Mr. ColdMountain

On Being Sinful and on Riding "Ted"

2005-10-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm seated in Gate 83 in LAX airport waiting for the United Airlines flight to Las Vegas. It's been a very eventful day. First, we missed a connecting flight from Los Angeles because we had to endure the intensive security procedure. Another reason why we probably missed our flight was because our arrival was delayed from the connecting hub from Narita. Our plane is pretty small, about an eighty-seat twin engine airbus called Ted. It’s supposed to be the domestic aircraft for all United flights. One of the passengers was actually laughing about naming the plane “Ted”. With a chuckle, he would say, “I wanna ride Ted”, “Hey, guess what?, I just rode Ted”. Well it’s named after its owner, Ted Turner. How narcissistic can this guy be?

I haven't been to LA but I am looking forward to visit this city in the future on an extended period. Among all the cities in the US, it is probably in Los Angeles where most of my US based relatives and friends reside.

We're cruising at just 24,000 feet so you can pretty much see the terrain from the window. Aside from a long stretch of roads, the city is surrounded by caverns and hills filled with faults and crevices. On our way to Nevada, the dessert stretches for miles making one wonder how they were able to put up a thriving metropolis in these lands.

We’re about to land, and I can see “Sin City” from here.

A Distinction of Affluence

2005-10-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm inside a coffee bean outlet, in one of these malls along Orchard Road, sipping a cup of coffee from one of the cafe's trademark mugs that looks more like a flute with a cup handle. There were a few magazines at the nearby rack and got two, relatively readable, magazines, with one discussing golf and the other talking about cars.

It's funny how the people in Singapore get into a frenzy upon learning that the COE or Certificate of Entitlement, which allows its citizens to own cars, has falllen to its 80's levels. However, a 4 door toyota sedan here is roughly equivalent to a Benz back in Manila. A typical two room condominium flat here will also get you a nice house in a middle-class enclave near the Ortigas business district. However, given the higher per capita income in this country, whose complaining?

The flight to Singapore is a mere 3 and a half hours away but the distinction is quite apparent between these two Asian countries. One could not miss the distinct affluence of the Lion City over that of the Pearl of the Orient. However, I have to say, that conspicuous consumption seems to be more apprent in the Philppines. The great divide over the haves and have-nots is ever more apparent back home.

Oh well, what the Flipinos tend to lack in financial wealth, they seem to gain when it comes to a sense of humor. Typically, when one coverses with a local, the old adage, "it's hip to be square", does not follow.

Farewell to a beloved Pope

2005-04-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Pope John Paul II

It was a sad that our last day in Italy, the news of Pope John Paul's death hit the papers. Here's a copy of a newspaper daily bidding farewell to a Pope that headed the faithful for 26 years. I remember back in Manila, years ago, where he had an audience of more than 5 million people, the biggest gathering ever, accorded to the head of the Church, in modern times.

A Green Bowl of Soup in Sorrento

2005-03-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

Such interesting memories with a green bowl of soup at a restaurant in Sorrento.

My wife and I had dinner at this trattoria near our hotel in Sorrento called the Gabriele D'Annunzio Hotel. Incidentally, a trattoria is a family owned "ristorante", according to our tour guide, Enzo, or "Enzollini", as one of the other members of the tour would call him, given Enzo's frequent references to infrastructure projects of the former Italian dictator, Musollini.

We didn't join the rest of the tour group when they went to this alleged medieval home where they were served a banquet of food reminiscent of a feast of that time.

The green soup was made of pureed brocolli with four balls made of cottage cheese. It tasted really weird and was not the typical "Italian" spread that we expected. Imagine our surprise when the cheque arrived! The soup, and the seafood pasta for that matter, was exhorbitant and we haven't even converted the price, which was of course in euros, to a more familiar currency.

Despite the unforgettable dinner, and the creepy atmosphere as we walked back to the hotel, Sorrento was redeemed in our memories as we woke up to a wonderful view of Mt. Vesuvius. Looking at the dormant volcano, one can't help but wonder how such a peaceful image can be a destructive force that will claim hundreds of lives in the ancient city fo Pompeii. Looks can indeed be deceiving, just like a sumptuous bowl of soup.

The Roman Coleseum: Then and Now

2005-03-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

Roman Coleseum

It's funny to learn that in order to discourage pilferage in the Coloseum, the Vatican actually declared it as one of Rome's holiest sites, such that when we were there, the Black Saturday mass was celebrated inside.

Imagine, holding the holy mass, on the same spot where savage duels "to the death" between gladiators, were held. Drinking the blood of Christ in a place where spectators once thirst for the blood of men. One of history's many ironies through the ages.

Wedding Bliss in the Lion City

2005-03-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

I just got married yesterday. It was a small, simple and elegant ceremony overlooking the marina and the Raffles City skyline.

In a few days we're off to Italy and New York for a much awaited honeymoon! I've been looking forward to see the contrast between the old empire, Rome, and the new one, NYC.

Countdown to A Wedding

2005-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

It's approximately 2 more months beforeI get hitched!

Running a school is not easy

2005-01-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

IT schools in this country, will not even be close to the same levels where schools were during the IT boom of the mid to late 90's. Now, everybody wants to go into nursing. Even schools, who have no hospital tie-ups are setting up nursing schools. So who says running an IT school is easy?

Happy Monthsary

2004-10-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

Monthsary: The date of the month when two people recall and celebrate the first time that they officially become a couple. Couples tend to disregard this date mostly after their one year anniversary. I still maintain that it's an important reminder of how a couple moves on and grow together in a relationship - one month at a time. Celebrating and reminiscing good memories once a year is not enough. The gift of life is a miracle by itself but to live it, with a partner who loves you, is truly a divine gift.

Life is short and should be celebrated together. Happy monthsary my dear. How I wish we could celebrate it together with a simple gesture of sitting beside each other and holding each other's hand. I thank God for sending you tom me and I will honor His divine gift by loving you eternally.

Recollection from a Recent Farewell

2004-10-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I've posted something here. I've been busy these past few days and have been making a lot of adjustments since I arrived from Singapore some 2 days ago. I had some difficulty sleeping 2 nights ago. I guess It's been a combination of a lot of emotions revolving around this haunting sense of uncertainty. I miss her a lot and I couldn't wait to be with her again. I have to wait for 2 months until she comes home to visit. I have a new project with my dad and he's pretty excited about it. I'm glad, in a way, that I have something that will make me busy for the next few months. But I know that I left a big part of me in Singapore and I am longing for the day that I'll be able to go back.

The 2004 U.S. Presidential Debate

2004-09-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

We just watched the first of the three U.S. Presidential debates in CNN. It was refreshing to see two notable cadidates, running for the most powerful post in the world, debate on issues rather than on character. Senator Kerry even declined to make a direct character assessment on incumbent W. Bush. Instead he attacked the issues and swayed the attention of the audience to other missteps made by the current administration on the issue of national security, on how the focus on Iraq has diverted focus on other rouge nations such as South Korea who amassed nuclear arms these past few years. Speaking of Korea, I remember a trip to the DMZ in Panmunjon back in 1998. It was quite an experience to look through binoculars and see the North Koreans looking backat you, ever wary and sucpicious at their neighboring South Koreans. It was a flashpoint waiting to explode and you can really sense the tense atmosphere with all the sentry with this pose of readiness for attack. Anyway, going back to the debates, Kerry was really a surprise to watch. He was not a flip-flopping Republican that the Bush-Cheney camp ususally portrays. One of the anlaysts even said that he looked more presidential than Bush behind the podium.

Bush was still charismatic but it was not enough to overshadow the presence of Kerry- which was a welcome surprise to a lot of viewers, I guess. He answered with conviction, stood calm and appeared decisive. He looked every bit like a commander-in-chief should. There are still a lot of Americans favoring George W., and only the polls coming in the next few weeks could tell if Kerry's handling of the debate made a difference to a lot of undecided voters.

Sigh. If only the presidential elections back home are just as focused on issues rather than on character. It just shows how mature the electoral process is in the U.S. compared to the Philippines - a country that Bush highlighted early on his speech as a nation that his administration is currently helping with its "terrorist linked" insurgents.

AR5: The Best Amazing Race Season Ever!

2004-09-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

We saw the concluding episode of Amazing Race 5 and I just have to say that we were so jubillant that Kim & Chip, the married African-American contestants, won the race. Too bad for Collin and Christie, who apparently are not too popular among the viewers since their competitiveness went too far in some episodes. I entered the chat room of the AR5 last night and I was astonished at the number issues that came out. Some of the amusing ones include conspiracy theories on how the producers made sure that the two teams were able to catch up to the married couple on route to Texas. They assume that the producers had a hand in how some of the passengers of the flights were bumped off to get the two lagging teams in to make the competition more exciting. Great episode. The race in El Nido was really something else given the inter-island race. That was quite a novelty. I'm glad to hear that some of the contestants named El Nido as one of their favorites spots in the entire circuit. That will definitely help the Philippines in getting the country back in the toursit map- if they play their cards right.

On Route to Dhoby Ghaut

2004-09-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

In a short-while, I'll be be walking along to head for Plaza Singapura. It's a popular mall some 20 minutes away via SMRT, the ever efficient Metro Rail Transit of Singapore. I've already charged my PDA - never leave home without it. It's my prime source of entertainment, be it music or articles from Avantgo. it's through Avantgo that I visit any of my favorite mobile sites: informative but dull The Straits Times, a more outspoken and homegrown Daily Inquirer, a movie review from Metacritic or a synopsis of world events from Business Week or CNN (Ha!- I get teased a lot by my girlfriend since she says that this is my favorite Cable TV show. Well, it's just nice to be always on top of things)

I've always been a PDA addict - as my girlfriend says. It's one of the first hi-tech buys that I made here, in one of those Harvey Norman stores. Funny they say that it's an Australian shop but we never did see it in Sydney.

Well, I need to start dressing up. I'll probably have lunch at one of those Vietnamese places that serve these unique but sumptuous chicken sandwiches in a pita bread. Ha, the highlight of my life! Not to mention that tonight's the final episode of the Amazing Race. I just can't wait. I hope the obnoxious couple, Collin and Christie, gets eliminated.

Julian: A Novel by Gore Vidal

2004-09-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

A very thought provoking novel. I finished reading it several days ago. He could have been one of the greatest emperors of Rome if he hadn't been an apostate. But then again, it was his conviction to challenge the Roman catholic beliefs that earned him his distinction. A good read indeed. I can't believe that the author was the same screenwriter for the movie Caligula, probably one of the most abhored historical movies at it's time for its pornographic and very violent themes. It show's Hedonism at its worst! Well, nothing has changed. It's a different landscape but the same desire for power, wealth and all the pleasures that money can buy.

Newbee

2004-09-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a neophyte at this. What else is there to say? Cheers to blogging!