For those who don’t believe in love at first sight: I challenge you to walk the streets of Baguio, feeling the cold chill that raises arm hairs from time to time or the involuntary chattering of teeth — with your eyes open — fall in love maybe 80-90 times a day, watching residents who never seem to be bogged down by the heat (humidity?  what humidity?) but only if you keep your eyes open.  Or it might also be onset frostbite.

Let me tell you about Baguio: it’s what I think of when I dream about summers, or bicycles, or of pretty girls in jackets.

I almost lived there for college but decided not to at the time (it’s about a girl, and it didn’t quite pan out, as most high school romances go).  For the weekend, and as an impulsive person, there are lingering thoughts of staying there to study again.  (Did I watch Community to get inspiration to go back to school?)  Of course, this time, and for most other times in the near future: it’s about a girl.

Then again, it might be vacation high — I haven’t been here since 2008, and the thought of starting from scratch someplace new always has it’s charms.  Or I might have been drinking too much again.  Or it might be the strawberry-taho I ate upon arriving.

Thinking about it — new school, new faces, a different house to go home to every night (that I do manage to get myself home), drinking that coffee with a scoop of ice cream at Volante cafe while trying to warm up, or eating several 6” pizzas for maybe less than 300 pesos every week, or getting to hang out with Koreans (and meeting a few of them) at Red Lion pub, getting lost at Laoakan late at night, playing with my nieces and goddaughter every day, smoking cigarettes while trying to warm up, getting to wear jackets any day of the week (rain or shine) and not feeling ridiculous, ice cold water baths that feel like bathing in glaciers because I’m too lazy to wait for hot water, getting enveloped in a blanket while reading a book, walking down Session Road because there would be nothing to do and in that nothing will have to become something being the activity of walking, drinking ice cold superdry beer while watching other people leech off internet at that one place I went to the other day, hanging out with a local celebrity, watching the never-ending lines at McDonald’s in the very heart of Session, looking for old cameras at ukay-ukays, looking for that ice cream parlour (and I say parlour, not parlor) where I ate the best banana split I could remember, eating day-old chick beside the SM, learn parts of the dialect and get it right, getting whiskey dick because of drinking too much, looking for a new place that would cut my hair in the exact same way my stylist does, trying to enroll for all-morning classes so I could get some work done during the afternoons, or simply sitting at home, catching movies on that one channel that only they get — it all sounds so tempting and is cause for great consideration.

But I look out the window from here and think that maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world.

[flickr set]

If you were starting an angry mob, I would heartily suggest that you put frustrated DSL customers in the frontline.  We can get vicious.

It’s no secret — in our country, currently, there is no one true answer for your DSL needs.  The connection that is hardly-ever-down and has respectable speed will always have contractors that take forever to get to your house.  Or maybe you’re of the early-adopter kind; the connection was fast and reliable the first few months — ’til more and more people found out about it.  Or you could even be the sunny kind — connection’s good as long as rain clouds don’t appear.

Lately I’ve been having problems with Globe’s broadband services.  What used to be “ol’ reliable” has never been quite the same after the storm from July, Bashang.  The contractors have said that they’ve replaced the fiber optics and have done the necessary repairs, — I even got my modem replaced! — but it’s just not the same.  I keep glancing over the modem to see if the “DSL” light is on.

It’s gotten so bad that I’ve become phone pals with customer support — I call them every week now.  A prime example is last week’s debacle: I woke up Monday afternoon with NO connection.  Called customer support right up to get it looked at — left the house to get some internettin’ done.  Got home and still nothing.  Called customer support to follow up, and woke up early, just in case the technicians dropped by in the morning.  (This was Tuesday.)  By 5 and with no sign of anybody coming to fix my internet, I called up again, only to have yet another job order filed for the next day.

Wednesday: I called early in the morning to confirm if anybody was dropping by, the customer support I talked to told me that my job order was scheduled for 1-5 in the afternoon, so I went back to sleep and woke up at noon.  Then the waiting.  1:30, feedback called to ask if my internet was fixed.  I told them no technician dropped by, and that I still didn’t have internet access.  She pressed on that the technicians reported in that they already visited.  TIMEWARP!  Did I miss anything?  I was told that they’d be calling the technicians to follow up with my lack of internet.

By 2:30, I called up customer support again, only to be told that the job order was still open, and that someone will come to look at my internet by 5.  No one did.  I called up again and asked for an explanation.  I gave the reference number for my job order but was then told to double check; my job order apparently ceased to exist.  I wasn’t so much concerned if anybody was going to fix my internet that day — I was looking for a reason why the last customer support would tell me to wait up for nothing, or why my job order would disappear from my records.  The customer support agent couldn’t answer, so I asked for anybody higher than her to explain better why the communication between the customer support department, the support center and the contractors was so bad.

I got in touch with a supervisor who assured me that by the next day (Thursday), someone would come and fix my internet.  There would be a matter of prioritization (so, not every customer is a priority?), personal emails from both him and his co-supervisor and personal guarantees from him and the agent who answered.  From Monday to Wednesday, I have gotten personal guarantees — and yet I still didn’t have a connection.

Thursday, no one dropped by.  For some reason though, the internet was back.  I didn’t have the energy to waste more time listening to “please hold” advertisement, so I didn’t report it.  By Friday, at 7 in the morning, waking me up from my week’s lack of sleep, technicians dropped by to look at my internet.  I told them that I had connectivity from the prior day and they told me that they were just “double checking.”  Rrrrrriiiiigggghhhhhht.

This week, as I’m told, the whole region was under network restoration.  Intermittent connection ’til it finally gave out at around midnight.  Called up customer support again and was told that network restoration had been done, so it was a genuine concern.  I was told that since it was after 12, the job order will have to be scheduled for the next day, regardless if I called it in at 12:01 AM, the technicians will be scheduled for a visit by the next day.  I had been assured that rebates from the outages would reflect on my next billing statement  —  I didn’t want money that was already mine — I want to be connected, with as little interference as possible.

As I write this, the other DSL company for whom I applied for have still not returned.  I think about all the customer support agents of whom I’ve gotten to talk to over the last 2 years and I start to feel horrible — they have exercised extreme restraint and patience — their job is to be yelled at by dissatisfied customers looking for a reason.  For now I’m not quite sure for whom.

I’d like to think that customer support agents think about my situation as a consumer, that there’s some kind of prioritization going on when I don’t get to use the service.  But I don’t believe it.

She did it in twos, one for me and one for her, with cupped hands as if whispering a secret.

I always did fancy looking at her.  From afar, she looked intelligent, charming and interesting — but mainly it’s because that one time, her cleavage was peeking out in that little red number and I wanted her to touch my penis.  The only time I saw her was by the smoking area.  See, in buildings, they’ve forced smokers into these little spaces that could accommodate (and tolerate) them, usually beside garbage bins.

She had left her lighter one day, and asked if she could borrow a light.  (And how exactly do you borrow light?!)  From then on, we would smoke together, which was usually accomplished by ignoring my officemates when they were smoking beside me.

One day she wasn’t there.  I had chanced upon her walking on her own in this mall near the office —

“I was on EL” (emergency leave, explaining why she wasn’t around that day)

“what was the emergency?”

“…carrying a child.”

She stopped smoking, and I smoked twice as much.  (then I realized she wasn’t the only girl in the world, but I didn’t know that yet, it was 2007.)

LBC started out as a brokerage and air cargo agent in the 60′s — since then, they have constantly been improving their service, with linking and bridging customers in mind.  LBC’s Peso Padala service has always been the country’s safest, fastest and has the cheapest rates in the country.

There are stories of people finding the service so reliable, they end up becoming long-term customers, relying on LBC Peso Padala for their remittance needs.  Stories vary, like people supporting their relatives in other parts of the country, online stores receiving immediate payment for their products or services, or even for emergency purposes.

An example is Albert Naarol, 29, who has been using the service to send money to his siblings in Butuan and Cebu, and financial support for his 6-year old son in Bacolod.  He has been a loyal LBC Peso Padala client for a decade now.

20-year-old Debbie Allene Ybona offers LBC Peso Padala as a payment option for her online store.  Getting hassle-free payments is a boon when it comes to being a first-time entrepreneur.

Public school teacher Lorena was able to use LBC Peso Padala to help her niece, Myca, from Batangas, to get money for fare back home, 15 minutes before the last bus leaves.  Lorena was able to drop by an LBC branch at 2:45 in the afternoon, and by 3, her niece Myca was already on a bus home.

These are only a couple of examples, but with over 950 LBC branches worldwide to serve Filipinos and their loved ones, remittance has never been easier.

This promo is open to all GMA and Luzon residents.  Each M&M’s fun travel accessory is equivalent to a certain set of points.  All product wrappers (or tubes for M&M’s minis) must have a Best Before Date of 2010/2011.

Here is a list of the wrappers you need and their point equivalent:

• 1 point = 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate 40g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut 40g OR 1 pc M&M’s Crispy 34g OR 1 pc M&M’s mini 30.6g OR 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate 47.9g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut 49.3g OR 1 pc M&M’s Orange 34g
• 2 points = 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate 100g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut 100g
• 5 points = 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate 200g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut 200g OR 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate 232.5g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut 232.5g
• 8 points = 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate Funsize 202.5g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut Funsize 202.5g OR 1 pc M&M’s Milk Chocolate Funsize 267.9g OR 1 pc M&M’s Peanut Funsize 264.8g

And what are the M&M’s fun travel accessories you could get with these points?

• Luggage Tag = 7 M&M’s points
• Sling/Messenger Bag = 40 M&M’s points
• Foldable Pillow = 80 M&M’s points
• Backpack = 130 M&M’s points

Prizes may be redeemed at selected USSC locations in GMA and Luzon or at Concepts In Action Inc., G/F 92 New York cor. Purdue Sts. Brgy. E.Rodriguez Sr., Cubao, Quezon City.

There’s also an M&M’s Fun Travel Promo hotline: (632) 709-4847, which can be reached on weekdays, 9am to 6pm.

Promo period is from July 15 to October 15,2010.  Want to travel with M&M’s spokescandies on your luggage?  Time to munch on M&M’s!

There are two ways to restore the energy of the people:

Game 1:
It’s up to the player to hunt for the hidden Snickers bars and give them back to the people.  This game is timed, and people who get to re-energize the people the fastest gets rewarded.  There’s an option to see the weekly top scores, so players know how fast they have to be.

Game 2:
This is an internet-wide scavenger hunt for the Golden Snickers bar.  Where did Mr. Sneaky-hands stash the Golden Snickers bar?  The clues are on www.snickersgame.com, Twitter & Facebook!  The player who finds the Golden Snickers bars stands a chance of winning awesome prizes!

So you get to help re-energize a whole city’s population and you get to win too?  Prizes can be won weekly, and to give potential Snickers hunters what they’re in for, the prizes are: Sony Play Station, Sony Ericsson mobile phones, Canon cameras, movie tickets and other fantastic prizes!

Visit www.snickersgame.com to help save Snickers city!  Contest period is from July 8 to August 21.

This is exactly the feeling that Avida Land Corp. is trying to recreate with the launch of their newest offering: the Avida Towers Global City.

Having been recently listed, the Avida Towers Global City launch was done in order to showcase what future lifestyle changes future residents will have to consider in order to fall for their new home.

The event was graced by the presence of Avida Land’s Leo Montenegro, Chris Maglanoc and Ayala Land Inc.’s Antonio Aquino and Bobby Dy.  A night of warmth, elegance and a feeling of “home” prevailed as good food, wine and great music tied it all up.

Entertainment was provided by The Company, as they did their cover of “I Gotta Feeling,” lighting up the event as they performed various hits and new songs from their album “Lighthearted.”  It also opened up the night for performances by newcomer Aries Sales and platinum record artist, Princess Velasco with her soothing acoustic tunes.

The true highlight of the night though, is the tower itself — Avida Towers Global City resides in the heart of BGC, one of the country’s most sought-after addresses.  With close proximity for areas of both work and play, and easy access to Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, NLEX and the NAIA airport, one only needs to think about the fun lifestyle changes with living in BGC.

In the grand visual presentation that followed, it is easy to see why every unit in the Avida Towers Global City comes complete with everything that makes a great home.  An option of 1 or 2 bedroom units (with or without a balcony), complete amenities with adult/kiddie swimming pool, a clubhouse and function hall, a children’s play area and a garden area, all in a completely fun and secure environment makes it hard for one not to fall for the place.

So what makes one love a home?  Is it the voices one hears upon entering the door?  Is it that peaceful sigh, that feeling one gets upon entering, knowing that one is comfortable and safe?  No — it is taking all that, and making them realized into reality.

-Jeff Winger, Community

Break-ups: the end of an era.  Not that it should be a bad thing — no — there are lessons to be learned!  And the lesson I learned yesterday was: I haven’t really changed that much in the last decade.

So I coordinate shoe-color with belt-color nowadays, I haven’t completely stopped growing just after adolescence (because that would make every girl I’ve been with, post-18, a pedophile) I feel like I just stalled a bit.

A decade ago, mobile phones could only hold 20-30 messages at a time, so, like a 15-year-old dork, I transcribed SMS messages to paper.  (geek! — sentimental geek!)  Upon reading how the exes have reacted 10 years ago and compared side-by-side with what a recent partner has been saying, they’re mostly the same.  The same answers to the same questions, same reactions to the same action.  History, and doom repeating itself in decade cycles.

For a change, I ended the month-long awkward marathon.

Some pairings just don’t work.  No matter how her lips taste like berries, how her hair is like sunshine, or how her smell lingers on my clothes long after she’s gone, it just wouldn’t work out.  (Square holes and circular pegs or square pegs and circular holes?)  When you’re unhappy and you know it, you do not clap your hands.

***

So, for my High Fidelity-ish moment, here is an introspection into some old break-ups and what lessons I learned from them:

J - I learned that, at 13, you wouldn’t want to make the mistake of asking someone to get a “monthsary” greeting card for you and have it be a wedding anniversary greeting card.  You never have to let others steer the car for you.  Also, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.  I got out of that car, with a hearty slap to the right cheek from her best friend waiting for me.

S - When someone’s interested in you, and you like them too, you gotta do something about it.  If you don’t, somebody else will.  Most especially when you get locked in the library, just the two of you.  Or else, 2 years later, you will run into her while you’re with your then-girlfriend and you’ll get a look.  The one that says, “you chickened out on me 2 years ago!”

D - I learned how to leap.  I figured, she didn’t know me that well, so messing up would be moot.  I think this one lesson stays with me and gets put into practice several times a year.  Sometimes, going-for-broke means you get the girl of your dreams.

J – This was something special, 4 years in the making!  Which only says that if you can’t succeed in freshman year, maybe you get that second chance by senior year.  I also learned how to deal with younger siblings, other relatives and the nosy neighbors of a girl. I also learned that to be someone for somebody else, you have to be someone for yourself.  Whatever that means.

C – You can’t judge a goodnight kiss by what it is.  It could also be a “this-is-my-last-goodbye-kiss-and-you-will-never-see-nor-hear-from-me-again” kiss.  I also learned that being direct with your intentions is good, and finding the right way to be direct will only make it better.  I also learned to make back-ups of mobile phone numbers.  Numbers can be lost, when upgrading to a new phone.  As of 2010, I have not yet heard from her again.  That same night, I locked lips with a cigarette instead.

***

Change starts from the realization that there needs to be change.  Also, I choose to evolve.  So I wouldn’t have to look at this post 10 years from now and write something similar to it.

Look at me, talking like a grown-up.

And my personal favorite:

Wouldn’t these sell?!  So if you want to see how a design would look on a shirt using a photo-realistic shirt template, try out ShirtMockup.

Toy Con is still my favorite convention of the year — you could either be surprised by seeing a toy you were looking for, or by the people you bump into.  Also, people kept touching my butt.  LOL

For this year, (on-a-budget), I managed to buy 5 DCUC figures — my first five.  I still have this hate/love/hate/love relationship going on with DCUC — they’re up to series 12 or 14 now, but I’m now just catching up because I refuse to pay 800+ for a single figure LOL — so here’s what I bought, all LOOSE, of course!  (all of them except for Detective Batman don’t have any accessories)

• DCUC Gotham City 5-pack Batman (the black one) – Exclusive repaint from a 5-pack.  Is exactly the same figure as Detective Batman.
• DCUC Series 1 Detective Batman – The “Neal Adams” Batman.  Comes with a grapple gun and batarang.  I’m surprised at how much I’ve grown to like him.  Classic Bats, o yeh.
• DCUC Series 3 Robin - Much, much better than the one from the Batman series.  The collar hinders neck movement a bit.  Sad without his birdarang and staff.
• DCUC Series 4 Batman Beyond Variant – Terry McGinnis!  Awesome!  Also, just in time before the new BB books come out.  A bit sad that the mask accessory isn’t here, but if I didn’t grab him, someone else would have!
• DCUC Series 7 Barry Allen Flash- Bought him simply because he’s slick.  Great paint and sharp detail!

I was actually looking for a loose Superman without a mullet (the newer one) and a coupla others, but hey — any day I come home with a new Batman toy is a good day!  Although it’s 2010 and I still don’t have a Batman figure that could crouch LOL

What’d you get?

***

Again, thanks to all who made Toycon possible!  Also, thanks to Mikko for the assist!