birthdays

There are a lot of different ways people celebrate their birthdays, some depending on what having birthdays mean to them, celebrate birthdays because they want to share their happiness, others celebrate because it gives them a reason to be with friends or to act foolish or to buy something for themselves without feeling guilty. While still others celebrate just for the heck of it or because they were pressured by their peers to throw a party or have a few drinks. Still others do special things on their birthdays like ask their loved ones to marry them or actually get married on their actual birthday. Others that I know of get a physical examination during their birthdays.

When I was a kid, I used to celebrate birthdays just because of ice cream, balloons and cake. The as I got older, I celebrated it because of the gifts. In my teens, it was a reason to have friends and cousins over at your place. But as I grew older, I became quite cynical about having birthdays. i would feel depressed about getting old and not to seem to accomplish anything and this was just right out of college and not some mid-life crisis thing. I would call it my birthday blues, it comes to me on my birth month and would last until after my birthday.

But things started to change when I got married and had kids, I was looking forward to birthdays specially that of my kids, I would take pictures and videos but always of the people attending the birthday celebrations and none of myself.

I had a big celebration when I hit forty. It was an accomplishment for me. I had what I wanted, good friends, a stable job and good health. Then I started evaluating my life after my 40th....using my birthday as a measuring stick. What have I done since my last birthday, have i done something worthwhile to improve my current situation. Sounds profound, but that's just me.

Well, to me now that I am 47, I see my birthday again as a different thing, I look at it as a blessing, a blessing that is given to me, a chance to live and do something about my life and do something for others. I have done and doing my part for my birthday this year, I have stopped smoking and have not smoked for the last 7 months and counting. I have also been brisk walking for the last month.

I thank God for yet another birthday, I thank him for the gift of life.

When it rains...it pours

I am not a slacker when it comes to writing, I am just busy doing a lot of things...and this blog is not about the weather either.

I mentioned in my last blog that the Chinese New Year has given me do much opportunities, well it continues to pour, i am being overwhelmed....it's a good problem though...I would accept this anytime rather than just sitting and doing nothing.....it takes me away from my family, but that is a small matter compared to what I am receiving.

As a friend put it, I am into corporate social responsibility projects, TRUE....social responsibility in the sense that the projects I have right now are for Humanitarian reasons (thank God there are still people willing to help others). Corporate...well in its basic form yes it is still corporate but the difference now is I get to run the show. These things are all happening so fast its making my head spin, its a good thing I still have both feet planted firmly on the ground.

The projects are diversified and in extremes and I wouldn't believe them if I wasn't the one negotiating the deals myself. Lest I spook the deals I will discuss them at a later time. I can talk about them at length then for now let's just say I am being kept busy and on my toes.

Thanks to everyone and anyone who has helped me along the way....you know who you are.

Looking back at where I am now and the things that I can do, well I am just extremely happy I was raised right. You have to have a level-head in dealing with things like this, otherwise you might end up being swallowed by the system.

More updates to come.....

new year new opportunity

Well, it didn't take long for the New Year to shine on me, I am now faced with a new project a whole lot of possibilities. Maybe this is the one, I am just glad that I am not losing hope, it kind gets down right depressing at times when you keep on losing jobs and opportunities that you have hoped for. But then again, I have always believed that if it wasn't for you then it wasn't meant to be for you no matter how much you want it.

Sometimes you pray so hard for things to happen that you do not see that what you have always wanted is already being given to you in a different form. I sometimes think that I have so much problems and worry too much about them but when you look back at it; hey, I'm still getting 3 squares a day and none in my family are sick unlike others who don't even have roofs over their heads. I guess sometimes we just don't see and appreciate what is given to us or what we have.
So now I look at things in a different light, this based on my experiences the last 5 years. I have been and will always be patient and thankful for everyday that I wake up in the mornig...since others don't.

I will keep my trust in the Almighty for he knows what is best for me.

Failure only comes from within andcannot be blamed on others. I am fortunate to have family and friends who are out there always lending a helping hand.

I will keep you posted on the developments as they happen.

the year that was 2007

We bid goodbye to 2007 and welcome the new year with an open mind and a hopeful soul. Last year was not a good one for me as I lost my Mom, it did bring our family closer though. A lot of things did not happen for me but I am still hopeful that things will change. I lost my job again but was compensated for it but still, the way it happened was not very good, you think you are working with professionals....but damn, office politics sure screws things up. I just hope karma doesn't catch up with them.

I learned a lot of things this past year, the most important one is patience, not that I am unfamiliar with it but I did learn to give more leaway to other peoples way of thinking. After all, not every person is the same and you don't expect them to act the way they should. I have learned to roll with the punches and to wait for my turn...(been waiting a long time though), but as the saying goes...Patience is a Virtue that gets rewarded.

Oh and yeah, I got to travel again...for free! I am now up to 35 international cities that I have visited and almost all at no cost to me. Part of the perks of the job I guess.

So what am I looking for to the coming year....good health for my family, that's it...I don't ask for much, I figure if we are all in good health then we can work for a living and that pretty much takes care of everything. I am not putting all of my hopes of getting my US work visa this year, I just have a feeling that I would get that job I am hoping for, the one that puts me in financial stability. I have paid my dues, well so I think, and I think this will be a good year for me.

So, I wish you all a Happy New Year and may the best of last year be your worst this year., keep praying and keep hoping, if you lose hope then there isnothing to live for.

Cheers.

my 28 hr flight home

Ok so here I am, sitting in the airport (its 8:05am EST)....I like coming in early so that I avoid hassles. I didn’t get any hassles today, maybe because I remembered to shave. Anyway, I didn't have problems with airport security today...well, at least not here in Fort Lauderdale.

But it is not to say I didn’t have issues, there was traffic going into the airport, again it was a good thing that I left early. As soon as I got in I went to check in my bags and lo and behold I get shuffled to three queues. finally on the third queue I was attended to and served.....again.....issues, they couldn't figure out my ticket some how the airline screwed up my name...am not sure it was the airline or the travel agent but they got my name wrong on the ticket. somehow it showed up with an extra character space on the e-ticket and not on the reservation.....and as intelligent as airport ticketing systems go....they are not recognising it....with the intervention of some good people (they were still helpful since it was only 6:45 in the morning) they were able to fix it but again with the issues....they weren't able to give me my connecting flight's boarding pass......and I was hoping to breeze through LA international.

long story short, the ticket got squared away and I was happy......but not for long, one of my bags was overweight by 5 lbs. so I had to open both bags and transfer some stuff to even out the weight......its a good thing I always remember to pack my undergarments at the bottom of the suitcase.....that thing settled, I was on my way to go to my gate.

I picked a nice place to sit, right next to an AC outlet so I could use my laptop....I was all alone for a about half an hour, sitting quietly reading my e-books and guess what....a family with four kids sits next to me.....as big as the waiting area was...they had to chose the bench next to me....they were noisy, the kids were unruly....food was spilling....just your typical day at the airport...oh well, its time for me to get something to eat...I’m hungry.

Boarding the plane always has its nuances, people seem not to listen to the PA system, as soon as they hear that the flight is boarding, they crowd in front of the gate, just standing there knowing they won’t be allowed to enter anyway. They are always in a rush to get seated and once inside the plane they take forever to find their seat….that is something I cant understand….why is it that passengers have to check each and everyone of the seats while looking for their assigned seat numbers….go figure?....if you enter the plane and you are pointed to the general direction of your seat, look at the first number you find and match it with your seat number ( you should at least know your seat number by now), if your seat number is 32 and the first sit you see is 12….it means you keep walking past 20 more rows of seats…..you don’t have to bloody stop at every seat trying to check if 32 comes after 12…..and the funny thing about this is most people who travel are not first time travelers…..may be their first time in that particular airport or airline, but definitely not the first plane they have boarded….So I finally get seated and good enough I get rewarded for all of this waiting with an “exit” seat and no seatmate….cool, looking for a few hours of sleep, after all it is a 5 hour flight.

I was able to grab a few minutes of sleep at first, since I am on an aisle seat, the stewardess would tap my shoulder every time she and her refreshment cart would pass by. I was able to doze of again after the food service since most people didn’t get anything since you now buy food on domestic flights.

I arrived safely at LAX at 12:07 PST and now on to a new adventure the 10hr layover. Now here is the other thing that I have observed about people on planes, and this thing transcends all ethnic boundaries, whether you are an Asian, Caucasian, European or whatever, as soon as the plane comes to a stop, everybody removes their seatbelts, stands up, get on their mobile phones and start getting their bags. This is a wonder of air travel; would you get out of the plane faster if you stood up first? Would you be able to get your bags from the baggage claim area faster than anyone else? Would you clear customs and immigration ahead of all the passengers? It just completely amazes me to this day and mind you I have traveled a lot and have seen the same thing over and over again. That is why I try to leave the plane as late as possible.

I walk into Terminal 4 and asked for directions going to the Tom Bradley International Terminal…I got in without incidence and looked around for my ticket counter….and guess what, the counter opens at 4pm…so now I’m stuck in airport limbo before I can proceed to my gate. So I look around for the essentials….the food court, a coffee shop, restroom and a place to sit down. I got some Chinese food for lunch which was palatable enough. I scoured the gift shops, which were all over priced, for some souvenirs but decided otherwise. The duty-free shops were not any good either, well maybe because I did want to buy any smokes or liquor. So now I wait, it’s 2:30 PM and I am running out of options to do.

It is now 4:30pm and the ticketing counter is open, quite early for a 10pm flight, and now I know why. There was a long queue of passengers and each one having at least two huge boxes with them aside from their personal check-in luggage and their carry-ons and most of them are old people or senior citizen couples. It took me one and a half hours to get checked-in and I only spent 5 minutes on the counter.

The time is now 6:15pm and I am sitting at the gate…..still waiting for another 16 hour flight…this seems to take forever and mind you for an airport this big they should at least have facilities to entertain people who wait longer than 4 hours between flights. The nicest airport I have been to that looks after the passengers well being is the International airport in Singapore, they have lockers that you can rent so that you don’t have to tow your carry–on luggage everywhere you go, they have a hotel within the airport, nice restaurants not like this food outlets here at LAX, smoking lounges, wide screen TVs and the duty free shopping is second to none. Now that is an international airport. As big as a city as Los Angeles is they should greatly improve this bloody airport. For now I will be sitting in the airport, waiting and trying to rest and prepare for this long journey.

This is the longest wait ever, and LAX is the worst airport I have been in, it is so noisy and the people seem to just not listen to what the announcements are. The only nice thing to happen during this long wait was that I came across Cindy Crawford at the terminal.

We board the flight an hour late….I don’t know why Filipinos travel with so much luggage…and these are old folks. It takes so long to board, bloody hell. So I sit myself on my assigned seat…the exit seat…I can fully stretch my legs and I started to make myself comfortable so that I could sleep…..but as my luck would have it, people are just so insensitive to other people…they couldn’t care less if they hit my legs while going to the bathroom or they grab on to my seat trying to walk the passage way…result….i wasn’t able to get to sleep longer than 15 mins at a time. I am so bloody tired. To make things worse we wait like an eternity for the luggage to come out of the carousel….I was praying that my luggage doesn’t get lost in all those boxes. I did get to see my luggage again I thought it was going to be with out issues….but as you guess it, my suitcase comes out damaged and it is a brand new suitcase at that. At least I am home…..can’t wait for my next trip…..cheers.

smoking or non-smoking

today marks the 14th day that i haven't smoked.....or it has been 2 weeks since i last smoked....or i am smoke-free for the last 2 weeks......anyway you look at it, i win.

its great not being able to smoke, or at least stopping it. it changes things, your perspective, your insights.....your smell....hahahaha.......i never realised that smokers have a particular smell, that musky, tobacco smell.....i just can imagine what it does to other people.

why did i stop....well i just wanted to, am not a heavy smoker, a few sticks a day at the most not really a heavy one. i just decided to stop, that's it.......do i crave it....not the least bit.....a good decision.....everything to gain.

wish i could have done this earlier....but it's never too late to start.

cheers.

my mom

thought I wasn't going to do this, but I just couldn't help it. I miss my mom, she passed away 3 weeks ago.

she was a strong woman, in every sense. when I was young I used to think she was invincible, I never saw her get sick or anything. she never got tired, I would always see her doing things at home, cleaning, cooking ironing, helping us with our school work, always looking after us.

she had a heart of gold, a hearty laugh and a compassionate soul. she always took care of us, even my kids. she always thought of us even to the very end.

I shall miss her very much, but I am relieved in a way that she is now in a happier place with my dad. she had to endure a lot for the past 5 years, with her failing eyesight due to glaucoma, her aching joints due to arthritis, the loss of my dad 2 yrs ago and then losing her leg due to complications with her diabetes.

I hope we were able to make her life comfortable the last few years and moments she had, we tried our best. she was never to complain, but I knew she was deeply saddened with the loss of my dad for she loved him very much. my dad spoiled her but in a good way.

I am now without both my parents, but at least they saw us become professionals and I just hope we made them proud of what we have become.

I shall instill what I have learned from them on my own children and try my best to be like them.

I am going to miss my mom and my dad.

thank you to both of you for making me what I am today. I will continue to do you proud.

I love you!

the power of prayer

it was Friday morning and was supposed to be a regular visit to my mom, who is in the hospital for a mild stroke. (This is quite an ironic term since a stroke is a stroke, it may not lead to cardiac arrest, but it still affects your heart and the people who care for you), anyway, so we get there and people are all over my mom, her vitals have dipped to near fatal lows and they are doing all they can to make her comfortable.

We were all surprised as she was laughing and quite jolly the night before.

At this point each of my siblings, I am sure are mumbling their prayers in their head. I myself have been talking to God the whole time.

And then the dreaded TALK was inevitable, we sat in a conference room with the doctors and we were given the current scenario. I have prepared myself for this a long time ago, knowing that my parents are not getting any younger. But even if you are prepared you still have this feeling that "this is not happening to me," so we sat there and discussed things, and options and eventualities.

This was going to be one of the most difficult and most important decision I had to do, the good thing is all my siblings had the same decision.

Long story short, my mom is in quite stable condition, her vitals are doing good and her heart and kidneys are holding up to the medication.

At this point, I would thank all my friends, relatives and loved ones who have showed what the power of prayer could do. All her doctors were surprised at her recovery, but still we have to watch her constantly.

I love my mom, she is the sole reason why I am here and why I am what I am right now.

I am still ready for anything that will happen, I just wish it won't be put to the test again.

We breathe easier for now, but we continue to support her with everything we have.

Thank God!

true christmas spirit

i have just come back for the holidays having been away for a year, and what i have seen so far is that the christmas spirit in my native country has been such a put-on being done by politicians and entertainment celebrities as well as TV shows much like a routine than something from the heart.

it has made me sad an miss the days of old when i was young and christmas meant something.
but my belief in the christmas spirit was brought back to life and it had given me hope, this i saw from the eyes and lovcing heart of my 10 year old daughter.

on christmas day during our reunion with my in-laws, my daughter went out to the town plaza with her cousins and came back bearing small trinkets as gifts for her younger cousins, no one told her to do it and she spent whatever money she had on her, personal money she got as gifts.

i could see the love in her eyes as well as the happines and joy she had being able to give something and seeing the smiles on her cousins faces.

that to me was the true essence of christmas.

waiting again

It’s been a month since I have returned, and I am starting to get bored. I do have some job offers but I am still waiting. Don’t get me wrong I am happy to be back, happy to see my kids and family….but the feeling of being empty and worthless is there again.

 

It is quite hard to be staring at the TV the whole day, you can only watch so much TV. Your day becomes a routine and there is only so much change you could do without having to go out and spend.

 

You lose your drive and motivation, I had set-up myself to study a different language, it will come in handy when I get back…..the problem is I can’t get myself to start doing it.

 

All my friends are at work and I am literally alone.

 

I just hate waiting…..but there is nothing else for me to do.

 

the next michael jordan

i just finished browsing through the net wondering why Kobe Bryant changed his number from #8 to #24....well he has his reasons. but i was amased at how other people think or assume why he did. the thing that got to me the most was, and still is, is the "heir apparent " theory. that Kobe is the next Michael Jordan....thus the #24 after Jordan's #23.

let's face it...there will never be another Michael Jordan for several reasons.....professionalism, attitude and PASSION.

kobe may have exceptional moves but it is nothing that can change the way the game has been played. some say if the game was on the line, they would definitely go to Kobe (he with several buzzer beaters under his belt)...but he is not the only player who can do this. others have done this. what kobe lacks is the professionalism and attitude to be as near great as Jordan. for one he can't work with another superstar...remember him and Shaq. so with that said kobe will be great but wont live up or come even close to Jordan.

there are others who are being compared with Jordan, another player who comes to mind is Lebron James....come on..Lebron?? again he lacks the attitude and the passion and most specially the professionalism....you don't hold out till the last day to sign your contract trying to hold out for more money. with that move you have just shot professionalism and attitude down the drain. and most specially the passion. some even ask for lower salaries in the desire to help and win.

Dwayne Wade, another great player, but then again he always forgets the word - TEAM. we know he can shoot and get to the basket but to extend yourself all season long without using your teammates takes a toll on you. 2 years ago they could have won it if not for his injuries. you can't take a whole team on your own.

The player that i can think of that would come very close to Jordan would be Grant Hill, he had the passion, the attitude and the professionalism, but he also had the injuries. If he had more injury free seasons than what he had he would have been great, but his career in the NBA has been cut short due to injuries. He would also have been a better player if he had a better team to work with.

So that is my personal take on it....i may be wrong but these are just my thoughts.

I love this game!

the next step

so here i am waiting again for the next step....i really don't like
waiting....good thing i have a lot of patience. well nothing much i
can do about it...i have no control over a lot of things.

in the meantime i have to make good use of the time i have, read the
books i missed, get in touch with friends i haven't spoken to in a
long while and do those things i want to do.

i know things happen for a reason and i patiently wait for my time.

it should be Fall by now....and other stuff

 

..as gloomy as fall season starts, it is a welcome respite fro the summer heat. we had a good summer, the heat and humidity wasn't

that much but we did have those scorching days. but for some reason we are havng rains and chilly weather....it should get cold but

not at this early in the season....its not even holloween yet.

 

as we await better weather, i myself am waiting...longing...actually even praying for what i need. i need  a break, even a miracle so that

my work papers will get processed here instead of my home country....its not hte processing that is taking long, i have no other recourse

that since the date is fixed for filing your application...i just dont want to happen to me what happened the last time.....missing the filing date by 2 days...i've waited years for this break to come and then i miss it by 2 days. oh well, the job is still here, its just that i would want to stay here and wait for it here instead of back home. not that i dont miss my family, i do. i just dont want to go through the red tape and hustle of doing interviews in an embassy there...well so much for that, i have done my part and have eshausted all options, i am just waiting...counting the months into weeks and weeks into days.....i hope things get favourable....based on my recent luck with things like these, i do get it but always at the nick of time....i am hoping for the best.

 

i hope the weather clears up by next week...i do like this kind of weather...its not too cold and definitely its not warm or hot.....the leaves are starting to fall....some are turning brown or losing the bright green colour...chilly nights and shorter nights....Fall will be upon us soon.

 

later.

--

emotions

i believe that your own emotions are also affected by people close to you or those you are in constant contact.

it is hard enough to be away from your family, specially if you are 8500 miles away but living with other people makes it even harder. i thinking living alone would be better. but you have to make choices and have to make do with what you are dealt with.

you think you know a person since you have been his or her acquaintance for the last 25 yrs, but mate, unless you have lived under the same roof with them, you can never say that you know them. you will get to know their quirks and idiosyncrasies faster than anything. since coming here to the US, i have lived with two families, the first one well, they have issues and you sort of get in caught in between. you don't really know where to place yourself specially when father and daughter start arguing...you just lock yourself inside your room and try to block out the things you hear. and the feeling of being restricted in your movement, i have never felt so trapped or deprived of freedom in my whole life, ...but its their house (i would be kidding myself if i call it a home) so its their rules...my mate who lives in another part of the house has his own set of rules....i just have to live with that and try to make sense of things and keep myself healthy.... the hard part is you also feel like a prisoner since i don't have my own car...so i go with the flow and where it takes me....its a good thing i was able to get out of there...it just adds to the loneliness that i experience....so i moved to another mate of mine...and i reckon i will have more freedom and be happier...i was dead wrong...this bloke has issues as well...for a someone who is expecting his family to arrive and settle here after 4 years, he seems not a happy camper....and man...he has depression and sadness written all over him...like he has this dark cloud over him....he refuses to pick-up after himself....fair dincum, the hardest part is that sadness is being passed on to me....he is so gloomy and it just makes me feel like not getting up in the morning.

i try my best to talk to him and bring out happier feelings, but mate, its like this bloke has just given up, he hates his work, and the situation he is in, but like i always tell him, you make your own decisions and you yourself decide what makes you happy. it is not enough you complain or vent that you hate your job...mate you have to do something about it.

for now, i am trying to stay put....but i am looking at my options....i would rather live alone in solitude than live with blokes likes this, they just bring down my spirits, its their choice to live like that and i have to make my own.

---

MY FRIENDS

Friends....Isn't it nice to have friends...I wouldn't know what to do without them. But the thing with friends....Is like they are any other thing in this world, they are either a boon or a bane in one's existence.

I treasure friends who have stayed with you through thick and thin, who have been with you in your most happiest times and your lowest times. But there are some friends who fall in the cracks in between.

there are those that you think you know, but given a particular situation or event or instance you find out their true colour or personality. The saying, you really wouldn't know a person till you have lived with them is so true.....I have proven this first hand, I have a mate who I consider a very close friend on mine, someone who is like a brother to me, ...Well until I had the chance to be with him all day everyday, day in day out.....funny thing is even with all his quirks you just can't hate the bloke, you try and do your best to give him advice and let him know his quirks without hurting his feelings....But you can only do so much and just forget it later on....

suffering in silence with the slurping sounds he makes while drinking coffee or the loud chewing sound he makes while eating his food, the sexual remarks he makes like he is sexually deprived and the constant picking of one's nose...How can you pick your nose that long, that often...My god!....To be able to put in 3/4ths of your index finger in your nose trying to pick a booger is an amasing feat....that alone will keep your mouth agape....But anyway, he is a good reliable friend you can depend on....regardless

while some friends are highly-opinionated on certain things that they seem to be an expert on all things....you can't give your opinion on things with this guy...he thinks he knows it all based on what he has experienced or a variation of his experience. how could everybody else follow what he has done when his case or scenario is not that common....my point here is you can't make your experiences in live as gospel truth for others to follow.....they make be come a basis for consideration ot parallelism but never as a template of another one's success....

others are so profound that they need or have a need to explain or find an explanation for everything.....like why in the world do you have to seat down and go through a movie plot with a fine tooth comb........this friend of mine even discerns the idea of why or how cars talk in an animated movie......or every detail in aperiod film.....give me a bloody break....take the movie for what it is, an entertainment medium......let yourself go and see the movie to be entertained and not as a critic....this guy is like the ralph nader of everything.....he has comments on every marketing or sales pitch that there is in the market or that this plan doesnt save you anything or that I dont need this much for this service since I will only use it this much.....for crying out loud, this guy is the only person I know who will actually read even the fine print on a fortune cookie or a ceral box......he has an explanation and justification for everything. The bad effects of red meat and pork and fried food and salt.....that fish and veggies are good and that a bottle of beer a day is good ....But this is from the same guy who doesnt cook and only eats canned fish and sardines all the time.....raw veggies or fish and veggies froma chinese restaurant ( do I hear MSG?) and the beer is consumed before having dinner.....explain the health benefits of that to me.....BUT again....he has his good traits...he is very thorough and understands most things and researches most things and he can explain to you stuff in clear manner.

one other is so engrossed in gadgets that he has everythig for everything, he spend so much on this stuff and rarely uses them, he is such a procrastinator that is why he ends up cramming most of the time.....Well, maybe that's how he gets his kicks....But you can only do so much in an hour....and you cant cram everything in that short period of time.

and yet there is the one that always stands out int he group...I think every group fo friends has a guy like this...The one who thinks he is God's gift to woman and mankind.....The one who always has the last word in every conversation, the one who always cracks the jokes and is the life of the party....The one who is always trendy and have tried the latest on anything....The one who knows about every topic and yet is the ugliest in your group....hahahaha this one kills me as I watch him keep up witht he jones'

some of them are just plain whiners....whine, whine whine but they don't do nothing to help themselves.

and the girls in my circle....this is one thing I dont understand about them...they are all pretty and intelligent but they are by far the dumbest people I know when it comes to relationships.....its as if they didnt pick up anything while being with us for the last 10 yrs or so.....these friends of mine are such lookers but I have always wondered why they get these ugly guys as their boyfriends......it escapes me, really.

I myself am not perfect, I have my flaws. But this group of guys that I have mentioned...Well we have known each other for the past 27 years....that should account for something right.....like my saying goes; I may rant and rave but these are just my observations and opinions..no matter what their character flaws are....I will trust them with my life.

so much for friends....I love these guys.

just concluded NBA Finals 06

well, i wrote about this before...but its a different finals altogether.
....what a series!!!....although i was a bit disappointed my team
wasn't in it,...a a pistons fan....it still was a great one.... I'm
not particularly fond of Miami and shaq...never liked shaq since he
already has an advantage since he is THAT big...obviously he will be
dominating...but going to the normal guys....dwayne wade is one
spectacular player...shows you glimpses of michael jordan and james
worthy....but he did get a lot of help from the officials.....oh,
come on...admit it...he did....all superstars do.....its just the
hidden rule in the NBA....continuity play for the superstars....all
of them get it....kobe, shaq, lebron...magic in his time, jordan and
bird, even dr.j got it......but that is another topic for discussion....
the heat played great......they deserve the championship....specially
for alonzo mourning....he played a marvellous game...5 blocked
shots...crucial mavs shots....he was awesome...that alone deserves a
championship ring outright.....gary payton.....great career in
seattle but never found a supporting cast till he joined the
heat.....key plays through out the series has earned him his
ring...something he will cherish for a long time......
as for the mavs.....i like the team and actually rooted for
them.....i like the underdog in any competition...they showed
heart....but they need more maturity and a damn good centre in order
to succeed.....they are not sure that they can make it back to the
conference finals...what with the spurs and suns preparing for
them....the clippers maturing and all.....they would have probably
made it if they had michael finley....maybe....
it was a great finals....mavs have the whole summer to rethink and
regroup...avery johnson is a very good coach...he will become a
legend in the NBA......see you all in November......I LOVE THIS GAME!

its summer time

it's officially summer....and guess what....it's bloody raining.....well it was pretty hot outside this afternoon....it started to drizzle in the morning....quite gloomy actually....didnt see how the early part of the day was since i was cooped up in my room doing lots of stuff...only time i was able to see daylight was when i stepped out for a smoke......and that 10 minutes of sunshine was enough for me.

...getting home in the afternoon, was such a hassle since the drive was towards the sun.....summertime here means having sunshine till 7:30pm....that is due to daylight savings time.....by 9pm it was already dark....and rain was pouring a bit...now its just some lighting storms.

.... i love watching lightning storms specially the ones over the sea.... i used to sit by the window of my room when i was i darwin....just watching the skies get torn up by those huge white
streaks of light...

oh well, tomorrow is another day, and they say its going to be a lot better than today.....nice thing about summer is you get to dress casually....i do mostly in shorts...and so do most of the women out about town......hmmmm, what is a nice place to visit over a long weekend....can't wait for the 4th of july weekend......am looking forward to that vacation.

cheers

human nature

what makes people do the things that they do, is it really human nature,

attitude or just plain stubbornes?

why is it so difficult to give advice to other people, specially to friends.

is it the way you say it or the way they accept it?

why can some people change and others cannot, citing the reason that they have

been doing that for as long as they can remember.

 

are we really creatures of nature and habit.

we do things a certain way because we want to right, can our own choices impede our

growth as a person, can a stern and disciplinarian father totally change the outcome of the

lives of his children and make them clones of himself just because he does things his way.

 

is this reality the thing that feeds the way things are marketed to us?

what makes us go against the things that we were thought? we know good from bad,

but why is it that there are so many people in prisons? you can reason out that most of them

are uneducated that's why they are in jail, what about the techno criminals or the corporate thieves.

these are all well educated people? is it really in you...the bad gene i mean, that makes you decide

to steal or cheat? is it really human nature to fall on the wrong side?

 

makes you wonder, with so many years of education and advices from both the school and your parents

still some people choose the wrong path. and no one is exempted from it. even the man of the cloth as they say.

 

is it because we are mere mortals and that we are created that way.

 

just my thoughts
--
Read the bible.....it will scare the hell out of  you....

a new challenge for the new year

time sure flies fast. i've been here almost 2 months now enjoying the company of long lost friends.

 

the weather is wrecking havoc on my body system, bloody freezing outdoors and warm in doors, actually dry air

indoors, different buildings, different heater and humidifier settings.

 

i love the open road out here in the suburbs, but i do miss the city noise once in a while.

i spent the first half of the last day of the year in manhattan, it was great. it was snowing and there was no traffic

or no crowds, well it was 8:30 in the morning. but there was a long queue at the empire state building, bloody tourists.

 

i am putting myself to the challenge for the coming year, i know i can make this happen.

like what they say in that song about new york,...."if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere"

 

happy new year to everyone!
--
Read the bible.....it will scare the hell out of  you....

my US visa experience

got my US visa today...well it got approved today.....the actual visa will be delivered in about a weeks time. it took me 4 hrs to do this(not counting the time i applied on line, paid for the application form in a bank and got an appointment from the US embassy call centre, total cost,
$100 for the application form and $12 for the phone call)....there were 7 stages to the process; stage one - security check and x-ray of your belongings ( you have to check-in your mobiles and anything electronic like mp3 players, PDAs laptops), stage 2 - you go to a screening area where you are divided alphabetically. your application forms a checked and you are asked to rectify it on the spot. stage 3 - you go to the pre-screening window were they look at your supporting documents ( this queue takes from about 2 mins to 45 mins per person depending on the person checking them. i unfortunately was lined up on the latter. its already 845am at that time and i had a 730am interview appointment). stage 4 - you go back to a waiting area where you wait to be finger printed. stage 5 - biometric finger scanning, you wait in line to have you left and right index fingers scanned and forever be part of the system. stage 6 - actual interview, this took an actual time of 10 mins. the waiting time to get to this point after finger printing was about 25 mins. stage 7 - you again pay (P135 for metro manila) for the delivery of your passport within a week.

the thing that intrigues me here is, what is their basis for approving or denying your visa application (this is my 2nd visa and i got approved both times). the 25 mins i was waiting for my turn, i was able to observe a this one particular interviewer who had a very high mortality rate. in that span of time she denied 90% of those assigned to her window. people would come
up to her window and in a matter of a few minutes they would be in a verbal tussle...prime indication of an applicant being denied. i would see the applicants come up to her window armed to the teeth with supporting documents only to be turned away - denied.

i guess i was lucky enough to be on my 4th passport as i have been travelling a lot since '96. my interviewer only asked to see my old passports and asked why i had several multi-year visas for Australia. to which i answered, "well mate, i used to work as a consultant in Australia"....and that was that.....he entered a few things on his computer and handed me my delivery slip for my passport.

i think if they see that you have no intention on of staying in the US and have reason enough to come back they will give you a visa....but then again who knows what they think.

all i know at the moment is i got mine....and in 2 weeks time, i will be on my way to the US and probably settling for good.....i would have loved to settle in Australia....specially in Queensland.....but who am i to complain. the US is not a bad place to stay.

cheers.