21st Century Woman

It's been 6 months since Gerard started his adventures. He met a lot of people, saw a mountain, crossed a flooded street and ate a lot of desserts. Even though he's not gifted with superior powers like those Autobots and Decepticons, he has the ability to experience human emotions. Despite his lanky plastic figure, quirky music tastes, obsession to lose weight and bulk up, and penchant for fancying celebrities, Gerard still considers himself as, well… a 21st century robot!

21st century robot Gerard met the 21st century woman Samantha Ramos-Zaragoza. She's a young wife, writer, model, and food stylist. She's beautiful and charming. Gerard wondered how she can manage to do all of these stuff and still strike a fierce pose in front of the camera?...does she have super powers?...or maybe she drinks a lot of energy drink?

Gerard also found out that Sam is a cat lover. She has 10 cats. Sam told Gerard that some cats are allergic to their own fur. Gerard wants a pet cat, too! Is there a cat allergic to a robot? 

Sam is also a perfect example of a Southener (someone who lives in the south of Metro Manila like Ayala Alabang). Gerard did a little Q&A:

Gerard: How would you define a Southerner woman?

Sam: She ALWAYS wears comfortable clothes wherever she goes. Especially maxi dresses, sheer tops, white pants, flowy tops paired with black leggings, all-natural accessories (because we're environmental) or pearls and flats. The key is to always wear light, easy-to-wear clothes. *looks at self* Just like what I'm wearing right now.

Gerard: What's a typical day like for Southerners?

Sam: We're very busy. We work during the day, do yoga before lunch, have tea with lady friends, and by lunch we eat at vegetarian restaurants. In the afternoon we walk our dogs (in my case my cats), and a little after that we go to our favorite hang out place: Alabang Town Center.

Gerard: Thanks for the southerner tips. I love how southerners are laid-back and always cheerful!

Sam: Thanks, too! Visit me in the south and I'll bake you carrot cinnamon bread for you. 

fête de la musique 2011

The rainy weather made Gerard sneezy, lazy, and fat. He's glad the typhoon was over...it didn't ruined his weekend gimmick: go to Fete de la Musique*. 

The streets and alleys of Bonifacio High Street were full of people—music lovers, locals, tourists, hipsters, and every kind of music junkie that Gerard could think of. It was a free concert, too! More than 100 Pinoy bands were there, with more than a dozan genres, playing simultaneously in different stages. The Main Stage was located at the Fort Plaza, while the other seven stages were around the Fort Strip area.

Here are Gerard's three favorite performances of the night:

Gerard went first to the main stage where he met Pierre Le Bourdonac, vocalist of the french rock band Merzhin. Pierre is Gerard's first ami francais. They have the same shaved head. He looks like a cross between R.E.M's Michael Stipe and the host of the Crystal Maze. 

It was Gerard's first time to hear french music. He loved it. J'adore! By the end Merzhin's performance, Gerard was saying "bonjour" to greet people, and "au revoir" whenever a friend says goodbye.

Gerard loved the Afro-Brazilian Finale and Escola de Samba de Manila performance directed by Nyko Maca. Every beat of the drums and percussion made Gerard jump and dance like crazy! His arms were swinging non-stop! The girl wearing a fedora hat is Toni Bernardo, the Directoria da Bateria of escola. Gerard wants to be a drum director someday. He wants to buy a white whistle, too! 

Gerard's eyes were glued to the stage when the Samba dancers came dancing onto the stage wearing giant colorful headpieces and began shaking their booty. He panicked a bit when fire dancers started doing their routine. He was worried that the flaming rope might burn or melt him! The heat caused shivers down his metal spine, changing his usual red and green color to white and amber. Good thing he brought a handy fire extinguisher (for his emergency purposes only). 

After the afro-brazilian gig and a few drinks, Gerard transferred to the The Fort Strip where he saw a huge crowd sitting on the ground and chillin'. He particularly liked the Indie/Punk Stage. Kate Torralba's performance was his favorite! She's a great singer and pianist...plus she's cute, too!

And look, Gerard bumped into John Proctor! John is NiMu's former officemate. It's always great to see friends and colleagues having fun on a Saturday night!

Gerard didn't have time to take photos because he was busy getting lost in the moment. There were many bands to watch in one night that Gerard wished he could just multiply like a Gremlin and be everywhere. But even thought he couldn't, he had the most enjoyable time.

Until the next Fete!

* Fete de la Musique refers to a music festival. It aims to showcase the music scene across a variety of genres and generations. Gerard read in Spaceypedia (Robot World's version of Wikipedia...and yup he did a little research) that the festival began in France, but is now an international event.

Rainy Day Playlist

Gerard's been hibernating for almost a week now because of the cold weather and non-stop rainfall. Brrrrrr....

He can't decide, though, if he loves or hates this kind of weather. He hates it because, instead of going out to search for new adventures, he's stuck at home doing boring chores like cleaning his room and organizing his photo album a.k.a Life.

But just like any other sprocket on a rainy day, Gerard loves stay in his metal bunk bed, listen to music, and do NOTHING! That's why he finally came up with his very own 'rainy day playlist.'

Gerard's very own rainy day playlist:

1. Closer - Travis

2. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

3. Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine

4. The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice

5. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival

6. 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

7. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

8. Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson

9. Comfort in your Strangeness - Cynthia Alexander

10. November Rain - Guns N' Roses

11. Gravity - John Mayer

12. Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage

13. Space Between - Dave Matthews Band

14. Lonely Day - Phantom Planet

15. Fix You - Coldplay

16. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

17. Sweet Disposition - Temper Trap

18. Someone Like You - Adele

19. As Long It Matters - Gin Blossoms

20. Take My Picture - Filter

What's your rainy day song?

Gerard's Dad

Things that Daddy Jim taught Gerard:

1. ride a bike

2. play the guitar

3. shine metal screws

4. help defeat King Kupa in Super Mario Brothers on Family Computer

5. paint


Happy Father's Day, guys!



click here to see Gerard's painting.

Letter to NiMu

Nimu was having a rough week. It was like she's walking deep in the forest...it was dark...giant rooks watched her from the dead trees...she hears creatures breathing beneath the shadows and bushes...wild boars ready to attack her.

But a letter gave her hope: 

In the end, the letter brought a smile to Nimu.

Tower Power

One cozy afternoon...

 Leo Lego is Gerard's next door neighbor. He invited Gerard over to his place to play Jenga.

Leo is a structural engineer.

FYI: Leo Lego helped build the Nakagin Capsule Tower* in Tokyo, Japan. Jenga is a tower building game. The game's rule is simple: just stack the blocks into a tower without letting it fall. But who can play a Jenga game better than an engineer, right?

*click the link to see Nakagin Capsule Tower. It looks like giant Jenga tower! Now Gerard is doomed!

HappyNess

One Friday morning, Gerard asked NiMu if he could come along to her office and stay there the whole afternoon. NiMu will agree on one condition: that he'll only eat fishballs for merienda since he's been eating a lot lately. Gerard closed the deal with NiMu who handed him 5 one-peso coins to buy 10 pieces of fishballs.

When they arrived at the office, Gerard was left under the care of Vanessa Gatongay. Ness is a graphic artist and a very cute, happy girl. Nimu said Gerard and Ness are alike—they're both small but have big appetites. Gerard and Ness exchanged stories with about life, dogs and, of course, their favorite food. Gerard was surprised when he found out that it was Ness' last day at the office. Ness said she wants to explore better and greener pastures.

It was already 5 pm. Ness invited Gerard for merienda. Luckily, Manong Fishballs was there waiting for customers. Gerard gave his coins to Manong and happily chowed down the fishballs he bought!

Ness will be surly missed by Nimu...and Gerard as well!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's been raining for two straight days now, and Gerard was getting bored inside his room doing nothing. All he could hear were the raindrops on the roof and his metal stomach grumbling for food. So, with an umbrella on hand, he went out to buy some Aluminum Potchi candies, Steel Piattos, and Oily Royal at the sari-sari store across the street.

To his horror, he was surprised to see that all streets were flooded!!

Gerard must cross the street to buy food. The flood must be 5 inches deep, filled with muck, trash and other unrecognizable gross micro-organisms known to mankind... it's more than enough to drown Gerard, and might make his internal screws rusty, or even cause him robophantitis*!  So he figured he'd make himself a paper boat.

Will the paper boat carry Gerard's weight? Will it help him cross the flood? Will he able to buy and munch Aluminum Potchi Candies? What's underneath the cold, dark-looking flood?

*robophantitis -  enlargement of the internal screws when contaminated water is swallowed . 

Back to School

Gerard always sharpens his pencils every first day of school. Using a big red sharpener, he carefully turns the handle to achieve the perfect point. And even though he's not in school anymore, Gerard still wakes up early on the first Monday of June to sharpen his Mongol #2 pencils.

Happy First Day of School, guys!!

YouTube Apprentice

We all know that Gerard dreams of becoming a YouTube sensation. He posted his dancing video on YouTube, but it only had 4 hits. Pathetic. How could he be discovered by Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah Winfrey? Just when his determined plastic finger was about to press "delete" on the keyboard and erase his video on the internet world forever-- another inspiration came in the form of an odd YouTube star, Roadfill.

Roadfill is the other half of the Pinoy lip-syncing duo, MoyMoy Palaboy. They upload their videos on YouTube and got 5 million hits! Roadfill watched Gerard's dancing video (he's the 4th viewer) and saw potential in Gerard's dancing skills. Luckily, Roadfill's partner, MoyMoy, was busy with work and Roadfill wants to upload a new video...so he asked Gerard to be his new singing and dancing partner. Yaaaahoooo!! Will this be the start of the Roadfill-Gerard fame?

saGuijo Part 3

Gerard realized it's been a month since he last went to saGuijo, so he decided to go there on a Tuesday night. Play4Serve was in-charge—Imago, Shuriken, The ButcherCons, Sandwich and Hijo were there to perform. Gerard missed watching local bands while drinking his favorite beer.

Meet Gerard's new found friends:

Tani Santos (Shuriken, guitars). Gerard asked Tani if he could play with his guitar effects,

Tani said, "SURE YOU CAN!"

Gerard wants to be in a production too. Luckily Revolver Productions' official pimp and gang leader Cris O Ramos, Jr was to there teach him the basics. Cris is always there in saGuijo, holding a cigarette on one hand, and a red horse bottle on the other.

Vocalist of The ButcherCons. His name is Neil....just Neil.

And he's got hair...lots of it.

Vic Mercado (Hijo, drummer), who is very surprised to see Gerard.

Ira Cruz (Hijo, guitars and back-up vocals). Gerard got a bit insecure when he saw Ira. He's an awesome guitarist, and he's good looking too. But Gerard thought "lamang lang siya ng limang paligo sa akin."

saGuijo Part 1, Part 2

Mountain Adventure

Gerard was able to see Mount Makiling for the first time. He braved the province of Laguna to see the magical mountain. He was told that according to legends, the mountain slopes are shaped like that of a woman lying down. It was the profile of the sleeping forest nymph named Maria Makiling.

He hiked the steep trails under the heat of the sun. Then he slowed down to see the beautiful view of the mountain. It was his first time to experience excessive sweating of the armpits or "jabar". Then he remembered the famous basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabar which made him wonder..."jina-jabar din kaya si Kareem Abdul Jabar?"

Upside Down

What would happen if your world is upside down? Gerard wanted to see...so he did a headstand. He did it for like two minutes. He also tried to read words upside down. But before Gerard could say "foot long", he felt his oil rushed to this head and his green face turned red. Poor, Gerard!