Fleetwood Mac - Landslide

I'm so inlove with this song right now.. so relaxing. Great lyrics.

I'm Going Back to Lalaland! =)

Just because I fell in love in the City of Angels, I booked another trip to Hollywood.

I remember my old blog entitled, "I Miss Hollywood" wherein I am reminiscent of every moments in California & Las Vegas.

http://kismet85.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-miss-hollywood.htm 



I'm so excited!

Well, I have in my mind a second chance to see Kobe play in Staples Center. I am thinking whether the Memphis or Clippers game. We'll see. I hope they make it to the playoffs by that time.

I'm also going to see San Diego for the first time. And will have a trip to San Francisco for the second time. Ghirardelli Restaurant again!!! Of course, Disneyland is on my mind but this time, I want to stay overnight there because I wasn't able to tour the whole place in a day last time. Three days should be enough.

Did I mention shopping? Oh, yes shopping cheap gadgets, shoes, bags, and accessories. Great!

March 25-April 25, 2013

Let's Go Lakers!

Weeeeeee!

Post Valentines Thoughts

I am so glad that Valentines day was over again. Of course it should be just another day.. but how can you treat it as ordinary if all you can see are couples around being sweet and having dinner. Honestly, it is so hard to be so naive during this day. I admit I am always sad and bitter every Valentines day. I often ask myself why I am alone and has no one to celebrate with. I stay at the gym while others enjoy their dinner with their loved ones. Oh well.

Thank God everything becomes normal come February 15.

Maybe Valentines day should really be a holiday.

I never celebrated Valentines day. It's just not my day.

So for the bitter people, I'm one of them. I guess it's natural. 

But as the saying goes, time will come for that special someone to be with you every Valentines.

Wait wait wait. 

Life.

Hanoi, Vietnam Hopping =)

Why did I choose Hanoi and not Ho Chi Mihn last November? 

First, because I want to see Ha Long Bay "descending dragon bay". 

I visited Coron, Palawan last May and fell love with the islands. So visiting Ha Long Bay should be interesting for me. We availed the cruise ship in our hotel. It is approximately 3-hour trip from the city. We rode the bus van together with other tourists and upon reaching the port, we rode the cruise ship and took our sumptuous lunch while cruising the island. It is so windy and you can stay in the second level of the ship. Very nice. Just chilling around a great atmosphere of Ha Long bay. 

Several islands have caves inside. We visited one cave, Thien Cung Grotto. It is so big and I am amazed. I saw the underground river in Palawan before and saw many unique stalactite formations but this is better. And you just have to walk around and see by the light the formations. This is such a beauty of nature joined by great imagination of man. So this Ha Long Bay Trip is like Coron and Puerto Princesa in one. We went back to the port around 5pm and arrived the hotel around 9pm. At night, we visited a small store of pirated DVDs and bought some (maybe 12pcs). In fairness, DVDs here are cheap that are only sold around P50 with Blu-Ray quality. Downside is they are Vietnamese-subtitled, no English  But for some it really doesn't matter. They have a street in Hanoi that sells only Cds & DVDs.

Afterwards, we visited Sofitel Metropole and spent the night here. Chill.

Second reason I like Hanoi is that I read that this is also a Four-season cultural city of Vietnam. When we arrived, the temperature is ranging from 17 °C-22 °C - Winter is just about to start in November. I fell in love with this kind of temperature since going to Seoul,Korea. So I prefer here than Ho Chi Mihn which I heard has a very Manila-like temperature.

Third, I'm so curious of the Old Quarter. I heard that it is very nice and a must see. It is just walking distance to our hotel so we are always here. It is near Ho Kiem Lake, near the  Water Puppet Theater. Old Quarter has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. I remember Vigan, Ilocos here. Every street sells different things. Like a street of fruits, vegetables, coffee, Dvds, Clothing, Shoes, and many more. I can hang out here for a 3 days. Dong Xuan Market is also located here, a good place for shopping.

Laslty, Hanoi is a perfects place for tourists who just want to relax and have coffee, a bit of shopping (Hanoi shopping is cheap) and just want to experience old culture.  Best buy here are bags and shoes. I bought many bags and my luggage here.

I miss Hanoi now.

My Top IPAD Games of 2012

Offroad Legends - the best way to test your driving skills. Had troubles in most levels but still finished everything (hundred times of restart) 

Wipeout - the TV game show can really be played in IPAD. I find myself laughing in some challenges because of the reaction of players when being hit. Even my niece is addicted to this game.

Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips - I remembered during a stormy day when work is suspended. i just stayed at home playing this game. So addictive and really panicking.

Kingdom Rush HD - For me, this is the best defense application ever. I hope there's another version because I already finished all levels. I find some stages hard so I need to cheat =)

Happy Chef HD - You have to cook what the customer wants. Time pressure! Great game and there are many levels (easy to difficult) so you won't find it boring.

iBasket  - the best shooting game. Simple graphics but great.

Bus Parking 3D - my favorite parking game. I realized that bus is harder to park than car. The best thing here is the camera option where you can feel that you are really the driver.

Zombie Tower - Before playing Kingdom Rush, I find this application the best but there are only 12 levels and no update since the first release.

GTA: Vice City - All Grand Theft Auto games are great. This is the latest and it is great too. Nice graphics.

Pitfall - not the typical running game because of solid graphics and audio effects. The best running game for me. 

iFighter2 - Plane combat game. A modern version of B-wings =)

Pilot! - Simulation game wherein you need to park different kind of planes to different locations. Kinda addictive but graphics should improve and I hope camera options will be available soon.

Pocket Tanks Deluxe - The classic battle shooting game. Good but limited weapons though compared to PC.

Amazing Race - the reality game show in IPAD. Cool but there are limited stages. Finished this in one sitting.

Earn To Die - You have to kill zombies to earn money. The money will be used to upgrade your car. I like this game though I can't move on without cheats. Kinda hard. 

Crystal Maze HD - Who could ever imagine? My favorite TV game show during the 90s is now in IPAD. I find some stages difficult. I need to try and try to get more crystals.

Ski Safari - Another running game but this time you can ride in the penguin or the yeti. Cool sound and graphics.

Monopoly HD - The best board game in IPAD. Got addicted here for a time but once you kept winning, it's becoming boring. 

 Song Pop - Guessing the song or artist. That's my skill! Perfect application for me. Best thing is you can play against your Facebook friend.

 

 

X-Factor USA 2012 - Season 2

Super Late Post!

I've been following the show since the start and this year, I admit I didn't like the winner, Tate Stevens. Not really a fan of country music but he looks nice and so America loved him. For me, Fifth Harmony or Carly Rose should have won. Overall, it was a good season. I love Britney and I had a crush on Demi haha. I heard LA Reid will leave the show next season. That's sad. Anyway here are my favorite performances of the season.

and of course, I don't know what Britney did to her during live performances but she is just not the real Beatrice. This is the kind of song she should have sung in the live shows. Oh well. I'm a fan of Beatrice since this performance. The voice - my God! So beautiful.

I Just Fell In Love Again - Angeline Quinto

This is the theme song of the movie 'Born to Love You'. I love the film, loved the soundtrack. Not a typical ending for a Filipino movie.

Amazing 2012

Of course, it has been a tradition.. writing my own recap of the year that past.

My 2012 can be described in two words. Travel and Buffet. Just kidding. 

Well seriously, 2012 has been a great year for me. I cannot say it is the best one, but definitely a good one. Maybe because it is full of experiences I had in different places and wonderful moments with friends and loved ones. Yeah, like my twitter profile says, I am still 27 and still singing the same song. 2012 is just a glimpse of hopefully, the best year to come. So here goes a brief review of the year that was.

TRAVEL

My blog is full of my stories about the places I've been to this year. I have traveled to Korea, Coron, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam. What a great way to maximize my 18 vacation leaves this year at work. The best trip of course is Korea because it is my hometown =) Kidding aside, I fell in love to Korea and I really want to go back here. The weather, the food, the shopping, and the people makes me miss this place so much. Of course, Coron is also a good island, but because of the propeller plane, I am hesitant to go back. Anyway, our two day trip to Taiwan is a stressful one but I think we managed to explore Taiwan enough, given a small time. But I forgot to try their version of Chatime. Spending two weeks in Singapore almost broke me. Just kidding. But yeah, spending 2 weeks is a lot of time for a costly place. I didn't get my luck here but no regrets, at least I tried and experienced what it's like to be here for some time. I miss shopping in Singapore. I came here during the great Singapore Sale and really bought a lot especially in Cotton On. Compared to Manila, Cotton On prices are times three. I'm not kidding. Some items I bought in Singapore are sold here thrice the value. How unfortunate. Thatt is why I am never going to buy here in Cotton On Manila. My last trip of 2012 is in Hanoi, Vietnam. A place where you can have a Motorcylophobia, fear of motorcycle. I don't have one but I started to feel it in my 3-days trip =) Hanoi is famous for their high-quality branded bags Northface and crumpler so I bought luggage and bags here.. so cheap with original quality. Explored Halong Bay which is quite similar ambiance when I was in Coron. Well, Coron is better for its diving facilities. So that's it, my major travels. Looking forward to spending my 20 leaves again in 2013, traveling.

BUFFET

Of course, if you will check my blogs, almost everything is about food. This is the year I almost tried every buffet deals in town. Having buffet with good friends is a great experience. It has been our bonding moments this year. Without this, I think we are lost for stories and won't catch up with each other. That's maybe the reason I gained 10lbs at the end of the year. I will just hit the gym in 2013 again after being away for two months. Anyway, the best buffet for me is Market Cafe, Hyatt Hotel, and Heat, Edsa Shang. The worst would be Cafe Jeepney, Intercon and F1 Hotel. After this year, I am not looking forward to more buffet in 2013, unless I lose that 10lbs again. And also, I tried almost every buffet so that experience is something already.  I am just going to lose that pounds then I'll be back with vengeance =)

CAREER

When I failed to find job in Singapore last June, I thought it's the end of finding success. But as the saying goes, everything happens for a reason so I just keep trying to apply and apply then finally got the good news, not in Singapore but here in HSBC Manila. Getting an upgrade is a gift these days. I am very thankful and I love my job now. Learning SAS is cool. I am happy with my job right now. 

FRIENDS and FAMILY

Having healthy family and friends, no worries.. can I ask for more?

LOVE

What can I say? Love is a complicated thing to handle. GO with the flow. If it comes, let it come. If not, then it will come, someday. I am hopeful. I'm ready. 2013, make me happy. #alamna Puh-please?

KOBE and Co.

My Lakers are struggling this year. Chemistry is just starting to build with Nash coming back from injury. Gonna keep pushing hard up to the playoff spot this year. I'm not expecting a the 17th banner this year with the current kind of defense, but they have the talent and what it takes to win, just need to find themselves together. Go go go! 

Goodbye wonderful 2012... Cheers to a promising 2013 =)