April Assembly

From L to R: Tuesday, Dindo, Jayford, Ryan,
and Jill, w/ George behind the camera.

April 2: Potluck Krav Maga party at the gym, so I brought 2 party-size Shakey's pizzas that disappeared in less than half an hour. The highlight of the party was Ryan Cruz's close-up magic tricks. I know I've seen them done before in Street Magic's Secrets Exposed, but it's still entertaining to see, especially the look on the volunteer's faces when they're stumped with either shock or awe. I'd post a sample vid if my internet connection was faster.

March Mental Notes

Not willing to share that last piece of Mango Bravo.

March 4: Newlyweds Gaile and Howard held a despidida dinner party for Tata at a friend's condo in Makati. It was my first taste of a fondue dinner, as well as cooking steak cubes, vegetables and tuna in a small pot of superheated oil. Other things I learned that evening (owing to me not be a general snoop on people's private lives)-- Tata's bisexual, and Jac's her girlfriend.

Portrait of Wedding Guests.

Feb Follow-Up: Gaile's Wedding; Ana G's 31st

My "godcousin" Gaile Robredo got married to her boyfriend Howard Vitas. Attended the wedding in Naga City. The first picture wasn't planned, just good timing. There's a whole soap opera scene happening here.

Tripping Over Taiwan, Days 5-7 (aka Wrap-up)

Me protecting a fake Venus statue's dignity at HaiBao Pearl and Jewelry.

Dad staring at the Spring and Autumn Pavilions. I entered the Dragon's mouth and climbed all the way to the top (or at least up to the floor where the gate wasn't locked) before getting tired of the view and exiting via the Tiger's mouth.

Tripping Over Taiwan, Day 4

March 12, 2011: Our first stop was at a Formosan Aborigine-themed neighborhood, where we were lead into a shop that hawked Royal Jelly and other dried goods, be they honey, deer parts or giant mushrooms. The proprietor was dressed in tribal costume, and after he finished his sales pitch we heard a buzzing sound. Several ladies rushed out from behind the back doors and counters to try and close the sale. One of the seniors even engaged in some flirting by showing his saleslady some ballroom dance moves. Not sure if he actually bought anything, though.

Tripping Over Taiwan, Day 3

March 11, 2011: The morning trip to Leo Foo Safari Theme Park was more of a quick inspection than a literal day in the park. The cold weather and time alotted wasn't agreeable enough for any of us to wait in line for any of the rides, much less go around and see the whole place (the travel agency's printed itinerary devoted 90% of text descibing the park for our third day, w/c was 90% less than what we saw). Not that we would as all the seats on the good rides were wet from the rain. All that didn't stop the schoolkids that were already there, though, stuffing their faces w/ junk food and wearing giant sandwich bags for raincoats. Basically we were there because the theme park's cafeteria/retaurant was the closest lunch stop we had, but from the food they served obviously not the best stop.

Tripping Over Taiwan, Day 2

March 10, 2011: Lots of walking done on this wet, chilly, and oh-so-nippy day. Or to be precise, little opportunity to sit and rest when we're not on the tour bus. Thank goodness for a filling Western-style breakfast to get me through the morning. The rains followed us to Queen's Head, the famous rock formation at Taiwan's Northern coast that, thanks to natural erosion looked less like an Egyptian queen's head and more a giant deformed chess piece. People still lined up for the ideal spot to photograph its deformed chess piece-shaped head, though.

Tripping Over Taiwan, Day 1

March 9, 2011: Our PAL flight brought me and 16 senior citizens to Taiwan in under 2 hours. Despite the old fluorescent lighting giving the place a dull ambiance, it was nice to see how considerate the airport was w/ providing free surgical face-masks (for the airborne germophobes) and reading glasses at their arrival card filling stations.

For our trip Tommy is the trilingual tour guide, switching back-to-back-to-back from Taiwanese, Fukienese and English. He oriented us on the bus w/ 2 important tips. One: Even on narrow roads that look like One Way streets, always look both ways before crossing. Two: No need to carry shoulder bags "football" style as purse-snatching is not a problem in Taipei.

The More Things Change,...

2005

2011

Letter to a Spanish Couple (Edited)

Dearest HudBud (& Loren, my Hud-Hombre)

Belated Fleece Navigator! (write back if you don't get the joke.)