What goes around, comes around. I am a believer.

Case #1: I visited my office for the first time since the virus. It wasn’t a regular or a scheduled visit. Me and my team still do work from home for safety. I just had to meet a friend in the same industry for some short discussions and product demo which cannot be done thru videocon. When I got to the building, I realized I didn’t bring the keys to the office with me. The lockdown took its toll on some old habits. Thinking quickly, I dialed my wife’s number and asked her to call their office which sits in front of mine to ask permission for us to meet in one of their rooms instead. That same office also uses my room whenever it is available if theirs are all occupied. You know, tit for tat. No sweat, meeting done.

Case #2. Remember I shared about me not using my car horn as much as possible when driving and that I’d rather give in or give way? Many a time when other motorists would give way for me make me think that favors given are paid forward in a continuous circle.

Case #3. I pray for a lot of people everyday. Most of them do not even know that I do but everyday I mention their names or think of them -and you who read this -when I pray to God. Likewise, I believe that I am delivered from danger, that my prayers are answered, and that blessings come my way because there are those who pray for me. I know so.

What goes around, comes around. That just feels good to the bones. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

My First Time

This morning, my barista son asked how my body feels. I showed him a pinky finger. Confused, he asked, “Does it hurt?”

I answered, “No, it’s the only part of me that doesn’t hurt!”

Yesterday, I played the most grueling, most exhaustive, most painstaking, the best and the equally the worst 18-hole game of my life. And that’s not just the reason why Andre asked how I felt this morning because it was my first-ever fairway game. Ever. At 61 years old. A fossil for a new sport.

My initiation to this sport came about when this brittle eggshell of a body finally gave up on playing basketball and tennis. When Tom Watson and Jack Niclaus finally called it quits, I entered the late, late show. So for starters: the usual driving range, Youtube sports academy and dozens of wannabe coaches namely my son and his cousins.

And yesterday was my inaugural. They said the course, compared with all that they’ve played in previously was unforgiving. Too many bunkers. Too many lakes. Too many mounds. When asked what I thought of it, I said, “Too much grass!”

The rules that my two brothers and five of our children and nephews made for me were forgiving, to say the least. They gave me one-grip gimmes and unlimited mulligans but even those I ran out of.

It was very tiring. My skin got burned under the steaming heat of the near-summer sun. I got dehydrated. My fingers blistered. At back nine, my back banged! So why freakin’ play? It’s just my form of relaxation. Let me be.

In life, it’s never too late to be late. I raise this cup to my golf buddies!

Cheers!

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Meeting after meeting after meeting. Albeit online, yesterday was one most busy, busy day that it deserves a new word to define it -𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜. I use this word when either hectic and stupefying isn’t enough to describe a work day. Before 9am, I was already prepping for the first which ended literally 2 minutes before the next one started. Just enough time to shift my thinking cap from the concerns of one project to another, with a few seconds to spare for a quick shake after a bathroom break. Arms and legs -I meant shaking arms and legs.

While engaged in each one, other clients were texting relentlessly. I am not complaining, though. All in a day’s work for me. This is where God channel His blessings not only to me and my family but also to those who work with me. Thank you meetings. 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪, 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘔𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘴, 𝘚𝘦𝘯̃𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘪𝘰𝘴.

And since this was a Wednesday, it means a run day for me. After all the meetings and mental workouts, a good outdoor physical flex was what I needed. Out of the house/office. Cutoff from work. Breathe fresh air. Build balance. It’s my way of communing with nature.

But just when the last usual "Nothing from my end, thank you" was uttered, it rained hard. But thankfully, only for short. Enough to clean the air and cool the pavement -it was as if Mother Nature was prepping for a meeting with me. I ran 5.27kms in 32mins & 20secs.

Yesterday was, yep, a 𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘺!

I raise this cup to a day in the life of a simple man.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

What’s a 𝙛𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙙? I had no idea that such a word existed. The first time I heard of it, my mind was seeing a farm tractor made by Ford Motors. It was my son, Andre, who introduced me to one. He had been in one and wanted us to see and experience one as well.

When he started booking a tour for us: my family, my beautiful wife’s beautiful sister and her very handsome husband, my definition of 𝙛𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙙 became that of 'excitement and of thrill.' Of 'I-couldn’t-wait-for-the-day-to-come' feel. I was so excited, I dashed to the toilet 10x everyday up to the day. My wife alternated with me.

Then the big day came. The booking included a cruise and buffet lunch. And our confirmation papers indicated the same. But when we lined up for food while the purser checked our names on her list, she said that lunch was not included. My definition of 𝙛𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙙 dropped to 'humiliation, disappointment and hunger.' So instead of buffet, we had to buy sandwiches and bottled drinks to feed our tummies.

While most of the tourists were having lunch at the dining level, we shotgun’d our place at the deck. Ha! We all thought. We had the time of our lives shooting the best selfies ever. Right at that time, 𝙛𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙙 became 'wow, beautiful and breathtaking!'

When we got back to our Airbnb, Andre had to call Klook, our online bookers for a refund of our meals. And for a little reprimand also. I told him to raise his voice just a little higher than his sister’s to show disappointment. Somehow, it worked because the end result: they were very much apologetic, so apologetic that they refunded the entire booking! Right at that time, 𝙛𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙙 morphed into 'a most exhilarating, exciting and fantastic cruise for FREE!'

Some things can be unknown and undefined at first. But just wait, they can transform into the best that they can be for you. 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘴'𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘦!

To the yet unknown, I raise this americano. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes #milfordsound

Summer is near, can you see the sun’s position in the sky? Our little star has shifted. Or to be more precise, it’s the earth that did. This is what I noticed during my run last Sunday. Over the last few months at 4pm of each day, the sun is just about 3 meters away from the horizon. But two days ago, the sun appeared to have just passed over the zenith -the vertical in English.

Yep, summer is just around the bend. Which means that noontime will soon start at 8:00am and lasts ’til 3:00pm. It also means running will be more difficult.

Last year, we hardly felt the heat cos we stayed indoors most of the time. I remember it was during the hard lockdown last year when our one and only TV spewed smoke. Not wanting to experience an explosive day, we decided not to use it until a repairman became available six or seven months later. So without it, we took on cleaning and organizing and learning new stuff instead -stuff that TV steals from you.

This year, is there something to be excited about summer? For me, yes. The beauty of living one day at a time and making the most of what we’ve got bring less disappointments. Regrets of the past are easily put to right. Or if not easily, with new tools available -namely the experience of last year, we can make them o-right.

We hope that v.2021 is better with a better and wiser and funnier version of ourselves, taking with us the learnings we gained in 2020. Here’s to a new summer. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

Travel contributed a fair portion of what and who I am today. It stretched my horizon, literally speaking. When I was 29, I went on a backpacking holiday in Europe alone. Backpacking is the word used by travelers who cannot afford hotel accommodations. If you read between the lines, you get my drift. A segment of that adventure took me on a Eurail ride from Paris to Madrid with 5 other passengers in the same cabin with 6 beds. The trip lasted more than 12 hours (overnight). We were a small United Nations in that cabin: a French, an Arab, a Swede, a Spaniard and me. It was one fun ride for me because I speak little of all their languages. I speak 𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘶 𝘥𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤̧𝘢𝘪𝘴 because I self-studied it just so I could get by being a tourist in France. I speak a bit more Arabic because I worked in Saudi for five years and I picked up 5 years worth of the language. I speak 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘬 because I worked in a Swedish company and worked with Swedes in Saudi. And Spanish, 𝘱𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰, because I watched 𝘿𝙤𝙧𝙖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙧.

We had world events and world peace on our conversation plate for most of the time, missing sleep. Plans were also laid out in case the sun finally explodes and we’re stranded in total darkness. Words to that effect.

We are to be blamed for what the world is facing right now because of the decisions we made during that train ride.

It’s really a small world. We just have to communicate best, which requires listening to understand one another.

Here’s to world peace. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

I have a particular reverence for the crucifix that whenever I see one whether hung on the wall or in the rosary that I pray daily or especially in a church, it knocks me off my temporary insanity and drives me to say a prayer or to praise and to give thanks. I am an engineer and so I think analytically and try work out a solution that way. But when troubled by hang ups called life, I often find instant answers just by looking at the Man on the tree.

I firmly believe that God gave me eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a nose to smell, and a tongue to taste and skin to feel His presence, His love, His grace. And so use them! Because I know, weak as I am, I need all my senses to make me remember that He died for me and that He is always with me. And to stir me up to love in return.

Happy Sunday to all. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes