We All Get Older, We Don't All Get Grown.

Love you Gramps.

2011-09-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

Don’t forget to hug your loved ones and tell them that you love them. And most importantly, don’t be too timid to share the Gospel with them…if you believe in that sort of thing.

R.I.P. G’Pa. Glad I got to visit Ireland this year and share my experience with you.

I seem to be using this more and more...

2011-07-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

http://iheartfeet.tumblr.com/

We Are The Champions My Friend

2011-04-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

So remember that contest I posted about...um yeah, we won! Our clothing will be featured and sold on www.plndr.com - booyah! It was definitely a lot of hard work, but I have a feeling it will have been well worth it :)

We Made It To The Championship Round!

2011-04-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Rock the Vote one more time for ArtistiCreation: www.tinyurl.com/VoteAcreation

Vote A.Creation To Get On PLNDR!

2011-03-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

My clothing company, ArtistiCreation, was selected to take part in a competition to get our clothes sold on PLNDR.com (Karmaloop). Out of hundreds of submissions from other brands, PLNDR chose 16 brands to compete in a bracket style contest. Since then, with the support of our followers, we've made it through the first 2 rounds and are now in the FINAL FOUR!

If you happen to read this, please visit this link: PLNDR MARCH MADNESS CONTEST and cast your vote for ArtistiCreation. Whether you root for the Underdog or the Top Seed, we represent both in this world and we appreciate your support!

2011-02-09T11:12:00.003-08:00

“The world turns and there’s clouds sometimes. But there’s no such thing as a setting sun. It always keeps shining.”

—

Shad K.

2011-02-09T11:12:00.001-08:00

“Well you can’t be everything to everyone, so lemme be anything to anyone.”

—	S. Kabango

2011-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

I used to want to find the love of my life, Now I’m just tryin to live a life of love. It’s not just a husband and wife thing, It’s something that Christ brings.

keep shining.

2011-01-24T19:56:00.001-08:00

i could settle down. but i can't settle.

Public Service Announcement

2010-09-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

Lately, my millions of fans have been requesting that I blog more often. I'm really trying, but because of time constraints its difficult to sit down and write all that I want. I've honestly started several entries that haven't made it to the public, simply because I didn't finish. And then when I get around to finishing them, they're no longer relevant. So they just sit in my private blog list waiting until I pass away, so that my beneficiary can make public all my rambles, finished and unfinished.

But, I've also been blogging for the clothing company, A.Creation, whenever I get the chance. It's not as personal or in depth, but if you want to support me and see what i'm up too, feel free to check it out in the meantime.

Here's a link to my most recent post: Let's Have A Toast For The Scumbags!

Love,

Twitter Tips

2010-09-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

My long-time friend, who is also someone I respect in the Online Marketing industry, wrote this article. I thought he had some good "Twechniques" for marketing yourself/your brand/your company via Twitter, and I felt compelled to share. Enjoy!

13 Simple & Effective Twechniques for Gaining Thousands of Targeted Twitter Followers

These are some tactics that I use to cultivate a targeted twitter following. I welcome your thoughts and feedback and urge you to add your own techniques in the comments!

1) Having your twitter username reflect what you’re about is key.

You can change your twitter username in settings. However this may confuse your followers who will then see a different name. I changed my username early on and It didn’t have much of an effect if any on my followers, but this step is not without risks so you have to make your own judgment call here.

2) Make sure your Bio reflects what you tweet about.

3) Upload a background photo to your twitter profile that reflects what you tweet.

4) I try to tweet as on-topic as I can.

This is just a preference of mine, I try and limit the number of “eating a turkey sandwich and enjoying the sun” type tweets but that’s just me.

My motto is follow to be followed, I don’t care about my twitter ratio because I use twitter to network and keep my ear to the street. I would rather follow tons of people who are in the same industry in order to share ideas with as many industry professionals as possible. I use twitter for 2-way communication.

5) Follow those that follow you; use socialtoo and/or tweetlater to automatically follow your followers.

6) Follow the super stars in your industry; I use wefollow to find the superstars.

Most will not follow you back but you will learn allot.

7) Unfollow those that unfollow you. (socialtoo/tweetlater)

Except the superstars (totally up to you)

8.) Follow those that are interested in the same topic(s), I use monitter to search for those who mention things I’m interested in as well.

9) Follow the superstar’s followers

This is key, if someone is following a superstar in your industry they are most likely interested in the same things as you and are more likely to follow you back.

More and more tweeps are following those that follow them, this is the base of the “follow to be followed” technique. I also see that when I follow someone interested in the same industry as myself they tend to follow back.

When you find a superstar in your industry (before you start following their followers)

10) Click on those that you follow; and start unfollowing those that do not follow you back.

You can’t DM those that don’t follow you back so just remove those that Don’t say “Direct message”

You can do this automatically with socialtoo, you can even give it parameters like “unfollow those that don’t follow me back after ____days.

11) click the superstars twitter profile. Read their latest tweets to get a feel for what they are all about.

12) Then tweet something that you feel will resonate with their tweeple. If the superstar tweets about international business then find an interesting article from the economist and tweet about it. This way when you start following their followers, the first tweet they will see from you will be on-point and this will increase the chances of them following you right back.

13) If you are a blogger; blog about the topic of interest, then tweet about it before you start following the superstars followers. This way the first tweet they will see from you will send them to your blog about a subject that they are interested in.

Add your own tactics in the comments, I would like this to be a free flowing list of ways to use twitter.

If you don’t want to do all of the manual tasks there are some tools that can help here is one called tweetsbot

source: http://internationalseo.biz/twechniques-for-targeted-twitter-followers/

Clean Your Balls With Axe

2010-09-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

Just saw a shorter version of this commercial on TV tonight. Hilarious? ...yes! But did Axe take it too far or is does it keep them on the same level as Old Spice's marketing?

Money, It's Gotta Be The Shoes.

2010-07-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Is it true that you like boats? I heard you are known as the philipino gilligan.

2010-06-04T09:35:00.001-07:00

Actually yes, this is true. I subscribe to Yacht magazine. When people look at me they think 2 things:
#1: This dude likes boats.
#2: I want to beat him up.

Although I haven't heard the comparison until now, i'm very much a Filipino Gilligan.

Ask me anything

New York Post Cover - May 23rd, 2011

2010-05-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap.

ArtistiCreation News

2010-05-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest blog on ArtistiCreation:

http://theartisticreation.com/the-hawks-might-be-out-but-were-just-getting-started-in-the-atl/

Leave a comment over there, the more support the better!

A Lil' Nugget of Wisdom

2010-05-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

"Rely on yourself. It's the difference between following the car ahead of you and mapping out the directions yourself. The first way may be faster, but you never really know where you are."

-Article in Mens Health Magazine

I Should Work For The Government With Ideas Like These:

2010-05-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

You know those guys that carry the signs on the side of the road that advertise for businesses? Everyone has seen them: $5 Hot & Ready Pizza from Lil' Caesars, Model Homes, Foot Massage $25, anything! There are even a bunch of real professionals who dance, do flips, and other tricks with their sign. Although it might not do anything more for the advertisement, its still pretty entertaining for those waiting for the stoplight to turn green.

So anyways, like 5 years back or so this form of advertising started to become very popular. And because of its popularity, that also meant that it created quite a few jobs. Yeah they pay little and they are most likely only part-time, but nevertheless it's still a job. Well I was thinking, what if companies advertised those jobs to the homeless/transients/bums? They'd be so good at it! Their resume consists solely of standing on the street holding a sign! It's a perfect match.

I'm just saying Obama, if you need an idea guy for this job creation stuff, start reading my blog!

Video Killed The Radio Star

2010-05-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

While I was driving into work this morning the radio station I was listening to was playing video clips. At first I thought it was a joke, but soon realized that they were dead serious. Did I miss something?! Video on the Radio? Hmmm.

I get that they were probably doing it to drive traffic to their website where the video links were. That in my opinion is smart. What isn't smart to me is the fact that they were playing these clips, as some sort of teaser to get us to go to their site. Wouldn't it just be better to explain it? Geez, that really grinds my gears. Who makes these decisions?

Yeah that's right Channel 933, I'm calling you out!

Omelette Parlor Is Closing!

2010-05-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day. Apparently 17th St. needs more groceries because Vons just gave The Omelette Parlor in Costa Mesa a 30 day notice to peace out. The reason? Because they are building a bigger Vons. Nice. On that street alone there is a Vons, Ralphs, Ralphs Fresh Fare, Mothers Market, Promelis Market, and a Trader Joe's! There are plenty of options to buy your groceries, but how many places do you know where you can get their famous Apple Butter with your delicious breakfast?! This is a travesty if you ask me.

Favorite OP memories I'll never forget:

Going there alone early in the morning midweek for some coffee and breakfast, just to read the newspaper and act like i'm old. Just wanted to get a taste of the retired life.
Early morning business meetings, where we got nothing done. Just an excuse to eat there.
During the college days, hanging out with friends and drinking. Deciding to stay up all night until they opened at 6am to grab breakfast and bloody mary's. Falling asleep at 5am and never going.

You will be missed :(

Here's a link to the full story:

http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/04/omelette-parlor-to-close-doors/60417/

6 Months And Not Once Have I Snapped Into A Slim Jim!

2010-03-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've officially been a vegetarian for 6 months today. Crazy to think I only planned on trying it out for 6 days...! For the most part it's been a simple transition...I can only think of one major temptation i've had to eat meat over these past 6 months and here's my story:

First off let me just say, if you are not a vegetarian and you are not eating a California Burrito on a regular basis, you either don't live in SoCal or you are really blowing it at life. To clear up any previous claims, Lolita's Taco Shop makes thee best Cali's. They consist of: carne asada, cheese, sour cream, and fries, all wrapped into a massive flour tortilla...delicious! So anyways, a couple of months ago I had a long day and all I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to bed. My normal schedule is something like wake up at 6:30am, work until 5:15pm, gym until 7:30pm, and home around 8:30pm...it was a typical day, but I was abnormally hungry. I stopped at Lolita's on my way home for a potato taco and bean burrito. Once I got home, I sat down to eat and pulled out my burrito to see that it was an all too familiar, abnormally big burrito. Something was suspect, so I carefully bit into it only to taste a fry. Immediately I was like, NOOOOO! They gave me a cali instead! How dare they tempt me with one of my favorite meals ever! So I looked at it, thought about just quitting this vegetarian thing all together, and then eventually put it in the fridge to give to my brother the next day. It was a pretty tough experience I must say.

But anyways, so yeah, 6 months. I've learned a lot and I finally feel that I have at least a little reasoning behind why I am doing it. I still don't think it will last forever, but I know some of this lifestyle has been permanently ingrained in me.

ArtistiCreation Fashion Show @ Fluxx Promo Video

2010-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

My Thoughts While On A Run...

2010-03-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

how crazy would it be to look up and see a pterodactyl flying over you?! good riddance dinosaurs...the world is a safer place without you.

Ahhh!

Not as scary...

Too Busy To Sleep

2010-03-16T21:39:00.001-07:00

The funny thing about having a blog is that when life is the most interesting and there is a lot going on, there really isn't much time to sit down and write about it. I really, really want to, I just can't seem to find the time. I have honestly been keeping a list of blog topics and just enter them into my Blackberry throughout the day whenever something interesting comes to me. SO MUCH RANDOM STUFF! There has to be at least 100 topics on my list... So i'm basically just writing this as a reminder to take some time out of my day and blog. And also as an apology to my 1 Million+ readers, who come to my site daily only to be disappointed with the same post from a month ago. I'll update soon on all the sweet and rad things interfering with my boring life.

The Rock Career Fair

2010-03-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of my SD friends have been affected in this downturn economy. If you're looking for work there is a career fair open to the public at The Rock Church tonight from 6-9pm. And if you know some one who is looking, you should pass on the info. Follow the link for more info and a list of employers.

p.s.- if i were you, i would bring a resume and dress for success :)

http://www.workingfortheman.org/

The Importance of Marketing in a Downturn Economy

2010-03-01T14:46:00.001-08:00

For reasons I'm not entirely too sure of , I have a passion for Marketing. Some times I come across an article that i'm interested in reading. Here is one of those articles:

The Importance of Marketing in a Downturn Economy
By Kathy Klossner

Smart business owners continue to market in good times and bad. It seems logical to spend money on marketing in good times, but more importantly you need to spend on marketing in bad times as well. Companies that keep their names and logos in the public eye during a slow economy are more likely to be perceived as successful, enduring and solid. Strong marketing strategies will pay off in the future.

Marketing consist of market research, advertising and public relations. Experts suggest changing the marketing mix, but not the overall budget. For example, in down times a business may not know exactly who is buying and why. So market research is critical in a downturn economy.
Likewise, a business should find out what forms of advertising are producing sales and then increase the budget for those while reducing the others. Tracking and monitoring systems need to be in place to figure out which forms of advertising are giving your business the biggest return.

Even in downturns, folks are still paying attention to the news. Public relations can help to keep your business name out there. Or start to research your own ways in receiving free press. The Internet provides a vast opportunity to connect with your customers.

Tips on Marketing in a downturn economy:

1. Spend more money and time on your market research. Areas to pay attention to is opportunities in new markets. Consider the hot "Green" market.

2. Update your web site and offer discounts. People are shopping for deals and are looking for ways to stretch their dollars. Be sure to have a time limit on such discounts.

3. Start a frequent buyers program and give those members special deals in appreciation for their loyalty. This will also allow you to keep your business name in front of these customers.

4. Join Network groups on the Internet. Network groups offer the potential to open new doors to new markets and keep your business name out there with little to no costs.

5. Start or continue to be involved in community or charity work. This will give your business name more exposure and offer opportunities to receive some free press. People always want to do business with businesses that give back.

6. Holiday gift giving. When most businesses are cutting back on gift giving to customers, now is your chance to step-up with a unique corporate gift. Consider giving custom sandals with your business name or logo printed on the flip flops. It's an inexpensive gift and very unique - and it's the thought that counts.

Downturns in the economy can actually open doors to new opportunities. Work smart and be creative. Most importantly, don't cut the marketing budget - just be smarter about it.

Original Link

The Aliens Adbucted My Hip!

2010-02-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

I just want to go on the record and say that the laziest exercise/machine at the gym is for sure the Hip Abductor Machine. I've felt this way for a long time. You just sit down and open and close your legs repeatedly. i don't know, it just annoys me to see girls use it for like 30 mins straight...and funny to see a guy on it. there's got to be a better exercise that works those muscles and others at the same time.

...a close second would have to be the ab bench thingy. you know what i'm talking about, the one with the handles and neck pad that moves up and down. it's not that the exercise itself is lazy, its more the people who do 5 crunches and then lay there for 5 mins talking to their friend.

(Best part of this post is the title.)

Update: Just googled, "hip abduction machine is the worst." and found this...

The Seated Hip Abductor Machine

"The myth: This machine is the best way to work your out thighs, including your glutes.

The truth: Because you’re seated, it trains a movement that has no functional use. And if done with excessive weight and jerky technique, it can put undue pressure on your spine.

The alternative: Work the same muscles, but while standing. Simply loop a resistance band around both legs, and position the band just below your knees. Now take small steps to your left for 20 feet. Then side-step back to your right for 20 feet. That’s one set. This is much harder than it sounds, but you can do it anywhere, and it’s also a great warmup for any sport."

"Hammer" Those Keys

2010-02-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

My boy Hammer on the keys covering the Rugrats Theme Song. Just hearing this took me back to a magical place.

Jerusalem Cows, Are Happy Cows.

2010-02-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

I was eating a vegetarian burrito today and I was by myself, so naturally I started thinking about something random. I started to think, "I'm pretty sure Jesus was a pescatarian." I've never done any research on this, but i couldn't recall ever reading in the Bible that Christ ate meat. One story that came to mind was, "The Feeding of the Multitude" or "Miracle of the five loaves and two fish". Wikipedia just told me that it's the only miracle, apart from Jesus' resurrection, that is present in all 4 Gospels...must be why I thought of this story. Anyways, what had happened was, there was a crowd following Jesus but all there was to eat was a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. So He said something like, "Let me see that son!(referring to the bread and fish)....BAM!" And the bread and fish were able to feed 5,000 men and who knows how many women and children...pretty cool stuff.

So I was thinking about all this and thought, "Well, if Christ was a Vegetarian, he wouldn't have multiplied the fish. He must be a Pescatarian!" JUST LIKE ME! That's as far as I got. You see, i've been on this whole "no meat" thing since late September and I'm still searching for the reason why i'm doing it. It hasn't been difficult for me, but at the same time i'd like to have a reason other than its just me being masochistic. Here is what i've come up with so far:

1. I really do love vegetables and fruit...seriously, i do.

2. I'm very sensitive to the sight of dead animals. Read the 2nd paragraph of this EXAMPLE to see what i'm talking about. I think i've just been conditioned to not think twice about a dead piggy or cow. But I just read an article in Men's Health about how much beef the average person eats in his/her lifetime and the total amount of cows that would add up to. I don't remember the exact number but i'm pretty sure it was something like 80,000+! I kind of felt disgusted after that. I'll update this once i find the exact number.

3. As a result I'm eating healthier. Not that I ate that bad before, but this lifestyle forces me to be a little more selective about what I eat...which translates to less late night, after party runs to grab mexican food.

4. And now I can add to the list that i'm more like Jesus! He was a pretty good dude, why wouldn't I want to be like him? He's probably fist pounding me from Heaven right now for my choices...

You know, I like that I have a little more clarity, but i also love the fact that i'm not the kind of person who flaunts this lifestyle. Hopefully i'll never be one to be "preachy" cause I already think there are way too many people who are taking life way too seriously, and I don't want to add to that.

Here was an interesting article I just read on Jesus being a vegetarian: Holla!

excerpt:
"The early Christian fathers adhered to a meatless regime...many early Christian groups supported the meatless way of life. In fact, the writings of the early Church indicate that meat eating was not officially allowed until the 4th century, when the Emperor Constantine decided that his version of Christianity would be the version for everyone. A meat eating interpretation of the Bible became the official creed of the Roman Empire, and vegetarian Christians had to practice in secret or risk being put to death for heresy. It is said that Constantine used to pour molten lead down the their throats if they were captured. Ironic indeed that pagan Rome here would have this longstanding influence upon Christianity.

In any case, I think we can all be thankful that it is a lot easier today to be a vegetarian. The occasional rudeness and social disapproval a vegetarian must tolerate is a pretty small inconvenience in comparison to Constantine's way of dealing with vegetarians."

Sidenote: Just went to search "was jesus a vegetarian" in google, and I got to "was " and the suggestions popped up as usual. Here's what it thought I may be searching for:

#1- "was lady gaga born a man"
#2- "was hitler jewish"
#3- "was jesus black"

in my opinion, i think it would've been cooler if the #1 suggestion was, "was lady gaga born of hitler, and was hitler black? jesus was jewish. obvious."

Times Are Tough. Gotta Hustle.

2010-02-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

As many of you may have seen on my facebook status earlier, while I was at the gym there was some lady who was slangin' girl scout cookies. Seriously? I looked around the room to see if anyone else was as perplexed by this situation as I was. And I was amazed to see that nobody else was...is this normal? So I just chuckled quietly to myself as I walked by the small crowd of girls buying the cookies, and thought how just a few of those Samoas would counterbalance all the calories burned during that Turbo Kick Boxing class(or whatever it was)the girls just came from. I feel like the stunt this lady pulled is a close equivalent to buying a shot for an alcoholic. But hey, times are tough and you gotta do what you gotta do!

This did actually remind me of a story from when I was in the Philippines though. I was with my family out there and we were at one of the Supermalls of course(that's where everyone goes when its hot and they're looking for something to do). We all split up at one point and my Grandpa and I went off together. I had to go to the bathroom so gramps was waiting for me outside. I'm just going to put this out there: I had to go #2. Hey, everyone does it...well, everyone except for pretty girls. But that's a whole other story. Anyways, so my family fed me very well when I was visiting and it was that time...so I was in the bathroom, looking for a stall. There were probably 10 stalls or so and I went into just about every one. No toilet paper! So, naturally I went to grab some paper towels. Only hand dryers! This was messed up. Then I noticed something on the wall at the entrance. I walk over and to my disbelief I see a dispenser full of little bags of tissue paper...THAT YOU HAD TO PAY FOR! I've never experienced this in life, not even in some of the less developed areas of the Philippines...not even in Mexico. So I finally gave in and bought my last resort. I guess everyone is on their grind these days, gettin' their hustle on.

The part that brings joy to my heart even now, was when I walked out and gramps says in his thick filipino accent, "What happened to you? Did you fall in? AH HA HA HA!" Ahh, miss that guy.

Chase Community Giving

2010-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

SD Represent! I just wanted to note that myself and some friends dominated an Invisible Children Dodge Ball Tourney in the early stages of their movement. I take a lot of credit for that victory, but we also did have a current NBA player(Jared Dudley) on our team. We ended up winning an Apple Computer and donated it back to them...i'm sure they can buy quite a few computers now!

Here's the story:
"Facebook users selected San Diego-based charity Invisible Children to receive the top award of a $1 million grant from Chase in the final round of Chase Community Giving, a popular corporate philanthropy program on the social networking Web site.
More than 2 million Facebook users participated in Chase's online voting program.
Invisible Children works with the support of U.S. high school and college students to advocate for the rescue of children in central Africa who have been kidnapped from their homes and forced to serve as soldiers in a civil war in Uganda. More than 30,000 children have been abducted to become both the weapons and the victims of this tragic war. The organization, which will use the funding to build African schools and microeconomic programs as well as raise awareness in North America, received 123,990 votes in the program's second round.
To celebrate the victory, the nonprofit held an event Wednesday morning at Invisible Children Headquarters in downtown San Diego."

Link: http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20100128tga

NBA Jam Returns!!!

2010-01-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

This probably means nothing to most people, but to those that it does, here's the story: http://mashable.com/2010/01/05/nba-jam-nintendo-wii/

So Excited I bought a Wii now!

Lets's Be Honest...

2009-12-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

Facebook is getting a little ridiculous with these "suggestions":

Oh, and this is seriously what my brain goes through when confronted with the dilemma of having talking to a girl i'm into:

Tough life.

My New Kelly Ripa

2009-12-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

So, I used to have a pretty big celebrity crush on Kelly Ripa when she first started on Live with Regis and Kelly back in 2001. Obviously I thought she was really pretty, but what set her apart from the rest was that she would actually make me laugh. And not just every once in awhile, but regularly make me laugh.

But those days are long gone. And really its for 2 reasons:

#1- Kelly has gotten a little too skinny, she looks kinda buff, and I just don't find her as attractive now.

#2- I rarely watch the show. Mainly because of when it is on, but it also probably has a lot to do with reason #1.

Early 2000's

2009

These days I've found someone new. And I wouldn't even really call her a celeb yet, but I feel like she is well on her way to being one. Well actually, I guess she is pretty well known...i just googled her and i typed in "michel" and her name was the 4th option down, right below Michelle Obama. Her name is Michelle Beadle and she is a co-host on ESPN's SportsNation, alongside Colin Cowherd. The show hasn't even been around all that long, but its already one of my favorites on ESPN, and it has a lot to do with Michelle. She is just so witty and you can tell that the responses she gives aren't scripted at all. As far as looks go, i definitely think she is pretty, but not really my type. But the fact that she can hang when it comes to sports, she's intelligent, and can make me laugh easily- makes her so much more attractive to me...and my new Kelly Ripa.

Writing this particular blog entry has really made it clear to me that sense of humor and intelligence is really high up there for me, when it comes to what I am looking for in a girl.

And this concludes this very important update.

The Gospel According to Brandon

2009-12-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

I started a new blog! Don't worry, I'm still going to post on this one just as much as before(not enough), but I just wanted to start a new one that has a little bit of a different theme. You can read more about why I separated the two in my FIRST ENTRY. If you'd like to follow my posts, just like on this one, please feel free to comment on anything that I write :)

New Blog: The Gospel According to Brandon

My Turkey-Less Turkey Day

2009-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Well, this year's Thanksgiving was a first for me. My Mom worked hard on a Turkey as well as a honey baked ham. And oh wow, did they look delicious...although I don't know how they actually tasted. You see, i'm in the 2nd month of being a pescatarian and it just so happens that the Thanksgiving tradition is Turkey and Stufffing, not Mahi Mahi and Stuffing. This was the first time that I can remember not eating meat on this holiday or any holiday for that matter.

Yeah, it was different, but not really a big deal at all. I mean, its not like I went hungry this year while the rest of my family gorged. In fact, there was a great deal of support from my family that I wasn't really expecting. I went into this year, just wanting to play my vegetarianism down and keep it low key because like i've said in a previous blog, I still have no defining reason why I haven't eaten any meat for 2 months now. I'm seriously beginning to believe that I may just be masochistic. But anyways, I would've been happy if the fact that I wasn't eating turkey wasn't mentioned at all. Obviously my family knew, but that turned out to be a really cool thing. My Aunt Cathy made a smoked salmon mix on belgian endive leaves and one of my favorites, Ahi & Avocado Tartare on wonton crisps. And my mom still made all of the usual, delicious sides and even made me dressing instead of stuffing. What's the difference you ask? Well, according to an episode of Unwrapped on the Food Network, the difference between the two is that Stuffing is actually stuffed and cooked in the turkey and Dressing is cooked as a dish by itself. One thing that wasn't new to me this year: I ate too much.

All in all, I had a great Thanksgiving weekend and am most thankful for the family I've been blessed with.

What Really Grinds My Gears

2009-11-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Whenever people say stuff like, "I have the best husband(wife) ever!", I think that others who are married should be a little offended by that. I mean think about it, they are basically saying to you that my husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend is much better than yours because he did something he should've done in the first place, like put the toilet seat down. Come on people! I really expect to see some arguments via facebook status' because of claims like these.

I'm not saying I won't be bold enough to claim my wife is better than yours, when I get married. But that is solely because of the fact that she will be the best wife ever, because she was clearly smart enough have chosen me. In the meantime, all you current married couples can enjoy claiming that your spouse is the best spouse ever, but just know when the day comes that I get hitched, your false reign comes to an end! And if you decide to challenge my best husband-ness, you better have stats and evidence to back it up!

Old Testament Bonding Rituals

2009-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

The following is a snippet of a Chat I had with one of my best friends the other day, who happens to be a youth pastor as well. I think its hilarious how our conversations go from one extreme to the other. This is true friendship to me. enjoy:

Jay: Hey I texted you. i am going to be in sd from the 19th to the 29th. so me + you = party!

Brandon: oh yeah i got that. i was driving or sleeping, i forget. definitely, hang out time

Jay: yeah. lets get naked and play twister or something

Brandon: whoa.

Brandon: i'm down.

Jay: sweet. i am serious. I have been studying the old testament bonding rituals between friends and thats the closest thing to how they did it back then

Brandon: i trust you

Jay: hahahah

Jay: i miss you. i am really pumped to hang when i am down there

Brandon: same here man

hey pray for me
#1- that i do well on an interview coming up
#2- patience
#3- that i can handle losing better
thanks brotha

Jay: yeah no prob.
#1 just be you
#2 patience is tough. i find i am less patient when i am not content
#3 what did you lose?

Brandon: hold on a sec...on the phone

Brandon: hey, you there?

Jay: yeah

Brandon:
#1- will do
#2- i agree. ********Censored********. i guess i just need to be content with what i have.

Jay: no be content with who you are

Brandon: what does it mean to be content with who you are?

Jay: uhh, i think it means being content in your identity as God's son. not looking for something outside of that to make you happy. Relationships are good and you are going to have a great wife. But sometimes relationships are attempts to fill some voids in our life that can and should be filled by God.

Jay: I think when we focus on being content regardless of external circumstance, we are better suited for when those circumstances change.

Jay: its hard.

Brandon: That makes sense to me. I see that.

One More Reason Why Not To Kiss On The First Date: Alzheimer's.

2009-11-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

I just read an article recently that claims that herpes may be a cause of Alzheimer's disease. No joke. Some British researchers found a strong connection between HSV-1 (herpes simplex virus 1) and Alzheimer's cases. "I estimate that about 60 percent of Alzheimer's cases could be caused by the virus." said neurobiologist Ruth Itzhaki, Ph. D. How it works theoretically, is that as we age HSV-1, actually spreads to our brains, where in certain people, it can cause buildup deposits- known as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles- that attack and destroy the cells responsible for memory, language, and physical functions...in short those people develop Alzheimer's.

WHAT!? How crazy is that? If this is true, i'm sure there are tons of people out there who are regretting their choices on Halloween night. Slutty Costumes + Alcohol + Bad decisions = Alzheimer's disease. Who would've thought? That just goes to show you kiddies, show some prudence, your mind depends on it...literally.

This One Goes Out To You!

2009-10-20T22:18:00.001-07:00

I always knew one day I would have have fans. And I even knew that I might have an obsessed stalker or two in my lifetime. I just really didn't expect it to be right now in my life. Because honestly aside from being really, really awesome, I haven't accomplished a whole lot just yet. But you know, I don't want to sell myself short and I have decided to embrace this new celebrity I have...cause having 1 fan officially makes you a celebrity right, haha! Anyways, I was sent this message earlier today, and I feel as my first fan, I owe it to her to not only mention her in my blog, but also to touch on some of the topics she has provided for me. So here you go Sam!

Original Message:

"K so I'm really sick of seeing those queer emo lyrics on your blog. You are not a member of Dashboard Confessional. It is time to move on. So to help out I made this list of possible topics you can write about:

1. When and how you lost your In and Out virginity

2. What would Brandon Lagao do for a Klondike bar

3. Why do guys wear earrings? It really bothers me

4. A Ghostwriter "where are they now" flashback (I would say Bug Juice but my brother already did a blog about that-true story)

5. Candy corn-wtf. why are they so gross? who really eats them??

6. The guy with the spikey hair that sat next to me during Catch Phrase-what's up with that? Is he on drugs? Mental disorder? Too much black hair dye?

7. Girls and slutty Halloween costumes.

8. Why do black people suntan

9. Your vs. you're...why do people not know the difference!?!?!?!?!?

10.. Pescatarians!?!?!? Who even made up that term? Just eat some freakin meat or don't but don't be half ass.

You're welcome. "

1. When and how you lost your In and Out virginity?

Well, this is actually a very fond memory and I remember it well. I was between the age of 8-10, and on my way home from a ski trip. A little known fact about me is that I used to be a great skier as a youngin'. Not anything crazy like freestyle but before I transitioned to snowboarding, I used to do a little downhill slalom racing. Anyways, on this particular trip I was coming home from either Mt. High or Bear. My mom was part of some ski club, and her friend Susan was part of the ski patrol. For some reason, i'm not sure why, I was driving home to San Diego with just Susan. And for some reason, i'm not sure why, we were driving through Orange County. By the way, this was actually my first memory of the OC too. So, it was time to eat and Susan asked me if I ever had In-N-Out. I hadn't, so she took me to the In-N-Out off of Avery on the 5 freeway. She told me it was the "original" location and that I would love it.

#1- I just found out it is not the original location: History of In-N-Out

#2- I did not love it.

I know #2 sounds like blasphemy now, but when I had it for the first time, I really hated the fries. And the burger was really good, but I had no idea about the "secret menu" so i couldn't customize it like I do now (double-double, whole grilled onions, chopped chili's, protein style). And lastly there was some stiff competition...the only other fast food I can remember having at that age was Rally's, and to this day I have never had a better fry than the fries at Rally's, MMMmmm!

2. What would Brandon Lagao do for a Klondike bar?

Well, if I really, really wanted one, I guess I would just Pay $1.50 + tax. They aren't very good. I'd rather have a fudge bar or even a Push-up. Or better yet, Thrifty's Chocolate Malted Crunch!

3. Why do guys wear earrings? It really bothers me.

Well this is kind of awkward given the fact that I had plugs for a few years... But to answer your question, I guess its cause some guys just like to accessorize :) I DO NOT understand why anyone would rock the one earring though. Or even multiple piercings in both ears. Or two hoops! That stuff bothers me too. I would say its kind of along the same lines as why a dude would get a Cherry Blossom tattooed on them, haha!

4. A Ghostwriter "where are they now" flashback (I would say Bug Juice but my brother already did a blog about that-true story)

This definitely requires some research and an additional post. Coming Soon...

5. Candy corn-wtf. why are they so gross? who really eats them??

Seriously! What are they sugar flavored wax? Can you get them year-round or just during the Halloween season? And if so, are there people out there who are like, "Geez, I can't wait for Halloween, I can't wait to eat me some candy corn!"...kind of like the Pumpkin spice latte phenomenon. And they're not even corn or even corn flavored! Candy Corn = Lies. And I hate them. Man this question really fired me up.

Comedian Lewis Black seems to be on the same page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8yuvMsvNqY

6. The guy with the spikey hair that sat next to me during Catch Phrase-what's up with that? Is he on drugs? Mental disorder? Too much black hair dye?

Hahaha! Inside Joke. But seriously, what the heck!? Who do you invite to your house parties Samantha?! If I was courting a girl and I brought her as my date, that guy would've somehow, someway, ruined my chances just by association. If it wasn't for your amazing nacho spread, laminated drink menu, and beautiful roasted corn, I would've dipped out of there early

My Nachos.

7. Girls and slutty Halloween costumes.

Since when did Halloween become national Dress like a Skank Day? Can women even find non-slutty costumes anymore? Its funny too, cause some of the sweetest, reserved girls take this one and only day out of the year to whore it up a little. It really just shows where the world is at today.

On a much cooler sidenote: When I was in elementary school, I literally was a pumpkin every year for Halloween. I had a little poofy pumpkin suit with a pumpkin stem for a hat. I obviously looked really cute and got a laugh out of it every year, but come on Mom could we not maybe switch it up a little?

I think i've made up for the lack of creativity in my childhood costumes over the past few years though:

2005: Mexican Gardner (Not too creative, but it did get me this pretty girl :))

2006: Interactive Myspace. People could leave a comment, view more pics, the works. Best costume ever.

2007: Panda (I'm gonna re-do this one)

2008: God's Gift to Women

8. Why do black people suntan?

For the most part, they don't. But if they ever do, its solely to get their fill of vitamin D. You see your body makes vitamin D when you are exposed to the ultraviolet B (UVB) rays in sunlight. You probably need from 5 to 30 minutes of exposure to the skin on your face, arms, back or legs (without sunscreen) twice every week.

9. Your vs. you're...why do people not know the difference!?!?!?!?!?

Simple answer: They're stupid. Our education system is on a downward spiral. And that is why I am becoming an elementary school teacher. I will mold minds and every one of my students will know the difference between Your & You're.

10.. Pescatarians!?!?!? Who even made up that term? Just eat some freakin meat or don't, but don't be half ass.

Hahaha, you're a jerk. I could just call myself a Vegetarian but then i'd technically be lying.

"A pescatarian (aka a pescevegetarian or a pesco-vegetarian) is someone who will not eat the flesh of any animals other than fish or other types of seafood. They may or may not also exclude other animal products like eggs and dairy from their diet. The diet has strong similarities to a traditional Mediterranean diet. It is quite common for someone to refer to themselves as a 'vegetarian' and to think it normal for a vegetarian to include fish and seafood, when in reality they are a pescetarian."

The Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the origin of the term "pescetarian" to 1993 and defines it to mean: "one whose diet includes fish but no meat.

Get off my back already! I have absolutely no reason for doing it, but I like it :)

Thanks for the inspiration Sam! You've allowed me to be creative while still keeping with the lazy spirit. In fact, the concept seems eerily similar to Lawn Chair Basketball, hahaha!

"Miles Don't Mean Anything" - Eye Alaska

2009-10-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

And I've been unable, to push you away.
You had me able, to understand life like a game we play.
You're not afraid of it all.
And I've been unable, to get you away.
To talk about the things, I wish I could say.
Do you know your worth?
'Cause everyday I pray for your world.

...When you're not around, I hope somehow that you can feel me.
'Cause miles don't mean anything.

(When I fall, I fall hard.)

Mercy House Fundraiser @ Proof Bar

2009-10-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hey OC friends, if you're not planning on watching the MNF game tonight and aren't part of the MN Futbol crew, YOU should make it a priority to give back to the community tonight by supporting Mercy House at Proof Bar in Santa Ana. 25% of sales between 5 and 8 go towards an amazing cause in a time when people need their help the most.

Learn more here: www.mercyhouse.net

Proof Bar looks pretty awesome too: www.proofbar.com

"You Need A Man Around Here"

2009-10-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

The first and only time i've ever gone to a country concert was during a past relationship. To be honest, she was the only reason I went. Before then, I was never really into country. In fact I was one of those people who would say, "I love all different types of music...except country." But I had a great time at that show, loved the music, and ever since i've dedicated one of my car radio's presets to country.

This weekend I had a chance to go to another country concert. Only difference was that this time I was single and it is an entirely different experience. Two buddies of mine talked me into heading up to Orange County for Go Fest 2009 where Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley were headlining. The festival was great and I had a blast listening to good music and hanging out with my friends. One thing that I want to point out, is that the girl to guy ratio at this place felt like it was 10:1. The only guys there were either 909'ers or with their gf's....goldmine. And let's be honest, who can resist a handsome half-filipino in flannel. Although this ratio wasn't my intention for going, it definitely was a pleasant surprise. I guess I didn't realize this phenomenon at my first country concert because I was there with a girlfriend and obviously I was too faithful to even notice :) You'll know where to find me at the next big concert.

I Got No Beef With Beef.

2009-10-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

“I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.” - A. Whitney Brown

I'm on day 3 of vegetarianism. Well actually, i'm not really a vegetarian because i'm allowing myself to eat fish. So I can only really say that i'm a Semi-Vegetarian, Pesco-Vegetarian, or my favorite a Pescetarian. Don't really ask me why though. I don't have a definitive answer for that.

Back in the summer of 2004, I was a pescatarian for about 4 months. I had no real reason for doing it back then either. Through college, I was working at a farmers market and delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables we widely available to me for free. So one day I decided to cut all meats out of my diet. It's pretty much as simple as that. I made a decision in my head and stuck to it. I also remember the moment I decided to eat meat again. It was my little brother's high school graduation and we were having a party at our house in Eastlake. My parents sent me to a chinese food restaurant down the street to pick up the trays of food. There was an abundant amount of cashew chicken, chow mein, snow peas and shrimp, kung pao, and my ultimate downfall- these chinese hot wings. They were deep fried goodness, smothered in garlic, red pepper, and salt. Yum! I remember salivating the whole way home. Eventually I broke down and tore through those wings. Being half black, there should be no surprise here :)

So now, 5 years later, i'm back on the road of pescatarianism. I'm not doing it for ethical, religious, or environmental concerns. I'm not even doing it for dietary reasons. I also just found out that about 60% of vegetarians are women and its not even about that! ...well maybe, haha. I guess the only real reason why, would be because it gives me discipline. It causes me to think a little bit. Shows me that if I put my mind to something, its not really all that hard. And to me at least, it makes my life a little bit more odd and interesting.

So 2.5 days down and I don't know how much longer to go. I have no timeline, but I can assure you I will have a steak again at some point in my life. I'll update via blog next time I eat meat.

Love,

Brandon Lagao

Haha, i just thought this picture was hilarious. Who eats koala!?

Update: Shared Shower Conversations

2009-09-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

Original Post: July 29, 2009

During my shower at the gym earlier this evening, two gentleman were having a conversation while I was trying to mind my own business and wash the sweat off me. Normally, this would fully be against the Man Rule. I would even consider telling them to shut up, but that would also cause me to be breaking the rules. But these two gentleman were speaking Spanish, so I felt oddly OK with it. Because I couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, I didn't feel awkward listening to them. That being the case, I think this should be an addendum to the rule.

Careful Now, You'll Hurt Yourself.

2009-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

This morning I was outside stretching and I smashed an ant with my index finger. Actually what really happened was that while I was stretching, I noticed this ant crawling towards me and so I decided to push it away from me, rather then let it crawl on me. I then noticed it was squirming around and struggling. I think I may have smashed its head or something but I decided to just end its pain swiftly rather then just watch it die, and so with one poke it's life ended. This actually made me feel a little sad. I started to envision its wifey ant back at the farm, caring for their hundreds of baby ants. And I messed all that up. Ridiculous I know, but true.

Then while I sat there stretching, I started to think back to one day when I was in elementary school. I'm not sure what grade exactly, but I know I was at least in 2nd grade. Back then I lived a block or so from my school and I would ride my Huffy to and from. One fateful day, I was speeding back home after school and when I was about halfway, I heard a *crunch* and a *chirp*. I jumped off my bike and saw that I ran over a baby birdy. I remember crying about it and feeling such an empty feeling inside. To this day I can still vividly see the setting and hear the sounds. When I tell this story to friends, I joke that I was traumatized by this moment, but secretly I really feel that way. I could go off on a tangent about death, but that would be straying from the point of this blog.

What I'm wondering is, why am I so damn sensitive? Last night I was keeping myself busy by googling random stuff. At one point I came across Zodiac signs and my sign in particular: Scorpio. I read this: http://www.astrology-online.com/scorpio.htm and have to admit was a little intrigued. As a Christian I don't believe in that stuff nor would I ever imagine that people's character is based off of the time frame of when we were born. But I couldn't help but to notice that as I kept reading the traits of a Scorpio, I started to see a lot of those same traits in me. Most of the traits I read, that I also see in myself, are things that I am proud of and glad to possess. But there were a couple that I wish weren't true: Jealous & overly sensitive (emotional). My jealousy is a whole other post, so i'll stick to just talking about my issues with sensitivity.

As I sat there on the concrete, with ant remnants on my finger and hurt in my heart, all of these thoughts came rushing into my brain. And I tried to think, is this a good thing or bad? I mean, I like that I can be sensitive to someone else's feelings. But I really hate that I allow myself to be hurt by the smallest things. Is this normal for a guy? Is this normal for anyone? Can I ever be in another meaningful relationship if I don't harden up? I have no answers really. But in the end, I love who I am and would never trade it all in to be somebody else. I try every day to work on the things that need to be changed in my life, and I feel like there is a healthy daily growth. At least I'm thinking about stuff like this right? Or wait, is that not normal either? (Feedback appreciated)

...I really need to stop listening to Copeland when I blog, haha.

"Gone are the birds that were our summer guests." ~ Longfellow

2009-09-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

The end of Summer always hurts my heart a little bit. I know I live in SoCal and the change of seasons aren't that drastic, but its more the shift in a mindset that gets me. Less spontaneity, less beach, less time, less activity, less daylight. I also read in a magazine once that light has a direct effect on one's happiness...meaning less daylight = more depression. (sidenote: I just spent 5 mins deciding between effect vs. affect. I either need to take a grammar class or go to counseling, haha) For the past year or so, i've been generally happy all the time, so i'm confident that the depression thing won't hit me this Fall. But anyways, my point is that Autumn and Winter suck.

I can sit here and list all the negatives about no Summer in my life, but I do have lots of stuff to look forward too and I guess that's the reason for this post. Here is a short list:

1. Football is back.
2. Snowboarding trips will be bountiful.
3. Trip to Argentina in December/January.
4. I get to wear hoodies again.
5. My first tattoo (only 10 more lbs to go until I hit my goal weight)
6. Less distraction means more time to get down to business.

It's been some time since I was blogging consistently and I think that mostly had to do with Summer. Seriously though, most of my posts would've sounded like this: "I went to the beach today and had a blast with my awesome friends. Then tonight we all went out and danced our hearts out." You could also throw some stuff in there about Golfing, Palm Desert, working out, surfing, all my friends getting married, my love life, and getting reconnected with God and at Church. That should pretty much sum up everything.

And if I was to go into detail, I guess I would talk a little bit about how life is going currently. Well, let's see...as most of my friends know I went to the Philippines for a month. I can honestly say my outlook on life is a little different since then. I've learned how to always be up for anything, that living without fear is the only way to live, that God's plan for me is so much better than what I could ever come up with, and how to say "Yes" more than "No". My life has improved, no doubt. I haven't kept in great touch with my Dad since, but I don't see anything wrong with that. We actually have a relationship now, which is a plus, and i'm not ashamed of him, which is another plus. I think the trip helped me to get past all the hurt of not growing up with my Dad and to learn to appreciate what I already have (which is much more than I deserve). How I see it is that I'm going to be an amazing Dad someday and my testimony is just a little different from others. I plan on visiting the Philippines again next year.

What else? Well, I've lost a total of 40lbs. It's so sad to me that I was heavy enough to ever be able to lose that much, but it is what it is. I still have a long way to go, but i'm so active with the gym, Soccer on mondays in OC (yes, i'm here right now), basketball, training for a triathlon, football with Cam and Rob, and even surfing, golfing, and yoga, that I should hit my goals within no time and then make new goals!

I've also been living in San Diego since my trip, even though at times it doesn't seem like it. I've literally only had a chance to spend 2 weekends there since I got back, due to travel and other Summer plans. I love it though. I know there is a purpose for me being there and it's been awesome to see the way things have unfolded. The best part is that my network has really expanded since moving back. I get to spend much more time with my SD friends and I haven't lost touch with any of my OC friends. I've also learned to be comfortable with wherever I am. I've never been the guy to couch surf. I like my own shower, my own bathroom, my own bed. But i've never spent so much time away from "Home" as I did this summer. It has forced me to become more flexible, to meet new people, and to be more active.

And lastly, a lot of awesome new things are in store for my future. My biggest decision as of late is that I've decided to get my teaching credentials to become an elementary school teacher. Not many people know that I've battled with this decision off and on for about 9 years now. I just couldn't fight it anymore. I always knew I would end up a teacher at some point. I just thought it would be when I was older and after I was already a millionaire with a successful business. I've realized I kind of had it backwards. I know I can not only teach, but also successfully run my financial consulting, SEO consulting, and web marketing business simultaneously. It also is a step in the right direction towards something else that i've wanted to do which is coach HS football, pop warner, or little league. It's honestly a really exciting time in my life and I can't wait for everything to come together. And I can't complain about having all of Summer off. It's pretty much a perfect career choice for me :)

There is tons more going on. but that's all I got for now. I look forward to blogging more consistently now that Summer is gone.

Man Rule: No Conversations in a Shared Shower Situation.

2009-07-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is a serious issue. I workout at 24 Hour Fitness and whenever I have to go somewhere afterwards, I usually shower there. If you've never been, the shower room setup is exactly how it was in Jr. High or High School. Although there are dividers, there are no doors or curtains. This isn't really a problem for most guys as long as you are comfortable in your skin and your sexuality. I don't have any problems with this setup, but as I walked in to shower today I was shocked to see two men having a full on convo as they were drying off. As I showered I couldn't help but feel that this situation was just not right.

I believe it should be a generally accepted "Man Rule" that whilst in the shower room, you must keep your head at eye level and shower at the most efficient rate possible. No lingering...and definitely no conversations. Come on guys, can't you just wait until you get back to your locker?

Long Beach Project

2009-06-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

I went to a church service tonight for the first time in quite a while. Laziness, Anxiety, Guilt, Fear, Satan...I'm really not quite sure what has been keeping me away. But i've definitely been missing out on meeting the full potential that God has in store for my life. It's not that I've fallen away, its just that I have so much more to work on before "maximizing" all of the gifts that God has given me. I'm glad I went.

And the LB Project is also very cool as well. It wasn't a very typical service and I learned some things that I didn't expect I would. They will be in my prayers. http://www.thegardenlb.org/

I love how He is patient and loving, no matter where we are in our lives :)

R.I.P. Max

2009-06-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today I lost the best dog in the world. Max has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. He has been a son to Eddie for the past 19 years or so. I'm gonna miss him but I am glad he no longer has to suffer. It's crazy to think that he is the closest thing to me that I've ever lost in my life. As sad as it is, I guess this was the best way possible for him to go.

Day 26 & Day 27: Final Days in the Homeland

2009-05-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

We pretty much slept in for most of the day, only getting up to eat. The plan was to play some basketball with the locals but it started to really pour around the time we were going to. At night we had a hardcore karaoke session until around midnight. At the end of the song it would judge your performance and give you a score...apparently I lost all of my singing talent once I hit puberty. We got to spend time with Alex's cousins and the rest of the family. One of the cousins is this little 10 year old girl named KC. If I were ever to have a younger sister or daughter, I would want her to be just like KC. She reminded me a lot of my cousins back home, Hannah and Rylee. She has cracked me up quite a few times since I've been here. And I nicknamed her "Tarsier", which is the smallest monkeys in the world and live only here in the PI.

After karaoke we went out to Makati around midnight. I was really surprised we were even going out because of how late it was, but it was totally worth it. All I can really say is that it was one of those, "What happens here stays here" nights. We started off at the Hard Rock, had some drinks, and watched a cover band do American Pop songs. Then we made our way to this bar called "Absinthe" and danced around there for a little. Apparently the manager or bartender thought we were cool so they started pouring us shots. It was my first time having Absinthe, but I didn't see any green fairies like the story goes. We did some more partying after that, got split up for a couple of hours, and then ended up getting home around 7am this morning. After we met back up, all I know was that we were somewhere in Manila, it was raining super hard, and we spent about an hour trying to get a taxi. Most of the taxis were already occupied due to the fact that it was already morning and people were going to work!

Once we got back to Alex's house, everyone was already up having breakfast so we sat down and ate. An our or so later I was already back in a cab and off to the airport. No aircon and I went to the wrong terminal, once again! Sounds about right...

What a fun night to end my trip here in the homeland.

Day 25: New Family in Pasig

2009-05-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

I flew into Manila from Puerto today and took a taxi to Pasig. On the plane over here, I met a couple who basically pimped their daughter out to me. They were extremely nice, wealthy looking people who were on vacation as well. During our conversation, once they found out I was single, they busted out the camera and started showing me pictures of their daughters, haha! So funny!

So once in Pasig, I waited at a Jolibee close to where the house I was visiting was, for Chris and Alex to pick me up. Even though I was expecting them, I was still kind of shocked when they showed up. It's just so crazy that we're here on another continent, 7,000 miles away from home, just hanging out. I haven't seen a familiar face in a month, which is probably the longest ever for me, and it just felt good. I'm really glad I came here to finish off my trip.

As soon as I walked into the house, I got back the feeling that I left behind when I left my grandparent's house. Once again it was a big house, full of a lot of family members. I've really gained an appreciation and love for family since being here in the PI. Even though nothing exciting was going on around me, I just loved every second of it.

Tonight we went out to some club called Manor. The music was good and current and it was fun having some friends with me. I haven't really got to enjoy "going out" as much because I've been by myself. But being with friends takes away that added pressure of meeting random people. I'm glad I got to see this side of the Philippines.

Day 23 & 24: Back In The City Again

2009-05-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I couldn't catch a flight to Northern Palawan as I originally hoped. Because I had to come back to Puerto Princesa, I left myself with a couple of options:

#1- Drive 9 hours north to El Nido, only to have to make the same drive back a day or two later.
#2- Fly from Puerto to Manila and then fly to Busuanga in hopes of getting to spend a day or so there.

I've been feeling a little under the weather since getting back from Sabang, so I'm not extremely motivated to do either. Luckily tonight I got a call from my good friend from college, Chris Sisson who just so happens to be visiting the Philippines as well with his Pinoy best friend, Alex. They are in Manila so I decided that I would hangout with them for my last few days here. Alex's aunt lives here and they are cool with me staying, so that is another huge plus.

After thinking about it, I'm not really sure why I even asked to stay. I have enough money to afford a nice hotel room for the rest of my stay and I'm not the "couch surfing" type. I really don't want to be a burden on the family and I hope they won't have to go out of their way too much to accommodate me. I guess I just miss being around family. Eating meals with people. Making plans to do something with someone else. And I am SUPER excited to see some familiar faces! I can't wait! It should be a good ending to a great trip.

Other than deciding to go back to Manila early, not much else has really happened the past couple of days. My main highlights have been living with a mouse in my room that I decided to name "Marty", figuring out the "local" cost of a tricycle ride, and not being able to find a body wash without a "whitening" agent. I know its not much, but not everyday can be a huge adventure!

Marty the mouse decided to come out one night and run around when I was trying to go to bed. I kept seeing his head pop out from under the other bed and then hearing him scurry across the room. I got up, somewhat freaked out, and tried to get him out of my room to no avail. I caught him mid-scurry once and he literally jumped in the air, landed awkwardly, and then hid again under the bed. The look on his face actually made me laugh and from that point on I decided I wasn't afraid of him anymore, so I named him. Wait...I just re-read what I just wrote...I must be going a little crazy after all this solitude.

So with the tricycles, when I first arrived they originally said I had to pay 50 pesos per ride. But then I started noticing that some drivers were less bold and were charging 40. And then another only 20! So I finally decided I was going to figure out the REAL charge for a tricycle ride. My strategy was that I was going to be silent. From all my research before the trip, I was told multiple times to ask "How much?" before taking a taxi, to avoid being ripped off. It turned out that is exactly what you should do if you want the locals to know you are from out of town and you have no idea how much stuff costs around here. So I got a ride and was completely silent the whole ride. I decided I would let the driver initiate the payment process. I got out and handed him 20 pesos, waited for a second, he looked at me, i looked at him, he reached in his pocket, and gave me back 10 pesos! So from there on out I just gave everyone 10 pesos and nobody said a word about it, nice.

Lastly, since I'm going to be visiting a family, I decided to clean myself up and shave(for the second time during this trip). I went to the drugstore and the only size shaving cream was a Costco sized can that would probably last me a year. So instead of being wasteful i'd have to figure something else out. I also ran out of body wash, but literally every single bottle they sold had some sort of "skin whitening" agent in it. Since I value my brown skin, my only other option was Johnson & Johnson Baby Bath. It worked out pretty good too, because now my skin is baby soft, I was able to use it to shave, and if it gets in my eyes: No Tears!

Day 22: The 8th Wonder of the World

2009-05-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Something I realized last night was that this town is very, very primitive. There is no Internet, but more importantly in my case, there are no banks or ATM's. The problem with that is that I didn't plan the rest of my week out yet. I didn't pull out enough money when I was in the city to survive a whole week and I haven't even bought my plane ticket back to Manila yet. Sadly, what this means is that instead of traveling to the northern end of Palawan, I need to find a ride back to Puerto...but only after I do what I came to Sabang to do, which is see the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River.

So I got up at around 7am this morning after a rough night of sleep. The only way I was even able to sleep at all was because of the mosquito net in my room. The sad part is that even with the net, I woke up with way more bites than I went to sleep with. Vicious little bastards. But although last night wasn't favorable, it all became worth it when I realized that I was waking up in a Nipa Hut on the beach! My front yard is literally the ocean...about 10 paces and your feet are wet. Oh and did I mention it cost me about $10? Waking to the sound of crashing waves is the ONLY alarm clock for me. And the sunlight was coming through the hut floor...it was a beautiful sight to behold.

After packing my stuff up, I made a decision to try to fit in the Underground River Tour and catch a ride back to Puerto Princesa today...because there are no set bus schedules, this isn't the easiest of tasks. So from there I went to the tourist center to get my permit to enter the underground river. The locals were all super nice to me and I had some great conversations as I waited for my boat. I even talked to a guy who is going to get me on a van to head back to the city later on today, sweet.

It was a 15-20 minute boat ride to the underground river from the town. I haven't been to too many places in my 25 years on Earth, but I can honestly say that this is the most beautiful place I've ever been to in my life. The water surrounding my boat was so glossy that you would think it wasn't ever touched by another living being. And the color was unlike any color I've ever seen in the ocean. It was as if every shade of blue and green was right in front of my eyes. For a moment I was actually reminded of being at some lake in Oregon visiting my Grandma for the summer. But then I looked up and I was surrounded by big, luscious mountains and huge limestone cliffs shooting out of the water covered with the most beautiful trees, that make you wonder how in the hell they got there in the first place. The beaches to my right were also covered in what I can only describe as a "beach forest". Kind of a hybrid of a regular forest and a rainforest...on a beach!

At this point, I was lucky I was wearing my sunglasses because tears actually started flowing while I was taking in God's beautiful creation. I mean, I've teared up over beauty before, but these tears were flowing down my cheeks like two mini waterfalls. I've been known to ball at the movies ( i.e.- Remember The Titans, Antwone Fisher, Seven Pounds, Bambi...), but this was something very new to me. Although embarrassed, I was in appreciation of the moment.

We landed at the beach and I jumped off the boat into the shallow water and waved goodbye to the boatmen. From there it was about a 5 minute walk to the River. There was a big crowd of tourists waiting there to meet me. While checking in and waiting for your turn to get on a boat, you are surrounded by a bunch of monkeys just chillin' in the trees and walking around near all us tourists. I think that was my first time ever seeing a monkey outside of the San Diego Zoo... and i'm really glad that they weren't throwing their poop every where. While I waited they dressed me up like I was one of the Village People with a life jacket and hardhat. Our kayak arrived and I jumped on with about 10 other people and a tour guide who would be paddling us about 2.5 km's into the Underground River.

Inside of the Subterranean River was really cool. It's just like a huge cave with a big, calm river flowing through it. It kind of felt like being on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland (which is my favorite), except with bats and little swiftlets flying around everywhere. Throughout the tour, our guide was mostly speaking in Tagalog, but I pretty much understood everything he was saying...2o days ago I couldn't say that. Basically the guide was just explaining the rock formations and the stalactites and making jokes about them. There was a section called "The Cathedral" which had a ridiculously high ceiling and a bunch of rock figures that were supposed to look like the Virgin Mary, Angels, Jesus, and other religious figures. There was also a "Market" section where the guide pointed out different rocks that looked like fruits & vegetables...it really was more interesting then it sounds. We were also told that there are two types of water that falls from the ceiling...mineral water and "bat shit". Yes, he really said that. He even made a joke about it when we were in The Cathedral, about how they call the water coming from the ceiling "Holy Water"...but if it's not water then it must be "Holy Shit." I got a good laugh out of that one, but for the most part I tried to keep my mouth tightly closed.

So after I was done with the tour, since I had enough time, instead of taking the 20 minute boat ride back, I really wanted to hike back on one of the trails. There are two trails that go back to Sabang, "The Monkey Trail" and "The Jungle Trail". I read about it in Lonely Planet and I know I wanted to try it out. I don't really know what to say, Jungle Trekking just sounded like a great experience to me! So from the River, I headed to the Monkey Trail. I immediately realized I made a few mistakes:

#1- I was wearing my flip-flops.

#2- I skipped breakfast.

#3- I WAS ALL ALONE!

In my head I imagined a nice, clean, and clear trail, that was flat and filled with cute animals and beautiful jungle flora. It was supposed to be a great time for nature photo opp's! In reality, it was a steep, very secluded trail that could could have used a little more trailblazing, and a lot more guidance. Maybe this will help provide a little more insight: Right as I started the journey, there was a HUGE monitor lizard just chilling right in front of the path I was about to enter. Like seriously a Komodo Dragon sized lizard...aren't those things dangerous?!

One other thing that came as a complete surprise to me, was that NOBODY else was taking the trail back. Literally, zero people. And after walking for a little, I soon realized that I was ALL BY MYSELF IN A STRAIGHT-UP JUNGLE! The very first part of the trail is made up of a bunch of steep, wooden stair sets and quite a few "bridges" made of a couple slabs of wood. Since the jungle I was hiking through was on a karst, it was a very steep climb for a good 30 minutes. The steps were spaced much too far apart and it seemed like at any moment one could give out. I mean seriously, how do you take care of wooden stairs that are out in the middle of the jungle?! I wasn't naive enough to think that there are handyman checking on them every morning. I figured the only way you find out if a bridge needs to be fixed or a step needs a little repair out here, is if it gives way on someone. And at that point it's already too late for me now isn't it? At this point I was just thanking God that my parents talked me into purchasing travel insurance (as if anyone would find me out there anyways).

I'll just say this: This decision was a mistake. I should have worn shoes. I should have told someone at the ranger station that I was going in. I should have had breakfast. And I most definitely SHOULD NOT have gone about this alone. I'm not too proud to admit that I was pretty scared for the majority of the time and contemplated turning around more than once. The only thing that really stopped me was my pride and stubbornness to finish what I started. The noises coming from the surrounding trees were loud and eerie. There were huge bugs everywhere. And although this morning, before the trek, I was hoping get some great pictures of jungle fauna, at this point I was really hoping that I wouldn't run into any. Snakes, lizards, monkeys, huge spiders...none of these I wanted to see. But I did.

I just put my head down and started trekking at a very brisk pace. It is a 5km hike back to town and is supposed to take about 2 hours. Whenever I had enough room, I would run. There was really no way of knowing if I was going in the right direction except for the faint outline of a trail and every so often I would run into little cement stumps on the ground. Now I know what Bear Grylls and Survivorman go through! I can imagine this being an extremely fun experience with a buddy, but not so much alone.

Eventually I hit the ocean and most of my fear went away. At that point I could actually enjoy myself a little bit because I at least knew where I was in relation to the town and if all else failed, I could just swim the rest of the way (although it would have been a very long swim). Once I got out of the middle of the jungle, it was no longer dark and I honestly felt like I was Harry Potter escaping the Forbidden Forest. I finished the hiking part in a little over an hour, haha! But then I hit an obstacle that Lonely Planet nor the tourist center seemed to think important enough to warn me about. There is a deep river, with a strong current, that separates you from the town! At first I followed the sign that said, "This Way To Sabang", but it dead ends at a swampy section of the river...damn liars. So I went back to the beach and walked to the end, only to be stopped again by the same river. I had no idea how deep it actually was, all I know is that I couldn't see the bottom and the current was very strong. Plus I had my cell phone, wallet, camera, and room key...swimming it just wasn't going to happen. So I headed back to the swamp portion to see if there was something I missed. I tried crossing from there, but it was deep also and I couldn't help but think that there might be crocodiles or something lurking about. After turning around, I spotted what looked to be a little trail, so I tried that route. Um, definitely not a trail. I found myself surrounded by Mangrove and wading through knee-deep water. Once I finally hit what was a dead-end to me (I wasn't about to just force myself through a bunch of bushes!), I went back to the beach. I sat there on that beach like a castaway sent to exile island. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I was supposed to get back. I even contemplated floating across on some parts that used to make up an old boat. I was stuck there for about an hour until I saw someone from town in the distance and waved him over. The guy who came to my rescue was a local who didn't speak any English. He realized that I wasn't planning on walking through the river, so he picked me up in a little canoe-like boat and dropped me off on the other side...ego buster.

What an amazing experience! I would NEVER do it again alone, but wow, it is awesome to look back on. This place is so gorgeous. The water, the plants, and the people are all so beautiful. The weather is like San Diego on it's best days. And not to mention I got to see what they call the 8th Wonder of the World today. I kind of wish that my trip ended today because I am pretty sure I couldn't end it on a higher note.

After I got back to town I met up with a van that would take me back to Puerto...no more Jeepneys for me! But once again I was waiting for 2 hours after the scheduled time to leave. While I waited I had a good conversation with the driver. His sister was apparently a Top 10 Miss Earth Finalist a few years back and he had a lot of questions on what he had to do to get work in the U.S. I had to break the news to him that it would be a difficult task for him to start a new life in America.

Finally, the rest of the van passengers arrived. I was sitting in the back just waiting and right as they got on and noticed me, they were so excited to see me. It was a little overwhelming. There was 6 girls and 2 guys all about my age, from Manila. They all worked at the same place where they do some of the HR outsourcing for a few U.S. companies. One of the girls was even forward enough to introduce herself as, "Hi, I'm Single." It was pretty funny and made for a much better trip back to Puerto then it was getting here. Thank you Jesus for such an amazing day! Now I need to figure out my plans for the next few days...

Day 21: The Jeepney Ride from Hell

2009-05-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning around 6:30am, even though I set my alarm for 9am. I knew that at some point I had to get to the San Jose Bus Terminal to catch a ride to Sabang, which is a 2 or 3 hour drive. Lonely Planet and the people around town aren't very helpful about times or who to see once I get there, I just know I need to go to the terminal and plan on asking around. Instead of going to check it out early like I should have, I decided to stay in until noon while I watched the Lakers/Nuggets game. The games are on at 8am or 9am here so it's a little different experience. I was glad to be watching when the Lakers won :)

Once I got to the Bust terminal, all the actual buses had apparently left. So my only other option was to take a Jeepney. I thought, what the heck, I might as well get the experience. So I asked the conductor when we were leaving and he said 12 o'clock, ha! The jeep had a few seats open so I figured we would wait until they filled up. Since I skipped breakfast, I grabbed a couple Pan de Coco (bread roll with sweet coconut), a banana, and a coke...then I checked the time on my phone and saw it was a little after noon, so I grabbed a seat in the back and got ready to go. Little did I know I would be waiting for 3 extra hours! Looking back, I find it really funny that I was in a rush. Nobody seemed to be complaining so neither did I, but wow it sucked. Not to mention it was going to take 3 hours on top of that just to get to Sabang! Since it's their livelihood, they don't leave the terminal until the Jeepney is full, because that way they make more money. And when I say full, I mean packed to the brim full.

So finally we seemed like we were getting ready to go and things started to get a little crazy. All I could really do was laugh. This jeepney wasn't a typical jeepeny, it was more of a hybrid bus/jeepney. The front half had seats facing forward and the back half was like a typical jeepney with a bench seat on each side. In america, it would probably seat a maximum of 25 people. But not here. In the Philippines they REALLY pack people in . I counted 65 people, and that was just in the seats! There were people hanging off the back, on top, and kids were laying in the middle aisle on out feet. Not to mention many of the people on the jeep were actually doing their grocery shopping, so they had sacks of rice, grocery bags, and fish with them as well.

So we finally took off to Sabang and within 2 mins we stopped at a gas station where a lot of people who just packed themselves in, got out and filled little jugs full of gasoline. Oh and I should also mention that instead of taking one of the many open seats in the front, I chose a bench seat in the back, which just so happened to be where all the action was and the heart of all the commotion...i would only recommend this seat to the most adventurous of my friends. Honestly, the only reason I was sitting there was so that I can jump in and out to check on my backpack that was on the roof. So we leave the gas station and immediately we hit a bumpy dirt road, I thought to myself, "Oh crap! If we continue on like this I just might vomit on all of these people...but at least we are getting somewhere." And then, all of a sudden, we stop again. This time at the Puerto Princesa Ice Building. They covered one side of the jeep with a tarp and I immediately thought something shady was going down. Even the locals seemed to not know what was going on. Then some guys placed a metal ramp going from the roof of the jeep to the dock and pulled out 3 humongous blocks of ice. Last I checked, the roof was piled high like one of those Ikea half-yearly sale commercials...how were they planning on fitting them up there? But they did. So we got going again with 65+ people, luggage, blocks of ice, and all.

20 minutes later we stopped again! This time was so that the passengers could have a merienda...wow, really!? So after everyone got their snacks, we were off again. The road was paved for the most part, but a lot of the time the road became a one-way for both sides of traffic, due to lack of road. It was pretty interesting going full speed and hoping the other cars heading the opposite direction would hear our horn and stop for us to pass. I'm just glad it was so packed that I could barely see. From what I did catch glimpses of, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. To make a longer story short, lets just say that we made like 50 more stops on the way to Sabang, so that people could get off and on, and so that the Jeepney workers could make home deliveries. Oh yeah, and every time we stopped, someone hanging off the side would bang something metal against the metal roof, right above my head. It was as if I had a bucket on my head and people were taking turns throwing rocks at it.

The trip was insane, but quite an adventure. And as we got farther away from the city, some of the kids that got on were absolutely precious looking. There was one little girl in particular that I would have adopted right there on the spot if her mother asked me too.

Finally, we got to Sabang as the sun was setting and it was beautiful. It's just a small little town with cottages and one resort along the beach. There are a few restaurants and a little docking area. Also the "town square" is made up of one big basketball court. As I do in all the places I've visited, I started wondering around deciding where I wanted to stay. This time as I was walking, I was joined by a gay couple from Amsterdam. It was european guy who looked much older who was with a filipino guy who was probably a little older then me. They were nice though, so I walked with them looking at the options until we got to the end of the beach, then I split to go check out the most northern cottages. Since nobody was there, I left and once again was walking way too much for this heat and all of this luggage. I was drenched in sweat when I finally decided on a place which all pretty much sucked...no electricity, small little huts, crappy CR's (comfort room aka bathroom), and if they did have electricity, it only worked from 6pm-10pm.

The first room they showed me to, I said no. It's the first time since being here that I made a fuss about where I was sleeping. The guy showing me the room did not speak any english and seemed to not even understand my hand gestures either. I talked to the only english speaking person that worked there and was confused as to why she just didn't choose to help me out since I clearly only speak english. But I should mention that the guy I got frustrated with was very hospitable and kept a big, toothless smile on his face the whole time he was dealing with me.

Luckily, my hut had a mosquito net because inside had a bunch of bugs flying around the ceiling and the floor...which by the way was made of sticks! The sand is literally right below me and the ocean is right outside my door! This should be an interesting night...

Day 20: Tarlac to Puerto Princesa

2009-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

After a long drive to Manila and a sad goodbye to all my family, I was on a plane again, alone. This time I was heading to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. As I sat in the airport and on the plane, I couldn't help but think about if I should have spent more time with family while I was here. I know I will be back though, so I was reassured that I should stick to my plans and see as much of this country as I can during this trip. My "adventures" kind of stopped while I was with family, but the feeling of excitement started to come back once we landed here in Puerto.

Once again, I had no idea where I was sleeping tonight, or where I was going when I wake up tomorrow morning. But to me, that's the fun of it all. I don't know whats wrong with me, but whenever I arrive some place new, I don't like taking a taxi or tricycle. It would be so cheap, but I learned that I like seeing the whole town i'm in and getting a feel for what direction is what. Plus it is a great workout and after the week with family, I definitely need it. While walking to the place I decided to stay at, I got turned around quite a few times. This was when I realized that I packed way too much for this...but at least my pack is getting good use.

There isn't much to do in Puerto, it's more of a gateway to the other sites, but once I stepped off the plane, I was able to smell that the air is noticeably cleaner here. They call it the "Last Frontier" because Palawan is virtually untouched compared to the rest of the PI and they are very conscious of preserving the land here. Also, this was the first place that there wasn't a rush of people trying to get my attention to spend some type of money. I appreciate so much more the fact that there aren't a hundred people trying to offer me a ride somewhere or to do some parasailing or snorkeling. People are always looking at me here still, but probably more because of my huge backpack and the fact that I am walking around aimlessly, then because of the way I look.

The first place I went to was fully booked. And the second. And the third. The worst part were that they were all scattered far apart from each other. After looking at the map, again I decided to keep walking. I learned that Kilometers are still a long way to walk. But once again, because of my stubbornness, I kept turning down tricycles rides because in my head I told myself, "I've already come this far, I might as well finish." After walking until the sun already set, I finally found a place with a room available. The place is called Abelardo's Pension, and I was staying here out of lack of choices more than anything else. It's not bad though, I have cable, a shower that works (cold water only of course), and aircon...which are all things I didn't really have at my family's place.

I'm pretty sure, Lynn, the girl that showed me to my room likes me because she keeps knocking on my door for random reasons and starting up a giggly conversation...it's actually pretty annoying. Also, there is one of the family members here that is a dwarf and speaks with a nasally, high pitched voice that I almost completely cannot understand. She is obviously handicapped, but I would be lying if I said it didn't freak me out a bit. I couldn't help but imagine waking up in the middle of the night with her standing at the side of my bed staring at me. It was enough to give me nightmares, haha!

I got to meet the owner who is a nice old lady that reminds me a little of my Lola. She is smart and gave a little attitude to another guest in front of me. She was showing me pictures of her family that is abroad and showed me a picture of her half filipina, half swedish grandaughter...she was absolutely gorgeous and it took everything in my power to stay respectful and not tell her that I want to marry her apo, haha!

Other than that I was too tired to go explore at night, so I just stayed in. I had "Hopia" for dinner, which is like a little pastry dessert. I picked it up on my journey to get here to Abelardo's and it was all I had. Much different from the dinners that my grandparents provided me with!

Day 16 - Day 19: The Past Few Days With Family

2009-05-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't really had much time to myself since being in Paniqui, so I'm just bunching the past 4 days into one entry. My days here have seriously revolved around our daily meals. Typical day: Wake up at 6am(everyone), eat breakfast, Do something, Merienda(snack), Do something else, Lunch, Do something/relax, Fellowship w/ pulutan, Dinner, Sleep. Every meal is really good though and has been a real highlight of my time with family...nothing else that i've eaten here during the rest of my trip can even compare.

On the 19th, I went to the Palengke(town market) with Joy, my Grandma, and my Dad. There are seriously, way too many tricycles here! Right outside of the market is their main terminal and they just make it so difficult to walk around. So what I learned is that my family goes to the market every day, this way they can make sure they always have fresh food. We also got some grain for the ducks in the farm. Did I mention there is a little mini farm in the backyard? They have ducks, chickens, and a bunch of fruit trees and vegetables. My Dad has a duck that has 8 eggs waiting to hatch. At the market there are a bunch of poor kids running around begging. It is sad to see, but I have to admit it gets pretty annoying when they are so persistent and even grab my arm to get my attention. My Dad is more giving then me though, he usually gives a little to everyone that comes up to us. Other then the constant attention from the poor kids, it seems like here more than anywhere else, I catch people looking at me and watching me. I overheard some of the conversations my Grandma and Dad were having with different people and I kept hearing them call me "Guapo" which like Spanish, means handsome...so I guess that I am considered pretty good looking here, haha. So anyways, today I started to get a little more used to the living situation. I can handle the heat just fine, the bugs seem to be less attracted to me, and the toads jumping around and lizards scurrying around all over the place seem to startle me way less. At this point though, as long as it didn't offend my family, I would still leave as soon as I could.

May 20th- Today there was what they call a "Brownout". It's basically a Blackout but they turn off the water too. I guess they do this so they can update the system or something, but all I know is that according to my Grandpa, it happens all too often. Because of the Brownout, today we decided to go to the beach and have a picnic. We decided to go to Hundred Islands National Park, which is about 2 or 3 hours north in the province of Pangasinan. I was actually pretty excited about the trip because I read about it in Lonely Planet, and I was hoping to go there or to Baguio with the family. It was also cool because none of my family has been there either. On the way we stopped somewhere in Camiling, which my Grandma said is where Dr. Jose Rizal is originally from, but I don't think that is true. We got out and bought some Lechon Kawali(deep fried roasted pig) for the picnic later.

It amazes me how they know where to go to get street food. We finally got to Hundred Islands and found out we needed to take a tricycle to access the park. This is a problem because Aunt Gigi is in a wheelchair. She told me that back when she was in high school, she had to have heart surgery, and because of a problem with the anaesthesia she can no longer walk. I had no idea at the time why we turned around, but all I knew was that Grandpa turned around and started heading back the way we came. I fell asleep and then woke up an hour or so later as we arrived at Lingayen Beach. There were a bunch of mini-palapa tables and the music was bumping throughout the entire beach. We had lunch, went swimming for a little bit, and then just relaxed for the rest of the day. It was a nice day minus all of the driving...my motion sickness has really been tested this month. On the way home we stopped at a place famous for their "Puto", which is a little steamed rice cake. I have to start being careful about what I say I like in front of my Grandma, because if she hears me she makes it her mission to get me or make me the best. In this case with the puto, it was a bit of a misunderstanding because I like the, but they really aren't my favorite, I just mistook them for something else.

Today I really started feeling comfortable with my family here. The loss of the luxuries I'm used to aren't really a factor any more. The fact that there isn't any hot water is OK, because the cold water feels good anyways. The unfinished house is mainly just a topic of conversation over beers and Pulutan...what they want to do to it, how long it will take, planning it out, saving the right amount of money, etc. And i've started to understand Tagalog much better. My grandma's brother, Lolo Boy, came to visit for the night as well. He is a taxi driver in Manila and used to watch after my Dad when he was a kid. It was cool to listen to some of the story he shared with me. The time at night, drinking over pulutan, with the guys in the family has become the best part of my time here. The guys in my family are lightweights, haha! I barely have a buzz by the time Uncle Bog is drunk and Grandpa and Dad are ready for bed. It's funny though because everyone starts opening up. For instance, my Tito Bog doesn't speak English too well, but he is a very nice guy. He told me about a picture he has of my brothers and I, and wanted to explain to me how we are family to him and that he cares about us a lot, even though he hasn't met my brothers and has barely just met me. My Dad starts to be open more about his remorse over screwing up his life while he was in the States. We also had a talk about how he is upset that I'm leaving again soon and he doesn't know when he will see me or my brothers again. I let him know that Nick, Philip, and I will all be back here within 2 years. And my Grandpa, is just a crazy, old man and I can't express how much I love that. He makes all different types of Pulutan: Fried Pusit(squid), Torta(omelet), Sashimi, fried tokwa(tofu), kambing(lamb), and i even tried a "century Egg" or Hundred Year Old Egg. This is another treat worthy of Fear Factor, that i've seen on Bizarre Foods, but thought I would never try. It's basically a black, hard boiled egg with dark green yolk. Not horrible, but I have no desire to try it again. Grandpa also talks to me a lot about how and when they'll finish the house. He wants to build a home where the whole family can live after he is gone. He said, "It's no fun if it is just one family." I really love this guy.

May 21st- Today we went to a "Mission" that was being held for a compadra of my grandma. A mission in the catholic church is basically a party for someone, whether it be a birthday, baby shower, or whatever. We all sit down to eat and then they spend the rest of the day praying and having a service. When we first got there my grandma introduced me to everyone. The attendees were basically like 50+ Lola's(grandma's). Some thought Quentin, my little brother, was my son. And they we're shocked to hear I came without a companion and that i'm single. People start families young here. My Grandma seemed to be one of the most popular women there and I could tell she kept telling everyone the same story over and over. I really couldn't understand what she was saying but after a while I picked up on it. It went something like this: "This is my Apo(grandson)...he is American....visited Boracay...and is leaving us again to visit Puerto Princesa." She doesn't want me to go because she says its part of Mindanao, which due to the high concentration of Muslims, is home to a lot of terrorist activity, and isn't safe. I have to keep telling her that it is safe and I will be fine, but I can tell she doesn't believe me.

In the middle of the Mission all of us left except my Grandparents, to go buy crabs at the local market for my Despedida (Farewell Party) tomorrow. When we got back we waited for hours for my grandparents. So I caught up on world news during that time. The place that we were on actually happened to be a fruit farm, which was really fun for me because I think deep down inside I am a vegetarian...at least I was for 3 months, a few years back. So after awhile of waiting, I got curious and got my Dad to join in on a little fruit gathering adventure. I got some big fruit that looked like a grapefruit but ended up being a pummelo. There were these green scaly looking fruits called Atis. There was a fruit I never had called Santol which is a fruit with big seeds inside, covered with the white flesh of the fruit. You don't eat the seeds, you just kind of suck on them, They are super sour and the texture is slimy, but they are pretty good. There was also a red fruit that I remembered eating during my childhood. Back when I was a kid, they're were these little red berries with a starchy, white inside on some bushes in Serra Mesa. I had no idea if they were poisonous or not but I still picked and ate them anyways. Here they had the same thing, called Tambis, but they are much bigger here, kind of like mini apples. Those were really cool to see and taste because of the memories they brought back. The most fun part of the adventure was the coconut trees though. After showing my dad I could climb the trees if I really wanted to, we found a long bamboo stick with a hooked knife attached. I took it and cut down a mature coconut. Opening it was much more trying for me than I've seen on tv. Finally after way too much time peeling off the husk and cracking the shell, I got to drink fresh coconut juice fresh from the tree. I was still curious, so I decided to cut down a young coconut(buko) because the flesh is sweeter and softer, and the juice tastes better. I drew a little crowd this time cause of the effort that I had to put in to cut it down. My shirt was off, I had a full on sweat going, and must've looked pretty funny with that huge bamboo/knife contraption. They were all probably thinking, "what's this crazy Philam up to?!" I also got to drive one of those tricycle bikes with Joy and Jampong as passengers...not very comfortable at all. This is exactly the stuff I was hoping to get to do while I was here. It was a fun day and I got to spend some good, quality time with my Dad while cutting down coconuts.

May 22- Today was my last full day here in Tarlac. We just relaxed at home for the most part until my grandma wanted me to go shopping with her for a present for my mom. We went to 3 different malls and spent a good amount of time doing it. My lola cracks me up. cause she is so mean to people sometimes. She'll ask someone a question and then get mad at them if they didn't know the answer or if it isn't what she wants to hear. I guess you have to be there, but when she catches me laughing, she smiles as well. Love that.

At night we had a great meal for my Despedida with the highlight being blue crabs cooked in coconut milk. So good, but it's a lot of work to get the meat. We had another great night of fellowship and I got a chance to tell my Dad that I was proud of him for turning things around. I really am going to miss it here in Paniqui. I wish I had spent more time here, which is a long way from when we first pulled up a few days ago. I'll miss the stubby little puppy, Pandok, the meals, my little brother who just started to get familiar with me, my family, and probably most of all my Lolo. Not having a Dad around for a lot of my childhood sucks, but I also feel like I missed out on a lot of time with my Lolo. He seriously cracks me up and I feel closest to him for some reason. I think I would've spent a lot of time with him back home.

Day 15: Major Culture Shock

2009-05-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up, check out, and headed to breakfast. My grandparents said they wanted to take me to a "real" breakfast, while everyone else ate at Jollibee. It was some expat restaurant called Margarita Club. They spoil me like I am still a little kid, it's funny. Breakfast with them was cool though. We talked a lot about random stuff and they assured me that my Dad is doing much better now that he is here. He told me that last night, but it was nice to gets some confirmation from my grandparents. My grandma is a really cool lady. She has good style, she is funny, and she gets pissed off pretty easily, which is funny to me. And my grandpa is probably one of the coolest people I know. He is pretty much the most lovable, crazy old man i've ever met. He talks slow, he is goofy, and he cracks me up quite a bit.

After breakfast, we met everyone else at the mall and then headed to their hometown in Paniqui. Paniqui is about 3 hours north of Manila, in the Tarlac province. They told me that Paniqui translates to "Bat" in English. I honestly didn't know what to expect about their home. My grandpa would periodically bring up that the house isn't finished yet. And then the rest of the family would mention it too, but they also explained about how big the house was. My family here is pretty well off since my Grandpa is retired US Navy and he gets money every month that goes much farther here in the PI. They have two cars, when most others don't even have one and they have a maid. As we drove through their town, it looked pretty similar to all the rest of the smaller towns i've seen. The first thing I noticed was that there was way too many tricycles here.

So as we pulled up to their house, I can honestly say I was in a bit of shock. Obviously, I didn't show any concern because it would have been disrespectful, but on the inside I was like "Get me out of here!!!" In my head, I imagined something different and this situation was worse than what I had originally thought. Being that I already downplayed it alot in my head, made it worse that it was worse than my expectations. The only thing that is really done is the roof. Everything else is concrete, the floors, the walls, everything. Some windows are done, but mostly all the openings in are covered with netting. The roof and the walls are fully attached to each other yet, so that that all around the house had to be covered with netting. But it obviously really doesn't work given the fact that there are a bunch bugs and a few lizards running around inside the house!

Once I got inside the house, a very real feeling of culture shock set in. This is my family and this is how they live. The makeshift kitchen is outside, where they cook all their meals on a wood stove. The dishes are done outside and hung to dry. They have a little farm in the back, so there are some ducks and roosters running around. They have a pet cat that just had 3 kittens, and they have a pet dog, that had 3 puppies. Oh yeah, and my Dad warned me that there are huge toads that jump around the place at night. Yuck.

There are 3 different families that live here at my grandparent's house, but that is pretty normal in this culture. The 3 families are: My Grandma, Grandpa, and their adopted son Marc, my 12 year old uncle. My Dad, his wife Gia, and their son/my little brother Quentin who my grandpa nicknamed "Jampong", long story. And my Auntie Gigi, her husband Uncle Bog, and their daughter Joy. They also have a made named Dai.

As expected, dinner was great. My grandparents are great cooks and even planned out a rough menu for all of our meals while I am here. Keeping in mind that its somewhat disrespectful to turn down a meal, I have a feeling all my time in the gym is going to be countered with the time I spend here. Before dinner and after dinner, my Grandpa, Dad, Uncle Bog and me all sat around outside by the kitchen and had some beers and brandy. While we were waiting or helping out with the meal, we also have what they call "Pulutan". It translates to finger food and Pulutan is basically the equivalent to what peanuts are to beer in a bar setting. It's just not right to drink without having some sort of Pulutan.

After dinner and after more drinks it was time to shower before bed. This was probably the hardest adjustment of all. The shower does have a shower head on it, but my grandpa warned me that more often then not the water pressure is so low that it doesn't work. When we first arrived I took a shower and it worked, at night when I took a shower, it did not. So when it doesn't work what you have to do is fill up a bucket from a spout that is closer to the ground, and use a little plastic pot to pour the water over you. The water comes out of the spout slowly, so the whole process just flat out sucks...and oh yeah, no hot water either unless you boil it first.

My sleeping situation was that I shared a bed with Marc in my grandparents room. It's the only room in the house that is almost done and the only one with air conditioning(or as they say in the PI- "aircon"). And actually, it is the most comfortable sleeping situation since the 5-Star Dusit in Manila. Hopefully tomorrow I can figure out how to adjust to living here or just get out of here asap!

Day 14: Family Time

2009-05-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

I left the island this morning for my flight to Clark, in Angeles City. I was much more comfortable this time with the process of tricycles, paying fees, boat ferry, more fees and tri's, etc... While I was in the airport in Caticlan wiating for my flight, the power went out multiple times. The problem with that is that the aircon and fans turned off in a small waiting room full of 100+ people...on a hot day...not cool. Finally my plane got there and it just so happened to be the smallest plane I've ever flown in. I've never been on a flight where I could actually reach over and tap the pilot on his shoulder. There were no pre-flight instructions, no intercom, and the funny part is that I was the closest person, on the whole entire plane, to the Emergency Exit. I had to teach myself what to do in an emergency, haha! And although I was inhaling exhaust the whole time, suprisingly it was one of the smoothest landings ever.

Prior to being in the PI, I was most nervous about this particular leg of my trip. The part where I would be spending a lot of time with my family after many, many years. Now that I am here, I am much more comfortable and I have much less anxiety. Honestly, I just want to be around people that aren't complete strangers and i'm excited to see how my family here lives compared to what i've seen. I waited at Clark for about 10 mins since my flight arrived early, but then I caught a glimpse of my dad and grandpa in the van and I went to greet them. I was suprised to see the WHOLE family came to pick me up. My grandparents, Dad, Aunt Gigi, and others that I had never met before...more on that later.

They ended up coming down from their home a few hours earlier to go to the mall and casino. We left the airport to pick up my grandma at the casino. My grandpa and I had lunch while we waited for her to finish playing slots, and the rest of the family waited in the van. It was kind of weird, I didn't understand why we all split up like that. Right away, I felt closest to my Grandparents more than anyone else. Probably because I saw them a little over a year ago, but more so because they acted so comfortable with me. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that they spent so much time with me and my brothers when we were babies. It's crazy that I hardly ever saw them in the past 20 years, but they are still typical Grandparents that wanted to spoil their grandson.

Next thing I know, Grandma ordered some snacks, grandpa was now on the slots, and I was at the mall with the rest of the family. I honestly just wanted to lay down and rest after my flight, but it was a nice little day trip for them, so I didn't want to ruin the fun. After the day was all said and done, my grandparents were still gambling, so we ended up getting a couple of rooms here at the Hotel/Casino. My dad and I went for a drive to get some Litson Manok (rotisserie chicken), down on the strip. Angeles City used to be where all the US military were stationed so there are a lot of old white vets walking around with young pinays. I've seen it here more then anywhere else. My dad parked the van almost in the middle of the street to get the chicken, while I waited. As I was waiting, the biggest cockroach ever, slowly creeped into the driver window. Other than that, nothing too eventful. Eating dinner with the fam, felt very familiar for me. Having to be resourceful with what you have around you for dinnerware. And eating with your hands is pretty common here as well. If you ask me, its much more efficient. There is actually a technique to it. And when they do use utensils, they typically hold the fork in the left hand and spoon in the right. It's also an interesting technique where you use the fork to push everything into your spoon.

So back to my family out here...well I guess the only way to explain it is that it is kind of messed up. I have an Uncle that is younger then me at 12 years old. I have an 8 month old little brother, which makes our age difference over 24 years apart. He literally is young enough to be my son. And My "stepmom" is younger than my younger brother. It's like a scene straight out out the movie, "Don't Be A Menace To South Central, While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood." And you know what, as messed up as it seems, it really just is a testament to what my Mom and my brothers have made of our lives. Plus its not as bad as I am making it out to be. And I just think its funny more than anything else. I guess you can say that it makes my life more unique and interesting. I'm playing it by ear on what my next move is for my trip. But i'm excited for the experience while I'm here.

Day 13: Bye Bye Boracay!

2009-05-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

I like to wait until the last minute to get things done. Some call it procrastination, but I like to think of it as efficiency. There is no room for failure and I get things done in a shorter amount of time. Staying true to who I am, I decided to do this PADI certification course very last minute. Like if I fail, there is no redo and I have just wasted a good bit of money. The course takes 3-4 days typically and I started it with only 3 days left in Boracay. In that time we have to do 4 open water dives(ocean), 5 confined dives(pool), 5 chapters in a book as well as DVD's to watch on each chapter, 4 quizzes, a 200 meter no-stop swim and 10 minute float, and a final exam. And not to mention, it takes typically 4 days to do it with more than one student. But with all that said and done...I passed! I am now an Open Water Diver. It wasn't easy but after a jam packed day today, I took my final exam and got an 88%. We started at 9am and I wasn't done until 8pm. Crazy.

We went on our 3rd dive at about 1pm to a dive site called "Friday's Rock". The viz still wasn't that great, but it was the best so far. We went down to 17 meters/56 feet and went around this big rock covered in coral. Our maximum depth that we are allowed to go at our level is 18 meters so we were just about there. I saw a puffer fish, lion fish, which are dangerous if you touch, a school of Snapper that were huge, a crazy scorpion fish that camouflaged itself to look exactly like the rock, and a Titan Trigger fish. Right before the dive, our instructor told us about the Trigger fish and how they are at the site, but hard to find. He also let us know that they are super aggressive when they just laid eggs, but assured us that it's only mating season. So when we saw them my first reaction was to panic, haha. Those bastards can bite through your wetsuit and supposedly hurt pretty bad, so I didn't spend much time watching them. I just swam away as fast as possible, which isn't the correct thing to do. I can only imagine my reaction after the first time I see a shark. After we were done I got seasick, but did everything in my power to hold in my lunch.

On our second dive of the day and final dive of the course, we went on a Fun Dive to "Santo's Place" since we had finished all our skills previously. This one was the best yet! The viz was 10+ meters and even though the certified divers at my level can't go deeper then 18 meters, our instructor took us to 22 meters/72 feet...and for good reason. Some of the other divers spent a lot of time by this one coral and Phil decided to take us down deeper to see it as well. On the coral we're Pygmy Seahorse, which I later learned is one of the two rarest things you can sea here in Boracay. They were difficult to spot, but luckily I was able to stay neutrally buoyant enough to stay still and wait for them to pop out. All the other divers seemed to have an out of the ordinary dive as well cause they got to swim with Sea Turtles and other not so common sea creatures.

As I was signing my final paperwork it started pouring rain. Since it was my last night here, that was cool by me. I spent the rest of the night hanging out with Julie and some of her friends. It turns out I am a pretty good promo guy for San Miguel, haha. As sad as I am to have to leave Boracay, I am also glad at the same time. It's harder than I thought to travel on your own and I am looking forward to spending time with people who love me, my family.

Day 12: Second Dive

2009-05-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today was my second day of diving. I feel much more comfortable today then I was yesterday. The first day I couldn't help but think the while time if my equipment was faulty or what if I were to panic and forget to do something. But today things just slowed down a bit and I was able to be more calm. I guess it's just like any sport, at first everything goes very fast and you have to think about what it is you are doing. But with practice and repetition it all slows down, you think less, and everything just becomes more natural.

Also like any sport, I get competitive. I always try to be the best and I know some people hate me for it, but that's just how I roll I guess. My life would be totally different if I was one to settle or if I didn't give everything my all. In diving, I can't help but compete with the other guy in the course with me. On all the quizzes I've got 100% and on most all of the skill exercises i've got them right on my first try. Too bad diving doesn't work that way. If someone else does not do good on the skills or doesn't know the correct procedures it could cost them their life. So i've had to change my mindset around and make sure we both are the best.

Today we did our second dive at this site called "Angol Point". This time we went to about 12 meters or 40 feet deep. The visibility wasn't that great but I did see some pretty cool stuff. I like seeing the ridiculously big, giant clams cause they are straight out of a cartoon! Now I have to do some homework before a long day tomorrow.

Day 11: Like Aquaman, I Too Can Breathe Underwater.

2009-05-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

I was able to breathe under water for the first time ever today. No, i'm not a superhero or anything, well at least not that I know of, today was just my first day of my Open Water Diving Course. I woke up this morning after my worse night of sleep yet. I really dislike my new hotel. My room just feels dirty and last night I got attacked by mosquitoes. I also saw a mini tarantula running around the lobby, so naturally that was all I could think of last night.

Today for class we got all the paperwork out of the way and watched a couple of dvd's on the basics. We also had a little training in the pool and then in the afternoon we went out on our first beach dive! My instructor is this English dude named Phil with an Australian accent and there is one other student named Simon, who is from Switzerland. On our dive we went as deep as 6 meters, which is about 20 ft. It was pretty crazy, I saw a lion fish, eel, different kinds of sea urchin...and I found Nemo! It was crazy to think that all in one day I swam deeper than I ever had before, breathed under water for the first time, and saw hundreds of different species i've never even seen before. I'd say it was a good day.

Day 10: Movin' On Up...not really

2009-05-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today I switched from my cottage in boat station 3 to a hotel room in boats station 2. Last night I had an epic battle with these annoying little flying bugs. They are harmless but these things just kept coming and coming. It was like a video game or playing Halo or something, how the aliens just kept getting into my room, but I had no idea where from, and with no end to this bombardment in sight. It all started when I was laying on my bed trying to journal a little before dinner and they became attracted to the light above my bed. But soon they started to hit my ceiling fan and would drop onto my bed, my journal, and me. I killed them one by one until I started talking out loud to myself...which signaled to me that I've started to go crazy. This went on for far longer than I would like to mention and I was all over my room, swatting these things with my flip-flops until the floor was covered with them. My floor looked like a WWII battlefield. But still, they slowly started coming back, so I took my bug repellent and sprayed every possible entrance. I don't think that's how bug repellent works, but it seemed to be working. Thank you DEET!

It was sad this morning when I left the Dave's Straw Hat Inn family. We took pics, hugs were exchanged, and I was off to La Carmela Resort Hotel. Boracay is pretty much dominated by White Beach, which is a long white sand beach(go figure), on one side of the island. It is separated by Boat Stations 1, 2, and 3, which are basically imaginary lines on the beach. BS-1 is where all the partying is done, BS-2 is shopping, and BS-3 is more relaxed and cheaper. La Carmela is in BS-2, so now I am more in the middle of everything. My new room isn't much better though and the staff is not as cool, but there are more people, a pool, and a bar. Plus its not as long of a walk to everything now.

My stomach is still pretty messed up, but I found a place in D'mall where the food is actually pretty healthy and easier on my tummy. I went there for lunch yesterday and today and ordered the exact same thing: a bottle of water, a pineapple & coconut smoothie with no sugar, and an asian chicken salad. I'm such a creature of habit, I do the exact same thing back at home, haha.

One of my favorite things to do has been journaling on the beach and listening to music...which is actually what I am doing right now. The sun is setting and the water is still full of people. Oh and I tried my hand at bargaining again today. But this time I was successful, thanks to some genius negotiating tricks! You'd think after getting my degree in Marketing and having years of sales experience that i'd be able to pull it off. So what I did was found two vendors who were selling the same item that I wanted. First, I went to one who had only one color of the item that I wanted. I told him that I bought some earlier from another vendor(which I didn't) and the only reason I was coming o him was because he has a color I wanted(which he did). My target was to pay 800 pesos total for 8 of the same item in different colors. The item was originally offered to me for 200 pesos, but I told him I paid 100 at the other vendor. I admitted that since I wanted the color that only he had, I would pay a little more. Too bad this kid was as stubborn as I am. But luckily his Tita, a massage lady from across the beach path, said something to him in Tagalog that persuaded him. Finally we agreed on 130 pesos. From there I took my one item to the 2nd vendor who had more of a selection, but denied me a few days ago. I told them I paid 110 for mine, but I will buy more from them if they give me each item for 100 pesos each. After a few attempts to get me to pay 150 for each, they agreed to my terms. And in the end I made friends with them as well. So after it was all said and done, I paid an average of 103 pesos each. Not bad if I do say so myself.

And I don't feel bad either cause they obviously wouldn't have sold it to me if they weren't going to make a profit. They just sold it to me for much less than they do to other tourists! So it's a win-win in my eyes, they make some money, and I pay $16 total for something I would have had to pay at least $20 each at Nordstrom's.

I'm all set up for my PADI Open Water Diving Course now too. Tomorrow I start my first day of class and tests I guess. Then in the afternoon we have out first open water dive. I'm excited that this is something I can add to my resume, but even more so that it's something I can add to my lifestyle. Now anytime I am traveling, if they have diving, I can join in as well. I look forward to a fun and educational day tomorrow!

Day 9: My Gershitis

2009-05-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as that the Gershitis epidemic also exists in the Philippines. I've had stomach problems for about 24 hours now and its no fun. I had to delay my PADI Open Water course because of it. I imagine that a wetsuit and the poops = no fun. I'm not exactly sure of the cause but I think it has to do with the Balut I ate and the excessive beers.

Not much else really happened today, except that I decided to search for a new place to stay starting tomorrow. I decided to extend my say here for another 5 days. I bought my plane ticket to Clark and talked to my Grandma and Grandpa on the phone about picking me up, so I'm glad that all of that is finally all scheduled. I'm actually more excited now to see them all. I'm looking forward to seeing how my family lives here in the Philippines.

Oh and also, late tonight I talked to my Dad on the phone as well. It's the first time I've talked to him since being here and he seems really excited to spend some time with me. I guess we'll see on Sunday when they pick me up at Clark.

Day 7(cont...) and 8: Experimental Eating

2009-05-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had another great night last night. I went to dinner with 3 of the SMB promo girls and had a seafood buffet on the beach...pretty cool. It was a little awkward because of the language barrier, but I got to learn a lot about college life here and the mannerisms of filipinos. I've decided when I get back I'm going to learn Tagalog for sure. I thought it would be more like spanish, but not really. After dinner I had a drink at Summers Place. They have the best beers because they are "double chill", which means they are kept cool at below zero. I chatted with Loraine for a good hour or so about how she ended up in Boracay, filipino marriage, the education system, her family, etc...

Then I headed to Hey Jude to kill some time. I ended up meeting a cool bloke named Jay and watched the Arsenal/Chelsea match at the bar. Being from Northern London, he naturally supports Arsenal. Even though they lost, I've still decided to become a supporter myself. I've been trying to decide on a team to follow for a few years now and after watching a bio on the team earlier in the day, I decided that meeting a supporter the same night must have been a sign.

Anyways, Jay happens to have been traveling all over Asia for the past 8 months. He has been getting jobs as a dive instructor at each place to stay financially on top of things. After Hey Jude we started walking towards our cottages that happened to be close to each other and ended up stopping off at some outdoor lounge that was pretty busy with people. We met some more Filipina's while we were there and ended up eating their food, haha.

For some reason yesterday happened to be the day I did a lot of "Experimental Eating". For lunch I had a Shawarma, which is like a middle eastern thing. Since there are a lot of Muslim vendors here I think that's why they have a few Shawarma stands on the beach path. It was basically like a gyro, but not as good, and I had no idea what the meat was. Then I had a BananaCue, which was a plantain with melted brown sugar and deep dried on a skewer. There are a popular snack here because they are pretty cheap. I've seen them back home but never tried one...not bad, but would be better with an actual banana i think. And lastly, to top it all off, I was talked into trying my first ever Balot by Jay and a couple of kids selling them. If you don't know what it is, watch Bizarre Foods or something. It's basically a duck egg that has an 18 day old duck embryo inside. It's a snack here in the PI, that most people find delicious. Umm, I wouldn't call it delicious, but I handled it fine. It basically tastes like a juicy hard boiled egg, with a hint of poultry. I have to be honest though, I didn't really savor it like Andrew Zimmern did his first time, it was more like I shoved it in my mouth and chewed as fast as I could so I wouldn't feel the feathers or beak.

Lastly, I visited D'Talipapa today which is basically an outdoor market. They have an endless supply of souvenirs that pretty much consist of the same stuff: shirts, bracelets, little decorations that say Boracay, and other random stuff. Its like the same stuff as you see in Mexico...there must be an international "souvenir" supplier because how the heck would they have the same souvenir stuff thousands of miles away?! They also have a food market there full of seafood, fresh fruits, and meats. At one point I almost threw up from the smell, so I just held my breath until I got out of there. The also have a bunch of cooking services that offer to cook whatever you buy..pretty cool. Also, here in the Philippines, you can try to bargain for everything, just like in Mexico. And just like in Mexico, I'm still no good at it. I negotiate way too hard for these people! I'm not sure they are used to people low-balling them as bad as I do, but that's what I do cause its worth a try! The only problem is that I actually wanted what I was bargaining for. So now, before I leave, I'm going to have to swallow my pride and go back there and try again. I'm sure i'll figure something out.

Day 7: The Castaway and His Dog

2009-05-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last night was great. I had dinner at "Summer's Place" where they serve all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ for about $4. While I was there I met a San Miguel Beer promo girl named Julie. Her english is somewhat broken, like most of the people here, but she basically is a college student from St. Augustin in Iloilo City(pronouced ee-low-ee-low), and she "models" here in Boracay part time. We hit it off pretty well and buying a cell phone turned out to be a good decision since she became the first phone number that I got here, haha.

I also got to know my server, Loraine pretty well. We had a good conversation on what filipino's consider "pretty." Typically, lighter skinned is better...which explains the whitening sun lotion! I made an assumption that people with dark skin are working class and she basically said that darker skinned or "black" are from the mountains. She taught me some tagalog as well...although most of it was not retained.

Later on, I hung out with Julie and her friend Royce after they got off of work. Royce is also a SMB promo girl who is a student from the Univ. of the Philippines in Manila. Conversation was much easier with her because Manila is more westernized I guess. And she just so happened to be a public admin major, which she explained is a mash-up of marketing, economics, and other business related subjects. Being a biz major myself, we got into a great convo about various things. She was refreshingly intelligent and up to speed on the current economy. Tonight we are planning on all hanging out again. Yay friends!
Today was my best day of the trip so far. The storm has passed and the weather is great. Luckily yesterday I signed up or a Island Hopping Tour for today at 10am-4pm. I got up this morning, ate breakfast, had a cup of coffee, and was off. My group was about 20 people, all Filipinos. We got on this asian looking boat, and headed off to do some snorkeling, sight seeing, and other touristy stuff. While snorkeling, I told everyone there was a shark below us and after a few scream, I let them know I was joking. Luckily, they thought it was funny and it turned out to be sort of like an icebreaker. From there we headed to a little island called Crystal Cove. I seriously want to own that place. It was a very peaceful island covered with beautiful foliage, animals, and artifacts. At one point I got split up from the group and that's when the real fun began. My imagination took over and I couldn't help but pretend I was the only survivor on the island. You can pretty much call me Tom Hanks from Cast Away. I must've run from one end of the island to the other in utter joy. I was born to be in the hot sun, doing awesome things. I eventually found my group and got to go down into these little caves that led to hidden little beaches.
We took the boat to another little island for lunch, where a bunch of little kids swam up to us while we were still moving pretty fast and grabbed on to the "wings" of the boat. As we anchored, the kids started started doing backflips and then all started saying, "coins. coins. coins. coins!". It was very reminiscent to the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying "Mine, mine, mine!" And let me just preface this next part with this: If ever there was a day that I ate dog...then today was that day. One thing I should make understood is that in the Philippines they have what they call "Barbeque". It's not labeled bbq chicken, or beef, or pork, or even dog. Its all just BBQ. And it is delicious. You just never really know what it is until you bite into it. Today I had some BBQ. It's basically just meat on a wooden skewer. I THINK I had chicken and beef...but I'm not 100% sure.

As of right now, i'm on the beach, under the sun, listening to Lovedrug, enjoying a few ice cold San Miguels, and watching the local kids play tag. It really has been the best day yet.

Sidenote: There are flying ants in the PI. Big ants. And they are really freaking me out.

Day 6: Am I a Pinoy Celebrity?

2009-05-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

About $5 for a chicken sandwich, fries, and 3 San Miguel Pale Pilsners ain't that bad. And when you throw in the fact that I got to enjoy that on the beautiful white beach of Boracay, that's pretty much priceless. Today was a nice day. The rain stopped for the most part so I walked all over the island, bought a cell phone, and had some beers on the beach. Tomorrow I'm going on an island hopping tour from 10am-4pm. I'm really looking forward to snorkeling and using my new underwater camera! Also I think this will be a good opportunity for me to meet some other people.

Typhoon Emong is hitting the PI, but the news is saying that its weakening, so hopefully that is the case. I guess Western Pangasinan(wherever that is), got hit pretty hard. It killed 10 people and 12 others are missing. And I think the news just said 80% of homes are destroyed, whoa...i hope I misheard heard it.

On a lighter note, if I don't make it onto the Amazing Race, I just discovered that there is an Amazing Race Asia and I would probably have a good shot at making it on that. In fact, when I was walking on the beach today, two locals stopped in their tracks and just started smiling at me from ear to ear. I looked back every once in a while to see that as I walked like 5 mins down the beach, they were still watching me! It really just freaked me out. But they waited for me to walk all the way back, and at that point I was kind of nervous, so I avoided eye contact as I walked by. I thought that maybe my boardshorts we're ripped at the crouch or their was a jellyfish on my face or stomach, but after I thoroughly checked, I came to the conclusion that they thought I was a celebrity, haha! Pretty big headed of me huh?! Well, it wouldn't be the first time actually. When I was at Lisa Filipino Cuisine back home, a Filipina lady said that I looked like a famous PI dancer named John Brown. After a little research, I figured out she was actually saying John Prats. When Filipino's speak english its really hard to tell the difference between their "B's" and "P's". Anyways, so maybe the locals thought I was him. It's better then the other option...there are a lot of gay's and tranny's(or guylady's as the locals call them) running around here. Some times there is way too much eye contact for my liking!

Another observation i've made is that Filipino's are always singing! My Lonely Planet book mentions that just like other asian countries, Karaoke is big here. But what i've learned is that it is much more than just karaoke. I've noticed people are always singing while they are working or just walking around, or doing just about anything really. At night time, just outside the path to my cottage, there are a group of locals who sit around every night and play guitar and sing. And when I was in Makati, a group of guys busted out "Still of the Night" and I had to hold back from joining in. And honestly, I really haven't heard a voice that is bad yet! Most of the time people are singing A Capella and seem to know all of the words to whatever they are singing. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that they show the lyrics on the music channels here and karaoke. I think those are some traits that I have picked up. When I was younger I used to be really into singing in public. In fact, I was even in the San Diego Honor Choir one year. And even now, singing is a huge stress reliever for me. I haven't been the same since puberty, but I still don't think I sing all that bad. The only difference is that I'm not as open to sing in front of others anymore...except when I am doing Karaoke. Maybe that is something I can get back from this trip. I also have always had an interest in song lyrics. I always go to lyricsmania.com or songmeanings.com whenever I like a song, because I really can't like it until I know what the song means and I can sing aalong to it. Even when I was younger I used to record songs from the radio onto a casette and then play it back line by line and write down all of the lyrics. To this day I can still rap all of the lyrics to "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems", haha! I never knew it, but maybe a lot of that comes from my filipino side.

Day 5: The Most Foreign, Foreigner

2009-05-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

I definitely feel like a foreigner here. But its much different. It's not like being an American on vacation in Mexico. Its like I feel foreign from everyone...even the other people on vacation. I haven't met anyone from the states and all the others here are Euro or Korean or Japanese. Its just crazy that its easier to communicate with the locals! I'm hoping I meet someone similar to me soon. Today was the first day I actually felt lonely and missed home. I'm so used to being surrounded by friends and this is a bit of a difficult experience for me.

But on the other hand, that is why I am here: to step out of my comfort zone and grow. And of course i'm not complaining , this place is gorgeous. It would just be nice to share it with someone else.

I've killed a good amount of mosquitoes in Boracay. And the power has gone out a few times due to the story weather. I pictured it to be super sunny and hot, my whole time here, but instead its wet, humid, and bearably warm. The power just went out again, haha! I am writing this entry from the light from my porch. I did see on the news that there was a level 1 typhoon watch. That was kind of my only fear and its looking to have come true. If that's the case I am glad I believe in Jesus :) Ok, i'm going to go venture into the storm now.

Day 4: Vacation from vacation in Boracay

2009-05-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

(4:30-ish PM) This morning I woke up in Manila. At around noon, I was on a plane to Boracay. I got up, worked out, went to the bank, repacked, and forgot to eat breakfast. At Ninoy Aquino Airport, I had my first opportunity to eat Jolibee. Think McDonald's and KFC combined to form a mega-chain of Filipino fast food restaurants. It wasn't bad. I got the 2 piece "ChickenJoy" with rice for 122 pesos. I flew Cebu Pacific to Caticlan Airport. Scariest Landing Ever. From Caticlan I took a Tricycle(motorcycle with sidecar) to the boat ferry that takes you to the island. After paying a bunch of random fees that added up to about $8, I finally got on a boat to the island of Boracay. Wow! As I write this, I am sitting on the powdery, white sand of "White Beach". When I got here I checked in to my "hotel". It was down a hidden little path about a 45 second walk from the beach in the middle of a barangay (or little neighborhoods/barrio). I'm staying at Dave's Straw Hat Inn for about $35/night. It was rated #1 on Trip Advisor so I decided to give it a shot. There are about 12 cottages, all surrounded by one big garden. It kind of feels like having a little hut in the middle of the rain forest. The family that runs it is very friendly and seem as if they are looking out for my best interests. Christine is one of the staff and we talked for about 30mins. She is a really cool lady and everyone has made me feel like family and very comfortable already. It was refreshing to carry on a conversation and it felt even better to make someone laugh. I've realized that is something that makes me very happy and I haven't had that for days now.

After relaxing in my new home and watching the Arsenal/Manchester United match, that brings me to now. It is so beautiful here and everyone is smiling again. There is a big restaurant behind me bumping R&B classics and that brings me inexplicable joy. They've also played some Filipino song, The Backstreet Boys, and Eminem, Ha! Some local kids just came up to me and asked if I was a filipino. I let them know I was half and that my mom is American. They let me know they were headed home after swimming. I wonder if they know how good they have it?

(7pm-ish)I'm having dinner at Jony's in Boat Station 1. They enticed me with a 2 for 1 happy hour. Although it seems like this place is one big happy hour. I may move here for good. Nothing beats eating a nice dinner on a beautiful beach, shirtless, in boardshorts, while sipping on a cocktail. Everywhere is playing music and its hard for me to express in words how much I love that. The only thing I would change is less bugs landing/crawling on me and less dudes in Speedos. The bug thing is my fault though, I should've put on the bug repellent I brought. I assume I won't be doing much journaling the rest of the week since I plan on doing a lot of the same stuff: Beach, relaxing, partying, and water activities. I'm also trying to decide if I want to spend the $300 to become PADI Certified...it would be worth it since i'll be here for a month...we'll see.

Day 3: A Different Side of Manila

2009-05-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

(10am):I woke up at a more decent hour this morning: 7am. It was still pretty wet outside, but the city is just as busy as ever. I wonder where all these people are going so early in the day? I would assume to their jobs, but wouldn't their day already be started by 10am? It's also really crazy how many people are fully dressed and headed to the mall this early. My uncle let me know that Makati is basically the Beverly Hills of PI, so that probably has something to do with it. I'm eating breakfast while writing the first part of this entry. I'm at this place called "Heaven & Eggs". It's a pretty "hip" joint for breakfast. Everything is "rockstar" themed and they have a J.Lo concert playing on the TV and its connected to the speakers and playing as loud as if we are all at the concert. In the US they might do something like this for dinner or at a bar, but not for breakfast! Breakfast places back home are pretty stuffy and I literally get headaches when I eat at them...i've been that way ever since I was a little kid...seriously, just ask my mom. Anyways, so yeah, the malls are super busy, super early. At 9:45am a line actually starts forming outside of all the multiple entrances. My plans today are to visit the touristy areas to learn about the history of the Philippines: Intramuros, Rizal Park, Ermita, Malate, etc... I'm also hoping to catch a famous Manila Bay Sunset during dinner. But first I need to see if I can get a flight and a room in Boracay. Talk about last minute. We'll see what happens, but I might be staying an extra night in Manila.

(6pm-ish): Well, I got a one way ticket to Boracay today but still waiting on figuring out a place to stay. As I write this I am sitting in the Philippines most popular restaurant, "The Aristocrat". I'm pretty sure I just ordered two things that are family style...oops! Oh nevermind, they weren't that big. That is actually something else that surprises me about the PI, the servings are much smaller here then at the filipino restaurants back home. Although I haven't been to any "turo turo" places here yet. Turo-Turo is translated to point-point in English, because literally you point at which dishes you want.

So I decided to stop at Rizal Park first. As I was in my taxi I knew this day was going to be a bit different of an experience. I saw a different side of Manila today. I expected it, but I guess my time in Makati has sheltered me a little. The scene got dirtier, traffic got worse, and the smiles we're less and less seen. Rizal Park was pretty cool, or at least the idea of it was. It reminded me a lot of Balboa Park, just a lot more impoverished. It's basically a huge park dedicated to the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, as well as what seems like every other historical figure dating back to the Philippines indigenous days. From what I learned, Dr. Rizal was a writer, political figure, philanthropist, and world traveler, among other things. And he was executed for standing up to the Spaniards near the end of 1800's. One of the sites I got to see was the actual site of Rizal's execution. At the entrance there is a big, black granite wall that was inscribed with his "Last Farewell". I actually found myself getting a little emotional as I read his passionate words.

From Rizal Park, I decided to walk. I knew I was going in the right direction, but I just didn't know where to. Roxas Blvd is probably one of the busiest streets in the world, and certainly the busiest I have ever been on, and here I was, half filipino, half white Brandon, chilling among the locals, walking the full distance of Manila Bay, and crossing the busy street as if I had done it my whole life. I've come a very long way from when my mother wouldn't let me cross the street of my old neighborhood, from when I was a child. On my walk, a few guys asked me if I wanted a ride in their horse carriage or Kalesa and I decided to pass. A taxi driver asked me, "why the hell are you walking?" and all I could say was, "I don't know, I want to see stuff I guess." Then he offered to take me to some girls and I politely let him know I was all good.

Manila Bay smells pretty bad and it was too cloudy to see much of a sunset. Today was the only day that I can honestly say I didn't feel safe. There are a lot of little wild kittens running around looking malnourished. And there were a few different occasions when I saw skinny little babies, no more than 2 years old, laying in the dirt with no parents in sight. One child was even eating some old gum off the floor. It was a difficult side of the city to see but a necessary one if I wanted to get the full experience of this place.

After dinner, I walked some more in hopes of flagging down a taxi. The biggest problem was that it was getting dark and I admit I was afraid to be by myself in that part of town at night. I finally found a taxi after it was fully night time and I asked him how his day was going and he answered, "Bullshit." I laughed, he didn't, not another word was said.

The driving in general here is Wow. There is really no other way to explain it. It is just more of an experience. Imagine a 3 lane street and trying to fit 4 taxis, a bus, and a jeepney in stop-and-go traffic. I'm talking full speed for no reason, and then last minute brakes. I just don't know how they avoid getting into 10 or 20 accidents a day. And surprisingly, I saw none. Just a lot of close calls. My knuckles were as white as the rice I ate at dinner during that ride home. I also should mention that not only are there taxis, buses, and jeepneys all fighting for position amidst the traffic, but people on motorcycles, bicycles, and on foot are all trying to cross the street at the same time! That's just insane, its like trying to cross the 5 freeway! To try and avoid traffic, my driver took me down some side streets that most tourists don't see. I saw a guy bathing himself on the side of the road, surrounded by the whole community. I saw a police officer peeing in between a couple of vans(public urination is normal here. maybe that's why I would rather pee outside than in a toilet?). We almost hit 3 children and a few teens. Needless to say, I was so glad to make it back to my safe hotel in one piece...my heart was beating out of my chest, but in one piece nonetheless.

What a day. And once again, I can look back on it and be thankful for the experience and the growth that came with. Boracay here I come!

Travel Journal: Day 2 (Manila)

2009-05-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at 4am. And even that I had to force, because I easily could have got my day started at 3am. I'm not sure if its just that i'm not adjusted to the time zone or if i'm just excited to get the adventure started. To pass the time I went to the gym here at my hotel and worked out. I decided to stay at one of the 5 Star hotels here in Manila to start my trip off (although it's more like a 3 or 4 star by US Standards). I know that won't be the case for the rest of my stay, but I just wanted a nice place to rest up from my long flight and to adjust to this new country...heck, new continent.

After the gym, I went off to explore Makati. In one word, I would describe the Makati Area as: Mall. The Ayala Center is made up of shops, other hotels, and enclosed malls. It seems like everything here is an Ayala Property- think Irvine Companies. I believe Ayala was a previous President and that seems to be how the politics work here: Money = Power. All of the buildings are interlinked and the whole time it seems like you never leave the mall...cause well...you don't! I spent about 4 hours exploring the malls, the business district, and people watching; and I was often reminded of Las Vegas(interlinked buildings, unable to cross the street by the malls without using a bridge), NYC(sidewalks filled with people walking to and from places and occasional whiffs of the sewer system), South Coast Plaza(think South Coast x 50), and Cancun(tropical weather, similar smells) all wrapped into one city full of smiling Filipinos. I had lunch at "Sentro 1771"in the Greenbelt (mall) District. For my first real meal in PI, I figured it was only right to go with the local cuisine and it only seemed fitting to get the Adobo Dish. It was pretty good, but my Grandma's is better. I also asked for my servers recommendation for an appetizer and she quickly responded with what was basically mozzarella sticks cut into little bite-sized pieces. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was alright. Lastly, I finished with a classic filipino dessert, Halo Halo. Yum!

When I was walking around, I really couldn't help but feel that I could really love it here. The weather is great, its not too hot and the humidity is fine by me. This morning I was reading "The Philippine Star" newspaper and you can just tell that this country really is proud of being Filipino and they put a great emphasis on "improving themselves", pleasing God, and making an impact on the rest of the world. The support of Manny Pacquiao is a great example of that. I missed the fight, but I got to see the highlights. It only lasted 2 rounds, so i didn't miss much! Go Pacman!

During the afternoon, I spent some time at the pool. It looks really nice, but the tall standing hotel shadows the whole pool area. I wonder if they did that on purpose because Filipinos are brown and have no need to tan? I actually did see "whitening" sunscreen at the drug store and it boasts that it helps keep skin fair...doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?

I went back to Greenbelt for dinner late tonight. For a Monday night, that place was packed! There are literally like 50+ restaurants and bars and all of them were pretty busy. After dinner, I decided to stop in at the nearby internet cafe and it too was packed with teens/college students playing warcraft, haha! I spent 30 mins there (for only 30 php) and when I got out it was pouring rain! I'm talking POURING...like monsoon rain! That's when I was forced to make a crucial decision, taxi or walk? A taxi would have cost maybe $1. Easy decision right? Well not for me...I decided that it would be SUPER fun to navigate my way back and enjoy the sites. This decision came with some obstacles though. The first one being that the malls shut their doors at 10pm. When they are open, I can literally walk all the way through them to my hotel. That was ok though, since a lot of the sidewalks have some cover. My 2nd obstacle was the fact that I really did not know where I was going. I traversed down some dark, not-so-safe looking alleys and did a few circles before getting on the right path. And then there came a point where there were no longer covered sidewalks to protect me from the downpour. One thing I should point out is that instead of wearing shorts, a tee, and my rainbows, like i've been doing my whole time here, I decided to dress up just a little and where jeans and my white vans. As you could imagine, I ended up getting completely soaked. How could I not when I'm sprinting through Manila in Katrina like conditions, jumping over newly formed rivers, all while doing my best to dodge the crazy manila traffic. When I finally got back to the hotel, the security laughed at me. But you know, after it was all said and done, I am really glad I made that decision. Now I can check it off my list: Took a monsoon head-on in Manila and won.

Travel Blog: Day 1 (so far)

2009-05-02T16:32:00.001-07:00

Hello! So, I flew out of LAX last night at 1:30 am and I just arrived at the Taiwan airport about an hour ago. My flight to Manila doesn't leave for another 3 hours so I have time to kill and luckily they have a free internet room here. Too bad my computer is all in Chinese and I can't understand any of it! It's amazing I even made it to my blog page and can type legibly.

I honestly felt like I was already out of the country when I was at the International terminal at LAX. Nobody was speaking English, there were tons of boxes being towed around like people were moving in, and it was so busy I felt like I was in downtown tokyo. The flight was sooooo long! I had a window seat next to 2 asian ladies and nobody said anything for about 12 hours. Good thing EVA Air provided somewhat new movies to watch. I saw Benjamin Button, Bedtime Stories, and fell asleep during Role Models and Transporter 3. Oh yeah, I also watched an episode of this show that used to be on called Phenomenon...and I can confirm that Criss Angel is a major tool.

Once I stepped off the plane here in Taiwan I was immediately given a Swine Flu FAQ sheet! And then I walked down the terminal and every worker was wearing a mask. I literally chuckled out loud and said, "oh eff." I think i'll be fine though cause my fever is coming down, my headache is mild, and my breathing is now just down to a slight wheeze. Mom, if you're reading this, i'm just kidding.

(excerpt from Swine Flu FAQ)
Q: Is there a human vaccine to protect from swine influenza?
A: There are no vaccines for human at present.
Thanks for the info Taiwan!

Some other notable things from the Taiwan:
1. There are Prayer Rooms set up here. One for Buddhists, one for Christians, and one for whatever religion's symbol is the Swastika. I think its Taoism maybe.(pictures to come) It was cool to be able go in the Christian Prayer Room and gets some alone time with God before this major event in my life.

2. My Gate # is C3. I walked up and down the terminal trying to find it and finally I realized that my Gate is Hello Kitty themed! Like its literally a little Hello Kitty amusement park. What the heck. I hope the plane is normal...

Well, anyways I should go explore some more but just wanted to let everyone know I am in Asia safely and almost at my final destination. I really hope I make it in time to find some place to watch the Pacquiao/Hatton fight! I can't wait for how nuts its going to be in Manila when Pacman wins!

Coupons, Celery, and Change.

2009-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

As I learned at a young age, knowledge is being aware or understanding different things. But wisdom, is the actual application of that knowledge and to me much more vital in life. I'd like to think that when I make a mistake I learn from it and apply it to my life. But there is one mistake that I often make which I never seem to learn from. I thought that maybe writing it down would help me to instill it in my life. So here it goes:

Brandon,

As a bachelor, you only have to look after yourself. Which means, when it comes to dinner you can make whatever your heart desires. That being the case, it is OK that you take multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week. The only problem is that when you are at the checkout line, NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT GET IN LINE BEHIND AN OLD LADY! It has come back to bite you too many times to count. While she writes her check instead of paying with a debit card, or uses 29 coupons in order to save 19 cents, or disputes with the cashier on whether or not celery is 96 cents per stalk rather then 99 cents, or pays her whole bill in pennies after counting it twice just to make sure, all YOU can do is stand there in regret and wait to pay for your 5 items while all the other lines seem to be going in fast forward. Brandon, in the future, please learn from these mistakes.

With Love,

Brandon

The Toilet Paper Bandit Strikes Again!

2009-04-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

25 Randoms about Brandon Lagao: Random Fact #1 Update.

The TPB either works out at the same gym as me or is tracking me as well...or both. The other night after working out, I discovered that not only does the Toilet Paper Bandit like his privacy at the office building bathrooms, but also at 24 Hour Fitness. This is definitely a huge crack in the case, as one of the people I suspected, also frequents my gym. After my career at Jobing.com came to an end a few weeks ago, one of my biggest regrets was that I thought I might never solve the mystery of The Toilet Paper Bandit. As we all know, God sometimes works in mysterious ways and after it was all said and done He provided me with this great lead.

After this discovery, I have come to two possible conclusions:

1. It is actually the guy I have suspected after all this time. I try to make eye contact, so I can give him a nod and let him know that I acknowledge the fact that we've worked in the same office building for the past 2 years and have been going to the same gym just as long...but no, this dude never even says hi! And because of that I do not know his name(and lucky for him because I would shout it from the rooftops once this case is closed). He must know, that I know, that he is the culprit and is too ashamed to even make eye contact!

OR

2. Every time I need to use a public restroom I BLACKOUT with anxiety, you know, similar to what happens to The Hulk when his blood pressure gets too high. But instead of getting really buff and green and filled with rage, I start ripping off pieces of toilet paper and I cover every crevice of the bathroom stall right before I do my BM.

Here are pictures I snapped of the scene(i really hope the other guys in the locker room didn't get the wrong impression, haha):

The funny thing about this to me is that the TPB covered the very small openings that were BEHIND him! Who is seriously going to put their face up against a bathroom wall(especially right next to the urinals) in hopes of possibly catching a glimpse of the Toilet Paper Bandit's butt?!?! Seriously. I haven't fully decided what to do once I capture this bandit, but I'm thinking that I just might arrest the bastard.

Official Announcement

2009-03-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!

As most of you probably do not know, for some time now I've been planning on moving back down to San Diego. It is now official that I am moving as soon as I can find someone to rent out my current room. Ideally, my last day in Orange County will be March 31st, but depending on finding a roommate it could be April 30th. This move is due partly to the fact that I am going on an adventure in the Philippines from May 2nd - May 30th. It is going to be an amazing experience for me to discover where it is that I come from, a time where I will be forced to step out of my comfort zone, a chance for me to do some international travel independently, and most importantly where I will get to spend time with my Family (grandparents, biological father, uncles, aunts, and cousins). I'm very excited and all I can ask is for your prayers for my future. I appreciate every single one of you and the impact that you have had on my life since i've been here in Orange County. Obviously, I'm not going to move too far away so I plan to still visit as much as possible.

In the meantime, I would appreciate if you could let me know if you or someone you know are interested in a room: April 1st, the Master Bedroom of our 3 bedroom apartment will be available. We're looking for someone cool, hopefully that we know, to move in. Doesn't matter if you're a guy or girl, both are welcome. The master bedroom has it's own vanity, bathroom and shower, walk-in closet, private balcony, and is quite spacious. The apartment as a whole is a 3-bedroom (Jon Manchester and Nate Zayas are in the other two rooms) and it's located in the middle of Costa Mesa; the complex is called Harbor Village. Rent is $760.

If you are interested or know someone interested please contact me here or give me a call (619) 987-2210 and I can answer any questions or figure out a time if you want to come check it out.

p.s.- If anyone has any advice or suggestions for my trip to the Philippines, I would love to hear from you!

-Brandon Lagao

The Big Shaqtus!

2009-02-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

Shaq earned the Co-MVP All-Star Trophy before the game even started! Amazing.

The Chase.

2009-02-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

As some of you might know, last week I was hit very hard by the Flu. I was bed-ridden for over a week and I almost lost my life. Well, I didn't actually almost lose my life, but it sucked pretty bad. It seemed like a lot of people caught the same thing. Even Star Athletes such as myself, Kobe, and Garnett couldn't avoid this terrible virus.

That being said, I spent a lot of my days watching TV and movies and trying to get better. When I had enough of watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel, I entertained myself with the list of semi-new movies that my roommate downloads. Once I started running out of choices I finally decided to watch The Happening. Wow. Maybe it was because of my sickness, but I just thought it was a terrible movie. I know at this point you might think that this entry is solely about my experience with the flu or me going off on how watching The Happening probably made my condition worse, but its actually about Love or more specifically Relationships. Took me a while to get to my point huh?

So anyways, what inspired this post was actually a scene from The Happening (don't worry, I won't ruin it for you if you are planning on renting it some day...but you really shouldn't). In the movie the main characters meet a lonely, old lady who is cut off completely from society and they stay at her house for the night. While they are eating dinner that night, the old lady asks the couple, "So who is chasing who?" The couple had no idea what the Old Lady was talking about so she explained that in every relationship there is always one person who is "chasing" the other one. This was about the only thing that really interested me throughout the movie.

The reason it caught my attention was because I find a lot of truth in that statement. In my experiences with relationships, I've been both the chaser and the chased. One thing that has been relevant in all of my relationships though, is that there was always one person who tried a little bit harder and who seemed to care a little bit more. And its not just with me, I see it all the time with the relationships around me as well. While both parties are in the relationship, or in love, or both, there is usually an obvious one that is putting a little bit more effort.

Why is that? I can't explain it exactly because I know its different with every relationship. It could be because one is more worried about the relationship lasting. Or it could be that one is just more into the other. Maybe one is "dating up" and feels reluctant to be in that particular relationship therefore they put more into it. Or it could even just be because one is naturally more thoughtful. There are tons of different situations that define a relationship, but all i'm saying is that its very rare to see one that is "balanced". And its not even that a couple has a defined "Chaser" and "Chasee" from the get go. For example, in my "most serious" relationship as an adult, at the beginning of the relationship my girlfriend was the one who was noticeably more into it. She was definitely chasing me and showing me on a daily basis how much she was into me. But then at some point, the roles changed . Maybe I just became more "in love", but there was definitely a role-reversal at some point.

One thing that I came to realize, after reflecting on that scene in the movie, is that I like, or maybe I should say that I tend, to prefer to be the one doing the chasing. What the heck is wrong with me? Why would I choose to chase someone? The only explanation I can come up with is that it must be that I enjoy "The Chase" in general. Maybe sub-consciously I see it as a challenge that I want to conquer. I can't say for sure, but one thing I do know is that being chased isn't as appealing. I actually get kind of annoyed if someone is trying too hard to show me that they like me. Maybe its a power trip or I just get big headed, but that's just how I've reacted to being chased in the past. Who knows, maybe when I meet my wifey-to-be, all of this will change, and I'll finally see what that perfect balance is all about.

This is just such an interesting topic to me and I wish I could explain the Psychology of it all. What are everyone else's thoughts? Am I missing something here?

All Talk.

2009-02-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

25 Randoms about Brandon Lagao

2009-01-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

Just a little something I did on Facebook today...

1. There is a guy in my office building who uses the bathroom stall and proceeds to cover all the possible "viewpoints" in, with toilet paper. He literally tears off a long piece of toilet paper and drapes it over the corners of the stall, thus creating some sort of curtain/safety barrier for him. Nobody has ever seen this process actually take place, but we've all seen the evidence. We've named him "The Toilet Paper Bandit" and i've been narrowing down the possible culprits for the past year and a half. As of now, I only know who is not the TPB.

2. My process when brushing my teeth: Turn on faucet. Run toothbrush under water. Apply toothpaste. Run toothbrush w/ toothpaste under water. Brush.I'm not sure why I do it this way and i'm not even sure if its normal. But I do know, I will pass it on to my own kids some day when teaching them how to brush their teeth.

3. I do not have a Uvula (or Tonsils).

4. When I was in little league, I used to have to shower before my games no matter what. I knew I was just going to get dirty and sweaty, but it was my superstition and if I didn't I would have a bad game. I then carried this on to Pop Warner Football and then to my High School games. I've since earned the nickname: ShowerBoi.

5. I started playing baseball when I was in 2nd grade and played up until my senior year of high school. Every single time since my first "At Bat" I would say a quick prayer. I wouldn't ever pray that I would hit a Homerun or even that I would get a hit...every single time I prayed, I would ask God to protect me and to not let the pitcher bean me. I became a Christian around 8th grade. And I've only been hit by a pitch once and it was intentional and it didn't hurt because it only barely grazed my jersey...that pitcher is probably in jail now for a hate crime.

6. My mom used to have to use baby oil to keep my hair from standing straight up when I was a little one. This beautiful thick hair is a gift and a curse.

7. I'm planning a trip to the Philippines and I'm much more nervous about seeing my real Dad then anything else. Oh yeah, did I mention that I've never traveled outside of North America, I don't speak Tagalog or Spanish, and I've never independently traveled further than Denver?

8. I have better eyesight than anyone i've ever met. Seriously, its like God gave me binoculars for pupils. I recently started wearing eyeglasses once in a while cause I like the way I look in them...but my main reason is that I wear them to protect my great eyesight from allergans, bees or other flying objects, and stooges who are jealous of my great eyesight.

9. I'm really, really bad at "small talk".

10. I think that my left hand and right foot both have fractures, but I haven't gone to the doctor to check it out. I'm serious, I have a high pain tolerance (and a tiny bit of hypochondria)

11. I get anxiety when starting a new season of a tv show that I consistently watch. I actually missed the Season 1 Finale of Heroes and haven't watched it since. All of my roommates watch it, but I purposely leave the room or hum to myself so that I don't hear anything until I catch up. I've done the same thing with Lost.

12. I use Brilliant Brunette shampoo because I like the way it smells.

13. I still count with my fingers. But I love math.

14. I wore tighty whiteys up until college. To this day i've still never had to buy my own socks or underwear (With one exception: my friend/old roommate Loren and I went halfsies on a pack of Hanes once because we didn't have time to do laundry.) Don't judge me. It gives my mom an extra gift to give me at Christmas.

15. Random Fact: I am an extremely good looking guy. God made me short for the sole purpose to keep me from being less tempted by mobs of interested women. Once I mature a little more, God promised he would give me that growth spurt i've been waiting for.

16. I want to go to culinary school...but I have no desire to become a chef. I just want to be classically trained and have all the techniques and skills to be an impressive cook at home. I am already pretty good though.

17. I thought I swallowed my lip ring yesterday at lunch. I ended up throwing up lunch, but didn't see the lip ring. Later that night I was eating my leftovers and discovered that I didn't swallow it.

18. I'm afraid of most roller coasters.

19. Recently I've noticed that girls are more attractive to me when they are wearing some shade of green.

20. I've lived in either LA, SD, or OC my whole entire life and to this day I am still a little afraid of the ocean.

21. When I was a kid, there was a time when the hair on my left knee was growing in gray. I told my mom that I thought I had cancer. She told me it was from the scarred tissue that I had in my knee from sliding in baseball. My knee hair is no longer gray, but I still might have Cancer in my knee.

22. My favorite # is 22. But its also been #1, #2, #10, and #4. I have a hard time with favorites. For instance, today my favorite animal is a Sea Otter, but that could all change tomorrow.

23. Whenever I turn the volume up or down on something, it must always be an even #. Odd numbers are just weird.

24. I'm waiting until I hit my "goal weight" before I get my first tattoo.

25. I once went on a roadtrip with my grandparents when I was younger. We drove their RV from SD to Oregon. We stayed at a camp site for a few days and I met a bunch of friends while I was there. We had a huge Swing-Jumping Distance Tournament (you know, when you are on a swing and you launch yourself off). We were judged on how far we could fly. I won. I still think it's one of my finest accomplishments and I am contemplating adding it to my resume.

--I could probably do 100 of these randoms about me...enjoy!

Will the real Economic Stimulus, please stand up?

2009-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

I think Obama is a one-man stimulus with all this Obama-related merchandise all over the place. Is it possible to purchase stock in a single person?

Zune Craziness

2008-12-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

My Zune is experiencing the same problems. Fingers crossed that they can't fix the problem and give me a brand new Zune :)

-B

"Users baffled as Zune MP3 players freeze up"

(CNN) -- Baffled consumers are griping about a mysterious glitch that appeared to cause thousands of Zune music players to simultaneously stop working late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

Microsoft issued the first Zune portable music player in 2006 to compete with the iPod.

Internet message boards have been flooded with complaints about Zune's 30GB models freezing, prompting Y2K-like speculation about end-of-year hardware or software problems.
"It seems that every Zune on the planet has just frozen up and will not work," posted a Mountain Home, Idaho, user on CNN's iReport.com. "I have 3 and they all in the same night stopped working."
Another iReporter said he was working the night shift at a Toys R Us store in Puerto Rico when his Zune player and the Zunes of four co-workers all failed about 1:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
"It froze and there was no way to turn it off so you just have to wait until the batteries went dead. You can't push any buttons or anything," Carlos Colon told CNN. Colon said he owns a first-generation 30GB model.
Other users report their Zunes reboot but freeze when the startup status bar reaches 100 percent. A post on Zune.net titled "Help-frozen zune!!!!" had attracted more than 19,000 comments by Wednesday afternoon.
Some Zune users have dubbed the crisis "Y2K9" or "Z2K9," a reference to New Year's Eve and concerns over potential widespread computer failures on January 1, 2000 -- fears that proved unfounded.
Zune users were still trying to discover the cause of the problem Wednesday afternoon.
Microsoft Corp., maker of the Zune, posted this statement Wednesday morning on the Zune Web site: "Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!"
Contacted Wednesday morning by e-mail, a Zune spokeswoman said, "We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on http://www.zune.net/en-US/ (zune.net/support)."
Microsoft released its first Zune 30GB music player, a competitor to Apple's popular iPod, in 2006. No widespread glitches have been reported this week in its second-generation 80GB or 120GB models.

By Brandon Griggs CNN

Change Is In The Air...

2008-12-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

2009 has some interesting things in store for this guy. Can't wait.

I don't remember this night though...

2008-12-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/PmT4hFQZummC9Ii4

One Crazy Night In The North Pole

2008-12-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/lXUHm9k3d8CBDOt03SDD

You gotta get, that, dirt off your shoulder...

2008-12-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Why is it that emotional issues seem to come in waves? Like right when I start dealing with one thing, another issue from the past hits me unexpectedly?

Although, I did notice that in the past I would hurt much more. Now, or at least today, I can analyze the situations, brush off the shoulder, and take my mind to a different place. So what does this mean? Growth? Is it healthy or not? Did I take a step forward or back?

I don't know, but it'd be cool if issues would just be nice and let me deal with them one at a time.

Who is calling in "Gay" tomorrow?

2008-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

What a lame way to try to prove a point. After those hateful/inconsiderate protests in LA and other stunts like this...I'm still very glad I voted Yes on 8.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,464024,00.html

-Hey Isaiah, so what do you plan on doing during your day off?

Growth By Grace

2008-12-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

Greater Love, More Assurance. Greater Righteousness, Less Doubt.

During these times, where it seems like more and more of my peers are standing up for issues that are of this world ...this is something I needed to hear.

Tough Times Don't Last. Tough People Do.

2008-11-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

On my way to work this morning, I saw a guy about my age, standing on the corner of Jamboree and MacArthur. He was clean cut, dressed in a nice suit, and was holding a big white sign saying something like, "Hard working, recent MBA Graduate looking for work." Since my office is right by that intersection, I would have liked to walk down there to take a picture and talk to him a little about the challenges he is facing. Looking back, I regret not taking that opportunity.

I happen to be an Industry Manager at Jobing.com - the nation's largest, locally-focused provider of employment media. We are a unique online community that provides the forum, resources, and technology to connect employers, job seekers, and community organizations. Although, I'm not a recruiter/headhunter and my job description doesn't involve actually getting people jobs, my every day entails talking to to Hiring Managers, HR Personnel, and proactive job seekers. And it seems like just about every one around me is adversely affected by the current state of the economy.

Seeing that guy on the corner is the reason for this blog entry. He really made me stop and think. And so I did. Every day I hear the same stuff, just coming from different people: Best friends, who by association alone are obviously great people, can't find a job in the industry they want to work in. Newlywed friends with no consistent income. College graduates who recently stepped into the "Real World", but have to settle for jobs that they could have got without a degree and all the student loans. Companies that are on a hiring freeze or forced to layoff a huge percentage of their employees. Clients who were unfortunately part of those layoffs. Colleagues who have been laid off out of necessity. Even my stepdad, has recently faced his own struggles being in the Financial Services Industry. Even as I write this blog, a guy came into the office to check the fire extinguisher. He saw our company logo and said, "Well now after seeing your company name...can you get me a better job?" We shared a half-hearted laugh together, but I couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be some seriousness behind his request.

As some of you may know, my company offers a pretty cool benefit where they cover 100% of my fuel costs, as well an additional stipend, as long as I wrap my car to look a little something like this:

Driving around in a car like that obviously attracts attention, that's kind of the point. But my point is that, now more than ever, I can't go anywhere without meeting someone who needs some type of career-related assistance. Just the other day I pulled up to my gym and a lady leaving kept looking at me curiously as I was organizing my gym bag. Finally she worked up the nerve to ask me about Jobing. She was in the mortgage industry for the past several years...and that should pretty much explain the rest. Also, a couple weeks ago I was picking up my tv from BestBuy and had to park out front. While I waited, 3 different people came up to me in a 10 minute span to ask about my company and how I might be able to help them out. Don't get me wrong though, I absolutely love that part of my job. In fact, I would say that my favorite part of my job is being able to help my friends, family, and even random strangers in any way that I can to help get their lives in order.

Its just that seeing stuff like this every day, some times brings me down. I find myself more often than I want to, agreeing with people who talk about how tough it is right now, and only offering up the generic,"Yeah, it really is tough right now. Things will turn around soon though. Just keep being positive." For the most part, all of that is true. Times are tough for both people with jobs and without. And you need to stay positive, because that's the only way to persevere. But the last part I can't say with much conviction...because honestly, who really knows when things will turn around? From what I am hearing and reading its actually just the opposite: Next month, things will get worse.

So Then What?

Well, that brings me back to the Title of this post and the jobless MBA grad. I was talking to my stepdad this morning about how my month has been from a professional standpoint. Its been just about my worst month yet, given my circumstance. And what makes it even worse is that my worst month followed my best months ever. That in itself is enough of a disappointment to rattle anyone. What makes it so difficult for me is that, I love to win, but I hate to lose even more...and I can't help to feel that i've been losing all month long. I know I'm probably making it sound much more severe then it actually is, but that's just me...all my life i've been harder on myself than anyone else. But Eddie(stepdad) broke it down for me, "You know, what they say really is true: tough times don't last, tough people do. You'll be alright Brandon, just do the best that you can do."

I don't know who "they" is, but the quote really made me think. Nobody knows how long it'll take, but things will EVENTUALLY turn around and get easier. And then things will get hard again at some other point in life. This has been the first time that a bad economy has actually affected me in a career. And for good reason. I think the last time things were difficult was in 2001...but luckily back then I was just graduating from high school and entering a new chapter at Vanguard University. These past several months have provided me with a very valuable lesson and has helped me grow more than I probably even know yet. In order to Last, People need to be Tough. The way I interpret that quote is that we need to be Mentally Tough. If you are struggling to find a job, don't just go through the motions. Sit down and think about how you can differentiate yourself from everyone else. Be creative. Be persistent. Be tenacious. Be consistent. Do what you have to do to stand out. And the same goes for those of us that have jobs that are more than just a 9 to 5. If you are in control of your own destiny, then be grateful for that. Many people don't have control on how their company performs and those very same people can't really do much to avoid company lay offs. But those of us that can measure our performance, need to absolutely be mentally tough. Its so easy to use the economy as an excuse, but I don't remember one time that I gave the economy credit for me doing well. If I can take credit for the good times, I sure as hell better take accountability for the bad times. All you have to do is your best...which sadly is a lot easier said then done.

Like the MBA grad on the corner, i'm sure he isn't the only person in his position without a job. But just look at the statement he made today. He was willing to do what it takes to stand out in a crowded sea of unemployment. He was up before I even was, ready to Do His Best that day. And you know what? I know many people took notice. I wouldn't even be surprised if he got a job offer today. In fact, I don't know if he knew this or not, but he was standing directly across the street from Priority Staffing. And if those girls were doing their best today, they would have already figured out the perfect client of theirs to make the placement.

Gotta Love The Onion.

2008-11-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Attractive Girls Union Refuses To Enter Talks With Mike Greenman

I enjoy the shot that the attractive girls union takes at the SF Giants. Nobody relevant likes them.

300. Word. Biography.

2008-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

To all readers of my blog:

Whether you read We All Get Older...We Don't All Get Grown publicly or anonymously, sporadically or consistently...I need some help. I was recently invited to be a contributor on a website/blog network focused on 20-something life. The site is put together well and I like the fact that you can get real, authentic perspectives from your peers on a wide variety of topics. I'll give more info on the site, when I actually accept the offer.

Needless to say, I am interested and I would have joined already, except for one hold up. I need to submit a 300 word bio and I am having trouble writing about myself. I know its not much, but i'm finding it hard(that's what she said, haha) to summarize everything I am, in 300 words. I thought it might be helpful to see what others think of me, the stuff I write about when I am serious about it, and what you would say if asked to summarize Brandon Lagao. If you don't mind others reading it, post your version of my bio in my comments or if you want to keep it private, email it to me: bhova22@gmail.com I appreciate any of you who take the time to help on this. Who knows, I might end up using your input. At the very least, it will be used for inspiration.

Also, thank you in advance to my friends who choose to use this time as a chance to make fun of me. Where would I be without you guys :)

Nike Leave Nothing Commercial: "Fate"

2008-11-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

My favorite commercial probably ever.

TMI?

2008-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

My co-worker and I were just talking about a very pressing issue. Something everyone knows about, but never speaks about it aloud. Here was the question as posed:

"Hey, why the heck does coffee always make me have to poop?!"

There was no disagreement here. In fact, he started talking about how "it starts to direct traffic"...i had no idea what he was talking about, so i cut him off and said, "Nevermind, I'll just Google it." So I did. In the searchbox, "Why does coffee make me have to poop?". The results were overwhelming, but I still did not find any concrete facts. Here is what the rest of the world is saying:

Probably because all of the mouse turds in the coffee grounds. (i'm not sure how drinking turds makes you turd)

Its not just the coffee, its the warmth of it. (i'm going to test this theory with an iced coffee this afternoon)

Its a natural laxative

One answer was simply: Gastrocolic Reflex (umm...)

Caffeine is a diuretic.

This topic is up for discussion. I look forward to any comments.

Some Stuff I Learned Today:

2008-11-12T23:47:00.000-08:00

Strength Comes From Working Out Differences: (learned from a rather brutal conversation I had today) In my particular conversation, no differences were really worked out, but it got me thinking. What would be considered a better, more fruitful relationship:
-a couple that never has to deal with conflict and cruises through life either in complete agreement or ignoring their disagreements in order to stay "happy".

Or

-a couple that seems to face a lot of conflict. Has differing perspectives on different things. Confronts each other in order to resolve these problems. And eventually learns more about the other, learns more about them self, sees things from a different perspective, and learns how best to work through these differences.

If I was to share my answer, I think being happy and not having any conflict sounds refreshing and very comfortable. It definitely sounds like a easier road to travel. But i also think(cliche' warning), that nothing amazing ever comes easy. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. My choice would be the hard road..sounds crazy, but really, how boring does the easy road sound? Its like, if i'm snowboarding-- I can take the easy runs and I guarantee I won't fall(unless some crazy asian tourist loses control and crashes into me). I'd be the best on those runs and all the beginners would see. But the truth is, I'm not worried about falling. I want to take the double black diamond run. My reasoning: even if I ride on the bunny slopes all day and never fall, i'll still only be a novice at the end of the day. But if I master the double black diamond, with all the risk of falling, the risk of getting hurt, the risk of not being able to finish-- still, at the end of the day I am that much closer to being an expert.
A Challenge Brings Out The Best In Us: (Learned from reading through Men's Health at the gym tonight.) This one is pretty self-explanatory. A challenge should be embraced because in the end, succeed or fail, it makes us better people. Challenge brings out the best in us, but what a lot of people don't think about is that, a challenge also brings out the best in those that surround us. If I rise to a challenge that I face at work, my coworkers will be that much more inspired to do the same. If a player on an underdog team rises to the challenge of facing a bigger and better team, his teammates will follow that lead. If a married couple on the verge of divorce decides to take their problems head on and seek out a solution, they may inspire another couple in a similar position to fight on as well. I think that concept is so awesome. Maybe that's why I voted Republican-- cause I like the challenge(not handouts).
Honesty Always Trumps Insincerity: (learned from reminiscing on my day) This is one of my daily challenges: be honest and hurt someone. Or be insincere and keep them happy and blissfully ignorant. If I care about you, you'll get lots of honesty from me. You may not like it, but someone needs to be the messenger. TRUST ME though when I say, IT IS HARD being that guy. I don't want to hurt anyone. But am I hurting someone more by not being honest with them about "how i see it"? For the answer to that, I look to God:
Proverbs 27:17- "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (NIV)
"You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another." (The Message)
Believe In Yourself: (learned from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) I think this is the theme of the movie. Believe in yourself. "It sounds a little too selfish, a little too close to "Follow your heart, no matter what anyone says." When taken out of context as it often is at the movies, and in real life it can lead to all sorts of bad decisions such as hasty marriages, even hastier divorces, quitting college, or even joining the peace corp! Following your heart often translates into following your emotions, and emotions are fickle. But the truth is, there's nothing wrong with following our hearts as long as we lend our brains and our souls to the proposition, too. God created in each one of us talent, passion and drive to do ... something.

We are God's creatures, and each of us carry a "sparkle"--something greater than ourselves trying to get out. And believing in yourself enough (being courageous enough) to make that happen, well, that's a great thing indeed."

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

2008-11-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

I'm watching this movie right now, I've never seen it before, but just watching it makes me really happy. Its like everything has a deeper meaning...and its a G rated movie! Its showing me how much I love imagination. I think imaginiation is under-appreciated and often seen as strange. It reminds me of a play that I wrote in second grade. I'm not exactly sure what the assignment was, but I remember taking charge and writing this scene for me and my group to perform. I was so excited to create a world that was so different than the traditional sense. Once it was done, and we all were playing our specific parts in front of the class, I can remember my group not really enjoying what I wrote because it was so different then what they were used to. I still feel that way as an adult, like my imagination will be looked at as weird and not accepted. I think that I still have that imagination to this day, and I hope to have it still when I am 243 years old.

Quote of My Day

2008-11-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

I just saw a midget...its going to be a good day." - Jay Foulk

USC vs Washington (56- 0)

2008-11-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

I never thought a game where so many points were scored could get boring. USC could have easily put up 100 against this sorry team.

On another note: When the hell did they ban alcohol from college football games? All that does is promote binge drinking. People are flamebroiled before kickoff, rather then drunkenness spread out through the entire game. I swear walking around outside of the coliseum reminded me of trips to Vegas or Cabo. I knew that in those places you could cruise around public with booze, but I had no idea that you could get publicly plastered in the heart of LA surrounded by 5-0...maybe it was just an exception because it was homecoming.

Redistribution of Wealth

2008-10-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Joe Paycheck
--

My co-worker forwarded me this email today. I thought it was a very realistic and practical way of looking at Obama's ideology. As awesome as living in a Utopia sounds, sadly that is not the society we live in. I'd like to see all Obama supporters who are earning a paycheck, to take this into consideration before election day. Especially, voters who are in my age group. I guess you can take this as a challenge of sorts: I, Brandon Lagao, personally think that the majority of voters around my age group will be voting for Obama simply based on Trendiness and Susceptibility to a good Marketing Campaign. Yeah, I said it. Now prove me wrong. For the next paycheck you earn, inform your employer beforehand, to take a nice sized percentage of it and give it to somebody else that they feel needs it more than yourself. Make sure that you have No say in who your $$$ goes to.

It'll definitely be a great gesture of charity, but it will also show your support for Obama's plan to redistribute wealth among the nation and it will justify your vote. Here is the catch though...when taking on this challenge keep it to yourself and do not speak of it to anyone. This will keep the experiment honest and assure that you are doing it for the right reasons and not just to be seen doing something.

I'm Brandon Lagao and I approve this message.

Can we be Single as a Country for awhile?

2008-10-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

Opening Night!

2008-10-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

I am so glad the NBA Season started today!

I look forward to a season that ends in the Los Angeles Lakers bringing the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy back to Cali! Our team is seriously stacked this year and I wouldn't be surprised if they become the first team in NBA history to go undefeated. The lakers bench would be a competitive team as starters in the league...that's how good we are. Oh man, I love it.

Last night, when I was playing ball at 24 Hour some guy asked me if I was a Lakers fan. My reply was, "I was born down the street from the Great Western Forum. I bleed purple and gold. What do you think?" And he actually said that he pities me...what, why!? When I asked who his team was and heard the Clippers come out of his mouth, all I could do was laugh and walk away. And then I thought of Sisson being a Clippers fan, and since he wasn't present at the moment, in my mind i laughed at him and walked away too. psh!

It's so odd to me that the one major, organized sport I didn't play growing up arguably is my favorite sport to play and watch now. hmm...

For This Outcome, I Wouldn't Vote.

2008-10-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Brandon Lagao saves America. There are reports Brandon Lagao may run for President, making him the first ever Filipino American President.

(Thanks Carrasco.)