Happy 12th year 
A very low key month for me. Well, nothing much to shout about in May. I just got back from a two-week break from work and now recovering from a very fulfilling trip with my friends from Brunei and abroad. Friends do ask me if I enjoy traveling and the answer is pretty obvious. I was invited to travel to Paris and Moscow last April but I already had prior commitments and still stuck with my original plan – Hua Hin (Thailand) and Manila and I didn’t regret with my original plan because of the awesome company and environment. Nonetheless, I would like to thank Darussalam Holdings for the offer but it came slightly too late for my plans. Let’s hope the next one will be a go-go.

12 years and counting.

 

At the moment, my thinking capacity is not at its highest level, let alone above average. I still need more sleeping hours before I get back to shape. I even forgot to renew my domain name for ranoadidas.com and it was clumsy on my part. Good thing I had my rano360.com domain still up and running just in case. For your info, my blog just turned 12 years on 1st of May. I actually thought last year was the 12th year but apparently I miscalculated the number of years. I won’t be doing any special event or programs for the 12th year milestone and I do want to acknowledge and appreciate every single of my loyal readers for continuing this support. It’s not easy to gain attention nowadays for bloggers as now the power belongs to the social media and we all are part of it whether we like it or not. For me, it’s important to stay to my core presence as a blogger and also be active in social media to be in the mix. It has been an encouraging journey so far.

Poor Manny.

 

The talk of the town has been the controversial match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao where it was billed as match of the century on paper but didn’t translate well in the title match. Instead we were entertained by the hugging and the running of the title holder Mayweather. We caught the match at the cinema at Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila with my friends last weekend and we were rooting for the favourite underdog Manny for sure. I kinda knew what kind of tactics Money man will come up with it and judges were in favour of Mayweather who now has a 48-0 record as a professional boxer. Amazing stats but his legacy remains unstable because of his lack of sportsmanship in the match. He was jeered with a chorus of boos when he entered the arena and even the crowd was chanting Manny’s name. Now Manny has requested a rematch if I’m not mistaken. Let’s hope it won’t be another repeated incident. Biggest winner here – Hublot.

Manila Galore.

 

Yes, we didn’t have enough sleep at all. After my Hua Hin trip, I flew straight to Manila to meet up with the boys and spend only 8-9 hours of sleep while being in Manila for 72 hours *lol* It was a great getaway and I can’t believe that this was my second trip to Manila in a space of three months and I never been to the Philippines. Yes, the only I think that made me stress is the ridiculous traffic jam. The boys and I celebrated Stuart Lee’s birthday and also caught the #MayPac match at the cinema. We were a bit down that Manny lost but he still won our hearts. The other thing that ticked us off was that the live feed from the cinema was cut off between Round 7 to Round 9 of the boxing match and the audience were already raising their voice for refunds. Good thing that the local fans didn’t make such a big issue when the match was over. It could have backfired. Anyway, thanks buddies for the great time off and spending time together in Manila. Round 2, perhaps?

Age of Ultron still entertaining.

 

Though I was slightly behind in my reviews for Age of Ultron, I left it on a high note because Del and I caught it on 4Dx at Paragon Cineplex, Bangkok, Thailand. It was Del’s first time experience at the cinema area and he loves it. For me, this is like my home ground because it’s not just a cinema but they created a lifestyle and invested millions in catering to a great atmosphere and hospitality. We grabbed our tickets through the e-ticketing machine without the hassle of going over to the counter. IMAX 3D is still the best at Paragon Cineplex and it’s better than the Lido one in Singapore. Anyway, I don’t advise you to catch Avengers: Age of Ultron on 4Dx since it can be very irritating that the seats keep on moving from time to time and plus the screen is not as huge too. I would trade for IMAX than 4Dx any day. Avengers sequel opened very well in the US box office but still fell short of their first movie by 20 million. Do listen to my podcast on my review and I gave this movie a strong 8.

 

Pictures from Manila Trip.

 

The Bros manila passport covers 

The boxing event that didn’t live up to expectations 

Mayweather focused more on counter attack and won 

The disappointed crowd after the boxing match 

When Stuart turned 3# ish :p 

Yea, at least they still have my sizes 

I bought this bag too to match with my bag pack 

The wheel outside Mall of Asia 

Thanks for the trip guys 😀 Till next time. 

Shawn with his obsession on chicken feet 

Flying back thru Cebu Pacific