profound bliss

Google unveils their latest networking site - Google+ (Google Plus) – perhaps hoping to penetrate the social networking market. They failed with Orkut. Not even made it with Google Buzz. (Okay, I signed up for both.) But would they make it this time with Google Plus? Google aims to give us a better-than-Facebook experience by breaking down Google Plus into several hubs like: +Circles – your contacts +Sparks – online sharing (perhaps much like the "share" option in Google Reader) +Hangout – where you can, well, hangout LoL! like share your location or have multi-person video conference. Yay! Cam to cam anyone? Haha! +Mobile – send messages, pics, and videos using your Android (as the app is only limited to Android, but an iPhone App is said to be coming soon.) But anyway, don't get too excited yet because (1) Google Plus sign-ups, as of the moment, are limited to invite only; and (2) it is currently limited to US residents only. You can read more abo...

It seems that Blogger won't upload pictures to its servers. I thought it's a problem with Windows Live Writer (which I use) so I logged in to my Blogger account to create a post the old fashioned way (thru an internet browser). But alas! Blogger still won't upload the pictures. Anyway, Resty (Princess' dad) slept over last Monday. I was actually surprised when he called up and said he's here in the country. I eventually learned that he cut his vacay short due to some "technical glitches." He brought with him a big bottle of Jose Cuervo. It was my first time to drink tequila. I was already numb when we finished the bottle. The presence of Resty actually reminds me that I should be at least a little vain. I'm turning to look like his assistant with all the sun I get from mountain climbing. Solution: I should get him to climb with me so he'd look ulikba as well. And speaking of mountain climbing, I've been surfing TNF's website as o...

I give Princess a bath every 4 days (as per instruction by the vets) and she was scheduled to have one last Friday. But Typhoon Falcon made it rain until Saturday and (again, as per instruction by the vets) I couldn't bathe her when it's raining. Good thing the sun came out last Sunday. Here's a short vid of her after the bath:

Longing for a solitary climb, I searched the internet for a dayhike destination near Manila - a mountain that would be accessible, not exceeding 800 MASL, and that I haven't climbed before. I couldn't find any other mountain that fit those classifications than Mt. Talamitan in Nasugbu, Batangas. With an elevation of 630+ MASL and with a jump-off just along the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway, Mt. Talamitan is a friendly one for someone without a company. And although there are talks about how two parties "battle" for the "management" of the mountain, I didn't really care. I've been going around long enough to know that internet articles could be so exaggerated than the actual situation itself. I woke up a little late that Thursday morning of April 28th. Perhaps knowing that it's fun climb made me underestimate the climb. I was at the Alabang Bus Terminal by 9:00 AM, forgetting there's no Nasugbu-bound buses there. But, of course, I knew there...

So sea monsters really exist? A 55 feet long, 4.5 tons sea creature has washed up on a beach in Guangdong, China. It's already decaying so it cannot be positively identified. It is tangled in ropes that it is theorized to be caught by fishermen but let it go due to its size. According to marine biologists, it is a balaenopterid based on its throat grooves. And because it really doesn't look like 55 feet in pictures, Scott Baker (Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute) says it could be like one of the Bryde's whales. Check out the sea monster's picture here .

After Typhoon Egay, which made my Mt. Kalisungan climb very difficult last June 8th, another Low Pressure Area (LPA) has entered the country. PAGASA says it will be called Typhoon Falcon if the LPA develops into a tropical depression. The weather bureau expects the LPA to turn into a tropical cyclone by Tuesday afternoon. It is reported to be stronger and wider in scope than Typhoon Egay. So hard to go backpacking when it's raining. And I'm planning to go to Buntot Palos tomorrow, that is, if it's not raining so hard. Google says water level in Buntot Palos gets incredibly high when it's storming. photo: pagasa.dost.gov.ph

Max's Restaurant is bringing back the much-awaited Chiken-All-You-Can Promo for one whole month. It actually already started last June 10 and will end July 10, 2011. Have an unlimited serving of Filipino's favorite home-cooked chicken, from 6 PM to 10 PM daily, for only P199.  Chicken is served with a glass of ice-cold Pepsi which you can upgrade to bottomless for an additional P28. A "show stopping performance" by the restaurant's employees will also be witnessed every 6 PM as a sign that the promo is already activated for the day. P20 money coupons will also be given away for every P200 spent during the Chicken-All-You-Can promo. A maximum of three accumulated coupons per transaction may be used to purchase any of the restaurant's products within a year after the coupons are issued. photo: maxschicken.com

The reason why I didn't wanna go to the games folder of my phone is that I knew I'd be addicted once I did. And yes, I love cellphone games. And Jungle Zuma is the reason why I've been sleeping at dawn as of late. Basically, the game is about balls and colors. LoL! Hitting a series of at least two balls of the same color with a ball of that color (redundundant?) will make it disappear, and therefore, making your line of balls shorter. You have to keep the line short and make all the balls disappear before they reach the hole at the end point. If they did get to the hole, that's the end of your game. Kaadik!

This made me so angry and sad at the same time last night: How could anyone do such a thing to a cute little puppy? And worse, take a picture of the poor pup and post it on a social networking site! This picture was found in someone's Facebook account and was immediately reported to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Although the Facebook user already apologized, I think it is not enough. Making fun of an animal to the point of hurting him is beyond comprehension. And yes, the Facebook user said he did that just for fun. My heart melted after seeing this in the news, and immediately hugged my 4-year-old shih-tzu. I really hope no dog, or any other pet for that matter, gets into the hands of heartless people.

Dr. Jose Rizal 's 150th birthday on June 19, 2011 will be celebrated by the whole nation, as he is the national hero of the Philippines. And although President Aquino has stopped the "holiday economics" started by the former President Arroyo, he makes Rizal's birthday an exception. Since June 19 falls on a Sunday (and a lot of celebration activities have been prepared especially in Rizal Park), PNoy declares the following day,  June 20, a non-working holiday as well. Last April 26, 2011, President Aquino signed Proclamation 154 which makes June 20, 2011 a special (non-working) day throughout the country. The proclamation: MALACAÑAN PALACE Manila BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES PROCLAMATION NO. 154 DECLARING MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011, AS SPECIAL (NON-WORKING) DAY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WHEREAS, Sunday, June 19, 2011, marks the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our national hero; WHEREAS, to give all Filipinos the opportunity to commem...

At the height of the MMDA's non-smoking campaign, Starbucks Philippines has also decided to make their branches non-smoking zones effective June 27, 2011. And yes, we're referring to the outdoor smoking areas of Starbucks. No more smoking even if you choose to sit outside. Thumbs up to Starbucks. I'm sure this move won't affect their sales, and it might make other coffee shops follow suit.

I'm so fond of my Jejehone because of its dual sim feature. Imagine carrying just one cellphone but having both my Smart and Globe in use at the same time. Also, it's so useful especially that I'm on prepaid. I can reply on my Globe contacts using my Smart SIM whenever I run out on load on my Globe or vice versa, and that's without the hassle of holding two phones (because the contact's number is on the other phone). And that comes to another point – one phonebook for two SIMS. Great, no? But you know, these dual SIM phones that are in the market today are said to be not as durable as compared to the phones from the better-known brands. I'm actually so careful with using my Jejephone cuz I don't want my 4k to go to waste after just a few months. And then the better-known brand (read: Nokia) has come up with two new dual SIM phones – the Nokia X1-01 and the Nokia C2-00! Nokia X1-01 (left) is a dual SIM music phone! How cool is that? It has FM radio, ...

June 12 is fast approaching, and it is a Sunday. Will the holiday be moved to the nearest Monday just like they have done with other public holidays in the past? The Palace has this to say: “We have holidays that were moved to the nearest Monday but there were also some not moved primarily because these celebrations are meant to stay on that day. June 12 was not moved.” I am glad. The essence of celebrating a certain holiday disappears somehow when you move it to another date. It's just like how you feel when you celebrate your birthday not on the date itself. Parang kulang na. Anyway, I went to Luneta with some friends on Independence Day many years ago. We even brought food and had picnic inside a gated park of which I can't remember the name of anymore. I wanna do it again this year. Sana lang the weather cooperates on Sunday.

I'm on PLDT MyDSL, but I keep a Globe Tattoo prepaid and a Sun Broadband dongle that I've flashed so I can use it with Globe or Smart. I go out a lot and most of time, the places I go to don't have wi-fi so I always bring along my dongles. But watching the new Globe Tattoo TVC makes me wanna acquire the new Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini Stick. It boasts of speed of up to 10 MBPS and if it's true, it would make a lot of difference on accessing the internet on my laptop in areas without wi-fi. Moreover, the Filipino-Swiss car racing champion Marlon Stockinger is the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini's image model. Marlon is currently racing for Atech GP in the 2010 Formula Renault UK season, and he is the first Filipino to win a formula race in Europe. With his speed, he is the perfect image model for Globe Tattoo's fastest broadband (that is, again, if the speed they claim is true). Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini is available through Globe Postpaid th...

I watched Pirates of the Caribbean last Wednesday, June 1st, and that's almost 2 weeks after it premiered. Was supposed to watch it with my sister's kids May 26th but something came up that day and I wasn't able to join them. I wanted to watch it in IMAX but it was really impractically expensive so I just opted for a conventional cinema. I just hate it when a kid starts banging the back of my seat from either joy or boredom. Have always loved Johnny Depp 's Capt. Jack Sparrow. He was such a treat to watch, and Depp's portrayal was a genius. I remember reading somewhere that the director didn't really want Depp's portrayal especially that the character looked gay at times when he was supposed to be a playboy pirate. But the actor had to fight hard for what he believed was a fit interpretation of the character. Penelope Cruz 's Angelica Malon, on the other hand, is a great new addition. Lovely accent. But she really still looked like a woman on th...

Jig is an upcoming film about dancing. I'm just not sure if it's gonna be shown locally. Those closest to me know how I loved dancing when I was a teen but eventually faded from the scene when I was separated from my group. But if I could do it all over again, I would still be dancing up to now. No regrets, though. No regrets. Plot Summary: Jig is the remarkable story of the fortieth Irish Dancing World Championships, held in March 2010 in Glasgow. Three thousand dancers, their families and teachers from around the globe descend upon Glasgow for one drama filled week. Clad in wigs, make up, fake tan, diamantes and dresses costing thousands of pounds they compete for the coveted world titles. A year of incredibly hard work for just a few tense minutes on stage. This feature length documentary was given access for the very first time to the little known world of competitive Irish Dancing. With financial backing from BBC Scotland and Creative Scotland, award-winning...