Moving Out

I don't know how long I have been with Blogger, and sadly, I have decided that it's time to move on.

Good-bye.

I'm moving to fifimoo.tumblr.com.

A Perfect End to My Weekend

At the house before heading out.

Ron took me out last night on a date to celebrate our 34th month together in advance. I had such a wonderful evening,and the food that we had was superb! Mmmmmm I can still taste the perfectly cooked steak and the souffle!

View from the driveway.

At the entrance gate.

He took me to Lemuria, where I've never been to before, located somwhere in Horseshoe Village. It used to be the office space of Brumms Quality Wines before it was converted to a restuarant. The place was very intimate and is not that easy to find unless you researched the the place beforehand. We had to share a private room with a family, which was okay considering that Ron only made the reservations only that morning. The dinner started off with a basket of warm bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar followed by the Prawn Bisque for me and the Lyonnaise salad for Ron.

The combination of the sea bass, mushroom risotto, and the fresh vierge was delightful! To cleanse our palates, we were served raspberry sorbet. The last course before dessert was Beef ala Lourges, which was stuffed with foie gras. This was my favorite part of the meal because the steak was delicious and the duck liver wasn't too overwhelming. Lastly, we were served the Grand Marnier souffle with vanilla sauce. Even though my tummy was so full by this time, I still managed to eat all of it becayse it was just so yummy! Thanks so much, Ronniekins! Happy 34th month! Mmmmmmmmwah!

♥ Rosco, Rosco, Rosco ♥!

Oh my goodnessssssss! I am so happy!!! Happy, happy, happy! It's Sunday, and I'm still so happy from last Friday's gig! Why??? Because we rocked last Friday!!! Oooooh yeah! I cannot explain the feeling, but it's been awhile since I experienced it from playing. It just felt so great, you know, knowing that while we were playing the whole band was having a great time and everyone's heart was in it! And it was a big bonus that the crowd was jumping around and they actually liked our whole set, even the originals! Oh wow, I am so inspired and so thankful. :)

And our last gig in Route 196 was more than a year ago, I think, so it was nice to be back, surrounded by a good crowd and the very cool people who run the place. I loved it!

I hope we get to play again at Route 196 soon! I ♥ Rosco and I ♥ my friends and I ♥ life.

NAIA Is the Worst Airport in Asia, Fifth in the World

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Photo by Eric Apolonio.

Ron forwarded me this article from the Inquirer website about how the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is ranked as the worst airport in Asia and the fifth worst in the world. It's embarrassing and sad, but it is true.

I dread going to NAIA Terminal 1 because the place looks depressing and just goes to show the sorry situation that our country is in. Once you enter the building, you are immediately hit with an atmosphere that is enough to make you want to take Prozac even if you are not clinically depressed. From the outdated floors to the bulky counters to the terrible lighting, one cannot help but think where the hell our taxes and the mandatory terminal fee go. Out of all the airports that I have been to, only NAIA charges a terminal fee. Yes, you have to pay to use a filthy airport that makes you want to never go back to your own country.

And don't even get me started with the toilets. I think it should become a law for every country to have clean toilets and for the restrooms to have sufficient toilet paper. You see, based on the law of physics or whatever, airport toilets reflect what kind of government a country has. Shitty airport toilets = shitty government.

Also, I think they should allow better establishments to place their businesses inside the airport. (I don't even know why they don't have a McDonald's or a Jollibee inside.) They have these little food stalls that sell crappy food at exorbitant prices. Yes, airport food is always expensive, but what you're buying should be worth it! I'll happily pay for an P80 sandwich or even more if it was worth it, but to expect me to pay that amount for two pieces of stale bread with a paper-thin slice of ham and mayo in between is outrageous.

Another issue I have is with the transportation available from the airport to wherever a passenger has to go. Yes, a lot of us have families who pick us up once we arrive, but what about those that don't have vehicles of their own? The airport taxis that they have now is another proof of how corrupt our country is. I mean, why would I pay three times the original price of a cab just because I came from the NAIA? It's probably because some rich dude has connections with the higher-ups and therefore it gives him the right to monopolize the taxi business in the airport. Why can't we have shuttle buses that travel to designated areas of the metro? Or why wasn't the MRT or LRT built to accomodate people who have to go to the airport?

Terminal 2 is a bit better because the toilets are cleaner and there is Internet, but it's still not something I would brag about. I am reminded of my recent trip to Shanghai. I had to declare a package because it contained sensitive material. When I got to the Customs counter, there was no officer there. I asked the woman in Information where I might find a Customs officer because I needed them to sign some papers. She called the head office, I guess, and had me talk to a woman, who told me that she will send an officer to the counter immediately. I waited and waited and waited and made about four more calls to the office, but still no officer came. I only had less than an hour to check in and go through immigration, so I had no choice but to leave without having the papers signed. Good for them I was not carrying a bomb.

It's such a shame that our airports are in such a sorry state. Maybe placing first as Asia's worst airport would be enough for our government to finally wake up. After all, Mr. President, it bears your father's name. Maybe it's time that you do something about it.

Fifi and Her City

Once again, I am addicted! To a game that is! Ever since I started playing Cityville last December, I have been playing it religiously every day. I think Zynga hit the jackpot with this game. See, I didn't want to play Farmville before because I had no interest in farming. When they came out with Cafe World, I was also hooked on that game but decided to stop playing it. When they came out with Frontierville, I gave it a try because it was kinda what I was looking for but not quite. Finally when they came out with Cityville, all the things I wanted in a game of this type were there. A few years back, I kept wondering when Zynga was going to come out with a game like Sim City, and when they finally did, it did not disappoint.

Almost everyone in our office plays this game, even our boss and the COO. My colleagues and I would often Skype one another, asking for a zoning permit or an item needed for one of the goals of the game or something. It's a good thing that you only have limited energy to accomplish tasks because otherwise, I wouldn't get any work done.

I love the game because, well, you get to build your own city. I love the little details of the structures and the items they come up with! From the newspaper stands to little Italian villas and even parking lots--awesome! Yes, I sound like a geek right now, but it's just so cool to see your city develop from a little town with a few houses and a coffee shop to a metropolitan with brick buildings and television towers!

The only problem I have with this game is that it's so hard to expand your city. At first they require you twenty zoning permits, which you have to ask from your friends, and a small amount of money. As the game progresses, you are asked to pay a crazy amount for it (in Cityville money) and eventually the number of zoning permits needed is doubled to forty! In turn, since you have to wait to expand, your city gets crowded because you have to keep building residential buildings and community structures to finish your goals. Yes, it gets me frustrated!

Anyway, aside from that, I absolutely love this game. Zynga is a genius for creating it!

Shanghai Baby

Last Wednesday, I found myself in Shanghai (thanks, Ronaldo!). I was only there for a night, so I didn't get to do much. My first day, I had some airport food, which was okay. I figured hey, this is China, maybe Chinese fast food will still be good. But it turned out that it was just like every fast food in the world, so it was just meh. The stores in the city, I was told, closes at around 5:00-6:00 pm, so I didn't go out because it was around 5:30 when I finished eating. So I just bought a can of beer and went back to my room to do some work.

My messy room.

Trying to cool my beer.

I stayed at room 6336.

Yes.

I stayed at the airport motel, Motel 168 (I'm not kidding), which was cheap and deserted, so it was kind of hard to sleep well. The room was clean. There's a flat screen TV mounted on the wall. There was free Internet, and so I was good with that.

The next day, it started drizzling, but I still took the train to Laoximen, where I was told by the lady at the information counter was a place to go for shopping. When I got there, I was disappointed with what I saw. Aside from the skies being so gloomy, the shops were not what I was looking for. I should've listened to Ron when he told me to go to Luijazui for shopping. I thought that the Chinese lady would know better because, you know, she lives there. Maybe she didn't understand me or her definition of shopping is different from mine.

Anyway, I walked around a bit and looked for a place to eat. Since most of the places there did not have pictures on the wall of the food that they served, I chose the one that had them so it will be easier to order. I ate at a place called Shaxian Delicacies and order a chicken meal. It was all right.

After my lunch, I had to get back to the airport because my flight was that afternoon, and the train ride takes almost two hours. I hurried back and made it in time for check in. I was back in Manila by 8:30 pm.

Turning Japanese and Taco Saturdays