Nothing beats the scare out of you than an earthquake in the middle of the night on the 10^th floor just before you fall asleep. on the verge of losing wakefulness i suddenly felt the bed shaking. thinking that its just one of those headaches, i tried to get up to get some medicine. but i noticed the alarm clock somewhat moving near the edge of the table which is roughly 2 meters away from my me! now that is no joke. the tremor ended maybe 20 seconds later, after i went out of my room to check on things. there were i think 4 - 5 other people who were also out of their rooms, although most of them were in the upper floors and checking on the situation.

when they all went back in, i had no other choice but to go back myself, and just think about this as `one of those earthquakes` like i was only talking of rain falling.

i looked at my brand new copy of <a href=http://www.tor.com/jordan/knifeofdreams.html>Knife Of Dreams</a> and thought of just finishing chapter 2. but reaching for that might mean another sleepless night, and i'll be going to church later. maybe i'll just close my eyes, pretend that it won't happen again while i'm sleeping.

i'll be (for one last month at least) be going back to taiwan. the suitcase is still a mess, the news a little bit late (and somewhat unexpected) and the anticipation a little bit low. somehow i still want to go back there, but the greater part of wanted me to stay. one more month, and i'll be back for good.

this is the first weekend in recent memory where i was able to sleep at an average of 12.5 hours a day. last friday i slept at around 1030pm and woke up at 1130pm saturday. that same night i slept at 1am (so that would make it sunday) and i woke up at around 1230pm.

i don't remember myself being bum as hell as that since college. as much as i can stand days without sleep, given the chance i can sleep (and yes i will) for 10-12 hours. this has always been my way of relieving physical stress. plus it comes for free.

happy birthday Mom! how i wish you're still here with us.
i know it made you feel proud when i handed you Inhinyero 2001, and how 21 years of toil has finally bore its fruit.

found in Paul's blog. a nice time filler when you're updating your database.

three names you go by:
1. mark
2. marky/markee
3. javi

three screen names you have had:
1. thesilentkill
2. algomixture
3. nothing more fancy.

three physical things you like about yourself:
1. height
2. eye
3. eyelashes

three physical things you don't like about yourself:
1. teeth
2. nose
3. my skinny frame

three things that scare you:
1. road accidents
2. injuries (as if)
3. probably things on my dreams that i can't quite recall

three of your everyday essentials:
1. Internet
2. wallet
3. eyeglasses

three brands you love:
1. nike
2. bench
3. everything else on sale

three of your favorite musical artists (currently):
1. fuel
2. dashboard confessional
3. hale

three of your favorite songs (currently):
1. sunburn
2. vindicated
3. famous last words

three of your favorite movies:
1. butterfly effect
2. my sassy girl
3. matrix I

three things you want in a relationship:
1. honesty
2. freedom to move
3. trust

three lies and truths in no particular order:
lies:
1. i'm that intelligent
2. everything's that cool
3. i always agree with you (hehehe)

truth:
1. i'm not that good
2. i'm better than you if only i can put focus into it
3. i'm a narcissist (you will be once in your lifetime)

three physical things about the opposite sex that appeals to you:
1. eyes
2. teeth
3. height

three of your favorite hobbies:
1. reading
2. basketball, billiards, biking (yeah!)
3. internet (porn!)

three things you want to do really badly now:
1. sleep (always on top of my list all the friggin' time)
2. play with my niece
3. exercise (and i mean serious).

three careers you're considering/you've considered:
1. pro-ball player
2. priesthood (really)
3. doctor

three places you want to go on vacation:
1. carribean
2. europe (greece)
3. japan

three things you want to do before you die:
1. write a book
2. go into teaching
3. (i guess i'm still free for one more).

three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
1. i believe i'm better than you
2. i can find my way
3. i read, watch and actually criticize porn

three celeb crushes:
1. evangeline lilly
2. nikki gil
3. jeon ji-hyun

once again the people's champ (and no i don't mean The Rock) gave the philippines something to be proud about. i hope his rematch with Morales would eventually happen, so that he can prove that Morales' win is just a fluke.

glad to hear (and read) the news, as there isn't any telecast of the matches here in taiwan. oh well.

and is it really true that The Undertaker was the country's flag bearer?

traffic at 8am is unheard of in this part of the city. but here we are at the hotel driveway waiting for the line of cars out in the street to pass. just then we realized that there was an ambulance parked in the side street. so there's your reason. a man (on a scooter) has been ran over by a 10 - wheeler truck. the image is a so graphic (or lurid) that Final Destination I / II was the first thing that came into my mind. so much for my dream of biking here in taiwan. don't want to break a another finger anymore.

then just 20 minutes ago, an earthquake just hit us, maybe an intensity III on the Mercalli scale. my supervisor (a filipino) and i were already on the edge of our seats all the while looking at our taiwanese colleagues who are otherwise nonchalantly discussing something.

both of us: don't you guys think there's an earthquake? (a euphemism for `can we panic and run now??`)

them: its no problem. its nothing. (hell yeah like you just want to feel like a pendulum.)

in fairness with them they are so accustomed to earthquakes that this intensity is negligible to them. so we just kept our ground before the earthquake stopped after roughly 30 seconds.

something tells me its not going to be a good day..

celebrating my birthday with a bang is not much my thing. i prefer the laid back, contemplate-about-your-life-so-far thing, much like what i do on Holy Week. but in a foreign where nobody hardly knows you, i've already had my share of quiet time and i welcome this change.

• we got to eat (again!) in Yummy's. the smell of golden tofu and the night is quite right. this happened on my birthday itself, and was such a relief because i almost thought i won't be able to treat them (or anybody).


• being back in the philippines the next day, i had dinner with my folks at home. smelling sinigang / sisig / crispy pata at your table with your family is priceless (for everything else, there is a mastercard).


• friday party with my basketball teammates. the party's not just for my birthday, as some officemates had their despidida that night, aside from the fact that we finished 2^nd runner up in a company-wide basketball league. a night of wine, women (???), and song. >=)


• my high school and college friends had a barbeque / magic sing party at our house. although not a complete attendance, this is one of the nicest way to cap off your birthday week of celebrations.

honestly i didn't saw all of these coming. four celebrations. different sets of people close to you singing happy birthday. one memorable week.