Caught Myself Staring At The Mirror

Because all I have to do is stare above my laptop screen, and I'm already looking at the mirror.  =p

I, Fan

I've been caught up in Isaac Asimov's stories ever since my library membership here began. Even if I found them in different library branches, Asimov's books were still very accessible that I couldn't pass them up, especially since I've wanted to read his Robot books for so long.

I've only gotten started on the Foundation and Empire series, and the Robot books I've read are Robot Dreams and The Complete Robot.  The Robot novels are almost always unavailable, on loan.

A couple of weeks back, I suddenly remembered that I haven't watched the movie I, Robot.  Last weekend, I finally did.  Here are my thoughts (I took notes while I was watching =p):

• It's a swell Will Smith movie.
• I read that some people hated the Converse product placement -- I thought it was amusing.
• The liberties the movie took with Asimov's characters (okay, specifically -- or maybe, just Susan Calvin) were a serious disservice to the fans of the books. What endeared Calvin to readers, her cold attachment to robots they stripped off, and I didn't like her slight interest/fascination(?) with Will Smith's character. The Calvin in the movie was simply.. someone else.
• I didn't think they should've played off the robot-as-monster theme, since.
• I know that Asimov did write some action scenes (though not in the Robot stories), but the way they did it in the movie just didn't work for me. For example, I hated the revolving cameras in the final action scene.
• Forgivable changes:
• What happened to Lanning in the beginning of the movie. It fit the plot quite smartly.
• Robertson's A-hole-ness.
• It was nice how they integrated the central ideas of many of the robot stories:
• the lost robot
• robot + detetive -- weeell, I wouldn't call it a partership, just a pairing
• the dream
• the different interpretation of the Three Laws
• I was hoping to see a Powell and Donovan cameo. =p

(WTF -- Ctrl+P in Blogger's editor means Publish.  But I'm not done yet!)

Overall, I still liked the movie.  =)

So, naturally, I felt that I had to re-watch that other movie based on Asimov's Robot stories:  Bicentennial Man.

And it was AWESOME.

I haven't read the novel, The Positronic Man, yet, but it was quite faithful to the short story. The parts that differed from the short story were subtle changes that didn't touch the core of the story. While I was watching it, I felt the same way as when I was reading it.  Simply fantastic.

Didn't Everybody

..else back in high school wish they were a Super Saiyan?

Hello, Lamppost!

After sooo long, I finally added a header background to this blog theme of mine!  Can't remember when I first applied this theme, but it's got to be more than a year now!

Kinder

This is how I remember myself back in Junior Casa in Asian Montessori Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.  I was 4 years old, and I felt everyone was watching me.  It didn't help that my teacher made me sit in the middle of the class with her (we usually formed a circle around her) with my head tilted aback, whenever I got a nosebleed (which was unusually frequent).

This'll Take Some Getting Used To..

Kei gives the most wonderful gifts! This is just one of several gifts she gave me.  :)

This And That

I've been here in Singapore for three months now, working for slightly more than two.  The initial sense of awe I had for the country has definitely worn off.  It's safe to say that I've fairly gotten used to living here.  There's only this lingering feeling of amazement at some of the high-tech aspects of life here that I think I won't ever get rid of (for example, the linked public transport system -- I can't get enough of that!).

I somehow still can't make up my mind about it, though.  Part of me feels like:  "It's been 3 months already? I didn't realize I've been here that long. I guess I can't say 'I'm just new here' anymore."  On the other hand, I also feel like: "It's only been 3 months? How much longer can I stand being alone here?!"

I simply distract myself from getting too down.  I amuse myself with my surroundings:  the buildings, the people, the birds, the weather.  When I'm in my room, I guess I feel that I need to be extra-distracted that, most of the time, I skip some household chores until I can't afford not to do them anymore.  Right now, my floor has a slight shade of gray where I haven't walked on.  I'll sweep it later.  My sneakers have a tinge of yellow where it should be off-white.  I'll wash it tomorrow.  I think my stock of rice grain already has weevils -- I should get to that right away.

Right now, I'm glad that it isn't too sunny and hot, so it's not too uncomfortable to move around while I attend to my laundry.  The dim view outside my window feels a little too gloomy, however.

I'm trying not to over-think things.  I've already proven that over-thinking gets me nowhere.  So, my usual state of mind for the past couple of months here is that of a certain kind of calm.  Like I'm floating on my back in a swimming pool.  I'm not just drifting aimlessly and "going with the flow", as if I'm on some wild river going uncontrollably downstream -- I'm feeling comfortable in the pool of my choice, enjoying every square inch of buoyancy.

Oops.  I heard the washing machine beeping.  My laundry's done.  Gotta go.

Tekken Movie Reactions

I was able to watch the new Tekken movie courtesy of Mike.  Several minutes into the movie, I just had to take down some notes as it ran.  If I hadn't I would've just forgotten a lot of my reactions.  In hindsight, I guess it would've been better if I had timestamps per reaction.  =p

Here goes:

[Spoiler warning:  If you do watch the movie, your day will be spoiled!]

• I'd let the lame backstory pass.
• No respect for the characters whatsoever
• Raven?  No hints of being a ninja?  Dead, just like that, in a gun fight, not in a match?
• Steve?  No hints of being a boxer?
• Christie?  Not capoeira?
• Jacks?  Mere foot soldiers?  Jackhammers. Anvil. Yeah, yeah.
• Dragunov -- since when was it spelled "Dragonov"??
• And why does he look like he's always just about to laugh?
• Nina didn't look cold enough.
• The fighting styles aren't obvious!
• They should be since they're a huge part of a fighting game character's personality!
• Why insist on Kazuya's facial hair?  He would have looked great without it!
• The bed scenes were totally unnecessary. Especially, Kazuya's.
• Jin's portrayal is actually good!  Probably the only aspect that's properly done?
• Well, almost -- Jon Foo's Irish accent is showing.
• Bryan is good, too!
• "Heihachi Mishima is dead"  --  CRAPPY DELIVERY!
• Could've been a nice reference to the game
• What's with the weapooons????
• What's with Dragunov's "Hwoooaaah!" like he's Law or something?
• Oh.  Raven's not dead.
• Yeeees..  Jin is the right amount of emoooo..  :p
• Why do they pronounce Miguel's last name Rojo as row-haw?
• Wow, a pep talk from Raven?  *raises an eyebrow*
• Finals already?  We didn't see Anna fight?
• THAT'S NOT A MACH PUNCH -- that's Jin's move!
• Why so many wall jumps??!!
• People cheering at the TV now?  Way too lame, even for a kiddie movie nowadays.  And, this movie isn't supposed to be for kids.
• Kazuya's attitude seems just right for his Tekken 2 phase, I guess.
• Even Kazuya uses weapooooons..
• Parang PBA championship lang kung magreact mga tao..
• Cung Le's name was misspelled in the credits:  "Cung Lee"?
• Bryan's name in the credits is "Brian"
• Nice after credits extra scene!

How's This For A Realization

I don't get homesick.

I don't think I would really miss a place.  Hindi ako namamahay.  =p

What I really miss, though, is the company of particular people.  If they could just be where I'm currently at, then I'd be fine.  Kahit sa outer space pa.  =p

But if that still counts as some sort of homesickness, then I'd be ready to take back my first statement.

---

Sub-/alternate title of this post:  How's This For A Comeback Post

Blogging Then, Blogging Now

Then:

• Only a few were online and connected to me (just my closest friends), so I had nobody to, uhh.. hide from.
• I was a whiny nerd-boy.  I ranted a lot.  Luckily the lot were blind items.
• I had little else to do.  Being online was a big part of my lifestyle then.

Now:

• I have a lot more interesting things to do offline.
• Professionally, I am not allowed to write about some things, however exciting they may be (goes for the opposite, too).
• Practically everybody (officemates, family) is online.  I have to be tactful and mindful of what I write. Also, I *am* older now, and I have to act like it.

Breaking Routine

I had a fun day yesterday. :)

Kei is taking a short course at the UP ITTC. Their classes are on Saturdays, 9am to 5pm. The first day of class was last weekend, though, but I wasn't able to accompany her then because it coincided with our company outing. I was so ready to ditch our company outing, but Kei insisted that I go. :p

So I went with her yesterday. We departed Makati at around 7:30am. It was a long time since my last MRT ride; almost half a year, I think. I bought a stored value card, since Kei's classes would still go for another three weeks.

We got off at the Quezon Avenue station. I was surprised that the mini-mall right by the MRT station, Eton Centris, was already open. The queue for UP-bound jeepneys was by the mall.

I've never explored the UP Diliman campus before. I only have a vague recollection of the few places I've been to way back in high school. It helped a lot that Kei showed me a map of the campus last Friday.

Map Source: http://iblogph.org/images/up_map.jpg

With my extraordinary memory, I was only able to remember the location of Ang Bahay ng Alumni relative to the ITTC building. It was a relief it was that easy.

Just walk straight along this street, then turn left at the 3rd corner.

Why Bahay ng Alumni? We wanted to eat at Chocolate Kiss! I first learned about it from Aldwin and Joe-e, when they suggested that we get together after our *ehem* victory, but it never pushed through, due to some time constraints.

When Kei and her classmates went to class, I walked to Bahay ng Alumni. Recon. :p

There was a commencement ceremony at the time, and Chocolate Kiss was packed. I asked if they took reservations but, apparently, they didn't.

As with any other new place I've been (whenever I have the time), I walked around campus. Luckily, it was partly cloudy and I didn't have to suffer the sun. I was a bit glad that I was finally getting around UP Diliman by myself. The last time I was there, alone, was way back in 2nd year high school. I was a kid who didn't get out much, who just lost all his money from his last jeepney ride. I had to ask passers-by for coins so I could call and page Ate (that's right, _page_ -- kids these days wouldn't know what that meant! :p). It took a while before I collected 2 pesos but, after I did, I ran around looking for a payphone and called Tita Nery instead, hoping that Ate was in Marikina -- she wasn't. It suddenly dawned on me that I could collect more but, this time, for jeepney fare! I can't remember if it was 6 or 7 pesos, but I was able to pay for a ride back to Quezon Avenue and I managed to get back to the dorm safely.

Back to yesterday. There was barely any activity, probably due to being a summer weekend, so I easily got bored. I decided to get on the next jeepney that passed by. Just like that, I found myself back at Eton Centris. There were fairly a lot of stores open already. I went into a used books store and noticed that the air-conditioning still wasn't operational. I didn't see anything interesting. I decided it was time to get back to the ITTC building. I took the UP Ikot jeepney this time.

When lunch time came, Kei informed me they were going to work through the break. I went back to Chocolate Kiss and had lunch there. I liked their dinuguan. I also liked their iced tea, which seemed like brewed tea that I had to squeeze calamansi and pour honey into.

After resting for a while, I wanted to go around the campus again, but this time on a jeepney. I got on another UP Ikot. I was surprised that it went outside the campus walls at some point. I got off when it reached the SM North jeepney queue. I was, once again, bored. I decided to go to Trinoma.

My original plan was to go to Coffe Bean and Tea Leaf and spend the afternoon online. When I got there, I just didn't feel like it anymore. I just felt like walking, so I walked around the mall. When I felt myself tiring, I went to Powerbooks so I can while away the time sitting down. I was able to finish How to Train Your Dragon before I had to return to UP. I liked how the book reads, and how it greatly differs from the movie. I described the differences to Kei later, and she said that the movie wouldn't have been as awesome if they stuck with the book. The book is interesting enough that I'm considering to collect the series.

I went back to UP after reading.. and buying a couple of books: Ender in Exile and A War of Gifts (both on paperback -- Randell got these on hardcover, if I remember correctly). After my time at Powerbooks, I suddenly felt that I missed reading books. I might just be a bit more picky this time around.

After Kei's class ended, we walked to Chocolate Kiss. I didn't know that their 2nd floor was on the other side of the building. We asked the waiter for recommendations and ended up ordering them: Beek Sukiyaki (a 2nd floor exclusive -- a surprise that they had those) and Garlic and Mushroom Spaghetti. They were okay, but I wouldn't order them again nor would I recommend them. We'll definitely be back, though.

Before returning to Makati, we stayed for some time at Trinoma. Kei had to get a couple of items for their apartment.

It was a long day! It was quite tiring, with all the walking that I did. But it was very, very enjoyable. :) It took me a while before I could convince Kei to let me accompany her next weekend. :p

SIM Card Not Available

If you get this error when you try to open your SIM card's Phonebook, you might have Fixed Dialing set to On. Just turn it off, and you're all set.

Breaking Fast

Imagine that. My last post was more than half-a-year ago, and it was a recap post. Great.

My online presence has dwindled a lot these days. I rarely update the social networking sites I pay attention to. I did a ningas-kugon for the local tech communities. Just great.

I'm still feeling groovy enough. Honestly, I am! And that's great!

Game Time Recap

Hah! This is another draft that I forgot to post!

Here's the continued recounting of events surrounding our TV game show experience, which began here.

========================================

July 21, 2009

GAME DAY

• Kei and I leave early to pass by GMA to claim her wallet
• We arrive at GMA at 10am, as scheduled
• We were directed to the dzBB building across the street
• We wait for the contact person
• We meet him, and he takes us to another building where we wait again
  

• Susan Enriquez comes out of the building; she is interviewed by some college girls right there at the building's entrance
  

• The contact person comes out -- it IS Kei's wallet!

• We proceed to McDo at Q.Ave. to wait for Ma
• At the table next to us is Leo

• Ma arrives at 11am, as scheduled
• I order lunch
• We wait for Joe-e

• 12:45pm, and still no Joe-e
• Ma says we should wait outside
• Joe-e arrives at 1pm
• Quick! To the trike!

• We arrive at ABS-CBN
• Aldwin is already inside
• Again with the thermal scanning

• WE'RE IN!
• There's that familiar-looking guy again

• We all go to the dressing rooms
• We're given forms to fill up
• We strike up a conversation with some college students from Pampanga
• Aldwin's mom learns that taping starts at 5pm!
• We go out to eat
• There's that familiar-looking guy again
• He runs up to us, and introduces himself as Cholo from the Folding Water book launch! So that's where I saw him! That was just 2 weeks ago, and I already forgot!
• Turon!
• Joe-e buys bottled water for the college students from Pampanga
• We go back to the dressing rooms
  

• We all go to the studio, where the players for the 1st episode are already suited up
• The set is being tested
• All the reserves go up the stage for a briefing about the set
• The 1st episode begins!
• Yellow team, a team of middle-aged sisters, wasn't able to answer and wasn't eliminated and will return next episode
• After the Taranta Round, all reserve players were called to the dressing room, where the next set of players will be announced
• We hoped to be picked for the next episode, since the 3rd and last episode would end near midnight
• We weren't picked. Among those picked were Cholo's team, another team of UPD alumni, Lou's team and Leo's team
• Mmeal stubs were distributed and we ate dinner

• We go back to the studio to watch the 2nd episode
• Cholo's team gets eliminated in the Elimination Round
• Yellow team, a team of middle-aged sisters, wasn't able to answer and wasn't eliminated and will return next episode -- again! Also, Lou's Green team
• Leo's team gets eliminated in a Taranta Round tie-breaker

• We're called back to the dressing room to wait for the next selection of teams
• Reimbursements for transportation expenses!
• We heard that the UPD team, Violet, won
• Some players were joking around, asking whether anyone was willing to take on the UPD guys
• Announcement of selected teams: WE'RE IN!
• I was telling Aldwin and Joe-e that I hoped we be assigned Black team, so we'd have generic looking jackets we could take home
  
• This was around 9pm

• We suit up! We were assigned ORANGE

• Joe-e and Aldwin put me in the middle, so i'd be the one to answer
• We test the set
• One of Grey team's buzzers is broken, and they had to replace it, after taking too long to repair
• The waiting makes me nervous
  

• Episode starts!
• Thriller dance FAIL

• Eliminations!
• 3 teams already qualify, only 1 more team will be selected
  
• Joe-e and I bang against the metal barrier which dropped too late -- that hurt!
  
• Yellow team gets eliminated
• We're the 4th team to get in!
  

• More briefing
• Joe-e and Aldwin chose me to answer in case of a tie breaker

• Taranta Round starts
  
• Seat is not ergonomic, my back hurt when we were lowered
  
• The question is: Mindanao cities?? Bummer!
• I get picked to answer first!
• Water in the face (and glasses) sucks! Couldn't read the choices for around 2 seconds
• "Digos!"
• Violet team makes a mistake: Jolo is not a city!
• Joe-e and Aldwin answer correctly -- WE'RE IN!
• Lou's Green team gets in as well

• We were given towels to dry ourselves, and they powder us up a bit
  
• We get on the thingies, and we test sensors -- I don't really get when and why swipes don't register somehow.. I decided to bend my knees a bit when I swipe
  

• Diskarte Round starts!
• Joe-e answers first
• I make the 1st mistake! Sucks!
  
• Lou gets the 10K! *gasp*
  
• I send Lou Back To Base!
• Lou passes question to Aldwin, who has yet to answer -- Aldwin knew the answer! Q: US president during Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 -- A: JFK
• Joe-e passes question to Ayean, Q: which philippines peso bill has "Saligang Batas" -- Ayean answers P100, which is wrong! A: P20
• Joe-e makes Aldwin advance
• Joe-e and I are maxed!
• Lou makes a big mistake -- he didn't send either of us Back To Base!
• Joe freezes Lou, and maxes Aldwin
• WE WIN!

• Break, then briefing about next round
  
• Companions and reserve players are sent out of studio

• We play a mock Jackpot Round -- I sucked! I didn't say "Sure na!", I didn't put my hand back to my chest

• The real Jackpot Round starts!
  
• Aldwin is quick on "Mine!", gets first 3 questions!
• We pass on the 4th
• I answer the next question, an NBA question
  
• Jjoe-e answers the next question, on fashion
  
• We bonk the last question: Aling laruan ang inimbento ng isang karpintero sa Denmark noong 1932?
• We answered train, despite knowing it was wrong.. We just knew that we were running out of time
• Joe-e immediately turns to me and asks: wasn't it Lego?
  
• Edu reveals that last question first: the answer is Lego!

• WIIIIIN!!!

========================================

Maaan! Remembering it now still makes my heart beat a little faster!

Yo, Joes!

Kei and I watched G. I. Joe with Joe-e and Aldwin yesterday, Saturday, at Gateway.

[Spoilers ahead?]

Some thoughts:

1) Mike already pointed this out last week: ice is not supposed to sink. So I kinda caught someone utter "tons of ice and metal" when the icepack was blown up. They did say that lots of tunnels and stuff ran through the ice. Is that enough metal to bring down humungous chunks of ice?

2) A lot of movements are messed up! Skidding a speeding jetski to a halt within just a couple of meters?

3) Snake Eyes' mask has lips! What the--?! Taking after Optimus Prime?? Doesn't work.

4) Why the heck was Storm Shadow teary-eyed in the plane?

5) Will there be no Baroness for the sequel?

6) Submarines move like water is air -- WTF!

7) Scottish accents are always welcome!

8) Maybe it was because I watched The Ballad of G.I. Joe before the movie, but I was kinda biased against the movie cast. Come on, it's hard to top The Ballad.

9) I agree with Kei's comment: "ang daming olats moments ng G.I. Joes!" For a team of elite soldiers they sure screw up a lot.

10) Great action! But it didn't feel one bit like G.I. Joe. You could've called them "Alpha Team" (like they did half the time) all-throughout, and it would've still worked. No tinge of nostalgia nor patriotism was invoked.

This Is Just Wrong

Seen from Ayala Ave. at Bench at Glorietta 5:


They want you to "Fight the Economy"?! What?? Isn't the economy starting to recover already? They want to bring the economy down?

Why I Still Need To Get A Clear Copy Of Our GKNB Episode

(I wrote this 5 days ago today, way back in August 8, 2009, Saturday. I just saved it as a draft, and I only remembered to publish it today. *rolls eyes*)

1) A lot of our friends still haven't watched it! (Kei's officemate's friend who stays in Singapore recorded the TFC broadcast and uploaded it YouTube! Here are links to Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.)

2) Kei and I missed it! August 7, 2009, Friday, was the date of Iselle's wedding, which I wouldn't miss: Kei was singing (for the bridal march and the contract signing)!

3) My immediate family missed it! As early as 9am, something went wrong with the local cable provider (in LB). They had to do some repairs for most of the day. Kuya Paul quickly thought of buying a TV antenna, but they still didn't get good reception. They had to settle for extremely grainy images. They tried watching it streamed online but, lo and behold!, it was the perfect time for the Internet connection to go erratic! Wel spent a lot of time calling the PLDT hotline yet again.

...

So I need a HIGH quality version of our episode, if only for the sole reason of my parents' eyes not being able to take poor quality streaming versions. (As of August 10, 2009, Monday, my boss gave me a DVD of our episode that he recorded at home! Thanks, Sir Steven!)

Old Faces

I'm home in LB for today's holiday.

Just because I felt like going out, I went to Robinson's at around 6pm, right after I asked Ma if we needed anything from the supermarket.

Since I wasn't in any hurry, I tried to think of what I could do or where I could go to pass the time. I then remembered that, after several years, the arcade is back at the lowest level of the mall, so I went to have a peek.

It was.. mm.. nothing special. I walked around and saw it only had 1 Tekken machine that supports 2 players, and it was Tekken 5. There was this Tekken Tag Tournament machine, but it only had 1 set of controls. I went to the token booth and bought some at 6-pesos a-piece. I played with a bunch of tall kids who I'd guess were in high school. After my last game, one of them went up to me and asked me a question I didn't get at first. I looked up to his face and he repeated the question:

"Kuya, kayo yung sa Vega dati?"

I remember the guy! :-o

"Kami yung mga bata dun dati."

It was one of the twins that used to hang out with Ford back when the arcade at Vega Centre was still in business!

I left shortly after. I went to the supermarket, and on my way to pay at the cashier, another familiar face passed in front of me. It was our History I professor back in our very first semester in UPLB, Prof. Diestro, looking *exactly* how he did 11 years ago!

It was pleasant to have seen faces I didn't really take notice of after so many years, especially since these past days made me get into a reminiscing kind of mood.

(UPDATE) Look, Ma, I'm On TV!

Due to ABS-CBN's near-whole-day coverage of the late, former-President Corazon Aquino (R.I.P.), GAME K N B? was not aired today. This means that our episode will be aired one day later, on August 7, 2009, Friday.

It's (Almost) Game Time!

Here's a recounting of the events that transpired from July 16 to July 21, 2009.

I won't be posting the entire account -- yet. =p

I'll be updating this once in a while, until I've added all the details I can remember. =)

LET'S BEGIN!

========================================

July 16, 2009

• Joe-e receives call from Aldwin. Aldwin was picked for the screening for Game K N B? and he was looking for teammates. The screening was on 9am the next day.
• Joe-e asks around the office, I stay silent
• Joe-e asks me, I think about it
• I agreed!
• We arrange to meet at 8am at the Q.Ave. MRT station

• Kei's wallet is lost! :(

========================================

July 17, 2009

• I wake up at 5:30am
• I arrive at McDo below the Q.Ave. MRT station at 7:30am
• I have my breakfast while reading Folding Water
• Joe-e notifies me that Aldwin has arrived at 8am
• I get up to meet Aldwin
• We wait for Joe-e
• A group of people are at an adjacent table, 3 of them get up and go. I assumed that they were also going to the screening
• Joe-e arrives. It was already 8:45am.
• It's raining outside!

• We take a trike to the center gate of ABS-CBN
• A LOT of people are packed under tarp tents inside the gate.
• We wait a bit.
• People arrive in groups of 3. Players, too, obviously.
• We get in and seek shelter under the tents
• there's this guy who looks veeeery familiar. he also looks at me like I looked familiar.
• We wait some more.

• Eventually, we move to yet another tent, nearer to the studio gates.
• We fall in line for thermal scanning.

• We walk to Studio 9, where Aldwin, as texter, goes to a separate queue for registration
• there's that familiar-looking guy again
• We're in the studio!
• We fill up info sheets
• We are given a written test: part 1 is a 10-item IQ test, part 2 is a 10-item trivia quiz
• We submit our papers. They tell us that we can wait for 30 minutes or so for the results
• Very weak cell signal inside the studio -- but Joe-e can GPRS!
• Joe-e researches the answers to the tough trivia questions -- we have 3 definitely wrong answers!
• They announce those who passed the test. We passed!
• The others were sent home. We were told to go have lunch and be back for the mock games at 1:30pm.
• We were the 1st batch, and there were still a lot of people waiting in line
• We had lunch at The Loop.
• there's that familiar-looking guy again

• We went back to the studio gates at 1:30pm
• there's that familiar-looking guy again
• We got in again, and waited by Studio 9 with the passers of the 2nd batch
• we were waiting for the last batch to come out of the studio. turns out they were the 3rd batch.
• after the studio was cleared, we went back in by batch
• when they saw that there were a lot of passers, the 2nd batch was sent home
• several names were called from the 3rd batch. they were teams who came from provinces (tarlac, pampanga, laguna). the rest from the 3rd batch who were not called were sent home.
• the provincial teams were given a choice whether they would stay or go home early. work was already suspended early due to heavy rains.
• the provincial teams were advised to stay, so their trip would not be wasted. they stayed.
• a lengthy briefing
• start of mock games! but just for the diskarte round. i thought we would use the actual set. instead, they marked the stage with masking tape to indicate the "bases".
• two teams at a time were called to play a mock diskarte round, until they reach 10 questions or, more, until each player has successfully answered a question
• several personalities already stand out in the mock games, including Leo (and his cleavage) and Lou (and his booming "Sugod Ako!")
• in between games, more briefing on the mechanics of the other rounds
• Joe-e noticed that most of the first to be called were those from the 3rd batch
• and, yes, we were only called near the end

• question #1: saang UAAP team naglaro si Chris Tiu?
• I clapped first!
• And I forgot the answer.
• "La Salle?"
• WRONG!

• question #2: anong US TV show ang host si supermodel Heidi Klum?
• I clapped first again! I must redeem myself!
• "America's Next Top Model!"
• WRONG AGAIN!

• on with the game...

• on with the rest of the teams..

• a bit more briefing
• each player can bring along 2 companions
• they say that we'd be notified 2 days before taping, and expect it in around 2 weeks

• we go home
• it was almost 6pm

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July 18, 2009

• I am at Kei's
• Joe-e calls
• We go back to the studio on Tuesday! call time is 1pm!

• I txt Ma

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July 20, 2009

• Kei is granted her leave!

• Kaye informs Kei that Francis heard on the radio while in a taxi: someone found Kei's wallet and surrendered it to GMA/dzBB!

• Vic wishes me luck. WTH

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