Lately I've had nothing but this song on my mind, probably due to my present state of mellowed melancholia.

Labis na naiinip
Nayayamot sa bawat saglit
Kapag naaalala ka
Wala naman akong magawa...

Umuwi ka na baby
Di na ako sanay ng wala ka
Mahirap ang mag-isa
At sa gabi'y hinahanap hanap kita...

Hanggang kailan ako maghihintay
Na makasama kang muli
Sa buhay kong puno ng
Paghihirap
At tanging ikaw lang ang
Pumapawi sa mga luha at
Naglalagay ng ngiti sa mga labi...

Di mapigilang mag-isip
O baka sa tagal
Mahulog ang loob mo sa iba
Nakaka balisa
Knock on wood wag naman sana...

Umuwi ka na baby
Di na ako sanay ng wala ka
Mahirap ang mag-isa
At sa gabi'y hinahanap hanap kita...

Hanggang kailan ako maghihintay
Na makasama kang muli
Sa buhay kong puno ng
Paghihirap
At tanging ikaw lang ang
Pumapawi sa mga luha
Naglalagay ng ngiti sa mga labi...

- Orange and Lemons, "Hanggang Kailan"
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I remember the times when I absolutely regretted buying my Adidas Samba Millenniums back when I was still in Santa Monica.



These were the fruit of effort to buy badminton shoes in the US. How misguided I was to think I'd find anything there (the same goes for Gundam model kits). Luckily these gum-soled Sambas were built for indoor soccer or futsal, so they're at least as functional, if not as thin-soled as proper gum-soled badminton shoes.

I was excited to take them out for a test walk at the Getty Center. Midway through our visit however, my right Achilles' tendon was getting very sore. I was getting tendinitis from the rear of the shoe that's unusually high. It was digging into my right Achilles' tendon with every step I took. The funny shoelaces also had the habit of undoing themselves because of lack of friction, and my soles complained of poor arch support.

I stuck with them though. I made it a habit of bending the offending rear part of the shoe backwards so that it's not so stiff and develops a bit of give, to avoid giving me tendinitis. Luckily it's made of leather, so after a few weeks it was okay. The arch support problem went away as I broke the shoe in, and I discovered it's a pretty good shoe for doing heel-and-toe. Shame about these stupid laces though.

With my Puma Speed Cats having had their share of leather damage, I've been wearing my Samba Millenniums almost everyday.
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Here are some pictures of my not-so-recent-anymore model works. It just so happened I posted them here just now.

Here's the MG Zeta Plus A1, the mass-produced cousin of the Zeta Gundam from the Model Graphix photo novel "Gundam Sentinel."




And here's my birthday present this year, the MG Wing Gundam ver.Ka.




As you can see, I have a fondness for transforming mobile suits.