Mon Santos Video48 - Quezon City

Over the years I have collected a dozen of video rental membership cards from different places and until now I still have a few of them.

Last Saturday, I brought my family to Video48 to claim my prize, an FPJ t-shirt for winning an online trivia contest by Mon Santos, owner of Video48. And I bought another one for my brother and several FPJ movies. This shop has withstood the passing of time and still holds a pleasant environment for people who buy and rented movies with a cheerful staff and a great customer service. I never got to meet Mon but just seeing his shop, you can instantly sense his personality, a true aficionado of the art of motion pictures.

Aside from tons of movie files, he also has a great toy collection in his shop most notably Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. We learned from his staff that his collection is extended up to the third floor. Of course, I did not pay much attention on the rest of things there except for FPJ movies and be back for sure…

Thanks for the shirt, Mon! Congrats for the two-decade celebration of your shop and for the many years of movie hunting as well.

The Madrids of NY - A Family 8,506 Miles Away

After TRU, I took the F metro at 42nd & 6 Ave. and get off from Bergen station, walked a little to Bond St. and stopped at 210 Wyckoff, and I'm at the door of Atty. Andy & Marivic Madrid, my cousins in Brooklyn with their handsome boxer named Jesse who’s already waiting for me at the stairs and all exited for me to come up...

The last time I saw them was in 2004 when my wife and I visited them for a couple of days. Chuck the youngest of the Madrid siblings toured us together with Tito and Tita Tina throughout New York and even to New Jersey to watch the NBA. We had a great time that year and I’m lucky enough to see them again after three years.

This time it’s the couple only. Chuck’s family is on vacation but I was able to say hi to Tito. We went to Pink Tea Cup for lunch and rested for few hours before going out again.

That night, we attended their Dojo class Christmas party. That same night I heard the phrase “Osu!” quite often. And so I ask Kuya the meaning, I remember him saying it’s a way greeting to a fellow Dojo practitioner and as of showing respect or something like that.

I had a great day during this weekend visit and head back to DC the following morning. It was so cold but Kuya Andy gave me a leather jacket before I left which helps me a lot with the winter breeze...

The Better Toy Store - Singapore

If you're going to Singapore, I would recommend a store that has a great collection of toys for you and your kids.

The Better Toy Store is at the 4th floor of Tanglin Mall. Their site is currently under construction, if you’re a web designer, you may want to offer your services…

Blood Diamond - Sierra Leone

In my three weeks stay in the U.S., I have studied a system so secure, well planned and strictly implemented but across the Atlantic Ocean, I never thought that I would hear a different story and almost an exact opposite of this system.

In class I met Mohamed, another Foreign National sent for training and he's a great story teller, he talked about his childhood, his family, his community and his country Sierra Leone. We have almost the same history, traditions and culture, we've been both under a colonial power, both experienced certain type of militarism and with unmanageable poverty and corruption. But I think no country has ever endured the turmoil that took place in their country several years ago...

If you've seen the movie "Blood Diamond" it took place in Sierra Leone and during this chaos Mohamed was a young family man with 3 kids and extended family. In that time, everybody seems to be an enemy, a rebel in military uniform, a military doing a rebel's act. For them to survive, he took his family on a journey out of the country on Dec 23 and reached Conakry, Guinea on Jan 3. It was hard, he said because you'll have to pass through forests, rivers, swamps and most of the time hiding from the rebels...

Amistad, remember this movie? The hero in this movie is also a Sierra Leonean Sengbe Pieh who was portrayed by the same actor in Blood Diamond Djimon Hounsou an African from Benin. Mohamed gave me a book "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah who was a boy soldier during those dark years which I read from from cover to cover during my flight going home. He gave me a 5000 Leones which has Pieh as the hero...

My First Winter - Let it Snow

When I left LA, its been raining all night and Niel drove me to LAX around 430am and its still raining hard. Not too many people at the airport at that time but during the inspection, i was a bit slow, i put everything to the tray that goes thru the scanner and a guy announced to not include the tickets but mine is already on other side of the conveyor so I waited till they saw it from my things before I passed thru the scanner.

My first stop is St. Paul and seeing from the top, almost everything are covered with snow and its my first time to see this type of scenery being from a country with only dry and wet seasons. I arrived at DC around 430pm and went to a friend to drop off my things before I watch the NBA game at Verizon Center. I got lost a bit but found the place after reading the map and it was very cold. Whenever I remove my gloves i can feel numbness...I can see also ice on the grass and sidewalks so its really cold...

Well...Let it snow!