Decade Portal: Recollections and Ramblings

Once in a while, meditating on things can help you sort stuff out. Whether it's praying or mere reflecting on what has happened. For someone like me, who overthinks once in a while (OK, maybe a bit more often than that), it helps calm the mind, even for just a bit.

I haven't done any of that stuff recently and I do need to clear my head just a bit. After quick deliberation and judgment of a "good idea", I have decided take a mental trip to the past and look back 10 years ago. Just as much as I can remember now, of course. 

Why? Because I can write a blog post about this, that's why.

Memory lane seems to be set in Baguio or somewhere else high up in the mountains. It's a road covered in infinite fog that doesn't seem to go away. The farther you move forward, the less things that remain seen. You just leave a "light" of various strengths on things to help you see them better than the rest. 

So here we go.


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Wow. I AM short. Sure, everyone is shorter 10 years ago, but man, I really am short. It's one thing that has been pretty consistent after all these years. I must have been playing video games when the heavens made it rain blessings for physical growth. That or maybe my stubbornness when it comes to siestas.

My Top 10 Music Videos: Freshly Handpicked from Memory

Let's have another music-related post. 'Cause everyone loves music.


This time, on music videos.


Music videos are ways to express the song visually, as well as promoting the artist and song. Some MV's express the mood of the song. Some tell a story, whether related or not to the actual song. And some artistically present the ideas conveyed in it. It can also serve as a little visual reminder of the song. Music videos can act like a song's make-up sometimes. When the music video is good, all of a sudden, the song sounds better than it was before you saw the music video.

Now, I've started to like making lists, so here's another one.

Everyone has their choice of music videos and this here is MY top 10 list of music videos. The only rule is that only one entry per artist. If you feel the need to share some videos or even your own top 10, go ahead and do leave a comment.



Saa, hajimemashou.

Album Review: Yoshu Fukushu

Hey guys. I've always wanted to do an album review in time with a recent release. I haven't really been listening to any new releases. 

Until now. 

And here I am, back with an album review. This time, it's about the long-time awaited full album release by the Japanese 4-men powerhouse (technically, 3-men-1-woman powerhouse), Maximum the Hormone: "Yoshu Fukushu".

They released the music video of the song of the same name on their official YouTube channel a few days ago, and in case you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. It's kick-ass.

It might also help if you know some songs from them, as I'm going to use some as reference.

Gaming Principles and Tips

Let's spare the introduction and get on with it. Gaming principles and tips.


+ Explore the area as much as possible. 

"You don't want to miss anything, do you? You're playing the game, might as well see everything."




+ Look around for breakable/lootable stuff like vases, chests, etc.

"It's better to have an inventory full with crap you won't need than an inventory barely filled with anything needed. Who knows, you might get a key item that would save you from coming back there later in the game."





+ Don't leave loot lying around. 

"That old guy won't mind if you stole his $300 that was lying on the table, broke his expensive vases, threaten his wife with a flamethrower, and leave just like that. He's totally cool with it."





+ If you encounter a cut scene, you're going the right way.

"Blah, blah, blah, we've got company, blah, blah, blah, get to the roof...man, this is cut scene is taking forever. What is this, a short film? There we go. Now, fin--AW NO, A LOADING SCREEN! *waits* Is...it...finally--aaand it's another cut scene."

Skateboarding: I think that I shall never flip, a trick lovely as a kickflip

Whoever was those dudes who had the crazy idea of attaching roller skate wheels to wooden boards, you have my respect.

I am a skateboarder. I have been riding on a skateboard almost 11 years now. I have been ollie-ing down and up stuff, sliding on ledges, impressing people by doing some tricks, and trying to get my kickflips to look as clean as possible for 11 years.


How did I even choose this sport?


Tracing it back, the curiosity of the sport sprouted from another hobby of mine, which is common for kids: Video games. I was (and still am) an avid fan of the Tony Hawk skateboarding game series. I grew up on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 & 4 and spent most of my play time on doing all the goals in every level, unlocking skaters and skating gears, and just working on combos. Even though it is a game that has so many impossibilities, like landing perfectly from jumping off the tip of a clock tower to flat ground, or grinding electrical lines, or landing kickflips perfectly every time, I saw the real, possible potential of the sport. Maybe doing darkslides all the way along a 20-meter power line isn't possible, but I do realized that sliding your board along a rail IS possible. Maybe doing a manual after jumping off that clock tower isn't possible, but I did know then that going into a manual after some tricks ARE possible. These ideas went through my head and that made my curiosity grow and grow. 

Post-apocalyptic

Well, this was a fun semester. Andaming nangyari, andaming nakasama. It's been a fun college experience as a whole. A whole 4 years ever since graduating high school and entering the "college life" chapter.

This semester was very exhausting. Not that I can blame anyone for it. I've been an avid practitioner of procrastination although I'm not really proud of it, I am quite adept at it. Academics and Deadlines decided it was time I realized this. At the start, it was still as before. I can still afford to take it easy. But then, before I knew it, there was just this wall of deadlines were just set so fast and so dangerously close to each other.

It's because of this semester that I realize now where I'm lacking. At first, I'd say it would be down to prioritization and efficient time management, but there's more to them. To me, they seem more like mere branches from a tree. Follow them to their roots and there lies what's more important: my self-discipline is lacking.

Anime: Dono Taipu ga Suki Desu ka?

I've been watching anime for quite a while now. Started out 3 years ago, as an anime enthusiast. Or maybe earlier than that, if watching dubbed Mojacko and Cardcaptor Sakura as a child on local TV stations after school counts.

It first started out with manga. I started reading Detective Conan chapters for a school assignment. Yes, you read that right. "For an assignment". While reading it, I got hooked on the storyline and eventually caught up with the recent chapters. After catching up, I decided to watch a few of its movies. And it was awesome. I guess that was the time when I began to be curious about anime.

Although I haven't watched a lot of anime, I've seen enough and ones which I think are honorable mentions when suggesting animes to watch.

And here are my picks, in no particular order.

NOTE: Japanese names mentioned in this list are in the "Given name-Last name" order. However, I will refer to the characters using their last name by default, unless the anime character is usually addressed in some other way.

EXTRA NOTE: Even though I've mentioned Mojacko, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Detective Conan, they won't be in the list anymore. And just so you guys know, Pokemon isn't in this list either.

Naruto

Starting out with something pretty mainstream: the famous blonde-haired orange ninja of the manga/anime world. Naruto is a well-known ninja battle manga/anime around the world. Hell, you've probably AT LEAST heard of it. 

For those of you who do not know the setting: Main character, Naruto Uzumaki, was treated as an outcast by his own village because of a powerful entity sealed inside him: the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. In spite of everyone's cold treatment towards him, Naruto found teachers and friends that are willing to help him. As he gained a little more sense to living, Naruto now dreamed and vowed to become the Hokage (the village's prime leader), to make everyone pay no attention to the beast inside him and acknowledge him as a fellow ninja, as a part of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.