THE C CIRCLE

Recently, I bought a Nikon D5000 DSLR. Although, it cost me a lot (as in!) but that’s okay. It served as my Christmas gift for myself (LOL). Photography is something that interests me a lot and hopefully to make some money out of it. Before the arrival of my Nikon D5000, I had a Sony Digicam which worked pretty well for me. However, I really wanted to be more serious in photography and I know having a good DSLR is the first thing I need to have.

Meeting friends who are also into photography is one good way to start. Luckily, one of my office mates has a brother who is a very good photographer. My office mate was kind enough to let me meet his brother. We decided to set a date for my very first “photo trip”. There’s a church in Calaruega Batangas which is very famous to locals and tourists alike because of the beautiful sceneries that surround it. My office mate picked that place for my first photo trip destination.

Learning photography isn’t easy. You need to understand how the different settings there work like Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, Exposure Compensation, etc. My bad because prior our photo trip, I did not study the manual of my Nikon D5000. That’s why, I had a hard time coping up with what my mentor had to teach me that day. But the whole thing was fun! I could not explain the feeling whenever I thought I was able to get a good picture! Here are some of them:

As I go deeper into photography, I realize that it is not only a hobby but a good stress buster as well.

Last 31 October 2009, me and my buddy, Mac, went up to La Union and Baguio. It was an unplanned trip. We decided to go at around three o’clock in the afternoon already. Maybe, we just thought of how boring the next couple of days would be so we just decided to take on the trip.

We reached La Union past nine o’clock in the evening. The road to the house we will spend the night at is not the usual smooth, cemented one. The walk was exciting because aside from the fact that it was already dark and we did not have flash lights with us, we also had to walk some mud pathways. It’s a good thing, it was a full moon that night and we were able to manage our way.

While Mac was chatting with his relatives, I took some pictures of just what my digital camera can capture that time.

This is how they cook their food. I don’t know but people in the province say that foods cooked in this kind of stove actually taste better.

Native chickens resting.

Alvin, Mac’s cousin, invited us to play cards before going to bed. However, since I do not know how to play “tong-its”, I wasn’t able to join them. While they were playing, I was watching some horror flicks. After several card game rounds, all of us went to sleep.

One thing nice about the place is that you do not need to use an electric fan or an air conditioner so that you could sleep comfortably. The gentle, cool breeze of the night will surely help you get that very relaxing and deep sleep.

In the morning, we hurriedly visited what used to be corn fields before Ondoy hit the place. We were saddened by the things we saw.

The hanging bridge before Ondoy.

This is all that is left from what used to be a hanging bridge.

This post where Mac and Trix had their picture taken used to be sturdy being concrete.

However, after Ondoy devastated the place, this is all that’s left from this post

Everything that we have is temporary.

26 September 2009 is a day Filipinos will never forget. It is already a history that is inked in our lives. About 150 people have died and nearly 500,000 people have been affected by tropical storm “Ondoy” that caused heavy downpour and massive flooding in Metro Manila particularly in Marikina, Cainta, and Pasig.

I did not give much thought of the typhoon Ondoy when PAGASA forecasted it a few days prior the 26th since they said it will not cause much trouble. Unfortunately, since PAGASA did not have sophisticated technology to accurately forecast a storm, the people were wrongly informed.

And so the 26th of September came. There was already a heavy downpour when I woke up at around 9 in the morning. During that time, I thought it was just one of those “crying days of the heavens”. However, when I realized that only after about 4 hours, flood was already evident on the streets and it is quickly rising, I told myself, this is already something.

I turned on the TV and tuned in to a news channel. I was shocked when the newscaster broadcasted how massive the flood is already and started to show videos and pictures of the areas and people who were greatly affected by the typhoon.

A young girl is carried to safety through floodwaters

Residents help a woman get off the flood

People in Cainta wait for rescue on top of their submerged houses

According to the news, typhoon Ondoy delivered 410 mm of rainfall which is 20 mm higher than the average rainfall in a month.

If there is one thing I realized in this calamity was that we are powerless when we are faced with mother nature. I just hope that people, not only in the Philippines, will start to be more caring of mother earth. After all, this is the only home we’ve got.

I am saddened by the news over Yahoo that one of Hollywood’s finest actors, Patrick Swayze succumbed to cancer at age 57. I happened to watch two of Patrick’s well loved movies - Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990s). However, the latter left a mark in my heart. As it was a movie, even though there was no violence or sex shown in it, but was watched and loved by a lot of people all over the world. I even watched it a dozen of times, if I’m not mistaken and I am keeping a DVD copy of it, too.

Ghost was a story of two people, truly in love with each other but in the heart wrenching end part of the movie had to separate ways for Sam (Patrick’s character) died from a gunshot wound when a robber tried to steal his wallet for the robber thought in it is where the code to a bank account is being kept by him.

Ghost also starred the drop-dead gorgeous beauty Demi Moore, who portrayed Patrick’s girlfriend - Molly and the hilarious Whoopi Goldberg, who played the character of Oda Mae Brown.

Sam’s ghost is haunting Oda Mae (a psychic medium) so that it can forewarn Molly of the danger that might befall her unless she stay away from Sam’s assassin, Carl, who happened to be their close friend. However, because of greediness, money took over Carl’s whole being.

For those of you who have not watched the movie “Ghost” yet, I encourage you to get a DVD copy of it and see for yourself what true love can do even beyond this life.

I have been longing to attend a christian Sunday service. It came to fulfillment this afternoon when I, together with two of my office mates attended New Life’s 2PM Sunday service at The Market Market.

We did not plan of attending the service. However, as it is said, God works in His own time. He made way for us to attend. When we reached New Life Christian Center, we were welcomed by the usherettes warmly. They even helped us to our seats.

The service was already starting with the “praise and worship” part when we came in. It was a different experience when you are with a group of people all mightily singing their heart’s content because they know that they are singing for God.

After the praise and worship part, the sermon started. It was delivered by Pastor Jocel Evangelista. The sermon was all about “The Power of Everyday”. Pastor preached that we have to be thankful and excited everyday for each day is a gift from God and that He has already planned the things that is going to come in our way.

I never thought that the praising song “This is The Day That The Lord Hath Made” can mean so much to me during that day when Pastor preached that since Jesus has already defeated tribulations when He died on the cross to save me, we need to rejoice everyday of our lives.

The sermon also included that we have to strive to bless others everyday and that the things that are ordinary to us could already be a miracle for others.

After the service, having what Pastor Jocel in mind, I wanted to be a blessing to my two office mates and so I asked them out for an early dinner after the service. In which by doing so, I know, God will return the blessings to me tenfolds!

On September 9^th, i-Elev8 Contact Solutions celebrated the birthday of one of its well loved Managers – Mac Herman.

Everybody had their own share in making Mac’s special day an event to remember.

The HR and Training Departments came up with a wacky idea. They collected video greetings from people from the streets who Mac does not even know. Fats connected with his sister in Canada via Facebook just to get her greet him while I stole his best girl friend’s cellphone number just to be connected to her and ask her to come up with a surprise birthday video greetings for him which we succeeded in doing!

We also collected Mac’s photos and put all of them in a powerpoint presentation with one of his favourite songs – We Are A Family (OST from the movie Dream Girls) as the background music.

While Mac was watching the videos, he got teary-eyed.

After the video and greetings presentations, it’s time for the agents to show what they have prepared. The MT/GT/CEP Teams, led by their Manager, Fats, did a dance number to the tune of different dance music. The night shift agents (US Mortgage, Federated, and CEP Outbound) also showcased skits and dance presentations.

To make the celebration of Mac’s birthday wackier, games were also played and everybody willingly participated – even without prizes!

i-Elev8’s President, Sir Ernie Lee graced the occasion.

September 4 is actually the birthday of my youngest sibling, Nheah. However, we celebrated her special day two days after.

I thought of treating her to a lunch so that Mom and Trix (my niece) could also come and enjoy instead of me, buying her a gift. We agreed to have it at Dampa in Sucat (initially) but when we were reaching the place, my office mate suggested to us to try another restaurant joint somewhere in Paranaque (just like Dampa) where we can buy fresh seafoods and have them cooked in the restaurant of our choice.

We bought tiger prawns, squids, oysters, and crab’s claws. For the prawns, we had it cooked in butter and garlic. For the squids, adobo. While we had the oysters and crab’s claws, steamed. We had our stomach really full!

Again, I would like to greet Nheah, a Happy, Happy Birthday!

Renewal of Commitment - thus the theme of i-Elev8 Contact Solution’s first ever Company-wide outing in nearly three (3) years. The event was originally set last May 2009 but because of some unforeseen events, we had to push it back to a later date. Anyway, there’s a saying that goes “it’s better to be late than never”. The event was held  at the RJS Resort in Calamba, Laguna.

In order to make everything in order, the Management had a meeting as to who will form the different committees who will be in charge for the food, security, after care, servers, and programme. I volunteered myself to be with the food committee. Other committees were formed by the following:

FOOD - Fats Tiano, Mark Herman, and Trace Gumapas.

PROGRAMME - Lelli Estrada, Albert Dagnalan, Catherine Casquejo, and Remy Torres.

SERVERS - Nhel Galzote, Manneth Coliflores, Ryan Pesigan, and JB Opinion

SECURITY - Rico Buenconsejo and Johnel Magallano

AFTER CARE - Kat Silla, Kim Moceros, and Mark Bautista

Since we, the food committee, are needed to be in the venue ahead to prepare the party’s lunch, we also had to leave early to be in Alabang Wet Market to buy the stuffs we will be needing. It took us two (2) hours before we could have everything we need.

We reached RJS Resort at around 10:00 in the morning. While we are preparing the pork and the ingredients to cook “Sinigang na Baboy”, Trace, Mark, Mac, and I occassionally dipped ourselves in the pool.

It was past 12:00 noon when the party arrived. Good thing, we’re already done cooking. The program committee, headed by Albert Dagnalan, made some announcements to all as to room and team assignments.

The party was divided into four (4) teams YELLOW, BLUE, GREEN, and RED.

After a hearty lunch, the party started to do their own thing while waiting for the program to start. Some started getting themselves wet in the pool, some played billiards, and some belted out songs in the karaoke.

It’s time for the programme proper. First, there’s the graduation rites for Waves 33, 34, and 35.

After the graduation rites, there were group presentations showcased by the Custom Essay Plus Team joined by the Lead Gen Team and the MT/GT Team, US Mortgage Team, and the Federated Team.  The show was hosted by Trace Gumapas together with Toffee Pangan.

Shortly after, came the games. Games to compete for were: Tallest Pyramid (using only newspapers and bbq sticks), Swimming Competition, and Tug-Of-War.

(To be continued…)

The Philippine government declared 05 August 2009 a special non-working holiday to give time for the Filipinos to pay their last respect for the late Cory Aquino.

Since we did not have operations for our voice as well as GT/MT programs, some of us decided to go with Sir Ernie (our Boss) to his farm in Jala Jala Rizal. Those who went were Me, Mac (General Manager), Lelli (Operations Manager for voice), Fats (Operations Manager for GT/MT), Albert (HR/Training Manager), and Remy (Quality Assurance Officer).

From the office, we went first to Sir Ernie’s house in Valle Verde because we are going to ride in his van. Fats decided to just wait for us at Sir Ernie’s house because it is much nearer to her place.

Sir Ernie prepared tuna hotdogs so that we could have something to munch while on the road.

While travelling, there was never a dull moment because Fats and Lelli kept on teasing each other. We just laughed our heart’s content all the way to Sir Ernie’s farm.

Around 1:00PM, finally, we reached the place. The Ostriches in the farm, upon seeing our van, immediately stood up. As if, they are soldiers showing respect to their commander-in-chief. Lelli was fast in making up story in relation to the big bird’s behavior. She related it to Fats wearing color blue contact lenses one time Fats reported for work.

We were welcomed by Sir Ernie to his nipa hut in the middle of the farm.

After putting down our bags, we hurriedly went down to enjoy the lush scenery and the “animals”.

Lelli and Fats went horseback riding. Tsk Tsk Tsk…I pity the horse.

After horseback riding, we went back to the hut to have lunch. Sir Ernie prepared Lechon de leche, Laing, and Tinola for us. Yum Yum Yum!!! To complete our “native” way of eating, instead of using plates, we ate using banana leaves and trunk.

It was really a hearty lunch! We couldn’t get enough of the lechon de leche. The price I have to pay though is I got a disbanded bracket. Ouch! That’s another P500 for me.

Later, we went to the fields again to explore more of the beauty of Sir Ernie’s farm.

Sir Ernie showed us his Dragon Fruit plantation.

Mac couldn’t get enough of the Dragon fruit. (lol)

I want to say “Thank You” to Sir Ernie for bringing us to his farm. We really had a wonderful time!

31 July 2009 was a memorable day for me. I happened to watch “Quick Change” - a musical comedy show that starred one of my favorite acapella groups, The Company, with the hilarious Jon Santos as the front act. I was joined by some office mates - Mac, Lelli, and Fats.

A dream come true for Mac!…Lea!!!

The hilarious Jon Santos, Ms. Fats, Ms. Lelli, and me

The show was officially opened by Jon Santos, impersonating a “sosyal” college girl attending the same concert, too. She was calling some of her boyfriends who can watch the show with her. Jon was in the middle of the audience while doing this comedy skit. Then, the stage was ready for The Company.

It was just unfortunate that I wasn’t able to take some pictures during the early part of The Company’s performances. I thought, taking pictures is not allowed. However, I observed that some of the audiences were taking pictures and some were even recording the show. And so, I did.

After the first set of The Company, Jon came in the stage. This time, he was impersonating “Armida Siguion Reyna”. He first acknowledged some great Filipino artists in both music and movie industry. He made mention of some Filipino artists who made big abroad like Lea Salonga (who watched the show, too), Ariel Pineda, Lou Diamond Phillips, etc.

Jon made a skit that talked about how Armida dislikes the lyrics of some foreign musics like those of Beyonce’s and Jennifer Lopez’. And so, she made her own rendition of Let’s Get Loud (popularized by Jennifer Lopez) changing the line “let’s get loud” into “aruy aruy aruy” (a popular old Filipino song).

Jon truly brought the house down!

The Company, during their second set, showcased not only their singing prowess but put some comic touch to some of their songs, also. I was really impressed with their talents - not only do they can sing but they can make people laugh, too! The Company also made a medley of their most popular hits like Now That I Found You, Muntik Na Kitang Minahal, among others.

Over all, the show was really great!

After the show, we went out to the “signing of the autograph” portion of the venue to buy some CDs of The Company. To our surprise, Lea Salonga went there, too. Perhaps, to congratulate the performers. We were really stunned! Imagine, Lea Salonga? The multi-awarded broadway singer? Miss Saigon? Mac and Fats weren’t able to help themselves. They asked Lea to have her picture taken with them which Lea gracefully agreed on.

Truly, t’was a night to remember!