sino ka sa dota?

ano kaya kung ang tao ay parang isang dota hero? sino ka? sinong hero ang pipiliin mo? intel ka ba? agi or strength? may kanya-kanyang powers, may kanya-kanyang costume..ang saya siguro nun. mas adventurous, mas exciting. may mga tao na mukhang tao, may mga half-hayop half-tao na tao, may taong anino lang gaya ni mortred pag blur na..meron din mga taong nagiging invisible (pagnaka-lothars). meron din tayong mga ulti. may espesyal na ability na unique sa bawat isa sa atin.

kung iyong papansinin, marami din namang pagkakatulad ang isang dota game sa totoong buhay. isa na dito ang pakikipagsapalaran para kumita. nagtatrabaho tayo sa realidad, last-hit sa dota. pag masama ang ating kalagayan, meron fountain para gumaling tayo, parang ospital ba? hahanap din tayo ng ally para makasurvive. bibili din tayo ng mga items na kelangan natin sa araw-araw, mga boots, damit, kahit mga gems, kwintas at burloloy! puede din nating ibenta ang mga items na ito pag ayaw na natin. kumakain din tayo. ‘yun nga lang isang buong puno ang pagkain. puede din tayo mag-alaga ng mga pets! puedeng ibon, squirrel, o kahit penguin! at ang importante, meron tayong mga skills, na gagamitin natin para makalamang sa kalaban at manatiling buhay.

ang isa sa pinakamaganda at siguradong ikatutuwa mo kung tayo ay dota heroes ay ang kakayahan nating pumili kung sino tayo. puede mong piliin kung warrior ka, kung tao ka ba o hayop, o kalahating-tao, kalahating-hayop, kung babae ka, lalaki, o walang kasarian. kung matalino ka pero malakas ang pangangatawan, o bobo pero matipuno. kung magaling kang magtago. kung mabilis ka kumita ng pera. kung meron kang special powers o aura na nakakapagbigay ng positibong elemento sa mga kasama mo, mga kakampi mo.

sa mundo ng dota, wala ng may kailangan ng kotse. meron na tayong mga teleportation ability, puede itong bilhing tingian, paisa-isang gamit (sa mga walang pera), o isang espesyal na sapatos na makakapagdala sa atin kahit saan! (boots of travel, hawig sa mahiwagang sapatos ng bruha sa wizard of oz). meron ding mga herong kambal, triplets, o mas madami pa! merong mga herong may alalay na kakampi.

ang pinakaimportante, puede ding mamatay ang hero, subalit sa dota mabubuhay tayong muli. mag-iintay lang… o kung meron kang pambili ng buhay mo… o kung merong kang “agimat” para maresurrect. sa realidad, pag namatay ka, deadz ka na. kasama ka na sa mga aalalahanin sa araw ng patay. happy all soul’s day. mabuhay.

club astoria. scam?

nanalo ako ng trip for 2 to……dinner buffet. nagkape kami sa bag of beans sa tagaytay nung aming huling punta pagkatapos ng trekking sa taal. dito, merong raffle stub na binigay sa min. fill-up naman kami tig-iisa…pero nakakapagtaka at walang DTI permit nakalagay sa ticket. ang grand prize? trip for 2 to paris. sa pransya.

hindi ako maswerte sa mga raffle-raffle, kaya naman naiwala ko na din ata ang stub. nitong lunes, nakareceive ako ng sms. regarding daw sa raffle entry ko mula sa bags of beans. may good news daw sila at tumawag daw ako sa numerong binigay sa text. after lunch yun, medyo na wala ang antok ko at na-excite! wow, trip to france ata nakuha ko! pero sa aking pag tawag, trip for 2 to buffet dinner lang pla..plus gift certificate na hotel accommodation sa bohol or sa labas ng bansa. nung malaman ko na nanalo daw ako, tinanong ko ang aking mga ka-officemate, na mga kasama ko din sa bag of beans at trekking sa taak. sa 6 na nag-fill up ng kupon, 3 kaming nanalo. wow ang dami naman namin. wow mukhang walang nainom ng kape sa bags of beans. nahiya pa nga ako at tinapunan ko ang lamesa nila ng kape ko. hehe

club astoria. dahil sa nabunot din ang kupon ng isa kong officemate, 4 kaming nagpasyang pumunta sa dinner. dyan lang naman sa karport, taguig, may ilang metrong distansya lang mula sa opisina. sayang din kasi ang buffet, eh mahilig kami sa pagkain, hehe. bago pa kami magpunta sa venue nung gabing iyon ay na-research na namin kung scam ba ‘to o ano.. sa panahaon ngayon, bibihira na makakuha ng freebies. lumabas na madami-dami na ding reklamo ang nakapost sa internet laban sa astoria. sabi nung iba, scam nga daw. sabi naman ng iba, business strategy lang.

well, interesado din kasi ako na malaman kung papaano ang sistema nila, at kung bakit naloloko ang ibang mga tao ng libo-libong salapi, napagpasyahan na naming tumuloy na din. sabi namin, bantayan namin ang isa’t isa, at huwag magdala ng malaking pera o credit card. iwasan din daw kumain ng madami, sapagkat baka may gayuma ang food! pero buffet kasi ‘yon, sayang naman kung maghihinay hinay kami ‘di ba?

sa destinasyon, pinapirma muna kami bago paghapunanin. hehe. sabi sa memo, pumapayag kami na lumahok sa isang seminar, na minimum 90-mins pagkatapos ng dinner. shet. ang tagal din nun, uuwi pa ko ng laguna..pero sige na nga, pirma kami, at kainan na! lumabas, buffet-buffet-ian lang pla! tatlo lang ata ang menu, may rice at pasta. ung fish fillet, ayaw pang refillan, kitang kita namang wala ng laman! sinilip pa nung waiter, pero hindi talaga nirefillan! hay… matapos kumain ay nagsimula na ang seremonyas. napagkasunduan namin na wag masyadong magsasalita o magtanong, para matapos ng mabilis ang diskusyon. unang hirit ng ahente, “so, how’s the dinner”. tahimik na reaksyon. walang sumagot. tumanggo lang. haha. sumunod, “mahilig ba kayong magbakasyon? san kayo nakapagbakasyon na?”. nakakaawa naman, sumagot na din kami, “hindi eh, hindi pa kami nakakapagbakasyon, busy sa work, at gastos lang.” haha..sino ba naman ang maniniwala! ang tatanda na namin, eh hindi pa nakakapag-bakasyon. ask pa nya, “tlaga? kahit vacation before?”

so, kon todo explain na lang ang ahente tungkol sa holiday package at system ng club astoria. konting demo, with matching laptop at power point pa sya. konting computes, sample rate nila. halimbawa, 800 pesos for a whole week stay in a 5-star hotel sa france. “mura na ba yon?” sagot: “ok lang…”

hahahaha. kawawa naman ang ahente. isa sa mga kasama namin, hindi na nakapagtiis, sabi nasa baba nadaw ang sundo namin, papasok pa kami sa opisina kuno, night shift. binigay na ang gift certificate na napanalunan daw namin na malamang-lamang ilalagay ko lang sa basurahan. at pagkatapos, umalis na kami.

so scam nga ba? o hindi? sa palagay ko hindi naman, may option naman ang taong gaganstuhin este pag-aalukan nila. sadyang madami nga lang ang tanga sa mundo. at ang free buffet? better than nothing. laman-tyan din yun.

29 seconds of vanessa carlton’s home

ang hirap nito! hope to post the whole song soon…

Very Tiring Taal Trek! (Talisay, Batangas)

we’ve planned to visit this tiny volcano as early as october 1, for the end of ramadan holiday and the weekends after that, however, constant unfavorable weather deterred us..finally last weekend, we were able to see the largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island. (what’s that? don’t ask me i don’t get it either..)

our route is to go sta rosa exit, and head up to tagaytay, then left towards talisay batangas, and down to the winding road to taal yacht club. this was our base, and we arranged for 2 boats to take us across the lake. a boat is 1500 pesos each, good for 5 passengers. there were 7of us and although we could sit comfortably in one boat, we had to take 2 boats for safety precaution. the boat ride was quick, and then we found ourselves on the foot of a mountainous hilly terrain. now, here, climbers have the option of reaching the top with the help of a 4-footed hoofed mammal called a tiny horse, or on their own feet. we opted for the latter due to, well, financial reasons as a hoofed ride is 500 pesos, and moreso walking appealed to be a nice saturday exercise.

just before reaching the top, we were greeted by tiny geysers emitting sulfuric smoke, that smells like rotten eggs (similar odor to mudspring in los banos’ mt makiling) and then reached the top in more or less an hour. we were so tired and exhausted as the sweltering sun continually struct our backs on the way up.

rest for awhile, admired the panoramic view, and photos of course, we started to descend hurriedly as all of us are starving. back at our base, taal yacht club, some of us took shower, and changed, but i guess the mixture of tiredness, laziness, and hunger caused me not to bother.

dencios for late lunch, and then sonya’s garden, some coffee, and head back home.

Pics

ang hindi inaasahang salapi. baw.

kamakailan lang, meron 2 magandang bagay na pinagmulan ng hindi ko inaasahang salapi. ang unang magandang bagay, ang quarter bonus na ibinigay kahapon lang. kasama ito sa kinsenas na payroll, kaya’t nagtaka ako kung bakit labis ng mga ilang libo din ang pumasok sa aking account. kaugaliang sinisimot ko kasi ang payroll account ko kada sweldo, at inililipat sa isa pang savings account sa bpi. sayang din ang tutubuin eh. hindi man malaki ito, pera pa din.
ang ikalawang magandang bagay. tax return mula sa hong kong. may natanggap akong email mula sa hr sa dating kompanyang pinagtrabahuhan ko sa hong kong. may tseke daw para sa kin, tax return. naka lista ang tseke sa aking pangalan. buti na lang. dahil kung hindi, malamang lamang wala na akong natanggap na email. hehe. ako ang nag fifile ng taunang buwis ko sa hong kong, subalit hindi ako ang nagbabayad. pero dahil pangalan ko ang nakaregister, akin ang tseke. bwahahaha. buti na lang gumagana pa ng hsbc atm card ko. dito nila dineposit. at isa pang buti na lang ay tanda ko pa ang pin code nito kahit na lagpas isang taon ko na ding hindi nagamit! ika-14 ng setyembre nuong nakaraang taon ako umuwi sa pilipinas buhat sa hong kong, matapos ang 2 taon at isang buwang pagpabalik-balik mula maynila. sinimot ko na ang laman ng hsbc atm kanina, 2 libong peso din ang nakuha ko dito. hahaha..ang tricky part lang, pag nag inquire ako ng balanse, in hong kong dollars ang labas, kaya’t naka tatlong subok din ako bago nakuha ang pera. yung unang dalawang subok, insufficient fund daw. masyadong mataas ata ang exchange rate ko. hehe.

Good day!

Haven’t posted music in awhile..so this is a quick record of bad day by daniel powter, quite old but nice song.. the ending was horrible though!

Baguio

south-east asia → philippines → benguet → baguio city

baguio city, the famous summer capital of the philippines, yet i’ve never been this city until this year. i was here during the panegbenga festival last february with grace and some lawson friends; and my mom, sister and myself decided to go up north from sual, pangasinan before going home. we hitched a courier ride from the power plant to dagupan city on a very early 4ish am sunday..and took a bus from there, reaching baguio city just about time for brunch. we don’t have arranged place to stay, so after wandering for awhile and still unable to find one, we headed first to pizza volante, which i tried during my last february trip. food was ok, but the service was very bad. they have wifi, my sister’s laptop doesn’t have a battery and they don’t allow using their power outlet. my god, even only for a very short time! we were just thinking of finding cheap hostels over the internet..also, i asked for a glass of water after meal, which unsurprisingly, never came.

at least having full stomach now, we continued our search, and was thinking between two extremes: a cheap inn just across a bus station in baguio downtown called ’south terminal inn’ at 1000 pesos a night for all of us; and microtel in its country american-style facade at more than 3000 pesos a night, but that comes with a breakfast. haha.. the choice is easy for me, so we stayed in south terminal inn, hehe.

unloading our bags, we headed to minesview by taxi…and it’s so nice to find out that taxi drivers in baguio didn’t  changed. they will give you change up to the exact peso! the country has a new policy to add 10 pesos in the taxi rate, which i didn’t know, and after only paying what the meter says, the driver didn’t even complained! my sister just added difference. we have taken taxi a lot of times to minesview, back to the inn, to tamawan village, to a coffee shop, to a grotto, and finally to the bus station heading manila, and they all give you change! could it be a peso or 2, they won’t hesitate giving it back. i, on the other hand, due to their extraordinary attitude, appreciated this very much, and i didn’t take any of the changes as i simply round it off.

minesview is amazing with the overlooking deck (which is a bit dangerous i suppose), and it drizzled, making the atmosphere cool and extra foggy. we tried the igorot costumes for 10 pesos per person, and made a lot of poses. hehe.

then to wright’s park, the mansion, good shepherd for some ube (purple yam), and a sidetrip to sm baguio. afterwards, we went to the bus station to get tickets back to manila tomorrow, and spent a few hours in baguio market for shopping. had andok’s chicken for dinner, which is just a corner from the inn, and at night, we went out for coffee in kaffeeklatsch, nice cafe with live music. the performers were the same girls that i saw last february (excellent pianist), and we were there late so we got to see only half of it. early the next day, we visited an old grotto established in the early 1900s, our lady of lourdes. the last (and only?) time my mom was in baguio was during her second grade elementary, and she could only remember a photo of her pointing somewhere else, looking away from the camera, so we had some reenactment of it. hehe. and finally, to tam-awan village. it’s a garden-art-exhibit-museum set on a cliff, and features igorot huts.

i ran out of battery when we passed by igorot stairs, so here’s some pics from celphone.

pics here

do you know where your power is coming from?

south-east asia → philippines → pangasinan → sual

i had the chance to see a coal power plant in the philippines, sual coal-fired power plant station in the northern province of pangasinan. at more than 1200 megawatts, it is the largest base-load coal-fired electricity generating plant in the philippines. ‘was here on my second weekend after having gone back to the country. my sister, jm, works for the power plant, and stays here as it is a distant 6-hour drive from manila.

‘went with my mom, making use of the courier service from manila (so it’s free) on a friday after office. we had a stopover in a place where they serve goat, but shame they ran out of calderetang kambing. the last time i remember sampling the strange meat is back elementary days, and it was only now that i realize how pungent goat’s meat is. reaching the plant at past 9 pm, we slept overnight in a room with 2 beds, one double and a single. achie has work the next day, so it was just my mom and myself the whole day and we did nothing but eat voraciously, watch tv, and sleep. i went out and took some pictures late in the afternoon but the murky sky was so appalling, that the photos i have did not give any justice to the sight overlooking the plant.

more pics

my sister drove me around the plant using an effective mini van. the site is huge, and appeared to be well-maintained. i believe it’s one of the finest power plant we have in the philippines and conforms to world’s most stringent standard in power production and emission.

last of minneapolis-st.paul

mylene and her friend cherry from down texas came to st paul by the end days of minnesota state fair, and in the dawn of preparation for the republican convention. i only had a full day to spend with them, which was the last saturday of august as i left for mexico the next day. i realize this is a very overdue post, but i had tons of pictures during our day city trip, and at the same time, i’d like to end my st paul days posts.

they got a car together with their travel package, and a hotel in minneapolis. being carless, they fetched me at the apartment in downtown st paul early morning, and started the roaming the city. i’ve been to popular infrastractures in st paul such as the capitol and cathedral of st paul, but never inside so it was still something new to see. we went to the cathedral first but they’ve set up blockade in the road for the convention so we had some time looking for parking space nearby, and then walked from there to the cathedral, which is not a close walk to say. the church of french renaissance architecture sits on a hill, and from afar, it looks a bit slanted. it opened in 1915, and features an unusual copper-clad dome. i posted and upload some outdoor pics before., but here’s newer pics including interior -> here.

next stop is the capitol. pics with interior -> here..and more pics of the outdoor during my first visit before. this government building houses the minnesota senate, and the minnesota house of representatives, the office of attorney general, and office of the state’s governor. having the second largest unsupported dome in the world, it was modeled after the saint peter’s basilica in rome. however, its dome is criticized by some to be relatively smaller, simplified in design, and less detailed compared to its bigger brother in europe. architect cass gilbert’s primary reason is the infrastructure’s safety as saint peter’s basilica’s dome has had periods of being unstable, it had cracked and undergone renovation to strengthened. in order to achieve support, cass bound the brick dome in reinforcing steel bands, and crowned the paired columns round the drum (which act as buttresses to counter the dome’s weight) with additional stone (from wiki). apart from the two, other renowed buildings with marble domes are the taj mahal in india and rhode island state house. minnesota state capitol cost 4.5 million USD during the early 20th century, and a centennial later, the estimated cost is about 400 million USD, close to 100 multiples of its original price. together with cathedral of st paul, it is listed in national register of historic places.

next stop is the first basilica in the us of a, basilica of saint mary in minneapolis. it’s considered as a fine example of beaux-arts achitecture and also in the national register of historic places. pics -> here. nearby is the minneapolis sculpture garden, an 11-acre park featuring the spoonbridge and cherry. pics

Ride

as you probably knew, i had a private ride during my stay in st. paul in the form of a manual bike. a few days after i arrived in downtown, and seeing places around, i knew i had to get a bike to make the most of it, and since i only had 3 months to spare, i decided to get a used one. the closest second hand bike shop i got from the net is along university avenue (the same highway where we get asian food, rice, etc..), and one saturday after getting some grocery in cub foods, i dropped by sibley bike depot. it’s a non-profit volunteer bike shop that promotes healthy means of transportation. their bikes come from donations, and they do repair, maintenance, and held classes. i’m not a know-it-all when it comes to bike hardware and parts so i let john, the attendant when i was there, to choose a bike for me. one of his important tip, st. paul area is hilly, and a single speed bike (like a bmx) would be nothing but a heavy load in your back most of the times. so i got a 5-speed bike, in a heavy black frame. john gave me free bike map, which undoubtedly had been a great help in finding my way around. i got a padlock too, and i think i was a few dollars off, but he gave me discount.

timing was great that my stay in this north state of america was mostly summer and part of fall, so biking was very suitable..plus, the hilly terrain of minneapolis-st. paul added to the challenge and fun. the first destination i had with this bike is nearby lake phalen. then, i cycled to places as far as minnehaha falls in minneapolis (more or less 20km one-way) and university of minnesota (about 15 km one-way), also in minneapolis. one of my favorite destination is the como area, i’ve biked to como lake, park and zoo several times. apart from getting to parks and lakes, i used this bike as a cheaper way of transporting basic commodities back in our apartment. ‘carried a 15-lb rice on my backpack from shuang hur in university avenue with this bike twice. i also pedaled along 7th street to embassy of mexico to get a mexican visa. i’ve spent a lot of my cycling in the wrong direction that i’ve reached off the beaten track of lillydale, crosby farm, and in my attempt to find the spoonbridge in minneapolis, i got to the weisman museum instead.

after cycling to minnehaha, i guess the chain ring (the disk-like plate) had some major damage that only higher gears work..which is pretty bad as it strained my leg when going uphill. the chains are getting a bit misalign to the disc when in low gears, so for several times i had to bring it back making my hands very greasy and dirty. i brought it back to sibley, and good thing john was there. not having any skills in bike repo, i tried to help as much as i can in getting it fixed as this is a volunteer shop. john ended up replacing it with a brand new chain ring at zero cost! everything went smooth after that.

three days before i left st. paul, i went back to sibley shop using my bike, and walked my way going home.

i have the habit of naming things, i have a name for my laptop, camera, holga, and our car. although this bike remained unnamed during the short time it was mine, i had much fun riding it, and i hope it would bring as much adventure as i had to its next owner.

these two pictures were taken during my last ride to the shop. thanks john! and the whole sibley crew.

sibley bike depot
http://www.bikeped.org/
712 University Avenue, St. Paul, MN