Amasey something too...

I wasn't gonna talk about this "amalayer" overnight sensation, but I was surprised when I saw the video still trending on  Youtube homepage (Philippines), and, well, something inside me fired up. I felt I needed to say something, and where opinions are called, opinions I'll give. So here it is, my two cents worth.

First of all, in case you didn't know. This Amalayer trend is about this incident at LRT station, a girl shouting at lady security guard, for whatever reason, she was crying "I'm a liar? You're telling me I'm a liar" with an effort to mimic an American accent, hence the netizens labeled the video "amalayer". Here's the whole story. 

Okay, so she was rude. Ethics tells us that no matter how bad the situation is, there's no excuse for being rude (oh and I learned that on Hollywood Squares, so you can't tell me otherwise, no exemption here folks). So the Lady guard did her job in an unpleasant way, that's no excuse for being rude, especially in public. If you did that to a waitress in a restaurant, you better have second thoughts in taking the meal served in your table. You see, there's always a way rudeness can get back at you. Unfortunately for this girl, it was a prying guy who caught half of the incident on tape and uploaded it on youtube, and the rest, as much as I hate to use a cliche, is history.

So that's now how to handle the situation, we get it. But is it necessary to make a meme out of it? Condemn the act, not the person. Enough bashing. In many ways I feel bad for this girl because unlike Tito Sotto and Charlie Sheen, she does not have publicists and lawyers to help her fix things. 

Now, here's an interesting thing I learned, this amalayer girl whose real name is Paula, auditioned for a VJ post. Then this Gregory guy who caught the incident on tape is an aspiring singer. Two aspiring celebrities, in an unexpected turn of events made their way to fame. I smell conspiracy here, hmmm. Take in mind that this is not yet a fact, I didn't do further research here, if the information I mentioned are not true, then let's just disregard this 3rd argument, I'm not making any point, I just love conspiracy theories hehehe.

Lastly, I wanna end this post with something positive. In an age where everything could be subjected to public scrutiny, thanks to the technology (and thanks for warning us George Orwell), wouldn't it be nice to shift the focus into something that would make us all smile? I saw this Coca Cola commercial the other day in my Facebook feeds. Though I strongly discourage everyone from drinking Coke or any carbonated drinks (BAD FOR THE HEALTH OK?), I wish we could all embrace the idea that there are so many heartwarming stuff all over the world that we can catch on tape too.

Damn, Coca Cola make the best commercials, don't they? :)

life's too short for the wrong job

I received a forwarded email that really hit me... it was funny, witty. I liked the concept... but at the end of the attachment, all I could do is... SIGH...haayy...

haayyyyy talaga...

Ren

I saw this while browsing Theme magazine…

Caption: Ren (verb) - to suffer something difficult or continue existing despite disadvantageous conditions.

Then I suddenly remember my good friend Ren and smiled. How I wanted to show this to him and tell him how his name perfectly suits his current situation. But he’s strong and I’m glad. I know that whatever hardship he’s going through right now, he’ll be okay.

I miss you ‘ol buddy…

anticipations...

The other night my uncle came to pick my mom up for her flight. While waiting for my mom he had a little chit chat with me and my brother Oli. He told us what happened with his son Valjun that afternoon. He asked Valjun to go to SSS Antipolo to run some errand. Apparently, my cousin went off with exact money for fare only and he did not anticipate that the trike rate in Antipolo soars like a dragon! To make the story short, he rode the tricycle with insufficient funds and ended up loaning P50 from the SSS security guard, so Oli and I ended up rolling on our stomach laughing. But then, that brings me… hey, it happened to you before! Oh yeah… I think it was a couple of months ago –blush-

I was in Megamall and was about to go home when I felt the craving for fries. I have P100+ cash in hand left. I settled for fries and drinks at Mcdo and it me left with P58. The FX fare to Tanay is P60. I was not worried because ATMs are all over the place anyway. After eating, I went to the nearest Metrobank ATM, errr ET (electronic teller).

When I’m almost there and saw MB ET from the distance, I was surprised to see that there was no queue at all. Hmmm, there could only be one reason – it’s OFF LINE. No panic yet. Okay, I’ll have to settle for Bancnet ATMs which will cost me P10. No big deal. I tried China Bank and what did I get – Error 91: Cannot complete transaction, issuer is down. Still no panic. I tried City State, same error. BDO, error 91… Okay, I’ll settle for BPI, which sounded painful since it’ll charge me P100. I had no choice. But I got the same error message! Then I started to worry.

I went to Shangri-la and checked Metrobank. It was also off line. I tried GE and UCPB. When I got the same error message I knew I was already in trouble. I wish I didn’t eat fries. I went back to Metrobank and asked the guard what time will the ATM be online. Just as I expected, he told me it’s off line nationwide because the systems were down. I asked him if I can do transaction over the counter but apparently they were not accepting any transaction. Don’t you get it kid, THE SYSTEMS ARE DOWN! WTF! That’s bullshit! This is the BIGGEST bank in the country and they don’t even have a backup support?!? Or can’t they do it MANUALLY?!? Hah! People should not rely on technology alone. Finally I asked for a manager, customer relation officer, whatever I am a customer and I need MY money! So a manager loomed before me but it was like I don’t exist at her front at all. Whoever she was, she doesn’t deserve to be in her position. Dr. Mapa, Mrs Chan, Mr. and Mrs. Ty, the very cute Sir Alfred Ty, if one miraculous day you come across this blog post, pls. fire her. She’s an A-hole! Yes, the bank manager at Shangri-la branch. She was all on her paper works and the scene looked like a brat whining to a machine. I asked politely, Ma’am is there anyway I can withdraw money over the counter because I’m literally out of cash and I need to get home. All she ever said was “the mainframe of the system crashed and there’s nothing we can do for you. You can TRY to your branch, they MIGHT be able to help” What a very nice statement of ASSURANCE. What was Metrobank’s tag line again? YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS with… Whatever, I’m not keeping with this shit anymore. I was thinking at that time, as soon as your systems are up and running, I’ll get all my money and transfer to BPI, BDO, whatever, I’ll never do business with that bank again! (duh, like I am a loss hahaha)

Huhuhu, my money was short of P2… How will I get home… I was very far from home and I can’t think of calling anyone. At the very last moment I don’t want to impose. So I did the inevitable, as soon as I get to the terminal I asked the dispatcher that my fare lacks P2 because Metrobank is down and I can’t withdraw a cent. The dispatcher was really nice and said that it’s perfectly okay. He even told me that even if I don’t have money at all they’d let me ride the transpo –tears of joy-. There are still hospitable Pinoys after all. I promised I’d return the P2 next day which I did but he refused to accept –sigh-

It was an embarrassing experience but I also learned something. The incident was not purely on Metrobank’s end. I should always anticipate something like that when I go out. I also relied on machines alone for not keeping emergency cash. And of course, never prioritize your appetite! In the end I didn’t transfer my money to other banks. My angst ended the moment I received a simple altruism from the dispatcher and I also realized that I owed my college education from Metrobank, I do have a sense of gratitude so let’s just call it quits hehehe.

I just had an unexpected dinner with Dr. Carnate and Dindee It was all unplanned, Dindee was about to take me home when we accidentally run into him at the Arellano and Estrada intersection. It was really funny because Dindee’s excitement was very apparent hahaha. I regret a little that I broke my pledge not to take dinner to reduce weight –phew-

I am currently reading Mishima: A Biography by John Nathan. Yukio Mishima is one of the greatest writer of his time (1925-1970) who committed seppuku publicly in pursuit of his social ideals… whatever they were, I haven’t known yet. I scan-read an article about him rumored as a homosexual, which I haven’t confirmed. I’m enjoying reading this because it’s giving me an insight of Japan that I haven’t touched which is the Late Meiji period to postwar Japan. Though I encountered a student-movement thingie in “Norweigan Wood” by Haruki Murakami. Plus Obviously, I haven’t read any Mishima works yet, but when I read the overview of his life, I got interested (the fact that he’s Japanese is interesting enough for me geez). But now I’ve learned of his childhood through pubescent, I am compelled to read his works. I bet it’d be just as interesting. His childhood reminds me of Midori (another character from “Norweigan Wood”). Just like Mishima, she also experienced the misery of being a commoner studying in a prestigious school meant for people with aristocratic background. Connecting each event to previous books I’ve read makes it more interesting. But then, it also disoriented my anime viewing. I stopped watching One Piece for a while, but the good news is that it’s weekend and I will definitely continue with Luffy’s journey hehehe…

Speaking of Luffy, a couple of days ago, the first thing that run into me in the office was a “libre” tabloid headline (see image). And amazingly must have lost my sensibility at that moment when I automatically blurted “ohmigosh! Luffy had come to life!” seriously I thought it was for real, and when I turned to the page, I got disappointed to learn that it was actually just an advertisement hehehe. Darn, I didn’t even had the sense to inspect the graphics’ quality… and it was then that I realized, that somewhere in my subconscious mind…. Is a genuine belief for supernatural powers… and even longing for it… or simply just… the longing for the lost childhood.

Whoa! It’s the start of the week, not a very good one, I’m starving to death hehehe. But I’m so excited because it’s payday, I’m gonna eat till I stuff! And I’m getting excited the most for my anime and manga orders –weeee! But what a weekend I had, I spent my Saturday at Dasmarinas Cavite, in Medz resort. Our exam was to do a photo shoot. This is not photography but Computer 2! Anyways, we have to choose a product to endorse, shoot ‘em and edit in Photoshop. But why go all the way to Cavite? According to my professor, we have to make use of landscape of the resort. Hah, I think the landscape thingie was just an alibi, a mask, it was actually an outing. Not that I don’t want to have that kind of bonding with them, but there are better places. Okay here goes my frustrations… it’s just that at my current financial condition, I want to get the smoke of my money’s worth. The pools were very ordinary, the cottages were messy, the toilets were stinky (dear Lord), and the landscape- I can get better landscapes in Manila (Luneta or CCP) and Makati (Greenbelt) for FREE. Anyway, the only good thing about it was I get to hangout with 3rd year students. Wha, I was surprised to find out that they are more tamed than my 2nd year classmates. But they are fun to be with, too. So what was my product? Well, I’m torn among shades, jacket or cigar hehehe…

Last week I bought an April 30, 2001 back issue of TIME magazine… -nostalgic- haay, I miss those days, the bests of my life… anyway, the magazine features Japan, how the world sees it. Various points of views in different aspects were considered, be it economy, sports, politics, cuisine, pop culture, movies, anime, electronics, literature, etc. But of all insights raised, this war sentiments of other Asian countries lingered to my mind. Admittedly. I used to hate the Japanese when I was young. After what I learned in Philippine History, I despised Japan. I hated it when my classmates would tell me I looked like a Japanese… but people change as we grow…I got hooked to anime and I eventually embraced (partially) the exquisite world of Japanese culture. So this is Kid, an otaku, who’s interested in anything Japanese… now let me contemplate a little… If I belonged in the gray haired generation, chances are, I was one of the victims of the Japanese invasion. If that was so, then I may never forgive them. I’d be resenting them to my grave. But then, this is Kid, member of generation X, hehehehe… okay I can only sympathize and NOT empathize with the victims of Japanese soldier’s ruthlessness. But let’s face it, more than 50 years had passed and I believe Japan had made so much to make up for its sins. They had donated more than $80 billion to assist it’s Asian neighbors (Japan is world’s most generous donor according to Guinness). Pasts and present prime ministers had vowed and apologized endlessly. Those war soldiers are, if not dead, suffering or enjoying old age already. And do not forget the living and suffering victims of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombing. In my opinion (probably biased), Japan had paid off for its inhumanity. We don’t have to forget our history, but it doesn’t mean that we won’t forgive them. If God does, why can’t we… yeah, you go kid! I love Japan! Banzai!!!

Waii, it’s been so long! I’ve been suuupppperrr bishie, I mean busy hehehe. I got busy both in work and school (what’s new?). Yeah, but it’s been really fruitful this past week. Hmmm let’s see, my accomplishments… Dr. Joson gave me an assignment, to make an IC poster for our (MDH) Disaster preparedness program. His usual point person is on leave, so he gave the assignment to me. I know very little of Photoshop, so I thought he wouldn’t like my work, but when I showed it to him this afternoon, he was satisfied and he gave me another assignment. He told me that he’d rely on me from now on with this kind of tasks. Awww, this is good, I can work more frequently on photoshop and so I can get better. But I have to thank Mike, my good friend and sensei for teaching me the basics. Thanks dude! Now moving on, I’ve been missing my family. I haven’t gone home for 3 weeks now. And I won’t be able to come home tomorrow because our class will be going to a resort in Cavite for a photo shoot. It’s a requirement for our computer 2 subject. And I regret that I can’t attend Tam’s christening rites, I’m one of her godmothers =( …oh well, next week, I have to come home at any cost! Okay, now to my favorite topic… I finally finished Death Note! Of course, I have expected how things will end, but how it was done was truly surprising. I really hate to spoil it, so I’m keeping my mouth shut. All I could say is that any manga otaku would miss half of his life if he won’t read Death Note! Hail to Light Yagami hehehe… also, I’ve finished Slamdunk manga, of course, I started reading where the anime left me and most avid watchers hanging, the Interhigh competition! Starting volume 24-31, and yes, I read it in one day. I loved the way it ended, they (Shohoku team) didn’t make it on top as they have envisioned, but they were able to beat the reigning best team (Sannoh) for years. And I just love that scene when Rukawa and Hanamichi tapped each others hands –then turn away after haha- wow, it’s still fresh on me, I still got those goosebumps whenever I’d think of it. I’m currently reading Magic Kinghts Rayearth, ironic, this is the manga that made CLAMP really popular but this is the CLAMP series that I like the least… then again, this is CLAMP we’re talking, so it’s worth the time, besides there’re only 6 volumes… I’m currently at volume 2. oh yeah, I’m so excited on Monday, I’ll be getting my anime and manga orders from BJ. I’m so excited I can finally watch TRC movie, XXX Holic anime, and read Furuba manga –I ordered the 19 volumes!!! Yay!