Tatang, I will not forget

Today, we your children will bury your body 6-feet under in a cemetery plot beside Inang’s body or whatever the last 16 years have turned it into. I just find it strange to bury and leave behind a beloved someone buried in dirt, never to be seen or touched again.

But I will not forget. You made sure I didn’t.

Whenever I see a jeepney. You’ve driven one to earn a living. I was too young to remember. Either that or we weren’t born yet. But you told us many kwentong jeepneys. I will remember.

Whenever I see a taxi cab. This, too, was your source of income after the jeepney. A promotion. An upgrade. Words to that effect. Those career moves drove you into losing one of your kidneys in 1995. I will remember.

Whenever I eat watermelons. Kuya Boy and I fought over one which ended in a watermelon throwing contest. We both lost ending up on our bellies to receive a pair of broom-stick spanks each. I will remember.

Whenever I see the beach. One summer day in Olongapo where we usually spend summer in the house of our aunts, Dà Viring and Dà Sayong to help out in the grocery store, you fetched us, Fred and me -your twins, in your cab and brought us to Kale beach. That was one fine picnic day -just the three of us -engraved in the happy moments sector of my brain’s hard drive. I will remember.

Whenever I hear a politician making a speech. In grade 3, I ran for a seat in the Student Council. I was up against two students whose mothers were teachers of the same school. You drafted my campaign speech full of promises I could never keep. Perhaps you knew what politicians were made of. I won convincingly. The school was never the same again -for better or for worse is another story. Twenty years later, I was made its guest speaker. I wrote my own speech. I will remember.

Whenever I see light. You were the electrician at home. Subconsciously, this must have inspired me to do the lighting thing I do now. You were also the plumber, the gardener, the carpenter. You were the my Handy Man in James Taylor’s song. I will remember.

Whenever I hear mass. And I hear mass everyday. The Holy Eucharist reminds me that you shared in the Lord’s sacrifice: as a jeepney and cab driver trying to hold that trip to the bathroom before reaching your passengers’ destination, as a farmer never minding the burning of your skin under the sun -if only to be a good husband and a good father to your family. I will remember.

Whenever I eat rice. You were a farmer all your life. You made sure we’d understand how hard it is to be one by making us plant and harvest with farmers during off-school days. We dried palay grains harvested during the wet season on concrete roads and on the school open basketball courts. And when the dark clouds appear, we’d rush to rake and shovel to sack them back in. We were little farmers, fast and furious. As a young Beatles fan, I didn’t fancy those days. Now, I see gold in every grain I see. Now I appreciate every bit of lesson there was to learn. I will remember.

Goodbye, Tatang. No more looking forward to movies together. Or going to the beach together. My eyes will not see you anymore. My hands will not touch yours anymore. But the unseen and the untouched can be more powerful than what is seen or touched. This family you’ve left behind, you’ve left behind solidly together. You and Inang were the loving catalyst that united and will keep uniting us. We will remember. We will love. Always.

Goodbye, Tatang. I love you. 

I'm An Addict

…to early Sunday morning jogs, that is. I’m training for the April 2019 NatGeo run in which my son Andre and I participated during its first three-year run. 

But since then, bum knees and arteriosclerosis happened. Later on, a stent in the artery, turning vegan, Japanese muscle exercises to strengthen the knees and a day in Bohol where I tried running again for the first time since the cardio procedure got me back on the tracks again. 

This morning’s early hours were wet, very wet. But I just had to run today, having missed it last week because running at 3°C in Tokyo might get me arrested for violating the strict harakiri law in Japan. There was just a mild drizzle so I put on a cap just to keep away the colds virus that a nearly-senior citizen like me must always be on guard against. 

My usual weekly run starts with 10 walk-laps around our village block with a perimeter of about 250m. After which I run 20 laps simulating a 5k run. But halfway into that, the rains got stronger. Keeping a cap on I assumed will get my neighbors thinking I’m stupid twice over. So I decided to swing by our garage to drop the cap without having to disturb my pace rhythm. 

Then it happened -third degree stupidity: I stepped on the most slippery part of our garage. Yes, the very same usual spot we tell house guests not to step on. 

THUD! 

Gravity pulled my not-so-fat pair of buns and left elbow against the rough parts of the garage floor first and the back of my hard skull against its wall next. Not even the new UA pair of running shoes could break the fall. No one witnessed I assumed, but the sound produced by that disgusting spectacle of myself was heard by my wife Rissa resting on the couch in the living room. "What was that?" she asked as I opened the door. Lifting my skinless elbow, I answered, "I slid."

After some first aid from the mad wife, I went back into the wet perimeter tracks, in my totally-drenched shirts, shorts and shoes to finish the remaining half of the run. Still raining. And just as soon as I resumed, my iPhone’s Spotify playlist started playing Cat Stevens Hard Headed Woman. Ha-ha, I thought. I am my wife’s Hard-headed Man.

I finished the run wounded but wiser with some hard lessons learned: keep the cap on; don't give a rat's whatever on what neighbors will say; skip the Cat Stevens song; and for the nth time, do something about them darn slippery tiles.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dec 26 Update:
My wounds are healing fast, thanks to Nikkei who dresses well, not only herself but also wounds.

In hindsight, during the fall, I was conscious enough to protect my head. Although it did hit the wall behind me, the impact was mitigated by that conscious effort. While earlier I wrote nothing broke the fall, I was wrong. Somebody did. I am guarded and protected by my guardian angel to whom I pray everyday: Angel Dei, cui custos es mei... 

And yes, I bought a can of rubberized floor coating for them tiles already.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Gift Turns 21

The day you were born was the day God completed His biggest blessing to this vacay-crazed family - the gift of God-fearing children. Before my very eyes, I saw this gift grow and give joy to those around it. I’ve seen it smile and with it I smiled. I’ve seen it cry and with it my heart wept silently.

I saw it tough. I saw it tender.

In so many ways when you didn’t have the wits about you, you terrify, confuse, intimidate, scare and horrify us and the people around you. Borderline insane, ikr! But in equal measure, you make us laugh that only a Nikkei can. You make us proud for what you’ve become. So far, so good.

You hardly ask for attention because beautiful things do not ask for attention. Yes, that I know.

Regardless, our love for you will always be unconditional. You know that, right?

One of my favorite Bible verses is Matt 6:21 - Car là où est ton trésor, là aussi sera ton coeur. I wrote it in French just so you’d open your Bible to look it up. I love this verse and live by it because when you look deep inside mine, there you’ll find my treasures. There, you occupy a special place. 

Happy birthday, Nikkei. I thank God that I am the one and the only man who can truly call you -my daughter.

This is getting long already. Am done here.

Now bring out that vegan pizza and lemonade.

Top 10 October 2016

October. Already?! Octo means eight which means we are in the eighth month of the year, yes? Right -if March is the first. Actually, it was the first. But just Google it. October is the time to look back on what's been done the past three quarters of the year and time to look ahead on what's needed to pick up the slack, or more appropriately, to take up your own. Me, I look back and count the blessings. And be thankful. My October top 10:

1. The Word

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Luke 1:28
Whenever I pray the Hail Mary, there is this feeling in me that unites me with my mother who was taken away from us nearly 13 years ago. While I call on Our Lady who I’ve seen not, I also call on my Inang who nourished me to intercede and pray for us. Afterall, it was her who taught us to pray the rosary.

2. Final Drive In My Old Reliable

After 17 years of service to my family, I am taking my old Honda Civic for a final spin to its new owners guided by my own emotions I was trying to control. The drive from our village to Waltermart where we, the buyers, the middleman and I agreed to do the big exchange, was a sad one. Short. And sad. I wanted to make it longer, enough to recall all the good and the less-than-good times with this old baby. The red lights at the final crossing helped. Memories came back to me. Funny thing though -good memories remain good, and bad memories turn better when you look back at them. 

Read the blog here.

3. Foods That Keep My Family Together.

How often together?
   Sunday mass. Food for the soul.
   Sunday brunch after mass. Food for the body.
   Travel. Food for the senses. We check out schedule of each when planning for one.
   Sleep. Food for the dreams. For heaven’s sake, we all sleep in one room to save on electricity bill.
   Every night we pray as a family. More food for the soul. This October, it's the rosary followed by our daily Psalms recitation.
Oh yes, food does keep our family together.

4. I took an illegal U-turn.

A day after André forgot his specs that he had to employ Grab Express to have it delivered to him that same day, I told him to only think of a checklist before leaving the door: cellphone; wallet; glasses. For me it’s cellphone, wallet and meds. Guess what, that day I forgot my wallet. I was driving without my license. Somewhere in C5 road Taguig, I made an illegal U-turn, still unaware that my driver’s license was about 25kms away. Had I been aware of that distance, I probably would have been more careful. Sometimes, it’s knowing that you are equipped with what you need that gives you the power to go. Lesson learned.

5. 'Ber' Traffic.

Ber here refers to the ber months. Although EDSA has been designated as a parking zone for most days of the year, it takes this designation with more gusto during this time approaching Christmas when rush hour is no longer true and the word traffic is a misnomer. How can one move with urgent haste (rush) when you can’t even move at all? Or how can there be traffic when there is no longer movement? Go figure.
But enough of this rant.
All I want to say about this is that I am good with traffic. When driving alone, I am not really alone. I keep my mind busy praying the rosary, interceding for many including our country, dusting the interior of the car and counting forever ’til I get to the nearest pit stop. If forever takes longer than usual, then I panic busy looking for a bottle of gatorade left in the car. You know what they say about a bottle of gatorade, they’re spot on accurate: gives you relief!

6. #SMStoreMolino.

Another project finished. It took some extra miracles to pull this one off because of problems (not our doing) that came up days prior to its opening. Challenges come into sight not only to test one’s abilities but to pull oneself back, stand straight preferably on an elevated position and declare out loud, "Who did this?"
Am kidding you, of course. The challenge was an occasion to pull back and pray -pray for inspirations, for wisdom. And true to His promise, the inspiration came. All glory to God!

7. I Reward Myself.

This was the original intent, a noble one if I may say so. Because of the High on Three Counts diagnosis I got the previous month and since coffee is one listed high on the dont’s, I todally skipped drinking it. But when you’re a coffee drinker, you are a coffee drinker. Its morning aroma invites my senses like a filthy garbage bin to an undernourished feral cat. And so I thought of this reward idea in which I can only drink coffee the day after I have exercised for at least an hour in my stationary bike. Or in strenuous car cleaning -including but not limited to waxing and polishing.
And as good as the shine on my forehead is, it was too good to last. It did last for several days, though. And that was it.

I think I’ll have a cup.

8. The Purpose Of Life Is Not Happiness: It’s Usefulness.

One of the best short articles I've read this month. A good read, promise.
For the longest time, I believed that there’s only purpose of life: And that is to be happy.
Right? Why else go through all the pain and hardship? It’s to achieve happiness in some way.
And I’m not the only person who believed that. In fact, if you look around you, most people are pursuing happiness in their lives. 

Read the complete article here.

9. Lighting Fair.

Now this is where I turn into a kid in a toy store. My happy place. With over 50,000sqm of exhibition halls, tens of thousands of lighting enthusiasts looking at hundreds of thousands of LED lights, this is my playground. Every year, I come here to feed on the industry’s techno advances I could use in my design work. Although this year's fair didn't offer a fair amount of breakthroughs, touching base with people in the industry provided for some delightful time.  Too bad I only had a day to do this because the following day, it’s the next item on this list.

10. Feeling High In Shang!

Totally unplanned, unbudgeted, unscheduled. But these are the elements of a good vacation, are they not? Thanks to the sweet-talking Bing, a Shanghai-based good friend of ours and godmother of my daughter Nikkei who prevailed upon us when my only intention was to book a buy1-take1 fare to the lighting fair in HK. Instead in a flash, we found ourselves hypnotized and booked to HK and Shanghai. Included among the victims of hypnosis are my family, my bro-in-law Hermie and his family and my sister Tess. 

It was a blast, nonetheless. Six years since the 2010 Shanghai Expo, we were back! We also got to visit the West Lake in Hangzhou and Tianducheng -the Paris of China complete with the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees. Really, in China, counterfeiting goes large scale!

May you be showered with God's abundance.

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Top 10 September 2016

It ain't officially Christmas yet but it feels like it already. This month started with something that made me feel like my nuts roasting in an open fire it- like an accident happened. See item 2 in this list for more details about this bad-hair-day season kickoff. It may not have been a good start but the end of this beginning augured well for the rest of the month. Am sure you will agree with me if you read on to see what I mean.

1. The Word.

Whenever a feeling of greatness creeps into my wicked head, these words set my feet back on the ground. Then I am good again. Then I make my next move right:

     Brothers and sisters:

      Let no one deceive himself.

      If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age,

      let him become a fool, so as to become wise.

      For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,

      for it is written:

      God catches the wise in their own ruses,

      and again:

      The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 1Cor3:18-20

2. I Rear-ended A Car No One Witnessed.

SM parking building. Seven o’clock in the morning. No witnesses. No cameras to capture the crime. Perfect, I thought. Almost. I still have a choice to make: do what is right or escape.

I confess that the thought of running away crossed my mind but I knew that it will bother me no end: every time I pray, every time I hear mass, every time I park a car. If I ran away, what has the daily mass made of my Christian character?

I walked to look for security guards in the parking building. None. I waited a bit for the owner to return. No one came.

Before leaving, I left a note on the windshield of the car that says:

I was the one who caused the damage in your bumper.

I am sorry. I am willing to pay for the cost of repair. 

[My name and contact number.]

The whole day went by without any text or call. The following morning, a text message came. I called him and apologized. We agreed on an amount. I deposited to his bank account. He is grateful. I am free. 

My character was put to the test. Did I do good? Only God knows. I made it a personal opportunity  to explore myself. My verdict: I’m throwing modesty out the right rear window of the car with the way I feel now.

3. High in Three Counts.

Cholesterol, uric acid, sugar. Cholesterol was double than normal. Uric is a little over normal. Sugar is high but not over normal. Thing is, when you’re high on three, the only things left that’s safe for you to eat are food labels and packagings. And cholesterol-free organic place mats. And meth. But I know neither pusher nor user except Heisenberg. But he died three seasons ago.

Maybe discipline and exercise will work. That is, discipline for lunch and exercise for dinner. 

And I will have lunch and dinner for breakfast. Watta life!

4. Battery Gone But Watch Still Tells Correct Time 2x A Day.

I need a battery for my Swatch watch. 

I go to SM mall.

Then to the Swatch kiosk.

I give my watch to the sales lady.

"Change battery, please."

I wait a few minutes.

I watch lady replace battery.

Lady gives back my watch, now working properly.

"Thanks. How much?"

"It’s free, sir. We’re having a promo."

"No way!"

"Yes way, sir."

Woo-hoo. Lunch is on me!

5. A Senior Boy.

The eldest is officially old. Cong Boy turned hexagenarian or sexagenarian. I wanted to expound on this but since this blog is rated G, so there.

In our hometown where everyone knew everyone else’s stray dogs and pigs (would you believe?), the first-born boy is usually nicknamed Boy + nickname of the mother. Like Boy Viring (son of Viring) or Boy Trining (son of Trining). Since our mother Leonila is nicknamed Ilang, Cong Boy is known in our place as Boy Ilang. His real name is Leonido which is a combi of my mother’s and my father’s (Bienvenido) names.

Cong Boy has been thru a lot: survived a mango tree fall; survived Diego Garcia; survived a shock-wave kidney stone treatment; out-survived John Lennon and George Harrison.

You are a survivor Cong Boy. May you enjoy the very best of your senior life ahead of you.

6. New Client.

Dai-ichi literary means number one. It also means one new client for Toespin. My team and I keep busy with only a handful of clients. So now, it’s a handful and 1. God is good all the time!

7. Chinese Visa.

We’re going to China in October to reclaim what should have been ours since the Continental Drift. Not! 

For a family R&R. 
Yup.

The visas didn’t come like a fast order of hakao dimsum. There were suspenseful and thrilling moments. If you look at the map of China, nowhere there will you find Spratleys and Scarborough Shoals. Much like it, when you look at the Chinese embassy website, nowhere there will you find 'additional’ requirements for visa. I didn’t bring my sister’s old passport anymore because I thought it was not needed. They say it’s a new requirement, among many not published. I was told I needed to submit it before 11:00am. That was around 10am.

Immediately I called Tess and instructed her to bring me her old passport as fast as she can.

"I’ll take a quick shower," she said. 

"No! Leave now!" In 60 seconds flat, she was inside the train in her day-old skin.

She arrived in the nick of time, submitted the old passport with 5 minutes to spare.

We got the visas the following week. 

Hi Shang!

8. Saturdate.

Some couples date in fancy restaurants. I know some who go to movies regularly. For me and my lovely wife, it’s the Bonifacio wet market in Monumento, Caloocan city -about a 10-min drive away. There are two other wet markets closer to where we live but Bonifacio wet market is the only one that offers memories of good-ol’ Caloocan days. We stayed in my wife’s family old house in Caloocan for the first 17 years of our marriage. It is from this dirty and smelly fish and meat stalls of Bonifacio market where our first home-cooked meals as married couple were bought.

Our date consists of me buying buko juice while Rissa buys meat, fish, fruits and vegetables -everything but the buko. Leave the buko to me, I can handle that!

Then, she rings my phone. I go upstairs. There our eyes meet again. Then she makes the move -with her red lips, she motions me to pick up bags and bags of the 'everything but the buko.' 

Then back to the car. Then drive home.

Sweeeet… I know, right?

9. From Japan to Hong Kong.

Brunch time one Sunday morning, it was decided that we go Japanese at Oedo, this family’s go-to Japanese resto lately. After the Sunday mass which ended at 9:30am, we drove straight to the place only to find it still close. It opens at 11. If this family won’t get food in the next 30mins, Monday won’t be forthcoming. So from Japan, we headed south to Hong Kong Street Food in Banaue st. I’ve only been there once before I thought it’s worth another try. For less than a thousand bucks, we had our fill of dimsum and congee.

The following day, Monday, came.

10. Final Word from Padre Pio.

"Love and practice simplicity and humility and don't worry about the opinion of the world, because if this world had nothing to say against us, we would not be real servants of God."

Oo nga naman.

May you be showered with God's abundance.

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Final Drive In My Old Reliable

After 17 years of service to my family, I am taking my old Honda Civic for a final spin to its new owners guided by my own emotions I was trying to control. The drive from our village to Waltermart where we, the buyers, the middleman and I agreed to do the big exchange, was a sad one. Short. And sad. I wanted to make it longer, enough to recall all the good and the less-than-good times with this old baby. The red lights at the final crossing helped. Memories came back to me. Funny thing though -good memories remain good, and bad memories turn better when you look back at them. 

If this old machine can talk, she can tell you the story of my life. She has seen everything: 

  the kids growing at the back seat, then later behind the wheel taking control; 

  my hairline receding, then later altogether disappearing; 

  the family singing Don Moen songs on the way to kindergarten, 

        then sleeping on the way back; 

  the kids petty bickering at the back seat when they were small, 

        and the major bickering at the back seat now that they are bigger;

  André testing the car lighter on Nikkei when they were curious juveniles; 

  Nikkei relentless talking at the expense of André’s ears;

  Rissa fighting off sleep to keep me company during long drives;

  Rissa giving in when the call to slumber is stronger;

  me fighting off sleep;

  André saying, "Go Bataan" every time we drive past Balintawak;

  running on empty from Tagaytay to Sta. Rosa;

  the breakdowns just right in front of a motor shop in Dau and in Binondo; 

  the overheating in Baguio at a public place where water flows freely;

  the EDSA traffic then, the EDSA traffic now;

  the father and son car wash;

  the kids’ elementary and high school graduations;

  my Inang’s funeral.

I did one final Psalms recitation as my own prayer of thanksgiving. I almost cried a tear between Roosevelt ave. and the parking area. Almost. 

This is too melodramatic. Enough already.

It’s been days now since. I’ve learned to move on.

A bit faster. Actually.

And in better style. Actually.

I am smiling.

Pero miss ko pa rin ci vic.

Top 10 August 2016

Who said August is a miserable month? Not me. Not for me. Never for me. August this year is a month of celebrations. Some expected, others extemporaneous. Some for the family. Some for the country. I guess if you open yourself to blessings, blessings come. 

1. The Word. 

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. -Mat 14:19-20

[I am re-posting here my reflections on these verses When Subtraction is Multiplication posted on April 2015]

          I am technical, therefore, the title.

                                or

          The title, therefore, I am technical.

          But mind not the metaphysical aspect of the beginning, 

          this is just the cause and effect of my reading Thomas A. 

          -the dude that started it all.

          I just feel the need to publish this train of thought 

         -actually a reflection of today’s gospel reading. 

          I am right in the middle of a project meeting waiting for my item, 

          which is I think is stuck between the 36th and the 51st slides, 

          to go up the discussion board. I arrived late 

          -just when the 12th slides off the screen but early enough 

          to catch the first of the doughnuts that got passed around.

          Hmmmm, donuts! Read more...

2. Anniversary.

How do you celebrate 22 years of marriage? Very carefully, I guess. Finding reasons for it is like firing a .22 caliber. I haven’t fired one before because I didn’t need to. Which brings me to finding reasons. I don’t need to, either. I’m rambling, am I not? Does this make any sense to you at all? My point is: the reasons are right before my eyes: my wife and two kids. They give me every reason to celebrate. 

At 22, time has come to showcase all the lessons learned all these years.

At 22, time has come to exercise wisdom gained.

At 22, time has come to reap and enjoy the fruits of what was planted.

At 22, time has come to plant some more.

At 22, you find best meaning to the words of a song. The one in particular that plays in my mind is Gary Ignacio’s (Alamid) Your Love:

           I am all alone without you

           My days are dark without a glimpse of you

           But now that you came into my life

           I feel complete

           The flowers bloom, my morning shines

           And I can see

           Chorus:

           Your love is like the sun

           That lights up my whole world

           I feel the warmth inside

           Your love is like the river

           That flows down through my veins

           I feel the chill inside

           Every time I hear our music play

           Reminds me of the things that we've been through

           In my mind I can't believe it's true

           But in my heart the reality is you

Play the song, my dear. And while you listen, think of me. Happy Anniversary!

3. Nikkei Index Up By 1.

A year older. My daughter starts her final teen year. She just finished her 2nd year in college listed on the Dean’s which means she’s actually learning something and the high payout is paying off. One more year and I’m finally financially free. Maybe then she can pay for the electric bill since the brother is paying for the water bill already. I can dream, can’t I?

One of a man’s fears is raising a daughter. But Nikkei presented few difficulties that made the raising part manageable, amusing in more ways I can can recall. There are no cutting corners in raising a child but Nikkei helped smoothen the edges.

Happy birthday, Nikkei. Apart from the jacket you said you will pay me back for but you didn’t, as usual, the good words in this post are your birthday gift.

4. Grand Celebration.

It started with a Viber family group message from my brother Fred asking the family to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for their home mortgage freedom. A few minutes and about a hundred exchange of messages later, village clubhouse is booked, food menus allocated and the parteé is set.

Add to the mortgage freedom as reasons to celebrate: no.2 above; my brother Gani’s birthday, no.3 above; my niece Kate’s successful defense of her master’s degree thesis; Bernadette’s passing the board exams; my niece Shannen’s birthday; my nephew Buchi’s birthday; my brother’s wife’s nephew Walter’s despedida; God’s abundance -to sum it all up.

Little Pia sung the national anthem, Bayang Magiling…

5. Gold!

Almost. Silver, to be exact. To millions of Filipinos who have not seen a local athlete win an Olympic medal since 1996, it was a golden moment in the midst of bad news which this country has had enough of. 

6. A Cockroach Got Into My Car.

Backing up in my garage one early night with the windows open, a big scary roach from out of nowhere flew in the car perhaps expecting a free ride. Next thing I knew, we were playing hide n’ seek. Give it to the roach, it’s good at playing this game because no matter how many times I say “ready or not here come,” I just couldn’t find the creepy creature. I’ve almost given up. Just when the thought of it making my new car its hatchery, an idea of spraying lemon-scented Baygon came. I was tempted to empty the can but that might defeat the new car smell. I sprayed a few but just enough for the scent to penetrate probable hiding places. The following morning, RIP roach!

7. You. Yes, You.

This blog is a few years old but I have never gotten the chance to thank you, my beloved readers -yes all 42.5 regular readers of this blog. You’ve known me, my thoughts, my work, my fears, my joys and pains. You know me not just through my writings. You know me because you are all my relatives! Thank you, family.

Please don’t feel bad just because the cockroach entry came ahead of you in this list, you are more important to me than a hundred cockroaches, dead or alive. 

Again, thank you. See you soon. 

Wait! Whose turn is it to bring garlic rice in the next pot luck. Me? Oh sheesh kebab…

8. If You’re Too Busy For These 5 Things: Your Life Is More Off-Course Than You Think.

This is the best short article I’ve read this month. If you’re not too busy, please read. It’s worth your busy time:

          Despite turbulence and other conditions keeping airplanes 

          off-course 90 percent of flight time, most flights arrive in the correct destination 

          at the intended time.

          The reason for this phenomenon is quite simple — through air traffic control 

          and the inertial guidance system, pilots are constantly course-correcting. 

          When immediately addressed, these course corrections are not hard to manage. 

          When these course corrections don’t regularly happen, catastrophe can result. 

          Read more...

9. He Cares Mission.

For 20 of caring for God’s poor street children, He Cares Mission celebrates God’s blessings. He Cares Mission is a foundation for street children founded 20 years ago by Joe Dean Sola and wife Ardis. You must remember Joe Dean as one of us Wordly Men who meet every Monday for breakfast and Bible study. Ardis is my wife’s best friend since kindergarten. Rissa sits as one of the foundation’s board members. Needless to say, it’s one of our fave foundation. If you want to donate to any of its programs, please click here.

10. Davao.

It was the 90’s when I first visited Davao whose mayor then is a dude named Duterte. I was with Philips Lighting working on a mall project. This time, it’s for SM, Toespin’s biggest client who happens to have problems with lighting in their two Davao malls. SM knows: when you have lighting concerns, who you gonna call? #toespinlighting!

The city reeks of durian that quells any other odor present in the air. Posters, billboards and stickers of Duterte blanket every fence, wall and post everywhere. I wasn’t a bit surprised.

The city will soon shine brightly. The malls, at least.

May you be showered with God's abundance.

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