Right Said Den

Too sexy for his shirt...

On the Outs on the Outing

After all the effort and planning, I arrive at the designated venue for the "grand" Beijinoy reunion, only to find...nobody. Okay, so I'm "early." Go browse a bit in Fully Booked first. In and outta the bookstore I went. Still nobody. Man, is everybody late? Knew I should've RSVPd more thoroughly. About 45 minutes later Tina texted to say they moved to another place to eat. Oy. When I finally reached Oyster Boy (after a wrong turn, w/c makes me grateful that I'm used to walking), my worst fear came true: most of the people who showed up came from the new (i.e. who the heck...?) batch of Beijinoys.


About a third of the crowd that I recognized.

Granted, this meeting was actually coincidental. Tina said Mela and New Guys &Girls were taking their Korean classmates out to dinner and planned to stop by Bizu (the original venue) afterwards. When they didn't see me (or anybody else, for that matter) there they moved to Oyster Boy. In short: they were gonna meet up with or without my planning. Good thing I managed to tell the remaining few I expected to come that we moved the venue. They showed up (except Rad) and left just as quickly. I, on the other hand, just wanted to leave. Is it from resentment that my "guests" were "hijacked?" Well, I just felt like I was at the "wrong" party.

Tonight confirmed 2 things for me. One: I'm really more for quiet, smaller gatherings. Two: my socializing skills really depend on other people making the introductions. I rarely introduce myself to new people (Hell, the last time I did it was Nov. 2001), even if I wanna meet 'em. Nerves, I guess. Nervous, more like it.

In hindsight: if I knew the 'rents were gonna be outta town for the weekend, I would've hosted the reunion at my house. Maybe sans New Guys & Girls, though.

Ben's First Bribe

While being lost trying to find Maricel's house (to pick her and JC up so we can go to Dennis' house for dinner), I ended up making an illegal U-turn at V. Mapa (knew I should've just turned left all the way). Two "nice" MMDA people asked me to pull over. I stammered away, sorta proclaiming innocence and telling them I was lost (w/c I was). They were "nice" enough to give me directions, and all it cost me 200 bucks, as opposed to the 500 bucks the actual fine would've cost. At least that's what the traffic cop said.

Yep. People suck.

Album Updates

Got some new images uploaded for my On The Street album and my new Send in Da Clones album. Click on the pix below to see more.

The sad part? None of us can play for real.


Yeah, I'm happy to see you.

Pancakes & Coffee (I Had Neither)

So a few Beiinoys came and met at Pancake House in E. Rodriguez. All 4 of us (Me, JC, Dennis and Maricel, in town for about a month or so from Davao) cramped in a small "booth" of the otherwise spacious restaurant. As far as the food goes, people should really go there just for the Pancakes. Everything else is... ordinary.


JC talking to Reni (calling long distance from Indonesia)

Afterwards we had "javakulas" at Seattle's Best. Sorry to say Starbucks' fraps are better.

Dennis on the phone (not with Reni)

But all this inconsequential, since I was there for the company, not the food. And, as always, the company was tops. :)

Me & Maricel

Gym Noir (bad one, too)

We were at the gym when our eyes met. I smiled, but only because she smiled at me first. From what I could tell it was her first time at the gym, though everything about her body says otherwise. You know those people you see at the gym with bodies that look like a gym isn't necessary? That's good genes. Ah, but to want what you don't have...

There she was lifting weights, assisted by her (I'm assuming jewish because the tattoo on his right upper arm was Hebrew letters encircling a wireframe sphere design) boyfriend's friend, not knowing that the friend is helping her lift the weights, albeit slowly. Still, a little push goes a long way. In the end this leaves her with no real workout, and leaving him w/ the opportunity to look down his friend's girlfriend's artificial cleavage. Not that I'm complaining...

Boyfriend's friend also talks a lot whils assisting. Imagine the whirring sound produced by robot arms tranlated to speech. All right, slowly now. That's it. Doing good. Watch your elbows, watch your elbows. Doing good. Great. Little push, little push. For a gym instructor this guy make a good midwife.

Well, So Far...

• My shoulders and lower back are killing me from the last workout.
• I'm currently constipated, and and increase in fiber intake is doing zip. Hope it isn't tapeworms. Heh, Fung had a case of the runs while I'm having clogged plumbing.
• I'm a crappy burger cook. Hell, I can't even do beef meatballs right. All that trouble with no flavor to show for it. Had to finish off the last of the gray bottle.
• Probe Team Documentaries is showing a feature on Philppine National Police's CSI lab(s). Did u know a DNA test costs 18,000 pesos (or roughly $327)? This is why it's hardly used by government prosecutors in heinous crime cases. Instead the equipment gets used more often in paternity cases. Also, we're still using outated methods for checking GSR with paraffin wax, place our faith in polygraphs and don't bother using gloves when picking up guns from a crime scene. Ugh. This is why you can get away with murder in this city.
• My cousin's went to Singapore w/ her husband to try and have a baby, leaving me w/ the office paperwork. Whee.

Serendipidee doo dah, serendipi dee yay...

So my brother Wilson calls me up last night, see? Asks me if his wallet was here. I say no, but that maybe he dropped it in the Honda CRV (w/c he borrowed). I ask him to call back in 5 minutes.

I go downstairs to the garage and start searching inside the CRV. Lo and behold, the first thing I find was my wallet, and I didn't even know it was missing. Then I found my sunglasses (w/c I suspected was left in here when I couldn't find it in the office) and tripod (left it in the car).

Eventually I even find Wilson's wallet. He didn't call back, though.

My Neil Gaiman Experience

British author Neil Gaiman was in the country for 3 days (today being Day 2) on a book tour. I, Goldy and DJ decided to try our luck getting our books autographed at Fully Booked in Greenhills. The store said they were passing out 300 "line stubs" at 1pm (we got there around quarter to 11) but ended giving away all 200 by 10:30. Worse, about 300 people didn't get their books signed yesterday, so they were given priortity. Saw a few familiar faces, JP de Guzman, Laurie and Wella, to name a few. The number or girls w/ long black hair and glasses alone left me to speculate that there was some kind of some nerdette cloning facility in the country.


Da Man himself, plus "entourage."

When he finally arrived in his rented Audi I was lucky enough to get a few pictures and video clips. It was almost like my "paparazzi" moment w/ Michael Jackson back in Vegas in 2003. There he was, in a leather jackect despite the sunny weather (for w/c DJ and I got slightly burned) and an hour late. Still, he was nice enough to give a reading before getting ready to sign.


Hey, it's John Lennon!

Alas, the guys in charge were killing all hope we had when he said those without passes would have no chance to getting their stuff signed. In the end we left the line and walked around, and even visited Victor's crepe restaurant before calling it a day.


"President Arroyo must resign! Haha, just kidding, folks..."

Sadly while driving back home I texted Laurie, and she said that they finally accomodated the "stubless" people who were still in line. Do I regret leaving "too soon?" (If you consider waiting for 8 hours too soon, that is.) Maybe. But, as long as Gaiman's alive, there's still a chance he'll come back. Maybe I'll be ready by then....

Who Needs Superheroes...

When you've got:

Broomstick Boy and Coffee Clerk!

Ah swear, some days it don't pay to be a crook.