pacman fever again

in a few days manny pacquiao is at it again, slugging it out with the bigger and much heftier oscar de la hoya. something that made me raise my eyebrows as high as the eiffel tower the first time i heard of it. just thought to myself well, maybe manny's fame has gone into his head already. squaring it off with a taller opponent? with longer reach? he must have gone nuts.

not that i care. i never liked boxing so i never liked manny. though i always say i respect him for what he has done in his life. his story was one of cinderella and all that stuff.

anyways, let me see if you can predict the result of their match. be a madam auring just for once. cast your vote on that thing somewhere in the right panel of this blog. you only have until dec 5th. whoever gets the correct result will win something from me..... awww com'n, you know i'm just kiddin hehehe!

but really, me know what you think of that match. vote now!

one genuine talent

Sabi ng mga local entertainment press, isa raw si John Lloyd sa mga sensitive young actors of the current generation. Though I must admit I’ve never seen any of his films. Even his soaps, never kong pinanood. Hindi ako mahilig sa soap and if ever na manood man ako, I still wouldn’t watch him dahil hindi naman ako Kapamilya.

But then I was intrigued sa dami ng mga nabasa ko na yong pelikula raw nila ni Sarah ang biggest blockbuster of the year. Kaya pinanood ko yong film out of curiosity. To find out kung bakit hahamig ng milyones (as in 140million pesos nga ba?) sa takilya yong film.

Well, I wouldn’t blame the 1.4 or 1.7 million Pinoys na nanood nitong A Very Special Love. Be it 80 pesos o 100 pa ang binayad nila for the ticket, it was money well spent. In fact, barya lang yon compared to the entertainment value na nakuha nila sa film.

It was a teeny-bopper film alright. Pero maayos naman ang pagkakagawa. At magaling kumiliti yong director (Cathy Garcia-Molina) para pakiligin ang target audience nya. Kahit ako, may mga scenes na napa-LOL ako dahil genuinely funny yong mga eksena.

Fortunately, kahit pang-bagets yong film, matino naman sya. It was well-directed, well-acted and overall, a well crafted film. Simple ang story, walang complex plot, walang grandiyosong conflicts kaya hindi ka mai-stress habang nanonood. It was meant to be a feel-good, fall-in-love film and it delivered exactly just that.

It must have banked on the charms of John Lloyd dahil talagang mukhang inalagaan ang hitsura nya all throughout the film. Na kahit umiiyak sya hindi pinabayaang malukot yong kanyang mukha. Though same thing cannot be said kay Sarah who should have been given a better hair dresser para naman ma-accentuate yong gandang Pinay ng batang ito.

Pero kahit ganon at may mga eksena syang para syang Pokwang/Candy Pangilinan combined, her talent shines radiantly on screen. In fact, sya ang pinakamalaking selling point nong film. Dahil bukod sa captured market nya (from her singing), marami talagang pinabilib ang batang ito on her acting. Isa na ako.

And now I believe what the critics have been saying. She is, indeed, a natural. Ke magpatawa sya or umiyak, effortless. Agree ako. And that gave the movie a convincingly genuine feel na hindi siguro maa-achieve had the role been given to somebody else.

If Sarah will continue her strong showing sa acting department, she can easily be the next Sharon who successfully crossed over from singing to acting. And with that, lalo akong pinahanga nitong batang ito. Kaya isasama ko na rin sya sa collage ko ng favourite personalities. A very dark horse in third place right behind Lani and Leah.

atlantis rising

Antok na antok na ako last Thursday night and in fact nakahiga na ako nang biglang mag-flash sa screen ang opening daw ng Atlantis sa Dubai One tv. So inantay ko kung ano yon. Bad decision. Lalong hindi ako nakatulog ng maaga.

Nag-umpisa yong show where the façade of a big hotel became the backdrop of awesome laser images. Ilang minuto siguro yong laser show na yon na ang interpretation ko is that it talks about a land rising from the waters. Atlantis nga kasi. At yon pala yong nababasa kong super high end resort na nasa The Palm Dubai na alam naman nating reclaimed area from the sea.

Then may lumabas na mga muscle men clad in some Egyptian-inspired costume followed by a beautiful woman na naging hostess nong show. Hindi ko sya kilala although she looked like Diana (Miss India who became Miss Universe during the 90’s). And after a brief welcome to the royal highnesses and the distinguished guests (including Donald Trump, Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro and Charlize Theron), nag-umpisa na ang fireworks.

At ito lang ang nasabi ko while watching the pyrotechnics: “tinalo ang Olympic games opening sa Beijing ah.” Turned out na tama ako. Dahil according to reports, 7 times daw nong ginamit sa Beijing ang ginamit na fireworks dito. If you haven’t seen it, imagine nyo na lang – yong buong Palm was literally lit up dahil sabay-sabay yong fireworks na tumagal ng halos 15 or 20minutes yata. 40km daw ang haba nong fireworks na nilatag.

Reports say that this ultra-fabulous launch cost as much as 20million dollars. Malaking pera pero siguro kailangan nila itong gawin to drum up business. Kasi, inabot pala ng 1.5billion dollar yong construction nitong Atlantis.

The marine-themed resport boasts of a 1,500++ room hotel of ultimate opulence. Tingnan nyo na lang ang mga pictures dito. And in case you’re planning to live in one of those rooms, mag-handa muna kayo ng dolyares. Specially if you want to try their 3bedroom + 3bathroom suite, magdala ka ng 25,000 dollars pambayad – one day lang yon huh.

Ang centrepiece nong hotel is a gigantic aquarium with 65,000 species of fish and 2 dolphins na binili pa and flown all the way from the Solomon Islands. In fact, in most of the rooms daw, you can have a piece of the gigantic aquarium right in your bedroom. So pwede kang matulog while whale shark watches over you.

Although sabi nga ng reports sa Al-Jazeera, mukhang wrong timing daw ito because of the global economic recession. And even CNN said na sana daw wag itong matulad sa mythical Atlantis na nalubog lang sa kawalan. And if the economic situation doesn’t get better, baka nga mapunta sa wala ang efforts nila. Who’d waste 25,000 dollars para lang sa isang hotel room? Not Warren Buffet I’m sure.

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(Ps. Kylie Minogue provided the entertainment during this party. She then had a concert last night, Friday, na eto at kakakita ko lang sa Dubai One News na disappointed daw ang mga nanood nong concert coz she was lip-synching! What a shame!).

The Palm in Dubai. Right at the tip is the Atlantis.

The ultra-lavish Atlantis hotel resort

Fireworks galore!

One of the intricately-decorated lobbies

Even the corridor spells luxury

Probably the simplest room in the entire hotel

while this one can be one of the most expensive space just to sleep ....

... and dine on!

pa-sa-pa

well i've always been a self-confessed geek when it comes to gadgets. hindi ako ganon ga-techie and i really don't go gaga over new mobile phones, i-pods or whatever. masaya na ako dati sa n70 kong stone age pa yata nang lumabas sa market. and now i have one of those 3120 classic na slim and cute and most importantly, nakakatawag ako at nakaka-text. afterall, that was the basic purpose of a mobile phone before it was marketed as one highly convoluted piece of gadget.
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but lately i decided to get one of those mp3 players (my second kung natuloy akong bumili. my first was a creative 512mb some two years back na hindi rin nagtagal sa akin and i just sold it off). medyo hindi na kasi kaya ng cp ko yong dami ng mp3 ko na naipon nang naipon.

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besides, kailangan ko na ring magpasak ng earphone in the mornings on my way to work lalo na pag hindi maganda ang gising ko at wala akong tiyagang makinig ng ingay na hindi ko gusto. some people kasi just don't know the words sensitivity, consideration at lalo na siguro yong respect. kaya makikinig na lang ako ng aking mga mp3s kesa ako pa ang bumatok sa kanya. don't want blood in my hands kaya i'd let other people do it na lang.

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so i thought of getting an i-pod. and since bibili din lang ako ng bago, kahit nga hindi ako techie, yong latest naman ang gusto ko para medyo matagal bago mapag-iwanan at ma-luma.

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but ricky and raoul put some sense into my head kaya sa psp ako napunta. multi-functional nga naman. at talagang in-escortan pa nila ako kahapon pagbili with matching free dinner sponsored by ega. kaya eto yong sinasabi ni raoul sa chatbox na bago kong baby blue.

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and of the three main functions it offers, i would rank my use as 1 - music player, 2 - video player and 3 - gaming. weird ba? sabi nga ni irwin "psp gagawin lang music player?" eh kasi po medyo tetris, super mario at queen bee lang ang alam kong laruin! hahahaha. don't worry irwin, kakaririn kong pag-alaran ang mga games. i just hope hindi ito matambak sa baul like some people i know! peeeaaaacceeee!!!

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when diplomacy runs out

saw this in the news last night. reminded me of the slapping incident in the philippine senate a few years ago. as well as the lady parliamentarian hitting her fellow politician with her shoes in taiwan also a few years back.

this time, it's in ukraine's parliament. only shows that guys in nice suits and expensive ties need anger management just like everybody else. or, maybe more than everybody else coz they're occupying public positions. and it's a lot more embarassing when international tv flash these kind of fits from public officials.

what's playin

i've said it before - my taste in music is as so varied you can never really tell what i'm listening to whenever i've got my earphones on. i love the chamber music of the gregorian chants as much as i love bruce springsteen's pop rockin. or eminem's white rap (wonder where is he now) to the operatic charm of josh groban.

this time, i'm goin dancin and wigglin so let me share three songs with you - two upbeat tunes that i wiggle my booty on even while i'm in the office, and one with a delightfully reggae beat.

Paid My Dues by Anastacia

i luv the fullness of her voice and the song speaks of what you get when you've been bad. a bit baddy but with some lesson woven into the danceable tune. nice.

I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

he's a newbie in the music biz (started only in 2007 with his debut album The Beauty in Ugly) but he's already making waves. not a surprise coz this guy's definitely got the groove. and in this song, he successfully adopted the reggae beat into his genuinely american music. I'm Yours is one song that can lift your spirits on a cold, damp day.

Closer by Ne-yo

another hip and cool tune that never fails to make me do some funky moves. well, at least according to what i imagine. haha...

listen to these songs via the e-snips widgets below. hope you like them too....

meeting na namannnn???

In my current job, grabe ang mga meeting. Ito na yata ang kumpanyang nakita ko na kaliwa’t kanan ang meeting. There are days na halos wala akong magawa kungdi mag-attend lang ng meetings, one after the other.

Hate ko pa naman yan. I think it’s counter productive. Ang daming oras na nasasayang. But even if I don’t want to, wala akong magawa minsan kungdi mag-attend. And in all those countless sessions, may napansin ako. And that’s what I’m gonna share with you.

Napansin ba ninyo na ang mga nag-aattend ng meeting, iba-ibang klase ng tao? I mean, iba-ibang personalities. And if I’d put a tag on them, eto yon:

The Dictator – eto yong mga dino-dominate ang discussion all to himself. Halos walang makasingit at sya lang ang nagsasalita. Makes you wonder kung bakit ka pa nag-attend eh sya lang pala ang gustong makipag-meet sa sarili nya.

The Impressionist – ito yong mga taong gusto laging magpa-impress. Always trying to appear as the know-it-all guy kahit wala namang alam. Ang daming sinasabi pero wala ka namang mahagilap ng substance.

The Artist - you might see him busy scribbling on his notepad. Akala mo nagsusulat ng notes about the meeting. But look at his paper when the meeting is over. Most likely, naka-tapos na sya ng isang Mona Lisa kung mahaba-haba ang meeting nyo.

The Politician – pag may pinagtatalunan, hingan mo ng comment ang taong ito and most likely he’ll give you an answer na ikakataas ng kilay mo. He’d refuse taking sides para walang makagalit. Hindi mo maaasahan ang mga ganito pag may botohang mangyayari. Balimbing.

The VIP – he’d come late and burst into the meeting room, profusely apologizing at sasabihing marami syang ginawa o galing pa sya sa isang meeting kaya sya late. And long before your meeting is over, magpapa-alam na porke may naghihintay pang tao. Coz he’s very important at kayo ay hindi kaya kayo na lang ang magtuloy ng meeting nyo.

The Kitten – kung magsalita ang taong ito, akala mo kuting na ngumingiyaw. Sobrang hina ng boses and you have to strain your ears para maintindihan lang ang sinasabi. Either he’s so shy na magsalita o talagang ganon na ang speaking voice. Minsan gusto kong tapakan ang paa para mapa-aray at lumakas-lakas naman ang boka.

The Ghost – at least si kitten, maririnig mo. Pero etong Ghost, magugulat ka na lang and say ‘uy, nandyan ka pala’. Dahil after hours na naguusap kayo, hindi mo sya narinig magsalita. Either natutulog o ayaw magsalita dahil walang alam sabihin sa pinag-uusapan ninyo. Makikita mo na lang as you were leaving the conference room.

Well, I'm just trying to humor myself sa mga pinag-gagawa ko rito. But the truth is, minsan ako rin, dahil sobrang bored, uninterested at hate ang meeting, nagiging The Artist ako minsan. Kaya after the meeting, nakakagawa ako ng mga starts, flowers at kung ano-ano pa from repeated strokes of my pen. Hay naku, meeting na walang katapusan. We gotta use our time in a more productive manner.