Here's the deal. Rick and Steve. Gay couple. Interracial obviously. Rick is a Filipino who lives in West Lahunga beach who is obsessed with cleaning and is a programmer. Steve is the other half. He's caucasian who is obsessed with his looks and likes to go to the gym all the time. He's an estate agent.

If you are a Filipino or more importantly a Filipino gay guy who is in a relationship with a white guy then you'd laugh your ass off watching this series.

Btw, the maker and director of this movie is a Filipino who happens to be related to the legendary film director Lino Brocka and he didn't even know his uncle was an admired filmmaker in the Philippines. ENJOY!!!

we didn't even realise it but it's been one year this month since daz and i moved out from my folks' house in the chine and moved to our own little rented house. i remember when daz moved in with me in my parent's house. it was scary at first for me knowing he'll be moving in with a bunch of filipinos. i was worried he might not like the smell of the food, the way we do things, the way we approach situations and just of course i was worried if we could live together under the same roof.

it wasn't easy but it wasn't difficult either. he had to make little adjustments and i have to make some adjustments as well inorder for all of us to live harmoniously under one roof. one of the best things about living with your parents is knowing that you don't have to worry about your tea or lunch. everytime we arrive from work, there's always tea ready and all you do is either heat it up or sit down and eat it. in the early days when daz moved in, mama was always worried on what to cook him for tea. it's a good thing he wasn't very fussy with food that by the second or third month, mama stopped asking and daz would just eat whatever is on the table. to this day, daz still enjoys mama's tinola, bihon, lumpia, empanada, and of course the pinoy sweet spaghetti. everytime we visit them mama would always make sure we have some food to bring home.

now that we have our own place, we don't have to worry about other people as it's just the two of us. we don't have to worry when we do our food shopping as it's just for the two of us that we are doing it for. we can pick up what we want without having to worry my brother might not like to eat it or my sister-in-law is allergic to it. it's also sometimes a nightmare to decide what to have for tea when you come home from work tired and have to cook it for yourself. that's probably why microwave meals are still very sellable (saleable?!sp?). i have to admit there are some of them that really taste good and all you do is take them out of the box and put them in the microwave, after a few minutes you sit and eat your tea. no washing and no hassle.

it has been a very wonderful first year in this house. hopefully we won't have to stay here for a long time. when the housing market looks a bit better then daz and i would be ready to do the mature thing and get ourselves a decent house we can call our own.

p.s. all the houses we've lived are all even numbers. we have lived in 16 duchess way then at 18 canterbury court and then at 20 the chine and now at 22 the wicketts... maybe it's 24 _____ close. i would love to live in a close or a crescent or a cul-de-sac. i don't mind really. hehehe

most of you know how hooked i am at the moment with pc games. i remember back in uni when i used to play diable, age of empires, age of mythology and other pc games all the time and it didn't stop until a few years ago before i moved to the uk. i played all god of wars games both in pc and in ps2. my cebu posse friends and i used to go out in the middle of the night to play diablo in an internet cafe and we stayed up very late. i miss those days. when daz and i got our new pc, my love for them resurfaced. i bought the civilization iv game, black & white 2 (which i love so much!) and assasin's creed (becoz they didn't release it on ps2 being a windows game). i can't stay up all night playing them now as i'm more disciplined when to stop to get my beauty sleep so i won't like a zombie at work the following day.

one of the things i hated 'bout pc games though are how difficult they are sometimes to install. unlike ps2 or xbox or wii, you know when it doesn't work, bring it back and get another one. it is entirely different with pc as one game may work perfectly with pc while others don't even if your pc meets the minimum requirements for it. i found out about this early on but didn't realise it is still happening to this day. when i installed assasin's creed, i played about 5 minutes into the game while i'm still getting used to the controls when the images started flickering. my eyes are already ruined enough that flickering images aren't really very helpful. i first thought it's part of the effects but there seems to be no disclaimer about strobe lighting on the packaging. i checked, rechecked, searched online, read forums but couldn't find an answer so i have to do the responsible geeky thing to do- submit a question to the techguys. i have to use an alias of course. lolz. they responded after 24 hours and told me to do this, delete this, run it on this, update this, restart this and try again. i probably annoyed daz with the many times he hears the startup music of windows for the many times i've restarted the pc but to this day i still haven't fixed it. i'm thinking of selling the game on ebay or have it swapped with another game with my other game that i never played (Rome: total war is shite!) and just borrow my brothers xbox 360 and get a copy of assasin's creed there. i know i sound really eager to play the game but i really like games like these. i may even have to get a ps3 once the new god of war is out sometime next year besides they have more than one use now these days. as far as our experience is concerned, our ps2 outlived 2 if not 3 of our dvd players.

anyway, i don't want to bore you anymore with my rantings. i was just so looking forward to playing the game this sunday in my pjs and not doing anything. hope yours is going better than mine. xoxo

I was making tea a couple of nights ago and I can't seem to cook the rice properly. I have never had any problems cooking the before but that particular day, I was screwing it up. I tried to boil it but it got burnt and some bits are uncooked then I tried cooking it on the rice cooker but it wasn'tt working still then I did it on the steamer but it' still not right. I feared I've lost my Pinoy touch and I panicked. Later that week, I went to the Filipino store and treated myself with some pancit canton, marinated bangus, maggi savor, and mang tomas sarsa. I alsoo scooped out every Mama Sita powder I can get my hands on for caldereta, adobo, tocino mix, etc. I can't believe how expesive the bangus are- for four tiny pieces of it, I have to pay £4.95! It's extortion! I was desperate to get my Pinoy touch so I had to fork it out. I'm pleased to say that I've got my groove back so no need to panic. I'm still Brilipino! Whew!

Anyway on a totally off topic, i took this random Olympic quiz on CNN and I thought I would share it with you guys.

If I was a sports person i'd be a Volleyball player

You are a people person. You like to be around all sorts, and thrive in a team environment. You also are drawn to boundaries, such as those provided by nets, court lines and mainstream music -- why rock the boat? At the same time, travelling by air is the only way to go. Click here to find out what type of athlete you would be...

Dear diary,

I am in a dilemma. My contract for my phone is up and I do love my current Samsung U600 but I'm obligated by my soul to get a new phone. Daz got his just after we came back from holiday and he's got a shiny new Samsung U900! I don't know what to get though. My brother sold his old iPhone and got the new 16gig one but I'm not going to spend all that money for a phone so iPhone is out of the picture. I'm torn between these two below but I don't know what to get. I like the unusual and very sleek almost sidekick-style qwerty keypad popularised by T-mobile years back of the Samsung F700 but I also adore the traditional, straighforward, and professional look of the Blackberry Curve. Please help. I've read most of the reviews but I can't seem to get a clear winner. Help me!

 


Yours truly,

Desperate Techie

p.s. sometimes, Samsung F480 makes an appearance in my options as well. I'm so confused right now!

The news about the opening day embarrassment of Heathrow Terminal 5 almost put a dampen to our upcoming holiday. As many of you now know, we will be flying on Monday to sunny Pinas via the newly-opened, supposedly hassle-free and fast check-in Terminal 5. It opened yesterday and it was a whole mess. British Airways apologised for cancelling 34 outbound flights and 30+ more inbound flights and at one point during the day even made even more news by telling it's customers that they can fly only that they can't bring their checked luggage.

Days before this, there was a documentary on telly about how convenient and exciting this new terminal is going to be. It traced how the terminal was built and there was even a segment there were it highlights how efficient this new terminal is going to be when it comes to handling people's checked-in luggage. As some of you may not know, British Airways (BA) has one of the worst records of lost/delayed luggage in the airline industry. They even bragged that with the new system they have of sorting luggage, lost luggage will be a thing of the past. Then their worst nightmare came to fruition yesterday.

Daz and I spent most of the night thinking of plan B, C, or D and we couldn't sleep through the night. I woke up just after he left for work and checked online and the news if there are any updates. As of this morning, BA CEO said things are looking better with only 20% of the flights being cancelled most of them short haul ones and people can now check-in with their luggage.

Things are looking up but we will be keeping track of the situation very closely. Do keep your fingers crossed for us and getting to the Philippines after this trip will be such a relief. This made me think twice actually of flying with BA. I've never had any problems with Qatar Airways.

Sigh.

Alright. I know what you are going to stay. Have I been on sabbatical or just plain lazy updating my LJ. I won't dignify that with an answer at all. It just so happen that things are going very well with my life that sitting down in front of the computer and recounting all of it would be a waste of time. Wait, isn't that what I'm doing right now? Oh well...

So, it's been ages since I've posted an entry so I think we should start from where I ended in my previous post. I have to start by saying that it's been a very interesting month this March. I can't believe my luck and the great things that have happened to me. First off was my new role, in my previous entry, I mentioned I got the job I've applied for internally and so I started that role in early March. I was a bit hesitant and scared as I know very little about the people who work there and though I'm quite familiar with their job roles, it's still scary being in a new environment. It's like being in a strange country for the first time again. I've made tons of friends in Customer Services and have known most of the managers there so moving was quite a daunting experience but all that changed for the better. It's been three weeks now since I'm in my new role and I am absolutely loving it. I've got fantastic managers who are very supportive and fellow coaches who help me with the day to day tasks. At first, I was really drained and exhausted. We kept hopping from one meeting to the next and by the time you finish the last meeting, the meeting you had earlier that day wanted an update on what has happened since. Things are better now and I'm starting to see some progress with my team.

One of the most beautiful poems every written...

i carry your heart with me

(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it

(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate

(for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart

(i carry it in my heart)

e. e. cummings
1958

I was going over the photo albums in our living room last Thursday night and memories of my childhood came rushing back to me after seeing these pictures. I remember that every Christmas, we'd always pose in front of the tree to have our annual family portrait taken by my dad's step brother who was a photographer. I remember that it was on this Christmas morning that I got a bike just like my elder sister and we'd go around our neighbourhood parading it with our friends. I remember how happy I was that day and that's probably one of the very few memories of my childhood that I'll cherish the most.

This entry will have few text and more pictures. Make sure your connection is at it's peak so you won't have trouble downloading the pictures. I've resized the pictures just in case they are too big.



( The adventure begins here... )