Going up for the Team Philippines @ TARA

The Amazing Race (USA) had been one of my fave shows since Season 2 (i missed Season 1). Back when I was in high school this show had been an addiction to me that i never missed an episode just to see all the drama and challenges contestants are facing while traveling around the world for worth a million dollars

Now what more could make this race exciting is an Asian version produced way back 3 years, now having participants all across Asia, including some of the new and not-so-new participants from the Philippines.

Here are some of the short comments I would give to the participants..and the good thing is, Philippines is almost there on top..starting with Season 2's third place win and the recently concluded second place win for Season 3.

Just a short preview, The Amazing Race Asia (TARA for short) is composed of 10 teams all over Asia that will travel to several countries to look for clues and perform tasks to survive the game. Each league of the race has 3 basic concepts

DETOUR - players may choose between two tasks, each with its pros and cons
ROADBLOCK - task that only one team member must perform
PITSTOP - finish line for every league. Last team that will arrive may be or not be eliminated, that depends if the league is a predetermined non-elimination race

And some of the twist and turn options..I quote it as "strategic moves" for the race and what makes the race exciting

FAST FORWARD - players can skip all tasks and directly proceed to the pitstop.. only one available for the entire race
YIELD - players can cause a delay for another team, letting them stay on the yield field until the hourglass is done
U-TURN - players must perform a DETOUR task that they haven't performed

Now for the Team Philippines overview Seasons 1 to 3

Season 1

Ernie and Jeena (left) were the first team who got eliminated in the first season. they are such a good team for me, and got lots of potentials..but then it's a race and maybe it is not meant for them to win. Aubrey Miles (yes, the actress which made her major role in movies like Sanib and Xerex), and her bestfriend Jaq made it to Leg 2, and unfortunately two teams who've joined to represent the country are all eliminated. In my opinion, the first team might have a chance against the second one, if they were not eliminated as early as Leg 1.

Season 2

Henry and Trinidad (left) is I guess the most annoying pair during this season. Even just as a viewer, I can't take Trinidad's attitude of being a know-it-all wife when in fact all tasks are performed by his husband. She is very garrolous with all the nonsense things she can get angry about, even if no sense at all. The right one (everyone knows these guys), Marc and Rovilson also suffered bad luck for this race. They are the first in history for the Amazing Race to win almost all legs 1st place. Hmmm, that's good. However, the Roadblack for the final leg gave them the big loss when Rovilson performed it and soon realized he is not good with flags. They won 3rd overall despite the fact that they were first in the Roadblock for the last leg (The finish line is after the Roadblock). At least. Philippines was there on top. They are one team hard to beat, but luck simply gets in the way.

Season 3

The lone team to represent the Philippines this season are partners Geoff (model) and Tisha (former Miss Phil Universe). Now this is the team that I call the bomb. They were not that amazing at first but slowly as the race goes on, this team proved the others that they work as a pair. As I watched the season, I was somehow dismayed by the fact that they are always left out by the other teams when it comes to groupings because of Geoff's "maangas" attitude. I hope I coined it right. But they proved that no one can bring them done and they have to rely on each other to win. They got 2nd place during the race and certainly helped boosts the Philippine's name in the race, right after Marc and Rovilson's 3rd place win.

Now that the 3rd season has closed, I'm really hoping there will be a 4th season. And you got it right, I will be joining, if time permits. Let's cross our fingers. I hope me and my partner (whoever shall it be) would make it.

Mode: Waiting for auditions..hehehe

DARA..the new Sandara Park

I remember this young lady 5 years ago when she auditioned for Star Circle Quest, a reality talent search show by ABS CBN. She was one of the cutest non-Filipino contestant who made it to the final two of the show due to her charms and charisma. Sandara was not my original bet for the show, because she "was" an underdog and not that good with everything (acting, dancing but she can sing). She is always at the bottom 2 for the show but fans proved that they can send her into stardom with their text votes. She was the title holder for the most number of votes in history of the Philippine text voting up until 2007 (beaten by Bea Saw, PBB Season 2 Big winner).

Sandara is a pure Korean who struggled to mix with the Filipino culture becasue of this contest. She was tagged "krung-krung" becasue of her non-attentive attitude during the contest and sometimes being joked around by the judges. Her famous "Mahal ko Kayo" wave became famous too.

After a short span of time in the Philippine industry, she decided to pursue her career in Korea, her homeland. And she was 100% correct with her decision.

She is now part of YG produced girl group called 2NE1 along with CL, Park Bom and Mei Ji. She focused on her full potentials in dancin and singing, and I can say she is very different than she were before. She has always been my idol and I know some of my friends still hate her even after her huge success now. Hahaha but I don't mind..i'm still rooting for Sandy or better yet called DARA.

Here are two videos of 2NE1 as their debut song, Fire, takes the streets and futuristic space versions..Watch Sandara's dancing skills, way better than before and of course her cute2 voice

Gotta be in with Technology - the Sony Style

Sony Style TV Magazine on AXN Asia

Well i got hold of this show after work. I arrived at my room and tried to check some channels on cable when I came across this show. It is a TV Magazine show hosted by Oli Pettigrew and talks about anything about technology, entertainment and what's hot and not on Asia

I definitely give Pettigrew a thumbs-up in his hosting prowess. He is bubbly and never in the show did he became boring to watch. Some highlights of the said episode I've watch are the Freestyle football by a Japanese group of street entertainers, the introduction for the movie Obsessed by beyonce and Ali Carter (Nikki Sanders of Heroes..hot!), and the wonderful
VAIO L - VGC-LT28G (wish I would have one)

Quoted from Sony-Asia.com:

"Incorporating a double-hybrid TV tuner, this PC is transformed into an advanced AV centre. A light, airy design makes it seem to float, and the large 22” display, two speakers and Blu-ray Disc™ Drive heighten AV enjoyment. Easy access is provided via the remote commander and wireless mouse/keyboard."

This is one hell of a technology I really one to have + it has a recording capability so I can definitely save and record videos from any cable channels I watch (imagine my own collection of old and new music videos from my fave artists..of course not for piracy purposes).

I think i'll be rooting for this show from now on..it's cool

Current Gameplay: Pokemon Pearl Version (Nintendo DS)

Like I've said on my previous post, I am currently playing Pokemon Pearl on my Nintendo DS. it is the fourth Generation game for the Pokemon Franchise which features mostly fourth generation Pokemon (Pikachu, btw, is from the first generation). I started playing this on an emulator but decided to buy my own since it makes a different feel if you have the legit game. Now this game has many features I liked in comparison with the previous games. I'll list them down later.

Now this is my current team for my gameplay:

I already defeated the Elite 4 and still currently playing the after in-games. So here is my line-up. As of June 7, 2009 12:10PM


Infernape at Lvl 75
Staraptor at Lvl 74
Luxray at Lvl 76
Floatzel at Lvl 73
Torterra at Lvl 64 (I got this as a Turtwig from GTS, a WiFi trade center featured in the game)
Empoleon at Lvl 70 (got from an egg given to me by Kim)

Now here are some features i liked about this fourth Generation game:

1. Pokeradar - an item which helps you look for rare Pokemon and Shinies (alternate colored Pokemons. (E.g. Yellow Pikachu = normal, golden Pikachu = Shiny)
2. Underground - a place where you can dig for treasures, exchange spheres for items and create Secret Bases
3. Lots and lots of Items
4. New abilities and moves for Pokemon
5. Berry planting and harvesting

Now I remember playing Pokemon Gold/Silver before in GBC. The logn wait is over, they are coming to the DS as remakes of the previous games:

10 years of Pokemon

I started to have this addiction to this anime when I was in Grade 6, way back 2009 when the original Pokemon anime was aired on TV (GMA 7). Eversince, I was having a much liking on it that I started collecting text cards, as a base for my collection. Then came Pokemon Yellow in Gameboy color. I convinced my mom to buy me one so that I can experience the real gameplay for this RPG, and it was satisfying.

When I had my PC at home (I was in 4th year high then), I started to download emulators to experience gameplay swith Gameboy Advance generations of Pokemon (Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) since I can't afford to buy my own console. and also FireRed and LeafGreen, the GBA remakes of the first gen games.

I remember I downloaded a DS Emulator to play Pokemon Diamond but it became corrupted after I played the Elite 4 (too bad I got all my Pokemon there all at Lvl 100). So it took time for me to wait again until a new version of the game came out.

2009..My workmate Kim has a DS and a Pokemon pearl game that he is playing with. to better experience the gameplay itself, I asked him if I can borrow the game for a week or two to continue his gameplay. Unfortunately his saved file was deleted (reset back to new game) by his nephew, so I asked him if I can startt my own game. I became addicted to it again that this time since I have my own salary, I decided to buy my own DS. Now his Pokemon Pearl game cartridge is mine and i'm happy with it

Other than these, some of the things I also collect are posters, stickers, Pikachu stuffed toys (I always wanted to order some other Pokemon toys in eBay), and I had a sweet collection of mp3s for all Pokemon related songs - these are from movies,japanese and english animes too. Even my wallpaper for my phone is Pikachu..I love going to Pokemon sites as well as those related ones. I also dream that one day I can join the world championships for Pokemon

well, I can definitely say I am a 100% Pokemaniac.

everyone wants to be a HERO...

"Save the Cheerleader..Save the World"

This happened to be a craze for me after seeing the first few episodes of the first Season.

Heroes "is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The series begins by telling the stories of apparently ordinary individuals from around the world who mysteriously develop superhuman abilities, and who then seek to use them to prevent the end of the world as foreseen in images produced by a precognitive painter" (www.wikipedia.org)

My personal views for this series, not recommended for kids..why? Violence...especially if Sylar kills (but for me he is the best villain., villain with an attitude!)
The first season was the most exciting, on my part..as characters discovering their abilities. Peter Petrelli is the best (for me) absorbing/mimicking everyone's ability that he sees/encounters, in comparison to Sylar's hunger for power which lead him to become a murderer.Well I'm on the third season and almost done with it. The fourth book is entitled "Fugitives". Quite interesting for a title, better grab my DVD copies =)

List of characters i like most and their abilities:

Peter Petrelli -Power Mimicry








Claire Bennet - Regeneration









Hiro Nakamura - Time Travel








Matt Parkman - Mind Manipulation








Micah Sanders - Technopath








Tracy Strauss - Cryokinesis

Elle Bishop - Electric Manipulation

Now I want to have powers like that...hahaha but i'm not Sylar..