot long horn on the head!

so it's absolutely cool that he is second among the top 10 hidden performances. well-deserved! it ain't easy acting inside a sweltering hot costume, and he does it! a lot.

there are other hidden actors out there who often are unnoticed (kasi nga hidden), but play a great part in making a movie great. sometimes they are the ones you remember after watching. my other favorite "hidden" actors are warwick davis (marvin in the hitchhiker's guide, willow in willow, wicket the ewok in star wars and professor flitwick in the harry potter movies) and deep roy (that oompah-loopah in charlie and the chocolate factory and the dwarf with jadis in the lion, the witch and the wardrobe).

love these dudes! astig kayo, mga tol!

in mourning

heath ledger is dead! nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

my australian hottie who i fell in love with in 10 things i hate about you is gone. :(
so young and so talented. and he's gone.
darn it. i can't work. :(

* * * * *
update: 3 hours later, i'm still not over it. over lunch, my mind was constantly whirring with the words, "heath is dead, heath is dead." sigh.

i just had to search youtube for my favorite heath ledger scene of all time. why, it's the "can't take my eyes of you" serenade to julia stiles' character kitty in 10 things. been watching it over and over... and sigh... no more heath movies after "the dark knight."

kadayawan 2007: photo documentation

it is that time of the year again when the city of davao comes alive with people and activities. streets are colored with fruits selling cheap and tasting sweet. i've probably devoured 10 kilos worth of mangosteen in five days!

this year was complete attendance and more, as friends from manila flew over to enjoy our yearly tradition of a crazy August weekend. it may be quite a while since another gathering of this number may happen. if that be the case, it was a fitting swan song for a tradition that brings the barkadayawan/fuhkers (fun house kids) together.

friday at pawikan sanctuary in punta dumalag, matina.
thanks to sherwin for allowing us to tag along. :)

lesbian lovers in their bikinis sitting on the painful dead corals
just to have a nice photo shoot.
nice backs, girls!

welcome to davao, tubero!
fuhktastic four with shiva and dave at the imago concert.
huwag niyo na hanapin yung imago, noh! kami ang bida.

yummy slipper lobster in garlic sauce at pards ilustre.
chris and edward, our waiters, must have enjoyed serving us
as we threw hirits back and forth at each other. tatit has video of crazy lunch. abangan!

huli kami! because we were so noisy we were caught in the net with the squid and lobster.

aldevinco is for photo shoots. the wares for sale are our props.

it would have tatit's first street dancing. unfortunately, it ended early this year. darn. we were able to get pictures of the dancers commissioned by marco polo though. pretty little lass, ain't she?

surprise despedida for tatit who is going to netherlands.
the whole barkadayawan/fuhkers friends were present. and guests, too!
thanks to kitoy, morten harket and mon salas for the belly-aching laughter ;p.
neuken in the keuken. badankt!

punta ng inamong falls! look at that beauty.
arakan valley, entering through marahan in davao city.

trekkers in the midst of cogon!
seedlings donated for the rehabilitation of the place.

sugarfree to cap a tiring day.

dreadlocked davao.

how do you get rastafarians (in look or in beliefs) and reggae-lovers to come together? why have a reggae concert of course!

last night, dread-heads and the rest of reggae fandom trooped to matina town square's taboan for roots, arts, reggae concert featuring reggae and ska bands of davao, bahaghari from iloilo and top reggae vocalist papadom of tropical depression.

reggal8 and ragged had the crowd bobbing their heads up and down to their latest singles and fine-enough covers, but it was PLO (popong landero organization) that finally got the crowd up and dancing. bayang barrios made a most welcome appearance as back-up singer and dancer, too! waway saway's percussion group joined the band for a mean, drum-tastic dancing to that famous popong song which title eludes me at this moment. talk about fusion!

bahaghari, a reggae band from iloilo, came after PLO and continued to get the crowd going. the people shimmied a little harder to the reggae-lized rey valera "wala nang iibigin pang iba." shamefully, i was actually singing the song with the rest. the party got more wild to eric clapton's "you look wonderful tonight" and billy joel's "just the way you are." i therefore conclude, dreadheads are hopeless romantics deep inside, the music just has to have funky reggae beat.

come in papa dom singing the classic tropical depression song, "kapayapaan." once he came in, the flock from outside started trooping inside the already crowded taboan. the music that was already palpable started becoming a tangible entity as bahaghari, PLO and waway's group played together to bring alive papadom's vocals to juan dela cruz band's "ang himig natin." hu-waw! after that, it was only one last song. "bilog na naman ang buwan" began to play. crowds whooping, skankers moshing and everybody dancing as the venue throbbed with good vibes and reggae rhythm.

it has been a while since i've seen a davao crowd that participative! from the front row to the last, people were up on their feet dancing with no care. it was like a night in xaymaca, except with more dancing space and less cigarette smoke. i wondered, where have all these rastafarians been?

wherever they were, i'm just glad they came out of hiding and made my rare self-kaladkaded night out an enjoyable one. for once in my life here in davao, dancing felt like what it is, a natural reaction to music. ;p

irie! oi. more reggae music in davao, jah!

what is give me a T?

the boys of the family and i love game shows. while my father and i would argue over the remote on sunday afternoons as he wanted to spend it with pepe pimentel watching "kuwarta o kahon" and i wanted to watch the apo hiking society (and the potential appearance of my latest crushes) in "sa linggo nAPO sila," it was jeopardy and wheel of fortune that my dad and i would agree on. my big bro would join watching it.

those two shows would be our bonding sessions. we'd show off how much we know or how quick we can guess a phrase. i'm often the third placer in jeopardy because i don't know squat about history which is an often-used category. wheel of fortune thankfully offers a more equal opportunity of showing-off.

pat sajak and alex trebek were awaited guests in our home. and now that there is 2nd Avenue on sky cable, my usual "i have to sleep at eleven" mode has been changed to "i have to sleep after jeopardy." i'm still kulelat in jeopardy, but it's still so much fun learning new, generally useless trivia.

the creator of the show, merv griffin, succumbed to prostrate cancer yesterday. while i have no affinity for him personally, i feel i owe him a short tribute for giving me wholesome, intellectual entertainment that i enjoy until now.

merv griffin, thank you! if not for you, there would be no jeopardy. if not for jeopardy, i would not have known that -40 degrees is the temperature which celsius and fahrenheit actually become equal. say hi to my dad. he's a big fan. ;p

at pirate's end

galing. it was a good closure to the trilogy. and there should be no more fourth. make sure to stay after the credits because there still a short clip after that could possibly matter for those quite involved with a certain character.

it's great how they were able to marry a highly entertaining movie (i didn't notice it was almost three hours) with a very involving storyline and well-played characters.

johnny depp is his usual impeccable self portraying captain jack sparrow to most minute detail without missing a beat. will he get nominated again for the role? (did he win for the first nomination? i forget) geoffrey rush and bill nighy aren't so bad either. and who would've thunk orlando bloom can be such a man? (i did crush him as legolas, but that was because he was an elf. and what is it with him and period movies?)

and one scene is a definite top contender for the mtv best fight scene and kissing scene in one.

the most unique wedding ever pa!

basta. astig siya. better than the second. possibly better than the first. pirates are so fun! and jan and i are still discussing it even after having seen it three days ago.

bye, yoyoy. bye, kuya cesar.

it seems that cross-posting between multiply and blogger isn't working too well these past few days.

two legends of the entertainment industry have passed away just a day apart. two people have made their distinctive marks in the lives of many Filipino people.

yoyoy villame... the great novelty writer and singer who has taught us the value of exercise, of knowing philippine history and simply having fun with who we are as a people. his quite famous butsikik (spoofed by jaya in a jazzy arrangement), a song with gibberish lyrics definitely brings the house down anytime.

kuya cesar is famous for his turtle-paced speech. he can speak normally, and has a regular show on DZMM. i'm not sure if his current show is an advice program, but there are days when i ride the taxi that i'd hear his baritone voice giving advice to lovelorn ladies on air.

both died of a heart attack. i don't know if they had any connection with each other during the height of their popularity. maybe kuya cesar played some yoyoy tunes. but it's just sad hearing the loss of these two. like levi celerio (whose death was shadowed by rico yan's)... no one can ever equal the distinctive marks they have made in the world of showbiz.

sigh. paalam sa inyo. mas may excitement sa langit ngayon sa pagdating ninyo.

AI spoiler

i watched AI last night. well, my back was turned to the tv while i chatted away with t-train. but my ears was full attention to the singing. i was thinking, so who'll get booted out? i bet melinda. simply because jordin and blake has more charm.

and this article tells me i guessed right.

now it's between jordin and blake. it'd be an interesting finale between this two. jordin is undoubtedly the better singer, but hey melinda was the best but she's out. so this time, it's a matter of popularity and charm and which guy has more of it.

i personally prefer blake. but i don't mind jordin either.

anybody's game next week. will blake pull off a taylor hicks? or will the better singing voice triumph? screw anybody who keeps me from watching the finale. and sherman pore better be there!

Meme na!

Borrowed from lightheaded. She had the funniest results in hers. Hope mine turns out as fun.

This meme is titled The Soundtrack of Your Life. Here’s how it works:

1. Open your library like iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod and so forth. Mine is just winamp and opened my folder "dancerous mornings"
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool.

1. Opening Credits:
Me and Mrs. Jones - Earth, Wind and Fire

2. Waking Up:
Don't Cha - Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes

3. First Day at School:
Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake

4. Falling in Love:
True to Your Heart - Stevie Wonder with 98 Degrees from "Tarzan"

5. Fight Song:
Whip It - by some 80's group (sino nga ba kumanta nito?)

6. Breaking Up:
Everybody - Backstreet Boys (oh no, lumabas ang pagka-jologs ko!)

7. Prom:
I Shot the Sheriff - Bob Marley

8. Life’s Ok:
Get Your Freak On - Missy Elliot

9. Mental Breakdown:
Girlfriend - Justin Timberlake and Nelly

10. Driving:
Bilog na Naman ang Buwan - Tropical Depression

11. Flashback:
Gone Going - Black Eyed Peas featuring Jack Johnson

12. Getting Back Together:
Always Something There to Remind Me - Sino ngang kumanta nito?!

13. Wedding:
Beep - Pussycat Dolls featuring Will.i.am

14. Birth of a Child:
After the Love Has Gone - Earth, Wind and Fire (mwehehe! ang panget!)

15. Death Scene:
Buttons - Pussycat Dolls (bakit puro sila!)

16. Funeral Song:
Give it up - isa pang 80's band na di ko matandaan ang pangalan.

17. End Credits:
Don't Worry, Be Happy - ang nakalagay na name Bob Marley, siya nga ba?

* * * * *
may ilang funny coincidence. may ilang huh?. pero masayang pagsasayang ng oras.

uncle tom babauta's cabin

he is one of those people who has made me feel like an 80's child failure.

i've only come across him through conversations with jvp friends about the 80's, of which most of my stock knowledge are on bagets, hot shots and ninja kids. even dear heart and ps i love you are hazy memories. except for the fact that i clearly remember most sharon cuneta movies are shot in baguio.

pia, zaza, teacher mike and good old randle discuss about tom's (uy, close!) sarsi with egg commercial. and i have no memory of such but heard about the ad. i asked if tom babauta was his screen name. apparently, it's not.

so when jan and i spent time with his friends v-day eve, i made mention of tom babauta. to which mytch and andoy, both older than me, replied with blank faces (same response to randle's name. that is queer! i thought every ateneo high dude would know him. anyway...). i suddenly had doubts that he (tom, not randle) is merely a mass hallucination by people older than 27.

i completely forgot about that awkward moment of being the only one knowing something of the world. until i came across nostalgia manila's entry on 70's quotes. and lo! a mention on tom babauta.

and to completely verify his existence, i googled him (yes, wahaha! "i am in google, therefore i am. the new movement of philosophical thought has come!) and aha! a mention here and here. (but it could be that one plagiarized the other, or they are the same people who wrote about dear tom.)

still. HE IS REAL! HE EXISTS! Tom Babauta is not in the same league of the Tooth Fairy.

And what good does this knowledge have to do with my life? Absolutely nothing. Except for the satisfaction that my 80's Jologs Trivia has upped a notch. ;p

about last night

the original plan of action was to have dinner with jan's high school barkada. but within the day, two called in sick already, which just leaves jan and andoy. so when jan asked andoy whether to resked, andoy affirmed. thus we ended up watching "the curse of the golden flower."

and typical of chinese emperor movies, you can either brand it as shakespearean or telenova with high budget. i prefer the latter. it an interesting watch, with beautiful costumes and production design. nothing different about the story, as there are the usual elements infidelity, power-grabbing and deception. but it is nicely told, and chow yun-fat did great acting as emperor because you see the character and not the actor. but throughout the latter part of the movie, only one thing keeps going on in my head... "madami talagang tao sa china!" there were thousands and thousands of people (who i assume are really computer-generated) and you just have got to be amazed with their organization skills especially in warfare. ;p

and so the movie was done. jan gets a text from mytch that he is going to andoy's anyway. a call here and there, and we were on our way to jan's house to get the car so we don't have to worry about how to get home. finally, we were at the host's house. and it was just so amusing seeing old high school pals remember their crazy reckless days. and the funniest thing was when they were discussing how our changed plans ended up going back to square one. and oh, somebody else has been relegated to the status of snuffulafugus girlfriend.

around 1pm, we were ready to go home. well, not really, but andoy had to get to work and had an infant to take care of so the three of us decided to ease his suffering for the night by leaving. on the way up to ateneo (we were at barangka), mytch was suggesting that we have a quick look at the UP fair as he was in a nostalgic mode. it was all fine by me since we were in the area anyway.

so we went to UP. MYMP was playing their last song, which was fine by me. i don't really care much for them. though i was singing along with them despite. wehehe!

our quick trip ended up to be a one and half hour stay because mytch was able to get us backstage passes through mojofly. i think he directed their newest video, thus the power to drag two over-aged teenagers to concert.

by two o'clock i was sleepy. the bwah music of the UP bands wasn't exactly helping to keep me awake (yes, i fall asleep listening to metal. sorry, drin). but i was too nahihiya to leave without listening to mojofly because they were the ones who got us in. and mytch was enjoying himself. so. we decided to wait for mojofly to perform. thankfully, they got upped two slots so we can go home earlier.

it was great seeing ali alejandro on the drums. poging talaga. not my type, but poging. i forgot the name of the vocalist, but mytch was saying, "lasing na to." which made it more fun, because nothing beats listening to a pumped-up drunk band singers. the whole time, the kala vocalist was on the stage dancing to the band's beat. they were to be next anyway. he was an adorable teddy bear that i wish i could squeeze but my hands weren't big enough and i wasn't bold enough to approach him. but i was behind him while they were waiting for mojofly to get on stage.

even with my eyes going on auto shut off, i asked that we stay for kala's gig. it's just two songs anyway. so it was fun listening to rock baby rock and jeepney. while this was going on, out came four guys in baston. orange and lemons. only one of them wore shades, and a ten gallon hat with that. so it was kinda funny when he was putting on his guitar because his hat got knocked out. since everything was a haze, i dont know which orange this was.

we left after kala. walking to the car, they were playing panalangin. i'd have stayed for the song just to find out what their second song would be. but it was just too darn late for an old fogey like me and poor jan still had to drive everybody home. so i never found out what they sang.

and it has to mentioned that several troops of taytay boys were there. punks not dead talaga! haha!

inside the car, while i was on my way to dreamland, i had a little smile on my face. it's messed-up plans on nights like this that make life a little more exciting. on valentine's eve too!

heroes

i love it. i really do.

not only do i get to watch the last three episodes that i missed (due to the low-tech wmp at home), i also got to watch until episode 14. and it only gets more and more and more exciting.

and i keep on wondering... how does a guy tell so much in fourteen episodes, and still leave you with no idea where the story is going? and man, "save the cheerleader, save the world." it's honestly different. ahlavet.

the great thing about heroes is it's a story of ordinary people who have just begun to discover their extraordinary powers. and somehow, their powers are bringing many of them together without their knowing it. there isn't any professor charles xavier to help them deal with themselves and their powers. only guys with horn-rimmed glasses and dangerous psychopaths to run away from.

and of course, i love hiro nakamura and ando. no surprise there. masi oka, the guy who plays hiro, outside the show, is as interesting. with other asian-american kids, they landed the cover of time magazine in 1987. he makes a comeback in time as part of the heroes cast. coool! plus he also worked for industrial light and magic. and. he has an IQ of 180+. big crush, big crush!

and ooooh, george takei who played (han) sulu in star trek makes a guest appearance. guess how he is related to hiro. hehe!

gosh, i can't wait to see how it unfolds. maan is right. nakakabitin!

tearjerker

i've only been a follower of american idol since last year. and it was by only accident. while channel switching, i passed through the show where another weird audition was taking place (what's new?). and suddenly it dawned on me why my friends are so hot about it.

last week, AI had me in tears. not from belly-aching laughter, but rather from a genuine touching moment you would never expect from the show.

sherman pore, a 64-year old widower, lined up with other thousands of hopefuls despite the obvious age constrait. with his petition from friends and family in tow, he made it to the audition room. the act was a pledge to his lady love, who passed away two days before the audition.

while watching, i couldn't help but sigh and say to myself, "true love can exist. it exists. even with americans. (hehe!)." through this suave romantic senior crooning beautifully and heartfully to his wife.

the video of the audition has been already been removed from youtube. but i found a clip here. watch it, shed a tear (join paula abdul. and me) and sigh. and believe in love.

(hopefully, we got to see more of this guy. a guest performance at the season end, perhaps? or an album even. hey, william hung had one.)

* * * * *
UPDATE: I was unaware that there was a petition regarding an apperance of sherman pore during the finale when I made the previous statement. Meron pala. Here o. Could I sign even if I'm not kano?