life notes

Panata

2012-01-10T17:11:00.000+04:00

Dalawampu't dalawang oras.

Sinasabing ito na ang pinakamahabang prusisyon sa kasaysayan ng kapistahan ng Poong Nazareno sa Quiapo kahapon, ika-9 ng Enero. Ito rin ang sinasabing pinakamalaki, na dinaluhan ng 8 hanggang 9 na milyong deboto.

Ano ang nasa likod ng pagkahaba-haba at pagkatagal-tagal na prusisyon ng Poong Nazareno?

Ang kapistahan ng Poong Nazareno ay ginaganap tuwing ika-9 ng Enero. Ang itim na Nazareno ang patron ng Quiapo. Ang Poon ay galing sa bansang Mehiko, at itinuturing na milagroso sa kadahilanang bago pa man makarating sa bansa ang barkong magdadala sa Poon, nasunog ito at ang Poon lang ang nakaligtas. Pinaniniwalaang umitim ang balat ng Nazareno dahil sa sunog na nangyari. Bukod rito, marami pang istorya ng mga himala ng Itim na Poong Nazareno ang madalas ikwento ng mga deboto.

Hindi ko maiwasang maging emosyonal tuwing mapapanood ko ang prusisyon ng Itim na Nazareno sa Quiapo. Naging deboto rin ang aking mga magulang ng itim na Poon, at meron din akong mga rekoleksyon ng pagsimba sa Quiapo noong aking kabataan. Higit pa rito, naging saksi rin ako ng ilang prusisyon ng Nazareno noong ako'y nasa kolehiyo. Dahil taga probinsya at nabibilang sa "low middle class", tumira ako sa aking isang lola sa Quiapo sa buong panahon ng aking pagko-kolehiyo. Ang "boarding house" na tinirahan namin ng aking mga pinsan (inuupahan ng aking lola) ay malapit lang sa isa sa mga kalye na dinadaanan ng prusisyon, at dahil doon ay ilang taon din akong naging saksi sa prusisyon ng Poon. Kahit hindi talaga deboto, masasabi kong magkahalong mga emosyon ang aking nararamdaman sa tuwing dadaan ang prusisyon.

Hindi naman kalayuan ang dinadaanan ng prusisyon ng Nazareno, hindi hihigit sa 4 na kilometro sa aking tantya. Nagtatagal lang talaga dahil sa usad-pagong na lakad ng milyun-milyong namamanata. Bukod pa rito, sadyang napakahaba ng prusisyon. Bukod sa milyun-milyong deboto na kasama sa prusisyon, daan-daang mga banda ng mga musikero at iba't ibang grupo ang ipinadadala ng mga deboto para sumama sa prusisyon. Dahil me kasikipan ang mga kalye sa Quiapo, mas bumabagal pa ang prusisyon dahil sa mga taong nasa gilid ng kalsada na matiyagang nagbabantay sa pagdaan ng Poon.

Mahirap ipaliwanag, subalit napakaraming namamanata sa iba't ibang kadahilanan. Nariyang merong gumaling na mahal sa buhay, binigyan ng anak, pinagbigyan ang kahilingan... sa lahat ng ito, isa lang ang aking nakikita - ang pananampalataya ng pinoy ay buhay at walang pinipili: mayaman, mahirap, matanda, bata, lalaki, babae... kahit sino, lahat ay nagkakaisa. Yun marahil ang "moving", ika nga, sa tuwing makikita ko ang prusisyon ng itim na Poon.

Kahapon, nakita na naman mundo ang debosyon ng pinoy. Kung ganito rin sana sa pulitika at sa ibang paraan ng pag-unlad...

Worry-free travel

2012-01-09T12:31:00.001+04:00

The family will be traveling again in a few days, our first international travel in 2012. Lately, Alice and I decided it's much better, and we're enjoying more peace of mind if we have travel insurance, to make sure we're cover for contingencies, just in case (especially during travels to Europe).

Having travel insurance will ensure you will be covered when something unexpected happens during your travel break. This may be delays or cancellation of flights due to bad weather, loss of luggage, health or medical costs during your travel, or even cancellation of trip due to problems with your travel agent. Travel insurance comes in many forms such as single or multiple trip coverage, and the cost considers many factors such as age, number of days traveling, and pre-existing medical conditions.

Normally, we get our travel insurance either from the airline company itself during booking, or from our travel agent. For 'normal' coverage I usually pay about USD125 (for European trips) to cover the five members of the family. For our latest trip, I haven't purchased the travel insurance yet, as I did not find that option while booking online. I plan to go to the local agent of our airline to purchase our travel insurance in a few days.

The point here is, we better be prepared for all contingencies so that we could enjoy our travel fully.

Quite a Year

2011-12-29T19:04:00.000+04:00

'Twas a fantastic year, to say the least. We as family had a great time this 2011, upping levels of expectations in various activities, especially in education, social and spiritual aspects.

In homeschool, the kids had a very productive year: revalidas for all of them were essentially better than last year's (that's according to their teacher-coordinators themselves), and their activities (and outputs) were way better this year. This may have something to do with the fact that the previous school year was the second in our homeschooling activities, and that kinks in the initial year of homeschooling were ironed out (and perfected?) in the 2011 edition of our homeschool. Aside from the kids having more outputs in their portfolio, we were also able to connect more family activities in homeschool. The kids also showed improved skills in studying, as well as preparing for their periodical interviews.

Still in homeschool, more 'social' activities were incorporated for kids' studies: they attended several art classes (basic drawing, ceramic painting, etc) and also attended cooking, baking and other food lessons. These enable them to mingle with children of different nationalities and allowed them to get more socialization time which was lacking in the previous year's study.

It was an amazingly fantastic year for the family's travel activities as well.

Our first venture to Europe (as a family) happened in the summer of 2011, and even though we have to endure high temperatures in some areas, we still were able to achieve that family bonding that can only be attained by being together and doing family activities day in and day out. And we've successfully done it for more than two weeks!

The family enjoyed the sights and attractions (and sometimes even the nice summer weather) of Paris and Versailles in France, the Vatican City, and the cities of Rome, Florence and Pisa in Italy. We visited and climbed the Tour Eiffel, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Saint Chapelle, and cruised along the River Seine; we explored the Colosseum and the Romano Foro, visited Castel Sant Angelo, the Pantheon and Fontana de Trevi; we sat along the Spanish Steps (as most tourists do); and most importantly, we marveled at the grandness of Basilica San Pietro and the square in front of it, and had a serene experience, while gawking at the marvelous works of art inside the Sistine Chapel. The experience we had, and the spiritual renewal that went with it, while visiting basilicas, cathedrals and churches - Saint Germain de Prez, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Croce, Florence's Duomo, the Pisa Cathedral to name a few, was a memory the family will keep for a long time. Our visits to numerous parks provided welcome relief to our aching feet (from walking here and there), as well as time for light banter when the family starts getting grumpy for hours of walking. Exploring new places, understanding new culture, and learning new things become more meaningful when you do it with your loved ones.

And our adventures in traveling continued in 2011.

On the local front, we visited, and took a more in-depth look, at previously visited places: forts and castles, mosques and water fronts, ridges and mountain tops. We also had a short off-road activity (after two years of not doing it) and climbed the highest peak in the Arab region, the Grand Canyon of Arabia. Of course, we did not forget to visit our favorite park and spend some lazy afternoons there.

Towards the end of the year, we decided to head back to Europe to experience 'real' autumn. Munich and the Bavarian countryside were sights to behold. We had a grand time roaming around the Marienplatz area, as well as other notable areas such as the Stachus, Karlsplatz, the Nymphenburg, the Olympic Area and the English Garden. Ludwig II's castles in Neuschwanstein and Linderhof are grand and of course, fairytale-like, and the German countryside (through the town of Oberammergau) on the foot of the Alps gave us a feel of rural Europe which we loved.

Our short visit to Austria (Salzburg) and its thousands-year old structures was also both educational and entertaining to the family.

And of course, there is again, the visit to several churches, most notable of which was in St. Peter's (and the climb to the top, which will show you arguably the best view of 'real' Europe, in my opinion).

We also made strides in deepening our faith.

Aside from our 'panata' of attending the Filipino mass every 1st and 3rd Sundays, we also did a month-long Advent preparation activity in December. This enabled us to renew our faith more, and for the kids to re-visit theirs, by reading more scriptures. I hope this will continue to a deeper understanding of our religion and our faith, and more family activities towards this end.

'Twas a great year. We're looking forward to another great year ahead.

Christmas Dinner

2011-12-26T17:16:00.001+04:00

After taking rest the whole of Christmas Day, the family decided to go out for dinner, and the usual family time that Christmas night. We initially went to Spicy Village, our favorite restaurant, only to find out the place is closed as it has been reserved previously for a party. We then decided to take our dinner in a poolside restaurant of one of the hotels in the area, which happened to provide a buffet dinner that night especially for Christmas.

The family got to partake of a sumptuous dinner - beef, chicken, seafood, pasta... and lots of appetizers and desserts. It was a fun Christmas dinner, and an equally fun night out for the whole family.

Have a blessed Christmas... hope you enjoyed it like us.

waking up on Christmas morning

2011-12-25T11:11:00.002+04:00

Santa's loot bag near the tree

Cold, relaxed, ... no work!

Well, technically there's work, I'm just lucky that after five years of 'business as usual' on Christmas Day, today I was able to get two days off from that familiar 'cubicle' of mine for Christmas and Boxing Days. After a long time, it's good to savor the season's holiday feeling once again.

The sala is a mess: wraps and presents still litter everywhere. Santa's loot bag sits near the tree, and the kids and us take our sweet time whiling away time eating leftover spaghetti and 'maja' from last night's family pre-Noche Buena feast while watching Top Gear UK's Norway episode. This is the true holiday feeling.

Merry Christmas!

another day at the office...

2011-12-24T09:33:00.000+04:00

While most of the world is now in 'holiday' mode, and my friends and former classmates already in their vacations, trips and parties, I am still stuck here in my 'cubicle' trying to do some decent work and be productive (even if my mind continues to wander about what will happen in our small get-together later tonight). This, I think, is the single biggest disadvantage if you are a Roman Catholic living and working in this region. Well, the pay and work environment is good, which do not happen everywhere, and the work hours superb (total of 6 hours a day), but you don't get to observe your own holidays. I know that's being too shallow (and I don't mind observing Islamic holidays, as well). However, when you experience it firsthand, and then for it to be further intensified by what you learn from your social network (well, something's happening out there and we oughtta know), then it somehow becomes an issue (well, at least for me, it's happening).

Anyways, I am stuck on this chair for another few hours at least, and it's best, in the current scheme of things, to turn in some work. I just console myself about the fact that I am already used to this, and have been doing this for six years now. (wow!)

Will they allow me to take an internal leave tomorrow?

Google Dinner

2011-12-17T00:32:00.002+04:00

As I take a peek inside the fridge, I got a glimpse of what's inside: half chicken breast, two thick pieces of turkey breast ham, a piece of potato, a packet of mushrooms and two eggplants. I said to myself, what will be for dinner?

Here comes Google.

It's a bit tricky, but it's also very easy. As I began typing the ingredients I have in the fridge, a list of possible recipes are already being shown by Google. I finally settled for something that sounds like "chicken with eggplant and mushroom".

The directions were fairly straightforward: stir fry the chicken and turkey ham and when brown, add the vegetables. Then season with the usual salt, pepper and a dash of soy sauce. For added taste, I added two chicken bouillon. Voila! the family's dinner is ready.

Judging from the result, I think Google's recipe went well. The kids loved it, wifey said she's too full as she ate lots of it... and of course, I forgot to take a photo as everybody scrambled to get a piece of it after savoring the delicious smell.

Looks like a repeat of Google Dinner is in the making.

Simbang Gabi

2011-12-16T13:37:00.000+04:00

It is that same indescribable feeling.

Source: rhoelilagan (Flicker)

I remember attending the ‘Simbang Gabi’, or ‘Misa de Gallo’when I was still a kid in our small town. We usually wake up early, around 3:00or 3:30 in the morning, and brave the cold weather outside to walk thekilometer or so to the church. (This is the time when global warming hasn’tstarted to be a major world issue yet.) We normally reach the church with alittle time to spare, and, being a kid, I remember spending that ‘precious’time loitering near the small shanties dotting the fence in front of the churchpatio for an initial taste of that delicious ‘bibingka’ and very hot ‘salabat’.(Well, it sure is welcome to have something to help you ease that coldsomehow.) I don’t know the real reason now, but I have no recollection ofsomebody selling ‘puto bumbong’ during Misa de Gallo when I was still a kid.

‘Simbang Gabi’ in our small town starts at 4:00 in themorning. I think it’s how the Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic country,customarily celebrate the nine-day mass in preparation for the nativity ofChrist on Christmas Day. That is also probably why it is called ‘Misa deGallo’. This practice remains the same until now.

This tradition has been part of my growing up. The onlything changed was that, instead of my parents, it was my friends who were withme in attending the masses during my teenage years, and that the frequency of attending it dwindled as Ireached adulthood.

Then, all of a sudden it was gone when I decided to relocate to a Muslimcountry.

Until last night.

There may be no bibingka, salabat or puto bumbong dottingthe church patio… the mass may be celebrated late at night (10:00pm) instead ofthe customary 4:00am… instead of walking a kilometer, there may be that long200-km drive from our place to the church (and another exhilarating 200 kms back!), but these differencesaren’t really important. What’s important is that, after a long while, I got toexperience ‘Simbang Gabi’ all over again. (...and as a bonus, share this moment with my family!)

Oncein a while, it’s nice being a kid again.

My Favorite Travel Apps

2011-12-08T22:41:00.001+04:00

It's that time of year again.

Well, I mean this is the time of year when most of us start preparing for that holiday trip the family waited for during the year. Whether near or far doesn't matter, as long as the family gets to do that getaway to spend the holidays together.

Through the years, I was able to build an arsenal of apps that help me plan that perfect holiday trip for the family. These apps do not only make my preparation quick and easy, they also make the planning process more accessible and comfortable no matter where I am, whether at home or mobile. Further, they make tracking the trip itinerary easier, as I can have immediate access to them through my phone or my iPad. Here are some of them:

While I normally scour different airline websites to get that best deal when it comes to purchasing air tickets, I normally use booking.com to have my hotel reservation. Sometimes, I try to compare the rates I get from the ones in hotels.com, but I almost always eventually get the deals I find in booking.com (both have iPhone and iPad apps). Of course, before I finally make the reservations, I check TripAdvisor first to get real traveler information on the hotel I prefer.

After getting the air tickets, travel insurance (usually from the same airlines), and the hotel reservations, I let my TripIt app do my trip itinerary for me. TripIt is a nice little app that I have for my iPhone and iPad, and it checks my mails for all reservations and bookings I make and organize them for me so that I have a ready access of my flight and hotel bookings (and schedule). TripIt also manages all other holiday activities that I plan (and book) for my trip (such as tours and the like); the ones I normally book using my Viator app. I also connected my TripIt app with another iPhone travel app I prefer - TripDeck - which is further connected to another app, FlightTrack (both are available from the Apps Store). The combination of all these make my holiday easier as I get notifications for flight schedules, alarms for my itinerary, and ready access to my sked during the whole vacation.

In preparing for the trip, I use Packing Pro. It has ready checklist templates for different kinds of trips, and allows you to customize your checklist depending on your preference. Packing Pro has different templates to choose from and has checklists starting from pre-trip, to essentials, to medicines and everything. It's really a handy app that's very useful in preparing what you need for your holidays, especially if you have kids to tag along with you, just like us.

During the holiday, AroundMe, CityMaps ToGo and Wiki Offline become essential apps. During our recent trip to Europe, I also had an extensive use of the Metro app (all available in the Apps Store). These apps become handy when you need a map to know where you want to go, obviously to check metro stations, and to just plain know what essential establishments are near you at any point in time. Of course, I make sure I have at least one travel app of the city I prefer to visit (the likes of GuidePal, Triposo and City Walk variety). Believe me, they come in handy when you're resting your weary feet at the hotel at night and prepare for the next walking tour you'll do on the next day.

Although I don't always use them, I also have the Trip Journal and Trip Viewer apps to document my trips from time to time.

Well then, happy trip everyone... enjoy the holidays!

'cleaning' my mac

2011-12-08T18:47:00.001+04:00

Spent most of the afternoon and evening 'weeding' out unnecessary files in my MacBook. Just found out I only have about 10GB of storage left due to more than 15,000 pics in my Aperture library, and a few .dmgs I left in the harddrive after installing new applications. I recovered about 90GB of space afterwards, then uploaded a few CFs of pics from our last two travels, which again occupied 10GB of precious storage space... if this goes on, I really need to put serious thought in buying another terabyte of external harddrive. (Or better yet, get me an iMac, of course, with a bigger storage.)

Dance Number

2011-09-25T22:25:00.000+04:00

Had a blast practicing with colleagues. There will be an acquaintance cum get-together party in the office tomorrow, and the Pinoy group is requested to present a number. Having several great talents in dancing within the group, notwithstanding the fact that we have an excellent choreographer, it's a no-brainer for us to choose a dance number to be presented. The only catch: we have barely 24 hours to work out a complete dance routine...

We decided to meet and right there decided to have sort of a cha-cha/line dance combination as we cannot afford having more complex routines, the kind not unlike the ones we've done previously in other events.

After about an hour and a half of practice, the number was completed. Not yet perfect, but we're going there...

Let's see what will happen tomorrow :)

Climbing the 'Cupola'

2011-09-23T15:27:00.002+04:00

Basilica Papale di San Pietro

Cupola from the Vatican Museum

Ithought being at the top of the Eiffel Tower gives you the highest 'high'. I was wrong.

The family was able to withstand the heat, the long queue, and a few mood swings to finally got the chance to ‘climb’ the cupola of the Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano. We sort of cheated, actually, as we paid 7 euros so that we could take the lift up to the roof level of the Basilica (which will give you great views of the Basilica looking downwards, as well as excellent views of frescoes of the dome as it is now very near). If I recall it right, we saved about 200 steps, and are now only 320 steps away from the top of the dome. At the roof level (after the lift ride), one could look at how small tourists are inside the Basilica, just to have an approximation of the height of the structure. The Basilica’s dome is the highest in the world, and is just a little smaller in diameter compared to the Roman Pantheon.

Rain going down

Climbing the cupola

Climbingthe dome is, well… exhilarating. It is advisable to have a ready bottle ofwater. I had several pit stops during the climb to catch my breath (it feltlike the air becomes thin as you climb higher… and the spiral staircase isreally, really narrow, sloping as you go higher) and rest my thighs. After the320 or so steps, however, you’ll find that the view of Rome outside of thecupola is unequalled…

You’llsee Castel Sant’ Angelo (remember Angels and Demons?) at a distance… theview of St. Peter’s square is breathtaking... and of course, the Vatican Gardens. You can also see part of the TiberRiver and other Rome attractions, which make the experience all the moreawesome.

Truly spectacular.

The Cupola viewed from the floor level

It's hot at the top

Ash viewing St. Peter's Square from the Cupola

View from the Cupola

The family at St. Peter's Square

Part of Vatican Gardens

St. Peter's Square

'Under the Tuscan Sun'

2011-09-17T23:55:00.000+04:00

Days of summerin Florence, the Renaissance City.

Florence panorama atop Piazzale Michelangelo

We arrivedafter about two hours of travelling in one of Italy’s fastest, the AltaVelocita Freccioargento. The afternoon ride introduced us to Tuscany’sbeautiful countryside with lots of gold and green farmlands, in particular therolling hills where Florence is perched. We haven’t really started our ‘formal’exploration of Florence yet, the scene however, is already worth the visit. Isilently thanked God for giving us this journey.

Palazzo Vecchio, now a museum

Hotel Pendini and Piazza della Repubblica

After a quickdrop off at the Sta. Maria Novella Station (the Tren Italia AV9418,afterall, continues its journey towards Venezia), we hailed a taxi justopposite the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, which dropped us off atour hotel, Hotel Pendini, at the center of the small city, near theever-crowded Piazza dela Repubblica. Aside from the vast piazza justbeside the hotel, the view from the hotel room shows the top of Florence’s Duomo.Not bad.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Capella di Medici

Florence is asmall city. On our first night, we visited the Florence Cathedral, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (locally known as the Duomo, the talleststructure in the city), and marvel at its gothic design (marbled panel ingreen and pink). We learned later that it was consecrated during the 1400sand it was built by three different designers/engineers starting in late 1200s.The Duomo complex is comprised of three magnificent structures: the Duomo,Giotto’s Bell Tower or the Campanile, and the Baptistery. Laterin the night, we visited the Capella di Medici, particularly the SagrestiaNuova, or the mortuary chapel for the Medici family. It’s interesting tosee a blend of old and new in this area, as we see lots of pizzerias and smallhotels dotting this area of the city.

Ponte Vecchio at the back

Santa Trinita

Like any othertypical European city, Florence’s streets are narrow, and its lanes, cobbled.Walking early to cover more areas, we felt a slight chill, not unlike that whenwe were in Paris. Autumn is now slowly making its way towards the continent.Alice had a grand time exploring the city’s streets. With all the brandedstores just a stone's throw away from the hotel, and Florence’s other small shops sellingauthentic Italian leather bags and shoes, what more can a wife wish? Anyways,on our second day, we set our path towards Ponte Vecchio ("The Old Bridge"), and after just about a10-minute walk from the hotel, reached the Arno River, near the PonteSanta Trinita. We first visited the Church of Santa Trinita andadmired such works as Madonna and Saints and Annunciation, whichare housed there. We then moved towards Ponte Vecchio.


Santa Croce

After takingseveral photos of the family at the Ponte Vecchio, we proceeded to the Basilica di Santa Croce. Although the church is being reconstructed inside, there’s nodenying the beauty of its pure gothic structure, with its porticos andcloisters. Along with its campanile, the church of Santa Croce is a huge,imposing white structure. We bought tickets so that we could proceed inside, and there we saw thetombs of, among others, Galileo Galilei, Dante Alighieri, Michaelangelo, andNiccolo Machiavelli.

After our timeat the Santa Croce, we proceeded to the crowded Piazza della Signoria, whereyou can find both the famous Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio. Outside,we took photos of famous statues (copies only, originals inside the museums) suchas that of ‘David’ (Michaelangelo) and ‘Hercules and Cacus’(Bandinelli).

having a taste of Florence's gelato

at Belvedere Fort

We took a restin one of the pizzerias dotting the area, and of course, we did not pass theopportunity to have a taste of Firenze’s gelato, considered the best inthe world. (In fact, during our stay in the city, we always grab a gelatoeverytime there’s a chance.)

Piazza della Independencia

sign at the Academia Museum

On our lastday, we visited the Belvedere Fort, which we learned was built by theMedici family to protect them from rebels. We also passed by Piazza delaIndependencia, which covers both sides of the road in a symmetricalfashion, and the Piazza San Marco one of the oldest and most popularsquares in Florence among the locals. Of course, we have to go to the Academiawhere you can see Michaelangelo’s original of ‘David’. We even passed bythe Philippine Consulate in Florence along the way. The square ofthe Basilica della Santissima Annunziata is huge and old, and Alice andthe kids spent some time praying inside the church. We then spent the afternoonexploring many of the shops, as well as the local market, and spending a shorttime at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Santo Spirito and the PalazzoPitti.

The mostmemorable evening in Firenze (Florence) however, was spent by the familyresting above a hill where Piazzale Michelangelo is perched, marvelingat the romantic panoramic view of the Renaissance City. It was really a nightto remember for all times: the family just whiling away time, savoring gelatoand listening to classic Florentine music on guitar by a local artist, whilelooking at the Arno River and the medieval structures at a distance as thesun sets.

Priceless.

A tour along the River Seine

2011-09-16T18:10:00.000+04:00

We visited most of Paris' top attractions on foot. It's good to have companions who are willing to 'walk' that 'extra mile' from one tourist spot to another in exchange of the usual kebab sandwich and coca cola smoothy dotting the streets of the "City of Lights".

Nevertheless, having splendid experience viewing Paris' top attractions walking through the city's beautiful cobblestone streets did not deter the family from experiencing other means of exploring the city, especially those near the banks of that beautiful river, Seine. Thus, the family took it to task to also enjoy these attractions by coasting along the river through the BatoBus Tour (www.batobus.com). We purchased our BatoBus tickets online, and we bought one that will alow us a 48-hour ride on BatoBus boats. It allowed us to hop on and hop off on different BatoBus stations (scattered along the river) for two days, which gave us enough time to appreciate many of the top attractions, as well as those near them.

Having a tour along the River Seine allowed us to view the Eiffel Tower, the Pont Alexander, Notre Dame, Musee D' Orsay, and many other places in a different angle. Views of the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral from the River Seine at night are magnificent, indeed!

one of the many kebab sandwiches we ate during our visit in Paris

It doesn't harm, really, to try other means of exploring top sites of new places when you visit them. It gives you that alternative 'high', so they say.

Here are some of our pics.

Sommet de Tour Eiffel

2011-09-16T13:56:00.001+04:00

Unbelievable!

I heard this from a father describing the scene on top of the Eiffel Tower to his companions just before we took the lift to the summit. Judging from the faces of the two pretty little toddlers he held on each hand that time, I thought the view at the top will really be an experience for us...

Photo of Tour Eiffel taken from its base

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the 'Sommet' as they call it there, was the event the whole family looked forward to during our recent trip to Paris. We bought our tickets online (www.eiffel-tower.com) prior to our trip, as we read that it normally takes hours to get your tickets if you follow the normally very long queue at the base of the tower. There are actually two types of tickets: one brings you up until the 2nd floor by lift, wherein you have the option to buy another ticket to the summit (using the stairs), and the other brings you to the top using the lift. We opted for the second one, planning to savor the 360 degree view of Paris on the summit first, before descending to the second floor (there are actually three floors, the summit is the third floor) for another 360 degree view on a different angle. Another advantage of buying your tickets online is that you don't need to wait on the very long queue anymore, as you will have direct access to the lift that will bring you up.

base of the tower's second floor

As we climb from second floor to the top, the kids start to giggle, as the views keep getting better and better (you need to change lifts between the 2nd and 3rd floors, the lift to the 3rd floor (top) allows you to see the surroundings while going up)... after a few short minutes, we reached the summit.

It was awesome! Even surreal, one might say.

We had been on top of several towers already, the Petronas Twin Towers and the Burj Khalifa among others, but the feeling cannot be compared to this. Maybe it's the thought of viewing the panorama of one of the most romantic places on Earth, and the reality that one is finally in Europe and in Paris at that, finally sinks in... maybe it's the appreciation of the city's careful (and aesthetic) planning of its 'arrondisements' and the beautiful architecture of its perfectly preserved structures... maybe it's just one of those things that come and go on a spark. Whatever it is, the feeling is different... and wonderful.

I could see from my wife's and my children's eyes that they feel the same way. I could only hope that someday, somehow the family gets the opportunity to capture that same feeling all over again.

Kids' Art Class

2011-09-09T21:43:00.001+04:00

The kids had been busy in their art class. They had been into the ceramic painting class, and during the last Ramadan, they completed a series of classes in Basic Drawing. We're now communicating with their art teachers for them to continue their drawing classes, so that they could also attend classes in other drawing techniques, such as the use of pastel tools and other color drawing techniques.

The kids like attending these classes. We feel that through these, the kids feel that they achieve something every time they complete a certain work, and we feel that activities such as this complement their work in homeschool.

We plan to continue giving them these classes, so that they could develop their talents in this area.

Riding Trains and Buses in Rome

2011-09-09T18:49:00.000+04:00

Rome, they say, is best explored on foot. And they're right. We managed to visit Castel Sant' Angelo (of the Angels and Demons fame), Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Fontana de Trevi, Quirinale, and a few other popular sights and churches, and back to the Colosseo one evening, after spending almost the whole day at the Vatican. The only downside to this is after a few hours of walking, small voices (read: children) keep nagging at you every so often, asking you to rest, find a drinking fountain where you can refill your empty bottled water, and much more, take a short detour at that gelato counter or pizza shop for a quick fill-in.

At Rome Termini: Metro

For other times, however, it is best to use the train... or the metro, as it is fondly called in different places around the world.

As we're billeted just a block off the Colosseo, it was fairly easy for us to reach the Colosseo station, which is just two stops away from the Central Termini station using the "Blue" line. (Rome's Metro is fairly straightforward, as it only has two lines crisscrossed across the city: the Blue and Red lines. A third line is currently being built, causing chaos and "very" long queues in some stations when we were there.) We actually spent one of our days in Rome hopping from one Metro station to another to reach fairly "distant" popular attractions. We actually initially bought a 3-day tourist travel pass for the whole family (costing 11 Euro each, except for our youngest kid), however, we had seldom use for it as we normally did our exploration of Rome on foot. As the time to leave Rome nears, attractions tended to be farther from the center as well, and thus came our day of exploration through the Metro.

It was fairly easy.

Rome Termini: Rail

Having accustomed to riding MRTs and LRTs in Philippines and Singapore, the kids had actually been very comfortable using Rome's Metro. Our eldest guided us where the maps/stations are located so that we'll easily see which line we need to catch going from one station to another. And thus, we're able to see other attractions such as the "Twin Churches" of the Piazza del Popolo, the Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, the Spanish Steps, Piazza dela Repubblica, and a few others.

By the way, the family found it odd that in Rome, you just need to hop on and hop off the bus, no need to validate your ticket every time. (Our friend's only advice: always make sure to keep your validated ticket with you.) Well, this I think is a more efficient way of doing it.

Italy's "Bullet Train"

The "Alta Velocita"

Riding the AV9418 to Florence

We also rode a train moving from Rome to Florence. This time, we used the Alta Velocita, Italy's version of the Bullet Train. It costed all of us about 80 Euros (second class coach), and the train ride lasted for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The best thing: it was another first for the kids. They were excited to experience the long-haul train ride and had a grand time savoring Italy's countryside during the short trip. It was another memorable experience for them.

Waiting for AV9418, Rome Termini

Tip: If you have several hours to spare before your train ride, you can go to the Baggage Deposit section of the Rome Termini Station located near Bay 24 (signs abound, look for Deposito Baggali signs all around the station). They charge a minimal 5 Euro per luggage for the first five hours, which is a very cheap compromise than tugging your bags from one tourist site to another prior to checking in or after checking out of your hotel.

From Paris to Florence: An Awesome Summer!

2011-09-08T19:41:00.002+04:00

15 days. 6 cities. 1 family.

It was an awesome summer indeed. Exhilarating, yet each moment brought memories for keeps, especially for the kids, I believe. It was a tightly scheduled two weeks, starting from Paris, then Versailles, and then flying to Rome and the Vatican City, and finally riding the Alta Velocita to Florence and Pisa.

Alice and I felt we need not take guided tours (primarily to save budget), and so, we planned the family's summer holiday on our own: doing and re-doing the itinerary, reserving flights and booking hotels. We even bought tickets to sightseeing areas and museums online prior to our travel and downloaded iPhone travel apps to assist us when we arrive. Such is the beauty of technology.

To top it all, everything went according to plan... not a single hiccup along the way. And thus, we learned a very good lesson on our first venture to Europe as a family: everything is to be done online.

We stayed in France for 6 days, in Italy for another 7 days. The remaining 2 days we spent in flights to and from Europe. 'Twas a good time really, for all of us.

We're already planning to go back...

Again, 'Time of Our Lives'

2011-09-07T12:19:00.001+04:00

We've really come a long way as a family.

The family relaxing under the Tour Eiffel after a day's roam...

I'm talking of the quintessential family bonding, the kind like the family going out of town, spending countless hours with each other doing different activities (in this case, long walks and tours), and not of the serious stuff. More specifically, I'm talking of the two weeks the family recently spent in Europe, hopping from one selected city to another, most notably Paris (follow link for photos) and Rome (click link for photos). Sharing these moments, and the whole experience with your wife and kids indeed produce overwhelming emotions. It was, I would say, an opportunity of a lifetime, one which I wouldn't have second thoughts of repeating given another chance. Our experience was an opportunity for more time together, for sharing more happy moments together, even for testing the "limits" of each other (especially the long walks in long hours in the heat of summer), which added spice to the already beautiful story we're weaving. It was indeed time for memorable moments, interesting individual and collective accounts, great experiences, even lessons (which hopefully could find their own stories in this blog in the coming days).

It was, again... the 'time of our lives'.

Inch by inch

2011-09-06T17:23:00.004+04:00

Tony D' Amato's inspirational speech from "Any Given Sunday"...

I don’t know what to say really.
Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today.
Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble.

Inch by inch, play by play, till we’re finished.

We are in hell right now, gentlemen...believe me... and we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us, or...
we can fight our way back into the light.

We can climb out of hell, one inch at a time.
Now I can’t do it for you. I’m too old.

I look around and I see these young faces and I think, I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I, uh…. I pissed away all my money, believe it or not...
I chased off anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life things get taken from you.
That’s, that’s part of life.
But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.

Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small.
I mean, one half step too late or too early, you don’t quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast, and you don’t quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in every break of the game...every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch.
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us, to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
'Cause we know when we add up all those inches,
that’s going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING,
between LIVING and DYING.

I’ll tell you this...
in any fight, it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.
And I know if I am going to have any life anymore,
it is because I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is...the six inches in front of your face.

Now I can’t make you do it, you gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes...
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team...
Because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That’s a team gentlemen... and either we heal now as a team,
or we will die as individuals.
That’s football guys.
That’s all it is.

Now, what are you gonna do?

42

2011-07-29T21:44:00.001+04:00

This one's originally from FB's Notes. I am taking the liberty of re-publishing it here, as it describes an important occasion in my journey...

(by Rolando Jun Lontok on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 11:27pm)

The day started frantically.

Lacking sleep due to our attendance in the previous night’s (Good Friday) celebration of the ‘veneration of the cross’, both Alice and I woke up late. I managed to start the vehicle 10 minutes before official office hours, wondering how the heck I would navigate the morning’s rush hour traffic from our place to the office. To top it off, while trying to drive a little faster than usual on a supposed ‘special day’, we were forced to stop momentarily on the roadside when Alice’s phone started ringing and both of us realizing it was in her bag at the back of the SUV. Thinking it probably was her boss, I fought the urge of just continuing to drive and don’t mind the ringing phone. I learned long ago not to mess with the commander-in-chief, especially in the morning of the first day of the week. Anyway, thanks for a ‘slow’ morning - unusual for a Saturday in this part of the world - we were able to reach the office just in time.

After reaching the office, the phones started ringing... both my office landline and my mobile. And they kept ringing. Again, unusual for a Saturday morning.

There was a call from the central QA Department from the Ministry, requesting for another visit in preparation for our organizational audit which will happen in three weeks’ time. Another call from the ISO consultant, still trying to dangle that juicy contract from the management. Still another came from the Administration Department, telling me the driver’s ready to bring the documents needed by the Audit Team. This last call suddenly made me realize that I needed to print some more documents, pack all the CDs being requested, and put them in a special packaging I bought the day before, which I realized I left in my car! Fuming silently, I went back to the parking area. 39 degrees of an early summer didn’t help, and I started breaking sweat even before it’s 8:00am.

The initial salvo subsided. And so I thought...

The boss called, asking for a report on what happened about the work I did overtime during the weekend. I told him everything’s completed and already sent to the auditing team, and that I was just finalizing the program for the meeting to be held tomorrow, including the presentation needed for that event. While at it, the ADAFA started calling... once, twice... I thought he called four or five times, asking for the status of this and that project, requesting me to send him copies of this and that proposal/quotation. Why is this happening today, of all days?

Anyway (again), everything’s finally completed and done in the afternoon, and I finally got the chance to check on the LMS for the current postgraduate courses I’m attending, and also managed to upload some new posts there. Moreover, I was able to read several pages from the textbook of one of the courses in preparation for my forthcoming exam. I also successfully downloaded the papers I requested for the essay I am planning to write.

And then, it’s again time to go home. (One thing I really, really like about working in the Middle East, is that, however hard you work on a particular day, at the end of the 7th hour, you have to pack your things and rest.)

At home, I tried to read more of the required readings, but dozed off instead. I just thought, well, I’ll give the kids the day off, and just continue with their homeschool tomorrow. It is afterall Black Saturday today.

I woke up about 8:00pm. After five years in this region, I already acquired the local habit of dozing off in the afternoon and getting active again afterwards, until midnight. The first hour after waking up is usually reserved for FBing, and this day is not an exception. Today being my birthday, I did not bother cooking dinner for the family, Alice had that covered today.

I still tried to cover several pages of that pesky required readings.

And then it’s time to sleep again... I realized, due to the chaos of the day, that I forgot to say my daily prayers in the morning, the ones I normally do after reaching my office. I made it a point not to forget that tomorrow. Missing that twice in a row would be unacceptable (not for me, but for HIm).

While looking at the man in the mirror just before going to bed (just immediately after writing this piece), I could see that beyond the dark rings in his eyes, the long, salt and pepper hair (I don’t know for the life of me why I chose to wear it long , especially now that the temperature is starting to rise. Mid-life crisis? Hmmm), and the chaos of his normal work and family life, there is serenity and peace within.

I am happy.

Today I realized:

2011-07-29T20:06:00.000+04:00

Today, I realized that even in this age of Facebook and Google+, the plain old blog will always be an important part of me (if just for the sake of letting loose my rumblings, then so be it). Thus, I am breathing a new life to my old and reliable 'life notes'... (hope we'll have fun here, eventually).

Again, Man in the Mirror

2010-04-23T09:08:00.008+04:00

I look at the man in the mirror today and I saw a happy man. Already, there are traces of getting old - salt and pepper hair, white streaks in goatee, little bit of wrinkles here and there, the beer belly that the guy's really having difficulty getting rid of - but his eyes have that twinkle that will tell you he's contented... at peace with what he has. Of course, it is but human nature to always want something... that's what makes life difficult for all of us being lesser beings that we are. But then, when somebody gets old - like the man in the mirror today - they somehow subside, and everything becomes a bit easier to bear.

I already said that birthdays never ceases to puzzle me. Well, at least I could speak from my own experiences. I don't know for the life of me why on this day you can't help contemplating on many things, especially the year that was. I said not too long ago that birthdays tend to present us with that instant when everything in our life comes in stride. In an instant, our life is shown right before us to further motivate us (or even warn us). Lessons we learned, especially life lessons to further improve our lives, tend to be on top of our minds. Experiences - especially those "emo" ones we shared with the family - becomes more vivid. On our birthdays, our lives is the one movie in our minds that plays on and on throughout the day.

Celebrating this "first birthday" - one year after I began my life - really provides an avenue for contemplation. I learned not too long ago that life really is not a sequence of crest and troughs, but rather a continuous wave of parallel crests and troughs put together. Thus, I learned that to fully appreciate life's meaning, you have to enjoy His blessings; at the same time, continue enriching - and giving - meaning to it, by having your own share of life's problems. Whenever I think of it, it is ironic that in this far away land, one which is not Christian at that, the family becomes closer and more religious. Maybe it's the yearning for our loved ones but home... the local customs and tradition... maybe it's that sense for feeling of extra security... whatever it is, I really am thankful that somehow, we managed to get back to Him and repeat the process of redeeming ourselves.

Emotions - especially the strong ones - I believe, are the fuel of writing. This day, just like other birthdays before this, gives me the power to write again. Well, at least to say something about my life. The past two years after I've written the first "Man in the Mirror" have been very good years for me and the family. It's when we found that what matters are the little things and what matters more is the company of your loved ones. It is the time when we really got our share of life's lessons and started moving towards realizing our family's goal - become closer and more loving, and always being there for each other. It is when we realize that problems will always be there, that's why God is always with us. It's when we started our life again in a different land, in a different setting.

Life has a funny way of giving you a gift when you're getting older - you become mature (and more "emo").

Anyways, I am happy.

Teddy Locsin's Eulogy for President Cory

2009-08-09T12:27:00.001+04:00

This is the moving eulogy given by Teddy Locsin for the late President Cory Aquino...

Throughout thirteen years of martial law, until I laid eyes on her again, I never thought that I would ever see the end of it. Least of all that my father would survive it. I am not much given to prayer or pious reflection but when I could set aside my anger, I prayed my father would see democracy again.

Late one afternoon, in San Francisco, I got a call. It was from Cory Aquino, for whom I had written one speech after her husband’s assassination. She said she had accepted Marcos’s challenge in a Snap Presidential Election. I put down the phone, and packed my bags, and reported to her at the Cojuangco Building.

I knew then she was the answer to my prayers. What I did not notice was that the closer we came to victory, which is to say the farther the prospect receded that the Marcos regime would survive, the less I felt the anger inside me. As each day passed, bringing me closer to the day I could get even, the less I felt the need for it as I spent more time with the woman who alone could make it possible.

I did not notice, but I was no longer looking back in anger, or looking forward even, to victory and vindication. Only now do I see. I had lived with my anger so long, only for the day to come when it no longer mattered to me. The only thing that counted was that I was living every day to the fullest, bringing out the best in me—for someone else. A dream I hadn’t had since I was a boy, feeding on stories of chivalry, had been achieved. I was serving a woman who was every inch a sovereign, all the more for scorning the slightest pretension to the role.

I did not realize it, even when I was already in the Palace, by the side of the President—among all her advisers, I like to think, the one who loved her most.

It never again occurred to me that I had scores to settle. And not until today, that I had passed up every chance to get even.

From the moment I came in from the airport and reported for duty, and she gave me in return the same smile she gave me on her deathbed, I never noticed… Not when I was with her in the campaign when she corrected me for not looking at the people I was waving at… Nor when I was with her in the presidential limousine looking intently, for her benefit, at the crowds at whom I waved… I never noticed anything. Except that I was with the only person that I would ever want to be with.

I certainly never noticed that I had left my anger behind. I don’t know how it happened. Except that Cory Aquino ennobled everyone who came near her. I have tried to say it publicly but never could finish. If you saw me as I felt myself to be, anyone would fall in love with me. I saw myself in that hospital room, a knight at the bedside of his dying sovereign, on the eve of a new Crusade, oblivious to the weight of the armor on his shoulders for the weight of the grief in his heart.

And because she always doubted my ability to be good for very long… Indeed, when my wife told Ballsy that I prayed the rosary at Lourdes for her mother’s recovery, Cory said, “Teddy Boy prayed the rosary? A miracle! I feel better already.” Because she doubted my capacity for self-reformation, she made it effortless for me by being herself. I did not notice that I was doing right by serving a woman who never did wrong. I am not sure how to take this moral self-discovery. It is so unlike myself. But if it will bring me before her again, I am happy.

Letter to my inaanak...

2008-10-27T23:10:00.003+04:00

10 October 2008

Dear Rafael,

Hi! Ninong Jun ‘to...

It’s been quite a while since we last saw each other, and I’d bet you’re now having a hard time remembering my face...

Anyways, I learned from your father that you’re doing well in school, and that is very good news! Keep up the good work. We always believe that all of you (our children) will always do well being part of this family.

I learned that you are going to a retreat activity this weekend and I decided that this is an opportune time to share with you some of my experiences. I believe knowing them will become handy for you as you become more mature and continue on your journey…

Firstly, I’d tell you that in your age right now, communication is the key. I believe that most guys your age get the rebellious nature by not communicating properly and thus feel that they are alienated. Rafael, you should not fall to the same trap. There are just too many people whom you can talk to, your parents being at the forefront. Don’t hesitate to talk to them and discuss whatever it is that you feel you should tell them. You’ll be amazed at how far they’d go and how far they’ll be willing to listen.

Fael, I also want to share with you a truth that I discovered long ago – that our parents only want what’s best for us. I’m not saying that you just follow every whim and order of your father and mother, what I’m telling you is to reflect on them, and try to integrate them with the things that you want for yourself. Being independent is well and good, but striking the right balance between your independence and your parent’s guidance will give you the best choices.

Right now, you’re well on your way to becoming an adult. I know for sure that the transition, even though difficult for some, will be a stroll in the park for you. You’re blessed with beautiful and loving parents who are there to comfort and guide you every step of the way. In a way, I envy them because we cannot do that for your cousin River. In River’s case, we have to let him feel our care and love thru technologies which are not always easy. Anyways, my point is, as it is right now, you have your own dreams and ambitions, and the question is, how do you achieve them?

I would not say I’m an expert on these things, but let me share several points that I feel will be important in attaining your dreams:

1. Do what makes you happy. If you feel doing something is a burden, leave it. It will just be wasted effort on your part, which eventually will not contribute to your life’s goals.
2. Your family should take top priority. When life’s trials and tribulations come, believe me, they’ll be there always to support you. While at it, try to get loyal friends, they’re hard to come by these days, but you can build some by being loyal and trustful also.
3. Honesty and Integrity are very important. There will come times in which you have to choose between two sides. You have to choose one, and fight for it. Nothing in this world is wrong; there are just opposing interests and ideas. Your will and conviction will determine your character.
4. Always remember the Golden Rule – Do not do unto others what you don’t want them to do to you. I learned not so long ago that this is still true in the world. That however difficult and dire your situation is at the moment, eventually, you’ll reap what you sow. As a good professor once said, “Do good things and the Karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”

Lastly Fael, I want to always put your trust in God. As I experienced it myself, there are no coincidences and everything happens for a reason. Always come back to Him and He’ll direct you and guide you.

These words may probably be vague in a way for you Fael, but try to remember even some of them. You’ll find out one day that they can be treasures, as I have found them in different stages of my life.
Until then.

Take care always,
Ninong Jun

the rage goes on...

2008-03-02T12:13:00.002+04:00

This article titled "The Center cannot hold" is written by Patricia Evangelista and published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer - March 1, 2008.

AS I TYPE THIS, there are others who write their own manifestos, compelled by chance and conscience and circumstance to plug away on keyboards across the country. Every few minutes a new entry flashes across cyberspace: Lozada, ZTE, indignation in its varying forms, pleas for caution, calls to action, justifications for inaction, the long narratives of disillusionment seconded by the angry and frustrated.

I can't pretend to represent my generation. All of us are faced with a choice, and the fact of my youth does not mean that my choices reflect those made by my contemporaries. And yet there is something very wrong with CBCP president Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo's claim that "Our youth seem to be very satisfied about what is going on in their lives." I cannot believe that anyone would be satisfied with this sort of life, with the rape of the Filipino nation occurring with daily regularity, and lie after moronic lie echoing from the gates of the Palace. Satisfied? I doubt if non-presence in an indignation rally is the only manifestation of public satisfaction. The millions of people scrabbling for a meal a day in this country do not go to rallies either, and yet I would hesitate to call them satisfied.

On Saturday, an article in Young Blood condemned all those who trooped to indignation rallies as essentially "blind and selfish clowns," who were either "misguided idealists" or "hypocrites to the bone." And while the writer spoke with righteous rage, he accused those "misguided idealists" of believing they have a monopoly on righteousness. What I find more astounding than his hasty generalizations on the motivations of all who protest the current corruption is his argument that all this rage against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a waste of time, money and energy; as if the billions in public funds lost to corruption is not a waste, as if corruption has not deprived people of the housing and education the writer believes they deserve. I respect his choice to stay away, but perhaps it would be best for him to understand why others choose to go.

Many have said that all the confetti, all the rallies, all the thousands of people who have crowded in Ayala last Friday can do little more than derail traffic. Perhaps they are right. But I will join the next rally anyway, because I believe that it is wrong, appallingly, incredibly, brutally wrong, to allow those in power to believe they have the right to mortgage my future because they are wily enough to claw their way to power. To be silent is to tell every future Filipino leader that there is no limit to power.

Everyone is dirty in government, a pro-Arroyo rallyist told me. And perhaps that is true, but it is no reason to condone corruption and rank dishonesty when we see it, especially when it implicates the country's chief executive.

And this is where I'll tell you where I stand. I do not wish to oust Arroyo, although I support calls for her resignation or due process by impeachment. I wish I could say that I believe in the rule of law and end there. But I live in the Philippines where the rule of law is applied selectively, in very strange ways. How do we impeach, if Congress refuses to allow it? How do we prosecute, if the Ombudsman sits on the case? And so it's the streets for me, because I see no other way to say no.

Once upon a time, the voice of a white-haired dragon thundered over radios and television sets, raging that a nation cannot be run by a thief. It was a voice that galvanized a watching country into the streets, and reminded people of what they deserved. Now the dragon is a senator, and Joker Arroyo sits behind a microphone and helps along the current cadre of thieves. I believe the administration has lost all mandate, I believe the President must be held accountable, and I will go out and rally to add one pair of feet to the thousands who want the truth.

I'll tell you about a friend of mine. His flip-flops and jeans have been traded in for slacks and button-downs, there is a ring on his finger and a giggling, laughing one-year-old boy perched at the crook of his arm. He pays his taxes, he calculates his family's weekly spending; he has worked nights in call centers before clawing his way up the corporate ladder. He believes, very firmly, in the rule of law, and the birth of his son made him even more determined to create as stable an environment as possible. And yet, he says, while a small hand curled around his sleeve, that he is slowly believing that the way out is the way of the street. He cannot stomach knowing that the taxes the government bleeds from his paycheck, money that can be spent on bringing up his small boy, is being tossed into the pockets of the undeserving.

Yeats once wrote of what he thought was the inevitable end of humanity, when "the best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of passionate intensity."

I am not very certain where all this is going. All I know is that so much has gone wrong, and has gone on long enough.

Change

2008-03-01T14:57:00.000+04:00

There will come a time, really, that change will happen... that positions will switch - one will assume the task of the other, and vice-versa. For Alice and me, it started when we started working abroad... the change didn't actually happen overnight, it in fact actually evolved, and before we knew it we had switched tasks. First of it is when I started doing the cooking. I don't know, but maybe because of my hidden passion for cooking - and eating - I actually initiated doing the cooking everyday at night, after coming from work, and during weekends when we just stayed in the flat. I am not complaining or anything, in fact, I really relished it whenever I come up with a good recipe and Alice gives me the compliment. Cooking for Alice is a joy for me, and hopefully, when the kids arrive, I could cook for them also.

And so I cook. But I always leave the cleaning to Alice. Sometimes when I'm in the mood I'll clean before we eat, but normally I just leave everything in the kitchen and Alice knows that it's her job to clean everything when we're done eating. And it stayed that way. I cook, Alice cleans the dishes afterwards. It was the first switch in house chores that happened to us here.

Then, washing and ironing happened. Of course, back in the Philippines we don't do these things. We don't want to be pre-occupied with these little things since the bulk of work in the Philippines is just too much (if you know what I mean) for the family to survive, and thus we have our own housemates that do them for us. When we start working abroad, things naturally changed. We have to do our own washing and ironing. It started with Alice doing the washing of clothes and me ironing them. And then after sometimes, we just found out things had switched - I'm doing the washing and she the ironing. Thus another switch happened.

Right now, I'm waiting for Alice.

Two weeks before, I waited for her for two days if I remember right in the office because she has to attend to some important meetings. I remembered the times in the Philippines when she had to pass hours surfing the Web, waiting for my meeting/s to finish so that we can go home. Last week, Alice had been out of town the whole week attending to some important work, which left me alone in the flat for five days. It reminded me again of those times in the Philippines when I would attend a seminar or conference for a few days, and she calls me once in a while asking how I'm doing and telling me she's fine at home with the kids. In those five days I normally would call her and ask how she's doing and tell her in the process I'm already back in the flat after work and missing her. Then today after going back from work, her boss called her again to attend another important meeting with the Undersecretary regarding one of her works. And again I was left in the flat waiting.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or anything. In fact, I'm proud of my wife. I actually thought what happening to her as a career woman shoud have happened to her way before, knowing her work values and her talents. It's a good thing this is happening to her now, and much more, in the international scene. I always thought she can do more, and go places, and make things happen. And the way it is now, she proved that I'm right.

Anyways, going back to what I'm saying - change happens. Before it was Alice waiting for me, and it was me spending extra hours doing extra work and building my career. And doing so, I could say that I'd been successful. All those times, Alice waited in the background, supporting me and egging me on. This time, it's her turn to be successful. And I know exactly what I will do.

Waiting in the office...

2008-02-11T17:08:00.000+04:00

It's past 5 o'clock and I'm still at the office.

Alice and I normally go home at 4 o'clock. This is partly because the official working hours ends at 3pm, and extending another hour won't give us any harm and will build a "reputation" in the organization. :) Another thing is, since we don't have our own car, and we're using the transport service, we have to wait until 4 o'clock for the bus to arrive and for us to get back to the flat. Anyways, that's our normal routine and that's not what's happening today.

I'm still in the office because I'm still waiting for Alice to arrive. Just before lunch, she was called by her boss and asked to attend a meeting in the Ministry regarding a technical competition that I think is supposed to be held two weeks from now. It so happened Alice is one of the trainors on the technical skills required in said competition, and thus, she and another fellow trainor attended the activity. When they arrived there, Alice sent me a text message that said the meeting is not just a "meeting" but instead, they are called there to finalize the questions/tasks to be used in the competition. She said they might be there for much longer than she initially thought. I thought so too, that would happen.

And so, I'm still here, and the clock says it is already 5:24 pm. Alice had just sent another message that they might be back after 6pm. That means I still have another hour to spend blogging or surfing the Web. :)

By the way, if you would ask: at times like these (which happen every once in a while), we just take the taxi going home. We even drop by Pizza Hut before going back to the flat sometimes, which is quite good, if you'll ask me.

The waiting continues...

on blogging... again

2008-02-11T16:56:00.000+04:00

I really planned on writing more blogs at the start of the year... well, I thought I could write an average of three articles a week, the kind of which summarizes what's happening in different aspects of my life as the week progresses. I really thought I could do it then... yet now, it is already the second week of February and I haven't added to the excerpt I posted during the New Year!

What can I say? I didn't expect the office work to be this overwhelming in the new year... I even thought I could make writing blogs a regular activity for me this year. I was totally wrong... when January came, I was deluged with so many tasks and functions that I wasn't able to keep up with my other routines, blgging included. When before I could rest and write a short blog after coming from work in most days of the week, right now all I could do is rest and recharge for another day of physically- and mentally-exhausting work ahead. (The work is really that big, you know.)

Anyways, as of this writing, I think most of the brunt of work I've been ranting about in the first two sections of this blog had been accomplished already, and I just need to polish them and continue working on them little by little from here onwards, and thus I'm back (I hope) to writing regularly again... I guess the real fun starts today :)

some excerpts...

2008-02-11T08:52:00.000+04:00

i have many things to write, but really haven't found the time nowadays... too many deadlines to beat and too many works to be done... this one's related to the ongoing Lozada saga that is gripping the country right now...

(from Manuel L. Quezon III column in the Inquirer)

To illustrate. The whole country knows he said, “Thomas Aquinas said the worst form of corruption is the corruption of the best.” But he also shared this story: “Rizal asked his brother Paciano, ‘Did God make us poor and silent, or we were so misgoverned we ended up that way?’ Paciano couldn’t answer. Two years later, Rizal wrote to Paciano, and said, ‘In my travels abroad I have the answer: We didn’t get the right kind of government from our leaders.’”

And he said, with a voice beginning to tremble once more, “We must make it too expensive for someone to screw up the country. Only then will the next person will have second, third, fourth thoughts about trying to mess the country up.”

And to me and a nun fascinated by the conversation, he said, “If you want to understand my moral compass, there’s this book I read [‘Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness, A Philosophy for Leaders,’ by Peter Koestenbaum], in which this question was tackled: ‘Why is it that billions have walked the earth while only a few have stood the test of time? And yet those few lived at a time when there were many who were more powerful or famous than them?’ When a group of thinkers examined these people, they identified four polarities. First, they had a Transformative Vision, for example, Christ’s concept of love. Second, they had Courage, even if it meant going against the trend, like Mohammed. Third, they had a Firm Grasp of Reality. Fourth, they had Unbending Ethics. The four things form a kind of diamond and with all sides present, you have a formidable leader. But if any side is lacking it’s enough to doom any leader.”

for us, filipino workers

2008-01-01T09:53:00.000+04:00

while reading conrado de quiros' column this morning at the inquirer.net, i happen to pass by this part, which struck something within me, and i feel i need to repost here...

"...More than any other year, 2007 was the year of the OFW. Filipinos are now spread all over the world, working their asses off to put food on the table of the families they left behind. The impact of OFWs was dramatically felt late in the year when, alongside the free fall of the dollar OFWs brought in record remittances, pushing the exchange rate down. It's not without sublime irony that the very people who are keeping this country's head above water are half-drowning: The same flood of dollars they've brought in has shrunk their income."

"...I hope this year brings better things. But that has always lain in our hands."

happy new year again everyone!

New Year

2007-12-31T18:27:00.000+04:00

Sydney celebrated the new year a few minutes ago. True to its tradition, which is quickly becoming the benchmark by which new year is celebrated everywhere, it celebrated the coming of 2008 with much funfare, along with colorful, spectacular fireworks. It reminded me somehow of the way our family celebrate new year back home. I remember then that on the afternoon of December 31st, the family usually go to the market, never minding the traffic jam and the throng of people rushing everywhere, to buy the traditional "turotot" for the kids, and the family's collection of fireworks and firecrackers for the coming of the new year. Alice also becomes frantic to complete her collection of round fruits, and the other preparations she had to make for the coming of another year which she usually gets from watching all those TV programs that prods you to buy their products which are supposed to bring you a better life in the year ahead. I remember me having a penchant of buying those Dragon brand fireworks, since they are more stable and provide better and more colorful effects, which made the neighbors just wait for our fireworks display to commence and just watch our show. Those were really good memories of the celebration of new year for me, and probably for Alice too... and those are the ones that make the cold we currently feel in this country much colder and bitter, and the blowing of the wind fiercer, as we celebrate another new year with only the memories with us.

Our despair is not absolute, anyway. We have new memories to cling to, and new ones to give us hope. I called the kids several hours ago and asked them about their preparation for the new year. The kids seem happy, and that's big deal for me. Alice had her own call just an hour ago, and the kids told her they're starting the celebration, and that it's also starting to be noisy there, thus, they decided to cut the call short. For us, we'll celebrate new year with friends. That's how it is in this region. There will be no firecrackers, no fireworks. We'll celebrate new year in the same way we celebrated Christmas a week ago - by congregating in one of our friends' house, eat the various food that we'll bring there, and probably have a song or two in the videoke. The important thing is we celebrate it with friends, and not alone.

This reminded me of the new year I spent in Japan several years ago. It was by far the saddest new year I had, I believe. While training in Japan sometimes in the late 90s, I happened to be the only Filipino living in that area where I'm having my training, and my friends happened to be in far away places. There, I was forced to just had a late dinner and then afterwards slept the coming of the new year. I just called my family the morning after to greet them.

Anyways, however the celebration of the coming year happen tonight, I could say that the family is still lucky and blessed. The kids are healthy and are protected by loving grandparents there, both Alice and I are doing well in all aspects of our lives, and the good Lord keeps on showering us with blessings. I guess with those in mind, however the celebration is, we'll still have another great year.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Boxing Day

2007-12-27T00:01:00.000+04:00

I first heard of the celebration of Boxing Day - December 26 - when I celebrated my first Christmas in Sydney in 2005. I later learned that Boxing Day is celebrated by most of the Commonwealth countries, Australia being one of them. This day which is also celebrated as St. Stephen's Day or the "Second Christmas" is supposed to be the day when the neighborhood's year-long workers such as the paper boy and the postman carry their "boxes" and go from house to house getting their Christmas gifts from everyone they served throughout the year. This reminds me of a similar scenario in the Philippines when garbage men and your all-around repair guy give you empty envelopes in which you put a little cash that serves as their Christmas "bonus" for all the works that they've done for you throughout the year. The difference is, in the Philippines these people tend to give you their envelopes much earlier than December 26; sort of getting the perennial "vale" instead of the Christmas bonus.

Anyways, the Boxing Day and all the other days before the new year which are called "days between years" in some European countries like Germany, are also the time when big stores and malls are supposed to empty their current inventories and thus give more discounts and bargains to shoppers. I remember Alice had a particular liking to the celebration of Boxing Day in Australia because of this, when one is supposed to really find good bargains from malls and department stores. I think this is also somewhat being practiced in the Philippines, with discounts and other bargains continuing until the new year.

Unfortunately, Boxing Day is not celebrated in this region, and thus, Alice is dismayed. This means no big discounts, no very good bargains, nothing of the sort from this day on until new year. Well, what can we expect, when Christmas is considered a secondary occasion, it just follows logically that Boxing Day won't also be celebrated.

Anyways (again), here are other Boxing Day origins: (from Answers.com)

In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.

In England many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.

In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.

life notes is one year old!

2007-12-26T10:10:00.000+04:00

'Twas this day last year when I decided to start my very own blog site... I haven't decided on a specific subject matter when I first started writing and I thought putting some sort of a personal journal over the web will be cool... anyways, everybody is doing it, and doing content management for information that are related to my existence, I feel, is quite a challenge. While at this, the site had evolved from a personal journal to also tackle other topics which I find amusing or fascinating, and over the months I had written quite a number of them. The frequency by which blogs are posted also progressed as months passed by, which made me realize I really am hooked into it as I got hooked in Tamiya racing before :) Well, writing is an outlet they say... and what better way to do it now than to blog.

When I started this blog site, I never knew I will be this passionate for this kind of thing as I am today. As it is, it has become one of my major activities, and I got totally hooked that I started two more - one for the family, and another one for my professional works and other related matters. On top of that, I also maintain a "casual" blog in my Friendster site where I write about practically anything under the sun, albeit using fewer words and in a more "casual" mood.

I guess for me, blogging has really arrived.

Happy Birthday, Life Notes :)

Christmas

2007-12-25T22:24:00.000+04:00

Celebrating Christmas in this country is really quite unique and different. Having been raised in a country where Christmas starts as early as four months before the actual day of the nativity of the Lord and having been used to "elaborate" celebrations the kind of which the actual Christmas feast lasts for several days, being in a country where the Christmas season is usually celebrated in the background becomes really challenging. Yesterday, the group spent most of the day normally, that is, it was taken as a normal working day and everybody went through his/her own usual work routine - writing programs, designing websites, developing online courses, etc. After the work hours passed, Alice and I went home and spent the afternoon listening to some Christmas carols. At least it can prep us to really get into the spirit of the season.

I haven't listened to our collection of Christmas songs for quite a while. I remember the last time I listened to them was way back in September when I had one of those sound trips that I do from time to time, just to while away time when there's not much to do. Listening to those songs again a day before Christmas gave new meaning to the word "homesick" for me. I remembered the kids and the other members of our family, and I thought of the things I and Alice may and could have done with them during those frantic hours a day before Christmas in the Philippines. I had a mix of emotions - sadness, happiness, hopefulness - and it made me want to cry. Anyways, listening to those songs at least made me feel Christmas as I feel it when in the company of my family even for quite a while. That's good enough for me at the moment.

After a while, I called the kids. They told me they have just started congregating in their Mima's house, and is about to start the traditional "Bingo" game until midnight comes, when they share the customary "Noche Buena" and exchange gifts with one another. My little girl Rain intimated that they are preparing noodle soups, burgers, some hotdogs with marshmallows, and other delicacies for Noche Buena, and that she had taken several bites of the hotdogs already. I told her to just enjoy the night with her brothers there and that I'll call again on Christmas day. We ended the call by saying "Merry Christmas" to each other.

After sometime, some of our friends called us. They said they're already going to one of our friends house, where the group's Christmas party will be held for the night. I told them we're also ready to go there, and since the house is just near our flat, we just walked there, feeling the biting cold that signifies winter, and the Christmas season is really here. Sometimes it's nice to just walk into the cold and feel that the holiday season is upon you and you're trying to celebrate it in the humble way you can. We spent the next several hours mingling and socializing with our small group of friends and celebrating Christmas in our own little way here in the Gulf.

Our celebration ended just several minutes after midnight. After greeting each other Merry Christmas, we went into our different ways once again, with some of us still trying to break into the crowded telecommunication lines calling their loved ones back home even though it's already early morning there. The longing especially at this time of year just wouldn't let up for some of us. After parting with each other, I felt like it's back to our own routine lives and to our own melancholic emotions once more.

Although today is a holiday, Alice and I still reported for work for a few hours inasmuch as there are some pressing works and assignments for both of us that need to be completed. Having done this sort of thing for two years - two Christmases - already, we really don't mind these anymore, and went to do our normal routines for the day. While riding the bus to work, Alice called the kids. They said they're already in her mother's house celebrating Christmas with their aunts and uncles, and with their cousins there. And so we arrived at work happily knowing that the kids are celebrating Christmas back home.

In the afternoon before going home, I called the kids again. They're already at home playing with their cousins there, and trying all the toys they received from relatives and friends. I found out that Ash, our youngest son, wanted to buy a pet hamster, having seen one in his cousin's house. I told him if he buys one he should take care of it properly, in which he promptly said yes. I could sense the excitement in his voice already. After that I greeted them Merry Christmas once again, promising them I'll call again as soon as I can. Maybe it's because of the holiday season...or maybe also because of the fact that they're on vacation and not busy doing their chores in school, but the kids want us to call them more this time. The least we can do is to give them their wishes.

After coming home from work, Alice and I took the chance of recovering from the missed hours of sleep from last night's party. After napping for a few hours, we spent time watching TV while the last hours of Christmas Day tick. Tomorrow, we'll do our usual routine again, just like today. Any which way...

Merry Christmas!

three things...

2007-12-23T19:37:00.000+04:00

First thing is the cold. whenever the cold weather comes, we know it's the signal of the holiday season. it reminds us to make a list, lists actually - one, of the things we need to buy in preparation for the holidays, and another for those "lucky" individuals that we're planning to give presents to even if it means parting with our hard-earned bonuses for the month :) ... as we say, 'tis the season of giving, although most of us really prefer receiving anyway :) The cold weather also signals us to once again take our jackets and sweaters out from their usual places in the cabinets and use them to attend the Misa de Gallo, although in the Philippines it's not that cold anyway, and we can do away with our everyday attire of shirts and jeans. Anyways, aside from thinking that we could be more "japorms" wearing jackets, we also know that there's not much use of those thick clothing in other times of the year, and so we take the chance of using them during this season whenever we can. And speaking of Misa de Gallo, that's one of the things I miss during this holiday season. I miss waking up early and going to the church, although sometimes it's not really the mass which makes me wake up in those cold early morning hours, but the revelry associated with it, including of course, eating "bibingka" or "puto bumbong" and sipping "salabat" while chatting with friends inside the church patio until the mass ends. It's one of the things that makes me want to sometimes go back to the Philippines... and believe me, those times don't come too often. Although I prefer the much colder weather of this country, I still long for the revelry experienced attending the Misa de Gallo and sharing it with friends...

Another thing is the festive mood. Maybe it has something to do with Christmas carols permeating the air - from the neighbor's CDs or maybe your own radio - as early as September, but I really found it different celebrating the Christmas season in the Philippines than in other countries I've been to. Well, we know that in the Philippines, radio stations start playing Christmas songs as early, and from there, malls, restaurants, fast foods, and practically any and all establishments follow suit. You will sometimes wonder whether Filipinos don't get tired of listening to all these noise until December 25. Anyways, carols are only a part of the festivities. Also in September, houses and all structures get to be decorated with Christmas accessories - lights, labels, nativity scenes - name it, and you'll probably find one in one of the structures that are being decorated in your area. This is the time when "Made in China" Christmas accessories start flooding the Philippine market. It's kind of funny how Filipinos really celebrate the season. And I miss it too... being in a country where the celebration of Christmas is quite reserved, the "over-indulgent celebrations" in the Philippines really becomes a yearning that just wouldn't go away.

The last thing is getting together. In the Philippines (at least from my experience), the holiday season is not just the time for festivities, it is the time of renewing bonds. It is the time when old friends see each other again and catch up with each other's lives... it is the time when the family gets together again in the ancestral home and renew the love they share with one another. For Filipinos, Christmas is the celebration of the family. I remember those past Christmases when we share our noche buena with my family and celebrate the season sharing jokes and playing "Bingo"... the kind you do just to be together and keep each other's company during the Christmas eve. Then on Christmas day, both of us and the kids go to Alice's old home where a reunion of her family will be celebrated the whole day. It's those times when you'll really appreciate the essence of Christmas, and it's those times that we're really missing and longing for these past several years. It's what makes Christmas in the Philippines different, really.

Sometimes, even for just a while, you really really wanted to go back home.

cormac mccarthy and the holiday season

2007-12-23T14:03:00.000+04:00

The holiday season is always a respite. Well, at least even for just a little while, we can relax a little and savor the good things life has to offer. Anyways, I'm grateful that during the first few days of the break I've finished several books already. I guess I really had to do it since I feel that I'm really lagging in my reading and I had to seize this opportunity and try to read all the books that I bought several weeks, months even, before.

I'm fortunate that I already discovered the works of Paulo Coelho. I made mention about it in a review I wrote several days ago. I got more fortunate after reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". I've heard of McCarthy first in "Oprah" when I was keeping Alice company one night watching the show. Oprah is recommending the book that time and showing her short interview of the author. I decided I'll buy the book and try it, but after buying, it just stayed in my drawer for weeks, and I was not able to even scan it. Well, I guess the timing was just bad, that when I bought it it coincided with just too many works in the office.

Anyways, after reading it two days ago, I would have to say it really was a piece of work and worthy of the award(s) it received. McCarthy's technique of narrating it thru prose-like literature is really successful, as well as his description of the end of the world viewing it thru the "real" humanity of man - the good and evil that reside within him.

In its deeper context, "The Road" does not only tells about the story of the bond between a father and his son. More importantly, it narrates about the humanity of man. Such that even in despair and difficulties, there exists in him the instinct to help, and in hopeless situations there is always the love he has for his family.

As I stayed awake the whole night reading McCarthy's book, it dawned on me that the story is real, and it's happening to all of us. There are lessons that can be learned from this book. You have to read it.

The Alchemist

2007-12-19T18:31:00.000+04:00

I have to admit I just recently discovered Paulo Coelho. Alice told me about him, when one of our friends from South Africa who is a very indulgent reader told her about his works. When we happened to pass by Borders several weeks ago, I bought Alice this book, and after she finished reading it I took turn in scanning its pages.

The Alchemist's story is not unique. It is in fact, a very common one. And there lies the success of the book and the power of its author. The Alchemist is very powerful in its simplicity, and its uniqueness lies in the beauty of its message: pursue your personal legend and you will find happiness, for then you will know the purpose of your existence.

Santiago's story tells us that we must listen to our hearts, for if we know what our hearts desire, only then can we know the true purpose of our existence, and only then can we truly be happy. This book also tells us to continue following our dreams, for only through it can we find our purpose in life.

What makes Paulo Coelho's book a success?

Its narration of the simplicity of life. And its telling of the simple things that make our lives more meaningful and interesting. The story of the shepherd boy is the story of each and everyone of us. The quest for happiness and the meaning of life is the same quest that we try to achieve everyday. Each and everyone of us shares the same dream with Santiago.

What is the secret of one's happiness?

As The Alchemist tells us, happiness is following our dreams. And not being afraid of obstacles that can be encountered following the path to our dreams. As the book says, true happiness is understanding the meaning of our lives, the purpose of our existence. We can do that by listening to our hearts... and by following its yearnings.

Paulo Coelho tries to tell us these simple things in his little book. I guess it won't be hard for us to get his message and learn from it.

"in pursuit of happyness"

2007-12-19T17:38:00.000+04:00

I borrowed this movie from a friend, not knowing really what this movie is all about at first. When I had the chance to watch it on a night when there's not much to do, I got some valuable life lessons that will stay with me for a long time...

The movie "In Pursuit of Happyness", is the story of Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman with a 5-year old son. Like most of us, the movie portrays the difficulties one has to go through when we're just initially starting a family and only having a "common", average job. The life of Chris Gardner is a portrayal of the triumph of the spirit, that is, against all odds and armed only with commitment and dedication, one can realize his dreams only if he won't lose focus and continue to sacrifice and persevere to attain it.

I haven't read the book from which the movie was based, nor I know the story of Chris Gardner prior to my watching the said movie. But after watching Will Smith and his son Jaden in the movie, I feel like I could relate to their story somehow. I don't know. Maybe because their story is such that it's actually the same story most of us currently have. Maybe somehow, this story is also the story or our lives as we live them right now.

One important lesson this movie taught me is to love your kids. And don't let anyone take them away from you even in difficult times. It's sad that I could not do that. Like millions of other Filipino parents, I am separated with my kids right now. That's the sacrifice 10% of the Filipino parents have to go through. It's part of our diaspora. And although sad, it's a fact of our life. I just try to make up for it by constantly communicating with them and trying to let them feel I am not away in any way I can.

Gardner's story is an inspiration. Every one of us is in one way or another, experiencing struggles in life. And like Chris, we have to learn to face them all. We have to stay focused and committed to our goals, and move towards realizing them everyday, every minute that we can. We shouldn't lose any given opportunity.

As this movie tells us, if we persevere, if we try hard, if we dream long enough, our pursuit of happiness will eventually be rewarded.

Sick

2007-12-09T11:09:00.000+04:00

The season is really changing already. Cold mornings are here once again, and the cool air permeates longer even until before noon. It's good to know that winter has arrived once more...

There's just one problem when the winter season comes, and for that matter, the climate starts to change along with it... people get sick. I personally experienced it the past week. Maybe it was the cold nights or the prolong cold mornings, but either way, I got hit by a flu. I even experienced some chills during the first day I got it. And so, I was not feeling well for maybe, four days... with aching muscles and headache, combined with on-off fever. I finally decided to visit the clinic on the second day. The nurse said I had an inflammation of my tonsils, which indicate something of an infection is there. Anyways, after taking some anti-biotics and vitamin C tablets, I finally felt good in the fourth day. Everything's well again :)

After my encounter with flu, I decided winter - and the cold weather - is really finally here, and so I started wearing light sweaters during nighttime. I also started to put away my sleeveless shirts, I won't use them for quite sometime.

Alice is happy... I won't be using the airconditioner anymore at night :)

Swimming!

2007-11-30T16:59:00.001+04:00

The group had a blast in yesterday's swimming party. It was planned several days ahead, of course, but the bulk of preparation happened in Wednesday night when the group started the preparation and cooked all the food that will be brought to the beach. Almost all the gang were in Fidel's flat, which is only on top of our flat, and so we also didn't miss the fun. Actually, the dinner that night happened in our flat, of course, after they had finished cooking "bulalo" in Fidel's. After dinner, some of our friends played tong-its, while some, including me, watched movies. We had finished two movies that Wednesday night - Blood Diamonds and Over the Hedge. The group decided everything is ready and finished at around 1AM and decided to go back to their respective flats.

We started going to the beach early on Thursday, the bus is actually rolling at 8:30AM. We reached the resort before 11AM, and since it is almost winter already, we were not immediately able to dip into the water as it was still very cold. The wind, of course, is quite strong this time of year, which made the waves a little bit bigger than they usually are, and when we finally decided to swim, we had a fun time riding these quite big waves, which made the activity all the more funny. After our rendezvous in the water, the boys decided to take a little swig at the nearby clubhouse. the girls, meanwhile, stayed at the cottage, and continued nibbling on the abundant food that were prepared the night before.

We decided to leave the resort around 4PM to go to the mall and bought some stocks - food, toiletries, etc. After staying and roaming in two nearby malls, we decided to visit our favorite fish restaurant and eat good grilled fish at 8PM. We finally get to go back at 9:30, and arrived home at 11:00PM.

It was indeed an exhausting but enjoyable day...

Food and Cooking

2007-11-30T16:21:00.000+04:00

One of my passions is cooking. It's not cooking as in cooking like a chef, but the kind which you might call home-cooking cooking. I'd like to cook and have Alice critique it, and I relish when Alice liked a particular recipe. When I'm still in the Philippines, I also cooked for the kids... I'm always looking forward to that time when I can cook for them again, especially those dishes which they really like.

Anyways, I've been experimenting with some dishes during the past several days, and I guess - based on Alice's feedback - that they are quite good. I've made our own recipe for home-made hamburgers, and we've made a dinner of hamburger steaks one time, combined with Alice's famous mashed potatoes :) It was indeed sumptuous, and both Alice and I finished two big burgers each. Then I've made some medium-sized chicken balls another day, deep-fried them and finally made a sweet and sour dish out of them. Alice liked it and thus, after that, our next meal had been chicken balls dipped in Thai sweet-chili sauce.

When we get the chance, we buy salmon steaks in our favorite supermarket. Both Alice and I like baked salmon with only the usual salt, freshly ground pepper, and butter on it, with sparse topping of parsley when it's cooked. This dish had been one of our favorites now, and we always have a nice meal everytime it's on the menu for the meal of the day.

For sure, there will be more food and recipes that I'll try, and more dishes to be perfected and made favorite. A good thing about cooking is you can always experiment. And with Alice always giving good "reviews", I could keep on doing it.

Finally, today...

2007-11-28T19:59:00.000+04:00

I configured and put up my site... it's not really my own actually, I am sharing it with Alice and the kids... however, I am the one managing it (well, that's understandable). Putting up a site, I learned, really requires patience. You have first to register your domain, subscribe to a hosting server (if you do not have a 24-hour machine to host your website), then wait for your domain to propagate over the web, and finally create the web pages for your site.

I actually created only a single page in the meantime. It actually serves as portal to all the sites that I and Alice have been maintaining through these years. Most of these sites are social networking sites, by the way. And most of the contents are journals (blogs) and pictures about our own personal and work activities, as well as those of our kids'. Anyways, having a portal that will compile all those is really another very good step, as our friends (both existing and future) will have a single site to go through everytime they would want to visit any of our existing sites.

Although the site is currently a one-page site initially, I am planning to expand it to a full-blown personal-commercial site in the future, and hence, you can expect developments on the site in the coming days or weeks. Hopefully, and if time permits, I could improve it quickly for the benefit of everybody.

As it is right now, you can visit the site to go to our journals and blogs at http://rolandolontokjr.net or alternatively use Alice's domain which also points to that address at http://alicelontok.net.

Well then, see you there!

Celebrating a birthday...

2007-11-26T00:01:00.000+04:00

It's Rain's birthday today... she's seven years old now... as we've been chronicling on our family's site, she's helping her Mima organize her birthday party for quite a while now. I didn't really believe she'd been that "mature" already, but indeed she is, as narrated by her Mima - my mother - when they called me this afternoon, just after the celebration...

My mother told me that Rain was very happy, and really was in a very jovial mood throughout the celebration. She said that the little girl made the table hopping herself, talking and joking with her guests - some friends in school, neighbors, and of course, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She also told me that Rain even sang a song for the visitors during the party, and distributed the loot bags to the kids who attended her party. She don't usually do those things during her previous birthday celebrations, she's always the shy type. I guess the girl is really growing up...

What really moved me during our conversation was the little story that my mother told me during our conversation: she said that in the morning when they are still preparing the tables and chairs, and doing some decorations at the place, she paused for a while and sat on a chair feeling a little pain on her nape. She rested for a while thinking that maybe she has a case of high blood pressure. Rain approached her after a while asking how she's feeling... she said she had to rest a little since she's not feeling too well. Suddenly, she said, Rain looked at her very seriously and said, "Mima, me sasabihin ako sa 'yo" ...she asked her "What is it?", thinking that maybe Rain would ask for another thing to be bought or another thing to be done in the party. Rain then said she's a little bit embarrassed to say it.

Her Mima then told the little girl, "you can tell it to me, there's no problem"... Rain then looked at her intently once more, and with tears welling in her eyes said: "Mima, thank you very much, ha?... for everything." At that point, my mother told me that she was not able to contain her emotions and cried. I was eating at the cafeteria when my mother told me that story... I would've cried - I want to cry, actually - if not for the many people there eating their lunch at that time. Alice may had seen the sadness in my face that she asked what happened. I had to pause for a while and clear the lump in my throat before narrating her the story.

Anyways, our little girl's birthday party went well... as I talked to Rain after my conversation with her Mima, she was still in a party mood. She said she'd had many gifts, and even received some money from friends. She's even already had one special gift that she already liked very much - the one given by her Tita Jet, Alice's eldest sister. She said that she's a little sad that her teachers were not able to attend the party, but anyhow, she's also happy that some of her friends and classmates were there. From the way she sounded when she told me more stories about her party, I would have to say that the celebration was indeed successful even though we're not there...

I somehow feel guilty that we're not there on our little girl's birthday party, me and Alice. I even felt more sad when my mother told me that "Thank You" story. I guess somehow, our kids really had grown up and become more mature faster to cope with us not being there with them throughout most of their growing years. I guess that's a natural outcome of one's adaptation to their current environment. But somehow too, I am thankful that they're able to cope with us being not there with them... as I mentioned previously, everybody in the family is doing his or her share of sacrifice in the family's current situation, and I'm very proud of my kids for always hanging tough and still remaining their sweet and respectful self for us...

As Rain celebrated her birthday today, I could see she's really grown up... in more ways that I can imagine.

I love you my little girl... happy birthday again...

Preparing for a party...

2007-11-23T20:15:00.000+04:00

Our only daughter, Rain, will be turning seven this Sunday. As we're not there to prepare for that important day in our little girl's life, we have relied on key family members to do the preparation for us. For her part, Rain had told everybody else there what she wants and what she needs for the party. The preparation had been going on for more than a month now... not that it will be a very big party, Rain wants it to be a simple celebration - with only the family members, some of her school friends, and teachers to attend.

Anyways, as they prepare for the event little by little, it took them a month for the planning and execution to complete everything. We found out that our little girl has a knack for events planning, as she directs her Mima how she wants the party to be. As it is, they are now into the finishing touches, just checking their orders and making sure that everything will be ready come Sunday. We told them to take many pictures so that we'll have many to see and relish. Well, that's another sacrifice we have to make :(

Anyways, I had chronicled several important communication between me and Rain during her preparation, and I posted them in the Calendar section of the family's site (http://lontokfamily.multiply.com). You can check them there. In the meantime, Alice and I are hoping the coming storm won't ruin everything Rain and her Mima had worked for...

Wednesday Club

2007-11-22T00:17:00.000+04:00

Pinoy expats here in our place had this tradition of meeting together every Wednesday evening for a nighttime of casual conversation, good food, and just being Pinoys and friends with each other. Nobody actually started it formally, it just came into being that way. I remember the time when we're just new here, Alice and I, and two other Pinoys working in the same office as ours. We'll call each other up on the phone on Wednesday nights, asking each other to walk to the city centre for just the fun of it... we'll settle in one of the many restaurants dotting the Centre afterwards, the kind that's usually frequented by other expats trying to while the time away. We'll talk of our jobs, the office, this new place that we're in and how we're currently coping, our families back home, any and all topics, really... and just like the others, we'll spend hours there, whiling away time, until we get sleepy and decide to go home again. This simple routine usually takes us several hours - usually until very late at night - but we're thankful for each other's company... well, at least even for several hours a week, we tend to forget the rigours of everyday activities at work, and we feel like we're in the Philippines all over again with the company of other working Pinoys.

When more Filipinos began coming in this place, our small group slowly became bigger and bigger... and suddenly we found ourselves occupying several tables in the restaurant, the biggest group of regulars there during Wednesday nights. We were even given the same waiter to serve us everytime we go there. Our simple routine became an important weekly activity for Pinoy expats in this place... we had formed the Wednesday Club.

The meeting of the Wednesday Club is one activity that's always anticipated by Pinoy expats in this area. It's meeting is actually an informal one, its activities are just plain talking with other "members", sharing new jokes, and just being good buddies. But it became very important because it deepened the bond of Pinoys... it strengthened their friendship. For the last year or so, I haven't experienced a week that the meeting was cancelled. Sometimes, it's moved to Thursday or maybe even Tuesday (when there are other important activities that most "members" should attend) but everybody made it a point to be together once a week. I do believe that this is one characteristic of the Filipinos that makes them different from other nationalities. We really extend our family as much as possible... and in a foreign land, we do that through our Pinoy friends, our brothers and sisters here.

Tonight is one of those nights the Wednesday Club had their get-together... Alice and I had just arrived from the meeting, and with tonight's get-together ending quite late, Alice immediately fell asleep after arriving. I'm still listening to Alice's collection of rhythm and blues in her iPod nano... sleep hasn't caught me yet. While at it, I decided to write a blog, and well, what better topic than the just-concluded activity. The Wednesday Club had been there for more than a year already, and I haven't written anything about it yet... the Club had already witnessed many things, and for sure, it will witness still many more. Various stories will definitely be written for the Club. For now at least, the Club's history (in this blog) had begun.

Kare-kare

2007-11-09T13:10:00.000+04:00

It's weekend today... there's nothing much to do aside from a little paperwork I brought from the office last week. And so, after getting my hair cut from the barbershop at the corner near our flat, Alice and I visited our favorite fruits and vegetables store which happens to also be near our home and bought some ingredients for the dish that we'd like to cook for lunch. After everything's ready, we proceeded to cook...

I've been wanting to cook kare-kare for several days now, and I decided this is another perfect time to cook one. We bought some cubed beef from the supermarket several days ago, and there are still some pieces left from the dish we'd cooked before which I thought will be good for kare-kare. I had eggplant and sitaw just freshly bought from the nearby veggie store, and all other ingredients are available from our stock... and so, after sometime, I had another kare-kare steaming from the pan and going to the dish...

Alice, meanwhile, had decided to cook "ginataang halo-halo" for dessert. Well, I guess you have to read about it in her blog, since I know she'll write about it there :)

Anyways, we shared these sumptuous dishes with two of our close friends at lunch, eating them while watching Pearl Harbor and enjoying ourselves with some light casual conversation. It was indeed a nice weekend.

Connectivity

2007-11-08T18:19:00.000+04:00

In this new world we currently live in, everything is connected. Thus, you can communicate with your loved ones easily and efficiently using the telephone or the Internet, your office sends your salary to your bank which is in turn connected to your favorite supermarket, and to your electric and water companies, and even to your credit card/s. You even do your studies on the web, connected with other learners - your classmates - who are located in other parts of the world.

We really are living in a connected society these days, and for us to function well and efficiently, we have to be connected with the rest of them. Thus, our companies try very hard to be connected, both inside and outside. But getting connected is only half the story... getting connected fast - at least for companies - really makes the difference. That's why being the manager of the network infrastructure of a company serving a network of more than 600 computers really becomes very very difficult if your connection bandwidth is only a normal DSL-grade technology. And that's why, after weeks of tensed anticipation, I got ecstatic yesterday when we finally got the E1 connectivity we've been waiting for, and the assurance of getting a lower grade T2 after sometime.

What can we do with an E1? Well, that's a no-brainer actually. Having languished in our external data transmission for quite a while now, an E1 connectivity is like a breath of fresh air. That means the data transmission speed for our external connectivity will at least be several times faster than it was before. Well, it is really nowhere beside our internal speed of 1 Gigabit per second, but it will be good for our staff and also our clients' works. Moreover, having a good external speed allows the staff to get connected to the Internet faster which is essential when you're maintaining e-learning courses and is dependent on the Web for much of the information you use in your work.

Anyways, getting an E1 line is definitely good news, both for the company's staff and me (especially). At least in my case, complaints from staff about the Internet connection speed will be diminished for quite a while (I hope). More so, I can focus now on other infrastructure matters like consolidating our servers and getting blade servers for that purpose, and upgrading our storage capacities by implementing SAN instead.

Well then, I think I can relax even for a little while now...

Notting Hill

2007-11-05T22:08:00.001+04:00

This is definitely my favorite movie.

Let me just make it clear. I'm not really a fan of Julia Roberts (although I'd say some of her movies are done well), nor of Hugh Grant (I prefer the other "Hugh" of the series "House"). But I really really like Notting Hill. And I don't know why. Maybe it's because of the simplicity of the story... or the fact that it's the most successful love story formula: similar to that of Cinderella and other fairy tale classics. And this one's with a twist: the guy is the not-so-famous-and-rich one. Well, whatever it is, I always get that familiar rush of emotion on the scene when Anna utters the most important dialogue of the movie: "... i'm only just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her..." as well as the last dialogue between the two, when Hugh asks Julia if she'll reconsider... maybe I'm a sentimental romantic afterall :)

I got the chance to watch it again tonight when a friend of ours brought the VCD to our place for a night of good movie. What can I say? It's definitely feel good... I love it.

Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel

2007-11-05T22:06:00.000+04:00

It is always good to go back to things that you love. Be it movies, books, or places, you always want to re-experience the thrill and the emotion you get when you read, watch or visit them again.

I learned to know and like Isaac Asimov from his Foundation series when I started to get fascinated by science fiction stories during the 90s. Way back then, I think I read every book of that series and the other Asimov works that are related to it. Anyways, when I visited my favorite bookstore sometime ago, I happen to pass by those "bargain" books that they have - those with two stories or novels in one paperback. More fortunately for me, I saw a classic Asimov novel, Caves of Steel, together with an extra series, The Rest of the Robots. Of course I bought it.

I just finished reading the Caves of Steel three or four days ago. It was actually one of the first novels written by Asimov, and also the one where he introduced his so-called "new generation" of robots that are the opposite of the mephistophelian variety that existed before it.

The Caves of Steel is where Asimov introduced the three laws of robotics. This is where he introduced the idea of positronic brain and the humanoid robot. It is a police story set in the future, when humans and robots co-existed, and when extra-terrestrial colonization is the norm. Asimov painted a picture of the modern "city", where efficiency is prioritized over individuality and privacy. It is the future earth according to Asimov. And it is classic.

The story of The Caves of Steel, its setting and its ideas may be absurd to some, but it can also be real...in the future. One good thing about Asimov's work is that they are close to reality, and the more we read and think, the more convinced we become that they could happen someday. Robots and humanoids and space colonization could be eons away from us, but reading Asimov make them quite already here now. That is why I like reading his works. They always are interesting pieces.

Coffee

2007-11-05T21:38:00.000+04:00

Alice had always loved coffee. She drinks it in the morning, and also drinks it at nighttime. Sometimes in the afternoon, she also drinks it. And Alice loves good coffee even more. Thus, she can spend time (and dollars) sipping coffee at Starbucks, or Gloria Jeans... and sometimes also at Costa and Seattle's Best. Well, if it's about coffee, you bet Alice will be there (to sip)...

Anyways, while wandering around the mall one weekend, we passed by a new coffee shop. The place is kind of small, similar to those small kiosks you'll usually see at the middle of mall corridors in-between the shops at the sides. The coffee shop is situated under the escalator in one of the wings of the mall, and people are crowding, that's why we got interested. The coffee shop's name is Barista Espresso.

After finding a seat, we ordered two short cappuccinos as well as two blueberry cheesecake. The cakes were good... well, knowing this region, definitely cakes will always be superb. The coffee?... better! They even have those big coffee cups, the variety that's being used in Costa - those ones that are the size of a small bowl. I really really like to drink my coffee from those cups (sorry Starbucks!). Anyways, Alice loved the coffee (as usual) and put it on the same league as the others.

And so, we spent a little bit of time at the Barista Espresso, sipping our coffee and savoring the cake... and reading on the side... it was a good way to spend the weekend.

Missy Higgins, Akon, and a long road trip...

2007-11-04T22:37:00.000+04:00

I need to go to the main office of my company three days ago to submit some important papers. I was actually ok with it, except that the main office is almost 200 kilometers away from my place! Well, this is one of those times I couldn't do anything to postpone it, and so, after waking up early that morning and doing all the necessary activities one has to do after waking up, I started with my long journey...

This is one of those rare moments when I curse myself for not buying a car... I just contented myself riding in the bus, and brace for the two or more hours bus ride that I will have. After settling in one of the seats near the front, I plugged my iRiver earphones and proceeded on listening to my favorite Missy Higgins songs... well, at least I have Missy Higgins to give me company during this trip. This is one of those times when I really appreciate my iRiver and the Missy Higgins songs that were saved there.

And so it went... I had the iRiver phones plugged in my ears and Missy Higgins constantly humming there while I waited for the bus to finally arrive at the destination. The bus ride took a little more than two hours, I arrived at the main office, look for the person I need to talk to, and then finally submitted the papers. It took me just a little more than 30 minutes to finish my task! And after that, I have nothing to do anymore...

I don't want to bear the agony of taking another two-hour bus ride that quickly, and so, I went to the mall first. I spent several hours roaming the shops, which allowed me to find a Tissot watch that I really wanted to buy. Anyways, I think I got my wits back at the last minute and I decided not to buy it that time... at least I will have enough time to think :)

Anyways, after window shopping at the mall, I proceeded to a favorite eating place - the one with very good grilled fish, and ate a good dish. After that I decided everything is finally settled, and I decided to go home.

During the trip home, the bus driver started playing Akon's music. I decided to just listen to Akon's "R" lyrics for a change, and it somehow made the trip back home a little less discomforting. I arrived late at the flat that night and with that, another day is over...

The Google Story

2007-11-04T22:13:00.000+04:00

I finished reading this book more than two weeks ago. However, due to pressing deadlines in the office, I was not able to write anything - reviews, blogs, anything - in all my web spaces in the past couple of weeks, and thus I am only writing this review tonight...

The Google Story is the colorful story of the Google Guys - Larry Page and Sergei Brin, and how they build, developed, and made a dot com empire that is now called Google. The book narrated how these two PhD students from Stanford University met each other, became friends, made more friends and contacts, and from there had the idea of building a dot com company that will evolve in an important product - the search engine. The book also intimated how the then two would-be billionaires decided not to be conventional in all their business approaches, choosing instead to build their company using the alternative ways, and constantly trying not to succumb to the charm of being businessmen, and do their business ways as businessmen do.

Larry and Sergei chose to remain technologists and run their company as technologists would, and in the process maintain their mantra of "Do not be evil" in creating their empire as we know Google today.The Google Story is a success story - we all know that, of course - that shows how it pays to chase a dream and constantly working to realize it. It also shows that a company can be big and dynamic, motivated and progressive without having to be similar to others. The Google Story tries to teach its readers that to build a motivated company, one (or two) have to make the employees happy and contented, to the point of providing them gourmet free lunch and spas at work. The Google Story is a triumph of technology... but more importantly, it is the triumph of the human spirit fueled by an ordinary dream. The Google Story is probably played by gifted individuals, but the story can be realized by anyone... its story is for everyone.

As an added bonus, the Google Story also narrated some inside happenings about the dot com business as it is today. It intimated how Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, and many other big players in the IT arena constantly haggle, quarrel, and make friends with each other again, to survive, win and stay on top of their business areas. It gives us a glimpse of what's happening at the corridors of IT powers, and how the big players lay their cards on the IT business table. Indeed, it also teaches us a point or two in IT business.

For these and for all its worth, The Google Story is indeed an interesting read.

Google Fast Facts:

Google Inc. was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergei Brin, when the two were only in their late 20s; Page and Brin, both 34 years old this year are worth 18.5 billion US$ today (according to Forbes magazine); Google has been in the top 5 companies in terms of value for several years now; the company's last quarter profit is approximately 2.5 billion US$; as of December 2005, it has 5,680 fulltime employees; Eric Schmidt previously of Cisco Systems is the current CEO; Googleplex is the name of the sprawling complex of the company; Google came from the word Googol, a mathematical term for the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros.

Borders... and reading again

2007-10-20T20:09:00.000+04:00

I have always loved reading. As far as I can remember, I read and read and read since I was a kid. I remembered spending countless hours reading the then very popular "komiks" when I was still a boy in my small hometown, even spending time squatting in our local market with other kids during lunch breaks renting them and reading them there. It is good that I heard Carlo Caparas and his wife is trying to resurrect "komiks" - and the Filipinos' habit of reading them - in the Philippines. When I become a little bit more "mature" in my hobby (that is not to say that only immature readers read "komiks"), I started reading magazines and pocketbooks. I remember starting from Hardy Boys stories in high school, then gradually shifted to science fiction, particularly Isaac Asimov's Robots and Foundation series during my first years in College, and finally into conspiracies and thrillers with the popular authors of that time - Ludlum, Clancy, Forsythe, Sheldon, and others. My favorite in this genre - and in this era of my reading - is John LeCarre, but it did not stop me from reading the works of all the other authors, whenever and wherever I get hold of them. I've read about spies and agents and Jason Bourne long time before they got the chance to be watched on the big screen. After that, I moved into reading legal stories - the John Grisham variety. And I was totally hooked. I became fascinated with each novel so much, that I practically collected all of Grisham's books and read them... you could say learn them by heart, even. During this time, I did not only become more mature in my reading, I also reached a certain maturity in life, as you might say.

When I become a teacher, my love for reading became more intense. If before I want to read just for the sheer pleasure of doing it, this time it became an inherent requirement. I feel that to become the best in my craft, I need to read more. Not only on the areas that I learned to love and appreciate all these years, but on all areas possible. I started exploring (and reading) new genres, and I began expanding my reading habit in the process. During this time, I got fascinated with reading general business and management books, aside from books about IT and computers. And so, I started collecting them also. I read about Microsoft, Intel, National Semiconductor, IBM, General Motors, Dell, and countless other successful stories of organizations. This provided me the foundation to be curious and interested about the life of the people that run them, and so, I started reading about their lives - Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Jack Welch, and many more. It dawned on me that reading biographies and memoirs not only give you immense reading pleasure, more importantly, it gives you important lessons - life lessons which you can always practice in your own context, in your own situation, and in your own time. I bought and read books about the life of Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Albert Einstein and a few other individuals who, in one way or another had very colorful and important lives from my own perspective. I even read a chapter in the life of Osama Bin Laden in one of the books written about him, the title of which is lost on me now. And I continue to read and read and read...

When I read about Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I become fascinated with everything religion. I read several other books relevant to it and for that matter read and learned also about the Knight's Templars, the Freemasonry and the Lodge, and the so-called secret and discarded gospels. I become facsinated with Dan Brown's stories that I also read his other novels. (Sadly, except for Angels and Demons, his other stories did not measure up to the same league as the Da Vinci Code, so I thought).

When I first came to this place, I had a hard time finding books to read. And I don't know for the life of me why I decided to accept a job here in the first place because of that. It was actually the first time in my life that I couldn't read anything, except for some old educational textbooks and newspapers. I'd been to several places already - and always, plenty of books are there for reading. And I thought, this is becoming not fun anymore... but then, I need to sacrifice a bit inasmuch as circumstances really need for me to work here in the meantime. And so, I waited... something, I hope, will eventually happen.

Yesterday, when I visited the city center once more after a long vacation, I was greeted with a new shop called Borders at the newly-constructed wing of the mall . It's actually one of the biggest bookstores I've ever seen in quite a while... and the good thing is, it houses thousands of books that I love! The place even has a small Starbucks Coffee shop in one corner, which made Alice very happy :) Now, Alice can stay there and wait for me while I scan all the titles there and choose my next read. Borders really get me going again.

I actually did not stop reading during the whole time I stayed in this area. Although there's not that many books to get, I contented myself reading magazines - computer magazines for that matter. I even collected one publication which caught my fancy. From time to time, I also download eBooks (although good titles that do not have copyrights are scarce). Overall, my reading did not suffer too much, and I would say it's not that bad afterall. However, the coming of Borders is indeed a very welcome development, and the resurrection of my reading hobby is definitely in the offing once again - I already bought three new titles for me: The Google Story, one by Isaac Asimov, and I'd like to try Cormack McCarthy now by planning to read The Road. I bought Alice one as a gift - A Mighty Heart, to prepare her also for a long time of reading again.

If you wish hard enough, and hope long enough, everything is possible... really.

The 50th Post....

2007-10-18T16:33:00.000+04:00

Well, what can I say? After ten months and a handful of topics, I am now in my 50th post in this blog... time sure flies real fast, and when you're blogging, it flies even faster... but then, the skies become much more colorful doing it anyways, so I guess the fun continues...

Just so there's something to see in my 50th blog, I included in here a picture of me and Alice at the top of a castle during our recent trip. What can I say (again), the feeling's kinda at the top right now...and it's a good one! Hope it'll last...

On PressCon and Writing

2007-10-14T14:13:00.000+04:00

River had good news to us the other day. He said that he won in the Division Schools Press Conference (for elementary students), although he only got the 9th place. It was in the editorial writing category. He's actually kind of sad getting only 9th place, but Alice told him that it's alright, and that it was only his first venture in the journalism area, and that still has next year to improve on his skills in writing. She said further that it was indeed an accomplishment on his part, because he was not prepared - there was no formal training and coaching before the contest unlike in other schools - and even so, he still managed to be included in the top ten.

It was indeed an achievement for River. The division press conference is quite difficult to hurdle inasmuch as all the best writers in the province are there, competing with each other. And with no formal training in his school on the category in which he competed, that means the kid really knows how to write and got what it takes to compete in this field. Maybe it's the product of those years of reading anything he lays his eyes on. River you knnow, is a voracious reader.

While looking at the mother and the son chatting away about writing and press conferences, I cannot help but remember my childhood experiences in these areas. I was a writer too, having nurtured by my mother in this field at an early age. I actually started in press conferences in much the same age as River, and had been editor-in-chief of my schools' official papers from the elementary until college. I had been to various press conferences, in different levels, and I guess I really developed my skills by competing with the best students in this area. I believe that most probably just like me, River will hone his skills slowly but surely, until it comes to that point when he'll be there competing with the best of them. You know, just like me, River likes to read a lot, and I think that's one of the most important characteristics you need if you want to become a good writer. It reminds me of the time when I was still in high school competing and besting all of them in the regional and national levels. I usually rely on phrases and words I read, and remembering the writing styles of the authors of the articles I often read. I know River could go on much the same way. I can sense in him the interest and passion in this area which I felt when I was his age. While at it, I came to realize that the only difference between me and him in this field is that River likes to write editorials and features, while I wanted to be a good copyreader and sportswriter then.

Anyway, we finally put up a plan to further hone River's skills, and it is that he should continue writing manuscripts in his chosen areas, send his writings to me for comments, and then improve them throuogh my guidance and write more. This is again a time when you appreciate the developments in technology since it will not be a problem for us to do that, because we have emails and chats nowadays, and sharing and transfer of files is as easy as browsing the Web. River is sad that this year, he won't be able to compete in the regional level since only the best seven will be sent by the division. I told him that it will be an opportunity for him to practice more and learn more... and to become a better writer for next year. He liked the idea. He's really looking forward to participate in a higher level next year, and he's ready to do what it takes to get there.

Going on a Trip...

2007-10-12T15:21:00.000+04:00

Alice and I both got week-long rests starting tomorrow... that's definitely good news! Well, for one, we'll be able to finally push through with our long-delayed plan of having the one-day tour of the areas near our place. You know, when you've just transferred to a new place of work, there's just so much to see and explore, and for quite a while already we've been wanting to do that. However, the last few weeks had been overwhelming for both our jobs and we couldn't just find the time for it. Now, due to this recent 'development', we'll finally make it happen...and it's fun! We actually talked to some friends already regarding this, you know, asking them to come with us and make the day more enjoyable (and less costly)... as the old adage goes, "the more, the merrier...".

A highlight of the trip is going to the fish market. Locals say that there is an area that is nearby our place that is very famous for fish. I don't know yet the exact name for it, but it will definitely be mentioned in the coming blogs :) They say that fish there are not only fresh and in abundance (meaning, there's just too many variety of them there), but also very very cheap. This sort of thing reminds me of the Sydney Fish Market where you can find just too many different species, choose what you like, and have it cooked while you watch the sun set while passing time at the marina... or it could be the Marina Bay in Singapore, where after paying 12 dollars you could practically eat all the seafoods you want (as long as you could take it). Well, if it's any of these two, that's definitely fine for me... but who knows, maybe this one has qualities that will make it unique in itself...

Then, there's an old castle just 20 minutes drive from our flat that I really would like to visit. I read about it in a book many weeks ago and I couldn't wait to check it after. This castle is one of the oldest in the region, and is an important component of the history of this place. Unfortunately, unlike the other younger 'forts', it was not properly maintained, and right now is undergoing a vigorous renovation. I always feel that by visiting places like this, you get to know more about the new place... you get to understand more about the country where you're living in for the moment... and I always wanted that, to understand the country and its people... I guess that's the only way we could be truly 'global' individuals...

And there's more... having been raised in a country full of beaches, I'd always liked the beach. And every chance of getting to one and touching the water and feeling it roll on my feet is always a welcome moment... and when there's fish, there's water... and of course beaches. Well, swimming, probably, is out of the picture right now, but we'll see :)

For Alice's part, well, she's a typical woman... she's looking forward to visit one of the biggest malls there is in this country, and it's there in the place we'll be visiting soon... she'd heard from a friend that there's a nice coffee shop there, offering varied 'specials', and if it's about coffee - everything about it - Alice will be there.

There will probably be other places to be visited during the trip, we don't know for sure right now. And that's the good thing about it... there's nothing better to look forward to than embarking on an adventure :)

Today I Realized...

2007-10-10T16:27:00.000+04:00

That Filipinos can also compete with other nationalities in the area of education and training, and that Filipinos far from their homeland really become brothers and support each other during times of trial for one. This is a very different scenario from what I usually see and experience in the Philippines, where in every possible opportunity, other Filipinos will take cheap shots and backstab their colleague/s so that he/she will not be able to prosper.

Today I also realized that given the opportunity and the chance, Filipinos like me will do what it takes to excel in his field and help his organization realize his vision in his own humble way...

I got exactly that today. The chance to do a presentation about a strategic plan that I drafted two days ago for the educational technology center of an institution. This is in relation to my development plan for the said center. There are several development presentations given, and each one proved to be unique in itself. I happen to be the last presenter which enabled me to observe the various presentations and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Applicants are varied, and that means they come from different nationalities and different academic background and industry experiences.

I do believe that based on the plans presented, my plans for the various action programs for the Center could compete with the best of them. Of course, it will sound bias since I am the one assessing everything, but objective as I can be, it really dawned on me that Filipinos could really do it, that is, we can really compete in the international stage provided we work diligently and devote serious time to our work. I know that more than 10% of Filipinos work abroad. But most of us work as ordinary employees. Some probably get lucky and are appointed in various administrative positions, but then, what I'm saying is, Filipinos outside of their native lands, really work their butts out and compete. And if they just put more efforts and more commitment to it, better positions can be there for the picking for them.

As I realized today, Filipinos are really one gifted people... the problem is, we tend to show these gifts to us when we are far away from our land. In the Philippines, we're contented on just being dead woods and always show our crab mentality... of course, not all of us are like that there... but then, those ones that are not are the rare ones... the exceptions, rather than the rule...I wonder, why is it so?

Today I learned...

2007-10-07T16:54:00.000+04:00

That it takes almost two hours to teach a five-year old how to download a picture from the Internet...

It's like this... after chatting with River for about a half hour, Ashvin followed his 'Kuya' in chatting with me. Now, Ash, just like any other five-year old boy, needs to know everything about something he is currently doing, and after only five minutes of chatting, he asked me to give him a "download". Well, Ash is not new to chatting. We chat with him almost everyday, and he's already familiar with signing in and out, turning on the webcam and the voice chat facilities, and many other features of the Yahoo! Messenger that other adults wouldn't be able to learn in their lifetime. Maybe he heard it from his Kuya, who is in himself another tech-savvy boy, maintaining his own Friendster site and also doing other techie things on the Net, but Ash is very curious about downloads right now...

And so, I told him that I will send a picture to him. It is actually one of his pictures... taken just before we left once again to travel and work far away from them, and the one where he is bragging about his new shoes just before going to school. The initial steps were kind of easy... I just transferred the file, asked him to accept the file (which he missed the first time by clicking 'Decline' instead, so I transferred it again), and told him to wait until the file transfer finishes. That part was completed with minimal glitch, and everything was fine. And then...

After completing the transfer, I asked him if he saw his picture and he said he did not see anything. I told him to open the file and he said what button to press. I told him to describe to me what he sees in his YM window, and that's when the trouble began... Ash couldn't find the file, and much more he doesn't know where and in what folder it was saved (well, what can I say? He's five years old!)... I asked him to put the camera in front of the computer's screen so that I could see his YM, but it didn't work (of course...) I asked him to call his Kuya River, but River seems to be doing something and is unavailable for the moment. Alice joined the fray already because Ash is starting to get tantrums and we can clearly see him crying on the webcam. We've done the process again (transfer file)... then repeated it once more...until Ash got completely into fits... Alice decided to call them on the phone, talk to River in a strong voice (so he helps Ash), and finally solve the problem.

When River arrives, we repeated the file transfer one last time and it took only five minutes for Ash to learn how to download his picture from Yahoo...

Well, sometimes you have to learn things the hard way...

Pacquiao Land Once More

2007-10-07T16:09:00.000+04:00

Today, Filipinos are once again gathered in that land of unity called the Pacquiao Land... well, that is not mentioning the fact that it is not only there in the Philippines that Filipinos are glued to their TV sets, but indeed, in all lands where Filipinos thrive, Pacquiao Land rules today!.. a colleague at work was asking me this morning if there's any news yet, obviously he doesn't have the Pinoy TV at home, and he's hoping someone from the group is a subscriber, which turned out no one is... with that, we just relied on the breaking news from Inquirer.net and hope that tonight, somebody will upload it on YouTube so that we, unfortunate ones, can at least watch the recorded versions of the fight... that's the problem when the fight's beamed by a network rather than TFC, and you're outside of the country during the event...

Anyways, so much for the (no sense) ramblings... as expected, Pacquiao did win the fight, although it was not what Filipinos are hoping for. As you can see, we wanted it to be an exclamation mark... sort of punctuating Barrera's retirement with a knockout. But it wasn't meant to be. It was probably because of the fact that he had to shed three pounds the day before the actual fight, or maybe it was - based on persistent rumors - because of the distraction (about Ara Mina?) he had during training, that he never really perfected his arsenal of weapons to bring Barrera down. Well, a win is still a win, as we say, and Pacquiao winning another fight is indeed good news for us. For the Pacman personally, it is a saving grace. After the bitter defeat from last election's battle, the Pacman had some sort of redemption in winning this fight, and we should see his popularity, which had waned during the last few weeks, soar again in the coming days.

For most of us, well, it was another day of unity for a country and a people mired by never-ending bickerings and divisiveness. At least, even for just a day, the Pacman once again becomes the Filipinos' hero... the only one that can unite them...even if it's only in that place called the Pacquiao Land.

Canon in D Major

2007-10-05T21:11:00.000+04:00

Several nights ago, while Alice was busy looking for some songs to be added to her Friendster site, she came across a nice classical piece which quickly got our fascination. The piece turned out to be Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, and in the next few hours we had downloaded more than a few arrangements of it. The piece had since became Alice's default audio for her site. We had selected some beautiful arrangements and would like to share them with you. You may want to visit our family's site at http://lontokfamily.multiply.com for these pieces. (copyrights of the pieces are reserved by their respective owners.)

Johann Pachelbel's Fast Facts:

Johann Pachelbel was one of the great organist-composers of his day, a man who could count Bach's teacher among his pupils (He taught Johann Christopher Bach who gave his younger brother, Johann Sebastian Bach, lessons in music). His life was tinged with tragedy and hardship - his first wife died with her baby son in the plague of 1683, and he had to flee from the French invasion of Stuttgart in 1692 - but he settled in Nuremberg and his second marriage produced seven children, two of whom became musicians, one an instrument maker and one a painter. His church music is highly regarded and innovative in the way it links the pitches of the notes to meaning - steadfast faith denoted by repeated notes, for example. His lilting Canon in D is a throwaway little piece by comparison to his big sacred works, but its charming grace has made it a favorite filler of compilation CDs. The canon in D major was written in or around 1680. Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg in August 1653 and died there on March 6th, 1706.

Where you may have heard of Canon D:

- films such as Father of the Bride and Ordinary People
- some TV ads
- Coolio rap single in 1997, The Farm single All Together Now used in Euro 2004, Go West by the Pet Shop Boys
- in shopping malls
- in the funeral of Lady Diana Spencer

Sound Trip, Part 2

2007-10-05T15:06:00.000+04:00

Yesterday, while preparing for our weekend ironing chore, Alice decided to organize her iTunes song list in her computer. There are songs that are repeated, primarily due to re-copying and re-updating of the list over time. Since she is currently 'crazy' over Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, she wanted to add a few of the good arrangements of the piece which she downloaded several days ago to her iPod, and thus before doing so, she needs to organize her iTunes list so that no songs can be repeated in her iPod. While at it, she decided to play our favorite songs done by local artists.. and so after quite a while, we had another sound trip there...

As I already intimated, sound tripping gives you varied emotions... when you're listening to your favorite songs, certain memories flood your thoughts, and you cannot help but just let them flow. Yesterday was the time to reminisce important events about me and my family... it was the time to remember precious events I shared with my kids... it was the time to rewind events of my life once more...

Sometime when you're listening to music and you're rewinding your life again through your thoughts, it cannot be helped that both good and bad memories will come. Good memories are always welcome... they serve to refresh both your body and your soul, and make you face life in a brighter perspective... bad memories... well, you cannot do away with them... good thing about them is, they give you important lessons in life... lessons that helped mold your character, if not made you a better person altogether...

Yesterday, aside from the ironing, I have done another important thing with the help of songs I listened to... that is, meditate about my life again... time and again, I need it.

Friends

2007-10-05T13:31:00.000+04:00

It's always nice meeting and talking with friends...old friends that you haven't talked to for a while especially. Yesterday, while chatting with my kids, I chanced upon a friend who was also my student in the graduate school sometime ago... We chatted for a while - the usual pleasantries - and then the conversation later turned into our respective jobs. He said he's currently in the middle east, working as a lecturer in a college there, and right now in the second year of his contract. He further said it is quite boring there, sort of being inside the jail... Well, he said, that's primarily because there's just nowhere you can go to whenever you get that extra time to spend on leisure. (I guess that's the perennial dilemma of OFWs in the middle east). Anyways, he said that he's currently looking for a better job, maybe in another country... one in which he can bring his family, he says, so that he'll not be homesick anymore... we talked for a quite a long time... probably because both of us had nothing to do anyway to spend the weekend rest time, and probably because somehow, when you're in a foreign land, chatting with an old friend is really a time that you can treasure... I told him also about my job, and how I'm having the same emotions as his because I'm far from my family, and other trivial things an old friend will tell another old friend when they talk to each other again after sometime. We parted saying that we should always keep in touch, so that at least we can pass important 'trivial' information between each other :)

The same thing happened to Alice today... while preparing to chat with our kids, she chanced upon an old friend whom she met as a co-scholar in Sydney... they talked about many things - family, friends, work - and they also chatted for quite a while... Alice found out that she also visited Singapore last summer for vacation, and it was unfortunate that we were not able to see each other there, and probably spend some kind of a reunion there. Anyways, she's inviting us to come and see her place, probably in the summer, and Alice said we'll give it a serious thought. Alice and her friend even swapped new pictures of their adventures to further update each other of each one's new experiences... they also parted ways promising to keep in touch, and chat with each other again...

Friends are indeed treasures... they provide that extra 'push' so that we could go on happily with our lives, and continue with our own journey... chatting with old friends fill some space in our lives and somehow make it more colorful... meeting them even in the web after many years still brings us fond memories that provide more colorful pictures to our lives, both then and now... that's one purpose of the Net we should be thankful about.

On this day...

2007-09-28T22:21:00.000+04:00

for Alice...

On this day marks a very important day in our existence... it is not because this is the day I first met you (although that is also important) nor is it the day you finally had enough of my "kakulitans" that you finally said 'yes' (it's very important as well!)... more than those, this day is important to us because this day starts our life together... eleven years ago.

I know that so many things happened between then and now... I had witnessed three miracles as you gave me our three pride and joy - River, Rain and Ash. I had witnessed how you bear the pain of introducing them to this world, and your patience of nurturing them to be the good children that they now are... thank you...

Our journey together is not without problems, and time and again, you showed your trust...and love, through all the hardships that we've been through. You had given me strength, many times when I needed it, and you had always been my guide through the times that I've been lost... much more, you saved me so many times already I cannot keep track anymore.

The good times we have are the most memorable ones I have... my time with you, as well as with the kids, are the sweetest... I may not always express it, but your company is the one I always long for.

On this day, I want you to know that you're the best that had happened to me (but you know that already, of course)... I want to tell you that knowing that you're there with me all the time, I could endure and go through anything and everything... I want you to know that my journey is the sweetest because I'm doing it with you.

On this day, as I always do in my prayers, I renew my vows and commitment with you... until my last breath...

Happy anniversary... I love you!

e-Learning

2007-09-27T11:40:00.000+04:00

Working as an administrator for the learning content management system of an organization is both challenging and entertaining. For one, you get to meet lots of people, especially learners, and with it, you get to analyze how different people build thought processes and acquire knowledge. I find this very motivating as it is amusing since I learn to understand many kinds of people and their inherent qualities. On the other hand, working as a content administrator, especially for materials concerning training and education, could be frustrating at times. You have to always check whether modules are updated, whether new concerns are raised by both learners and mentors alike, and whether the whole package - the system - is working effectively and efficiently on both fronts - the technical and the social.

One thing that really annoys me in the current scheme of things is the fact that I need to manually enter all the participants whenever a new course, or module, is opened. Well, as there is not much security present currently in the network, I guess I have to bear with this task for sometime... anyways, each training course usually caters to an average of 20 - 25 participants, and so, it is not really a burden if you would really look at it...

As of now, I am proud of the fact that there are currently more than 15 courses being offered by the system - these are really diverse courses ranging from professional workshops to business-related to engineering-based and IT modules - and most of these courses are either created or put up with my help. There are more than 50 mentors and close to 500 learners already. I am equally proud that I am really progressing fast in this new area, which happens to be one of the hottest IT areas nowadays. Technically, I would say that I still need many things to learn and to develop, which I currently am giving priority in terms of time and effort. But then, when you're in a field that you love and doing something that you're just so passionate about, everything will be as simple as they can be, and everything will just come out naturally.

Of course, even though I am currently venturing into this new skill, I'm not forgetting that I am still, and will always be, a teacher. I guess it will always stay in my blood and in my system... I came from a family of mentors anyway, and I guess it really develops in the genes as an end-result of the never-ending human evolution. And thus, I keep a course or two as a mentor/teacher in the LCM system. It allowed me to hone further another important skill - being a specialist in learning development. But more than that, it enables me to continuously interact with different kinds of learners, be they new ones in the field, or old peers that like me, are not easily quenched in their thirst for learning new things. That's where my further development is anchored, I believe. Much more, it fuels my continuous evolution as a human being.

A (not so) typical weekend...

2007-09-21T17:57:00.000+04:00

It was a typical day yesterday... during weekends, Alice and I just go through the routine house-keeping chores: cleaning and mopping the floors, dusting the furniture, washing our office clothes, and ironing them afterwards. It was a typical first day of the weekend... we just went through our usual routine, and since it is not yet time to do some grocery shopping, we did not venture out, as we had already bought some food and everything else we need for the day during the previous night out with friends in the weekly "Wednesday Night Group" get-together at the city center. In between chores, we managed to watch some TV and had also chatted with the kids in the afternoon. I even managed to do some updates in my friendster account in the early evening before we ate dinner.

Today is quite different. For one, Alice had baked a cake for the first time after many years. It's actually just a simple ready-mix chocolate cake, but a cake nonetheless, and it is the first during our stay here. We ate it during lunchtime (which is actually about 1:30PM already), which made us full for the actual lunch we have - a roasted chicken ala Andok's - which we bought the previous night from our favorite grill eatery. Anyways, I started the day by preparing breakfast - french toast with fried eggs - which Alice requested specifically for this day. After eating, I proceeded on working with the report my boss asked to be placed on his table first thing in the morning tomorrow. The task made me occupied in the next two hours which allowed Alice to work on her cake...

After lunch, Alice spent some time surfing the Web and I checked some movies in my portable multimedia player, the kind that comes from China which I bought in Singapore, with a 2.5" hard disk inside. As I become engrossed watching a movie, the TV broke down! Bad timing as the movie will be finished in 5 minutes or so. (Grrrrr!!!!) Anyways, while watching the said movie, I started heating the roasted chicken in the oven to prepare it for the late lunch, and so, after the TV broke down, I proceeded on preparing it and was about to call Alice to eat when the doorbell rang...

Our friend from upstairs is having a problem with her computer, she actually had already brought it with her, and so I checked it first... it turned out there are so many downloaded utilities that make her computer boots ever so slowly, and I reconfigured the start-up options of the rig, and proceeded on installing an anti-virus software (at her request), and finally testing and reconfiguring the voice/audio utility of her laptop so that she can use the voice function in YM properly. After about a little less than two hours, Alice and I were able to eat our lunch (the roasted chicken).

As I repair our neighbor's laptop, Alice chatted with the kids... good news as they told her the grades for the first period were given already and all of them have very good grades. Alice, actually, was nervous with our youngest's grades as his marks in the exams were low, and he had incurred some missed classes while getting sick during the last two weeks... it turned out, fortunately, that his grades are not bad afterall (actually, good also). We had promised them we'll give them memberships to Club Penguin when they get good grades in this period, and so, our eldest reminded her of that again. (He's so sure of good grades as early as the last two weeks that he's continuously bugging us of their membership for days already.)

After eating lunch - which is around 4 o'clock already - we had the chance to check the Web for a while, and we happened to browse Manny Poohcquiao's antics in youtube. We had a fun time watching Poohcquiao's clips, me especially, as it was the first time I saw his style of comedy. Alice rested for a while after that, while I decided to write this post, having nothing more to do. This evening, we'll probably just eat some fruits, Alice might prepare some things for work tomorrow, then, having no TV, we'll say our prayers probably a little early, and then go to sleep...

I guess with that, another weekend will be over.

Summer Read...

2007-09-20T09:30:00.000+04:00

Books I read last summer (personal reviews)...

Book No. 4 – The Innocent Man (John Grisham)

This is the last of the books I read last summer. I always liked the stories of John Grisham, so much that I read and collected all of them. His narration of the fiction stories he authored are really very interesting, that at times I stayed most of the night trying to finish them. And when he ventured into writing a true story, I can't really wait reading it. Thus, as soon as I got the chance to buy the book, I grabbed one and finished it in one sitting...

The Innocent Man is the true story of Ron Williamson, a popular athlete in his hometown during his younger days, a one-time minor league player, and a man accused of mudering a waitress in his hometown of Ada. Grisham had written a vivid picture of the life of Ron, starting from his younger years when he was still the star athelete of his high school, to his journey in the minor league baseball and his dream of becoming a major league player someday, to his demise as an athlete, and his slow and painful addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Ron's life turned for the worse when he was accused of murdering Debbie Carter, a waitress in his town. When the police decided that he's the murderer even when evidences pointed to another man, his life descended towards its darkest moments. Life had been hell for Ron afterwards.With the help of kind lawyers, Ron was able to reopen his case and was finally acquitted after more than ten years on death row. However, the psychological and mental torture - aside from the physical one - that he suffered during his time in jail was really overwhelming, and he never recovered from it. A short time after he was made a free man again, he finally succumbed from all his sufferings.

Grisham's novel is an enlightening story. It showed that justice is not really always given to everyone. However, the story also says that how long it may take and how difficult it may be, truth will eventually come out and liberate an innocent man. God, truly, has a way of doing things...

Book No. 3 – Digital Fortress (Dan Brown)

While wasting time and relaxing during the last summer, I got the time catching up with my 'ebaying' (is there such a word?). I bought Dan Brown's Digital Fortress for about a dollar fifty and had it given to me by the buyer by meeting at the Ang Mo Kio station... it was the third read I had in the summer, and I'd say a particularly good one at that...

Digital Fortress is about high technology, computers, and encryption... Dan Brown had conceptualized a thrilling plot with the use of the US's NSA, which is really a spy agency whose function is about protecting the US homeland through 'sniffing' terrorist activities and communications that pass through the newest network infrastructure, primarily the Internet. The story tells of a 'super computer' comprised of millions of processors with the sole function of decrypting suspicious codes that it catches over the web, which in turn are further analyzed by the NSA's top scientists. The plot thickens when said supercomputer encounters a code that it cannot break, which turned out to be an elaborate hoax made by one of its top programmers.

I would say that the story is at best average... although you will appreciate the author's research on the new technology at that time once in a while. Brown had added the dimension of romance between the two principal characters, which for me provided some light moods to balance the emotions of the story. For what I learned, this is Dan Brown's first (or is it second?) book, and there are obvious stretches of passages that tend to lecture the reader on new and high technologies. Although this will be interesting to some (particularly geeks and techies), I also believe that it tends to bore the other types of readers.Anyways, overall, I would say that reading Brown's Digital Fortress, I get to learn some more things about information and communication technologies. And although the story is not immensely powerful, I still found some things enjoyable in it.

Book No. 2 – Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

This is another good book that I read this summer. I actually planned on reading it way back then, but never got the chance. Fortunately, while staying as a transient in Edu's flat in Singapore, I happen to get my eyes on it and didn't lose the opportunity to do it...

Arthur Golden's book, which incidentally was also made into a hit movie, narrates the story of Chiyo, a peasant girl living in an obscure Japanese town, and her transformation to Sayuri, who became one of the famous Geishas in Gion (Kyoto). The backdrop was Japan before world war 2, and the characters involved a mix of geishas and their patrons, which included politicians, army generals, prominent businessmen, and royalties. It was a vivid retelling of how geishas become geishas. And how they do their everyday lives. The story started from Chiyo's life in a small seaside town, then her coming to Gion through one Mr. Tanaka. It thennarrated how Chiyo was acquired by an okiya, to being schooled in the geisha art, to being an apprentice geisha, and to finally becoming a geisha. The author provided color by introducing two prominent geisha protagonists around Chiyo - Hatsumomo and Mameha, Hatsumomo being the villain who always wanted Chiyo (Sayuri) to fail. One of the highlights of the story was Sayuri's quest to find the man who provided the inspiration early in her life at Gion - the Chairman. As can be expected, the book showed how these two characters' lives became intertwined romantically towards the end of the book.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a good read not only for the colorful background that shows how it was in Kyoto during those times, but more importantly for the vivid characters it portrayed which can be easily related to by readers. The magic of the book is the vivid description of the normal lives of each character, which ironically happens in each and everyone of us, one time or another. I've visited Kyoto once, and after reading the book, I would say it made me want to go back there again.

Book No. 1 – Colours of the Mountain (Da Chen)

When I visited Singapore last summer with my family, we happened to stay at my wife's brother's flat, which he had been renting for several weeks only at that time. It was an oportune time for me because I found tons of books which the flat owner apparently left there. There are actually two very large bookshelves full of books, ranging from school texts, to how-to, to pocketbooks. I found several interesting titles there which I eventually spent sometime reading. This is the first...

Colours of the Mountain is actually a memoirs, or a biography, you might say. Actually, the difference between the two is lost on me for the moment, hence I'm having a hard time classifying it :) For all its worth, the book was a great depiction of the mid 20th century rural china... and an equally very interesting narration of a boy growing up in that part of the world during that time. Da Chen depicted an interesting picture of how a boy (or a child) can be an outcast in China by being related to a landlord family, and how hard it is to live and grow there, especially in the rural areas immediately after Mao Zedong's cultural revolution. The vivid and detailed narrative of how an everyday life of an outcast child allowed the reader to experience what it is like to be in Yellowstone at that important point of chinese history - from the start of the revolution to the death of Chairman Mao, and the few years after that.

The book shows the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. By telling others his boyhood memories - how he suffered, fall, persevered, and win it all, Da Chen is giving his readers a very important lesson in life: That is, everything can be taken from a man (or a boy) except his soul. Whatever happens to him, however pain or dishonor he suffers, eventually, through his inert elasticity and his natural instinct to suceed,his spirit will take him to his goal and to his destiny.

Busy!

2007-09-02T22:22:00.000+04:00

Today happened to be a very busy day... actually, I should've moved office before taking the summer break because the building where I've been holding office for the past several months is due to be remodeled. However, one way or another, I was not able to, and hence I went into the break with all the piles of my work still there. When I reported for work this morning, my colleague who's occupying the same room with me told me that we have to move our things fast because the demolition is under way... thus, I didn't have a choice but to pack all things in haste, put everything inside those cardboard boxes and let the cleaners carry all my things to the other office...

Well, you know this thing about moving... once you start taking your things out for packing, you unconsciously begin to sort them also... and thus, I was able to do that during the next few hours. Anyways, after putting the rubbish in the bin and the ones I still need in their proper boxes, I was ready to go. I called all the maintenance guys and they started moving all my things - the cleaned office table, the computer and printer, all those cables, the piles and piles of papers, everything - to my new place. After a half day moving from the old office to the new one, I was able to shift all my things to the new office. And the real work begins...

What I really hate about moving is that after you have boxed all your things and moved them, you have to start unpacking them again and start reassembling your place. It really sucks! But then, nobody will do it except me, of course... and so, after half a day doing all the packing, I spent the other half unpacking all the same things and putting each of them in the proper order again. Well, perseverance really pays off everytime, and so, I finished all the work with several minutes to spare before my bus arrives. I forgot to mention that through the chaos of the day, I still was able to spend some precious minutes eating at the canteen with Alice :-). I would have to say that I love the canteen now that very few people go there because the real work hasn't started yet. I must say that I love the serenity of the place, even if it happens only very rarely...

Anyways, all's well that ends well, they say, and I finished the move to the new office before the work day ends. I would have to say the new office is a little crowded - most of us are holding office there now - because of the construction that will about to start, but then, good workers and good professionals that we are, as the saying goes, "the show must go on"... and so is our work... I just need to get a duplicate of the key to the front door tomorrow. :-)

Back to work...

2007-08-31T21:23:00.000+04:00

Tomorrow, Alice and I will be back to work. After a hiatus of almost two months, everything will again be back to where they ought to be. It means we'll see our friends again, our colleagues, our peers, and of course our bosses. It is nice, actually, to work in an environment where there is a mix of nationalities, and for that matter, culture... It is nice to know a different custom or two, from different countries and different races. It does not only adds to ones knowledge, it actually makes one to be more enlightened... and more open, I would say. There's nothing better than to learn through experiencing things... and for our jobs, lifelong learning is not only essential, but indispensable.

Anyways, as I intimated already, tomorrow will be the big day... it is sort of starting a new journey. Well, at least, a new one towards our professional life. I know for a fact that for each and everyone of us, life is a big journey... one that is comprised of individual and unique adventures, and this is one of them. For me and Alice, and for our friends here, this is the beginning of a new adventure.

As I anticipate what will happen to me tomorrow, I got the chance to think of the things I did this vacation. What did I do with the seven weeks that were given to me to relax? Well, I had the time of my life exploring Singapore with my family, for one. I also got to at least cope up with my professional reading having read four great books during the break (I guess that will be a good topic for a separate blog this coming weeks). I also got to go back to some of my interests which I didn't actually do much the past several months because of time constraint: ebay, Friendster, etc. There's not much I'd done really... but the important thing is I got to unwind and recharge, to be as fresh as ever for the strict requirements of the job in the next ten months.

I can only say thanks for the chance to do this again and take this new journey... and hope that everything will be fine for all of us.

My Family in Singapore

2007-08-27T21:50:00.000+04:00

Death...

2007-08-24T12:54:00.000+04:00

Several nights ago, when the family was just starting to have a good time in Singapore, I was wasting some time joking around with Ash just before we're about to go to bed when suddenly I was choked with the water I was drinking. The choke was serious that I was not able to breathe. In the next several seconds I was gasping for air, and my breathing produced a whining sound which made Alice panic and shouted for her brothers in the adjacent room to come help us. I was a little bit dizzy from the fact that oxygen is not properly being supplied to my brain, and I continue to gasp for air. Edu, one of Alice's brothers, locked his arms around my chest and slowly pumped. Thus started the painful and arduous process of saving me for completely choking to death...

It was, I believe, the longest three or so minutes I had encountered in my entire life. Alice was clearly in panic and beginning to sob, while Ash was literally ashen during the ordeal. My two other kids, River and Rain, had just gone to sleep, and were peacefully resting on their side of the bed. For much of my life, I usually contemplate on life and death, usually making thoughts on death itself. That's probably because I love my family so much and one of my deepest fears is to leave them unstable. And when death stares you in the face just like that moment, it really makes you scared. In that fleeting two minutes or so, I thought of many things... most notably the things I did not, or was not able to do. I found out that time that when death is upon you, you really wanted to do those things. And it all the more makes you frustrated.

Well, fortunately for me, death did not happen that night. And I thank God immensely for that. As I ponder things after the experience, I came to the conclusion that it left me with a very important life lesson. That is, it made me appreciate more all the blessings around me - the people and the things - and all those that are happening to me, most especially the gift of life itself. That experience taught me to celebrate life and do what I really want, and to never give more attention to life's worries...

That night when I come face-to-face with death, I learned to appreciate life. I guess that's the secret to make this journey more meaningful.

Frolicking at Clarke Quay & Merlion

2007-08-24T11:44:00.001+04:00

Our Trip to Sentosa

2007-08-21T15:29:00.001+04:00

Going Back...

2007-08-21T15:02:00.000+04:00

When you had just spent precious vacation time with your family, it becomes really very hard to go back to a place very far away from them again, and continue doing your job...

Well, I guess that's a dilemma that is not exclusive for me and Alice, but happens to each and every ofw there is in all parts of the globe. We know that after sometime, we have to go back to our respective jobs sooner or later, but the hangover that is the product of spending qaulity time with your kids just won't go away. Sometime we really had to kick ourselves literally to get out of that sentimental stupor that we are currently in to keep ourselves from moving... and going back to our respective jobs.

Anyhow, I would say that the last several weeks had been a blast for me...especially the two weeks or so I spent with my kids frolicking in Singapore. It heartens me that even for that short span of time, I've given them laughter and joy by allowing them to discover new things from places in another country. Like a typical dad, I would say that my kids are the brightest... notwithstanding their respective honours from their levels, they are keen obervers of new things from the new environment they are in, and they are just willing to discover and explore this alien place that they were in for about two weeks...It was an enjoyable experience for them... it was an equally enjoyable experience for me and Alice...

Then, suddenly the time is up. We have to go back to our jobs once again. And once again, we part ways with the kids... that's the reality of our lives today, and for this we have to drag ourselves for sometime just to keep pace with this reality. What is it that motivates us each time we encounter this?

The thought that the next vacation that we'll spend with our precious ones will be better. For now, we continue hoping and dreaming...

Singapore Zoo and Night Safari

2007-08-21T14:52:00.001+04:00

Days of Our Lives

2007-08-21T13:47:00.000+04:00

Sometime in our lives there come moments that we treasure forever. One of those moments in my life came when my family spent last summer's vacation in Singapore...

Actually, the trip materialized when I was not able to go back home this summer. Having some projects and side works to do in Singapore, Alice and I decided to just bring the kids there for a two-week rest from school and explore what Singapore has to offer for them. It practically was shooting two birds in one stone - me, doing what I needed to do there, and the rest of my family spending vacation with me there also... it really was a win-win situation for us...

We arrived at the same day in Singapore, I came straight from the Gulf and Alice - with the kids in tow - from the Philippines. Our flights arrived only a few hours from each other.

As I mentioned before, one of Alice's brothers had been working for seven years already in Singapore. It made it easier for us to plan our stay there, knowing that we would not have problems with our accomodation while we are there. Indeed, it was a glorious event for the family - the kids had their first taste of going to another country and exploring new environments and a new culture, while Alice and I had the chance of being close to them again even for just a short time after almost 9 months of constantly missing their company. It was indeed the best days of the lives of each one of us in a long time...

While at it, we really made it a point to enjoy our time with each other and also maximized our stay in that fabulous country by discovering what Singapore has to offer. We visited Sentosa and explored its offerings such as the Underwater World, the Songs of the Sea, and much more; we trekked the famous Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park; we spent a day discovering what's inside the Singapore Science Center, including the Snow City - where the kids really had a fun time playing on the snow; we were everywhere... savoring the sceneries and experiencing the best times.

Of course, while in Singapore one has to visit and see some of its most popular and busiest streets and malls. Thus, the kids had a fun time walking along the Clarke and Boat Quay with their busy restaurants dotting the bay... the Orchard Road and the Lucky Plaza full of "kabayans" and other expats and tourists... the Bugis Street with its popular street market as well as the Sim Lim Square and Tower where Alice and I bought some new electronic gadgets... the Chinatown where we bought some "pasalubongs" and we ate some authentic chinese cuisine... the kids also had some good experiences walking along the Parliament Road, visiting the Suntec City and the world-famous Fountain of Wealth - arguably the biggest fountain in the world, looking at the "durian"-inspired architecture of the Esplanade, and spending some time looking at the Merlion and posing for some pictures.

Well, good things or good times, for that matter, never last... so they say. After 14 days, the kids need to go back and continue their studies once again. As I need to finish other things there, I wasn't able to go back with them to the Philippines. Parting ways with your loved ones is always painful, that's a fact. And so, even if it broke our hearts to know that we'll be apart once more, I bid the kids goodbye after two weeks of spending the best times of my life with them. At least in our case, we are looking forward to a better times - and a better vacation - next year.

Hello River, Rain and Ash... daddy loves you very much!

Photos with Friends...

2007-07-03T10:19:00.001+04:00

Dining Outside

2007-07-03T08:39:00.000+04:00

We had the chance to go out and have our dinner outside last night. Actually, we (Alice and I) usually do it with our friends every Wednesday evening in a small restaurant called "Blue Dragon" at the city center. We call that activity the "Wednesday Club's" weekly get-together. However, last night was a little bit different since it was only me, Alice, and one of our friends - Marilyn - that went for dinner. We had our dinner in a Turkish restaurant, I would say the most popular waterloo for young people and expats in this place. The dining-out happened because two of our friends from the business department needed to go back to the office during night time for their going-home get-together. Since there's nothing to do anyway, Alice suggested we go with them and get off at the Turkish restaurant and wait for them there until they go back to our flats again...

Anyways, the dine-out was nice. The food at Al-Masharef, as always, was superb. We ordered the "famous" grilled chicken with their specialty hommus on the side, and it was worth every second we stayed there waiting for our friends. We had a very nice dinner, talking about what we'll do in the Philippines when we get back for vacation, as well as other not so important things... the things you normally talk about when passing away time and you don't want to read a book. After "globbing" all the chicken, we drank the equally-superb cocktail juice to at least take out some of the heat you normally feel at this side of the world in summer (even during at night!). Come to think of it, it was already 9:30 in the evening and it's like it's 12noon back in the Philippines. Anyway, the heat this evening didn't do any harm with our festive mood as we drank our cocktails last night. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're going back home in a couple of days... also, it may be the fact that all work in the office are finished now and there's nothing to do but relax... either way, the feeling was very good indeed :-)

Well, after staying there for about two hours or so, our friends, and for that matter, our transport, finally arrived. We have to go back to the flat once more. Even then, for about two hours last night, we felt how good it is to be working in this region.

Vacation

2007-07-01T09:41:00.000+04:00

It's three days before the summer break. Everybody is starting to pack his/her things for the upcoming vacation. It's the good times once again.

For me and Alice, it will be more sweet since we'll see our kids again. After 10 months of just talking to them over the phone and sending text messages, we'll see each other again - the family will be complete once more. Rain had been counting the days since last week. She always sends text messages, always telling us that there are a few days left before they go to the airport to see us. She even said it's okay to be absent in school for one day when they go to the airport to fetch us. Whenever we read those messages of her, we always have an overwhelming feeling engulfing us.

Anyways, vacation is the time to unwind... it is the time to relax. That's why we intend to do just that. Since the kids were not able to come to our place because of some problems in document processing and then due to school commitments, we promised them we'll spend the vacation in Singapore. Alice's brother Edu had been living there for more than five years already, and thus, it will be easy for us to stay there for a while. The place is also good for the children to relax and unwind also. I think it will be a good place for renewed bonding for the family.

Well, vacation is just three days away. Hope everything will be fine...

Cyclone

2007-06-12T10:08:00.000+04:00

A FEW days ago, we experienced a powerful cyclone here in the region. It was really devastating. It's not that we're not familiar with nature's wrath as this - living in the Philippines will make you ready for very strong typhoons and storms - but still, pictures shown on the TV surprised us. The cyclone, they say, was the strongest ever to hit the region in more than 30 years. As we have seen from the damages it left to the coastal areas of Oman, the UAE, and Iran, it really was very very strong.

It was a good thing we're living in a region far from where the typhoon struck. We just experienced a little rain, with a little above normal winds during the two days that the storm lashed out in the coastal areas. We were fortunate indeed, that we were spared from the wrath of that powerful storm.

I almost forgot that June 6 was the day the kids start going to school again. Well, it was the day the cyclone unleashed its power in the region. It was during the latter part of the day that I remembered, and thus, I asked how the school went through a text message. Well, the kids said, everything went fine. River and Rain are attending school from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, while Ash, being still at the prep school, is only having a schedule of two hours - from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. The kids are enthusiastic. After two months of vacation, they will see their friends in the school and meet their teachers once again. Their mom is equally enthusiastic, asking the kids who their teachers are, as well as their advisors. (She is preparing for early gifts, maybe :D )

In three to four weeks time, we'll have our vacation and we'll see them once again. Can't wait for that to happen...

Poison

2007-05-21T09:09:00.000+04:00

Alice and I did not get a good night sleep yesterday because of the news that our two boys were rushed to the hospital late last night. The culprit, food poisoning. Yesterday was the 25th wedding anniversary of Kuya Pepe and Ate Thelma. Kuya Pepe is one of Alice's brothers, and is the third in her family. For their 25th anniversary, they decided they will renew their vows and wed again (we're hoping we could do that also). Anyways, my mother, who attended the occasion, said it was a very successful activity and everybody (re: Alice's clan) was there. From our family, my three children -River, Rain, and Ash, my parents, and my sister Marian and her family attended the occasion. Everybody had a good time they said, especially the kids who ate lots of food. They went home at around 7:30 in the evening tired but happy.

And so we thought that the occasion was successful indeed.

At around 8:30 pm local time (12:30 am in the Philippines), while watching TV, I received a text message from dad asking me to call him quickly for an urgent development. Before I could call, my brother-in-law Bryan called me to tell the news that River is in the hospital, and they are about to bring Ash too due to continuous vomitting. I also learned that my mother, my other brother-in-law, Elmer, and his two sons are already there for the same reason. Both I and Alice started to get scared.

We decided to call Alice's family to check further. There, they narrated that some of the family's members are also already in the hospital suffering the same sickness. They were food poisoned.

Talking to my father later gave us some sense of relief. He intimated that River, Ash, my mother and the others, although still vomitting from time to time, are all already stable and are recuperating from the ordeal. He told us not to worry too much anymore, even joking that it's a good thing he and my sister Marian were spared so that they can take care of the others. He said that we don't have to worry about our little girl, Rain, since she was not affected also and is currently sleeping soundly at home.

Though the situation had already become somewhat stable, we still had apprehensions which resulted in not able to sleep comfortably the whole night. Very early this morning, my mother called to say they are well and resting. I called River to check on his condition and he said he feels fine already, and had taken his breakfast. Ash is still asleep when I called so I did not bother waking him up. It will be better for him to rest. I called home, and my little girl answered the phone. The first thing she said to me was "I did not vomit last night, daddy". It was comforting. I asked her if she feels anything different or funny, and she said she's fine. It gave her mother a big sense of relief.

Alice and I got scared big time last night. Thank God everything is better now.

Ash

2007-05-01T07:20:00.000+04:00

ASH, our youngest kid, turned five years old today. We initially sent him a text message during the early morning hours to greet him happy birthday, then his Mommy called him on the phone afterwards to talk to him for a while, asking what he would want to be prepared for his birthday party later in the day. He's a little shy at first, but eventually said he would like spaghetti, and the usual barbecued hotdogs... well, his 'Mima' (my mother) would probably add one or two more chicken or pork dishes to that... his brother and sister, as well as his cousins will have a grand time later today for that.

Anyways, it is usually with mixed emotions that Alice and I greet each birthday in the family these days. It is obvious due to the fact that we are far away, but even though, it is still quite overwhelming everytime you get the emotion on a particular day... well, I guess that's how it will be for both of us for sometime...

Going back to Ash, he is basically a 'Mommy's Boy'. That's mainly because he is the youngest of the three, and partly because mothers are usually the ones always interacting with growing up toddlers. That is not to say I am not interacting with him whatsoever - we also have our good times together, although sometimes we also didn't get along too well because of his tantrums (well, what can you expect from a 4-year old)... anyhow, I admire my little boy because eventhough he had grown up mainly with the company of his 'yaya', he always has that fondness for both Alice and me, and he always has that 'fresh', friendly, and humorous nature even at a very young age... I guess he will grow up to be the 'joker' of the family.

When Ash was three, Alice went to Sydney. After a short while, I followed her there and thus, Ash was left with his 'yaya' in most of his third year as a child... After going back from Sydney, we spent only a few months back home and then flew again, this time to the Gulf. Again Ash was left 'alone' for the most part of his fourth year as a growing boy. I know it doesn't have to be like that for him, but circumstances made it so, and thus, all of us - and I think most especially him - have been doing sacrifices for the family. I always dream of the time that Ash, and also his two other siblings, River and Rain, will be here with us... maybe when that time comes, we can make up for all those wasted times we spent far away from each other... we really 'owed' much from our kids, and thus hoping and wishing hard we could make up for these soon...

In the meantime, we'll just say -

Happy Birthday, Ash... from Daddy and Mommy

Some Photos...

2007-04-30T09:19:00.001+04:00

Birthday Party

2007-04-30T07:55:00.000+04:00

I FINALLY HAD the chance to celebrate my 38th birthday last Thursday. Close friends were there, most notably those working in the same company as me. Alice and I had initially planned to prepare beef and chicken dishes, but unfortunately, the beef was not available that time, and so we were left preparing chicken dishes only. We were able to complete all the ingredients by 9:30 in the morning of Thursday, and we were on track to cooking all the planned recipes before 10:00. After an approximate 1 and 1/2 hours in the kitchen, we were able to complete the dishes - mixed pancit (bihon/canton), tinola, and chicken fritada - it wasn't much, but from the way the guests devoured the food, I guess we had done it well. :D

Anyways, the day also served as kind of 'bonding' day for everyone as well... most of them stayed until late in the evening just plain talking about all the things at work and in the Gulf... in the afternoon, I decided to quickly bake Alice's favorite - the Peach Pie. The guys loved it as well, giving more 'compliments' to the crust. Well, that's not bad for a budding baker :D

The get-together ended at about a little before 9:00, the guys, probably already feeling tired for almost a whole day staying at the flat, decided they have to go to their own accomodations and have a rest.

The day was both exhilarating and fun... all the preparations were worth the memories gained to start another year for me...

Sound Trip

2007-04-25T11:06:00.000+04:00

AS I WAITED for Alice to finish her work last night, I decided to plug the Ipod's earphones to while away time. The airconditioner in the room had broken down the night before and the man I asked to fix it didn't come and so, with the summer heat slowly creeping in this side of the world, sleep is not yet possible at the time anyway, and a little "sound trip" is in the making for me... I haven't been able to listen to the songs I downloaded in my two-year old Ipod shuffle lately, and so spending some time listening to those old songs is an opportunity at the moment. Listening to music is totally relaxing. More than that, it allowed me to hear Filipino songs all over again...

Songs - and for that matter, music - really allows an individual to drift, that is, reminisce good moments and think of even better ones. Aside from getting the much needed relaxation, the "sound trip" I had last night even allowed me to "rewind" a little of my life for the two hours or so I listened to my Ipod. It allowed me to remember funny times with the family, and especially the kids, the good old times with friends and former colleagues, the usual things - small things - that make our lives meanigful and fun. While listening to the old songs in my Ipod last night, it seems like I'm in the Philippines again.

Music really gives harmony to our lives. I should bring that Ipod with me more often.

The Man in the Mirror

2007-04-23T07:39:00.000+04:00

I LOOK INTENTLY at the man in the mirror this morning and I saw quite a strange guy. His short, razed haircut has streaks of white here and there, most notably near the temples; his face is a little thinner and "fresher" than last year's; the stubbles in his chin are a little longer; the beer belly is still there, although now it is not really from the beer, but from eating too much 'biryani' rice, beef 'masala', and 'sarooq' lately; the guy has a darker complexion now which is primarily the fault of the scorching desert heat this time of summer... what I saw is a guy that surely looks a little bit stranger than last year... and it makes me wonder why, for the life of us, we always tend to examine ourselves like this when the day is our birthday...

When it's your birthday, everything - the past year, the years before, the "kodak" moments, both the important and not so important activities, life's successes, frustrations, happiness and disappointments - all of your life's memories and treasures, become an afterthought. Everything passes like a seamless, vivid movie in your mind... It is both amazing and funny how these memories come as flood of thoughts in that brief moment when you look at the mirror at the start of the day - the graduation from grade school, the high school gimmicks and the "barkada", the anxieties of going to the big city and into college, getting a degree, finding your dream job and raising a family. It is not about forcing yourself to think of these things... they just come like the sunlight opens up a new day to greet you on your birthday...

When it's your birthday, you tend to examine "transformations". In that brief moment of looking at the man in the mirror this morning, I saw transformations that happened to him all these years. From short pants, to "stretched" jeans, to "stone-washed" to cargo khakis; from blue jeans to chinos to slacks; from tees to shirts, to "barongs" - which incidentally is the most popular garment of those government salaried-employees - and back to shirts again - this time with ties. Birthdays are also about examining these transformations. Today, what I saw from the man in the mirror is the transformation of a skinny boy several decades ago - 38 years to be exact - to a shy teenager, to an active campus editor and student leader, to a dedicated and commited employee, to a father homesick about his kids. It's overwhelming how life sometimes makes a 180 degree turn and you start thinking about it on your birthday...

As I look at the man in the mirror, I started contemplating on life - its purpose... its priorities... its values. I learned not so long ago that these things drastically change... and these changes create an important turn in every man's life... Today, I ask the man in the mirror: "What should these changes now be?"... Again an avalanche of thoughts and memories engulfed him. Maybe it has something to do when a man nears his mid-life... right now, everything is taken as they come, sort of enjoying and savoring each moment given by the Creator... this may or may not change... I guess we just have to wait...

Looking at the man in the mirror this morning stirred within me an emotion that I don't usually feel... in one brief instant, it seems like everything froze and all my life flashed to me again... I've seen strange things looking at him today. Things really change a lot in a year... physical, emotional, spiritual... another year passed, and from the way I look at it, the man in the mirror is happy with the changes he had made and the strides he'd done in the past year. Life is about hope... and constantly wishing... when one nears mid-life and important things are happening in a fast pace, hoping becomes all the more important...for the man in the mirror, it is there where everything starts happening...and there's no better time to start hoping again and doing better still than today.

Postscript...

They said life begins at 40. I still have two more years to prepare for that life. In any case, these 38 years of 'pre-life' I'm having right now provide me with ample memories, lessons, and experiences to make that life one hell of a ride, and to make me look forward to it. This early, I'm bracing for it.

Road Test, Peach (without Mango) Pie and Baked Mac

2007-04-18T12:08:00.000+04:00

I took the third and final test towards getting my GCC driving license two days ago. Khalifa's car which we had been using in my lessons - one that is not that new - broke down a day before and so he had to bring a new one (borrowed from a friend) during the day of the test. I had initial apprehensions and thus, we decided that I should get familiarised first with the new car. We practised for two hours before waiting for the examiner. I finished familiarising with the new car at about a quarter past nine and got to be tested around 15 minutes before noon. It was a worthwhile wait because I passed the last test, the police examiner even entering into a jovial conversation with me and Khalifa. At last, after a little over a month of practice and a total of 23 hours spent in Khalifa's car, I finally get to have my driving license in this region. A very good thing about securing a driver's license here is that you get to use it in all member gulf states, so no more worrying about getting another one in case you move to another place for work. A fantastic experience indeed!

Yesterday, Alice asked that we cook something in celebration of my passing the test a day before. After rummaging through stocks and the fridge, we decided that I cook our fast becoming favorite dessert - the Peach Pie - as well as our own version of the Baked Mac. A very good thing about being here is that I could practice and experiment on my cooking. During our several months of stay, I had learned - even perfected some - dishes that are fast becoming our favorites. Of course this is really good... the only downside being Alice again starting to worry about some "excess fats" :D

Anyways, an hour and a half later, the pie and the baked mac are there, ready for consumption. We had some sort of a little feast, savoring the food and enjoying one lovely moment being husband and wife. While eating, a message (through SMS) arrived from our little girl Rain, asking how we are doing, and it made the moment even sweeter.

Times like these - which we tend not to give much importance - are the ones that really keep us going through life... well, at least, that's what I believe in... don't you think so?

Paper Presentation and Barbecue Party

2007-04-10T07:42:00.000+04:00

Yesterday, I presented a paper on the research Alice and I had been working on these past couple of years. It was about a learning model - blended learning we call it, which is a fusion of the traditional face-to-face classroom and e-learning. I am not new to presenting papers, having presented some previous works in both local and national conferences and symposia back in the Philippines, but it was my first time to present a paper to an international audience and the first time also to do it outside of my country. The feeling is really overwhelming, I would say. There is a combination of tension, apprehension, and excitement... and it was fantastic! Anyways, everything ended up well with the presentation, some of my colleagues and other guests as well commending me with it... job well done, I suppose :-)

...The organisers provided a barbecue party for all the participants to the symposium last night. The food was great, especially the salads... we had been treated to a well-deserved feast, and we made it sure that everybody enjoyed the food. It was really an opportune time to meet new friends in the profession, make friends with other Filipinos from other areas in the same profession as Alice and I are in, and just plain enjoy the day... I guess sometimes we need these moments to refresh and expand our craft as well.

Today, I still have another job - to facilitate/moderate one of the presentations for the day. Hoping this will be another productive and fruitful day.

Easter

2007-04-08T07:29:00.000+04:00

It is Easter Sunday today, one of the two Christmases celebrated in the Christian world, and the holiest celebration of the Christian faith. It is a time of renewed faith and a time of hope... it is the time when Christians all over the world celebrate the resurrection - the coming to life again - of the Christ Jesus... it is one of the most important mysteries of the Christian faith... and life really is about faith... and hope, too... as the old cliche goes, successes make us celebrate life, failures make us humble... hope and faith keep us going... it is true.

This day, the family - our extended family - is celebrating Easter with a swimming party. It is an activity to celebrate the blessings our creator has been constantly showering us. And it is also a celebration of our kids' graduation (Rain) and birthdays (River and Ash). They will be accompanied by our parents, brothers and sisters, and their cousins. It will definitely be a memorable day for everyone... it will be a time for renewed bonding... a time when everyone becomes closer to one another... afterall, that's what families are for... for Alice and me, we'll just watch from the sidelines - through text messages and photos they will send us through email later... that will also be worthwhile for us...

Happy Easter! Keep the faith...

Graduation, mobile phones and Internet

2007-04-04T07:43:00.000+04:00

Rain, the second of our children and our only daughter, graduated in Senior Casa (Kinder 2) two days ago. Even though both I and Alice are far away, we monitored the ceremonies from my mother through mobile phones (communication really is very fast and important these days). My mother continuously updated us with what activities are being done and what they have been doing throughout the ceremonies. After the ceremonies were finished, my brother-in-law uploaded all the pictures to the web through email and we were able to see all the pictures of our child in her graduation dress just minutes after the activities are over. It was as if the two of us had been there too...

Of course, there is no substitute for witnessing first hand activities such as this. But if circumstances do not permit, such as when you're working in a faraway land and cannot just go back immediately, the power of the Internet and the mobile phone just become very very indispensable... I would say technology nowadays is really an ample substitute for the real thing in some very important circumstances... it's really satisfying to have these technologies... and at least know what's happening with your child at some very important scenarios (such as graduation), I can assure you.

Anyways, when we talk to Rain (again, using a mobile phone) that night, she was very happy and she went on telling her mom many stories just as any little girl would after a very happy day... we were equally elated. To top it off, both of our sons added more good news - they are both second honours in their respective levels, just like Rain...

What more can we ask for? The kids are happy, the technology is there, everything's fine... life is good, really.

Lent

2007-04-02T07:24:00.000+04:00

Today is Holy Monday... the start of one of the most holy activities of the Christian world - the Lent. Actually, the Lenten season started way back several weeks ago when Ash Wednesday was celebrated. It was supposed to be the starting point when Christians examine themselves once again, going back to their faith, and understanding that they should be cleansed and be renewed... "for thou art dust, and unto dust thou shall come back..."

In this region, the celebration of this season is very much different from the way it is celebrated back home. Being predominantly Muslim, the place has different activities and different priorities... at least, it is good to see that the minority Christian population still finds time celebrating Lent in the Gulf. Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from a friend who is active in church services. She told me if I can participate in the celebration of Lent by reading some passages from the Seven Last Words in their church. I said yes. It is an opportunity to do some indulgences for the Lord. I know that eventually, what will count is everyone's personal relationship with his creator, no matter what his faith is, or his religion may be. However, taking an active part in the church when you are a Roman Catholic will not do any harm... it will actually do more good for one's relationship with his God...

So, this coming Good Friday, Alice and I, and probably some of our closest friends, will celebrate some important moments in the Church... we don't know if we could come back for the most important celebration of the Easter Sunday, the day being a regular working day in this area, and the church being almost 200km away... nevertheless, we know that by being there on Good Friday, our Lord knows that we are not forgetting him... and I know that he knows we are one of his children too...

River

2007-04-01T08:55:00.000+04:00

It's River's birthday today. He's 10 years old this year. As they say, time really flies so fast... I can still remember when River is still a baby and our sole child... Alice and I usually bring him to various activities in the University and our colleagues are just too happy to see him and play with him... Now, River is already in Casa Level 4. He is currently the silver medalist (second honours) in his batch and is slowly getting the momentum to be active in many extra curricular activities. Just several weeks ago, he participated as a member of the school team in the division math quiz... prior to that, he participated in the district spelling and another competition I cannot recall right now...

I would say that River had grown up to be a disciplined child. He may not have the sense of responsibility right now, as any child would in his age, but he has the sense to follow what he's told to do and at least help in some simple household chores from time to time... he makes it a point to do his homeworks by himself (although he usually asks for the help of his mom for some more 'difficult' activities like doing projects and the like). Just like any other child, River is very fond of his yaya, whom he always asks for all the things a normal child would...

Of all the traits of River, the one thing we like most is his habit of reading... he spends most of his time reading - books and magazines, and whatever he likes... He even has a habit of reading some passages from his favorite books before going to sleep. He really likes reading a lot, that when asked what gift he should get - during Christmas or birthdays - he most often than not asks for books. When I go to a bookstore and he's with me, he would always ask me to buy him either a magazine or a book...

River is also, at a young age, a techie... he started using the computer at age 3... learned how to operate it by himself at age 4... and right now, ordinarily use the computer - the Web and the Internet included - in his homeworks, reasearch, and even for emailing and chatting... he doesn't like the mobile phone very much, my daughter Rain being more fond of that gadget than him, but he likes to play all sorts of electronic games there is, from PC games to XBox to gameboy games... he likes everything - from popular arcade games such as text twist to counter strike to world of warcraft, he likes them... most of all, he likes XBox's Halo...

River, just like my two other kids, is a gift for me and Alice... he is a source of our joy and one of our reasons for living (the other two being our two other kids Rain and Ash). He may have some of the mood swings of a typical child, but most of the time he's a kid trying to impress his parents and trying that his parents will be proud of him... we are proud of him... he has done many things to impress us... above all else, whatever he may do, we love him... he is one of our heroes...

Happy Birthday!

Kids, Part 2

2007-03-29T10:52:00.000+04:00

My daughter, the second of three siblings who is six years old, will graduate in Kinder 2 next week. She sent me a text message yesterday telling me and her mom that she is the third in the honours list. Of course we were elated. We already know that she will be in the honours list, but getting the message personally from her is another thing. Coupled this with the other fact that her elder brother - our eldest - is currently also the third in his batch's honours list (in Casa Level 4) and the news becomes even much sweeter.

But that is not the whole point of this story. What really knocked us down is my daughter's second text message: she and her 'kuya' wants to have a swimming party. Well, what can we say... the least we can do is grant their request. At least, it will be three celebrations in one party: the graduation, my eldest son's birthday on April 1, and all of them being in the honours list... I was not able to tell, by the way, that my youngest son is also in the top ten in his class.

It reminded me also of another thing... that it is already summer. In the Philippines, it is again the time when everybody goes to the beach and spend some funny and memorable moments there... in the Gulf, well, it's summer most of time... I remember our usual activities during summer: spending a day or two in Puerto Galera, frolicking on the beach and just having some quality time with the kids... it will be a different summer this year with both of us far away from them... but then, if you will think of it, there are still other family members that can celebrate with them... I guess the swimming party that my daughter wants will also be some sort of a reunion - bonding time - for both my family and the family of my wife, since they are the ones to accompany our children to that party...

For both of us, well, I guess we'll just wait for their pictures in email...

Driving Lessons

2007-03-21T07:33:00.000+04:00

I passed my first two tests towards getting a GCC driving license three days ago. The tests were about backing up the car - using reverse, that is - and trying to maneuver it on several drums. I also did the slope test - one in which you first will be kept hanging on a slope and check whether you will not back an inch when you start climbing the slope again. It was fun, and even though sad to say, a very different way to get a license from what I experienced in the Philippines. Before the tests, I was doing some practice lessons for the past 1 and 1/2 weeks. I had been driving for the last 16 or 17 years or so already, but my friends here told me that it will be better for me to have some refreshers before going to the actual tests. My trainor, a local man named Khalifa, is a very good tutor and a funny man as well. I had spent some quality hours with him familiarising road and traffic rules as well as the important drum and slope techniques. Well, what can I say? The man really helped and it showed by my passing the first two tests...

Right now, I am still doing some practice lessons with Khalifa. We are now roaming around three times a week for one hour each, Khalifa teaching me all the right parking spaces, one way streets, entrance and exit roads... it will be necessary for the last and the most important test - the road test. Hopefully in the next two weeks I could take that test and pass it as well... and then finally get my GCC driving license.

Alice

2007-03-06T07:26:00.000+04:00

Alice is a better half... we began our journey together some fourteen years ago, and throughout that journey, Alice had been a guiding light and a source of strength, especially during trying times... husbands and wives normally experience bumps in their relationships, and with Alice, these bumps haven't been difficult to overcome... I would say that our relationship is excellent, not perfect because there is no such thing as a perfect relationship, but one that you can be proud of... I am proud that all throughout the journey, Alice had been there... I am equally thankful that I have chosen her to be my partner throughout these years...

Alice is a proud mother... and a very good one, too... through the years, we had produced three bright and vibrant kids - all are currently in the honours list. I have seen how Alice nurtured and protected them... and developed them to be very good children and students... I remember the days when I wake up at night and she's still up doing reviewers in school for the kids... I also remember her enthusiasm and commitment to bring the kids outside: walking and playing in the malls, eating in restaurants, visiting parks, during weekends and whenever we have some free time from work... she loves our children very much, but she also makes it sure that they will grow up respectful and disciplined... I don't think there could ever be a better "Mommy" than her.

Alice is the perfect working Mom... notwithstanding her job as a wife and mother, Alice had been a dedicated teacher and an IT professional all these years... she is also a continuous learner, taking masters degrees in IT and e-Learning and is planning to pursue a doctorate degree... Alice is so committed with her craft that sometimes, she stays up very late just to make sure everything will be perfect - her lessons, her course materials, everything. And I admire her for that... there are only a handful of people that can combine perfectly being a mother and being a working woman and Alice is one of them... I have seen her do it when we are still in the Philippines caring for our kids (the situation now is different)... and I am sure she can easily do it when that time comes again...

Alice is a friend... I always think of the reason why our relationship and our family had been this great through these years... and I found out it is because of her - she had been our mediator, our guide, our tutor... she had been the one that bridges the gap when our kids have their differences and also when I quarrel with them (sometimes) ... she had been the 'glue' that is making our family stick throughout this journey... and she is doing it by being a friend to all of us, by always communicating with us and making sure the family members understand each other... Alice is our best friend...

I would say that my (and my kids') journey with this great, beautiful person had just started... and we're very thankful that she's with us in a greater journey called life... there will be more interesting scenarios that will come ahead of us... there might probably be one or two hitches and bumps along the road... but for sure, my kids and I are assured of memorable experiences and the best days of our family life with her...

Happy Birthday!

Valentine's Day...

2007-02-14T08:01:00.000+04:00

When I checked my emails this morning, I found few messages from friends greeting me happy valentine. I remember it is Valentine's Day today, the day when you are supposed to give kindness - if not love - to your friends and colleagues... even your neighbors... and everybody that you see on the streets. It reminded me to at least give something to my wife or maybe cook her one of her favorite dishes. You see, I believe that Valentine's Day is important even just for the sake of celebrating it, for it means that even for a day, people in this earth would think of kindness and compassion, friendship and love. We are beset with problems, violence here and there... pain and suffering... it is good to think that aside from Christmas, there is Valentine's Day where we could show to one another our humane nature... our empathy... our human spirit.

When you are in a foreign land, you tend to appreciate all these little things. It is good for me because I tend to be more sensitive on trivial matters and I get to appreciate everything life is giving me. Like the other important dates that came, this Valentine's Day is another reason to share my life's blessings to my friends, colleagues, and especially my family. It is another opportunity to give thanks to life's treasures - friends, colleagues, and family. It is a time to share my inner peace with those very dear to me - my kids and my wife. I guess I'll just send a text message or call my kids, they're very far from me right now... and I think they will understand. As for my wife, I have to think of something nice for us to celebrate Valentine before the day is over :)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Cooking

2007-02-13T07:35:00.000+04:00

I love cooking. You may not believe it, but in our home, it is I who cook the food. Well, I wouldn't say my wife is a bad cook, in fact she cooks wonderful dishes, it's just that because I love cooking more, it had been that way for quite a while now in the house - I am cooking and she takes care of washing the dishes afterwards. I especially like to cook variants of stir fry, as well as vegetables with lots of soup - the kind that most pinoys prefer. Well, at least back in the Philippines, we like our food swimming in soup :D ... I think most husbands are like that especially those who also cook like me...

Anyway, I cooked a variant of stir fried the other night... one with a mix of chicken and beef strips with lots of broccoli, carrots, and string beans... my wife said it's wonderful (at least, she always appreciates the result :D). I put in there quite an amount of chopped ginger... I love the aroma of ginger in food while being cooked...and of course, the popular Mama Sita's oyster sauce... I would say that the dish was really good! One thing good about stir fried food is that it is very easy to prepare. You just prepare all the ingredients, make sure that the meat is quite tender and fried rarely, and then just mix all the vegetables to the meat and 'stir' them... the final taste will depend on you, so you can add other spices and ingredients as you like.

When our work ends at the early afternoon everyday, and we arrive at the flat, my usual routine is to check the fridge and look for ingredients for the meal to be prepared for dinner. Sometimes, we go out and buy some things that we need to prepare the meal at the small shops nearby. More often, everything is there. After some preparations, I'll start cooking the meal for dinner while my wife stretches either in the sala or in the bedroom. After the meal is finished, we eat while watching TV and talking about the happenings of the day.

Life is wonderful.

Expanding Horizons

2007-02-04T08:40:00.000+04:00

Last week, Alice and I got the chance to attend a 4-day seminar on e-learning... it was sort of an achievement for us, having been recommended to attend that seminar from among all the staff of the institution... the seminar was very informative, and new methods and techniques with regards the use of LMS (in this case, Moodle) in making the learning experience of the students more interesting were provided to us... e-learning, I believe, is very important in the current education setup. In this age of information technology, where students have an abundance of information within their reach, it is but fitting to explore on new strategies, and new ideas to make learning more interesting, fun and interactive for them... We are in an age where adults are usually beaten by kids in the 'technology track', and henceforth we have to adapt to the new forms of learning pedagogies as well...

Anyways, as I said, the time spent in the said seminar was worth it... it was kind of costly for us, I may say :-( having spent for transport and meals and other relative expenses during the seminar, but the experience gained and the knowledge acquired is more than worth the amount spent during the 4-day activity... we also managed to have a little bit of renewed bonding with our friends in the area where we stayed during the 4-day seminar... indeed, we are really very lucky that it happened for the both of us... as it is, the institution is planning for an echo seminar, and we are really enthusiastic to share what we have learned with our colleagues... it should really be inherent for the educator of today to be familiarised with these technologies... uploading lecture materials...doing quizzes online... including online interactive activities to form knowledge bases.. etc. I believe that this is the right step in educating the students of today...

I'll tell you more of these next time :-)

Weekends...

2007-01-25T10:45:00.000+04:00

When you're in the Gulf, the experience is both interesting and boring. What I mean is, you know, there are times - weekends especially - when you don't have anything to do and you just tend to roam around (if you have the money) or just stay at home (if mafi fuluz :D) ... anyway, our place is a nice one, I can say... not very cosmopolitan like dubai, but still has the amenities for you to feel like you're in a developed world, at least. One thing I like about the place is the people... very nice and accomodating... and the environment as well... peaceful... provincial I would say, but excellent for me anyway...

On weekends, Alice and I just tend to while away time browsing the net and doing our walking exercises... sometimes, we go to places we haven't visited yet, taking in the sceneries and the unique culture of this equally unique region... it's an interesting experience even to just walk outside, visiting small local shops and souqs... and of course, meeting the people and making friends with them... sometimes, it's really a nice experience working in a foreign land... at least, it expands your horizons and make you understand the world better...

This weekend is one of those weekends when, after our morning walk, we went to the city center and logged to the web... but it is also important because aside from that, we also mailed a letter that will be included in the processing of our kids' documents so that they can be here with us... weekends are also the time to talk and chat with our children... that is, first and foremost, the important thing we do during these two days of respite from work... in the Gulf during weekends, speaking with your loved ones at home really refreshes the body - both physically and emotionally.

Weekends are really very special... especially for us in the Gulf.

Going Outdoors

2007-01-22T10:34:00.000+04:00

Sometimes you just want to go out and have some fun... :D