Pokemon | Pokemon Diamond & Pearl

Finally, 3 years after they were first announced, the games I've been waiting for are here: Pokémon Diamond & Pokémon Pearl.

These 2 games were supposed to be released in the USA on Sunday, April 22, 2007, which is tomorrow, but I've been hearing reports that game retailers across the USA have broken the street date and released them early. I was expecting these 2 games to arrive here a week later, so I was really surprised when I went to the Greenhills Theater Mall early today and passed by Celtex, the shop where I mostly buy my DS games, and the saleslady there promptly informed me that their Pokemon Diamond/Pearl shipment just arrived.

Of course, I freaked out, but managed to hide my excitement and calmly asked if she was really sure. She said that she'll check again, and will send me a text message once the games are already in the shop. Now I've known this shop and its salespeople for more than a year now, and they're really good--they sell handheld hardware and original games at prices significantly lower than the bloated, excessive prices you see at places like Toy Kingdom or AstroPlus, and they get the games faster as well.

So when I found out the launch date for the new Pokemon games earlier this year, I already informed them a month early and begged, er, requested them to reserve me copies. Since they already know me and are generally an overall nice bunch, they agreed.

I went around the malls for a bit, and minutes later, I got the text confirming the arrival of the games. Off I went to the shop and gasped at seeing the 2 games--I couldn't believe I was actually holding them; I mean, this had to be a first, where we were ahead of the USA release date.

I hurried home and spent the entire afternoon playing Pokemon Diamond. It's every bit as great as I expected it to be, and it looks like this is gonna preoccupy most of my free time from now on...

Cuisine | McDonald's

I remember a time during the late 70's, when I saw a full page ad of McDonald's in LIFE Magazine, which just showed a huge, close-up photo of a Big Mac--it looked so appetizing, that I always looked forward to eating one someday. When McDonald's finally opened its numerous local branches here, I was ecstatic, and finally got the chance to eat a Big Mac and more--it was everything I expected it to be, and I sure wasn't disappointed.

As time went on, my favorites changed--from the Big Mac, it became the Quarter Pounder, and then the Filet-O-Fish. Currently, my favorite remains the Quarter Pounder and the Filet-O-Fish, two sandwiches that really satisfy me in terms of taste and overall goodness. The same can be said for McDonald's Big Breakfast, which consists of Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Muffins, Strawberry Jam & Coffee, plus some Hash Browns on the side.

However, like everything else, McDonald's has fallen prey to the sagging economy, and the result is the downsizing of their sandwiches. The Quarter Pounder isn't as big as it used to be, and I was surprised recently when I ordered a Filet-O-Fish--it was so small, my hands practically covered the entire thing! Worse, they seem to increase their prices every 2 weeks or so by about several centavos, which seems too small to be noticeable, yet it's there just the same.

McDonald's have also brought out many "new" products in the past several years, like their Fried Chicken, which is overcoated with breading and tastes like shit; their Spaghetti, which seems to be flavored with ketchup and sugar, which tastes like shit; their Rice Burgers, which are messy and disgusting; their Floats which they add whipped cream, so they taste like shit; and their Ice Desserts, which all taste like shit. Needless to say, I wouldn't eat these unless someone paid me to do it.

But I still go to McDonald's occasionally to have my favorites; I just wished they were still as big as they used to in the old days...

Music | The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be

Here's another of my favorite music videos of all time--Let Forever Be by The Chemical Brothers. The Chemical Brothers are a British duo that specialize in the big beat electronica genre, and I really like some of their music. But it's their videos that are exceptional, because they're superb works of art in short video form. Take this example, which effectively melds nightmarish concepts into actual video images:


The video was directed by Michel Gondry, and why does that name sound familiar? Because he also did another of my favorite videos, which is Björk's Human Behaviour.

Gaming | Resident Evil 2

The original Resident Evil game for the PlayStation was a ground-breaking game that defined a new genre called "survival horror." In the game, the player is a member of an elite police strike force that becomes trapped in a creepy old mansion infested with zombies.

Now I normally don't enjoy action-adventure games, but when I tried out the first RE game (known as Biohazard in Japan), I really didn't expect to enjoy it that much, which made me eager to play the sequel.

In Resident Evil 2, the virus that turns people into zombies has spread throughout Raccoon City, and you must guide two characters to escape the city alive. The player can either play as rookie cop Leon Kennedy or teenager Claire Redfield.

Playing as either Leon or Claire will give you some kind of resolution at the end, but playing as both will give a bonus, full ending that can't be seen if you just play one of them.

Leon and Claire will also have supporting characters that assist them, like the mysterious Ada Wong in Leon's scenario, and the helpless Sherry Birkin in Claire's scenario.


There's plenty of suspense, violence, and gore that's considered normal for this series, plus loads of shocking jump-in-your-seat moments. Believe me, when you finally find some powerful weapon to blow away those murderous zombies, there's nothing more satisfying. The best Resident Evil game yet.

Scorch

It's just the start of April, yet it feels like we're deep in the middle of Summer now. Everything seems to radiate with some kind of heat--the streets, the walls, the people, and it's just unbearable. No matter how many times I take a shower, I start to sweat almost immediately while putting on clothes, and pretty soon that refreshing feeling you get right after showering is completely gone, replaced with a yucky, sticky feeling. If only I can stay in the shower for the entire day...

But it gets even worse during the afternoons. Our house is one of those old homes that were built during the 1960's: concrete first floor, wooden 2nd floor. Since wood absorbs a lot of heat, the entire 2nd story is just a like the inside of an oven, or sauna. Weather reports mention that the temperature can reach up to 38°C, but we have a thermometer upstairs (and not just any old thermometer, it's a Little Twin Stars thermometer, a leftover memento from my sister's teenage years ^_^) that registers the temperature at 40°C!

The retained heat lingers on until the early evening, and slowly dissipates during the night, which means that staying upstairs is sheer torture during that time, like you're being slowly baked; if only we had unlimited airconditioning! Which is why I've neglected to update this blog during the past several weeks, as it's impossible to turn on the PC in that heat, so I usually wait until it's nighttime, when the temperature is somewhat bearable.

Silence

Spending Holy Week in the city is pure bliss--everything seems so quiet and serene. The usual city noise dies down, and traffic virtually disappears as most of the vehicles one usually sees are nowhere to be found. For a couple of days, the city becomes something like a ghost town, and it's good.

I always find it hilarious when I hear about people leaving the city during this time, and going to places like Baguio or the beaches. Don't they know that the best place to spend Holy Week is the city, because almost everyone is gone?

I was actually working yesterday, Holy Thursday, because they needed a skeleton crew at work (the USA doesn't really consider Holy Thursday or Good Friday as public holidays), and it felt good to travel with almost no traffic at all. If only it were like this everyday...

At home, I usually indulge in what's becoming some kind of annual tradition with me during Holy Week; while others take time to contemplate and reflect during this quiet period, I bring out the PlayStation 2 and play a Resident Evil marathon--that's right, I spend hours and hours doing nothing but killing hordes of evil, marauding zombies. Heh.

April Fools

2007 is an election year in the Philippines, and we all know what that means. Already it's begun, the nonstop media assault of all these irritating people who want you to vote for them. These people have some nerve--I hardly ever noticed these buffoons while they were seated in the Senate or Congress, and most of them are just clinging on to whatever little power they have left, while some hardly made a dent in politics. And they want my vote? Tough.

Politics in this country is the usual same old- same old; nothing significant ever happens, except when corrupt Presidents are overthrown. And elections are the ulitmate mixed bag: you've got aging, corrupt politicians running for the umpteenth time, idiotic actors/showbiz/sports personalities who think they have what it takes, and assorted lunatics who think they were appointed by God Almighty to run for public office.

I'm just going to make everything simple and make a criteria on who should I vote:

• Someone who's not an actor/showbiz/sports personality
• Someone who's not a member of a political family/dynasty
• Someone who's not a trapo, or traditional politician (I like the other definition better--"dirtrag")
• Someone who's not corrupt
• Someone who's not affiliated with communists/nihilists/militarists
• Someone who's intelligent
  

Shit, I think there's no one left to vote...