Apologies

Dear Readers (are you still there?),

I apologize for not coming up with something for the longest time. I don't want what happened to happen again with OrangeinaPod. The site will have a major make-over. I think this is partly because of what happened recently... something personal... One thing is for sure though, OrangeinaPod will continue to be a 'blog et podcast' site. Oliver Twist will continue podcasting, delivering meatier materials, hopefully with some mates onboard the microphone, I think that would be fun and more exciting... and I will continue writing about anything and everything from gay issues to the next vacation hotspot, the cute guy next door and the Tony awards...

Things are happening so quickly, I now have a doll business, which started out as a hobby, and I have to keep up with the increasing demands for them... I've been getting invitations from various shops to supply them with the dolls...

Anyway, this will just be very quick. I really apologize for the, again, long 'vacation'... Definitely you'll see a better OrangeinaPod in the coming days...

I love you all.


Oliver

MyVoodoo is here…

Series 1 of MyVoodoo is finally available. This limited edition kit contains hand-sewn cute voodoo plush doll complete with accessories: binding twine, voodoo sticks, beaded necklace, and a spell booklet for fun.

Other accessories like special voodoo sticks, ritual robes and vests, necklaces and more spell booklets will be available soon. For more information visit www.olivermakesdolls.co.nr.

Paper Art: Next Level

Origami is for kids. Make way for paper sculpture. Below are examples of ‘three dimensional pseudo realistic paper portraits and sculptures’ by an amazing paper sculptor living in the Netherlands, Bert Simons.

Visit Bert Simons’ website here.

A Filipina’s Excellent Customer Service on Trial

Was she just a victim of office intriga?

Saks Fifth Avenue’s jewelry department is lined with items like $3,000 David Yurman bracelets and $1,600 Anthony Nak earrings, and Cecille Villacorta was good at getting customers to buy them.

From 2000 to 2006, she brought in more than $27 million in sales, more than any of the other sales associates at the luxury department chain’s flagship store in Manhattan. In fact, she was the highest-grossing saleswoman in the store’s history, according to her lawyer, and was paid nearly $400,000 in her last year there.

But exactly how Ms. Villacorta, 52, of Manhattan, managed to rack up such sales figures is up for debate — and at the heart of her trial on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records, which began Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Read the full story here…

Meet my new boys…

I was able to finish two new dolls today… Meet Ichirou and Jirou, they’re my Ninja Boys… Sorry if my post is mostly about my new hobby, I’m just very excited about this…  

More photos…

Vacation

I will be taking a much needed rest and the chance to explore and discover the beautiful places in the North. I will be gone for days, away from the city. I wish to lose myself in Sagada’s mystic beauty to forget all the pain and rediscover my self-worth. I pray that the spirits of the mountains will refresh and heal my tired and lonely soul. (Photos by Jay Jallorina)

Another Doll: Mumu

Say Hello to Mumu… I finished this one last night…

Trying New Stuff

I made this one over the weekend. Trying my hands on making plushies. I’m making more…

Boys’ Stuff

I’m currently cleaning up my closet, literally… and I found some of my old stuff like this enormous album of Magic: The Gathering cards all in excellent condition – big thanks to their Ultra Pro sleeves, and a bunch of other boys’ stuff. I’m now posting ‘em online for interested buyers.

If you’re interested, do not hesitate to drop me a line. I’m letting go of all my MTG cards. (UPDATE: I already have a buyer for all the dual land cards so they’re not included here anymore.)

Baguio's Coldest in 23 Years

Baguio City experienced the coldest temperature recorded since January 1986 as it dropped 7.5°C today. The other coldest days here were Feb 28, 1963 (6.7°C); Jan 8, 1986 (6.8°C); Jan 9, 1971 (7.1°C) and Dec 13, 1991 (7.6°C).

We will be experiencing chilly Baguio until February due to the cold front brought about by the northeast monsoon (amihan).

Enjoy the biting cold whilst sipping a hot cup of brewed coffee at Cordillera Coffee where we usually hang out. (Sorry if I haven't posted an episode. I just need to finish some requirements in school so I can take up my Masters in time for June enrolment.)

Torn

For being a good boy last year I’m thinking of rewarding myself (savings not yet enough but I’m almost there). Two months ago I was planning to buy an iPod Classic 12oGB; I checked out some stores and found a PhP12,800 unit (silver). Then I found Microsoft Zune 120 on the internet and now I’m having second thoughts on buying the iPod.Both have the same storage capacity, which is a whopping 120 gigabytes (more than what my PC currently has) which can store tons of media. The iPod is more popular than the Zune but, I think, it’s more of a disadvantage because of the many fake iPods around. One advantage is that Apple has a service center here in RP and the Zune has none. But what I dig about the Zune is the screen – a 3.2-inch display means a more comfortable movie watching experience than on the iPod. The price tag is almost the same although the Zune requires special ordering arrangement since it’s not locally available.

I still have until February to decide.

More info about the iPod Classic may be found at the Apple website and for Microsoft Zune you may visit Zune.net.

Claim to Fame

OrangeinaPod #7: A Simple New Year's Wish

Play today's episode here:

Episode 07 - A Simple New Year's Wish
~ 9min 12sec

A blessed new year to everyone...

Featured song in this episode: "Thankful" by Josh Groban (from the album Noel)

How to Celebrate New Year's Eve the Filipino Way (re-post)

I saw this article How to Celebrate New Year's Eve the Filipino Way on eHow.com. It was funny, I don't know when this article was written or who wrote it. I laughed out loud when i came to steps 4 and 5 -- Step 4 - Serve sweet rice and ginger tea after the countdown; Step 5 - On New Year's Day, roast a pig over hot coals and serve with any number of Filipino dishes such as pansit, lumpia and adobo.

No one serves sweet rice and ginger tea anymore. If there are, just a few probably. What we usually serve on New Year's eve are hot chocolate, sliced bread, spaghetti (the sweet kind with sliced hotdogs and ground pork, topped with cheddar cheese), hotdog on sticks, pork or chicken barbecue, and round fruits like grapes, ponkan (mandarin oranges), and fuji apples (as they symbolize money according to belief).

And Filipinos can't afford to roast pigs anymore. Usually its the usual pansit, lumpiang shanghai, menudo, afritada, more pork or chicken barbecue, and whatever food was left from the night before. No one serves adobo on New Year's day. Adobo is not considered a 'fiesta' dish, probably because of its color.

And to this list, I want to add Step 6 - Bring out the karaoke or videoke machine, bottles of San Miguel/Red Horse beer (or Ginebra for the kanto boys... or Fundador for the more opulent magkukumpares) with matching spicy pulutan (or whatever's on the table). After a few bottles, expect to hear the tomadors belting out Englebert Humperdink or Frank Sinatra hits till the wee hours of January 2.

This is the traditional Filipino New Year.

Note for the re-post: Tell me how do you celebrate New Year's eve/day?

A Purrem for Midnight

Sorry I’m not much of a poet, just tried this ‘purrem’ app from Whiskas website and here’s what I was able to come up with…  for Midnight…

And the Heavens Smiled Upon Us

The sky smiled on Asia, December 1, 2008, when Venus and Jupiter came in close proximity to our beloved Moon. While Venus is actually 100 million miles away and Jupiter nearly 550 million miles from the Earth, this exact combination and the Moon in the perfect spot created this beautiful artwork in the sky.

Some people might not appreciate it, but remember that this will not happen again until year 2052.

Merry Christmas everyone!

(View Slideshow from Yahoo! News)

Where Do You Belong?

De-wormed!

Midnight went on a trip to the vet this afternoon to be de-wormed. It took only a few minutes and it’s done. The vet gave Drontal, a cat dewormer (half tablet as Midnight is only .5 kgs). Before we left, I asked the vet to check on the gender of the cat. Apparently, at Midnight’s age (8 weeks) it’s fairly difficult to check, but after careful inspection we found out that Midnight is a HE. Coming home from the vet I checked the internet for some information about Drontal. I found out that it’s one of the effective broad-spectrum dewormers (generic name: praziquantel and pyrantel pamoate) for pets by Bayer. Midnight will go back for another dose after two weeks. Meanwhile, I also found this interesting article about Drontal on the ‘net, see if you can make a sense out of it.

Midnight’s Territory

Milky Way is a new addition to the family and Midnight wants to make sure that it's still her territory. Frightened Milky Way hides in his box. They’re in separate rooms now giving both space and time to adjust with each other. Midnight is so feisty and hisses at Milky Way a lot.

I Won!

As was mentioned in the latest episode of OrangeinaPod, I joined Jessica Zafra's contest and wrote a story about the mysterious piano in the middle of the Philippine jungle. The readers voted for their choice entries and they chose my story... Yey!!!

Read about the contest and my story entry here (Comment #7).

Thank you to those who voted for my entry and who commented.

• Jessica Zafra’s website is www.jessicarulestheuniverse.com