i'm back! fun was had by all. it was hot, i got sunburnt. coppertone spf 45 was my new best friend. pictures will be up soon.

catching up after a holiday like that is always hard. i spent the last few days, catching up with my friends and other things. work and school didn't stop here even tho it stopped in my head while i was gone. the end result being a huge todo list.

i'm dark, not that i needed to get any darker. i now disappear when the lights turn off and only reappear through my teeth when i smile. tanning is a very delicate process.

one of the first spanish words that i learned in mexico was the word for cheap/hardsell. its ironic that i learned the word from a street vendor that i was dealing with. the second phrase that i learned was "please lower the price."

pictures will be posted soon. i promise.

happy 3 year anniversary! i can't believe it's lasted this long?

shit. i leave tomorrow morning? i leave tomorrow morning! oh god.

usually, for the average person, this means that laundry has been done. packing has been semi-completed. you've bought everything that you need to buy. usually the day before you leave you're more or less prepared and all you have to do is worry about getting on the plane and not piss off any security guards.

me on the other hand seems to find a way to be completely different. one, i'm not packed. meaning: the suitcase is still in the closet and some clothes are in the cabinets and drawers. two, the remaining clothes are in the laundry. yes folks, 3 loads of laundry all waiting to be done when i get home. the percentage of shopping done you ask? zero! which means that unless i find time to buy some spf 2000 sunscreen, i'll be looking like a filipino lobster when i return to vancouver.

procrastination is a beautiful thing isn't it?

eh.

the days have been so depressing lately that it's been a chore to wake up. this morning, my alarm went off and i couldn't bring myself to get out of bed.

the possibility of a war breaking out is more likely now than before. the united states have bumped their country wide state to orange and apparently saddam isn't budging out of iraq. it's all a matter of principle and they somehow managed to lodge themselves into a political pride match. "you budge!" in response, "no! i'm not budging!" its a terrible state to be in, especially when people's lives are at risk. it's not that i don't want to accept the reality of war but i wish that when i close my eyes, it could somehow be a dream.

people are leaving their homes and fleeing for their lives on the other end of the world. me? i'm blogging infront of my computer at work. i have it easy. we all have it easy. people no matter where they come from and what they believe they're are still people too. i think min jung said it best when she said: the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

say a prayer or something.

so i guess the cat's out of the bag. i'm going to mexico this friday for a small vacation.

i love to travel. i love to just get on a plane to an unfamiliar destination. it gives me a sense that the world is pretty big since the internet makes it seem so small. the last time its been a while since my last vacation so i'm preparing for my trip early. (ie taking my shots)

in my preparation, i've been surfing a couple of websites. just to get an idea of what to bring, what to do and what not to do. good websites basically suggest the common things like bring sunscreen, carry small amounts of money when you go out and don't feed the growling dog looking at you like you're a free steak and lobster meal at red lobser. these are pretty generic tips that apply anywhere you travel to a tropical area of the world. anyone have any suggestions to offer?

i have a confession to make. i read the msn.ca money section. i enjoy the articles and the tips and tricks that come with them. i find that accountants and financial analysts usually have a good sense of humor.

when i saw the article titled "the saving secret that's worth millions." how could i not click on it? i'm a spender by habit and i've always had trouble saving. apparently, i can blame this on my parents because it's probably a dysfunctional reaction to their spending (or lack of) spending habits. my parents (my mom in particular) are obsessive compulsive savers, so naturally i would turn into the obsessive compulsive spender... right?

i'm better now. i manage to put away a certain amount every month using scare tactics. to make a long story short, i basically scare myself every month bi-weekly by thinking about different crisis situations that could happen that would require money, put myself into major debt and i have to remortgage the house. a few more months of this and i think i'll be throwing myself into therapy soon.

warning: geek talk! i coded last night. it took a while to get the juices flowing but i got it somewhat done. i wanted to integrate thebox! into this site somehow.

programmers are a lazy bunch efficient, usually. we want information to be managed in a central place. we want to click one button and update things in different places. we want full control but without the hassles of doing a manual task.

so the challenge last night was to somehow automatically update my bookmarks section. i've talked to a few people about implementing this different ways. ultimately, i decided to create an xml file and have this site read that file and generate the list. in the end, the result is very unimpressive. the page looks like its being updated by hand and the 3 hours of work that i put into it last night isn't visible to the end user. but really! i did code something!

i hate shots. especially immunization shots. i hate them. they're thick liquids and long needles. i really hate them.

last night i went to the travel clinic to assess my immunization record and get the necessary injections for my trip to mexico. the doctor looked at my record, asked about my childhood in the philippines and figured out that i needed two shots.

now the problem with being 25 is that people have certain expectations in terms of the way you behave. you can't cower in the corner of the room while you cry your eyes out just because you're scared of a needle. so i bit my lower lip, looked away while they poked both of my arms. it hurt. i hate insensitive nurses. what a way to spend the evening of your birthday!

maybe i'll just rage like benjie.

being 25 isn't really that big of a difference for me. its very similar to being 24 kinda but not really.

there are some subtle differences. apparently, you have to use a different facial cream for 25 and over skin but i don't use facial cream so i don't really have that problem. you find amusement in stupid things at 7am. also lets not forget the fact you find more hilarity in putting up new curtains rather than hanging out in the club.

yes, we all know i'm weird. happy birthday to me!

a small project of mine is to make a wall 'o pictures somewhere in my house. i plan to take pictures of all my friends and somehow manage to hang these pictures in my office.

i love to surround myself with friends. i think that i wouldn't be the way that i am without them. they helped shape me into the person that i am now.

since i have no siblings i relied closely on my friends. they acted like my very own brothers and sisters throughout the years. so the wall 'o pictures is my very own dedication to them. tonight i start planning out my mini project.

so heres the deal. tomorrow is my birthday and it's gonna be celebrated in full effect or as close to a full effect that i can get. apparently you have to welcome the 25th year with a bang. to be honest with you, i don't even feel 25 more like 15 or 19 years old.

the past few years it's been a quiet celebration. dinner with a few close friends and family usually. this year its different. i want a louder atmosphere and the more friends the merrier. it should be fun.

just rsvp and let me know if you're going. either call me, email me, or sign the comments. i'm still trying to figure out the name/location of the restaurant and what movie we're watching but it'll be in burnaby.

so i got a question. a dilemma if you will. it's a bit high-school-ish but bare with me. it's been plaguing my mind for a while.

what are the boundaries that you would ask someone to hang out one on one? i, myself, have imposed limitations on myself on the parameters of asking someone to hang out one on one. i wouldn't ask a girl involved in a relationship to say...a movie. just because of perception. perception to the other person the girl might be involved with. i'm a pretty small guy, compared to other people out there and i wouldn't want to piss anyone off. especially anyone who could kill me within the time you microwave a pizza pop.

am i wrong to have this outlook?

i saw a movie last night that was a bit revealing. it definitely got me thinking of things and how my life turned out and how my relationship with my parents are.

in the movie, the main character was an asian woman. during the movie events happen that forces her to make some career decisions that one might considered dishonorable. eventually, her parents find out and they say something about redeeming the family name and how she's such a disgrace. the daughter cries and swears to eventually redeem the family name, to make them proud of her.

this must be a common occurrence in asian families because i know a few of my friends who pine for the approval of their parents until their full-grown adults. they long for their mom and dad to pat them on the back and tell them that they did a good job. i also have a small minority of friends that are quite the opposite but they're a very tiny percentage of the majority.

i'm lucky. i never felt the pressure from my parents that i needed to please them. they always made me shoot for my dreams; they never forced their dreams on me. they always supported me in mine and when i fell they were always there to catch me. i never realized how good i have it until i saw something to compare myself to. i'm not saying that my parents approval isn't important. i just know that they're proud of me even if i did end up working in wendy's for the rest of my life, as long as i have my degree no matter what.

i've been throwing around the idea of getting a pet. nothing too elaborate but something that's easy to maintain and still amusing to watch. that completely rules dogs out of the picture. my track record with pet dogs is horrible. i usually end up deferring the responsibility to my mother but since she's not available to me anymore, getting a dog wouldn't be a good idea.

the next obvious thing would be to aquire a few fishes. they're easy to take care of and they're somewhat amusing. it's too bad that i'm terrified of them.

the next logical choice would be turtles. they're cute, they swim in an aquarium and they seem pretty low maintenance. i'm not talking about huge turtles like lillian's, just something small. my uncle had turtles and they were a few hours of amusement.

how about a hamster? they stink don't they? i think my old one in the philippines got electrocuted. so forget that idea.

i'm lost. anyone have any suggestions?

whenever i go on sabbatical, there is always something to blog. when i'm actively blogging, i can't seem to find anything interesting to talk about.

first of all, it was my mom's birthday on february 26th. she turned 51 this year. happy birthday mom.

in my hiatus, mr rogers died. i guess the old cardigan sweater is hung up for good this time. i have to admit, i never watched an episode because i preferred the more upbeat sesame street to the mellow sounds of "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." i'm sure he will be missed by many.

on a lighter note, its my birthday on march 11. i'm turning a quarter of a century old this month. apparently this calls for some sort of celebration. i'm not really a big celebration kind of guy, but i'm open to suggestions. for the past few years, i celebrate with a small group of friends with my family to a nice quiet dinner talking about how the past year went. this year should be different. any ideas?

it's been a year since the last redesign. i'm not exactly sure if it really is but i'm sure its close to that. scary huh? some websites out there redesign constantly, others even semi-annually. me? well, i like to wait a year when the design has mold and scum rotting it's corpse before i even consider a redesign.

to be honest, it wasn't as easy as it looks. i'm admittedly not a designer and i'm no gui developer either. i don't even know the first thing about making a page look semi-alright. so i have quite a few people to thank for this redesign. i also surfed around and looked at sites asking, "what looks good in this website? and what can i steal from it?" it was a long and tedious process but it seems like it all paid off in the end.

so a few things to note. there maybe a lot all of the images from the past entries are broken because i cleared everything out. i cleaned up most of my code for this site but as always, there are always things that could be improved. i couldn't pick which color scheme to use, i'm not a designer or even a color expert. just pick the color scheme by clicking one of the tree colored blocks on the top right corner of the page. its easier to let the readers pick their own color scheme. there are other things that still obviously need work, so if i missed anything major please let me know. thanks.