kids. . . dangerous

I was on my way to the Tuloy Po Kayo sa Don Bosco, the venue of the ongoing Annual Sportsfest. I rode the jeep from Admiral road in Las Piñas up to ATC. When we passed by SM Southmall, I got surprised when a couple of kids clinged on to the back of the jeep, putting their little lives on danger. I was speechless and slow to react. The first thing I did was to capture the moment (okay, I'm bad for catching some pictures. . .  guilty as charged, so please forgive me).

Poor kids, number one, they hitched a ride but in return, they put their lives in danger. I hope they don't do this more often. Fortunately, one of the jeepney drivers who passed by told our driver that there were two kids clinging at the back of his jeep. To cut the long story short, they got a free ride thanks to the kindness of our jeepney driver. Anyway, I'm just glad everything went fine.

That Pancake House "Burger"

Last Friday morning, we had breakfast with our client, Ma'am Pilar in Pancake House ATC, nearby our office. When the menus got handed out to each one of us (we were six including the client), I was surprised to see what was in. Well for one, I was not used to see such prices in the menu, I am not going to elaborate but that was 200%-300% more that the one I usually get. Nevertheless, I took much time just to select what to have for breakfast. To make the long story short, the other five got the following (not going to pair the name with the food, sorry): Tapsilog, Salmon Steak, three sets of Spaghetti and Hamburger. I got Arroz a la Cubana for myself, I figured that it has complete portions of servings (it had banana slices, a sunny side up egg, a cup of rice and your meat. Spaghetti got served and it was a generous one! But when the hamburgers came out for the other three, boy I was surprised.

At first I thought, I should have ordered the same but then again, I'm trying to lose weight :p It didn't look like that in the menu. It was a 1/3 pound burger complete with french fries on the side. In my opinion, if you ate that during breakfast, you won't be needing to take lunch as well and dinner perhaps. I ended up sharing half with my colleague because she cannot finish the meal alone (there goes my diet!).

So there, I was fortunate to try that one out but I swear I will never get one as big as that for myself.

Sportsfest - 06272010

I came to the venue a little late (missed all 1st games), I was hoping to catch them all and get some pictures but anyway, I'll have to make do with what I've got. So, it was another good Sunday for the Green Team. Volleyball Men's and Women's swept the eliminations, unfortunately, basketball Junior's lost the no-bearing game to the blue team (they will meet again in the knockout round).

 
Photos above: The Volleyball Women's team before the game and Tito, Vic and Joey (Me, Jeff and John Paul - it's up to you to identify who is who) enjoying the event early Sunday morning.

Back to the topic. As mentioned earlier, both Volleyball Teams assured Number One spot and the right to face the "weaker" team (team standing - wise). If both teams win on Sunday, they will go straight to the championship round.

 

The Basketball Juniors played a no-bearing game against the blue squad and lost. They will meet again in the knockout round next week for all the marbles and the right to play in the championship round. The team finished the elimination round as number 4.

Some pictures of the juniors team in action.

Basketball seniors are already done and was "demoted" to number 2 spot due to the loss of the Yellow team today. Had the Yellow Team won, we will be number 1 and will face the "weaker" team (again, team standing - wise). Well, I don't care who we are facing next round, I am just happy to advance. I was in a team last year that went winless so I'm taking this opportunity.


Other scenes today:
Yellow versus Blue (Volleybal Women's), no-bearing game as well, they will meet again in the knockout round.

Blue team celebrating after the victory.

Yellow versus Blue (Basketball Seniors), with Yellow Team's loss, they've set up another match against our team for the right to play in the championship round.

Other senior basketball game result - I was told that Red Team defeated White Team (seniors) to advance in the knockout round. They will face the Blue squad.


For more pictures, please check out the Sportsfest'10 album in may facebook profile. I would like to apologize, I just stuffed everything in there.

You To Me Are Everything

I got the chance to watch the latest Dingdong-Marian movie (it was shown the first week of May), good thing for someone ripped a DVD copy and uploaded in PSP format (thank you jasonangel!). In my overall assessment, from a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, I could say, I rate this movie 7 out of 10. Maybe the rating would be different if I had the chance to watch that movie with someone in the cinemas but that's a different topic :p

The story is a typical rags-to-riches story, huge money inherited from the last will and testament of a dying father and the step sisters hating you because you are "not part of the original family". And there is your male lead role who was used to the finer things in life and then suddenly lost everything because of his parent who did something foolish (say, graft and corruption), including yes, his girlfriend.

While watching the movie, it made me stop to think and thank  GOD for all the blessings that have happened to me during the past 6 years. I can relate to the situation when everything was taken away from you. I experienced how to be penniless and worst, to eat small meals if none one meal a day. And also to lose your girlfriend that fast for reasons I don't care to try to understand anymore (what happened to forever and ever? LOL). The movie made me realize and taught me a valuable lesson. I can be happy with what I got, however small or big they are. So now, I am on my way to recovery and was very blessed to have true family and friends that supported me all the way. So now, I have a job, a good team, a great set of true friends and most important of all, a loving family who supports you all the way through.

What else could I ask for? Oh yeah, a special someone would be nice!

A line from the movie:

"Kapag malakas ang ulan at wala kang payong, sumilong ka muna. Kung wala kang masisilungan, i-enjoy mo na lang ang ulan. Kasi, king hindi mo i-eenjoy ang ulan, nabasa ka na nga, mainit pa ang ulo mo."

So it says, be happy with whatever comes your way, weather good or bad. It's like you can do anything if it rains (at least find a temporary shelter if you don't have an umbrella), so might as well enjoy the rain or you will end up miserable and nobody would care at your misfortune.

And I totally agree!

Happy Weekend to all!

Summer is over but the fun never stops

It the start of the school year and everyone was busy during the first couple of weeks of June. The next ten months will be gruelling for the students with all the lectures, assignments and projects but let's look back on my summer. To start off, there really is pretty nothing much special but my summer this year was different from the summer of the past couple of years. First off, by the start of March, I got enrolled in a gym just one floor below where I was working (I worked in Starmall Alabang for almost a year before moving back to the main site of AMDATEX, this first week of June) so working out made it more convenient. Before the month ended, we got an offer to enroll to Slimmer's World International, we grabbed that offer immediately as the payment is more convenient (salary deduction, I won't disclose the amount but if you are interested, just reach out) and a little cheaper than the previous gym we enrolled in, plus some freebies. I started my one year exclusive package last April 14, 2010 and was very impressed with their facilities, to add, it is also near my working place at a mall near Starmall (Festival Supermall) which I can reach through walking, and by walking to the gym, I instantly got a cardio for starters so when I get there, I just needed to do some stretching and hit the weights.

Within the month of April, I was also playing with my childhood friends in a basketball league held in a nearby subdivision in San Pedro, Laguna. I was happy to participate for this year as I missed the past 5 years due to, yes you guessed it right, WORK!!! So, given the opportunity, I immediately rejoined forces with my childhood friends and went to work right away, after all, all work and no play is pretty self explanatory. We didin't finish the elimination round the way we wanted but it pretty nice to work with them again, it's been a while since we did this and I am thankful for the opportunity. We didn't made the next round but definitely this is one best summer experience.

We did participate in another league mid-May but unfortunately, due to conflict in schedules and the impending rainy season, looks like the league may not push through the end. This time we moved past the eliminations and was waiting for an opponent in the semifinal round when all the unfortunate things happened, it was a short league as originally planned (impromptu, as we just wanted to utilize the new fiberglass board installed), but stuff happens beyond our control so we're still hoping.

Then came the annual sportsfest held in our company. As shown in previous blogs, yes, I was a fortunate employee to be chosen as one of the participants (for the 4th straight year) and play ball with colleagues. I got injured (same knee, yeah, disappointing) during one of our practice games and sat out for a month before resuming, missed a lot of gym time as well. Coming in opening day, I didn't know what to expect, just very happy to be a participant. Sportsfest is underway and expected to end by mid-July. I like our chances and even though I have minimal playing time, I don't care,  just came from that injury and was lucky the team didn't boot me out :P

This is what I looked like after getting injured, on the last week of April. I felt how unfortunate I am in this field but we do have ups and downs so I try to be optimistic all the time.

When everything is over, I am planning to have this knee on theraphy, continue working out and reduce my weight, and work hard to be better, not everyone gets this much basketball during the summer and beyond so I'm thankful that I'm blessed. Oh yeah, did I mention also that three new shoes came in the span of three months, that's much blessing anyone can have.

See how blessed I am talking about?

One Good Sunday

Yes, we can definitely call this Sunday "Green Day" simply because, well, during the current Sportsfest games, Green Team actually won all their scheduled games. Volleyball Men's, Volleyball Women's, Basketball Juniors and Basketball Seniors. Volleyball Men's and Women's are unbeaten since Opening Day (June 6), Basketball Seniors won three straight after dropping the opening day game and Basketball Juniors finally barged in the win column today.

Overall, it was a good day for the green team (I call our group the "Kampon ng Kaberdehan" just something that popped in my mind). I posted some pictures below, you guys might want to check the album Sportsfest'10 in my facebook profile (not all pictures there are mine, I grabbed some from other teammates albums, okay so I pirated some, guilty as charged :p)

Go Green!

The women's volleyball team up against the yellow squad.

The women's volleyball team during their huddle at a timeout. Playing coach for the men's team, Polly, gives out instructions.

Yeah, and the opponent's side, see Ma'am Girly in front clearly not paying attention to the game at the moment the picture was taken (it's a dead-ball anyway) and instead flashed a cute smile for our priceless collection.

A scene during men's play.

Your basketball juniors going up against the red team.

And here's Leo walking upcourt after scoring a basket.

See the layout of the gym? Yeah, it's pretty crowded in seeing that there are five to six playing courts in a row. We utilized four of them at the same time and unfortunately, some games for the participating teams are simultaneously held so your supporters are well, scattered.

Till next time. Have a great weekend to all and Happy Father's Day to all daddies!

Sportsfest 2010

It was the time of the year again when the company takes time "off" from work and has various competitions. The groupings were fairly well divided and this group will be together until come December on the company christmas party. So, I was fortunate enough to be one of the participants for the basketball team for the 4th year in a row and the last two years were well, least memorable because I always get injured before opening day, tough luck (the left knee is getting older faster than any part of my body :p). Anyway, that setback won't be stopping me to compete and have fun.

This event will end by the second week of July and we like our chances. By the way, I'm wearing number 16, if you can see me in the picture above.

Healing

Last Thursday afternoon, I stumbled on a video on youtube. I listened to it and liked it and immediately when I got to work, I inquired with my team if anyone had a copy of that song so I could copy. The look on their faces and their reaction are well, surprised to say the least. They actually thought I'm in love :P

Anyways, to make the long story short, I didn't get the copy until the following working day so, here we are now, I uploaded the song in FILEDEN.com, generated a music player in MIXPOD.com

So, enjoy, the song has a good message and I'm sure you'll like it. Feel free to sing along as I also posted the lyrics below.

Happy weekend everyone.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Now that we have gotten through
One more fall
I can just admit I've got it all
Cause I do
Cause I've got you
We've crossed these battle lines to many times
It passes through the heart
But it never leaves a mark

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me
No matter how I bruise
If I just trust You
Your love just keeps on healing me
One more clue
One more chance that wasn't there before
In your arms
no pain can harm the way I'm feeling
Lord I know that Your love is healing

I've kicked around those lines in my head
But I've never listened to the words that You said
See where its lead
Well I know I have it now
Cause You showed me how
And all I had to do
Was just to keep my eyes on You

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me
No matter how I bruise
If I just trust You
Your love just keeps on healing me
One more clue
One more chance that wasn't there before
In your arms
no pain can harm the way I'm feeling
Lord I know that Your love is healing

(break)

Cause Your love just keeps on healing me
No matter how I bruise
If I just trust You
Your love just keeps on healing me
One more clue
One more chance that wasn't there before
In your arms
no pain can harm the way I'm feeling

Lord I know that Your love is healing