Mel's First Day

There was this pic when we met on the eve of Rommel's secondment to New York which Arlyn labeled "Mel's Last Day." It's a bit scary and funny at the same time that it seemed as if it would be Rommel's last day in the world... so move forward a few years now... Rommel has decided to come back for good after working another year in New York... so this blog shall be titled, "Mel's First Day."

Of course, when it comes to get together among FAA Group Members, it always starts a few days ahead with me setting time, place and the invites... I miss Jay Anne and She cause they're such a big help on events like this... Quite a handful confirmed this time... Anna, Sharon, Cathy, Joth, Me and Mel... Ruth is still on her mountain climbing adventures... Macoy is on his usual gimmicks...

Call time was 630 pm... for Cathy that is... I came at 7 pm with Joth... then Mel... then Anna... and lastly Sharon... Venue was Crocodile Grill in GB3... Anyway, despite the time gaps still a lot of catching up to do... so came the long chit chats... and the jokes and the laughter... just like old times... Of course, minus all the overtime... overnights... and the never ending SGV workload...

Food was tipped more on fatty foods... but was still great... Crocodile Grill was a bit full but at least, Cathy's early arrival allowed us to have a nice seat... That's what happens on Gimmick Day Friday... so time came so fast...

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At about 945 pm.... we called it a night... and it'll be another weekend to enjoy... and recharge... but for sure there be more of this and more of the adventures to go... Anna would be celebrating her next birthday within the next few weeks... Mike will be coming back in a few months... and FAA's resort will be completed soon... and of course, there can also come surprises from time to time... so it's wait and see from this point... but for now... it's more of wait and sleep... hehe...

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Midnight Thoughts

It's almost 2 am now and somehow, I can't will myself to sleep... Suddenly, I'm in a thinking frenzy... and to think the whole day I was low on inkblogs...

Not much to talk about really... and it's been a pretty nice week... funny how a fine weekend rest changes your outlook and moods... and for the past few days it's been a homey version of Franc... despite being in gimmick mode as of late... there's always a part of me that will always be a home body...

Watched the season premier of Heroes and the anticipation of he waiting for start of the new season has now been changed to anticipation on how to piece what happened four months ago in Heroes as the show started four months after the exploding man episodes... It's great that Heroes is back in a new season... Smallville and Grey's Anatomy will be premiering soon...

Created the FAA/MCM/CPA group in friendster for former FAA babies around the world... It was a suggestion from She and Jay Anne... Quite surprising for Jay Anne to bug me when she's not complaining about something with her work... I'm kind of her stress ball when it comes to work... Anyway, another idea that came from them a reunion... and not a simple reunion... the venue is in the US (parang ayaw ako pasamahin... hehe)... ok time for me to save... though still reminded them to come home and let's invade FAA's resort...

And speaking of FAA Group, we'll be meeting Rommel this Friday for his welcome home treat as he now decided to come back here from New York... Anna, Sharon and Joth are confirmed and still in the Grey Area are Cathy and Macoy... and Ruth, as usual is climbing mountains again...

So many cluttered thoughts really... suddenly miss my AGSB friends... Hopefully, they'll think of something exciting to do this weekend... if not, there's still movie time with Grace early next week... By the way, Happy Birthday Bogz and Congrats and Happy Birthday to Steve!!!

On a serious note, it's quite a pity that the only thing certain in the Philippines is uncertainty... with all the tumult over the NBN Broadband deal... just can't imagine the head of a supposedly neutral body allegedly benefiting from a government contract... so this goes past all the "hello" controversy before... so much for credible elections... I just hope this doesn't rock the economy much... it's been a vicious cycle that after gaining headway, the country goes on destabilization mode... probably a better way to raise fiscal revenues is to reduce leakages on transactions like this... Of course, it's always easy being a critic... but then again, it's also important to be vigilant...

I hope that I've been able to blog myself to sleep as you all know... lack of sleep is not good way to start a day... hope that I've unloaded some cluttered midnight thoughts and will myself to sleep... and that tomorrow (I mean later) may still be a nice day =>

Bitten by the Cleaning Bug Again

What happens on a weekend off then add a nice afternoon nap and less the saturday night gimmicks??? Well, it's a Franc who's been bitten by the cleaning bug again...

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Decided to shake my room a bit... still a bit similar layout except that my couch is tilted towards the TV... and the extra stool surrounding my bed... I think I do need those stools around me as I like everything within arms reach... cellphone... remote... laptop... etc... The ref, washing machine, the TV maintain their respective locations as they are already strategically located where they are...

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How would I change my room layout next time??? I guess, I'll just have to wait for another bite from the cleaning bug to find out... =>

A Child's Eye

Franc with proud parents Mon and Joanne and Baby Jarren

Nothing warms the heart more than a smile from such a little angel... In a child's eye everything so simple and in a way, seeing things at their perspective would make so many things light and easy...

So now, it's first time I saw Edmond and Joanne's Baby Jarren Elysander at Jarren's Baptism... such a nice ang healthy four month old baby boy... The parish was St. Paul the Apostle in Timog, QC... and the baptism was set at 1130 am... The priest was so cordial that somehow it didn't look like a traditional baptism... Anyway, the important thing is that Jarren is now part of the Christian world...

Reception was at Bethany Place, near Quezon Ave, QC... Food was great... too great to make me forget that I shouldn't eat much... a bit sleepy after eating due to the damp weather... but still fun to meet former SGVeans and bowling buddies, Mon, Joanne, Leo, Sharon, Flor, Neville and Joie (represented by her Mom)... Christian missed the affair since his flight was scheduled at 2 pm today...

After all the eating, chit chats and the pictorial... it was then time to call off the affair... but at the very least... Got to meet old friends... and I'm now officially one of Jarren's Ninong... and makes me look forward to future AGMs in Singapore since I can visit Jarren during this times... and for the mean time, it's back to home for me and I'll be taking a weekend break this time... so now starts my weekend off time... or at least I am hope so...
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Random Thoughts

It's gonna be back to back birthday for She (Sept. 22) and Arlyn (Sept. 23) this weekend... I purposely excluded the year for fear of my own safety... hehe... Anyway, I can't be in your parties physically, so let me greet you two virtually... anlayo kaya ng Cayman and New York...

Happy Birthday She!!! You're such a great pal!!!

Happy Birthday Arlyn!!! More success for my most successful partner in crime way back in SGV!!!

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It's gonna be Jarren Elysander (AKA Mon and Joanne's baby boy) Christening tomorrow... it'll be great seeing Singapore based friends again... Mon, Joan, Christian... and the rest of my SGV bowling buddies here... Welcome to the world Jarren!!! See you tomorrow... I'm gonna be a ninong again... My second inaanak this year...

- o - o - o -

In a few days, I can now have my own PSP, personally hand carried by SGV friend Rommel from the US... too bad, he's trip back home came a few days short of the availability of apple ITouch... but I'll have my ITouch soon... Now, I'll have a new gadget to waste my time... that is if I can find time... hehe...

- o - o - o -

Though I've been in deep thought lately... and the deeper I think the more I realize that there are so many things going well in my life... probably woke up in the wrong side of the bed today but I forgot that it's not the side of the bed I wake up in but rather how I choose to live my day... Happiness is always a choice...

- o - o - o -

I decided to add a chapter before I doze off to sleep... today ended differently with the way it started... after an afternoon escape from the office with Jing (my second afternoon escape in two days... yesterday with AGSB friend Grace at TOSH)... things seem lighter... bought Jarren's gift for his Christening at Landmark... and of course, some good news as I got back my Guyito stuff toy ... Next week, class picture for Guyito, Sanfo and Blue Bear... hehe...

As I was on my way to sleep... my sister reminded me that oil prices will be up at midnight so I rushed in to the nearest gas station to have my tank full...and now I'm back home...and it'll be sleep soon as I still have to attend Jarren's baptism tomorrow...

What's Bothering Me Lately?

I don't know what's bothering me as of late... it's been chore waking up... in fact I woke up 7 am this morning with my 730 am office hour... not much of a big deal but I just feel it's odd since I haven't really been late for work much since my annoying former boss left the company... Is there something I'm not happy about??? I don't know... all I know or at least publicly admit is that things are fine...

Am I running on a low tank??? I don't know... I probably need a long vacation more than I admit I do... It's been an annual tradition of me having a week off but due to certain delays in my visa applications... I still haven't left going to the peak of my workload...

It's just that I've been too much of a selfless nice guy that somehow I need time on my own... to reassess things... on what I want... on what moves to make... Life has been more of a party after grad school... and I'm still gasping straws on what more to aspire for... I've done too much too soon already... Life has been too fast that I need to hit the break hard and decide which direction to go... am I on a crossroad but then again... it's probably just Friday and my mind would rather race off on some random thoughts rather than work... =>

Is This a Sign???

Medtecs Team arrived at Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant at around 1120am for a planning meeting that would start at 1130 am... and such a big surprise that no auditors were in sight... they arrived before noon... I hope that this would not be a sign of things to come as I'm more of an early bird when it comes to work... After everyone has arrived, the planning meeting started... and it went on smoothly and was quick and painless... Funny how much difference it makes when you take out one annoying person out of the equation... =>

We then proceeded to Mall of Asia for a few rounds of bowling... and nothing beats heartbeat stopping moments in bowling in fact the first game was won by our team by just a hairline... Thanks to Peps for missing his last two pins... => and second was redemption for the other team but was close until the last frame until H hit two straight strikes on his 10th frame... Well, you can't win them all... Dinner was next at La Mesa Grill... and speaking of grill, the new staff from SGV was definitely grilled... that's what happen when you get the worst seat in the dinner table =>

Last was our trek back home... Had a nice long journey to bring Jing home to Fairview (Memory note... accomplished one challenging task... hehe...) and after a while in Jing's house... We're on our way back... dropped Joth in Boni and I'm now off to my Makati pad... reached home before midnight... Isn't it obvious how my journal blogs usually end? If you haven't guess it right... it's sleep... hehehe... but one last sigh... I really hope the late start of the planning isn't a sign of things to come... Nope... I know they'll be able to meet their deadlines... I've been involved with SGV for too long to know that no matter how difficult, deadlines are beatable... =>
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