On The Road Shots

stoplight going to San Mig Ave.

to Cubao (near U-turn slot going to Marcos Highway)

near U-turn slot going to CP Garcia Ave.

rainy traffic 1

rainy traffic 2

Pinoy transformer

night traffic 1

night traffic 2

night traffic 3

morning traffic

can you see "brad pete" written above the plate number?

approaching Marcos bridge

Secret Codes

It's really thrilling to know secret codes. I'm not a hard-core gamer but it's nice to know the secret codes of your favorite software game. Until now, I couldn't forget the secret code for 30 lives in Contra (family computer game). It needs a little practice and right timing though. At the title screen, press Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-B-A-Select-Start and voila you'll have 30 lives.

Just few minutes ago, I read a blog entry in Techrepublic.com about some awesome tricks for 3D Pinball in Windows. The kid in me can't help but try the tricks. I remember back then that I wished there would be unlimited number of balls available for me to play the pinball. Well, after x number of years, my wish is finally granted.hehe. How? By typing bmax at the start of a new game, you get unlimited number of balls and play for as long as you like.haha.

After playing for more or less 100 balls in pinball and reached about 11M points, I got bored. My theory before that playing with unlimited balls will make me enjoy the game more is not true at all. 3D Pinball was designed to have just limited number of balls so as to pose a challenge to get as much points as you can and look forward for another game. :D

These secret codes are just short cuts. I was thinking that maybe it's cool to have "secret codes" in real life... like applying some secret codes to get what you want in life. It's wonderful to have secret codes to skip the "heavy traffic" part of my driving everyday.hehe. But then I'm reminded that God knows everything and He has a wonderful plan for us all. He designed life to have some adversities, some painful moments, some waiting times, and so on for us to grow. We just have to learn along the way, appreciate the "moment" and take time to smell the flowers. :)

Will you still love me? Hard habit to break

I appreciate "oldies but goodies" songs. Most of the oldies songs sound familiar to me but I don't know the song title or the artist. I discovered that some of the oldies songs I like are originally sung by Chicago. Sometimes I feel like I'm a failure and I made so many mistakes that God would not love me anymore. During those times I like to sing this line to God, "will you still love me for the rest of my life?" But then I'm reminded that God loved me as I am, in my best times or even in my worst times. Paul says in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

While listening to "Hard habit to break" song, I'm thinking what's my hard habit to break. After thinking for a while, I guess waking up late in the morning is my hard habit to break. I accept now that I'm not a morning person.hehe.

Driving observations

Here I go again, talking about my favorite subject: Driving. Driving sometimes drives me crazy.hehe. Welcome traffic jam! I was left wondering last week why I experienced traffic on my way to work. I forgot that 2nd semester has started already. I believe that Filipino people are flexible in different situations. During traffic jams, a two-lane road could be a three-lane one. I think "If there's a will, there's a way" principle is being applied by most drivers. Even if there's only little space available, most of the drivers try to have their cars get through. Some drivers cannot distinguish between left and right. Some would flash their left signal but then they go to their right. (Sometimes this makes me doubt if I'll give way or not.hehe.) Others are undecided which lane they would go. When I'm trailing an undecided driver I feel like saying Moses' speech on Deuteronomy 30:19 -- "...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life..."

I encountered traffic again on my way to the office this morning. But I enjoyed my journey, I put on Switchfoot's Nothing is Sound CD (thanks ate jolly!). Though there were instances that made me a little impatient, generally I believe I passed my Patience 101 test today.hehe. After playing almost 11 tracks and 3 repeats on track 2 ("Stars"), I finally arrived in the office.

With the recent oil price hike, I'm thinking if I could just ride a bike going to the office.hehe.

Inevitable

Having heard of couple of death news this past week made me think of the inevitable -- Death!

I had a so-called "near-death" encounter a couple of years ago. It was a reality check for me. It really made me re-organized my life's priorities. It made me more expressive of myself to the people I love. I don't want to have regret in the end that I haven't told them what I really felt.

Are we ready to face our Creator?

Brewing thoughts

"They say you never know what you got till it's gone" has been playing in my mind for few days now. This line of Tobymac's Gone song was quite a theme for the past holiday. It's just a reminder for me to really appreciate every moment that I spend with my loved ones. :)

When someone or something is gone, there's sort of detachment period. It's like a span of time when you process your feelings and thoughts. Detachment from things is quite easy because you could buy a replacement (though the original one is really irreplaceable). You can't find a replacement for a person.

"Tell me what you want, what you really really want" is one of the lines in an entertainment park's radio ad. I think it's an adaptation from one of the Spice Girls' song. It made me think somehow of what I would really really want. Sometimes you pray for something and when God grants your prayer, you say to yourself, "Do I really want that?" This thought reminded me of a quotation from Henry Blackaby: "Oh God, if I ever give You a request and You have more to give me than I am asking, cancel my request!" :)

"Yung Ferrari na may spoiler, yung pinakadulo sa right!" -- this is a portion of my brother's text message to me this afternoon. He was asking me to buy him a Ferrari. I smiled when I read his message. I could imagine he's like a child pointing to the toy he wants to buy. Well, technically it's a toy. He heard that I would gas up the car on my way home so he's asking me to go to the gas station with that Ferrari promo. With additional 49 pesos to a certain amount of gas you'd buy and you could avail of the Ferrari ala matchbox or hotwheels toy. I was quite new in the gas station so I don't know their products' name. I just remembered asking the gas boy to just gas up my car and give me that Ferrari with spoiler in the farthest right (of the promo poster). Too bad it was out of stock and the gas boy just gave me another model of Ferrari. I asked the gas boy if there's any way I could get that Ferrari with spoiler. (You know, I'm just a 'big' sister who doesn't want to disappoint her 'little' brother.hehe) The gas boy seemed to see the desperation on my face so he suggested that I could drop by the gas station tomorrow and he himself would replace the one he gave me with the Ferrari with spoiler. :) I was glancing at the Ferrari toy while driving through the traffic. I was hoping that my brother would be happy with this model. Well, he looked first for the Ferrari when I came home. I explained that the one with spoiler was out of stock. He looked at the toy car and said it's okay, he doesn't have that model yet. (Whew! That was good to hear!) Now, 2 more models to go to complete the collection. Whaah! :) Just an afterthought, if a not-so-good-all-the-time sister like me would love to see her brother happy, how much more a so-good-all-the-time God would love to see us happy. Sometimes what we think would really make us happy is not really what would really make us happy. :)