Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Hear the cries of coffee addicts. A lot will have to walk/drive a little further to get their daily fix of Starbucks coffee.

Many see this as a sure sign that the US is indeed in a recession (not on the brink/edge of it) where a big company as Starbucks (who usually has $$$ in its coffers to ride out the periodic sluggish times) suddenly closed a lot of its stores.

Well, with "hard times", you have to let go of your luxuries... and a $3-$5 glorified cup of coffee certainly fills the bill.

*image from ZDNet Blogs

A guy just came back to office and people all around was congratulating him since his wife just gave birth to their 3rd baby. He was talking to the person sitting beside me so I overheard the whole "giving birth" story.

He and his wife came to hospital late night with contractions only 5 minutes apart. Leading to this, doctors and nurses have told them that all the tell-tale signs point to a baby girl and thus they've prepared for the coming of another baby girl (toys, room, clothes and all). Nurses advised though that the dilation wasn't big enough to even prepare for birthing. She was made to walk around the hospital to induce it further.

After an hour, she felt it was really time and still the nurses saw otherwise. Frustrated, she SHOUTED she knew it was time and that she's been in that position before and she KNOWS it's time! Frantic, the nursing staff finally called for the resident doctor who then worked to have her water broken.

As soon as that happened, contractions suddenly came much closer apart and she was in such pain. Timed along with the contractions, 1st push and the baby's head pops out and shows itself! Woh! Push 2, half the head is out. Push 3 then Push 4... the baby was out! Less than 15 minutes in labor!

At this point you'd expect the next words spoken after the chaos of birthing would be... "Congratulations, it's a girl". But what was heard next was the dad exclaiming "OH MY GOD IT HAS TESTICLES!!!'

Sure enough, it was a boy and no one expected it! They already have 2 daughters who were waiting patiently for a baby sister but were ecstatic to learn they have a baby brother instead. :)

WARNING: This might offend some people so I didn't post the video here and instead give you the option to click and watch for yourself.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v31qxrXsxv0

I have a Wii... so i'm definitely getting Wii Fit now. :)

Another season of American Idol is over
and it played out to be one of the best if not the best seasons ever.

David Archuleta won the final battle but David Cook wins the war. That's right David Cook is your new American Idol.

A final suprise/twist


If you saw the last performance night, you would know that most people and the judges thought Archie won the night. Frankly I thought so too and I'm a DC fan. But overall Cook was still the best and America thought so too.

"I heard Archuleta"
In an interview, David Cook was all set to take 2nd place and when Ryan announced his name, he still heard "Archuleta" and thus didn't sink in that he won.

Winning Song
They also did something different this year where the winning song in the songwriting contest was only sang when the winner was announced. And it was the song that I voted for too. It was written for DC.

Finale
The show is packed! Lots of great performances mostly by or with the AI finalists themselves with some surprise collaborations with other singers. There was even one number by Carly and Michael who could easily have been the finalists themselves if only they didn't leave before their time. A duet by the Davids, Hallelujah by Jason, a duet by Brooke, top 6 girls with Donna Summers, ang even Reynaldo Lapuz!

It would be tough to top this season for sure and what a nice way to end it all. Finally, a rocker is the American Idol.

Today, I decided to come in late since I have a late night call and would be in office late. I knew it was risky and I paid the price.There's no more parking!

The guards didn't even want me to go in the building anymore! So how do I "get to work"? Well... I went to my nearest starbucks and got a 5hr internet access card.... and started to take to work from the comforts of my local starbucks.

Interesting to ponder how things have changed. From dedicated office spaces with doors, to open workspaces, to hotelling... they basically are removing the office building for those working! And you virtually connected through your company VPN and wade through tons of emails, get pinged left and right from your IM while you sip you sip your latte.

Well back to work...

American Idol Season 7 was one of the best seasons of AI. It rivals Season 4 where Carrie won and Bo was runner up and the top 12 were all quite good. This year has been the same with unique syles and great performances. I even think the "worse" performers out-do the some of the best from last season.

These are the songs that I liked from all the finalists.

Since I got back in Manila, i've been trying to furnish my condo at the Fort. Pity, it has been available for me to use for more than a year but I've been in the US and thus wasn't able to put any time on it.

And as I try to shop around Metro Manila for what I need... I realize how people in Singapore or in the US have it "easy". They are lucky enough to have IKEA.

If you are like me who have been looking at home and decor magazines, i'm sure you'd understand what I mean. I've visited IKEA in Singapore last February and just recently the new IKEA in Cincinnati, US. And I can only wish I can bring home what I saw.

IKEA has all you need for furnishing your home... with all the key essential elements... Form, Function and Affordability!

The IKEA stores are huge. It starts at the 2nd floor where you go around showrooms of living rooms, bed rooms, bathrooms, etc where everything inside the room you can buy in the store!!! So, if you see a nice design idea you like? List down the parts and shop for them there or at the marketplace found in the 1st floor.

SMART! The layout casually leads would be buyers throughout the store making you see everything they offer then makes it very easy for you to find them on your own and put them on your shopping cart.

When I was in Cincinnati, I had a chance to shop and even with the criteria of: it must fit my luggage, it must be something I need, it must be something I can't find back home... I ended up with a full shopping cart! And leaving the store wishing I could bring that one nice corner office cabinet or that nice bed!

I wish we had IKEA in Manila. It would have made my life much easier and furnishing my condo much more fun.

 

Woohoo! Amanda is finally out! I wasn't expecting it... but i'd take it nonetheless! She hasn't been in the bottom since but this week she was out! It only took one comment from Simon saying that she had to show versatility... and she basically said she won't do any other way of singing! I didn't like her from the start. If you see my previous AI blog, I wanted her out of there much earlier. All she does is shout the songs she did.

With her out the top 10 is set! And my core choices are still around! I fear for Ramielle though... although his top 12 performance i thought was really really good vocals... the judges comments really swayed people the other way and it would take some extra effort to lure them back to the fact that she has one of the best vocals in the competition. She has to do good this week or I fear she'd end up in the same boat as Camille Velasco :(

I got a copy of their live performances plus the studio version of the songs from the top 12 week. Some surprises... Syesha's studio song was amazing! I guess being first that week did her in :(  And now she'd have to fight extra hard everyweek to get to the top. Chikezies was just ok. Kristy's Eight days a week was even catchy! Carly wasn't good... very far from her live performance. Even with the studio version, David A's "We Can Work It Out" still wasn't good. Thus, even if he didn't messed up the lyrics, it wouldn't have been a good song for him.

With the exception of Kristy Lee, everyone else i'm having a hard time to say I want them out. Really speaks of the talent this year. But despite that, here is MY ranking which is different from my prediction (as of date).

My top 10 (my choices)

1. David Cook - this guy caught my attention during the semi-finals weeks and hasn't disappointed me yet.
2. Ramielle Malubay - granted, partly ranked high due to my pride to the Filipino talent... but I really love the quality of her singing voice. If only she improves on her on-stage performance!
3. Jason Castro - like Brook, his style of singing I enjoy. But unlike Brook, when he didn't have a great performance, he still did good
4. Michael Johns - quickly losing steam, I still like this guy. I still believes he'd be a great singer!
5. Syesha Mercado - really really great vocals. Hope she gets a chance to go further. Her top 11 performance was a start to the right direction.
6. Brook White - she had chosen good songs until the top 12. I like her style though when she sings the right songs that suits her voice. But her top 11 performance was simple horrible. Great singers don't get that bad.
7. Carly Smithson - originally one of my top bets... after hearing her studio performance, I don't think she had that much of an amazing voice anymore.
8. David Archuleta - honestly, to me he's good but his vocals is not as good as the judges and fans say it is
9. Chikezie Ezie - i initially wanted him first to go but he suprised everybody with his top 12 performance.
10. Kristy Lee Cooks - for me she's got good vocals... good enough to reach this far... but only this far
    

But of course, the reality is, I probably wont have it my way. It would depend on everybody else voting in AI, the performances (past and future) and the pre-conceptions or biases people already have. Thus I think (as of date) it stands this way:

My prediction:

1. David Archuleta - damn! this guy only has to do a little to win the judges over and he already has a horde of fans
2. David Cook - he's great! he's leading most of the polls right now so i definitely see him in the finale
3. Jason Castro - very very good performances thus far making me believe he can go all the way to the top 3
4. Michael Johns - when he's good, he's really good. i think he'd get he's bound to get his second wind
5. Carly Smithson - judging from the fact that she got to the bottom 3 this week, it seems she doesn't really have a good fanbase.
6. Brook White - her string of good performances upto the top 12 would be hard to forget
7. Rameille Malubay - the Filipino texting power can only take her this far... she has to win the judges quickly or she might be out earlier than this
8. Chikezie Ezie - his bluegrass style is a fad and should wear of soon enough unless another surprising performance comes along
9. Syesha Mercado - If she doesn't have another magic moment like last week, i'm afraid she's gone.
10. Kristy Lee Cooks - unless this week was country week and she does well, she's next to go

Well... after saying that the top 24 was the "best ever"... is the top 12 the best ever in the seven seasons of American Idol? I think there is definitely some truth to that. Definitely much better than last year which was the worst ever (in my opinion). Jordin wasn't the worst contestant to eventually win I think that award easily goes to... what's his face??? Oh yeah... Taylor Hicks! Well, eventually Daughtry (who was my favorite to win that season) proved to be the better one afterall hehe.

But i'm getting ouf of topic here... going back to this year, I do see 3-4 people who I am ok to see as champions. And collectively, they have all great talent! Unlike last year where there was 1 who i wanted to win but didn't, there were ho-hum and joke finalists (Sanjaya anyone?), but this year they are all good singers who can really sing and perform. Except for 2 people who wasn't on my list everyone else made it to the top 12.

The girls I had a hard time predicting who make it to the finals. My rankings have been shifting quite a bit every week. But my top choices were in tact including Carly and Ramielle. I was expecting (and wanting) Kady out for sure but Asia'h I thought was good enough for the top 12. In her place, I would have put Amanda... i don't care if she brings her unique rock style... after the first week, she started to bore me. I don't what the judges see in her though.

For the guys it was easier for me. I've predicted Jason Yeager and Robbie the previous week...  and my top favorites all made it to the finals. David Cook is my fave for the guys after all the semifinal performances. I was really sure that Luke must be the next to go and he was. I wasn't sure of my 2nd choice but settled for Chikezee. Although i'm not a fan of Danny, I liked him more than Chikezee since he is fun to watch.

Thus, my core Top 12 by grouping has been made. Of course, things may change after the performances during the finals. But for now i've group the contestants into my three groups:

My top choices
David Cook - Consistently impressed by this guy... under appreciated I think by most
Carly - Loved her from the auditions... she still has make that definitive WOW performance though
Ramielle - Wouldn't it be cool to have the first Asian-American idol to be Pinoy! But I am a fan!
Michael - Not the best vocals but one heck of a performer.

Middle group
David Archuleta - An early favorite and his rendition of Imagine was the best but too pa-cute
Jason - Unique. Too meek to be a champion
Syesha - Great vocals... she's got potential
Brook - Last 2  performances were great. Let's see if she continues to grow.
David Hernandez - Some very good perfomances just at the right time landed him to the top 12 but don't know if he'd be able to sustain it

Bottom pack
Kristy Lee - Just "ok" for me
Amanda - Like I said, i'm not a fan of her voice and her style is getting old quick
Chikezee - The guy who I wanted to go out first from the top 12 but even he has the pipes but he has an attitude... and not a good one.

All in all... it makes for an interesting season especially when we get to the top 6!

Those who dive know that the ultimate goal for diving in the Philippines is to dive @ Tubbataha Reef in Palawan. Diving there is only available for 3 months of the year (compared to most of everywhere else in the Philippines which is open all year for diving!) and is a prime destination for local and foreign divers alike. You'd live aboard all that time and experience a whole day of diving.

When I saw this article in Inquirer "Vote for Tubbataha in New 7 Wonders of Nature poll" , I immediately did! Wouldn't it be great that it gets to the final list! Foreigners like Japanese and Koreans have long enjoyed this great local wonder of Tubbataha. Highly recommended for all pinoys to see.

Here's the write up on Tubbataha:

"Tubbataha Reef is an atoll coral reef in the Sulu Sea that belongs to the Philippines. It is a marine sanctuary protected as Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park. The reef is composed of two atolls, North and South Reefs. Each reef has a single small islet that protrudes from the water. The atolls are separated by a deep channel 8 kilometers wide. Over one thousand species, including many that are endangered, can be found at on the reef. These include manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and sharks"

Being in P&G, (as most "P&Gers" can attest) sometimes we just travel too much. I'm not complaining but it does saps one's energy. The luggage packing... hours of wait in the airport... stripping down for security search (and in NAIA, you have to go through it 3 times!)... and having to stay seated for hours on the plane and hope you don't get the seat beside an irritable seatmate or be right next to the lavatories. So whatever helps make your air travel more bareable would help, right?

That's where SeatGuru.com comes in. It tells you the best seats and which seats to avoid on most planes. Airlines have different sitting configurations for each plane and they are not created equal. Some areas are reserved for families with children while others have much more leg room. If you're a frequent flyer, take advantage of preferred seating reserved for members.

So take some time in choosing your seats!

http://www.seatguru.com/

Happy trip!

Has it been a year already?!? The picture here was taken just last year when I visited my brother in Arizona on Thanksgiving. This holiday is big in the US... it is the time when the family get's together kind of the same tradition that we have back home on Christmas holidays.

But after all the merry making and family get-together... all of US braces itself for BLACK FRIDAY! The day when every store goes all out to give the biggest discounts and the best deals! And they can become ridiculous!

It all starts on Friday... early morning. And I mean early!!! As early as 4am! For the more popular stores like Best Buy, people camp overnight to be in line first and get that $300 dual core laptop or that $750 42" Plasma TV or a 100DVD spindle for $1 before the stock runs out. Part of the fun is the hysteria... you and the mob goes shopping all fighting for that great deal! Just like eating together fiesta style for dinner... it is a lot more fun to eat when you have to compete to get more from the table than the next guy beside you.

The ads only come out on Thursdays newspapers on what would be the items on sale in each store. But of course, with the internet, spoilers abound. Sites such as BFADS.NET and BLACKFRIDAY.INFO have posted the ads (leaked) weeks or even months in advance. People have been busy making their Christmas shopping list since!

You can find videos of the madness in youtube: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=black+friday+shopping

Wow! This news has always been for me both good and bad. Good since it is generally a sign of an economy doing well... Bad, cause i'm in the US now and the little $ that I get from my allowances have less value back home!

One thing i've been enjoying lately is Shutterfly. An online photo service where you can upload, share and print your pictures. They deliver it to your house and i'd surely miss this service when I get back to Manila.

But what i've loved about it lately is their photobook. You can easily design your own photobook using the many themes, layouts and formats that they have to offer. And the all important question... how much?!? Price ranges from $29-$39 depending on the cover but who pays retail these days? Every so often, Shutterfly offers discounts and coupons even for a FREE photobook! Recently they offered several of these to entice people to move their pictures from the closing service of Yahoo Photos or Sony Imagestation or even for tie-ups with upstarts like Codi.  You just have to wait around for these offers! They even have special offers to individuals or even coupons for free shipping (so you're don't spend a dime!) Even if you pay the full price, it is very much worth it in my opinion. As a gift, for your own collection, coffee table top book, or even as a portfolio of your best shots!

So, if you're a photography enthusiast... bring life back to your pictures. Get them printed on a photobook! I hope there was a similar service in Manila or maybe a way to deliver these there.

 

 

Here are examples of the photobooks i've made so far:

My UK Trip     http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Act3Dhi1cs2Lm4
Fireworks       http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Act3Dhi1cs2LoA
Mother's Day  http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Act3Dhi1cs2LqI

I wonder when the Philippines would have a decent broadband service provider. Last year, frustrated with Destiny's persistent downtime and oh so difficult to contact support, we decided to switch to another internet service provider.

We settled with SMART Bro thinking that since it's ran by PLDT, it SHOULD fare better in providing quality service... I was dead wrong.

2 months ago, we lost our connection. Like anyone, we tried desperately to call the support to get the connection established. When we made contact they've advised they'd bring someone over. A week has passed, no one came. We called again. They've advised they KNOW there was now a problem in the area and they'd have that fixed soon.

We waited... still no connection. Called again and they've advised they'd send someone over... again. By this time we had 3 weeks of no connection. No way for my sister to get in touch with us (his brothers) in the US to coordinate regarding matters at home. Finally, someone came and fixed the problem.

3 weeks... of course we demanded that they should not bill us for the 3 weeks lost! The person in the call said that "Sir, we only credit you for that one day you called" WTF?!? Didn't they just confirmed that the area had a problem for a week and that we have not had our connection for a total of 3 weeks?! "Sir that our policy kasi eh!". So they're billing us for 3 weeks for which they didn't provide us service!

At least Destiny had the decency to credit those days back but downtime happened so often it wasn't bareable and we rarely are able to reach their call center. SMART on the other hand didn't care if they didn't give the service during that time... they said that we should have called each and every day there was a problem for us to get credited for the whole 3 weeks. Who in their right mind would spend a significant portion of their day calling them up for this problem when they know they haven't worked on the first report we made!

The service is on contract for 1 year. We asked... when was the connection established... They didn't want to tell us... but with some push they reluctantly said it was on Oct 15, 2006. This means we can opt out of the service if we don't get the credit for the weeks we didn't have a connection.

We got the bill. they only credited for 1 day of no service!!! Tough. What is it to them that they lose one customer when they can easily fool others. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I trusted in their name. Now I can really say SMART BRO BULOK!

But then I ask... is there a better option out there?!? Anyone tried Sky's Zippedee? Globe's broadband service? For all I know, we are stuck with no really good options out there. I can't wait for the day when competition really drives customer service for us here in Manila.

After years of not buying a new PC, I finally bought a new notebook quenching my thirst for a dual-core, Vista OS, 2GB RAM, 200GB HD, entertainment machine! So far so good. I haven't completed my setup yet. It has most of the bells and whistle I find useful. Webcam, fingerprint reader, memory card slots, 15.4' glossy screen, Altec Lansing sounds, DVD Lightscribe drive and a TV tuner to connect it to the TV/Cable and record shows/videos!

Trying hard not to spend countless hours on setting it up though... surely, i'd have the time one of these weekends. Not a big problem yet but Vista and IE is having issues already. The dangers of being online really requires good spyware and virus protection. I didn't have to deal with that with my office PC which is fairly well protected.

Net! Good buy for me so far. I've been looking for this kind of an entertainment inclined notebook. It is not for those who want a light and portable notebooks though. HP's TX1000 is your alternative which I also considered given that it was ultraportable and can be a tablet PC.

In the age of digital cameras, almost anybody can be a photography enthusiast. May it be a simple point and shot or the an expensive SLR camera's, the picture is only as good as the photographer that captures it.

Here is one candid shot I took when I was in a trip to Arizona with my brother (front) and friends.

Yes, there were hundreds of pictures I took of the Grand Canyon, but this was one of my favorites just because it captures our moment there and tells the story of our trip to Arizona.

One of many group pictures we had on our Arizona Trip. This one in Sedona at the start of our late afternoong trek.

Taken by Rodney, I loved this semi-posed pictures which makes more of an interesting story to tell in a picture.

The Nintendo Wii. It has been bugging me since December... should I or should I not get one?

PS3 although quite impressive, it is simply overkill. I don't have an HDTV nor do I intend to collect Blu-Ray videos but damn the graphics are amazing. I can't justify the $500 price tag though.

The Wii, however, is such a novelty. Instead of being a kickass gamer machine, it is more of an all-around entertainment appliance! It gets you more physically involved in the games which is good for home parties. Bad side, the games are quite on the lame side. At least the games that came out so far.

Thus I seriously considered the PS2... it had the games and it was half the price of the Wii. Pirated games galore and it can be "modified". The games are also half the price and readily available. But still... it wasn't new or a novell idea and it's going obsolete in a year or two.

Logic alone... i'd go with PS2. But my gut says go for a Wii!