Photoblog - Day 271 Jan 5, 2011

I/ACT pioneers:

Would you believe that there's a real good chance I happen to be the youngest person in the group? I said chance because I was too polite to ask - but one thing is a fact. Everyone - and I mean every single face in this picture with me - was in I/ACT before I joined.

For those not in the know, I/ACT was the premiere computer institute of the 70's - and at it's peak, had branches in other ASEAN countries... and these people were the ones responsible for all this. It was in I/ACT that I started learning my I.T. skills in programming and systems analysis... hence the start of my journey in eventually becoming a facilitator, corporate trainer, coach and consultant.

Imagine that... this particular evening, I was technically representing the 3rd generation of I/ACT. I think others might have come after I left... too bad I wasn't able to rub elbows with them again.

This gathering, is, in fact... an I/ACT pioneers reunion... and I happen to be there as well by simple luck... through Benj Santillan (the guy in front of me) - and if I'm to consider the story right, all these were made possible because of Ime Ponteres. All these people knew Ime... many visited her wake... and were reunited. They kept in email contact - and organized this reunion.

It was nice to meet some people - people whose names were constant mentions to me in my I/ACT days... and I would have stayed longer had I been able to better plan my joining this group's reunion. I also wished I knew more people here... but that's okay, there'll be more opportunities for that.

Photoblog - Day 269 Jan 3, 2011

Need a break?

Break from what exactly? From the holiday rush... from the holiday food... from anything holiday-related? Yeah, there are times I felt like that.

Let's face it, this particular Christmas seemed to have come and gone by so fast, I hardly felt I had time to enjoy it. Oh there were a few days - maybe just one actually, when I would be bale to sit back, relax and enjoy the season - but majority of the time, I felt like being rushed here and there.

Well this particular day was a pre-planned rest day... just stay home... period. If any prep time was focused on, it was to ensure that the 4th (being the official first day of work), would start without a hitch.

As for my picture? It's my way of spreading the news about the new Goya Chunky... it's actually good - with that unique Filipino chocolatey taste as only Goya creates (some of you may vaguely recall the taste - but when you bite into this, you'll be reminded again), plus the added taste of cashew nuts (for those Balikabayans who can still remember Antipolo and the roasted cashews sold there.

Now imagine these in a Goya bar... yeah... Kit Kats are great - but these are no pushovers as well. What I'm showing are the white and dark chocolate variants... there is a milk chocolate variant too - but I ate it before this picture could be taken.

As for the technical details... I wished I had a flash diffuser... the right portions of the bar have too harsh a lighting - so it was hard to come up with a balanced picture showing crisp details and yet have everything almost visible. Either that or take the shot with a tripod next time, sans flash. Lovern - a colleague in training, actually introduced me to this... as it was her gift to us all during Christmas.

By the way... those chocolates under the two bars? They're not real... they're coasters designed like chocolates - a gift from a colleague (Gina Medina) for Christmas. Neat looking huh?

What TV show do you wish would go off the air for good?

drama shows that have little educational or morally uplifting values... the so called shows catering to the masses, thus seemingly dumbing down their plots and characters.

Ask me anything

Do you believe in ghosts?

Oh yeah... seen one when I was a kid.

Ask me anything

What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done?

as a boy relatively fresh in joining the cub scouts, I once saw a tree that fell across the road in front of our home due to the storm - without hesitation, I put on a raincoat, got a flashlight and stood sentry in front of felled tree to warn motorists.

Ask me anything

Photoblog - Day 268 Jan 2, 2011

Dict's Advanced Birthday:

It was a choice between a picture of Dict blowing his cake or of Jude with cake icing on his face - I naturally opted for the latter. After all, we can always get Dict blowing his cake at another birthday (or year, if you want to be more accurate), but when will we be able to get a picture of Jude Brent smiling with icing on his face?

This will be a classic Facebook picture that his mom will love showing off to his classmates in around 10 years time - and I'm just glad I was around to take said picture. You can see the glee in Barbie's face - plus the mischief in her smile (you definitely know who the mastermind to such an act of putting icing on Jude's face was).

Though Dict's birthday would officially be the next day, we had this celebration in Cavite so his (and Barbie's) parents could be part of the small gathering. Plus we wanted the 3rd to be a rest day for us - in preparation for work and school as ushered in by 2011.

Photoblog - Day 267 Jan 1, 2011

Happy 2011!!!

Firs of all... from my family to yours - Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

As tradition goes, we stayed up until way beyond the midnight hour to greet 2011, and we had our traditional midnight meal - with some bubblies for the adults (Asti Martini). Barbie cooked up a great meal... Pasta with Tuna and Olive Oil and a few herbs, capers, olives - all healthy and filling, without being too filling.

We also had our choco fondue - with pretzels, melon, and marshmallows for dessert. Prior to all these, I made a pitcher of Red Bacardi Mojitos for Barbie, Ben and me, so we really had a good time as we awaited and welcomed the New Year.

After which, we watched a few fire works... thank God there were less this year than last year - hence less smoke and black nostrils in the morning. Some people say it's because of the hardships they've experienced in 2010... me, I think a lot of people are more environment conscious, and less likely to celebrate with fireworks.

May 2011 be a year of goals reached and dreams fulfilled - and it starts with this day.

Photoblog - Day 266 Dec 31, 2010

Ready for 2011!

How, exactly, is this picture representative of getting ready for 2011? Let me explain.

This is a practice we have been...well, practicing for several years now - and I might as well share it with you. The use of these glasses (and it can be any form of glass, shape and size) comes with the belief that if we greet the new year with these four glasses - and their contents, the coming year will be affect in the following manner:

Cotton - to represent lightness of life's challenges in the coming year;
Salt - adding some spice to life... so it need not be boring and dragging;
Rice - so we may not want, as we will always have food to eat on the table; and...
Sugar - to add sweetness to the coming year, and possibly compliment the spice part.

I know... it's a belief, and there really is no evidence to prove it... but in sheer 'The Secret' style, who knows? It may just be self fulfilling.

Photoblog - Day 265 Dec 30, 2010

Auld Lang Syne:

Way back when... in Boy Scouting days to be exact, was when I first got to learn about this song. One that was sang as people in the Jamboree we were attending were parting ways. Back then it did not really sink in - probably because as the first stanza would say 'Should old acquaintance be forgot...' was simply alien to me.

Now I have to admit, I have had some forgotten old acquaintances - some because we were just too busy to keep tabs with, as life (more likely, work) pulled us apart. Well, this picture is of my old I/ACT colleagues - who have made it a point to still keep abreast with each other, and every year-end, they get together for one last hurrah. I used to join them - but as I said, we got too busy, lost touch and contact for such a get together.

I realized this fact upon seeing facebook pics of these reunions - and realized what I missed. Well this year, thanks to FB, I made it a point to be part of said reunion - and keep tabs. I just wanted to make sure that I let 'Auld Lang Syne' be a song... and not a reality.

Photoblog - Day 264 Dec 29, 2010

Cuenca Christmas visit:

This item was long overdue - our visits to Cuenca are planned trips... it's just too far to do on a whim, as it involves preparation of what to bring - and the assumption (though it has not always held, of course) is that we would be going as a family. After all, we may see Bing once in a while, when she travels to Manila, and the same can be said for Tizza - though I guess, in rarer terms. But to see my mom, we have to go there. She isn't well enough to handle long trips to Manila and back to Cuenca... and even if we could come up with a car to allow her to travel, she gets tired and I guess, Manila travel and air isn't too good for her these days (fatigue plus pollution).

We normally schedule our Christmas trips earlier, but this year, things were just too hectic for me - so we decided to hit two birds with one stone, seeing as we were going a bit late anyway - and come on Migs birthday as well... I believe, this is a first for us... normally going for the Christmas celebration and well, just telling Migs his advanced birthday greeting.

It may even be better... who knows - I'll see how busy I get same time in 2011. But I don't mind traveling on the 29th... though I would prefer more time to plan things out better... not that this was a disaster (as the picture is proof) - just that it leaves little time for cleaning up for the new years, is all. But still... this trip was purely Kairos time - which is how trips like this should be.

Just what are they laughing at? Who cares, really... the fact is - and the important matter IS that they are laughing. Rare as our visits are, it's situations like this that make the planning and travel time worthwhile.

Photoblog - Day 263 Dec 28, 2010

Christmas done, but not yet gone:

One of the great things about our Christmas season here in the Philippines is that it sort of starts early (December 16th is the official celebratory prep time via Simbang Gabi) and goes on until Three Kings (the first Sunday of the new year). That said, the Christmas decors are set up earlier than usual (compared to the rest of the world) and are not torn down right after New Year's celebration.

This allows us to better appreciate the decors which we may have missed due to all the Christmas shopping rush - which in turn creates the pre-Christmas traffic jams.

After Christmas, though. things look very differently - and it is not a disturbing effort to get from point A to point B in the Metro. That said, take this simple yet poignant display... so simple with all it's white lights - yet elegantly done. I refer to the display of the Podium.

Why was I at the Podium? I was going to get some barongs (office attire dress shirts with a local feel) since some of my older barongs are ready to retire. But since parking in Mega Mall is a nightmare... even in non-Christmas rush days, the Podium offered a saner place to park - and eat. Plus I had to meet my dad, so he could give me something to bring to Cuenca - where I would be going tomorrow.

As for the picture... we definitely don't have White Christmases here - but at least we can simulate it some way... and still keep form freezing. That counts for something, right?

Photoblog - Day 262 Dec 27, 2010

High School BFFs:

Today happened to be Barbie's reunion with some friends she has not met since... well, since high school, if the story is to be believed. I mean, think of it... these are people I've never seen (except for Jay, of course - 2nd from right and not jumping) when I met and courted her. Yet these people had shared a great part of their teen formative lives together. Amazing that after so long a time, they find the opportunity to get together. Thanks in part of rediscovering each other in Facebook.

So when Barbie mentioned this... I could not, in all conscience, say no to her wanting me to drive her to their meeting place - which to me was a chance to do some exploring myself. After all, I did not mind going to Mall of Asia to hang around while they got reacquainted. I got a few comics to read and for the rest of the time... well, I could always explore.

Still, as plans go... this one did not go exactly as planned - so four of them (with me in tow) had to meet Jay in Las Piñas - a place easier for her to go to, given her not too strong constitution. They stayed in Starbucks' 2nd floor - while I made myself scarce, but reachable in staying at the coffee place's ground floor.

I took this fun shot at their request - before they finally called it a day. As Barbie said... seeing your wife happy meeting friends she has not seen in decades - 'priceless'.

Photoblog - Day 261 Dec 26, 2010

Sunday Rest Day:

For the most part of the day we stayed home - aside from the need to get away from all the hectic Christmas-related reunions, my body was in complaining mode from all the food and drinks I took in; so it went to automatic cleaning mode...don't ask. For those of you who seem to get it, yeah... not an attractive topic for a blog, huh?

You can probably guess that going out would therefore be the last thing on my mind... but it being a Sunday and all, we had to go to mass - and since we did not have anyone to cook at home as Ate VIcky was likewise on vacation, we decided to eat at Pho Hoa of the Shangi La Plaza.

I took the safe road... had a sea food bowl with Barbie - avoiding anything with oil. So yeah, this could be considered the highlight of my day. As for the picture, just a shot of Barbie and Bernice while waiting for their order to arrive.

Photoblog - Day 260 Dec 25, 2010

Chocolate and Cheese:

The two things that seem to go so well with wine - and since Barbie and I were planning to have some wine, well... we decided to have both (in this case, some feta cheese and cherry cordial flavored kisses)

Though the 25th may be a day of traditional celebration with relatives, I was just too tired from all the Christmas prep, visits and traffic. So I just wanted to stay home and have some peace in our home as the entire world was wishing peace on earth. I felt I owed it to myself to just rest after all these hectic days.

Did I feel isolated and detached? Nope... thanks to aps like Facebook, I was greeting people where I could.

Photoblog - Day 259 Dec 24, 2010

Reunions... reunions...

Yeah, it's that time of the year when we get to see relatives we've hardly seen the past months - and I marvel at the fact that without Facebook, I might have missed them out in a crowd... amazing huh?

But reunions like this allow is to touch base - some, I'm sad to say, even just superficially. After all, if you hardly know anything about yourselves other than the fact that you have similar ancestors, what would you talk about? Well, apparently... our ancestors of course. I mean... what else?

I got to know more about a great-grand mother whom I've never heard of... and just realized that her story is being turned into a movie... just so her life and it's hardships can be told (and hopefully, some lessons learned?).

I also learned a story of my dad during his teen years... so yeah, I was laughing out loud at that.

The food was indisputably great... and I really have to watch my weight during these times. So yeah... I felt that if anything else, some more bridges were built between me and my cousins, uncles and aunts. We're not as close as I would like... but at least we have these occasions - and ones not sorrowful in nature (like funerals).

This picture shows my dad (center) and uncles sharing a light moment. So yeah... here's looking forward to the next one - the eve before the New Year.

Photoblog - Day 258 Dec 23, 2010

Last PM School 2010:

I must say that I normally do not look forward to handling PM school - it usually is too stuffed with topics, and should the participants be less inspired to talk, I (and my partner) would be exhausted for talking the entire day. Last time I handled this, I think I had to do a few days alone... so, to be honest, I was not really looking forward to this.

Lucky for me, Gina would be sharing the facilitating load with me... and we would have a class filled with very active listeners and more than a handful of people willing to share their Accenture experience... and we had people from different groups that somehow complemented each other when it came to asking questions raised to the group.

Bottom line? I really loved this session. Even if Gina and I were tired, due to our respective hectic weekends - and hectic Monday (Christmas party, remember?) even if we were going a bit over the official class time, we were both okay with it... heck we even had to intervene a few times to get the conversations to move along - lest we end up really having overtime on the last day.

But the experience shared - both from in and outside Accenture viewpoints; the tossing around of ideas; the invaluable insights into how certain parts of the company worked - this was all very interesting... and needed by these new (and not so new) PMs.

When 5PM finally came, I was almost sad to see it end... and surprise surprise... neither Gina, nor I was drained by this particular run. We enjoyed it... and more importantly, our participants enjoyed it. Great way to end my year of teaching/facilitating.

If only all PM classes were like this. Thanks a lot folks!

Photoblog - Day 257 Dec 22, 2010

Celebrating friendship:

This was supposed to be a night for the winners of our singing contest, while also being a night to celebrate one last time with some friends - at least, last time for the year, since they would have no more trainings for the rest of December.

That said, of the group that won, only Francis, Jinky and I were able to be there - accompanied with Lovern and Gina... the other two - Jingo and Brian, were occupied elsewhere... but I thought that was okay, since we also used up some of the cash, as part of our post party celebration. My thoughts here being that if it was near impossible to pull together all five, we could do two separate celebrations - so long as majority of the winners were able to enjoy it. It just so happened that both Gina and I were present in the two celebrations.

as I said though, it was also a night to share a drink with some of them - whom I would not be seeing until January... Jinky, Francis and Lovern fell into this category.

Of course, the evening was also loud... since we just happen to be in one small corner - right beside the karaoke speaker. Suffice to say, once we were done with the bucket of beer we ordered, we called it a night.

Photoblog - Day 256 Dec 21, 2010

December Comics:

I did take advantage of my being in Makati yesterday, to pass a comic shop I rarely frequent (simply because it is out of my usual route), because I needed to get a comic I asked them to get for me... and they called me a few days earlier to inform me that they did have the comic re-ordered. So I did need to go there... and my having to go to the Christmas party was the best coincidence to do just that.

Naturally, I took it upon myself to maximize my visit... deciding to get a few more issues from them - ones I hardly find in my regular comic shops.

That was last night. Reading these comics, however, were more scheduled for today (no time to do it last night, after all), since I was still in the middle of conducting a Project Management training with Gina. So I thought to myself... okay, while Gina is lecturing, I would have time to read these comics.

Most of them were catch-up reading with The Green Hornet, and I did get a comic I already had - simply because the cover was by Alex Ross... a tribute to Vampirella issue #1 back when it was first published by Warren magazine. Though it just showed the back of vampi - with Drakulon (the supposed planet she came from) as her background. I can't remember who painted the cover back then though.

These won't be the last comics I'll be getting this year... at least, I'd like to think so.

Photoblog - Day 255 Dec 20, 2010

Christmas Party:

The occasion is the Phoenix One Christmas party... the location is the rooftop of Asian Mansions in Makati... a private enough place for such a party with about 50 people (approximately speaking); and quite naturally, a place in general that I would want to avoid, since Makati is one of a handful of places in the middle of Christmas shopping madness, and therefore, horrendous traffic jams.

But... it is a Christmas party after all, and it has been a while since I've been part of one - the last one I remember being in was the Orange and Bronze party last year... I think, and I was just a spectator there - an invited guest. Not so here, as the picture shows.

Highlight of the night? Welcome to the Sing-along relay contest where a group of 5 people will be given a random song to sing, and they will have to try their best to interpret it. The thing is, it's virtually anything goes, and you had better hope that you get the luck of the draw with a song you know.

Lucky for us (us being Brian, Francis, Jinky and myself), we have Jingo on our team - but this being a relay, Jingo could only carry oh... 20% of the songs (roughly speaking). First round pick was a familiar enough tune - made famous by Billy Joel... then later, by Westlife (I think) - 'Uptown Girl'; and we squeezed in the top 3 with a 93 despite thinking we were goners.

Well next round was apparently more difficult - 'Staying Alive' by the Bee Gees... I mean, c'mon... really? Bee Gees? If if was 'Charade' - a song pre-falcetto Bee Gees days, I would have a fighting chance. As it was, I had to bring it several rungs lower just to turn in my tune, and the rest gladly followed. But we did not bother thinking we'd win - and I guess that helped. No pressure.

Our score? 99 - from there on, it was just a matter of time. The team that followed us must have been slightly intimidated... and Jingo even commented on the same thing to me. Anything less than 100 would not be good enough for them - and at the best, they could tie with another 99... and they would have, since their song was (at least to my mind) easier for a majority ladies team (Gloria Gaynor's I will Survive).

Photoblog - Day 254 Dec 19, 2010

Believe:

My kids are at this age where they don't believe in Santa Claus anymore... just paying lip service to the idea (and the person playing the role in this picture). Too bad... I feel that one of the things that keeps the magic of Christmas alive was their belief - and our helping instill said belief, in Santa.

Guess it was bound to happen, huh? And with loss of belief comes a certain added cynicism - though I don't think my kids are too cynical. I can't remember when I realized that there was no Santa... but this did not make me stop hoping or believing in the concept. I guess that sort of explains why I enjoy watching films of Santa, deep inside, I hope and pray that I do see Santa - and not just believe in a marketing idea. It's my inner child refusing to be totally swept away.