Marker # 2

The word ‘magical’ is an overused word. And for someone like me who usually do not have a problem in finding the most unique word to describe an experience, I am opting to use this common word. Why? Because it is the most appropriate. It was the most realistically perfect experience of my life. We started early and ended happy. Everything fell into place. It was heartfelt, honest, freeing, spiritual, inspiring and blessed. It was God’s will unfolding. It was Love.

After the decision comes the action. This is Marker # 2

PA and Gian’s first anniversary

Once again, I’ve proven to myself that not even a storm could stop me from honoring my commitments; especially those worthwhile occasions. Yesterday (Tuesday), PA invited all the Cheriboys to celebrate his and Gian’s first anniversary as GG’s to each other. Usually, I’d think that these occasions should only be shared by the couple themselves since it’s the first-year marker of their relationship. But PA thought otherwise. Their relationship is a great blessing and they wanted to share this with the people who have been part of it. It was not easy in the beginning for this couple because their story has somewhat like a ‘You and Me against the world’ theme. After one year, both of them are in better places in their lives and relationships.

It was suppose to be a surprise for Gian and he invited all the Cheriboys for it. Being the great liars that we are, Gian discovered the surprise quite quickly. Maybe it’s the SFC effect. We cannot lie well anymore. Not even for good reasons. Hehe. Anyway, Ryan could not make it because he had to attend a wedding reception and JM was in Baguio until Wednesday night. And so there were three. I already told PA when he invited me last Sunday that I would bring along Joe since Gian would be there anyway. That is my assurance that the night would be wholesome. Hehe. What I didn’t know is that JB also told PA that he would be bringing Mitzi with him.

Last Monday, Mitzi mentioned that she might not be able to go since they have a scheduled household that night and Joe told me that she had apprehensions in coming since she might need to work late to finish up some things in the office. No problem for JB and I. We will still go anyway. But for some strange reason, on the day of the planned activity, Mitzi confirmed because her household got cancelled and Joe confirmed since she didn’t need to extend her work hours anymore. Well, well, well. What do we have here!? Hehehe. Is this for real? Hay….

So anyway, the six of us ate at Crocodile Grill in Shangri-la. PA’s treat. Yahoo! I told Joe that this was the second time we ate at Crocodile with almost the same set-up. Hmm… I think I like Crocodile Grill more and more. Hehe. Anyway, the night was a different experience for me. A great, different, experience. It was nice to be there. I had a lot of quiet moments since PA couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Hehe. There were so many conversations, funny and interesting stories that we couldn’t get rid of the smile in our faces. Of course, there are the photo sessions – the boys, the girls, the boys and the girls, the partners and all other combinations we can think of. We went home relatively earlier (11:30 pm) because we still had work the following day and we still needed to bring the girls home.

From our discussions, I now share PA’s vision that one day, there’s going to be ten of us in that table. All SFC. All servants. All attached. We just pray that the one day we hoped for will come very soon. Actually, it is very possible. With a lot of prayers for one and a lot more actions for the other, I believe that it can happen. Of course, I know that in the end, it will all be His will. But even His will requires some response from us. I know you’re reading this. And you know that we’re storming the heavens with your intentions. I understand it now that it will all be good in the end as long as we surrender. In His perfect time bro, claim the promise. GB.

Non-service SFC weekend

It’s one of those times when you attend SFC activities that are primarily for fun. Of course whatever you do in the community, you offer to Him. But my weekend activities proved to be more of fun than of the usual service. And yes, not even the stupid rain could stop me. Hehe.

Saturday >> After having my ears checked, I went somewhere in Mandaluyong to attend the SAGIP recollection. Actually I did not really intend on going since I am not a SAGIP facilitator. But since my checkup finished earlier than expected and Joe wanted me to be there (although she implied it in a non-forceful, suggestive, ‘ikaw ang bahala… pero if ever’ kind of way), I decided to go. Hehehe. I got instructions from her and Ryan on how to go there and when I arrived there, it was just starting. Good timing. Hehehe. Johanna, my sister Ryzel, Ryan, Chin and I were our Chapter’s, or maybe even our Sector’s representatives. I just realized that the people I mentioned are the only ones left in our CLP batch. There were 16 of us who graduated in the batch but only five of us are still in the community almost three years after our CLP graduation. Haaayyyy. How time flies. After the recollection, we met up with another Chapter mate, Raziel, since Chin will also be having her household that night. We were so noisy on the way home. I just hoped that Gigi, another brother in the community, was not traumatized by our behavior. Hehehe.

Sunday >> The Metro Manila Leader’s Conference is just around the corner and all the preparations are up to speed. Bounce is no exception. It is the Hip-hop dance competition where all the sectors in Metro Manila get to participate. The first try-out and meeting for Bounce was held at our house at around 3pm. I saw new faces and got to meet them. A number of my chapter mates are there as well. Some are there to support while others auditioned as well. Lastly, PA and Gian attended. It’s been a while since I saw this couple together so I was glad that I got to see them again. We talked, talked and talked trying to update each other on what’s happening in our lives. For the audition, Jane taught us four 8-count steps and watched how we execute them. She teased the old-timers because they cheat on the steps. Hehe. While the rest are diligent in following each step by the letter, the ‘older’ one made a lot of shortcuts as long as they looked the same. Hehe. Sorry, guilty as charged. Anyway, I told Jane to give my slot to other participants so that they can have an experience on how it is to compete on a bigger level. It’s one hell of an adrenalin booster, I tell you. I will just be there for support but in case she would still need me, then I’d help out. This year, I’d like to try on making it to the badminton team. I just came back to playing again three weeks ago after a long break so I thought why not try to compete in MMLC.

Speaking of Badminton, Anto, Jonas and I went to the second week try-out for the badminton team after the Bounce audition. We played from 7:30-10:30pm including those very tiring drills that I used to do when I was training to learn badminton properly. The drills only proved how unfit I am to compete because I was literally gasping for breath after every activity. Actually, that held true for all us in the court. Pando really worked us to the brink of passing out. Hehe. We have a long way to go.

After the game, Agie, Nicky and I dropped the newly opened mini-stop at the Karangalan Village area, only to find out that it was owned by a neighbor. Hehe. Small world. Agie treated us to some hotdogs then proceeded to going home.

I was home at around 12:30am on a Sunday with a aching body and a smiling face =p

Al Shaq’s Quarterly Dinner

After a long absence, I was finally able to block off my schedule last Friday and join my friends since college on our quarterly dinner. Actually this dinner is already a bit late since technically the second quarter ended last June. But who cares, we wanted it in July since we had a lot of birthday celebrators in the group, many of whom I unfortunately forget to greet. You see that is my weakness – I don’t easily remember people’s names and birthdays. That’s why I am so thankful with that yahoogroups functionality that alerts the group when there is an upcoming birthday. It’s just that the past days have been all work and no play for me. I would usually write the names of the birthday celebrators in my calendar but would usually notice it at around past 12am in the office when their day has already elapsed. In any case, I already apologized to them and gave them a late, warm greeting. Hehe.

This particular dinner was arranged by our ever-dependable friend Cathy, who just came back from a 6-month assignment in New Zealand by her company. We were again brainstorming on a good place to dine. You see, with this group, dining is serious business. We really go out of our way to try new things, eat at places we’ve never eaten before, or try out hip, newly opened restos based on reviews and recommendations from other friends. For this dinner, we decided to support another ‘teka-teka-teka‘ bud, Vince. He just opened a place called ‘Al Shaq’s’ at the 3rd floor of RCBC plaza here in Makati. The cuisine is Persian and the location is very desirable. It’s just across the street so I won’t need to hurry up and can just concentrate on finishing my work properly before I attend our quarterly dinner.

The dinner was delicious and the night was relaxing. I was in the company of old friends and it felt good. I already met CJ’s girlfriend and Ji’s boyfriend when we had our quarterly dinner in Oyster boy and this time I met Joyleen’s boyfriend, Lester. It’s always welcoming to meet those people that inspires and gives happiness to those friends that you seldom see. I guess it’s welcoming because it is good news. You’ve been with these people when they were trying to mend their used, exhausted and broken hearts, then becoming happy and contented again as a single person and now entering new chapters in their lives. They even asked me when I am bringing ‘mine.’ Let’s just say I replied to the effect of, ‘hopefully sooner than later…..’

After dinner, Cathy brought out some liquor samplers. It’s those five or six little bottles of different liquors that you mix to produce those drinks that you buy at bars. We had a few shots and decided to call it a night since we were all exhausted from the week’s work. Thanks guys for the great night! It’s nice to be back catching up on what’s happening in your lives! See you all again next time!

Oh and here is a snippet of Vince’s invite that he sent to all his yahoogroups. Take note that their food is reasonably priced. Good luck man on your new business!

Al Shaq’s Persian Cuisine is now open and ready to serve you!
 
With this, we invite you to savor the cuisine of Al Shaq’s, the newest member of the dining outlets in RCBC Plaza located at the 3rd Floor Podium Level RCBC Plaza beside Hungry Hippo.

We offer authentic Persian and other Middle Eastern specialties that will satisfy your palate and hungry stomachs.  Our food is freshly skewered everyday being cooked and grilled to perfection with the finest flavors.  Among our offerings are: shawarma, grilled and sizzling kabobs, lamb chops, salads, yogurt shakes, FIC ice cream and a lot more.  Among our bestsellers are our Shawarma and Grilled Kabobs.
 
So come and visit us and savor the many delights of Al Shaq’s.  We guarantee that you will find our cuisine most delightful.
 
We also accept special occassion services and bulk orders. Our landline is 843-8107.  Minimum delivery of P200 within the bldg or nearby.
 
Thank you very much and we look forward to serving you.

SWR Service Team

Allow me to talk in fragments because the last weeks are busy weeks for me. Actually, the word ‘busy’ is an understatement to what I’m going through right now at work. Oh well.

Anyway, last Saturday and Sunday, I was part of the service team for the Singles Weekend Retreat (SWR) of my cluster. Here are some thought lines of what happened:

>> Anto mentioned that only 2 people per chapter were allowed to be part of the service team. Since our chapter leader, Ate Dedeth, was preoccupied with taking care of her recovering mom, I was allowed in. Yehey! I came there and was a bit surprised that the service team was all composed of chapter heads! Well, except for me. Bwehehe. Good thing, another SFC brother came, Gigi, and joined me in my non-chapter-head-service-team status. Hehe.

>> I primarily served in the SWR1 sessions since Anto was tasked to be the facilitator and my chapter mates were all taking R1.

>> I thought it was a good opportunity for me to get to know my chapter mates in a retreat setting and at the same time for them to get to know people from other chapters.

>> I still got so many learning and insights from listening to the talks even if I’ve already taken R1. See that’s what I like in these things.

>> The place looked great!

>> My other chapter mates made a surprise visit on Lord’s day night. Again, unknowingly, our presence was felt. I don’t know what happens when my chapter is almost complete. We explode! Hehe.

>> The presentation night was fun and funny. The participants are so creative!

>> After the presentation night, JM and I decided to have a quite intimate conversation with Mitzi since she will be a Cheriboy kapuso and kapamilya soon. Bwehehe. Assuming. JM basically told his plans and dilemma while I might have said a thing or two about my personal life. Hehe.

>> While on break on that conversation (JB called Mitzi in her mobile), I went to the ‘chicks’ room – my female chapter mates. Call me biased but they’re really the prettiest girls in the bunch! They’re ‘chick’ material. Of course, I don’t mean to be disrespecting to anyone by using that term. Hehe. Anyway, we had some funny yet serious conversations on life and love – my chapter’s favorite topic. This topic never fails to put a smile on someone’s face when asked about it.

>> After around 30 minutes inside the room, JM called to resume our discussion with Mitzi so I decided to just combine the two groups. I asked JM and Mitzi to join me and my chapter mates in the room. Laughter and stories were shared until we got tired and slept.

>> Sunday morning, I prepared letters for my chapter mates since our chapter decided to give them letters. I have to say that what I wrote was quite heartfelt and sincere. It’s probably the retreat setting that made me write that way.

>> The final praise fest was awesome. Anto led the worship and we all felt the power of what we experienced during that weekend.

>> I hope home tired, happy, satisfied and blessed.

>> This experience is what I needed and He provided it to me. As we say in SWR, “God is good, God is great, something good will happen today!” And it did…..

Blog Hop Catch

There’s nothing like a good blog read to brighten up one’s day. Yesterday was the start of my over-busy week because of the phase my project is in. I was doing my usual blog hopping in the morning when I saw the post of my office mate that mentioned me in it. It’s an entertaining read if you want to know how other guys in the office sorta/kinda view how I work.

Thanks Lannie! You made me laugh! Here’s her post

Nick’s Birthday Lunch-out

Last Friday, my IC group here in the office was once again complete! Yahoooo! The event was Nick’s birthday lunch-out. We were teasing Nick to treat us to lunch since Jona and Lui did the same last time but Nick declined since he will be the only one shouldering all the expenses. He said he’ll just treat us for dessert. OK, no problem. We’ll just choose the dessert place. What’s the place? Cafe Breton! Bwahaha! Talk about quite expensive desserts. There is divine justice. Hahaha. Since we have already decided on the dessert place, we just opted to eat our lunch at the same place. We went to Cafe Breton in Greenbelt. Now you have to understand that much like my ‘katambayans’ in college, this group loves a good dessert. And I think one of the best desserts one can have is a rich, creamy and sinful crepe from Cafe Breton. 

Now at this point, I thought of enumerating what the group ordered for lunch and dessert much like what Ryan does as well as Nicky (hehehe. =p ) in his latest post but I really can’t remember the names of what we ordered. Maybe I’m not the type who remembers those things clearly. All I remember is the delicious feeling and the comfort that it brings to my stomach. Hahaha. Scary lines. Anyway, I’ll just move on to my next point.

While waiting for our food, Nick, Lui, Jona, Chris and I had some interesting conversations. Part of that is the upcoming proposal of Nick to his girlfriend of 6 years. Now when I first heard this a few months ago, it made me think. Nick has just turned 24 and yet his mind is already there. No, it didn’t pressure me at all because I know that I’m still young and I do not see myself planning that thing in the near future but it made me think about other ‘things’. Anyway, one topic lead to another and that other topic evolved into something else until the food was served. We ate and it was so delicious. That was a great lunch for us. The rest of the details are mine to keep. Hehehe.

Thanks Nick for the hearty dessert. Happy birthday again!
Next stop >> Chris’ birthday! Yehey!

Marker

Last Sunday, July 9, 2006, was one of the best days I’ve had lately. In just one day, I was able to allot time for service, friends, family and relationships. It’s really one of those moments when you realize that something has changed in you. It’s one of those times when you recognize that you’re genuinely “there.” So you decide in response to that realization. And that decision is coming from a calm resolve….. Yep, I’m ready again to move to the other side of life’s experiences…..

(I just wanted this to be a marker just in case I look back years from now)

La Mesa EcoPark Teambuilding

Last Saturday was our team’s celebration for our last successful application development effort. Instead of the usual dinners, movies or bowling games, we opted to try something different. Our team decided to go to La Mesa EcoPark since very few people in our team have seen the place. Actually, the only thing I know about anything ‘La Mesa’ is its Dam so I was thinking that it’ll be the only thing we’ll see. And I thought probably the only activity we’ll be able to do is tree planting because this is what gets publicized in the news….. Wrong! There are so many things that one can do there. There’s boating, swimming, wall climbing, fishing, biking and that thing where you cross a river through a zip line. There also a handful of sights to see: Picnic Areas, Pavilions, Orchidarium, Amphitheater, EcoCenter and many more.

For our team activities, we had indoor games in the pavilion and in our ‘cottage.’ My team won a few games but we lost in the overall score. Too bad. We also had our main outdoor activity which is basically an ‘Amazing Race’ type of game inside the park. There were 8 pit stops and we only finished 4 before the teambuilding organizers decided to call if off for health and security reasons due to the hard pour of the rain. While the rain is exhibiting its power, our team just decided to eat and eat and eat. The Crocodile Grill lunch was delicious and the buffet assorted chips laid on the table makes you just want to eat the whole day.

Additionally, most of the attendees of this teambuilding were mostly the newer ones in the team. ‘Newbies’ as they term it. Most ‘veterans’ or ‘oldies’ in the group did not attend for varying reasons. Even so, I still enjoyed the activities because that gave me an opportunity to get to know the new members of the team. Our team has increased so rapidly that it’s very hard to keep up on the new names and faces coming in to our project. Gone are the days when I use to know everybody and everybody knows everybody else. This team building was a great venue for me to get to know the new people.

Lastly, the best part of this team building was the new love teams! Yiihhiiii! There were two new ones formed in this team building and it was so funny seeing them get teased. Now that we’re all in the office, the teasing only became stronger since the news reached even those not in the teambuilding. This is nice ’cause this is where it all starts. Hehehe.

It was indeed a Saturday well spent. In spite of the rain, we still enjoyed each other’s company. Or maybe it’s precisely because of the rain that made all this fun happen…..

For more information on La Mesa EcoPark. Click here.

Baby, will you be mine forever?

This is actually the first time I’ve seen someone that I know propose to someone else that I know as well. Usually we just see them in movies, hear about it from our engaged friends or in my case, watch them happen on stage in CFC anniversaries or other conferences. My officemate, Ram, proposed to another officemate, Sheila right here in our floor last Thursday. Ram conspired with Sheila’s lead, Ekky, to stage a Testing team meeting somewhere far from our project’s floor. They went down while Ram nervously prepared for his proposal.

Here’s the plan, and sorry if this is quite IT-inspired/work-related: Since our project is related to websites, Ram asked Tere (part of the Architecture team) to change the homepage of our site in our development server. Instead of the usual Accenture one-liners with its related pictures, Ram changed it to a picture of him sitting (Indian sit) and staring at the open beach while Sheila lays on her back with her head resting on Ram’s thighs (I hope I’m picturing it correctly. Hehe). The photo was taken from the back so what we actually see is Ram’s back and the beautiful ocean scenery. With this image comes a simple line “Baby, will you be mine forever? – Ram” Actually, that text quite overlapped the right navigation of the homepage so they asked me to help out and remove the other text in the right navigation since I know how to manipulate the homepage because of my experience from my previous team. We were able to remove it and everything was set on our part.

A few minutes later, the testing team came back from their meeting. Everybody in our team knew about the proposal except Sheila. I’d say that we are all good actors and actresses for being able to keep it to her and not look suspiciously obvious. Hehe. Anyway, the front was Ekky was going to ask Sheila to do some testing in the development environment and it needed to be done before lunch time (it was already 11:45am then). Ekky was going to IM Sheila the link to the webpage but Sheila needed to clear her browser first of any pre-existing cookies or files. While she was doing that, Ram stood at Sheila’s back pretending to help her and teach her what to do during the testing. Note that during this time, everyone was already standing up and looking at the two from their back. Of course Sheila honestly didn’t notice it because she was quite preoccupied concentrating on all the things she needed to do and Ram was standing at the back so he was covering her view.

When the website loaded, Ram got down to his knees, showed Sheila the diamond engagement ring and asked her to marry him. Even before Ram got to speak, Sheila already lost it when she saw the homepage. She cried and cried and probably didn’t even hear a word Ram said. Hehe. But of course she got it. Sheila said ‘yes.’ They hugged and kissed and the whole project, which is basically the whole floor, clapped their hands in happiness for them.

Wow! That was one heaven of a happy moment! I was able to witness everything because Sheila was sitting just right beside me. No one can get a better view than that! Hehe. I think that for this couple, that was the best way to get engaged. I saw them both coming in to the project as single people (no, I am not older than them; I’ve just been in the project longer than them). Then they became a couple and nurtured their relationship in the context of this team. So I think it was just fitting for Ram to profess his desire to marry Sheila in the office where they met and with the team witnessing it the same way that they have witnessed this couple’s ups, down, struggles and victories.

To Ram and Sheila, congratulations and good luck on your new life together! Enjoy Boracay!

Superman Returns: The IMAX experience

Last Tuesday was the first time I went to the Mall of Asia and it was the first time I watched a movie in IMAX format, well at least some of it. I’ve actually seen Superman Returns the weekend prior to that day but I still opted to join our office team building just out of curiosity on this IMAX thingy.

Well let me just say that IMAX is a step higher to enjoying movies. The movie theatre basically covers two floors of the mall and the screen is huge. They make you wear these specialized shades that make you look like a dragonfly so that you can experience watching something in three-dimensional format. And 3D it was! The characters and places literally pop out of the screen and gives you this initial overwhelming ‘wow!’ feeling. It also didn’t matter where one is seated because the person watching becomes the central audience of the movie. It was like the movie is being played for you and that you are seated at the center of the theater. OK, so that was the experience on the trailers of soon-to-be-shown movies shot entirely in IMAX format. Hehe.

For the movie Superman Returns… well… it was ‘OK.’ The thing about it is that the trailers were so great that the IMAX part in the actual movie seemed mediocre. The 3D wasn’t that great but it wasn’t that bad. I guess that we have to understand that Superman Returns wasn’t shot in IMAX. It was just converted for IMAX theatres. It was also quite distracting that there are times that you had to wear the shades then remove it again then wear it again. Our signal for wearing them was the blinking green lights at the bottom of the screen. If you ask me, I think it lessens the total effect of the movie. Good thing I was able to see it before trying this experience. The only thing I got from watching Superman Returns in IMAX is a better understanding of the movie because there are dialogues that I didn’t hear quite clearly before or didn’t make sense on first screening. But then again, that probably was not because the movie is in IMAX; is it? Hehe.

I think IMAX theaters will be great on movies that are shot entirely on IMAX format and their themes are usually just light. These are movies that are usually created for visual appeal. IMAX makes no sense on those movies that tackle emotional issues like Oscar nominated films or those cheezy love stories. IMAX is also quite wasted on those movies that are partially converted because the shades may prove to be too distracting to wear and remove.

For a P350-payment, IMAX should be great on certain movies but for the most part I think I would still stick to my 2D silver screen.

Nice Tag

Here’s how to play: The rules are, “once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with (8) weird things/habits about yourself”. At the end you need to choose the 8 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says Tag You’re It.” in their comments and tell them to read your blog

Here’s mine:

1. I’m a bit OC on some things. Example: I’m usually the last person to go up and sleep at our house. Before going up, I ALWAYS check the locks on our front and back doors at least FOUR times counting each lock at a predefined order (we have 7 locks. hehe).

2. I enjoy diving so much that I think I can consider living under water if I had all the air tank in the world. Take note that we cannot talk under water. Hehe.

3. I have exceptionally thick hair in my head. The one above the neck ok. Bwahahaha. =p

4. People say that I look exactly the same as I did in High School. I don’t age! Yahoo!

5. It’s weird that even if I am very active in blogging, I am actually a very private person when you meet me. I also believe that I have still kept that privacy even at the midst of all these posts. Weird huh?

6. I am very particular about the footwear of people and how often they wear them. Yep, I’m a shoe person. But don’t mind me. This is just me being weird.

7. I am very thrifty on almost all aspects of my expenses EXCEPT my food. I never give myself a budget on food. One time I ate at Tony Roma’s and got a P800 bill just for myself. I didn’t mind the total bill and basically just paid the thing smiling.

8. I have been working for quite a while now in Makati but I have never eaten in a ‘Joli-jeep’ (not really sure if I had it spelled correctly). Hehe

OK so let’s try these guys. From Kate’s tag, I tag…. JM, Ryan, Rye, Liza, Mark, Jhett, Ronald, Jeng. But hey! If you, yes you the reader, thinks that you have something to contribute, the feel free to post your replies! Chow!

Schedule conflicts and a full stomach

Argh! I screwed up again on my schedule again!

Last Wednesday >> My team lead Mark was feeling generous once again so he planned on treating us on a lunch-out initially with me and another friend, Liza on that Friday. He termed it as ‘bloggers lunch’ since we were all active bloggers. Hehe. I thought the idea was good because the three of us never had lunch before and so I said yes. Since Mark has lots of money (bwahaha), he thought of asking other team mates with us. So there. Lunch-out settled and I’m already looking forward.

Thursday night >>Another good friend and office mate Nick approached my desk and told me something like “hey, we’re set for tomorrow…” I was like “what tomorrow?” He responded with something like, “Our lunch-out with Lui and Jona.” I answered, “I didn’t remember us having a lunch-out.” But Nick told me that it was set the week before and the four of us already confirmed. Waaaahhhhh! Schedule conflict again! I already made a resolve to get some sort of a planner so that these things will not happen again. Well, I did get a planner… but I had one for each facet of my life: one for office, one for SFC and one for the more personal stuff. In the end, things didn’t tally. Huhu.

Anyway, the thing about me is that I have this simple rule when it comes to activities that I go to: I will attend that which I have confirmed first. It is under the premise that I will not say yes to something that I don’t want to be in. In this case, I have more reason to honor my commitment. Friday is Lui’s last day in the team (she is rolling off) and that is my IC group’s farewell lunch to her. It is also our celebration of Jona’s birthday since she went on hiding on the actual day of her birth. Hehe. So you see the lunch had dual purposes.

Friday >> Even if I really wanted to go to the “Blogger’s lunch”, I had to tell Mark that I had some schedule conflict. Darn, I hate it when I have to do that. These are the times when I wish I had two bodies. It’s a good thing Mark “understands.” Hehehe. So anyway, My IC group, minus Chris (she’s on leave) went to Chili’s in Greenbelt to celebrate. It’s been a while since we had a lunch-out as a group because of some “things” I am not at liberty to divulge. But this one was all good. We were conversing going to Chili’s, not worrying about work. We were laughing and telling stories as if our last lunch-out was just yesterday. It was enjoyable. I remember again why I enjoyed their company, why I considered them to be my friends and why Nick and I wanted to make the group work. Hayyy…. Moving along, it seemed that a lot has already happened but when we checked the clock, it was only 1:30pm and we were already at the office. For once, we were on time! Yahoo!

At the office, our team went to Lui’s send-off celebration that was disguised as a training session by the Architecture team. It was fun seeing the look of surprise on Lui’s face especially when she saw the picture that we “stole” via Bluetooth from her mobile phone. It was her holding this huge machine gun. Hehehe. We ate pizza and some cola afterwards. I was so full but my group/division in Accenture (CIO) decided to give everyone some ice cream for the WABL (Women’s Accenture Basketball League) championship of our very own AmbeCIOsas. Hehe. Now, I wanted to puke all the things that I took in a very short amount of time. One more activity that involves food and I’m spilling my internal organs out.

Anyway, I ended the day with finishing all my deliverables. I finished my tasks on time and was still able to go on a lunch-out. This “balance principle” is working for me lately. Yes!

Thanks Lui and Jona for the treat! Yum yum!
Good luck Lui in your new team! We will miss you!
Happy birthday again Jona!
Mark and Liza, I hope there’s a part 2!
Nick, you’re next this Friday! Woohhhooo!