Explore Davao - Part 2 : Taj minar

Part 2 and 3 covers one day only - June 8, 2008 which was a Sunday. From bars to skyriding, it was undoubtedly an eventful day and rightly deserves two long, detailed posts. Here’s the first one.

We just came from our grocery shopping that Saturday night when our boss called and told us to go to Damosa Gateway. We arrived there lugging our shopping bags and looking really stupid carrying them inside a bar (of all places!).

Half of me didn’t want to stay there a minute longer because I knew they were bound to ask me to drink and I DON’T. But then I found out that there was a DJ mixing live! Wow! It’s been a while since the last time I’ve seen one in person! The last time was during the Etelecare Christmas Party at the World Trade Center last December which coincided with my birthday. I will never forget that night not just because of the mixshow or my birthday or my ugly pimples but for several other reasons which I can’t explain here. I’ve got pictures from that night of my most memorable birthday to date here.

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Tags: bars, Davao, DJs, Etelecare, Personal

Explore Davao - Part 1 : First Flight

I’m starting this series aptly named “Explore Davao” to chronicle the interesting happenings during my stay here.

Part 1 includes Day 1 only. It was my first time boarding a plane so this was a very memorable day for me: Saturday, 7th of June 2008. I rode Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 961

We took pictures in front of the Airport View Hotel. I was the only who did not check-in there. I stayed at a staffhouse provided by our client company. But that was okay, I didn’t like the hotel anyway. The only thing I liked about it is they had cable tv.

The following day, we went to People’s Park located in the city proper of Davao.

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Tags: Davao, trip

I miss…

… the Internet

The place where I stay here in Davao doesn’t have one. But thankfully, there’s an internet cafe nearby which most of the time is occupied by online game addicts. (And I used the word “nearby” very loosely there.) Well at least it’s there if I want to use the Internet but I’m so used to being able to go online whenever I wanted to back at home. I’m actually typing this post using ScribeFire for Firefox. It’s 9 PM so obviously I can’t go outside to publish this tonight. I will go there tomorrow although I still haven’t figured out how I will back this up from my laptop so I could transfer this draft to the computer there. Oh well… even if it comes down to just doing a simple copy-paste, I’ll do it. I can scratch that now because I could now bring my laptop here at the office and connect to the Internet.

Still, I hope I can survive 2 weeks living like this. I wish I had one of those satellite internet services some businessmen have. They can go online anywhere they are in the country! I’m no businessman but I could really use a service like that if I’ll be very “mobile” in the next few months. I believe PLDT provides one.

… our church

I feel so bad for I wasn’t able to attend the Holy Mass last Sunday. I had already failed to fulfill one of my vows to our church because of that. Back in Manila, I go to the church almost every single day and ever since I’ve been here in Davao which has been a week already, I’ve never had a chance to go to a church. Okay, maybe I had a few moments when I had the chance but seriously, it was either work or worship. That’s a tough choice although it shouldn’t be because I know which one I have to prioritize. Anyway, I’ll look for a church this weekend and find out their schedule so I could attend any Mass that my own schedule will allow. I promise!

… my home

This shouldn’t be surprising. I expect anyone who leaves their home very long for the first time would have the same feelings as I do. Well at least if you’re typical because if you don’t have something to call “home” then I don’t think you would miss it as much but I digress.

I really don’t want to go very emotional about this but I have to be honest. I can’t help feeling lonely because I’ll be staying at this alien place for quite a long period of time. I’ll be away from home longer than I’ve ever experienced before. Naturally, I will miss my family, friends, and all the other people I got so used to seeing or conversing almost everyday. Not just that, it’s difficult to do your everyday routine in a different place. Simple things like taking a bath unnecessarily become a tedious task. No, I’m not exaggerating.

But like I said, I’m 101% sure I’m not the first person who has gone through this kind of experience. I believe all people pass this stage called “learning to live independently” and I’m acknowledging that this is something that is inevitable in life. Living independently in the sense that you leave home so you can have another place that you could treat as another home.

I’m actually just editing this write up here at the office. I was supposed to publish this outside using one of those internet shops 3 days ago!. There’s lots of stories to tell but those would have to wait. I’ve taken tons of pictures ready to be uploaded but those would have to wait too. My next update here will most likely be next week.
I trust and pray that my stay here will go smoothly and that these things that I miss will not affect the duties I have to fulfill while I’m here. As Sakura would say, Zettai daijobou!

Tags: church, Davao, Internet, Personal

My Most Played Songs: May 2008

I used to do this in my old blog so I’m bringing it back here but I will be including all kinds of music this time, not just remixes. Yeah.. yeah.. I’ve finally realized that not everyone is a remix freak like me.

In no particular order, here are the songs I listened to almost everyday last month.

• David Cook - Always Be My Baby
• David Cook - Always Be My Baby (RTZ Club Mixshow)
• David Cook - I’m Alive
• David Archuleta - Sweet Caroline
• David Archuleta - Angels
• Yui Makino - Synchronicity
• Yui Makino - Synchronicity (Instrumental)
• Michael Learns To Rock - Breaking My Heart
• Michael Learns To Rock - Out Of The Blue
• Michael Learns To Rock - Strange Foreign Beauty
• Michael Learns To Rock - Blue Night
• Britney Spears - Break The Ice (Radio Edit)
• Britney Spears - Break The Ice (Tracy Young Mixshow)
• Britney Spears - Break The Ice (Jason Nevins Extended Mix)
• Rihanna - Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emmanuel Club Remix)
• Rihanna - Don’t Stop The Music (Jody den Broeder Big Room Mix)
• 911 - All I Want Is You
• Bryan Adams - Let’s Make A Night To Remember
• Ashley Tisdale - Heaven Is A Place On Earth
• Jesse McCartney - Leavin’ (Solar City Club Mix)
• Jesse McCartney - Leavin’ (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix)
• Jordin Sparks - Tattoo (Jason Nevins Extended Remix)
• Jordin Sparks - Tattoo (Future Presidents Remix)
• Janet Jackson - Feedback (Jody den Broeder Club Mix)
• Enrique Iglesias - Escape (JJ Club Mix)
• Madonna & Justin - 4 Minutes (Album Version)
• Chris Brown - With You (Tracy Young Club Mix)
• Hale - Sundown
• Restless Heart - When She Cries
• Indecent Obsession - Fixing A Broken Heart

The items in bold are the songs which I had put in repeat mode on my player once or probably even more times than any normal person would have done.

I didn’t generate this list using any software. I don’t use iTunes anymore. My “temporary” music player is foobar. I like its small memory footprint but I plan to transfer my library to MediaMonkey someday which I think is better in managing huge music collections.

You may also take a look at my Last.fm profile but it’s not very accurate because I spend more time playing music on my mp3 player. I hope that someone now is making a scrobbler for the Creative Zen even though I hate how it tracks play counts.

Tags: Creative Zen, foobar, Last.fm, lists, MediaMonkey, Music

A Series of Incredible Events: The Beginning

It’s funny how events could take a completely different turn just when you least expect it.

I’m going to Davao next week. It will be the first time in my life that I’ll be that far away from home. It’s a business trip because I’m going there to help create a system for one of our company’s clients.

It’s not that I don’t want to go but this really was a shocking surprise to me. I’ve been with my current employer for only less than a month and now I’m going to Davao?! I’m like… woah!!

I’ve just been laughing recently at how funny things are turning out in my life. The changes that are happening to me mentally, emotionally and spiritually since I left Etelecare are almost unbelievable. I could have never imagined these things would happen to me after leaving the company.

It’s funny because they just prove that He really knows me more than I do! But I know that these are just tests of character and are all part of His plan. I’m more than willing to face the challenges He has in store for me because I know that in the end, it’s for the good of everyone.

So am I feeling excited about this news? Absolutely! I will be lying though if I also say that I’m not feeling nervous. But I just try to keep in mind that He will always be with me in this journey. Knowing that makes me feel a little less nervous.

Davao, here I come!

Tags: Davao, Personal, spiritual, trip

Davids and Fireworks

Tons of things to talk about but I’ll just pick two topics for now…

American Idol (2008) - I confess… I’m a fan of this popularity contest TV show. The final performance night was one of the best episodes of this show yet. As you can see, I don’t dislike any of the two finalists. They both deserved to be in the Top 2.

While watching the show live, I applauded Archuleta’s performances more than Cook’s. To me, that was unexpected because I was predicting his ballads would be dull when compared to Cook’s high-energy performances. I was wrong. Cook delivered well too but it was Archuleta’s singing that won me over. After watching the replay though, the two are equal to me now. One can’t compare them really because they’re singers of different genres. It just so happens that I like both styles!

As for the results, I wanted Cook to win because he’s the contemporary singer. And I’m glad America made the right choice of voting the right winner this time. Archuleta’s style of singing isn’t that mainstream but he’ll do great in his own genre. That kid is a real prodigy in my opinion.

I’m excited to see what these two will come up with on their first album (first after Idol for Cook).
My favorite Cook song is his version of “Always Be My Baby”. As for Archuleta, I love his “Sweet Caroline”. I literally died of happiness when they announced Neil Diamond week. I’m a bit of a fan.

World Pyro Olympics (2008) - I’ve only attended the first day. I was supposed to go on the second day because I already bought tickets but there were church activites I had to attend so I didn’t come. Third day, same reason. And this last day, where I’m sure they’ll have the greatest shows, I won’t be able to come again. Pity because I’ve been planning to take several photos of this event since January. (They’ve postponed it for like a dozen times this year!) Oh well, I’ll try next year. To those who will see it, enjoy the show!

Tags: american idol, david archuleta, david cook, world pyro olympics

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Yes, I’m blogging again so hello world! I’m opening myself up again here. I’ve been away for… heaven knows how long. I think the first thing people would like to know is why I’ve decided to do this again. Two things: I’m a changed person now (I think) and because of the new me, I figured this is one of the things I’d have to do again. If that doesn’t make sense to you right now, don’t worry. You’ll get it once I’ve made more posts here.

So… let me address a few things on this first post.

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Tags: Personal, site updates