NCO Music Awards

Last night, June 29th, the company I am working for, NCO RMH Teleservices Inc. celebrated its 5th year anniversary at the AFP Theater. The theme was like MTV Video Music Awards, where several departments prepared a piece like an actual music video and will then award some recognitions like Male and Female Star of the Night, Best Male and Female Performance, Crowd Choice Award, Best Director and Best Video. I was actually a bit hesitant to join at first because I don’t go to office parties that much, but when I found out that a friend of mine Gelli Victor of RX 93.1 will be the host again and this time with MYX VJ and also RX jock Igi Guerrero, I decided to go.

I first went to the office around 8pm to meet up with two of my officemates Mayet and Paul. We then took the shuttle the company provided to take us to the venue. When we arrived at the AFP theater, the program had already started. But before going inside the theater, we had our dinner first. While munching on some pasta, fresh lumpia and something else I forgot, Oliver, a QA approached and asked me if I can assist in helping our team with the props for the performance since I’m wearing black. Since Mayet already volunteered for that, I agreed. So after dinner, off we went to the backstage and took charge of the props with two other volunteers.

Paul, Mayet and me before taking the shuttle

Dinner at the AFP Theater

the TMs rehersing their piece, I Will Follow Him

I didn’t get to take a picture of our team’s actual performance on stage because I myself is on the stage assisting on the props. But it was a fun performance! A possible Crowd Choice winner, since a lot from the audience enjoyed and cheered for it. After the applause and after putting back the props on its proper place, I then went backstage to see Gelli and Igi to say hi. Gelli was surprised to see me! She forgot that I am working for NCO, because the last time she hosted for us was last December for the company’s Christmas Party. She also mentioned that I didn’t get to visit them at the station anymore, like before. The last time I went there with some friends was December last year. I just told her that we’ll find time to drop by soon.

Gelli and me

and also with Igi Guerrero

After the photo op with them, Mayet and I finally went to where our friends are. And the photo op continues! Here are some of the shots we took on that fun night:

and my favorite, a shot RJ took:

And since we all got busy with the seemingly endless photo op, I didn’t got to witness the announcements of some winners. But my ex-boss Tam told me that we won for the Best Male Performance. I made it on time for the announcement for Crowd Choice award, and our team won! Well, it’s actually a triple tie since Amazon and Xbox also won. After that, the final award for the night was given, the Best Director and the Best Music Video which was both won by the Xbox team! Sayang, but it’s ok, we still have the title for two consecutive years winner in the dance competition anyway. The hosts Gelli, Igi and Laila chikadora finally said goodbye and introduced the highlight of the night, Kamikazee and Parokya Ni Edgar! Kamikazee played first and we all enjoyed it! The vocalist Jay is so funny! After that, it’s PNE’s turn to rock the night! It was equally good! Never fails to make the crowd go wild. Jay even joined Parokya and did three songs with them, galeng! Here are some of the shots I took of them:

After getting stoned with some rockin’ music, it’s time to drink and dance the night away! But since most of us are already tired, we didn’t stayed longer to drink and dance. Around 330am, I went home with some friends while the AFP theater is still buzzing with laughters and banging with the sound of a band. This is probably the most fun office party I joined!

CHEERS!

Nonchalance

I am trying to be nonchalant about a lot of things. I don’t even know where to start, or how to define it.

See. I’m lost for words.

Damn.

“The only unbearable thing is that nothing is unbearable.”

Trademarks of Pinoy movies & telenovelas

Pinoy movies and telenovelas have been part of our lives. Especially in the olden days where both are very rampant. Be it comedy, drama, action or horror, we enjoyed watching them all. And being Pinoy made, it sure to have some uniqueness and distinction, in whichever way you might wanna associate it with. I’ve been wanting to blog about this for the longest time, eversince I signed up here at WordPress. I just couldn’t gather my thoughts and didn’t found the time to list some ideas I had in mind. Good thing Chico & Delamar came up with the Top 10 Signs that you are watching a Pinoy movie a couple of weeks back on their show *The Morning Rush. That’s why this time, I made a list from the Top 10 and combined it with the ones I thought of. So, here are some trademarks of movies and telenovelas that are truly Pinoy!

In Action

• Kapag car chasing, laging may mababanggang fruit stands or mga piles ng karton.
• Magsasagutan muna ang bida at kontrabida bago magbarilan.
• Yung leading lady, first time makahawak ng baril, pero asintado at patay lahat ng tinamaan.
• Isang batalyon ang hahabol sa bidang nakatakas pero walang makakahuli, kaya sasabihin ng main kontrabida, “Mga inutil!!”
• Ang bida, hindi nauubusan ng bala at hindi nagrereload kahit madami ng pinatamaan. Pero pag babarilin na nya ang kontrabida, mauubos na ang bala para makapag suntukan sila.

In Drama/General

• Close-up shots take about 5 minutes.
• The mestiza kontrabida always have cigarette and a glass of wine.
• Pag nakakita ka ng magandang anak ng maid, siguradong yun ang anak ng mayamang bida.
• Ang bida, laging nag uuwi ng pansit sa mahirap na nanay at kapatid na may sakit.
• After an intense rape scene, naka-panty pa rin yung nagahasa.
• Ang ama ng bida na may malubhang sakit, magkukuwento ng mahabang mahaba. Pero mauubusan ng hininga sa pinaka mahalagang bahagi ng kanyang mensahe. Something like, “Ang iyong tunay na ama ay si…(tigok)”
• Kapag may namatay, siguradong may mababasag na picture frame.
• Yung kontrabida yayakap sa bida, sabay taas ng kilay, titingin sa camera at ngingiti ng masama.
• If just by reading the title, alam mo na ang story at ang ending.
• Ang bida, bawal mamatay.
• Kung itinatago ng leading lady na buntis sya, bigla na lang syang maduduwal sa hapagkainan at pupunta sa lababo.
• Kung sino ang bibigkas ng pamagat ng pelikula, yun ang bida.

In Comedy

• Laging sing and dance sa beach ang ending, kasama ang lahat ng cast even the kontrabidas at ang last scene: buong cast tatalon sa ere sabay freeze.
• Lagi na lang may wheelchair na mabibitawan at kung saan-saan ito mapupunta at babagsak sa putikan, babuyan o basurahan.

In Horror

• Yung halimaw, kung hindi mukhang plastic, parang gulaman.
• Kapag may mga lulusob na galit na taumbayan sa bahay ng aswang o manananggal, ang leader nila lagi si Vangie Labalan.

And here are the ones I thought of, some possible entries should I joined the Top 10

• Kapag naaksidente ang bida at naospital, malalaman mong buhay pa sya kapag gumalaw yung kamay o yung daliri nya.
• Maglalabas ng baril ang kontrabida at aagawin ito ng bida. Maya-maya, puputok ito at maghuhulaan ang mga viewers kung sino yung natamaan.
• Magsasampalan at magsasambunutan ang bida at kontrabidang babae habang maraming tao ang nanonood sa kanila.
• Nakatalikod na mag-eemote ang bida, nakaharap sa bintana at kapag nag reminisce ay sakop ang ilang dekada.
• Kapag ang bida gumawa ng masama, huli sya agad. Samantalang ang kontrabida always get away with it kahit anong mangyari, hindi sya mahuhuli and the coast is always clear.
• In comedy films, the major people involved were the ones that are dark, bungi, bungal, kalbo, with lots of pimples, or just plain ugly. They’d be the bida’s subject of inhumane stuff like bubuhusan ng tubig, ihi sa arinola or anything liquid, babatukan, hahampasin ng kung anumang bagay, and the like. They also serve as the bida’s bodyguard or alalay.
• If the movie starts or ends on a wedding.
• If it shows how small the world is. Nagkahiwalay man ang bida sa magulang sa haba ng panahon, magkikita at magkikita sila, gagaaan ang loob sa isa’t isa kasi unaware na yun na pala ang matagal nilang hinahanap.
• Kapag ang mga linyang ginamit ay tumatak sa isip ng mga tao. Of course who could forget the immortal lines from Sharon Cuneta, Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, Lorna Tolentino, Fernando Poe Jr among many others. The ones that went, “Gutay gutay na ang katawan nyo. Pati kaluluwa nyo, gutay gutay na rin.”, “Bukas, luluhod ang mga tala.”, “Para kang karinderyang bukas lahat sa gustong kumain.”, “My brother is not a pig!”, “Isang bala ka lang!”, “Walang personalan, trabaho lang.”, and of course “You’re nothing but a second rate, trying hard copycat!”, and “Pero maghanap kayo ng puno sa buong Pilipinas, saging lang ang may puso. Saging lang ang may puso!” hahahaha!!

These and more are things that upon watching, would make you go “Onli in da Pilipins!”. I didn’t create this entry to make fun of our movie industry. I myself grew up watching these type of movies. These are mere observations and I just thought of compiling it so that we can have fun in remembering our days, and in a way become proud that Pinoy movies has its own distinction. Nowadays, Pinoy movies have evolved and its a good sign of improvement. Still, there are some that are obviously reminiscent of the past. I guess we Fiipinos love to cling to it, eh?

* Special thanks to Chico & Delamar’s The Morning Rush for the list of entries. Check the Top 10 website and get to listen to the actual show where they did this one. Just click the link on the Top Clicks section at the right side of this blog.

Carried Away

I got Carried away.

Yeah, it is indeed too late for me to watch Sex and the City (a friend didn’t even invited us to the premiere haha!) but it won’t be too late to rave about it. A friend and I finally got to watch a couple of days ago over at Megamall, the rain is pouring but still we pushed through. I am actually thinking of watching Narnia instead, if ever there’s no screening for Sex and the City anymore. But there it was on, I think, two cinemas. We chose to be in at the 6:35pm screening. I then fell in line then told the lady at the counter, “Cinema 7, dalawa”. To which she replied, “Six en da… po?” (I didn’t catched the rest of what she said, but I thought she was asking if it’s cinema six) So I went, “Cinema seven po, hindi six”. Then she answered, “Opo, Six and the city po”. I was like, wtf! haha! Bloopers.

So off we went so cinema six, I mean seven. Prior to watching it, I heard that some part of the movie were cut. My friend and I got curious as to what part it is, so we anxiously waited or should I say guessed each time there’s a scene we think is bitin, then we’d go, “Baka yun na yun”. Anyway, I am not much of a movie critic but since I loved watching the series, I equally loved the movie! Very candid, funny and true. I didn’t get to finish the last season, but I know what happened and who they ended up with. The movie fed us, fans of the series, the exacting expectations we’re looking for. The glamour, the characters and their continuing stories. They need not to make an effort, because as it is, the entirety of the movie, speaks well enough of ordinary people’s views and struggles in life and love. That is why the series alone is a big hit people followed for about six years. Its movie version was a hit as well, raking $55.7 million on its opening, dethroning Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Just goes to show that a lot have been waiting for its grand comeback, this time in the silver screen.

I just can’t say enough as to how much I liked the movie, lost for words. I will probably have a series re-run later. Oh I forgot, someone borrowed my dvd copy. Calling Lilibeth Tampoc! haha! I wonder where can I watch the movie’s uncut version? I’d love to see that part! And then would later wish for someone to join me in coloring before I Poughkeepsie in my pants!

Raving Reviews 3

I’ve taken a two-days off this week, after having split restdays for quite a while. Since I don’t have enough money to go out, I instead indulged myself in two things I love doing during spare time: reading books and watching movies/series. I started rummaging into our seemingly crowded not-watched dvd drawer, but really cannot decide on what to watch! After few minutes of talking to myself, I picked The Departed since I’ve been wanting to watch that for the longest time. It is a mobster-themed movie directed by Martin Scorsese. It was actually *adapted from a 2002 Hongkong film Infernal Affairs which saw a policeman going undercover as a mob member and a mob member infiltrating the police force. Scorsese transfer the action to Boston, positioning Leonardo DiCaprio as undercover cop William Costigan and Matt Damon as the undercover mobster Colin Sullivan. While both of them get into plenty of nail-biting situations that almost reveal their true identities, Scorsese gradually unravels his strong supporting cast including Jack Nicholson as Sullivan’s mob boss Frank Costello; Ray Winstone as Costello’s meat-headed muscle; Mark Whalberg as a hot-headed police sergeant; and Vera Farmiga as a love interest for both Damon and DiCaprio’s characters. It was a pretty intense movie! Done in the most realistic manner, I can almost hear my heart beating everytime there’s an exciting scene. The acting were superb! All of them did an amazing portrayal you’d be drawn to each and every character. It was engrossingly violent, yes. If only I counted how many times the word f**k and f****ng was mentioned in the entire movie, I’d be damned!

After watching that, I then decided to finish the novel I am reading. It was the acclaimed piece of Lualhati Bautista titled Dekada ‘70. I bought the book November of last year and got the time to read it only now. I actually liked it. It was true, touching, poignant and funny. It is a story of a family caught in the middle of the tumultuos decade of the 1970’s. *The novel details how a middle class family struggled with and faced the changes that empowered Filipinos to rise against the Marcos government. The shaping of the decade are all witnessed by the female character Amanda Batolome, a mother of five boys. While Amanda’s sons grow, form individual beliefs and lead diffent lives, she reaffirms her identity to state her stand as a Filipino citizen, mother and a woman. Dekada ‘70 introduces to its readers the story of a family of a particular time in Philippine history, the story of a mother and her family, and the society around them that affects them. It was adapted to a movie in 2003, but prior to reading it, I haven’t seen the movie version. I am in a way familiar with some characters that’s why I can’t help but picture Vilma Santos, Christopher De Leon and Piolo Pascual in most of the scenes while reading it. The story itself is heart warming and eye opening. Although I got a bit lost in the first chapter, the succeeding ones proved to be exciting and in the end revealed a lot of things. I cried reading the part where one of their sons was salvaged and found dead, tortured with multiple stab. I really felt that moment.

I right away thought of watching the movie version, but since I don’t have any copy available I thought of renting one in Video City. But I checked YouTube first and was glad to see some uploads cut into parts. I searched extensively then to my surprise I got a link from Crunchyroll to watch it. And there I found exactly what I am looking for! I got to watch the entire movie without interruption, yey! The movie version is an exceptional one! It indeed brought to life the novel and was adapted really really well. The scenes I loved were all there, and it exceeded my expectations. It still gives me chills up to this very moment I am writing this entry, that’s how moving the film was. Everything in it was just exactly what I pictured the time I am reading it, unbelievable! The house, the series of events, the unforgettable scenes, wow need I say more?! Director Chito S. Roño did an outstanding job, he still included those parts which didn’t need much stress, but did it in the most subtle way. The screenplay was A+ too, the writer Lualhati Bautista excelled in further depicting the story in an intricate manner. And do I still need to touch the acting part? Of course, who would even argue with the lead artists Vilma Santos, Christopher De Leon and Piolo Pascual. The supporting cast were equally good. My, how nice it is to rave about a movie released 5 years ago. You tell me.

Anyway, here’s an excerpt from a poem of Kahlil Gibran which was used in the novel. Really love this:

Your children are not your children.

They are sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

*movie and novel synopsis courtesy of rottentomatoes & wikipedia

Idol Academy

As someone who loves singing, I also love watching singing contests. Back in the time of Tanghalan Ng Kampeon when I was just a kid, (which really produced a lot of great talents and artists who are still visible nowadays), Metropop Star, and the most recent ones like Star For A Night, Star In A Million, Pinoy Pop Superstar , Philippine Idol, to name a few. Singing contests have evolved in the process. Back then, the ones who are really good in singing will be the obvious winner. But now, it’s not just about the singing. A total package, so to speak, is needed. The looks, the appeal, the text votes haha, and a touching life story would also greatly help. It had become a reality show, where contestants need to, in a way, dig deep into their lives and let the public know that one is either from a very poor family, an abandoned child, part of a broken family, one that is searching for his lost mom or dad, and the most recent trend these days, a child of a foreigner who left them years ago. Which actually made it more interesting to watch, that somehow behind their singing talent, you’ll get to know a part of their life story and can somehow touch yours.

- VS -

And now, two of the most prestigious talent search in the country are battling head to head. Pinoy Dream Academy of ABS-CBN which is now on its second season, and Pinoy Idol of GMA7 which already had a first version from ABC5 two years ago. Of the two, PDA is much more exciting. I don’t mean to compare, but that’s the truth. It seems that ABS had prepared for it, I am not saying that GMA didn’t but I don’t know, Pinoy Idol is a bit boring for me. I started watching it on the auditions, and Wyngard Tracy right away gotten into my nerves! He’s trying hard to be Simon Cowell, you can tell. After that, I failed to watch the succeeding episodes. The last time I watched was the top 14 show, and mind you, Jolina began to annoy me too. Her comments were honest ok, but annoyingly honest. It’s the way she says it. Both Jolina and Wyngard kept on saying “medyo boring yung performance mo, walang bago..”, but look who’s got boring comments and got nothing new to say? It’s them! The contestants were just ok, no one can make you say whoa! I don’t even know who the top 12 was. I honestly think the first version of ABC 5 (Philippine Idol) a couple of years ago is much better than this one. I mean, who can argue with Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corales and Francis Magalona being the judges. Also the contestants, the grand winner Mau Marcelo, Gian Magdangal, Arms Cruz, Reymond Sajor, who are all like pro when performing. This time, no one had made a mark yet in both performing and touching one’s life.

Pinoy Dream Academy, however, is the exact opposite. Everything here is just great. The mentors (Ryan Cayabyab, Joey Reyes and vocal coaches Kitchy Molina & Monet Silvestre), the hosts (Toni Gonzaga, Nikki Gil and the show’s newest addition Billy Crawford), the contestants and their stories. The show’s approach is true in its extent of reaching someone’s dreams. It carefully addresses the public each of the contestant’s lives, struggles and triumphs. Which, I think, will make them more of someone people can relate to and be proud of rather than just a singing artist. Yeah, it’s just like Pinoy Big Brother when you watch it (because they’re using the same house) but with a different twist of course. My early favorites were Jay “Bugoy” Bogayon, the farmer’s son; Apple Abarquez, the one with 7 fairy gaymothers; Van Pojas, Cristina Pastor and Chivas Malunda. This is what you get from a credible dream team: unforgettable contestants and an unboring show!

Pardon for those Pinoy Idol fans out there. I am not bashing the show itself, but the way they let the show become. Probably I just so love American Idol that’s why I can’t help but compare the two. Sayang kasi, it seemed na hindi nila pinag handaan. Anyway, I like some of their contestants and I hope it would still be a hit. And in the end, prove me wrong. But for now, my votes goes to Pinoy Dream Academy!

In the name of the Father

Before anything else, let me greet all that dads out there a very

It is the time of the year to remember our dear dad, daddy, papa, tatay, ama, amang, itay, itang or whatever you may wanna call him. I am not much of a fan of this occassion, merely because I didn’t grew up with my father. My parents got divorced when, I think, I was 10 years old. And my childhood was spent without him on a daily basis. He’s been a bit of a problem then, a pain in the ass, mabisyo, mabarkada, babaero, the way my mom reckon. But of course all those are things in the past. People change, and in the end realizes the mistakes he’d done. This past 5 years or so, I can say that Papa’s already a changed man. And I am proud of that. He once opened up to me all the kalokohans he did when he was younger, back in the days mom and him were still on a relationship. He finally told me that I have a brother about my age, who’s now in the US, but they’re not in contact eversince (long story). I already knew about that, because mom had some doubts about it back then, she told me. I was just waiting for Papa to personally tell me. I’m happy he did that, at least he finally let go of something he’s been keeping for years. After that, he has totally changed right before my eyes. The way he speaks, his views in life, and mind you, he even talk about the Bible nowadays. I’m glad that he’s finally becoming the man I wanted to be. The change had probably brought about all the stuff he’s gone thru in life like failed relationships, and the most recent when we lost our very dear lola, his mama, two years ago. That’s the first and only time I saw Papa cried really really hard while telling stories during the mass, remembering how pasaway he was and how much headache he caused lola back then.

Anyway, so much for that drama haha! Good thing I didn’t ended up to be a pasaway like him hehe. I am his total opposite naks! He actually invited me to go to their place today but I’ve got work tomorrow, that’s why I thought of posting an entry about him instead. We recently bonded naman two weeks ago when we went to Pampanga and when I asked him to be our driver for our dayout haha!

So I hope you already greeted your dad a Happy Father’s Day! If not for him, and both our parents for that matter, we wouldn’t be in this world. What a cliche!

Buck to school!

This post is a bit late, yes. It has been a week since classes started, but it has also been a week since our keyboard got busted! For a while, all we can do is browse. I tried to chat over YM using copy paste haha, but of course it is damn hard to do that! Anyway, it is indeed back to school. And I know school brings back a lot of memories for most of us. Especially when we are still young. Those days that we feel that it’s  important that all our things should be new, those bullies who treated us like dirt, those times we used to play around the schoolgrounds like there’s no tomorrow. Come highschool or probably college days, staple memories includes those crushes and actual boy/girlfriends, breakups, stress, and most important the friendship that we built with all the people we met.  Be it good or bad, happy or sad, funny or not, it really shaped our personalities and truly played a great part in molding us into who we are now. This intro actually sounds too serious haha, I will now discuss why I chose Buck To School as the title for this entry.

Well, basically because of the abundant amount of money one should provide in going to school. Way back, pwede na yung pakonti-konti lang, but nowadays you would really need to save up for it. Not that it’s a bad thing, but in these trying times, it is indeed difficult to go to school. Most especially when you’re already a parent raising children, it is not an easy task. Not unless you’re filthy rich, where you can provide all the necessary and unnecessary stuff without batting an eyelash. An officemate of mine has a niece going to a private school, and she told me that the tuition fee her sister needs to pay is Php75,000! I thought her niece is already in college, but dang, grade 5 pa lang! Imagine spending almost a hundred thousand for the tuition alone. Which brings me to ask, is it still practical to send our kids to a private school or wiser to settle for public ones? Well, it will actually heighten and open up an entirely different discussion so I won’t push it any further.

But nevertheless, it is always nice to go back to school. The notes, bags, books, and yes the uniforms! So, even if it costs us a hefty amount of Philippine pesos, the memories it will give us, the fruits we’ll bear and the lessons we’ll learn beyond the books cannot be payed by any figures. Who wouldn’t want to experience the joy and hardships of school, anyway? It would be worth any buck to school!

Raving Reviews 2

I got the chance to see two good movies just last week, so I thought of posting an entry about it. Well, if I didn’t liked it, I won’t waste my time doing a review anyway. First up, The Forbidden Kingdom.

I love this one! The story is a bit typical Asian myth, but the effects and fighting scenes were just amazing! Well, who can argue on a Jackie Chan-Jet Li team up movie. It’s wow! and whoa! twice over. Indeed it was a “never before and probably never again” film that all should watch. I love the girl who played as the orphan warrior. She’s so beautiful! I think her name is Liu Yefein, something like that hehe. Oh, it’s Liu Yifei, I googled it haha. Ang ganda nya!! Yung nakakainis na white haired assasin is played by Li Bing Bing, the traveler is Michael Angarano, the drunken immortal is of course Jackie Chan, and the silent monk is Jet Li. It’s a nice Asian film with a good western kick. Watch it!

Next up, Water Horse. A friend recommended it to me that’s why I borrowed her copy. I watched it a

couple of days ago with my brothers and pamangkins. We all loved it! Its setting kind of reminded me of a great movie Atonement: not the story of course but the setting, the character’s accent, the feel of it. The story started when a young boy named Angus discovers a large mysterious egg along the shores of Loch Ness. He soon found out that the strange, mischievous hatchling is a water horse, the Loch’s most mysterious and fabled creature! But with the water horse growing ten times its size everyday, the boy finds it difficult to keep his new friend a secret. I’ll stop at that part, it might spoil to others who haven’t seen it. Watch this one too, you’ll enjoy it!

Ephonelution

Just had a random thought on mobile phones, that’s why I am now creating an entry about it. Well, cellphones became a phenomenon for us Pinoys the past 10 years or so, and it still is. It has evolved in a way, making its features more interesting, cool and fun. From simple SMS to MMS and Email, monotonic to polyphonic ringtones, GPRS, bluetooth, USB, camera, video, mp3 players, personalized stuff and a lot more. All these we enjoy and love, making us crazy for new ones and upgrading our own units to a more hip and hype units available. The price had evolved too. If back then you can have a decent phone for about Php5,000, nowadays that sum of money would just be a quarter of the actual price for a new, high-tech and edgy cellular phone. But who needs those uber expensive and hitech phone anyway, if it would cost you fortune to buy it, and sometimes it will cost your life as well. Here in our country, those snatchers can kill just for a damn phone. Simple ones would do, for simple and plain persons like me haha! Anyway, since I’m already running out of words to say for this intro, let me enumerate the phones I had way back, and the ones I am using now. Let’s see how my phones evolved through time hehe!

Alcatel OT Club DB. I just found out na yan pala name ng unit haha! This is my first cellphone and we all know that firsts are always memorable. It is indeed a special one because I got it for free! I got it as a prize when I attended Monster Radio RX 93.1’s 17th Anniversary Party over at Republic of Malate. The date was August 15, 2000. See, I remembered it all! (No, I had the invite here with me haha!) That night they gave away several phones of the same kind, and I was lucky enough to have one. When dj Boom Gonzales asked who among the audience can name all the RX shows with their respective djs, I raised my hand! He looked for someone not around the stage area, and since I am upstairs, I caught his attention then he called me up the stage! Of course, being an RX fanatic then (I still am!), I was able to give out all the shows and the djs on it. Yey! This phone is now with my lolo in Samar, but I don’t know if he’s still using it.

Nokia 3210. I can’t exactly remember what year I started using this, but what I remember is that I used it for a long time, back when I was still in college until my first job. During that time, cool ka na if you have a 3210 haha! It was also the time that drop calls were very rampant. Sounds familiar? It is where you call someone and cut it after 2 or 3 seconds but it won’t use up your minutes. I so remember those days when me and my friends would call each other saying “Kumusta?” (drop), “Ok lang” (drop), or like “San ka na?” (drop) and “Dito na!” (drop) haha! Yes, I was using a 3210 during those time. I love 3210, matibay kasi eh. That’s usually what they say about pioneer Nokia phone units, it would really last long. I also enjoyed personalizing it, the casing, keypads, bling blings haha, and the like. I dropped it on the floor several times, but it survived! After, I think, 3 years, I sold it (not gave haha) to my friend. I’m sure she’s not using it anymore.

Panasonic G60. This is the first phone I bought since I worked, so it’s kind of memorable too. It didn’t had a camera feature because back then I was not crazy about camera phones. So I just settled for a polyphonic one and got contented. I liked the style of this one, coz it’s small and slim. And the color too, shining silver haha! If I remembered it right, it cost me about Php10,000 to buy it. I also had some memories with this phone since I bought this during my first job in a call center. Like those time I’m using it on the way to work in Alabang inside our shuttle, the time when an expat made a remark that it’s a cool phone upon seeing it on the floor and this is where I recorded an audio clip when my friend Mei and I watched the Alicia Keys concert in Araneta Coliseum. But I later had problems with the charger and since it’s not a usual phone model, I had a hardtime finding a replacement. That’s why I sold it to my mom’s friend haha, he told me naman na it’s ok even it the charger is having some problems. I’m pretty sure he’s not using it anymore.

Nokia 6600. This is the phone I loved and cherised for a long time. This time I am on my third call center so I bought a new phone May 2004 after receiving our regularization bonus. I so love this phone! Very light and handy and so easy to use. For about 4 years, it became my journal, blog, mp3, camera, gameboy and all. That’s why it was so sad that I lost it. Some pathetic low life had the chance to get it in my bag while I was busy walking home with a friend along Quezon Avenue. I got devastated! And here’s the catch, I lost it 4 days before my birthday! What a nice birthday present, right? Well, katangahan na din siguro or probably it’s time for me to dispose it. I already had it reformatted twice and it’s showing signs of giving up already haha! It just took me a while to recover my lost contacts since 1999 and that’s the hardest part of losing it. And also the messages! My most precious and kept messages, haaay! Anyway, I have already moved on and gotten myself two phones now. And if someone bought this phone of mine from that stealer, I’m sure he or she is not using it anymore!

And here are the two mobile phones I’m using right now:

Nokia 6260 & Motorola L60. Oh, they both have the number 60! I bought this from someone gipit that time, and since I don’t have any phone to use, I agreed. It’s ok alright, but the excitement and fun of texting everyone are so gone since I’ve lost my 6600. Well, for my Smart friends only. The Motorola L60 is the one I am using for my Globe friends. I love this one, too. It’s slim and very handy as well. The picture’s resolution is very clear. And I love pressing its keypads haha! I might dispose the 6260 by the end of the year, coz it’s long and bulky. But the Motorola I’ll keep.

So in the span of eight years, I’ve had six phones. I’m not more of a tech savvy that’s why my phones were not that edgy or uber hightech. I hope in the near future I’ll be able to provide an abundant amount of money for a new phone. Txt u ’round!