chaos, the universe, and i

The complexities

what's the difference between the universe and I?

at a glance, the universe and i look look chaotic.

Let me correct that. It is true, that the universe and I stay to look chaotic even if you stare at us for an hour or so. And we will remain to do so for the rest of your life, if you dare to just look for the rest of your life.

the underlying order in the existing chaotic way I live my life, is the same to the system the universe is using. The silent relationship of give and take that's happening between me and the cosmos is something I have yet to deeply understand, but only now do I see it unfolding as I unfold.

You see, I am a woman who loves to study other people and their personalities, not to make fun of them -- but because I find it interesting how differently people react to the same thing we all have and this one thing we all share -- it's what we call life and world.

I easily catch manners and detect abnormalities in the situation. A certain look passed between two people. a certain smile, a certain reply...I can easily spot the not in a situation in terms of human relations. That's why I don't ask...I assume...this is a game i play silently with other people...hmmm what is he up to now?

Being alive means many things for everybody and the world can be as colorful or can be as desaturated -- depending upon one's perspective.The composition of my thoughts and action and its relevance to my life and decisions are strings not available for others to scrutinize unless I opened it up for anybody to criticize. The private me is a certain show I rarely put on stage.

I am not terrified of being scrutinized but I find it irrelevant and inconsequential. Little did I know, this is a product of me being scared to test my capabilities. One example is that, If someone gives me a project, I can deliver it, more than what is expected. I can spearhead it for the other person, plan it according to what he may want, act on it according to his tastes and preference...Ask me to lead even a small team for a project that originally came from me, my knees buckle and i call in sick. i will change that. soon.

anyway, one person commented on how i look scattered. I was about to say the same thing about him too... except that he believes otherwise... He know what he wants and what he is doing...just as I know what I want and what I am doing...

His need to re-arrange my life according to what he can understand, is a need he must do, not for me, but for himself. This need if he acted on it, will benefit him, he will begin to see me flawlessly as I strut in this life. However, I will feel broken. His order is my chaos, just as my order is his. The perfection of the moment I am experiencing can only be perfect in its perfect sense to me, others may try to understand, other may actually understand a little, but never will they look at it the way i see it.

Just as the unverse chaotically choose to exist, my chaos is partly a result of a certain system relaive to my existence and also partly an acquired choice.

No one needs to understand it not even me, just as no one needs to understand yours. There are somethings that we must answer to socially. The community requires the individual to do so,however, the creativity of one's life as one lives it is beyond time and space. And so if you see me jumping up and down the bed, you don't need to know the reason why...just join in if you feel it's fun ^.^

a more refine post on this one when I wake up. *tsup!

Drinking Coffee the Kangaroo Way...

Books & Brew with a special dropping in between...

Hopped my way towards this new coffee shop at Tionko last night, and was hopping excitedly with a promise to taste this "Kape Balos" that Kangaroo Coffee Company is now offering, is making my left eye twitch... Kape Balos or Kape Alamid, as it is more widely known, is something I've heard of a few years ago but I never really had the chance to taste it.

When I reached the place, it was buzzing...so many people. It's my first time at the Kangaroo hole and I heard it's new, but I never expected it to be very busy.

The ambiance was nice...the people friendly (don't ask the guard though, he will just answer you with a one word: ha?) ^.^

The best thing about this place is that it offers books for you to read.

Heartbroken? read the inspirational books, tired and depressed? grab the self-help books. They tend to keep the reading light but something that will make the customers feel good.

Books and coffee shops have long been partners but this is the first coffee shop that I've seen here in Davao that offers books. Reminds me of Border, a bookstore in Singapore, cool place,...and they won't bother you if you read and read...problem is, it is so big you wouldn't know where to start...

Anyways, this is a cool concept, it brings not only coffee lovers together but intellectuals as well... So the place becomes alive with discussions and stuff, this type of setting will sooner or later gather an interesting pool of people with various talents, opinions, and perspective...

Soon people will come to this place not because of the coffee but because this place has become a part of them in terms of their learning process with coffee drinkers as their peers and the couches and tables as their collective space. The place, if properly managed and allocates time to providing a venue for intellectual growth will flourish not as a business establishment but as a second home with with friends as clients.

service with a smile

Hehehe! Not that I have a very interesting social life but if ever I am to have a life, I'd rather socialize with people I'm comfortable with in a place I find cozy...And it's always the people the creates the atmosphere...So when I drink my fair share of coffee, cafe latte in particular -- well more of milk with a little coffee --- and someone says something funny, that forces me to laugh unexpectedly making the liquid to come out of my nose --- I'd rather have it trickle down in front of people who will laugh with me ... Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever is apt) I don't belong to the group of coffee drinkers who periodically experience spasm and epileptic attacks if their daily dose of coffee was not met...

Wait, Why was I in Kangaroo in the first place?

OH, KAPE BALOS -- Civet coffee, Kape Alamid --- o

Oh, did I mentioned that i hopped in a few minutes late?(what's new huh?)...when i reached our table i saw Blogie and Kuya Migs, Bob Martin and his adorable wife Feyma. The KULIT Tandem - Chattee and her shaolin monk who clicks on his cam as if there is no tomorrow-- arrived a few minutes later.

photography by Chattee

THE COFFEE. Kape Balos is Kangaroos' edge against other coffeeshops. Believe me, this coffee is one heck of a coffee. It is interesting and I don't only mean the flavor...but let me start with that....

The FLAVOR: I find Kape Balos strong for my taste, but then again I'm the One-cup-of milk-with-coffee-please-girl, you know... I'm proud to say that I didn't faint and even had more than one cup --- but generally speaking, it was not strong , The strength is dependent on the saturation, i think (correct me if i'm wrong)... You can, I think, request for stronger brews to give your palate the flavor it is looking for.

I've noticed that almost all coffee lovers are also weirdos who like stronger brews aside from them being aroma freaks...I know someone who brews his coffee so strong that the mere sniff of it makes me faint... It is so saturated that if you serve it in a wake, it would push the dead to get out of the coffin, drag its carcass around, just so he/she could slap you (wala nay mu-abuloy kung makuyapan pud ang nibisita tungod sa kape hahah!)..

Going back, the beans was roasted well,thus, no burnt or bitter aftertaste, and the taste becomes better after every sip. Interestingly, the taste doesn't change -- you know how the taste of coffee changes when you drink it first and then you eat something, and then you take a sip again? In this case, the food enhances the taste of the coffee without altering it... Expect it to be musty and with rich jungle undertones).

Kuya Migs noted how it goes well with the (Chamomile?) tea.

As for the aroma...it is chocolatey ( i love chocolates kaya 2 thumbs up sa aking ang kapeng ito!), elegantly bold but not heavy handed, kinda nutty (i think)... It was served without sugar and cream, you can put some if you like, but try drinking it first without the sweeteners, you'd be surprised.

Anyways, Kape Balos is not suited to be served everyday. The dead will die again if you do so... why? it's so freakin expensive you'd have a stroke.

Estimated to be commercially priced around P10,000 (yes, ten thousand pesos) for half a kilo (yes, you read it right, tunga ra sa kilo), when I heard of it last 2003, it was priced around $600 per pound.

Kape Balos or Kape Alamid as it is widely known is actually the most expensive coffee in the world. Kangaroo offers a it for Php300 a cup -- expensive? not really, in other places, people are actually paying $50 a cup.

If you find the price interesting, wait till I tell you how it's made...hehehe!

In case the word Balos or Alamid is a word not part of your vocabulary, let me then happily inform you that those are words pertaining not to the finest arabica ( Liberica or Exelsa) coffee beans that this expensive coffee is made of.

Balos or Alamid is the proper name of a wild feline, nocturnal by nature and is an expert in sniffing the ripest and sweetest coffee cheries to glutton over.

musang.civet.alamid.

No, the alamid or musang is not being used to find the best coffee cherries the way a hound dog is slaved over to locate a prey...One harvests the coffee by picking the droppings of the creature...You can read the last line again, I wouldn't mind ;D

Indigenous Tribesmen from the mountains of Matutum gather the Civet's droppings early in the morning, most likely before the sun would rise... they'd clean it, then roast it, and then make coffee out of it...mmmm...yummy. hehe! ;D

Why the heck would people pay so much money for coffee harvested from a wild cat's droppings?

Aside from the fact that humans are actually gross, this process of the coffee cherries -- being eaten, then digested, and then finally excreted, is a process that prepares the beans for it to taste the way it does-- exuding an almost musical, fruity aroma - dark and sweet, -- strong, chocolatey, and just perfect even without sugar and cream.

High levels of proteins is the reason why coffee beans become bitter upon roasting, but the Civet, upon digestion breaks the protein down giving the Kape Balos it's superior taste. That's why I wasn't really surprised when Mr. Mark Seng, part owner of the establishment, noted that the best coffee is the type that you can drink and savor without the artificial sweeteners.

You would notice also that the liquid looks reddish rather than brown (reminds me of mangosteen tea, actually). The color is due to the the biochemicals present upon digestion -- a factor why a change of color takes place.

This natural process makes the procurement of these types of beans scarce but the demand for this coffee is high, thus, the reason for such high price... Did you say high demand?! yes, I did - there's a lot of crazy people in the world you know...and this is some weird craze...

Heck, I'd try it just so I could say I tried a coffee that once passed through some creature's ass

IT being actually edible and the fact that it is the best tasting coffee in the whole world is a sure sign that there is some higher power watching over freaks like me who is willing to do crazy stuff just because....

but sadly these animals can only collectively poo 250 kilos of coffee beans worldwide per annum... You cannot do anything till the animal does its thing... the phrase "patience is a virtue" is an apt mantra for this.

Seriously, there is a sanitation process involved but extensively cleaning the beans with simple running water is enough to dislodge bacteria... Also Kangaroo being a legit establishment, will not offer you a ticket to the bathroom --- but this makes you wonder, before the sophisticated sanitation process, before the wonders of technology in terms of brewing, who first thought of trying the droppings as a possible source coffee? ( I don't want to imagine -- but THANK YOU for people like that...)

So did I scare you or what? Here's a suggestion of what you could do... gather your friends and head collectively to Kangaroo (it's in front Sunburst, at Tionko Street) order one cup and take turns sipping it and watch eachother in amazement the way Spongbob and Patrick would in a similar situation...you are not allowed to laugh like spongebob though...but yes oggle and let your eyes glimmer until you all turn yellow.

Oh, here's another, make it an initiation rite. When I was still in high school branding according to one's group is one of the most important thing to achieve a certain social status... I'm sure in many levels and ages, such is still existing in various forms (anyways, let me stop myself before I delve into the mysteries of peer and labeling)....

where was I? oh - the initiation...HE WHO DRINKS THE Balos COFFEE IS A TRUE MAN... with a tagline, it is one thing to be called an ass, but it is another to drink from one...true men do the latter... o di bah! bongga!

• For the Social Climbers, order a mug and keep the receipt for future show off...

• For Intelligence Officers, this cup of coffee can actually be an effective psycho warfare technique... (umamin ka na o oorder ako at ikaw ang pagbabayarin ko!)

• For the ones who slave over article writings and deadline chasers - the strength of the price and the coffee is enough to keep you guys awake.

• For the insomiac, celebrate some of your sleepless nights with class and style...drink it with your pinkie up ;)

• For the bookworms and the nerds, invite your rich friends and let them order Kape Balos while you tag along and read for free...

• For the humanitarian and the socially aware, ordering a cup is actually helping the indigenous tribes who gather these beans in their livelihood, these beans produces an income that promotes welfare and pushes civic development amongst the community, it is also raising an awareness to protect the Civet or Alamid, and is helping in protecting them and their habitats.
  

Whatever reasons you may have, or whatever reasons you may not have, do find time -- hop your way at this interesting establishment... and try the darn coffee, will you? because the Civets are not gonna stay here forever. You might find enough curiousity to try it one day only to find that the coffee is not available anymore because the creatures involved are already extinct...that would be a shame.

If you tried it, and you find it not suitable to your taste...fine...order something else (wala may pugsanay bleah!)...

the PAPA KANGAROO

If you see a lanky guy
with chinky eyes & wears glasses
He is the part-owner Mr. Mark Seng...

He is mainly in-charge of the discounts mwehehe!
so be nice to him

PIG OUT!
----------------------

Original Post @ Emptied Spaces (July 14, 2008)

iPhone 3G is almost out!!!

When iPhone came out, I was salivating at it...Now.? tulo japon akong laway hahaha!

I mean who wouldn't want a revolutionary phone with a widescreen iPod that is also internet capable (rich HTML email plus desktop)...but heard that it was having problems...so i abstained --biting my lip and holding on to my money so that I wouldn't give in to the tempation of buying something beyond what I can afford...and regret afterwards...

but I stumbled on an article that stated the next gen of iPhone, to be called IPHONE 3G will be now be released in 22 different countries this JULY 11...but that is not what I am excited about...what made me scream was that its price was to start at $199 eeeeehhhhhh!!!!!!!

ang pangutana, pila kaya ang patong ani pag abot sa atoh...tagem...

(Black model, 8gb is $199 while the white one with 16gb is $299)!

New features of iPhon 3G

• Faster, 3G data networking. One demo took 59 seconds on the old EDGE network, 21 seconds on the iPhone 3G, compared to 17 seconds on WiFi. Apple claims it’s 26% faster than competing models from Nokia and Treo.
  
  
• Longer battery life. 300 hours standby, 10 hours 2G talk, 5 hours 3G talk, 5-6 hours browsing, 7 hours video, 24 hours audio.
  
  
• Better audio. No details were available on this.
  
  
• Integrated GPS, including live GPS tracking.

it will be available on july 11, 8am in these countries:

iPhone 3G will be available in these countries later this year...

bu

misunderstood and out of context

I've gone AWOL from my family and friends last year because of the fact that I got pregnant (again?!). Aside from the fact that I was not ready to face them with their cross faces and insulting inquiries, I was not ready to face the subject of me being pregnant again.

I do realize the fact that babies are little miracles, however, you begin to think twice about it being miraculous if it's happening too often. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with my children, but if they only gave me the chance to re-schedule their grand entrances to this world, I'd have them really spaced out with a max of 4 years in between. Oh well...

My OB thinks I'm a a hard-headed idiot.

My kid's pedia thinks I'm just plain childish and careless,

My friends think I'm grabbing opportunities to be pregnant as if it was on sale -- with a major 80% slash off the retail price, My acquaintances have lost track already of the count but such memory deficiency is not holding them back from talking about me being pregnant for the nth time already.

My bestfriends are groaning "puhhhllleeeaassee....stop it!",.

My assistant rolled her eyes,

At least my little brother was indifferent...

And my mom...God knows what my mom was thinking...but let me tell you...it is not very pleasant and mostly likely it involves a murder plot aimed to bring down a 6ft giant.

And so I abstained from any social contact and limited myself within the four corners of my home...It's not hard to do, I move in a very limited social circle anyways -- all i have to do is just to pull the strings tighter to make that social circle even smaller. The social tug of alienation began and my being an introspective and my cynicism only deepened.

I've learned to become more observant and to act blank when i meet new people (don't get me wrong I'm not the next Albert Einstein either). I learned something fascinating -- i noticed how people become so interesting when they think your dumb...They become careless and they ignore you giving you every opportunity to dissect their personality, put it under your subjective microscope, and gaze at it -- as it jump up and down, back and forth to your satisfaction...

This often amuse me and it would be cruel to talk about it with other people...so I just remain silent in my corner if I'm ever in one of these rare occurences of meeting someone new...definitely spaced out with a semi-senile grin...Funny how they would all turn to look at me, as if on cue, every time I have this idiot smile on my face, an expression so out of place, that they'd shake their head in pity of me. nabuang na guro, ingon nila.

They'd ask me with feign interest and would give me a fake invitation to their conversation, a discussion I wasn't really listening to because I busy with my cruel scientific character disectomy --

"say, who do you think should win the final cup?"

"err, are we talking about the plastic one ? o kanang mabuak? mas gwapo jud nang mabuak kay dali lang limpyuhan..."

toink! minus 10,000 waffa points! naunsa man ka day oi! go home and plant camote nalang beh!

After a meaningful glance, and an eerie silence, they'd resume to their previous stance of verbal combat as they brush me off aside, not knowing what to do with me and doing everything to show me how to converse right -- just a little short in calling me dumb in my face.

I swear -- somebody would snap if I dared push even further. I can see their eyes twitching. HeHe.

But you see, it may sound as if I do it on purpose, the mistake was honest (yes, dili ko bogo, pero tanga jud ko gang haha!). I am not that mean to purposely irritate anybody -- i mean, i gave them a valid answer, their question, however, is wrong...I mean, oblivious to the ongoing conversation, How was I to know they were talking about some sports' world cup qualifiers...They assumed I knew...their fault they got a dumb answer.

Try asking me a question i know the answer of, and i'll hit the bulls eye. hehehe...i mean, You don't ask a gravedigger about the principles of ballet, you ask him about loam and earth and humidity, you inquire him of bones and stench and the peak season of dying, you cannot, for the life of him, make him gossip about ballet dancers unless,

• one, the said dancers are dead.
• two, he is a gravedigger cum ballet dancer -- tiptoeing his graceful ass in the cemetery --

the question then, is invalid and most likely to be out of context.

Anyways, let's leave the gravedigger alone...dli niya sala nga sa patay ra ang mudol niya, trabaho man niya na...neyehehehe... Moving on,Let us, however switch the channel to the number that airs “Grey’s Leah's Anatomy". --- Saw a friend night and we got into talking…turned out I stirred quite an interesting conversation amongst the medical staff after I gave birth. She informed me that there was an endorsement from me snapping to the resident doctor where I said “excuse me, I’m talking to my husband” (but if I remember correctly, I was so distressed to talk to anybody) to other various sundry stuff that is really not a big deal except that they find me to be a bitch and thus took the opportunity to glutton on me in their conversation.

Darn! I find it to be disturbing because I don’t remember being mean to anybody there except for that time when they were in a hurry to put me in surgery because my baby’s experiencing fatal heart distress but couldn’t find any of my guardian to pay for the down payment in the hospital. I was pushed to call my mom and I remember barking orders in terms of not shutting down my lappy to my brother to telling them that its impossible for us to give any down payment because it’s already 7pm and no bank is open. ( I was just 7 mos and my check up with my doctor turned out to be a major emergency operation) I was kinda explaining when some insensitive (more of tackless really) medical staff chided in with her one line bomb aimed and fired with every intention for it to explode into an insult -- “didn’t you prepare money for your delivery?!” That stopped me -- irked to bones; I dismissed her with a sharp look – am happy that I didn’t say anything sarcastic (but then again – didn’t I say that NO BANK is open?!) – she must be the kind to bring loads of cash when she goes out, I mean the lady can only be tackless and mean or just filthy rich, no one knows…

And so my opinion, from the highest of position to some of the low ranking help that was present during my surgery escapade clunked to the gutter (naka-una man gud bah hahaha!)… Needless to say, I’m going back to my old hospital.

But then again maybe I was mean to some and my memory just selectively forgot it. One way or another, I struck a nerve, and the nerve sang and choreographed a chorus resulting to an official soundtrack of me.

LALALALALA-LALALALALA-LALALALALA-LALALALALALA…

after a year of recluse and careful hiding, i managed to convince myself that it is now safe to go out. Drat! it was then the bullets started flying. Nanukad ra pud diay ang mga kagwang!

OLD GreG

this video is so crazy! Was laughing so much and cringing at the same time...So sick you can't help but watch it haha!