At The End Of The Day

Six hours and thirty minutes before the New Year. I didn't have much time to post those bouncing things in my mind.

We had our first snow of the year early this month.

There had only been a few emails and some are from the job search sites. But those sites remembered my birthday so I thank the "matrix" it didn't miss my birthday.

And foods. Foods are the main longing of my stomach. Back home I know they are preparing different foods for New Year's Eve.

This is my first Christmas and New Year abroad. I truly miss home.

Here are some pictures I randomly post.

memory recall

Ano na kayang nangyari.... ?

--- kay Anna na siyang nagligtas sa akin nung grade 1 nang di ako makapagsulat ng ABC sa pad paper ko dahil sa takot sa payat at teror na teacher namin (siya din ang nanghiram ng harmonica na bigay sa akin ng tito kong abroad at di na niya sinoli). Nakita ni Anna ang gitla kong anyo kayat inagaw niya ang papel at mongol ko at kinumpleto ang seatwork. Mukhang mayaman siya at kumpleto sa school supplies. Natatandaan ko pa ang mukha nya pero nawala na siya nung grade two ako.

--- kina Renzer, Zerez at Noel na kasama kong kinulong ng mga adik na tinedyer sa balkonahe ng simbahan.

--- kay Armando na nauto akong bumili ng mga alagaing isda (yung red eye at sword fish).

--- sa tsinoy na si Herbert na parang bigboss ng buong klase hindi lang dahil sa siya ang pinakamatanda kund siya pa ang pinakamayaman. Naging best friend ko siya at hindi ko sigurado kung dahil ba sa dami ng libre nya sa akin o sa proteksyon laban sa mga bullies na estudyante.

--- kay Ate Marites na kasing edad yata ni Herbert. Siya naman ang all around side kick ni ma'am sa eskwela man o sa bahay. Kaklase namin siya nung grade six at magkalapit lang ang bahay namin pero di kami nagkikita.

--- kay Amor na unang babaeng nanantsing sa kin.

--- kay Jacqueline na may nunal sa pisngi at medyo madaldal sa klase.

--- kay Laarni na madaldal din pero mahina sa klase.

--- kay Nino na matalino lang yata dahil nakasuot ng salamin at sabi ng nanay nya na teacher namin.

---kay Glenn na ganid pero di pwedeng isumbong dahil magiging teacher namin ang nanay nya sa susunod na grade.

--- yung isang nakalimutan ko na ang pangalan na tumulo ang sipon sa kaba habang sumasagot sa teacher. At nang pinagtawanan di sinasadyang lumobo ang kanyang sipon.

--- kay Louicris na siguro'y maganda na ngayon pero pinag initan noon ni ma'am dahil double "L" ang "Philippines" nya.

--- kay Tristan na pwedeng isama ng commercial ang UNICEF dahil parang isang bulate nalang ang pumipirma.

--- kay Marinela na crush ni Ramon (tumutulo din ang sipon nya) na nag abot ng card na may "i love you" sa akin na galing daw sa dating child star na nag aral sandali sa eskwelahan namin.

--- sa 1st honor na si Norman na nagturo sa kin na manghuli ng paru-puro at ilagay sa cover ng notebook para tumalino ako. Di ako nahirapan dahil nakapulot ako ng paru parong kamamatay pa lang at nilagay sa notebook ko. Siyempre hindi ako tumalino.

--- sa super tangkad na si Richard na katropa namin ni Herbert na pinahanga ako sa style sa mga tsiks.

--- kay John na unang nagkwento sa akin ng unang karanasan nya sa kapitbahay nila.

--- sa matabang si Armindale na sa murang edad na iyon ay ganap ng isang Darna.

--- kay Michael na doble ng timbang ni Armindale pero mas sexy pa maglakad sa kanya.

--- kay Romeo na lagi nalang may kulangot at ginawa akong abogado nung masangkot siya sa paninilip sa teacher namin nung hayskul.

--- at ano naman kayang iniisip nilang nangyari sa akin ngayon? Kung naiisip nila ako sana di nila inaalala ng tulad nito....

Remember The GONADS

It all started back in college. We were six in the group. No seven. I didn't expect the group to jell like that because I didn't expect anything at all when I didn't even like the course we got.

We were sitting beside the university chapel under a tall eucalyptus tree. I never thought it was called eucalyptus since I only knew it to be a green candy mint which is always present in every sari sari store or cigarette vendors' stall. Yes, it was the eucalyptus tree and there we wrote the name of our group - the GONADS.

It is not about sex or pornography. Remember we were sitting near the chapel. We just happen to have happy thoughts about naming our little gang. A gonad, if you still remember your biology, refers to any organ that creates gametes (you know sperm or egg cell) and generally it refers to the testicles. Knowing that we all cracked in laughter. GONADS stands for Guys On Needs And Dependent on Sex.That was only a front so that one might think we were tough when it comes to sex and girls even though only one of us had a girlfriend.

We carved the name of our legendary group on that eucalyptus tree despite my knowledge that it will vanish in a few weeks because the trunk was almost herbaceous and soft. And who might have known about our group? Or more appropriately, who might have known we existed. We're negligible. That's what I mean. That was all for fun.

We didn't have a sort of leader but the first one that I’m going to recall seemed to have started our bonding.

Copia. That is a surname. College students usually call each other by their last name. So it was Copia. He was the brightest among the class when it comes to mathematics. But he was also the best cheater. He graduated as valedictorian in high school. He got himself a scholarship despite being in a state university with the lowest tuition fee ever (still the students wants to overthrow the government for tuition fee increase). He's a Christian. He likes local rock stars. He laughs out loud. He's the noisiest, i guess. It even made us all laugh, as if we had a crunch of Nagaraya, when I gave him a scientific name..... Copicus gonadium.

Chiong. Sounds like a Chinese name but later I learned there were many Koreans with that surname. But he was neither Chinese nor Korean. He is a very remarkable guy. He was my classmate in high school. He believes he was doomed and blessed when he was brought to the pilot class. He was well known for his curly hair which I first noticed to be water resistant when we had our swimming class. The swimming class sucks because we were asked to buy short pants and they didn't allow us to attend class if we don't have trunks. The class was a coed so we enjoy seeing the girls on their swim suit. I never learned to swim because I always came late. Chiong and I stayed in the swimming pool after the class and we competed on finding a coin underwater. When we got out it was cloudy everywhere. Not only that. We also played hide and seek and when one find the other he squirts water from his mouth to the other's face. When we were doing that I swam near someone with a swimming trunk with the same color as mine. Chiong found me and he swam towards my direction. While he's doing that I got out of the water and he spit all the water with that guy and when he saw it wasn't me, he just said, " eh hehe hehe". Chiong makes the group lively with his natural talent in doing funny things. He's intelligent though. He passed the mechanical engineering licensure exam after we transfer from another school because the college dean didn't accept his father's bribe to admit us in the college of engineering. Damn it. Last I heard of him he joined a religious group which enjoys exchanging bad words with another group. I gave him the scientific name Libidus mutatum. He's my best pal and we almost had the same school stuffs.

Xavier. I don't remember much about him although he was the one who brought us to Moriones to conduct an interview with the squatters for our Sociology class. I believe he was also involve in cheating during our exam in the same subject although the crumpled paper with the leakage was recovered 6 floors below didn't proved he did it. He was our classmate in the swimming class.

Dennis. That is a name because I can't remember his last name. He was the most silent among us. He was also good in math. So we had two sources for our answer, one was Copia. He was just quiet. Last thing I know about him is that he joined the militant student group that aims to overthrow every government and always conducts a noise barrage inside the campus which most students enjoy because all classes will be suspended. I believe he's not very quiet now.

Giovanni. He's not a gay. There was not much memory for him except that he was our group mate in our Biology case study. We went to manila zoo and took the boat ride. That was why I thought we were only six because I’m not sure if he was really there.

Glenn. He had that comical look of that guy who is Scooby Doo's friend. He just went to school everyday, cheated when needed and never missed funny things. He's as quiet as Denis. I believe I saw him when I was about to get a computer unit with my officemate near their place. He seemed to have forgotten me because we parted ways when I transferred to another university.

Me. Of course, like the devil I have many names. I was one of the leading students in all science subjects because everybody is bored in those subjects. I was able to please my Filipino professor when I summarized and narrated a local writer’s short story without knowing I just made the story myself. My other Filipino professor didn't like me for being late in her subject because I was talking about the universe with my high school dream girl whose class was on the second floor and mine was on the 6th. She remembers me as someone who manipulates my words to exaggerate my point though. I don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult. Anyway she didn't like me and I have this Jedi feeling she's not as happy as I am today.

After a year, without a word we all parted ways. The once unknown gang ended without a purpose, without achivement and without care.

That’s how it was and the little story about the legendary GONADS.

Halloween

It is still the 30th of November and all month long I was planning to make horror type of post but works got in the way. I was even thinking of writing the spooky experiences in some of the treks and caving i had back in the Philippines. But they were flushed away from my mind probably by a large amount of caffeine that kept me up all the time. Anyway, this is my post halloween post (what's that again?).

For those who don't know, Halloween or the older "hollowe'en" is short for All-hallow-even, which means the evening of or before "All hallow's Day (also known as All Sain's Day). It was a pagan feast until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints Day from May 13 to November 1.

It is now considered in Western countries and most parts of the world as a part of American pop culture in the late twentieth century.

I copied some pictures which are being sent to me every year and consider it the season ender.

This was one of those days in the office when we were working during the weekends. some guys are cleaning the floor and we had nothing to do while they're doing their job so we decided to take some pictures such as this. we call it the "thrill kill club". It's the world's scariest funny picture.

"This picture was taken by a reporter in Indonesia, in 1993. The reporter wanted to take a photo of a room where a mass killing was done. When the photo was developed showed this!! It is said that people that were looking at this picture for long, had nervous breakdown problems. "

That was the caption but the truth is i couldn't look at it as I was posting it. Feels like my heart is beating past. It's really scary.

There was no caption for this picture but it took me a while to see the invisible women near the door.

The picture is clear. There is also no caption for this and we cannot tell if this is true. It seems like he's looking for something.

A Day In Seoul

I was not able to have my week long Thanksgiving day vacation. I had to work until thursday while my co-employees and almost all of Korea had been heading their trips somewhere else. Things really get uneasy when you need so much. But finally after that tiring night shift I was able to go back to Seoul. This time it's Lotte World. It is a huge shopping and entertainment complex connected directly with Jamsil subway station.
Along with some friends I had fun with some of the rides in the amusement park though the rides were far shorter than the time we waited for our turns due to the swarming crowds all over the place. Here is the story of that day.

this is what you do while waiting for your turn on the rides

this is what you do when you suddenly realize you're scared to take the atlantis (roller coaster at the back) ride

this is when you pretend you're not hungry

you get yourself tortured and pretend you're happy

and you only have an iced tea for the whole day

you suddenly appear on somebody else's picture (edwin didn't know i was there)

you make the funny funnier

and you try to beg kids to exchange ice cream with iced tea

you go to jail but use your super power to escape

get back to your company

and wear the V.R. visor to watch a 4D movie

you go home dead tired

FIN

Buknoy's World of Illusions..

So interesting is the power of the brain that what we see sometimes is not real and what we believe to be real is just an illusion. I decided to find some optical illusions for you to mess with your eyes and mind.
Here are some of them.

can you find the face in the beans?

This one is not directly an optical illusion but blurring your vision takes away the full details of the image making another form. Did you try it?

This one was said to have offended some Christians when it was published in the dailies. I had a hard time looking for this picture since I got a glimpse of it in one of blogs that I've seen. The shot wasn't intended to look like that but the keen observers and those who hate the pope may have noticed it had caused the clamor. It was just the collar so don't take it seriously.

If you look at the image below you will see falling leaves. You will not immediately see where or what the other image is. But if I tell you that there is naked girl lying there you'll have an easy time seeing it. Can you see her now?

A Letter From Neverland

9th of September, 2000 AD


Dear Wendy,

I wish you were here with me. I would like you to see me in the romantic part of Neverland. Though I know that when you’re here I will forget about everything. I will hesitate to go to every adventure and I wont be able to lay the best funny plan to fool the pirates. I don’t want to miss everything when we’re together.

Folks are all here. I’m sure they’re looking for me. They don't even think I’m here. However, I can’t visit London because they need me here, I always am. It has been quite a while when I’ve seen London. I don’t know if I can find my way back there.

I can still remember when I first saw you. You were so young then. You were so beautiful and gets more beautiful as you grow. From that time I decided I would always come for you and cherish every moment that we’re together. I will take you to Neverland, play with me and fly among those magnificent flowers and creatures that we can see. In a short time, you inspired me. Even during this time I reminisce those moments and couldn’t understand what I really feel. But that strange feeling, stranger than everything I felt in my most adventurous journey, made me feel I’m always with you no matter how far you are to me.

This is where I envy all of you who grow old. When time comes that you grow to be the prettiest lady in London or in all of the worlds, I’m still a boy like your brothers. I couldn’t shake off the thoughts that we’re bounded by a difference that cannot be changed. A mystery that has brought this eternal loneliness in me. I’m sure you know it, too, or if not, I feel it. This loneliness sometimes makes it hard for me to fly.

I know there will come a time when you’ll find someone who will love you and take care of you for the rest of your life. What could be happier than seeing the person who mean so much grow old with you? This thought makes me cry hiding under a giant mushroom head. Anyone who will see me cry would laugh because it looks so funny. But to me, it is death.

Sometimes I just want to fly up high aimlessly and let myself collide with anything on my way that could destroy the legend, that is Me. Sometimes I want to take you away, far from earth or Neverland, and come to a place where everything is different—where we can be together, forever.

But I am Peter Pan and I’m not a love story. I am a funny and ageless hero in every child’s book. This is a mistake! I’m not suppose to be sad because I am Peter Pan. It's ridiculous! But it’s love and I accept its own mysterious ways. I just hope you understand and I wish you know. Remember that star in the night sky.

It's me,

Peter

Isang Hatinggabi

11:37 pm. Hindi tumitigil ang ulan. Kapapanood ko lang ng pirated cd ng x-men 3. Katatapos ko lang din kumain ng adobong baboy na natira pa nung isang araw.

Nakabukas ang TV at palabas ang english TV series tungkol sa propessional spies. Tanging ang series lang na ito ang napapanood ko ng paulit-ulit sa kahit anong oras.Halos kabisado ko na eksena na ang salita ay isinalin sa koreano (para maintindihan ng mga korean audience sa kabila ng di nila pagsasalin ng conversation ng mga tauhan. siguro ay di na nakayanan ng mga koreano ang mabilisang ingles). Paulit ulit ang mga napapanood ko dahil deactivated na ang satellite cable service ng dating may-ari ng TV ko. Na-adik na siya sa chat sa internet kaya't ibinigay sa akin ang TV kapalit ng anim na bote ng sojo ( ito ang korean version ng gin). Dalawang bote palang ang naibibigay ko.

Nakatingin din ako ngayon sa una at huling record ng pag akyat namin sa Mt. Maculot sa Batangas kasama ang dalawang kaklase nung hayskul at kasintahan ng isa pa na di ko yata natanong kung ano pangalan. Siguro dahil sa kawalan ng magandang pakiramdam at kapaguran, ito lamang ang naisulat ko:

Mt. Maculot, Batangas

2:42 PM

ETD

- PAGOD!

Pundi ang flourescent lamp at study lamp lang tanglaw ko sa kwarto.Nasa field trip din yata ang mga tropa ng lamok na gabi-gabing nagpapasasa sa malabnaw na dugo ko. Wala kayang koneksyon ang pink na study lamp dun?Ngayon ko lang napansin na pink din pala ang kumot na pang winter ko pati ang isa pang kumot na ginagamit kong kobre kama.Gusto ko pa sanang magsulat ng makabuluhan at masasayang bagay subalit parang sumabay sa mga nagbakasyong lamok ang pagkakaisa ng isip ko. Tuloy, ito lang ang natira at lahat naisinga ko.

Summer Vacation

There had been a few events in July. We had our company outing at Depodo (the name came from podo which means grapes). Though we've been to the place twice and we didn't had a good time with the Korean type of merrymaking, we had a good picture taking and took advantage of the foods which were free.

After the picnic at Depodo, we went to Okgo park and played basketball. We also had a trek on top of the park overlooking place for a site of the whole Siheung city. We cooked foods in the nearby cottages provided for all people visiting the park.

These are the pictures.








site of Siheung City from the overlooking
place of the park

this is the smaller park near Okgo

this is the one of the cottages for a good rest

Usapang Pulis Pangkalawakan

Sa araw-araw na pag-iisa naalala kong bigla ang mga paborito kong superheroes noong bata pa ako. Sa isa sa mga libro (Paboritong Libro ni Hudas) ng paborito ko pa ring si Bob Ong tinalakay niya ang pagkakaiba ng mga superherong puti at superherong asyano. Nakakatuwa ang mga pagtatalakay na iyon at talaga namang makatotohan. Pero hindi sa pagkakaiba ng mga superheroes ang naiisip ko ngayon. Ang unang pumasok sa isip ko ay si Shaider(siguro miss ko lang siya). Sa aking pagsasaliksik, siya ang ikatlo at pinakahuli sa uchuu keiji space sheriff trilogy noong 1984(Una ang Gavan noong 1982 at sumunod ang Sharivan noong 1983) na sumikat din hindi lang sa Japan at Pinas kundi sa France. Dito binase ang Saban's VR Troopers (yung may asong nagsasalita at medyo korni).

Si Shaider ay ang archeologist na si Dai Sawamura o Alexis (sa pinas) na nakatuklas ng mga figures sa Nazca. Siyempre napabilib niya ang Galactic Union Police kaya siya narecruit para maging ikatlong pulis pangkalawakan ng mundo para talunin muli ang tropa ni Great Emperor Kubilai o Fuuma Le-ar na natalo na rin ng naunang Shaider 12,000 ago. Kasama niya si Annie na pinasabog ni Fuuma ang home planet kaya narelocate siya sa Babylos (yung malaking eroplano na base ni Shaider. Yung maliit eh yung Sky Striker). Plano na namang sakupin ni Fuuma ang earth at kadalasan mga bata ang pinagtitripan niya. Palagay ko nga ay isip bata talaga siya dahil puno ng mga mascot ang kanyang kuta na kasamang sumasamba ng mga assistant niya tulad nila God Officer Poe (pero di kamag-anak ni FPJ) o Iga (yung babaeng sobrang tanda na raw at di pala tunay yung buhok) at Hessler (yung may ugat ugat na sumbrero at costume yata na medyo astig). Para sa kaalaman pa rin ng lahat siya yung gumanap na Red1 sa Bioman. Wala yata akong natuklasan kung ano talaga ang itsura ni Le-ar dahil palaging yung ulo lang na malaki ang nakikita ko noon na nganga ng nganga.

Talagang nakakabilib si Shaider dahil kahit gamitan siya ng time sapce warp ( ito yung camera trick na pinapalitan ang background na pinaglalabanan nila), natatalo pa rin yung mga monster ni Le-ar at isa lang ang ulap na nasa likod ni Shaider pagkapos niyang matalo ang kalaban. Hinahabol kaya siya ng ulap na iyon o favorite nya lang mag posing na yun ang background.

May giant monster din nga palang kalaban si Shaider pero bihira nyang gamitin ang robot nya (yung babylos din yun na nagtransform) dahil parang may tuberculosis ang porma. Madalas niyang pamatay sa kalabang monster (na wala din masyadong porma dahil parang higandeng uuod na matigas na may mukha pa rin ni Le-ar) ang babylos pa rin na nagiging higanteng baril pag sinigaw niya ang "Matrix Projection". Nagkakaroon kasi ng isang malaking projection ni Shaider na parang hawak yung malaking waterpistol na iyon. One shot lang yun lagi at tepok na yung kalaban.

Meron pa nga palang pananggulo sa labanan. Ito yung mga tumitira sa babylos na tatlong spacecraft na parang may gulong. Inaasinta lang din yun ng tatlong beses ni Shaider o ni Annie sa babylos at sabog na. Mahirap din ang papel ni Annie dahil walang beam na nagbababa o nagtataas sa kanila mula at papunta sa babylos kaya kailangan niyang lumudag papunta o palabas sa sasakyan. Natutuwa sa mga eksena na iyon ang mga nagbibinata dahil naka mini skirt lang si Annie. Kaya ko nga siya natatandaan eh. Walang makapagsabi kung ano na nangyari kila Shaider at Annie. Maaaring nagkadebelopan sila at naging mag-asawa at nag-resign na sa pagiging police pangkalawakan para mag concentrate sa pagpapamilya.

Nauna naman sa Shaider ang Bioman. Sila ang team ng mga taong descendants ng limang sinabuyan ni Peebo (yung robot na kamag-anak ni C3-PO ng Starwars) ng bioparticles ilang siglo na ang nakalilipas. Ito ay dahil nagsisimula ng sakupin ni Dr. Kageyama o Doctorman ang Earth. Pero na train na nga sila red1, green2, blue3, yellow4 at pink5 bilang mga biomen kaya bigo ang long hair na cyborg. Di tulad ng Shaider, english-speaking ang mga biomen. Si Shirou Gou o Red1 ang idol ko dahil seryoso siya sa trabaho. Siya ang unang pililoto ng unang Japanese Space Shuttle. Si Shingo Takasugi o green2 ay race car driver at si Ryuta Nanbara o blue3 ay watersportsman. si Mika Koizumi o yellow4 naman ay photographer na napatay ng kalaban. Di ko alam kung bakit pinatay ang character niya dahil ok naman. Di kaya na pirate din ng kabilang estasyon kaya ginawa sa story line yun. pero napalitan siya agad ni Jun Yabuki na magaling pumana at naka mini din pero parang di nagpapalit ng damit. Crush ng lahat ng batang lalaki si pink5 pati ako. Kabisado ko pa ang chorio nila na required nga yata para ma activate ang mga powers nila. Bukod pa dyan tatambling sila sa ere at magpapakilala para siguro sa mga preschoolers na di pa kabisado ang mga kulay. Panlaban nila sa mechagaigan ni Doctorman ang biorobo na galing sa dalawang nagbuong eroplano. yung isa sakay sila green2,blue3 at yellow4. Yung isa naman operated nila red1 at pink5 (uuyyyy!). Maganda ang ending ng bioman dahil natalo ang kalaban at di nagpareplay replay ang episode.

Merong mga sumunod sa bioman at shaider. Ilan sa kanila ay ang maskman,jetman,turboman,mask rider black, machineman at janperson. Lahat sila japanese na marunong magtagalog o baka anak ng japayuki. Sumunod ang mga fil-ams. Yung Power Rangers na dumami ng dumami. Parang pagkain na iba iba ang flavors. Wala na kong matandaan pero nakakamiss nga talaga sila.

flashback

These are the pictures from Gerald's camera August last year when we roamed the antique shops of Itaewon in Seoul. I had a little sleep in two days coming from a two weeks night work and we slept for only about 2 hours in a travellers' inn somewhere in Dongdaemon Market, though we didn't know the place yet. Our only guide on that journey were a city map and a subway map and all night we were walking before these pictures were taken. A lot of drunk students were also seen during that saturday night and we were told it was a normal sight during the weekends in many cities of seoul. Take a look at how clean the streets are. What am I saying? Just enjoy the pictures.