joey at play

Life as a Catalyst at JoeyAlarilla.com

2009-03-21T14:36:00.001+08:00

Please visit my new personal blog at JoeyAlarilla.com

Thanks!

The Magnificent Eight

2008-06-13T22:45:00.004+08:00

Yay, Sam's "Kung Fu Panda" Happy Meals toy collection is complete!

Ellen and I passed by a McDonald's drive-through on our way home and got the remaining five toys -- Master Shifu, Master Tigress, Master Crane, Master Monkey, and Master Mantis.

Here's a photo of all eight toys, with the five newcomers joining Po, Master Viper, and Tai Lung.

Poor Master Oogway, though, he got a raw deal and wasn't included in the Happy Meals toy collection :)

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Happy Meal

2008-06-12T20:37:00.005+08:00

OK, three "Kung Fu Panda" Happy Meal toys down -- Po, Tai Lung, and Master Viper -- five more to go :)

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First day of school

2008-06-10T22:10:00.004+08:00

It was back to school for Sam today. I can't believe she's already in Grade 1!

Here's Sam with her humongous bag.

Here she is with Ellen on our way to school.

And here she is with me.

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'Kung Fu Panda' rocks!

2008-06-07T19:43:00.002+08:00

"There's no secret ingredient." How true.

Saw "Kung Fu Panda" this afternoon with Ellen and Sam at Shangri-La Plaza and we absolutely loved the movie.

Here's a photo I took of Sam before we entered the theater.

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No panda tonight

2008-06-05T18:02:00.002+08:00

Didn't go to tonight's "Kung Fu Panda" press and VIP screening.

I was planning to watch the movie this weekend with Ellen and Sam even if I had gone to the press screening. But Sam pointed out that of course it's better if we all watched the movie for the first time.

"So that you'll also be surprised," she said, because otherwise I'd already know the story and wouldn't react the same.

Oo nga naman :)

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Ellen on Facebook

2008-06-04T20:35:00.003+08:00

My wife Ellen is finally on Facebook heh :)

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SpongeBob ClassicPants

2008-06-03T20:09:00.002+08:00

What happens when the cast of "SpongeBob SquarePants" meets "Casablanca" and other classics?

Check out this CollegeHumor video :)

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

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Shangri-La Sunday

2008-06-02T22:29:00.006+08:00

Sam and I went to Shangri-La Plaza yesterday, just the two of us because Ellen was resting.

Here's Sam on the carousel -- as I said in a previous post, the carousel at Shangri-La is a magical ride for us.

After the carousel, we went to Power Station, where Sam won 100 tickets at the Ocean Park game.

I've won stuffed toys for Sam on the Extra Play machine (the toy crane/UFO Catcher-type game) at least three times at Power Station and once at Timezone. We almost snagged another one yesterday -- I was able to grab the bear and was bringing it to the opening in the corner, and it came close, so tantalizingly close that Sam was already gleefully shouting, but dropped inches before it reached the promised land. Oh well, better luck next time.

Sam and I then passed by the store where Sam always had her picture taken before with the small bear. Time sure flies; Sam's now too tall for the little bear, so she had to move to the big bear.

Oh, and we love Waffle Time. No, Sam's not finishing off two waffle dogs heh the other one's mine :)

We also bought some DVDs at Astrovision. They're having a sale -- it's buy 1, take 1 for P199 for some titles, so we got two SpongeBob DVDs for the price of one, plus "Starship Troopers Special Edition" and "The Family Stone."

Yup, Shangri-La Plaza's our favorite mall.

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Damn House

2008-05-31T22:50:00.000+08:00

Damn you, House, it should have been you, not Amber.

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When Penny got Punk'd

2008-05-30T08:50:00.002+08:00

Sam and I love "The Big Bang Theory" -- can't wait for Season 2 to start, now that was a great development in the season finale, Episode 17, huh? The cat's alive!

Here's a video of Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny, pre-"Big Bang," when she got Punk'd. Damn you, Ashton!

Kaley Cuoco gets Punk'd

Also, just learned that Kaley was the voice of Brandy in "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers," which Sam loved watching when she was younger. Here's a clip of one of the "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers" episodes.

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'Kung Fu Panda' is coming

2008-05-29T23:31:00.002+08:00

I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie. Luckily, I'll be seeing it before its theatrical run during the press and VIP screening. Anyway, grabbed this widget to share some panda goodness. Enjoy!

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That's not an elephant... it's a dinosaur!

2008-05-28T13:02:00.004+08:00

Just a silly video of me and Sam goofing around a few weeks ago with her toy dinosaur :) Took the video with my Nokia N90.

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The Sam Kisses game

2008-05-27T22:22:00.004+08:00

Discovered Pictogame, a site that lets you customize free Flash games that you can then embed on your blog or social networking profile.

Created this Sam Kisses game using Sam's pic, and blogged about it for hackenslash.

Excuse the cutesy game heh :) hope you like it.

Make a game | Sam Kisses | Free games | Pictogame

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Carousel

2008-05-27T12:48:00.006+08:00

Here's a poem my wife Ellen wrote for our daughter Sam, who's six years old.

I added a photo of Sam on the carousel; it's a ritual almost every Sunday and any other day we go to Shangri-La Plaza mall.

Carousel

Be my baby a little longer
I hope you'll always want to go on the carousel
And name all the pretty horses
or ride in that moon-shaped chair

Stay as you are just a little longer
Paint butterflies
Choose everything in pink
Write stories of princesses who live in fairy-tale castles
Ruled by good kings and queens

Hold on to my hand a little while longer
when we walk outside
look up to me with your sweet little smile
and ask me the baby questions you like to ask
"why?" "how come?" "but why?"

All too soon
You'll grow up into a little lady
Beautiful, wise, independent

And I dread the day
when you'll no longer want
to ride the pretty little horses.

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The photo I added was taken a few years ago, and I suddenly realized that while I took pics of Sam on the carousel when she was younger, it's a routine I've somehow taken for granted.

But Ellen's poem and Sam's photo remind me that time flies by so fast, and that pretty soon, Sam will outgrow this ride. It's always been magical for us, because that carousel has been a part of her childhood from the time we moved here. She started out riding the swan when she was still small. I can't find a photo of her on the swan right now, but here's a photo taken in 2005.

Our children grow up so fast, and kids somehow seem to be in a hurry to become adults nowadays.

Let's not take the time we spend with them for granted.

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Sam hearts Shaun the Sheep

2008-05-27T08:59:00.008+08:00

As you can see from the button ad (gaah, I meant button, not button ad, people might think the makers of "Shaun the Sheep" are paying me heh), Sam loves "Shaun the Sheep" :) My wife Ellen also loves the show, though I have to confess I haven't seen an episode. But I definitely want to now.

Here are some of the pics you can download from the "Shaun the Sheep" homepage and add to your own site.

And here are some video clips.

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Sam's face paint

2008-05-26T14:31:00.003+08:00

Sam just got back from the last day of her art class -- and she's wearing face paint.

Check out this pic.

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Fresh start

2008-05-26T11:05:00.005+08:00

It's been a long time since I last updated my old personal blog, so I figured it's better to have a fresh start and launch a new one.

I also thought it would be pretty neat to go back to Blogger, which was the platform that first got me hooked on blogging back in 2004. Call it sentimentality :) Plus I love most things Google, anyway, so why not give Blogger another try?

So here you have it, joey at play, where I'll be blogging about personal, mostly non-work-related stuff, though of course my interests still include tech and gaming.

I'd just like to believe that there's more to life than work, and so this space will be devoted to chronicling my adventures with my wife Ellen and our daughter Sam, who's now already six years old. It will be about our hopes and dreams; our family and friends; and all the silly things that bind us to each other and our loved ones.

I think personal blogging is about telling our life stories, and reminding ourselves of what's truly important.

Time to remind myself that everyday is a brand new day.

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