Just when I stopped listening to Jack Johnson (because I heard/saw somebody strum Banana Pancakes on the guitar and that ruined it all for me..), Apple then decides to play his tunes on the recently concluded Fall Event that introduced several new iSoftware and iGadgets,

"Better Together" by JJ opened the show and the closing act was "Yellow" performed by Chris Martin - these songs are haunting me with memories I want to forget,

..and this is why I stopped listening to secular music.

Yellow
by Coldplay


Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow,

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn
Oh all the things I've done
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know you know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh all the things you do
Cause you were all yellow

I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know for you i bleed myself dry
For you i bleed myself dry

Its true look how they shine for you 

For the past three years, I've only been home for a total of three weeks so I thought it would be great if this time my brothers and I could hangout somewhere outside the country and just chill. Can't complain about the sunshine and beaches in Cebu but 42 degrees is just insane. I'll trade this for snowstorms anytime of day. 

I've never really explored HK, the longest I've stayed there was when I had a 12 hour layover for a connecting flight. I figured it's time to pay a visit to the land of of the laser lights, and who knows, maybe see Disneyland. But of course, my two burly brothers were not the least bit interested to see Mickey Mouse so instead we bought octopus train cards at the airport and went on to chart the best course to see the city.

At first we joined a tour group that took us to all the shopping places we didn't really want to go to, so we bailed out on that, took the MTR and double deck buses, and explored the city on our own. I must admit, a map is important in this type of quest, but the only map I got was the train stops for the red line. Fortunately, we met someone who used to work in the city some years back. She decided to go back and revisit HK now that she has enough money saved. Among other things, she showed us where Jollibee was =) now, we know where to score all the chicken joy.

After a visit to the massive building where they sell all the electronics stuff, we walked down Nathan road to the Avenue of the Stars so we could watch the symphony of lights show, but before that we decided to stop by a restaurant that serves BBQ duck. Twas great that the menu came with pictures, coz the guy at the counter didn't speak any English and we knew no Chinese. I sincerely hope that was duck we ordered ^_^, it looked like it.

The trek to Victoria Peak is probably the highlight of the trip. Although it was drizzling and foggy, we did manage to get a good view of the downtown Hong Kong skyline, Kowloon, and Victoria Harbour. Kuya was also able to buy some souvenirs to take back home.

We spent two nights in HK then proceeded to Shenzhen via train. The bus tour guide asked us if we were picky about food and if we eat anything. Some people said they eat everything and the guide warned us that we shouldn't order hot dog in that city, because that meant real dog, eww! I think that was when we decided to stick to McDonald's and KFC for this leg of the trip =)

There was really not much to see here, it was also the same time when the flash floods were happening and it was all over the news - so there was an overcast of gloom on the city. We did see the Windows of the World and more night markets, jewelry shops and car factories - I guess those tour buses are shopping traps in disguise. Good thing we weren't really into buying stuff, but more into eating so that's where all our HKD and RMB went to.

The whole adventure was a great opportunity to bond with my brothers. It was their first passport stamp, their first trip outside the country, and I'm glad we survived it despite our constant petty quarrels. We laugh when people say that we look like we get along really well ^_^ Hopefully we can do this again next year.

Jailbreaking the iPhone for the benefit of science is a lofty task, especially for people who have too much time in their hand to tinker with new technology. When it first came out in 2007, the first thing I did was immerse myself in firmwares and basebands and scripts until I got familiar with its file system. Now two generations later, Apple still makes incredible attempts to plug holes and stop people from messing up with their systems.

Currently I'm on 3.1.2 and the latest firmware as of writing is 3.1.3. With the release of the iPad and the 4.0 SDK, another upgrade is imminent. To preserve the status quo on my present setup, I sync with iTunes regularly to backup my files and keep a handy set of utilities.

One pitfall I always find myself in is the endless loop of apple logo display that does not proceed to boot up. I also encounter the dreaded iTunes 16xx or 20xx errors when I try to restore to custom firmware. This usually happens when I'm doing a lot of surfing or launching games that connects to the Internet. My phone works fine while I'm doing all those stuff but when I put it down and maybe leave it overnight, or put it in airplane mode while I'm in transit (usually for an hour or so), I find that upon waking it from sleep mode,  it suddenly couldn't connect to my wireless routers anymore.

I then do the customary shutdown and startup just in case there are some background processes hogging the cpu or something, but this often triggers the endless loop problem. In case it does boot up properly and still can't connect to the wireless server, I then continue with resettting the network settings, which might actually fix the issue if it can bypass the endless loop syndrome.

After much hands-on experience with phenomenon, I've devised ways to prepare myself for the impending doom and I've amassed a collection of nifty implements to get me out of jeopardy and back into the almost perfectly working world of fw 3.1.2. What can I say, I don't want to upgrade until I've figured out all the nooks of the current release.

Here are some points to remember:
1. Apple has stopped signing fw 3.1.2 so restoring back to it through the usual Option + Restore method in iTunes will result to 16xx or 20xx errors.
2. It's important to have a copy of your iPhone's ECID and SHSH files.
3. Have a handy copy of your custom restore file.
4. Sync with iTunes everyday to have a backup of your files and settings.
5. Don't jailbreak unless you want your life to be complicated.
6. Panic count: 0.

These days, when my iPhone starts acting up like taking too long to respond after I've opened a hundred tabs on Safari or suddenly disconnects from my router or couldn't search available wireless networks, the first thing I do is plug it on my Mac and sync with iTunes. I am already preparing myself for the inevitable restore so I need the freshest backup possible. Then I try the following and see if any of them works:

1. Restart.
2. Hard reset.
3. Reset network settings.

If it was some stray process, any of the three would solve the problem but if its some weird stuff you were not supposed to install then never, I mean never jailbreak your iPhone again unless you can get yourself out of this. This reminded me of all the ROM flashing I've done with my Palm devices back when CLIEs still roamed the earth. You don't have business messing up the low level stuff if you don't understand a single line of code. Better stick with the stock options.

Anyway, assuming that you know your stuff well, then you really don't need to read this. I'm just writing notes in case someone asks me how and I'm too busy to explain in detail. This morning I woke up and checked the weather forecast on my iPhone but found that it couldn't connect to the server. Could it be all those threads I opened last night to simulate multitasking? I don't know for sure so I just plugged it into iTunes and started syncing. I then tried the quick fixes mentioned above but none of them worked and step 3 brought me to endless apple logo loop.

Without delving too much into the technical explanation of each step, here's the rest of the procedure that resurrected my device:

1. Put the iPhone in Recovery mode.
2. Modify the host file to intercept iTunes
3. Fire up TinyTSS and run your own signature server using your backup SHSH file
4. Run iTunes and plug in your iPhone
5. Once iTunes recognizes the device in recovery mode, restore to the custom firmware and load your settings back.

As I'm writing this I've just finished doing all the steps above and my iPhone is in happy working state again. Thank you Apple for giving me an education.

After owning what is arguably the best phone in the world, I decided to go back to basics so I took out the first mobile phone I bought with my hard earned wages from my first job. It was a Nokia 8210, and it's still working after 10 years. The aesthetic condition leaves a lot to be desired but it's still functional, only the charger and battery needed to be replaced and maybe the case too. When I inserted my sim, it asked for a security code, a five digit number that I have conveniently forgotten, good thing I still have my master code generator based on the IMEI so I was able to unlock it.

I looked at the picture logos and the picture messages saved on it and smiled at how it paled in comparison with the multimedia-rich content that new phones now have; but it's a classic and I love it.

While visiting Ayala, I saw those new brands of mobile phones - Cherry Mobile and MyPhone. Their designs are interesting, they looked like carbon copies of some Nokia models, except they are way cheaper and had more functionality, like a dual sim holder and a built-in TV tuner. I wonder how the build quality is though..

When I first saw the P1, I new I had to have one, it was small and it looked like a calculator, but the selling point of this phone is not really its looks but its price - $23. I was computing the cost of getting a new battery, charger and front and back covers for my 8210 and it looked like it would be more practical to just get the P1 to house my other sim.

After searching for a black P1 at three malls and coming out empty handed, I finally opted to get the next model instead, the P2. The only difference is it has a color TFT screen, an FM tuner and a flashlight, which I still don't know how to activate since I'm refusing to read the manual. The price difference is $7 so I took it home and am now happily listening to the radio on its loud speaker, not bad at all. I just hope it lasts for a year at least.

Last Friday I got an email asking me for hotel recommendations in Cebu and as I was typing my reply, I also outlined a sample itinerary: ShangriLa, check. Waterfront, check. Olango Island hopping, check. Kawasan waterfalls, check. Moalboal, check. Bantayan Island, check. Hmmm, what else? Bohol? Boracay? Palawan?

While I was browsing over the places to see in the island, I realized that it's been a while since we last went to the falls. Ever since I first visited the site back in 1997, it's been a yearly event to just go to Badian, rent a cottage at La Playa or Kawasan then trek to the top of the waterfalls. So that evening I packed my stuff and invited the fam to escape the city's sweltering 35 degrees.

We left for Matutinao at 6AM the next morning, it was a three-hour drive along winding roads that overlook the sea and the mountains. Good thing there were vacant rooms at the resort and the rate was $20 per night, we got the second-floor suite with a balcony that looks out to the coastline. After a quick trip to the public market to buy food for lunch, we proceeded to hike up the falls. Entrance fee was $2.5.

Going up there brought back lots of memories for my older brother and I teased him about the songs he used to sing way back when.. He said he loved too much then and he won't be as stupid this time around. When we finally reached the top, we sat and watched as throngs of people dove into the cold clear blue waters. Somehow the magic of the place has been broken for me, it doesn't remind me of people or feelings anymore, it was like an empty exercise that one does to commemorate a long forgotten ideal.

On the way down, rain greeted our every stride as we navigated through the slippery stone footholds. I wonder how many pairs of sneakers and flip flops have gone through these same leaf-covered steps before mine did, and I wonder how many more will pass this way after I do. 

Back at comforts of our room, we watched the sunset from the veranda and listened as the waves broke the shore. After everything's been said and done, this is still one of my favorite nooks, a place where one can just hide away from the world. Next year I'll be back here again.

So we finally decided to try this famous Balamban liempo - roasted herb-encrusted pork that comes from this mountain town in the northern part of Cebu - talk about food trip! We drove two hours to the mountain tops just to visit this place where they make this special dish.

We took the Transcentral highway and the view going there was amazing, a true photographer's haven, we even saw a couple having their prenuptial photos taken at this wooden bridge connecting two tall cliffs overlooking the ocean - I wanted to stop and take photos too but we were in a bit of a hurry so that we'll reach the place before the fog comes down.

After a dozen more twists and turns and more magnificent views, we finally reached our destination and had lunch at the only place that serves food in that small town. I must say their roasted pork is indeed worth the long drive, but man, two hours?! I'd be hungry again by the time we head back home.

On the way back, we took the SRP road, I like the tunnels and ocean view here, it looks like that race track from need for speed, they say some people do midnight drag races there. Looks a lot has changed in this city since I was last here six years ago. Well, greater things are yet to come here =)

We have three dogs - Wookie, Frou frou and Cooper, they're a mixed breed of Japanese Spitz and Yorkshire Terrier and they occupy half the ground floor living area in the apartment that we're renting. They rarely go out of the house because there's no proper lawn area where they can roam freely, they might cross the street and get run over by speeding vehicles.

I've had Wookie since 2003, she was given by a friend from Davao and is probably my most well traveled dog by far. She has taken the boat, car and bus, she's been to hotels, malls and parks, and has moved with us to every new place we've leased. Frou and Coop are her sons and they rarely leave the house, but when we accidentally leave the door open, they run for it and play hide and seek at the neighbor's backyard.

This year, after much deliberation, we've decided to let go of the dogs and posted an ad for adoption. We were giving the dogs away for free with passport and vaccination papers, the condition was that the new owner should genuinely care for them and have a lawn where they can run around and be happy. A lot of callers answered the ad, but none passed the interviews so far.

Last week we decided to invent the Dog of the Week Award, a lucky dog will be randomly chosen and given a walk along the park with food and refreshments. First thing we did was buy a leash, which we didn't really know how to put on.

Q: How many people does it take to leash a dog? 
A: Three, one to carry the dog, one to figure out how to tighten the collar and another one to actually put the leash on the dog.

Cooper got to be the guinea pig in this exercise. He was happy to go out of the house but unfortunately didn't really want to walk and would just rather chase the neighbor's cat up the roof of a car. Kuya had to carry him until we reached the narrow streets that led to the park, the activity became a carry-the-dog day instead of a walk-the-dog morning. When we finally reached the park, Coop played around on the grass and chased birds, then he got tired and just sat on the sidewalk, refusing to budge. Drei tried to use fried chicken and water to make him respond but he just sat there and ignored the food. In the meantime, we all stared at another guy's dog who was walking beside his owner without a leash, I wonder if Coop will ever be like that, the scene reminded me of the movie "Morley and me".


Q: How many people does it take to walk Cooper? 
A: Three, one to hold the leash, one to act as bait and coach Coop to run towards him and another one to take pictures. =)

All in all it was a great morning to bond with my two brothers, I hope Cooper had a nice time too.