afterthought

Performance review done.

Lots more stuff to do.

Yawn!

sudden onslaught of exhaustion

All of a sudden, I am tired.

I just ate my dinner, went back to the office, and tried to work a bit. Suddenly, I felt it. Extreme sleepiness. Tiredness? Exhaustion? Maybe I should have just gone to SanLo and played frisbee with friends. But right now, I want to sleep. I can't go home yet, I'm waiting for my boss to come back and give me my performance review. Hmm...maybe I should just tell him that we should reschedule it for tomorrow...

I'm tired, which is weird since I haven't really done anything tiring today. Maybe I just exhausted all the energy reserves I had.

I want to go home and sleep.

My cellphone is dead.

Plastic Virgins 2005

Towee explaining something

First impression: ang ganda ng track oval ng IS Manila. It was bright red and rubberized. Parang...parang...parang kawawa naman ang track oval ng iskul namin pag pinagtabi sa kanya...

Second impression: ang init ng araw! 9AM ang meeting time namin. Maglalaro kami ng frisbee sa ganitong kainit na araw!? Naisipan namin ni Beng na mag-arm-warmer, pero walang nag-a-arm warmer eh. Nahiya naman kami. Kaya todo-lagay na lang ng sunblock.

Third impression: ang ganda ng CR ng IS Manila! May 4 na shower stalls sa CR nila, at may hot and cold water pa. Ang ganda! Hay....sarap mag shower pagkatapos ng laro.

Overall impression: It was a very fun day. The tournament was called "Plastic Virgins", because it was a frisbee tournament for beginners. A "virgin plastic", they explain, is a disc that has never been used. Thus the name. There were around six teams in the tourney, and each game lasted about 40 minutes. Our last game was played barefoot in the grass, and as usual, the whole event was exhausting, draining, and fun.

Daguldol, Part 3

Re-experiencing the mountain: Daguldol Part 3

Bilaran ng Limatik: view from the open rock face. Fantastic 360-degree view. If you fall from here, you're dead. =p
View from one of the first rest stops along the trail.	The Bench. The bench at Campsite 1.
Refreshing scenery After the hike, the view relaxes you. From the bench @Campsite 1, you can see Maculot, Banahaw, Malipuno from the distance.	The Pier at sunset. Sitio Biga, Barangay Hugom, San Juan, Batangas

Age is just a number

Ha! May sagot na ako sa mga nanunukso sa akin:

You Are 22 Years Old

22 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

From www.blogthings.com

Sunrise

The dusk is wonderful, the orange mixing with the dark, till finally, the white light shines through and overwhelms everything. But before everything else, the silence over Manila Bay is golden. The sun is a very round orange orb, its reflection shimmering in the very tranquil waters. Yachts float on the bay, and the cool gray sky colors everything else. The perfect photo.

The orange glow is beautiful, but I have given up trying to catch it. Photography may be the second most popular hobby in the world, but the serenity gleaned from experiencing a view is worth more than the actual photograph.

Lost

I am a bit lost.

I took up a photography class, because a friend of mine, F, was very much interested in photography and had just bought a brand new digital SLR. He was really excited to be in this class, and when he asked me if I was interested, I thought, why not? I wanted to know more about photography too! :)

The first day of class was on Valentine's day. I came in late, and my friend F. told me that he was going to be late because of work. Okay. Eventually, he wasn't able to attend the first day, but that was okay. I gave him the lecture notes, and he told me that he would try to make it on Wednesday. I guess that should have given me an inkling of something. "try" is the keyword. Well, I couldn't really blame him, I mean, I still went through with attending the class, and he had all the right not to attend the class. But still, I felt lost. In a classroom where everyone was shooting pictures with their SLR camera, there I was, trying to tinker with a point-and-shoot digicam. I was totally in way over my head, and though the class was really very interesting and highly recommended, I had difficulty trying to achieve the same photographic effects as everyone else in class.

After last Friday's session, I was finally able to borrow another friend's SLR camera. I had a bit of difficulty loading the film though, and even though I bought the SLR to Manabo where we had a hiking trip, I was unable to take pictures because of the foggy weather. So there I was last Monday, with crappy photos to submit as assignment. As the teacher was critiquing my photos, he put his head in his hands, and seemed to be developing a great big headache. Ha, I know the feeling.

Anyway, tomorrow is our last day in class, and I still feel as if I am in way over my head. We have an assigment for tomorrow, which I haven't done yet. Well, tomorrow is another day to shoot some crappy photos.

---===ooo===---
Play of the week: The Blue Room, a play in ten intimate acts. This was the play in which Nicole Kidman starred in and bared her butt. New Voice Company is presenting it at the Republic of Malate, but only for two weeks (Feb 25, 26, March 4 and 5).

Manabo Peak

Last time we went there, it was 2003, and there were 3 crosses at the summit. Barkada outing lang.



This time, it's 2005, and we are climbing up Mt. Manabo as part of our org's scheduled climbs for new initiates. This is the 1st climb scheduled for the year. Curiously, there's now only 1 cross at the summit. It was extremely foggy, the vaunted 360 degree scenic view was virtually invisible, and the place was swarming with kuligligs. At the summit, it was quite difficult to open your mouth to yawn, since bugs were flying around everywhere. Hmm...not a very encouraging view for first-timers. :(

Good thing the insects were only flying around at the summit itself. At the campsite, and all throughout our climb, it was raining a bit and the weather was cool. At least, the initiates didn't have to contend with hot weather that day, although because of the fog, they weren't able to see much of the scenic view. We held the BMC (Basic Mountaineering Course) sessions under a tarp while the rain poured. We were cold and wet, but everyone still was game enough to participate in the BMC sessions.

Personal kuwento: May nag-advance party sa amin, at 3 silang tinira ang isang bote ng tequila. Aba, sosyal sila ha, tequila pa. Nung kami na, vodka at gin ang tagay. Naging tanggero na naman si Jeff, at tinagayan ng tinagayan ang sarili nya. Ayun, nasuka sa tent, at di na makakain ng breakfast kinabukasan sa sama ng pakiramdam.

On the morning of our second day, the view finally cleared. The fog gave way to a view of Maculot, Malipuno, Banahaw and Cristobal. Everyone happily snapped pictures.

There were a lot of campers that weekend. At night, during the socials, each group was having its own drinking and bonding sessions. There was even another group who got into a fun mud wrestling session, simply because they were bored and had nothing else to do.

All in all, it was a fun, albeit cold and wet, climb.

Manabo Peak is one of the numerous peaks of Mt. Malipuño. One can climb the peak in less than two hours. The campsite boasts of a 360 panoramic view of Makiling, Banahaw, Cristobal, Maculot, Taal, Mindoro, San Pablo City and Lipa City. Jump-off is at Barangay Sta. Cruz, Sto. Tomas, Batangas.



themesong of the moment: Michael V. in a bright yellow shirt, dancing and singing "J-O-Y, joy in my heart, deep deep down in my heart!"

Movie on my Mind

I laughed out loud when the results came in. Check this out:

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Well, I was thinking along the lines of classic movies like Singing in the Rain or something cheery like that. Hehe, I haven't even watched Apocalypse Now....wait, Laurence Fishburne was in that movie? And...is that Harrison Ford in the credits? Hmm...gotta try renting that some time.

When in doubt, just say no

It comes and it goes.

So maybe, i'm not really sure. Am I? Are these issues small matters that are overblown? Or important matters that are trivialized?

There are moments when I am not sure.

A Slice of My Morning

4:50 AM -- My cellphone's alarm clock woke me up. After stretching a little, I head on down to the kitchen, gulp down a glass of water, and head back to bed. "It's still too early", I say to myself. So I reset the alarm clock, and snuggle to bed.

5:15 AM -- I wake up again, look at the clock, and decide to get up. But I don't. Zzzz....

5:45 AM -- I wake up. Oh no, this time, I'm late. After a hurried rush of dressing up and preparing my stuff, I leave the house 15 minutes later.

6:20 AM -- I arrive at the parking lot of CCP near Figaro. No one's stretching or exercising. Bad sign. Nevertheless, I park the car, and head down to the dock/loading area/whatever. A boat just left, and another boat was loading. I was contemplating on what to do. Should I head home again?

"Taga La Salle ka ba?", one of the guys there asked me.

"Hindi. Uhm...umalis na ba yung pyros?", I ask.

"Oo, kaka-alis lang. Ayun o," he said, pointing to the boat that just left. Oh great, I think to myself.

"Kung gusto mo, sabay ka na lang sa la salle. Pasakay pa lang sila eh."

I hesitate a little, since I really didn't know anyone there. "Samahan kita," he said. Okay. So we went up to the boat that was just loading, and talked to the coach. I also talked to another member, who looked like she was the teacher of the group.

So I rode with the La Salle team this morning. Since the team was just new, they even had a picture-taking session, and guess what, syempre nasa picture ako kasi ako yung naka-upo sa unang unang row ng boat. Wow. Feeling undergrad ha. =p

7:20 AM -- We finish rowing. It was just light rowing, since everyone was a beginner. Especially me. Haha. We didn't get to meet the Pyros team though.

At the corner of Makati Ave. and Paseo de Roxas

I head on to Makati. Lots of stuff to do.

7:40 AM -- I park my car at the parking lot, and bemoan the parking fee I would have to pay later. I check my wallet. 100 pesos and several peso coins. Great.

7:45 AM -- Wearing t-shirt, shorts and slippers, I walk towards the gym in dela Costa Street. I feel slightly misplaced in the busy Makati streets. Everyone was in their office attire rushing to go to work. Meanwhile, there I was in my beach-y attire walking around Makati. I almost wanted to apologize for not being properly dressed! But nobody really noticed. :)

8:00 AM -- Arrive at the gym. Showered. Dressed up. Headed back to the office, feeling confident, since this time, I'm wearing the proper clothes. Ha! Duh...

Yun lang....

----ooo--- The End ---ooo----

Araw ng mga Puso

Kahapon ay araw ng mga puso. Valentine's Day.

Kahapon ay binigyan ako ng bulaklak ni Tenantz. Isang malaking himala ito. Bihira mangyari ito. At ang nakakatuwa pa dito, nung Huwebes pa raw niya ito binili, at tuwing niloloko ko sya kung bibigyan niya ako ng Valentine gift, e sabi nya, bakit daw sya magpapaloko sa isang overhyped na holiday? Which is wrong...kasi hindi naman holiday ang Valentine's.

So kahapon ay binigyan ako ng bulaklak. At kahapon din, nagpasabog ang Abu Sayyaf ng bomba sa Davao, sa Gen San, at sa Makati.

Pinasabog ang isang mall sa General Santos City, isang bus depot sa Davao, at isang bus sa Makati. Nakakagulat, nakakalungkot. Sa Makati ako nagta-trabaho. Marami akong kaibigan na nagta-trabaho sa Makati. Mga inosenteng tao, na wala naman galit sa mga Muslim at walang paki-alam sa Abu Sayyaf.

"The defenders of Islam have struck again," sabi ng Abu Sayyaf spokesman.

Nakakalungkot. Walang katapusan ang pag-aaway at paglalaban-laban alang-alang sa matinding paninindigan sa relihiyon. Sabi nga nila, pag relihiyon o pulitika ang pinagtalunan, wala nang katapusan yun. Wala nang solusyon, dahil lahat ng nakikipagtalo, tama.

"We will not stop until we get justice for the countless Muslim lives and properties that you people have destroyed." -- Abu Sayyaf

Nakakalungkot na sa araw ng mga puso, hindi pag-ibig ang umiral. Ang umiral ay kapootan at pagkamuhi.

---

My teammate Simon said it best in his blog: "Let us all remember that while violence begets violence, we all have the power to sever that gruesome chain."

Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

We were supposed to meet up at 4:30 AM, so we can catch the early morning balloon launch. But...well, I was late. Hehe. I think we left Munoz McDonald's around 6AM already. We reached the end of the North Luzon Expressway around 8AM, where in the distance, we saw some balloons flying out already.

Shocker Note: NLEX toll prices are way too much! Imagine, P163
from Manila to Dau! If the South Luzon Expressway was expensive, NLEX is now
much more expensive! And from Dau to Manila, the fee is P203! Tapos ang toll
para sa bus ay P480+! Pasensya na, ang daming exclamation point ha, pero ang
mahal! E dati mas mura yung NLEX sa SLEX!

Up, Up and Away!

The 9th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta was held at the OMNI Aviation Complex at Clark Field, Pampanga. This was a 3-day event, and we went there on the second day (Saturday). When we arrived at the venue, there were only a few hot air balloons launching/landing. This was almost 8:30 AM already. We had missed the Hot Air Balloon Flight (scheduled 5:30-7AM), and the first Sky Diving Exhibition. We did catch some of the Aircraft Flybys, where the plane does the loops and turns and dips that are frequently shown in the movies. There was even a helicopter fly by and exhibition, and the very *exciting-sounding* "Radio Control Aircraft Flying", which turned out to be an exhibition for remote-control tiny toy airplane models.

We also visited some of the exhibits there, and got excited about flying lessons -- a flying school was offering a weekend course on flying, for only 15,000 pesos! However, it turned out that the course only taught ground basics...you wouldn't really be able to fly a plane then. But for most of the morning, we got a bit bored and just sat by in the shade, waiting for the 2nd scheduled Sky Diving Exhibition of the day.

aircraft flyby	helicopter flyby	sleeping in the shade

Raining Men

Finally, the sky diving exhibition started. The sky-divers were tiny tiny specks in the sky, and while they were falling, I was half expecting them to hold hands and form a circle in mid-air, much like how they do it in the movies. They didn't, which was a bit of a letdown, considering how Hollywood movies have raised our expectations of what's exciting and what's not. But still, it's not every day that you see men falling down from the sky, right?

We left the OMNI field to eat lunch somewhere else. There were a lot of people waiting in line at Chow King. From 1PM to around 3PM, we shopped at a duty free shop in Clark, and passed the time by sleeping in the store's couches. It was a good thing Annette decided to buy some ice cream. We left the Puregold store and proceeded to a picnic place, and what better place to picnic than in the exclusive Fontana leisure resort! Hehe. It was also a good thing that May's family was a member of Fontana. We had a pretty fun picnic in the pretty park grounds, where we ate the yummy ice cream, and the Cheetos, Piknik, Green peas and Cheez Mania we bought. Around 5PM, we went back to the OMNI field, and caught the flight of the hot air balloons (scheduled 5:30-6PM). There were plenty of kites flying around. Too bad though that I missed the Hot Air Balloon Night Glow. We had to go back to Manila, because another friend was hosting a Chinese New Year dinner party. The others stayed on to catch the night-glow, while Tenantz, Beng, Cathy, Arlyn and I headed back to Manila.

More photos at http://pbase.com/xieurx/balloon

Missing People

I miss my friends. I haven't spent time with my college and high school friends in a long while. For some reason, I miss them. I want that girl time with them. :)

Come to think of it, it hasn't really been that long. Last time I saw them was last January. That was just a month ago. But it seems like such a long period of time since then. Maybe it's because I've been a bit busy, and time seems to pass so quickly.

My college buddies and I used to have a girl's night out every Valentine's day. Wala lang...medyo busy na rin kasi lahat ng tao eh, hirap mag-schedule ng gimik na pwede lahat. But to paraphrase what Forrest Gump's love interest said to Forrest Gump, "just because you're not with someone, it doesn't mean they're not there." (something like that). Just because we don't spend that much time together, it doesn't mean that the friendship we have for one another is gone. When push comes to shove, I know we'll come through for each other.

waiting for the sun to go down

The sun is down.

I guess that means I don't have to wait for anything. But here I am, in the office, waiting. And waiting. And I'm really sleepy and I want to lie down on my bed and sleep. I want to go home, lie down, and sleep. But I have to wait. I have to go to another place and meet with V to arrange some slides which I don't think we need to meet on.

Maaga pa ako bukas! Arrggh...sabi nya 90 minutes ago, 1 hour na lang e matatapos na sila...

Fine, maybe I should go ahead to Guadalupe and meet up with V, just so I can head home earlier. But I don't really want to go. And I don't know how to go there. And once I go there, I have nothing to contribute.

I don't know why they're really excited about this stuff. I mean, aw shucks. Hell with it.

It's my life, and who the hell cares if I don't show up.

Scene from a Morning Usually Missed

I got into the office much earlier than usual today. See! Naabutan ko pa na gising yung manok...

Missing Beginner's Night

So tonight, I missed Beginner's Night (see superbeng's blog). I really should develop better time management skills. But in the meantime...here I am in the office...

"Don't let the sun go down on me," George Michael sings in one of his duets with Elton John. I'm trying to put myself in an introspective mood, but I'm failing miserably....sige na nga, back to work...

Go UTREK

You never know who might be reading this blog ;-)

I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't been able to update this blog with *juicy* stuff. Don't worry, I'll get to that. In the meantime, there's not much to tell about last weekend. Saturday morning, around 2AM, as I was leaving the office, I decided to drop by Cable Car before heading home. Some friends were out there eating their midnight snack. A bit desperate to unwind, I order a beer instead. And another beer. And yet another beer. And so their midnight snack became a drinking session, and I arrived home 5AM, in absolutely no condition to join up with the UTREK group's fun climb to Gulugod Baboy. We were supposed to meet up at 6AM, and not having packed anything yet, I stood them up and slept instead. All day.

So out of guilt, I'm publishing this recruitment poster. If there's any aspiring mountaineer there, come join us! This is not just for mountaineers. You can meet a lot of interesting people who are involved in a wide range of sports. If you're curious, just drop by our orientation and bring along your friends. :)

Go Beyond Your Limits...

Be a Mountaineer!

What: Orientation/Recruitment with slide showing.
When: Feb. 10, 2005 (Thursday) at 7:00 PM
Where: 6th Floor Cafeteria, Cocolife Bldg., Ayala Avenue, Makati City (beside LKG Tower)
For more info: you can

• call/contact Louie Requierme (0922-8115961/824-9414)
• browse our website (last updated, 2003)
• visit the photo exhibit at the Cocolife Bldg lobby from Feb. 7 onwards.

Be there with us at the summit!