Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label personal

Idea / Inspiration for a "green" mountain resort village

So back in November, we went back to Siparok, Jose Dalman, Zamboanga del Norte to check on our properties there and meet with our tenants. I had an opportunity to see my aunt's semi-organic farm, and I gotta say that I am inspired by it. I want to do something similar with our own lands there. It is a beauty.

Chilaxin' in San Rem

Last April 8-10, the company went out for some much deserved break. This year, they decided to hold the company outing at Hagnaya Beach Resort and Restaurant in San Remegio, Cebu. The place is excellent. Although the beach isn't great (the sand isn't white and it's kinda muddy because it's a mangrove area), the resort doesn't lack facilities. The pool is fantastic with slides, floaters, mini pools, a poolside bar. The restaurant serves buffet breakfast and lunch (and I think dinner also). So many function rooms and you can have a choice between air-conditioned function rooms or open air (by the sea). There's like a play area with a billiards table and a ping pong table, a basketball court, the whole shebang. And we had free use of all facilities. There's even kayaking and boat riding but I didn't get to do those because it was too hot. Come to think of it. I didn't get to do much of anything. Not even go into the pool. I ate and slept and talked a...

R.I.P. Barrack

Born: 2011 Died: April 5, 2016 It's terrible. I'm still torn up about it. But I hope he was happy during his stay with us and that he is in a better place now. Bye, Barrack.

Talisay Trees at Moalboal's Old San Juan Nepomuceno Parish Church

This brings back old memories of seemingly endless summer days spent biking, climbing up trees, playing in the water.... Summer afternoons were for catechism classes and Flores de Mayo novena prayers at the old San Juan Nepomuceno Parish Church in Moalboal, Cebu. You can see part of its facade to the extreme left of this picture. Today, the facade is all that remains of this church -- a 100-year-old remnant of the past and a testament to my youth. The new church building stands a few steps away.

Look, Ma, I'm making a mess.

Boris with his favorite toy: dry caimito leaf....

Good morning, sunshine

Battling my existential malaise by working out. Morning jog, it is. This was taken along South Road Properties Coastal Road, Talisay City. I did 2.31km in around 8 mins. Not bad for being out of shape. My last run was in January.

Buggy Internet Connection

The state of internet in the Philippines is deplorable. Not only is it very expensive, it's also very slow. One of the slowest in fact, according to this kinda old news . Add to that all the other issues, such as the general unreliability of ISPs, data caps, severely restricted and selectively "free" access to certain sites, our internet is really not worth its price tag. Hell, if I'm paying $18.19 per mbps of internet, I better damn get the best service there is. But, no. The reality is harsh. The ISP field right now has only two real players: PLDT and Globe Telecom. There used to be smaller players out there: Bayantel and SUN Cellular (Digitel). But SUN Cellular was acquired by PLDT and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT while Bayantel was also recently taken over by Globe Telecom in a move that had PLDT hypocritically crying foul. Bottom line: Internet consumers in the Philippines have only two choices, and what a choice. One is slower but m...

So Long, Facebook

After 48 years, I've finally decided it's time to say goodbye. I've talked about deleting my Facebook account for a while now. I only kept it for this long (I've had the account since when FB first went public and worldwide back when you only get an account by invitation) because it was how I stayed connected with family and friends. But IT'S OVER, FACEBOOK. I'm done. I'm free. p.s. Apparently, I can log back in and everything will be just as I left it. >_>

2016 Resolutions

I'm doing one this year. 1. Take up running again. 3 times a week. 2. Do some strength training. 3. Finish one book per month. 4. Write something. Even fanfic. 5. Work on my webcomic/draw again. 6. Work smarter. 7. Invest in business. 8. Travel. 9. Meet new people. 10. Save.

Last Day of 2015

It's been a whirlwind of a year. Started out good with a job doing what I love, a mentor I thought I could look up to, younger associates I could teach and share knowledge with, a supportive relationship. Granted I put my own practice, family and friendships on hold for my job -- I was doing alright financially. Then in March, it started falling apart. One by one, my co-workers left. I think I was numb that entire time. When my S.O. came to visit, I took a week off. In retrospect, that helped a lot. But I couldn't get back to work. That's a testament to who much I loved the work because it was unbearably lonely in that office by myself. Most of the time I could tune it out when I'm focused on the work, but there are moments when I feel it. And the stress was getting to me. I was getting back aches and hyperacidity like every week. Add to that the change in the work dynamic and by the time May hit, my mindset was that I'm not leaving yet . The keyword of course ...

Making mature choices

Today was supposed to be the day I went canyoneering in Alegria with a bunch of my cousins. I was so ready. I had my water shoes, water-proof pouch for my iPhone, extra clothes.... Then as I was charging my phone, I decided to check Facebook and one of the notifications was from IBP announcing that the executive judge was conditionally accepting petitions for renewal of notarial commission even without an OBC clearance yet. Provided, the OBC clearance is submitted before January 16, 2016. I was resigned to filing a new application for notarial commission because I thought I'd never get my OBC clearance in time. But this changed everything and I dropped my canyoneering plans to go to the city immediately and file my petition. Court was only open for half a day. Afterwards, I just went straight to the bus terminal and take the next bus home. And the funny thing is that just now our office manager emailed me my OBC clearance. Ha-ha. There was a time when I would have ignored ...

Christmas 2015 and the theme is family

This Christmas we got to spend it with just family - my brothers and their wives and kids, mom and dad, me. My sister didn't come home but we skyped in the morning. It was nice and quiet and fun. The kids make it fun. I got gifts :) A fiber glass egg from Lithuania A bronze ashtray from Abu Dhabi (I don't smoke -_-)

Lone Wolf & Cub

This arrived in a box last week. An early Christmas gift from my sister. LOVE IT!~ I've heard of this manga back when I still read manga voraciously. Lone Wolf & Cub always tops the list of best mangas out there. But it isn't available as a scanlation so I never got to read it. (Yes, I read most of mangas as scanlations. Sorry, I'm poor. I do buy mangas when they're available at BookSale but they ran out of the good ones.) So this is great. I'm starting to read the first volume. Man, these things are thick. The drawings are really good and I love the stories. I enjoy the Edo period. One of my favorite mangas is Blade of the Immortal and that one's pure Edo. Lone Wolf & Cub is said to be more accurate in its portrayal of the customs of the time period though. :)

Google Streetview Car in Cebu

On my way to Moalboal, Cebu yesterday, while driving along the South National Highway, along Minglanilla, Cebu, I saw this little bugger weaving around the heavy traffic in the area. I didn't realize what it was at first but the strange contraption on top of it piqued my interest. Upon closer inspection, I saw the logo on the driver's side window: GoogleMaps. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Google Streetview car. Amazing. Never thought I'd see one in my little corner of the world. It's pretty awesome when I think about it. So I think we're finally getting accurate streetviews of our provinces. :) I googled streetview cars and I found out that Google apparently updates its streetview pictures at least once a year to ensure accuracy of the information. Very cool.

Opus in Progressu

Welcome to my home office! So after like a month of deciding, moving furniture and adding accents here and there, it's finally finished. I must say, I like the overall result. And I'm glad I didn't do anything drastic like buy that super expensive printer, shelf, table and chair set for P30k. It turned out I didn't need any of it because the glass table does just as well as an office table and I transferred my, uhh, pirated books to my room, away from public view. Yes, those were books I bought with my hard-earned money while still a law student. But I can't honestly face my clients with that poor man's collection of law books. So to the attic with you, my children. I bought a cheaper printer unit by Brother that will serve its purpose for now. Work is slow for now. It's why I'm also actively job hunting to help cover my daily expenses. More about my job hunting experiences later. But, yes, welcome to my home office. :)

Shady's Back

I'm baaacckkkkk! With a brand new spunky new template and a rebel title. Eheheheh. The title is a quote from Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse, one of my favorite books of all time. Don't ask me why. I don't know why it's my favorite book, considering that it is very depressing. It's basically about this 50-year old guy who is trying to commit suicide. But it's an extremely quotable book and I laaaaaabbbb eeetttttt. So, what's up with me? I've been to hell and back. Tell you all about it later. The important thing is, I'm back! Am I right or am I right? Aww yiiisss.

Holidays: No present for me

It's the Holidays. I'm looking forward to spending it with the family, which would be my mother, my brother and his wife, and my four nephews. My father would have to stay at our house here in the city because we don't want to leave the house unattended, what with all our dogs. We have four now, did I mention that? There's my baby, of course, Boris, a shi tzu/japanese chin or maybe japanese spitz mutant creature lol. There's Barack, whose breed I'm still trying to figure out. He's our biggest dog and the quietest (although he can be loud when he's in one of his watchdog moods). Then there's Humay, previously called "Judge," who is the basic irong bisaya. And finally, there's Boris' own baby, Crystal, the only girl and so acts like one of the boys. A dyed-in-the-blue tomboy. If Dad lets me drive my car home to Moalboal for the Christmas, maybe I can bring Boris with me, but that's a long shot because the last time I drove down th...

As a kid

Photo from here . I had a mean streak. When I was in first grade, there were these two kids that I used to bully all the time. One was a boy and the other a girl. I'll never forget their names until the day I die. God, I was so mean to them. I'd pinch them for no reason at all, and at one point I'd stick them with  mahjong  and I'd even press hard so it would  hurt . I don't know the official name of mahjong  but it's a kind of weed that has thorny/spiky flowers/seeds. I think I probably punched the boy, too. As for the girl, well, she was almost my neighbor and there were so few people living near our place that time and we were the only ones with a TV set, so this girl and her brothers and friends would come to our place to watch TV, and I'd be there watching them. Closely . They'd watch TV from outside our window but we had these flowerbeds right beneath the window and my mother always made sure that they never stepped on these flowerbeds. So tak...

The "Pretentious" Book Meme

From here . Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. Instructions: 1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read ENTIRELY 2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE. 3) Star (*) those you plan on reading. 4) Tally your total at the bottom. My two cents 1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen X+ 2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte X+ 4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee X+ 6 The Bible X (yes, that happens when you go to a Catholic school and attend summer catechism classes) 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte X+ 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell X+ 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens * 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott X+ 12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller * 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (Not all but quite a few) 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR...

Meme!

MEME Bold the things that apply, italicize the things that sort of apply and leave the rest as is; you know the drill. i am happy. sad. a good friend. adventurous. shy . confident. procrastinating . a male. bored . anxious. clumsy. sociable. always punctual. selfish. intelligent. funny. a female. sarcastic. insecure. sick. beautiful. articulate. loud. kind. even tempered. honest. short. tall. medium height. proud of myself. loving. witty. down to earth. outspoken. determined. high-maintenance. pretty. assertive. organized. selfless. awesome. i have brown hair . hazel eyes. brown eyes. blue eyes. curly hair. long fingernails. braces. chipped nail polish. long legs. straight hair. a fringe. long eyelashes. sore feet. freckles. dark skin. medium skin. green eyes. blonde hair. dyed hair. short legs. red hair. big breasts. rosy cheeks. wavy hair. black hair. small-ish waist. tattoos. piercings. big ears. short hair. i ♥ people. flowers. kisses. summer. coffee. the...