Typhoon Ondoy

While it's hot here in Cebu, it's been raining hard in most part of Luzon. Typhoon Ondoy, Ketsana internationally, brought the worst flood in history after more than 30 years. Ondoy is not a super typhoon but its strong rain made this typhoon devastating.

I was worried because the news stated that most part of Rizal was affected. My family in Teresa was indeed affected. The knee-deep flood entered our house. That's the first time it happened to us. My sister who is now living in Tanay, Rizal with his husband was also affected. They are forced to leave their residence and evacuate in our home in Teresa.

Here are some of the images of Typhoon Ondoy's aftermath:

Pimping sharkfire

I'm looking for better themes for this blog. I would like to change this blog to something lighter since my past themes were dark, but black really means something to me and I can't resist checking dark-themed blog templates. I don't have enough time to finish this and I need to get some sleep. I still have to go for work. It' my last week by the way.

jrortega.wordpress.com now up

I've just finished creating Kuya Jayson's blog-slash-website. I have chosen wordpress to be our CMS since we have plans of upgrading it and getting a domain name. I'm not yet done studying Dreamweaver and Php. Well, Kuya's birthday is approaching and I promised him that I'll create a site for him before his birthday. This would work, for now.

Click the banner to visit site or just click here.

Michael Jackson - Dead

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson just died Thursday afternoon due to cardiac arrest. What a shocker. We don't expect that his death would be that early. That's how life goes. We don't know when it will be taken from us. Hope he rests in peace..

Father's Day 2009

June 21, 2009

They're the one who watched us grow
from the first step we take to the first word we said...
Can't sleep without them scratching our backs
And take their shoulders to be our pillows...
We tried to reach the sky, they lift us up
And walked with us hand by hand until we get tired
And wake up in their arms...
They won't forget our favorite toys
And when they arrived from work
Our favorite food we're looking after..
When we stumble they pick us up
Wipe our knees and our tears...
They're the one we get near to
Especially when mom's mad at us...
The way they caress our hair when we're down...
Remember that pat in the back
And that tight hug when we made them proud...
That smile that we always wanted to win
And their corny jokes that we forcefully laughed at...
The belt and stick they used and made us cry
That spanking, slapping, punching, smashing thing
Made us cursed them and hate them more...
Their over protection that almost suffocated us
Made us realized how much they care...
Still we escape and wanted to be free
And we insist we're children no more...
We then took for granted what they want us to be
Followed our hearts and will no matter...
Lessons learned and we became better
Still they're here willing to start over..
Whatever happens, they're still our father..

Today's their day...
From being a son to a father they are...
This is the perfect day to pay them our tribute...
That we're proud to be their children...
That we're proud that they are our father..

Happy Father's Day!!!

Kris Allen - American Idol Season 8 Winner

America finally decided. 100 million votes have been casted. *Dim the lights..* And the American Idol 2009 winner is... KRIS ALLEN!

Yay!! I wasn't really expecting that Kris Allen would win. Adam Lambert was the expected winner as we all know that he's the front runner and the best singer in this season. It was really a shocker. Nevertheless, Kris Allen truly deserves the title. For me, he is the only contestant who really grown up and improved every week. I believe it's not only because of his guy-next-door image taht made him the winner. His artistry, his attitude and his passion for music were the reasons why most Americans favored Kris Allen.

Now here comes the big question. Did America get it right?

Well, it's up to you. If you're an Adam Lambert fan, you would say no, but if you're a Kris Allen fan, you'd probably say yes. Right? IMO, both deserve to win. They're great artists and they're both stars. It just happened that votels will determine the winner.

American Idol Season 9 Finale: Kris vs Adam

This was the most unexpected finale in the idol history. Most of the judges expected a Danny vs Adam finale since these two guys are the best singers in the season, and the judges have been consistently putting the spotlight on them. I can still remember the first performance night of the 13 finalists and Paula made a prediction that Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey will make it through the finals. Simon Cowell's been praising Adam Lambert everytime and it's very obvious that they're rooting Adam for the title.

It was really a shocker when Kris Allen was the first one to be announced as the contender for the finale, and sending Danny Gokey home. It's a no brainer that Adam Lambert would be in the finals. In my opinion, Kris is more deserving than Danny Gokey for the finals. But we can't take the fact that Danny is a better singer and he's the only finalist who can outsing Adam Lambert. But Kris Allen is the true artist in this season. He sounds good and his songs are great. Look what Kris made to the song Heartless. That was a very good rendition of the song originally done by Kanye West.

Well, so much for the introduction. And I know it's kinda late to post this, but for my blog's sake, I'm still gonna post what happened in the Finale performance night. :D

Round 1 - Personal Pick

Adam Lambert - Mad World
He received a standing ovation from Simon Cowell when he performed this song on one of the idol performance night. Nice pick.

Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine
Great song choice. I personally like his rendition of this song. It seems he won Round 1.

Round 2 - Producer's Pick

Adam Lambert - A Change's Gonna Come
There goes the screaming once again. But Adam Lambert is really a good singer.

Kris Allen - What's Going On
Kris with his guitar. Nice song.

Round 3 - Coronation Song

Adam Lambert - No Boundaries
I think this song is not for him. But he was able to sing it properly.

Kris Allen - No Boundaries
This song really fits his timbre but the song is too high for him. The studio recording was very great though. He is indeed a winner!

Annular Solar Eclipse Today

I've read an article from yahoo.com news about the annular solar eclipse that will take place tonight, January 26, 2009. People in the Indian Ocean will luckily witness this rare event from 0606 GMT to 0952 GMT

An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. Hence, the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.

I've never witnessed any solar eclipse, so I hope I would be able to take a glimpse to this eclipse even for a minute. But I'm able to witness a Lunar Eclipse.

Here's the article from yahoo.com

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Ring of Fire: Indian Ocean to seee solar eclipse

PARIS (AFP) – A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event on Monday when an annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim.

In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface.

In an annular eclipse, a tiny shift in distance that results from celestial mechanics means the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's face, as it does in a total eclipse.

Instead, for those directly under the alignment, the Moon covers most of the Sun's surface, and a ring-like crown of solar light blazes from the edge of the disk.

For those watching from the fringe of the track, the Sun is partially obscured, as if a bite has been taken out of it.

According to veteran NASA eclipse-watcher Fred Espenak, the total eclipse track will run from west to east on Monday from 0606 GMT to 0952 GMT.

It will traverse the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia before petering out just short of Mindanao, the Philippines.

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Sinulog 2009 Experience

Pit Senyor!

After my shift, I went back home to prepare for the Sinulog Celebration Grand Mardi Gras. I'm with Cristine, Claire, Tonette and her sister. The street dance still amazed me. I had fun watching them. The rain fell for a moment by the late afternoon, but it's not that strong so we're not totally wet. That rain didn't stop us from watching. Unlike last year, I saw more celebrities than this year. I haven't seen any float or artists from the two biggest networks here in Cebu. However, I have seen Marian Rivera and Will Devaughn, endorsing Jag; KC Concepcion and Richard Guttierez, promoting their valentine movie, and Senators Bong Revilla and Migz Zubiri, doing a campaign? LOLs.. I don't think so. So, to sum it up, last year's Sinulog is far more lively than today's. I've still enjoyed it though.

This day won't be complete if I won't drop by along the Colon St and buy DVD. The DVDs are very cheap, from 5 pesos, 3 for 10 pesos, 10 pesos, and 20 pesos each. No media board director arrived so I guess that was safe. What I hate about what I bought, I was deceived by the cover of the DVD. The cover is different from the CD itself and I'm very frustrated with that. After that, here what I'm doing. Instead of sleeping, I went to the internet cafe and post this blog.

Sinulog

January 17, 2008

Sinulog Festival will be celebrated tomorrow. This is the most anticipated event here in Cebu and I'm really excited for it. I love watching the street dance and it really depicted how Cebuanos value their religion, and how strong their faith is. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day and tiring day for me.

Converse Sale

The Converse sale of the century at the SM Trade hall is the much awaited sale event of the year. That's 40% - 80% off. Yes, makakasave ka talaga. Kaso wala akong nakitang maganda. Unlike the past years, makakabili pa ko ng TShirt and short with the price not more than 200 pesos. Ngaun, 240 pesos ata ang pinakamababa. Kaya wala ako nabiling apparel. What I bought was another backpack, worth 390 pesos. Medyo costly, pero the original price is 790 pesos, so nakasave pa rin ako. I'm looking for the same bag that I bought last year. Hiningi kasi saken ung bag na yun kaya I want a replacement for that. Unfortunately, walang available na black. Plan ko din sana bumili ng shoes, kaso ala na budget e.. Got to save.. hehe