Orphans of Asilo

The "real" celebration of my birthday happened last Saturday evening. Sometimes we spend our entire lives letting other people make us feel great. We celebrate birthdays spending lunches and dinner with people in places where a "carenderia" wouldn't suffice. Blowing out a 7K for a dinner that night with my family was an embarrassment. Not that they like there, nor they forced it which is totally my fault and which later turned out to be a tragedy in cooking, it compelled me to rethink after if to spend that much was really was actually needed nor does this social affairs ever really was worth it. Some would argue that events like these happens once in a blue moon and theres a reason to celebrate no matter what the price is, but would it make a difference in my life and others? Would it give lasting benefits to others? Before the week ends, like many other birthdays it would be forgotten. But I had to spend it anyway because I could afford it. Shame on me.

We spent the Saturday night having s simple dinner with the orphans of Asilo. Not a sort of retribution as one would think having planned this weeks before my birthday but somehow gives a comparison on how different social affairs compared to the one I mentioned above turns out to make that lasting change. Fleeting, simple and short as it would have been, every minute spent with the orphans was immeasurable for my family who have always been a keen to helping the poor and educating the uneducated. Thanks to the Chef Roger in our so called office "cafeteria" that looks more of a restaurant, they were served a great meal. They sang and they dance, they got merry for a while. They chat and they talk and at least for such brief moments I saw the joy in their eyes. It was well worth a thousand words, a thousand birthday celebrations and our hearts have always bleed for them. We are hoping to come back consistently to this place and with continued blessing would be able to sponsor some kids to go to universities. Till our next visit.:)

Garmin, a runner's perfect partner

I tried breaking the new Garmin 305 I bought last month for some test in last Sunday's long run. The couple of test in the oval using the watch using the auto lap (measures and loops specific distances)prove invaluable. Although the Garmin searches for a satellite would take a little time (3 minutes average), as soon as it locks in you'll be guaranteed of smooth transmission. I haven't encountered a single problem so far with its transmission. Last Sunday, I tried running it in an almost completely covered canopy from trees in the mountain passes which is probably the best scenic scenes I have run so far. Hoping the signal would cut, it didn't. Hoping it would read my speed incorrectly, it didn't either. Amazing, this is a perfect equipment for any runner. Downloading the data from the previous runs, I find it pretty extensive. Aside from the speed per distance which you could preset, it shows elevation as well as some important data in graphs! Even after only a few runs I would recommend this to any serious runner seeking to measure their performance.It is as complete as you can get. :)

La Maison- A tale of a French cooking gone terribly wrong

Its was my birthday and I was excited to celebrate it with my family for a little dinner together in Ayala Terraces. With so many new restaurants in town, we've decided to narrow down the list to a couple we haven't tried before, Hola Espana a Spanish restaurant owned by the Lhuilliers and La Maison, which I guess was a French restaurant which means "the house". Since my dad isn't really a big fan of foreign sounding menus preferring good old Filipino specialties like Pochero or Lechon Kawali, It was obvious that choosing from any of them is likely to be met by subdued resignation.

Our choice would have been Hola Espana as someone I know told me that they have their own version of the Lechon which everybody loves. We were there around an hour before our scheduled meet when we passed by La Maison. I asked Jenni if we could stop by and try to look at their menu. We saw some of the menus that looks great. They got steaks too. Dad would like it here I said to myself as I remember my mom told me that he misses eating steaks. So I reserved a table for eight. Bad mistake. I have no inkling that it was just the beginning of our terrible experience. Since my dad wanted to have steaks, I and my brother ordered them as well as some ribs, fish fillet, pizza for the rest of the family. I knew the steaks were expensive but I didn't mind expecting some kind of a gourmet delight after. The service was not really bad until they started serving the food in about an hours time. The long wait would have been warranted by the good food that was about to be served in our table but as soon as the appetizers came in, we were in for a disappointment. It tasted sour to me, something amiss. Then came the tomato soup which was ok but not great. Finally the main courses were served. One by one as like they were served, they fell off to my list of worst meal to eat. The steaks were so bland, so thin sliced as if reminding me again that the financial crisis is still here. The description goes as well to the other stuff. I would not have eaten it if not for the price we paid.



Looking at my brother who just tasted his first steak in his life and his first taste of a thousand meal worth of meat all by himself, his words echoed back and forth that his own version of Sinugba (homemade grilled meat) is way much better than the steak. My father I knew felt it too, had said its not the steak he had used to eat and with a resigned look continued to chew bit by bit as if tormented knowing that every 100 gram of those crappy steak was worth 400 pesos. It was earlier I mentioned that it was a French restaurant but the French wouldn't like it here either. Nor was the food. I'm beginning to think that the only French in this restaurant is the name. But unlike the French who would have streak out of the restaurant with the kind of cooking they just made, we stayed and complained only to ourselves knowing that shit happens sometimes.

I ended up paying a whopping P7,476.41 for a bunch of "gourmet" food that has does not even give a little justice to the cuisine, never mind the price. A rip off many others would say. We'll I still enjoyed the company of my family, a little consolation for the embarrassing experience. But life is like that, happiness is not measured on knowing how much you don't have but how little you complain.Enjoy life even if sometimes it sucks big time.

35, Still Hungry and Foolish.

I would be waking up in a few hours with mixed expectations. First, I'm a year older. yes, its another birthday to celebrate with my family. At 35 I could not ask for more. I thank God for the continued blessings: for giving me with an ever supportive and loving wife Jenni (where's my gift? hehehe), my ever huggable Pia(tot) who never fails to amaze me day after day despite the troubles of being a parent, a body that is still strong and getting stronger every day (talk about running the marathon 20 times), for a passion (photography) that like a Pandora box has opened my eyes to the worst and best part of living and for the financial blessings that keeps coming, despite the difficult times, to make way for more giving in education particularly. This Saturday, we'll be spending dinner with the orphans of Asilo. I'm fired up for it and its a best way to teach Pia that our lives should be lived like that, born to help others and to not focus on the worldly possessions that a lot of people nowadays see. As my friend recently told me, "Its game over for them".

Second, Tita Cory would be buried today. I might not have seen her personally, nor have agreed with her opinions from time to time but she's one woman I know who thinks of the country first than her own. Such a role model to emulate. Its a great loss to a country that has seen little progress as a nation since Edsa, besieged by corruption right and left that you its actually normal now to choose the lesser evil of all the presidential hopefuls. Tita Cory, Again Saludo Ako sa Iyo!

At 35, I feel good and its good to feel good! Like the many years behind me, there are still so many things to accomplish. As Steve Jobs of Apple might have pointed out in one of his speeches in Stanford University, I got to stay hungry and foolish. To do what I love doing and to live my life to the fullest. I have my own bucket list and its not even half full. But it will be done, one way or another. Like the Addidas ad I've come to know "Impossible is Nothing". It usually is.

Damgo

We dream all the time. Whether we force to imagine things (daydream) or dream unconsciously when we sleep, they reminds us that there's something out there we love to have or perhaps the opposite, we dread to experience. I don't usually dream much these days and if I do, its almost certain I wouldn't remember it when I wake up. Jenni my wife though loves to dream (daydream). She always remembers her dreams and complains once in a while when she doesn't dream anymore. Most often, I guess, she loves the feeling out of it, happy thoughts most of the time, thought evoking realities that sometimes awakens her senses to the realities in life and keeps her grounded to what should be done. For me, I used it to be able to sleep during days when the insomnia kicks in. Pictures of a beautiful house on the mountains, traveling to a distant land usually tops the subject. We won't give up dreaming for anything crappy. Those positive feelings keeps our mind set to that dream, most usually a goal we want and actually helps us attain them. Trust me on that.

Note: Dreaming or "Damgo" is what we call it here in our dialect.This photo I took with my wife and daughter still sleeping early dawn.