CONFESSIONS OF A BARNEY FAN

"The Barney Effect" - He loves watching that purple dinosaur so much.

WAKE UP CALL

It's one o' clock and I'm so lazy to finish all work. Diego woke up several times last night. First he was cold, he tried to roll his tiny body near me to get some warmth but I put a pillow between us before I went to sleep and he couldn’t come near me so naturally he cried. I removed the pillow and pulled him close to me and gave him milk. It worked, thank God and we went back to sleep. After an hour he woke up again because he felt cold. He moves so much that he got out of the comforter. I put him in my arms and gave him some more milk. We slept for about half an hour and then he woke me up again. This time he doesn’t want milk. He wants to play! He jumped on me and started to giggle. At 5am in the morning, no matter how adorable he is, I just couldn't see him as cute. So I took him to the living room and popped in the Barney DVD. He slouched in his walker as he watched his favorite dinosaur. Meanwhile, I tried to sleep through the noise that dinosaur is doing until the nanny came in. What kind of dinosaur is he again? Definitely not from Jurrasic Park.

Thanks Sarah for visiting our new home and this blog. I cancelled my appointment with Nate Berkus right after I read your comment. Was our place really nice? I know you like the sofa. Want to swap? ; } hee-hee!

403 FORBIDDEN

I don't have internet at home so I do most of my email at work...after duty! Promise after duty! => But I was surprised when our computer administrator (and thats you mr. nice guy! i know you're reading this!) blocked all the useful websites that I go to. You can't do email too! And I think thats the worst that they can do. Internet is so expensive here in Bahrain! (and i bet that mr. nice-guy-network-administrator knows about this. because he used to hook my home pc to his internet shop in my old neighborhood!) Maybe because there is only one service provider in this Kingdom. They dominated the market and raised the price to make it unaffordable to users like me...those who's salary bracket is so low that you can do a limbo-rock dance underneath it.

The internet is for everyone. Ofcourse there are abusive net users, but cutting off our privilege to send emails to transact buisness and send love messages to our love ones abroad is a cheap shot below the belt. For your information Mr.nice-guy-network-administrator-person, THIS INTERNET IS THE ONLY BENEFIT THAT WE, "THE EXPATRIATES" GET FROM THIS COMPANY. And I bet you know this because your an expat too.

And there's no need to ban my site...this ain't PORN!

From the person who use to pay 5BD per month for illegal internet provided by mr.nice-guy-network-administrator-who-has-an-internet-shop-in-our-old-neighborhood,

Dennis (network connection #12)

SUBURBIA

I'm taking a ride and running with the dogs tonight in suburbia.

We recently moved to a new apartment in one of the Riffa suburbs. It is a complete change of environment compared to our previous niche in the busy city. I love the fact that its really quiet and relaxing. Finding a suitable place to park is now a history. The water supply is not salty at all. But we miss our neighborhood... Everything is soo near! Now you need to travel a block to buy a Pepsi.

Anyhow, the only problem we have is the internet...we dont have a connection yet. ADSL is so expensive here. Moreover, we haven't installed our satellite dish yet so no TV for a week now.

Special Thanks goes to the people who helped us move: Kuya Conrad (for the accomodation), Carl, Jhun, Cesar, Carlo, Indian Guy with a pick-up truck, Ate Weng (for baby sitting), Trisha, Mayeth, Boy Hito (for entertaining Diego). Triple thanks to Jhun, Carl and Cesar for everything. I couldnt do it without you guys. For sure you'll be invited for a drink after we put everything in order.

SOUTH PARK

I have always wanted to know what I'll look like if I was a South Park cartoon. Well here it is! My wife made it for me. Is there any resemblance at all?

I heard from a source that the video that I did was a success! I'm so happy about it! I felt like I won an Oscar. My friend said the bride watched the video about 10 times. Not the best record in my book though. Janners might have watched her video more than that! Right?!

THE HONEYSPOT VIDEO PRODUCTION

I made 2 music video's for a client this week. To be honest I didn't think that I can pull it off because I was doing the second video with an Arabic theme. There were obstacles that left me dumbstruck for a day or two, like the time when I had to use huge high quality movie clip file. My computer crashed everytime that I had to edit it. Its a good thing that I can compress it to a DivX format or else I would have been toast. I have to upgrade my computer before I could even touch it...and I used two computers...yes! two computers to get the job done.

But thank God that my client was pleased with the final product. Deep inside I'm so happy...and so proud of myself! Now I was informed that I have two weddings booked this month. Yeah baby! Two! So wish me luck.

Special thanks to my friend Sarah for spreading the word...My son Diego for sleeping when I needed to work...and my wife Lany for all the support.


For inquiries you can email me at sinneddc@yahoo.com

1...2...3...

Naalala nyo ba nung bata tayo tuwang-tuwa tayo kapag kinakanta natin yung 1 2 3 asawa ni Marie? Lately, kinanta ko sya para sa anak ko for no reason. And then naisip ko na kung bakit walang panty ang asawa ni Marie...kasi lalaki sya! He wears briefs!

"One, Two, Three! Asawa ni Marie! Araw gabi, walang panty!"

RELIGIOUS

Sabi ng nanay ko na kapag daw ikaw ay naaapi kailangan daw daanin sa dasal. Minsan ginawa ko na ito pero di ko pa nakikita ang effect...Pero isang araw ng nag-announce na ang mga bago kong amo ng kanilang titolo bilang diyos para akong binuhusan ng malamig na asido at nagkaroon ng isang religious encounter... Para silang Holy Trinity! Whoa!

Si Father - Para nga siyang tatay. Kasi utos sya ng utos, reklamo ng reklamo pero di marunong makinig.

Son - Oo, kalahati lang sya ng laki ni Father at para silang mag-ama kapag magkasama. (lalo siguro kung kakandong sya.)

At si Holy Ghost - Hindi dahil divine sya, pero dahil madalas di mo sya makita dahil late sya laging pumasok. Pero kapag naramdaman mo na sya at the end of the day daig pa ang habagat. Kaya naman nagiging exorcist ako everytime na magkikita kami. Hayyy...I'm so lucky.

Amen,

SINNED

BOY BAKUNA

On his tummy since 4 months and 6 days.

FISH REPORT

Dear Kuya Conrad, Ate Weng & Cute na Trisha,

Before anything else I am proud to tell you that your apartment is still there after you left you entrusted me with your key! => Everything is doing great with regards to the watering of your house plants. Infact, and probably when you return, all of them will still have the same number of leaves. I taped the brown ones that had fallen and colored them to get that natural effect. I did a great job with the leaves that some of them looks like Malunggay leaves.

With regards to the fish...I fed them more that 2 times in a week. The look very hungry, especially the black one which I fondly call "Boy Hito" or "Nog-Nog".

On my second visit at your apartment, I was surprised to see one of your fish doing the backstroke. I thought it was funny but when I looked closer it was missing its tail! Sanabagun!!! I think there is foul play in your aquarium. None of the other fish will admit who ate the little, so I decided to cut the oxygen and the water filter until they talk. Joke! I didn't cut the oxygen and the water filter! Hehehehe! But I was serious about the dead fish. Sorry! I'll make sure to get a replacement when we go to Geant.

I hope my sad news didn't spoil your vacation.

Love,

Dennis

MASTERMIND

A few days ago I recieved a text message from my friend entitled "News Flash", regarding our former boss appearing on the Filipino daily news program. I felt like I was struck by lightning when I read it. Then after reading it, I have to scroll back and re-read it again. How can a rich bastard become a criminal? Not just a criminal who killed a person by impulse, but a person who plans his crimes well.

It was about 6 years ago when I met him. He was young, handsome and thought to be one of the coolest boss in the hospital for his ability to get along with his staff. There was even a time when I was called to his office to explain why I forgot to punch in my time card. I told him that it was a mistake that I forgot punch in. He told me that I dont need to explain much further, and that I should never do it again. The meeting ended with a handshake and a full respect from the new HRD boss.

The next day after the text message, I saw the news for myself. His picture flashed briefly on the tube, I knew it was him but Im still in disbelief. The man that I once worked with is the mastermind of the "Valleverde Gang". And again I asked myself "What the hell is wrong with them? Isn't being born rich a good reason to live decent life?"

FATHER AND SON

Baron de Grimm

"We are obsessed by the idea of regulation, and our Masters of Requests refuse to understand that there is an infinity of things in a great state with which a government should not concern itself." - Baron de Grimm

EVE OF WW3

It is a very disturbing news when I read the news from a certain website that the UN announced that we may be in the eve of World War 3. Apparently, Iran, Syria and Hamas is cooking something evil. You guys suck!

My personal battle (NO! IM NO CLOSET QUEEN!) with the forces of Bureaucracy has not yielded any fruit since I started it. You guys suck!

Peace!

THE HONEYSPOT PRODUCTIONS

A few weeks ago I decided to go pro on my so called craft. I have produced several music videos (slideshow type) and one full length tribute video (Janers Farewell Video). So far everybody is happy with this backyard projects of mine, right?

This week I launched my premiere video of Ali and Sarah...a sort of gift of mine to my good buddy Sarah to her cousin who is getting married. It has recieved a good review from the people who viewed it. And according to Sarah's mom I already had a booking with one of the cousins....oh how I wish!

Some people asked me if I can do moving videos instead of a slideshow. I told them that there is a certain advantage of doing a slideshow especially if they are realtime candid pictures. One is that not everyone can be good actors. With pictures you can cheat that by just posing for a few seconds. Most of us cant really act for more than a minute, we always break into laughter. Good pictures can be brought to life by a good storyline and an effective but meaningful background music.

So to those who want to avail of my services you can contact me at my email

sinneddc@yahoo.com.

Just leave your number and I'll call you back asap.

WALA LANG

testing.....there is something wrong with my blog....

ARAD FORT

ARAD FORT, Muharraq Kingdom of Bahrain

CONSUMER REPORT

Two months ago we purchased an HP 2613 computer. It will practically do everything except make coffee. I don't have any problems with regards to its printing. I can say that it rivals the prints that comes from the shop. Scanning is also very easy to do. You can even scan a text document and edit it. No need to retype it because of its I.R.I.S. technology.

But last week the LCD stopped working. No remedy from the HP Certified Online Technician can help me. All they can tell me in the end is that "its a hardware issue", which I don't really understand. I guess the best advice that they gave me is to send it to the Authorized Service Center. In this case its the Zayani shop along Sitra. The service personel were very assuring that it will be fixed. It only needs about a week because the new spare will be coming from Dubai. Who cares for 2 weeks if they will bring my LCD to life, right? And afterall, I am entitled to a "free service". It says so on the warranty. No need to worry about payments.

But after a week they called me to say that they didn't fix my printer, but instead they are giving me a new one. It was far better than what I expected. Imagine a new printer? But I knew that its too good to be true. When me and my wife got to the HP center they gave us a printer wrapped in plastic. No more new printer smell...it isn't new!!! We asked why it isn't new, but all they could tell us is that with this kind of model they dont repair it anymore. Models like this gets shipped to Dubai and replaced by an old refurbished unit. We tried to reason with them that this isn't fair. AFterall, our unit is only two months old. The one that they were giving us is probably older. It has scratches all over and a nick to one end of the scanner cover.

Even when we called the Manager Mr. Mohammed Shafi, he told us the same thing. But regardless of his reply, I thanked him for his help, and that I hope Mr. Zayani reads the Gulf Daily Newspaper. He said "Thank you". We chuckled afterwards and took the refurbished printer. Lets just see what happens after I wrote the editor of GDN.

MINUS ONE

Shortly after I took this photo the memory of an old ice cream commercial came to mind. Remember that old one, when two kids were separated after the boys family moved to another place? The little boy asked "Eh sinong best friend mo dun?" The other boy replied "Syempre ikaw!" Cute.

According to Prof. Water Bayubay of FEU, it's his commercial. Yep! He claimed this one to be his when I reviewed for the Med. Tech Board at Pioneer Review Center. Apparently, the other boy was Gary Valenciano. I don't know if there is any truth to this, but it would have been a nice memory to keep.

Have you ever been separated from your childhood friend when you were a kid? It's tough. Maybe because these are the years that we need someone to share the changes in our lives with.

When it was time to say goodbye to Ate Raquel and the family last night, we didn't really have a problem letting go, because we know that they are going to be in a nice place. But after seeing Mariam and Trisha say goodbye for the last time while, each one was separated by a steel barricade at the airport...man that really had our tear jerked from our eyes. It's sadder than the two mice that sang James Ingram's "Somewhere Out There".

The best of luck to Ate Raq's and the rest of the family. May you find what you are looking for in Canada. We'll miss you all!

DECADE

...how do you measure a year?

It was 10 years ago when I graduated from college. At this time I was still in disbelief about the facts of life. If I didn't hold on to one out of a million of my dreams, then probably I won't be here posting this blog. I'm not suicidal! I'm just thinking that I would have strayed in a different path. Who knows? Maybe I could have been a priest...

It was 10 years ago when I became serious in a relationship. And it was also 10 years ago that I decided not to become serious with my relationships. (uy bawi agad!) I learned that I was still very young to decide on that matter for fear of the word "Marriage". (sabi ko na nga ba pang-priest ako e..) By this time they are already giving away discount cards to motels in Mendiola and Recto.

It was 10 years ago when I passed the Medical Technology Board Exam. (Panis!) I didn't get the highest score but I passed! I ran out of the house wearing my underwear to buy 3 copies of the Manila Bulletin when I got the call from a friend that I am in the passers list.

It was 10 years ago when my mother had breast cancer. She had to undergo 2 surgery's because the first doctor that she went to is not qualified to remove her right breast. I wish I sued that OB-GYNE for malpractice.

It was 10 years ago when I played rythym guitar in band. We won first prize at a battle of the band contest in Malabon. I miss my band-mates!

It was 10 years ago when I got employed at a hospital in E. Rodriguez, Q.C. We had the best line up of cool staff in the lab. If we hadn't have any financial problems (like the rest of the masses.) we wouldn't have left that place. The management sucks, but we rock!

To be continued...

Teka lang may patient pa ako...

LOGO

Been practicing my Adobe Photoshop 8 skills. Thanks to online tutorials I found a new hobby. And yes there is going to be a new look for this webby in a couple of years... joke!

COOL SONG

Enough of Cat Stevens "Father and Son"! I heard a new song to replace it in my favorite song list. Heard it from Crazy Kevins radio program one morning. Its very remeniscent of James Taylor by with the cool lyrics. If you have time you can download the mtv and music from its official website. The mtv worth downloading. It makes me want to copy the background design to replace our own. The name of the song is "JCB" by Nizlopi. Check it out!

MY SHOT GLASS COLLECTION

Some people collect stamps. Some collect antiques. My friend from college collect girlfriends. I on the other hand collect shot glasses. Yes. Because I learned my lesson from collecting different kinds of liquor...they don't seem to last! But not all shot glasses are worth collecting. I started mine when my friend Sarah brought home a shot glass that lights up when you tilt it. Cool eh?? Then I bought my own from Hong Kong and Starbucks SM City branch. Later on Sarah and Hameed got me a pewter from their honeymoon trip to Thailand. So far the my collection stopped from there, thats why I'm reviving my collection from today. Does anybody care to give me one?

EL CHUPACABRA

No matter how hard I try, I just can't get over this overwhelming feeling for my new boss. I couldn't even compose a blog about him...but I'll try.

Dear Boss,

You are a plague.

Love,
Employee of the month

BABY DUTY

It's baby duty tonight for me. My wife left for work at a little past nine, and I'm alone with my little angel. The thought of this moment changes my mood sometimes. Our first night together without his mom was really bad. He woke up at about 1:30am and never slept until his mom got home. I tried to go to work the next day but I felt so damn sleepy. All I could think about that time was to find a hiding place at work to snooze.

On our second night, I knew the he would do it to me again thats why after his mom left I went to the kitchen to fix me a strong coffee. And when I say strong, it's really strooonnggg!!! Strong enough to make your kidneys bleed. And as usual, we stayed up 'till the morning came.

After that I used the power of the internet to find me a remedy for a cranky 1 month old baby. You won't believe how many probable cause you can chose from. There were also friends who are there to give a friendly advice, in co-relation to their kid's case. We tried Gripe water, Acete Manzanilla, warm milk, swaddling, dancing, soothing lullabies, and oh, oh! prayers! We prayed that the little devil would stop crying. But there was one thing on my list that I haven't done yet...EXORCISM!

Sinabi ko na sa iyo h'wag gagalitin si Ed eh! Ayan naging green nanaman sya!

The best things in life are free...

I gave showbiz a shot when the Search for TFC POP STAR hosted by abs-cbn came to town. As a result 3 of the 5 judges had hypertension, 1 vomitted before I even sang the second stanza, and the last one stabbed his left ear with a blunt pencil. Yes I know...I'm too good!

I LOVE CASH!!!

Before our good buddy Ed left, we sort of swapped Mp3 files. His music collection was on his trusty external hard drive, and mine on my ever dependable desktop pc. It's no surprise that we had a lot of mp3 files in common. Afterall, I burned a few CD's for him a long time ago. But to my surprise, he had a collection of Johnny Cash songs stashed in his "my music" folder. I figured, what the hell is honky-tonk music doing in his hard drive? I know he's from Texas, but he ain't no American cowboy. He's a Pinoy cowboy! (Meron bang Pinoy Cowboy? O "katutubo" ang tawag dun?)The one that eats one day old egg and drinks gin in the middle of a street. Hee-hee! But whatever, I only knew one song from tough old Johnny, "The Ring of Fire". And I didn’t like it because I'm a fan, but because they played it in Joaquin Phoenix's movie about Johnny Cash. Yes, I'm a Joaquin Phoenix fan. And if I can change my name, it would be Joaquin. Just don't call me "wack-wack". You crazy people already called my son "Dieg-dieg"! One day I'll throw my baby's soiled diaper on you for doing so.

Anyways, I was listening to it this morning on my discman (I know it's primitive, but it plays Mp3's too!) and I found that it's cool! Every song is like a short story, and the rythym in my imagination is like riding a horse or a train. I listened to every track and there is a common theme in it, mostly family relationships, the west, misfortunes and good old fashion cowboy chitchat. Very different from the music that we hear today. I get tired of the sex topic too you know!

THE ART OF WAITING AND A GUY NAMED BILLY

I have been at the lab since 7am in the morning working on one procedure. The whole thing including the preparation of media can be done in less than two hours. Now it's about 10:30 am, and I have wasted most of my time waiting for the doctors to come and do their patient.

I hate the idea of waiting. Because deep down inside I am a result oriented person. Last night even before I went to bed I knew that this would happen. I wished that there will be an active internet connection at work or else I'll to die of boredom. There was a tempting effort to stash the PS2 in my bag and play a game while I wait, but I didn't. There is a guilt feeling, like I was cheating on my wife while she babysit's my son with a few hours of sleep. Her arms are sore for certain, I thought. But anyways, I'm glad that I didn't because now I had the time to write this entry.

On a dimmer side, I discovered the confessions of Billy Corgan, the Smashing Pumkins frontman. His memoirs are so disturbing and sad that I imagined myself in his shoes. Scary! Writing something like that takes a lot of guts. What kind of a person can openly reveal his persona to the whole world? Nevermind Billy, but what about the other people that he wrote about? This made me more sensitive of what I would write in future blogs. I don't want to end up like a roadkill on someone else's journal.

COPYRIGHT

A couple of days ago I recieved a message on our tag-board apparently coming from a bakery. He said something about a person listed on my "link's section" about his ethics. My question is: "Are cake designs suppossed to be patented?" The only thing I know about pastries is to eat it. So to you Mr. Cakeperson, don't take it out on me because I linked Alex Franco on my site. If you have any grudge on him, please don't involve me in it. Don't be like a little girl! =>

(While I wrote my comment about the feuding baker's, I slightly remembered the line on the song Mc Arthur Park. "I dont think that I can take it, coz it took so long to bake it. And I'll never find that recipe again....ohhh nooooo!!!!")

Dear Janjan, I made those things because I thought it was worth doing. You guys had been terrific friends to us. For a short period of time, we found a slice of home when we were together. Remember our days at the mall, when we didn't care and we just goofed around? Feeling ko na sa SM lang tayo! And with regards to the-statue-of-liberty-holding-a-bottle-of-jack-with-Ed's-face-having-six-fingers (paking syet! ang haba ng tittle!), don't you just sometimes feel like he has six fingers??? Bwehehehehehehehe! Magic!

In a couple of days I will be going back to a dream that I left a long time ago before college...I wanted to be in media! (Ok, I'm not fuc*#@ gay! I'm artistic...yun lang.) A friend of mine bragged to his other friend about the video that I did for Jan, and now they wanted me to become a cameraman for a day. The singing contest hosted by ABS-CBN is coming in town, and I'll be part of the team covering it. So if you see it, some shots would probably be mine. Cool!

I'm a sucker for personalised stuff. Thats why I made this design for Ed's t-shirt and CD soundtrack. Why? Probably to tell him that me and my family appreciate him. Nice guy owned by Janjan. =>

DEATH BY GAME SHOW

DEATH BY GAME SHOW

Why is it that when Ed leaves there is always something bad that happens? First the King's son died, and now there were people killed at the Wowowee stampede. Last night I swore to God that I won't divulge his latest blunder on my blog. Although it kills me to stay quiet about it, I felt obliged to give him a little peace of mind that I won't tell. We told Jan though, when she made a one hour long distance call last night. Rich na e! Bwehehehe! Joke lang mareng Jan.

We were all saddened when Ed caught a plane out of this island. He had been such a good friend especially to me. Who can forget when one day he taught me how to drive using his old Toyota? I didn't! Swear to God man, you are on my list of people whom I won't forget. Living legend ka na yata.

I know that everyone was just hiding their feelings while we took all your stuff, including your mouthwash. In fact, I was soo hiding my emotions that I wanted to take home the toilet seat (naka-cemento lang talaga sya!). All that car care kit that I took means that I love you very much! Bwahahahaha!

It was fun ransacking his belongings that he was about to leave behind. It's like we were kids on top of Smokey Mountain! Let's do it again! =>

We also had fun talking to Bloody Janners last night. Now, that we were getting to know you too well, we could probably make a drawing of each emotion that you have shown us, just like an Emoticon. => Joke lang ha! No pun intended. We were just glad that you came to us on your desperate hour. Like we said, just look forward to the future. You're life is on a fast track. Your life can change in a minute. Kita mo you'll be happy again.

That pretty thing they put on top of my drink is really extra special.

Nang si Judas ay nadulas, tatlong balbas ang nalagas....Moral Lesson: "Pull all the hair you want, just don't touch my pubes!"

PYRO

"The stillness of the night air can bring many to sleep, but it also gives imagination and creativity to others. "

There were nights when we just stay outside my friends Bonjings gate and tell tall tales of our misfortunes and misadventures. The story lengthens to the topic of what we want to happen in the future. And as if the topic aint broad enough, we often landed on our "hate list", which is really long!

Bonjings house is the second to the last house on a dead end street. There is a lot, opposite to his place which is full of tall grass that we sometimes turn into our personal playground. At night we use to sit outside the gate with Elvin, Ruel and Sonny to talk about stuff. This is the most condusive place to chit-chat, because the place is dark and the narrow street is clean enough to sit on. Nobody, except his family passes by so there is total privacy. I learned to smoke in that place.

One time I brought a toy soldier, a couple of baby rockets, a match and a lighter fluid to his place. I figured that the burning soldier stunt would create a nice cinematic effect on our evening session.

First we strapped two baby rockets on the toy soldier to see if it would fly. We lit the rockets and... boom! It's too heavy! (we all laughed in synchrony: bwahahahahaha!)

We put two more on his back to try and make it slide down the pavement. But the rockets exploded the moment it lit up. (more laughter...but this time with a more sinister tone.)

Failure is not an option. Seeing the toy soldier be destroyed in to pieces is the most fun we had in days. So I put the toy soldier neer the edge of the canal...poured lighter fluid and torched it! Taa-daaaaaa!!! And then we kicked it down the canal just as soon as it melted.(we all appluaded for the cool grand finale!)

But the grand finale of all is when Bonjing made a hexagram on their neighbors back gate using the lighter fluid. It burned like the one we saw in the movie! But then we heard a noise from the other side of the gate, and we started to run for it!

The next day, there was a charred hexagram on the neighbors gate. (Applause!)

That was maybe more than 10years ago. Now we are all mature (huh?) and respectable (huuuhhhh???) citizens. Bonjing is now living in Japan with his long time girlfriend Letlet. I wonder if there would be another when we can burn something up again. Ahhh! I forgot that we were singing a song when we did that, "Seek and Destroy" by Metallica. Pero sana next time barbeque na lang! =>

SOPAS

I washed my mouth before posting this entry. Kasi nga nag-comment ako sa blog ni Janner's at napalaban ako sa Englisan. As a result, napalaban din ako sa mga makabagong expression of feelings. Check her blog out para makita nyo ang comment ko. Nakakainit kasi ng ulo ang mga ganoong topic.

After midnight, our favorite hang-out when we're hungry (especially kapag lashing na sa inuman) is the place called "Galvez". Originally a Pandesal Bakery, they transformed the place into a small karinderia that serves champorado, lugaw, monggo soup, sopas, fried egg, hotdogs (all kinds...kaya mo ba to?), tuyo, tinapa (?) and occassionaly fried rice.

My favorite is the Sopas made of macaroni, chicken and left over hotdogs (ito kaya ko). Put a lot of black pepper and a side order of hot pandesal and it sends me right away to bed. Ahhhh... It's a bit far from our place and we have to walk several blocks to get there but the food is worth it. But even if the food is good, I don't eat there alone. Wala kasi akong tattoo sa pwet na satellite.

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT

Being an insomniac is fun. (Insomniac in teenage lingo is to stay up late in the night and sleep the whole day.) I got to see how peaceful a normally very noisy neighborhood during the day. Since Navotas main income is from the fish market (that sells fish wholesale during the night), there are restaurants and turo-turo that are open until sunrise. (That goes to the beer gardens too.) The agenda of every teen at that time is to make phone calls. We would stay at Elvin’s house, which is notorious for out of school friends to hang out and line up to use their phone. My friends would hog the phone to annoy unknown residents in the middle of the night and fish for a phone-pal. As a result, everybody stays up until morning until they got to talk to their girl. Everybody has one, except for me. I was the shy type back then, and I never liked the idea of introducing my self to just anyone. I don’t even know what they look like! Anyways, there was a time when Nanay Belle bought a speaker phone, and there was one girl who SOP-ied with all the boys in the room! Jackpot! You can bet that all of us were present the next night for a repeat. Unfortunately, it was a one time only opportunity.

INSOMNIAC

INSOMNIAC

There was a time in my life when sleep was less of a priority, especially during high school. My friends would brag about watching the “Head-bangers Ball” on MTV a little before 2am on a regular basis. As an avid fan of heavy metal music, and wanting to be in the “in crowd” I needed to be awake rather than sleep after 9pm. At first, I was the worst wannabe-insomniac you can ever meet. From my bedtime of 9pm, I can only stay up until 12 midnight. There were times when I managed to stay up until 1:30am and fall asleep just before my favorite show starts. (sanababits!!!) Or there were occasions when I made it through 3am (yahoo!!!) and forget that the show was not going to air because it’s a Sunday.

During college, less sleep is required to keep up with my studies. (yes, I studied…) Having a 7am to 7pm schedule kept me occupied most of those years. And when I got to internship I literally have to stay awake during night shifts at the hospital. It continued until I started to work in the hospital for 5 years.

After going abroad and having a permanent A.M. shift, I forgot all about staying up late at night. Even the habit of staying awake when I had problems became non-existent. I learned to sleep through it, which was a blessing (I know it’s unnatural.) Now I have to re-learn the whole thing because of Diego. There coffee I know, but sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes I wanted to do the Ibong Adarna technique but it’s too painful. (When you feel sleepy slice your forearm with a sharp blade and squeeze kalamansi on it. That would make anyone wide awake!) Now we’re up to the challenge to find the holy grail of parenting…to give our baby a long relaxing sleep.

Zzzzzzzzzzz…….

zzzzzzzzzz.....

SLEEP

If there is one luxury that you can't buy is a perfectly relaxing sleep. Our days of sleeping for 12 hours or more is now over. It's been more than a month since we had a long one. Having a baby brought its heavy duties along with it. Now I know why my parents had permanent eyebugs. Who knows the number of Dr. Vicki Bello (oo crush ko to!) or Dr. Calayan (wala lang)?

MAGDALO

Last weeks news on www.inq7.net is about a mutineer who escaped from Camp Aguinaldo. He claimed that even after being a fugitive, he can go in and out of any government facility in the Philippines. He showed that he can do it by putting up a website with pictures and downloadable video clips to the theme of "civil disobedience".

I salute him for being so courageous to prove his point. I can feel the spirit of love of his country through his words of nationalism. How many of us feels this way after the Peso has lost its value throughout the years, or after one politician fucked up the justice system for his own good one term after the other?

Special request lang po: How about taking a shit in front of your enemies house, and take a picture of it?

Here is the real Lord of the Ring! From the Kingdom of Bagumbayan Elementary School of Navotas. I figured I have to digitalize my aging photo before it turns to ashes. Thank God for our new HP 2613! Bwahahahaha!!!!

DEATH = HOLIDAY

In the last year GCC world leaders have been dying of poor health and old age. There was the death of the King of UAE, King of Saudi, Prime Minister of UAE, son of the King of Bahrain, and just this morning we received a news of the death of the King of Kuwait! All these guys had been given a 3 day non-working holiday, except for the UAE Prime and the Kings son. We already had a very long holiday starting from "Hajj". And now we have to take 3 more days of for the recent death. The

Now I'm sitting here at the lab waiting for the doctor to get done with his procedure so that I can go home. I can't wait to go home and lay down in our new orthopedic bed. Ahhhh…the bed…..

But what can I do but wait. Check the picture of the lady who won 3 gold medals. Doesn't she look so much like actress Joyce Jimenez?

WHATS UP?

We get a lot of "What's up?" greetings now a days. Probably because we haven't been too visible, or because I haven't been updating this blog after my son was born. We are glad to say that even if we haven't had the luxury of a long relaxing sleep, we are happy to have Diego (the other man in my wife's life).

Soon I will be launching my very own blogsite. Why? I don't really know. I just felt that there are topics that doesn't suit "the honeyspot". I will be coming up with a theme like, being a husband or a father etc. Kinda like my own version of the "vagina monologue". I was also thinking of calling it " the penis monologue".

Fafa Ed is back in town, and we're glad to see him! I got the chance to have a little chat with him this afternoon to hear a few things about our cabron's in the UK and how their life has changed after Bahrain. Yeah, their life changed. We just hope that they won't change. Peoples behavior and character most of the time changes with the environment.

We finished season 5 of CSI Vegas!!! Awesome!!! Quentin Tarantino rules! Those 7 bloody DVD's are enough to keep us glued to the screen. This week we'll watch season 4. Sarah said it doesn't have much difference if we watch 5 ahead of 4. Not much has happened with regards to their personal lives. Hmmmm.... I will tell you when we finish season 4.

Yesterday the King's son died from a car accident. It's so ironic! His car slammed on a lamp post with his fathers picture on it, in a place where they built the F1 race course. If I was a fictional writer I could have written a novel about it. But I'm only a blogger and I can only write about myself.

FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Its our first wedding anniversay! I love you honey!

Why are babies so cute???

INSPIRATION IN 2006

Lately, I haven't found the perfect topic to blog in the year 2006. I use to go to my favorite blogsite's to find inspiration, but the more I read them, the more tempting it gets to steal their ideas and incorporate it in my blog! Hehehe! But I can't do that. I don't have the guts to piss my blog-idols, right? Instead, I decided to write a list of the funniest and the coolest domain names that I know. Here it goes...

1. http://www.kwentongtambay.nicanordavid.com
2. http://www.deardiarya.blogspot.com
3. http://eatingthesun.blogspot.com/
4. http://garapata.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.harvardstreetcubao.blogspot.com/
6. http://lefthandedmouse.blogspot.com/
7. http://badinggerzie.blogspot.com/
8. kulotology.blogspot.com
9. idiotboard.blogspot.com
10. villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com
11. logbet.blogspot.com

Thats about it. Check it out and tell me if its any good. I honestly haven't read all of them, I just find their names funny.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As the coming new year approaches,
may your belly be always full,
your pockets always stuffed with cash,
your head always spinning in from alcohol,
and may you always land on a warm bed with somebody you love!

There's a light of hope,
there's a light of hope,
in our minds and in our hearts,
I'm glad to find what you were looking for in life,
the joy and peace of life!

But most importantly,
may you find happiness and contentment in everything you desire.

So lets party like its 1908!!!

God Bless us all!!!

PARENTAL ADVICE

After making a bad decision, has anybody told you that someday you are going to experience being a parent? I got a lot of that when I was in still with my parents, and they remind me each time I come home at dawn after a party, after I haven't come home after a day, after not going home for two days, after not coming home after 3 days, and almost everytime that I upset them. Those were troubled times for me. I knew that they were right, and if they had a heart condition I could make them drop dead the second I make that mistake. Good thing that my grandparents on both side only have diabetis!

Teens nowadays have a hard time digesting the facts of life. They take for granted all the things that they spoon feed us. Perhaps because they know that it will take years for them to face the problems that we adults are experiencing. (Yes, I'm an adult...but it doesn't mean I'm fully matured!) It seems that "live for the moment" is the motto of this generation. But that is only one way to look at it. There are always two sides of the coin. Whatever happened to "look forward into the future"? We always miss the meaning of "goals" from" dreams".

After having a week old baby, I too have go back to all the wisdom that my parents passed on to me. It is not true that all the things they said, (most of them came out of anger) went in one ear and came out of the other. No. I have always kept them in me. I just haven't applied them yet.

Thanks to everyone who wished us well these holidays. You can catch us online almost every night. Have a Merry Christmas and a meaningful New Year!

Ciao!

Dennis, Lany and Diego (don't you every call me Dieg-dieg! ok???)

Gifts gallore!!! Yung isang gift sa harap nahirapan kaming hulaan kung ano yun...kala namin ng una ay...suklay! Baby tub pala! hehehe! Thank You all!

Diego Luis's Welcome Party December 22, 2005.

Tito Charles, Ate Weng and Ate Raquel

MERRY CHRISTMAS

This is probably the best Christmas gift that a person could ever ask for...but ofcourse there is always the PS 2! Joke!

Today is not only Christ's birthday, it is also my Honeys day! Happy Birthday Honey!!!

'yun lang po at magpapadede pa ako!

Merry Christmas to all!

From,

Dennis, Lany and Diego

Diego and Tita Mayet

Our Kuya Conrad and Ate Weng gave Diego a very nice welcome party. But where is the Adobo Kuya Con??? Joke lang po! Your family has warmed our hearts this Christmas. Godbless you all!

Thank you for all the welcome gifts that you showered us. Merry Christmas to you all!

We can't stop taking pictures of this cute little boy. Time to buy a Canon EOS 350! Hehehehe!

We might change the name of this site to "The Diego-spot". What do you think?

Pinoy na pinoy ba ang ilong ko?

Medyo may pagka-rapper yata ang anak ko...'wag lang sana niya tularan si Vanilla Ice.

FIRST TIME PARENTS

There are a lot of things that happened to us in the year 2005. We got married in January, Lany got pregnant in March, I passed the drivers test last August, we bought a car before September, and now we have a new baby in our life! God is good because we are blessed with his love, and He takes care of our us. (Is this really me speaking???)

My wife labored for more than 24 hours. Lets see if I can remember it...

December 17, 2005
6:30am - After coming out of the toilet she discovered that she is leaking...oh-oh! its the first sign that she'll deliver! She decided to stay at home to observe herself. I'm glad that shes a nurse!

10:00am - I told Grace and my colleagues at work of what happened at home and they all said that I should take her to the hospital. After the first Vaginal Egg Collection the news spread inside the Operating Theater and our IVF consultant and friend Dr. Mooza told me that I should bring my wife to the hospital for a CTG (I don't know what the hell CTG stands for. At first I thought that its one of those "Counter Terrorist Unit" like the one in "24") CTG is a test to monitor the baby's heart beat.

10:30am - In Bahrain, I was taught to drive like a Bahraini by my driving instructor Mr. Yousif. He taught me everything he knew, especially his motto "When in Bahrain, drive like a F1 driver..."Its his version of the "When in Rome do as the Roman's do" saying. I rushed home to pick up my wife.

11:30am - Mama Pajama wasn't in a hurry to deliver so we stopped by Mega Mart in Manama to pick up a few essentials.

12:30pm - Lany was admitted to Ward 16. She is definitely going to deliver!

2:00pm - I left work to be with with my wife.

6:00pm - Went to Geant to pick up more things for our stay at the hospital.

8:30pm - I headed back to the hospital from our apartment carrying a lot of stuff.

10:00pm - I went to hostel to do the laundry... because they don't let the husbands to stay in the ward overnight.

11:00pm - Dr. Malati told her that they might give her a medicine to induce labor. She has been leaking for more than 12hours now, and she needs to take an antibiotic to help her.

December 18, 2005

1:30am - It's my sisters birthday! Happy Birthday Babs! Lany called me because they will be bringing her to the delivery room. The baby has come down near the cervix about 60%, but her cervix has only dilated about 1.5cm. Induction of labor is still an option but they decided to wait for a little more time. Good thing that I was a staff at the hospital, otherwise they wouldn't have let me inside the labor room.

3:30am - The baby has progressed about 80% and her cervix is now 2.5cm. There was a cute doctor who helped rapture the membrane. At this time I went back to the hostel to do more laundry while we waited for the right time. Phsycho therapist should really recommend laundry to patients because it relieves stress.

7:00am - Still no baby. The pain of labor is now taking its toll on Lany. She is now taking Nitrous Oxide to kill the pain but she is still dilated 2.5cm!

8:00am - She has progressed from 2.5cm to 4cm. Now she is steadily opening up, but the pain becomes more as the contractions become more frequent.

10:55am - She delivered a 3.2Kg baby boy who scared us to death when he didn't cry. They assured as Diego was going to be ok, but I had my doubts because there were 4 nurses attending him plus a pediatrician. I saw my boys body turn blue and I almost cried. They tried everything to make him cry... after a minute we heard a cry. He sounds weak so he was rushed to the NICU for further observation.

Many thanks to the Nurses and Doctors of the OB department especially Dr. Amal for delivering the baby, Ligi, Mary, Sister Annie and to the others who helped us. God Bless you all!

more blogs and pictures to come! stay tuned!

Father and son having an intimate time together.

There is a strange feeling that we felt about the baby. We meet strangers but we never have strong feelings for them until we actually become friends...but this guy that we just met swept us off our feet.

Diego stayed at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for further observation. It was only tonight that we had a quality time with him.

Mama Pajama and Diego.

DIEGO LUIS was born on the 18th of December, 2005. He is the pride and joy of his parents Dennis and Lany.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON!!!

from left to right Naks, Ed, Allan, Dennis, Don and Don's brother in law.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AHRON!!! (Daddy Zaldy, Ahron Romee and Mommy Grace)

Alawi family: Mommy Fe, Jinan and Daddy Hameed

Jinan's Birthday Cake

Jinan and her cousin Layla.

December 12, 2005 : HAPPY BIRTHDAY JINAN!!!

ULAM DAY 5

We didn't cook anything on day 5, we took home some food from the birthday party. Masarap talaga ang libre! =>

ULAM DAY 4

Sorry late na ang mga updates ko. Marami kasi kaming lakad ng mga nakaraang araw. Anyways, day 4 ay very pinoy ang ulam namin. We had Ampalaya Guisado with pork. This is one of my wife's special dish. We also had the chance to score Magnolia Ice Cream after
church. Wala ng mas malaki pa sa pint dun sa nabilan naming cold store e. We are planning to buy more ice cream next week kapag naligaw ulit kami dun.

ULAM DAY 3

One of the best part of being married is coming home knowing that there is a hot homecooked meal ready for you. My wife cooked a lovely Beef and Mushroom dish. It taste like just like Lengua (Ox Tongue). It makes me wonder what todays dish will be?

ULAM DAY 2

We forgot to take pictures of our
'ulam for the day", thats why I used a few tricks of my own on the fried daing na bangus. The bulalo is our left over from last nights dinner at Borakay. Yes. They spelled it with a "K". We promise to do better tomorrow. Lany will be cooking something with beef...sana lang hindi corned beef! hehehe!

Take a good look at the bangus, and you'll see different images like a lion, or a vagina. Take your pick!

ISANG LINGGONG ULAM: "LONGANISA AT ITLOG"

After browsing the blogsites about food, we decided that we dedicate this week for food. Think of this as a reality show ok. We are not going to showcase freshly prepared fiesta food. We just want you to see what a real life home cooked meal looks like. Because not all of us have the time and inspiration to be a chef.

Todays brunch is last nights overcooked Pampanga's Best longanisa with fried egg and overnight rice (ito daw ang right translation ng Bahaw). For the on the go couple, there is nothing like an easy to cook sausage and fried eggs. Considering that we are both on a day off, we managed to still be lazy and stay in bed. No need to over indulge our palates, a simple dish will do.

Tomorrow, we'll be featuring another dish...erm...we'll see what we have. Got no plans yet. But I'm sure that it will be as delicious as todays dish.

PARA SA MGA HALIPAROT!

May nahanap ako na mapapagtripan sa internet kung wala kang magawa. Might be the best questionaire in Tagalog ever. Check this out http://www.tristancafe.com/quizzes/kerengkeng/

SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! (NOT!)

Our blogsite didn't make the final cut of the Philippine Blog Awards! And I am not surprised why. I don't even see the reason why I was chosen as a semifinalist for photoblogging anyway. All I can say is that there are more important issues than being the hottest blog of the year. Just as long as there are people like you who still reads my stuff and ok lang!

Our baby is coming soon, and we are very excited to see him. I've been keeping my driving skills in constant practice and our car in tip-top shape for the big day, and I hope that everything will run smoothly. Today we'll be picking up the baby crib at Mothercare. Thanks to Sarah and Hamad!

more pictures to come!