Black or White

The King of Pop is back. How does the African-American community felt about Michael Jackson's decision of becoming white? That's what I'm thinking before when I'm being so ignorant of what really happened to Michael Jackson. People should know the real story first before giving their disrespectful prejudices. You should know that Michael Jackson had been diagnosed with Vitiligo and this caused the depigmentation of his skin. See this video on youtube > Michael Jackson ~ Vitiligo clips
I saw last night on TV, Kimora Lee Simons said that her hand painted ceiling of angels will be changed because all of those angels are white. She didn't say that she'll replace it with black angels though. I don't understand the wars between black and white. As for me, I'm always in the middle, hehe..


Black Or White - Michael Jackson

The Fruits of Our Labor

The Fruits of Our Labor. Hard Work Never Tasted So Good. "Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!" After a battle week of getting Clarence become used to his newly owned bedroom, we're now harvesting the fruits of it. My wife and I enjoyed every minute of her rest days, every night one or two movies are being peacefully watched by us. Clarence now sees the authorities in us and I'm so proud of him because he responsibly dealt with it really really good. We're all happy, less stress but more caress (If you know what I mean). My wife and I were able to talk as much as we wanted now that Clarence has his own room. There are still a lot of things to know more from each of us eventhough we've been together for almost 9 years (counting our gf-bf time). I love her so much and I wanted her to know that I appreciate all the things she's doing for our relationship. This song is dedicated to her.

think im in love again -

Here I go again, drifting on my own feet
Lately it seems I've been, being old foolish me
Mumble when I try to talk, stumble when I try to walk
Like I'm in a state of shock when I'm with you.

Here I go again, looking just like a clown
Everything I say is wrong whenever you're around
Somehow I got kind a shy and I can't look you in the eye
I come all apart inside when I'm with you.

Chorus:
Think I'm in love again, grinning that silly grin
Look what a fool I've been, think I'm in love again
Lately I lost my mind and I do it everytime
(Guess/Yes) I know all the signs of being in love.

I won't lie to you, I've been in love before
But I think that you're the one that I've been waiting for
Been around I'll admit, but this time all the pieces fit
Something tells me this is it, when I'm with you.

Lorie, if you happen to read this, i want you to know how much I treasure you in my life. You're one of the reasons I enjoy living my life. I love you so much. I know I will always fall for you. I'll make sure to be here beside you every step of the way.

The Oscars 2009

The film industry's biggest stars have gathered in Hollywood for the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony, recognizing the year's top movies and movie makers. The Oscars is tonight, February 22nd 2009, Live 5PT/8ET at abc.

Nominees are:
Actor in a leading role:
Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn - MILK
Brad Pitt = THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke - THE WRESTLER

Actress in a leading role:
Anne Hathaway - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie - CHANGELING
Melissa Leo - FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep - DOUBT
Kate Winslet - THE READER

Best Picture:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Separate bedroom for toddler

Here in MD, they require 2 year-old toddler to have a separate bedroom, thus, when we looked for a new apartment we have no choice but to get 2 bedroom unit because of our toddler. As of the moment, there’s no available 2 bedroom in our apartment complex that’s why we’re still stuck in our very first lease (1 bedroom since when we applied for this before, my son was just 11 months old then) I remember the transitions that took place in times when we get Clarence his bed.. From crib, during his infant stage, to cradle, then toddler bed and now queen size bed.!! Could you imagine that? I’ll tell you later why. I’m 100% agree in the idea of separating the kids from the parents’ bedroom because it teaches child to be independent. Sooner or later, my son will need to be in the school class room all by himself with other kids and he needs to be brave in facing that challenge. Clarence became used in sleeping by my side since my wife is working at night. I thought, we’re just two in the house and we both don’t want to be alone during the whole night, that’s why I allowed that kind of sleeping routine. At first, it felt wonderful because it made the bond between us as parent to child really strong. He always looks for me and most of the time preferred to be with me than his mom. Then little by little, time after time, I observed the negative consequences it brings, not only to him but for us. He doesn’t want to be alone in a room, not a single second. He always asked either me or my wife just to be with him to whatever he wanted to do, to the littlest thing he can think of. When it’s my wife’s rest day, we can’t get to ourselves alone because my son always wanted to sleep in between us. In his playgroup activities at school, I noticed that he’s hesitant to mingle with other kids unless I held his hands. To this, we came up to a decision to give him a bedroom of his own. Before, his toddler bed was also in our bedroom but it became useless since he tend to transfer in our bed during sleep time.

Last Thursday, we did some home makeovers, we folded and hid his toddler bed and gave to him instead our queen size bed. Now my wife and I are using the sofa bed in the living room. We put all his toys, books and learning materials in his bedroom so he’ll somehow feel that he owns something and he can tell that it’s his place. His territory. The first night was extremely painful, emotional, heart-breaking, irritating and tiring. It took more than 4 hours of struggle, crying, pleading, bargaining, arguing (me and my wife), and a lot lot more. Clarence almost lost his voice in crying out loud, we didn’t mind if he’s disturbing Mr. Grumpy Old man upstairs because we are strict to our plan even if it did bring us a lot of pain. Well, we have to be consistent, our son’s welfare is at stake when we give up. I’m proud of my wife because whatever I say to her to break her up, she won’t listen and instead gave me a realization of what’s best for all of us. Our strategy was just to stay at the bedroom’s door to let Clarence know that we’re still there but not joining him in bed, since it's his first night. Explaining to him that we already have our own bed in the living room and the big bed is now his. Now is the third night, I can say that there’s a progress since he can now sleep without his body trying to touch and look for mine. I can now little by little, leave the bedroom's door. But it took me 3 hours tonight before he finally gave up. What did you know??, it’s 1:38 am now and he’s sound asleep, how about me? I can’t get my sleep back anymore that’s why I’m now blogging hehe.. One more thing, whenever he cries for my name, I never showed up because he's using his cry to get my attention and make me go back inside the bedroom and when he goes out the bed, I put him and tuck him back in his bed then gave a command to lie down, close his eyes and sleep.. I hope the following days will be a success for us… to make him independent and for us to get our love life back hehe…

Benefits of playgroup

Yesterday was somewhat special for us because Clarence turned 2 years and 10 months old. We were able to spend our day going to his ABC class field trip in Baltimore’s National Aquarium. We really felt that we did the best thing in registering Clarence in school programs like this because of all the benefits he and “us” can get. I also have to say that all of these classes are free of charge. He started attending playgroups/classes when he was just 2. Aside from ABC class, he also attends Infants and Toddlers. When my wife and I were talking, we recalled being enrolled in school at the age of 6 or 7 and we say, wow! This boy is so blessed.. hehe.. His teachers are great. They are evaluating Clarence developments, to know where we need to concentrate more in our parenting. He’s also starting to build confidence in his self because of all the social activities he gets in dealing with other kids. If you ask for the admission fee, you will say it’s worth the money. I acknowledged the men and women who maintain, keep and make the place worth visiting. By the way we did not spend a single penny for this trip for it’s all free for the ABC class.

Cost: Dolphin Show & Admission to Aquarium
Adult (Ages 12-59) $27.95
Children (Ages 3-11) $17.95

We saved $55.90

Here’s a video of our trip. It’s really unbelievable how they can manage to feed and maintain all the animals here.



Aquarium Trip - ezekiel

Happy Valentine

Happy Valentine to all. Before thinking of becoming sweet on this day, you may want to know the Peanut recall news first. Chocolates containing peanuts that are contaminated with salmonella could still be somewhere else. You might have bought them before and just sitting in your pantry, it could be on sale to some of your local stores or might as well has been imported in your place. The key is to be aware and find out if what you had are in the list of the products being recalled. Thinking of making your partner feel special is good but poisoning or making her ill will be a disaster. I believe ladies prefer flowers instead since most of them are now conscious about their figure.

Try checking on this list > http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2009/2009typhe.shtml .Remember that the list can still be subject for updates for there are products that are still under investigation.

Watch this video, victim of peanut butter crackers.

TV or PC

Do you know that you can also watch TV programs or even movies online? but beware of the risks in visiting some sites you don't really know because some of them might contain hidden viruses and redirecting porn sites. Some antivirus softwares can easily identify if a site is safe or not, so it's better to check on them first before browsing a site. It could also help if you clear your Internet Explorer's or Firefox' cache.

Green means Go!

WASHINGTON (January 26, 2009) -- President Obama took swift action on the environment and energy this morning by supporting state efforts to limit emissions, and increase fuel efficiency.

How can you help in preserving the environment? I don't know about you, but me, in my own little ways, I believe I contribute somehow. I collected all the magazines, mails and other paper stuffs that are not useful to me and put them all in the recycle tank I found near the church where I go to. I'm reusing plastic bags. I preferred to use a drinking glass rather than plastic / styro cups. I don't smoke. I buy local products so as not to support products imported from far places that cost much fuel in getting in our place. I buy organic fruits and vegetables for they were grown without pesticides that are harmful to both human and environment.

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's New Year again?? It's Chinese New Year!! January 26th of 2009.. bye rat! hello ox!
The Ox conveys prosperity through qualities of fortitude and hard work. A stable, fearless and friendly animal, the Ox is calm, patient and tireless, enduring difficulties without complaint. Those born in the Year of the Ox are believed to be born leaders with a hard-wired ability to achieve great things, they know they will succeed through hard work and sustained effort and find no truth or benefit in concocting get-rich-quick schemes.

Famous Year of the Ox births include:
Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, and President Barack Obama.

YEARS OF THE OX: 1901/1913/1925/1937/1949/1961/1973/1985/1997 and 2009

Obama's Inauguration

President Obama dances with the first lady at the Home State Ball.

Baraks meets Ate Glow(in Manila)

Skittles Commercial 2009- Reflect the Rainbow (Mirror)

Skittles Commercial- Have you ever thought when you are being tailored to fit a new suit, each mirror brings a different perspective of your life? Well, this guy had one perspective where Skittles was very important. One perspective was African-American, the other perspective was Hispanic, and the other one was Asian, Filipino to be exact. The language spoken in the mirror is Tagalog, but the Tailor is speaking Thai.

This video is owned by Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. This video can be removed by the request of 2009 Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates. Thank you!!

I can translate the Tagalog but not the Thai. The Filipino in the mirror is reasoning out that he's hungry that's why he's eating. The rest of what he said during the fight, that, I can't understand anymore.. I just found myself laughing at it.

Dneero Surveys

SpitzTunes -- Right Direction!

Many have asked "Who is Spitz?" Just a Panama City Beach guy, making my way through life. I look back at my time on the radio, in a truck, on the b-ball court, lovin', drinkn', .... and I ask if I've been going in the right direction ... I think so, but I'm not there yet ... looking forward to the rest of it!

Green, Green, and More Green

"You've been meaning to do it -- start a compost pile, buy recycled paper, trade in that pollution-spewing gas guzzler for a cleaner, more fuel-efficient model -- but you've never quite gotten around to it. Well, there's no better time than the present to begin turning your environmental ideals into environmental action." (Natural Resources Defense Council - NRDC)

Our Little Big Secret

I can’t get weary watching all my son’s pictures and videos. Every night, I play them over and over again. It’s worth watching and spending my sleep time since it gives me a sense of relaxation. As I go over it, there was one time I videotaped the two of us learning some letters from the alphabet. In myself, I'm sort of feeling proud for all the things I've taught him in his early age. As I can recall, I think that was 2 months ago, the winter hits us with colds and cough and I had to bring my wife in Patient’s First. That’s also the time we already taught our son about sizes, big and little. He can easily verify if what he sees belongs to a big group or to a little group. Like Big “A” (upper case A) to little “a” (lower case a) or an elephant to an ant. You may ask, what’s the connection? This is how it goes.. when we arrived at Patient’s First, we had to wait for our turn for there were so many sick people who registered before us. I decided to go outside just by the door with my son to keep him away from getting germs inside. My son was so friendly then, he greeted ‘hi’ to everyone who goes in and out of the door. Until there’s a woman who I believed has a weight of between 240-250 lbs approaching the door, my son who saw her afar, pointed his finger like he’s identifying something specific and told me repeatedly, “Big!... Big!... Big!” My eyes got bigger! I don’t know what to do, I didn’t know that he will use those words to people. As the woman gets closer to us, I tried to distract him and divert his attention to something else. I was so worried that the woman might hear him. Quickly, me, not used to do it, opened the door for her to let her in, in as fast as she could possibly be. I almost wanted to push her in, I just said “good morning” to supersede my son’s talk. After that, I took a long breath, whew! I tried to explain to my son that what he did was not a nice thing to do. I can’t blame him, he's innocent about it since he’s just telling what he learned. I might somewhat confused him though, because I did not tell him my praise “Good Job!” that time as what I always do whenever he’s right in identifying big and little things he pointed.. haha I wonder what reaction would the woman be if I did that. From there on, we're careful on the things we teach him, there's always an exception.

New Year's Kaput

I know this is late but I just want to share what kind of new year we had in here last New Year’s eve. In relation to my last blog, about being grumpy, I remember the old man living upstairs of our apartment, I’ll tell you the story about it. I don't know if most people here are not really into Christmas or New Year celebrations because as I observed, they are not really giving much attention to it. Thanksgiving is what they valued most. It's very unlikely in the Philippines, our home town. During these times of the year, families and friends are getting together, workers and students are having their Christmas breaks to celebrate with their loved ones. Food is always present both in Christmas and New Year’s eves. This is not just for the family to enjoy but also to symbolize abundance for the coming New Year. Firecrackers, some great fireworks, and loud music from radio will be heard when 12:00am of the 31st of December approaches. When I was a kid, I used my coin bank and torotot (toy trumpet or horn) in creating noise. It's really loud during New Year ’s Eve in the Philippines, everywhere you go, your ears will not find rest. You can't even hear your own voice because of all the loudness around you. They say that the loud noise will make bad spirits go away and leave along with the old year. We really missed the joy and gladness the season brings in the Philippines. Who said that we can’t bring it here? You will see in our video how happy we were, I put on a little loud music in my computer to give the New Year a spirited welcome. My speaker has its own woofer that’s why you can really feel how lively the music was. That was the very first time I did a loud music (just a little loud actually), I believe it won’t hurt since it’s New Year anyways. But I’m so wrong! Not more than 30 minutes, Mr. Grumpy Old Man from upstairs knocked on our door and said, “Would you mind turning down your radio, it’s really annoying up there!” Eventually, I already turned it off even before he asked for it because we’re about to say our prayer, I said “Oh, I’m so sorry, we already had it off”, he replied, don’t be sorry just turn it down” with a commanding voice like a father to a kid. I’m tempting to say, “By the way, Happy New Year!!” but he already went upstairs. Geez! I thought, it’s just one night and that was my very first time to have the music on! And there’s actually a reason for that music, so inconsiderate!!! It ruined the joy of the night. It made us feel that we did something wrong. My wife said that we should not let that incident affect our happiness. We ended up watching TV while enjoying our food. I wish and pray that Mr. Grumpy will find happiness in his heart so that he will not be so difficult to deal on, having him as a neighbor. Happy New Year to all!!!

new year 2009 - ezekiel

By the way, I found great music playlists from imeem.com. How about you? What kind of music do you prefer?

Righteous church goers

It’s Sunday. We always wanted to go to church every Sundays but sometimes we are making up tons of reasons that made us fail to do it. But today is different, despite of my wife’s tiredness from her night duty, she still insisted to go to church. It’s not just the responsibility as Catholics that prompted us to go but also our willingness to be with the Lord. Some will say that wherever you are, Lord is there, yes, that’s true, but giving up some of your time to dress up, walk a little and visit the church make a real difference. It’s somehow a way of sacrificing some of your precious time and moment to be with the Lord for His honor.

It’s not new to me to see kids inside the church. Some are really adorable and quiet but most are too terrible in their behavior. I remember during my bachelor days, I easily annoyed with the kids crying, playing, running and even eating inside the church. In myself, I said, parents of these kids should be ashamed since they are allowing these kids to do things that are unacceptable inside the church, don’t they know that church should be kept in its solemnity. I even look at them, in my eyes it’s like I’m saying… keep your kid quiet or go out with your kid or just pleeease do something.. sometimes, I stared at the kid’s cookie giving the impression “do they supposed to eat here? Where are their manners? They’re teaching their kids the wrong way.” Hahaha.. That was really an immature, insensitive part of me. Well, that was way way back before.. Things become different, Now, I’m one of those parents. We’re so cautious of those insensitive eyes. I can still see myself in those people who don’t understand what parents are going through inside the church with their kids. I may say that these people might still be single and living all alone by themselves, no experience with kids yet, or they are really strict-to-rules types or just grumpy. Well, if you belong with these kinds of people as I used to be.. Here are the reasons I can give as a parent from my own experience, why of all the approaches available we still can’t prevent some unacceptable kids’ behavior. First, because they are kids – that’s how they supposed to behave, you know.. little attention span, more play less pray.. kid stuffs like that. Second, bringing toys or food for them is for the benefit of the majority.. we wanted them to stay quiet and in their proper places for them not to disturb others through running, crying aloud and making noise. And Last, if we can just entrust our kids to someone while we are in church, we’ll do it, but in our situation, it’s just the three of us living in the house, no relatives in the area and friends were also busy working out their own lives. We also wanted our child to recognize our spiritual way of living. That’s WHY! Hehe.. don’t be so cranky, instead of giving us a look, why don’t you try helping us, or just smiled on us, telling us that you do understand what we’re going through. Anyway, the Lord definitely understands the children as His words say..

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
—Mark 10:13-16

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Merry Christmas to All!!!

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When was the last time you had a date?

Has anyone heard of Desi? You might ask what does this mean. It can also be said as Deshi. They are actually the beautiful people of South Asian heritage, from either Pakistan, India, or Bangladesh. I got to know this from the internet, eager to know how they can be referred since we have nice friends from those countries mentioned. Yesterday, we had a social gathering sponsored by our Apartment’s leasing office; they called it “Residents Holiday Brunch”. Even if I’m not a party-goer, I thought that it’s a good opportunity to meet other people. You don’t live just by yourself, you know. Also, I believe that it’s also a part of our social duty to go out and mingle with others. I remember my college friends used to go out just to meet hot girls in night parties. In the apartment’s function room, with my wife and kid, I was able to meet the husband of our good friend and neighbor, Liza (not her true name). We’ve known Liza not for so long but we sure are good friends already. We both have a toddler that’s why we can relate to each other’s life situation. I always love to meet her husband but we don’t really get a chance till yesterday. Liza is from Denmark while her husband, Ainesh (not his real name) is from India. I already know that information since Liza talked about it the first time we met. The first thing I asked her was, how’d you two meet? They actually met in Denmark; I’ve learned that her husband is so bright that he’s engaged in multiple jobs. As I can recall, Ainesh was in a convention in Denmark during that time. Ainesh is a researcher, doctor and a pilot. Whoa! That’s really impressive you know! No wonder, Liza fell in love to him, not to mention, people from India really has good looks as well, especially those Indian girls. Despite of having English as second language in India, I observed that he still communicates well and with a lot of sense. We found ourselves, listening to every word he says since you will either be inspired or learned from him. He’s also down to earth I may say when he danced with his daughter as if there’s no one’s watching.

Liza and Ainesh are the living proof that no matter where your origins are, two totally different people can still meet and be together, in love and in happiness. You can tell it by just looking at their adorable daughter. This made me think of why are there still a lot of single people around. I can say 75% of our friends are still single. Some of them are just waiting, not doing anything since their principle is “Someone you deserve will come even if you don’t look for him/her”. Some also says, “I still haven’t met the perfect one”. And even one said “I will not look for him, he should look for me”. Tsk.. tsk.., no wonder why they still celebrate cold Christmas alone. Their predictable defense as always is, you don’t need a partner to be happy. That’s how they can say it for now, well, how could I believe them, they haven’t experienced one yet, and if they did, there might be a problem on their selves why it didn’t last. In my opinion, they should do some of the work and not just to depend always in what they called, destiny. In Manila, we have this ancient Filipino saying, “NASA DIYOS ANG AWA, NASA TAO ANG GAWA”, it somehow means "In God we trust, but man must have the confidence to do the things God had entrusted him to accomplish and achieve, for himself, and for others." And if you’re waiting for the perfect one, well, Good luck! I hope you’re still alive when you found one, since as far as I know, nobody on earth is perfect.

There are a lot of ways to meet people and make new friends. To those single men, you might even befriend to some college girls or hot babes if you just know how. One was the event we attended yesterday, bar hopping, going to church, your office or school and other public places, but the easiest way and well known to match people from different parts of the world, that may even connect two different cultures just in one click is the internet! It’s so powerful that I myself met some of my new friends through blogging. One site I can recommend is http://www.desihotpoint.com/ . Man, there are lots of beautiful Desi girls you will find here. I personally met people from India and Pakistan here in US and I can say that they are nice, intelligent and possess good looks. This site will give you opportunity to get to know them better. You can look for a good and decent date of your dreams. The best part is you will know some of their personal information they provided that may define your compatibility, through age, profession, religion, height, weight, hobbies and the likes. It will also tell if they’re smokers or alcoholics, what a great clue! That means knowing their personality without even doing some of the hard work like in courting or hitting hot chicks. Their pictures will tell how hot they really are. This will surely help shy people to have confidence in meeting new people. Another good thing is that there’s no single penny to spend just to meet someone of your interest. You can see members even if you haven’t sign up for them yet, well if you’d like to be known, you can create your own profile though. My advice to all those single men and women to try these ways of discovering new people, these may lead you to might not the perfect one but the right one for you. You are wasting some moments of your younger years if you will still not work for it. You’re not getting any younger, you know. Life is good and beautiful, and even better if you have someone to share with it. Good luck!

Teach him the 'write' way

It’s been 3 days from now when I started teaching my son how to write. People might not know but my very first job right after I graduated was Class Instructor in 3 colleges of STI in Manila to finance my ECE Board review classes. Man, I thought teaching my son will be easier for me since somehow I have background in this area and I told myself before that if I was able to patiently teach other people, I should do it more for my own son with all my best. And that won't be a kept promise. But of course, my college students were totally different from my toddler who is just 2 and a half years old. I really need to be more considerate since it’s like I’m starting from zero. He has no idea at all that what we’re doing is for his developmental growth, for him everything is playtime and fun. That’s why sometimes I can’t get him focus on what we’re doing. Also, toddlers have little attention span, they are long in will but short in skill. That’s why he’s often frustrated and ‘misbehave’. If you know to yourself that you are a perfectionist type of person, forget it! I believe that in parenting, to be efficient you should also know how to be flexible, not everything should be done according to rules, you know, or else you will end up stressed and more frustrated than your child. I mean, it’s not our kids’ fault if they know nothing, we should not expect from them that they automatically know what to do next. Like what happened in our session, he dropped his marker on the carpet, I’m thinking that he will pick it up since he’s not yet done writing, but instead he rolled it over the carpet by his foot. I almost burst in madness worrying that the ink might get into the carpet. Good thing, I was able to get my sanity back and saw that not a single spot of ink was there. I realized he has no clue that what he did was wrong. I gave him a warning on that very moment.

I’m so proud of him, he can now follow the dotted letters in his book all by himself, though it’s still not perfectly done but I can see the progress. This is how we started; First, I let him watch me on how to do it right, then I tried to put the marker in its best possible position between his fingers. With my assistance, we tried following the dotted markings of the letter in his book. It’s like teaching a kid to ride a bike, at first you need to hold the bike while he’s pedaling then once you noticed that he’s doing it right, little by little, without him being aware of it, you let go of the bike. In our second day, he didn’t ask for my hand assistance anymore. Sounds easy, nah! I lost some of my hair in doing these. It will be easier if you have the right materials, what we’re using in teaching him are really effective. Here they are:

First Flurries in 2008

I can't think of anything to do last Friday til I decided to videotape the flurries outside. wala lang.. Here it is.