Manigong Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat!!

Here's a very Happy and Prosperous New Year greeting to all.

The past year went by really fast. I really didn't ste any goals for the year, except to just make it through unscathed. Although there were times when my faith was tested, with my grandmother's situation, who I'm happy to say has recovered quite a bit and is now living with us so we can better take care of her. I've also taken on a lot of the financial obligations in regards to her care so I guess, I'm not going on a lot of trips this coming year, but hey, I don't mind at all.

Anyways, have a Fun, Safe new year celebration everyone and I shall see most of you in the new year.

Raise the Glass!!

Day after x-mas sales

There wasn't a lot of things on sale that I really needed to get, so surprisingly enough, I dodn't get that much. I took advantage of the sale at the timberland outlet stores where I was getting dress sweaters and shirts for less than $15 each, not bad I guess. Went and got the necessary cables I needed for my new TV and then just relaxed the rest of the day.

As for today (monday) I finally assembled the last of the two wardrobe closets that I've bought so many moons ago. Now if this rain can only stop long enough for me to be able to go and pickup the last storage cabinet I need, I'll be set on the tiiziite.

That's all for now folks.

Fish on Dudes!

Merry X-mas to all

Happy New Year Too

Tired

I feel so tired. Today was considered the Heaviest day for deliveries at my company, for the year. I mean, we had everyone out doing deliveries, including some management personnels. I think in my center alone we ran about 103 delivery cars for the day, and that just covers, 1/3 of San Francisco (4 zip codes), Daly City, South San Francisco, Pacifica, Brisbane and San Bruno. I guess when they said all hands on deck, they meant it.

Weekend Shopping
This past saturday, I was suppose to go help out at work, but since I was so behind in my shopping (I haven't started at all) I decided to go ahead and take care of it last saturday. I went to Ledge and Aileen's abode and accompanied them on a little shopping spree. I think I got everything that I needed to get, if not then I guess I will venture again during the week after work.

Afterwards, we decided to check out the new house that was bought by Melissa and John, Melissa is Aileen's sister. It's a nice little house out by Redwood shores.
We then proceeded to shop again at Hillsdale Mall and the mall by Foster City (forgot the name). By the time all is said and done, I finally got home at 1:30 am.

Oh to top it all off, I had to go to the DMV and take a picture for my new license and this was at 8:00 am when they opened, but I got there at 7:45 am. Long Day indeed.


Oh I also ended up buying This I guess I needed to give myself a birthday/x-mas present since they are back to back.

Merry X-mas Everybody.

Fish on Dudes!

Fish on Dudes!

What's on?

Thursday nites are usually rondalla fraktis nites so I don't get to watch tv. But now that we are on hiatus for the rest of the year, I'm here at home, flipping through channels not knowing what's showing. I actually have a bit of withdrawal from not playing music, I mean sure I can play with my octavina here at home by myself, but it's just not the same. I don't have the rhythm of the guitars and bass to accompany me, neither are the melodies from the bandurias. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to figure something else out.

Hmmm maybe I can ask Gary if I can get a copy of the music from the concert. It would be nice to listen to it while I tackle the neverending gridlock on the freeways.

Oh well, maybe I'll just put on a DVD, maybe I Robot or Collateral. Oh well.

G'nite

Fish on Dudes!

Blade

Last monday, I watched Blade Trinity with John and Ledge. It was pretty entertaining, the actor who played Van Wilder (forgot his name) was funny. His line deliveries as the comic relief was good. We were rolling with laughter. As for the action, it's pretty much what you would expect from a Blade movie, lots of fighting and vampires exploding. I would give it a B-/C+ grade. It's not Oscar material, but it's not garbage material. Try to catch it in Matinee.

During the same night, we saw Tin and OJ, they went to watch Ocean's Twelve. According to them it's a rental, so I guess I won't even bother watching it in the theater and just wait until I can get it on Netflix.


Fish on Dudes!

waiting...........

I'm at my friend Mur's house, trying to configure her network system. I'm not having any luck in doing so, so I finally decided to upgrade the OS on her computer. Only thing is that it takes forever to upgrade, so I'm here waiting for it to finish. So I decided to what the hey, update my blog since I haven't done it in a couple of days.

For those that have seen the pictures from her blog, I tell ya, it looks a lot better in real time. It has gone a long way from when she first got the house to now.......if we can only get a house warming party goin.....wink wink.

As for work it's just blah. Getting busier as we approach x-mas, but I guess I'm used to it. The only thing that sucks is that I have NOT done any gift shopping. Even online, I just don't have the time and patience to shop anymore. uuuggghhh I better get a move on this gift buying thing or else like in musical chairs, I will be the one left without a chair when the music stops.

Oh well, time to go, I think the install is just about done.

Hasta La Pasta

Fish on Dudes!

HARANA atbp.

We just finished our first rondalla concert and I think that it went well.

The music was good and eventhough we didn't have the turnout that I was hoping for, we still had enough people in the audience to play music for, and from what I've heard, everyone really enjoyed it. The only complaint was that the show was too short. Oh well, there's always next year. I think it would be a good idea to have a rondalla concert every year to help showcase the many talented musicians that Likha has.
This definitely will go down as one of my favorite performances.

Busted light

So I got up to go to work last friday and the fog was HELLA thick so as I proceeded to go on the road, I turn on my headlights. While driving I noticed that something was amiss, my headlights seems to be not giving me enough light as I was moving on, turns out that my left headlight was busted (it was working the night before when I went home from rondalla fraktis). Talk about starting your day on a bad note. So I finally got to work (thank god that I didn't get pulled over) and we had major problems. One of our planes that supposed to bring in our overnite shipments couldn't land at Oakland airpot because it lacked the necessary equipment to land in thick fog. So it was diverted to Ontario airport down south, then the contents had to be reloaded on another plane then flown back up to Oakland. A lot of our customers didn't get their shipments on time, so there were some unhappy people, but most understood the situation and didn't complain.
I guess the x-mas spirit does make some people a little less grumpy.

Tomorrow will be our pseudo x-mas party for Likha. I'm looking forward to it as this will probably be the last time we will get together for the year. I hope I get a nice gift from our white elephant gift exchange. Hmmmm what should I get for it. Ahh, I'll just go to Target, I'm sure I'll find something.

Be good everyone.

Fish on Dudes!

In a nutshell

here it goes;

Last wednesday nite I went to dinner at the Cruz's (1) residence in Fremont. It was the 1st time I've visited their house since they bought it from their ferents. Rockstar and my gooseneps were also there.

Thursday was rondalla fraktis, I think it went very well, everything ran smooth, except for Ms. Luzon's bout with the giggles.

been working long hours at work since it's the season for SHOPPING, and everyone seems to be keen on doing it online, or catalog shopping.

Tomorrow is the HARANA concert at the University of San Francisco's presentation theater.
Wish me luck.

'Til then

Fish on Dudes!

weekend update

This past weekend was a blur. Saturday I went fishing out in Clearlake, which is up northern Cali. It was HELLA cold in the morning, when we got up to the lake at around 7:20 am the temp was about 24 degrees F. just a little chilly. But as soon as the sun rose, it wasn't too bad.
I ended up just cathching 3 fish. Nothing big, about 2 lbs or so. Stayed there 'til about 5 then we headed back for the 2 hour drive home.

Sunday, I went to the David's residence for a luncheon to celebrate Ledge's B-day (Happy B-day Bud) Lots of food, as always.
Then I proceeded to the rehearsal for our concert that's coming up on Dec.11.

Afterwards, some of us went to Cafe Colma to celebrate Laurie's b-day (same day as Ledge's)
and ate some more. Needles to say, as soon as I got home, all I wanted to do was take a nap.
Good Times!

Fish on Dudes!

$$$$$ Mall

Today I got off work early so I decided to pass by the Emeryville shopping area. I walked around the stores to see if I can get any deals for gifts. Man, they have some really nice stores in there, like Coach, Aldo, Banana Republic, Apple Store among others. But with style comes matching price. Everything, as Kuya Rudi would say, was Mahalia Jackson. Even the matinee price for the theater was $8.00. Uuhh that's full price at the theater by my house and it's newer than the one in Emeryville (I think). Anyways so I just ended buying a book at Barnes and Nobles. It's called the Amber Room by Steve Berry, who also wrote the Romanov Prophecy. Then I went to go get a haircut. I want to look good for the Rondalla pictorial tomorrow nite. BAH

Fish on Dudes!

nothing much today

I bought the spiderman 2 dvd today. Probably will watch it tonight.
I actually liked this movie better than the 1st one, which is rare.

Fish on Dudes!

UUUGGGHHH

why is it that when you go into Ikea planning on buying a $50 side bed table you end up walking out of there with $300 worth of merchandise. Man, I gotta stop going there, I'm broke as it is and here I am buying things that I think would look "good" in my bedroom. I swear I'm not going back there until after x-mas, or at least until I've finished buying people's presents.

Today was a good day at work, very minimal happenings, just BLAH.

It was good to see the Laxa's last nite. It was funny watching AJ run and slide across the floor in the family room.

I also saw National Treasures over the weekend. It was actually pretty entertaining and a pretty good movie to watch if you have time to kill. It wasn't spectacular or anything like that, but it wasn't bad either.

That's all for now

Fish on Dudes!

Stuff, Stuff, and more Stuff

I just got done cleaning up my old room and my new room. (Switched rooms so that I will have more room for my junk) All I have to say is, you don't really know how muck crap you have until you start weaning out things to be either donated or thrown away and you end up working a sweat just walking up and down the stairs with it. I tell you (probably Laurie and Ledge too) that I have a LOT of STUFF, I managed to cut it all down to a very manageable pile and good thing too. I can donate a lot of clothes and that would mean I'll have more things to write off and claim come tax time. WOO-HOO. Maybe I'll get a big enough check that I can put it on a down payment for either a condo or a new ride. Probably a condo or townhouse will be good.

Well, the Laxa's are here to take me to IKEA and the Emeryville outdoor mall.

'Til next time

Fish on Dudes!

Day After Thanksgiving

Well, it's the day after Thanksgiving and all the malls and retail outlets are just packed with people trying to get deals for their x-mas gifts. I for one did not go shop today (yes Mur, I didn't go shopping) Don't get me wrong, I like spending money I don't have just as much as the next guy, but I just can't deal with all the crowd madness. I think I'm going back to online shopping for this yuletide season. A bit more peaceful that way.

Take care people

Fish on dudes!

Gobble Gobble

To all my Family, friends, enemies, and anyone in between, I wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday. May your glasses be filled, your plates full and your stomachs pumped after eating all the food in sight. ( just kidding)

I'm just thankful that I have a lot of friends and that I'm alive and well.

Be safe everyone

Fish on Dudes!

I'm Back

Well I'm back here in Cali.

I just finished a workshop with our sister company KP of B.C. It was fun to see everyone up there since I haven't most of them since last Nov. '03. The workshops were long for some people, although it felt normal to me, I guess I've been doing this thing a little too long.

Kudos to the musicians of KP for learning the music in what relatively is a short time to learn it. You guys are talented and you guys ROCK!! Hopefully next time the music workshop will be more intense and focused so that the music can really be broken down and learned properly.

Today I worked for about 10 hours, man, I guess x-mas is here 'cause it's getting crazy at work.
People are just buying gifts online like crazy and then having it shipped to their workplace.
I guess people are making money again, or are just plunging themselves into more debt. Oh well, it keeps me employed.

Tonight I passed by Mur's place to give her the box of candies that the Correia family bought (thanks for my box of Purdy's too VJ and Mish and Baby E) and saw the construction going on at her house. It's starting to look really nice and I'm sure that when it's all done it will look awesome.
Kobi (Mur's dog) is getting big too, man, I don't remember seeing him this big last 4th of july. What are you feeding him?!

I also saw her new Ipod and know what...I think I'm gonna get one too as my b-day/x-mas present to myself.

'til then

Fish on dudes!

Greetings from up north

Well, I'm here in Vancouver and can you say, "where's the heat at?" It's a little nipply up here, but that was to be expected.

We just finished day 1 of the KP workshops and I think it went very well. They ended up learning the Birth of Nation piece and I think it came out good. Then they learned pangalay, sagayan and R.S.C. took time to go over the sinkil solos with the respective soloists.

We are about to go to Richmond for sushi so I know that would be good.

Tomorrow we are going to go over the cordillera dances with the group before we fly back home.

'til then

Fish on Dudes!

Good Fraktis

I decided to go to rondalla fraktis last nite, and I'm glad I did. Maestro B made us to some different playing styles with some of the songs we are doing for our concert in dec. It was pretty kewl to hear the songs in a different manner and I think this concert is going to be a blast. I hope a lot of people will show up to watch, so if you are reading this and you are in the SF bay area on Dec. 11, be sure to check us out at the Pioneer theater in USF.

Well, I'm going to be leaving for the airport in a few minutes, I have to go to Vancouver B.C. to do a workshop with KP alongside our fearless leader R.C.S.

So everyone, have a good weekend and I shall catch you on the flipside next week.

Fish on Dudes!

Random Thoughts

I saw Polar Express last nite with the David family. I must say the CGI animation on this film was pretty dramatic. The character looked like Tom Hanks, even Santa Claus had a hint of Hanks, although very subtle. The facial expressions caught by the computer was awesome.

I would say that this movie was well worth the matinee price. (not that it's a bad thing)

I bought Smallville season 3 since I think I saw 1 episode on tv. This is probably one of the few shows that I'm addicted to that doesn't teach me how to build (or destroy something) that I watched consistently. Kristin Kreuk aint so bad to look at either.

Well, I finished Bloodrayne 2 on PS2, I must say that this was much better than the first one and a bit harder to finish. My wrist were so sore after playing from all the button punching, control gripping going on.

That's it for now. I shall take a break for a few days, I will be heading up to Vancouver this weekend for a little workshop with KP.

Peace Out

Fish on dudes!

X-mas around the corner

Today, while working, it suddenly hit me. The x-mas holiday is just around the bend. I mean, I'm getting a lot of pkgs. for people that are more for their personal use rather than something for the company. People that haven't even said a single word to me all year, are now all of a sudden my "friends" as they wait for all the stuff they ordered online to be delivered by yours truly. It's not even December yet and we are already scrambling for staffing as there are more work than people to do 'em. Well, at least this means the company is doing well and that should mean that our stocks will be going up. Coolness.


Fish on dudes!

Busy Day

Today was a busy day for me. First of, I got home last nite after watching the Incredibles with some friends. It was pretty late as it is, but I just had to play BloodRayne 2 on the PS2 and before I knew it, it was 2 am already, I've been awake for 21 hours already, time to go to bed.

So here I am sleeping like a log and then I feel a jolt as my bed started to shake, I woke up abruptly, thinking there was an earthquake and who do I see looking down on me at the edge of the bed, it was Ledge waking me up to help me carry some stuff in and out of my room and the garage. It was 8:51 am. I wasn't quite ready to wake up yet, but since Ledge was there already, I forced myself to wake up.

We then proceeded to go get breakfast at a local diner called "the alley" here in Pinole (we do know our priorities people). After eating what seemed like the bigest serving of an omellette I've ever seen (Ledge did recommend this place, so you know the servings will be hearty) we went back to my house and proceeded to carry 2 beds out of the upstairs bedroom, to be donated to charity, and we then carried up the 2 wardrobe dressers that I bought for my room.

Afterwards we proceeded to Home Depot, bought some power tools and some other stuff.
Went back home and assembled the storage closets.

Later on that nite, John came over and we went to Best Buy to browse around. Bought nothing which is a good thing since I'm already in debt.

Then here I am putting an entry on my blog.

Oh well, it felt good to do something productive on a non fishing day. Although you know I would've dropped everything if I had a chance to go fishing. :p

Til next time

Fish on Dudes!

Lineup

I would just like to let everyone know that the Likha rondalla will be having a concert recital at the University of San Francisco's Pioneer theater on Dec. 11. If you are in town, come check us out. For more info pls. go to the website link.

Here's the lineup
1) Rosas Pandan
2) Sarungbanggi
3) Sa Dalampasigan
4) Mutya Ng Pasig (Soloist: Beverly / rondalla)
5) Kalesa (Choir / rondalla)
6) Tiririt ng Maya
7) Ang Alibangbang
8) Maalaala Mo Kaya (Soloists: Jenn & Bryan / Bass & Guitar)
9) Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak
10) Payapang Daidig (Choir / rondalla)
11) Pandanggo Sa Ilaw/Oasiwas to Parol Dance (rondalla / dancers)
12) Pasko Na Naman (rondalla / Choir)
13) Noche Buena (rondalla / Choir)

Hope to see you there.

Fish on dudes.

Lord Help Us

Well, it's official, those yahoos from Ohio voted for G.W. and we have four more years of this bumbling fool as president. Like everyone at work said, when the draft comes, I would like to see all those "red" states send their equally inept citizens to fight this moron's war.
I bet they all still believe that there are WMD's in Iraq that have yet to be uncovered.

On the flipside, the democrats better get united and gat control of this country back from these love the rich, don't care about everyone else republicans.

nuff venting

Fish on Dudes!

Day of days

Today is an important day for a lot of people.
It is a day where the american people gets to choose who will serve the presidency of these United States for the next 4 years.

But more importantly ( :p) today is the first day of the NBA season. It's time to see basketball at its best now that baseball is done. Hockey is nowhere in sight, and the niners are sucking big time. At least we have Cal football, Ranked no. 4 in the country baby. Go Bears.

Anyways, I think George Bush is winning the election so far, so I guess we will be going to war against who knows who. At least, Jay Leno and David Letterman will still get plenty of materials from this bumbling buffoon.

Fish on Dudes!

Hard Day

Today was a heavy workload day. Everyone and their mama had deliveries today and it was so heavy that I didn't get to finish my route today. Oh well, I guess the economy is not as bad as they say it is, either that or the consumers confidence is growing and that they are starting to spend again. I guess that's a good sign. I just hope that Bush loses tomorrow as I don't believe he has the best interest or middle class americans in mind.

So for anyone that's reading this, go out and vote. It's one of the rights that this country has bequethed upon its citizens and I hope that you would utilize it wisely.

Last nite, I went to the Laxa's house to celebrate Andres' birthday and Halloween. All the kids looked cute with their outfits. A.J. and Miyo were power rangers. Antonio was on of the Incredibles. Butch (the big kid) was Black belt Jones complete with sideburns and afro-hair.
Good Times.

Fish on dudes!

UUGGHH

The dudes that's been doing our floors must not have other clients, 'cause they have been working on re-flooring the kitchen, family, and 1 (small) bedroom and it's been 2 weeks and they are not finished yet. Man, talk about the moving at the speed of stop. If I was running a business and these 2 were on my staff, they'd been fired a long time ago.

Last wednesday was Andres Laxa's b-day. I went and hooked up with the family at the Jungle, also on the same nite, the Red Sox won the world series, after 86 years. Good, now the people up in Boston can enjoy this for a year and then they can shut up about that stupid curse and go back to just being plain idiots. nuff said.


Fish on dudes!

Slacker

Ok, so I have been slacking with my blog lately, and for that I do apologize.

Well, let's see now, there's so much that have happened since the last time I blogged so I'm just gonna do a mini synopsis of events.

-Dad finally left last thursday for home, felt sad and miss him already.

-Went to my goddaughter Alexa's b-day yesterday, she's growing up too fast-there was lots of food, lots of kids, and a whole lotta mess after. But then again it was a kid's party.

-Went to practice today to see what's up with Likha, there must be at least 20 people that are part of the dance workshops. Felt great to see that the recruitment process worked and here's to hoping that everyone would stay with the group after the workshop and auditions are over.

-Learned that Ernie (our Bass player) might not go to Brazil, therefore I have to learn how to play the Bass in a few months before we head out to Brazil. Yikes.

-Finally visited Moe, Liza, Isabel and the newest member of the family Natalie. It was so good to see them and our friend Mur also decided to visit and it was good to see her too.

-Looks like the Red Sox might finally win a world series championship and shed the "curse of the bambino" label off their backs. I hope it happens too so then all their fans would finally shut up about the curse as the excuse every time they lose (after this year, that is).

-Getting the floors re done at home, took the carpet off and started to put hardwood parquet flooring, so my whole bedroom set is inside the garage right now, and since the people we hired tend to move at the speed of paint drying, it will probably stay there 'til the end of the month.
Sucks.

That's all for now.

Fish on Dudes!

Do you think pro athletes get paid too much?

Well, Do you? Pls. Discuss.

Good times

Last saturday, two of Likha's own tied the knot. My rondalla group played for the wedding ceremony and the performance for the reception, it went well. Especially Canon in D (considering I learned to play it the thursday before the wedding) few minor mistakes on my part, but that's because I couldn't hear everyone else and I kept losing my place. Overall it was fun, especially the part where we have to answer "Lord hear our prayer". It was quite funny to hear Almar and Ernie try to outdo each other with their "emoting" of the prayer answer (this going on, while the overhead microphones were turned on).

At the reception, it was nice seeing some of the former members of Likha that we haven't seen in a while, like Bern, Felisa, Joanna. It felt like a mini reunion. Of course the best table in the house was the rondalla table, I think we were the loudest and most rambunctious group, this while we were sober. But hey, WE ARE the life of most parties anyways, hehehe.

Well, To them, Raise the Glass!!!

Fish on dudes!

P.S. I forgot to add Mur to the list of the oldees that was at the wedding. Sorry about that.

No Love from the baseball gods

Alas, the Giants and the A's are out of the playoff contentions. They both lost yesterday and thus were eliminated from the playoff run. I'm sure my friend Nick is very happy 'cause his dodgers are in the playoffs. Don't worry Nicky, they would probably lose to the Cardinals in the first round.

I went fishing yesterday and did pretty good, cuaght 3 smallmouths and 1 largemouth, about 1.5 to 3 lbs each. Not bad but wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but then again I rather have a bad day fishing than a good day working.

My dad will be arriving tonite so I will probably be slacking on my blogs as I will be spending time with him as he visits my grandmother in the hospital.

Here's a quote from a commercial I saw last week, "why does 6 hate 7?" ans: "because 7, 8, 9."
(have to read out loud in order to decipher) I know, it's kinda stupid but I hope it made you chuckle a little bit.

Fish on dudes!

Pennant Fever

This weekend will be a crazy baseball weekend. The Giants are 3 games behind the dodgers with 3 games to go before playoffs. The A's are tied with the angels for the division lead with 3 games to go. Needless to say, I will be watching (or listening to the radio) baseball this whole weekend.

Tomorrow, I go fishing again, hopefully I catch a lunker and take a picture of it.

Sunday, I think my dad arrives so I'm excited for that.

Have a nice weekend people.

fish on dudes.

Follow ups

If any were wondering, the baby's name is Natalie Rose.

And yes, I like the starwars trilogy, I especially like the subtle changes that was put in the movies, in order to somehow streamline it with the first episodes. you just have to get and watch it.


Fish on Dudes!

Busy weekend

This past weekend I went to hang out with Ledge and Aileen in Vallejo (saturday that is) . We were suppose to move some of their furniture out but Ledge decided to hold off since he's got time before they have to move out (selling their house). So we decided to go to Cache Creek Casino, but before we got there we decided to stop by a new housing development up in Fairfield called Aria. Man the model homes they have out there were really nice. The architecture was nice and so were the options. Made me almost want to buy one, until I saw the price on the floor plans, let's just say the cheapest one was $846,000. Now If I had a rich wife then I can afford it, but I don't think I would like that commute very much. Then we went to the casino, and lo and behold, my luck finally changed and I won, albeit it was only $100, but the bottom line was that I finally came out ahead. I'm splurging on a Carl's Jr. $6 burger ;p

Sunday I went fishing at lake Berryessa where it was HOT HOT HOT. Man was I baking out there in the middle of the lake,but it felt good just to be out there and fishing with friends (I went out with Phil and his brother Mike) I caught 4 fish, albeit all dinks,but at least I didn't get skunked. Afterwards Phil and I treated ourselves to a couple of tacos from Jack in the box (I know, we're pretty easy to satisfy).

Now I have to wait for my dad's arrival sometime this week. It'll be good to see him again this year, since I usually just see him once year (depending on whether they come here or I go visit them back in the motherland).

Fish on dudes!

P.S.
For all who knows Liza, she had a baby girl last sunday. I just got the news today.
She and everyone else are doing fine.

Oh well, my mom left last thursday to go back home to PI and my sister left last saturday as well. I was pretty bummed out that I wasn't able to spend more time with them while they were here, work got in the way and I also just had the show with likha. On a happier note, I think my dad is coming here sometime this week to spend some time with my lola (his mother).
So I'm looking forward to that.

A funny thing happened at the airport last saturday, something that I didn't think I was going to witness ever. I don't know if you've been to SFO Int'l terminal, well they have this huge revolving doors as the entryway to the terminal, while I was waiting for my sister to go in for her boarding call, I saw an elderly man go through the revolving doors and actually complete a revolution around before realizing how to finally get into the terminal. It was quite comical, but at the same time I felt sorry for the old man as he looked extremely confused after he got through. I just bit my lip and pretended that I didn't see anything.

Also I would like to congratulate KP for what I know was a fantastic show up in Prince Rupert.
I'm sure they put on a show of shows. Also I want to wish Likha for their show in Pleasanton this saturday. Sorry I couldn't join you for this performance but you know I'm their in spirit.
Break a leg!!

Fish on dudes!

This past weekend, I attended a baptism for my niece Alexa Nicole, I was one of the primary godparents for her and what an honor it was to be considered by my cousin for this part of her life. After the baptism we had a little reception and I saw a few of my relatives that I haven't seen in a while. It's always nice to have a reunion, on whatever scale, with one's family.

Hmm, Now I have two goddaughters and both named Alexa. I guess I better write their whole names on their gifts come x-mas time.

On a different note, our friends from up north, KP of B.C., will be having a show at Prince Rupert. I would like to wish them the best of luck and I'm sure that they will kick ass on their show up there.

Raise the Glass!!

Fish on dudes!

HeatWave

Man, I couldn't believe how hot it's been the last few days, I guess it's one way to salvage what's left of the summer season. It has been especially hot inside my big brown truck, we put a weather thermometer in there and it read 98 degrees yesterday. Man that's enough to cook you and anyone else, if you stay in there long enough. Unfortunately we have to stay in there and finish the job. It's time like these that I wish I had an office job with the A/C blasting. But then again I wouldn't be outside and wouldn't be able to see all the lovely honeys in their "summer" wear. That's all for now.

Fish on dudes!

Aaaaahhhhh.......time to rest.

This past weekend was probably one of the more hectic weekends for me this year. We just had our show Lakbay and man I probably had a total of 14 hours of sleep from thursday to sunday.

I think overall the show went well, if you count out the rondalla instruments beign out of tuned for maria clara (actually it was just me, Ewa, and Bry) because of the heat. After watching the video that sunday nite, I was quite impressed with the fact that we managed to salvage the maria clara suite, although the music wasn't as strong as it should've been, you couldn't really tell if the instruments are out of tuned. (the only person that probably noticed was Clark, Bryan's brother). It's shows like these that makes it hard to walk away from Likha, the camaraderie, family bondings, and of course the food and wine. But I know it will happen sooner or later. I might have to switch hours at work, I might have to work nights and some weekends, but we'll see. It will surely make it difficult to do the one thing I have a lot of passion for, but as they say c'est lavie.

To my Likha Family, especially the rock star musicians,
Raise the Glass!!!!

Fish on dudes!

Thanks

I found out that they finally moved my Grandma out of the 5th floor (critical area) and into the 9th floor (semi-recovery area) I guess this means that she is on her way to recovery although I think it's a long road at that, she's not exactly that young anymore age wise (90).

Thanks to everyone's prayers and thoughts, my family and I appreciate all of the good thoughts that are coming our way, keep it coming.

Now if I can only clean up my part of the music for the show.

Fish on dudes!

been awhile........

The last few days had been probably the most stressful of my life, my Grandmother has been in the hospital for about two weeks now, she was having kidney failure so her body was starting to shut down, so the doctors decided to make her go through dialysis and it seems to be working. She is still a little weak but at lest she is able to eat food now and seems to be a little more energetic, thank the lord.

My mom and sister is in town too for various reasons, and it's good to see them.

The show is in a week, I'm screwing up my end of the music and I don't know why I'm having mental block as far as playing is concerned.

Work sucks because we are having all kinds of problems with the new system that was put it 2 months ago. Actually it's a combination of the system and the people that was entrusted to see it through. Can you say don't care about the employees. But I digress.

Hopefully things will get better and maybe I can have some piece of mind, at least for a day.

Fish on Dudes.

good times

Last friday nite, we all went out to Chevy's to hang out with Veejay, Michelle, and Emily. It was good to see them and among the people that were there were, Ed, Tina and baby Isaac, whom I have given a new street name (Icey B, for [Isaac Bayani]) Moe, Liza and Isabel, Mur, John w/ Andres and Emilio, Ledge, Aileen w/ Alexa and Antonio. Gosh Mur and I were the only one without any kids. It was good to see everyone, lord knows with everyone's schedule it's almost tough to spend any time togetheror even just to see and/or talk to each other.

Practice, today was a bit hectic but it went ok. My fingers started cramping up while we were playing Kuratsa, man do I ever hate that song. Too many runs and it's hell on the fingering methods. Oh well, more of the same for sunday when we have a full dress rehearsal at CCC.

For those that will be in town next week, why don't you check out our show, it will be at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, tickets are available at Cityboxoffice or for mor info got to this.


'til next time, Fish on dudes!

2 weeks 'til showtime

Man, it is almost showtime and I'm really scared now. We just finished practicing today and, maybe it's the unusually high standards I have that's showing, but I'm really scared that we won't put on a good enough show for the masses. I mean, it should be going real smooth during the practices but man, there are so many mistakes and I don't think that everyone knows their dances by heart. Even the music was a little blah, I know I'm partly to blame on that too since I didn't decide to be part of the show 'til a month ago and my playing skills aint exactly up to par as yet. Oh well, here's to praying and keeping the faith that everything will be alright.

On a lighter note, it was good to see my good friend Sam Largo at practice today. Man, did he ever lose a lot of weight. I almost didn't recognize him. Also, our good friend Veejay Correia is in town for at least a week and I hope that we get to hook up with him and Michelle and Emily during the week.

Fish on dudes!

Today I found out that I will be getting a new boss at work. My former manager just got moved to a different dept. after managing for only 3 mos. This sucks, 'cause I've known him since my first day at UPS and now he's moving somewhere else and I have to learn the diff. nuances of my new boss. Oh well life goes on I guess.

On a lighter note, my cousin just called me and she asked me if I could be a ninong for her daughter. I told her that it would be an honor to do so. My niece is so cute and her name is Alexa, wait a minute, that means I will have 2 god daughters both named Alexa. Oh well, at least I will never get the name wrong.

Ikea

Tonight after work, I went to Ikea in Emeryville to buy a new computer desk and an office chair. I had to walk through real quickly otherwise I would've ended up buying more things like maybe a new bedroom set or something. Although they do have a bunch of new furnitures in there.
Hmmmm......maybe next time I go there I WILL get a new bed and dresser drawers.

Fish on dudes!

Test

Testing

Can you say.......TIRED!

Today I had to take my aunt and uncle to the airport for their flight to Vienna, so I had to get up at 5 am because they had to be at the airport at 6:45. Then I had a meeting at work that started at 7 am for about an hour and then I had to do my route and got off at 6 pm. Then I hit traffic and didn't get home 'til 7:30. Man talk about a LONG day, and it's only tuesday. I think I'm going to sleep tonight and wake up when it's friday.

Fish on dudes!

Damn KFC

Last nite, I decided to buy some kfc hot wings for dinner, I haven't eaten these in a while so I was kind of craving for 'em. But now I remember why I haven't eaten them in a long while, at
3 am, I woke up with a massive stomach cramp (the kind where there was a vise grip taking a hold of your stomach) and I ran to the bathroom, but nothing happened. So I got up and was going back to bed when I had to turn around and pay homage to the bowl (ie; kneel and hurl)
Man, I've never puked that much without any alcohol being involved. I'm never ever ever going back to kfc. I had to call in sick today because I was running to the bathroom every half hour or so.

I'm sticking strictly to beef from now on. I will only eat chicken if I was the one that cooked it.
Anyways, hopefully I'll be better for the weekend.

Fish on dudes!

Weekend

So this weekend was pretty interesting. Friday we had a mini performance at Stanford University for the Asian business school (I think) It went pretty well and then after I just hanged out with the Cruz's at their humble abode (while listening to little Isaac do his grunts and other baby sounds, so cute)

Then saturday I decided to just relax in the morning and then decided to head out to Cache Creek Casino, where I proceeded to donate money to their foundation, later on that afternoon.
Man my unlucky streaks in casinos just keep going and going, hmmm time to stop gambling and go back to fishing.

Sunday, I went to practice and afterwards I realized that the choreography for some dances were not even finished yet.....YIKES isn't it only a month before showtime. Now I've never been nervous about any shows at all, but this one is making me a little nervous. Oh it's not because that we might bomb, I always have faith that we will pull it off no matter what, what I'm nervous about is that we will not be doing our best as far as performing is concerned. For the musicians especially, we only get to practice (percussion) during sundays and at small increments at that. we won't be able to "perfect" the music. It will be hard, but I guess we still have a month til we have the show. Anyways we shall keep moving forward.

Oh I also saw the Bourne Supremacy with Ledge and Aileen, I would say that this movie was good and that it was worht seeing in the theater. Story was decent and M. Damon is not a bad action hero, well at least he was way better than B. Affleck who I think is good for supporting roles only and not as the lead actor.

Anyhoo.......fish on dudes!

Entertainment

As it was so hot today, I just parked my Big Brown Truck under the freeway and decided to just relax and cool off.  As I was doing this I get a phone call from my cousin and she was telling me how she worked backstage at a concert for N.E.R.D. and how they were all just hangin out with them after the concert. She even e-mailed me pictures to my phone (technology is amazing aint it).  This got me thinking about the number of famous people I've met throughout the years, so I decided to make a list.

Wilie Mays-met him at the parking lot at the Cow Palace during a card show. I was on the way out to go home and he was just going in. Me and my friends got to shake his hand and he actually stopped to have a little conversation with us (mostly asking how the show was and if there was any famous people in there, as if he isn't one of them)  That was really cool.

Barry Bonds-I ran into him a while back when the Giants was still playing at Candlestick park, I was delivering something to the Giants office and as the Giants had a day game a lot of the players were already at the ballpark.  As I was going down the ramp to go back to my truck, here was Barry walking across to go to the players clubroom.  i yelled out What's up Barry, and stuck up my hand. Surprisingly he said what's up and high fived me.  Man, that was awesome.

Nora Aunor-famous Phillipine entertainment icon, she actually stayedat my house in Pinole for a couple of days while she was doing a concert tour of the US.  Turns out, one of my aunts is her manager.  How cool is that.

The entire Blanco Family-Famous Family of painters from Angono, Rizal.  Wewere lucky enough to be picked as their billet when they came here to do a show during a Pistahan festival.  If you ever get a chance to go to Angono, check out their house/museum, believe me it's inspiring.

Carl Weathers-I met "Apollo Creed", actually ran into him at a mall in San Diego.  I almost didn't recognized him until he said "excuse me" after we collided.  That's the extent of that.
 
Malou and Christine Nubla-They are actually family so I don't know if that counts.
 
Liza Battalones-she is one of Aileen's (Ledge's wife) best friends. nuf said
 
Wendy Tokuda-she actually spoke to my high school english class, talking about the media and the importance of going to college.
 
Ramon Obusan-The most premier researcher of Phillipine dance and music culture in the Philippines.  It is an honor.
 
Likha PFE-World famous Phil. folk dance company, has a lot of members you can consider Rock Stars.........aaaahhhh Good Times

KP of BC- see above entry.

'Til next time my friends     Fish On!!!

 

Bad Luck

Man, I went to Lake Tahoe this past weekend for a little time to get away from it all.  But all I managed to do was lost a ton of money to the casinos and not a whole lot of anything else.  I wanted to watch this show called "X" but couldn't make it because our dinner reservation was at 9:45 and the show started at 10.

To  top it all off, I was getting ready to go to work this morning and lo and behold, I get in to my truck and noticed that it had just got broken into.  The thief tried to get my stereo out, but I guess he was an amateur 'cause he couldn't get it out, all he managed to do was destroy part of my console and steal my fast track transponder and all the change I had in my ashtray.  I think he stole the remote for my radio too.  Man I am so pissed right now that I think if I found out who did this, I will end up going to jail.....

Man, it's a weird feeling, I feel like I just got raped or violated. Someone actually went into my "space" and vandalized and degraded it.  Why can't people just buy their own shit, why do they have to resort to taking someone else's shiznit.  Oh well, I guess I'm lucky that he didn't quite get what he wanted to get.  Maybe I should get a python and just leave him in the car, in case he decides to go back into my truck.

Fish on dudes! 

Asian Drivers

I would like to think that when one gets a license, it should've been based on the notion that you will be alert and conscious about the way you drive, for the safety of others. 

As you know I drive a big brown truck for a living, in fact I've been doing it for quite a while, but what irritates me the most are the asian drivers (not to be racist, but it's them alright) on my route that drives those white cargo trucks, for the produce companies around my area, up to now they can't seem to grasp the concept of staying within your lane when driving.  I mean, these guys have been working for as long as I can remember (I've been servicing the same area for about 6 years now) and they still think they own the road. Driving in the middle of a two lane st., making sudden turns without signaling and uugh the worst of it all, driving at 20 mph and not noticing the fact that there's 15 vehicles behind them (and I'm sure everyone is irate).

I guess that's why there's not a whole lot of good asian golfers, they just can't drive  J/K

Fish on Dudes!

Nice......

Last nite, after Likha practice, some of us went over to Gary and Bev's house to check out their new and improved master bedroom, courtesy of sensible chic.  I must say the room was really nice and the color was different compared to the all whiteness of everything else in the house.  Overall I give it a 9 out of 10.  Just got to find out when they are going to air it on HGTV.
 
On a diferent note, it felt real good to play music again, especially with Likha, although I do have one thing that's bugging me, and that's the percussion play last sunday.  Talk about miscues, wrong rhythm and timeing and flatness.  I thought that they would be a lot better than what I heard last sunday.  Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be too upset, after all I was on an extended break from the group and I don't think I have the right to get upset about the music. Although I'm still dissapointed.
 
P.S.  Some people have expressed that maybe my comments about being dissapointed with the music was a little harsh.  That was not the intent nor was I in any way looking down on the musicians, I guess I'm just a liitle passionate about how the music should be played and I guess this passion sometimes tend to get me in trouble.  I guess I just had a lot of expectations, especially with the people that were playing that day.  If I offended anyone in anyway, I do apologize.  Again I shouldn't criticize since I haven't been around all year.

Fish on dudes!

Slow Down.....

Man, on the way to work this morning I was listening to the news and a Big Rig jacknifed on I-680 this morning and Caltrans and the CHP has to practically shut down both sides of the freeway in order to clean up.

As if that wasn't enough, as soon as I crossed the Bay Bridge, there was a diesel spill on the northbound section of 101, practically shutting the right lane, then on my side of the freeway there was a collision between a Chevy 1500 V-8 pickup truck and a 4-runner. Now why are people in this area seem to be always rushing. Everyone needs to slow down, geesh ever hear of time management.

Times like these I'm glad aboput my job and how it's trained me how to become a more professional and patient driver. I've beendriving so long now that sometimes I find myself predicting what someone wants to do in front of me even before that person realizes it and actually does it.
Amazing.

Anyhoo......Fish on Dudes!

Congrats Ed and Tina

Yesterday I finally managed to finish off my errands and save some time to visit Ed and Tina and Isaac at the hospital. Everyone is doing great and Isaac is so cute, man does he have hair. I went over there with Ledge, and low and behold, before we can even leave my house his car starts overheating so we had to call a tow truck after we got back from our visit.

I'm still trying to figure out how to post the pictures I took, so pls. be patient. I will get around to it (eventually).

Fish on dudes!

Read away

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I've been busy at work and I've been reading a lot lately.

I'm now reading this book titled the rule of four. It's interesting, it's about this couple of Princeton sehiors trying to figure out the secret behind the hypnerotachia manusript. I'm in the middle of it so I will give a review when I'm done.

Also I'm trying to figure out how to post some of my pictures on this here blog, but I'm getting stumped.

Oh well, time to call Gary and ask for assistance :)

til next time

Fish on dudes!

Woo Hoo

My camera finally arrived today (after 2 weeks) Man, that's the only bad thing about buying from the internet, you are at the mercy of the people on the other end as far as shipping your merchandise. Because as soon as it enters the UPS system I can pretty much get it down to a tee as to exactly when it will arrive at my house. Oh well, time to charge the batteries and start playing with it.

Ok everyone, say cheese...

Fish on dudes!

good friends and good eatin's

I just came back from having dinner with John and Laurie Laxa and the 2 little ones. We went to Outback steakhouse near my house and man was the food satisfying.

I especiall enjoyed watching my godson Andres and his little brother Emilio. Kids are so cute at that age you know. Emilio was being a true pinoy and was eating with his hands the whole way, from the soup to the mash potatos. Needless to say mommy Laxa was soon wiping food from her sleeve, to Emilio's Face and sweater and the booster seat that he was seating on. Andres on the other hand was using his spoon, but then decided that dinner was boring so he decided to dip his crayons in the glass of water he had and then proceeded to suck on them. I had to take it away from him for fear that he might actually bite into them and eat it. Overall I had fun just sitting there enjoying my food and best of all enjoying the company. Good Times

Fish on dudes!

Skunked

I went to Lake Berryessa last sunday and attempted to have a peaceful day of fishing. But as soon as we got there (we=me, my friend Phil and his brother Mike) I realized that we are fishing on a saturday during the summer season. Sure enough as we tried to fish this one stretch of Putah Creek, ski boats, jet skis, pontoons, you name it were just bussing by and it was hard to keep our boat steady as there were waves coming from every direction. Needless to say I didn't catch a damn fish, Not a one.

Oh well, time to give up fishing this summer and wait 'til fall when boat traffic dies down a bit.

On a sadder note, I found out as we were leaving the lake that a boy drowned while swimming in the lake. Preliminary reports indicate that he probably cramped up and drowned soon after. May god bless his soul into heaven.

Fish on dudes!

Commuting away

I've probably commuted now for work (and school) for the better part of 18years or so (even before I was old enough to drive I commuted) and I tell ya, there are days that it wears thin on ya. Today for example, it took me half an hour to go from Berkeley to the foot of the Bay Bridge, to give you an idea how bad that was, without any traffic it will take me
less than 2 minutes to travel the same distance going 65 mph. Now if that doesn't make you think about relocating, I don't know what will. Just depends on which end will relocate, Home or employment?

I guess that will be dealt with at a later date.

Fish on dudes!

Microclimates suck

Man, I can't believe the drastic weather change here in the bay area. When I left this morning it was cold, windy and overcast. A couple of hours later at work, I'm taking off my jacket and wiping the sweat off my brow. Then on the way home, the wind just decided to blow like crazy and gave you the chills. Man you almost have to always cary a change of clothes with you at all times. Oh well I guess that's the price you pay to live here.....no worries.

Fish on dudes.

Nice Job

I would like to congratulate everyone on a fabulous performance last nite in Monterey. Even though we were short one person, everyone did their best to adjust to the situation and everything turned out great. (Kudos to Tin-tin and Genny for stepping up big time)

I also like to say that it felt great to play music for you guys again, I know I've been away for a while and it was really awesome to play rondalla once again. Maybe I'll play for the show hmmm........?

Now if I can only remember how to play asik on the kulintang..
'til next time

Fish on dudes.

What note was that again?

Last nite, I went to rondalla practice for the 1st time in a very long time and man was I doing my damndnest to try and keep up with all these professional players. Of course, just my luck the nite I decide to come back is the nite they decide to practice La Jota and Jota Quirino, only two of the more difficult pieces to play in our repertoire (at least to date). But I was glad I went,it was nice to see everyone again, especially the expecting soon to be parents. Overall I give myself a D since I kept missing notes and wasn't as crisp playing (and you guys want me to play for the wedding tomorrow?! you guys must be desperate:p)

Anyways, I have to go practice for the wedding performance (I'm playing the banduria which I haven't played in over a year, whew wish me luck).

'Til next time

Fish on dudes.

Detroit Number One

I would just like to say that team basketball will always prevail over talent any day. As the Pistons showed the world that you do not need an all-star lineup to win a championship, just a lineup that are on the same page and that would be team defense.

For all the Laker fans out there that wanted to hand over the trophy to the Lakers before the season started, I got two words Suck-ers...hahahaha

I hate L.A.

Fish on dudes.

Where's my bed?

I went fishing over the weekend and I really didn't get that much sleep (about 3-4 hours a night) and man am I still paying for it. I just finished reading Demons and Angels by Dan Brown and I must say, I like this on better than the Davinci Code (although the lattter is still good reading) I must say one thing though, his descriptions of all the POI in europe are very detailed and make you really see the place. Oh well off to the next book, but maybe this time I will just read for and hour and catch up on my sleep.....

Fish on Dudes

work

I hate my job situation right now. We are trying out a new system at work that would suppose to help make the job easier, but from what I've experienced the last two weeks it's been nothing but one disaster after another. To think that a company this big and rich, they would learn how to tweak out the system before putting it on to the workforce.

Oh well, there is still tomorrow and I'm still hoping that things will work out better.

'til then.....I'm spent!!!

Things that make you go Hmmmm....

Ever wonder why the plural form of mouse is mice and yet it's not hice for house.

...for goose it's geese, but not meese for moose.

oh well, just thought I would start my blog with this.

Fish on dudes!