I am a happy man

Yup. Well, sort of.

I took a few hours from work and went to Ortigas with a friend to buy a couple of things... one each. I have now update my wishlist and scratched another one off the list. Life is good.

Before I left for Pakistan, it was out of commission given that my original hi-cap mag got busted and needed replacement or some McGyver skills. I asked Bernard, who was taking care of my gun, to get me either a 190 round mag, cantilever mount, top and bottom rails, or a vertical foregrip.

He bought a brand new hi-cap mag (450 rounds) and a cantilever mount for my red dot. Plus I have just recently fixed my original hi-cap, giving me a total of 3 mags. Enough firepower for me.

I've always wanted that 190 rounder mag for my M4 and I can't wait to try it out. But alas, my gun is still with Bernard (or Verchie) and still needs some work with the battery. It also had to have a tappet plate replace but overall it's all good. I just hope my new mag works well with my gun.

musical tag

Ok another tag, must've been karma... oh well here goes

Total volume of music files on my computer
Organized: 8.42 Gb, Unorganized: 2.53 Gb

The last CD I bought
Now this is tough... I think "What's the Story (Morning Glory)" by Oasis. I think hehehe

Song playing right now
Bob Marley - Redemption Song

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me
Uhhh... no song in particular? Seriously, a good song is a good song. Not one has a "place in my heart". My player is set on random so I don't really have a favorite.

I will tag 5 people next time. I have to go to work now

comment out

Ever since I started blogging, I've noticed that there have been few comments on any of my posts. And I mean REALLY few. It feels as if nobody is reading it or that the entries are just unworthy for commenting.

Well, Vianney just placed a comment on my previous entry and as I read it I noticed a note that said that my blog will only allow blogspot members to add comments. So I immediately modified the settings to allow my non-blogspot friends to add a comment.

As I was going through some of my friend's blog, I saw JM's entry about this issue. Dude, sorry for all the hassle you had to put up with for a simple comment.

Everything's set now, so comment away!

bomb scare

It was a regular Wednesday and I had just started eating my lunch when the fire alarm went off. There was no panic with the few people in our area so I figured it to be a false alarm or something.

Then some of the security personnel stared ushering us downstairs. Given the languange difference, I didn't know what was happening so I casually went down the 6 flights to the lobby. Everyone in the compound where then moved outside the gates and into the streets. Normally my officemates would have around 6-7 armed guards and 2 security officers with us wherever we went, but they weren't around this time. We were even joking that this was our chance to go around Karachi by ourselves.

confused people


After some confused moments, we started hearing that someone had tipped the office administration that there was a bomb inside. Cool... my first personal encounter with such issues. Surprisingly, no one panicked. And I mean there wasn't a hint of panic or concern in the air. People were just standing around, trying to get out of the hot Pakistani sun.

cops arrive


Ambulances, the police and a fire truck arrived on the scene within 10 mins of the evacuation of the building to get things in order. At this point I was thinking, where the hell are our security? I would imagine this type of event to be a reason why we have such arrangements, but they where nowhere to be found. I was somewhat dissapointed at that, but I though maybe they were deploying the Quick Reaction Force to guard us VIPs. They would've been there in a few minutes.

But, alas the QRF didn't arrive either. So I might just have to fend for myself then... even better. This could've been my chance to practice my tactical and survival skills.

damage control


No chance for that though, we spent 2 and a half hours standing off the road under the sun. Officials where clearing the building floor by floor and when they cleared to about the 4th floor (out of 10) they took a calculated risk of sending the women into the lobby. The rationale was that it was too hot outside and they where standing out on the street. Go figure...

When our floor was cleared (5th) we were given permission to go up the stairs despite the building not being 100% clear. I decided to go in for two reasons: 1) it was going to be exciting if they found a bomb (or if it exploded) and we were now inside and 2) it was hot outside and I was tired of standing around for 2 hours doing nothing.

It ended up to be a false alarm though... SNAFU

"tagged"

So I just learned a new concept in the world of blogs... being tagged. Similar to slumbook entries and such. And since I don't have anything much to do... might as well try it out.

By the way this comes from Iam's entry

Things you enjoy, even when no one around you wants to go out and play. What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it on your journal... and then tag 5 friends and ask them to post it to theirs.

1. Go to the gym - although I need to go more often, take the stress of my mind and transferring it to my body seems to do me well

2. Watch TV - watch anything... it's not referred to the "boob-tube" for nothing

3. Bring out my war stuff - organizing my war gear and simply holding my AEG does wonders for me... until I start dreaming of all the other stuff that I need/want to buy hehehe

4. War! - ever felt like shooting someone? Then by all means! Using airsoft of course. Play the Sunday afternoon away (and/or Saturday if you're up to it). Great way to release the tension and stress

5. Surf the net - only applies when I am in the office (I rarely touch my PC at home) and stressed from work. http://f1.racing-live.com/en; http://www.f1clubphilippines.com; http://www.filairsoft.com; http://www.sparrowunit.com and http://www.teamapocalypse.tk are some of the more frequent sites I go to

6. Listen to music - Winamp is always on when I'm working...

7. Sit on a sofa - or anything comfortable, preferrably with my feet up. Chill out, that's it... plain and simple

8. Sleep - chill out to the extreme hehehe

9. Coffee or tea - on the other side of chill out extreme, coffee or tea with friends frees your mind from the drudgery of work or what-not

10. Walk - roam around the office, go down to the lobby anything... just to leave the worries behind for a while and start afresh

11. Go for a drive - I love to drive, anything to do with cars and/or speed. Cruise or race around to wherever is ok for me

Time to tag....

yeng, dale, david, ate socs, jeng

untitled

I had nothing to do in the past few minutes... so I decided to surf the net and check out some of the profiles of my friends in Friendster.

Somehow, passing one particular profile, I had a weird feeling. Weird, funny, sad (?) feeling... that made me want a smoke. Not that I am a smoker, it just felt that way... maybe to dwell on what I felt. Or rub it off just like you would rub your face when feeling stressed.

The successive sentimental/slow songs may have something to do with what I felt. I dunno.

Well, unfortunately I don't have a lighter (I have some cigarettes, don't ask why) and I'm not sure if there is a smoking area in the area. So I decided to write this blog entry...

non sequitur

A couple of days ago, the IT general manager of our client (Sui Southern Gas Company) invited us for dinner at his place. Great! At least I will be able to go out of our house for a few hours.

I had a great idea of wearing the Pakistani traditional suit called the shalwar suit. It kinda looks like an oversized formal pajama hehehe. I figured I was going to a Pakistani dinner in a Pakistani house, so naturally I would dress as a Pakistani. And my officemate (a woman mind you) would also be wearing a Pakistani 'dress'.

So off we went to the IT GM's place. Man, how the scenery changed.

The usual picture when thinking about Pakistan would be square-ish, 4-floor, earth colored buildings in a hot and dry enviromnent. Think Somalia in the movie Black Hawk Down. Think of the Afghanistan cities on CNN. You're not far off the truth. But the IT GM's house was located in a posh area of Karachi. Kinda reminds me of the private subdivisions in Alabang or Better Living. The architecture is different mind you… houses are still square-ish, couple of floors high, and still earth colored but they have the ‘rich’ look to them.

As we entered his house, you could definitely feel that a Pakistani outfit stood out like a cactus in the middle of the desert. Posh leather seats, air conditioning, carpets, fine wooden tables the works. The lady of the house even though I was a Pakistani… okay…

I still wasn’t sure if we were the only visitors as we sat in the receiving area of their house practically staring at our hands. There were some awkward moments as the IT GM wasn’t really making an effort to entertain his guests. Well at least his wife was a bit more accommodating.

4 more guests from the SSGC office arrived. All of them wearing smart casual clothes… and I mean European styled clothes. I felt like I was the driver or the house help with the way I was dressed. What a good way to make an impression.

A foreigner in Pakistani clothes, attending a Pakistani dinner with Pakistanis in ‘foreign’ clothes. Go figure.

Well at least the food was good.

I am here