24 Season 8 Ep 14

With CTU's systems up, thanks to Chloe, they manage to track down the cab that Samir and Tarin took. Dana, however, causes the systems to malfunction for a few seconds allowing the terrorists to blend in to Manhattan's cab traffic and make their escape.

Jack is then called off by President Taylor from the assignment to supervise President Hassan's transfer from the UN to the Maguire Airbase.

Meanwhile, Samir contacts President Taylor and tries to negotiate a deal with her. If she turns over President Hassan to him, he won't set off the nuclear rods. She addresses her staff and is adamant that she won't negotiate with them. (This is a great moment for President Taylor, finally!)

General Brucker has other plans. He talks to Rob Weiss and proposes a covert operation for them to kidnap President Hassan as he is being escorted out. Ethan then walks in on them. As they were discussing, Ethan suffers a heart attack. The general tells Weiss to seek for medical help later as Ethan may jeopardize their plan.

Ethan managed to dial Jack's number. After trying to call him back several time, he gets suspicious and tells the team to head back. The general's men opens fire and this time we see Jack in top form. Jack then manages to get the truth out off one of the men.

Samir, not hearing from President Taylor back, orders Tarin to set off the device.

Joy's Back!

Joy arrived late night Friday, we headed to Queenstown the morning after. We still needed to buy a few things for the house at Ikea while she needed to go to the Charles and Keith warehouse.

Abby, Em-J, Eco and I spent most of the afternoon filling up our carts. By the time we finished, we already have more than we can bring home in a cab. Joy then met up with us also carrying plenty of bags herself. We tried calling for a van but learning about the size of the shelf that we are bringing home, they refused. One cab company offered their road trek, it was a bit more pricey but we really had no choice.

When we got home, we immediately started assembling the stuff that we bought. Eco helped me out with the big red book shelf,

while Em-J worked on the lamp.

This is the finished product:

After freshening up a bit, we decided to head out for dinner.

We ended up at Cavana. My ultimate favorite place for Chicken Rice.

It turns out that the mall that we went to is not the one that Joy needs to go to. At Joy's insistence, we asked for directions at the MRT staff and proceeded to go to the newly opened SSC.

This is what greeted us:

At 10PM, it was kind of expected that almost all stores would already be closed. We decided to just catch up with a cup of coffee at Starbucks courtesy of Abby.

All in all, quite a tiring day but I enjoyed it.

How To Train Your Dragon

I can't believe that yesterday was actually my first time to watch a movie in an actual theatre this year. Me, a self confessed movie buff simply can't drag myself to a movie theatre the past few weeks to watch all the mega blockbusters that opened.

Anyway, Abby invited all of us to their company event to watch "How To Train Your Dragon". I didn't know what to expect as I haven't seen the trailer nor the poster. All I know is that it has received mostly positive reviews.

I wasn't really excited about the movie, I was more excited about the prospect that I'll finally step foot in a theatre again. See, I'm not a fan of animated pictures, much more animated features from DreamWorks. Of all their animated films, I've only seen half of "The Prince of Egypt" which I didn't like and Shrek which was just okay. The rest, I skipped. No Kung Fu Panda or Shrek sequels for me. 

I didn't know that I was actually in for a real treat. The movie was very very entertaining, funny and a little heart warming. 

Gym Woes

Gym Membership: $300

The fourth quarter of last year, Em-J had this crazy idea that we should start hitting the gym. He first signed up for a membership at a nearby and a popular gym chain. I was given a couple of free passes before I was finally convinced to sign up for it. Similar to our previous gym attempts when we were still in Manila, we were still not successful this time as we simply lost the drive to go come January.

Membership Fee for February: $100


Early February, I texted our gym consultant informing her that I wish to have my membership frozen as I simply can't find the time to go anymore. She told me that it's not allowed since you have to have a valid reason. I asked her to check what reasons were allowed and for her to get back to me. She never did.

Membership Fee for March: $100

The last week of February, as I don't want to pay another $100, I texted her again and she said that she wasn't able to process my request since I never replied to her text. I  told her that I never received her message. Anyway, I then advised her that I'll just cancel my membership. She said that I have to give a month's notice. Begrudingly, I swallowed the fact that I have to pay for another full month before I can have my membership cancelled. I clearly told her that this message should be my one month notice. She then replied that it's better to just freeze my account. I told her that I'll visit the gym in a few days when I find the time to process everything.

What she failed to tell me that my text message is not a good enough advise. I actually need to be talking to someone else or another department so they can accept my notice.


Anyway, Em-J and I paid the gym a visit just a couple of days ago thinking that we will just be paying the termination fee.

When we got there, our gym consultant endorsed us to another person who was supposed to handle terminations but she refused to process our termination saying that we need a full month's notice. I told her that I already informed our consultant about it before March so technically this month should be our last month. She again refused saying that simply telling our consultant is not good enough, they need a written documentation which means that I have to pay for another full month before they can process my request.

To make matters worse, our consultant got mad at us saying that I had gotten her in deep shit since her superior is blaming her for not informing the gym about my request. She contested that during the months that I was texting her, we were still negotiating so it technically doesn't count. (I think it's completely lost on her that during those months that we were texting, her gym is continually charging us!)

Going back, I told the person processing the terminations to let her boss call me so I can explain and negotiate. She promised a call last Monday, it's Thursday now and I still haven't heard from them. 

Membership Fee for April: $100


Termination Fee: $209


I guess we really have no choice but to pay. One thing is for sure, this gym is very effective in ensuring that our  wallets get way thinner.

Young Me Now Me

I was checking Mo Twister's blog and chanced upon his site recommendation, Young Me Now Me. Some of the photos are funny and cute while some are downright weird. There are also those that leave you with a warm feeling inside.

24 Season 8 Ep 13

Jack and Cole manage to track down the hostiles at a nearby port. (Who says they need CTU?) They engage in a shoot out but Tarin manages to escape. This shoot out goes on until the end of the episode. Really??? Come on, 4 hostiles against Jack should have been no match. Jack keeps shooting and hits no one. 20 minutes into the episode and I was already in a state of disbelief, they had to inject drama where the newbie agent is hit and Jack spends a good ten minutes trying to hold his neck.

Anyway, the saving grace of the episode is Chloe. NSA is contacted to help restore all the technology at CTU but their method would take forever. Chloe has a risky idea but is quickly dismissed. She threatens the NSA prick, does it her way and saves the day.

Meanwhile, Renee is back ine the picture arriving just in time to help Jack and Cole finish off the hostiles. Dana already had it with the Kevin's probation officer and strangles him to death. It is then revealed that she is working with Tarin.

What Is It With March?

What is it with March that most things electrical suddenly went haywire? I read a couple of posts from two different friends that their computers recently crashed. As for me, nothing as bad as that but still, I can't help but feel that too much is going on too soon.

You already know about my internet woes. Apart from that my BlackBerry which has been most reliable has been constantly freezing and it's battery being drained too soon. The other BlackBerry which I've been using just to receive text messages from Globe suddenly also has it's juice drained even if it's inactive for most of the day. Seeing that I only have one charger, this kind of posed a problem for me.

Lastly, the adapter from my fairly new laptop also decides to stop charging. I don't know what happened but it's been giving out system errors. So tell me, what is it with March?

Ssssslow

I haven't been able to blog as much since our internet connection has been acting up the past few days. We are currently signed up for a 12MBPS premium service but we haven't really been able to enjoy even half that speed. Before moving here, we used to have internet service from both Singtel and Starhub so anytime we encounter any slow connection from one provider, we simply switch to the other. We already had our service with Singtel disconnected since the lock in period has already lapsed, now I'm wondering if we shouldn't have.

I talked to the tech support rep yesterday and they promised to look into this. This is now the speed that I'm currently getting:

I know download speed from torrent is not really a good enough basis but it's good enough for me.

I just wish this fast connection is maintained. 

P.S. The 350MB file that I was downloading finished way before I finished typing this short entry. 

Change of Heart

I was hating on Starhub yesterday...

...But now, not so much.

24 Season 8 Ep 12

Tarin is tipped off by Samir that his identity may have been compromised. Looking out the hotel window, he sees the authorities closing in on him so he forces Kayla to come with him and they head out to their headquarters. Samir contacts President Hassan and demands for file 33 in exchange for his daughter. The file in question is later revealed to contain weaknesses in the U.S.defense.

Meanwhile, back at CTU, in the middle of the crisis, Kevin's parole officer shows up and questions Dana. She makes up a lie but he is adamant. He wants to talk to her some more otherwise he would go to Hastings. Dana asks him to stay put. (I have to say that this plot seems to have been way off. It just doesn't gel with the 24 pace.)

Tarin and Kayla escape and he instructs her to contact CTU as they can help her out. He gets shot. Back in CTU, upon reviewing the surveillance footage, they see Tarin very much alive. They put two and two together and realize that there must have been a bomb in Kayla's getaway car but they are already too late. She arrives with only about 17 seconds. The bomb goes off. CTU is destroyed...again.

Moving In

All of us had an early start last Sunday. We started packing the little things that we couldn't figure out where to put the previous day. Spaces that have been cleared out were cleaned. Mid-way through our packing and cleaning frenzy, our McDonald's breakfast arrived. Clarice, Em-J and I all ordered the Deluxe meal knowing that it would be late in the afternoon before we'll have the chance to eat again.

We called the cab company and asked for 4 Maxicabs (vans) to be at our place at 12:30. When they learned that we were using the vans to move, they said that they don't allow that so we were left no choice but to cancel. 

We were still thinking of how to transport our stuff at around 12:20 when we received a text message and a call saying that the Maxicabs we asked for were already downstairs. Imagine the panic, I haven't had the chance to take a shower yet so I took a very quick one. We then started hauling all our stuff down. This took about an hour to complete. The drivers were saying that we should have taken our stuff down earlier but we really had no choice since we were caught unaware.

One van then had to leave early as he was already running late for his next schedule. Em-J and I rode with him while the rest followed soon after. On the way to our new place, it started to rain. The owner then texted that they will be a bit late. We had to wait by the lobby while some of our things got soaked.

We finished moving in at around 4pm, our agent then treated us with some pizza. 

Eli, Clarice and I then headed back to our old place to tidy the place up a bit. In our hurry, we actually left the place in a bit of disarray. After that, we headed to Fair Price to pick up some food and things that we still need. Needless to say, I was spent.

Moving Out

Last Saturday was our last night at Ang Mo Kio so Abby, Eco and I busied ourselves with packing and cleaning the better part of the day. We had to resort to using bags and old shopping bags to stuff all our things in since we decided to just hail a cab instead of using a mover. We were required to pay a deposit $1000 if we are to use a mover and even then, they would only be allowed beginning Tuesday.

Early in the morning, we started piling our things in the living room:

This is what it looked liked by sun down:

I then decided to try to look for medium sized boxes that would fit a cab to avoid too much clutter so I headed to Fair Price where Clarice met up with me. It turns out that they don't sell boxes but they gladly gave us a few without charge.

Clarice was a bit hungry and wants to prepare a home cooked meal. I told her that it wouldn't be possible because our kitchen has already been cleared out. We then headed to MOF since this is the only restaurtant that's a bit spacious.

Here's Clarice with the cartons waiting for our food:

I'm glad I had the chance to have dinner here. The presentation was so cute. I guess most Japanese cafés really take the time to prepare the meals. Their desserts were all lovely, too bad we were already full. I also had to restrain myself from taking the extra long dessert spoons.

Now, This I Want!!!

Here's Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPad, the Courier. Note that this is all not yet official, but it sure is exciting to see if they really have this up their sleeve.

From Engadget's site: "We're told Courier will function as a "digital journal," and it's designed to be seriously portable: it's under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn't much bigger than a 5x7 photo when closed"

Check the video out:

Source: Engadget

How is BlackBerry Doing?

source: Business Insider

Based on the article, the comScore's report includes user surveys and subscriber base and not just the market share.

Do what you love. Love what you do.

The Clock is Ticking

By: Michael Schneider

20th Century Fox TV and Fox appear ready to end the long-running hit after this season, the show's eighth.

Studio and network execs declined comment -- but it's believed that the final decision will be made in the next day or two. Move is not a huge surprise, but still reps the end of an era for Fox.

"24" helped usher in Fox's ratings surge in the 2000s, as the franchise -- along with "American Idol" and "House," among other series -- led the network to the No. 1 spot in the adults 18-49 demo.

But the cost of producing "24" has continued to increase, while ratings have dipped. A one-time critical darling, "24" has also received its share of knocks from critics this season.

The studio is said to be considering shopping "24" to other nets -- but given the thriller's age and pricetag, it's believed interest from other outlets will be limited.

Yet even as the bell tolls for "24" in primetime, the franchise is far from dead. Sutherland and the "24" team have been keen on adapting the show as a feature film, and have made major strides in recent months toward making that long-term goal a reality.

Twentieth Century Fox's film side recently hired scribe Billy Ray ("State of Play," "Flightplan") to pen the script for the feature version (Daily Variety, Feb. 8.)

Ray's pitch, which takes Jack Bauer to Europe, was a hit with Fox execs and producers of the high-concept television series.

Script is said to have come through "24" star Sutherland, who's also an exec producer on the series.

Such a move into the features world was considered impossible while production continued on the TV series -- given that "24" takes much of the year to produce, with its feature-like shooting schedule. But with the show expected to end its run, the ability to focus on a movie could now finally be in sight.

"24" was created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, while exec producer Howard Gordon runs the show through his Real Time Prods. banner.

Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment produces the show along with 20th Century Fox TV.

Sutherland has starred throughout all eight seasons as Jack Bauer, a federal agent and member of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (and who has saved the world several times over). "24" made noise for its real time format, in which all 24 episodes take place as consecutive hours in the same day.

Although it was developed before the attacks of 9/11, the show, which bowed Nov. 6, 2001, in many ways began to mirror the changed world, given real-life fears over terrorism and debates over torture methods. Skein's depiction of an African American president was seen as a ground-breaking precursor to the 2008 election of Barack Obama.

The show has won the Emmy and the Golden Globe awards for drama, while Sutherland has scored both an Emmy and a Globe for actor. "24" has also received Emmy Awards for writing and directing; last year, Cherry Jones won an Emmy for supporting actress in a drama.

This season's edition of "24," which takes place in New York, stars Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jones, Anil Kapoor, Annie Wersching, Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Diamantopoulos and John Boyd.

Source: Variety

Tapa King

Em-J told me that he''ll be having a late dinner at Lau Pa Sat to try the newly opened Tapa King. I heard about the news that a branch is opening soon a couple of weeks back. When I told a friend about it, he was a bit doubtful since they mostly serve beef which he felt would isolate some of the market here. I guess he's wrong since the target market is just us pinoys. I asked Em-J to take home a meal for us which he did. (He dropped it off at home before heading out again.)

We all made an exception today and feasted on the simple meal despite the late hour. I love Tapa King!

Now that Tapa King is here, can a comeback from Jollibee be far behind? 

24 Season 8 Ep 11

Dana and Cole head back to CTU where they are confronted by Hastings. Since they are the best in their respective fields, they are allowed to work back. Dana gets demoted and now has Chloe as her superior. She then gets a call from Kevin's probation officer who insists on meeting up with her at that ungodly hour.

Meanwhile, Marcos manages to arm the bomb again and refuses to listen to Jack until his mother is threatened. He informs Jack that Tarin is involved before exploding into bits.

The episode was really a bit boring until I think the last 2 minutes of the show where Kayla finally answers the call from her mother while Tarin is in the shower. She is informed that she is in danger as Tarin is indeed a traitor. She manages to tell her of her whereabouts only to be informed by Tarin that they are leaving. She manages to keep her calm and locks herself in the bathroom under the pretense of cleaning up.

I am, however, very excited for next week:

More House Hunting

Last Saturday, we set out to Yew Tee for our first viewing. We left quite early and decided to have lunch at the mall right beside Yew Tee MRT to familiarize ourselves with the place. It wasn't really a mall and there were about only 4 places to eat at, at least that was our initial impression. We debated between KFC and Xing Wang and eventually chose KFC. I finally got to try their egg tart and I must say that I love it! It's better than most egg tarts I've tried.

The condo that we will be viewing is about a block away from the mall so we really didn't have much difficulty locating it, thanks to Google Maps. I haven't seen pics of the condo online so I was really curious.

It looked a bit old but Eli and Em-J liked the pool.

We waited for the agent to arrive by the pool side and by this time, the three of us were already a bit drenched as it was stifling hot. When she finally got there, she told us that the current tenants of the unit available are also Filipinos. Here is what greeted us:

It was a bit messy which was understandable since they were packing up but more than that, the place felt dreary. (The floors were also a bit sticky) I decided not to take any more pictures since we already made up our mind that we will not be taking this unit. 

We headed out once more under the blistering heat but since it was still a bit early, we decided to have a hair cut to pass the time. After that, we went straight to Admiralty to check out a couple of available units at Northoaks. The place is a bit far for most of us but all of us liked the general feel of the place. I forgot to take pictures but I'll post some if we get to move in there. 

House Hunting

Since our lease ends this 15th, we have been quite busy searching for a new place the past few days. Our 2+1 unit is already a bit too small for us given our sizeable number. We also wanted to upgrade a bit and move to a unit with facilities and to a more quiet environment. Our place is cozy and I already feel quite comfortable here but if we can find something better then we certainly want to try.

It has been quite difficult given our many restrictions, first and foremost is our budget considerations. Property prices have been quite high due to the high demand the past few months. Also, finding a central location is quite impossible since we all work at different locations (east, west, north east, and central). I did see one place available that's central to us all, Pinnacle@Duxton, located near the business district. It's just a few minutes away from Em-J's office, 20 minutes from mine, about 30 from Clarice's and Abby's and less than an hour from Eli's.

It's very ideal but it's way out of our budget given that it's just an HDB (public housing) although it's one of a kind. Compare with a typical HDB below:

It's a pretty popular residence since it's newly opened and it has the Sky Bridge at the 50th floor. Pics below:

Pics are all taken here. 

I was supposed to view one available unit last Friday but the owner cancelled last minute as I was en route. They rescheduled it to Saturday but our calendar is a bit full with several viewings elsewhere. I guess it's really not meant to be. By the way for those curious, price range for a 3BR unit is around $3000 - $3500 which is about P96,000 to P112,000 per month. (Gulp.)