See life through MJ's optimistic eyes.
I don’t have the time or the inspiration to write just about anything so here are photos of all the stuffs that I’ve been up to lately. We checked out the Dinagyang celebration at the city, photos with my cousins at the hospital when Drix had his operation, a Year of the Ox (my year!!) bracelet from my bebeh, random photos of my so loved bebeh and as promised – the long overdue photos of my ear piercing!
I was doing my tasks at 4 in the morning when a revelation suddenly hit me. Well not really a revelation (just exaggerating 
) but something like a realization, something that was always there although I didn’t know it was there.
I just finished chatting with an ex co-worker and she just told me a lot of very nice things. I won’t write it here though because I’m too shy. Hehe. What she said made me really feel good about myself and it made me think that I made the right decisions. I might sound vague but I don’t really want to rant and rave about that “stuff” here in my blog right now. Just want to let this all out of my mind and my system. I think I have finally earned the respect of the people around me. They didn’t know that I was this strong, that I was such a risk-taker. Or I’m crazy enough to dive in to something I’ve never tried doing before. And that I’ve proven to them that what I did was right. And that they didn’t think that I’ll be this successful. They tried to discourage me, but no way am I going to let them do that. I don’t care about what other people think right? Hehe. So here I am now – people that I barely knew before wants to be my best friend now. People who barely knew I exist suddenly calls or texts me asking how I’m doing and if I’m alright (now who gave them my number??). As if I’m that dumb to be fooled by them. I’m not a bad person, it’s just that I’m so overwhelmed by all this hypocrisy around me. Are people that desperate nowadays?
Anyway, enough about that. A little idea on what I do when I’m at work. Being alone makes me think of various ways to entertain myself. And one of them is by plurking. I have a Plurk account so when I don’t feel like writing in my blog I just plurk. It’s a great way of documenting the things one does everyday while meeting new friends at the same time. I’m actually friends with Paulo Coelho now. Hahaha! And I’m now an avid reader and responder of his plurks, his blog and his books. So back to the reason why I’m ranting about Plurk. I wrote a sentence there which turned into a paragraph and in turn inspired me to write my very first blog post for the year 2009. I don’t want to rewrite it so I’m going to copy it here exactly the way I plurked it. I don’t want to corrupt the original thoughts and feelings that were going through my head while I was writing those lines. Here goes:
people say i’m lucky coz i started doing this thing while i’m still young..
i think they’re right..although when i was just a kid, i didn’t know what i’ll be when i grow up.
while everybody else was thinking or dreaming of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, an engineer, a nun – i was not so clear about what i’m going to be “when i grow up.”
i didn’t even know what course i’m going to take in college. my mamang hoped that i would become a teacher like her, but sadly –
it was not meant to be..i regret so many things in my life, but i don’t regret the decision i made 4 months ago. it has made me become the successful person i am today. and i’m going to value this opportunity, i won’t let all of this go to waste. i will nurture this until this grows bigger and bigger.
God showed his love to me this way. so i’m not going to disappoint him. i also thank the person who started this role. without him to guide me the first time i wouldn’t have learned anything at all.
i am also thankful for having a wonderful family. who doubted at first but that’s how families are supposed to be, they keep you grounded and they make you think, they make you grow up, be mature. but they’re very supportive now after seeing that i made the right decision.
and I‘m also thankful for having a wonderful bebeh who loves me so much and who always always support me. i’m so lucky and so blessed to have him. he is definitely God’s Gift to me.
That’s it guys. So much for the first blog post of the year. Welcome 2009! It’s the year of the Ox. Maybe I’ll have more good luck this year. Thank you Lord for all the blessings I received last year. And for all the blessings to come.
To those who don’t know, my Mother was awarded by the National Association of Special Educators (NASE) as the Regional and National Winner in the 2007 Search for the Outstanding Teacher for Children with Mental Retardation. Here’s the link to that post.
She has been on the national and local papers for a time now and yesterday – she was again featured in an article at the anniversary issue of The News Today, a local paper here in Iloilo which is circulated in Western Visayas and Negros.
I encourage you guys to read it so you’ll know more about my Mamang and what she does;
Last Saturday night we went to Ryan’s to check out Rockathon – a battle of the bands activity sponsored by the Xbox committee of Callbox. I realized that this was going to be the last party I’ll attend as a Callbox employee. I have resigned and my last day is going to be on the 4th of November. But I haven’t been to the office for a week now. I kind of miss my friends – especially Shey but I don’t miss being a telemarketer! Thank God I’m over that.
I went with Tim and my brother – Vinboy. I met up with Shey and Dianne. We gave all out support to our department’s band which is composed of Louie, Roger, Richard and Lynn. They were awesome and as expected they won. Of course – IT na guid na!
I’ll miss you guys. Text text lang ah.
Here are some of our photos:
Diane, MJ, Vincent(behind me), Louie(vocalist), Roger(drummer) and Darrenn.
The Rakistas! We Won! Go IT!
Just chillin..
Dee, Shey and MJ.
Taw2x,Melrose,Dee,Shey,MJ,Tim & Vinboy
With Nong Roger – The Best Drummer Ever!
Shey and MJ!
MJ and Tim
MJ
Looking at the bridge behind me.
The bridge is like a symbol of my life now.
The bridge.
And here’s a clip of one of the best songs of the night from my YouTube account:
I was doing the laundry yesterday morning when I heard this beautiful song. It has become my habit to listen to the radio while doing my chores. My father told me once when I was young that singing or just simply listening to the radio will make any chore or work easier and it helps pass the time away. Before you know it, the dreaded job is done. I have since followed his advice and I’ve grown to love it. Well back to the topic. Hehe. I was listening to Home Radio 89.5 when I heard a new song. Home Radio 89.5 by the way is my favorite radio station. When my ears are not plugged to my iPod–I listen to Home Radio. I heard a very beautiful song that caught me with its inspiring and heartwarming lyrics. I remembered my bebeh when I was listening to it. How he was there when I needed a friend and someone to help me. That time when I was so down. That time when I had to go away because of some bad thing that I’ve done. And countless times that I’ve been bad and needed his help. My bebeh knows all the ’skeletons in my closet’ and yet he still loves me and accepts me for who I am. Instead of forsaking me he helps me overcome my bad side and helps me grow. He’s always there by my side to guide me and make me not be the person I was before. Now you guys whose wasting the time to read this post know the reason why I really love my bebeh. Why I am always writing about him. I’m just so addicted to my bebeh. I keep telling him that he’s my lifeline and I’m sure that I’ll die if he leaves me.
Now back to the song. I didn’t know the title of the song so what I did is I wrote down the chorus then googled it at the office. I found out that this song was written and sung by Corrine May (born Corrine Foo May Ying) . She’s a Singaporean singer-songwriter whose currently based in Los Angeles, CA. I am now a fan of Corrine May. And this song is going to be a part of my wedding.
On The Side Of Me
Corrinne May
I’m not the easiest person to love
I’m often the one who lets things go unresolved
Yet you choose to be, on the side of me, on the side of me
Yet you choose to be, on the side of me, on the side of me.
I’m not too proud of some things I’ve done in my life
The skeletons in my closet are too big for me to hide
Yet you choose to be on the side of me, on the side of me
Blessed charity, you’re on the side of me, on the side of me.
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it’s cold outside, and there’s no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
All alone I cried there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared but you.
I’m not the easiest person to love
But you opened your heart and show me what I’m worth
Cos you choose to be on the side of me, on the side of me
What a mystery, you’re on the side of me, on the side of me.
Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it’s cold outside, and there’s no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
All alone I cried there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
I remember when nobody cared but you
Cos you choose to be, on the side of me, on the side of me.
I had a very sleepy week last week. Its like my body is at work but my soul is not. I don’t know if you know what I mean. You know that feeling when you just force yourself to go to work. When all you want to do is to stay at home, lie in bed and JUST SLEEP. I actually went undertime last Wednesday. I just couldn’t stand looking at my computer monitor anymore and talk! I went to sleep in the sleeping room until 7 AM. (Tim and watched ‘You Don’t Mess With The Zohan’ that night before my shift and maybe that contributed to my grogginess and laziness..hehe)
I also had a very eye-opening experience last Friday. I won’t write about it here though. I want to keep it to myself. All I can say is that what happened last Friday made me want to finish my studies! SOON! If only I’m so RICH. Then maybe I won’t have to work now, I should be in a university studying. (sob)
Because of that ‘experience’ I didn’t go to work that Friday night. I stayed at home and slept. I slept all through my weekend. And my conscience is bugging me right now because I didn’t do anything ‘physical’ and maybe I gained a pound or something and Tim will nag me more because of that..hehe.. Its okay, I know he loves me no matter how I look (but its better if I’m ‘thinner’) Anyway, I read a couple of novels, slept, ate, slept, watched tv, slept. Aaaaaarrgghhhhh!
Its a good thing that I have my parents, brothers and Tim to talk to though. They make me go through every day. I don’t know what i’ll do without them.
Thank you bebeh ko for always being there for me. I love you!
Its been a week since my last post here. I’ve been kinda busy. Too many things has happened already. I’ll just summarize them all here by date. I can’t describe everything that’s happened in detail because I still don’t have the ’time’ right now and I have to get some sleep before I start my shift tonight.
August 1 – Friday
Tim and I watched “The Mummy:Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” It was a fairly good movie although Tim said it wasn’t as good as its predecessors. I agree with him. (I now have a little crush on Jet Li though.)
August 2 – Saturday
Yey! The weekend! We had a very busy day- shopping and mall-hopping. 
I went with Tim to do grocery shopping at SM Delgado. Then we went to Marymart Mall to reserve a chocolate cake for my little brother – Rino John’s birthday. After that we went to Robinson’s Place. Tim bought himself a cool Portside shirt with these really witty line written on it. He then decided to buy me Havaianas slippers. At first I didn’t believe that he’d really buy me a pair. You know how much those Havaianas cost. But he did! There wasn’t any sold at Robinson’s so we went to Atrium Mall. I didn’t like the ones displayed there so off we went to SM City. (Whew! Around that time my feet were kinda aching but I didn’t mind. ) SM City was really crowded. We went inside these boutique called Flip Flops, they only sell Havaianas exclusively. Tim made me choose the pair I like. They didn’t have the beige ones that I wanted so I settled for the brown ones instead. After that we decided to go home. I’ll brag about what my bebeh did for me to everybody! How they’ll wish that they have a guy like mine.
August 3 – Sunday
Rino John’s 10th Birthday! I spent the morning cleaning our house. Tim had lunch with us. He bought ice cream for Rino John. We cooked ‘tinolang manok’ for the dinner party. We went to church around 6pm. Then the party! Langging really enjoyed his birthday celebration, although his visitors were all ‘tigulang’ a.k.a. old people. Hahaha! The only kid present was Wewel, Tito Manny’s son. Dianne was there too. Dianne by the way is my brother – Severino’s (Toto RD) girlfriend. Nang Ting was there as well. She’s Toto’s sister at Singles for Christ.
Well..that was my very busy but exciting weekend. And I’ll be adding photos of my Havaianas and Rino John’s birthday when I have the time. I’ll be back soon guys. In the meantime. I’m back to bed. Zzzzzzz..
Last Friday we felt an earthquake at around 2:14 AM Phil. time. It lasted for about 20 seconds. As usual, we were all calling and then suddenly our cubes were trembling and vibrating like crazy. It wasn’t an ordinary earthquake as far as we’re concerned because if it was, we wouldn’t have been looking at each other that long and poised to run downstairs. We would have done so if the lights went out or something. We were actually afraid that our building will collapse on us.
After 20 long seconds the world stood still again. And we all started talking at the same time. One of my seatmates phoned home to check on her sisters who were all alone (I stifled myself on doing the same thing). And we started speculating about Nostradamus’s predictions and God’s wrath, that kinda stuff. I don’t know if I remember it right but there was also an earthquake in Manila about 3 weeks ago. It didn’t cause any damage though and I hoped that while I was there inside our building that nothing bad happened outside also. Its going to be a hard blow for Iloilo because we’re just rising up from typhoon Frank’s wrath. I hoped nobody got hurt. And I hoped that the earthquake won’t have a sequel. We have plenty of problems already and Frank was enough. Thank God everything and everyone was fine.
I have mentioned before that my parents are members of Couples for Christ, Oton Chapter. Well I am a member also of Youth for Christ. I actually joined when I was still in my third year in high school, I was 15 that time. I’m still a member although I’m inactive. My brother-Sev on the other hand is already affiliated with Singles for Christ (I should move on to their organization actually because I’m over the age bracket for YFC.) and they have activities suited for “singles” and young professionals. They’re actually a serious bunch but they also know how to have FUN.
As part of their outreach program, they organized a relief operation to selected residents of Barangay Buntatala last July 13th. This barangay is part of Jaro, Iloilo City. We actually lived here before my parents decided to transfer to Oton 8 years ago. They were greatly affected by typhoon Frank and their houses were all flooded out. Families were staying at the elementary school which has a second floor. When we went there they were still cleaning the school, clearing out the mud and all things that can’t be used anymore.
Here are photos of their outreach day:
This is my Alma Mater. Look at what Frank did!
The Singles for Christ (with Tito Manny, Papang and Mamang):
My family and I have been living in Oton for 8 years now. We lived in Jaro, Iloilo City before but my parents decided to transfer residence because the land that our house is standing at, which was owned by the Locsin family was sold to the Iloilo government to be used as the relocation site of the squatters of Ticud, LaPaz.
I didn’t know the reasons why my parents chose Oton as our new residential address before. But now, after 8 years, I finally know why. And typhoon Frank is one of the reasons.
Oton is a 20 to 30 minute ride from downtown Iloilo city so its really not that far. Its a home for the many who are seeking for fresh air to go home to; no pollution.
The police officers of Oton are actually the most reliable ones in the whole province and they’ve been awarded because of that. There’s practically no crime rate in our town. Which is good for me because I work the graveyard shift. My parents don’t worry too much because they know that I’ll be safe when I go out at night.
Best of all, Oton is on higher land thats why its not prone to floods. While the rest of Panay Island suffered much due to typhoon Frank, we only suffered power outage for a week like I’ve mentioned in my previous blog entries.
The people of Oton are also very nice, when we first moved here, we felt welcomed right away because Ogtonganons are almost always smiling and in fact its known as the “Municipality of Character.”
As Roman Catholics we were happy to know that one of the first beautiful churches in the Philippines was built here and now we’re proud parishioners of the La Immaculada Concepcion Parish Church. My family is active in joining church activities.
There are many subdivisions in Oton, no wonder its called the residential hub of Iloilo. Basically because of its proximity to the city and being a coastal town, we have the benefit of relishing the blessings of the sea and its beautiful beaches. The farms also give us bountiful agricultural products like rice, vegetables and fruits like watermelons(Oton grows the best!), corns, mangoes, bananas, etc.
Do I need to add more reasons why we love living in Oton?
Oton really is THE PLACE TO BE!
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