Lessons Learned for Today

I had a very hectic morning schedule today. First I have to drove my sister and her super cute baby to the hospital for a medical check-up. Twenty minutes later, while i was busy playing scrabble here at the office my Ate suddenly texted me, "where at the wrong hospital, we need to go Alabang where the hospital/clinic is!". Being an obedient brother i hurriedly asked permission from my boss if I can fetched my sister and bring her to Alabang. Luckily my boss is in a good mood today so he approved my request and I hurriedly went to the place to pick up my sister.

Well, for all those who knew me, I'm still a terrible driver after 5 months of driving and as much as possible I avoid Alabang interchange because of its notorious traffic and "kotong" cops! But hey, since its for my sister naman and for her super cute baby, i'll take the risk.

So of we go to Alabang, the small hospital/clinic is located in Cupang (where the road is so small and the tricyle driver are the king of the road!) and another luck strikes me, they had parking space! After we've parked and bring down the baby stuff the receptionist told my already irritated sister that the Pedia were looking for doesn't worked there anymore!

My sister's reaction is like she's saying *WTF*. Hehehehe. (Being impatient is in the genes of our family, thanks to our dear tatay!).

So, after we've talked to the lovely receptionist she informed us that this Pedia doc is now based in Las Pinas but unfortunately she doesn't know the exact location of the place. All she know is that it's in Pilar. So ok, i said, "kami nalang maghahanap sa clinic besides its along the road naman".

Again back to Alabang interchange the traffic flow is crazy, i didn't know where to turn or make u-turn just to get back to the other side of the road. Buti nalang i just follow the jeepney plying on that route. Hay, thank god, im in the right road na =D.

The drive going to the third clinic (now i know it's just a clinic because there's no major hospital along AZ road besides PH), was slow, because we checked every available signboard located on the street, baka kasi lumagpas kami. So when we approached Pilar we saw this signboard saying the clinic is here, but the problem is there's no parking space! What i did was i've parked in front of a Philcopy center/store/i-dont-know-what-are-they to check the clinic. BUT, after i've closed the door of my car this security guard immediately informed me that we cannot parked on their territory! I told him i was just about to check the clinic but he still keep on telling me (by shouting!) that we're on the wrong place. What irrirated me is that he keep on talking to me in a very loud voice (that almost everyone in the parking lot can hear), and since i didn't study in an engineering school for five years and spent 2 years in Iran as a succesful engineer to be shouted by an security guard, i shouted at him as well. (Luckily my sister was inside the car so she didn't heard me shouting at this guy). By the way, the place where the signboard was located was the OLD building the clinic used to occupy, and now they moved in the other side of the building, next to Philcopy.

So, i did saw the clinic, it was besides their building, after the shouting incident i drove to the other side of the building and to the clinic. This time it was the correct address, the prescription paper of the Pedia was already very very very old and already superseeded. Luckily the Pedia wasn't in the clinic at the time we arrive or else she will receive a tounge lashing, verbal humiliation from me.

And I thought my morning mis-adventure was over. Hindi pa pala. When I was leaving the parking lot, a small car parked at my back totally preventing me to make a turn. I tried to make a turn but to no avail, i will hit him directly. So what I did was i stepped down the car asked this gentleman nicely if he can move a little so i can turn back, since im a new driver i dont want his car to be hit by my brand new car, and i don't want to visit my insurance office. But what i've heard from him was this: "KAHIT NA IUSOG KO ANG KOTSE KO HINDI KAPARIN MAKAKALABAS".

Whoah! Is this a shouting day or what???

Then, it hit me, i can do two things:

1. Ask the driver how can i move my car by not hitting him or the rest of the parked car in the building so i can go to the main road.

or

2. Engage him in a shouting match, nowithstanding that he has his 2 year old son in the fron seat and playing a car toy, you're parked at my back dude which is supposedly a NO PARKING AREA! Duh!

Possibly, with the intercession of something i choose the first one. I asked him how can I do that and he simply explained to me what should I do (but i can still smell the sarcasm when he's telling me that). So, i did what he told me and viola! I made it outside the parking lot and off to our dear cute office.

Lesson learned:

1. When you're in a intense situation pray for guidance and patience. For sure you'll be enlighten and the "init ng ulo" will go away. I never did that on the Security guard that's why we ended up in a shouting debate. Hehehehe

2. Always prioritize your family, specially in times of emergency. No amount of work is worth to disregard your family.

3. As i was driving slowly on the road, it makes me appreciate the things located on the side of the road. Di ba we have this saying "Stop and smell the flowers". Since we're working on a fast paced time we tend to disregard or appreciate the small things in life, which in turn will makes us happy pala (or in due time we will need pala). I alwasys passed this area everyday and still i didn't know that a clinic exist there, sa last minute chances ko pa nalaman na meron pala yun dun.

Kulit noh?

I must admit, since i've been in TSD and ALNP i've mellowed down, BIGTIME! If I was not a member of this group and I had this encounter, probably i'll be in hospital now. Hindi pala sagot sa lahat ng gusot ang pagiging mainitin ang ulo (which i shamelessly admit i do before)
Thank you guys for making a better person in me =D.

Galing ko diba? Walang kokontra or else........

An Ultraelectromagneticsupercalifragiliciousexpialadocious experience

Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Lingkod's anniversary in Makati City. At first I was excited to be a part of the activity of our community, to be familiarize with other branch's members and also be a part of the celebration for Lingkod. But my excitement turned into worry when they announce that we should be at the place at 8:00 am on a Sunday morning and also we need to do a presentation (i.e. we have to dance) at the afternoon affair. O.K. i said to myself, the waking up in the morning on a weekend we can dealt with but the dancing part....uh-oh...hmmmm..."houston we have a problem, a dancing problem that is"!

So, what i did was for the dancing part, we've practice the dance the day before the event (i.e. Saturday) and boy did we preactice very hard talaga! Thank God for JC, Ian and Sheena for patiently teaching us how to dance and the blockings! Eventually, after the gruelling practice we did master the dance steps! Yey! Hooray for Theo! Hahahaha.

(c'mon the last time i did dance with choreography was in first year high school pa, not counting the kotilyon and js prom dance ha! and the rest of my life i just dance in bars and disco where as you probably know, ,dancing there doesn't need choreography. jologs pag choreograph sayaw mo sa dance floor.lol)

So, the dancing part is done. Next to do thing, wake up at 5:45 a:m. Boy, this was really really tricky. Me, waking up at this time of the day on a weekend means away! But being a good servant and a little bit excited about what's store for me at Lingkod anniv I obediently alarmed my phone at 5:45 am and diligently stood up when it alarmed.

I must admit i'm impressed at myself for waking up early and not being grumpy/cranky, maybe it's a good sign that this day will be ah-o.k.

Oh, one more thing, another thing that dreaded me in going to Makati was for me to drive in EDSA. Nyahahaha! I've only drive there once and i had a ka-rellevo (no pun intended) with me but now wala! It's me who will drive all the way to Mayor Binay's Kingdom without any reliever in driving. But hey, luckily i did made it safe and sound to Makati. Maybe God really want me to go there and experience his love and to praise him, nowithstanding the early morning meet-up, the driving along edsa and the dance presentation.

The anniversary start with a mass and guess what, I've been chosen among so many people inside the training area to read the Responsorial psalm!!! I was shocked, happy, scared, doubtful all in the same time. Shocked kasi why me? Happy because i'll be serving the Lord. Scared coz it's my first time to do such a thing! Doubtful, kasi baka joke lang pala to! Well it turned out it was not a joke and i did my part (according to the priest in the mass) very fast! hahahaha! It's not my fault if i read fast, ang mahalaga they heard what I say di ba?

After the mass, its workship time. It was pure joy to worship the Lord and I must admit it was my first time to really sing out loud, raised my hand up high, joyfully sing to the lord in all my life! Sobrang saya ng experience,i cannot explain in words how happy and contented i was during the whole sessions. And the talks was amazing as well, the speakers really inspired us to be a good brothers and sisters not only to ourselves in the community but also to others as well.

Afternoon come and the presentation of each branch was held. We we're the first one to perform, in fairness to us we we're great! Hahahaha. The impromptu cast was fabulously great! Well we did lived up to the title of our song (joyful joyful of sister act 2) kaya we were having fun and joy talaga while we dancing. Nakakapagod but what the heck, we had fun naman, worth it parin ang pagod =D.

I went home very very very happy and feel blessed and yes until now i still had this so-called lingkod anniv hang-over (it's already thursday btw) but i must admit It was one great experience, pede ko pa makwento sa mga taong gustong makinig (or forced to listen to me hehehe).

Dear Lord, Thank you for the blessings you have given to me, thank you for being my saviour, my companion during loneliness,my bestfriend who keep on telling me that everything would be when im depressed, my buddy when i'm desperate for friendships, my conscience when im dealing with mortal sin, my buddy when i needed someone to talked to. Thank you Lord.

All of this I offer to you my Lord. My life and my profession I offer to you. What I do to my brothers and sisters in servicing them and my achievements in my work I offer to you, for you alone are the greatest and the most loving God. I am nothing if you're not here in my heart.

AMEN.



(note:title was inspired by the Eraserheads and the movie Mary Poppins)

Gawad Kalinga Gig (Build a Home, Build a Muscle)

Our cute little office here in Alabang recently team-up with Gawad Kalinga Las Pinas to build homes. We've pledge to build 30 houses in 3 years and the village will named after our company (conceited di ba?) Eversince i've heard the news about it thru Ate Evelyn I was so excited I nominate myself to become our department's representative! Well, ganun nga nangyari, I was assigned as coordinator and core leader of this group, even landing me the rights to be the assistant leader of the powerful food committee hahahaha!

Finally, last weekend, it was our department's schedule to build the home. The day starts very very early at 8:00AM! Again, me being a non-avid fan of early-morning-wakeup-pag-weekend have to drag myself to the bathroom at 6:30. After eating my breakfast and driving my sister to her house in Sucat little did I ralize i was sooo late! 8:30 na pala and here I am, the leader of the group still in Alabang. LOL. Di bale they can't leave without me. =P. Supringsily I was not that late, mas mas late pa pala =D.

So, we all go to the construction site, all in happy faces and very eager to help and to work. After we arrive at site and made some short briefing, introduction, teaming-up, etc. we start our work at 9:00.

Our group did a lot of work in fairness, merong taga halo ng semento, taga bitbit ng hollow blocks, nagpipintura, assistant ni foreman, taga pahid ng pawis, etc. It was hard but hey we had FUN FUN FUN! After 2 hours we had our recess break of ginataan (kulit noh, mainit na nga panahon and here we are eating ginataan!), then after eating work ulit!

After half a day's work, 2 recess break, 1 plastic gallon of mineral water, 6 bottles of POP cola, 2 liters of paint, 10 bags of sand, 2 bags of cement our work is done. Everybody was exhausted but i can see in their face (except for the emo guy) the emotional gratification of finally doing something for others. Sabi nila they we're so happy to be a part of Gawad Kalinga, and kung may chance pa ulit in the future for them to join sasama ulit sila.

Then it strucks me. Ang pagtulong ay dapat bukas sa puso hindi sapilitan sapagkat sa bukas na kalooban mararanasan ang tunay na kaligayahan.

(yikes, ang lalim nun!)

Ang sarap talagang maging bata, di ba? =D.

Demanding

While I was driving earlier on my way to work I was listening to maxfm 103.5 and their topic caught my attention. They we're discussing about "rock stars/singers demands before doing a concert", and they inform that:

a. jennifer lopez wants white flowers, white linen sheets, coffee to be stirred COUNTERCLOCKWISE

b. marilyn manson demands a bald hooker without teeth before he starts his concert (yuck!)

c. madonna wants weights, massage, luxurious pampering and a phone call from her kids before she hit the stage.

according to the dj's, these singers actually demand this outrageous whims to test how far can their producer go to satisfy them. most concert artist's alibi is that we're here to entertain you guys, giving you all our best talent, in short "mahihirapan kami dito tapos kayo naman kikita, swerte nio naman' (this is the artist telling the producers of the show).

while pondering on this thought (re:being demanding), i remember the chat i had last friday with Fr. JV of San Agustin parish here in Pque. He told me that the priest's living condition now is not so good, they live on the second floor of the church wherein they slept on wooden floors and they don't have much on their place. I know some people might think its ok for them to live in that way pero at least naman sana they have a comfortable living space sana =(. they are requesting daw their officials for a better living condition but knowing their parish na salat din sa pera their reqiest will automatically shot down.

this thoughts leads me into this: why is't we can't provide our priest, who serves us and make us more closer to god, a better living condition. after all our priest help us to live an eternal life in heaven. hindi ba malaking utang ng loob natin sa mga pari kapag naisalba tayo mula sa tiyak na kapahamakan ng impierno (uh-oh, i sound preachy na dito ah!) pag namatay tayo? kaya hindi na ako nagtataka why some parish priest end up being corrupt, coz the people who are suppose to take care of them didn't do anything to help them!

it really saddens me when i hear fr. jv's story last week, and it cross to my mind as well kung sila fr. jv are having a hard time here in metro manila what more are the parishes in the province..let's say sa mountanous region of benguet or sa southern leyte????

well, siguro it's already included in their duty being a priest to live in a modest life. i just hope they can cope up with their way of life, free from harm and sickness. for you father jv, i admire you're courage and strength, may god continue to bless you and your parish as well.

AMEN.

p.s.
to father jv: i enjoy your talked last friday at our PM. you're one of the best speakers that i've heard. also i enjoy our conversation and the jokes you shared when we're in the car going home. super saya! i never expect this to a 34 y/old father.

i hope we can meet again father!

Mr. Mild Mannered's Eheads Experience

And then the next to impossible thing happened....

(thursday-friday) 28-29 August 2008

The Eraserheads concert was held last 30-Aug-08 at the Bonifacio Open field. Two days before the event I didn't know anything about the concert, all i know is that you need to apply for membership at Marlboro website (or sort) to get your free ticket. Lo and behold my friend told me that Marlboro/Phillip already backed out to the event and the new promoter are starting to sell the tickets! Omaygasabelgas, so it was Thursday evening i frantically searched the internet for the news about the concert, and then Friday noontime, after i lined up for the ticket at ATC, get mad at the cashier for being soooooo late in her job and ang haba-haba na ng pila, even end up being late at the office (together with my other colleagues), i got my pair of tickets for the event (clap! clap! clap!). Ang galing ko diba? =D

saturday (30-Aug-08)

My day start at 9:00am today. To those who know me very well, me waking up at 10:00am or earlier is a miracle already. But being an obedient child i have to wake up early to do our grocery in the morning, buy office clothes at sm, and hurriedly dash to ATC to buy the cool shirt for the concert. I finished doing this errands at around 4pm, only an hour before I meet up with my friend to go to the concert.

6:30pm

We arrived at the concert scene, while walking down the street of the fort you can sense the excitement of the people going to the concert venue. It's funny also because you can actually distinguish the people whose going to the concert and whose not. Actually I was looking forward to meet up few old friends at the concert, especially it's in The Fort (teritoryo ata ng PCS ito eh hahaha!), but sadly i didn't see any familiar faces. Security was tight at the entrance, ballpen, camera, perfumes are not allowed (daw!), and you have to undergo 5 times security check before you can enter the premises. Upon entering, there were no chairs pala! Yikes! I thought they will provide chairs kaso wala!So we end up sitting our a$$ at the ground. Oh well, i hope all our hardwork is worth it =D.

10 minutes countdown

when the giant screenboard shows the 10 minutes countdown, everybody went wild! yes! sa wakas matutuloy na sha! and when the timer click 00:00:00 a wave of flash basked the concert arena (and i thought bawal ang camera!) coming from both cellfone camera and digital camera that was sneaked inside the place. I overheard one girl at my back comment "good times with eraserheads are back", and so it was. The band start to emerge from under the stage then they start singing, and I was like "wow dreams really do come true!"....

Here's the list of first set of songs:

1. Alapaap

2. Ligaya

3. Sembreak

4. Hey Jay

5. Harana

6. Fruitcake

7. Toyang

8. Kama Supra

9. Kailan

10. Wag Kang Matakot

11. Kaliwete

12. With A Smile

13. Shake Yer Head

14. Huwag Mo Nang Itanong Sa Akin

15. Lightyears

Ely Buendia looks very thin on the giant screen, but his outfit (preppy type plus dark aviator shades) is far more different than his t-shirt jeans kind of guy style before during the eraserheads time. Heck, what the hell, as long as he sings nice okay na yon! Buddy, Marcus and Raimund are in their natural form, super galing parin tumugtog eventhough it's been years since they perform together.

I've post some of the pictures I've taken during the concert. It's a little bit blurred or too far away (we're in the patron kasi and in front of us is VIP and SVIP section pa) but nevertheless maganda parin ang kuha =D.

I'm very happy that they choose ALAPAAP as their intro song, it's one of my favorite eheads song kasi hehehe, especially the chorus portion "masdan mo aking mata, di moba nakikita,..", ang galing at nakakatuwa! It brings back my high school memories, we used to dance with this song during our presentation (thanks to jennifer calingo who always insist to use eheads song as our song in our presentations) and since i constantlly hear this song i fell in love with it na eventually.

Hayyyy i was teary eyed when i sang this song during the concert, naaalala ko lang my kabataan days in the company of good friends (magreminisce ba! lol!). But still i have really good memories with this song. Ilabet bigtime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ligaya was the second song they perform, whenever i hear this i remember Chippy. LOL. But still ganda parin kantahin and the song meaning is da best.

Sembreak was nicely performed, when Eheads was singing this song snapshots of UP diliman wa shown on the giant screen, its like paying tribute to the great University by producing the best Pinoy Band ever =D.

Im not sure what song it was (Toyang or Hey Jay) when they shown on the screen the different pinoy komiks character naman. Ang galing talaga! Anyway Eheads is considered part of the pinoy pop culture kasama nila Pupung, Aksyong Aksaya, Wakasan komiks atbp.

Well, the rest of the song was ok naman but i was still expecting Ang Huling El Bimbo na obviously was not played due to what happened to Ely. Oh well all well that ends well naman. Dapat talaga may part 2 ito para masatisfy ang Eraserheads fever ng mga Eheads fan.

Para sa Eraserheads, you rocked dudes!!

Second Article

Yey! My second article in our cute office newsletter is officially published na! Now im doing my next entry which is about the much talked Eraserheads concert. Will try to post another blog about it later (damn, i have a lot of backlog blog lately)

September

Ang galing! It's already September na,next thing you know it's Chrismas time na ulit. I have a lot to look forward to this month like:

Sept. 5 => Ate's Birthday/Jphil's anniversay/Gawad Kalinga gig.
Sept. 7 => Lingkod's Anniversary.
Sept. 8 => Mama Mary's Birthday.
All Saturday of Sept. => Bar Exam ni Sis.
Sept. 24-28 => RLTC at Baguio
Sept. 30 => Company bonus =D=D=D=D=D=D

Fully packed na ang September ko, what more pagdating ng December! Hehehehe.

Im really excited to the RLTC gig because it will be my first time sa Baguio (read my previous blog to know how excited I am kapag baguio na ang pinaguusapan !).

Better get back to work para walang backlog and para makagala na!!!!

gogogo
theo