Lately, I’ve noticed that I have been using Facebook an increasingly number of times.

Surprising, considering that I do not have a Facebook account.

A friend wants to show me some pictures…she tells me she uploaded it on Facebook and I should just view them there.

On the other hand, a friend wants to get some pictures from me, and I plan to email it to her. She tells me, “Masyado madami yan. Ipost mo na lang sa Facebook.” I tell her I don’t have Facebook, she tells me to post it in Wendy’s Facebook. Gosh! Why didn’t I think of that? Duh!

I need to chat with someone…and although we have always used Yahoo, she informs me that she is now always online through Facebook. I tell her let’s just use Yahoo, she tells me, no, I now use Facebook! I inform her sternly that I don’t have a Facebook account, and she tells me, “Friends kami ni Wendy. Gamitin mo yung account nya!”

Thank God that my friends are Wendy’s friends, and yes, I just use her account. In fact, I have been logging in and out of Wendy’s account a number of times now that Wendy tells me, “Mama, why don’t you just create your own account?”

Hmmm…why not nga naman? I can reconnect with old friends, know what’s going on with my friends’ lives, see if some “likes” my pictures, tell the world how I’m feeling and what I’m doing, and view the pictures of friends! Sounds cool!

I know Facebook has a lot of features, and although most of my friends are in it, none of Facebook’s features really attract me [I'm weird in that way!]. Facebook has no appeal for me. First, I don’t know if I have enough friends. Kakahiya naman kung may Facebook account ako tapos 10 lang friends ko! He he! Second, I don’t really want to know what’s happening to everybody all the time, and I don’t want to stay connected all the time! Third, some stuff written in Facebook are too personal for my liking. [I'm old-fashioned in that I believe that some things should be left said privately to family and close friends.] Meaning, to avoid all these, I will refrain from logging in, and this would make setting a Facebook account sort of useless right? I guess Facebook is not really my cup of tea…I am not a hater, just a holdout.

In any case, if there’s something I want to “shout” to the world, or if there are some experiences or thoughts I want to share, I have my beloved, lovable bahay ni kumareng grace.

PS: Charing lang yan lahat. The truth is, takot ako ma-addict! He he!

The last time I watched a play was around 10 years ago, when I watched Miss Saigon. I wanted to watch it because, well, it was Miss Saigon.

I recently got the chance to watch another play [slash musical] and watched  Cats, Now and Forever at the CCP.

I wasn’t expecting much, for I am not really fond of musicals. I don’t even know what Cats was about. But right off the bat, Cats got my attention. The stage was a production in itself: an alley where the Jellicle cats convene for an annual tradition. As the play started and a pack of cats came dancing and singing, I was mesmerized.

Honestly, I was not able to follow the story as the play progressed. But what the heck? I was content in watching the great solo and group production numbers of the cast. The choreography was fantastic! The actors acted and moved like real cats do and did this while carrying out the specific personalities of their characters. Take for example my favorite charcter, Rum Tum Tugger, who was, in our terms, mayabang.  The actor was so effective because he had this swagger that he kept throughout the show. Kung baga isang tingin lang, alam mo na na mayabang sya!

And do I have to mention the singing? Everyone sang beautifully! I wonder how they get to sing that beautifully while dancing! I can’t even hear them breathing! The voices were cool to the ears, with fortissimos and pianissimos sang right on the money! The production numbers were simply amazing! Ang galing talaga!

And the finale? Gosh, it was spectacular number that I felt kahit yun lang, sulit ang binayad ko!

Special mention goes, of course, to our kababayan Lea Salonga, playing the outcast Grizabella. She sang Memory so beautifully that my hairs started to rise. It was one performance that will forever be in my “memory.” Grabe ang Lea Salonga, super galing at pang world class talaga!

Although there were some boring moments [because everything was sung and, as I have mentioned,  I had a hard time following the story], my Cats experience was truly a wonderful one. I enjoyed the show and am becoming a convert to plays and musicals. Andrew Lloyd Webber is really one musical genius.

Kudos to the Cats, Now and Forever cast! It was one great show!

Forgive me for bringing up such a minute issue. But this is something I really don’t get.

Call me mababaw, call me ignoramus, but please tell me, why, oh why, do we use the towels in hotels as floor mats in the bathrooms?

I rarely stay in plush hotels, even when traveling. I prefer the homey, bed-and-breakfast type of accommodations. But of course, there will be times you cannot get away from these nice hotels.

One practice I noticed that has evolved through the years is the use of hotel towels, most of the time WHITE towels, as floor mats! I don’t get it! I mean, aren’t towels supposed to be used for the body? Is there an unwritten rule about this? Or do these towels have a fine print stating that these should be used as mats? Have I been so out of the loop that I am unaware that hotel towels are now actually made for this purpose?

I remember this conversation between me and my sister years ago when the two of us stayed in a hotel:

KG: Pa-abot nga nung towel.

Sister: Tawag ka na lang sa housekeeping, hingi ka na lang.

KG: Asan na yung mga towels? Dalawa yun diba? Bakit pa ako hihingi ng isa?

Sister: Ginamit ko na yung isa. Yung isa asa sahig na.

KG: What????

For goodness sake! These are T-O-W-E-L-S!

I really didn’t get it. For a time, I was in denial. For me, it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to do it, and I refused to do it. But there’s no escaping it, because if I am not the one to do it, whoever I’m with will beat me to it. The towel always ends up on the floor.

To ease this curiosity [and, to tell you truthfully, bit of annoyance], I decided to do a little research…just to see the rationale of the whole thing. Along the way, I find the definition of the word towel, which, according to Merriam Webster, means “an absorbent cloth or paper for drying.”

Aha! Ayun naman pala! So these towels must be for the feet only, for they do end up on the floor! Pwede naman pala sya gamitin sa floor…

So now, I am making an arguable conclusion: There is no one else to blame here but the hotels themselves! Ha! I am saying this for the simple reason that I’m pretty sure they know that people are doing this but are not doing anything about it.

I remember staying in a hotel and making a quick survey of the room, only to find three sets of towels: a bath towel, a hand towel, and a face towel [what we call bimpo], but alas, no floor mat [or even a foot towel]. So again, the towel ends up on the floor.

So, I make this request to the hotels around the world, I beg you, please, please, place floor mats in your bathrooms so that these white, fluffy, soft towels will actually be used for their purpose! I don’t want to see white towels on the floor again [unless they truly are foot towels]!

Otherwise, I really need someone to give me an acceptable explanation.

Yes, I am back…but not exactly in the groove. I have had hardly any sleep, plus I got sick today!

I just wanted to say hello to everyone and to share a little incident.

Remember this? I was hoping that was the last one. Pero it comes in threes nga siguro [as Shie also suggested].

Two Saturdays ago, I was the lucky recipient of a new cell phone courtesy of my father’s retention plan in Smart. My mother not really gave it to me, but she sold it to me really cheap.  Anyway, I was mulling over what to do with my old, reliable, cute cell phone: sell it or keep it.

But before I could even think about it, I lost it at the airport [NAIA 3] last Monday, before our flight. Somebody must have picked it and kept it because when I asked Rico to ring it, cannot be reached na. Of all the luck! Bad trip talaga!!!

Imagine, I have never lost a cell phone my entire life. In addition, my brother insisted on transferring all my contacts, messages, and calendar entries to the new phone that same morning, even though I keep on telling him, “pagbalik ko na lang!” But he said, “Ngayon na!” Ayun, buti na lang nailipat lahat! If not, I would have lost all my contact numbers. Imagine…mukhang pinaghandaan!

My sister summed it well for me: Nagtampo ang phone mo dahil may kapalit na sya!!

Well, that’s life. The good thing is that incident did not set the mood for our trip!

Anyway, that’s it for now. My stomach is rumbling again!

Singapore and KL posts coming soon!

I will visit your sites soon!!!

One thing I don’t like about Christmas [besides the expenses of course] is the HORRENDOUS traffic in Metro Manila!

Gosh! Is everybody out? If only I did not have to work, I wouldn’t go out! A 5-minute trip now takes 30 minutes! And even roads that do not experience heavy traffic suddenly become congested! Come on!

(photo source)

PS, Idagdag mo pa yung mga motor na ginigitgit ka! Naku! Buti na lang Pasko! He! He! Peace!

Yes, here.

Well, not today, but days from now.

So watch out for it.

Do not say I did not notify you!

I remember the days when the word “spam” used to mean that canned food usually brought by relatives and family coming from abroad. When you say Spam, it meant this:

But now, with the advent of computers, when you say “spam,” it means those unwanted repeat messages that clog your site!

As for me, I have the daunting task of deleting and sifting through these spam messages [sometimes, your comments end up as spam, so I have to browse through them] that go into my comments section. Almost every day, this task is part of the maintenance of this site.

Yeah, it can be a bit tiring. However, I soon realized that there are some amusing spams! True!!! Aside from the usual other-language spam that makes one wonder what it is trying to say, like this:

RahRedaBype: Желаю автору плодотворной деятельности,все понравилось,написано по всей форме только краеугольный камень так и не раскрыт.удачи.

I noticed that there are also some very funny ones, so I decided to collect the most amusing ones and share them with you [rewritten here verbatim]!

Mackeran: Are you a professional journalist? You write very well. [Gee, thanks! You're making me blush!]

ofigennoe.ru: What’s another word for “thesaurus”? [Is this a trick question?]

Galera: Great site. Keep doing., [Parang medyo bitin.]

RouterMed: уaу….. [Now here's a person of few words!]

Moigord: I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job! [Yeah, how come you've never been back?]

Naelith: It is the coolest site, keep so! [I think this came from the president of the KG fans club.]

Ventego: I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest. [Great interest ha!]

Brown: I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites. [Oh really?]

buy ambien no rx: normally banjo committed protects antiviral richard years collapsed basements guard sequence resonance Saimlorektos Polapompos [Eto parang walang sense.]

Moonlighter: Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest. [Parang interest is the word of the day ano?]

Cornelius: Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more? [Uhhh...no?]

PROPECIABUY: One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. [Seriousness!]

timberalndsale: I can’t agree with the comment any more! [Eh di wag!]

аксессуары мобильные телефоны опто: Michael, a very interesting post thanks for writing it! [I think you have the wrong blog, hindi po ako si Machael!]

hotspot shield: Andy, a very interesting post thanks for writing it! [Isa pa itong nawawala! Hindi po ako si Andy!]

So the next time you see some spam in your comments, try to browse…you might get a good laugh!

PS, Need help with your spam? Rico recently wrote a post on SPAM filters. It might help you.

Wonder what this tree is?

If you are from UPLB, you will instantly recognize this. We call this the “Fertility Tree.”

Stories passed from generation to generation of students say that this is a place where “babies are made” [or where the "process" takes place], hence the moniker of the tree. However, I have never had the chance to know whether this claim is valid or just another trick to lure freshmen into believing an urban legend about our school.

If you look closely, you will see a hollow part of the main trunk. Perhaps, and supposedly, this is where the “milagro” happens.

In my days, the leaves were more abundant, so you can just imagine how beautiful the tree is. Thus, minus the name, it would have been nice to make tambay under the wide branches, sipping fresh juice in the cool shade.

Anyway, true or not, the Fertility Tree is part of the UPLB culture and, thus, of the lives of thousands of UPLB students! Interesting!