IMODO.COM -   the soaring chorus

Greetings From Bangkok

Can't stay long, as I still have shopping to do. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive, and having fun.

Would you believe I'm typing this from Pat Phong, a night market which is also well-stocked with red light distrcit girlie bars? Yes, in a place filled with dens of sin and scantily-clad women, yours truly is typing away online.

Yeah, I guess that is easy to believe.

Off we go

As I type this, final preparations are being made before we go to the airport. Hopefully, the next time you see an entry from me, it will be from Bangkok Thailand, where my family will be until the 30th.

I'm excited, I admit. It has been more than 3 years since I went to another country, or even been on an airplane. Since I was a kid the vacations have been mostly limited to Hong Kong, which by the time I was 18 I had gotten so used to I was more familiar that city than I was with say, Batangas.

I've done research on places to go, things to try, food to eat. Laksa, a chichekn curry noodle dish, will be high on the list. I would like to see the Golden and Emerald Buddhas, plus at least one buddhist temple. And for the animal lover in me, Bangkok has a choice of 2 destinations: the Dusit Zoo, which features elephant rides and a walk-in aviary, or Safari World, a 170-acre wilderness sanctuary. And I hope to augment my wardrobe with soem cool stuff from the Floating Markets.

Sounds like fun. Hope The flight is a safe one. Say a little prayer for our safe voyage if you can spare the spirituality.

Leaving on a jet plane

Just dropped off Nelz at Faith's apartment, from there tomorrow they will be heading to the airport at 3 in the morning to fly to Cagayan de Oro to stay at Olive's house until after the new year. I too will be jaunting off tomorrow, in the evening naman. We have to be at the airport by 4 for a 6 pm to Bangkok until the 30th.

I am not a little bit apprehensive, as I'm freaked out by flying. Always have been. Although I don't reach Mr. T-level proportions of aviophobia, a part of me has a really hard time wrapping itself around the idea that a huge hunk of metal can stay airborne without crashing to the ground. I know it's groundless and airplanes are basically safe modes of transport, I still can't help feeling a little nervous, both for Nelz and for myself.

It's been barely a half hour since me and Nelz parted and I already miss him terribly. Gah, how pitiful am I?

Very much so, comes the reply of certain people who I know are reading this entry and smirking already. (Hello, Katrice!)

Animated Gore

Happy Tree Friends the official site

Spreading cute fuzzy animals all over the pavement, then smooshing the entrails around for good measure. Their holiday special has ALL the episodes available for viewing for a limited time, so now's your chance.

La, la lalalala... la la lalalala......

Return of the Queen

Sean Astin just moved up to the very top of my list of Celebrities I can Sleep With. His eyes were breathtaking, and the sheer love -- yes, love, even the 'serious' fans of LOTR will admit that -- he had for Frodo is truly astounding. The only thing kulang was for one of them to be female. "I might not be able to cary the ring....but I can carry YOU!" is for me one of the most powerful moments of the film. Sean Astin is absolutely beautiful. I'm in love all over again (but I still love you the best Nelz! hahahah! *MWAH!*)

In all seriousness, the reason a lot of people tag the Sam-Frodo pairing as homoerotic (not to be confused with the pairings of Aragorn-Legolas, Gimli-Gandalf, Merry-Pippin, et al....) is the amount of love and care that is there; from the way meaningful glances are exchanged, bodies are held close. In traditonal movie language, all of what I mentioned is a set-up for a passionate kiss between the 2 characters in question.

Alas, it still has to cater to a straight audience, so all we get is a tender kiss on the forehead at the end, and Sam going the "str8-acting" route, marrying Rosie and having kids (I'm sure he was thinking of Frodo the entire time while they did it). But us fans know the TRUE story behind the secret love of Frodo and Sam.

Who knows, if things become more tolerant, perhaps Peter Jackson will release Lord of the Rings: The Uncensored Edition packed with all the hot, steamy Man-on-Man love that we know he filmed.

We just have to keep believing.

Triumph

I AM the turkey king.

In the words of the great Olive, pwede na akong magasawa daw.*grins*

People who have told me I have gained weight

With quotes when possible, in no particular order:

1) Gay customer at Hotstix: "sabihin mo sa kanya mas cute siya pag payat siya!"
2) Nelz's friend Daniel: "Lumaki ka!"
3) My old College friend Danilo: "Noon, pantay and dibdib at tiyan mo!" (before, your chest and stomach stuck out equally!)
4) Another customer at Hotstix: "I can see your ...*gestures* (she was too polite to say anything, but I know what she was trying to say....bitch.)
5) Employee at Hotstix, in response to my teasing her about her pregnancy-induced bulk (the gall!): "ikaw rin, tumataba kaya!"

And, the most painful one of all....

6) Nelz himself: "Baby, you need to firm up."

Sob......

Why Ian McKellen Rocks

Taken from an interview on Aint-it-Cool-News On who is the cutest male actor he's worked with:

"Oh, I don’t really label people that way. I got closest, I suppose, to Brendan Fraser. Brad Renfro, I was very touched by him. I thought he had a wonderful spirit and a hard life. Really, I wish him so much good luck. And Robert Downey, I worked with him in RESTORATION, and he then came to do RICHARD III with me. Well, he’s one of the most beautiful men I know, physically and spiritually. And I’ve always wished him the best. And now this gaggle of beauties in LORD OF THE RINGS. They’re all delightful. I woke up on the New Zealand flight. I took a sleep for a moment, but I woke up in the same room on this flight as Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen, and I thought, “Well, aren’t I the luckiest man in the world?” A little sleepover in mid-air. "

Not many gay men in their 60s can openly drool over hot men while being utterly charming the entire time. The man's priceless.

Garfield the Movie

Bill Murray who provides the voice comes sorta full circle, because the man who originally did the voice; the late Lorenzo Music, was the man who voiced the animated version of Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters, a character played on the big screen by.... Bill Murray.

The negative buzz on this has already begun, a-la the Scooby Doo live action film. However, after looking at the trailer, I have to say..... I kinda like it.

What a difference a day makes

Well.

Today was what yesterday should have been like, and then some. After I went home yesterday just seething and using all of my energy to keep my temper in check (which I did, I really, really did, save for one minor slip, and even by my standards that was small) I decided to write yesterday off and start fresh tomorrow. Which I did.

Woke up at 7, despite going to bed at 3 am. Felt sleepy, but not tired. Although my eyes were heavy, I was mentally alert. My mind was clear, because I knew I had work to do: Reprinting the promotional materials that were ruined yesterday. Since I had made every single possible error there was to make yesterday (wrong colors and font, paper jamming, paper measuring and cutting) I breezed through it no problem and was done by 9:30 am.

It was too late by then to go to the gym to work out before lunch, so I drive to Greenhills Shopping center to pick up some rubber bands for my braid, something which I had been putting off for weeks because GSC has become toxic due to all of the holiday shoppers and barangketa salespeople.

Head off to Hotstix by 11, nice and early. Handle the lunch hour rush. Not so much a rush as it is more a 'stroll'. Sales have dipped this week but I understand, as everyone is saving up for presents, and this is one of the dreaded 'jump' weeks, where there is an extra weekend in between pay days. Even I'm tightening my belt until the 15th.

Get off Hotstix by 2 pm and change into my workout gear to go to the gym. Normally if I work out in the afternoon I'm usually lethargic. But today I was like a dynamo. I don't know if it was the coffee or the energy or the determination to make this day a good one and keep it rolling, but I worked out like a man possessed. Pectorals and triceps. Blasted them like there was no tomorrow. Hit a new high with the inclined dumbbell press with 70 pounds on each arm, and it was actually easy, as I did 8 reps, when I max out usually by 4.

Okay, by now I've lost the non-working out crowd, but you get my point. I had a really, really good workout. My mood was further lightened, a mixture of endorphins coursing through my system and the feeling of accomplishment. Add to that was that I was good the whole day diet-wise.

I had been getting thick in the middle by all accounts, and wanted to at least minimize any further expansion as we head towards the holidays. So far all i had had to eat that day was one serving of chop suey, half a cup of garlic rice and one piece of chicken (which may seem a lot to most of you but is positively spartan by my standards).

Another reason I wanted to minimize my food intake today was because tonight the family was going out to dinner at Teriyaki Boy. Since Nelz and I started going out, my weekend have been with him, which means I haven't been attending the traditional Sunday family lunch-outs. But since Marco started working at Seattle's Best, he's been unable to go on Sundays too, which has precipitated the change of the meal to a weeknight where everyone can go, including me.

Anyone who knows me knows that Japanese cuisine is my absolute favorite foreign food: tempura, brown curry, sukiyaki, okonomiyaki, teppanyaki, ramen, and sushi, sushi, sushi. I was dieting the whole day because I intended to enjoy tonight.

Get home by 4, a quick shower and plop myself in front of the TV to watch ABS-CBN's local broadcast of Astro Boy, a remake of that classic anime series which I have fond memories of as a kid. The great thing about this updated remake is that is isn't really updated, as the classic big-eyed, roundish designs of Osamu Tezuka are still faithfully captured. Astro and Dr. Elephant look exactlythe way I remember them, it was as if they continued off from the last episode of their series on RPN 9 (which I still remember by the way, it was the one about one robot trying to be the strongest robot fighter of them all).

The animation is absolutely stunning and the pinoy voice dubbing, which is usually annoying to me, was actually very, very competent. It pleases me to no end that the people behind the local dubbing of this gem love the character as much as I do and wanted to do little Astro right. Looks like I will be setting aside 4:30 pm afternoons for the near future.

Show over, have to buy a present for Jazz and Nicole Nicholas' 2-year old son Keoni for his birthday on Saturday. I decide to walk to avoid the traffic and the exorbitant P20 parking fee. Now I acknowledge that isn't really all that expensive, it's just that I spent my entire life parking there for FREE and to be suddenly asked to PAY P20 offends me on a level beyond explanation.

It was relaxing to walk to Greenhilss actually. I was just strolling, taking my time. I felt good, and looked good too. Post workout I was feeling huge, and my polo shirt emphasized the wideness of my frame. Now some people work their asses off to be slim, but for me, I want to be big and bulky, and I was feeling good.

Near the entrance of the mall I see a young Caucasian sister/nun who was waiting for a taxi. She was actually rather pretty and caught my eye, I couldn't help but smile at the beauty that was before my eyes. She saw me looking and smiled back. All normal I assure you, just a little innocent flirtation between a nun and a gay man, nothing to see here, moving right along....

I buy this great art set for Keoni which had pentel pens, crayons, pastels, watercolors, a pencil, a sharpener, eraser, paper clips, a ruler, and a tiny little stapler! This was no ordinary art set, this was like the TERMINATOR of art sets. If I was a kid, I would go crazy if I got something like this as a gift. And it was a steal at P150. (here's hoping Nicole and Jazz never discover this blog and find out how cheap I am, hehehe!)

I have some time left over so I browse the pirated section for the latest games, and hoping to see a clear version of Kill Bill. So far all they have are the screener copies which are unclear and have the annoying 'PROPERTY OF MIRAMAX' onscreen for the duration of the movie. Stupid studios. Trying to protect their property. How dare they interfere with my illegal enjoyment of their work?

By now it's 6:30 and my mom calls me on the phone, telling me they;re about to go. I tell her I'll just meet them there at Teriyaki Boy, and take a brisk walk to the restaurant. It's only a few blocks away from Greenhills, and what the hell, more calories burned. When we sit down to eat I am starving, a combination of not eating all day and my body screaming for food after that intense workout.

I surprise even myself with how much I packed in tonight I eat: Inari (sweet bean curd) sushi, Teriyaki Boy chicken a la carte, a bowl of Sukiyaki don, Uni (sea urchin) sashimi, Enoke Dake (golden mushrooms wrapped in bacon), an extra bowl of white rice, and I order a take out of okonomyaki (Japanese pizza of cabbage and pork) for lunch tomorrow. My belly is full to bursting by now, and it feels goooooood. Most of it is protein, I assure you.

So we head home, I am fit, full, relaxed and happy, sitting in front of the computer typing it all, and just remarking over the difference between yesterday and today. Next time I'm depressed I will have to remember today and tell myself that it will get better. Because it always does. Today, it did. And now, I have to log off and watch my favorite show, Alias, which is on in 2 minutes.

God, I love this day.

Insomnia

I'm wide awake at 2 in the morning because I don't want tomorrow to begin yet.

I'm just dreading that it will just be more of the same.

What happened today?

- Learned that I might not be going to Bangkok for Christmas after all; a trip which I gave up a vacation to Cagayan de Oro with Nelz for, and now odds are good that I may be spending the holidays alone.

- Woke up early to finish up what I thought was a simple print job. Everything was already set for printing, or so I thought. Turns out what looked fine on the PC screen didn't turn out well in print, both in color and resolution. Spent 2 hours adjusting everything.

- Have to deal with long-standing rivalry with computers. Printer jams up, and have to clean the inside of excess ink and clean the print head several times before continuing, as the clock ticks and having to explain on the phone why I am not at the store yet. Reserves of patience rapidly dwindling.

- Finally finish. Drive to store, have missed lunch hour crush. But arrive to set up promotional materials. Set it aside. When I turn around someone has left it face down on a wet spot, ruining a corner of both posters. The materials I had been working on all morning were defaced before I had a chance to set them up. I realize there was no one at fault, which in a way makes it worse because there is no real release for the anger rapidly building inside me.

- I vow to do the materials again and go home, leaving the shop. Total time I spent there is 30 minutes. Being productive makes me feel really good inside.

- Scream in car.

- Scream some more.

- Spend rest of the afternoon watching TV and just trying to let the anger steam off with no real release. Have not yelled yet.

- Am at computer when Mother tells me that I should get off my ass and try to get tickets myself to Cagayan de Oro if I want to go since we may not make it to Bangkok and I shouldn't depend on others and it's all my fault anyway.

Okay, NOW is where I blow up. I have really really REALLY bit my tongue with regards to the trip because I know that mother did not want this to happen any more than any of us, and I DID have the option to choose a month before, and if this is one of the ramifications of that decision I have to live with it.

But do NOT rub it in. So I yell. She yells. We're both mad now. And I'm sitting here in front of the PC writing about it all because I can't think of anything else to do without exploding.

I want this day to end.
-

One wrong thing after another

Today was one of those days where you just want to crawl under your covers and cry.

Mutual Aggression

I don't get along with computers, and computers hate me.