Barrio Driving

OK so I’ve been driving quite a lot lately. I don’t really drive since I don’t own a car but I’ve been interested to be on the wheels primarily because my dad bought a new van and I wanted to try it out. I think he saw my renewed enthusiasm that he asked me to accompany him in picking up my lola in Pampanga… and he told me that I will be driving… say what? Waaahhh! Talk about fully trusting your son. Haha!

Anyway, we woke up early today and I was set. I used my favorite shoes to use for driving (since I can really ‘feel’ the vehicle using those) and brought my shades…. Going there, well, let me see… I was good with city driving (from my house to the North Edsa area), flawless in the highway (NLEX) and kinda sucked in the “Barrio” driving. “Barrio” driving – this is what my dad called it. It’s that kind of road where there’s only 2 lanes, 10,000 tricycles, 5,000 bikes, and 2,500 pedestrian that don’t use the side walk and does not really respond to a blowing horn. It was definitely a new experience for me. Worse than the unorthodox driving of jeeps in the old Manila area. I think my dad understands since “Barrio” driving is not something that can be taught in driving schools in Manila. It’s just something that you have to experience to understand. Why did I suck? Well, I almost hit a man in his bike who doesn’t seem to understand that he should be on the side of the road. I almost scratched a parked van because all the tricycles kept coming from everywhere like ants and I needed to move forward so I took a small opening. Nothing serious really. And mind you, I was not panicking during those times. I was relaxed and kept my cool. My dad was the one who was quite freaking out after an almost perfect ride.

Anyway, the experience taught me a lot about a different kind of driving – “Barrio” style! Haha! You have to be one with the car in the highest form so that you can muster the skill to seep through that unique traffic. Anyway, I had a chance to redeem myself and apply my experience on the way back since we’ll be passing through the same road….

So what happened? Well, I got home didn’t I? It was the cleanest driving from the crowded barrio to the super fast highway to the busy city to the welcoming garage. It was all good. We got home at lunch time and I was so hungry. Obviously, this was the farthest I’ve driven (back and forth) and I need some food! Hehe. Until the next driving adventure.

Tax Season

For the past 4 years, filing for income tax return was never a problem for me. That’s simply because I had always been eligible for substituted filing. This is when the company files your ITR for you since you only had one source of income so it’s easy for them to generate your BIR form.

This year is different. I am no longer eligible for substituted filing because I was assigned onshore and thus needed to file my taxes both in the Philippines and in the US. Waaahhhh! I really hate paper work. Well, actually, it’s not that bad. The company will still file my taxes for me. It’ll just be more tedious on my part since I will need to fill up more legal documents. Argh! Plus, I need to get a CTC (community tax certificate). I never got one before so here goes my offsettable hours again. I just hope this tax season ends well for me.

I remember the movie ‘Meet Joe Black,’ where one of the lines is ‘We all know this deal is as certain as death and taxes’ – the only 2 things that are certain in life…..

Happy Happy

What can I say, I’m 26 today! I’m past the quarter-life crisis (and believe me, I’ve had my share) and in four short years, I’ll be 30! Waaaaahhh! The thought is sending goosebumps in my spine. Haha! I decided to continue my self-imposed birthday leave so I won’t coming to the office today.

It was a good day at the office though. There is just enough work and not so many urgent issues so I was able to work at a relaxed pace. My two teams also decided to give me a little something – a surprise birthday cake. Hehe. It was a very cute gesture considering that my team are all guys except for one very pregnant member. Thanks guys, I appreciate it. My SFC family also held their own. They have been teasing me to treat them since Saturday and all I give them is a laugh. Haha! I’m actually saving up for 2 major expenses (details of which will be revealed in succeeding posts.) Anyway, we also had our service meeting today at Klea’s place. I honestly was not really expecting anything but to my surprise, these guys also had a cake for me. Haha! Nice.

I think 26 will be a good number for me. I am in a good place right now. I am where I need to be in life. I am spiritually mature, financially stable, emotionally nurtured, physically well and personally fulfilled. In short, I AM happy. It’s a good state to be in at this point in my life. Don’t get me wrong, my life is definitely imperfect. I still have problems, pressures,rants etc. But even with all these things, I still choose to be happy and I intend to stick by that decision. Life will only get better at this point and I can’t wait for the future to unfold. I’m not afraid because I know that God will take care of me. Cheers to the best days ahead!

PS: Here are pictures of the cakes.

Falling in love again…..

With diving that is. Hehe. Last Saturday was my first time to dive again after almost a year. Whew! Didn’t realize it was that long since I was underwater. It was a clean up dive for the Dive Club in my company and the target was the dive spot in Anilao, Batangas. For the whole event, I think the stars were in my favor.

Usually with my past dives, there’s always a small thing or two that would make the experience quite imperfect. Examples are regulators having a minor leak when you’re already in the water, straining your back because of the heavy dive equipments, unexpected currency in a supposed easy dive, people being late and waiting for them for more than an hour, or even a person saying something stupid that would ruin your day. Things like that. But in a pleasantly bizarre manner, this particular dive did not have any of those. The BCD and regulator rentals went OK with new BC and fully functional regs used. The whole group left on time (thanks largely to Sean’s iron hand) so we were there early and had the time to relax and not hurry up because of being very delayed in our schedule. The ride was smooth with me sitting on a spacious Kia Pregio with my feet up and my iPod playing music that puts me to sleep. The dives were flawless. We did not encounter any complications with any of the people in the dive group so we didn’t really need to baby-sit anybody. The dive spots did not have a single current, visibility was high and biodiversity was lush. It was heaven with bubbles.

I think all these things added to me falling in love with diving again because this experience allowed me to concentrate on the things that really mattered. I was not distracted with small things that in a way side-tracked my focus. This time, I was able to enjoy what I really came there for – nature. While I was strolling 60 feet below sea level, I remembered why I entered this sport anyway – it’s because I am fascinated with the ocean and all its creatures. I want to take peak at their environment even for 45 minutes at a time. I want to be part of their magnificent world, even temporarily.

 Some photos:

1. I’m the one on the right
2. This is what we were removing from the ocean
3. Killer eyes =)
4. Trying to remove one deep inside a reef

Manila Ocean Park

When my mom mentioned that there’s a new Ocean Park in Manila, I immediately said, when do we go? I can’t believe that we have our very own Water Park! Well, everybody knows that I’m a child of the ocean so anything that has something to do with water, I’m there. Two weeks ago, I woke up early in the morning and prepared to go. We wanted to be early since it has just been a day after the opening so we want to see it all. I thought there shouldn’t be so many people since we’ll be there earlier and the entrance free is not necessarily for the masses (P400).

Well, what can I say? I underestimated the purchasing power of Filipinos when it comes anything related to fun. The place was jam-packed. There were crowds from A to Z. There were also buses of students that chose to go on field trip there. Waahhh! The place was chaotic. Forget about tranquility in a slow walk and taking time to learn each species displayed, I was being bumped here and there and had to be aggressive in walking if I wanted to keep up. I even had to take pictures in very unique angles since everyone seemed to have brought a camera. DigiCams or Camera Phones, they’re all there. The trip was actually quite stressful so I opted not to write about it immediately.

Looking back with more objective eyes, I think the Manila Ocean Park is something that we can be proud of. The idea is first of its kind in Asia (I think) – water park, mall and hotel that’s all integrated in one place. The staffs are adequately trained to answer inquiries about the underwater animals on display. The place is divided with varying themes that sets the mood for what the visitors will see. The species are mostly from local water. And yes, that is a good thing. For a country that is comprised of thousands of islands, I’d be surprised if we import animals from other countries and not sport our own. Only the water park is open at this point but I’m sure that the place would be greater if all the other amenities are also open. The place is also at par with those we saw in other countries – my dad said it’s comparable to the one in Hong Kong and I think the place is good even if you compare it to The Shedd aquarium in Chicago.

Overall the experience was wonderful. Aside from the place being note-worthy, a big reason for it is because I get to spend that beautiful Saturday morning with family whom I missed going out with for a while now.

The CamSur Experience

When I heard the news that Feb 25 would be a non-working Holiday, I thought I needed to get out. I needed to relax and totally forget about work. Good thing my officemates were thinking the same thing. First it was an invitation to dive. I like the idea but I’m not in that serene, contemplative mood that I need to be in to enjoy the quietness and slowness of an easy dive. I wanted something that would wake me up. I talked to Carlos and he opened the idea back of going wakeboarding. It was a resounding yes for me.

And so we headed to Camarines Sur. Surprisingly, the trip was comfortable even though it was an overnight travel. This is probably because we were sleeping in lazy boys so there was enough space to move around. We got to Naga City early Saturday morning and we didn’t waste time relaxing in our weird-looking rooms so we got to CWC only after a few minutes of settling in the room.

Oh my, it was exhilarating! It was a bit scary at first since it was all our first time trying the sport (except for Sean) and all we see are these professional wake boarders doing somersaults and back flips. But you know, you have to start somewhere. And so we did the easiest type which was to wake board from this board where you would have to kneel down. It wasn’t a walk in the park as some of us still find it initially challenging to balance and hold on to the cable. As for me, well I was ok with this one. Just right before lunch, we decided to be aggressive and try the real deal. We practiced on land with those cool looking wakeboard and figured we’d be ok. And then we fell in line, one after the other. The moment came and it our turn. And then it happened. Kaboom! Kaplak! Face first on the water, being dragged without a board, swirling and twirling while hopping on the water surface – you name it and we probably have experienced it. It was hard (understatement) and embarrassing. But then again, who cares. It’s the conquest, the journey, the learning that made it fun. I was laughing so hard that even the pros were watching our move (and probably thinking when the hell are they going to leave). Little by little we made some progress but all the practices took its toll. By 3pm, I was so tired that I literally could not feel my arms and could not muster a decent grip to make me continue. I had to retire for the day. Night time comes and it was time for the booze. 1 liter of tequila and bottles of San Mig light made me a very happy man.

Sunday was a different conquest for me. I left the gang and Chin and I visited their relatives in Naga City. I met her brothers, their wives and kids, her sisters and all other possible relatives who lives in the area. I’ve actually met most of them already but this is the first time I’ve visited them in their houses since its way too far. The reception was very warm and they were all accommodating. We had a sumptuous lunch – all the Bicol that you can eat. Yum yum. We then went out for Coffee. Nice place I should say. After coffee, Chin and I heard mass. It was spoken in Bicol so I could not understand a thing. I just pretended I understood. We then proceeded to pasalubong shopping. It was like one of those scenes in The Amazing Race where you’d jump from one store to the next because of time constraints and bargain your way to an item. After that, we went back to the house of Chin’s sister and said our goodbyes to everyone. We rejoined the group in the bus terminal and exchanged stories along the way.

I was very happy with the trip because that is exactly what I needed. Something fun and quite strenuous. Something reassuring and warm. Ahhhh… If I can only do this for a living…..