Annoyed...

I know it's late and I should be sleeping, I guess I'm a bit cranky cause it's been a long day and I'm tired.

What the hell is wrong with multiply's cross posting option?!?! It isn't doing what it's supposed to do! 2 months ago, it was so easy, I would just write my entry on blogspot and within a day it'll be up on my multiply account as well.

Most people wonder why keep my blogspot account. It's just so much more convenient, given that you can post entries and you have the option of changing the post date. It's not like you have time to sit down in front of your computer at the end of the day. That's pretty much the only reason I still maintain this account.

One last thing I hate with the cross-post option is that if you do it manually, you have to uncheck all the other entries that you have from your blogspot or other blog. And this you have to do everytime even if the other entries are already posted on your blog. What's worse, it's not like you are just unchecking 10-20 entries, but for those who blog many times, I have to uncheck around 200 boxes! It's just damn tiring to do it. Argh!!!

4th of July..

This year, I joined a few friends to watch the fireworks along the east river. I have it on video on my multiply site if you're interested in checking in out. Again, walked through central park and I took another set of pictures.

If there is one part of central park that I never get tired of, that would be the Mall. We actually spent almost a good 30 minutes just taking pictures of the area and playing around camera trying to get a really nice shot!

As is usually the case, I'll be posting them on multiply but since I haven't gotten to it, here are some of the shots I took during the day.

I was trying to imitate I shot I took of my dad when he was here a few months back. I just love how the perspective comes out.

I have no idea, who the couple were. But I just found it so sweet cause it was starting to rain and they cuddled up next to each other under the umbrella. Just had the impulse to take a picture of it =).

Trying to be artsy! Hehehe! (top picture - Karla, bottom picture - Chilai)

Grand Central at night, on the way back after the fireworks display.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!!

If weather permits, some friends and I will be checking out the Macy's fireworks display. I'll post some pictures if we do push through!

left-brain or right-brain?

Are you a more right-brained or left-brained thinker?

You are a left-brained thinker! You tend to be very logically and analytical. You express yourself best through verbal communications and are not that creative. You have a good mind for math and a great concept of time. You set goals for yourself and solve problems slowly, step by step. You believe that something is either right or wrong with no inbetween grounds. Since you're organized, you're rarely late to anything. Overall, you are very smart and logical. Good for you!
Take this quiz!








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I got Tagged!

Since I was tagged, now I have to tag 7 people as well namely (I'll choose those who I know haven't been tagged yet) --> ton-ton, ep, my cousin tina, mara, rex, lorraine, and ague.

Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I've never been able to sleep in class. No matter how tired I am or how few hours (at times none) of sleep I have, I can never sleep in a classroom. And it's not like I've had really stirring professors always! There were some which really were able to put other classmates of mine to sleep.

2. In college, I never really bought the required textbook unless it was a novel. Then in grad school, I began purchasing the required textbooks, but I never really read them. That is why some of my books are pretty much as good as new. They pretty much end up on display. Hehehe!!! At least if I need to look something up, I have the books for it.

3. I cross-stitch. This is something I think most of my friends now about me. I've been doing it since I was in first year high school even through college. During grad school, I haven't really been able to get back to it, but I did bring all my stuff in case I do decide to pick up the habit again. I've been able to finish a good number of projects. I usually get teased cause I made 2 ballerina patterns, one in blue and another in pink.

4. I enjoy counting coins. Let me clarify, I'm one who doesn't mind when I get change during the day. I've always had a piggy bank and usually every month, I empty it out and check the balance. I rarely use the coins I have in my pocket unless I have too much already. At one point, when I deposited my coins it came out to a total of $500. I just enjoy taking them out and stacking them and counting them out.

5. When shopping, I tend to put things that I'm interested in purchasing in my cart, only to leave them just when I am about to reach the check out counter. This habit of mine irritates franny, cause sometimes there are items which I do need, but I end up postponing my purchasing of it. I guess it's my way of "satisfying" my desire to shop.

6. I hate being late. I always try to make sure that we make it on time, even though I am well aware that those who we are meeting are notorious for being late. I just think that being on time is your way of saying that you are valuing the person you made plans with. More frustrating for me are those who are late and seem not to care that they are late at all (it's surprising how some people are unapologetic about it).

7. I collect postcards. I usually ask friends of mine to send me one whenever they travel. Whenever I travel I do return the favor as well. I prefer that it gets sent out through the mail, but it doesn't matter how I get one :D I just think its nice seeing where my friends and relatives have been able to travel and explore. Of course, it's part of my plan to travel to those places as well.

That's pretty much it. It's not as easy as it seems.

getting back into a routine...

I finally got back to the gym today.

It's always frustrating whenever I get back from a long trip in Manila, cause it seems no matter what, I always gain a lot of weight. Hehehe! I pretty much lose whatever headway I've made. This is pretty much the case whenever I stay for an extended period of time back home.

It was frustrating how easy it was for me to get tired and to begin taking deep breaths during my workout. Hopefully, things will get better as the days and weeks progress. As usual, before I left I checked my weight and here's how things stand.

Current Weight : 253.25 lbs.

Again the immediate goal is to get down to 240lbs.

Looks like I've got some work to do to get things down again. Good news though, when I had my check-up back in Manila, I was informed that my cholesterol level is now back in the normal range. Last year, it was dangerously high for someone my age according to my doctor.

Thank you Franny for helping me keep it in check!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Happy Father's Day!!!

Thanks for all that you've thought me through the years. Also this is the first time that this greeting can apply to me as well. Hehehe!!!

May all the fathers out there have a great time with your families. May they appreciate all the work you have done!

back in NYC

Am finally back in New York! After a long 14 hour flight from Seoul, am back in the Bronx. It was a bit frustrating when we arrived in JFK, since we ended up waiting on the runway for almost 45 minutes since there weren't any gates available for us!

My flight arrived around 830pm, and given the delays, I was able to get out of the airport with my luggage only when it was around 1015pm. If not for the delay, I had a pretty decent flight back. I was pretty much asleep throughout the trip except for mealtimes. hehehe!!! That's one thing I love with the asian airlines, they will wake you up when they are about to serve lunch or dinner. Unlike other airlines where they just ignore you and you end up waking up famished. That always bothered me, and it doesn't help that even if you tell them to wake you up they seem to forget once meal time begins.

That's pretty much it. I need to get some rest and some grub.

another visit... this time to the high school & the Gesu

I had the opportunity to check out the high school campus a few days ago. A lot has changed with the old campus as you will see from the pictures. There are now more buildings all over, most of them are 2 or 3 stories instead of the single level buildings we had when I was still in school.

This is the new walkway that they put up. I personally am not so fond of it, since it really cuts the amount of lawn space. It's not like there isn't any other way to get to the Mother Mary statue in the middle given that the corridors on the side have a small walkway to the middle.

Here are two more memorials or statues that I saw that weren't there when I last visited. The first one is located between the college courts and the row of building on the right (if you are facing the chapel). I forgot the name of the priest whose statue stands near the back. The next one, which is St. Ignatius with a book. A friend of mine commented that its like he's blind and he's trying to read braille. You see this statue if you keep walking on the pathway which cuts through the right side of the high school grounds.

This was our batch's contribution/legacy to the high school. If I remember correctly, it's a statue of a young Jose Rizal. I must say that the whole thing is in pretty good condition. It's like they just cleaned it recently. On the bottom, is the list of those in the class. Unfortunately, they had this rule that if you didn't donate a particular amount your name wouldn't show up. It's something my friend Mark has suggested, that we replace the plate and just include all our other classmates who were omitted from the list.

I also got to check out the Gesu as well. It's really impressive and really nice. Though as many have told me, its very similar to camp big falcon. If you don't know what that is, just google it. What it reminded me when I stepped in was De La Strada along Katipunan, but a much nicer version of it. Hehehe!!!

Unfortunately, something is up with blogger that I can't upload any more pics. So I'll just post them next time instead.

visiting the old stomping grounds...

Went back to Ateneo earlier today. It was really nice being able to visit where I have so many fond memories. Things have really changed since I last visited. Below are the pictures that I took during my quick stroll.

The new student center! It was a bit amusing when I walked into the new sanggu. The rooms are nice and spacious, all orgs have their own room unlike before where 4 orgs had to share one room. Though what I found amusing with the sanggu room was that they were still using the same old tables that we used to use in 2001. Those tables were really old when we were using it. I'm surprised they didn't throw it out and get new ones.

The new Horacio De La Costa Hall. It was nice to see that there is finally more space for the various departments situated there. I remember during college how cramped up the whole place with be with students trying to file in to meet their professors for oral exams or to pick up papers.

I remember how it was in this area there would sometimes be fishball and "dirty" ice cream vendors during certain times of the schoolyear (usually during festival season).

Actually I was still in college when they renovated the college chapel. I really like how it looks. Even though its right next to the cafeteria, it's surprisingly quiet inside it. You can really spend time there in silence in prayer and reflection. The wooden figures are the chapel's stations of the cross.

It was really nice getting to walk around the campus. The next thing I have to check out would be the Gesu!

leaving on an airplane...

There are a few moments in our lives that we allow ourselves to endure periods of boredom. I am going through one of those moments, I am here at JFK airport waiting for my flight to start boarding. Luckily for me, they have a few televisions here and they are showing the Suns go against the Lakers.

My flight is scheduled to leave at 1250am, and I was informed by the travel agent that I should check-in around 9-930am. That's one thing I never follow. I still maintain and believe that you can still go and arrive just 2 hours before one's flight and for domestic flights, I feel that an hour before your flight is enough time. The only time that I almost missed a flight was when I was in Manila. For some reason, the airline that only had 2 counters open to check-in one's luggage. It was really messed up, and in the end, they just ended up delaying the departure time since there were still so many people still on line waiting 30 minutes before the estimated time of departure.

Well, its now 1141pm. I just have an hour to go. There seems to be some activity going on near the gate. We might be boarding soon =) will write again once I arrive in Manila.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Considering that I've been living here in the Bronx for almost 6 years already. It was only yesterday and the day before that when I finally got to watch a baseball game! Playing were the NY Yankees and the Cleveland Indians at the stadium here in the area. It was such a nice experience, we were able to watch 2 games, the first one was a night game and we had seats which were a few rows behind the dugout of the Indians (thanks again David & Taryn for inviting us to join you guys!) The second one which was an afternoon game was one we observed in the bleachers section.

Both of the games we watched were fun games, it helped that we won both games! Though for the second game we didn't get to finish the game cause Franny and I had to get back to school to finish some stuff and meet up with a professor. To sum the game up, it was a great comeback by the Yankees to win the game after being down by 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning.

I wasn't able to take too many pictures that night. I just wasn't too concerned taking pics. It was just enjoyable being there and enjoying the whole atmosphere of the game. Thanks Leanne for the pic during the afternoon game.

franny, cheering after a home-run by giambi!

the view from our seats.

leanne, tina, franny and me - bleacher section

Fr. Ben Nebres's visit

Ever since I started at Fordham University, Fr. Nebres would always visit the campus and give a talk at the Economics/IPED department. It would usually be either the week before or after Holy Week. Most of the topics involved would be the current political state of the Philippines, along with other issues being faced by the country. This year given that its a few weeks before elections, his talk touched on the the lack of issues being raised up by the politicians.

Along with that, Fr. Nebres also discussed Gawad Kalinga. An organization which is trying to gather more support for its projects which involve providing homes which clearly help in uplifting the poor. It may not seem much, but as he mentioned in the talk, that for the poor having a home for themselves that they can be proud of is really a major step for them.

One of the memorable quotes of the night was when someone asked about the issue of population growth. How the issue was being addressed in the country and what was the opinion on the said issue. Basically, he answered that increasing or providing a means of livelihood is the key issue, given that "0 divided by 10 is the same as 0 divided by 2, thus by giving them a source of income it would make them realize that planning the size of their family will have a direct affect with the income that they earn.

Just thought that was a nice way of saying things. I've included some pics as well.

leanne, justin, chilai, fr. ben, karla and me

me, karla, jose rizal, chilai, justin and leanne

the inside of the embassy lobby

problems with my palm pilot...

I was updating my calendar in my palm desktop when I noticed a little problem. Actually not that serious a problem, just that all my reminders for people's birthdays were all a day ahead! For some reason, all birthday reminders I made from April all the way to November were ahead a day! I don't even know what could have caused it. It's just annoying since I had to manually restore the reminders to their correct date, one at a time.

Maybe it was caused by the early implementation of daylight savings. Whatever the reason, it's just an annoying thing I noticed and had to spend time fixing! Hopefully this coming fall, when we "fall back" I don't have to go through the trouble once again.

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If there is one thing I'm really happy with spring, its that Franny and I can play tennis again. We've played twice during this week, and it feels great being able to play again. I guess that's one benefit of living in florida, you can keep playing all year round. Something to consider when we decide where to settle down. Hehehe!

parokya ni edgar & bamboo...

Franny and I had just come back from their concert here in Queens, NY. It was such a wonderful performance. Too bad we didn't bring our camera! It was just nice being able to hear them perform classic favorites such as Halaga, Don't Touch my Birdie and Inuman Na. Too bad a few in the crowd had to ruin the atmosphere by getting into a fistfight in the middle of the performance.

Well I guess whenever there is a mosh pit, plus continuous drinking of alcohol, it could lead to a few issues between the participants.

Bamboo also performed, they performed very well and their drummer is awesome. Though I don't know much of their songs since I think they became famous when I was already here in the US. Parokya ni Edgar mentioned that they are coming back again in June or July to perform. We're looking forward to watching them again, but that's if we are here in NY since we might, just might, fly back home to manila for the summer.

another unlucky day at that lottery...

Today was another attempt on the part of Franny and I to get some tickets for Wicked through the lottery process they have. For those who are unaware, roughly 2 hours before the show they hold a lottery where one can win front row tickets for only $25. The regular price for those would be $110.25 so it's really such a steal! As was the case last time, we ended up walking away without said tickets. But our friend Karla was feeling lucky and she did hear her name called so she got to watch the show with her roommate Chilai.

Franny and I tried to check out some other plays but they didn't have any tickets available. If they did they were those that cost around $100 each which we weren't interested in. We ended up just watching a nice movie, Music & Lyrics. I really enjoyed it as well as the soundtrack of the movie. It was such a simple movie that really was enjoyable and not too cheesy. I just noticed that I really love the movies that Hugh Grant is in such as, Love Actually, Notting Hill, About a Boy, and even Mickey Blue Eyes. I just think that the characters he play are perfect for him. hehehe!

That was pretty much how our day was. Hopefully luck will be on our side the next time we go for the lottery.

Crazy weather!!!

The weather has been extremely crazy the past few days. It started with Wednesday being such a beautiful day, the weather actually was up to 60s which was unusually high given that its just March. It was the same the very next day, it might have been a nicer day one could say. But on the way back, I found out that the very next day (it was 70 degrees at that point) that it was going to start snowing around midnight.

True enough, once I got home I checked out the weather forecast and that was the case. For two straight days its been bitter cold. I can't wait for winter to be over. In some ways, it is a bit weird lately. Daylight savings was in place a few weeks earlier than usual, then you have the warm weather. It really can make you feel that winter is over and spring is about to begin. But of course, nature will give you a nice reminder that you can't take out your spring wardrobe yet. Hehehe!

Good thing I didn't get sick this time. I usually have a rough time when the temperature really changes drastically.

busy weekend... part 2

... Saturday was going to be an interesting night for us. It was a night that was agreed upon. by most of us here, to be a night that we will really drink and try to find our limits in terms of how many shots of a particular drink (our choice) we can take.

We decided to start around 930pm and each have their own dinner. We pretty much only had a choice of 3 drinks, tequila, rum and vodka. I think we had just been into the session for about 3o minutes when one of our group started to really act a bit drunk. I won't say any names, since I think it might be nice to omit the name of the person who got a bit wasted. It was around that point that she then mentioned that she hadn't had dinner. Big Mistake!!! A few minutes later, she was soon lying on the floor trying to gather herself and more important (for her) fix her hair!

Soon she was crawling all over the floor, stating that she still wanted another drink and that "I'll still remember all of this yesterday!" To think this was the same person who was telling us that there were 4 stages in drinking, you get tipsy, tripsy, drunk, and last dripsy. I must say that she fairly accomplished all 4 stages in less than an hour! Pretty much she was the only one who really found out what her limit was, cause everyone else, sort of slowed down cause we had to help take care of her.

We pretty much finished around 1am already. One of our group decided to call it quits and head back home before having too much. And our host after locking the door, ended up on the aerobed and soon was fast asleep. There were 3 of us left, and we decided to fix up since it didnt make sense to keep drinking since one of us wasn't drinking at all (she had taken some medication that's why alcohol was a no no for her).

At the end of the night, it was a pretty eventful and tiring one given that one of us really got wasted and really needed our help just to get to bed and to the bathroom, for obvious reasons. Below are some pics from the night, again I won't show any of our friend who was wasted, it just wouldn't be nice of me to do so. =)

starting things out

goofing off while our friend's on the floor =)

the last 3 standing

ps - oh in case you're wondering, i managed to wash all the dishes and not break anything.

Friday Mass

If there is something that I haven't done for a long time, it would be attending Mass on a weekday. Honestly, I always loved the hearing Masses with Jesuit celebrants. I've always enjoyed their homilies, how they make it relevant to our daily lives and how it is something that I can feel I can relate to. As I shared Fr. Manny (our celebrant during our wedding), I always found the homily to be what I use to determine whether it was a good Mass or not.

So I attended First Friday Mass and I knew who the celebrant was going to be and I was looking forward to his homily. He has never disappointed when it comes to his homily. I've always found it very moving and at the same time very down-to-earth. Here is a short excerpt from his homily which I had requested.

"We spin a veil of self-sufficiency when we live out of anxious striving and self-assertion to sustain ourselves with bread from stone. This veil shuts out from our sight the God of our life, not letting him be the God who gives us everything of life and joy."

I've told some people about this already, but coming here to the US has really made have a stronger relationship with our Lord. and it's something I can say that I might not have been able to achieve if I had stayed in Manila. I don't know why, but that's just how I feel. Coming here to the US really made me trust in the Lord and accept that He does have a plan for us, we just have to listen to Him and accept it.

a lack of manners...

This was something that happened sometime ago, but only now am I writing about it. It's really disappointing to see how some people can think so highly of themselves (yes, they may have the qualifications to back up some of their claims) but lack a grasp of basic manners. Take for example the rather simple gesture of thanking one's hosts.

It takes no more than a few seconds to say "thank you", but in neglecting to say those few words, it gives other people a negative impression which sticks with you. As the saying goes, "first impressions last", sometimes the impression we get is indeed unfair. But I guess, if you know your manners, more than likely you will make a good impression.