Running Dry .... Freak!

I dropped by Stockdale earlier and got a few energy drinks to keep me awake. However, opted not to gas up as the meter said half-tank full (or for some of you, half-empty). The odometer read 120-miles.

Lo and behold, as the meter started to read 207-miles the next gas station was to be a good 20-miles away. Oh-kay ... manageable but just barely.

Getting there earlier, man the warning light flashed yellow. I thought the Panoche location was on another exit and so went past it. So I stopped on the side of the road. No point of going further since its going to roll to a stop anyway. Stop now while ahead, right?

Darn, what a predicament.

With all the speeding hoping that cops would arrive to both arrest me and give me gas, I find out from the station attendant that they came by but barely. Oh great. No wonder turning on my hazard sign and doing a counterflow was survivable. This place be nowhere's-ville!

Note to self: when its half-tank, f* it and just keep 'er filled and keep going!

Smarties

Do you remember those small candies you could buy from the group of sidewalk vendors that setup shop beside SLU Center? You couldn't have missed it as it was a venerable marketplace of goodies. They always come up with things to interest children ... all to make a buck of course.

The goods were seasonal as well. You'd find flowers on Valentines week, masks and plastic vampire teeth for Halloweeen. Come Christmas time they'd be selling lights and lanterns as well as firecrackers (from the simple paper bullets to the bawang and later on pla-pla).

There were some standard items like snow cream, hotcakes, cotton candy, ice cream, lollipops, Tex, Big Boy, and Bazooka Joe bubble gum, banana-que, camote-que, siniguelas, singkamas in vinegar or salt or with sili, and so on.

What a fiesta of interesting things, particularly considering the bunot where you paid for the chance to win larger prizes. The toys were interesting. The more popular ones were either sulbatanas/sumpit, rubber band launching plastic guns. And of course, lets not forget the plastic balls used for the "touch-the-body" game of physical agility. I mean if you considered Jordan the master of jumping, you should see what us boys (and girls as well) did while jumping in the air trying to avoid being hit. Ulo-ulo shots were too common so you should also know to cover your face, genitals, or nape if you cared in the air :-p

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You grow up and the small joys of life disappear. When was the last time you were content to sit down and lick dripping ice cream? The taste of yema?

I picked up some Smarties on the way out from the office the other day. In the Philippines the same name would look like Nips chocolate bits but manufactured by a competing brand. In the States, as per my baby, they are as above. Well, apparently they are also called sweet tarts, or was that a brand. Either way, she likes 'em. And I miss you mama ....

Alone

Artist: Heart

Album: Alone

I hear the ticking of the clock

I'm lying here the room's pitch dark

I wonder where you are tonight

No answer on the telephone

And the night goes by so very slow

Oh I hope that it won't end though

Alone

'Till now I always got by on my own

I never really cared until I met you

And now it chills me to the bone

How do I get you alone?

How do I get you alone?

You don't know how long I have wanted

to touch your lips and hold you tight, oh

You don't know how long I have waited

and I was going to tell you tonight

But the secret is still my own

and my love for you is still unknown

Alone

Till now I always got by on my own

I never really cared until I met you

And now it chills me to the bone

How do I get you alone?

How do I get you alone?

How do I get you alone?

How do I get you alone?
Alone

Alone!

Songs tell of what you feel. Sometimes a line, not the whole song, may strike a chord. Like the previous song, which was of the same genre as this one, another song of longing.

Ah, all these '90's slow rock alternative ballads. You should hear the story of our high school graduation song and Bon Jovi. I promise to tell that story as well soon. :-)

Lady

Artist: Stryper

Album: Against The Law

I see you standin' there, oh so fine

I can't believe my eyes

Girl, I just can't seem to make you mine

No matter how hard I try

I've never wanted any one more than you

Girl, I'm hopin' that you're wantin' me, too

Lady, I wanna be your man

Lady...

Won't you tell me what I've gotta do

To win over your heart

This feeling inside is something new

It's tearin' me apart

I never dreamed I would meet someone like you

Won't you tell me that you're feelin' it too

Baby, I'll love you all I can

Lady...

Sometimes there are songs of longing that just stick in your head. This one I remember hearing atop a house on some mountain. I was with a couple of my sister's friends hanging out. I believe it was either Ian or Dindo who pointed out the song's title as it was playing on the portable boombox. Yes, surprisingly me and my sister were in similar circles at some point in time.

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I still remember Baguio's version of London fog. Really thick fluffy and cold while staring out at the vista. London, I've been to several times and sadly it was not what I expected. Gone is the fog in books. That has not stopped me from getting a trench coat with that label, or being stopped at Gatwick because of it. Ah, another story for another time. :-)

Ilsey Juber @ Hotel Cafe

I've just gotten back.

My co-worker Daav0 invited me to Ilsey's performance at Hotel Cafe. After several days of waiting for my crashed hard disk and pressured by not having finished some work, as well as not having eaten, figured it wouldn't be too bad to go. After all, it was just some 10-minutes away. The nice thing perhaps with being in L.A. or as Ilsey put it, Studio City.

I snagged the picture on the left from another house concert for those of you who haven't seen Ilsey or her dad Lawrence perform together.

Don't stop now, we're gonna Crash ....

The last time this was an issue, it was June last year. Alas, the heat, wear and tear, seems to have been too much for the poor 40GB mini-HD stuck in my laptop.

Looks like the 3-year replacement rule doesn't work anymore, particularly for laptops that are mostly still solid state non-upgradeable like my Thinkpad X40.

Perhaps its also my computing needs have changed with the times. It used to be more travel and slowly moved to presentations and then on to research and statistical data. Even with 1.5GB of memory, this thing crawls when opening a 10MB spreadsheet filled with over 100k entries.

I've done the tweaks on performance and all that to no avail. There just isn't any love left for my ageing and sometime ultra mobile friend. My eyes are now seriously set for a Mac or MacBook Pro with Core 2 Duo or Quad-core Xeons. Alas, that future is still half a year away at the current point of finances.

So right now, lets sit this one out for the next 20-or so-odd hours to find all the data and restore my Outlook PST files. *sigh*

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Funny thing happened just now. Robert, who drives for the airport pickup service, just knocked on my door a few moments ago. He seemed to think I was supposed to be going somewhere tonight. Sorry am not, so sent him on his way to figure that out.

I'm due in Seattle this coming week though. And leaving from Burbank at around this time by then. Hmm ..... dejavu by that time though :-p

Ulan ....

"...at sinong 'di mababaliw sa ulan?"

Particularly given the fact that its been freezing these past few days. Accordingly, its been the coldest so far in years. Outside is just above 30'F during the nights or early mornings.

The apartment still doesn't have its heating back. My room heater is tinier than the air conditioning and is barely holding its on from the onslaught.

Hey, I can't believe its already been a year since this blog was resuscitated from its own cold storage. It was definitely warmer when I first moved in to this house last year.

Brrrrr!!!!

Chow King, delivers!

This would be my nth take-out dinner so far. Am not really a subject of the king, particularly after all the horror stories from my friend who used to work there during my college years at their first branch at Session Road. Aside from the fact that having experienced the food and the creepy crawly baby (sic) roaches on the benches since '92. There's another branch of interest near the Victory bus station in Cubao which bears mentioning as the forced waiting area if you want some more or less decent air conditioning and lighting while waiting your scheduled trip up the City of Pines.

Eagle Rock's Westfield mall though was a very welcome change. The site has an A rating from the department of health for cleanliness, and the food is excellent. Well, as far as take-out goes anyway. Lets just say pretty decent. Here's what $4.95 (plus applicable tax) gets you. There's some salt on the rice which is a nice touch in getting through the meal.

Filling!

Yoshinoya, combo!

Sick from several days from the golden arches, I decided to try something else. Not really a chicken fan of sorts but it was a welcome taste bud fiesta for a change. Ah, some vegetables to boot. Its just recently that I noticed the beef strips actually look like curled bacon strips (of course they don't taste as it would if it were, but just a thought).

Gutten appetit!

Soon baby, soon .....

Its taken long enough, but the time is near.

Stay tuned. :-)

Leaving on a Soft and Hard Diet

Alas, the holidays are over and its time to get back to work. At the Mabuhay Lounge once more and adding heaps of garlic and chopped onions into my arroz caldo. A pretty kindly diet unless you knew that Mr. 7-up was actually spiked with some vodka, hehe!

Relaxing with Lemony Snicket's 13th and last book. No internet, no sir-ee. Thats something for when I get back in L.A.