Allergyboy

Oh God Make It Stop!

2008-12-18T07:04:00.001-08:00

I can't sleep right now because some stupidass drunk muthafuckas are having a karaoke party (since this morning, I might add) and the entire neighborhood can hear them. And please take note that said karaoke party is being held in the neighboring CITY. That's how fracking loud they are.

Would you like to make your ears bleed?

Hoy mga bwiset! Magtrabaho kayo! Hindi yung nagsisipaglasingan lang kayo't nagkakantahan! Wala kayong mapapala diyan! Leche!

Charlie Brown Is Doctor Manhattan

2008-11-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

artwork by DocShaner

My Love by The Bird and The Bee

2008-10-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't started watching Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy yet and don't want to know some of the things that have been happening, then don't read this post.

Anyhoo...

So Dr. Torres and Dr. Hahn are being all lesbiany now, and there's this scene from episode 4 where Erica is looking longingly at Callie entering the elevator. Erica gets all mesmerized and is just smiling there staring at Callie. Now, Callie doesn't see all this but Bailey (who at this time already knows about the two lesbian lovahs) does. Then Erica sees Bailey looking, causing her to be released from Callie's hypnotic spell. She then asks Bailey a defensive "what?!", and walks away.

Anyway, the only point of this post is that I like the song that was used as background music when this scene was happening. Too bad it only played for like 30 seconds. But thanks to the almighty and all-knowing google, I have found what seems to be the complete version of the song. Hooray! Click on the play button if you want to hear it.

*The song is called My Love, and it's by The Bird and The Bee (you can try searching for it incase this video gets deleted by youtube)

Thou Shall Not Copy-Paste

2008-09-19T05:16:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
Who sat down beside her
And the spider said:
"Hey look at my web! I constructed it using a matrix algorithm coz I'm a really smart spider and I'm good at math and programming and all that shit"
Then Miss Muffet stepped on the smart spider
Crushing it to death with the weight of her foot
And then she stole the spider's matrix algorithm
And told people it was hers
But Miss Muffet was a lazy copy-paster
And did not bother to change the variable names
(And even the comments!)
Which is why a quick Google query
Proved without a doubt
That Little Miss Muffet
Is a fuckin' fraud

The end.

Ang Lamig!

2008-02-17T03:01:00.001-08:00

Napakalamig dito sa Tagaytay! Ako'y nanginginig sa sobrang lamig!

Ducks At The Golfers' Lounge

2008-02-14T00:16:00.000-08:00

My countryside convalescence continues (Hey, it's an alliteration! YEY!) and I'm here at the Golfers' Lounge where I lounge, eat, NOT play golf and stare at...

DUCKS!

They roam freely and quack with gusto.

Countryside Convalescence

2008-02-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Ma maman has shipped me off to la maison in Tagaytay to recuperate (and to not infect anyone at home). I am in exile here for a week.

It's quite lovely actually. I feel like I'm on extended vacation. The air is fresh and I'm ten minutes away from the comforts and amenities of the wifi enabled country club.

I Hate Hospitals

2008-02-12T23:41:00.000-08:00

I was imprisoned at the hospital for a few days last week. I was battling tEh MeEzeLz (not the German kind). They kept poking me with needles to get some blood so they could check my platelet count just to be sure it wasn't Dengue. The stupid intern who tried administering the IV thingy popped two of my veins. I was freezing my ass off. And the food was horrible. Can you just tell how much I enjoyed my stay?

Some pictures to look at:

DextroseYEY...crapbarfpukeouchie...

Phlebitis totally sucks...

Oh what a wonderful view!

Sometimes, hospitals will just make you sicker.

I Makes Da Money Wit Mine Blogs

2007-12-29T04:13:00.000-08:00

Hooray charles! I have finally, finally crossed Google Adsense's $100 payout minimum and picked up teh cash at my friendly neighborhood Western Union branch this afternoon. The lady says to me, "Ay sa Google din po galing ang pera niyo? Marami pang ibang kumukuha dito na galing din sa Google." Of course it was totally none of my business but I had to ask, "Talaga? Magkano yung mga nakukuha nila?" To which the lady replies, "Malalaki din yung sa iba. Mga $3,000 kung minsan." THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS?!?!?!? HooooWOOOOW!!! You know what? Soon enough I will make that amount. You hear that, universe?! Gimme my money! Please. :)

You Will Find Anything And Everything On Google

2007-12-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

I have this lovely StatCounter code on my blog which gives me a wealth of information regarding my visitors: number of visits per day, time of visit, what country the visitor is from, what browser the visitor used, what color of underwear the visitor is wearing, etc... But the feature I love the most is StatCounter's ability to give me information on the search terms that people use which bring them to my site. Statcounter can tell me what search engine the visitor used (Yahoo or Google for example) and the exact search phrase the visitor used. And when I checked my logs today, this is what I found:

Location: Quezon City
Search Engine: Google
Search Phrase: "claire danes philippines stardust cockroaches"

And this brought the searcher to this specific blog entry.

Ah yes. How wonderful that you can find absolutely anything on the Interwebz.

Just Following Instructions...

2007-11-05T02:15:00.001-08:00

We have a new cook. She's a bit... er... slow. And that would be putting it nicely. The other day, my mom drove home with her from the market. Then my mom said to her "o sige bumaba ka na ng kotse (you can get out of the car now)". So out she went. Then my mom parked the car and went inside the house. After about 20 minutes or so, my mom wondered where the cook was. And when she peeked outside the window, she was surprised to see that la cusinera was still standing in front of the gate. Apparently, after being told to exit the vehicle, she was waiting for my mother to give her instructions to go inside the house.

Philippine Users: How To Withdraw PayPal Funds Using Your HSBC VISA Credit Card PART 2

2007-10-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

Part 2: Getting Your Money

Once you've confirmed with HSBC that the PayPal funds have been transferred to your credit card, you can withdraw your money via two methods:

1. Request for an overpayment check
2. Use HSBC VISA Credit Card's Cash Advance Feature

Method 1: Request for an overpayment check
An overpayment check is a manager's check in the amount of your advanced payment minus your outstanding balance. For instance, let's say you transferred PayPal funds amounting to Php2,000.00 but you have an outstanding balance of Php500.00 on your credit card bill. HSBC will deduct the Php500.000 outstanding balance from the Php2,000.00 PayPal withdrawal leaving you with an overpayment balance amounting to Php1,500.00 (which will be the amount that you can withdraw).

To request for an overpayment check:

Call the HSBC Credit Card Hotline (tel no: 85-800) to talk to a customer rep and request for an overpayment check. The request will take 7-10 banking days to process. Call them again after that time period to confirm whether your request has been completed. If completed, the customer rep will give you details on when, where and how to pick up your check.

Note: Overpayment checks have a Php75.00 fee which you will pay at the HSBC branch where the check is to be picked up.

Method 2: Cash Advance
The Cash Advance feature allows you to use your HSBC VISA Credit Card to withdraw cash from an HSBC ATM or any other ATM that is part of the PLUS network. Simply check if the ATM has the PLUS logo:. You will need your HSBC VISA Credit Card's Cash Advance Pin, which is a 6-digit pin that is mailed to you a few weeks after you've received your credit card.

It's just like a loan that you can avail of directly from an ATM, which you can pay back on your next monthly credit card bill due date. But when you transfer your PayPal balance to your VISA credit card (which is credited as an advanced payment), it would be kind of like paying the loan first and then withdrawing the money at an ATM after.

So let's say you were able to transfer Php2,000.00 from your PayPal balance to your HSBC VISA credit card and you have no outstanding balance whatsoever. You can then withdraw that amount using the Cash Advance Feature, and once the cash advance transaction is posted on your statement, HSBC will simply deduct that amount from the Php2,000.00 you already received from PayPal so you don't have to pay for the cash advance on your next due date anymore.

Important notes:

There is, however, a Cash Advance Fee of either Php300 or 3% of the amount withdrawn (whichever is higher). This fee will be posted on your next credit card statement. So based on the example above, you will probably want to withdraw a Cash Advance amount of Php1,700.00 instead so that you will still have enough funds for the Php300 Cash Advance Fee.
There is also a Cash Advance Withdrawal Limit. Call the HSBC Credit Card Hotline (tel no: 85-800) to ask what your Cash Advance Limit is.

And that concludes this how-to feature. Personally, I don't see myself wanting or needing to withdraw my PayPal money from my HSBC VISA account very often. I use my credit card with most of my regular purchases anyway so I do see the value in just transferring the money from my PayPal balance to my credit card and just leaving it there to take care of my outstanding balances. Although for people who periodically have a significant amount sent to their PayPal accounts, I do see why they would want to withdraw the money; perhaps to invest it or to purchase other things that are normally not bought using credit cards.

Back to Part 1

Philippine Users: How To Withdraw PayPal Funds Using Your HSBC VISA Credit Card PART 1

2007-10-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

So I signed up for a PayPal account a few weeks ago. It's a service that allows people to send and receive money using their email address (among other services it offers). However, if you want to transfer the money you've received directly to your bank account, you can only do so if it is a US-based one. But that doesn't mean PayPal users in the Philippines have no way of getting their hands on the money they receive from PayPal. Fortunately for us non-US-bank-account-having-Philippine-users, PayPal allows us to transfer money to a VISA credit card. I found this rather interesting because I never knew credit cards could receive money! Apparently, it would get credited as an advanced payment. But if you still do want to withdraw the money, here's how:

Oh, and before I begin with this how-to, I think I should mention what kind of VISA card I have since I can't verify if this works with every single type of VISA Credit Card in the Philippines (although I don't see that many reasons why it shouldn't). Mine is an HSBC Mabuhay Miles VISA Classic.

Part 1: Transferring money from your Paypal balance to your HSBC VISA Credit Card

Step 1
Make sure that the status of your account is VERIFIED.
To verify your account, you must first enroll your HSBC VISA Credit Card. After adding your card, click on the "Enroll in Expanded Use" link in your "Account Overview" page. Authorize PayPal to charge a US$1.95 fee to your card. You will then be given a 4-digit Expanded Use Number which you will find in your next credit card statement. It may take 3-4 working days for the Expanded Use Number to be posted. You can check this by either (1) viewing your credit card statement online or (2) waiting for your statement to arrive in the mail. Once you've received your 4-digit Expanded Use Number, login to your PayPal account and click the "Complete Expanded Use Enrollment" link in your "Account Overview" page, and enter the Expanded Use number.

Step 2
Once your account is VERIFIED and you have funds in your PayPal balance to withdraw, click on the "Withdraw" link under the "My Account" tab.

Step 3
Click on "Transfer funds to your card".
Take note that there is a US$5.00 withdrawal fee and a minimum withdrawal limit of US$10.00. To know your maximum withdrawal limit, click on the "View Limits" link in your "Account Overview" page.

Step 4
Enter the amount you wish to transfer and select your HSBC VISA Credit Card as the card you want to transfer the amount to.
Click "Continue".

Step 5
Review your details, and if the information is correct, click "Confirm".
As you can see in the picture above, the US$5.00 withdrawal fee is automatically deducted from the withdrawal.

Once you've completed these steps, the amount should be transferred to your credit card within 5-7 working days. Call the HSBC Credit Card Hot Line and talk to a customer rep to confirm. The number is 85-800.

I called HSBC after 5 days and asked them when the transaction was posted. This particular transaction was actually posted within 3 days. I can't say if that's the norm though.

***[UPDATE: Tue 30-Oct-2007]***
You can also check online (provided that your card is enrolled in HSBC's Personal Internet Banking Service). Here's a screen shot of my transaction details:
As you can see, the transaction was made on Oct 22 and was already posted by Oct 25 (less than 5 business days). I'm assuming the Cr at the rightmost column stands for Credit.
******

Notes:

The transaction will appear on your bill as "PAYPAL *WITHDRAWAL".
The amount posted to your HSBC VISA Credit Card will already be converted to Philippine Pesos. My US$15 ($20 - $5 fee) withdrawal was converted to Php649.92 (1:43.328). Conversion rates will vary everyday of course.
If you have an outstanding balance, that amount will automatically be deducted from the money you receive (since it's going to be considered as an advanced payment).

Continue to Part 2: Getting Your Money

Random Thoughts On Stardust

2007-10-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Awesome movie!

Michelle Pfeiffer must really be a witch because she doesn't appear to be getting older.

Tristan Thorne is George O'Malley with long hair, a British accent and chest fur.

Claire Danes has no eyebrows (because cockroaches from the Philippines ate them).

Watch the movie!

Sorry, Chris Crocker!

2007-10-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

This video will either freak you out or give you the LOLz. Either way, you'll end up peeing your pants.

El Smallville

2007-09-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Here's an odd story: a meteorite crashes somewhere near a small village in Peru. Residents then begin to suffer from a mystery illness brought on by a strange odor.

Ooooh... the meteor freaks have arrived, I tell you.

Furthermore, Moreover, Such As And...

2007-09-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

I'll probably get sick of this someday. But today is not that day...

want cheezburger?

Oh Those Hilarious US-Americans

2007-09-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard of Miss Teen South Carolina and how she royally fumbled in the Q&A portion of Miss Teen USA 2007. Here are some videos I found on the internetz that shamelessly make fun of this unfortunate young lady, and I am sharing them with you so that you may make fun of her like everyone else. Because if the internetz have taught us one thing, it is that the LOLz justify being mean.

Nonsensical IM Conversations Entry #5

2007-08-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Entry #5 - J.K. Rowling And Her Undeserved Castle

*I had a "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" discussion with RJ the other day. Here's an excerpt from the part where we talked about some of the things we found to be a bit inconsistent. Some mildly vague spoilers follow. Read at your own peril.

official_choob:
you just finished the gringotts chapter?
rjpaculan:
yep
harry potter is very lucky
official_choob:
yes
let's just call it luck
i actually found that whole bit about him performing the imperius curse a bit of a stretch
i sort of had the impression that it wasn't that easy to do
otherwise everyone would just be imperiusing each other
rjpaculan:
yes
mind control seems like complex stuff
esp if u imperius death eaters n goblins
official_choob:
i know!
rjpaculan:
these inconsistencies discredit JK!
she doesn't deserve her castle!
official_choob:
haha yes!
we must imperius her into giving it to us instead!
rjpaculan:
yes!
we will put it to goood use
rjpaculan:
we will make our own hogwarts
official_choob:
and we will offer a course entitled "defense against the gaping inconsistencies"
rjpaculan:
hahaha

END.

Ronald McDonald Gets A Makeover

2007-07-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Apparently, if you wipe Ronald McDonald's face clean of all that clown makeup, straighten his hair out, and put him in heels, you'll come to find that he is actually a hot chick.

I Am A Font

2007-07-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

The CHOOB Stripes font!

Hooray! :)

And if you look at the design credits, Choob Stripes was first seen on MyFont on December 11, just one day after my birthday. Yes. My destiny is intertwined with the Choob Stripes!

Nonsensical IM Conversations Entry #4

2007-07-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Enrty #4 - Save The Africans!

diane717:
aaron gave me a plant
as a test to see if i can take care of a living thing
official_choob:
haha!
how nice
what kind?
diane717:
african violets
official_choob:
you must not let them die then
diane717:
so i think if they make it thru, we'll move on to hamstsers
official_choob:
i will pray for your africans.

END.

You Know What It's Like To Be A Tree?

2007-07-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

Cool rotoscoped animation about a boy who claims he was a tree in another life.

Children... they are wise.

Pinoy Thriller

2007-07-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

Watch 1500+ Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center inmates do the "Thriller"...

Entertaining siya ha... in fairness...

Please Press The "Pon Pon"

2007-07-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

I purchased a padlock today. It was manufactured in a country where the primary language is NOT English. And how did I come to that conclusion, you ask? Well, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I rest my case.

By the way... I don't know what a "pon pon" is, but asking me to "press" it in a "concealed spot" just sounds kinda dirty.

Rehab

2007-07-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

I will be offline for the remainder of the weekend. I'm going to a rehab center for internetz addiction. Wish me luck! LOLzers.

Takot Ako Eh!

2007-07-21T03:22:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around for some good reading material at Powerbooks the other day and came across one of their Harry Potter promotional gimmicks. It's called the Powerbooks Pensieve (in reference to that magical bowl thingy from the story where you can put your memories in for examination at a later time). But the Powerbooks Pensieve, on the other hand, is a not a bowl but a book filled with questions where customers can write down their creative answers. One of the things it asks is: if you encountered a Boggart, what would it turn into? The Boggart, for those of you who flunked Defense Against the Dark Arts, is a shape-shifting creature that will turn into the worst fear of anyone who encounters it. And here are a few of the answers that I read:

(1) snakes

Yep. Snakes certainly are scary.

(2) cockroaches

Gross.

(3) my high school P.E. teacher

I remember mine. He would pronounce P.E. as "fee - eee", but he would say "pisikal" education.

(4) Jolina Magdangal singing Paper Roses

I thought that you would be a perfect lover
You seem so full of sweetness at the start
But like a big red rose that's made of paper
There isn't any sweetness in your heart

*shudders*

(5) Wendy from PBB

Total. Psycho.

and lastly...

(6) Willie Revillame in a bikini

Boom-Tarat-PAKSHET!!!

Now THAT is scary...

The Mystery Of The Outrageously Low Alexa Rank

2007-07-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

So I've been reading about Alexa rankings, which is basically a measurement of the traffic one receives to his or her website. I won't really go into detail about how it works (mostly because I don't really know, and I'm not about to make stuff up... not this time at least), but basically, a HIGHER Alexa ranking should mean that your site is getting LESS traffic compared to another site with a LOWER Alexa ranking.

Higher Alexa = Lower Traffic

Lower Alexa = Higher Traffic

So if your site has an Alexa rank of 6,345,654, don't go bragging about that. A 20, on the other hand, should mean that your site is quite popular. Notice how I keep using the word "should". Many people argue that Alexa ranking really isn't a very reliable way of measuring the traffic volume of websites. Again, I won't really go into detail, but I'd have to say that I'm more inclined to agree with that. You see, I checked the Alexa rank of this blog today and it comes in at an outrageously low number of 16! To give you an idea of how low that is, Friendster's Alexa rank is 20. So it should mean that my blog is getting more traffic than Friendster! Clearly not the case...

I took a screen shot of my ranking as it was displayed by my SearchStatu s toolbar (which is a Firefox add-on that lets the browser display Alexa and Google Page Ranks):

I checked out two other blogs that belonged to my friends and found that they, too, had Alexa ranks of 16:

Straight On 'Til Morning

Poutyisms

All our blogs are on blogger so I suspected that that probably has something to do with these seemingly inaccurate rankings. So I went to the Alexa.com website to double check if my blog really does have an Alexa rank of 16, and here's what I saw:

The Alexa rank being displayed by my SearchStatus toolbar was the one for the Blogger.com homepage (which is 16), and not the rank for my actual blog. It probably means that my Alexa rank for this blog is non-existent, so the toolbar just displayed that of Blogger.com, which is where my blog lives. The non-existence of this blog's Alexa rank does however support the assumption that yes, I probably only have 3 readers.

So that, my 3 dear readers explains the mystery of my outrageously low Alexa rank. Not all blogspot blogs will display an Alexa rank of 16, however. Many of the older ones (who've come to have more incoming traffic) will display their very own rankings, but for those of you who come to find that your blogspot blog displays a ranking of 16, you can tell other people, "Hey, my blog's Alexa rank is higher than Friendster's!" Of course if you say that to people who actually know about Alexa ranks, they'll probably think your either lying, crazy or stupid. Those happen to be the names of my 3 readers, by the way.

Nonsensical IM Conversations Entry #3

2007-07-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Entry #3 - Umiwas Sa Dengue!

official_choob:
i talked to pouty before he left for his VIETBODIA trip
he was a bit panicked because he thought he may have contracted
dengue when he exchanged bodily fluids with a mosquito on the afternoon
of his departure
but i told him that i saw on the internetz that dengue symptoms usually
show after 6 days
so by that time, he should be back in the philippines
where he can spread his dengue from the comfort of his own home
via other mosquitoes
diane717:
he exchanged bodily fluids with a mosquito??
official_choob:
yes, the mosquito bit pouty's pouty lips
they kissed
diane717:
hahahahahahaha
official_choob:
i'm kidding ofcourse, but that would have been funny
diane717:
indeed

END.

Manang Neneng Is Looking For Something

2007-07-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

So some of you already know about Manang Neneng, whom I wrote about in The Lamentations Of Our New Laundrywoman. Today, I overheard her while she was in the backyard, calling out to her pet stray cat.

"Oh, PUSSY! Where are you, PUSSY? Come here, PUSSY!"

Yes. There is nothing quite as unnerving as hearing an old woman calling out to her PUSSY.

The Lamentations Of Our New Laundrywoman

2007-07-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

We hired a new laundrywoman a few weeks ago, because the old one recently got married to a man she had never before seen in her entire life (it's a funny story, but I think I'll talk about that in another entry) and moved back to her old province. So we now have a new one, and she is an old but rather spirited lady who used to be a beautician (which probably explains why her hair is not her natural color and her penchant for wearing ornate, dangling earrings at all times). She's in her fifties, so we all call her "Manang" which is a respectful term that translates to "old lady". But her real name is "Neneng" which roughly translates to "little girl". So that makes her "Manang Neneng" or "Old Lady Little Girl". Lovely...

Over the weekend, we took Manang Neneng, along with the cleaning lady, with us to our vacation house in Tagaytay to do some laundry. At first she was really excited, because it was going to be her first time to see it. She seemed to enjoy herself, and the weather was really nice. But on the second day, an overwhelming sense of sadness had overcome her. The cleaning lady found her in the basement, folding clothes with tears welling up in her eyes. She asked what was wrong, and Manang Neneng tells her that she's sad because she misses being in our house in Manila.

Oooowkay...

Then the cleaning lady laughed at her. And then she told us the story of Manang Neneng's lamentations about being home sick after a whopping total of TWO days. And then we laughed too. I wondered what on earth it was that she could be missing in our house in Manila, and then my mom said that she thinks it's all the stray kitties that she's befriended there the past couple of weeks.

So there... that's the story of our new, super-emo, cat-loving, formerly-a-beautician laundrywoman. And today our lesbian cook resigned so we're looking for a new one, too.

Orgasmic Delight On A Plate

2007-07-06T23:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, yes...

Ratatouille (rat-a-too-ee)

2007-06-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

For someone who is deathly afraid of cockroaches like myself, you would probably expect that I would elicit strong negative reactions towards rodents as well. But that would be an incorrect assumption. I do not seem to be innately scared of them. And I don't know why. In fact, just last night, I saw two baby rodents hiding behind the coin jar in the kitchen. I just stared at them saying "hey little fellers! you guys are so cute! come here! come here!," until I finally came to my senses and realized that there are RODENTS in my kitchen. DISEASE-CARRYING RODENTS. In my KITCHEN. Yeah. Not so cute.

Watch the Ratatouille trailer

Better Oral Hygiene

2007-06-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

After the untimely demise of my toothbrush, I decided to updgrade to one that was electric. So I went to the supermarket and purchased the Oral-B... VITALITY! *insert jazz hands here*Conveniently rechargeable and nice to look at, the Oral-B Vitality's high-speed rotating bristle head brings teeth cleaning to a whole new level. Once you see the results, you'll never want to go back to that old & inefficient manual toothbrush ever again. Try the Oral-B Vitality and feel the difference.
*If gum bleeding persists, just suck it up and know that such is the price for ultra clean teeth.

Chillax, Pare...

2007-05-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

I've been a little tense lately, the extent of which didn't really hit me until this morning when, while brushing my teeth, I accidentally snapped my toothbrush in half.

Nonsensical IM Conversations Entry #2

2007-04-04T03:21:00.000-07:00

Entry #2 - What Color Is Your Bra?

*Diane and I talking about her planned Puerto Rico vacaciones.

diane717:
i think we're going to calebro island
aaron's planning the weekend
official_choob:
I don't think I'd recommend that you go to "Caja de Muertos" also known as Coffin Island
diane717:
grabe i need a vacation.
official_choob:
yes you should really take this vacation
but i cant seem to find a calebro island on the internets
although i do see a culebra island
diane717:
oh thats it
hahaha
thats how aaron pronounces it kase e.. caleebruh
bobo
official_choob:
it's also known as isla chiquita (small island)
diane717:
ooh
official_choob:
or more interestingly ultima virgen (the last virgin)
hehehe
diane717:
hahaha
official_choob:
culebra is apparently pronunced as koo-lai-brah
as in anong koo-lai-brah mo?
diane717:
HAHAHAHA

END.

Greenhouse Gases Are All The Rage These Days

2007-04-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

My mom was giving one of her friends a tour of our "summer villa" in Tagaytay, when they got to this yet to be finished area of the house. Mom wants this particular spot to kind of look like a greenhouse. So she says to her friend, "etong part na to gusto ko magkaroon ng greenhouse effect (I want this part to have a greenhouse effect)". I laughed, and they both looked at me, a bit puzzled as to what was so funny. So I had to explain to them that the greenhouse effect refers to how greenhouse gases heat up the earth, and that what she simply meant to say was that she wanted this part of the house to look like a greenhouse. Ofcourse explaining why something is funny really takes all the funny out of it, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to educate my mom on one of today's most pressing environmental issues. Then she says to me, "bakit? nagkaintindihan naman kame ha." I replied, "well yeah, but smart people would have laughed". "Tarantado ka ha," she said.

D 2007 PiLiFin VLaG aWarDz

2007-04-02T03:06:00.000-07:00

Hola, people! How is everyone? Do hope you're all fine and dandy.

I was at the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards last Saturday (thanks to Pouty for going with me), because my other blog which I don't think many of you know about, was a finalist in the Technology category. Yey! But I did not win. Boo! Although feel free to check it out - PinoyMacLovers.com. It's a happy blog about Macs for the happy people who love them. Happy, happy! Joy, joy! Anyway, enough shameless self-promotion.

So the event was fun. I met and saw a couple of people behind some of the blogs I read. It's always nice to be face-to-face with an actual FACE instead of an avatar being displayed from a glaring monitor.

photo courtesy of Karla from RockersWorld.com
That's me talking with my new-found friends, the Baltazars. Such a nice couple. Like I'd imagine them being 80 and still talking and making jokes together. Lori Baltazar is the woman behind the highly succesful blog Dessert Comes First. Check it out. It's a great blog that's all about FOOD! And it's so popular that she gets invited to eat at all these different restaurants. And Krispy Kreme sends her doughnuts, too. That in itself is great motivation to write a food blog! We had such a nice time during the awards show. A little too nice actually, because I think we ended up annoying this old man who sat behind us. Sorry old man who sat behind us!

photo courtesy of Lori
Here's another pic of me and Lori. Do you like my shirt? I think it's so nice and shiny.

photo courtesy of Karla from RockersWorld.com
And here we are with some of the other finalists in the different categories.

So there you have it. The 2007 PBA. I felt like this was my formal induction into the geeky world of blogging. I even wore a tie and all (shiny too, like my shirt). Yey!

I Killed Spiderman

2007-03-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this big, hairy spider in my room the other night. So I killed it. And when my mom found out, she said to me: "ay bakit mo pinatay? baka guardian angel mo yon." (why did you kill it? it might have been your guardian angel). My mom is so weird...

Nonsensical IM Conversations Entry #1

2007-03-19T03:41:00.000-07:00

I IM with my friends all the time. It's a great thing to do at the office if you want to appear to be hard at work (just make sure no one can see your monitor and that your speakers are on mute). Most of the time I end up having pointless conversations about the most absurd of topics because I am just weird like that and so are my friends. So I thought I'd post exerpts from some of my IM transcripts just to show you. This will be part of what I hope to be a continuing series called "Nonsensical IM Conversations".

Entry #1 - The Holy Family

*A conversation with Mr. RJ Paculan

rjpaculan: every holy thursday we have pabasa
official_choob: really?
rjpaculan: uh huh
official_choob:
you spend the whole day praying?
the praying paculans!!!!
hehehe
rjpaculan: not praying! pabasa-ing!
official_choob: don't you pray during the pabasa?
rjpaculan: well yes
official_choob:
do you flagellate yourselves also?
the flagellating faculans
hhahaha
rjpaculan: hahaha

END.

Feblahblah 2007

2007-02-28T15:40:00.000-08:00

Nooninooninoo... nothing for feb.

Welcome To Me

2007-01-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello! I am moving my blog from friendster to here... So I am welcoming myself to this new home. Welcome to me! Welcome!!! You can read my old posts here.

I Am Allergyboy

2007-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

As far back as I was 7, I remember always waking up with hardened snot all over my nose. So gross... And come the rainy and christmas seasons, my nose would just be running like a racehorse. Then there were the constant sore throats, sinus aches and marathon sneeze fests (my record - ten in a row). Now, I didn't actually know what I had or what was wrong with me up until I was about 23 years old. Apparently, I have what is known as allergic rhinits. I have a whacked immune system that overeacts when certain allergens (like dust) enter my nasal passage resulting in an inflammed upper respiratory tract. It's a bitch. Really. It is. But thank goodness for my good doctor and the medication he prescribes me (my friend, Sam, thinks i'm a junkie).

Antihistamine is my friend.

I love it. It takes away my snot, and makes me sleepy. To the person who invented it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So this is my blog. Just some random thoughts from the mind of an adorably, goodlooking chronic sneezer.

*die, dust mites, die!*

See? Very random. Enjoy your stay. Hatchoo!