In The Company Of Men

To balance things out, Raft3r presents some things about men that women find strange:

1. How we can play sports the entire day but find little energy to accompany you shopping.

2. Why we are always horny.

3. How we can easily forget dates and events.

4. Why we always find an excuse to have a boys' night out.

5. How we tune out when you start nagging.

6. Why we name our cars and treat them like babies.

7. How we can think of a million ways to get YOU in bed.

In The Land Of Women

Here are a few things Raft3r understand about the opposite sex:

1. Girls want to be treated like princesses.

2. They need constant affection and reassurance that you are there for them.

3. Girls love to cuddle.

4. They want you to remember important dates and events.

5. Girls are very appreciative when you remember their names the morning after.

6. Even the littlest detail counts.

7. Girls think of YOU as their potential mate for life.

Future Foe Scenarios

For five days, Raft3r was safely nestled in Hotel Vida.

This place is awesome. For 12 grand a pop, it better be.

Like most Fuego hotels, service is exceptional. 

Raft3r was granted access to free WiFi for the entire duration of stay. I downloaded like crazy.

This is also the first time my nieces aren’t with me. AH1N1 is to be blamed. Normally when I travel locally, they go with me.

My nieces love staying at expensive hotels. The operative term is expensive. Kids these days are hard to please.

Hopefully, that kind of lifestyle can be provided to them by their future husbands. If Raft3r trains them well, they will bring home to mommy billionaire would be husbands for a meet and greet.

Not to sound too materialistic, I want my future wife to be rich. I have no illusions of being a good provider. I am now way too tired to even think about that.

Old matrons, holler me.

Taking Lives

A dear colleague was recently hospitalized.

She underwent a major operation and it happened at a very bad time.

Our HMO is on the brink of filing for Chapter 11. Yes, another recession victim bites the dust.

With no assistance from our health care provider, my friend shouldered all expenses.

She has contacted our HMO several times to no avail. As to her inquiry if she can be reimbursed, this was the company’s reply: “We don’t know. We’re not sure.”

That’s scary. Imagine being in her shoes. That is certainly not a fun ride.

Moral of the story: Always save for a rainy day.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Raft3r’s job has taken him all over the Philippines, the US and even the remote Marshall Islands.

Next week, I am off to Clark Air Base. Pretty exotic, huh? (Of course, Raft3r is being sarcastic.)

Mom is from Pampanga. So this trip is a chance to bond with relatives I haven’t seen in ages. I spent most of my childhood summers there.

Prior to Pinatubo, mom and her siblings had a farm.

We had livestock and fruit bearing trees. We swam in a swamp with carabaos. We were paid by the elders to help harvest sugar canes.

Kids were forbidden in the dirty kitchen since snakes were often found there. To say it was Raft3r’s favorite hiding place would be an understatement.

It’s hard to imagine Raft3r as a rural kid but he did enjoy roughing it with his cousins.

Thirty years later, my idea of roughing it is getting stuck in a hotel room with no cable TV.

My Favourite Game

Have you heard about this?

It’s Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi.

An exhibition match between the two tennis icons is set on October 2009 in Macau.

Yeah, it’s old school tennis once more.

This early, Raft3r and his bunch of tennis fanatic buddies already bought tickets for the said event.

We just need to book our flights and we are good to go.

Although I am not a fan of either player, the excitement they both bring to the game is unparalleled.

Now if only Pat Rafter could momentarily put down his surf board and decide to return to the circuit.

No Strings Attached

Besides starlet Locsin, another pet peeve of Raft3r is TMZ.

It’s this gossip cable show that chronicles the lives of celebrities as seen through their camera lenses.

It’s the most mind numbing show on the face of the planet. The starlet’s new soap is a close second.

There is nothing more disturbing than having cameras follow you wherever you go.

Not only does it violate a person’s right to privacy, it also shows a lack of respect on the part of the paparazzi.

Ironically, the show’s host and executive producer is a lawyer. Seriously.

Aren’t lawyers supposed to safeguard other people’s rights?

For the record, it is not cool to shove a camera in front of someone who is out doing the grocery.

Smack My Bitch Up

GMA strikes anew.

This time, a malicious internet article leaked about the Philippine President's alleged breast implants. Now, local papers are all over it.

So did she or didn’t she? That is the question.

One writer said we should not judge the President by actions she’s done almost twenty years ago – and Raft3r agrees with that.

But I believe we can always blame Gloria for her present actions that would affect us and the entire nation twenty years from now.

Pay It Forward

Raft3r cut off his credit card today.

Finally.

It is one of the best feelings ever – almost close to an orgasm.

The goal is to be debt free.

One down. Three more to go.

I Shall Believe

Raft3r is a firm believer of supernatural mysteries and conspiracy theories.

I say - the crazier, the better. The Da Vinci Code has nothin’ on me.

Raft3r believes in the existence of extraterrestrial life.

I know Elvis is still alive.

Raft3r knows Nessie is swimming happily in Loch Ness.

I adhere to the concept of Atlantis as the missing continent.

But Raft3r laughs at the idea of a perfect love.