We were dismissed early yesterday so I went to the mall I always pass by to while away the time.  An officemate told me earlier that the mall is having a sale this weekend and it started yesterday.  Since it was still early and I still have some time in my hands, I decided to drop by and take a look at what was on sale.

I was a bit disappointed when I found out that there was a sale alright but only at the main department store at the mall.  The rest of the establishments were not participating.  I decided to have a sandwich instead at the Olivers Sandwiches store.  I ordered my favorite Japanese Crabstick California, which is a sandwich version of the California Roll.

After having my sandwich I went home directly and was able to catch the second telecast of American Idol.  It was Hollywood Group Day last night and of course the drama was at all time high again.  I am glad that my favorites made it to the next round which will determine who will make it to the Top 24 and who America will vote for to become one of 12 final hopefuls.

There was a short power interruption around midnight in our place.  I thought it was part of government’s scheme to save energy by having “rotating brownouts” in the country.  I am just curious why all of a sudden we have these power outages.

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache.  I decided to sleep some more and I woke up before noon.  I had some misua soup which actually made me feel better.  After finishing a bowl of the soup, I took some paracetamol and went back to bed. I still have a little headache but another tablet may finally take it out.

So it’s already weekend and Valentine’s Day is almost here.  No wonder that almost all games in Facebook feature Valentine items.  But since we are in Asia, there’s another event everyone is waiting for on the same day.  It’s the Chinese Lunar New Year!

But since I am not Chinese, I decided that I’d probably celebrate the Valentine’s Day instead. That is even though I don’t have a Valentine.

After having lunch at my parent’s place this morning, I went to the SM North EDSA mall to meet a friend.  I got there early and decided to go around the place first.

My first stop was the ACE Hardware Store at the basement of the mall.  I think this is the biggest branch of this hardware store.  I could literally build a house with all the available materials there.  But I was more interested with the tools available there.  I don’t know why, but when I am in a hardware store, my first stop should be the power tools section.  Here, they have several hammer and drilling tools from Bosch and Black and Decker.  I couldn’t believe that these tools are so affordable.  I always thought that they are beyond reach but the ones in that store were so cheap.

After feasting my eyes on the power tools, I proceeded to the electrical section and bought some telephone wires for my modem.  I also bought new feeding bowls for the dogs when I passed by the pet section.  My last stop in the store was the bathroom fixtures section since I wanted to make some changes in my bathroom.

From the hardware store, I met my friend at Cyberzone, the computer center at the mall.  I also took the opportunity to look for a new computer monitor.  I was amazed at how the prices of LCD monitors have gone down in the last few years.  It was not even 5 years ago when I bought a 15 inch model for 13 thousand pesos.  Now a 21 inch wide screen LCD monitor that is already HD ready costs only a little more than 10 thousand pesos!  I love how technology advances and make things more affordable for all of us.

When I got hungry, me and my friend ate some pasta and pizza at the Amici Restaurant.  The original restaurant in Makati used to be ran by Salesian Priests but it was sold to a private company.  Most of the stuff available then were still in the menu but I think the gelato is more commercial now than before.

While getting out of the restaurant, we noticed that there was a huge crowd gathered at the floor above us.  We checked out what it was and found out that there was a free concert from an all-girl Korean group called 4Minutes.  Like most of the people in the crowd, I didn’t understand the lyrics those girls were singing.  But those in the crowd were screaming at every beat and move of the girls.  My friend said it was an invasion, I think it’s pure silliness.

Anyway, we just decided to go find ourselves some messenger bags.  It was a total disaster though because we weren’t able to find one that we liked.  We just decided to go home after that.  Besides, my feet and legs were already aching from all the walking that we did this afternoon.

I was busy writing a report on the forum we conducted yesterday when the phone rang this afternoon.  A girl on the other line was requesting for more details .  She said she’s also making a report for her boss about the same forum.

At first I was glad to answer her queries about the things presented during the forum and the points raised during the open discussion that followed.  However, I was taken aback by something she told me.

She was so insistent about a statement of one of our resource persons and she wanted a transcription of that statement.  What really struck me was that she wanted to make an entire article based on that statement and take all the other things as just support or emphasis for that statement.

I explained to her that there were other better points raised and discussed during that forum and the statement she wanted to focus on was just an aside.  She was so insistent about it however that I had no recourse but to talk to her supervisor, who happened to be a good friend, and let him know about the reporter’s plan.  I was relieved that my friend agreed with me and talked with the girl reporter.

Until now, I could not believe what has taken place this afternoon.  I could not understand why that girl was so focused on just one sentence and completely ignored the  more meaningful parts of discussion.  I just hope it’s not a widespread practice among writers and bloggers.

I was met by a strange news article when I went online this morning.  The report said that giant squids suddenly surfaced in waters off the coast of California.   In fact, the picture that accompanied the article was a scene straight out of Animal Planet.

According to a report by the AP, the squid also known as the Humboldt, weigh between 20 and 40 pounds, but some fishermen have caught  60-pound giants.  The report further stated that this animal can grow to as much as 100 pounds and up to 6 feet long.

The first thing that came into my mind were calamares.  Imagine how much of this stuff can be made out of these giants.  It would make a lot of beer drinkers very happy.

I just wonder if these creatures also squirt ink when agitated or cornered.  I know one giant squid who did just that when he tried to defend himself this afternoon.

The man was accused of unethical conduct for approving a road project that will benefit his businesses.  For days, he refused to answer the accusations hurled against him and just let his lackeys do the job for him.

When he finally spoke this afternoon, he denied everything  and instead called the hearing a political harassment because he was running for president of the country.  Well, he’s second in the running and if surveys are to be believed (they could sometimes be commissioned), he’s gaining ground against the front runner.

All through out his speech, he had his head bowed down, not looking straight at his accusers. After squirting ink, by saying that he is being pulled down by the Filipino’s crab mentality,  the man left his accusers and refused to answer questions.

Between him and the giant squid though, I’d pick the latter anytime.  At least I can make crispy fried squid out of them.

One down, eleven to go. That is 2010 for all of us.  Before we all knew it, December is upon us and a new year will start over again.

I forgot to write about the beautiful full moon on the last two nights of January 2010.  It was so bright that our usually dark street at the house was totally illuminated.  I miss the trees at the back of the house especially on full moon nights.  Those mango trees used to turn silvery gray on nights like that and they evoke an unexplainable feeling.

I woke up with a headache and a cold.  I thought I was going down with a flu but luckily, a tablet of paracetamol solved the problem.  Still, I decided to keep it slow today.

By midmorning, my head was still throbbing but my cold has disappeared although I still get a little sniffle from time to time.  I decided not to go to work and nurse my cold.

I didn’t know that the Grammy Awards show was today so I sat on my favorite chair and watched the event.  Lady Gaga as usual was every style guru’s nightmare.  Everyone should credit her though for being able to pull it off.  She opened the show in a glittering emerald leotard and when Elton John joined her on stage, it was glitters galore.

Perhaps the most anticipated segment of the show was the Michael Jackson tribute.  It featured a 3D video of Michael’s ode to nature, “Earth Song”.  It was pretty disappointing in this part of the world though because the video was hardly seen, instead the segment showed the performers including Smokey Robinson, Usher, Celine Dion and Carrie Underwood.

The biggest winner of the night was Beyonce who went home with 6 Grammys, just two short of MJ’s 8 for thriller.  However, she failed to snag the Album of the Year award again which went to the pretty Taylor Swift.

Okay it’s been more than eight months since I last posted something here. Laziness and the monotony of writing the same thing over and over again has made me stopped writing completely. 

But I am “rebooting” this blog and start writing about my activities.  Maybe not on a daily basis but more frequently than the last eight months.

Today I learned a lesson on procrastination.  Never put off for another day something that could cause you your means of living.

Five people from the office are in danger of losing their jobs because they decided to put off a very important job requirement for another time.  For the past five years, we have reminded these people to take an examination required to make them keep their jobs, but these people keep on delaying, telling us that they will take it when they feel they are prepared to pass it.

This afternoon, we received a memo that all those who have not passed this exam will have to go by June 30th.  It was only then that these people panicked.  Our management, realizing that it’s a bad time to lose a job, are now wracking their brains to find a way to keep this people employed.

I told one of the bosses that they were lucky I am not part of the management team.If you ask me, I would not a lift a finger for these people.  They were given enough time to take the exam but they decided not to.  Of course it’s hard to lose a job these days but these people acted for the last five years like they didn’t give a care about their employment.

To anyone who is reading this post right now, let this be a lesson.  If you have something very important at hand, do it right away.  Get it out of the way as soon as you could.  If you leave it there, it might become your stumbling block later on.

As I write this, I am downloading a number of software updates from Apple.  One of them is a security update for Safari 4 Beta which I am currently using as my primary browser.

My title refers to how this day went.  I spent most of it in the office so most of I the things I did were the usual job related things I do everyday,

It was another warm morning that I woke up to today.  I woke up just in time to prepare for work but I still ended up getting to work late.  Thanks to the buses that took long before getting to our place.  I really suspect that the bus companies reduced the number of their fleet to save on gas and maintenance.

I finally finished working on the manual I was working on for the last two weeks.  I printed a copy and asked our proofreader to go through it.  He wasn’t able to finish it today so I had nothing else to do at work but surf for materials for upcoming projects.

Facebook is blocked in the office except during lunch and after 5PM.  In those limited time, I was still able to work on my Mafia Wars game.

I continued surfing the Internet after lunch and I came upon a letter of a congressman protesting to the President the issuance from the finance department to tax imported books.  It stemmed from a decision of the customs office to levy duties on imported books that are not for education purposes.

The defense of a finance official for this tax was both shocking and speaks so much about how they value reading.  Said official said that “reading books does not educate.”   I was dumbfounded by her words not because of its profoundness but because of its sheer stupidity.

I hope the lawmaker succeeds in convincing the President to intervene.  I also hope our president also reads books and knows the value of reading.

It rained in the late afternoon in the vicinity of our office.  It wasn’t as hard as the one yesterday but still it lasted for more than an hour.

During the our afternoon break, my office mates and I had a nice discussion about a lot of things.  A UFO believer in our group started telling us about actual encounters around the world.  I am skeptical about these stories.  But the discussion went on and on until we touched on the Bible,creation, Jesus Christ and a lot of other things.  It’s funny how a conversation could take several twist and turns until the original topic is becomes forgotten.  That’s what happened to our small discussion this afternoon.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful.  I just waited for the time to go home and nothing unusual happened even during my trip home.

So that’s my day today.  Thanks for dropping by.

I’d like to answer those who have been asking me whether I don’t like the country’s boxing here.  No, not that I don’t like him I just think that he should stop acting like the whole country owes him its very existence.  No doubt he’s the best fighter in the world today and everybody acknowledges that.  The problem with this guy is he struts like a peacock while displaying false humility.

This morning, he was at it again.  He was in a parade, surrounded by people with questionable intents.  Foremost is a former mayor who once wanted to cut hundred of ancient trees to give way to a building ad now, by a strange twist of fate, is the secretary of natural resources.  This is the very same person who said on national TV that not even the H1N1 flu can knock down the strongest man alive.  Conspicuously absent was a lawmaker who said that the health department and WHO are over acting on the H1N1 flu virus.

Now, Mr. Champion is thinking of leaving the boxing ring to go into politics.  He was once knocked down by a lady legislator when he ran for office in a southern province.  He’s going to try it again, and I say good luck to that.  Not to him but to those people who are crazy enough to trust him to bring them development.

While one broadcast network covered every activity of the boxing hero, its rival network launched a political movement that encourages the youth to come out and vote in 2010 and let their voices heard.

I have an experience with young voters that made me completely lost my trust on their judgement.  It was another national election and we were to choose twelve men and women who will compose the Senate.  I was standing in line and in front of me were three girls who were comparing their line up.  They were so excited to vote for the first time and I felt happy that these young girls are starting young to make their voice count.

And yet, when I heard who they were voting for and for what reason, I was completely aghast!  One is voting for a candidate because he’s cute and handsome.  Their other choice is an action star because he has a very nice body and they are also voting for a lady candidate because she only dress in nice clothes.

What worried me then was that they compose almost half of the total electorate.  No wonder that the cute, the action star, and the well-dressed lady candidates made it all to the senate.  They were so silent in the chamber I don’t even know what they have contributed to the country so far.

Now on what I did today, I totally avoided the parade and the political activity, and went to level up my character in Mafia Wars.  I did this in between my layouting project at work.

There was a heavy downpour in the early afternoon.  It was so heavy, there was a report that a portion of the city was flooded in its aftermath.

Fortunately, it was over by the time we were out of the office.  I went home immediately and caught a bus with a TV.  I saw for the first time an ad where the secretary of defense was instructing people about disaster preparedness.  There’s nothing political about it except that upon closer inspection, he used the letters of his surname for his instructions!

Anyway, it’s still 365 days till election time and yet it already feels like the campaign is in full swing.  More on this in the coming posts.  In the meantime, that’s my day today, thanks for dropping by.