Big Hamster In Manila...

September 26, 2007...

Met up with Big Hamster today. He happened to be in Manila to meet up with his C.I.C. Silver-Tongued Lady (that's acronym for Commander-In-Chief) who just finished her bar exams a couple of days back. S.I.C. Hamster (that's acronym for Second-In-Command :P) was allowed a couple of hours of R&R with the boyz. It was a race against time, so off we went. First up was a trip to Hobby Haven to play some Warmachine and some WOWCCG. Midnight was there, sadly there wasn't enough time to get another WM game in. No need to remind everyone that Big Hamster (same goes for Kyuzo and Midnight) was on Cinderella time. The ensuing game length was fair enough, considering that Big Hamster had to learn the ropes on the game rules as well as the dynamics of his army. I'm glad I was able to introduce him to his first ever Warmachine game. Some lessons learned, which was both educational and fun for the both of us. Too bad Shink1m and Salubri were indisposed to come over to hang around with us.

Next we had dinner over at Shakey's. Midnight had this observation that it's usually three of us with the third guy always changing. Basta yun. With the usual pizza/chicken/beer on the side, tried to catch up on a lot of stuff. Diverse topics from old gaming stories, the next GT, some of the finer points of Warmachine/Hordes, other miniature games we play, the LaSalle/Ateneo rivalry (though none of us studied in those colleges), to the intricacies of the bird's nest soup business (Don't ask how it got there. Basta it got there :P). Conversation sobered up a bit, ending in a toast to Mark Lim, a fellow gamer and friend who recently passed on early in life. May he rest in peace.

Time flies, and S.I.C. had to get going. Dropped them off to their respective drop-off points and headed on home. We were so in a hurry we even forgot to take picture for posterity! Doh!

Too bad I wasn't able to see Big Hamster and Silver-Tongued Lady before they left Sunday for home. Well, who knows? The next opportunity will not be that far away... ;)

Frustrated MTV Director...

Was chatting with a friend when I got inspired to associate her to this song that was playing in the background. Pieces of the song here and there was enough inspiration for me to draw up the scenes of a music video in my head.

Dedicated to Katia and aL. Hope you guys are having fun together somewhere at the other side of the world.

See You Soon
by Amber

My bags are all packed
The car would be here soon
We could make it to the airport if we leave by noon
But you're not even close to ready, don't you wanna say goodbye?
What's the matter, Baby?
Though we made plans to be together, right before I fly

And then he told me, Baby,
You know I love you but I hate to cry
So I can't be there when it's time to say goodbye
Just say the words, "I'll see you soon"
And I'll be waiting for you right here in this room

I'll see you soon... I'll see you soon...

Let me hold you close
Just one last time
So I'll remember what it feels like with your heart so close to mine
Coz I'll be gone in the morning it will be too late
But we still have some time, are you sure you wanna stay?

You know I love you but I hate to cry
So I can't be there when it's time to say goodbye
Just say the words, "I'll see you soon"
And I'll be waiting for you right here in this room

I'll be gone it will be too late
You know if doesn't have to be this way
But we still have some time are you sure you wanna stay?

...I'll see you soon...

Other cerebral MTV's and dedications in the future...

Peace.

No Rest For The Good-looking Ver. 02... I Think

This took a while to post. Having a problem with the office internet in the posting of pictures. Hopefully this technical difficulty will be resolved in the nex couple of days.

So, without further ado...
-------

August 26, 2007

It's a Sunday, 2nd day of what's supposed to be a long weekend. I said "supposed to be" coz I'm working. Second of three installments of the third tower's foundations is being poured today, and the long weekend's a good chance to do it without causing much stress to everyone. Yeah right.

Arrived around 10am. They've been pouring concrete for a little over 12 hours straight now. In big volume pours, there's no breaks. Concrete is given some form of respect in our line of work. Especially when it comes to pouring foundations.

Walking on top of rebar is very tiring feat. You have to be able to walk across a criscrossing frame of rebar that's elevated close to 6 meters high from the bottom of excavation below. It's a bit intimidating, with the rebar being spaced far apart and treacherously slippery in some spots, so you have to have your wits about you.

And then there's what I fondly call the Hose. It's just a 12-foot long, 8-inch diameter piece of heavy duty rubber serving as the flexible end of a series of pipes connected to the concrete pump. Takes about 10 people in a concreting crew to keep it steady while concrete is being poured. Watching them move that thing around you can somehow equate it to wrestling an anaconda in a swamp.

Finished bulk pouring at 10:30pm. Too tired to watch them clean up. Standing on rebar all day for almost 12 hours straight left me exhausted and welcomed sleep quite easily.

August 27, 2007

Slept over at the office. It's a non-working holiday on a Monday. Well, not for me. Woke up a little late in the office barracks after a gruelling 12 hours of non-stop concreting. Will check on the jobsite for couple of hours before going home by lunch time.

Got home, quick lunch, but it didn't take long and I'm off again, this time to help my Sister Pie and Barry Pie check out give some technical consultancy on the house they're planning to buy. Was impressed on how the house was built. I was even able to meet the realtor's consultant who used to work at my former employ. Small world. Had dinner before going home and didn't remember much after that since I was too tired to do anything else.

Hopefully I can get a long weekend one of these days soon...