Chocoholic

I'm not much of a gamer. Other than Super Mario, which I still enjoy playing to date, I've played very few PC games.

I'm currently digging Playfirst's Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients. The sequel to Chocolatier lives up to my expectation.. very much engaging and consuming. After a couple of disastruous foulups, which resulted in uninstalling and reinstalling the game, bottomline was I had to start to all over again after raking up $35M with a rank of Entrepreneur, I eventually finished the game after 2 weeks, woohoo! For the seasoned chocolatier player, 2 weeks is a long time, much as I wanted to finish the game in one go, I just couldn't!

Thanks to Alevy's original spreadsheets, I realized if I tweaked it I can improve my game in a huge way. Inspired by her generosity, I am now sharing my own spreadsheets. So if you stumbled upon this blog looking for those spreadsheets, you can view or download the file from these links:

Click here to view the spreadsheets.
Click here to download. Log on to yahoogroups and subscribe to Chocolatier2fan then go to Files.

Just a quick explanation of the spreadsheets:
Ports & Ingredients - list of ports and ingredients that you can source there
Quests - list of quests and tasks you can expect and complete to advance
Ingredients - enter the cost(s) of ingredient(s) purchased here, update when necessary
Offer vs Cost - enter the shopkeeper's offer for your chocolates on the offer column. You can immediately see your margin and % margin, provided you've correctly entered your costs on the ingredients sheet.
Recipes - complete list of chocolate recipes and cost per recipe. Do not edit this sheet, Unless there's an error or anomaly.

I would have included the transportation costs if I knew how to incorporate it, but I don't. So if anyone can improve on this, kudos to you and give me a copy will ya?

Ciao!


Life is like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you'll get. - Forrest Gump

Music in my mind

Getting a lot of playtime on my iPod is the Veronica Mars soundtrack. The song that gets stuck on my mind, among others is, "I Hear The Bells" by Mike Doughty, click here to hear a sample.

I Hear The Bells
Mike Doughty

I hear the bells
Down in the canyon, its
Snow in New York,
Some Blue December, I'm
Going to the moon
About you going, I'm
Calling to you
Throughout the world and well

Chorus:
I can Hear the Bells
Are ringing joyful and triumphant

I hear the bells
They are like emeralds, and
Glints in the night
Commas and ampersands
Your moony face
So inaccessible
Your inner mind
So inexpressible

Chorus 2x

I'm seeking girls
In sales and marketing
Let's go make out
Up in the balcony
Your business dress
So bussiness like and I'm
Tossing the blouse
Over a chairback and

Chorus 4x

You snooze, you lose
Well I have snost and lost
I'm pushing through
I'll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
So fascinating and
I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting

Chorus 5x

Dum dum dum dum dee dum dum
Dum dum dum dum dee dum dum

Fade

Challah - Lost Season 2 Finale

It was awesome and unbelievably good, my head is still whirling with so much info thrown in 2 hours.

In a nutshell:

• The plane crashed on 09/22/04



• Desmond caused the plane to crash



• Michael & Walt are reunited and will go home after all. They are no longer series regulars, both are listed as guest stars
  this season.



• What happens if the buttons are not pushed. System failure causing a piercing sound, blinding white light and the sky turning purple.



• Activating the fail safe system created and an electromagnetic anomaly and the hatch implodes.



• Because of the electromagnetic anomaly, the island became visible, and SOMEBODY is looking for it and a specific lostie. For the first time, a scene outside of the island IN PRESENT TIME is shown. Obviously this plot will unravel next season.



• We meet Charles Widmore and his daugther Penelope. Widmore Industries has been referenced a few times since Season 1. Seems there's more to these connections than meets the eye. I'm beginning to think Widmore is THE MAN responsible and Hanso Foundation is a red herring.
  

Connections:

Sayid & Desmond --> Kelvin Inman. Kelvin appeared in a Sayid flashback this season as a US military consultant during the first gulf war, he interrogated Sayid. He found Desmond washed on shore and brought him into the hatch.

Desmond & Widmore Industries --> he hooked up with Penelope Widmore, heiress to Widmore
Industries. Her father Charles, industrialist and philantropist is against the relationship and pulled them apart. Tried to bribe Desmond to leave his daughter alone.

Desmond & Hurley --> Elizabeth (Libby? or her twin?) and her boat. Elizabeth gave her boat to Desmond so he can join the Race around the world. Desmond's middle name is David, same name as Elizabeth's husband and Hurley's imaginary friend from the psych institution.

Libby an other? Clues point to this direction. She was never seen inside the plane. Although she claims Hurley stepped on her during the flight, this is unlikely because Hurley was seated in the mid section of the plane and she was seated at the back. When Cindy disappeared Libby suddenly had Cindy's backpack. Could she be working for Widmore, offered the boat to Desmond so he gets lost on the island?

Another book reference on this episode. Desmond carries with him "A Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens. The plot is similar in nature to Bad Twin a novel written by the fictional Oceanic 815 survivor, Gary Troup (anagram for purgatory). Could it be that the premise of lost is about twins/identities, revenge and redemption?

Whew!

"I don't know what is more disquieting, the fact that the rest of the statue is missing or that it has 4 toes." - Sayid

Taylor rides high with Soul Patrol

I was really looking forward to watching the 2 hour finale without getting spoiled. Dang it! I forgot that my homepage was set to display breaking news and I happen to glance at the bottom of the page and there it was. Sigh. Needless to say I am proud and happy for Taylor.

63.4 Million people voted, more than any US president got in votes according to Ryan, unbelievable. I thought I'll get bored with the 2 hour special but I was surprised to find it entertaining, more so to find so many celebrities agog and acting like any audience member. David Hasselhof weeping?!?!?! Can't blame him, I read that he voted for McPhee.

Praiseworthy performances were:

• Paris Bennet & Al Jareau duet. It's good to see Al still in his element.



• Burt Bacharach and the legendary Dionne Warwick



• All of Mandisa's performances, she kept stealing the show



• My favorite of all --> Mary J. Blige and Elliot Yamin duet of ONE. Despite outsinging Elliot, MJB was outstanding. They brought the house down!

If Ryan has to give out Golden Idol awards, which in my opinion the finale can do without but funny and entertaining enough. Let me give a couple of awards to the creepiest duets in the finale. Ironically these duets were performed by the 2 finalist.

Katherine and Meatloaf --> guess AI can't afford to bring in Celine Dion to sing "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" with Katherine huh? Seems to me both were out of pitch a few times and couldn't get it together. The camera caught Katherine a couple of times looking lost, she doesn't seem to know what to do with Meatloaf and the song. Too bad. I wonder what was David Borreanaz son was thinking as he watched.

Taylor and Toni Braxton --> I was jumping up and down when I heard Taylor sing the first line of "In The Ghetto", I thought Lisa Marie Presley was his surprise guest. I was crestfallen to hear it was Toni Braxton. Duh? Can't figure out if her mic wasn't working or she didn't expect a live performance. She kept working her mouth and pouting but all I can hear are baritones in between. For a moment I thought she must a transvestite singing and dressing up as Toni. What's with the sexy moves? She kept writhing and twirling, she even surprised Taylor when she grabbed his hand near the end. It certainly wasn't appropriate for the song, Elvis must have turned on his grave! It was a disaster performance.

I was surprised to find Prince in the finale, and the last performer to boot. Why didn't he sing with any of the AI contestants? Why was he there in the first place? Oh well, as you can see I'm not a fan.

Kudos to the producers and Fox. Despite some critics saying that this season is the most boring, you can't ignore 63.4 Million people can you? In my opinion, this season has the most talented and diverse group of finalist. All of my favorites were in and one even won, a first. Taylor may not be the best vocalist, but he represents the ordinary man dreaming the American dream.

I'm off now to watch Lost's 2 hour finale. Ciao!

I'm baaaaaaacckk! Yay!

I miss posting on this blog after being gone for almost 2 months. I have to say though that I enjoyed my extended work/vacation at our farm. Now that I'm back, the first order of business is catching up with my fave TV shows that I've missed.

Whew! The last couple of week was specially busy as most US TV shows aired their season finales. This week is host to the finales of the 3 big shows in the US. 24, American Idol and Lost!

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Holy guacamole! Jack Bauer managed to stop the terrorists from annihilating L.A. with Cintox gas, then exacts vengance from his mentor, then sets up a
confession from the evil freaking president, then gets kidnapped by the Chinese and is now on his way to China! All in 2 hours! Well, it looks like the 6th day (Season 6) picks up after the Season 5 plot finale. Can't wait for Season 6.... in China? Hmmm... in 24 The Movie probably!

I can't resist but answer Taylor Hicks' oft repeated question in his last performance today, yes, yes! I am proud of you Taylor! His song choices today was really good and showcased how soulfull he is as a musician. He may not be the best vocalist but everytime he sings he shows 'em all how to do it, with heart and soul. Go Taylor! Go Taylor! Go! Go! Soul Patrol!

Lost finale tomorrow! Dubbed by the producers "Challah", last year's finale was "Bagel", go figure. What's with the breads? Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, promises the finale will answer some (note: just some) of the mysteries and questions that bugs us fans. I'm betting that the finale will also give us more questions and mysteries though. Sigh.

Later.

AI - Female Performances

The 12 female contestants of AI were on stage yesterday. It’s the men's turn today. It was revealed that four contestants, the two females and males who rake in the lowest votes, would be booted out of the competition weekly. This format will go on, for about 3 weeks, until the contestants are trimmed to half their number. Following are some highlights of yesterday’s performances.

Oustanding performances by...

Mandisa sang Never by Heart - it was simply an awesome performance. Being first on stage, the other girls quickly realize they had their work cut out for them. I love this song, well almost all of Heart’s songs actually. Mandisa reminded me to take out my Heart Album, dust it off and listen to it the rest of the night.

Paris sang Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight - this girl continues to surprise me. She can sing and dance! Hot, hot, hot performance. Love her makeup, outfit and the hair, the hair!

Lisa sang I am changing by Jennifer holiday - I was simply glued to her performance, at 16 she makes the older girls look and sound ordinary.

Katharine sang Since I fell for you by Barbra Streisand - a surprising performance, I really like it, her voice was natural & effortless, and she made it look so easy. I just cant resist adding, what’s with the dance moves, or was it really dancing She seemed drunk to me.

Notable performances...

Melissa sang When the lights go down by Faith Hill - unfortunately I tuned out in the beginning but when I realize, whoa, what a voice, I think I left my mouth open, hopefully not drooling. I liked her performance, I love her raspy voice. I hope she steps up her game next week if she wants to go the distance coz there were 4 exceptional performances last night.

Kinnik sang Get here by Anita Adams - I like her, but I think she shouldn’t overdo or over sing, she will just appear to be trying too hard. The younger girls make it sound so easy and effortless as it is.

Kellie sang How Far by Martina McBride - she looked so sweet and heartfelt but she was a bit tentative.

So, so performances...

Becky sang Because The Night – she looks pretty but looks awkward singing, had a few misses especially during the end of the song.

Ayla sang Reflections by Cristina Aguilera - a few misses in between, I think the song got the better of her, she could have chosen a better song to suit her.

Brenna sang You are the sunshine of my life – on a different tempo and pitch her performance could have been up there on the notables, however she took the safe route and ended up with much left to be desired.

Forgettable...

Heather sang When you tell me that you love me - a weak and forgettable performance, her tempo was slow to my liking, I tuned out in the middle of her performance.

Stevie sang To where You Are by Josh Groban – I love this song, but Stevie killed the life and spirit of the song. I can’t believe she sings opera songs but can’t sing falsetto. She is so unsuited for this competition. No doubt she is going home next week, she gave the weakest performance of the night. I would have to praise her though for a subdued makeup tonight, I like her fish lips.

I can’t wait to hear how the men fare tonight.

Must Watch TV Part 2

The past weekend hasn't been memorable for me to say the least. Not only did I not have a date, I had a fever and an inflamed throat to boot, bummer.

Anyway, let me just vent out a weekend's worth of pent up frustration and confinement by posting the second installment to my Must Watch TV post.

Prison Break - I am so excited about this show coz it finally reached Philippine shores! It had a grand premiere last week, like a movie premiere, very unusual for a foreign TV show in this country. I am glad that Crime & Suspense Channel has pull out all stops to promote and hype up this show. All I can say is, it deserves it and once you’ve watched it, you’ll agree with me, it’s worth it. What do I like about this show? Two words: Wentworth Miller. Ok make it four words: Wentworth Miller and Michael Scoffield.

Long story short, without giving major spoilers:

Lincoln Burrows, was framed for murder and waiting on death row. Believing in Lincoln’s innocence, his younger brother Michael, a successful structural engineer, deliberately held up a bank so he can go to the same prison, with the intent of breaking out of it with his brother. Whew, crazy eh? Did I mention that they have to break out before Lincoln’s execution, which is 30 days? How’s that for a suspense thriller?

That’s just the main plot, which is easily revealed in the first 2 episodes. It gets better after that. Now don’t start worrying, what happens after the 30 days, regardless if they escape or not. The Creator has already mapped out the story until end of Season 2. Watching this show felt like watching 24 in theater mode. With Brett Ratner on the helm, what else can you expect?

Prison Break starts airing tonight on Crime & Suspense Channel.

A sad day

The country is still reeling from the death of 70 Wowowee fans at Ultra early this month when another disaster strikes.

According to news reports survivors are unlikely as the whole village, including an elementary school, is engulfed and buried in mud.

My thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in Leyte.

Amazing Race Asia is finally here!

I was surfing the AXN Asia website when this news hit me, amazing! Forgive me if this has been advertised on AXN Channel, my cable provider does not carry AXN, pitiful eh?

After so many years of waiting and wondering, Amazing Race comes to Asia. The emmy winning reality TV show is finally open to non-Americans! Yipee!

Anybody interested in submitting their application? Looking for a partner? Email, text or call me!

Must Watch TV

As you may have noticed from the thread of my earlier posts, I am a couch potato. Seriously. Recently I shared with a couple of friends my list of must watch US TV shows, some are syndicated locally, some are on cable. I thought what the heck, might as well share it here, I could turn some non-believers into believers and help keep the shows alive.

Warning, there are spoilers below, if you do not wish to find out what will happen in advance, just read the show titles. Bummer.

Veronica Mars - VM, brilliantly portrayed by Kristen Bell, is a teen private investigator. It is not your run of the mill high school drama, despite its setting. The 1st season revolved on how VM's life has drastically changed due to the infamous murder of her best friend, losing her boyfriend (which happens to be her dead bestfriend's brother) and how her family became the pariahs of the town of Neptune. All these happening while she cracks and solves cases whew!

Sadly, this show is not doing very well in ratings in spite of being a critically acclaimed show. It was listed by the American Film Institute in its top 10 TV shows last year. Some of its vocal fans includes: Kevin Smith (Writer & Director of Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back), Joss Wheddon (Exec producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Stephen King (Sci-Fi, Suspense Thriller writer)

Incidentally Kevin Smith & Joss Wheddon guest starred in separate episodes in Season 2.

In the new season, another mystery is introduced, question is, is VM involved, who was the intended target and who did it? And of course, the answer to the cliffhanger in Season 1 finale, who was at Veronica's door, Logan, Duncan or Leo?

Season 1 of Veronica Mars airs locally on the ETC channel, Wednesday nights at 8.

24 - Jack Bauer is back from exile, rather his imaginary grave, on Season 5. The 4-hour season premiere absolutely rocked! I can't imagine any other TV show killing off two key characters in the first hour alone. Sniff Sniff... I will miss them. As per previous seasons, all episodes are frenetic, action packed, sucking you in and leaving you asking for more.

This season Jack has a new girl, Chloe has a boytoy, Edgar remains as Chloe's whipping boy, CTU has a new "hobbit" boss, Logan is still president, Mike is back, Audrey is back at CTU, the Almeida couple are, sort of, back too. This time Russian extremists has taken hold of a cache of weapons grade chemical which they threaten to detonate on US soil since they can no longer ship it to Russia without being caught by federal agents.

ABS-CBN broadcasted a tagalog dubbed version of Season 3 months ago. While Studio 23 and AXN broadcasted the English version. No local release dates are set for Season 5 yet.

Lost - probably the hottest TV show on earth today, period. You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of it before now. What makes lost addicting? Let me count the reasons: aside from staging the most expensive pilot in TV history, there's the eye candy of course, the mysteries of the island, the survivors' backstories and how they are ALL connected to each other, the hatch, the out of this world theories thought of by its rabid fans, the Dharma Initiative, the easter eggs that the writers throw in to tickle your mind, who are the others? Are there more survivors of the crash? I could go on but space is limited.

In Season 2 the hatch is finally opened, some mysteries of the island is revealed but more questions are asked, we get to meet the other inhabitants of the island, more flashbacks and connections and someone will die.

Lost airs on AXN and Studio 23.

I will end here for the first installment of my own TV guide, stay tuned for the next one.

AI 5 - My faves are in the Top 24!!!

No surprises in today's AI. My 3 faves are in the Magic Circle of 24. Just a few observations and comments:

I loved Taylor Hick's grand entrance, complete with harmonica accompaniment, a first according to Paula. He was so endearing when he broke into song upon learning he's through in spite of Simon's disagreement.

I'm sorry but I just cant help but comment on Stephanie Scott. She's pretty and all, I like her outfit, very flattering on her, but man her make up made me step back a bit. I'm no make up expert but her RED lipstick, matched with PINK blusher and GOLD eye shadow was too much for me. Hopefully the AI makeup artists will do a good job on her.

Kudos to Mandisa Hundley for making Simon eat humble pie and apologize for his tacky remarks during her Chicago audition.

My favorite soundbites... courtesy of the Brittenum twins, who with a sigh of relief, are not competing due to their legal problems.

"My behavior in this past 4 days has been nothing but exemplary."

"We've been angels."

"Our behavior has been absolutely flawless".

Go here for Derrell's mug shot tee hee hee.

I noticed that there are a lot of eye candy this season and I really wonder if they are as talented as the judges believe they are. We'll see as the saga of AI continues...

American Idol 5 Favorites

The fifth season of American Idol is here. I try not to miss the audition episodes coz all the funny and wacky moments are found there. I always wonder if the 3 judges go through listening to all those people... stadium full of people per city. Even taking away the hakot or support groups, what remains is still a staggering amount of hopefuls. I doubt if there are people who screen them though coz there are more delusional contestants than real talents shown per episode. Anyways, I have 3 favorites so far this season.

First up is Taylor Hicks, the salt & pepper haired guy who sang Georgia on his audition. He definitely stands out in a crowd, not because he looks elderly, he is only 29, but for his talent. His singing mannerisms and concentration reminded me of the late Ray Charles. As much as I am rooting for him though I don’t see him going very far in the competition, coz he doesn’t Iook commercial or pop. But I would buy his CD. I am sure with his AI exposure, he will get the break that he and his band needs to further their career.

Kellie Pickler is the Cinderella story this season. She doesn’t have any musical background or training. She just likes to sing and she has a sad story to tell. She lives with her grandparents coz her dad is in prison and her mother ran out I think, sorry I can’t remember. I was blown away by her rendition of the Kelly Clarkson song, Since Uve Been Gone.

Last but not the least is Paris Bennett. This early I am predicting that this girl will go to the finals if not run away with the title. Man, can she sing or what! And she is only 17 years old! Can’t say I’m surprised though, her granny is a Grammy Award Winner. She sang a blues song that I don’t recognize. Simon was so impressed that all he can say was, "Where have you been all this time?" This girl has so much talent and potential, the best is yet to come.

On the other end of the spectrum I can’t say that I like the Brittenum twins. They aren’t just hissy as Simon called them, they’re also full of air. Yeah they have talent but it’s forgettable. I was bummed that the judges invited them back after Derrell declared his and his twin’s resignation. "My spirit is broken!" -- Derrell Brittenum said. It certainly looked like it when both brothers went back on stage hat in hand, apologizing to the judges and seeking mercy LOL. It is not clear though if both will be allowed to compete considering their present and pressing legal problems. Both twins, have outstanding arrest warrants for theft, forgery and identity fraud at the time the auditions were shown on TV. Terrell has been in jail since January and Derrell is expected to surrender to authorities.

Although I am glad that a Fil Am made it through, Jose "Sway" Penala has a lot of work to do to make it far. If the work attitude that he showed on TV tonight is any indication, he’ll be in trouble pretty soon. But first he has to prove that he is eligible to join the contest. Rumor is he has not left his band and they are under a recording contract, if true, he will be disqualified. So far he has denied this and claims that he left the band before the auditions.

And the American Idol saga continues...

LOST valentine messages

Head over to my favorite TV Diva, Kristin Veitch's, valentines day chat transcript for some cute, albeit spoilerish valentine messages from the LOST cast, courtesy of the show's executive producer, Damon Lindelof.

I am curious though if Damon's reference to the Philippine coast is a clue to the location of the survivors or the island. Could they be near us all this time? Damn this show is so good.

Noche Buena, Media Noche & 2 Funerals

This past year’s holidays is extra special coz it’ll be John Cisco’s first. Our parents have their own countdown, not of Christmas but their arrival in Manila; they haven’t been home in 6 months. Mom & Dad arrived from India on the 22^nd. With 5 kids in tow, an Aunt and 2 cousins, we proceeded to Duty Free. Needless to say, $$$ were spent on chocolates, grocery items, booze and ciggies.

As in the past 3 years, I have been in charge of planning and preparing Noche Buena and Media Noche. I was lazy this year; I practically duplicated the menus with one exception, the sauce for the pasta. Seafood Marinara for Noche Buena and a very spicy Puttanesca for Media Noche. Darn those red chilies! Note to self… Don’t believe Jamie Oliver all the time.

For the first time in years, we had fireworks. My dad has shied away from using them when we were still in school but this year I guess he was in a celebratory mood. Cisco was fortunately awake unlike the elder boys, Nino and Aris. He didn’t cry during the noisy barrage of fireworks but did started weeping when a Super Lolo blew 20 feet away.

On the 26^th we made an unscheduled, but necessary trip to Aliaga, Nueva Ecija to pay our last respects to Shiahong Terong. Shiaho is the Tagalog term for an uncle-in-law. In case you’re wondering, Inso is the term for aunt-in-law.

Shiaho died of prostate cancer. I’ll remember him as a simple, quiet and respectable man. He’s well regarded in the community and a lot of people will surely miss him. It was fortunate that all his children, except of Chuchie, were with him when he died. Chuchie arrived exactly 12 midnight on the 25^th, a very sad Christmas.

As you all probably know, Weddings and Funerals are the unofficial reunions of most clans/families. Such gatherings, specially in the provinces, bring together long lost relatives and friends together. Contact information, chit chats and most of often rumors are staples in such gatherings. This funeral is no exception.

This post’s title did say 2 funerals right? The other funeral happened before Christmas. It was the hottest topic of discussion among the elders. My late grandma’s half brother, Eseng Avila, the last elder remaining, died quietly a couple of hours after Shiaho. A handful of his relatives on our side knew about it, the rest, like our family knew about it after his funeral. I was sad because according to those who attended his funeral it was a pitiful service for such as wealthy man. About 40 people attended his funeral, if his wife has agreed to a longer wake or at least asked someone to contact relatives in Guimba and Aliaga, we could have paid our respects for the last time.

Lolo Eseng is a flamboyant and an effeminate man. Always well groomed and accessorized. You can see his jewelry a few yards away. He and Lolo Oniong are self made men. They made money from tailoring and haberdashery in their younger days. My Lola would impress us with their elite clientele that includes great actors such as Rogelio and Jaime Dela Rosa and Leopoldo Salcedo. After accumulating enough capital Lolo Eseng started a ranch and rice mill. To this day, the Avila Rice Mill along the Cabanatuan Highway is a landmark in the area.

Sometimes we wonder what could have been if he had actually adopted my mom as he intended when she was young. My Lola, a very proud woman, widowed at a young age would not hear of it and insisted on raising my mother alone. Over the years, Lolo Eseng has distanced himself from the Simbulan, Bondoc and Avila side of the family.

Long story short the relationship was acrimonious. The last time I saw Lolo Eseng was more than 3 years ago at a reunion my mom and dad organized. I guess we would have to content ourselves with that last encounter with him.

MF Now at World 6-4

Finally took out Kuppa on World 4, after about a month of trying! World 5 was a breeze since I've practiced on it during breaks when I was tired of playing World 4. World 5-1 was fun coz there are 4 1-ups everytime you play, so you can accumulate lives as much as you want, coz you'll be needing lots of them on 5-3.

On two occasions I had to rack up 34 lives to get ready for 5-3. Obviously I was unsuccessful on the first occasion but my patience paid off on the second one.

I was excited last night when I finally reached 6-4, I was looking forward to entering World 7. Alas after about an hour, I had to give up and deliberately kill Mario, a first!!! My right hand and fingers were numb and aching for holding down the shift and Z keys LOL and I was nowhere near in killing Kuppa.

I'll get him another time. That's for sure.

Mario Forever

Remember Nintendo’s Super Mario Game in the late 80’s? A Polish fan made a PC version called Mario Forever. I’ve been playing for about a month and man, am I sooooooooo addicted.

Thank God for fellow fans who has put up a Forum at MSN Groups, their tips and pics has helped a lot. I just broke through World 4 this afternoon. I know I'm slow, but my reflexes are not the same as in the 80's ^_^.

Tan tanan tanantan... boink!

We Are Family!!!

We celebrated John Cisco's 7 month natal day at his grandparent's house yesterday afternoon. All aunts and first cousins were present this time around. His second cousin Edith who arrived from Taiwan recently was able to join us.

After a stressful day cooking the spaghetti and chicken, it was nice to wind down and catch "The Buzz" on TV while eating. I can't remember the last time I saw that program.

So, Nene won the Pinoy Big Brother contest eh? I'm just glad neither the snotty Uma or the airhead Cass won the 6 million peso worth prize money. I was surprised that the total number of text votes were just over a million. I was expecting more since the Kapamilya (ABS CBN) network has been bragging that their show was "pinapanood ng buong bansa". Yeah right. If I were them I would have kept silent on the actual number and just quoted the percentages instead, like what they were doing previously.

Riding in Pedicab with Girls

Went to Divisoria a couple of weeks back with my sis Donna and her 3 sis-in-laws, Cristina, Marivic and Katrina. We trekked to Divisoria at a God forsaken hour of 7:30... I know its not that early, but if the stores aren't open yet, whaddaya think????

We've heard a lot about the new 168 building which hosts the most number of tiangges anyone could fit in a 2 storey building. Needless to say by 11:00 we've spent half of our shopping money but still raring to transfer to New Divisoria Mall for more bargains. But first we need to recharge by having lunch. 168's food court isn't bad, in fact the food and prices are also a bargain. Considering it was a holiday, we expected the mall teeming with people. Donna had to contract a lady to reserve their table for us after they finished, which was 30 mins later! After a hearty lunch and piping hot bibingka from Aldrino's (man their bibingka was ok but at 55 bucks a pop it was expensive) I thought we're now ready to transfer to Anding's Toy Store and New Divisoria Mall.

As we stepped out to Sta. Elena going to Juan Luna, I couldn't believe my eyes! The throng of people was reminiscent of the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo! You can only move inch by inch, literrally, I was face to neck, hip to hip, butt to crotch to the people in front, beside and the back of me. After about 15 minutes we managed to cross Juan Luna only to encounter the same experience on the small Sta Elena extension to reach New Divi Mall.

By the time we reached the building housing all toy stores in Divi, I was spent and ready to call it quits. After shopping for a few toys, my sis and I met up with the other gals at New Divi Mall. Instead of shopping I spent the time waiting for them at the 2nd floor stairwell, taking a break and just chilling out.

Finally by 2pm they're all finished and we readied ourselves for another round of pushing and shoving to get to Juan Luna. Fortunately, the number of people thinned out by that time and we managed to reach Juan Luna in leisurely fashion.

Since we've decided to ask Richie (my bro-in-law) to fetch us in Binondo instead, considering there's no chance in hell he can manage to reach divi, park or even wait for us, we have to go to Ongpin street to meet up with him.

There were no FX nor jeepneys in sight, only private cars and vans. Thank God for the inventor of pedicabs! Miraculously the biggest pedicab I've ever seen was parked at the foot of the bridge. The driver was excited to see 5 ladies laden with a bayong and numerous plastic bags. I asked the driver to hail another pedicab to ferry us 5. We were aghast when he declared no, I can take all of you. I said are you sure? He said yeah, I even took 6 passengers earlier. That was comforting, I thought. Yeah right!!!

We watched skeptically as he managed to stow all our shopping bags, bayong and all at the compartment below the seat, there was even room for more after he was done! Wow! Donna was smart enough to seat herself first, so she got the best seat. Cristina took the side seat beside the driver, Kat and Mars took the seat in front of Donna. Since there was no room for me to sit beside Doinx, I took the other side seat, beside the door.

It was a challenge to sit with my head inside the pedicab, I was developing a nasty crick to my neck. So for the most part I had my head outside the pedicab. Kat and Mars must have suffered crouching inside.

For a few instances we thought the driver couldnt pedal us all the way, let alone manage not to crash against incoming vehicles. Yes incoming, because for a few minutes he was driving against the traffic along Juan Luna!!! As we turned to an eskinita, he had to go down the bike to push it instead, it was an incline, luckily there was a bystander you helped him pull the pedicab. Funny that the bystander got a peek at Mars' well hidden tatoo at the base of her spine! Yes she was wearing a pair low rider jeans. He shouted, "Aba, may tatoo pa siya!" What happened next was a few more people noticed the tatoo along the way. I told Mars, fortunately they couldn't see her face, only her tatoo is recognizable in Divi now.

Pity we didn't have a camera to take photos of our fun day at Divi and the hellish but excitable pedicab ride.

Wait a minute... darn! We forgot we all had camera phones!

How I lost my...

... neice and nephew at G4 the other day.

After shopping with the kids at SM, we were en route to Patient's First to rejoin my sis, bro-in-law and Ciscoboo to grab a quick snack and more shopping. I was supposed to buy Ciscoboo's doctor a box of cinnamon rolls at St. Cinnamon.

Before turning left to St. Cinnamon, Nino let go of my hand and I asked Aina to go after him, it was only a matter of seconds and I was standing at the St. Cinnamon counter, then I looked back and horror of all horrors the 2 kids were not behind me.

It was just my unlucky day that Ayala Center extended their Midnight Madness (or should I say midday madness) sale so there was a throng of people everywhere. I decided to stay put outside St. Cinnamon in case the kids backtracked. Fortunately no one else was with me to take my picture, for sure I must have looked foolish.. like a chicken with its head cut off, pacing the hallways and trying to look for 2 kids in the crowd.

What made matters worse was I left my cellphone at the car, my bro-in-law was driving and I don't even know where he parked. There goes Murphy's Law again!!! I wanted to hurl myself from the 2nd floor to the G4 fountain to save their mother and their grandparents the task of killing me for losing not 1 but 2 frigging kids!

Fortunately, this was the 3rd time that Aina got lost, she knew better and approached a guard. Funny when you realize that there are hardly any guards in sight when you need them.

Fast forward 15-20 mins later, we were reunited at the customer service desk at the ground floor. I was so relieved! Ainah was ashen and silent, I was terrified that she was traumatized by the experience. Nino who's only 3 years old was simply oblivious of the situation and declared he was hungry. To usuage my guilt and conscience and lower my blood pressure we had snacks at St. Cinnamon. Boy will I ever forget St. Cinnamon now??? Nevah!

Finally we trooped back to Patient's First to await my other sister's wrath for not answering her text messages, calls and worrying her into thinking of bleak and unfortunate scenarios of what happened to us from hold-up, kidnapping and what not. To make matters worse, my parents who are in the middle of nowhere in India are up to date of the sitution, within a few minutes my dad was yelling at me long distance.

Now... if only I can keep this incident from the kids' parents.

My first...

... post! Yay! I wonder if it's high maintenance? Hope not, else it'll be kaput, nada, pfft.

Well don't hold your breath waiting for the next... it will come... I hope... not a long time coming.

Better get back to "Scrubs" season 3 marathon.

Ciao!