Well today's All Saints' Day, most people are in cemeteries paying tribute to their dearly departed. Time passes by so quickly, Christmas and another year will come sooner than you think.
I'll be staying here at my place, celebrating with my family, having the traditional lighting of candles and offering.
Final Fantasy XII is out! Love the game, impressive indeed.
I can't concentrate right now. Been busy with school, little family problem, feels like I'm drained. More people are telling me that I'm losing some weight, stress and staying up late could be one of the causes.
Ack, those annoying fake peso coins are circulating fast over Metro Manila! Usually I get 'em as change from the jeepney fare, especially the five-peso coin. At first glance, it looks like the original, but by careful inspection you'll see the difference. Counterfeit coins were easily drawn to magnets unlike the real ones. What's more alarming is that establishments may not be aware of the bogus coins. The Bangko Sentral should do something about this.
Last night, while I was busy in front of the PC and surfin' (around 10 PM), I felt a sudden trembling that came from the ground. I looked at the hanging objects around the house, but nothing unusual. The quake wasn't that strong, but I really felt it, kinda strange to say the least. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I actually felt an earthquake. I'm not aware of the past earthquakes that occured here way back. Then I asked my parents if they felt it too, and they said no, 'coz they're asleep already. Whew, that was pretty offbeat. According to the news, the epicenter of the quake came from Mindoro province, which was followed by two more, measured 5 on the Richter's Scale. There were no reported incidents of damage.
Well, it's been a week since my last post, and I'm still trying to fix some things, too many chores, so little time. After the prelim exams, I had a lot of catchin' up to do.
Here are some of the things that interests me lately:
E-Aji Dip Snax - now this is what you call a fun snack! Comes in different flavors and various dips, from Fiesta Salsa to Sweet and Spicy. Nachos with Groovy Mayo BBQ Dip is my personal fave.
Lesotho's New Flag - the Kingdom of Lesotho recently adopted a new flag that features a black Basotho hat in a horizontal green, white and blue tricolor. The new design is adopted coinciding Lesotho's 40th anniversary of independence.
15th Asian Games Torch Relay Manila Leg - The Asian Games torch relay journeyed through 10 cities in Metro Manila yesterday, underscoring in symbolic light the participation of Team Philippines in the 15th edition of the biennial meet slated December 5-15 in Doha, Qatar.
Madonna's "Jump" music video - she still has "it", after adopting a one-year old Malawian orphan. Me likey the music video, the Japanese concept was cool, makes me wanna jump all day long! :D
Finally, after more than thirteen days, five hours, four minutes and twenty-two seconds, we now have electricity in our area, thank goodness! My mom told me yesterday afternoon, I was in school that time. I'm so happy now that I'm back to my usual routine again. Though it took a long time, now we're able to start where we left off.
Eleven days have passed and still no electricity? Oh yeah, it's all about surviving and getting numb by the nasty curse of being stuck in the darkness. Every evening I came back home and everything is still pitch black. We're even using a Petromax lantern just to brighten the place. Tough luck. Meralco, we suffered long enough, we're just victims.
Here is a list of the things I miss the most since the dreadful blackout:
Ice cold beverages
Reading my books every night
Surfing the Internet on my own desktop PC
Watching television, I feel so left behind the news and what's hot
The brightness of lighting from your home, not coming from the Moon, hehe.
Charging my mobile phone and my rechargable batteries in a wall outlet
Getting my grubby hands on my PlayStation 2, 'nuff said
Can't remember the rest.
On the lighter side of things...
The past few days: Saturday, been to SM Mall of Asia with my buddies. We're so crazy and makulit that day! Saw Hale's Twilight Album Launch. Then yesterday, worked for my design project starting from the base that requires sanding wood and hammering some nails.
I know you won't believe me at first, but for eight days now we still don't have electricity back at home, after the Milenyo typhoon and the torrential rains. It was hard, at first I can't accept the fact that we suffered too much already, but I guess we have no choice but to get used to it. The men from Manila Electric Company (Meralco) told us that power will be restored before Sunday. What makes this blackout taking too much time to resolve are the "thieves" who stole the power cable lines (even the transformers) that fell down from electric posts here in our location. Oh for crying out loud. I miss watching TV, video games, my computer, and especially the fan and the fridge that keeps us cool. Still crossing my fingers for a miracle to happen.
Last Thursday, September 28th, I witnessed one of the most devastating tropical depressions in my entire history. Milenyo (Typhoon Xangsane) had caused some serious damage to life and property in the Philippines. As of October 2nd, more than a hundred people were killed, 70 were missing, at least 70,000 houses were destroyed and around 260,000 families were affected by the typhoon. Classes were suspended for two days, several shops and establishments were closed.
Typhoon Milenyo, to describe it, was very violent. Winds were very strong that hundreds, even thousands of trees were cut down across Luzon. In my neighborhood, after the storm, the whole place was a complete havoc. Some houses were wrecked, rooftops damaged, and floods also occured. We had no electricity since Thursday morning (Note: as of this writing we still had no power, but chances are electricity will be restored by today.) My MP3 player and my mobile phone ran out of batteries. For four damn days I had no communication: no Internet, no games, no television, no news. I almost give up on hope. But luckily, we have adequate supply of food and water. I'm glad that in spite of the recent crisis, my family and I were together no matter what happens.
