Why do people misspell my simple name John to Jhon? Always! Everytime I would order a cup of coffee at Starbucks, or whenever I would go to the local laundry shop, or I’m dining [sic] in a fastfood they always never fail to write my name in ORs as Sir Jhon. And here I thought we are a big Christian nation! Ever seen the name of Saint John the Beloved misspelled as Saint Jhon? Or Saint John the Baptist as Saint Jhon the Baptist? I bet you haven’t! Pronouncing John is ja-han, not jay-hon! Next time I’ll be telling everyone that my name is Peter and I’m expecting they will write it down as Fighter.

Another much-anticipated movie this year is "The Dark Knight", sequel to the ass-kicking "Batman Begins". A few teasers or shall we say viral campaign appeared on the net such as this site, and also this one, but here is a favorite of mine click here and you will be welcomed by an error page, don’t worry, go to Edit then Select All, you will be greeted by ha ha ha words, after which copy it and paste it in a notepad. Then replace every H and A with " " and then see you in December.

Before anything else, a disclaimer, yes I am a poor guy, I was born into this world with only the land err dirt on my fingernails as proof of being a haciendero. But that didn’t stop me from buying signature clothes. I knew a poor guy like me who shares the same passion albeit his was to collect all the world’s shoes. You may wonder, why oh why do these guys waste their money on things that are considered luxury? Why won’t they just imitate the really rich guys who likes to keep their appearance at common as possible to avoid hassles? The simple answer to that question is, poor guys have long been deprived of these things that an onslaught of false richness will be treated as living above poverty line. Any cash will be spent without hesitations and shopping will be equated into a hobby. See, when I was young all I had was a perfect imitation of Airwalk shoes with OGAN as its brand name, a shirt so worn out that you could use it as a rag (but aha! it was Hanes! very big deal back in those days), a khaki pants that could pass as my grandfather’s beloved disco outfit, a multi colored bikini briefs (well I had a maroon one, a dark blue one, a gray one and i think a green one), and when I finally earned my first salary, I wasted it all to buy things that could satisfy me, or at least the extravagant in me. So the next time you bump into a well dressed ‘poor guy’ or used to be a ‘poor guy’, say hi to him, be kind to him, because he is fighting a very hard battle, the battle of overspending.

Last Thursday, the whole Perl team, as well as the QA and the Graphics team went to Elbow Room at Metrowalk, Ortigas for their team building. I was the only one that wasn’t part of either the three teams or with the HR, so in effect I was just a gate crasher, but never a party pooper.

That was the first time I went to Elbow Room and good thing they reserved a VIP room. The VIP room is quite big, with 2 tv sets dedicated for videoke, a long table for the foods, and a billiard table smacked in the center. If you have no plans on renting the VIP room, one can still play billiards on their public area however you lose the videoke and swap it for a live band instead - which is not a bad idea afterall.

The price, as I can recall, is PHP 4,000 for the VIP room from 8PM - 12MN (not bad ehh). However food is not yet part of the package. Compared that to Redbox’s PHP 399 (exclusive of tax) + PHP 99 for buffet per person which is good for 7PM - 12MN.

It was a fun night and we wrapped it up with a final drinking round at Jay-Js.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein

A conservative is a man who is too cowardly to fight and too fat to run.
Elbert Hubbard

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Napoleon

I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mohandas Gandhi

Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.
Scottish proverb

Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Plato

Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
Malcolm X

If fifty million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
Anatole France

There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth.
Chinese proverb