Day 5: Pooping right and my Philips GoGear

Ok, I have not posted for the past four days. I'll try my best to make up my absence of internet with all the things in my mind that are pending to be written on this newly designed blog. ;)

Pooping, the right way

Can you believe that our simple act of sitting while pooping is actually wrong?

I came across a lot of articles around the internet (Yahoo News, etc.) and found out that one of the things that people are doing wrong is the way we pass our bowels. 

Sitting down on the toilet bowl (just like all of us are used to) is actually making us prone to hemorrhoids. And the correct way to do it? See the second illustration on the below photo:

Which (I suppose) could only be (comfortably) accomplished (unlike the above awkward squat on the above photo), when our toilet bowls would be something like this:

And now I wonder if this kind is available in our country.

Hmm, hemorrhoids, eh?

Eh mukhang nakakangawit naman yung pag-squat! Sheesh! >.<

My Philips GoGear 2GB

I do not know if anyone of you are aware of the radio show, Good Times with Mo: The Podcast, where every caller wins a gadget.

I had a chance to call the show one late evening when Maxene Magalona was the guest (check out Mo Twister's site, March 31 episode) and had the chance to ask her what is one love advice that her late father gave her. I learned that the Master's rapper's advice to her daughter was to treat every relationships as a training ground for marriage. Very nice point.

Anyway, back to my title. Because I had the chance to be on the show, I won a prize! And here it is, my Philips GoGear 2GB, delivered here in the office last friday by Tradeport.com.ph!

To my excitement, I quickly removed it from the box, charged it and put some songs on it. Wow, I really missed having one.

I actually went on my college years until my working days having an mp3 player hung around my neck (I forgot the first one I had, but it was 512GB, then it evolved to my (first) square Philips GoGear 1GB). I just stopped when my Philips broke down (it does not charge anymore), and because I almost always had company when I am travelling (where I listen to my mp3 player the most).

And since I have one again, it just feels great. Now I will not be lonely or bored during long and stressful travel hours.

Oh, one tip when using an mp3 player on the road: I strongly suggest that you use earphones, instead of headphones. When you are commuting or driving, you MUST be able to hear the outside world at least, or you might end up dead because you did not hear the vehicles beeping while you were crossing the street, or you might end up not reaching your destination because you were not able to hear when the bus conductor or MRT already announced the current place you are already in.

Day 4: Problems I had with my phone

I own a Samsung Omnia Pro B7320. With my eight months of usage, I did encounter some problems. The minor ones are, I cannot end a call (often happens when the cellphone signal is getting jammed/lost during a phone call), often losing network signal even on standby mode (I am not quite sure if it is just with the network provider and/or my location here in the office), and the microphone volume does not have an option to be a bit more loud because sometimes my friends who call cannot hear me or I really have to direct the mouthpiece to my mouth for them just to hear me.

Thankfully, I only encountered two major major technical problems. I am writing down below those things I experienced so if any of you owners of the same phone encounter the same, at least you will not panic like I did.

If your phone does not charge, and the light indicator is not green nor red (kinda more like yellow):
Cause: the battery is super super drained. On my case, I think this was caused because I tried surfing the internet by Wi-Fi with just one bar of battery, so it got so exhausted.
Fix: since the battery is super duper drained, it cannot generate even a bit of electricity to have itself charged by your specified charger. Go to any authorized Samsung repair shop (I went to Wellcom in Park Square 1, Makati) and have the battery charged by the technician using the, uh, voltmeter? Basta, the device used to create electrical charges. When the battery has enough electricity already, it can now charge on its own specified charger. I'm also thankful that the technician did not charge me any amount, though I just had to wait for more than 30 minutes to give enough time for my cellphone battery to generate power.
Note: according to the technicians, most or all of the Samsung batteries experience this kind of problem so I recommend not to super drain your Samsung devices. Charge it as soon as it indicates that it is already battery low.

If suddenly your phone does not ring, the alarm does not sound, you are not in silent mode and yet all the sounds seem to have gone, and you cannot even change your tones settings:
Cause: I am not quite too sure, but it has something to do with 'cached memory' something. Hahaha. Sorry, I really do not know.
Fix: Follow these instructions:
1.) Go to Start -> Applications -> File Explorer
2.) Navigate to:  (root directory)\Application Data\Volatile
3.) Inside the Volatile folder, you will find a lot of empty folders. Just delete all of them (press the shift button then scroll down to select all the folders, then delete). Do not be afraid to do so, it will not harm your system.
4.) Restart your phone.
Note: I actually found this fix somewhere on fixya.com. To whoever discovered the fix to this problem, thank you so much! You just saved me time, money and effort to have this fixed in a repair shop.

There you go. I hope this entry could be of help to my fellow Omnia Pro B7320 owners. ;)

Day 3: The lost side of me

I used to play drums (the drums set, that is. I'll cover my Letran Band side on another blog post.). I learned to play when I joined our parish's summer workshop last 2004, under the guidance of Percussion Major from UST, Alvin Meneses (actually my first summer workshop was in 2003 but my course was Guitar then). I also took the same course during the next two summer workshops. I learned to study the drum beats of my favorite songs (isolating the drum beats while listening), and just practicing it on air (because my family could never afford to buy me one). This also started my love for Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and foreign alternative/pop rock songs. Moreover, I learned to appreciate live performances.

Back in high school until college, I had bands, in which I am the drummer. My high school band, we called ourselves, Heaven Street (and from where that name came from, ask AJ). Russell as lead vocalist, AJ as lead guitarist, David as bassist. We used to have unpaid gigs (haha!) on the debuts of our classmates. We composed two original songs (I just do not know how I can post that song here), Asa and Kasalanan (both inspired by their respective composers' heartbreak stories). We still get together, though, during our "get-together's", but unfortunately, we do not 'jam' anymore like we used to.

Heaven Street, during my debut. :)

On the other hand, my band back in college was called Fishballs (kasi may isa daw samin na mukhang fish? I know, it sounds mean). We were an all girl band, me on drums, Gessy on bass, Keena on guitars, April on vocals, Kat on guitars, and Ria on keyboards/vocals. We were active from our late first year until our second year, during the last few months of our organization where we all met, the Letran Youth for Christ (which were disorganized by the school administration due to a lot of issues).

Fishballs, during my debut. :)

Fishballs, during a fund-raising concert in our parish.

Aside from my schooling days, I also had opportunities as I joined in Singles for Christ, playing in the all-sisters conference (photo below), and representing our sector in the band competition (sorry I cannot find a good photo for this).

Ang bandang, Sila!

Now you're asking, what's up with my title?

Lost, because I do not do this kind of stuff anymore. I lost the opportunities, even in my own SFC chapter, where the last standing opportunity for me is.

And honestly, I miss it. Playing the cajon or egg shaker will never replace my adrenalin rush when it comes to playing drums. Seeing my slightly used drumsticks just breaks my heart. Sometimes I think I cannot do this anymore because I do not practice, and I do not have the opportunity, nor the drive to do so.

Hiling by Paramita

(One of the songs I used to play, and sing).

What made me write this kind of emo article is the fact that a new girl band in the music scene, really impresses me. Have you guys heard of the band, General Luna? They have already released their songs, Nandito and Tila. All of them are beautiful, sexy, gorgeous, not to mention their musical skills. They have really caught my attention, most especially the drummer, because somehow I dreamed of becoming like her.

Nandito by General Luna

I am not sure when I can play drums again. But if given the time, opportunity and with awesome band mates, I believe I can try it again. And I'll make sure I will give my best, performance level.

Day 2: Madz North and South American Tour 2011

Tonight, or let's just say, tomorrow at 12:00AM, The Philippine Madrigal Singers, or Madz, will be leaving the country and flying to the other side of the world (first stopping at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) for their North and South American Tour. They'll be gone for six months, and will be back here in the Philippines on around mid or late October of this year.

I'm gonna miss them, most especially our friends Bianca Lopez (pagbalik mo kami na ni Ryan ang bahala sa jetlag mo, sagot na namin ang alak sa Kalsada Grill or sa Central BBQ Boy na parati na lang nauudlot!) and Meg Montes (thanks for inviting me to today's lunch out! I'll buy you Korean rice pops when you get back.. yung hindi cheese flavor para hindi maalat!), our officemate, whom I fondly call Mara because of a typographical error in her pigeon hole's label.

Speaking of Meg, it is not common for her to be seen (or heard with a solo), as far as my knowledge of Madz is concerned, so when I learned of a song which she did the solo, wala na, LSS ko na ito ngayon.

Superb singing skills! Just like every single one of them! The thing is, you cannot see her singing in the video because her 'official' seat is on the right side (facing the stage), which, as you can see, is against this video's view.

And if you are wondering who Bianca is, she can be easily recognized because she's the smallest in the group, and can be usually seen in the middle of the crescent seating arrangement (as seen in the above video). You can see and hear her sing in this video below, standing on the right side. And with regards to her vocal powers, all I can say is this Love Radio tagline, "Kailangan pa bang i-memorize 'yan?" ;)

Yanni's Aria

*updated attached video, Apr 14, 2011*

I hope not one member of the group gets homesick too much, though...as this will be their longest tour. God bless you, Madz! See you on your homecoming concert!

Day 1: Crystal, Shamcey, and Taal

Account hacking...by kids!

Poor daughter of actress/comedienne K Brosas, Crystal Brosas, has had her twitter account (@crystalbrosas) hacked by a fan of her age, Carmela Ozoa (@osowaa), a few hours ago today.

Both just around 13 years of age, the envious fan was able to guess the victim's password. So, to all the kids who are here in the messy world of social media, please secure your accounts! Learn how to create strong passwords!

I also checked the tumblr account of the inggiterang fan. She's an emo! Walang magawa. Nagpapapansin. Parang tanga lang. I feel sorry for Crystal, though. Good thing her mom was not active in twitter at that time.

As of this writing, the real owner of the hacked account finally got in-charge and deleted all of her previous tweets, which includes those written by the hacker. She also said that her mom, K Brosas was mad because she thought her daughter was the one tweeting all of the nasty stuff.


Our Bb. Pilipinas Universe, 2011

Get ready, world, for the Philippines' bet for this year's Ms. Universe, is Ms. Shamcey Supsup.

Hailing from General Santos City (where my boyfriend's parents and our great Manny Pacquiao is from), and standing 5'7 1/4", with vital statistics 32-23-33, this lady is THE complete definition of beauty and brains. Aside from her slim bod, very confident catwalk skills, Penelope Cruz look, Anne Hathaway smile and her long, gorgeous waves, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of the Philippines Diliman College of Architecture, and the June 2010 Architecture Board Exams topnotcher. In line to that, she drew a Madonna and Child pencil/shading artwork in less than three minutes during her talent portion.

What else is left? The Ms. Universe 2011 crown, that is! I have full confidence in this candidate that she will surpass Maria Venus Raj and all the other Filipina beauty queens. Good luck to her competition in Brazil!


An active Pacific Ring of Fire

On the monthsary of Japan's worst earthquake in history, another earthquake with magnitude 7.1 hit an eastern part of the country hours ago.

Also previously noted was a tsunami warning on the nearby shoreline with a maximum height of 1meter but was later revoked by authorities (thank God!).

All I can say is, let us all pray for Japan, and hope that Philippines will not be next, as we also sit in the Pacific Ring of Fire. I pray for my cousin and her son, both living in Chiba, that they may live peacefully and as normal as they used to be. May God provide them with their needs.

Speaking of the Philippines being next, to the people living near Talisay, Batangas, Tagaytay, Cavite area, please do necessary precautions and evacuations, as the world's smallest volcano, Taal, is about to erupt at any time as per PHIVOLCS head.


Lord, please spare our poor country from any disaster, as we cannot afford to be in a state of calamity. Amen.

2011 Blast-off!

Warming up!

Starting April 11, 2011, our company will hold the unofficial 30day blog challenge. I'm joining this blogsite for this to be updated. I was already thinking of doing so a few days back however my emotional and mental capacity was not quite ready yet.

Now, what am I going to write in here for those 30 days?

Expect me to write about my previously undocumented realizations.
Travels and adventures.
Love and relationship advices? Yeah. I'll be your Dr. Love. :)
Technical articles. (Expected from a programmer) ;)
Music. Dance. Performing arts.
Religion and morality stuff (please be forewarned of my Anti-RH Bill write-ups).
And everything else under the sun, and within the perimeters of my workplace.

So stay tuned!

Yes, I am Loved by the Lord

Having attended the SFC Metro Manila Conference last July 23-25, 2010, bihira naman talaga akong matouch nang bonggang-bonggacious sa mga talks, worships, although siyempre, sa ganitong event lang mas nagiging malalim ang prayer ko compared sa regular na worships na meron kami sa aming chapter.

Ang hindi ko lang makalimutan dito ay ang aking experience sa Heart Made to Worship na workshop na inatendan ko. Siyempre, worship workshop ito. Pero to top it all off, di mawawala na may praise and worship. Nung time na ito ay hindi pa ako nakakapagconfess and I admit na mabibigat ang mga naging kasalanan ko sabay umattend ako ng event na ito kaya parang at this moment e hindi ako worthy. Pero nung nasa kalagitnaan na ng worship, napatingin ako sa crucifix na nasa stage. I looked at how the Lord died for us with all compassion and love.

Then when the song Heart of Worship was being played by the band, I saw a vision: a Man dressed in all white, with a crown of thorns on his head, but no blood flows out. Who looked exactly like the one crucified on the cross na nasa stage. He ran to me and embraced me tightly, just how my boyfriend does it when he is very excited to see me. I was struck when I heard him whisper to me something like, "everything will be alright." From that, for the first time, I cried (as in hagulgol ever ang drama ko) sa isang praise and worship session. I can't stop crying for a while.

Kasi that time, what really worries my heart was about my career. All i wanted was to be regularized in my current job. The Lord knew what I was afraid of. The Lord knew the desire of my heart at that very moment. And from there, he comforted me. I could feel his presence and his comforting words. Above all, I could feel His love.

As the worship session goes, everyone was encouraged to pray in tongues. As we were praying in tongues, the band vocalist, a sister, on the left side of my friend, Pabsy, (the one wearing a red shirt and brown jacket that time), was praying in tongues in front of her microphone, which made everyone hear it. Suddenly, I stopped and listened to her. I really cannot understand what she was saying, but in my heart, I was definite that she was speaking in Indian. I could say that because days before the conference, I have seen a video which shows a news in India, with Indian conversations so I knew that the prayer of tongues of the vocalist was close (or may really be) an Indian dialect. Which made me think, did i already receive the gift of interpretation of tongues? Hmm. :)

After the praise and worship session, I felt that I was really at peace and I was excited to have my confession. Thankfully, I was one of the first to receive the sacrament when the priests were stationed in the Garden of Renewal. I was really, really at peace.

Praying over the full time workers during a praise and worship session.

God has again, revealed to me his deep love for me.
He comforted me in that time of my sadness.
He is present.
He is loving us, no matter how grave our sins are.
He lives.
He is just waiting for us to come back Him.