SUMMER NA!!!

My "busiest" season of the year is officially here, at eto ang mga ebidensya so far.




from top left, across then down: (1) Jumping at Crisologo Street of Vigan (2)Jumping at the Bangui windmills of Laoag (3)Late-night drinking at Sagada's Rocky Valley Inn (4) Trek and swim at Sagada waterfalls (5) "cover-album" shot at Pagudpud marker (6) "smiling crane style" at Laiya beach in San Juan (7) Three monkeys jump shot at Laiya beach

2 weekends of summer have already past, but I've still 8 more summer weekends to spend.

Summer Thought Processing

an excerpt of my thought processing half-an-hour ago...

LP run non-convergent. 6 properties beyond convergence tolerance.
?!
What's causing the non-convergence this time?
Check tolerance settings. Okay naman...
Pull out constraints table and case comparison summary.
...
..
Hmmm... not there. Need to look at the iteration log.
...
..
Program trying to produce very little benzene heartcut. Marginal value is xxx.
Ang init... probably swim later instead of going to the gym
I'll need to block out this mode.
Edit the case file.
Case 36: xxxxx, MODIFIES Case 31. TABLE CAPS PLPS BC94 min1=0, max1=0.
Re-run the case at the LP.
Email from Mukesh. Received premises document for tankage requirements by 2012.
Skim the document... okay, the study confirms that 2 new tanks are needed... can quote this to support the investment proposal... cost = xxx
Case 36 at recursion number 121 already. 72 variables still outside of convergence tolerance.
Investment proposal economics... set-up DoVaMo valuation model for the proposal.
Swimming nga ako later. And ice cream after! That would be nice...
Case 36 at recursion number 148. Optimized. Objective function = xxxx.
Awright! Optimized results.
Hmmm... I wonder if I'll do a Boracay trip this summer?
...
..
Worst case, Laiya beach. Some of the guys wanna go.
Generating case summary. Generated. Review and ice cream after swimming generate mass balance. Send results to Strategy group.
...
..
.

Summer's been tugging at me the whole afternoon. =)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Young masters Whichie and Stippy will be holding their annual birthday celebration jointly at the Tinter's Mansion on April 19th of 2008. Both young masters have a busy schedule for the month of March but have decided to pursue the celebration in April in order to convene their respective circles.

It is also expected that some announcements will be made on this date.

All mushywarriors, fishyfishies and teammissionspecific members are expected to be present.

My Janice-and-Glenn Wedding Post

Note: Separately, both Janice and Glenn has been putting some indirect pressure on me to come up with my blog-testament of their wedding. I'm having a hard time on coming up with the literary concept for it, but this should suffice in the meantime.
This post may be overwritten in the future in the event that I do strike upon a literary concept which is most fitting for the two subjects in here.

February 16, 2008: Chapel on the Hill, Nasugbu.

It was my first time to decisively do a photography coverage of a nuptial ceremony. It’s not an official coverage though. Lens guru Nelwin and his team were there to do the official coverage. Besides, my skills and equipment are nowhere near their level. In fact, I felt a bit intimidated by all their equipment.

I was doing the photography coverage for two reasons.

The first reason is simple: Here was an opportunity to test and apply what I know about wedding photography.

The second reason requires some storytelling.

Glenn, the groom, has been my wingman of sorts a few years back. We shared a lot of things in common: FHM magazine collections, a “slight” nicotine dependence, one-or-two beers sessions, that weird sense of humor that is characteristic of engineers, a partial addiction to video games and affinity to outdoor adventures. We roughly have the same sense of idealism and what the world needs in order to be a better place to live in (volunteerism, for example). He had introduced me to his mom, siblings and pamangkins while I have introduced him to the regular occupants of our old house in Baclaran – my mom, my eldest sister and my dead grandma (hahaha! – my dead grandma decided that Glenn’s not a ‘bad influence’ for me, so she didn’t had to pull his feet while sleeping and scare the hell out of him when he spent a night at our old house).

Summing it all up, I think Glenn could have been my best childhood friend had we grew up in the same neighborhood. Childhood friendships dig deep roots.

But since we only got acquainted when we both started working for the same company (and somewhere between the stage of responsible adults and childish urban professionals), that friendship was kept relaxed – a bit shallow but broad nevertheless.

Janice, the bride, is like my favorite barber. No, she doesn’t cut my hair on a regular basis or give me a massage while I doze off during a mentholated scalp treatment. Like my barber, Janice has a certain charisma which makes it easy for me to talk about anything in particular. Janice has heard from me most of my disappointments and frustrations on what’s going on with me and around me as well as my small and big blissful experiences. In return, she’s given me the occasional words of encouragement to cheer me on but more importantly her willingness to listen to whatever is it that’s been occupying my thoughts whether it be serious, romantic, trivial or funny. Like my barber, Janice has become my part-time unofficial shrink.

So here are two persons whom I had the privilege of knowing on a more-than-casual basis and certainly beyond the “Hi, how are you?” degree of acquaintance. In the time that I have known them, I’ve concluded that both Janice and Glenn ranks high in my list of favorite people.

This now brings me to my second reason for being decisive on doing the photography coverage: Janice and Glenn, the bride and the groom, have been very good friends to me. I wanted to present to them something personal and homemade as my wedding gift to them, something which can’t be bought from a catalogue or ordered online.

So, I did my best effort to produce a portfolio of shots of their most awaited moment as seen through my eyes from a far distance. The results seem raw and not as perfect as I wanted it to be, but I was happy at the results.











For each time I press the shutter on my camera, two things happen: first is I capture a specific moment of their wedding, and second is I get a mental flashback of a random happy event that I’ve witnessed Janice and Glenn in. It was like going through a slideshow, no....., it was like browsing through an album containing photos of the present and the past arranged in an alternating fashion. Sometimes, when you browse through an album showing a lot of sentimental and nostalgic moments, you just find yourself crying and smiling at the same time.












Taking those shots wasn’t an easy feat for a photographer who had to deal with a blurry vision while doing so because he was trying to hold back his tears as long as possible, and that the last series of shots were done in almost a blind condition for him because his tears were already streaming down his face.

It was my first time to do a photography coverage of a wedding.
It was my first time to see two of my closest friends get married to each other.
It was my first time to cry at a wedding.

To Janice and Glenn, words fail me on how to express how happy I am for the two of you and how thankful I am for the privilege of allowing me to be your friend. Wishing you both a very fruitful marriage.

And hoping to take more photos of the two of you as we all grow older.

Okay, tama na ang drama. Hahaha. Be always cool, you two. :D

Travel Fatigue

5 cups of coffee and 7 half-sticks of cigarettes was all that kept me going for 30 hours straight this weekend on a road trip from Batangas to Clark to Subic and back to Batangas. It's a good thing that I got to share the driving load with Geland, otherwise I would have been forced to spend the night in Subic.

Woke up today with travel fatigue despite 7 hours of sleep. Lethargic thought processing and a sore-muscle-from-head-to-toe feeling.

Why do I ever find myself in this state? Oh... it's because we didn't really plan for the trip. It was a last-minute decision.

Nickelback's "Rockstar" playing over-and-over on my mp3 player is all that's keeping me awake today.

A really bad way to start a hectic week.

Abstinence Day 3

Hallelujah! A decent meal for dinner!

Breakfast was your poor-man's-staple of ginisang sardinas, lunch was an unappetizing tuna-sandwich-on-rye, but dinner was a feast! I had steamed fish, pepper-and-chili-fried cuttlefish and scallops with brocolli.

Well... I and a couple of my colleagues decided to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Hahaha.

Later on, after touring a friend on a "bar-hopping adventure" (five hours to barhop the Batangas scene), all three of us had balut near a convenience store to end the night, errr... begin the early morning I suppose. It's nearly 3 a.m.

Abstinence Day 2

I was craving for steamed crabs yesterday. I imagined picking 2 or 3 of the fattest crabs at the palengke, pincers still tied up in string and their beady eyes peering at their surroundings. I visualized myself giving the crabs a quick rinse at the sink, then dumping them into my biggest pot along with a bottle of Sprite and a generous sprinkle of salt. I could almost smell the wonderful odor of Sprite being simmered in the pot and that delicious odor of crabs being steamed until they turn to that delicious shade of red.

I could see myself with a big plate of steaming rice and a small bowl of patis before me, and steamed crabs ready to be eaten.

However, it's hard to get hold of a fresh crab here in my workplace hence my craving is left unsatisfied.

I had to settle for canned tuna last night.

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Benny and Anne hosted a thanksgiving dinner at Gerry's last night, but I begged off from their invitation. I'd rather sweat it out a bit last night -- a couple of laps around the compound, 30 minutes in the pool and an hour of badminton. I need to clear up my head a bit. In the last two days, I've been self-studying matrix manipulations and recursion techniques on a linear program I'm using blah-blah-blah... really geeky stuff that would titillate hardcore industrial engineers. (I'm not one, by the way!)

I wonder if I can credit this linear programming stuff towards my penitence?

2 days down, 38 more to go.

Abstinence Day 1

The first day of abstinence is always the hardest for me because it is also my self-obligated day for fasting.

I barely finished my running circuit around the compound last night. My regular running program is a 6 km jog to be done in 40 minutes or less (my best time so far is 38 minutes 12 seconds on my Timex). However, having nothing but a single simple meal for the whole day proved to be challenging on my endurance. I couldn’t stride as far as I used to, nor can I maintain a steady pace. I have that light-headed feeling associated with hunger. My stomach’s been growling the whole evening but I stuck to my commitment to fast and abstain.

I just wonder how those ultra-marathoners and ironman athletes are able to cope with their activities on no-meals/no-breaks events? Probably specialized metabolism.

After jogging, I had volunteered to cook for a colleague’s Chinese New Year’s Eve countdown party (my colleague has expressed that he is in serious financial crisis, but some of us guys were willing to chip in to have more fare on the table). The smell of bangus sisig frying in my kitchen was a great temptation.

Next time around, I won’t volunteer to cook on days when I go fasting.

1 day down, 39 more to go.

40 Days Penitence

I vow not to eat any meat from 4-legged animals nor consume any softdrinks as my abstinence and penitence for the whole of the Lenten season.

Except for cases of medical emergencies, if any. =)

Back to School, Back to Manila

1.

Human Resources invited me to be part of their contingent of speakers in their company-recruitment-career talk held at DLSU yesterday (Monday). Naturally, I agreed! I haven't stepped on the good old Taft campus for about 5 years, and a lot has changed.

To get inside the campus, students tap their ID's to a sensor at the gate. The IDs, I think, are already chip-embedded since those barcode scanners which were being used during my college years at DLSU can't be seen anymore. Once a student taps his ID at the sensor, the monitor being manned by security displays on-screen the student's ID photo, name and college. Neat! It'll put our immigration system to shame.

Ever since I graduated, the campus has undergone a major facelift. Pebble Wash isn't there anymore, and some of the Chess Plaza tambayans were demolished to widen the walkways. The campus also looks fresher, mostly because they've raised the heights of the walkways and changed the material from G.I. sheets to some translucent plastic. The LS Main Hall now sports a wide-screen LCD TV.

At the Agno gate, there are now seven street-food vendors offering a very great variety of cheap food. Before, there was only one foodcart in that area.

The Beach parking area is now a major throughfare for student traffic. Wi-fi is available at some study halls. The Yunchengco building, the former Brother Alphonsous Gymnasium, looks very imposing once you get past the LS Main Hall.

And of course, who couldn't notice all those cute college girls. I just had to sit at one bench along the LS Catwalk and the SJ catwalk and do some people watching, under the pretense of course of reading the latest issue of "Ang Pahayagang Plaridel."

I also made a quick visit to the Engineering faculty room to renew old ties with my former professors. To my surprise, some of them are well-informed of how my career is going mainly through my youngest brother who's currently with the Council of Student Organizations.

Oh, and the career talk went well. I gave my testimonial speech after the Country Chairman gave his career talk and Gino delivered his speech. I answered a lot of questions about internship, CGPA, academics, extra-curricular activities, why-did-I-choose-my-current-company, technical and non-technical options in the company... those sort of stuff that soon-to-be college graduates are so keen on asking. And I am more than happy to oblige.

One last thing: familiar faces in the campus still know me, and call me, as my college name -- Stiff.

For me, that was really nostalgic.

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2.

A quick sidetrip to Pasong Tamo brought me to MJ's office, and I treated her and the girls (Blos/Kat/Val) for coffee. It just occured to me then that I haven't really seen B-K-V dressed in their office clothes, and I was actually amazed at what I saw. You see, these 3 girls I get to interact with them mostly on my outdoor activities --- wall climbing, mountain climbing, etc... --- so I've only seen them in their 'rugged' beauty.

All I can say is "WOW". But I had a hard time reconciling Kat's surfer-chick look with her office attire, hahaha.

That's one of the things I miss in Manila. Dropping by at a friend's whereabouts for a quick chat, coffee, and a lot of laughing.

So girls, when are you coming over to visit?

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3.

Dinner was with Ube, and she brought me to BUDDY's at Escriva Drive (not sure if it was still Escriva drive though). Something was so familiar with the place but I just couldn't point it out. But when I saw the menu, I realized that I knew what Buddy's was. It's that big restaurant in Lucban! It has the same look, feel and lighting. One of the reasons why Ube liked the place because the motif of the restaurant's furnishings are sunflowers.

Aside from Lucban fare, there's the standard Pinoy offerings. I had lechon kawali and chopsuey while Ube got her wish of pusit sisig. It was a casual dinner, and it was great to just eat and talk, then eat and talk some more.

It's been a long, long, long time since I had dinner at a restaurant in Manila.

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4. [sidetrips/postscript]

a. Dropped by our house to pick up my barong. Ma and Pa had a surprise for me. My birthday is still a month away, but they handed me my birthday gift in advance. Nothing really fancy, but I was thankful for it. They know that I've a really busy schedule.

b. I had to make a stopover at a Shell station along D.Macapagal avenue to fill-up on gasoline. Coincidentally, Marj was on the filling station opposite me. Had a quick kamustahan and reminded me that Quito is still expecting me to make up for my absence at his New Year's Party.

c. On the way back to Tabangao, Bai and I decided to check out Padi's Point in Calamba and grab a beer each. Wala lang. Lakas talagang mag-trip hehe.

The 4 W's of a Weekend

Bai organized a whole day wakeboarding for himself earlier today and invited me and new guy Jay-Wyn along. I was there to get a chance of a change in scenery -- I desperately needed one because my creativity has been in short supply recently -- and do a bit of photography, while Jay-Wyn tagged along to try out Bai's favorite watersport. So on Sunday morning, the three of us left Tabangao and drove to the nearest wakeboard park at Calatagan, Lago de Oro.

And here are our 4 W's of what to do in a place such as Lago de Oro.

....
..
.

(pictures for uploading... hehe... just wait for it)

Excellent weekend trip. Everybody happy. Wahahaha!

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Just to complete the weekend's events, I was either drunk, asleep or nursing a hangover for the whole of Saturday after bartending for Bai's SLY party last Friday night. Excellent party! Hic!

Despite being forced to interact with Stip's-unfavorite-person.

Not One, But Two

It's been my extreme pleasure to work on our group's send-off from singlehood for a couple of our friends. Glenn and Janice are two of my favorite people (my favorite-people-list is actually a very short one) and I'm more than willing to spare some time, effort and materials (ka-ching!) just to ooomph up what could be one of their most treasured experiences in our workplace.

My piece de resistance: a 4x5 feet photo of the two of them that subtly hints what other people see them for.



Of course, a lot of the other guys and girls helped. So, thanks to them too!



I didn't volunteer because of only one of them; I did it for both of them.

Not one, but two.

Best wishes in advance, you two!