Zoe in Cebu

Ok, the album title says it all. These are all Zoe-related pictures, taken in, well, Cebu. =)

My parents, Bok, Zoe and I went to Cebu to spend the long weekend just chilling out and relaxing and eating out.

Highlights:

• Zoe had some swim time.


• We went to a very crowded church to hear a Cebuano mass, where my patience was tested (I failed).


• Zoe got a balloon


• Zoe got 2 free Nemo-bath toys. She now has 3 Nemo-bath toys lounging around here at home


• On the flight back home, Zoe kept on shouting "agka!". I don't know what that means, but it did catch the attention of all the other flight passengers


• Our seatmate on the plane was part of the Bigfoot group who were flying in from Cebu to make a movie (there's an international film school in Cebu). She took a picture of Zoe (probably so she can blog about how noisy her seatmates were, haha)

Rower's Night @Rower's Den

Start:	Nov 26, '08 8:00p
Location:	Rower's Den, Harbour Square, CCP Complex

Rower's Night at Rower's Den

Punta Fuego Beach Ultimate Fair 2008

Start:	Dec 20, '08
End:	Dec 21, '08
Location:	Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas

TODA Ultimate and Punta Fuego presents:

Click here for more details!

Punta Fuego Beach Ultimate Fair

Team Toda and the Philippine Ultimate Organization presents:

http://sites.google.com/site/fuegobeachultimate/

Zoe-lander

Zoe Making Faces...

Classic Bad Smell Face

New Expression -- the Huh Expression

Bulaga!

Daddy's Favorite Expression

Zoe-lander

Zoe Making Faces...

Classic Bad Smell Face	New Expression -- the Huh Expression
Bulaga!	Daddy's Favorite Expression

Leap of Faith

http://talon-na.blogspot.com

Daddy Jasper & Baby Alyssa's Birthday Party

Oct. 18, 2008 -- Alyssa's First Birthday party, with Barney making a special mascot appearance. Swimming party sya, cute nga eh, naka-swim kami ni Zoe kahit sandali.

It was also her dad Jasper's birthday, and he celebrated it with a San Mig Light-filled cake (see the pics to find out what I mean).

Rower's Den Grand Opening

Looking for something to do this Wednesday, October 29? Drop by the Grand Opening of Rower's Den, the newest bar in Harbour Square!

Free drinks from 9-11PM, plus music from The Dawn!
Sana meron na rin silang Beer Below Zero!


***Rower's Den is located at the 2nd floor of Harbour Square (CCP area), above Dencio's & Grappa's.***

** Venue also available for private events and private parties. **

Telling The Story

The story never changes, it's just how you tell it.

And today...the narration is happy.

Monday Rants

Well, somewhere along the web I found this job skill requirement:

Demonstrable leadership skills, consulting, communication, teamwork, ability to work autonomously, tolerance of ambiguity, analytical, influence and persuasion, decision making/problem solving, flexibility, creativity, initiative, interpersonal, presentation and sales skills.

Wow, sounds a lot like what I'm doing. Except I don't have much sales skills. And except the role probably earns more than what I earn.

Tolerance of ambiguity. I get a lot of that. Ambiguous questions, ambiguous requirements, ambiguous users, ambiguous customers. Ambiguous life direction. Wow, I'm getting grumpy and disgruntled. Better start going to the gym again before I lapse into another one of those lousy cycles.


Exercise and Feeling Good
It's quite common knowledge that exercise makes you feel good, not just physically but emotionally as well. "Exercising causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person to feel more peaceful and happy."


The 5K Dash
Participated in a 5K marathon 2 weekends ago. I was happy about our performance -- despite the lack of training, we finished the 5K easily in around 30+ minutes, plus I got to put a check mark on one of my to-do lists. But I really wanted to know the official time and result -- sure I didn't win anything, but I really wanted to see my name and official time you know? Just to formalize that hey, I finished the race! Yey!

But no, the race organizers released the list of all 10K and 3K finishers, but listed only the winners for each age group for the 5K. So...that means I don't get to see my name anywhere! And to think that right after the race, I was really excited and wanted to join another race again! Well, this non-acknowledgement sort of dampened my spirits -- like my finish doesn't matter because I didn't get to place anywhere. I don't know. Was there too many 5K runners? Oh humbug.


Life Path
This is related to a previous post. I did say that the next step was to make the decision to stay the right one. Was it? I don't know. I keep on hearing myself grumble every now and then.

So I need to convince myself this is the right path. The fun path. The easy path.

So, since February, I have been to: Apo Island, Dumaguete, Siquijor, Bacolod, Boracay, Pundaquit and Zambales, Pandan Island and Apo Reef, Coron with the officemates, Subic and Grande Island with the family, Kota Kinabalu, Sipadan and Mabul islands diving, Penang and Pulau Payar, Anvaya Cove with Zoe and Toda, Puerto Princesa with the family, Davao with Toda folks, and Mt. Apo with Utrek. I also had an aborted Cebu trip with my college blockmates -- they pushed through while I had to cancel because of an infection.

Up next: Cebu trip with the family, Jakarta trip in December, Mt. Kanlaon in January, and the Tokyo Japan trip in late January. If I left would I have been able to do all these? Probably not, right? Right? RIGHT?

Plus I still get to spend some mornings playing with Zoe. Except the past few days medyo tinotopak sya. Ugh. Just get on with it.

Multitasking

Somewhere, someone said that multitasking is death by installment. Which made me laugh. Not the funny, rolling-on-the-floor, this-is-so-happy laughter. Ok, so I sniggered. Cynically. Because if that's the case, I should be dead already, several times over.

But, guess what. I'm still alive, still surviving, despite daily aches and pains and complaints. The whole is better than the parts. Or maybe the parts make the whole better. Whatever.

Life is good. :)

Rower's Den Grand Opening

Start:	Oct 29, '08 9:00p
End:	Oct 29, '08 11:00p
Location:	2nd Floor, CCP Harbour Square

Grand Opening of the newest bar on CCP Harbour Square!

Featuring The Dawn. Open Bar from 9pm to 11pm. Rower's Den is located at 2nd floor, CCP Harbour Square, just above Dencio's.

Um...Uh-Oh

Zoe at the Malakas & Maganda League Finals Game, Alabang Country Club

Um...Uh-Oh

Zoe at the Malakas & Maganda League Finals Game, Alabang Country Club

The Concepcion Family Weekend

While I was with UTREK climbing the Philippine's highest peak -- Mt. Apo, Zoe was busy stacking water bottles on the fields of Alabang Country Club during PUA's Malakas & Maganda games.

Saya diba. One whole family spending the day outdoors. Di nga lang magkakasama...

Bok and his disc:

Malakas & Maganda Tourney, Alabang Country Club

Zoe and her toys:

Playing with the water bottles

With a disc, and with a football

Sym and the mountain:

Mt. Apo's Peaks

Other pictures from the Mt. Apo trip at Multiply.

Yes, I can Jump

Picture taken at Eden Nature Park, Davao City

Proof that I can jump...haha.

Other pictures from TODA's Davao Trip at Multiply: Isla Reta Trip, Davao Whitewater Rafting, and Eden Nature Park Trip.

Mount Apo

When: October 3 - 6, 2008
Where: Kidapawan Trail, Mt. Apo

The Story
The ID says 10,311 feet above sea level. Was supposed to go with Bok...but Bok suddenly came up with work plans, so it was me and UTREK and the powerpuff girls climbing majestic Mt. Apo.

From Davao City, we boarded a van to Kidapawan City in North Cotabato. There are actually several entry points to Mt. Apo -- we started from Lake Agco Mountain Resort in Brgy Ilomavis, Kidapawan City. From there, our first campsite was Koong Creek, and the next day', we had lunch at Lake Venado, then the 2nd night's campsite was Apo Peak already. Third day was assault to the highest peak.

During the first night, our tent was leaking and it was raining, so it was a bit miserable. Usapang "retirement" na nga nun eh, haha. Pero we survived, kaya obviously happy kami. Second night was great, despite everything it didn't rain, although temperatures inside the tent did reach 3 degrees celsius and I had to wrap myself in my black garbage bag since I didn't bring a sleeping bag or raincoat. Galing ko. :)

The trek to the summit was great...the clouds cleared up and showed a majestic view. Happiness! And more happiness -- even in the rainforests, there were no leeches along the trail. =)

Sa totoo lang, na-miss ko rin mag-climb. In fact, gusto ko na ulit mag-climb this weekend na! Haha. Pero fun climb na muna....at parang ayaw ko ng umuulan ulan at maging miserable sa tent ulit!

Eden Nature Park, Davao

Day 3 - We kinda skipped the planned zip line activity at Sabros, a 2-hour ride away from where we were staying in Davao. Instead, we opted to eat breakfast at a McDo near Matina Town Square. Hehe.

Afternoon, we went to Eden Nature Park, in the foothills of Mt. Talomo. Nice place. After touring the site, TODA played pickup with the Davao Badgoyz team. Seriously, ang lamig ng hangin.

Other Day 3 activities:
- dinner at Flyover Ihaw Ihaw (mas mahal pa ang beer dito vs Bakbak!)
- drinks at Fruit's place (nice!)
- more drinks at Tish's Lolo's place

Davao River White Water Rafting

What: Day 2 of TODA's Davao Trip
Where: Crocodile Farm offers whitewater rafting at Davao River. The jump-off point is around an hour away from the croc farm. The rafting itself took around 4 hours to navigate the 13km course, lunchbreak included. Bok got thrown off the boat.

Here are the pics from our camera. Davao Whitewater Rafting also distributed CDs of their pictures and some videos -- I think Claire will post them soon. :)

Other Day 2 activites:
- dinner at Food Galore
- below zero beer at Bakbak (only 29 pesos!) - super antok na ako at this point though, hehe.

Isla Reta, Davao

Where: Isla Reta, Talicud Island, Samal, Davao
When: September 26, 2008.

TODA's Davao Trip.
Day 1 - The only boat to Isla Reta from Davao City was supposed to leave at 9AM, pero nasira yung boat, kaya we got bumped off to another boat that was scheduled to leave at 10AM. Except it left at 10:30. And it took its own sweet time to get to Talicud island, taking more than an hour to get there. Then we had to take another boat to the Isla Reta beach resort (some of us rode on the habal habal to get to the beach front).

Pero kahit mahaba ang biyahe, cute na rin ng beach. And ang sarap talaga ng inihaw na tuna! Yum yum! Salamat Roxy!

Other Day 1 Activities:
- dinner at Tish's Place (sarap din ng chocolate cake!)
- below zero beer at Bakbak (29-pesos lang!)

Somewhere Down The Road

Somewhere down the road...I got lost.

I'm still lost.

I guess it comes with putting someone else as a priority.

I need...to make time for me.

Working on a Saturday

Zoe doing Mommy's Work...

Working on a Saturday

Hmm...let's see...Click here...Click there...Enter...

Is this what you do in the office, mommy?

This is so easy! I can do your work! =)

Makulay Ang Buhay (Life is Colorful)

For a while now, this TV commercial has been one of Zoe's favorite. Everytime it goes on air, Zoe pauses, looks at the TV, and dances! No fail. :)

Lately, they haven't been airing the full commercial (it's been several months already after all). So whenever Zoe starts to dance, the commercial has ended already...bitin. So, I just wanted to immortalize somewhat the link to the commercial.

Enjoy!

Knorr's Philippine TV Commercial, featuring Channel 2 kids

Setyembre

September na. Wala lang.

Pagod na ako. Pagod. The past few days lang. Pagod. Kailangan lang ulit-ulitin. Baka pag inulit ko, ma-realize ko di pala totoo, at ilusyon lang ang pagiging pagod ko. Pati status ko sa Facebook. Pagod.

Nag-umpisa ata ito nung nanggaling kami sa Palawan, matapos ang long weekend dalawang linggo na ang nakakaraan. Masaya naman yung bakasyon, syempre pa kasama ang pamilya at si Zoe. Pero napagod ako. Pagod. Kulang ako sa tulog nung pumunta, at di na ako nakabawi ulit sa tulog. Nung bumalik ako nawawalan na ako ng gana sa mga problema sa opisina. Naiisip ko na, ang tagal ko na dito! Pero walang katapusan, kailangan mag-trabaho. Di ka rin makaka-alis kung hindi pagbutihan. Para lang akong gulong na paikot ikot lang at wala talagang napupuntahan. Sayang naman ang treads ko!

Baka dala lang talaga ng kakulangan sa pagtulog ang nararamdaman ko. Sumasabog na ang mga kung anu-anong bagay, heto ako nagpupuyat-puyat din, pero sa loob loob ko, medyo may demonitang nagbubulong -- "paki-alam ko". Haha. Hindi nga lang ako makapag-"evil laugh" kasi nga kailangan pa yun ng effort. Eh yun nga, pagod ako. Pagod.

P.S. - mabait naman ako, at syempre gagawin ang makakaya para pagbutihan ang trabaho at pagaanin ang buhay ng mga nakararami.

Mga Bagay-Bagay na Nais kong gawin pag may Oras:
1. Mag-aral at pumasa sa isang eksaminasyon na hindi ko muna babanggitin
2. Mag-aral ng piano
3. Matulog
4. Mag-beach, Mag-bakasyon, umakyat ng bundok.

Naku, naalala ko tuloy. Malapit na ang napipinto naming pag-akyat sa Mt. Apo. Heto nga ako, pagod at physically nanghihina. Kailangan ko mag work out. Makakasama kaya ako? Abangan.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Another long weekend. This time, Bok, Zoe and I went with my parents to visit Puerto Princesa City, the capital city of Palawan.

Day 1:

Cebu Pacific flight to Palawan. There are still some areas in Terminal 3 that aren't really "done", but you can see the "potential". Somehow. =)

Upon arrival, we checked in at the hotel, had some lunch, and went on a city tour. Zoe slept through the early part of the city tour, but woke up just in time to see the butterflies and crocodiles! For dinner, we went to Kalui's, one of the "famous" restaurants there. Nice ambience. Shiny wooden floors where you can eat your seafood dinner. Even the restrooms had wooden floors! Imagine that.

Day 2:

My parents went on the Underground River tour, while Bok, Zoe and I took the Honda Bay island hopping tour. I haven't been to the Underground River either, but Zoe would enjoy the beach more in this case. Plus, Bok hasn't been to the Honda Bay islands either, so off to the island hopping tour we went.

Zoe enjoyed her day. We had a great lunch -- grilled stuffed squid, grilled chicken, rice, slightly spicy garlic eggplants, salted eggs, and alimasag (crab). I started the day cranky since I was so hungry and had to skip breakfast because we were running late...the snorkeling and the rest of the day was worth it.

After hearing mass at the Cathedral, we ate dinner at Kinabuch, which was more affordable than Kalui's. It was delicious, and we were so full! Plus we got to watch the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics on their outdoor widescreen projector screen. =)

Day 3:

Late breakfast. Swimming at the hotel pool. We had lunch at the Lotus Garden, another ambience-y resto right beside Kalui's. Like Kalui's, they had wooden floors and you have to take your shoes off before going in. But, at the time we ate there, we were the only customers (lunch time), and the floor was dusty. Haha, picky picky. Maybe I was just cranky because: 1) my pants got a big hole when it snagged on a tricycle on the way there; and 2) Zoe had a poo-poo accident that overflowed. By the way, did you know Lotus Garden has a branch in Costa Rica? Haha. (inside joke)

I'll finish up the captions later. Sensya na kung maraming pics!

Zoe's Birthday Week

Part I

Zoe's actual birthday this year falls on a Monday, and to celebrate it, we had a family dinner, with Bok's parents and siblings, and my parents as well.

Mukhang dalaga na si Zoe! Hehe. The other kids in the slide show are her cousins Reigne and Raver.

 

Part 2

The actual birthday party was on a Sunday, at Shakey's E.Rodriguez, near St. Luke's hospital. Napuno rin namin halos yung buong Shakey's, tapos nagkamali pa ng labas yung Shakey's ng cake, kasi wala talaga kaming inorder na cake from Shakey's. Yun pala, the cake was for the birthday party after ours...naku eh ni-retoke pa nila yung cake to read "1st Birthday" instead of "7th Birthday". Haha. Sorry po!

Hmm, ang dami actually na nangyari, pero medyo tinatamad ako magkwento at mag-blog. Siguro kasi way past my bedtime na ngayon, at nagpapalipas lang ako ng work stress bago matulog. Haha. Basta, maraming salamat sa lahat ng mga pumunta sa party ni Zoe! Thanks sa mga gifts, cute clothes and toys. =) And thanks din kay Rhea for the tarpaulin!

Toda and Zoe at Anvaya

August 18, 2008 - Long weekend. Day trip to Anvaya Cove, near Subic, with some TODA folks and Zoe...also grabbed some pics from Roxy and Claire's multiply...hehe.

Zoe's Birthday Week

Posts and slideshow pictures at my Multiply. Thanks!

CWCC race

One of the heats in the CWCC in Penang. Haven't had much time to look through the videos though...so don't ask me yet kung saan lane ang Pyros dito! Haha. Hindi ko rin nakunan ng video yung mga magagandang races....so wala lang, in-upload ko lang ito para may laman yung video area ko. =))

Penang and Pulau Payar

Around Penang and Pulau Payar in Malaysia

2008 Penang CWCC Pictures

Team PYROS (San Miguel Dragon Boat Crew) participated in the 8th ADBF in Penang, Malaysia last weekend.

Some scenes and pictures from Race Day 3, and a few dinner party pictures...

Anonymous Truth

The world is full of assholes, and today I am too tired to be immune.

PUKE.

Sipadan & Mabul Dive Shots

Here are some dive-related and underwater pictures from Sipadan and Mabul in Malaysia.

Managed to use the SPK-WB underwater casing that Stan bought (thanks Stan!)....pero hanggang 3m/10ft lang dapat yun. Yung first underwater dive nya, umabot sya ng 10m! Hehe...it survived! Buti na lang kinuha ng DM yung camera at sya ang nag-picture, kasi ang pangit ko mag-picture underwater... =p

We dived from our base at Mabul Island. The dives were organized by the resort we stayed in. Both Sipadan and Mabul Islands are on the south portion of East Malaysia, Borneo. Sipadan is famous for its abundant marine life....daming turtles, sharks, barracudas, big fishes! Haha...sabi ko nga, ang classification ko lang ng fish ay "small fish", and "big fish". So don't ask me about the fish species! =p

For more underwater pics (and possibly better details about Sipadan and Mabul's marine life), check out buddy Jao's multiply, or Lala's smugmug gallery.

Some notes:

Dive Fees - There's a RM50 dive fee (per day) to dive in Sipadan. As of 2004, no one except the military can stay on the island...tourists are only brought in to rest on the island between dives. You can use Mabul Island (20 mins away) or Semporna on the mainland (around an hour away by boat) as a base for diving in Sipadan.

Muck Diving - first time I heard the term. A nice way of saying the visibility underwater is practically non-existent! But supposedly, this is good for macro diving.

Macro Dive - this is when there are supposedly a lot of colorful nudis and very small fishes/organisms, so you have to put your underwater cam in 'macro' mode to take a picture.

Sipadan and Mabul Islands

I'll write some captions later on, hehe.

Lala's Birthday Video

Lala blowing her birthday cake candles. Medyo magulo lang ang pagka-video =)

Successful ba sya? Maganda ba ang boses namin sa pagkanta? Watch to find out! ;-)

KK, Bday & A New Cam

Celebrations! - KK, Bday & A New Cam

1. Lots of seafoods at Kota Kinabalu, where we searched for the soft-shell crab in the drizzling rain. Masyado kong na-hype yung soft shell crab, di tuloy kami masyado natuwa nung dumating na. Haha. Maybe next time we can have it cooked differently :)



2. Happy Birthday Lala! - Natuwa naman kami sa Bday Cake ni Lala kahit hindi rin sya nakarating ng maayos sa KK. The cake almost made it intact though -- we were about to board the taxi from KK airport when the cakebox fell. Nag-summersault sya papuntang sahig. Oops.=) Masarap pa rin naman. Hehe.
   
   Check out her birthday video here.
   
   Happy Bday Lala! Happy Bday din Jac!



3. Jao's New Toy - And syempre, may bagong underwater camera si buddy! Hehe.

Zoey at Zoobic

Long weekend. Subic with my folks, Zoe and Bok. Grande Island for a day. Watched a bit of the Subic Frisbee Tourney when we got back to the mainland. Bok went to party while I watched over Zoe. Haha. =p

Also visited Zoobic Safari.