So Far Away


For the past weeks, my mind has been preoccupied with the last days of Earth. Pastor Gerry has been preaching about the last days with great conviction and warning. As I lead on my daily life, waking up and passing by the tabloid stand on my way to Ginno's Pares, news were scattered such us "Anak, Ginahasa ni Lolo", "Gloria, Ipagreresign na!", "Ate, chinop-chop ni Kuya!" or International news about the US Elections, about Oil Price Increase, about Bin Laden threatening America once more... and under my breath I muttered a sigh of relief... God is coming soon. Ironically, when people talk about the book of Revelations, they react with fear and dread as the last days would scare the daylights off them. Unknowingly, some of the signs in Revelations has happened, repeatedly happened or is happening but the latest signs just happened recently. With all the chaos in the world, with US fighting off Iraq, with Palestinians against Israelites along with several nations fighting off each other, is there anyone out there who can bring peace? Fortunately, there is but it will make the smile off your face. It is the Antichrist. Funny, right? Yes, it is the AntiChrist. We thought that Hitler was antichrist or Bush would be the antichrist but if you have been reading the Bible, the antichrist will bring peace to all nations. He is the one man who will make Bush and bin Laden as friends, who will make the Palestinians share hi-5s with the Israelites! At first, I never thought the antichrist as that. I thought he will be one scary, frightening dude, threatening everyone. But as the Bible tells it, the antichrist will make everyone love him, he will make the impossible possible. And who could this antichrist be? We don't know. As Christians (if you really are) we should be happy with the message Revelation brings. It is a message of hope that someday Christ will really come. We are considered fortunate that we Christians have been forewarned of the things to come. If you think now, that the world is out of control with all these events happening around us. You're probably wrong. God is in control. Everything that is happening in this world is according to God's perfect plan. It will squeeze out the Christians juices out of us.

Tales of Sampaguita and Lechon Gravy


Last Wednesday morning, I woke up very early to have my breakfast and to workout. I'm supposed to meet a friend to join him in his show's promo at Magandang Tanghali Bayan : Ang Saya Saya. I woke up at 5, ate breakfast and by 7, I ws already at the gym pumping all my muscles out. Then out of nowhere, a strong scent of fragrant sampaguitas wafted across the sweat-stenched room. My instant reaction brought me to my memory when I was reading Philippine Ghost Stories. A writer mentioned there that when you smelled flowers from nowhere, it is an omen of death. It maybe your death or death to someone close to you. It freaked me out instantly so I immediately checked if someone brought sampaguitas or if someone was using a sampaguita scented perfume but there is none. The peculiar thing is, it seems that no one seems to mind the scent which might be irritating to ones nose. The smell lingered for almost 3 - 5 minutes. And when it was gone, I remembered that my dad will be arriving in Manila that day in a Philippine Airlines flight. So I immediately stopped for a while and prayed for everyone I knew, including my loved ones for protection. I am not superstitious but this time, I am cause I really freaked out. Last week, my roommate also had a freaky paranormal experience. We were riding in an FX, and suddenly someone texted him and asked him if he was riding in an FX, wearing a brown shirt and carrying a red bag. Yes, he did and he texted back and asked her where is she located? Is she riding a bus ahead of us that she saw us at that time? Her reply freaked Butch out of his wits. She told him that she just woke up and the thought suddenly came into her mind. She was really disturbed that's why she texted him. Scary right? Well at almost 11, I was really worried my father hadn't texted me yet. He supposed to arrive at 10:30. Finally the text came saying that he just arrived and is now on his way to Makati Medical Center to have his check-up.

Well, fast forward that day to yesterday. After my exam at Canon Information tech., my friend Monch, texted me that he needs me as his PA (Personal Assistant) for the play "All About Men : Penis Talks", in which he is one of the Production Coordinators. I will be paid 500 for that night. I immediately took a quick dinner, went home, get dressed and went to Music Museum. When I got there, everything was in frenzy and I was asked to bring lechon to the receptionists. After putting all the lechon bits in a paper plate, I immediately looked for the gravy. I find it lying inside a plastic cellophane and I got it and untied the knot. Suddenly I realized that something was dripping on my polo. God! It was the gravy. The plastic has a hole underneath and all the liquid flowed on my polo, down along my pants and into my shoes. The floor was now wet with gravy and some people were starting to stare at me. Fortunately, another PA and a model helped me with the mess. While i went to the CR to clean myself. They cleaned the place too. My work was a PA was so enjoyable and the rest of the evening went fine.

One Ordinary Day


The alarm clock sounded and I was still partly asleep. It was 7:00 am. I looked at my side and noticed that my roommate is not home yet. He usually arrives by 6 or 6:30 am. I turned the alarm off and dozed off for another 30 minutes. I got up, prayed, washed my face and went to Ginno's Pares to have breakfast.

Since Monday is my weight-training day so I ordered eggs. 3 to be exact ... Everytime I go there, there was this crew who always give his silly grin whenever I came. I don't know if he finds me funny but it's not amusing me either. I have this urge to ask him why would he grin everytime I speak to take my order. Whatever the reason is I don't know. I don't like Monday mornings ... whenever I wake up, I see people hurrying here and there, catching up with jeepneys or FXs to go to Ayala or Ortigas... There are late comers too... I know that office hours starts at 8:00 but I see some of them still queuing even if it's past 8 ... If you are one of them ... then change yourself.

Anyway, I went back to my room and washed my gym clothes and after that bought some distilled water. I had difficulty walking today ... I think I have sprained my right foot. It started last week as a negligible pain but now it got worse. Maybe I should let the doctor see it. Anyway, I read Men's health magazine while enteratining to some texts ... mostly from stalkers ... hehehe ... By 11, my roommate came in a very bad mood, mumbling about something and complained that he will have less sleep this time. He still have to go back to work at 8. We talked a little. I turned off the lights. Get my gym things ready and took off to take my lunch. I had my lunch at Chowking ... As usual, I ordered Fish w/ Tausi Large and with Iced Tea ... Nothing happened much ... but I ate my food using Chopsticks ... I'm very glad it's so easy to use it this time ... I've been practicing using it since last week ... I just hope that I could eat using chopsticks as fast as I can.

Before going to the gym, I bought a Sundae Cone at McDonalds then proceeded to the Gym. I was using the treadmill and found out that my feet really hurts. I went to my usual Back, Shoulders, Biceps routine and at 2 pm, I went back to my room. I stopped by at a nearby grocery store to by Moo ... Men's Health mag says you should drink a high-carb, hi-protein drink after a workout to replenish your energy. Anyway, when i got there, i was very sleepy and quickly dozed off. At 4;30 i woke up and noticed roomie was still there. He is supposed to wake up at 4:00 to prepare for his work but I suppose he must be really tired. I quietly got up, took a bath, get dressed and went to Megamall for my check-up. I rode an FX ... and the music that greeted me was Tuesday Vargas' "Huwag Po, Huwag Po..." .... it was funny and it lifted my spirits somehow ... nakaka-LSS. When i got there at SM, it was 5;30 pm. I had my early dinner before check up. The check up was finished at 7:40 pm ... and I decided to go home ... my feet really hurts like hell. I passed by Galleria first and browsed some magazines ... but I became hungry so I ate again. At almost 9, I rode a bus and went home ... And so here I am, in this internet cafe, just below our gym and a few blocks from my room writing this story for you.

Ordinary days may be boring but hey it's a day ... and everyday is a sort of an unexplored adventure...

Wind versus Legolas


It's worth noting here, to great heroes in two great, both award winning movies. While Tang Dynasty, has captain Jin (Takashi Kaneshiro) who calls himself the wind, Middle Earth, also has Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Both were great but let's see what their perks and downs are:

Wind	Legolas
Perks	Perks
1. Has a cool two cool battle gears 2. Has a cool sword 3. Excellent martial skils 4. Sharp vision 5. Playboy (often surrounded by women) 6. Had a girlfriend	1. Has a nice costume 2. Endless supply of arrows 3. Sharp vison 4. Excellent maneuvering skills 5. Long, soft hair (hahaha!) 6. Speaks a fictional language 7. Immortal
Downs	Downs
1. Tangled Hair 2. Mortal 3. Limited supply of arrows 4. Too emotional	1. Doesn't know any martial arts 2. Doesn't have a girlfriend 3. Does not take a bath 4. Does not change clothes

The House of Flying Daggers


Mei, impressing the captain with her skill in the Echo Play


It's Tuesday again, another day of waiting ... waiting for a call I'm not really certain that would ever come but the best way to kill the time waiting is to do something else, right? Yesterday, I've learned that the House of Flying Daggers will be shown today so after my daily routine, I decided to watch the movie at Megamall.

The movie opened with the trademark chinese caligraphy and so the story. Watching this movie reminds me of "Hero" since both movies, this one and Hero are both produced and directed by award-winning director Zhang Yimou but this one has a different touch, with more to "real" fighting scenes, and a much inclination to a love story. Again, in this movie, Yimou, expresses his artistry through the costumes, the more-to-very-gritty-yet-artistically done scenes like a sword cutting a drop of water, and of course the very nifty fighting whatever martial arts of the Chinese. Surely it will take your breath away.

To give you a brief overview, this movie is a love story set in a crucial period where the Tang Dynasty will soon end. With a government run by corrupt people (like the Philippines), a new band of rebels, who called themselves "The House of Flying Daggers" plan to outthrow the government. With a cunning plot to lure the Chinese army into their trap, the rebel group uses Mei (Zhang Ziyi) to pursue this mission. Hoever the plan complicates as Mei fell in love with her playboy captor, the Chinese captain, Jin aka "Wind". In the end of the story, a fascinating twist happens that all ends in tragedy. I cried a tear actually.

Fahrenheit 9/11


Do you think that Bush is the good guy and Saddam and Osama are the most evil guys? Not what Patrick Moore has presented in his aard-winning film, Fahrenheit 9/11. Plots and conspiracies, and scandals behind Bush's corporations are exposed in bright light in this thought-provoking, humorous film. Do you know that the Bushs and BinLadens are corporate friends? America is all too blind about this. And would you think that the Iraq war is justified? Do you look at the possibility that behind the reason that Iraq is harboring nuclear, biochemical weapons under Saddam is the real reason why Bush attacked Iraq? Think of the hundreds of lives of soldiers Americans and Iraqis alike all wasted just for nothing. Most of all, it was very disturbing to see Iraqi civilians crying for Allah as their homes are wrecked and their loved ones all dead. Do you think the some Iraqi groups behead people for no reason at all? Who are the real terrorists? Find out who started it. After watching this movie, may be it'll change your mind. So watch Fahrenheit 9/11.

Looking for Something for Nothing


It all started when I checked my ATM account and found out that my dad added a few bucks in there. Happy as I am, I went to the my usual Saturday strolling at Megamall to buy myself something new. I was thinking of a new polo... Yesterday was the first day of sale at Ever Gotesco Ortigas and I really like the blue striped polo for sale at Bench. Since I do not have much money left, I decided not to buy it even though Butch insisted that he would lend me money if I want to. Now, I was thinking that I could find a similar polo at Bench Megamall.

After lunch, something came and instead I was itching for a new Christmas CD. Last Sunday, I bought this Christmas musical called "Everlasting Light", it was good but I was really disappointed since the musical style was so 80's and the voices of the choir was quite ordinary and the soloists' voices were a bit old-fashioned. Though, I loved one song in there and it's called "Little Yeshua" . It's a song of Joseph for his earthly son Jesus. Wish, I could sing that song someday at a musical.
Anyway, so after lunch, I decided to go at Praise Music Main Branch at Panay Avenue (near ABS-CBN). When I got there I couldn't find a CD that will suit my taste. I was looking for the CD wish contained an african feel of "Sing Noel" and "Go, Tell It On The Mountain" but the saleslady said that they didn't have the CD. Quite frustrated, I went back to Megamall to resume reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". After reading and it was like 5:05 in the afternoon, I decided to look for that polo design at Bench. Well, there were polos on sale but that design was not there. Instead, I took my dinner. After dinner, I visited Levi's, Penshoppe but the polos did not suit my taste. Well, there are those nifty ones at Arrow but Hello! They cost 4000 a piece!!! So my interest wavered so I decided to go home.

I took the route via Podium and when I got there, I decided to roam around. Arrow has polos for sale and they cost 600-800 only, so I decided to try some but unfortunately the sizes were bigger than me. Mostly were L or XL or XXL, I never realized that my body would shrink so much that I would fit in an M size already. Which is flattering .. hehehe...

When I went back downstairs, I came across with the San Miguel Master Chorale practicing for their show later. When I came in, I was really irritated with their rendition of "The Circle of Life"... with those voice-stimulated sounds to mimic the sounds of animals in the jungle that overpowered the voice of the soloist. Anyway, everything changed cause I fouund out that they are selling CDs. Without hesitation, I bought one (which only costs 280) and stayed for the show. The show turned out very good, I would have given them a 30-second standing ovation. I was feeling very nostalgic remembering our concert with the Himig Singers exactly a year ago three days from now. So I texted Maria Lyn (who will be heading to Canada rhis Monday with the group) about the concert. I finally get to see the likes of Eudy Palaruan (who conducts the group) whose name I came across with the pieces we sang at Himig and of course the Philippine's David Foster, Ryan Cayabyab who composed and arranged all the songs in the CD. Well anyway, after the show, I mustered all the guts in me and went to the stage and have Mr. C sign my CD. Well he did! He asked my name and he put a short message on the CD cover.

Well, this is not a bad day after all. I got what I wanted a CD with good singers in it and by the way, the polo will come later. Maybe it's not the time yet. :)

How Evil Are You?


To take the test copy this and paste it to the URL field of your browser:
http://www.hilowitz.com/john/test/evil.php or click here.

The Results:

You are 25% Evil



You try to stay away from evil deeds but succumb to temptation every once in a while. You aren't quite on your way to hell but you certainly have some explaining to do.