Then, suddenly my html/css code — my baby turns into an ugly monster in the hands of others. Ugly monster? How?

• semantically incorrect horrible
• crazy margins and paddings
• inline CSS code on the html mark-ups
• reliance to !important CSS overrides
• even the code’s crazy indentions

Call me crazy but I do treasure something I code, it is like an artwork to me, and to be that horrible quite disappoints me. And to be unable to do anything about it but only use CSS !important to overwrite such code really kills me.

I do know that there is a CMS being used, but I know developers of such CMS developed some flexibilities for this. Of course they’d want to showcase pretty websites both in and out which are using their product. I did search for websites using the very same CMS, and they are fabulous both in looks and code. You get the idea.

I got a chance to visit Manila again, still on a December but this time purely to have fun. I was toured by one of my good friends Solo, and I had a blast!

My arrival was a morning on December 10. First we went to Intramuros – the Walled City of Spain located in Manila that was originally built for the Spanish rulers. The entire city was like something that isn’t from the modern age Philippines, the buildings, roads even their guards have costumes! It was like a ride on the time machine! I had fun enjoying the different feel of the location.

While still on Intramuros, we went to some of the oldest churches in the Philippines, The Manila Cathedral and the San Agustin Church. We viewed the San Agustin museum which is inside the church itself. A lot of religious sculptures, paintings and many more are in there to see. Really worth it for the very small entrance fee they’re asking for. Though they don’t permit taking pictures inside the museum.

Then off to Manila Ocean Park! Ohh, I was like a child when I was there. I mean who wouldn’t? Ever dreamed of being Ariel and mingle with the creatures of the sea? Now feel like her and be surrounded by fishes you’ve only seen. I’ve seen a lot, from Sea Lions and Jellyfishes dancing to Sharks being lazy and just lying around. Hahaha! I’d love to go back there on my next trip to Manila.

Lastly for the night, a lovely visit to the largest mall in the Philippines, the Mall of Asia. Anyway, I didn’t actually found what I wanted to buy in that place, but I guess I was just unlucky. There’s a lot of stuff in there for everybody.

My last day − December 11, we went to Greenhills and like an anime fanatic does I bought a lot of Anime Toys to bring back home. My flight back to Tacloban was that day’s afternoon now with anime stuff to carry!

I had fun like I haven’t had like during my childhood years. I do guess being on a trip really leaves off a big impact! Thanks Solo for the blast!

Here’s my little gallery while on the trip:

An abandoned blog, covered full in cobwebs. I now write on you again…

Since May this year I have been feeling unstable and things really caught up like a sudden storm during June. A bit curious on what happened? Well, I resigned from my job last July, and got a new one. Currently I’m a home based web designer with a handful of projects on my hand. I also didn’t have any time to write, as well as any topic to write about lately; I’ve been caught up adjusting on everything happening with my life.

During these few months, I’ve lived up to what I wanted to do like a dream turned into reality. As any dream you see on any media, there’s this possibility of turning into a nightmare, and it did for me. I’m currently here at my bouncing back stage with Badminton as my physical outlet.

For now I’m finishing up these projects I’m handling as well as build up my identity here in the web. Easy to say, but hard to do. Yes, I know that. But I guess I’m currently living on the words of my Badminton Coach – You can be better as long as you keep on practicing; everything can be earned from hard work. I know he meant it for my Badminton skills, but I guess it can apply to my life and my career as well. I did see a rapid improvement on my Badminton skills with our weekly trainings. That proves me that I can do anything I want as long as I keep on doing it, getting better at each small step I take. I’ll be updating more sooner, just give me more time.

PS. Here’s the official logo of PixelMai. Created by Rogelio. I love this! Featuring  just a few colors, while being cool at the same time. Also, the logo can automatically be a great favicon — a great way of having consistency within the site! The font used on the logo was my decision though, tell me if it works well with the image. Thanks!

Finally, my new racket arrived. The model I bought is RSL Diamond X3 Silver, an upgrade of my RSL Diamond X2 Blue. My racket’s engraved number is RSL02411X. Racket 2411, huh?

Currently strung with Yonex BG-68 Ti (Titanium) Badminton String at 26 lbs. I really like titanium type of strings for their durability. I used Yonex BG-65 Ti on my late X2 blue, hopefully their differences won’t be that noticeable to me.

I’m really happy to have a new racket, though I’ll admit I’m still not familiar on using it. Hopefully I’ll improve my feel for this racket on my upcoming games, and give a fair review on this handsome sword.

I had a badminton game today, and sadly my racket broke. It’s sad to lose my first racket, but this opens up to new opportunities and challenges ahead. You were my friend and my partner. It’s because of you that I’ve improved a lot. You’ll never be forgotten my RSL X2 Blue. Every game I’ll be playing from now on will be dedicated to you. Thanks and Goodbye!

My fellow Arian, boss and mentor turned 28 today. Happy Birthday Wayne! May you have more birthdays to come. I’m sure you’ll still keep on rocking this year, and never cease to amaze everyone. Keep it up!

PS. Treat us with some food~ Hehehe.

My Lola used to buy me lotions when I was still studying, it did help and everything was fine, I did even buy the same kind of lotions after I started working. But as usual, the me who likes to read ended up searching for what I’ve been slapping on my skin. Review sites showed me that all those lotions contained chemicals that was really harmful for the skin, and these chemicals were even linked in causing cancer. Being a lotion addict, I was instantly converted to go organic.

First I searched for international organic products, since I never really thought that there are products available here in the Philippines. The international products that resulted my searches were too expensive and shipping costs would also kill me. I was feeling hopeless in my search for organic products, but thankfully I was able to find organic products made here in my country, they are cheap compared to the international counterparts and the shipping costs are affordable too!

Falling hair and itchy scalp are also part of my problems lately so I decided to buy organic shampoos and conditioners too. Now, my shampoo, conditioner, soaps and lotions are all organic. I got my soaps from Ilog Maria, while I got my shampoos, conditioners and lotions from Human Heart Nature.

I’m currently loving my Bamboo Charcoal Bergamot & Lime Soap and Lavender Soap from Ilog Maria, I haven’t tried out the other soap variants I bought from them. And I’m loving the lotions and conditioner from Human Heart Nature. I do hope the shampoo would do well on my hair fall problem, like how  the Lavender Soap helped me in my sleeping problem, with our shift change just this week; I’m now working every morning, I’m no longer a nocturnal person.

I don’t find myself regretting on this big organic switch, and I think I would continue with this lifestyle. Sorry for the vain post!

My dear friend Robert Nestor Boller III passed away just this March 22 at 23 years old. I was told recently by one of his classmates about the incident and thankfully been able to attend the last day of his vigil this morning at about 3am till 6am.

He’s been one of my close friends during our high school days. Those were the days when I really needed a friend and he was there. I have a lot of things I’d like to thank you for…

• For the time you spent on listening on my complaints on my crappy high school life.
• Catching a frog for me to dissect for my Biology subject.
• Hanging out with me during your spare time.
• Entertaining me whenever I attend the Santacruzan Party at our subdivision.
• And for being my Niisan (older brother in japanese).

As the last thing I could do for you, I have here a drawing of you done on my Wacom. Too bad it isn’t detailed, since you didn’t have any detailed photos of yourself in the internet. I’ll never forget you with all the things you did and for all the time you spent with me. I’m also very sad that you left us on the day right after my birthday. I’m sure you’re happy on where you are right now since you’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. If ever reincarnation is true, I’d like to be your friend all over again. Farewell Niisan…

Turning 21, I decided to change. I must be more serious and minimize my slacking. I also must remove my “give up” attitude on creating artworks; once I create something, it must be finished. Cheers 21! Looking forward on creating a lot of stuff this year!

Finally, the project I’m working on has been named! Games and Bytes is the name my friend decided to use for her website; bought the domain name just today and instantly set up a coming soon image (this isn’t the logo yet).

On the development side, I finished setting up FTP accounts, mail, and all other stuff this website will need. Tested out Kohana on DreamHost, and it works perfectly fine. I was able to install the framework perfectly without encountering any errors at all. By far, this is the framework with the easiest installation process I was able to install on DreamHost. Now that my development environment has been set up, now all I need is to finish the design phase to proceed on programming.