Wat Happened to my List!!!

1. Make a blog - Done
2. Lose 35 pounds in 2 months - 8 lbs 27 to gotta adjust my timeline :)
3. Climb Pulag, Apo and maybe Kota (maybe next year)
4. Put up a small poultry operation - on its way
5. Get a promotion - Got almost a promotion (Good Enough for this year)
6. Make 50 new friends this year (This was easier than expected)
7. Spend more time with my family (Done, but should spend more time)
8. Break 90 in a round of golf (This might not happen in this lifetime)
9. Do my first triathlon (The year is not yet done. Hehehehehe as if)
10. Buy an IWC portuguese (Got something else, and I'm happy so 2011 it is)
11. Rebuild my dads impala (Not gonna Happen this year, takes atleast 2 years. Booo)
12. Celebrate my birthday in our ancestral house (might never happen)
13. Go on a 2 week vacation (No Money, but will force the issue)
14. Get in touch with old friends (Done)
15. Save 20% of my annual net income (Never realized having a bucket list was expensive!!!)

Beliefs, rituals and traditions.

Today is ash Wednesday and it got me thinking. All my life I have been part of a family that has no religious traditions. Aside from Noche Buena and New Years eve dinner, I can't remember a single time when we had to go through a family tradition. Even when we visit the cemetery for all souls day we do it individually and never on the day itself. So this got me thinking what are our traditions, rituals and beliefs.

For the past how many years if not for a friend of mine that put so much effort in making me go to church, I probably would have gone ten years without hearing a single mass aside from weddings and funerals I have to attend. And even then I probably would have been seated outside half listening to the sermon. Does this make me a bad person?

Growing up I always wondered why smoking was regarded as such a bad thing. My dad was a smoker, my mom was a smoker and a lot of people I knew, good people smoked. I never fully understood the stigma that people attached , to what I admit is a bad habit, but should not define the overall goodness of a person, maybe a weakness in character can be attributed to this, but that's as far as it should go.

As I go through life I wonder what will define me as a person? Will it be the stories i tell of my past glory. Will it be my future family? Will it be my career? What are my beliefs, rituals and traditions? I guess it will take me a while to figure this out. But it does get you thinking, doesn't it?

Republic Tattoo

I am a part of a Tattoo shop!

Can you believe it? I can't. What started out as an attempt to put up a poultry farm has turned into putting up the most premiere tattoo parlor in the Philippines. "Republic Tattoo". Isn't that amazing.

So just in case anyone is reading this, and is itching to get a tattoo. Let me know!

Mt. Marami

This is a long overdue post. Its been almost two months since I posted, so my writing is a little rusty. And its taken me 15 minutes to craft this first paragraph, including the part on how difficult it was to write.

Mt. Marami..... Hmmmmm.

I'm not a seasoned climber by any means, I only started last year and have only been up a few mountains. But this was certainly the hardest in my book. The trail was quite long. And it didn't help that summer was already showing its teeth. But just like all the climbs I have been in, I cannot help but be mesmerized by beauty and the challenge that a mountain offers. I don't recommend this mountain for first timers, but if you decide to visit its peak, water, a hat and sunblock will be your best friends.


Marc and Richard still half asleep

Talk about an unlucky break, JD's tire had a leak

On our way to the entrance of the mountain


One of our many rest areas

Me and Marc midway

See that rocky peak? YES! That's the summit!


There was an overcast, so the picture wasn't that great. But it was still breath taking


The boys on top

My sentra and me

I don't consider myself overly sentimental, but there are certain things that I hold very dear to my heart. My lola's 100 year old dresser that was forced on me by my mom, that through the years I have grown to love. A necklace that was given to me by a dear friend that I swore I will never stop using, I remove it once a year to clean and that's it. An old omega that was given to my dad in 1956 as a graduation present by my lolo. This list was inspired by an afternoon conversation I had with my dad. It has been several years since we started repairing our ancestral house in Bulacan, and we think that very soon it will be done (That's what he says every year). So part of the renovation, is bringing home some of the furniture that was originally from there.

The conversation was long, he told me lots of stories from his childhood and some about the stuff we had at home. But one constant thing in his adventures was his his bike and his WWII jeep. This got me thinking , in all of my early adventures, there was also one constant thing. My first taste of freedom, how could I forget that there was one thing that always stood by me, never let me down, I knew would never leave, but drank a lot of gas.... My sentra.

I remember the first time I heard dad was taking her home. It was Christmas of 96, he said that he might get a sentra and he was asking what I thought about it. I said it was okay, pretty fast for that time and a lot of lasalistas drove one, if you can remember the sentra boys. Just like any adolescent teen, visions started pouring into my head. I was gonna do it slowly, I knew if I planned it properly, he wouldn't notice that I already claimed the car for myself. Plans of lowering it, mags, sounds, a noisy tail pipe and of course painting it "loud red". No one knew what I was planning except my best friend. But I was ready, the plan was going to be flawless.

As Christmas past, the car didn't arrive. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, there was no sign of my next conquest. So at one point I lost my faith and surrendered to the idea that I will forever drive my moms charade.

A few months after I started my 2nd year in High School, my dad called and said that I needed to go home, he was gonna show me something. As I walked inside that house, there it was a blue car, with black bumpers, but it wasn't our car. So my heart was raising, I felt that my time has come, she's finally here, My Sentra.

It was a love affair from the very start. I can't remember the countless times I stayed up dreaming of the finished product. I would wake up at 2 am go to the garage and make sure she was still there. It was a surreal feeling, I now experienced one of the most important experiences in a mans life. The relationship with my first car.

Looking back for the next five years, I did everything with that car. My first long drive, my first date, my prom and ball, and a lot of other firsts! I believe that nothing during my teenage years made a bigger impact than that car. Many years have past since I used My Sentra, it is now being used by the family as the extra car. I admit, for something that has made such an impact, I have neglected to take care of it the way it deserves to be. And just like many things in life, My Sentra and I had many memories, many happy ones, and some sad. But just this morning as I stepped out of the house to go to work, I got a glimpse of my old faithful sorta beaten up Sentra, funny thing is no matter what, every time I think of it,no fail, it still makes me smile.

Mt. Talamitam

I don't know why, but after climbing one mountain last year, I got so addicted to it. I was hit with a myriad of emotions, from the initial boredom of getting to the jump off point, the meditating effect of walking through a lush forest, getting over your exhaustion in the last stretch , and finally the victorious moment as you make your first step on the summit. It was such a wonderful experience, and I want it to be a part of my life for as long as I can climb mountains.


But as i figured out with Climbing Mt. Talamitam, just like wooing different lovers all of these mountains will offer different emotions and experiences (Naks kala mo naman I've had a lot). Pico de Loro was a long, up and down battle, with a short challenge in the end. But Talamitam is a little more subdued, whatever it lacked in challenging terrain, it made up in having to beat the elements. The sun was pounding on us the whole day, and dust was flying around everywhere, and if not for my ugly hat and a steady breeze, it would have been unbearable. The last stretch was no cake walk either. It was a 100 meter, 65 degree incline, and Cogon everywhere. It was easy all the way through, until it hit us with that challenge. But at that very moment, all things conspired to make it a beautiful experience. So enough with my words, this time I'll let the pictures tell the story.



Getting ready to leave for Nasugbu

Mark, Jojo and Richard excited for the day ahead

We got scared because of the fog in Tagaytay

The Fog was confined to Tagaytay and turned out to be a beautiful day

Bantay making sure we registered before we climb Talamitam


The first bridge

Make shift bridge in place of the one Peping destroyed

Walking towards the entrance of the mountain

Before the assault of Talamitam, just to put things in perspective

Me on top with my Big frumpy hat

The view was spectacular

There is nothing better than knowing you made it to the top

Gorgeous!!!

Last rest stop before bidding farewell to the mountain