a shot of soju and sake

i really have to thank day2 for this because she referred me to this site.

what can i say? i love my koreanovelas and movies! i don't deny it and i'm not ashamed of it. i've converted so many people already and i have no intention of stopping!

for those who are into it or just plain curious, this is a great site. so take a step into the dark side.

another party

considering that me and my friends have semi-abruptly faded out of the gimik scene in roxas, it was surprising to see how it has completely died down! that is, for our "age group". the kids will always be there but at the stage where i am right now... errr... d na carry :-D

had a fun friday night. gave our basketball team another victory party. this one was to make up for their lack of recognition. can you believe that until now we still haven't received our trophy? tisk tisk.. people can be so petty. it is a "sport" after all. some people just can't let go, apparently.

it was not a serious event to say the least and i was laughing so hard at most parts. the guys were game and even had a song number (courtesy of taquio n jeffrey) and the rest of the guys gave a dance number. uhhh... their gonna regret it on monday (most of the audience had video cams with their cellphones). sir tinapay (mr.wonderbread) gave a short speech and sang as well. it was fun and unlike any other victory party. a good way for them to show their appreciation to the people who have been behind them all this time.

of course, lechon was present and they stayed up late dancing the night away. they deserve it. proud for what my brother did with them. my brother is officially a single dad now hahaha

Sniff sniff

Counting the days, hours, minutes, seconds 'til Sunday 3pm (hopefully... as long as PAL doesn't mess up. Precious cargo on board). 'Til then, what do I do when I wake up at 1am? What do I do Thursday, Friday and Saturday night? Hmmm...

OA! How did I become such a cornball? :-P

David finally conquers Goliath

A few months ago (December 18, I think), I wrote about our basketball team. A few months ago, a championship was a far dream. So near, yet so far, time and time again. It eluded us so much that I have actually memorized the words of comfort I needed to say to get these kids going. A smile to go along with the words that I hope could give even just a bit of comfort after doing all they could.

It's one thing to talk to kids to try their best. To tell them that if they want something they should work for it. That if you try hard enough, practice, inevitably, you may get to orphwhere you want to go. But it is another thing when so many factors are unfairly thrown in their path.

That has been the case for so many years. The same struggle that others endured long before we even came into the picture. It just got this way because we were the closest to ever come to that level and finally, to surprisingly succeed.

Last Friday was like the DLSU-ADMU game for us. Coming against what was already an institution. CPC has been the champion for the past 17 years. That's more than half my lifetime. Roots have been planted, ties have been made, then all of a sudden, we come in. Barely 5 years old. What did we know?

No fancy recruitment, no A list players drafted. Just kids who practiced so hard and for the longest time. Kids who never made it outside of Roxas. Kids who were so happy to get snacks after practice. An orphan, others homeless, another forgotten by his parents. But even through all that, grades were still the issue. The ones who were just in on it just for the game, didn't succeed in time and naturally faded out of the picture.

Together with a new coach who never coached anything before. With a funny last name and a cartoonish disposition. Who would have thought?

But Friday gave us something that we were used to so it came down to game 3 on Saturday. As it was on our previous match ups, the Capiz Gym was packed to capacity. I've watched other shows and games there but it was mind blowing how this beat them all. Not only were there students from both sides but spectators, politicians, people who worked for us, people who had no affiliation with the schools at all.

Saturday, proved to be another very close game. Experience has taught me that as long as CPC doesn't lead over 20 points, we almost always can catch up. Thats exactly what happened.

With an unbelievably close shave we actually won. Tears of joy finally came in the place of the tears of frustration that was a common sight for so many years already.

Unfortunately, a brawl broke out and the crowd got unruly. This resulted to a stabbing of one of CPC's players.

People get so worked up and emotions run high with these things. Not to mention so many people have other motives (betting was the big thing). But they fail to realize that this is still, after all, only just a game and there are so many much more relevant and important things to life.

On our part, I know our players had nothing to do with it. I've gotten to know them, shared stories and seen how they are. Not to mention the people saw what happened. It just hurts that so many other stories have come out. What had been a basic collegiate game has turned out to be one of the worst and best times that have happened to these kids.

I hope and pray that Espaniola gets better but God knows how that came about in the first place. But even then, these things should have never happened and I hope they find the guy who did it.

As for the rest, it still isn't important, winning. It's how you got to that point and how you prepared. Even if we did win, we still haven't received the trophy and honestly... it doesn't matter. Our lives haven't changed and trophies can be bought easily. Its finally getting the justification for what we have been telling them over and over and over. If you work hard and you do your best, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to.

It was also a matter of breaking something that was all wrong and proving that hard work and perseverance does prevail no matter how many factors try to get in the way. So regardless if we win or lose next year, more reason for us to do more and experience more. It's a lesson either way.

GO JAGUARS! To God be the glory victorious or otherwise.

Lovin' the Hockey Mom

I am such a huge fan. I watched when she was introduced as McCain's VP and she just blew everyone's mind, Democrats and Republicans alike. What a stroke of genius on the Republican's side to do this. It was so out of left field. Even Obama was beginnning to stutter.

She represents so much of what people have been hoping to have after so long. With a very deep rooted political machine in play, its like a refreshing new breeze. Wish we could have someone like her in our own political arena. But then again, that is wishful thinking.

I love news features on her. CNN, Fox, even on BBC. Although I have always found CNN to be a bit biased in more ways than one. KInda like the NY Times in some ways. Oh well.

Can't wait to see how things go in Nov. 4. But until then, there's gonna be so much drama and twists.

After a quiet phase

Its not like I finally ran out of things to say. That would be parallel to the ocean splitting into two. I guess I just went through a phase wherein all the new and exciting things that were happening in my life I just wanted to keep to myself. Each day became better than the next and so on and so forth. But I do wanna go back into the blogging world. I feel so out of touch!

So anyways, I'll try to keep up.

Remembering the Best Leading Man Ever

Born	Paul Leonard Newman January 26, 1925(1925-01-26) Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Died	September 26, 2008 (aged 83) Westport, Connecticut, USA
Years active	1952 - 2008
Spouse(s)	Jackie Witte (1949–1958) Joanne Woodward (1958–2008)

I grew up in a family wherein we were surrounded by movies (from the classics to the present), musicals, plays and everything else in between. I'm blessed in that sense that I got to see how things were and how it has evolved into what it is today. Most of us in the family were not just passive observers but we have come to a deep appreciation for such arts.

Paul Newman was always my favorite leading man. He was always consistent and his roles were so diverse and memorable. My favorite was, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with Elizabeth Taylor.

Not only was he the best leading man on screen, but also off screen. I remember years back he was quoted when asked if he ever had the urge to cheat on his wife, Joanne. After all, just look at him. Hello! Even during his last years he was still as dashing and handsome as ever. He answered, "Why eat hamburgers when you can have steak at home?"

His charity works have become so widespread that when you walk into supermarkets in the Philippines, Paul Newman products can be found. All profits after taxes from these products go directly to charity. I'm a big fan of his salad dressings, snacks and mints :)

If you try to type his name on google and yahoo, this guy has a biography like no other. He was the first. Before the Brad Pitts, Tom Cruises, George Clooneys. Paul Newman was in a league on his own. I don't think anyone can reach the height that he has set.

when God whispers your name

i love that book by max lucado. it just means so many things at different moments in life.
circumstances have been so mixed up these past few months that its hard to tell which way is right and which is left. the gray overlaps the black and white most of the time. its hard keeping things straight.

a friend of mine told me something that hits a very sensitive chord in me these days. so i couldn't help but mope and shed a few tears. i have to admit, i am getting good at this. after all, i am very human.

anyway, what started out as a "fun" chat with another friend turned into a very sentimental and meaningful conversation with a dear friend and sister in the faith. it just so happened that we logged in at the same time. something we haven't done in a while.

sidney and i met at the ccf retreat at subic about 7 years ago. we were in the same cell group. it was only over the weekend but i am so happy to have been good friends with her for all these years. i'm so sad to see her go off to singapore to join her twin, siendy. another one off. sidney in essence is also the same way my friend audrey is. both sister in faith and we have the same sense of humor and interests.

i do believe that God sends angels at the right time. This time couldn't have been better. sid has always been a voice of reason and we're there for each other. i'm so blessed to have her as a friend. she does not patronize and says it like it is. once again, she repeats what i have known the whole time but need to hear it more, "Cristy... wait." Argh! i know. i know.

Amazing how God has the patience i will never have.

the group at the subic retreat by ccf... the good old days...

wow.. we sucked at the jumprope challenge. we NEVER accomplished the task!

unsettled

You know how you wished for something for so long? You prayed, you did everything you could on your part to make that hope come true. Years of heart ache, tears, frustration and disillusionment. Then in one moment, there it is but it isn't what you hoped it would be like. Almost to the point that you are filled with malice and skepticism. You somehow wish it didn't happen after all because it just brings in more doubt and false intentions. I guess what they said was right, "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it."

last bits of 2007

keeping with tradition (dec. 26)

as is our tradition for several years now, we usually have a jamora cousins' dinner on either the 26th or 27th of december after christmas. it all started with manang rina (numero uno) would treat us out after christmas day. just so we can bond and catch up with each other's lives some more. but since she was getting the shorter end of the stick, we all decided to take turns by two or more families, depending on the kid ratio of each.

this is probably my favorite part of the holidays since i miss out on spending christmas and new years with them.

2007 was my year along with the palmares, ana and michelle jamora. we actually forgot the original schedule and lost the scratch we wrote it all down on. so we just decided on 3 families this year.

we ended up at esca's and a bit short of the original number. its sad when people have their own lives already. work and families. that sort of thing that tends to take top priority, understandably. so we were just a handful this year. good for us though because we ended up saving on the bill (bwahaha). but it wasn't as good as the previous years. but we did have a lot of new faces joining us at the always rectangular table. welcome to yolly and kathy! san2 and david couldn't make it since they had some place to go to. same with tonito and tp. oh well.

a tabing ilog moment (dec. 28)

this was so reminiscent of that old show. our dean for business admin. invited us over to mianay where her family is based for their fiesta. they live in this area owned by the belo's (apparently they are related to that specific famous belo). they have this huge lake in the middle of hills and trees. reminds me of ungka and banate all at once. memories of childhood come flooding in.

some members of the hrm department were there, too so it was fun. with these guys, anything can happen, really.

the food was sooo good! one of the best lechons i have ever had in my life. i am not kidding you. the dinuguan that could make you sing it was that good. pantat cooked two ways, chicken binakol with ubod, adobo... it was a lot. just to show you how good it was, i am responsible for breaking the bamboo on the raft. first time it happened and it was my fault. joey was quick to document it.

it was fun drifting away with joart and jesser trying to maneauver the raft (in the lyrics from the producers : keep it light, keep it happy, keep it gaaaaayyy). it was so hillarious. agnes, the amazon woman that she is saved us from drifting towards the other end of the lake.

special thanks to agnes and her family for being so wonderful and overwhelmingly hospitable. it didn't matter that it rained a bit during the day. everything was serenely peaceful. makes you wanna pull out a blanket and just forget about everything for just a little while.