I've decided that I will change my banner image every so often. Just to make things interesting. If anything, just to give this blog a little more life than it currently has.

I'll be honest. I've been neglecting this blog. I've been neglecting my on-line persona, my on-line version of myself for quite a long time now. By doing the above, I hope to lessen said neglect. However I'm pretty sure that, if I ever promise to do anything, I won't have time to follow through.

Life's gotten pretty busy. Busier now than ever I suppose, for everyone. Period. Perhaps I just feel it more because of the last year (before this past year of work I mean) that I wasn't employed. However, when I rejoined the work-force by joining a company that would allow me to do what I enjoy doing best, the daily allotment of 24 hours didn't seem to be enough anymore.

But before I go on another long pointless tangent, I just wanted to state the obvious:


PEPPER LUNCH!!

Neng and I have eaten at Pepper Lunch, several times, to sample most everything on their menu... well, not quite everything. Just most. I have to say I've got my favorites. One of them being the curry version of above banner. That particular photo is of the dish freshly served, before I actually got to do any cooking. :)

Quick Informal review of Pepper Lunch: Yum. Flavorful and hot off the hotplate. Pricey but worth-it. Warning: You WILL smell of food afterwards, so maybe better as a dinner meal before going home, or if you have access to a bathroom and maybe another set of clothes after lunch and before going back to work. The only negative I can think of about Pepper Lunch in Rockwell is that it's in The Powerplant, Rockwell, Makati. Good for people who are based in the area, or live close to it, however it's quite the trip to get there otherwise. That and the mall closes at 9 (on weekdays) so going there for a late-night bite is quite out of the question. One is looking forward to any expansions they will make North of the Pasig river.

:D

Greetings blogging world. I haven't been blogging for quite a long time, and for that I apologize. :) Life's been pretty busy. Though that's no excuse.

Just a few updates before I go to the main topic of this entry...

I was finally able to watch The Forbidden Kingdom, after all the hubbub about it died away. It was entertaining over all. :) Looking back at it now, it didn't rock my world. And in regards to most movies, I haven't been able to go out and watch any lately. :) Scheduling's kinda difficult with mall hours and all. :P Just gonna have to wait til most of them come out in other, more accessible media I guess. Heheh.

My Ubuntu journey, as I've started writing about it, has come to a temporary halt. While updating one time, the system seemed to hang so I restarted the pc in the middle of the process. Now Ubuntu's gone to pot. The system's still working, however it's put itself in some kind of "safe mode" (is all i can say to describe it really). For some reason it doesn't allow me to reinstall and wipe the partitions that it's installed on using the Live CD (like it did when I had 7.04 installed before) so I'm not sure how to go about it. I think I'll try to erase the drive contents in windows before trying to do it, however I've got to be sure that the grub bootloader is properly configured.

I have been successfully and safely riding a motorcycle to work recently. I usually only get to do this when I shift in the morning and not close the store as riding home after 10 isn't quite safe (what with all the trucks on the roads after 9). This has also been helping me with my gasoline expenses, more on which after this...


Ok, well, might as well start here then. I don't think I'm the only one who's blogging about how expensive it's getting to get around these days. Unleaded gasoline is up to 59pesos and change lately, while premium gasoline and it's equivalents have gone over the 60 peso per liter mark. I can't believe that I used to pay roughly 15 pesos a liter (while older people might remember gas to be so much cheaper than that).
   Just searched online and checked how expensive gas is in the states. According to one site puts the price per gallon maximum (in certain states) to be $4.42, and cheapest at $3.70 per gallon. Doing the math at the current exchange rate of 44.178 pesos to the USD, and 1 gallon equivalent to 3.7854 liters, it would seem that people in the states don't have it quite as hard, paying a maximum average of 51.58 pesos per liter for unleaded gasoline (diesel prices seem to be higher there though).

Can I just say WTF!? What's with the local gas companies charging us an extra 9 pesos per liter? Suddenly the cost of living (fuel-wise) here is so much higher than it would be in the states (based on data from this site)!
   Well the best thing we can do is plan our days ahead to avoid unnecessary car usage, car-pool, or possibly forego use of cars entirely. Using the wave helps though, however I'm not so sure the health-risks and safety aspects of the whole experience will be worth the savings in the future. :P Sure is fun though. It just sucks that I'm covered in soot when I get to work.

:) Fun ride still.

So Ok. I've recently installed Linux Ubuntu (along side my current XP OS) to see just what it can offer. Truth be told however, I've only had the guts to do this since we just had to, recently, reformat the PC after a virus problem.

I've been playing with the thought of using an Open Source OS for awhile now, ever since a friend showed me just how easy it is to use and how brilliant the concept is... well, easy and at the same time complicated... brilliant and yet confusing...

Hmmmm. How do I explain it?

What am I talking about? Well, basically I'm talking about using Linux Ubuntu, specifically the Hardy Heron iteration of Ubuntu, it's latest OS. One of the main advantages of using said OS is the fact that it's Open Source, meaning you can use it, install it and pass it on. No one owns it, no need to pay anyone to use it.
   As far as I understand it, the Ubuntu platform, as well as others like it (Kubuntu, Edbuntu and others I've yet to explore) is backed by a community into open source, that helps to develop the software and the concept.

So ok, it's not Windows, or microsoft or anything I've had any experience with. I think that's part of the fun. It's going to be a whole new learning experience so the thought excites me. :) There's also the thought that one won't need so many "drivers" to use certain hardware, like a bluetooth adapter for instance.

At this moment, I am transferring an mp3 file from the pc to my phone via bluetooth. I am using a an adaptor I bought from CDR King several months, if not years past. I bought it on the premise that I would be able to use it with my XP system to transfer files to my phone. Well, after hours of fiddling with it, installing so many drivers and programs that could've, theoretically allowed me to do what I wanted, I had diddly squat. Now however, after plugging the adapter into my USB outlet, I was able to begin the transfer. No drivers, no additional programs. No mess.

There are bound to be positives and negatives with regard to this move. For one, not all of the programs that I use religiously with XP would be available in Ubuntu. However, Linux does have equivalent programs to suit a user's need. There's that and WINE, which would let me, theoretically at this stage as I have yet to really try it, install and run Windows based programs while using Ubuntu.

Anyway, all the excitement aside, it's getting to be late in the early morning. I should go to bed. :)

Update you all when I have the time eh? :)

Got snailmail the other day, and it just occurred to me that I have never, in my life, seen our mailbox get any action.

We live in a neighborhood where mailboxes aren't common place. Most of the houses I've been to around here either don't have them or if they do, have them incorporated into their gate. Even so, the mail carriers that deliver mail here just call out to the residents "Sulat!" to announce that they had mail to deliver. Or at least they used to. They never really used the box. They'd just slip it between the two gates or what have you and leave it there, come wind, rain or shine. Next thing you know, your mail's already on the ground, dirty, soaking wet, if it's even still there at all.

Nope. Mailboxes in this neighborhood aren't your typical, stand alone types. They don't sit on top of posts, or have them little red flags to let you know when you've got mail. But maybe if people went out of their way to get the kinds of mailboxes that offer high security and visibility, then maybe mail carriers would be more obliged to use them.

Take the Mailboss High Security mailbox for example. It's tough. It's secure. It's clearly visible. Heck, I'd get one just to test how tough it really is. From the video though, it looks like a winner through and through.

A brand new mailbox will not, however, guarantee that you'll receive any worthwhile mail (other than your magazine subscriptions, bank statements, association newsletters, and bills, bills, bills). For that, you'd need someone worthwhile to write to and to get letters from.

I used to have this penpal from Australia... but that's another story.

What did YOU look like at your prom eh? :P



What was I thinking? Not thinking. :) Just sharing.

I would think that, by now, quite a number of folks out there have either played, or at least have heard of one of the biggest reality-escapes ever developed and probably one of the biggest games of our time. I'm talking about Sims, end every expansion and incarnation of said game.

Sims, and subsequently Sims 2, is a game that allows the player to create a Sim self and control their life. I would assume that he or she would create a ideal version of him or herself as well as other people he or she seems to hold dear or have an interest in to populate his Sim world, so that he could do with them what, in the real world, would seem impossible, and risk without putting his emotions on the line... oooooookay. I think I'm getting carried away here.

Hehe. Why bring the Sims up at all? Well, one of the things that the Sims game allows you to do, aside from creating a Sim and helping them live their lives, is to create a house in which his or her Sim would live. All the things found in this potential house would depend pretty much on the player's taste and the sim's bank account (and potentially whatever downloads and meshes the player is able to get their hands on). You can even buy plants to decorate your house / building, inside and out.

I recently stumbled upon this site which pretty much allows you to do just that, in as far as planters anyway.

You want planters? They've got planters! You name it, this place has got it!

Live in a condo with a multitude of other denizens in a gigantic concrete hive? Maybe an indoor planter and live plants would help brighten up your own little square of living space.

Is your window space dull and colorless? Want to smell the faint smell of nectar or what have you when you open a window? A Window Box Planter wiill do you worlds of good, not to mention really light up your mornings.

All in all, this kinda gets the Sim-mer in me excited, but again, I wonder if they'll ship to the Philippines. That, and where the heck in my room would I find room for a plant? Hmmmm. Maybe when one of my fishies die...

Ok. I'm not one to care about skin care. :P I don't think I'm vain enough to do so. I've made my share of trips to the dermatologist however, and I've been exposed to a range of products that have, at times, helped me with whatever skin problems I've actually had. I've had pimples, your usual white and black heads, and even chicken pox (this only recently I might add). I, however, count myself lucky not to have to go through hormonal skin aging, as most women have to.

Thankfully though, there seems to be a miracle cure available on the market for that. Resurgence, by Dr. Howard Murad, is this skin care system made specifically to combat hormonally aging skin.

What's hormonal skin aging anyway? Apparently, this happens to women as estrogen levels in their system drop, as it does when menopause sets in. Symptoms are fragile, thinning skin, increased wrinkling, sagging and even acne (at that age!). Murad Resurgence is supposed to combat all that.

:P Don't ask me how. That's what I heard anyway. If it works better than the Olay total effects that's been advertised so much locally (which isn't quite targeted as age-specific as Resurgence is), then this might be a good buy.

Maybe I ought to get a Resurgence Kit for my mom... and for my aunts... ooh. Christmas gift idea. I wonder if they'll ship to the Philippines.