another day at the beach

before heading to waikiki beach, i grabbed myself a cup of coffee at starbucks, bought a book by murakami (south of the border, west of the sun) at barnes & noble, and got some supplies at the grocery... we went to the beach very prepared.

we arrived at waikiki at 11am... we were already starving so we decided to have an early lunch at ono philly steak. it was pretty good (thanks imma for the recommendation). then we went straight to the surfboard rental shop and got our longboards. my body, especially my back, was still sore from surfing yesterday so i didnt surf much. i just basically bummed at the beach, read my new book, munched unforgivable amount of junk food, and ogled at the spectacular view.

a very relaxing tuesday...

112408 - part two

the good thing about celebrating your birthday in a different time zone is that you get to celebrate it twice.

... had lunch at this chinese resto called little village near the hawaiian telcom building. the honey-walnut shrimp and volcano pork chop were unforgettable.

... took a quick siesta, then headed to waikiki beach for some surfing action

... had a quick dinner at this cheap steak place near the beach (blazin steaks). for six dollars, you get an 8oz appetizing steak, a side salad, a cup of rice, and a 16oz drink!!!

... walked around waikiki to do a little shopping

... went home to relax for a bit, then we stormed mai tai bar for a night cap. we ended up getting ourselves sorta drunk with a pitcher of beer each (budlight/kona longboard) and of course several rounds of mai tai.

i can certainly say that two birthday celebrations are better than one.

112408

i'm officially twenty nine years old...

... went to white plains beach at barber's point to surf in the afternoon

... had dinner at duke's canoe club at waikiki, ordered a sumptuous mahi mahi sandwich and a mai tai

... had a couple of shots at senor frogs, gotten myself a good buzz

... ended the night at this club somewhere in waikiki. i dont remember the name but there were a lot of hot korean ladies for some reason.

thanks to all who greeted me... i appreciate it. let's party once i get back.

damn, i'm old. hehe.

third day

due to crappy weather, we were forced to stay home saturday. i woke up around 11am, checked my email, had lunch, watched an episode of dexter, then i went to bed again. as usual, i overslept... i woke up around 7pm!!! basically i was only awake for 3 hours the whole fucking day!!! what a waste... anyway, we had the leftover papa johns pizza from lunch for dinner. then, some friends dropped by the apartment around 9pm. we had a few drinks before we headed out to hawaiian hut beside ala moana hotel. paula fuga, a local singer, was scheduled to perform. she's dubbed as hawaii's queen of reggae and soul. man, she was fantastic!!! her act was characterized by her powerful, booming voice and meaningful lyrics. her music was intoxicating. we stayed glued to the dance floor the entire time she was on stage. her one hour gig ended around 2am... and we went home happy.

second night

we started the night by having a nice dinner at yard house. it's an upscale-casual eatery known for its extensive menu, classic rock music, and world's largest selection of draft beer. this restobar prides itself for having more than 175 beer brews. i got to try spaten oktoberfest, shock top, and anchor steam for the first time. good shit. around 10pm, we moved to rum fire to drink some more. after two to three rounds, we headed to level 4 to continue our partying. unfortunately, the line was quite long. we must have waited for at least 30 minutes before we were able to get in. but it was worth it. level 4 is clubbing at its finest. once inside, we continued our drinking spree... and ofcourse, we started dancing... at 230am, we left level 4 and thought of checking out senor frogs. nothing was really happening there so decided to call it a night. we were home by 3am.

another night of hedonistic drinking comes to an end. good night. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

boozapallooza

we decided to call this trip "boozapallooza: what-are-we-doing-with-our-lives tour". sounds stupid right? i know... oh well... hehe.

on our first afternoon here, we started drinking around 2pm at the apartment. i think each one of us had two cans of coors light. around 4pm, we headed to this bar in downtown called bar35. oh my, bar35 is hawaii's version of makati's beer's paradise. i'm guessing they have over a hundred beer varieties. they even have red horse and san miguel pale pilsen. to get things started, i got myself a Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red, which i think was a good choice. it has this reddish brown color, a roasty malty flavor, with a lingering hoppy finish. after fifteen minutes, i followed it with a bottle of Newscastle Brown Ale. it's a full-flavored beer that's surprisingly light on the stomach. perfect choice because i was planning to drink alot that night. hehe. for my third round, i rewarded myself with a spaten optimator (recommended by a friend). whoah! great tasting strong shit! my friend was definitely not exaggerating when he said that it one of the best he ever tried. for my last round at bar35, i ordered a Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale. it's not as good as the first three but i really didn't mind. it is still a high-quality brew.

we left bar35 around 7pm... we dropped by at a friend's birthday party somewhere in waikiki for more drinking. i downed probably two more bottles of coors light plus several shots of vodka sprite. around 11pm, we left the party and continued drinking at senor frogs, then at maddog saloon. we called it a night around 130am, and we were in the apartment by 2am. it was just too much booze for one day, but don't think that i'm whining... it's boozapallooza!!! hehe. im actually surprised that i didn't wake up with a hangover.

it's 3:40pm right now... and we're just chilling out at the apartment to prepare for another night of partying.

yeah!!!

i've divided my vacation into two parts. the first one was spent last weekend in bohol (wait for a blog entry about this soon). the second part has just started. i arrived in honolulu hawaii this morning. this is paradise. nice warm weather, plenty of sunshine, loads of gorgeous bikini-clad eye candies, beautiful beaches, booze accessibility in every corner ... this is the life...

actually this is not my first time here... i just fulfilled my promise four years ago when i said to myself that i shall definitely return.

later guys... got to hit the beach and surf. two weeks of sun, play, and fun awaiting for me.

status update

francis is now on vacation mode.

two more days and i'm out of here.

i'm a car with 100K mileage in dire need of a tune up, a battery-drained mobile phone that requires charging, a worn-down pair of nike running shoes that needs a pit stop at mr. quickie, a software that wishes to be upgraded…

rockin' 90s

growing up in the nineties, i was exposed to the booming rock n roll scene. without doubt, these five albums are the most memorable for me, forever changed how i listen to music. take note that two of the albums listed below were actually released late in the 80s. it’s just that i got to listen to them only in the early 90s. i grew up in the south. so there’s some lag time. hehe.

metallica - black album
guns n roses - appetite for destruction
green day - dookie
bon jovi - slippery when wet
pearl jam – ten

some people would think that bon jovi is a sloppy choice. back then, almost two decades ago, bon jovi was still cool and he kicked ass. i have no idea what happened to him after “Keep the Faith” album. maybe he lost his mojo. oh well…

other albums worth mentioning are...

aerosmith - get a grip
def leppard - retro active
soul asylum - grave dancers union
nirvana - in utero
offspring - smash
stone temple pilots - core
smashing pumpkins - mellon collie and the infinite sadness

i'm sure i failed to list down some great albums... my memory is not that sharp anymore. hehe. anyway, there's always such thing as next time... or next blog entry.

cheers

Five excuses for drinking: the visit of a guest, present thirst, future thirst, the goodness of the wine, and any other excuse you choose
- Pete Sermond

RockEd radio

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make your sunday evenings productive... tune in.

president obama

finally, america has a new president. it’s definitely time for change. and in my opinion, obama is the right man for the job. mccain is another bush in the making. and we’ve seen enough.

i was kinda upset when i found out that three out of four Filipinos don’t care who wins the election (via sws survey). they have no idea how much impact the presidency has on the world economy. with globalization, third world countries have become more dependent on the world’s large economies. there’s absolute truth in the saying “when america sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold”.

congratulations to obama... and to the american people for choosing wisely.

here's the link to obama’s victory speech

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/05/raw-data-barack-obamas-victory-speech/

kobe and the gang

aside from cersa 2000 yahoo fantasy league(a 16 man league, see blog entry entitled oldies but goodies), i also joined another league oddly named christmas campers. my team is comprised of the following nba players.

Kobe Bryant
Steve Nash
Danny Granger
Caron Butler
Rashard Lewis
Rudy Gay
Mehmet Okur
Brad Miller
Joe Johnson
Hedo Turkoglu
Andre Miller
Samuel Dalembert

currently, i'm ranked four out of six. but i'm not too worried. i'm actually more optimistic in this league since i have kobe and nash... supported by danny, caron, okur, and brad. we'll just have to wait and see.

rogue magazine

As a new general-interest literary lifestyle magazine for the modern Filipino man, ROGUE introduces itself this month as the very definition, reflection, and celebration of modern Philippine life and culture. Balancing image and intellect, ROGUE is designed to stoke the diverse passions of intellectually curious and socially aware men by telling stories full of energy, insight, style, and humor. It aims to maintain a strong literary tradition by featuring thoughtful essays, sharp prose, revealing profiles, and in-depth investigative articles on a wide range of topics written by some of the finest journalists and authors working in the Philippines today.

ROGUE's long-term mission is to accurately tell the story of our times, our people, and our culture one month at a time; and to capture the people, places, and ideas that define our modern culture. if anything, ROGUE will make a strong statement about who we are, what we do, and why we do it.


i like this mag so much that i force my friends to also get a copy. haha. superb layout, great pics, well-written articles, and engaging short-stories... definitely world-class...

futbol fever

whenever I wear my chelsea fc adidas jacket, football fans in the workplace would usually comment something, or start a football small-talk or even smack-talk (actually not only officemates, even strangers in the mall). same thing with me, whenever I see someone wearing a man u or liverpool merchandise, i’d usually quip ‘chelsea’s better’, and i always get a disapproving stare or a sarcasm-laced smile. football, the most popular sport in the world, indeed has a universal and unifying element. it doesn’t matter where you come from, or what you do, fans will always have something to talk about… teams/players to root for… especially this week… like diego maradona’s latest promotion to national team manager, david beckham being loaned to ac milan, liverpool’s early dominance, etc... damn… this blog entry is a result of me being homesick… i miss the pitch… i miss wearing my nike tiempos… it has been quite awhile since i last stepped on the green green grass i call home.

here are my fav teams of my fav leagues…

premiere league – chelsea fc
la liga – fc barcelona
bundesliga – bayern munchen
serie a – ac milan

football is life.

question of the day

how does a giraffe puke?

oh my… with such a long neck, it’s a looooooooonnnnngggggggg way up.

i don’t want to be a giraffe then in my next life (if there’s any truth to reincarnation). for giraffes, binge drinking should be a big problem. haha.