travel tips

How many have had the unfortunate experience of a ruined vacation? More often than not, each person who has experienced traveling has his own share of a travel mishap. And, if you ask these people to what particular culprit they could account this misfortune  to during their trip, most of them would answer failure to plan properly. These travel fiascos could come in various forms – unbooked flights, unconfirmed reservations, closed attractions sights, and the likes. It is because of these could-have-been unavoidable experiences that your time, effort and, most importantly, money go to the drain. Your supposed fun and relaxing vacation turns into a nightmare.

In order to avoid being in this kind of scenario on your next vacation, here are some travel tips that you could use:

• Make sure that you choose your destination wisely. Do a little research about the best time of the year you could visit. Always make sure that you do not go on peak seasons as everything will be overcharged. This could be quite problematic if you could not afford to go overboard beyond your estimated budget. Knowing the customs and traditions of a certain place is also helpful as to avoid breaking rules or laws that might get you into trouble.
• For unseasoned travels, it is recommended that they go to a more familiar place. This would be an advantage as they could easily make their way around. Unlike people who are used to going on vacations, newbies tend to panic or encounter a lot of problems during their trip. Being in a very unfamiliar place could only aggravate the situation. Also, for not-so-experienced travelers, it is a must for them not to divert from the itenirary that they have prepared. Unplanned changes have higher chances of getting complicated. If you do want to have second options, make sure that you also include them in the planning.
• Always make sure that you get all reservations and flights confirmed especially when everything has already been settled. Do not do confirmations if you have not yet filed a leave at work or if hesitations start to set in. This opens for a possibility that you might just pay for a flight or room accommodation that you might not be able to use. However, if things start to become more certain, make it a point that everything is settled as not cause delays and setbacks in your trip.

safe weight loss methods

What good is a sexy body if it is not healthy? Chances are, instead of getting the confidence that a person wants to have, she would experience some health problems that would only make her look terrible.

This is the reason why it is very important why a person needs to make sure that the losing weight methods that he intends to use have been proven not to cause more damage than benefits.

There have been a lot of instances where we have heard of people doing drastic, and not to mention painful and dangerous methods, just to be able to get the kind of body they want to have. Though we could blame this kind of mindset could be blamed to the strong influences of society in terms of how an individual builds hsi personal image, much of the action that needs to be done is still dependent on us. That is why we need to promote and patronize healthy means of losing weight.

There are but many advantages to using proven to be safe and effective weight loss methods. First of which is it gives you more stable results. The problem with unsafe means of losing weight is that they do not really give lasting and permanent body structures. Say for example starving. It may work for a week or two. However, the body has this natural mechanism wherein it tends to crave and intake more food if it is deprived. Thus, after achieveing a think body for a short period of time, an individual is prone to doubling his initial weight afterwards.

Another advantage is that it gives more positive results. Say for example, exercising. It helps the body produce more endorphines which makes a person happier and healthier. This goes to show that exercising does not only help a person lose weight, it also helps in promoting well-being.

mmorpg

This is my opinion on these two types of games. I like to compare them because these days, lots of people seem discontented in every MMORPG that is released. I am also disappointed in the way the MMORPG industry is going based on my observation.

Console RPGs (or better yet, old fashioned RPG games)

Back in the days of single player RPG games. RPGs were focused on delivering the story, having an enjoyable gameplay and does not give too much attention on graphics. Yes, graphics also plays a big role but without a good story, it’s just a waste. Now, the process in playing a single player RPG is just advancing the story, grinding levels to match enemy bosses, explore the game world, talk to NPCs and get secret items or party members. It was simple but it was very enjoyable.

MMORPG

Starting from the earliest MMORPGs, the gameplay was simple. It has the same flow with console RPGs, but as time advances so are the games. MMOs are becoming complex, this is good and but also bad. While the game becomes more complex, it also leaves out simple things. MMO companies are focusing more on graphics but most of them leave out the story and gameplay (no innovation at all), especially Asian MMOs. The only advantage of MMOs over console RPGs is of course multi-player interaction. But this is also double edged.

Personally, the only thing I hate about MMORPGs is people. (lol)

Friendly people, I’m ok with. Arrogant, ignorant and dumb players (which surprisingly takes almost half of the population), I hate it. I like to interact with the people playing the same game, however there are times when you really hate interacting with them in the first place especially…

PVP (Player vs Player)

We humans are competitive by nature. Player vs Player on MMORPGs can bring the worst out of people and because it’s online, you get to experience the worst of the worst of human nature.

Just to note: I like PvP. In fact I love PvP, it’s the first thing I look for in choosing MMORPGs. I look for PvP Control (preferably FPS type like WoW, Aion, Requiem etc). I don’t like dull click and move PvPs. I also don’t like pot (potion) fest PvP.

Back to console RPGs. What I love about console RPGs is that, you only need levels, playing skills and party members – in short, yourself. Unlike MMORPGs, most of the time I get stuck in a quest because you need at least 2-10 people before you can finish it.

Anyway, I’m still looking for a good MMORPG that can keep my interest for a long time. Now I sometimes play Requiem: Memento Mori but most of the time I play Heroes of Newerth and Aion: Tower of Eternity.

cure hangover

This Hangover remedy blog post is for

• People who like to party and drink alcohol.
• People who just like to drink alcohol.
• People who drink alcohol.
• People who have a hangover and seeking a remedy/treatment.
• People who are researching on treatment for hangover to help their friend/family/FB/husband/wife/etc.
• People who are alcohol noobs and want to treat a hangover if ever they will have it.
• And last for people who just don’t have anything to do. Thus, I won’t be saying “ If you don’t want to have a hangover, don’t drink”.

Avid alcohol drinkers know what kind of hell a hangover could give. I don’t usually have hangovers and I can only recall 5 times I’ve had it; thanks to that last hangover, I’ve found great solutions/tips/help to hangovers.Bragging: I love to drink; thanks to my genes and for doing it right, I don’t experience much hangovers. Anyway, these tips work almost a 100%. It’s simple and easy AND I’m going to list the best hangover remedy last. Just to make you try these other stuff. It’s listed from boring to fun to medicine cure.Note: Some are just urban legends or what we call “old people’s advice”. Well, they are old and they’ve been drinking way ahead of us which makes them more experienced… so why not try it? I’m not gonna say which is which, if you think it’s outrageous then that must be it.

On with the 6 Fast Hangover Remedy Tips!

a) Drink lots of water

Basically, if you drank too much then most of your blood has alcohol content. Drink lots and lots of water and go piss em all out of your body.

Boring Scientific Explanation: You’re dehydrated. Excrete the alcohol that is left on your body and replace it with water, so drink lots of it.

b) Drink Fruit Juice

A healthy way to treat hangover is drinking fruit juice. Best if it’s fresh. A glass of lemon juice should be enough. Replace your blood alcohol content with something “natural” and “healthy” drink.

Boring Scientific Explanation: Nothing. It’s already boring.

c)Drink shot of Gin or Rum

Or any alcohol. It works, temporarily at most but it works!

Boring Scientific Explanation: Your body will be handling the new alcohol you just took and it will forget the last one which caused your hangover.

d)Drink a cup of Coffee

Yeah it works. A fair warning though, if you’re like me I wouldn’t like the effect of a downer (alcohol) and upper (coffee) at the same time.

akira toriyama

Back in the days when children-friendly shows (meaning: those that children can enjoy) were scarce in the Philippines and the limited number of channels are still difficult to tune in to, my friends and I would huddle around our 14 or so inches black and white television and take turns holding the television antenna just to view the Dragon Ball animation series, shown every weekend in channel 9 (yes, there was still a local channel 9 then).

For most Filipinos my age, may it be the first or not, the animation became part of our weekly lives. It became a sort of reward after a week-long of grueling nights of homework and ear-shattering nagging of our mothers.

Needless to say, if not for Akira Toriyama, life then would have been unbearable.
Akira Toriyama, though his name escaped most of us while we were watching Goku doing his Kamehame Wave moments, is the one we should be thankful for. His craft and imagination brought Dragon Ball to life.

Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955 in Kiyosu, Aichi, Japan. Because of the phenomenal effect of the animation Dragon Ball, not just in Asia but also in Americas (both north and south), he has become an acclaimed and world-known Japanese manga artist. He is the one responsible for both the manga and the media franchise of the said animation.

Toriyama’s fame already started way before Dragon Ball became known world-wide. Owing to his influences, Osama Tezuka’s Astro Boy, and Walt Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Toriyama was able to come up with 20 or more mangas, contributed character designs for five video games, and even came up with a children’s book.

teach english

From my tattered jeans and shirt and rubber slippers, I slipped into a blouse, a decent pair of jeans and sandals for my first day of work. Once entering the room, I arranged the books that I was going to use for the three-hour class. I set-up the cassette player and looked around the room of the 12 year-old-kid who was staring blankly at me. I didn’t know if she were sleepy or uninterested. All I knew was if I messed up with the class, I would surely lose the five-thousand-per-month paying job that I just recently had. That was the first time I taught a Korean student. I can still remember her face and her English name, Candy, and I can still remember how we played with her game board the whole three hours.

Well, so much for first impressions.

When Koreans come here, they usually have four options in learning English. First is by hiring a personal tutor who could teach them in the comforts of their homes. Second is by enrolling in a language center with trained ESL teachers and a bulk of ESL Materials. Third is by enrolling in a school in the Philippines, preferably private schools that specializes in using the English language as the medium of instruction. Third is by mingling with the people – socializing with Filipinos would require Koreans to use the English language in order to be understood, thus giving Koreans an avenue to practice the English language.

Most Koreans go for the first option especially if they are on a tight budget and they do not like going out to go to schools. However, if they don’t get satisfied with home tutors, they enroll in language centers. Those who will be staying for years in the Philippines, they usually choose the third option. The last option is for those people who do not have the time to go to language centers and are too tired (or lazy) to go back to studying.

Among the three options, the most difficult is the second option. NO, it is not difficult for the Korean students. Rather, it is difficult for the people employed in the language centers.

It is difficult because language schools specialize in ESL and guarantee results. If students are not satisfied, they demand and Koreans are very good in demanding. Not that I am trying to make a black propaganda against them (yes, most of them are difficult to deal with but I should not also forget that it is because of them that I am employed) but it is actually true – the same for any paying customers who spend money for results that were promised to them.

Korean students are also very particular with the consistency of teachers. They usually prefer studying with the same teachers until they go back to Korea. It takes time for them to adjust so constant absences or even tardiness are greatly discouraged. But maintaining a flawless record gives a very good impression on your Korean students, and usually when they go home they never miss showing their gratitude.

Aside from this, the culture difference also becomes a factor. In teaching Koreans, we actually tell teachers not to tell their students their age. Seniority is a big issue for them and somebody younger teaching somebody older is not a common scenario in their country. The old holds wisdom and disposes it to the young. Seeing it the other way around is a little bit difficult to swallow.

Another thing that teachers should know is that Korean children are really cute but can also be very easy to hate. The cuter they get, the meaner they are. They have this uncanny way of pushing you to your boiling point. I experienced during my teaching years teaching a six year old kid who showed me the middle finger because he doesn’t want to sing the nursery rhyme we were practicing as part of our class activity. The next day, he learned the F word and was so amused by it that he uttered it over and over again until our two-hour class finished. Some students would even curse you in Korean while smiling at you so it would also help if you try to memorize some Korean cuss word. If it helps in your feat in memorizing, there are actually around 2,000 Korean cuss words.

Koreans are also very particular with the teacher’s pronunciation. Even if they know that you are in the Philippines, you need to have the American twang. Funny really because no matter how good you are in grammar, if you do not have the American twang, then it’s useless. However, exceptional knowledge of the English grammar is also a must for teachers. You will be surprised to encounter a student who could barely speak an English sentence properly but could ace grammar tests easily. Yet, being good in grammar is not enough – you should also be able to scrutinize which grammar topics are important in helping them make good sentences. Because even if grammar is important Koreans hate learning grammar. It is actually not common for students to request grammar classes. Either they request for a conversation class with a native English speaker or any class with a native English speaker.

The Korean fashion is also very contagious. I get to see teachers transform from wearing good, old, plain working clothes to straight-from-a-Korean-fashion-magazine outfit. I guess it’s their way of acculturization – if you don’t understand the way they think, at least try to even out with the clothing.

The Korean food is also fascinating. The first time I smelled Kimchi, I immediately made a promise that I would not dare eat the food. But now, I actually look forward to being invited by a student to eat out for dinner. Talking about food and being invited to eat out with a Korean student, be sure to prepare your stomach for a very foreign taste. If it helps, try to order sam gyeop sal or kimbop. Also practice eating spices and herbs alone. Koreans love feasting on them – grilled, boiled or even raw.

The list of these must-knows still goes on. But as with any other experiences, nothing will really prepare you to teach Koreans. Just learn from the experience because it will train you in future endeavors.

Sometimes I also wonder why the job of teaching Koreans does not receive a high regard in our society. It is equally challenging as with teaching in the formative learning institutions. The job does not just require you to teach people to use the English language, it also imparts a view of what Korean culture is.

anime

Compared to others, the array of japanese videos (animation or not, for general viewing or for the satisfaction of my perverted sexual cravings) that I have seen would not even fill a half-meter wide book shelf, even if you also include the manga that I have already read (all unfinished, by the way). However, even with the lack of deep immersion in this genre of japanese “literature”, I think I have seen the reason why many Filipinos of different ages, sexual orientation and any kinds of groupings have fallen head over heels for japanese animation and manga.

All stories have their own plots – the beginning, the development of the story and the ending. The same applies for Japanese animation and manga. In fact, like other stories, we can actually summarize them (Japanese manga and animation) into three to five sentences. However, what makes the stories irresistible is (1) the characters and (2) the japanese’s uncanny ways of producing twists and conflicts. That no matter how long a series has become or no matter how crappy the storyline may seem to be, more and more audience get hook up to the surprising unfloding of the stories and the layered (and most often funny) characters.

One of the challenges that writers face, especially in this time that almost all ideas are being recycled and new ideas are all but extinct concepts, is creating something new from what is already cliched. And not surprisingly, the japs have this certain kind of sensibility that, even if you already expect how the story’s going to end or how mushy the romance between the progtagonists would be, you still crave to finish the whole series – even if the episodes reach a four-digit number.

Another interesting thing about the japs’ movies and animations is the packaging of their characeters. Correct me if I am wrong, they usually go for low-profiled protagonists, who, at the beginning of the series, would make you wonder why they were chosen to be the protagonist in the first place considering their lack of luster or prowess. Bu eventually, these characters evolve into a person who (a) has a tie with a powerful relative/friend/guru who turned out to be the greatest in this or that or (b) has developed his/her craft so powerful that nobody thought it even existed. For our penchance for underdogs who soon rise up throught their efforts, we just easily forgive the idea that the under dog turned hero kind of characterization has been used since mankind has had enough of very super powerful beings. Aside from the developed/acquired greatness, these heroes become heroes out of sheer luck – something in the situation has made them defeat their enemy or save whoever needed saving. You also tend to hate the characters and turn out loving the antagonist. I can’t imagine that happening to the evil step sisters of Cinderella or to the wicked step mother in the same story.

Zero_Lelouch_by_SetoKakashiluver

It started out with a person having no special intricacies in life except for his finesse in chess. Other than that, he was just a rich brat with time to waste. Then he met C.C., the shady chic with green hair and everything became anything but normal. With a two-season installment and once-in-a-while dragging episodes, it ended with a very superb ending – something that you thought you expected but would never be able to pull off.

Matters of fact:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Revolution is an anime series under the Sunrise production and directed by Goro Taniguchi and written by Ichiro Okouchi with characters designed by Clamp. It first aired on October 05, 2006 and ran until July 28, 2007 for the first season and resumed on April 06, 2008 for the airing of the second season which ended just last September 28, 2008. Tha manga adaptations, which carry alternating interpretations started serializing in October of 2006.

Something about the characterizations of the people in the episode makes you love them and hate them and wonder about them at the same time. The line between protagonists and antagonists becomes almost invisible, leaving you to wonder and ask, “Who’s the main character here again?”

Exposure wise, Lelouch is the protagonist. Usual plot wise, you would think it’s Suzaku. Power wise, you would think it’s anybody’s ball game.

Here are some of the things that I would never forget about the series:

• never ever get lost in the shifting of the personalities you are trying to live – if you are not as good as Lelouch, you will definitely lose yourself in the middle
• the most effective way to bring a high-ranking official down, no matter how prestigious they are, is to call them using a name of a fruit. (Orange-kun)
• underlying relationship between Lelouch and close male characters – Suzaku and Rolo – everybody who has watched the movie and do not have the kinks of doing it with the same sex may find this idea perverse but I swear on my dead lesbian escapades, Lelouch is a potential ya-oi superstar.
• one lesson learned: If you have this magnanimous dream to make the world a “better place”,  don’t have kids – they will ruin your plan for you especially if they are as good as you are.
• with all the men in Britannia, only Suzaku can match the amazon of the black nights – Karen. And considering that Suzaku was working under Lelouch’s geass to survive. It only shows that the only man who has balls big enough to carry Lelouch to victory is a woman.
• balls-cracking quotes:
  • All hail Britannia!
  • Those who are allowed to shoot are those who are prepared to be shot.
  • Inequality is not an evil. Equality itself is evil.
  • The world won’t change with pretty words alone.
  • Princess Euphemia: Everyone who calls themselves Japanese. I have a request. Can you all die? Erm…I hoped that you would all commit suicide, but is that impossible? Then can all the soldiers please annihilate them?  It’s a massacre! (After killing someone) Now, will all the soldiers please hurry
  • C.C: Within the endless flow of time,l i am alone
  • Lelouch: Terrorism is nothing more than childish harassment.
  • You’ve had only two choices ever since you joined the Order of the Black Knights. Either live with me, or die with me!
  • The world will change. I’ll change it.

For those people who haven’t seen the series yet, I hope this article would make you want to see it. It’s a nice change from this era of predictable plots. (Really!) For those who have seen the series, let’s congratulate ourselves for being so damned lucky for having done so!

gadget

It is but undeniable that gadgets have already become a staple requirement of our everyday lives. Without exaggerating, a lot of people nowadays could not imagine anymore living everyday without their phones, laptops, and all of the gadgets that they think they could not live without. The sad fact, however, is that only a handful of people really have in-depth knowledge of the in’s and out’s of these technological implements. This is the reason why many people choose gadgets that do not compliment the kind of lifestyle or work they have.

This the reason why this site has been put up: to give you general ideas of the different kinds of gadgets that are in the market. It gives you an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of these gadgets as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

If you have information that you want to share, do not hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comments.