May 19, 2006

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!

I am so excited about the date above!

It is when one of the my most anticipated films of all time will be released!

I bet that most of you have read the book, questioned its content, and have had intense debates with friends and family. Love it or hate it, never has a book elicited so much reaction.

I am talking about, of course, The Da Vinci Code.

The first full trailer has been made available by apple.com here.

My excitement tripled after I saw the trailer. Tom Hanks looked like a convincing Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor of symbology. It's about time he did another great role since The Green Mile. My favourite wizard Gandalf, Sir Ian Mckellan himself, plays Sir Leigh Teabing - the suave, educated, crippled villian. And of course, who can forget Audrey Tautou, that wonderful french actress from Amelie? She plays Sophie Neveu.

Man, oh man, I can't wait for this film to come out. Remember, 19.05.06...

It's Meeko's year!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!!

What does this year have in store for me?



Thank goodness for open spaces, because the Horse needs plenty of room to roam! Energetic, good with money and very fond of travel, Horses are the nomads of the Chinese Zodiac, roaming from one place or project to the next. All of this Sign's incessant activity and searching may be to satisfy a deep-rooted desire to fit in. Paradoxically, Horses feel a simultaneous yearning for independence and freedom.

Horses crave love and intimacy, which is a double-edged sword since it often leads them to feel trapped. Love connections tend to come easily to Horses, since they exude the kind of raw sex appeal that is a magnet to others. This Sign tends to come on very strong in the beginning of the relationship, having an almost innate sense of romance and seduction. Horses are seducers in general; check out any A-list party and you're bound to find the Horse in attendance. This Sign possesses a sharp wit and a scintillating presence; it really knows how to work a crowd. Surprisingly, Horses tend to feel a bit inferior to their peers, a misconception that causes them to drift from group to group out of an irrational fear of being exposed as a fraud.

An impatient streak can lead Horses to be less than sensitive to others' needs. These colts would rather take a situation firmly in hand as opposed to waiting for others to weigh in or come to terms with it. The lone wolf inside the Horse can at times push others away, but this also makes this Sign stronger and is a key to its success. Horses are self-reliant and, though they might lose interest fast in a tedious, nine-to-five day job, are willing to do the work necessary to get ahead.

Horses tend not to look much at the big picture; instead they just follow their whims, which can result in a trail of prematurely ended relationships, jobs, projects and so on. This Sign really knows how to motivate others, though, and get a lot accomplished. Once they find some peace within themselves, they can curb their wandering tendencies and learn to appreciate what's in their own backyard.

The most compatible match for a Horse is the Dog or the Tiger.

Congratulations!

I extend my warmest congratulations to the Swiss genius and number one player in the world Roger Federer for winning the first tennis grand slam of the year, the Australian open.

Kudos also to a tennis legend in the making, the runner up Marcos Baghdatis. Thanks for an excellent show of sportsmanship and great tennis.

To Federer, you're the bomb man! Love you to bits!!!

Here's to beating Pete Sampras's record! We, your fans, believe in you!

Quarter-life crisis

A friend of mine and I got into the discussion of wanting to do certain things before we turn 30. He felt that he was running out of time, that his life was closing in on him and that he better get a move on before the earth swallows him whole.

Us 20-somethings suffer from quarter-life crisis. It's very different from mid-life crisis I suppose, the latter making you act like a complete idiot because you're so dead set in acting like a 20-something instead of a 50-something. The quarter-life crisis is a time in our life when we feel that we are running out of time to do the things we want to do or accomplish before we completely commit ourselves to heaps of responsibilities which usaully involves other people rather than just ourselves. In short, it is a time in our life when we feel we only have a few years left to be completely selfish.

I am actually turning 28 in a couple of weeks. I have gone through my quarter-life crisis at the tender age of 24. I went through my wish list - very reasonable ones at that -and tried to fulfill it as much as I can.

I guess we all have our wish lists, of things we want to achieve and experience before we get to a certain age. In my case, all of my plans and aspirations have changed come my 26th birthday. I have stopped making plans just for myself since then. I don't know, probably because I felt like I have done everything that I wanted by myself - travelled overseas on my own, purchased my car, bought a house, shop for stuff I like, that sort of thing. A lot of things that I plan for has to do something with my future with Arnie and our future family, except for a couple of things I want to do on my own:

1. Finish my Ph.D by 40
2. Finish my novel

Different people have different priorities. I may like a lot of things that people my age usually occupy their time with , like shopping and stuff (Believe me, I am not one for neglecting myself when it comes to clothes and shoes), but I do like to plan for my future. I guess I am not so selfish as I used to be.

Jennie has grown up... and about time too!

G'day mate!

How I love Google! On January 26, they decorated their homepage with a couple of kangaroos holding the Australian Flag. Today is Australia Day - a fabulous holiday wherein us Aussies celebrate the birth of the country lovingly known as the Land Down Under.

The temperature averaged around the 35 degree mark - too hot to spend the day in the house doing nothing, too hot to arrange a barbeque party with friends and family. So, in true Aussie style, Arnie and I spent Australia Day the best way we know how.

We went to the beach.

The fantastic thing about living in a city like Melbourne is that you are not short of beaches. The particular beach we went to , Black Rock, is about 15 minutes away from my work. The water was so refreshing, the heat suddenly became tolerable. A lot of people had the same idea and around 11 am, the beach was packed. Armed with sunscreen, towels, and heaps of drink, the beach was such an enjoyable experience.

So to everyone, let me extend a "G'day" and hope you're having a great Thursday!

Ho-hum...

It has been a boring, bland week for me. Work, work, work. None of the hustle and bustle I have experienced back during the holidays wherein I had to be somewhere almost everyday for parties, drinking, parties, and more parties!

*****

I have been in the market for new books recently. Been scouring Borders for a good read and was decided to get the second book to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" called "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams.

During the successful "Doctor Who" day/marathon that I had with my friends at my place back in the 14th, they were talking about a series of books whose first installment was released back in 1982 and the latest part of the series was released last year. After the discussion, I got curious so naturally I bought the first book of the series last Saturday. It's called "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" by Sue Townsend. The whole series spans through Adrian's life, well into adulthood. It was a very funny read, subtle comedic and smart as any well-written British book can be.

I have finished reading it last night and will try and get the second installment called "The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole". If it's not available, I will have to order it in. In the meantime, I might end up getting "Restaurant" so that I have something to read over the weekend.

*****

Bored. So bored! My holiday with Arnie at the Gold Coast isn't for another couple of weeks! Argh!

*****

Funny that back during winter (June- August), I was saying I can't wait for summer to come. Now, it's the middle of summer (December - February) and I'm completely over it! We had over 30 degree days the whole of last week and a scorching 43 degree day last Sunday! It was too much! I was constantly wetting myself down, only to get completely dry again 2 minutes later! It was so hot to even hang around the beach! The sun was enough of a punishment for everyone!

Thank God that yesterday and today were milder compared to last week. Temperatures have been mild, between 22-26 degrees. Then, back into the oven on Australia Day (Thursday) - a massive 40 degrees!

Spring (September - November) is definitely my most favourite season...


*****

The answer to the ultimate question... thanks for sharing your thoughts on my original post about this, Jayce :)

My ultimate question would be this:

Why would humanity create something that could cause them misery? Take your pick on this one: money, atomic bombs, religion...

TV bliss...

Just been bogged down by so much TV and TV series boxsets lately...

*****

My friend Emilly gave me the boxset of the first season of the new Doctor Who. I have been watching, re-watching, and mostly enjoying the series. I haven't been the biggest fan of the series purely because of it's poor special effects and stuff in the past. I do admit that the writers were good and the stories were albeit interesting.

The ninth Doctor was fascinating. Christopher Eccleston was a brilliant doctor - very funny, witty, and sarcastic if needed be. The stories are excellent, the special effects more so. There were a lot of on-location shots that shows off the beauty of London.

Last night, I just finished downloading the "Christmas Invasion", the Doctor Who Christmas special which was shown in Britain on the 25th of December 2005. It wasn't shown on the ABC channel here in Australia yet, or it might have been but I just missed it. On this episode, the ninth doctor had already gone though a regeneration and has been turned into a completely new person, played by actor David Tennant (HP fans, you may recognize him as that cute but scary man who played Barty Crouch Jr. in GOF movie).

I can't wait for the second series to start again! In the words of the Doctor, I'm sure it'll be "fantastic."

*****

Last night, the pilot episode of "Supernatural" started on Channel Ten here in Australia. It apparently is one of the greatest and most popular tv series to hit our shows from the US. I did enjoy the episode and it was scary as well.

*****

"House" is coming back in February! Yay! I absolutely enjoyed the first season and automatically bought the boxset as soon as it was available.

*****

When, oh when, is "Nip/Tuck" coming back on air? I am so hanging out to find out what happened to Dr. Troy after that mad, mask wearing slasher got to him.

The answer to the ultimate question...

"The Answer to the Great Question... of Life, the Universe and Everything... is... Forty-two."
- Douglas Adams "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Were you one of those people who read the book and when you got to this part, you almost fell off your chair by the total absurdity of it? I know I did. It wasn't until I turned the page and read Deep Thought's explanations as to why it gave such a vague answer.

What is the Ultimate Question? In this case, the question relating to Life, the Universe and Everything?

According to Deep Thought, it was a very vague question to begin with. What exactly is it? It then said that it cannot answer a question that was vague to begin with, and it could also not formulate the Ultimate question. In fact, Earth and its inhabitants are part of the matrix that will be able to compute and figure out what the great question is - of Life, the Universe and Everything.

Okay, so given this premise that us humans - although we are only the third most intelligent creatures on earth next to mice and dolphins respectively - are part of this so-called matrix, we should have an idea as to what the Ultimate Question.

So, what is it?

In my case, I have no fucking idea.

Huh - for a moment there, I thought I was chanelling Deep Throat.

But honestly, I have no bloody clue. In my opinion, it is something very subjective depending on which species you ask this from.

Probably for humans, it'll be "What is the meaning of life?"

Huh - another fucking vague question.

For some four-legged mammals such as cats and dogs, it might be "Why in the world should we lick our balls?"

Huh - I don't know, I'm fishing for something here.

What do you guys think? What would be the question that will top all questions?

Got tagged by Vayie...

What do I have inside my bag?

This actually depends if I have the big messenger bag that I usually take with me to school, the medium sized hand bag, or the tiny little purse carrier. Basically, the items below are my essentials:

Wallet - which contains money, my ATM card, my credit cards, discount cards, membership cards, and my driver's licence.

Clinique double pressed powder - excellent for controlling facial oil.

Clinique baby soft shine lipstick and Clinique sheer shaper for lips - I don't know, but I am having such a pink summer :p

iPod mini - can never leave my music behind!

Parker pen - just in case, a pen is always handy!

Mobile phone - never leave home without it!

Car keys and house keys - I usually go around town with my car and house keys is just plain common sense :)

USB memory stick - in this day and age where everyone is carrying some portable device, this is essential

Cutex hand lotion - when one uses her hand too much, this is a must!


That's it! I am not much into make-up :p

Now, I tag Jaz, Karen Kristie, and Kat :)

Fancy this...

Why do people ask the most benign and infuriating questions? Like:

1. When are you buying a house?

Hey, it's not like I'm squatting! I already have a house, hello! If you mean with Arnie, well, we're still saving aren't we? We don't want to jump into something that we're not completely prepared for - duh!

2. When are you having kids?

Arnie and I just announced our engagement a few months ago. Skip the wedding, why don't you? I'm only 27! It's not like my eggs are about to dry up, for crying out loud!

3. Why are you spending so much on clothes/shoes/etc?

It's my money, damn it! Start complaining if I use YOUR moolah!

4. How come you're with an older guy?

Funnily enough, there are still some people who ask me this. My answer? Because I like mature men who are responsible and know what they want in life. I like their confidence and understanding of what life really is about - not just lying around and getting themselves laid.

5. Are you sure about marrying Arnie?

Hey, wise guy... if I weren't sure I wouldn't be with him for five years now, wouldn't I? And don't give me the whole "I don't know what I'm doing" crap. I have had a bad relationship and have had experiences the shittiest things so I KNOW if I'm being taken for a ride or not!

6. You are so open about sex. Does that mean you have a lot of experience?

This came from some reader who turned out to be a complete bastard and started spamming my blog. My original answer to this idiot was "it's amazing what reading a book could do for you." I'm open about sex? It's just called maturity, honey. If you're able to talk about it without giggling like some teenager, then you're past that stage of complete banality.

7. You seem harsh towards stupid people. Why is that?

I have unfortunately been surrounded by them for most of my life and have been very tolerant. I think I am entitled to choose the people I want to surround myself with now that I am much older. I do not have to try and impress anyone now and be Miss Popularity.
Happy now?

Hard to be nice? I wonder why...

... At a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think that digital watches are still a pretty neat idea.
... the problem remained. Lots of the people were mean and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches. Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.
Douglas Adams - "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy"


The Guide is one of my most favourite books of all time. It is a rather accurate portrayal of how humans can be seen in the eyes of an outsider. We are mean and miserable creatures and the only person who actually had the courage to tell us to be nice to each other for a change was nailed to a tree.

It's funny. Christ obviously believed that humans are innately good and can get past all the banality of life. Obviously not. He expected too much. In return for all the good deeds he did, he got nailed - literally.

Through Christ's example, we can answer this question:

How do you set yourself up for complete and utter disappointment?

Answer? It is completely believing that by being nice to people, you'll be treated in kind.

People may not know this about me but underneath my easy-going and very open-minded view of the world, I am a real cynic when it comes to human behaviour. Let's just say that I have been burned a few times to completely trust someone ever again.

I guess it is just natural for us to think that the saying "do unto others what you want others to do unto you" is gospel. It's the same thing as saying that there are certain things that we do in life that is just plain common sense. Well, if it were really as common as people say it is then how come there are still people out there who completely fuck up certain things?

It all boils down to this: humans find it very hard to be completely nice. Why? Because being nice means that one has to be devoid of selfish behaviour. Selfishness is the mother load in the whole human psyche. I cannot name a single person who does not do things without a miniscule amount of wanting something for their own personal gain. Why do I try to excel in my job and schooling? So that I can get more money and for the betterment of my career. Why are guys so nice to girls when they are courting them? So that they can get a leg over (okay, may not always be the case). Why are girls acting all hard to get even if they like a guy? So that the guy will chase them some more and it's good for the ego. Every single thing that we do has some amount of selfish reasons behind it. It is sad but true.

As a result of this selfishness, it also affects our relationships with other people. Admittedly, there are some people worse off than others. There are people who are completely devoid of any concept of "give and take". They take as much as they can but never give anything in return. These are also the kind of people who conveniently forget if someone was nice to them before. Forget gratitude, if there is nothing in it for this person you can keel over for all they care! These are also the sort of people who make friendships with people just because they may be able to use them for something in the future - not exactly a great basis for a good friendship.

I guess the only for humans to be entirely happy is if we learn to accept the fact that unfortunately, not everybody thinks the same way. Common sense is not entirely common and that just because you're nice doesn't mean that others will be equally nice to you. If you push this, you will, unfortunately, might end up being nailed to a tree yourself.

The P Survey

Sorry, but this entry tackles a quite sensitive topic for some people. If you are a bit squimish talking about certain body parts, then don't read this.

My friends and I have been talking about an article that was released by MX, a free daily newspaper that's being distributed by the City of Melbourne for 4 years now. Over bottles of beer, tequila, and vodka, the study conducted on penis sizes came up. I have not seen this survey myself but according to a male friend, it says very specifically that Filipino males are smaller compared to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean men.

I almost fell off my chair. Huuuuwhhhaaaatttt??? Really? Filipinos are that diminutive? Wow...

Here's the thing. I completely question the accuracy of this said survey. I am no expert on the subject of penis sizes, attributed to my lack of experience in the matter compared to other females out there. I guess you lot have seen at least once a porn video wherein every race is in it? I guess judging from that, black men are obviously the biggest. Caucasian comes second. Hispanics and Asians come third. But to actually be as specific as saying that Filipino men are the smallest??? I don't think so.

Have you seen a Japanese porn film? Is it just me, or does a Japanese penis equate to a shriveled up gherkin? Ugh!

I think whoever did that survey should redo it. It is obvious that this person probably used a small number of men to ever come up with a quite inaccurate result such as that. I have a few caucasian female friends who have had Filipino boyfriends and they have all said that Filipinos are just the right size - average - and definitely not petite.

Besides, I don't believe this whole fascination on size anyway. Usually, men with big penises completely forget the other aspects of how it is to make love to a woman properly. In my opinion, average men are better in the art of making love. In their lacking of a big... er... tool, they try to perfect their technique in other ways like kissing, touching, and other things that constitute as forplay. Sometimes, big men think that all they have to is take off their pants and show off their big willy and the woman would be up and raring to go. Sheesh...

Oh well, enough of this penis talk. I wonder if someone with come up with a survey of which race has the most cavernous vagina? Who do you think it'll be?

Mad bird day..

The day at work ended in a freaky note...

I was left in my office alone at 7:00 pm, all of my staff had already finished for the day. I still had heaps to do - editing some documents - when all of a sudden, a big bloody bird came out of nowhere.

As any person who lives in a first world country, birds roam freely. Go down the beach and you'll be swarmed by bloody seagulls after that chip you're holding (for some odd reason, seagulls love hot chips... don't know why).

In my case, this bird just flew in my office. It probably got in when the boys in the vault opened the roller door up front. Of course, my office door was opened and it got in. It was flying around in a panic, trying to get out of the enclosed space. I think it was feeling clautrophobic or something. In its flying fury, it saw the glass window - which was closed - and tried to get out through it. Needless to say, it bumped into the glass - hard. It bumped so hard that the bird got knocked out. I thought it was dead. I got up from my desk and looked at it and as soon as I got close enough it flew out, this time, through the door.

Bloody freaky flying things! What a way to end a working day! Sheesh!

Back in the real world...

It has been an enjoyable and lazy couple of weeks, even if I had to go to work for three days last week. My staff and I didn't do much but a few bits of work and a whole lot of bludging (hah!).

Now, it's the third of the first month of the new year. I am trying to get back into the scheme of things. I am trying to get myself out of the holiday mode which I have grown so accustomed to, considering it was really just a few days. It just goes to show that I really do need a much needed break.

In my last post, I have stated that I have only one New Year's resolution - something involving my shopping habits, of which when I told my partner about it he just laughed his head off... so much for being supportive, hmph!

I realised that for the past three years I have not had a decent break. I have had 1 - 3 days off but that's it. I didn't feel the need to take too much time off and have ended cashing out my leave days instead. With school, the amount of work that will be coming in, and the acquisition of a rival company that was recently completed, I will be swamped with so much to do that I wouldn't have time to even scratch my behind.

So, in addition to my already almost impossible New Year's resolution, here's another one that I plan to do from now on for the sake of my health and sanity:

Take at least one full week off every year.

I'll be fulfilling this as early as February since Arnie and I are going for a short trip to the Gold Coast in Queensland. We'll be heading to the theme parks and the beach for 4 days and 3 nights. Fantastic!

Besides, my boss has been pestering me to take leave every year. Well, I guess I should enjoy my hard earned money and go somewhere!

*****

It's exactly 40 days till my 28th birthday. Sheesh!

Funnily enough, I am not in the least feeling old or anything negative like that. As a staff member of mine said who is turning 51 this Thursday, age is but a state of mind. Indeed. In my opinion, I'd rather be in an age wherein people will start to take me seriously and not just dismiss me because of my age. How I hate that!

I'll be celebrating my birthday this year by having a party at my place - a definite first for me. I am not much of a "celebrate your birthday" person. Oh well, I thought might as well enjoy my life as much as I can. Every year that I am alive is cause for celebration I guess. I'd like to think that someone out there is actually glad I was born :)

Happy New Year!!!

Wow! It's 2006! Time flies so fast!

This is usually the time of year when one wants to list a few resolutions. In my case, I only have one:

Refrain from shopping too much.

I know, it's a big ask but I have to do it. I have a few things I am saving up for: a holiday in the Philippines with Arnie and mum and money for the city apartment that Arnie and I would like to buy sometime this year (fingers crossed!)

Oh well, here's to great and prosperous year everyone! Cheers!