2009 | recap

2009 year has been a banner year - new work, new friends, deeper friendships, greater challenges, good decisions, bad decisions.  it was a good ... make that - a great year despite of the economic crisis, the A(H1N1) and the calamities.  its touch to remember everything that has happened but i'll take me back as far as i can remember.

photography.  i learned and grew a lot as a photographer this year - mostly through the patient guidance of more experienced photographer friends.  i also celebrated my first year in photography and i realized my inkling towards portraiture breaking the monotony with landscapes and travel photography.  i finally went on my first solo shoot and eventually found it wasn't as scary as i thought it would be to shoot solo.  this photography journey has taken me to a world i never realized i would vastly enjoy and while i have so much to learn still, i am happy that i have learned as much as i can in 2009 and hopefully everyone can enjoy the ride with me.

friends.  God has blessed me with an abundance of "real" friends.  i have been lucky to have met permanent friends from high school, college, bench and intel.  it sometimes is difficult to see everyone and go to all get togethers but i know you guys know "i try."  this year, i found new friends and deeper friendships even when i wasn't looking.  my photography family has been instrumental in my growth as a photographer.  i found true friends yet again.

career.  yes, i finally exited from a company i've been with for the last eleven plus years.  i've learned so much from intel and i have no regrets whatsoever from leaving it behind.  God has provided me with a job as quickly as i could have hoped for.  a great new and challenging job.  i gotta feeling that the road ahead is going to be an exciting one.  2010 is gonna be "get richer" year.

family.  so far so good.  my nephew is six and next year, he's gonna celebrate his seventh.  its gonna be swell, i'll make sure of that.  he's grown up so much that pretty soon he's not going to be our baby anymore.  he's enjoying going to school in don bosco where i graduated so its all good.

fitness.  what the hell is that? hahaha ok, for the nth time, i'm gonna go take care of this in 2010.  Yummy is the goal in 2010.  Yummy.  Yummy.  Yummy.

plans.  there's going to be a lot lot of changes in 2010.  no sense pre-empting it so they're going to be part of my blog entries as they happen.

travel.  ilocos.  thailand.  cambodia.  vietnam.  nothing much to say except - FUN!  next year, sydney baby! yahoo!

social life.  this i gotta say - "whew.  i can barely keep up."

i'm looking forward to 2010 because i get the feeling its going to be a BIG year.  its going to be great and its making me super excited.  God has been eternally good.  

Thank you 2009 for a wonderful year.

2009 | recap

2009 year has been a banner year - new work, new friends, deeper friendships, greater challenges, good decisions, bad decisions. it was a good ... make that - a great year despite of the economic crisis, the A(H1N1) and the calamities. its touch to remember everything that has happened but i'll take me back as far as i can remember.

photography. i learned and grew a lot as a photographer this year - mostly through the patient guidance of more experienced photographer friends. i also celebrated my first year in photography and i realized my inkling towards portraiture breaking the monotony with landscapes and travel photography. i finally went on my first solo shoot and eventually found it wasn't as scary as i thought it would be to shoot solo. this photography journey has taken me to a world i never realized i would vastly enjoy and while i have so much to learn still, i am happy that i have learned as much as i can in 2009 and hopefully everyone can enjoy the ride with me.

friends. God has blessed me with an abundance of "real" friends. i have been lucky to have met permanent friends from high school, college, bench and intel. it sometimes is difficult to see everyone and go to all get togethers but i know you guys know "i try." this year, i found new friends and deeper friendships even when i wasn't looking. my photography family has been instrumental in my growth as a photographer. i found true friends yet again.

career. yes, i finally exited from a company i've been with for the last eleven plus years. i've learned so much from intel and i have no regrets whatsoever from leaving it behind. God has provided me with a job as quickly as i could have hoped for. a great new and challenging job. i gotta feeling that the road ahead is going to be an exciting one. 2010 is gonna be "get richer" year.

family. so far so good. my nephew is six and next year, he's gonna celebrate his seventh. its gonna be swell, i'll make sure of that. he's grown up so much that pretty soon he's not going to be our baby anymore. he's enjoying going to school in don bosco where i graduated so its all good.

fitness. what the hell is that? hahaha ok, for the nth time, i'm gonna go take care of this in 2010. Yummy is the goal in 2010. Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.

plans. there's going to be a lot lot of changes in 2010. no sense pre-empting it so they're going to be part of my blog entries as they happen.

travel. ilocos. thailand. cambodia. vietnam. nothing much to say except - FUN! next year, sydney baby! yahoo!

social life. this i gotta say - "whew. i can barely keep up."

i'm looking forward to 2010 because i get the feeling its going to be a BIG year. its going to be great and its making me super excited. God has been eternally good.

Thank you 2009 for a wonderful year.

life | spontaneous

i think those unplanned, spur of the moment gimiks are the funnest.  no nothing.  just meet up and see where the road takes you.  in this case, a late afternoon call and me living up to being "kaladkarin" saying "yes" without a thought.  it really is what makes for great adventures.

somebody says tagaytay, nobody say no.  we're used to where that is having worked adjacent to it for x number of years it feels like its just a stone's throw away.  great thing about the road trip is that yance's driving (miss nya daw mag-drive e) so ali and i just sit back & relax.  jowell drive's in a pump-no pump gas (i bet ano yang iniisip nyo hahaha) motion its giving me a headache.  ali and i make fun of him and we laugh our hearts out.  they keep talking about BNO and jowell mimics this radio dj, and i sit their laughing at his antics wondering wtf he is talking about.  i make a mental note to check out the radio 6-10pm monday to thursday.  not really a radio fan these days cause all the yakking is annoying.

we were starving when we reached buon giorno at cliffhouse and the place is packed.  it was 930pm already and it the breeze was pretty cold.  you gotta love this kind of weather this time of the year.  2 pizzas and 2 pastas and we were stuffed.  it was a miracle to have eaten so much all the while laughing as we made fun and reminisced about a lot of things.  nothing beats great conversations with friends.  its one of the things we've been good at - picking where we left off.  like it was just yesterday that we were together.

its amazing how many people there are in tagaytay.  i think everyone is taking the opportunity to have a reprieve from the busy city life.  cool weather really a bonus.  we decide to settle for starbuck's down at paseo de sta rosa which is closer a drive for trixy (and R).  adding trixy to the mix creates a different round of comedic stories.  we laugh like we were the only people at starbuck's and we don't care.  i realize we had our moments, our stories back at our intel days.  it was a different kind of fun back then.  and while we've settled to meeting different people now that we've journeyed to different paths, we retain the friendship and it feels like its something that is lasting.

*not gonna take the time to re-read anymore.  my thoughts are scattered.  i'm lacking sleep.

life | relief & simplicity

the trip to the ENT finally ended my breathing problem.  nasal polyps gone.  it wasn't a pleasant procedure but i'm still glad i had it because i swear i can breathe so much better now.  the downside of it is that he put me on prednisone (a corticosteroid) for the next three weeks.  the stuff that can make you fat which incidentally defeats the purpose of the fat burner i'm taking.  the other downside is that i have to stop using the fat burner because it'll be too much for my poor liver to handle.  prednisone also cause muscle pain, which explains why my legs have been a pain since last night.  bummer.  at least i can breathe much better.

when i went home last night, i saw kids playing in the streets.  i chuckled when i saw one little girl on a makeshift crutch who shouted "darna" and like the filipino superhero, dislodged the crutch and flew off.  they were playing heroes and villains.  kids.  how simple and uncomplicated life is to them - detached from the spoils and the harsh realities of life.  its the one thing i miss being a kid - having simple joys with even the make-believe games.  being a grown-up subjects you to more ups and downs imaginable - rollecoaster ride talaga.  no matter how much you try to be mr. brightside, there will always be times when its too much.  life isn't simple anymore, its a complicated mess.

life | complications

life indeed has a way of making things more exciting.

one member of the team sent a letter of resignation this morning.  all reasons valid - promotion, office location.  no reason to get in the way of someone else's dreams.  i said congratulations of course.  the timing sucks though because its yearend and it'd be a miracle to find a replacement in a month's time.  i need to figure this out ... now. uhmm ok, maybe tomorrow cause my brain at this hour feels like jell-o.

in one meeting with a long-time supplier about a previous transaction, things got a bit heated (at least from his side) when he got emotional.  he was interpreting all that i was saying in all the wrong ways - older that he was, i was also in a position of power so i had to reaffirm that.  being emotionless is helpful - easier to think, no words to take back.  gotta love self-control.

people at the office wants me to host this year's christmas party.  good grief.  are they serious?  do they really know what they're getting themselves into?  i warned them.  hahaha

taking the day off today to go back to my ENT.  so i think junior checked me up the first, then a reliever the second and senior the third time.  senior says he can do the nasal polypecty (?) at the clinic, no need for an OR.  hurrah to that i guess.  its an outpatient procedure so i'm up and about right after ... hopefully, cause i have to drive myself in & out of the hospital.

fun times.  merits a charlie chan chicken pasta. yumness.

life | letting go

events of the past few days made me feel like i'm riding a rollercoaster again.  its an emotional thrill and yet one that gets me spiraling between happy and sad.  one of the drawbacks of being an OC is that i tend to obsessively overanalyze things - even the mundane ones.  you don't realize it yet but you know you have to starting walking away.  i'm thankful that i have friends who bear with the constant whining, the same-old-stories and the drama.  having "real" friends is a blessing.  it helps get you through the day.

after 7 years of being a member, i finally decided to cancel my gym membership.  it did became a habit at some point but life gets in the way (or so that's my excuse) and i found excuses not to go.  kakapagod e (ROFL!).  seriously, i have a plan.  i always have a plan B except that i haven't put it into motion yet.  the good news at least for now is that i get 24K more money in 2010 (uhmm, make that 22K cause of some stupid rule).  that's one additional travel for me! yay!

its mom's bday today.  i think she's hitting the big 7-0.  one thing i am very thankful for is that at this age, mom is still very much active and strong.  i pray everyday for health and safety of my family.  i'm thankful for having a responsible mom, despite being overbearing sometimes, has single-handedly raised us.  having a dead-beat dad (there i said it) probably helped make me a better person (silver lining! LOL!).  family = not perfect.  i've dealt with it a long time ago.

all things considered, life is great.  now if only i could have you, life would be perfect.  maybe.

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life | in the fast lane

so i can't remember the last time i wrote something, and its not because of a lack of things to say.  there are plenty but i guess i have been feeling a bit lazy putting things into words.  christmas is literally around the corner i wonder where did the time go?  i haven't done any christmas shopping yet and its going to be rush rush again this year.  boohoo.

work has been quite steady.  there's occasionally some hiccups but they remain manageable.  the best thing about december workwise are the bonuses.  the added moolah makes you feel doubly rich and you have an opportunity to buy something you've been eyeing for ... say the last few days.  it takes a lot of self-control not to just go and burn those hard-earned moolah one time.  incidentally, a friend decided to sell his old cam and upgrade to a new one.  he was feeling a bit guilty about it because it sort of wiped out his bonus.  but you could see how excited and HAPPY we was holding his new cam.  how could that be bad?  we do need some self-indulgence from time to time.  and its not as if this purchase is going to go to waste, it is an investment.  in his hands, can definitely turn into gold.  wise move if i may say so.

been spending a lot of time with friends lately.  social life is at an all-time high.  i'm gonna have to keep up with the vitamins and figure out how to get better sleep.  the zombie look isn't really working for me well.  LOL.  had dinner at this place called SALA the other night.  food was quite good.  would have gone well with a glass of red but had to settle for red grape juice.  feasted on a box of royce's au lait as well.  those things are worth every peso i paid for.  chinese dinner last saturday at zongs - one dish - hot prawn salad.  major yum.  =)

going back to the doc (again) for another follow-up but from last i get the feeling he's going to tell me i need the minor surgery thing.  bummer.

photography.  i think i may have found a way to make money from it.  i need to beef up my portfolio for it first.  but we'll see if i can squeeze it my already busy busy life.

2010 still looks promising.  a change is coming.

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