Many magazines publish their top 10,20 and even 1000 of who's who in showbiz, politics and sports. I have mine too. This list is special and very well thought of. I thought I could only come up with 10 names but then again I had to be fair so I went as far as featuring the 20 Most Important People who Inspired Me for the year 2010.
The list is in no particular order or degree of importance. I decided to go alphabetically.
Alain Kris Jardin - met him 1 year ago and since then we were like brothers. He eventually made it to HSBC (my former employer) and did well with sheer determination and focus. Hopeless romantic as he is, he has inspired me by being there when I needed him the most. He takes the time to invite me over coffee and we would talk the night away.
Arvin Octavio - 3 years have passed and this guy also showed me how much maturity he has despite just being 23 years old. Why mature? I met him 3 years ago and he never had any plans to do anything with his life until he decided to charge. What inspires me is his ability to listen to constructive feedback and be open to change.
Maria Elma Quiao - A former university colleague of mine. Her down-to-earth and affinity to the ALMIGHTY is what inspires me especially when I talked and met her recently here in Manila. She used to be this chubby, shy friend almost 10 years ago but she lost a lot of weight recently. Despite that, she maintains to be one of the most God-fearing person I have met.
Erlyn Ramos-Hinojas - A former colleague of mine from PeopleSupport, Inc. She has this bubbly personality and never rans out of stories each day. She now resides in her hometown, Bacolod City and spends time juggling business and her responsibility as a wife and mother of 2 kids. What inspires me is her consistency to be a friend. Rain or shine, she has always been there!
Francis Urville Cacliong - Met him 2 years ago at the badminton group I joined. First impression was ANNOYING. He has a very loud and witty personality that makes him the most endearing person you'll ever meet. He had his ups and downs but despite all that he never ceased to bring laughter in the house with his jokes. This person when placed in a crowd can easily get the attention of everyone.
Jane Pangilinan biyuda de Lim
- Famously called Jano by her close friends including me. She was my former staff at PeopleSupport, Inc. in Cebu City until one day we just decided we could be good friends. Since then, we were inseparable. She went through a lot as well with her health but bounced back with so much zest and love for life. She is stubborn and will do everything to get what she wants (in a good way) and wherever she goes, I know I am always in her thoughts which. She has excellent cooking skills. I just love this person for loving me back through my best and worst times.
Jay Navarra - mentioned previously on my previous posts. The person who has managed to provide strength when I was just not ready to face my music. Not having the most in life but still manages to provide/give/share what he has. His affinity to vanity does not in anyway come in conflict with the nice personality he has. The strength itself has inspired me to keep going no matter how difficult the journey is.
Jory Orleans - I don't understand where she got her last name as she doesn't have a trace of caucasian features at all (peace!). She used to be one of my staff back in HSBC until I had to let her go...yes! I had to. But that decision even made our friendship stronger because she understood the nature of my work. I love this girl because she's a no-nonsense, carefree individual with drama that is so easy to deal...FOOD. Apart from some stuff I got from her, she has always been there whether I'm happy or sad. Sometimes, she's super nice that she is being abused. One of them is me...hehehe
Jude Viterbo and Marvic Quilet - Like Erlyn (mentioned above), Jude was a former colleague from PeopleSupport. We both never expected to be friends until we ended up riding a cab one day I guess. Then it was followed by cigs and coffee breaks. Then I opened up to her and that friendship is still strong as ever. Jude is carefree. A lover of life and a big believer of GOOD VIBES. This is how she inspires me. Vic, on the other hand, is a friend I recently met because of Jude (which explains why they are in one picture but they are not together, definitely!). He's as carefree as Jude. A lover of beer and partying which explains why I always end up going to clubs since I knew him. He pays for it (LOL). What I like about Vic is his raw exposure on love and life in which I always have a say. In return, he keeps on consulting my ideas, suggestions including comments. God knows what's in store. In short, he inspires me to be more responsible of what I say and things I do. In a short span of time, Vic has already been into my real self.
I'm already halfway through my list and so shall we continue....
Kenneth Mark Lao - No one knows exactly the real him until you get to live with him. Yes! He is one of my housemates. Describe him? Focused and career-oriented. We met at the badminton group. Few good games and "Hi's and Hello's" once in a while turned out to be the start of a wonderful friendship. We both are strong individuals and this is probably because of the nature of our jobs that turned us into monsters which we couldn't leave behind after work. Then again, what inspires me is Ken's consistency to stick with what he believes in. He could probably bend a little but then again at the end of the day, he sticks with what his gut feel is......He can be critical of things which offends me at times but then again, nobody is perfect. I guess that what you call UNIQUENESS.....
Lester Babulon - I don't need to go into the details how we met. We just became friend through one of the people in this list whom I'm mentioning later. At first, I thought Lester didn't talk much and that he would be too damn boring until we had a few shots of liqour and all of a sudden we were talking about politics which he was passionate about. Following that discussion was my discovery of his other passion, writing and reading. I'm no geek and I don't think he is. I just love the fact that he could be consistent on these things and still be successful at work. This is where he inspires me. As of the moment, Lester is in my place doing our usual thing each Weekend and/or during his leave (when time permits). I gained a lot of trust that I opened up everything to him. I would say he's a good buddy in every bit of aspect he gets involved with. Not perfect but totally someone you'll easily be able to lean on when you need it.
Lisette Fernandez - I don't even remember how we got close.I guess by now you see the trends. I don't usually remember details how I meet these people. It just happens. Lisette or Ga, is a mother of 1 extremely witty and talented girl and a dedicated wife. Despite that I admire how she balances work and family and friends too. Quite the protective and caring friend she is. We've had our ups and downs. Our constant conversations over cigs and coffee. Oh we used to work together at the same department but she moved on to a new employer now and I'm stuck with finding mine. Despite all that, she managed to go out of her way to reach out and talk. Not just at this low point of my life and I knew we would go on as friends even if we moved on to a different place. I'm so proud to put her on
this list...
Filipino Estacio - Pinoy as he is fondly called by his friends which is obviosusly because of his name. Flashback to 1999 or 2000. Caracal was the name I found back then when I was chatting over mIRC. Thought he was a girl and it turns out it that Caracal was a type of a cat. Then conversations led to a name then finally discovering that we live in the same city. We chatted while I was from a different city pursuing my Bachelor's degree. Back then, I wash this selfish, son-of-a-bitch who wants everything to himself with no constant cliques to hang out with. Who could ever put up with that immaturity? Only Pinoy! At a very tender age, Pinoy was the one who exposed me to pasta and coffee and cigs. Not that it was a bad idea but what I am saying is He was just too advanced for me to catch up. So I did as time progressed and as he looked at where I am at right now, I'm glad that he's proud of it. I owe it to him. Pinoy is finally a doctor and He will be my personal doctor from now on.
Rehkha Vijiaratnam - A little over a year, I met this tall lanky girl. This is was when I decided to take a big change and move to a new department within HSBC. I had to be sent to KL, Malaysia for my training and I was introduced to her. We never spoke too much but something was just too common between the two of us. Okay, we worked on the same department with the same job description. She was one of my mentor. What made us close? We had the same ideas on things that allowed us to talk more. I opened up to her and then it was friendship all the way aside from work. She's damn good on her craft. I love it when she says things straight to my face and use all these profanity. Don't get me wrong, she's one of the nicest person I met who never stabs me behind my back but when rubbed the wrong way, she could be a nasty bitch. That's my girl Rehkha from Malaysia......
Rhea Pinuela - A former colleague of mine when I was with HSBC. She still works there and is doing really great. She has affinity to riding motorbikes and will go all the way expressing her emotions. What I liked about her is her ability to be this consistent with her work and her competitiveness. She likes to compete and all hell will break lose if she doesn't achieve what she wants. She gives her all in everything she gets hooked with despite her appearing to be a strong, witty girl, she is honest enough to show her vulnerability to things. I'm one of those lucky people she easily confides me. Through my best and worst moments, I had the opportunity to show her those in which I'm truly grateful about. I guess she's one person whom you can easily trust. She's real!
Roy Cuesta - I probably couldn't talk much about this person as he works silently behind his desk and is contented with a few short breaks where we are able to talk. Oh! Like Rhea, Roy is also a former colleague of mine. I think the best thing about him is is ability to go through his personal and work life in a balanced way. Once he spends time to get a short break from work, he forgets about work and easily jumps into this bubbly personality whom you can easily open up with. I had to point out that I am inspired of this relationship he has for 7 straight years and he's proud that he had never cheated. Could I do that? I guess that's why I look up to him.
Norhashikin Hassan - she makes this list because she's of my girls from TPC along with Rehkha whom I could easily talk to when things gets a little rough. She is also go on her craft and is very patient. So calm that I don't know what could probably upset her. That I have yet to find out. I love the fact that being the new member of my previous team, she was able to easily adjust to the demands of the job. It took me a while to do that. She knows how to pressure me in a good way where I don't need to be yelled at because you can ignore the kindness she shows. It simply encourages you to oblige yourself when she asks for something. During my time working with her, I never heard her talk shit on me and for that I am forever grateful.
Gilbert Asuncion and Teng Roque - Gilbert was a former colleague of mine when I still worked with PeopleSupport. We became close because of badminton and during that period of closeness, he introduced me to Teng (who happens to be his close friend during that time). Gilbert was the person who always taught me this acronym, CYA which means Cover you Ass. It no longer a wonder why he is currently doing well with his career and I have seen him move up the ladder so fast in just 7 years. Teng, on the other hand, was this girl who relates to people by instinct. You don't need much of a formal introduction. She has this uncanny ability to read people's personality and is definitely in your face. After being introduced to her, I've shared most of my best moments with her here in Manila together with Gilbert. I admire her honesty and it does hurt to disappoint her. I'd rather have a friend who can come up to me and tell me how stupid I am rather than putting a facade and be plastic even when things are no longer well. Not with Teng. By the way, Gilbert and Teng are already celebrating a long relationship that eventually blossomed into something romantic. If I'm not mistaken, I believe they have been together now for 4 years.
Thana Letchumy Balakrishnan - I would probably run out of words to describe why this person made the list of "Who's Who" but if there is a word greater than NICE, that would be it. She has good taste in food and I had the best time of my life spending dinner with during her short term assignment here in Manila. Beautiful inside and out. Sometimes conflicted on her thoughts but she knows how to do the right thing. She is not ashamed to show her weakness and I am glad that she consults my opinion when she needs it. A dedicated wife, a loving mother and a loyal friend......Another jewel from Malaysia...
Yom Sharina - What a good way to end the list. A feisty and intelligent lass from Malaysia as well whom I worked with for at least a year. I cannot describe her excellent ability to retain information inside her head. Quite impressive that in a short period of time, she even got promoted ahead of us. A well-deserved promotion. Work is work but when she steps out of the office premises, you can be assured of a fun, non-pretentious side of her. I admire her straightforwardness and I am not ashamed to say that I found this difficult to deal with but because she is genuine, it never really mattered at all. She loves her cats too much that she even has them well-feed and groomed. Yom, together with Shikin and Rehkha, are my "Tres Maria's".
At this point, I wanna thank these people for inspiring me to be better. I just needed to point out though that even with the list that I came up with. nothing compares with the inspiration and the support that you get from your family and relatives. They may have not been highlighted in this last post I am putting up for 2010 but definitely they are embedded in my thoughts and in my heart.
Thank you and I wish everyone the best of what 2011 can offer.
Costochondritis as the paper indicates (handed to my by the ER physician) is defined as chest wall pain. To satisfy my curiosity more, I had to do additional research.
