A Tribute to a Friend

It's another one of those rainy nights. As usual, I'm sitting here in Starbucks, whiling my time surfing the Internet as I wait for my cousin's arrival. I will be picking him up at the airport in about 3 hours.

But my blog tonight isn't about the rain, or the Basic Black Iced Tea I am having here in Starbucks. It is about a friend I have who will be celebrating her special day tomorrow.

No, idiot! She's not getting married yet! Tomorrow is her birthday! She'll be turning 30 something. (You're secret's safe with me, kiddo!)

I recall seeing her in school back in college. She used to sign our enrollment forms, being a trustworthy helper to the school administrators.

In 1999, I saw her again and got reacquainted as I applied for my first and only job as of yet. She works with me until now.

During our first few days as officemates, we got together quite well, with a little fights here and there. I remember our first major "fight," when I said something offensive about her (and being the naive me, I never thought it was offensive). We became friends again when I got her this cross-stitch kit of an anime character (or so I thought ... she claims that she had forgiven me even before I bought her the kit).

Through the years, we would go out and have a group outing with some of our best friends. Normally, we would schedule it around the date of my birthday. Hence, it became known as my birthday outing. During her birthdays, we would normally celebrate it in her house, until a few years back, when the parties stopped for some reason.

Through the 10 years I've worked with her, we had gone through a lot ... summer outings, trips to the North (Bataan, Baguio, etc) and to the South (Batangas, Puerto Galera, etc.), trips abroad (Australia, Singapore), badminton games every Monday night, R-rated movies with another one of my best friends, going to the mall window shopping, and so much more!

Here's to you, Marti! Thanks for all the fun times (and not-so-fun times) we've had! Happy birthday, kiddo!

A Tribute to a Friend

It's another one of those rainy nights. As usual, I'm sitting here in Starbucks, whiling my time surfing the Internet as I wait for my cousin's arrival. I will be picking him up at the airport in about 3 hours.

But my blog tonight isn't about the rain, or the Basic Black Iced Tea I am having here in Starbucks. It is about a friend I have who will be celebrating her special day tomorrow.

No, idiot! She's not getting married yet! Tomorrow is her birthday! She'll be turning 30 something. (You're secret's safe with me, kiddo!)

I recall seeing her in school back in college. She used to sign our enrollment forms, being a trustworthy helper to the school administrators.

In 1999, I saw her again and got reacquainted as I applied for my first and only job as of yet. She works with me until now.

During our first few days as officemates, we got together quite well, with a little fights here and there. I remember our first major "fight," when I said something offensive about her (and being the naive me, I never thought it was offensive). We became friends again when I got her this cross-stitch kit of an anime character (or so I thought ... she claims that she had forgiven me even before I bought her the kit).

Through the years, we would go out and have a group outing with some of our best friends. Normally, we would schedule it around the date of my birthday. Hence, it became known as my birthday outing. During her birthdays, we would normally celebrate it in her house, until a few years back, when the parties stopped for some reason.

Through the 10 years I've worked with her, we had gone through a lot ... summer outings, trips to the North (Bataan, Baguio, etc) and to the South (Batangas, Puerto Galera, etc.), trips abroad (Australia, Singapore), badminton games every Monday night, R-rated movies with another one of my best friends, going to the mall window shopping, and so much more!

Here's to you, Marti! Thanks for all the fun times (and not-so-fun times) we've had! Happy birthday, kiddo!

Furby's Big Now!

Mountain Mania

Last Saturday, September 6, three of my friends from the office and I went to Batangas for a fun climb. The range, as far as I know, is called Gulugod Baboy, or Pig's Spine. It was tiring, and the trek was grueling at some points. But overall, it was a trip that was really enjoyable. Fun climb, indeed!

Hosting with a celebrity

It's been a long time since my last post. It's not that I don't have much to say, 'coz there are a lot of stories to tell. It's just that I've been so caught up in work lately that as soon as I get home, I only have time for Furby.

Anyway, last Saturday's office event is worth recounting, considering that something first happened to me. Sure, you would probably hear me hosting a wedding reception, or probably a Christmas party. Some people say I am good at it, what, with my stage presence and my sometimes funny antics. Last Saturday was no exception. As with all our previous events, I also did the voice over for our opening number and the introduction of our host, local celebrity Yayo Aguila. I also did voice overs for plugs throughout the day. Yeah, I once again hosted the pre-event games, and I should say, this event's audience-respondents were hilariously classical!

What sets this hosting job apart from the other events I've handled is that last Saturday, I got the chance to co-host a portion of the program with a celebrity, our host Ms. Aguila. Somehow, the euphoria of interacting with someone popular made me jittery at first--but hey, need I show that to her or to the audience?

In any case, the portion went on smoothly. It was as if I was hosting with a long-time friend. Our host was very warm and friendly, making the entire stint comfortable for me. I got through that day thinking how opportune I am to act as if I was one of them (celebrities), mingling and hobnobbing with them (of course, actress Bianca Lapus was there as well). Is this the start of something big for me? Will this be my ticket to showbusiness? Ha ha! We'll just wait and see!

My Blog Inspirations

I've been trying to recall where I got my inspiration for coming up with an online journal, a.k.a. blog. For quite some time, I had my friend, Orange, to thank for this. You see, her blog entries are just so hilarious! (You'll find out what I'm talking about when you visit her orangeexpress blog site.) She surely inspired me to come up with something similar, albeit mine is more on the emo-mushy side, sometimes pretending to be witty, sometimes bordering on corny. Nevertheless, I try to make it a point to write about something that crossed my mind, something that amazed me, something I've been longing for, or just some random thoughts I'd like to share with others.

Yesterday, however, I was watching some old TV commercials on YouTube and I thought about the TV shows during my growing-up years. I thought about Beverly Hills 90210, Saturday Fun Machine (with such shows as Pandamonium, Fraggle Rock, The Great Space Coaster and the likes), The Twilight Zone, Northern Exposure, Murphy Brown, and so much more. Finally, it hit me! My real inspiration for blogging is not Orange--although she got me started on it. It was Neil Patrick Harris, a.k.a. Doogie Howser, M.D.

In each episode, he would end the show by logging on to his computer, creating an electronic journal of lessons learned for the day or for the week. I vividly remember seeing words typed on a blue screen while his thoughts were being voiced over. The cursor was still that white block that came in after each letter. I recall wanting so much to have my own electronic journal that when my dad bought us a computer at home, I wanted to write about anything and everything under the sun. The problem is, the computer is for everyone in the family, and I had some thoughts that I would just like to keep to myself. Besides, blogs were unheard of at that time, and the only establishments with Internet access are schools. And technology back then was jurassic, so to speak. Anyway, I never bothered to come up with a printed journal as it is too girlie for me.

So here I am now, coming up with my own electronic journal a la Doogie Howser, M.D. Unfortunately, my writing is still restricted to things that are not too personal. I cannot write about the way I feel about somebody, some crazy stuff I'm doing, the way I feel about work ... it will just create chaos! The good thing is I can now creatively "hide" some of these things in the form of word play. But for the other things, I can only reveal them to a few close friends.

"Do dum do do dum. Do dum do do dum. (Okay, so I'm trying hard to replicate the theme song of Doogie Howser, M.D. Pretend you're hearing it the way I am.)

Funny Cab Driver

On the way back from an interview, my friend, Sean, and I took a cab going back to the office. As soon as we entered the vehicle and told the driver where we wanted to go, the driver immediately turned his radio off and started to ask us if we have already heard about the fruit without peel nor seed, that is very juicy. Thinking that he was about to sell us a new herbal preparation or some other multi-level networking product, I braced myself for the worst. This can't be another one of those uber-low marketing ploys that some companies use, so I thought.

I gave the question much thought and, together with Sean, eventually gave up on the answer. His response? Juicy Fruit Gum (a brand of chewing gum from the makers of Double Mint). I laughed my heart out in relief. And as if that joke wasn't enough, he continued to bombard us with more jokes--and poker-faced at that! Whenever we got the answers right, he would reply with "May tama ka," (You got that right). Here are some of his old, yet timeless jokes:

• What do you call people from China? Chinese. How about people from Japan? Japanese. How about people from Taiwan? Taiwanese. And people from Vietnam? Vietnamese.
  What the do you call people from Mayon (a town in Albay in the Bicol region)? To which Sean replied: Bicolano? Of course, that's what you call people from the Bicol region, right?
  The correct response? Mayonese (which the old driver pronounced as mayonnaise).
• What do you call the trinket that ladies wear in their ear? We answered, hikaw, which in English means earring. His response? She-kaw. He-kaw, he explained, are for males. So if a woman wears a he-kaw, she is probably gay.
• What do you call a happy chicken? Chicken Joy (a fried chicken brand of Jollibee)
• What do you call a small chicken? Knorr Chicken Cubes (a broth cube)
• What do you call a chicken's mother? To which I replied, "Inahin!" (Hen). He replied, "Dati 'yun, pinalitan na nila, kahapon lang!" (That was before. They changed it only yesterday!) The answer? Chicken Mami, a kind of Chinese chicken noodle soup.
• What do you call a small goat? Kapirang-goat
• What do you call a big mole? Mega "Mole" (of course, we know that MegaMall is one of the biggest malls in the country)
• What do you call a bigger mole? MOA [SM Mall of Asia (MOA) is said to be the biggest mall in the Philippines]
• What do you call a shining mole (in his terms, kumukutitap)? Star "Mole" (a mall opposite SM MegaMall)
• What do you call this (pointing to his lower lip), to which I replied "Lip!" And the follow up question, "how about this?" (pointing to his upper lip), to which I replied "Lip?" His reply? Rayt. Lip en rayt.
• What do you call this (pointing to his right cheek), to which Sean replied, "Cheek!" And the follow up question, "how about this?" (pointing to his left cheek). Sean replied "Cheven?" Wrong! The correct response is "It" (eight). Because it is cheek (right cheek), cheven (nose), it (left cheek).

The trip was a bit short. But I tell you, had you been in that ride with us, you would be laughing hard, not so much at the jokes but the way the cool old man delivered them. Thank you, Mr. Cab Driver, for making our day!

Searching for the Past

Early this week, I spent quite some time wondering where my blog posts from my last entry in Blogspot to my second entry in Multiply were. I remember doing a number of them but couldn't quite recall where I posted them. I even went as far as formulating several scenarios, including:

- merely dreaming that I did indeed blog
- I was so caught up with my then girlfriend that I felt like blogging, but actually didn't
- I was too caught up writing articles for work that I thought I was blogging

Finally, I remembered where all the memories went. They're all in Friendster!

Body building mania

Why are so many people into body building?

Just this morning, down for our usual morning break, my friends and I were talking about building muscles and making the body bigger. We talked about exercises for the triceps, how easy it is to develop the back muscles, and how difficult it is to lose the gut.

Not that I have anything against going to the gym, because I do go to the gym (whenever I feel like it) to aid in my weight loss. And there's no offense meant here for my friends, because I know they have good enough reasons for going to the gym. I am just amazed at how thin people, or even those with well-defined bodies, still go gaga over going to the gym. Isn't having a thin frame enough?

Another one of my dreams is to be stick thin. Who cares if my muscles are not toned or well-defined. The thing is, I want to be stick thin. Even in my lightest (I had the opportunity to weigh in at 165), I wasn't stick thin.

So why are so many people into body building? Health reasons? Nah, I don't think so. Well, possibly for some. Vanity? Probably, for many. After all, it's the evil one's favorite sin [The Devil's Advocate].

My Shelfari

http://www.shelfari.com/o1517562066/shelf