We're Brothers Forever

Yesterday night I happened to chance upon American Idol 7; I was bored and there wasn't any interesting TV shows, I was switching channels and saw that they (Randy, Paula & dear Simon) were having an audition in Dallas, Texas.

I wasn't in the mood for bed (which I regretted this morning) and decided what the heck, I'll just watch it till it finishes; besides I could use a few good laughs.
The one thing that I like about American Idol is during the auditions, when they're looking for raw talent. I don't care crap about those that who get to Hollywood, I'm looking at those brave few who do not have talent but have the guts to pursue their dreams...

Whatever. The audition was amusing, the were less gems and more stones, which was really entertaining. There was this fat guy who thinks he's Christina Aguillera, a 19-year old guy who's never kissed a girl, operatic twins, and many more. But there was this guy who completely stole the show, and won the hearts of the judges. His name was Renaldo Lapuz, a Filipinian singer who simply idolizes Simon. Yes, you heard me right, he IDOLIZES him, he's got Simon's name on his hat.

His attire was attention-demanding, and the best part was his singing. He composed a song entitled, "We're Brothers Forever", a monologous tune describing about all men are brothers. His voice wasn't as bad as he looked, (I thought he sounded a bit Pavarotti-ish) even though I first thought he was Japanese. His performance was so entertaining that the judges enjoyed themselves, with Randy even roping in Ryan Seacrest to sing along (damn the lyrics were so easy that I was also singing along) and Paula dancing to the beat.

But, the best part was he was given the honor to sing his song so many times; with his audition ending with Simon giving him a hug, which brought tears to his eyes.

Well, video speaks louder than text, so just sit back and enjoy the clip.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU, RENALDO LAPUZ!!!!

Hatin' Your Job

We tend to hate our jobs, only to find ourselves reluctant to leave or quit when the time comes.

No matter how we criticize it; like how bad the cafeteria food sucks, (sigh, I'm actually eating jail food daily), how we f'in hate the boss, the evil scehemes that we plan to get back to the suck-up colleague, the meager pay (the ultimate complaint!), we find ourselves actually disinclined to find another job as we've grown comfortable with the environment.

And if we do find ourselves another job, we'll find something to hate about that particular job, too.

Well, I guess it's part of life where we complain about every single thing, how much workload we have, why the boss is picking on you, why the chicks/hunks aren't paying you any attention, only to realize deep down somewhere that we're lucky to have landed the damn job.

Nevertheless, not all people are in love with their profession, but at least we get the money to put food on the table. Ok, let me re-phrase that, at least we get our own 4-digit allowance that permits us to buy things without pestering mom & dad; also in the mean time learning the importance of savings.
Now, this isn't a ThanksGiving post, but you've got to agree with me on this, at least to a certain point. I'm not saying that I've a career on Cloud 9 that offers a six-digit pay, but at least it's adequate for starters.

I, like most people, hate my job too. I hate the environment, I hate my workload, I hate the M.D. (who tells the stalest jokes ever, by the way), I hate the food, I hate the old lady at the HR department, but I gotta say I'm thankful to have got the job.
Well, at least till I get a better occupation which offers a higher pay, my own shaded parking lot, less workload, Charlize Theron-like colleagues, 30 days of annual leave that can be carried forward, and SUPERIOR cafeteria food (if they do have a cafeteria).

But, probably then I might tend to hate the cleaner; just for the reason that she likes to stare at me if I don't get up when she's to sweep my cubicle.

5 Resolutions for 2008

As this a brand new year's post, I've decided that I'd write down my resolutions for 2008, and hopefully, at least I get to achieve one out the 5 which I've listed out.

Resolution No. 1 - Restore the abs.

Yes, there's no need to get shocked or anything, Tony Redgrave does work out & he has abdominal muscles. Err, well 'had' should be the appropriate word, though. Ever since I started working, it seems that I abandoned my training regime and decided that I'd lay down rather than work out when I have spare time at home.
Don't get me wrong, my belly hasn't preceded me when I go through a door, but I figure that I better start before it really does happen.

Resolution No. 2 - Savings

As much as I'm embarassed to say this, but I've to admit it; saving money just ain't my thing. Thus, I've decided that this is the year to change my spend-thrift ways, & start saving a little money for a rainy day. Which means I've to cut down on McD, Starbucks, clothes, v'games, Initial D arcade racing, model kits, etc. Oh boy, this is NOT going to be easy.

Resolution No. 3 - Write more

Sigh, my blog is already 6 months old, but the number of posts have not reached 50 posts yet, left alone a 3-digit figure. Another goal to achieve, write more posts, and if possible find a co-author/sidekick, female preferably. And I do plan to do some collaboration with a few friends; great great people who've kept on supporting my blog with your visits, even though I haven't posted a single thing for so long (Thank you all so much!).

Resolution no. 4 - Be more Punctual

Try as I might, I'll never get the Mr. Punctuality award, as I always turn up late for classes or arrive only on time for work, or worse; appointments. It seems that the lure of my bed and pillow is too strong to resist, especially on a Monday morning, and my poor time management may cost me more if I don't change.

Resolution No. 5 - Get a PS3

Hmmm... This conflicts with my 2nd resolution, but as a true gamer I got to own Sony's latest gaming console; (eyes glittering madly) I just can't wait to play Devil May Cry 4, and if coupled with a 49' Bravia LCD TV my world will be complete, I wouldn't mind if I can't accomplish the first 4 resolutions. (stares dreamily at the ceiling) Now, if only a bag of money would drop from the sky.....

Rat-at-toie-lette

I didn't enjoy my dinner last night. No, the food was good; really, it was one of my favorites actually, black pepper fish with rice, with extra 'cili padi'.

So what went wrong?

It was THE ordeal before dinner.

Earlier in the morning I had to help Nat out with some spring cleaning at her house; basically I had to move stuff, the heavier ones mostly, & I had to dust, sweep and mop the place while she sat down drinking iced lemon tea. Nah, just kidding; she helped out too. Well, at least a bit.

Now, you'd be wondering why there's only the 2 of us in the whole picture, well that's because her family went down to a trip at some place, & the spring-cleaning job was rested on her shoulders, which meant it was my problem too. Sigh... As there was no running away, I started out in the morning, and finished the damn thing somewhere in the evening.

It was then when Nat complained that she smelt something funny, a foul stench to be more exact. She told me that she already smelt it in the morning, but she thought it was just a random smell carried by the wind. But it wasn't. It was worse. So, being the organisme with the XY chromosomes, I had to be the one to check it out, trace where it came from, & get rid of the smell.

I began sniffing around, and traced the stench to the toilet. Initially, I thought it was a case of bad diaorrhea 'floating' in the toilet bowl and someone had forgot to flush it, but it wasn't; I was thankful though, really. Now, on top of their toilet was a additional ceiling before the roof, housing a giant water tank.
I virtually checked the whole house, and it was at the toilet the stench was the 'strongest'. Thus I had to check the place as well.

So I got a ladder and climbed up the place, it was dark, damp and it stinked. With each step I climbed, the stench got worse, and finally when I could see, I saw a dead rat staring at me. I almost fell off the ladder from the shock and the stench, yeah, more due to the stench. Okay, target found, now to eliminate & destroy.

I called out to Nat telling her I found out the source of the 'lovely' smell, and asked her for 3 things, a pair of tongs, a large handkerchief & a plastic bag. Hell, I wasn't gonna hold the rat with my hands! After covering my nose and mouth with the handkerchief ala Mexican bandit, I had to brave the stench again, & I had to climb up to the ceiling in order to extract poor Remy. The climb wasn't easy, there was nothing to hold on to, and the damn ceiling floor was damp and dirty.

After struggling for almost five minutes, I managed and took the pair of tongs to put the rat into the bag. It took me 3 attempts, as dear old Remy was squishy and slippery, also the stench as I drew him nearer to the plastic bag was 'intoxicating'.
Post-extraction, I called out 'bombs-away' & dropped the plastic bag to the floor below, I was careful to ask Nat to re-locate the bag, I didn't want my 'leap of faith' to land on Remy.

I removed him out of the house, but the 10 minute ordeal had gotten rid of my appetite. Hungry as I was, I didn't seem keen on having dinner anymore, even though I was starving 15 minutes ago. And the guy, Anton Ego asked Remy to 'surprise him'; no thanks, I'll pass and stick to good ol' human chefs. Rats and dinner just don't mix.

Spaghetti in 5 easy steps

Women love men who can cook. Gone are the days when cooking was only for women, and ahem; most of the best chefs today are men. Yes, there are top women chefs, but I'm just stating the facts, no need to get upset, ladies.

I've been sitting at home and I've been cooking a lot in these few days, thus I decided to share a simple recipe in my blog, in order to update the drought of posts in my blog.

Okay, today I'm gonna list out a simple spaghetti recipe, this is dedicated especially to you Kav; I read your 'successful' burger stint the other day. Honestly, you gotta get yourself a girl mate, or... this recipe.

Right, let me list out the ingredients;

i. Spaghetti (San Remo or Buittoni)
ii.Sauce (Prego or Dolmio)
iii.The meat? (Sausages, meatballs, crabsticks)
iv. Garnish (basil, parsley, cheese powder)

The steps;

Step 1: Bring a pot of water to boil, add some salt into it. Leave it to boil for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Put the spaghetti into the pot, and leave it for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your spaghetti. (Angel hair takes a shorter time, spaghettoni types take longer times)

Step 3: Now it's time to prepare the sauce. Put 4-5 tablespoons of sauce into the saucepan, (I love mine thick!). Heat it up over a small fire.

Step 4: Add the innings into the sauce after 2 minutes. Slowly stir the sauce for 2-3 minutes.

Step 5: The sauce is done. Just pour the sauce on top of the spaghetti and dig in!

This recipe serves one, feel free to be creative and compromise accordingly to the number of people to be served.

p/s: I apologize for my 'inactiveness' in updating my blog recently, with me being quite busy with job interviews and no Net at home makes it quite hard to post.

But, as they say, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'.