’twas in the summer of 2005, april 18 to be exact;
where 48 individuals of various personalities and backgrounds
found themselves lumped together at the farthest end of the
company room awaiting their training

familiar faces, not necessarily friends grouped together..
forming little clans here and there .. mayhap, a mini west side story scenario
mini-groups based on the college/university the individual graduated
biases and hearsay beliefs that were handed down from generation-to-generation arise
thus, creating a faction even from the start
’twas nobody’s fault actually..it just happened and came to be..
no one tried to stop it..no one tried to hide it..
funny how we still co-existed even then.. hmm..a tough bunch aren’t we?

in between all of these, existed the individuals that decided to be by themselves..
they belong to none of the clans.. they don’t respond unless asked..
they do what they do.. but they were considerably civil and sometimes friendly to
everyone else..

it didn’t mean that we didn’t get along.. we do get along.. sometimes,
most of the times depending on the people we were with..
see? some people we really are.. we are so unique to the point of being picky..
ehehhee… but with good intentions..

we got along so much that heated discussions were spent on religion, current events and even the
decision on the batch name..
everyone of us will always remember how the batch name forty-eight came to be..ehhee..

it doesn’t mean that we are individuals that have very bad socializing skills…
bonding activities that involved all of us deem impossible.. what with our large number
and most specially our very unique individualities, where one has many things to say while
others just doesn’t say anything at all.. hehehheeh

but still there are memories to cherish..of the 4 years in our company..
we only celebrated 1 christmas party!!!heehehe..
among others.. (what are the others? hmm..ehehhe)

one interesting thing about us is that we’ve come a long away..
so long that some went on their own way finding fulfillment in other countries,
in other companies..
the 48 individuals back in 2005 became 18 survivors now in 2009..
a rate that is very fast compared to other batches..

just last saturday, we celebrated our 4th anniversary..
with only 18 remaining people, we’ve planned to celebrate..
and celebrate we should.. who knows who’s next to go?
to celebrate the coming and going of friends, batchmates, colleagues..
a reminder that who and what we have around us do not remain constant…
that there would always be change.. that all we have to do is survive..

we weathered it all and shall weather it still..
ganbatte to us 18!!! cheers to the rest of the 30 friends who
have gone before us finding their own success!!!

thanks 48!!!
in another year is our 5th anniversary.
how many shall we be?

no one including me wants to be sick..
and in the most crucial of times, sickness/fatigue/stress caught up with me and here i am at home, bumming out..and why crucial?????
i have deadlines!!!!!!!! waaaaaaaaaaaaa.. as in deadlines and i am so so dead!! (ehhee..metaphorically speaking)
Oh sickness, you must be kidding me right?
what got into you that you make me ill at this point in time, huh?
can’t you do it on weekends? why weekdays? ehehhee..
tsk tsk tsk.. whew!!!
well, my fever started yesterday late afternoon and it just came out of nowhere..
i started feeling chilly all over and i felt so weak…my head ached, my stomach is in pain, my muscles are fatigued..ahhhh.. just bad.. hehhe
what to do? nothing.. just doing my best to be better..
drinking lots of water, eating lots of fruits, resting (sitting in front of my pc includes resting, right?hehehe)
well, i’m getting better now, and hopefully i can go back to work tomorrow..

ja ne.. i wish that everyone will always be healthy and well..
you don’t want to be sick do you? ehehe..
all healthy wishes for all of you

Aug.23, another saturday, another game of badminton with the execs.
And together with friends, we had our afternoon game played and sweated out.
A day before my birthday… nothing to be expected really. But came my surprise, when sweethearts dhunve and eloise, gave me a present!!!
wow.. totally unexpected… they gave me a boobie-mug..ahahhahaa
it’s a mug with a print of a girl and an extended boobie.. hahaha..it was funny.
didn’t match my character but intended for fun.. Thanks again to dhunve and eloise, for your joint effort..

And the day couldn’t get any better..hehehe..we were about to go home, when my friend jo-ann told me
that michelle was going to btc to look at something.  now that  time i was already hungry and thinking
that they might grab something to eat at btc, i then said yes.
Hmmm..now at BTC, while we were looking at some shoes in one  of the boutiques, i then asked jo-ann about the time since i had plans to go to SM and it was getting dark and they didn’t mention anything about eating either..waaaa..ahahaha..
and here comes the surprise, jo-ann then reluctantly told me that we were supposed to have dinner at 10 doves street!!! aaahahaha..my plans for SM scared them for their surprise might not have been carried out..ahahhaha i had them there didn’t i? but then, my craving for revenge on the restaurants’ Decadence cake overrode my SM plans..(this was because the during the first time we ate there, i wasn’t able to finish even half of the cake… huhuuh) ahhahha
and so i said – to 10 doves street we go..ahhahahhahaa.. their cake was just too sweet to ignore..ahhaa
and besides, the 3 of us already had plans to go there again.. So dream come true for all of us..aahahhaa

At 10 doves street, we had our fill of soup,salad,sandwich and the most awaited Decadence Cake!!!!
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.. totally sweet, chocolatey (to the fats – Whatever!!!! hahahaha) and sumptuous..yum yum yum.. aahhahaa.. and i thought that this was already their gift to me..ahahhaa
but there was something else..dandandandan!!!! hora!!! rat!!!!!!!!!! no! mouse!!!! hahhaa
i was so happy that they gave me a mouse for the laptop..ahhhahaa.. i have been planning to buy one but they beat me to it (that was one of the things i was planning to buy at SM..ahahhahaaa…) So much thank you for the both of them.. I’m so touched…. touch me more..awhahhahahaha
After rounds of picture taking with the gifts..ehehhee.. we headed home… or so i thought..again.. ahhaha..they had another surprise up their sleeves…and guess what it is? hhahahaha
Spa/Massage treat!!!!!!!!!!!!
weeeeeeeeeeee..ahahhahaha..so so happy…
now to the funny part..ahhahahah.. we went to the massage salon of their first choice, we went in looked into their services menu and ….. later then realized that their attendants were all  male..ahahhahah.
totally scared the women in us…ahahhaha.. women daw..cge nalng gd..chance..hahaha
anyways, we then decided to pass and went to another one.. there we had a facial,foot spa and body massage.. wow!!!!!! callouses on our feet were scrubbed off..ahhaha… unsaon nalng..nalain najd ang mga kubal kay gtangtang na sila..ahahahaha..our faces were pampered..wow!!!..feeling artista, looking NOT artista..ahhahahaha…and our body massaged..unsaon nalng ang tanang panuhot..ahhahaha

and so the night wore on. i really am happy ..thank you to jo-ann and michelle for the treat..
hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita.. totemo ureshii deshita.. mou ikkai? hahahahhahaa

again, thanks so much for the surprise..
mwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

20080816 @ the Waterfront

——————————

Jesus
Songs and Praises
SonicFlood

This is the night. Me and Michelle have planned to watch this concert and so we did.
That night, the Waterfront lobby was full of Jesus-hungry Christians, lining up to buy tickets  for the event.
Cebu rarely gets the chance to host international artists who provide concerts such as this.
And so we didn’t pass up on the opportunity, we lined up, got our tickets and seated ourselves.
Everyone around us was excited, there’s so much to look forward to.

Around 9pm, the concert started. SonicFlood started singing and so did we..
Everyone was up on their feet, singing, shouting praises. You can feel Jesus’ presence amongst us.
We, SonicFlood and Jesus in the center of us all; for everyone who are gathered in His name, He is ever present. He is always present. The songs lifted our spirits.
It doesn’t matter if you’re good at singing or not, just open your mouth and sing His praise. Give Him glory. And that is just what everyone was doing. For it is just one of the ways to say Thank You to Him;
we can never thank Him enough. His love is so profound and unconditional that while singing the songs and hearing the lyrics and the meaning behind them brings tears to  your eyes.
You can feel and see everyone’s hunger for Him, it was so poignant and overwhelming.

A testimonial by the lead singer about how he knew of Jesus and the turning point in His life -
Jesus healed him of his illness and cleansed his body and soul; to how he decided to give Him glory all the days of his life, made us all realize all the more, that our Creator has great plans for us. He can vanish and cure our illness in a blink of an eye; we just have to surrender to Him and all we need to have is faith. Faith in Him to make things right for us according to His plan.

The night could have gone on forever. We could never have been tired of singing and praising Him; but
like all other concerts, it has to wrap up. It was one experience i would never forget.
The night ended with all of us trying to be better Christians, knowing Him all the more and
never forgetting to praise His name.

And together in Jesus name, we sang Amen!

18 Exec June and July babies
It’s the time of year for their TREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!
TRICK or TREAT!!!
SURPRISE or TREAT!!!
that day was loads of sweat!! food!! songs!! laughter!! and pictures!!!!!!!!!!!
weeeeeeeeee

=========================
18Exec gathering once again!!

The day started with a badminton game @ Raquetzone. This was the 1st game we had for 18execs this year ..ehehe However, there were only 5 of us who played and sweated it out!!!
As always, Badminton ala 18Exec is 30% play and 70% laughter..we just laughed at any  minute mistake, bullied each other and even at our own selves..ahahahahhaa.. some players just did not want to pick up the fallen shuttlecock..ehehhee (sa maigo lng..eheh) ; while some have invisible badminton partners..ehehe..they just keep hitting the shuttlecock to the court beside us..hmmm… i wonder who could have been there? ahahahaha

Afterwhich, the badminton pips went to SM Northwing to have dinner with everyone. Dinner plan was at Flavours of China.
While waiting for all of them to arrive, we just sat by the Northwing central area listening to acoustic music. And after almost an hour, voila!!! they all arrived. Surprised and shocked we were when we saw who arrived.
Those with *ehem-partners-ehem* came hand in hand, while some friends way back in college came too..
Wow!!! Exchanging hugs and shrieking “how are you’s” were endless – literally shrieking!!!!!!
Everyone was just happy. You can just imagine the noise we made. Our contribution to noise pollution had just begun..hhahaha

And so we proceeded with our dinner and in true 18exec fashion, it took us a looooooonnnnnnggggggggggg time to be seated, to make our orders and so forth…we were just too busy talking, joking around, making noise and taking pictures – oh well, nothing’s new really..it always was, is and will be everytime we are all gathered..
and another achievement this time.. – we were actually 18 people all in all..ahhahaha..well, not the original 18execs, but with the surprise guests and all, we nailed 18..ahaahaha
so imagine, 18 crazy young adults(in short, mga wlay buot..ahahhaa) seated on a long table, chatting … no! not chatting..but boisterously talking and laughing and drowning each others voices with personal antics ..ahahahhaha..Just CRAZZZYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
now i would like to apologize for the staff and the other patrons eating around us for the noise we made.
we didn’t really mean it, we just can’t help ourselves.. hehehe
There were so many things to celebrate that day. Not just the birthday celebration of 3 of our friends namely: mayang,brian ang artista and joyax, but also of new relationships..uiiiiiiiiii…
and came the inevitable introduction of the special someones to the group..ahahhaa..well, friends need to know right?hehehehe..
To make matters worst – err – crazier and funnier..ehehe, Q&A portion in “The Buzz” style was thrown to
the couples and recorded on video..ahahhahaha..congratulations to the new couples!!! weeeeeeeee
but when the food came, of course, everyone went silent..ahahahaa..it’s stomach over mouth people!!!..ahahahha..
afterwich, notorious picture taking everywhere.. 1×1 pix, 2×2, partnerxpartner, group pix..hahhahahahaha

i thought we would go home by then, but then they suggested we go karaoke!!!..ahahaha..18execs rarely do karaoke.. and what a surprise again! this was only the 2nd time we did karaoke..hahahaa
and so to pod5 we went and sang,dance and laughed our hearts out..from opm alternatives, to spice gurls, backstreet boys, nsync and no air, we sang..ahahhaa

the bday bangka really was really fun.. never expected that day to be ridiculously hilarious and crazily fun..
thanks to the celebrants for the treat…for all those who came and took part in the celebration.
thank you for bringing so much fun.. the day was unforgettable..
looking forward to next time..
whose treat is it next? hmmm..ahahhahaa
we’ll see..

I’m poor at memorizing birthdates; so having people close to me whose birthdates fall so close to each other makes it more confusing..ehhee
so friends, please forgive me for this one..

These three are Jeph(7/26), my father(7/27) and Tomoe(7/28) respectively.
To tom and jeph, i hope this time i got your birthdates right..

I rarely get to see these friends in a year, so having a get together, celebrating both of their birthdays is something i surely wouldn’t pass.
And before this , Rey had his graduation rights that calls for another celebration.
And I so wanted to give them gifts but can’t think of any.

Together with a friend of mine, we saw this unique package of a picture frame @ Premium Concepts near our office.
It’s nothing extravagant nor fancy but it’s kinda unique and fun in it’s own way.
Blocks are bound together to form a base where the picture frame will be placed.
And the fun part is, these blocks has letter prints and you are free to choose the letters to be used. How fun is that?
So there i was, picking up the letters to form the names of these friends to whom i shall be giving these gifts.
Next problem? What picture shall i place in the frame?
I’ve got no recent good quality pictures of them except for those ones taken when we went to Bantayan Island. But even with those pictures, how do i make them more presentable? hmmm..

Luckily, another friend of mine showed me a mosaic that she had made..ehhee… and to my sheer envy and delight (sa akong pagka-suya..hhehe), i took a liking to make one for jeph, tom and rey..hehehe

And so , I , in the wee hours of the morning made a mosaic out of the pictures we had recently.. and a special mosaic for tom who has recently taking a liking to a japanese idol in the name of ikuta toma)..ehehe..
The mosaics were not really of good quality, but it was worth the shot.. It was my first time doing one and there’s always room for improvement..Whose mosaic shall i do next? I wonder..

At the end of the day, when all the work done,
all that’s left is that feeling of anticipation. Will they be happy when they receive these?

And i was ever so glad that they liked it and was happy with it..

To tom and jeph, more birthdays to come.
To rey, happy graduation!!

Till the next time we see again!!!

Just got home and  while sitting in front of my pc, this just came to mind.

Everyone can relate for sure. As we get older, wrinkles cover our faces and there are things that we can easily do while we were young but could not even lift a finger to do it now — not anymore.

How sad and frustrating it must feel. How helpless have we become?

Time and time again, there are certain things where we just never learn don’t we?  We question and wonder why and how come.  Let it go friend! Dwelling on the “what-if”s consumes a bigger percent of your time and  you might not even be aware of it. As the saying goes – Carpe Diem.

Time

So much of it has passed
Most parts of it are wasted

No turning back
No second chances

Time ticks away
And we drift by

What are you doing?
Are you catching up?

Stop
Be still
Seize the moment
It’s time

what are you thinking right now? hmmm??
maybe i’m having some problems
maybe i’m confused
maybe i’m in danger
or maybe..
..
..
..
i am just literally walking on dark waters..ahaha
It was last week, i think May 27, that the skies totally opened up and poured all its waters down.
RAAAAAAAIIIIINNNNDRROOOPPPSSS of water came falling down my head..ehehe
Together with a friend of mine (halu Misil ), we went to McDonalds after going to the gym to have dinner. ehehe.. eating directly after going to the gym is the best routine don’t ya think?
Anyways, while dining at McDonalds, the rain started to fall down. Now now .. the night’s getting late and the rain seems to have no plans of stopping.. We were itching to go home and yet the heavens didn’t want to close up for the night..
Uh-oh..without much further ado, we decided to ride a taxi going home. the whole purpose of riding the taxi is to get home fast and avoid getting drenched..
well that purpose to me seemed to have lasted only until i arrived at the intersection near my place. heheh..
I thought that i had bought some time to wait for the rain to stop; however it didn’t.
As i looked at the alley, water was rushing forth (lisora i.explain oist..bsta nigawas na ang tubig sa eskina..ehehe..ng.english shortage najd ko..eheh) The water was just minimal and confident that i was wearing rubber shoes and thinking that i will be able to get through the watered alley without getting much damage to my pants, i treaded the dark path.. but just as i turned around the corner….
..
..
i found myself standing with the murky water rising up to my knees..
Anywhere i turned, i saw dark water.. and there was no point in turning back for the alternate alley going to our house is surely flooded and the pathway was more dangerous..And so with all the courage left in me (ug naa pa pd untay bangka nisakay na unta ko..ehehe..), i walked. huuhuhu.. paet “frustrating” as it can be, i tried not to think so much about it.
..
..
The skies would have surely laughed at me..
But then the rain fairies were not contented with the surprise they gave me. After having fully accepted the situation that i was in, i was in for another shock. The water invaded our house… huhuhuuh..

I then saw my mother and sister carrying buckets and getting water out from our house..

Hmmm.. i planned to sleep early. well, i did sleep early, early in the morning. ..hehee.. Girl Power!! we were all girls in the house and we finished the water chore at around 2am already..whew!!!!

wet .. tired.. i then went to bed oyasumi..
so much for rainy days and weekdays.. i’m glad the rain poured to freshen up the green life, but hopefully i would not experience the same thing again…eheheh

One! Team One Summer One!
One Summer
One Friendship
One Place
18Exec @ Davao 2008

It was during last year that this summer getaway was planned. And after months of waiting and planning, the day has finally arrived. Hahaha.. after all the email spamming on deciding where to go , where to stay, what to bring, what to do, how much to spend ..hmm.. … the spams were endless..
the lives of friends and acquaintances who knew of davao, were able to go to davao and who lived in davao were turned upside down due to our never ending questions and favors..ehehhehe.. talk about being FC ehehe..
to all those pips, in behalf of 18exec, i would like to say thank you for bearing with us..
hmm..how about we give a proper recognition to these people..shall we?

voice over : 18exec @ davao is brought to you by the following sponsors
to joan’s cousins and relatives in davao, thank you for the warm welcome and warm breakfast
to an’s friends, thank you for booking our inn reservation
to krystle’s davao officemates, thank you for providing information
to dru, thank you for answering to our every davao-related question..ehehe
and last but not the least…
to b.s.inn, nccc mall and supermarket, non-air and air taxis (:D), jollibee davao, kfc davao, chowking davao,
yellow cab davao, sm city davao, crocodile farm, pearl farm, eden nature park, jacks ridge, lola abon’s durian
and cebu pacific..
if naa ko nakalimtan, gomen ne..

if u have noticed, we went to davao but still ate in fast food chains that you find here in cebu..eheheheh..
well, anyways, everyone was just so excited. Who wouldn’t be? It was the first time for all of us to be in Davao

and an adventure is underway..

but before the adventure came a surprise..ahahaha..Surprise?!? Sunrise?!? familiar?hhehehehe..
A friend really got away with his trick. he got to make at least 2-3 people in the group to believe that his mother (real mother) was coming with us on the trip. ahahhaha.. some reacted with like how to deal with his mom (since we were a bunch of corny and loud funny adults where the jokes and punch lines get “corny – cornier – corniest <these words are made up. >” by the second and the antics go from bland to mind boggling or from attention seeking to just getting no reaction at all ; one would definitely doubt if we were even mature enough to get to this day and age..ahahha..no wonder)

as everyone’s cameras were on standby ,ready to take the 1st picture, we arrived @ davao around 7am in the morning via cebu pacific. from the airport terminal, everyone was up and about taking pictures almost every step..eehehe.. once we were outside at the airport terminal, we took pictures with Davao’s pride -the Durian..ahhaa..and almost everyone around the airport vicinity was looking at us.. who cares anyway?
Afterwhich, we had Tuna Panga (sinugba and kinilaw) for breakfast..yum2x.. i really had fun eating the tuna
panga.. ahhaha..after all this was one of the things i was looking for..ahahaha..

Since it ws still so early in the morning and our check-in time at B.S Inn is at 1pm, we rested at MTS (Matina Town Square). We were literally sitting on a gazebo doing barely nothing. Music was just playing in the background..most pips were getting rest as much as possible (no one slept over 2 hrs the previous night..hehehe) and some were taking pictures..hahahaa..it would be very much surprising if we weren’t taking pictures at all, don’t you think?…hahahaha…this is just the way it is.

During the afternoon, after checking in, we went to the crocodile park – tribu k’mindanawan – butterfly farm.
We had our lunch by the river @ crocodile park. This area much resembles the Loboc river in Bohol minus the bangka.
The park was much of a mini zoo..Crocos and Butterfly overload for everyone!!!!

and that’s day 1 for you..whew!!!

it’s been a loooonnnggg time.. a really long time since i last uploaded an entry here..
life has been quite busy

2008
this year will surely have some good promises and surprises for me.. adnd i’m very much looking forward to it..
furthermore, i’m looking forward to having more entries here..

and looking back at the year that was.. 2007 .. that year will always be memorable..
it was a year of sugar and spice
of laughter and tears
of journey and seclusion
of brighter days and darker nights ( or even gloomy days )
of adversity and redemption

i’m so so glad for another year. i’ve got so many things that i planned to do.
i shall take my time and cherish every moment.
to everyone, cheers!!!