Hooping For the Best

It's now back to a new season for Hoops Fantasy Basketball after a year of absence... I'm entered into KREB Cup c/o Mark and the Usual XGV Hoops Year 6 with former SGV colleagues... Of course, it was a lot more exciting back then when we can easily trash talk since we are just cubicles apart but despite being miles apart it's still an exhilirating exercise to once again monitor NBA scoreboards as if it were stocks where I can gain something...

Too bad, my league leading team was then disbanded... Imagine a core of Marion, Wade, Lewis, Terry, Okafor, C. Butler, Igoudala, Felton and Pachulia... but I guess I'll have to draft a new team again... but that's the fun part of it... I'm in a middle of the draft... though I don't research as much as I do before but I hope I can come up with a competitive team...

At least, watching the nba season would be more exciting as every statistical point would affect my fantasy games... so it'll be a close watch again... and for now, I'm hooping for the best... and I know we all are raring for the new season to start...

A Fairy Tale Wedding for Blue and MJ

It was a festive day for the AGSB Gang as Blue and MJ got married in a solemn ceremony in Sanctuario de San Jose in Greenhills yesterday. The Mass started around 4 pm and after a mass and the "I do," we now welcome Mr. and Mrs. Viray.

Reception was held at Crown Galleria Ballroom B and then the fairy tale inspired reception was at the spotlight. The event was ushered in by a Phantom of the Opera dance number, then songs by the bride and groom and of course, dinner, dancing and all those picture taking.

After all the merriment, we transferred to a room in Holiday where we resumed the party. Everybody was still full of energy that night so it was a long party. Most of us went home before 1 am the next day.

That ends three straight busy days for me and I'm spending this day on pure rest and relaxation. We all need a break sometime. =>

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Bahay ni Le

After Alpha's houseblessing last month... It's now Grace (AKA Le) turn to host their own houseblessing in Bulacan... so this blog is a sequel of Bahay ni Lola blog last month... as it's back to Bulacan for me in another Houseblessing... the last of this series should go as Bahay ni Franckee (but that should take some time as owning a house hasn't even crossed my mind yet)...

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Woke up late for this one after attending last night's shooters night... Initially, I was undecided on going... but since Alpha would be coming from Manila... the burden of travelling to Bulacan would be easier at least, I have a passenger... So might as well go...

Picked Alpha up at Gbelt area... then Chelsea at Cubao area... and finally, Alpha's Hubby Jon in Tabang Exit in Bulacan... I'm obviously more of a driver today than a guest... and also Grace phtographer, as always.. hehe... EDSA traffic was light... NLEX and Malolos was smooth... so arrived early in Malolos, Bulacan at Grace House in Northfields...

The mood was festive with Grace's sisters having a grand time singing and dancing... Too bad our good friend Grace only has talents in evading to perform... hehe... so no performance from Grace... It was my second time here as I also joined Grace here last month after Alpha's houseblessing... By the way, food was great...

So had to leave around 7 pm and we had to go to Alpha's house in Bulacan before going back to Manila at around 830 pm... NLEX was smooth and EDSA was terrible... and after dropping Chelsea in Cubao... I took C5 instead... and traffic there was much better than EDSA... so after so much time driving... I'm finally home... blogging and getting ready to sleep... cause it's gonna be another long day tomorrow...

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Still Shooting

A bizaare week ends with a long day yesterday... Meeting in Cafe Breton in Podium Mall at 4 pm... Cocktails at Discovery Suites at 6 pm... Gym at FF Ortigas at 7 pm and another Shooters Night at Cig's at 10 pm...

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It all turned ok... I'm an ok person (Right Jing?? hehe...) Crepes at Cafe Breton was great... Didn't eat much at the cocktails though met one of my MBA classmates there... Nice workout at Fitness First and the night's highlight... another Shooters Night at Cig's...

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Only a few of AGSB buddies around... Me, Mascy, Gryf and Cig... We were joined by most of Gryf's friends... and the place was real full... Congrats Cig!!! And if it's a shooters night then it's drink all the shots you can... so as usual lost count of the amount of alcohol I consumed... tried 7 shooters (correction, it was 8 shooters for me)... and another one where we had to sip in a bowl... and all the shots that came in all colors...

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A part of me really wanted to unwind... as some thoughts and events has caused a lot of stress on my part... thanks to alcohol... I was able to unload some stress... sometimes looking forward leaves out the fun part of today but at least for this night... I had fun!!! Too much fun that I went home at past 1 am... and the rest is the usual stuff... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

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On Days to Come...

There so many changes to deal with lately... and as days past by, there seems to be more and more developments... I'll just let things be and once they are tired of all the changes... only then should I start dealing with it... Hiro, can you help me travel 2 to 3 months forward to see what's in store... Nevertheless, I know I won't be irrational or impulsive in taking the next few steps... Everything should fall into place in due time...

Anyway, a long weekend is upcoming and after complaining on an Empty October, this weekend should take up the most of my time... Meeting with banks at 4 pm at Podium later, Cocktails with another bank at 6 pm... Gym at FF Ortigas then Shooter's night at Cig's, probably at 10 pm... got tired just typing it...

Tomorrow, still thinking if I should attend Grace house blessing in Bulacan since I still have to get the outfit I'm gonna wear for MJ and Blue's wedding on Sunday... But knowing how demanding a friend Grace is... I think I should find a way to cover both tomorrow... It'll be Blue and MJ's wedding on Sunday and it'll be a big celebration...

Monday is still a holiday and as things are, this is the time, I get to relax a bit... and after two more work days it's gonna be a four-day weekend in Baguio... Yehey!!!

Empty October

So many things planned this month failed to push through... of course, top of the list would be my vacation in Australia(Next year, I hope)... then several aborted FAA get together(really taxing to plan one as you get so many confirmations early on and a lot of cancellations after... Help!!! She and Jay Anne)... and then you have limited mall time for safety reasons (Makati is not the safest place, nowadays)... Well, that's life!!! (sigh...) At least, I still have gym to look forward to....

Even if it seems I'd like to unload some stress... I guess, the cancellations might mean that I should spend more time digesting recent events in my so-called life... or is there something to digest??? hehe... Living by the day is more fun, anyway... Maybe I'm used to having a very outgoing and busy life that finding some slack seem foreign to me... hehe... => There's always an upside to any situation...

Anyway, will be back to busy weekends... with Shooter's Night at Cig's on Friday (though still undecided whether I'll be attending)... and Blue and MJ's wedding on the 28th... and then it'll be another long weekend with first four days of November in Baguio... Yehey!!!

A Bomb That Scared Us All

By now, the Glorietta blast is now history yet it's more of a mystery as of now... but last Friday, it was a fresh news... as I'm just a few blocks away from Glorietta... and too think, we should have been in Glorietta for lunch had Jing not all of a sudden thought of going to mass... Divine intervention... I guess... Several ambulance has since passed our office that afternoon... so many dead and injured... not a nice day for our country...

I always had this school of thought since the 9/11 world trade bombing...that we are now living in an age of terrorism... Like it or not... we already have lost the comfort of going in and out of the mall without the comfort of being inspected... even travelling via public transport is not as safe as it used to be... checking in for flights takes so much protocols already... that's how much they have affected our everyday lives... but safety should come first over convenience...

The next day, had my change oil and my regular maintenance check for my car... so had a few carless hours... Funny how hard it is to wait a few hours without the comfort of a mall... hehe... It could have been easy waiting a few hours in a mall... and to think there's so much sale... Anyway, things should be normal in a few days... I hope... Finally, got my car back at 7 pm yesterday and had to drop by Rockwell shortly to buy some stuff... Maybe Rockwell won't be much of a target since so few people come to this mall... hehe...

The rest of the time, I returned home and decided not to go out anymore... there's always so much stuff to do at home... and on ending this blog... I hope incident like these won't happen again... and I mourn not only for those who died and were hurt but more on that there are people evil enough to be come up with events like this... =<

Not Much to Blog About...

Friday morning towards a weekend... Again, I've got not much planned during the weekend... Lately, I've been more of a homebody... and I'm happy now that there are weekends that I can rest... the dizzying pace of all the travel, the getaways and the gimmicks the past few months has taken its toll on me... I still want a portion of the used-to-be usual slacker Franc weekends...

But wait... I forgot that I have to have my change oil for my car... It has turned a year old last October 13... and without the fun fare of taking up some of my blog space... So might as well have it checked, in case out of the blue, I decide to bring it to Baguio on All Soul's Day weekend... but of course, there'll be traffic to consider by then... Anyway, I'm officially naming my car, Franckxethee... (coined from the name of my Sim City before...)... a more stylish way to say Franc's City... hehe... which coincides with the Car model Honda City... =>

My sister asked me if we can go to Snow World in Star City... might consider that though I'm not the high really with the maintenance of Star City... but maybe a little more convincing and I'll agree... hehe... I will probably have dinner with SLU and SGV friend Warna since she'll be in town for the weekend from Singapore... so might not be a lazy Saturday after all...

I'm definitely working out this Sunday either in Eastwood or in Makati... I might as well take advantage of the time while I still can do this... I'm afraid with added responsibilities (hope that vacancy be filled soon)... I might miss out some of the perks of my lifestyle... but then again. this is me and most of the time, I have a time for everything... It's not that I have an easy or boring life that I have time... It's just that I believe that if you want to do something you'll always find time...

Funny how when I think there's not much to blog about, the longer the blog goes... somehow, this blog has been an extension of my personality... and blogging provides real value for me as I can be passionate about writing yet have a chance to vent out some unwanted emotions and document some of my endeavors which I can relive at some time, when I need to remember how my life was... and not to mention a few lurkers and friends (if ever there's any?? =>) updated with my (mis)adventures... so forgive me for blogging to much even if there's not much to blog about... hehe...

Look Who's Back!!!

Surprises... Surprises... While walking along Paseo De Roxas yesterday... I met Al (She's a Girl) A.K.A. Kinney... My first SGV in charge (at least for a few weeks or so before I reported directly to the manager and eventually to the engagement partner)... We've been together through many accounts... from sleepless nights in Fil Estate... to all the travels in CIIF... and of course, all the food in Yazaki... What's surprising is that after a few years and SGV, she went back to her hometown in Cebu... and a few years after, she's back in Makati City...

Well, first impulse was to inform the other FAA babies... the next thing I knew, I'm meeting Al again for a short chat after office and set a dinner with the rest... Though it wasn't a long chat, I am still am happy that Al is now in Makati... now I have my old coffee buddy back( ok back then, I'm not so high on coffee... hehe)... So continued informing the rest and the rest especially Al's fellow group 4 cluster mates Gemma, Therry and Jo-C... Then Dinner was set for next Tuesday... so far several have already confirmed but we'll see how it turns out next week...

So many surprises really lately... Anna working in Makati... Rommel coming back from New York... Al, now also in Makati... and Mike, who'll be home soon... even Arlyn is already excited after she finish her secondment in New York since she'll have plenty of lunch mates a few offices away... It's nice having friends come back from time to time but knowing that a friend will be around for a while and just a few blocks away... it's definitely a treat... =>

More surprises please... hehe...

A Change is Gonna Come...

It's quite rare for me to be stuck at home on a weekends... and even more on a long weekend... So I feel odd that I am home blogging instead of being out somewhere... but I'd really want to spend some idle time as some events which has just unraveled needs more time to decipher... On the overall, it's definitely a good development at work since so much would be affected positively... assuming all proposals would be granted... a change is really gonna come...

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Spent most of my Thursday in training for IFRS conducted by SGV... quite a boring profession considering you get to have a hard time mastering the rules in under graduate... hurdling a difficult board exam... survive several tough years in audit... and once you've familiarized yourself with the rules... the rules have changed... but anyhow, I'm stuck here might as well master my craft... hehe... =>

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The rest of the time was spent convincing a former colleague to come back to our company to fill a critical vacancy... I hope she considers or else, It'll be a lot more work for me... It was a dinner at Kikufuji... with CFO, Country Manager and one of the former Accounting Managers... Things have changed for the better since she left... The usual annoyance is gone... and things are much lighter... and better... I just hope we fill the vacancy soon... I wouldn't want to think about the consequence if we won't considering that another colleague of mine is set to leave next month for Guam... so I have my fingers crossed...

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Still surprised how light this weekend is... Of course, last week was hectic... Yesterday was a holiday but stayed a few hours at work to finish some stuff... and today... was expensive... lunch at Kamayan... got my new glasses, bowling shoes and 2PSP games..... hehe... the spending spree was not that incidental but partly influenced by a cancelled vacation... hehe... Now, back to home base... excited and scared at new developments upcoming... The good part is that I'm able to rest my eyes after the irritation with my old set of contact lens... that's the reason for the new glasses... and not impulse... hehe... =>

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Tomorrow, I still don't know but I hope I won't be a couch potato again... might go to Eastwood for Gym... assuming my freebie workout jacket is already available... I haven't worked out for quite some time caused by a busy week and a sick Gym partner (Hope you're well now, Jing)... hehe... but I'm betting that it'll be another lazy day... hehe... =>

Goodbye Vacation!!!

I'm officially canceling my planned vacation to Australia... reason: lack of time... too bad, I was even able to build up my asset base for my visa application... I should have pushed through with the trip last September but for one reason or another... it got moved and moved and finally, it's gonna be year end soon... so much work and events already in store... somehow, it was not meant to be... at least this year...

Maybe, I'll try to squeeze it in May next year after our AGM... or then again I just remembered summer in the Philippines is real fun... it's not really going to waste though, at least I get to cash in on all my leave privileges come December... I was able to save a bit in building up my cash base for the vacation ... and come to think of it, I've been out of the country already so much this year and with various getaways and gimmicks with AGSB and SGV Friends as of late... and more to come, I'm sure...

So hopefully, it'll be two major vacation next year, the Australia vacation... and if pushes through the FAA babies reunion in US or UK... so there 's still a lot of upside on a canceled vacation... the downside is that how to tell my relatives and friends in Australia that I'm not going on vacation this year... they've been expecting me for some time now... I guess, it's just a case of bad timing of events unfolding... =<

On a last note, I haven't been on a jet setting mode lately... in fact, I'm planning on missing the auditors visit to our China subs... probably in my comfort zone here right now... hehe... but I'll get that itch to travel soon... I'm sure because travel is one of my passions... but there'll be time for everything... =>

A Long Day Ends @ Cig's

Day started earlier than expected as I've forgot to update the time when I shifted the Sim card of my two phones... so had my alarm an hour earlier...

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Client meeting at 9 am... that turned out well so I can now finalize their financials... Had to rush back to the office since I may be required to attend the management meeting with our CEO... but there was no urgency there so went to GB3 to meet up with Joshua (Former CFO) and Bobot (SGV) but since Bobot got sick so the carting event got cancelled... Some leeway for a long day... I just bought the chips Grace requested from healthy options... Then got back to the office wherein I got called in for a short meeting... so many developments... I'm still not sure if it'll be a good thing or bad thing for me... hehe... = / Had late lunch at Velasquez Park with their Tiendesitas like setup during Saturdays...

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Finally, went home at 4 pm to take a short rest... dozed off at around 5 pm and woke up at around 8 pm... It'll be Bogz and Steve Bday Celebration shortly at Cig's...

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Left home around 915 pm... traffic at Cubao Area in Edsa... Arrived there before 10 pm... then time to party... Bogz, Grace, Blue, MJ, Cig, Jan, Owen, Anton, Steve and Lisa attended... Too bad the other wasn't able to come for various commitments... Despite the short nap, I was still on low energy the whole night... Anyway, still tried to make the most out of it and enjoy the night... The festivities lasted until past 2 am... then was home at around 230 am... and the came the rest... 'til next time folks... =>

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So Much for a Blogless Day

I was really planning to go blogless today since I thought I've already freed my mind of so many thoughts and events I need to sum up...

I lost momentum in my work today upon hearing that one of my friend was a victim again of the hacker using my account... My account was hacked last month... The hacker's mode of operation is to pretend to be me and inform you that I'm in another country needing load and the unsuspecting friend would then send prepaid loads... I'm really protective when it comes to friends so just imaging how I felt that they're being taken advantage by the hacker using my account... I'll try contacting my cousin in DILG if there's an agency who can track down this hacker... I'm sure it would be easy to track the hacker down since his ISP can determine his location... Friends, please ignore any message from franckxethee@yahoo.com... it has been hacked and I've lost control of this account...

Had lunch with our former Singaporean CFO Joshua ... and quite interesting to catch up since he's now based in Singapore... I just get to visit Singapore only once a year... I've gone a long way and have been here more than I expected... resumed work thereafter... Still not in the mood even if I need to report the financials come Monday... I'll find a way... but in a short while, I'll be off to Fitness First in Eastwood with Jing for a workout there and get some of my membership freebies...

Tomorrow is gonna be a long day... Meeting at 9 am with a client... possibly need to attend management meeting at 10 am... Lunch with Joshua and Bobot at 12 noon then carting in the afternoon and finally, Steve and Bogz party at Cig's... got tired just noting the things I have to do tomorrow... to think it's suppose to be a weekend... Haay....

Hopefully, Sunday might be lighter... I'm sure gonna need some rest before a busy week next week when we prepare some SGX related stuff at work... but then that's just how the cookie crumble... at times, it's light and at times, it's heavy... you'll just have to make the most out of it... =>

Season Begins...

It's now the start of new seasons for most of the US-based TV series I watch... so far watched 2 episodes of Heroes... 1 episode of Smallville... 1 episode of Desperate Housewives and 1 episode of Grey's Anatomy...

It was great to have Heroes back and it has evolved into a better show... most of the cast are back and there's new heroes as well... Nathan and Peter are back!!! Claire Bear has a new life... HRG and Suresh has a hidden mission and Parkman is in charge of Molly... but speaking of anticipation, you'll still need to piece the puzzle since Season 2 starts four months after... I guess, viewers like me are still left with unanswered questions from the end of last season...

Smallville season kicks off with a high profile battle between Clark and the Bizarro Clark (Phantom)... Solar powered Clark prevailed over Kryptonite powered Bizarro Clark after Bizarro got exposed to the Sun... The fight was really nice to watch... Super Girl Kara turns up to be hot and mysterious... Chloe managed to be alive after being dead... and of course, the best part is that Lana is still alive... though Clark will still go on the next episodes struggling with the loss of Lana...

Desperate Housewives was funny but then again there's this part were the writers went out of line with a comment by Susan Meyer that she'd like to make sure that the doctor did not graduate from some med school in the Philippines... Ouch... where did that come from??? When it comes to skill based I'm sure the Philippines is one of the best... I hope they make an apology for that since it's such a nice series to boycott...

Grey's Anatomy was more exciting than I expected with the then interns Meredith, Cristina, Issie and Karev now turning to tough residents... Issie is still kind hearted... Meredith is still lost on so many issues in her life... Cristina is still heart broken over Burke... George is struggling to come to terms with repeating his internship... Bailey still down on not being chief resident (though Chief did make a nice point at the end that Bailey's place is in the O.R. and that not being chief resident gives her more time to be better)... and Derek and Mark are friends again... By the way, Lexie Grey is a nice addition...

I hope I'll still have time to watch the rest of the season... and also that I get my DSL installed at home soon... It's been very difficult following up PLDT lately... and to think I already paid the installation fee... =<>

Working in a Workout

I've been put in a unique position yesterday while I was about to start my workout... I got a call from our CFO that I need to cross check the figures for the announcement... so what to do next??? Hmmm.... Ok, I still have one colleague left who can do it but still I need to be sure that it would turn out right... so between workouts, I was on the phone entertaining queries on the computations and asking for updates... One of the skills I've learned is the ability to work in different situations and still virtually manage things... but this is a different situation without a doubt... hehe...

Anyway, still got away with it this time... as we were able to give a go signal to the announcement even before I finished workout... so it probably took twice the effort working in a workout but at least, both goals were met... The perks and quirks of this job... at times you get to have a very easy day and suddenly it becomes so intense and urgent... and at times, on call... I guess, that makes it exciting as you foster an attitude on how to adopt to different problems at the oddest time... hehe...

Maybe I can work at home already once my dsl has been installed... hehe... but historically speaking, I'm not good working at home... and for one, I won't like to live like a hermit... I still need people around me... hehe... and even still, they wouldn't allow it... with the Company trying to setup a system on how to monitor department heads... and comes the question, how do you measure the performance for finance and accounting? My job evolves by the minute with the varying requirements from bankers, auditors, management and regulatory agencies... The only KPI I can commit probably is that I'll go to work if I'm not on leave... hehe... => Anyway, even if I'm away they still manage to track me down and do their bidding... hehe...

Not Another Bad Day!!!

My day got off the wrong way again... and the reason is the mix up at Somerset parking... They implemented a new policy that you cannot park unless you've paid in advance... so I was prevented again from entering my parking slot... what is unnerving was that they gave the bill for October parking last Friday... how can you pay a bill billed to you in the same day in a corporate settings with so many approvers (I'm one of them) for each payment??? and no notice was given yesterday when I parked... and I even left my card to them that if ever there was any problem with payments, they can call me at my office land line... How reasonable can you get...

Of course, you can say policies are policies... but then again the amount involve was just P2,000 and for a 2 day delay which was partly their fault for billing us late... Even if you factor in the time value of money for 2 days at prime lending rates that won't be enough to cover for the gas for 10-15 minutes while I was awaiting them to allow me entry and to take another turn back to the parking area after talking to the front desk... and even the time of all people involved were wasted (Me, the Guard, Front Desk, Ms. Del) and having one dissatisfied customer... I forgot to mention that we do have a credit line for hotel bookings... and they allow us to have credit for larger amount bookings and give so much damn about a P2,000 advance payment for a parking slot...

After all the fuss, I was able to enter my designated parking lot... and at the very least, I was able to give the front desk a piece of my mind... of course, in a highly civilized manner... hehe... The incident won't ruin my day but I guess, it'll reduce hotel bookings from Medtecs (with Ms. Del also having to start her day with this incident)... and while there are always rules or policies to follow (even blindly) but then again for a service intensive industry like hotels... a large part of the work is being able to respond positively to situations like this... and they may have erred on this... It was a simple decision to start with... how much damage can a 2 days delay of P2,000 be worth and with them being partly at fault?

Back to making my day happy...

Excess Blogs: I checked on the check in the office... it was already available for pick up since Friday... but they didn't pick up the check... there wasn't suppose to be a delay to start with if they just managed to pick up their check...

A New Month...

It's October... so for people saying wake me up when September ends... time to wake up!!! Hehe...

Anyway, before going forward, let me move back a bit... Had an unusual weekend... First, had my PSP to waste my time with... then in the afternoon I dropped by PICC to visit AGSB friend Grace in their Skinline booth... it became more than a visit since I ended up having a Bentusa massage... for Bentusa they use a candle in a glass to absorb toxins from your body... and it usually leaves a mark at your back... but the odd thing was that it was gone in a while for me and it would take hours or days for others... hmmm.... must have regenerative powers... hehe... At least, I was relieved of toxins and at the same time had a nice soothing back massage for the day...

The next day was a bit unusual... with me needing to go to Eastwood to catch the end of the Fitness First membership promo... and I'll be paying less for membership soon... Had my directions wrong and then there's a hard time looking for a place to park so ended up having several rounds at C5 and that is big round since the U turn slots in Libis Area is in Tiendesitas Area... Anyway, had to rush back to catch the Ateneo - La Salle Game on TV... Go Blue Eagles... and as it is common knowledge right now... Ateneo lost to La Salle 60-65... but still it was a hell of a game... and this season was quite a treat for UAAP fans with 5 Ateneo-La Salle face offs... and each game was a thrill to watch... Ateneo won 3 of the 5 games but La Salle won the bigger games, the one earning a twice to beat advantage and the one clinching the finals birth... It's gonna be a Pumaren vs. Pumaren affair... As the Ateneo hymn goes..."Win or Lose its the school we choose..." It was still a gallant stand...

Ok then comes October... there'll be Steve and Bogz birthday at Cig's... It'll be Anna's birthday soon... there'll be an IFRS training hopefully in Tagaytay... I've got a new gym buddy with Jing joining fitness first and hopefully, I get to squeeze in my vacation this month... and it'll definitely be a great month... but a month always start with a day so have to get back with my tasks for the day... hehe...