One Of Those Relaxing Weekends...

Saturday, January 28, 2006...

Woke up a little early today to drive my sister Leslie to her language class. I ended up arriving early in Robinsons Galleria and got good parking too. ;)

Took some breakfast at Pancake House. Ordered tocilog (had second thoughts of getting an omelette. maybe next time). Wasn’t in the mood to start writing stuff on their paper placemats. Hehehe…

Since my friends were not yet in Neutral Grounds that morning, I guess it was a good time to play billiards at Skybowl. Billiards have been a passion of mine and have been actively playing for close to 6 years now. Today I decided to work on my game. Didn’t do any power breaking today. Just a measured break. I then counted the turns (my personal term on how many times I miss a ball to complete a game of 9-ball) averaging 2-4 per game. I want to lower that average to 1-3 and eventually 0. Twice I was close to playing that elusive run out (break, and shoot the balls in succession and sink the 9-ball all in one go). And twice took the short route (combination shot to 9-ball) which didn’t count. Hopefully I’ll be able to run out sometime this year.

Neutral Grounds (as snipped from The 101st Galleria Regulars blog)

1st Game : Balian (13th Company) vs. Kyuzo (Dark Eldar)
Misson : 2000pts Recon Alpha
Result : Win for Dark Eldar with one full warrior squad able to walk to the 13th Company's deployment zone.
Highlights Include : Balian's Rune Priest evading the torment of the Archon's Crucible, but failed two psychic tests resulting in two wounds that killed himself and not able to teleport a squad of Grey Slayers to the Dark Eldar deployment zone.

2nd Game : Kyuzo (Dark Eldar) vs. Owen (Sisters of Battle)
Mission : 2000pts Seek and Destroy Omega
Result : Win for Sisters of Battle
Highlights Include : It was the battle of the elites when Kyuzo's Wyches and Incubi tried to stop the Sisters Repentia rush to the center. Dark Eldar forces were able to wipe out the 20-man repentia but was left out in the open for withering fire from the Sisters. Arco-flagellants proved very devastating and swept the Dark Eldar left flank.

Balian and I called it a day early and left Galleria and had a beer at Ñubar in Golf City. Tokwa't Baboy was great, highly recommended. ;)

Until the next...

In other news:

I missed out in going to UP-CFA today – My apologies to Kim, Emp, Paul, Obi, Mark, Les, Fred for missing out on WM games. I’m still painting my Warmachine figs to make them a bit more presentable the next time I go there.

I also missed on the opportunity to go the Da Shak as well. Heard Kim, Arvin and Garrick got involved in a comedic Road Rage incident. It sounded funny but things like that shouldn’t happen so guys, please be careful.

Sunday, January 29, 2006...

Lazy Sunday, with the usual 2-hour later than usual for anything feeling. Took a break from painting as well. Couch potato and loving it while I can afford it.

100 Visitors As Of This Writing...

Yey.

Thanks for visiting. ;)

My Life Path Number...

Your Life Path Number is 8

Your purpose in life is to help others succeed You are both a natural leader and a natural success. You are also a great judge of character. You have a head for business and finance. You know how to make money. A great visionary, you can see gold where other people see nothing. In love, you are very generous - with gifts, time, and guidance. You love to inspire people, but it can be frustrating when they don't understand your vision. Great success comes easily for you. But so does great failure, as you are very reckless. You are confident, and sometimes this confidence borders on arrogance.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Paint Break...

Just took some time out from painting some Warmachine figs. I've been working on these since Monday so that I can hopefully include these in my 3rd installment of My Workshop sessions. The ones I'm painting now are in the slowest (and probably the most boring) stage of painting which is the basecoat before the I do the actual colors. I'll try to take a progress photo when I'm done with all the basecoating.

In the meantime, I'm taking the time out to do some other stuff like:

- Moderate some comments
- Add a few new links to my blog
- Eat some leftover popcorn (one of the hazards of being the Kuya in the house)
- Listen to some blues rock (Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band kicks ass!)
- Check on my friends' blogs

Maybe I'll just call it a night and continue with my painting tomorrow.

Messages Part 3...

Got this txt a couple of days back. Thanks G-Clef!

God's plans are better than ours that's why God does not always say "yes" to every word we say. Sometimes he says "My child, allow me. I have a better way."

Here's The Pics As Promised...

Finally! Got to upload my pics though still don't know what went wrong the first time around. Thanks to Kim for the edit and "Da Captions". Enjoy. ;)

At the UP-CFA...








At Da Shak...

Amazing What One Can Observe aka the Starbucks Chronicles Vol. 1 and 2...

January 24, 2006…

Just got out of an interview and it finished earlier than I anticipated. I parked my car back at the Power Plant Mall and they won’t open for another hour at least… Hmmm… what to do?

Venue: Starbucks along Rockwell Drive…

Got myself a salad and coffee… I was bored outta my wits at the prospect of waiting for at least another hour for the mall to open so I thought of writing down some stuff while I waited. In the absence of paper, I took one of their pamphlets and started writing things down…

Two girls just walked in wearing unusually short denim mini-skirts, high heeled boots and blond-dyed hair. Must’ve come from one heck of a party to be still up at this hour…

A few tables away a girl wearing an Ateneo Law jacket is studying a book propped on a bookstand. Wow, haven’t seen those in while.

My interview went relatively well compared to last time (see previous thread).

Next thing I know it, Starbucks was playing Lie to Me by Johnny Lang. Kinda unusual to play blues in the morning, and in a coffee shop at that. But you just gotta love the blues baby…

Lie to Me
By Johnny Lang

Lie to me and tell me everything is all right
Lie to me and tell me that you’ll stay here tonight
Tell me that you’ll never leave,
Oh and I’ll just try to make believe
That everything, everything that you're telling me is true

Come on baby, won't you just lie to me
Oh come on baby, go ahead and lie to me
Lie to me
You know what I'm talkin’ about...Go ahead and lie to me

Lie to me, and it doesn’t matter anymore
It could never be the way it was before
If I can’t hold on to you
Leave me somethin’ I can hold on to,
For just a little while won’t you let me dream

Anyone can see
That you love him more than me
But right now baby, let me pretend
That our love will never end

Lie to me, go ahead and lie to me
You know what just I’m talkin’ about…

The song kinda reminded me of my chat with Kim the night before. It was wake-up call of sorts from my apparent social slump. Just realized I could be a jerk sometimes despite me being conscious of not being one. If you're reading this, thanks Dude for the advice.

Just across me is a study group of what looked like MBA students. Not content with books, they need laptops to study. Is it really that effective? Got a laugh out of it compared to me writing down some nonsense into a Starbucks pamphlet.

Just outside by the entrance is what I fondly call The Girl by the Door. There’s always one in every Starbucks I think. You know what I mean. This time she’s personified as tall, fair skinned with long legs, wearing a light green sleeveless shirt and white pedal pushers. She looks way outta my league…

Which got be back to my just concluded interview. Head of HR just informed me that I’m scheduled to meet Top Honcho for a second time around by next week. He’s been very out-of-the-box in our last meeting. Mental note to email references and some bullet-points by tomorrow…

Hey, did the girl next table just steal a picture of me eating breakfast/taking down notes with her cellphone?

I think it’s time I start walking to the mall to get my car…

Venue: Starbucks @ The Power Plant Mall…

What?! The mall doesn’t open until 11am?! I’ve got another hour to kill? That got me to thinking, what the heck, might as well have lunch here right? But in the meantime, I had to hang around somewhere while I wait for the mall to open. So I went to this Starbucks (for a change) and continue on with my "observations"...

Hey, this Starbucks has their own version of The Girl by the Door too! Well, that's just proven my earlier theory! Today's Starbucks Power Plant version is also tall (around 5'8" using the height of the table as reference...) black skirt with evenly tanned legs (beach lover maybe?). Wears an interesting shirt (got "Man" printed on the front and "Hater" printed on the back) and wears red horn-rimmed glasses and large hoop earrings. And she's also a law student judging by the book she's reading...

A lot of expats here compared to the other Starbucks. There's a couple of Korean tourists, what sounded like a Russian and American are in the middle of a business deal in a nearby table, a Japanese guy keeps on stepping out for a smoke...

Ah... I see the mall doors open, and just in time when I'm starting to get bored of observing too. Time to get some lunch. Hope there's no restuarant pamphlet where I'm eating...

Time At The UP-CFA And Da Shak...

January 21, 2006...

It was a boring Saturday. Felt the day was dragging so I thought it best that I took a break from it all. So later in the afternoon I went to check on some of my friends from the gaming club...

UP College of Fine Arts

If nobody's playing in Galleria, it was easy to check on where the others might surely hang out. One of these places is in one of the buildings in the UP College of Fine Arts. This is where some of the IPMS peeps hang out and as well as some who are into the modeling and painting of tabletop miniatures.

Will post pics in another post... having trouble uploading them. Weird...

Saw Obi and Emp on one side of the table playing 500pts of WFB, playtesting the rules I’m proposing for the 500pt demo games. With this much support from fellow players, I really gotta get going with this project.

Was able to see Kim and Paul playing the final turns of their Warmachine game with Kim playing Khador and Paul playing his "jack-heavy" Mercs. Seeing the amount of work these guys have placed in the conversion and painting of their figs made me feel very much behind schedule in finalizing assembly and painting of my Protectorate of Menoth.

Got into a game of Warmachine almost the minute I arrived. My knowledge of the rules is sketchy at best since I haven’t played the game for quite some time now and I was concentrating more in getting my figs painted first. To make matters worse, I was up against Fred’s Cryx, which had the looks of having had a lot of playing time. Luckily I won out on this one when my Repenter moved in for the win and finished off his knocked down warcaster in a wash of purifying flames. It was a good day for Menoth.

Da Shak

6 o'clock, and it was time to pack up and regroup at Da Shak...

While we waited for the others to arrive, I was able to work on the final touches with my starter battle group of Menoth figs. Was able to glue High Exemplar Kreoss, the Crusader, the Repenter, and the Revenger jacks to their respective bases. Got good reviews from my critics on what I’ve done so far but got raised eyebrows on my choice of material for the bases as well as lack of black-lining the joints.

Took the time out to grab a bite to eat at Molo’s with Kim and Garrick. Let's see, Kim had a Ceasar salad, Garrick had half a Molo’s chicken, I had lechon kawali and we shared on a platter of bagoong rice. Gave each other an update on each other, mostly affairs of the heart. Serious stuff not made for this forum... ;)

We arrived back at Da Shak to find the boys working on their airsoft toys as well as the usual goofing around. Ever saw Gelo and Emp try to outdo each other on who's gut can make a bigger side table? Saw a cool-looking sniper rifle complete with wrap-around camo on the barrel. In one corner, Jason the Mad Scientist was working on what looked like Jun’s M4. These guys were getting ready for some serious fun tomorrow. I took that as my cue to take my leave and call it a night.

Reflecting On What's Transpired Today...

Traffic was bad on the way home. Just came from what felt like the interview from hell. So instead of worrying about it and screw up my concentration, I decided to make a small detour to collect my thoughts.

Venue: Ñubar in Golf City, Ortigas

This place is a newly opened bar by a couple of friends of mine from my previous office. Didn't exactly go there for the beer this night, just a short pitstop from the traffic to clear my head, which was a jumble of thoughts and reenactments of the interview that transpired.

Business was slow on a Monday night though it had signs of picking up later in the evening which I wasn't really planning of getting on. Too much on my mind to party anyways. But the music helped and got me started writing some of my thoughts on a piece of paper while I was calming my nerves over a couple of beers and some garlic mushrooms...

- It was tough. A lot tougher than I anticipated. The guy knows how to read a resume. He tried fishing for my past mistakes and use that to haunt me. Is this a test? Or punishment in some previous life maybe?

- Suddenly I felt so demoralized of the outcome. I guess his method though unconventional was enough to get me thinking if this is what I really want.

Might as well face the music when I call their HR tomorrow to inquire on the next step if there will ever be one. With that out of my chest I guess I can go home now and stay focused on what I have to do tomorrow...

Lazy Sundays And Late Meals...

Sundays for me have always been like a slowing down of the space/time continuum. And I love it! Ever had that feeling of waking up late and eating all your meals 2-3 hours later than usual? Had one just like it today. For the life of me I just realized I have never felt so relaxed and so appreciative of days like this. I think my present state is starting to take a turn for the better.

No playing with the Galleria Regulars this weekend due to prior engagements (Mental note: a post dedicated to this group must be made soon). I guess I'm not the only one in my group taking a break.

Slowly but surely approaching the final stages of rearranging my room. I need to store some of my miniatures on display in boxes first. Plus some sorting out of things that need to be thrown away (like old files, magazines, etc.), and finalizing a shopping list of things needed for my room to better organize it (storage boxes, shelves, cd cases, to name a few). I've bought a pair of bookends for better storage of my small library, bringing my running total of expenses in this endeavor to P155.00.

Had my haircut for my interview tomorrow (*gulp*). Hope things work out well.

On a side note: Hey! I just realized my blog's already a month old! Cool!

My Workshop: 2nd Session...

Some of my works-in-progress

Dark Elf Executioners

Dark Elf Heroes

I'm also working on a small project for the gaming community which I'm a part of. It involves complete assembly and painting of 2 small-sized armies to be used as demo pieces for potential beginners to give a quick briefing of the rules and immediate feel for the game. Pictures of the progress of these to follow.

Some Warmachine miniatures in the next session.

My Workshop: 1st Session...

I made a promise to myself to change my mood. Let's start by going to my workshop shall we?

I've been a regular tabletop miniature gamer for quite some time now. To those who don't know much about the subject, tabletop miniature gaming usually involves assembly and painting of miniature soldiers/units over a tabletop battlefield. I've been a player of Warhammer for close to 4 years I think. Definitely hooked on tabletop miniature gaming, I also joined in on a small Warmachine with a couple of friends as well using a starter battlegroup.

Not much is in session at the moment since I'm in the middle of reorganizing my room (a daunting task trust me). A lot of pending projects in different stages of completion are either displayed or boxed for future reference. The assembly and painting of these miniature works of art is my zen. Nothing's haphazardly done here. Everything should be perfect, well at least to my standards, to which I give plenty of room for improvement.

My Workbench


Here's where I relocated my workbench. Don't mind the clutter on the sides... Like I said, I'm in the middle of rearranging my room. ;)


Some of my earlier works

Witch Elves

The Black Guard

These are substantially complete. Just a few more highlights here and there, but presentable on the tabletop nonetheless. Very impressive to look at when it's fully painted.

Messages Part 2...

From an SMS:

Life may not seem to be the way we want it, but live it the best way we can. There's no perfect life, but allow GOD to fill it with perfect moments.

Live for that perfect moment. Good morning!

A Pathetic Moment...

Something triggered me to post this. Have you ever experienced that feeling when you can't take it anymore like the dam is at the point of breaking? As of this writing, that is what I feel. Here's my attempt of relieving some of the pressure that's been building up:

The past has come to haunt me...

Did you ever get that feeling that try as you may in going another path for the betterment of the majority you will still come across the people that are the root cause of your leaving? It goes to show you how cruel the world can be, and that past mistakes will haunt you to no end.

Lost...

Don't you ever get that feeling? That sense that everything and everyone is out there conspiring to do you in? What have I done to deserve being dogged endlessly by such people and events?

The One...

Have you ever met the One Girl you'd think you'd ever want to spend the rest of your life with is that One Girl who did not see you in hers?

Have you ever strived for that One Thing that you'd ever want in your life only to realize that it is that One Thing that you are not destined to get?

Some things I want to say to the Great Void...

Happy birthday to all those born today.

Got this from SMS. How timely can this get: The thing about being a good sport is that you have to lose to prove it. But since you can't win all the time, it will display your character, either way.

"Songs in my dreams my @$$. That song was for you! The white flowers were for you as well for crying out loud!" If you get to read this, you'll know this post was made with you in mind

I apologize for the need to vent. My ugly side.

Songs In My Dreams...

Got to play this song earlier. It's always been in a dream of mine where somebody is singing to me while I play background piano one cool lazy morning. It's such a pleasant dream. Makes me want to play the piano again. Good morning.

You Are There
by Stacy Kent

In the evening
When the kettle sound for tea
An old familiar feeling settles over me
And it’s your face I see
And I believe that you are there

In a garden
When I stop to touch a rose
And feel the petals soft and sweet against my nose
I smile and I suppose
That somehow maybe you are there

When I’m dreaming
And I find myself awake without a warning
Then I rub my eyes
And fantasize
And all at once I realize

It’s morning
And my fantasy is fading
Like a distant star at dawn
My dearest dream is gone
I often think
There’s just one thing to do

Pretend the dream is true
And tell myself
That you are there…

Some Sayings Worth Remembering...

It's amazing how you see such sayings or words of wisdom in the most unlikely places and somehow relate and how relevant it is to your life. Here are a few.

This I read from a bookmark:

I believe,
I believe God.
I believe that God
suns things, waters things,
grows things, blooms things,
ripens things, buries things,
raises things, knows things.
I believe God can do anything,
and anything He does
is very, very good.

-Herbert Brokering

And I got this from a page in my planner...

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill

My your life be a good one.

The Amazing Get-Together Part 1...

January 6, 2005

The Get-Together

I was invited to have a small get-together dinner with Adrian, Nabs, and Gary, at my sister Leslie's place in San Juan. I was asked to come early to help Leslie out with the cooking. Cool.

The Amazing Race San Juan Edition

Had to rush to pick up my sister and bring her to Unimart to buy the casserole and some potato chips and be back at her house to cook with two hours remaining before the guests were expected to arrive. Knowing it will be a tight schedule, we had to quickly find a parking space, withdraw at an ATM and go to Unimart on the other side of the mall and be back with enough time to finish cooking dinner. We had to hoof it. The whole shopping experience felt like an Amazing Race Brother-Sister edition. It was a good thing too because the get-together started earlier than expected since everyone arrived quite on time.

The Making of Pochero and the Discussion on Manticado Ice Cream

POCHERO RICO

Ingredients (Serves 2-3persons):
1/2 kilo beef
4 cups water
2 pcs medium onion, cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic
1 small can tomato sauce
2 pcs Knorr Beef Cubes
1/2 cup sugar
2 pcs each saging na saba, potatoes, eggplant
1/8 kilo baguio beans
1 pc small cabbage, cut into wedges
1 bunch pechay

Procedure: Boil beef in water with one sliced onion and a few pieces of pamintang buo until tender. In separate pan, saute garlic, one sliced onion, tomato sauce and Knorr Beef Cubes. Add sugar and broth from the boiled beef. Bring to a boil then add saging na saba, potatoes, eggplant, baguio beans, small cabbage and pechay. Add meat, bring to a boil and serve. Then see your friends enjoy it so much, they'll ask for seconds.

The pochero was great! Mental note in probably putting the pechay last and that the sauce needed a tad bit more tomato sauce. Nonetheless, the group still gave the dish high marks.

Dessert was manticado ice cream. A brief discussion ensued on what could possibly be the difference between Manila Vanilla and French Vanilla and it's possible relation to Milli Vanilli.

Much was discussed during dinner on a wide range of topics, topics so diverse and so unrelated to one another that I got everything mixed up. Adrian was on a roll with what we fondly termed as his "National Geographic Moments" on world history and board games.

Killing Dr. Lucky, Video Clips and Sleeping Over

It was my first time to be actually part of this get-together, which usually involves dinner, some conversation and playing the board game of the day. This time, it's a game called Kill Doctor Lucky by Cheapass Games. It looked daunting at first, but we had fun once we got bolder in our assassination attempts (Dr. Lucky turned out to be a slippery little sucker) and the failure cards got fewer. Gary won convincingly and everybody had a great laugh at all the foiled assassination attempts. I gotta get me one of these.

My brother-in-law Barry arrived from an office event later that evening and was able to help entertain the guests. We looked at some movie previews of big-name movies due to show in the next couple of months as well as some funny clips here and there.

Time flew fast and guests had to go. I was scheduled to sleep over at my sister's place since I also helped out in the cleaning up, which was a lot! Can't wait for the next get-together...

A Night at the Promenade...

January 3, 2006...

It was a warm evening. First time this year to get a chance to go out with friends. Felt like ages. We met at Gerry's Grill on the second floor of the Promenade. Roll Call: Lito, Ricky, myself, Garr, Ian, Ronald, Jun, Jacob, Arvin, Paul, and Jason. Fare was simple: a few sizzling plates of sisig (pork and tuna), tokwa't baboy, crispy pata, and rice for some, beer and vodka for others. Pictures of this soon...

We talked shop most of the evening, mostly on the game of Warhammer (a more detailed background of this will be dedicated to another post, promise), airsoft (another in-hobby on the rise), and affairs of the heart for some.

On the game of Warhammer I've always been there for the game. It's the reason why I'm with these guys in the first place. We discussed plans for the year and how we hope to encourage new players to join in the fun. More of this on a later post.

On the game of Airsoft Airsoft is another hobby which majority of the group is into. Jason, the resident gunsmith, was passing around upgrade notes here and there. Looks like I might be consulting him for similar upgrades sooner than I think for next time I know it, the boyz are asking me to join in the fun this Sunday. Well, I don't know...

On affairs of the heart Let's just say "may nagisa sa sarili nyang mantika" that night.

Also saw Kat, a friend of mine who's somewhat connected with my former employ. Nice to see a familiar face so soon.

After a few side discussions in smaller groups, we called it a night. Until the next session...

Messages Part 1...

Got this text message from a friend late last night. You know who you are and thanks!

To know that at least one life has breathed easier because you have LIVED. This, to me, is to have SUCCEEDED. Good night.

New Year 2006...

All things are now quiet here at the house. Even the noise outside has died down a little earlier than I recall compared to last year. We just finished cleaning the dishes and most of the people here are already asleep. 'Thought it was a good time to straighten out my computer files as well as writing down some thoughts for the coming New Year as I'm sure a lot of people would be doing the same. Today's a day for resolutions to some, and a day of being reborn and starting anew for others.

Today's the start of a new year. Like I said earlier when I started this blog, it's that time for a fresh start. A lot of things are sure to be in store for everybody, a great unknown is out there. Take me for example. 'Just left my previous job, with the prospect of possibly staying at home longer than any time I've been working for the past 11 years. Really, has it been that long? I've already started mapping out what I wanna do this week to start the year right.

Who knows what the new year will bring for us? 'Would sure be fun to find out...

Happy New Year to you... wherever you are...