Last sunday a good friend of mine passed away. I'm still in a little bit of shock as I try and take in this dreadful news. Sam was a part of Likha and he was my room mate during the first tours we had in Likha. I remember him as someone that I talk to about anything and know that he will not judge me for it. He always listened to whatever I have to say and he always seem to enjoy life.
So to you my dear friend I bid you good tidings in the heavenly kingdom, may you watch over us from up there as you did down here.
22 February 2007
20 February 2007
Jet lag sucks
I love traveling as much as the next guy, but man, I can't stand being jet lagged. Here I am wide awake at 4:30 in the morning and have a full long day of work ahead of me. I don't know how I'm going to survive, I guess I'll find out later on tonight.
18 February 2007
Hong Kong
So my family and I went to Hong Kong during the week leading up to the new year. We went and visited Disneyland, it was nice to be able to bring my niece and nephew while they are still young and were able to enjoy the magic kingdom. Although the place is not as big as the ones in the states, it still had enough charisma for kids to really enjoy a piece of disney.
I enjoyed my time over there. The weather was a bit cold but comfortable nonetheless. One thing is for sure, there are a ton of rich people over there as evidenced by the vast amount of expensive automobiles that you see on the roads over there.
09 February 2007
So Far......
Well, last week we had a birthday party for my dad. We rented a ballroom at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Makati and had a little gathering of family and friends to celebrate my dad's journey into being a senior citizen. He turned 60 and it was nice to see some of my cousins that I haven't seen since they were little kids, and boy are they big now. Some of them are even taller than me now and they are younger than me. Then it was time for speeches, and a couple of my dad's friends came up and talked about him, one even sang a song to him (we're filipinos, what's a party without someone singing a song or two). Afterwards, my brother presented a slide show that he made from all the pictures we could scrounge. As I was watching my dad's reaction as the show was being presented and I knew that he was touched by it. One thing I did notice is that it's not customary to set aside time for dancing here. You just have dinner then do a little presentation, thank the people for showing up and then call it a night. I guess filipinos in America tend to do things slightly different.
Since none of us, ok them as I refuse to drive, didn't want to drive, we booked two rooms at the hotel and decide to stay there overnight. Man, was I tired, as soon as we got to the room, I changed and was out in minutes. The next day we just took it easy, had breakfast then I took my niece to the pool area, but her mom forgot to bring her bathing suit, so we just walked around and enjoyed the view. Then we went home and just relaxed after.
Last thursday nite, I had a mini reunion with some of my old schoolmates from Aquinas High School, the school I was attending prior to me leaving for the states. Man is it ever so nice to see old friends that you haven't seen in quite a long time. It's good to see that they are all doing relatively well. One of them even flew in from Singapore ( where he is based for his job) when he heard I was in town. Boy did that make me feel special. I also learned that a couple of them are running for congress for this years election. I hope they win, then I can finally say that I have friends in high places, HAH.
Anyways that's all for now, I will be leaving for Hong Kong in a couple of days. I shall blog about that when I get back.
Since none of us, ok them as I refuse to drive, didn't want to drive, we booked two rooms at the hotel and decide to stay there overnight. Man, was I tired, as soon as we got to the room, I changed and was out in minutes. The next day we just took it easy, had breakfast then I took my niece to the pool area, but her mom forgot to bring her bathing suit, so we just walked around and enjoyed the view. Then we went home and just relaxed after.
Last thursday nite, I had a mini reunion with some of my old schoolmates from Aquinas High School, the school I was attending prior to me leaving for the states. Man is it ever so nice to see old friends that you haven't seen in quite a long time. It's good to see that they are all doing relatively well. One of them even flew in from Singapore ( where he is based for his job) when he heard I was in town. Boy did that make me feel special. I also learned that a couple of them are running for congress for this years election. I hope they win, then I can finally say that I have friends in high places, HAH.
Anyways that's all for now, I will be leaving for Hong Kong in a couple of days. I shall blog about that when I get back.
28 January 2007
Greetings from the East.
Hello there from sunny Philippine Islands or as the brazilian kids would say "fila-penis"
After a grueling 17 hour flight I finally made here to the homeland. i haven't done much my first day here except catch on some sleep and eat tocino with eggs and fried rice. No one is here at home with me as everyone has gone to work so I decided to blog, since damomoo keeps bugging me to update, so here it is bro.
As I was boarding my flight I ran into a friend from my route, along with his daughter and wife. Then I ran into an aunt and uncle (family friend) then I ran into five brothers whom all are friends of mine. So needless to say, I ended up talking to a bunch of people on the plane and it made the trip go a lot faster. Luckily the flight wasn't full so the cabin crew let me jump from one section of the plane to another as I seek out people to talk to during the flight. I also brought with me my handy dandy PSP and that kept me entertained for a while. I even finished a season on my FIFA 07 soccer game. (John, I have a few moves that I can try and teach Andres for his soccer classes.) That's all for now
I will try and update more as my vacation goes along. I will also try and post pictures. that's all for now.
Peace out
After a grueling 17 hour flight I finally made here to the homeland. i haven't done much my first day here except catch on some sleep and eat tocino with eggs and fried rice. No one is here at home with me as everyone has gone to work so I decided to blog, since damomoo keeps bugging me to update, so here it is bro.
As I was boarding my flight I ran into a friend from my route, along with his daughter and wife. Then I ran into an aunt and uncle (family friend) then I ran into five brothers whom all are friends of mine. So needless to say, I ended up talking to a bunch of people on the plane and it made the trip go a lot faster. Luckily the flight wasn't full so the cabin crew let me jump from one section of the plane to another as I seek out people to talk to during the flight. I also brought with me my handy dandy PSP and that kept me entertained for a while. I even finished a season on my FIFA 07 soccer game. (John, I have a few moves that I can try and teach Andres for his soccer classes.) That's all for now
I will try and update more as my vacation goes along. I will also try and post pictures. that's all for now.
Peace out
31 December 2006
16 December 2006
07 October 2006
Good Start for the season
Well, it's hockey season once again and my SHARKS started their season against the St. Louis blues, whom they defeated in OT.
Nice way to start the season.
GO SHARKS!!!!!
03 October 2006
01 October 2006
Bathrooms
Obviously an idea from a very perverted person.
Better use it when you arrive at the airport and not hold it when you get to the "wall"
17 September 2006
Busy weekend
This weekend when by quick and it was a blur. Friday after work I decided to go straight to Santa Cruz where b-day celebrants
Rok star and Tina-maan decided to rent a house for the weekend to celebrate their respective b-days. I decided to take Hwy 1 as hwy 101 was sooo backed up from where I was coming from. It wasn't a bad drive, until I got behind a caravan of cars where the lead car refused to go over 30 mph even though the speed limit was 55 mph. I was getting frustrated as this went on for about 5 miles. I was high beaming to get the person in front of me to high beam the car in front and so on so that the car in the lead would either pick up speed or pull into the slower right lane when it shows up (hwy 1 is a 1 lane hwy, 1 per each direction)
When the goober finally pulls over, everyone else that was in front and back of me decided to pull over too and stop. It turns out that they were all together. Man, I was sure glad they did that 'cause I was getting real pissed off. Anyways I finally arrived at the house at a little past 9 pm. Just in time to catch dinner with Oj, Tin, Tina, Edward, Ed, Isaac, and Malaya.
The house was huge, it was a 5 bedroom house with a fairly decent size backyard and a hot tub. As I was finishing dinner, the Laxa's arrived and we just pretty much hanged around and talked (while drinking some spirited drinks) the night away. At about midnite, Manok, Herna and Scot finally arrive.
The next day, we all decided to go to the boardwalk and play at the beach. Ed buried Isaac in the sand up to his chest. Andres just kept standing by the shoreline waiting for the tide to come in, letting the water reach to him and then run back.
Some of us just lounged on the blanket that we set up on the beach. Afterwards, we just walked around the park, eating funnel cakes and cotton candy. Then some of us decided to ride the roller coaster, and the log ride. Play some of the games trying to see if we can win stuffed animal prizes. After a day of fun, we decided to go back to the house where we found OJ's parents have arrived already with a LOT of food and then Tin arriving saying she needed help with the cake. It turned out to be a full sheet and it weighed about 40 something lbs. THAT was pretty heavy for a cake.
As the night progressed on, some more Likha peeps arrive and we just ate, dranked, smoked and talked the night away, in fact all the way to the wee hours of the morning. (I'm still tired as I was writing this)
Sunday, we had our first meeting back after the big show. We also started our dance and music workshops. It was nice to see that we have a lot of new people that are partaking in the workshops. We even have a couple of bayanihan alums participating.
Afterwards some of us decided to go to Fenton's and grab a bite to eat. Then we all went our merry way home.
Needless to say, I'm tired and will call it a night soon.
Rok star and Tina-maan decided to rent a house for the weekend to celebrate their respective b-days. I decided to take Hwy 1 as hwy 101 was sooo backed up from where I was coming from. It wasn't a bad drive, until I got behind a caravan of cars where the lead car refused to go over 30 mph even though the speed limit was 55 mph. I was getting frustrated as this went on for about 5 miles. I was high beaming to get the person in front of me to high beam the car in front and so on so that the car in the lead would either pick up speed or pull into the slower right lane when it shows up (hwy 1 is a 1 lane hwy, 1 per each direction)
When the goober finally pulls over, everyone else that was in front and back of me decided to pull over too and stop. It turns out that they were all together. Man, I was sure glad they did that 'cause I was getting real pissed off. Anyways I finally arrived at the house at a little past 9 pm. Just in time to catch dinner with Oj, Tin, Tina, Edward, Ed, Isaac, and Malaya.
The house was huge, it was a 5 bedroom house with a fairly decent size backyard and a hot tub. As I was finishing dinner, the Laxa's arrived and we just pretty much hanged around and talked (while drinking some spirited drinks) the night away. At about midnite, Manok, Herna and Scot finally arrive.
The next day, we all decided to go to the boardwalk and play at the beach. Ed buried Isaac in the sand up to his chest. Andres just kept standing by the shoreline waiting for the tide to come in, letting the water reach to him and then run back.
Some of us just lounged on the blanket that we set up on the beach. Afterwards, we just walked around the park, eating funnel cakes and cotton candy. Then some of us decided to ride the roller coaster, and the log ride. Play some of the games trying to see if we can win stuffed animal prizes. After a day of fun, we decided to go back to the house where we found OJ's parents have arrived already with a LOT of food and then Tin arriving saying she needed help with the cake. It turned out to be a full sheet and it weighed about 40 something lbs. THAT was pretty heavy for a cake.
As the night progressed on, some more Likha peeps arrive and we just ate, dranked, smoked and talked the night away, in fact all the way to the wee hours of the morning. (I'm still tired as I was writing this)
Sunday, we had our first meeting back after the big show. We also started our dance and music workshops. It was nice to see that we have a lot of new people that are partaking in the workshops. We even have a couple of bayanihan alums participating.
Afterwards some of us decided to go to Fenton's and grab a bite to eat. Then we all went our merry way home.
Needless to say, I'm tired and will call it a night soon.
04 September 2006
Parangal
Here's some pictures from our past show entitled Parangal. All photos are courtesy of Real Exposure.
31 August 2006
Excerpt of an email sent to me.
Want to move to Australia?
What part of this is unfair?.....
Every now and then a good idea comes along. Share it with your family and
friends, and elected representatives.
Subject: Want to move to Australia?
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday
to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to
head off potential terror attacks.
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to
Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John
Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a
crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted
that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did
not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by
parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has
Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on
national television.
"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws
governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another, the
Islamic law, that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law,
independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the
opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then,
that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said
those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other
country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims
who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people
who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian
values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he
said.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying
he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques Quote:
"IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave it. I am tired of
this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their
culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in
patriotism by the majority of Australians." "However, the dust from the
attacks had barely settled when the politically correct' crowd began
complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is
seeking a better life by coming to Australia."
"However, there are a few things that those who have recently com to our
country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of
Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our
sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own
culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials
and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"
"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become
part of our society, Learn the language!"
"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian right wing,
political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian
principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is
certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God
offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your
new home, because God is part of our culture."
"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is
that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."
"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then
you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are
happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't
care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your
culture, but do not force it on others.
"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you
every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining,
whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or
Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great
Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."
"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find
the BACKBONE to start speaking and voting the same truths!!
What part of this is unfair?.....
Every now and then a good idea comes along. Share it with your family and
friends, and elected representatives.
Subject: Want to move to Australia?
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday
to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to
head off potential terror attacks.
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to
Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John
Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a
crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted
that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did
not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by
parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has
Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on
national television.
"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws
governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another, the
Islamic law, that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law,
independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the
opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then,
that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said
those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other
country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims
who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people
who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian
values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he
said.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying
he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques Quote:
"IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave it. I am tired of
this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their
culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in
patriotism by the majority of Australians." "However, the dust from the
attacks had barely settled when the politically correct' crowd began
complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is
seeking a better life by coming to Australia."
"However, there are a few things that those who have recently com to our
country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of
Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our
sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own
culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials
and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"
"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become
part of our society, Learn the language!"
"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian right wing,
political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian
principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is
certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God
offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your
new home, because God is part of our culture."
"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is
that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."
"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then
you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are
happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't
care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your
culture, but do not force it on others.
"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you
every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining,
whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or
Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great
Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."
"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find
the BACKBONE to start speaking and voting the same truths!!
Guess Who
For all Likha and KP members. Can you guess who that is in the picture (third from the left)?
30 August 2006
Day three
Today was an exciting day, not only have I gone through two days of training and my trainer hasn't given up on me, I get to pull a double combination today. What's that you ask, well in plain english, I will be pulling two trailers that are connected by a dolly.
At first it seemed like a daunting task, I was nervous as I never have driven something that had an overall length of 70 feet, let alone one that has 2 pivot points. Talk about freaking out, I was never this nervous since the sixth grade when I met a girll named.......oops, thats another story for another time.
Anyways, so I proceeded to go around downtown Rohnert Park, through Petaluma and then got on the 101 freeway towing these trailers. After a while, it didn't even feel like I was towing anything, I was driving along and nothing was fazing me, until it was time to downshift, then my head started playing tricks on me, I started to panic a little bit and ended up rushing through the whole process that I douldn't get iti into the right gear. Talk about frustration. After the ride, my trainer asked me what happened to my down shifting he said that at the first half of the ride I was doing it well (I didn't even realized that I was) then he said towards the end I ended up not paying attention to the tachometer and that's what screwed me up. Oh well, at least he hasn't thrown the towel in for me.
Tomorrow, I work on my backing skills, which according to a lot of drivers is the one thing that will test your patience and will frustrate the heck out of you (unless you're a natural at it, which I'm not)
Truckin' On!
At first it seemed like a daunting task, I was nervous as I never have driven something that had an overall length of 70 feet, let alone one that has 2 pivot points. Talk about freaking out, I was never this nervous since the sixth grade when I met a girll named.......oops, thats another story for another time.
Anyways, so I proceeded to go around downtown Rohnert Park, through Petaluma and then got on the 101 freeway towing these trailers. After a while, it didn't even feel like I was towing anything, I was driving along and nothing was fazing me, until it was time to downshift, then my head started playing tricks on me, I started to panic a little bit and ended up rushing through the whole process that I douldn't get iti into the right gear. Talk about frustration. After the ride, my trainer asked me what happened to my down shifting he said that at the first half of the ride I was doing it well (I didn't even realized that I was) then he said towards the end I ended up not paying attention to the tachometer and that's what screwed me up. Oh well, at least he hasn't thrown the towel in for me.
Tomorrow, I work on my backing skills, which according to a lot of drivers is the one thing that will test your patience and will frustrate the heck out of you (unless you're a natural at it, which I'm not)
Truckin' On!
29 August 2006
Day two
Today I got to drive around Petaluma towing a 28ft trailer. It was daunting at first but eventually I got the hang of it. I'm still having problems downshifting as you have to do what seems like a thousand things just to get it down 1 gear. I mean you have to watch your tachometer, then take it out of gear, get the tachometer 400 rpms higher than where you took it out and then shift down, oh you're also double clutching and controlling the speed with your brakes all at the same time. Time span for all this to happen you ask, oh about 2 seconds. I tell ya it aint easy.
Oh it also took me 10 minutes to back up the trailer to a dock, at this rate I think my trainer might throw me out unto the curb.
Or I might throw myself out unto the curb.
Anyways tomorrow should be fun, I get to pull 2 trailers instead of one. Now really pray for me that I get through it unscathed.
UPS training is really accelerated, they expect me to learn this job in 10 days, when there are trucking schools out there that train people for about 6 months. I have got to be crazy to be doing this, but oh well that's the price to pay if you want a big bump in pay I guess.
Truckin' on!
Oh it also took me 10 minutes to back up the trailer to a dock, at this rate I think my trainer might throw me out unto the curb.
Or I might throw myself out unto the curb.
Anyways tomorrow should be fun, I get to pull 2 trailers instead of one. Now really pray for me that I get through it unscathed.
UPS training is really accelerated, they expect me to learn this job in 10 days, when there are trucking schools out there that train people for about 6 months. I have got to be crazy to be doing this, but oh well that's the price to pay if you want a big bump in pay I guess.
Truckin' on!
28 August 2006
uuuggghhh
I started training today, for my class A certification. Can I just say double clutching, partnered with low/gear shifting and tachometer matching is very difficult and downright frustrating. I was struggling so bad today that I think I might've burnt out the clutch on the tractor that I was training on. We shall see how tomorrow goes when I hook up a trailer on the tractor and go for a spin around town. Pray for me (that I don't hit anything or worse, anyone)
24 August 2006
Step 1 complete
Woo Hoo, I went to the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) today to take 4 written tests for my class A classification license. After sweating the last two days, cramming all kinds of info into my head, I passed all the tests. All I have to do now is wait for the UPS clinic to release my drug test results so I can hand over the medical forms to DMV and then pick up my permit.
After that, I get 10 days of training, and if I pass without a hitch, UPS will then endorse my permit and I will be holding an official class A license.
Then it will be a world of air brakes, double clutching, stab braking, double trailer pulling. Should be a lot of fun, I can't wait.
After that, I get 10 days of training, and if I pass without a hitch, UPS will then endorse my permit and I will be holding an official class A license.
Then it will be a world of air brakes, double clutching, stab braking, double trailer pulling. Should be a lot of fun, I can't wait.
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