Jump No. 2

Jump No. 2 would be way easier. Or so I thought.

Owing to the sweet urge of wanting to do a 2nd jump right after the historic 1st, I confidently yet erringly thought that the feeling would be the same even after 2 months. It wasn't at all! Not even close. It was like the 1st time all over the again. What's even worse is that it took all 5 big guys of us roughly an hour and a half of deliberation, easily outdoing my 1st time.

"Wala naman 'to sa itenerary di ba? Wag na lang!"
"Kaya ko e pero di ko lang talaga makita ung baba." "Wala naman tayo kelangan i-prove e." "Mauna ka na. Nakatalon ka na naman dati e." "Sige mauuna ako pero sunod kayo agad ha."
"Gano nga ba kataas to?"

Yada... yada...yada...


It took Manong JR, our bangkero, for us to finally take the approximately 33-foot drop. He looked every bit the veteran of the jump yet you could still see the split-second hesitation before the he finally took the leap. Ricky came in next, just seconds after Manong JR. I ended up 2nd again after Carl backed out the last minute. He mustered enough courage to jump next though. Exe made it last after 3 tries. As for Onin, well, enough said...

Jump No. 2, check! Jump No. 3? Nah.


You can check out Jump No. 1 here.
The pic above is a reference on how high the cliff was. 1 pink segment is approximately 5'7" high (my height). You do the math.

Nonopolitan - MyMiniCity

For all you Sim City fans out there, this is not for you. MyMiniCity is an online city-builder that looks a lot like SC2K, without the usual Sim City god-like control **evil laugh**. Population, industries, etc. grow by having your city endlessly clicked or visited daily. It's that simple. A great way to waste your time on the net!

Here's my city.
Click, click, click!

Making up for lost time

OMG! How time flies when you're too caught up! June 27th was the last post in this blog I tried so hard to find time to maintain. And here I am 7 months later, wanting a new blog, a photo blog in particular, to compliment my new toy and hobby.

To recap the last 7 months:

• The project that rid me of blogging time, or any other personal time for that matter, is finally over (yey!)
• Only to be replaced by an equally demanding new project (boo!) but less time-consuming at that (yey!)
• Spent almost a week in Singapore for a well-deserved respite (yey!)
  
• 300 bucks for a beer in over-hyped and undersized Hooters (boo!)
  
• A business opportunity itself for a partnership to revive a provincial road-side bar (yey!)
• Only to have me, and eventually the principal partner, retract for the very same reason I wasn't able to blog (boo!)
  
• I turned 1 year in the coolest company I'm currently working my ass off for by the time the project went live (yey!)
• But it took less for me and the love-of-my-life to call it off (sob...)
  
• I was able to finally grab my hands on the much-coveted Nikon D40, an early Christmas present and long-overdue birthday gift in one! (yey!)
• While some cheap bastard was able to get his hands on my wallet at the same time (boo!)
• I'm loving every bit of my new found hobby - digital photography (yey!)
• While still struggling to find that oh so precious time (boo!)
  
• Our barkada finally was able to book a trip to Bangkok (yey!)
• Which only purged my purse empty, at least for the time being, for my dream lens, a Nikkor 18-200mm VR (boo!)

T'was not a bad year after all.
Ok, I'm gonna stick it out with Blogger.

Of Pens and Sieves

With the word play an obvious allusion to Harry Potter's pensieve (the smoky basin where Professor Dumbledore magically casts his silver-threaded memories for keeps), Of Pens and Sieves delves on a deeper and sometimes philosophical view of things one may find too melodramatic to have a take on. This new blog would be like a flower garden (complete with thorny roses, sweet-smelling dama de noches, and unwanted weeds) to my more serious thoughts - acute aspirations, emo-outbursts, sorry sighs, whimsical what-ifs, and from time-to-time, comic reliefs.

Like any garden, Of Pens and Sieves would need tendering, with the intention of acting as a therapeutic outlet as well. So please feel free to drop by, immerse yourself, or share your thoughts on/with mine (leave a comment if you wish).
Step inside my pensieve.

I just can't get enough of empanada!

Any trip to Vigan, Ilocos Sur just won't be complete without feasting on crispy cholesterol-rich empanada!

Available in regular and special (with even more cholesterol thanks t0 an egg and vigan longganisa), these thin and crispy stuffed delights doused in sukang-iloco-with-lasona have always been the perfect answer to worn out turistas seeking refuge in Vigan's spanish colonial plaza, after running around Ilocos for a full day (Norte and Sur mind you).

Please, please... help yourself...

Back to Black

Way back when I first started working (which wasn't so long ago, mind you), I rewarded myself a mountain bike with my first pay. It was a full sized black 18-speeder with alloy rims, handles, and brake mechanisms, grip shifters, front and rear shock absorbers, and quick-release skewers for the seat and both front & rear wheels. You know, the works! It wasn't high-end stuff for the pros but it nevertheless cost me quite a bit at that time. It was a strikingly sleek-looking bike. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought the same when several months after, I came home and found it missing.

And so it was pure bliss when on an unusually hectic Sunday afternoon, I happened to chance myself upon that very same bike I set my eyes on 4 years ago. It was actually the blue version which I first saw and so I quickly looked for other colors. There wasn't any other but the attendant said they still had 1 more boxed up. I left the store not checking it out.

Total uneasiness got the better of me though and so I found myself back at the store in no time, eager to have a peek at the box. I could not believe what happened next. I call it fate, destiny at work.

It was black.

Call me corny or a sentimental freak. I don't care. But the emotion was really high, peaking when I finally mouthed "sige paki assemble na". Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity of endless waiting, there it stood, waiting to be ridden.

"Para akong batang binigyan ng candy."

Power Tripping!

Hurrah! A book for my birthday!

At least that's what this elegantly wrapped birthday gift appeared to me. Forgive my excitement over a book for I've been a repressed book lover due to its ever increasing cost. I made my best guess at the title underneath the signature wrap my girlfriend is starting to get famous for. Lemme see... I can only think of one right now. I thought it would please my girlfriend if I opened the gift with her around. You know... so she can see my reaction. So I set it down beside me and started driving.

Two blocks down the road and as I've failed that marshmallow test, I found myself unable to suppress the building suspense. With enough care to not tear the hand-made paper apart, I started unfolding from the edge. Wait, I recognize that color pattern! This IS the book! Hurriedly, I ripped the rest and behold...

The one book to rule them all... [evil laugh]

Finally, I've got my wanting hands on the book I've been wanting to dissect, law by law, and all 48 of them (i think an equally clinical book review is in the works)! The title alone intrigued me, better yet, mesmerized me, having first seen a copy at Powerbooks. I mean, come on. Who doesn't want to stand out, to gain respect, to bask in the spotlight, to be successfull, to relish in more victory, to play on people's fantasies, to wreck fear on the weak, to annihilate your enemies, to have ultimate power! [evil laugh again]

Sorry got carried away. Hehe...

There's always a first...

My first attempt at blogging... my first post nevertheless!
Gimme time (which I rarely have these days) to settle in and get used to this new thing.