Some photos from the November wedding...

While looking at my blog posts last November, I saw that I didn't share much about my brother's wedding.

Except for that one photo at the church, there weren't any others.

Recently, my sister-in-law tagged me on some of their wedding photos which were just uploaded on Facebook.

Looking at the photos, I can't help but smile again as I was reminded of the very beautiful occasion.

Sure, I expected that I would be one day walking my brother or brothers down the aisle as they married their girlfriends. I just didn't expect that I would be doing it so soon. And I didn't expect that my youngest brother, who will always be my baby brother, will be the first one to tie the knot.

Being the Kuya and being the kancheong person that I am, I was worrying about a number of things concerning the wedding. On several occasions, I had to remind myself to keep my mouth shut as it is not my wedding. Haha! And I didn't want to add to the stress that my brother was going through.

A night before the event, my brother to his Kuyas and Mom to the venue of the reception. Of course, it wasn't all dressed up yet. I thought to myself, "Okay, things are looking okay."

The following day, when we reached the reception venue, my jaws dropped after seeing the transformation. It looked beautiful, it looked elegant. I was very proud of how my baby brother and his wife planned the whole thing.

After the event, I was a little bit more reassured that he knew what he was getting himself into. Hehe!

I'm also super happy that my best friend and my own best man! (Lol!), Tey, was able to join our family in the celebration. It really meant a lot to me.

Awww, weddings are so nice.

Some Manila trip photos...

Some happy photos from the short Manila trip last week.

Loved ones, friends - the main reason I try to visit Manila. Lol! If not for them, I would just be visiting the countryside where my heart really belongs. Lol! I miss the urban/rural feel of Iloilo. I miss the panoramic views of Palawan, Sagada and Banaue. I miss the colorful scenery at Zamboanga. I still have to visit Bohol and Batanes. I still have to see other parts of Cebu. Hehe!

I was born and raised in Manila, and have lived there for the first three decades of my life. If I ever go back, I think I don't mind living in another part of the country and just make trips to Manila to see family, loved ones, good friends. Hehe!

Andre x Lala...

I was in Manila for a few days to attend the family event of the year.

Though a short trip, a very short one, the few days created nice, new memories for me and the fam.

Though I'm not sure if I or my second brother will ever marry, I'm sure my Dad is smiling from the heavens to see that his family name will continue thanks to my youngest brother. Hehe.

Congrats and best wishes, Andre and Lala!

About 2014...

How was your 2014?

I have to say mine was generally a very good one. Looking back now, there were a lot of things to be grateful for in the year that just ended.

Hmm, I would have to say that one of the major things I am thankful for was being able to go on a few trips. There’s the trip to Yogyakarta with my Mom. There’s the trip to Singapore for my Mom. There’s a trip to Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Bintan. And of course, the big trip of the year was Europe. I’ve dreamt of going to Europe and I’ve always thought that it will just remain as a dream. Well, 2014 taught me that if you want something bad enough, you will do what you can to make it happen.

I fell in love with Amsterdam and Brussels. I would definitely want to visit again. In fact, I already have an itinerary in mind. Let’s just see what travels are in store for me this 2015. Hmm, I want to do another major travel but I told my Mom I’m taking her to Cambodge this year. That has to happen. Please let there be a seat sale!

The other thing I am thankful for is work. The organisation is undergoing transformation and I’m grateful to still be blessed with work. To be honest, I intend to stay overseas for as long as I could. Going back is an option I would not like to consider... at least, for the next 30 years. Hehe! One thing that would make me consider going back is love. Seriously. If I find myself in a relationship and things are getting serious, I just might consider moving back.

Speaking of relationships, it was year of change in that department. After almost 4 years, PG Boy and I parted ways. The good thing about it is that we remain friends. We still WhatsApp. He got me a nice souvenir from Portugal. We still hang out once in a while. It was a very adult and mature breakup, I tell you. Post-PG Boy, there was NB Boy who’s a Singaporean and most recently, HB Boy who’s a Beijinger. Hmm, neither resulted in a relationship. It was just a short period of dating. I guess the good thing about both is that it allowed me to put myself out there again.

What else? Okay, I have to say that the year ended very well thanks to the trip to Manila. It’s my first time to spend Christmas again in Manila since I left in 2011. I have to thank my colleague Alexie for making me go on the trip. She invited me to her wedding last 26 December at beautiful Tagaytay Highlands. I would not miss it for the world. I am extremely happy that I made the trip. In addition to witnessing Alexie marching down the aisle, I also got to see several friends and of course, my Mom and my two younger sibs. Five days is too short a trip though. There are still so many other things that I wanted to do. However, it was already time to fly back to Singapore.

So, yeah, these are a few of the highlights of 2014. I’m sure there are a lot of other things to be grateful for. At this very moment, these are the ones that come to mind.

Good memories brought back by a tea towel...

It's a bit amusing how an image can bring back memories of the past. Haha!

The other day, I was at a friend's place to get some files for my new hard drive. After I set up the HD with his laptop and started the copy process, I stood up and had a look around his room.

The first thing I noticed was a framed image of a unicorn in a cage. I've seen the image before and it took a splitsecond for me to remember.

It was an image of one of the invaluable tapestries on display at the Cloisters gallery of the Met. My friend bought a tea towel with a print of the tapestry as a souvenir, I guess. He thought it was too pretty to be a tea towel so he decided to put it in a frame. I must say it was a good decision.

The Unicorn in Captivity was introduced to me by someone I met several years ago. He and I shared a great interest in museums and the arts so he thought I would appreciate reading on the conservation works done by the Met on the Unicorn Tapestries series. And I did.

Having seen the image again, I recalled other pleasant memories - CBTL Gateway, Ateneo, Bare the musical. Lol! I dunno what happened to him but I do know that I want to see the Unicorn tapestries in real life. Maybe next year?

Here is the link in case anyone wants to read it. Quite lengthy, but very interesting.

On volunteering...

Recently, I had an interesting convo with a fellow volunteer.

We were discussing volunteer recruitment matters. I pointed out something to this fellow.

He then told me about this article/research he read about reasons why people volunteer.

The reasons can be one or a combination of the following: 1.) pure altruism, 2.) social network, 3.) escapism, 4.) career advancement, to name a few. There were three more items but he couldn't recall. Lol.

Uhm, it was a bit of a news to me given that I come from a traditional school of thought when it comes to volunteerism.

Up to this day, I still recall my first volunteer experience. It was when I was in Primary 2. We visited an orphanage which was a short walk away. I remember I brought a few toys to share with the other kids.

Back then, I was still too young to understand what I was doing. Lol. Few years later, I started another volunteer commitment. This one lasted me close to seven years. In uni, I was part of a volunteer group. After uni, my first job was with a volunteer organisation. The following jobs saw me in the field of corporate social responsibility, which included a volunteer component.

When I came to SG, one of the first things that I wanted to do was to volunteer with a group. I was blessed to have found one group and I've been with them for close to three years now. (Whoa! Time flies!). Last year, I started another volunteer commitment. This commitment is on its way to its first year. I am planning to volunteer with one more group.

Writing this down, I am amused to realise that volunteering was and continue to be a signficant part of my life.

There are times when I experience internal conflict though. At one point, I would either ask myself my reasons or ask whether there is a fit between the values I believe in and the values/thrust of the group I volunteer with.

I still continue to volunteer though. There is much to be done around, whether it's in the Philippines or surprise, surprise, even in a First World country like Singapore.

A fellow Filipino volunteer I recently chatted with shared his reaction after a few months of volunteering with another group. He said, "I'm surprised, you know. I didn't think that there were similar issues here in Singapore. I've always thought everyone has it good here."

Yet another reason why I believe in volunteering. It is another way of knowing the place where we are in. This makes me remember those times that I've gone to far-flung areas for immersion. The objective was simple: live with the community to understand their way of life. Hopefully, when one returns home, he/she will have an understanding of the need for action, for volunteerism.

There's this quote from St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of my primary school. Though I've graduated from Grade 6 a looong time ago, I still recall this quote and it continues to be one of my guiding principles in life:

"Brothers, let us begin. Let us begin, for until now we have done little or nothing."

Random update...

Last night in Manila.

I've been doing nothing but eat since I arrived last Thursday. Hahaha! It's so easy to put on weight when in Manila. Good food is everywhere! Haha!

To be fair, I've been watching the portions that I've been eating. Also, I've only been having once cup of rice each meal. Still, it is a bit too much given that I only have rice once a day in Singapore. On some days, I don't even take rice. Haha!

Hmm, I wonder if I should consider doing Master Cleanse when I get back as suggested by I-van. I just dunno if I will last 11 days of just lemonade and nothing else. Eeep!

As expected, the trip has been going very well. I haven't had the time to meet up with a lot of friends though either because of conflict of schedule or because we couldn't agree on a common location. I've only been shuttling between my home, Manila and Makati. In Makati, I dun even reach Landmark nor Glorietta. Everything is in Greenbelt. Hehe!

Right now, I'm just killing time while waiting for my colleague from Wiley, CJ. We agreed to get together on this trip and I'm actually happy that we found a common time. Hehe!

Okay, this is it for now. Will post again really soon.

I already miss Singapore!!! :)

Again...

When I left Manila in 2011, the first time I visited the place again was in January 2013.

I never really felt the need to go back between 2011 until 2012. Sure, I do miss my family and my good friends. However, most of the good friends I have came over to Singapore for holidays. As for my family, the biweekly calls, Skype were sufficient.

Boy, I'm really making up for the two years I didn't visit Phils. this year...

Friday nights at OT...

When I was still in my previous job, some of my colleagues, including my best friend Tey, would usually stay back at the office on a Friday night.

One, Manila + Friday night is a recipe for horrible traffic. Two, there is more work to be done. Hehe!

The good thing is that our office was smack in the middle of the business district. That meant having easy access to the malls, drinking places, etc.

On certain nights where we didn't feel like heading to Greenbelt or we just wanted something very laidback, very casual, we would go to this place along De la Costa called OT.

It was a stone's throw away from the office and on many nights, it served as our version of the bar that Ally Mcbeal and her colleagues would hit.

There ws nothing fantab about OT. People were allowed to smoke. Food was your regular stuff. When you leave, you bring with you the combined smell of cigarette smoke, smoked food and so on. LOL!

But we love the place for two things - cheapo buckets of San Mig Lights and cheapo karaoke. Haha! We're talking about five peso per song here.

If I remember correctly, karaoke starts at 10PM. By then, there would be quite a few tables occupied with fellow yuppies who wanted to relax but nothing too formal and chichi (chichi talaga?!). Most of them were colleagues from other departments - Engineering, IT, Customer Service, and us Public Affairs.

Because we'd always see each other

A catalogue of the songs would be passed around and we would take note of the number code for the songs we wanted to sing. We'd give the piece of paper to the waiter who would then key in the numbers to the karaoke machine. Haha!

And for the next two hours, we would have our own karaoke night. No one cared how you sung the song. When you had the mic, you owned the place. LOL. No fights erupted. No broken bottles or noses. Just pure, unapologetic singing. Haha!

Good times, good times, indeed!

More about Manila trip...

Though it was a very short trip and that the main reason really was to visit fam, I made sure I was able to see some good friends.

In a short span of six days, I got to hang out with friends from SMART, Twitter buddies, good friend/brother Carlo, and classmates from UP.

Hmm, it's my first trip back to the Phils since I left almost two years ago. Not much has changed, but it felt like the eating out was so expensive. Haha! I was converting prices at restaus and prices were close to what I'd usually pay for at SG. Haha!

The one thing I found to be really cheapo was cab fare. Hehe! Again, I was converting and I was super happy that taking a cab in Manila is still waaaay cheaper. Hehe!

It was such a short visit. I should plan another trip. Maybe PG Boy can join the next trip. If he does, I def want it to be an out of Manila trip. Hehe!

Quick trip to Manila...

So I did go visit Manila recently.

After almost two years, the prodigal son returns… for a holiday.

Well, it wasn't really so much of a holiday. The main reason I went back was to visit my family. In particular, I wanted to visit my Dad who recently fell ill.

If not for that, I think I would have kept on delaying the visit back to Manila.

My Dad has spinal stenosis. I dun exactly know much about it. Twitter friend Jamie explained it to me. I only remembered some parts of it.

Basically, my Dad is now on a wheelchair. It is such a big change and a big surprise for all of us because we are talking about a guy who goes on very long walks almost every day. Sure, he's hitting 80 next year but this man is still strong for his age. Now, he has to be cared for because of this disease.

We dun know if he can still get back on his feet. Surgery doesn't seem to be an option because of his age. We just have to hope that the physical therapy will be of some help.

Needless to say, the current condition of my Dad has had an impact not just on him but on the entire family.

I left Manila with a lot of things to think about. Until now, there are all these questions and scenarios in my head.

But really, what can we do but face the situation, right?

If there's one big thing I'm learning from all of these, it is to have a much more stronger faith.

Faith that there has to be some reason, maybe even something good, behind all of these.