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Obama will be US President on January 20, 2009. The question now becomes: can he live up to all the hype? I sure hope so. But in any case, we Filipinos shouldn't worry. Sec. Dureza says, we are, along with China, the 2 most resilient economies in the East. I suppose it's just a fluke that the equity funds I own are now almost half the value. Hehehe... AI is coming too! That's American Idol. On the 15th! (Or is the 16th?) And again, I'll be hawking away at youtube, trying to find the clips before it gets taken down. My 11-day vacation is over. It was actually too long I almost forgot I even work. Haha. My family & I, with my lola, my gf and my sister's bf, drove 2 cars up north to the white sandy beaches of Pagudpud. We were not disappointed, the beach was great! We had so much fun "fighting" the waves and losing, and rolling around on the sand. Haha. We also took photos of the windmills. Awesome clean energy! We had lunch at Vigan. Passed t...

It has become a sort of Christmas tradition of mine to send out a Christmas greeting to everyone I've met from around the world. Usually, a lot of emails bounce because either email accounts have been closed or their inboxes full (hopefully of Christmas & New Year messages like this one), but most get through, and it gives me great satisfaction to think that somewhere on the other parts of the world, a friend or family is reading my holiday greetings! Sometimes a few reply with the fondest greetings and some even with photos. That's the coolest thing about it really: that even though we have not seen each other in years, and even if it is just once a year, we remember and smile for the memories. :D A WARM MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR from me & my family!!!

____________________________________________ A couple of weeks ago, I had my eyes checked. Turns out, the contacts and the glasses I am using now are already obsolete for my requirements. So I bought new contact lenses (which cost a fortune) and tried them out last Saturday. That evening I went out to the balcony to look at the stars. For the last few years, when I looked at the stars I saw them as blobs of overlapping double images. They didn't even twinkle. But that night, I saw them again. For the first time in a long time. As stars, and not as blobs of white. And then at that moment, it was worth every centavo.

I never thought I'd ever be this disappointed to hear about a new holiday... Monday, December 8 is a holiday in the whole of Batangas Province. Arfgh!

Last night I was Googling "UP Concert Chorus", more out of habit than anything else, and found my old blogsite on Xanga. My first post was on Saturday, March 27, 2004. Wow. At the time I was, 22 and still in college (ha!), I was with Liz for 1 year, I was President of the UP Concert Chorus, and we were preparing for a 3 week tour of Germany, Italy and France scheduled later that year... We had performances left and right, twice a week rehearsals for the coming tour. Going on tour with the UPCC was really the highlight of my college life. My first tour in 2000 was my first time (ever) to be away from home for more than a week. I was 18 (and young and innocent haha!) and when you're touring the world at that age, there's just so much to learn and so many things to see. You could say that my first tour really globalized my perception, it opened the world to me, literally! My second tour in 2003 was my toughest but most exciting and most memorable of the three. First, be...

Bohol Bohol Here are some photos from our trip to Bohol. The weather was awesome when we arrived. It had been raining for a couple of weeks and the forecast was gloomy, but it was all sunshine and cirrus clouds when we arrived. We had booked a PAL flight to Tagbilaran via this packaged tour promo, and the flight was scheduled really early in the morning. We had to be at the Centennial Airport at 6AM...

I've been trying to follow the US Elections and may I say, it has really been very interesting, thought provoking, and (at the risk of sounding too geeky) really exciting. Haha. Here's two very different candidates for the US Presidential seat: one old and experienced Caucasian guy called John (you can't get a more common white American name than that!), and the other an African American, black newbie Senator whose name, formerly unknown in the greater US and the rest of the world, but is now one of the most recognizable names in US Presidentiables history: Barack. So it's John McCain vs Barack Obama. (Osama! ... no relation, just wanted to show how alike their names are, hehe!) I would personally vote for Barack, and apparently, so does majority of Americans (or at least the places where they do their polls). Obama has been leading in almost all the polls, be it online or otherwise. Although someone may argue that McCain's supporters are not exactly the crowd (or t...

Yes I know it's only September. :p I was checking the CCAFI Blog email when I saw a blog entry by UPCC alumnus and composer/arranger extraordinaire Manong Nhick Pacis (now based in the US). He posted a recording of a song called "Bisperas ng Pasko" on his Multiply page. He had this song recorded way back in 2000 (or 2001, not sure) when I was still kinda new with UPCC. Some of the members brought me to that "bara-bara" recording and I actually sang on it! (I sing the first few lines with Mon T.) Here is the link>> http://npacis.multiply.com/music/item/6 but you have to sign up with multiply before you can play it. :p hehe. Enjoy!

I have tons of work to do ... but I just feel like typing today (tonight, to be exact). "Hey hey hey, are you OK?" I am now a certified First Aider! I'm hoping I never get to use my new skills, but knowing that you know how to save someone's life is kinda cool. I can imagine how doctors must feel. Hehehe... I'm off to Singapore (agen) next week for a few days. I'm attending a workshop this time around. Whoever is there, buy me some coffee aight. :D I'm leaving on Wednesday from the Centennial Airport (Terminal 2, the nicer airport). I'll be back in Maynila on Sunday next week. Oh, and I read somewhere that the NAIA 3 Terminal is now open (finally!). They've formed a choir here in Shell Tabangao, and I'm one of the singers of course. Our conductor is a former Madz who took up Choral Conducting in the UPCMu. It's a HOLIDAY on MONDAY! yay!

Today, my dad celebrates his 50th Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'TAY!!! For the moment, my family is in different parts of the world: Tatay in Oman, Nanay & Ate in California, me in Batangas & Jett in Manila, but nevertheless, we will celebrate Tatay's 50th each in our own way. And the BIG parteh will come later. Hehe! We love you Tatay!

Office Instant Messenger at 6PM on a Friday night... Officemate 1: Rey, pauwi na ba kayo in a few minutes? Me: Hmm, how few is few? a few is just bit but another thought, just wait! 'coz a bit is less than few or does that depend on you? I know a couple is just two so does few mean more than..., oooh how about a "teka lang" is it really short or long- Officemate 1: huh? Me: .... just a pondering on "few" maybe Tudoy or you knew is it more than "several", is it more than 1 at all? Officemate 1: tudoy pls answer, di ko na nage-gets si rey Officemate 2: weird na si rey -end-

If you're not already a fan, I suggest you go check it out! It's coming to movie theaters too! (In July 2010 that is...) But still, that's awesome! http://www.avatarchapters.org/

This, of course, is in reverse... MONDAY - I went to the clinic today to get a sliver out of my right thumb and get a flu vaccine. The former hurt more coz the nurse had to really dig for it under the skin with a needle. And yes, there was blood. SUNDAY - Still On duty in Batangas. Liz has been here since Friday night. Thank God. I had an odd feeling I would go crazy if I was alone that weekend. Blah. SATURDAY - My Tatay & my baby sis came back from US of A today. But I can't pick them up from the airport coz imma stuck in Batangas. // Do you know that song: "Gusto kong mag-swimming! Sa balong malalim!"? It's an oldie rock and roll song from Juan dela Cruz. It was awesome, I got to sing it for a Shell event. And even though it felt really weird, posing as a rakista and not being very convincing, I still enjoyed it. haha! Missing singing. We also did "Shadows grow so long (before my eyes!)" and "Surroundings (aka Kapaligiran)". Gusto pang ku...