Karting Fun at SpeedZone

I went out with my HS friends to have some karting fun at SpeedZone. It was only my second time to try it out and I didn't know the basics of racing so on the track my driving looked funny. It was much faster than the first one I tried in Subic and I was nervous for the first few laps while trying to check the kart's limits, but later on I was able to pick up and improve in the succeeding laps. The steering was heavy (my arms are hurting as I type this blog), it took plenty of effort, but when the kart turned it was very rewarding, especially on very sharp turns! Laps went smoothly, I got a chance to overtake some of them, with just a few bumps with other players. Price: 600 pesos for 12 minutes. It was fun, but I don't think I can take this like a weekly hobby.

The Dark Side

When I was still in elementary someone told me that during an airplane flight he saw a part of the earth where day and night were both visible. I didn't have the chance to validate this until I got work that required me to board long-haul destinations like LA. On my return flight to Manila, I tried to stay awake the whole time waiting to see this natural wonder. I got impatient so I asked the lady seated beside me if it was true... and, well... hehehe I wasted my neurons.

Best Relaxation Spot on Earth

About 4 hours by plane from Singapore is one of the best kept secrets of the Indian Ocean -- the Maldives. This is the flattest country in the world with a peak of only about 8 feet above sea level, making its waterfront a blanket of rich shades of blue, turquoise, and green, and with clear waters it provides excellent visibility (as far as 50 meters underwater).

If you are reading this and you are very rich, please buy me tickets to this destination (MNL-SIN-MLE) and include prepayment to the resort. I want to spend my vacation here...

Blog Tracking (RSS, How to...)

Here's a nice tool that helps you keep track of all Blogs you watch regularly. It downloads all blog subscription updates and puts them in one neat screen. If you've seen RSS or the icon shown in this post on other websites, you can use these links to subscribe and receive updates without having to browse your favorites one by one.

I'm recommending a tool named SharpReader. You can download it for free at http://www.sharpreader.net/index.html

when you have successfully installed this, you may add my blog to your subscriptions by using any of these two feed addresses:

For RSS feed (preferred) -- http://feeds.feedburner.com/Chard

For Atom feed (alternate option) -- http://super-shenanigan.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Phoneless

I left my phone in Peter's car last Friday. I'm disconnected from the rest of the world for almost 2 days now, and I already forgot almost all of my friends' landline numbers (thanks to phone memory, I have no backup in my head).

For those who plan to buy O2 XDA's -- I'm not sure if they already removed this free inbox auto-clean-up feature (hehe) in the newer models, but the one I'm using loses all the messages stored when the backup batteries run out of power.

Today also marks the first day I worked online wirelessly at home.... sheesh... now I need a longer power cable.

Stanford Surprise

Mitch arrived yesterday from US. I didn't know he was coming, but it was fortunate that he tried to call on a day when I took a leave. He spoke English when he called so my tone at first was very unwelcoming (I thought it was an urgent call from office that it had to be through our landline number at home). It was a major catch-up session so we talked over coffee (to also hold the jet lag impact a bit until late evening).

Much has changed.

RSS Feed Test

This is an RSS Feed Test. To see if Friendster profile gets updated with Blog data...

Bruce

This is Bruce (Vinzons of Pearl in his certificate)... he was around 2 months old when I bought him for my mom. His job is 1) to entertain my mother, and 2) to help mom stay physically active even while at home.

Bruce is a brave assassin, but his efforts only go as far as Scrappy Doo, barking at the largest trucks, and always ready to pack a power punch. We may be the same man in many ways, but sad thing is, we don't look good when together. Six-foot guy walking this footlong ain't that manly so I rarely take him out.

Soon he will meet with Tina's chocolate toy poodle (Ginger?) and Alvin's white (April). In the meantime, it's etiquette bootcamp for our little Rambo.

Masterpiece

In one of my YM chats, I tried to create an artwork using the Doodle IMVironment. It had 16 crayons, 3 levels of thickness per color, and no soft edges. I just used a PC mouse to draw this thing and with some perseverance, I covered the whole canvas with my so-called work of art.

Today I look back at a fruit of my genius...

...the elements I put together didn't make sense at all. Boy, tree, rock, dark sky, bright sand (How do you survive there?). What the hell was I thinking?

Star TV's funniest

If you enjoy watching Hong Kong action comedies on Star Chinese Movies channel, these faces should be familiar to you. (Richard Ng Yiu-Hon, Eric Tsang Chi-Wai, Charlie Chin Chiang-Lin, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo and Stanley Fung Shui-Fan). I want to thank them for entertaining me on those weekends when I'm stuck at home, and for helping me learn a bit more of Mandarin.

Their movies were dubbed from Cantonese (?) to Mandarin, and then subtitled in English. Chinese subtitles are acceptable for differences in diction and accents, but this one is blown way out of order --> Subtitled Arab

Welcome!

I did some blogging about 2 years ago, but left it hanging back there in Blurty, and now I decided to move to a new home -- Blogger.com! It's neatly tied with Picasa software from Google, so I can upload and post new items as soon as I pick the right picture.

I've had lots of great experiences which I wish I had shared in writing, but I was too busy back then. Now I'm trying to reclaim the time I lost to start documenting again about whats new and ongoing with Chard's busy life. For the items past, maybe I'll touch them as I recall related events.