Potpourri (including my photohunt entry last week)

Yes, I understand I've been gone quite a while, I've been rather busy. It's not even over yet, so kindly pardon me if I make a lazy short entry for now. I intend to make up for it in the coming weeks.

• Now one of the reasons I was busy last week was because my brother got married last Sunday.

Yep, took that myself! Oh yeah, that's my new sis, Minnette. (More photos here.)

• Also our friend Roger who's been in Melbourne for the past 8 years came to town to attend the wedding. We had a couple of dinners with friends chatting about old times--fun times! (Here are some photos.)

Got Roger to demonstrate his Aussie accent for us.

• Oh, I remember asking for suggestions regarding my brother's bachelor bash. We did manage something at the last minute (i.e. last Friday evening). We had a cheap steak meal first at Slice and Dice which JC says you're better off cooking one on your own--cheaper and yummier. The sisig was alright though, crunchy and really not bad for it's price (P70+ if I'm not mistaken. We then went to Remote World¹ where we played Wii, sang a couple of songs and ended up battling each other for Counter-Strike supremacy. I was teamed with JC and another friend against my brother and one of his friend. We let the groom-to-be win of course, it is his party after all.
  

• Speaking of Wii, how would you like to win a Wii party package for 5 at Red Box? Now I'm talking top-of-the-line comfort, eat-all-you-can buffet for you and your friends free! If you answered yes, go ahead and head on over to Chicken Mafia for the details. You might want to hurry though, contest ends on November 15. (Here's my entry for the last time we went there.)
• Oh, and if you love that, you might enjoy winning a bag too! Just head on over to Chicken Mafia "Bag a new bag from Bratpack" contest, share a funny story of yours that involves you and a bag, and you might be on your way to win a cool bag! You ought to hurry though, contest ends on November 14.
• I realize that I wasn't able to post an entry to photohunt last Saturday because I was rather busy. The theme then was scary, here's my entry (though being 1 week late, I suppose this doesn't count anymore).

I don't know about you, but those electric lines sure look like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

• Oh, and the NBA season is upon us! And do you know what that means? Fantasy basketball! Ok, so I finished 2nd to the last in my league last year, but that was my rookie year. I didn't do too bad considering I got invited to a more competitive league this year. This season I'm playing in 4 leagues: one using a PFC style selection where I managed to snag both 3rd round picks (out of a possible 14) and Stephen Jackson of the Golden State Warriors(not bad considering the guy who got the 1st pick had to choose Josh Boone in order to pick that high); the other 2 at ESPN, the Mafia League (the league I was in last year), and the more competitive Teo Invitational. And the last is a public league in UFC that I accidentally joined. I hope I do better this year, I bet I would win at least one, most likely the public league seeing as no one really takes UFC seriously anymore. Why? Because they suck! It's a shame that NBA.com own game sucks big time.
  

¹ Hmm... About the place, it's not classy or anything. The Wii sets were fine, the TV's were big enough, but there were no air-conditioning to speak off (something you know you'd need if you've ever played Wii before--though they do have a shower room), no soundproofing so you hear the drunk next door wailing My Way, and the rooms were more like partitions. Still the place wasn't bad for it's price. We spent maybe 3 hours there drinking and playing and all it costed us was P500 something bucks--total! I guess it's an OK place to go if you want to just hang out with the guys. Oh, and they are open 24 hours a day.

I'm not lazy... just a little busy

I know, I know... I haven't been blogging much--not since I move anyway. I'm still trying to get used to the new setup I guess. I'm still trying to get used to the new time I need to be up and stuff too. My travel time is now 1hr, and that's still pretty tight. There's too little time for error, and very little I can do to make up for lost time once I lose it. Unlike before where I can easily hail a cab, and reduce my travel time by almost half, now if I take a cab I actually increase my travel time. Still I'm not complaining. Everything's new and I love the feeling of trying things out for the first time. The sense of exploration is makes each day interesting.

Speaking of new things, something big is about to happen to our family. My little brother is getting married. Yes, you read that right, my little brother. I don't care that he's getting married ahead of me. Anyway, he's not so little anymore of course, he's turning 26 at the end of the month. And guess what? He's getting married on the 26th! Hehe... corny I know, and it really has nothing to do with that.

Yeah, that's them. Aren't they sweet?

It's exciting, yet a little bit disconcerting as well. Sure we love Minette (that's my soon to be sister-in-law's name), and she's been part of the family for almost 9 years now-- well less than that really, since she's rather shy, and it took her a while to warm up to us, but that's how long they've been together (and how long I've known her add a couple of years or so). Still there's bound to be a lot of changes--one which is the roommate I'm losing. I've shared a room with my brother for as long as I could remember. Heck, we shared a double deck bed when we were kids, and when it wasn't safe for me to be on the top bunk anymore (not safe for him hehe...), we still used the same beds (disassembled of course). We've moved houses more times that I care to remember, but we always shared the same room. Not that he's going far away though, he'll be at the room across the hall in a couple of weeks. It's still a welcome change after all. Much much better than if he suddenly lives miles away.

I'm not really in-charge of any parts of the wedding so that's good. We have yet to finalize plans for his bachelor party though. We're thinking of a nice cozy place good for perhaps 1o maybe 15 people. Not necessarily cheap, but nothing expensive either. Some place where we can maybe drink a few rounds, sing a few songs, maybe play poker or something. Right now, I'm eyeing Red Box, but I'm still looking for a cheaper place--I'd appreciate any suggestion you might have. Also, since we're at it, perhaps you can suggest a nice package for his honeymoon as well. He wants to go to Hongkong. He hasn't found the perfect date yet (as in cheap flights, inexpensive accomodations) nor tour package. If you know anything about this kinds of stuff, if you own a travel agency and think you can help--please, don't hesitate to drum up a little business for yourself.

Anyhow, I might not be back in full swing bloggingwise until after the wedding I suppose--that's a couple of weeks from now. I'm still almost always online though, so feel free to shoot me a message or something. Thanks for reading this, have a good week you all!

PS Another thing that's keeping me rather occupied is the impending start of the NBA season. I play fantasy basketball you see, and we do the draft around this time of the year. By the way, if you play too, me and JC are starting an auction roto league, shoot me an email if you want to join us (or want to know more).