Here I go again

It seems that I've found myself in the same situation that I was in almost 10 years ago.

I think I've crossed a bridge that I should not have crossed. So I'm not entirely sure yet about how I feel, but all signs point to me just wanting to spend more time with a person. Unfortunately for me, I've already developed a pretty good friendship with the guy and I really don't want to mess with that.

My feelings and my friendship are having a hard time reconciling themselves. So yeah, I just had to write this entry.

Hopefully this dies down quickly unlike before. I swear, I was hopelessly pining over someone for such a long time that I felt like after all of the dust settled, I just wasted so much time. I just don't want to waste more of my time. I'm not getting any younger.

5 Reasons Why We Can’t Get Enough of #AlDub

A colleague of mine uses this phrase at work whenever she finds herself in a situation that defies logic or common sense. She would usually say “Nag-eerror yung brain ko” whenever she encounters weird scenarios or has to deal with other people’s stupid decisions. If you think about it, a logical brain would probably do just that if it were confronted with an illogical situation.

On my birthday, July 16^th, I was online and minding my own business when I stumbled upon the first AlDub post from Eat Bulaga’s Facebook page. I’m not exactly sure if it was divine intervention that brought me to watch that first video, but back then, it wasn’t even called AlDub; it was just a regular video showing a dubsmashing personal assistant (Maine Mendoza as Yaya Dub) who suddenly became overly conscious when she noticed that a handsome guy (Alden Richards) was intently observing her. Now some people think that moment pretty much started everything – I disagree. For me, while the authenticity of the reactions are a big factor, if it wasn’t for Maine’s genius handling of the situation via the first pabebe wave, the entertaining ping-pong of sweet nothings that followed would never have happened, and the AlDub spark would have never been ignited.

What I’m trying to say is this: TAPE and GMA, you’ve got a quick-witted gem right there, take care of her.

2 months later, here we are: a country so taken by this AlDub phenomenon that we get to see sari-sari stores and hair salons closing whenever the KalyeSerye segment airs. We also see internet shops banning everything pastillas from their premises. On Saturdays, we also get to see a country that breaks twitter records and seemingly stands still come 1PM. Their tandem is so effective (and disruptive) that I even find myself wanting more AlDub and end up becoming restless from all this waiting on updates about them.

Needless to say, nag-eerror yung brain ko.
 

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been a fan of their tandem since Day 1 – it was an unexpected but perfect birthday gift. My brain, however, wants answers, and I’m sure a lot of people want answers as well, so this list here is my attempt at making sense of all this AlDub.

1.       The segment is great fun. Since it started, the Juan For All segment has always been about fun and bringing fun to the masses. This time however, Jose, Wally and Paolo have really outdone themselves. The Lola characters and their respective personalities and sidekicks are pure genius. There’s slapstick, there’s good-natured humor, and then there’s the hosts making fools out of themselves. The Juan For All segment sets itself apart because there’s this almost tangible authenticity behind every wise crack they deliver, and that endears you to the show even more.

2.       Values, values, values. Apart from the on-site hosts not being maarte by getting down and dirty with the barangays they visit, I get the impression that these people are aware that they are part of something greater than themselves. In this world filled with distasteful humor, it is commendable how a comedy segment can even insert values into their sketches.

3.       We all want love and a soul mate. I’ve always maintained (Mainetained *wink wink*) that every living creature in this world is naturally wired to find their mate and that it is human nature for us to love. We’ve even conditioned our minds to the idea of a soul mate – a kindred spirit we’re supposedly destined for. It’s this idea of AlDub being each other's soul mate that adds even more intrigue and kilig to their tandem. We’re all captivated by the idea of a soul mate that even if we don’t have one, we end up just taking in anything similar that unfolds right before our eyes.

4.       Alden Richards is the cutest thing ever. Anyone who says otherwise is blind and stupid. Nag-eerror brain ko sa inyo. He’s the quintessential good boy and he’s cute as a button. And those dimples! Ugh! I could live in those dimples. LOL! He also seems to be the perfect gentleman; I mean, if you just take a closer look and observe the way that he carries himself, you’d probably conclude that he’s the type who’s never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Collective swoons all over, please.

5.       Maine Mendoza is You. This probably is the most important of the reasons. Of course, Maine may come from a privileged family and has impeccable dubsmashing chops, but the secret to Maine’s charm really lies in her persona’s inclusiveness. She’s pretty but she’s also wacky, she’s sosyal but she’s also kalog. Regardless of what demographic you’re from, she’s someone you can actually, genuinely relate to. Onscreen, we know that she’s portraying Yaya Dub, but at the same time, we also know that she’s portraying Maine Mendoza. It’s this relatable quality about her that makes you want to root for her. It’s not that she’s an underdog, I don’t think she is. It’s because she’s just a normal girl, who, by circumstance, was plucked from her normal existence and thrust into the limelight. It’s because she is YOU; She is US. If she’s feeling kilig, we feel it too, if she sees the object of her affection feeling kilig, we feel that kilig too. We want to see her succeed, because the truth is, her success is our success as well. Every new AlDub moment: every kidnapping, every plywood wall, every long table, every shared straw, every alarm, every chiwibol, even every new commercial endorsement – these are things that fans celebrate because these moments are our moments as well.

To be honest, AlDub/MaiDen‘s magnitude is something that I’ve never been able to fully grasp. I’ve never seen it in any other tandem in my life, EVER. Probably, the closest thing to what they have is JaDine (*hint hint Viva and APT) – but that’s a different story.

Nage-error pa din talaga yung brain ko because I find myself confused and surprised at how invested I’ve become over two people who I’m not even friends with but care so much about. I still can’t really totally explain it and sure, people will raise their eyebrows and might even start questioning my life choices but I don’t care, I’m not alone, I know I’m not alone. How can I be? It’s love. #ALDUBOurMissionIsLove

ASUS Zenbook UX305 Unboxing

I Hate

how my thoughts have somehow been reduced to the size of a microblog.

Back in the day, writing an entry was a fairly easy task, I would have easily finished one in one sitting. Right now, I spend so much time just staring at my blog somehow wishing that a somehow substantial entry just magically pops out of nowhere. It gets frustrating after a while because for the longest time I've been wanting to write something down and I end up not writing anything (just take a look at the gap between this entry and the last).

Maybe I'm not as depressed? Or maybe life has preoccupied me with so many distractions that I've reduced myself to someone who's forgotten about the things that I used to be passionate about.

It sucks because I really want to write about this new game I'm playing. I also want to write about this cute trainee who I have a crush on and who I'm concerned isn't gay because I can't find a lot of him on the internet! I also really want to write about how work sucks balls right now and how that's led me to want to have a boyfriend but not the accompanying responsibilities lol. I dunno. So many things running through my head now and I dunno where to start.

xxx

I feel like a reformat needs to be in order

My blog is currently experiencing an identity crisis.

I'm not really sure how I'm gonna start fixing it but I guess this is the problem that needs to be addressed:

1. I want to write about technology but it feels like whenever I write, at the back of mind I know that the article may have been written elsewhere already. Knowing that somewhere out there, there's an article similar to mine makes me feel like a second-rate option. Doesn't really make me feel good tbqh. LOL.
2. I want to review more gadgets, but I don't really have the gadgets to review. Haha. I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to gadgets so I do feel like I'm in a good position and have enough credibility to carry out gadget reviews. So yeah. No gadgets, no review.
3. Since I have a shortage of gadgets for review, I sometimes feel like I ought to write something personal. Like, you know, how may day went, or how my love life is going. I keep on stopping myself from doing that because I keep getting reminded that I wanted this blog to be a tech blog. But then, nothing.

There are a lot of things that are in my head and writing, I feel, is the catharsis that I've underutilized for quite a while now. Maybe it's time to revive that. 2014 is just around the corner, so hopefully before that happens, I get to resolve this identity crisis. I really do want to write more.

If you ever get to read this, what do you think?

Samsung ships 6 million Galaxy S4s, predicts to ship 4 million more by the end of the month

Samsung's latest flagship is its fastest selling yet

2 weeks since its release, tech-giant Samsung has yet again proven its massive pull over the smartphone community.

In a report from Korean news agency Chosun, an unnamed Samsung executive was quoted as saying that its newest flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S4, has sold more than 6 million units as of Friday, May 10th.

In its first 4 days of release, the company has reportedly shipped 4 million handsets making the Galaxy S4 Samsung's fastest selling smartphone and the fastest selling Android phone.

They also added that they predict to break the 10-million mark as early as the end of the month.

The Old Sales vs. Shipments Argument

Of course, when companies that aren't involved in direct sales (like Samsung) talk about sales figures, we're actually talking about shipments. So 6 million shipments don't necessarily mean 6 million sales. But the fact that carriers keep ordering more S4s definitely says a lot about consumer appetite towards the device.

The numbers are still lower in comparison to Cupertino's 5 million in 3 days (shipments as well, by the way), but it's clear that Samsung's numbers are closing in on Apple and pose a direct threat to them as evidenced by their recent actions.

What are your thoughts on the numbers? Sound off on the comments below.

Video Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7

My unboxing and video review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 is finally up.

Check them out below.

Part 1

Part 2: