Famous

Had a glimpse of NZ Idol while having dinner just now. I remembered a while ago about a conversation I had at work.

It all started with this f*cker at work. He says he hates being famous or rather he doesn't want to be famous. Reasons he gave varied which included the usual privacy from fans and 'stalkers'. He hates another guy who have been making himself famous on tv and the general media scene lately.

I said..."I do not mind being famous." The f*cker goes.."famous? for doing what?" I answered "Famous...anything really. Nothing in particular." I've ask myself then and I ask myself again now. Was this a normal question? If someone says that he does not mind being famous, do you normally ask that question? I personally think you don't. Mayb e you can ask them about the consequences of being famous such as how do you handle fame, time, media, ... etc... But not "for doing what?"

I guess if I knew I was gonna be famous for doing something, I would already have done it. I think there was more to his question. I believe he is envious of other people being famous. Especially those people who are in a similar profession as him. He has the habit of chopping down the tall poppy. If you ever need an example of tall poppy syndrome in NZ - this guys is it. I think he secretly loves being famous but he cannot fully embrace famous because he is not confident with the way he looks especially in front of the camera and TV. He's always got a problem with photos. Even if it is just for an ID card or something internal (in the office) for identification. Fair enough, he looks like a tortoise. I mean you give him a back pack and you'd think he is the Galapagos variety. I don't think he likes his picture being taken. He hides behind audio.

He always thinks he is right. If someone comes asking you questions...he would stick his nose in because he thinks he is the expert...well fair enough he's got some expertise on it but he does not let the person being asked the question to answer it. Kinda like ...hey spot light here please...I'm over here. I do not mind him answering. But it is the rudeness of it that bothers me.

Going back to being famous...I did think about his answer. I guess I wouldn't mind the question but he had this smirk that looks as if he is saying "Well I do not think you can be famous...If I should be the famous one. You must bow down to me."

He is one of those..."If I do not believe in what you believe then you must be wrong..."

An eventful day

Today was a pretty eventful day and in a way relaxing.

It started off this morning with a little cleaning around the house. Nothing much. Just vacuum the carpet here and there. Then went to shop for some groceries/food.

At around 10am I got a text from Shakoo saying that he is on his way to Ray's place. They are going to do some training - Kick boxing endurance training. I never planned to do some training but when I got there Shakoo convinced me to hold the pads for him. Ray was hodling it before hand but Shakoo has the strength of 3 Oxen and the start of training is when he is at his strongest. I didn't witness it part apparently Ray flew across the garage when he was holding the pads.

I didn't know what to expect as I've never held pads in training before and I wasn't sure what to expect being on the receiving end of the blows. Shakoo taught me the steps (1-8). I was quite confused at first but in the end I think I memorised it. So it began. In the first and second blow, I nearly hit myself in the face. I wasn't holding strong enough. I managed to get this in control pretty fast though. It was step 4 that pushed me back quite a bit. It is the leg kick and I swear I felt my bones bend upwards even with the 3 inch pads on. After a while I did get this in control as well. Since my body wasn't conditioned for this, I ended up with a bruise under my right forearm that is shaped like Shakoos shin bone (yes this is with padding). There was a funny moment when Shakoo was explaining step 5 to me. This is the knee step. I was joking around and wondering what will happen to him if I remove my arms. As it can cause injury, of course I didn't remove my arm but for some reason, Shakoo lifted his knee and was aiming at the ceiling. He somehow lifted his whole body, flipping backwards and landed on his right ass. It was so funny. I was like...."uhh...I didn't do anything..." I swear it is funnier to see it in action.

After both Ray and Shakoo finished, we had lunch. Yummy Caldereta and Chicken Sopas cooked my Dia's mum (thank you). We also had some Pulboron, and Bola de letse...then we played some Poker 2 ;)

We had fun playing Poker 2. It's been a while since we played. While playing Poker 2, we talked about lots of things (like our cards and who is in them). One that came up is Pandan. Shakoo does not know what Pandan is. We tried to explain to him but he still doesn't know. I researched it and I know this probably would help. Pandan leaves are apparently from the Screwpine tree. I have no idea what this tree is so don't ask. Try searching images.google.com and you'll see what they look like. If you know what Lemon grass looks like, it is not it. (Guys...it was funnier when said face to face...)

Anyway we concluded with more games of Poker 2 and I had to come home. Some friends are visiting and one of them is Nalini Singh (check out her blog). She is back from Japan. Actually, I think she did not believe that I had a huge blister from the train trip the other day that she decided to come and have a look herself.

As I'm writing this, my triceps hurt from the very brief time I held the pads. They are bulging sue to the buld up of lactic acid and man they feel good.

Hey, hey, hey, it's Saturday!

my mother and younger sister saw Monster-in-Law today in the silverscreen. apart from "funny", there were no other relevant comments. noticeably, i didn't go with them... at this point, i'm more inclined to catch Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, and Sin City. Cruise and Spielberg of War of the Worlds fame can wait 'til the dvd release. i still don't have an eta on the last 3 seasons of The X-Files, all of which are still oven-fresh inside their plastic sheaths. ahhh, tv ads are a thing of the past indeed. these days, it's such a rarity that i get to watch tv in real time. having said that, i still have an affinity for mailbox catalogues and movie trailers. as far as the photo is concerned... like my new haircut?

Orange-glazed Marshmallow Layer

7.15am - Early morning ride on West Harbour heading east towards Albany. I prefer warm summer days but crisp winter mornings like these, I can't complain. Better dry than wet I always say. I bet farmers disagree.

This morning was very frosty. There was a fog blanket covering most of Auckland. You can literally see the layer around 50 feet high. When you raise your hand it seems you can almost touch it. As you go along the orange thing in the sky becomes clearer as the glare is absorbed by the thick fog. You can make out the edges of the sun.

Heading further downhill is the upper harbour bridge. The whole area ia engrossed in fog. If it was any darker, it will remind me of dark spooky bridge scenes in horror movies. The ones where they always cross slowly and from the other side comes a faint shadow of a zombie. No zombie this time though.

It was quite cold. I think I may have frost bite on my thighs...but the view was great.

Giving a gun to a baby

Before I was able to ride a motorbike, I had to go through a series of licenses and restrictions. First you have to get a certificate that certifies your riding ability. Without this you cannot apply for a Learners License. From here you progress through the restricted then finally a full license after many many months of riding with restrictions.

The bike license system is similar to cars except on bikes, you will not be allowed to ride anything over 250 cc while you do not have a full license (amongst other things). It may seem unfair at first but this restriction ensures you learn to respect the power of the vehicle you are riding and respect other road users.

The recent article about calling into action a law change to restrict young drivers from driving high calibre souped-up cars is really a wake up call. Whether you are a young white, brown, or asian driver, there must be restrictions on what you can drive.

My views:

1. I do not think there is a point raising the driver age to 16 or even 17. After all, a lot of young people do need to work for income AND age usually to not reflect a person's maturity and driving skill. Instead of raising driving age, the period you stay in leaners and restricted license should be extended. The process to getting a full license should take 3-4 years. Regardless of courses taken, there should be no shortcuts or shortening of this term. This period will allow a driver to learn the road, get enough experience driving, and learn to respect the vehicle, other road users, and the road.
   
2. Also during the learning period, a driver must be restricted to driving smaller cars. Maximum 1.8 L engines and only cars. No 4X4, or vans.
   
3. To stop boy racers, there must be an age restriction on driving cars with certain car modifications such as turbos, superchargers, etc. The 15-24 age is a good range. This is the period when adolescent showing off is at its peak.

The trick to being a good driver is practice, experience, and mental maturity.

Intra-uterine Cannibalism

Imagine if you have a twin and you eat him/her while you are still in your mum's tummy.

Cats do not have sweet tooth

The recent CNN Article about cats unable to taste sweet stuff is quite interesting...

Dogs surely have though...I used to have a boxer and he can eat anything. There was one time we had a box of Moro bars. One day my dog got locked in the garage for a few hours. Of course he found the bars and literally chewed through the box and ate all the moro bars. It was so clean. Only brown corrogated box pieces were left.

A dog knows when he is in trouble. As soon as he saw my face, he quickly ran up stairs. He went to the back yard and stayed there..trying to be cute by pouncing around.

Later that day, my brother went to see him and found further proof of what he had done. Coming out of his Uranus is a small shiny brown thing..my brother thought it was weird. So he pulled it and out came the Moro bar plastic wrapper!

Sorry no photo... :)

And another one...

Extreme Security

Live or televised fights?

interesting conversation that i had with my girlfriend the other night (i always come up with some weird conversations that i inevitably end up bringing to work and starting up a lively discussion about e.g. can you call a guy that sews a seamstress, or can you only call him a taylor? why can't you call him a seamstress? or would the correct term be seamster? - and a more recent one, are feeling learnt? or are they part of your body? or are they linked to your "spirit", and for the purpose of this conversation, it had to be non-theosophically inclined)... more often than not, these conversations end up getting rather humourous and loud, but at other times it does get a bit heated, but it always (so far) has turned out pretty good as a lunchtime activity...

so where was i? oh yeah, the conversation that i had with my girlfriend the other night... after the kickboxing fights the other week, she commented that she didn't enjoy going to live fights, instead preferred to watch them on tv. as soon as she said that i was shocked, yes sir shocked! how could something *tinned* as a televised match ever compare to the enjoyment of being at the live event?

she then goes on to say that the reason why she likes watching them on the tv more is because she can see what the actual strikes are, which she apparently can't at the event itself, either due to the strikes being too fast, or the fighters have gotten in to such and angle that she can't see what's happening...

Personally, i don't have any problems with seeing the strikes most of the time (unless of course the speed of the strike and their position in the ring combine to totally block your view of what's happening)... i find that when i first started going to kickboxing fights, it was a bit difficult to try and keep track of what they're doing when they're going hammer and tongs at each other, but over time i guess i've learnt to build a full picture of the fight, not only from what strike connected, but also their body positioning and movement... i'm not saying that i can tell what every shot was when my view of the combatants is partially blocked, but i've got a fairly good idea :-)

guess that's why, when finances allow, i'll always go to a live thai/kickboxing event instead of watching it on tv... 'sides, part of the ticket price is to pay for the atmosphere as well ^_^

You get a lot for $3.80

Today, I had my first train ride in Auckland New Zealand.

It all started this morning. I was dropped off at work but my ride decided not to come back and take me home. So I had two options: the second being public transport.

I can really split the second option into 2 more. 2a = Bus and 2b=train. Since I've been wanting to experience the train service (or lack there of) for sometime now, I decided around noon to take the train.

It was a busy day for me. I had about a dozen things that I was doing at once. I planned to leave early as I usually do (I go to work early too) however, I got stuck with this problem and it bugged me for a long time. Actually I still have not solved it.

Come home time...I started walking from work to the Britomart station at around 5.05 pm. I thought it should be easy-peasy. But half way I started feeling pain on my left ankle. I usually do after I walk a distance. I blame it tothe time in Nam...

It is a nice walk. If I walk slower, I will actually enjoy the docked boats on the waterfront. But I had to walk fast as I am trying to get there in time for the 5.23pm departure. I foudn out in the end that this train terminate at New Lynn...

I got there around 5.22pm and I proceeded to line up to get my ticket. I look at the chart at the booth and it said "Stage 4 $3.60". When I asked the lady at the counter, she charged me $3.80. I thought..ok. 20c is fine. Maybe the sign is old.

Never mind. I went down to platform 5 where my train was suppose to be. I have 15 min of waiting...I must say. The station is quite confusing. You see all the platforms, there are signs, but there is only one time displayed, the closest departure. To add to the confusion, the trains are not marked. I saw the 5.23pm train leave and it was labelled "Special". What does this mean? Like VIP? Mental Patients only?

I waited and finally got on. All I can say is this, the Auckland rail system is so archaic. They still use a conductor who goes around clipping people's tickets. There is no magnetic card that you feed into turning arm barriers. Imagine during bus strikes, the conductor will probably be too overwhelmed.

I looked at the sign to make sure I know where to get off... It still a long way. I looked outside and it is already dark and to tell you the truth, without this sign you will have no idea where to get off. In most train stops, you cannot see the stand. In others there is no sign where you are. If you happen to take the wrong train, you may actually end up in Papakura!

The inside of the train is kinda like a plain but with a hint of the 80s trying to be modern. You can see that there are no railings for standing people to hold onto. Oh..this guy on the left...he works for Connex (I was told). Not sure what he is doing there. He is just sitting there with his iPod on... Maybe observing the passengers... He looks weird though. Kinda like someone from a cartoon. Big fluffy cheeks like Bill Ralston but without the cornflakes. Big roundish nose kinda like Elmer Fudd. Actually I heard him speak...he said "It's wabbit season!"

On the top right of the image you see a black panel. This is a LED sign board. Presumably it tells you what the next stop is but like in the photo, it is not working.

Finally I got to my destination and got off the train. As I step out of my train, I was amazed. The train stop is like an art gallery. Full of paintings, full of colour...here I'll show you.


At least it was well lit. You can appreciate the paintings even at night.

I finally got home. looked at my watch and it was 6.40pm. Just under an hour.

Let's see now - $.380 got me to look at the really nice Britomart train station - although I wish it was more technologically advanced. It looked more like and advanced museum with world war 2 stuff in it.
It got me to ride on the train that makes you nostalgic of the eighties not to mention a phobia attack if you are afraid of plane cabins.
Oh, it gave me a tour of Auckland suburbs from parnell down to New Lynn and up again to the Waitakeres...but I didn't get to see outside since the train stops are either not lit or not labelled so you don't really know where you are.
The Boston Rd stop is actually very dark. You know Boston Rd..where Mount Eden Prison is..in case ex-cons are there waiting, you won't be able to see their faces...How convenient.
Oh did I mention, we had to go backwards in Newmarket...I think the council is too lazy to build another train stop on the correct place...
oh and let's not forget about the art gallery(ies - I so some on the way)!!...
Finally I got home with 10 cents change.

In case you are wondering, this is my left heel.

Good on ya Auckland public transport, ARC, and Connex! No wonder everyone drives cars!

For those of you who felt inspired by this story, you can checkout the timetable for the train station near you. Go to Maxx.

New Windows

Microsoft Windows Vista - What do you think of that name?

Makes no difference who you are...

melbourne's become so cold and windy as of late, and this has reminded me of weather reports from
london, although lately, we've been hearing more grim news from our friends in the UK. i hope things don't get any worse for them.

thinking about the gloriagate scandal back in manila, i just wish them good fortune. this is a real smear in the macapagal legacy. some people say that it's not cheating until you get caught. from day one, everyone in the pearl of the orient seas knew that gloria cheated in the recent elections. it's only now that she got caught, and yet she still remains. as i said, good luck.

Police and WoF

I think this is pathetic. Police cars not having WoF? I'm sure there are some people who deliberately avoid getting WoF due t cost or getting one of further cost due to required repairs. Those people should be kept in check specially if their cars are old beaten ones.

But there are some people who simply forget due to their busy lives. I've met some of these people and all of them have been fined. What is the nonsense about "grace periods"?

The police usually say, you are the driver, it is your responsibility to check before you drive. If the police themselves cannot check their own cars...What does that say?

Incompetence!

The latest scandal about the drug ring involving sportsmen, celebs, and businessmen..whose mistake is that? I was told the police sent out the press release and in the release they should never have said "sportsmen" or "ex-sportsmen"...that will lead to talking and leakage...dumb asses!

Google Moon

http://moon.google.com/

Colour free Orange Juice

Some of you probably read the article on the herald about the "White-Collar" drug ring involving a couple of celebrity sport stars. Well here's a clue who one of them is.

It is kinda pointless if journalists do not respect the name suppression orders, aye!

This source said other people with initials J K (M), L C (F), and B T (M) may be involved as well.

I've removed the names as it is apparently illegal to post exact names while name suppression is in effect.

Bomb scare on Queen St.

Someone's left a package outside of the National Bank on Queen St.

And now Police are trying to investigate the package with one of those
robot-thingies... Wonder if they've started looking at the surveillance
tapes to see who might have planted it? Or are they too under-resourced to
do something like that :-)

Fire Drill

Just came back from a Fire Drill. It's a bit of a walk since I am on
the 4th floor. I can only imagine what people in the WTC had to go
through a few years ago.

I find Fire Drills are a good way to see who works in your building as
everyone seem to hide in their offices. Everyone come and go at
different times so you never get to see who works in your building.

We have fire evacuation procedures..I presume this is the same for
most companies. Apart from the usual and common sense "do not take the
lift", etc, you are not allowed to carry "hot drinks". I argued once
that this should be all drinks as any liquid spilt is a slip hazard.
But our power-hungry stubborn biatch office administrator who calls
herself the Camp Mother and the Chief Fire Warden said that it is not
required to be that obvious. Me think the problem in this company is
people usually take things literally. I personally see people carry
their coffee down the stairs during the firedrills. So what does that
say? Oh well...she'll end up changing her mind later once she realise
it makes sense.

I got her into trouble once. By accident... a few weeks ago we moved
around in the office. My boss went to aussie to he said "he'll put me
in charge" of this move for our department. It is a fair amount of
responsibility as I need to make sure the cabinets, mobiles, chairs,
computers, etc are all labelled correctly. All pre-move procedures
were excuted perfectly. We labelled everything as instructed and
everything is all go. The labels have our name, department, and phone
extension number on it. The movers and camp mother have an office
layout diagram approved by us so everyone knows who moves where. The
problem I believe was the movers and telecoms guy had a different
versions of this layout and camp mother never updated them.

So come monday out phones, computers, and monitors are all in the
correct places but the desk and cabinet layout are in the wrong
position. It was following the old non-updated layout. Of course it
will take time to move them around on that day and all we wanted is to
start work straight away as we have deadlines. That's what the movers
are for, paid to do it all for us but their work is only as good as
the instructions. I don't think Campmother was even there supervising
the whole thing. So I wrote her an email complaining about it.
Somebody told me that the only way you can get things done around here
is if you bark high enough the heirarchy. So I included the COO in
this email just so he knows what is happening. My boss is an expert
barker and we have the same views regarding the incompetent nature of
Camp Mother. In fact, he is against her more than I was because there
was a time I had a very pleasant and peaceful office relationship with
Camp mother.

So my email was about how this move was the worst we ever had.
Cabinets and boxes are in the wrong place. I said what is the point of
having the extension numbers on the items if they will not be moved to
the correct places. I decided after sending the email that I'd do the
changes myself. Asking Camp Mother to arrange moving them is a waste
of time and nothign will happen until that night or the following
morning. So I started carrying the boxes myself. I moved the cabinets
myself. I even borrowed a screw driver and switched the desks myself.
Just because I wanted my team to have minimal hassles. By mid morning,
I completed all what's left to be done - with the help from some
colleagues.

He is were the trouble began. The COO decided that this matter has
been elevated and he started investigating. I told him the story as
above. He ended up chatting with Camp Mother and Camp Mother ended up
having an official document on her record. All because of me. I feel a
bit sorry about it and in fact I apologised to Camp Mother that things
got out of hand. But what annoyed me the most is that my boss who
hates Camp Mother's guts, went two-faced on me and pretended he was
her friend and telling her she did her job well...my boss also was
called in the meeting with the COO and who knows what happened there.
Judging from his reaction and comments to my other colleagues, he
betrayed me there as well. I ended up looking like a bad guy while the
fact remains that Camp Mother didn't do her job properly and I was the
one who saved the day in our department. I got no thanks. I got no
appreciated. All I got was a behind the back stab. Saying I was mean
to Camp Mother, and she did not deserve it. It feels bad being
betrayed by your team.

I should have known. This ain't the first time either. My boss once
betrayed me. This was regarding some project. I told other parties
involved that my boss feels this way about the project. Then one day
in a face-to-face meeting, the other people ask him and said, "is it
true what was said...that you do not agree with this?" My boss looked
at me and said, "No, it is not true at all. I'm all for it" I ended up
looking like a liar. Don't you hate it when people are fake? They'll
be perfect for the next "House of Wax" movie!

My boss is not the only one. Two others are like that. They gossip
like there's no tomorrow. One make things up. Kinda like David
Copperfield.

She is very fake. She comes to you putting her charm on which is quite
disgusting I thought. She thinks she's cute. She always asks you
nicely but as soon as she turns around, that mouth starts to spill out
something else.

The other is the Two-Faced Queen. She two-faces everyone and she
speculates a lot. It's ok speculating but she speculates the worst
way.

Although I've come to accept that their actions are nothing more than
immature behaviour, I must admit I am psychologically traumatised.
There are days I just want to walk out. I seldom talk to them now. One
of the reasons I do not favour mixing work and home. They still talk
to me as if nothing is happening. Although lately they've been
whispering quite a bit. I do not believe it is about me but for some
reason they've decided to exclude me. They usually don't - this is how
I know they gossip a lot.

Office policies state that I must report this to the manager, but how
can I if the manager is the one initiating this. I'd rather not go any
higher as I've been there and being a pawn in the grander scheme of
things, I'll end up losing.

Don't worry, I won't do an American style, go to your office,
disgruntled employee shoot everyone maneuver. At least I'm not at that
stage...I'm sure someone else will...we already have shit smearers in
the office. But that's another story.

I've heard of cellphone etiquette but...

Ok now i've seen everything :-) but this is just the coolest thing!!!
An Autonomous interactive intermediary - ie. a cellphone interface of sorts, that takes cellphone etiquette to the next level I feel!

The only problem I see with this is if your drunk, and you're mate has one of these and suddenly recieves a call... For me i'd be like WTF!! and freak out and bash it as some sort of possessed Chucky-like entity.

But yeah, from the looks of it, it's fully programmable to act in a certain way to get your attention when a call comes thru, and then it's up to you how to take it...

Definitely gonna keep an eye on this one :-)

Crappy Weather

What is it with the weather here in Auckland. It's been raining almost
everyday. I only ask one thing from the sky, please rain when I'm not
on the road ok? My jacket didn't have the chance to dry from saturday
night's rain. Crap!

Favio is currently in the states. They have thunderstorms there as
well. This whole thing reminds you of "The Day After Tomorrow" movie.
Cool movie actually. I've always liked Sci-Fi movies.

Sci-fi movies give me peace. I prefer not to live in fantasy, however,
reality force me to. The politics and 'fakeness' of the real world
make me wanna plug myself into a "Matrix" so I can live within my mind
the way things are suppose to be. No small minded immature colleagues
who make things up. Who pretend to be your "team"! A place where
people appreciate your input. I know I am but a small fish in a big
blue sea; a small fry in the grander scheme of things. But I like to
think of myself (and I hope other people will as well) as a
contributor to society, to my team, to my company, and not for them to
keep pulling me down to chop you off...This must be the World Famous
in New Zealand's Tall Poppy Syndrome. I never thought I'd experience
it but here it is..For those of you who have not experienced this, I
envy you.

Well it's monday today. I always say I do not hate mondays like some
people always do. But today, I've realised...I've learnt to hate
Mondays in this company; in this team.

On the Brighter side...

My parents and sister just got back from their cruise. This means I do
not have to help out as much at Dominos. But I have a feeling I'll be
called upon more often than I should. I do not mind though. Things
there are simpler. You serve your customers and you see a smile on
their faces. Instant gratification. You get to know your customers
too..there are at least 4 regular filipinos that come to the shop. One
is a woman named Sabrina who orders very often...one night she had a
party and order like a dozen pizzas.

Anyway going back to the cruise. My sister just got her diving
license. Something I hope I will get in the future. So she went diving
in Fiji and found nemo. I'd post some photos but I do not have them
yet. My parents seem to be happy as well. The cruise was our
(siblings) 30th anniversary gift for them. There was some dramas with
the booking but it all turned out really well. Going for a cruise if
one of their dreams.

Although I've been on one, I'd like to go for a bigger cruise in the
pacific or mediterranean.