Bathing

This year, the weather has been really hot even in the "-ber" months. You could usually count on the weather becoming cooler when September rolled around, but not this year. Even during November when my officemates and I went out for our lunch break, the weather was beach weather, meaning it was hot. Hot, sunny, and a perfect time to go to the beach to get a nice dark tan.


Now that it's January, things have changed. Mornings have become cooler and evenings as well. It's the hot-water-bath season again. Used to be I could take a bath without having water heated, but now it is more of a need than a luxury.


Sure I can still take a cold bath, but it takes a lot of effort to not shout because of the icy cold water hitting my skin. And nothing beats a nice, hot bath on a cold morning and on a cold evening.


For those of you not in the know, most Filipinos don't shower. They take a bath. They fill a pail of water and use that to bathe, using a tabo, or a dipper, to splash water on their bodies to wet themselves and to rinse off the soap and shampoo suds.


I grew up taking this kind of bath, and it is something I dearly miss when I am not in the Philippines. Why do I like it so much? Well for starters, it saves a lot of water. It does the same good job as a shower. The temperature of the water is easier to fix than dialing the knobs of the shower and praying you got the right mix, something that always happens to me in hotels.


Another thing most Filipinos do is bathe twice a day. Once before leaving for work, and again when they get back home from work, or before going to bed at night. Some people bathe more than two times during the summer, if they have the chance. I know I used to do that when I was in college, I'd bathe before every class just because it was so hot and humid.


Out.

Wedding Thoughts

In two days time my wife and I will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary. Not coincidentally, on that same day, my good friend Karl will be tying the knot with his fiancée, Jona.


This time last year, which was a Monday, my wife and I tried unsuccessfully in the morning to move some of our stuff to our condo. Sadly due to some unforseen difficulties, we were not able to move our stuff. So we went to do our second task of the day, have confession. I had a haircut as my wife was hearing confession, then she bought us lunch at Wendy's while I was confessing my sins. Afterwards I took her to her house and I went home.


The afternoon was spent playing games on my laptop and getting my clothes ready for the despedida de sultera we had that night at Uncle Mike's condo's social hall. It was a fun time, Ferds and Tanya were there, and we ended around 10pm or later.


The next day Maica and I checked in to the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati. Separately of course. Afterwards I met up with some old college friends, Ben, Karl (yes the same Karl getting married in a few days), and Tep. We spent the better part of the day eating and reminiscing, mostly eating.


We had lunch in either Dencio's or Gerry's Grill. Then we had dessert in Dairy Queen. After walking around for a while we had dinner in McDonald's. We took Ben back to the hotel, Tep left for his house, and Karl and I headed back to my room to hang out. After a few minutes we decided to hit the Starbucks at 6750 while Karl waited for, you guessed it, Jona. Karl and I headed our separate ways around 10pm, him to the MRT station and I to the hotel.


As for the wedding day? That's another story.


Out.

The Great Pick-Up Debate...

... Has once again shifted to the Hilux.


I have no idea how true the next few arguments I will give are, but these are the things that caused me to favor the Toyota Hilux once again. It's just such a crying shame that this is all just daydreams because I have no money to actually buy a pick-up truck. Ah well, dreams do come true.

• Toyotas have better re-sale value here in the Philippines.
• The Hilux isn't as massive as the Navarra (true or false?), good for narrow roads and tight spots. Something I commonly encounter in the streets of Metro Manila.
• That Top Gear episode when they brought a Hilux to that volcano in Iceland really showed me how much they trusted the Hilux. Plus the fact that the Hilux they used was the same one their camera crew used when they went to the Magnetic North Pole says a lot about how tough and versatile the Hilux is. Granted, the vehicles were modified. However the base platform, the engine, and the interior were still stock Toyotas. They did not do a total engine swap.
• Again, have you seen the polar hilux? Do I need to keep saying how great it looks? All the Navarras I've seen so far do look nice yes, but nothing looks as the Hilux. It's just so, for lack of a better word, macho. It looks indestructible. It looks like only a tank could stop it.

And those are the reasons why I've suddenly put the Toyota Hilux back as my number one option for a pick-up. Now where can I find me the money to actually buy one?

Out.

Setting Up the Rav

Given the chance, and the economic flexibility, I would love to fix the Rav4. Either of them. In fact, I'd probably do the same thing to either of them.


I'd replace the entire sound system with a new one. Better quality speakers, an iPod ready stereo, and some tweeters. I have come to realize that sounds are very important in a vehicle. If you're stuck in traffic or going on a long road trip, music will always be a very welcome companion. Right now I can see one big problem with either Rav's stereo - no iPod compatibility. Plus the speakers are okay but not great. I've ridden cars that have tweeters installed and they sound at least ten times better. Maybe even add a small subwoofer just to increase the sound quality. As long as cargo space is not compromised, and as long as extra weight is not added.


The next thing I'd do is get some nice rims. Maybe some nice 17" rims. I've always liked the BBS rims used by some F1 cars. The ones where the spokes fork out. Not only would this make the car look better, but by lowering the profile of the tires a bit the handling would also slightly improve.


One really long shot mod I'd like to do is to install racing style seats for the front driver and passenger side seats. The reason why this is a long shot is because the current seats are pretty comfy already, and because racing style seats are really expensive.


That's it. Those two improvements alone would cost a lot of money, and unfortunately I don't own any car. I just borrow one of the cars my folks have. But I do wish I could have the opportunity to set one of them up.


I can dream, can't I?


Out.

New Year's "Resolutions"

I've tried making a few New Year's Resolutions the past few years. And I either forget about it or fail to follow through on it. Because I've never been a fan of resolutions anyway.


I am an impulsive person, and most of the things I do are spur of the moment things. So rather than making a new set of resolutions I'll just end up not doing, I've decided to set some goals this year. Goals that I can either achieve or forget about, but at least I'll always have some goals to guide me. And here they are.

• Break the 100kg barrier. Weight has always been an issue for me, and I've always tried to break the 100kg barrier. I want to go lower than 100kg. I think I can do it this year because the last quarter of last year I started becoming physically active again. I've been playing basketball and eating relatively healthy. Plus now that I've got a child, I want to do more to ensure that I have a healthier life so I can live longer (hopefully) and bond with her more.
• Make more money. Again, I've got a family to feed. I need to either earn more at my day job, or find a way to make money. I know it sounds so greedy and materialistic of me, but the fact of life nowadays is that money makes the world go round. You can't achieve your dreams without money, and money usually can end up buying you happiness.
• Improve my people skills. Work related goal, but this will benefit me overall. I've never been a people person, but I have to be one now. I'm getting older, and my responsibilities are getting greater. Plus if I stagnate as "just a 3D artist" then my career is going nowhere.
• Improve my work related skills. The fire I have for 3D is starting to get stronger again. I hope I can continue to fan the flames and improve my skills. Because if I do stagnate then I might never get anywhere career-wise.
• Be more positive. For the nth time, I have a wife and a child. Being the old, grumpy, negative me will not get me anywhere. I have to be more positive, and from there good things will happen. It just has to be a conscious effort to stay positive.

And that's it. A few simple goals I have, goals I know I can achieve. Goals that if I can push myself to do so, I might achieve before the end of 2011.

Happy New Year everyone!

Out.