Showtime

1.

Congratulations to the Tabangao team for winning 3rd place in the country-wide dance contest among the various business units of our company. Held last Friday at One Esplanade Place, the annual dance competition's theme this year is "OPM Selection".

True to our site's 'baduy-on-the-outside-but-kwela-on-the-inside' demeanor, we settled for Andrew E. (well, we actually wanted Parokya ni Edgar but somebody picked that option first).

Some stills of the group's winning and fun performance. Congratulations guys and girls!
If you look really, really hard, you'll actually see me onstage. Hahaha.










2.

Kaye's off for a cross-post assignment to Singapore starting next week, so we gave her a send-off party the other night.

What's "special" about this send-off is that she requested for LIVE performances of our musical talents.

Good luck on your next assignment, Kaye!
And see you at Amanpulo in the future. Hahahaha.

Elements

1. WATER

So that's how scuba diving feels like. It feels like a pre-meditated suicide.

A couple of weekends back, one of my colleagues sort of kidnapped me to accompany him on his dive trip. He figured that I'll finally do Discover Scuba (which I did) while he goes for a couple of dives somewhere nearby.

Note to readers: I'm paranoid about open waters.
Another note to readers: I've drowned twice when I was younger, and had been resuscitated twice. (Yep, the whole routine of one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and-five-and-six-and-seven-and-BLOW --- CPR). I'm living my third life already.

I decided on that day to finally confront my paranoia of the deep blue sea.

By mid-morning, I've been geared up into a wet suit, don on a snorkel mask and a pair of fins.

I breezed through the basics -- deflating the BCD, inflating the BCD, worked on a few hand signals, did mask clearing, retrieved my regulator and scubadived in the pool. Breathe in, breathe out. I'm okay. The instructor was happy with me.

The hard part for me is doing it in open water. Hahaha!

Swallowing my fear, I took the plunge in the sea.
There's an initial rush of adrenaline.
And found myself going deeper and deeper.
And then some peace.
And found myself smiling.

So that is how diving feels like. It's the same feeling that I get when I let go of a burden. Things feel lighter, I get to enjoy the scenery and everything just passes you by.

I think scuba diving is going to be an interesting... uhm... pasttime. Not a potential hobby for me (yet), but definitely a pasttime.


2. FIRE

Lightning suppossedly doesn't strike the same spot twice. But it can strike a nearby area without any doubt. Strike two.

I've a pretty good idea where it's gonna strike next.


3. AIR

I bought the whole MAXIMUM RIDE series by James Patterson a couple of nights ago. I finished the first two books in less than 24 hours.

I breezed through it. It really has been an adventurous read so far.


4. EARTH

I'm hoping for good weather this weekend. I'm going mountain-climbing. Yahoooo!

Hell Week

Question: How does one conclude a hell week at work?

Answer: Get into a heated argument with the people you interface with.

I had to triple-hat the whole week because my colleague is on emergency leave. I discovered that the length of my fuse before my temper blows up gets divided accordingly.

Ergo, my temper's been short this week. By the end of this week, it was at its end.

BAM!

Argued with our group's Singapore-based planner (who I really think is a very incompetent person) ---- I think she was shocked since I sort of reprimanded her. Also argued with the Tech Support Manager on how a refinery's capability should be represented (he took a conservative stand while I took a lesser conservative one).

I'm finally glad the week's over.

Happy Birthday to You

----------
june 22, 2008
12:04pm

chweet chweet. chweet chweet. text message:

i'm okay to be friends if you're okay to be friends.

Holy camote que!!

if there ever was a moment to say "be still, my heart" this would be it.

-----------

- printed here without permission from the blog of Lissa, who's celebrating her birthday today.

To the sexiest and funniest writer who loves to scare little kids and chide me during La Salle-Ateneo games, a happy happy birthday to you!

My Birthday Story

I haven't found the time to blog in the last few weeks. I've been doing some thinking in the sidelines. Deep thinking.

Finally, I selected something to write about.

I've been missing on greeting some of my friends on their birthdays the last few weeks. Anyway, better late than never, I've greeted them post-event with my apologies (...my lame excuse was I totally forgot that it was their bithday).

Four months ago, it was my birthday. Come to think of it, I didn't blog about anything about my birthday then. It was too... extraordinary in a certain way. I think now's a good time to blog about it and keep it preserved as a good memory.

For my birthday four months ago, I had taken a leave (it was a weekday) from office. I was planning to take it easy: chat with my brother the night before to do some catching up, sleep for more than 6 hours on a weekday, have a special breakfast, then drive back to Manila in time for a family+friends-dinner-slash-birthday-treat at a newly-opened restaurant.

I didn't get 6 hours of sleep on my birthday. It was something like four.
I woke up to the sound of my mobile ringing at a pretty early time of the day.
I didn't hear any chirpy female voice at the other end of the line when I answered my phone. Instead, I woke up to the sound of a grown man crying.

How many people would actually hear a grown man cry on the other end of the phone? Probably one in a thousand. But how many people get that kind of wake-up call on their birthdays? Probably one in a million.

The person at the other end of the phone, one of the few guys I preferably hang out with, was asking for my help, desperate for it. He needed to find someone important to him. It was as if someone's life depended on it. He needed a means to get around, travel and search for someone.

It was a no-brainer for me. I offered him the use of my car. He needed it more than I do, I thought at that time. I decided that its okay to sacrifice some of my time to help out the dude, thinking that I'd make it in time for my birthday dinner at Manila anyway.

So, instead of having a special breakfast on my birthday I settled for a quick cup of coffee then bring my car over to him. I didn't make it for dinner at Manila as well, because I waited for him to get back hopefully with his problem resolved (and I was essentially carless).

He got back late that night, around 10 in the evening, and he was able to resolve his problem.

So where's the birthday celebration?

I still decided to drive back to Manila that night. Fortunately, my best friend who was supposed to join the planned birthday dinner party my parents planned for me was expecting that I'd call him sooner or later.

Two minutes before midnight, I was in a parking lot in Alabang with my best friend, a bottle of Shiraz each. I drank it for my good health, and for the relief that hours before I was able to help someone in need despite the sacrifice I made for my schedule and plans. At midnight, the two of us sang "...happy birthday to me...".

Not many people get that opportunity on their birthdays. I personally think it's one of the most unique birthday experiences I've ever gotten.

-------------------------------

Now, remember that I mentioned at the start of this post that I've been doing some deep thinking?

I was thinking that if it were somebody else who seeked for the same assistance on my birthday, would I have willingly helped him never mind the sacrifices I would need to make? Or if it was the same person but I knew him under different circumstances, would I do the same thing as what I've narrated above?

- end -