I’m coming home to Leyte. This will be a special Christmas for the family as my one and only sister is getting married. This post will be a photo diary of events leading up to the New Year. You can move between pages through the page links below.

Pure Terror: Christmas. Toy Kingdom. Domestic Airport (12/23/2004)

It’s really funny how they always try to package the Christmas season as the time of peace and goodwill. Try wading through endless waves of crying kids and ill-mannered parents at Toy Kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »

Guess who won the Non-Sales Employee of the Year award and got promoted to director - the entire WEB department! I humbly accept these accolades on their behalf. We promise to raise the bar next year. Time to arm everyone with the Art of War.

Thank you for all the support. You know who you are.

Do a Google search for “Filipina” and “Philippines”. Notice how the top search result pages for the keyword “Filipina” is littered with websites dealing with mail order brides. It’s demeaning. Think of your moms and your sisters. For the keyword “Philippines”, we have a CIA.gov website occupying the top spot. I bet they have that nasty travel advisory posted there for everyone to see. Puts our country and every Filipino in a bad light. I’ve just about had it with that sick man of Asia crap. Let’s open their eyes, there’s more to the Philippines. Let’s put our best foot forward.

I’m starting a campaign among Filipino bloggers, more like a crusade, to “take back” these keywords. There’s a way, and it’s so simple. It’s called Google bombing. Read about it here. If you want to help now, read on. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an ongoing Filairsoft.com thread (yet again) about the upgrade vs skills debate in airsoft. Much has been said about this issue. I’m sure all our airsoft forefathers had their own harrowing experience with opponents packing M150 setups and absolutely no fire discipline. It has become the latest rage these days: get a gun, get a stronger spring, get a heavier BB. The airsoft FPS upgrade mania is so bad these days one would be a fool to think he could do with just goggles and neoprene balaclavas during open FPS games. Read the rest of this entry »

Related Link: Airsoft Guns Get Cheap Airsoft Guns And Find Tons of Airsoft Resources Here.

I got the Nokia 9500 Communicator today and here are my first impressions:

• It’s not as big and heavy as the Nokia 9210 (see cumbersome baretasaurus) - remind me to take a photo of this and my dad’s 9210 for comparison (ain’t this cute father:son and 9210:9500).
• It looks sexy - people say “get this phone and buy yourself a pack of Dunhill cigarettes while you’re at it” to complete your daddy slash old pulitiko look. On contraire, the silver/gray/black scheme and the accent curves make the phone look geek-sexy. Besides, I don’t think anyone above 50 can really use, let alone appreciate, the phone’s more advanced feature set ;)
• Anti-skid/scratch “shoes” underneath - pure genius.
• Front navi-key - pushing down to access the menu is a chore because the phone thinks I’m pushing the up direction, which brings up the camera screen. Not good. Do others have this problem or are my thumbs just too big? (added 12/18/2004)
• Camera image quality - mixed sentiments. The multiple quality option is a welcome feature but night and action shots still leave more to be desired; sometimes everything comes together and you have a nice 1 MP-esque photo, other times it spits out garbage (added 12/20/2004)
• Lack of after-market accessories - in the US and UK, there are a lot of accessories available for this phone; not so in the Philippines (added 12/20/2004)

I haven’t had the chance to try out the other phone features yet. Once the sim card’s been activated, I’ll write a longer review of the Nokia 9500 Communicator. Again, many thanks to Elle for this once in a lifetime chance. Goosebumps.

Here’s a picture of the actual phone. Read the rest of this entry »

I originally wanted a Tokyo Marui M14 for Christmas but Tokyo Marui wasn’t cooperating (end of 2004 or early 2005 release date) so my attention shifted to Nokia. Elle had an offer too good to pass up on. It’s going to be a big (think bareta) new year for me. This time, I’m not getting rid of the plastic screen cover.

Mom wants a Josh Groban - Live at the Greek DVD for Christmas. I’m not really a fan but what Mom wants, Mom gets :) Got any gift ideas for Dad?

This digital photography stuff is hard. I’ve been playing with my new camera for the past 2 days to no success. I’ve set the camera to its lowest quality setting since that’s probably the setting I’ll be using more. That and the night preset mode. Sleepless Leyte Christmas nights here I come.

I took a few night shots of the area around Antel Global in Julia Vargas tonight while waiting for my parking lift mate to arrive. Apologies for the bland choice of subjects. One can’t be too picky in Parking Level 5. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy birthday Miko! Thanks for the airtime (we all ended up “flying” after a few shots of tequilla). Here are a few pics. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m currently having an epic battle with a lot of WordPress comment spammers. As I write this, my site is getting bombarded with post comments by the hundreds. Help! Don’t know how long Kitten’s Spaminator can hold them back.

Care to take a look at the first website I made? Thanks to Google, you may now have a looksee at the fossilized remains of the earliest Macalua.com hominid. This one’s for the hall of shame :)