a continuing journey of thoughts and emotions

Thursday, September 04, 2008

An afternoon in Subic

It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas that popped out of my head. I thought of it as a "little" way to celebrate my birthday, going somewhere I haven't gone before. Because my birthday fell on a work day and we were not yet allowed to take leaves at that time, I had to schedule it during my restdays. Luckily they fell on a weekend, so I'm happy.

I originally had some "grand plans" as to how to spend my vacation. I originally wanted to spend an overnight stay and do some touring galore of the many sights there. But circumstances and a hit from reality changed those plans. It even came to a point that I considered cancelling my plans. But the adventurer and wandering spirit in me did not let me do so. I just had to make some adjustments to my plans, but other than that, it was all systems go. So I settled to spend just a day in Subic, do a quick tour, perhaps join in activities I can participate in while I'm there. Unfortunately, going to Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure cannot be squeezed into my itinerary, which was a bummer. But I had some other plans...

It was a Saturday morning (around 10 am) when I took a Victory Liner Bus all the way to Olongapo. Normally, it's a 2 hour ride from Manila to Olongapo. But since Victory Liner buses have a number of stopovers, including a long lunch stop somewhere in Pampanga, the trip took a little more than 3 hours. Kinda frustrating, but it's a price I had to pay for not having my own car to drive all the way to Subic. Too bad we didn't drive along the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway. Though I only got a glimpse of it as we were crossing through the intersection, the new expressway is nice enough for one to do some leisure driving over the weekend and just marvel at the sights along the way. It was also nice to see the surroundings at your window as the bus passes along the mountainous landscape of Bataan, reminiscent of one of those trips you take to Baguio.

Victory's terminal in Olongapo is somewhere in the downtown area, so it was a good opportunity for me to do a little roaming as to what 'Gapo has to offer. Downtown has nothing much to catch my fancy, except for the famous "Ulo Ng Apo" landmark. I suppose tourists aren't there much for what Olongapo City proper has to offer, now that those girlie bars that made it (in)famous are now virtually gone. If not the Subic Bay freeport, tourists would usually frequent the beaches north of Olongapo, most especially White Rock.

I took a yellow-coded jeepney, which is the code for jeepneys disembarking near the Subic Bay freeport gate. It's basically a short walk from the unloading area to the gate. Nearby is the transport terminal, where there are vans and coasters available to take you to your desired destination in the freeport. Some of them even offer free rides, especially to the duty-free stores in the area. I took one of them which took us to Royal Subic Duty Free Store. I was feeling hungry, and I needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings also.

At first glance, the Royal Subic Duty Free Store looks like an ordinary supermarket. But the store boasts of the number of shoppers visiting there everyday, especially at that time. I've heard a lot about duty free shops, but this would be the first time I would be actually buying some items in a duty-free store. While there are locally-produced goods available, most of the products there are imported and are priced in US dollars. Nevertheless, the prices are substantially lower compared to buying them at a regular supermarket. As someone who always is on the lookout for bargains, it was something I cannot let pass by. I bought a large pack of Chips Ahoy cookies (not the pathetic ones made in China) and some Snickers chocolate bars. Good thing I never had a toothache or tonsillitis afterwards.

Nearby is the Puregold Duty Free Store which has fewer patrons. No wonder 'cause the prices there are higher than in Royal Duty Free. There's also a Home Depot-style store and an outlet store for some US clothing and shoe brands. There's no presence of an SM mall there...yet. So at least the retail establishments of Subic and nearby Olongapo are still sleeping well at night.

So what is there to do in Subic if you won't be going to Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari, which are arguably the most famous destinations there? In my case, I spent it roaming around the freeport area, passing by the industrial parks which are set up in the area. There's also the Subic Bay Yacht club and the Boardwalk area that you can visit as well. But the highlight of my Subic excursion is experiecing kart driving for the first time at Subic's Le Mans Go-Kart Race Track. For only P400 you can experience 10 laps of pure fun and adrenaline kart racing has to offer. For someone who doesn't have a driver's license nor the driving skills, I had a great time in front of the wheel and feel the adrenaline of being a race kart driver. Now I have the confidence and skill to be an accomplished driver. The only letdown for me was not seeing the pretty racer and owner of Le Mans Michelle Bumgarner there.

It was around 6 PM that I took the Victory Liner Bus back to Manila, along with the stuff that I bought at Royal Duty Free. Despite my short excursion, it was still a memorable experience for me to be able to finally visit Subic after all these years. With it lies my wish to visit it again and be able to fully experience the beauty and wonder Subic has to offer.

Posted at 12:04 am by wastedspace
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Thursday, August 07, 2008

iPhone in the Philippines? Holy crap!!!

After more than a month of waiting since its initial launch in some countries, the much coveted. much-hyped iPhone of Apple is coming to the Philippines on August 22.

I won't delve much on what the iPhone can do since you can find a lot of stuff discussing its features on the Apple site and elsewhere.

While I'm not much of what you call an "Apple fanboy," I'm very much interested in Apple's products. I always think of them as classy, sleek, and "just works."

The ironic thing is I don't even own any Apple product right now. But hey, that doesn't stop me from dreaming to own an iPod or a Mac. Or maybe it's more of a reason that I entertain these thoughts. But that's another story.

Going back to the iPhone, I've always dreamt of owning one. Now that it's legally available here in the country, I thought I finally have the chance of getting it. That is, until I saw the rates for iPhone's prepaid plans as released by its official carrier Globe Telecom:

Holy crap!!! This is much more expensive than I thought as compared to the prices of other high-end cellphones and smartphones out there. I don't know if the pricing is justified considering Globe's reputation as a greedy carrier. True, Apple products are kinda pricey. But I was hoping they can cut some cornerts to make the unit more affordable and be able to sell more units and earn those hefty profits in the long run.

With that, I officially am holding back on purchasing an iPhone for the moment. At least until the enterprising traders in Greenhills would find a way to lower its price (legitimately or otherwise)

For now, I'm content with my Nokia N95 Classic. Hehehehe

Posted at 12:39 pm by wastedspace
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

confessions of a loveless geek

Family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, even acquaintances. My conversations with them would venture into this territory that you can make a template out of it.

"Uy, may girlfriend ka na?"

-"Wala pa."

"Bakit naman?"

-"Wala akong time para dun eh."

"You're kidding me. Daming babae dito sa mundo...".

-"Eh wala eh"

"Di bale, hahanapan kita..."

-"Thanks but no thanks muna."

I usually consider myself the type of guy who doesn't like anyone minding my affairs. Not that I totally shun the people around me; I just want to spare them the time trying to "figure me out."

I suppose this is one reason why I don't have anyone special right now, because I'm still looking for that someone who figure me out and put me into place when I lose my way. Someone who can somehow speak the same wavelength as I do.

But that doesn't mean I've completely forsaken those thoughts of love in my head, nor have I completely left the love-searching game. But so far, I find it frustrating that the people that I haven't found that girl yet. It can be one of three reasons:

-she's already got a boyfriend

-not interested in meeting up; or

-she's not what she says she is (a fake in other words)

Have I been too lazy now to try looking for that someone? Or perhaps I'm afraid of becoming more of a jerk and lose the girl...again.

At this point, it might good to say, "something has to be done." Now the hard part for me is where to begin.

Because right now, I'm in a mess of things here.

Posted at 05:14 am by wastedspace
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Friday, June 27, 2008

credit card blues

For a long while now, I have lived a life without credit cards. For some time, I didn't see a need for one considering my spending behavior. And of course, there are those horror stories I hear from some credit card owners come collection time.

But you cannot deny that a credit card can be handy at times, during emergencies and in online transactions via Paypal. With these things in mind, I've decided to apply for one.

You can imagine my desk all piled up with different application forms from a number of credit card-issuing institutions, trying to find out which one offers good terms for cardholders. I submitted an application to 3 different companies.

Now I don't know what criteria do these credit investigators follow in approving applications. Strangely, my personal references that are in my applications were not called. But after 2 weeks of waiting, I found out that 2 of the institutions where I submitted my application turned down my request.

Then I received a notification from BPI, where I also submitted my application. Could this mean the approval I've been waiting for? It was..sort of. Not what I was hoping for though.

The letter states that I am eligible for the Express Start program of BPI. This means I can easily get a credit card...but there's a catch. I would have to deposit a holdover amount of at least P 10,000.

I originally did not want to accept the offer, considering that I would not be able to have easy access to the money given to me should the need arises. But at that time, I needed to have that Paypal account activated. In the end, I decided to get one.

I received my card after a week or so. I have to admit, the card itself has a "hip" feel to it. I was able to use it on some purchases I made; I made sure I pay the full amount as much as possible, to prevent those added charges on my next statement.

While I'm happy with my credit card and its features I may enjoy in the future, the fact that some of my money has to be time deposited for me to continue using it dampens my enthusiasm. Right now I have a pending application with 2 other banks for a credit card. If approved, I would have to cancel my BPI Card so I can have the money released. Sad really, considering the good things I've heard about BPI Express Credit. But that's life.

Posted at 12:14 pm by wastedspace
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Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Getting LOST in it all...

I have always been intrigued by that TV show "Lost", ever since its phenomenon started take root almost 4 years ago. Yet somehow, I've not been able to force myself to sit down and watch a single episode of the show during its first 3 seasons. I guess I've been listening too much to people who are saying, and making fun of the fact, that the show is confusing, frustrating, that it's story is going nowhere, etc.

In the end, curiosity got the better of me; next thing I know, I found myself watching the Season 1 DVD of Lost on my PC. And after seeing this show, I was simply blown away.

So why would someone like me like a show as "complicated" as Lost? I can't pinpoint any definite answer. I definitely loved the development of multi-character storylines that are told on the show. But I also love how Lost plays out the interplay of science, faith, and mysticism into the show. The constant clashes of man of science Jack and man of faith Locke, and how the concepts of time and space (which kinda veers towards the science-fiction aspect) interplay with the aspects of faith and destiny. And did I forget to mention the other elements of the show which make it interesting, like the smoke monster, mysterious numbers, polar bears to name few?

I must admit I'm kinda amazed at myself that I was able to keep up with this show, despite all the mysteries and questions that remain unanswered so far. I guess its appeal has made a deep impression on me that I find myself now watching streaming videos of the latest episodes of the show. In fact, I recently watched the Season 4 finale which was pretty good, albeit a bit disappointed that not a lot of questions were answered by the end of the episode and of the season overall.

With only 2 seasons left on the show's run, I hope the people behind the show will deliver their promise of tying up all the loose ends and have most, if not all, of the mysteries be answered. While Lost itself is a great show, it will be a huge letdown that they would give us the answers to the questions they themselved raised since Season 1.

Till then, I'll keep watching and I'll be looking forward to a great Season 5 next year.

Posted at 07:58 am by wastedspace
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