Pensées Aléatoires

La Vie en Brusse

2012-01-21T08:00:00.005-05:00

Things I've done in the past 4 weeks:

1) eaten snake, antelope, hare and porcupine. I draw the line at chat tigre (apparently a tiger cat) and monkey. It was a bit unexpected and a little shocking when someone showed me a monkey head that was part of a carcass being prepared for dinner.

2) not see another American. Although I did see another European since the Catholic priest is from Europe and has been at my community for decades and can speak the local language fluently.

3) drank quite a bit of Top or Fanta but rarely any beer like 33 or Mutzig.

4) had more electricity than I would have expected considering I supposedly live in the bush (the Congo basin according to the map). People tell me though that the electricity will disappear during the rainy season.

5) said the sentences 'je ne comprends pas', 'pardon', and 'qu'est-ce que tu as dit?' quite a lot, which means I still have a ways to go before I'm fully fluent in French.

6) used the text-to-speech feature on my Kindle which made reading more interesting, like a robot narrating the story.

7) occasionally pondered whether I can forego the familiar comforts of American life. Comforts like the easy availability of a nice, fat burrito.

8) finished some good books like Jon Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory, Michael Lewis' The Big Short and Dave Eggers' What is the What?

La Fin ...

2011-12-03T05:07:00.006-05:00

... du stage (i.e. the end of training). Oh, blog, how I've neglected thee. How can I make it up to you? How about some pictures? Pourquoi pas? Since I last blogged, I visited three more regions in Cameroon. There's the West region where we had some problems with our van sliding into a ditch. Fortunately, no one was hurt:

There was also the Northwest region, where it rained a lot:

And finally, there's the South region, which I visited before, but not 'en brusse' (in the bush). I had to take a bush taxi, which a Peace Corps volunteer called a clown car since they stuff so many people in there:

Aside from the awesome field trips, my training is nearly over. 53 of us trainees will be sworn in as PC volunteers next week. The following day, we will go our separate ways to our posts all over Cameroon. Its a little bittersweet. On the one hand, its a little sad to say goodbye to everyone. We probably won't see each other that much in Cameroon after swearing in. On the other hand, I think we are happy to start the next phase of our Peace Corps career. One thing is for sure: it'll be weird not to be around so many Americans in Cameroon.

L'électricité

2011-10-16T06:05:00.007-04:00

There has been no electricity at our training site for a few days now. We have a generator at school, but at home, there's no power. Thus, I have had to use a petrol lamp to write a paper:

We got our bikes yesterday though, so now we can get around town more easily.

On a lighter note:

Quand Il Pleut ...

2011-10-09T08:31:00.005-04:00

After a month of French immersion in the city of Ebolowa with 8 other trainees, we joined 45 new trainees to [undisclosed location] for technical training and more French. The difference with the new location is that there are often water shortages here. There's no running water at the house of my host family. I go with my host brother to the well (or forage) and get my drinking water. My host brother tells me that the well is only for drinking. I have gotten used to using 1/2 a bucket of water for bathing and also in using the bucket to 'flush' the toilet. For bathing and flushing the toilet, there is a tank of water outside the house which seems to be filled when it rains. I don't see how they fill this tank though when it doesn't rain. It seems to rain every other day though, so I'm cool for now. So for the moment, when it rains, je suis hereux!

Engager La Communité

2011-09-18T06:28:00.006-04:00

I realize that the Peace Corps is all about cross-cultural exchange. For example, I get a lot of shouts of 'Ni Ho' or of people saying I am Japanese or Chinese or even of kids acting out kung fu moves. Such is life for an Asian American volunteer in Cameroon. I realize however that I have to engage the community. So in the above example, I need to respond. Responses could be 'Pensez-vous que je suis japonais ou chinois' (Do you think I am Japanese or Chinese) ou 'Pensez-vous que tous les gens d Asie savent kung fu?' Its an opportunity for cross cultural exchange and to teach them about the Philippines and that not all Asians are Chinese or Japanese.
Another thing I realize about life in Cameroon is that one has to be assertive. Par example, I went to dinner with several trainees but the food they brought us was cold. Peace Corps has advised us to always make sure that the food we eat at restaurants is hot. It was especially bad for me because I had ordered pork which has the greatest risk of carrying parasites if not properly cooked. My fellow trainees ate only the rice and avoided the meat. Me and another trainee however decided to eat the food. We didn't get sick but others later told us that we should've said: 'Pouvez-vous réchauffer la nourriture, s'il vous plait? Si ce n'est pas possible, nous ne pouvons pas manger et nous devons laisser sans payer?. Translated as: Could you heat the food, please? If its not possible, then we cannot eat the food and we have to leave without paying.

Ch-ch-changes

2011-09-03T09:03:00.005-04:00

Its been a time of change for me. For instance, its been a change of location. I've been in Cameroon as a Peace Corps trainee now for about two weeks. We've all been working on our French and are starting to know our way around town. The place reminds me a lot of the Philippines:Other changes include my Facebook habit. I haven't been on Facebook in more than a month. What's funny is that there's a lot of too-much-information info on Facebook, like people discussing their bowel movements. Yet in the Peace Corps, not a day goes by without someone discussing their bowel movements. Another thing I changed is the number of posts I show on my blog. I decided to remove the really personal and possibly controversial posts from my blog. I may repost them in the future, but I just want to make sure my blog is Peace Corps safe. C'est tous pour maintenant. A bientot!

See You Soon in Cameroon!

2011-08-17T12:00:00.007-04:00

Well, now I've really done it. I am at a hotel in Philadelphia right now, preparing for my departure tomorrow. I am leaving the country to become an Agroforestry volunteer in Cameroon for 2 years (28 months to be exact). I have to learn French since that's one of their official languages. So I get to use those funny symbols on top of letters like é (as in cliché) or è (as in 'pas de problème') or û (as in 'Je vais partir en août'). I probably also have to convert everything to the metric system. Sacré bleu! So until next time, au revoir!

Chicago

2010-08-11T21:14:00.002-04:00

I didn't get to see Oprah's show, watch a game at Wrigley Field or check out Al Capone's vault. hehe. However, during my short stay in Chicago, I got to check out Millennium Park ...

... visit a blues bar ...

... go up the Sears/Willis Tower ...

... walk to Lake Michigan ...

... and try deep dish pizza. No picture taken for the pizza though.

It was great. See you again some time, Chicago!

One final note: Chicago's public transit system was pretty good. I didn't use a cab or rent a car the whole week I was there. Only light rail and bus.

Technorati tags: Chicago

My Dog Has Fleas

2009-06-01T16:18:00.002-04:00

I attended a ukulele workshop by Michelle Kiba in Berkeley recently. There were about ten of us at the workshop and we strummed along as she taught us several songs. I specifically liked the song "Island Style". Since I didn't have time to tune my ukulele because I was late, I tried to tune the ukulele in between songs. I also just tried strumming the chords during the song to see if it sounded in tune. It didn't. So I kept fiddling with the ukulele's strings throughout the workshop. I noticed that the guy in front of me slightly turned his head in my direction every once in a while. He probably knew I was trying to tune my ukulele using the "My dog has fleas" tuning technique one too often. hehe. After several songs of an out-of-tune ukulele close to his ear and with about ten minutes left in the workshop, he finally turned around, handed me his electric ukulele tuner and said, "You wanna tune your ukulele real quick?" hehe

Technorati tags: Michelle Kiba

Laird Hamilton

2008-11-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

My mom has been asking for my cellphone for some reason for a while now. She visited a few weeks ago and since I wanted a cellphone with a better camera, I finally decided to give her my phone. So after having no cellphone for a few days, I bought myself a new one: a Nokia with a 3.2 megapixel camera. The good thing about Nokias is that they're the greenest electronic company, according to this guide from Greenpeace.

Anyway, now that I have a new cp, it's time to test the camera. First test: surfer god Laird Hamilton's book signing at Diesel bookstore in Oakland, California:
The picture's not bad for a cellphone, eh? Definitely better than my last cellphone.

Anyway, I heard about this event by listening to the Sarah and Vinnie show a few days ago. The show had Laird as a guest, who was in the studio to promote his new book, Force of Nature. I looked at the book prior to his talk and it looks interesting. He's got advice on exercise (e.g. ab workouts), food (he has some recipes and talks about eating free-range beef) and surfing tips. As for the talk itself, he just took questions from the audience for about an hour. He talked about a lot of things. For instance, he talked about the art of crashing. That's when a wave may hold you down and you have to hold your breath until the wave lets up. He also talked about using his wetsuit as a tourniquet on a buddy who broke his leg. He also talked about being the risk taker that he is (i.e. still riding the big waves) while maintaining his family life. He's married to former pro volleyball player Gabrielle Reece, btw. It was an interesting talk. After the talk, he signed copies of his book. I didn't buy the book though so I didn't get to meet him. Bummer, dude. ;) It was a bit too pricey and I already have enough books. hehe. Anyway, check out Laird riding some huge waves:Anyone wanna go surfing? hehe

Technorati tags: Laird Hamilton, Nokia

Vegetarian Food Trip

2008-08-27T06:26:00.002-04:00

According to Lonely Planet's latest travel guide for the Philippines, vegetarians will have a hard time in "meat-mad Philippines". I've found that to be generally true. There are some places though where one can find vegetarian food. One such place is Greens, where I had lunch with Bill and his friend Gina Dizon:
Located on Scout Castor Road in Quezon City, Green's is a vegetarian restaurant that has all the typical Filipino dishes. Instead of using meat, however, they use meat-substitutes. For instance, I ordered their sisig dish which was made from tofu, I believe:
It was actually pretty good. Meanwhile, Bill ordered this appetizer of chicharon made from wheat:
Overall, the food at this restaurant was pretty good. I might try it again if I'm ever back in QC.

Another restaurant I tried was Ziggurat located on Makati Ave in Makati. Ziggurat isn't strictly vegetarian but they do have some vegetarian dishes. I figured I oughta check this place out since Lonely Planet recommended it. Another reason to check it out? It was right next to the place where I was staying. hehe. Ziggurat serves Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean and Indian food. Although they have an impressive looking menu with a big selection, not all the dishes listed are necessarily available. For instance, I was going to try the vegetarian moussaka but all they had was the regular moussaka which had beef. Since I've never had moussaka before, I figured I'd give it a try. The dish wasn't bad. The place also had vegetarian shawarma which was ok. The onions were a bit too raw for me.

Overall, the food at Ziggurat was just ok. The location leaves much to be desired especially with a laundromat located nearby that seemed to be spilling some of its water onto the street creating a not-so-aromatic scent. One dish I probably won't try again is their Vegetarian Gluten Curry. My stomach didnt' agree with it shortly after I ate it. I decided to drink green tea to calm my stomach and it seemed to do the trick. Not sure if it was the tea that calmed my stomach, but I wanted to drink a mango shake and I'm sure that the tea was a better option in this case. hehe

Technorati tags: vegetarian food, Philippines

Belated Potter Post

2007-10-31T23:28:00.002-04:00

I finished reading book 7 in the Harry Potter series so I can finally read all those Harry Potter posts, (e.g. from Toe and niceheart). And I agree with Vern's comment in Toe's post: ka-korny nga yung last chapter (i.e. the epilogue). hehe. Anyway, what can I say? Galing talaga mag-sulat si Madame Rowling. I'm not really much of a fiction book reader. As I've previously posted, I only listened to books 1-4 of HP and only started reading the HP books when book 5 came out. Like niceheart, I'm also a slow reader. I'm just not one to sit for hours on end just reading. Thus, it'll take me a while to finish a book. I haven't even finished reading Return of the King (book 3 in the Lord of the Rings series)... and I started reading that book a few years ago. haha.

Anyway, I was wondering what it is about the HP books that has made them so captivating for readers worldwide. I have a few theories. One reason: I think it's because people can identify with the characters. I mean who among us can't sympathize with Snape, a guy with a dark past and who ****WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD***** as it turns out is a guy trying to redeem himself... as Potter finally finds out in the end. I was always rooting for Snape and I'm glad that he turned out to be a good guy. I thought it was a nice touch that Harry Potter finally paid tribute to Snape, a guy he previously detested by giving his son the middle name of Severus. Potter must really owe the guy big time though. I mean naming your kid Severus? hehe. Well, at least it's only a middle name. Oh, wait, the first name he gave the kid was Albus. Albus Severus. Poor kid. Good thing the kid's only a fictional character. ;)

Another reason why I think the book has captivated so many readers is because the characters are funny. They don't take themselves too seriously all the time and they can easily crack a joke or two even during dire situations. For example, how about Hermione making fun of Ron because Ron was complaining about how he lost some fingernails while she and Harry were fighting for their lives in Godric's Hollow?

Hermione: "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our suffering into perspective, doesn't it?"

How about Ron literally using the word "effing" on page 307?

Ron: "Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them -- nowhere effing near, in other words!"

They're so proper, aren't they? They don't even say the whole curse word. haha. I couldn't remember exactly where Ron said "effing" so I typed in "Where does Ron say effing in deathly hallows" in a search engine. hehe. Now, Mrs. Weasley calling Bellatrix a ..... well, that's a different story. hehe. Well, that's my bellatrix... I mean belated Harry Potter post. :D

On a completely unrelated note, here's a song to go out on for the weekend. It's called "San Antonio Rose" as performed by Les Paul and Chet Atkins. :DHave a nice weekend, people! ;)

Technorati tags: Harry Potter

Ilocano Lesson via Meme

2007-09-13T17:57:00.002-04:00

I am half-Kankanay, an ethno-linguistic group that has roots in Sagada, Bontoc and Mountain Province. However, my Kankanay language skills are very poor. So to get in touch with my Kankanay side, I am trying to learn the language. Nevermind that I can't even speak "proper" Tagalog. Some may say I should master one language first before working on another. But I think there's nothing wrong with being mediocre in both languages. hehehe. ;) Anyway, since Kankanay is related to Ilocano as shown in the following chart from the book Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar by Carl Rubino, I figure that I will try to learn a little Ilocano:

I figure that learning Ilocano will help me in eventually learning Kankanay. Thus, I will answer a "middle-names meme" from Major Tom by using Ilocano words.

The rules:

1. State your middle name. If it’s too long or not sounding so good, then think about the name you wish you had as a middle name. And use that, of course.

2. For each letter of the middle name stated in Rule #1, write a specific trait or characteristic of your person and elaborate reasonably.

3. If you had five letters in such name, tag the same number of bloggers. Like if that name has seven letters, then seven other bloggers. If such name has one letter, then tag that one single blogger. Now wait, I don’t think that middle names—or any name for that matter—could probably have one single letter on it. But who knows, some names might just be like that, like Mr.X, or Mr.Y. We got a lot of names like that back in my accounting subjects in college, Mr. M owes this much, Mrs. Q earns this much, and so on and so forth.

4. There is no Rule #4 so might as well go on.

Instead of using English words, I will use Ilocano words for the initials to describe myself. Another thing though is that I don't really like my middle name. Fortunately, the rules say I can choose a middle name if I don't like my given middle name. Thus, I choose "Danger" since "danger" is my middle name. haha. That joke is from the movie Austin Powers, of course. hehehe. So here's the Ilocano words that describe a little bit about myself from the initials of my chosen middle name:

Dayaw - with the root word "dayaw" meaning honor or glory, the word "manangdaydayaw" means respectful. I try to be respectful of other people even if we don't agree on certain things. That should be a given, no? ;)

Álus - used, second hand. I rarely shop for clothes, but when I do, I usually buy them at thrift or second-hand stores.

Nadalimpako - wavy or curly hair. As I stated in a prior post, I once had wavy hair. I still do. Just not as many. ;)

Gadang - with the root word "gádang" meaning either wading, short pants or shallow, the word "magadang" means shallow, water not reaching the waist. Although I can swim, I don't like swimming in the ocean if its deep. In fact, I've never swam in deep ocean water. I prefer swimming in the ocean if it's shallow.

Étika - This is actually borrowed from the Spanish word for ethics. Most of the words in my Ilocano dictionary that start with 'e' are derived from Spanish words. Anyway, I choose this word because although I have my inner struggles like everyone else, I still try to lead an ethical life.

Raém - polite. Another given. Example from the book: Raementayo kuma ti pammatida a kas met ti panagraemda ti pammatitayo. Translation: We should respect their beliefs as they respect ours.

Now how to use the other 5 Ilocano words in an actual Ilocano sentence is another story. hehe. So there you have it. An attempt to learn Ilocano via a meme. I just need to do this meme several hundred more times with different Ilocano words and I should be a fluent Ilocano speaker in no time. hehe. Now, according to the rules, I now have to tag 6 bloggers, the same number of letters in the middle name. Thus, I'm tagging the first 6 commenters of this post who have yet to be tagged by this meme. If you don't have a blog, then just reply to this post with your middle-name meme. ;)

Technorati tags: meme, Ilocano

Da Man, Da Legend

2007-08-09T07:36:00.002-04:00

As blogger Duke commented in my last post, singer Freddie Aguilar will indeed be performing his first North American tour this month with stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Winnipeg (Canada) and Houston.

Source: http://www.carouselpinoy.com/freddietour.html
The tickets aren't cheap, but this guy is a legend so that's to be expected. In any case, I did buy that "unofficial" Freddie Aguilar mp3 compilation that would probably be more expensive than the concert ticket if I bought that compilation at the non-pirated price. Oops, did I say it was pirated? I meant it looked pirated. hehe. If he has an autograph signing after the show, I wonder if he'll sign my "unofficial" mp3 compilation of his songs. :D

Aguilar will be joined by the Watawat band and special guests Ara Mina and Ella V. (she doesn't use her last name apparently). Mina appears to be some sort of actress and singer while Ella V. is listed as a Viva hot babe (whatever that is). I have no idea who Miss Mina or Ella V. are or why they're on the same bill as Aguilar. To sell tickets maybe? Although I would be surprised if Aguilar really needs them to sell tickets. Anyway, I'm psyched. I'll be going to the show. I wonder if he'll be taking requests during the show. ;)

Technorati tags: Freddie Aguilar

Meeting My Fellow Bloggers

2007-03-14T01:28:00.002-04:00

Verns tagged me to do this meme. Well, she didn't exactly single me out -- she tagged EVERYBODY. hehe. Anyway, this meme involves meeting my fellow bloggers. If I should I ever meet my fellow bloggers, I wonder how it would go. I mean meeting other bloggers can be strange. There's a chance it might not go well. For instance, there might be lots of long, awkward silences. How will you know if the meeting didn't go well? Because they'll probably blog about it. :-D For example, they might say in their blog:

"He's not as tall as I thought he was."
"He kept blabbing on and on and on...."
"Geez, what a weirdo."

I would prefer that bloggers say the following in their blogs if they ever meet me:

"Definitely way better looking in person."
"Even funnier in person."
"His blog doesn't do justice to how great a person he is. More people should be like him. In fact, a cult should be started right now in his honor."
"I laughed. I cried. I would tell all my friends to go see it." Wait a minute, that last one is from a movie review. :-D

Anyway, enough intro, here's the meme:

Who is the first blogger you met?
My sister. hehe. Aside from her, haven't met any bloggers. Although everyone seems to have a blog nowadays so I have probably met bloggers but I just didn't know it. ;-) I did try to meet a blogger once, but.....well, let's not get into that. ;-)

Who is the blogger “you most want to meet”?
Kevin Sites because I like reading blogs by people who are actually on location covering what they blog about. It also takes a lot of courage to do what he does.

Who is the ‘I can meet, want to meet, but somehow never got to meet’ blogger?
Right now? Well, I don't know too many Bay Area bloggers so I guess no one.

Who are the group of bloggers that you most want to meet?
This is a weird question. Group of bloggers? Can I make up my own group? If so, then I would say I would like to meet the bloggers whose blogs I often visit and leave comments on. What an awkward sentence. ;-) These are bloggers who make me laugh and have the same sense of humor as me. Ka-lebol. hehe. I also like reading about their personal stories.

Do you have any bloggers/blog readers that you would like to meet right now?
Yes. hehe. Well, you didn't ask who. ;-) But seriously, just see the previous question. :-)

As far as tagging people, I 'm going to add a twist to the tag: I'm tagging everyone who DOESN'T have a blog. So if you don't have a blog, good luck doing the meme. hehe. But seriously, feel free to do this meme if it interests you. :-)

Technorati tags: blogging, meme

Gym Membership

2006-08-21T18:34:00.002-04:00

My workplace is finally offering a gym membership for a small fee. It was supposed to have been offered months ago, but there was supposedly some haggling over the price. After all was said and done, the fee difference b/w the original price and the haggled price amounted to about a penny. Way to negotiate, guys. Anyway, I'm looking forward to joining a gym b/c I hate to admit it, but I'm sort of vain. For one thing, I don't like having a spare tire for a gut. I'm not exactly fat, but skinny guys like me can still get a spare tire if we don't watch what we eat and don't exercise. Besides, I'm just a month away from having abs like this guy in the photo at left (courtesy of sfgate), football player Jerry Porter. The thing about my body type though is that unlike my brothers , who are both just naturally big, I got the gene that makes me naturally skinny. So, I have to eat and work out a lot just to look like my brothers (in other words, not skinny). One of my brothers is in the photo at right. I'm the skinny one.

Still, joining a gym has it's other benefits and that other benefit is the use of the swimming pool. Since I've taken up surfing, I probably need to become a better swimmer in case a rogue wave or rip current ("rip tide") drags me far from shore. My problem with swimming is that my calves cramp up pretty quickly. It's probably b/c of not warming up properly or maybe I'm just not as conditioned for swimming as I should be. Either way, its definitely something I need to work on if I'm going to be surfing La Union anytime soon. That's the 'hang loose' sign, btw, not the 'call me' sign, at least in this post anyway.

Fun with Taglish

2005-12-28T20:20:00.002-05:00

Taglish, aka Tagalog plus English, always cracks me up. Here's some funny Taglish sentences I've heard lately. If you're the one who said the following, don't get offended. Jino joke ko lang...hehe.....

1) Ginugood time mo lang ako.
Translation: You're just having a good time with me.
2) Sinesend ko ang letter.
Translation: I'm sending the letter.
3) Jina judge namin.
Translation: We're judging it.

For more about Taglish, check out this link from Wikipedia.