For over a year now, Lizz and I have been eating out at least three times a week on the average. Over a nice dinner late last month, we got an idea: hey, we both like to eat and complain, so why don't we start a food blog together?

I have unsophisticated tastes, so instead of the usual 5- or 10-point scales, I suggested a simple system where each food item is either yes, no, or meh. Then we realized that yes/no/meh can pretty much describe everything in the universe, and so the idea for a general review blog was born.

After our usual bouts of procrastination, YesNoMeh.com is finally up, with the new emo vampire movie New Moon as our first item for review. So go, check it out. You can also follow us on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing.

I know, I know... I'm failing miserably with the one blog that I have, so I have to be nuts to start another one. But I think this will work out. I promise to post a real blog entry here soon. Real soon. Really.

Why don't you believe me?

Thanks to Typhoon Ondoy, the Philippines just experienced what some are calling the country's worst flood in 20 years. I've never seen anything like it, and I hope I never do again.

I have to consider myself very lucky though. The worst that happened to me was getting stranded in traffic for a few hours, which is peanuts compared to the plight of those who had to clamber onto their rooftops to wait for rescue boats that never came. Rescue personnel were trying the best that they could with limited resources, so we can't blame them, but here's a big "fuck you" to the government officials who spent our tax money on useless thing like infomercials instead of, I don't know, rubber boats?

The one lesson I took away from all of this is that we can't count on our corrupt and incompetent government to help us--we have to help each other.

So let's help.

See Google's Typhoon Ondoy page for ways to do so, including donation via SMS and PayPal. If you live in Metro Manila, scroll down to the end of the Google page to find a list of places where you can drop off relief goods. I suggest donating useful items like:

- Bottled water
- Canned goods, biscuits, and other food that don't require cooking
- Old clothes
- Blankets
- Flashlights

Give what you can. Every bit helps.

I'm at The Block in SM City North Edsa for a WiFi testing event that started at 1 PM (I got here just before 3--yay for punctuality). We bloggers are supposed to "stress test" the new free WiFi hotspot by liveblogging. Now, two dozen bloggers typing random text doesn't sound like much of a stress test to me, so instead of liveblogging, I've been fooling around. I surfed a bit, watched some YouTube videos, and even tried downloading from BitTorrent. The connection speed is decent--I was pulling around 40 KB/s from a torrent that may or may not be legal. Hey, I could have been downloading the latest Ubuntu release. It's possible.

I don't see many familiar faces around here, probably because it's a workday and most of my blogger friends are at work. I did chat briefly with Carl, who has an interesting new site that I spent quite a few minutes looking at. It has pictures of pretty girls. No boobies though. Boo.

This reminds me... SM is known to have a family-friendly image. They don't even show R-rated movies in their cinemas. So I wonder if their new free WiFi would have filters that prevents people from accessing porn and other good stuff. I'm tempted to load up some porn sites and find out, but there are too many people around, and I don't want to look like a total perv.

Anyway, it's past 5 PM now, and the testing period has officially ended, so my "live blog" wasn't actually live. Yay for procrastination.

NON-LIVE UPDATE: Holy shit! I won a laptop!

I heard that the SM people would be raffling off an Asus laptop after the event. To be honest, that was the only reason I participated. I've never won anything in a raffle before, but I figured that my odds would be good in this one considering the small number of participants (around 30). And I got lucky. Yay!

I'm not sure what I want to do with my shiny new Asus X58Le. The specs look pretty good, but it's big (with the 15.6" screen and all). I have the arms of an 9-year-old girl, and my tiny Asus Eee PC is about the heaviest machine that I can lug around without having to stop and rest every five minutes, so I'm inclined to sell this new one. Anyone interested?

In a few hours, I'll be going on a three-day trip to Subic, which, according to every weather forecast I can find, will be rain-drenched until November. Crap. Oh well, at least I wouldn't have to bring sunblock.

Anyway, iBlog5 is happening this Saturday, and as much as I want to, I won't make it back in time to attend. I went to iBlog3 and iBlog4, and both boosted this website's traffic (at least temporarily). I think that's thanks to the open mic sessions during iBlog's breaks when anyone can go up to the mic and promote a blog.

I was hoping that Philos or ArsenaL can go and plug chickenmafia.com, but they both can't make it. I need someone else to do the shameless plugging. Can that someone else be you? Yes, you.

Of course, I don't think any of you love us enough to do it for free. So here's my offer: the first person to go up to the mic and mention chickenmafia.com will get a cool and possibly low-quality Chicken Mafia T-shirt from me. The winner can pick any design (perhaps from one of our lovely chicken cartoons) as long as it's not too hard to draw and can fit into a 8"x10" rectangle.

So do it. Embarrass yourself in front of two hundred people in the name of the Chicken Mafia. You don't even have to be a fan of this site. I don't care if you're just doing it to score a free shirt. Do it! And if you manage to do it before anyone else does, send me a private message and claim your prize.

I'll see you kids at iBlog6.

The other day, I went down to World Trade Center Metro Manila to check out the Manila International Auto Show. Like most guys, I enjoy looking at nice cars and hot car show babes. But the highlight of the day turned out to be the stunt show of famous British precision driver Russ Swift. Yeah, I'd never heard of him before either.

The crowd was lethargic at first, probably because the emcee of the event was a loud and annoying douchebag. But Russ Swift quickly won us over when he came out and started doing his stuff. My favorite was the parallel parking stunt--it was freaking amazing. Or maybe I was just impressed because I suck at parallel parking. Anyway, I captured some of the stunts on my crappy phone. Watch and judge for yourself.

(Yeah, I know, the video is tiny. I couldn't figure out how to convert the clips from my phone properly. Boo.)

Russ Swift will perform a few more times this afternoon (April 5, 2009), so head over to WTC Manila if you can.

(Yeah, I know, I should have posted this earlier. Too bad.)

Next week, if I don't feel too lazy, I'll post some pictures from the Manila International Auto Show. I'll also tell you about my electric car test drive experience. Spoiler: it was lame.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf invited bloggers to an event last Wednesday. See L-Robot's report for a recap.

The event was the launch of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's innovative holiday charity program. Well, it's not really that innovative--my sister told me that Starbucks is running a similar program. But I prefer the taste of Coffee Bean products, so... screw Starbucks and whatever charities they're supporting.

The mechanics for the Coffee Bean program are fairly simple. Just get a stamp card from them and buy the 12 cups of coffee indicated on the card on or before January 18, 2009. You get a stamp for each purchase, and once you fill up all 12 boxes on the card, Coffee Bean donates money in your name to a charity of your choice--as long as you choose from their list of advocacy groups: Kababaihan Gabay ng Bayan, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Bahay Tuluyan, PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center, Haribon Foundation, Cartwheel Foundation, Caritas, Kythe, Autism Society, Philippine Cerebral Palsy Inc., Philippine Band of Mercy, and Help Resources for the Blind.

If the karma points you gain from giving to charity aren't enough to satisfy you (you selfish ass), you also get a nice limited edition Coffee Bean notebook for free. Um, does anyone not see the irony of giving away free notebooks while you support a group that advocates against deforestation? But hey, the notebooks are pretty, so I'll give them a pass.

There's also a special challenge for hardcore caffeine addicts. If you manage to fill up 12 cards and donate to all 12 charities before the promo period ends, you get free coffee for a year. Yay! That's a great reward provided that you don't die from caffeine overdose first--144 cups of coffee in two months is... a lot.

Still, free coffee for a year sounds good. Go for it, people.

Congratulations to Charlotte Marie for winning a bag from Bratpack and to Charm for winning a Wii party package from Red Box. Check your email for instructions on how to claim your prizes from GeiserMaclang.

Philos and Chinesemafia helped me pick the winners using the Borda count method. The results were far from unanimous, and several other entries got significant amount of votes, so don't feel too bad if you didn't win.

I want to thank the following people for participating: Ade, Tiffy, Rowena, Tricia, Roanne, Jenny, Franny, Kevin, and Mark (who submitted a good but late entry).

... party package for five from Red Box! What, you think we can afford to give out a shiny new Nintendo Wii? Of course not. But seriously, an evening spent at Red Box playing the Wii with four of your friends is almost as good as owning a Wii, except for the part where you have to wake up the next morning Wii-less and feeling empty inside.

We'll get to the contest mechanics soon, but first, let me tell you how much I love the Wii. I've only tried it out a few times (at the Red Box Wii Night and at Philos's brother's "bachelor party"--in quotes because a bachelor party without a stripper isn't a real bachelor party), but I already love it to bits. It's the most innovative gaming console ever, and the Wiimote makes everything feels more fun. Plus I kick ass at Wii Tennis. Well, maybe not, but at least I kicked Philos's ass.

Red Box has been around for quite a while as a karaoke place, which means that I never gave much of a crap about it. But now, the Wii is available in their rooms for just an additional 99 pesos per head. Now I'm considering throwing a Wii party at Red Box for my next birthday.

You can throw your own Wii party too if you win our contest (sponsored by Red Box and GeiserMaclang). All you have to do is leave a comment telling us which Wii game character you are and why before November 15, 2008. Be sure to include your real email address with your comment so that we can contact you later. The funniest commenter wins a Wii party package for five people.

This contest is open to anyone who has four friends and can get to Red Box (branches in Greenbelt and Trinoma). Just like our last contest, members of the Chicken Mafia blog team along with their family members and girlfriends and pets can't win... sorry, Chewie (that's Lizzy's new puppy).

Tired of "contests" that don't let you win anything? Here's a real contest brought to you by Bratpack and GeiserMaclang.

Joining is easy. Just post a funny story involving you and a bag in the comments section here on or before November 14, 2008. Be sure to include your real email address with your comment so that we can contact you later. The person with the best story will get one of these three bags from Bratpack:

JanSport

A Backpack that is well loved by many, which evolved into a modern hippie bag. JanSport is largely associated with contemporary art and supports one's artistic individuality.

Hedgren

A bag intended for the young female urban achiever. Hedgren bags manifests that real style never shouts.

Timbuktu

One of the premium laptop/messenger bags out in the market today. It is made of sturdy materials which make it a perfect companion for traveling outdoors and in wear and tear situations.

This contest is open to anyone willing to go all the way to Makati to claim the prize. If you can't or don't want to do that but still want to share your story, please say so in your comment.

To avoid conflict of interest, members of the Chicken Mafia blog team along with their family members and girlfriends and pets can't win the contest.