Farewell,  Johny Storm, aka, The Human Torch.

Friends invited me to join them on their trip to Cebu sometime last july and i was hesitant because travelling meant expense and expense meant me turning to a psycho over and over. But i didn’t get to reply back coz’ they were able to reserve a ticket already. It’s on promo, non-transferable so no option for me but to pay them back.

Come november, them people who i’m supposed to go with had personal issues that prevented them from going. Bummer I said. even I almost didn’t go coz’ my cousin died. I guess my luck is high coz’ the funeral would be a week after our trip so I was able to make it.

It was an early flight. I finished some tasks in the office before enabling my out of office notice. I think i left around 3am to pack my stuff and head straight to the airport. Yep, no sleep coz’ boarding time is at 4am.

The plane left around 6 and got us to cebu by around 7 which was still too early since our ferry ride bound for Bohol would be at 9. We decided to just go at the seaport. Have breakfast and sleep till boarding time. It was cloudy that time and to our luck, the ferry ride got cancelled. Add the rain for more stress moments. We went at the other shipping company to get their sched but the trip’s gonna be at 2pm. O my. Rest moment for us.

We arrived in Bohol late afternoon. The shuttle from the hotel was waiting for us (bless their hearts for patience). We got hungry so we asked for the best chicken in the place and the driver got us to this really nice restaurant with the best chicken i ever tasted for a reeeeeaaaaallllly cheap price. Almost $2.

Btw, my friends were telling that Bohol would be humid and i said it’s not. Guess who’s laughing after when I started sweating after the meal?

Once we got to our rooms, we decided to go to the beach and relax for a while. We didn’t plan of going places till tomorrow anyway. I was amazed at the panglao beach. It may not be the best beach but still, the water’s clean. The sand’s white and everything smells clean.

I think i slept late that day (not because i was busy playing games with the ds… no) and woke up really early around 5. I wonder how I got myself up coz’ i sure thought I should have been tired or anything like throwing stuff to whoever wakes me up mood. I guess i was too excited for this trip.

Coz’ we’re going to see the dolphins. Wuhoo!

Next stop is to this island where divers’ eyes widen with beautiful aquatic resources. We didn’t snorkle though, just ate as we found out we’re already beyond our time limit.

Next stop would be the cutest animal ever. check it out:

they’re called tarsiers. but wait there’s more:

Anyway, have to end this entry which the video i (luckily) took while waiting for those really great swimmers. They appeared like approaching our boat. There was one who really jumped and sommersaulted and there’s one who cried but those things, I failed to catch.

As for the rest of the trip, the 2nd part’s gonna be shown probably tomorrow if ever i find time.

i’ve been following this ongoing cartoon series called fairy tail. it’s about wizard guilds whose members take missions to generate money from. of all the groups formed, this guild is a noisy one. they tend to end the day with fighting each other and all. 4 main characters are lucy (the newbie who has the power to open celestial gates and call forth the zodiac spirits), natsu (the fire dragonslayer who has a flying cat named happy), gray (the ice wizard who loses his clothes everytime) and the strongest of them all, ezra (who gets the name titania who has the power to transform her clothes into armors equipped with swords).

anyway, this week’s episode has tackled issues that i really want to blog about.  the guilds members are put to a test as the master’s grandson forced them to fight each other. those who win will get to battle against him and be chosen to be part of the new fairy tail guild, the grandson plans to build. luxus, the grandson, had placed electric bombs up in the air around the town they all are which will detonate in a given time. almost out of luck, ezra tried to focus her powers against these summoning swords at many as she can. 198, 199, 200, she’s at her limit. just in time before the members finally realized that they need to work with each other rather than fall into what luxus wants them to do. thanks to the telepath, they were able to sort out their mistakes and even though one felt betrayed against another, they all agreed to focus their powers against the bombs to save everyone. it’s just that they’ll get electrified.

and so they did…

what a guild.

this made luxus so mad that he had to burst everything out to natsu who was then fighting him. electricity versus fire. a metal dragonslayer joined in the battle to help natsu but were surprised to see how powerful laxus truely is.

luxus finally summoned his most powerful attack, the fairy law and with a blink of an eye, everyone is consumed by an all powerful light. like an atomic bomb just dropped in front of you.

but to everyone’s surprise, everyone’s alive. even the spellcaster was confused how come the all powerful attack didn’t work. it was then said that such power only works how his heart sees it. he may seem full of hate but deep inside, he loves everyone in fairy tail. that enough kept them all alive.

and so, he was defeated.

people in that town, who witnessed everything, thought everyone was just a game that fairy tail plays and were looking forward to tonight’s program which is a grand parade starring all of the wizards.

except for natsu who needs time to heal.

laxus accepting defeat went back to the guild to talk to his grandfather who just recovered from a near fatal incident. his grandfather explained to him what the guild is all about – an agency for missions, a place for comrades, a home for the homeless.

and these people don’t belong to anybody, especially him as the guild is built from the trust and honor of each other.

which laxus violated as he had put everyone’s lives in danger and breaking their trusts. therefore,

a lesson learned the hard way.

that night, members celebrated fantasia they way they do. showing off their powers to the public as they march to the streets as the crowd cheers grow wilder. fireworks everywhere.

luxus before leaving the town, caught the event smiling how fun it really is to be a fairy tail member which he failed to recognize early on. he was so bent on becoming stronger that he overlooked what made the guild special in the first place.

a thought came to mind…

see what happens if you grow up and be the bad boy. geez.

so laxus, finally turns his back and is about to leave when suddenly, everyone is amazed by what the master had done as everyone else followed.

i’m always watching you….

move away astonishing x-men because i’m switching to x-force. this has been a really surprising series. it all started during the messiah complex where cyclops asked wolverine to check on the purifiers. x-men don’t kill but it’s about time the mutants strike back. all the bloody work is given to wolverine, x-23, warpath, caliban. first mission was such action packed that the team lost a member – caliban. yes, the used to be horseman of apocalypse is dead. taking a shot which was meant for the apache, warpath. next was to track of the purifiers’ bases. supposed mission was to check for rahne sinclair’s (wolfsbane) dad, reverend craig but wolverine was so pissed of the whole idea that left cyclops without even knowing what it’s all about. anyway, wolfsbane got caught and it’s up to him, warpath and x-23 to rescue her. something bad happened that got the wolf girl more trouble that want should have been. nearest place to secure her condition was of warren worthington (angel)’s place. but by the time the owner arrives to ask every thing that’s been happening. the drugged wolf girl jumped of and took a bit out the angel’s wings to carry it back to the purifiers.

do you see the big picture now?

if x-force didn’t have much of plan, the purifiers do and it’s about building a choir of angels using the technology that’s inside warren’s wings all along. the very same technology that apocalypse used to turn him into the horseman of death.

anyway, rage filled warren and he felt his wings lost to him. he transformed back to that dark side of his and took off to follow those who did him pain. o yeah, he now isn’t the old rich guy with wings but a rich guy with really deadly, cool as ever wings.

i really liked how everything is done with the book, the story, the art, the coloring, everything. they’ve never made the characters in any book cooler than this. i guess, it goes with being bloody and all

anyway, lots of things happened – fight with the purifiers, fight against bastion/nimrod, domino joining, fight against the vanisher to secure the legacy virus which he stole.

o wait, this one’s interesting. it so happens that the team is watching vanisher as reports suggest that a strain of the deadly virus which once threatened mutants (like psylocke’s old body) and humans as well (the late dr. mctaggart got it). finally caught up with him, thanks to domino who knows his hideouts. gave him a x-mark tumor courtesy of the newest member, elixir. well, after series of adamantium cuts, the vanisher confessed that he didn’t have the virus but dropped it in the lab where he got it. the team, took of and checked the lab to discover the old sinister base to be filled with mutant clones. so if you’re looking for lots of sabertooth, vertigo, harpoon, scrambler in one episode, go check issue 9.

btw, warpath went to his tribe only to find a demon bear menacing his land. how on earth can you touch a ghost? simple answer, you cant. that’s why you need the help of the ghostrider to do it. hehehe..

cool huh? anyway, the team finally got hold of the strain. domino found it (lucky points) and the team killed most of the clones. action doesn’t stop there as robots breaking into the lab having the same intention as the team, acquiring the strain.

boom! bam! snikt! slash! everything is in chaos till finally the container broke freeing the virus. to everyone’s shock. well, it’s not yet airborne just because it was released inside x-23′s stomach. wehehe.. she got punched so hard that her hand holding the virus went inside and broke. healing powers or not, she is in a world of pain. the team managed to defeat the enemies but they still have a big issue to attend to. how on earth can they destroy a virus which is already inside a young mutant’s body?

for x-23, the solution is simple. jump at the molten metal. but elixir won’t risk her life on it. he was able to grabe her hand as she fell. having seen the sincerity in his eyes, x-23 let elixir cure her but took most of his energies. in short, he dozed off and had her falling at the really, VERY hot burning metal.

she survived, of course. but that didn’t mean she looks okay. she’s burned all over but she’ll heal. that’s one of the benefits for being wolverine’s clone.

next issue would be more exciting since it’s cable and strife.

Cagayan de Oro is north of Mindanao. I came from luzon. Our country is divided from 3 great islands – Luzon (north), Visayas (middle) and Mindanao (south). The name of the place came from the word cagaycay which means to rake in the earth either with one’s bare hands or with a piece of wood. It also means rocks gathered from the river or ores raked in from the hillside or streams.

And the temperature’s higher there. We flew out in manila and it was 28 degrees celsius but after landing, I heard the someone said that it’s 31 degrees there. Although it’s hot, you won’t have the sticky feeling caused by humidity. Just warm.

On our trip to the cagayan river, we were informed that it’ll probably take us 5 hours enjoying the rapids coz’ the water’s low. Less rain is experienced due to el nino phenomenon. It looks like a long time but once you’re there, you will never notice.

now let’s put all the sunscreen and hang on tight.

 

 

 

 

that night, i just realized i forgot to put sunscreen on my thighs. it burned. 5 hours exposed from the sun is still 5 hours intense heat. ouch!

anyway, if i have like a million dollars, here’s what i’d do. i’d invite jim lee to draw x-men, superman and batman characters to my wall and of course to my door.

freaky, huh?

saw some youtube videos of him doing the very same thing i was thinking. wehehehe…

so that’s not really freaky after all…

Went there early this week for a field trip. it was an amazing experience. You get to see those colorful ones, those tiny ones and those oh-so-big you wouldn’t imagine they existed ones

I was hoping to get a view of those famous swimmers like dolphins, dugong, penguins but the park shows more of those that have fins and not fur. i saw a statue though so that ought to complete my day.

It’s located near Luneta Grandstand. A few minutes away from the busy streets of Makati. Best to visit the place on Tuesdays till Thursdays. it’s always packed on weekends and Mondays & Fridays. it’s usually a location for school activities so you probably won’t enjoy much if you have that much of a crowd.

x-men, fantastic four, the avengers, dr. strange, sentinel, s.w.o.r.d. all the super powers in the world, gathered, yet not one was able to stop earth’s destruction.

sounds bad isn’t it? well, it will get worse than anyone thinks.

Giant-sized Astonishing X-men #:1
words: Joss Whedon
pencils: John Cassaday

back at the breakworld, battle intensifies of the mutants against the breakworlders. colossus battling aghane who planned everything all along. beast to agent brand’s rescue but commented to have “wasted a concern” coz’ the lady dealt the situation by herself by using her power which are hot and glowy hands.

the defeat of aghane led to negotiation with the powerlord regarding the bullet’s weakness. breakworld is safe but still earth is on the cliff as the bullet is a few stars away towards it. it’s either they stop the bullet or have the x-men rule the breakworld since they won’t have a planet to go back to if ever. wolverine slashes the powerlord’s arm during the whole process.

cyclops and emma frost are on bullet’s tail. colossus is at the center of the breakworld’s power source, while the rest of the team are left to deal with the breakworlders. and, oh, shadowcat IS inside the bullet.

the earth’s heroes gathered to take action of a serious situation. the professor isn’t invited though which is weird in some way. something bad happened during the whole discussion as dr. strange suddenly went into trance and magically affected everyone. giving them a taste of satisfaction of saving earth in their own ways. only spiderman was able to get his senses back and woke everyone else after starting with storm. funny way it was delivered, he was supposed to have stopped the bullet just by his webs.

the sentinel who felt guilty of what it had done with genosha sacrificed its being and headed straight for an attack. which didn’t do much of a help since the target was still on its course.

all too late. every one of them. it’s up to shadowcat to do the saving this time. her power is to phase her molecules. more like a ghost passing through walls.

just imagine a big bad metal as big as 5 building in new york piercing its way to earth. thanks to her, the planet isn’t split into half or just burst into emptiness.

shadowcat rules!

the sad part was that the metal made her sick that she was unable to get off nor the heroes were able to save her out of the bullet. their theory was that, she was bonded with the metal. and by the time they have come up with a way to save her, she may already have reached other galaxies.

really great story for joss whedon to end his stint with the x-men. first issue was of shadowcat returning back to the mansion and final issue made her leave the mansion and off to space. the art is awesome as well. john cassaday drew such clean and clear images that gives more feeling to the story. love the facial expressions for everyone (yes, even the one he did with ironman).

the story didn’t end with them losing kitty pride. they showed what went after. the beast hanging out with agent brand who confessed she has the hots for him. wolverine drunk as ever but got a new apprentice by the name of armor. cyclops, in control of his eyebeams, but decided it’s time to return back to normal and says “i love you” to his girlfriend, emma frost.

i couldn’t believe that i still have these stuff. i thought they were all gone years ago.

(click to see)

i just used a mechanical pencil (lead) with eraser, a old sketchpad and google.

i couldn’t draw without looking at something. i got this from bleach’s ichigo (matrix reloaded mode) but my officemate says he looks more like a man in black. i bet he’s a will smith fan.

next to come, a comicbook review.