Variety in the Internet

Ever since the internet was created, my purchases of reading material has dropped. All I need now when I transfer location is my notebook computer and find myself an internet connection instead of the usual tons of books I used to have. If I can't bring my notebook, I can always go to the nearest internet cafe and log in.

Old books are considered public domain and can be downloaded from the internet for free (www.gutenberg.org). News can be also read for free. Locally we have www.inq7.net and www.mb.com.ph. For international news we have www.cnn.com. and www.time.com. A lot of these websites are updated at least daily. Some even having news only a few minutes old. Some magazines can also be found. The site www.allyoucanread.com collate magazines and newspapers from all over the world.

Pricelists and flyers of some computer shops can also be taken from the internet, an example would be http://www.villman.com/contents/dl_pl.asp. For those who love to tinker with things or are just plain curious we have www.howstuffworks.com. To validate rumors that you have heard there is snopes.com. If you are a man and want some 'male' news we have www.askmen.com.

If you are into religion or spirituality the net being largely unmoderated has a lot of opinions which you have probably never even dreamt off. For he bible reader there is www.e-sword.net. Believe it or not, you can download a bible here for free. Correction, not one bible, but different versions of bibles, with different dictionaries. The bible to be downloaded is not a text file but a complete program where you can search and disect the bible fully. For those who want to try out buddhism, there is www.buddhanet.net. Very complete, with lots of downloadable reading material. Did you know that Buddhism is basically an atheist religion? Surf and find out. For those who are in a hurry and want to research about religions in an outline format, we have www.religioustolerance.org.

There is of course www.friendster.com, where people link their website to their friends. Have you tried www.tristancafe.com/music? This webpage lets you select the latest popular songs and will play them to you. And guess what, the lyrics are there on the webpage so that you will be able to sing. I used to practice here before I got to sing the first time in a videoke bar.

Have you tried the online encyclopedia, www.wikipedia.org. This is written by people who want to contribute online, very concise and informative. Www.wikimapia.org is similar to the program 'google earth'. It gives you a view of the whole earth at the start, then you can zoom in to any point which you choose. Cities have better resolutions than other places. I was actually able to see the roof of my house in this website.

If you don't know where to start or want to try something different, you can always log into www.yahoo.com or www.google.com, good starting points for just about anything.

There are of course interactive websites known as 'forums'. In these sites you can ask questions and be answered. You will be known as any nickname which you shall previously choose. Questions are classified into different topics and each question is known as a thread. Several people can answer a thread, and even answer the answer to a thread. Threads can last for several weeks or months until the discussion is exhausted. A general purpose forum which I find useful and entertaining is www.pinoyexchange.com. Other forums have specific markets. One such forum, is an adult forum I go to, try out www.manilatonight.com.

There are some materials on the internet that you may never expect to see anywhere else. There are two such sites known for their groaseness. Who could forget www.rotten.com and www.ogrish.com. Want to lose weight, surf on these sites before eating. There is also www.philanderers.com, yup, this site is for information on extramarital affairs.

Back in the Gym

This is the fourth time I've been to the gym ever since I started (again). I hope I continue this time. The past two days I didn't go to the gym since I pigged out with friends right before supposedly working out. Funny thing, is one of those friends I've pigged out with even works in a gym. That night I ate one half fried chicken with her, the other day I split one crispy pata and one large plate of shanghai fried rice with another friend.

Today is Saturday and they close at seven, a lot earlier than on weekdays. I have a lifetime membership in the gym I workout in. I heard that lifetime members are really like that, a lot of them do not religiously workout, probably since they know that they have no other dues to pay. For me, I intend to workout to get fit. My age is slowly creeping up. Last time I checked, my cholesterol was on the high side. Another reason for working out is to look good. They say that I am a late bloomer, starting to be vain at this age. I never really did care for my looks and even my clothes when I was young. I intend to go buy myself new clothes after I get rid of this bulging stomach of mine attached to my relatively thin frame.

Close Encounters of the Third Sex

I have always been amused at the third sex. Fo me, they bring variety to life. They are one example of how feminacy can be added to men, and masculinity can be added to women. I don't mind conversing to them, unless they show too much physical interest in me.

There is however one activity which some of them exhibit which I find very irritating, if not traumatic. I have been a victim of this more than once. I as well as a few others have been a victim of misrepresentation. This is when a gay poses as a heterosexual to heterosexuals until it is too late. How often have we heard of stories of heterosexuals flirt, date or in some cases even be on with homosexuals who have passed themselves off as heterosexuals.

James(not his real name) was wondering in Malate one day when he chanced upon a new barber shop. Being curious, he asked what were the other services. The person-in-charge said that upstairs on the second floor, the customers may also have a massage. While being brought to the second floor, James noticed one of the masseurs talking on her cellphone. James decided to have a massage and requested the masseur talking on the phone. The woman gave a reasonably good massage and they would continue having a very nice conversation. She was very friendly, and James even requested that they go out on a date on one of her off-days. The masseur obliged. Midway through the session, the woman asked if James was gay. James answered that he was not. Both continued talking for the next five minutes. James then also asked the masseur if she was gay. She unhesitatingly answered yes.

It can't be true, James thought. Was this a joke? He took a quick glance at her throat, hmm, no adams apple. He looked at her groin. Uh-oh, baggy pants. When was the last time anyone saw baggy pants nowadays. He asked to see her legs. No hair and very smooth! He asked again if she was gay, and this time she denied it. By this time, he was already being massaged in his buttocks. This is not time to be aroused. James thought that if he did, he would be confused with his gender for the rest of his life. Thank god, James isn't homophobic or he would have raced out of the room. Then the woman stopped, and said "I think I have to shave". She was touching her chin. James touched the chin and there was a prominent stub which he felt on his fingers.

Whenever James walks by the massage parlor, he smiles at his masseur. She sometimes hangs just outside the barber shop by the road. One day she was gone. James asked the others masseurs if they knew that she was gay. Seems no one knew the whole time until she left.

Changing Technology

When our family was complete in one afternoon, my sister was busy doing her work in her notebook computer on the dinner table while the rest of us were conversing in the sala. My sister is one of the executives in a multinational company in which she is working in. Earlier she started asking us about how to do certain things in her Powerpoint application. Surprisingly her very own goddaughter came to the rescue and started rattling out commands on what to do and even on how to improve her work. Then her goddaughter's twin steps in and he too adds his share of comments.

Children nowadays start young. At 10 years old they already know not only word processing but also Powerpoint, a presentation tool. In school, they are not allowed to give reports in manila paper which we are all too familiar with when we were young. They are only allowed to use Powerpoint or an overhead projector with content coming from a computer printout. The students each have a Yahoo email address and know how to put attachments in their messages.

Last year when coming home late from a night out, my mother caught me coming in and requested me to send an email to her friend. Being wide awake, I proceeded to turn on the computer and send her email. She had a shocked look on her face. I asked why and she said with a straight face "My friend is asleep at this hour, she might wake up!" My mom at best is just familiar with the fax machine. And she probably assumed that I would have to call her friend up and possibly wake her up.

It's a Matter of Taste

Being a man, I was familiar that different men have different preferences in women. Some men prefer women who are slim with model like bodies, while others like those who are more voluptuous. Some prefer taller and more full bodied women, while others prefer women who are more petite and more youthful in appearance. Some prefer dark beauties, others prefer women with lighter complexion.

I was wondering what are the different kinds of men women want. My question was answered indirectly when women I would meet would comment on my looks. I am tall and lanky and not really muscular with fair complexion. Some women find my physique just right, while others preferred if I would gain at least 30 pounds. For the ones that said that my weight was just right, I asked them why do other girls find me thin. They said that I was not thin, thin is when you can see the ribs exposed. A number of women also said that they were not fond of the muscular types. They said that the massiveness of those men make them feel uncomfortable. Others preferred darker ones, while others fairer ones. Majority if not all though preferred flawless skin.

Some women also have wierd tastes. One I met just recently preferred muscular men with scary looking eyes. She wanted him either bald or with long hair. Concerning baldness, a few years back I was walking in a an area where there were several bald men. Several women found several of the men handsome. Hmmmmm, I always thought that hair had something to do with handsomeness, but the lack of it?

On attitude, some women prefer women who are dominant and macho. Others prefer men who are more sensitive and sweet. Haven't you noticed that a lot of women now enjoy having gay friends. Forget the borders within the sexes, in this age anything goes. I even met a family which is comprised of the parents and four children, straight male, straight female, gay and lesbian. The mother says that they all get along and they are one happy family. I always believed that variety promotes happiness.

When it comes to the different races/nationalities, there are also different tastes. I've been to several bars and noticed that people will often look for what they don't have. A lot of Filipinos prefer mestiza looking women. Look at our commercials on beauty. Our asian counterparts are the same, the Koreans and Japanese that I've seen prefer the fairer ones. Japanese I heard prefer the younger looking and thinner ones. Some of the asians could be picky, no stretch marks and no children.

Americans and Europeans seem to have different tastes. A lot of them prefer dark and thin women. While a lot of Filipinos prefer women with large breasts, a lot of Americans and Europeans have had enough of large breasts in their country and prefer smaller breasts. I've noticed that this group of people would not mind women going up to them and introducing themselves. Sometimes, they even seem to prefer it. They seem to want women with an attitude, a woman who speaks her mind and is not afraid to be blunt. Japanese seem to prefer quieter women.

The bars/nightclubs the Asians go to are also very different from the bars/nightclubs the Americans and the Europeans go to. The ambiance is almost opposite. Japanese like going to bars where they can sing their favorite songs. They can be very meticulous with manners and hygene. I've heard that women who go to Japan are taught to always keep the table dry, carefully wiping moisture on the table from the man's drink. When serving liquor, the tip of the bottle must not touch the glass of the customer. Americans and Europeans seem to prefer louder and up front women. Even on the first meeting women can treat them as equals. Imagine going to a bar with your foreign boss from abroad and bringing him to a bar. Then the waitress that attends to you calls your boss by his first name on the first meeting.

Once I talked to a foreigner about what he thinks about Filipina women. Aside from saying that Filipinas are very hospitable, he said that the foreigners like it here because Filipinas can talk English quite well. He also said that they smell good, and that we're one of the cleanest people in the world. A Filipino friend of mine who has travelled abroad has also said the same thing. What you see in television is not exactly true. We see the beautiful actors and actresses gracing the t.v. screen and assume that a lot of them look like that. But the common person abroad is not the same. A lot of countries have problems with their citizen's obesity. In some other countries, the citizens are usually obese or too thin.

New Taxi Craze

A couple of months ago, a lot of the taxis I would ride would have their gas gauge at empty. I would always remind them, but they would respond calmly and say that there is still enough gas left to bring me to my destination. Later I found out that a lot of taxis here in Manila have been using LPG instead of gasoline due to the high rise of gasoline.

I found out that using LPG has been saving the taxi drivers a lot of money. When normally their gas consumption for a 24 hour shift would be around 2000 pesos, now it is down to around 1100 pesos. The owner of the taxis in turn charges an additional 100 pesos to circumvent the cost of converting the car from gasoline to LPG. The cost is around 20,000 pesos to 30,000 pesos. With some taxi companies who have a large fleet of taxis, this figure is probably a lot lower. Assuming that the taxis are out everyday, 100 pesos a day would hit around 36,500 pesos in one year. This would make the owner get back his investment in less than a year. Lately I've heard that some taxi companies have raised their boundaries to around 150 to 200 pesos. Even so, the taxi driver stands to make an additional of more than 500 pesos when before he would just break even.

There are things though that the taxi drivers and owners are currently monitoring. They are still not sure on how LPG will impact their maintenance schedule. Whether tune ups are to be done more often and how LPG driven taxis will manage the rainy season.

Initially, I had thought that LPG had been stored in the taxi in the same way it is stored in the house when it is used for cooking. The drivers say that the supplier has put an additional tank in the trunk of the car and it is filled up with LPG in a way similar to filling with gasoline. I was lucky enough to witness this just tonight when the taxi I was riding filled up in one of the gas stations in Metro Manila which had the facilities. The station had that 'box' where the hose and the nozzle was connected to. The nozzle though this time has a seal so that LPG will not seep out during the filling process. Even with this seal the person in charge of filling had kept a towel around his face, probably to keep the gas away. But does the towel actually keep the gas away? Being gas, I would assume that it would go right through the cloth. And the filling area according to the taxi driver would really have the gaseous smell. As for me, I kept the windows rolled up just in case.

I don't know what the government has done in order to monitor this new 'fad'. Healthwise it is obviously a concern to the lpg filler and also a concern for everybody else. I guess private cars will be slow to convert to LPG since they would probably value their trunk space which is used by the LPG gas tank. If the prices of gasoline go up and if the parking space expenses go up too, won't the public opt to ride taxis instead of their cars? If the jeeps, busses and cars also convert to LPG will the government also raise the price of LPG?

Working Out

I always put off going to the gym. I don't remember a time when I have been able to sustain going to the gym for more than a month straight. I intend to gain more weight and get rid of my large stomach. My friend, who has been a regular bodybuilder has been pestering for several months. He got the surprise of his life when he saw me in the gym last night.

I decided to start again after I had learned a lot from this bodybuilding thread in www.pinoyexchange.com. The thread is in the health forum. Two of the most highly active posters there come from this gym in malate which I was going to enroll in. They seemed very knowledgeable. One of them was the director of the gym. I had taken a look at the gym several weeks back and it seemed quite nice and it was also open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This seemed to fit perfectly with my wierd sleeping schedule. I was ready to enroll the other day, but I noticed that the air conditioning was turned a little low. Then I remembered the director of the gym purposely had done that to minimize physical injuries. Shucks. So instead I started in the usual place I work out, also in malate.

The schedule of the gym there is fine also with me. They close at 10pm on weekdays and earlier on weekends. Hope I sustain working out now. I purposely blogged this event so that it just might 'force' me to continue.

This time, I'm trying to do something different. Before, I would have three sets of around 10 repetitions. My friend told me that the number of repetitions should be less but the weight heavier so that I will be emphasizing on strenght. Sounds reasonable. Yesterday, I worked out starting with 15 repetitions, then 10, then 5. I did this so that the first set of 15 will also be used as my warmup. I'll write again next time after a month, if there there are any results.

In Subic

Yesterday, my friend called at the morning and told me that the outing they had been planning was pushing through. I rushed, packing my clothes, and was in her place within two hours. Instead of going to Laguna for an evening swim with friends, they decided instead to swim in Subic Bay. I'm not really fond of beaches. I'm actually paranoid about jellyfishes and undercurrents which I have frequently heard about, but anyway I decided to go.

We decided to stop in S.M. Pampanga to buy our food for Subic. It was a long time since I've been to Subic, so I didn't really know what to expect. Being with girls, I figured the nightclub hopping in the area was out. The first thing we had to do was of course drop our belongings to the place which would accomodate us. Our vehicle went straight for the bay and we started to lug our baggage out. The person in charge of the trip led the way and walked towards the pier. She continued, then I figured, we must be going to a yacht. We did. It so happened that she knew the caretaker of the yacht, and the she said that the owner had allowed her uncle(who was the caretaker) to allower his relatives on board. I later remembered that the three girls we were with were all related, they were all nieces of the caretaker.

Lucky me. It's been a long time that I was aboard a yacht. The yacht wouldn't sail though, but being in it was an experience enough. It was a sailboat, but had a motor just in case. We took off our shoes and looked around. The roof seemed to be made of some plastic non-slippery material. I figured it was made to be stepped on. On the roof were little doors like hatches to allow the air in the cabins. The seats at the back where we boarded could be opened in order to stow some things. And the wooden flooring, was finished in such a way that it would be water resistant. Inside were tables which could be used for eating, socializing and even navigating. Maps were under the plastic covers of the tables. There were instruments too. There had radar, an instrument for measuring the depth of the water and global positioning system. It seemed quite impressive for a sailboat. Of course there were instruments for the motor and lots of switches for other things. Several radios for emergencies were also in view.

The bedrooms were such that it was only a bed. It seemed more of a bunk. From the corridor, you look to the left and instead of seeing a room, you see a bed. The bed would be raised several feet off the floor. They probably had a storage area below it. The bed was raised such that if you sat up your head would just about hit the ceiling. The bathrooms were quite small. The toilet seat was round instead of oval. The whole where everything would be flushed through was a lot smaller and there was no storage of water at the back. You would have to press a button in front of you and the electric motor would pour water in. They also had a kitchen which was fully functional. The caretaker said that water and electricity could be taken from the pier.

Lacking in sleep and anticipating the evening swim, I decided to take a nap in the small, but comfortable bed.

That night we went to the bay to take a swim. It was slightly raining it was a new experience from me being in a beach without the sun. Usually when I go to the beach, I go to the water with my trunks during the day, but just take a stroll fully clothed at night and enjoy the breeze. Today I was wearing trunks in the dead of the night sitting wet with the waves washing towards me. My other friends were busy swimming and playing in the water. At least the place was brightly lit. There were strong lamps at equal intervals for quite a distance in the shallow part of the beach. The lamps were standing in about two feet of water. We finished the trip drinking at night before going home to manila.

Strolling in 'Mall of Asia'

When I first went to the mall, I couldn't help but notice the sheer size of it. Although it only had shops for two floors, the land area which was occupied was huge. I guess this design was due to its location, being next to the Manila Bay where the ground was a lot less firm.

It was only a few days from the opening and the mall was full. I noticed that there were lots of children. The proportion of children to adults to me seemed more when compared to other malls I had gone to. Then I remembered that 'S.M.' is supposed to be catering the the children, and that the film 'Da Vinci Code' was not shown, not due to its contraversial content, but because it was not rated 'General Patronage'. The S.M. malls had previously disallowed the showing of non-GP films in their malls. It seems that this makes sense. Parents usually will have a hard time resisting buying sprees of their young ones. Not to mention that as the children grow up, they will be patronizing these malls.

I usually have no trouble strolling around malls. Being physically fit enough, walking is no problem, as long as the view is good. But somehow there was frustration while walking in this mall. Then I figured that it must be the expansive horizontal layout. In their other malls like S.M. megamall the floor area is multiplied 5 times since they have five floors. In this mall only 2 making travel between two shops seem longer. I couldn't rest anymore while taking the excalator. And when in 'Megamall' a shop could be a distance separated with 5 escalator rides, in this mall I would have to walk that distance.

The scenery of the bay though, made up for it. If you find the scenery in 'Baywalk' beautiful, you should try this one. You could walk to the edge right beside the water, where there are no stores/bars/restaurants to block the view and enjoy the breeze. You could also stay in the first floor of the mall around 50 meteres from the edge and still get a reasonable view of the bay. Personally I prefer staying on the second floor with a higher vanatage point in order to see the bay. Of course I'd have to order some food, but that's o.k. Some of the restaurants beside the bay even have these higher chairs so that you see the bay without being bothered by the railing.

The much awaited IMAX was available in the mall. I got to watch two shows. One about Mt. Everest and the other about Nascar. Upon entering, the screen was indeed huge. But i found the proportion of the length to the height of the screen a little disconcerting, maybe it takes a little bit to get used to. While we are used to a certain length to height ratio approximating a rectangle, the IMAX's screen has the height a little taller making the screen looking more like a square. I have been used to longer lengths with shorter heights like the new notebook computers which are coming out, but this was in reverse. Still the movie was wonderful. I enjoyed the view of Mt. Everest and the drama which the story depicted. I couldn't help wonder how the hell they had hauled the IMAX camera up that mountain to shoot the film. IMAX camera's are bigger than the usuall cameras. The next show was about Nascar. That would be about race cars in the United States. Although I'm not an avid fan of cars, I enjoyed this film since it was in 3d. We had to put glasses on for the whole time to appreciate the experience.

The mall have areas which are air conditioned and those which are not. Those on the fringes, specially those near the bay have no air conditioning. I have actually heard some people complain though that transferring from cold to hot will get you sick. Funny in the gym, people take a bath right after they exercise. That time some internet cafe's still didn't have their internet connection. Rentals were on gaming instead. Going to and from the mall should be no problem. The jeep and bus terminals are properly labeled and systematic. The two terminals for the FX's and jeeps though are on opposite sides of the mall. For people like me who only decide where to go only when they hit the terminals will be a problem though. One of these days I intend to go mall hopping. I have noticed that through the terminals I can take one ride to that other mall near c5 which is 'Market Market'. With a few rides I can also go towards Malate which I frequent at night.