Remembering My LK Family This Christmas*

*originally published on Facebook
The 2007 LK Christmas Video
------------------

---a tradition that i, together with my friends verna & dan,
are proud to have been part of---

i know some of you will not believe this, because over the years, i've somehow earned the reputation of being a bitch without a cause, but i miss you immensely, my LK family! and this one's for all of you this christmas.


**as we all know, FB has a limit as to how many people can be tagged in one entry. as much as i would like to tag each and every person that has been part of LK since day 1 to this very moment, it is impossible. the tagged persons here were picked following a certain criteria:

• is he/she talkative enough to spread the word? if yes, tag.
• is he/she romantically involved with another LK cast member? if yes, tag, so that the partner doesn't have to be tagged.
• is he close to rye, who uploaded the video? if yes, tag. self-explanatory.

so please don't feel bad if u weren't tagged. it was a difficult process just tagging people. and to those who've been tagged, please share.


merry christmas again and love y'all! (well, not all. but most of you. and what, just because it's christmas i can't be honest? people already think i'm a bitch anyway. might as well live up to expectations. *insert evil laughter here*)

Facebooking

I'm Ready. Are You?

My Facebook status today reads:

"Rye Bautista, in exactly a month from today, shall transform from a hyena to a human being."

Not In 284 Years

Not since the "...Neanderthals roamed the planet, on September 12, 57,617 BC to be precise", and not until after 284 years from now will an event like this will happen.

It's worth knowing, whether or not people (or you yourself) think you're a superstar.

Got this from one of my Facebook Groups, Ordinary Human Beings With Extraordinary Commitment For Boundaryless World, and more info available on the BBC News site ---

Two moons on 27 August 2008.

27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for......... .... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will Cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth.

Be Sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am, It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it Again.

watch it otherwise it will not come back again in ur life..

Hey you! Mind if I watch the two moons from your rooftop? I'll bring the champagne and the flutes. Just bring a lighter to light my cigarette. Teehee!

Taking A Break From The Sun

Typhoon signal 3 was hoisted in HK at 5pm today. On that note, part 2 of What The Sunshine After The Rain Brings will be published on a later date. For now, here is a timely musical intermission.

Hello, I don't even know your name, but I'm hopin' all the same

This is more than just a simple hello.

Hello, do I smile and look away?

No, I think I'll smile and stay

To see where this might go.

'Cause the last time I felt like this,

I was falling in love,

Falling and feeling, I'd never fall in love again.

Yes, the last time I felt like this, was long before I knew

What I'm feeling now with you.

Hello, I can't wait till we're alone, somewhere quiet on our own

So that we can fall the rest of the way.

I know that before the night is thru,

I'll be talking love to you,

Meaning every word I say.

'Cause the last time I felt like this

I was falling in love,

Falling and feeling, I'd never fall in love again.

Yes, the last time I felt like this, was long before I knew

What I'm feeling now with you.

Oh, the last time I felt like this I was falling in love,

Falling and feeling, I'd never fall in love again.

Yes, the last time I felt like this, was long before I knew

What I'm feeling now with you.

The Last Time I Felt Like This

Words by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman

Music by Marvin Hamlisch

Of Seasons

Original Version from The Holy Bible, Ecclesiates III

Additional Verses from The Divine Ryeness

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

A time to say "It's ok, no worries!",

And a time to say "You know what, forget it.

It's a shame I even asked you to do this.

I mean, what the hell was I thinking?

If your boss wasn't on leave, the task should've been accomplished by now.

But have you accomplished anything?

Nothing.

Did you even act on your task?

I don't think so.

Because until now, you have no idea what I am talking about.

You know why?

I know why!

Because you are inefficient and incompetent."

Today is the season for the latter.

Come Rain, Come Shine

These photos are of the main thoroughfare that lies about 200 meters from our place. Taken by a friend Jojo around noon on June 7 (Saturday), while on his way to the MTR station to report to work after the typhoon warning signal was hoisted down from black rain to amber.

It started pouring in the morning of Friday, June 6. Late in the afternoon of the same day, the winds started to move radically and the rains started to fall more heavily, which carried on until the following day. This heavy downfall caused the soil from the mountains beside our village and those that can be found close to Discovery Bay to erode. Our village was flooded knee-high with muddy, murky water (from the mountains, not from the sewage system like which happens a lot in Manila every now and then) and the creek nearby started to overflow.

People panicked, and some braved the rain and the flood to evacuate to the town plaza even if only for half a day, until the inclement weather would start to show some positive progress.

The roads were blocked due to the minor landslide and bus and taxi operations were paralyzed.

It all happened here in Tung Chung. The first time ever since we moved here three years ago. Some were shocked by the sudden temperamental outburst of nature; others were amused at how fast HK government responded to the emergency. Some got scared for their dear lives; others went on to take advantage of the suspension of work, and never left their beds.

Dan and I, we didn't really get to experience all these. The stories we told our friends and our families were all but stories we heard from other people. Because since the typhoon started, until it has gone hundreds of miles away from the island that it damaged, we were out on another island partying like Paris and Nicole. The biggest damage we have accounted so far are a few hundreds of dollars from our back account. Oh, and a little bit on our livers too, from the many glasses of chardonnay, cosmopolitan, champagne and all thet shit that we rained down on us at Volume. But hey! No one can blame us. You only turn 30 once! (Not me. Dan.)

Excuse Letter

I am afflicted with flu. I'm quite better now but not yet fully recovered. No longer feverish, but my cold has gotten worse, it has started to affect my sinuses. My coughing fits are more frequent too. Few days ago, they would only happen at bedtime or when I laugh or talk excessively; but now, whenever I try to breathe through my mouth (in show especially), my barking gets out of control. I kinda understand well the cause of this atrophy. Besides that my body doesn't really respond well to medication and that HK weather is weird these days (plus the fact that the extreme humidity level allows bacteria and virus in the air to reproduce faster than I could ejaculate), I haven't really been the most responsible patient at all. Despite the sudden decline of my immune system, I still refused to let my social life lay low. No, no, no. Social life above all else.

Over the past few days too, I've been quite busy with extra-curricular activities. Here's one of my final outputs:

I'll be back really soon.

Punyeta Ang Lamig!

It's been terribly cold.

It's been terribly, terribly cold.

Go away, winter.

We don't want you anymore.

photo credit: Junk Girl on Flickr

This winter is considered to be the coldest in 1oo years and had already caused dozens of deaths in Mainland China. It was reported that a few days ago, the thermometer registered 0.9 degrees Celsius in Ngong Ping, the peak of Lantau Island (the island on which I live) --- a tourist spot that boasts of the largest outdoor sitting Buddha; about a 20-minute drive from my place.

Besides the extreme cold, we are also battling with erratic humidity conditions. One minute our noses are bleeding from the unforgiving dryness of the air, the next minute, it's drizzling, foggy and damp. Hello, dry skin!

Winter officially began in November and we've been experiencing the sudden drops and rises in temperature since then. The unbelievable cold started sometime between Christmas and New Year's. It hasn't stopped getting worse even until now. The most disconcerting part according to HK Observatory is, the weather isn't expected to improve over the next few days.

Times like this, I miss home. I miss the Philippines. All of its 7, 107 tropical islands. High tide or low tide.