Alarm Clock at 3:30am

That's how early my mom wakes up. Well, that was before.

Imagine a schedule like this:

Wake up at 3:30am
Be at the service bus station by 4:30am
Office by 6:00am (Ahem, all the way at Canlubang in Laguna)
Work 'til 6:00pm
Be home by 9:30pm
Attend to your family
Sleep by 11:00pm
And do it all over...

My mom did it for years. She retired back in 2004 after 30 years with the company.

I just can't think of any other love and sacrifice one can do for her family, to be able to get us through with our education, our daily expenses, our family, even up to our relatives...

Saludo ako sa'yo Inay.

These thoughts... these are the ones that I always play in my mind whenever I wanna give up in life. My mom, and my dad too, did it all for us so that we can live a normal and happy life. I just can't let her down. Hindi n'ya kami pinabayaan kahit na konting oras lang kami magkasama sa araw-araw.

I always say to myself: "I hope my future wife will be just like my mom"

Sigh...

Tama na nga ang drama...

And for your special day, I pray to God that He'll bless you with good health, more patience (sa amin... hehehe...), stronger faith and happiness as you and Dad grow old and I'll make sure you both will enjoy your lives even after we have our own families...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

She just loves sunflowers... a lot... =P

Faith to Last a Lifetime - Part 2

Ladies and gentlemen... Funky Kingston by Toots and the Maytals...

Hey hey hey hey hey
I want you to believe every word I say
I want you to believe every thing I do
I said music is what I've got baby
And I've got to find some way to make it
Music is what I've got baby
I want you to come on and shake it
Shake it, shake it baby
Oh yeah
La la la... La la la...

Yeah baby. Miami Ink's theme song.

"Guess who's back in town?" - I think I sent this message to Yel and Loren. Hmmm... I'm not surprised they knew who right away.

Yeah baby, yeah. The Master's back!

After 2 months and 2 days to be exact, I'm ready for my next tattoo session. Butch, the great artist that he is, got back from a guest artist stint in Cotabato a week ago.

It's payback time! Hehehe...

We were scheduled for a 6pm appointment but got started rather late. But it's fine with me. It's just 3 hours of delay. No, I'm not blaming him. It's ok. Ako pa. =P Just check out the pic below, the reason why it took him time to start my tat.

Aheem. Unlike my first session, this one was way too different. In tagalog, nasa kondisyon ata 'to. I slept a lot. Drank lots of liquids. I was relaxed the whole time.

Can you believe it took us 3 hours and I'm still raring to go? And he's the one who asked me if we can stop. Hehehe. Sorry bro, I just followed your advice. =)

I really love the pain from the tattoo gun. I can't explain. The sensation it brings. Whew. Not to forget, my very symbolic tat is getting better and better, just like my faith.

Can't wait, AGAIN, for my next session!

The printouts for the guide - all original still...

A view from the top...

I've been waiting for this pare... As in...

Wow oh, St. Jude's got a new robe... =P

After 3 hours... 2nd session done!

BONUS PICS OF THE DAY

Yoji - Checkin' out his artwork...

If you think it's a computer printout, think again.

Man + Color Pencils = Artwork

The reason behind the delay - a very detailed tatoo...

P.S.
And about the song on the first part? Butch's own "Yoji" aka Rebo is doing tattoos already! Para talaga sila sina Ami and Yoji, the master beats the hell out of his apprentice. =)

No Reservations

"Sorry sir pero hindi po kami pwede magpaakyat sa taas hangga't hindi kumpleto..."

"Sorry sir pero baka hindi na po natin madugtungan yung mga tables mamaya kung wala pa mga yung mga kasama n'yo..."

"Luiness!!! Tarayan mo na nga 'tong mga 'to!!!"

WTF man... It's kinda irritating but what can we do? The place has been set as our venue and we can't move to another one as others might not be able to follow.

Yeah... our first anniversary as a class, a batch and as friends... Batch 5 Luzon...

Wow, from a high of 21 peeps committing that they'll attend... we were down to like 12-15 who went, drank a few bottles of beer, pigged out and laughed out loud the whole time...

It was so fun as even those who are not in Dell anymore attended the gathering too, as well as those peeps who dropped by and went to the office for their shift. =)

After a few hours, not to mention a truck-full of "kodakan" led by Loren, we decided to bounce and try another place. Hmmm... Why not Cafe Saguijo? I've been wanting to go there for some time now. Only 5 of us boys went there as some went on their own "2nd gimmick". The place was nice, not so many people but it's one heck of a rockin' night.

It's a common practice to get something hot, food I mean, after chugging down a lot of alcohol. We found ourselves eating mami and pares at the intersection of Dela Rosa and P. Tamo. Pwede na rin kesa wala.

I have a lot more things to say but nevermind, alam nyo naman kung ano nangyari pagkatapos. Ano pa? Eh di uwian na.

Check out our pics at http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/denmark21/Batch%205%20Luzon/Reunion%20Pics/

30 Seconds...

30 seconds!!!

Last 30 seconds!!!

The sound of that is music to my ears. 30 more friggin' seconds and this round is over. When you think that doing a 3-minute drill is short, it feels like eternity when your doing it.

It's been like months since I last worked-out at my local boxing gym. Yeah. Work, tight sched, "bookings", meeting up with friends and the not so pleasant people, and also my tattoo made me skip gym for a long time.

But after feeling some lack of self confidence, feeling not healthy and with my bulging tummy getting in my way, I decided to go and give it a shot once again.

I was kinda hesitant, coz I know how it feels to workout after a long layoff. It's like your lungs are being pulled out from your body, you can't breathe well, you can't move anymore as it's gonna be punishing pain on almost all parts of your body. But, how would it go away and let your body adapt again if you won't do it? Right?

I was with Alvin. He said he wanted to try it. Why not? I think I had more time laughing at him than concentrating on my workout. Haa haa. I know how it feels and how bad I looked when I started boxing 2 years ago. Way to go dawg!

Here are the pics, go check it out...

Doin' the punch mitts...

From another angle...

Jab si Kuya, Counter ako...

Hittin' the heavy bag...

Speed ball: If you think it's easy, think again...

Gusto daw nya sumama, eh di sige!