start the new year with a BANG!

~on the bus last night~

Sarili1: pucha pare, nakita mo ba yun?

Sarili2: ang alin, tol?

Sarili1: yung billboard ni butch francisco sa edsa qc, pare!

Sarili2: yung lakas-loob, buwis-buhay endorsement nya sa flawless?

Sarili1: yun nga, pare! kita mo yung bukas-polo, labas-cleavage na pose nya?

Sarili2: oo, tol! naduwal nga ako e! tapos ang tagline nya pa, "start the new year with a bang!" naka-drugs ba sya?

Sarili1: ah, BANG ba 'kamo? e kung pasabugin na lang kaya natin, pare? mas bagay yun dun!

Sarili2: sige, pasabugin na yan!

Sarili1: bwahahahahahaha!

Sarili2: bwahahahahahaha!

Ako: *nagising sa usapan ng dalawang sarili* sssshhhhhh! start the new year with a kind heart. *after imagining the billboard* ugh! ang hirap naman, paksyet! sige, pasabugin na yan!

gibberish

"rodel, anong goal mo sa buhay?"

tinanong sa akin yan ng boss ko minsan while having a casual conversation. out of nowhere.

i was stumped. ang nasabi ko lang, "mina naman. ano ba ito, beauty pageant? matatalo ako nito e, binibigla mo ako, hindi ko napaghandaan yan."

and then a round of laughter. uumpisahan ko sana yung sagot ko ng, "i do not peel any fressure, right now." pero hindi, na-fressure ako e.

the other day, i just celebrated my birthday. my 25th.

ok fine, wag nang mag-react. it's my 10th year as a 25-year-old.

in hindsight now, that question really made me think. suddenly i was having my quarter-life crisis. only 10 years too late. ano ba talaga ang purpose ko sa buhay?

if i would assess how my life has been so far, i'm bent on thinking that all the years were just a compilation of random events. i just react to what is happening around me. sabi nga ni katy perry, like a plastic bag drifting through the wind.

the stubborn side of me says otherwise though. there may be random events happening, but a big chunk of what's happening could well be a product of the choices i make. i therefore conclude, hindi ako plastic bag. plastic siguro, pwede pa.

so, how then should i answer that question. sabi nga sa nescafe tv commercial, para saan ako bumabangon? sige, alang-alang sa birthday ko, pipilitin ko itong sagutin sa abot ng aking makakaya.

1. parents. the world is filled with billions of people, pero these pair, i really look up to with highest respect. you see, we were raised with limited means. i can't recall having a birthday party as a kid. i don't remember getting fancy clothes. but what is clear to me, we were raised with christian values and the warmest love. in a world where "'til death do us part's" were almost fiction, they have remained together for 42 years already. and counting. i want to give back to them, not because i need to, but because they deserve it.

2. dreams. when i grow up, i want to be a medicine. joke. ewan ko ba kung bakit karamihan ng bata, gustong maging doktor. standard ata yun. ngayong grown up na ako, at hindi man ako naging medicine(!), i make it a point that i always give my best shot with what i'm tasked to do. kahit anong career siguro ang i-pursue ko, i won't be happy if hindi ko binigay yung lahat ng effort na pwede kong ibigay.

3. compensation. to sum it all up, mukha akong pera. sabi ko kanina, plastic ako, pero sa part na ito, hindi ako magpapakaplastik. of course, if you're working your @ss out, you expect to get paid. after all, i need the salary to be able to fulfill my resolve to my parents and to motivate me further to work harder. o, ha. (i hope my boss gets to read this. hahaha.)

and last, but definitely not the least...

4. world peace. since this is a beauty pageant question, i just need to include this.

as of now, yan muna ang sagot ko. baka bukas, iba na.

i thank you.

the tale of the lost luggage

 

"Your first trip to Vietnam is quite memorable... you travelled light... No luggage in tow... ^^" - Dinny Nguyen

That was the message of Tin, our new friend from Vietnam, which he wrote on one of my souvenir pics taken during my recent Vietnam trip. While some good stories might start with "Dear Charo," this story of mine started with "WTH?!?!"

Friday, Nov 19, a little past 11pm. I got on board Cebu Pacific's flight 5J 751 en route to Ho Chi Minh, together with friends Abby, Bernie, Nora and Taselle. (O, wag nang umangal sa billing. Alphabetical yan.) It was a reunion of sorts, as it was the same group who went on a Caramoan-Naga-Legaspi trip earlier this year (minus Elmer and Jay). This time, it is extra special since it's our first out-of-the-country trip together, and we will be visiting Elmer and new friend Dinny (or Tin). Special as it was, so we were just all too excited.

After enduring the little-less-than-3-hour flight, we arrived safely at Saigon. Until we realized that one of our check-in luggages was nowhere to be found, and it just happened to be mine. Apparently, while were busy chatting at the time that we checked in the 8 luggages, we did not double check that the luggage claim tags issued to us were only 7. Lesson learned: check in baggages should not be more than 7. Joke!

Pwede bang mag-Tagalog na dito? Ang hirap e. (Elmer, paki-translate na lang kay Tin. Hehe.)

So ayun, ang excitement namin ay biglang naglaho na parang bula. Ay, gasgas na pala yang metaphor na yan. Gawin na lang nating makapal na wallet na ipinaparada sa kahabaan ng Quiapo. Hindi mo namamalayan, nawala na pala. O, bago yan. That was evidenced by our pictures nung vinu-view na namin. After kase ng shots paglapag namin sa airport, ang kasunod na pictures na eh yung during breakfast na the following day. Walang pics nung sinundo kami nina Elmer at Tin, walang pics during the travel from the airport to the hotel, at wala ring pics nung pagdating sa hotel.

Anyways, to cut the story short, this post is just to give everyone some pointers on how to enjoy a vacation even if you lost your luggage. Papatalo ba naman ako sa depression? Syempre hindi. Eh ano kung wala akong isusuot na damit for the next 10 days? Inisip ko rin yun syempre, pero not for long. Sayang kaya ang moment.

So what did I do to still enjoy the vacation despite the bad luck? Here's a quick run down.

1. Friends. I have the most generous set of friends there is. They offered to lend me some clothes to get me by. Will post an album later to document this. To quote Tin again, I remember him telling me, "Don't worry. We have lots of clothes that you could borrow." To think na first time lang namin mag-meet nyan ha.

2. From Next Top Model to Survivor. Of course, marunong din naman akong mahiya. So kahit nag-volunteer sila na pahiramin ako ng damit, naisip ko rin that 10 days is too long a vacation para mabuhay sa puro hiram. Kaya sabi ko, bibili na rin ako ng konting damit ko. Kalimutan na muna ang pagiging fashionista. Survival na ang pinaguusapan e. Besides, mahabaang gastusan pa kaya kailangang magtipid para umabot ng 10 days ang baon kong kayamanan. At isa pa, kung ang damit, pwedeng hiramin, ang underwear, parang hindi ata. Hehe.

3. Selective amnesia. Kalimutan muna pansamantala yung problema ng nawawalang bagahe habang namamasyal. Kase kung yun ang lagi kong iisipin, hindi ako makakangiti at makakatawa ng todo. Ang lungkot siguro ng mukha ko sa pictures. Unglamorous. Hehe. Pero syempre, pagkatapos maglakwatsa, pwede na ulit isipin yung problema at gumawa ng paraan about it.

4. From Teleserye to Adventure-Reality Show. Relative to no. 3, etong lakad namin was more of an adventure. Science project kumbaga. Hindi melodrama, kundi totoong buhay. So kahit na may lungkot, dapat may time pa rin para magsaya, matuwa, magmasid, magmatyag. Matanglawin. (Kuya Kim, pahiram nito.)

5. Laughter is the best medicine. Idaan sa tawa ang problema. Wala kaming ibang ginawa kundi magtatawa, bumungisngis at humalakhak kahit sa pinakamababaw na dahilan. Pero mahirap paniwalaan yun. Yung baliw dito sa amin, kahit panay ang tawa, hindi gumagaling. Baka kulang pa.

6. Facebook, Plurk and Twitter. Whenever possible, we try to find time to update our social networking sites with what's happening to us. Masabi lang na nakabakasyon kami. Pang-inggit ba sa mga naiwan sa opis. Hehe. Pang-destress na rin. Sa kabilang banda, some people back here were waiting for our updates pala at that time when the stampede in Phnom Penh occurred. Ironically, it was through a phone call from the Philippines that we first heard of the news, despite of us being in the same city that time.

7. Friends. I also have to be thankful that the friends I have here in the Philippines were accommodating and caring enough. Pinakiusapan ko kase sila na kontakin ang Cebu Pacific about my luggage. At syempre, hindi naman ganun kadali yun na isang tawag lang, may feedback agad. It took time, as in, araw-araw na follow up, before we finally got the good news. Salamat na rin ng marami sa Facebook at sa technology.

In conclusion, everything boils down to one thing: CHOICE. Making good choices, that is. I made a good choice when I selected my friends. I made a good choice when I decided to forget the problem for a while. I made a good choice when I did a paradigm shift to be on survivor mode. I made a good choice to laugh. And to enjoy, despite of.

So let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part in turning this bad experience into a wonderful event. You guys all rock!

all-expense paid overnight accommodation na, choosy ka pa?!

what's not to like about:

1. a free overnight stay in boracay?
2. at a well-known resort/hotel?
3. with free buffet dinner and breakfast?
4. inclusive of all transpo expenses?

sounds perfect, right? but i would like to borrow carlo aquino's infamous line in the vilma santos starrer, bata, bata, paano ka ginawa?

AKALA MO LANG WALA! PERO MERON! MERON! MERON!

we were supposed to be back in manila hours ago. thanks, but no, thanks to seair's i-don't-know-if-it-can-be-called-customer complaints handling, we are back here in la carmela for an extended overnight stay. that is, just 6 hours from checking out this afternoon.

looking at the fun part of it, the extra 1 day vacation seemed to be indeed a good thing. what was hard for us to accept was the way the problem was handled. allow me to let you in on what happened.

our original caticlan-manila flight was set at ETD 1620hrs, and boarding time was set at 1605hrs. we were at the crampy caticlan airport as early as around 3pm, and have completed the tedious manual checking in process as the baggage x-ray machines have all conked out. since it seemed the aircon was not enough to cool down the entire place, we decided to stay at the smoking area (which was, ironically, had a decent working ACU) and endure the time bathing in second-hand smoke while waiting for the boarding time call.

at around 3:55pm, we left for the waiting area. no call for our boarding time was announced at 4:05pm. what we kept on hearing were individual names being called to go to the check in counter, one at a time. at 4:15, fritz decided to inquire about the flight, but he was told there is going to be a delay, and they promised to announce through the paging system. which they did, and they even promised to make another announcement after 20 minutes. which never came.

at shortly before 5pm, i heard my name being called to report at the check in counter. upon arriving there, i was told that they will be arranging for our overnight accommodations as the flight has been cancelled already. the irony of it is that out of the 30+ passengers of the flight, there were only 11 of us who were left. apparently, for the passengers that were called before us, special arrangements have already been made for them to be able to go back to manila.

everything that ensued next was an exchange of complaints and non-sense replies. or at least, that is what it seemed to us. they cannot satisfactorily explain the reason why there are only 11 of us left, and how they decided who leaves and who stays. it was as if they ruled our lives and they had all the right to decide for us. and the argument lasted for more than 2 hours.

unfortunately, to cut the story short, we really never had any options but to stay, because of these reasons:

1. our flight was the last seair flight for the day
2. the other airlines are fully booked
3. caticlan airport doesn't operate/allow flights beyond 5pm
4. taking a manila flight via kalibo was out of the options as the flights are fully booked as well
5. the one who should be calling the shots for seair was nowhere to be contacted

well, i just hope my boss is reading this. and i hope this gets an approval for a half-day leave tomorrow.

and you know what, i just realized another thing tonight. it was sooooo difficult writing your blog with fingers crossed.

10 little known things about me

hello blog! long time, no see!

evonne, an officemate, recently wrote something about wanting to try to revive her blog. we had a chat about it, and told her that i share the same feeling. i miss putting my non-sense thoughts into something retrievable and shareable too. lintek kase ang mga micro-blogging sites like twitter and plurk, hirap na akong mag-isip ng maisusulat na mahaba-haba.

so when i revisited this site, muntik na akong sumpungin ng hika. spiderwebs and dustmites galore. hahaha.

now equipped with the drive, yung ideas na lang on what to write ang kulang. what to write... what to write... what to write...

*long pause*

ok, how about going more personal? hmmm... this is a bit of a challenge. you definitely know how we celebrities value our privacy. but let's see. with the emergence of the various social networking sites, and with me joining the bandwagon, uso pa ba sa akin ang word na privacy? so i'm taking the challenge by trying to come up with 10 things about me that people don't know about, or is probably known to only a few.

let the countdown begin!

1. choco wacko. i'm a sucker for anything with chocolate. ice cream, cake, candies. name it, and i won't have second thoughts about trying it. nag-start akong maging cautious about losing weight talaga last january, pero when i attended a gathering wherein may choco fondue, nakalimutan ko kung anong ibig sabihin ng losing weight.

makes me think, i haven't tried that chocolate frog from harry potter's world yet. san ba makakabili nun?

2. cats. i recently watched the staging of Cats at the ccp, featuring our very own ms lea salonga. incidentally, i'm a cat lover myself, back during my childhood. of all the cats that we had, my favorite will always be Maxi. or Max. his mom, barely a few days' old kitten then, came to our lives days after kuya regie passed away. must have been by divine intervention.

Max got his name from, uhm, the late Max Alvarado (RIP). his fur was a combination of black and white, with some of the black covering his jaw, kaya nagmumukhang balbas-sarado sya. get the story behind the name?

gusto ko ulit mag-alaga ng pusa, kaya lang mahirap yata dito sa place ko ngayon. kawawa naman kung iiwan ko sya mag-isa araw-araw. i'll probably get one, and have my nephews take care of it in the province. now, that's an idea!

3. 16. no that's not age. late bloomer ako, so virgin pa ako nung 16 ako, ok? 16 stands for 16 pounds. since i started running in late april, that's how much i've lost until mid-august. (insert applause here.) darn! i'm so damn proud of myself i am patting my own shoulders right now, left hand on right shoulder, right hand on left.

honestly, i had been in my most disciplined state ever, diet- and exercise-wise. come on, if you're reading this, you are probably my friend. shouldn't you be proud of me too? tara, let's celebrate. buffet lunch at dad's?

4. nunal sa talampakan. sabi ng mga supertitious fellows natin, sign daw yan ng pagiging gala ng isang tao. totoo ba ito sa akin? parang hindi naman. (ang kumontra, lulumpuhin ko. wala akong pakialam kung may nunal ka rin sa talampakan.)

seriously, i really love travelling. i love nature. i love the beach. i haven't tried trekking, but i wanna try it.

ang totoo nyan, sa sobrang hilig kong gumala, may mga sinalihan na rin akong promos na travel ang premyo. malay natin, di ba?

5. masarap sa loob. para sa mga nag-iisip ng bastos jan, shame on you. this post is related to no. 4. marami-rami na rin naman akong napasyalan at napuntahan, but the truth is, hindi pa ako nakakalabas ng pinas. yung lumang passport ko, nag-expire sya ng walang stamp ng kahit anong bansa. kawawa naman, di ba? muntik na akong bumili ng stamp pads nina pooh at mickey mouse, matatakan lang sya.

hay, ang ugly ng truth na ito. pero sabi nila, the truth shall set you free daw. sana may mag-sponsor ng free lakwatsa ko. hindi naman ako pihikan. kahit yung star cruises lang.

6. pampamilya lang, hindi pang-sports. if any of my cousins would be reading this, please correct me if i'm wrong. but as far as i know, parang walang nahilig talaga sa amin sa larangan ng sports. i mean, as players. sure, we do watch ball games, boxing matches, and all, pero not one of us became good sportsmen. believe me, being un-sporty is one of my biggest frustrations.

as i have mentioned above, i started running early this year. the other week, i attended the badminton clinic sponsored by the office. i hope it's not too late to start to be sporty.

i'm glad that some of our next gen are now into sports.

7. i'm a fAnne! ok, this is a bit of an overdue confession. i like anne curtis! i Followed her on twitter, i Liked her facebook page, and if i have time, i watch showtime because of her.

this fascination, i think, started when she took on the role of celine in abs-cbn's drama series Maging Sino Ka Man, which, to date, remains my favorite soap opera.

i must confess though that i have not went out of my way to the moviehouses to watch her movies. but if she asks me personally, face-to-face, i'll probably do it for all her succeeding movies. that is, if i don't die when we meet.

8. bloodsuckers. of late, i'm so hooked into The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. not so much with the Twilight saga, pero pinanood ko na rin. i don't know, pero nakakaadik talaga itong mga series na ito.

siguro, what made me hooked to these series is the idea that vampires are just there, mingling with ordinary people like you, and celebrities, like me. dati kase, vampires are portrayed differently in movies and tv; now they're out in the open.

what i'm sure of, yung istorya talaga ang sinusubaybayan ko, not the stars, as opposed to my fascination with Anne. saka na siguro pag nagkabati na yung front teeth ni anna pacquin; may gap kase sila until now. but hey, i also find nina dobrev hot. kung sya naman ang kakagat sa akin, hindi na ako papalag.

9. food. kahit pa nagpapapayat ako, i never really hated food. i still pig out every now and then, eating what i want. minsan nga buffet pa. kaya nga siguro ako lumaki ng husto dati dahil sa katakawan.

during my childhood, lumaki ako sa masasarap na luto ng aking dalawang lola: si apung ciana at si lola virgie. my paternal grams was into native desserts, like ginataang halo-halo, ginataang mais at palitaw. ang lola ko naman ay mahilig sa masasarap na ulam. escabecheng isda, beef liver steak, bopis.

kasabihan na, pag kapampangan daw masarap magluto. kaya kapag fiesta sa amin, dumarating yung mga pinsanin ni erpats para magluto ng masasarap na ulam. kaldereta, asado, arroz valenciana, lumpia.

living on my own for some years now has taught me how to cook. marunong naman akong sumunod sa instructions sa product labels at cookbooks eh. haha. but i still miss my inay's cooking, especially her chicken asado, sinampalukang manok, champorado at tuyo, at ang bopis na minana nya pa kay lola.

ayan tuloy, nakakagutom.

10. 600. ayan, obviously hindi rin yan edad. unless i'm a vampire. (last na kase, kaya parang dapat summary na. ) well, yan ang grado ng mata ko ngayon , both eyes. i started wearing glasses when i was in 4th year high school. malakas ang ulan noon, charo, at sabik na sabik na ako sa aking asawa. joke.

again, nag-umpisa akong magsalamin late nung high school. basta, bigla na lang nagbabaan ang grades ko nun. (asus, naghanap pa ng rason!) hindi ko kase nababasa yung sulat sa blackboard, kaya hindi ako makasunod sa lessons. (naks, at talagang kinarir ang alibi!) ayun, it turns out, 250/225 na pala that time ang grado ko.

i wore glasses until mid 1995, tapos nag-umpisa na akong mag-contacts. so far, nag-stop na sa 600/600 ang vision ko since then. 

ayan, nakatapos ako ng 10 items. i survived the challenge! next time, 20 items naman. we'll see. siguro pag inalikabok na ulit itong blog ko, or pag napanis na yung mga pagkaing nabanggit ko.

the good in goodbyes? yes, there is!

flashback, may 2, 2002. i wrote the article below and emailed it to my office friends. the next day, around 3 people from other divisions na nakasalubong ko told me, "i liked your article." it was apparently circulated among my friends' network of friends as well. that should have felt good, however, it was not enough to cover the sadness of the announcement that day: the company that we're working for is closing down.

that news simply meant we had to say goodbye to a lot of things we've come to enjoy, love, and live with. especially friends. for an ambitious undergrad who's about to lose his job, this also brought the fear of the unknown.

fast forward, august 2009. i would say that the lowest times of your life could bring out the best in you. but i guess, only if you would allow it.

sharing this with you guys. i'm tempted to edit this to improve on some parts, but decided to keep it as is. i just took out the lyrics part.

*.*.*.*.*.*

7 Years

Have you heard of South Border's latest release, entitled 7 Years? If not, just read the lyrics below. It's a sad song about a love affair, which, after counting seven long years for its existence, it had to end. A classic example of the saying that everything, either good or bad, whether we like it or not, really must end.

It is but timely that I write about (and share with you) the longest affair I have ever had. Yes, it's been seven years too. My affair with Innodata started March 27, 1995. Or maybe a few days earlier if I should count the days allotted for the exams, the interview and the contract signing.

I could still remember the essay question in the exams: "How do you see yourself in 5 years?" Blame it on the youth's idealism, my answers were more of the assertive type. Not just because I wanted to impress the people at the recruitment section, but because I was really full of high hopes with this then would-be relationship. Luckily, at least 80% of what I foretold I was able to achieve. Among others, I was promoted, I am earning a 5-figure salary, I am self-sufficient, and somehow, apart from meeting my needs, I was able to obtain some of my wants. On the contrary, I am still single today and I have yet to finish my college degree.

If only to give credit to whom it is due, what I have become today and what I have achieved I attribute to my having an affair with Innodata. Would you believe me if I said I was wearing a 29-inch waistline denim when I first reported for work? Seven years after, I am proud to say that my waistline is 5-inch larger, thanks to the daily doses of MTP's and the now-defunct Recto's viands. I can only imagine my taste buds holding their placards asking for a
change in my diet. <smiles!>

When I was seven years my junior, I was only equipped with the most basic knowledge in computers. I barely knew that there are a lot of ways to create a document other than WordPerfect. I was not even told that a mouse is not just a synonym for rodent. Was I that ignorant too to think that adobe was merely a type of brick or clay? Or that AC/DC (ACDSee) is just a colloquial term for a bisexual?

During the course of the past seven years, I was introduced to Bill Gates (not personally, though) and his Microsoft. No, they were not third parties to the affair. They merely acted as accessories to it. I have learned that one need not be a nerd to be able to use a computer. I have gained basic knowledge on how to utilize softwares such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and lately, Outlook. I have learned to reach out to others faster through e-mail. I have met virtual friends through mailing lists and even tapped my knack for writing. This one, for example.

I admit, just like in most relationships, there were times of trials before when I felt that I wanted to get out of this affair. Pressures would come every now and then. Thus, every now and then, too, I am tempted to break free. But my love for Innodata have always taken the best of me that is why this relationship still exists up to now.

The past year saw the most tumultuous stage of this affair. Nevertheless, I kept holding on, hoping against hope that we will overcome the problems that we were experiencing. I even consented to travel to another facility just to help the organization in transfering its projects. I traded one semester (my last one, supposedly) in school just for this purpose, keeping in mind that I am doing this because I love my job.

Despite of all this, I could sense that nothing has changed. Or maybe there was, but not for the better. What was a beautiful love story before just turned out to be a suspense-thriller now. Lately, it has become a roller coaster ride for me. After all the loops and turns, I am pretty sure the ride will end, but I just can't predict when. And I am more sure that I will endure the ride, so until then, I will remain holding on.

Believe it or not, I am not a pessimist. I just know trouble is near when I see the early warning signals. Will this affair finally end after seven years? Probably. I could see it coming. But then, whether this affair will end sooner or later, I am thankful that it ever existed for seven long years. At least, it was not a one-night stand.

@>~ @>~ @>~ ~oOo~ ~<@ ~<@ ~<@
                 RODEL & INNODATA
                       1995 - 2002 (?)
@>~ @>~ @>~ ~oOo~ ~<@ ~<@ ~<@