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I saw this on MTunes earlier, and I thought the song sounded familiar. I realized it’s from A Gentleman’s Dignity! The song stuck to me again, and the music video is heartbreaking! Ok, I’m exaggerating, but the kind of pain that comes from love that didn’t go full circle (but could have) is something you tend to regret for the rest of your life. I should listen to Juniel more!
Let me know what you think of the song via the comments!
My roommate Roy celebrated his birthday this weekend. His birthday was on Monday so we celebrated Sunday evening till Monday!
I have a new found love for CenterStage karaoke! We were singing Korean songs, as we are all fans of KPOP! I sang Sarang Hal Gge (from Only You), Neo Hana Man (from Lovers in Paris) and Give My Love (from Save the Last Dance)! They only had old music so most of the ones I knew from those times were soundtracks to Kdramas. It was a looot of fun!
We shared a bottle of Olmeca tequila! My tolerance for hard drinks has significantly gone down. Seriously!
The clock struck 12AM and we greeted Roy with a small cake. Hehe.
CenterStage closes early on Sundays so at around 2AM, we left for Sinangag Express to eat and let the alcohol settle down. It was a fun evening. There were just 5 of us, but that didn’t matter. 5 is a crowd!
The next day, we cooked dinner at home – Carbonara, chicken lollipop, pork liempo, and had mango torte c/o Kim! It was a simple celebration at home, with friends who are family!
Happy birthday again Roy, and congrats on the best birthday gift you received! Haha! Another treat for us, perhaps? ;p
I told myself I’d wait until the official release of iOS 7, but while surfing earlier and reading that beta 6 has been released, and that this was the last beta version before the official one – I said, hey, I can’t wait anymore! Haha!
There are pros and cons to installing iOS 7 ahead. Biggest pro is that you enjoy all the new features before everyone else does. You can brag to your friends and they’ll all envy you. Haha. Cons would be: 1) Since this is still a beta version, it’s not bug-free, and 2) the new iOS 7 could drain your battery faster than usual. If you can live with these cons, you won’t regret the advanced upgrade.
This is a guide to installing iOS 7 beta 6 on your iPhone 5 even without a UDID/Developer’s account. There is a risk – I was fully aware of that before I decided to proceed. In fact, I almost bricked my phone by not following instructions! So, proceed at your own risk – but if you carefully follow instructions, I’m sure you’ll be able to install this successfully at the first try! 🙂
If installation is successful, you can Restore Back-up (although iTunes should do this automatically). I am now enjoying iOS 7 on my phone. I love it – it feels like i have a new phone! 🙂
Just in case you clicked the Restore button instead of the Update button in step 3 above (because you were too excited like me), you’ll be stuck on the activation screen and can’t use your phone unless you get a developer account (and pay 99 USD for that). Lucky you, there is still a way to undo things…although it’s a little complicated.
Enjoy mi amigos! Let me know via the comments button if you were able to install successfully!
FR at Tagaytay! This was kind of last minute, and you know how they say unplanned trips happen vs. planned ones.
First stop is at the new Starbucks in Tagaytay, which I blogged about before. We had coffee, sweets and conversations of all sorts!
They all wanted to play mahjong so we looked for a room for rent where we could fit, and where we could play! We brought some drinks with us as well. We ended up at 5R, somewhere on the way to Picnic Grove, where we got a big air-conditioned room for only 3,000 PHP! It was a deal!
And the mahjong commenced!
Anna bought wine from Italy! It was sweet, but it is probably the best red wine I’ve ever tasted!
Still, nothing beats good old Red Horse beer for me, so I ended up drinking it. It’s 4:30 in the morning now and we are checking out at 8AM. We probably won’t be getting any decent sleep but as long as we are having fun, who cares about sleep, right?
Agnes invited the Bisdak gang over to her hometown at Bukidnon for a weekend getaway last July 25-29. The moment she told us about it, we booked tickets the next day. That’s how excited we were. It was a chance to visit a place I’ve never been to before, and escape, albeit for just a few days, from the nasty city that is Manila. I never thought I’d see nature at its finest here in the Philippines. To a certain extent, it’s comparable to New Zealand! Haha. To those of you who are not familiar with Bukidnon – you can read more details over here, while I move on with my recap of Day 1.
Our flight was at 5:45 in the morning via Air Asia (Zest Air). We were all excited, as I mentioned. Most of us didn’t get to sleep at all because we had to leave for the airport at around 3:30 AM, and we were all on night shift at work. The flight was a little rough because of the bad weather, but we managed to safely land at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental. Our friends who were coming from Cebu were unfortunate because their plane had to go back to Cebu due to poor visibility by the time they got near Misamis.
We took a rented van and braved through strong rains for around 2 hours, until we got to Bukidnon.
And I fell in love with Cawayanon, the private golf course owned by Del Monte Philippines, and the paradise our friend Agnes calls home (she’s one lucky girl I swear!). I particularly fell in love with the cold weather, the fresh air and the lovely lake in the middle of the golf course!
Does this look like the Philippines to you? It took a while to take all of the scenery in.
After we dropped off our bags at Agnes’ house, she took us for a quick drive around the neighborhood.
We also passed by the pineapple plantation, but I’ll show you photos of it in another post. As it was raining hard earlier, the road was muddy and it was a challenge to drive through potholes because our car could sink in the mud! Getting past all those and reaching home safe was the first adventure of the weekend!
When we got back, Tito gave us a quick tutorial on golf! It was the first time for all of us (except Agnes of course) to play! I previously thought that golf was the most boring sport ever – and I stand corrected. We were all hooked, and we wanted to keep playing, but time won’t let us as it was already getting dark.
When we got back to the “cabin”, we were greeted by this –
Aww man! Lechon!!! It was a feast! We also had dinuguan, fresh salad, and local ice cream for desserts. I was so full that all the exercise from playing golf was useless. Haha.
That’s alright though because we ended the evening playing bowling! We had the bowling alley all to ourselves! We played until our arms felt like they were falling off.
After three games, and a championship round (with Dean proclaimed as the champion bowler), we went home tired but satisfied. It was a full first day! They say time flies when you’re having fun – but this time, time didn’t rush. We got to enjoy every minute of our stay in Bukidnon.
Day 1 was a great start to our extreme adventure in the land of pineapples! 🙂
Sorry for the late post – I need to catch up on the major things that happened last week and over the weekend.
Thursday (July 18) was very memorable. Dang was here for the week from Newcastle (she’s on extended business trip). To celebrate her coming home, we went to dinner and had some..ok, A LOT of drinks after work.
For dinner, we went to Omakase at Ayala Triangle. I am biased because I love Nihonbashitei so I’m not gonna say that food was extremely good. Plus, it’s on the expensive side. Still, dinner was fun, especially because we were able to catch up and talk.
AP MEA + Jolo
Shoyu Ramen
Momoiro Udon
Omakase rolls
After dinner, we went back to the office to finish our shifts – and the fun starts here!
First stop: Agave Cantina at the Fort, for unlimited Margarita
Ron was celebrating his birthday at the same place so TCO friends were there too! I missed my old friends!
Agave closes early, so at around 1:30, we went to our next stop: Distillery in Jupiter St.. Makati!
There weren’t a lot of people because it was a work night so it felt like we rented the place to ourselves. I’m not posting anymore pictures (you can look for them over at Instagram) – but suffice to say, we drank too much, which resulted to almost extremely wild behavior, excessive puking and people passing out.
I haven’t been that drunk in the longest time.
Till the next party Dang and the rest of the D’Bar crew!
I own a Windows Phone because I got tired of both iOS and Android. And I hated Blackberry.People who know me know that I am addicted to gadgets and smartphones. Windows Phone is unique because of its live tiles and the uber cool Metro UI. It brings something new to the plate, unlike iOS and Android who seem to just copy and sue each other lately. Unfortunately though, in terms of apps, both iOS and Android are far up there. Windows Phone would rank 3rd, and Blackberry at the bottom (I’m sorry but that’s true).
But, worry not – for those of you who own a Windows Phone like me, here are 5 noteworthy apps that I believe would make you love your Windows Phone more. Best thing is – they’re all FREE!
We have been waiting forever for Instagram to come to Windows Phone. Several dates have been set, but they all ended up as rumours. However, fret no more – a third party application that allows you to actually UPLOAD photos on Instagram is here! And yes, I was the happiest person on earth when I successfully uploaded my first Instagram photo from my Windows Phone.
For me, this is the best Twitter client on Windows Phone. Metro UI, and a bunch of other options you want, all in one app. I don’t really need to say anymore. Give it a spin – there’s a free version that’s ad supported, but not intrusive.
For those of you who love Foursquare, but find it too slow or buggy – here’s a much better app for you. It’s not a replacement to Foursquare as it works on the Foursquare platform (if that’s how you call it) – but it’s a simpler and lighter app for your phone! Do you always check in to certain places? Pin them to start for easier access!
For me, this is the best download manager for Windows Phone. I like that I can cache my favorite YouTube videos for quick viewing anytime, without internet. I almost have all 2NE1 videos on my phone because of this app. Haha! There could be piracy issues brought about by using this app, but Iike everything, that depends on your intent.
If there’s one bad thing about Windows Phone, it’s that it’s not as easy to dial your contacts compared to other phones. This app lets you type your friend’s name or number directly and it shows you search results real time. If you don’t have this yet, get it – it’s free and it’ll make calling or even texting people much easier!
There are a lot of other apps, so explore your Marketplace. Try out apps before you buy them! If you have some app recommendations, feel free to let me know via the comments box. 🙂
Today was a long day for me. Despite waking up at 1 in the afternoon, I felt like I had a full day.
I met up with Darls at 2:30 for late lunch. I haven’t seen her since her wedding last December so we spent almost 4 hours catching up on stuff. She’s planning on going home to Cebu for good so I was envious that she could afford to do so. We had lunch at Kenji Tei in Greenbelt 5, followed by coffee at J Co.
The Miso Buttered Corn Ramen was to die for. Chicken Teriyaki was also really good! Thanks to Darls for the treat, I didn’t expect it! 🙂
It was raining so I wanted a hot drink after lunch. I ordered a Latte at J. Co. This was my first time to order coffee here so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it comes with a free glazed doughnut. I was full but I had space for this one.
We attended mass at 6PM. I’m not exactly a devout Catholic and I haven’t been to a mass in three months I think. I dropped Darls home afterwards.
On the way back though, Mhealler called me because he wanted to eat good food for dinner. We invited Darls again (picked her up at her place) since he hasn’t seen her since December as well, then headed to Singapore Food Republic in the Fort. The place was nice! It was very cozy. Food was also good albeit a little pricy. We ended up spending almost 2,000 pesos and there were only 3 of us.
I recommend the Prawn Lemak, and the Salt and Pepper Spareribs. The salad above was good, but it was the most expensive one at 380 pesos. I also ordered a glass of cold Tea Tarik, which brought me back to the time I first visited Singapore. We also ended dinner with cinnamon muffin for dessert.
After stuffing ourselves, we went to CenterStage to sing karaoke for an hour. On Sundays, CenterStage has 50% discount on room rates – so we sang to our hearts content for an hour, for only 147 pesos, including service charge. Not bad at all! At around 11:50 PM, I drove them home before joining another set of friends.
It’s ‘s birthday so I headed back to the Fort to join the salubong. They were drinking at Draft, but the place was already closing when I got there. I finished up what was left of their beer because the bar was already closed.
After around 30 minutes of chatting and laughing at other people’s selfies, we greeted Set once again and finally headed home.
I spent the next 3 hours on my PC, fixing up LJ, updating my other blogs (check the links on the sidebar), and reminiscing on Facebook among others. Haha.
Now I’m just waiting for sleep to come over me. I have a 2PM meeting later so I need to be up by 11. Good luck to me!
P.S. I’m posting this using the LJ mobile app for iPhone. It’s very convenient! I hope this turns out well on the web.
Summer’s already here! To kick it off, my friends and I headed north to the wavy shores of San Narciso, Zambales. It was a last minute decision and we were lucky that Crystal Beach resort had one small hut for us!
We left Makati at 12:30 and stopped by my favorite restaurant in Subic for lunch – Meat Plus!
The six of us fit in North, but North’s aircon was barely enough to keep us cool under the summer heat. We had our windows open while driving through SCTEX.
We finally arrived at Crystal Beach Resort at around 5 PM. We checked in, and left our things at our hut and headed straight to the beach. We were just in time for the gorgeous sunset!
After a few shots (photo ops), we headed back to our hut to freshen up and prepared for dinner. We ordered a huge inihaw platter (a platter of anything that’s grilled) and sinigang na baboy (pork in tamarind soup).
There was a band playing at the camp site near the beach, so we decided to stay there until we fell asleep. There’s nothing like sitting by the bonfire, under the stars, listening to live acoustic music with friends. It was truly relaxing! 🙂
We headed back to our huts at around 1AM to call it a night. We had to wake up early tomorrow because we booked the surfing lessons at 7AM.
The next day, we woke up around 6:30 AM and headed to the mesh hall for breakfast buffet! Breakfast was soooo good, I wanted to keep eating while my friends went to surf. Haha. Yes, I didn’t go surfing because I didn’t really feel like it. I want to try it but maybe some other time (when I’m not as fat as I am right now). Haha. I have self-esteem issues.
And then the fun starts for my friends.
I stayed on the shore, enjoying my pinipig and taking photos of my friends standing up on the surfboard for the first time in their lives. I also enjoyed watching them fall and get carried away by the waves. Haha.
I don’t have great photos because I only had my iPhone with me! The surf school had took their own pictures though and my friends actually look like pro surfers already! You can find more of their photos here.
After an hour of surfing (add one hour of waiting before that), we hit the “poso” and enjoyed bathing there like we were kids. It was a fun way to end this quick summer getaway!
At 12:30 noon, we drove back to Makati and got home at 4:30. I slept right after, I was knocked out from all the driving.
I hope I lose all my extra extra fat soon. At least until I look decent enough in a rash guard! I can’t wait to hit the waves! 🙂
You can visit Crystal Beach’s website here: http://www.crystalbeach.com.ph/
Get your own surfboard: New 8 foot foam softtop soft surfboard foamboard, Blue
My friends and I went to this year’s Hot Air Balloon Festival in Clark, Pampanga. Last year, I went to see the Hot Air Balloons with my family when they visited from Cebu.
We left Makati at around 2 in the morning and arrived in Clark at around 4AM. We had to walk a long way from the parking area to the entrance. And another long way from the entrance (where we could buy tickets) to the actual venue. When we arrived, there were already a ton of people, and each had their own lines. It wasn’t as organized as last year, there being the same entrance for those already with tickets and those who were still buying. There was no real line as everyone just went where they want, squeezing to get to the front without regard for those who have been in line since the wee hours of the morning!
Anyway, we managed to get in by 4:30, put down our mats and waited for the event to start. The program was supposed to start at 5:30 AM, but it actually started an hour later. We lacked sleep but when the balloons started rising, I was energized! Despite the gloomy skies, it didn’t rain so we were thankful! 🙂
And then the balloons started flying!
I put my iPhone’s front-facing camera to the test with some “creative” selcas. Haha! (Selca – self capture).
Apart from the balloons, the most awaited event was the Breitling Jet Team Aerobatics Exhibition, which was CRAZY good! Pictures don’t do justice!
After the jet exhibition, it was getting really sunny and hot so we decided to leave and look for good food. On the way out, we had some troubles, again, because of the LOOONG AND WINDING WAY to the exit. It was so hot and dusty and crowded and that exit almost took all the fun out of the festivities! The organizers should do better next year. Last year was way better than this year, in terms of venue, logistics and parking.
Still, I was glad to have spent such a great Sunday with friends I consider family. So, I’m ending this post with photos of my wacky Bisdak friends. 🙂
We went to Subic for lunch, and then left back for Makati, tired but satisfied! Special thanks to Roy for driving us! Till the next adventure!!! 🙂
