It’s honestly difficult for me to find glasses that fit. When I tried shopping for sunglasses before our trek to Pinatubo, there were only 2 (out of hundreds) that fit me. When I returned for my first choice, it was already bought by someone else and the store was out of stock of that particular item, so I settled for my second choice (you can check out my pictures at my Pinatubo post).

I went to Optical Works in SM Pampanga and asked if they had lenses that offer eye protection for computer use (of course they did so this is a stupid question to begin with), they said yes and presented me with a couple of brands that offered what I wanted. What stood out was the Crizal Transition lenses by Essilor. These transition lenses are normally clear, but change to a grey/brown tint whenever it’s exposed to UV light (sun), so it doubles as sunglasses. It was pricey, but at least I have an alternative to my current sunglasses. The frame that I chose was 1 of only 2 that fit me (again). It was from Zola Eyewear, a Chinese brand (can’t find their website). The frame was similar to my sunglasses so I normally went for that one. I (sometimes) use my glasses when I’m in front of my PC, while working, and definitely while playing video games. I’ve had it for a week now and I haven’t had any eye strains whenever I’m wearing it in front of the PC, but it still takes some getting used to. I also wear it when I’m out and about because I think I look good wearing them (haha). However, I don’t think they’re as effective as Gunnars which are designed for that specific purpose.

The frame was worth P3,400 (I think) while the lenses cost me around P5,000, so that’s a grand total of P8,400 if my math is correct (heh). Quite expensive for a pair of glasses but it’s worth it. I take care of my belongings and this will last me for a couple of years or more, unless someone accidentally sits on them.

Inspiration is fleeting, act..

If you’ve got an inspired thought, act on it. Don’t let the moment pass you by. Chances are, if you do, you’ll lose the motivation to do something about it later on. That’s why when an idea comes along, write it down, discuss it with someone who you think can contribute to the idea, but don’t let it just stay in your head and let it rot. Now if you’re already moving, don’t stop or you’ll lose your momentum, and your focus in the process.

Opportunities can be made..

I have lived with this principle for as long as I can remember. And I’m fortunate enough that it has manifested several times and I have reaped the benefits. Sure, opportunities can come knocking at your doors and even windows, and you might have the luxury of actually choosing which opportunity to take. But most people aren’t so lucky. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of it. Why wait for opportunities to come when you can go out and find them yourself. That is the big difference between those who wait for something to happen, and those who things happen.

Passion is the best motivation..

Passion is THE best motivation in any sort of endeavor or situation. Imagine yourself in a relationship, how would you describe your attachment to your partner (and vice versa), are you passionate about each other? If so, then you’ve got a really good thing going. If not, then what is keeping you together? Tolerance? Complacency? Money? Guilt? Or just “because”? Think about it.

One my friends recently (technically 2012 but I’m going to put it here anyway) reminded me about something called passion. Well, he reminded me indirectly and inadvertently while we were discussing his work. He was so caught up in what he was doing, and he knows what he wants to get out of it. He’s a budding social tech guru and a long lost friend of mine. He runs this tech blog call The Technoclast which features some good reviews of gadgets, from digital cameras to smartphones. I guess I got something more out of our conversation other than stories of cool tech products and sexy booth babes – that is reminding myself of why I became who I am today.

Real passion is something of a lose cannon. It will drive you to do things that would normally be considered crazy. But let me quote Steve Jobs on this:

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

I’m not in any way comparing myself to Steve Jobs. I’m merely stating the fact the those who know what they want to achieve and are passionate to do something it, get what they want.

Retail therapy is bad for the most part..

If you’ve got problems, never involve your money. I’ve engaged in gadget retail therapy several times last year and ended up regretting my purchases. I have sold most of what I bought for a lower price (even as low as half the original price) because I simply didn’t like them (stupid), and it’s really hard to sell an already opened item, even with the box and all its contents. I’m the kind of person who researches about a product before deciding on making a purchase (specially with gadgets), but when I have problems, all of that goes out of the window. Some people eat when they have problems, I buy stuff. Now I’m broke, poor me.

“So…” I said. “So…” he mimicked. Still surprised by his sudden appearance, I asked him “What brings you here?” “I think you know the answer already.” he said coldly. I paused for a moment, wondering what he meant. But at the back of my head, I knew what he was talking about. And the moment I grasped the obvious, he gave a slight chuckle, as if he was connected to my thoughts. “What took you so long to realize that?” he jested.

“So why are you here now?” I asked with a long face. “You tell me.” he said. I looked down and reflected on my life, trying to remember the last time I saw him. “You weren’t there after I dropped out from the first college I went to.” I told him. “Nope. Wasn’t there at all.” “And you weren’t there after I was a bum for a year, and argued with my dad about it.” “You were always so stubborn. No, I wasn’t there either.” he replied. I stared blankly at my window, into the emptiness of the night. “You never needed me because I was never relevant to you or your situation.” he said. “Your decisions then made you who you are now. And you knew that even before, you were so sure of yourself. It’s who you are!” now he was lecturing me. “I’m here now because, well, you know what you did. And now you’re not so sure anymore.”

I held my gaze in the same direction, still trying to digest what he just said. He was here for a reason, a reason I brought onto myself, apparently. “How long will you be staying?” I asked, as if oblivious of the answer. “So long as I’m relevant.” he replied. I let out a loud sigh. “Well, that sucks.” I said. “It does. Deal with it.” he told me with finality.

05:20:
Junel arrived at our house, wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, and bringing a black backpack, which at first I thought was our food; too bad. We had some breakfast first and talked for a while about how excited we both were for the trip. We then played Bad Company 2 on my PC to pass time while waiting for the others to arrive.

05:45:
A lot of dead noobs later, our friend Elai arrived bringing her car. I managed to convince her to let me drive by threatening her with the forceful words “Can I drive, please?” with batting eyelashes, while Junel was to be my navigator. We stayed for a while and killed some more noobs while waiting for the fourth member of the pack to arrive.

06:25:
Hundreds of dead players later, Gizelle finally arrived, at last, thank goodness. We started loading our bags and double checking if we had all the things we needed; food, drinks, extra clothes, a retractable gurney. Since I was going to drive and was still unfamiliar with Elai’s car, I was given a short tutorial. After a brief lesson of how the windshield wipers worked, we went on our merry way to fetch the fifth and last member of the group.

06:40:
We arrived at Ethel’s place (which was conveniently along the way) to pick her up. It was still early, our contact said that we should be at our destination by 8 for the registration. Junel was confident we could make it, so we put our trust in his word, reluctantly.

06:45:
The long journey towards Pinatubo begins. We took the long and winding road of MacArthur Highway going to Tarlac. I advised my passengers to sleep along the way, except for my navigator, as it would be an hour of driving at most.

07:05:
Junel proved himself to be a good navigator, as he managed to direct me at every opportunity to overtake or not overtake another vehicle, tells me whether or not it’s safe to take the shoulder, and pointed out the occasional crap on the road.

07:15:
The girls took pictures of themselves in the backseat, pretending to be asleep, while smiling. I didn’t know exactly how that would work but whatever makes them happy.

07:20:
My navigator started to annoy me. “Ops, dahan dahan.”, “Liko sa kanan.”, “May truck, di aabot.”, “Stay ka lang diyan.”, “Overtake na!”, “Slow down.”, “Oh bakit ka nag be-break?”, “Tae tae!” Annoying.

07:30:
We passed the Death March Shrine. Elai took a lot of pictures, without getting any real good ones. Tragic.

07:45:
We started wondering if we were lost. We checked the map again to verify our location, but the map was useless, it wasn’t up to scale. So again, we put our trust in our navigator, who was confident that we were on the right track. But we had to make sure so we stopped by the side of the road and asked the first person we saw. She confirmed that the Pinatubo Spa Town (our destination) was still some distance away, we just had to stay our course, and follow the bovine shit-laden road.

07:50:
We finally arrived at our destination. Pinatubo Spa Town, Brgy. Sta. Juliana, Capas Tarlac. We went about and paid the registration fee, which was P4,000 (total); this includes the 4×4 vehicle, the guide who will accompany us, and lunch. We paid an additional P350 each for the boat ride on the crater lake. We also signed a wager stating that the Spa Town will not be held responsible for any injuries incurred during the trek, including, but not limited to, dead toe nails.

08:15:
Ah, look at us. All smiles and hopeful of the adventure we’re about to have, oblivious of the suffering we were about to endure. Classic.

08:20:
We saw our ride for the first time. The grayish blue 4×4 of doom. It’s old, very basic, but of sturdy construction (almost). It was our ride for the next hour and a half. The four sat at the backseat while I stayed in front. They discussed about the repercussions of farting inside the 4×4 while I tried to maintain three jugs of diesel upright between my feet, easier said than done.

We also talked about how the ride would go. Elai mentioned that there were 4 levels of terrain:

Level 1: Sand paths
Level 2: Rough patches of terrain
Level 3: Steep inclines
Level 4: Boulders!

The first half hour or so of the 4×4 ride wasn’t all that bad. We traversed through relatively flat sand paths for the most part, then across streams and the occasional rough patches of terrain. It was the easiest part of the trip.

09:00:
We stopped over at the bottom of a steep incline (the start of Level 3) to let the driver and our guide refill the gas tank and prepare the 4×4 for the arduous journey up ahead. We took some pictures of the scenery, and of ourselves to pass the time.

We also took pictures of what looked to be the beginning of Level 3. The image in front of us carried with it a mixture of emotions; excitement, fear, doubt, and anger at the person who thought about this trip in the first place.

09:50:
Yes you read that right. It was 50 minutes of butt bumping through Level 3 and 4 terrain. The 4×4 was shaking so wildly that the spare tire at the back got unhinged and was swinging back and forth, making loud thumping noises. We stopped a couple of times for the driver to fix that but he gave up after the third time it happened. The jugs of diesel beneath my seat tumbled several times as I tried to maintain them, while I held on tightly to the handlebar in front of me. We were all too busy trying to keep ourselves secured in our seats that we managed to take only a few pictures of the surroundings, of how Level 3 and 4 looked like. Inclines included 45+ degrees of going up and going down hill. Rocks the size of basketballs littered the road (really!), nothing the 4×4 can’t handle, but a lot for our butts to absorb. I bet we were all thinking the same thing; when will this ever end?

After that very, very long 50 minutes, we arrived at the next stop over, the end of the line for the 4×4, and the start of the long walk to the Pinatubo crater. There were a lot of other 4x4s in the area, by people who came and went before us.

09:55:
The long trek begins. The first half of the trek was through a rocky canyon, with streams of flowing water. It was a 30-minute (or so) walk from the start to the halfway point.

10:20:
We reached the halfway point of the trek. I checked my shoes and they were dead. The sole on the sides of each shoe were wide open, but it was still attached to the rest of the shoe from the front end and the back. Good old hiking shoes they were, and they served their purpose.

I looked at the others, we were all spent. We took our sweet time to rest, eat, and drink, before heading out again for the next half of the trek, nobody was excited anymore.

10:45:
We started walking again. I thought we made it this far, what the heck then, let’s go. The next half of the trek was going deeper into the mountains, and the pathway became narrower and narrower. A few minutes into the trek, I started thinking that this half was easier than the first. But then I saw the remains of a white rubber shoe, resting along the rocks on the side of a small stream. Great. At least the trek only lasted about 15-20 minutes, from what I can recall.

11:00:
Beyond the many steps of stairs was a wooden signboard saying “Welcome to the majestic crater of Mt. Pinatubo”. It was a welcome sign indeed. And the view of the crater from where we were standing was just as what the signboard said – Majestic. We descended the stairs going down to the side of the lake, and rested there for a while, taking pictures and talking, before we had our lunch.

There were many happy campers beside the lake, there were even two hot white chicks (real ones) in bikinis, sunbathing on the beach. There was a group of mountaineers setting up their tents near the clear water. There were also some military personnel, and the guides of each group of people camped together in one place.

12:20:
A short while after having our lunch, we all headed out to the side of the lake to take the boat ride. The water was as blue as the sky. It wasn’t as clear as I thought as it was hard for me to see the bottom even on shallow water. The crater walls looked incredibly high from the lake. We even witnessed a landslide (a minor one) on one side of the crater wall.

The boat trip to the other side of the lake took about 10 minutes. After we unloaded, our guide gave us a few facts about the crater lake. He used his paddle to dig a small hole in the ground beside the beach and showed us that the water was hot enough to boil an egg. Steam vents were scattered along parts of the crater wall, and he told us a story about how a PHIVOLCS expedition ended in mishap; some volcanologists suffered major burns as they stepped onto unstable ground and had a dip into some really hot sand. After about 10-15 minutes of sight-seeing, we headed back to the tourist zone.

01:20:
We rested for a bit while Junel and Ethel took a dip in the water. The sun was searing hot, so Gizelle brought out her huge abaniko to keep her cool. It was five times the size of a normal abaniko, and you had to hold it w/ two hands to use it, too bad I don’t have a picture of it. I still wonder how she got that into her backpack.

02:00:
We started getting ready for our trek back. Junel and Ethel changed clothes while the rest of us waited on a shed near the wooden signboard. When it was time to go, Junel and I telepathically communicated that it was time. And we invited the girls back to the ledge with the spectacular view of the crater behind it so we can take more pictures.

02:25:
Before anything else, earlier in the morning, Junel showed me a small black box. I was surprised, and was very happy for my dead friend. Wait, I mean dear friend. We discussed the different possibilities of how the life-changing event would go, and settled for the best idea we could think of. He was supposed to do what he needed to do back on the boat but he was scared the thing would slip through his hands and fall from the boat, that would’ve been funny.. I mean tragic (haha).

So the moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. This was the purpose of the whole trip, and I wouldn’t have endured it if it weren’t for this event. While we were taking the couple’s pictures, without warning, Junel went down on one knee, and from his pocket he brought out the black box he’s been holding on to, and presented it to Ethel. Whatever he said, I couldn’t remember. I think he said something like “I have waited for so long to ask you this question. To show you how much I love you, and ask you to make you mine forever. To put my very best foot forward and be the man you have always wanted. Will you marry me?”.

Nah, he didn’t say that. I think it was more closer to “Oh shit.. muntik ng mahulog.. anyway, will you be my wife?”. Whatever he said (we don’t really remember, even Junel doesn’t remember), Ethel was speechless and tears started rolling down her cheeks. It was a proud and happy moment for both of them as she said “Yes.” and Junel slipped the ring through her finger.

02:30:…
We started heading back to the 4×4 stop-over. It was all a blur. We just kept on walking back to where we came from. Elai seemed to be the most motivated to go home as she was always in front of the pack. Only a few pictures were taken after this point; everyone was too tired to pull out their cameras and shoot. We were second to the last to leave the 4×4 stop over.

During the ride back to the spa town, I slipped in and out of consciousness (too sleepy haha) even with all the bumping we had to endure. Elai also fell asleep during the journey. There’s no road bumpy enough for sleepy travelers.

05:00 – 7:30:…?
I still drove on the way home, and by the time we were at Clark, I was already too sleepy that I had to slap myself in the face to keep me awake. I honestly can’t remember what time I got home. But as soon as I felt the comfort of my bed, I went to sleep.

Twas an interesting journey, one that I intend to take again in the future. A very far future..

If you’re a game developer like me, or any professional for that matter, then read on. This post is for you guys. Bato-bato sa langit, tamaan huwag magagalit.

Complete your tasks
You are a professional, and you’re paid to do a particular thing. So when you are given a task to complete, do it to the best of your abilities. If you are unable to do so, don’t hesitate to ask for help from your teammate/s, or notify your superior about whatever is holding you back. You are NOT being paid to slack off so get your ass up and do your job.

Follow the rules and regulations of the company/office/studio
Cliché much? Nonetheless, these rules and regulations are there for a reason – to enforce order in the office. If you have problems about some of the rules of the company, then bring it up with HR or management. Don’t whisper behind the company’s back about how evil they are in enforcing such rules. It’s better to engage in a healthy debate if it will benefit both the company and its people. Just make sure that management is open to such debates, if they’re not, then either keep your opinions to yourself or leave and find some other office where you’ll be happier.

Don’t abuse the company’s kindness
If the company is kind enough to allow food to be brought in your workplace, it doesn’t mean you should make a mess of your work area, leaving food crumbs and snack wrappers behind – clean up your mess. This goes for every other privilege the company has allowed. If management notices that these privileges are exploited, they will no doubt take it away eventually.

Honor your agreement and contract with your company
Whatever was written down in your contract, honor it. You signed the damn paper so you will be held responsible for any infractions you may have committed while the terms of the contract are still in effect. If you’re about to do something (stupid) and you’re not sure or do not remember the terms and clauses in your contract, read it again before you do anything. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Be responsible for your actions
Remember that there will always be consequences, to you, your reputation, your career. A world without consequence is a world in chaos. Whatever your position is in the company, you are responsible for something. If you are a manager or a team lead, then you are responsible for the people directly under your supervision, and remember to LEAD BY EXAMPLE; whatever you do reflects the kind of leader you are. If you have done something wrong, be responsible for what you did; don’t let someone else get the blame. Karma is a bitch, and you never want to get on her bad side.

I suppose that’s it for now. If I forgot something, please do tell me.

The frog thought about it and realized the scorpion was right. So he put the scorpion on his back and started ferrying him. But midway across the stream, the scorpion plunged its stinger on the frog’s back. As they both began to drown, the frog gasped “Why?”. The scorpion replied “Because it is my nature.”

The thought of them leaving was slow to sink in. Reality only hit me when me and my dad were already on our way home from the airport. I watched these two grow, and it’s all still a bit surreal for me – I’ll miss five years of their lives.

On my iPod Touch (iOS)

iBear Money
This app is an really useful expense tracker app. I bought this app on sale at $4.99, if I remember correctly. It’s quite handy for tracking all of my income and expenditures. It has a lot of nifty features like reports and charts. It’s also a bit easy to know what you’re looking for because of all the icons that you can use for every category.

The only downside of iBear Money is the cluttered interface. And there’s just too many layers of information before you can get to where you want to go. I guess that’s what you get for a comprehensive expense tracker software. But nonetheless, I was happy with this app.

Calengoo
This is an app that syncs with your Google Calendar including notes. I use Google Calendar for scheduling all of my activities, appointments, and tasks. It’s handy to have something on my iPod that will remind me of what I need to do or where I need to be at whenever I’m on the go. It costs $6.99 now on the app store.

Puckerz!
*Shameless Plug Start*

This is a game like no other! It’s a combination of Pinball and Breakout games in an eye-candy filled goodness of a fast-paced arcade game. Had it for free since the very beginning but it costs $0.99 on the app store. I heard that the developers are up to something after a while of being silent. And I also heard that they have big plans for the game in the coming months! I can’t wait to see what they’re up to!

*Shameless Plug End*

Android Phone (HTC Desire)

I bought an HTC Desire last February and since then, my iPod Touch has seen less and less use except for playtesting. I tried to find the best Android app counterparts to my iOS apps. Since my phone can sync with Google Calendar and even Facebook, I never bothered to find a Calendar app.

Financisto
The Android version of iBear Money was just crappy, in my opinion. I never liked it. So I tried to find the best finance app for Android and came across Financisto. It doesn’t have all the fancy icons that iBear Money has, and it’s also not as comprehensive, but the thing is functional enough and the features are enough for tracking income and finances. It doesn’t have any templates that you can immediately use, which for me was the only downside. If you get this app, you’ll find yourself spending a considerable amount of time organizing your categories from the beginning.

Ultimate Lightsaber
My geek toy. Hehehe. It’s a lightsaber app that generates lightsaber sound effects when you “wield” your phone. I just use it for kicks from time to time. Lol.

Note: Images used are linked to their respective sources.

Alan: Dude, ang ganda ng Diablo!
Carl: Syempre, Blizzard yan eh.
Alan: Hmm. Tingin mo, possible tayong makagawa ng game in the future?
Carl: Sige, mangarap ka lang.
Alan: Aba, malay mo.

Nine years later, I became a game designer.

That’s the great thing about dreams; the ones that you want the most tend to become reality.

We all had our wishes when we were kids, what we wanted to be when we grow up. It’s a common question by adults, and year after year, my answer was different; I want to be a famous singer, a scientist, a story writer, heck at some point I even thought of becoming a priest (unlikely haha). But eventually, as I grew older, what I wanted to do in life became clearer.

It was after that sunny afternoon that I got into thinking about the possibilities of making video games in the future. But I was living in the Philippines, and there was no local game development industry in existence back then. Nonetheless, I never faltered. My mind was set, I want to make video games, eventually.

I graduated from high school and took up Civil Engineering at the Mapua Institute of Technology, only because my father and grandfather wanted me to. But it was not for me. I don’t want to make buildings, I want to make games. So my rebellious nature took over after a year and a half of frustration, and I dropped out of school without my parents knowing about it, until the end of the semester (wicked); it was a decision I was glad I had made, even if I made my parents really angry.

So I enrolled at the AUF and took up Computer Science; I thought that knowing programming would bring me closer to my goals. Funny though, I never took programming to heart. Instead, multimedia subjects were what I craved for. Every year was a different obsession: Photoshop at first, Flash the next, then Maya and 3DS Max. I was a good programmer, but not nearly good enough. I was a jack of all trades but master of none.

2003 was an epiphanic year for me; it was when I found out about the first locally established game development company: Anino Entertainment. They just released their first game Anito: Defend a Land Enraged. Suddenly, there was hope. I then set my eyes on the prize – I’m going to work for this company after I graduate.

I didn’t, at least not immediately. I realized that even if I had the enthusiasm, I still lacked the skill and the knowledge to set foot in such a company without proof that I was worthy. So I decided to create my own portfolio. I started making 3D images, poorly if I recall. I studied game design and production by myself, using resources available on the net, and wrote my first game design document in the process. I was like this for about a year, just absorbing what I can and waiting for the right moment to apply for my dream job.

Yes, I was a bum for a year. My father and I would sometimes get into heated arguments. “Get your lazy ass up and get a job!” Okay he didn’t say it that way, but that was the idea. He wanted me to work either in TIPCO where my grandfather used to work, or in San Miguel where he worked. I did apply for work at those companies, and nearly got hired. But I refused to yield (I know I’m stubborn). It wasn’t what I wanted. I was focused, and my mind was set. I was never a man of practicality, I was – and still am – a man of principle. Nothing was ever going to change that, not even the fury of my dad.

Then came March of 2006, finally there was an opening at Anino Entertainment. I printed out a copy of my resume which I created eons ago (updating it as I learned new things), I also took out the portfolio I’ve been preparing since after graduating. I went to the company’s office in Alabang to personally apply for a job. I was lucky enough to be scheduled for an interview and exam a month later. One month came and went, I passed the interview, and passed the exam. By the first week of May, I was a game designer.

And that was how a dream came true – through sheer stubbornness and perseverance.

Note: Images used are linked to their respective sources.

This is my notebook of ideas. It’s simple, has a dirty look to it (which I like), and has recycled paper (brown in color) for the pages and the hardbound cover (which I like also). I bought it in Powerbooks, Greenbelt branch for P150. It has served me well for more than a couple of years now, and I have kept all of my Eureka-moment ideas here. Whenever a great thought comes to mind, a premise to an epic story, an awesome gameplay mechanic, or a character I can build upon, I usually write it down in my notebook so I wouldn’t forget. I haven’t filled it out yet, I haven’t even consumed 1/3 of the pages. And out of everything I have written inside this notebook, only one idea has evolved and become a reality, so far. Being the OC person that I am, I use only one type of pen for it, a 0.3 Uni Pin.