Hell’s bells!

I never realized this photo existed but, yes, it does. Gosh, I never expected to see this online, and in FaceBook of all places!

Anywho, my longtime friend, high school classmate and college schoolmate Ramon (now based in Dubai, OFWs r0x0rs!) recently uploaded this picture onto FB and tagged yours truly. Ramon is the one right in front wearing the very Miami Vice white jacket.

No need to point out where I am in the darned photo, naturalmente.

My dress was made from the softest blood-red velvet my seamstress could find in Iloilo City at that time. I designed this gown myself and it remains as one of the finest, well, finery I have ever worn.

This is the first post I am making on this blog using my spanking-new E156G USB modem.

Yes, folks, after the long and tedious wait, I was finally able to procure a wireless broadband connection device for my trusty Philippine-made laptop. In true budget-friendly fashion, I am on a prepaid internet package. No eye-watering bills at the end of the month!

An hour or so ago, I spoke with my mother on the phone, so yours truly can do a bit of catching up on the home front. Apparently, she is busy making last-minute preparations for this year’s big Labor Day event.

For the long weekend that kicks off today, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has partnered with hundreds of employers from various industries all over the country to put together JOBapalooza 2009. This is arguably the biggest jobs fair in recent Philippine history, taking place simultaneously in dozens of shopping malls and convention centers nationwide.

From what I gathered on the news, there are more than 200,000 jobs for the taking. There will be work available in call centers, construction sites, factories and mall stores, among many others. Employers will meet potential employees face-to-face through kiosks and desks set up in the jobs fair venues.

I am going to be Little Miss Sunshine this time around and wish all job-seekers in JOBapalooza 2009 the very best of luck!

Our local celebration of the Chinese New Year took place today. The festivities included a soft inauguration of our Chinese neighborhood as the city’s official Chinatown.

The Chinatown area, which consists of three city streets that form a triangle, was entirely closed off since 12 noon today.

The organizers of the celebration set up a stage at the intersection of two of the bigger streets, adorned with traditional Chinese decorations, dragons in various sizes for luck and a huge Fire Dog that looked positively Freudian with its tongue sticking out and a very sanctimonous look on its face.

There was a food festival as well as a souvenir sale that ran the entire length of the longest Chinatown street. Everyone enterprising in the area had set up their stall to cash in on the event, methinks.

People could barely move through the place because the tables and the kiosks have all been pushed so tightly against each other.

My friend Maro picked me up a little before 7 PM and we took public transport to the closest spot it could get to Chinatown.

Of course, we had color-coordinated and he had dressed in red, too. He confessed that this was only the second time in four years that he had worn that particular shirt of his. If not for me, he would NOT have had the guts to wear such a “loud” color. How sweet!

We walked a block to the restaurant where we had made dinner reservations, with the promise that we will be getting the famous and allegedly very delicious Peking Duck. We ordered the duck, plus Bird’s Nest Soup, Lumpia Shanghai Pancit Canton, Pao and Shanghai rice.

Although we went for the smallest order size the place had, we were very, very surprised to discover that the “small” servings were actually pretty humongous.

Dinner lasted for nearly two hours because we had a lot to talk about. Besides, we needed time to eat the delicious feast that we had ordered.

On the whole, it was fun and I was glad that we had made reservations and went to the place early. As soon as 8 PM rolled about, the restaurant was packed, with a queue forming outside for those who were waiting for tables to get freed up.

At 9 PM, we went out to the festival area and watched parts of the fireworks display. There was already a live band performing on the makeshift stage, although their music is the stuff of local pop radio stations.

They should have brought in Faye Wong or Leon Lai – or Vaness Wu at the very least.

The highlight of my evening was our walk right through Chinatown. It was very crowded but I knew a lot of people who were there, Chinatown residents and otherwise.

We intended to get a few souvenirs, but nothing of note was available so we just decided not to make the stalls more crowded than they already were.

The 2002 Miss Universe pageant was broadcast via RPN-9 starting a little past eight this morning. The contest wrapped up just a tad before two in the afternoon.

The sponsors’ advertisements constituted roughly four-fifths of the entire broadcast period, and that is being conservative in estimating.

My uncle and I had practically the same bets for the crown. In no particular order: China, Russia and Venezuela. Not bad, considering all three of them made it to the Final Five.

Personally, what I liked most about the whole, tedious-to-watch show was the “Determining” question, the one that has to be answered by all the finalists: What makes you blush?

Simple, but it makes a person stop and think.

Here are the results:

Miss Universe: Russia (also Best in Swimwear)
Runner-ups
First: Panama
Second: China (also Best in Evening Gown)
Third: South Africa
Fourth: Venezuela

The rest of the Top Ten
Albania
Germany
Cyprus
India
Canada

Special Awards
Most Photogenic: Puerto Rico
Miss Congeniality: US Virgin Islands

In other news, my father bought me a brand-new, glittering Nokia 3310. I now have the same unit as my mother.

To honor this gift, I downloaded three new ringtones and proudly made Obi-Wan Kenobi as my operator logo.

Folks at home are currently watching on television Binibining Pilipinas 2002, a nationwide beauty pageant extravaganza. The contest hails three winners, who each gets to represent the Philippines in Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International.

One of tonight’s hosts is Miriam Quiambao, who won First Runner-up in Miss Universe three years ago. She would have been the champion, hands down, had she not clammed up so badly during the final interview.

Miriam lost to Miss Botswana, who was the only one who gave a sensible enough answer. The question ran along the line of how Miss Universe should deal with her title if and when she gets pregnant during her reign. Miss Botswana said that she should proudly go on with her duties, as pregnancy is a celebration of femininity.

I am still a bit woozy from this afternoon. I was supposed to watch Soryuden, aka Dragon Creation, on GMA-7 at 5:30 PM as scheduled.

However, it turned out that Hunter X Hunter has been extended to have Saturday shows as well, in lieu of Soryuden in said timeslot. Will have to wait this out, for clarifications and hopes of getting a more set schedule.

I miss Tsuzuku.

I have been cleaning out various electronic mailboxes and address books when I got this nice little piece of trivia from a mailing list.

As today is 22/02/2002, with more than enough 2s for the eye to handle, here goes yet another take on symmetry:

As the clock ticked over from 8:01 PM on Wednesday, February 20th, 2002, time (for sixty seconds only) read in perfect symmetry. To be more precise: 20:02, 20/02, 2002.

It was an event which has only ever happened once before, and is something which will never be repeated. The last occasion that time read in such a symmetrical pattern was long before the days of the digital watch (or the 24-hour clock): 10:01 AM, on January 10,1001. And because the clock only goes up to 23.59, it is something that will never happen again.

Amazing. To think that we lived through this moment is quite an honor in itself.