Sa mga nagtatanong kung naka-register ako, short answer: No.

As much as it pains me to have undergone that waiting process and still not make the 160 people/day cut, I'd have to say that I took the whole thing with grace.

I went at the Makati Fire Station right after my shift at 2AM, without having slept from Sunday. I saw the long line but I was confident that I will make it. To show you how confident I was, here's the photo of the line in front of me. Kitang-kita naman na di aabot ng 160 yan diba? (may mga tao pa sa stairs, but still...)



I talked to my friend, Len, on the phone for almost 2 hours. I was sitting on cold parking lot concrete that my butt already started to hurt. So after I finished my potato and garden salad (lol ang dami kong baon okay?), I decided to use my bag as my pillow and catch some z's.

Yes, I slept on the Makati Fire Station parking lot, cold and hard concrete, nothing more! How many people can actually say that?

Cowboy kung cowboy. Also, I was queuing alone so naki-friends ako sa mga katabi ko. By 4AM, I felt the need to sleep and so I did. Actually, everyone in the line did. Until come 5AM, some jerk blared his car's horn until we all woke up. (Nakalimutan naming parking lot nga pala yun haha)

It was a nice nap. May stargazing effect pa nung nagising na ako.


In fairness, maganda yung boses nung kumakanta so okay lang sakin. After a while, peddlers selling food arrived. Pinaka-mabenta si Manong at ang kanyang taho.



I waited for two more hours until the office opened. I killed time by streaming Magic's Good Times on my phone until it got drained.

But around 7AM is where it gets ugly. People who looked freshly bathed and had a full 8-hr sleep started arriving, taking spots in the far front of my area. If someone were to cut in front of me, I would have shoved their asses off. But it was far from me and my energy level requires me to not talk and not move that much. People behind me were already shouting to those in front. They seemed to hear because they looked back, but they stayed put.

Then the EO started his spiel on speakerphone that lasted until 8:10AM, when the registration was supposed to be starting already. These are his points:

• Registration has been ongoing for more than a year. Why only register now?
• The COMELEC commercial have been playing in ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5 for months, did you not see it?
• There were months were they only had 5 registrants per day.
• They came to barangays but only 20 people registered
• They won't eat lunch at 12, but they will end at 4PM
• They don't get paid for overtime so they can't extend.
• There's only room for 160 people because they can only process 30 people per hour. 20 regular people/hr + 10 pregnant/disabled/elderly people/hr; Why? Because there are only 3 computers and 3 EOs and they can only do that much.
• *People in front of the building won't get any chance

At 8:20AM, a horde of people from nowhere came in front. Suddenly, an Election Officer (EO) walked by and asked the people to not mess up the line. And as if they are entitled to do so, they merged with the line that we're in. I was dying in disbelief! There are people who could be THAT selfish?

From ugly, it went down to chaotic levels! The shouts from behind became wails and what was turning to be an angry mob. Thankfully, they were only using words, nothing physical. Pano ba naman di magagalit yung nasa likod, tumatawa pa yung mga naningit. The nerve!

When it struck 9AM, it became clear that I will no longer be able to go in. Wala ng pag-asa. Lahat ng mga kasabay ko sa pila, magsstay na daw dun until Wednesday morning. I could've stayed there with them but I have a job and a medical condition that needs to be taken care of. I left.

I would have to agree that last minute registrants have a fault in this. That there would not have been a hassle if we registered earlier. But please don't reason the TV commercials that have been playing. Not all of us have television. In fact, I only knew of the registration deadline when Hagedorn, Puerto Princesa's good mayor, decided to submit his candidacy at the last minute and it reached the social media.

~*Hagedorn for Senator!*~

The thing is, people now are more dependent on the internet than TV. An awareness campaign through the internet would really help in the information dissemination. The EOs can complain and rant all they want, but it has to be a two-way street. Also, if this has been trending for quite some time, not just this election registration, why are they not doing something about it?

Kung ang mga resorts, may peak at non-peak season, pwede rin nilang i-apply dito. Pag non-peak season, instead the usual 3 people manning the registration office, gawing isa. Tapos damihan kapag peak season.

One word: Utilization.

Pwede ring may kasamang perk na mabibigay agad yung voter's id kapag non-peak season ka nag-register. Kasi may downtime naman pala ang district offices eh, bakit may mga voters na 2 years na, wala pa ring ID.
OR BETTER YET, gayahin yung appointment system ng DFA at NBI. It has been applauded by many people how the system changed for the better. Hindi naman dahil every 2 years lang nagbubukas ang registration, hindi na dapat pagandahin ang sistema. Make use of the technology. Kasi kung pwedeng padaliin ang buhay ng mga tao, registrants and EOs alike, WHY NOT?

For now my voter status is in the grace of COMELEC Chairman Brillantes, if he would decide to reopen another round of registration. I hope he will. I would very much want to vote for my mayor.

*All the people lined behind the fire station is estimated to be 300-400. If the registration line circled up into the back of Makati Post Office, we could safely assume there was more or less a thousand people who came today. That's 800+ people who couldn't register.

As Instagram'd last Friday, I recently got the overdue Globe Tattoo stick from my company. Long overdue, because I was supposed to receive it almost 2 years ago. I never got an email to claim the dongle and mobile phone I requested.

I have seen other dongles before (er, stick? sheesh both sound dirty) but this newly issued broadband stick looked different. It was sleek and it didn't have the sim card slot opening that I was used to. And like any other clueless person out there, I thought there was a free pre-inserted sim card in there. Alas, when I connected it to my PC, the Globe Broadband application recognized the device but kept telling me there was no sim card inserted.

I Googled and found several Yahoo Asks, how-to guides, and instructional videos (not for Globe Tattoo) but I didn't quite get the instructions. And then, after a few more minutes of fiddling, I finally got it! So in an effort to be helpful to those who are googling for a guide, I documented it for your ease.

First, uncap the dongle.

Then, you'll see the arrow pointing downwards. No, this is not an arrow for the cap, like what I previously thought.

Next, push really hard. The first time you do this, the lock will have to be more tight. I remembered already pushing this at my first attempts but I was doubtful and was afraid to push harder 'cause it my break. Also, please pardon my nail. T_T

Finally, insert the data sim card in the slot as illustrated.

This is what my abdomen currently looks like, when I'm standing straight and not breathing. I think it looks more than okay.
And here is what it actually looks like, in times when I'm not self-aware. I know it's not scary big and flabby but let me just say that I haven't eaten anything YET.

For me to be this thin and having that much tiyan says a lot about my laziness. I just want my college dancer abs back. *more whining*

I wonder how many situps and pole classes I have to do before I can see my abdomen tone up. I wanna start by TRYING to do 100 per day. But if you have seen this video, that plan might even pose as a challenge.

I just tried too hard to insert the word TOP in that title. Of course it has to mean something, right?
#TeamGroove
Orange
Pole Dancing

Note: TL;DR

It's been three years since I went back to my most favorite place on Earth, my hometown Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. There are moments when I'll just cry of homesickness but because my corporate life has taken over me, I just waited and waited for that perfect time to go home, until it became three years since my last visit. But hey, another life lesson, which is... er, okay my train of thought ended here. Enough of the sob story.

Sooo I'll be there for only five days. It might seem a bit longer than usual for the occasional bakasyonistas but hey, I do have free accommodations so I don't have to worry about the money for that. It even feels short for me but since I won't be travelling alone, I have to consider everyone's schedule. Next time, I'll utilize the weekends so it would be nine days, schedules be damned!

It's set three weeks from now but I have not yet finished the itinerary. There are still slots that need to be filled. One day, I have reserved for my high school barkada, but things are still not set in stone. I still have to get permits for the Underground River courtesy of friends that I could ask for help locally, since my parents are currently in Iloilo so they can't help prepare. Logically, for two people travelling, it might be better to join tours since the super tipid trips are usually those with more people in the group but being the cheapskate that I am, I've managed to make an outline of the DIY tours that are still a tad cheaper than tour packages that you can easily see online.

This is still pure talk but after the trip, I'll post an expense report and try to make it as detailed as possible to help future travelers who want to visit Puerto Princesa.

Trivia: Until now, I'm still charmed with the folklore behind the name of my city. It was only told to me as a child so this might not be accurate: There were lovers, a beautiful princess and her majestic handsome prince, who truly love each other but because of circumstances I cannot remember, had to go on separate ways temporarily. The prince promised to come back for her princess so they made a pact that the princess would wait for her prince at the port (di pa uso ang air travel non). So every night, the princess would go to the port, look out to the sea and wait. She did this every night. Months passed and still no prince. This went on and on until she died.

Sidenote: Haha okay, so I just realized that the plot was a lot like Hachiko! Parehong sad ending. However, I do get a sense of nostalgia every time I hear the city's name. Parang nagfa-flashback yung pagka-kwento sakin nyan. Although, I can't remember who told me the story.

After days of rereading blogger reviews about Clawdaddy's Boiling Bags, I finally cave in. I just had to try it for myself as soon as money landed on my bank account. I guess I was justifying that I don't really eat out anymore so this one was okay.

Before and After: 1 hour interval

Although, I must admit that it was a bittersweet experience. We were eating a meal good for four people when there were people in Marikina and other flooded areas who weren't eating anything. But because we only had an hour to finish the meal until our Bourne Legacy screening, the guilt became more about trying to finish the whole thing so it would be worth the money we pay.

Now, on to the meal. We chose the Louisiana Boiling Bag (Seafood Boil Spice flavor)-- a mix of fresh crabs, shrimps, a lone sausage, corn and potatoes. The meal came with a pitcher of either lemonade, iced tea and another kind of tea which I forgot haha. We didn't order any soup, appetizers nor dessert. Just a cup of plain rice each was all we wanted with the bag.

It was as good as they say. From the moment the server cut the bag, the air really whiffed of seafood goodness. The flavor wasn't too spicy, it was just right and not overwhelming. I was surprised that we both didn't order extra rice, usually seafood makes me eat at least two cups of rice. I guess it was because we were both trying to savor the moment and try not to get full too soon.

The service was above average. Servers were attentive even with a packed restaurant on a Friday night. Also, as always, their shell cracker is as reliable as ever. In fact, I like using their stone cracker than the usual clamp-like crackers that other restaurant uses.

Total Wallet Damage: P1694
Louisiana Boiling Bag - P1495
Rice - P30 x 2 = P60
Service Charge - About 9%

Will I order it again? YES YES YES!

ClawdaddyBonifacio High Street