The Book of Inspiration

When I was a kid back in high school, I was searching for a good fantasy book in National Bookstore inside Ayala Center, Cebu. I was not satisfied with the selections available, until I came upon a single blue book (The last stock). It read Eragon at the front and a funny drawing of a blue dragon. I read the summary at the back. It’s about a young farm boy who happens to stumble upon a blue dragon egg whom he nurtured in secret, until the day came when his family was killed by a group of insect-like men. Their town storyteller helps him escape from his would-be murderers and trains him in the way of the dragon riders.

Then I saw the price, P499. I gave it a go and gave it to the cashier.

I read it immediately when I got home, and I was stuck. The book was colorfully written by a young boy of 15 (actually he started writing it at 15 but finished it at 19). His name is Christopher Paolini, an aspiring writer who was a big fan of Lord of the Rings and decided to make his own fantasy world come true, and it really happened. It was then and there that I was inspired to pursue and hone my writing skills until one day I can be like him (I’m still not good in writing).

I do have my own fantasy world that I want published some day, but I still need to practice writing some more and at least know the advance steps of the fantasy genre. Unlike Paolini who had writers as parents, I don’t have that luxury, plus I don’t have a writing degree, so I’m just doing this out of experience and constant practice. Plus, I read and pick up some techniques the authors have used in their books.

Anyhow, I’m still on my quest to master the art of fantasy. Maybe that’s the reason why I love playing Dungeons and Dragons all the time.

By the way, the author has already completed the whole cycle of the story. There are four books under the Inheritance cycle: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. I need the fourth one to complete the set.

The exact book I saw in the bookstore that day

The author

Unexpected Getaway

There I was, dealing with a customer on the sunny streets of Dumaguete City when suddenly my mobile phone prompted me about a text message. I checked my phone after my business transaction and read the following message: “Hi… Fiesta man dira sa inyuha noh? Mang invite ka? (Hi… You’re celebrating your fiesta in your place right? Are you inviting me?)”

I replied, “Uhm, sure? But I’m not sure if I can actually take you for lunch or dinner because we’re not preparing any food.”

“That’s okay,” Lyra replied, “We’ll find something fun to do.”

“Sure. Come here on a Friday since Friday nights are the best nights here to have fun.”

And we ended the conversation.

It was Monday then and I had to go back to my hometown, Cebu City, to follow up some business and visit my dad. I stayed in my cousin’s house for the entire duration and played ‘Skyrim’ most of the time. I caught up with a few high school friends and spent some time with them.

Now let’s discuss the sweet stuff.

Friday came and it was time for me and my cousin to go back to Dumaguete, but we were not traveling alone. Four of my high school classmates (Actually they were only three. One of them was somehow adapted to the batch unofficially), all girls, joined us in the bus that morning at 6 o’clock. They were very excited, or so I think, about the trip – with the fact that it will be the first time for three of the four girls to visit my ‘hometown’. So it’s up to me and the help of my cousin to entertain them and give them the best one-night-vacation experience of their lives.

We arrived in Dumaguete around ten o’clock in the morning and helped them checked-in their bags at a nearby inn. They took their baths to freshen themselves up while I took the opportunity to get some nice shut eye in one of the beds. If I’m not mistaken, my cousin was playing his ukulele.

Then we ate lunch at Gabby’s Bistro inside Florentina Homes in Bantayan and I ordered my favorite, cheesy chicken rice bowl, while my friends ordered adobo, Cajun chicken fingers, curry, and pork belly. It was very expensive for a meal, but nonetheless worth it since our stomachs was fully loaded.

We also ate our dinner at El Amigo’s where we ordered their barbecue plate, an olive-oil soaked pizza, and their red cucumber citrus gin juice with salty shot glasses. We ended the night with a good measure of tempura and balot.

The next day, Saturday, were – according to the girls – their best time of their lives, so far. So basically what I did was bring the four of them to the Silliman Student Center and let them rent our cute girly bikes with matching bells and a basket, and let them spend their whole afternoon biking around the city. Although tiring, and sometimes deadly (due to the fact that we bike in the middle of the highway and two of the girls are so slow), it was altogether a very fun and new experience to all of us.

After that, it was my cousin’s turn to tour them around the music college and let them enjoy a night of jazz and blues – jazz and blues rehearsals. Pretty much that’s it. Oh yeah, we ate our final meal at Manang Siony’s barbecue house and I finally had the guts to ask the old lady if her name is really Manang Siony. I was right.

Here’s some of the pictures they took while they were here:

Onion rings anyone?

Me and Yayet riding the tandem bike. Yayet is crying.

Olive-oil soaked pizza

Us in the boat going to Dumaguete

Lalai smiling in the middle of traffic and being inconsiderate to the car drivers. hehe

Us strolling in the boulevard one afternoon

Our night of tempura and balot and a little bit of 'Hey Jude'

Tasty green mangoes with sweet shrimp paste. Mouth-watering.

My cousin mixing the cucumber gin juice

My cousin, me, and Lalai. Lalai is obviously oblivious about this shot.

Typical friends walking in the pier, probably talking about girls.

Taking a quick picture under the heat of the sun.

Dimple making fun of me while I fell asleep texting my girlfriend.

Bike-riding afternoon inside Silliman campus and along the highway (soon to be facing big buses and trucks)

Walking along the boulevard

More pictures can be seen in these album:
Thanksgiving Getaway
Dumaguete Uno
Dumaguete Dos

A Jacket and a Box of Doughnuts

So here I am typing this because I really don't know what to do. Anyhow, I'm beside my cousin watching some Facebook pictures. It's nearly four o'clock in the morning and both of us are not planning to sleep until then since we're going to leave our hometown once again to go back to Dumaguete City (our bus leaves at six). We recently played Heroes of Newerth and we only won two games out of ten I think. We're a bit frustrated by our gaming skills, or maybe we are really frustrated.

I just went to Ayala Mall awhile ago - more like seven hours ago - to meet my college classmate and buy a dozen of original glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kremes, but unfortunately they were sold out. My friend suggested that I just walk towards IT Park in Lahug since there was another franchise there. Basically, I literally walked towards there, which took me around almost half an hour. Luckily they had a boat load of original glazed/s there. I was happy since my sister and girlfriend can now enjoy the world-famous doughnut melting in their mouths. Hehe.

Since I don't have a camera, here's a picture of an original glazed doughnut from Krispy Kremes. :)

The Day I Almost Died

I kissed my lolo and lola goodbye and asked for my ‘bonus’ – money – before I left Lapu-lapu City for Dumaguete City. I also paid my last visit to my dad and had a quick chit chat about girls. Actually, I did not leave Cebu that day immediately. Four of my cousins, which were all guys, asked me to go with them to Mandaue City, which is a two jeepney rides away from Lapu-lapu, to play the hit Dota-ish video game, Heroes of Newerth. Why can’t we play in the mercado instead? I thought. But still I went with them. We arrived in a high-class internet café in Talamban, which I really didn’t like because of their pre-paid approach with their log-ins, and waited for one more elder cousin to arrive. Since it took him nearly an hour to arrive, we played ahead and told him to catch up. Our other cousin caught up with us later that day and we had a blast killing the enemy heroes and hearing that loud “BLOODBATH!” or the occasional but overwhelming “IMMORTAL!”.

It was almost seven o’clock and my boat is leaving at nine, so I had to spoil the fun by insisting that “Guys, last game na jud ni.” (Guys, this will be my last game). They insisted back that I go back to Dumaguete the next day, but good thing that our elder cousin is married and had to go home also for dinner. Lucky for me my married cousin was riding his blue Honda Wave and his house had the same route going to the pier. So I took the opportunity and saved around fifteen pesos worth of jeepney ride. That’s a good deal already. I praised myself for my ingenuity.

We had a good chat along the ride, talking about the times when we were still kids and how we did not care what or how we were going to feed ourselves because that was our parents’ responsibility; how we played at our grandparent’s backyard as one of the superheroes, especially X-men, Spiderman, and Power Rangers; how we cut class the whole afternoon just to go to the eskina to play Starcraft or Marvel vs Capcom; and the fact that we did not know or realize any of our family’s debt, marital, or grudge problems.

I finally arrived in Pier Dos (Pier 2) and we finally said our goodbyes. I entered the two-story GP (George and Peter) building and filled out the small yellow destination form. After I collected my boat ticket and change, I quickly ate my dinner at the nearby squatter barbecue stalls (I ate chicken heads by the way) and rode the company shuttle bus going to the boat. The bus arrived with the kondoktor yelling “Dumaguete!” and I went down the bus, got my ticket inspected, and entered the boat. What I did not know about that night is this: I was about to die…

There I was, climbing the boat’s stairs towards bunker #148, carrying my blue high school basketball varsity bag, hoping to arrive in Dumaguete in one piece so that I could finally see my girlfriend. I arrived in my bed, which was the lower part of a double-deck since I hate bright lights when I’m sleeping, and wore my ocean green Nike golf sweater in preparation for the cold night ahead. The local news, TV Patrol, was up and it showed about the rebel groups in Basilan located in lower Mindanao. I watched the whole program and after the credits, I prepared myself by tiring my eyes with a good read of the first book of ‘Lord of the Rings’ . Then I finally dozed off…

Suddenly, I was prematurely awakened. I glanced at my G-Shock and it read 22:00. I slept nearly three hours only? I thought. Then I heard something, heez… heeez. Something is wrong. I closed my eyes and put one hand against my chest. Heez… heeeez. There it was again. Then I realized it was just a slight wheeze. So I casually slipped my hand into my jean’s pocket and grabbed my salbutamol inhaler. I put it in my mouth then pressed the top button while inhaling at the same time. Then the real horror struck me, the medicine did not make its familiar spraying sound. It was empty! I panicked. Calm down. Let’s try this again. I comforted myself. I put the inhaler again in my mouth and pressed. No sound came out. Fear crept inside me and I began to push the button again and again frantically. I glanced at my watch for the second time. It read 22:16. I calculated how many hours left before I arrive. Five hours! I screamed in my mind. I don’t have five hours! The boat just left an hour ago and my lungs were starting to constrict slowly. I stayed calm and slowly sat up, trying to get as much air as I can. I quickly remembered what my nurse friend taught me about breathing therapy. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth very slowly.

Right beside my bunker was an old couple. Maybe they have an inhaler. I lied to myself. So I asked them if they have some medicine for asthma. The old woman told me that her husband had asthma before and she had medicines with her, although she’s not sure which one is for me. So I took the plastic bag full of sample medicines, but all I found were for chronic muscle pain, high blood, and arthritis. Tough luck. So I asked them again if they can somehow help me find an inhaler in this ship. They pointed to the crew member who was at the canteen. I thanked them.

I stood up from my bunker and slowly walked towards the canteen. The man in plain white shirt and blue jeans stood up from his chair and slid the glass window open. “Unsa man bai? (How can I help you?)” he asked.

I told him about my dire situation and that I needed medical attention immediately. He explained to me that it is against their policy to ask each passenger – even for medicine.

“Bai, padulong na ko mamatay. Pangita-I ko ug paagi. (I’m going to die. Please find a way.)” I was begging him.

“Naa mi nurse sa barko. (We have an onboard nurse.)” Hope came out from his words and I did not hesitate.

He led me to a small cabin at the second floor in front of the deluxe, air-conditioned passenger room. He knocked at the metal door and a male nurse with deep Moreno skin greeted us. I thanked the canteen man and I entered the infirmary. But there was more bad news…

The nurse explained to me that they have a nebulizer but they don’t have a nebul. It’s good as being dead. I dreaded.

The nurse adjusted the valve of the oxygen tank and inserted the tube in my nose. He also gave me some tablets that might alleviate my breathing. After that, he sat on the infirmary bed and we had a little conversation. I learned that he graduated from St. Paul’s University and he’s a DeMolay. Then I told him that I had to rest because I wanted to conserve more air. He agreed and lied on the bed to get some quick shut eye.

Silence consumed the little white room except for the faint sound of oxygen coming out from my nasal tube. I slouched in my chair and closed my eyes for a prayer. Lord, even though I’m always unworthy of your love, you have always shown me your miracles. I ask again for that miracle. Please, keep me alive.

Right after, my condition grew worse! My lungs constricted. I put my hand on my chest as if trying to calm it but to no avail. The nurse got up and told me that he’d rush to the stock room to try his best to look for a nebul. I agreed, seeing there was no other choice. Five minutes of waiting was already an agony. I was holding on to my last ounces of air, trying to stay strong, trying to think that everything will be all right. Then a miracle happened, the nurse came back in and flashed what it seemed to be a sign of life itself. A ventolin nebul. But the funny thing was, the nurse won’t give it to me!

“Expired man ni. Madaot pa lang ka ug samot. (This is already expired. Your condition might worsen with this.)” he explained. The medicine was already expired by a year.

I convinced him that I don’t care if I’ll live or die. Just give me that medicine! I was desperate!

The nurse let me sign some papers before he let me use it stating that whatever happens to me, he is not liable. I really didn’t care. If I die, then I’ll die.

I quickly tore the lid open and put half of the doze inside the nebulizer mask…

It was already three o’clock in the morning and we finally arrived in Dumaguete. I was excited to see my girlfriend once again and give her a big bear hug. I exited the pier’s gate where a group of vendors were calling me to buy some kapi at sopas. I declined them and called a pedicab.

I finally arrived in my boarding house and reached into my pockets for the fare thanking that God still takes care of me.

This is me, my girlfriend, and my sister

Puss in Boots Movie Review

Me and my girlfriend already planned to watch Puss in Boots and the fact that it was my turn to buy the tickets. Unfortunately, my girlfriend had to go back to her hometown and she will arrive after one week. Lucky for us Robinson’s Place Dumaguete extended the show and we had the chance to finally watch it!

We all loved Puss since the dawn of ‘Shrek’ not because he’s a swashbuckling, woman-loving, plumed hat-wearing, orange cat, but he’s a swashbuckling, woman-loving, plumed hat-wearing, orange cat that drinks milk, chases little lights, and licks himself clean. To top it off, he is voiced by the man behind the ‘Mask of Zorro’, Antonio Banderaz.

The plot obviously revolves around Puss and how he became a legend. The story starts in a pseudo-Mexican setting in a pseudo-Grand Canyon where Puss is branded as an outlaw. Puss arrives in a town looking for loot until the people in the tavern tells him about the mythical ‘magic beans’ in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. But the said magical beans are in the hands of murderous criminal partners, Jack and Jill. Together with Humpty ‘Alexander’ Dumpty  (Zach Galifianakis) and master thief, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), Puss successfully gets the magic beans and plants the beanstalk and reaches the giant’s palace where they steal the golden goose (It was a baby goose to be exact, which was weird because the baby goose also lays golden eggs. Go figure).

The movie’s flashback scene about Puss’ childhood as an orphan together with Humpty Dumpty was also veeery long, although not boring. It showed how Puss acquired his boots, became the town’s hero and how he became an outlaw, and also shows how Humpty became obsessed with crime and how he greatly contributed to Puss’s outlaw status.

The plot twist, although obvious, was when Humpty and Kitty betrays Puss after they stole the golden goose and Humpty also plots on destroying their hometown using the golden baby goose as bait to lure its gigantic mother. With the help of ‘The Jack’, Puss was able to save his town while Humpty sacrificed himself to help.

The movie is very entertaining for a family and even to an individual. The plot was simple enough because the movie was supposed to be a ‘fairy tale’, but it still has Shrek’s fairy tale twists. In my opinion, the only thing that made the movie funny and entertaining was the incorporation of a real-world cat’s behavior which made Puss in Boots look cute and ridiculous at the same time. My favorite scene in the movie was in the ‘Glitter Box’ cat tavern where Puss and Kitty had a dance showdown, especially the cat that always covers his mouth with its paws and says “Ohhhhh” when a plot twist is revealed. The only thing I don’t like about the movie is Humpty Dumpty. It’s not because he’s the villain but he always and always and always whine and whine and whine and whine!!!

Overall, Puss in Boots is a very good addition and spin-off to the Shrek anthology. Heck, they can even make a stand-alone Puss in Boots trilogy!

So here’s my rating,

Plot: 2 out of 5 stars

Humor: 4 out of 5 stars

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Heroes of Newerth Hero Guide: Rampage

Rampage is my favorite hero. Period.

If I’m not mistaken, 44% of my used hero is Rampage. I’m not really sure why I like using that dwarf-legged, club-wielding, rhino-riding samurai (who summersaults in his saddle and not hurt his 'manhood'). Let’s carry on. According to popular belief, Rampage is a hero for noobs and is not good for high tiered gaming (psr 1700+). The part where it says that it’s for noobs may be true since he’s pretty much straightforward to use – use Stampede on someone anywhere on the map and use your ultimate to drag him back for 3.5 seconds, and keep on hitting him until he dies… if he dies. The part where it also says that he’s a low tier hero may be true since I’m just a 1600+ psr player, but I beg to differ. Rampage is a strong hero, even in late game. I’ll explain further below.

Primary Role: Ganker

Secondary Role: Tank, Initiator

Hero Strategy:

Yes, Rampage shines in ganking. But he is not the middle lane type of hero, he ganks the enemy in middle lane (Just be sure to signal your mid-lane ally to help you kill). It’s best to gank mid at levels 3 or 4. At higher levels, where you leave the laning phase, your responsibility is to keep on ganking unsuspecting enemy heroes, especially at their jungles – that’s why warding enemy jungle is critical. Once you find your target, quickly ping the map to alert your allies to help you and even spam them messages that you’re charging, like ‘Charging scout! Charging scout! Help kill!’. Then lastly, especially in late game, your main role changes to tanker and semi-initiator. I’ll explain further below.

Skills:

Stampede

Rampage: The Rhino will attack the target, charging at them and also applying Stampede to self, gaining 1 charge/second.
Stampede adds 15/20/25/30 MS per charge and gives magic immunity at charges beyond 4+, and unitwalking.
Rampage's rhino pounces on the target when it is 450 distance near from it, stunning and knocking them back 140/180/220/260 units in 1.55 seconds, also dealing 100/140/180/220 physical damage, revealing them for 4 quick seconds.

This is Rampage’s bread and butter, his signature skill, and the reason why you play him. I already explained before that you will be using this skill to gank mid at laning phase. In this case, it’s best to pick the long lanes (bottom for Hellbourne and top for Legion). I’ll explain in the map below.

The yellow lines are the preferred ‘charging’ route since you will be coming out from the mid enemy’s rearview, thereby flanking him with your mid ally and giving your enemy player a split second psychological stun from the surprise you just pulled.

The best level to pick up this skill, in my opinion and in my thousandth Rampage experience, is at level 2. It’s because you will be using Horned Strike at level 1 to farm your gold. Also, it’s best if you keep this skill to level 1 only. You can upgrade this skill once you’re Might of the Herd and Horned Strike is maxed out.

Synergy: This skill synergizes well with Might of the Herd since said skill will give a 12% bonus to attack damage based on your move speed. Not only that, Stampede increments your move speed for every second you are charging to a speed max of 522. That means if you were charging from your fountain until the river, which roughly brings your move speed to 522, you will deal an extra 63 bonus damage when you hit.

Warning: This skill also gave Rampage the nickname, Rambo (in other words, tower diving). In whatever circumstances, DO NOT RAMBO IF YOU ARE NOT SURE YOUR TARGET WILL BE KILLED. This warning is according to personal experience.

Might of the Herd

A passive that gives 4/6/8/10 extra MS and +1 extra damage per charge, you will also gain 3/6/9/12 percent of your MS as attack damage.

Activate the skill and the rhino will slow down enemies in a 300 aoe for -35/-50/-65/-80 MS for 4 seconds.

This is the skill you SHOULD be maxing out first. A -80 penalty to enemies’ move speed in a 300 radius is not a joke. Did I mention that it lasts for a whopping 4 seconds? But wait, there’s more! This skill is not only a move speed debuff, it also gives you a passive 10% move speed bonus. It means that it gives you a 34.5 bonus to move speed – assuming you are only wearing a normal, un-upgraded Marchers. That number alone is good enough to chase or run away from your enemies. Also, as I’ve mentioned in the synergy section in Stampede, Might of the Herd gives you a passive 12% bonus to attack damage based on your move speed. To conclude, this skill is actually 3 skills in 1.

Horned Strike

Bashes your enemy with your rhino's horns, stunning and knocking them back over 140/180/220/260 unit distance in 1.55 seconds, dealing 60/80/100/120 extra physical damage. Also grants a bonus 15% MS to Rampage for 1.5 seconds. It has a 10/9/8/7 sec cooldown, but moving a thousand unit distance reduces the cd by 1 sec.

Ah, this is your farming ability. A +60 bonus to attack damage at level 1 is not something to laugh at. This is the reason why last-hitting creeps becomes a breeze. This skill is passive and has a 7 second cooldown at level 4. The good news is that the cooldown can be cut down shorter per 1,000 units you travel. That means, you can bash a red-life creep for gold, pull away and run around, and repeat the process for farming. I forgot to mention that this skill also stuns your target while knocking them back at the same time which is always and will ever be a plus.

This one can also be your free escape tactics since this will give you a 15% move speed boost for 1.5 seconds after you bash someone. So when someone’s chasing you, just bash them and run. Repeat steps when needed.

P.S. Use this ability to harass your lane enemies, especially the soft ones. Tactic used here is to use Horned Strike on an enemy, such as Pyromancer who is very soft. Do this often until he runs out of consumable healing items. Then repeat until his life becomes red (Don’t be aggressive yet). Once his life is red where a Stampede, a Horned Strike, and one or two normal hits from you can kill it, then become aggressive and charge at him. The charge can be utilized best if you start it without your target seeing you, so better hide at the Outpost jungle or at Fog-of-war areas.

The Chains That Bind

Binds the target with chains, stunning them for 2.5/3/3.5 seconds. You can also drag the target behind you dealing 25/35/45% of the distance traveled as physical damage.

When Rampage gets more than 500 unit distance away from his target, the chains are broken.

This is actually Rampage’s remake ultimate skill. His original ultimate was DotA’s Barathrum’s Netherstrike, but was later changed to a pseudo DotA’s Batrider’s ultimate.

This skill is what makes Rampage an initiator (although not a good one at it since it’s pretty much a 3.5 second stun where you can freely drag your target around). But this skill also makes him an anti-carry – just be sure to let your team kill it within the time period. The good thing is that the skill deals damage based on the total distance you managed to drag your enemy, but this good thing also can do a really bad thing if you dragged your target far away from your allies where they were supposed to help you kill it. Think of it this way, dragging them far can deal big damage, but dragging them to your allies can grant you a kill and gold.

P.S. It’s best you level this up to 1 only since another level only gives you a .5 bonus to stun duration. Although the damage scales up, you will be using this skill to gank anyway so the damage can come from your allies instead.

I tried having a Ghost Marchers and Assassin’s Shroud for that super move speed boost when I use my ultimate (To maximize the drag distance damage), but that was just for fun.

Skill Build:

1.       Horned Strike (For easier last hitting)

2.       Stampede (For that first blood opportunity if your red-life enemy tries to run away)

3.       Might of the Herd (So you can slow your enemies for 4 seconds for that kill or escape)

4.       Might of the Herd (To boost your normal attack damage and your last hitting)

5.       Horned Strike (For a more hurtful harass and easier last-hitting)

6.       The Chains That Bind (Best if you only level this up once)

7.       Might of the Herd

8.       Might of the Herd

9.       Stampede

10.   Horned Strike / Stampede

11.   Stampede / Horned Strike

12.   Stampede / Horned Strike

13.   Horned Strike / Stampede

14.   The Chains That Bind

15.   Bonus

16.   The Chains That Bind

Item Build:

Starter pack:

1 Iron Buckler

2 or 3 Runes of the Blight

(Don’t buy a Logger’s Hatchet since you already have your Horned Strike)

Core:

 

1 Helm of the Black Legion

1 Steamboots (Strength)

1 Scarab (For mana regeneration purposes)

The reason I got Steamboots instead of Ghost Marchers is that a +10 Strength is more important for me for the purpose of tanking and durability instead of the extra move speed granted by Ghost Marchers when activated.

Luxury:

Frostburn – Best used early if your enemies don’t have lots of magic spells.

Shrunken Head – Get this early if you are against a magic-heavy team.

Shaman’s Headress – Get this in tandem with your HotBL against a magic-heavy team and can be further upgraded to Barrier Idol when needed.

 

Sol’s Bulwark/Demonic Breastplate – Get this to really boost your tanking capability.

Abyssal Skull – You can upgrade your Scarab into this. Who doesn’t like Lifesteal?

Blood Chalice - For that emergency mana regeneration.

Portal Key – If you want a WTF reaction from your enemies when you are dragging them to their deaths (Best used for The Chains That Bind).

Assassin’s Shroud – If you want to go ninja and let your enemies experience another WTF reaction when you use your ultimate on them.

Behemoth’s Heart – the quintessential tanker item.




STRATEGY

Rampage is best used at sidelanes, especially the long lane since it has easy access to the Outpost, but Rampage is also a strong mid hero.


Early Game
Just buy a Buckler and 6 Runes of Blight. These items should be enough for you to farm your Lifetube. As I've stated earlier, pick the lane that has the easiest access to the Outpost. When the creeps are spawned, focus on last hitting and farming your Lifetube. If your lane partner has a good harassing skill, pair it by Horned Striking the harassed target. It will surely be painful and deplete their healing items early.

If you are in a sidelane and your mid hero ally has a good nuke or disable, like pyromancer or deadwood, plan a gank. It's best that you gank mid at level 4. Why gank mid? You will really help your mid ally level gap the enemy mid hero. Keep doing this as much as possible, and don't forget to use Stampede where your sidelane enemies cannot see you, or they can warn their own mid from your ambush.

If you are in mid, only gank when you have your Chains That Bind, to ensure a kill, unless your sidelane allies have good disbales, like Witch Slayer or Pollywog. Plus when you plan to charge the sidelanes, be sure to charge behind your tower where the mid enemy cannot see you, or he can warn his sidelane allies.


Mid Game
By this time, you must have your core items already and is building your luxuries. I can't stress this enough, keep on ganking. A good Rampage must have an overview of the whole map, so buy wards and place them at keypoints. If there are no supports to buy wards, buy them yourself. A blind rampage is a useless rampage. Rape your enemies as much as possible. You need to lower your enemies self-esteem by dominating them with your planned and successful ganks. The Mid Game is your spotlight.


End Game
Pretty much you will become a tank/semi carry in this phase of the game. You are also your team's ANTI-CARRY. In clashes, your key targets are the carries, like Chronos, Scout, Madman, etc. Use your ultimate at them and let your whole team focus fire at the Chained target. Once their key carry is dead, they're pretty much crippled.

You can find out more about Heroes of Newerth here.

Movie Review on Praybeyt Benjamin

So my girlfriend asked me to watch a comedy movie with her at Robinson's Place Dumaguete. The movie's main star was one of Philippine's sarcastic yet funny gay comedian, Vice Ganda. So we both finally watched the movie together yesterday with my younger sister.

Here is the movie's synopsis:
Vice Ganda takes up the role of Benjamin Santos XIII whose lineage has a long tradition of serving the Philippine military. The movie's surprising opening goes back to the Santos's service in the military, from the time of the great Visayan hero, Lapu-lapu, and the Katipunan, up to the present times. The conflict begins when Benjamin XI, Vice's grandfather which was acted out by Mr. Eddie Garcia, finds out that his grandson cannot continue the tradition because he is gay. But when the grandfather is subdued by terrorists, Benjamin XIII enters the military service, in place of his father, and gathers all of his manly strength to save his dear grandfather.

Basically, the movie depicts the outcasts of society (a gay man, a coward, a lesbian, an idiot, a nerd, an obese, a crazy person, and a nobody) and shows us, in the movie, that even such a person can be a hero.

The movie was mostly funny, but in my opinion, the funny parts did not come out naturally. The plot was also simple and followed the usual Filipino mainstream comedy. It was also very Mulan-like (e.g. Benjamin joined the army in place of his father, a scene where he tries to cut his long hair, etc.). What I did not like about the movie were the weird and illogical scenes (e.g. the scene where he saved his grandfather by getting in the way of a speeding bullet but he somehow lived even without medical attention because one of his
colleagues tried to do CPR on him instead of their hotshot Captain).
It also has a little bit of drama where Benjamin was discovered in the military training that he was gay and people began to discriminate him, but pretty much that's it.

This is the movie's poster:

All in all, this is my rating: 1.9 out of 5 stars.

The Holy Week and Bais City

I spent my entire holy week at my mother’s province, Bais City (for those who do not know where it is, it is located in Negros Oriental, Philippines). For a city, it doesn’t really feel like a city like New York, Sydney, Manila, or even Cebu, it feels more like a town to me. If you are wondering why it’s called a city, my cousin who took up Political Science explained to me that in order for a place to become a city, they must generate a minimum income of 100 million pesos (this is the latest minimum according to the Philippine law). Since I’m already talking about my 'hometown', might as well talk about its must-sees and must-visits.

What I really like about my hometown is its simplicity, a good way to rest your mind from the 'real' city life. The city does not have malls, yes you heard me, we don’t have malls like other cities. We only have two central plazas, our tiangge or public market (the new public market is almost complete by the way and the design is pleasing actually),our public basket ball court, our local Catholic church, a public school, a private school, and our city hall which are all in walking distance. One of the fun things you should also try is riding a ‘pot-pot’ or a bike side-car taxi with a honk which is very cheap, although I rarely ride them because I feel sorry for the drivers carrying your weight. If I do ride the pot-pot, I make sure that I pay them more than the riding fee.

Bais is widely known in the Negros Province for its dolphin watching and the white sand bar beach (a large stretch of sand occurring only during low tides), although the sand bar is not actually part of the city but belongs to the next town, Manjuyod, it is still strongly affiliated with the local tourism. To let you see what my second hometown looks like, here is a link:

tourism

Even if I am a local, I never had the chance to visit these two main attractions. Although I almost had the chance to visit Sand Bar for the first time last Easter Sunday, it was cancelled because our ‘pumboat’ or a motor-run rowboat was too small to travel a long distance, plus the sea was ‘wavey’. The last thing I don’t want happening to me is to die drowning; especially that I have a case of acute asthma attacks, so stamina will be a really big problem when I’m trying to swim back to shore…. Shudder…. So me and my cousins just settled with Lag-it, a very popular and free ‘beach’ in barangay Okiot (actually, we don’t call Lag-it beach because it is actually a fisherman’s area).

So Holy Week was pretty much not so exciting for me in Bais City, other than going to the beach, since I was just reading a book and watching Discovery or NatGeo the whole time, but I had a great time altogether. Although I think my cat, Cookies, might have more exciting experience than me since he can’t stop exploring the neighborhood and meeting new animal buddies

I miss Cookies

I had two cats in my life, although both passed away and both are he's, but my buddiest of the both is Cookies. He's a white cat with black spots. He's such a bossy cat, or maybe cats are just always like that. But here's a list of things what I miss about him:
1. He sleeps beside me. Always.
2. He plays basketball with cockroaches. Yep, he uses them as balls.
3. He plays with mice, like rolling them with his paws, before he massacres them. Morbid I know.
4. He only eats sardines. He was only forced to eat cat food.
5. He has a shy cat best friend , which I both hate and like. We named him Blacknose. It's obvious why.
6. I miss hugging him.
7. I miss playing wrestling with him.
8. I miss calling him Cookies in my weird voice.
9. I miss it when he calls me when he sees me come home, and he bounds towards me in joy.

That's my boy Cookies. The reason we named him that because he looks like the color of Cookies & Cream, although that is his real name, it's kinda long so we shortened it to Cookies. I miss you bro.

13 Weird/Funny/Bad Things That Happened ON Friday 13th

1. Had 5 hours of sleep because I slept at 3am studying Abstract Algebra.

2. Wasn’t able to wake up on time because my sister ‘accidentally turned my alarm clock off. :/

3. Woke up with allergy and hard sneezing and a heavy head.

4. Predicted that the day will be cold, so I wore long sleeves. Guess what, it didn’t happen… I was sweating the whole time. :|

5. Rushed to school to find out that the exam is actualy on Monday. :/

6. Later knew that I have no class whole morning and afternoon (Some of you will ask why is that bad? Because I don’t have anything to do. It’s boring…)

7. Went to my sister’s college to ask some money. After, I rode my bike when I noticed that my bike was very heavy and dragging. My rear tire was flat. :(

8. Went home and decided to clean the whole house by myself with so much optimism. :) (Seriously, this is weird because I’m mostly lazy.)

9. Weeded the front yard and suddenly had blisters, and it popped! My skin burned like hell… :/

10. When I was throwing the weeds away, my favorite and only flip-flops broke. Beyond repair. :(

11. When I took my Physics exam last 5pm. The things I’ve studied didn’t show up. :/

12. I almost crashed head-on with a motorbike. :o

13. I accidentally lost my favorite wallet. With all my pictures and keys. :(