A Word of Thanks

I, my mom and my dad would like to thank everyone below for making our 2-week stay in Australia a very memorable one:

1. Tita Tess Andres, Tito Art, Tammy, Tricia, Nick, Michael and Annalys: for the homecooked meals, accommodations, Blue Mountain tour, and shopping tours
2. Tita Pat, Tito Robert, Marie, Iasmin, Adrian and Jeremy: for the splendid dinners and chitchat
3. Tita Menchie: for the Bowral tour, cheese and wine
4. Tita Lilian and Tito Arnie: for the kangaroo steak
5. Mike, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Mahak and Naomi: for Bridgeclimb
6. Kyle, Georg, Arthur, LJ, Merlin: for the uluru outback camping
7. the great staff at the Cityrail stations and University of Sydney
8. Paul: for touring me in Melbourne
9. Elisa and Erik: for the fun night at King's Cross *sneer*

From the bottom of our hearts, maraming salamat po!

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This post was drafted and published at Kingsford Terminal, Sydney.

Being Young at Heart

I had dinner last night with Iasmin (a 32 year old Pinay) and Adrian (her Australian husband) at their suburb home in Sydney. Dinner was a gastronomic platter of spring rolls, barbecued pork loins, water chestnut salad and wine.

After dinner, their 5 year old kid Jeremy (such a cute and playful kid) tugged at me to go play with him. Adrian "agreed", so Jeremy and myself scooted off to the living room to play with his rubber bug collection.

After an hour or so of playing and making squishy sounds with bug dialogues, with Adrian and Iasmin talking to me half the time regarding our common interests, Jeremy asked me in a matter-of-fact tone: "Are you a kid or a guy? You play like a kid and talk like a guy." Adrian and I laughed after hearing Jeremy's question.

So, I shrugged my shoulders and told him, "Sometimes I'm a kid and sometimes I'm a guy."

It's then that I realized that I'm really young at heart and will still be 50 years from now. =D

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I met Adrian and Iasmin while having coffee at "The Rocks" in Sydney City. It turned out that Iasmin was also from Baclaran (my "hometown") and that they lived in the same Sydney suburb as to where my parents are staying.

A Message for the Loony Bin

To the funniest, wackiest, smartest, most profound and most sensible lady I've met offline and online across four continents:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, L I S S A !. Cheers to you and the loony bin! :D

Cold Wild Ozzy

I've immersed myself for three very cold days (temperature range: 2-12 deg C) in the uluru, Central Australia's outback wilderness. It was bushland as far as the eyes could see except for one major landmark in the area: Ayer's Rock. :D

There were 9 of us in our group: 6 Sydney University students (Kurt, Kyle, George, LJ, Rigg, Key), 1 tourist (me), 1 guide (Arthur) and 1 dog (Merlin --- that Arthur guy has some sense of humor), and all of us were blokes. No girls, drat.

Anyway, the objective of the trip is to experience "soul cleansing", uluru being sacred ground for aborigines and what-have-you mysticism with it. The way I look at it though is trying to survive uluru at its harshest condition.

It was a great experience for me. My only regret though is that all we were allowed to bring were clothes, toiletries and a thermos. No iPods, no junk food, no cameras, no cellphones. But after enjoying my experience there, I then understood why Arthur wouldn't want those things on the trip. Read below.

Here's the run-through of the last 3 days:

1. Walk 14 miles from the airstrip to our campsite (in 6 hours) with about 30 pounds of food and gear on my back.
2. Cold weather at night: 2 degrees! And what's the easily available fuel in the bushland? Dung. Dingo and kangaroo dung. Because it's winter, they're freeze-dried (hahaha) so they don't smell that bad when we were collecting them. But when we started burning them as fuel... *whoo boy*.
3. I was the only one who didn't have mitts for my hands. So, I tore a pair of my socks and cut-out fingerholes in them.
4. In the absence of an iPod, group singing is the next best option. And the group's favorite artists: Britney Spears and 3 Doors Down. Weird combination.
5. Learned how to make a stone knife. :D
6. Ooo-ba: some sort of spiny bush whose leaves can be used for smoking using a pipe.
7. Ma'mata: another spiny bush whose branches, when boiled in water and drank as tea, has the same effect as sake.
8. Built some stone markers along the way. Route marking in the outback is very different from what I know for forest trekking.
9. Learned animal trailing: snakes, dingos (dogs), kangaroos and foxes.
10. Pratical exam: trap either a snake or a fox. And our group (me, LJ, Rigg) trapped a snake! Wahooo!
11. Gutting, Cooking and Eating Snake 101: Snake lechon.
12. Coal picking. That's much better than dung fuel.
13. Tribal marking.
14. Rain + cold weather = 9 shivering blokes.
15. Woke up on the third day (after the rain) with a whole herd (?) of kangaroos surrounding us! There's easily 30 of them. That was cute! And scary... hahaha.

The adventure was really challenging on my body. I was dead-tired at the end of the third day. But I'm glad I took that trip --- it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. :D

Thanks to the Sydney guys for the swell company! And for the record, I'm already 27; I'm not a student on vacation as you guys first thought. Hahaha. :D

Funny Caption

I leave it up to you to develop your own funny caption for the following series of photos. =D



Photos taken last July 1, a belated birthday gathering for Marijo.

COUNTDOWN

A. ONE

Wahoo! I survived this week! I never would have thought that I'd be able to pull-off a decent job in facilitating one of the technical reviews for the refinery's ultimate site lay-out for the refinery's future upgrading. However, at the end of our 3-day exercise, my brain (ouch, I've a migraine coming up) and legs (been walking around the site in the last 3 days) are almost ready to give up.

But a pat in the back by Carlos and his team (our consultants) for a job well done (suppossedly hahaha) makes all my sacrifices this week worthwhile.

B. TWO

Mental note to myself: In case of need for a kaladkarin to help me entertain my business guests, Gelhandsome is a good choice. I found that out last night when he tagged along to entertain my guests at Leslie's Tagaytay. Thanks dude!

C. THREE

For a taste of humorous reality, Marijo and Ube have become my staple sources. "Nakakapayat ba ang jogging?" "MJ, for you it won't work." Bwahahahahaha!

D. FOUR

I went on a splurge last weekend. I bought this cool Northface jacket at 10% off on the Power Plant mallwide sale. So instead of shelling out eleven thousand, i only had to shell out less than ten thousand pesos for it. Crazy, Stip! And I also bought a thermal shirt, a pair of shoes, a lot of books and a sweatshirt. I won't post the total amount I spent in 1 1/2 hour; some of you readers might have a heart attack or die of asphyxiation from holding your breath. :D

E. FIVE

Just two more days and I'm off for a vacation. Really looking forward to it!

F. SIX

By the way, happy birthday Quito!

Thank Goodness for my Ipod

... for it gave me a valid excuse to act like I don't see or hear one of my bachelor colleagues on a date (?) at the gym yesterday. Bwahahahahaha!

Right, Jackie? Apir!

The Visit

Truly enjoyed your company last weekend, even if it was just for a short time. It was a welcome break in my crazy schedule. =) Despite how it looked, I enjoyed the company of your barkada. Nevermind if they sing crazy songs and laugh to their heart's contents --- fun is fun and it's contagious, even to the perfect stranger in the crowd which is me.

It's nice to see you, have coffee with you, talk with you and laugh with you in person again. Too bad we didn't get to see our other friends, watch a movie or two, or even dance in the rain.

Next time, it'll be my turn to visit. And I'm hoping it'll rain.

See you soon!

Catching Up

CONCERT CONCERT

Fishyfishy might disband by next year, so we had a small 'concert' at REDBOX two Fridays ago:




Meron ding videos of MJ's public performance. If you wish to view it, send me an email and I'll give you the link.

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TREEPLANTING

Two Saturdays ago, to culminate the company's Safety week, I participated in a treeplanting activity. Nyahahaha... the shovels were too soft and the ground was too hard. But, I got to plant a 3-year old narra sapling and put my name on it.

Here's me on a banana+gatorade break while helping out Geland plant his tree. Photo by Gelpogi. Shades by Oakleys and boonie hat from my airsoft gear collection.

Well-Placed Words

Well-placed words have a manner of being very effective despite its simplicity in form. Looking back into my 3-or-so weeks of stress from work (and thus creating havoc in my personal and social life), I am fortunate enough to have received a few well-placed words to keep me going and feel appreciated.

I leave it to you to figure out who told me which and when.

1. "Anger gets the best of us. I've known you long enough to know that it'll consume you. Take a swim tonight, then let's talk about it after. I'll drive over." (Well-placed words: "I'll drive over". He's two hours away from where I am, and it's 10 in the evening).

2. "HONDA.............. HONDA wing's of love, up and above the clouds the only way to fla-haaaay!! Smile!" (This was an SMS actually. And I replied "Are you trying to make me laugh? You only got to make me smirk though." And she said, "Ang sungeeeet! Magiging soltero ka nyan!". Hahaha!)

3. "Thanks for your excellent handling of this activity."

4. "We put in a word mate to Steve that you did a very good and very professional job for this exercise. Let us know if you'll consider a career with Foster Wheeler mate!"

5. "Good morning! Smile ka ha? Baka nakalimutan mo na kasi kung pa'no. Ahihihi..."

Okay, back to regular programming.

Mainit ang Ulo Ko

Tingininingining kumpanya at project 'to.

Nakngtokwa naman o... kahit anong plano talaga gawin ko para sa bakasyon ko di talaga masunod!

Background: Meron akong 3000 euros worth of travel credits. Napalanunan ko sa isang project na pinaghirapan ko (note: iniyakan ko 'tong project na 'to dahil angtaas ng expectations ng management eh wala naman silang binibigay na training sa 'kin. para bang pinaghuhukay ka ng balon pero kutsarita lang ibibigay sa 'yo. 'kala nila siguro superwhizkid ako. leche.)

Original plan: Bakasyon sa Australia ng end-April for two weeks.

What happened: Had to postpone it to 1st week of May dahil sa lecheng project na binigay sa 'kin. But more and more items emerged, so ni-postpone ko siya uli to 4th week of May. Di pa rin pwede, dahil may mga business trips. Finally settled on last week of June and 1st week of July. Medyo nahihiya nga ako sa parents ko dahil isasama ko sila. Proud sila that their son will be able to bring them to Australia, and they were very excited about it.

What happened 30 minutes earlier: Sabi ni boss, i-cut-short ko daw yung bakasyon. May kelangan asikasuhin yung project on the 1st week of July. Hindi daw pwede i-delegate sa iba.

Pota... so much for rewards and recognitions kung di mo naman magamit kung kelan mo gusto.

I am entitled to take leaves when I want it.

Di pa ko nagbabakasyon simula nung shutdown duty namin.

Di ko man lang naramdamang mag-enjoy sa beach ngayong nakaraang summer.

Ilang linggo na kong di umuuwi namin sa Manila (8 weeks and counting?). Parents ko na nga ang lumuluwas sa kin dito para makita lang ako. I skipped mother's day and will be skipping father's day too.

Halos mabaliw na nga ako sa puyat nung 2 linggong nakaraan. Buti na lang nung nakaraang Sabado e lumuwag schedule ko. 20 hours straight akong tulog nun, bumawi yung katawan ko sa puyat.

Curse this project.
Curse the management.
And akala ko hindi ko 'to masasabi, pero right now i think it's very appropriate: Curse the company!

Punyeta.

Having Kids

"N-nong stiffie!!"

That was the greeting made by my almost-3-year old godson Maqui.

Quito sent me an SMS early last Sunday morning to remind me of spending half a day with his two kids. My schedule really hasn't been that friendly to my family and social life, and even worse for touching base with my inaanaks (I missed out on their last birthday parties and Christmas). He had it planned out as a very busy Father's Day but I had to point out that Father's Day is every 3rd Sunday of June, not the second. Hahaha...

Anyway, I drove to Manila and met up with Quito, Marge, Maqui, Justin and yaya Sol for lunch at Blue Wave. After lunch, we trooped off to nearby SM Mall of Asia.

Marge had to buy some stuff at the grocery and the department stores so she left Maqui (age almost-3) and Justin (age 1) to Quito and me. She took yaya Sol with her. She'd like to see how the Quito and myself would manage (she had that mischievous look when she handed me Maqui's baby bag) for 3 hours without female assistance.

Quito took Justin while I got Maqui. I think I got a raw deal there. Not five minutes has passed by, Maqui was tugging at my hand and babbling "Twuck... twuck...".

He wanted one of those truck-type baby strollers that you rent at the malls. No problem. Ninong Stiffy can afford that.

But that proved to be a hasty statement on my part. After going through three stalls where they rent out those strollers, none were available. "Sorry po sir, ubos na po." And Maqui was making tantrums already by the time we got to the second stall.

I gave Quito a look saying "Uh, a little help here?". He just grinned, as if saying "You're on your own, man."

So being desperate, I offered Maqui a ride on my shoulders. "Sit up on my shoulders, Maqui? Go like Superman?"

"Soo-per-man...soo-per-man... teeheehee...". Jackpot. I found out how to manage him. So I boosted him up over my head and onto my shoulders.

Thank goodness for my gym sessions. Maqui weighs about 40 pounds!

Sitting on top of my shoulders, Maqui would point out somewhere and say "Dat?". I'll say it's a tree, but he'll say it's a "G-raff". Another "Dat?". My reply was "chair" and he say's it's a "ru-mo". The kid's playing mind games with me. Are there any toddler dictionaries for adults being sold somewhere? I'd like a copy of that, thank you.

While walking in the mall we came across Timezone. Maqui, still seated on my shoulders, began bouncing up-and-down. "Timezone, timezone, ball...basket...ball". "Kits, Timezone okay with you?" "Sure man, no problem. We've brought Maqui to Timezone once." "Okay Maqui, basketball?" More bouncey-bouncey on my shoulders.

I got a Timezone card loaded with 300 pesos. Maqui and I played hoops. On the first game, I got Maqui shooting the balls while I handed it to him. On the next game, it was the other way around. On the third game, he climbed up again on my shoulders and went at it together.

Next stop was Daytona racing. With Maqui on my lap, I had him doing the gear-shifting. We were fortunate that another dad-and-kid joined us in the race, so we weren't pressured to race like professional drivers. After the race (which we won), Maqui and I made high-fives and did a friendly wave to Dad-and-Kid next to us.

"Superman..." Okay, back to my shoulders.

There are plenty more stuff that we did until Marge got back to us (riding the escalator back-and-forth, ice skating for 20 minutes, taught Maqui how to catch popcorn with his mouth, etc.) but the funniest one is the bathroom incident.

"poo-poo...". Major bathroom break for Maqui coming up. With the nappy bag slung on my neck, we trooped off to the nearest men's room.

First problem: Maqui has been taught not to touch any part of the toilet bowl with his hands. So, I had to support him by holding him under his armpits while he dumps, and pretty much took his time doing it.

Second problem: Washing the baby's butt.

(to be continued...)