G-OGRAPHY: a southeast asian lady travels...

I wish all of you a warm Christmas and a fabulous 2010!

Ahhhh....just reminiscing what I had been doing the past few Christmases. Mostly, I have been traveling or taking trips back to the Philippines where I was born and raised. Most of my family still lives there. I tell you, Christmas in Manila is the best! Filipinos love to have a good time and that means a lot of eating, drinking and karaoke!

So for Christmas 2007, I went on a surf trip to one of our 7,107 islands- solo. Yeah that is how I roll! If you are in a beautiful tropical island the options are limitless. December is also perfect beach weather- not too cold and not too hot. The sun is always out!

The Philippines is a very beautiful country and it's a shame that I had to make the realization only after moving away from it. Warm weather, warmer people, spectacular white sand beaches and world class dive sites! If you ever do a Southeast Asian tour do not skip the Philippines!!!

Below are some of the highlights of my trip which I am reposting off an old blog. Enjoy!


12/27/07

It was wet and humid at 5am in the morning when I got up. Manila was in a drizzle and I was anxious that the weather was going to ruin my trip to the island of Siargao. I got to the domestic airport with more than enough time to battle thru traffic and the long line outside the building. It had stopped raining. GOOD. However, some people just do not have the discipline to wait for their turn. BAD. My blood pressure skyrocketed as I saw a few people trying to cut through. "Welcome home" was what I could sarcastically think of.

I realized I have been extremely gentrified and domesticated during my almost 3 year stay in the US. But not today because my "third world" survival instincts kicked in. I was suddenly alert and a bit aggressive...no coffee needed. Geesh...I spoke up and stared down those who dare cut in front of me. It seemed to work. Two segregated (meaning there were seperate lines for males and females???!!) security checks later I was IN! My gbff, Rob, happened to also be there and I got to chat him up and his latest fag hag Iris. Of course he was adamant that I follow them to Boracay to party! I said I'll think about it. I'm not in the mood for a hedonistic vacation. I decided to go solo for a lot of reasons- surfing one of them. Honestly, I wanted time to be with myself in the Philippines. The past few days had been hectic with reunions and shopping and eating out! I tried to tell them that going on "crazy pilgrimages" really help to cure my nomadic itch. It was time for another Mt. Fuji.

My family also didn't seem to understand why I wanted to push thru with the trip. They were extremely worried so I was forced to text my mom status updates every other hour. Dude, I'm almost thirty!

It took about a total of 8 hours to get to the hotel. First there was the almost 2 hour flight out of Manila with delay. We landed on a small airstrip beside rice paddies and I was tripping on the sight of it! Then there was the short ride to the ferry dock and a four hour ride in what seemed like a barge. I really didn't mind since we were entertained with 2 new Steven Segal movies (yes I secretly am a fan). Moreover, I was discreetly people watching. There were certainly a lot of Yoko-Johns aboard. I was previously a "Yoko" myself so I am careful not to pass judgement on interracial relationships (is this the proper term for it?). Honestly though some Yoko-Johns were downright shady! I'm just being real when I say that I feel sad for all the impoverished women out there who are willing pawns to the thriving flesh trade in the Philippines. I also feel enraged that some people willingly exploit this!!!

Moving on...

The last leg of my 18 hour journey was a van ride to Ocean 101 http://www.ocean101cloud9.com/ . I thought I would be too tired and hungry to enjoy the scenery but my mind was actually processing the very eclectic scenery. Let me outline how eclectic they were. I saw:

1. children loittering in the middle of the street without a care for their safety

2. an old woman half naked bathing and doing her laundry in the middle of a small river

3. black pigs tied to a tree in front of homes as if they were pet dogs (I'm really starting to like this island)

4. beautiful green rice paddies

When I finally got to where I was staying it was time for the spectacular sunset (pictures soon to follow). I had a rush just by looking at the sky and the waves. I'm really home. This is what feels like to be free. I'm beginning to fall in love with Siargao. I can't wait for tomorrow! Surf's truly up!!!

12/28/07 UPDATE:

Just finished my two hour surf session. It was raining at 7am here but my local guide, Yok, said it was fine to surf. When we went out to the jacking horse (reef break) the water was so deliciously clean and warm (no strong currents despite the very early am earthquake!)! I had a 9 ft board and I was crusin! I friggin turned! I kept turning! I just had the best surf session to date. I may secretly be a longboarder (shhhh don't tell Optimus but he might get traded in for a 9 footer). We will see how I fare tomorrow. Yok is going to take me and my Brazillian neighbors to another island tomorrow for a whole day surf extragavanza! Whopeeeee!!!!!


Sunset


Taken during my first day in the island. It was breathtaking!

Ocean 101


My home away from home. I had a beach front view and it was awesome to just sit on the "patio" and space out.

Daku


Is an island with two surf spots which were mostly for beginners (2-3 ft). One was on the eastern end of the island where most of the inner waves break on a reef which was in front of a rock cliff. That was a good long smooth ride. That other one is the spot behind me which was basically a channel of continuos waves that run parallel to the shore. It makes a final left to the western end of the small island. I must admit that the waves felt pretty strong (carrying you to the left end) and the paddle back to the line up was soooooo longggg. Gawd I sucked at paddling. But it was probably one of my best rides ever.

There was this time when I was watching someone (Khalua- a Filipino Hawaiin ex pro surfer) take off and my guide, Yok, suddenly pushed my board off to an incoming wave that I didn't even notice. Sneaky bastard. I had no choice but to get my wits together and ride it. It was fast and long! I couldn't believe I did it afterwards! It was so cool! I thought that it wouldn't stop and I had to bail on the board because I didn't know how to stop it. There was also something about being in the middle of the ocean without any land in sight (the shore was probably 1 km away) that freaked me out a bit. But yeah it felt really really good. We had so much fun!

Surfer Chicks


Me, Abi (first time surfer from Manila) and Michelle (bad-ass longboarder from Long Beach)...we were together at Daku. Also, fellow guests at Ocean 101. I miss them already!

Surfer Dudes


On the left is Yok my local surf buddy! On the right, Khalua, the chillest person I have ever met. He is a bad ass surfer! I also met a couple of other surfer dudes (some were really hot!) in the island who were a hoot...for some reason they were predominantly Aussies and Kiwis. Of course they were there only to surf the big waves.

Cloud Nine


One of the most famous world class breaks of Siargao. "It is a high quality wave for experienced surfers only. It is predominantly a right-hander but does have a small left as well. The wave itself is hollow and extremely powerful reef break, if you get it wrong you will land on the shallow reef. Cloud Nine can get to over three metres." Basically, where the big boys played. I was scared shit just by looking at it.

Sunrise


Taken during my last day in the island. *sniff*. I wish I could have stayed longer. I love the people and the place. I certainly would go back next year.

Other interesting places (pictures soon to follow)
1. The Disco- located in the middle of the town, they have the latest crunk but its a trip how its made up of basically wooden tables and benches, a dirt floor, no walls (just thick jungle like foliage around the perimeter) and a make shift ceiling from an old parachute.
2. Nine Bar- really cool dive bar where surfers sit down and chill, they even play Johnny Cash and they project surf films on one of their walls. This is where I met Hippie an English girl who decided to camp out in the island for a time. She's been there six years now...married to a local with a child. She speaks tagalog and the local dialect which was so weird to hear. She was crazy cool fun and gave me advice on how I can have more fun on the longboard. Her first time out surfing was in Fiji!!!!! where she allegedly ate it big time!

I was queuing up some movies in my Xbox via their Netflix application when this movie poster of Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn caught my eye. As I read the synopsis, one of the things I noticed was the year it was released: 1978. My first thought was "Whoa, they're THAT old?!" 1978 also happens to be the year I was born so I figured it was a sign for me to watch it. I didn't regret my decision.

The scene opens up to an outdoor party along the coast of Northern California. Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn catch each others eye from across the room. There was instant attraction. Chevy then tries to pull a suave hello but ends up clumsily rearranging the bar counter next to him. It was slapstick without looking forced so I found myself laughing. No lines were exchanged at this point but I knew that it was going to be a good film.

I also think that what made this movie good is its simple solid plot. It was back when all you needed was a good story- no stunts, no fancy cgi's and no skimpily clad starlets that can't act. Moreover, once the story progresses there were a lot of witty lines and some pretty hilarious characters thrown into the mix. One of them being Stella who plays Goldie Hawn's (Gloria) feisty friend. A memorable quote would be:[giving Gloria a rape alarm, a can of MACE and a knuckleduster] Stella: "Take these. Without them, you are a walking light-bulb... waiting to be screwed". Waahaha!

Special mention also goes to Dudley Moore for providing comic relief and oh! Barry Manilow for providing the soundtrack Ready to Take a Chance(so that's where the song came from!). In fact you can watch a sample clip from the film here:



I am putting this on my favorite list of films under the mystery/comedy/romance genre. It has some Hitchcockesque elements to it specifically with how they scored the music (Manilow aside). Some parts do drag out a bit but it builds up enough suspense to become enjoyable to watch. In fact, it won an Oscar and was nominated for a couple of awards. Go see it!

Some of you folks might remember when this feature first appeared on G-ography here during my 7 day Bikram Yoga Challenge. I also made a post about the next one here inspired after watching Ewan Mcgregor's motorbiking-around-the-world documentary. However my Kaui Expedition got in the way before I can go take my lessons. Then right after that I had decided to take some scuba diving lessons. Check out the photos below at the Reef Park in Casino Point, Catalina Island.



I have been quite the busy adventurer. This thanksgiving, however, is an NNP that will top all of these! I'm posting this photo associated with my next destination...guess where I'm going!

Just a sampling of some of my scribblings over at The Online Grapevine where I am a content producer...check it out let me know what you think!

The economy may be a bit more stable compared to a year or six months ago, but the outlook still looks tough. Even our U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, is cautioning that the process of recovery likely will be a slow and painful one. The nation is still faced with a high budget deficit and a timid credit market. Millions are still struggling with unemployment or reduced income. Others are concerned about job security, home values and their stock portfolios even though the U.S. economy is growing again.



I write this not to paint a grim picture, but to stress the importance of being frugal in these times. I am lucky to still be part of a thriving workforce surviving this recession. If there is anything to take away from the recent global economic crisis, it is that we should always be prepared. Save whenever you can and make sure you have enough cash, not just for a rainy day, but enough for an emergency. Financial gurus, such as Suze Orman , say to make it a priority to have at least eight months of living costs set aside in a federally insured bank or credit union account. Yes, you read it right, eight months!



I am not ashamed to admit that I don’t have eight months worth of emergency savings. I have made some bad decisions and lived beyond my means throughout my twenties. However, I am proud to say that I am now taking action to provide myself with a personal financial stimulus plan. I am not alone though. You will find that there is a growing movement of recession savvy citizens that are taking control of their financial situation.



It’s not too late for you. If you want in on the save yourself movement you can follow these tips:



1. Don’t Panic

So you just took a look at your savings account and did the math on your monthly expenses, then went “Oh my god”. The best way to make sense of where you are right now financially is to consult with a Wealth Advisor or Personal Financial Planner. I suggest that you go online or ask friends or family members for referrals. On my end, I was lucky enough to tap into a free resource that my company provided. I simply went to our corporate credit union partner with a few documents and they were able to sort me out. Of course, you have to come with a goal in mind. Ex. Save $10,000 a year from now or save x amount for a new home.


If you are more of a DIY (do it yourself) type, I suggest using www.mint.com to plan your budget. It’s a free personal finance software that is available online. You can also check to see if your bank has similar online resources. I know Bank of America has a built in financial management tool where you can integrate your own customized budget.


2. Live on half and stash the cash

In this economy, cash is king. Even large corporations are stashing cash. By living on half now, experts says you'll know whether you can really afford to pay your bills if the worst happens. When you are freaked out, that is not the time that you go through your expenses and go, 'Should I cut here?'

Also, if all you currently have is a very small emergency fund and you have unpaid credit card debt, you are only to pay the minimum amount due on your credit cards. Stash the cash till you have at least an eight-month emergency fund. Important: Paying only minimums doesn't give you the license to rack up a bigger balance. On the other hand, if you can afford to pay off your debt, do so now while you can. As much as possible, avoid using your credit card and pay for things in cash.


3. Stop Spending

It’s time to re-evaluate your lifestyle and your spending habits. Begin learning to do without. Buy generic and try getting some of your things from the Dollar store. Also, cut back on all of the extras that you’re used to: Starbucks every morning, lunch out everyday, and nights out of the town. Make your own coffee, pack your lunch, and cook at home. Read: How to Eat Well on $50 a Week: They're Doing It. Could You?


Implement a 24-hour rule on your spending and don’t buy things until you’ve had 24 hours to think it over. Before grocery shopping, make a list and only buy what’s on the list. Also, start using coupons. Go through your junk mail and look at what the groceries are offering in your neighborhood or go online to sites like coupons.com


These are just a few of the many things you can do to “frugal up” your lifestyle and not only put some extra money in your pocket, but get into the right mindset to survive any potential recession. After all, you don’t really need all of that stuff anyway.


4. Pursue alternative streams of income

Most advice for surviving recessions focus on reducing expenses. While this is certainly a great idea, I also advocate looking for opportunities where you can increase your income. In addition to your main job, pursue alternative streams of income. Specifically, look for income opportunities that might excel during a recession. Maybe start a blog about the recession or how to keep your current job. Remember that this does not give you an excuse to slack at your primary job. You should still make yourself an asset to your current one by being punctual, productive, and results driven.


5. On Holidays and Taxes

Frugality is a given this holiday season, so it makes sense to set a practical budget on gifts. Consider buying them during sale events, at outlet malls or even at discount retail shops like Ross or Marshalls. For other expenses related to the holidays, like going out of town why not have a “staycation” instead? As for outfits and decoratons, recycle or create your own.

What about taxes you say? Well smart tax planning means taking advantage of tax breaks and deductions that are slated to expire. Here in California alone, we have felt the increase in taxes so it would be wise to make the most of these for a better tax return in 2010. Here is an excellent article by Time.com on Six Tax Saving Tactics.


Overall, saving can be fun. Be creative and look for opportunities. Remember, a recession doesn’t mean you cannot spend money. It just means that you need to pay far more attention when making a spending decision. Use this kind of information to your advantage

Loving Rico Blanco's new song...galeng.

If you haven't heard the Philippines is in a state of calamity. Typhoon Ondoy or Ketsana caused destructive floods which affected more than 450,000 and killed almost 300 Filipinos. Damages to infrastructure and agriculture are estimated to reach 4.79 Billion pesos!

Oh but wait there is more...another tropical storm is predicted to hit the Philippines by October 2 so the nation needs as much help as soon as possible. At this point, the Philippine government is overwhelmed so it is up to us to mobilize and contribute to the massive relief operations. Please act now and lend us a hand. Help thousands of displaced people by bringing them relief!


Did you know that $10 can get you 10 meals? $1 is equal to 47 Pesos so even if you give a dollar you can already buy one person a good meal. Imagine that...



Click here if you want to start helping right away: http://bayanihanspirit.chipin.com/typhoon-ondoy-victims


Believe me, it is tough to lose your home or have it damaged by a natural disaster. My family was one of those affected (posting photo collage of the home I grew up in the Philippines below). Our whole first floor and fours cars were submerged. Needless to say we lost so much but at least everyone is safe. A lot of other people I know like my uncle and best friend had their own Typhoon Ondoy stories. I am just thankful that everyone I care about made it through. Others are not so lucky and worse they do not have the support nor the resources to get back on their feet.




This is why I have decided to set-up The Bayanihan Spirit Relief Fund for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. Bayanihan is a local term which refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. This time the objective to give back. I would love for you to join me in this important cause. Give what you can with a generous heart. Be it $5 $10 $20...you can help make someone's life a little dryer...a little warmer...a little bit better.

So please take a little more time to find more info about our cause here: http://bayanihanspirit.chipin.com/typhoon-ondoy-victims. I hope that you can repost this widget or link to your own network so we can start spreading some hope around =)

Over the course of the next few days I will be posting updates on our efforts. I know a lot of bogus sites are floating around. As a Filipino abroad with family and friends affected back home, one of the main reasons for building the site is to effectively and efficiently consolidate funds for the victims. I am currently in contact with various organizations and institutions so I will be posting specifically where your contributions will go. I want to make sure that funds will be used properly and get to those who are really in need. If you have any questions or inquiries please feel free to email me directly at bayanihanspirit@gmail.com. Also, follow us at www.twitter.com/bayanhihanspirit for quick updates.

UPDATE:
This is the alumni group that I will be partnering up with http://www.thewomenofateneo.org/ TWA is an all women alumni group from Ateneo de Manila University which I am a part of. TWA is working closely with the University to help Flood Victims in the Philippines. Depending on how much money we are able to raise the funds will go directly to existing efforts to help Ondoy Victims. Since I come from this university and I know most of the people in TWA I trust that they will do a good job with the funds. Also, Ateneo is located near the places where the flood hit the worse which is Markina and Rizal.

Here is what Ateneo has done so far:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=152051264336
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/youth/09/29/09/pinoys-flock-ateneo-help-ondoy-victims
http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=2274

I know I have been irregular with my postings! This is because I have been busy being a content producer for TOG. That's the online grapevine...it's like the view but online and younger. I'm part of the Sorbate (pronounced "Sore-bait") which is a weekly compilation of 5 young women's view on a topic. The name came from a conversation with our founder's friend who combined "sor" from sorority and "bate" from debate. Pretty cool, huh? Topics range from fun to serious, but they're always thought provoking and meant to start conversations. Check out The Sorbate every Tuesday for the newest topic!

Of course shameless plug on my contributions: http://theonlinegrapevine.com/grace I would love to hear your thoughts...leave a comments on our postings!

Today is my birthday! So that gives me the right to say NO to half-baked plans. You know what I am going to practice saying no to half-baked anything from now on. Wow, that feels very empowering. I figured now that I am past 30 I have no time to settle for anything less than what I deserve. For my Birthday I am going to be selfish and not worry about anything else except me. It's all about ME today =) I'm gonna use up some of that entitlementia spreading around.

Photo Credit: Pink Sherbert

Every year since I turned 25 I started creating a list of top 3 things I needed to do before my next birthday. In the past, this list has included anywhere between climbing Mount Fuji to falling in love (yes I can be such a sap). It was a great way of keeping a running bucket list. This year though I want to do a wishlist of things I want. I'm trying to be superficial and materialistic for a change ;p

3. A pair of ballet flats. It's a toss up between Chanel and Tory Burch. I saw this Leather Logo Preva Flats over at Shopbop.com and fell in love. Only catch is that they don't have my size and no one is selling it online anymore!



This Chanel one twitpiced by The OfficeStylist is also to drool for! I like how the gold Chanel logo isn't too in your face.




2. A nice watch! One fit for a grown up. Somewhere between the 5th grade and College I stopped wearing one. But now I suddenly feel the need to tell time without having to rely on my cellphone. I think it's something about being in my 30's.

In any case my ideal one is this sexy Cartier watch from their Leve or Love collection. It pays homage to the ever famous Love Bracelet (which I have also been lusting for) made famous in the 70's. Cartier seem to also be the watch of choice of first ladies such as Michelle Obama and Jackie O.



3. Finally, being a gadget geek and photog wannabe Canon's Powershot G11 is at the top of my list.

Hubahuba



Currently I have a 2 year old Canon Rebel XT 350D and it's just too damn bulky to bring anywhere. The G11 is the perfect in between camera...it's a point and shoot with a lot of extra including a decent choice of manual settings. It also comes with a 2.5 wide angle lens!!!! Plus it shoots movies (Vblogging here I come!)

Sigh...now only if I can get a generous benefactor. Or maybe somebody can sell me seeds for a money tree??? Anyone?

I just saw this link http://twitter.com/Shitmydadsays posted on Facebook and started reading it. I was laughing my ass off in no time. I think there is wisdom in the freedom of being able to say things as it is...no bullshit. In fact, the father's Walter-Matthau-resque humor is funny cause it's true.

Justin is a genius. He already has 200k followers! I'm surprised mashable hasn't covered this viral twitter account yet...

Favorite tweets:

"You need to flush the toilet more than once...No, YOU, YOU specifically need to. You know what, use a different toilet. This is my toilet."

"The dog is not bored, it's a fucking dog. It's not like he's waiting for me to give him a fucking rubix cube. He's a god damned dog."

"Love this Mrs. Dash. The bitch can make spices... Jesus, Joni (my mom) it's a joke. I was making a joke! Mrs. Dash isn't even real dammit!"

You might want to check these out:

Grumpy old tweeter

Somewhere, a dad says shit, a son tweets and a nation laughs

In life you always take risks. However, the payoff can be oh so sweet and so worth it.

This picture was taken last August during a trip to Kauai HI. It's over at Kipu Falls. They also have a rope you can swing on like Tarzan. That's me doing some aerial acrobatics. It took me a long time to jump off. It just seems that when you get older you tend to have a lot more apprehension and worry. The kids that went before me were just swinging like crazy. I love seeing them have so much fun! Ah to be young again...so fearless and invincible.



Kauai is very beautiful island. It's a great choice if you want to be somewhere more serene and close to nature. If you ever go, don't forget to visit the Na Pali Coast.

More pictures here...(just ignore our ugly faces =p)

I'm really getting addicted to Yehuda Berg's Weekly Consciousness Tune-Up. I do not practice Kabblah but these just make darn good sense...

Go Easy



We can all be too judgmental of what we think are our weaknesses. We lose power when we focus on ourselves. All we see is the bad stuff, and then we put so much energy into hiding. This drains us AND it stops others from getting close.

Tell yourself it’s OK today. Whatever it is, however messy. It’s OK. Things could always be worse, and will always get better. It’s OK.

That's her...Former President Corazon Aquino the way I remember her back in 1986. In her signature symbolic yellow outfit, thick glasses, a no non-sense bob cut and that hand flashing her signature L for Laban...which meant Fight!

During a tumultuous time in Philippine history she inspired a nation to fight back against tyranny. She was a widow, a mother and a housewife, yet, by some unstoppable force Cory became the defender of democracy. She united Filipinos and led the historic People Power movement.

I was eight back then but I knew the importance of this woman's work. Growing up she continued to inspire me...to always fight for what is right. We fondly called her Tita (Aunt) Cory because she was a mother figure to us young Filipinos. Looking back if I had been in her shoes I would not have known what to do. Imagine she led a revolution, ousted a dictator, re-established democracy and fought off 7 coup attempts during her tenure as First Philippine Female President!

To say that Corazon Aquino was a strong woman is an understatement. Her faith and belief in what is good propelled her to constantly fight for our nation's freedom. For that I am in gratitude for I still reap the benefits of her legacy. May her soul rest in peace.

Tita Cory...para sa iyo ito. Salamat!



She was Time's Woman of the Year 1986 by the way...



Related articles:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1914125,00.html


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963185,00.html


http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/aquino1.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-aquino1-2009aug01,0,4766988.story

LA Times writes: "It’s official: Robert Downey Jr. is still the king of Comic-Con. The actor bounded into the San Diego Convention Center's Hall H on Friday morning, his second trip to massive weekend fest. This time, he was here to promote “Sherlock Holmes” and was welcomed with an even more breathless and deafening response than “Twilight’s” own Robert Pattinson. “I love you guys so much,” he told the raucous crowd. "

It was Saturday afternoon and my friend and I were riding down in an elevator from a roof top Comic-Con party. The elevator stops at some floor...the door opens and lo and behold its ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Iron Man...now Sherlock Holmes the King of Comic-Con. You hear a gasp of air from everyone as we look at him trying to contemplate if there was enough space for him in the elevator. Someone says: "It's ok, we can make room for you Sir" and just like that a big space in the middle of the elevator appeared. THE Downey stepped inside with a companion. Some dude was brave enough to mumble some starstruck compliment about how he loved Downey's work as an actor blah blah blah. And THE Downey just smiled because he was cool and he was IRON MAN!!!

It took super strength for me to not say or do anything stupid. I was looking calm and collected but inside my head I was screaming: "Oh my Lord it's Robert Downey Jr. The guy I've had a crush with since god knows when. Is it really him standing before me? It is! Oh sh*t. No way! Should I take a picture? Should I?". Well, I didn't! Biggest mistake ever. I was too paralyzed to act quickly. Instead I take this lousy picture of a piece of the back of his head as he was leaving the hotel.

Kids when you see someone famous that you really like just ask them politely if you can take your picture with them! I can kick myself in the head now...



Close-up

What’d You Say?



Many of our conflicts come from miscommunication.

Today, don’t let things pass. If something doesn’t feel right, then bring it up. But don’t do it with the intention of proving the other person wrong. Do it with the intention of removing the space, and getting closer to the person.

-Y Berg

Lately, I noticed a few interesting articles featuring turf wars and tweeting food trucks/stands. I wrote a post about Kogi the Tweeting Korean BBQ Truck not so long ago and I am amazed at how much it has caught on. But what really caught my fascination are the articles NYTimes published on Turf Wars for food trucks/carts (and apparently fruit stands?!). Hmmmmmm...maybe it's just me but it sounds sinister yet humorous at the same time. Like the story wants to be the next Judd Apatow film (VendorMan or Food Fight).

Tweetable Eats: What Street Vendors Can Teach Businesses About Twitter

The Truck Stops Here

Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart

Escalating Fruit Wars

Discovered this trailer while I was searching for movies to watch on Netflix. I'm deliberating on whether to watch it because I am really not a big fan of gore. Although I love anything Japanese or Martial Arts.

The movie is about a Japanese school girl avenging her brother's death. She lost an arm to a yakuza ninja family- the very clan that killed her brother. She survives their attack after which a bunch of mechanics help her get revenge by making her a prosthetic machine gun. Wow...I am not surprised that people can can come up with this nowadays but does this really happen in real life? I wonder if there is some parellel universe where this situation exists...

Speaking of princesses my friend recently launched a site called Everyday Fairytales. In her own words: "it's a shop for dreamers! Here you will find all sorts of creations that stem from my fairy tale imagination and embodies happiness, joy, wishes, and dreams come true." Everything is handmade which I think makes it even more special. I just got these two items and I cannot wait to receive them. I suggest that you guys take the time to check it out and get some micro-transactions going. Why? Because 90% of US firms are microbusinesses and helping them out will in turn stimulate the economy. Do you know that an estimated 72,361 new jobs per month back in 2005 were created by microbusinesses? This is why we must try to do our part in nurturing them.





Now that we are on the subject of supporting microbusinesses here is another one worth buying from Pretty Pixels. I got a few of her note cards and I am thinking of getting these buttons which bring out the inner geek in me:

A friend sent me this link the other day: There Is No Happily Ever After In Fallen Princesses and I found myself thinking about how true these juxtapositions were. The picture above is part of a series by photographer Dina Goldstein which was inspired by her observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney's Fairy tales. She explains that:

"As a young girl, growing up abroad, I was not exposed to Fairy tales. These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of Fairy tales. I explored the original brothers Grimm's stories and found that they have very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney's perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues."

That being said I hardly think that the Disney Princesses could solely be blamed for women's skewed perception of romance, beauty and self-worth. In fact, there is also another side of the spectrum - the female with the "Princess Complex" which one blogger describes as "an attitude fed to females that bestows upon them illusions of superiority and selfishness". Having grown up abroad as well (and in a third world country nonetheless) I couldn't help but observe how there seems to be a pervading culture that encourages a "princess complex" among girls in America. I mean do you ever stop to wonder why we see endless merchandise with princess emblems like tiara's or, my favorite, "I'm a princess" logo in almost every mass retail store? Or how only in America will you hear parents refer to their daughters as "my little princess" and then proceed to bow to their every whim. Flash forward to when they turn 16 where they grow up to be horrible brats that have a false sense of entitlement and gross disrespect for their parents or the people around them. See video below....



So in retrospect a tale or two could never be sufficient enough to turn women into either twisted insecure shells of themselves or tyrannical snot-face brats. The reasons are way bigger than that! It would take a psycho-socio-economic analysis that would be way over my head at this time of the night =)

Crappiest airline ever
Originally uploaded by grache23
Sneaking in a rant about the crappiest airline ever, Go!Airlines, so I can stop thinking about them. I recently took a trip to Kauai, HI (blog post coming up soon) and it would have been perfect except for the Go! experience. Go! Airlines is a small carrier in Hawaii used for inter-island flights. We got them as part of the air package that Expedia (which also sucks by the way) booked for us (those tickets didn't come cheap!). The fact that they had to charge us extra money to deliver paper vouchers to us for that part of the trip should have been an indication of this flight fiasco. I have been traveling for years and have used loads of smaller carriers but have never experienced such inefficient and crappy service such as this.

Because of Go! Airlines we missed our flight to LAX from Honolulu. This is despite the fact that we checked in almost 5 hours before our connecting flight and despite repeated inquiries to the Go! staff at the gate counter about time of departure. They did not even make an effort to announce that our flight will be delayed we just knew to be proactive because other flights before us were getting delayed. So of course we missed our flight since we got to Honolulu with only less than 10 minutes to take the slowest shuttle in the world to our next terminal.

I was so livid when I found out that it was the last flight back to LA. Thank god United Airlines had excellent customer service and was able to rebook us a flight back the next day. The only problem was we had to find a place to sleep. When we asked to talk to the supervisor to see if they can book us a hotel it took forever to get to talk to him. He was nice enough to call up the manager to get approval but that conversation lasted less than 5 minutes because the manager immediately said no. There were other passengers stranded and so we waited to see if any of them got any service. NADA. We were left to our own devices.

So of course, the horrible experience did not stop that night. The next day after a long flight back we find out that Go! did not hand off our luggage to United. $&@#(##!!! Right? Again United had great customer support and handled everything after we filed a report.

I am writing this post because when I tried to call customer care to see if I can give them a piece of my mind their recording pointed back to the Go! website and then the line immediately went dead. WOW! I wanted to sucker punch something right then and there. It's like someone intentionally putting down the phone on you. It was that annoying and THAT frustrating. Obviously, they did not want to be bothered by the multiple complaints about how crappy they are.

So moral of the lesson: never fly GO! Oh, and online travel sites don't always know best so the least you can do is do a quick research on smaller airlines you haven't heard about before pressing that Submit button.

This was me last year at the 2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I was smiling so much because despite of my half-ass training I was able to finish swimming 1/2 mile. Uhu, I did the swim part only since I was in a relay team. It was perfect since I never have been a serious athlete. Granted it took me 30 minutes in a surf wetsuit in the cold ocean water to complete the swim it still felt like an accomplishment.



This year I decided to try the whole thing over at Redondo. So I signed up for the mini-sprint: 1/4 mile swim 3 mile bike 1 mile run. I did prepare and train for it a bit this time =p More importantly I had fun with it!



Minutes away from Start of Race
I met Pam during the Triathlon 101 clinic they had a week before (I like it when I randomly get to connect with cool people). She's awesome coz as a first time triathlete she placed in her division and age group!



Swim
The most dreaded part of the race is always the swim. I love the ocean and I love to swim but I have been struggling to overcome my anxiety over ocean swims. There's just something about the thought of not having walls and floors around you that makes me fear being swept away at sea. However, it was a short swim and fun group so I can truly say that it was my best ocean swim so far! I felt calm and collected...what a breakthrough! This bodes well for future ocean swims. Oh and I bought a real swim wetsuit this time which made a lot of difference! It's a Rocket Science one. I'm so in love with this suit.



Bike
So the guy behind me on this picture crashed into the girl in front of me. He didn't notice the red line on the which requires the athlete to dismount before the transition area. The bike ride was easy except for the uphill part where I suddenly stopped to walk the bike. Hehehe I require more training obviously and a lighter bike!



Run
Gawd. Again a newbie mistake I made was not being able to control my bladder. Seriously how do athletes keep themselves rehydrated without needing to go to restroom? Well that is what I did...the run course was along the pier and I just happened to sneak in the public restroom during the start of my run. I may have also washed my face a bit- the ocean water got to my contacts!! LOL. I know I'm ridiculous.



The Results
Well according to my results I ranked 7 overall in my age group. By the way I am only 30! I guess they round off your age to reflect current year. Surprisingly my swim was the best time! =) Love it. My transitions sucked! I was all over the place and just taking my time. What was I thinking? Oh yeah to finish...good to know my competitive side is still alive. This is good motivation really because I want to do the full triathlon once I become serious with training. It's simply inspiring to see athletes and supporters in this type of event. You hear so many stories and it just makes you want to become better, faster, stronger.

I was browsing our website www.disney.com for some muppet videos and came to discover Pepe the King Prawn. You should watch this video of Pepe at the Drive thru here. It's funnier than the one below. If you scroll down the website he has a collection of "Life Lessons" with a Spanish twist. Oh and here is his bio.

I was fortunate enough to attend E3 since I work for an awesome company within the industry. For those of you living under a rock E3 Expo is a trade show for computer and video games and related products. E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Below are some of my personal highlights from the event. Today was the last day by the way so I'm glad it wasn't as crowded. There were less freebies though but the last thing I need is more clutter in my apartment.

Oh and there were a number of excellent parties along downtown LA last night =) In fact, I am still recovering from excessive intake of free alcohol. Folks better remember to eat before binge drinking and have a designated driver assigned!!!



Playstation

I liked how they built out their area to look like a mini-pod city.

Activision

They had big screens all over which was wicked. Most of the games I have on the Xbox are from Activision. Not really by choice I just know the geeks that work on these games so by default I get to mooch on their employee discount. I like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero the best!


When I got to their area I was in time to see them demo for DJ Hero. I was impressed by how clever the mechanics of the game were and how great the tracks sounded.

Disney



My peeps! I am proud to showcase our new cool game Split Second. Click here to watch a short interview about the game.

THQ

Definitely like the gaming pods.

Mini Ninjas

I have no idea what game they had but their set-up was soooo cute!

Sega

Some of the more decent booth babes.

Nintendo



Mario! Enough said.

X-box

I was very impressed and excited with what Microsoft is doing with the Xbox. I own one and I love the cool dashboard features on Live. Oh god and the avatar...I literally spend hours changing my outfit, my hair, my makeup. Totally addicting. So I sat down and actually saw the demos and all I can say is that Microsoft is gonna kick console ass. The Xbox team spent a lot of time developing some very innovative features that I only wish Microsoft can apply to their PC system. I can't wait for fall when they start releasing the awesome upgrades. Watch this video below to see how they plan to change how people play video games:



Oh and did I mention that Xbox gamers can start connecting to Facebook and Twitter? =)


Some snapshots straight from the LA Convention carpet! As you can see the interface is pweeetttyyy.

Twitter


Facebook


Oh and I almost ran off with these...except that they had this lady guarding them and she started giving me the evil eye because I was hovering over them for too long.


All in all it wasn't a bad first time to the event. I kinda still like Comic Con but that's because I didn't get to meet Chuck and Morgan from NBC's Chuck like my friend did!!!! Grrrrr so jealous! Oh the perks of living near Hollywood.