its the most wonderful time of the year

its that time of the year again - and i dont want this to be a rant blog. Promotions, increases, oppurtunities - these are the things that can either make or break your fiscal year in my company, but enough about this and on with the show.

We have this mongolian stall on the 12th floor (food court here in GT) which offers all-you-can-stuff vegetables in your bowl for 100 bucks. Recently I just made an all-time high record of my self when i was able to fill my bowl with so much vegetables that i was already ashamed of it. I saw the manager's eyes glared while he just shook his head in disbelief - you be the judge:



take a look of the picture and you will notice that the vegetables has taken the shape of the whole container when opened LOL - yes, it is that many. (NOTE: you will also notice a fried egg hanging on the back for an extra cholesterol boost)

The world cup fever may have died down - but soccer time here in Accenture is just starting to heat up. I was actually part of the roster of last year's champion *EHEM* pero di ako nakapaglaro kahit isang game :) I am now part of a different team - a team composed of primarily new players of the game, whose previous soccer experience includes watching the game from TV, or playing the game with their thumbs on the PS2 - thats it, yes - goodluck to us :)

wake me up when september ends

ok things have been really busy in the office - as much as i want to bring them all here, i will not. September oh September - this is the most dreaded month here in Accenture - because this is where people are notified if they are promoted, if they get a good increase, or they are shelved until next fiscal year :)

soccer, more APO, and a camera

Ive been hearing and reading about this soccer league in Accenture for months now, it nust be because my seatmate (Jaylord) has been talking about it the whole year (he is part of the commitee) and when i heard most of the boys here in DFG are jumping in the wagon - i said "what the heck - ill jump in". (NOTE: i was actually part of the roster of last year's champion :) though i never even showed up on any games, the only time i was "part" of the team was when we were trying out our uniforms - months before the tourney)

Anyways, i was watching ASAP last sunday and they were having a tribute for the APO - they have 8 bands from the tribute album playing their own renditions. I even saw the APO themselves play one of their cult hit - "Nasan Na Nga Ba Ang Barkada?" - and it brought several hosts to tears. I was really hoping to watch the concert (which happened yesterday) but yeah - hopefully they will make a video of it. A limited Edition of the tribute CD will be sold sometime this week - it will contain the "Kami nAPO Muna" CD and a similar CD containing the originals as performed by the APO.

I came across this site which has a glossary of all "SLR terms" - and it may be useful for you baby - here you go

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/glossary/

ako nAPO muna

I was a boy who grew up listening to music - and loving it. My mom is a great fan of the Beatles (that explains the "Paul" on my birth certificate) and old OPMs as well. My father is no exemption as well - though not as evident as my mom. The greatest influence on my musical inclination would probably be my cousin - kuya Joel. He was first year high school and I was grade one back in the days on the busy streets of Mendiola corner Legarda corner Recto - it was my playground. He listens to all kinds of music but mostly rock, i can still remember waking up in the morning while Philippine Violators are playing loudly on our casette player. From singers, to bands, to any kind of music - name it, and i can probably name it.

Wow - that was a long intro :) but anyways I just bought the APO hiking society tribute CD - kami nAPO muna, it has 18 of their greatest hits sang by today's top local bands and singers. I was waiting for this CD ever since it was announced early this year - now it is burning in my player all day.

The CD has all kinds of flavors - from Sound's jazzy vibe up to Kamikazee's screech. Kamikazee did "Doo Bidoo" and they never really rearranged the song, they sang it just like any of their song. I was hoping they could have alter some sections of the songs just to put enough Kamikazee flavor into it.

Sugarfree's rendition of "Batang-bata Ka Pa" was pefect for their type of music - i can almost hear some of their songs in it (probably just me - kwarto rings a bell). They put some twists on the song, just enough to give the song justice. I saw their interview on MYX and I can say that they have total respect to APO and their songs.

The Dawn was a surprise for me since I was not expecting them to be included - Jet Pangan being a VJ on MYX probably has something to do with this (since MYX was the one who produced the album). They did "Bawa't Bata" - and man it was good, like an "ice cold beer from top to bottom". I was hoping they tweaked it a bit, but they just performed so well that im giving them a thumbs up.

"Pumapatak ang Ulan" was recreated by Parokya ni Edgar - and the problem im seeing here is that they sang it too plain that people might not recognize Chito on the vocals. But i have to give a big props on the text load thing - you have to listen to it to know what im saying *wink *wink

Barbie Almabis did a fast version of "When I Met You" which in my opinion is good - I was actually expecting a lovesong version but yeah - it is very different from the original.

Drip and Sound sounded very much alike - as they did a jazzy/funk version of "Kabilugan ng Buwan" and "Di na Natuto" respectively.

I am a fan of Orange and Lemons and I was happy that they did "Yakap Sa Dilim" - they are already performing this song on their gigs so fans (like me) already knew about this long time ago. Orange and Lemons fits perfectly for this song - and they could not have done it more perfectly. I am getting biased here so ill just move along...

Itchyworms did "Awit ng Barkada" - and they executed it very much like the original including the adlibs in between stanzas (if you are an APO fan, you know what i mean) - but i do not like the band laughing at some point in the song. Spongcola sang "Nakapagtataka" - and i really dont know why i hate their rendition, they should have just picked a different song i guess. Moonstar88 did "Panalangin" and it sounded good - Kitchie oh Kitchie, she sang "Pagibig" which is one of my APO's favorite - and it came off very much like her Eraserhead's tribute - though not as "cher" (read electronic - do you believe in life after love)

I have to commend Imago for their tribute - "Ewan" which is one of my karaoke-favorites :) came out good - with their upbeat performance (it sounded very much like Anino though)

Rocksteddy's "Blue Jeans" was good too - one of my favorites not only on the CD but since childhood as well - i just hope they could have sang it differently, i still have an MP3 of Eraserheads singing Blue Jeans live and it is much better.

Sandwich - probably the best song in the album for me - the song is not really one of APO's greatest hits but the song blended well with Sandwich's sound - perfectly. "Bakit ang Babae" could easily have been mistaken as a Sandwich original - it is that good - believe me. I have to give some props to Top Suzara as well - he sounded not like your typical "Freestyle" - which is good at this case :) He did a pop/rock version of "Anna". Boldstar will get a thumbs up from me too - as they did one of my favorites as well - "Kumot at Unan".

Overall - this album is well worth it, we will not be enjoying our OPM music right now if not for APO - so please, go ahead and buy a copy - and do OPM a favor.