ruler of my own world, outsider to others.

Club MTV Base - Guinness Extra Smooth - Party.

2008-09-12T11:06:00.006+01:00

Club MTV Base - Guinness Extra Smooth - Party.

29 August 2008, Friday.

Quorom Bar and Restaurant.

Abuja.

It took me almost a week to upload these pics in my multiply site (jackvardamir.multiply.com) – well not as delayed as how Club MTV Base upload theirs(http://www.mtvbase.com/clubmtvbaseextrasmooth). The photos of the event are still “COMING SOON”. AS IF! I just hope it won’t be posted early next year.

With the help of Hassan (uber thanks dude for the gratis Entrance!), we had an astonishing evening at the Club MTV Base Party, which was supposedly on a per invitation basis party. Well well, what has the clout got to do - but be used, right?

We (Moi, Sheda and Shiela, Ms K and Hassan, John and JR, and Ace Carlo) barged into a night of endless extra smooth, non-stop great music, and of course ‘feral’ dancing. We hadn’t had this much fun since 29 June 08, so to speak. HAHA. We’re not that much of party animals, but when time permits, what the heck?! Indulge.

John was making lapit to some hot chikka babes – with their v-neck halter top showing some hell-lotta skin – a head taller than him on their stilettos. Your party freak here has got to snap the brief moments of bliss.

('Need a chair, bro?' Photo Credits: AA)

Ace Carlo, well, had this smug on his face (from mixing extra smooth, gin tonic, tequila, and any liquor that passes by us), and making kwento about nonsense things (don’t want to spill some juicy details, just GO FIGURE!) to Hassan – which by the way had been the start of Ms K and Mr H’s uber big cat fight! C’mon guys, you’re way too old to squabble on this thing! Someone has got to say his apologies BIG TIME!

('Wasted!' Photo Credits: AA)

Sheda, sporting a black tube with jeans halter, was secured enough with her dashing looks! C’mon, don’t you have any other party clothes than these? We went to Hilton before and you wore this, and now, you’re still wearing it? Puhlease!! HAHA. (joke lemengs).

('lovin' the vampiric hellish effect!' Photo Credits: Shiela R)

Shiela was smoking Dunhill Menthol senselessly – puffing each stick like there’s no tomorrow! So newbie! HAHA. After consuming almost the entire pack, she was so dizzy (and nauseous) to even stand on her own. Warning: Smokers are liable to die young!! (Owh yeah right?!)

Hassan was his usual pervasive self – can’t stay in one place for there are lot of friends to shake hands and hang out with. But, he kinda stayed with (is it behind or beside, I don’t really remember? HAHA) Ms K. Oh well, that’s love. So overrated.

('Wazzup y'all?' Photo Credits: AA)

JR was there! He was just there. HAHA. That’s an understatement. Perhaps he wasn’t in the mood to party! At least he was there!

('All by myself!' Photo Credits: AA)

Ms “K” Katz was making giling with the shorty guy on the dance floor. “Go shorty! Itcha burtday, we gotta party like itcha burtday!” Well, can’t really say much anymore. I placed all my comments on her photos in Facebook.

('Go Shorty, It'cha Burtday!' Photo Credits: AA)

Me, well what did I do? I really have no idea! HAHA. I was the buffer-photographer-jester-driver, argh does is ever end? NO it does not! It always feel so damn good having an incredible time with friends!

('such a party animal!' Photo Credits: Ms K)

('The Most Controversial Pic of the Night' Photo Credits: AA)

So, where next?

3 DAYS TO GO!

2008-06-09T15:07:00.004+01:00

I'm feeling anxious about the presentations for the Kalayaan 2008 celebration already. I hope all will fall in place. And I will surely kick ass if it won't fall into plan, and whoever may disrupt this will face something terrible, rather will have a terrible face after. lol.

Final Photos for the Souvenir Magazine.

SAYAW SA BANGA

(L-R: Kathy. Nelly. Shiela. Lotlot. Sheryl)
Lola Nelly, I hope you'll remember the "Maiba Taya" movement/sequence on the presentation day.

GAWAY-GAWAY

(Ladies L-R: Ellen. Shiela. Bing. Kathy. Salve. Sheryl. Gentlemen L-R: Dennis. JR. Allan. Cocoy. Doy. Bob.)
Our signature dance. Rural dances really amuses me. I just hope our performers will smile their hearts out while dancing this repertoire.

SINGKIL

(L-R: Shiela. Dennis. Doy. Lotlot. Sheryl. Nelly. Allan. JR.)
We (me, Shiela and Sheryl) just finished the dance steps for this royal dance yesterday. I hope we still have the enthusiasm and fervor to dance our feet off on the day of judgment. lol. We're all in this together, guys!

DAKILANG LAHI

(L-R: Sheryl. JR. Shiela. Anjofel. Dennis. Lotlot.)
Dance of a lifetime. Let's jazz while we still can. We can never have flexible spines for long. Be enthralled with this song and dance number on Kalayaan 2008.

Hope all goes well! Performance level rehearsals. Let's dance!

KALAYAAN 2008 - Dress Rehearsal/Pictorial

2008-06-01T19:20:00.006+01:00

Kalayaan 2008, here in Abuja, is 100% (without prior interruption of whatsoever sort) pushing through. YAHOO! At least, all our efforts and time are not wasted into nothing-ness. Here are some of the costumes we are going to use for the dances we have prepared. The descriptions of these dances are highlighted on my previous post.

SAYAW SA BANGA (Cordillera Suite)

GAWAY-GAWAY (Barrio Fiesta Suite)

SINGKIL (Morolandia Suite)

And for the Contemporary Philippines presentation, we have prepared Dakilang Lahi popularized by Ciarra Sotto as the song to interpret. Below are the performers.

SAYAWIT - Singers

SAYAWIT- Dancers

The celebration will hold on 13 June 2008 at Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Some of the invitations will be dessiminated next week. Hope all goes well! Can't wait for the date!

Kalayaan 2008

2008-05-27T08:58:00.005+01:00

Kalayaan 2008 - PE Abuja Independence Celebration.

Photo Credits: Anjofel Abrillo

Edited in Adobe Photoshop CS2. Original Photo from Filipino Community of Guam.

We barely have three more weeks to prepare for this year's Independence Celebration, but, we are currently facing one major obstable - we don't have funds! We have practiced for over a month now, and if the Department of Foreign Affairs can't forward the allotted budget for this event, we will have to accept that there won't be any cultural show to present.

After preparing for some major Philippine Cultural dances, why can't we push through even if we don't have funds?

Anyhow, this year we will be showcasing three cultural dances from north to south of the archipelago. We will start off with "SAYAW SA BANGA" - a dance of maidens balancing clay pots with water from the Igorot Tribe of the North. It will followed by a rural dance of the Visayas coined "GAWAY-GAWAY" - a dance patterned at harvesting root crops with an influence of Filipino tradition of courtship. Lastly, we dare not set aside the high brow land of Mindanao where the Muslim heritage is maintained intact. "SINGKIL" will be shown without a datu for there are fewer male performers than female.

After the cultural presentation showcase, we will have a break for sing and dance. Instead of remaining idle, we will showcase Philippine traditional dresses in a segment called "TERNO: PHILIPPINE TRADITIONAL DRESSES". All the Filipinos in Abuja will be wearing their most elegant traditional dress and walk gracefully on the aisle for all to see. (My hope is that, everybody participates in this segment, showcasing traditional dresses from the land of Cordillera region, to the farm lands of the Nayons, to Morolandia, and lastly the regale Terno of ladies.

Contemporary dances will be presented after the fashion show, starting with our rendition of "DAKILANG LAHI" by Ciarra Sotto to be sung by PE Abuja Staff and interpreted by selected young blood of the community. Our farewell dance is coined "PINOY RETRO" showcasing the Philippines during the 1960s-80s.

All photos will be posted in my multiply after the event. I just hope it pushes through. God help us on this endeavor.

Inland Containers Nig. Ltd.

2008-05-05T08:22:00.008+01:00

INLAND CONTAINERS NIG. LTD. (ICNL), a subsidiary of Chrome Group, operates as inland terminals for cargoes shipped in Lagos and are bound North, especially in Kano and Kaduna. At the moment, ICNL is undergoing restructuring to compete with existing ports and warehouses. One of its major project is to convert its terminals into bonded warehouses so as to accommodate more customers, leading to higher profitability in the long run.

Sample: SIFAX Bonded Terminal & Warehouse, Lagos

Photo Credit: Anjofel Abrillo

Taken: 24 April 2008

KALMAR - top in its field of versatile container loader. Correspondent was told that this brand is the most expensive among others, but, was assured that with proper maintenance this can last forever.

Loader moving some containers in the vicinity. Sifax warehouse can accommodate at most 600 containers (approximately).

Kalmar roaming around the terminal.

Containers arranged accordingly.

Although it's still mid-day, one worker was caught deep in slumber under a trailer. [this can be given to the show - HOY GISING!]

Tomorrow, i'll be going to the inland depots of ICNL in Kano and Kaduna. I can't wait to see how the place looks like.

ICNL-Lagos Trip!

2008-05-04T11:59:00.007+01:00

24 April 2008. I went to Lagos with Mr. Wale (Manager, Corporate Strategy and Planning Unit-Chrome Group) to have the initial endeavor to restructure Inland Containers Nig. Ltd. (ICNL). After nine months of being in Nigeria, I finally had the chance to see for myself what other Filipinos are speculating about Lagos. Lagos is this.. is that.. and all the life is here! (well, yeah it is!) Permit me to talk about my experience, for it is truly enriching and informative.

I have thought that all my blogs, henceforth, shall be having grade stars of how i felt about each observation/experience/conversation. My criteria is (*)-YAWN (**)-COULD BE BETTER (***)-S'OKAY (****)-ME LIKEY! (*****)-LUVIN' IT!

---

Blue Line Airlines. Our flight to Lagos was scheduled at 8AM via Virgin Nigeria. Instead of having a VN charter plane, we had a different one. I think Virgin Nigeria is in connection with this airline to serve more customers, another fold of seeing it is that probably BLA has fewer flight connections. Anyhow, I was expecting this flight to be in standards with Lufthansa, BA, or Emirates, but no! I’m giving two stars for total customer satisfaction. Why? Let me point out some negative airline conduct from the point of view of passengers. (1) The flight attendants are counting endlessly for passengers on board. I don’t know why do they have to count those in their seats, is it not faster to count seats without passengers and just do some subtraction? It took them 20 minutes to have the final head count. (2) While they were counting and they time prior take off, the air conditioning system was turned low. I asked “Ms. is your AC not working?” The attendant answered, “No Sir, it will be cooler when we take off.” How can any charter-planes have no air conditioning system functioning even if it has not taken off yet? (3) Lastly, meals were not that recommendable. Luckily, I took my breakfast early that morning.

Review Grade:

---

Murtalla Mohammed International Airport – 1. It looked a lot like Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but, I think they have to make it more apt to international passengers, with all the amenities one may look for. Besides, it’s the 21st century already, so what deters them from deploying state of the art technologies?

Review Grade:

---

Murtalla Mohammed Airport – 2. This is far better than the international airport. The architecture looks fascinating. There are a lot of fast food chains inside the airport you can be in while waiting for your flight. If you live in Lagos and on a one-day trip to Abuja using domestic flights, you can park and ride for this airport offers parking space for passengers.

Review Grade:

---

Tantalizers. For our lunch on the day I arrived in Lagos, we went to a fast-food chain – Tantalizers. That was also my first time to enter into that restaurant. Tantalizers is a local fast food chain offering local delicacies (in a canteen-manner of ordering) and fast food orders (like fried chicken, burgers, java rice, etc). Personally, I don’t like the service and how they present their food. The fast food section seems like offering cooked-yesterday chicken and the sanitation is very poor. The local delicacies section, food-wise, seems fine for all were cooked that day. I just hope, the management restructures their sanitation and food variety to stay abreast of competition.

Review Grade:

---

That is just few of what I saw in Lagos. Right after we landed, I immediately felt nostalgic for Lagos has a lot of resemblances of Metro Manila, Philippines - rowdy, traffic jams, busy!

This port is part of the project ICNL has to develop into a bonded terminal competing with existing ports and warehouses in Lagos.

(Behind the man walking on the bridge) Rush hour! People wants to go home as fast as they can to avoid traffic, alas jams can never be avoided. I think what causes these traffic jams are poorly planned road networks and the high density of the population.

(This photo was taken around 5:45PM) Comparing the weather condition of Lagos and Abuja, I'd prefer Lagos' since it is lesser humid. Even if the sun is at its zenith, the breeze cools your skin and protects it from too much UV rays.

Since, I've only been there for two days, I still haven't had the chance to stroll around and see Filipinos on their community. Probably the next time our unit has business in Lagos, I would ask my supervisor to allow me stroll the roads of Lagos.

Why Blog?

2008-04-14T16:44:00.005+01:00

At a party a couple of weeks ago, while waiting for the dinner and other guests to arrive, I had a conversation with Tita Bing about why she was flipping through a pile of old magazines from the Philippines. She said that she was on the process of publishing her own Mag, here in Abuja, so she was looking for inspiration as to how hers will look like. The idea interests me, so I started talking nonchalantly about all the tiny details as how to go about the magazine business. After a while, I asked if she still have enough space for my contribution (in my cathedral I was thinking of letting this sarcastic and atrocious critique out of its cage), gladly she said that there is still enough room for my work.

Whoa! I will be published if in case my write-up passes her standard. What's my segment? FILM STRIP! I will strip all the clothes out of the latest movies of whatever genre - assessing all its elements - and put it into a creatively designed template for the Mag. I asked her how will I send it to her. She gave me her business card. I looked through it, and was amazed!

"Astig! May blog po kayo?" (Cool! You have a blog?) I was flabbergasted for a woman her age has a blog (araceliaipoh2.blogspot.com) - and she updates it once a week no less.

So, that is where I got the idea of creating my own web-based journal, and not just write all those unspoken thought in a piece of paper. At least here, the world will know whatever I can share them. My sole idea of having this blog - aside from, of course, envying Tita Bing - is to add a different perspective, create some controversy, and add some value to world philosophy.