After 48 years: The Sea of Monsters

Finally Finally!!!… I was able to secure the second book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series which is THE SEA of Monsters.

It took me more than a month and 48 years... not to mention countless follow up visits to secure a single paperback copy. Since the movie adaptation of the first book the lightning thief hit the theaters, his books were sold out instantly. I guess they all got curious I can’t blame them. If you think the movie was great, you should read the book it’s way way better.

*******************

Thought Bubble:

I am pretty sure that I left my name and contact at Fully Booked Ayala cebu, but why is it I have to make a phone call just for me to know that the book is available. I didn’t receive single phone call or a simple text message from them informing me that the book is already available. Maybe they only have limited number of books available and a lot of customers wanting a copy.

*********************

Anyways, Michael Scott’s The Secret of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series is still not available here.

I have listed my name and contact number in the waiting list of all the major bookstores in cebu. Still no word…

Oh well.. Let me worry about that next weekend when I am done reading my new book.

Cheers!

DHONPAL

 

My Epitome of True and Undying Love

Being human, emotions are a part of our everyday life. Anger, Sadness, Joy.  the most powerful of these emotions is LOVE. 

It is Love that launched a thousand ships in the Trojan War, it was love that killed romeo and Juliet, Love was the reason why jesus died for us. 

Correct me if I am wrong, but each one of us has a couple we admire and consider as an epitome of True and Undying Love.  a love that moves you and shakes you to the very core.. They share a kind love that made smile, cry  and gave you goosebumps at the same time. 

In my 25 years of existence, there is only one couple that I consider as that.

These are my parents…

They have been married for around 35 years and still growing strong, I see them everyday and more often than not they would have these pity fights over something as small as my dad not drinking his vitamins, but before the day is over they always find ways to Kiss and make up. Sometimes, I would hear them in the middle of the night talking about stuff sometimes laughing at corny jokes.

When my mom was sick and was in the hospital ICU, me and my siblings would take turns in watching both my parents. My Dad even said to us “I don’t think I can make it without your mom”.  My dad was so depress that time, he didn’t say it but we can feel it. When my mom was able to fully recover, I finally saw my dad smile.

My parents are for me, the epitome of True Love.

They thought me that love is patient and kind, that relationships are all about communication and compromise. And if you really love someone, you find ways to show it may it be in words or in action.

Time is too short to regret not being able to express how you feel. 

Now... Who do you consider as the epitome of True Love?

DHONPAL

VIPS in Asia @ IT PARK CEBU

One Friday Night, we decided to give VIPS in Asia a try.

Tart and I usually ends the workweek and welcome the weekend with a bottle or two of our favorite light drink Tanduay ICE.  Yes! It is more of a ritual for us.

VIPS in Asia offers our favorite drink (Tanduay ice) in towers, which was a first for me. For only P250 you can enjoy the drink which is good for around 4 peeps. If you really want to get hammered, you can drink it by yourself.

  

One thing I like is that bar is located at the heart of Asia town IT park, which is safe (roving guard), clean and no traffic. The bar is located at skyrise 3 building.

Plus they are also renowned for their Potato Tornado, which is best eaten when it is still hot. A Great “Pulotan” suggestion J

Aside from that VIPS in Asia offers a wide variety of food including Ribs, steak, pastas and salads.

Right in the middle of the IT hub of Cebu, this is the perfect place for those customers, technical, sales representatives to just chill and unwind since they are open at 7am.

Enjoy!

DHONPAL

Bohol: R and R at Panglao

After a very tiring trip to and from DANAO for the E.A.T (Extreme/Eco/Educational Adventure Tour), we decided it’s high time for us to rest up for Easter Sundays R and R at Panglao beach.

From Sagbayan, it’s about 2 and a half hours  bus ride to the capital city of Bohol which is Tagbilaran City. Although it felt a little shorter since I slept almost on the entire trip.  Tart always gets amazed at the idea that I can sleep anywhere (literally) and regardless of the position (may it be sitting or leaning forward).  We were staying at his sisters place since they have a spare guess room (which I think personally is awesome) we were able to save some money for the accommodation and meals (THANK YOU so much for everything!)

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, we woke up early and go to the market to prepare our food for the Panglao trip.

We went to the Alturas Super Market to buy Milk fish, pork meat, fruits etc. I was actually having a great time since I am very fond of markets, I really don’t know why maybe it has something to do with my father always tagging me along every time he goes to the market to buy fresh fish for dinner.

I was able to make my famous grilled bangus (Milk fish) ala AA style, since tart wanted his sister to actually try it.

Was a bit pressured but somehow I think they liked it! ;)

  

Panglao was JAMMED PACK with people! Tart and I literally walked at the shoreline to see if there are available cottages. We walked for a while and just when we were about to give up! We found an available cottage! (yey!)

 

Panglao for me is still one of the top beaches here in the Philippines. It’s powdery white sand and crystal clear beach is still the best!

If I were to choose between Cebu and Panglao for the beaches, It would be a NO BRAINER! I would say Panglao. Even though I have lived all my life at Cebu, it seems that panglao never fails to take my breath away!

  

Enjoy!

Dhonpal

Bohol: E.A.T DANAO adventure

Me, Tart and gwendee went on a holy week vacay to tart's hometown. Were we only have two itinerary, go to danao were you will find the highest ZIP line (I think) in the Philippines, the E.A.T. (Extreme/Eco/Educational Adventure Tour) and get some R and R at Panglao beach.

We experienced an adrenaline rush like never before.

The zip line is called a Suislide, it’s the highest zip line ever built so far in the Philippines.

here is the view i got on my Cellphone cam

The most convenient way there is to take a TUBIGON Boat in Pier 3 (around 150 – 190 one way), then you can take a Bus to sagbayan (P25). Then at sagbayan you can either ride another bus to DANAO proper then from there ride a habal habal to E.A.T. or ride a habal habal from sagbayan directly to E.A.T DANAO.

tart  and i  would recommend the Sagbayan to E.A.T Park, if you are on a time constraint since there are times that there are no buses.

Blogger's Note:  it’s a really bumpy ride hence the request earlier for them to fix the road, But the view is spectacular I think the best way to experience bohol is on an open air vehicle. If you have lived in the city all your life (like me) the fresh air and the green scenery is worth the sunburn. :)

to check on other great adventure they offer you, you can check out their website: http://www.eatdanao.com/

or you can contact them through this numbers:

LGU-Danao

- 507-3106 local 187

- eatdanao@ymail.com

Ana Loinda Saluan

Mun. Tourism Officer

- 0917-3021701

Ma. Weina Saguid

Booking Officer

0921-7594403 / 0917-3021700

Have Fun!

Dhonpal

DotA all star version 6.66 with AI

 To all the DotA fanatics out there!

 

Just a continuation of my latest post DotA all star. I mentioned that the latest version that they released with a stable map is 6.66b (as the the official website www.getdota.com)

Now if you are like me, the type who wants to familiarize all the changes and experiment on you favorite character.  So that the next time you play with the BIG Boys you won’t get embarrassed. Then I suggest you download the latest version of DotA with AI (Artificial intelligence) on it.

I was kind of heartbroken when I couldn’t find my any online. 

After countless of Google and Yahoo searches I was able to figure out were one can download the latest AI MAP.

·         You can log-in to http://www.getdota.com/

·         Click on the AI Map at left side

·         It will divert you to http://www.playdota.com/forums

 

·         You have to register to their forum and become a member in order for you to download the map

Other great thing about joining their forum is that you can research battle strategy and be update on the latest updates from the creators of the game. this way you will be the one to kick ass not the other way around.

Enjoy!

Dhonpal

  

   

DotA all star

Defense of the Ancients or more commonly known as DotA has been one of the most played game in cebu. Since in this game you can play it either through LAN connection (internet café) or connect and play with millions of gamers online via GARENA (Game Arena) or other online game network.

Even before DotA was created, I have always been a big fan of the WARCARFT series and have played all of their games from warcraft: Orcs and Humans until Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos. Even before, i would make sure to come home early from school, finish all my homework and then play until the curfew which is 10pm. On the weekends its morning until I fall asleep, that’s how addictive the game is.

Now that they created a new game basing form the Warcraft series were your main objective is to destroy you opponent’s camp and having to manage only your Heroes is quite amazing. You don’t need to hire more wisps to harvest gold and lumber to train your unit. Since in this game, your camp will automatically generate its unit and is program to attack the other camp at certain intervals. So your main focus in really solely on your hero. How cool is that.

Out of the 97 Heroes in DotA, like all the gamers I have my favorite characters. These are;

• Traxex the Drow Ranger – Agility base hero
• Alleria Windrunner – intelligence base Hero

Yes! I have notice that I am very fond of medium to long range type heroes and both of them are archer.

They also added two new heroes:

Murloc NightCrawler (Agility Hero)

Ancient Apparition (intelligence Hero)

 Since this is really a big hit locally and even in the international gaming scene, if you ever get a chance to use GARENA you will see that there are players logged on from almost all 4 continents in the world.

The creators are continuously asking for feedbacks or bugs so that they can fix it, after a significant improvement has been made they then release a new version of the Game. Right now the latest version that is being released from the official creator (www.getdota.com) is Version 6.66b.

To check on the changes made from version 6.65 to 6.66 click here (change logs)

Its pays to really read and check the label of your heroes! If you’ve tried playing at Gols or any local internet café then you would know that the players there are ruthless and are in the middle to expert category. So best be prepared, TRUST me.. when i say they are ruthless! :)

xx

Dhonpal

       

Addicted to Tekken 6

Yes! That is correct I now officially addicted to Tekken 6. I have always been a video game enthusiast way back when the only game console available was the family computer until it has evolved into PC online RPG then to LAN base game such as DOTA until PSP etc.  I guess the inner kid in me never grew up (Peter pan syndrome much?). Although some men never acknowledge this fact they'll simply say  “it's a Guy thing” or “Men and their toys” (Yeah right!).

Last Sunday while we were waiting for the LFS of Dear John, I got curious on the newest tekken version which is Tekken 6 (in Time zone AYALA CEBU). So we decided to play while waiting for 9:25 pm to strike.

All i can say is that the games graphics is way better than Tekken 5: Dark resurrection (I mean WAY WAY BETTER) and they added a couple of new characters in the game.


You can check out the new characters bio at http://tekken.namco.com/characters/

 Picture Source: http://tekken.namco.com/characters/

What I like most this latest installment is that you can do non-stop combos and actually rendering your opponent helpless until you get to defeat him. K.O!

Tart decided to use DEVIL JIN and I seem to favor either ALISA or LILI. Well I got my ass whooped by tart, He defeated me in every single battle we have and he only uses one Character DEVIL JIN.

Pic Sources:

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/

http://static.gamesradar.com

his character(devil jin)  however shoots a laser like power from his forehead and if you get hit takes a large chuck of you life. But in all fairness to tart, he did not just rely on the laser but also uses different kinds of combo.

But that won’t happen next time! I’ll make sure that I will be the winner.

Practice makes perfect!

xx

DHONPAL

       

Waste to Energy by N-Viro

Today's Technologies - Tomorrow's Solutions  

~N-Viro International

As I was driving March (the name i gave my car) to the city, I passed by an area near our town and I saw this Pool of water. from the looks of it, I would  say it was an organic waste products from a nearby factory. The smell was unpleasant and I think we all can relate to such scene especially to those who are living in the urban/metropolitan area.

The said factory and the city would have to spend quite a hefty amount in terms of cleaning and disposing the said organic waste properly making sure that it will not contaminate any water source and I tell you this don’t come cheap. Since most of the world economy is in recession, we need to look for ways to hit two birds with one stone; that means Clean and at the same time recycle (Just like what Mother Nature intended)

I came across a company called N-Viro international. This company specializes in using lime and/or mineral-rich, combustion byproducts to treat, pasteurize, immobilize and convert wastewater sludge and other bio-organic wastes into biomineral agricultural and soil-enrichment products with real market value; in short it converts waste to energy.


here are some of the by products being produced;

·          Fertilizer (N-Viro Soil) for agricultural purposes, which the city can use to sell to or give to the local farmers.

·          Fuel (N-Viro Fuel) which is a cleaner and affordable alternative to coal for energy can also be called a Clean Coal.

Company Website: http://www.nviro.com

Company Profile: http://www.nviro.com/about.html

Being part of the Group I love the OCEAN and an Environmentalist (at heart); I am very much familiar with the harmful effects in using coal and Oil. I think it is high time that we switch to a cleaner and abundant fuel and energy source or what we call  Renewable energy (energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat) and start using Opportunity fuels (are typically unconventional and usually derived from some sort of waste or byproduct) which are available to all if only we start patronizing it.

It's never too late to change and start making a difference!


N-viro Video:

xx
Dhonpal

KOPI ROTI experience

I Love coffee… it’s very evident in my blog and even in my status in Facebook. I have always loved its aroma and the natural high I feel, sip after sip.  I just couldn’t get enough! everyday when I get to work I always start my day with a cup of coffee.

Yesterday, Tart brought me to the Gallery in Mabolo CEBU and introduced me to KOPI ROTI. A coffee blend that was new yet at the same time familiar to my taste buds. I took the liberty of checking their concepts and what coffee they use.

“Kopi Roti as the name suggests, is an exciting new concept in the art of enjoying coffee blended to perfection.

The Kopi Roti concept began in Singapore many years ago when Kopi Tiams - the Malay word for coffee shop - started catering to a very demanding clientele, locals who knew how coffee should be blended the Asian way and who demanded nothing but the best at a reasonable cost.

Source: http://www.kopiroti.com.ph

No wonder the taste was so familiar, since the coffee they serve is more on ASIAN BLENDS. It reminded me of our traditional “SIKWATE”, this is a local Cebuano drink served hot made from freshly grind Cacao seeds.

Since history did tell us that Philippines have had trade relations with our neighboring Asian countries even before Spain colonized us. I wouldn’t be surprise that cacao trees/ seeds or even the finished product was traded.

We went there around 11:30 pm, the ambiance of the place was great for me who wants to sip my coffee silently and have an EMO moment. So that’s what we did we talked a little but we just enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the place.

Well one minor thing though Kopi Roti closes at around 12mn, probably because the stores and restaurant in the gallery is close at that time. But you can stay as long as you like and the place is safe since there are security guards at the place. But still it would have been better if they close at around 2am at least you can still order another round of their nostalgic coffee.

Xx

Dhonpal