ang tunay na mga bayani ng EDSA

may siyam na taong gulang na ako noong kasagsagan ng kilusan laban sa diktaduryang pamahalaan. sa murang isipan, napagmasdan ko ang katapangan ng mga mamamayang Pilipino upang ipaglaban ang kanilang karapatan na maging malaya. hindi ko pa naiintindihan nang lubos kung bakit ganon kaalab ang mga tao sa pagtungo sa lansangan at hayagang itakuwil ang kasalukuyang nakaluklok sa pamahalaan. dalawang kulay lamang ang namamayagpag noon: dilaw at pula. ang tatay ko na siyang kumakandili sa aming magkapatid noong mga panahong iyon ay kaisa sa sigaw ng bayan: "Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na!" nang maganap ang snap election at magkaibang pangulo ang idineklarang nanalo ng COMELEC at NAMFREL, doon ko nakita ang malakas na pwersa na kayang gawin ng sambayanang Pilipino--- sa payapang pamamaraan. tumulak sa pangunahing lansangan ng metro manila ang libu-libong mga tao, sa epifanio delos santos avenue, dating highway 54, na mas sikat ngayon sa pangalang EDSA. dito ay ipinahayag nila ang tunay na damdaming nagmamalasakit hindi lamang para sa kanilang sarili kundi para sa kabuuan ng bayan. hinarang man sila ng mga tangkeng pandigma ng hukbong sandatahan, nanaig naman ang maka-Diyos na damdamin at sa paninindigang ipinamalas ng bawat Pilipinong naroon ay unti-unting gumuho ang matigas na pader ng diktadurya. muling naibalik ang kalayaan sa mga Pilipino. nagtagumpay ang sambayanan, nagdiwang at doo'y nabanaag ang bagong pag-asa para sa Pilipinas. hinangaan ang mga Pilipino sa buong mundo, ang iba'y ginaya pa ang matahimik na rebolusyong inihalimbawa natin sa mundo subalit ang pagtatagumpay na nakamit natin ay hindi naman naging katulad ng sinapit ng ibang bansa. naibalik ang demokrasya. naibalik ang karapatan ng bawat Pilipino--- karapatang mamuhay ng malaya at gumawa para sa ikauunlad ng sarili, ng kani-kaniyang pamilya, ng komunidad na kinabibilangan, at ng bansa sa kabuuan.

MABUHAY NAWA SA ATIN ANG TUNAY NA DIWA NG EDSA!

walong buwan na pala

unang-una, maligayang kaarawan ng pagsilang sa isa kong blogger good friend at masugid na mambabasa ng aking munting blog, si gilbert a.k.a. gillboard. tinawagan ko sya kanina nang mag-alarm ang cellphone ko para ihudyat na kaarawan nya. nagising ko yata sya sa pagkakatulog. sori naman, tao lang. :P

bukas, gaya ng nabanggit ko na sa nakaraan kong blog post, ay birthday ng lola ni wifey. kung tawagin namin ay si ABA. niregaluhan namin sya ng ticket sa paborito nyang noontime show. nawa ay maging uber saya sya doon bukas. :)

walong buwan na pala ngayon mula nang magkatawang-tao ang isang biyaya buhat sa langit. bagama't hindi madali ang mga bagay-bagay, walang kapalit na kaligayahan naman ang ibinunga nya sa aming mag-asawa araw-araw. walong buwan na si Aya! sa maraming pagkakataon hindi niya kami binigyan ng sakit ng ulo, hindi nya kami pinag-alala sa kalagayan niya, dinulutan niya kami ng tuwa sa bawat sandali at kahit medyo makulit na sya ngayon, siya pa rin ang bituin na nagpapaningning sa aming sambahayan. isa sa kalokohan namin mga magulang niya ay ang kantahan siya sa gitna ng kaniyang kaligayahan... bakit daw kalokohan yun? dahil ayaw na ayaw niya ang kinakantahan siya lalo na ang may himig na mga paghuni (humming). sa hindi namin alam na dahilan, ayaw na ayaw niya ito at ang masaya niyang mundo ay sa isang iglap mapapalitan ng kalungkutan. daig pa si judy ann santos sa bilis ng pag-iyak:



we love you, anak! malulungkot ka ba kung hindi ka ipaghahanda ni daddy sa 1st year birthday mo?

fully-booked weekend

this has got to be the most fully-booked weekend of our 2010 so far. starting off last Friday, my little Aya attended the first birthday party of churchmate Beanne. according to my little girl's mom, people from that birthday party was so amused with her and as usual, she was 'entertaining' them by baby-talking endlessly. she's even 'noisier' than the birthday celebrator! after office, i went there to grab a bite and then fetched my two girls. Aya Jr. was sleepy when i arrived there but after seeing me, she got excited and extended her arms towards me signalling that i carry her. ok, daddy's lttle girl! ;)

the following day, wifey was busy getting her things ready for the (first) wedding program she coordinated (for FREE). it's the wedding of her college friend, Cess, and i admired her (wifey) for the dedication she put into it. i think she's started to test her ability to organize things even if she's also full time with our little Aya. the program resulted well, the wedding reception venue was "dressed" nicely for a limited budget and resources and i'm proud of my wifey! after the wedding we ran to ABS CBN to purchase some tickets to Wowowee... our gift for wifey's lola who's celebrating her birthday on the 25th of this month. lucky for her, there were seven vacant slots left for that day. we got four slots. then we drove away to wack-wack to fetch patricia who's gonna sleep over at our place in preparation for the next day event: junica's 7th birthday.

[caption id="attachment_1286" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Ayapot with Lolo Daddy before attending Ate Junica\'s 7th birthday."][/caption]

the birthday celebration of junica a while ago coincided with jared's first birthday. too bad we can't come on two events at the same time. :( i also had choir practice by six so i really didn't stay in the event.

dad also visited the house today and i'm glad that his grand daughter was playing with him. i showed him the little 'renovation' we had for the house and i think he liked what he saw. now moving on to the coming week... it's cut-off week. this spells B-U-S-Y... again.

ranting days must be over

ok. i've been having bad days this week. let me start:

i have lost my parking ticket in a mall the other day. it's my first time to loose a parking ticket in my entire driving career! so imagine the humiliation when i approached the car park attendant, scratching my head and telling him that i've lost my ticket. after a short discussion with the guard on duty, i was issued a receipt reflecting the fee for the lost ticket. the guard informed me that it is however refundable should i relocate my ticket within 24 hours. upon parking the van in the garage, wifey was able to find the ticket! it was found in aya jr's. piled up things from the stroller. so thinking i could refund until before 10pm the following day, i brought the ticket and the receipt with me to work the following day so i can re-claim my money after office.

driving to work one morning, the radio was giving me a static sound. i checked if the tuner was on an exact frequency and so i thought the radio was just loose from its base or something. i removed it and put it back. then the sound was completely lost. i turned on the indoor light of the van and it didn't turn on. then a few meters away, i noticed that i have also lost my break lights. i panicked a bit and tested if the wiper was working, the signal lights and the headlight. except for the latter, the others were working just fine. but i realized how dangerous it was driving without a tail light. so by lunch break, i brought my van to the electrical shop near our place to have it fixed. i left it there then take public ride back to work and came back for it after office hours. while i was driving home after having it (supposedly) fixed, i was nearing our place when a sudden darkness surprised me up front. my headlights went off... again! i had a difficult time driving but the good thing was i was near our place. the real test came at dawn the next day when i had to drive to church to perform my (choir) duty. park light was functioning but insufficient to light the way ahead. so i had to hold the flashlight on my left hand as i drive with my right hand. good thing was that not so many vehicles were on the streets during those unholy hours of dawn.

and so i hurriedly went to the parking entrance of the mall and talked with the parking attendant lady. i told her why i was there and guess what? she didn't know what to do! "Manong (referring to the guard), may nagrerefund ng lost ticket, nahanap na niya, anong gagawin dito? saan ito?" in my mind i was like, "this is impossible!" then manong guard replied: "yun kaseng mga kasamahan mo pag may ganyan, nirerefer sa treasury. (then manong guard referring to me...) kaso sir, sarado na sila. office hours lang pwedeng mag claim." then imagine a skull smiley dropping its jaw, i was like, "huwaaaaattt???!!!" i spent wasted a few minutes discussing with both of them but realizing that my mission will come to no avail, i agreed to come back the next day but ensuring that they properly documented the incident.

i paid a whooping 350 bucks for the repair of the van's electrical wiring. i asked the cause of the dead line (since i was guessing that only a fuse broke down) and the electrician told me a lot of causes. well, as expected of them. but its ok since its harder to drive without head and tail lights especially at night.

"office hours"--- i kept that in mind. and since i thought the claim would be swiftly done and considering that my work time starts at 9, i decided to go to the mall's treasury office by first hour of their office. i was fuming mad inside when i was told that i can't refund the money since 24 hours has expired. so i have to re-tell my *plight* with their parking attendants the previous night and how unknowledgable their parking attendants are in facing situations such as what happened to me. i was pointing out their flawed "procedure" and insisted i get my money back. i was told to wait for the treasury department supervisor but after a decade of not showing up, i approached again the front desk of their admin office and asked for a higher authority whom i can talk to. i was referred to a same level person, supervisor, but this time of another department. being in the customer service field for years now, i expressed my disappointment on their "process & procedure" in refunding lost ticket fees.

van's now running good again, and i got back my money from the lost parking ticket fee. but all the hassle i've gone through was too draining. good thing, ranting days are over.

long day

internet connection in the office has been crappy for a good number of days now. its either our cable wirings are just crazy or pldt dsl simply sucks. whichever it is, the poor (up to zero) internet connection slows me down in finishing my tasks, not to mention the important business emails i must have received and replied to that i have been missing. anyhoo, it's good that the whole office was in a festive mood in celebration of the chinese new year. everyone wore red, got a box of tikoy each, given two hundred bucks each, had full lunch and snack, and enjoyed watching the traditional lion dance. but unlike the previous years, we had two "lions" this year: the traditional red and a new yellow lion. here's a short video of this year's lion dance:

taym pers!

malapit na ang balentayms day... araw na kinasasabikan ng mga kabataan (at ng matatanda na rin na may nakatakdang "date" sa araw na iyon.) ako ay hindi naman nag-oobserba ng balentayms day dahil para sa akin, araw-araw ako dapat na inlababo sa asawa at anak ko (naks naman, me ganun!) kasabay ng araw na ito ay ang opisyal na pagpasok ng taon ng tigre at dahil nga tsino ang aming bossing sa opisina, maagang iginagayak ang tanggapan para sa pagsalubong ng Chinese new year! at naalala ko, ako nga pala ang naatasan ng admin na mag-email sa lahat ng kawani upang ipaalala na dapat kaming magsuot ng pula sa lunes. malamang ay mayroon uling lion dance ceremony na magaganap at sagana sa pagkain sa opisina sa lunes, yum! yum! gayundin, mamimigay ulit ng kahong-kahong tikoy sina bossing. may ilang taon na rin akong nabibigyan nito pero hindi ko naalala na naubos ko ito. mas malamang na si wifey pa dahil paborito nya ito.

taym out muna... ano itong nangyayari sa bulacan at pampanga na kung saan halos magkasunod na napatalsik sa pwesto ang kani-kaniyang gobernador dahil di umano'y natalo sila ng may ilang boto sa eleksyon noong 2007 ayon sa commission on koleksyon... election? ito ay bunga na rin ng pag-apila ng kani-kanilang katunggali sa politika. ano naman ang magagawa pa ng mga bagong luklok sa pwesto gayung halos tatlong buwan na lang sila uupo sa pinakamataas na luklukan ng lalawigan nila? wow. talaga nga naman, onli in da pilipins!

eh ano naman daw yung bagong palabas ng isang malaking estasyon sa TV na gumaya (na naman) dun sa orihinal na format ng showtaym?! is it dat? dis is it? bagama't humanga ako sa nasabing estasyon sa pagpupursigi nitong mabigyan ng magagandang palabas ang kanilang manonood, hindi ako kumporme sa panggagaya. marami namang ibang ideya na pwedeng maging orihinal ang palabas mo pero ano nga bang pakialam ko dito eh hindi ko naman napapanood ang dalawang nasabing palabas na ito dahil sa oras ng airing nila eh nasa opis ako?

kopi taym! wiling-wili ngayon sa istarbaks si wifey dahil sa hindi ko alam na dahilan. iminulat ko naman sya sa pagmamahal sa figaro. hmm... marahil dala nung pagkakaroon namin ng istarbaks planner. may mga freebies pang naka-insert duon. pero gayunpaman, hindi naman niya lubusang itinatakuwil pa ang figaro at aminado rin sya na mas maganda pa rin ang "ambiance" (may ganun) sa figaro kasya anupamang coffee shops. habang nag-eenjoy siya sa paghigop ng white choco mocha ng istarbaks, lab naman namin ni boneneng ang brewed coffee + warm ambiance ng Figaro :)



taym na. taym na para ako'y maligo at maghanda sa pagpasok sa opis.

meeting online friends

it's gasul's homecoming and he's busy inviting his numerous fans friends on separate appointments to meet and greet. i can say that gasul is Mr. Congeniality of the blogosphere. he doesn't conform with it, though. LOL. anyway. he contacted us, jeff, kriss jae, another plurker, BK, and i to meet him and enjoy a dinner treat @ Congo Grille El Pueblo last night. too bad, KJ & BK were not able to make it so the dinner treat was only enjoyed by jeff & i, together with a new acquaintance blogger, Rosa who was with gasul.



and as how the other online EB's are happening, we talked about blogging/twitter/plurking stuffs. how online buddies "meet" and eventually become real-life friends, online chismis, and other things (eg. where do you work, what do you do at work, etc...) having Congo Grille as the venue of our dinner, i can't help but reminisce the good ol' PEx days where Congo Grille has become the 'official' EB place for PExers. then some PEx stuffs were recalled.

until today, it's always surprising how friendship can develop from merely communicating "online". and keeping them as real-life friends is even more amazing.

a priceless job

i've been longing to have a "2nd job" that'll earn me extra income. i've thought of a number of "rackets" but up to now, i've been unsuccessful in finding the right one that fits my condition.

today, i've done what i can consider a "2nd job" whenever i take time off from my bread & butter task: baby sit & extend a helping hand to wifey in taking care of our now-over-active little Aya. bonding with our little Aya has always been a delight even if she's now turning to be a one playful toddler. Aya has a scheduled (anti) measles vaccine today so while everything we need was being prepared by wifey, i was bonding with our little girl. then i have to drive to the pedia. while wifey & aya jr. were in the clinic, i sneaked out to surprise both of them by getting this walker on sale. and since wifey had a meeting with her friends in SM (to arrange the wedding program of one of her friends), i insisted we get aya jr. a pair of "walking shoes", we were excited to try the walker at my in-laws place when we got there by (after) lunch time. aya jr. is delighted with her new property. :p after taking our lunch, i drove my girls to Morong for wifey's dentist appointment. so ueah, today is my girls day for their medical-dental appointments. on our way back home, we got 4 kilos of ripe mangoes being sold on the side streets of Antipolo. i've tasted a couple of them a while ago befor i post a blog entry today and wow, they're yummy sweet!

now my two girls are asleep. i'll be on duty again overnight for our little Aya. no complains. bonding, taking care and watching over my two girls is a job and at the same time a moment i will forever consider as priceless!

a few stories

a few minutes and it's day number 2 of the 2nd month already. i haven't been updating as much as i had the first month of last year and i really want to talk about a number of things.

first, i'm seeing a bunch of political ads on TV. not that its new but whenever i see a political campaign ad (which are now more frequent on the boob tube), i really wonder if these peoples intent in running is for the good of the country. however beautiful the ads may be, even if a certain candidate excel in public speaking or top the others in answering questions on forum-slash-debates, we will never know how good (or bad) they are until they are seated. maybe the country (or the constitution) can consider bringing back the 4-year term of the chief executive and its vice president. 4 years, i think, is enough to determine a second term for a good president, and a not-so-long agony of the country for a seated bad president.

on a different subject, work load is still heavy. i hope to feel the unload this week and my target tasks to be done are the following: clean-up web sales portal issues, attend to returned items, and clean-up the stock room. the latter task should be interesting. i get to see how many "samples" we can dispatch from the office. our stock room will be demolished soon to give way to a bigger office. yep. WE ARE GETTING BIGGER! this year should be a better year for our company in terms of opportunity. good luck to us! and yeah, good luck to me! i hope things this year offer me something 'different'.

i'm planning to get our dear ayapot a walker already. she's been giving her mommy a hard time by constantly crawling, rolling-over, and trying to stand whenever she's set free. she always wants to stand and wave her hands & clap them too. she's starting to grab anything that her hand can reach and put them in her mouth (cookie monster much?)



and she doesn't want to be left alone in her playpen or in her playroom. she craves for more "action" (e.g. standing up, trying to walk, crawl and roll-over) so wifey and i thought she is ready for a walker. she's going 8 months already. earlier we went to the mall and grabbed a couple of on sale VCD's featuring her favorite Hi-5. yep! we're beginning to have a good number of kiddie videos collection. the most played (and her favorite) video is that Baby Mozart which her tita Aimee gave her. (her dad's favorite on the other hand is that spongebob video *teehee*) :P anyway, ayapot's tita (actual - lola) is planning to give her a BIG BIRTHDAY BASH on their new home in Antipolo. i refuse since i have other plans for the three of us (wifey, ayapot & i) but yea, if my plan doesn't push through, we might as well take the offer of Ayapot's (other) lola: a much cheaper and simpler celebration at MAX's resto. thing is, i won't be spending even a centavo for it. its all THIER treat! LOL. (well, that's why we celebrated her 6th month since we have other plans for her first year!) now it's all up to me to make that plan A to happen.

on another story, my balikbayan cousin has a mixed up schedule. or maybe i can say, her schedule planner didn't plot the schedules of the entirety of her stay here in Manila. while i was suppose to take her home to our province last Saturday from alabang, it was my dad who pre-arranged her pick-up. i was surprised to know that he's fetching her from Alabang. incidentally, my van broke down over the weekend so it turned out to be a relief that someone took care of her transportation to our hometown. but i was talking to her that day (Saturday) and scheduled to treat her to a SPA this coming Thursday. after checking her out yesterday thru my dad, i was again surprised to know that my relatives there have planned to take her to a SPA! i was like, whatthe?! i asked my dad to clarify the rest of her schedule since she'll be back to the US on friday. i told my dad my plans for her since it will only be the time that she'll meet me and my two girls (Ayah & Aya Jr). then dad told me he will take her back to Alabang tomorrow and they'll drop by my office to talk about her remaining schedule. so there. it's a bit confusing. if our thursday plan won't push through, i'd be glad to gatecrash attend the Red Ribbon event this coming Thursday instead!

sweets! woot! woot!