EJ Padero dot Com: Volume 1

At any gas station, usually:

Candy: Reese’s, Toblerone, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate.

Not candy (debatable): Frenzy orange and mint, Trust strawberry, Okamoto silk.

Commemorated Araw ng Kagitingan (April 9) a week early by driving up Mt. Samat in Pilar, Bataan and checking out the Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor) World War II Memorial. The mountain itself rises almost 2,000 feet (610 meters) above sea level at its peak. Here, the Memorial Cross makes this strategic vantage point even more commanding – or acrophobic:

The Memorial Cross is a towering structure of steel and reinforced concrete with an elevator and viewing gallery (arm of the cross). The height of the Cross is 92 meters (302 feet) from the base. The height of the arms is 74 meters (243 feet) from the base. The length of the arm is 30 meters (15 meters on each side). The viewing gallery is 18 by 90 foot with a 7-foot clearance.

The fact that my grandfather, who was a Captain in the engineering core of the “Fighting” 41st Division during the war, was among those who valiantly defended Bataan until it fell, then suffered the infamous Bataan Death March and the POW Camp O’Donnel in Capas, Tarlac (and survived!) will always be a personal source of pride and inspiration for bravery*, honor, duty, and the will to survive.

He defined their main activities in the engineering core as basically either, “building things or blowing them up.”

Photos of the Memorial Cross and War Museum after the jump.

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Welcome to EJ Padero dot Com! It took me a decade to decide on this and finally push through with it.

Easter 2007: Somewhere in Tagaytay, Batangas

From the raw, html-coded, and not very flattering beginnings of my first geeky homepage named My Dom@in at the old GeoCities community website ten years ago, I’ve been through a bunch of other personal website themes/layouts (EJ’s Notebook, Grayscale, ejpadero.heyey.com, and Wasapers) and various web hosts (Tripod, Heyey!, and FiestaHosting) since. Who hasn’t? There have also been some websites I’ve helped out with for some nice people.

This domain is where I hope to settle and build my own mini empire online, for keeps.

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Here’s a take on the film adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300 that has been circulating via e-mail:

Di kinaya ng powers ko ang kahotness ng movieness na itetch! It’s raining men! (halleluya)! like go go go mga anik anik at ang mga mudra mega tarush ang haba ng hair production number clothing designer eklavu powerness! kaboom!

It’s like go papa spartans! go delisyus fighting karne! i get so weak in the knees i can’t hardly breathe go go go! spapartans make bugbog the evil persia! make warla the queen xerxes.

At antarush naman ng lolaaaaaa xerxes mooooooo! nagmamaasim ang fingerlets ng hinawakan si spapartan head papa! ang entrance pang vilma with matching solid gold dancers itetch! with diamente ala maricel! wiiinnneeeeeer! ang eye brows ha! mega shoot to the stratosphere sa katarushan!

Ang warlahan ditetch daig pa ang rineregla sa dami ng vlood! at ang nacut neck na cutie spartan… nag cryola aketch! di kinaya ng emoticons ko ang death by tamponess ng cutie spartan. huhuhu.

I’m sure proud si musra ricky dahil ang ganduuuuuuuuh talaga ng movieng itetch. like super mega walang halong chorva!

PERO LYER SILA! binilang ko ang mga papa… di umabot ng 300. 127 lang ang mga spapartans! etchos!

O, ha! Panalo, de vah?

Tonight, we dine in Sbarro!