Inhumanities Week

Current System Configuration: Fighting neuralgia
Earworms:
Iisang Bangka by The Dawn
Hemisphere by Maaya Sakamoto (from the anime RahXephon)
The Gate of the Hell by JAM Project (from Mazinkaiser vs. Ankoku Daishogun). Yes, it really is "The Gate of THE Hell."
Sustenance:
[Breakfast] French toast and blueberry jam
[Lunch] Spaghetti with meat sauce
[Dinner] Ziti with meat sauce D:
[Coffee] None
Current Read:
None, finished the following recently:
-The Giver by Lois Lowry
-Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

InHumanities week is finally over. Overall it was a good mix of doing absolutely nothing and being absolutely stressed. For most of the time I did nothing but listen to talks, but yesterday was completely busy. English day does that to you. I coached one of the debate teams, and in the afternoon I emceed for the speech choir competition.

The result of the debate was very favorable. My team did win, although both the Best Speaker and Best Debater awards went to Max Gana on the opposing team. He did excellently, and deserved it. I was pleased with the good fight both teams put up. In fact, one of the judges commended the students on how impressive their manner was, considering that they were only in high school. He said that they were quite promising and could look forward to outstanding performances in debate circuits if they continued honing their skills.

The speech choir was generally impressive. Most of the presentations were quite entertaining, although some of the sections failed to grasp the concept of the speech choir---that is, unison. Some put on impressive shows, although only a few people were talking at a time. One class relied too much on monologues, which hurt their score a lot.

The most memorable of the presentations was that of Rosal. They dressed up as zombies and portrayed a shambling undead horde quite well--the result was slightly comical at first, but it eventually escalated into a haunting portrayal of our country's fight for freedom. They only won second place, but it's the only presentation that really stood out in my mind.

The rest events of the week are chronicled in my photobucket account.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v312/AslanCross/Pisay/InhumanitiesWeek0607/
The password is vaevictis

Again, the week was generally successful. The only total failure was on the part of our government, which did not pay us when they should have.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the two books I finished this week. Let's start with Inkheart.

Inkheart is a must read for anyone who likes reading. The story revolves around Meggie, a 12-year-old girl whose father Mortimer (Mo) is a book restoration specialist. The book starts with a visit from a mysterious old acquaintance, Dustfinger. Eventually, it's revealed that Meggie's father has the ability to read fictional entities and objects into physical existence in this world whenever he reads out loud.

The plot itself is quite long and winding, so first time fantasy readers might find the text ponderous. In the words of one of my students, it was quite tiring to read towards the end. However, it was very entertaining, with the ending leaving many possibilities open. I look forward to getting my hands on the sequel, Inkspell.

If Inkheart was a bit of a struggle, The Giver was not. Lois Lowry narrated it so clearly and concisely that I finished the book at 10 pm, having only begun at 4:30pm that day.

The Giver is set in what seems to be a utopian society in which everything is controlled and taken care of. Jonas, the protagonist, is an eleven-year-old boy waiting for his assignment to his adult role in the community. Eventually, he discovers that his community is not as peaceful as it seems.

The novel was quite chilling and inspiring at the same time. It asks very poignant questions about human freedom. Of course, I can't discuss it in detail as I will be giving my students a long test on it. <_<>

Oh yeah, for all my current students:
If you didn't know yet, I'm making sigs for use on the Rex2010 Forums for those who get a 1.00 in my class. So far, four people got them, with one declining my offer. Here are the ones I've made so far:

Andie's sig:








Joe's sig:







Isa's sig:









So if you guys want to have a custom sig done by me, do better this quarter.

The Return

Current System Configuration: Physical Fitness Mode
Earworms:
-Jin/Shin/Ki -MAN-GOD-MACHINE- by Yuichi Ikusawa [JRock, Kishin Houkou Demonbane OP]
-Ages of Power by Freedom Call [Power Metal]
-Subarashiki Shin Sekai by Flair [JPop/Trance, Namco vs Capcom insert song]
Sustenance:
[Breakfast] Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
[Lunch] Fruit magic's pesto spaghetti and choco-banana shake.
[Dinner] None yet. Antonio's despedida tonight.
[Coffee] Homemade mocha (just ordinary coffee+Swiss Miss mix. I don't have espresso, sadly.)
Current Read:
-Wormwood by G.P. Taylor

My brother's finally coming home tomorrow night. I really miss the guy even if I visited him last summer. It'll be great to have him here again. I guess I always take his presence for granted. Most of us are like that, anyway.

He just graduated from High School in the US. He did pretty well there; he was exempted from practically all his final exams because of his performance. He'll be staying here for about 8 months, as he will leave for Singapore next April. He's most likely going to take up Management and Culinary Studies at Temasek Polytechnic. At least he'll be much easier to visit in Singapore, and as I have plans of eventually working there, it won't be such a big problem.

~~~~

Wormwood has been an interesting read so far. It's not particularly excellent; I find it too dark, the imagery too squalid. Nevertheless, I'm sure it's an accurate portrayal of 18th-century London. My main issue with G.P. Taylor's work is that I find his world view confusing and inconsistent with the Christian ideas that he is trying to present. Of course, his main target audience is the goth demographic, trying to draw them to faith in Jesus Christ through his horror novels. That was certainly clear and present in his previous novel, Shadowmancer, but in Wormwood I'm having trouble seeing who the good guy really is.

There is no clear protagonist, though I see two who are experiencing the story in a similar way: Dr. Sabian Blake, an astronomer and master of the Kabbalah, and his servant girl, Agetta Lamian, a flea-bitten teenage girl with a knack for thievery. Both are caught up in things they do not understand, a web of deception. They both encounter angels who tell them more about the greater scheme of things, although Agetta's angel is a remorseful and disempowered being who had been doomed because he had fallen in love with a demonic sorceress.

The plot seems smooth---the action rises, slowly but surely, through each cryptically-entitled chapter (most of them have Latin or Hebrew titles). As I see it, Wormwood is much more allegorical than Shadowmancer, which was very literal in its treatment of the use of magic and salvation. More to come when I finish the novel.

Books and related things

Current System Configuration: First Quarter Storm
Earworms:
-Through the Fire and Flames by Dragon Force [Power Metal]
-Warriors by Freedom Call [Power Metal]
-XTC by Psychic Lover [JRock, Witchblade Anime OP]
Sustenance:
[Breakfast] Oatmeal
[Lunch] Kielbasa, buttered veggies, whole wheat toast with olive oil
[Dinner] Sbarro's Spinach and Mushroom pizza.
[Coffee] Tall Mocha frappuccino with Valencia. Twice Blended.

I'm really happy with the new reading list we're using for my English 1 class. The previous year's list of books was at best hard to relate to, and at worst horribly boring. Compare these two lists:

Last Year
1st Quarter: Silas Marner by George Elliot
2nd Quarter: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
3rd Quarter: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
4th Quarter: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

This Year
1st Quarter: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
2nd Quarter: The Giver by Lois Lowry
3rd Quarter: The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
4th Quarter: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Silas Marner wasn't really bad, albeit mildly boring. It was just rather hard to relate to and the way the local manner of speech was rendered made it exceedingly hard to take in at times. Oliver Twist, on the other hand, was downright horrible. Dickens's prose is long-winded, wordy, and preachy. The plot felt like one of the telenovelas on ABS-CBN. Among these four, I liked the Red Badge the most. It was really short and was a rather vivid tale of war, though there were times when the narration confused me. Heart of Darkness was difficult to wrestle with, but it was still nowhere as awful as Oliver Twist.

Among this year's readings, the only one I haven't read yet is The Giver. I've already gone through Lord of the Flies and The Alchemist before, and both were quite engaging to read. I'm almost done with The Secret Garden, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I thought it would be another dreary and confusing story, but I have to say that it is definitely one of the better classics I've read. I can't say too much about it now as most of the readers of this blog are my students who should be reading the novel on their own.

I took a trip to the bookstore a while ago to hunt for the Bartimaeus trilogy. I only found the second book (The Golem's Eye). Perhaps tomorrow I'll have better luck at Powerbooks. I intend to do a fair amount of book hunting soon. I have yet to finish That Hideous Strength, though--I had to put it down for a while. It really is a challenging read.

The only other book I'm hunting for right now (probably going to ask my brother to get it for me in Barnes and Noble before he comes home from the US) is Dissension, the third book in Magic: The Gathering's Ravnica trilogy. Ravnica: City of Guilds was good but rather convoluted, while Guildpact was complex in an amusing way. I never thought Teysa Karlov would make such a good protagonist, but she just shines in it. I expect Dissension to be full of action. After all, Rakdos the Defiler has come to party, and Razia's legion of angels isn't too happy about that.

~~~

On a rather sad note, I heard from one of my students that her mother was not letting her read Lord of the Rings and other fantasy books. According to the mother, fantasy was "useless" and Tolkien was crazy to have spent so much time creating his own universe.

I beg to differ. All literature is rooted in human experience, and Tolkien's "own world" is in fact supposed to be OUR world. Arda IS Earth. On top of that, Tolkien's work is ultimately uplifting.

C.S. Lewis created his own world too (Narnia), and it too is an echo of ours. Wild and beautiful and tragically marred by a single act of human foolishness, ending only to be transformed into a truer, wilder, and more wonderful version of itself.

Now, if you want to read work by a crackpot, you might want to check out H.P. Lovecraft's stuff. I haven't read them personally, but in general it seems his work makes people want to believe that a giant alien octopus man is sleeping under the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Lovecraft has a depressing, nihilistic point of view that makes you feel insignificant and weak. His mighty gods are not beings of glory, but twisted, vile creatures, mockeries of creation. Slugs, octopi, tentacle monsters, worms, giant demonic amoebas, giants with tentacles in place of faces--it goes on, and it sickens me. His obsession with tentacles is disturbing enough. Calling this guy a crackpot would not do him justice.

I really think it's unfair to fantasy stories to call them useless. Is "real-world" fiction any more genuine? Are their values even more applicable to human life? I'd definitely consider the values of honor, faith, hope and brotherhood (which appear in Lord of the Rings) much more applicable to life than the shallow materialism and consumerism promoted in the bilgewater known as Chick Lit.

I don't advocate rebellion against one's parents, dear student, but you'll always have your chance to read. Be thankful that you can read at all, and that you have good taste in books. Ultimately, your mind and your dreams are your own.

Across the Heavens

Current System Configuration: Rather cold
BGM: The Seven Angels by Avantasia. From Avantasia: The Metal Opera. An epic, 14-minute long song that's so complex it could be called a symphony.
Breakfast: Grilled cheese and turkey sandwich
Lunch: Frozen pizza
Dinner: Macaroni and Cheese

(First of all, disregard the date. I'm in the US right now so I'm 12 hours behind my usual readers in the Philippines. I'm sending a message to the future! Yeah!)

I'm in the US right now, and I have to say that my trip here was one of my most interesting trips yet. Let's take it step by step.

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Short, uneventful flight. This flight took only an hour. Nothing much happened except that we saw thunderstorms from a distance. Lightning bolts look awesome when viewed from the sky. I was wondering if I'd see sprite lightning and the like, but alas, the sky wasn't angry enough to produce those.The highlight of this trip was Singapore's Changi airport. I mean, any airport that offers free broadband internet has got to be awesome.

Kuala Lumpur to Stockholm, Sweden
This is where I found out that my plane doesn't go straight to New York---it was passing through Stockholm, Sweden! Kuala Lumpur's airport was pretty awesome. It was huge and bustling, and had the look of the interior of a cosmoship from Gunbuster. Really hi-tech. Like Hong Kong's airport, you have to take a high-speed train to get from one part of the airport to another.

The trip to Sweden was pretty cool. The sky was clear all the way, and the seas below were calm. You could see the clouds reflected in the water!

We flew over the deserts of Kazahkstan, and one could see the snow-capped mountains. Then we went through Russia, and endless fields of snow (or at least what looked like it) were visible.

The food was alright--- breakfast was chicken sausage and omelet with hash browns and lunch was this rather strange but tasty solid pasta (it was like macaroni except it wasn't hollow).

Sweden was breathtaking from the air. You could see the olive-brown and red-colored farmland, with patches of snow every now and then. Arlanda Airport in Sweden wasn't as grand as KLIA, but I have to say the ladies were as lovely as the scenery. Oh, and my female students might have enjoyed staring at the men. All of them are tall, slim and blond, with long hair. <_< style="font-style: italic;">Unfortunately for you girls, I didn't bring my camera. (My mom brought it to Israel).

Stockholm to Newark International Airport, New York, USA.
A rather uneventful and boring flight. I forgot to mention that we were flying westward from Singapore, so in effect we were running towards the sunset. Thus, for 24 whole hours, we could see the sun. I had to keep the window shade down, because the sun was blinding. It was reflecting off the ice sheets of Norway, Iceland and Greenland, filling the plane cabin with bright white light. What was awesome, though, is that I saw an actual volcano on Iceland from the air---cone, crater and all. Fantastic.

The food was good enough---a corned beef sandwich, followed by dinner: braised beef in olives and mashed potatoes.

The worst part of this trip was that the US Department of Homeland Security held me for about 15 minutes because they thought I was an illegal Mexican immigrant. My name is entirely Hispanic, and I was born in Quezon City. PLEASE. Ask any Mexican, and he'll tell you he's never heard of it. And what illegal immigrant, in his right mind, would book a flight all the way to Singapore, put up with all the strict airport security and take a flight through Malaysia and Sweden for 24 hours just to get into the US through a New York airport, where security is tightest when the US is right across the border from Mexico? What illegal immigrant even has that much money? Finally, dear readers, will you ever find a Mexican with a Philippine passport?

In the words of the Filipina American immigration officer who came to my rescue,
"Don't say a word, just don't say a word." (Regarding the other officer who accosted me)

***

Right now my brother and I are house-sitting for one of my uncles who went out of town to North Carolina. We haven't really done much, though yesterday we did go to Manhattan to have a walk around. We bought an entire box of Guildpact Magic cards, and we were pretty happy with the stuff we got. I bought an awesome journal from Barnes and Noble, as well as the novel that tells Guildpact's story. Oh yeah, apart from the bus rides to and from New York, all the travelling around Manhattan was done by foot. That's about all the exercise I've gotten. We bought lamb gyros (That's basically shawarma, except it had lamb, tomatoes, peppers, brocolli, lettuce and yohgurt sauce instead of the typical stuff that goes into Filipinized beef shawarma.) from a food cart (yes, they have street food in New York) and ate at a park. The lamb gyros were really good, and taste better than anything I'd have gotten if I bought food from McDonald's.

Right now we're hoping that someone picks us up for an overnight over Sunday so we can go to church for Easter. Right now we're just sitting around and eating. We have internet access, but it's pretty boring just sitting around. We've already finished watching all the anime I brought and my brother needs to modify his Magic decks (as I've been owning him a bit too much) We need company and fresh air. >_<>

A little personality test I found on Katie's blog: (But uh, the tests on this site seem to be geared toward a primarily female audience)

You Are Fall!

Thoughtful Expressive Creative Poetic Smart

What Season Are You?

~Be Just or Be Dead~
#1406AD20062331
ー黒獅子アスラン

Singapore Pics, part Zwei

Current System Configuration: Taking a breather, just finished the grades for the third quarter
BGM: Ichirin no Hana by HIGH AND MIGHTY COLOR. It's a song from the Bleach anime. Though I haven't really watched Bleach (I don't particularly care for it, I have a tendency to shy away from mainstream stuff), this song is pretty good. It's fast, intense and relentless.
Breakfast: Chocolate oatmeal and whole wheat toast.
Lunch: Homemade Mediterranean Angel Hair Pasta (garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and mushrooms in olive oil)
Dinner: Nothing, I think I'm going to pass on dinner tonight. (Had Banana cake and Kaya toast instead)

Okay, here's the continuation of my collection of Singapore pictures.

Singapore has been described as a -FINE- city. Fine as in what you pay when you're caught littering. An interesting sign I saw at the Harbour Front MRT station. Durians are not allowed.

The day before we went to Sentosa for the first time, we decided to take it easy, so instead we went to the malls to show Vinci around. We went to Tang Lin road and Orchard Road, which make up the main arteries of the mall district. One of the main attractions back then was the snow shower (2) at Tang Lin Mall. However, that isn't snow. It's foam! Foam as in soap foam, like the kind you make when you take a bath. Some kids were even bringing raincoats to avoid being drenched by the residue.

Tang Lin road at night. Tang Lin gives way to the even more spectacularly-illuminated Orchard Road.
Blargh, I sure gained weight. -_-
Lights!
One of the many huge Christmas trees along Orchard Road.
An attempt at a postcard-esque picture. Too bad my hands were too shaky. I hadn't mastered my camera's settings yet when I took this picture.

Merlion Park, Funan and Clarke Quay
The day Mom arrived, Dad, Vinci and I went to Funan mall to buy him a PSP game. He ended up buying Metal Gear Ac!d. It was an interesting game, but I found it rather difficult since Snake's SOCOM pistol SUCKED. On the way, though, we passed through Merlion Park. The Merlion here is the original one, commonly depicted in postcards. The dome in the background is the Esplanade. It has been described as a "giant durian" by some people, hence a very clever ad posted by an airconditioning company that designed the dome's airconditioning system. (I don't have a picture of the ad. >_<) Anyway, it had a picture of the Esplanade and a single line: "Because Durians are best served chilled." The Esplanade is basically Singapore's version of the CCP. It's a giant theater-concert hall-mall complex. The mall itself is not very big, though. Nothing much to see, but they have GOOD eateries. (Al Dente being my favorite. Italian style gourmet pizzas---the classy kind--- for 330 pesos isn't bad at all.)

More of the Singapore skyline plus the Esplanade.

After taking pictures there, we moved on to Clarke Quay, which is a small district along the banks of the Singapore River. It's very close to the central business district (CBD) and the government district. There are lots of odd bronze sculptures here and there, but they make the whole place very rustic compared to the towering office buildings right beside it.

Cavenagh Bridge. This is the oldest bridge in Singapore, having been made in the late 1800s. It's only open to pedestrian traffic, but is a common venue for wedding receptions due to its rustic (not rusty) appearance.
Life-size bronze sculpture of a cat and kittens on one of the supports of Cavenagh Bridge.
Life-size bronze sculpture of kids jumping into the river, also beside the bridge.
Vinci haggling with bronze people. o_O
Bronzy dinner. The figure on the left used to be holding chopsticks. An unscrupulous tourist probably stole them.
Houses of the Parliament. The building reminds me a lot of the Japanese Diet Building (which is also a parliament building).

MICA. No, Pisay students, it's not Mika Suansing. It's the Ministry of Communication and Art. I find its colorful windows really cute. It reminded me of a lego set.

ZOMG SINGAPORE IS RUN BY ALIENS. This is the Supreme Court building. Beside (though not visible in this pic) is the old Supreme Court, which is a classic domed building similar to the Capitol in Washington, DC.

Funan Lifestyle Mall. This mall sells all sorts of electronics. Not cheap, but you can definitely be sure of the quality. Lots of choices, too. There was this one store that was selling SRW figurines! I so wanted to buy that THRUDGELMIR and that VALCIONE!

Before we went around Funan, dad, Vinci and I had a snack at Ya Kun Kaya coffee shop. They sell the local blend of coffee there---hard-kicking arabica with half a cup of condensed milk. o_O Dad said he once stayed awake for 72 hours when he had it for the first time. I didn't feel its effects so much---until Vinci and I woke up the next day at 1 AM. We couldn't sleep anymore. I could even feel my heart beating weirdly. X_x Singaporean kopi is served with kaya toast---dry, twice-toasted bread spread with butter and kaya (like coco jam, except it's more gelatinous and lighter in color), sometimes eaten with fried eggs.

One of Ya Kun's ads. I think it's pretty cool. I wanted to take a picture of it myself, but the lady at the counter shooed me away. Fortunately, Dad was able to get me a pic off the net.

After we got hungry walking around the mall, we decided to go to have lunch at a nearby Indian fast food. We had roti prata, a kind of chewy flat bread, with cheese and sausage inside. It's served with curry sauce. YUM. I never expected Indian food to be so good.

Later on we met with mom, lola and Gino, so we took them to see Clarke Quay.
Here's a pic with all of us, taken by Dad. If you look closely at Gino's left arm (it's the right one in the picture), there's a small orange sign above it. It's the sign of HOOTERS,a US-based restaurant known for its uh...amply proportioned waitresses.

The GMAX. If you look at the background, in front of the MICA, there are two large, white steel arms that resemble cranes. That's the GMAX. It's basically a giant slingshot that throws you at 220 kph into the air. >_o Dad kept goading me and Vinci to ride, but I refused. Vinci wanted to ride, but since you had to be in a group of three to ride, we couldn't go. (I refused, Gino said he'd only ride if I did.)

Jumbo Chili Crab restaurant. They say you've never been to Singapore if you haven't eaten their Chili Crab. It's basically crab (duh) in a really really spicy sauce with egg and crab meat. Instead of eating it with rice, you eat it with these really good fried dumplings. Excellent food. You can see my dad seated there at the table.

Back to Sentosa
The next day we went to Sentosa a second time, this time with Lola, mom and my cousin Gino. We took exactly the same tour, but this time we stayed around long enough to watch the dolphin show. They had PINK DOLPHINS. kid you not. More on that later.

Underwater world pics:
Chambered nautilus. These strange animals are ancient creatures, related to the ammonites of old.
Sea dragon. A colorful relative of the sea horse.
The Giant Arapaima. The largest freshwater fish in the world. These guys look like Arrowanas in this picture (I think they're relatives) but I'm telling you, they're HUGE. Each is at least seven feet long and as thick as my waist. (which is pretty thick -_-) Their heads are armored with bony plates that make them look decidedly prehistoric.
I bought a pink dolphin keychain afterward.

Afterward. we bought roti buns from Roti Mama. I also got a can of Sprite Ice. (Sprite with menthol to make it cooler than usual.) Unfortunately, instead of the "extreme cooling sensation", it gave my stomach an extreme burning sensation instead. -_-

This time, my mom posed with the snake. This is the first time she ever did so, as she never really liked the snake's slimy scaly feel. Lola, however, absolutely refused to even touch it.

Are we back in the Philippines? o_O Palawan Beach is along the southern coast of Sentosa. It's where the dolphin lagoon is located. Of course, one has to remember that all Filipino languages are heavily based off Malay, so sometimes it's not really safe to insult a Singaporean in Tagalog---they might be able to understand it. Better yet, don't insult anyone. o_o

PINK DOLPHIN. Unfortunately, this shot wasn't too clear. I was too far from the water and didn't know about my camera's digital zoom yet. -_- The dolphin doesn't look too pink, either---it's still a juvenile. Indo-pacific dolphins are born gray, but gradually turn pink as they get older. The adults are pink all over. Unfortunately the pen where the adults were kept was too far away---you have to pay Sg $13 to get a close up picture with them and be willing to get wet. I had no change of clothes. Too bad. D: (Btw, the girl who trained this particular dolphin looked cute from where I was. Since she was Malay, she looked very Filipina. It's almost impossible to tell Malays from Filipinos.)

This is my best shot of the pink dolphin. The juveniles are pinkest at their bellies, but the adults are just breathtakingly cute, being pink all over.

The majestic Sentosa Merlion. I'm fairly sure this particular Merlion wasn't the original, but it's much, much bigger. The Sentosa Merlion is 37 meters tall, compared to the original, which is around 4 to 5 meters.

Singapore Zoo: The last day

On our last day, dad took all of us to the Singapore Zoo. I only took a few pics because my memory was almost full, but here they are anyway. Singapore Zoo is known for refraining from using cages. A lot of the animal enclosures are large, open spaces with a moat or similar obstruction keeping the people away from the animals.

This mangled object is a polar bear's chew toy. It looks like someone sprayed it with an MP5 submachinegun. Suffice to say, you don't want that to happen to you arm. (Or any part of your body.) Polar bears are the largest member of the bear family. They can grow up to 3 meters tall. One of the bears, named Inuka (Inuit for Silent Hunter) is the first polar bear born in captivity. Despite Singapore's steamy climate, these guys enjoyed a nice, deep pool and an airconditioned room.

An iguana. There were lots of these guys at the zoo, but this fellow was particularly relaxed. In another section of the zoo they had a path passing right beneath the branches where the iguanas were---close enough to touch them. They were huge. Each was longer than my arm and about as fat as my leg. Most of them were sleeping, camouflaged and safe. However, there was a group of Malay girls who were annoying the poor critters by shaking the branches, then screaming loudly when the animals started walking.

A male peacock. Unfortunately, I never got a pic of one holding its tail fan open. Oh well. This pic's still really crisp, though.

A majestic white tiger. All of the white tigers in existence are actually descended from a single ancestor in India. Very few of them are found in the wild. Vinci later bought a white tiger plushie, while I bought a really cute lion plushie.

We had lunch at KFC afterwards. KFC in Singapore does NOT serve gravy like they do here. o_o They give you chili sauce instead. My dad once had to ask for gravy, and the server did not know what it was. My dad had to go on to explain that it was the brown stuff in the mashed potatoes, and even then the girl had to ask her boss if they could dispense it.Strange, but we have different tastes, I guess.

Suntec City
Before I actually tell you what it is, let me show you pics of it first.
This is the Fountain of Wealth in the center of Suntec City. Based on Feng Shui, you're supposed to walk around the bubbling water in the middle three times while touching it, and make a wish. We don't believe in geomancy, but we did it anyway for posterity. The darn fountain is huge. The ground around the center of the fountain is actually not dry. A constant stream of water washes over the whole place. The only dry ground is the walkway and the platform surrounding the center. That ring is also part of the fountain, as seen here. Another pic.

The rest of Suntec City: (Some pics were taken from a taxi, so they're a bit blurry.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Guessed what it is yet?

What looks like a large government or corporate complex, my friends, is a MALL. All of the buildings depicted in the series are part of the mall. (Though I think the towers are corporate offices) Below the ground is the rest of the mall. The Fountain of Wealth is partly underground---the halo is suspended through a hole in the center of Suntec City's central rotonda. Underneath the road (surrounding the fountain's base below ground level) are lots of restaurants. Everything underneath the buildings shown in those pictures is the mall's basement. Suntec City is the largest mall in Singapore. (It's also where I bought my new Chucks :D)

A funny anecdote from Suntec: Mom was buying me a bunch of shirts at Giordano (3 for 20 dollars, about 600 pesos). However, the guy at the cashier told us he'd sell it to us for 6 dollars apiece instead. (Which is cheaper: 6 x3 = $18). Mom didn't understand that it was cheaper at first until I told her in Tagalog that it was cheaper. Suddenly the cashier, Billy, spoke in fluent Tagalog (with the correct accent), explaining to my mom how much cheaper it was. o_O His Singaporean accent was so genuine that we mistook him for a Malay guy---it turns out he was Pinoy! o_O We also met other employees of the stores who were Pinoy.

Mom, Vinci, Gino and Lola at the entrance to Suntec City, before we left. [pic]

My last pic of Suntec.

Changi Airport
The last taste of Singapore I had on this particular trip.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Changi airport is a lovely place. They even had free internet! Loaded with the duty-free goods my dad had me buy for Lolo, lola and Fr. Dacanay, I took one last look at this place and boarded the plane.

I could certainly get used to such a place. If only the Philippines could pick itself up. Too bad, the very people I work for don't give a damn about the country's welfare.

And so we arrive at the end of our journey. This Christmas was hands down the best Christmas I ever had, but not so much because I got a lot of cool gifts---it's because it was the first time in a very long time that my parents were actually together. Of course, I've already accepted that my dad has married Tita Nikki, and mom and dad will never get back together---but I'm glad to see them as friends, and that they're able to treat each other kindly. I really appreciate how they work together to continue to support Vinci and myself. Kudos to you, mom and dad. Best parents in the world. Thanks also to Tita Nikki for being such a good host to us. God bless. :D

~Be Just Or Be Dead~
#1601AD200621
ー黒獅子アスラン

Tadaima~

Current System Configuration: Vacation Mode
BGM: Beautiful by Round Table feat. NINO. A song from .hack//Dusk. I never really watched it, but I found this song and it's pretty cute. Jazzy, mellow and sweet.
Breakfast: Ham and mozzarella sandwich from Upper Crust at Changi airport
Lunch: Manhattan Meatlovers pizza from Yellow Cab.
Dinner: Nothing, still full of pizza

I'm home!
Dad gave me and my younger brother each a digital camera for Christmas. :D Thus I was able to take lots of pics after Christmas Day. There are too many of them to upload them all, so I'll be posting a few here.
I decided to make today's entry a photo essay instead of my regular sermons. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but I'll put in some commentary.

Flamingo Valley
The following are pics of my dad's place in Singapore and the surrounding area at Flamingo Valley Condominiums.
This is the view taken from our balcony. Flamingo Valley is a pretty old place, but well maintained, as you can see.
The view from my room. The area where Flamingo Valley is could be likened to Ayala Alabang in the Philippines---that is, classy suburbs.
Houses across the street.
What Flamingo Valley looks like from outside.

Sentosa, Part I
The day after Christmas, we went to Sentosa. That wasn't a very good idea, as it was a public holiday. Thus, everyone and his mother and grandmother was there. And that's not even counting the tourists. The place was full, and it was hot, but we managed to enjoy it anyway. Here are some pics.
Sentosa is an island off the coast of the main Singapore island. It's part resort and part theme park. One can either take a bus to cross the causeway, or take the more fun and more scenic cable car.
To get to the cable car from the train, one has to get to the Harbor Front station.
This is the Christmas tree at the Harbor Front station.
Me, my brothers and my dad. Look closely at the Christmas balls on the tree.
...they're Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Fight the cravings: This sign defends them.
...people seem to ignore the sign, though, which is uncommon in Singapore. There were a lot of missing pieces, and even torn scraps scattered on the base of the tree. It was a pretty out-of-place sight in Singapore, where people mostly obey the rules. I'm betting this was the doing of ang mo (foreigners), most likely tourists who don't know how to read English.

The view from the cable car to Sentosa.
Speaking of Cable Cars, here's the world's only Lego cable car.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/AslanCross/Singapore%20Pics/SentosaPt1_005.jpg
The cable car to Sentosa actually moves away from Sentosa on its leg, toward the Jewel Box, a resort on the peak of Mt Faber. It then turns back toward the Harbor Front, then on to Sentosa.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/AslanCross/Singapore%20Pics/SentosaPt1_006.jpg
The view (2) from the Jewel Box. The Keppel Building can be seen in the background. Its 15th floor is the central cable car station. It's located between the Jewel Box and the Sentosa station.

First stop on Sentosa: Underwater World.
The resemblance is uncanny. This fish actually hangs out a lot in that spot, as my cousin has a similar pic to this one. I don't know if it's the same fish, but there's always a fish of that type that floats around that spot. I think this type of fish is called a sweetlips.
A jellyfish. Underwater world is pretty small, but there's a lot of interesting stuff. More pics on it later (from my second trip)

This peahen was begging for food. We paused for a snack at the Roti Mama outside Underwater World. Roti Mama (and its son/competitor Roti Boy) sell a bun that's roughly the shape and size of a large hamburger bun, except it's a lot softer. The buns are just plain bread with butter baked inside (so it melts deliciously inside) and a coffee-based paste spread on the top. The paste is spread before baking, so it hardens into a crunchy crust afterward. Delicious. Anyway, back to the bird. She was walking around, pecking at popcorn and other crumbs that the visitors dropped. Other peahens were there too. The male fowl, the peacock, was some distance away gorging itself on popcorn fed to him by Japanese tourists (which is against the rules in pretty much any park involving animals).

Next stop was Cinemania, which is just a virtual coaster ride like the Rialto in the Philippines' Enchanted Kingdom. It's one of the older attractions at the park and is scheduled to be torn down soon. The newer virtual theater, 4D Magix, opened just this year if I'm correct. No pictures from there, of course.

The last leg of our tour was a trip 131 meters up into the air at the Carlsberg (yes, the beer) Sky Tower. "Probably the Best View in Singapore." If you ask me, I'd say it is.

This is one of the many views of Singapore you can see from the tower. In the foreground (the bridge) is the causeway that crosses the strait to Sentosa. The middle of the picture is Tanjong Pagar, the port. In the background you see the Central Business District. The tall, pale-colored cylindrical building on the right is Temasek Tower, where the government corporation Temasek holds office. (The Singapore government owns a lot of businesses, such as the Development Bank of Singapore. My dad works for DBS. All of these corporations are under the umbrella of Temasek.) Temasek, by the way, is the old name of Singapore. It's Malay for "Water Town."

Another view from the tower, this is part of Siloso beach if I'm not mistaken. Siloso is the western point of Sentosa, where Fort Siloso stands. There's also a hotel there.

The view to Sentosa's north. Visible here are the cable cars and the Keppel Building station, and a cruise ship.

The chairlift that brings people who just went down the Sentosa Luge back up. More on the Luge later.

My brother Vinci trying to be an Indian snake charmer. I swear, the snake charmer who owns the albino python must be Dhalsim from Street Fighter, or at least knows his teleportation skills. We've seen him all over Singapore and he seems to appear wherever we go. o_O We've seen him in Merlion Park, near Raffles Place, and twice in Sentosa.

My brother Xavi with a feathered friend.

The Sentosa Luge, or the end thereof. It's a long concrete track down which people coast down on gravity-powered carts. Pretty fun ride, if a bit short. A chairlift takes people back to the upper parts of Sentosa after the Luge. These people are lining up to return their luge carts.

The view of the Luge from the chairlift.

That's it for today. There's too many pics to upload all at once, so I'm saving the rest of the pics for later. Until then.

~Be Just Or Be Dead~
#3012AD20052106
ー黒獅子アスラン

The City of Lions

Current System Configuration: Vacation Mode
BGM: Groovin' Magic by Round Table feat. NINO. The opening theme of Aim for the Top! 2: Diebuster. Cute, funky and retro.
Breakfast: Toast, scrambled eggs and ham
Lunch: Homemade beef stew and rice
Dinner: Mos Cheeseburger for the win!

Singapura, the City of Lions. Singapore.

It's my sixth day here, and I can defintely say that I like it here. I'm staying at my dad's condominium in the Siglap area (which is Singapore's equivalent to Ayala Alabang). It's a neat low-rise condo, with a pool and a gym and the like. It's very close to East Coast Road, where there are a lot of great places to eat.

The first thing that struck me when I got off the plane is the multicultural nature of this place. You can't look in a single direction without seeing people of several ethnic origins at a time. Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Caucasians. My dad says there's a growing Filipino population too.

Thus far, Singapore has been really easy to adapt to. I'm the kind of person who can easily appreciate foreign cultures. Thankfully, most of the people here can speak English (albeit sometimes hard-to-understand Singlish), so communication isn't much of a problem.

Singapore's a great place to go shopping. We just came from the Orchard Road area today, which is rather like Makati's Ayala Center, except a lot bigger. We ate at Mos Burger (a Japanese fast food chain) at Ngee Ann City Takashimaya. There's a bunch of malls packed closely together along Orchard Road. There's even a mall that has signs in Tagalog! (Lucky Plaza, which my dad says is a hangout for Filipina domestic helpers. Lots of pinoys there, indeed.) There were so many Tagalog signs that it looked like Greenhills.

It's really easy to go around the city. Walking is safe. People respect traffic lights and as far as I've seen the streets don't have any sinister-looking elements. The MRT system is cheap and fast, although it tends to get packed at certain times of the day. The MRT system also shares the same fare card with the bus system, so there's no need to carry several fare cards at a time. You can even use the fare card to pay at McDonald's!

I just walked to the nearby Starbucks along East Coast Road. The baristas there were a lot more friendly than they are in Manila. They really attempt to strike up a conversation. I've only met one barista in the Philippines who has done that. I got a bit confused, though, as the menu was a bit different. Instead of my regular single mocha frappuccino, I got an espresso frappuccino. The taste wasn't as strong as I'd expected, but it was fine.

I've yet to go to the regular tourist spots (Sentosa), since we're still waiting for my brother to arrive from the US. I expect things to become even more fun once he gets here. I look forward to my mom's arrival too. Expect an update from me soon.

~Where the Lions tread~
#19122AD20052025
ー黒獅子アスラン