Cureless

The 3-day weekend allowed me to spend a ludicrous amount of time with F (as if everyday together is not enough).

Greenhills (GH)

Saturday was GH time. The reason for visiting Greenhills Shopping Center, one of the bargain capitals of the Metro, was F’s Microsoft Xbox 360. Alas, it subdued to the dreaded Red Ring of Death symptom. Although the appearance of the red rings occurred in the past, F found out it wasn’t THE REAL RRoD. That time, three (3) red rings appeared and needed some higher experts’ heeding.

Since this blog is mine, F will reserve his frustrations about how the Xbox 360 was handled by the so-called experts at GH to himself. Anyhow, we’ve been in exactly the same stall as before. (Likewise, where F exercised his bargaining talent/s.) While waiting and observing how the hardware patch was made, F encouraged me to roam around. Guess who I saw?

My Philosophy of Religion teacher. Thrice. Two instances, in front of and inside a toy/hobby collectibles shop. The other instance was when F and I were going down the stairs (and he was going up). Would you think I was going to greet him? Nah. I was one of those students who’s “just there” during my classes.

Commuting to Laguna

After brief haggling with the GH merchants and enjoying a yummy meal at Won Ton, it was time to bring the gift to Sta. Rosa, where a budding young family, F’s friends, lives. It was his godchild’s 3rd birthday.

Commuting to Sta. Rosa, Laguna was not hard at all. We took a bus to Alabang from EDSA and took a jeepney ride to Mamplasan Exit (Sta. Rosa). A few hours later, together with a few more guests, we were enjoying dishes prepared by the couple. The night ended when F’s friend dropped us at Festival Mall, got lost there but eventually found the exit and headed to F’s house.

Halo 3

To test the newly “renovated” Xbox 360, F urged me to play the multi-player game he’s been daring to play (but couldn’t because of RRoD fears). He believes I enjoy playing FPS co-op games like Ghost Recon which we played on PSP together.

Why am I apologizing? Because my game play didn’t do the game any justice. Halo 3 lived up to its hype. It’s masterpiece in every aspect. The graphics are more than amazing. And yet… I played it like an arcade game. Not that I’m discounting House of the Dead 2 & 3 or Ghost Squad (which we also played in Nintendo Wii) but Halo 3’s storyline is so much deeper and it wasn’t at all just shoot and play. (To hell with the comparison. It’s there to show how I totally sucked playing the game.) I didn’t listen well to the narrator and the character’s dialogues. I was blindly following F - frenzy killing the enemies and driving those tanks and air-crafts.

In the end, we finished the campaign but I didn’t understand a thing, which I totally regret. And I therefore apologize. (But I totally enjoyed playing it like an arcade game… Promise!)