This evening, I went through the lower shelf of my wardrobe to and decided to finally clear out my track and field short-shorts that I have used in my short-lived track and field "career."

Got an old shoe box, and tried every way to carefully and efficiently store more than 10 short-shorts, majority of them coming from LSGH. AdMU sponsors suck. In my fourth year in High School, I got 5 sets of uniforms which is almost the total number of the uniforms I had in Ateneo. beh.

Really felt heavy while boxing them, I didn't know what this gesture meant for me. Is it finally saying to a dream that didn't come true? Am I finally embracing change? Or am I just trying to be a practical pack-rat? All of them are piling up in my wardrobe, and with my wardrobe also turning into containers of boxes for my Cyclops and Bret Hart figures, I had to do something about the lack of space in my cabinet. Boy, I miss my old wardrobe in Cervini, where I had lots of compartments for my clothes. Anyway, I haven't used my short-shorts for sometime unlike before when it was a hella way of life wearing them almost everyday. Ateneans and fellow dormers knew me of my short-shorts ("The hotness of Masterson Road." Bwahaha!). I sure do miss wearing a complete track gear -- warmer, jogging pants, shorts and singlet inside with a focused game-face (you talk to me, I will ignore you), while jogging below the stands of the Rizal Track & Field Stadium, warming-up and preparing for a hurdles race.

It just feels heavy boxing them all, kinda emo about it that's why I felt like blogging it. I sure do have a use for them still, like when I do my occasional jogging with Rocky in Ateneo, or during biking around. I don't feel like using them on the gym (which I'll try hard to revive for this year). It's not really saying goodbye to it -- I just placed them in another part of my cabinet, just behind my basketball shorts. I have to take care of them too, as some of them have lost their elasticity (bacon-ed) and some have lost their strings inside. They're a rarity in the sense that I don't get free short-shorts after working my butt off for the schools I used to represent.

Anyway, I'm trying to buy more basketball shorts for me because I have 28 basketball jerseys on my collection and I have about only 5 usable shorts (I can't use my two pink basketball shorts. Bah, why did they have to use pink as our class/team color).

Maybe someday it's my track singlets' turn to be boxed as my basketball jerseys are piling up as well. This blog entry reminds me of "school jerseys" reflection I wrote a couple of years back. :P Maybe sometime I'll post it with some revisions after writing my angst against our lack of sponsorship. Yeah, I was an angry immature kid then.

Speaking of gym, I'll try to be more active in the gym after a "weight-less" year of 2008. Time to buy me new sets of gym wear and gear.

I've done a similar version of a vacation log 4 years back. Funny, it feels like I've had a college Christmas break all over again. To be honest, I'm dying in boredom right now on a chilly Friday night and I couldn't go out right now due to my aching right foot (which is getting better, by the way) brought about by that bad new year incident.

Funny too, I'm raring to go back to work this January, and I'm truly hoping to have a very productive and challenging year ahead. The problem with long vacations is you don't appreciate it until it's gone. I just felt I've had too much of it. Right now, I'm staring at my PC and listening to old school OPM songs, and tossing with stuff to do. Remaining on my todo checklist are the following. Guess I'll not finish them all completely:

- PHP Programming (after a month of "resting")
- Finish writing history of my toy collection (and post it in the toy forums)
- Start another Bret Hart action figures/ memorabilia photography
- Create a customized action figures thread for beer44 on the toy forums :P
- Post Cyclops photography on the toy forums
- 2008 at a glance blog

Yeah, they're mostly online stuff. Anyway, here's a log of how I spent my Christmas vacation:

December 17 (Wed):
- took a leave from work, went to DTC Christmas party at night

December 18 (Thurs):
- took another leave from work due to cough and colds

December 19 (Fri):
- forced myself to go to work due to a product release. I wasn't able to finish it though.
- went to the 3rd Christmas Toy Convention in SM Megamall with Virgil. Was able to score a CS 13 Bret Hart for 150php for custom purposes.

December 20 (Sat):
- Ateneo day with Rocky! Drove her from her house all the way to Katipunan. Rocky walked like a duck. Munched donuts at Cello's Donuts, ate barbecue and fish sticks in the stalls in front of Gesu, attended Simbang Gabi from 8:30 - 9:30
- Went to the Stonebench's "Peace on Earth" Christmas party at Popo's place.

December 21 (Sun):
- Not much done except prepared stuff for our Malaysia trip
- Left Angono by 430PM, checked in by 630PM, and endured the 3 1/2 hour flight to Malaysia (suffered temporary deafness too due to excessive ear pressure)

December 22 (Mon):
- Arrived at Dorsett Hotel at 1:30AM, slept at 5AM
- Woke up at 830AM for breakfast, slept again from 10AM-1230PM
- Toured Bukit Bintang area on my own from 1PM - 2PM
- Kuala Lumpur City Tour in the afternoon, dinner at Seri Melayu
- Toured Bukit Bintang again, looking for an internet cafe to chat with Rocky

December 23 (Tue):
- Woke up at 6:30AM for our Melaka Tour
- Went to the following: St. Peter's Church, Portuguese settlements/ village, A Famosa, St. Paul's Church, Christ Church, Lunch at Nancy's Kitche, Cheng Hoon Teng, Jonker Street, Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum
- Sweated it out in the hotel gym late in the afternoon until sunset at 7pm, explored Bukit Bintang for toy shops again until 10PM (mall closing time)
- Chatted with Rocky again at the same internet cafe I went to the previous night

December 24 (Wed):
- Woke up late in the morning for the buffet breakfast
- Explored Kuala Lumpur on my own as I rode the railways going to Petronas. Got back 2 hours after
- Checked in at Sunway Hotel, went to Sunway Lagoon to explore the "eXtreme" rides. Lined-up and rode the Flying Fox, Linel and I crossed the world's longest hanging pedestrian bridge
- Ate dinner at Canton Bay in Sunway Pyramid Mall, camwhored at night in front of various Christmas decorations. We bought Santa Claus hats and took pictures. Christmas Eve in Malaysia is weird in a good way, it's really festive.
- Explored more of Sunway perimeter, enjoying the festive mood and taking pictures

December 25 (Thurs):
- Woke up early so we can maximize our Sunway Lagoon experience
- Rode various rides in the amusement and water parks, upgraded to scream park
- Ate dinner again at Canton Bay, left Sunway by 9PM
- Checked in early by 10PM, watched WWE Smackdown! on TV while waiting for our flight at 130AM

December 26 (Fri):
- Arrived at Manila in NAIA 3 by 430AM, arrived back in Angono by 730AM. Caught up with online life until 9AM before I slept again and woke up 3PM.
- Early dinner with the family at Max's Restaurant in Taytay, visited Tita Emy's house in the evening for my exchange gift with my cousins.
- Caught up with my online life more until 4AM

December 27 (Sat):
- Woke up late, went to Rocky by 3PM. Got my Nike Team Pilipinas jersey from her.
- Went to Fort Bonifacion and caught up with her in a new Starbucks cafe for us (I lost count, haha)
- Went to Bonifacio High Street and Rocky bought me my Nike Team Pilipinas Shorts as Christmas gift, to match my jersey
- Looked for Rocky's Christmas gift but we couldn't find any. :(
- Spent most of my time at Fully Booked reading wrestling books while Rocky does her own shopping

December 28 (Sun):
- My birthday! See here
- Highlights include: Driving, CPK, Baler, new Adidas shoes, Tender Bob's, Iskul Bukol
- Replied to Facebook people who sent me their greetings.
- Loosecollector gave me a prototype version of the Stan Lee Cyclops I commissioned him to do. Gave him the correct colors based on the research I did.

December 29 (Mon):
- Woke up late, cleaned my Macintosh iBook using the "Super Eraser" that Kirby bought. And boy, it did its purpose, my iBook feels like new again!
- Played 2 basketball games at Richmond Village (lost both games along with the softdrinks bet huhu)
- Jersey photography; posted updates to my jersey collection on the toy forums (under the "non-toy" collection threads)
- Watched PBA replay on BTV (Air21 vs. Purefoods, wildcard) while writing blog entry for birthday

December 30 (Tues):
- Woke up late (again), caught up with Virgil at Starbucks Ortigas, and reported for work
- Loosecollector called up, saying that the Stan Lee Cyclops was corrected and ready to be shipped to me. :D
- Uploaded Malaysia and Birthday pics at Multiply
- Debugged installer release issues
- Dinner at Racks. Ahh, missed baby back ribs. Yum!
- Rocky and Diane dropped by Jollibee Plaza to bring my pahabol birthday gift: a half dozen box of Cello's donuts from Katipunan. Yay :D Thanks Rocky. :-)
- Spent remaining time scrutinizing and fixing Virgil's latest customized figures for me; sealed/varnished the three customs he did for me plus the repainted Super Hero Squad Stan Lee Cyclops.

December 31 (Wed):
- Woke up on a drizzling afternoon
- Played 2 basketball games again in Richmond Village (lost both games again, huhu)
- Rushed to Save More Grocery in Angono to buy Michael's dried squid strips for exchange gift
- Spent time on fixing Rocky's gifts to me on my magic box, while chatting with Rocky
- Mom's extended family celebrated New Year on Tita Baby's house. Brought my iBook with me.
- Got injured from a fireworks accident (see here)
- Really had bad time walking around. :-(

January 1 (Thurs):
- Woke up on a drizzling cold afternoon
- Right foot getting better though still feeling pain/ hot compress followed by ice
- Rocky and Rhesa dropped by Angono to visit me and bring maki :D Thanks Rocky :-) Really appreciate it :-)
- Slept while watching 2008 Survivor Series replay on Jack TV (hehe)
- Watched PBA replay (Talk 'n Text vs. San Miguel on Singapore) while chatting with Virgil on the latest custom projects
- Posted 3 Multiply albums on Malaysia
- Funny, I actually left my PC turned on from 8PM to 2AM without anyone using it, and I was just on my iBook the entire time in our TV area.

January 2 (Fri):
- Woke up again on a very cold afternoon
- Boring afternoon/ evening. Attempted to do PHP programming but never got past creating a new table in the database. Debugged problems discovered too.
- Chatted with Rocky in the evening
- Cyclops customs photoygraphy by beer44/Virgil, followed by vintage Bret Hart toys photoygraphy
- Posted 3 more Multiply albums on Malaysia
- Started this Christmas Vacation Log

January 3 (Sat):
- Met Rocky at SM Taytay, had Starbucks and went shopping for my family's needs, plus bought new everyday socks
- Dinner at "Bahay Kawayan" in Taytay over Calamares and Crispy Pata. Yum! Accompanied her until Tikling
- Caught up with Sir Jope, my Philo 101 teacher, over Multiply. Funny, I asked him the answer to one of his quizzes some years ago. haha!
- Posted remaining 3 Multiply albums, including my birthday album
- Chatted with Virgil on his great WrestleMania 4 Bret Hart customized figure WIPs (Work In Progress pictures) that I asked him to do. Can't wait to see it personally!
- Posted my basketball jersey collection over at Jersey Collectors Philippines (JCP). Tedious task especially Multiply's slow.
- Thanked those who sent their late greetings on Facebook, and finally finished this blog. Haha.

Funny, with a day to go, I feel like vacation's bitin. Again, one of those things that you don't see until it's gone. Hope everyone had a very productive vacation in time for work tomorrow. :-)

Now I'm a statistic in the government.

While everyone was celebrating fireworks in Tita Baby's house with all of my cousins in here, a cousin of mine attempted to fire some fireworks that's supposed to go to the skies. I was walking innocently away to see a better view of the fireworks, but as I was walking, I felt a very hard object hitting my right foot (yeah, sucks I wasn't wearing shoes). It's like a golf ball or golf club traveling at miles per hour and hit my foot. First instinct is to run away. At that point I thought that I'd be able to still play basketball at Richmond Village later but the pain was just terrible, I asked for help. Apparently that firework (or whatever it is), the base got unstable that it fired horizontally than vertically. Even one of my titas got wounded, it was just fortunate that she was wearing leggings.

Lo and behold, a big bukol on my right foot.

Kirby, along with my cousins drove me to Angono Medics Hospital. We all swear Kirby drove like crazy, drifting on the parking of the hospital. We got the scare of our lives. He definitely got the mad skillz (read: kaskasero) of Maestro Rodel, our family driver. Kirby, you're fcuking crazy!

I disturbed their medya noche, and I was the first casualty of the year (the next patient had asthma attack) in their newly furbished hospital. Nothing serious according to the doctor. The wound was just "mababaw", it scratched my skin. Good thing that stupid firework or whatever it is didn't explode on my foot. Unfortunately, I couldn't walk properly. I think I'll be able to in a week's time. Funny incident reminds me of the glass jalousie which dropped on my right foot back in June 2003, or this 35lbs barbell plate which I dropped on my right foot when I was called by coach back in the track team. Yeah, funny stories with my right foot.

Not sure if I can go to work on Monday (there goes my jersey and toys delivered to our office! huhu!), hopefully I can. Darn. My vacation got extended.

I'll be missing basketball. Huhu. Don't worry everyone, I'm safe. :D Don't worry Rocky :)

Happy New Year to all!

PS: Thanks Lester, Avin, Kirby and Michael for the assist :) To you Linel too for being my alalay for the night. hahaha.

Yesterday was a great day, especially that I spent majority of it with my loved ones.

I had no definite plans on my birthday. Rocky thought of taking us out of town, but she had a minor surgery last week which limited her movements (so explains why I've been driving her lately). While her surgery was a bad timing on my birthday, she had to do it earlier so we can have a stress-free Boracay trip late January next year. So I suggested settling in a mall, eat in a good restaurant, and just watch "Baler" and another film in the Metro Manila Film Festival.

I started the day when Mom woke me up and asked me if we can eat lunch instead of dinner. I promised my Mom and my siblings to treat them on my birthday in some fancy restaurant. For me it was a toss between In-Yo Fusion Cuisine in Katipunan (where Rocky and I spent our 3rd anniversary and the site of my old dorm back in college) or California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in Shangri-La Mall. I decided on the latter for more convenience since Katipunan is far from malls, and I'm not sure if In-Yo was open yesterday. We're a family who wakes up late, so we left home by 1PM (without lunch), I picked up Rocky from her home and drove her car with her mom tagging along so we can drop her off in SM Megamall, before we followed my Mom and my siblings at CPK where they've ordered food already.

We ordered for about 2 pizza, 2 salad, and 3 different pastas (including my favorite Portobello Ravioli), all of them we amazingly finished. Yeah, we're a family of growing kids (though I've cut down on carbs already) especially Kirby and Linel. The bill was damaging, but I've allocated budget for it already and besides, it was my treat to my family especially my Mom, for all her goodness in our family. We left CPK at 3PM very full of food in our stomachs, as I parted ways with my family.




We left CPK and looked around for my long-awaited casual shoes/sneakers that I've been planning to buy since November. I picked my choices (3 shoes from Adidas) and looked around for more. I chanced upon the ticketing booth at the ground floor and discovered that "Baler" is about to start in minutes. Rocky and I bought tickets for the 4PM showing, and we headed immediately to the theaters.

I don't normally watch Filipino movies but since this is a Metro Manila Film Festival season, I don't have a choice. Well, I'm interested with "Baler" too, since I really love movies based on history. I'd say "Baler" isn't a bad movie and it deserves its "Best Picture" title from the MMFF awards night. I love the story and drama behind it (yeah, there were tearjerker moments HAHA), though there were really dragging moments in the movie especially the waiting part for the Spanish army to go out of the church which lasted almost a year, or the too much drama and emphasis on crying moments. Too bad the movie ended in a sad note, but it would be ridiculous also if it ended in a happy note. Anne Curtis is a good choice for the actress, but she really didn't look like a typical Pinay in the early 1900s. I love the humor from the film, especially that part of holding a fiesta in front of the church to destroy the morale of the starving Spanish soldiers. That scene reminded us of the bizarre moments in Philippine history which our History 165 teacher Dr. Habana would probably tell us in a chismis manner. This should rank in the great Filipino films in my book, behind Jose Rizal, Bagong Buwan (both by my favorite actor Cesar Montano), and Dekada '70 -- all of them are based on Filipino history.

We proceeded to 5th floor to hear mass when the movie ended. The homily was meaningful but it was darn too long! The mass lasted for 1 hour and 10 minutes with the lengthy send-off blessing/prayer! Man, priests should learn to shorten their homilies to 5 minutes and they should learn that from Jesuits! Nonetheless, it was a good opportunity to thank the Lord for all the goodness and the blessings he has given me on the past year. I know and I feel, I'm truly blessed with the people around me. :-)

After the mass, Rocky and I finally bought the casual shoes of my choice: an Originals Adidas "Country II" navy blue/white shoe. I love its fit and how it looks really nice with my pants. Finally I have a non-Accel shoe! My other choices include Adidas' blue/white tennis shoes, any Adidas Superstar II shoe (even Adicolor), or a Nike Sweet Classic shoe (but there aren't any blue-esque Sweet Classic shoe around). What a nice way to bring something home for my birthday. :D




The next movie that we planned to watch, "Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After" was scheduled at 9:45PM, so we killed time by eating dinner in Tender Bob's. Rocky treated me to a "starving" order of Rib-eye steak! I was reeling off from our CPK late-lunch, yet another heavy meal is upon me. While I'm a sucker for steaks, it was just funny that I couldn't finish my meal. Thank you very much Rocky for the treat :-)




For our last activity for the day, Rocky and I proceeded back to the theaters for "Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After." I have vague memories of the series 20 years back; all I can remember is watching the sitcom on my grandmother's house while I'm wearing some school uniform even if I wasn't studying then. Funny memory. Anyway, the movie was a big disappointment to say the least. While it has attempts to go beyond and do more, it's just another typical Filipino slapstick comedy-drama-dance number flick. There wasn't any much throwback to the series save for the clips that were shown during the song-and-dance number. It's a ripoff of Indiana Jones with Vic Sotto leading (or taking too much of the "bida" role) as renowned archeologist Vic Ongasis. In fairness, the film did attempt to do special effects, but the story lacks substance. The film did have laugh-out-out moments like Ruby Rodriguez doing a sexy pose on the phone of Tito Escalera. Sorry to say (and sorry to TVJ for all their legendary status in Filipino entertainment history), the movie wasn't worth our money. They should have emulated "Rocky Balboa" movie by picking various elements in the past and develop on that; not create another entire different story from what "Iskul Bukol" and "Wanbol University" stands for.




I drove Rocky once again in the late night, and wow, it was really a great experience with my girl around and with my family. I'm just hoping that nothing bad will happen on our Bora trip a month from now, just so I can extend my birthday for a month more, hehe. It was a great day to start the first day of my 25th year of existence, and I loved every moment of it. Thank you very much Rocky for being a big part of it. Thank you too Mom for raising me up properly in the past 25 years :-)

The day ended with me thanking all my contacts in facebook who wished me a happy birthday, even those whom I haven't talked with in years. Every year, I write down all birthday greetings from my phone too. hehe.

For my birthday, I got two great presents from two great friends! I keep on saying, my friends make me lucky. Virgil gave me a "Marvels" 10th Anniversary Hardcover graphic novel (which was on sale at Fully Booked) as early as last week or two. I've read it two years back, and now I own a central piece in Marvel history. Great story, jaw-dropping and salivating art by Alex Ross. Script was included as well, which comprised the other half of the graphic novel.





Lastly, Rocky, cool and sweet as she is, gave me a complete uniform of Nike Team Pilipinas: the shorts for Christmas, and the jersey for my birthday. When these came out back in November, I was hesitant to buy one because of the hefty price tag and my favorite players Caguioa and Hontiveros aren't included in the line-up. Lo and behold, my girlfriend bought it for me (well I wished for it, hahaha!). Nike Park in Bonifacio High Street offers free printing of numbers on the jerseys as long as the jersey was bought in a Nike store (Nike Park or Stadium), but she bought mine at Planet Sports, which disqualifies my jersey for the promo. I don't mind it anyway, since as I've said Caguioa and Hontiveros aren't on Yeng Guiao's line-up (if they were included, I would have asked Nike to print either "4" or "7" on the jersey). I love the fit of the jersey on me. Tight-fitting. It's gym-inspiring, haha! Indeed I'm a lucky man. Thank you Rocky! :-)




The first day of my 25th year started with a bang. I'm just hoping that this year will be a good, if not a better one, despite the economic crisis. Thank You Lord for the great day and for another year full of blessings. :-)

Looking back in my previous "Twenty Four" entry, I can say that life has been really good to me. A lot of things to be very thankful for.

Twenty-four has been stable, a generally happy one. No life-changing events (except for Bit's marriage, haha!).

I got to see new places with Rocky and my family, I've gained more collectibles for my collection, I have a stable job (although that's a different story), and I have good friends, a great girlfriend, a great family, and I'm in a good company. Heck, Ginebra and Ateneo won a pair of championships too! People around me make me lucky. There's too much to be thankful for, and I'm truly grateful.

So at 25, what's in store for me, I wonder. I think I'm supposed to act a little future/career oriented. 24 wasn't really the best, career wise, but I'm still lucky to have a job despite the economic crisis. I guess I have to be a little competitive in my career, so I'll try to work on that. Quarter-life crisis should set in soon, although I don't want to dwell on that too much. My action figures collection will take a little backseat, although I'm not totally eliminating it. I've worked on not hanging/clinging on too much on basketball games last year. I think I've to work on my 5 year goal, and try to refine it further. On a personal note, I'll try to be a little healthier and try hitting the gym or working out again. I don't want to sulk and look at my ol' glory days at track team years ago. I'm starting to get fat in my point of view. Sleeping habits? I've been sleeping at 3AM over the past 2 years. I'll try to bring it a little earlier at 2AM. haha.

Maybe in 2-3 years, I'll be a family man (as my ideal marrying age is 27 or 28 -- no Bit, not following your footsteps yet hehe). Or maybe occupy a "more" senior position in some company. Or earning big bucks. I don't know. But I have to probably act "more" maturely in terms of goals and career. I'm not totally eliminating my "personal" life, I'll just have to be a little future-oriented (but not totally much). On a funny note, Mom got married at 24, and she bore my sister at 25. At 25, I'm still single (i.e. not married). hahaha. Nah, I'm not rushing things when it comes to family life. I'm pretty sure Rocky's thinking the same thing also :P

Anyway, to two of my friends who remembered to separate the gifts for Christmas and my birthday, thank you very much! I got a Marvels Hardcover Graphic Novel from Virgil and an uber-cool Nike Team Pilipinas 2008/2009 Jersey from Rocky. :) Indeed, I'm a lucky bastard to have two generous friends. I got my wish too for a vacation, thanks Mom :)