Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor)

  

 photos from Wikipedia 

World War Z? How about World War 2?

Remember the faces of your grandfathers and grandmothers, for today we celebrate the Day of Valor, or "Araw ng Kagitingan" as we say it in Tagalog. We shall never forget the sacrifice of those who fought in Bataan and Corregidor.

My grandfater, my mom's dad, was at the Battle of Bataan. Their orders were to resist the Japanese invaders "to the limits of human endurance". Completely surrounded and outnumbered, he and his comrades were bombarded by tanks, artillery, and Japanese fighter craft for three whole months. They were starving, disease stricken, and were practically holding the mountain fortification with no hope for reinforcement.

Reminder: The Japanese are our friends today. Remembering what happened in the past is part of any real friendship between cultures. Dig?

Unable to bear further losses, Major General Edward P. King, Jr. surrendered more than 76,000 soldiers. Of these were 68,000 Filipino troops, and 11,796 Americans.

The survivors were then forced to march 80 miles from Bataan to Camp O'Donnel. Hundreds never made it as the weak and injured were shot by the invader's soldiers.

Their sacrifice was not in vain. This stand against the invaders bought precious time for Allied forces to gather their strength in the Pacific. This directly contributed to the success of the battle of Midway which was a turning point in the war.

Granddad made it, and he went on to have 8 kids. I've got a bunch of cousins as a result.

*****

Fast forward to today, Japan is now one of our closest allies. We've patched things up quite well, I could even say that our people get along the best compared to our other Asian neighbors. Better times have indeed come along.

Still, the Day of Valor is an important day to remember how ordinary men and women fought against impossible odds. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be there when Bataan fell.

When the horde of undead rise up to threaten us with extinction, I wonder if we will fight as hard as our elders. They faced death fully believing that they may not survive and that each day would be their last.

We're so soft and spoiled compared to them! We complain on Facebook about every little thing. We've got our First World Problems, and daily rants. We're really our own worst enemy WTSHTF.

As I write this, cozy in my office chair, in an air-conditioned glass tower, I wonder if I can do what my grandparents did. They survived. I should do my best to do the same.



This one's for you granddad Andres and grandma Anastasia. Thank you for everything.




Stay vigilant!

Walking Dead EP 34 "This Sorrowful Life"

SPOILER ALERT. Okay?

I know I'm a week late, we get The Walking Dead on Fox one Saturday after you folks do in the States.

I don't follow the show like I used to, but I'm glad I paid attention to this one.  We see that Carol's alright and I think she'll actually outlive more of the cast in Season 4, that's okay. Hershel is cool with Glenn marrying his daughter. The guys say a prayer or two to guide them as things seem to keep on getting worse and then Rick sees the light in the form of a vision of old pregnant Lori who is maybe frowning on his series of bad hard-ass decisions.

Dammit, I'm glad that angsty dark Rick seems to be going back to good old Rick. "I'm not your governor...", that summed up the season for him with finality.

What got me was this whole thing with Daryl and Merle has been building up for quite a bit, and it went resolved in an unexpected way. Family ties are a powerful element in this show.

Well, maybe we expected it a little. Merle finds he'll always be an outsider, we all know that. However the truth hits the guy hard when he finally realizes that he can't and won't change to fit in, and his brother really is his own man and no longer puts up with his mean old ways. (and cares about him despite him being a jerk. brotherhood, yo.)

As Merle is on his way to the Governor to surrender Michonne, the dude shows us the importance of knowing how to break into and hotwire a car. However he messes up and sets off the 1990's car alarm, alerting every single zed in the neighborhood to their position. A desperate fight ensues, both having close calls and they even end up saving each other's lives.

This is the big monkeywrench in Merle's plans, you know how folks become buddies after "enduring hardship" together?

So after all this excitement, Michonne finally gets through to him in her usual zen-master pep talk as they were driving in their newly commandeered car. This helps Merle to see the light and choose Daryl's side. Maybe to redeem all the "bad stuff" he's had to do since all this came down.

More excitement follows as he prepares to take care of business. He draws a large group of walkers towards the Governor and succeeds in getting their attention. Merle proceeds to shoot down some of the henchmen in the ensuing chaos. He was doing pretty well too, taking out a lot of them and nearly killing the main man himself until they finally jump him just because a stray walker got in the way. As they beat the crap outta Merle, the Governor viciously joins the fray because this business was personal.

As it turns out, the sort-of duel they have reflected how mean those two guys really are. Both guys got in a lot of nasty shots that made me wince in delight. I figured it would have taken 3 guys or more to take him down.

Later on, we all know how it turned out because Daryl discovers his brother's fate and whips up the best bit of acting in the whole season. The dude has feelings man. Real men felt it, like I did.

So here's looking forward to the season finale!



Stay vigilant!

Been a While!

I hope ya'll have been doing well this year. Things have been great for my family and my career. My wife & I have ran our 1st half-marathon together. We did it under 3 hours and we're mighty pleased because we can do much better in the 2 more events this year.

Our home has even more healthy vegetables growing in the back yard and we've been having good eats. My little girl is finally getting into sports! She's 4 years old but has a knack for the athletics. Heck yeah, life is good.

I've picked up a few new weapons for Smashing Coconut Tests, however I've been taking my time with my reviews.

My bug-out-bag is still being revised and improved, however the rainy season that takes up 70% of our year is something that we will have to adapt to. Fighting zombies in waist-high water WILL be a huge challenge.

Things are gonna get interesting real soon. Whatever happens, keep up your preparations.



Stay vigilant!

World War Z Poster!

We have a release date! June 21, 2013. Yes, finally. Again, I'm a huge fan of the book. However we all know Hollywood, they'll do what they think will do the film right. I'll just toss away any expectations and will just go to the party.

So Mr. Brooks, you must be pleased. You kinda started this craze, and although you're entering the hallowed ground of the immortal George Romero, your film seems to be meant to happen in a big guns-blazing blockbuster way. So I guess this is gonna be the Star Wars of this generation. If it doesn't suck! 

Looks like its got everything: action, drama, guns, millions of computer-generated and "real" zeds, and a little something for the ladies: Bradd freakin Pitt in a dashing family guy role. Yay, everyone's happy.

What is it with Pitt & Damon and their gained-a-few-pounds but handsomer-than-thou "daddy" roles anyway?

Friends, I'll be the well-dressed dude with the pretty wife waiting in line on the first day. And I won't be coming in some attention-grabbing tactical or zombie costume. I do expect to see a few cosplayers in their usual zombie or sheriff attire. If I see any cool ones, I'll take a photos for your pleasure.

Stay vigilant!

Big thank you to Comingsoon.net for the heads-up!

The Zombie Hunter: Happy New Year!

I really hope this year would be better than the last one. Lots of big headlines, good and bad. We can't just hope for a good 2013, we need to work to make it better.

Here are my wishes:

1. I'm quite excited about my new career in Risk Management. The skills I'm learning and sharing with my clients will directly help me with my family's survival. Stay tuned for The Zombie Hunter's Risk Management Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. Its a working title.

2. I want to be fit. Way fit. I want an awesome body. My body is quite OK as it is, thank you. My wife and I accomplished lots of fitness milestones this year:

• We ran half a marathon in 3 hours, we can improve it by 15 minutes in our next attempt in January.
• She's into Bikram Yoga and is already an advance-level practitioner. Strong people do yoga.
• I qualified to represent my country for the International Practical Shooting Confederation's Australasia 2013 Tournament in New Zealand. YEAH!

She's strong, and so am I. However we can take it much further.

Even my daughter's getting into dance. That will make her strong and nimble as a cat. The 4 year old is growing fast!

3. I wish my parents would start stocking up on supplies. Its my mom really. She's a tough gal but remains  unconvinced about how important it is to have extra food & water for at least a month. My dad... I'll get to him through her.

Their pantry is well-stocked, but it will take me at least 3 hours to make it to their place on foot WTSHTF if ever I need to conduct a rescue mission.

4. I suck at cooking. This year I will work on survival food preparation and cooking.

5. Finally I wish that the Zombie Apocalypse never happens. I'm not that kind of "prepper". I don't want bad stuff to  happen. And if I'm the only guy in my neighborhood up to his ears with survival gear & skills and then NOTHING happens, I'll be perfectly happy!

The Mayans got it wrong, the end of the world scenarios of Max Brooks & Adam Baker had better be wrong too.

click to play the snazzy movie

And since this is a zombie blog, I'm planning to join the now-famous Outbreak Manila zombie runs. My nifty GoPro3 camera should give us some first-person action.

It feels good that I've accomplished most of my 2012 resolutions. 

So here we are, 2013 at last! Happiness and health to everybody!

Stay vigilant!