Revisiting The Hundred Islands

Note: prices are as of the time of the writing of the article

It has been more than twenty years since I've been to The Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan. Years ago, there were still islands which you would consider as untouched. They were simply islands that your boat lands on, and you're pretty much on your own. If you didn't bring a tent with you, you'ld have to sleep under the stars. And there were no portable toilets on the island, so you would have to find an area where you could pee or poop privately.

Now, there are stores on the island and portable toilets. Some vendors will even offer to cook crabs for you at 300 pesos a kilo. And most of the islands that have beaches you can land on have some kind of cemented wall stating the name of the island. Some islands now have lights powered by solar panels. Some have concrete cottages that you have to rent for 600 pesos. Some islands have zip lines so that you could travel from one to the other. The islands now also have a marshal. And I guess the biggest change for me was the statue of Christ which can be seen from the Alaminos port.

There are so many people now. It might be because everyone was on vacation during the Holy Week. But it is hard to appreciate a beach when there are a group of people every ten feet. Years ago, we only shared a whole island with one or two families.

The boat ride now has a flat fee of 1400 pesos plus 80 pesos per head. There were five of us so we had to pay 1800. The trip from the Alaminos port to one of the nearer islands would probably be about an hour away. And you have to make sure you take a trip early in the morning. By 3 p.m., the port refuses to give boarding passes to tourists because the waves can become too dangerous for travelling.

I asked our boatman how long he had been doing his job for a living. He said that he stated out when he was 17 years old and now, he is 55 years old. I asked him if he ever got tired of it. He said that it helps feed his family, and that tourism is only viable from December to May. He fishes for the other months of the year.

I wonder if the government can help out these boatmen by providing them with solar panels and electric motors for their boats. That way, they could save on the cost of diesel or gasoline fuel. I've seen a diesel motor boat in Venice converted to a solar powered electric motor.

We only spent a few hours on the island unlike before when we slept on the island. A vacation that is full of stress isn't a vacation at all. Perhaps the 2000 plus pesos we spent could be better used on a hotel room with hot water, air-condition, cable TV, wifi and a swimming pool.

John Mayer's Still Feel Like Your Man Chords

Here's my chord attempt at Still Feel Like Your Man by John Mayer. Hope you like it.

Intro
I still feel like your man
I still feel like your man
I still feel
I still feel
I still feel like your man

Stanza Pattern
DM7                            A7sus
The prettiest girl in the room she wants me
DM7                            A7sus
I know because she told me so
DM7                            A7sus
She says come over
DM7                            A7sus
I'd like to get to know you But I just don't think I can

Chorus Pattern
         Em Asus - A
'Cause I still feel like your man
F#7                    Bm7 - A
Still feel like your man
Em Asus - A
I still feel like your man
F#7                       Bm7 - A (DM7 - A7sus transition to stanza)
Still feel like your man I still feel like your man

Stanza Pattern
DM7                            A7sus
I still keep your shampoo in my shower
DM7                            A7sus
In case you wanna wash your hair
DM7                            A7sus
And I know that you probably found yourself someone somewhere
DM7                            A7sus
But I do not really care      'Cause as long as it is there

Chorus Pattern
         Em Asus - A
'Cause I still feel like your man
F#7                    Bm7 - A
Still feel like your man
Em Asus - A
I still feel like your man
F#7                       Bm7 - A       (DM7 - A7sus transition to stanza)
Still feel like your man I still feel like your man

Bridge

Ebma9 Bbma7sus2
-----      -----
e x          x
B 6         1
G 7         2
D 5         0
A 6         1
E x         x

Ebma9 Bbma7sus2
Still like the letters in your name and how they feel, babe
Ebma9 Bbma7sus2
Still think I'm never gonna find another you
Ebma9 Bbma7sus2
Still like to leave the party early and go home, babe
Ebma9
And don't you know, babe
A - Asus - A (repeatedly)
I'd rather sit here on my own and be alone, babe

Chorus Pattern
         Em Asus - A
'Cause I still feel like your man
F#7                    Bm7 - A
Still feel like your man
Em Asus - A
I still feel like your man
F#7                       Bm7 - A (DM7)
Still feel like your man I still feel like your man

Front Panel Headphone Audio Jack Not Working on Neutron Ion casing

Had a faulty tower power switch so I headed over to PC Express to see if they had parts for the tower's front panel. It turns out, you have to buy a new casing even if the faulty part is only the switch. So I asked for the cheapest available computer casing and they offered the Neutron Ion 1022qm. The price was 1,080 pesos. And it had no warranty. This was the first item I ever purchased from PC Express without a warranty. My spider senses were tingling. But being low on funds, I purchased it anyway.

Had to transfer everything from my old tower into the new tower except for the power supply, since the case came with a 700 Watt one. After plugging in the mobo, with CPU and RAM, I tried to power it on, and the tower was running properly. That solved the power switch issue. Plugged in the HD, DVD Drive, and LAN card. All is still good. Tested the USB ports. Still good.

So I thought that everything was working properly until I tried playing music. I got a speaker icon with a red circle and white x mark at the bottom right corner of my screen. It was saying I had bad drivers installed, which did not make sense since I didn't do an OS re-installation. So I checked the front panel audio connections and to make a long story short, the new casing came with Legacy AC'97 compliant pins for the audio connection while my motherboard already supported an HD-audio compliant configuration. So after searching for a solution on YouTube, it turns out, I had to re-install my audio drivers using my motherboard's drivers and utilities CD and make sure that Realtek HD Audio Manager is installed. To find this program once you finish re-installing your audio drivers, just go to Control Panel and make sure you are viewing Large Icons.

Once Realtek HD Audio Manager is installed, click on the screw driver icon for Connector settings and then check Disable front panel jack detection. Also click on the gear icon for Device advanced settings and check Mute the rear output device when a front headphone plugged in.

Finally try plugging in your headphones on either the headphone jack or the mic jack at the front of the tower. I don't know if this is an isolated case, but my headphones worked when I plugged them at the microphone jack. I don't have a mic so I haven't tested if a mic will work at the headphone jack. Hope this helps out other people who might have purchased a Neutron Ion casing.

Can You Name This Plant? (8th of hopefully many)

Here's another one.

Can You Name This Plant? (7th of hopefully many)

Here's another one.

Can You Name This Plant? (6th of hopefully many)

Here's another one.

Can You Name This Plant? (5th of hopefully many)

Here's another one.