Lines In My Head

Being alone in one little quiet hole certainly induces episodes of reflection. The same thought process happens when I'm standing under a constant stream of cold water or looking at the hypnotic waves of the sea. I guess one of the reasons I write is to put all these random ideas into a giant imaginary ball then throw it away using one meaningless, harmless post. This is one of those posts.

* This is the third part of the Overdue series and focuses on the World Cup and unplanned visit to Manila. All events happened last July 2014* I'd say we are casual football fans. I've been following Real Madrid F.C. since their Galactico days (Zidane, Beckham, Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raul, the true Ronaldo) while she has been avidly cheering for her goalie boyfriends (San Iker, Courtois, Lloris). It wasn't a big surprise then that when the World Cup rolled around last July, midnight viewing and group standings updates were the common theme on our Twitter and Viber conversations. And we certainly had a healthy supply of topics: the one-man Cristiano Ronaldo show, Suarez's degustation expedition, the James Rodriguez revelation, La Furia Roja's epic collapse, the devastating Neymar injury, Messi, the show pony, falling short (no pun intended), and the Germans hoisting the World Cup trophy. Since I'm more familiar with La Liga, I was inclined to root for th

Spent last Sunday just rolling around in our unit, munching leftover stuff, catching up on some anime series, occasionally defending our ancient, and draining a bunch of three-pointers. Typical boring weekend for me but that got me thinking about random stuff happening lately. So while I try my best to induce some much-needed sleep, here are some recent ruminations. * * * * * We spend most of our time at work. In my case, it amounts to approximately 50 hours per week. That's why I think it's critical to have a pleasant atmosphere in the workplace as it has a direct effect on your mood,  on your day, and eventually on your life. Sadly, that hasn't been the case for me. You see, for the past few months, the previously warm air circulating around our office corridors has seemingly degraded into a dark hanging cloud of misery. It's not just me though. I think almost the entire workforce acknowledges that fact. I have no idea if it'll change but as of this writing

Let me start by stating that I am not a big Taylor Swift fan. In fact, I didn't really listen that much to her material until her phenomenal album  Red,   and even after spinning that album a good amount, there were only a few cuts that I really got into. Aside from its two well-known singles, I can honestly say that tracks such as  All Too Well, I Almost Do  (this one I discovered from a random tweet), The Last Time,  and Everything Has Changed (Ed Sheeran FTW) got stuck in my head for quite some time. While I wouldn't consider Red  as an "it-blew-me-away" kind of record, I found it enjoyable enough to put Swift's future albums on my watchlist. That is why when I heard that her fifth studio album  1989 (an obvious reference to her year of birth) was already out, I knew right away I had to "procure" a copy from my reliable sources and start digging into her new tunes. I am only three years older than T.S. Thought it'd be higher. While Swift&

This is the second installment for the overdue posts and it focuses on the one-year marker with C. I didn't even realize that we've been together for more than 365 days already but I guess when you're happy, content, and indulging in really good food on a monthly basis, there's a tendency to ignore the calendar. Anyway, aside from the usual serving of tasty cuisine, we had quite a number of fun activities planned for the occasion. The lovely details, in the form of snapshots, are on the next page.

A recent trend in the social media world had netizens creating a list of their favorite stuff and then tagging their peers to do the same. One of the more popular category was movies and a nice example of such a list is this  post  (you owe me some views, C!). While I'm not a huge bigscreen guy, I can say I have my own share of flicks that have stuck with me throughout the years. Some are critically acclaimed and award-winning; others are just plain and average; but most are just hilarious, nonsense motion pictures that are included just because I thoroughly enjoyed watching them. My sacred list starts on the next page. I've also included IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings for each movie because I'd like to think the films I watch are of high quality. Or not.

It's been almost three months since I last updated our adventures which must be considered an eternity in the world of blogging. The downtime was long enough that I was even able to redesign the look and feel of this site -- quite a feat for someone who has zero artistic sense and just randomly clicks buttons, selects colors, and drags bars until the prettiest layout appears. Anyway, that has left me with almost a gig's worth of raw images, a sizable allotment of neurological power for recall, and loads of mental notes, catchy phrases and witty remarks in mind. And while I do have tons of material to work with, how to present it in a not-so-dragging manner is another matter. On her blog , C made the incredibly smart move to use snapshots as a way of documenting our trips. Clever. For this post however, I decided to go on the more creative route and use... more snapshots. Heh. I originally intended to do one very long post but figured I was too lazy to do so. Instead, I bro

De-Rek Je-Ter. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Just a random Tuesday night and I felt the urge to write a blog post. There hasn't been a lot of sports-related content in this blog (except for the Homegrown Squad series) so I figured it was time to add another one. This time, I'll be sharing my list of all time favorite team/squads across different sports and reasons why I offered (or continually offer) my unwavering support and loyalty to them. In some cases, the fanaticism borders on extreme obsession *coughMaroonscough*. Others have their weird origins and most were easy choices because of the team's popularity. Let's move on to the list then, shall we? More after the jump.

Because everyone needs to hear what I've been up to recently (yes, my story is an important aspect in the advancement of the human race), I am dedicating a post to ramble about random stuff the past week. Thoughts include the comforts of home, Friday night drinks, a recent training program, the initial preparations for 'The Big Trip', the wonders of streaming music, and the foray into TV-land. Next page, juicier details.

Hello again, world of blogging. I haven't written anything in this space for quite some time ( the last being a melodramatic post about Valentine's Day ) so I thought of updating my current adventures and whereabouts ( not that anyone reading this actually cares ) for the last two months or so. A recent project that was launched in Cebu gave me the opportunity to visit C more frequently and of course ( what else? ), discover interesting food spots with her. We simply love to eat and boast about it ( if you've been following our Instagram accounts, then I'm sure you've seen the countless degustation pictures we've uploaded ). For this post though, I will be detailing our awesome and relaxing little trip down south to the quiet town of Granada ( there will be a section about food, don't worry, guys! ). Note: All photos courtesy of C's photo editing skillz.  Anyway, if Granada Beach House sounds familiar, it's because we originally planned on

Great romances of the 21st century Dear C, I've got some bad news for you. I am not the perfect boyfriend. I do not have the drool-inducing front cover-worthy physique, a pair of shiny green eyes, the facial construction of hot European guys, the charms of a  mestizo boss, or the appeal of German and Serbian superstar athletes... I know nothing (a la Jon Snow) about France -- the language, culture, politics, history, tradition, and people. Heck, I even had to Google the title for this post... I have limited knowledge when it comes to worldly topics. Country relations. Historical references. War stories. Monarchy rumors. Government shenanigans. Entertainment gossip. Scientific breakthroughs. CNN reports. TIME articles. Rappler tweets. And of course, Korean musicians... I still cannot hold a detailed conversation regarding books (not such a long list of books read yet) and dogs (no prior experience to properly raising one). Heck, most books I've read wer

Hello fellow basketball enthusiasts. It's been nearly one-and-a-half year since the last Homegrown Squad post ( the Bulls version ) so I think it's about time we have another one. This time, I'll focus on one of the league's most prestigious franchise: the Boston Celtics. Same rules as before (only active players, team's original draft choices, 12 players) but I've expanded the stats. I've also added a nifty little tidbit - the player's monicker. Props to www.basketball-reference.com. Let's begin! THE STARTING FIVE SF Paul Pierce (The Truth, P-Double) Drafted: Round 1, Pick 10 (1998) Career Ave.: 21.5PPG, 6.0RPG, 3.9APG, 1.4SPG, 0.6BPG The face of the franchise and this team. 10-time All Star. 2007-08 NBA Finals MVP. I don't think there's any other player I'd pick to lead this squad. More than the numbers though, the sheer will and determination that The Truth brings on the court will be his greatest contribution. And the sw

I haven't written in a while so I decided it's time to catch up on some of the trips the Cs' have had over the past few months. I'll be starting with a very late post about a certain trip back in December. While we've already traveled to a handful of fantastic destinations around the country, we felt the December trip needed a special vibe to it. Thus, to celebrate Christmas/New Year/6th month(!), we decided to visit the wonderful island of Boracay. Just imagine. Boracay in 6. Wow. Here are some highlights. Lazy and Cozy Stay Our Boracay vacation continued our trend of selecting awesome accommodations for our trips. This time, it was the turn of  The Lazy Dog Bed & Breakfast  to provide us with a solemn, quiet environment, a must for our travels. Let's start with some comfortable pillows and clean sheets... Clancy approves. ...a lovely wood-themed outdoor setting for dining and lingering... Perfect for food coma. ...delightful b