Category: Geek/Gaming

Gear Review: Spyder Reboot Motorcycle Helmet

One of the most important safety gear to have if you’re a motorcycle rider is a protective motorcycle helmet. Wearing a high-quality helmet can spell the difference between leveling up on your road trip and “game over.”

Because of the passage of the Motorcycle Helmet Act at the start of the year, all riders are now required to wear helmets that have passed the standards of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and have ICC stickers. There are a handful of brands that are certified, including Spyder, a major sporting brand in the
country that specializes in high-performance athletic gear. Spyder helmets bear the marks of excellence and safety, so they’re a very good investment.

They promise safety above all, but they don’t scrimp on convenience, functionality and style either.

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Scenes from a Zombie Bike Ride

Old military trucks and vehicles lined the path of the muddy trail under a canopy of trees, rusted beyond repair. Overgrown moss and cordyceps-like plants sprouted from the back of one vehicle covered in decaying leaves.

In an abandoned building, only the rafters from the roof remained, the rest of it crumbling into pieces on the floor. Rusty nails, gear and a machete just lay on the floor beside planks of wood and steel pipes.

This could easily be a glimpse into a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. Continue reading “Scenes from a Zombie Bike Ride”

A Trip to The Mind Museum

When we were kids, my sister and I always looked forward to visiting museums and science exhibits. I remember family outings to the old planetarium in Rizal Park, the Dinosaurs Exhibit and Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Shangri-la (anyone remember this?). I also got to visit the Science Center in Singapore during a trip there a few years ago.  I’ve been wanting to check out The Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, the first wold-class Science museum in the Philippines, ever since it opened to the public in March 2012. It’s only appropriate that the trip was a family affair, this time with the next generation.

A couple of weekends ago, I invited my sister Lorie and her son Eli (age, almost 4), cousin Roxy and daughter Annie (age 7) for a kid’s playdate. We’ve been looking for fun places to take the kids, especially during this rainy season when parks and outdoor areas are not ideal, so the visit to Mind Museum on a stormy Saturday afternoon was perfect.  Continue reading “A Trip to The Mind Museum”

Travel Gear for Geeks

Originally posted 7/28/12; post updated 7/22/2013 (added Pacman Slippers)

Contrary to popular opinion, geeks don’t spend ALL their time just vegging out in front of the television or computer. For some of us, real-life adventures are preferable to virtual ones. But when we do travel, we like to channel our geek pride by using clothes and gear that show off our unique interests. Here are a few cool finds that I use for travel and where you can find them here in the Philippines.

Pacman Slippers

These collectible PAC-MAN flip-flops from Havaianas really bring back some great memories. Anyone born in the 80s will have spent time playing this hit video game arcade classic and will love the retro chic look of the slippers. They come in two designs – navy blue with a yellow logo and a maze from the game and black with a green logo decorated with Pac-Man, pac-dots and the ghost enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde). Plus, the slippers glow in the dark! How cool is that? Thank you so much to Havaianas for coming up with this design and to All-Flip Flops store in SM Naga for letting me have this! I will be eternally grateful.


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Game Review: The Last of Us

The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog (the same team behind the hit Uncharted series) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Released just last June 2013, the video game has already reached critical acclaim, with many gaming publications giving it a perfect score.

Having finished playing it a couple of weeks ago, I totally agree. This is just one mind-blowingly amazing game. Playing it was such an intensely riveting experience. Yes, it may have been brutal and violent, but in between all that blood and gore was a powerful story and flawed characters that I cared about.

As author Karl who I lent the game to said in this awesome 8 List article on life lessons we can learn from The Last of Us said: “If you are at all interested in video games and the narrative power they possess and the fuzzy feeling of happy happy joy joy they can imbue, then you must (YOU MUST) play this.”

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Collectible Items IRL (In Real Life) Travel

Updated February 2016

In the latest edition of video game Tomb Raider, Lara Croft can choose to deviate from the main quest and search for relics and GPS caches hidden off the beaten path. In Arkham Asylum, Batman can opt to track down the Riddler’s trophies while trying to foil the Joker’s plot.

Many video games, especially the role-playing/adventure types, usually have sidequests where the goal is to collect certain items. Usually these items are not really essential to finishing the overall game. Most of the time it’s just for bragging rights. Among the memorable collectible items in games I have played are those rare cards from the Triple Triad card mini-game in Final Fantasy VIII, the insanely hard to complete 100 stray beads from the game Okami, and memories and bottles in Alice: The Madness Returns.

Credit: The Last of Us meme

The latest game I played, The Last of Us, had me searching for Firefly pendants, training manuals and comic books while trying to fight off the infected and survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. Continue reading “Collectible Items IRL (In Real Life) Travel”

Traveling with Superpowers

Many people I’ve traveled with remark about my uncanny ability to sleep through trips. I can take a nap even before a flight takes off and wake up just in time for touchdown. When I’m not the designated driver, I’ve been known to sleep through the entirety of 8-hour long  rides, waking up just in time for food stops and bathroom breaks. Blaring OPM music, non-air-conditioned vans, and cramped seating arrangements do not hinder my ability to sleep. It may not seem like much, but it’s a pretty useful ability to have if you travel a lot.

However, if I could choose real superpowers that would make the whole travel experience way cooler, these would be my top five picks:

FLIGHT: The ability to lift off the ground, to ride air currents or to fly self-propelled through the air.

If I had to choose only one power, I’d probably choose flight, if only to get cool vantage points and aerial travel shots while traveling. Not having to rely on long land travel would make travel much more accessible, and would make getting to the destination itself more fun. Having the ability to fly would also be way cheaper than having to book regular flights. (No terminal fees, no travel taxes!) Jump shots and levitation shots would also look way more natural. Just check out Rogue 😉  Continue reading “Traveling with Superpowers”

Game Review: Tomb Raider (2013)

tomb raider 2013 ps3 cover

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game published by Square Enix. The game released in 2013 is a reboot centered on the character of Lara Croft, an archaeologist-adventurer who travels the world in search of rare objects and mystical artifacts.

Lara Croft is arguably the most famous female video game protagonist, so rebooting the series was no small feat. Even those who are not familiar with the video games are familiar with Lara’s adventure through the movies Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft: Cradle of Life (2003) popularized by Angelina Jolie. This video game reboot was able to hold its own and successfully establish the origins of Lara Croft and the circumstances that made her into the strong protagonist everyone knows her to be. Continue reading “Game Review: Tomb Raider (2013)”

Game Review: Ni No Kuni – Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White (literally Second Country, also called “Another World”) is a role-playing video game, developed by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, for the Nintendo DS and later PlayStation 3 (released in January 2013 for Western audiences).

Not since Okami (which is my all-time favorite game) have I played a video game that I have fallen so totally in love with. Everything about the game, from the flawless animation, to the compelling storyline, to the innovative multitasking gameplay, to the adorable Pokemon-like creatures who you level up as your familiars, just drew me in and left me with a completely satisfying gaming experience. I was content to spend days not setting foot outdoors while playing this game.  Continue reading “Game Review: Ni No Kuni – Wrath of the White Witch”

Christmas Party Theme Ideas

My family is a real sucker for themed parties, especially during Christmas. For the past nine years, my sister, cousins and I unleash our creativity by converting what we already have into DIY costumes, making our own props and brainstorming on games that will fit the theme. My grandmother and aunt also tend to go overboard with the food preparation and the decor, making sure every little detail will go with the theme. If you’re looking for themed party ideas for your next bash, here are some party peg suggestions based on what we’ve already tried.

BLACK & WHITE

A Black & White Affair is a classy theme that’s easy enough to pull-off since everyone has something black and white in their closet. For our 2004 Christmas party, we went for a vintage feel with classics as our background music and a mafia touch to the games, program and food. We came up with a customized murder mystery game based on Cluedo and had a Christmas Exchange Gift (anything vintage).

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