What Happened In Corregidor Will Stay In Corregidor

...because I forgot to bring batteries for my camera.

As part of our Hi166 class requirements, we had to take a trip to Corregidor island because our professor believed it to be a good way for us to learn about how World War II was like here in our country. That didn't really turn out well.

Now, since I don't have my own car and the meet-up place was located somewhere in the vicinity of the CCP complex, I asked my friend who was taking the same class if he could pick me up somewhere along Katipunan. The night before the trip, he sent me a message about his dad not wanting to get caught in the traffic jam the ACET would cause that morning; he'd pick me up in Ayala-UP TechnoHub instead. I knew then that I had to wake up earlier than I initially intended to since I now had to call for a cab instead of a trike. I slept for only three hours for reasons I can no longer remember. And here's where things started to go downhill. As soon as I woke up, I remembered I had not charged my camera's batteries. As we would be in Corregidor for most of the day, I would definitely need both of them fully charged. So, before I left to take a shower, I plugged the charger in and began the process. After the shower and changing, I stuffed my camera into the bag I decided I needed and walked out of the room - without the batteries that were still being charged. I only realized later as I was waiting in the KFC at TechnoHub that I had forgotten to bring them with me. (The lighting was nice since it was early morning and I wanted to get a great shot in before the trip started.) I would have gone back for them but I didn't want to be late because, like time apparently, the ferry waits for no one.

So the whole day, I lugged along with me a bag that only served the purpose of carrying my camera, which was, at this point, of as much use to the trip as a paperweight was. It was a good thing Allen let me borrow his camera for me to take a few shots - none of which turned out to be worth editing.

How was the trip? I won't even bother writing about it here. It was uninteresting for the most part, which is definitely not what you would expect from an out-of-town trip.

Think First

If you still haven't heard of the recent Gloria Diaz scandal... here it is.



Of course most of us Cebuanos, me included, RAGED over this comment: "Kasi when you think about a Cebuana, can hardly speak English, and of course, Tagalog..."

And in a video here Ms. Gloria Diaz tries to defend her statement, saying that she never said Cebuanas couldn't speak English. "This is what I said," she said. That everyone should have the right to answer in the language they are most comfortable with. She shrugged away the issue joking about getting a Jejemon interpreter if you wanted to speak Jejemon.

Unlike comments posted everywhere belittling her accent, or calling her a liar and a whore, or showing evidence of how Cebuanos are widely renowned in the outsourcing and call center scene, this blog post is quite different.

I just want to tell her this: she should have thought of what she was going to say before actually saying it. She may or may not have meant it, but it was still offensive in the end. And since she did say it, instead of letting the issue trail off as a joke, she should really admit a mistake, whether it have been intentional or not. She didn't even admit that she said what she said, when video footage shows otherwise.

I'm a Cebuano who speaks Filipino better than the stereotypical Cebuano (yes, the stereotype is very humbling)... but we've never been bashed about our English before. I can probably ignore that kind of offensive statement, but her not admitting she said it is hard to bear.

I demand an apology.

Post-Orsem Letter to My Freshmen

First of all, I don't know what drove me to write this. Maybe it's the fact that I'm alone in my room right now with my iTunes (with so many, many sad songs) playing in the background and the mood is just right. Maybe it's because of the possibility that I might not see many of you as much as I would like to over my last 2 years of stay in the Ateneo de Manila University. Maybe because my speech during our last processing session wasn't as good as I wanted it to be (I'm better at writing than I am at speaking) and I feel that I owe all of you much more. Regardless of reason, here it goes.

Today, I end my 19th year of existence and experience in this world. Given that three of those years I spent in the Ateneo, I'm sure I'm not exaggerating when I say I've been through a lot. Of all the things I've experienced though, I'm still convinced that the three dorm OrSems I've taken part of will eat up the greatest slice of the highlight reel of my life - and this one I've been with you guys is giving my own OrSem experience a run for its money. I hope I've given you guys a great OrSem run with memories you'll bring with you up until you yourselves part ways at graduation. I hope I've helped make this OrSem good enough that you yourselves would want to take part in it again next year as the helpful upperclassmen to the next batch of freshmen.

I pray I've helped in enough ways to foster reason enough for you all to stay close together as a small unit. Though it may be near impossible for a large batch such as yours to stay strong all the time, I'm certain that I can count on this group staying strong and intact throughout the years you have left in the dorm. Please be there to pick each other up and dust each other off. Trust me when I say that your roommates are going to be the ones who will be there for you at your lowest points and darkest hours in life and you'll want them to care enough to know how to cheer you up. I hope you grow as close together as I have with my roommates who don't even need to use words to cheer me up. I hope that in three years time when it'll be your batch video playing at the OrSem party, it won't matter whose pictures are flashing on the screen as all of you will be watching it together and the faces of those beside you are all you need to remember all the good times you've had over the years.

We're not the best FCC group this year for nothing guys. This group, as should be clear to all of you now as it was to me when we started, is a dream team for OrSem and any hero would have been incredibly lucky to have gotten this group. Thank God he gave this group to me and Lianne. I can't speak for Lianne but I'm pretty sure she would agree when I say you were worth waking up at 6 in the morning, all the late night meetings, and all the spent energy. You guys have awoken something in me that's been dormant for almost a year now. Although I'm not quite sure what it is exactly, it feels good to have again. You've given so much happiness over the week and a half we've been together and I can only hope I've at least returned the favor. I'm really sorry if you feel I've failed you in any way and I hope I can make it up to you over our next few encounters.

Please remember that I'll always be here to help should you need any, even after my departure from the Ateneo. As the small box in my Facebook page says, I'll forever be your hero - so long as you let me.

Borderlands: A Review

I haven't played a lot of games so allow me to express first my amazement at how well the developers blended FPS and RPG elements to create the captivating Borderlands. I mean, sure there have been FPS games with a leveling system but this is the first I've played with full skill trees, specialization options, and loot system - all common RPG elements.

With that being said, the multiplayer option for this game was a great addition. With the RPG element of specialization, it wouldn't really have made much sense if multiplaying was impossible. I played the entire game with two of my friends and each of us had different classes with specializations chosen to benefit each other. It made the game a lot more fun and interesting. The customization of character and vehicle color added a little more flavor and allowed people with the same classes to at least differentiate their character a bit.

Now, on to the disappointments of the game. While the customization of colors helped, the clothes the characters wore weren't really changeable. If I remember right, the game didn't even have armor items - just weapons. Perhaps they could add more items other than weapons in the sequel - if ever they do decide to continue this brand.

When I started playing, I found the initial area (Arid Badlands) to be huge, which was great. After completing a majority of the quests in the region, I was excited to move on to the next area, assuming naively that it was as huge, if not even more so, than the Badlands. I was wrong and this was the first disappointment. The next region was almost infinitely smaller than the first, with less sub-areas as well. While the next region somewhat made up for that a little, the game never really recovered fully in this aspect. The fifth area was almost made solely for a boss battle and the fourth was a one-path area, leaving no room for exploration and straying from the set path.

Next would be the New Haven issue. I doubt the developers intended it that way but if they did, that was a major imbalance issue. Before we hit New Haven, my friends and I were really playing hard for the items we needed to progress faster. When we discovered the chests hidden all around New Haven, the thrill of getting a great loot item from enemies faded. We just played and replayed the town for the loot and got items so powerful, the rest of the game was a breeze. I haven't played the DLCs yet so I don't know if they've addressed that issue in their updates.

Lastly, the story sucked. Sorry to be so blunt about it but it did. The introduction scene was great and the first few parts were OK. But, as the game progressed, the story worsened. The final scene was just trash. I was expecting at least some treasure, like maybe a hidden ancient city or even just a vault full of stuff that had a guardian of sorts. But no. The game just gave us a boss battle - and a lame one at that. With the right sniper rifle and enough ammo, the thing should be a piece of cake.

Overall though, I still give the game a lot of credit for the gameplay system, the graphics, and the customizability. The story could use a little upgrading and a little more background story would have drastically improved the flow.

Would I buy a copy if they decided to release a sequel? Most likely.

Gising Na, Batugan!

PAGBABAGONG-KLIMA: Hindi na bago.

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Bago mag-umpisa ang Mahal na Araw, ipinalabas muli sa ABS-CBN ang Harapan: Vice Presidential Debate. Hindi ko pinalampas ang pagkakataong ito upang marinig ang mga diwa at saloobin ng mga kandidato sa pagkapangalawang-pangulo ukol sa mga isyu ng bansa at mga tanong ng bayan. Sa debateng ito, binigyan din ng pagkakataon ang mga kandidato na magtanungan at magsagutan. Dito nagkataong magkatapat sina Mar Roxas at Loren Legarda. Itinanong ni Roxas kay Legarda kung bakit ang pagpapahalaga at pag-aalaga sa kalikasan ang nasa sentro ng kanyang plataporma. At ito ang tugon ni Legarda: Ang isyu ng environment at climate change ay hindi lamang sa Plipinas kundi sa lahat ng mahirap na bansa sa buong mundo at iyan ay nakakabit sa sikmura at sa bituka. Mahusay na sagot sa mahusay na tanong!

Sang-ayon ako sa sagot ni Loren Legarda sa pagkakataong ito. Ngunit, ang pagsang-ayong ito ay hindi nangangahulugang sa kanya na mapupunta ang aking boto. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin tapos ang aking pagninilay at pagkikilatis sa mga politikong ito. Hangga't may panahon pa, mas kikilalanin ko muna sila. Tiyak naman na may ilan, kung hindi man lahat, sa mga kandidatong ito ang may alam at pakialam sa isyu ng kalikasan.

At dapat lang na bigyan pa nila ito ng karagdagang diin upang matanto rin ng taumbayan ang kahalagahan nito lalo na dahil ang mga maralita ang pinakaapektado ng isyung ito. Sunud-sunod na nga ang pagpaparamdam ng kalikasan sa atin: malulupit na bagyo, malalakas na lindol, at iba pang mga sakuna. Kinailangan pa nga ng Pilipinas ang tulong galing sa ibang bansa nang humagupit si Ondoy. Malala rin ang naging kalagayan ng Haiti pagkatapos ng tinaguriang super lindol na yumanig dito. Ngayon, labis na pasakit at perhuwisyo na ang naidudulot ng El Niño. Sa mga pangyayaring ito, maraming taoang nagbayad, maraming tahanan ang nawasak, maraming buhay ang napinsala. Sa maikling salita, marami ang nasira. At ang pinakanaapektuhan nito ay ang mga maralitang mamamayan. 'Ika nga ni Legarda: "Ang mga pinaka-apektado ng climate change ay ang mga mahihirap. Sino ba ang nawawalan ng ani tuwing tagtuyot? Sino ang nasasalanta ng mas madalas at mas makapaminsalang bagyo? Sino ang tinatamaan ng malaria, dengue at iba pang mga sakit na dulot ng climate change?”

Ang mga kaganapang ito ay sobra-sobra na upang ipakita ang kahalagahan at epekto ng pagbabagong-klima - pagbabagong alam na ng mga tao ngunit nagkikibit-balikat lang at patuloy pa rin sa kanilang gawi at mga gawaing makasarili. Sana magising na tayo. Tanghali na!

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References:

http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2010/0322_roxas3.asp

http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_313_Farmers_party_list_groups_defend_Legarda.php

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