curse of castle dragon cover

its been a while since i posted something. anyway, here's my cover of paul gilberts song, curse of castle dragon. a few mistakes tho. oh well.....

Bday greeting for rama

This is our bday greeting for Rama. Unfortunately, we didnt dress up for the occassion tho coz we wanted to get this vid uploaded as soon as we could and we didnt have clothes in my mom's house, which is where we shot this vid.

Pepper's 3rd letter to Leonidas

This is the third letter Pepper made for Leonidas in our little scrapbook.

it has been a week of phone calls from friends and family. they were very excited for mommy and daddy. daddy would often come home with "pasalubong" for us. he would give in to any of our requests! he would buy us ice cream, cakes, chocolates! all the sweet stuff that i would crave for! but of course we would not dare forget to feed you with the right food. veggies and fish usually, and my daily dose of fruits (our favorite, a big serving of water melon! yum yum!) daddy also somehow took over the kitchen. he would prepare dinner and wash the dishes after. it was kind of heartbreaking for me to see daddy doing my chores after a long day at work. he was more than happy to do it for us though. how can you not love him?? he also started saving up for your future. putting aside a hefty portion of his salary for you.

it was also the same week when daddy announced to his family the good news. everyone was just so excited to welcome you in the family. lola sue treated everyone for a chinese dinner at tita bianca's house. daddy and mommy could not stop smiling the whole time because we were so proud to know that you've made everyone so happy!

the next monday, april 16, 2007, it was time for the second ultrasound. i said a little prayer for us and hoped to see you in good condition. i was surprised to see you've grown so fast! i could actually see you!! and since you have grown, we could now see your tiny heart and could now monitor your heartbeat. i was relieved to know your heart was beating (again, mommy is a worry wart!).

after the ultrasound, i had to ask daddy to join me inside the doctors office. there was a problem. according to the ultrasound, you were a bit small for your age, did not eat much and your heart was weak. the news made our knees shake! i wanted to cry right there and then but mommy and daddy had to be strong for you. i was then advised by our doctor to bed rest for 2 weeks till it was time for the 3rd ultrasound. daddy felt sad but he had to hide his emotions a bit because he knew he had to think of a way to make us feel comfortable and relaxed to help make your condition better.

daddy and i decided that it would be best for us to stay in lolo's house for the next 2 weeks because someone had to watch over us while daddy's working.

while we were in bf, and while daddy was away, lolo and tita peaches took care of us. lolo would prepare healthy and yummy meals for us and tita peaches would buy whatever food we like for "pasalubong". daddy would come visit us almost everyday! again, it broke my heart to see him tired from work and yet drove from pasig to bf just to be with us. he even drove from cainta to san juan to buy your medicines and bring it to bf. daddy, like tita peaches, would buy us treats to munch on. a whole box of my favorite carrot cake, lots of burgers, a big serving of halo-halo, and a lot lot more!! he even brought with him our TV from the condo just so i did not have to walk to lolo's room to watch TV. and these gestures leonidas, is what you call LOVE... you are one lucky babe!!!

Jorge Leonidas the 1st

It was a Sunday afternoon when my wife gave me the pregnancy kit that had two lines on it. Since that was my first time to see a pregnancy kit, i was not really sure if that was a positive or negative result. Turns out it was positive. The feeling was surreal. Something i cant really describe. We both were so happy that finally we were gonna have a baby of our own. Maybe our own Rama or Kiko or Leona or whoever. Bottomline is, we were so happy and excited!

Peppers first ultrasound revealed that the baby was in the right place. But since it was too early, that was all that ultrasound could do. It was good new nonetheless.

The video i posted above was the 2nd ultrasound. During this ultrasound, the sac, egg and heartbeat could already be detected. I was outside getting this vid. I just couldnt believe that this was my first glimpse of our baby! After a few minutes, i was then called by the doctor alongside pepper. Turns out, there was a problem with the baby. The baby wasnt eating much and the heartbeat was just at 60 beats per minute while the normal is 120 to 180 beats per second. This was not good news. Pepper was then advised to be in bed rest for the next two weeks till she gets her 3rd ultrasound.

During the two weeks, we just kept on praying and hoping that our baby would get stronger before the 3rd ultrasound. Pepper and I also had a talk that we should prepare for the worst but try our best to make the baby survive. The night before the 3rd ultrasound, Pepper was scared and so was I. We were just hours away from finding out if our baby was going to be ok.

The third ultrasound was probably the longest 3mins of our lives. We were just there looking at the monitor while the doctor was just silently operating the machine. Then, all of a sudden, the doctor said that the ultrsound was over. I then asked her "Doc, what about the heartbeat?" The doctor just said that we should just wait for the results and give it to peppers ob-gyn. We both knew that something was wrong. When we got the results, we then hurried to an ob-gyn available that time since Pepper's doctor wasnt available. we couldnt wait to know whats up. We then found an available doctor who could interpret the results of the ultrasound. The doctor confirmed our fears. We lost our baby.

Pepper and I did not breakdown. We were sad yet we were also prepared for this. When we got to their house in BF, thats when she started crying. Tho i was also saddened by the news, my brain just had a longer time to transmit the news to my emotions. I did not shed a tear tho i was teary-eyed when i talked to some of my family members about it.

Two days after the news, Pepper made this little scrap book about our short journey with our baby. Reading through the scrap book brought me back to the joy and excitement that i felt during the first weeks of her pregnancy but also made me realize that our baby was gone. Thats when it hit me. All the emotions ive kept for two days just came out pouring. I cried so hard just thinking that it was a fight that i wish i couldve fought with our baby. Its so hard to just watch and be helpless. He was all alone in his fight. A fight wherein he lost.

We named him Jorge Leonidas. Jorge being the name of his lolo and Leonidas, the legendary king of sparta made famous again by the movie 300. We named him after Leonidas because we felt that he fought against the odds lost. But winning was not the important part, it was the fighting.

God bless you my son. We love you. May the heavens provide you with the same love that we wouldve given you and more. Rest in peace Jorge Leonidas David Entrata.

Mga crush ni Rama

ive decided to post this vid because its a good compliment to the latest blog of ate poch.

Hope you all like this one. Its just too bad that i didnt fix the lighting on my cam thats why its a bit dark.

Rama's promise

Here is a vid of rama saying that she'll be back in the philippines soon :) ive posted it here just to make sure that she keeps her promise, hehehe.

the lighting looks a bit weird tho but who cares, right?

also, i finally got it right with youtube so the voice and vid are in sync.

Now it hits me!

The past couple of days have been really weird for me. Last thursday, i had a dream and in that dream, i was saying goodbye to Rama. Last night, man, my dream was really emotional that i woke up.....crying! yes, you read that right, i was crying. My dream was, again, saying goodbye to Rama. I think that i've been having these dreams because i really was just acting all cool and stuff when they were leaving. You know, no biggie. I mean, one of my best friends left for China, and it was cool. Sad, yes, but nothing emotional. So when ate poch and rama were leaving, again, sad, but nothing really emotional. but i guess you can't hide from your subconsious mind.

I think my last dream was caused by a lot of things that reminded me and my wife of rama. earlier that night, we went to shopwise to buy loads of unhealthy stuff to devour on. and while we were stralling on the aisles, we saw a Cinderella dress for sale. exactly the one she has! so again, me and pepper started remeniscing about how great a child she is. then when we got home, i went online and one of my fave sites is ate poch's blogsite. finally there was something new to read. when i read her most recent blog, i laughed as usual, but at the same time, i pictured them in the plane and i also felt sad. so there, i went to sleep and i dreamt that we were still saying goodbye to ate poch and rama.

Why is rama so memorable and important to me and pepper? Yes, she is very beautiful and charming, especially when you see her in person, but what really made us love her is the fact that she is not your typical kid. why do i say that? its because she's not the usual kid who, especially in her age, would throw in a fit if she doesnt get what she wants. she's very respectful and when you say something, she respects it. i dont even remember hearing the word NO from her. she's always saying "okay" even when you know that it breaks her heart to say it. Trust me, ive been around kids and ive never seen any kid like that. she has a really great sense of humour and would even pull off a prank on us. actually, there are so many things that you cant list everything down. all im saying is, she made me believe that kids can be cute but at the same time be very respectful also. its a tough combination to find.

i commend the people around her for making her that way. pepper and i will be striving to make sure that our kid be like that also. I hope rama stays the same. 2 years, if ever we're lucky, is a long time before we get to see her again. we just hope she doesnt forget us, coz we sure wouldnt forget her! even for just a little under two years that she was here, she has touched our lives so dearly. and i think, everyone who were fortunate enough to know her, feels the same way.

The pic on top was from our despedida for rama and ate poch. The pic on the right is the last pic i have with rama which we took before we headed for the airport.

Rama praying

this is a video of rama praying in spanish. well, among other things. as usual, the audio is delayed again!

haaay...we all miss rama so much. its just funny that last night when pepper and i were about to sleep, we saw that the disney channel was showing THE INCREDIBLES. a movie that rama made us watch around 3 times!

rama covers boom tarat

This is rama's version of that really annoying song. I love it tho whenever rama sings it. She's the cutest i swear! Again, the sound is a bit delayed as usual. Dunno why youtube messes it up.

Two Princesses.....

Im just so blessed to have these two beautiful girls as my niece's. Arent they lovely? These pics were taken during Nella's (my ate suzi's 3rd daughter) 1st bday. I will post more pics from the party soon!

Ytse jam

This is my cover of a dream theater song called YTSE JAM. thing is, the audio and video got out of sync when i uploaded it to youtube. the video is a second ahead of the audio. hope you like the song!

Best and Worst pinoy rock bands

Recently, rock and metal have been making a comeback in the local scene and abroad. But like anything else in life, there are the good and the bad ones. Let me start off first with the bad ones, and i will limit them to just 5 bands. Just to remind you, this is my opinion. Here we go:

5. Giniling Festival - I've seen them in a live performance in MYX channel. Theyre not bad musicians, its just that, i think they're trying hard to be funny. Their lyrics are supposed to be funny but its more of slapstick comedy to me. I just dont dig bands like those. The only ones, for me, who can pull something like this off is Parokya ni Edgar. Its just funny coz so many people in certain music forums think they're funny. I bet they also find Andy Dick and Tom Green funny.

4. Rocksteddy - here's another band that is trying to be funny. Again, these guys can play, especially the bassist and the guitar player, but again, its like they wrote the lyrics while going "man, this is gonna be funny! people are gonna think this is funny!" i dont think it is, but i think Kris Aquino did. Then again, Kris isn't really known for good judgement and taste(Philip Salvador, Joey Marquez and more recently, James Yap). Oh, and the singer can't really sing well, at least not for me. He's ok tho, but nothing great.

3. Shamrock - I dont understand why they even try to pass off as a rock band. A bigger mystery though is why some people actually listen to them.....

2. Sponge Cola - WHY? coz the singer cant sing and all their songs are just your typical formula rock songs. Theyre not creative and not musically gifted as musicians and song-writers. One would think that when they were writing songs they were going "This is gonna sell like hot cakes to the masses! We're gonna be popular and rich!" The Eraserheads wrote "masa" songs, yet, no one can deny how great their song writing ability was. Not these guys. Theyre nowhere near E-heads when it comes to writing songs.

1. CUESHE - this is the worst overall band that ive ever seen! as musicians, theyre ok at best. as songwriters, theyre average, at best. as a whole, they're really bad. why do i hate them? its because these guys think that theyre the shiznit! especially the fat-ass singer while he's tapping his friggin' fat upper thigh. dude thinks he's hot and cool. my tip for him is: first, learn how to sing. the other singer who can actually play guitar is better than you. second, lose weight before you wear those body fitting outfit of yours. third, change your attitude. sure youve probably slept with a lot of chicks already because of your new found fame but then again, i bet these chicks are some of the dumbest chicks in this country. i mean, why would anyone in their right mind actually sleep with you??

if they actually take fat-boy off this band, they could get a little respect from the music community.

There you go. The worst 5 rock bands in the country. if you have any comments, feel free but remember, this is just my opinion.

I'll be posting the best rock bands tomorrow.

Just like Tito Mark??

Kiko is definately my favorite nephew. Not just because he's my only nephew but also because i think he'll grow up like me, for better or worse. I mean, look at the pictures?? We were both wearing our gi's (kimono) and one picture even showed him playing with a ukulele, or whatever its called. He's also very sweet and really puts on a tantrum whenever he finds out that we have to leave him whenever we have to go home to our own place.

The kid is a show-off and whenever we visit him, he gets all his toys from the shelves so he can show us his cool stuff! He also does a mean taekwondo kick whenever he sees the milo commercial! He has weird food combinations tho. I cant quite remember them as of the moment but all i remember is that they're weird.

I'll be posting a few of his vids soon.

More condo pics

Here are more pics

Condo PIcs

We moved in to Olympic Heights in Eastwood last Feb 2. So far, its been really good. its tough to wash your own dishes, clean the bathroom, throw the garbage and sweep the floor, but also, its very fulfilling in a way to know that we're being responsible. My heart goes to pepper for washing our clothes. She showed me her hands and there were a few cuts. There is a washing machine but the thing is, there is no drain in the area where its located.

Here are some of the pics. Ill show more in another post.

Rockin' with Rama!

Rama spent last Friday night with me and my wife in our place in Eastwood. She loves music and when we told her that we were going to watch a show, she got all excited on the way to Eastwood, to the point that she got worried because traffic was pretty bad that day. She requested that we sit somewhere in front of the stage, which proved to be a bad idea since the only available table near the stage was just a few feet away from one of the speakers. When the show started, she was doin ok but later on, the loud speakers were just too much for her so she told us that she wanted to go back to the condo.

When we were in the condo, i decided to play with my electric guitar for a bit. Rama was asking me to sing also while i was playing, and i did. Later on i let her borrow my mini guitar display which was made of wood and as you could see in the pics, she was happy to play with it to the point that we caught her just singing to herself the following day, with the guitar of course! It was just funny how after i played Skid Rows "I remember you", STP's "Plush" and Hendrix's "Little wing" she politely asks me: "Magaling ka ba mag-guitar??" I really didnt know what to anwer!

Rama!!

One of the main reasons i've decided to make my own blog is because of my wife's niece, Rama. I always visit her mom's site, cleverly titled pochanginamo.blogspot.com since her nickname is Poch. Anyway, ate poch's website is all about rama's adventures in life. if i didn't know rama personally, i would think that the stuff written were made up since rama's line's are so witty and most of the time, funny yet makes a lot of sense. but honestly, i've experienced some of them first hand and believe me, her witty questions and comments are so often that we forget to tell most of them to people. she's very adorable and lovable not just because she is a cute kid, but she's very witty and more importantly, very respectful. one time, i was playfully teasing my wife and i touched her face that resembled a slap. rama then goes "tito mark, diba bad manners yung ginawa mo??". i was pretty much stumped by her question and i had to give her an explanation that i think did not make much sense to her.

me and wife are so excited already coz we're baby sitting Rama this friday. hopefully, its going to be an overnight stay for her in our place. tho we dont really get to sleep much since rama takes the whole bed to herself, trust me, its all worth it :)

PTK Sweet Child

this is a vid of me playing with other action figure collectors. again, shot using a mobile fon. this is just our second time to jam the song so there were a few mistakes. its a song by one of my fave bands, Guns N Roses called SWEET CHILD O' MINE!

Scarified kuno

this is my attempt at a very hard song by the band Racer X. my wife was the one who shot the vid with her mobile fon. obviously, i didnt dress up for the occasion for this one :)

My first blog

this is my first time to make a blog. i dont even know why people would wanna check out my blog. but if youre reading this, then i guess you wanna know whats up with me. anyway, im into guitar playing, martial arts, lord of the rings and a whole lot of other geeky stuff, hehehe. so, ill be posting stuff that i think are interesting, at least for me that is!