Midnight rain

Nature does not rest until it is all good. Nature needs to subtain the ground with water in preparation for the months to come.

The early fruits of Spring

[Early signs of Spring show during a rainy night]

What kind of truck is this?

I've never seen one like this. There are 2 carriers attached to it just as big. I wander what's inside?

The gloomy day

Even though the first day of Spring came and went, the days are not blooming yet: that is the nature of Spring. The leftovers of Winter remain for the moment, but the days will eventually warm up to start the photosynthesis process. The soaked earth will grow its grass and the flowers will open their buds. Leaves will prevail and pollen will surge. Birds will fly and bees will pollinate. The cycle of nature's life begins again.

Glassy paths

A water surface is a nature made mirror. Trees, earth, the skies are all reflected. Even nature needs to glance at its reflection now and then; it can't be blamed.

Thousand river

Many of these small rivers are formed during these (rainy) kinds of days. It is suppose to rain until tomorrow night so there will be plenty of stream to have these natural occurrences flowing.

Planetary aligment

[The Phoenix] This was my first trip to the Phoenix. I had head about it from friends, but never took enough interest to visit it; or the East Village for that matter [apparently I am a 'West' Village boy]. I met with Chris to hang out during a Wednesday night in the city [uncommon for me]. We ended up here about 11:30PM. The bar is very nice actually; it has 2 floors with the bathrooms being in the basement, and the whole first floor being the bar. There was a lounge right behind the bar, which makes for a more private atmosphere. These lamps shown here [yes they are lamps] were the center piece of the room. Made from plastics cups, they follow a spherical shape to make functional art. I should learn to make one like these.

The dome

[Berliner Dom at Lust Garten]. The Dom is the largest protestant church in Berlin. Originally it was built to accommodate the spiritual needs of the German Royalty. The Dom is also open to tourist. You can walk all the way to the top of the dome and see the whole city: a breathtaking view.

The lion's den

East Berlin Zoo. This zoo is located in what it was then East Berlin. Is it more modern however in terms of animal safe keeping. Most of the animals roam around in free spaces rather than cages, as opposed as in the [West] Berlin Zoo. This location is the entrance into the big cats exhibit.

Fountain of Fairy Tales

[Märchen Brunnen at the Friedrichain Vollspark]. The Fountain of Fairy Tales is a monument to the most popular tales recited to German children. Some children play in the fountain, but it is filled with algae sometimes: fun idea, but probably not a good one.

Lego giraffe

[Outside Lego land at Sony Center]. Although Lego land is kind of a small store, this giraffe makes quite a statement on their behalf.

Belvedere

Berlin pics cont'

Tobe Unicorn!

Review of Gundam UC Epi.01:Day of the Unicorn

Day of the UC

This just came in the mail today. I can;t wait to see it! The long awaited OVA [original video animation] Gundam UC. The first OVA to be adapted from a Gundam manga. The 7th minute trailer was amazing, this OVA is going to be truly remarkable and is going to be one of the best in the Gundam Universe in my opinion. The review will come soon! :D

A hint of Spring

Today was a nice 60F day. It started a bit cloudy and chilly but at around 10:30AM the day cleared like magic. And this weather is suppose to hold until next week. I can't wait til Summer.

Black squirrel

Telephone [review]

Picture source: tonic.com: "Lady Gaga and Beyonce Team Up in "Telephone"

Yesterday night was the worldwide premier of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video. In my opinion this is the best song in the Monster album, and this video became the best [so far] as well. Splash became like the Super bowl of Gay Culture, both floors packed to tune in at 11:30PM to watch the premiere in Chelsea Lately’s show. All the club screens were showing the event. The air in the room was intense [gay for gaga] as the countdown commenced: guys restless, and queens screaming for the room to be quiet. Then the video started playing and a huge roar greeted it. As the video played everyone had a comment to make, and roars kept on coming at strategic points [check the video link below and you'll see why]. At the end everyone was more than excited and proud of what Gaga had produce: another moment in pop culture music transcended into history. Similar to some "story" videos, the video is about 9 minutes long [the song being 3:40 minutes long]. Even though the video is exceptionally long, you will be fascinated and enthralled by Gaga and Honey B. My personal moment of enjoyment was the brief cameo appearance by Stephanie. That was amazing and pure genius! My other highlight was the bail out scene, classic! I have to say that this video definitely pushes the envelope in many aspects. Just in regards to the choreography this video is gold. The best performances come after the diner episode [Ein... Zwei... Drei!], the intensity of the video increased and this is shown in the dance performances as well. Lastly, Beyonce is definitely up to par with Gaga on this video; her performance was just as exquisite. Unfortunaly Beyonce won't course [hehe]. The reason why I love Lady Gaga is that she keeps growing and maturing musically as well as artistically, not a thing that many artists experience unfortunaly. It is a joy to see what she comes up next. She is truly a master of art and performance, and she does it all for us the fans. Enough talk, go and see for yourself:

Telephone on LadyGaga.com

And while surfing the YouTube I came up with this. OMG check it out, it's awesome!
Audrey and Gamaliel's version of Telephone
Subscribe and give them 5 Stars for Indonesian alert amazing-ness!!!

Underwear night

Although I don't go out clubbing during the week, I decided to make an exception for a special occasion: Campus Thursday's Barely Naked Underwear Party IV at Splash. These kinds of parties don't happen often, so when the chance appeared I had to take it. The picture above shows what I was only wearing throughout the night. Well, to be more exact what I was only wearing after our group decided to get undressed, which happened after midnight. Well, to be more exact what I was wearing after I received free underwear from Undergear.
It all began when I made plans with Nandi and Carlos to go to Splash early that afternoon. After work I started getting ready for the party. After a shower I began the long process of picking what to wear for the night: what kind of underwear to wear, which style, which color, and with which shoes to match, etc. I finally decided, was happy with my choices, and was on my way to the city. When I got to Splash I meet Carlos and his friends. We were talking and drinking for a bit. Our group got larger as more friends came to the club. After the Lady Gaga video premiere of Telephone the party got started. The group slowly one by one got undressed to their undies [free coat check for clothes is always a nice incentive], until Carlos and I were the last standing with clothes. We finally decided to go for it. There weren't a lot of people undressed at the time, so I think we were a bit conscious of that fact, but we had a good time regardless. Later on more people did get undressed [thank goodness]. We were having a lot of fun being bared, and dancing without care. At around 1:30AM [I believe] the Undergear free goodies came out to the public: free underwear, chap sticks, Boy butter lubricant packets.
A funny story: all the guys requesting Small size underwear [including me] were taken aside behind a curtain. The promoters encourage us to promote the merchandise and go dance on stage. This is where the underwear switch happens: I was wearing my underwear [gray with a design in it] when I went to the club, but I had to wear the new piece I was given now. So I, like a few others, changed right on the spot. Since we were behind a curtain it was ok, only ourselves and the promoter could see us [hehe]. After that we went up to the stage to dance. A few photographs were taken of us dancing in our new underwear to promote the event further [I will have to hunt for these pictures sometime]. Besides the lights, cameras, even free underwear, this night was amazing. I think it was the fact that it was, literally, liberating. Not only was I wearing only 3 pieces of clothing [underwear and 2 socks on my feet] besides my shoes during the night, but I was out during a school night and it felt great. Because of personal reasons I am a bit stressed and in a bit of physical pain, so going out just to have fun was really the best thing I could do for myself. My reason to go to this party was not to hook up and get grabbed but just to have fun. Yes I can have fun with my clothes on anytime, but how often do I get to dance without them? Now, there were some odd episodes during the night [haha], but that's just the club scene. Overall, it was all good, and can't wait for the next party. Did I mention my new underwear glows under phosphorescent light ;)

How to get over a hang over

I was not feeling well after yesterday's "party day." It started during the night, I kept waking up because my mouth was dry, and I was very thirsty. The at around 5:00AM I could not slept anymore. I just lay in my bed, trying to get sleepy. I think I slept again at around 6:00AM. Instead of having coffee as I regularly do for breakfast I drank juice again, as I wanted to get rid of the sour taste of the margarita. As I got into the office I just drank cup after cup of water to clear my system. I felt hungry earlier than usual, at 1:30PM, so I went to KFC to get some fatty foods [click the video link below for the inside story]. After eating the KFC snackers and French fries I felt a little better, but not completely. I kept drinking water for the rest of the day. By the end of the day I was feeling better. The Moral of the story, do NOT mix drinks, specially if you are drinking margaritas. And if you do, drink plenty of liquids to be hydrated, and eat something "junky" to help absorb the left over alcohol.
[The doctor's tip] Sugars help breakdown and absorb alcohol. Drink or eat something sweet after a night of drinking to help minimize the effects of drunkenness.

[Video link coming soon]

The price of a drink; and bingo

So how do you complete a nice day in the city? Well, you visit Pieces of course. Pieces offers happy hour specials and $3 margaritas [on Sundays], so it seemed like the reasonable thing to do for the rest of the afternoon.


Pieces was the most ... interesting part of the day, in a way, the most eventful. When we got in I found Sunil at the bar having a drink. I flagged him, greeted and told him to join us at our table. We sat by the back of the bar, where in a Sunday afternoon is a great spot as the tables are empty and there is lots of room for the coats. The guys played a round of pool while I was catching up with Sunil. We talked about our jobs, friends, and life in general. I found out that he is quite the entrepreneur, as he is starting his own business on the side, which I thought was genius. Why not profit from something you love doing, correct? While all this was happening I had 2 gin and tonic drinks for $4 each [a bargain]. At 5:00PM the house was ready for "Balls to the Wall Bingo." The host Ms. Vodka Stinger was a delight, and quite a lady. She started things off by going over the house rules: NO ties! The first person who shouts bingo [and has the right balls] wins. So most of us bought some sheets, which sold at $5 for 4 games. There weren't a lot of players in the bar, so the odds for our table were quite good. In the end, I was the first winner of the night! I got to the spin the wheel of prizes; with the highest price being $2,500. My price was quite generous, and useful. I won a voucher for a FREE drink every day for a month and a half [price expires 4/17].

Check out the Bingo event page on the Pieces site here: Balls to the Wall Bingo. And don't forget to attend Sundays at 5:00PM for a chance to win a fabulous prices, although nothing can be as fabulous as Ms. Vodka Stinger. If you're feeling frisky do attend Porno Bingo Wednesdays at 8:00PM.

With my prize I got my first free drink, a margarita [which now that I think about it, was an error in so many levels]. Atanas had plans for the night, and Tom and Justin left the bar, at around 7:00 I think, as they were tired. I sat with Sunil while we finished [or rather attempted to finish] our last drinks. While drinking the margarita, I knew I was going to be drunk later. The tequila in the margarita was definitely the last nail in the drinking coffin. The mixing of wine, gin, and tequila throughout the day was definitely not a good one. I should have known better, but I was feeling quite oright, until I had that last drink. I couldn't even finish the damn thing, I had to leave it behind as I was feeling a bit ill and was tired anyways. Sunil accompanied me to the subway as he was taking his train at the same station. The A came after 10 minutes. While in the train I was still feeling ill and was trying not to think about it, so I closed my eyes for a bit. To check what happened next check out the video link below:

[video amusingness coming soon]

After that incident, I made my way to Penn, and waited a couple of minutes for my train home. I was very tired so I fell sleep on the ride home. I remember closing my eyes just before getting to Jamaica, and the next thing I know a conductor was telling me to get off the train. I was questioning his directions, but again he told me to exit the train. I thought I had to switch at Jamaica to go to Huntington for some reason, but as it turned out the train was at Huntington when I woke up and I had to get off the train because I was the last passenger inside. After that I took a cab home, watched the Oscars, and experienced one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life [the alcohol was still effective until the next day].

The guys and a squirrel

[Can't you feel the excitement???] Once we got to Washington Square we decided to take a break from walking, and take a snack break. On the way to the park, we stopped at a peanut butter store [peanut butter is popular enough to have its own store]. Tom and Justin got some [strange] sandwich: banana, bacon, with peanut butter [the only ingredient missing was the pickle]. I thought it was a bit out of the ordinary [but then again I put mayo in most food], but if you really love peanut butter I guess you'll eat it on anything. I just love my peanut butter in Reese’s pieces. After snack time, we made our way to Pieces to keep celebrating the lovely day Sunday was.
So, the puzzle look in these faces came about me taking the picture. Atanas asked me why I was taking the picture in the first place. Justin and Tom were wandering as well, but were more willing to go along with it. If you know me, I love to captures these kind of moments on film, or in this case in my phone's memory, so I can check them later and enjoy them. It's a remainder of trivial moments past, such as this. I can remember this day, and this exact moment because of this picture.

[squirel picture coming soon]

I also like to take random pictures as seen above. I have never seen a black squirel before, so I had to take the chance and prove they exist, lol.

French brunch

I woke up Sunday without a plan to follow. I decided to text Atanas and Tom to see what they were doing, and maybe implant myself in their plans to avoid a boring day [haha], and I did. They told me that they wanted to hang around the village. I meet them, and Justin, around 2:30PM [with the new shades], and without knowing we ended up at a tea bar at Justin's suggestion. The place is called the "Wine spot" which really brighten up my afternoon. Being a nice day out, probably around 55F*, I couldn't drink tea. It was warm out. So I decided on drinking the best next thing: a glass of red wine, with a croissant.. It was a French brunch [at least my idea of a french brunch]. So we sat at this nice place, and we talked about our activities the previous night. I was home Saturday night watching "Up" and "Hell Boy II: The Golden Army" with my sisters. The guys were telling me about their night in Jackson Heights, Queens.

After tea time, we walked around the village, and made a stop at Washington Square Park, where the NYU crowd was out and about.

Ilegally hot

I went shopping on today for the first time in ... ages. After seeing [Tim Burton's] Alice in Wonderland, my sister and I were walking around the mall, and we decided to window shop while we waited for our father to come out of watching Brooklyn's Finest. Btw, Alice was an ok movie, nothing spectacular or outstanding, but It did carry a good message however. Anyways, we got to the Aeropostale store and I tried a few shades on. Apparently you are not allowed to take pictures of the merchandise while wearing them, therefore the illegality of this post [lol]. The "hot" part comes from the great looking glasses I found. I love them, they really make a statement, and they are bold. I got a few compliments on them, so you might find more pictures of me with them in upcoming posts, haha.