hahaha!

putek naaliw ako dito.. hindi lang ito ang video clip, series pa ito..
"Go Bords! " hahaha!!!

mahahabang mga araw

mula pa nung lunes ay napapagod na ako, isipin ko pa lang ang mga nakatakdang gawin sa opisina. inasahan ko nang magiging abala ako sa maghapon hanggang abutin ng kung anumang oras, maisara ko lamang lahat ng transaksyong dapat matapos nang araw na iyon. kinabukasan kase, nakatakda kong gamitin ang isa sa walong VL ko. cool. bakasyon. pero bago ko nasabing "let's call it a day", nagdugo muna ang ilong ko sa gulo ng mga transaksyon ng mga hawak ni sir bodjie. LAHAT ng ipinasok niyang transaksyon, halos bulilyaso. nagkagulu-gulo tuloy ang records namin na naisumite na noong katapusang araw pa nang nagdaang buwan. kailangang ulitin ang ulat. hayy... pasado alas-otso na yata ako nakalabas ng opisina. pagod. hapo. at sabik sa kinabukasan. hayy.. ulit. ikinain ko na lang ng burger steak ang mahabang araw ng lunes.

kinabukasan ay masaya akong gumising. kase, date namin ni ayah at meron na kaming itinerary: San Fernando Pampanga! yey! sakay ng vios ni inay, binaybay namin ang kahabaan ng NLEX at nakipagkita sa aking itay. pinuntahan namin sya sa opisina at pagkatapos ay sinamahan niya kaming umikot sa mga dapat naming puntahan. syempre, FREE lunch! hay, sarap-buhay:





pagkatapos ng pamamasyal na iyon ay dumiretso kami sa Jomark Photography para naman isara ang deal na nauna na naming pinag-usapan noong nakaraan pang linggo. pagkaalis namin sa opisina nila ay tumulak naman kami ni ayah sa bahay ng lola ko sa Minalin dala ang isang kilo ng seedless grapes na pasalubong namin sa kaniya para sa kaarawan niya kinabukasan (ngayon, ika-21 ng Nobyembre). pero bago yun, namili muna kami ni ayah ng ilang kilo ng tocino, skinless longganisa, at hotdog sa Tita's Special pampasalubong sa mga taga-Maynila. balik sa bahay ni lola (hehe), nagpahinga lang kami ni ayah sandali, nakipagkwentuhan, nag-ikot ng kaunti sa palibot ng bahay ng tita ko at nagpaalam na rin upang muli na kaming lumuwas sa Maynila. ayoko rin kasing gabihin una, malabo ang mata ko, pangalawa, may ensayo pa kami sa ganap na ikawalo't kalahati ng gabi. pero bago namin binaybay pa-timugan ang NLEX, nag stop-over muna kami sa bilihan ng mga paso. naaliw si ayah sa napakaraming tinitindang paso sa may bayan ng Sto. Tomas, barrio Sto. Nino. naalala niya si papa deng na napakahilig mag-alaga ng halaman. bumili ng ilang paso si ayah potter (hehe, ganda ng pangalan mo!) at pag-uwi ay buong galak na ipinasalubong sa kaniyang lolo. pagkahatid kay ayah sa kanilang tahanan ay tumulak na ako sa lokal para dumalo ng ensayo.

kanina, isang mahaaaaaabang araw na naman ang hinarap ko sa opisina. andami ko nang nakatambak na gawain. mabuti na lang sa a-tres ng susunod na buwan ay to the rescue na si super Lyca! abangan kung sino siya!

beautiful place corrupted

alam kong malapit na ang holiday season at magsisimula nang kumalat ang mga tiangge sa bawat lugar na maaaring pag-usbungan nito pero baka may makakapagpaliwanag kung bakit meron nang ganitong bilihin sa loob ng paborito kong tambayan, ang Tiendesitas?



Nang kuhanan ko ito ng larawan kahapon ay katabi ko lang ang isang mag-ina na tumitingin ng mga VCDs sa gawing kaliwa ko. Halos gusto kong takpan yung mga CDs na hindi dapat naka"bilad" ng ganoon habang ang may-ari (nagtitinda) ay kumakain sa katabing lamesa na malapit sa pwesto nya. Wow. Ano kayang reaksyon nung nanay kung pinulot at nasabik alamin nung anak nyang nasa edad 7-9 yung "Sikreto Ni Kuya"?

Pinoy Vlogging In A Personal Bloggers Perspective

Jon: For you, what is blogging?
aajao: When I first learned about blogging, I immediately got eager to try it out for the sole reason of having a diary--- an online diary.

Jon: How long have you been blogging?
aajao: My blogspot (03.03.03 stories...) started in March 3rd, 2003, hence the blog title. Then I started another blog on the same year but in a much later month, which is exclusive for my spiritual thoughts and not so many people are given it's URL address. I wasn't satisfied of having just two so I ended up making another "blog" account in xanga.com, whose main "audience" are my church mates in Canada.

Jon: Canada?
aajao: Yes, Canada. I got to visit the eastern part of Canada and it is where I was introduced to xanga by the younger people.

Jon: So you've been blogging for over four years now..
aajao: I can say five years over since I used to subscribe to PEx Plus Private, a private online journal sponsored by PinoyExchange.com. That was around 2001-2002. And together with that, it also offered the Wireless Journal feature, the local version of todays twitter.com

Jon: Wow. That was a long journey through blogging. So, what are the usual contents of your blogs?
aajao: From the start, I blog to post updates on what is going on with my life, document what my mind wants to speak out and sometimes blurt out my own opinion on certain news events or social issues, especially those that affect the Filipino people.

Jon: And do you enjoy reading other blogs?
aajao: Hmm... it depends. If I am interested with the person then naturally I'd be enjoying reading his/her blog.

Jon: Have you heard about Pinoy vlogging?
aajao: seriously, it was only introduced to me by Coy just this year. Well, vlogging, that is, and since Coy is Pinoy, then I guess he and his "work of art" can together be labeled as Pinoy vlogging, don't you think so?

Jon: Well, yeah. So what can you say about Pinoy vlogging?
aajao: Ok, let me see... first, I'd like to put into words my amusement in the term "vlogging". So I've learned that it is a shortened term for the two words "video" & "blogging". From the words combined, I can easily define that vlogging is an online anecdote of the authors life (or adventures) posted in video. In this case the author is not only considered as a plain author of his blog but also an artist.

Jon: What brought about your last statement?
aajao: Well, I can tell that making a vlog post isn't as simple as ABC. Every vlog post is treated as special--- with a subject ready to be broadcasted, the artist will still need to conceptualize his visuals and proper approach. There lies the difference between blogging and vlogging. In blogging, you can easily write about a certain topic in different angles. In vlogging, it takes a good amount of time to conceptualize, put into script your subject, then prepare the materials to be used for the shoot. You also need to check on your audio. And oh yea, did I already mention about the editing?

Jon: Wow. You sound like a veteran vlogger.
aajao: Never been one. I'm camera shy. :P Kidding aside, I have maintained my blogs to be personal in nature and I intend to keep them as is.

Jon: Oh, okay. So, how do you envision the future of Pinoy vlogging?
aajao: vlogging in the Philippines isn't really an established "medium" of Pinoy bloggers yet. Yet. With all the technology that we have these days and it will be more advanced in the future, vlogging might just become the next blogging trend in the Pinoy blogosphere. For one, Pinoys are creative and passionate with their choice of tasks. Pinoys enjoy reaching out to others by all means, and vlogging is a great opportunity to realize this trait of ours. With vlogging, you not only give your audience the chance to know you by the way you write but it also gives them the chance to get a better "picture" of the authors/artists personality.

Jon: Ok one last question, will you make a vlog entry?
aajao: hmm... we'll see.

- fin -

itakuwil ang walang habas na pagkitil ng buhay

kahit ang mababang kapulungan ng bansang Pilipinas ay panaka-nakang nagiging circus sa mata ng sambayanang Pilipino, tao rin sila na katulad natin: may pamilya, may mga anak na umaasa at naghahanap ng kalinga, may mga magulang na kumukuha ng inspirasyon at lakas upang magpatuloy sa buhay sa kabila ng katandaan, nagtatanggi ng sarili para sa kapakanan ng bayan... may karapatang kumain, magsaya, mabuhay.

anumang dahilan ng trahedyang ito, diversionary tactic, terorismo, personal, o anupaman... hindi ito sapat para sadyain ang pagkitil ng buhay ng may buhay.

nakikiramay ako sa mga iniwan ni Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar, sa mga mahal sa buhay ng ilan pang nasawi at sa mga sugatan na sa kasalukuyan ay ginagamot sa mga ospital na pinagdalhan sa kanila.

Tuesday Delight

after an exhausting day at work, i was so looking forward to have a date (so rare this time) with Ayah as she visited and fetched me in my office today. After getting full eating pasta at Chef D' Angelo, we strolled around and entered this Kultura-inspired store. I am really fond of Philippine handicrafts and products. The store was small but we stayed a bit longer just looking at the different Philippine-made products on display. Afterwards, we visited TimeZone to look for a KTV room since both of us were eager to try something new (on a date) and we both felt like we were in a screaming mood. :P Lo and behold! A vacant KTV room! We immediately purchased a new TimeZone card (more than a years quarter since we lost the first TimeZone card we were using before) and excitedly entered the room. Since we both were eager to grab a microphone (good thing they have two), we had a great time singing some songs. yea, just SOME since we were able to enter the room when closing time was already less than an hour away. But still, it's something new from the usual coffee time together. Almost all songs entered were my choice, were shared by us, duet, and the most classic among the list we sang was Paul McCartney version of Ebony And Ivory. Highest-pitched song on the list played and sung was Rockstar's (original) version of Parting Time, while the cheesiest song on the list sung was Chad Borja's Ikaw Lang. Had a great night:





..and it's so nice to call it a day!

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happy birthday to the prominent Pinoy vlogger... Philip Marco Caballes a.k.a. "Coy". His birthday gift to the blogosphere? Extension of his mini-blogging project from 2359HRS of November 13th to 2359HRS of November 15th. Every blogger is encouraged to join! Coy's official promotional banner:

lasting friendships

people. they come and go. in your life, you meet people who turn out to be your friends. among them, there are those who become your close friends. and still among those, someone comes out to be your best friend.

time. once it passed, we can't take it back. only memories can bring time back. but still, it remains intangible.

in my lifetime i can not count how many people became my friends and how many among them chose to stay away and forget. i have more than a handful of friends whom i can entrust my life with. i know it's good and it reflects also how good a friend i am to them. or maybe not. but they love me as i am and in return, i can entrust them my life.

i tend to group my friends and while i have many of them, i see to it they don't gather in one occasion. i am not good in attending to different groups of people even if all of them are my friends. i prefer small groups at a time. i prefer quality conversation with them over large, random get-together or parties. i'd like to reach out to them if there is time shared together. i'd love listening to them and hearing out the latest things about their lives, and hopefully they also get interested with mine.

new friends don't really differ with old-time friends, for me. they are my friends just the same. the only difference, maybe, is that these new friends need to know me better and it will still take time for them to get comfortable with me unlike my old-time friends who have seen the good and the not-so-good side of me all throughout the years that we've been friends. for these new friends, instinct plays an important role. impressions may be wrong but the feeling of togetherness will tell one if your friendship with the person will be worth keeping or not.

i have never imagined that the cyberworld can create such bond among people. i have had a good number of online buddies who eventually become my close friends and went as far as being siblings to each other. they are now my real-life pals and i intend to keep them for life. i know the feeling's mutual--- keeping friends for life, that is.

thanks to the following people: jary, ivy, kerwin, LA, friend Mariel, Abby (froggy buddy)--- the online buddies i am talking about. they have made me realize that the online world is an open sea good enough for catching gold fishes. online pals who make a difference, making me comfortable surfing around: Ada, joveelark, paul (JENSIE), jhengskie, rose (hope to meet you sometime and share those cups of coffee we've been planning since last year), PnuT, Alene, Mads, and the many PEx pals i interact with... you are my foundation in this online world and with you i have learned that not all online people are pretentious.

to the new breed of online pals whom i am currently getting in touch with through twitter, commenting blogs and exchanging links with, i am trying very hard to establish a friendship that i am hoping to also last for a lifetime. i feel comfortable with most of you and i know building that kind of friendship isn't just a snap of a finger.

to all my long-lost friends, some maybe overseas, if you happen to stumble upon this blog of mine, i haven't forgotten you. and i wish that when we see each other again, we can at least revive the good ol' days, when life was much simpler, and i am still this sentimental fool that i used to be.






"no man is an island." a person feels the need of having a sense of belongingness. no matter how comfortable one may be in being a loner or away from the crowd, the person can never deny the feeling of having someone by his side. someone he can talk to and vent out all his inner thoughts and feelings with. everyone needs an audience. someone who will see and listen, and eventually give feedback. someone whom he can communicate with if his immediate family isn't available. someone he can lean on and serve as his sounding board when he's having difficult times with his love interest or better half. FRIENDSHIP. it's an overrated word. i sincerely hope we all see its real essence for each and everyone whom we call "friends."

exhausting day.

♫ woke up.
♫ took mom to her service @ shell gas station.
♫ attend to NAWASA workers.
♫ took a bath.
♫ dress-up.
♫ commute to work: tricycle, jeepney*, tricycle & another tricycle, then cross the dangerous e.rodriguez jr. avenue
♫ work, work, work, lunch, work... work.
♫ commute going to ayah's place: jeepney, and another jeepney.
♫ eat dinner @ ayah's place. she's still at work.
♫ fetch ayah with his brother.
♫ they took me home.
♫ wait for mom.
♫ update blog.
♫ call it a day.

*jeepney story: i was sitting next to a snatcher this morning on my way to work. long story. i'm lazy to elaborate the details now. sorry. :|

on another note, SM City - Taytay is being prepared for its opening on Friday, November 9th:



Did you notice the RED Carpet? Kim Chui will be there in the opening. hmm... may hawig pala sya ni Sandara (ex ni j.bitangcol)... mas cute pa rin si Mads a.k.a. Leigh ng PEx.

newly-discovered TFP Model

I have found a new TFP--- Trust Family Program model last Friday, the 2nd of November. He was discovered somewhere in Scout Ybardolaza St. in Quezon City and letting me in to his pad, i didn't waste time in getting a photo shoot of this new TFP model:





bagay... hehehe. ;)
nagtatanong pa yan ng sample products. hahaha! PEACE! :D

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"patay akong bata ako." was my twitter's update before i left our office. Here's the story in the simplest way that can be described:

1. order referrals emailed to me on the 30th & 31st of October
2. promo & deals are only good until the end of October
3. 30th we had the weekly meeting and the rest of the day i have to immediately attend to the distributors orders
4. referrals not forwarded since past 6 already, i'm not yet done. no one will be receiving the faxed referrals anyway at that time.
5. 31st, the orders poured in. i have six pending P.O.'s from yesterday (30th) and processed them in the morning.
6. P.O.'s didn't stop coming, and i needed to update the trade deals report everytime, including the summary of sales.
7. still undone with the processing of orders, i have to leave for Mercury Drug and collect their dues with us.
8. came back to the office around past 5PM and still processing orders.
9. update summary and other reports until almost 8PM.
10. and of course, no one will be receiving the referrals by that time so they were stuck for two days.
11. not to mention, the borrowed printer from our GM is slow.\, unlike (of course) the laser jet that we had.

i have been crying to my immediate superior to fast track the seeking (then eventually, hiring) of another CS person and its taking them over a decade (ten years ito!) to process the whole thing. i'm all by myself, everyday five days a week, 8+ hours a day:







aaargghhh...

the long weekend that was

after the barangay halalan last Monday, October 29th, i was looking forward to the long weekend which i badly needed to reciprocate the two working days that were declared as non-working days, plus of course the weekend, making it a four-day lenten-season-like holiday.

October 31 so much for hoping that GM's gonna declare a halfday since if he does, i still could not go home even at 4PM anyway. i left work at almost 8PM, completing my sales report which everyone in the office was waiting for to wrap up our sell-in performance for the month and record-breaking figures showed we reached 95M+ in revenue since our company existed in the DKT ecosystem (partner Tintin, if you are reading this from Dubai, i'd like to hear a comment from you, hehe.. iniwan mo ko sa tambak-tambak na transaksyon, huhuhu). Anyway, prioritizing the completion of our sales and wrapping-up all distributors orders, i have left (yet again) a handful of backlog with regards to the order referrals made by our detailing team partners. and i need to give them priority today. i see another week of "busy mode" in the office.

November 1 was foreseen to be a most-awaited day since it not only marked the first day of the long weekend but also it's when we scheduled our visit to my hometown in Minalin, Pampanga. I was with mom & ayah so it made the trip more rewarding. Before we hit NLEX, we took our breakfast at Tropical Hut Hamburger and amusingly i took a picture of the two guys across our table reading the same papers at the same time. nothing really. i just got amused. anyway, traffic was heavy before the toll gates but eventually, ride going north became a breeze after we passed Eternal Gardens. As usual, my Apu's cooking didn't disappoint us, especially Ayah who ate with much gusto after seeing her favorite food--- crab (yakk!) and right after eating, what comes next? nothing new--- siesta time and afterwards, my tita insisted we see dad's friend's house where they shoot the newly started GMA Telebabad, La Vendetta.

Here are some photos:








before completely living the town, we dropped by Tita's to get some Kapampangan specialties which include tocino and other delicacies.

November 2nd marked "the sisters" reunion @ my lolo & lola's grave in Loyola Memorial Park. Surprisingly (since it's my first time to go to a cemetery on a date after the usual november 1 all saints day), there are still a good number of families visiting the cemetery. we just had their lapida cleaned then proceeded to Marikina Riverbanks for a longer chat and get-together. The Riverbanks turned out to be a very nice place for families and friends to hang out, with almost complete facilities for passing time and unwinding from all the city hassle... i am really admiring the Fernando's "works" in transforming the whole of Marikina into a Class A Metro Manila city, and the Riverbanks is one of its pride. cousin Dondon & i rode the bump cars and "the sisters" had quality time together:






After the mini-reunion, i wasn't able to fetch Ayah from work since they extended their time up to past 8PM and i still have to attend my Sunday School class at 9PM. After my class, i proceeded to the wake of a fellow church officer in Marcos Highway, where mom and some church mates proceeded earlier. then we called it a day.

November 3 was another look-forward-to day as my grade school classmate (read: Grades 3 to 5), Roger and i was scheduled to meet after nth years... before meeting him in the afternoon, i had a blast riding the LRT 2 transferring to LRT 1, going to benj's kingdom where he toured me in Rob Manila (my first time to set foot there) and we had a blast singing our lungs out in a KTV room. yey, thanks for the treat, bud. :)
Then i had to rush back to Katipunan where Roger and i would be meeting. We chatted a whole lot of things while munching the not-so-impressive Managers Choice at Shakey's so we ordered another regular pizza, this time its Shakey's Special. We called another grade school buddy Ronnie (whose blog is unupdated, please be my guest to update us with your other UPDATED web pages, LOL), and had a small conversation with him over the phone. Then Roger had me accompany him to his place near Mother Ignacia and they have a pretty cool place out there. So he's been doing a lot of outreach programs and is currently finishing his publication for UP. good luck, pal! ;) I took a cab going home and while on the way i was chatting with manong driver about how disappointing our government is. GMA government, that is. And we both share the same sentiments--- it was better during the Marcos era. har har har!

November 4th, yesterday, was a typical church day, peak of the day was after all church obligations when i had a date with the two important ladies of my life: mom & ayah. then after all these, i remember going back to reality: IT'S WORKWEEK AGAIN.

What If A Blogger Dies?

The title of this entry may be instantly striking but have you asked yourself the question, "What if a blogger dies?"

For the many blogger acquaintances-turned online (and even REAL) friends, from the posts they made through their very own blogs, from the blogosphere issues you shared discussing with, the principles you both fought for or argued together through blogging, their wit in their posts, their inner selves revealed online, their faces shown over the inner thoughts poured out in their pages.... if you have gone so "attached" to them, their posts, their thoughts, even their lives, through blogging...

what if the blogger dies?

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this post is inspired by the topic, What if a PEXer dies?, from PinoyExchange.com. (You may need to register or log-in to view the thread.)