December to Remember #3: Let's Celebrate Life

On the last day of 2009, I once again recount the many occasions that happened this December. These were the ones that truly made this month a December to remember.

December 15 & 16, 2009

In my previous posts, I have highlighted the first and second parts of my Red & Green themed 22^nd birthday. Allow me this time to write about the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th parts.

On the day of my actual birthday, I had a sumptuous meal with one of my best buds Mickey at Omakase, Il Terrazo. I’m usually a punctual person when it comes to appointments, but this time, I was about 15 minutes late. Shame on me! When I arrived, lo and behold he was there waiting for me with his gifts contained in also red and green paper bags. We looked really funny, but who cares… it’s my birthday! Time went so fast that it was time for him to go back to work and for me to get ready for my next celebration.

By 3PM: Wearing my red-checkered Dean and Trent long sleeves, black H&M trousers and white loafers, I rode the jeepney and MRT just to reach TriNoma before the rush hour starts. Franz surprised me with a gift while waiting at Starbucks; Johanna and Mark Lim came in a few minutes after. It was super traffic that day that some people even rode the MRT just to make it to my birthday – thank you Nikki, Mayk, Richard Dee, Jojo, Clarence, AJ. After strolling around, alas it was already 7pm – time for my 22^nd birthday celebration at Red Box. Hours flew and people arrived one after the other. I am so glad that they did wear Red or Green tops! The microphone veterans Dict, Pam, Maryka and Lea sang their hearts out together with Ace, who said it was his first time to sing in public. Marc Ong, Ria, Magsy, Jackie and Mimai were also there to cheer the singers. We all had fun and in fact even transferred to Starbucks to continue the celebration – this time, the birthday of Pam. Super fun! Thanks guys!

The celebration isn’t over as I had my last lunch treat the next day with a very close friend Mike at Heaven & Eggs, Glorietta. I received a Dementia cake from him that tasted really good; I almost forgot I was eating a cake instead of chocolates. A few hours later, we separated ways as I had to go to work again.

There you have it… my 22^nd birthday with Red & Green as the theme for 2009! Thank you to everyone who remembered me through whatever medium.

Next...

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Your Events, Literally in the Sky

Gastronomy on top of Paris, meeting on top of London City, moonlight party in Istanbul, wedding in Jaipur stars, VIP step over at Monaco F1, cocktail over Copacobana... the sky is the limit! These and other more events brought to you by Events in the Sky!

   

After seeing this on TV, I have been dreaming of having this kind of setup for my 80th birthday. I hope I'd be rich (and alive) by then, because I assume this approximately costs millions; but I'm sure the guests will feel very fascinated and special when it happens.

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Technology Exposes 'Bro' of May Bukas Pa

With various friends tagged in Facebook, I am not sure if I'd be happy or not to see the picture of May Bukas Pa's "Bro", since it loses the mystery and curiosity people have on his character.

For those who don't know, May Bukas Pa is a top-rating drama show of ABS-CBN in the Philippines starring Zaijan Jaranilla as Santino. It has been running for about 10 months, with 231 episodes shown as of December 23 of this year. Aside from the fact that the story has given inspiration, hope and faith to many, it has showcased the talents of many Kapamilya stars by guesting several of them throughout the running of this series.

To date, Zaijan has been acknowledged to be one of the brightest stars of ABS-CBN, as well as 2009's Best Male New-TV Personality from PMPC. With the tremendous success of the show, the network got inspiration from this, thus the composition of their Christmas station ID entitled Star ng Pasko, composed by Robert Labayen.

Thanks or no thanks to technology for exposing what 'Bro' looks like? Would you know who the source of this was? Is this for real? Post your thoughts on this and let me know.

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World's Fastest Train Link from China

I admire China for its innovation to spur economic growth amid the global downturn. They have just unveiled the longest high-speed train link between Wuhan and Guangzhou, which runs at an average speed of 350 kilometers (217 miles) an hour. The super-high-speed train reduces the 1,069 kilometer journey to a three-hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven and a half hours, the official Xinhua news agency said.

By comparison, the average for high-speed trains inJapan was 243 kilometres per hour while in France it was 277 kilometers per hour, said Xu Fangliang, general engineer in charge of designing the link, according to Xinhua.

Beijing has an ambitious rail development program aimed at increasing the national network from the current 86,000 kilometers to 120,000 kilometers, making it the most extensive rail system outside the United States.

China unveiled its first high-speed line at the time of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 – a service linking the capital with the port city of Tianjin.

The network uses technology developed in co-operation with foreign firms such as Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom.

Get to know more about this overhaul by reading here and here.

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December to Remember #2: Spontaneous, Busy, Fun

Second week of December passed by so quickly, as it was filled with schedule after schedule mixed with spontaneity and busyness. I was only left with three working days, because I filed for a couple of leaves to attend to personal matters.

December 8 saw me at different places, attending to different things I need to do for myself. It started 10:30AM at St. Lukes Hospital when I finally paid a visit to my dentist for a dental cleaning, which I was supposed to have 6 months back. An hour later, riding the Metro-Rail Transit (MRT) rushed me rapidly to the Ayala Station to start another boxing fight as I renew my driver's license. Each hour passed by so slowly as I wait for the horrible slowness of the medical and drug test personnel. After four hours of waiting and finishing my tests, it was a big disappointment to know that their Internet provider (which is PLDT, by the way) was down and won't be able to process my license renewal. With disgust and angst, I hurriedly rode the MRT and decided to meet up with my friend Pam at TriNoma. Little did I know that this night will be a fun night of shopping and chit-chatting with a friend who has never failed to make other people laugh and smile. I ended up buying 2 tops from Dean and Trent that were on sale, as well as few items from my Christmas gifts shopping list. The night ended when we parted ways around 8PM, as I rode another MRT going home.

More stories and pictures after the jump.

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December to Remember #1: Bday with College Friends

The first Saturday of December marked my first of the many birthday celebrations as I turn 22 this 2009. After a year of missing each other's presence, my college friends and I met up to have lunch together at YakiMix, Mall of Asia. This isn't my first time to try YakiMix; my first time was at the Macapagal Ave. area. If you haven't tried it yet, you should - that is if you're into eating ready-to-eat food and at the same time cooking them for your personal enjoyment. For the price of Php499.00 for lunch on weekdays and Php580 (+55 for drinks) on weeknights and weekends, I can say it's all worth it. Thanks to Boboy, Jessica, and Stacey for coming to my lunch treat! Too bad Tsai didn't make it because of work.

Pictures and more write up after the jump.

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DeadFake.com can be a dangerous site

I don't know if you have already tried using DeadFake.com. It's a website that allows you to send free fake e-mail to anyone from anyone anonymously. As long as you use a valid TO and FROM domain e-mail addresses, it will surely work! Your e-mail will appear to be sent from anyone you choose. It's like a real e-mail client that enables you to format the texts, input images and links, etc.

This might become dangerous or offbeat when you use it to send a spam or threatening e-mail to your enemies or bosses or to anyone you would like to joke around. Really dangerous, especially because this is free and anonymous.

Want to try it? Try visiting DeadFake.com by clicking here.

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Companies Bid Goodbye to Tiger Woods

The no. 1 golfer Tiger Woods hullabaloo started a couple of weeks back, when he was reported to have had a car accident. With the recent scandal that revealed he had about 10 mistresses and committed "infidelity" in his marriage to Elin Nordegren, company after company are now analyzing and determining if they will still continue their ties with him.

Accenture recently released its decision of cutting their relationship with the golfer, as they have determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising. This decision was released a day after Proctor & Gamble's Gillette divulged its statement that they will limit the exposure of Woods in its marketing campaigns.

On a positive note, Woods' endorsements for Nike, PepsiCo's Gatorade and Electronic Arts recently announced that they will continue to support their commercial image model.

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Microwarehouse 1-Day Year-End Sale

Hey folks! Microwarehouse will be holding its 1-day year-end sale on December 13, 2009 (Sunday) at Silver City (near Tiendesitas), from 12noon till 12am. Huge discounts on Apple, Belkin, Philips, LaCie, iHome, Samsung, Palm, HP iPAQ and other products await you! Major credit cards accepted.

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New calling rates start December 6

Thanks to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for pushing the "per pulse" rate for voice calls, which will make billings more transparent and reflective of the real costs of a call. This new rate starts today, December 6, 2009, and is applicable only to calls made within the same network for now. The same billing will however be applicable as well to calls made from one network to another on December 16, to give way to the networks' system adjustments. More information about the great news quoted from Inquirer below:

The new scheme does not change the per-minute cost of cell phone calls but it will reflect calls lasting less than a minute.

Under the new rates, telecom firms will be allowed to charge a "flagdown" rate of P3 for the first two pulses, or a total of 12 seconds. Every succeeding pulse will then be billed. Each minute has 10 six-second pulses.

To illustrate, assuming the prevailing rate is P7.50 per minute, every pulse after the flagdown rate will cost 56 centavos. After the first minute, the per-pulse charge will increase to 75 centavos.

The resulting cost of a call per minute will still be P7.50 but calls under one minute will cost less. A 30-second call will cost P4.69.

Thanks to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile for criticizing the telcos' billing system, for which this new billing system has resulted.

Source: Inquirer.net

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Hate PGMA much?

If you answer 'Yes' to the question above, then you must visit this site. It's just a simple website with a little game-slash-stress-reliever that I find hilarious. Well, you'll be able to put your angst out through the game, even just for a few minutes.

I don't have an idea though who made this website, for I just saw this in Twitter. Click away!

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LTO License Plate Verification

You may have heard of stories where car owners are accused that the car they're driving is not duly registered, even if they show the Official Receipt - LTO Car Registration. This, of course, is just a tactic for policemen to get bribe money.

Verification of license plates may come handy at anytime you need it, especially when you face odd situations during checkpoints or when you want to verify the registration of a second-hand car you're planning to buy.

Know how to get a verification through SMS after the jump.

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