The first thing that comes to my mind and I’m sure, a lot of other people’s minds when a 3-day weekend starts to creep in is an out-of-town vacation.  And since this 3 day weekend came close to me and Ira’s birthday, we decided to celebrate it with the barkada.

On our first day, we decided to go for the activity called helmet diving.  It was quite expensive at 1,500php each but since it’s our first time, we decided what the hell and went for it.  There were underwater videos and pictures taken so I believe it’s all worth it, uh… sort of.

And then, we went on the flying fish which is sort of like the banana boat but with a slight twist.  Our floatation device more or less flies through the air.  We had to hold on to some handles in the device but of course you needed strength to do that.  One of our friends fell off twice!  We were all laughing our asses off!  After it all, I don’t even know which part of my body hurts more, my arms or my stomach from laughing so hard.

We were a bit exhausted after those two activities and rightly so.  We found a steakhouse and decided to eat there.  The meals were a bit on the pricey end at 450+php per meal but we thought we would be very satisfied after it all.

What was unexpected was that although the dishes were big enough, me and Ira were still feeling a bit ‘bitin’.  Good thing Ira brought along a Century bangus!  We opened the can and dug in right there and there in the sand.  It was a bit unorthodox but fulfilling your stomach urges don’t need no time or place.  You just eat.

The bangus was delectable and not what we would normally expect from a canned good.  Although of course, it’s what you would expect from Century-branded products.  Thanks to Century Bangus, our stomach urges were fulfilled.

Later.

It’s been months since my last post and since I left you guys hanging, I’ll at least end this blogging thing by um… blogging about it.

Year 2009 is not really shaping up well for me up to this point.  Lots of stuff has happened.  Company problems, family problems, economic problems… well at least not girlfriend problems as Ira has pretty much behaved ever since the year started.  The biggest problem of them all though…

Somebody passed away.

Who, you say?

My dad.

Everything just happened so fast.  We almost didn’t have any time to react.  The cause?  Liver cancer.

Up to this point, I’m not really sure if I’ve already accepted the fact that… you know… he’s gonna be gone forever.  I believe they call this the ‘denial’ stage or whatnot.

The cancer was diagnosed as stage 4 and my dad was already suffering from nth stage hepatic coma.  Furthermore, he couldn’t undergo chemotherapy because of his weak body as he also had an irregular heartbeat and the rest of his body’s just not strong enough to handle the grueling plight of getting a chemo.

There we were, January 25, 2009, room CCU 5, Chinese General Hospital, 4:00 pm.  The computer monitor had his heartbeat at the 20-40 range (normal is 60-90).  Blood pressure couldn’t even be read anymore.  Last reading was 40/nothing.  All medications have been stopped.  The waiver form for no resuscitation had already been signed by my mom.  The agony was just too much to handle.

Don’t get me wrong.  We didn’t want him to go.  No one wanted him to go.  We just couldn’t bear seeing him in such a defeated and miserable state.  We just wanted him to rest.  We just wanted him to have as little pain as possible.  If he were able to speak for himself, I believe he would’ve wanted the same.

4:05 pm.  Heartbeat rate: 0.

He was such a great dad.  Sure he didn’t show how much he loved us by hugging or doing any of those mushy stuff.  He showed it by supporting each and every one of us in times of need.

He cared so much for us that he had forgotten to take care of himself.

He was at that point in time where he was just starting to become successful.  He was at that point where he was about to reach his lifelong goal of being well-known in the chemical industry.

Fate can be cruel sometimes.  Before he could even savor the fruits of his labor, his life was taken away from him.

It’s the end of an era.

Sure a new one will take its place, but this one will definitely hold a special place in not just mine, but all the other people’s hearts whom my dad has crossed paths with during the course of his life.

This will also be my last blog post.  And I dedicate this to my dad.  A loving and caring person, who thought of everybody.

Everybody but himself.

In memory of Alfredo K. Law, businessman, father and friend.  Rest In Peace.

As depicted by the name of my blog and multiply site, I reckon you all know I like cars.  Fast ones of course.

If you, dear reader, are not interested in any sort of thing that has four wheels, please stop reading now.

Still with me?  Ok, I gave you a warning.  It’s not my fault anymore if you’re bored to death by the following paragraphs.

Now, through the course of my life, I have never ever driven around a race track (except with a go kart) or participated in any sort of street racing (except for the impromptu ‘I just wanna chase you down’ moments).

It has long been a lifelong dream of mine to participate in one of them.  Be it an illegal street race or an official 10 or 20 lap race along a race track, it doesn’t matter.  As long as there is an official start and finish line, I’ll walk away a happy man.

Although I have been fond of cars for as long as I can remember (when I was 7 or 8 I could name every model of every car that passed by, which continues to be true up to this day), it was only recently till I was able to watch the Top Gear and Fifth Gear series.

On both of those TV shows, there have been several episodes where the ultimate racetrack in the world which is located in Germany has been mentioned.  In fact, there have been episodes where challenges have been held on that particular racetrack.

It’s called the Nürburgring, or The Ring for short.

The Nordschleife (don’t ask me to pronounce) part, which is the main part of The Ring, consists of 22.810 km (14.173 mi) of about 100 corners which has long been a benchmark for supercars and also of driver skill.  Here’s the map:

The new Nissan GTR ran around The Ring in 7 minutes 38 seconds.  Here’s a video:

On the other hand, the Radical SR8 owns the lap record for The Ring at 6 minutes 55 seconds.

You might be wondering, these are just all taken from the net!  So what’s my point in posting all these stuff?

I’ve mentioned above that I would like to participate in any sort of race.  Well, you can scratch that off the list and replace it with this one.

Ten laps around The Ring with an Audi R8.

I don’t care if it’s only a race against time.  I don’t care if I suffer a serious injury (or worse, trash the car) trying to tackle one of the hundred corners of the track.  You know what?  When I think of it, forget the R8.  My current Corolla would do the job.  That’s how much I want to get around that track.

Of course right now, that’s almost next to impossible.  I’m just an average person and average people do not have much money to burn.  Sure I can do that right now if I put my mind to it but that would leave me broke for about a year maybe (and that’s underestimating).

So next time I hit it big (hopefully).  When me and my girl go to Europe for our honeymoon (yeah this is my expected time to hit it big), forget Paris, forget France, forget Rome, forget London.  We’re going to Germany, buy an R8, and make the baby while going around The Ring.  Just imagine!  It’ll be much more fun than doing it in a hotel room!

*All stats, photos, and videos courtesy of Wikipedia and youtube.

Later.

Project Runway now has a Philippine version (like all other reality shows)!  Normally I wouldn’t care about some reality show that talks about fashion and nothing else but this one’s a little special.  You see, Ira’s aunt is one of the participants!

The TV schedules are as follows (on ETC):

Wednesdays: 10:00pm-11:00pm

Reruns:

Thursdays 9:00am-10:00am

Saturdays  8:00pm-9:00pm & 12:00MN-1:00am

Sundays    2:30pm-3:30pm

Mondays   9:00am-10:00am & 11:00pm-12:00mn

Some pics:

Jaz (hanggang tenga ang ngiti hahaha)

The dress that she made

Here’ episode 1:

*All photos, TV skeds, and links courtesy of my girl Ira.

Later.

After so many years, it’s finally over.

The reason?  I don’t really know what or why.  It’s just that we had a falling out.  Maybe I got tired of her or vice versa (she got tired of impressing me).

What’s shocking is that I did not shed a single tear.  Not one drop fell on my cheek.  I guess that just sums up how I really felt for the nasty breakup.  I didn’t really care.

I mean, if you look at the pictures below, which one would you prefer?

The Audi R8…

or the Lancer Evo X?

No contest at all.

Now for some hardcore stats:

The Audi R8 has a 4.2L V8 engine which releases a galloping 414 bhp and goes from 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds and up to a top speed of 301 km/h.

On the other hand, the RS version of the Evo X has a 2.0L turbocharged engine which lets loose 280 bhp and goes from 0-100 km/h in 5 seconds and up to a top speed of 250 km/h.

All those stats above favor the Audi.  Now let’s get down to reliability.

Audi is a European car whereas the Evo is a Japanese car.  Now, Japan-made stuff are really tough but this is Mitsubishi we’re talking about here.  They have a history of bad cars!

The Evo’s got one thing going for it though.  It’s a four-door sedan which can carry more people and has more trunk space compared to the Audi which is a coupe and can only carry 2 people with a limited boot.

Additionally, there’s the price tag.  The Evo costs around 3 million pesos here in the Philippines and you can buy it without resorting to the gray market.

The Audi costs around 10 million pesos and Audi Philippines doesn’t sell it.  You’d have to resort to the gray market which means parts will be very hard to come by if ever something falls off.

But you know what?  Who cares???

If you had the Audi, you would be hard-pressed to find another one roaming the streets of Manila, or the Philippines for that matter.  You might even find more Ferrari F430’s than the R8.

So there you have it.  The Evo is more practical but the Audi’s got the looks, the speed, the reliability, and the exclusivity which is more than enough to topple the Evo off my most wanted cars list.

Oh yeah, if you get to own one, just make sure to use it as a Sunday car.  You wouldn’t wanna risk anything falling off.

Later.

This’ll probably be one of the few sad posts that I’ll be making in the course of my blossoming blogging ‘career’ (I doubt there is one to begin with but please bear with me here).

You see, life ain’t always fair. Life ain’t always good. Life ain’t always going the way you want it to be.

But you know what? That’s what makes me want to live life. You never know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. You don’t even know what’s gonna happen a minute from now. A stray bullet might just mercilessly pierce through the window and blow right through my temple. Heaven and hell forbid.

On the flip side, life is also full of happiness. Life is full of hopes and dreams. Watching the Celtics beat the Lakers? Now that’s a happy moment. Dreaming about drifting? How I wish I dreamed about it more often. Spending quality time with family and friends? Anytime you’re building relationships and bonds, it’s always a good thing.

Going out with my girl for our once-a-month date? Priceless. (Sorry MasterCard. Just had to borrow your punch line)

If you’re still with me at this point, you’ve probably figured out what my problem is. Yeah we had some sort of fight and I’m probably to blame for it. I’m not gonna dwell into the details coz that’s just too private.

Saying sorry just ain’t gonna cut it. Add that to the fact that we’re engaged in a long distance relationship and that makes it harder to patch things up.

Honestly, I’m quite speechless. Life’s a wheel. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. I guess I’m currently at the bottom part scratching the pavement with my ass.

You know what?  I think it’s time to end this post.

Words just ain’t popping to my mind anymore like they used to. It’s been pre-occupied by a mix of emotions, words, and a lot of mumbo jumbo that I just can’t put into writing.

Also, I think something got caught in my eye. Really, it’s time to end this. I shouldn’t even have thought about posting tonight.

Later.

It was late at night, or on the flip side, it was very early in the morning, probably around 2am.  I didn’t even know where I was coming from.  All I knew was that I was driving home.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t driving my 1995 Corolla GLI.  I was driving a 1989 Nissan 240SX.  I don’t know how I knew the year of the model nor do I know how I was able to get a hold of this car but I wasn’t complaining.  If you don’t have any idea what a Nissan 240SX looks like, well I have something for your viewing pleasure:

All of a sudden, after I’ve finished appreciating the interior of the car, the road in front of me narrowed down into two lanes of long, winding, hairpin-filled mountain path with absolutely no cars in sight.  Now at this particular moment, my conscience split into two parts.  One is asking, “Where the fuck am I?”  The other one is begging, “Please please please please.  Step on the freaking accelerator!”

Who did I listen to?  Well it ain’t that hard to figure things out.  Before I knew it, I was going 160km/h on a zigzagging two-lane path which I haven’t even driven before.  Now comes the first hairpin curve.  I contemplated what to do.  Do I slow down and make a proper turn like I always do?  Or do I try something else?  Do things sideways.

You know.  Drift.

And then it hit me, I’m driving a 240SX for God’s sake.  It would be an insult to the car, to me, to every person in the world if I did this the ‘proper’ way.  As I was approaching the hairpin, I downshifted, swerved the car to the direction of the curve, released the clutch swiftly, spun the steering wheel in the opposite direction of the curve, and before I knew it, the rear end of the car was already sticking out and a lot of smoke was coming out of the tires.

I was drifting, I was fucking drifting!

As the curve came to an end, there was another one waiting for me.  It was a fucking S curve.  Once again, I popped the clutch to lose traction, swerved to the direction of the curve and the car’s rear end stuck out.  I am on my way to successfully pull off two consecutive drifts!

Or so I thought.

The rear end stuck out a little too much, and I found myself spinning.  Since it was only a two lane path, any spin could be deadly, and this was no exception.  I careened over to the barrier (which apparently was made of plastic) and fell down into the ravine and everything faded to black.

When I gained consciousness, I found myself in my room.  Yep, it ain’t hell and it sure isn’t heaven.  My arms and hands are still intact.  So are my legs and feet.  No bruises, no cuts, but worst of all, no Nissan 240SX.

I was crushed.  It was all a dream.  I wanted to go back to sleep again to see if my dream would continue but alas, it was already late and I still have to go to work.

As I went through my daily routine, my mind drifted away towards drifting (pun intended).  Well, I should be thankful for one thing.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do all those things above in real life but at least, even while dreaming, I was able to drive sideways.

You know.  Drift.

Later.

Let’s stray from the NBA scene for a while and go back to reality before Game 6 kicks in.

As you all know, I have already resigned from Safeway and have been working as a sales agent or as my calling card states, ‘Product Sales Specialist’, for my father’s company.

The transition isn’t going as smoothly as I thought it would be and I attribute that unsmoothness (for the lack of a better word) to a few things:

First and foremost, our business is engaged in importing and distribution of chemicals or raw materials to different clients.  We cater to the food industry, detergent industry, feeds industry, etc.  The problem lies in the fact that I do not know a single thing about chemicals.  I cannot even distinguish them from the pot that those guys in dark alleys smoke out there.  Sure I studied chemistry when I was in high school and I remember how I hated that subject (probably the only thing about chemistry I remembered).  Because of these facts, it’s damn hard to sell something you don’t even have an ounce of knowledge of.

Nervousness is another factor which I’ve been having trouble with.  Although you can blame my nervousness on the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph, more of the blame should be put on the fact that I’m a rookie in this industry.

Yeah, I’ve spoken with lots of people who I really don’t know or will never ever meet eye-to-eye during my previous stint as part of Safeway’s whatever-they-wanna-call-it-position, but those conversations were limited to the ‘me-helping-him’ topics.  Of course the ‘how’s the weather there’ questions couldn’t be avoided but never was there a conversation that involved:  “Hi, this is Adrian from XYZ Company and I would like to offer pot to you guys.”

Well, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks here at my new job.  Acting like a door-to-door salesman and selling stuff to other companies.  The only difference is that I contact the clients through phone.  Most of them brush me off, some ask for proposals, and I have set up a meeting with a grand total of one client.  Nice.

If you’re asking for my batting average, I’m currently at .000.  Yep, no clients wooed as of now.  I should be discouraged but I’m not.  That’s just how the real world goes and considering I’m a newbie at this point, I should be happy for the experience that I’m able to get.

I guess that’s about it for my new work update.  I just hope that in the near future, I’ll be able to get comfortable with my new job like I did with Safeway.  Yes, as much as I hated it there, I was comfortable with the job.  You know, no pressure at all.

I wonder how it would feel after I make my first sale.  I hope it feels better than a 30 minute orgasm.  Wait.  Nothing tops a 30 minute orgasm, I’ll settle for a 5 minute one.

Later.

Game 4 of the Celtics vs. Lakers Finals series can be summed up in three letters.

Wow.

Ok maybe two words and six letters.

Wow wow.

Let’s make it three words and nine letters.

Wow wow wow.

How about that comeback huh? Celtics were down 24 points midway through the 2nd quarter and were still down by 20 midway through the third.

This layup by Ray Allen after he blows by Vujacic and a half-assed defense by Gasol sealed the game for them.

Final score: 97-91 Celtics.

We may also need to award the Oscars to Paul Pierce after he was “fouled” by Kobe late in the game with Lakers in the penalty. It was nothing but a small bump and PP acted like he was rammed by a ten wheeler truck that the refs had no choice but to call the foul. PP calmly sank both free throws and set the stage for Ray Ray’s game-sealing layup.

Let’s not forget Eddie House. He was a bit tense in the first half and couldn’t come up with anything (missing wide open shots) but he reportedly got a massage during halftime to loosen his tense muscles and he came out firing in the second half. His jump shot with about four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Celtics their first lead of the game at 84-83 and it was all downhill for the Lakers from that point on.

And the main thing that won it all? Celtics defense. PP was put on Kobe for the whole 2nd half which allowed the Celtics to not throw an additional defender towards Kobe like they did previously when Ray Ray was the one guarding him.

This allowed all the Celtics defenders to stay home on their own defensive assignments and this put a damper on the Lakers offense which was running and gunning all throughout the first half. It was a smart move by Doc Rivers and so far, he has been outcoaching the Zen Master for the whole series. Yes, that also includes that Game 3 loss by the C’s.

The replay of the game was all I could catch, but I was still holding my breath even though I already knew the outcome. It was that exciting!

I was all packed and ready to ride the “Kobe is the next MJ” bandwagon but this game just put that thought to a screeching halt, maybe permanently. MJ would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever allow his team to squander a 24 point lead and lose a game altogether in the Finals. Never ever.

As for Kobe? He scored 19 points and shot 6-19 overall. He even had a turnaround fade-away shot blocked by PP! A turnaround fade-away shot is already hard to block whoever takes it and with Kobe taking it, you would think it was close to 0% for it to be blocked. And for PP to block that shot? Unbelievable.

I know I predicted in my previous blog that the Lakers would win in seven games and that prediction seems far-fetched right now. When you add the fact that no team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals then my prediction has almost no chance of happening.

This might be a bit premature but I’m gonna make another prediction again and congratulate the Boston Celtics for winning their 17th championship banner. I also want to congratulate the Big Three of PP, KG and Ray Ray for winning their first ever championship trophy. Celtics fans, you may now rejoice. Lakers fans, you may now kick yourselves in the butt and then repeat after me: “Better luck next year”.

Remember, you heard it from me first.

(I hope that statement didn’t jinx the Celtics, we’ll see).

Later.

Before everything else, I’d like to thank Jay for inspiring me to write about the NBA Finals. I was kinda 50-50 whether to write one or not but his blog entry did it. His writing contains more in depth analysis and statistics with regards to the two teams so go check it out. You need to be his multiply contact though to be able to view it. Anyway, on with the show.

NBA commissioner David Stern must be doing a Tom Cruise right now at the sofa in his office.

Kobe Bryant has been so happy ever since the Memphis Grizzlies gift wrapped… erm… traded Gasol to the Lakers that he jumped over a speeding Aston Martin

and also over a wading pool full of snakes.

Phil Jackson’s one title away from passing Red Auerbach for the most titles of an NBA coach EVER.

This is the first finals experience for every member of the current version of the Celtics’ Big 3, or as Bill Simmons of ESPN Page 2 likes to say, the Big 2 featuring Ray Allen.

This season’s playoffs ranks arguably as one of the best playoffs as far as my puny mind can remember. I don’t even care if the Rockets lost out in the first round again. I personally prefer this finals matchup more than any other matchup, well at least for this season. And no, I’m not getting off the Rockets bandwagon and hitching to either the Lakers or Celtics bandwagon. I’m just enjoying this fantabulous NBA playoff experience which I haven’t had the luxury ever since the Michael Jordan era.

You know what? I don’t even care who wins. I don’t care if David Stern rigged the playoffs so that these two teams will meet in the finals. I don’t care that Chris Paul didn’t get the MVP that he deserved. I don’t care if Robert Horry gets elected to the NBA Hall of Fame just by being with the right teams at the right time. I don’t even care if Megan Fox doesn’t appear in Transformers 2! (Okay that last one is a little too much. Megan better be there).

My prediction? Lakers in seven. Why? Three reasons.

Reason number 1: Doc Rivers. Just terrible coaching. Yanking everybody around and not settling on a definite 8 or 9-guy rotation kills the confidence of everybody on the team. They got lucky because they have the Big 3 and they had been playing against less capable teams. Against the Lakers? Against the Zen Master Phil Jackson? Pffft.

Reason number 2: Experience: Bryant, Fisher and Phil Jackson have all been in the finals and won it all in previous occasions. Suffice to say that they’ve been there and done that. They’re not gonna feel any pressure at all.

On the other hand, it’s the first Finals appearance for any of the Celtics’ Big Three as well as their coach. They’re definitely gonna feel the pressure.

Reason number 3: KB24’s running the Lake Show. Need I say more?

Sit back. Relax. Switch to your local NBA channel and watch the NBA Finals. I don’t care if you’re not a Lakers or Celtics fan. Hell I don’t even care if you’re not an NBA fan. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride. You’re definitely gonna enjoy it. I’m sure I will.

At last the NBA’s season-long slogan has lived up to its name.

NBA. Where Amazing Happens.

Later.