Where in the World Is Lao?

So I've disappeared from the world the past two weeks. And I've received a lot of "dude, where have you been?" minus the dude part. Anyway, my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and 6-month old niece arrived two weeks ago and I've abandoned my routines to match up with their crazy schedule. Below is pretty much a picture story of where I've been.

My family visited relatives on my mother's side of the family -- they travelled to Bauan, Batangas for my grandmother's 80th birthday. She had a party at her church and it was packed. I didn't get a picture, but this one was taken on the way there. The moon was huge, and sadly this picture does not do it justice.

The next week we travelled to Samar to visit my father's side of the family. The first thing we did after we hopped off the plane at Tacloban Airport was go visit the giant McArthur and his comrades. This is where the United States made their return during World War II.

My uncle had a cat at his house. He looked like two-face. He's awesome.

My brother-in-law, Paul, and my Ate, Katrina.

My father with his binoculars and Paul with his mega zooooooom zoom lens.

My grandmother owns this pier, and we just dropped by to check things out and to visit some old friends.

Whenever we go to Catbalogan (where my grandmother and uncle lives) we go to this spring. It's comes out of the mountain and it's freeeeeezing cold. I didn't swim in it.

My super photogenic cousin, Isabel.

Relatives. Hehe.. My grandmother on the right just turned 83.

We are dead serious. Peace.

Their reaction to "Anna's walking!" (the emoting game)

Question: How many people can you fit on a tricycle?

Anna's adorable. All smiles.

The beautiful sunset from the roof of my grandmother's house.

While everyone else was at class on Tuesday, I was bumming around under the sun at the beach.

Family picture. This is the only picture I got where Anna isn't pouting.

Six digits in Anna's mouth -- impressive!

She sucks on everything.

Mzungu drinking coconut milk.

Tacloban has one of the prettiest man-made structures in the Philippines. The place is called Rafael's Farm and it's absolutely gorgeous.

Everything about it, including the surrounding mountains.

And the wall-less structures where you can dine for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Mango Turon!

Chocolate Cake!

Mango Shake!

And a little lake to top it all off.

Hmm.. I didn't get in as many people pictures as I had hoped. Oh well. At least now you know that I'm not dead.

Kind of Pretty . . .

360 degrees in Catbalogan

I look straight ahead and see my father's shorts hang inside out on a clothes line, next to three towels and someone's white underpants.  Beyond that I see still black waters, and beyond that the balcony lights of a lonely house extended on the waters.  To my right I hear a dog bark, three barks a second at the decibel level of an angry car horn.  Behind me my mother and father are fast asleep behind closed doors.  And to my left is the comfort room whose exhaust fan I just switched off.  And up above me head, above the roof that shades me, are billions of dimly lit stars whose existence tell me that I am small and everything around me is small, compared to the expanse of God's creation.  It's also telling me it's late and I need to go to bed.

5 Pictures

I used to do this on my old blog: the following are five random pictures that I took, with a short explanation following each of them. enjoi,

The above picture was drawn by Xine who looks beyond appearances and see me as . . . a salivating blob.  Yeah, that's what I am: hungry.

My neighbors got a new puppy.  This little guy is the cutest and shyest pup I've seen.  I saw him in the courtyard of my house and followed him with my camera.  You can hear him squealing as he fled.  Obvious he gravitated towards a corner, there I trapped him and took this picture.  He looks so cuddly.

So here they are: my ate Katrina and my niece Anna.  Words can't quite express my feeling right now.  Let's move on.

It's Christmas!  My sister brought me books from the states: sequels to the Thursday Next series.  I've read the first two books, The Eyre Affaire and Lost in a Good Book, books both Bix and McCoskey recommended to me.  But then I couldn't find the rest of the series.  They didn't have them at the library and they were super expensive, so I asked my sister to get me the next two/three books.  Unfortunately, she ordered the books a bit late and only two of them came . . . books four and five.  Meaning I can't read them.  Hehehe.. Anyways, I flipped open one of the books and came to the title page -- someone had written on it!  The nerve!  But then it quickly hit me, it's Jasper Fforde's signature!  My sister paid $3 bucks for a signed edition of the book.  Sweet deal =)  Of course I wanted to double-check whether it was authetic or if it was forged, so I looked it up online.  I think it's real -- check it out ==> http://www.jasperfforde.com/moniker.html

 

Last picture is of my new baby.  My TAYLOR!!!  I remember a time in high school when I played the electric guitar for chapel and afterwards the middle school chaplain asked me what chords I was playing for a certain song, I couldn't remember so she allowed me to play on her guitar -- her Taylor.  Later that day I told my friend that I got to play on her guitar and he got all jealous.  Yeah, Taylors is what Audis are to cars.

Just a thought . . .

How has God's love manifested itself in your life today?

Watchmen Review

It’s late at night and I'm tired so I'm not going to make an uber-eloquent essay on how gloriously awesome, yet disappointing the movie was. Instead I'm going to make a simple pro-con list. (I know you can't make a decent critique or analysis on a movie over one viewing, but I'll try my best)

Pros:
1\ Zack Snyder did a better job of putting this film together than any other director could possibly have done. The majority of the plot, the costumes, the coloring, and the general atmosphere of the whole thing were very much like the comic book. Think high-fidelity.
2\ Rorschach and the Comedian were surprisingly well casted -- much to my relief. They made the movie for me. They did a good job with the other characters too: namely Dr Manhattan, Sally Jupiter, Moloch, Nite Owl, Ozymandias . . . I have complaints about some of the other actors though.
3\ They didn't cut out that many parts. They were really faithful to the book.
4\ I still can't get over the set designs, hues, and outfits, etc... totally up for an oscar nomination in art direction and cinematography, but considering it is what it is, I don't think it will.

Semi-Pros:
1\

Cons:
1\ Malin Akerman -- capital B-O-O-O !!!
2\ Remember the story about the Gingerbread Man who ran ran away and in the end was eaten by a sly fox? Well, instead of a sly fox, it’s the old lady who made the gingerbread man in the first place.
3\ The portrayal of Richard Nixon.
4\ They added stupid scenes (that weren't in the comic book) that were totally noticeable
5\ I'm really upset about that previous one. They shot themselves in the foot with the extra dialogue.
6\ I'm serious -- it's at the same absurdity level as the last scene of Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy calls Elizabeth "goddess divine."
7\ You know how some movies are thinking movies? Like Memento, Primer, or even The Prestige. Watchmen, as a novel, is one of those . . . As a feature film it’s Not. At. All. Imagine doing a crossword puzzle, but after every clue they give you (in parenthesis) the answer. It's that frustrating. It’s for that reason that I’m hesitant on re-watching the movie.

As a final summary -- if you haven't read the graphic novel, you won’t fully appreciate the movie. It was made in the wrong era. Anyway, if I were to give the movie a rating, I'd give it seven smiley-face-buttons out of ten.

Answered Prayers

Guess who's in town!

My ate Katrina and my niece Anna (the cutest baby in the world) arrived in the Philippines yesterday (Friday). After days of fighting the Flu and a respiratory virus (note: not infection as previously stated) they recovered and were eventaully able to hop on a plane and fly safely across the Pacific Ocean and into Asia! Their first stop was in Taiwan where they met up with my parents and my brother at a hotel airport. My brother got to see my niece first, unfortunately he only saw her for one night, because he had to go back to work the next day while the rest of them flew to the Philippines. I've spent a lot of time with them (at the mall) and I just want to say, it's good to have family around =)

Thanks to everyone who prayed for them! God heard our prayers and answered them!