2007 February | Ajay's Writings on the Wall

February, 2007

Finally played poker..

February 25, 2007 by ajay

After watching Casino Royale and seeing all the Desperate Housewives dish out the latest community gossip in the midst of their poker game, I was happy to finally try my hand at playing poker. Whew, it’s good to know what the hoopla is all about and to realize that poker is actually, ehrrm, addicting.

Our bosses were brilliant enough to organize an employees’ Texas Hold ‘Em poker tourney in time for our casino anniversary and almost everybody was willing to join. A buddy told moi that it was like playing the Filipino game pusoy but even I haven’t played pusoy in a long time. Prizes were at stake… as always, I didn’t have beginners luck and I lost but just experiencing and learning how to play the game was good enough for moi. Am still trying to find out what makes poker tick among celebrities and what makes it the hottest game now. I did realize that in this game, it’s not just having a lucky pair of cards; it’s also about analysis, strategy, instinct and being able to bluff your way through.
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Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 7 Comments
20 signs that Koreans are invading your world

February 20, 2007 by ajay

Sorry, I don’t have the figures on how many Koreans are there right now in the Philippines. All I know is that they are everywhere!! (and am not exactly complaining because after all, we are supposed to exercise tolerance towards other races). They are omnipresent, especially where I live and work. Manila may as well be christened Koreatown. Is it good or bad? You tell me. I can just give you the signs on why Koreans are invading our world:

1. You begin to greet your cellphone callers with “Yo-bo-se-yo!” (and you’re not even a rapper )

2. Your good morning/good afternoon has been replaced by “Anyong haseyo!”

3. You now pair your adobo, crispy pata and pork bbq with kimchi.

4. yet, you stand within six meters of that Korean trying to talk to you whose breath reeks of kimchi

5. you can’t imagine how those tourists eat kimchi with gusto, for breakfast

6. You go to Boracay and Pagsanjan falls and you wonder why there are more Koreans than Filipinos there.

7. You go to some remote tourist spot like the Banaue Rice Terraces and sigh with relief that there’s no Korean there
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Category Life & Living | Tags: | 28 Comments
Manila’s best beef hofan is at the Malate Tea House

February 17, 2007 by ajay

beef hofan

When it comes to the yummiest eats in town, my Filipino-Chinese (‘tsinoy’) friends are the authority and I always rely on them for the ultimate lowdown on where to go and what to order, especially when it comes to their cuisine. And that is how I came to embark on my Resto Discovery of the Week, a very unassuming place near where I live and work, simply named Malate Tea House.

I remember passing by this tea house before but ignoring it because it seemed to be dissociated from every resto on the block. Everything about it – from the signboard to the ordinary white formica tables – is nondescript. All that was needed was some prodding from my Tsinay friend who was raving about their delectable specialties, the type which wouldn’t burn a hole in your famished office worker’s pocket.
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Category Munchin', My Manila | Tags: | 9 Comments
Of chocolates and other aphrodisiacs

February 16, 2007 by ajay

Meiji Black

After all the fancy-schmancy trappings of Valentine’s, all I really want is… Meiji Black chocolate! People close to me know that I prefer entrees to desserts anytime, but this one I can’t resist. I like it because it’s simple, uncomplicated, not overwhelmingly black or sweet and priced very affordably in our local convenience store.Of course I couldn’t quite forget the divine block of Royce chocolate I tasted back in Tokyo. Japanese chocolates simply does it for me when reawakening my taste buds for the delightfully indulgent.

But I digress. In the course of looking for an appropriate V-Day post, I found this old article of mine on the powerful properties of certain aphrodisiacs.

Chocolates, it says, contain over 400 different chemicals, including caffeine and phenyllethylamine, the chemical property which arouses the same feelings when we are in love. Legend has it that the Aztecs of Mexico were the “first chocoholics.” Montezuma reportedly drank 50 cups of cocoa before entering his harem of several hundred women.
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Category Munchin' | Tags: | 10 Comments
Brokenhearted bride of ‘Runaway Groom’ relishes a happy ending

February 14, 2007 by ajay

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. There couldn’t be a more relevant time to receive this email than today, of all days! I have to admit this surprised me but life certainly gives us what we deserve. Here goes:

Annalyn,

Someone forwarded me this link and article almost a year ago. You see, I happen to be the ‘Betsy’ in the article.
I have been happily married since this happened, I have not seen ‘Ron’ for a very long time. I am not writing to correct anything nor air my side but I just want to know how are you related to ‘Ron’ since you mentioned you know him. Maybe I met you before, who knows. Like what I said, I am happily married and I do not want to dig up the past. I am more thankful that God did not let that wedding to happen. It would have been a big mistake and I would have been miserable. God has other plans and I am a living testimony of that. He has given me the best husband instead.
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Category Life & Living | Tags: | 3 Comments
Greenpeace slams launch of Windows Vista

February 10, 2007 by ajay

This has been sent by a media campaigner to my inbox: global environmental watchdog Greenpeace fears that the introduction of Microsoft’s newest operating system, the Windows Vista, “will trigger a deluge of E-waste in developing countries.”

Greenpeace states that with Vista, ” more companies and
individuals may feel the need to replace their existing computers sooner as these become incompatible with the new operating system. The result:massive volumes of computer scrap in dirty recycling yards and dumpsites in the Philippines, Thailand, and in other Asian countries where most of the world’s E-waste dumps are located.”
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Category Technews | Tags: | 3 Comments
Waxing nostalgic and becoming a Nostalgia Bloggista

February 7, 2007 by ajay

Childhood photo1.

I had fun answering the questions sent me by Nostalgia Manila for its Nostalgia Bloggista feature. I am reprinting the questions (and my answers here) but you can still hop on over to the Nostalgia site for more of my childhood photos, haha.

1. Where did you grow up, and what made that place special?<

I was raised by my late grandparents in this remote place called Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte. This is a coastal town of which the famed Limasawa island is a part of. We had this nice concrete bungalow fronting the sea from where you can see the mountains of Surigao in the far horizon. The place was horrible during the typhoon season but it was completely perfect during the rest of the year since we always went boating and I caught this little shells and colorful little fishes during low tide. Everything was special because it was the closest thing to nature one can get. I actually slept hearing the waves lapping on the shore.

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Category Blogosphere | Tags: | 5 Comments
Laugh-out words from Mixtionary

February 7, 2007 by ajay

effair.

Being a writer, I love anything that has to do with words. Ergo, I had an amusing time discovering entries submitted in Mixtionary, short for “mixed up” and “dictionary.” You can even submit your own contribution to this lingo and win a prize. Here’s some I found:

Benefriend – friend with benefits

Mantiques – the things in your home which you are desperate to get rid of which, unfortunately, are your husband’s prized possessions.

Middle Rage - Realizing that you have, in fact, hit middle age; that forty is not really the new thirty and that this really is as good (and not as ugly) as it’s going to get
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Category Language & Lit | Tags: | 3 Comments