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FreeCell update! Finished game 787 today. :)

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Let me introduce you to 3 (4?) in our current one.

the vending machine refill-er

Vending machines on every other street corner are a very common sight in Japan.

I actually don't know who this is. The neighborhood spray-er, perhaps?

 Caught this guy walking around the apartment compound one afternoon, spraying some stuff on the ground using his backpack sprayer contraption thing. Maybe pest control? 

friendly neighborhood garbage collectors

These guys are our Thursday garbage collectors. (Took these photos of them just earlier today!) We segregate our garbage here and each type of trash has a designated day of disposal. Today, Thursday, it's cans, PET containers, glass and metals. The collecting truck is different each day, depending on what kind of garbage is for collection, though I don't think the guys are the same ones who come to get the garbage every day.

Here's an illustration of the garbage segregation scheme here, from the pamphlet guide for Filipinos Ronjie got when he first arrived in Atsugi:

notice the text in Filipino (Tagalog) :D

By the way, I'm continuing with FreeCell again and just finished game 779 this afternoon. My current goal is to finish game 1,000 by yearend. :) Looks very possible! :)

Here's some stuff to occupy yourself with:

Watch this video by Giniling Festival. Official music video of 'Hipon'. My brother is in it! :D

Check out Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) for L'Oreal for Men in this online video-

New marine species have been found in the Philippines! Read more about it here. Cool photos!

A chocolate printer now exists!

News on lower priced IKEA items!

Happy Thursday! :)

laksa for lunch

My Singapore-based friend Jill gave as pasalubong AHG Laksa Paste when she visited Manila last April. I brought this all the way here para maluto ko dito. :D

Oops. :D Burned the laksa paste while I was frying it. Hehe.

The soup didn't taste burnt naman when it was done. Everything all good. :)

Ang dami ko nang huhugasang pinggan atbp.! Dishwashing is the ugly part of cooking. Bleh. It's really cold here now, 20 degrees Celsius the last time I checked the room thermometer. This is inside the apartment, with all the windows shut. Brrr! It's been raining the past couple of days, but forecast today says it'll be sunny this afternoon. Great! So I'm scheduled to do some errands later (and walk around the area and try not to get lost).

FreeCell update! Last game finished was 764.

Lazy rainy Saturday again

I just finished FreeCell game 736. Still far from my 1,000,000th game target but it's progress naman.

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Nursing a cold now. :-/ I hate having a runny nose.

FreeCell update: Just finished game 726!

Nine for 2009 -- my 2009 checklist

Lazy Saturday again. Aahhh... :) I spent time in the kitchen earlier today. I cubed some canned almond jelly for our lychee and almond jelly dessert. What do you think?

Uni-Mart in Greenhills lang yung nagbebenta ng canned almond jelly. (Got this tip from Atty. Anne, my former employer's in-house legal counsel.) You can find it the the section where the canned green jelly is sold. Otherwise, you can make some from scratch, using powdered almond jelly. Using canned saves you time though. While chopping, naalala ko bigla yung 'Ploning' (local movie starring Judy Ann Santos)... In 'Ploning', lychees were served only during special occasions... Nothing special naman about today, except maybe that I finally finished my 2009 goals/checklist. Nine for 2009. Mostly travel plans. :D Sharing:

1. Batanes. Parang Europe daw ang Batanes. Sana mag-sale na ulit ang Zest Airways.

2. Dumaguete-Siquijor. I'm booked already for Jan.30-Feb.1! Yay! Going with OH Mel. I'm thankful she's kaladkarin. We're travelling together again after 9 years, when we visited Iloilo and Guimaras in 2000. (Haha! Diarrhea memories of the Iloilo-Manila boat trip are starting to come back to me.) Asenso na kami ngayon kasi via plane na kami to Dumaguete. Dumaguete-Siquijor, anyone? You're welcome to join us. Puntahan natin yung witchcraft village sa Siquijor. :D

3. FreeCell 20,000. 'Finish all 1 million FreeCell games' is on my bucket list. I just finished game 722. According to my calculations, I have to finish around 18,500 games per year if I want to reach the 1 million mark by age 80. Let's see how far I'll be na by year-end.

4. Graduate school. Start on my MBA na, while a part of me still wants to study.

5. Learn how to cook adobo.

6. One hundred ten pounds!

7. Run a marathon. Nicole's tito is organizing a marathon for Tubbataha for March 22. I'm just waiting for the final details from Nicole. The shortest option is a 3k run, that's what I'm running. :D Taralets!

8. Save more.

9. Taipei. Maybe in July or August. Birthday gift to myself. I'm trying to get to know Asia, one country at a time. :)