A love letter to my Lumia 925

Hi,

A couple of months ago, I was in desperate need for a change. My relationship with my current then turned sour. Despite the time and effort and patience I poured on, let's name her LG, she just did not reciprocate as much as I would like her to. I know that Relationships are never the ideal equal give-and-take those sappy love stories would have us believe, but our relationship was bordering on abusive. I gave her all my attention, but she would be unresponsive. I hold her, but she keeps hanging me dry. I would make sure that she's very well attended to, but I have no effect on her. So cold-hearted. So robotic.

Forlorn, I knew that I had to end our relationship. And that was when I started hearing about your name.

I read all about you. I caught every detail they said about you. You are definitely a sight to behold, no doubt. They said the pictures you would take are a step above everyone else. Your slim and light body would be a joy to hold. And you sport that snappy and lively demeanor that your kin are known for.

Aliiiive!

I was ready to pursue you, but one thing kept holding me back.

Your limited capacity. 

And I thought, maybe we're not meant to be after all. That there's someone else out there for me. Someone better.

And then I met you. In a far away land. And this time, for real. With one touch, I knew, I need to have you in my life.

For weeks I agonized. I should have pursued you the first time we met! I shouldn't have let you go! The wait is gnawing at my soul bit by bit. August 26, they said you'll come. That day has passed and gone, and no word still of you.

And then one fateful day came. Without any hope, I asked if you were there, if you have arrived.

Yes, they said.

Yeah, the iPad Mini camera sucks.

My world has never been the same since then.

It has been a little over two weeks since we have been together. You were even better than I expected.

You showed me a world where everything just falls into place, where everything is as good as they say they are. I am no expert, but to me, you captivate more than anyone I have ever been with.

My first love, courtesy of my second love.

But picture perfect, unfortunately, you are not.

32 would have been ideal. At 16, I have to inhibit myself from getting too excited. (Storage, people!)

You can sometimes get too hot to handle. I manage all right, but it gets me worried about your well-being at times.

And of course, there's the lack of support your kin is infamous for. I know there's not a lot of you out there, and that's what this is all about. While I hope that the situation gets better soon, what you have right now is more than enough for me. 

Two weeks may not be enough time for me to get to know you as well as possible, but I have fallen for you nevertheless. 

You are worth everything and more.

XXX

Three Kings Travel and Tours - A hellish experience even for budget travelling

Short version:

We bought vouchers from Ensogo for a 3D2N Boracay package with round-trip tickets and accommodation sold by Three Kings Travel and Tours. We had to badger them for weeks with calls because they never updated us promptly. They lied repeatedly about sending updates. They unprofessionally rejected our calls and even threatened us via text. They sent us our plane tickets at the very last minute. AND they did not give us what we paid for. 

Three Kings Travel and Tours are unprofessional and incompetent. They are liars and thieves.

Do yourself a favor and NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THREE KINGS TRAVEL AND TOURS. Do your loved ones a favor and WARN THEM ABOUT THREE KINGS TRAVEL AND TOURS.

---

Long version,with pics!

February 2013. Ensogo sent me an email as usual about their newest deals. One particular deal caught my eye: a 3D2N all-in Boracay package for P6,000:

Round-trip tickets, round-trip transfers, accommodation, daily breakfast, and 1 dinner buffet for P6,000? Crazy cheap!

After consultation with friends, I bought the vouchers. After another round of discussions, we set the date for the election weekend, May 11 to 13.

I called the vendor, Three Kings Travel and Tours, mid March to have our trip reserved. Or rather, I tried to call them. The landline number they posted in the vouchers are unavailable. The cellphone number they gave for Mr Thomas Terodillo had me listening to Avril Lavigne's damning me and wishing I were there to no avail. Yes, that's his ring-back tune or whatever it's called.

I got scared. Was I just scammed?

So I contacted Ensogo and complained that the contact numbers they gave for the deal were all unavailable. Thankfully, they gave me new numbers for Three Kings Travel and Tours and I called them up immediately. The numbers worked this time. Unfortunately, the dates we wanted were unavailable already due to the expectedly busy election weekend.

I reported the sad news, but my friend insisted and persisted that we will go to Boracay on those dates. 

March 22, 2013. We called Three Kings Travel and Tours again and my friend sweet-talked his way to confirmation:

Election weekend in Boracay, woohoo!

April 8, 2013. Almost one month before our confirmed departure. I called up Three Kings Travel and Tours again to follow up on our reservation. She said that our hotel reservation is already ok but the plane tickets are still being processed and that we should expect an update from them a month before our departure. I pointed out that that's just 3 days away. She replied, "A, ganun na nga po, Sir". 

After the call, they sent me a reservation form to fill up. How could they have confirmed our hotel accommodation and process our plane tickets if I still had to fill up a reservation form? In any case, I sent the accomplished form back immediately:

April 18, 2013. Less than a month before our departure. No news from Three Kings Travel and Tours. I called them up to follow up our reservation. A girl picked up the phone and told me that she'll call back once she gets my reservation info. She did call back after an hour. 

"Sir, the travel dates you picked are not available. I suggest you pick a weekend in June." 

I was shocked! "Miss, we had those dates reserved and confirmed by your agency almost a month ago!" 

She replied, "Sir, wala pong nagconfirm sa min ng dates na yun." 

"I'll send you an email with the confirmation of those dates."

With an unmistakable air of haughtiness, she replied "Sige, Sir". It's as if she wanted to say "Tignan natin kung may mapakita ka."

So I immediately forwarded to her the confirmation email from March 22.

She called back after an hour.

"Okay, Sir, confirmed na po yung May 11 to 13. To follow na lang po yung eTickets nyo."

Now choose from one of the following:

A. "Wala po kasi sina Sir Von at Sir Tom at sa xxx pa balik nila."

B. "Naka sick leave po si Sir Tom"

C. "Nasa meeting po si Sir Tom"

Mix and match those items and you have an idea what they've been telling us every time we call them.

May 3, 2013. Friday. One week before we leave. I called Three Kings Travel and Tours again to follow up on the friggin tickets which they've been promising to send us for almost a month at this point. A guy answered.

"Sorry Sir, wala kasi si Sir Tom. Siya lang kasi ang pwede maghandle ng mga plane tickets for the Boracay package. Down po kasi yung system ng xxx Airways kaya hindi kami makabook ng maayos. Kausap nga po ni Sir Tom ngayon ang xxx about our bookings sa kanila kasi nawala nga lahat nung previous bookings namin. I'll leave a note na lang on his desk to follow up on your reservation"

"So sa Monday pa to maasikaso? Wala kayong pasok sa weekends di ba?" I so wanted to add " What the hell do I care about other people's tickets? I called for MY tickets, dammit!"

"Yes, Sir, ganun na nga."

"E less than one week na lang yun before our flight!"

"Kaya nga Sir we'll work on weekends nga just to fix all the previous bookings na nawala namin pati yung sa case nyo na malapit na ang alis."

"E eto na ang last weekend before our flight. Kala ko wala kayo this weekend?"

"Kaya nga, Sir, iwan na lang ako ng note sa desk ni Sir Tom para maasikaso nya kagad kayo"

Friendly note: galingan nyo naman pagsisinungaling niyo.

May 6, 2013. Monday. I called Three Kings Travel and Tours once again to follow up. Again, Sir Tom is still unavailable but they're working on it and the tickets should be sent to my email on Thursday, lunch time.

May 9, 2013. Thursday. Needless to say, the tickets were still not in my inbox after lunch. I gave Three Kings Travel and Tours a call around 1. They asked me to call by 3. I called around 330. They asked me to expect the tickets by 5. Past 5, the tickets were still nowhere to be seen, I called their office, and nobody was answering already because they were already closed.

May 10, 2013. Friday. My friend took up the calling duties. Through a lot of effort, they finally, FINALLY, sent us our tickets and vouchers around noon:

YOUR TICKET GOING BACK TO MANILA IS TO FOLLOW. WHAT THE HELL!?!?!

Oh, and then they called us after sending the ticket, asking us to do a deposit for our booking fees. WHAT THE HELL!?!?!

My friend got upset, understandably, and replied along the lines of "Isaksak niyo na lang sa baga niyo!"

Around 130, as I was about to call Three Kings Travel and Tours once again, they called me up.

"Sir, itutuloy niyo pa po ba?" - at nageexpect ka?

"Ano na bang status ng mga tickets and reservations?"

"Yun nga Sir, you have to pay P450 per person for booking fees and deposit nyo na lang sa bank."

I lost my cool at this point. "Late niyo na nga binigay ang ticket tapos ngayon niyo lang sasabihin sa min na may kailangan pa kami bayaran? Paano namin aasikasuhin yan e hapon na?"

The guy on the line gave the phone to another guy. One's Tom, the other's Von. I don't know which is which and I don't care.

He explained again about the booking fee. I again answered in a heated manner.

He replied "Sir, wag kayong sumigaw!"

E gago ka pala e! Kung ginagawa niyo ng matino ang trabaho niyo, hindi kita sisigawan! How I wish I said that at that moment.

He, however, tried to appease me, and told me that instead of paying our booking fees, we'll just shoulder the cost of one of the transfers. I agreed to finally end that issue.

But how about the return tickets? He told me to expect the tickets and call by 8pm since they'll still be in the office by then. Then he made it 6pm when whoever he asked scoffed at the idea of them staying until 8 in the office.

6 pm came and of course, there were no tickets. There was also nobody answering the phone in Three Kings Travel and Tours by then. 

I called Tom Terodillo's mobile phone, got damned by Avril again, and he wasn't answering as usual. My friend got hold of him and he said he sent the tickets 45 minutes ago, and he'll check what the problem is when he gets access to a PC, and he was just stuck waiting for a cab. It was a rainy Friday evening, understandable.

What wasn't understandable was that by 9pm, he turned off his phone again to avoid our calls.

My friend bombarded his number with tons of angry SMSs. And wow, he replied:

Ang kapal no?

We were ready to give up on our Boracay trip and getting ready to plan our next legal moves at this point.

May 11, 2013. Saturday. Our supposed departure date. I checked my email and found this:

Sent 11:59PM. Pal Express sent him the tickets 11:44 PM. The 45 minutes before 6 PM? A huge lie.

I checked the tickets and it explicitly said that we have to surrender the credit card and ID of the person who booked our tickets. I sent him an email and an SMS regarding this, but no replies. Fortunately, we found out that it wasn't needed. 

Oh and the return tickets were for the 1045PM flight. Ang galing no?

We were able to get to Boracay, with a little mix up in the transfers ( Jerome Estroblahblah that is a group of 6), and got our room. The hotel by the way (Villa Romero) was good and the people were very nice. The receptionist even shared our frustrations with Three Kings Travel and Tours. Apparently, they've been sending people to their hotel with no advanced announcements and some guests got angry in the process before.

I wish it ended there, but no.

When we got to the hotel, I asked about the breakfast. As you remember, the package included free daily breakfast and a dinner buffet. The receptionist said that it wasn't included in our service voucher:

She showed me vouchers they received from past guests. In the Inclusions part, Daily breakfast and Dinner buffet was included.

She called their contact to follow up on our voucher. The contact won't give her Three Kings Travel and Tours' number. So I gave Thomas Terodillo's number for her to contact.

When we woke up, we were told that she was able to contact Thomas Terodillo, and that the daily breakfast was included, BUT NOT THE DINNER BUFFET. He explicitly said that.

At that point, I was so fed up with Three Kings Travel and Tours that I didn't care anymore.

P.S. There was another group of 4 that availed of the package as well. And they were also angry with how Three Kings Travel and Tours handled them.

---

To everyone, yes I'm ranting. However, it has now been my mission to WARN everyone about Three Kings Travel and Tours. They have been incompetent and unprofessional. They are liars and thieves. Please, for your sanity NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THREE KINGS TRAVEL AND TOURS. I also implore you to spread the word and WARN YOUR LOVED ONES ABOUT THREE KINGS TRAVEL AND TOURS. 

These people do not have a place in our country's Tourism industry. They are imparting a disservice, instead of service. There's was nothing fun at all with our experience dealing with them.

Hopefully, if enough people spread this story around, when anyone Googles Three Kings Travel and Tours, this blog post will be the top search result and warn them who they will be dealing with.

WoW Naman: A Look Back at Jollibee Goodness

Jollibee 10-man raid, anyone?

In a few weeks, the Pandaren will be unleashed throughout Azeroth with World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion, Mists of Pandaria. While I am actually still undecided on whether the new expansion is still worth purchasing and resubscribing to, my 7 free Come-Back-To-WoW days made me reminisce back to the days when our guild, Jollibee, was still a bustling community of Pinoys from all over the world.

Our already abandoned blog is still up for everyone to see, so I got bored enough to read through some of the blog posts and comments from way, way back.

Raids: Karazhan, Zul'Aman, and Naxxramas. Cleared them all, but not without much pain and suffering. And dancing thanks to Heigan. Too bad the videos are no longer available. We made attempts on the other WoTLK raids as well, but those were not documented, unfortunately.

Drama: Oh boy do we have them. Loot drama in a shared Naxx 25 run, /gquits galore. I guess a full-fledged guild will never avoid these things. Besides, a little craziness is a good thing once in a while.

Random stuff: Various screenshots of nothing in particular. And as a bonus:

Oh, wait...

Zelda Nina versus Luigi Law - Tekken graces the WiiU

During the media blowout a few days ago for Nintendo's next generation console, the WiiU, a slew of titles were announced for its launch window. For the very first time ever, a Tekken title will grace a Nintendo console.

Image courtesy of nintendoeverything.com

While a Tekken title normally wouldn't deserve my attention, I accidentally watched the game trailer last night, and Tekken has never looked this fun:

The Kingdom Beckons

AAARRRRGHHHH

From non-existent to slower than normal. My internet connection speed is killing me. Slowly.

One Small A-Pause-A: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo (PC)

I deleted the demo from my PC. After three playthroughs using different characters, I can't take it anymore.

WoW

Because I don't want to spoil the game much more when I finally get the game in a few weeks.

From slight disdain due to the uninspiring title and complete ignorance of the game's existence to a possible day one purchase, the demo has done wonders and made me do a 180 on this game. Three playthroughs with different character specs each time, this is the longest I've played a demo since the original Puzzle Quest. Right now, I'm actually regretting that I deleted the demo.

WoW again. I can't see a thing.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning plays like a single player MMO with a more polished World Of Warcraft-esque graphics and an engaging action-oriented combat. Skill points, talent trees, crafting, all the RPG essentials are here.

Some major gripes though: the camera controls are atrocious and the "open world" is marred with quite a number of invisible walls. The former is a bigger issue for me, and thankfully, the game's developers are working hard to get those right. Still, these issues didn't dissuade me from enjoying the 45-minute open-world play that the demo delivered. The demo is a must try for the RPG fanatics.

Now only one question remains: Steam, Origin, or Datablitz?

Surprise! Diablo III is Delayed! For the 73rd Time!

Too bad, looks like Diablo III is delayed for a bit more, so says the blue.

Diablo am sad

AND, looks like there'll be some significant changes to the game as well, at least compared to Diablo II gameplay:

• No more need for Scrolls of Identification
• There will now be a dedicated potion button

And some other changes that are relevant to the on-going beta. Not gonna bother with it since, unless you're in the beta, you can't really miss what you never had. Yeah, I'm bitter. But hey, feel free to check the link out for more details.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

From the dregs of (personal) obscurity, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, an open-world RPG from EA, reared its head to say hi.

Well hello there. Downloading (3GB) demo now! Will post impressions soon-ish.

Diablo 3 Soon?

A Best Buy store supposedly has this fantastic poster up:

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

That's February 1, 2012, by the way. Joystiq has the news.

Hmm. I'm actually not sure whether to buy it immediately or not. *ducks from chairs being thrown in my direction*

Steam's Steely Stranglehold 2011

Valve is involved in a conspiracy with 2K Games and Game Informer. How else could you explain the X-COM pack going on sale in Steam for $5 on the same day that the best thing to happen ever happened?

Discombobulated by nostalgia, I finally have a legit copy of my most favoritest game ever.

And since I was already in Steam, here's how I fared after the last epic Steam Holiday sale:

Wallet am cry

Bought most of those for the achievement, but I actually really enjoyed some of them. From that list, there's only one that I would never, EVER play again. This image doesn't even include the stuff I bought for other peeps. Well att least I have some new fodder for blog posts ;)

Til the next Steam sale!

WelXCOM back!

Were you as excited as I was when an XCOM game was announced a few months back?

Were you also as disappointed as I was after I read the announcement some more and found out it was gonna be a first-person shooter?

Well, prepare to re-excite and un-disappoint yourself!

SECTOID!

Game Informer magazine has formally revealed another XCOM PC/360/PS3 game being made for release Fall 2012. The kicker: it's staying true to the original game's roots, a hybrid resource management game with turn-based strategy tactical combat against aliens near felled UFOs and Terror sites. The double kicker: Firaxis, one of the less than handful of companies you could trust when it comes to strategy games, is the game's developer.

Here's the blurb/tease for their next month's edition from the site:

This is the announcement you've been waiting for: One of the most beloved strategy titles of all time re-imagined by one of the best strategy studios in the world. Firaxis Games' XCOM: Enemy Unknown introduces a wider console audience to what made the storied franchise great in the first place.

Unlike 2K Marin's previously announced XCOM shooter, which sparked tempers among longtime fans for turning its back on the series' cerebral roots, this title is a full-on strategy game that puts players in command of a global anti-alien defense force. XCOM's leader needs a worldwide perspective where threats are identified, populations reassured, and national leaders mollified – but a tactical mind is just as critical considering every shot XCOM's soldiers fire on the battlefield is under the player's turn-based control.

"It’s been a dream of ours to recreate X-COM with our unique creative vision. We’re huge fans of the original game and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-envision a game that is as beloved as X-COM," said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games. "We were careful to keep XCOM: Enemy Unknown true to the elements that made X-COM such a revered game while delivering an entirely new story and gameplay experience for both die-hard X-COM fans and newcomers to the franchise."

If you're lost, you can find out what all the fuss over the original XCOM is in the in-depth Classic GI feature we printed a few months ago (now available online for the first time), which includes rare insight from series creator Julian Gollop.

The huge feature in February's Game Informer goes into all the gory details of XCOM's destructible tactical environments, the interaction between the real-time strategic view and the turn-based combat, how the XCOM organization improves its capabilities as the war rages on, and much more.

While I'm a bit cautious about the game's multiplatform release, I'm sorry if I could not help but be really excited ecstatic about the prospect of getting to play a modern version of one of my most favorite games of all time. Seriously. This is officially my 2012 Day-1-bought game.

Me, when I read the news.

Now all we need is Firaxis making a new Master of Orion and Master of Magic and we'll have the golden years of PC strategy gaming back.

Blasphemy!

To stave off my increasing console gaming itch, I bought a decent PC game controller. I was looking for the wired version, but SM Southmall, with its many PC shops, only has a solitary shop with a solitary model for sale.



The Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710 is supposedly one of the best ones out. I guess I'll find out for myself.

Now to finally play my ginormous PC game backlog. Hmm. WoW kaya?

Phone Story - Apple Cannot Handle The Truth?

Phone Story is a collection of mini games for the iOS platform approved and released for sale just a few days ago. It was removed almost immediately afterwards by Apple from the AppStore for violating a number of their rules.

Well, just see for yourself:
Phone Story Game Play Video

The truth is still out there, at least in the Android Marketplace.

Out Of Topic: Contagion - More Like Contage-Yawn

Out Of Topic delves into the non-gaming side of life. Yes, I do have a life outside of gaming, thank you very much.

Don't talk to anyone about this movie.

A monster of a virus spreads like crazy, killing millions, before the US government finds the cure. It's the 1995 blockbuster hit Outbreak done in a more documentary-like setting. And with a ton more huge Hollywood names.

The movie builds up the outbreak nicely in the first half of the movie. Unfortunately, I felt that they just did not know when to stop building up the pace of the story that my exhilaration became exhaustion during the second half.

The story is completely unfocused: plot threads going nowhere, characters disappearing abruptly, and a half-assed ending. And by half-assed I mean really, really horrible. I feel the movie could have been better without that ending.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Elliott Gould. That's like 3-4 movies worth of huge Hollywood names. Watching the movie also makes you feel like you watched 3 to 4 movies. All at the same time. Such a waste of their talent. And what's up with Jude Law's teeth? Seriously.

Watch it if you like "disaster" movies, but leave your high expectations outside the cinema.

One Small Step - Initial Impressions on Rift (Finally!) PC

Rift is celebrating its 6th monthsary by opening the game for free until August 31.

Like the martyr that I am, I again tried to download the 9GB game. Who knew that I shouldn't have clicked the "Recover" button in the download client and instead click on the "Update" button to continue an interrupted download?

So four time's a charm, and I'm glad I've been persistent.

Game Over: Final Thoughts on Age of Conan Unchained (PC)

I downloaded and installed Age of Conan Unchained last week. After 8 levels and less than a week of playing, I'm ready to call it quits.

Here are the Top 3 Things That Make Me Go RAAAAAAWR Like A Barbarian In Age of Conan Unchained:

For Giggles

I actually might get a real gig.

Insert guitar riff here

As a real game reviewer for a certain tech blog.

Nothing fancy, not even getting paid for it, but at least I will actually be given games to review. "Given" and not "owned". Unlike a certain other paid gig I had a few years back.

Of course this won't include the high-profile game stuff, but hey, it's a start.

Aged Thirty Minutes

After downloading the ginormous 8GB client, I was able to play the now free-to-play Age of Conan.

Got my barbarian to level 6 and was just able to enter the starting city Tortage. Immersive so far and the combat is much, much more interactive.

Excited to get back into the game, I opened the goodness-knows-where-the-downloader-placed-the client and got a warning that my resource database might be corrupted.

Ten friggin' gigabytes

In the manliest voice possible, AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!

Repost: Puzzle Agent (PC) Review

As preparation for my upcoming review of Puzzle Agent 2, I'm reposting my review-of-sorts of the first game from my now defunct blog of negativity and snarkiness. Originally posted 02/11/2011

---

Be very afraid!

Agent Tethers of the FBI's Department of Puzzle Research or something to that effect is tasked to get to the bottom of the sudden halt in production of an eraser factory in the middle of nowhere in Minessotta. Minnesotta. Minnessotta. Oh to heck with the spelling.

The Fall of the Nintendo 3DS

Devastating Splat

The Nintendo 3DS hasn't been lighting up the charts since it has been released. May it be due to the high price, the impending release of the more technically-advanced Playstation Vita, or the lack of compelling games, Nintendo announced a huge price drop for its new handheld a few days ago in an effort to boost sales.

In the US, the Nintendo 3DS drops a whopping $80 from $250 to $170. That would mean, in PHP, a possible P4k drop from P13k to P9k. While the price is a whole lot more palatable, the lackluster game library might still put off most of the potential buyers.