Pet Peeve - Queuing for the washroom

I was at a busy bar one night queuing up for my turn to the washroom. The guy in front of me met somebody he knew and started to chat, hug and flirt with this other guy so typical of those drunken state. He was not minding the queue and stepping forward as needed that another guy cut in front of him. Or another similar instance would be two or a group of guys queuing up for the washroom and they are so busy chattering away that another guy cuts in front of them. Those are so annoying to me. Their actions has consequence for the guys behind the queue, including me! Either chat/flirt with your friends now or queue up and wait till you are done before you chat/flirt. Just imagine if you have the urgency to use the washroom and you were behind them in a long line.

The Yummy Soup by Bing.

PAPAYA
BOKCHOY

GROUND CUMIN
DILL WEED

Here is a recipe I like to share of a yummy soup that I created. This recipe is flexible and you can use chicken, pork or beef. I do not find enjoyment in cooking like some people but I am not a bad cook though.

Ingredients:
1. ginger the size of a male thumb or more if you like more ginger taste to the soup.
2. bokchoy (one stalk) you can use cabbage or chinese brocolli
3. one piece of papaya (green/unripe)
4. half teaspoon of ground cumin
5. half teaspoon of dill weed
6. half teaspoon of sea salt NaCl
7. half teaspoon of Iodide salt
8. 3-4 cubes of chicken, beef or pork bouillons or its equal about of powder.
9. 1.5-2 pounds of chicken, beef or pork
10. half teaspoon Mrs. Dash
11. 3 stems of carrots

Procedure:
1. Boil the meat of choice in a big pot. Make sure the water covers all the meat. Watch for foam to form as the meat boils. That is the blood that curdles. You must scope it out with a big ladle. This process will have to be repeated as long as foam is forming.
2. Slice ginger to layers or cubes. You may peel it or not. The ginger just serves to remove the foul odor and taste that meat sometimes has. Add the ginger to the soup mix as soon as no more foam is forming.
3. Add the chicken, beef or pork bouillon to the soup. Remember that the bouillon must match the meat of choice.
4. Add the cumin, dill, salts and Mrs Dash. Flavor to taste. The amount of the spices can vary to your taste.
5. Peel the papaya, slice open and discard the seed. Then slice it to bite size cubes. The bigger the slices, the longer the papaya will need to be cooked to soften.
6. Peel the carrots and slice to small pieces.
7. When you are satisfied that the meat is at least half to 3/4 cooked to its tender state. This can take 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the meat. Add the papaya and carrot. Let is simmer for 5-10 minutes just to allow the carrots and papaya to soften.
8. Slice the bokchoy to size of your choice. Add the stalk first because they require longer time to soften. Let it simmer for 3 minutes then add the leafy portion. As soon as you added the leafy part, you may turn off the fire. The remainder heat will be enough to cook the leafy bokchoy. That way the greens are not overcooked.

This recipe serves 4-6 people. It should have some sweetness to it coming from the papaya, carrot and cumin. The dill and ginger will give it a distinct taste. It's yummy and good to have on a cold night.

my little godsons

I will most likely have no biological offspring of my own. So where do I pour my attention? To my 2 godsons. Both are the babies of my 2 first cousins. Officially, I am first cousins once removed to my godsons but I consider them nephews for all intent and purposes. The first one is Zach. He lives in Amarillo and he will be 3 this March. My second godson is Greg. He will be one this September and he is in the Philippines. They are both actually first cousins to each other. I downloaded the latest pictures of my 2 little cherubs. I plan to be good to them and hopefully they will visit me when I am old in a nursing home. haha
Zach playing with the magnadoodle Tito Bing gave him.

Greg in his full princely glory. Isn't he a cutie.

"She feels pretty...."

I made a post several days ago about Mikhail Youzhny and how he always manage to have a good picture even in the middle of a play. I mentioned that some players make the weirdest looking faces and expressions while they are in the middle of a play. My perfect example would be Maria Sharapova below. She is considered by many as pretty. I bet she feels pretty in those pictures below... (pics from Yahoo sports section)

Religion is Good...

My friends and family might be a little surprise about this post. After all I am not the most religious of all people. I would go to church with my friends but not in a way that others might. I go primarily to listen to what the priest has to say. Try to get some lessons from the homily but not necessarily subscribing to the whole dogma. I believe there is always something good I can learn from it. After all I maintain the belief that religion in its purest form is good. Well perhaps some religious cult that subscribe to evil things are an exception but in general, all major religions in the world teaches the same common theme of love, peace, harmony, compassion, fairness and many more good virtues. So some people that I know who despises religion is actually misdirecting their anger to the wrong entity. It is not religion that they should be angry with but the corrupt mistaken people behind the religion. Gay people should not hate Christianity itself but instead the hypocrite behind these christian groups that claims to be the only one that knows the teachings of Christ and uses that belief to condemn the gay people. Americans should not hate Islam itself but instead the fanatic muslim that uses their religion as an excuse to kill. Muslims should not hate christianity but instead the selfish christian leaders who tries to control the arab oil rich world to have more financial gain from it. OK, I am running out of example but my point is very clear. For whatever woes one religious group has done to another group of people, it is not religion per se that is the cause but the people behind these religion.

Mikhail Youzhny

I do not care much for any of the Russian tennis players except for one. That is Mikhail Youzhny. His current ATP rank is number 8 in the world. He is a good player although he has not won any Grand Slam event. But what caught my attention to him is his good looks. Almost all the pictures I have seen of him, even in the middle of a play, are not unflattering. You should see some of those contorted faces and weird grimaces those players make when they are in the middle of a play, but not Mikhail. He always take a good picture. He is photogenic. Let me give you some pictures I have downloaded from Yahoo sport section.

Sex and the City...?

I sometimes feel like Carrie Bradshaw in that HBO series Sex and the City when I blog my thoughts and experiences. Except that I am not a girl, not white, not blonde, not curly and don't live in NYC, the rest screams Carrie. hahaha I actually love that show and I am looking forward for the movie. My friends and I actually decided that I am most like Miranda Hobbes. I am very cynical, pragmatic and realistic about my views on love, sex and life. So I will be Miranda with Carrie's job. How about that?

(pic from wikipedia)

Sex and the City

Anybody excited about this yet? It is coming out on May 30, 2008. I am counting the days. In the meantime, I am watching a lot of the reruns on TV. For the movie trailer, click here. Synopsis below from Moviefone.

"The hit cable series Sex and the City catwalks its way to the big screen in this feature-film continuation that fans all over have been clamoring for. Sarah Jessica Parker returns once again as Carrie Bradshaw, the style maven journalist whose romantic exploits were the key focus of the show. Also reprising their roles are Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon, with the series' executive producer Michael Patrick King taking on writing and directing duties. Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson co-stars as Parker's assistant"

(pic from wikipedia)

I am not sure...

I admit I chat and check out different website. After all I met both my LTR from online. But I am not sure which online rejection I prefer. I am referring to when I contact somebody I am interested with via IM or email in gay.com, frienster, gaydar, dlist or manhunt. Most often, I get ignore which is a good indication that they are not interested. But sometimes, I get an email or respond thanking me for contacting them but they are not interested. I am not sure if I prefer to hear that outright rejection as oppose to the "read between the line" rejection. On one argument, I do not like to be ignored specially if I complimented somebody online and I do not even get as much as a "thanks". On the other hand, that outright rejection is really a downer for the ego. What do you think?

Do I speak 4 or 7 languages?

There is always some confusion on my part whether I call Hiligaynon, Cebuano and Hokkien dialect or language. On top of those 4, I can also speak English, Spanish, Chinese (mandarin) and Filipino (tagalog). Not very fluent in some of them but I can communicate with them.

Wikipedia defines LANGUAGE a system of visual, auditory, or tactile symbols of communication and the rules used to manipulate them. And it defines DIALECT a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class.

Are Tagalog and Hiligaynon a separate language or just a dialect of one another? Certainly there are enough differences between the two that an illiterate tagalog speaker and an illiterate hiligaynon speaker would find talking to each other very confusing. For example, in tagalog shark is "pating" but in hiligaynon, "pating" is pigeon. Another example, in tagalog penis is "titi" but in hiligaynon, "titi" is breast/mammary glands. But there are also many similarities between the two. For example, both would refer to head as "ulo", you as "ikaw, eyes as "mata" and belly as "tiyan". Some words between the two are cognates. For example, hand is "kamay" in tagalog and "kamot" in hiligaynon. Another example, clothes is "baru" in tagalog and "bayo" in hiligaynon. And another, house in tagalog is "bahay" and "balay" in hiligaynon. See the similarities? This brings me back to my original question. Are they dialects or languages?

Between Mandarin and Hokkien, the spoken words may sound different but the written characters are the same. Wikipedia actually refer to these two as belonging to a chinese language family. Example would be the word man. In mandarin it is pronounced as "ren" and hokkien it is pronounced as "lang". Another is the word big. In mandarin it is pronounced as "tah" and in hokkien it is "tua". Then again, an illiterate mandarin speaker and illiterate hokkien speaker would not understand each other. Dialect? Language?

Then there is Swedish and Norwegian. Both are classified as languages yet from what I was told, they are very similar to each other that one does not have to formally learn the other language to understand each other. Why are they not dialect of each other?

I encountered this article that discusses when it is a language and when it is a dialect. One point it is saying is that developed nations promote their language as language while less developed nations delegate their languages a dialects. Sometimes the line between it being a language and a dialect is just very blurred. Very interesting, is it not?

I am proud that I can speak so many languages and from now on, I will proudly refer to them as languages. Enough of this dialect thing. Henceforth, I speak 7 languages. haha

Male egg and female sperm?

I was browsing the Science News website and this article caught my eye. It is basically saying that the technology to make a male cell develop into eggs and a female cell develop into sperm is in the horizon. This is something different from what I know in theory that geneticist can remove the genetic material of an egg and insert the genetic material coming from the sperm of one man. Then that egg with its new genetic material is fertilized by the sperm of another man. Both technologies will allow gay men and lesbians couples to biologically reproduce. That is certainly uplifting news for the gay and lesbian community but bad news for the self-righteous hypocrites. For now, it is just wishful thinking for me because I know that it will take decades for this to be a reality.

Dear Penis

This is hilarious. Don't be alarmed by the title. This is not porn and this does not contain lewd languages. I must admit the lyrics appeal to adult humor. Have a good laugh everybody.

"I am not ready to date seriously..."

"I am not ready to date seriously". Have you heard that before? Although not recently but I have heard that line before in the dating scene. I have given that line myself. I believe though that one only gives this line if they are not sure about how they feel with the person they are seeing. There is potential in the person but not enough to convince you to put all the energy and time in dating him/her or bringing the casual dating to a more serious level. My friend Sam and I always have this discussion about our potential dates and I have always told him that if the guy is convinced Sam is the right one, he will be ready to date more seriously. This line of "I am not ready to date seriously" is only an excuse to keep you around but not commit to you seriously. And sometimes my friend Sam says he is not really looking to date seriously the person he is seeing, I remind him that if he is convinced this person is the one, he will be ready. That is all there is to it.

Hallmark Holiday?

There are plenty of so called Hallmark Holidays but I think Valentine's day is not one of them. After all it predates the invention of Hallmark Cards. I did a little research and I found out that Valentine's Day is named after 2 early Christian martyrs. For a detailed history and information on Valentine's Day, go to wikepedia's page on this topic. Very interesting indeed. One can not stop learning new things. And this year, I do not have any special someone to celebrate my Valentine's Day so I am officially adopting everybody as my Valentine. Happy Valentine's Day to all!!!

Justin Spring on Vault at the 2007 Visa Championships

This is the vault event that resulted to the unfortunate right ACL injury. Let us all cross our finger that he may recover well enough for the Beijing Olympic.

Voltes V

This was the animated series from Japan (dubbed in english) that I grew up watching as a little boy in the Philippines. I miss this show. The story line revolves around the 5 team members piloting the Voltes robot to defend Earth from the Bozanian invaders. The main theme of the story is about defeating evil through unity. The Marcos regime back then feared that this mentality of uniting to defeat evil will be too ingrained in the impressionable minds of the kids that they canceled the show. They were afraid of the Filipino people uniting to defeat their corrupt government.

Distracted Good Drivers or Bad Drivers?

There are bad drivers and there are good drivers. Some good drivers becomes bad drivers if they are distracted by smoking cigarette or mobile phone use. I am so glad that Chicago passed an ordinance to ban mobile phone use unless it has a hands-free mechanism. Even with hands-free, I still get distracted when I drive and talk in the phone at the same time. But do you think it stopped people from using their phone with one hand and driving? I just hope the cops will enforce it more vigilantly.
Just earlier while driving home, I saw this chick driving so slow because she was chatting on her hand-held phone. And another chick had a delayed response to a light turning green because she was smoking. I hope she freezes her ass off with that window cracked open! And worse, my ex-friend driving with a ciggy and the wheel on one hand and a mobile on another! I was his passenger too! Insufferable!

(smoking pic from www.bodytology.com and cell phone pic from www.Ill.org)

Smoking ban in Chicago

The latest ban on smoking in all public places in Chicago is viewed by many as a good thing. After all, the medical evidence against smoking is overwhelming that one can not ignore it. Still there are people who chooses to smoke. Since I am all about choice, I think it is the american way to give smoker the choice to smoke without harming others. There should be public places (bar, restaurants, etc) that are classified as smoking places so smokers can go there. Those who do not mind the smoke or smokers can seek employment in those places. If non-smokers chooses to go to smoking places, they should put up with the smoke. Non-smokers may argue that smokers have a choice to step outside to smoke. Not very practical during harsh weather conditions though. But if there were smoking places, non-smokers will have that same choice to step outside or avoid that place entirely. That is the fair thing to do rather than ban smoking in all public places and hamper smoker's rights to smoke. That way both smokers and non-smokers are satisfied.

Did the Bible say Homosexuality is a sin???

True, the Bible condemned homosexuality (e.g., Leviticus 18:22). However, there is debate about the meaning of translations from Hebrew, particularly regarding what exactly was being forbidden. In addition, one needs to consider the fact that the Bible also condemns a number of other sexual practices - intercourse during menstruation, celibacy, nudity, masturbation, birth control, naming sexual organs - that are generally accepted today. Furthermore, the Bible accepts sexual practices - polygamy, sex with slaves, marriage of girls at 11-13 years old, prostitution, marriage of a woman to one of her husband's sons or brothers after her husband's death - that most of us find heinous today. And it's important to note that the Bible also condemned other acts - eating meat with blood in it (Leviticus 19:26), sowing your field with two kinds of seed, putting on a garment made of two different materials (Leviticus 19:19), eating shellfishes (Leviticus 11:19-12 and Deutoronomy 14:9-10), etc., etc. Hardly anybody observes these laws anymore.

Then there's the story of Sodom, which is always used as the basis for anti-gay sentiments. One problem with an interpretation focused on homosexuality is this: according to Ezekiel 16:49, Sodom's sins were not "sodomy" but "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness...in her and in her daughters." In addition, the people of Sodom are condemned because they did not "strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Finally, the people of Sodom were "haughty." Regarding the "abomination" the people of Sodom committed, Biblical scholars are divided on the meaning. It could have been same-sex intercourse, of course, but it also could have been any number of "abominations" mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures.

There is also considerable debate among biblical scholars as to the exact nature of the relationship of Ruth and Naomi and that of Jonathan and David.

Jesus, on the otherhand, said absolutely nothing about homosexuality, although it is significant that he deemphasized and even rejected the "purity system" emphasized by the Pharisees.

The point is, what God said is simply not that simple. Given the various translations that have been passed down from the original Scriptures, nobody can be 100% sure what is really the word of God.

Always trying to blame others.

Have you heard of the story of the burglar suing the owner of the house for the injuries he sustained while he was robbing the house? There was that story of the woman spilling the hot coffee on her lap and suing McDonalds for the coffee being too hot. Or the story of that mother suing a store for tripping on her own rowdy child while in the said store. These are some examples of frivolous lawsuits that we see and hear. The problem is partly the very intelligent lawyers scheming to earn as much money as possible and the plaintiff trying to blame others for their own actions. Instead of the burglar blaming himself for trespassing on a house and injuring himself, instead of the woman blaming herself for not being careful enough in handling hot coffee, instead of the mother blaming her inadequate discipline on her child, they all wanted to blame others. And with the help of the lawyers, frivolous lawsuits are born. This is very vexing indeed. Not only that, it also is a waste of resources and makes people overly cautious about things to the point of being ridiculous. Now, McDonalds does not give away their left overs to the homeless and needy because they are afraid of being sued. Such a waste. You see all these excessive warning labels on products to protect themselves from being sued. I can go on and on about this but the bottom line is we should all take ownership of our own actions for the events that happens to us instead of blaming other!

The Right of Way

My assumption is that pedestrian has always the right of way. Even if it's a "don't walk" light and they decide to cross the street, they still have the right of way. In an ideal world, all drivers will yield to the pedestrian. But what happens if the driver is crazy or intoxicated and did not yield to the pedestrian? Who do you think will sustain more injury or even death? Car versus man... Hmmm, there is no contest. Knowing this fact, I don't understand how some pedestrian can be so idiotic as to exert their right of way. Everybody should use common sense and avoid a car versus yourself collision no matter who has the right of way. Exception applies in suicide attempts or those who wants to injure themselves for the purpose of monetary gains from ensuing litigation. So to sum up my thoughts, car versus man, car has always the right of way.

Bummer, a Hummer !#@!

I have always been a pragmatic person. And on top of that I am environment conscious. I recycle papers/cans/bottles, I use reusables instead of disposables, I try my best to save energy by turning appliance/lights off when not needed. Considering that I am not as likely to procreate, I sometimes wonder why I bother to save mother earth. Then I remember my little godsons who I want to have a clean earth to live in. Having said all that, one thing that I truly detest seeing in the city is a Hummer. Critics might say I am just sour grapes cause I can't afford it. Trust me, I can if I want to. For city driving where you can't really do off roading, where the streets are plowed well enough in winter, where the public parking spaces are limited, where some side streets could bearly fit two regular cars side by side, driving a Hummer does not really serve any good purpose except to flaunt the wealth of the owner. In Europe gas are very expensive so the trend is for smaller efficient cars. Here in the US, we have a bigger is better mentality sometimes. These huge gas guzzlers that was popular in the 80's,90's and early 2000 has fueled our dependency to fossil fuel. This dependency has influenced our government's foreign/middle east policies and decisions. Do I need to connect the dots to the war on Iraq? So every time I see a Hummer in the city, I give them a dirty look. I know it probably does not do anything but I somehow hope the owner can realize the folly of their extravagance. SAY NO TO THE HUMMER!!!

(pic from wikipedia)

Michelle Kwan 2003 World Championships

She won her 5th World title here. She is magnificent and I can't help but post this. I am a die hard Michelle fan. I still want to see her healthy and competing. *sigh*

Observations from China

I was recently in china for a holiday and I have some observations I would like to share. It can be good or bad and I list them in no particular order.
1. The great wall and other ancient points of interest are inundated by tourist, mostly asians but I see some caucasians also. Hardly any black folks. I would like to add that these ancient points of interest are awesome. I was animated to an equal pitch by the praises of people who have been there before.
2. The conditions of their public toilets are not really up to par with american standards. And some of these toilets are on tourist attractions. They need to be maintained better for the olympics or they will hear a lot of criticisms.
3. The flight attendants are mostly young pretty females. This is true in most asian airlines I have flown with. I guess the "older" one who were removed from the post don't sue unlike here in America.
4. They do not serve free water in restaurants. You have to pay for bottled water but tea is free.
5. You can hear and see a lot of spitting in public. I guess their standard of what is acceptable public behaviour is different.
6. Prices of "stuff" are relatively cheaper for those with US dollars, Euro or Pounds as they are stronger currencies compared to the chinese RMB. It is about 7.3 RMB to a dollar.
7. Most people don't know the concept of lining up in bathroom or other situations. It's rather rude for american standards. This is true in the Philippines too. I forgot how it was.
8. You see a few people wearing surgical mask in public. It is rather odd. Is the level of protection from its use really that significant??? I personally doubt it.
9. Chinese younger ladies like to wear boots. And not the ugly snow or rain boots but the fashionable ones with 4 inches heels and pointy toes.
10. Chinese Muslims do exist... I saw them. It was a sight I did not expect from china.
11. All the 4 and 5 star hotels we stayed in have toothbrush and toothpaste available on top of the usual shampoo and soap.
12. I saw very little PDA (public display of affection) from the chinese.
13. A lot of the english signs and posted regulations have a lot of grammatical and spelling errors. Not so much in Shanghai. It's funny reading them.
14. English is NOT at all widely spoken or understood. And these are people who work in the hospitality industry too. Even our supposedly english speaking tour guide have trouble understanding us in english, let alone a hotel front desk person. Shanghai is somewhat an exception cause it is a very modern city and is more infiltrated by western businesses.
15. A lot of men smoke and barely any women did. And smoking is still allowed indoors in a lot of establishment (hotels, restaurants, etc).

You will never know...

Several months ago, I got pulled over by a cop at night while I was on my way to the gym. I did not agree with the cop that I made a moving violation but that is not the issue really. My real trouble was the fact that I forgot my wallet and driver's license at home. So if I don't get a ticket for the said moving violation, I will definitely get one for driving without a license. I realized my folly so I did not argrue much with the cop. Then out of nowhere he asked me what I do for a living. I told him I am a Physical Therapist. He asked if I work at Swedish Covenant Hospital. I said I used to work there but not anymore. Then to my surprise, he took off his hat and asked if I recognized him. He added that I use to be his PT at Swedish Covenant Hospital. I really did not remember him but I was happy he remembered me. I must have been good to him or at least made him better. So the cop decided to just give me a verbal warning about my "offenses" and had me go my way. I was so thankful for that. The moral of the lesson here is you'll never know how somebody you encounter on a day to day basis can someday be the very person you will need a favor from. What goes around, comes around. That is Karma!

What is a friend to me?

I am the type of person who would considered only a few select as real friend. Most of the people I know are good acquaintances. Friends are people you share your joys and sorrows with. They are people you can depend on and people you will go the distance with in times of needs. You can always depend on a friend to take care of you when you are too drunk or too high. You may have a fight or disagreement with your friend but at the end of the day, you can always learn to forgive each other. Friends are people you will truly miss once they are gone. Friends are people who will mutually make an effort with you to stay connected. I hope I can make more friends with the true meaning of a friend.

Blogging and me (part 1)

I started doing this blog thing as a member blogger on my friend's blog about theater, film, music, TV and books. Any form of artistic entertainment really. I learned a lot from doing that and I found it to be fun, good for my english and a stimulating hobby. Then I started my own blog in friendster primarily to record my thoughts about anything that does not belong to my friend's blog. But I got annoyed by the advertisement on that blog so I decided to start this. I hope I can continue to add more random thoughts into this blog. I will probably transplant some blog from friendster to here. Whoever might stumble into this blog, I hope you enjoy reading it. Have a super day!