I'm staying home tonight

01.01.05

This is why I'm staying home tonight... And this is why I'm staying home every January 1 for the rest of my life.

Starting our 24 addiction

We finally took Angelo and Raqraq's word and started watching 24 this week. Actually, Bianca's seen it already, but she wanted to see it with me again. The first 3 episodes were kinda slow, but the action started to pick up on the 4th. I'm afraid this means we're gonna be staying home a lot the next couple of weeks...

Shopping for dinner at Renaissance's Korean Deli

Watching the first season of 24 at Bianca's condo

First time at Serendra

Went on an afternoon date to Serendra earlier today... It was my first time there and I must say, the place looks really impressive... It actually felt like we were in another country. Hats off to Ayala Land for another brilliant concept.

Asian fiesta-style light bulbs hover above the residential/commercial community

Art structures ala Ayala Museum greet Serendra guests coming from Bonifacio High Street

We were kind of disappointed to find that most of the restaurants were actually closed for lunch, so we had to cross over to Market Market for lunch. Since the place was too crowded, we didn't bother going inside the mall and went inside the first restaurant we could find - Max's. After a heavy lunch, we decided to walk around Bonifacio High Street to burn off some calories. Boni High Street is Serendra's shopping complex which is probably going to be home to I'd say about a hundred mid to high-end shops. Right now, I think only 5% of the shops are open, so nothing much to see at this point, except maybe Krispy Kreme.

The Bonifacio High Street... An upscale shopping complex, another Greenbelt 4 in the making.

Just outside Krispy Kreme, a Time Zone employee was handing out some free game coupons, so we went inside Time Zone for some hoops and a Daytona race where I beat Bianca by a couple of seconds!

Someone was not happy about losing...

After our mini-workout, we decided to have dessert and coffee at this place called Cupcakes by Sonja instead of lining up for some Krispy Kreme's. Surprisingly, there was a long line inside and we wanted to see for ourselves what the fuss was about. The cupcakes looked pretty ordinary if you asked me. And small... They cost a lot too, about 60 bucks per.

We tried the Oreo and the Peppermint flavors together with some coffee. As it turned out, they were worth every peso. Maybe I underestimated these cupcakes because when I hear cupcakes, the cheap Lemon Square cupcakes come to mind... These taste like actual rich, premium cakes that happen to be packaged in cups. A definite must try!

Overpriced salad

Tried the new Mc Donald's Super Salad a couple of nights ago. It comes in two flavors - Ranch and Asian. I ordered the ranch. It's pretty good for a fast food chain salad, but nothing SUPER about it. The serving, ingredients and taste are not far off from other fastfood chains', but at 99 bucks, I do believe it's more expensive than Jollibee's or KFC's by about 30 bucks. Sorry McDo, but I wouldn't order this again...

Tunit now in the Philippines

It took a while, but it's now in the Philippines (well... almost here as it hits stores first week of January)! The world's first customizable football boot by adidas... Introducing the Tunit... (Tune-it)

You can tune your upper, your chassis (inlay soles), and your studs (Soft, Firm, Hard ground) to suit your different tastes and needs.

Initially, there will be one color available (green, pic shown below). More uppers to come. This set goes for P9,995 and should be available in adidas shops Rockwell, Shangrila, and ATC in January. I'm really excited about this one as there hasn't been any other footwear brand that has come out with a top-of-the-line football boot in the country in over 5 years! Our football players deserve access to this kind of product!

If you've bought one already, let me know what you think.

Cajun cafe

Have you tried this new restaurant at Metrowalk? The food is REALLY good, especially their Jack Daniel's-based selections. Price is not bad, portions are kinda small though, so try to order the appetizer sampler to go with your meal.

Same shirt at a party

Don't you just hate it when someone else is wearing the exact same shirt that you wore to a party?? It's not as bad with cars, or with a watch, or even a pair of shoes... I don't know why it's so embarrassing with shirts. I don't even want to make eye contact with the person. It sort of happened to me yesterday at work. I got a haircut at Bench Fix (thank you very much to their wonderful senior stylist, Sam Provido). Immediately after, I saw my officemate Wash at the same salon... about to get a haircut from my stylist! I thought to myself, knowing Wash and his conservative nature, he'll probably get a more "mellow" type of haircut. He showed up in the office an hour later sporting the exact same do... Yehey...

Africa Christmas Party 2006

Too much eating going on this Christmas! Had dinner AGAIN at the Africa's 70's Christmas party. We enjoyed the hotdogs, barbecue and the spa-ketchup! Spa-ketchup is a term coined by my officemates Andrew, JP and PJ that refers to the sweet-tasting, cheese and ham-topped Filipino spaghetti that tastes like it was mixed in with ketchup. If you like spa-ketchup, try: Jollibee.


Cleverly recycled banner (see the "6") Nico, Vada, Mara, Me and Bianca

Christmas lunch at Shang Palace

Shangrila Makati hired the worst Santa I've ever seen in my whole life...

"Don't bring him near me. He's gonna cry. They always cry at this age."

"Done with the pictures?"

"He's getting heavy. Better get him."

Dude, all you have to do is sit there and smile. Noone hired you to talk so shut the f*** up!

That's my inaanak Anton with her mom and Santang Sungit.

Remember my ninong who gave me an Uzi when I was a kid? Here he is with me as he's celebrating his birthday early.

Christmas at the Africa's

After hearing mass with my family, I went to Bianca's Ayala Hts. home to have dinner with her family and open our gifts! (Check out my baby girl's gangsta braids!)




I got her a 9-part gift starting with an adidas apparel collection for every type of occasion, a framed picture so she can always look at how perfect we are for each other, a phone for her bedside so we can always say good night before we go to sleep, a really cool star projector so she can sleep under the stars, and a Mumble doll from Happy feet to cuddle in bed.

She got me the perfect gift... an Oris WiliamsF1 Team Day Date... It's what I've always wanted but never thought I'd get as a Christmas gift! Thank you so much sweetheart. I actually thought she was gonna give me a GilZero shoe! Hahaha! Ang layo!

Thank you also tito and tita for the Sauna wrap (I really need this for my tummy) and the long-sleeved shirt! Thank you Nico for the Tower Records GC's and the Chilli Tees CD! http://www.chillitees.com/

He liked it!

The best satisfaction for a ninong would have to be seeing an inaanak excited about his gift. Even at 6 months old, Anton already knows what he wants... I am a cool ninong!!!

adidas concept store SM Mall of Asia

adidas' concept store is now open in SM Mall of Asia. Do drop by if you're in the area. More store openings in SM malls to come in 2007! The Block's next!

Baron's wedding

Friday (December 22, 2006) - Attended Baron & Bambie's wedding at Shangrila Makati. Back in college, Baron was my gym buddy. We'd hit the Blue eagle gym after classes, run a few laps around the unviersity and even play ball at the covered courts after. Man, Baron was quite the jester too. Glad to see him all mature and finally tie the knot with Bambie. The suit's hot bro... Congratulations! =) I was also glad to see my other buddies from college that night, Marlon, Boojie, Norbert, Anson, Terrence. Angelo, I see you all the time so I don't have to include you on this list. Leo, Larry and Billy... What happened to you? Too bad you couldn't make it...

Foyer '96-'97 for life!


Me, Marlon, Bambie, Baron, Terrence and Boojie

Christmas dinner with Release

Had dinner last night with Release at the Warren's in Xavierville, Katipunan. Awesome barbecue and indo-style rice! It was Migs, Kristine, Katie, Vince (taking the photos), Mike, Mica, Bianca and me. Katie was so adorable blowing her MONSTER BUBBLES! Great pix Vince! JG couldn't make it as he was (getting) busy on a date. hehehe... Sayang, sana you followed... You missed Mike's Sailor Moon fantasy!

Joey Pepperoni

Have you tried this place at Pioneer St, just outside the RFM gym? Their pizza's alright for the price... But their dessert is fantastic!!! It's vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso... Yummmm... Try it! And right beside it is the warehouse of Regalong Pambahay. 20% off retail prices, free giftwrapping, personal sales service, free parking, and best of all... NO LINES AT THE CASHIER EVEN DURING CHRISTMAS.

Practical ninong

I decided to be practical... AND COOL! Got the walker for Anton... But Teng and I got him the coolest walker we could find! Check it out...

If this were a car, this would be the loaded version! It's 3-in-1: a walker, rocker and a mini-stroller. It has a duckhead on its "dashboard", handlebars, foodtray... and the best feature of all? Speakers for some tunes! That's my brother Paolo right there trying to figure out how the thing works. And I know we got the best one because after we got it, 2 other parents got the same walker.

I want to be a cool ninong this Christmas!

Wow... Didn't realize how close we are to Christmas already! 3 days... But at least it actually feels like Christmas this year! The last 5 Christmases were forgettable due to work. We always have our sales conferences in early January so we'd end up working during Christmas. With a new process in place this year, we were able to start early so we can relax for the last two weeks of December. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming looooong 4-day weekend! I wanna go boxing with my baby girl! I wanna swim! I want noche buena! I wanna watch 24! I wanna go to the hospital to have my stupid asthma checked! hehehe... What I'm not looking forward to is going to the mall this weekend for some last-minute shopping... I'm kind of done with my list, but there are a few more things I have to get such as my cousin's baby Anton - my adorable inaanak. :) Still thinking of giving him a gift he'd like or a gift that he needs. Growing up, I hated getting things I needed. I only wanted toys!!! My ninong got me an Uzi pellet gun for one of my birthdays and I thought that he was the most awesome ninong in the world! That was until a month later when my little brother shot me with it. OUCH... They should change the word 'pellets' by the way. 'Pellets' sounds so small and painless... It left a mark for about a month. So it's a choice of wanting to be a ninong he likes with a kick-ass toy or a corny one by getting him a walker....

who can resist little anton? how cute!!!

Good Times with Mo

I think Mo made a bad call when he decided to invite Anoinette Taus to his Forbidden Questions show this morning... Why would you want to invite someone who's personality is as dull as Antoinette's??? Maybe it's because KBP was listening in today. Smart move, but sorry Mo, it was BORING...

Q: What's the craziest thing thing you've ever done?
A: Cut my hair short.
Toti: Crazy nga!!!!

Q: Which local celebrity would you go out with?
A: Tito Aga.
Toti: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Q: Antoinette Taus: Virgin or not a virgin anymore?
A: I won't answer that. It's against my principles! I promised myself I'd never answer a question like that coz you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. TAP, TAP, TAP.
Toti: ......................................

Mojo Jojo, Andi9, Me and Mo Twister

Christmas asthma

I still don't understand how I can only get asthma attacks during Christmas... It's weird... Some people say it's because of the weather, but when it's really pouring in June and it's even colder than Christmas time, zero attacks. My theory has always been plant pollenation in December.

My Top 5 sneakers

It's actually become a problem now... It takes me longer than usual to decide what sneakers to wear in the morning. Most guys choose their clothes first, then shoes to match... I do the opposite. So I decided to move some of my sneaks out of my room to make my selection process easier. In doing so, I had made sort of a ranking system in determining which would stay and which would go. Here are my top 5 favorite pairs:

1. Limited edition Superstar 35th anniversary Music Series #11 - Run DMC. Got this as a birthday gift from a friend. Went for $100 here initially. Run DMC played a major role in making the "shell toes" the most iconic sneakers in history... They were the first non-ahtlete sneaker endorsers ever and they started a movement which made three-stripes and the Superstar synonymous with rap and breakdance in the 70's. After a week of its release, this 35th anniversary tribute shoe was already sold out and was already selling at $250 on eBay. Regularity of use: rare. I think I've only used this pair twice. I want to keep them looking as fresh as possible.

Comes with a special anniversary box. Has Jam Master Jay's initials at the back. What a sexy back...

2. adidas 1.1 Intelligent running shoes. The first ever intelligent shoe with a built-in microchip to sense your feet's movement and adapt the type of cushioning you need. Retails for P14,995. But I was lucky to have won this as a prize for finishing a mini-marathon in Germany last March 2006. Regularity of use: often at the gym.

Buttons to manually configure the settings. The microchip controls a high-tension wire to give you perfect cushioning all the time. Also comes with a special briefcase-type box.

3. adidas Y3 Field. adidas landed a milestone deal when it signed Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto to create a high-end trend-setting fashion line for the company. This pair retails for about $250. The thing I like about these is that they go extremely well with what I call 'night-lifestyle wear'. The patent leather combined with cracked leather, snake skin detailing and the Y-3 logo give my feet a nice bling... Regularity of use: rare.

Check out the cool gangsta pin stripes inside the shoe...

4. adicolor Century Lo by Panini. adidas created a special line celebrating originality and influential artists called adicolor. This particular pair retails for about P5,995. Got it in March as a birthday gift to myself. It reminded me of my early days in grade school when I used to collect Panini stickers of "The Age of Dinosaurs". I remember having completed the book after a month of buying and trading stickers with my classmates. What a geek...

Also, my girlfriend loves yellow.

Stripes are red, white and green as Panini is an Italian company. The inspiration came from Panini's first-ever collectible sticker book about football. The inlay soles are lined with the company's logo.

5. adidas Safety. Got this as a company issue last year. Back in the 70's, adidas Japan went into a partnership to manufacture safety footwear and apparel for manufacturing companies. In 2005, these were re-issued by the company as fashion pieces, fusing Japanese-pop design onto industrial workwear and footwear. I love the contrast of elements.

I'm feeling the wicked dots on the shoes and the steel-toes.

Some that failed to make it to the Top 5 but are worthy enough to be featured:

Limited edition Melbourne 1956. A 2004 re-introduction of a running shoe that was used during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Only 1,956 pairs produced.

a3 Ghost ride. One of adidas' first attempts at a structured cushion shoe. Very bouncy!


ZX8000. A re-issue of a popular running shoe that was the first to feature adidas' Torsion system. A breakthrough back in the day, and a standard feature in every athletic footwear brand today.