Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Excuse Muna


Hello dear readers!

I want you all to know that I'll be going on a hiatus for a while.

To those who follow me on Twitter, and I suggest you do, or those who are on my friends list in Facebook would know why or at least have an inkling as to why.

I just need time for myself right now. I need to re-arrange my thoughts.

It's been a while since I felt this way and though my blog is my outlet for my frustrations in life, some things I'd choose to keep private right now.

I'll be back soon but for now, I'd rather deal with things at my own pace and in the way I know how.

Love,

Adam

Sunday, November 27, 2011

My Sosyal na Office PC

I've been working in our company for 1 year, 7 months and 8 days. Finally, after that period, medyo na-upgrade na ang PC ko.

Dahil dumadami na ang mga agent para sa call center, may dumating na mga bagong unit. Nakita namin ni Bongga ang bagong mga monitor, in fairness nainggit kami. So inikot namin ang buong office at hinanap ang IT manager at tinanong namin kung pwedeng ipalit ang mga monitor namin. Pumayag siya. Wala daw kaso yun.

Technically wala namang gagastusin ang office since pagpapalitin lang naman ang mga monitor namin plus mas kelangan namin ni Bongga ang ganyang monitor since narorotate siya. Mas madali para sa akin mag-proof read at gumamit ng excel dahil sa powers of rotation ng monitor na yan.  Naitataas-baba din yang mga monitor. Shalan lang diba?


Maliban sa bagong monitor, na-upgrade na ang OS ng PC ko. Windows 7 Professional na siya. Lahat kasi ng computer sa office, naka Windows XP which honestly for me is a very archaic operating system.

Ang alam ko, kaya naka Windows XP ang mga PC sa office ay dahil may mga programs na kelangan ang mga call center agent na hindi compatible sa Windows 7. Kung anong programs man yun eh hindi ko alam at wala akong planong malaman since it does not concern me.

At dahil hindi na ako part ng call center, I don't use any of their tools. Ang madalas ko lang naman gamitin eh ang Office Suite and everything else, I can access online.

At dahil sa kadahilanang yan, nirequest ko kung pwedeng i-upgrade ang OS ko since sanay talaga ako sa Windows 7. Sabi ko I would be more productive ahahaha. In fairness pinayagan naman. 


It's the small things like these that makes me love my job.

Although, I would love it more kung tataasan ang sweldo ko, but for now, I'm happy with my new monitor and OS. Nakaka ganang magwork.

Pagbigyan niyo na ako dear readers, mababaw lang ang kaligayahan ko eh.

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Little Mermaid by Atlantis Productions Review


So a few days ago I wrote that I would be watching Disney's The Little Mermaid by Atlantis Production with my good friend Mariah.


Earlier, Mariah and I were at the Meralco Theater in Ortigas to watch the 8pm showing of Disney's The Little Mermaid.



I was hungry and since we had about an hour before the play started, we went to McDonalds to grab a bite to eat.


We got back to the theater in time. Most of the people were already in so we didn't have to wait in line anymore. On a side note, I was so glad I didn't purchase the tickets from one of those Groupon sites. The line for the voucher holders was so long. Plus, it was on a first come first served basis. If I got tickets from there, then we would have probably been seated in a crappy location.

So here's the lobby.



Since I was taking pictures of Mariah, naturally I had the camera in my hand. All of a sudden, this girl who was one of the ushers told me in a very sarcastic-matter-of-factly-know-it-all tone, "You're not allowed to take pictures inside the theater".

"I know. It's not my first time", I sarcastically answered then smiled the most insulting smile I could muster at that moment. I could have been nice, but I did not like her tone.

So without further ado, here is my review of the play. Im just going to focus mostly on the set, costume and acting.

Cast:
Rachelle Ann Go as Ariel
Erik Santos as Prince Eric
Calvin Millado as King Triton
Jinky Llamanzares as Ursula
OJ Mariano as Sebastian

Set design, Props and Costumes

The stage was simple and clean. What made the props stand out were the lights. I must say, kudos to the technical team. The stage design and props were completely different from the broadway version but they were very well made. I like the way they designed everything, it was over-the-top but in a positive way.

Costumes were also different. They mostly followed the original costume design except for Ariel and King Triton's top. Sebastian's costume, to be honest didn't make him look like a crab. His costume looked like one of those Thai Bronze Statues. Oh one more thing, the costume for the seahorses looked like kangaroos. Everything else was good. I'm just saying.

Ariel's hair was not red. It was brown. I wish they got a wig that was redder.

Songs and Acting

They sang every song from The Little Mermaid musical. I was actually hesitant at first because I wasn't sure if Rachelle Ann Go has the range to sing songs those high but I was wrong. Boy was I wrong. Compared to her official recording of Part of Your World, her live version was so much better. She nailed it, she fucking nailed it. Hands down, I have a new-found respect for Rachelle Ann Go. Clap clap clap.

Erik Santos' portrayal of Prince Erik was really good and I must say he delivered a great performance with the songs he sung. The character he played has about 6 or 7 songs and he was amazing. He was effortless in hitting those high notes. One thing though, they should have looked for someone to polish his english. His accent was a bit thick and it was distracting in contrast to the whole cast. But acting and singing were superb.

OJ Mariano did a good job and he did the jamaican accent really well. Again he was good but I really found his costume funny. No offense to the costume team, I think they did a good job but maybe they could lose the antenna looking thing and those wing-like things on Sebastians head. Last time I checked, crabs didn't have antennas or wings.

Jinky Llamanzares for me was the one who stood out. She actually received a standing ovation when she came out during the curtain call. Only she received one. Her performance was outstanding and she reminded me a lot of Sherie Rene Scott, the woman who originally played Ursula on Broadway. A thing I noticed though, it seemed as if she was yelling out, not belting, some of her lines. It was a little distracting.

Calvin Millado as Trinon was good but he did not stand out except for a few scenes such as when he destroyed Ariel's treasure trove, when he sang "If Only" and during the finale.

Overall

I have to admit that at first I had my hesitations watching the play because I knew that it would be different from the original broadway production. But I was blown away and it was still the first half of Act 1. I must say that I enjoyed almost every moment of it. It was so much better than what I expected. From the songs, to the set design, to the acting. Superb.

But, it's not without its flaws. There were two things I did not like. The scene where the Prince fell from the ship and the mermaid had to save him and the most important scene which was the mermaid's transformation. In the original production on broadway, they had harnesses to hold the actors so they could be lifted thus making the scene of swimming upward more believable. What they did in the Philippine production was, they used these shadow puppet thingys. I did not like that part.

Aside from that, I truly enjoyed the play. It's the type that any age could appreciate and wouldn't mind watching again. It wasn't too cheesy nor was it too dull. Mariah was surprised when she looked at me and she saw me mouthing the lyrics to every song. Yes dear readers, I have the whole soundtrack implanted in my head.

I rarely write good reviews so when I do write one, it means I really enjoyed it. I tip my hat to Atlantis Productions. A job well done to all of you. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the future. Who knows, I might watch the Little Mermaid again before its final run.

The play runs from November 18- December 11. If you wanna purchase tickets, click HERE.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Early Christmas Gift

Santa came early this year. 

In the form of my mother.


Seeing as how my mother spoils me every year, she bought me a computer for Christmas. Originally she was planning to give me a big flat screen TV and I was planning to buy myself a desktop computer but she said she could just get me the computer since I didn't really need a new TV.

Took me about two weeks, but I finally decided. Kelangan ko ng bagong PC.

I already have a laptop which she bought for me a few years ago for my birthday pero malapit na itong bumigay dahil sa pag gamit ko. Heavy user kasi ako at dahil mula nung binili eh hindi pa nalilinis yung loob nito, laging nagooverheat.

That's the reason why I wanted to get a desktop, at least it could handle my usage.


The specs are good enough for me:

  • Dual Core E6600 3.0Ghz processor
  • Asus DDR3 Motherboard
  • 2GB DDR3 Ram
  • Two hard disks (320GB each)  
  • MSI 1GB 64bit video card

It also comes with the bare essentials such as a DVD writer, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and the power supply. What I love is my monitor, it's an 18.5 inch LED monitor. I also chose a small CPU case para madali buhatin.


I'm very happy with it. I'll probably upgrade the ram in the future but for now, ok pa naman ang 2gb sa akin.

Ngayon na ako binilhan ni Mama kasi wala siya dito sa pasko, at ako naman ay nasa Ilocos nun. Next week bibili ako ng maayos na desk para paglagyan ng pc ko. I might get an office desk because I dont like computer tables. It looks too primitive for me.

Basta, I'm happy. I have something new to play with. Since my mom already bought me a computer, I had to think of something else that I could give myself for Christmas. I finally have, but that's another story. Abangan nalang kung ano yun.

Thank you for the gift Ma. Thank you for everything you've given me through the years, I appreciate the effort you give in making sure that I have a good and comfortable life. You are the best mother in the world. I love you. <3

Verbatim MediaStation HD DVR


Today I'm gonna review my latest purchase which is the Verbatim MediaStation HD DVR. DVD movies are obsolete to me now since I download all the TV series and movies that I like. The thing is, I can only watch them on my laptop which lessens the experience of a good movie. I needed a device that could read my external drive so that I could watch my media files on the TV.

I've been searching for a good media player for some time now but my main concern is if it can play 720p quality videos without lagging or skipping at some point. While walking around SM, I found this and it was for sale for around 2000php but I was hesitant at first.

By the way, this is for sale at CD-R King, thus the hesitation, but I find it strange that now they carry other brands aside from theirs. Though, they don't have this listed on their website. But I digress. I'm glad they had this.

So on to the review.



The player comes in a big-ass box and in it you can find the player, manual, a CD for something, remote, and several cables. This supports HDMI by the way.

I was lucky enough to have my external hard disk drive with me the day I bought this because I was able to test it in the shop. The first thing I did was run a blu-ray copy of Avatar. Damn I was impressed.

The quality was amazing, loading time was about 2 or 3 seconds and playback was smoother than a face full of botox.

The Verbatim MediaStation can read an SD card, and it has 2 usb ports, one in the front and the other in the back. Aside from that, it has an ethernet plug for online streaming and if you lift the case, it shows you a space inside the box where you can install a 3.5in HDD up to 1TB for internal storage. Fancy.

But the best part of the Verbatim MediaStation is it's DVR function. You can set it to record your favorite shows and it saves it directly to the internal drive. It's like TiVo. It comes with a remote but the built feels cheap. It's too flimsy for me.

File support is extensive though I am not sure if it can play .mkv files. The only complaint I have I have is that the GUI is a bit primitive. Aside from that, I'm very happy with it.

So far I had the Verbatim MediaStation switched on the whole night playing reruns of Will & Grace. Playback quality is amazing. Overall I was very happy I purchased this. Now, I no longer have to watch on my laptop, I watch movies in high-definition on my TV.

I must say, this was well worth the price. Two thumbs up.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Conversations

Me: Bakit naka yellow kayong lahat?
Libby: Edsa day ngayon.
Aze: Oo nga. Kung walang Edsa, walang demokrasya!!!
Me: Ano daw?
***************

*Skype Chat*
Parker: Matulog na. Papa talaga tsk.
Me: Bakit ang sungit? Masakit na nga ulo ko di mo pa ako lambingin.
Parker: Lambingan mo pagbasa.
Me: Hmmp.
***************

Mel: Nilethal injection na yung mga intsik?
Me: Oo. Kanina.
Mel: Bakit ang daming namamatay sa panahon ni Aquino.
Me: Ano bang tingin mo nung panahon ni Gloria, walang namatay?!
Mel: Wala.
Me: Anong tawag mo sa Maguindanao Massacre?!
Me: Iba naman yun eh. Walang namatay dun.
Me and Trix: ANO??!!!!!
All: Hahahha
***************

Derek: Girls are fucking crazy.
Me: I know. That's why I prefer men.
***************

Derek: I just finished a 13-hour shift.
Me: Are you dying?
Derek: Hahaha no.
Me: Are you suffering from something and not telling anyone?
Derek: No! I'm actually being productive.
Me: Sure you are.
****************

Parker: Papa hindi na ako naglolog-in sa PR.
Me: Talaga lang ah.
Parker: Seryoso yan.
Me: Ok.
Parker: Promise.
Me: Bakit? May nahanap kang ibang site?
Parker: Ang bad mo.
*****************

After ng shift:
Me: Bading uwi na ako.
SexyAnne: Nag out ka na ba?
Me: Oo nung August pa.
SexyAnne: Hahaha puta ka umalis ka nga.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Little Mermaid by Atlantis Productions Inc.

The Little Mermaid by Disney was adapted into a musical production back in 2008. It had it's pre-broadway run in Denver and officially opened on Broadway on January 10, 2008. The original broadway production closed on August 30, 2009.

Philippine-based Atlantis Productions Inc has secured the rights to stage the musical here in country and it'll run from November 18 - December 11, 2011 at the Meralco Theater in Ortigas.

Image taken from the Atlantis Production website.
For the Philippine production, Rachelle Ann Go and Erik Santos will play Ariel and Prince Eric. I'm not that thrilled about the cast. I've heard Rachelle Ann's cover of one of the most iconic songs from the Little Mermaid and honestly, I'm not that impressed. I mean, it does sound good but I can't help but compare it to the original. But who knows, maybe she'll do things much better live.

Since it was my Mariah's birthday a few weeks ago and I knew that she really wanted to watch this show, I purchased tickets from Ticketworld for their November 20 show as a birthday gift to her.

It came in this cardboard envelope thing.



She seemed really happy when I told her that we're gonna watch the show.

I've never watched any shows by Atlantic Productions but I heard from some friends that their productions are really good. So here's hoping that they do justice to the play.

Full review of the show once we're done watching it.

If you're interested in watching The Little Mermaid by Atlantis Productions, click HERE.

So if any of you, my dear readers, are watching the show on November 20, see you all at the Meralco Theater.

My iPhone is Back!

I wrote before about how I had to start using a Blackberry again because I had to have Globe repair my iPhone. I kinda broke it, the home button wasn't working anymore.

I brought my iPhone to Globe in September and it's only now that I got it back.

It's November. No-freaking-vember.


The people at Globe Trinoma told me that they had to ship my phone to Singapore kasi nandun daw ang pwedeng mag check sa phone ko. Weird right? Bakit kasi hindi nalang magkaroon ng matinong service center ang iPhone dito sa Pilipinas para hindi abutin ng siyam-siyam ang repair ng iPhone.


So anyway, ayun nga. After several visits to Globe with no positive results, one of their representatives called me and said that my phone was ready for pick-up. But since the heavens seem to be having a field day with me, kelangan daw nila ng Authorization Letter and ID galing kay Mader kasi siya daw bumili nito.

Again, tumaas ang kilay ko dahil dito. But my phone was there, I was thankful that I wouldn't have to wait anymore so I just let it slide. I sent my mother a message asking her to email me a copy of the letter and her ID.

So I went to Globe Trinoma after work. Dumeretso ako sa Express Lane, which by the way is anything but express service, and after about an hour I was able to get my hands on my iPhone. Though I was getting very impatient waiting, I must say there are A LOT of good looking employees over there at Globe Trinoma. Syempre may mga chaka, pero mas mataas ang ratio ng mga gwapo.

Strategy ata ng Globe yun eh para hindi mapansin ng mga customer na ang bagal ng service nila. Right? But I digress.


Though it took almost 3 months for me to get my iPhone, and the whole time I was in the dark regarding the status of my phone, the one thing that made me happy about their service is that they actually did not repair my phone.

They replaced it with a brand new one. =)

So technically, I have a brand new iPhone 4.

Shalan lang diba?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Venga Ilocos


Matapos ang halos isang linggo, pumayag narin ang boss ko sa nirequest kong vacation leave sa December. Sabi ko bibisitahin ko si fader sa Ilocos. In fairness sabi ko naman sa boss ko na I can work while I'm there pero sabi naman niya wag na daw. Enjoyin ko nalang daw bakasyon ko.

Hindi kasi makakapunta dito si Mama, eh ayokong maulit yung nangyari last year na magisa ako Christmas eve kaya uuwi ako ng Laoag kina Papa.

Ganito kasi, nagulat ako nang kausapin ko ang mga taga HR, ang dami ko papalang leave eh hindi lahat yun pwede kong i-carry over next year. Kung di ko siya gagamitin, mafoforfeit. Very wrong, hindi pwede. No no no no.

Kaya last week nag-email ako sa boss ko at nagpaalam ako kung pwede akong mag leave. Sabi niya pagiisipan daw niya. Kanina nagbigay na siya ng go signal.

Havey na havey.

The reason kung bakit ang dami kong leave eh mula nang nalipat ako sa current na position ko, hindi ako madalas mag leave. Oo nagbabakasyon ako pero tinatapat ko lahat sa day off ko para isa or dalawa lang ang magamit ko sa leave credits ko. At dahil diyan, dumami siya ng severe.

It's times like this when I see how lucky I am at the job I currently have. I have the perfect job, well perfect for me anyway, and I have a great boss who trusts me. Ano pang hihilingin ko diba? Well, mas malaking sweldo siguro hihi.

So get ready Laoag City. Come December, Adamsplanet will be painting the town red. Well, Titanium Red.

To my boss, who I'm sure doesn't read my blog, thank you for approving my request to go on leave. You the man!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

First Month


One month na si Misha sa akin.

So far buhay pa siya at sobrang kulit.

Although nakakapagod din magalaga ng puppy, keri lang kasi masaya naman.

May kalaro ako pag bored ako.

She's the cutest most annoying thing and I love her.