From Zero to Hero

Last Thursday was the official opening of Transformers the movie, directed by Micheal Bay. And to be honest, Transformers wasn't part of my MOVIES TO CATCH THIS SUMMER list. And why would it be? Growing up I never really watched a single episode of Transformers. All I knew about the show was that there were bright-colored, weird looking, talking cars. My cousins were the ones who kept talking about it. They had Match Box-es of every single robot from the series. And when they talked about it, I'd go away. I'm not exactly a fan of these stories, as you can see.

So aside from it being a big budget movie, I was asking myself, "why should I watch it?". So I just de-prioritized from my list.

Then one afternoon, my phone beeped. A friend asked me if I wanted to watch Transformers.. And since this friend and I haven't watched a movie together in months, I said yes. I said yes on the two bases: This friend considers me his "movie partner". We've a couple of nice films (adboard-able) together and maybe we should watch again together. Since the launch of summer films, we hadn't seen a movie together. And number two, I could get some time off from thinking about work. I mean, what the heck? So I just went for it.

Thursday, 10PM: I was feeling quite sluggish from lack of sleep and perhaps carbs and sugar. All I could think of was snoozing. And a light bulb moment came to me! "I'll sleep in the cinema!" It was perfect. I just told him not to wake me up if ever I fall asleep.

I bumped into some friends while queuing. I said hi, and she introduced me to some friends. Blah-blah-blah. Oh, I was inside the theatre already. "Goodnight guys, time to doze off", I was thinking.

But when the movie started rolling, heavens, I couldn't get my eye off it anymore. The visual effects, the cars, the robots, the explosions, those mind-blowing car chase scenes- they were fantastic!

Normally, my threshold level for movies is 1 hour. I tune out after the first hour. But for this movie (and well a couple of others), I didn't wink, or yawn. I was so focused. It's that nice!

Gosh, i will not go into technical details because i am not equipped to do that. All i can say is that this movie is the best summer movie i've seen to date! And the only challenger I could see dethroning it would be HP.

I'd say this movie has gone from zero to hero. Now, I'm really excited to get a hold of the cartoon series and those comic books!

PS: for avid fans, my question is: when these robots transform from GIANT machines to cars, where do they hide all other parts? Is metal really bendable? Or is this question only answerable by Quantum Physics. I'm really interested to find out. Send me your thougths.

Sleepless In Manila

I've only gotten a total of 8 hours of sleep in the last 4 days. I've been losing sleep for a couple of reasons.

1. I've been thinking of work that still has to be done. I was ruminating in my REM state for headlines I can use in my projects.

2. My bad back has been getting quite worse. My lower back is preventing me from having a good sleep since it's really painful.

3. Nerves because we have several presentations to make that need to get approved ASAP.

4. It gets quite humid at night.

Oh well, waking up is the hardest part in sleeping late. It always feels bad to wake up when you're puyat.

Being sleepless in Manila before was like being in a cemetery. It soo quiet. You could probably hear crickets and noise from the aircon, but that's it. There was practically nothing to do at night back then. You feel all alone. That was before. Now, being sleepless means you can go to McDonald's, Starbuck's, Tiangges and maybe even hang-out with call center reps. Things have changed indeed. Now you can also watch cable tv 24/7 when you can't sleep, you can also chat or surf your time away, or just text other insomniacs (just exactly what GLOBE is advocating now). There are also 24-spas and gyms now which you can visit if you can't sleep. And maybe grab a bite at Next Door?

I remember back then, we even had DST (day light saving time) to save on time and energy. Night time was devoted for rest, but now it seems that working at night has become more efficient. There's no traffic, it's not hot, internet is not clogged and who knows you might just end up "lucky" with someone... all these are happening at night. I'm not new to the concept of night time work. When I was younger, we would shift work hours from morning to nights because we were trying to avoid the persistent black-outs. I couldn't grasp back then how they sleep when these people go home...But now, it's become a norm.

You see, things have changed, indeed. But the question is: for the better, or for worse? With all the distractions, with the changing work-time pattern, and sense of rest, is this change going to benefit us?

I'd like to close this by sharing this information I got from a certain website: Our body is so efficient that it recognizes certain hours. If you sleep later than midnight, your quality of sleep is also greatly reduced. Meaning, no matter how long you sleep in the morning, night time sleep is still the best. Your body knows your body clock... But this is unconfirmed. Maybe it's true because I experienced this myself, but I'm no doctor. Bottomline, sleep is good.

Unready

4 weeks before June 1 I was already to get ready for Boracay. It was only two days before the trip that I started getting ready.

It wasn't enough. I had no flight. I had no hotel reservations. I had no new boardshorts to wear. No new sunblock. No new shades. Didn't diet. And best of all, no date. (Haha)

I wasn't really ready. I just packed my bag the morning of the trip and literally just shoved in my bag anything I can get from my closet and table. Not even time to scrutinize whether the shirt I got was too tight, had butas, or was enough for the entire trip. Lady luck was on my side that morning since everything I got fit in.

Anyway, as mentioned in my previous entry, I have this irritating facial problem now. My allergies in my forehead are very persistent. And it's happening to me for the first time. Doc said I can go out naman and have fun but just don't forget to apply my steroids.

And since this is the beach where literally everywhere I went there was Sun, I thought, maybe I should dab some steroids to protect my face.

I will end my story there as the rest is really bad. Bottomline, my face is really red now. Stupid me. My body was soooo red I looked like an apple.

Now I have to schedule a trip to my derma and face the music. I am repaying for all these unreadiness and competitiveness. darn. I just hope the derma can still fix this and give back my once flawless skin.

:(