Iobi visits Hong Kong (part 4)

Last week, my mom, Chez, Jay and I decided to go visit kuya Reggie and his family in Hong Kong. It's been a year and 5 months since I've been there and to tell you frankly, that last trip, though it has some good memories, was my dad's last trip before he died. So going there now kinda got me a little giddy; I honestly didn't know what to expect now that this trip didn't include dad.

I even asked my mom if it were going to be an emotional trip for me since I am the only family member left who hasn't been to Hong Kong after dad died. (Mom went there on Jinggay's graduation while Chezka and Jay spent their honeymoon there) So they, pretty much, know what to expect this time around.

Praise be to God that it wasn't that emotional for me. Yeah, every once in a while someone would blurt out, "I miss dad" but what can you do? Everybody did and does still miss dad.

But we managed to make this trip memorable. We went to Macau and stayed at the Venetian for measly pennies and went to Disneyland two days after. We had a blast in both places. Even though 75% of the Macau trip was spent walking around looking for restaurants and our room, it was so worth it.

Disneyland naman we had to go through that place under the rain. That was the only day we could go so sumugod kami.

On both those trips, we thought of dad again and I told mom that at least now, he is resting and that mom is finally maximizing her vacation and having fun with us.

So overall, the trip was the bomb. Yeah, it would have been much better with dad around but God does know what is best and we could not go against that.

And I couldn't have wanted it any other way.

Remorse

I must be getting old. I easily get peeved at every little thing. The worse part is that my mind starts wandering off to different conclusions making me hate the person(s) eventually. Something as simple as texting or even calling someone over the phone. It burns me up not getting a reply from them but they would text you in a flash when they need something. Then when you try to text back after a few days, nada, ziltch.

It then gets to the point where I assume that these people don't want to talk to me because they don't see me as any kind of use anymore. Which then causes me not to like them and eventually hate them and delete them off my phonebook. Like the other day, I was speaking to one of the backup trainers at work who I've been texting for a while. When we were texting one day, she suddenly got to a certain tone that I didn't like. It was rude. I immediately deleted her number. Months passed and we saw each other at work. We said our pleasantries and she blurted out, "hindi ka na nagte-text ah.". My mind screamed, "BITCH!!!!!".

Then it's happening again to other friends. I don't like it one bit. I don't like being looked down at. I texted a friend about it and the following day, when we saw each other, she simply hugged me. What a relief. At least one less person to suspect and hate. hehe

It kinda reminds me of my other post about Success being the sweetest revenge.

Life goes on. ..

How Green Are You?

I got this off JR Jacinto's Facebook Profile. I just thought of sharing this with y'all:

1. ANONG ID NUMBER MO?
9437908 (Main), 9678484 (Benilde)

2. NAG-APPLY KA BA SA ATENEO?
Nope.

3. ANONG CAMPUS NG LASALLE ANG PINASUKAN MO?
DLSU-Manila

4. SAN KA KUMUHA NG ENTRANCE EXAM?
Sa DLSU

5. SINONG ORIENTOR MO? I don't remember basta bumubula gilid ng lips nya habang nagsasalita sya.

6. ANO ANG FIRST CHOICE MO NA COURSE?
Mass Comm (Yun lang alam kong course nun eh)

7. ANONG FROSH BLOCK MO?
EE75??

8. ANO COURSE NATAPOS MO?
BSBA-CA

9. NAG-SHIFT KA BA?
Yup. No choice

10. ILANG YEARS MO KINUHA COURSE MO?
3 years then 3 years sa Benilde. Ehehehe

11. CHINITO/CHINITA KA BA?
Chinito-chinito-han

12. MAY KA-BATCH KA BANG CELEBRITY?
Roselle Nava, Barbie Almabis

13. TUWING ANONG ARAW KA NAG-UULIT NG DAMIT? [para sa mga walang uniform na campus]
once a week. Lalo na kung Giordano Classic. Uso yun nun eh

14. NAKAPAG-DORM KA BA?
No. Pero tumambay ako sa dorn ng friend ko na may isang floppy disk syang puno ng GIF files (old school porn, baybee)

15. NAKA 4.0 KA BA?
Yes

16. NAGKA- 1.0?
Yes

17. LAGI KA BANG NANONOOD NG LIVE UAAP BASKETBALL GAMES?
Live sa TV. Lalo na yung huling Term ko when Aldeguer threw the final shot (hindi sa ring kundi sa crowd)

18. KILALA MO BA SI JENNY?
Jenny ng La Salle scandal?? heheh... oo

19. ALAM MO BA KUNG BAKIT GREEN ANG COLOR NG LA SALLE?
Kasi di bagay ang "Las Salle Blue Archers"?

20. NANGARAP KA BANG MAGING CUM LAUDE?
Pasa lang masya nako

21. KELAN KA NAGTAPOS?
Sa Benilde na, October 1999

22. FAVE PROF
Martin Ilao: "Hang on guys!" and Victor Gojoco

23. LEAST FAVE TEACHER:
Hector Cham!!!

24. FAVE SUBJECT:
Lahat ng Eng'g subjects na mas mataas grade ko kela Peter.

25. LEAST FAVE SUBJECT:
Chemistry 2. I took it thrise and still didn't pass the damn thing.

26. FAVE BUILDING:
wala

27. PABORITONG KAINAN SA LABAS NG CAMPUS:
Lumang Chowking (Before sya binili ng Jollibee foods)

28. TUMAMBAY KA NA BA SA UM?
Nung lumipat nako sa Benilde.

30. LAGI KA BA SA LIBRARY?
Yup.. sa CyberNook. Para magchat

31. VALID PA BA ANG ALUMNI CARD MO?
I didn't sign up

32. MAY CRUSH KA BA SA CAMPUS?
Oo naman.. Si Tine Sicangco (tama ba spelling??)

33. ANU-ANO ANG MGA NAGING PE MO?
Physical Fitness, Table-Tennis

34. SANG ORG KA ACTIVE?
DLSU Concert Band (NKA. Pops Orchestra), CORO (Sa Benilde)

35. SANTUGON O TAPAT?
SANTUGON!!

36. MEMORIZE MO BA ANG ALMA MATER SONG?
Oo naman. Tinakot ako ni Larry Mendoza nung Freshman ako eh. First day na first day going to school minimemorize ko Alma Mater.

37. FAVE TAMBAYAN?
Minanang tambayan sa tapat ng entrance ng College Canteen

38. TUMATAMBAY KA BA SA MAY AGNO?
Nope..

39. NAKAPAGLARO KA BA NG CHESS SA CHESS PLAZA?
No. Mababa IQ ko eh

40. NAHULI KA BA NI MANG JACK O NG D.O.?
Hindi. Kasaludo ko siya eh.

41. SAAN ANG PINAKAMASARAP NA SISIG?
Sa Kaibigan, Kolehiyo, at yung bar sa tapat ng Eng'g Gate.

42. NAG ROTC KA BA?
Oo naman. At naging Line Officer pa ako. Guidon Bearer ng Alpha Platoon!!

43. ANO ANG PABORITO MONG PAGKAIN SA DLSU?
Lamp Chops ni Ate Em sa Beach

44. NAIKOT MO NA BA ANG CAMPUS?
Yup. When it was half it's current size.

45. NA-STRANDED KA NA BA SA CAMPUS?
Di pa naman. Sumusugod kami nila Peter sa bagyo eh

46. ANO ANG PINAKAGRABENG PILA NA NARANASAN MO?
Enrollment

47. ANO MASASABI MO KAPAG SINASABI NG IBA NA "BOBO LASALLE"?
Bitter ka lang kasi di ka pumasa

48. SANG GATE KA MADALAS PUMASOK?
Eng'g Gate

49. MAY ALAM KA BANG CHEERS NG LASALLE?
Lahat pati sa Benilde

50. MASAYA KA BA SA DLSU?
Oo naman!

Thought Patterns

Things that I would want to have right now.

I wanna have the company I planned with Peter

I wanna have the shop I'm planning with Lia

I wanna put up a band with Rani, Nino, Leo, Pao Pangan, and Jay

I wanna write a comedy script for GMA7

I wanna star in that comedy spot with GMA7

I wanna produce an album for Nikki Gil

I wanna produce an album for my band

I wanna produce an album for Church

I wanna live on my own for a while and then have my mom live with me and my family

I wanna be in a place where people understand me... currently, that's not happening

Oh well...

A Random List of What I may really Want or Not Want

1. I wanna get closer to God.
2. I want a high paying day job. (not going below P30,000 net at least)
3. I wanna be a script writer for a witty comedy show for GMA7. (when I say witty I do not mean slapstick)
4. I wanna star in that comedy show for GMA7.
5. I want to put up all three businesses that I've been planning with Peter, Wowoo, and Paolo.
6. I want to put up a family business with Chezka and K. Reggie.
7. I want a laptop.. a MacBook Pro 17".
8. I want an Airport Extreme.
9. I want a 120GB iPod Classic.
10. I want a Canon EF Fisheye lens.
11. I wanna have $80,000,000.00.
12. I wanna get married in 2010.
13. I want a rockin' hard body.
14. Well... kahit mapayat nalang.
15. I wanna buy my mom a nice house in the South.
16. I wanna buy a 2-br Condo in Alabang where I can chill and have a family in.
17. I wanna buy a 2-br Condo in the Fort where I can rent it out and have my utility bills and other expenses paid off of it.
18. I wanna buy a 2-br Condo in Pasig for Chezka and Jay.
19. I wanna buy a 3-br Condo in Sucat for Kuya Reggie and his family.
20. I want a battery grip for my EOS 450D.
21. I want a 12Mbps Broadband speed. (not "up to 12" but, "12")
22. I wanna work in marketing.
23. I wanna work in advertising.
24. I wanna produce my own album.
25. I wanna work in music.
26. I wanna work in any Ayala-owned company. Not just because I want to, but because I know I can succeed.
27. I wanna work for Google.
28. I wanna work for Apple.
29. I wanna Palm Pre.
30. I wanna find "her".

E-Tools Must Haves...

Being on the net virtually everyday makes you try out tons of stuff, rejecting or deleting the ones you don't see the need or use anymore or simply holding on to something until you think you can suddenly let go of.

So I figured that in order to you to survive in the Internet, you should have these two accounts and you are set for life:

A Google Account and a Yahoo Account.

Yahoo has Flickr and YM. Google has a whole shebang of tools and applications that are useful when you need to do stuff: There's Gmail, YouTube, Picasa. I would rather hold on to Gmail than YMail. For one, YMail is pretty easy to hack into and Gmail gives you the chance to set your mail for IMAP; an option that Yahoo only reserves to its premium subscribers.

I figured that if you have at least these two, you are set to explore the web.

How about Hotmail/MSN/Live? Well, you can get Live Access with any non-MSN email address so why get an additional?

Yun lang... back to work...

Moody's Mood For Love - Take 6, Brian McKnight, Patti Austin

I so love this song. I heard this being sung by my cousin Joyce San Mateo. As in... You gotta love it.

RSVP

Répondez, s'il vous plaît... a french phrase which simply means "please reply". It is often printed and seen in invitations especially in Weddings or big formal events but a lot of us Filipinos do not fully understand the concept of RSVP.

I learned the idea way back in college when a friend asked me if I were going to his birthday. As for any other Filipino, you would immediately -- without batting an eyelash -- respond with, "of course" but often times forget or intentionally not go. Upon giving that response, the one who invited me, turned around and started going to each of our friends and ask the same thing. Some would say, "yes", others would beg off while others would give a straight, "no, I can't."

Peter, one of my good friends in college approached me and indirectly confirmed if I were really going to the party. Since it wasn't his party, I said, "I'm not sure, probably not." He scolded me and explained to me that when you tell someone that you are going, that person is expecting that you show up and on extreme cases they would accept a valid back out excuse if either you died or have a bad illness. (of course I am just exaggerating)

Upon that realization, I learned to say YES or NO to an invite. If I said YES, regardless if it were raining or what not, I would move heaven and earth to show up. It is very important to the one who invited that you show up when you said you would.

Though I was aware of the concept and am trying my best to comply whenever given the chance to, I was only able to fully understand it on two occasions last year; my dad's funeral and my sister's wedding day. It hurts pala when the people you expected to show up didn't. Masakit sya kasi you so wanted them to share your joy only to find out they can't even if they said YES to you months before and even confirmed it on 3-4 separate occasions.

Not only is it expensive if you said you'd go and not show up, it is the fact that the person counted on you to show up to celebrate whatever it is they are celebrating and they would want you to share that experience with them.

It really sucks when some people would say they would go but back out on the last minute and, even worse, would simply not show up and not tell you about it.

Goodbye, "Nanay"

My "Nanay" Sally died a little over an hour before New Year's. Mixed emotions. I just saw her on Christmas day and she seemed fine then. I received the text from my mom and I have to admit that I am quite shocked. Though after dad died everybody else who died is not that painful lalo na kasi alam kong naghirap din si Nanay before she died.

Nanghihingalo daw sya pero ayaw magpadala sa ospital. Probably sensed that she'd go soon. She had a full life anyway.

Say "hi" to lolo and dad for me. I love you.

Wishlist... Fulfilled

I finally got my new camera. A Canon EOS 450D Kit. It comes with a... a... a... (lemme get my box)... an EF-S 18-55 IS Lens -I figured IS means Image Stabilizer. I bought it at this place along Pasong Tamo named JT Photo World (from Buendia, it is a little after Inquirer. Got it for Php 40,000 with 0% interest payable in 6 months (not bad) and I am having a blast.

Last night, Chezka and Jay took turns taking shots, showing the result, and explaining to me what they did... "oooh... oo nga no?" (which roughly translates, "I don't see it. They all look the same to me")

So I took a bunch of photos last Sunday (filled up the 4GB card quickly because I set it to RAW+Jpeg which makes two copies of the same shot (not a wise choice since I do not understand SH*T of what a CR2 file does yet) - I was almost convinced to head off to a CD-R King store and get myself one of them 16GB SDHC babies which I already have the money allocated for. Hehehehe

I'll be posting my noob shots in Facebook as soon as I figure out why Facebook keeps on rejecting them.

Next stop, lenses, a Tamrac camera bag, and a Gorillapod tripod.

Oh btw, I also got my self a DiCaPac waterproof camera holder so that I can take pics while on the beach. All I need now is another nifty reason to go to the beach (other than the camera).

Aral na itoooohhh!

A mom's letter to her Daughter

Exactly a week ago, November 30, 2008. My sister, Chezka, got married to her BF for 8 years, Jay. It was a very emotional time for the three of us since we just lost our dad to Cancer last March.

My mom wanted to read this to her on her wedding day but felt that she was not ready then so she asked me to post it on the web through any means possible. I figured that since my blogs are being read constantly and that it is also linked to my Multiply account, this should be the best place to start. I'll then post this in my FB and FS accounts.

Here we go...

----------------------------------

Chezka,
I meant to give you a tribute during your wedding because God had been reminding me to do it and what could be the most appropriate time to do it but on your big day, except that somehow in the stress and the busyness of the day, I failed to do it. Well, I’m not going to stay in that ‘I failed to do it’ state, so here goes.

You graduated from elementary at the age of 10, from high school at the age of 14 (because we purposely slowed you down) as the salutatorian. When you took the entrance test at DLSU, we received a letter from them telling you that you may skip Eng 1, Math 1 and Computer 1, because of the result of your entrance test. Dad did not let you. You finished college at the age of 17. When you graduated(with honors) you were chosen to represent your batch by delivering the thank you speech to your professors. I remember you telling them, “thank you for the scoldings, for the rebukes, for the disciplinary measures, even for the harsh words for they were the irritants that brought out the pearls in us”. I salute you for that, anak. Not many people will be grateful for those. Right after graduation, at least 3 multinational companies called us up and offered you managerial positions if you joined them. Of course Dad and I said no. What wisdom would a 17 year old manager have? Or so we thought. Of course I know now that if we allowed you, you would most probably still have done it right and excelled.

To protect you, Dad and I demanded that you teach in Shekinah for at least 3 years and be a little more mature before you work for the ‘outside world’. As you would always do, you obeyed. You were a very good teacher. At any given time, you knew the pace number of each of the subjects or your students, and the page on each pace that they were working on. But, when you turned 20, you told us that you want to work in a company where we knew no one. You said ‘’ I want to make it on my own. I want people to stop thinking that I am doing well in Shekinah as a student and as a teacher because you are there. We reluctantly agreed. I thought ‘’ Well now, a more powerful part of me will be with you anywhere you go: My prayers.’’

After we said yes, in barely 2 to 3 days, you got a job at HSBC, as a senior assoc. Less than a year on the job, you broke traditions by getting promoted and being sent for a special training in London. Your bosses respected you, your colleagues admired you, your subordinates loved you. You made a difference in your place of work because you brought your faith with you, and people saw the it. As what you have gotten used to doing, you put your heart, mind and soul into whatever you do. You always wanted to do things right to the glory of God.

When Jay started courting you, you told it right away to your confidante: Me. When you wanted to answer him, 2 years after, you told it to Dad and me. Despite Dad’s opposition to the idea (‘’You’re too young’’), you stood by what you think is right. ‘’I am not going to say yes to him unless you allow me. I want your approval, I want it to be legal. I don’t want to hide it from you. Please let me.’’ Then, every rule I gave was followed. (You will only go out on Saturdays, your curfew is 10:00 pm, no out of town trips or dates, etc…) You and Jay did everything by the rule, and so how can we say no, when Jay asked your hand in marriage (one beautiful evening in Dec, accompanied by his family and grandparents.) Even then, you obeyed when Dad moved the date of the wedding by six months (from June to Dec). We all settled for Nov. 30.

There is no grain of hypocrisy in your person. Whatever you did for yourself or for others, you did them sincerely. During strifes, you always chose to be the bigger person: deciding to be humble, forgiving and being forgiven. You are beautiful inside and out. And, this is coming from a mother known to many as “very strict”.

Your wedding was exactly what we prayed for: FABULOUS. Despite the chronology of events that I have enumerated, we both know that we do not DESERVE anything from our God. Whatever He gives us, is given to us, out of His sheer mercy and grace.

But let me tell you this. All your life, you have done nothing except honor Dad and me. And the Bible is very clear, honoring your parents is the secret to long and well lived lives. I’ve seen Jay do the same. The blessings will always be there, protected by God Himself, for you. I am proud of how God has saved you, reared you up, trained you, looked after you, hedged you in, and how you have always acknowledged Him.

I declare, therefore, in Jesus’ most powerful name that God will always bless you both with the desires of your hearts. And He will give you children who are like yourselves: loving and honoring their parents so that the line of blessings will continue. Be happy for the Lord is good all the time.

Mom

Play Hard... Work Smart

"Gastric" Changes

My sister saw this video in YouTube about a lady in the US who lost 155 lbs. in 48 weeks. We talked about it last night and with her perfect choice of words, she got my 80% convinced to have it.

GASTRIC PYPASS, people...

Help me decide.

Here's the YouTube Video. Tell me whatcha think.

Either post a comment or better yet, send me an email at eboy@ebzster.com.

Thanks.

Trying to Close the eGap

For the longest time, I've been looking for an internet service where I can automatically update all of my online profiles without needing to go into each of them. Even if I do have the time and memory to do them all, even with cut-and-paste, what are the chances I still make a mistake, right?

I have two solutions for you:
1. Ping.fm: It's a site that updates vitually every social networking site. Friendster, Multiply, MySpace, Facebook. It even has MSN Messenger (now, Windows Live), YM, AIM...
2. Multiply now has a way of cross-posting. Luckily, I post all of my blogs in Blogger.

Hehehehehe...

Enjoy

Wishlist... Revisited

I took a look at my posts and found out that my Wishlist needs to be updated.

1. An Apple Airport Extreme. (para maging Wireless hotspot bahay ko... pang Wii, PSP, at Laptops ni Jay at ni Chez)
2. An Apple iPod Classic, 160GB
3. Midi to USB Cable (uy.. mura lang ito)
4. An XBOX 360 Elite Edition Console
5. A second (3rd or even 4th) Samsung Syncmaster 225BW LCD Monitor
6. A wireless mighty mouse (if it's compatible with Windows)

So here it is:

1. An Apple Airport Extreme. (para maging Wireless hotspot bahay ko... pang Wii, PSP, at Laptops ni Jay at ni Chez)
NEW 2. An Apple iPod Classic, 120GB (turns out they faced out the 160GB)
3. Midi to USB Cable (uy.. mura lang ito) <- I already have it!!!!!!
4. An XBOX 360 Elite Edition Console
5. A second (3rd or even 4th) Samsung Syncmaster 225BW LCD Monitor
6. A wireless mighty mouse (if it's compatible with Windows) <- I'm happy with my mouse now.
NEW 6. A Canon EOS 450D (Or Rebel XSi).

Again, calling out those who have secret crushes on me. Sana maprioritize yung number 6.

Pothograpi

For some weird reason, I suddenly became interested in Photography (not the friendster type, but the sorta, kinda, pro type). Because of that, I started to look around and for most of my friends who are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO into it. They all say get a Canon EOS.

When Jay, Chezka's fiance, started, he got himself the 350D or the 400D. I forgot however, it was still an EOS and it took nothing but great photos.

Doi of The Doisterboy Experience started with an EOS (I think) and is now using a 35D? (I'm not sure, though). Turns out that the naming scheme of Canon is, the lesser the numbers, the "pro-er" it becomes. SO the hierarchy goes like this: XXXD>XXD>XD. Basta, gets nyo?

Anyway, everyday, I keep on going online to see when I can get the best deals possible. Jay says, the best place to buy a camera here is in Hidalgo. (A street in Manila known for it's camera "stuff") But before I decide to steal money off a bank and head off to Hidalgo, I decided to look onlin for possibly better deals and this is what I got.

Canon EOS 450D EF-S 18-55IS Kit (EUR$469.99 - Php29,448.81)
Canon EOS 450D 18-55mm IS + 55-250mm IS Twin Kit (EUR£649.99 - Php 40,727.32)
Canon EOS 450D (Camera Only) (HK$5,680.00 - Php 34,508.32)
Canon EOS 450D EF-S 18-55IS Kit (HK$6,480.00 - Php 39,368.65)
Canon EOS 450D EF-S 18-55IS Kit (US$799.99 - Php 37,680.28)

Bang for buck, the best place to get my dream camera is by getting it in the UK. Luckily I have a cousin who lives in London. I just wonder how much shipping is. Or how much additional luggage is if they are coming to Chezka's wedding. Same as the HJ and US prices.

Hmmmmmm....

Guys. Try http://www.ping.fm. Update your status in ALL of your social networks from one site. (ie. friendster, multiply, blogger, myspace, facebook, etc.)

Ping.fm is so cool...

Paksyet!!

Last June 15, 2006, I started an excel file where I put in all my earnings and expenses so that I can easily track and budget my money. Now, every sweldo, I open the file, input how much I earned and it auto-computes my expenses, tithes, etc. I can't live without it.

I was just finished paying my last bills before declaring broke until next day when I checked my expense chart.
2006 - approx. 220,000.00 (mid year)
2007 - approx. 380,000.00
running 2008 - approx. 230,000.00

and where is it now? Gone!!!! By buying small trinkets, car accessories, little things that are gone now.

I'm such a loser. Imagine how much I could have now if I saved P1000 per payday. O sige, kahit P500 per payday. Syet.

I'm depressed.

Wishlist...

Unless someone with a ginormous heart decides to give me these things. I bet I'll be able to get them slowly from my own pocket.. demet!

1. An Apple Airport Extreme. (para maging Wireless hotspot bahay ko... pang Wii, PSP, at Laptops ni Jay at ni Chez)
2. An Apple iPod Classic, 160GB
3. Midi to USB Cable (uy.. mura lang ito)
4. An XBOX 360 Elite Edition Console
5. A second (3rd or even 4th) Samsung Syncmaster 225BW LCD Monitor
6. A wireless mighty mouse (if it's compatible with Windows)

A guy can dream right? I need more money...

Girlfriend din kaya? Hmmmm... matatagalan yata ito ng konti...