HELLO 2013!

On 2 January 2013, I drafted:

"Okay, so it's past midnight on the second day of 2013. Which means, tonight I'll be flying back to Manila. It's kinda bittersweet because I am both excited to start my third trimester and sad to leave my hometown. The latter is a particularly stronger emotion since I have been having a blast for the past few days. Perhaps this is one of those vacations that I didn't spend much. And yet, I was extremely joyful sharing quality time with my family and friends. :-)

Whether I was having a chat with my cousins, or cooking a special dish for my folks, or playing at the mall arcade with my friends, I was utterly happy. And this happiness made me realize that truly, the best things in life are priceless.

Okay, enough of that.

What I really want to do right now (after verbalizing above how I feel at the moment) is (1) to jumpstart blogging /*since I have been missing in the blogosphere for many weeks*/; and (2) try out this new scheme of uploading photos in this blog. For the first one, I'll try to start writing some pending blog entries that I have been meaning to publish but didn't find time to do so. And for the latter, as advised by a couple of Facebook friends, I'll try to use Flickr as a means to upload photos in blogspot despite my storage capacity issues with Blogger.

And to start with the latter, let me attach a trial pic in this entry. Hope this works."



<<<<<< Fast forward to 12 January 2013:  Okay it didn't work. If I want to continue blogging here, I would need to upgrade this account and avail extra storage for a fee. Since I seem to have no choice, why not push all the way through, get extra storage + have my own domain name + host my own site? Good plan, eh? Except for the 'annual fees' part. Not cool. However, I really have few alternatives, so I just have to deal with the fees.

So anyway, I revived my original blog in Wordpress (which has nil entries). If ever I'll host my own site, I'll be using Wordpress due to its flexibility /*think of the iOS vs Android analogy*/. Perhaps I should have entitled this blog "GOODBYE" instead of "HELLO" because this is going to be my last entry in Blogger. Awww... I hate goodbyes. It gets me teary-eyed every time. T.T

But seriously, I'm thankful that people read this blog, and some few even clicked that "Follow" button.

Anyway, you can still catch me in my Wordpress site. Hope you still follow me there. Here's the URL:

http://lonewulfsdirge.wordpress.com/




Thanks guys! This is LONEWULF signing off...


...in Blogger.

THE DEVIL FORTIFIES

Thanks to my prompt paying habits, the devil decided to enrich itself with a whopping P17,000 additional credit limit.

WOAH!

Wait... did I ever request you to increase my credit limit? NO. You just took the liberty to increase my expense capacity. Isn’t that a blatant act of stealing my very right to decide my own lifestyle? I mean, with this single move, you have successfully “incepted” into my brain thoughts about buying a new pair of leather shoes, a 1-week set of dress shirts, a wristwatch, and an air ionizer.

And if I try to divert my mind away, I start thinking about a portable mp3 player with FM tuner, an A/C unit, an HTC Wildfire, a personal refrigerator, and a roundtrip ticket to Coron!

Jeez, Citi, you’re one huge stress. Even after I quit being your employee.

BON VOYAGE WYMOI

Not a few people cried the moment they learned about Wymer's health condition. Much more when he passed away a short period later. To most of us, it was a mere couple of days from the moment we learned about his illness to his passing away.

Jorell Wymer Sagenes is one of those people you'd consider yourself lucky to get to know with. He's that big goofy guy with big dance moves, and with an even bigger heart. He has a ready smile and an ever-sincere attitude, and it is plain impossible not to like him. That's why, even if we were involved in the past in a sort-of falling out as a dance crew, I was still very affected when I learned about his condition. Most of us were.

It was sudden. And heartbreaking. And it was all over in a few. We drank the night away to cope with the incident. As if the pain we feel was close to how his best buds and his family feel.

* * * * * * *    

A week later, people are still mourning. And celebrating. And praying that he'll have a joyful journey returning to the arms of our Creator.

And me? Well, I just want to write about it because Wymer is a special person who I believe should not be forgotten.

Bon voyage, Wymer! May you have a fun time dancing with the angels up there. :-)

----

p.s. both pics were stolen from Facebook

VLAST FROM THE FAST - THE LETTER THAT MADE ME CRY

I'm quite sure this was how I looked back in 2007

Just a few days back, I was able to read an ancient letter I wrote back in 2007. It was a very personal email I sent to a good friend of mine, Ate Charm. And yes, as the title of the entry says, I cried after I read this letter. Well, it was actually pretty odd that I cried, but yeah, I did. Maybe it was the nostalgia. Maybe it was my innocence back then, or perhaps reading the letter made me vividly recall the melancholy I was feeling while typing that email.

Anyway, whatever it was, it's not important. I just want to share the letter here just to give you readers a glimpse of who I was or how things were when I was younger. :)

Just to set your expectations, there's nothing really extraordinary about the letter. No juicy stuff. It's just a correspondence I had with a friend. But it was extra special to me because reading it took me back to the time when I was very melancholic: I was stuck in college, missing my friends and colleagues who have left campus ahead of me, I was about to graduate and thus I was starting to miss the people I'm about to leave behind and Elbi-life in general.

WAIT. I take back what I said about "no juicy stuff". There are juicy stuff but I censored them as that I thought they are too private. lol

So anyway, here's the letter.

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


--- On Wed, 4/4/07, noel co<thegreatnoel@hotmail.com> wrote:

From: noel co <thegreatnoel@hotmail.com>
Subject: te charm!!!!!
To: kewl16_sj@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 3:00 PM

ate charm, musta ka na??

sorry ngayon lang nakapag-email.. busy talaga eh

THANK YOU, CITIBANK

A couple of weeks back, my annual membership(?) to Citi was renewed. By the way, I was able to renew my Citi Classic Visa card for another year FOR FREE, thanks to a tip from my boss. But that's another story. (Maybe I'll write a How-To entry on this next week). So anyway, my Citi card has just gotten better because of these...

FREE coffee and donuts!

I received an SMS from Citibank telling me that I have a free cup of coffee and 3 flower doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Yay!

Thank you, Citibank!

Looks like the devil has a good side after all.

THE GUY WHO WROTE MY HIGH SCHOOL HYMN

"...and fit all thy sons with wings, to lend us flight in the sowing of our gifts..."

A couple of months ago, Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus alumni batch 2001 (batchname: Prodigy) who are based here in the Metro organized a gathering of PSHS SMC alumni from Pioneers down to batch 2002, which is my batch (batchname: Gods). The event was called HOHOL: Hang-Out Hang-Out Lang (yes that's how corny nerds can get), and it was a simple gathering and reminiscing of HS memories held in a bar in Madison Square, which is by the way co-owned by one of our seniors.

The night was really fun and very nostalgic. Most people have matured and become even more gorgeous. But anyway, the reason why I am writing this post and bringing up HOHOL is that there was a question in a trivia game we played that night which struck me now as I heard a very recent news. The question went like this: Who wrote the Philippine Science High School Hymn? We were all dumbfounded. For years we've been singing the hymn and even until now my housemates and I sing both the English and Filipino version when we're bored, but never has it crossed our minds to ask who wrote the song. Anyway, cheater me used my 3G to google the answer. *grin* It was Mario Taguiwalo.

Now, I really knew nothing else about this person until this morning, when I read about his passing away last Sunday. Jessica Zafra (a famous writer and columnist, see jessicarulestheuniverse.com, who is also an alumna of Pisay) wrote a pleasant tribute to Mario Taguiwalo. Apparently, the guy was part of the pioneer batch of Pisay Diliman. He was an excellent educator, a prominent think-tank of the government. He was also an ex-undersecretary of health, and many other different things, including being an actor. Yes, he appeared in films like Gangland, Unfaithful Wife, and even Shake, Rattle, and Roll. What an amazing person! If you want to read Jessica's tribute, click this link, or visit her blog.


To the guy who wrote my high school hymn, may you rest peacefully in Heaven. :)

THREE ITEMS

Can I just express my disappointment? I just learned that I failed only one exam in the proficiency tests in MS Finance. /*Trivia: To get in the program, one would need to submit complete documents, pass the Graduate Program Admission Test or GPAT, get through the interview (for some), and pass the proficiency tests in Accounting, Algebra, Calculus, Statistics, and Mathematics of Finance*/ I failed the Accounting part. :(

It's quite acceptable though as I never took Accounting lessons in college. Not even as an elective. :( However, I have a few knowledge on the subject due to my role in my previous job, which involves analysis of financial statements. But that was not enough to let me pass the exam. And what's more depressing is the fact that I was 3 correct items short from passing the test. Three friggin' items! How unlucky.

On the brighter side though, there is a re-take next month. And I would only need to take Accounting this time. Plus, UP College of Business Administration offers review sessions before the re-take. I would just need to pay for the "workshop" for P4000, which by the way is the reason why I'm here in Diliman instead of being in the office. And then, I'll just show up in the review classes, which have 10 3-hour sessions, and most of which fell on weeknights. Oh yeah! Imagine the adventure I'll be having in my MRT trips, and bus and jeepney queues. And those are after I become drained from daily office work. Yay!

Three friggin' items!



But seriously, I'm glad I passed the other four. I just saved meself P4000, and the additional effort in preparing for the re-exam. Thank you, God! :)

===

By the way, from now on I'd be seeing more of this...

And this...

FOR A WHILE I WAS BLUE(D)

Epistaxis. That was the only proper response to my two-day workshop that ate half of my two weekends in March. The topic was Financial Risk Management in Practice.

It was a ruthless14-hour discourse, which despite the difficulty of the topics, was very informative. Hence, it was worthwhile.

 

RADIO 911

A few days back, I bought a new pair of headphones for my old mobile Sony Ericsson W395, and I was glad that I did since I am again able to listen to the radio. This was one the drawbacks of iPhone, it doesn't feature a radio tuner. And you know, radio can be a very good solace in times of great office stress. *grin*

So anyway, I was really glad to have again my morning and afternoon doses of my favorite radio station, Jam 88.3. Of course, it's the only station I tune in to, and the only one in the metro that actually has sensible jocks and radio shows.

I noticed there were a lot of changes...

THE WEDDING

Okay, so I’m in a bit of a panic now that I finally received this.

It’s the official wedding invitation from Dale John Satur and Malaya Manalang. Say whuuut? This is real now. I mean, I learned about this happy occasion was that more than a year ago(?), but now that the invite is in my hands, I felt like, yeah, this is really happening. And I’m not yet prepared.

 

 

EL CABEZA

March 2, 2012

entertainment.inquirer.net

Last Friday, the publisher of my favorite newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer died of heart attack at 77. 

Having been in the news realm since he was 19, he had contributed a lot to our country, bringing us information, even amidst political boycotts organized against his newspaper. He had been known to have created impacts and has served as inspiration, not only to his colleagues, but also to other journalists, successful and aspiring alike. And as such, they call him one of the Pillars of Philippine Journalism.

Being a reader of PDI, I would like to devote an entry to Mr. Gani. As a child I have always loved reading. I read mythology books, atlases, encyclopedia, fiction, etc. But I never read the paper. I just didn’t like reading current events. I don’t know why – perhaps it was the ubiquity of depressing news. However, sometime in college, I discovered the glory of “knowing”. Or more specifically, knowing what’s going on in the country and in the world. Thanks to PDI who made me allot P20 weekly from my living allowance, to buy my Sunday paper.

Even now as I work, I have developed this habit of reading the paper every weekend, and even subscribing to daily newsletters through my office email. Thanks to the reader-friendly layout, and the wonderful writers and researchers of Inquirer. Thanks to Mr. Isagani Yambot.

May you rest in peace.

HOT OFF THE PRESS : ADMISSION TEST RESULTS

(via mobile)

The UP College of Business Administration GPAT (Graduate Program Admission Test) results just came in, and I made the first cut!

Yippie!!!

And I was part of those who skipped the interview process. More yay to that! Anyway, that leaves me halfway through to getting in the program (MS Finance in CBA). Now, I'll just have to wait for the schedule of the proficiency exams. Whew! I hope I'll make that cut as well.

For now, Imma celebrate! Yabah!

CROSSED-OVER: NEW IN 2011 & 2012

For two reasons, I would like to post here my recent purchases & acquisitions:

     (1)  I reeeeeeeeeeeally love these items. And if I could, I would incessantly rave about 'em all day. But of course, I hafta work. And eat.

     (2) I’m not really the materialistic type. I mean I am not so much into buying clothes, or accessories, or appliances. Ever since I started working, the only use I have for my dispensable income was to buy me food. FOOD! Different kinds – cheap, expensive, healthy, junk, sweet, spicy, Asian, Western, and so on. It was my only guilty pleasure then. Thus, month after month, the fate of my hard-earned salary would be just a big joyful burp!

           Recently though, and with this I mean ‘in the past few months’, I started to buy tangible things. Ergo, those that I would not masticate or that would not perish after 24 hours. 

To be honest, I am missing my eat-outs. But, having physical evidences of my hard-earned money which everyday reminds me of my hardwork, is not too bad, I realize. 

So, ladies & gentlemen, without further ado, please allow me to present to you the fruits of my labor:

I ENVY YOU, PHOEBE CAULFIELD

Today I did nothing but bum out. I woke up early, had my coffee, and read my Sunday paper. And then I changed my profile picture in Facebook and then I listed down the things I'll do:

- write 1 blog entry (something about recent purchases)
- wash office uniforms
- iron office uniform for tomorrow
- read 1 chapter of LOMA 305 reviewer
- finish The Catcher in the Rye
- upload Christmas pics (net shop)
- upload Christmas vids (net shop)

And then I put priority numbers...

THE "TIE"-BREAKER

Yesterday, when I came back in the office, right after I took a two-day vacation leave, I saw this on my desk:

*Psycho tune plays*

Oh noes! The company uniforms are here. *frowns* This means adieu to my favorite dress shirts. And ties. And cardigan. And other preppy look. *frowns*

DISCLAIMER!

I am not losing my interest in writing!

It's just that I've been very busy lately. I've been juggling work, family, personal life, and 3 different money-making endeavors (in short, raket). Note that one of these is dancing, i.e. time-consuming.

Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to two people. (1) YOU, my beloved reader. I know you've been so lost these days since you're not hearing a lot from me. Lol. /*This item could be imaginary for all I know.*/ And.. (2) ME. I feel really sorry for not having enough time to write. I know hundreds of ideas had already piled up in a corner of my cerebrum. But I promise, I'll do my best to put them all into writing.

I will slowly regain my pace in blogging.

Thus, let me jumpstart this whole drama with the re-launching of my 2011 Laundry List. :) I know I already posted an entry about this. However, I realized just recently that my velocity in completing the tasks is really poor. Mid-year has already passed and I have only achieved 5 out of 24. Pity, right? So now, I am putting it as one of my "pages" as a constant reminder that time is running and I would need to complete as many as I can to be able to feel fulfilled. :)

For those who have not yet read my 2011 laundry list, here's the re-launch.

------

Also, let me post my photos of me, mama, and nanay. They are here for a week and I went out with them last Sunday.

mama & nanay @ market! market!

mama & nanay @ serendra

ONE DAY, FOUR CITIES

So I climbed at the top of the cliff, raised my right fist to the high heavens, and shouted:
"Tomorrow! I will embark on a journey that no other man has taken!" Then I scurried to my dump of documents and re-checked the completeness of the requirements including all necessary photocopies. *grin*.. I will attempt to process three documents in one day: Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) passport application at Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay; Bureau of Immigration (BI) clearance at Intramuros, Manila; and NBI clearance at Monumento.

Okay so that was last night. I woke up (unusually) early this morning and (unusually) had my rice breakfast. I had to summon all my strength because I know that it will be a long day full of endless queues, counters, window transfers, etc. It's like UP registration all over again! *grin* Not to mention, I knew Manila streets so well, strolling there will be like looking at the back of my hands (NOT). So I already expected that I'll get lost somewhere at least once today.

To cut the long story short, I made it!! Or at least that's how it appears. I think I will know within 6 weeks if I really did make it. Also, I will create separate posts on my individual journeys today. I want it to look like "how to" entries. And that's because online "how to" pages helped me a lot in my tasks today. So I want to thank them by paying it forward. *genuine smile*

Gotta scoot for now. I'm late for training.

HEY FIRE, I PREVENT YOU!

Tip No. 1 - NEVER! EVER! Do activities that will start a fire. Hehe (Me and Kristia @ the gym)

So the ugly month is finally over. Yay! Now I can write again!

Firstly, I would like to congratulate meself for making it alive. I mean, February is my kryptonite, and yet here I am on a March, typing on my laptop. Can you believe that?

Secondly, I would like to congratulate meself for becoming a regular employee in our company. Yay! I worked hard for that regularization. And luckily, I was able to achieve it in a little less than five months(!). I can't wait to tell my parents. But maybe I'll just tell them the good news in time with my father's birthday, two weeks from now.

Tip No. 2 - If you catch yourself on fire, dive straight into the water.

Well, I hope more good things will happen in this fire-prevention month. But for what it's worth, I'm just glad that I'm back to writing. Did you see my attempts to write last month? Pretty lame, huh.

THAT BIG LUMP IN MY CHEST

Do I like feeling awful?

Many months ago, I met J. J makes me smile. J takes care of me. And J is simply everything I could have ever wanted. But J isn't.

J is simple. Simple-minded. Meek. Down-to-earth. J is loving. And J is good for me. J has the qualities of a person I want to grow old with.

But I couldn't give my heart to J. Not even if I badly want to. How can I hand it to J? When I have already given it to you.

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

I hate to write more about this. That big lump just keeps on growing. I wish it will just go away.

Thanks for turning me into a monster.

A MISSED RENDEZVOUS, A BOWL OF SUPERB RAMEN, AND A JET'S PLOY

Since I am generally feeling insomniac right now, I'll work on publishing my drafts from last week...

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

Last Tuesday, I missed a meeting with the Urban Elite because I had a dance practice with my officemates for our company's 2011 kick-off party. By the way, for those who don't know me personally, I dance. Brief background. I've been dancing since I was a kid. In high school I joined a dance club where I got to learn different genres of dances. In college, I joined the hiphop varsity of my alma mater UP Los Banos, i.e. UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company (aka Street Jazz or "clan"). I also had some stints in standard dancesport before I graduated. And after that, I was one of those who pioneered Urban Elite, the alumni leg of Street Jazz. Hmm... I'm thinking of writing a whole different entry in my dancing realm.

So as I said,  I missed my meeting with Urban Elite. And next thing I know, I was appointed as the Membership Committee head. To be honest, I didn't know how to react. It was flattering that they trust me to handle that committe. But also, it was challenging as the position requires hardwork, with emphasis on "hard". It also requires having deeper understanding of all inter-relationships and individual concerns of the members. *sigh* As Shikamaru would have put it, "This is troublesome."

Urban Elite, before the performance at World AIDS Day celebration

Sabrina getting drunk

I missed Urban Elite. Even though I have known these guys since I was a freshman in college, I still miss them. Above is a picture taken right before our performance at the World AIDS Day celebration in Tomas Morato last December. It was a memorable night because we bonded, we went clubbing and partied like there was no tomorrow.

After sweating all our moves in the club, we went straight to he nearest noodle shop to regain sobriety. Or consciousness at least. Little did I know, I was only a few seconds away from having the best noodles I've ever tasted in my entire life. 

 

San Seh's excellent noodles

Before that night, I never knew that these kind of noodles existed. And I was so glad that we happened upon San Seh's Pulled Noodles. I'll definitely go back to that shop and have another bowl of tasty pulled noodles. Although my roomate, who works in the food industry, told me that these were more commonly called as traditional Chinese noodles.

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

Also this week, Cebu Pacific launched a new marketing strategy via Facebook. My co-members in Urban Elite were frantic that day as one of us was informed about the airline's "game" just few hours before it was launched. We were all excited to participate as winning the game would mean realising our goal to have a group vacation in Coron, Palawan.

The scheme is like this, one of us would need to register as a host of a 150-seater plane. Once he obtains a plane, he would need to fill the "seats" by inviting his friends to join his flight. The first plane to fill up wins. The prize? All of those who registered in the winning plane will have a real trip to the pre-determined destination, on a pre-set date.

By the way, before I forget, I would like to share how crappy my Cebu Pacific flight was last Christmas. I was on my way to Davao, and I was carrying with me three boxes. First one contains my old CPU, second one is the monitor, and third one contains perfume bottles, alcoholic beverage, and other wrapped gifts that I bought as pasalubong for my relatives and neighbours.

I specifically instructed the lady at the check-in counter to take special care of my baggage, and to label it as fragile. I told her of the contents of each box. I even readily paid around three thousand bucks for the excess baggage. She sweetly smiled and assured me that everything will be fine.

Not everything went fine though. To cut the story short, I was agape when I saw my box on the conveyor belt in Davao airport. It was upturned, leaking with perfume, and like the other two boxes, it had no label that says "Fragile". I filed a complaint right away and the officer (after having a row with me first) assured me a call from their head office within the week to sort things out. Sad to say, I never heard from them. Not even after i followed up on them thru phone AND email.

my box of perfumes with leaks at the top

the airline's new boarding pass will make any grocery receipt look like a piece of art

I am still yet to hear about their explanation. Crap!