Goddess, I Am.

Probably one of the scariest moments of my life was when I bricked The Sister’s iPhone 3GS as I was attempting to jailbreak it. I’ve jailbroken iPhones before, but this was my first untethered attempt. What was supposed to take a couple of hours eventually took 24. And no, I did not sleep at all; I was that freaked out.

I ended up giving myself a crash course on SHSH blobs and got to know that beautiful thing called Tiny Umbrella. I had to make a nifty little microsim adapter, too, because her iPhone was locked to AT&T and the only AT&T SIM I had was the microsim that came with my iPad. Thankfully, that worked a treat, and to make a really long story short, I got her iPhone up and running again. Not only that, I actually learned a rather essential life skill.

I am once again contemplating on upgrading her current iOS version, which means a new jailbreak and unlock effort, so I figured I’d better do my research before I even touched it. I came across something called an iphone spy, which is apparently an iPhone data recovery tool. After reading up on it, however, I realized that it’s really no good for jailbreaking, but it does look like a nifty device if you want to catch a philandering spouse, or at least, recover a text message that you so foolishly deleted months ago – something that my scatterbrained little sister will have a lot of use for, methinks. Tee hee.

So why am I even writing about it? I just think it’s cool, that’s all, and I’m filing it away as something I could probably have use for if and when I do get an iPhone. Bear with me. And who knows? Some of you might find some use for it down the road.

Still on the subject of Christmas, I was going to do a list of the things I want for Christmas when it sort of dawned on me that I really don’t want anything for Christmas. Isn’t that weird?

I mean, yeah, I do want a new 1TB hard drive for Octavian, but I need it for work, so that doesn’t really count, does it? It’ll be like wrapping up a stapler or something.

I want shoes, but I buy shoes all the time, anyway, so there’s nothing special there.

An iPhone 4? Maybe, but I’m very happy with my phone and my iPad. I won’t be losing any sleep over it.

Books? I’ve since progressed to e-books now, thanks to Agrippa. There’s nothing I want that I can’t get for free on torrent. (I’m a traitor to my book-loving brethren, I know.)

A longer lens? Mum already took care of that when she sent me a 55-200mm, so my lens arsenal is complete, if you ask me. (Though I wouldn’t mind a Speedlight!)

Yeah, there’s nothing I really want for Christmas, except maybe a car (and cheap car insurance). But hey, I doubt I’m going to be winning any Metro Gaisano (haha) raffles anytime soon. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind a trip to Paris, too.

But honestly, this absence of tangible Christmas wishes is a tad disconcerting. Am I getting too cynical, or worse, too old???

I know I promised a Sex and the City 2 review, but this post is already so belated and the movie has already been reviewed to death, so I’m going to make this quick(ish). It goes without saying that I love, love, loved it, despite all the criticisms. But then, I’m very much biased; these girls are so much a part of my life that I would love them, no matter what, so if you’re looking for an impartial review, be warned that you won’t find it here.

First thing’s first: Carrie’s Mac is still very much present. It’s the exact same pre-unibody Macbook Pro that she had in Sex and the City: The Movie, so I’m a happy camper. Not only that, Charlotte’s iPhone figured quite prominently throughout the movie, too. The only HPs I spotted on the movie were Samantha’s, and none of them got enough screen time to offend this Apple fan girl, so, no, I didn’t spontaneously combust with rage or anything like that.

There were so many things that I loved about the movie (and I’m not talking about the clothes because that already goes without saying), but what I probably loved most were – to name just a few – Charlotte’s bra-less nanny angle; the delightfully gay choir at the wedding (whose, you’ll have to see for yourself); Miranda’s huge career leap; the hormone and testosterone booster-filled Samantha’s Lawrence of My Labia joke; Aidan; the attempt to encourage – or at least, imply – women empowerment in the Middle East; and Carrie and Big’s Mr. and Mrs. Married dilemma.

The last one hits particularly close to home as I am deathly afraid that The Husband and I will turn into an old, boring married couple before we know it because really, it does get to be a bit of a chore to get off the couch and leave the house sometimes. Not only that, I love how Carrie and Big have zero plans of having children because – guess what? – so do we! And it annoys us to death when people start tutting about it – but that’s another story.

Anyhow, it always feels good to relate to Carrie, and this time around is no exception. And how Mr. Big-like is The Husband, whose very existence seems to revolve around his TV (apart from me, of course)? But mind you, there will be no gallivanting with an ‘Aidan’ for me because all my ex’s are much too icky for words. I’m perfectly happy with my Mr. Big, scary attachment to the TV notwithstanding.

Of course, it wasn’t a perfect movie. There were some off moments, but very, very few, in my opinion. And the girls, although older, still look incredibly fabulous – probably even better than most women my age. The whole Middle East thing didn’t quite work for me, however, because I really do not care for that part of the world and its inhabitants very much (let’s leave it at that). I still would’ve preferred more of New York, especially more of Carrie and Big’s fabulous new apartment. But it was still a hell of a lot of fun, and I really cannot wait to see it again! I plan on seeing it a couple more times at the cinema, and of course, buying the Blu-ray the moment it comes out. It would be fantastic to see it uncut; I’m quite annoyed at how the movie has been clearly butchered to give it an R-13 rating. Shame on you, MTRCB.

I don’t know if they’ll ever make a third Sex and the City movie, and I think even they don’t know, either. If they do, I will be ecstatic. I will be right there, front and center on the very first day of screening to see my girls again. If they don’t, it’s okay, too. I will be content to imagine that Carrie and the girls all lived happily ever after. That we all will.

As far as life experiences go, this is definitely somewhere at the top of my list – probably somewhere between traveling for a week in Malaysia and Thailand with only about $80 in my purse and watching Lea Salonga play Kim in Miss Saigon back in 2000. It’s powerful, intense, and completely surreal.

The Husband, he knows a lot about wildlife, and it was he who told me about the whale sharks that migrate through the waters somewhere east of the Philippines. After a bit of research, I found out that we can actually swim and interact with this fantastic fish off the coast of Donsol, Sorsogon, about an hour’s drive from Legazpi City in Albay. Not only that, we can fly straight to Legazpi City from Cebu via Cebu Pacific, so the moment there was a seat sale, I booked our tickets without even batting an eyelash. Yes, I’m a sucker for seat sales.

But I digress. Being the ‘organized’ traveler that I am, I spent months reading through travel blogs and trawling forums to get ready for the trip. I read that although the whale sharks (or butanding, as they are locally called) travel through the Donsol sound between November and June, they are best seen during the dry months of March to May because rain makes the water murky otherwise – quite similar to a pond without a garden pond filter. And since I was celebrating my birthday on the 13th of March, anyway, I figured it’ll make for a great birthday holiday. I also found out that it was a good idea to book accommodation months in advance as guest houses in Donsol are quite few and far between and can get pretty crowded during the peak months, so I had that sorted out as early as November.

Day One

We left around lunchtime on the 11th to catch our 1310 flight. Yes, I know we should’ve left at least an hour before that, but The Husband forgot to sync movies to his iPhone, so we had to wait for that. Thankfully, we found a cab driver who drove like a maniac and got us to the airport in about 15 minutes, so we were able to check in with a few minutes to spare. It was a bit embarrassing, though, because while I lined up at the airport Dunkin’ Donuts, our names got called over the loudspeaker to board the plane, and when we did, all the other passengers glared at us. We took off about 10 minutes early, so really, that was unnecessary.

We would’ve landed early, too, if it wasn’t for the really thick and really scary fog that had the pilot circling around Albay for a full 40 minutes. It was strange because it really was quite sunny and pretty on the way over.

I was told that another 20 minutes and we would’ve had to turn back to Cebu. Thank heavens the fog cleared up long enough for the pilot to land! That really was quite a harrowing experience. I wasn’t sure whether I was more scared of crashing or having to turn back!

It was drizzling when we landed in Legazpi City. Just our luck. We planned a trip for high summer when it was highly unlikely to rain (there’s a drought, after all!), and that’s exactly what happens!

The airport was really small and quite functional. I spoke to the lady at the tourist desk to ask her where we can get the tricycle to the public terminal where the vans to Donsol are, and she suggested taking one of the private vans right outside the airport because of the rain. A van to Donsol costs about P1,500, but she told me we could share with other tourists who were heading our way, so that’s exactly what we did. We ended up with 3 other people, and we were off!

Normally, the drive to Donsol is meant to be quite scenic, thanks to the Mayon Volcano. The mountain was a complete no-show that day, however. The fog was THAT bad. Still, Albay is quite pretty. We passed rice fields aplenty and some of the prettiest cemeteries I’ve ever seen. Now, I’m deathly afraid of cemeteries, no pun intended, but these ones were so pretty, I couldn’t help taking a little peek.

Donsol was a lot larger than I expected. We got to drive around the town somewhat to drop off the other passengers in the van, and it really is quite a pretty town. The locals seemed friendly enough, and I’ve never seen so many foreign backpackers since Thailand.

Our driver drove us straight to the Amor Farm Beach Resort, where we would be staying for the next couple of days. Apparently, this family-owned resort was the first resort ever to be established in Donsol. One of the Amor daughters checked us in and showed us our pretty little bungalow. Now, being staunch budget travelers, The Husband and I have been in some real shitholes in our time, and this was definitely NOT one of those. In fact, our bungalow was one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed in. I was very impressed by the room and was even more impressed by the bathroom with its faux Greco-Roman tile design. Yes, it was definitely worth the price of P1,800 per night.

After we settled in, one of the resort staff directed us to where we could sign up for the next morning’s butanding interaction tour. It was about a 5-minute walk from the resort, but it took us about half an hour to get there. There were just so many pretty things to photograph! The new 35mm was on a roll! I took photos of everything from cows to flowers to boats, while The Husband did what he does best: bird-watch.

There was a small crowd of travelers when we got to the Butanding Interaction Center. Everyone has to register for the trip, and no one will ever get scammed here when all trips are regulated. The registration fee is P100 for Filipino citizens and P300 for foreign nationals. Each boat costs P3,500, which is divided amongst its passengers.

Everyone’s encouraged to register early because they only allow 30 boats to go out to sea each morning. Each boat carries a maximum of 6 people, and the staff usually groups people together to make up those 6. When we got there that afternoon, everyone else already had their groups, so we were told to come back at 7:30 the next morning, and they’ll find us a group then.

It was already near sunset when we got back to the resort. We walked to the beach and watched the beautiful Donsol sunset. The water was so calm that you can almost ignore the fact that it was raining just a few kilometers away across the sound.

We realized that we haven’t eaten anything since we left, so The Husband and I then had dinner at the resort’s restaurant. The food was mostly Filipino, so he settled on the safest thing on the menu – fried chicken and fried potatoes – while I had pork sinigang with rice.

Unfortunately, the food wasn’t all that good. His fried chicken was bland, while my sinigang was quite dismal. We ended up feeding most of our dinner to the resident puppy, instead (who we decided to name ‘Patch’, for obvious reasons).

After dinner, we went back to the bungalow and ate almost all the sweets and chips we brought with us to make up for the disappointing dinner. Beat after a long day of traveling, we decided to turn in early.

To be continued…

More photos of the trip can be found on Flickr.

Everyone knows I’m quite the Apple fan girl. I honestly think Steve Jobs is one of the most awesome figureheads the world has produced since Julius Caesar and Octavian/Augustus, and Apple gadgets are the best things since Roman architecture.

Still, this doesn’t mean that I own Apple stuff aplenty. Most people would be surprised to know that apart from Octavian (my Macbook Pro), an Apple remote, and a grubby old iPod Classic, I don’t own any other Apple gadget at all. I don’t own an iPhone, for one, all because I find the price too exorbitant for my taste. Neither do I own a Magic Mouse because I just don’t have any use for it.

Now I wouldn’t mind spending so much on a gadget, if I knew I can – and will – get the maximum mileage out of it, like poor Octavian, my meal ticket. An iPhone, on the other hand, is about as useful to me as a natural colon cleanser, and I could not, for the life of me, be made to shell out nearly half a month’s salary on one. Oh, I came close many, many times, yes, but my delicate (haha) sensibilities always got the better of me each time.

And I’m thanking all my lucky stars for my good sense (haha) now that the iPad is out. Many people are running it down for being just a big iPhone or iPod Touch, but for me, it was love at first sight. This is the reason why I never did get the Kindle or the iPhone or the iPod Touch. I suppose in my own way, I knew Apple was going to come out with something that would have everything I ever wanted in a gadget, and the iPad is IT.

It’s the PERFECT size for an ebook reader (at least, for me). It has email and music and video. It can do documents and spreadsheets with reasonably priced iWork apps. From what I’ve seen so far, browsing is a joy, as well as gaming. Apple really outdid itself with the multitouch. Best of all, the price is actually reasonable, considering it’s Apple. And if you take the time to compare the overall benefits with that of the iPhone, you’ll find that the iPad is more worth its price tag.

On the downside, it’s not widescreen, which makes it a no-go for serious hi-def movie fan boys like The Husband (I had to endure another lecture on aspect ratios and stuff while he argued his point). Flash support is non-existent. Typing can be potentially cumbersome if you’re not in the right position, but I find that can be easily fixed with the iPad case (I’m hoping it comes with the package). It does seem impossible to use when you’re walking or standing upright, though.

Oh, it doesn’t have a camera, too, which is a negligible omission in my opinion. Just imagine trying to take a picture with it, ugh! But the name . . . Really, couldn’t they come up with a better name than iPad? It sounds like a freakin’ tampon.

For me, however, the pros definitely outweigh the cons, and the iPad is as good as sold in my book. The iPad might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. I read A LOT and I read quickly, so this means I won’t have to take 20-odd books with me when I’m traveling. I can check my email and edit documents quickly if my boss needs me to when I’m away from Octavian. It’s so skinny, I can easily stuff it in a handbag. And the 10-hour battery life means I will never, ever be bored again – or at least, I won’t have any reason to be.

Oh, April can’t come quickly enough! I will, of course, do my best not to cave in and get the wifi one in March, instead of waiting another 30 days for the one with both wifi and 3G. Hopefully, I can pick up a 32 or 64GB on my Singapore trip. I think I shall name Octavian’s new best friend Agrippa, after the real Octavian’s real best friend.

Know more about the iPad here, if you haven’t already.

Update: So the 3G version needs a ‘micro’ SIM. For the moment, none of the Philippine telecom providers have this technology. It looks like I really might be going for the wifi model, after all.