fireworks marathon

FIVE days of non-stop fireworks display… NINE competing countries….Gathered for only ONE purpose….

TO MAKE US WALK inexplicable distances on jam-packed streets and STAND for more than 4 hours until veins in our legs pop out!!

at first, curious lang kami sa world pyro olympics nayan, happening at macapagal ave., day one, China and Australia ang magffireworks display… malayo pa kami nung nagstart yung China, so nagpark kami ng sobrang alanganin, almost gitna na ng street, para lang walang mamiss-out na magandang putok! (ok ba yung term?) people were cheering… syempre! And I was really expecting China to give us one of their most spectacular fireworks display, since sa kanila nagoriginate ang fireworks…diba? (tama ba?) After China, mga 30 minutes, naka-settle na kami sa mejo magandang spot, sa harap ng SM Mall of Asia, Australia started their turn….grabe!!! we forgot about China. Super laki ng fireworks ng Australia, to the point na sumisigaw na yung mga tao ng “TAMA NA!” kasi almost babagsak na sayo yung fireworks nila…So after nun, napagod kami, we ate at North park…super dami tlgang tao, tsaka super traffic..kaya sabi namin, di na naming papanoorin yung ibang countries….pro sabi ng cousin ko, “pano kung nanalo ibang country? magsisi tyo pag di natin nakita yun!” and so 4 more days later, nacomplete nga naming yung pyro marathon namin. No absences!

nung 2nd day, it was Germany & Korea, but it was raining hard that night, kaya nagdoubt kami if tuloy sya or hindi, pero sa sobrang “Firework Fanatic” na namin, after the 1st day, pumunta parin kami… walang tao…9pm na…wala paring nagpapaputok… nung makapark kami sa magandang spot… dun palang nagstart yung unang country….it was supposed to be Germany, pero it turned out na Korea na pala yung pinanood namin…nabasa ata yung fireworks ng germany….kaya napostponed sila…aw..wawa! Cute din ng korea….nagfform ng cat yung fireworks nila…tlgang with the face, whiskers and all that… galling din!

3rd day, mas konte nlang kami ng cousins ko pmunta…. Russia and UK naman… ok lang din, wala na kaming makitang original that day…parang inulit na lang yung fireworks… (pero in fairness, ganda ng mga finale nila) so mejo nakakatamad ng bumalik the next day. Pero eto nanamang pinsan ko…nakita yung poster, U.S. will be performing daw the next day…eh ano pa nga ba? go parin kami! papalagpasin ba naming ang US?! one thing na super ok sa U.S. is yung fireworks nila na parang water falls! Super ganda!

5th day, United Arab Emerates tapos yung finale na all finalists magpapaputok… we decided na magcommute nalang pauwi kasi, yung traffic…. ibang level na!! super luwag ng macapagal pero, napuno parin cya that day! Exaj na tong day na toh…people were bringing camping tents, picnic tables, iba na tlga! kaya kami… nkaupo lang somewhere sa may sidewalk…ayoko na kasing maglakad! super late nadin nagstart yung sa Saudi, but it was so nice…may choreography yung fireworks nila…I was actually rooting for that country above all else… pero inannounce na Australia won na pala the grand prize…so yun..ok narin! They deserve it too! After nun… nagpaputok na yung Philippines with the rest of the finalists…I say, eto yung finale of all finales.. super ganda na tlga! May part dun na parang nagstick yung lights sa sky, siguro for 30 seconds…as in ang tagal nya! di namamamtay yung fireworks! ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ganun! tapos yung pinaka last part…sumabog ng super laki, at super dami! lahat na ata ng colors sumabog na nun! haha! kaya worth it tlga! i don’t think ma iimpress pako ng fireworks this new years eve! haha!

so yun, after 5 days of Pyro marathon, pagod na kami… ubos narin pera…next year na ulit! dala na din kami camping tents! haha!

2006 na!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

xmas reunion

tapus nanaman ang christmas!

we just had our christmas reunion/noche buena, sa house ng lola ko. every year we do this get-together, games, and gift giving ceremony. iba ibang venue, but since nirerent yung house namin sa multi, we decided na sa old house nlang ng lola ko icelebrate... can you believe na we all once lived in this house (as in ang dami namin, more than 5 families ang nakatira) kaya its a blast from the past everytime pmpunta kami dito... makikita ko pa yung vinandalize ko dati sa room ko nung baby pa ata ako... grabe! freaky!

anyway...as usual, our motif is red and green, pero mas madami nagred this year... pero may ibang twist this year, inisip namin na magkakaron ng prize yung may best jeans...(kami pala organizers this year) hehe! actually every year, kami ng cousins ko ang parating organizers... yung nagiisip ng games and motif etc.

this year, mejo mas konte kami, kasi may mga families na di nakapunta (kasi may konting feud in between families... so cool off muna sila) haha! mang chismis daw ba! basta i won't tell the details, ksi baka mbasa nila toh..haha! so yun, di kami complete... actually marami parin kami kahit di complete... kasi pag complete kami, ang head count is almost 60 na! tsk tsk... mother's side lang toh ah! blame it on my prolific lola! (its actually nice din to have a big family) so cguro thank you nadin lola! hehe

so yun, we had our games, una for the kids, mga the usual relay, tapos mga adults (which is always interesting to watch) since nagpapa-uto sila, kahit anong games ang iisipin namin, lalaruin nila...haha! kaya super saya. but anyway... ayun, so ang mga games namin for adults this year, is spelling game, tapos yung "pinoy henyo" (game na nilalaro sa eat bulaga) you have to guess the mystery word na nakadikit sa noo mo, by asking questions answerable by "oo, hindi, and pwede"... more like the "taboo game" kaya yun...lumabas nanaman ang mga kabaliwan ng relatives ko... haha! pero super saya...

syempre, meron din kaming talent show, may nagrecite ng poem, my cute pamangkin na si kyle... tapos may sumayaw ng "pinoy ako" which is sobrang overplayed na nung night nayun! hayayay! mga pamangkin ko din sumayaw...tapos sinabayan ng mga baliw kong titas..

tapos pagstrike ng 12mn, we exchanged gifts na... ok yung nakuha ko...t-shirt from my cousin...color pink! kaya happy ako...hehe! tapos after nun, picture taking na! may palpak lang kaming mga organizers this year, nakalimutan namin mapicturan yung buong family na pic. per generation lang... here are the pics...

L: cousins ko. R: Organizers, Ryan, Toni, and ME

L: Baliw na Pinsan R: Baliw na Titas

L: Adorable Pamangkins, and their mommy Mhy, R: Cousins, ate suzette, ate sheryl

L: Organizers Ulit R: My Inaanak, Beatriz

Hayayay! After all the heart aches and the restlessness my new iPod nano was giving me these past few days, it finally came into a halt.

Pano ba naman…I got this knotty gadget from a friend, who has this balikbayan sister from the states… and ask her to buy an iPod for me, since it was cheaper there (or so they say) I was really excited to take hold of it and experience total musical bliss. But my wonderful expectation turned into despicable depression. And that’s when I realized, this is going to be one of those “first-timer’s ignorance to electronics-thing”. The moment I mounted it onto my computer, hoping to simply transfer a bunch of songs from my documents, it practically turned into a million-piece puzzle!

Song files were lost, error messages popped out like crazy, and I just cant get it right. And so I researched….troubleshot.....experimented…called a few iPod-wielder friends. For 2 days I was sleep deprived, but it wasn’t helping! (nga pala! I even cried! literally!) but I still get the same errors. And so the time has come to search for iPod repair centers, which apparently are granting international warranties, hence, the free repairs and replacements. whew! fortunately!

It was a beam of new hope. I ran quickly to the nearest apple center, which is at greenbelt 1, and in just a snap, they fixed my iPod almost instantly. It turned out, that it’s not my Ipod to blame, but my computer! Apparently my USB port is not powerful enough.. bla bla bla!

So the only thing to do, is to transfer songs from a different computer… luckily my mom’s office computer was alright with that. And it made it happen. So much for patronizing my own computer, it’s not iPod compatible… haha!

fontana pics