HOT!

Its been very HOT lately that me I’m thinking of buying an aircon for our room. There have been time, well, a lot of times that we couldn’t sleep because of the heat. Just yesterday, it was reported that temperatures rose to 38 degrees Celsius. Hotter than the reported temperature in Morocco during the filming of Prince of Persia which was 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.7 degrees Celsius.

Looks like its going to rain today, though. But that’s not an assurance that the temperature will go down.

****************

Have you seen the morning show SAPUL on TV5?

I watch it everyday. Its a different kind of morning show, not like Unang Hirit on GMA or Umagang Kay Ganda on ABS. The show’s hosts are Erwin Tulfo, Martin Andanar, Lourd De Veyra and very pretty Shawn Yao.

The show may be a bit raw, but that’s what makes it unique and endearing. Sometimes, Ariel of Totoo TV co-hosts which makes the show more funnier. He once asked Lourd De Veyra: “Lourd, matatanong ko lang no, bakit hindi ka kaya mag pa tatoo ng buhok sa noo?”. He even told one of the Miss Earth winners to “remember my surname, because someday, it might be yours”.

The show is HOT. Especially Shawn Yao, hehehe.

****************


Flip-flops, tsinelas, step-ins, slippers are very HOT this season. It’s so hot that I bought an expensive brand myself. I’ve been resisting to buy those because I find them too expensive. I’ve bought my wife a couple of pairs in the past by never bought one for myself.

But last Saturday, on our way to Los Banos from Tagaytay, we passed by Paseo in Sta. Rosa, and found a depo store. They were giving around 30% discounts on selected items. Thinking that I would never find these discounted prices in Manila, I bought myself a pair. Finally.

I think it also helped that the Merrel sandals that I was wearing that day broke. The straps broke off. On both sandals.

I finally found good reasons to buy a pair. Discount + Broken Sandals.

****************

Sophie and Sam are enjoying the summer. They’ve been to the beach and the swimming pool. They love the water so much that its really hard to take them out. Last Saturday, they were in the pool for the whole day. Because it’s been very HOT for the past weeks, Jan and I thought of buying an inflatable pool for them but there’s always sunlight in our garage form morning till afternoon, and we didn’t have any other place for the pool. I didn’t want to put it in our lawn because of the Bermuda grass. We didn’t want the kids to be exposed to the sun for a long time, even with sun-block.

It’s a good thing the the pool in Los Banos had shaded areas. Even the water there was HOT (of course, the water came from HOT springs).


****************

Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone!

:-)

blog uli!!

It’s been a loong while since I’ve last blogged. I still visit and read most of the ususal blogs that I visit though. It’s not that I have nothing to blog about. It’s just that, most of the time, I can’t find the time to do it.

Here’s hoping that I find more time . . .


***************

Funny how people are getting into this whole JEJEMON thing. There are JEJEMONS and JEJEBUSTERS. Reminds me of the time when there were METALS and HIPHOPS. I don’t understand why this is a big thing. So what if they text differently? Even the DECS swore that they’ll go after Jejejmons. Wtf??

F DEY R GOING AFTR D JEJEMONS, DEY SHLD GO AFTR PPL HU TXT IN SHRTCT 2!

DB?

Texting in short cut was born because for most people, it could be very tedious to key in the letters of their messages, especially long messages. Some people text the number “0” rather than press their keypad four times for the letter “O” Text messages can only accommodate as certain number of characters (160 w/ space, I think) and if you text more than that, you’ll be sending the message in two parts. Sending one message in two parts could be very expensive.

Php 2 per message? R U CRZY?

And now we have the JEJEMONS an offspring of the short cut text, born out of the necessity to save money on SMS messaging.

Incidentally, rock music, METAL music’s father, came from blues, the music of the African slaves in America during the 1800’s. Blues became rock and roll, jazz and R&B, and somewhere along the way, it became HIPHOP.

Hindi kaya ang Jejemon ang bagong Jeproks? Ok sa alright, erap! Moni oyat! Jejejeje!

OA naman yang DECS. All out war against the Jejemons, they say? Why don’t they wage war against teachers who can’t speak English very well? I mean, how do they expect students to learn English if their teachers cant’ even speak it properly? And I'm not talking about accents here.

Grammar. Grammar. Grammar.

No disrespect to the teachers, but its just, even in private schools, there are teachers like that and I think that DECS should do something about it.

WAT DO U THNK?

***************

Election’s over. We have a new President. I still see some people griping over at FB because their candidate didn’t win. I find it funny that some people who gripe didn’t even vote for their candidate because they weren’t registered. Idiots . . .

Our country’s problem won’t be solved by the President alone. We all need to pitch in. Work hard. Be vigilant. Believe that there will be change. Change should come from us. People say that “kung di ka bumoto, wala kang karapatan mag reklamo”, well I say that pwede ako mag reklamo kasi nagbabayad ako ng buwis ko. Nope, I didn’t vote because I now live very, very, very, VERY far from where I was registered and I couldn’t find the time to update my status. But that doesn’t mean I can’t exercise my right as a citizenery, very, very, VERY far from where I was registered and I couldn’t find the time to update my status. But that doesn’t mean I can’t exercise my right as a citizen, di ba?

I think that every productive person in the country should exercises their right to be heard. Ang problema lang, kung sino pa ang di nagbabayad ng buwis, sya pa ang markelamo


Today is Wednesday and I’m writing this at six o’clock in the morning while drinking coffee. In a short while I’ll be getting ready for work. Time flies in my new job. Can’t believe I’ve been here for 5 months already. I was supposed to do my “self evaluation” for my regularization this morning but I decided to blog instead.

I missed this.

:-)

The Bakit List

3 year olds are notorius for always asking "why". We've been experiencing this with Sophif for the past few months now. Sometimes it can be cute and sometimes it can be annoying. She's been having her "bakit moments" too often now that I hear Jan always teling her: "Sophie, control your why's and bakits!" and to which Sophie would reply: "Why, Mommy?".

One memorable "bakit moment" happend last week as Sophie and I were coming home from the playgound:

Me: "Sophie, 'lam mo ba love kita?"

Sophie: "Opo. Bakit?"

Me: "Anong bakit?"

Sophie: "Bakit love mo ko?"

Me: "E kasi anak kita kaya love kita."

Sophie: "Bakit?"

Me: "E kasi nga baby kita kaya love kita."

Sophie: "Bakit mo ko baby?"

Me: "E kasi nga . . . basta!"

There was also a time that I turned the tables on her.

Me: "Sophie, love mo ba ko?"

Sophie: "Opo"

Me: "Bakit mo ka love?"

Sophie: "E kasi nga love kita"

Me: "Bakit nga?"

Sophie: "E kasi gusto ko, Daddy"

Me: "Bakit?"

Sophie: "Ayaw ko na usap!"

This morning, Sophie and Sam woke up the same time as we did. When we got home last night, both kids were asleep so I asked Sophie to give me a kiss. She said:

Sophie: "Bakit kiss Daddy? Kasi early ako sleep kagabi?"

Me: "Opo! Tulog ka na kasi kagabi e. Why did you sleep early?

Sophie: "Hay naku Daddy, sabi ni Sam, 'wag masyadong maraming tanong!"

Hahaha. Jan was half-wake when Sophie said that and she was laughing at us. I turned to Sam and said:

Me: "Sam, did you say that?"

Sam: "Apapapapaa . . . . aahhhh . . . . dadada . . ."

Me: "Di daw nya sinabi yun, Sophie!"

Two years from now, Sam will have his "bakit moments" and its a good thing that we're being "trained" by Sophie to handle particular situations like this!


:-)

Return of The Pakarazzi

I’m back! After weeks of being in-active on my blog, I’ve finally found the time to make some updates. I know it’s a bit late but never the less, I’d like to greet everybody a happy new year! I hope this year will be better than last year for all of us.

Man, 2009 was a real roller coaster ride for me, starting on its firs month! A lot happened at home, at work and just about everywhere! Lets backtrack and see what happened to The Pakarazzi the past year:

JANUARY – Just moved in to a rented apartment in Tandang Sora. We had a major adjustment. Our place was far from where our friends and family live and certainly far from our usual hang outs. We had to get used from the new place to both our jobs, but I guess it was easier for Jan because her office is in QC and I worked in Ortigas. We celebrated Sophie’s 2nd birthday at the apartment.

FEBRUARY – I don’t remember much, heheh! But I do recall that there was some issues in the office because part of my department was merged or “integrated” into another department in an attempt to streamline operations and make everything more efficient.

MARCH – Sam was born! We had to extend one more day at the hospital because he had to undergo blue light therapy since he had a case of Jaundice. Thankfully, after one session, we were allowed to go home.

APRIL – Jan was on maternity leave and I had to go to and from work all by myself. You see, Jan and I always go to work and most of the time, go home from work together. No summer outings for us since Sam was just born.

MAY – Nothing special about this month, except that there’s more pressure at work plus more pressure to improve my financial issues. Paying for our new house plus a new baby isn’t exactly an ideal situation for us at the time.

JUNE – AUGUST – Travel months for me. I had to go to Legaspi, Samar, Cebu, Ormoc, Davao, Dapitan and Dipolog for work. I actually enjoyed traveling, but I missed my family terribly. Sadly, my Tita Josie passed away the day after I came home from Dipolog.

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER – We were preparing for our moving in to our new house. We were in and out of the Camella office almost every week. It was quite tiring, and frustrating. I realized then who not to vote for president hehehe.

NOVEMER – We had to wait for 45 days before we could do anything in the new house and it was the longest 45 days! I couldn’t have anything done (cabinets, landscaping, etc) and we wanted to settle these things before moving in. Frustrating again. I also went to the Adcon which was moved to Subic because Baguio was ravaged by a storm. I was looking forward to going to Baguio. Maybe next year.

DECEMBER – We moved in the new house, which was exciting! Even with most of our savings drained, hehehe, it’s a good feeling to move in a house that you can call your own. I also started in a new job (and I’m actually writing this during our lunch break) which was good also. We had our first Christmas in our new house. I spent most of the weekend supervising internal improvements, which was tiring but highly satisfying.
I’ve never had a year like 2009, with all the ups and downs that happened. But after all that, I’m glad that me and my family had a trifecta last year: new baby, new house and (my) new job.

God really works in mysterious way, don’t you think?

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Moving on . . Moving Forward

For the last 11 years, I've been working in different companies in the cable TV industry. For 11 years, I've ate, dreamed and breathed cable TV. Six years on three (Home / Sky and CableLink) cable TV providers and one program provider (Viva). It's been exciting. Very exciting actually. The industry was and still is very dynamic. With new technologies coming out and with new programming formats being introduced, there wasn't a dull moment in my 11years. Being in the entertainment industry also makes for good conversation, especially at parties hehe.

Just like any person, I wanted to learn more. Explore the unexplored. Grow as an individual and as a person in my chosen field, which is marketing.

So after 11 years in the industry which includes my 5 year stay at Viva, I decided to move on to an industry that I never imagined myself to be working for. Now I'm going to try out the banking and credit card industry. You might think that I may be a fish out of water in this situation, but I think that in order for one to grow, one must have the courage to explore new things. Most people I know were surprised that I was moving to a different industry, especially in an industry that involves numbers. God knows one of my favorite apps in my celfone is the calculator hehe.

There are a lot of new things to learn. I think I'd really have to work and put in more time study this industry so I can catch-up with my new colleagues. I'm actually looking forward to it, because to me, the industry is very interesting and exciting!

2009 has been a roller coaster ride for me and my family and I'm glad that I'm ending the year on a good note. God has blessed me and my family with a new baby (my son Sam), a own new home (we just transferred a couple of weeks ago) and a new job (me? banking / credit card? God really works in mysterious ways!)

Trifecta.

We truly are very thankful.

One more thing that I'm thankful for is . . . after 11 years, now I can stop "monitoring" and start watching TV. Hehehe!

Have a great week everyone!

:-)

A Month of Firsts

This December, me and my family will be having a lot of firsts:

- Sam's 1st Christmas - He loves looking at and grabbing the Christmas lights taped to our window. I wonder how he will react when he opens our gift?

- 1st Christmas Celebration in our New (Own) Home - We will be celebrating buena noche and our annual Christmas reunion in our house!

- 1st Garcia - Jugos Christmas Celebration - This is the 1st time that both our sides (Jan and mine) of the family will be celebrating together!

- My 1st Christmas in a New Company - I will be transferring in a new job next week. I'm actually excited!

- My 1st time to work for a different industry - I've been working for the cable tv industry for 11 years and now I'll be transferring to the credit card / banking industry. Now I can finally watch tv without working hehe!

- 1st Christmas without Tita Josie - We will surely miss her. Even when she was sick, she would still cook for us during the holidays.

Happy weekend everyone!

I just want to greet Jan a Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary! Love 'ya! :)

lilipat na . . .

Pasesnsya na kung di ako masyadong nakakapag blog. Medyo busy ako, actually, kami ni Jan preparing for our transfer to our new home. Sa totoo lang, medyo masakit sa ulo sya asikasuhin. Dumating na nga sa point na tinananong namin sa sarili namin: "Sino ba kasi ang nagsabi na bumili tayo ng bahay??".

Pero exciting din naman. Sa ngayon, nagpapagawa na kami ng mga cabinets and hopefully by Saturday or Sunday makapag-move in na kami. Hindi biro ang ganitong project. Pati sa karpentero nagkakaproblema kami. Pero ok lang. I'm sure everything will turn out fine. In the following weeks, kung may budget na, baka magpa-garahe na kami and mag pa-landscape (Bermuda grass lang hehe). Medyo mahal din kasi kaya mahirap pagsabayin. Pero ok lang, ganyan talaga pag nagsisimula. Ika nga nila, "Rome wasn't built in one day".

Nag-papack na rin kami ng mga gamit namin. Yung iba nakakahon na. Yung iba inaayos palang. At yung iba, di namin alam kung itatapon na o i-bebenta hehe. Grabe, totoo na lalabas lahat ng basura pag naglipat ng bahay.Ang dami ko na ngang biniling black bags kasi alam ko na marami na rin kaming itatapon. Problema lang, pag nakita ni Sophie yung mga gamit at nagustuhan nya, nilalabas nya ito sa box tapos sasabihin nya: "this is mine!" hehe.

Anyway, I'll post the pics of our new home as soon as we move in.

Na miss ko mag blog. Enjoy the rest of the week!

:-)

survivor fever (kaltok moment)

Jan and I were bitten by the Survivor bug! We've been watching Survivor Season 2 on GMA 7 for weeks now. Last night, while watching we had this conversation:

Me: Kung kasali tayo dyan, i-vovote out mo ba ko?
Jan: Bakit?
Me: Wala lang.
Jan: Oo.
Me: Bakit?
Jan: E kasi wala kang pakinabang, baka mag tamad tamad ka lang dun! Hehe
Me: I-vovote out din kita.
Jan: Bakit?
Me: E kasi baka pagkalat mo na wala akong pakinabang at tatamad tamad lang ako at kung malaman nila yun, ma-vote out ako! Hehe

After a while . . .

Me: Di nga, vote out mo ko?
Jan: Bakit?
Me: Vo-vote out kita e.
Jan: Bakit?
Me: Para di ka na mahirapan! Hehehe
Jan: Gagu!

After the show . . . .

Me: Di na kita vovote-out
Jan: Bakit?
Me: Para kung tayong dalawa matira, at least kahit sino sa atin ang manalo, satin pa rin yung pera. Hehehe


Sineryoso yung show hehe

:-)

Eto na . . .

Medyo matagal-tagal na rin akong di nakakapag sulat dito a. Madami na rin ang nangyari. Marami nanamang kuwento. Wala nga lang masyadong oras. Minsan, feeling ko, di ako gaano inspirado mag sulat. Ikaw ba naman, magparang isang malaking routine ang buhay mo. Di ka ba mawalan ng gana? Kung baga, kung araw-araw adobo ulam mo, di ka ba maghahanap ng nilaga?

Alam ko ganito rin ang problem ni misis. Masayado na rin syang babad sa trabaho. Minsan napag-uusapan namin. Minsan, na-mimiss namin ang pag punta sa beach. Madala kami umalis noon, biglaan nalang kami pupunta sa Puerto Galera, pagakatapos gumimick.

Wala lang. Trip lang.

Parang ang hirap na nyang gawin ngayon.

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Malapit na mag November. Ilang buwan nakang ay bagong taon na. Maramipang mangyayari. Marami pang kaguluhan, kasiyahan at kung ano ano pa. Sa totoo lang, excited kaming mag-asawa kasi malapit na kami lumipat sa bagong tirahan namin. Inaasikaso na namin ang mga detalye sa pag-lipat tulad ng mga finishing sa bahay, design sa bakod, tubig kureynte, at pati na rin sa pagg-tingin ng mga bagon furniture (tinignin lang hehe) na pwedeng bumagay sa bahay. Excited na rin si Sophie. Si Sam naman ay walang ka-malay-malay hehe.

Siguro, dahil sa sobrang bilis at dami ng mga pangyayari, di ko na alam kung ano ang isusulat ko dito. Isipin ny naman, same time last year, sa Mandaluyong pa kami nakatira at iniisip namin kung pano ang magiging takbo ng buhay namin sa Quezon City. Same time last year, buntis palang si misis ka Sam at pinagpaplanuhan namin ang 2nd bday party ni Sophie (sa January). Same time last year, naghahabol pa rin kami sa quota (at naghahabol pa rin ngayon hehehe).

******************

Nung Friday, napagtripan namin ni esmi na mag dinner sa isang resto na malapit sa opisina nya. Uminom kami ng konti at nakapag kwentuhan ng kung ano-ano, kasama na rin ang kuwentuhan tunkol sa trabaho. Pagkatapos ng dalawang boteng Redhorse (sa akin), isang San Mig Light at Margarita (kay esmi) nag decide na kami umuwi. Hindi dahil sa lasing na kami (di pa masyadong nakalampag yung bahay alak namin), pero dahil sa sarap ng kuwentuhan, di namin naramdaman na 1 am na pala.

Pag-uwi namin, tulog na ang mga bata. Nagising si Sophie sandali pero natulog na rin kasabay namin.

******************

Ano mangyayari same time next year? Sana:

1) Pagod pa rin kami sa trabaho pero mas may oras na kami sa mga sarili namin
2) Pinagppalanuhan na namin ang 4th bday celebration ni Sophie
3) Tumatakbo at nangdadaldal na si Sam
4) May oras na kami mag bakasyon o mag punta sa beach kasama ang mga bubwit
5) Matuloy lahat o karamihan sa mga plano namin para sa pamilya at patuloy kaming maging healthy


Yun lang.


:-)

Traveling and Food

Traveling is something that I really enjoy. I've been to Cebu, Davao, Bicol and Cagayan De Oro more than once. I've also been to Dipolog, Iligan, Ormoc, Bacolod, Iloilo, Guimaras and Boracay. My wife and I have been in and out Puerto Galera for a good number of years before we got married. My family and I used to go to Baguio every summer and after more than 5 years, we took a vacation there and we'll be going there this coming December.

Jan and I would like to go to at least one vacation spot in the Philippines every year with our kids. We want to show them how beautiful our country is. We want them to experience how it is in other places outside Manila. We want them to learn about their Filipino heritage . . . . and Filipino food.

I always make it a point to eat the local cuisine whenever I travel. Why eat at a fast food joint that's also available in Manila anyway?

Here are some of the things that I've learned about local food from my travels:

1) That Dipolog has the longest boulevard in the country. People hang out there at night, drinking beer and eating TEMPURA as appetizer. Fish tempura, squid tempura, etc, etc... Also, try their Spanish sardines . . . masarap!

2) Ormoc, which is about an hour away from Cebu by ferry, has some of the most sweetest pineapples that I've ever tasted.

3) Davao is littered with eat all you can buffets and you'll only be spending P99 - P150 / head. Sulit talaga!

4) While Cebu is known for its danggit and lechon cebu, one of the best ribs that I've tasted is in Casa Verde (there's a new branch at the Ayala Mall Cebu).

5) I love the pastel in Cagayan De Oro, where the music scene is very much alive..

6) You haven't tasted chicken inasal until you've had one in Bacolod.

7) In Ormoc, there's a line of lechon vendors at the wet market and they'll give you a free taste of their "lechon balat". I swear, the next time I'll got there, I'll taste every one of those freebies while munching on a cup of rice hehe. By the way, they don't use lechon sauce in there (just like in most provinces down south), just plain vinegar or vinegar with soy sauce as sawsawan.

8) They make Durian pie in Iligan. I tasted it once. I think I like the candy better (sorry Durian lovers). I heard that the kasoy there is good, though I didn't have the chance to buy some.

9) In Bicol, Laing is different from Pinangat. I like them both, though (not the spicy kind).

10) Aside from buying piyaya, never leave Iloilo without tasting their La Paz Batchoy. NEVER.

Parang nagutom yata ako. Have a nice long weekend everyone!

:-)

Picture, Picture!

Anong ginagawa namin sa bahay pag wala kaming magawa?

PICTURE, PICTURE!








:-)

wifey's blog

Jan's new blog. You might want to check it out.

http://janakidiary.blogspot.com/

:-)

Hmmmm . . .

Sometimes you just have to sit back and just watch as events go by. Sometimes, you just have to know when to let go. Its funny how things turn out and there are times, the unexpected happens. It happens a lot. There are times when things are looking up and then some crazy thing happen and all you can say is "oh, hell no!".

For a good number of weeks now, I've found myself in a crossroad. Its not easy to decide which road to take, especially if you have people who are with you on the journey. But there will come a point when I have to choose a road, and I fear that that point is coming soon.

I understand that in everything we do, there will surely be hits and misses. I mean, you can't hit a home run every time your on the batting plate. I think the key to all of this is managing expectations. Being prepared, having a plan, and knowing that the plan may not work as well as I want it to.

Oh my, I think I'm talking in circles. . . .

Oh well . . .

:-)

What I've learned . . .

Here are ten things that I've learned or re-learned in the past few weeks:

I learned that (top ten a' la David Letterman):

10) I should never underestimate 2 year old kids. They're smarter than I think!

9) I should never get in between my wife and her FARMTOWN while she's harvesting her sunflowers and tomatoes.

8) It's hard to quit smoking, especially when I don't want to!

7) The after-six diet doesn't mean that you can eat "after-six". . . (so that's why it wasn't working).

6) When riding the MRT . . . I should always remember what our basketball coach used to shout at me: "box-out! box-out! P%*#$% I@# mo!"

5) It's okay to ask for help once in a while . . . its part of being human.

4) No matter how hard I try to understand them . . . idiots will always be idiots. And, NO, Advil will not take away the headache that I'll get from talking to them, though I suppose it might prevent my nose from bleeding.

3) Yes. Some people really do take advantage and underestimates of you.

2) Too much stress can lead to . . . constipation!

1) I should never drink Starbucks venti brewed coffee, or any kind of coffee for that matter, past 4pm . . . so I won't stay awake, surfing the net and thinking of what to blog about . . . at 1:00am...


:-)