TiKOY AND CHOCOLATE DAY

If someone tells me 'Happy Valentine's Day!', I tell them not to say bad words..


'I prefer "Happy Chinese New Year" my friend', I'd reply. Can't blame me, it's the time of the year when lonely hearts club members brood at the mere thought, and go on throughout the day contented (or pretending to be) by celebrating with friends, with family, or alone. As for me, I have work. I have the perfect alibi!

Coincidentally, February 14 of 2010 celebrates both V-Day and the coming of the Chinese Year of the Steel Dragon. Also coincidentally, both prefer the color red as the traditional motif, so the whole town's going to be painted with the color of blood and gore 2 times than usual.

V-Day is celebrated every 14th of February to commemorate the feast of Saint Valentine, a Christian martyr priest who was executed by then Roman emperor Claudius II. He secretly wed lovers in the Christian tradition, which was taboo at the then-Roman pagan society (or so the story goes).

Unlike the usual New Year celebrated on the first day of the Gregorian calendar (that's January 1), the Chinese folks believe that the New Year starts at the first new moon of the year, which is always somewhere around the month of February (but sometimes could be as early as the last week of January).

I was born on the Year of the Ox, and Chinese astrology predicts that I have good luck coming up within the Tiger's Year (uh, or so a friend of mine tells me). So I don't need to buy bad-luck-warding charms and other Chinese gewgaws that sprout like mushrooms at the malls. Maybe an ang pao (Chinese red envelope) will do. My mother, though we don't have Chinese blood in the family, believes in the Chinese tradition of new year. Each Chinese New Year, she gives us siblings ang paos with money inside with three number 8's, the Chinese lucky number, in the money's serial code (which supposedly gives us good luck, especially with financial matters, yay!). She even added to the list of Deadly Sins the spending of our ang pao money.

She also doesn't let us bathe during the day (maybe because it peels off good luck that sticks to your skin?). She buys us tikoy (traditional Chinese pudding), which she then fries with beaten egg and forces us to eat it for good luck's sake. And she never fails to buy the latest annual copy of a Chinese Feng Shui mag for new trends in interior arrangement (I actually think my mother can handle a decent Feng Shui expert as a sideline).


Well, now living away from home and celebrating Chinese New Year makes me homesick. Though away from my family, I never forget to buy tikoy and shove some cooked slices into my mouth. I visit my ang pao money in my safe (I don't bring it inside my wallet, it's tempting to.. you know..). I realized it is actually very hard to find bills with three number 8's in the serial number, and so what I have inside my ang pao is a rare find courtesy of my dear mother.

So what did I do this Valentine-Chinese New Year COMBO Day? I went to Southbound Computer Shop today to buy myself a new USB mouse (my old one broke down on me this morning). I bought my groceries in SM Supermarket, strolled to some Chinese New Year displays and V-day flower stalls. I found a very unusual sight -- tulips in pots! I had the urge to buy one pot for myself and grow some at home, but at the price of 800 bucks, I quickly changed my mind. I did not inherit my mother's green thumb, so buying the plant is a risk I wouldn't take (can't even grow a decent sprout of parsley, pfftt!).

I also saw Chinese dancing dragons. They performed traditional dragon dances to each store inside the mall to ward-off bad luck. In return, the stores give them a little sum for their effort of wiggling their asses and heads like crazy.

Deciding to treat myself for V-day, I bought a heart-shaped chocolate brownie cake from Brownies Unlimited for 168 bucks, and then went home.

I ate almost have of the cake by myself (which is not surprising, considering my voracious appetite), and then off to work. So basically, I spent my V-Day and Chinese New Year mostly working my ass off.

Kung Hei Fat Choi everyone! And Happy Heart's Day!


























Source URL: http://jameellamellannyes.blogspot.com/2010/02/
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LiFE iN TABOREA: THE WORLD OF RUNES OF MAGiC

I have to admit. I am an online gaming addict. No doubt about it.


New games out there always had 'demo time' in my hands.. Well, of course not all passed my standards, and only a few moved in permanently in my hard drive.

Mostly I prefer multiplayer online games, where you get to interact with other online gamers while living the adventure of your choice in a virtual world. It serves as my escape to my real world. It's not that I am trying to escape from my reality, It's just that I needed an instant outlet for the overflow of my emotions, my imagination, and my undying thirst for adventure. I'll go crazy in no time if I didn't.

So here we go, a new portal to a parallel dimension opens: The Land of Taborea. It is calling me, and my adventurous weakness plunges me into its realm.

Taborea.

It's set in medieval times. So I presume it's about dragons and castles, knights in horses, and damsels in distress.

Meet my alter ego, Typhus. Why the horrible sickly name? Damn government textbooks. When I was in an internet-deprived public elementary, my science book tells me the scientific name of the whale shark (raaawwr!), the largest fish in world, is Rhineodan typhus. After so many years, I found out that due to a typo error it ought to have been Rhincodon typus. OH what the hell, I got stuck with Typhus and lived with it.

Avatars are created by players to represent themselves in the gaming world. Typhus is my Avatar in Taborea now. MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) like these give gamers class selection -- the basic role one wants to be in the virtual world. I chose The Scout Class, adept in the use of the bow and arrow. I don't know what's with it, but in most of my online games, I always end up choosing a bow-and-arrow class (and the name Typhus, yeah I know it sucks!). Scouts can see their enemies in a distance and physically attack them at very long range. Being a scout in Taborea makes me feel like the new Robinhood in town.

Now having an avatar, it's time to explore the world.

I end up in this village in the middle of the forest. NPCs (non-player character) abound the village, and as I talk to them, some gave me valuable hints about the village and the surrounding areas. Some gave me quests and promised rewards if I kill a forest creature or if I bring specific items.

Now off I go to a nearby forest to explore and raise my level. Raising my character level by raising my experience will not only make my attacks more powerful, it will also provide me with new and improved skills. Raising experience is mostly done by killing creatures (before they kill you of course!)

My first monster encounter is a cute walking mushroom called a Fungus. Sorry creature, however adorable you are, you have to die, the poor thing. Arrows away!

Hunting and killing monsters not only give experience. They also drop valuable items for certain NPC quests, and also sellable items you can trade for gold.

Well that's it for me for now. To fight more powerful monsters, I have to be more powerful myself. And that means more adorable Fungus creatures will suffer and eat my arrows.

Who knows what other adventures await Typhus in this new dimension I went into. Taborea here I come!













Source URL: http://jameellamellannyes.blogspot.com/2010/02/
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GOT DoTA?

If you don't know Icefrog, then you definitely haven't heard or played DoTA. Non-gaming people I know haven't got the slightest idea what it is. Some perceive it as a computer game (which is actually true) that kids are so crazy about. Apart from that, they know nothing. Poor creatures. For their sake, let the enlightenment begin..

DoTA stands for Defense of The Ancients, and contrary to the DoTA-innocent population's belief that DoTA is a customary stand-alone game (I always get requests from friends, and friends of friends, to help them "install" DoTA in their PC's!), DoTA is just a customized scenario map of the popular Warcraft III game. If I only give you DoTA, it would obviously be unplayable and utterly useless without Warcraft. You get my point.

Warcraft III made DoTA possible because of its World Editor feature, where players can create their own customized scenario and gameplay. So who's Icefrog? DoTA became the brainchild of a developer only known by the pseudonym Icefrog. Since its release, DoTA became a hit among Warcraft players, and made Icefrog an instant celebrity in the gaming world. The DoTA map itself had undergone numerous gameplay changes, new items and hero characters, and many balance tweaks through the years.

The default Warcraft III scenario map is the build-search-defend-destroy type, where you create buildings and command different units. DoTA is obviously different, as a player only focuses on one individual unit, known as a hero.

The DoTA gameplay revolves around one goal - destroy the enemy's base and fundamental building (known as as an Ancient, thus the title Defense of the Ancients) before they destroy yours. Two opposing teams battle using unique heroes with different abilities. Customized teamwork and strategy play vital roles in winning a DoTA game, as each hero has their strengths as well as weaknesses when teamed up or matched against other heroes. Items can also be purchased to improve attack and defense of a hero. With this fact, DoTA matches are practically nonidentical with each other!

So why do guys go loco over such game? Simple reason -- just the same as why male species in the animal kingdom fight each other -- dominance. It's a thing even the female species are having a hard time comprehending. In the human world, this takes form as army wars, political oppositions, sporting events, and street brawls. In the gaming world, DoTA became a perfect battleground host for dominance (no real blood and gore involved, only the mind and the fingers do the work).

For the not-so-DoTA-drowned individuals out there, here are some popular DoTA terminologies you might want to check out (some even used in non-DoTA conversations):

First Blood - It is the first kill of a DoTA match. The first player who gets to make an opponent hero eat dust gains additional gold (for item purchases) and the irreplaceable taste of dominance! Can also be used as a threat to real life enemies.

Godlike - The player with unstoppable consecutive hero kills gains this notorious title. Any opponent who kills this player stops the winning streak and gains additional gold in return. Also refers to people with very high almost-impossible achievements. Can also refer to my charm and good looks.

Creeps - are mostly non-controllable non-hero units in the game that play as army pawns or neutral monsters scattered in the map. Can also refer to people who are evident but have no significance to what is going on.

Roshan - the ultimate creep in DoTA. Killing this unit gives the team additional gold and the unique item Aegis of the Immortal. Also a name worth giving to destructive college professors whom you can only defeat once you have barely passed their rough exams.

Imba - short for imbalance. Some heroes are just way too tricky or have the upper hand against certain enemy heroes. Depends upon player's discretion when used. Also an effective alibi for noobs.

Noob - a newbie, commonly used in almost all games to refer to new, inexperienced players. Also a very effective insult in trash talks.

GG - (stands for Good Game) now known as Garena, it is a gaming platform that lets players around the world play against each other in various games, such as DoTA in Warcraft III. Download the platform here.

DoTA became so popular that it has been a feature in many international cybergame tournaments. Check out this cool DoTA-inspired techno-song by Swedish musician Basshunter (which, by the way made it to the 2006 European Single Charts), Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DoTA:



For those who want to have a copy of the latest DoTA map, download it here in the official DoTA website.

For a gamer, DoTA is a taste of what a successful game should be. Not many games out there make it through the gaming market for many years and still be hot and worth playing for. Take it from the guy who has been playing DoTA since its debut release in 2005 up until now -- me.





Source URL: http://jameellamellannyes.blogspot.com/2010/02/
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CEBU DANCiNG iNMATES' MJ TRiBUTE

There's no stopping this international phenomenon -- and that's the Dancing Inmates of Cebu to you! Now they are back again with their own version of Michael Jackson's THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT US, choreographed by MJ's very own choreographer, Travis Payne! Their moves are cool, I might copycat some just for the heck of it..



Very envious of me indeed. Now I am beginning to wonder if I chose the right career! I'd look good in an orange shirt anyway.. =PSource URL: http://jameellamellannyes.blogspot.com/2010/02/
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