Early Birthday Present

Saturday, 18 December, I wasn't really sure whether the trip to a former choir colleague of mine in Carmona, Cavite would push through. Why? No one actually sent me an SMS on what time and where we would all meet. Second, an FB invitation as promised by Frankie Toledo was not sent either containing details of where and what time we would meet. Then, I received an SMS from Anacleto Dolar that he was already at the MRT station by 10 AM. To make matters worst, I had to rush to the nearest mini store to get some cellphone credits in order for me to be able to reply to him. Well, he ended up coming to my place until we received any notification from the rest of the gang.

The rest of the gang, Dominic Balatbat and Frankie Toledo, notified us that they would wait for us at the Boni MRT station in EDSA. Details of this trip will be posted in a separate post. For now, ill shall focus on a very important subject, getting the birthday treat...

Traditionally, Filipino's have a unique way of celebrating birthdays. That is, the celebrator (not celebrant) gets to spend every bit of everything and the gifts are from those he invites or from friends, etc. I have no problems with that. With my current situation right now, that is being jobless and broke, I have resigned to the fact that I shall be spending my birthday this December 23 just like a normal day......

I came home the following day after an enjoyable gather with my former colleagues from the university choir and tired as I was, I just decided to stay home doing the usual - watch TV, sleep or sometimes drink coffee or eat when I feel hungry.A few hours after lunch time, I was surprised that Anthony (my housemate's partner)  came home with food bought from WOK-KING. Kenneth Mark Lao sponsored two bottles of Coca-Cola and the rest was a sumptuous after lunch meal.

Around 4:00 PM, Arvin, another very close friend of mine invited and sponsored me for a badminton game in Ortigas. I knew I really wanted to sweat it out as I binged on both days. God knows the amount of calories I had and really needed a little bit of an exercise to at least shed it off a bit. 4 Games of badminton was already enough to do that favor......so a big thanks to my little brother and one of my few closest friends -- ARVIN....

Time to go home and Arvin had to attend a party at the place where I live. His friends live just 1 floor above me so again I had a free ride home. Thank you once again -- ARVIN!

The night ended with yet another surprise from my housemates.

My Birthday Cake

Me, Turning 32....soon!

Signalling the start of another year in my life

It couldn't be any happier than this. I believe I have to thank again the person who initiated the whole thing and you probably heard his name as the person I thanked a few posts ago for giving me some strength to go through the hardships I am currently facing. Jay, you have always been inspiring and I am very sure that you'll get back the blessing ten times that what I am having right now. I am blessed. I wanna thank the rest of my housemates, Ken and Frankie for allowing me to be happy. You know that my night almost got ruined.

Left to Right : Ken Lao and Frankie Cacliong...The housemates of Citihomes7704

Let me end this post by continuously giving my heartfelt gratitude to the people who I will be forever grateful. This now brings me to the next post which I will be posting on my actual birthday, December 23. I shall be specifically thanking those who have not given up on me or never failed me. I believe it will be a long post next time but mind you those who will make the list are people who had the extreme capabilities to at least hold my hand "virtually" and help me go through the lowest point of my life.

Once again, THANK YOU.

The Way I Party.....

Let's face it! December is the month where parties are extremely all over the place.
Well, aside from October were tables and chairs are sprawled in every corner of the city for the Octoberfest, December makes it as the most loved month of the year.

Why? Let me run on some few things:
1. You get gifts or shall I say exchange gifts
2. There are a lot of parties..Company, departmental, sectional or whatever type of parties you may call them....
3. Friends could be asked for some of the few things you want instead of waiting for it :-P
4. Reunion with friends, family and other associations you may have
5. In my case, its the month of my birthday (2 days before christmas!)

I can probably write about a lot of things to say why December is most loved month then again, I am not going to do most of them for this year. 2010 is an exception and probably some of my friends know why. Definitely, I must say I will miss my company party which I totally enjoyed for the past 5 years...

I guess we have our ways to celebrate but I'd like to point out that however we do it, what matters is what we do in the party and how we take those opportunities to be happy and merry...

Recently, I "partied" with my badmiton group SHUTTLEFLEX and ULTIMATUS. It was fun as we were divided into groups and each participants/members/friends/players were grouped into skill levels. I was under Level C for Group 1.

We won 1 match out of 3 and never made it to the podium but what made it fun is that I didnt have to intoxicate myself. Ivan, who recently bought a CANON dslr camera decided to take a few shots and I must say, he was able to get some of the not so good ones of me in action. I specifically requested him to take some shots of me playing as I always wanted to get one. To his credit, he tried as a beginner and I believe he did a good job for a start....

Here's some of the shots he took of me:

Wrong-footed, bad execution and some of the wrong stances were taken. Can you imagine, if I had it on video, I would have been more upset to know that I was executing some shots with the wrong move. But yeah I had fun with it plus the fact it was my reunion with my usual badminton partner, Mark Decena.

Mark Decena, my double's partner

Everything ended well! The food was great, the games were extremely fun as we had to extend to three sets on the last two games we had. To think Mark and I did not have any means to practice (Mark works in a different city outside of Manila). Finally, I had the chance to bond with some of the people I enjoy playing with and expose two of my friends who were not really that much into sports. Jay (extreme left below) who's into dancesport and Jun (dunno what his sports is hahahaha)

Standing: Jun and Ricky
Seated (L-R): Jay Navarra, Mark Decena, Frankie Caclion and Joem Go

No matter what party we go to and how we want it to be, let us all savour what we can take out of it. It has to be fun no matter what. If it ain't fun then it ain't a party at all.

Okay, I probably have scribbled a lot of things on just one event that I attended.
On my next post, I will probably talk about how life is when hitting rock-bottom. The hardships, pains and how to cope up? Yes, I went through all of it for 2 months now......Interesting? let me know your thoughts!

Photo credits: Giovanni Peter Marc Ferrandiz

Restoring Order....Re-Arrangement

A few days ago, I wrote a blog after being away from it.
Talked about the person who inspired me to do it again......
Talked about the person who continuously supports me and give me every bit of strength I can have.

Today, I went back and noticed that the motivator actually placed a comment and somewhat inspired me to do another thing and I quote from my last post

"What about if i start wrtiting about the people I hate for the past 2 months of my life.....ain't that a bitch! ..."


I pondered for a few moments and yes I was excited doing it but after all the stress that I went through today at the bank and all these money issues piling up, I don't think I would have the energy to do it....so instead let me just show you a wonderful thing I did after getting frustrated one day....I rearranged the stuff in the house and voila!

Well, don't be confused on the BEFORE picture...You'd probably think, "why the hell did he post a picture of BEFORE showing three guys in a couch?" Well, I was hoping that would give you an idea what I had achieved. The arrangement before gave us some restriction in terms of space as the couch and table have been placed dividing part of the living room and the kitchen....IT WAS A MESS! That needed to end.....

This time, I placed all the furnitures to show continuity (Imagine the air coming in from both ends...) What the hell am I talking about. I'm no expert in interior design but the fact that I created space due to the rearrangement was already enough....

Painstakingly, I did organize my collection of audio and video cd's. I must say I was not too proud of the number of pirated CDs cluttered. However, I was glad that the number of originals matched those of the pirated ones. Still, no excuse. I'd still say NO TO PIRACY (Enough of the hypocrisy)

I guess it goes to show that when you have little to spare, you go for the best option....arghh....enough said then. NO TO PIRACY

Right now, Lester is on his way for another weekend of DVD marathon. I wonder what we would buy and it's almost midnight....
Jun just informed me that he just arrived home after a shopping moment with his officemates. He ended up buying one long-sleeved polo for his party tomorrow and added that he was going to sing....

Speaking of parties, I guess I have a new topic to talk about next week....

Wanna know what that is? Well, I guess Ill have to see you guys on my next post....and yeah! I still have the "People I Hate Most" post in mind.

In the mean time, leave your comments....

Being Someone's Light in the Midst of Darkness

I have 11 hours left to end the day and start another one.
October 14, one fateful day when my world crash just right in front of me.
I guess I haven't totally moved on yet and only time will heal the greatest wound....despair....

While in the process of healing, I am glad to have had some help along the way.
I must admit that this was not the best position to be in. Its rather embarrassing but I'd do whats best for me to survive and just work on making it up later.

My thoughts are incoherent.
I sit down one day having this wonderful topic to talk about yet I am presented with lots woes and worries. The Law of Attraction says to just stay positive and never worry but I am only human enough. I can only take what I can. Whatever is in excess can either be detrmintal.

I laugh.
Not because im Happy...but because I want to simply ignore the harsh reality that is currently happening and pretend that everything is going to be alright.....

I regret and I've resentments.
People who you think have been your closest friend have finally unleashed their true colors...vice versa. WHat is more revealing is, the person/people who are incapable of helping are the ones able to help you while those with all the means in the world couldn't care much. Seriously, it is when I think of it that I get depressed.

I stay in love.
Love is something that cures all types of wounds. Dont believe it? I do. I am loved and I mean romatically. I have friends. I know who they are and I believe they know if I feel it for them. I can be plastic but as real as I am, I know in due time, Ill be able to say whatever I want. Its just a matter of time.

I stay positive.
The future may look as cloudy as the sky right now but things will turn better.
And when it happens, Ill do a life changing revamp. Ill delete names, Ill forget people who were mean to me and above all ill continue to treasure and keep and love those who mean to me. When I say DELETE, I mean it and it will probably be one of the most shocking thing I will be doing.

I am dedicating this blog to Jay Navarra who selflessly did not give up on the fact that everything will be alright. I draw strength from people who are humble and giving despite them having less. After I get through this, it is one thing I am totally going to commit to doing.....

What about if i start wrtiting about the people I hate for the past 2 months of my life.....ain't that a bitch! haahaha seriously.....leave your comments when you want to....

A New Start and A New Beginning!

It took me some time to finally get my motivation back and start writing again. One of the people who is responsible for this is Lester who constantly updates his blog.

Like I told him, my first blog was created last 2003 when it wasn't a fad yet. Now, anyone has their own blog site and some of them even have specific to talk about. I was tempted to do my own but i thought restricting myself to a specific topic will mean more time and dedication to it....just like in the film of Julie and Julia....

2010 brought about a lot of things and happenings in my life. Events I was happy and devastated. This year was definitely not mine to really celebrate but for me to reflect on the next coming years.

I guess the only thing that keeps me going is the saying that "whatever doesn't break me, cant make me weak"

Im back and Until i get a job, I shall be able to blog at least once a week and see if something is really interesting enough to be written and posted....

M-y A-wesome U-ndertaking!!!!!

It's been weeks and probably the proudest thing I could say right now after speaking to the person I broke up with is that I composed myself too well to just let it all out....in short, I learned to be HONEST in a very awkward way...

It has been a year where lots of lies were made, lots of denials and betrayal experienced. Through it, I gained respect for myself and I taught myself a valuable lesson. I cannot be someone else's baggage nor would I allow someone to be mine (baggage I mean!).

Decision-making is such an easy task to some but probably may just be the most difficult for the rest. I'll include myself in the latter. It has been sometime that I refused to accept that something must be broken to have it fixed...yet, I kept on fixing what appears to be a stubborn mess. Now that I have finally made that decision, it hurts a while but becomes an avenue of reminder that we do need to do it.

It is not easy speaking to someone you spent most of your time day in and day out that you're dating someone. Im in limbo though as this dating is something I have not anticipated just right after getting out of a relationship. To some, your intention of getting out might just be viewed as rubbish....Could you stop your heart beating just because you broke up? I dont think so....

I call all the gods right now just let me and allow me to take each day as a blessing that I will meet wonderful people. People that may not necessarily be the one I would end up for a long period of time but someone I can dearly consider.

No where the hell am I? Still lost and needs to be found.....

Springing Back to Life

I have a mission....

Muda in Japanese means waste.
That's basically what I have been having and taking for the past year. I've had lots of wasted moments and opportunities. I could have stopped myself and said that I should have no regrets over what I have done but as of writing this piece today, hell YES I have regrets...

Between me and sex? Hmmmm, wait a second...I don't think there's much of a comparison yeah? But to actually fight over it and convince someone to choose me over sex is just a little too much. Make that offensive....

I was asked "isn't it that you asked me for my convenient time?" I guess I did but then again I said "No this is what supposed to be done, we do not make sex as an objective in this set up"...That person insisted.

To the reader, I am currently in an open relationship status.

Then I realized that I wasn't important at all because the compromise could not be achieved. So I presented the option of cooling off so that person could figure out what was needed and wanted. Is it me or sex? I wasn't picked....Too bad for me....I sucked at it I guess.....

Today, I made a promise....I'll let go for good.
Ill hit the gym again and get back to my old self. I am not fat but I wasnt the fit guy admired by most of my colleagues as I thought it wasn't important when I settled down. I'll love myself without being consumed by it. I'll take things one at a time and then I will see what the future holds for me.

For you, THINK!
Think of the choices you have made because your choice defines the character you have. Right now, your choice just made you one heck of an asshole.....