I was soooo excited waiting for the movie “Avatar: The Last Airbender” since Borski and I were also quite the fanatics of the cartoon version from Nickelodeon. So excited was I that, despite Borski imploring me to watch the movie with her, I succumbed to my curiousity and watched the movie by myself when I was in Manila.

Sad to say,  I found the movie to be way below my expectations. After watching it, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that made the movie lacking, in my opinion. Perhaps it was the incoherence, or the “dead air” on their actions whenever they were gesturing, leading up to their bending of the elements, or the lack of acting talent., or the absence of humor, which was what got us hooked on the cartoon version. I couldn’t quite identify what the film was lacking. All I could think of was, I went home disappointed.

But then, when I watched it again, this time with Borski, she did give me some good insights on what I thought were the lacking elements on the film. For one, Borski asked me to put myself in the shoes of someone who hasn’t viewed the cartoon version, and consequently, didn’t have any expectations. Naturally, in the eyes of that person, if they did not super emphasize the bending, I might not be able to guess what it was they were doing. And as for the film’s storyline, the war between the nations was given more emphasis over the humor, since they had but more than 1 hour to tell the story of Book 1: Water.

Come to think of it, Borski had a point. Only when I tried considering her feedback did I view the movie on a different light, and came out hoping that they would make more room for humor on the next installment, especially so that it would be where my idol, the earth bending master would be introduced. =D

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I am back in Manila again on work, having traveled this afternoon. The flight that normally takes around 1hr5mins took close to 2 hrs this time, due to poor visibility. If you ask me, Metro Manila’s smog is partly to blame why it took us that long, circling round and round, before we could finally make our landing approach. And there I was once again, feeling every bit uncomfortable with every shake of the aircraft.

On a good note, however, me and my colleagues have already been transferred to our new lodging place, and I couldn’t quite believe just what I saw when I arrived at the place, since it was close to being a hotel-like, or in fact, it is that way. I guess I just got used to how things were at our old lodging place, which is the reason why I couldn’t actually believe that this would be our new ‘barracks’. I had grown accustomed to the 1 toilet and bath in our old lodging place, and to think there were 8 of us there at one time. Now, there are only 2 occupants in each room, with the room having its own T&B. Well, you could say it is a huge improvement, and not to mention that there is a huge 40″ LCD TV (our dream TV) in the living room, and 2 smaller 20″ LCD TVs in the individual rooms.

I guess I would no longer be missing CSI episodes from now on. =)

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It’s been a couple of days now, and yet we still don’t have any assignments from the Sheriff. Oh well, I guess we can again check for one more day.

I am on the field once again, and I feel as though I have lost the feel of how it is to be down and dirty out there. I will be presiding over a meeting later today, so that has gotten me quite on the edge right now. I am just trying to condition my mind, mantra-style. After all, my immediate supervisor has always said that, whenever I am in such a situation, just modulate my voice, (“lakasan mo lang boses mo”) and surely they will not object to whatever you say, after all, you are the master of your presentation. =)

One thing that has gotten me thinking is this new phenomenon right now, the e-cigarette. Our office, being a no-smoking area has now seen these popping out, with colleagues having a puff or two while indoors, in meetings, and the like. It has made me wonder, why DO we post “No Smoking” signs? Is it because of the smoke? or the ashes? If it were the latter, then I guess this new gadget would be the solve-all for smokers who do not want to be inconvenienced by going out of the office to indulge in their pastime. If it were the former, however, I guess these people have to think twice all the more. Or they could always just smoke, but please, don’t exhale. =)

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Yup, you got it right. We’ve got our sights set on that technogadget. Been having vivid dreams of holding it in my hand, peering through the viewfinder…then shooting…with that all too familiar clicking sound..hehehe…can’t wait!

I’ve found one of this online selling for around PhP45000. When Borski and I went to Davao City last week, we saw this on display at SM Mall for PhP54000. We are both so excited to get a hold of one of this, and this has re-energized our blogging spirit. LoL.

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Among the things prohibited in our new office are smelly fruits (like Davao City’s native fruit Durian, which has become one of my favorites), and smoking, which is self explanatory. However, I do have a specific memory of smoking in general, which I can tie in to the experience of mine while I was still assigned as a control room engineer at Bacolod City. I remember how my supervisor then would always ask me to bring a ream of menthol cigarettes when  I come back from my week-long days off. I guess there weren’t any cheap sources available in Bacolod at that time. As far as I know, those stuff came all the way from Mindanao, and it was not easy to get a hold of those. I wonder what it was about those menthol cigarettes that made my supervisor not miss reminding me to bring back a ream or two. I wonder if Swisher Sweets, a secret blend of tobacco and flavorings, producing a sweet tasting effect, would also have that same effect on him. I haven’t been back to Bacolod on work for over a year now. I guess I will never know.

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As we are now in our 30ish, opting for a healthier diet is always a good move.   Sure, keeping on the table lots of fruits rich in antioxidants, Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt (albeit less frequently…it’s costly) and milk in the refrigerator for snacks and breakfast, respectively,  fresh fish for cooking and wheat bread ready for toasting would do you more good than harm.  I am happy that Ian and I did exactly just that.  In our recent trip to the local grocery, we added to our cart 2 slices of Tangigue (Spanish Mackerel) for our first time experience to prepare a steamed fish, 1/4 kilo of shrimp, and a loaf of wheat bread.  Oh, did I say we’re going to steam it on top of and while cooking the rice using a rice cooker? Now, all we need to do is to pair our healthy diet with an equally healthy lifestyle.

As Linford Christie says, “Adopting a new healthier lifestyle can involve changing diet to include more fresh fruit and vegetables as well as increasing levels of exercise.”

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I wanted that to sound like in the motion picture, “The Untouchables.’ LoL. Enough goofing around.

As we go through the stages of this journey we call life, there are some realities that, although we put off at the back of our minds, we do have to acknowledge. Such is life. As we grow older, the years manifest itself on our appearances. If you ask me, that is an achievement in itself, for not everyone knows how to embrace aging gracefully. In a way, the wrinkles on our faces are a testament to how we fought life’s battles, how we went about embracing one challenge after another. On the other side of the coin, some other factors may also exaggerate these signs of aging, including smoking, sun damage, and poor hydration, among others. Whatever the cause may be, it certainly would help to be able to have some wrinkle filler handy to address this reality.

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As I was watching a replayed episode of The Biggest Loser earlier today, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the often complete transformation that the participants of the reality show undergo. In a way, this specific reality TV show has this positive thing going for it in that it helps make a positive impact on the lives of the contestants.

As one testimonial of a contestant was shown, he specifically mentioned that through the show, he was able to learn how to reduce belly fat effectively, and got better at reigning in his appetite, and got much better at imposing discipline on himself so that he would stick to his scheduled gym workouts, even after the show was already long over. Today, he is living a much healthier lifestyle, and a higher self-esteem. Now, even if you didn’t win the monetary reward the show promised, walking away with that positive impact is really more than worth it.

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