BSide Makati: Our New Xaymaca

I've been terribly missing "Xaymaca", an old reggae club along Timog in QC. Since it closed down, we have not found a chill out bar where there's no uptight dress code.

Dear JT - This post is for you!

JT, my friend who's now based in Dubai, has been asking me if there are any other clubs now in the Metro that comes close to Xaymaca. We used to party at Xaymaca on Saturday nights and always end up having a grand time! Our favorite band has always been Coffee Break Island (CBI) and I really love it when they do covers for Sublime and 311! My friends Karen and Jon used to tease me that I went on a treadmill because I am always dripping in sweat from dancing at Xaymaca whenever CBI plays. ( Oh I miss our early twenties days!)

Anyhoo, this weekend I went to Makati to meet up with my friends who I have not seen in such a long time and we decided to go to this place called : BSide!

 

  

Band Played: 

"Pass the dutchie on the left hand side...Pass the dutchie on the left hand side..."

Karen (screaming to me):

"That's your song!"

 When this lead singer came out wearing leopard print tights, we just knew Karen and I had to go inside and get a clearer picture!

The band Jeepney Joyride! 

My friend Karen who's with me kneeling on the floor taking a good angle while watching the show!

  

ERRATUM: The best moments of this band was captured on video:

So JT, if you're reading this post, when you come home we have a new place to go to! :)

Jeepney Joyride at BSide from The Kea Channel on Vimeo.

Diamond Contact Lenses

I've been wearing glasses ever since I discovered I can no longer order at fast food chains and coffee shops by looking up at their menu.

I wore glasses for a few months then decided to give contacts a go because I've been looking oh so nerdy in pictures. I used to wear clear ones, but since I can hardly tell if it's still on my eyes, I decided that since I need to wear contacts, I might as well enjoy it.

The first online purchase that I made was a pair of doll eyes contacts  from Korea:

Source

 Then after a year, I got the blue teary-eyed one:

Source

This is my eye wearing it:

I'm having such a good time enjoying colored contacts until one day in grad school, it's getting unnecessary attention during the first day of class introduction rituals, so now I am wearing a subtle gray one. Then I saw this:

According to this site:

They may sound like a hoax, but the Today Show blog, Wired, and Gizmodo are reporting on gold-plated, diamond-encrusted lenses from Shekhar Eye Research Center in India. Forget bling on your finger, now you can have eyes that literally light up a room for a whopping $15,000.Creator Dr. Chandrashekhar Chawan told Today he got the idea for diamond contact lenses after his wife had the precious stones implanted in her teeth. His new La Ser eye jewelry line features contacts with 18 diamonds adorning a yellow or white gold ring around the lenses. He uses Boston Scleral lenses, which are typically used to treat eye illnesses, to prevent the lenses from touching the cornea. Only 3,996 sets will be made, and Chawan hopes to sell them outside of India. Experts, however, are skeptical about their safety.

I wonder if it's heavy on the eyes? I don't think I can wear it. Talk about BLINGING it  on!

The Mutato Project by Uli Westphal

Saw this on Yahoo news today:

German artist Uli Westphal has been collecting and photographing strange fruits and vegetables for the past 5 years. The Mutato-Project showcases a broad spectrum of produce that would rarely make it into standard supermarket shelves. (Photo: Uli Westphal)

 Can you guess what fruit and veggie?

Apple

Eggplant

Bell pepper

Lemon

Carrot

Orange

Cucumber

Potato

If you saw these at the supermarket, would you consider buying it?

Elbi's Friday on a Thursday

Anyone who’s ever gone to UPLB for college or even some who grew up and lived within the vicinity of the University Campus knows what Thursday in elbi meant. If people get moody on a Monday, starts to get relieved on Tuesdays, smiles at mid-week Wednesday, pray for one more day of survival on Thursdays and look forward to party on Fridays, people in elbi are different. While the rest of the people in Manila (and probably someplace else) are preparing to warm up for the usual gimmick on a Friday night, those in elbi, by Thursday, the party has already started.

Friday on a Thursday?

 The elbi community, which is dominated by students, has a unique culture to start the party on Thursdays. Since every Friday most of the students go back home to their respective provinces or to the city, Thursday has been the official gimmick night. It’s the night before everyone leaves elbi to go home to their families to spend the weekend. The tradition has been passed on way before the new millennium kicked in and the two main requirements to have a guaranteed good night life are great company and good booze.

Elbi gimmick nights are not limited to just booze and bars, but since the community in elbi is very diverse, students have their own versions of spending their “Friday on a Thursday.”

Game Night

Dota? Counterstrike? Star Craft? Games anyone? For those who are not much of a fan of bars and booze, certain groups have a weekly schedule of what they call “Game Night”. Friends have an arranged schedule and set time when they’re going to meet up at a certain computer shop (because there are so many computer shops around the UPLB campus) and they would all play computer games together until wee hours in the morning. After the game night, they usually get together to get something to eat and talk about the game before heading back to their apartments or dorms. Same thing happens every Thursday night and usually the group grows because they have a recruited player who joins every week.

More of the "elbi gimmick" after the Jump!

Shokotan with Remington: The Zombadings invades UPLB

I am so happy to find out about this that I made sure that I had my tickets reserved even before the selling date started.

I was still feelin' a little bummed that the last film that I watched in a cinema is "Temptation Island Remake" which I think is a waste of money and time.  I was happy when I found out that this is going to be shown in UPLB as part of the advanced screening. Regular show will start on August 31st. 

So to make the story short, I dragged my sister and friends to watch this 2-day exclusive show. My throat still hurts from laughing all through out the movie.

I'm not going to spoil the movie for you becky friends but here are some revelations in the movie from the Q&A with the director, Jade Castro:

• The inspiration for this movie was based on real-life. ( Ask the director how! LOL!)
• Mart Escudero (Remington) is a revelation. The guy can act.
• The most "controversial scene" only took one take!
• Certain big stars have a surprising cameo role in the movie.
• Of course the movie has a political undertone, but not directly shoved into the audience's face.

The whole UPLB NCAS auditorium was so full that we arrived just in time for the movie. The best thing of all, eventhough we just got there in time for the start of the movie, we still got really good seats!

The Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington will be shown in theaters nationwide starting on August 31, 2011!

Kid in PureGold Clark singing RnB Medley

I swear this video gave me goosebumps!

One afternoon, in between work and reports, my friend Franco asked me to check this video of a kid selling flute in Pure Gold Pampanga.

This kid kicked the ass of the becky teenage kid singing to customers to sell espasol in elbi square.

According to the comments in this clip the kid joined Talentadong Pinoy (a talent show in the Philippines) and was also featured by Jessica Soho.

I'm not surprised if this video will go viral! Somebody tweet this video to Usher Raymond! :)

The Pink Bandwagon

If real men and tough guys wear pink...

Kanye and Steve Tyler

Then feisty and fierce women wear pink... HAIR!

Avril Lavigne

Rachel McAdams

Nicki Minaj

Pink

Gwen Stefani

Natalie Portman

Kelly Osbourne

And guess who joined the latest Pink Hair Bandwagon:

Katy Perry

But do you know that before Katy switched hair colors from blonde, brunette, black and now pink, her natural hair color is this:

Katy Perry Source

I wish I could change hair colors out of a whim, I wonder what hair color she'll be donning next?

UPLB Syensaya 2011 Science Exhibit

On July 28-30, the UPLB Baker Hall will be transformed into an interactive science discovery exhibit called Wonderama. This sort of mini museum will showcase various research inventions and products of the Los Baños Science Community Foundation Inc. (LBSCFI) in a fun and highly interactive way. - Source UPLB.EDU.PH 

Last week I was at the UPLB Syensaya 2011 to support my good friend/ one man team Franco!

And because I have papers due this week before my best-in-booking weekend, I will let the pictures do all the talking.

Franco with Paulie & Patrice at UPLB FI Booth

Franco and Paulie 

<More after the jump>