Small Talk

And Daniel ate pulse and water for 10 days….

How do vegetables get called pulse?

But that’s beside the point. My advice to the young’uns is that if you study at AUP, or live of the farm, stick to your veggies.

This going to sound a little old-man-talking-to-son-becuase-his-liver-is-shot-ish, but I’d like to encourage you to eat healthy and get healthy.

College life. I ate at the cafeteria, which had healthy - okay, semi-healthy - food ( when it was edible). And I walked about 5 to 10 kilometers per day. You had to, the classrooms were that far.

After-College life. Breakfast, nil.  Lunch, probably McDonalds, or some sugary stuff that’ll keep a gnawing stomach at bay. I sit around like 10 hours a day. I have to, I’m a programmer. 

College: 136 lbs - borderline underweight.

Now: 170 lbs. - borderline elephant

That’s 34 lbs of fat from soda, french fries, candies, and Lucky Me Instant Pansit Canton. 

Don’t be like me, kid. Eat your veggies.

I know, I know, It’s 1 AM and I’m still blogging. Bear with me. Soon I’ll be my ol’ lazy self and you won’t hear a thing from me for a year.

But I enjoy writing… and expressing.  The funny thing is that even if no one gets to read this, I’d still be happy I did this.  How weird….

Hiya everyone. I now have a blog. Imagine that.

My brother has a blog. My neice has a blog. And probably everyone else in my family has a blog - except for me.

And I’m the IT guy.

I started a blog way back in 2005, but it died a slow, lonely death.  You can still visit it at http://www.cheepuen.blogspot.com. 

Anyway, This is probably a peer pressure thing, but I guess it’s something I have to do. There has to be something this jaded keypuncher can contribute to this world. 

So, again welcome. Even if no one comes to read this blog (which technically means I’m talking to myself) at least I share something tangible with my imaginary friends. Again, welcome, welcome, welcome.

When I was younger I always felt that Quiapo, Recto, and their adjacents had a mystical air about them.  I still feel the same way, 10 years after.

It’s the place to go for all sorts of oddities. Cheap knock-off bags, shirts, electronic goods and what-nots litter every available sidewalk space.  Every other stall, you’d probably find someone hawking pirated DVDs - with every imaginable genre you can name: the latest movie releases, concerts, B-movies, soap operas, tv-series, and yes, the requisite porn - which is right beside the Don Moen and HillSong CDs. 

The funny thing is that if ever the sight of greasy flesh on a porn DVD catches your attention, the hawker immediately launches into his or her "Sir, maganda po yan. Me story" spiel (that one’s good; it even has a story).

As if "story" mattered.

I really felt bad for the kids I saw over there a long time ago. Barely in their teens and they were already selling smut, no doubt due to the callous proddings of their parents or so-called guardians.

It’s probably due to this that I always regarded the place in a Sodom and Gomorrah-esque way.

Well, around the streets of Hidalgo, there’s a little redemption. If you’re looking for the best priced photography equipment, here’s the place to beat.  You get the lowest priced DSLRs, Lenses, SLRs, Point-N-Clicks, Studio equipment without having to bleed haggling.

I bought my DSLR here, and I found a spot that did repairs for it(the guy claimed to be an ex-Canon employee).

When Jel suddenly needed preserved animal organs for a class assignment, I immediately knew where to go. If there’s any place in the Philippines that carried the stuff, it was here.

So upon entering a Merriam-Webster store (yes, that store, believe it or not), I approach this saleslady with a curious, "Do you guys have animal organs."  The lady doesn’t bat an eyelash and says, "We have preserved frogs; you want em?"

Now preserved frogs aren’t exactly animal organs, you’d still have to dice them for the parts. So it wasn’t an option.  It was then that I came eyeball to eyeball with…a pair of eyeballs, attached to a brain…swimming in a jar of formalin. 

It turns out that they had a jar of cat’s brain complete with the eyeballs for sale.  Now, I really don’t condone doing this to animals, and I won’t regal you with whether I’m guilty now because I bought it. I bought the darn thing anyway and hightailed it back to AUP.

Which made me feel like Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah - except for the fire and brimstone part.