+ 2007 Is The Year...

... that I will cut down on yosi (hopefully, social smoking na lang)
... no more Coke for me, just Coke light (minimize high fructose corn syrup sugar intake)
... gain one inch on my shoulder width
... lose one inch from my waist
... gain half-an-inch on my arms
... play airsoft at least twice this year
... spend less, save more
... run and finish a marathon (idol ko si roms and papa gabs!)
... climb at least 2 mountains
... travel smarter
... more volunteer work
... ballroom dance
... introduce mj to roms, and vice versa (ahihihi...)
... master REFSIM
... retire from PS2-gaming (but NOT from XBOX360-gaming)
... be more healthy
... perfect attendance in Mass (I missed two Sunday masses last year, urk)
... be more tolerant of others' mistakes
... act more, complain less (except in special circumstances)
... gain one more friend

What's 2007 gonna be for you?

Five Hundred Twentyfive Thousand Six Hundred

Today is the last working day for the year. Since yesterday, I've been outlining my self-appraisal of my performance for 2006 which I'll be discussing with my supervisor early next year. It's essentially a whats-good-whats-not list of my assignments, projects, tasks and extracurricular activities for an oil giant. Ultimately, it becomes a basis for comparison of how I fared the previous years against the present year.

And this got me thinking. On a personal level, how did I perform? Am I in a better place than I was last year?

There's a song that goes, how do you measure a year in life?

in daylights, in sunsets
Some posts back, 2005 was a good year for me for career and health. I thought that nothing could top the ecstasy I had in 2005. But 2006 was eventful for my career, health, family and friends. Of course the year had its share of hardships and failures but the sheer number of achievements I've done and seen this year were truly gratifying.

in midnights, in cups of coffee
Coffee is my new therapy. Even if only for a short moment, being alone with a cup of good coffee relaxes me. And coffee bars have become one of my social venues: reunions with old friends, monthly Saturday-night sessions with my fishygroups, and plenty of 'almost-dates' (that is, as if we're "almost dating"). And yes, those coffee socials reach well-past midnight.

in inches, in miles
This year, I was traveling on vacation or on business all over the place. Malaysia in February, Bora in April, Laiya in May, Singapore in June, Australia in July, Davao in August, and successive trips to Malaysia and Singapore starting September. Saw a lot of places and did a few things for the first time (like drifting in the white water rapids -- damn, that almost killed me, and climbing Sydney Harbor bridge).

in laughter
Old friends stayed, new ones came. Some crazy gimmicks and antics were done. It's a good thing that the men in white coats haven't come yet to take me and my friends away.

in strife
The country needs a lot of help. In my personal capacity, I tried to do my part. I spent a whole day painting roofs for a GK Village. I donated almost all of my children's encyclopedias (which I earned in 5th grade by successively winning a TV quiz show on ch2) to various orphanages. I went treeplanting and beach cleaning. On a more ambitious project, I sponsored a Nairobian orphan under the Wold Vision program.

in the truth that he learned
This year was all about decisions -- how to decide, when to decide. Should I resign? Should I apply abroad? Should I stay and wait? Should I speak up? I learned that I should command my life, and not let the events command me. I learned that options can be seen as either opportunities or burdens. I learned that decisions make a person. The small ones build or break character, the big ones give life direction.

in times that he cried
I cried twice this year. One was due to a physical injury: I fractured my little finger while playing badminton. Never did I realize that such a small body part can cause me to cringe in pain. Hell, I almost fainted.

Oh yeah, and I saw my best friend cry. Even giants have a soft side.

in bridges he burned
Personally, I wouldn't want to burn bridges. But if that is what it takes for all of us to move on to new chapters in life, so be it.

in the way that he dies
The second time is for the death of the father of a cousin-slash-good friend. I cried for his loss, but I cried more for his situation.

There. That's a rough, disjointed lyric-by-lyric account of my year. It was a big year; it was a crazy year. Overall, it was a good year. If I do the whole time-series analysis: yes, I am in a better place. Yes, I did achieve my objectives. And most of all, I am happier. I've never felt more blessed, accomplished, connected, inspired, challenged, and most importantly, loved. Measure in love, indeed.

To my loves: Mom and Pops, my siblings, Quito, Maqui, MJ, Chard, Tin, Ube, Chie, RG, Lissa, Roms, Kaye, Julie, Jackie, Emer, Geland, Janice, Carmela, Cris. Chito. College friends. High school friends. Airsoft friends. Badminton friends. Bachelors group. And everyone else I cannot categorize, but nonetheless remember. God.

Thank you for rocking my five-hundred-twentyfive-thousand-six-hundred.

Why there is Christmas

Christmas, for me, is a good excuse to show appreciation and thanks to the people who have contributed to my personal well-being --- a healthy sanity level, physical well being, a reasonable E.Q., and managing matters of the heart. =D This is actually the basis of my annual Christmas shopping and gift-giving list for non-family members. I admit that when it comes to saying 'thanks' sincerely (even if the recipient perfectly does not expect it), I'm a perfect chicken.

Coming from where I am, I find this the best Christmas message I've received among my peers.

"Days coming and going and the lack of immediate intimacy don't have to change how we have been, how we are and how we will be for each other. Thanks for everything everybody.

Apir!"






Pao is my second cousin and incidentally was my classmate from kindergarten to fourth year high school. He's such a good boy that if my mom can have her way, she'd officially announce that she is his unofficial ninang.

This year, Pao survived a break-up (11 years of going steady), his father (uncle Tommy) had 2 degenerative stroke attacks and finally surrendered a month ago, he was unemployed for a time and still managed to find means to keep his core family (mom and sis and nephew) live decently. In his times of need, even without asking me to, I'd dip into my funds and readily aid him. His cause is worthy and sincere; in fact, it's both heroic and admirable.

Christmas is about giving thanks. And this is the most sincere one I've seen. =)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Blooper

Last night, Mac (one of our trainee-interns) invited me for drinks at Jake's/Bryan's place. So over holdem-style poker, I, Emer, Mac, Jake and Bryan finished a liter of Chivas.

At certain points of the game, Geland will send me an SMS to update me on his whereabouts (he borrowed my car three days ago and was returning it late last night).

We adjourned the drinks at around 230am. As I'm already sleepy (and consciously drunk), I drafted an SMS for Geland: "Pogi, tulog na ko. Iwan mo na lang ung car keys sa candle holder sa labas ng bq ko."

Well, it seems that Geland didn't get my message because when I woke up I had the following messages on my phone:

304am, from Geland: Gcing ka pa pre?
336am, from Geland: I left ur keys sa lalim ng floor mat. Lasheng ka na hehehe. Nyt. And thnx u sbra.

Puzzled on why would I get those messages on my phone, I reviewed my 'Sent Items' and found out that I sent out my 230am SMS to a girl-friend of mine instead of Geland. Wahahaha!

1002am, to girl-friend: Wahahaha... I think I missent u a msg dis morning. Hehehehe. Hapi thursday!
1009am, from girl-friend: yep, for a while i was flattered you called me pogi. mwehehe. happy thursday!


Hahaha. That bit of light humor ought to give me a good start for today.

Vote Vote Vote

Aaaarggsss... time for me to downgrade my otherwise 'reserved-quiet-geeky' look for another ham.

I have this dance performance on the 'Bagets' theme tomorrow and I sort of ransacked my closet yesterday trying to mix-and-match.

So which one is it gonna be?

A. B. C. D.

Seven Years and a Day

Seven years ago I stepped across the threshold separating my strobe-lit city life from the rural lifestyle of my to-be workplace.

I turned seven years and a day old today as an employee for Shell, more specifically as a technologist in their refinery.

It's been a motley of frustrations, long nights, stress, surprises and weekend works. I've also had my share of fulfillments. Occasionally, it's fun but most often it's really a very serious and challenging workplace.

A close friend of mine asked me how's it like working as an employee for the last seven years. My reply:

It's like scaling a very huge rock formation, freestyle. It's hard, it's difficult, it's demanding. Every inch you gain in the climb is an effort, and there will be points along the way tbat you seem you'll get stuck. There's little room for mistakes --- make a wrong judgement and you can plummet straight down. What drives me is the same as for any climber: getting to the top, seeing what I've conquered and being proud of my OWN capabilities.

I'm not at the top yet --- I'm stuck somewhere in the middle. Like any climber, I'm trying to figure out a way to get to the next level.

Surprising Atsi and Niks

There are people who deserve pleasant surprises now and then.

The victims:


The masterminds:


The entertainment:


Our birthday greetings to Atsi and Niks! Hope that many more pleasant surprises come your way.

Relax

In the last couple of weeks, I had (no kidding here) 2 key investigations, 3 business trips, 4 workshops and 5 work-related telecons. I must have missed the partridge-in-a-pear-tree to make the set complete; it probably got buried in my inbox somewhere.

But despite the work, I'm thankful for the opportunities to relax.

In my last business trip to Malaysia, Cris took me and Frat to one of his best-kept secret places to chill out: the SKYBAR. It's located on the top floor of Traders Hotel. Inside, it's got a relaxing atmosphere with the subdued lighting, soft music, a 25-m lap pool in the middle and a jacuzzi pool on one side. It also has a spa on its mezzanine. The place is open air, but overhead beams give the place a homey feel and make it appear enclosed. It's best feature though is the spectacular view of the Petronas Twin Towers overlooking KLCC park -- the place has glass walls on the side facing Malaysia's most-known building.

Anyway, we got seats by the windows and Frat treated as to two rounds of 'Tiger Towers' -- it's just Tiger beer in very, VERY tall glasses -- and unlimited wasabi-peanuts. We chatted a lot --- it's actually my first time to have an open chat with 'adults'. We talked about regional economies, leadership at the workplace and future options (career and marriage --- Cris was evading the latter topic). I was surprised to find myself finishing my two glasses ahead of Cris and Frat, hehe. Maybe it's because of those peanuts.

Last Saturday it was the 2nd Chairman's Cup for Badminton, held at The Zone in Makati. I just got back from Malaysia then. My problem everytime I return from a business trip, my biological clock is all messed up because I always fall asleep on the plane, no matter how long or short the flight is. The day before the tournament, I had insomnia.

In the elimination games, I and my partner won our first game fairly easy (me: awake for 26 hours straight). An hour later, our second game ended in a draw --- we could have won it except that my mental state was already bad and I was playing the game purely on instinct; hell, I had a lot of unforced errors on my serve. Fortunately, we had a 90-minute wait for our last elimination game. I took that chance to sleep underneath one of the bleachers (and skipped lunch). When I woke up for our third game, I felt totally great (thanks to those power napping tips!).

Anyway, we qualified for the finals. The finals game in our level was an exciting match-up. Unfortunately, our opponents had a series of mishaps during the game (one of them got hit on the face by his partner which resulted to a minor cut on his forehead, and later on, his partner got leg cramps twice). We won the championship trophy after 3 sets. =)



We celebrated later that night at Sherwin's house. Geland poured some brandy for everyone (mostly to me, Jourdan and Ferdie, but Ferdie had to leave early) and poured again and poured again. When we adjourned, all of us were drunk but Jourdan was worst. Hahaha... his speech was slurred and was walking like a drunk Englishman so Geland had to escort him home.

On Friday, my best friend booked appointments for him and me at a spa along Roxas Boulevard (Senko -- it's a very decent place, in case you're about to ask). He thinks that both of us could use a break and could use the time to discuss with me his hesitations on his next big step forward (changing careers). He told me that he needed me in my most relaxed state when I dish out my advice.

And what else makes me relax?

- Alone-time at Starbucks
- Emails from my parents and sisters. Even if there's a nagging tone in their messages, reading through them makes me feel nostalgic and homesick hehehe.
- Receiving happy xthday messages daily. You know who you are. =)
- my Xbox360
- long phone chats with MJ, or Ube, or Tin
- browsing through Lissa's blog

Happy Wednesday to all! =)

Lucid Moment

After a hectic evening with my best friend last week when his wife delivered their third son at Makati Med and going over his personal 5-year plan to manage his family and potential career change:

"Dude, thanks for being my best friend."
And I blurted, "No need for that, Kits..."
"Shut up, let me finish."
(ooops...okay....)
"Really, I am very thankful in having you as my best friend. I really wouldn't have survived college, employment-hunting, settling with Marge and raising my family without you. You were there for me when my parents separated, when I got Marge pregnant, when we were troubled financially, raising my family... (he's getting teary-eyed at this point)... Really pare, thanks."

I was sort of smiling already at that point.

"What are you smiling at?"

"First time I've seen you cry."

"Tangina mo, pare."

Hahahaha.... and we were back to our schoolboyish behaviors.

Tidbits

The FLU

I was pretty badly knocked out by the flu last week. It took me 5 days to recover but I managed to do it without antibiotics. Also, I had to come to work on the last two days of my flu bout because of very urgent work items.

So urgent that my colleagues had to apologetically call me up and 'requested' me to check my mails and attend meetings and telecons because they're in a schedule crunch at that time.

Going back to my flu, Tuesday night was the worst. I was having very severe chills and body pains to the point of deliriousness. Gawd, I thought I was going to die that night.

And I lost 3 pounds. No exercise, 4 days of liquid+juice+gatorade diet, and 14+ hours of sleep per day. I've been absent from the gym for more than two weeks now, so I'm back to square one on my program.

But I learned some new tidbits regarding the flu:

1) You cannot take flu and cold medicine for more than 5 days. These meds have a high strain on the liver, and it can lead to liver damage.
2) You cannot have alcohol if you're frequently on paracetamol and ibuprofen. San Mig Light + Biogesic = liver damage.
3) Colds can cause symptoms of sore throat IF your nose is blocked. The mucus secretions for your colds have nowhere to go, hence they drip down to your throat (gross!). If you're on cold medicine for 5 days already, you can't take any cold meds further.
4) My doc recommended that I go to a sauna to unclog my nose. Hahaha. But having a nebulizer or looking over a pot of boiling water will have the same effect.


WEDDINGS

I attended Normann and Jenny's wedding two weekends ago. It's the biggest and most posh I've attended so far. Guest list is over 800 people! Congratulations Normann and Jenny.

Only a handful of the college friends were invited, so I'm pretty flattered when Normann called me up weeks earlier for his wedding. He even had my invitation delivered to me.

Back in college, Normann is one of the few guys who weren't bashful in asking for my help for reviewing in exams and going over their projects and thesis papers. I've always declined his (and his parents) offers of monetary compensation for my time. To show his gratitude (despite my protests), he'd usually take me to various country clubs and road trips (like the 'day-trip' to Baguio Country Club).

Pin's wedding is coming up next month. Advanced greetings, Pin!


OVER CUPS OF COFFEE

Ube was in town last week, and we had a long chat at Starbucks Batangas. Initially she was hoping for a scrabble game but we couldn't find two other players to play with. Anyway, it was really nice chatting with someone about anything in general who is not from my workplace.

We talked about my friends and her friends, and discussed in length about MJ. Hahaha. We also talked about when will my next trip to Cebu be (probably Sinulog?) and when will be her next time in Manila.

Last Saturday night, Chie joined me, Tin, Buddy, Chard and MJ for coffee at Starbucks Fort. Haven't seen Rhichie in a long time. All of us were perspiring heavily that night from all the laughing at Rhichie's remarks (mostly on MJ, haha). Too bad he had to leave at midnight because he's got a party to go to.

Chard was with Kat by the way. She's the latest addition to our group.

Oh, and according to them (a private joke that night), apparently a couple of gays were checking me and Rhichie out that night. Ngak.


XBOX-ing

Last night, I played online on XBOX Live (Splinter Cell Double Agent). I was simply awed with what Microsoft was able to do for the XBOX360.

I played about a 5 games last night. Hehehe... I teamed up with a guy from Korea and a girl from Australia. We went against 2 French guys and a German gamer.

We won 4 out of 5 games, haahahaha. Asians rule!

It's a good thing I got the headset for my XBOX last weekend. It was pretty intense gaming with me issuing out the orders to my squad, and them reverting back on what they're doing.

Later tonight I'm hosting the connections for some Pinoy XBOX gamers. Apparently I have one of the faster connections available.

7 Reasons Why I Haven't Been Blogging Recently

7. PLAY: It's October! Daming Octoberfest gimiks!

6. FRIENDS: Been very busy with coaching and coercing MJ on her first official blind date! Wahoo, it's the end of the world!

5. LIFE: Badminton. The Shell Chairman's Cup is upcoming, and I'm sort of re-training.

4. LIFE: Gym. I had to shave off those pounds that I'm gaining in the wrong places because of all the business trips and company-sponsored lunches/dinners.

3. WORK: Short-staffed. Several of my colleagues are on business-travel recently, so I had to cover for some of them.

2. WORK: Review review review. I personally want to make sure that I understand all the premises in the 1+ billion-dollar-project that I'm participating in.

1. PLAY: This is called an XBOX LIVE gamertag. =) As of Oct 14 2006, I'm part of the XBOX LIVE community.

Rainy Day Thoughts

I was thinking, what do people need on a rainy day?

Something to keep them warm and dry
and something for them to indulge in,
Maybe something to let idle moments pass by
and something perhaps that's good for cuddling?

Something perhaps that elicit smiles
or something that could make them cry in surprise?

It's raining today, so I wonder
will I get any of these when the shower's over?

Or will it just rain forever?

=)