Highlights of 2008

Since it's the last day of 2008, lemme just reminisce on what happened in '08:

January. Flew back to Ashburn, VA. Was assigned to a project in Greenville, South Carolina. Became friends with my colleagues (& a certain four-footed friend) in Greenville. Came to love Indian cuisine. Did geocaching for the first time. Saw the MacBook Air for the first time. Started hotel living, airport hopping, and to earn miles from United Airlines.

February. Tom, Ogz & I went to New York. I won in the "Wicked" raffle which entitled me to buy the Broadway ticket for only 26 bucks (usually a good seat costs 300++). Only 13 names were called. I was so freakin' happy. Bought my MacBook Air (my baby). Came to love Ed Hardy.

March. Bought a Kenneth Cole bag for my MBA. Attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. Vicky, our friend in Greenville, introduced us to so many good food.

April. Attended a candle party in Greenville. Ogz & I tried Greek in Alexandria. Knottydon goes Emo.

May. Got my Wii Fit. Went to Six Flags with friends.

June. Disney joined the clan. Was reassigned to a project in Indiana. Visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Went back to Alexandria with friends.

July. Went back home. Lost thousand bucks in my carryon luggage =o( Saw the Manila office for the first time. Visited family in Boracay. Met Disney for the first time.

August. Renewed my L-1 VISA. Got my iPhone 3G at long last. Went back to the US. Attended my company outing at Hershey Park. Went to New York again with Joy & Ogz. Visited Chelsea Market. Bumped into Janice Dickinson.  

September. Attended Arts Festival in Alexandria. Began my addiction to A|X.

October. Spent Halloween in New York. Attended the Hot Air Balloon Fest in Historic Long Branch.

November. Watched "Equus" on Broadway. Went ice skating in Central Park. Thanks to my friend, Jett, I was able to see the inside of White House. Watched Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in NYC and saw a bunch of Hollywood stars. Shopped at Woodbury Premium Outlets. Bought my Christian Audigier shoes.

December. Went back home again. Completed my coin collection. Wine drinking in Tagaytay (thanks, Nikks). Visited my family in Boracay.  

Almost Over You, 2008

*sigh* Can't believe 2008 is almost over. 2009, I've heard is the year of the Ox. That means, it's my year. That is good, right?

Anyhoo, 2008 has been very good to me (thank God). There's a HUGE loss of money last July though but I'm thankful that my "kamalasan" went to my money and not my health. LIke what I always hear from my friends, "Pera lang yan!" 

Tomorrow, I'll make a list of the highlights of the year that was.

Sneezing Panda

Meet Disney

This second niece of mine is one pretty nugget. Curly hair and beautiful eyes.

Just after two days, she ain't afraid of me anymore. Whenever I call her, "Disney", she gives me this beautiful smile. She knows how to smile with her eyes at 6 months.

At night, she cries all the time. I give props to her mom, Angela, who takes care of her all day long.

The last time I saw her, this was in July, I thought she'd be the darkest among the siblings. But she became fairer a few months later.

Meet Princess Fiona

This pretty niece of mine is super sweet. She is also a copycat. Whatever her Kuya says, she repeats.

Fiona is also moody. You won't hear anything from her after she wakes up. She just doesn't wanna talk.

She is also her Kuya's PDA. She reminds him constantly to pray and say grace.

Some say that I look like her. I dunno. Maybe it's the dimples.

She may also be Japanese. Her favorite expression is, "Tito Dondon, raro tayo!" (Uncle Dondon, let's play!)

She beats the hell out of her Kuya in Wii Boxing.

She likes to play "Crazy Penguin Catapult" in my iPhone.

Lastly, Fiona burps like a man... a BIG man!

Meet Lance Angelo

This nephew of mine is fun to be with. At 7, I could already ask him to do things for me. I've never had a younger bro/sis so it's fun to be a King when I'm with him ;oP

After my daily bath, he & Fiona would put powder on my back. That's an automatic task for them. Whenever I need something, they get it done for me. Sweet!

Lance loves pizza. We like to order this Italian pizza and he could eat the whole thing in 5 minutes. I am not kidding.

At nighttime, he sleeps beside me. Sometimes he uses my arm as his extra pillow. The problem is, Lance is a Sleepwalker and a Sleeptalker! What a combo! Last July, he woke up in the middle of the night, stood up and made some movements like he's playing Wii. And then last night, he was doing some control adjustments like he's flying an airplane. Remind me not to teach Lance kickboxing!

He likes to play "Counter Strike" and "Topple" & "Speedboat" in my iPhone.

He is a work in progress too. I need to teach him how to use the serving spoon and cover his mouth whenever he coughs.

Christmas in Bora

It's my second time to celebrate Christmas in Bora. Unlike last year when we spent the holidays at a resort where my bro used to work, this time, we just celebrated it at home.

It's always fun to have a baby in the house. Disney is already 6 month old. She doesn't recognize me yet as her Tito Dondon. I'm beginning to work my charm on her though.The father of my sis-in-law brought their MagicSing. Unforch, I still don't have my voice back. But that didn't stop me from trying to sing "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All". I just change the key to sing the low notes.Before midnight, we got visitors... the rest of Angela's family.

When the clock struck 12, the kids rushed to the Christmas tree and opened their presents. I'm glad they liked what I gave them. Lance got a remote controlled airplane while Fiong-Fiong got a nice Barbie with a toy doggie that looks like West. What's funny is, the dog eats and poops ;oP Both got some Disney items too.I gave Angela her VS undies and some tops. Kuya got his A|X shirts from me. I was surprised to get boxers from Angela and a tee shirt from her sister, Joan.Mom got her slippers, blanket, jacket and meds. Everyone is happy ('cept Disney in the photo)

Trip to Bora

Before leaving Bulacan, I asked my neighbor if I could rent a vehicle so my trip to the airport would be faster. I don't think I can handle stress if I miss my flight. Thank God, I got one. I paid the driver 2500. We reached Terminal 3 at noon.

My flight is at 2:15 so I immediately looked for the check-in counter. When it was my turn, I was advised to step aside first. Not a good sign.

I found out that the President used the airport all to herself this morning. Which means, all other flights got pushed back. Sonofa!

Cebu Pac was still looking for a flight for us. The 3 o'clock flight got delayed till 6 pm. Instead of Caticlan, they'd travel first to Kalibo and travel for two hours back to Caticlan. That means, they'll reach Boracay around 10. It's not an option for me. 

After waiting for several minutes, I was informed that my new flight was at 2:30. Not bad.

I paid 200 for the terminal fee. Looked for a place to have lunch. I found Hen Lin and bought some siopao and siomai.

At 2:15, I went to my gate and found out that my flight got delayed again. We were told to wait. Crap!

At 3 pm, we were informed that our flight leaves at 3:50. Ugh! I was already praying that I won't spend the whole afternoon in the airport.

While waiting, I bought some Mrs. Fields cookies for my family in Bora and got myself some coffee.

At 4 pm, it was time to go. Finally!!!

After an hour, I got to see Caticlan airport again. I claimed my bag quickly and found a tricycle that would take me to the Jetty airport. Paid 75 bucks. Another 100 for the Environmental Fee and Terminal Fee. After a few minutes, I got to see Kuya and Lance again who picked me up at Cagban.

Very happy to see Mommy, Angela, Fiona and Disney again.

A Visit from Joey & Joe

Two familiar faces appeared in the office today, Joey & Joe, our friends from Singapore. Mega-chickahan ever.

We had dinner at a nearby resto called Mom & Tina's, a place where we see many customers eating all the time. Joey, Joe, Ogz and I all ordered their pork barbecue. Raz got some steak, I think, while Jhie ordered some pasta. The food was just otay. Ogz commented that it tastes like something you can get at some outdoor food stall. Table joined us later and ordered the barbecue too ;oP

Around 9, we looked for a place where we can have a few drinks. Bistro 101 in Palanca street, it was.

Ogz, Raz and I had to go back to the office for some demo. Regrouped again around 11 pm.

The catching up continued until 2 in the morning. I miss all my friends in Singapore. Hopefully, next year, we could all visit the place again. Maybe, celebrate my birthday there once more. Do some shopping. Watch the Formula One race. Let's see....

No VPN

Woke up alone in the couch. It's already Monday and I still have to go back to Makati for more work.

We left Tagaytay and reached Makati around 11-ish. Had no VPN connection the whole day. My stay here is worthless.

To make this day memorable, I went shopping at CK and bought my weekend bag. It's made of leather. Instead of zippers, the enclosure is magnetic. It's spacious inside. The bag itself is very light. It's love at first sight!

Tagaytay Weekend, Part Two

When I woke up, I heard my friends commenting about the nice view of the nearby volcano from our bedroom. I had a mild hangover so my mind was somewhere else.Took a quick shower and joined my friends at the breakfast table (setup at the patio). Everyone was there. We were served fried bangus, omelette, corned beef and luncheon meat. I still had no appetite but I had to eat something. Good thing coffee was served too.Tagaytay Highlands was our first trip. David and friends frequent there for badminton. I heard from Nikks that he spends 3 hours playing badminton. And when we saw him there later, his game was intense. He played doubles with his boyfriend, a trainer and a driver.

We urged Table to play too. She bought some outfit at a nearby store before joining them. They played 2 games and in both games, our friend's team lost. We shouted, "Nice game, David! Nice outfit, Table".Afterwards, we checked out the place. They have an indoor basketball court, pingpong tables, Wii games, computers and swimming pool. Outside, they have cable car, pools and gardens. Perfect for another photo op.Before joining David and his friends, we had a few drinks. I ordered some Gatorade 'cause I still wasn't feeling well.We left the place around 4 and went back to David's home.

Another drinking session ensued. Nikks was telling everyone that she wanted to get drunk. So they kept on pouring the wine. We had some cheese, ensaymada and century egg to go with the wine. My tummy was screaming for more food. Nikks gave me some palabok.David decided to continue the fun at the Peak bar. We had a detour at some wine store.'twas already dark and foggy outside. Shine drove for us. Nena replaced Nikks in the car and he's got a bottle with him. Good thing we brought our glasses with us. We were advised to bring it home safely.

When we reached the resto, it was so damn foggy & windy outside. We kept on laughing at Nikks who's having a Marilyn Monroe moment.For dinner, we had shabu-shabu. The hot soup & noodles was delish.Afterwards, we went back home for more singing & drinking. David would stand on top of tables, the couch or even walk up the stairs and disappear for a moment while singing Bocelli songs. OMG! what a worst day to lose my voice! Once more, I passed out.