Manila Ocean Park

This was my second time to go to Manila Ocean Park since the place opened its doors to the public. Last time, though, I wasn't able to bring any camera except my phone, which couldn't take decent photos. Last time I went, I was with Maiks, but this time I went for a family bonding time with my dad and my brother. We had a good lunch at Barrio Fiesta along UN Avenue before heading off to the Quirino Grandstand Area. This was to be a day for something different for us. A day where we would break the monotonic routine of our weekend outings. To keep this post from stretching too much space, i've decided to put the bulk of my photos in my facebook page, but I'll post a few here because, in my opinion, these fish stood out from the rest. This is the RAZORFISH. It isn't sharp like Gilette's tools (or at least I don't think it is), but it has a unique way of swimming. Its body orientation is similar to a normal fish, but it seemsto hover in the water vertically, with its head closer to the ground, er..seabed. Though I have not heard any mooing from it, this is the COWFISH. Horny little bugger. Well, it has horns, so...yeah. Also, if you look at it closely, it looks like a box. So square. This little fishy is fishy indeed. It looks like seaweed, but it's actually a type of EEL. I forgot what it's called but in any case this kind of reminds me of those mutated weeds from The Little Mermaid care of Evil Seawitch Ursula. I wanted to show you the FLASHLIGHT FISH but it was too dark to take a photo without flash (Flash Photography is prohibited, but of course, this rule was ignored by 95% of the visitors)

The Fish Spa

This time around, I wanted to try out the famous Fish Foot Spa. There has been talk about it being tickly or unhygienic or whatnot. But seeing as this was still there, and that they call the fish the DOCTOR FISH, I decided to try it out.
For just PHP120, you get twenty minutes with the fish. Now, ask yourself, have you ever been tickled by someone stroking their finger up and down the sole of your foot? or by the slow smooth scratch of a fingernail? Imagine a hundred of them all together, hitting the bullseye-nerve that sets all the laugh in your body free. Imagine TWENTY MINUTES of that. Haha. Well after about 5 minutes, you get used to them, and you just laugh about how cute they look nibbling away at your lower limbs. You get a free souvenir when you're done --- The plain white towel you use to wipe your feet. But believe me, you get the same feeling of cleanliness and foot rejuvenation that you get after a regular foot spa...at less cost!

Sunset

As if to cap off the lovely afternoon, we were entertained by the lovely sunset like an usher at the end of a lovely movie. Though most of my sunsets shots will be posted in my Facebook, I want to share a few of the prize ones in this blogpost. Enjoy.

A New (?) Adventure

If it's the same endeavour on a different time, does that not make it a new journey? Being the beginning of a new month, I will once again try to lost the unwanted weight of which i have long struggled to rid myself.

I was able to do so the first time I enrolled in Fitness First, but like most working people, priorities and deadlines interfered. I noticed I gained most of that weight back, sadly. Good think though, is that it's not pure fat because of the muscle I gained from my past workouts. Hopefully they have not atrophied much.

So now I begin this trek up the slopes of Mount WeightLoss in search of that prized possession : The BOD. Join me as I embark on this journey...again.

Follow me as I post my progress or lack thereof.

INITIAL Stats:

Waistline 45 in
Weight 234.3 lbs
Weight to Ideal 49.3

Up

Last week, I watched "Up" twice. Its just too bad that I didn't see it in 3-D. Disney did it again. No words can accurately describe how I enjoyed everything about it.

That being said, I was browsing and surfing the net for some trivia and this is what I've found (taken from IMDB.com):

On Dec. 23, 2005, young Colby Curtin was diagnosed with vascular cancer, after doctors found a tumor in her liver. On April 28th, 2009, at the age of ten, her parents took her to see Monsters vs Aliens (2009). She was most impressed with the preview to "Up", saying "I have to see that movie. It is so cool." Two days later, Colby's health began to worsen. On June 4th, her mother Lisa asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered. Unfortunately, Colby was now too sick to leave home and her family feared she would die without seeing the film. A family friend named Terrell Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help. Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name, and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said. Pixar officials listened to Colby's story and agreed to send someone to Colby's house the next day with a DVD of "Up". Lisa Curtin asked her daughter, "Do you think you can hang on?". "I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie," the girl replied. The company flew an employee with the "Up" DVD, which was still only in theaters, to the Curtin's home on June 10 for a private viewing. He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie, and the group settled in to watch "Up". Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed, so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film. At the end of the film, Lisa if her daughter enjoyed the movie, and Colby nodded yes. Lisa Curtin described the Pixar employee, saying "He couldn't have been nicer. His eyes were just welled up." Of the film, she remarked, "When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie. I just know that word 'Up' and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven." Seven hours after viewing the film, Colby passed away with her parents at her side. Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

That in itself can pass for a disney movie.

District 9

I just got home from Glorietta, where I watched District 9, and I have to say I liked it.

Coming into the theater, I had no expectations, as I have not really seen or heard much about the movie, except that it involved alien-human interaction and had something to do with Peter Jackson. Aside from Peter Jackson, all the other participants of the movie are no-names. This helped with my positive view of this movie, i think, since I had nothing to which to compare it.

I heard also that this movie had a lot of borrowed elements from other movies, and since I like hunting for Easter Eggs, this got me curious. So far, these are what I spotted:

1. Blair Witch Project (Home Movie/Live Camera)


2. Black Hawk Down (News Coverage)


3. Star Wars (Spot the Jedi Getup)


4. Men In Black (The Aliens and their weapons)


5. Independence Day (Mothership)

See if you can spot some more.

Overall, I liked the way that the aliens were portrayed not as villains, but as another race. Unlike the usual sci-fi story where the aliens have learned to speak English, The aliens maintained their language while the humans learned the alien clickety language.

The movie was completed by a subtle love story between the main character and the boss' daughter. A bit cliche, but in this case, it works. You should see it to know why.

Go :)

Mama Mangoes Logo

Which one is better?

Comments?

Crash and Burn

As I was doing some more research regarding my phone craving, I realized that the unit prices in the US Apple Store are for AT&T users only.

right.

This sucks. Oh well. n97 then. Afetr 100 years of hard labor.

iPhone 3GS or N97?

Lately, there's been something that has bothered me. Not a nuisance like anagging or whinig child, but more like that slight chronic pain in your foot when there's a small stone in your shoe and you can't just up and remove it then and there.

I was "Window" shopping online and found myself at The Apple Website , looking for an iPhone, to see if I wanted to get me one. To my surprise, I found myself drooling over the new iPhone 3GS. It's Apple's latest release of iPhone, but it supposedly has 16 or 32GB of memory (2 models), a 3-megapixel camera with video, and a digital compass. (click here to compare it with the older iPhone 3G).

What really got me thinking was, that after all those features, the price tag only reflects USD 299 for the 32GB model (roughly converted to PHP 15000). Definitely excellent compared to the PHP40000 cost if bundled with a globe sim here in the Philippines. I guess my biggest obstacle right now, should I decide to buy, is how to purchase it there and have it sent here.

Oh wait. No, my biggest hurdle is that I'm Broke.

As if not frustrating enough, my attraction to Nokia's n97 is just as futile. Though not as sleek and pretty as the iPhone, Nokia is leaps and bounds more competent in Phone Technology of Apple (normally associated with iPods and Macs).

Another First

There's a song by Semisonic called "Closing Time" that goes:
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

yeah.

This blog of mine has retained its url, but I decided to start anew with it. I don't really know why. Maybe:

1. I'm just currently bored on a rainy friday night


2. I was inspired by all this talk of digital marketing during the recent IMMAP conference at SMX


3. I just really like the silent screams of writing, whether in pen or keyboard


4. I'm secretly sharpening my so-called skills to be able to write for print again even if just to get published once in a while for a little bit of moolah


5. The old blog just needed a makeover

Whatever the reason, this is what I have to work with now. My little piece of the infinitely vast realm of cyberspace. I guess non-Social Network Site (SNS) blogs add a touch of mystery to online activity. I mean, when you blog in Friendster or Facebook, your profile and pictures and whathaveyous take attention away (though probably not all) from the content and spread it thinly among the other components. With blogging on a regular blogsite, the literature speaks for itself. You may choose to add photos or music or whatnot, but in the end, one can still do without them. (Imagine a Friendster of Facebook page without all the bits of Info and Photos).

Well. whatever the actual reason, I know this new beginning learned lessons from the previous beginning's end. CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.