lost

a classic puj

2007-09-01T18:35:00.001+08:00

this is just one of the things wrong with the public transportation in lapu-lapu city. and i guess the rest of the country as well. .

note that this puj has no backlights.
shouldnt the LTO be more careful especially with the registration of public utility vehicles? for God's sake, they carry the general public so safety should be of primary concern.

dying for the flag

2007-08-25T23:19:00.000+08:00

i rarely watch the (philippine local) news because i usually feel depressed with how things are going. all that political bickering and positioning and crimes that always manage to snag most of the airtime. however, as i was tv surfing, i happened to saw a brief news about the only sulu-born marine who got killed in the recent encounter with the abu sayyaf group. it was so heart-wrenching to watch a mother receive a flag in exchange for the life of his son. to hear her say that she has no choice but to accept that her son is gone. and that at least he was able to contribute his life for something good. i hope the symbolism of the flag is not lost to us.

no guts, no glory

2007-08-18T22:47:00.000+08:00

our country had to fight for our independence so fiercely, and look what we do with our hard-fought liberty ...

flight delays

2007-07-15T00:01:00.000+08:00

friday the 13th was a day i looked forward to.
i was finally going home! been in manila for a week but it felt like a month.
my officemates were a dear but i just missed my bed, and my lalabs and my dogs, and my family :) added to that, i had a date with the friendships! what remains of us (in cebu) that is.

anyway, i was early! leaving the office a little after 5 left me with just enough time for the required 1-hour check-in. so i waited. and waited. it was of no help that my entertaining ds-lite was out of batt :( i couldn't play with my mobile either for fear it will also go dead on me. i had to make do with the tv which was airing kapamilya shows.

finally, after 30 minutes past the expected boarding time, a voice-over announcing the flight delay was heard. hey, took them 30 minutes to realize that there were people waiting for the flight to take off at 19:40! the next etd was supposed to be 20:40.

it was another round of waiting, twiddling fingers, waiting, twiddling fingers, waiting. these were of course interjected with watching tv from time to time which was becoming boring already.
a little before 20:40, finally, we were asked to board! it was another 15-20 minutes before the plane was able to take off though.

Gawd! i would really hope that other than apologizing in the plane for the delays, at least they would inform the people while in the waiting lounge of how things really are. at least i can set an alarm get a good sleep instead of intermittent nods and wake ups for fear of dozing off and being left behind by the plane.

2007-07-03T11:44:00.000+08:00

what is she waiting for?
a prince to sweep her off her feet?
a magic glue for all that shattered pieces?
a time machine to bring back all that has passed?

what are you waiting for?
that fate will hand you that silver platter?
that God will erase all your hurts and fears?
that others would be forgiving and forgetful?

what am i waiting for?
to realize i was waiting for naught?
to see clearly the path i should take?
to have that courage to do as i see fit?

patience may be a virtue
but waiting surely kills
steadily, slowly

where's my mickey?

2007-06-24T21:18:00.001+08:00

and here he is ... :)
mickey is actually a housemate of pbb2...jologs ever jud ko :D

what i like about him is that he scores high on physical
quotient (translation: blessed with good looks and height/built),
intelligence and emotional quotient.

this much i gathered through LS (live streaming) which shows
how the housemates really behave. unfortunately, what is being
shown on free tv is what the tv station wants to project - even if it
means blatantly twisting facts here and there.

sad to say, the other filipino housemates fail in comparison to this
global housemate raised in switzerland. he has shown self-discipline,
respect, value for hardworking, optimism, logical thinking...
the list can go on and on.

How can a half-Filipino raised outside the Philippines be
the embodiment of all that is good in a Filipino?

on the lighter side of things, he can dance really sexy, has that
stare that makes you feel goosebumps (even if it is not directed
at you) and lashes to die for!

i really hope he wins just to show that Filipinos do know who should win.
but even if he doesn't, he is already a winner in the eyes of whose who
have known him all these 4 months of pbb2 as well as those who have
known him all his life.

Go Mickey! :)

All Good Things

2007-06-23T09:10:00.000+08:00

...lyrics by Nelly Furtado.

Honestly what will become of me
don't like reality
It's way too clear to me
But really life is daily
We are what we don't see
Missed everything daydreaming

[Chorus]
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Traveling I only stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay
Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets in and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Die die die die die

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were barking at a new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon
And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day til the feeling went away
And the sky was falling on the clouds were dropping and
the rain forgot how to bring salvation
the dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon so that they could die

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

first heard this on a local youth-oriented show.
it is a sad song and it haunts me.

jollibee

2007-06-17T19:26:00.000+08:00

i recently attended a birthday party for a lovely little girl. it was supposed to be a happy party. it was in fact a happy party. however, it did make me think about a lot of things. insecurities, one may call it.

for one, it made me realize that this is all i will probably ever have - attending kiddie parties. not being able to host one for my very own (which i doubt i will ever have). being a middle ager, it would be a high-risk for both parent and child - physically, financially and what have yous. it also made me realize that trying to be too practical will do you no good. i see families with the parents earning only half what i do but i see them happy. i guess the happiness of taking care of someone of your own blood erases all the fatigue, gives one strength and courage to do even better. it is also during kiddie parties that you realize that friends are so busy feeding their babies that your attempts at making conversations are punctuated with phrases meant to encourage their babies to eat.

i know not all people are meant to be parents and have families.
i just wished i realized i was probably one them soon enough.

all these musings were cut short when jollibee did finally come in.
something about a yellow and red-orange bee prancing along to the latest dance hit somehow made me smile. laugh even.

hey, jollibee, can i adopt you instead? :)

dream venti

2007-05-08T05:06:00.000+08:00

dropped by starbucks today to get my "at least once a month" starbucks coffee.
the barista was sure friendly and would want you to come back for coffee with a
little chit-chat to go. he was not bad-looking either so one more plus for the shop.

the barista ended up giving me an application form with dream venti splashed on it.
a dear friend and i have always thought of doing part-time work as a barista.
actually, we were willing not to get paid for as long as we would know how to make
a real good cup of coffee and frap.

anyway, whether dream venti remains just that, a dream remains to be seen.
for now, maybe i have to reconsider that "at least once a month" starbucks coffee....

p.s.
Venti. From the Italian word "venti" meaning "twenty."
A Starbuck's twenty ounce coffee drink is known as a venti.

bells

2007-04-26T21:46:00.000+08:00

wedding bells that is ...
they seem to be (furiously) ringing...
but not for me...zannen desu ne.

i am happy for those who have found love
and who are making their commitment official
in the eyes of both men and God.

i am happy for those who have cast their fate
to the winds, believing that long engagements
is not the sure fire way to make marriages last.

what does not sit well with me
is having to answer that nagging question again.

as a speaker once directed to me...
"your 3* y.o and you don't have a problem with that?"

ouch!

first days

2007-04-16T21:31:00.000+08:00

why is it that my 1st days with a new company
seem to be punctuated with lots of chitchat?
why is it that my 1st days with a new company
seem to be very slow moving?

but i am not complaining :)
as always, it was a decision done with a lot of thought.

besides, pretty soon, days will be hectic.
if history is to repeat itself :)

like a tiger, i should patiently wait
for fulfillment of this innate desire to do well.

saying goodbyes

2007-04-14T10:03:00.000+08:00

an old and true friend jabbered me to ask if i cried during my farewell speech.

she knows me well enough thus the question.

i cry buckets easily so it was really a pretty good effort on my part not to be bawling when i said my (impromptu) farewell speech yesterday.

there is a tinge of sadness of leaving a company i have been passionate about for more than a decade. it was heartbreaking to say thank you and goodbye to truly exceptional people who had to trusted me to steer our projects to success. it was heartbreaking to look at the faces of true friends who have made seemingly impossible work conditions bearable. i felt a sense of loss to realize that there are interesting people i would probably not be able to work with anymore.

but i did manage to keep my tears at bay. wanting to leave with a smile :)

however, i only said goodbye as a "warrior of the light" of nsp. i only said goodbye as a pm, pl, bridge se, design engr, nihongo training coordinator and a host of other tasks i assumed before.

maybe that is what made it easier for me.

graduation day presents :)

2007-04-14T09:38:00.000+08:00

from the friendships!

from my project group :)

with the book and specially made scrapbook for me :)

God is good :)

finally! bora ...

2007-03-31T00:03:00.000+08:00

bora's sunset with great company

lovely couple, yes? :D

me and bora's really powdery sand...

alin, alin, alin ang naiba? :)

shutting up

2007-03-17T22:06:00.000+08:00

if you don't have a viewpoint, shut up!
this was a line that was firmly etched in my mind when i attended a problem solving and decision making seminar sponsored by my company.

and apparently, we really do not have a viewpoint when it comes to discussing employee woes.
at least that is what the message that was stressed by one of our top management.
even if we are supposedly "middle managers".
even if we simply had the best interest of the company at heart.

and apparently, tears, whether genuine or not are still effective.
even in the corporate world :)

so, i will now shut up.
better yet, i will just fade away :)
probably best is to just pray ;)

98%

2007-03-12T22:33:00.000+08:00

that is my current status now.
in terms of making that big leap :)

hurray for me!
i just pray that something good comes out of my decision...
not necessarily for me but for those who will still be there

the remaining 2% by the way is just the formalities :)

tulips!!!

2007-02-27T21:53:00.000+08:00

yehey! got a bouquet of tulips for valentine's! just learned that tulips mean perfect love...

how sweet!

when i was just coming in the office, i actually noticed that flowers were being delivered at about the same time. i thot how lucky in luv the recipient is ...

when i entered the office, our guard gave the bouquet to me!

it was indeed a pleasant surprise from my lalabs :) mwah!

monday sucks

2007-02-19T11:29:00.000+08:00

this is a line in the shirt i am wearing now.

and never was it truer than today.

the multicab following me bumped me and the multicab
following it bumped it again in consequence bumping me again
:(

in short, i have become a traffic accident statistic.
i have become party A in a party of 3 vehicles
caught in a mishap.

for the past 2 yrs that i have been driving,
i never thought it would ever happen to me.

yes, i do sometimes press a little too hardly on the
pedal but i have always been careful.

yes, i am sometimes guilty of wishing ill a non-thinking
driver that will endanger me with his driving.

hay, life sometimes really sucks.
we sometimes pay the price for the misdoing of others.

as it is, my body is slowly realizing the impact of what happened to me.
i dont think it is that serious though....
probably a good rest will do me good for now.

2007-02-10T20:55:00.000+08:00

just wanted to share this one.
this is the wedding invite received by a friend.

according to him, this is the "sosy" version.
too bad he did not receive the "not so sosy" version. ;)

ty family

2007-02-10T07:42:00.000+08:00

family portrait in ty bear format!

guess which color i am!

tnx to mcdo for the really cheap ty bears!
used to shell out around 750-en for 1 cutie.
at mcdo, busog meal + 95, u can take home 1 na!

hey, i sound like a mcdo commercial na... :D

staying single

2006-11-27T23:12:00.000+08:00

over the years, one question (albeit differently phrased) kept popping up...
"u married na?", "single lang gihapon?", "when man ka mag minyo?, "musta na imo husband?"
my answer has always been a "wala pa lagi.." delivered with a wry smile.

had an interesting conversation with my mom this morning. the talk started with my mom asking about what i wanted to say to my sis last nite. i said it was just a gift suggestion for my cousin. my mom's retort surprised me. "she has everything. a couple of nice (bath) soaps will do. she's a doctor now, she has a boyfriend and is probably getting married soon. lupig mo." the last part nearly floored me :D i can only reply "lumba diay na siya my? ".

as usual, i dismissed this implication about my status which is still single and living with my parents. :D

when i got to the office, my cubemate was looking at the latest thanskgiving photos from our US friends. at some point, we realized that there are still a handful of us who are single. Single of different forms mind you - single but in a relationship, single and looking, single and not looking, single and just waiting, single but so in luv with work, and other forms of single blessedness.

i am not sure why people kept on bugging us singles about our status. is it a deep concern for mankind that we will not be contributing good genes? bwehehehe ... is it just a rhetorical question? is it just a conversation opener? a really genuine concern not to see as old and lonely?

but maybe, just maybe, my circle of single friends just missed out on the announcement that it is a race after all. hehehehe the question is now, is it a race as to who gets married first? or as to who gets married last? :p

gyuudon

2006-11-19T09:35:00.000+08:00

been hankering for yoshinoya's gyuudon for the umpteenth time.
it had been a comfort food for me back when i was in the land of the rising sun.

it never entered my mind that i would be having a taste of their gyuudon
in the lion city.

even if i missed out on 2 of the must-see attractions in singapore,
that beef bowl was enough for me ;)

bowling

2006-09-30T00:52:00.000+08:00

after being treated to a superb dinner of predominantly red-orange colored (i.e. italian tomato sauce laden) food by generous officemates and friends, my labs and i went to CM to try to work out the extra carbohydrates we have just loaded into our system. work out here means doing some bowling.

and well, i was so happy with my score :) my usual score is a little over a hundred on a good night with the scores dwindling as the night trudges on. tonight was different though :) i easily scored 148 on my 1st game and eventually averaged between 120-130 in almost 5 games. that sure was an accomplishment (for me)! so much so that i wanted to reward myself with a bowling ball :D it was a good thing that no one was manning the bowling accessories corner :)

cheers!

2006-09-25T22:21:00.000+08:00

"sir, how long did it take for you to decide?"
18 months...

this was a question i posted to my boss in his farewell dinner party.
yes, after 14 yrs with the company, he has decided to leave.
leave to finally pursue his interests, elsewhere.

like him, i have been contemplating for the longest time now.
i even had the opportunity to finally make that switch but for
a few major reasons, i did not (yet) take the plunge.

for someone like me who values loyalty most of all,
it is in fact very hard to throw 11 long years of trying to
build a company which i had hoped i can say with conviction,
"i helped build that one".

i know sir fred can rightfully say this though.
for your foresight, your far-reaching ideas,
cheers sir fred!

take a bow :)

2006-08-20T18:31:00.000+08:00

last friday, another one of the friendships said her goodbye to nsp.

i used to have a personal thought ( mae used to echo this by the way ) that she would be the last friendship standing in nsp.

but this was not to be.
despite all the major adjustments she and her family has to make because of her decision to take that leap of faith, all it takes is the willpower to change.

and for that,
take a bow mae :)