Smart Crows!

We've always known that some animals like dolphins and apes are intelligent, but apparently, so are crows. This first video is very impressive. A crow is given a complex problem and apart from a few seconds when it seems to get stuck, it actually figures out what it needs to do to get the food. To quote the BBC presenter in the video, "how on earth did that crow do that?"

video uploaded in youtube by BBC

Do you remember the Aesop fable about the crow and the pitcher, where the crow drops pebbles into a pitcher to raise the water level, allowing it to drink? It seems that in real life, these birds actually know how to do that! Check this next video out. I mean, talk about an amazing ability to understand cause and effect.


video uploaded in youtube by PLOS Media

The next time someone calls you a birdbrain, show them these videos and thank them for the compliment. :)

January hodgepodge

After having lunch with Daday and Patrick in Greenbelt, I decided to hang out a bit at the mall complex. I invariably found myself in Astroplus in Greenbelt 5 that afternoon, looking at the pre-owned CD shelf. As luck would have it, one of the first CDs I saw was Prince's 3121. I actually had been really interested to get this album after Prince passed away because it includes Lolita and Satisfied, two songs that Prince sang in one of the earlier seasons of American Idol. Without a second thought, I picked up the CD and purchased it immediately. (And yes, I am still stuck in the 20th century as I still buy CDs and DVDs while everyone else just listens to Spotify or downloads music and movies. Maybe over the next few years, I'll start becoming a bit more current in my use of technology. :))

It took a while but my washer-dryer (which broke down in late October) has finally been repaired. It was picked up from my place towards the end of November and returned to me in early January. I am now finally able to wash clothes again at home without having to go to Labarya. I will say though that my machine, or specifically the drying function, doesn't seem to be performing that well anymore. I now have to think about whether I should replace it (although it will be a very costly so I have to check my finances first).

I also only recently got to use the Severin coffee grinder that I bought more than a year ago. The cool thing about this is that I can now actually grind coffee beans right before I make coffee.

My nephew and I also had a crazy experience recently when our dog got loose when we took him to the vet. Apparently, the chain wasn't attached very securely and as he was resisting us as we tried to to usher him into the vet clinic, he got loose and starting running up and down the streets amidst traffic. It was so stressful running after our dog and I was really worried that he would be run over. After maybe five to ten minutes of running after him, our dog finally stopped and we were able to get a chain around him and bring him inside the clinic. Thankfully, what we thought could be some kind of major medical problem turned out to be a minor one so our dog was just prescribed some medication and we were able to take him home. The vet said that we might need to have our dog neutered though, so I might consult the rest of my family to see if this is an option we want to take.

Throwback Australian Open

If you saw the final weekend of the Australian Open, you could very well have been misled to think it was ten or so years ago and not 2017. The men's final featured Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing against each other for the 35th time. Their first meeting? 2004. Their first Grand Slam meeting? 2005 at the French Open. Their first Grand Slam final? 2006 also at the French Open. While Nadal leads their head-to-head, Federer won this match-up in a tough five-setter to win his 18th Grand Slam singles title, extending the record he already currently holds for most major singles titles among the men.



A Grand Slam singles record was also achieved on the women's side, with Serena Williams beating her sister Venus to win her 23rd major singles title, moving her past Steffi Graf to claim the record for most major singles titles won in the Open era. She is now just one trophy behind Margaret Court and the way things are going, she may end the year having tied or even beaten Court's all-time record. Also, if you thought that the men's final was a throwback, then the women just took it up a few notches. Venus and Serena's first match against each other? 1998 at the 4th round of the Australian Open. This was also their first Grand Slam match against each other. That was almost 20 years ago! Their first Grand Slam final? 2000 at Wimbledon. For perspective, Roger Federer started playing professional tennis in 1998. Rafael Nadal only started playing pro tennis in 2002.

It's just incredible that both winners - Roger and Serena - are 35 years old! This is also the first time I had ever seen a pro tennis event where all singles finalists were in their 30s (Venus 36, Serena 35, Roger 35, Rafa 30). Their combined age is a staggering 136 years old. Prior to the finals, their combines Grand Slam singles haul is 60. This goes even higher when you factor in the doubles and mixed doubles majors that the Williams sisters have.

As historic as this Australian Open finals weekend was, I actually hoped that it would be spoiled by a first-time Grand Slam finalist in the form of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who herself is 34 years old. I became a fan of Mirjana when she burst into the scene, achieving a handful of records: the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title (1998 Australian open mixed with Martina Hingis), winner of the first ever professional tournament she played (1997 Croatian Bol Ladies Open), and the youngest player to successfully defend a title when she won this event again as a 16-year-old in 1998. Unfortunately, she had a very difficult personal life brought on by an abusive father, preventing her from playing during what would have been her peak years. I was hoping for a Cinderella story and have her win a major title but Serena was just too good. Nevertheless, it was amazing to see her incredible semifinal run. Check out her post-match interview with Rennae Stubbs. It was very moving to see how grateful and joyful Mirjana was to get that far:



The great thing about this is that Mirjana is now ranked 29, her highest-ever ranking. Wow! Talk about turning back the clock. Serena also reclaims the #1 ranking from Angelique Kerber. Venus is knocking on the door of the top 10 again. And after a poor 2016 by their standards, Roger and Rafa have proven that they are still very much in the mix. With Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic still holding the #1 and #2 ranking, it will be extremely interesting to see how the rest of 2017 pans out. I can't wait to see what happens.

January get-togethers

January often becomes an extension of the Christmas season because there are too many people to meet up and too little time (and the traffic tends to be quite prohibitive so everyone decides to just meet up when the roads are bit less tangled). First of these post-holiday get-togethers was my dinner reunion with friends from my first company. Chari requested that we meet up in the Ortigas area so I suggested Duck & Buvette. I hadn't eaten here in a while and I think everyone else had never eaten there before so when I suggested it, everyone agreed. Thankfully Anna was still in town so she was able to join me, Chari, Bett, Jette, Ric and Lany for the first time in a long while. Everyone also enjoyed the food so it ended up being a good choice for our dinner venue.

My friends Tim and Janice were in Manila post-New Year as well so I had dinner with them in Barcino in Greenbelt. After dinner, Tim was really in the mood to try local craft beers and the nearest one that was still open after our dinner was Big Bad Wolf so we decided to go there. We ended up staying there until the place closed. I can't remember which local craft beer I got but it was a bit too bitter for my taste.

I also met up with Marga and Romy, both of whom I hadn't seen in years. Marga has been living in Europe for a decade already and while she comes home every so often, I had never managed to catch up with her until now. I think the last time I hung out with Romy was when we were still colleagues more than a decade ago. Talk about a throwback evening!

My first weekend get-together was with my college friends. While we normally hold it in someone's house, this year, we decided to have lunch in Cafe Via Mare in our alma mater, UP. I didn't realize there was a Via Mare there. I ended up ordering a whole lot of food but I somehow managed to eat everything. We hung out there until mid-afternoon before a handful of us decided to move to Art Circle Cafe at the Bahay ng Alumni for late afternoon coffee. It was actually really nostalgic hanging out with my college friends in UP, the place where we all met and became life-long friends.

While this one wasn't a reunion, I also met up with my board gaming friends to celebrate Jovan's birthday. We had been talking about going to a karaoke place for a while now but we never managed to go so Jovan decided that she wanted to celebrate in a karaoke place for her birthday. I got there quite late but thankfully everyone was in the mood to sing the night away so I still got to hang out with everyone for a few hours until the place closed.

A week later, I attended the wedding of my teammate Cyd and his now-wife April. It was a lavish wedding and I felt that the first dance, the same day edit video and especially Cyd's speech were very memorable highlights.

Finally, I closed the month out with three more reunions. First was with my team at work circa 2011-2013. We had been talking about getting together for a reunion for a really long time now so I planned things out with Migs and we finally got the folks together at Richmonde Hotel on a Saturday night. I told our friend Case to bring her Splendor and I taught my friend how to play. They ended up being quite intense while playing and they really enjoyed it. Case's daughter also wanted to play Ticket to Ride so I set it up and played this game with both her and Case. A lot of picture taking followed before most people said their goodbyes and I ended up sharing stories with Migs, Magnus, and Jeoff until the wee hours of the morning.

I then met up with my friends from our CSR organization at work for dinner at Locavore in Forbes Town Center. The food here never fails to whet one's appetite and I ended up eating a lot. (My friends commented that I am so much fun to eat with because I tend to eat so much that they feel encouraged to eat a lot too. I'm not particularly sure that's a good thing LOL.) After dinner, we moved to Casa Italia for gelato and coffee.

The next day, I met up with Daday for lunch in People's Palace in Greenbelt. The idea was that this would be a mini-reunion of people who all met Daday during business trips or even short-term assignments in Brussels. Unfortunately, most people ended up being unavailable so it was just me and Patrick who were able to join Daday. I hadn't eaten in People's Park in maybe a decade as well and the food here is still really good. We ended up hanging out until the late afternoon before we all said our goodbyes.

It has been a full and packed month and interestingly enough, as I look forward to February, I realize that my weekend schedule in that month is also full. I definitely don't take this for granted and I'm just thankful that I have so many wonderful people in my life with whom I enjoy spending time (and who seem to enjoy spending time with me, too).

Nomination #20

Given the fact that Meryl Streep has been nominated at the Oscars so many times already, I figured it would be a while before she gets honored again, and most likely not for a comedy. So when I saw that she was nominated yet again for Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance in Florence Foster Jenkins, I was pleasantly suprised. This now means that Meryl has an astounding 20 Oscar nominations in the acting category, 16 of which are for Best Actress and 4 for Best Supporting Actress. Even if just count her best actress nominations, she still has more than any other actor. Bravo!

Congratulations to Meryl Streep for being nominated by @TheAcademy for Actress in a Leading Role in @FFJMovie! #Oscars #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/CS4EZohy4e

— FlorenceFosterJenkin (@ffjmovie) January 24, 2017

I wanted to see Florence Foster Jenkins during its cinematic release but I wasn't able to. After seeing Meryl's nomination, I decided to check out some clips on youtube and I have to say that Meryl does put in a superb comedic performance. I found myself laughing a lot at her (intentionally) bad singing, especially when she attempts the higher notes. (Check out this clip to see and hear what I mean.) While Meryl will almost surely not win (Emma Stone seems to be the frontrunner and Natalie Portman has been getting a lot of buzz as well), it's amazing to see her continue to break the records that she herself has set.

Star Wars Episode VIII Title is Released

The 8th installment of the Star Wars Saga has been released: The Last Jedi. Naturally, people don't know exactly what it means. Who could this last Jedi be? And what are the circumstances that make this person the last? The theories and ideas for possible shocking plot twists are endless. You gotta give it to the Star Wars franchise for knowing how to generate buzz and excitement.

It's official. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is the next chapter of the Skywalker saga. This December. #TheLastJedi https://t.co/ySkVwQcMTP pic.twitter.com/eHrPgbsRJq

— Star Wars (@starwars) January 23, 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in December this year. I can't wait to see it. It will also be quite bittersweet because it is the last time we will see Carrie Fisher.

Kings of Leon Cover of Robyn's Dancing On My Own

Dancing On My Own is an electronic dance song by Swedish singer Robyn. It was performed on Britain's Got Talent by Calum Scott and on X Factor Australia by Cyrus Villanueva. Calum Scott's version was apparently inspired by the Kings of Leon cover of the song which they performed on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in 2013. Check out their powerful and emotionally charged cover. It is absolutely stunning. I am such a fan of lead vocalist Caleb Followill's uniquely gritty, edgy and resonant voice.


video uploaded in youtube by BBC Radio 1

My first game night of the year

I met up with my friends for our first board and tabletop gaming night of 2017. We couldn't stay as late as we normally do because our host Karen had an early morning event the next day. Still, we were able to play a few games. Or rather, I was able to play a few games. The way our game night turned out, one set of people played Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization which is a long game to begin with but it is even longer when it is still being taught to people for the first time. The folks who played it ended up playing only that game but I on the other hand was able to play three different games. The first one I played was Suburbia, which I played one time before. I guess my learning curve kicked in because after my third place finish then, I won this time around.

Suburbia (photo from Amazon.com)

A few other friends joined us after we completed Suburbia so we played Fresco. The last time I played this game, I played with wrong rules - to be fair, I was the one who read the instructions to teach the game to my other friends and I interpreted the rules incorrectly - and that led to my last place finish. This time, I was able to make a bit of a comeback as I finished first, making it my second win that night.

Fresco (photo from https://boardgamegeek.com)

The last game I played was The World of Smog: On Her Majesty's Service. Of the games I played that night, this was the only one I was hadn't tried before. I have to say, the design of this game and the artwork is incredible and the fact that you have to move parts of the board around during game play makes it interesting and unique. Thanks to one card I picked up which allowed me to take the lead and a move by another player from which I greatly benefited, I somehow ended up winning this game as well. Wow, what a big night for me!

The World of Smog: On Her Majesty's Service (photo from https://boardgamegeek.com)

If I factor in the last time I played in 2016 in which I won Bruges, I'm now on a four-game winning streak. Cool! I also just realized that I ended 2016 on a winning note and started 2017 also on a winning note. I am definitely looking forward to playing more games, including Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization since it looks really interesting (and, despite the length of its game play, is currently ranked #2 on Boardgamegeek).

I got my Coldplay ticket!

I can't believe it. I actually got a ticket to the Coldplay concert in Manila!

I almost didn't get a ticket too. I missed the news that the tickets would be out for pre-sale to Globe employees so by the time I had reached out to my Globe friends, they had all reserved the maximum number of tickets allowed. I was toying with the idea of getting tickets in another country like Singapore or Seoul since tickets there cost significantly less there but the flight costs were not that cheap either. In fact, while searching for flights in Cebu Pacific, I got a pop-up message saying 599 other people were looking at the same schedule! I figured that the airfare would end up costing a lot more and I wasn't even sure I would manage to get a ticket abroad. I had practically given up and I was lamenting my missed opportunity to a friend when she said she would try to reach out to her
network to see if another ticket could be made available. I didn't expect a positive response but I told her that it wouldn't hurt to try.

Shortly after that, good news - she said she managed to reserve me the ticket that I wanted. Wow!!! And now, I actually have that ticket with me. :)

There have been rumors over the years about a potential Coldplay concert in Manila so I'm happy that they are finally coming here. I don't know what their setlist is going to be like, whether it will favor more recent music or it will cover their entire discography. I realized that I actually have their first five studio albums - talk about being a fan - but I also know and like a lot of their more recent songs such as Everglow, Up and Up, and a Sky Full of Stars so I am sure I will enjoy the concert no matter which of their music they perform. It is now just a few months away and I can't wait! :)

Meryl Streep honored at the Golden Globes

Congratulations, Meryl Streep, for being recognized yet again at the Golden Globes, this time with a special Cecil B. DeMille Award, given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to artists who have made outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. To quote the Golden Globes website, "with eight Golden Globes and 29 nominations, Meryl Streep is an icon of the performing arts." Note that this quote was most likely written before the acting award nominations were made this year, because she scored her 30th nomination - this time, as Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - for her performance as the title character in Florence Foster Jenkins.

From https://entertainment.inquirer.net. This image released by NBC shows Meryl Streep accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)

This Cecil B. Demille Award now moves her into a tie with Barbra Streisand for the most awards - both honorary and competitive - at the Golden Globes with 9 each. Meryl still continues to hold the record for most competitive awards with eight.

This award also became very memorable because of Meryl's acceptance speech that was powerful, political, and polarizing. Whatever your thoughts are on the content of that speech and whether or not you agree with her stand, you have to admit that Meryl is pretty ballsy for saying what she said, knowing the backlash she would get from it. I also found it touching that she ended her speech with a quote from Carrie Fisher, with whom she became friends most likely because of the film Postcards from the Edge, which was based on Carrie's semi-autobiographical book (she also wrote the screenplay) and in which Meryl played the lead character:

"As my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia, said to me once, take your broken heart, make it into art. Thank you."

Congratulations, Meryl!

Welcome 2017!

Happy new year!

What I love about blogging is that it makes it just a bit easier to look back and remember the many wonderful things that happened in the last year. I got to travel to new places and enjoy things for the first time. I visited my relatives in Kalibo and celebrated Ati-Atihan with them for the first time before spending a couple of very restful days in Boracay. I visited Baler for the first time. I spent a fun weekend with friends in Tagaytay. I also visited Singapore - my first international trip since 2013 - to watch Damien Rice, perform live (and that turned out to be a truly incredible concert).

That wasn't the only incredible show I got to see. I watched the goosebump-inducing and absolutely astounding Les Miserables (twice!) at the Theatre at Solaire. I saw Firebird and Other Ballets in CCP. And for something a bit lighter, I caught Rak of Aegis in the Peta Theater.

I was also able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends. We celebrated family birthdays in Casa Roces, Pinac, Relish and SM MOA. I met many friends who live abroad during their trips back home but I also spent a lot of time with my friends in Metro Manila, including a delicious dinner at Minami Saki with my high school friends. In fact, I think I actually got to meet up with my Manila-based friends more frequently this year than in previous years. I also made many new friends because of all the game day/nights. :)

In fact, if I could describe my 2016, I guess it would be the Year of Tabletop and Board Gaming. :) I played at least once every month, and in some cases even multiple times a month (I think at my most extreme, I played multiple times in the same week LOL). I also bought a tabletop game - Race for the Galaxy - for the first time since my first purchase since 2012.

Other stuff that happened: I got S&R membership for the first time, I made my final purchase at La Cocina De Tita Moning before it closed, I made several trips to Labarya while my washer-dryer was being repaired, and I availed of the 31% discount in Baskin Robbins.

While 2016 had it's fair share of challenges, it also had a lot of great moments. I'm happy that I still manage to take the time to write because it becomes easier for me to remember and focus on the positive stuff that happened.

December hodgepodge

(So I missed out on writing about this on the last day of December but hey, I guess it's a good enough first post for 2017.)

As expected, December turned out to be a very full month, what with the Christmas season and all. Of course, there were a lot of get-togethers and reunions. I met up with my high school/college friends twice: first time was with Mitch, Ferg, Joyce, Iona, and JP because Mitch and Ferg were celebrating Christmas outside Manila. We had lunch and merienda at Joyce's place so it served as a housewarming as well since she had just moved to her new place. I volunteered to bring dessert and decided to get the Le Matcha cake by Rebecca Disini. This beautiful cake has a matcha glaze that is subtle and well-balanced and it is beautifully decorated with edible snapdragons and gumamela petals. I'm pretty sure even people who aren't big fans of matcha will love this.

Le Matcha by Rebecca Disini

Later that month, Anna took the place of Mitch and Ferg and joined us for a late lunch that lasted until the early evening. Of course, this gang wasn't the only one I met up with in December. I had lunch with with my colleagues and ex-colleagues in Salvatore Cuomo in Uptown Mall. My team at work had dinner in Jang Ga Nae in Ortigas before moving to Millenia Suites next door for our after-dinner celebration. I also had dinner and drinks with some of my other hang-out buddies at my friend's condo. And finally, my big boss prepared dinner at his house for the leadership team of our business unit at work. Highlight of the night for me was our traditional surprise exchange gift. The mechanics: everyone brings two gifts, one worth more than P500 and the other worth less than P100. Each person gets to pick two gifts based on a turn order determined by the ranking in the evening games. As such,  it is possible to pick two gifts worth less than P100 (which happened to me two years ago). This year, however, my luck changed as I actually got two gifts worth more than P500. One of them is a Scheaffer pen - I initially thought this cost less than P100 but my colleague said that this was worth more than P500 - and this was actually one of the last few gifts remaining (our team was in last place so we got everyone's else's "leftovers"). The other one was a box of Marks & Spencer chocolates. I was really pleased with this because I was really hoping to get a box of expensive chocolates and I did!

December is also when we commemorate my grandfather's death anniversary. We heard mass at the chapel in the cemetery before visting my grandfather's grave to pray. We then headed over to my aunt's house for dinner. It was a fabulous feast and the Nutella Fudge cake that I brought with me from Mom and Tina's provided a good ending to a delicious and thoroughly satisfying meal.

sunset at the cemetery

Other stuff: I almost went through the entire month without a game night but that changed when Mich, Mike, Reb and I met up shortly before Christmas to play. I placed second in Marco Polo (by a point!) but I won our Bruges game. I am also really happy that my shipment from Forexworld arrived shortly before Christmas because I had a couple of gifts in that package. Since I took the last week of the year off, I have also been able to spend some time updating my blog. As I mentioned at the start of the year, I was expecting to slow down in my posting but thankfully, I am still quite active. Hopefully I can continue to write regularly in 2017.

Not For a Moment performed by Aldrich Talonding

2016 has truly been a tough year. We've lost so many very influential celebrities such as Prince, David Bowie, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, to name a few. Beyond that, one of the biggest tragedies this year is the continuing Battle of Aleppo, leaving this Syrian city in ruins and many people dead, injured, or living in fear. The intense divisiveness and negativity brought about by politics in the Philippines and in the US along with the Brexit vote in the UK have all caused chaos and unbridled viciousness online, resulting in so many people unfollowing and unfriending each other on social media (and even in real life). 2016 has been a very trying and emotionally exhausting year and many people around the world can't wait for it to end.

To hopefully close out the year on a more positive note, I would like to share this video of Pinoy youtube sensation Aldrich Talonding singing Not For a Moment with HBC Worship. I first discovered Aldrich and his beautiful voice when he sang a very emotional cover of Dance With My Father that eventually landed him a guest appearance on Ellen. I have been a fan of his voice ever since and when I saw this video a while back, I felt inspired and uplifted. I hope you feel inspired and uplifted too when you watch and listen to this.


video uploaded in youtube by Aldrich and James

"And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my hurt at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Even in the dark
Even when it's hard
You will never leave me."

RIP, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

It seems 2016 was not done bringing heartache to the world. Carrie Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy (and General Leia in The Force Awakens), passed away on December 27. As someone who grew up watching Star Wars dozens upon dozens of times on Betamax and VHS and being heavily influenced by it, I have become quite attached to many of the characters in the trilogy as well as to the actors who portrayed them. As such, I am saddened by Carrie's passing.

"Carrie holds such a special place in the hearts of everyone at Lucasfilm it is difficult to think of a world without her.  She was Princess Leia to the world but a very special friend to all of us.  She had an indomitable spirit, incredible wit, and a loving heart.  Carrie also defined the female hero of our age over a generation ago.  Her groundbreaking role as Princess Leia served as an inspiration of power and confidence for young girls everywhere. We will miss her dearly.” -Kathleen Kennedy

A photo posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on Dec 27, 2016 at 11:24am PST

I have always admired Princess Leia, who was strong, independent, courageous, and tough. The first Star Wars movie I saw was Return of the Jedi, and while many people have complained about Leia in her slave bikini as being misogynistic, I was personally impressed by how she managed to kill the huge and very scary Jabba the Hutt. I loved how she was able to establish positive relations with the same ewoks who tried to roast the male (and robotic) members of the Strike Force on Endor. When I eventually got to see A New Hope, I was amazed at Leia's strength and spirit. Not only was she held hostage by the Empire and had come face-to-face with the ominous Darth Vader, she had to watch her planet be destroyed by the Death Star. Despite this, she still managed to take matters into her own hands during the attempted rescue by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, summed it up very eloquently in this tweet:

#AFewWords pic.twitter.com/rOKiPr7gP9

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 28, 2016

As if that wasn't enough, just a little more than 30 hours after Carrie's death, her mother Debbie Reynolds passed away from a stroke. Debbie is probably best known for playing the lead female role, Kathy Selden, in Singin' in the Rain in 1952. Debbie and Carrie were very close, both figuratively and literally since they lived next to each other. According to Debbie's son and Carrie's brother Todd, Debbie told him "I miss her so much, I want to be with Carrie" before suffering a stroke 15 minutes later. I can't imagine how devastating it must be for the family they leave behind. A joint service is now being planned for both Carrie and Debbie.

#PeaceAndLove pic.twitter.com/LQ9yNobY5i

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 29, 2016

Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

@HamillHimself after so much sadness over the loss of these two wonderful ladies, I found these pictures quite heartwarming and comforting❤️ pic.twitter.com/Rrb4hyOH6g

— MarkHamill&Friends💔 (@HamillFriends) December 30, 2016

Annual Check-up

I finally managed to complete my annual physical exam. The original plan was for me to have it in early December - I had in fact taken a day off for it - but the day before my scheduled physical, I got really sick so I had to reschedule. Thankfully, the hospital was still able to slot me in before the end of the year. It was my first time to have a full abdomen ultrasound and a treadmill stress test. While on the treadmill, I felt some degree of disappointment that I am no longer anywhere close to my peak physical condition that allowed me to run full marathons back in the day. I did manage to get up to stage 4 of the test before having to stop. The nurse told me not many people get to stage 4 but I of course knew that she was just saying that to make me feel a bit better. :)

I got my results this week and they aren't too bad. In fact, there are some results that have improved since 2015 (my cholesterol is within the normal range this year while it was high last year). However, there are some results that indicate that I really need to start living a healthier lifestyle. My treadmill stress test and ECG results say that my heart is working fine so I asked the doctor if that meant I didn't need to worry about heart attacks for now but he said that you these physical exam results aren't really predictive; they just give you an idea of how healthy you are at the point they were taken.

The interesting thing about that trip to the hospital was that I tried looking for the doctor whom I had visited regularly a few years ago to schedule a follow-up consultation. His name was no longer at the door of what used to be his clinic. I asked the receptionist there - it was the same person - where the doctor had gone and she told me that he passed away last year. It was quite sobering to realize that even a doctor in a very good hospital passed away due to a health issue. Given that I haven't been exercising (I do walk a lot but I know I should do more) and that work and life can sometimes become really stressful, I understand that I have to start making better choices with regards to my health and overall well-being. The most important realization from this physical exam is that I really need to start exercising more regularly and eating better (and no, this isn't a New Year's resolution :)) so that I can have a better and longer life.

George Michael passes away

Wow, this is sad news. Singer-songwriter George Michael passed away on Christmas day. He started out in the music industry as part of the duo Wham! which became popular for songs such as Careless Whisper, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, and Last Christmas. While I enjoyed Wham's music in the 80s, it wasn't until George went solo that I became a fan. In my opinion, he has one of the best and most expressive voices in the music industry and the ease and intensity with which he sings many of his songs such as Kissing a Fool, Jesus to a Child, and Freedom 90 show just how solid his vocal ability is. He also covers other people's song very well, such as Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me.

In a year when we already lost music legends such as Prince and David Bowie, it is such a shame that 2016 didn't want to end without taking one more incredible artist. I will leave you with this video of Praying For Time which is one of my favorite George Michael's songs. I find it quite interesting that this song which was released in 1990 seems even more relevant now, what with all the negativity, hatred and violence going on all over the world.

"It's hard to love
There's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of"


video uploaded by Guillermo Soto

Rest in peace, George Michael.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I had been pretty good not eating too much in the early part of the Yuletide season but that all changed over the Christmas weekend. Since my family would be home for a few days due to the holidays, I thought of doing some last minute shopping at S&R. Clearly, many other people had the same idea. S&R was incredibly crowded when I was there - shopping cart traffic jams in many of the aisles! - but thankfully, payment didn't take as long as I expected (there were only 5 people in front of me). I purchased a few things my family had enjoyed in the past but I also tried a few new things like Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn (the Jalapeno Cheddar flavor is really good). I also bought fruitcake LOL. I know many people dislike fruitcake but my family and I love it and it had been a while since I last ate fruitcake so I thought that now was as good a time as any to buy it.

As if that wasn't enough, I also decided to buy the Choc-nut Valrhona Cake at Chelsea in Serendra. I'm not sure if it was just because of high demand for cakes this Christmas season or if the prices really went up, but I asked a waiter a few months ago how much this cake costs and its price when I bought it on the 24th was P200 more than I expected. Despite the higher cost, I still got it.

A few friends of mine gave me chips for Christmas. One of them was the Vegan Cheese Kale Chips of Take Root. The other was Irvins Salted Egg Potato Chips. This was really good. I got it from my friends who came home from Singapore (I don't think Irvins is available in the Philippines yet).

For the first time in a few years, I didn't take days off shortly before the holidays so I didn't have a lot of time to plan what food to get Noche Buena and for Christmas day itself. As such, I decided to just get a whole tray of Beef Lasagna at House of Lasagna and two orders of the Buffalo Chicken Wings at Don Henrico's. It's a good thing a lot of us were at home during the weekend because I made the stupid mistake of not putting the lasagna in the refrigerator before going to sleep so the next morning, it was on its way to getting spoiled. We all ate as much of it as we could and by Sunday evening, only a little was left. :) Which is a good thing because we all went to my grandmother's house for Christmas dinner. Needless to say, I was so stuffed when we headed home.


Since I don't have to work for a week, I have a bit more time to plan what food to buy for the long New Year weekend. I am also really happy that January 2 has been declared a holiday so I will actually get to rest after this very hectic Christmas season.

Rogue One!

Wow, what an incredible addition to the Star Wars saga. Rogue One, which is a film about how the rebellion managed to steal the plans of the first Death Star allowing them to destroy it in Episode IV A New Hope, was quite different from the other movies in the series but still continued the series tradition of amazing storytelling.

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_One

I watched this movie in the advanced midnight showing before the official start of the theatrical run on December 15. This is now the fourth time in a row that I watched a Star Wars movie on the advanced midnight showing. Of course I couldn't do this for the original trilogy since I was just a kid then and I watched Episode I with my family during the normal screening times but I watched Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, and now Rogue One during the advanced screening. I am clearly a Star Wars fan. :) I also had a funny conversation with the movie ticket vendor while buying my ticket. She said that there are so many people buying tickets and I told her that most of the people my age are big fans. She said that she noticed that and she found it strange that the audience would actually clap even before the movie would start. This was indeed true when I watched it. (I guess this also means that there were more advanced screenings before that midnight showing.) As I left the cinema at a little past 2AM, I was on a such a high. This is definitely one of my favorite movies this year.

SPOILER ALERT: stop reading now if you don't want to read any spoilers.

The first unique thing about Rogue One which many people were already talking about was how it didn't start with the traditional Star Wars opening crawl text that would slowly scroll up and out into space. I also found that among many of the interesting things about Rogue One is its use of CGI to recreate actual people that Star Wars fans are familiar with. This movie happens right before Episode IV which came out in 1977 so the film creators had to use CGI to recreate some important characters on screen. An example of which is Grand Moff Tarkin, who was portrayed by Peter Cushing who passed away in 1994. Also, towards the end of the movie, a CGI version of the younger 1977 Princess Leia appeared on screen (resulting in many cheers from the audience).

Also, in the original trilogy, the Stormtroopers gained some degree of notoriety for their apparent inability to hit important targets with their lasers, so apart from Darth Vader, the Emperor, and the Death Star, we never really felt the overwhelming strength of the Empire. That is, however, not the case in this movie. Here the Empire is strong, terrifying, and deadly. You could see that the rebellion had every right to be afraid. One of the most showstopping scenes comes at the end, when Darth Vader boards one of the rebellion ships to take back the information they gathered. Rogue One made audiences see just how ominous Darth Vader was and why he made people shake in their boots. It was also great to see him use his choking power again.

However, what I personally found to be the most compelling thing about Rogue One is the fact that many rebels - including practically every lead character - died. There had never been a Star Wars film before where more than a few lead characters were killed (usually you would only have one: Qui-Gon Jinn in Episode I, Obiwan Kenobi - sort of - in Episode IV, and Han Solo in Episode VII) but in Rogue One, all the lead characters died one by one. The final act was emotional and its portrayal of Rebel Alliance struggling the Empire was quite realistic. I mean, of course it is to be expected that stealing the plans of the Death Star in an Empire stronghold would be near-impossible and would result in many deaths.

Rogue One is an incredible film, with its fast-paced and intense action, its unique storyline, and its very interesting characters. A few other things I loved: C3PO and R2D2 had a very short scene and C3PO had one line - I guess this means that Anthony Daniels continues to be the only actor who has appeared in all Star Wars films and said at least one line. (Darth Vader is in all of them too but he is portrayed by different actors). I loved seeing the AT-ATs and the AT-STs again. It was also cool that the film continues the legacy of throwing in the popular line somewhere in the script: I have a bad feeling about this. As I have already said, this is definitely one of my favorite movies this year and I may just watch it again when its theatrical run resumes after the Metro Manila Film Festival. I also can't wait to get the DVD.

PSL Grand Prix

The 2016 PSL Grand Prix, which is the second indoor conference of the fourth season of the Philippine Superliga, concluded on December 10 and after an explosive and exciting season, the Foton Tornadoes defended their 2015 Grand Prix title by sweeping Petron Tri-Activ Spikers in the finals of the 2016 conference. While it was a sweep, it was not a walk in the park for Foton. In fact, they were close to losing in their first best-of-three finals match-up as Petron won the first 2 sets before Foton leveled to take it to a fifth set. Even then, Petron took a big lead in the fifth set (8-3) but they somehow lost steam and Foton gained confidence and momentum to turn the tables on Petron and win that important first game. The second game went four sets but Foton once again proved near-impossible to beat as they took the trophy.

I say near-impossible to beat because Foton did suffer one loss this season, to F2 Logistics during the second round of the eliminations. F2 Logistics did pretty well and their local players and their imports showed great class but I do feel that in the end, they were outgunned by the more internationally experienced and generally more consistent imports of Foton and Petron. They still however managed to secure the bronze medal, but not without a tough fight from RC Cola who also took the match to a 5th set. It was a very tight fifth set and while F2 Logistics had the upper had for most of the set and only won on their fourth match point, RC Cola actually had a match point of their own.

While the imports made an unmistakable and tremendous impact in the league, it was very interesting that a lot of the individual awards were given to local players. The award for 1st and 2nd best open spiker were given to Stephanie Niemer and Ariel Usher respectively. But every other award went to local players. Aby Marano was best middle blocker, Maika Ortiz was 2nd best middle blocker, Jovelyn Gonzaga was best opposite spiker, Kim Fajardo was best setter, Dawn Macandili was best libero, and Jaja Santiago was MVP. Amazing that Aby, Kim, Dawn and Jovelyn all took home the same awards that they won in the previous All-Filipino league. While Jaja Santiago continues to get so much bettter that it must be scary for her opponents to face her - she is now starting to score points even as an outside hitter and as an opposite hitter - I actually thought that the MVP award would go to Stephanie Niemer, who had more aces than anyone else, a lot of excellent receptions and digs, and a good number of blocks. Still, Jaja is now truly becoming one of the best and most unstoppable players in the country.

Beyond her though, it is amazing to see that the level of Philippine volleyball has risen up quite markedly over the last couple of years. It has been very beneficial to our players to have gotten to regularly play with, and against, very seasoned international players and even get trained and mentored by experienced international coaches. While on average we still lack the height to do well at the global level and we still don't have the same speed and efficiency as other Asian teams, we are on the right path and it will be interesting to see how we will compete internationally in the future.

Movie-watching 2016 part 5

Moana

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moana_(2016_film)

It's pretty interesting that for the first time in as far as I can remember, Disney came out with two non-Pixar animated films in the same year. Moana is their 2nd offering in 2016 after the hugely successful Zootopia. While Moana continues the Disney tradition of having a princess as the main protagonist, it changes things up by not giving her a love interest. The animation is fantastic, with jaw-dropping landscapes and seascapes, and the main theme song How Far I'll Go, when matched with the incredible visuals, is quite inspiring. I do think the story is a bit simple and it still plays with the same themes of doing things people don't think you can do (or even forbid you to do), following your heart, and finding your own way. Still, it's a great movie that kids and adults will enjoy.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Beasts_and_Where_to_Find_Them_(film)

This movie is a prequel to the Harry Potter series and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. Unlike the Harry Potter films which are set in another realm, this film is set in the human world (New York, to be specific). I thought the characters were very well-written and I especially liked Jacob Kowalski, who you could not help but root for (I guess the same goes true for Queenie). The movie has a lot of subplots but the main one, which brings the film to its scintillating climax, involves the search for the Obscurus, that was wreaking havoc in New York City. The effects are great and the acting is solid, but what makes this movie really good for me is that it does what good movies are supposed to do: it takes you to another world, makes you feel like you are part of it, and fills you with wonder and amazement.

Doctor Strange

photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Strange_(film)

To quote a friend of mine (who I think was also quoting someone else), Doctor Strange is like Inception on steroids. The effects of this film are so good, I wouldn't be surprised if it wins an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. If you don't get dizzy watching movies in IMAX 3D, I would recommend you see this movie in that format. Benedict Cumberbatch does a great job as Doctor Strange, as does Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. Be sure to stay in the theater to see the post-credits scene because it sets the stage for the rise of a future Doctor Strange enemy.