Wasted Weekend Warrior

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It was one busy weekend. So busy, I felt like not reporting for work this early Monday morning due to these stiffed legs. Just imagine feeling like having cramps all day. 7 hours of sleep from the day before simply was not enough.

As usual, the weekend started early for yours truly considering that Friday is also my off along with Sarturday and Sundays (not unless I am requested to do OT on the weekends). So off to the mall I go and at first did the usual window salivating. I am not into shopping so that is what I do, salivate.. and drool too. That is part of the itinerary whenever a poor-as-a-poor like me goes to such places.

But I came to the mall for two main reasons.

First, I want to buy "mi wifey" something. I do not care what it was going to be but I just want to give her a gift that she'll appreciate which is not really hard to do. It is just that I heard her complaining about headaches in her sleep (not because of me, it's her work!!!) that I wanted to give her something that will soothe her.

The second reason was to get myself a CPL filter for my 52mm lenses. Was planning to get a Hoya but Pixel Pro was out of stock. Due to the immediacy of my need for one, I got sales talked and went for the Nisi CPL instead. I am not sure if Nisi is a good brand for filters but I got it for only a little more than a thousand bucks which is way cheaper than the Hoya. Anyways, it is my first time trying a CPL so I do not really care.. for now (hehe maybe later I will).


A group from Sorsogon representing the Sosogon Festival in the recent Aliwan Fest 2011

Went back home after that quick tour of Megamall but I was off again after 30 minutes of staying cool in front of our older-than-me-(I think) electric fan. Manila's weather is blistering hot this summer but I have to start this little project about our National Hero Jose Rizal or else I might lose my drive again and place it in the backseat photography priorities.

As part of his 150th birthday, I am planning to shoot as many Rizal monuments, statues, busts and memorabilias of Rizal that I will post here in this blog and on facebook before the year ends.

I visited first the Jose Rizal University located in Shaw Blvd asking if I can take some snaps of the Rizal statue that I saw there before. The guard on duty promptly asked me to gain permission first from the school admin. I have no time for that at that moment so I courteously said thanks and decided to try the other university in this city.

Thinking that I will have a better chance since it is a state university, I went straight to RTU or Rizal technological University only to be informed again that permits are needed first.


Palm Sunday in Antipolo, Rizal Province

Dismayed, I went ahead to Maysilo Circle, where the seat of the city is located. I remembered that a statue of Jose Rizal is standing at the place back in the days when the place was still a good spot during our skateboarding days. Rizal was a witness to some of the bruises and other under the cover of darkness stuff that happened under those seemly innocent shrubs and trees heheh. Upon arriving, I noticed right away that the pedestal is now empty. Good ol' Jose is gone. A City hall employee was quick to explain that the statue was already transferred to Welfareville.. it must be another baranggay or subdvision but I am not in the mood of doing searches anymore. So to Makati I went.

Just like Mandaluyong, parts of Makati (if not the whole city) used to be a part of the province of Rizal. It was during the creation of the Metropolitan Manila area that makati and other cities like Pasig and others became separate locales of their own. This is the reason also why our old friend Jose is famous in these areas, hence the statues and monuments in his honor.

And there, right in front of old Makati City hall building stands in his splendor Rizal, the subject. I placed the new CPL filter into my 35mm 1.8 lens and started shooting. Switched lens to the 18-55 mm kit. Shoot some more. Switch lenses one more time and then I am satisfied. It was time to pick up wifey from work. My legs were starting to cramp up also.

This photography hobby is making me feel like a wimp. Saturday, was again a tiring day. I went and covered the Aliwan Festival 2011 held in Grandstand all the way to the CCP area in Pasay through Roxas Boulevard. It was a long walk and so there goes my legs again and still needs to travel that evening to Taytay, Rizal where we were going to spend the night.

Palm Sunday was the reason why I asked my wife that we spend the night in my in-laws place. I want us to go to the Antipolo Cathedral and celebrate it there. That way I can also shoot how the people of Antipolo celebrate the start of the Holy Week. I was there also last year, I was just hoping to get better photographs this time. After the mass and the "shoot", we ate lunch in SM Taytay so another semi-walk occured as what happens inside these "convenience" malls.

It was already about 6 pm when we reach home in Mandaluyong. My wife who is into running, decided that she wanted to do so. After advising her that she may not be able to run at the Maysilo circle due to the mass being celebrated in the church by the city hall, she decided that she'll run instead at the Ayala Triangle.


The Ayala Triangle has transformed from just being the center of business. It also now is a great spot for after-work-hours fun.

I wouldn't want her to go there alone, right?!?! Being the gentleman husband as I am (weeeh) and to the disgust of my aching legs and busted right foot, I went with my wife and did brisk walking from Boni to Ayala Triangle... non-stop!!! I did some running laps as well wanting to make sure that wifey will enjoy our "date" heheh. I was even able to do stairs when she asked me to do it!!!

I am strong hahah!!! Not!!!

Apparently, I am fatigued. But as of the moment, let me enjoy every bit of me sitting with my legs resting on top of this table.

For tomorrow is another day... and I will tell you all about it when I return.

(Will be packing my bag, clothes and gears in few minutes... gotta go where we not always go)

For more of my blog, click the link: magtiblogz.blogspot.com
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Desecration

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"I do not know the dignity of his birth, but I know the glory of his death"

This is what is written by the entrance of the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig. As we all know the place is a hallowed ground for martyrs and heroes of this country. This is one place considered so sacred that motherland howls and outcry were heard in the bellows of our "brilliant" congressmen and women's chambers after 193 of them signed a resolution urging PNoy to allow the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried under its soil.


We do not really know what is the reasoning behind this so sudden resolve by our "outstanding congresistas" to shove this idea to the President who so happens to be the son of dead dictators' most righteous foe. Surely the congresswoman from Ilocos herself is one of the main proponent of this resolution that was introduced by Salvador Escudero III, which is understandable for a wife. Escudero himnself, who is the father of Chiz, was the Marcos regime's Food and Agriculture minister. But the other 191 others seem to also want to nip the bud of the President and all other anti-Martial rule and anti-dictatorship citizens of this country.

You can see the full list of congresspipz who signed the resolution here.


Man oh man! Do they have amnesia or what!?! Clearly, their thinking is to set aside the atrocities that occured during marcos rule, forget the supposed fallacy of Marcos' Maharlika soldiers claims as proven by the documentations made by American and Filipino war historians and forget that there are even claims that some of the supposed maharlika even collaborated with the Japanese occupiers, set aside the fact that the marcos regime was found guilty of harsh human rights abuses, that even before the current military scandal involving secret accounts of AFP came to life there was already the secret swiss accounts. We could go on and on and yet still these tsongresistas will not remember them all.

For them it is a matter of convenience.This shows their dogged two-faced nature. For while they are celabrating the merits and benefits and freedom of EDSA 1 every year, they also will want to give honor to the dead one who for all intents and purposes was the reason why the people had to go and face tanks and death in that same EDSA uprising. For them, it is better to walk the halls of the House of Congress with a smiling Imelda walking beside them than see her again and again and be plastic for they know she does not like those who do not want her husband in The Fort.

It seems that they are hell bent in allowing the dead dictator rest under the heroes soil. This even if we all know that when marcos left and exiled himself out of the country, glory was not there no more as a hero. There was dignity in Marcos birth, he obviously became a veteran and that was dignifying as well. But when he became president and dictator and used it for his family and his crony and forgot the country, where could glory be?

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8 Day Non-Working-Holiday (Happy 8 Bill)

It is Saturday and a start of another long weekend here in the Philippines as Monday is an official holiday. Tuesday would have been the fourth day for slouchers had not the president decided that it is too much vacation already. However, December is fast approaching and I am pretty sure that all of us are as excited as I am for the days off coming. And yes, bonuses are expected!!! Woohooo!

Did you know that there is a motion to add more vacation days during the Christmas season. Oh yeah! I am not kidding. Id this motion is passed, not only are we going to have the longest Christmas season in the whole world, but we are also going to be having the worlds longest official non-working holiday during the already looong Chrismas season.

Another reason to celebrate for most employees especially for the weekend warriors. Another bitter taste in the mouth on the side of big business ,foreign investors and also to the taxi drivers and others like him in the city.


A group of Manila employees turned weekend warriors enjoying a long weekend in Northern Luzon.

Just recently, House Bill 3152 was filed by a Cebuano representative in the lower house. Coined as Happy 8, it is "An Act Declaring Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 as Special Non-Working Holidays." According to the main proponent of the bill, he is just copying a bill in the United States where holidays are long weekends.

I am an employee, and I am pretty sure that I am going to benefit from this. It is either that I do not report for work at all during the said period (AS IF!!!) or that I work and be given additional pay incentive. Haha! Lucky me! But then again, I want this post to be socially relevant (LOL) and so I will try to prolong my rant.

The former administrator of the Republic of the Philippines (PH or PHL for short according to ISO standards ) made it automatic that holidays be celebrated the day next to Saturdays or Sundays for the very same reason. This allows people to travel and boost tourism and help SME's in the countryside. This is why we have seen in the last few years the surge of people going to the different tourist hotspots all over the Philippines. Now, just one look at the recent feeds in Facebook and we'd see photos and updates regarding our friends travels locally or even as far as going nearby countries . It used to be that mostly this type of trips happen only during the Philippines summer period. It is a different case now. Why do you think local travel and touring businesses peaked even if there was recession? Employees will not travel if there is a gap between the two day week-end and a holiday falling on a Tuesday or Thursday. That is not just practical. And so due to this, Anawangin was discovered by not just a few but by the throngs of Weekend Warriors who finally were able to find a way to spend holidays away from the city without thinking of the need to rush back after only one day of stay in Bohol or Pagudpud. And that is also the reason why Maricris Francisco and Jverly Pornea are in Sagada as of this writing hehe (sorry guys just cant help it since you did not invite your other classmates LIKE ME!!! LOL :D ).

Now back to where I was, the proponent of the bill was quoted by the Philippine Star as saying, ""The bill that I filed is very simple. It's called the 'Happy 8.' You know, I'm smart. My bill is only one page. I don't want to spend a lot of time on it. I just want to make something that will make people happy,"

First, to some degree the bill is a duplication of what is already being done or what was already being done. The previous administration made it a point to recognize long weekends, which is why they used to call it the holiday economics.



Big business like my man Ayala won't be taking the biggest hit, the ones to really lose are the small time guys left trying to make a living in the city who can't go to any province as there is simply no money to allow them to.

Second, the current administration basically said before that they find the former administrations holiday economics as unappealing to them. The main proponent of the bill is part of the current administration so there goes the question about the support factor from the current President who incidentally was widely supported by Big Business (except of course by Manny Villar's). If this bill passes, will Aquino sign it considering that it seemed they find almost all of Gloria's works as questionable. This the very same reason why November 2 was made a non-working holiday and then at the last minute the powers-that-be-had-second-thoughts and totally wiped out the idea.


Third, he based this from US standards. Compared to the Philippines, how many non-working holidays does the US have? The Philippines almost has one holiday every month. The US tends to celebrate only the Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas, Independence Day... (feel free to post a comment if there is any other holiday as I can't think of anything else.)

Personally, even if I find this beneficial to my personal needs for more moolah (hate this materialistic world LOL heheh), I find it still unfair for the company that I work for. There are some businesses who relies on fixed income especially the ones whose income are based on US working days. There are a lot of companies who are not tourism based. And there are companies who are in the brink of getting bankcrupt and it just so happened that the company that I am working for is one of those about-to-be-discarded (no I am just exaggerating). And I really think that they will bear the brunt of the 8 day non working holiday proposed by our smart Cebuano friend.

I can understand the vision of the honorable legislator but then again, he's got to look into the other side of the coin. Just this morning, my wife and I were talking about this abd the cab driver all of a sudden said, "How about us? If they are going to do that how many p[assengers will be left in the city? Those congressmen have all the money already, they do not even have to work even if it is not a holiday!"

Alright, alright he spoke in Tagalog and he added some slurs of hate but are you getting my point?? I am just translating it so our non-Tagalog speaking honorables will understand better!

It has to be balanced. All sectors has to be given adequate study. Anyways, that is what a law should be.. fairness for all.

My feelings for this... 50/50. Happy halloween guys!! Cheers!!

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A Family Reunion

When we got home last night, my wife had to jump back and make a double turn, spooked by what she saw as soon as she entered our gate.



I have never seen a manananggal in such a lil wendy hair and smile. Must be some rushed school project is what I thought. This chiz curl inspired creature could have been more of a character straight out of sesame street than one to be used for scare tactics. But still, my scared (pride on the line) wife disagrees. LOL NO worries there, it is almost halloween anyways.

Speaking of November 1, it has been a year since that impromptu reunion and inuman of sorts that our family had in Batangas. It is by tradition that the whole Magti clan will be gathered in the old Lino and Mariquita's abode every All Saints / Souls Day. Typically, the whole family will pray for our dearly departed and then have a salu-salo consist of whatever is put on the table by our Tita Mercing and Tiya Lucing. But last year was different, as it was more special. This was because two memebers of the family were to get married in a few weeks time. Maris was to marry Allexis, while yours truly was to be tied to my now wife. So it was also the day where we were able to introduce the about to be members of the clan to the whole gang. It has never happened before also that after the prayers and the salu-salo there would be an inuman. It started with about 2 to 4 younger members of the clan sitting in a semi-circle with beer at hand. After some time, the elder ones amongst the cousins joined in. It was a night of laughter. It has been a long time since were like that. Last time I think (but without the red horse) was when I was still in gradeschool when our granmother Mariquita was still living and singing songs about the tamarind tree. It was really a fun night with Kuya Jun and Kuya Boy serving as "bangka" while Ninong Gonie through the sponsorship of Kuya Father Alex as "taya". When the night ended, every one realized how memorable it was, that soon talk about doing it again after one year came up.

To be honest, I am excited. I am not sure if it is going to be the same as last years. But still I am looking forward to that day. I just hope I do not have to go to work which would really be a bummer.

The Hosts:


Prayer time:


And then these: