the roller coaster ride of 2009

i find 2009 amazing for what it offered humanity. while i can not exactly speak about what transpired in the other parts of the world, i'm pretty sure about some worldwide "issues" that the year 2009 has hosted: AH1N1 became a world scare, the first african-american president of the united states was sworn into office, high-profile-celebrity deaths, issues on climate change has become more serious following the 'abnormalities' of the weather in all parts of the globe. here in Manila, some major issues rocked the whole populace. most newsworthy should be the death of former president Corazon Aquino, followed by the doctor-actress video sex scandal that spread all over the internet, recently the Maguindanao horrifying massacre, and natures fury also had its share for 2009: twin typhoon Ondoy & Pepeng making their presence very much felt in the whole of Luzon, then the ever active Mayon volcano's erruption. good news pick for this year should be the winning of 'pambansang kamao' Manny Pacquiao over Ricky Hatton (in May), and over Miguel Cotto (in November).

as for me, 03.03.03 stories captured my personal 2009 headlines. most joyful moment of the year was my "daddy dayhood" while the saddest time was the passing of our beloved leader, Bro. Erano G. Manalo. another mournful moment for us this year was the passing of apung tino, my dad's father who taught us a lot of good values in life. i will also not forget how typhoon Ondoy devastated the National Capital Region and also our region (southern tagalog) in just a day--- it's effect lasted for weeks and in some parts it ruined, months. another good memory for me in 2009 was wifey and i's 2nd guesting in Sweet Life. and to put icing on the cake, i was able to have a souvenir photo taken with my singer idol, Dingdong Avanzado. speaking of local celebrities, also this 2009, my officemates and i lined up in the viewing of master rapper Francis M. unfortunately due to office hours restriction, we were not able to wait for the viewing's re-opening and we had to go back to the office.

another up and down ride for year 2009 is my family life. not the newly established family but my core (or first) family. i'm not very vocal or too open with my personal life but this part of my life had become too complicated for me to even face reality. sometimes, i just wanted to bring back the time when my sister and her family was still here with us and we live in one roof. everything back then seems more ok than today. on the other side, wifey & i were surprised by her brother with a newborn son! i don't know but the timing is really, really off. i'm not pointing fingers at anyone and we all have to face this dilemma together. that's what families are for anyway. this aspect should be the one i'll look forward to have a remarkable improvement for the coming year--- (core) family life.

as for my 'online life', a few 'firsts' happened this year. it was in January of 2009 when i first met three of my good (online) friends that realized yet another milestone in making real the friendship that only started online: i met totomai, and fjordan. it was also my first time to meet in person the respected Ms. Janette Toral, have attended iBlog (5) forum, and also my first time to have participated in her writing project, the 10 Emerging Influential Blogs. Plurk friends were also first met in person and eventually turned out as real-life good friends. Facebook reunited me this year with grade school & HS classmates and it's simply amazing to get in touch with them after over a decade.

well, that's the sweet-and-sour 2009 summary of 03.03.03 stories.... meanwhile i'm leaving you all this AVP i made, bidding goodbye to the year that brought us a roller coaster ride...



i wish us all a happy, peaceful, bountiful 2010!

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Camille's First Birthday Celebration

nope, it's not yet her first year birthday but today we celebrated our baby's 6th month birthday! this is the first time we've celebrated any of her month birthdays. she was supposed to take her first solid food but evidently here, the birthday celebrator was already irritable and sleepy. we've planned and prepared for this 'small' occasion since weeks ago and everything was worth it! well, thanks for the BIG help of lalolaganda, who prepared all the food, lolo papa who's always busy preparing for her little one, uncle jayson who's always ready for giving us a hand and of course to my dear wifey who's ever energetic and lively especially if it's anything for our boneneng! we didn't really intend to invite for this occasion as we wanted it to be a family affair but some friends and neighbors were welcomed to party with us.

here's an AVP which wifey prepared for this event:

few days of december

the weather isn't sparing us from catching cold, good thing our dear baby is immune against all these virus. talk about all her vaccines well they should pay off good! ;) aya's fever just got down after two days due to teething. now she's again very much alive and kicking! today is lola mommy's birthday. we called her but she's not home yet so ate b and the rest just chatted with us for a few minutes and they were able to view our little camille on webcam. they were so delighted to see her and so are we to see them! apung nining was with them and she was telling us to come over there soon! she even said she'll provide for our fare. wow! not that she's not true to her words but of course i'm too shy to rely on it. i should be saving for our own expenses, right? ;)

we still have work until tomorrow, and work will resume on monday and tuesday next week. lot of things to finish at work, the new year should be a new year!

meet and greet blogger friends

yup, yup, yup! this very rare (for me), and very impromptu meet-up happened last night. i used to attend EB's ("eyeball"--- now more knows as "meet and greet") when i was at the peak of my PEx "life". as much as i want to attend the many bloggers event being organized everywhere, i just have to consider my more important obligations with my new family. i now live differently from my bachelor life and yep, it's all good. i mean, the difference considering i have stepped into a different level where life is more private and intimate. there was even a thought that i'd stop blogging and get focused on my duties as a good husband and now as a better father to our cute little daughter.

the meet up started through YM (or was it plurk?) when i messaged joriben that his Premiere play cards (feat. Paloma) are now available. he was too delighted and asked how we can meet. i told him to meet me anywhere near our place, anytime. after a few minutes, he told us to meet that night after office, and ohmski is going to tag along--- in the nearest mall for the three of us. so i was first to arrive in the mall and while waiting for them, flow informed me through an SMS that he'll be coming along with ohmski. wow. instant meet-up! i told them to hurry coz i needed to be home by 8PM to look after our baby since wifey had (an overdue) schedule with the hairdresser. we agreed to go to the house altogether and spend the few hours there so they can also see my baby and at the same time "babysit" her. haha. flow was the most "daddy" material among us. aya jr. was comfortable with him during her sleeping hours so he was carried by ninong flow until after we all parted ways. a few plurks after, iris was already standing by our gate carrying two big bags of goodies from KSA Magic. geez. thanks! i missed the event but the goodies were delivered door to door ;) we then fetched wifey from the hair salon and proceeded with formal dinner @ Tropical Hut. and we called it a day!

it was a tiring but a good night with blogger friends. again, another manifestation of online friends becoming your real-life buddies. the world wide web really works wonders!

The Reason Of Our Continued Thanksgiving to God

The final month of each year is one great opportunity for people to look back and see what transpired with their lives in the outgoing year, and once again look forward to a new beginning in the event of a new year.

The in-laws slept over at home last night as they will come with me to my assigned locale where i will lead in teaching the kids in their thanksgiving worship the following day--- Calumpang, Marikina. It was a nice, sunny day and we were off early treading the highway going to the house of worship. upon arrival, we were cheerfully greted by the brethren and one led me to the prayer room. i had a nice chat with my fellow teacher before finally going in the main sanctuary to say our devotional prayer. then we went back to the prayer room to receive final instructions before entering the main pulpit. it's always a joy seeing little kids delighted to gather in giving praises to God. with their young minds, they are taught early to love God, not forsake our services unto Him, and always give thanks and praises for the many blessings that God bestows upon us. For the calling in the church, for the right to pray and be heard, for the salvation He brings everyday of our lives, for the humility to see His greatness, for the unconditional love He gives--- our words are not enough: THANK YOU, Father.

si dora lakwatsera, pinay na!

katatapos lang namin manood ni boneneng ng tagalized Dora The Explorer sa TV 5. sinuman ang nakaisip na tagalugin ito ay hindi nakakatuwa. sa palagay ko, hindi tugma ang pagkakaliwat ng mga salita mula sa orihinal nitong english version. sa pagdaan nila sa mga lugar ay hindi natutukoy ang tamang deskripsyon. halimbawa, sa orihinal na english, bago sila makarating sa lugar na dapat puntahan, dadaan muna sila below the bridge, over the hill, o kaya ay across the lake. dito ay naituturo ang tamang salitang gagamitin kapag ikaw ay dadaan sa tulay, burol o lawa. sa tagalized version, hindi binibigyang-diin ang mga salitang ilalim (ng tulay), ibabaw (ng burol) o tawid (ng lawa). nawala rin ang mga salitang español na panaka-naka ay mapapakinggan sa palabas--- pinakamadalas marinig ito kay backpack na kung saan ilalabas ang lahat ng gamit nito sa loob kapag may kailangan si Dora at Boots sa paglalakbay nila at sa pagbabalik ng ilang kagamitan na hindi kailangan: "umm... yum, yum, yum, yum... delisyoso!" hindi ko rin maintindihan ang logic ng salitang "swiper huwag kang lalapit! swiper huwag kang lalapit!" habang ang lapit-lapit na ni swiper sa kanilang dalawa ni Boots. malamang, ganun ang ginawa ng mga nag-translate ng mga katagang "swiper no swiping! swiper no swiping!" dahil mas maikli iyon kaysa actual translation ng orihinal na salitang ginamit. (sige nga paki-translate mo ng tugma yun sa tagalog?)--- "swiper huwag kang mangunguha!" o kaya "swiper huwag kang mandurukot!" o kaya naman "swiper walang hiya ka huwag kang magnanakaw ng hindi sa 'yo!" ay. ang haba. :(

napadalas akong manood ng orihinal na (english) version nito noong taong 2003 kasabay ng pamangkin kong si Ria, at ngayon na lang naulit, kasabay naman ng anak ko. may isa pa kami (ng anak ko) na laging pinanonood ngayon na dati rin naming madalas panoorin ng pamangkin ko: ang (paborito kong) Spongebob Squarepants! pero gaya ng tagalized Dora, tinagalog din ito ng TV 5. buraot. kaya nga mas natutuwa akong panoorin para kay boneneng ang Hi-5 dahil ito ay pinapalabas sa orihinal na english (with british accent pa) at marami itong tampok na (educational) kantahan... "haaaaaa----y FIVE in the air let's do it together... Hi-5!"

Observing World AIDS Day

What is HIV?
HIV is a virus that attacks the body's immune system - the body's defence against diseases.

Are HIV and AIDS the same?
No. When someone is described as living with HIV, they have the HIV virus in their body. A person is considered to have developed AIDS when the immune system is so weak it can no longer fight off a range of diseases with which it would normally cope.

How is HIV passed on?
HIV can be passed on through infected blood, semen, vaginal fluids or breast milk.

The most common ways HIV is passed on are:

* Sex without a condom with someone living with HIV
* Sharing infected needles, syringes or other injecting drug equipment
* From an HIV-positive mother (to her child) during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding (but with effective treatment and care the risk of transmission can be greatly reduced)

Is there a cure for HIV?
No, but treatment can keep the virus under control and the immune system healthy. People on HIV treatment can live a healthy, active life, although they may experience side effects from the treatment. If HIV is diagnosed late, treatment may be less effective.

How can I protect myself and others from HIV infection?
Always use a condom when having vaginal or anal sex. You also may want to use a condom or dental dam during oral sex although the risk of transmission of HIV is much lower... Never share needles, syringes or any other injecting equipment.

(information above by the World AIDS Day website)

know more about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) through the TRUST Family Program website.