Mommyo... Mima... 'en na...

Mommyo is for Lola. Poppyo is for Lolo. Mima is for Tito Mac. Nino is for Ninong Dodie. Ot is for Lola Alud. Nene is for the younger sister. And the usual Mommy and Daddy of course.

This is how my dear nephew, Simon Peter calls us. It's his 3rd birthday today! I remember when he first came out to this world. I felt so awkward. First time to have a small voice that cries so hard a lot of times in a day. I got used to it though.

We call him with different names: Sai, Simon, Totoy, Toto and even Petutoy.

Neighbors, relatives and other people call him differently: Kulot.

Yeah... If not for his naughty antics and hyperactivity not to mention the desperate measures of my Mom to cut his hair often which I detest so much (Don't cut it! Don't!!!), you would mistake that boy for a girl. When we were not cutting his hair yet, he'd get that gesture from other people. My sis-in-law one time had to, you know, "show his thingy" to this woman who just won't believe her. Funny moment.

Sabi ko nga lugi ako when it comes to giving him and his younger sister things, gifts and supplies. Simon being the 1st nephew, the 1st grandchild of my parents or better known as the usual spoiled brat and his sister, Camilla, being the 1st girl in our family and my goddaughter too. Hahaha!

Some pics of Simon from before and to the most recent...

Simon at our Quezon House - Chillin' out..

Simon - 1 year and 1 month

Simon - Doesn't what his Mima was doin'

Simon, give me that matchstick...

Simon's 3rd Birthday Cake courtesy of Mommyo

The Long Wait is Over

6:30am: Cellphone alarm clock woke me up... Checked some text messages from last night, went online for a few minutes... Crap my Yankees are losing again against the Boston Red Sucks.

6:45am: Took a bath... Prepared my spare clothes... Filled-up the van's water reserve for the radiator...

7:10am: Caltex Taytay Hi-way, loaded 200 bucks of diesel... This gasoline boy is taking forever to clean the windshield... Hohuummm...

7:40am: McDonald's Marcos Hi-way, Sausage McMuffin with Egg and Orange Juice... 2 cars ahead of me... Damn, I hope I won't be late for the 8am call time, I still don't know the place...

7:55am: Marikina Proper... Asked a yosi vendor if the road I'm taking is correct... Yes, Sto. Niño Baseball Field is just near... Wikimapia.org is indeed correct...

8:00am: Just in time baby, just in time... But wait, there's already a group playing... Uh oh, am I already late? Can't be... I approached the field... Whoa! They're a bunch of Koreans practicing too... Whew!

8:10am: Sent Justin Austria (Titans Captain) a text message... He'll be there in 10mins...

8:20am: Justin has arrived, as well as some members of the Titans Alabang team... The Koreans? I didn't know some of them will be our team mates...

Oh wait, what am I talking about? This is about Titans Baseball League '07. I am gonna be part of this event, playing for the Titans.

8:30am: Getting to know each other... Talked about baseball in general, the other members and stuff... Stretching, warming-up, 2 laps of jogging... Oh goodness gracious, Cap handed over a baseball mitt and the ball... Let's do some catch! I dunno what to feel... Baka mapahiya ako, it's been ages since I last did this... Whow! To my surprise and maybe him to, I can catch and throw... The best part of playing catch earlier? Cap commended me. Ang lakas ko daw bumato ng bola... On to some batting practice and then scrimmages... I got to hit for the 1st time in a game... Played defense (which I sucked big time) on the infield and the outfield...

10:00am: First break! OMFG! This weather's gonna kill me... Good thing I was wearing long sleeves training clothes with NY Yankees cap and Rudy Project shades... Tommy Song, the Korean team leader treated us all for some refreshments... By this time, I was already feeling weak... My arms, legs and shoulders are getting heavy... Can I just watch baseball on TV? :(

11:00am: Finally, we're done... After a few defense and offense drills, we're done! Aaaaaargh!

Yeah. The long wait is now over. After almost 15 years of waiting, I got to play baseball again. I thank my grandfather for having this in our genes. He was a star baseball player in our province of Quezon back in the days. Did you know that he used to play the upright bass guitar? I play the bass guitar too. It's all in the family.

Catch more of the Titans Baseball League '07 from April to May, Saturdays and Sundays at the Sto. Niño Baseball Field in Marikina! For more info, log on to www.titansbaseballclub.org.

Joy in my Palm

"This is not happening... Oh no... Me? Dancing to this music... Wake up man, wake up!"

It played through my mind for a couple of times last night. Yes, I was at this "hot" place called Prince of Jaipur or simply called Jaipur. And what the hell was I thinking and doing there you ask? Well, if not for the 2 self-proclaimed (joke!!!) hot girls that strangled me to go there, my shadow won't even go near that place. Of course again, I'm just kidding.

Call time was at 9pm. So, since I have new shoes that I bought just for this thing to push through, I couldn't walk that fast going out of our village. In short, I was 15 minutes late. Wooooshoooo. Palusot. Oh yeah, I was with Loren and Mariel. Trainers-turned-friends. We had dinner at Pier 1, Loren ordering the walang-kamatayang sinigang na baboy and me going for chicken sisig.

For that night, I was dubbed as "Billy". Why? Well some of Mariel's friends errr crew signed us up as guests so we could get in for free. The name listed there was Billy, so in short I had no choice. But wait! There's more! We were about to enter the place when they saw some of their Master Trainers in 24/7. Hmmm... Guess what? Yes we we're able to get in for free but t got even better... VIP baby! We were stamped with "Joy" in our palms literally. It's the sign that we are VIPs. Hahaha!

Last time I danced in a party was way back in High School. Quite a long time. I think (I think lang ha, I think!) that I still have a little groove left in me. Besides, what's the use of being in a dance group back then? Oo, sumasayaw ako dati. As in hip-hop. The place was nice. A little crowded and crazy over all. Different people, different culture and nationality, people you see from the office and different personalities too. Main attraction were the "nasty" girls dancing on stage and Mariel's old crew doing some B-Boy stuff. Well, I wasn't paying much attention to them, these 2 hot girl friends of mine were more than enough.

Mariel kept on asking me if I was ok and if I'm enjoying the scene. Yeah, not bad. Though not my normal thing for a gimmick, I did enjoy it. What I can't stand is the high-priced beer. 100 bucks for a bottle. Whew.

By 3am, I was really ready to call it a night. I was thinking about the 2 of them, maybe they're still enjoying it, so I decided not to tell them. But thank good heavens, they were the ones who initiated that we should go.

Mariel went on to take a cab with her "housemate" while Loren and I grabbed some quick McDo snack before finally heading home. Yeah, the thought did play on my mind for a couple of times but, the heck, I had a good time.

Thanks Slinky. Thanks Yellie. Let's go back in around 6 months from now maybe? =P

Bagets Get-Together

First day in Dell QC...

The day started out when I called up Alvin around 6:30am and was about to ask him where he is so we could meet up first then enter the new site together...

"Riiiing.... Riiiing...." I was expecting a "Hello" from him when he picks up the call, but then...

Alvin: Huh?!??! Anong oras na??? Kakagising ko lang eh...

Mac: Bugok! 6:30 na! Anak ng... Bilisan mo magtaxi ka na!!!

Wow. So much for our first day Mr. Perez. So I went on and just entered the 1800 Building on my own. To my surprise, the Security Personnel at the elevator recognized me. Naks naman. So it was like so seamless. Transition to a new building was so smooth. I was expecting that our badge was not yet working for the doors, but I was wrong. =P

A lot of familiar faces waiting for the assembly at the Urban Chef Cafeteria. Disclaimer: The cafeteria looks great in appearance but I tell you Dell Pasay people, you'll miss Chef Albert. Site Director Mr. Susheel welcomed us with his usual comedy stuff. Cool guy. PD Rene Morta gave an inspirational speech. They say he's one of the coolest people in QC. Our former AM, and hopefully again, Sir Leo recognized us.

So, the day went by with our crash-course to Dell Portables. I flunked 1/3 Tims. Hehehe. It's ok. Bawi na lang. But the highlight of the day was seeing our batchmates from DHT Luzon Class Batch 5!!! Yeah, we were like crazy. I guess we just missed each other. So we went on and met after shift at the pantry then headed to Dencio's Eastwood (where else? duh...) for some beer and catching-up chit chat.

Check out the pics... Inuman sponsored by Zen, Gian and Cis...




Wow. Dell Laptop with me wearing my Dell Shirt at Dencio's.

Naman oh. Extra pa si Cis. Hmpt!

Hala sige Gian. Kuha lang ng kuha.

May extrang taga-PBB House.

Nice. Hope to have more of this.

Newton's Third Law

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You may find this title misleading. If you don't dedicate time in reading this, you might not figure out what I'm really trying to say.

Today was my last day in Dell Pasay. Tomorrow will be my first day in Dell QC. I can't think of a better title that would somehow describe what I felt a few hours ago.

See this picture below?

Team Aseron - December 2, 2006

This is my team. Or maybe I should say "was" my team. A bunch of riot act. Product of DHT Batch 5, from 3 different classes binded as one. Photo taken after Dell's 2006 Xmas Party. This is the only picture that we're complete.

It was hard for me. I thought of it for days. To transfer or not to? If I don't transfer, I'll be with the happiest, loudest, fun-loving and "high-achievers" group. But, the expense of commuting and the rough time travelling to work? Can you still dig it? If I transfer, I'll start all over and meet new people. Adjustment may not be a big deal, but still is a factor. But, the time to travel and the chance to save up some money for my family? I think that's what kicked in.

Yes, I almost cried. Bidding goodbye to Jason the Pabling, Tina the Impostor (pretends to be a girl), Aira the Head Turner (no choice eh), Aris aka Brando, Mr. Mayor Jay, Don Banie, the Razon Bros - Miles, Joven and Marc, Joy aka Grumpy, T-Rex as in TuRon, Mang Tim and of course the Head Architect Boss Arn. It's not easy man. I gave them my final thoughts before leaving. I had no other thing to say but many many many thanks. In my total of 3 years in this kind of industry, they have been the BEST TEAM that I worked with.

Tomorrow, I face a new chapter in my Dell career. This is the reaction to the action. I just hope that I may not find people like the ones in Team Aseron but just to have a good working environment would be good enough for me, at least for the time-being.

I'll surely miss you guys. You are not just officemates, batchmates nor teammates but you are one heck of wonderful friends.

The Quest for # 27

April 2, 2007

The official start of the 2007 Major League Baseball Season for the New York Yankees.

Say what? Baseball? Yankees? Questions I never fail to receive from Pinoys.

You see, this country might be crazy for all the drive and shot to the hoops and rounds of boxing but I'm proud to say that my ever favorite sport is Baseball!

If I'm at the Bronx, NY right now, I would be lining up there and entering the greatest stadium on this earth, the Yankee Stadium. Also known as "The House that Ruth Built". Yup, Babe Ruth. No... it's not just a candy bar, he was a great baseball player and of course a great Yankee.

This opening day, the veteran voice of Yankee Stadium, Mr. Bob Sheppard, will introduce both players from the opposing teams. One by one they'll run to the field and line-up at opposite 1st and 3rd base lines. According to the news, 2 US Jet Fighter Planes will fly over the Bronx to signal off the start of the season. Wow! I can just feel the electricity now.

The ceremonial pitch will be done by the ex-Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle's wife and son. Just like what you see in a basketball game which is a ceremonial toss, baseball has it's own too. Lidle was the pilot of the plane that crashed into a NYC apartment building last year around the last week of September which caused a stir of panic, thinking it's another terrorist attack.

I maybe 8,000 miles away from NY but I don't miss out that much. Why? Thanks to our town's local cable provider, I get to watch NY Yankees games for free as there's a Japanese channel that covers 80% of their games whole season-long. Thanks to you Mr. Matsui and to the newest player, Mr. Igawa. See? People in the States need to buy a subscription but me, all for free. =P

Why baseball? I find it more challenging. Yes, it's boring but not if my Yankees are playing. No time limit, play must continue until a team is declared a winner. I find it more challenging as the nature of the sport is so intriguing and I feel you really need talent to be a Major Leaguer. And the statistics man, the statistics! Whew! I don't know any other sport which has more stats than this game. Dig this: Batting Average = for season, lifetime, against a certain pitcher, with men on base, with 1 or 2 outs... aaaaaargh!!! That's only one, how much more for the whole game and other players? Whew!!! You think pitchers just throw the ball for the batter to hit? No! They throw it to get the batter out. This is the only game that if you're on defense, you have the ball. The pitcher? He's not an offensive player, he's for defense.

A day won't be enough for me to explain about the game and the tactics included. About the players, the teams and their rivals plus history and all.

Oh, quest for # 27? I forgot to mention. The New York Yankees as a professional sports franchise is heralded as the most successful team ever in this planet. The word winning is synonymous to the Yankees. They currently have 26 World Series Titles and looking for # 27 since year 2000.

So, I hope that when you take out the two zeros from 2007, it's gonna be 27!

Let's go Yankees!!!

I, Sinner

Yes. I am. We all are.

Today is Palm Sunday. Being a Catholic, I wouldn't say that I'm obliged to attend mass but I made sure I won't miss it even after coming from my shift.

It's not a normal Sunday Mass at the EDSA Shrine. A lot more people. Twice the number of regular Knights of the Altar. Better choir (peace...). And most of all the celebration is indeed to start off, technically, the Holy Week.

When I was still a kid, my mom would always tell us to take a bath early Good Friday morning as it's a sin to do it after 3pm. Patay daw kasi ang Diyos. If my neighbors and friends are up early, we'd ride a pick-up truck, travel to Cainta and witness live re-enactment of Christ carrying the cross, beaten by the soldiers and even crucified. Ouch! Be extra careful coz if you get a cut, wound or injury, it won't heal fast. Never turn on the TV or radio, well, you don't have a choice back then. Everything falls oh silent and peaceful when the clock hits 3pm. The Lord is dead. Oh my. But, don't worry son, He'll be resurrected this Sunday.

Black Saturday, I would go to our town proper and get a nice place to wait for the Amba. It's the life-size image of Christ being laid to rest after being taken down from the cross. You know how riot it is during the Black Nazarene's feast in Quiapo? We have our own version too.

Those were the usual things I did and practiced during Holy Week when I was younger. But as the years went by, I noticed that a lot has been changed. There's cable TV and internet. Malls are open. People going to vacation spots, beaches and people even have work! I myself, will only have Easter Sunday as the only day that I won't report for work.

I, Sinner.

During the mass, while the Gospel was being read ala radio drama, I recalled the scenes from the movie Passion of the Christ. It still gives me goosebumps up to now. Wow. I can't believe how punishments could be back then. The movie garnered mixed reviews, praises and criticisms but for me, it made my faith stronger.

Despite all these changes in technology and somewhat loss of the real essence of the Holy Week, let's not all forget that it's the time of the year that we all remember how our Lord saved us from our sins. Say a little prayer. Reflect. Repent. A few minutes with Him won't hurt. I am no perfect person. I still have lapses in my faith. I am no saint. But I make sure I give due time to the Lord.

You, the one reading this may not be a Christian. May not be Catholic. May have another religion. May not even have a religion. But remember, having faith and standing by your belief is more important in this life.

May all of you have a blessed Holy Week.