Saturday, August 30, 2008
MDC Sportsfest: CS-COM drops one
In the battle of the only remaining unbeaten teams in the sportsfest, CS-COM bowed to the Emerson EDM-Payroll team last night, 42-34.
Tanginang score yan. Pang-halftime.
Undoubtedly the worst game I've played in since joining IBM. It was so freaking ugly, it ain't even worth free internet space.
Record: 3-1
Next game: vs O'keeffe - September 5, Friday, at Club 650
Tanginang score yan. Pang-halftime.
Undoubtedly the worst game I've played in since joining IBM. It was so freaking ugly, it ain't even worth free internet space.
Record: 3-1
Next game: vs O'keeffe - September 5, Friday, at Club 650
Monday, August 25, 2008
Redeemed Team: United They Rose
USA Basketball is back where they belong - on top of the basketball universe.
Team USA held off a spirited Spanish comeback as they beat Spain, 118-107, in the basketball finals to capture the Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Photo from Getty Images.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Olympic Love-fest
Found this online and it's a very long read. Another one of them reasons Olympians got it good.
--------------------
August 22, 2008
Sex and the Olympic city
by Matthew Syed
Tomorrow night thousands of young men and women with the most fit, toned bodies in the world will mingle for the last time before they fly home. What might they get up to?
I am often asked if the Olympic village - the vast restaurant and housing conglomeration that hosts the world's top athletes for the duration of the Games - is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is. I played my first Games in Barcelona in 1992 and got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life up to that point. That is to say twice, which may not sound a lot, but for a 21-year-old undergraduate with crooked teeth, it was a minor miracle.
Barcelona was, for many of us Olympic virgins, as much about sex as it was about sport. There were the gorgeous hostesses - there to assist the athletes - in their bright yellow shirts and black skirts; there were the indigenous lovelies who came to watch the competitions. And then there were the female athletes - literally thousands of them - strutting, shimmying, sashaying and jogging around the village, clad in Lycra and exposing yard upon yard of shiny, toned, rippling and unimaginably exotic flesh. Women from all the countries of the world: muscular, virile, athletic and oozing oestrogen. I spent so much time in a state of lust that I could have passed out. Indeed, for all I knew I did pass out - in a place like that how was one to tell the difference between dreamland and reality?
It was not just the guys. The women, too, seemed in thrall to their hormones, throwing around daring glances and dynamite smiles like confetti. No meal or coffee break was complete without a breathless conversation with a lithe long jumper from Cuba or an Amazonian badminton player from Sweden, the mutual longing so evident it was almost comical. It was an effort of will to keep everything in check until competition had finished. But, once we were eliminated from our respective competitions, we lunged at each other like suicidal fencers. There may have been a fair amount of gay sex going on, too - but given the notorious homophobia in sport it was rather more covert.
This sex fest was not limited to Barcelona: the same thing happened in Sydney in 2000, my second Olympics as an athlete, and is happening right here in Beijing, where this time I'm a commentator. I spoke to an Aussie table tennis player this week to check out the village vibe and he launched into the breathless patter common to any Olympic debutant: “It is unbelievable in there; everyone is totally crazy once they are out of their competitions. God knows what it is going to be like this weekend. It is like a world within a world.” A British runner (anonymous again: athletes are not supposed to talk to journalists unaccompanied by a PR type, least of all about sex) said: “The swimmers finished earlier in the week and it was like there was an eruption.”
Ah yes, the swimmers. For some reason the International Olympic Committee insists on bunching the swimming events towards the beginning of the Games with the inevitable consequence that the aquatics folk get going earlier - sexually I mean - than everyone else. So much so that, at the outset of the Sydney Olympics, Jonathan Edwards, a Christian and triple jumper extraordinaire, caused a ripple by telling them publicly to keep a lid on it. Edwards was simply concerned about getting woken up by creaking floorboards, but given his biblical credentials, it became a story about morality. Not that his intervention made a blind bit of difference. There is a famous story from Seoul in 1988 that there were so many used condoms on the roof terrace of the British team's residential block the night after the swimming concluded that the British Olympic Association sent out an edict banning outdoor sex. Here in Beijing, organisers have realised that such prohibitions are about as useful as banning breathing and have, instead, handed out thousands of free condoms to the athletes. If you can't stop 'em, at least make it safe.
Which all begs a question, or possibly many questions. First, and most importantly, how can one get access to the village? The bad news is that you can't, unless, of course, you happen to be an athlete with the relevant accreditation. But secondly, where does this furnace of sexual energy come from? Or, to put it another way, why do sportsmen and women have such explosive libidos? I am not implying, for one moment, that every athlete in Beijing is at it. Just that 99 per cent of them are.
Before we get to that, however, it is worth noting an intriguing dichotomy between the sexes in respect of all this coupling. The chaps who win gold medals - even those as geeky as Michael Phelps - are the principal objects of desire for many female athletes. There is something about sporting success that makes a certain type of woman go crazy - smiling, flirting and sometimes even grabbing at the chaps who have done the business in the pool or on the track. An Olympic gold medal is not merely a route to fame and fortune; it is also a surefire ticket to writhe.
But - and this is the thing - success does not work both ways. Gold-medal winning female athletes are not looked upon by male athletes with any more desire than those who flunked out in the first round. It is sometimes even considered a defect, as if there is something downright unfeminine about all that striving, fist pumping and incontinent sweating. Sport, in this respect, is a reflection of wider society, where male success is a universal desirable whereas female success is sexually ambiguous. I do not condone this phenomenon, merely note it. Not all athletes are finely tuned specimens of perfect physical health, of course. A fair number are smokers, not prepared to give up despite the nagging of coaches and physiologists. At Barcelona, there was an area where the puffers would congregate near the transport mall. At the table tennis events in Beijing, a male player from Serbia and another from Greece have often been out catching a drag during breaks in play.
But let us get back to all the sex going down in the village. One possible explanation centres on the fact that Olympic athletes have to display an unnatural (and, it has to be said, wholly unhealthy) level of self-discipline in the build-up to big competitions. How else is this going to manifest itself than with a volcanic release of pent-up hedonism? It is a common sight to see recently knocked-out athletes gorging on Magnums and McDonald's, swilling alcohol and, of course, shagging like crazy. Sometimes all three at the same time. Yet this can be only a part of the explanation because most of the athletes I know are as up for it before and during competition as they are in the immediate aftermath. It is as if sportsmen and women have a higher base level of sexual energy. But why? Can it be that one of the underlying drivers of sporting greatness is also the very thing that produces an overactive sex drive?
If so, you can bet your Olympic accreditation that testosterone is implicated. Testosterone is the hormone responsible for many of the differences between the sexes and is also a key physiological driver of aggression, competitiveness and virility. This is particularly so with regard to women. The dual effect of testosterone on female sporting performance and sexuality was demonstrated - somewhat sinisterly - during the state-sponsored doping programme in East Germany. An average teenage girl produces around half a milligram of testosterone per day. In the mid-1980s German female athletes were doped with around 30 milligrams of androgenic steroids per day. The effect on sporting performance was breathtaking - East German women dominated the world in swimming and athletics - but it also produced libidos (according to the testimony of the athletes themselves) that spiraled out of control.
This is not to say that the athletes in the village are all on steroids, or that elevated levels of testosterone inevitably lead to lots of sex. It is merely to say that, at a population level, higher naturally occurring levels of testosterone in both genders would provide a powerful explanation for the combination of sporting prowess and sexual potency.
I also think it is significant that, for most athletes, the village is thousands of miles from home. The old “what goes on tour stays on tour” mantra is still alive and kicking, not just in sport but beyond. There is something deepseated in humanity that leads us to play by different rules whenever we leave town, a phenomenon that has caused instances of terrible inhumanity. When it comes to sex, it simply means that those in relationships no longer recognise, or at least ignore, the boundaries of fidelity and honesty that underpin human monogamy. Philosophers call it moral relativism; the rest of us call it hypocrisy.
There is also a Darwinian component to this. Scientists have measured, for example, how male fertility varies with distance from one's habitual partner. And guess what? According to a report in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, a man's sperm count doubles when he spends a lot of time on the road - up from 389 million sperm per ejaculate to 712 million. Which, I am sure you will agree, is a lot of extra sperm.
I suggest that it is the coming together (if you will forgive the expression) of these factors that creates such an explosive sexual cocktail within the security-controlled perimeter of the Olympic village. Not that this is a bad thing. I have always regarded sexual promiscuity - for a single person at least - as a basic human right, even if it is no panacea for happiness or, indeed, anything else. Of course, many athletes will abstain, others may even disapprove. Only one thing is certain: they will never again enter a place quite like the Olympic village. Not, at least, until London 2012.
--------------------
--------------------
August 22, 2008
Sex and the Olympic city
by Matthew Syed
Tomorrow night thousands of young men and women with the most fit, toned bodies in the world will mingle for the last time before they fly home. What might they get up to?
I am often asked if the Olympic village - the vast restaurant and housing conglomeration that hosts the world's top athletes for the duration of the Games - is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is. I played my first Games in Barcelona in 1992 and got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life up to that point. That is to say twice, which may not sound a lot, but for a 21-year-old undergraduate with crooked teeth, it was a minor miracle.
Barcelona was, for many of us Olympic virgins, as much about sex as it was about sport. There were the gorgeous hostesses - there to assist the athletes - in their bright yellow shirts and black skirts; there were the indigenous lovelies who came to watch the competitions. And then there were the female athletes - literally thousands of them - strutting, shimmying, sashaying and jogging around the village, clad in Lycra and exposing yard upon yard of shiny, toned, rippling and unimaginably exotic flesh. Women from all the countries of the world: muscular, virile, athletic and oozing oestrogen. I spent so much time in a state of lust that I could have passed out. Indeed, for all I knew I did pass out - in a place like that how was one to tell the difference between dreamland and reality?
It was not just the guys. The women, too, seemed in thrall to their hormones, throwing around daring glances and dynamite smiles like confetti. No meal or coffee break was complete without a breathless conversation with a lithe long jumper from Cuba or an Amazonian badminton player from Sweden, the mutual longing so evident it was almost comical. It was an effort of will to keep everything in check until competition had finished. But, once we were eliminated from our respective competitions, we lunged at each other like suicidal fencers. There may have been a fair amount of gay sex going on, too - but given the notorious homophobia in sport it was rather more covert.
This sex fest was not limited to Barcelona: the same thing happened in Sydney in 2000, my second Olympics as an athlete, and is happening right here in Beijing, where this time I'm a commentator. I spoke to an Aussie table tennis player this week to check out the village vibe and he launched into the breathless patter common to any Olympic debutant: “It is unbelievable in there; everyone is totally crazy once they are out of their competitions. God knows what it is going to be like this weekend. It is like a world within a world.” A British runner (anonymous again: athletes are not supposed to talk to journalists unaccompanied by a PR type, least of all about sex) said: “The swimmers finished earlier in the week and it was like there was an eruption.”
Ah yes, the swimmers. For some reason the International Olympic Committee insists on bunching the swimming events towards the beginning of the Games with the inevitable consequence that the aquatics folk get going earlier - sexually I mean - than everyone else. So much so that, at the outset of the Sydney Olympics, Jonathan Edwards, a Christian and triple jumper extraordinaire, caused a ripple by telling them publicly to keep a lid on it. Edwards was simply concerned about getting woken up by creaking floorboards, but given his biblical credentials, it became a story about morality. Not that his intervention made a blind bit of difference. There is a famous story from Seoul in 1988 that there were so many used condoms on the roof terrace of the British team's residential block the night after the swimming concluded that the British Olympic Association sent out an edict banning outdoor sex. Here in Beijing, organisers have realised that such prohibitions are about as useful as banning breathing and have, instead, handed out thousands of free condoms to the athletes. If you can't stop 'em, at least make it safe.
Which all begs a question, or possibly many questions. First, and most importantly, how can one get access to the village? The bad news is that you can't, unless, of course, you happen to be an athlete with the relevant accreditation. But secondly, where does this furnace of sexual energy come from? Or, to put it another way, why do sportsmen and women have such explosive libidos? I am not implying, for one moment, that every athlete in Beijing is at it. Just that 99 per cent of them are.
Before we get to that, however, it is worth noting an intriguing dichotomy between the sexes in respect of all this coupling. The chaps who win gold medals - even those as geeky as Michael Phelps - are the principal objects of desire for many female athletes. There is something about sporting success that makes a certain type of woman go crazy - smiling, flirting and sometimes even grabbing at the chaps who have done the business in the pool or on the track. An Olympic gold medal is not merely a route to fame and fortune; it is also a surefire ticket to writhe.
But - and this is the thing - success does not work both ways. Gold-medal winning female athletes are not looked upon by male athletes with any more desire than those who flunked out in the first round. It is sometimes even considered a defect, as if there is something downright unfeminine about all that striving, fist pumping and incontinent sweating. Sport, in this respect, is a reflection of wider society, where male success is a universal desirable whereas female success is sexually ambiguous. I do not condone this phenomenon, merely note it. Not all athletes are finely tuned specimens of perfect physical health, of course. A fair number are smokers, not prepared to give up despite the nagging of coaches and physiologists. At Barcelona, there was an area where the puffers would congregate near the transport mall. At the table tennis events in Beijing, a male player from Serbia and another from Greece have often been out catching a drag during breaks in play.
But let us get back to all the sex going down in the village. One possible explanation centres on the fact that Olympic athletes have to display an unnatural (and, it has to be said, wholly unhealthy) level of self-discipline in the build-up to big competitions. How else is this going to manifest itself than with a volcanic release of pent-up hedonism? It is a common sight to see recently knocked-out athletes gorging on Magnums and McDonald's, swilling alcohol and, of course, shagging like crazy. Sometimes all three at the same time. Yet this can be only a part of the explanation because most of the athletes I know are as up for it before and during competition as they are in the immediate aftermath. It is as if sportsmen and women have a higher base level of sexual energy. But why? Can it be that one of the underlying drivers of sporting greatness is also the very thing that produces an overactive sex drive?
If so, you can bet your Olympic accreditation that testosterone is implicated. Testosterone is the hormone responsible for many of the differences between the sexes and is also a key physiological driver of aggression, competitiveness and virility. This is particularly so with regard to women. The dual effect of testosterone on female sporting performance and sexuality was demonstrated - somewhat sinisterly - during the state-sponsored doping programme in East Germany. An average teenage girl produces around half a milligram of testosterone per day. In the mid-1980s German female athletes were doped with around 30 milligrams of androgenic steroids per day. The effect on sporting performance was breathtaking - East German women dominated the world in swimming and athletics - but it also produced libidos (according to the testimony of the athletes themselves) that spiraled out of control.
This is not to say that the athletes in the village are all on steroids, or that elevated levels of testosterone inevitably lead to lots of sex. It is merely to say that, at a population level, higher naturally occurring levels of testosterone in both genders would provide a powerful explanation for the combination of sporting prowess and sexual potency.
I also think it is significant that, for most athletes, the village is thousands of miles from home. The old “what goes on tour stays on tour” mantra is still alive and kicking, not just in sport but beyond. There is something deepseated in humanity that leads us to play by different rules whenever we leave town, a phenomenon that has caused instances of terrible inhumanity. When it comes to sex, it simply means that those in relationships no longer recognise, or at least ignore, the boundaries of fidelity and honesty that underpin human monogamy. Philosophers call it moral relativism; the rest of us call it hypocrisy.
There is also a Darwinian component to this. Scientists have measured, for example, how male fertility varies with distance from one's habitual partner. And guess what? According to a report in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, a man's sperm count doubles when he spends a lot of time on the road - up from 389 million sperm per ejaculate to 712 million. Which, I am sure you will agree, is a lot of extra sperm.
I suggest that it is the coming together (if you will forgive the expression) of these factors that creates such an explosive sexual cocktail within the security-controlled perimeter of the Olympic village. Not that this is a bad thing. I have always regarded sexual promiscuity - for a single person at least - as a basic human right, even if it is no panacea for happiness or, indeed, anything else. Of course, many athletes will abstain, others may even disapprove. Only one thing is certain: they will never again enter a place quite like the Olympic village. Not, at least, until London 2012.
--------------------
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
MDC Sportsfest: CS-COM gulps Red Horse EDM
Shrugging off an awful start, CS-COM got its groove back in time to sink Red Horse EDM, 54-40, for our third straight win. We improve our record to 3-0 while they drop to 2-2. This win guarantees us a ticket to the quarterfinal round.
Ward got best player honors with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Despite being swarmed for much of the game, I still managed to fill the box score with 7 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. Dave was the surprise contributor, drilling in 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
We're having a 1--day break heading into our next game against the other EDM-Payroll team.
Record: 3-0
Next game: vs Emerson GMDC - August 29, Friday, at Club 650
Ward got best player honors with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Despite being swarmed for much of the game, I still managed to fill the box score with 7 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. Dave was the surprise contributor, drilling in 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
We're having a 1--day break heading into our next game against the other EDM-Payroll team.
Record: 3-0
Next game: vs Emerson GMDC - August 29, Friday, at Club 650
Monday, August 18, 2008
MDC Sportsfest: Team CS-COM United
With the entire Center Support group having three basketball teams in this year's sportsfest, some people are wondering who comprises the CS-COM team. For their benefit (and maybe everyone else's), here's the entire roster:
Center Support-Client Operations Managers United (CS-COM United)
Albert Velasco (CET-Transition)
Ben Bautista (COM)
Crispin Cajuguiran (COM)
Dave Torcuator (CET-Transition)
Doods Mendioro (CET-Transition)
Edward Reyes (CET-Transition)
Geoff Manalili (PMO)
Jeff Lim (COM)
John Vingno (CET-RESO)
Jun Cruz (COM)
Mike Ramirez (CET-Recruitment)
Paolo Gonzalez (HR-OCD)
Paul Geronimo (CET-Transition)
Rey Bien Cruz (HR-L&D)
Vince Borromeo (BOM)
Center Support-Client Operations Managers United (CS-COM United)
Albert Velasco (CET-Transition)
Ben Bautista (COM)
Crispin Cajuguiran (COM)
Dave Torcuator (CET-Transition)
Doods Mendioro (CET-Transition)
Edward Reyes (CET-Transition)
Geoff Manalili (PMO)
Jeff Lim (COM)
John Vingno (CET-RESO)
Jun Cruz (COM)
Mike Ramirez (CET-Recruitment)
Paolo Gonzalez (HR-OCD)
Paul Geronimo (CET-Transition)
Rey Bien Cruz (HR-L&D)
Vince Borromeo (BOM)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Blue meets Big Blue
The Ateneo de Manila University hosted the first-ever IBM-Ateneo fellowship night last Friday night at the Leong Hall roofdeck. It was a gathering of Ateneo alumni from various batches currently working in any of the IBM subsidiaries in the Philippines. It became a mini-reunion for the 70 or so of us Atenean IBMers who attended.
A short program ensued with Ateneo President Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ, and Alumni Director Jun Dalandan as special guests. Fr. Dacanay, SJ, presided over the invocation while IBMP's Aileen Rodriguez delivered the welcome remarks. An Ateneo trivia contest followed and gift certificates and UAAP tickets were given away as prizes.
Despite the uncooperative weather, the event was an overwhelming success. We all look forward to seeing this become a regular annual affair.
A short program ensued with Ateneo President Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ, and Alumni Director Jun Dalandan as special guests. Fr. Dacanay, SJ, presided over the invocation while IBMP's Aileen Rodriguez delivered the welcome remarks. An Ateneo trivia contest followed and gift certificates and UAAP tickets were given away as prizes.
Despite the uncooperative weather, the event was an overwhelming success. We all look forward to seeing this become a regular annual affair.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Weekend wonderland
I'm definitely looking forward to the extra long weekend coming up. I don't remember the last time we had a four-day weekend.
Anyhow, it should provide the perfect setting to do some soul-searching. Early returns are pointing to a gigantic leap of faith.
Anyhow, it should provide the perfect setting to do some soul-searching. Early returns are pointing to a gigantic leap of faith.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
MDC Sportsfest: CS-COM shuts down Center IT
Center IT encountered system failure earlier tonight as they were left completely disconnected by CS-COM's fast-paced running game. Even a bevy of system analysts and engineers couldn't prevent the CS-COM players from launching their virus-like onslaught, on the way to a 69-32 blowout win.
CS-COM Improves to 2-0, while Center IT drops to 0-2. I guess this means IT needs a major upgrade.
Ward played a superb all-around game finishing with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Despite missing the whole first quarter, I managed to contribute 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. For the second straight game, Albert dominated the glass with 13 boards.
Record: 2-0
Next game: vs Red Horse EDM - August 19, Tuesday, at the Sta. Lucia gym
CS-COM Improves to 2-0, while Center IT drops to 0-2. I guess this means IT needs a major upgrade.
Ward played a superb all-around game finishing with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Despite missing the whole first quarter, I managed to contribute 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. For the second straight game, Albert dominated the glass with 13 boards.
Record: 2-0
Next game: vs Red Horse EDM - August 19, Tuesday, at the Sta. Lucia gym
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Going for Gold
In the Philippines' quest for its first ever Olympic Gold Medal, a lot of local companies and certain individuals (and politicians) have bought into the hype. They are offering staggering amounts for the first Filipino athlete to bring home the gold.
Quite patriotic, eh? Not so. It's a brilliant marketing strategy though. These companies and individuals will benefit from the free publicity gained by riding on the Philippine team's seemingly insurmountable task of winning a medal in Beijing.
Simply put, it's a win-win situation for them. We all know it's near impossible for the Philippines to win a medal, let alone gold. That said, no need for these people to cough out their promised incentives. Now, if and when a miracle happens and we do win a medal, imagine the additional publicity they will be getting while leeching themselves to the medal winners. I'm sure they'll be milking everything for more than what its worth.
That's marketing and advertising at its selfish, capitalistic best.
Quite patriotic, eh? Not so. It's a brilliant marketing strategy though. These companies and individuals will benefit from the free publicity gained by riding on the Philippine team's seemingly insurmountable task of winning a medal in Beijing.
Simply put, it's a win-win situation for them. We all know it's near impossible for the Philippines to win a medal, let alone gold. That said, no need for these people to cough out their promised incentives. Now, if and when a miracle happens and we do win a medal, imagine the additional publicity they will be getting while leeching themselves to the medal winners. I'm sure they'll be milking everything for more than what its worth.
That's marketing and advertising at its selfish, capitalistic best.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
MDC Sportsfest: CS-COM wins opener
We opened the 2008 MDC Sportsfest season with a 55-42 win over the CompBen Archers at the Sta. Lucia gym a few nights ago. We relied on our playmaking guards and our massive frontline, who were no match to the smaller Archers. We took control of the game by cornering the boards, having collected 70 rebounds, 36 from the offensive end.
I barely missed on a triple-double with a steady all-around game contributing a game-high 17 points along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Ward added 16 points.
Our bigs were beasting off the glass. Albert had a game-high 18 rebounds while Rey Bien brought down 13.
Record: 1-0
Next game: vs Center IT - August 12, Tuesday, at the Sta. Lucia gym
I barely missed on a triple-double with a steady all-around game contributing a game-high 17 points along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Ward added 16 points.
Our bigs were beasting off the glass. Albert had a game-high 18 rebounds while Rey Bien brought down 13.
Record: 1-0
Next game: vs Center IT - August 12, Tuesday, at the Sta. Lucia gym
Nike: The Star-Spangled Banner
I ain't American but this got me pumped up and ready for some USA Basketball dominance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Check out Nike's latest video featuring Marvin Gaye's soulful rendition of the American National Anthem from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, mixed with clips of Team USA.
"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
Check out Nike's latest video featuring Marvin Gaye's soulful rendition of the American National Anthem from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, mixed with clips of Team USA.
"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Consider it done
Deal successfully completed. Transfer's been arranged and confirmed. I won't be needing a Cayman Islands account for this one.
Random thoughts on my HK-Macau trip
Summed up my thoughts and integrated them into a Q&A-type format. I'll just add more as I remember them.
Highlight?
- Baccarat and basketball. I can survive with this combo.
Better highlight?
- Sharing a blackjack table with a couple of Americans. The game of 21's has never been this interesting. Word to commando and the Brazilians.
Best highlight?
- Courtside tickets baby. 1oth row. FTMFW!
Big disappointment?
- Finding out my cam was on ISO 1600 the whole time.
Bigger disappointment?
- No long lenses allowed during the USA-Turkey game.
Biggest disappointment?
- 36 hours ain't enough.
Thing I wish we had in Manila?
- The revolving door at Lisboa. My boys would know what's up.
Laughtrip moment?
- We were running late and we almost boarded the TurboJet to Shenzhen.
Most used words/phrases?
- 'How much' or in the local vernacular 'hawmats.' We were literally throwing it around.
Funniest word heard?
- 'Ses.'
Wishful thinking?
- More English-speaking Chinese in Hongkong and Macau please.
Cheap thrill?
- Fast-riding at HKIA (aka Chek Lap Kok). FTW!
Highlight?
- Baccarat and basketball. I can survive with this combo.
Better highlight?
- Sharing a blackjack table with a couple of Americans. The game of 21's has never been this interesting. Word to commando and the Brazilians.
Best highlight?
- Courtside tickets baby. 1oth row. FTMFW!
Big disappointment?
- Finding out my cam was on ISO 1600 the whole time.
Bigger disappointment?
- No long lenses allowed during the USA-Turkey game.
Biggest disappointment?
- 36 hours ain't enough.
Thing I wish we had in Manila?
- The revolving door at Lisboa. My boys would know what's up.
Laughtrip moment?
- We were running late and we almost boarded the TurboJet to Shenzhen.
Most used words/phrases?
- 'How much' or in the local vernacular 'hawmats.' We were literally throwing it around.
Funniest word heard?
- 'Ses.'
Wishful thinking?
- More English-speaking Chinese in Hongkong and Macau please.
Cheap thrill?
- Fast-riding at HKIA (aka Chek Lap Kok). FTW!
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
The Macau aftermath
The HK-Macau hit took a nasty toll on me. I've been out of commission nursing fever since Saturday. I blame it on exhaustion and the weather too. It's been consistently uncooperative both here and in Macau.
Also, it's not as if we didn't want to rest during the trip. We just didn't have enough time. With a loaded itinerary, something's got to give. Too bad we had to sacrifice the sleeping part.
Was it worth it? Hell yeah.
Also, it's not as if we didn't want to rest during the trip. We just didn't have enough time. With a loaded itinerary, something's got to give. Too bad we had to sacrifice the sleeping part.
Was it worth it? Hell yeah.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Macao Kings
If there's one thing to describe our 36-hour Hongkong/Macau swing, it was simply mindblowing. We got everything we hoped for... and so much more.
A couple of shoutouts to those who made our stay undeniably unforgettable:
To the Pagcor folks - A million thanks for upgrading our seats to ringside. It was heaps better than our original seats. Thanks for adopting us for the rest of the night as well.
To Shong - Appreciate your kind gesture to offer your Venetian room if we don't have any place to crash. At least, we had our worst-case scenario covered.
To Erwin - Tangina, pare. I'll make this simple. You rock. Please pass the word to Boyet as well. Can't wait til our next Asian rendezvous.
A couple of shoutouts to those who made our stay undeniably unforgettable:
To the Pagcor folks - A million thanks for upgrading our seats to ringside. It was heaps better than our original seats. Thanks for adopting us for the rest of the night as well.
To Shong - Appreciate your kind gesture to offer your Venetian room if we don't have any place to crash. At least, we had our worst-case scenario covered.
To Erwin - Tangina, pare. I'll make this simple. You rock. Please pass the word to Boyet as well. Can't wait til our next Asian rendezvous.
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