Thursday, November 23, 2006

CJ's Party

Finally found the time to update my blog! :) Wasn't really busy with anything special except that I am still recuperrating from the flu I had last week.

I just wanted to post this one to say Happy Birthday (Belated to be exactÜ)to one of my kids in the office, Christine Joy De Santos Magadia (soon to be Libertino? Hmmm...Ü)! We went to her house last Saturday for her party. Karen and I wanted to rest during that weekend because we were both feeling tired from work and from the busy weekends we had . I guess I was (AGAIN!!!) fooled by my close friends to go because their presence in CJ's party would depend if I would also be there. With that thought running through my mind, I didn't want to be the reason for the birthday celebrant not to have her teammates be at her party so we went there. Guess what, one of my close friends did not come even after telling her what time I would be coming! Now why am I not surprised...? I'm not going to say her name because she knows who she is... Good thing Am kept his word. Right SELLE? OOPS!!! I said her name! BWAHAHAHA... Just kidding Selle!Ü Guess I'm already used to it...ÜÜÜ Lav yah! (Papisil na lang ng braso mo!Ü) Naglalambing lang.Ü

Going back, it was a nice little party. CJ and her college friends got to see other again. Food was also delicious especially the adobong baka! I forgot about my diet because of it.Ü It was also nice meeting CJ's family. We now have another place to hang out and have our GA! Hehe... Belated Happy Birthday, again CJ!Ü

Check out Allan's blog on how CJ spent her birthday in the office.

Monday, November 13, 2006

A beautiful letter

My second post for the day. I could not help but share this with you so here it is. This is really very nice...

"When you're down to nothing, God is up to something."This is beautiful! Try not to cry.

She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: "How is my little boy ? Is he going to be all right ? When can I see him ?"
The surgeon said, "I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it."
Sally said, "Why do little children get cancer ? Doesn't God care any more ? Where were you, God, when my son needed you ?"
The surgeon asked, "Would you like some time alone with your son ? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university."
Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair. "Would you like a lock of his hair ?" the nurse asked.
Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.
The mother said, "It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else. "I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom." She went on, "My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could."
Sally walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.
The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.
She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them. She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.
It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Laying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said :
"Dear Mom, I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say "I Love You". I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know. Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD ! And guess what, Mom ? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom ? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter. I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'Where was He when I needed him ?' "God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children. Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you. To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool ? I have to give God His pen back now. He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore. The cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery ! How about that ?
Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me.

Ong - Marasigan Nuptial

Another weekend has passed and a special weekend it was. Karen and I were invited to her college friends' wedding last Saturday in The Sacred Heart Parish, Mandaluyong. I met the two Karen's at Dave and Ann's wedding and what made them stand out was not only because they were part of the entourage. It was because they were late. Right Love?Ü

4 months after Ann and Dave's wedding, it was now Karen and Ian's turn. The wedding was set at 9:30AM and we woke up around 8:00AM. I knew we would be running late but the good thing was we were not part of her entourage so I thought that it would be ok to arrive a few minutes late. We even had a little trouble getting to the church because neither of us knew how to get there. Much to our surprise, or should I say lack of it, we were just in time!Ü Remember that what made Karen and my Love stand out when I met them was they were late? Guess what, Karen Ong was late even for her own wedding! Hehe... We got there around 10:30AM, an hour after the scheduled wedding time.Ü


Karen, Moymoy, Dave and Ann

Nevertheless, it was still a good wedding. The church was a simple one on the outside but inside, it had a lot of paintings. Here are a couple more photos of the wedding.



Afterwards, we went to the reception, a Chinese restaurant which was just a couple of kilometers from the church. Karen said that it was the restaurant that Karen Ong's dad owned. Food was also delicious. I had Karen try the seaweed but she did not like it. :(


The Wedding Cake


Picture with the newly wed


Pacasoy and Khatmandu


Mr. and Mrs. Gonda with Moymoy

On our way back to the car, Dave and Ann saw some toys and some jester hats right accross the street and they tried some on. They looked funny and cute!


Karen and I thought that it was still early so we decided to watch The Prestige in Greenbelt 3, Makati. Am said that it was a good movie and he was right. Although, I found a bit dark being that the movie was about magicians and how their magic is done. All in all, I would also recommend it as a must see movie. Karen also planned on getting a pedicure at Index, a beauty shop here in BF. While checking out their services, Karen noticed that they offered back massage. She got one for me while she was having a foot spa.Ü


Karen getting a foot spa
I think my body got so sore and was not used to the hard back massage that I got sick the next day. :( Hopefully, when I get another one, I won't get sick the following day.Ü

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Teriyaki Boy

Last Friday, I went to Karen's place to pick her up and take her to work. Before I dropped her off, we went to Teriyaki Boy in Alabang to eat lunch and talk about her problems in the office. This was the first time Karen and I ate here and I know how much she does not like eating Chinese and Japanese food. It has been a while when I last ate here so I was so excited and hungry!Ü


My Teriyaki Boy Chicken and Yakimeshi


I hope Karen enjoyed eating her Katsudon.Ü

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Thai Massage

I forgot to include another thing Karen and I did during the weekend so here it is.

After hearing mass, Karen and I dropped Jouie and Niña off at Niña's house. We both thought that it was a good time to have a massage, especially with the soreness I was feeling from all the swimming and sliding. We tried the Thai massage at Sawasdee Siam in BF, Parañaque. When the receptionist said that the message includes accupressure and some stretching, I was excited to try it out thinking the stretching part would really help relax my muscles. Plus, it only cost us P450 for 1 and 1/2 hours. Karen and the masseuse were shocked to hear me snore because you had to move for the stretching in between the massage! That's how good it was.Ü

Once I have the time and money, I will definitely go back there and get another massage!Ü

Anyway, its back to normal after my four day vacation. Hopefully, the four days was enough to have my batteries recharged.Ü

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

High School Barkada

Finally, an out of town with my high school barkada! We have been planning an out of town gimmick for as long as I can remember and we only got to do it this past weekend. Part of it was to celebrate my best friend's passing the boards. Congratulations Dra. Niña Patricia Gaerlan!Ü

We went to Villa Jocris in Pansol, Calamba, Laguna for the outing. Karen and I already went there when my team had our LAX 2 (Laguna Experience 2) and it was a nice resort. The care takers and owner were also helpful so we had no problems with the place. Karen was able to reserve the place for 24 hours for only 7k. 1k less than when my team rented the place. (Galing talaga ng Love ko!Ü)

Although we did miss some people who were not able to join because they need to attend to some family matters, we still had a blast! It has been a while since we bonded that much, didn't we guys? We talked about a lot of things, such as relationships (past and present), our careers, sex (care of Gino hehe), etc. You can call the conversation, "usapan lasing."Ü

Food was not a problem eventhough we forgot the liempo we were supposed to grill.Ü We had a very flavorful brunch care of our three beautiful and equally talented ladies, Niña, Cathy and Karen.

A lot has changed these past years. We matured a lot and Cathy became a little more adventurous. I really enjoyed the time we spent together. Hope we can do this again soon!Ü Maybe by then we will be complete(?).

Here were some of the photos I took. Missing you already guys!Ü


Villa Jocris


Niña Spice and Kitchie Coronadal!Ü


Niña and Jouie



Cathy and Renn


Gino doing a superman on the slide


Wrestling Match (Cathy-Renn VS Niña-Jouie)


Alcohol and Pulutan


The cooks

To end the weekend right, Jouie, Niña, Karen and I went to the St. Jerome Church beside Alabang Town Center to hear mass. Never really noticed how beautiful the church was until that night. Unfortunately, I was only able to take pictures of one side of the church.


Saint Jerome Church

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was observed in the office last night. We had our usual Spook Up your workstation competition. I have yet to know know who won and I was only able to see the work done by HSB and ACS. For HSB they did the Halimaw sa Banga (I think.Ü) while ACS did The Exorcist.

We also had a Team Costume Competition wherein the winning team would win tickets to Enchanted Kingdom. Thanks to my very supportive team, everyone did come to work with their Addams Family costume. We had very little time to prepare but nevertheless, we were able to pull it off! (Or were we just scared to get the consequence if we did not join the festivities.Ü) Whatever the reason was, I am still proud of my team's enthusiasm and camaraderie! They were the reason we had fun last night. Here are some of the photos that I took.



The Outbound Family


Christmas-y Fangs


The Queen and The Damned?Ü

Selle also brought a couple of very irresistable and delicious treats that night! Here were, as the saying goes, "The icing on the cake."


Y U M M Y!!!Ü