Bombing in the City

From Philippine Inquirer:

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Police said an improvised explosive device went off at around 11:30 p.m. at a restaurant in the popular Rosario Arcade just outside Lim Ket Kai Mall here. 

The powerful explosion shattered glass windows and upturned tables and chairs at nearby establishments and damaged motor vehicles parked up to 30 meters away from the arcade. 

Police said the explosion was so loud it was heard by people 4 kilometers away.
Killed outright were Misamis Oriental Provincial Board Member Lagbas, Dr. Erwin Malanay of Manila;  medical representatives Anthony Cañete of Iligan City; Ryan Estose of Megaheights Subdivision in Gusa district here; Emmanuel Palafox of Zamboanga City, and Antonio Paredes, whose address was still being verified. Forty-eight injured people were taken to area hospitals for treatment. 

Senior Supt. Graciano Mijares, city police chief, said most of the victims were doctors and pharmaceutical sales representatives who had just attended a national convention of lung-disease specialists at a nearby hotel.

From Manila Bulletin:

The task force created to investigate the bombing on Sunday said at least 10 witnesses are already cooperating with the ongoing investigation. 

“Almost all the witnesses coincide to the first and second cartographic sketch,” said a member of the composite task force who requested anonymity as he is not allowed to issue any statement to the press. 

In a related development, City-Vice Mayor Caesar Ian E. Acenas is urging all government offices in Cagayan de Oro City to fly the Philippine Flag in their respective offices at half-mast beginning today (July 29). 

He said this will symbolize the deep grief and mourning of ‘Kagay-anons’ over the tragic deaths. A provincial board member of Misamis Oriental was among those killed while 44 others were injured. 

It was a truly tragic event, nobody saw it coming. The sadder part is that the death toll has now risen to eight according to other reports. We immediately heard the news last Friday and our first reaction was "Seriously? No way" It was just hard to imagine. Cagayan de Oro is a peaceful city, that a single disastrous vehicle accident could be the talk of the town for days.

Everything's back to normal right now, but still cautious of course. The case is gaining ground, they just released the following computerized sketches of the suspects today:

Well... The faces could be anyone's. but anyhow, I hope that this will be resolved soon and give justice to the victims.

Ohno's Head Gets Rounder

Kyou no Hi wa Sayonara' is a special drama for NTV's '24-Hour Television 36 Ai wa Chikyuu wo Sukuu' to be shown on August 24th.

Ohno will play Kouta, who is diagnosed with malignant lymphoma. With 3 months to live, he makes a resolve to accept his fate and face death bravely.  Naturally the role asks Ohno to be shaven/bald at some point in the drama to make the side effects of Kouta's illness and treatment be realistic. Ohno was said to be alright with the idea. However his agency kinda intervened and the Kaibutsu-kun makeup artist was called.

So this is the output? if it's true, well it sure looks real to me.

People Bowing to Arashi...WUT?

This week, photos of supposedly Arashi fans bowing to the posters of the boys are circulating around the Japanese social media. It is quite weird and very alarming. Here is Kotaku's aritcle about the situation:

Have you ever heard of Arashi? It's a Japanese boy band that's so popular, that a poster of the group is drawing crowds, cameras, and grovelling. You might not know Arashi, but perhaps you've seen Letters from Iwo Jima? One of the stars, Kazunari Ninomiya, is a member of Arashi. The group has also appeared in Nintendo commercials, most notably for the 3DS launch, so there's that

I Thought it was Just a Hoax

Man it's so real: Cory Monteith's dead. Like for real. In a press conference, the police said they found the Glee star found dead in a hotel room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, Canada. To make everything clear, here's the full statement Police Chief Doug LePard:

Shortly after noon Saturday, the Vancouver Police received a call from the BC Ambulance Service regarding a sudden death in a room on the 21st floor of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at 1038 Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. 

Police attended within minutes of the call and paramedics advised the man in the room was clearly deceased. Coroner’s staff did attend the scene. The deceased has been identified as 31-year-old actor Cory Monteith, who achieved great fame on the popular TV series Glee.

Before I give further information, on behalf of the Vancouver Police, I want to pass on our condolences to the family, friends, castmates and millions of fans of Mr. Monteith. As was the case in countless homes, I watched Glee regularly with my daughters, and I know there will be shock and sadness in many households with the news of his tragic death.

Mr. Monteith checked into the hotel in July 6th and was due to check out of the room today. There were others with Mr. Monteith in his room earlier last night, but video and fob key entries show him returning to his room by himself in the early morning hours and we believe he was alone when he died.

When he missed his checkout time, staff went to the room at noon and found his body.

We know there will be considerable interest in this case, and we have detectives assigned to the case who attended with our Forensic Identification Unit to examine the scene, to ensure to the extent possible that there are no unanswered questions. Hotel video has been secured as well as room access records. Our investigators have spoken with hotel staff, who are providing the utmost in cooperation.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. The Coroner will be determining the next steps with respect to establishing cause of death, but all indications are that there was no foul play.

I knew he had problems with substance addiction for years, but he's been trying to help himself, and he's still so young. Fans everywhere are heartbroken, this news is just so sad.

8 Filipino Words That do not Translate to English

Found this cool blogpost from 8list.ph:

Found this cool blogpost from 8list.ph:

Filipino is a funny language. To foreign ears, our words can sound a mite too percussive, as the ratatat of the expression “Kakabakaba ka ba?” can show.Other times, our vocabulary can just be outright weird, to the point that expats can only scratch their scalps in bemusement.

READ HERE to know about the 8 Filipino words without English Equivalent!