Early this morning I accompanied my boys to the "Takbo para kay Kristo" (iChoose Life) run at Alabang. Since I'm not allowed to do any strenuous exercise I thought I'd just take some photos. Here it is:
If you joined the run and want to download a copy of the photo please go here.
I started writing when I was 8. My mom got me a journal where I could rant (prob so I won't be an annoying brat). I stopped writing for 8 years until the pen and then later on the keyboard called on me again. I blog because I like writing and that's just about it. Hope you get inspired though... Bite the apple!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
For Denz and Leejay
We waited for this wedding for over a decade, approximately 14 years I think.
Leejay, I met you while you were still part of the children's choir (together with my crazy neighbor, Jajah, who was your best bud back then). I tried really hard to find the photo where you guys had on white togas and a huge purple bow, but it escaped me.
Denz, I met you in our alma mater while you were part of Harlequin Theater. You became my friend for life when you brought Alan, my thesismate, to my house at two in the morning. And then eventually you joined the choir.
Who would have ever thought that someday the two of you would tie the knot. Well... I did. Jajah did. Everyone else did, except the two of you. And that's why we just let you be when you started having coffee time on your own (notice I did not term it as "coffee date"). We knew that something was brewing, but you guys were taking your own sweet time.
I wasn't surprised when one day I received a call from Denz. He told me he was falling in love with Leejay. He didn't want to since you were best friends and he didn't want to ruin your friendship. At last! I thought and I was one of those who encouraged him to pursue Leejay. And when I got the chance, I gave Leejay some unsolicited advise to take the chance and get in a relationship with Denz. Now na!
Well, you guys made up for it and here you are, MARRIED! It was truly a pleasure to witness how God wrote your love story and here's the video I put together with the help of Jajah, Ate Edith, Kuya Yul, Ate Rose, JM and Jay. I shed some tears while making the video because I realized how much you guys have been part of my life.
Take care and may God bless you with many, many kids!
Leejay, I met you while you were still part of the children's choir (together with my crazy neighbor, Jajah, who was your best bud back then). I tried really hard to find the photo where you guys had on white togas and a huge purple bow, but it escaped me.
Denz, I met you in our alma mater while you were part of Harlequin Theater. You became my friend for life when you brought Alan, my thesismate, to my house at two in the morning. And then eventually you joined the choir.
Who would have ever thought that someday the two of you would tie the knot. Well... I did. Jajah did. Everyone else did, except the two of you. And that's why we just let you be when you started having coffee time on your own (notice I did not term it as "coffee date"). We knew that something was brewing, but you guys were taking your own sweet time.
I wasn't surprised when one day I received a call from Denz. He told me he was falling in love with Leejay. He didn't want to since you were best friends and he didn't want to ruin your friendship. At last! I thought and I was one of those who encouraged him to pursue Leejay. And when I got the chance, I gave Leejay some unsolicited advise to take the chance and get in a relationship with Denz. Now na!
Well, you guys made up for it and here you are, MARRIED! It was truly a pleasure to witness how God wrote your love story and here's the video I put together with the help of Jajah, Ate Edith, Kuya Yul, Ate Rose, JM and Jay. I shed some tears while making the video because I realized how much you guys have been part of my life.
Take care and may God bless you with many, many kids!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Ancestors
Sometimes I feel short-changed because I did not have the opportunity to be dotted on by my other grandparents. My Mama Lola though made up for it because I was always at her side. She spoiled me and they say that I am very much like her -- loves bags, sewing (I used to when I was a kid), and eccentric. I loved spending time with her and oftentimes drove her crazy. She left us though when I was 12.
I learn a little about my ancestors during (maternal) family gatherings. My cousin, Kuya Koko, presented during one Christmas reunion our family crest and showed our family tree which was traced from Spain. Recently, during my Tito Mon's funeral I learned that his namesake went back to Europe during war time and never came back. I have little knowledge on my paternal ancestors. I only know that my grandparents eloped and had 9 children, my Dad being the youngest. I also know that both my Lolos were hunks!
And that's probably why I've always been fascinated with the movie "Back to the Future" and originally wanted to take up archeology in college. I've always wanted to learn more about my ancestors. Their quirks, favorite food, what they did for a living and if I'm like them in any way. I don't want to learn about it though through ghostly appearances! I do appreciate though that my Papa Lola visited me, my nephew said he looked exactly the same when I saw him (he just recognized him when he saw a photo by accident). Too bad I don't think anyone of time liked writing because we haven't found any old diary lying around!
Anyway, I'm writing this for the sake of Miguel and my nephews and nieces in case they become curious to find out more about their ancestry. Hopefully when my cousin comes back from the US I can get a copy of our family tree from him. Well, someday I'll meet them when it's time for me to party up there.
And if, by chance, this gets read by my future grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Hello! You're lucky I like writing hehehe.
*First photo - Francisco and Merced Enrile (Papa Lolo and Mama Lola)
**Second photo - Ramon T. Enrile Sr. (June 24, 1863 - January 15, 1924) and Paulina Soler de Enrile (April 29, 1866 - August 19, 1937)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Just Do It
When I was taking up my masters in business administration they taught us a lot of fancy buzz words. They made us read through tons of books, solve many different cases (which I loved to do!) and churn out feasibility studies. I didn't have a social life for 2 years because of that, but I'm glad I sacrificed because at 25 I already earned my MBA.
And that was a decade ago already! I thought by now I would've earned my DBA already, but I just haven't had the time to enroll. I'm not giving up though.
Anyway, I did learn a lot from business school and I got to use it when I shifted careers. I had to learn though how to make compressed versions of marketing and business plans. Thirty-paged plans certainly impressed my bosses, but they only had time to two pages of it. So I honed my craft and pretty soon the things I thought would be best for my brand was getting approvals.
That's when I realized that you don't really need all those fancy words to be recognized for your talents and skills. You just need to learn how to speak the language of your approving authority and an excellent implementor of plans. And maintaining relationships is still key (this is something I'm still struggling with).
Well... this was just a brain fart a decade after earning my MBA. Just Do It.
And that was a decade ago already! I thought by now I would've earned my DBA already, but I just haven't had the time to enroll. I'm not giving up though.
Anyway, I did learn a lot from business school and I got to use it when I shifted careers. I had to learn though how to make compressed versions of marketing and business plans. Thirty-paged plans certainly impressed my bosses, but they only had time to two pages of it. So I honed my craft and pretty soon the things I thought would be best for my brand was getting approvals.
That's when I realized that you don't really need all those fancy words to be recognized for your talents and skills. You just need to learn how to speak the language of your approving authority and an excellent implementor of plans. And maintaining relationships is still key (this is something I'm still struggling with).
Well... this was just a brain fart a decade after earning my MBA. Just Do It.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Help Map the Philippines
Following the Google Geo User Summit last week, the mappers said that they wanted to do mapping parties for the Philippine Red Cross and my friend, Dennis, from the PRC said he's looking forward to these mapping parties. Mapping would help the Philippine Red Cross when help is need in specific areas (check out here how mappers helped out during Typhoon Ondoy). The more we map, the more lives we can help save.
What is a mapping party anyway? A lot of my friends smile whenever I mention the phrase to them. It may sound geeky, but it's basically just getting together to map your neighborhood. Know more about how to plan a mapping party here. Mapping on Google Mapmaker is easy, here's one of the video tutorials -
To learn more about mapping on Google Mapmaker, visit http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker/philippines/.
Here's some timelapse videos of how maps data has grown in some provinces in the Philippines:
We have still a long way to go! If you'd like to help map for the Philippine Red Cross, kindly fill out this form http://goo.gl/DR2gA.
The Pinoy super-mappers -
What is a mapping party anyway? A lot of my friends smile whenever I mention the phrase to them. It may sound geeky, but it's basically just getting together to map your neighborhood. Know more about how to plan a mapping party here. Mapping on Google Mapmaker is easy, here's one of the video tutorials -
To learn more about mapping on Google Mapmaker, visit http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker/philippines/.
Here's some timelapse videos of how maps data has grown in some provinces in the Philippines:
We have still a long way to go! If you'd like to help map for the Philippine Red Cross, kindly fill out this form http://goo.gl/DR2gA.
The Pinoy super-mappers -
Friday, April 1, 2011
My Google Geo User Summit Singapore Experience
I've been in Singapore the past week for the Google Geo User Summit together with eight Filipino mapping enthusiasts from all over the Philippines. We were a huge contingent with a total of 10 Pinoys (plus the famous Brian Bautista from Google).
My mapping efforts are not comparable to what Wayne, Dante, Leonel, Theo, Lakan, Allan, Avel and Orman have done. I've been focusing my mapping efforts in my own neighborhood and learned a great tip from Wayne a few years back -- take a video of your neighborhood while driving through it and then start mapping! That's what I've been trying to do and have received a great compliment from one of the moderators because he said I was placing really important info through Google Mapmaker (car shops/talyers, tailors etc.). Yay!
The contributions of Filipino mappers have gone a long way. It's been used for crisis response and the elections and as Avel mentioned in his presentation, "Nobody gets lost in South Central Mindanao!". And it's really great to see other communities in other countries do the same thing. Ed Parsons, Google's Geo Evangelist, mentioned in his opening speech that mapping has changed tremendously in the past decade. Back then you had to be a cartographer with 2 degrees just to do maps. Now everyone can be a mapper!
The summit was a fun experience! I finally got to go on a river cruise in Singapore. Meet mappers from other countries. Listen to other communities share how they've used maps in their own countries (Avel, Lakan and I shared what's been done in the Philippines). Hear expert mappers give feedback on the platform. And now, the Pinoy mapping enthusiasts are planning some mapping activities in the Philippines!
Day Zero Photos
Day One Photos
Day Two Photos
My mapping efforts are not comparable to what Wayne, Dante, Leonel, Theo, Lakan, Allan, Avel and Orman have done. I've been focusing my mapping efforts in my own neighborhood and learned a great tip from Wayne a few years back -- take a video of your neighborhood while driving through it and then start mapping! That's what I've been trying to do and have received a great compliment from one of the moderators because he said I was placing really important info through Google Mapmaker (car shops/talyers, tailors etc.). Yay!
The contributions of Filipino mappers have gone a long way. It's been used for crisis response and the elections and as Avel mentioned in his presentation, "Nobody gets lost in South Central Mindanao!". And it's really great to see other communities in other countries do the same thing. Ed Parsons, Google's Geo Evangelist, mentioned in his opening speech that mapping has changed tremendously in the past decade. Back then you had to be a cartographer with 2 degrees just to do maps. Now everyone can be a mapper!
The summit was a fun experience! I finally got to go on a river cruise in Singapore. Meet mappers from other countries. Listen to other communities share how they've used maps in their own countries (Avel, Lakan and I shared what's been done in the Philippines). Hear expert mappers give feedback on the platform. And now, the Pinoy mapping enthusiasts are planning some mapping activities in the Philippines!
Day Zero Photos
Day One Photos
Day Two Photos