What Happened in December

This December has been a pretty hectic month (as it is for everyone, I guess.)

The Hong Kong-Macau trip at the end of November with my teammates was fun, but it also meant I had some catching up to do at work as soon as I got back. Once December came though, the company Christmas parties came one after the other. First was the company-wide party/charity fundraiser at PTTC beside the Manila World Trade Center (it was originally supposed to be at the Megatent in Ortigas, but was moved to PTTC less than a week from the event because of some, uh, trouble? in Megatent.) Next, there was my team's planning session/team building/holiday party at the really nice Punta de Fabian resort in Baras, Rizal. It also served as our farewell party for our teammate Mel, who's leaving to take up her Masters in Australia.

In between those two events, I went up to Baguio to attend Karon and Wayne's wedding. This was the third destination-wedding-care-of-former-teammates that I attended this year, after Camille and Marlon's Baguio wedding and Mich and James' Iloilo wedding. Baguio at this time of the year is just so nice. The weather, the food and the sights are awesome, and of course, Wayne and Karon's wedding was really nice too (the food was GREAT!)

Congratulations, Karon and Wayne!

After that, there was the AMG (our group) year-ender party at the New World Hotel, where everyone was dressed well, and the food was great and the party was nice. It's probably the best HP party without alcoholic drinks I've been to (because for some reason, alcoholic drinks aren't allowed at official company parties anymore, effectively killing any chances of the HP Beer Bash ever coming back... Boooooo!)

And that's why a day away from Christmas eve, I'm still not done buying Christmas gifts for my godkids and housemates. (Actually, it's really because I'm not a big fan of Christmas shopping and I'm a lazy shopper... but why say that when you can claim to be busy attending parties?)

And A Delayed Iloilo/Guimaras Post

It was my first time going to the Visayas where Boracay wasn't in the itinerary. The best part about this trip? The plane ticket cost just 300 pesos, round trip! (Just kidding, the best part of course was seeing Mich and James get married. :D)

Iloilo is a great place to go binge eating. Seriously. I could eat La Paz Batchoy for breakfast and merienda everyday, and then go to Dulgies for dessert. Lunch and dinner would be anywhere that served seafood and chicken inasal. I couldn't believe that a plateful of oysters was just 40 pesos!

The (former) Team

The girls

The boys

Then, there was Miag-ao Church, which was just majestic to look at.

Miag-ao is about an hour away from Iloilo City. We hired a van from SM City to get there, and it was definitely worth the travel. The facade of the church was the most beautiful I've ever seen. the whole structure was very impressive, and reminded me a bit of the Paoay Church. I'm not big on going to church, but going out to see churches and other religious sites (like Angkor Wat, the Wawel Cathedral, and the Church of St. George) has always been a big reason why I love traveling.

After Iloilo, we went on a 15-minute boat ride to Guimaras Island. Guimaras was a lot of fun too. We stayed at Raymen Beach Resort in Alibuhod, Nueva Valencia. The beach in Alibuhod is really, really nice. The sand is really fine, the beach was not rocky at all, and the view around the beach (especially during sunset) is just beautiful. We also rented a small boat to take us around the island, where we saw more sandy beaches, unbelievably huge Lapu-lapus, and a nice small cave reachable by water near Baras beach:

Also in Guimaras? MANGOES. Guimaras mangoes are said to be the sweetest in the world, and yeah, these are the best mangoes I've ever eaten. It's sweet and juicy and huge and the texture of the flesh is really perfect for digging in. I bought 2 kilos of the mangoes, and a couple of packs of mango bars made by Trappist monks. The only sucky thing was that I didn't buy more haha.

Camille & Marlon's Baguio Wedding, pt 2

[April 24]

Kasal na nila Marlon and Camille! Let me just start by saying that it was a really fun wedding, from watching Marlon and then Camille marching down the aisle to the cocktails and the fotoloco booth to the wedding reception/party to the after dinner drinks.

I woke up at around 8 am, and had breakfast at the PNKY Cafe where we finally met up with the rest of our office friends, who left Manila the previous night and arrived in Baguio a couple of hours after midnight. The girls went to get their hair done somewhere in the city while some of the guys went to the Good Shepherd Convent to buy bottles of ube jam, peanut brittle, and other stuff you buy from a convent filled with pastry and dessert-making experts for pasalubong. Some of us went to Session Road to have lunch. We decided to eat at Pizza Volante because we heard that the pizza was pretty good there.

At around 1PM, we all* proceeded to the Baguio Cathedral (aka Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral) for the wedding. The wedding ceremony itself was really nice. Baguio Cathedral is big and looks really nice, and the mass went by quickly.

*all except Marj, na naiwanan pala sa kwarto kasi ang tagal magbihis... LOL

After the mass, we taxied our way to the Baguio Country Club where cocktails were being served. Since the reception wasn't gonna start until 6 pm, we went up to BCC's restaurant to hang out, and then we grilled Enzo about hot topics involving him (oo, kasama na ang sweldo dun. lol)

We also went crazy on the fotoloco booth, halos 20% ng pics jan sa album are pictures of our group haha.

The reception started at about 6pm, when the entourage danced their way to the middle of the ballroom (except kay Sheryl Tan na naglakad lang, boooo!)

The food was great, I think I ate about a plateful of the fish fillet.

Then, games! The guys had to blow balloons up until they popped. The guy who doesn't pop his balloon gets to be the one to put on the garter to the girl who "won" the girls' game. The "winning" guy was Philip, who we suspected of pretending to not be able to blow the balloon hahaha...

The girls' game was Trip to Jerusalem/Musical Chairs, but instead of racing each other to sit on the chairs, the girls had to race each other to grab a banana that was placed in between the guys' legs. Daisie was extra excited for the game, she squeezed two(2!) bananas into mush. Don't use your imagination too much. Anyway, the twist was that right before Philip was to put the garter on the winning girl's leg, they blindfolded him and the girl was replaced by someone's grandma. We were all very happy about this. (Well, all except for Philip I guess.)

After the wedding, we all went back to PNKY to change before heading out to have some drinks at the nearby bar. We were supposed to go to Nevada Square but we Karon and Wayne found out that their dress code didn't allow people to wear shorts or slippers, which more than half of us were wearing that night (hindi gaanong malamig sa Baguio nun eh.) After the drinks, some went to sleep, while the rest of us stayed at PNKY's front porch and drank the bignay wine that we got as a souvenir from the wedding, all along exchanging ghost stories, since Baguio at night is scary, and did I mention that the creepy white house in Baguio was right there in front of us?

Congratulations ulit, Camille and Marlon! That was definitely a great, memorable way to start your married life! Cheers!

More pics over here: http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/83/Camille_and_Marlons_Baguio_Wedding_part_2

Camille & Marlon's Baguio Wedding, pt 1

[April 23] Our first day in Baguio for Camille and Marlon's wedding. We took the 1:15 AM Vicotry Liner bus, which left the Edsa-Pasay station at about 1:45 AM. The bus ride was really quick, we arrived in Baguio just 4 hours and some minutes later at around 6am. We went straight to PNKY:

(an awesome bed and breakfast with the Baguio haunted house* right in front of it, and our home for the next 2 nights) to leave our bags. Check in time wasn't until 2pm in the afternoon, so we decided to grab a nice breakfast at the first place we saw that was open, Glenn 50's Diner, just a block away from PNKY.

I ordered Fish and Chips, and it felt like I was eating a whole school of dory. For 100-something pesos, it was a lot.

We lucked out on Joseph's mom's friend having their house blessed that day, so we went to Joseph's mom's friend's house to join the house blessing, including the best part of ceremony: free lunch. We also went to SM Baguio because Airis (aka The Face) wanted to look for a place where the girls could get their hair done before the wedding. After SM Baguio, we took a quick stroll along Session Road, where we had a cone of ice cream (we had Razon's halo-halo earlier at SM.) We burned off the calories by biking at Burnham Park.

I haven't biked in a really loooong time (grade school pa yata ako nung huli akong nagbike.) I think I know why I haven't ridden a bike for such a long time. Those bike seats aren't very comfortable. Now I know what it feels like to be raped. Masakit.

Anyway.

After an hour of biking, we headed straight to Forest House for late dinner. The food was great, and the place was really nice too. I had sesame crusted fish fillet with Asian mango salsa. I got a surprise birthday cake to end the meal. Thanks Forest House and friends!

After that, we went back to PNKY, all tired but full. Great first day! Ikakasal na sila Camille and Marlon bukas!

More pics here:

http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/82/Camille_and_Marlons_Baguio_Wedding_part_1

*a quick google search says that it's actually the Laperal House, built in the 1920/30's by the Laperal (duh) clan. It has since been abandoned but some sources say that the house was bought by Tito Lucio (Tan) about 3 years ago. Even saw some pics of the house's interiors. It looks nice from the inside!

25 Isn't Quarter Life When You're Crawling Fast Enough

I was trying to think of something witty to say about turning 25 but I just can't squeeze anything out of my brain right now. I guess I'm just thankful that I didn't spend my birthday at the doctor's clinic or in the ER like last year.

Oh, and my dad sent me a greeting and his birthday wish for me via text (and I quote): I wish u will find ur lifetime partner soon." HAHAHA. Jeez dad, I turned 25, not 40.

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In last year's birthday blog post, I was congratulating Camille and Marlon on their engagement. This year, I'm congratulating them for getting married last Saturday! It was a fun wedding and I had a great time in Baguio. I'll talk about that and post pics in the next few days.

Up next will be Mich and James in another destination wedding! Ang daming ikakasal! I guess my dad does have a point...

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I'm on training now for a new role, and I'm actually excited about it. I'll be managing a new application (you know, managing it in a technical way. Heh.) I just hope I don't bring any bad luck to this role/application. In other work-related news, I am now an OCA (Oracle Certified Associate)!

Gotta update that resume then.

Traveling and Budgeting

Funny how last January, I was complaining about not having enough trips planned yet for the year. Fast forward to now, and I've got Boracay, Baguio, Singapore, Iloilo and Guimaras, Batanes, and Baguio all lined up.

Woot! Cheers to airline promos! Ubos na naman ang pera ko!

The Iloilo (with a planned sidetrip to Guimaras) and two Baguio trips are actually for weddings of friends/current & former officemates (Mich and James, Marlon and Camille, and Karon and Wayne), so those are pretty much planned out. The Iloilo flight is probably the cheapest flight I've ever paid for at 300 pesos (round trip!!!) from Cebu Pacific. And Guimaras is less than an hour's boat ride from Iloilo City, so that trip is definitely a steal. Baguio is a 7-hour bus ride, so we actually haven't planned those ones yet.

Last January when Cebu Pac had another seat sale, I was asking (a.k.a. begging) my office friends to go to Bohol/Singapore with me, but not enough people bit the offer for various different reasons... So when we heard that another team in the office was going to Boracay for their team building activity, Pat, Mats & Becca, Rommel, and I decided to tag along with them (we're crashing in on the other team's team building trip since they found discounted PAL flights and cheap accommodations there. LOL.)

And then last week, my college/office friend Mia was planning for a Singapore trip and found discounted flights on Singapore Airlines, so when she told me about it and found that an IT Fair and the Great Singapore Sale was going to happen around the same dates of the trip, and Mike confirmed that Universal Studios SG is now open, I jumped in on it too. We're planning on just crashing at our former officemates/currently Singapore-based friends' apartment to save on costs. Thanks for not objecting to our planned invasion, Ben, Jyue, Mike and Geebee!

Finally, we've been planning/trying to plan a trip to Batanes for several months now. We even have a discussion on Google Wave for it (because we're dripping with technogeeky hipster coolness as it is. Heh.), but found most travel options either too expensive (14k + on Seair, or a chartered flight from Tuguegarao), or too um, hardcore (boat from Curimao, Ilocos Norte, anyone?) So when Seair released their promo fares in time for this year's Philippine Travel Expo, we were finally able to finalize the dates of the trip. Woohoo!

So... now I really have to work hard to stay on my monthly budget (also: I guess now have to start setting a monthly budget) and reduce unnecessary expenses. As a first step, magce-Century Tuna at Ligo Sardines na lang ako araw-araw.

Also, kailangang humanap ng role na malaki ang on-call pay.

I Am now The Jack Bauer Power Hour

So yesterday was an awful day to have a birthday... After getting an allergic reaction to the pain killers, I went back to the hospital to get treated. I went to the ER where they gave me two shots (on my arm and on the vein in my hand.) After getting the shots, I fell asleep for a bit till the doctor woke me up and signed my release form, along with the advice that I can't eat seafood, chicken, dairy products, and chocolates. I also can't drink soda AND BEER for 1 week. dammit.

Good thing my mom cooked spaghetti and adobo and my dad grilled some ribs. My favorite comfort food. ;-)

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Another set of (former) office friends got engaged last weekend. Congratulations Camille and Marlon! I smell a Baguio wedding! :D

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So the good news (about me, of course...) is my eyes aren't swollen anymore, and even if the pain killers made my eyes swell, it actually worked because I got to sleep without being woken up by the pain from me rubbing into the rashes. AND I get to work from home until I'm not contagious anymore.

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Finally, in honor of my 24th birthday, I'm changing my byline from:
Random Spittings of a frustrated musician/writer/tennis player who has yet to meet his quarter-life crisis (or if he has, then this frustrated musician/writer/tennis player has a terribly short life.)

to:
Random Spittings of a frustrated musician/writer/tennis player who has yet to meet a quarter-life crisis he didn't vaguely blog about.

(It's the truth!)

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Now playing: Portishead - We Carry On
via FoxyTunes

Chances and Choices (And All The Good Things That Fall In Between)

I went to my friend and former officemate Vlam's wedding yesterday at the Grace Christian Church in QC, and since I live way down in the south and the church is all the way up in the northern part of Metro Manila (and because I am Alvin), I was late for the wedding (I went with George, Mich, James and Becca.) If it wasn't for a vehicular accident that caused an awful traffic jam on the way there, we would've made it just in time.

At least we made it to the wedding ceremony... when Joseph, Geebee and Camille arrived, the bride and groom were already outside the church, lol. Apparently they got really lost on the way there. And when I say really lost, I mean they were supposed to be in Grace Village in QC, but somehow they managed to go to the newly-opened SM Marikina. (Their original alibi was that Geebee was having some problems with her, uh, Movement. Bowel Movement.)

Anyway, we all got to the wedding reception in Edsa Shang on time. The food was great, and the whole event was just awesome. The night started with the newlyweds singing a Chinese song to welcome everyone, then more singing from their friends and family (in English), and more singing from Vlam (pagbigyan nyo na, wedding day nya to...) just before he gave his message to all the guests. Congratulations Vlam and Janice! Enjoy your honeymoon in Europe :D

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Speaking of former officemates, two more CDW teammates just became former officemates last week. Good luck Mathet and Sheberly (that's Sheryl's party gurl name, lol.) See you around! (since you two are actually one of the very few who resigned from our company and will not be going to Singapore.)

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The last grand Slam of the year, the US Open in New York, is coming to its climax. The women's final will be between American Serena Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic. i was rooting for Elene Dementieva (who won the gold in Beijing) over Jankovic, but she lost in straight sets on their semifinal match. Serena will be going for her 9th Grand Slam, while World #2 JJ will be going for her first Grand Slam title. Whoever wins the final match will also take over the #1 ranking from Ana Ivanovic, who flopped to a second-round loss to #188-ranked Julie Coin of France. Ana will go down to #3 in the rankings no matter what happens in the final tomorrow morning (later tonight in New York).

On the men's side, defending champ Roger Federer is trying to redeem his sub-par (by his standards) year at the US Open. He's already passed his big semifinal hurdle by beating Serbian Novak Djokovic in 4 sets, and now he's waiting for the winner of the Rafael Nadal-Andy Murray match to see who he'll be facing in the final. I would've thought that current #1 Nadal will win that match, but as of this writing, Murray has the upper hand, leading Nadal 6-2, 7-6, 2-3.*

*Update: Murray beat Nadal in 4 sets to face Federer in the final.

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Now playing: The Magic Numbers - I See You, You See Me
via FoxyTunes

Awoo!

Things have been pretty busy over here the past week. As I've mentioned earlier in my previous post, some relatives are coming here from the US to visit us and to attend my cousin/their brother/uncle/son Kuya Ren's wedding. We've been packed with people and children over here, and with just a week away from the wedding day, the days were pretty hectic (with wedding rehearsals, trips to the mall, some shopping, reunion dinners, and even a weekend beach getaway.)

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Two Fridays ago, I caught the movie 300 with my cousins, brother, his wife and my sister.


That was one hell of an awesome movie! Aaaahhhhh! Love it! Awwoooo!

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Last night, We attended the wedding of my Cousin, Kuya Ren and his new wife Penie. Congratulations guys! They're now in Boracay.

I got to stay at the Manila Hotel the night before the wedding too, which was nice enough. The lobby looked really beautiful, but the rooms were just ok*. The ceremony was held the the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, both places very charming. The ceremony and the wedding reception went by quickly too, and the food was great!

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10 minutes ago, I tried driving my brother's car. And you know what I found out? I don't know how to drive a stick shift anymore. Waaaaah!!!

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Last Friday to Saturday, we went to the beach in Batangas to have some R&R just before the wedding. While the beach in San Juan doesn't compare to Boracay, it was nice enough and the waters were really, really, really clear! We took a boat ride and it was amazing because we got a great view of the beach and the hills and mountains behind it, while at the same time getting the chance to just view the crystal clear water right below us. We could practically see the sea floor! The resort itself was really nice too. The last time I was there I came with my officemates, and we checked in late and really just played card games drank the whole night, so we didn't get to enjoy the beach a whole lot. This time was definitely more memorable.

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It is beginning to get really hot now! AAAAhhhhh time to hit the beaches again!

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Last Sunday, Daniela Hantuchova won her second career title at the Indian Wells tournament in California! Woohoo! It's another Tier 1 title for Daniela (Tier 1s are the next most important tournaments after the 4 Grand Slams) and the win lifts her ranking up to 12 in the world! :D

Here's to hoping Daniela grabs more titles this year and continues her assault to the top 10!

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*had it been the 1980s

Creative, yung Zen Vision: M, yung White!

Nice, isn't it? :-DAnd I got it at a really good bargain too, I asked my cousin Kuya Ren to buy it for me while he's in the US, and that cut the cost by about 5k php. (Plus I payed him in pesos and I think the peso has gotten stronger versus the dollar from the time he bought it to the time he arrived in the Philippines hehe)

Anyway, Kuya Ren is here for his wedding this coming March 17! The rest of the family will be arriving from the US on the 12th for the wedding. The coming weeks should be eventful :P

*note: no, that picture isn't really the unit I own, but I'm too lazy to transfer the pics from our cam to the pc, so I just googled an image haha.

I am picky.

There are a lot of things that you will never get me to eat. Even if your life depended on it.

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Last weekend my high school friend Kate had her wedding, and the real awesome thing was that the wedding was held at our old high school. We came from a Catholic parochial school, so our Academy was managed by the local parish church. The church I'm talking about is an old Spanish-era church that houses the Bamboo Organ (the only one in existence anywhere in this world.) In fact, every year our school hosts the Bamboo Organ Festival, where classical musicians from other countries visit our school and play with the Organ with all their heart. The best thing about it, of course, is that we don't have classes on the first day of the Festival. But I digress.

Anywayz, congrats Kate and Eric! Have a good life ahead of you, and sorry for (gulp) being late :)

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I want to study a foreign language, but I'm not sure if I'll ever have free time for it. Is there a Czech/Slovakian Embassy here in Manila? Learning my Slavics should come in handy when I eventually meet Daniela and Nicole

1 to 6

1. It's hard to stand by your principles if the ones you have are conflicting. Or shallow. Or both.

2. I got myself a pair of glasses a couple of weeks ago. I wear it for full geek effect.

3. Going to the beach next weekend! Woohoo! (Even if I had to be a little a sneaky to my team lead to get his permission.. hahaha)

4. I need to renew my driver's license soon coz It's gonna expire soon... I hope I don't fail the drug test... =)

5. The parents went to the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan last Holy Week holiday, and I got to see some of the pictures they took of the place, and I must say that that Hundred Islands thing, they look pretty good...

6. More wedding news: My cousin Kuya Renen is getting married next year! Him and the whole family in Chicago will be coming home for the wedding next year here in Manila. My other cousin Kuya Russ is also getting married very soon. Congrats! (and good luck, hehehe =D )

Take Me Out

I have to take a vacation soon. I can't believe I don't have any out-of-town beach trip planned in the next few months. I hate this. Somebody take me out.

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Last night, I had dinner with my college friends at NSG. We try to keep up with each other by having dinner once every two weeks. Earlier in the week I met up with some of my high school friends at the Starbucks place in Las Pinas, I try to meet up with them once every two months because I'm a lazy bastard (Heh.)The big news is that our friend Kate will be getting hitched soon (in the next few months of 2006)

Congrats Kate and Boyfriend/Future Husband! :)

(I was trying to lobby for the ring-bearer role but I think they already got some freakin kid for the part. Daymn.)