Sakya Alumni Homecoming - Part 2

This is the continuation of my previous entry here.

After wandering for half an hour, Sze Tin informed me that he's already upstairs with some of our classmates. The school auditorium is located at the 5th floor.

I went up and met Sze Tin. Herwin and Marc were also there. Sze Tin is a Marketing Manager of Novelle Office Furnitures Inc., Herwin is managing their family business, while Marc is working in the sales department of a certain PC supplier. After some short greetings, I bought 5 'raffle for a cause' tickets. Marc got some tickets as well. Then, we proceeded to the auditorium.

Inside, some of our batch mates who came early already got a table so we joined them. They were Ingrid, Jessica, Lea and Grace. Jessica is helping out in their family business, Lea is a licensed architect working for a firm in Ortigas, Grace is working for NEC Toppan, I forgot what Ingrid is doing... :?

A few moments later, Maristel and Eirene came. Both of them are managing their own businesses in Raon. Eirene just got married recently, while Maristel has a 3-year old son. Marc also added that he saw Maristel appeared on a TV show. :O

At first, the auditorium was almost empty, it took more than 2 hours for the remaining guests to fill the place up. They even had to add more tables for the latecomers. :P

It took forever before the program started! They probably didn't want to start without the important guests. And as expected, lunch would be served AFTER the speeches. It was pure torture for my tummy... :|

Everybody was excited to see their old classmates and teachers that they didn't bother to listen to the speakers. I only managed to remember these lines... "Good Afternoon" and "Thank You" with people clapping. Some things just never change. >:)

I still remember when an old member of the Chinese faculty, codename: popeye, makes a 30-minute speech at the school assembly during Fridays. Then we pretend to listen to him and even clap after the speech, which actually means it's the start of weekend. >:D

By the way, Ellyson came before the program started, even though he wasn't feeling well. He was our high school valedictorian. Lia also came but left immediately. She was our elementary valedictorian and a lot of people had a crush on her during those days. :))

Melody and Aldrich were the last to arrive. Aldrich, who went "out" during high school, works in the marketing/purchasing department in SM. While Melody, just became our official batch representative after being volunteered by us. >:P

It's just too bad that only a few of us came, it would have been nicer if more of our batch mates came. :(

To be continued...

Man vs. Wild

How often would you see someone eating maggots from a dead animal and a live trout fresh from water? Looks like Bear Grylls, from Man vs. Wild does these all the time.

I just saw an episode of Man vs. Wild in Discovery Channel and I was amazed how far this guy would go in order to survive.

Flossing Diligently

I went to the dentist this afternoon to have my teeth patched up. Last week I had them cleaned and the dentist discovered some signs of decay in one of the Maxillary First Premolar and both of the Maxillary Central Incisors. On that same day, she patched the former with the usual amalgam filling and told me to return in a different day for my front teeth.

Since the cavity is situated between the front teeth, she had to use a different filling (white-colored) to patch it. The procedure was also different. She had to use a device, similar to a hair dryer. It took longer than the regular procedure too.

At first, I thought she is going to drill from the front area of my teeth. I was relieved to learn that she can drill from the back instead. Whew!

While she was working on my teeth, I had a recollection of a dream last year, wherein one of my front teeth was extracted. That was weird. :S

Anyhow, after the session, my dentist reminded me, again, for the 3rd time, to use dental floss regularly. Looks like I really have to floss diligently from now on. Otherwise, I'm going to lose them all. >.<

Full Moon

The moon looks unusually bright tonight. I checked the calendar and realized...

It's full moon tonight.

Too bad my camera doesn't work well at night. I just hope that I could capture its beauty someday.

Not much of a big deal, but it makes someone like me appreciate my existence.

Plastic! Plastic!

I'm sorry but this is not going to be a declaration of hatred for somebody. This is a post about my never ending battle against dirt, dust, and disorganization at home.

Recently, I've started buying some small plastic containers from different branches of ACE hardware. I had to check the other branches because it seems that someone else is hoarding those plastic containers that I need.

Anyway, here's what I've done so far...

This is one of the first containers that I've bought, it contains some of the original audio compact discs that I've bought. Unfortunately, I could no longer find the same model in any of the ACE hardware branches nearby. :(



In place of the long container, I opted for a smaller container with a carrying handle. Since it's smaller, I had to place each of my CD's and DVD's to a sleeve which I purchased from CDR-King, so it won't occupy too much space.



For the tiny stuffs, I bought a container with dividers to segregate the items. I also bought 2 more for my mom, 1 for the medicines, the other for the beads.



For my LEGO pieces, I got this medium-sized container, enough to hold 4 liters of water. I have 3 more of these, 1 for my souvenirs, 1 for my mini 4-wheel drive units. The other one, I'm still thinking of what to put in it. :P



One thing you would really find nice about these plastic containers is that they look very neat when you stack them together. :)

The wonders of plastic containers... :)

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Last night, Bert gave me a link to a funny YouTube video. With some googling, I ran into Renaldo Lapuz's Official Website. It seems that this guy is gaining popularity, really fast.

Sakya Alumni Homecoming - Part 1

After 7 years I finally had the chance to revisit the place where I have spent at least 13 years of life.

Last Sunday (January 13) was the 1st alumni homecoming since the day I graduated from high school.

In an effort to re-launch the alumni association after being dormant for quite a long time; Philip Go, from Batch 77, who happened to be one of the owners of Accel, thought that the idea of a homecoming event would be a great start.

I got there a little early because I was planning to spend some time checking out the school. I was greeted by a group of boy scouts who gave me a form to fill-up. After completing the form I went to the registration area to sign in the guest list.

The not-so-old-lady initially gave me the list for batch 2007 even though I asked for batch 2000. Either I really look that young or the graduates today look much older... He he... >:)

After I got my ticket and food stub, I went to meet Sir Harry, who was the scouting movement head when I was still an active boy scout. Not much to talk about so I left quickly. :?

Before I went upstairs I saw the organization chart of the school which includes the faculty. I was surprised to see that a lot of my teachers have already left. Only a few loyal and dedicated teachers were left. :(

I toured the 3rd and 4th floors of the building, where I spent my elementary and high school days respectively. Watching the classrooms instantly reminded me of my younger years, a lot of memories, and mostly good ones, nostalgic indeed. T_T

Nothing really much has changed except the noticeable drop in the number of chairs. I already heard before that the school is in some situation but to be there and actually see it made me feel a bit sad and somehow wanting to do something for my school. After all, the school is undeniably a part of who I am and I also owe my successes today to my alma mater.

This post is getting a bit long so I'm going to stop here for now and continue my story in the next post.

2008: Building My Future

I'm back with my 1st entry for 2008... :)

I gave myself enough time to think about my plans for this year. I've spent the past few days reflecting on my thoughts, recalling my decisions last year, observing my daily routines, studying my spending patterns, understanding my desires, and realizing my needs.

Here's my guide for 2008...
Comments and suggestions are welcome...

Start...

• Paying for condo down payment - I've already allocated a portion of my monthly salary for this but it is better if I could save enough money this year so I wouldn't have to worry next year.
  
  
• Tracking and controlling my expenses - With great "spending" power comes great "saving" responsibility.
  
  
• Paying my taxes - With great "spending" power comes great "taxes" as well. I better put it on a separate bank account so I won't be able to spend it "accidentally".
  
  
• Taking over some of the bills - Since I'll be spending most of my time working at home it's just appropriate for me to pay for the additional resources I'm consuming.
  
  
• Studying robotics - I should spend more time poking with the robot I bought from Sir Melvin last December.
  
  
• Getting a Linux Certification - I failed to do this last year but I guess there's a greater chance for me to get it this year.
  

Stop...

• Procrastinating - As always, I still need to remind myself not to delay the things that I've always wanted to do and accomplish.
  
  
• Oversleeping - My sleeping pattern changes with the weather but it's not an excuse for me to keep on hitting that snooze button whenever my alarm goes off.
  
  
• Staying up late - This is probably the main cause of my tendency to oversleep. It's also bad for my health so I should start sleeping earlier.
  
  
• Wasting time spacing out - Daydreaming has been a part of my daily routine, I should convert those unproductive time to something useful.
  

Continue...

• Paying for life insurance/investment - Hopefully, nothing bad happens to me this year.
  
  
• Playing badminton - With my friends of course.
  
  
• Reading books/magazines - I have yet to finish some of the books I've started reading last year. And, I should also start going over the December and January issues of Linux Magazines. I'll probably renew my Linux Magazine subscription.
  
  
• Supporting World Vision - And maybe get another child to sponsor.
  
  
• Traveling - We'll probably settle with local destinations for now due to budget reasons.
  
  
• Catching up with old friends - It's better if I could go out with my high school and college friends more often this year.
  
  
• House cleaning - Due to the sheer amount of decade old stuffs lying around the house, it would probably take me a couple of months to clear them.
  

Think about...

• Getting a Canon S5IS Camera - I've really enjoyed using my Canon S2IS and I think it's about time for an upgrade. My target date would be May (1 Year after release date).
  
  
• Getting a Wii Console - No time frame for this one, hopefully the price drops dramatically in the next few weeks or months. I still have to consider the integrity of the structure of our half-century old house though.
  
  
• Getting a Mobile Hard Drive - I don't want 7+ years worth data and 2+ years worth of photos to just disappear due to some electrical accident or ant invasion. This is my top priority for now.
  
  
• Taking some training courses - I still have to think of some thing that I would like to learn.
  

Looks like it's going to be an interesting year for me... :)