Optical Illusion: Looking right at you!

I love optical illusions. Just when you see something that looks plain as day, you do a double-take and notice that there's something more than meets the eye!

Take this dragon, for example. Stand back a couple of meters away and stare at it and it stares back at you. With your eyes still on the dragon, move to your left, then to your right. The dragon does not lose its sight on you! There's no special mechanism in it, all you need are cardboard paper, a colored printer, a pair of scissors, and some paste or glue.

Look at my pet dragon at the office... staring at me. Perhaps in bewilderment due to my desk clutter.

I move off to the left, and its eyes and head follow me! Okay, okay! I'll clean up my desk pronto!

The first step is to get the pattern. This is free to download from any of the following sites:
Great Things on the web
Pinwire - video of the dragon included

Then, simply print the pattern onto your cardboard paper, cut it out, then build the structure by following the mountain and valley-fold instructions. You should get this result:


The illusion is best experienced when the dragon is illuminated from behind and below it so the head gets lighted up. Try it! Simple fun.

The Gathering for Gardner is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote the lucid exposition and discussion of new ideas in recreational mathematics, magic, puzzles, and philosophy. This dragon was made to commemmorate the third conference.

Blazing the Cagayan de Oro trail part III

This is the final installment to the CDO adventure. Part 2 can be found here.


Finally, we dropped by the Macahambus Cave and Gorge for a little spelunking. Whoa. Whitewater rafting, then canopy walk and zipline, and now, spelunking? No, we’re not vying for a world record in doing the most stunts in under a day. The cave itself is actually just a quick stroll.


After just a couple of minutes exploring, we found light at the end of the tunnel. It opened up to the Macahambus Gorge, which afforded a magnificent view of the river below. We were informed by our guide that rappelling on the gorge is in the drawing board. Tempting!

After a barrage of camera clicks and flashes, we rode the jeepney back to the hotel.
Did you know that there’s a place called Divisoria in Cagayan de Oro? It’s an ordinary-looking place by day with shops on both sides of the road. But that night, a complete transformation morphed the main thoroughfare into a bustling night market. I’m not sure if this happens every weekend but it sure is fun to experience it!

I love the barbecued sausage!

Half of the section was dedicated to grilled food, and the rest on mostly clothing, apparel, and souvenir items. We decided to try the local flavor that night and made ourselves comfortable in one of the food stalls. The grill served us seafood and meat aplenty, with siniguelas and pineapples to munch on after the sumptous dinner. Again, rice was served in woven palm leaves. Wonderful presentation.

When the bill arrived, we were delighted to learn that each person’s share was only 115 pesos! What a nice surprise for such a bountiful meal! With cash to spare, we then headed for the night market in search of unique finds, and coffee to cap the night off.

We bought some malong for pasalubong

Overall, our Cagayan de Oro trip was one heck of an adventure. Nature tripping with outdoor sports coupled with the friendliest bunch of people. And don’t forget the food! This trip certainly deserves two-thumbs up.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: a movie review

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is one of the highly-anticipated movies in my list ever since I heard that this movie was being produced a couple of years ago. And how time flies! Today is the first day of showing and I just had to watch it tonight.

Well... what can I say? This movie brought me back to the good old days when sleuthing was the coolest thing thanks to Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and the Bobsy Twins. And Indiana Jones was the ultimate detective, solving riddles that tested man for centuries.

Like always, I will not divulge much in terms of plot in this review and keep it spoiler-free. But the good old Indiana Jones goes out once again for ancient artifacts and legends in adrenaline-rush action sequences this movie franchise is known for.

This adventure is centered on a mystical crystal skull, said to have been taken from El Dorado, the lost city of gold. The setting of the film is in the cold war era, and right behind Indy's every move are the Russians trying to get hold of power to rule the world.

There are the action scenes with cars and guns in them. Great show! And of course, there's the exploration bit in jungles and solving ancient puzzles and slipping through traps. It's what I expected an Indiana Jones movie to be!

I really, really want to touch on the storyline right now so I'll just stop and say that I enjoyed the movie. Now begs the question: which of the four films is my favorite?

I'd still say that Raiders of the Lost Ark is still be best Indy movie, principally because it centered on something we can relate to (the Ark of the Covenant), and it had just the right magic touch to spurn the imagination of the kid that was me all those years ago that I still feel the adventure whenever I watch the DVD. Second is the Last Crusade, followed by this latest installment, and then Temple of Doom would be the fourth. But that's not to say that this film is a measly third. In fact, if Raiders of the Lost Ark were a 99%, then the Last Crusade would be a 98, and Crystal Skull a 97, and Temple of Doom a 96.

It's sooo good to watch an Indiana Jones movie on the big screen once again! Hats off to Steven Spielberg!