The 5th Generation Legendaries

The upcoming Pokemon Black and White versions for Nintendo DS is starting to provide us some overview of what's in for the game. We have seen the startes, the new interface (3D), the game mechanics and some of the new moves for Pokemon attacks. Today, another breaking news for all Pokemon lovers is released and it's all about the featured legendaries of the upcoming sequels.

Both the Japanese and English official website announced the new addition to the fifth generation family. Both Pokemon will be featured on the box cover of the games.. Reshiram (レシラム) for Black and Zekrom (ゼクロム) for White. According to the Japanese site, the two Pokémon have a strong connection to the history of Isshu and are key to the games' story. English names not yet announced.


In my opinion, Pokemon is starting to remodel their images and cute and cuddly ones (even legendaries) are starting to turn into what I could contrast with Digimon and other monster games; fierce, brutal-looking and more mechanically designed. But oh well, Pokemon is Pokemon. This evolution does not affect me at all. It would still be the best cartoon/anime that Japan had created (in my own opinion, of course).

3rd guy in a row for the "Idol" crown

Tonight I happened to wake up early as expected to watch the season finale of American Idol. This season, tagged as the "worst", did provide us one good finale night to remember. Starting off with good performances from the Top 12 of this season tagged along with the original artists of their renditions. Performances from music legends set the stage as the crowd awaits who will be the next Idol. It's the battle between shy paint salesman Lee DeWyze and dreadlocked single mom Crystal Bowersox.

The show has its ups and downs though. Some of the disappointments I had during the night was Simon's tribute. It was almost a complete list of the "American Idols" but David Cook did not make it. It was mentioned in one online blog that he was out for charity works that he did not make it to the finale. Another is Christina Aguilera's performance, which started off great with the top 6 girls singing her hits "Beautiful" and "Fighter". But the pop icon ended the performance with a soft ballad which I think did not showcased her voice. I was expecting her to perform "Not Myself Tonight", her latest single on her new album Bionic which could have been a bomb performance to kill the boredom from the show.

What I like though was the farewell tribute where a video montage of the past seasons were shown, pointing out the good and the bad of Mr. Simon Cowell. Paula Abdul returned tonight not as a judge but as a friend who bid Simon farewell too. I thought she's gonna sing but oh well, my mistake.

And of course, what everyone is waiting for. The announcement of the next American Idol. And to everyone's shock (again, like last year) it was Lee who defeated the season's frontrunner. History repeats itself like last year where everyone rooted for Lambert..and it was the dark knight Allen who grabbed the title. This is the 3rd season in a row which "Idol" was grabbed by male contenders. Lee is preceeded by Kris Allen in Season 8, and David Cook in Season 7. Well I think with Crystal's reaction, she has no hurt feelings with her defeat. And both of them are already winners for me.

Late post: My Post B-day Party

Last Friday was my 23rd birthday (geez, I'm not getting any younger..). I was at work then since my leave was rejected..but happy I did go to work since I had a chance to get my Adobe Illustrator prize first hand from Bruce, David and Jeff. But birthdays wouldn't be complete without the "handaan" and "kainan". So I decided to have a post birthday dinner the next day, May 22 Saturday, at home with families and friends. The dinner was attended mostly by my colleagues at work namely, my girlfriend of course, Edz, Janah, Godfrey, Tim, Grapes, Mylyn. Steve, Wendy, Alex and Philip. My cousins Mao, Che and Jenny were also there to join the celebration. It was just simple but a good dinner celebration.

The last week of May

It's almost half of the year and May is about to end. I'm happy that rainy season is finally here, after 3 long months of dry, super hot weather. Thunderstorms are starting to engulf Bacolod every afternoon (I don't know if this is indeed good, since i don't like it) and providing heavy rains for 30 minutes to an hour. This week will also be a busy week for me, i guess. There are lots of things to be done other than updating this blog. My shift at work is permanent. Starts 10 in the evening and ends 7 in the morning so I find it comfortable.

Here are some of the few things that happened and expecting to happen this week:

*Dancing with the Stars - I am not a fan of this show; not until this season where Nicole Scherzinger won the competition. I have watched their freestyle routine with her partner, professional dancer Derek hough. It was the bomb not until they had a short slip at the lift on the end part. but it was an awesome dance. another Filipina on fire!

*American Idol Finale - Results will be announced tomorrow. I'm for Lee DeWyze but if Crystal Bowesox wins, then it's still ok for me.

*Glee "Lady Gaga" episode - I missed this one (again) last night, since SkyCable had a power outage..as well as CENECO (as usual)

*Pilipinas Got Talent - this week will be the 4th Semifinals Round where Experience Kids from Cagayan de Oro will perform. They look like little Philippine All Stars when they dance. So i definitely would not miss that on Saturday night

* Team Master Collection team building in Hinoba-an - gonna be in the sand, sun and beach this weekend (Sunday and Monday actually) with my teammates. Habol pa sa summer =)

Illustrator for me!!!!

My Adobe Illustrator poster won the contest held at my workplace. And of course, the prize is a licensed Adobe Illustrator CS5. Thanks to my clients for such a wonderful birthday gift. Now, I really have to decide to upgrade my PC to optimize the use of this amazing software. It's widely used for graphic designs as well as original artworks. Well, I'm not a full time artist but I can definitely practice using this program for improvements =)

What's next for DDR?

Being able to have the opportunity to play DDR X in Manila keeps me excited and helped me return to my addiction with Dance Dance Revolution. So lately I've been chekcing Zenius-i-Vanisher.com for news about the upcoming series for the dance simulation game. Luckily, Konami does not stop in producing promising games in which Dance Dance Revolution tops the list. DDR X2 is coming soon on the arcade for Japan version. The US version for DDR X2 is already out for PS2 which includes billboard topping hits such as the following:

* Closer - Ne-yo
* I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull
* Just Dance - Lady Gaga
* So What - Pink
* Viva La Vida - Coldplay
* When I Gropw Up - The Pussycat Dolls

Here's a shortlist of my most anticipated songs in DDR X2 (AC) Japan version. I used Youtube to listen to these new songs, and some are familiar crossovers from Beatmania IIDX.

* only my railgun - fripSide (heard it in Youtube, and starting to love it)
* Super Driver - 平野綾 (from the anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
* Dazzlin' Darlin / HHH (you gotta see the bg video, and then LOL!)
* FIRE FIRE / StripE (fast upbeat from IIDX Gold)
* Second Heaven / Ryu☆ (another Ryu☆ favorite)
* smooooch･∀･ / kors k (cute bg video and vocals)

A "GLEE"ful Appearance..

One of the Philippine fast food chain icons made a short appearance in GLEE's latest episode (haven't watched it yet but I supposed it's on the episode where Patrick Neil Harris appeared as guest). The happy bee's short cameo made a buzz on Twitter as well as Facebook for Filipino fans of the musical series.

The video was shot in Eagle Rock Mall in Los Angeles, California..which is supposedly a large Filipino community. well, this could be a great promotional stunt if you ask me. Jollibee with be international (well it is already, but more than what we Pinoys could expect).

Source: Yahoo! Philippines News..

Spectacular view, which I missed out..haiz

This is a common but spectacular view I missed last Sunday night (May 16, 2010). Venus, know as the Evening Star, sits atop the crescent moon, which resembles the one in China's National Flag.

The evolution of Sandara Park

I'm still starstrucked with this Krung-krung..she really had lots of transformation eversince she auditioned for the first season of Star Circle Quest until she became a member of 2NE1.

Pokemon 5th Generation Starters Revealed

After the long wait, the 5th generation Pokemon starters were revealed in CoroCoro, a magazine in Japan which features Pokemon. Also, here are some of additional details about Pokemon Black and White but not yet finally confirmed.

** The region appears to be called the Isshu Region (イッシュ)
** CoroCoro states that the protagonists are older than they have been so far

* The Grass Starter, Tsutaja (ツタージャ) is the Grass Snake Pokémon
* The Fire Starter, Pokabu (ポカブ)is the Fire Pig Pokémon
* The Water Starter, Mijumaru (ミジュマル) is the Sea Otter Pokémon
* Zoroark has an ability called Illusion (イリュージョン) which will allow it to transform into various Pokémon. How it differs from the move Transform remains to be seen.
* Two new attacks have been announced;
o A move called Trickery (イカサマ) seems to allow the attack to be calculated using the opponent's stats
o Another move called Claw Sharpen (つめとぎ) raises the user's Attack and Accuracy stats
* The special event activated by the special Raikou, Entei & Suicune given with the upcoming movie; Phantom Champion Zoroark has been detailled. In this event, when you bring the beasts (it is unclear if it's all three or just one)to the game, a special battle will occur. This battle is against a Level 25 Zoroark which will transform into the various Pokémon. At many points, it will break its transformation to allow you to capture it.

Source: www.serebii.net

I haven't played yet my SoulSilver version but this news excites me of what's ahead for Pokemon Black/White. Luckily it is included on the DS games list and I already had the console. I will be posting my blog about SoulSilver once I already played with it. I'm playing to start my game right after I finish Devil Survivor. For the meantime, I'm trying to catch Pokemon in my Pokewalker to help me in my SoulSilver game in the future =) That reminds me also to get the "Winner's Path" route in the Pokewalker Wi-Fi event! Gotta go!

Advertising Adobe..

Since the release of Creative Suites 5 of Adobe Systems, Inc., my company decided to hold another poster making contest. Remember the last time I joined and won an Adobe Mug? Now this time it's not only a mug or a freebie which is in store for the winners but a FULL LICENSE POINT PRODUCT from Adobe. That means winners can have their full verison of Photoshop, Indesign and the like for free.. Damn this products costs big bucks in the states and they are just giving it away for free..not unless you lose the contest hehehe..here are two of my entries..one for Photoshop Extended CS5 and one for Illustrator CS5. I'm eyeing for these two softwares, mainly used for graphic designs and animations so I hope I would have to chance to win this contest. Software used to create the posters is Photoshop Elements 8

Click on the picture to get full view

Election 2010: It's Automated

Finally, the long wait is over. Finally, the annoying campaign ads will end. Finally, we have reached the peak of choosing our rightful leader for this poor, but my beloved country. Here are some thoughts and events I today about the first automated Philippine National Elections.

May 10, 2010..I woke up early in the morning only to find out that my mom went to the school where our precinct to vote is located. She said it was jammed pack with hundreds of people, despite the very hot weather brought by the summer and the longest queue she had ever seen throughout her life during elections. Well, I can't blame these people. It is indeed the first in history that the Filipinos will use the automated system to cast their votes. It's already used in the States for quite a long time that it is now time for us Filipinos to experience the trend. Anyways, I decided to go back to sleep after hearing the story.

While eating my lunch, I watched TV to see the news about the election coverage. To my disappointment, my favorite channel ABS-CBN is tackled by critics with their biased reporting, giving much attention to Benigno Aquino in comparison to other candidates for the presidency (well, he is Kris Aquino's brother). But what amazed me is their use of holograms for presentations and touch screen technology to bring news to the people. For GMA 7, well never mind!

I decided to go to my voting precinct later that afternoon around 2:30. After I arrived the school, I was then approached by one of the poll watchers, informing me not to fall in queue and go directly inside the voting area. Haha, i love it..it's like I won a special treatment from them. I was able to cast my votes for less than 15 minutes..I feel bad for others, which waited for long long hours before they have cast their votes. Despite reports of the PCOS machine defects on TV, my ballot smoothly glided the machine and it was successfully accepted.

Now we are all waiting for the results. Noynoy is in the lead..and my bet, Gibo, is still in 4th place. Well, it's too early to say it..but I think Noynoy has a great chance.

Disclamer: Picture is not owned by me. Just saw it in Google

The 1st DDR Philippines General Assembly

It's my second time in Manila to attend the yearly gathering of the best of the best DDR players of the country. although we had it also last year, this was the first organized event by the group which was attending by more than 30 players (double the number as compared to last year). It was nice to see Paulino (DDR Philippines head), Gerard, Gian Carlo, Eric, Adrian, Phillip and Jim after a year.

We still gathered on the same place as last year, Timezone in Glorietta 4, Makati City, where we had DDR X to enjoy. Jim and I were the only ones from outside Metro Manila who attended this year. There were mini tournaments for Edit Challenge (A thing called Love by D-Crew 2 US, edit steps by Emman Acuña - REDMAN with BAKTONG!!!!), and Perfect Attack Challenge. Edit Challenge was won by Jopz, PA Challenge by Kristian as champ and Phillip as runner up.

I have also met new faces like Khim (intsik!!), Rage (first time, since we only see each others face in Facebook), Ralph, Bernard the Red Ranger, Dino and many more. It was a successful event indeed. Official icebreaker: "Tsugs! Tsugs!Tsugs! Sayaw! Sige! Igiling Mo! Tsugs! Tsugs!"..a jingle for Cornetto commercial on TV hehehe
Here are some additional pics from the event..

The 1st DDR Philippines General Assembly

Happy 1st birthday, my DS

Today May 6, 2010 marks the birthday of my beloved Nintendo DS. Thanks to TL Kim for convincing me to buy this a year ago. Didn't regret buying this for I was able to play good role-playing games offered by Nintendo. Many have asked if why I considered buying this rather than getting PSP. Well, simple answer..PSP doesn't have Pokemon while DS does =)

A good article about "Annoying" campaign ads

My God! Almost all news under Yahoo! Philippines are about elections...well, we can't blame them for we have 4 days more to go before we decide who would seat for another term both in our local and national government. All of us are of course familiar with all the gimmicks this politicians use on TV and radio just to get people's attention as well as votes. Well here is an article about naming the most memorable and "so-wrong" campaign ads our local television and radio networkd has to offer...

The Spotty Awards for the Most Cringe-Worthy Campaign Ads

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Philippines