11/29/2010 ‒
Seven hundred million

There's this strong belief among my mother's side of the extended family that I'm particularly lucky when it comes to raffles and draws.

I don't really know how they came to that conclusion. I just remember joining this raffle when I was a kid. Well, to be specific, I did not volunteer to join that raffle. My aunt, who used to work for a fast food restaurant. once went home with booklet after booklet of raffle stubs. The three nephews who could write - that'd be me, my sister and my cousin - were assigned a booklet and asked to sign all of them with our names. A hundred raffle tickets. I did not enjoy it.

But it somehow paid off. One of the tickets we signed won. One of the tickets I signed won. I didn't win the grand prize - I think it was a car, but I can't remember anymore, as I was around eight years old - but I won one of the consolation prizes: a gas stove. I didn't even get to bring my prize home: it went to my grandmother, with whom my aunt was living. Not that I begrudge that move - to be fair, their kitchen needed an upgrade of sorts. And what would I do with a gas stove? I love cooking shows, but I'm years away from learning how to cook.

Read more »

11/28/2010 ‒
Say hello to Jellybean

I originally wanted a photo prominently showing Ale's baby bump, but for one thing, my phone didn't have enough battery. Oh, and also the fact that she doesn't really look that pregnant. Save for a bigger waist and bigger cheeks, there's not much. But you can still see it on the photo, right?

One day, a man and a woman left a supermarket in a bit of a panic. She came from the comfort room - maybe I got it wrong, but this is how I understood the story - where she pulled out a pregnancy test and saw two lines. Positive. She is pregnant.

Read more »

11/23/2010 ‒
Two business partners and a wannabe food critic

Edong and Carlo at the Kebab Bob counter. I only had my phone, of course.

I know my lunch habits are different. The rest of the world take off at midday, and I take off an hour after, just so I can avoid the lunch rush - that time when the rest of the world descends on every available food-related establishment and eat. I've been doing that for the good part of two years, and my body has adjusted accordingly: I rarely get hungry earlier than one in the afternoon.

Read more »

11/17/2010 ‒
My, you've grown

"Natatawa ako," Hazel pointed out early this week. "We discuss these things quite too casually."

Too casually, indeed. Then again, she was talking to me, the person who tends to react to pretty much everything. In fact, I already have a thought bubble for this phenomenon: how come women always tweet about either when they're going to take a shower, or when it's "that time of the month"? Not that the menstrual cycle is something men should not bother about - when you're married, and trying to have kids, you have no choice but to keep track of your wife's sanitary napkin usage - but, well, it's not really the sort of thing you have Twitter conversations about.

But I also have a thought bubble for that. "I learned about these things in school first," I told her, "so I can take it."

Read more »

11/12/2010 ‒
Lost in my own alma mater

Yes, it's a huge-ass lens. I've handled that before, but it's still intimidating seeing this. Also, it makes for what looks like an uncomfortable camera handling experience...

Five years ago, I was a college freshman. I remember entering the DLSU campus for the first time and feeling really intimidated by all these people who've got their grooves going. Then again, I was looking at the juniors and the seniors. Then again, my fellow freshmen didn't seem to need more adjusting than I did.

Read more »