Power Out

Power's out now, running on generators. Gonna shut the computer down, don't want to hog the watts from the other tenants (we may need these tom).

Take care people. Good luck.

Alone With Windy Days

My SO is out of town due to business, and the winds are startin' to pick up to to the coming winds. She left Hanachi-e with me, so I'm also a cat-sitter for a longer period of time than I'm used to.

After some more re-buys at Full Tilt Poker .net, I'm managing to get my groove back there. I'm not doing all that great, mind you, but at least I'm not bleeding to death anymore. Maybe after a while I'll get the feel of things in that environment.

I watched Casino Royale again, this time with my dad. I found it funny that the parts of the movie that struck him most were the brands of cellphones used and the cars (well, am not surprised about him noticing the cars that much).

Winds are getting stronger, gotta remember to close all the windows before settling down for the night.

To the people that'll be affected by the storm tomorrow, take care.

Downfall on Tilt, Comeback on Jack

Since I don't feel so attached to my Full Tilt Poker .net game, I use it primarily as my experimentation account. I tend to play loose there, and I practice being aggressive. I got a lot more practicing to do, I lost everything there, and I just had another re-buy.

It almost seemed that my bad beat in Full Tilt Poker .net would also go to Triplejack, I almost lost everything I painstakingly gained this weekend, but I slowly got a few nice bumps. I had several hits and misses, and my stack was kept jumping up and down. This was mainly due to some remnants of the loose/aggressive game I was practicing in Full Tilt Poker .net. Somehow, I got into a good groove, and I managed to improve my blend of conservatism and aggression. Due to this, I not only recovered my stack, but also made a little bump to my best winnings yet.

I just have to understand what plays I did right, and what plays I did wrong, hopefully, I can confidently repeat this winning, and reduce the losing.

BTW, I noticed that I seemed to get the dog/canine/fido hand (K9) in Triplejack a lot, and it proved to be an unlucky hand for me. I have won several of my key pots by having a Queen in my hand somehow. Maybe the Queen was my muse at today's games. I wonder if she'll be helping me the same way in future hands...?

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

We watched "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" last night. If you're easily offended, don't watch it. I watch South Park and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, but Borat... well... it can get uglier than both.

It has it's funny moments, but I'm warning you, its very very crude.

Bad Beat

Now, this is a double meaning. For one, I lost quite a bit of play money at Triplejack, and I have yet to recover the bulk of what I lost. I'm having a harder time with the players in the "Zen of Poker" lounge, one because there I get unlucky enough to run into more roulette players, two because I've been trying to play a looser game, but it's not working for me. Perhaps it's the environment, since it's play money, people are more risk taking, and I get unlucky at the worst points. Perhaps my discipline changed as I tried to play a looser game. Regardless, I'm still thinking if I have what it takes to go back to that lounge or if I should stay in the newbie lounge a bit longer.

The second bad beat is for my physical body. I had a very busy week last week, and my body took a bit of a physical beating from the stress. I don't have a fever, but my throat hurts and my body is aching. I guess I have to lie low for a while lest this turns into a full fledged fever. Dry cough and mucus is not fun, it's itchy and feels awkward.

Well, the good news is that my SO did a great performance last week. All the hard work and stress didn't go to waste. I'm so proud of her performance. :)

Casino Royale

New Bond film, so it had to be seen. There's quite a buzz with die-hard bond fans about having Daniel Craig play James Bond, and given his stronger features than the past Bonds, it would be interesting what his take on the character will be.

My SO, me, and a friend watched it last night, and I had a really good time. I haven't watched many Bond films aside from all the Pierce Brosnan versions, some Sean Connery ones. If I watched any other Bond films (like Timothy Dalton's version), they didn't stick, can't remember a thing. I haven't read any other the books either.

It felt different from the start, it was edgy, and the action was more in the line of current action flicks, rather than the gentlemanly action I've come to associate with the franchise. Also, considering that it was a Bond film, there wasn't so much "blowing-up" as I'd expect. All the action sequences are very well thought of and choreographed, but they didn't feel as over the top as the other films. The edgy take, and the more real but very much more complicated action sequences made this movie different, and to me, much more enjoyable.

Some people will probably hate what has happened, I for one am hoping for more of this kind of thing. Daniel did a great job with his version of the character. Among all the Bond films I've seen, Casino Royale is my favorite.

PS:

Baccarat was the main central card game in the original novel. They changed it to no-limit Texas Hold'em in the movie.

Where Hanachi-e Takes a Bath

I'd just like to mention which stall we take Hanachi-e for her baths in Tiendesitas (as mentioned in a previous post). The stall is called "Heavenly Blue".

Day With Parents

I thought my dad would love the "Flags of our Fathers" movie, and I thought he'd like the beer at Grappa's too, so I thought we'd have a father/son thing. He loved the movie, and he liked the beer. My dad called my mom up while we were at Grappa's, so we ended up having a family snack (quite easy when there's only three of you in the family). Chit-chat, small-talk, you know, but dad ain't used to places like that (he did like the beer, though).

I'm glad my dad had a good time. And I'm glad we spent some time together, it was more meaningful than when we ate lunch together last Sunday (which we do every week), much more intimate. I'll probably propose we do this from time to time, I'll just make sure that it's on my time (my dad wanted it to be a regular weekly thing, nuh-uh :P).

Learning to Transcend the Crawl

I tried to get back my max play money in Triplejack Poker, but I was just a few hundred dollars away. Still, I made a careful and calculated comeback. I noticed that aside from Filipino's, the players are mostly Aussies. It's probably because of the time-zone.

I think that tight play is good for crawling, but that's just it, it's a crawl. I know there's a lot to improve in my win rate, so I decided to loosen up and try to see things in a better perspective. I watched a semi-finals match between Gus Hansen and Antonio Esfandiari (The Magician). It was only between the two of them, so they only have to outread each other. I was amazed at how well they could tell what cards each other had! The viewer can see both hands, but whenever they fold, you'll be amazed at how accurately they can tell who had the better deal (only one fold was wrong in this particular episode).

I noticed that Hansen wore a Full Tilt Poker .net shirt, which to me is further proof that the .net version of the software and site is affiliated with the .com version (although they never mention it in either sites, strange). Well, I said I wanted to play loose and learn, and based on my previous post about Full Tilt Poker .net, I don't feel as bad losing money there. So, I loaded-up Full Tilt Poker .net and got on with my experiment.

Although my objective was to get loose, it was quite frustrating. I've been on a losing streak in Full Tilt Poker .net the past few days too, but this time I lost everything. I had to rebuy the base play money and basically start over again. I did notice that people there bet more, most probably due to the larger sums they have. In my typical games at Full Tilt Poker .net, a player had around 5k to call and raise, so they are probably willing to risk more given an average hand. In Triplejack Poker, I run into few with more than 1.5k, people tend to bank when they get around that much (perhaps since the typical buy in is lower and the blinds are higher).

When I restarted, I resigned myself to losing and just use this opportunity to experiment with risk (hey, I did hit rock bottom already). I tried to be careful as usual, but I also tried to call relatively high raises in hands that I felt just had an fighting chance. It turns out that those risks were very profitable for me. Yes, I did fold a lot eventually at times, but I also gained back quite a few where my hand ended up being better upon the river. I didn't really close notice how I chose my battles, I wish I did. I do hope that it was ingrained in me somehow, and that I notice it next time.

Well, I not only regained what I lost in Full Tilt Poker .net, I also reached my record high! I hope I continue to learn the nuances.

I was so nervous in my "big win" (others will scoff at the pathetic amount) that I wasn't able to take a screen shot. Below, however, is a screen shot of a small win shortly after my "big win". It may not be much, but yey, I'm AM still a newb.

The Balance of Risk vs Hard Labor

Yesterday was not a good poker day. I lost 25% of my play money. The reason? I got carried away by the high pots.

Like I said, I don't play roulette, but sometimes the pot gets so big the risk seems acceptable. Of course, everything is just chance then, so I ended up losing a lot. My background is basically conservative, so I was trying to balance the risk with the reward. I was doing a pretty good job at it too until the pot got the better of me. When I started losing, I got more desperate to get things back, and I lost my discipline.

Today, I tried to get the lost play money back. It was hard labor, an extreme exercise of patience. Did it pay off? Somewhat. I'm back where I started, I got as much play money as last Tuesday. A few notches below my target, but I got it sound. Hard labor.

I get really disappointed when the pot gets high, and thing turn out in my favor at the turn and river. That's when I feel the urge to really gamble. This afternoon, however, in my attempt to force the patience back in me, I noticed that I made good decisions today overall. Many times I was tempted to take a risk, I held stopped myself and folded, controlling myself not to get disappointed at another lost opportunity. More often than not, my folds were good choices. Had I succumbed, I would have lost most of what I had left.

Balancing risk can be tough, but discipline increases the chances you'll live another day. Once you have that, it's time to analyze and learn to reduce the risk. Hard labor may be tough, but its odds of getting the job done are better than chance.

Codename "Tambayan"!

I mentioned one of my project ideas before as "Tribu". Tribu is a very big and ambitious idea, and it will be an integration of a lot parts. A difficult aspect with an idea that big is where to start so that you'll have something feasible and workable to begin building the whole.

After pondering on this, it's not so much of a eureka moment, but a realization on where things can begin. I was eating lunch when it hit me, and I think it's a very scalable and reasonable way to get Tribu started. This new realization can pretty much stand on it's own, but it was born from the Tribu idea, and can perhaps be an aspect of Tribu. Since it can stand on it's own, however, I will be treating it as its own entity, it's exact relationship with Tribu to be determined in the future.

For now, I will give this child of Tribu the codename "Tambayan".

Triplejack and Full Tilt

Given that Triplejack Poker is the flavor of the month, I've been surfing for poker related items on the 'net. After following some chains search results and links, I ran into the the name "Phil Ivey", which eventually landed me on "Full Tilt Poker". It claims to be made with a lot of feedback from players, and it does appear to be one of the more popular means to play poker online. Like Triplejack Poker, it features "play money", but it also supports real money.

What confused me was that there was also a "Full Tilt Poker .net", with pretty much the same stuff. I was wondering if one of the sites is a fake, but based on the Wikipedia article about it, it appears that the .net site is "play money only".

Since I have no intention of using real money, I got the play money only version of the software and tried it out. Here are some of the more significant things I noticed in the past few days of playing Full Tilt Poker .net:

• you can "re-buy" play money, and have a 5 minute waiting time like Triplejack Poker (re-buy is 1k though)
• although there are wacky avatars, in general, Full Tilt has a more serious feel
• people there don't talk much
• few people there play roulette style (I don't like roulette style, so its a plus for me)
• the entry level game is 1k buy in and 10/5 blinds, which makes a "re-buy" last longer theoretically (Triplejack Poker is 500 buy-in with with 20/10 blinds)
• you don't feel you bet/gain a lot, even if you actually do (I feel like I'm rewarded or that I lose more in Triplejack Poker)
• I seem to be more aggressive when I play there
• I do feel that the players there are better in general
• when the showdown comes, the winning combination is not highlighted (I get confused 'coz I don't know how a particular player beat me)
• Triplejack Poker is more casual, and feels more "fun" to play
• I haven't run into anyone I could say was a Filipino there

Given these, I think Full Tilt Poker .net is geared to the more serious type of player. The website, the "pro player chat" and other things makes Full Tilt Poker .net a good place to start learning poker. Their objective it to make poker popular, and given that pro poker players play there too and give advice, it seems to be the premiere place to learn and get into the poker bandwagon.

I can't maximize what Full Tilt Poker .net has to offer since I don't intend on playing with real money. However, it's a good place to learn, and you'll be playing against players of a different sort from that found in Triplejack Poker. If I want fun, though, I'm more in inclined to play in Triplejack Poker.

See you in either! ;)

Circles Event Café at Makati Shangri-La

Given that it was a special day for me and my SO, I decided that we have dinner at Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La. In my past research on the various resto's in town, Circles has always cropped up as having the best buffet, so I wanted to see what all the hoopla was all about.

Now I understand why. The selection isn't very large, but it's good enough for most your needs. The great thing is the taste, the service, and the desserts. The food, though it may not seem like a lot of choice, is good, the best buffet food I've had. The service we received was very good too (my SO requested for mangoes for her salad, and even if there wasn't any on the selection, they got her one anyway). And the desserts, well, you know I'm not a dessert guy, but having a lot of options (the choices for dessert seemed a lot to me!), some in small portions, had me wanting to try all of them! If I wasn't so full from the food, I'd probably gorge myself in dessert.

And the great thing is, the whole buffet was very reasonably priced. My SO and I get higher total bills with less food/choices in other fine restos. It's not cheap, mind you, but it's not expensive either. Given the quality of food, ambiance, and service, I think we got our money's worth.

You want buffet? I definitely recommend you try Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La.

Pet Village at Tiendesitas

With the arrival of Hanachi-e, I expected that me and my SO would do a bunch of pet related stuff, particularly since Hanachi-e is a cat. Last Saturday, we went to Tiendesitas Pet Village to check out some other stuff that may be needed, as well as to get Hanachi-e groomed. Of course we bought a bunch of stuff, and the grooming was very well done! I forgot which store we had Hanachi-e groomed, but when I remember, I'll post the link.

That night though, my SO was getting worried 'coz she thought she saw a little blood in Hanachi-e's poop (I don't remember seeing any when I borrowed Hanachi-e). She also mentioned that there was supposed to be a vaccination around 2 weeks ago, but Hanachi-e didn't get it yet. Given that she was worried, so we planned to take her to the vet the following day.

Fortunately, Tiendesitas has a Pet Clinic (Animal Care Specialist), and so we went there. The vet my SO found on the net wasn't the one around at the time, but the vet on duty was nice and seemed quite professional. After some checking, she found that Hanachi-e has mites, which causes her ears to get dirty quite fast. She prescribed some mite control stuff for the ears, and as an initial check for any bowel related problems, she initiated deworming. She also mentioned about medicine on the skin that lasts a month and that helps in controlling mites, fleas, and certain worms, so I decided we get that anyway. I like how the vet treated Hanachi-e, though Hanachi-e might feel otherwise (hell, try getting something stuffed in your ears and mouth!), the treatments should be good for her.

My SO and I were trying to find a one stop place for pet needs, and so far, my experience with Tiendesitas Pet Village is quite good. After having to deal with pet related issues (directly or indirectly) for the past while, I'm glad there's a place where both good supplies and medical assistance for pets are readily available and in a decent location.

Indirect Method of Getting PayPal Payments in the Philippines

I mentioned in a previous post that PayPal support for the Philippines was limited. One (basic) feature that is not supported is receiving PayPal payments (yes, right now you can only pay, and in a limited capacity). Apparently, there is a way to receive payments via PayPal in the Philippines, but you'll have to do a roundabout. Click here for details, and make sure you read the comments to get idea on the hitches/limitations.

Codename "Tribu"!

Yesterday, as night fell in the cementary, a bunch of thoughts were crossing my minds, and then I came to another eureka moment! As usual, I won't discuss much details, but I might talk about it to some trusted friends. I am willing to divulge that it's a video game related idea and strategy, but that's it. Lucky are the few who will hear it, and it will lead to greatness!

Trying out PayPal Philippines

Some of you may have already heard that PayPal is now supported in the Philippines on a limited basis. This is great, a step closer to more convenient online transactions for Filipinos. In the past, there were stuff I wanted to purchase or donate to, but since they only accepted PayPal, these efforts were relegated to wishes.

Now that at least payments are supported, I decided to try it out. My first transaction was to get a month subscription to Triplejack Poker (even if it's just a month or so). It's not that I'm all that good at poker (I actually suck really badly, you can check my record yourself in the Scores section of Triplejack Poker), but by this act I want to accomplish the following:

• (primary) reward ZenBlender & SuperChicken (the people in charge of Triplejack Poker) for their effort in creating such a great product (I learned how to play poker, had fun, and learned a lot about myself and how I view life, wow!)
• show the world that Filipino's aren't freebie bloodsuckers
• test PayPal support for the Philippines
• show that not all Filipinos are intent on using various internet financial services for fraud

As much as I'd hate to say it, a big chunk of the "modern Western" world do think that the Philippines is backward and that Filipinos are money-hungry abuser's of any system made for civilized people (hotel freebies, all-you-can-eat buffets, online payment services, etc). Filipino's, don't give them the excuses they need to think so.

Undas 2006

Just like every year, I went to visit the graves of my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother this Nov1. It's a family tradition in my mother's side, and for this year, my dad decided to go to Bicol to visit my grandmother's grave there. I always look forward to the tacos and arroz caldo which my family makes when we visit the graves. This year, though, the special item is me cooking steak.

I decided to cook a steak meal for my relative's lunch, thought they may like something different, and I'd get to practice on cooking steak on a charcoal grill. I requested my SO to make her mashed potatoes (my favorite), and some steak sauce for me to take and re-heat. It's really sweet of her, specially since she did this even when she just got her new cat (thank you! :D). So, the entire meal consisted of:

• CAB (Certified Angus Beef) rib eye steaks
• mashed potatoes
• grilled asparagus
• corn and carrots

Needless to say, it was a hit!

"Hanachi-e" the Persian Cat

It's been a busy few days, I'll try to mention a little something about the major events.

First off, my SO got herself a pet last 10/31. She's a Persian cat, female, around 3 months old. After mulling over a few names, we decided to name her "Hanachi-e". She wanted a Japanese sounding name, so we searched for a bunch of Japanese female names, and tried to make them end with a long "e" sound (a cat website said cats respond to long "e" sounds better). We threw the list at the cat, and sine the cat didn't seem to respond, we threw a bunch of Japanese sounding syllables. It would appear she responded to "Hanachi-e", and so she was named. I haven't checked if it means anything, though.

The first thing my did after taking Hanachi home was to see where she'd pee/crap so she can make sue Hanachi uses the litter box. Well, Hanachi didn't go poop the way the old handler said she would, so my SO had to wait and wait until she did. Hanachi ended up taking a dump on 11/01 morning (she woke me up to tell me!), fortunately in the designated litter box. At least we know Hanachi-e'll always use that litter box every time she needs a toilet break.

I convinced my SO to let me take care of Hanachi-e for today (I'll probably do this from time to time, I love cats), and took pictures.