Here is my “coverage” of the the recently concluded Manila International Auto Show. I went on the last day, April 18, 2010, Sunday, at about 4:30 pm. Manila International Auto Show or “MIAS” is not really known for customized cars. Although there are, they are separate from the the major car brands’ booths. And if you’re familiar with the World Trade Center, the custom cars are at the smaller building at the left side. MIAS is also known for Russ Swift—that precision driver dude who drives cars on their sides, and parallel parks like there’s no tomorrow—all of which I have not seen in the 3 years I’ve been going.

What’s special about this year’s show? Tough one, but WilCars is at the top of my list. WilCars is a collaboration between Alex Restoration and, wait for it, Willie Revillame. In other words, there is a space there with a Ferrari, a Porsche, 2 Mustangs and an Audi R8—all of which are Willie’s, all of which have “WIL” in their license plates. Papi, idol ka talaga. More about cars in the gallery, click below.

Thoughts In Binary’s “Mahal Ko Na Siya Bebot of the Show”

Go figure. I don’t know what it is about these promo girls, but with all these blogs covering them, they’ve become celebrities in their own right. Phrases like “uy, si Mica Atanacio” or “uy paps, si Jem Milton” come out of our mouths like rapid fire. And in each of these shows, there is always someone, often a new discovery, whom I’d like to take home and… Usually she’d be the one quietly taking her job seriously, while most “Pinoy parazzi” hoard the likes of Paulene So and Abby Poblador.

Meet Ms. Sherlyn Gonzales. By the way, that’s a really funny name. I know she might not look much in the photo below, I was shocked too when I downloaded them, but believe me, she is damn fine. I then googled “Sharlene Gonzales” after remembering how much I laughed when I asked her name, and this was the only link I came up with. I’m not even sure if that’s her, because Jesus, the bangs ha. Pero ganda niya, pasok na pasok sa criteria. Click below, marami pang kwento sa gallery.

Going to Naujan, we took our usual Puerto Galera route with minor modifications—figure out a way to go to Alabang, bus from Alabang to Batangas Pier, Batangas Pier to Calapan via roro (minor modification), then 45-minute jeep ride to Naujan town proper.

So what the hell is in Naujan? Nothing, really. Although the bore was mainly caused by us not having a car to go around by. Literally minutes before leaving, I googled for some exciting scenery and found out about some lakes and falls—all of  which ended up in our hindi napuntahan, next time nalang list.

To cut Naujan some slack, here are some of the things I’d never forget: They had naturally-hot water coming out from their pipes. It was really hot and it made me say “Ang kulit ng tubig dito” a dozen times. They had this nice, clean and huge probinsya “plaza” (as in “kita tayo sa plaza…”), where the locals gathered and mingled on an almost daily basis. The town is dead by 8:00 pm, so if you have an inuman session and run out of beer, sorry.

What else? The beach, or rather, the dagat is referred to by the locals as “Black Beach.” Typical dagat for me, but just imagine how the two girls I was with reacted. In fact, we were foreigners in an unforeign land, simply because we had Likas Papaya skin. Oh before I forget, the standard ulam order in their “restaurants” was Php 30. Dirt cheap, and so does a pack of Marlboros (Php 30. Php 34-35 in a typical Manila sari-sari), which left me really, really dumbfounded.

So, that’s it? No, I have to end this post in a high note. And this, said in nothing but pure honesty, so help me, God, is the truth and nothing but the truth. The locals, I love you guys. You are the best. As cheap as the food already was, we could have survived even without our wallets. Food and drinks everywhere, food just after we’ve eaten, and lodging good for three separately (which we did not take, obviously). Plus, the locals can drink. Good thing I have some summer practice. Special shout out to the Gayos and Balita families.

Click below for photo coverage.

It was a whole, albeit small, boob that popped out for all of Boracay to see. God, I love that boob. I have not been affected this much by a “boob-bu,” hey, I coined a slang, since Marian’s—and that was a whole lot clearer (video) and bigger (boob).

I heart Anne Curtis

I have always liked Anne Curtis. I’ve been placing myself in all these imaginary sexual scenarios since I saw her all drunk and flirty (with Luis Manzano) during the heydays of Mustang, the bar. I like her look; she looks like a nice person who can punish you in every evil, conceivable way possible. I like her skin tone, I like her curves. And this photo, Jesus Christ.

So, what now…

Now, because you took the time to read my post up to here, and because I heart Anne Curtis’ boobies so much, I’ve decided to host said “boob-bu” video here, and photo here—and none of that RapidShare crap also—self-hosted, and will be archived here for all eternity.

Just remember though, such shall be called “boob-bu” from hereon after.

So apparently, there is an issue surrounding people who bought Paramore tickets for Php 10,000 (like that in itself is not an issue). To summarize, people who bought VIP tickets ended up in the same place as those who bought Gold tickets (Php 3,950). However, I am here to bitch about a less important, if not, useless issue—I was not able to see Paramore.

I was able to hear them though (what?). Having still been undecided on the day itself might have had something to do with it. And, if it weren’t for me dreaming of some Hayley-goodness the night before, I probably wouldn’t have come.

Still without parking, we arrived at Mall of Asia at exactly 8:30 p.m. By the time we reached the concert grounds, the ticket line still spanned about 50 meters, and that appalling-choice-for-a-front act had finished their set. When we were only about 15 meters from the lone ticket booth, some irritating irritated guy announced that Bronze tickets (Php 550) had run out. What choice did we have? I was not willing to shell out Php 3,000+ (Silver ticket x 2) for a concert that was already two songs in.

Thoughts In Binary

About the Php 10,000 ticket scam. If you shelled out that much for a Paramore concert, you should really rethink as to what issue you should address—your fanaticism or what had happened. Either way, you’ve been robbed, big time. On another note, why don’t you make yourselves important and actually be a VIP.

About my ticket (or lack thereof) issue. In my defense, probably 80% of the concerts I’ve been to, I did unarmed (no ticket upon arrival), and, I have not seen a line that long. Seriously, one ticket booth for a concert this big? Even that small Saosin concert had 3 lines leading to the desk which sold tickets.

Manila Auto Salon 2009

The end-of-the-year “ber” months are filled with great car shows. The Manila Auto Salon is probably the biggest, and is a personal favorite because of its location—SMX Convention Center. Convenient, spacious and cold, which makes tambay easier (Jesus). We went for two consecutive days, just so we could photograph more promo girls. Still, we were late as hell, but I think I did quite good.

Bumper to Bumper 2009

Like I said, full of car shows. What I did not know, however, was that I was about to experience a different form of babe fix. Like you wouldn’t believe, FHM had this sort of FHM Girls showcase, which coincided with the awarding of Ms. Bumper to Bumper. Although there wasn’t anyone there I haven’t seen before—Abby Poblador, Arra Castro, Jem Milton, Paulene So, etc., it was still quite exciting to see them live in skimpy bikinis. Hey, I love cars, in fact, most of the time I go in support of someone (club), but I’m getting tired of car commentaries. So, to sum it all up, Arra Castro is really, really cute.

bilyar.NET 2009 Christmas party

Hey, I own bilyar.NET. Yes, I do. But I haven’t been attending or showing myself for the longest time. It is in good hands and I trust my partner and moderators. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have some Christmas pool fun with the boys. It felt good to give away all those prices, and award some trophies, plus I made some new friends. And, best of all, I played some kick-ass pool.

Saosin live in Manila

Holy humongous crap, this was 2010 already. It is already quite late to blog about this so let me just include it here for archiving. The extent of my Saosin dunong begins and ends with Translating The Name. I know they rocked and all, and blew everyone’s brains with “Seven Years,” but I was just not able to keep up. Weirder still, I only knew of the concert on the day itself. So, if not for my cousin, Boy Paketing: Ang pinaka umiidolo sa Saosin kahit ako nagpakilala ng Saosin sa kanya, who would’ve gone even if didn’t go, I wouldn’t have seen Papa Cove.

So, that’s it for now. I will be back soon for sure. By the way, some of the photos are not linking to their corresponding gallery albums yet. I still have some sorting to do, so, wait for that.

Losing my belly

I really wanted to blog about this journey inch by inch, but I just couldn’t find the will to blog. Last year, I started to exercise regularly. What started out as a way to kill time when it was the kumander‘s turn to “solo”  the internet became a full on obsession. I went to the condo’s (more on that later) free gym at first, then I “upgraded” to Slimmer’s World—I have had a lifetime pass since 2003 so it just made more sense. I started with a 37 1/2-inch belly (tape measure on belly button), and ended with a record 29 1/2 inches. I went to the gym religiously, 4 times a week, from April to October. I was successful at trimming an inch every 3 weeks. I do not have an “after” shot, but you’d know what I’m talking about if you know me personally and have seen me recently. Photo below was taken around May.

Condom living

Whoever decided to abbreviate condominium as “condo” had no sense of humor. 2009, for us (kumander), was the year of the “condom.” I liked how so much—mall, bank, food, etc., was so accessible. I liked how easy it was to keep track of everything, I liked how condom personnel took care of a lot of stuff. I liked how the building did not “sleep,” especially for a night owl like me. I did not like the overpriced association fees, and not having a car most of the time (it was “broken” for most of 2009). I actually liked cleaning and washing the dishes. I’m weird like that. Oh, and I liked living in such high (literal, 9th floor) a place. We rented a 2-bedroom (really small bedrooms) in Las Piñas.

Two monitors and a snake

My almost yearly laptop update ended last year. I ditched the old “lappy” for a desktop powerhouse. I have read and always wanted to try a dual monitor setup, and last year I experienced how effective it really was when kumander brought home a 19-inch Samsung from work. I hooked it up as an extension for my laptop, and voila. Now, I don’t think I could go back (working) to a girlish, single monitor, small-screened, weak ass laptop. I have two Samsung 733NWs with a combined total resolution of 2880×900. Oh, and about that snake, click here to see what I found lurking beside my desk.

Triangle tires

These are some cheap ass tires. China-made but, well, it works. I have been using this sporadically since October last year. To give you an idea of how cheap these are, my 18-inch 225/40 cost only Php 3,000. If you know about cars and tires you would really appreciate this. Anyway, to quote the guy who sold them to me: “Triangle pero bilog.”

To Naic, Cavite, with love

How I wish I could remember more about this impromptu trip. One thing I could not forget though was, when we woke up the next day, after all the drunkenness, there beside our house stood the ocean. The people were really great, considering I had no right to be there in the first place. Another thing I remember was talking to them about all these great “nature” places we could not go to because of our schedule. We plan to go back there this summer, and, maybe I’d write a more exciting post.

Jesus, I did not realize this would turn out to be an epic post. Part two tomorrow.

Another crazy thing worth noting, people were like paparazzi on viagra. Remember the time when having a DSLR was cool and unique? 2-3 years ago, it went from that to being the “in” thing, to being just regular. Now, it’s just annoying. People were lining up and “bunching” up to take pictures of the girls which would’ve made even Britney jealous of the attention. Noong araw, I needed to compose myself and suck up some gut before I could even ask the girls to pose for pictures.

But there were a lot of hot girls. Because I could not find any “worthy” cars, I devoted my time and attention to the models (yes, I proudly took advantage of the paparazzi movement). There were high-class (and high-priced) promo girls, gro-looking girls, then some so-so girls. Ms. Abby “red head” Poblador (Playboy February 2009) won Ms. Trans Sport Show, and the only other one who seemed to have some form of fame was Ms. Paulene So, who appeared in Maxim’s March issue. I’m sure there were other notable figures.

Anyway, I was also there in support of our El Presidente and Phat Audio big boss Alvin Cu, who shook the whole Megamall with his “King Kong” Mitsubishi Space Wagon. Congrats, parekoy. Click below to see the whole photo set and to have a first-hand feel of my trip (and the show) as I say it how it really is in my commentaries.

First off the list, one of my beloved axes – a 1994 Epiphone Les Paul Standard, which, from hereon after, shall be named “Leney.” I don’t usually name stuff (cars, guitars, etc.), I think it’s silly, but for the sake of this post…

I got Leney from a straight trade back in 2001 – swapped with an Ibanez RG series with a sweet, sweet hardcase (my first “real” guitar). The “Epi” came with nothing. No history, no stories, not even a case. At that time (2001), my high school band was already falling apart, and my two other bandmates had started playing in some side projects. All I had was my on-time graduation and my nerd-ish computer degree.

By the way, my other high school bandmate (and guitarist extraordinaire), Flo, was my swap-mate. I figured, my Ibanez was so virtuoso-ish that it would bore itslef to death (in my hands) playing a bunch of Moonpools covers. To this day he still has that Ibanez RG, but I forget what cheesy girl’s name he named it with. See my ex-Ibanez in action here.

Back to Leney. Chubby Cheeks: Ang Bagong Ama, my drummer from the same high school band, invited me to jam with one of his side projects when they decided to add another guitarist. My first real band (post high school), and Leney‘s career was born.

My first gig with Leney was at an underground tugtugan in San Pablo. Back then, nakiki-underground lang ako. I liked the idea because it sounded really non-conformist and galit! But fuck, I was from Ayala Alabang, I was the opposite of “underground.” I feared for Leney when I saw the scene. She had no case which meant everyone had to see me (as if) flaunting it prior to our set. During our set, one of my worst fears happened – something hit Leney – a coin. It hit the strings. Thank fuckin’ God. After the set, the worst thing happened – part of the crowd slammed into our group. Me and my other bandmates  (what heroes) shoved our bodies in front of Leney like it meant more to us than our own balls. Not a scratch.

Eventually, I formed another band soon after that first gig, a female-vocalist fronted one, one which I led. Suffice it to say, this guitar inspired me to be in a band again, and from 2001 to late 2007, both of my bands were active, and Leney was part of the circulation. She was also to be immortalized in some compliation album in 2003. Back then, choosing which guitar I’d bring to a gig followed this simple rule: for my all-boys band (the one referred to in the first gig), I would bring Leney, but for the female-fronted band where I was the lone guitarist, I preferred the more versatile sounds of my other axes (e.g. Parker P-42).

To you, its future owner, this axe is (was) so loved and it has lots of stories to tell. Make it sing.

Serial # S4118167.

P.S.

I am under the assumption that you already know the price, etc. of this guitar because I linked here from the classifieds for reference. If however, in the insane chance that you ended up here looking for guitars for sale, contact me: mark.verzo[at]gmail.com.

The car show season is upon us. Good thing I was able to catch the last day (yesterday, April 5) of “MIAS” 2009. I was there in 2007, but last year, I don’t remember (and can’t believe) how it passed me. Anyway, MIAS is not a Trans Sport Show – tuner and custom car-wise, which means majority of the displays are latest offerings from manufacturers, although there were still a lot of cool “customs.” After all, they need to pack the World Trade Center.

What I really want to see however, is a Trans Sport Show-type show held there (WTC). The World Trade Center is just perfect for such. Imagine a full week’s worth of cars, activities outdoors (e.g. Russ Swift’s demonstration, competitions), food, honeyz (naks), the whole shebang. Someone please create the perfect Philippine car show.

Thoughts In Binary

The photos will tell the story. I was only able to take photos of 2 promo girls. Damn it. I encountered a small hassle issue with the kumander, plus, it was almost closing, so less girls. I did however take photos of all the motorcycles there (haha) – my new “thing.” Click below.

Added one to my age. Was forced to celebrate my birthday when all I had planned was to mukmok at home. Sid’s, the bar where I spent my birthday eve, has been closed since. It is now known as Sub Zero – a suckish music bar wannabe with the tagline, “The cool place for hot music!”

Got a mountain bike for my birthday.

September 2008

Started my health quest. Biked everyday. Felt stronger everyday – I increased my distance (route) and length (time) daily. Literally, I got stronger. I even managed to cut down on my smoking by a couple of sticks per day.

I bought a desktop torrent slash media rig as an additional personal birthday gift. To this day (February 6, 2009), I’ve downloaded 640 GB worth of “piracy.” Good stuff. I also badly want to ditch my laptop and settle for a desktop workhorse for this “internet” thing.

October 2008

Of course whilst ditching this blog, I started blogging on Bebot, Bebot! almost daily. I now know for sure that Bebot won’t make me rich. It will be big someday but the ratio of workload to growth is tight. I will stick with it because there, I can get away with really short posts.

I also tried blackhat. For the first time, I experienced having a site banned from Google’s index. Quite exciting I have to say. I learned that in blackhat, although you think less, repetition will bore you to death.

November 2008

Did some CPA affiliate marketing – actually made a few and learned a few. It sucks that in AdWords, the guys is the U.S. have direct account debit whilst I have to stick with whatever limit my credit card gives me. Them who make $10,000 per day might be spending as much as $5,000 per day on AdWords and the like. How the hell can I do that with a Php 70,000-monthly limit credit card.

I might have already stopped biking mid-November. I don’t know why. I’m just ningas-kugon like that.

December 2008

I’m a sucker for the holidays. Everything just feels different. I wanted to be part of the long vacation so I stopped working as well, only my vacation was a lot longer. Har, har.

People, barkada, a lot, went home last December. I’ve reached this point in my life where I’d rather stay at home or drink in someone else’s than go out. Surprisingly, it was quite cool to hit the bars once again.

January 2009

Farewell, The Alabang. My stuff is now split into three different places – The Alabang, because we haven’t finished cleaning up the junk, Bicutan, where my family now lives, and Las Piñas, where I skipped the “bachelor pad” idea and went straight to “living-in.” Yeah, well, it’s nothing new for me and my girl, but still, I feel like such a grown-up!

To be continued…