business and pleasure

This has got to be one of the most memorable trips in Iloilo for me. Since last year, I usually visit Iloilo for a business trip and it's not really different today. But unlike my former business trips here, my colleagues & I made a side trip to an island which I only used to view from a distance when we were traveling to Iloilo from Bacolod City via passenger ship when I was still a kid: GUIMARAS ISLAND! We took a boat and got off at Magic Island where we stayed until lunch time. From there we ate crab, lobster, imbaw (local shells), and the clincher--- pork sinigang! haha! drank bottomless fresh mango and buco juices, we sang, we swam, we took several photos, we did boating, then off we went island-hopping! during our boat ride, we saw sea weeds, few corals, many star fishes. water is generally clear and less salty. we also passed through the mangroves where the imbaws are bred. it's a very wonderful experience! i hope to bring my two girls in Guimaras some time! It also helped that we have our colleague, Mae, who gave us a very good deal for the day trip in the island... from the boat, land service, island accommodation with full meals, and everything! before leaving the island, we dropped by the town to see the Mango Festival celebration. too bad we weren't able to catch the "eat all you can mango" as the celebration was already wrapping up when we arrived. i just bought some favorites--- (original) Guimaras dried mango, and for my father-in-law, pure mango jam.

[caption id="attachment_3003" align="alignnone" width="300"] off muna ang diet[/caption]

but of course, the Iloilo trip wouldn't have been possible if not for the official business. we invited some media to attend the house blessing of our new house model in Monticello Villas in Pavia, Iloilo--- the Daniella.

Everytime I'm here in Iloilo, I feel relaxed. Perhaps it's because of the people, or the "laid back culture" which i love rather than the busy city life. now it's time to leave for Manila. Excited to see my two girls and i'm sure there'll be more Iloilo "adventures" in the future.



[photos credit to THE RICKY ADEVA]

end of day reward

i'm currently with my little girl, my sweet reward for a tedious day.

started the morning hurrying up, trying not to be late for my 7AM appointment with Tina. we shall be supervising the taping for the two business establishment owners in Cavite scheduled at 9AM for the show Open House. so i was pacing up my driving just to make it on time, and i did. before we went to the head office to meet the segment producer, i quickly printed some email items and gathered my things to bring them to our shoot location. anyway, we have a 30-minute allowance to spare which will cover the waiting time for the SP. clock ticked. i decided to just meet the SP along Shaw boulevard near EDSA so as not to spend more time waiting. an hour has passed already and she's still two crossings away from EDSA-Shaw. and traffic is NEITHER LIGHT NOR MODERATE. it is HEAVY. I was trying to calm myself with the time already being wasted and at the same time, my boss keeps on texting me things that i needed to follow-up other than the scheduled interviews for the day. my cellphone signals were fluctuating! BOTH GLOBE & SUN! barely fifteen minutes before our appointment time in Cavite, the SP showed up... in Greenfields! hate late? i can tolerate a few minutes but for over an hour... it's a different story.

good thing the interviewees were cooperative. we finished the two interviews before lunch time. but at this time, i was rushing the coordination of the script for the next interviewees. the first script made was mostly wrong as the questions intended to the other were mixed-up. to add insult to the injury, the script writer didn't show up for the day reasoning out that she's sick! (later on, Akina & Ren were destined to catch her in the MRT station)

the host of the program was giving us the very short time limit as he said he needs to leave by 230 in the afternoon. huwaaaaaaattt??? we're just starting the main interview for the segment! and he needs to interview 4 more people!

to make the stressful day short, the taping went generally well. yeah, in spite of all the hindrances! my boss gave us all a halo-halo treat afterwards. refreshing!
before going home, i dropped by Pancake House to pre-order clubhouse sandwiches for our event tomorrow.

now while wifey's attending church services, i'm with my little one, passing time here in the OFW center of the mall, enjoying the cool air, and the tranquility together. earlier i let the little girl grab her ice cream cup and then played in Worlds of Fun. these moments... are priceless. sooner or later, it's not gonna be the same anymore when the little girl turns to a lady...

a day with an unexpected famous person

yesterday we received a letter from a photo journalist asking if he can shoot his subject in our project, Lancaster. the bosses immediately asked for coordination and said yes as it was an opportunity for us to be "part" of the National Geographic where the photo journalist works for. Akina & I have to "supervise" the shoot today and it turned out to be a star-struck moment. we are actually accommodating Jonas Bendiksen!

[caption id="attachment_2991" align="alignnone" width="225"] Jonas is a member of Magnum Photos[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2990" align="alignnone" width="300"] pose with Jonas who went to Manila to shoot for a feature in the National Geographic[/caption]

an open prayer

Thank You, dear Father for the great blessing I have received today. It's been so long since I've held on to Your promise of giving what's best for me and I know You are currently working on it one by one. Today is a great day for me, as you have blessed me the confidence of my colleagues, my bosses. Today is the first time I have ever been promoted in a corporate set-up and i am clueless that it feels this way. THANK YOU. I'm bringing back all the glory to You, my Father.

text-moso

kahapon ay April Fools Day. Hindi na bago sa akin ang "pagbibiro" sa tuwing darating ang petsang ito. katunayan, noon ay nagawa ko na ito, hindi lang minsan kundi higit pa. pero talaga yatang iba ang impluwensya ng Facebook. Mas mabilis ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga taong nasa list of friends mo. isang click lang, marami kaagad nakakabasa ng update mo sa buhay-buhay. less private, 'ika nga, kapag nag-post ka sa FB. higit sa inaasahan ko ang bilang ng mga "nalito" sa pagbabago ko ng petsa ng kaarawan... may 100 mahigit din ang bumati sa akin sa pinagsamang wall comment at private message:




huwaaaaatt?? na-overwhelm ako. pero na-guilty rin at the same time. hindi ko na binawi yung kalokohan ko maliban sa iba na sinagot ko ang private message or sa text ko na lang sinabi na hindi ko talaga birthday kahapon, part lang ng April Fools prank. Sori na. may mga nagtext din kase at bumati sa akin. hindi ko lang alam kung may kaibigan pa akong babati sa tunay kong kaarawan sa susunod na buwan.

oh well...

kanina, dahil coding ang sasakyan ko, sinubukan ko ang bagong commuter's route na itinuro ni Denver. LRT 2 at jeep ang tandem na sasakyan ko (plus yung tricycle syempre mula sa loob ng subdivision.) MAS MABILIS ang naging byahe ko! hindi ko alam kung dahil sa wala nang pasok ang mga estudyante o talagang mas mabilis lang kung hindi dadaan sa makipot na lansangan ng Ortigas. Ayun. parang magiging habit ko na tuloy mag-LRT tuwing coding day. At dahil bored ako sa pagkakatayo sa LRT kanina, napansin ko agad ang pagti-text nung estudyanteng totoy na nasa harapan ko. careless syang mag-text, eh may mata ako, so ayun. sabi nga ni Akina, text-moso raw ang tawag dun. na-stress lang ako sa usapan nila (ng girlfriend nya) sa text. basically, ganito ang naging flow...

- start of transcript -

boy: wala un, tropa lng. kaw lang tlaga love ko *smiley*
girl: cguraduhin mong di ka nilaland* nun! dahil dyan wala tayong session mmya!
boy: weh? di nga wla taung session? wla tlaga yun, kaw lng love ko *smiley*
girl: sabhin mo jan sa bbaeng yan, may girlfriend ka! di ko kau nakikita pero tndaan mo pag nilapitan ka pa nyan its gonna be war!
boy: wla talaga yun, tropa lng, kaw lng love ko pramis. *smiley*
girl: wag nang makasabay-sabay sau yang bbaeng yan! sasampalin ko pag nakita ko yan!
boy:cge. d nko sasabay. wla lang kase yun. kaw lang tlaga love ko *smiley*

- end of transcript -

eh time na para bumaba ako ng station. di ko man lang namalayan na pitong istasyon na yung nalakbay ko... i was like... wow si kuya ang gwapo! pinag-aagawan ng two girls? you olreydi, men! at juice ko pong pineapple! ano kaya yung "session" na tinutukoy nung magkasintahan? ganun na ba talaga mga kabataan ngayon? kakatakot magpalaki ng anak, lalo na kung babae ang sa iyo. :O

teka, aminin nyo, minsan na rin kayong naging curious sa pagbabasa ng text sa hindi nyo naman cellfone.. kahit di pa ninyo kakilala yung may-ari nun, di ba? text-moso! haha :P

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sori na sa lahat ng naabala ko at sa naatraso ko. pramis, magpapakabait na ulit ako :)

[caption id="attachment_2981" align="alignnone" width="300"] papakabait na ako, pramis! :)[/caption]