Adieu, Morning Brew :(

14 November 2006, Tuesday, was a sad day. I was ecstatic to file Vacation Leave and join the Morning Brew in the University of the Philippines (UP) - Diliman for the KLite Dodgeball Tournament only to find it was the last broadcast of the show. Apparently, KLite 1035 is going to reformat its programs at the end of the month (and go mellow, ugh!) so I am now reviewing my CDs for my car trips. Goodbye, Vitto and Anjanette, it was an honor to cruise the streets of Manila with you all these years. You will be greatly missed (sniff, sniff).

My Php200 didn’t fail me

Our family tries its best to support the Philippine Idol franchise by tuning in every week. We enjoyed the Sunday 9:00pm one and a half audition shows. We felt they had the charm of the American Idol franchise. Next we did our best to catch the Saturday 9:00pm performance shows, vote on Saturday night or Sunday morning, and then watch the Sunday 9:00pm elimination shows. Our favorites are Ramirr, Pow, Mau, Drae and Gian. I think we actually cried when Drae was voted off in favor of Ken, Jan, and Miguel. At that moment I decided we had to take things up a notch.

The show’s schedule has since changed to performance night on Sundays and elimination night on Mondays, as well as voting being open only until 12:30am of Monday, but I’ve done my part by sending two votes via SMS each for Pow and Mau then 80 votes for Gian. If you do the Math that’s P5 each for Pow and Mau then P200 for Gian every Sunday night. I figured that his support may not be as strong as that of the two girls so I might as well do my part in keeping good contestants on the show rather than the mediocre ones.

It’s great to know that he didn’t go home this week. In the end, I really have no idea who will claim the title. Pow may have already peaked, Mau has insecurity issues (she really must do away with those side comments), and Gian may not have the fan base. In a country where success is measured more often than not by who you know rather than what skills you have, at least I can sleep on Sunday nights knowing I am doing something to help out a person with potential.

Weekend ‘pick-me-up’

Britney Spears has filed for divorce (citing irreconcilable differences) from Kevin Federline, her dancer and (wannabe) singer husband + father of her two sons. Finally! We can only wish her well in this new and exciting page of her life. Maybe also pray that she doesn’t think of doing Crossroads II ;)

Sein-ing off

I caught the third to the last episode of the Seinfeld series on Star World last Tuesday night. Aside from the expected laughs, it brought a foreboding sense of the end of an era. By Saturday, my life will not revolve around the 7:00am, 7:30pm or 11:00pm Seinfeld schedule on Mondays to Fridays. I could sleep at 10:00pm on weekdays. Dinners with family and friends can go on until past 10:30pm or 10:45pm (depending on my distance from a cable TV or my home). Drives to and from the mall/gym/work/home will be more pleasant (no more anxiety from the impending traffic that will affect my chance to get home in time for the start of the show). No more looking at the car clock radio when it reads 7:25pm, emphasizing that I have about 10 minutes (it’s five minutes ahead) to cross the gauntlet called Aguirre Avenue, park the car and set the TV (which skips channels when changed manually, but doesn’t have a remote control as of this writing) to channel 35 (AAAAAHHHHH!). Yes, life will go back to normal soon. The question is, “Am I really looking forward to my post-Seinfeld world?” Best not to think about it right now…

Living on Star Cash and a Prayer

The price of gasoline really isn’t what it used to be.

I used to unwind by driving to Ayala Alabang, parking in either the Alabang Country Club (ACC) or outside the Makiling Park then walking around the village for at least an hour. I must admit though that most of this time is actually spent giving the homes I come across the ‘once-over’. Now that I’ve computed that the distance from my home to ACC is about 14kms, I’ve opted to park outside Makiling Park. Still, the drive from home to the Park is not as near as I thought it was. Lately, I avoid the village altogether because it is equidistant from my office (surprisingly). Now even the gym gets done after work on weekdays since it’s on the way home.

Each trip must be methodically planned to maximize the visit to any area. Talk about everything needing to be geographically desirable. Going to the gym in Alabang? Might as well schedule the dog for his weekly bath at the vet, swing by the supermarket for toiletries, the mall for coffee/the parlor/a facial, the credit card office to pay that monthly bill, and so and so’s home to pick up/drop off something. After identifying all the places you plan to hit during that one trip, you proceed to map out the most time and cost efficient route. What gets done on the way to the gym then on the way home? Should I take the village road or the service road? Once that’s done, you must announce this proposed journey to your family to see if anyone needs a ride to or from that area. Based on this discussion it is also possible that you agree to use someone else’s car instead of yours. You must have even defined the window of opportunity to get all these tasks done without hitting heavy traffic on the road.

When does it end?

Thankfully, Calai now works at Chevron Philippines and has encouraged us to join a number of their activities that have benefited us lately. It started out with this gas card you have stamped at the Star Mart after filling up at least Php500 worth of gas. After four stamps you get a free TJ hotdog and a chance to win something in the monthly draw. Whatever you win, the Chevron employee wins. Hence, Calai is crossing her fingers that one of us gets an IPod. Well, we won Php1000 worth of gas (pictured) during the first draw and are still dropping our entries in the drop box so all is not lost, yet. We also got to participate in the company’s Halloween Party and placed second in the Best Family in Costume category. The prizes were more gas cards and SM gift certificates, nice!

It’s reassuring to know that wherever Lulu (my car) and I decide to venture off to, there’s a good chance that our loyalty to Chevron Philippines events will help us keep on burning that rubber.