Most people think political bloggers are stiff, serious all the time, aloof, ivory-tower-dwelling persons who don’t know how to crack jokes, and who won’t laugh at any jokes. They don’t have the time for frivolous things; they only talk about politics and social issues (and the occasional gossip). The political bloggers have this reputation that somehow turns off (well, not really turn off) some people, and some even shout “nose bleed!” when talking with political bloggers.

But. They are human beings too. They laugh, they cry, they agonize, they take a bath, they eat, they visit the crapper when needed, they breathe the same polluted air.

And to prove that political bloggers are human beings, too, just invite them to videoke. Nothing beats a microphone and a loud sound system blaring YMCA.

So that’s what Ria Jose found out last night when we went to Red Box Greenbelt 3, together with Juned, Fritz, Poyt, Billycoy, Marcelle, Arpee (who went home agad, ander kasi), Markku (with girlfriend), and Jayvee (with girlfriend). Unfortunately for you (and fortunately for me), there are no incriminating evidence. Yet. Anyway, it was a fun night, which was definitely a concert by Marcelle, with occasional assist from anyone. And for the first time, I came home super duper uber late. Lagot ako sa nanay ko.

And thankfully, by mutual consent, there are no videos. Ay, meron yata. Yari ako. Huhuhu.

So there. No wonder a noted political blogger avoids videoke like SARS. I now understand.

Being a Makati boy has its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that I live in the lakes of Caloocan; travel time is at least an hour if it isn’t rush hour yet. I have to leave at 6:30 AM if I want to arrive at 8 AM. And then there’s the MRT. And then the rush home.

I had been hoping not get employed at Makati, since the cost of working here is high – the food, the travel fare, the costume, the works. So when I got a job offer here, I was consoling myself that I would be lucky enough if the company would match my salary from the previous employer. While the offer did exceed the previous one, the increase was eaten by inflation already. And the EVAT.ha

It has been a week. I think I got the hang of the travel. Mornings: take the MRT. Afternoons: take the bus. Bus is slower, but at least I get to sit, and not engage in wrestling. And smelling arm pits. Yeah, I do get bombarded by fumes, but that’s way better than smelly arm pits, IMHO. And I get to avoid entering Trinoma, which saves my wallet from impending bankruptcy.

The food is very expensive. The cheapest is fifty pesos, delivered to your building in styro. Your food choices are limited by your budget; the smaller, the limited choices you have. Good thing my mom sees the philosophy in bringing packed lunch. She’s the ultimate cheapskate, and I got that from her.

Going back to food: there’s McDonald’s, 7-11, and Mini-Stop downstairs; Starbucks several buildings away; Krispy Kreme, another McDonald’s, and another Starbucks across the street. And I have never been into any of them. Wait. I had been to McDonald’s downstairs and Starbucks several buildings away.

I don’t like smart casual. I like casual. I like going to work in shirts and pants. My morning dress up ritual is simple: just grab what’s on the cabinet. But smart casual has changed that. I should be thankful, though; unlike that rock star who always appears to be selling insurance (kidding, but you get the point).

The irony of my Makati life (so far) is that I know some bloggers who work here, but we haven’t met yet for coffee or merienda. It should be a small world, but we are separated by tall buildings and heated underpasses and US time. And also, Glorietta nor Greenbelt is my tambayan. I don’t get to tambay, since like most grunts, I join the mad rush towards home.

There’s a certain belief than when you work in Makati, you have arrived. Heaven knows what a lie it is. It is an airconditioned purgatory, where men in ties and women in heels (or vice versa) atone for their mistake of even thinking that there is glamor in Makati work.

What I like about Makati is that everywhere you go, there is a bank. Paying bills has always been a good excuse to get off the office. And Smart Tower’s just across Rufino; that’s where I had applied for Smart Bro, and that’s where I had paid my cellphone bill for last month. And The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is just a block away, so spending my GC is not a problem (how to spend it, that’s the problem).

Also, I am forced to walk. I must admit that a month of inactivity (plus eating) has led me to high blood pressure. I am glad to have my forced walk back; it is my online exercise.

Anyway, I am not sure how I will fare as a Makati boy. Indicators are not good at the moment. Seeing people go and hearing others talk about leaving, all at your first week is I think too much for my morale. But people come and go, as they say. But we’ll see.

After the medical exam last Friday, I was distraught. For the first time, I have high blood pressure.
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I had a medical exam last February, and my blood pressure was 130/80. Last Friday, three different nurses took my BP each: 140/90, 150/90, and 150/80. I got a sermon from the doctor who made the physical examination (valid excuse for molestation he he), telling me to avoid oily, salty, sweet food – basically all of them. The doc wanted me to starve to death!

Anyway, I am distraught. After all, I have just started delving into food blogging, and then this.

What a one month hiatus can do to your health.

Tomorrow, I will be a Makati boy officially. That means more MRT woes, and double them (since I would be taking the MRT both ways now). As exercise, I promise to walk from the PBCOM Tower to the Ayala MRT Station.

Oh well, wish me luck.

So last Monday, I hitched a ride with a former officemate. We had to refill gas at a gas station (where else), and so the driver told the gas boy to fill up Php 300 worth of diesel. How many liters of diesel would Php 300 get?

I knew it! Oil companies are eveel!

Well, after a week of refraining from blogging, and after some time of thinking, I have decided to snap out of hiatus and go back to blogging.

While it will not be as frequent as before, I will try my best to stick to my posting schedule. However, I might have to decommission the tech blog.

So here’s to more blog posts, more comments, and more tweets!

I’m no good at Math. I have horrible memories of math within my lifetime as a student. There are those tears generated by trigonometry (and a teacher whose surname in English means “choosy”) to a failing grade because I forgot the date of the finals of my mathematical methods subject. There were instructors with terrible and terrifying reputations; Math teachers who inevitably gives failing marks to half of the class (or worst, 3/4 of the class); and those who love the blackboards so much, they don’t bother looking at their students.

There are two vivid memories that always comes to mind when I think of Math.

Grade VI. Our math teacher was holding a demonstration for some other teachers from the division. It was the application time of the lesson, after the lecture, where we were asked to answer several problems. If we were done, we had to go in front, and check our work; the answers were written on a movable blackboard, its back on us.

So there I was, pretending to be answering the problems, when this teacher was nosy enough to look at my work. And since I was just doodling, I was troubled enough to cover it, as if she was a desperate classmate who wanted to copy my answers. Embarrased, I stood up and went to the blackboard, pretending that I was done with the problems. So much for honesty.

A decade later, I was in college already, and I had this subject called statistics. We had this quiz about permutation, combination, and probability. So there was this problem involving the seven dwarves. Yeah, Snow White’s seven dwarves. Basically the problem was how much work would Sleepy do if the others were doing this and that number. I was stumped by the numbers, so I answered: “None, because he is too sleepy to do anything.”

Too bad the teacher did not even appreciate the humor. Unlike this one:

Do you have any memorable Math subject experience?