If you only have to get one issue of UNO this year, make it this one
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 28th, 2010
Don’t panic if you find yourself looking out from whatever household, or office, or town, or planet you’re in, and start thinking, now here’s the sort of place that just gets so damn tired.
You think of how much your city turns on the dull urges of its greediest and its hungriest, how it moves on the slow metabolism of everybody else in between. And you think of how little difference things made in your life if you had gone this way instead of that way, or if you had taken this opportunity instead of not at all.
But there are days you see a picture or read some words or dream a little longer at night, and you say to yourself, now there’s something I might really want to see. Or somebody tells you—in my case it was Erwin (Romulo), and Luis (Katigbak)—about something exciting they have in mind, and you think to yourself, now there’s something I wouldn’t want to miss.
Sometimes we need to rely on our most wistful and our most speculative selves to show us what should have been and what might have been and all those other things in between. For this issue, we found ourselves relying on the finest writing minds we could gather to put together real words and real pictures. Now we depend on your real sense and actual experience to ignore the disclaimers and the dangers, even for a moment, and weigh the real difference.
from “Don’t Panic,” a note by UNO Magazine issue #68 Guest Editor Sarge Lacuesta
And now the synopsis from Luis Katigbak:
Quark Henares takes us on a tour of the strangest corners of his sex life. Jimmy Abad makes a modest proposal. Krip Yuson reimagines Rizaldry. Butch Dalisay shows us the unseen side of Soledad’s Sister. Robin Hemley discovers a cache of old letters to his great-grandfather from a Filipina girlfriend, dated 1904. Sarge Lacuesta encounters a sexbot. Erwin Romulo reviews some really bad albums. Ramon de Veyra showcases the best comics you missed out on. Frank Cimatu sends Pepe Smith into outer space.
Aldus Santos and Cynthia Bauzon-Arre present the last — and lost — Eraserheads album. Arnold Arre and Clarissa Concio-Tiglao take us for a ride in the cars of the future. Yvette Tan writes about fact and fancy, scar tissue and Sta Teresa. Waya Gallardo dines at the controversial aswang-themed restaurant, Kagat, and undergoes a sort of transformation. Patricia Evangelista writes about the rise of Magdalena. Oli Reyes shares a selection from the unknown history of television. Tara Sering comments on a loopy bit of legislation. Neil Gaiman teaches us how to lie. And Philbert Dy attends an orgy.
And no we’re not telling you who the cover girl is.
Hands on with the Mazda 2
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 27th, 2010
Thanks to Steven and Anika I was able to take out the new Mazda 2 for a couple of days. I did a bit of driving around the city as well as out of town to Punta Fuego. To put things into perspective, I’ve always been a sedan guy (I own the new 2010 Honda City A MT) so this is the first time I’ve been behind the wheel of a compact sports sedan. Note that I’m not part of the motoring media and do not review cars often so what I write really comes from first-hand buzz from friends and my own thoughts about “things” that are supposed to take you from point A to B.
Read on for the hands on.
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Hands on with the Nokia C3 and C6 and the Nokia E5
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 23rd, 2010
OMG I’m actually writing about gadgets again! It’s flattering that the hardware companies have actually noticed that recently, diving > gadgets. OK let’s go!
Today I give you an actual hands on with three new Nokia devices. The really affordable C3 and C6 and the E5 business phone. All of these have a QWERTY keypad with the C6 resembling a Nokia N900 but running Symbian (S60) while the C3 and E5 resemble the classic Blackberry candybar that we’ve come to love. All of these devices come with WiFi, but the key message of Nokia for these three devices is for connecting with friends in social networks and chat. Wait! Aren’t they a bit late in the game for this? Back in 2009, LG and Samsung launched the same “messaging phones” that have IM and email. Nokia announces the release of their line for Q3.
Before we start, I asked Nokia about the new nomenclature of phones — there is no longer an XpressMusic line, simply “X” like the X6 which stands for music and entertainment. The “N” series is still there and I predict that all future N devices will be running the new Maemo Meego platform, with the N900 and its previous Internet Tablets being the experiment into this realm. Now, the new “C” line. The room guffawed that “C” stands for “Cheap” (LOLZ) which is in a way true. The C series replaces the 6xxx line of Nokia, the main bulk of all classic phones such as the 6630, 6210, etc. “C” stands for “connectivity” or “community.” All these devices have threaded messaging, quick access to “communities” via Facebook, Twitter, IM etc. and the integration is well thought out to some extent: For instance when you get a Facebook event invite, you can save the invite directly into your phone’s calendar. All have 3.5mm jacks for standard earphones.
Nokia has a habit of churning out variations of its previous models and calling it by an entirely new line. The new C3, C6 and E5 can be called as such, but there are still really cool differences. Let’s go over them one by one.
The C3 (as seen here in HOT PINK), as I predict will be the top seller in Q2. Why? Not only does it run on a faster S40 platform (no multitasking but that’s actually a GOOD thing for UI speed), it also has WiFi (AMAZING! When was it such that S40 could do WiFi??) and it will retail for an estimated SRP of 90 Euros. That’s a killer price right there for a great phone with WiFi. It comes with an 8GB memory card.
The C6 is probably the new N97 mini with a full 3.2 inch touch screen and slide out QWERTY keypad. It slides out parallel to the device, and thus resembles a N900 in form but a N97 (mini) in philosophy. The price: suggested retail is 220 Euros.
Finally we have the new enterprise phone, the Nokia E5. Here’s a photo comparison of all the Eseries phones that we had on the table that day. That’s the E71 and E72, E63 and E61i! The philosophy behind the new Eseries is an improved home screen, which is really the main selling point of these enterprise devices alongside access to corporate email. It makes little sense to highlight this though as all these devices have WiFi and email access anyway. If you’re on SMART, there’s always Nokia Messaging. The price? 180 Euros.
From four shortcuts, the new E5 is now down to two menu buttons and two shortcuts. Honestly, I never used the shortcut keys on the hardware side.
All these goodies are coming out this Q3 2010!
Photos of Apo Reef, Sablayan
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 22nd, 2010
Brought down two rigs for our weekend dive at Apo Reef with Cebu Pacific and the WWF. These are shots taken by Mark Limchoa from the WWF on a Sony W300. I had my video rig. In post, I turned the shots into B&W and boosted some contrasts to remove the blue fuzz and add drama from Mark’s. Great turnout! If you want to see the rest of the set, click on to read more.
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Illy Coffee Pods: You recommended ‘em so I got ‘em!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 22nd, 2010
Thanks to everyone who chimed in Facebook recommending Illy. It’s hard to find coffee pods off the shelf in your friendly neighborhood grocery so I was pleasantly surprised to see the boxes of Illy stacked. I probably have seen these before thinking they were regular coffee grind, in which case I prefer beans. So yay, new pods for the handpresso. A box sets you back PHP 600.00 for 18 coffee pods. That’s about PHP 33.00 for a shot of espresso. Not bad. The cheapest I’ve seen was PHP 25.00 per shot at the department store of Rustan’s.
How to attract sharks: A Four Step Guide
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 21st, 2010
Photo: That’s Gregg holding a plastic bottle. Shark bait!
So I heard about a new technique to attract sharks. These cartilage embedded creatures are beautiful to photograph and provide a different kind of adrenaline boost to divers, alongside the fear of being mistaken for a seal — their next meal!
Step 1: Take an empty bottle of C2 (or mineral water or any plastic bottle). Note that bringing this down with collapse the bottle the deeper you go.
Step 2: Bring it down. Maybe take an additional pound of weights to compensate for the positive buoyancy brought about by the bottle. Don’t litter!
Step 3: Crumple the bottle. The sound apparently attracts their curiosity. Could be because they think it’s the cry of a dying fish.
Step 4: Enjoy the sharks.
One of my dive buddies brought this down and the sound of crumpling plastic underwater is very distinct. Since water conducts sound really well, it seemed like the whole area was crumpling. We saw three reef sharks in our two dives, albeit too far to photograph. As for me, whenever our dive master would put stick his hand up on his forehead (the symbol for shark), that was the cue for me to immediately turn off my LED lights. Great Hammerheads (ZOMG WTF!!!) are sight feeders and they like shiny things!
Whee! CRAZY!
Today I found a pressure cylinder in Makati and actually used it
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 14th, 2010
That dear friends is a pressure canister. Look at it. Just look at it! It’s geeky. Although I had taken my new right out for snorkeling, I still needed to take the whole thing down to at least 60 ft to see if the pressure would give way to flooding. While at the Neo event, Ilyong from Intel suggested I drop by Nautilus as they had a small pressure canister used to test for dive gear leaks.
You see, this was my dilemma: it is common practice to take a new underwater casing down for one dive with tissue paper in the stead of an actual camera to test for leaks. I had not the chance to do this in Anilao over the last weekend as I had a bit of work to finish. The catch is, my next dive would be in Apo Reef — one of the gems of biodiversity in the coral triangle of South East Asia and it so happens to be in the Philippines. A failed Apo – Tubbataha transition journey thanks to Expedition Fleet added to the fervor of really wanting to document this next trip to Apo. Bringing down my gear sans camera would waste one dive worth of documentation.
So I looked for options. According to Ilyong, Jerome had his replacement dive computer brought to Nautilus and submerged in water, sealed simulating the pressure increase to several dozens of meters below sea level. The pressure canister is a cylinder about the size of a beer keg with water and a hose for pumping in air to simulate an increase in pressure. I brought in my case, oiled the O ring, and dumped it in. In nearly 10 seconds, my case was subjected to the equivalent pressure of 100 ft underwater. Wow!
Oh and since I found out all about this during the Neo event, here’s a short commercial:
This is the “new” high end Neo B4105. Look at it! Just look at it! This affordable 14 inch lappie includes an Intel Core i5 430M processor at 2.2GHz (1066 MHz), 3MB L3 Cache, hyper threading and turbo boosting technology, 2GB DDR3 RAM, DVDRW drive, 320GB hard disk space and integrated video. It’s got a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth 2.1 and HDMI output. It comes with Windows 7 Starter. Buy it now for only 35,999 (PHP 3,000 0% 12 months). Buy it now!
Also, special thanks to Carol of Nautilus for letting me geek out on her cylinder. If you’re ever in need of a pressure chamber for dive gear and resin, here’s the info:
Nautilus Dive and Sports Center
839 A. Arnaiz Ave. (Formerly Pasay Road)
Midland Mansion, Unit 1/GF Makati City.
Tel./Fax
(632) 8177293
(632) 8122848
Cell No.
(63)9209541477
Office Hours
11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Monday to Friday
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Saturday
Email address:
nautilusdive@surfshop.net.ph
Contact Person:
Solomon Young / Carol Young
Diving Phi Phi Island, Thailand: A Commentary on Introduction Dives
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 12th, 2010
Ugh, the dawn of video in 16:9 isn’t being kind to my blog. Word of advice: in your next blog redesign, make sure that your main column width can accomodate HD videos which is at least 560 px in width (560×340). Of course, you can always resize them, but what a hassle!
I recently took part in a media FAM tour of Thailand. Together with a few friends from the online community and the glossies we took a week off to tour BKK, Krabi, the Phi Phi Islands and Phuket. One of the highlights of Phi Phi was making way for one dive.
Phi Phi Island is Thailand’s version of Boracay. It is frequented and inhabited mostly by Europeans. Sadly, the past few years have not been kind to the place due to the Tsunami devastation of 2005. As a Filipino who has the luxury to access virgin beaches (fine let’s include Boracay), Phi Phi’s beach is OK. The view of the bay is breathtaking, albeit the water’s visibility wasn’t anything to write home about. There are two main beaches — the dock, which contains the house reef and the “back” of the island which is sprawled with Europeans with (and without) bikinis. The “back’s” water was green, perhaps due to the season.
I was initially promised a morning of diving, which would accomodate at most two dives. I had brought my AOW (advanced open water) license and luck with me, found a decent looking dive operator right beside the hotel, Aquanauts Scuba. I had a short chat with Hugo, one of the dive masters and probably an owner. He told me that the boat would leave the next day at 7AM, to do two dives out for only 2,500 Baht. That’s around PHP 3,000 for two dives. Diving in Phi Phi seems to be slightly more affordable than in Puerto Galera – but nothing beats Anilao’s rates vis a vis quality! We had a long chat, with me explaining that I was flying out and him taking this into consideration (they do not do decompression dives) while he was asking me about my experience in the past. This is how operators SHOULD work — they get to know more about the diver, his experience, in order to build a safe dive plan.
Here’s a bit about Aquanauts:
Aquanauts Scuba was one of the first purpose-built dive centers to be established on Phi Phi Island, with roots going back to 1989, when the first of our team settled here. Our style is non-commercial and comes from diving in small numbers. It maximises both fun and safety. Quite simply we put quality first when we limit the number of divers per instructor to 4. All dives are planned and supervised to strict P.A.D.I. standards, which are recognised internationally. Personal attention and professional care are corner-stones of Aquanauts Scuba’s beliefs.
A number have asked what certification agency is the “best” for diving. Although it’s really up to you, PADI is the most ubiquitous so even if you forget your license, a PADI-certified operator can always look you up on their Internet database.
Set on doing this dive, I went back to the tour operator informing the group of my plans to leave early the next day. I was made a counter-offer instead to do two dives out for only 2,000 Baht. With a little savings, why not? The operator knew someone — probably a local. The following mental processing was going on in my head: he’d probably know a local, which meant he’d know the nice areas. And it’s cheaper. Plus safer. I’ll take his word!
If I went with Aquanauts, I’d miss the island hopping tour. Weighing both options, it seemed like this would be fine as since the group is there as media, I’d be able to cover the better Phi Phi dive sites since I had an underwater camera. Nobody else in the group would be able to do this.
After the island tour (we went to the island where The Beach was shot) I proceeded to an operator called Hippo Divers. One of the media guys from Indonesia joined me. I stepped into the operator’s hut and that’s when it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to be joining a dive out — but rather an introduction dive. Ugh. From two dives promised to me, it was down to one and not in one of the more pristine areas of the islands, but within the house reef.
Our tour operator highlighted safety but what I saw done to my colleague wasn’t very safe. There’s a language barrier in Thailand. Despite a good number of the population knowing English, it isn’t as prevalent like in Manila, Malaysia or Singapore. This is what happened: there’s a binder with pull out pages with illustration on how to equalize, clear your mask and breathe through your regulator. My colleague was asked to read it. For crying out loud, what happened to the “safety” we were promised? It’s a good thing we were only at the house reef, and at 30 feet. But still. That’s not the point. So we geared up. I jumped in first. Then my Indonesian friend with his dive master. Then we went down. Of course he had problems.
* At this point I want to make it clear that this isn’t a post against Hippo Divers. It’s a commentary on the snap diving instruction methods. This also happens in the Philippines. Diving is skills based so you need to get the skills right before you start going underwater. In my first intro dive about three years ago I was pulled around the bottom of the (dirty) reef in Puerto Galera. I wanted to equalize but the dive master really didn’t mind me. It sucked more here due to the language barrier.
Here’s my beef: I was really disappointed with not being informed of what I was getting into. Rather than save money, I spent a lot more to see … well, less. I have no complaints about the actual dive (the regulator was a bit faulty though — turn my head to the right, and water would seep in). So again, my beef is with not being properly informed. Had I known I was going to do the house reef, at least I would have been left with the option to back out (I still would have gone though, haha!).
Anyway, do check out the video above. Mostly hard corals and schools. Not sure why they feed the fish. Must be a treat to first timers. Ironic too — I was in BKK precisely for a conference on Tourism and one of the rules for marine tourism was “do not feed the fish.”
I think operators who run intro driving stints should be more prudent in quantity (vs. quality) “sweat shop intro dives”. It almost looks like a fly by night. Here’s a tip: when doing an intro dive, I suggest getting a dive instructor who doesn’t directly work for a resort. Find a friend who knows a DM and get that. You will be guaranteed a better first time experience from someone who doesn’t treat it like work. I was fortunate to find a great instructor through a friend (Jan Acosta) and it is his fault why I’m so addicted to diving! I’m on my one year anniversary!
I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Dave de Jesus of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for an overall great one week experience in Bangkok, Krabi, Phi Phi and Phuket.
Giving away 5 iPhone Tiki Cases
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 10th, 2010
Hi folks, I’m running a contest at ForeverGeek. Got in touch with Tim from PocketMac and he’s launching new cases. The mechanics are dead simple: all you need to do is RT the post to enter. You can even spam it.
2010 Honda City: Thoughts after the first 1,000 km check up
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 8th, 2010
Some of you may have heard about the unfortunate “Almost Tubbataha” ordeal which I went through together with several other diver friends last month. I came home with a broken vacation, low spirits, and the nervousness of not having our money reimbursed. This all pulled through of course, but that’s not the point of this post.
I came home very frustrated so I called Honda and pushed them to try their very best to deliver a 2010 Honda City which I had been processing since about two months ago, with the help of Hotwire guru Mitch Genato. They pulled through. I would have expected the car when I had gotten back from my dive trip, but I thank Honda for lifting my spirits, even for a bit, with an early delivery.
Initially I was thinking of getting a Toyota Vios, but the timing of the recalls, reinforced by Mitch’s advice convinced me to get a Honda. My first Honda (my first car, really, with my own hard earned money). In our family, we have a history of Toyota loyalty and a Mazda MPV somewhere there. If I had waited longer, the Ford Fiesta would have been a good choice as well. Had I the money, the up and coming Mazda 6 would also have been a great choice (geeky remote door locks without having to push a button and headlights that turn to follow the curve). I’m not really a car guy — but the geeky appeal of the Mazda 6 is too hard to resist.
Alas, I had neither leisure time nor money to spend so I “settled” (settled is a bad choice of word) for the 2010 Honda City.
It’s beautiful. It’s autobot front grill synchronizes macho and sexy into one menacing front. The trunk space is huge (it frikken’ fits this monster Core i7 rig that Intel lent me) and for the most affordable series (I got the cheapest version of the City, the “A” series with manual gear shift), it looks like Honda gave me more than what I was asking for. After my first drive, I had no regrets to foregoing the Vios. The 2010 City is elegant and edgy.
Compared to the new Civic that seems rather sporty, the City seems to have taken the place of the Civic’s reputation in form and shape from 3-4 years ago. Which is why Civic owners have complained about the “low end” City being the new flagship as there isn’t anything low end about it. Overall, the car drives smoothly, and unlike the Jazz or the Mazda 2, it presents a commanding view of the road with the driver’s seat elevated a bit higher than the passenger seats. I had thought this was the only thing that provided the illusion of being high, but after checking out other cars, the City really is taller. The commanding cockpit view, the smooth drive, the silent hum of the engine … all excellent.
Perhaps the most exciting thing it came with was an AUX port for any 3.5mm compatible player so this is where the iPod fits snuggly. And the potential for 5 cup holders. Hee.
I need to stress the trunk space. I can fit over 3 crates full of dive gear into this thing. I love the trunk. It’s like a small portable apartment without the mini bar.
I decided to write this “hands on” after reaching my first 1,000km mark (whoops I’m at 1,400 already!) Honda seems to be a very efficient and friendly customer service program. After having the car delivered, I received a call from Honda Cars Quezon City confirming if everything was OK. The car was delivered in great condition but there was an extra piece of spark plug on the left door handle. Well, no biggie. After my 1,000km check up, I also got a call from Honda asking how the service went. In between these, I got SMS surveys from them asking about the quality of the service. Neat. I feel loved.
2010 Honda City – PHP 680,000.00
I got mine on a 20% downpayment with 60 months to pay. Not really into the reselling of cars after 3 years. According to Honda Cars Quezon City I am eligible for a media discount and this can be processed as a refund even after my purchase. Cool.
The City is an ubiquitous car. With other such vehicles claiming edgy rides, luxury, or sporty feel, Honda released a car that can be a little bit of something for everybody. And that’s not to drown out what it is — an economical car that packs a punch and looks good on the road.
Any 2010 City owners here? I’d appreciate to hear more about the local auto industry … as it comes to no surprise to people that I’m not very adept with car reviews.
Looking for Asian Servers for Bad Company 2
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 7th, 2010
JAP-AAAN! When I thought all hope was lost for finding faster dedicated servers for Bad Company 2, John Nieves of Gadgets Magazine suggested a search for Japan based servers [JPN]. Odd that EA has no current provision for Asean sponsored servers as in the past, the Battlefield series always had an abundance of dedicated servers for all regions. For Asia, the closest I found were based in Japan and one in Thailand (search for “Saluzi”). Finally, 300 ping gaming is brought down to 160. I’m finally useful!
Look me up of you’re playing on the PC. My handle is LOLMOWER.
