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.