You Dig?

What the?

2009-02-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

Oh my.

Isn’t it just amazing how in a period of about four months, life can just go from going one way to doing a complete 180 and go in an opposite direction – either for good or bad. Fortunately for me it has been the former and it seems that my life actually has a sense of direction for once. I’ve even set myself goals in the distance that actually seem feasible where once it seemed like an impossibility.

So yes, a lot of things have happened, perhaps hence the lack of updates on this here blog. But I can tell you one thing and that as of the 20th of this month, I have been awarded my degree in Digital Media which means that yes, I have concluded my studies (finally). It has been a while and I’m so glad that it is finally here. I had been such an education whore for some time going from one institution to another and I feel that gaining this final degree is closure to that chapter in my life.

Considering the huge amount of happenings in the last four months, who knows what the next four months can bring? But I can assure you one thing – that I will try my best to let you know on this blog.

Promise. Pinky swear promise even.

To my friends:

2008-11-17T03:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks for sticking it out with me through my little "transition" period. Your acceptance and your support means the world to me makes my journey a lot smoother, so I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You all mean the world to me and I don't know what I would do without all you guys. Consider this as a great big virtual hug over the internet.

Thank you!

Juan

Now this is why I use a mac

2008-08-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Photos taken from gizmodo

Long story short, the dreaded windows Blue Screen of Death - or BSoD as we geeks call it made an unwelcome appearance during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games. I think it's hilarious that despite the cost of the program reaching tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, Microsoft still manages to stuff up.

Steve Jobs must be ROFLing his arse off.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!

2008-08-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I'm baaaaack! Yay!

Now, the Olympics are now in full swing and I usually love me some Olympic action. Thing is, I probably consider myself a bit of a bandwagon-er when it comes to sport because I don't usually watch it unless it involves national teams versing each other instead of say, leagues or clubs within the same city/state/country/continent.

I've been watching a lot of sports that usually have some Australian competing within it. Say right now as I blog, I am also watching equestrian events on TV. Yup, horsies hippety-hoppeting across my TV is not what I usually call entertaining or adrenaline-inducing. However, when an Australian is on, it automatically becomes riveting stuff. It's amazing how much bias and patriotism can blind you because automatically you think that they're the best of the bunch. Even if the Australian rider falls off, who cares - they fell off beautifully, better than the rest who suffered the same fate.

I from time to time watch the games alone in my room, which is a good thing because I tend to go a little mental whenever my team is on. Often I'd get out of bed, jump and down, curse a bit every now and then and yelp like a teenage school girl when the action begins to heat up.

I've been researching my Olympics for the past few days or so and I've learned that Australia currently sits in the top ten nations in the world when it comes to overall medals performance. I personally think that for a country with a population less than state of California USA, the amount of talent Australia produces just really amazes me. I would also extend this to things like artistic, academic and other achievements as well.

If the world and its countries were a family, Australia is like the little young brother who, as a young child sat and watched eagerly as his older siblings did their things, learning swiftly as they go along, absorbing his older siblings skills and knowledge like a sponge. Now Australia is entering his teenage years and is starting to really come to his own, doing what he's researched from the rest of the world while giving his own unique little spin to it, which gives him an edge.

Okay, enough patriotism from me...

... Oh why not - Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! OI! OI! OI!

sorry :-)

NET

2008-07-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how lost I am without internet access. I didn't really realise how pre-occupied I am with the internet beforehand until our service was cut. I've realised it's sorta become habit - like, I'd all of a sudden say to myself "Oh hey, maybe I should check out Kotaku or Engadget?", both two of my favourite blogs. Then I'd realise that I don't have actually anything to view them with, which is rather upsetting. This then leads into me heading into my kitchen to find something to eat, which these days tend to be nutella (thickly) smothered on really soft bread. Saying that, I must've gained a whole lot of kilos. But it's winter over here so I don't really mind.

However, I do have internet access in the form of my iPhone however 3G reception over where I am is a little patchy so I've found only a few places in my house that I can use the phone to browse. Ironically, they're located in the couch in front of the TV and on my bed - like, two of the only places I only spend time in (except of course the kitchen).

Anyway, I'm at the local library now about 5 mins from my house using their free access. However, it is incredibly slow and I can't really go anywhere with it. So yeah, that's it for now and I've just read back what I've written and yes, it is an incredibly pointless post so sorry for making you have to read it.

A little hiatus

2008-07-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all

I probably won't be putting up posts for just a little while. All pretty much because our internet connection at home has been cut. So basically for now I have to resort to using free internet spots (in this case, the good 'ol Apple Store) to write posts.

I will be back, don't you worry so stay put for a while and I'll be right back.

Not bored any longer

2008-06-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hello all

I've actually been pretty busy as of late. Hours at work have picked up again and so I'm happy about that. It seems like my efforts there has been majorly appreciated. My boss even went so far to say something along the lines of "hang in there, I'd really like to hold on to people that deserve to be here," which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Apart from that just a few things that I have done and would like to share with you guys. I've been keeping myself entertained thoroughly so I'm pretty happy. Just a few things that have kept me occupied apart from work and the odd social event:

Videogames - Oh my gosh, I have just completed Metal Gear Solid 4 on the PS3. Let me tell you this- this game is EPIC. It is honestly one of the best games I've ever played like, ever. I had never been so glued infront of the screen in years. Everything about the game is ace - from the first-rate graphics to the amazing storyline and gameplay. Sure, the cutscenes in between may have been long but I didn't mind them one second. A must have for all those who own a PS3.

Theatre- I've never really seen a lot of theatre before but my mum got free tickets to a musical called the altar boys. You know what? I actually enjoyed it. I thought it was gonna be some all out camp event - and fair enough and some parts it was, in the end I didn't even care. It was just some really silly take on the whole evangelical christian movement type of thing so yeah, pretty entertaining it was. If the show is playing in your city, I recommend you watch it.

Music - I'm really getting into a whole lot of these great artist coming from the UK. I don't know whats happening over there but I'm liking it. People I'm digging right now include Jamie Lidell, Duffy, Mark Ronson and I'm really digging the new Coldplay album.

Movies - I haven't really seen much in terms of seeing something in the cinemas. But as per a previous blog, I've been going all out in acquiring HD-DVDs and Blu Rays at an alarming rate. And because of that I've been watching some amazing movies: Blood Diamond, Casino, Cloverfield and Ratatouille just to name a few. I think I have a new calling in life, and that's to be a movie buff.

Anyway that's all from me for now. And please congratulate me for writing this entire blog using my iPod.

Hey Look! It's me at the Apple Store

2008-06-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

I just don't know what to do with myself

2008-06-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

Oh Em Gee. I am so bored.

So I'm in my mid year break, all my assignment's been handed in and I haven't any exams so I can rest and take it easy. Now at the same time, there's been a bit of a rough patch at work - due to cut backs in budget, my hours at work have been curtailed, well for the while anyway and so I'm left with a LOT of time on my hands (but not a lot of money).

So I've been spending A LOT of time at home, incredibly bored.

There have been a few things that have been keeping me entertained - I've recently acquired 33 extremely cheap HD-DVDs so I've been watching some of that. I've also been playing Metal Gear Solid 4 on my PS3 which has kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. But apart from that, nada. Not only that, I've been eating so much crap and I'm pretty sure a lot of eating and not a lot of action is not very good for you.

So what am I to do? I dunno...

Any suggestions would be great, thanks.

Take it away Dusty Springfield

You know you've had a good day when...

2008-06-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

You had a nice nights sleep and wake up all nice and fresh.

You fill up for gas and because of a mistake at the station, you end up paying 72cents a litre (or $2.50 a gallon for those in the US). Not just that, it was premium petrol, and not just premium - but 98RON premium, i.e the expensive one.

You get to campus early and get one assignment finished and hand another one in.

You head home early, take a bit of a nap get up and finish a pretty well constructed essay in record time.

You've realised you've just completed your semester and can now officially enter holiday mode.

And, the Pièce de résistance: You finish your assignments just in time to watch House.

Perfect.

You know you've had a bad day when...

2008-06-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

You wake up at 4am because your stomach is cramping up, feeling like your insides want to burst out of your anus.

You get up to go to the toilet, do your thing, return to bed, only to find that same cramping feeling happening all over again. So you go back to the toilet and have the same thing happen once or twice more.

You try to get to bed, but can't sleep because your mind is already racing about assignments that are due that day, and are not entirely complete yet. Mind you, this is about 5 am in the morning.

After tossing and turning in bed for a few hours, you decide you've had enough and head off to University early so that you can get all your assignments done once and for all. So you take the 40 minute car trip from one end of Sydney to the other, and spend $10+ worth of freeway tolls.

You get to campus, fire up a computer, insert your USB drive only to find that the assignment that you were working on last night is NOT on your drive, but is still on your desktop at home.

After internally cussing yourself out, you decide to take the trek back home, spending another two 40 minute trips, using $40 worth of gas and another $20+ in freeway tolls.

You get back, realise you only have minutes to complete two assignments. So you start to stress and get a little restless, but eventually get there.

Yes, my friends, this is what has just happened to me today. But I'm glad that I came out of it rather unscathed - minus some weight off my shoulders. Only one more assignment to go and it's just a little essay so it's all good.

Just taking a break

2008-05-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

My first video blog. Don't laugh.

Phases

2008-05-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

Now, we've all gone through phases. You know, things that you thought you would take up because you thought you'd be "The Bomb Shizzz"- either to be cool with your friends, or just for the sake of taking up - we've all done it. Some may have stuck with you over the years while others just seem to fall by the way side. I've had a few, some worth reminiscing and laughing over are:

The rap phase:
Ugh, I still have some really craptastic rap songs on my iTunes playlist that I wished I had never wasted bandwidth on - oh, um, I meant my money on. I usually leave my playlist on shuffle so whenever a random rap song comes up, lets say 50cent's In da club, a sigh usually follows along with a press of the next track button. I remember trying to get into rap music so that I could be cool with my peers. Loser.

The Boy Band phase:
Now, this is going to sound incredibly horrible and embarrassing. But I had this stage in my life where I wanted so badly to be famous in some like, boy band or something. This was back in the mid 90's or so and boy bands then were flavor of the month. I did the whole singing thing, putting so much gel on my hair, practicing the dance moves and all that - I was so convinced I was going to be the sixth member of Five (remember them? Probably not). Or the replacement of the ugly guy from NSync. Thank goodness I grew out of that, I think.

The "I wanna be a tank" phase:
Okay, I fall in and out of this one intermittently - I get these short bursts of "I'm gonna be so healthy and go to the gym everyday until I'm a tank" that generally seems to sizzle out after a few weeks. I was going so well up until last week, when I couldn't be bothered to get up from bed and get my lazy ass to the gym. Why is looking good so hard to obtain? I'm too damn lazy. I don't love myself that much.

The Aquarium phase:
I guess you can call this the 'pet' phase. So I get a fish tank, set it up, and get all the fishies put in. All is well and good until I realise I actually have to maintain it. I get lazy, and so the algae starts to pile up, making the fish rather invisible. You do see them again, however, floating above said algae - albeit upside down. You know what the worse part is? I've gone through this phase like, over ten times. Same result. I never learn.

Anyway, that's just a few. I'm sure you all have some - feel free to let me know. Heck, even blog about it, just let me know where you've posted it.

Cheer up, Emo Kid.

2008-05-08T03:24:00.001-07:00

Nothing's ever that bad. Seriously.

Instead of looking what they do have, they seem to just concentrate on what they lack. They in turn have feelings of inadequacies that lead them to a slump that they feel that they can't get out of.

I've heard of really weak excuses of why someone is feeling down - from things like:

"Oh, the work is too hard"
"I hate my job"
"My girlfriend dumped me"
"My life's headed nowhere"

...and so on and so forth.

For goodness sakes, to those people, seriously, get over yourselves. You're still alive, healthy, with a roof over your head, and have family and friends who care about you. You wake up everyday with probably the greatest gift you can ever receive: A brand new day, and yet here you are, moping because of the most trivial things.

I've seen kids cancer ridden with only a chance of survival, and yet that slight chance is enough to fuel their optimism. They have the biggest smile on their faces, even despite being constantly prodded by needles, enduring chemotherapy, and battling constant fatigue.

So to those mopers out there, remember:

Nothing is ever that bad.

For reals.

Americas Most Hated Family

2008-05-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

I watched something really, really upsetting a few nights back. It was a documentary created by the BBC called "Americas Most Hated Family". It was a fly-on-the-wall look into the workings of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). These people are best known for picketing the funeral services of fallen military men/women of the United States Armed Forces.

They are best known here in Australia as the people who planned to picket (or did picket - I'm not too sure) Heath Ledgers funeral because of his support and portrayal of a gay character in Brokeback Mountain.

Essentially, these people are the biggest homophobes in the planet. They believe that America is doomed because of their stance on the whole LGBT issue. In short, they believe things like 9/11, fallen soldiers, or pretty much anything bad happening in the USA is caused by God punishing America for their "support" of homosexuals. Sounds crazy right?

What really, really upsets me most is that they use God as a way to enforce their agenda, and in this particular case, hate. "God Hates America", "Thank God for Dead Soldiers", "Thank God for 9/11" and "God Hates Fags" are just some of the incredibly creative sayings they have on their signs. Upsetting thing is they use the Bible to back up these statements and goes to show how open ended the Bible is for people to back up their claims. Pretty much, if you have whatever agenda, chances are you can construe some random quote from the Bible to give your agenda some backbone.

This CULT is a prime example of how people can be so deluded by their myopic view of the world. How can someone be so filled with hate that they at any chance they get go and picket any sort of event that condones national pride? I really do hope that these people can take a real good look at themselves and see that they have all been taken for a ride by false pretenses set by their "ring leader", the poor lost soul that he is.

It's a shame that religion these days have taken away the primary focus of it being one's own spiritual belief, or relationship with this greater being called "God". Instead, it has become this huge machine fuelled by agenda and propaganda. Instead of being a cohesive entity within our society, it has forced us to form groups that have socially constructed boundaries, which in turn divide us.

I know it is not all churches that do this, I know a lot that do promote equality and peace to mankind. It's just some of the few, like these people that give it such a bad name.

Please watch this and tell me that this doesn't fire you up:

Sad, huh? There are plenty more on YouTube if you search. The best ones are the backlash protests done by people against the WBC.

"That black scarf doesn't cover your red neck!" Hilarious!

'Sup, You...

2008-04-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've realised that I'm really, really bad at remembering names.

So I've been working at my new job for a good two weeks now, I feel like I've settled quite well. It's a great bunch of people I'm working with - vibrant, friendly, enthusiastic bunch. Me likes. However, I have failed to remember most of their names, and I feel so horrible about it.

The first day I started, it seemed that everyone knew who I was. Like, everyone knew my name and stuff. They even were starting to do Juan jokes - as in Juan, two, three... or something along those lines. Actually, the following seems pretty much a good example of what happens.

Workmate: JUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAN!
me: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!
(blank stare, trying not to blatantly look at their name tag, then proceed to walk away, puzzled)

Sure, I know some of them already, but I'd say 20% of people who work there I know of their names. I'm terrible.

So, I've set myself a goal for the week - that is to know each and every one of them prior to the end of this week. I will write all their names up on this here blog even, so watch this space.

And That's The End of That Chapter

2008-04-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

So after three and a half years of working at the same place, I've now left to do other things. Saturday was my last shift in fact, so it's come and past and I have since started my new job.

What surprised me most on that last day was how un-emotional that day was for me. It was just like another day - started off like one, ended like one. Except only major difference was that I did some hardcore photo whoring after close, which of course I never do usually.

But I leave that job with no ill feelings or regrets, but I do leave with good mates and thats a major bonus.

To those I've worked with : Paul R., Pouya, Nathan, Jay, Tom, Ed, Brad, Little Nathan, Andrew, Kris, Steven, Larry, Dan, Parrish, Jason, Farzan - thank you for the experience.

To those I leave behind: Algie, Enoch, Josh, Kim V., Kim H., Aaron, Nigel - much love. Don't forget, I haven't died or anything so don't forget to invite me to them damn poker/ mafia nights okay? And keep going strong, I'm still here if you guys need anything.

Some guys at work put together this lame ass video of my leaving. It's extremely corny but I appreciate it so much - thank you! This vid is so lame that it's so funny - what's the name of the song? It says "Jesus" in it - is this song one of those christian songs? Geez...

HAHAHAHA

It's too late to apologize, it's too laaaaaaate

2008-04-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

See that up there? In the blue shirt, that is I. I went to the Maroon 5/ OneRepublic concert at the Acer on Friday night.

Two words: Fricken Ace.

I had so much fun, I was going hardcore in my seat just dancing and singing rather badly - and no one heard because the music was damn loud. But it was fun!

Maroon 5 were awesome - but I was really excited seeing OneRepublic on stage. I've been following the lead singer, Ryan Tedder for quite some time. His song 'The Look' is one of my favourites.

LOL at the NSync dude. He looks like he wants him. So bad.

Tulibu Dibu Douchoo

2008-04-03T03:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, there are two things that I like - singing; and foreigners. Now when you combine them both, you get funny time!

Ken Lee

This song is way too damn catchy. I sing it all the time, even with the made up subtitles. But is way hilarious, so please, respect the caviar. LOL

Be sure to check out some of the other vids made by this 'Buffalax' on youtube - particularly the Indian Bollywood ones. Hilarious!

ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, HEY!

So, something happened to me the other day...

2008-04-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

So I applied for a job for Apple about a month ago. Days, weeks and a month or so has passed and began to think that nothing was going to eventuate from it so I let it go.

Now, at my current job, I'm hardly getting enough hours as it is to get by - damn bills and stuff is absolutely killing me. So I consider about getting another casual job to get me by.

So, I get a phone call from a mate that works at an electronic entertainment store close by to my house, and so he tells me that there's a place for me over there and that there are ample hours for me to use up. I tell him that I'll have a think about it and took about two weeks to deliberate.

Sum it up short, I'm now leaving my current job to now work at this other place. Now, I call my friend up on Tuesday, after much deliberation to tell him that I'm accepting the offer. I've also called my current boss to tell him that this is my last week working at that place - which was pretty hard, considering I've been working there for three and a half years.

Soon after this all happens, I get an anonymous call on my mobile. I answer it and of course, it was none other than Apple, well at least the people responsible for recruiting for Apple and they proceed to interview me over the phone. Twenty minutes later, they tell me that I've progressed through to the second round. I felt like one of those people who audition for Idol and get through to Hollywood/Sydney - sans a golden ticket.

I'm way excited, the second round of interviews happen next week. I don't know how far I go, but hopefully I'll get it. Thing is, if I do get it, what the hell do I do with this new job I'm starting next week? I'd feel so bad if I'm like, the guy who stayed there for a few days/weeks and left.

coming soon

2008-03-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

I'll be doing something different here real soon - I'm actually quite nervous about it. But hopefully I'll have enough to get me going for some time.

I've been inspired by a lot of things recently - inspired by how some people out there really embrace their talents. From artists, designers, dancers and even people like singers. There are many talented people out there who aren't ashamed to show, and flaunt what they have. I'm jealous of these people. I hate them even.

I've been watching a lot of youtube lately and I've been seeing these people who do one of those singing blog type of things - people singing songs in front of their cameras and upload them. I've seen many, been inspired by many. So that's why I've decided to do some of my own, some of which I will be posting up some time soon. Hopefully, I'm okay - if not, I've got you, the unknown public of the internet, to tell it to me straight. If I suck, then tell me, I so wouldn't mind.

So yeah, check back every now and then, I should have something up and running sometime soon.

Upgrading

2008-03-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the rough looking blog. Just currently updating, but still fully functional. Was thinking the old blog was looking a little drab, that's all. So please, feel free to browse around...

I has a pink eye...

2008-03-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

You probably can't really notice it in the above pic that much, but my right eye is swollen up and is pink. Worse thing is during mornings, my right eye seems to be covered up in this weird crusty stuff. 'Tis gross. Muy gross. It must have been a dodgy contact lens, saying that, I haven't worn contacts since last week because of it.

10 seconds of fame

2008-03-06T04:54:00.001-08:00

Okay, so we (myself Lucy, Ting, Lisa and a few others) went to a filming of So You Think You Can Dance Australia last week. And because we were a such ridiculously good looking bunch, they invited us to watch the show up on the balcony type area above the right hand side of the stage. So yes, we were on TV - as you can see in these shots here:

Trust me, we're there somewhere

Top right, those spotlighted three people Me, Lucy, Ting LOL

Boo-yah

Us during a routine

All up, we accumulated about 10 seconds worth of airtime - possibly a bit more. Still, we're moving on up. This was Ting's first appearance on TV since being shown on the news fainting from the heat. And my first appearance on TV since they showed me on the corner of the screen during a Pope's mass (don't ask).

Oh, I also went to a filming of Gladiators not too long ago too. It hasn't been shown on TV yet, but I'm so keeping an eye out for myself. I wore a bright orange shirt and was doing the robot so I could try to make myself out from the crowd LOL.

Jukebox

2008-02-17T04:47:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, there's a song that comes along that's just really great and stays with you for years and years - and when you hear that song again after not listening to it for yonks, all these memories of yesteryear come flooding back like a raging torrent. Here's one of them - I hope it does the same for you.

Welcome back to 1993.

Why oh why don't songs sound like this anymore?

So You Think You Can Dance? No. No, I can't...

2008-02-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

As much as I hate to admit - I've been watching this show like crazy. I dunno, to me it's such a visual treat, seeing people do things I can't even dream to do. It's MUCH better than seeing a bunch of fat shits on treadmills, and crying because they're fat - boo fricken hoo.

"I don't know how I got this big..." says one contestant. Um, was it probably because you ate A LOT? Hmm, yes, I think that might be it.

Funny how they put The Biggest Loser on at dinner time on weekdays - it really makes you think about what you're shoving into your mouth. I won't even think about going for seconds...

But anyway, back to dancing - my cousin is taking me to the Sydney Dance Company next week to do some hip hop. I'm so unco it's not funny, it's gonna be interesting to see how it all goes. Hopefully, she'll have her cam or mobile with her, maybe we can upload my unco-ness to youtube for the world to see. Watch this space...

reminiscing

2008-02-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

Was just reading past posts just then - in particular a 'to do' list I did back in 2006 regarding things I'd really like to start/get into or complete. Funny thing is, either the years have gone by really, really quick - or I've just been completely lazy the last few months or so, because I haven't really ticked off anything in that list. Worse thing is, I mostly suspect the latter, I have been a lazy arse indeed.

There was another post I did back then, about getting fit and all muscled up by the end of that year (2006). Nup, I'm still the same lump of shit as I was back then, in fact, I suspect even heavier than then - but I blame work for that.

But you know what? I'm pretty sure it's gonna change this year, I feel it. I've told myself to get off my arse and actually do things this year instead of waiting for things to happen.

I've got myself back to the gym and going hardcore (I hurt right now). I've got my first singing "gig" in a while happening in two weeks - okay it's for a wedding, but still. Sure, it ain't really that big but still, wedding now, Madison Square Garden next. Mmm hmm.

As for me, I'm in a good place right now. I've enough time to do the things I want (such as blogging) and some. Ooh, I've been sleeping lots which is really rare for me.

So yay!

VD = Venereal Disease

2008-02-14T01:16:00.000-08:00

To all the lovers and couples out there:

Happy Valentines Day

...motherfuckers.

stuff

2008-02-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I work selling video games - however, that does NOT mean that whenever you see me all I would want to do with you is talk about video games.

person: Hey Juan
me: Hey
person: Hey, you know, like on PlayStation...
me: Ugh.

An entry about nothing. Oh and a Happy New Year

2008-01-13T04:25:00.000-08:00

I know, it's been a while - last blog I remember doing was back in winter last year. First thing, where the hell did last year go? 2007 seemed like it just went through like... something that goes by really fast (sorry, mental block).

But here we go, start of another year. I know I probably said this last year, but I think this year is going to be big - not just for myself, but perhaps the world in general, hopefully for the good.

On a personal level, I have told myself that this is the year I finally stop saying "what if" and actually do. I know, I probably said that last year (or was that the year before?), but this year, it will stick and it must happen. It must. I mean, for goodness sakes, I turn friggin 26 this year. 26! And I ain't getting any younger and I absolutely hate the feeling of regret that I didn't get to do what I wanted to do. So I'm throwing all abandon to the wind and I'm ready to go on to next gear.

I promise to keep you (yes, you two or three people or so) updated with what's going down in Juan's world.

Sing, sing, sing

2007-08-01T03:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before on this here blog, but I used to be a singer. I'd have performances every now and then - in bars, in "community musicals", which is better left not to talk about, I've been a wedding singer amongst other stuff as well. I've even been a back up singer for international acts, which was kinda cool.

All up until about over a year or so ago, when I just stopped. I don't know why, but I just didn't feel like doing it (at that particular time).

I'm thinking, maybe I should go back and do it again, just for fun sakes. Who knows what it may lead to?

I saw this photo of me singing with my cousin (I'm on the left, of course). Made me think that maybe singing is something that's in my blood.

Global Warming My Ass!

2007-07-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Coldest. Winter. Ever.

I'm seriously getting some major shrinkage right now.

That is all.

*Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Decency

2007-07-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

What happened to decent people these days? It seems that I'm just surrounded by arseholes and I can't escape.

Okay, so I lost my iPod while I was at Uni. I left it connected to a computer while I headed off for a little lunch break. After a while, I've realised what exactly I did and rushed back to the terminal only to find another person using it - sans my iPod. I ask the lady if she saw an iPod on that there terminal and she says no. Fair enough I say to myself, perhaps someone was kind enough to send it to the lost and found. So I head across the hallway to the lost and found, asked if someone handed up a lost iPod and they say no.

In short, it was gone. Gone forever. $350 gone. All my songs, heroes episodes, assignments. Gone, gone, gone. Thank goodness I had no porn or images of myself on it, I would have been horrified. Replacing it on a students income is going to be extremely hard.

So yeah I'm a little peeved. I'm thinking, if I found an iPod on a terminal I so would not take it. I would ask around and if no one owned up to it, I would definitely take it to the lost and found. I mean, the amount of mobile phones, credit cards and stuff I've found, I have not kept one single one of them. It's someones private property, with their personal thingies and stuff and who am I to take it away from them?

I guess there will always be dickheads in this world in all shapes and colours. These are the people who probably only think about themselves and would do anything that would please them, and no one else.

Arseholes.

I hope karma comes in to save the day, it's taken away my iPod. Perhaps it can give me a free (legitimate) one sometime down the line. Or better yet, I wouldn't mind receiving a nice, shiny iPhone.

The Super Tag Challenge Turbo Hyper Champion Edition (or STCHyCE for short)

2007-05-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

This is what you are supposed to do. Cut and paste if you decide to participate in the tagging game.

Each player of this game starts off by giving 6 weird things about themselves. People who get tagged need to write in a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

After you do that, leave them each a comment letting them know you tagged them and to read your blog.

Okay, with that, here we go:

1. I hate loud things. Loud as in explosive, short bursts of loudness that surprise you. Think of something like, perhaps a thunderclap or a balloon pop or a car backfiring. I especially hate thunder/lighting I just don’t like it. One time whilst home alone, a massive Sydney afternoon summer lightning storm came up and it was rather fierce, being scared as I was, I locked myself into the downstairs toilet that had no windows so that the noise wouldn’t be as loud. Sad, but definitely true.

2. I pretend to hate karaoke, but give me the house to myself and I will definitely bring out the microphones and sing to my hearts content. Favourites of mine include The Impossible Dream , ANYTHING by Peter Cetera especially The Glory of Love, as well as a good dose of Elton John and Lionel Richie. I seriously own, and it kinda sucks that I don’t have a crowd around to watch me though. I’m telling you, I AM the next Australian Idol, too bad I totally forgot about the auditions this year LOL. So maybe I’m not the next one, but the one after. There we go.

3. I’ve been wearing the same set of contact lenses for about six months now. Which is gross because they’re only supposed to be used for only two weeks. It’s not that I’m poor or stingy; it’s just that I haven’t gone around to getting a new box of contacts. So eye infection, here I come!

4. I fake my ethnic background sometimes. LOL It’s true, well, looking the way I look, I always get asked the question “What are you?”. You’ll be amazed with all the stuff I can get away with. From Maori/Pacific Islander, Mexican, American Indian (LOL), or even half-Australian half-Asian. Mind you, I only do it to amuse myself and I only do it to acquaintances – in other words, people I would only meet once. Everyone else knows what I really am, and for the record I am a Filipino-German-Spanish hybrid, so now don’t ask me what I am – because that’s just rude. LOL

5. I lip sync profanities to bad drivers when I’m on the road. Look, I absolutely hate stupid drivers who cut in when they’re not supposed to, or just doing something completely dumb. But honestly, why raise your voice inside your vehicle when they probably can’t even hear you? Perhaps it’s because of my calm nature, but I just lip sync a profanity along with a gesture of the hand. LOL I don’t even beep, and I’ve never heard how my car horn sounds like.

6. I am incredibly anal about the cleanliness of my anal region. I believe that dry toilet paper is never suffice in ANY situation. No matter if there is no skid mark on that dry piece of paper, believe me there is still something there. For this reason, Wet Ones are king – you would not believe how much is left behind. Because I’ve always told myself that you never know when some random stranger will just come by, and have a whiff of your bum hole. And if on judgement day, we are only judged by the cleanliness of our bums, then it looks like I’m going to heaven. That is all.

Now, I don’t have anyone else to tag because I don’t know anyone else LOL. But hey, we’ll give Nathalia a chance to do her thing I guess. The ball’s now in your (clay) court.

What time is it?

2007-05-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep.

I am a major insomniac, and I absolutely hate it.

I am so jealous of people who, in a split second can just fall asleep in an instant.

Take my dad for example, he is the best instant sleeper I have ever known. Saying that, he is also the loudest snorer in the history of mankind. One time, he came with me to the orthondontist when I had a periodic check up done. About 2 minutes into waiting, he starts snoring as he usually does. I take a look at him and to my amusement, he could not have been in a better sleeping position at that specific time.

Check this out, my dad was sleeping, snoring loudly while sitting directly underneath a poster that read "Snoring Problems? Talk to your dentist now!"

I thought that was the best advertisement I'd ever seen. Anyway, that's only one of the many times he has drifted off into sleep in an instant.

And here I am, struggling to get one minute of it. I hate how instead of my brain shutting down for sleep, it ends up running at a million miles a second, coming up with some random thoughts while I lay in silence.

I hate the fact that I monitor the time while I'm trying to sleep. I'm thinking, 'oh geez, It's 3 in the morning, I must sleep...' For that reason alone, I don't have an alarm clock beside my bed. But what's even worse is that now I try to guess what time it is at the moment. So, I'm in bed thinking 'oh geez, I think its 3am... or maybe 2? Or is that 4? Oh geez, that's late, far out, sleep now... It's probably 5 am now.'

So yeah, it sucks. I either resort to listening to some songs on my iPod or going on this here computer for a little browse on the good ol' internet here.

OMG I am so tired, but I can't sleep. HELP!

AAAARRGGGHHH!

pssh, I AM John Mayer.

2007-04-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

"Graaaaavityyyyyyyyyy"

Reunions

2007-04-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks or so, I have met up with so many people from my past – either from past acquaintances, or from high school – and I’ve absolutely loved seeing them again.

I have realised that if you haven’t seen or talked to a friend in a long time and (finally) see them after a while, and find that can just have a LONG conversation for hours about anything then that person is a TRUE friend. Saying that, I have had the best chats I’ve had in a while thanks to seeing all these people again.

It’s great to hear what they’ve been up to, what’s happening, their thoughts on things, about life, growing up, responsibilities, being an adult, gossip and so on and so forth.

What’s even better to hear is that we all share the same thoughts about our own lives, no matter how ‘successful’ we may seem to be. We all feel like there’s always that need to be more, or that things should and must get better. In other words, not totally satisfied with what they have achieved so far in life.

I was shocked, and at the same time kind of relieved to find that pretty much ALL of my mates from high school feel exactly the same way I do. And no, they are definitely not dole bludgers or bums who live off their parents. Some have found themselves in very good jobs and I am quite shocked that they actually feel the way they do.

I’ve always felt that I was in career limbo for a while, swaying from one to another hoping to find the right one. I feel that I’m finally on the right path, thank goodness. However, my only regret is that I wish that I found this path much earlier. Saying that I am thankful that I’ve found it, and that goal to success seems ever so clearer.

I guess this is what they call a quarter life crisis, a point in your life where you stop and take a look back to see where you are. Perhaps some may feel disappointed; actually I’m guessing most people around this age would be. It’s easy for us to say that we haven’t achieved anything worth being proud about. But seriously, 24-25 years on this earth is a really long time and surely, there has to be something there that you can perhaps call defining moments in your own life that you can definitely be proud of.

For me, there has been a few. Although at the moment, my pride and joy is this one right here: Tee hee hee.

mah nu kah

It's grey, like... um... MY ASS! ............ sorry.

Yes, me.

2007-04-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here we go with another entry. I haven’t had much to write about but I guess I came to a self-discovery and I thought it was due time that I would share it with you, the people who I consider strangers and know nothing about.

That self discovery? Ladies and gentlemen, I am a snob. Yes, indeed I am. Or at least, I was.

How did I come to that conclusion you may ask? Well the story starts with my parents and myself driving off to a place a little out there. Let’s just say that it doesn’t share the same area code as Sydney Metro. Anyway, we got a little hungry and we stopped off at this restaurant/bar that advertised 8-dollar steaks.

So we get out of the car and enter the building. I found myself in one of those stereotypical country bars where they have pool tables, a country band playing in the corner and of course, all the bogan* patrons that seem to be part of the scenery in these type of things.

Now, it seemed like I found myself in bogan central, as I seemed to be surrounded by them. All talking loud, with their broad accents and I recall hearing a conversation between a “Nozza” and a “Mick” about beers and utes.

And so while trying to soak up the atmosphere, I realised that I was getting rather uncomfortable up to the point where I pretty much retracted into my shell and just did not even speak a word to my parents, or anyone for that matter throughout the whole ordeal. All the while I was pretty much thinking ‘geez, these people are rather gross’ or something along the lines of ‘geez, these people should get a job/shower/general sense of decency’. All the while, my parents didn’t seem to be phased one bit. In fact, my dad probably loved it, he was singing along to the music and all. We even scored free drinks and a discount off our meal because of him.

But anyway, after we paid for the meal and up and left I hopped into my car and did a little thinking. I was just thinking why I felt so negatively towards those people. I mean, they didn’t harm me at all, no cursing, no nothing , so why all the drama?

I came to the conclusion that I was a pretty snobby type of person, almost to the point of being posh. That came to a shock to me because I always thought of myself as a kind of decent, rather accepting (type of person). I mean, who am I to judge these people when I myself is not exactly A-Class material? Those people there were probably just there to enjoy a nice meal/drink and music and everyone I reckon has a right to just exactly that, right? And why the fuck should I classify people based on how they look/smell/act etc? Why should I classify people, period?

So yeah, that is my self – realisation and I’m quite happy for myself. So now, I love bogans, so umm, excuse me while I head off to Blacktown/Mt. Druitt and get me some bogan lovin’.

*’bogans’ are also known as hicks, westies, derros/derelict, yokels and country musicians.

I'm still here

2007-04-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Don't worry people, I'm still alive. I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with things. Pretty busy, you know with sleep and stuff.

Nah, honestly, I just really haven't had shit to write about, and people have been bugging me to no end about doing another post, so here it is.

Hmm, let's see what's happened the last few weeks.

Hmm, oh, um...

Oh, I got a PlayStation 3... It's nice and black.

Um...

Oh, got a new car too. Yup, another one. Long story, maybe I'll leave that for another post.

But yeah, just me saying hi to you all. And plus I'm bored here at uni, just waiting for my little animation to render.

I'll be back, don't you worry.

So back to University I go...

2007-02-26T04:26:00.000-08:00

Uni starts tomorrow. OMG. Dunno why, but I'm shitting myself.

Why?

Probably because my last experience at Uni was just damn awful.

Why?

Ok, I was just so miserable - not because I was doing crap in my studies, actually quite the contrary, I was doing way good. But moreso the social aspect of it all. I hate to say it, but I was a nigel. There, I said it. I fricken was.

For those of you not in Aussieland, a nigel is someone who flounders around about by themself. In other words, a loner. Sad but true.

Why? I have no fricken idea why.

I remember those days, eating at the cafeteria, by myself, waiting for the next lecture/tutorial. God those days were awful. Saying that though, I could honestly say that it's the only time in my life I was in such a socially inept situation.

High school was no problem, I was known. For goodness sakes I even got the "Boyz II Men award" in year 12 because everyone knew me as the singer HA!

Last two years in TAFE has been awesome, I've met some really cool people within those two years. I've been mixing and mingling with people out of that environment and it's been great.

It probably didn't help that last time I went to Uni, I was a fat shit with big hair and braces. I looked like a fatter male version of that 'Ugly Betty' chick, seriously it was pretty bad. I look at my student ID card back then and it looks like someone used a fish-eye lens and blew my head up with a ton of fat. I looked happy but, but that was only to hide all the pain I felt inside LOL HAHA

Well, I don't think it would be so bad this time around, I'll make sure that I be more pro active this time around. I think I'm more mature, more confident and more importantly, more damn sexier...

BWAHAHAHAHA damn, I kill myself sometimes...

Why?

Oh shoosh, you!

Say My Name, Bitch!

2007-02-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

(and say it right while you're at it)

In my 24 years on this green earth of ours, I am still amazed by the amount of times people get my name wrong! The most common mistakes are:

'Jew-ahn'
Warren
Mark
Ryan
Wayne
'Jun' (as in "June")
'Jhaun'

Weirder mistakes are as follows:

'Why-Nah'
'Wyone'
'Meow' (Yes, that's right)
'Kwan'
'Kwami'

And the list goes on and on...

For fucks sake, people - it's JUAN. If you want a pronounciation lesson it's

Huan

Yes people, it's a Spanish J. Everytime I hear someone pronounce or read my name wrong I just think how not "in the know" these people are. How can someone not have seen/read/heard of people like Don Juan DeMarco, Juan Samaranch, Juan Carlos Ferrero or places like San Juan or TiJUANa. Even things like friggin mariJUANa have my name and yet people don't get it right.

One more time for those who haven't got it yet -

HUAN

Wasn't so hard, right?

A blog out of boredom...

2007-02-13T02:36:00.000-08:00

Oh God. I am so bored.

I haven't got a car because my dad borrowed it so he can take his car in for some detailing. So he's using it for work, I'm stuck at home incredibly bored as for the next two days or so. I did not realise how boring being home alone can be. I can just feel time wasting away and I feel so incredibly shitty at the end of the day. Here's the breakdown:

- I was on the computer for a good four hours or so. Either checking out my myspace, watching episodes of Heroes and Idol, blogging (of course), blog hopping, forum posting, car researching and well um... watching erm... educational stuff LOL

- I ate five times today. I ate: muesli for brekkie, tuna for lunch, chinese pork buns for afternoon snack, pigged out on some ice cream about an hour later, and some fish for dinner.

- I realised I've gained a good kilo since Sept last year. Yes, I am a fat shit.

- I slept about a good 3 hours today. Had a strange dream. Dreamt that I was sitting at the back of a airplane and an explosion and consequent fire broke out in the rear of the plane and these tribal African people came out of the back and started doing a tribal dance around the plane, entertaining everyone while we were plunging to our deaths. Weird huh?

- I even put the karaoke machine on and sang such classics as Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman by Bryan Adams; End of the Road, On Bended Knee by Boyz II Men; Let's Stay Together by Al Green and an amazing rendition of Can't Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis. I gave the performance of my life, too bad no one was there to witness it. Damn.

- Played some Warioware on the Nintendo Wii. Really weird game, the guys who made it must have been on crack or something...

- Oh and just for the record I took a shower, brushed my teeth and did a poo. Actually, in the reverse order.

I guess it's the same deal tomorrow.

Now, what would YOU do?

2007-01-30T17:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's the situation. Perhaps I've a few of you this story already but anyway:

I'm at work, serving this nice lady and I'm trying my best to have some little chit-chat.

"Hot day outside today yeah?"

"Oh yeah, horrible. Thank goodness for air-conditioned shopping centres" She replies.

In the meantime, I'm scanning her items one by one.

"At least the bushfires around the area this year weren't so bad" I said.

She nods in agreement.

I continue: "Like those ones about three years ago, I couldn't even breathe, there was so much smoke. And my eyes, they were stinging..."

"Oh yes" She interrupts. "My brother died in that fire. A tree fell on him while he was fighting the fires"

Oh my. What do I say? I was caught off guard. How are you supposed to respond in that situation? Do I give my condolences? I think in those type it would be best to give a little "I'm sorry to hear that". And I should've.

But I didn't.

Here's what I said:

"Oh, really (five minute pause while looking at her thinking what to say)...

...(longer, getting more awkward every second)...

..."ok, cool. Here's your bag, your receipts inside. Thank you, I'll see you later."

I had nothing to say. I said nothing.

I'm a horrible, horrible person.

Juan's Pointless Anthropological Studies

2007-01-23T02:02:00.000-08:00

Chapter One: Stunners and Mingers

In my line of work, and in general I like to people watch. I like to sit back and observe the general characteristics of human behaviour. In other words, yes, I am a perve. LOL

Anyway, on many of my observations, I seem to notice that good looking people always stick around and flock with other good looking people while other who are 'facially enept' seem to hang around with others who aren't as blessed facially. Why is this?

Now, as you read this think about your group of friends. Are they as a whole good looking - or otherwise? Now, think of how you guys met. Did you actively scan these people in the first place and think "Oh this person is good looking, they HAVE to be my friend" or "Geez, this persons uuugly, he/she MUST have a nice personality, I think I'll talk to them"? I'm pretty sure you probably did neither. If you did, shame on you! Saying that, why do people attract other people who are as visually similar as eachother? It's hard to see why this is the case with groups of friends, but this isn't such the case with couples.

Angelina Jolie. She has nice lips...

At least he has a house with a fireplace

Now, here's the deal that applies with couples. Good looking people KNOW that they can bag a stunner, others THINK that they can't even breathe the same air as a stunner so they go for something right up their alley, they THINK they have a better chance. Perhaps it is a self-conscious/confidence issue which is sad. Yes, there are strange instances where one might mix with the other (Beyonce and Jay Z) and in those instances I'm happy for them - but for the most part this is usually not the case. For some, those instances above may be a conscientious decision by one (or both) parties but I think for the most part, it's something that most don't really think about and it just happens.

Why am I writing this? I have no idea. Am I a bitter minger? LOL perhaps. Actually, I'm probably just writing this out of boredom...

... I think I'll go downstairs and watch some TV

Yay!

2007-01-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

So I get my first good news of the year, I've got myself a place in the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales studying a Computer Science/Digital Media degree which I'm pretty happy about. I've been wanting to study there for a quite a while and since I got my diploma last year, it was pretty easy for me to get in. Best thing, I'm not going alone as I got my mates Paul and Mohammed coming along.

Hopefully because of my past student history, I hope I will be exempt for a whole lot of stuff. Last thing I want to do is complete another 3 years of study. I'll be a friggin old codger before I get to go out there in the workforce. I'm pretty advanced (age-wise) as it is, last thing I wan't is to be a perpetual student who keeps on studying until he's 30 or so. That'll be bad. And embarrassing.

Hopefully this degree will bring me closer to my dream career. That's all I ever want out of this venture. But OMG how exciting!

Just a few random work stuff

2007-01-18T03:37:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday season is over so things are winding down at work. So we're getting a bit more loose and are starting to be just a little bit more silly again. Gone are the queues that seemed like that went forever, here are the quiet days where it seems like we're not getting any customers at all. LOL

This is Parrish, as you can see he is standing up beside a wall filled with PC games. I took this picture straight after he completed fixing up that wall you see there. It is NEVER that clean, ever. And more amazingly, they're all in alphabetical order - which is what it is supposed to be. So instead of spending minutes trying to find one game, just look where it's supposed to be and voila! the game's there!

They call me the "Wall King" at work, mainly because I'm one of the only people that can fix a wall this good. Look at that, perfect lines, no gaps, nothing. Actually they probably call me the Wall King just to flatter me. So that someone would actually fix up the walls by the end of the day. Bastards.

First Blog of the Year

2007-01-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, hey, hey! It's been a while since I decided to do a blog for this site. No, I haven't abandoned it. It's just that I haven't had the time to even breathe yet alone do any blogging. But I'm here waiting for my car to get serviced and decided to bring my macbook along and do some little catch up blogging. Mostly because someone (not naming any names (hi Nat! Go Rafa! Lol) has been begging me to write a new entry. Well, here it goes:

Another year over, a new one just begun

So its 2007, A whole brand new year. Where the fuck did 2006 go in the first place? Just when I was getting used to writing '06' at the end of my dates, here comes 2007 saying 'nup, fuck off, I'm here now, get used to it, bitch'.

Wow, I'm swearing a lot today, wtf?

I wonder what this new year will bring, firstly on a personal level. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that something rather bad will happen this year. I know it's a bad thing to think about but yeah, I'm just feeling a little uncertainty in regards to, I don’t know, something happening perhaps in my family. It could just be me being a little paranoid, but I just want to prepare myself just in case. But yeah, it is a terrible, terrible thing to think about. Hopefully, it is just me being paranoid. I don't want to be blogging about something horrible sometime this year. If something does though, I am so quoting this here blog entry.

On a world level, hopefully only good things will happen. We can all dream of world peace, rain and um, boobs? Um, yeah…

Wa Wa Wii!!

Omg! I got me a Nintendo Wii for myself for Xmas. Only because I knew I wasn't going to get anything from anyone (which was pretty true, more details to come). I came into work launch day thinking to myself that I was not going to buy one. So I get through work, selling the damn things by the bucket loads not even thinking of getting my own one and right at the end of my shift my boss comes up to me:

"You buying one?"

"Yeah, and give me Zelda as well" Without any hesitation at the same time thinking WTF did I just say?

So yeah, I bought one. I got into my car and I realised that I hadn't even paid the monthly repayment for my car, so I was in majorly deep shit because I had hardly any money left in my bank account. Yes, I'm that poor.

But the damn thing is awesome, I play Wii Sports, I love playing tennis and go majorly hard in baseball. I'm just so scared that the remote would slip and fly straight towards the television. As you can see, people can just get a little carried away.

My family has gotten into the thing as well. My mum OWNs in boxing, she can knock out the motherfucker like it was nothing, she goes majorly hardcore and looks so funny in the process. Just goes to show not to mess with the woman, she can open a can of whoop-ass on you if need be. My nephews love the thing too, even though they're a bit too small to do anything. I give my two year-old nephew the TV remote and he thinks he's playing. So bloody cute, I feel like eating him. LOL

Christmas!

Christmas eve was spent with the family, like it always has been for my last 24 years. It was pretty fun actually, the whole family in the one place. Which, in my opinion is an amazing feat in itself since right now all of us combined would be a good, say 60 or so people? Don't know the exact number but there's a whole heap of us. A house full of us brown people, and we're all legit migrants! Amazing! Oh, and we are LOUD . That's a bit of un understatement, seriously all of us would probably be equivalent to a jet plane taking off.

There is a lot of kanta (singing) and sayaw (dancing) going on, oh and the karaoke machine is in full effect. Food would be in abundance including a full lechon (spit roast, whole pig). Man, you gotta love big Filipino parties, best food ever!

We're one of the families that wait until midnight Christmas morning and give out presents then. As expected, the little kids got the most presents, toys, videogames and so on. The young adults, on the other hand get pretty much jack shit.

Again, as expected I got undies. This time, in boxer short form, not briefs. Which is actually pretty good, because I'm running out of shorts anyway.

But I'm not too fussed, I'm not too picky when it comes to that stuff anyway. It was good to be with the family and their company is a lot more important than all the little things that you would (or wouldn’t) get during Christmas. I hope you guys all had a good Christmas with those you love as well.

New Year

The family headed off to the harbour to watch the fireworks this year. It's the first time I actually went to see the fireworks. Probably would be the last. It's not because it was bad, in fact it was really good. It was more so the fact that despite all the effort we made getting there, queuing, waiting, getting sunburnt and so on. The fireworks went for just a few minutes combined, and despite being an amazing audio and visual spectacle, it just makes you question if it was all worth it. In my honest opinion, it wasn't. But it is definitely one of the things that you MUST do at least once.

My nephew Ruiz infront of the queue. The line went all the way from the art gallery to St. Marys Cathedral. True

Bring on Times Square, New York USA next year.

Seasons Greetings!

2006-12-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you all got awesome presents. I got undies. Again.

LOL

Enjoy the season, don't party too hard. Drive responsibly and take care of yourselves yeah?

Until 2007, I'll talk to you guys soon.

Juan

'tis the season

2006-12-17T03:30:00.000-08:00

I'm working eight days straight. It sucks. I do 8 to 9 hour days. It sucks. I serve hundreds and hundreds of people each day. It sucks. But I get money. That's good.

I have to pay bills. That sucks.

... fa la la la lah la lah la lah!

House update time! Sorry, I didn't do last weeks. But here's last and this weeks:

Week 2. Concrete

Week 3. The frame comes up.

few things here and there...

2006-12-06T00:42:00.000-08:00

Just a little update about what's happening and stuff:

TRABAJO!

As per last entry, school's over. Now work has stepped up and has given me 40 hours of rostered work fo the next couple of weeks or so (!). I am not a full-time employee and am still receiving casual rates, so... CHA-CHING!!!! Money! Perfect! Just in time for the season. Funny thing, I'll be making WAY more money than the bosses. So sucked into them indeed.

However, being Christmas, and working in a videogame store we are bound to be inundated with a flood of people - ranging from snobby Hills parents with deep pockets, snotty spoilt little rich kids who get whatever they wish, geeks, everything. I'm prepared, BRING IT ON! *clicks fingers and moves head from left to right*

Finally...

Well the house as of last week has finally commenced construction. It's taken a while, but am glad it's happening. It's a step closer to getting out of this place! WOOTS! It's shit that it's starting now though, because the workers will be taking a large break from late December until mid January. But hey, what can you do?

I'll be visiting there on a weekly basis and be taking snapshots of it each week (if I'm not lazy) up until completion. So you can take the journey with me! lol that sounded way corny but yeah...

So, here is the house week ending 3/12/2006:

This is the end, my only friend, the end... sniff

2006-11-30T02:44:00.000-08:00

my display!

Nathalia and her suggestive lollipop sucking (LOL, sorry Nat)

Kiss my ASS! (and leprechaun)

me trying to look cultured

Far out, my time as a design student is over, well almost. Tuesday marks my last day as a student over at Enmore Design Centre. It's been great, been a major bludge, but great. I didn't learn much, or actually I did, and that was:

* I HATE flash/actionscript and even HTML/CSS. Anything that requires the use of a brain, other than my creative side anyway.

* I LOVE video editing and static design (print, desktop publishing, that sort of stuff). But I LOVE making videos. Love it.

Tuesday also was the start of the graduate exhibition where all graduates show off their work for everyone to see - prospective employers, family, friends and so on and so forth. I had a look around at what other students were doing, and let me just say that I got a real bad case of little man syndrome. It seemed like all of the other classes works were just SO bloody good. All their portfolios were creatively done, their works were displayed so well, and the works themselves were bloody ace. Mine was okay, but I was just way too lazy to make something good.

Here's the thing, I reckon my collective work that I've done progressively throughout these two years have been pretty good. However, I did not even prepare a proper portfolio for display. Even the works in my portfolio was like, some of the shittier ones that I did throughout the year. I so could have done better. But yeah, I suck.

And it was so hard for me to hang around our room while people I didn't know browse through my stuff. People looking through my work, browsing my website, looking at my business card and then moving on to the next person. I just hoped to God that they loved my work.

But the past two years have been great, met some great new people, whom I now call great mates. I will miss that I won't get to see them as often. But we will still DEFINITELY all meet up again and again and again. They can't get away from me that easily.

And here's the end of that chapter...

I Do?

2006-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

"All the single men to the front for the garter throw. Come on right up!!"

"Oh geez, here we go" I think to myself and proceeded to head up to the front along with another three (!) guys out of the whole congregation who attended my cousins wedding.

I line myself up in the back corner and think to myself "Do I really need this? Do I really need to get married in the first place?"

So up goes the garter straight up into the air and right into my general direction, all the while I'm thinking "Oh, shit. Oh, fuck no." Mind you, the person closest to me was about a good metre away. I didn't want it, and it seems like none of the other guys did too, and besides, I didn't want to smell fishy for the rest of the night. So I just let it drop, right next to my left shoe.

"You want it?" I asked the guy to my left. "It's yours if you want."

"Nah, mate. Take it." He replies

Got me thinking, is matrimony appropriate in this day in age? In an age where promiscuity seems to reign supreme, are marriages these days doomed to fail right from the get go? To me, marriage these days just seems to be a slight step above the BF/GF stage, only in that the partnership is legally bounded by law and "in the eyes of God". Perhaps I've seen quite a few marriages fail in my time, hence my view, but I'm pretty sure the same thought has come up for many of you all.

I find the whole notion of being 'bound' to someone for the rest of my life quite daunting. Imagine that, eternity, with someone. It might sound romantic for some, but really, bound to someone, for your whole life. No one else. Maybe it's a reflection of my nature, but I don't think I can do it.

I would just not like to put myself in a situation or position where I would limit myself to the one thing. Im an explorer, kinda like Captain Cook or something. Like, he didn't stop even when he found Australia, he wanted more, so he continued on with his journey to find more land. And along the way, he found kick-arse places like New Zealand and Hawaii. Okay, he got killed when he found Hawaii but still, he wouldn't have found it if he just stayed in one spot.

My point? Life is way too short to limit yourself to anything. Explore, live life and have (safe) fun along the way. Translate that in any which way you want.

Perhaps it's just the youth in me saying these things. And maybe it's because I haven't met anyone who's knocked me off my feet enough for me to want to spend the rest of my life with.

Who knows what will happen, but for now I'm pretty adamant with my particular view. The balls are now in your court to make me change my mind.

I like you, I like sex, it's nice!

2006-11-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just got back from watching one of the most funniest films I've seen all year - if not, my whole life. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan has got to be one of the most cleverly created films that I've seen in a while. I don't want to give out much of the movie, but it basically tells of Borats travel around the United States in what was primarily a documentary for Kazakhstani television. He then goes out to find his 'true love' and with hilarious consequences.

Sacha Baron Cohen has got to be one of the most bravest men I have seen in my entire life. To put himself in such situations (that he gets into) in this film for me is just plain lunacy. Yet, he pulls it off like it's nothing. I guess playing a character helps, but still, crazy!

This film is not LOL funny, rather it is OMFG ROFL LMAO OMG AHHAHAHAAHA kekeke (^_^) funny. I found myself in tears quite a lot.

Watch it, dag nammit! Four and a half stars from me

****1/2

Identity Crisis

2006-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's what happened. I was at the gym, just doing my thing when this native Maori NZ guy came up and had some random chit chat, which is fine. He then proceeds to ask me which island I was from, which kind of threw me off a bit. He meant what Pacific Island if you haven't realised and I proceeded to tell him I was of Filipino descent, which surprised him.

Now, seriously If I had a dollar every single time someone asked me that question, I'd be fairly rich. I've been mistaken as a Pacific Islander quite a few times it's quite funny. Fair enough, I don't look completely Filo but when I look into a mirror to me its quite evident - the Filipino in me, that is. What is it about me? is it my wide nose? My puffy lips? My thick build (despite my height - or lack thereof)? Do I look like I was from Once Were Warriors ?(LOL) I Dunno. My eyes are rather chinky, which isn't really a trait of an Islander so I dunno.

Yeah, Dunno. I might as well be one. Okay, from now on, my name is:

Alakakutau Furukuaoa Lakatuvilaka from Samoa

I have no fucking clue how to even pronounce that. LOL

Even more funnier if it actually means something in some Polynesian language.

Random Youtube

2006-11-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

I love youtube, and I'm lucky to have a bunch of mates who direct me to a whole shitload of funny stuff. I'll start of with Darth Vader. Now, just for the record, I am absolutely NOT a Star Wars fan. I hate the damn thing. However, I found this incredibly hilarious. Great job with the editing.

And just for something completely stupid. Just watch this:

What. The. Effffff!? So wrong, but hilarious at the same time. Surely the man must be drunk.

My (new) Baby

2006-11-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, I really have a bad habit of impulse buying. It seems that most of the time that I walk into a retail outlet, I end up getting something that I never really intended of purchasing in the first place.

It also seems, that from my last post that no one was offering to buy me anything from that list. So I decided to get me the first item on that list. Friends, I introduce to you my new baby...

checking out the site

Windows on a Mac? What The EFFF?!

the collection (and Hanauma Bay)

Okay, now I'm $3200 poorer. But buyers remorse hasn't hit me yet, but give it time. It's still the honeymoon phase so at the moment im just in a perpetual state of enamour.

I love this bloody thing, it's so nice... so shiny. It feels so good on my lap - the plastic/metal finish just feels so good, I just wanna rub it up and down my leg. LOL. It is by far the most (literally) coolest computer I've ever encountered. It's never scorchingly hot, it's just... warm. And whisper-quiet to boot too. Most importantly, it's incredibly powerful. I've thrown at it many apps, Adobe CS2, macromedia suite, final cut, after effects and it's just played them all like it was nothing. Amazing. Even weirder was Windows, it does windows better than my mums Win PC laptop.

Oh and I finally have some sort of broadband. It's through Unwired but it is rather shit, speeds are up and down and never consistent. But it will do, I guess. However, those bandwidth intensive porn downloads and sites would have to be sacrified for a little bit. Thank God I'm only in this house temporarily... Would hate to have to resort to fantasy. Need. Visual. Stimulation.

LOL

Anyways, it looks like it's all settled down over in my end. The house looks tidy enough for people to actually come visit and stuff so yeah. I'll post pics up as soon as my phone gets recharged. I'll be back soon...

Oh and LOL at this pic of my nephews. Gotta love Photobooth.

Jingle Bells...

2006-11-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas is nearing, and I thought I'd give out a list of my top 5 "wanties" for Xmas in the hopes that the good people out there might give me a hand and well, buy it for me. LOL

In no particular order (ie, I want them all):

Apple Macbook Pro (Intel Core 2 Duo)
OMG I want one of these NOW. I love macs, am a huge mac boy. Mac OSX is just the perfect operating system to do anything. Easy to use and it's got everything you need to do. And if you still want to use windows, no problem simply dual boot using bootcamp. Windows on a Mac? Hell yeah! But who uses Windows anyway?

PlayStation 3
Most people who know me know that I'm a pretty big geek. And Fair enough, this thing isn't out in Australia and won't in until sometime next year. But it can always be imported from Japan and/or North America. And who doesn't want one of these babies? Next-gen gaming, blu-ray movies, bloody awesome. One of these under my tree would be way awesome, thanks

Sony Full Hi-Def Bravia LCD TV
*Drools* And what better way to play the new PS3 on then on this baby - and in MY ROOM. Full 1080p resolution ensures this thing is futureproof. What else can be better?

Panasonic AE-1000 Full Hi-Def LCD Projector
Probably one of these babies. Full Hi-Def images on a massive screen OMG *faints*

BROADBAND!!!
FFS this is probably the thing I want most now. I miss ADSL2 so much and I didn't know how much it had an impact on my life until it got taken off. Dial up is ancient and I feel like I get older with each little file that I download. 30 minutes for an mp3? eww.

As you can see I'm a rather expensive boy to maintain. I love my gadgets and gizmos and If I had my way, I'd just be like, rolling in gizmos...

So if anyone out there would like to buy these items for me, please do not hesitate to do so. I'll be your slave and I will do anything... ANYTHING...

What. The. EFFFFFFF!?!

2006-11-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

I am fuming. I got an email from my ISP telling me that ADSL cannot be provided at this house due to "incompatible equipment". So apparently I am stuck with dial up for an extended period. Seriously, how would I be able to fricken stand that? How the fuck, in this day in age can someone NOT get either ADSL or Cable? It's just stupid. Pardon me for a second while I swear:

FuckinShitFuckFuckDickPeePeeCunts!

Not happy Jan.

It looks like I have to get unwired for the next six months or so. Picking up a modem soon. So all is not lost. But its only 512kb/s. eww.

Move Update

2006-10-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, we've finally got everything located into the rental house. Thing is, I did not expect it to take as long as it did. It turns out we had way more stuff than we thought we did, and it made it an extremely difficult move. My mum even had a garage sale just before the move so that we wouldn't have to bring much stuff. It helped, but we still had a shitload of stuff to bring.

Now the rental house, I have to say was EXTREMELY dirty. I have no idea how the house came to such state, and how the previous tennant (or perhaps even the owner) allowed it to get to such state. The house is apparently only five years old, but judging from the amenities, walls, carpets, smell, everything, you would swear the house would be much older. There is literally a jungle growing out in the backyard, there is some writings and even holes on the wall. One thing that disturbed me the most was the amount of human hair there was in the carpet. It even clogged not one, but TWO of our vacuum cleaners. Gross. Yes, there was pubes in the bathroom even. Grosser.

But, my family are Kings (and Queens) of cleaning. I have to say we are one of the most anally retentive people on the planet. My parents make sure every nook and cranny is spotless. As such, we have since had the carpets steam cleaned, the walls scrubbed, bathrooms washed, kitchens touched up and is now looking rather spotless. On close inspection, there is not one pube in sight, except for mine. I know it's mine coz it's been clipped and therefore rather short ;-p hehehe

Oh, and I haven't got ADSL relocated to this house yet so I have to resort back to dial up in the mean time. Now, I haven't used dial up in years and let me just say that it is extremely painful to surf the net in such a way. It's horrible, pages take yonks to load up and you can't do multiple things at once. I can't wait to get it back, I'll post some pics up once the ADSL modem syncs up. Until then you have to make do with this entry.

We'll be movin' on up...

2006-10-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it looks like we'll be moving out of our house by the end of the week. Friday/Saturday to be exact. I've got mixed feelings, a part of me is excited as it kinda feels like it's a mark of a new chapter in life. The other part is a little sad, sad in that I'm going to miss this current house terribly. It's a nice house - good size, (kinda) nice location, the Chinese takeaway is precisely 573 steps from my front door (LOL) and best part of all, people knew where this house is when I told them so. I'll be like, oh it's the white house on the corner and people will be like, Oh, yeah the Christmas house!!! LOL

I can't wait for the new house to be finished, but it would probably be April next year before we move in. But for now, we've rented a two storey house in... wait for it... WOODCROFT! LOL. Looks like its another couple of months or so left in this shithole LOL. But it's an okay house I guess, just as long as it had air conditioning then I'm fine with it.

I'm now in the process of dismantling everything, and I absolutely hate it. I hate packing things, I hate lifting things, I hate moving actually. If I had my way, I'd just hire slaves for the day. They can be my little meerkats. Or whatever animal that lift things... Dung beetles? Yeah, one of those...

Also worth noting is that my brother and his family (finally) moved out into their own place. I think they'll be just fine, but I'm gonna miss two little kids running around the house. I love my little nephews, I wish they were my own kids, they're so awesome. I'll miss my older nephew telling me I'm "Bis-kusting" (disgusting) or that he loves the colour green and loves to eat "Pas-ketti" (spaghetti). I'll miss the little younger one saying "uh-oh" when he's done something wrong or asking to play with the plastic balls upstairs and just generally squeezing his puny little fat cheeks. But LOL it's not like they're moving to another country, I'll still see them for most days every now and then. Still... awesome bunch of kids, they are.

I guess that makes me the man of the house now. My dad doesn't count... coz... he's... fat.

The Art of Camera Whoring

2006-10-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, this art has been passed on to me by the wise Lucy and Ron. I felt it was my duty to teach the art to some fellow students. We had access to the photo studio today at class. All the lights, all the equipment - I just couldn't help myself.

Here are the results:

LOL I love the one where Jane and Marcus are giving eachother the high-five. LOL

To Do List

2006-10-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

There's SO much things I wanna do in life, but I've realised that I've just left them there as dreams in my head. Well I say, enough is enough and so I've compiled a little 'To Do' list for everyone to see. So when you guys see me the next time, you can bother me about it, asking me if I've completed this and such. I've not put a time frame just yet, I guess I don't wanna pressure myself too much. However, being on this list means it must be done.

With that, we start with:

Going overseas for an extended period
Now, this is priority number one. I'm working on this right now, but I realised it's gonna take me a while to do. I'm actually gonna need to get a degree for this one, so I guess it's a work in progress. But yeah, extended period means anywhere from 6 months to 5 years - or even longer. Place? North America? Europe?

Have my own little studio apartment in the city
I guess this is in lieu with the one beforehand. It could be overseas or my own little one here in Sydney when I get back. C'mon who wants to live with their parents forever?

Travel, travel, travel FFS!
Hawaii? Check. Where next? Brazil, USA, Canada, Italy, Greece, Spain, UK, Japan, Thailand. Who wants to come with?

Kick-ass job
Okay, I've been studying for a while now. I would LOVE to have a job in the media field. I don't care, print, TV/Film. If I can have a job doing that - doing what I love to do then AWESOME. If I end up doing a 9-5 office job, suit, tie, behind a desk, behind a computer, number crunching, it would be horrible, horrible I tells ya!

Extra-curricular activities
Now, I've been extra lazy. I wanna be out there more, the gym is fine but there needs to be more. I want to: Take up singing lessons again, hip-hop dance, capoeira. Oh, and I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SWIM FFS!

Be on a reality TV show
LOL this one's a bit out there, but omg how cool would it be? Australian Idol? Big Brother? Survivor? Dancing with the Stars AFTER I go on Idol and/or Big Bro?

Have a kid
Fuck the wife and life in the suburbs. Just let me pop the seed and keep the kid and head off. Easy. LOL

Now, this list is a work in progress. I will add on to it every now and then. Think of this list as v1.0.

Another year...sigh

2006-10-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well here it is, October 18th. What does that mean? It means I'm another year older. That's right, it's my birthday. How depressing.

Dear Lordy, I'm 24. Twenty-four years, veinte cuatro años, zwanzig vier, vingt quatre ans, ni-juu-yon sai - however you say it, it means one thing - I'm on my way to becoming an old codger, and that, my friends is one scary thought.

What scares me even more is that within these twenty-four years, I don't feel like I've done ANYTHING profound, or anything that makes me say "you know what? I've done a lot, well done!". Instead, when I just think about what I've done, there's just silence. I'm pretty sure there's tumbleweed running around in my brain when I think too deep.

Actually, there are some things that I'm sort of proud of, but when I look at what the others have done within the same time frame, I cower. It always seems like the grass is always greener on the other side. But is it really?

Perhaps I am being a little austere, perhaps it's the type of people I hang around with? Maybe it's because my friends seem to be such high-hitters, high achievers, big dreamers? Should I try and hold myself up with such high regard? Or should I just go out and find me some new friends who are on the dole, live in a housing commission in Mt. Druitt and think that that's the best it can get? LOL maybe I should, that way it looks like I'll be the high-roller and I'll definitely feel good about that! LOL

LOL in all due seriousness though, life's been good to me. I've a great family, great bunch of mates, I'm in good health, I live right and that's all that matters in my opinion. Sure, it would have been great if I was anchored in a great career by now. But when I think about it, if I had established myself within a career, knowing me I would probably be bitching about work right now on this here blog. So I guess I have to be happy with what I have at the moment, and I am.

I wonder what my 24th year on this world will bring? A career? Love? A trip? Who knows. I'll take each day as it comes, and live each day like it's the last.

To everyone who greeted me today, thank you very much. It's very much appreciated. To those who didn't, may you all fuck off and DIE!!!!!!!!

LOL no just kidding, I love you all.

Let's get physical

2006-10-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

I've started to really get into the gym again this week, after about two weeks of just going in and doing some pithy cardio workouts. It's almost summer so I'm thinking what better reason to get into shape. I mean, you don't wanna be going to the beach with a flabby belly or like, skinny arms and stuff. It's not gonna get you anywhere, if you know what I mean. At the moment, this is my aim:

I'm not there YET. Woah, I have biceps... LOL

Anyways, I went to the new Fitness First over at Norwest on Monday. Driving past it every now and then I was expecting a huge gym. I go in, and it's pretty small actually but it's got everything I need which is good I guess. I can see this gym getting extremely packed during busy times just like the Castle Hill gym so it's best to go in when it's not too busy.

I feel really intimidated everytime I go in though, especially while doing the free weights. It seems like all the muscleheads are lifting like, barbells and dumbells a million times the size of mine. I feel like doing my weights over at the silent end of the gym away from everyone, or next to the fat chick that does a smaller weight than I do. I'm pretty sure, in due time I'll be pulling them in like the big boys. One day.

I've ran out of protein shake too, and those things cost like a million bucks. Need to replenish my stock tomorrow I guess, there goes another $80.

A true Canadian Idol.

2006-10-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

LOL! Is it even possible to have no control whatsoever?

Sold!

2006-10-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

So our house has finally been sold, which obviously means that we have to move out soon. Our new house is not built yet, would probably take around 5 or so months before we move into that new house. In the meantime, it means we have to stay at some rental house while the other house is still being built.

I'm arguing with my mum at the moment because I want to rent a house that no one has lived in before. I don't want to be in a house that someone else has been in already, for me it just feels... what's the word... icky. It's like, I'll be staying at a room where someone has lived in before. What if there's like nits and pubes left by the previous tenant? Gross LOL. I know, I'm sounding just a little bit finicky but you know...

Am gonna miss this house here, I had some good times I guess. I graduated from High School in this house and well... that's pretty much it. Gonna miss it tho.

I'm gonna miss this view from my room, it kinda feels 'Hawaii-sy'. LOL

psychic?

2006-10-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ever get the feeling that you may just be psychic? Like, you may for some reason just know what might happen in the near future? Little things. I know it sounds completely mental but just some little things just scare the shit out of me.

Yesterday morning, I was in the shower thinking to myself - wouldn't it be cool if I met someone else with the name Juan and I'd never had that particular thought before, I thought it was fairly weird to be thinking about stuff like that. Fair enough, I get to work and the first customer I served was this dude named Juan. We had a little conversation, about how so much people get our names wrong and had a little chuckle about the wrong pronounciations. Afterwards, I remembered having that thought that same morning. I thought, man... not again...

It happens with songs as well. Random songs that I may not have heard in ages just pop up in my head in the morning, like it just repeats and repeats in my head, sometimes waking me up even. And either a) someone ends up singing that song around me; or b) a coverband sings that song that same day/night; or c) it's the first song that pops up on the radio or just plays in the radio during the day. When I say random songs, I don't mean songs like S.O.S by Rihanna or something really mainstream. Think "Kokomo" by Beach Boys or "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog (!) or something.

Like I remember in Hawaii, I was in the lift to get to our room. I had "Baby Can I Hold You" by Tracy Chapman in my head nonstop. I just couldn't stop singing it period. We head out to Ala Moana Shopping Centre and they had a band playing somewhere and yup, they played that song. Out of all the songs, that was the one that was played. Weird.

Ooh, check this out. I drew this pic in illustrator a day before we went off to Hawaii. I then took the photo with Rons camera below a few days later whilst in Hawaii. Similarities? Yup. Coincidence? I don't think so...

*cue Twilight Zone music*
ooOOOooOOoooOOOOo

Buyers remorse?

2006-09-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

See that shirt up there? It's one of the many vintage shirts that I got over at Hawaii courtesy of 88Tees (great shop btw). Now, I've come home and I can see that I've gotten myself into a little a dilemma - ALL, yes ALL of the shirts that I bought over there mentions "Hawaii" in some form or another. Okay at the time of purchase I was thinking to myself, wouldn't it be great to buy a shirt that has something about Hawaii on it? It would make a great souvenir. Now I come home and when I put on I look like a walking advertisement for the bloody place and I should probably be paid by their Board of Tourism.

Real situation - I meet my friends one day with my Honolulu T-Shirt on, all have a bit of a chuckle with them saying "oh, looks like you bought the shirt over there, looks cool". Second day, I've got a shirt that simply just says "Hawaii" on the front (and it's not the one on that photo LOL) my friends laugh "geez another Hawaii shirt, good one". Day three, I've put on the shirt in the photo, meet my friends who look at my shirt and say " OKAY, for fucks sake you went to Hawaii!!". Shutdown, I was. Worst part of it all, there's still about three or four shirts they haven't seen yet. Yes, it says 'Hawaii' on nearly all of them. Sigh.

And no Ron, that does not mean you can have the shirt. LOL

Day Eight: where'd Saturday go?

2006-09-26T05:48:00.002-07:00

Satdy morn, and it was time to finally leave our little beautiful island. Our bags are packed and we head off down to the lobby to wait for our taxis. Instead of having a limo like last time, this time we had two taragos and obviously we had to split the group into two. I ended up riding with Ate Rina and Tita Au. All the way to the airport, the music playing was absolutely, 100% Hawaiian as Hawaiian can get - think the theme song to Hawaii Five-O. If I were to sing it, it would sound kinda like this -

"tanga tanga tanga tanga doom doom tak tak doom dom tak tak..."

Okay, it probably doesn't work when you read it but if you've got the Hawaii Five-O theme song then you've got it spot on already. Anyway, it was way cool.

So we get to the airport and of course, security was tough. I always hate going through security gates and scanners because I always feel like I've done something wrong. So I'm always usually extremely nervous, I mean I watch border security for fucks sakes, I know what they do, and I seem to know the little gizmos they use and how good they actually are. All the while, I'm thinking whether or not the anti-diarrhoea medicine I had would trigger off some drug scare or something. Oh yeah, one word of warning - Pepto Bismol (this upset stomach medicine thingy) is good like, it works and stuff but it makes your shit EXTREMELY dark. It's scary.

Anyway, we board the plane bound for Sydney. One part of me didn't want to go and another part of me was wanting to go home. I actually ended up missing my family and my friends back home and at the same time, I knew I would probably end up missing Hawaii.

On the way home, I had a bit of a nap although it was a bit hard especially with the loud man behind us. I ended up finally watching the Prison Break episodes that I had stored on my PSP, seriously that show is awesome. Question - how can Wentworth Miller see at all? I'd imagine it would be hard to see anything while squinting as hard as he does.

Despite us not experiencing nightfall during the flight, we managed to touchdown into Sydney a complete day and a half after our departure in Honolulu, even when the flight was only 9 hours long. Confused? Well I was too, and I kinda felt cheated that I lost one whole day in my life.

So yeah I miss Hawaii, I miss not having a care in the world for that period of time. I miss the humidity, I miss the sunsets over the ocean. I miss a lot. But at the same time, I'm now home. Although Lucy and probably Ron most likely wouldn't agree with me here - but Sydney is my home. My heart is here, and I really love this place and I can't imagine not growing old here. Sure, I'd love to live in another place for a year or so but I would love to settle down here in Sydney. I love it's beauty and at the same time, I love it's faults. Sydney is by no means a perfect city, but what place is? Best part of it all - it's not in America.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oi! Oi! Oi!

Day Seven: the final Kal Bi

2006-09-26T04:48:00.000-07:00

Last full day in Hawaii saw us going off to the nearest Wal-Mart to find some little things here and there to take home. I went to get a whole heap of chocolates to take home and pretty much most of us did the same. Ron on the other hand had something else in mind, he wanted to buy a bike so that he could take it home and go biking all across the M7 or something like that. Anyway, he had his heart so set on that one bike and I have to say that it was one hell of a sexy bike. It was cheap there too, $US109 which is about $A140 and Ron was telling me the same bike would cost up to or around the $A500 mark.

Ron rang up Qantas early that morning to see what the procedure for taking bikes on the plane were. According to him, all that was required was that the bike be boxed up and be put through as part of the allocated luggage. Lucy, being the questioner she is decided to ring up Qantas just to make sure and fair enough, apparently if a bike was to be part of the luggage even if still under the allocated weight limit, it would be treated as if the carriage was overweight and therefore a fee would have been charged. Now this fee would have amounted to about $A200 which would bring the amount closer to the Australian price for that specific bike. So in the end, they decided to bypass the bike which broke Rons heart - he was shattered. But in the end, all was good, coz he ended up getting kick arse shirts over at 88Tees (I wanted that orange one, Ron LOL).

We then decided to go to Waikiki beach to do some final swimming and for me a final chance to get a nice tan. Ron and Lucy went off and swam while I just stayed on the sand, on the ground listening to some Eskimo Joe while I fried.

This was also the final chance to do some serious camera whoring, the sunset provided a perfect backdrop for it all. I have to say, it was probably one of the first times I'd EVER seen the sun set on the water and it was incredibly beautiful, almost poetic.

There's this shot that I took of Ron and Lucy by the sunset, with Ron kissing Lucys forehead. It's probably one of my favourite shots I've ever taken, it looks like a poster or a cover for some Hawaiian tourist magazine or something. Again, into my portfolio, that one...

We had our final supper, I had my Japanese chicken and Ron and Lucy had their kal bi (Korean BBQ thingy). Ron bought some major grog, a bottle of beer as big as my torso (LOL) and a corona each and ended up getting almost drunk ( I think I was, I don't remember) on our balcony, wishing we were to stay there for much longer and dreading going back to responsibility.

Wasted as I was, I had an awesome sleep.

Day Six (night): Seriously, I'm full...

2006-09-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

Thinking about it, Thursday was probably our biggest day hence the two postings for the one day.

Now, after the amazing experience at Hanauma we went back and had dinner at the local Chillis restaurant. Now here's the thing I found so weird in America - there's like a billion or so fat and obese people over there, is it perhaps because the serving sizes of all their dishes insanely huge? McDonalds, Burger King - or pretty much every place we went to, all the servings are MASSIVE. Their 'Normal' sized meal are our Large, they don't have a small meal and their large meals, oh man, it would be enough for a whole family to eat. Their cups are huuuuuge, it can double up as an aquarium or something.

Anyway, the dish I had was massive and I ended up not eating the whole thing which is way weird for me. Usually, I'm the only person who completes the whole dish, even licking extra sauce off the plate. But no, got way too full half way. It was apparent Ron got full too, I escorted him to the bathroom because I needed to pee. He warned me when we were there that he was about to 'excrete'. I heard his poo drop. Sounded like he got his moneys worth, sounded like a big one. LOL

Afterwards Ate Rina, Ron, Lucy and myself made our way to the local bar 'Big Kahuna' on Kuhio. We bought a lot of grog, including this thing that was actually served in a fish bowl. Got me rather tipsy, but I didn't get drunk. We all got pics with the waitresses there and they all had massive tits.

Not sleepy enough, we walked around Waikiki at night and just had a bit of a chat. Ate Rina and I went our own way to let Ron and Lucy have a bit of "them" time, which they probably did deserve. We ended up talking about the world, news, things, you know.

Oh yeah, LOL we caught all these couples having a full on root (sex) on the beach, like out on the open beach, for all the world to see. Not just dry humping, but full-on pelvic thrusting without clothes on type. Amazing! I would NEVER have mustered the courage to do anything like that. It was extremely weird, yet I couldn't take my eyes off them. I felt like, incredibly privelidged to have seen it. If they happen to have kids because of that specific root, if I ever meet those subsequent kids I could tell them that I was there while they were being made. Cool.

Oh, of course we camera whored for the rest of the night.

Day Six (day): Please don't feed me...

2006-09-22T03:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday had us waking up a bit later than usual, it was a well deserved rest since we never did have a chance to have a break until then. But once we were all up, we all decided to go down to Hanauma Bay for some snorkelling action. So we got ready, went down to the nearest ABC store and bought some food and a snorkel set. I demanded a yellow one for some reason, don't know why. We then made our way to the closest bus stop and waited for what was about an hour before our bus came.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. All the while, I was just thinking - yup beach, seen 'em all. Upon arrival and looking out the ledge to see the bay I was gobsmacked, the bay was a testament that God did exist and made this part of the world so special. It was incredibly beautiful, coconut trees lined the edge of the beach, white sand met the jade green-blue water and was so clear that you can easily see the coral from metres above. I also saw a mongoose, it was brown (LOL).

To get into the bay you need to pay $US5 and watch a compulsory video that explains the guidelines while at the beach. First, of course do not touch or tread on the wildlife (coral, fish, fat people etc.). Second, do not feed the wildlife. They went so far as to use the "Under the Sea" song in the Little Mermaid movie to put that message across, of course reworded. It was way stupid, and probably infringed copyright rules but it got stuck in my head anyway. To be honest, I forgot what the other rules were, I think it was like, don't eat the seals or something (???).

Anyways, we hired some flippers and I hired a floating vest since I was a non-swimmer and off we went. It was awesome, corals and fish everywhere, it was like watching 'Finding Nemo' but in real life and so the fish didn't talk. The water was rather shallow, deepest only went up to my chest but it made for great snorkelling. I didn't go out as far as Ron and Lucy did, but was extremely pleased with what I saw. It was, for me definitely the highlight of the trip.

Day Five: Ala-Mo-Ana - oh yeah I know them.

2006-09-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

Day five starts off with us saying farewell to Lucy's cousins - back to Lala Land they went. It was great having them around, but alas they had to leave due to commitments back at home. To cheer ourselves up, we headed of to Ala Moana Shopping Centre for a little bit of retail therapy.

Ala Moana is apparently Hawaii's largest shopping centre? Or was it just Oahu? I don't really remember, but yeah it was kinda big. It was outdoor-indoorsy, reminded me of Warringah Mall back here in Sydney. But yeah, there were SOME bargains to be had, but for the most part it was pretty expensive. Didn't buy much, only small presents for my family and for myself. As usual, camera whoring happened whilst at the shopping centre, but it wasn't majorly extreme.

The day ended with us just walking around Waikiki at night, watching street performers as well as further shopping over at the International Marketplace. We bought some grog afterwards and drank it over at Lucys Aunts room, had a late night just having a little chinwag with Ate Rina. We also made friends with these people from another building a few hundred metres away. Oh, and I also found out that they stopped serving grog at 11:50pm at night and that ABC stores close a couple of minutes after 11pm. Not very convenient for those wanting a bit of a late night grog fix.

Day Four: Going on the Dole

2006-09-21T03:52:00.000-07:00

Day four sees us trekking to the Dole Plantation - as the name suggests it was a plantation and perhaps the people that picked them were working for the Dole (LOL sorry). From what we saw it was basically just all pineapples. A whole shitload of them. I reckon all the workers there ate the pineapples all day, and if you were to just accidentally eat one of the workers, I bet they would taste like pineapples (???). We didn't stay there for long, once you've seen one pineapple you've seen them all. They had this maze there though in a shape of a large pineapple, apparently it's the world's largest maze which is cool. I bet you the prize for getting to the end would be a pineapple. We had lunch, drank pineapple juice and I did a crap in the toilets before we left for the north shore.

Now Lucy's cousins told us that there was an awesome beach up at the north shore of Oahu, so fair enough we all end up driving up there. We had two loaded seven seater SUVs full of pineapple loaded individuals. I should note that Ron ended up driving the Jeep on the way back home which was very brave of him. Anyway, we made ourselves there and fair enough, it was a great beach with lots of locals away from the tourists that plague Waikiki which was a good change. But was the beach deep or what? I didn't bother swimming, it went too deep way too quickly and being the non-swimmer I was, I opted to lie down and tan instead. Further camera whoring followed and we up and left back to Hilton Village for more swimming. The beach infront of the hotel was awesome; shallow, warm complete with little fishies swimming around your feet. The night ended with even more camera whoring and at this point we probably reached our 10 000th shot.

Aotearoa!!!! part two

2006-09-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

Day Three: Aotearoa!!!!

2006-09-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

Day three saw us trekking up to the northern part of Oahu to the Polynesian Cultural Centre. Kinda like a 'moving museum' showcasing Polynesian culture from Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa, Marquesas, Tonga and Aotearoa - otherwise known as New Zealand.

Our tour guide was this freshy Singaporean chick named Christina - so we were guaranteed an authentic polynesian experience (LOL). She was incredibly annoying at first, but after a while you get used to her. I mean, she knew her stuff but I was kinda peeved not getting a real polynesian person who called us 'Cuz' or the group 'Family'. There was a tour guide chick there that looked like Paulini from Australian Idol - come to think of it, they all did. LOL.

Christina, along with pretty much everyone else who worked there were all students at the Mormon University next door. All proceeds (Or I guess most of it) went towards the university and perhaps the students tuition. Good idea. Entry for us was $US125 per person, so it is quite a substantial contribution. For that price I also EXPECT a happy ending. HAHAHAHA

Anyway, by the end of the day I learnt a hell of a lot and ended up getting a new found respect for Polynesian culture. I also found that a lot of Polynesians knew how to speak Tagalog - the musician over at Hawaii treated us to a tagalog song and the incredibly funny Fire Dancer from Samoa knew his Tagalog as well. Actually, that's one of the most awesome things about Hawaii, in that it's such a melting pot of cool cultures. While it is Polynesian at heart, they have learnt to embrace other influences into its culture - from Filipino, Japanese, Korean and "Paniolo" (Spanish/Latin).

Getting off track but yeah, Polynesian Cultural Centre is way cool. The Luau was awesome, the food was great (esp the purple bread rolls), people were friendly, I "nosed kissed" this obese lady who just ate Garlic ("Hello!") and the Night show was entertaining and we learnt a lot. Best of all, we all got Lei'd.

Awesome.

Day Two: Around the World in 50 minutes

2006-09-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Day two had us up and early to meet Lucy's cousins who flew in over from Los Angeles to join us for a couple of days. They're a rowdy bunch, as Californians as Californians can get. You can tell that they can get anything they want, they sport Chanel sunglasses, Louis Vuitton bags, platinum Amexs, everything you can probably think of Californian girls, they've got 'em LOL.

Anyway, we meet them having breakfast at a Japanese restaurant which they then tell us that they booked an relaxation spa session which included a massage as part of the deal. We thought, yeah why not and booked ourselves a session. I was a little hesitant, especially because of the $US125 price tag. For that price, I EXPECT a happy ending. But after some little persuasion from Ron I thought, why not? It IS a holiday after all. A booking was subsequently made, but due to the tight schedule the only masseuse available for Ron and myself were males. I thought, what the hell, I'd prolly end up getting a massive hard on if a hot chick was massaging me anyway, now THAT would have been embarrassing. LOL

Before any of that happened though, we had enough time to kill so we ended up visiting Pearl Harbour for a couple of hours. It was sorta interesting, but I'm not really into warfare. The place was packed with people 'Running for USA' or something like that - kinda like a little commemorative service for the 9/11 attacks. Yeah so we went in a sub, got served by a rude black lady. Went on a ship, it was pretty big. It was pretty cool nevertheless.

On to the day spa. It was the first one I'd ever been to in my entire life and I was ready to get pampered. Changed into my bathrobe, and jumped in a steam room, dry sauna and a spa bath. Heaven. I felt rich. FFS I payed $125 for this. Then came the massage.

Was greeted by a short blond dude and he ended up doing the massage. Okay, the massage was called "Around the World" because it combines massage techniques from different places around the world - from Swedish, shiatsu or whatever, I really couldn't tell them apart anyway. But man, did it feel awesome. I ended up sleeping a bit and even dreamed of some random chick I knew LOL. 50 minutes rolled by quick, but oh man it was $125 well spent.

Waikiki pimping part 2

2006-09-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

First Day: Waikiki pimping

2006-09-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

Day one was major camera whoring day. I've been given a total literally of HUNDREDS of photos just for the first day. We had access to four cameras, so if one camera ran out of memory or battery the next camera was ready for use LOL.

We made our way out to Waikiki beach right infront of the the Royal Hawaiian just right before the sun went down. Ron and Lucy went for a swim, but I was too chicken. It's probably because of that incident where I nearly drowned back in elementary school LOL. But I ended up putting my legs in the water and cupped the water with my hands to wet my hair LOL. The water felt awesome because it was so warm, I reckon it was a good 22 degrees celsius or probably even more.

After that the camera whoring began, led by Lucy and Ron. I ended up joining the fun, getting some shots of me along the way. I took a lot of shots, a lot of the shots I took I'm really proud of. Just take a look of that one with Ron and Lucy by the sunset. I took that. Good shot ay? Going straight into my portfolio, that one :-)

We ended up going back to the pool in our hotel, again the water was naturally warm. This time I actually swam in the thing, with the aid of some floaties of course LOL. Overall, I remember saying to the guys that I gave the day two thumbs up - despite me having about 30 mins of sleep that day. Loved it.

ALOOOOOHA!!

2006-09-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I last blogged (last year LOL), but yeah, thought it was due time to do something.

So anyway, just got back from the beautiful island of Oahu in Hawaii. Let me just tell you, despite being just a week, it was one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had.

Now that I'm back in Sydney, I miss it terribly. I wish that it went for much longer, it almost kinda feels like the holiday was abruptly cut in the middle of it all. I really believe if that if we were to even spend like, another week or so A LOT of things would have happened. Now as I sit back on my little folding chair as I write this, I think to myself 'what if?' Like, Would I have had one whole day snorkelling in Hanauma Bay? Would I have gone clubbing and experience the night life? Would I have gotten a root? So many things, but alas, time was too short.

Next couple of entries would be for the trip itself. It will happen bit by bit so I won't go overboard with too much information.

Woke up Saturday morning amidst one of the wettest September days on record, it was cold and it was grey. It rained so much that the ceiling of my parents room almost collapsed from water damage. All the while, I was just thinking that I was only hours away from a tropical paradise.

Ron's family were kind enough to give me a lift to the airport, on the way we got pics of ourselves using Grizz's mobile. I guess that was the start of the camera whoring (results of which you will soon see :-))

Anyways, we touched down on Hawaiian soil on Saturday September 9, 2006 around about 8 in the morning. Funny, considering we left Sydney on Saturday, September 9 at around about 8:30PM that night. So essentially, we went back in time which was all good because it meant we spend more time doing whatever.

I'll go into greater detail in a future entry, I need the pics to further show you what EXACTLY happened. But until then, hasta mañana and I'll talk to you guys soon.

First Post EVAR!!1!

2005-04-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hey,

This is my first go of ever writing a blog. I've thought about doing this for a while but was way too lazy do anything about it.

Anyways, this is probably just my temporary blog home until I set up my own site, which I'm currently working on (on my own webspace and hopefully my own domain name). But for now, this site will suffice until the proper site is up and running.

Anyways, to those reading this (if anyone is actually out there) - a big HI and welcome. My name is Juan and I'll be your host for the evening.

I'll be around,

Juan