Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf, John Hurt, Ray Winstone, Karen Allen
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Produced by: George Lucas

First of, this review of mine will be different from the usual. By the end of it, I'll be giving this film two set of scores.

The story begins when a supposed American army fleet breaches a top secret army warehouse. It turns out, the soldiers were Soviets under disguise. As they open the trunk of the car, are two men... Indiana Jones, and his partner George 'Mac' McHale. It turns out, Indy was kidnapped by the Soviets to help them look for a certain artifact inside the warehouse. While the Soviets are distracted, Indy was able to secure a gun to help him and Mac escape. Much to his surprise, Mac is actually a double agent working for the Soviets. A betrayed Indy instead found another way to escape the enemies altogether. Back at the ally territory, Indy is accused of treason and is under investigation because his partner Mac was a double agent. Because of this, the university decided to give him an indefinite leave of absence. He decided to take his vacation when a young man named 'Mutt' asked for his help to find Harold Oxley, a colleague of Indy. The two teamed up and eventually learned that Oxley has found a rare artifact called the Crystal Skull, and went missing because of that. Hence, the adventure begins as the duo decides to find Oxley and unravel the mystery behind the Crystal Skull, while dodging the Soviets altogether.

Okay, here we go. In my opinion, the crowd reaction WILL be mixed. Die-hard Indy fans who've been fans from the start (me included) ARE DISAPPOINTED with this movie. While people new to the series will like the movie. So check the end for two separate scores: for old-school fans and the new crowd.

As an Indy fan, I was sorely disappointed with this movie. Twenty years of waiting and you get this?! The first half of the movie was good, with the old school Indy film's vibe. Then the second half kicked in and you're forced to sit and watch these stupidities unravel right with your very eyes!

What's in the second half? TOO MUCH CGI! You're not watching 'Indiana Jones', you're watching 'The Mummy'... except that 'The Mummy' was better! I was hoping to see more of that old school Indy scenes which were realistic and tied with quirky humor... instead, we get to see over the top scenes which were never really funny nor amusing.

The first half was good because it contained the old school realistic Indy action scenes I was saying, then the second part kicks in and you're bombarded with this ridiculous amount of CGI. It was like Spielberg directed the first half, then George 'JarJar Binks' Lucas directed the second half and decided its better to bombard the movie with too much CGI!

Also, what's up with that car chase in the Jungle?! Aside from the SO FAKE looking Jungle, who gave the idea of putting in a fake sword fight?! It was corny as hell.

And following that scene comes the MOST horrendous and CORNY scene I've ever seen in a film... I won't spoil it for you but I'll give clues: VINES. MONKEYS. SWING.

Okay, I can't help it! It's LeBeouf's character swinging in the vines like Tarzan (and it's not just a short swing, it was a car chase, so literally he was swinging in the whole Jungle just to catch up with the speeding cars!) complete WITH MONKEYS (CGI MONKEYS!!!) swinging with him!!

What the hell is THAT!? Better then, WHO thought of that!? While watching that particular scene, I was hoping that Spielberg gives the audience a big surprise and kill LeBeouf's character while he's swinging on those vines! Oh, how tragic (but redeeming!). And take those damn monkeys with him!

Another gripe was the story. In my opinion, the ending was anti-climactic. Ever since half-way of the movie, you'll realize where this movie will come to. And it sucks. The fact that Spielberg and company were saying that they took 20 years before making another Indy movie because they were waiting for a GREAT STORY, and they came up with this?! This was the story that they were waiting 20 years for!? Give me a break!! The story would've been groundbreaking if it was show in 1988... but we're in 2008 now. I won't give details of the story just to avoid spoiling people, but I'm sure most will not be very impressed.

Regarding the actors, Harrison Ford gives his best but a great actor can only do so much with a certain material. The movie spent too much to say 'Indy has aged' and can't do this and that anymore. But then they ended up making him indestructible... dodging bullets, car crashes, falls... heck, they even made him survive a nuclear blast!

But aside that, Harrison Ford is probably the biggest consolation for watching the movie. It was great seeing him as Indy again despite the obvious age difference. The supporting cast was good too, the greatest being Cate Blanchett as her portrayal of the main antagonist.

Personally, I'm on the side of the old-school Indy fans. I've been a fan of this franchise ever since I was a kid. I even have a copy of the original trilogy in LASER DISCS (yes, the BIG discs). And due so, the hype for this is overwhelming (since it was 20 years in the waiting)... and then Spielberg and company ended up with this. It is definitely a disappointment for old-school fans since most of the things that made the Indy franchise so good were no where to be found in this latest installment. They say 'Temple of Doom' was the worst of the series? Not anymore, in my opinion.

But as I've said, people that are new to the series will not be disappointed just for the type of movie this is.

New Crowd:
People who aren't used to old school Indy films will actually like this film better than old time fans. It's from Spielberg after all. It's action packed and fast paced... and people who like movies like 'The Mummy' will like it. It's a different breed of movie and as the saying goes: "They never make 'em anymore like they used to", but like what I've said, since the newer crowd are not familiar with how Indy films used to be (better), they won't be disappointed with this movie. Just watch out for the stupid Tarzan scene I've mention. Score: 9/10

Old-school:
Man, this movie is DISAPPOINTING. After almost 20 years of waiting, we get this!? The first half of the movie was promising, then the second half started and you wished that Lucas and Spielberg should've just let the Indy franchise have it's peace, and preserve its amazing franchise!

Too much reliance on CGI; some of the humor was off the mark; and a mediocre story brought this movie down. Score: 5/10 (and that's because the first half of the movie was good, and the second part was... MEH!!!)

Lakers are in the NBA FINALS!!!

Yes!!! They did it! Spurs are eliminated! Lakers won the series 4-1!!! ;p

When I woke up, it was already halfway of the 2nd quarter and Lakers are down for as much as 20 POINTS! I was saying to myself "Oh no! May game 6 pa!!".

Then the Lakers defense kicked in, and by the end of the third quarter, the Lakers are leading by 1!!! Great comeback! The Spurs stuck with them 'til the end, but age probably caught up. They were too slow to outrun the Lakers... and eventually, they succumbed to Kobe, Odom, and Gasol's offense. Not to mention that the other Lakers were kickin in too... namely Fisher, Walton, Farmar, Vujacic, and Radmanovic! ;p

Lakers are now the Western Conference champs and are now awaiting for the victor between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. Celtics are leading the series 3-2. IMO, the Pistons will force a game 7.

Highlights for the Lakers-Spurs Game 5. CLICK.

EDIT:
The Boston Celtics have won their series against the Detroit Pistons. That'll only mean one thing: the Los Angeles Lakers vs the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA FINALS!!!

ten random facts/habits about myself

Was tagged by Ed...
1. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
2. Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their ten things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose ten people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.


1. I HATE cockroaches to the highest level. Their smell, ohhhhhhhh, their smell! Ack.
2. I unconsciously grow my fingers really long when I was a kid. The habit stuck with me up to now. ;p
3. My favorite color is purple. Royalty FTW.
4. My Favorite snack is siomai (with chili, calamansi, and soy sauce). Trust me, I won't say NO. Hahaha.
5. I've been to Vietnam but stayed most of the time in the hotel room playing games! (I was afraid to cross the streets that time because of the bicycle craze back then ;p)
6. Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan (now, Oninz and Ed are too! haha).
7. I would've love collecting shoes (Nike, Adidas) but they're so expensive! Iba nalang! Hahaha.
8. I can be stingy at times when I'm really annoyed.
9. I hate talking in the phone for LONG hours. I'd rather meet up with person than get stuck in the phone.
10. I once saw a corpse of a dead man from a horrendous accident. He was riding a bike when a truck (or a bus) hit him and rolled over his skull. His brain was literally scattered all over the road. This was during my second year in UST. The accident was at the Lacson side of the school, just beside the Engineering bldg. Ack.

I won't tag anybody now. Almost everyone tagged by Ed were the same people I was planning to tag! LOL! ;p

NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LA LAKERS vs SA SPURS

Lakers lead the series 3-1! One win away from the NBA FINALS! Yay! ;p


The series so far:

Game 1 in LA: Lakers 89, Spurs 85
This is probably my most favorite game from this series, so far. The Spurs started out strong, giving the Lakers every headache, showing that they're the defending champs! By the early start of the 4th quarter, the Spurs are ahead with as many as 20 POINTS! But the Lakers didn't sit down and die. Instead, they staged a furious rally, eventually edging out the Spurs 89-85. Kobe Bryant was the main culprit on ripping the Spurs. This man is simply is a beast! Lakers up, 1-0.

Game 2 in LA: Lakers 101, Spurs 71
The Lakers started strong on this one. Not wanting to give the Spurs a chance to bury them again in a large deficit, the Lakers played strong and never trailed the game. The Spurs on the other hand was the exact opposite: Manu Ginobili played dismal, the Spurs shooters were off the mark. By the end of the 3rd quarter, it was the Spurs who were under in a big deficit. Nothing but Lakers dominance here. Lakers lead the series, 2-0.

Game 3 in SA: Spurs 103, Lakers 84
The Spurs showed just why they are the defending champions. Doing their best to avoid a 3-0 hole, the Spurs simply played a perfect game. The Spurs buried the Lakers as early as the 2nd quarter and they never looked back. Duncan had 22 points, Parker had 20 points, and Ginobili coming alive scoring 30 points! Top that off with the Spurs shooters hitting in all cylinders. The Lakers saw a sign of life during the 4th when Kobe scored consecutive three pointers, cutting down the deficit to 13 points. Hope was crushed when Duncan made a three point play and the Lakers never recovered. Spurs win game 3, making the series 2-1 still in favor of the Lakers.

Game 4 in SA: Lakers 93, Spurs 91
Now this will probably be the game everybody will be talking about for sometime. Why? Because of the controversial finish: Spurs only down by 2 points with just 2.2 seconds remaining in the game; Brent Barry catches the inbound, pump fakes, Derek Fisher jumped unto him AND supposedly fouls him (by the looks of it), NO FOUL CALL, then Barry hoist a shot that missed... giving the Lakers the win!

It was controversial because of the "no call" on the foul. If the foul was called, Barry would have been sent to the line to shoot two free throws that could send the game into overtime, keeping the Spurs alive. Instead, the refs decided to not call a foul and give the Lakers the win much to the dismay of the home crowd! Add the fact that Joe Crawford, who had a history with the Spurs (a past squabble with Duncan and Coach Popovich), led the officiating team.

I have no doubt that the Spurs fans (AND Lakers haters) have a lot to say about the game specially about the no call in the end. But the thing is, the Lakers outplayed the Spurs the WHOLE GAME. Ginobili, after the amazing game 3 performance, was dead the whole game just scoring 7 POINTS! Duncan just shot 8 of 25! The only one showing life on the whole Spurs squad was Parker and a hot Brent Barry who scored 23 points, shooting 5 three pointers!

The haters can't also take away the fact that the refs called most of the plays in the game in favor of the Spurs... it was the only reason that the Spurs got so close at the first place.

Later afterwards in the press conference, Spurs coach Greg Popovich commented that if he was a ref, he would do the same and NOT call a foul on that play. Duncan said the same thing. So did Barry, who was directly involved with the play. This just shows how respectful and classy the Spurs team is. They are a no excuse team. They don't blame any other factor besides their performance. Hats off. Much respect.

As a Lakers fan, I must say that my team got lucky. It was good enough that the refs didn't call a foul. Players should understand that they shouldn't rely on foul calls when the game is on the line. The refs tend to let the players decide the game for themselves.

Hopefully, the Lakers close out the series in game 5 in LA. Home court advantage baby! ;p

UPDATED: Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Wow, may measuring stick na pala ang kasalanan ngayon. Hahaha!

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	High
Pride:	High

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz


EDIT:
Hep! Hep! I found a discrepancy! Just recently, I saw Ed and Che's very own results and lo and behold, they got much LOWER (read: better) scores!

It got me thinking: "Am I really that bad?" LOL! So I went through the test again and saw that there was one group of questions that I misread.

It says: "5. Check any of the following that you would refrain from doing, based on your morality."

Yeah, the keyword was REFRAIN. I retook the test again, now correctly answering the previously incorrect answer of mine. LOL!

So I present to you, my new SIN RESULTS (nothing much has changed considerably ;p):

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

Nothing much has changed. I guess, I'm still Juan Tamad, Boy Bastos, and the thick headed Proud Man rolled into one. Only much tamer, but greedier! Hahahaha! ;p

RIP: Tito "George"

One of my mom's longtime staff, Tito Roy (or Tito "George"), has passed away due to pancreatic cancer. Condolences to his family and loved ones. He was just 51.

Tito Roy is more known to his friends and co-workers as "George" due to his uncanny resemblance to Culture Club singer, Boy George. He's an engineer working for the PIA film archives laboratory. After the division was dissolved, he transferred to MIT and quickly became an expert on computer hardwares.

I knew him since I was small. My mother used to take me to PIA when I was still a kid, and he's one of the more familiar faces. During my OJT, I got to be with him again. Much respect for this man.

Last time I saw him was last year when my computer broke down. My hard disk got corrupted because of the continuous black-outs, and it was Tito George who fixed it and salvaged my all too important data. He came over the house to check it, and that was the last time I saw him. He was all too healthy then... thin (like his usual self) but healthy nonetheless.

Imagine my surprise when my mom told me last February that Tito George was confined to the hospital because of Pancreatic Cancer. Halos buto't-balat na raw sa payat. :(

Then just last Thursday when my mom got home from the office, she told me Tito George has passed away. Imagine my shock. I couldn't sleep that night.

Just last year, this man was his usual self: wisecracking, music loving, techie savvy... and now he's gone. In just a span of five months, he succumbed to cancer-- He started going to the doctor as early as January because of stomach pains; then he was diagnosed of cancer this February; and then, he eventually got confined... then this Thursday, he succumbed.

And you know what did him in? What caused his pancreatic cancer? It was his heavy smoking and coffee consumption. I always knew Tito George was a heavy smoker. My mom told me Tito George had the habit of not eating right, but instead consumes large amounts of coffee coupled with his cigarette smoking.

So to all of my friends and loved ones, take care of yourselves. I myself am a coke lover, but I'm making an effort on cutting down because of my high uric acid count. Take care of yourselves. Tito George was far too young and talented for his demise. This is definitely a tragedy. Don't let it happen to you.

Rest in peace, Tito "George".

Lakers halfway to the Championship!

The Los Angeles Lakers are probably all too giddy right now. And so are their fans. Me included! Yipeeee!

No one expected them to be in their position right now when the season started. During the start, Kobe Bryant was adamant on leaving the Lakers... he ended up winning the MVP and leading the Lakers to success! The Lakers were in a disarray... they then ended up winning the top slot of the wild Western Conference with Bynum's (initial performance) and the acquisition of Pau Gasol.

And now, the Lakers are on the Western Conference finals! Swept the Denver (Chicken) Nuggets on the first round, and ultimately beating the tough Utah Jazz 4-2 on the second round. We are now awaiting the victor between the NO Hornets and San Antonio Spurs which will be decided tomorrow on a do-or-die game seven!

Me personally, I'd rather have Hornets win and face them on the Western Conference finals instead of the Spurs. Yeah, the Spurs might be getting older and slower but still, they're the Spurs! They are the defending champions. If there's one team I'm scared of in the playoffs, it's the Spurs. 'Nuff said.

So there. Here's wishing Chris Paul and the rest of the Hornets good luck on game 7! lol!

Go Lakers!


EDIT: The freakin' Spurs has won! Lakers gonna face them on the Western Conference Finals! Now I'm officially scared for my team! Damn!

Iron Man

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard
Directed by: Jon Favreau

Okay, so where do I start? I LOVE this movie adaptation! ;p

Tying closely to the comics, elite engineer/playboy millionaire Tony Stark is abducted by a terrorist group (Ten Rings) to recreate a weapon Stark has recently provided for the US government. During the abduction, he was injured but was saved by a fellow captive, Dr. Yinsen, who installed a "life support battery" which keeps a shrapnel from going through Stark's heart. Instead of creating the weapon his captors asked him to, Stark instead makes an armor which ultimately helps him escape his captors and thus return to the US. Stark, having realized the destruction that his own creations have brought others, has decided to recall and stop productions of the weapons much to the dismay of his partner, Obadiah Stane. Much to his surprise, his weapons still keeps being sold illegally. Stark then made the decision to take it upon himself to stop the weapons and the terrorists by making a much upgraded armor that helped him escape his captors. Hence, Iron Man is born.

The movie is actually really good. The obvious star here is Robert Downey Jr. I was definitely excited when I heard he was cast as Tony Stark months ago. I knew the movie will be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. Robert Downey Jr has practically made Tony Stark, as much as Johnny Depp made Jack Sparrow! After seeing him as Stark, you can no longer imagine another actor for the role. He's that good.

The support is great too. Gwyneth Paltrow, as Stark's secretary/confidant Pepper, provided that great 'romantic but weird' chemistry with Downey's Stark. Jeff Bridges, another great actor I've admired, was excellent as the ruthless and greedy Obadiah Stane.

The special effects were pretty good too. Iron Man zooming in on the the skies and firing those repulsor beams. Good stuff.

The story for this movie adaptation is pretty good too. The producers made a great job by changing the setting the story to the present. For instance, the terrorists were from Afghanistan instead of Vietnamese. The scientist Dr. Yinsen was originally Chinese from the comics, but he's an Afghan in the movie. Since the original comics were from 60's/70's when the US was at war with Vietnam, the producers made the necessary adjustment to the present where the US were at war with Afghanistan instead.

The movie also sent out a subtle 'anti-war' message as shown with Stark's character. Stark, having been a victim of his own created weapons realized that he's contributing on the war that made other people miserable. This made a change of heart for the hero to stop producing weapons.

I think the movie gave out the message without being too preachy.

In my opinion, they set the movie to be ready for future sequels. Terrence Howard is set to play War Machine in the future. Also, I heard they will be including the 'alcoholism' theme on the second installment. This is actually the theme that made me like Downey Jr.'s casting as Stark because Downey himself WAS an alcoholic. A little 'art imitating life' if you will.

The few flaws were so little that there's no need to actually point them out. The biggest one being the plot hole: how the hell did Obadiah Stane learn how to fly his own version of the Iron Man suit that same night where he just got the battery from Stark and finally activating it? Remember, Tony Stark was shown documenting (which shows it took some time) on how to fly his own armor properly and that was already his second suit... while Stane just inserted the battery on his own Iron Man, went inside, turned it on, then battled Iron Man... almost beating the hero.

Other than that, no other loop holes. ;p

All in all, this is a very good adaptation of Iron Man. This definitely ranks on my top 3 comic book movie adaptations:
1. Spiderman 2 - X-men 2 (tied)
2. Batman Begins
3. Iron Man

Can't wait for the sequel(s)! Rating: 9/10

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to every mom out there. ;)

We celebrated the day by having a wonderful dinner with our mom. Afterwards, me and my mom went to the movies to watch Iron Man. And I'm glad that she liked the movie! ;p

And speaking of Iron Man, I'll blog about it later. I LOVED the movie!!!

Review, coming up shortly. ;p

Checklist

1. Clean up my room.
2. Learn a new language.
3. Hone up my programming skills.
4. Hone up my designing/Photoshop skills.
5. Set up a monetary blog.
6. Cut my hair.
7. Go back to working out in the gym.
8. Slowly (but surely) cutting off soda/coke from my diet.
9. Stop taking shit from worthless people.
10. Meet up with my mom's programmer to help me.
11. Eventually fix my life slowly but surely! ;p

That's that for now. I'm always gonna 'bump' this post on top of this blog. ;p

Bataan 2008!!!

At last! The plans finally pushed through! May 2008 saw the return of Bakal in Bataan! Again, we stayed on Mark's family resort, Villa Imperial. The last time we went to Bataan, it was 4 years ago.

This time, it was 10x more fun than the last trip! The group consisted of: Mark, Donna, Pilep, Che, Oninz, Joy (Oninz' gf), Drey, Jem... and of course, the three blind mice: Myk, Dale, and Me! Hahaha! (Three blind mice because the three of us always wore sunglasses... and since everybody else is a couple, the three of us were left to ourselves! Hahahaha!)

And of course, Ed's presence also tagged along... via his picture! Hahaha! Dom couldn't come because she has a flight.

Anywho, we stayed for 3 days and 2 nights (May 1 to 3). The original plan was to stay until May 4 but Myk, Donna, and Dale needs to go home by May 3.

Before I start with the highlights, let me first say that the recurring theme here is FOOD FOOD FOOD! lol. This is all, of course, courtesy of Mark's mom! Thanks tita! And of course, the camwhoring is always there... much better this time since Mark has a tripod with him! ;p

It just so happens that when I think of Bataan and Villa Imperial, FOOD immediately comes to mind. As in malulula ka kasi sa dami ng food every meal time! ;p

Now, for the highlights!

DAY 1
As early as Wednesday night, I met up with Dale and accompanied him to GH to buy his board shorts. We went straight to Mark to spend the night. Oninz also arrived that night along with Joy, his gf whom we just met for the first time.

The next morning, its Bataan time. Everybody gathered up at Mark's house. Mark rented a van to take us to the Bus terminal. Here, we took the bus to Bataan. It turns out, hindi pala whole trip yung nasakyan namin. We needed to transfer halfway to another bus.

Grabe, ang init. Ang sarap na maligo. We were stranded for a bit during the bus transfer and we're longing to take a bath na! ;p

After transferring to the other bus, we finally got to Villa Imperial after a while. MEAL TIME!!! Hahaha! Ang daming pagkain! Grabe! Busog busog kami, lalo na at gutom na gutom na kami! ;p




After eating and finally fixing our things on our room, we relaxed for a bit. Mark then opened the recreation room where the rest of us played table tennis and billiards.

After a while, us boys spent the afternoon playing Basketball. 3 on 3 with our team (3 blind mice) versus Drey, Pilep, and Maki. They got us early, but we eventually caught up and won. ;p

Oninz was no where to be found that time because he was having his sexy time quality time with Joy. Hahahahaha! ;p

Merienda na naman after. To relax, we strolled around the fisheries on the back. Picture here, picture dun. ;p


After having an equally heavy dinner, we stayed on the room for a bit. Card games ensued. The other half were playing Poker, while Pilep, Che, Mark, and I were playing Trumps (a game similar to Hearts). Afterwards, it was unggoy-ungguyan (match the pairs), and then Blackjack (on Mark's voice: "Blaaaaaack~Jaaaaaaack!" He got three Blackjacks straight! Hahahaha!)

When everybody got together, we played 1-2-3-Pass! In this game, you get four cards initially, and then at the count of three, you need to pass a card to the person on your right. The objective is to match 4 cards with the same number (i.e. 7777, 5555, JJJJ). When someone gets to match a combination, he/she needs to tag the center pillow, and the others must soon follow. The one who last touch the pillow is the "IT" or talo. It was fun kasi ang dami namin! Ang gulo! ;p

Afterwards, we wanted to go swimming. Too bad that the pools were being cleaned. All in all, there were 2 public pools, and one private pool hidden at the back. Mark decided we use the private pool which is still knee-deep, still refilling! Hehe!

The others soon followed, then nagpainom na si "Manager" (si Oninz! hahaha!). It's Oninz' birthday on the 8th so he was teased the whole trip to make libre! Haha. It was the first time I experienced beer on pool. Sarap! ;p

Also, it was a great opportunity to test Che's underwater camera! Wow! Underwater! Pa-cheeseburger ka naman! Burger! Burger! Burger! Hahahaha!

Afterwards, while waiting for our turn to take a bath, we decided to finish the beer on the cottage. Kwentuhan galore. "Kiss-Kiss/Peck-Peck"! Hahahahaha! Tae kasi si Che, ako pinakwento! Sablay tuloy yung kwento ko! Hahahaha!

After the last one finally took a bath (that's me), it was lights off. ;p


DAY 2
We all woke up around 9am. It's time for another HEARTY meal! Hehe. This time though, we need to pack up fast because we're going to the beach! While fixing our things, Oninz dropped a bomb on the room's CR! Sumingaw!!! Hahahaha! From then on, nobody took a dump on the room's CR... everybody used the kitchen CR. Hahaha! ;p

After all is set, we took the route towards the beach. We split the group. Our group (three blind mice and Mark, Donna, Drey, and Jem) rode on Mark's dad's car. Kwentuhan along the way. Since Myk is on-board, expect laughter all around. Ang ingay! Hahahaha! Kwentuhan ng jokes, kwentuhan ng serious matters. ;p

We finally reached the beach. And it was no ordinary beach! It was like a private villa that had everything furnished on it designed as old Manila! As in panahon ng Kastila! From the houses, to the tiles of the road, to the sceneries! It was beautiful!





People were not allowed there. It just so happens that Mark's folks know the owner. After a sumptuous lunch (binalot FTW!), we proceeded to the beach front. We took a motor boat to another secluded island. Great stuff!










The rest swam on the beach on the island. Us 3 blind mice begged off because it was tanghaling tapat. After a while, we took the boat back to the original shore. There, we all swam on the beach.

After having merienda, we took a stroll on the beautiful villa. Everyone who had a camera had very nice shots of the place.

When everything was said and done, we all went back to Villa Imperial. Another great dinner. So far during the trip, we've already eaten: crispy pata, tahong, baked tahong, pancit, fried fish, shrimps (not me, im allergic), crabs, inihaw na baboy... at marami pa. Grabe. ;p

To close the night, we decided to have another drinking spree. All courtesy of "Manager" Oninz again! Hahaha! It was fun. Kwentuhan, sayawan (Donna brought an ipod speaker), camwhoring... dito rin nauso yung paparazzi shots. Don't do anything stupid because someone might be catching it on their cam! Hahaha!





Another joke that night was that the boys we're supposed to go "ghost hunting" when the girls were all asleep! "Ghost hunting" of course refers to going to the beer house. Hahaha!

After the booze, it was lights off. Mark lent me his ipod to let me watch Transformers (yes, its my first time watching Transformers). Haha! The night was cold too since it rained pretty hard, coupled with the aircon.


DAY 3
After having breakfast, we all decided to take a swim on the big pool. After all the dilly-dallying, its lunch time again. Then before we know it, we're already packing our stuffs.





The next plan was, once we get to Manila, we're going to watch Iron Man in Trinoma. We had a bit of trouble getting a bus ride home as bus seldom comes around (and have empty seats). After a while, we got a bus and bid everyone in Villa Imperial goodbye.

We reached Manila around 7pm na. Since Joy have to go home early, the Iron Man plan was canceled and was instead turned into a dinner night in Avenetos, Visaya Ave. Manager Oninz again treated us all for dinner. 2 Carbonaras, 2 Pestos (my favorite!!!), 3 Pizzas, bottomless iced teas! Todo treat na talaga ni Oninz! Hehehe! ;p






After a while, we spent time on Drey's pad. When everything got settled, we all decided to go home and take a rest. Myk and I took a cab, while the others hitched a ride from Drey.

It was a fun outing! And a cheap one at that (you can call it a mini-treat by Mark and his folks, in a way). Basta Bataan on Mark's place... PANALO! ;)

*Photos courtesy of Che, Donna, Mark, and Jem.