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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Top 10 July 2016

Here’s a chronicle of the yin-yangs that happened this month: the good and the not-so; the healthy and the so-so; the spiritual and the physical. Nevertheless, they are reasons to be thankful. 

1. The Word.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, 

which a person finds and hides again, 

and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Mat 13:44

The words of Fr. Moises Ciego of Mary Mother of Hope Chapel (Landmark, Makati) in his homily struck gold in my bones. He spoke about the conversion story of his friend who is a driven corporate lady and couldn’t care less about her spirituality. One day while driving with the radio playing a song, it hit her. She pulled up on the highway and cried herself to salvation. That one song made her find her treasure, leave corporate world and serve God.

One. Song.

Then it hit me, too. Has there been a song that was played for me that I failed to hear or listen to? Or an event or a person or an article or anything that occupies space and has weight that heaven sent me but that I missed? 

Will I be given another chance? What If I miss again?

Play it again, Lord. I’ll try harder.

2. Breakfast in Tagaytay. 

Why not? Must take the new ride for a long spin anyway. And we were all hungry anyway. Once in a while, going for a long drive to a destination where no client is waiting is what this old skeleton needs for a restoration. Sure we had unhealthy sausage-and-cheese platter and salmon eggs benedict but who’s counting the fats and the calories? Not me. Not my family. Heck, not even Antonio! Good times and some good-hearted laughs can easily cancel out the bad effects.

3. Senior Me.

They say that if you line up something or for something like an event or activity, you arrange for IT to happen. So there I was lining up to get in an LRT train going to Carriedo - it happened: 

Senior citizen? asked a female security guard. Me? I thought. Around me were millennials wearing headphones which rules out the hope of having a senior or another senior-looking dude around me. It can only be me. Seriously? I look that already? Am torn between calling my lawyer, or my stylist or staying in line. I stayed in line because I knew where I stand -both in life and in the station. I let that pass knowing that one day, that female security guard will be old and grey herself and that my day will come.

4. Interesting Me.

And then it came. Life is an equilibrium. One day you get an in-your-face slam, the next you get the sweetest of all compliments. Not just by anyone capable of large-scale dishonesty like that female security guard, but by an innocent 8-year old sinless little girl named Naomi incapable of telling lies. “I think you’re interesting,” she told me. Ha! take that lady! I believe you lil’ girl. Thanks for lifting my spirits by speaking the truth.

Life is good.

5. 5 reasons Mass didn’t bore the saints.

The best article I’ve read this month about the mass. Reading this strengthens my resolve to go to mass everyday.
Do you ever feel bored at Mass?
Don't worry, I'm not judging. When I first returned to Mass after a time away, I found the Mass boring. But Jesus' presence in the Eucharist drew me in. And eventually, His presence in the Mass instructed me in the ways of heaven, helping me to develop a greater love for the Mass. I realized that the Mass was the most important prayer that I could pray in any day.
Read the rest of the article here.

6. Psalms Recitation.

For better clarity, focus and a feeling of being fully equipped, I recite at least 7 Psalms and Canticles including Magnificat and Benedictus several times daily. This is my way of Jericho Marching my concerns, my prayer petitions, my activities, my day. I’m taking inspiration from Joshua and his people (Joshua 6), who by God’s instructions, silently prayed/marched their way to conquer Jericho. 

Just like Joshua and company, I do this because…

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. 

It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, 

to where joints and marrow come together. 

It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. Heb 4:12

It cuts through difficult situations;

It cuts through traffic;

It cuts through love ones miles away;

It cuts through making decisions;

It cuts through sickness;

It cuts through time and space.

At the end of each day, I recite the same in thanksgiving. I get withdrawal restlessness, if ever there is such, if I don’t do the recitations.

This is what I do. Now, my family, too. Together, we recite a Psalm and/or a Canticle every night before going to bed.

7. Andre Cleans Car.

With a little help from his female friend. Help not in the manner of assisting, but help in the manner of opening the way for Andre to do the job. On their way back from a party where Andre is the designated driver, he took some friends in for the ride home including the female friend. Somewhere between Marikina and the-next-morning hangover, she unloaded her entire tummy’s alcohol-flavored contents into the back seat of the car. Andre’s duties didn’t end with parking. He knew that just about that time -2:00am - the car must get a much-needed shampooing.

8. New Doctor in the Family.

Time flies, so they say. 22 years ago, Bernadette, my niece, and her fraternal twin brother were just babies. Now, both have finished college and Bernadette, the new graduate in my previous post is now a full-fledged doctor having passed the board exams. A child’s milestones bring not only joy but more importantly, hope that his or her life will be better than ours.

9. New Church.

For more than a decade now, there’ve been hardly a day that went by without me attending the mass. A true challenge especially on days when business schedules were tight. Bigger challenges when I travel. But as the Good Book says, when you seek Him first, all these things shall come. The Lord gives me a new venue: 2 minutes from the train station where I drive Nikkei to in the morning is Christ The King church where the morning mass is celebrated at 6:30. This is where I go when neither 6am nor 7:30am mass fits. The Lord be with me.

10. Famovietime.

I average less than a handful of theater movies in a year but this month, it’s been a festival: two movies! The first, Ghostbuster, was a way to spend time waiting for Rissa while she eats lunch with fellow CFA teammates. The movie was like digging a hole in the ground then leaving after finding nothing but soil with insects that live underground that you find no use of. But there was a bit of fun in the digging, though. No expectations failed on this one because there was none at the start. The second is with the family -Ignacio de Loyola. Similar hole in the ground thing but this time, the hoe hit something solid. Might even be a treasure chest. The kind where you should dig deeper to find out or stop and leave with nothing.

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Top 10 June 2016

This list includes big and small but big, very big in the realm of blessings. This just goes to show that length, breadth, height, weight and volume are no measure of blessings. The first line should have read something big and something small but some of those are not things but warm bodies.

1. The Word.

He is not God of the dead, but of the living… Mk12:27

I’ve made it a habit to pray the prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas after receiving Holy Communion which concludes this way:

I pray, too, that it may be Your pleasure 

to call my sinful self one day to that banquet,

Wonderful past all telling,

Where You, with Your Son and the Holy Spirit,

Feast Your saints with the vision of Yourself,

Who are true light,

The fulfillment of all desires,

The joy that knows no ending,

Gladness unalloyed,

And perfect bliss:

Through the same Christ our Lord.

While praying, I try to imagine with the words of St. Thomas how heaven is like. I get that heavenly feeling just thinking about it.

2. My Day.

Being a father, that is. Not that I don’t get to be a father for the rest of the year, it’s actually the day I don’t get to be one instead. Ironic, eh? This day, I am the baby of the family. Yup -commercialism works! Mother and son split the bill while father and daughter split the yakiniku platter. 

But wait! Didn’t we pay using my credit card?! Hey! 

3. Small.Yet.Biggest.

Hands down, he brought the biggest bunch of joy to the fam bam. The most awaited, the most anticipated is finally out! For @raphael, this is a most on-the-button way to celebrate father’s day. His dada duties have officially begun. Each of the baby’s parents claims facial territories taking after theirs. The new bundle of joy has a name: Alfonso Rafael Talag Espinosa. Welcome to barangay Espeeps!

4. Toespin Lighting Design Consultants.

We turned 5 last March. I know, this item should have come out 3 issues ago. But in order to make it current, allow me to do this again:

We turned 63 this month. That’s happy 63th monthsary, Toespin! We’ve turned over countless(!) projects over the last five years of our bright existence but do you know that the very first project we were commissioned to do isn’t finished yet? This is One Eastwood Tower in Eastwood City, Libis. Although the edifice is up to its highest level and on its finishing stages already -facade lighting included, it doesn't give justice to give it a place in our archive of finished projects. Can’t wait to see it glow with delight soon. Here’s to the next 5 and beyond! A shout out to my crack team: Victor, Mario, Herbert and Blessie.

5. If I Brought Home Stuff From My Own Office, Is It Stealing?

[Or vice-versa. Or any place between vice and versa which for all intents and purposes is my car which turns into a virtual office as soon as I park these not-so-fat *ss of mine in it. Work for me is somewhere in between and inclusive.] 

Nikkei pulls a stapler out of my work bag to staple her school report using staple wires purchased with Toespin revenues. Stealing? Although the answer may be obvious, the question takes a spotlight in my mind, grateful I do not have to be concerned with matters like:

-may i call the wife using a strictly-for-the-office-use cellphone only?

-is it ok to print my son’s homework in the office?

Freedom takes on a different form from this perspective. Again, I’m grateful.

6. Back to School.

The ‘lil girl in my January post is no longer a school drop out. Last school year’s attempt did not succeed because according to her, “there were too much doings.” This time it’s a different school with a different teacher and different classmates. Judging from the galaxy of stars that are stamped daily on the back of her hands and on her arms, she’s back for good -her own good. Lest she might end up like Steve Jobs or Richard Branson or Mark Zuckerberg or Rachel Ray who didn’t finish school. Scary, eh?

7. Jubilee Year.

Our parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, celebrates her 50th year -a Jubilee year according to the Church calendar. I am thankful because #Toespin has a participation in its preparations -lighting of the altar and the retablo behind the altar. The bright golden light that highlights the altar that I see everytime I attend mass is a constant reminder that I am in the business of lighting primarily to serve Him who Himself is the Great Light.

8. Good Rates.

This serves as a preface to #9. I’ve been shopping for the best bank rates for a car loan for the past couple of weeks. I’ve called friends who are in the business and short-listed a few. At the end of this chase, I’ve proven that the people who know you more can offer more: my bank, BDO. Somehow, they did find a way to cut rates better than the others. 

And having done that…

9. New Ride.

Remember my New Ride entry in my January post? This time it’s not just the tires but the tires and everything attached to them. It has been 17 years since the last time I sat behind the wheel of a brand new car that I can call mine. Looking forward, 17 years may seem like forever but looking back, it’s really that not bad. The longer the wait, the better the appreciation, wise men say. If only for that precious new-car smell while driving through EDSA traffic, it is well worth the wait. God is good all the time.

10. New Government.

So did we vote for the leaders best for us or for the leaders that we deserve? Maybe both. Change is coming they say. Change always comes, doesn’t it. No matter how powerful status quo throws its weight around, there is change. Nonetheless, I am only with a bit of excitement for such that is coming, but a lot hopeful. And prayerful. God bless our country.

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Top 10 May 2016

Got a new pair of shoes from the US that leveled up my style -thanks to @hermiemorelos and @rengdavidmorelos. Count that.

Paid Nikkei’s tuition fees for her final term this school year. She studies in a uni whose ego is bigger than its campus. Count that.

Been able do some good laps in a 52m-long pool in a HK hotel. I still can! Count that, too.

Healthy family. Check that!

I could go on and on counting the blessings to append to this list but you’ll get bored. And so before you do, I’ll stop with this intro. Read on…

1. The Word.

Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My Name. John16:23

I can’t recall exactly the homily of Fr. Michael Sloboda, the asst. parish priest of the Rosary Church in Hong Kong in the mass I attended on May 7 in reference to this verse in the gospel but it went something to this effect: The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for. Pray for wisdom and discernment.

For me, this is another reason why I pray what I pray for every time especially during mass (see my earlier post The Seed). 

2. #PhilamMadDash4HK. 

In my last month’s top 10, I wrote about blessings that come even if you don’t ask for them. This is one of them. One day I was so concerned about what to eat during lunch when a call from Austin, my Unit Manager in PhilamLife where I moonlight as a Financial Advisor came. He asked if I was free around first week of May for a HK trip. At what cost, I asked? None, he answered. I told him no. I haven’t had lunch yet. Of course I said yes. Anything I did to deserve it? Hmmm, let me think about this.

Thinking…

None. Pure unadulterated blessing. 

Or maybe the effect of counting your blessings?

3. My Lady’s Happy Mother’s Birthday.

Truth to be told: I suck at choosing gifts especially for Rissa knowing that she already has everything: me. Immediately, almost instantaneously, I had second thoughts about that. So I bought her and my son Andre tickets to HK where birthday gifts are cheaper. I’m practical, you see.

It just so happened that the #PhilamMadDash4HK trip was within the week of my wife’s birthday and Mother’s day. And since my family loves to travel and Nikkei is going to Korea with her cousin anyway, I told my wife and my son Andre to follow me in HK. There we celebrated with a dinner in one of HK’s Michelin-starred restos -Andre’s birthday treat for mom. So what birthday gift i finally bought the wife? A return ticket to Manila. I found out gifts were much cheaper back home.

4. Nikkei Goes to Korea.

This was long time in the making. In terms of number of episodes of Korean telenovelas, about 5 seasons. They started with 99 of our relatives and their friends, planning, scheduling, bursting with excitement. The thrill was so real the neighbors could touch it. By the end of the 5th season, they were down to two: Nikkei and cousin Shannen. Same thrill. Same excitement. But like a battery, down by 97%. And while they were there, and we were in HK, mom and daughter kept their arguments online via viber and facetime as to which color and style must she buy. Girls. IKR?!

5. Elections.

Peaceful, maybe. Honest, maybe. But this one has divided us most, I think. Am just glad that it’s over. Or so I thought. Many Facebook posts still offer arguments to prove or disprove a point or two. People chose to believe in one standpoint and totally stopped believing in others’ including those of the experts. They post positives and they post negatives hoping to gain influence over the opinions of their online friends but they only widen the divide that separates them.

My prayer is that God gives us the leaders that are best for us, not the leaders that we deserve.

6. #SMTreceMartires.

Another month, another mall. SM’s success is our success. Or so I’d like to believe. SM Group is probably one of the biggest employers in the Philippines.’Though me and my #toespin lighting design team are not directly employed, we celebrate its success as its lighting consultants. Every time I see a new mall opens, I see the work of our hands shining brightly. 

7. Financial Blessings.

No less than P99 million pesos. Yup, in my dreams. The real thing comes every now and then, though. It just isn’t fair not to give it a spot in this list. Sure, I recognize that bigger blessings come after -how every peso is spent or used or given, but a peso is a peso is a blessing.

8. Rain.

Back in the days when black and white was black and white and when pimples and circumcision were still far from my mind, I’d watch rain fall from our el balcón and daydream. Dream about the future when I’d watch rain fall and bring back to mind these days of innocence.

Back to the present days in a country where summer noon time starts promptly at 8:00am, rain is a rare commodity between the months of March and May. The Church recently issued an Oratio Imperata for rain and rain it did. As it magically did its thing before, this rain brought me back to those Royco noodle soup days. It's daydreaming time again.

9. Family Meal Chats.

They bring out the best of moods in everyone. Fave subjects are travel stories like when Nikkei ran to an MTR train and the doors closed on the rest of us. Or our first taste of xiao long bao in the place where it supposed to have originated. Or comparing each one’s best (and worst) day in a particular place. Many times, too, we compare our college life (sans cellphones, internet and trains) with our kids’. And do you know that as of this writing, we’re only halfway through our Down Under spin stories? Family time. Love, love, love!

10.  Benjie.

I thought stories of death of a loved one working abroad are just seen on TV or heard of from someone else. And when you do hear about it, you take it for granted. You can only pray it doesn’t happen to you. But when it does, it’s nightmare right before your very eyes. 

Benjamin, my bro-in-law, arrived home for the last time to be buried beside his parents grave. He never recovered from a massive stroke while resting in his flat in Saudi. His last visit was to attend to his daughter’s graduation, the last of three graduations that he made sure he’d attend if only to see the fruits of all his sacrifice working away from his loved ones. Little did we know, that was the last time we’ll see him alive. I still couldn’t wrap my head around this grim reality that Benjie is gone. He is terribly missed.

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