Random Thought Number 45

Try watching a spider weave its web. Watch every detail as it moves from left to right, right to left, up and down, or down and up. Each strand represents the effort of the spider as to how sturdy and comfortable to be staying inside web. It matters as to how every every prey catches on its intricate web. Its web is a work of art. An art of nature which does use any crayons, brushes, paint or anything that humans use. It only uses its silk as it moves slowly making sure that every strand is perfect. The web is important for the spiders. It’s their home just like when humans go home to their home. Its where they feel safe. A home is an art and a structure. The spider is an artist and an architect. It builds their home accordance to the functionality and beauty. An artist that can be found straight from their natural habitat, It’s best to appreciate those little creatures because best things come in small packages.

Bucket List Number One- Macau

If I already have my passport, the first place that I would go outside Philippines is Macau. I promised myself before I turn thirty that at least I'll go visit some Asian countries. I chose Macau as my first destination is because it's a merge of two different cultures and at the same time so many places to visit there. It's a merge of European and Asian culture that I want to explore. So before I go there I would like to know Macau first.

Macau was known as Haojing (Haojing) or Jinghai (Mirror Sea) in the 14th century, from A-Ma Temple a tradiotional Chinese temple built in 1448. This temple was dedicated to Matsu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen. Macau was not a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. They have established themselves at Goa in 1510 and Malacca. When Portugese fleet arrived in the vicinity of Haojingao in 1517 and 1518, Chinese officials were not happy because of the violations created on China's sovereignty. Portugese adventurers were forcibly expelled along the cost of Guangdong in 1521.

Due to a ship wreck happened in 1536, Portugese traders were allowed to moor at Haojinggao. However most historians note the date of the permanent presence of the Portugese in Macau was in 1553. That was the year they started establishing on-shore trading depots. Portugese set up bases of operations there for trade in China and even Japan.

Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on February 8, 1979 and Beijing acknowledged Macau as "Chinese territory under Portugese administration. Macau is a Special Administration Region of the People's Republic of China. It was administered for 442 years. First it was as a trading post and then as a Portugese territory, until it was handed over to China in 1999. It was the last European territory in Asia.

Macau is a peculiar blend of Oriental and Western influences. This can be seen as a unique and hybrid culture, which gives the city an air of romance and nostalgia. Today, it is a rich commercial and industrialized city. Macau's reputation goes back to 1920's and 1930's as a place of smuggling, gambling, prostitution and crimed control Chinese "triads" or crime syndicates. This gambling houses are still popular as tourist destination across Asia.

Nevertheless Macau is a beautiful city and therefore there are beautiful sights that must be visited once I am there.

First stop is the Ruins of St. Paul

This a 16th century complex of what was originally St. Paul's College and the Cathedral of St. Paul also known as "Master Dei." Today the ruins are one of Macau's most famous landmarks. In 2005, they were enlisted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Site of Macau. The ruins today is now consist of the southern stone facade which was intricately carved between 1620 and 1627 by Japanese Christians in exile from their homeland. The remaining three tiers are the most decorated. The statue of Madonna stands in the middle of the third tier, while the status of Jesus stands on the fourth. The walls are covered with bas-reliefs in various patterns like devils, angels, symbols of crucifixion, a Portuguese sailing ship and others. The triangular combination of the upper three tiers reflects Holy Trinity. I may not be religious but I would like to appreciate this structure and how it was build.

Second stop is Leal Senado Square
I've see this part of Macau a lot. In magazines, travel channels and stories by those people who had visited the square. The Senado square is paved with a wave-patterned mosaic of colored stones, created by Portuguese experts. The mosaic colored stones extends from the main road to church of St. Dominic, the pavement extends to the ruins of St. Paul's making the heart of the city a pedestrian paradise. The Senado Square has always been the city center. The history of Senado goes back as the governors inspected military troops and police force when they took up their posts. Most buildings around the square are neclassical in style and some are Classified Monuments or Classified Buildings of Archetectural interest. The square has a Mediterranean atmosphere and yet there's touch of contemporary as it's lined with more familiar shops such as Mcdonalds, Mango, Starbucks, Watsons, Bath and Body and others. And for those people who does not have budget, there are stores and shops that sell affordable and unique stuff.

Third stop is The Cotai Strip
The Cotai Strip is known as the Las Vegas of Asia. It's trying to replicate the glitz, glamour and excitement of the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, USA. Cotai was created to provide Macau with a new gambling hotspot with world class facilities, Las Vegas-style casinos, luxury hotels, world class entertainment and brand-name and designer shopping. That's why it 's trying to imitate Las Vegas because the main developer is Las Vegas Sands (LVS) which opened Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on the 27th of August in 2007. The group is planning another seven resort hotels and casinos but there was a financial crisis that's putting them on hold.

Fourth Stop is Sir Robert Ho Tung Library
It wouldn't be a complete trip without me checking books right? My love for books would be forever, so I would like to check Macau's libraries. One of them is the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library. This is located in St. Augustine's Square in the Historic Centre of Macau. The library is housed in a mansion that has good historical, cultural and architectural value. The building was constructed before 1894 and was owned by Dona Carolina Cunha, then it was purchased by Hong Kong businessman Sir Robert Ho Tung in 1918 as a retreat and lived there between 1941 and 1945. He died on the year 1955. The building was presented to the Government for conversion to a public library accordance to his will. The library was officially opened in 1958. A new building was contracted near the back garden of the mansion and making it the biggest public library in Macau.

Fossilized Friends

One thing I am obsessing these days are those extinct creatures of thousand years ago. They may not have existed now but their bones do. Some of them are really nasty and some of them are nice. I consider them as friends because without them we may never know how to survive planet Earth. Humans survived because these creatures taught them how to live. Without them there would be no paleontologists, archaeologists, botanists, zoologists and other branches of science to study how they existed, how they survived,  how they instantly wiped and out not one of them left. In that case I listed my top 5 of my favorite dinosaurs commemorating their existence as fossils of today.


5. Tyrannosaurus Rex or T-Rex 
From the etymology of their name it means "king of the lizards." They are considered to be the most vicious, massive, largest and strongest carnivores. They are bipedal, yes they walk in two feet. They have these two small  forelimbs or hands that I always laugh myself out. These hands look small but they use them to hang on their preys. Inspite how big they are it looks awkward to see them having small forelimbs.  Their large long tail gives them their sense of balance. Their massive jaws contains 50 to 60 blade like teeth and 9 inches long.The teeth was made to tear up meat. They have  a good sense of smell. When they run they could go 20 miles per hour. They could cover 15 feet in just one step. Their popularity gained when the movie Jurassic Park cloned them. They existed and killed everyone who comes their way. 


4. Brachiosaurus
My favorite among the herbivore dinosaurs. The first time I've seen them was from the animated film "Land Before Time." The etymology of the name referred to as "arm lizard." Distinct features are their extremely long neck, which they use to get food to extremely high trees. Their necks are about 30 feet. Their head is tiny. Their front legs are longer than their hind legs. The height of these vegetarian creatures were 50 feet if they're fully grown. They may not even notice that they've stepped on something or other dinosaurs. Branchiosaurus were not really preyed on due to their gigantic appearance. Could they really put them down? I think not. Some paleontologists theorized that these dinosaurs spends most of their time in the water but then this was ruled out due to the analysis showing that water pressure can suffocate them. 


3. Velociraptor
Once again Jurassic Park had cloned these fast, little fellows, but that wasn't the real appearance of the Velociraptos.In the movie they look big but the fact they're 6.8 ft long and 1.6 ft at the hip. They're nicknamed Raptors which was used by US basketball team. Velociraptor means "swift thief."  They look like a big chicken. Speaking of chicken, these creatures had feathers, which was not depicted in the film. Researchers found quill knobs on the forearm of a Velociraptor found in Mongolia. These bumps on bird wing bones show where the feathers anchor and their presence on them indicate they had feathers. They ran with their sickle shaped toes and pointed back, ready to tear apart any prey it gets hold of. The toes are pointed back because so that it would stay in shape and not get dull. It's possible that they stab its prey in sudden, surprise attacks then withdrew to a safe distance as its victim bled to death. Raptors lived in Asia, where they've found their fossils. They're warm-blooded and of course meat eater. 


2. Triceratops

The name means "three horned face." They are plant eater, Ceratopsian (horned face) dinosaurs. They're 7 feet at the hips. Triceratops was a rhinoceros-like dinosaur. They walk on four sturdy legs, had three horns on their face, along with a large bony plate projecting from the back of its skull or a frill. One short horn was above its parrot-like beak and two longer horns. That's over 3 feet or 1m long above its eyes probably provided protection from predators. The horns were possibly used in mating rivalry and rituals. They had large skulls, up to 10 feet or 3m long, one of the largest skulls of any land animal ever discovered. One Triceratops skull was found and it weighed 3.3 tons. They're head was nearly one-third as long as its body. Triceratops hatched from eggs. On some adults the eye horns grow up to 3 feet. They're about 30 feet long and 10 feet in height. Triceratops must have been herding animals. This theory was supported by finding bone bed, large deposits of bones of the same species in an area. When they are threatened by predators, they probably charged into enemy like the modern-day rhinoceros does. This is an effective defense. I just love how they look and the fact that they look like rhinoceros. Most of all they're herbivore though they look big and strong. 


1. Ankylosaurus 
And of course my favorite dinosaur of all time. They may not that famous or not recognized by others. I just love the armory appearance of their body. Their name refers to "fused lizard." They had to eat huge amount of low-lying plant material to sustain itself so their gut must have been very large. They were tank-like dinosaur. They're entire top side was heavily protected from carnivores with thick, oval plates embedded or fused in its leathery skin.There are two rows of spikes along its body,large horns that projected from the back of the head and club-like tail. They even had bony plates as protection for their eyes.It's only under their belly was unprotected. They are well protected from the predators. Similar armor body is find in crocodiles and armadillos. They are slow moving herbivore and they needed protection from their armored plates. They are 33 feet long and weighed 4 tons. They are like the perfect armor for a great war. One more thing that I liked about them was that they were one of the last dinosaurs to exist before the large extinction occurred. If extinction wasn't occurred then they are still here roaming earth.


Well they may not have existed now but their legacy lives on. More and more discovery on them has yet to reveal. There are still hundreds of them waiting to be discovered and be known by mankind. They once ruled the earth and wanted to survive, but I guess that was their fate. The fate of discovery and a learning from them about how life started and how life should be lived. Appreciate life!

Reminiscing Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind or just 3EB was formed in the early 90's, though their fame rose in the late 90's. They are an alternative band from San Fransisco. I started listening to them when I was in high school. I love their songs. They are catchy and at the same time relates to different kind of emotions. They recorded their first demo in 1993 but it was their self titled album that made them famous. The album Third Eye Blind was released on April 8, 1997 and it's their first full length album that gained popularity because of their catchy songs.

Three singles from that album charted in the top 10 Billboard Hot 100. The first single that became an anthem of the youth in the late 90's is "Semi Charmed Life." It's the "too too too too too too" and " I want something else to get me through this, semi-charmed kind of life " lines that made them sing all together. Though it's catchy and upbeat according to their lead vocals and song writer Stephen Jenkins it's about how drugs would problems in life change. Please that is not so true. Avoid drugs.

The second single is "Jumper" which was made into a soundtrack in Jim Carey and Zooey Deschanel's film "Yes, Man." It was not really a soundtrack. Jim Carrey had an acoustic version of the song. He sang it to the guy so that he would not commit suicide.  Oh yes it's the first line of the song "Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend. Cut ties with all the lies that you've been living in" that started everyone singing with the band every time they would have a concert. This song has something to do with the vocalists' childhood since his parents divorced when he was still young. This song was also about a gay who committed suicide because he wasn't accepted.

Then their famous love song "How's it going to be." It's not really a love song but a "break up song" and how the transition of the relationship from friends to just acquaintances. Ouch! 

The self titled album of Third Eye Blind is my favorite album of them. I even bought the cassette tape but someone borrowed and it was never returned. My favorite tracks from the album are "Burning Man," "Thanks A Lot," "Motorcycle Drive By," "Background," "Jumper," "Graduate," Losing a Whole Year," and "God of Wine." The songs are catchy, upbeat, emotional and real. Once you've listened to the album, it's about everything a teenager is experiencing. 

They had 5 albums by the way and they are going to  release a new album in 2011. 

Band's First Full Length Album 

1997 Band Line Up

Stephen Jenkins- Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitars

Kevin Cadogan- Lead Guitars

Arion Salazar- Bassist

Michael Urbano- Drummer 

Random Thought Number 301

It is important for me to find the perfect pen to use when I'm writing on my journal. I need a pen that is light, easy to write on the paper, and dark. I know these seems crazy. I go to bookstores and find the perfect pen but I haven't found it yet. I've found a lot and bought them but I am not happy with them. I am not contented with how they are written on the paper. I've got dozens of them but they don't seem to connect with my journal. The pens that I have are beautiful, writes well but it does not fit well with the ink that I have on my mind. It's not the thickness of how it is written on the paper. I am not going to throw them though, I'll still be using them for the mean time. I'll be using them until their inks are drained, but I'll still be looking for that perfect pen no matter what.

Oil Spill!

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When I first saw the photos of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill I got devastated because of how those animals covered with grease and oil. The ocean is full of oil. Animals were killed. Fishes were killed. Workers got killed.

On April 20 of this year BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and commencing months of oil leaking unrestrained into the ocean. The estimated range of the oil spill ranges from less than a square mile to a handful of square miles. Animals were covered in thick oil. The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill created a ripple effect on today's, environmental, political and social aspect. First fishermen are affected due to the fishes that were killed. It's their life, this is where they get their money. Second since the oil spill is not yet eliminated, some environmentalists say that it would go deeper to the oceans and that will affect more marine life. The Gulf of Mexico is home to some endangered species. Then some government officials are trying to transfer the rig of oil somewhere else and try to build some more. That's the Gulf of Mexico 6 months ago.

How's Gulf of Mexico today?
On November 15 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration opened a major area for commercial and recreational fishing. The agency said there's been no oil or sheen in the area since July 25. Samples were taken turned up that there are no more dispersants. Chemical tests were done and the levels of concern is below but there still an area closed about 1,041 square miles around the wellhead.

I may not have been there but the impact it had on me is way big. I got sad that people died and animals died because of people being careless. I know they did not want to happen but they should have checked or observed that something's wrong with the rig. Oh well it happened. Hope they learned from the mistake, though there are still oil spills happening in different parts of the world.

Disclaimer: I do not own this photo. I am not claiming it as my own.

Thinking Less But Still Thinking More

We think about a lot of stuff. We think about ourselves. We think about others. We think about pencils, papers, dogs, flowers, cars, clouds, books, water, kids and everything that randomly comes inside our minds. We are thinking people. What we do is think everyday though sometimes we unconsciously don't want to think. Thinking is part of being a human being. There is no such thing as a dull person. They still think only in a different way. They think they are not thinking yet eventually they are. We can never tell what a person is thinking just about right now. There are billions and maybe more than a billion of thoughts streaming at the same time with different people. It's fun to think, you get to know your inner self. You get to know your neighbors. You get to know your neighbor's dog or you get to know your neighbor's dog and its fleas. We never fail to amuse our selves.

Let's smile and learn about how we are able to connect with other people. Maybe that is through ones mind or just opening ones mind to whatever possibilities this home of ours has to offer. Never underestimate other people, they may have skills that you don't have. They may have a talent that's just waiting to be discovered. We are humans. We all commit mistakes. Don't be afraid to commit mistakes because you will realize then that it was better to commit it than hide and never show your face.

Let us accept each others mistakes. We learned, we are learning and will always be learning. Let's think of something that we are able to do not what we cannot do. Cheer up and let's all get along together.