Solitaire...

December 30, 2006...


Not exactly bored. Just wasn't in a social mood the whole day. I wasn't able to go out to where I wanted to go to take care of something else. Looks like I'm the only one awake around here. Too early to sleep so I tried playing a few games of solitaire... but with a different set of playing cards though. I tried playing both of my World Of Warcraft decks between episodes of Ghost In The Shell with a tall glass of soda and a jar of White Rabbits within easy reach. Somehow my Paladin deck's too defensive but still cannot last against a hastily built Priest deck. I'm still figuring out how to change that with the current card pool that I have for the decks to have some teeth.

Some thoughts distracted me while playing cards and watching dvd. Suffice it to say these thoughts somewhat covered the most of 2006 as well as some stuff I have to do this coming 2007...

2006 has been a tester but it has still been good to me. I've still learned a few things about myself from the eyes of others which has given its fair share of surprising revelations.

2007 is sure to be an interesting one. I'm hopeful on some improvements as well as for some changes in things to come my way.

Maybe I just had one White Rabbit too many... +P

Post Christmas Stuff...

December 25, 2006...

Still woke up early and drove on to Bulacan to see the relatives. Christmas lunch was a welcome opposite to yesterday's healthy approach. A little cholesterol in your system is still good for you, I always say. :D


The Menu : Lechon Kawali, Fried Chicken, Shrimps, Enseladang Mangga in an unusual vinegrette, Afritada, Fruit Salad.

Family tradition in Bulacan is that you have to eat something at every house you visit, even if it means visiting all NINE of them in one trip, not including the various cousins already living separately but always nearby. Over the years we've learned to pace ourselves otherwise we'd grow fat and/or offend some relatives for not eating. Nothing beats homecooking, with some noteable hits like Sumang Yakap, Afritada, various fruit salads and countless desserts.

Some Pictures...

Some of my cousins

Photo-op with Lola Groovy

My Goddaughter Angel with her Lolo Daddy

Lola Onching with some of the grandchildren but Angel stealing the show...

December 27, 2006...

Got a new contractor for my project. Will kick-off hostilities first thing next year. But before that, I gotta get the Project Team ready for em.

Audit!!! Looks like things ran smoothly and that the certification is a success. Something to look forward to next year.

December 28, 2006...

Boring. Couldn't get my photo server running so that I can get my pictures posted sooner. Wrote Auntie and a couple of friends a Merry Christmas. Gotta get my computer at home fixed...

Still got work here on site. The second tower's anxious to do one more concrete pour before the year ends. Who said things here grind to a stop?

I saw a few friends online. Some of em were at the office just like me, while only a few are at home.

December 29, 2006...

Last working day of the year... well hopefully. +P


Tower crane for the second tower's being jacked up today. The base of that crane is just by the door of my office. It's a monster! It's also fascinating to watch. Lots of safety checks involved in what's supposed to be a simple procedure. But trust me, its not.

Merry Christmas People!...

December 24, 2006...


Sister Pie's Birthday!!! Wahou!!! Labs!

Peeps in attendance : Sister Pie, Bubu Bear, Gorgeous Sister, Darling Beautiful Mother, Dashing Handsome Father, Adrian, Nabs, Gary and Yours Truly.


Alimangos the size of Volkswagons! +P Couldn't believe it myself I was able to finish one whole one!


Menu : Alimango, Shrimps, Tilapia, Enseladang Mangga, Green Salad, Potato Salad, Fruit Salad

Size reference lang yan, hindi pray-over +P

I haven't really prided myself as a cook but they can count on me to kick up our green salad a couple of notches. Above is my take on the simple salad serving. My piece of heaven right there. :D


We resumed eating almost immediately after lunch. We found it unreasonable to lay a picnic blanket in the countryside and watch DVD so we just decided to bring the countryside snack to the living room instead. +P We had classy snack of grapes, white wine, and rum cake and lazily scanned through a few movies we brought in.

We later on played WOW CCG with Gary and Adrian. Made an impromptu second deck with the cards I've already pooled to demo the game. Adrian and Gary who's had some MTG experience were able to grasp the rules quite quickly and we were able to play a couple of games with them using my Paladin deck against my impromptu Priest deck. Lost both games, +P and by the second game the two were quick to figure out some of the combinations of my cards against me!

December 25, 2006...

Present day

Its around 2AM here and all is now quiet. Already done with the opening of gifts. For the third straight year I've already taken on the familiar role in the distributing of the gifts from under the tree, a role I remember my Dad previously assumes. His turn to enjoy the anticipation of receiving gifts I guess. Gifts this year are a bit simpler and more meaningful, which I dont mind. What's important to me more now is that everybody's here sharing the Christmas spirit together. :D

In a couple of hours we'll be driving over to Bulacan as tradition to spend some Christmas time with the folks there.

I can't sleep. I'm still basking the afterglow of it. ;)

Merry Christmas to all of you out there... wherever you are!

Christmas Parties, Carolers, Weddings And A Funeral...

December 17, 2006...

Alma and Aris Gallardo Nuptials in Bulacan!


Wahou! Sa wakas! Natuloy ka rin 'Insan! Wishing you guys the best! *hug*

December 19, 2006...

Hopefully this will be the last major meeting for the year. Hopefully by the year's end, there's a clear direction on how this project of mine will get itself off the ground.


Sadly I was only there to take this picture. My injury's not as bothersome as before but I think it would be best to give it some more rest and then resume playing next year.


Visited Chi in the hospital today. That's her with her sister Tasha. Must be a bummer to be confined in the hospital, especially during Christmas season too! Get well soon Girl!

Also sad to know that a friend's grandfather passed away. That's the second friend with a loved one who passed away this Christmas season. Dunno about the details on both yet but my prayers to the family.

December 20, 2006...

Audit!!! Things in the office has been hectic when I arrived. Our office is being audited. Adds further hassle to the otherwise laid back work day.

Some scenes of Christmas in my part of the world...

December 21, 2006...

Joseph "Sigis" and Ivy Viray Nuptials in Manila



Priceless moment in Sigis's wedding that me, Fluffy, Pork and Arvin will not forget for some time. You know what we mean Dude! Congrats to you and Ivy! Like I said before, marriage is not just a word... ;)

December 22, 2006...

Today's a day of spontaneity...

Had an impromptu lunch with Fongi over at Glorietta, capped off with a cup of hot chocolate over at Max Brenner. Cool place. Hmmm... wheels inside my head started turning at the thought of a return trip. Hopefully soon! :D


Some of our contractors started to go door-to-door caroling, using empty bottles as instruments and hard hats as percussions. That is cute. Who says construction is without its gimicks when it comes to Christmas? Gaudi and I gave something to the group in acknowledgement of their efforts as well as their funny stage presence. +P

---
Just saw some of my friend's blogs posting some Christmas/Year-end messages already. Wow, pressured! +P Well, in keeping to tradition, I shall make an effort on this one. Though I still got work tomorrow as well as after Christmas to think about it.

Three Six Five...

Christmas De-stress...

Billiards last night with Ryan and Emcee. Its becoming a rare occurrence that we get together nowadays. No dates with psychological kungfu black belts from either of the guys tonight. We met over at Metrowalk and had a quick dinner before resuming hostilities at Elbow Room.

*The Carlsberg promo girls were a welcome distraction. Ryan was nice to point out I missed a couple of shots (he counted 4 to 5 consecutive) because of them. Got me a free deck of cards for hearing them out. A phone number from one of them would've been preferable.... +P

Must be the vodka martini talking right there. :D

Yours Truly...

Emcee the Jedi Master

Ryan the Unibomber

Went to Starbucks in Tomas Morato after. Ynez Veneracion is gorgeous in denim miniskirt and cowboy boots! Damn! Major Crushness!!!

One Year!!!

Yep, my blog just turned a year old today. That's 164 posts, over 2800 visits (close to half of those must be by me, +P), countless number of songs, a lot of pictures, and a ton of memories. Here's looking forward to the next year! Thanks!

Rainy Weekend...

Rainy Sunday was boring. My left side still hurts and getting up from bed was difficult. The cold and rain didn't help either. The occasional sneeze or cough is painful.

Well I did manage to get out of bed but decided to stay home and rest. It was raining the whole afteroon so priming the rest of my Emperors Children is out. That leaves me with the cleaning and assembly of parts to complete the rest of squads. Cleaning and assembly of the various plastics and metal parts took much of the afternoon as well as the evening, with meals and sleep in between. In the 10 hours spent on this task I only got 5 noise marines to show for it, along with some more bits and pieces cleaned of flash and drilled ready for assembly.

My Monday didn't exactly start out right. Traffic going to the office evidently caused by a vehicular accident resulted in me getting to the office an hour past my number coding cutoff. Good thing nobody was able to apprehend me for violating number coding since a lot of other cars got stuck in the same mess too. And the rain's still pouring.

Looks like I will be looking into the brighter side of things kinda early this week...

Breaking In The Cue Continued And Then Some...

December 7, 2006...

Venue : Elbow Room Metrowalk...
Da Usual Suspects : Ermitanyo and Yours Truly...

Ermitanyo in da house! He said that after what he's been through these past couple of days he was in need of therapy and I was more than happy to oblige! +P Too bad Salubri wasn't able to join us. Elbow Room was a no-brainer choice for me. Getting a better feel for the cue, and I can't wait to pair it with my break cue as well. The band was cool too!

December 8, 2006...

Venue : Ultimate Impact...
Da Players : Gaudi, Carlo D., Janette, Angel, Ivy, Myself and Janine...

Wasn't able to continue with the break-in. +P Played badminton with officemates instead over at Ultimate Impact. It sure helped getting my officemates to stretch their legs. Looks like I also stretched a muscle too far. An area near my left ribs has been bothering for a little over a week now and it was starting to bother me a lot more after the first hour of play.

It hurts to stretch or leap for a shot, to which I should apologize to my badminton partner for not being able to continue the point. Looks like I need to have this checked by next week.

Breaking In A New Cue Stick...

Just recently bought a cue stick dirt cheap. Thought of giving it the proper break-in...

December 5, 2006...

Paeng's Libis...

Played a few games with an officemate before going home and we tried to keep score. It ended with me ahead 8 games to his 3. For my initial assessment, the cue has that feel that was close enough to what I wanted. Just noticed that some of the shots were a bit off if I hit the cue too hard though, but that's most likely due to a combination of mechanics (which I really need to work on), table conditions as well as the use of a stock wooden tip. And besides, I suck at billiards. For close to 7 years I still couldn't make the 9-ball runout. +P

December 6, 2006...

Elbow Room Metrowalk...

Wanted to give the cue another break-in, this time at Elbow Room where hopefully some of the spotters that I inow there can replace the cue tip for me. I came in relatively early at 9:30am and did a quick game of 9-ball to see if I'm correct in my initial assessment regarding the stock wooden tip. I also did a 360-degree check of my surroundings and here's a few noteables:

Three girls by the bar. Two of them cute. One of them I later learned is named Angel... damn, why do they have to be named that? I wonder how would they react if I anonymously bought them a drink? Nah. +P

Four Koreans playing pool. They're everywhere. Hmmm... are there more Koreans and any of the other foreigners? Not much to go on there...

Another table the players were playing with what looked like expensive cues. Makes me wonder if I can play better with those kind of cues...

Lone guy practicing. If he stayed long enough I might even have the guts to approach him and challenge him to a friendly game...

Just noticed that as the band is preparing for their 2nd set, the lead singer is actually cute. They played the right songs. Just The Two Of Us, Cool With You, Falling, No Woman No Cry, Bizarre Love Triangle, True, Tattooed On My Mind, Ordinary Love. Remakes of Sitti, Frente, Jennifer Love Hewitt, DSound. Wow.

The cue was surprisingly consistent compared to the other cues I've used. For its value I'm starting to say its a good buy. Had the cue tip replaced though by the bar's spotters. The wooden tip needed replacement anyways. Resumed testing the cue again to see if the cue tip was installed properly.

Hmmm... Angel seems to be more interested watching me play than talking to her girl friends. Only when her friends went to the powder room was I able to ask her if she's interested in a game of pool. She respectfully declined and was content to watch since she was with friends and was expecting more of them to arrive. Nice. Bought her a drink anyways for being nice. I can wake up now. ;)

Looks like breaking in the new cue stick is on the right track. :D

We're Moving...

December 2, 2006...

Yep, we're in the middle of moving our site office to a bigger one. Weekday Warrior Sessions will be put on hold for a couple of days, as well as our overnight stays since the place doesn't have all the creature comforts built just yet.

Reming didn't hit Metro Manila as initially anticipated yesterday. December 1 started out unusually sunny and people have been asking around if we had plans. Ended up spending a night of 40k gaming over at Ronald's aka Midnight's house, plus a few games of poker afterwards. Click here for additional details. Yeah, wish I could do that more often. :)

Preludes and Nocturnes...

There is much to do in my kingdom.
Much to restore.
Much to create.

But that can wait...

I have found the solace I sought,
though not in the way I imagined.

From dreams I conjure a handful of yellow grain...

I throw the grain into the air.
And I hear it.

The sound of wings...