Something For The Halloween

Class, here's something for the coming Halloween (though traditionally, this is not really celebrated in this country, but instead All Saint's Day is observed):

So don't drink too much coffee or you'll end up nervous and jittery of even the tiniest sound you'll hear while working alone inside a room.

I'll be back again after taking some break and visiting and praying over some dearly departed ones.

Booya!

10 Flavors Of The Jelly Bean

For Halloween, I think it's a nice (and nasty) treat for kids to receive this special Harry Potter's Bertie Bott's 10 Flavor Discovery Box filled with jelly bean candies of assorted flavors. But no, these flavors are not of the familiar sweet flavors such as raspberry or chocolate. For those fans of Harry Potter, they knew what's in these flavors - either you'll get booger, earwax, or maybe vomit.

[Spoilers of flavors ahead - beep, beep!]

I got hold of such a box from a friend. I tasted some of the interesting flavors - the grass (Bermuda grass as someone joked), the soap (Safeguard I guess), and the black pepper (really, it has black pepper particles so it tasted slight gritty).

I've tasted every flavor in the box especially those that most deemed too gross for tasting. The booger tasted booger (how would I know the taste of booger? Sweet though), earwax (the beans have slightly melted so they closely resembled the real thing), spaghetti (no meatballs?), vomit (now this I could say tasted like spaghetti, only chewed and spitted out), sardines (this has got to be the nastiest in the bunch, in my opinion) and the dirt (very interesting since it tasted really like... what else but dirt and grains of sand). For a truly nature fresh feeling, try combining the dirt and grass flavors. Then wash up with a dose of soap flavored jelly beans.

If I'll contribute to this "every flavor" beans, I'll let them create some of the true Filipino flavors such as balut, bagoong, pansit canton, or siling labuyo for the adventurous.

Flowerhorn, Arowana, And Other Fish Stories

I used to have assorted freshwater fishes kept as pets in a small rectangular aquarium tank and equipped with a motorized oxygen maker. The aquarium has held quite a number of different fishes ranging from the common goldfishes to guppies and including a monster looking janitor fish that seems to be the only one that gets bigger each day I peer inside to check at their growth progress. This aquarium was placed inside our house's living room; guests would have some momentary entertainment watching these tiny creatures.

There is a local pamahiin (omen) that says it is unlucky to have an aquarium inside the house. Or so they say. I find it silly. Yet, majority in the house ruled; it was decided to place the tank outside, at the house's front porch.

Days passed and I noticed some of the fishes either were missing or turn up floating corpses. My theory that some animal, particularly a cat, could have gone fishing at the open tank. My theory was right: I witnessed one day a stray cat cautiously waiting and lunging its paws in the waters atop the aquarium. I quickly shooed the cat away before it decimated the rest of the fishes. I think the only one strong enough to survive was the janitor fish.

I think that pamahiin was meant for the fate of the fishes and not us.

----

Yesterday, after lunch break, my office barkada group went to see an exhibit of colorful flowerhorns, arowanas, goldfishes and other colorful fishes held in Glorietta Mall. I knew what arowana species look like but I never saw a single flowerhorn up close until then. I kept on hearing from a friend that flowerhorns are currently the most expensive and sought after breed among fish collectors and breeders. I only saw images of these species from the television. But I never thought I'll be astonished to see one as shown below.

Frankly, the fish looks ugly – the head looks like a mushroom head that's about to burst any minute now (reminds me of the martians from Mars Attacks!). By the way, this one was declared the champion flowerhorn as indicated by the label on top of its tank. I have seen other pictures of flowerhorns with smaller head bumps but this one is ridiculous.

Below is angled shot of another flowerhorn with a smaller head bump.

Another, up close and personal.

I've set up a flickr set of other pictures taken from the fish exhibit. The set also includes a lone arowana picture (that fish kept on swimming around making it impossible for me to get a good picture of its entire body) and some huge goldfishes (I've included one toilet humor shot of a goldfish taken by an officemate).

City Rainbow

A rare phenomenon in this part of the city. Pardon my camera phone, it's not as good as any digital camera, yet I have no other choice but to use it before sunlight erases the spectacle.

It looks like it's going to rain early this morning as some low lying dark clouds slowly congregate around the vicinity. Good thing I caught this beauty before it eventually vanishes.

Relaxing In Pain And What A Start

What a long respite from blogging. I got to relax my mind a bit and stayed away from posting anything that happened since five days passed. I needed that. And I loved long vacation.

But instead of thoroughly enjoying my weekend, my body instead ached from muscle fatigue (gym). I also felt very tired to go out and do any outdoor activities. Later in the evening, my stomach ached and cramped heavily as if some force is clutching my inner intestines. Puzzling pain, but I was not able to leave anything in the sacred burial grounds (that is my subtle of way of saying "leave something in the bathroom"). You could tell I am quite ranting here but I was in absolute pain for the rest of the night. The following day was no good either as my oversleeping left me with a throbbing headache.

Though at pain, there were moments during the weekend that I enjoyed my relaxation period. I got a DVD version of Land of the Dead (a good horror film from the master zombie creator George Romero but with zombies evolving - communicating and thinking in a primitive way; there are gory scenes that I think would be cut in the versions being shown in local movie theatres); watched it including all features inside the DVD. I continued next with viewing 28 Days Later (zombies here look more like sick people with contagious viruses instead of walking dead, plus they chase preys instead of walking); finally checking again some scenes from one zombie film I watched last year, Dawn of the Dead (now the zombies here look like a cross breed between those dead corpses from the Land of the Dead and 28 Days Later running monsters).

Yes, I got a morbid way of entertainment.

Finally, just to speak out my mind regarding today's interesting start of day, I'll leave my two cents (long story short): public properties do not give anyone the right to lord it over such spaces. Everyone is entitled to such space. I've heard people quipping side comments when other people are at the other end of a long seat trying to pass by politely and calmly to exit the vehicle. Is there something heavy in their buttocks for them to find it inconvenient to move out momentarily from the vehicle to allow other people to exit?

It's amusing to be involved in a verbal tussle with disrespectful and inconsiderate people thinking that they are landowners of public space especially in public utility vehicles.

Thank goodness, in the end I got the last laugh. In Japanese words, such baka.

Beauty And Madness Around Me

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world."

I love this quote. For the last few days, I have been entranced with the way these words were spoken from the film American Beauty which curiously I have perused information again about the movie, remembering the memorable scenes that made me chuckle in utter disbelief and cry silently inside.

Pissed off. Get mad. Blow off your top. See red. These are the feelings that in today's world we usually see and feel more often because of the stress in life and problems we encounter everyday.

Ehem. I should be pissed off, really. Things got out of control lately. Things both in the realm of physical/material world and the emotional dimension. That's all I have to say and share.

But these words offer a message of hope or rather a taste of a fact in life - whatever happens, life is still beautiful. Learn from mistakes, cheer up, shake off the dusts, stand tall again and embrace the beauty and tranquility of life around you.

It is hard to stay mad when around you (look harder) are God's beautiful creations (they may not be always be physical; chances are they may be situations in time that made you smile and cheer up a bit).

I should relax.

I need it.

Monster Playmate

Inspired by looking at the drawings of Diong and Miel, here's another drawing I've done before:

Class, this blog is beginning to be a hodge-podge of posts, pictures and drawings. This is beginning to be a scratch book. Hahaha.

October A Comin

I heard someone say "It's October 3 already". In this part of the world, somewhere in the Pacific, it is October 3. Time sure flies fast. One day, I awoke to a rainy morning last Saturday October 1. Now I am wide awake, still trying to sink into my system that today it is October 3. Two days have passed already. What did I accomplish during the two days?

Not much.

I'm still clearing up my thoughts for now. I'll be preparing for what adventures and events will happen today. Signing off (just today).