Silverchair Has A New Sound

One of my favorite bands (because of their ultra-hot lead vocalist) has recently released their fifth album entitled "Young Modern." Oh, the oxymoron in the title haha. Anyway, here are some facts from Wiki:

The album was released on March 31, 2007

The album debuted at number 1 on the Australian albums chart on April 9, 2007

It is the first album to ever chart as number 1 on iTunes through orders taken for albums prior to its release

The album made Silverchair the first Australian band to ever have five #1 albums

Here are the tracks:

• Young Modern Station
• Straight Lines
• If You Keep Losing Sleep
• Reflections of a Sound
• Those Thieving Birds (Part 1) / Strange Behavior / Those Thieving Birds (Part 2)
• The Man That Knew Too Much
• Waiting All Day
• Mind Reader
• Low
• Insomnia
• All Across The World

Anyway, they sound kinda different in this new album. Daniel Johns still has that boyish tone in his voice, and that Silverchair attitude. But there are a lot of elements in the new album that weren't around in the previous ones. The rhythm, the over-all sound, the falseto notes. Hahaha. Listening to the entire album is ... fun. I don't know, it just gave me the feeling that I should be happy, hanging in the clouds, enjoying life. I think I'm gonna listen to it all over again. :)

Men Happiest with Smart Women

I had the chance of looking at Sir Tiger's Blog, and found this interesting article:

Survey: Men Happiest With Smart Wives

Men in search of true happiness should steer clear of bimbos and dumb blondes: research shows men are happiest if they marry smart women.

Every extra year of education a wife has under her belt significantly increases the chances her husband will report being highly satisfied with life. But Shane Mathew Worner, of the Australian National University's economics program, says it may be that an educated woman's earning power is her biggest asset.

In a paper to be presented at the HILDA Survey Research conference this week, he says "the higher the education level of the wife, the happier the husband is."

The study is based on a sample of more than 5000 Australians drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey.

Sounds great doesn't it? But note of this sentence: "it may be that an educated woman's earning power is her biggest asset" ... What the... what happened to female housewives and men being the breadwinner of the family? Darnit, I've always wanted to be a housewife. Oh well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Finally, I've finished reading the book!

Damn, it was a good read. If you haven't read it yet, then please skip reading this post because spoilers are ahead.

This is one Harry Potter book that glued me to my seat, wanting to turn the pages as soon as possible. It seems that every chapter of the book has its own climax, and that there aren't any dull moments in the story that I'd rather skip. And that makes reading much more exciting than playing DotA. It's one book that made me laugh, cry, gasp, kilig, grit my teeth, grieve, and get anxious. Good thing though, my officemates weren't around yet when I was crying for Dobby, Snape, and Fred... so I was able to pour my heart out in my cubicle. Hehehe.

Anyway, if there's one thing I hate about the book, it's the way Snape died. He was probably one of the most crucial characters in the story (I knew it! I doubted him, but in Book 5, I just knew he's one of the good guys). I just thought he deserved a glorious death, one that would prove how valuable his character is, and not just some basilisk biting his neck. I imagine his death too awful for the things he did. Good thing though, Harry named one of his sons after him.

Which leads me to my next comment -- I hate the way JK Rowling named Harry's Kids!!! James, Albus Severus, Lily!?! What the... In memory of those he loved? Maybe, but it's too cheesy! Hahaha. Oh well, that's what the audience wanted, that's what they got. I'm sure JK Rowling made a lot of kids happy.

BUT! There was a line in the book where the word "BITCH" was explicitly stated! Hahaha, Mrs. Weasley in her battle with Bellatrix screamed the word at the top of her lungs (meaning, all-caps). Oh no the kids! Lol.

Just read the book. You'll definitely enjoy it. :)

Blog Break

I'll be on blog break for a while because I need to finish reading HP7! Darnit. Give me a few days and I'll be back in action.

No spoilers please!

Ilonggo 101

Okay, so you want to learn Iloilo's local dialect? FYI, it's actually called Hiligaynon, but most people don't know that so they just call it "ilonggo." Here are some words that I've heard around, and I've seen being used by some establishments here in Manila:

Note: (F) = Filipino; (E) = English

Namit: (F) Masarap; (E) Delicious
e.g.: Namit ang ice cream.
(F) Masarap ang ice cream.
(E) Ice cream is delicious.

Ka-on: (F) Ka-in; (E) Eat
e.g.: Ka-on na ta!
(F) Kain na tayo!
(E) Let's eat!

Gwapa: (F) Maganda; (E) Pretty
e.g.: Ka-gwapa sa imo.
(F) Ang ganda mo.
(E) You're pretty.

Law-ay: (F) Pangit; (E) Ugly
e.g.: Law-ay akon balay.
(F) Ang pangit ng bahay ko.
(E) My house is ugly.

Ambot: (F) Ewan; (E) no specific word... but often times used as "I don't know" or "Whatever"
e.g.: Ambot sa imo!
(F) Ewan ko sa yo!
(E) Whatever!

OR: Ambot, wala ko kabalo.
(F): Ewan ko, hindi ko alam.
(E): I don't know the answer.


Till next post!

Goodbye Iloilo..

Okay, so I'm back again from my 5-day "vacation" in Iloilo. I'll miss the my family, friends, the food, the ambiance, the lazy, long days, the crazy number of taxis, the place. But before ako mag-drama parti sa akon banwa, I just want to share what Iloilo offered me during my stay there. Here are some highlights:

Iloilo Airport: WOW! It was already dark when we arrived, but I could see the wonderful arches and glass windows that make up the airport. Syempre, everything's new. And from what I heard, they constructed the airport according to international standards, despite the fact na it's for domestic flights only. It's a really really REALLY nice airport.

Trivia about the airport: Naga-bais ang Cabatuan kag Sta. Barbara kun sin-o gid bala ang home sang airport. Officially, sa Cabatuan soil sya, but ang road naga extend sa Sta. Barbara. Either way, pareho sila malayo sa syudad huhuhu.

Other Airport Facts (From WIKI): The airport is located nineteen kilometers northwest of Iloilo City on a 188-hectare site between the municipalities of Cabatuan and Santa Barbara, with the main entrance and airport access road in Santa Barbara and the rest of the airport infrastructure in Cabatuan. It is only one of two international airports in the Visayas, the other being Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu City, and the first international airport built on the island of Panay.

Mama Maria's Pizza:

BIG! As in, may 32" pizza sila, and we were tempted to get that, but there were only 5 of us so we got the 20" pizza instead. Haha, good thing about it though is that it's really thin, that's why indi masyado maka-bulusog. But still, the 20" pizza already occupied half of the table. The 32" could probably occupy the entire table. Haha.


FOOD - Paprika and Blue Jay:

Food was so-so at Paprika, but the band who was playing there was really good. They're a bunch of oldies who play old rock music, but they rock. Bohemian Rhapsody! Hehehe. Astig, sadya sila mag perform. May music blending and kung anu-ano pa nga che-che bureche sa ila songs. I don't know the name of the band, though. Nugon :(



Blue Jay desserts and drinks - pambato sa Starbaks, Syattols Best, Tsiskeyk Paktory, kag kung anu-ano pa. Namit I swear! Gusto ko pa ang Raspberry Tea nila (thanks to my friend Dexter), and the cakes and ice cream... heavenly! Tani may ara man diri sa Manila, barato sya ya eh, compared sa mga above-mentioned shops. Oh well. If you happen to visit Iloilo, don't miss this shop. It's located at SmallVille, Diversion Road. :)

Tonton and Benjo: YouTube Craze

Recently, there have been a lot of these Ilonggo-dubbed scenes from the movies Troy and 300, and they're flooding you-tube like crazy! Well actually, they are funny (if you understand hiligaynon). But if not, well, your loss =P

Tonton Crush ng Bayan


Tonton Eat my Chorizo


Tonton Ang Paghaharap


Benjo Mangayo ko Kwarta


Benjo Kag ang Batalyon Pitbull

Damak ang Pinoy

I wrote this last July 24, 2007. Share ko lang :)

Ay ambot sang mga pilipino ah, mga damak bala. kada aga, magkato ko sa opis, witness ako kun ano ka-damak ang pilipino. ari ang pila sa mga kahigku-an sang pinoy:

1. maskin diin lang ga-dupla. sa kilid-kilid, sa tunga dalan, maskin sa mall. jusko, daw wala bala nabal-an kun ano ka-higku ang ila mga dupla. kis-a may mga badlu pa. damak gid ya. paano na lang kun magtapik sa pantalon mo ang badlu sang iban? yak.

2. maskin diin lang gahaboy basura. ay damak gid ya. mga kinan-an, mga wrapper sang pagkaon nila, ang bilin sang yosi, mga bilin nga pagkaon maskin diin lang ginatambak. lantawa na lang ang sitwasyon sang pilipinas subong, puro basura. way ka sina mahuya, pinoy?

3. maskin diin lang ga-inom kag ga suka. damak gid ya, ka-higku sang suka pro. wala sila kabalo nga halin na ina sa tyan nila? sagi bi ka-inom indi man gali kasarang magpuli.

4. maskin diin lang gapahimung-it. isa pa gid ni ka-trait sang pinoy. pwede ka man kapanago kun mahimung-it ka pero ang pinoy, susmarya wala huya. maskin diin lang mamung-it. tapos ang pung-it nila ipitik pitik lang nila sa kung diin diin. te kun mapitik abi sa imo ilong?

5. maskin diin lang gapangihi. may mga banyo man, may gin-butang na gani nga mga public ihi-an ang gubyerno para sa mga tawo nga diin diin lang gapangihi, pero wala pulos. tig-a ulo sang pinoy, sa higad-higad man gyapon mangihi. wala sila kabalo mapang-sot kag mahigku ila ihi?

now don't tell me poverty is the reason for all this. just because wala ka masarangan, it doesnt mean indi ka kabalo kun ano ang damak kag ano ang indi.

kadamak sang pinoy a. pano ni sila magbag-o man?

Pers Post

Okay, so I've been in Manila for the past 8 years (although syempre I often go home during Holiday breaks). Eight years, it's a long time. But that doesn't mean I've already adapted to the busy street lights and uber-traffic jammed highways of Manila, nor have I fully learned the local dialect. Hehehe, although most of the time fluent, there are times when some people (especially those who are sensitive to my accent) are still able to pinpoint my roots. Arggh, abi ko after 8 years madula na akon tono! Oh well, it's just that sometimes I can't find Tagalog words for Hiligaynon words.

I don't exactly know why after such a long time, it's only now that I started blogging. It's 8 years late to start telling my tales, but I kind of figured that every day is a new adventure so I might as well share them.