Buying Pizza at Domino’s

…just had a most significant realization. It turns out that the L-sized pizza at Domino’s is actually bigger than what most people expect.

Here’s how it goes: the L-sized pizza is 36 cm in diameter, while the M-sized pizza is pegged at 25 cm.

Now we will compute the difference of the pizzas’ sizes. Since the breadth of both are the same, we quit talking “volume,” go ahead and talk “area” of each pizza’s cross-section.

Here goes:
.
Area of a circle(which is, or which almost is, a pizza cross-section’s shape):

A = PI x r²

where A (you guessed it right) is the area, r is the radius and PI is 3.14159…¹

So taking the “areas” of both the M- and L-sized pizzas (we name them A_M and A_L, respectively):

A_M = PI x (25 / 2)² = 491 cm²

A_L = PI x (36 / 2)² = 1018 cm²

Generously rounding off both to the nearest multiple of 500, we can say that a cross-sectional M-sized pizza’s area is 500 cm², while that of the L-sized pizza is 1000 cm², which is twice (or actually more than twice, pre-round off) that of M.

Recommendation: Rather than buying 2 M’s , just buy one L with the half-half² option (or better yet, the quadro³ option) and you get the same amount of bread at (give or take) 25% less.

Next up, Buying Pizza at Pizza Hut

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1 Technically speaking, PI is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. …Because PI is an irrational number, its decimal representation neither ends nor repeats. Another (although somewhat erroneous ) way of describing how it looks like: just think of millions of billions of numbers all jumbled up with no recognizable pattern whatsoever. …Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant, is the record holder for memorizing and recounting PI to an astounding 22,514 digits!!!

2 Through the half-half option, you can order a combination of 2 different halves for no additional charge .

3 You can get 4 different flavored quarters, all in one pizza. Last I checked though, rather than being able to handpick each quarter, it seems that you can only choose between “ready-made” quadro combinations.

Climbing Mount Ja-da-ni-ga-mi-ne

On Saturday (July 28), we went hiking up a 902-m high (or short, depending on your mountain trekking experience) mountain. Together with Candice (who was kind enough to invite us to the trip), Jay, Yuri and Masako, we went with around 15 Japanese hikers up to this lovely mountain on a cooler-than-expected summer day.

Ja-da-ni-ga-mi-ne “what”?

Perhaps from the day I set foot on this country, not a day has passed when I didn’t ask someone about the meaning of a certain word (like “bai bai kin wa dou iu imi?” or “anata wa nan desu ka?”).

It took me the whole day to memorize the name of this mountain, spelled in Roman characters as Jadanigamine. And to my surprise, it seemed that no one but us had heard about this mountain at all. And so for a change, I knew a Japanese word that everyone else, the locals included, didn’t know.

Delayed Train Ride

We were scheduled to meet with the large group at Adogawa Station at 910 am. The trip to the station takes more than an hour so we Osakans (Yuri, Jay, Masako, and me) had to wake up really early, met at Shin Osaka and took the 745 AM train bound for Adogawa.

Everything had been as planned, until an accident in the railway somewhere halted all trains. We got moving an hour later, only to find out that the express train we were on had turned local!

On our way we just studied some kanji from a booklet that Masako had so kindly given me (Thanks a lot. I will study, promise ^^), and then talked about anything under the sun (like pressuring Yuri to tell us about his lovelife, which he spoilsportingly declined).

The Hike

This was to be my first mountain hike since 4 years ago when, with 9 other co-trainees, we hiked up an unknown mountain in Nagano (which can be described as unplanned, frightening and near-death… will talk about that another day).

I must admit that the hike was a lot more exhausting than I had expected. Early on, we were just chatting while we were on our way up. And then slowly as we gained more altitude, my legs seemed almost good to go.

But the energy spent was more than worth it. The trees and sound of the river were so soothing and the breeze cool enough to give us the extra strength our aching bodies needed to move forward. And when we reached the top of the mountain, mine was a sense of fulfillment equaling that which I got when I was in 4th grade, when my Math teacher pinned a ribbon on my chest that reads, “I am a Math wizard.” (I felt so proud I didn’t take it off anywhere I went).

Water!!!

One thing I learned (albeit after the fact) is that in hikes like this, you have to bring truckloads of water. On our way up, we had realized that we were running out.

And so on our way down, you can imagine how dehydrated we were (I’m talking about us the 5 noobs. To the other climbers, this was probably just another day in the office and they didn’t seem affected at all).

We were hoping and hoping that somewhere on this mountain we can find a jidouhanbaiki (vending machine) so that we can grab something, anything, to drink. (This wasn’t, mind you, plain wishful thinking as here in Japan, time and again you’ll spot vending machines in places where you’ll think no one has ever gone before.)

And so just around the foot of the mountain, when we finally found a vending machine from out of nowhere, pandemonium broke loose as we hurried towards the dispenser like our lives depended on it. And you wouldn’t believe it, Aquarius actually tasted chilling good!

(to be continued… pics to follow)

a saturday well-spent

had lots of fun last saturday. i went to USJ(for the 5th time this year, if my memory serves me right…). and after several failed attempts, i finally got to ride “hollywood dream the ride” — the first roller coaster in the world to feature an audio system.

as the coaster sped all around USJ, i was amazed at what i experienced. the view was as beautiful as Erika Sawajiri, the music (Osaka Lover) as relaxing as a mother’s bedtime song, and the ride itself exhilirating as a teenager’s first date.

i was in it with a good charming friend on a surprisingly non-rainy saturday.¹ it was forecasted to rain on that day. the night before, my friend told me that it was gonna rain and asked me if our escapade was still on. i decided that we had better go ahead anyway.

sometimes when you take risks, you pay the consequence and just move on. that day wasn’t one of those days. the gamble had worked like a charm. aside from the better-than-expected weather, USJ wasn’t as crowded as other saturdays, presumably because the more sensible people decided against going due to the rainy forecast.

back to this good charming friend of mine. for a change i was with someone who doesn’t mind looking silly just like me. we were kind of doing this crazy dance while walking towards each ride, and it was a breath of fresh air that for a full day i can forget about the possibility of offending people and just be my crazy irritating self.²

talk about a day well-spent…

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1 i actually prayed that it won’t rain. but sometimes we don’t believe enough that God answers even petty prayers like this. fortunately, we have a God that is bigger than our faith. and yes, up until now, He still answers prayers.

2 taking nothing away from my other friends though. i’m both fortunate and grateful that directly or indirectly they keep me under control:).

7 weird things about me…

finally, i’ve completed this blog entry.  thanks for reading

1. it takes me around 20 minutes to check everything before getting to bed.

i have to check that :
a. my alarm is set
b. the bathroom faucet, shower, and the outside switches are all off
c. the main door is locked
d. my room door is locked
e. the switches and the faucet in the kitchen is off
f. my Bible is where I want it to be (beside me when I sleep. i used to be really afraid of the dark.)

and i check each of these over and over until i get convinced that it is what it looks…

2. zero sense of direction

just zero, zilch, zip, nada… i think this was a side effect of my playing the game of “Heretic” at a very young age. it was kind of a first-person role-playing game, where you get into so many rooms, all looking the same. and so with no landmarks whatsoever (except for the occasional corpse of an enemy my character had previously, umm, eliminated ), i resorted to blindly try doors at random.

now, i have serious trouble whether to go this way or that way in real life. when i needed to buy something, it used to be extremely convenient in Cebu City because of multi-purpose malls like Ayala and SM. now, here in osaka, it’s not that easy anymore. help!!!

3. less-than-reliable memory

i just forget everything — umbrellas, pens, appointments, taking a bath (NOTTT!), keeping in touch, birthdays, bringing my cellphone with me everytime, brushing my teeth (NOTTT!), wallets, etc. etc.

4. even numbered steps

especially when i was young, i always made it a point that i treated both my feet “fairly”. in climbing the stairs, for example, i see to it that my left foot goes first, and then my right foot goes last. odd-numbered stairs pose a problem. i’d have to step on the last rung twice to “ensure parity.”

5. rabid boxing fan

while it’s true that this might not be anywhere as weird as those mentioned above, i only know a few people who are addicted to boxing like i am.

for instance, i have watched manny pacquiao’s coming-out fight against the legendary marco antonio barrera maybe around 20 times already. i can vividly remember what the shocked HBO commentator jim lampley said in the eventful 3rd round of the fight: “there are probably some in this arena who didn’t even know who manny pacquiao was, or what his chances might be against marco antonio barrera… now they know! as pacquiao tries to go ahead and finish barrera right here in the 3rd round…”

6. made JUST for me

when i was really small, i kind of thought the world was made primarily for me.  i just found it hard to understand that other people have their being “them” too like i am “me” (i don’t know how else to explain it, so pardon me if you didn’t understand what i just said).  it just overwhelmed me.  i kind of thought that in a sense i was the only “real” thing.

turns out i was wrong…   or was i? (haha!!!)

7. eyes on my ears

something my father said startled my mother right after my birth.  he said that their new-born handsome baby has built-in antennas as birthmarks.  (ok ok, handsome wasn’t part of the original script.  but this is my blog, so i can write anything i want!!!… ahem, just kidding…)

that startled my mother.  she probably thought the antennas looked like the famous batibot character named “sitsiritsit.”

the “antennas” are actually two tiny protrusions bulging outside my right ear. 

there is a belief back in the philippines known as “lihi:” when a pregnant woman has a craving for a certain food or actor or whatever, the baby gets a characteristic of that craved-for object. 

in my mother’s case, she had a craving for crabs (alimango) when i was her willing parasite.  so what part of a crab are these humps attributed to?  tenen tenen…  crab’s eyes ^^.

my ear’s lumps (roughly translated as butoy-butoy in my native tongue) have been the bunt of many jokes in the past.  some say this is my “anting-anting / amulet” (nice!), others say these are locks of a coin purse (what the!!!), yet some others say that this is where my brain is at (grrrrr!!!).

the day i turned 25

I read somewhere that half of a person’s psychological lifetime is spent up until one’s adolescence (or at least that’s as much as what I can remember it says). It said that we remember those early years a lot more than everything afterwards.

I think that when you are at this age, society tells you more than ever to “grow up.” Growing up is not bad though, but sometimes with the intent of “growing up” we unknowingly stop living. We turn away from the fun things in life because we think we have “outgrown” them. We refuse to be happy because of trivial things. We forget to live. And I think our memory seems to only really remember those times spent when we’re truly “alive.”

This is probably the birthday that I least looked forward to coming in. It seems to me that when you get to your mid-20s and onwards, you’ve officially “grown up.”

I don’t know how doable it really is, but my wish (with the risk of drawing the ire of grownups who think that I’m such a silly jerk) is that I continue to live on for as long as I can.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
-James 4:14 (NIV)-

written on my 25th birthday, July 17, 2007