Oh my! Baby Boy got fingered!

Got nothing to do. Just stayed at our apartment the whole day. it was so hot that even if I want to go out and take some photos, I just don’t feel like doing it. Hah! Blame it to the damn weather! It was already 7pm but it was still hot! I remember my first night here after I arrived. Ate Edel was laughing at me and recalling to me that she went up to get some stuff in my room, and she noticed me almost floating on my own sweat and I was crying while I was asleep because of the heat. Tama nga si Vayie sa mga blog niya. Sobrang init ngayon keysa nung isang taon. But me and my little brother Kiko manage to take a couple of shots.

This is what boredom and heat can do to you. Pose insanely! Hahaha!

May panahon talaga na masarap ang beer. Kahit sabihin pa ng iba na baka bagong deliver pa lang ang mga beer, kahit luma na yan, may panahon talaga na masarap ang beer. That’s what happened last night. I had a drinking session last night with Momon and Marvin - one of the closest buddies I have during my Ambergris days. Mark - Marvin’s big brother was there also. I went to Marvin’s place first to see them and then we went ahead to the usual hang out where me and Momon would use to drink our shitty minds away. (I forgot the name but we call the place Vigan since it reminds us of the usual designs of the houses in Vigan) We had 2 rounds of San Mig light first. After that, we tried to get another round but the waitress told us Colt Ice was the only beer they have. Colt Ice?!?? E ang lakas ng tama nun tapos ang pait pa diba? Pero ok lang. Uhaw na ko e! So we all agreed to have Colt Ice. Ellen arrived a couple of hours later. We all have a good time, this is one of the nights I’ll never forget. Seeing my friends and coping up with what keeps them busy. Momon was promoted as a Resolution Specialist at work so does Ellen. While Marvin resigned from ITC and he’s working now at Redbox in Greenbelt. Mark is still working in Convergys for the SBC Yahoo! DSL account. We just talk all the time. Sharing my stories and adventures during my stay in LA. While they, tell me what’s been happening to them and to some of our common friends. We took a ride from the past. Remembering our good ol’ days together at work. Laugh at the times when we almost got screwed at work, and some of our bloopers. Well it was most of my bloopers. We end the session around 5 am. And we started around 11pm. Tagal din ng inuman! But the weird part there was that I never did my signature "Spitting Shit" move. Even Mon was surprised that I never got wasted. Yeah I got drunk but not wasted. Coz whenever I’m drunk, I can manage to send my ass home. But when I’m wasted, it’s either somebody will go with me on my way home or spent sometime in Mon’s place to let the hangover pass for a while. But that never happened. The whole session, I was just stuck to my chair, drinking and telling stories. I never stood up to puke. I just stood up around 4am to take a piss. Galing ko no? May panahon talaga na masarap ang beer. Kahit makarami ka na, di ka pa rin senglots! May kasunod pa tong session na to for sure! Here are some pics from our inuman session. (The so called welcome party)

Momon’s new bad ass tattoo.

The gang bang members!Ü (Top L-R) Me and Mark. (L-R) Momon and Marvin.

Fun times. Marvin showing some muscles. Momon looking around.

The crazy times! (L-R) Marvin, Me, Mon, Mark, and Ellen.
Marvin was already drunk at this moment. He’s a psycho when he’s drunk!Ü

Momon and Ellen. Show your killer smile fellas!

Finally I’m home! So tired! After almost a day of gut wrenching, airplane ride, I finally set my foot to my homeland. Kaso ang init! 40 degrees in Celsius?!? Are you kidding me?!? Ganito na pala kainit dito? (Parang ang tagal kong nawala no?Ü) My sister Cheng, my lil rascal brother Kiko and my Tita Butch picked me up. It was good seeing them again. Went straight ahead to Duty Free. Bought some grocery stuff for food supplies. I looked for some Kool-Aids and lots and lots of milk and cereals. (I can’t live without those stuff. Even if I do, I feel so miserable inside me) Traffic pa rin! It turned my good mood into a ranting one. Just my luck! 1st day of my arrival and I’m sweating a lot, traffic was such a bitch! Got home finally! Good to see my ever dearest Yaya Edel (My 2nd mom since she took care of me and the rest of us for almost 21 years. Beat that you fools!Ü) Sarap ng pagkain! Caldereta and some biko! One of my favorites! (Isn’t it obvious? I love foods!Ü) I opened the boxes, and gave my pasalubong to my siblings and Ate Edel. After that, I was dead tired but I can’t sleep since it was uber hot! Went to KFC to eat and chill for a while. 108 pesos for a 2 piece chicken? No way! (Ok fine it’s like $2 right? But then again I can earn $2 for working half an hour. Can you earn 108 pesos in half an hour here?) So we went to McDo instead. I just have some McFlurry since I feel so hot. I was even sweating even when I was inside McDo. We had some small chit chat. Coping up with what’s happening here while I was away. I had a great time that moment. I was laughing out loud, that I don’t even give a fuck if people are staring at me thinking like I was some insane fatso. Oh well nevermind them. I was having a great night. My first night here in my homeland. So the fuck do they care! After that, went to my bed, had a couple of beers para lang antukin. Ang init kasi. Finally I’m back home. I’ll have some drinking session with Momon, and Marvin tomorrow. Inumang walang bukas to!

Cheng and Kiko checking out their pasalubongs.

Ate Edel trying her shoes.

Kiko listening to my MP3 player with my big ass headphones!

It has now come. The day I’ll be going back to manila. I’ll be leaving LA this morning around 1 am PST. (Pacific Standard Time for the dodos out there!ܜ) I’ll be having a stop over at Taipei and I’m gonna arrive there May 14. Then I’ll be arriving in Manila May 14 around noon time. I’m gonna miss a lot of things here. I’m gonna miss the place, the weather, my work, my new friends, the bands that I’ve supported, the food of course! I’m just gonna miss everything! But all the things that I’ll be missing the most, are my parents. Parang bitin kasi. After 2 years na hindi kami magkakasama, dumating ang pagkakataon para makita ko sila. Pero 6 na buwan lang yun. It’s hard to leave knowing that your parents are gonna stay since they still have to work for us to survive. Errr…. I just hate this leaving stuff. It’s hard for me to leave them. Oh well. Here are the people I’ll truly miss:

My Tito June. #1 food trip buddy. #1 Computer man to go to. He works in a medical institute where he handles the tapes drives and monitors the activity of every servers and mainframes. Have you seen a mainframe? He always see them everyday. I drool with envy at his job. Ummm mainframes!

My cousins (L-R) Francis: An avid fan of WWE especially John Cena. He beats my ass in the Gamecube game NBA Street Vol. 2. Kevin: #2 food trip buddy. He’s so addicted to Need for Speed Underground 2 that he spent 5 hours every weekend to finish it. Chuck: Cool guy, he’s the one who introduced me to The Mars Volta. An avid fan of the said band. I just like this guy. He loves anything from R&B to Rock. But he just hate Emo music. Ü

My Tita Gina: #1 Lakers fan. One cool aunt. We used to drive around the city with my cousins and have some El Pollo Locco or a coffee at Larchmont. She even gave me a clipper for my birthday! Cool!

My Mamang: Ever noisy lola! Hehehe. She’s just a good cook. My laundry buddy. She tells me stories of her childhood days (Which I thought will be boring but it wasn’t) I will always remember her for calling me Salbakutah whenever I shave my hair. He even calls me fatso. But I will really miss my grandma.

And the people I’m gonna miss the most. My parents. Dad: Loves rock, though he doesn’t show it (He borrowed my A Perfect Circle, U2, and Vans 2004 Warped Tour to copy them) And I got here Annie Lennox and David Bowie CDs! Astig! My mom: Definitely the coolest, she loves my work when I started doing photography. Loves Carl’s Jr. a lot! (We always have this Carl’s Jr. session every time I drop by her work) And by the way, she always say "Shit man!" just for the kick of it! Hahaha!

Bottom line is, I’m really gonna miss anything about Los Angeles. I’m gonna be back there again that’s for sure!

I went to the house of Jasper - my new friend here in LA. I went to his place since he’s having trouble with his computer. I tried to fix it and it’s been working properly after 2 hours of running intensive task. I would really recommended it to people having their PC run for at least 24 hours to ensure the stability of it. Well as I finished fixing it. We just went around downtown for a joy ride. Then we dropped by to Rey’s place down in Pico. Rey is a former workmate of Jasper. As we’re hanging out, we’re having beers in the backyard. Rey’s place is cool. Totally cool, the back is filled with plants that makes the place cool and relaxing. As we are just having some casual talks and some cold beer, Jasper dropped the bomb that make me feel like I’m about to sink to my seat. "When are you gonna gonna go home?" At the moment I heard the question it stayed to my mind stickier than glue. The question seems like a jackhammer that keeps on hammering on my head. It just made me realized that I have 12 days left before the big day - of going home. And because of that, it made me drink the whole bottle of Miller Draft bottoms up. Going back home gives me joy, relief, and it freaks me out too. Half of me is so excited like a freaking rabbit to go home. And the other half of me, feels like a s wanderer who suddenly found his home. It’s been more than 2 years since I haven’t seen my folks, and now that I had the chance to be with them, 6 months seems not to be enough. But here I’am like a little boy crying out loud who wouldnt want to leave. Well I still need to go. I still need to finish my studies, and my siblings and also my girl. Now that my stay with my folks are about to end, a lot of things are now running in my mind. Like I never even ran out of it. So now, the countdown begins.

It’s been 2 days now since my DSL is acting like it’s possessed. It happened last Wednesday afternoon. The DSL led is starting to blink red and green, which means it’s not connected and I tried to fix it. After that I got a steady connection but the speed I’m having is like a dial up modem. So I called the technical support for help. They gave me this certain URL where I can see some basic diagnostic tools that can help me. It shows there that I have a different user name and password. The tech rep said that might be the cause of the spike and slowdown, so we changed it to the user name that we registered through our ISP and typed in the password. After that everything was all fine. But by Friday, my DSL connection is having some spikes again, and it got worse after that. I can’t connect anymore to the Internet. Great! I called again the technical support about this and they now confirmed that they are getting a lot of error connections from my outside line. Wow! Just when I’m about to make up on the days I never updated my blog! So I had no choice but to stick with my dial up modem and asked them to give me a dial up number to access. For now, I might be inactive to my internet life and just be a bummer for now. Well I got my Book of Five Rings and Art of Warfare books just being delivered today, So, I might as well read them. But still, no internet is like having no life at all. =)

It’s another ordinary day for me. After the Santa Monica beach adventures , here I am in front of the computer, just waiting for some ideas to come out of my mind and post it here. As I try to go back to the time when I was working, and until now my back still gives me a hell of pain. It just makes me think what will I have when if I’m still working in that filthy warehouse in Downtown LA. Maybe accessories for my new digital camera and my MP3 player, books that I’ve been drooling to read, some spawn action figures (Todd McFarlane really amazes me with his work), and most of all the bilins my friends told me. I haven’t bought any of them. Well I already did before but I need to return them for refund since my mom needs the money badly (for some reasons I don’t wanna go deep into). It just frustrates me now that I can’t have the money I need to buy them all again. Heck! I even canceled the order for my Motorola RAZR V3 which I’ve been really drooling for since last year. It all boils down now to frustration. As I try to think about this things, I just can’t help and ask myself "Am I such a failure?" Yeah, well I may sound way too off myself, but I just can’t help to think and ask myself that question. In a certain way it made me so frustrated now. I feel so helpless and low. I just wish that I didn’t went here in the first place. Failing myself is ok, but failing other people especially my friends is another. Oh! I just wish I can just go on and find a resolution to this. If there’s someone or something to blame here, it’ll be the fuckin life here. Such reality no other will see. As the saying goes, "You have to see it to believe it." i just hate how life is so different here. Making sacrifices for the sake of others. In my case, sacrificing my dreams for the sake of me. No more DVDs, no more gaming PC with an ATI Radeon X850 Platinun Edition, no more PS2, Xbox, Game Cube, and the Nintendo DS. And what about the PSP? Argh! I just hate it. Thinking about this makes me feel like I’m not enjoying my stay here. I just wish I’m back home.

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My Tito June called and has told me that we’ll take a walk around Beverly Hills and Nike Town tomorrow. Now that’s some consolation for me.

"Let your wave crash down on me and take me away" - Ocean Avenue (Yellowcard)

That’s my theme song for that day. Why wouldn’t it be? That song was about Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. It’s just besides the beach itself. As I went to Santa Monica beach again, I went there a little bit late since my primary goal is to take a photo of the sunset (which didn’t happened yesterday since I ran out of battery). As I was taking more photos along the beach. I just feel a certain calmness of the breeze. People having fun, and children enjoying their school breaks and having fun at the water. Couples walking along the shore together as the sun goes down (and I truly envy them!). There’s such a satisfying feeling that overwhelms my whole being. There’s a certain contentment that I feel in me. It’s like taking photos of this place does not only bring me joy, but also a message. That life is calm like a breeze. You just have to accept it with open arms. Every photos I took has something to say. Has a certain meaning in it. Besides the message or emotions I want to portray in every picture I took. I’m
excited to show the photos to my friends and see how far I can go with
this photography thing. It really lets me explore thing that I can
never imagined to do. Talk about hidden talent! It is really a great feeling for me to be in this place. As the sun is about to bid farewell that day. A certain aura was covering my whole being. So serene, so peaceful. As I look at the sunset, I can hear it’s voice. Like it was talking directly to my mind. As the day ends, a new day awaits with hope. Just like the song of Semisonic (Closing Time) - "Every new beginning comes from some another beginning’s end." As I was about to head home. I took a last glimpse of the beach. I will always remember this place. One of the best places I went.

OK. I still have a lot of photos to transfer from my memory card. I had great pictures from our Disneyland trip. My new digital camera did well in taking photos. So what now? Where can I still test this thing? Well it all started to this photo.

It’s a window in my parent’s room. I was just fascinated with the outcome that I thought, "Hey, I think I’ll go to Santa Monica beach today". Just for the fun of it. So as I prepared myself on my way there, one thing is running on my mind: embrace the world of photography and learn more about it. What becomes a new discovery of a talent in me, and just an experimentation on my camera. It became a hobby, no a passion. I started to enjoy taking pictures of anything and everything. Just for the kick. As I arrived there, I didn’t waste any precious time to take pictures of anything that I find interesting. From the birds that are flying, to the men who patiently waits for a fish to take a bite on their baits. It was so windy in there. A bit cold, since spring is getting near (hopefully since April is a couple of days away now) I keep on taking photos and I was just in time there since I can wait for the sunset and have a photo of it. But too bad my battery just went dead on me. I forgot to charge my battery! Doh! Oh well, I’ll just drop by tomorrow and take more pictures of the place. Such a beautiful place indeed. Here’s some sample of my pictures.

More pictures from our Disneyland adventures yesterday. From our fun rides to our wacky insane moments! Really the happiest place on earth.

Inside the India Jones ride

Wow! While waiting in line in Indiana Jones

The Mattarhorn

Inside the Haunted Mansion

It’s a small world

Oh! They have chilii dogs!!

What?!? 3 hours wait for the Splash Mountain? Err.. Never mind then! Let’s go Mattarhorn again!