sleepless friday

I never had a minute sleep last friday. I woke up five thirty in the morning to get ready for office. The whole day, I worked like a slave, I even spent my breaktime doing reports in order to meet the deadline. It was a great relief for me when i finished everything before the day ends. After a very long day, I went to Glorietta to meet my cousins and have dinner. Its been two months since I last saw them. There's lots of stories to tell, things to catch up. We agreed to meet by 7 in the evening, but they arrived half past seven and worst, one of them arrived 8:30.

We had our dinner at the restaurant near my place, Giligans. Prior to that, my fiance and i went to wine store to buy some brandy and red wine, just in case the group decided to spend the rest of the night together at my apartment. That was the first time my fiance will meet my cousins. Im a bit nervous, but its good thing that everthing went smoothly. We had a sumptous dinner. As expected, the group decided to spend the rest of the night at my apartment over a bottle of brandy and wine. We had a good conversation. Everyone had a great time that we didn't notice its almost dawn.

stop and smell the flowers..part I

just want to share some pictures of my favorite subject with you guys..together, lets stop and smell the flowers..

rebar detailing

For the past two weeks now, my office mate Jonell & I were eying for an extra job to be given by our former engineering manager. We were elated upon receiving a message from him since he's a very respected man in our company due to his integrity and high technical and engineering capabilities. His recommendation boasted our morale and self confidence.

The scope of work will be reinforcing bar detailing. Manually, it could be done using Autocad and Excel. Big rebar detailing company use Shear97. Rebar detailing is a very tedious work. It requires patience, keen analysis and attention to detail. The client usually gives the basic drawing and project specification. This basic drawing includes the elevations, plans and section of the structures. The specification serves as a bible in preparation of the detail since all bends, hooks, laps and splice are indicated there. It also contains the codes used such as ACI, BSI, et..al., depending on the location of the project. The finished product is often referred to as Bar Bending Schedule, sometimes it is also called Site Cutting List.

Currently i had a three solid years of experience in rebar detailing and i am accepting freelance job, just leave a message in my cbox and i am very much willing to further discuss rebar detailing with you.

Till next time..live and let live....enjoy life to the fullest!

reunions

It took me eleven years to go back and visit my high school Alma mater - The Sisters of Mary School. It was a school founded by an American priest Fr. Aloysius Schwartz now being run by Filipino and Korean nun. Modestly aside, most of the students here belong to the top ten of primary school graduating class. Each scholar were given free education, board and lodging, food and even clothes. I could say that i got the best high school education here because during my time, most of the teachers have masters degree, some of them are licensed engineer. And not only that, this school gave deep values formation centered through Christ. Indeed, it was an oasis in the desert.

After being so far with the school for eleven years, honestly, I had lots of hesitations attending the grand alumni homecoming, thinking that reunions like that would just be a vehicle for show offs, but I was wrong. It was fun. I had a great time. My high school buddies were still the same girls whom i laughed and cried with. They were still down to earth despite the fact that they've gone long ways and achieved greater heights. They remained gentle yet strong, polished by life's harsh realities. Simplicity was still there, virtue that the school founder inculcated in us. From then on, i always look forward to occasions like that where we can bond and share the latest happenings in our lives.

First Week of Nihongo Class

My Nihongo class started a week ago. Alice san replaced our previous sensei Mojica san. Their approach in teaching was different but both very good in the language. I began to appreciate Nihongo more, though after the class i felt so tired.

Our topic last week was about simple conversation and counting. By the way, conversation in Nihongo is kaiwa. My tongue got twisted while talking in Nihongo. I buckled several times and said Moichido Onegaishimasu meaning please repeat (hehe..this was my favorite line). We were asked to have conversation with my fellow students in Nihongo given the situation that we were in a Japanese store to buy something. One acted as a store crew and the other was a costumer. Here's a sample of a simple kaiwa.

Store Crew: Irasyaimase.

Costumer: Ookii ringo o futatsu kudasai.

Store Crew: Kashikomarimasita.

Irasyaimase - meaning welcome. usually heard upon entering Japanese stores.

Ookii ringo o futatsu kudasai -Please give me two big apples.

Kashikomarimasita - I understand.

Another topic was about counting. Honestly, counting in Japanese for me seemed to be a little complicated. Why did i said so? Well, Nihongo had different counters for different item. For example they had different counter for persons, long slender objects, thin/flat objects, small round objects, small animals, books and binded materials. For example, if I'm referring to one person, the counter will be Hitori, if I'm counting one pencil that will be Ippon Empitsu, one letter should me ichimai tegami, one book should be issatsu hon.

Tomorrow, I'll be having a quiz. If i got a perfect score tomorrow, I'll have an incentive. I hope to get one. Gambari Mashou.

Till next time..live and let live....enjoy life to the fullest!

dusk

Photos where taken last April 2, 2006

My fiance and I love photography. When our hectic schedule permits, we usually spend our weekends together taking pictures. We cant help but admire God's wonderful creation.

Here are some trivia about dusk.

Did you know that the new calendar days of Jews begin during dusk?
While sunset marked the close of the daylight period, for the Jews it marked the start of the new calendar day, which officially began at sunset, being counted from evening to evening. (Le 23:32; compare Mr 1:21, 32, which shows that the day, in this case a sabbath, ended in the evening.) (from watchtower)

Did you know that during dusk, an unusual phenomenon occur called green flash or in rare case the blue flash?
Here's the explanation why. As the last edge of the sun dips below the horizon, the sun's light splits into a spectrum like a rainbow. Red light appears on the bottom of the spectrum, and blue light is on the top. As the sun continues to descend, the red portion of the spectrum falls below the horizon and the blue portion is usually scattered by the atmosphere. It is at this instant that the last bit of visible light can flash green. But why green? Because green is the other primary color in light. When the sky is heavily polluted, the green flash is seldom seen, and the blue flash occurs only when the atmosphere is exceptionally clear and enough blue light pierces the sky to cause a brilliant flash to appear.

What gives the dusk the red and orange color?
Sunlight streaming down to the earth contains all the colors of the rainbow. When this light strikes the earth's atmosphere, the atmosphere acts much like a giant prism and scatters, or diffuses, the light. The extent to which a light wave is diffused, however, depends on its wavelength. Blue light waves have a shorter wavelength and are widely scattered throughout the atmosphere. That is why the sky appears blue when the sun is well above the horizon on a clear day. But when the sun is near the horizon—such as at dusk—the sunlight must travel through more of the atmosphere to reach our eyes. As a result, the highly scattered blue light does not reach us. On the other hand, the longer waves, such as red, can more easily penetrate the dense atmosphere. This gives the dusk its familiar red or orange color.

till next time. live and let live....enjoy life to the fullest

cohabitation or marriage

Some couples believe that marriage is just a bureaucracy, a paper doesn't mean anything, love is what counts. According to them, living together is a more romantic relationship. They feel that by living together without legal bonds they will be afraid of losing each other. Thus they will be more careful with each other and their relationship. On the surface, that may seem like good reasoning. But is such relationship usually more stable than legal marriage?

Cohabitants are more readily available to someone else. When problems arose, they are more inclined to run away from each other than to sit down and resolve matters. When we reflect on how unwed partners may view their belongings, it is usually divided into "my" things and "your" things. Some carefully keep receipts and engrave or write their names on the things they buy—just in case….. Does that sound like the basis for a stable, enduring relationship? What happens if the time comes when the couple decides to split up? Dividing up belongings can be a real problem, resulting in arguments and great injustices. For instance, if the woman has taken care of the children and the household, she may run the risk of being left destitute because her partner earned the money and bought most of the things. There may be little she can do legally because they are unwed. So what happens to her when they separate?

Some couples say that they live together for a time just to see if they are compatible for marriage. They feel that their future marriage will be more stable as a result. But if we are going to take a look at it, the divorce/separation rate in countries where this practice has been common is increasing.

There are effects that couple's living together without marriage can have on others. There are still many who consider it wrong and even immoral to live together that way. Parents or grandparents may feel unhappy, embarrassed, and worried when their children or grandchildren just live together. Contact between the generations may be threatened. When parents make and break relationships, it can lead to cases where several children without a common set of parents are brought together in the same home. This may leave the children feeling confused, insecure and had serious psychological problems. There are other far-reaching effects when couples live together without marriage. As such relationships are not registered, authorities cannot take effective account of them and apply laws to them. Some couples decide not to marry in order to avoid unfavorable taxation and the loss of certain pensions and other social benefits.

Aside from the moral and social implications, there is another even more important consideration. The Scriptural view of this matter may be of little or no importance to many of those who live together without marriage. But to those who want to apply God's commandments, it is vital. According to the Bible, legal marriage is the only form of cohabitation between a man and a woman that is authorized by man's Creator. The Bible shows that God brought the first human pair together in a marriage. One purpose was companionship. As mentioned in the bible in the book of Genesis, it is not good for the man to live his life alone so a woman was created, as a complement of him. Another purpose was reproduction. In the same book it is said that a man and a woman must be fruitful and become many and fill the earth. This was not meant to be a trial arrangement/marriage because it is evident from the Bible that a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh.

Although, today, every man and woman is imperfect and many marriages end in divorce and separation, the legalized marriage still constitutes the most secure and firmly established form of cohabitation between a man and a woman in society today. No other form of cohabitation offers the same degree of protection and security to all parties, including the children, that legalized marriage does.

In cohabitation, it just living together, but in marriage, couples began to build a much closer, more loving, and more responsible relationship, one that includes a third party – God.

reflection

The Seminar was entitled "Dealing with difficult Times". Many speakers were supposed to speak during the seminar, but, unfortunately, we were only able to listen to one of them due to time constraint. On the lighter side, however, the very short time that I spent listening to the first speaker was a worthwhile one and somehow was able to implant relevant lesson into my life.
The speaker dealt with the reality of life that we, Filipinos, are facing right now. He gave emphasis on the insurmountable economic woes that we are facing today. These woes are being worsened by our bad individual nature that might have been brought about by our being Filipinos. I gave a nod to the speaker when he mentioned about the corruption that is rampant in both the government and private sectors in our country.
The manifestations of corruption in our government are obvious; these do not need any proof. We must admit that corruption is a natural thing that is happening everyday… a norm that everybody is doing and a practice that threatens to destroy our moral foundation as a Christian country. The worse thing is that, the economic woes that we are now experiencing are attributed to corruption.
The speaker, whether directly or indirectly, tended to ask; what happened to our country today? Look at Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and other Asian countries; where are these countries now in terms of economy? A few years ago, the speaker said, we are on top of these countries. What happened?
Although the speaker suggested so many possible causes why we are lagging behind these countries, I chose to focus on one thing only; corruption, the most primitive, or perhaps, common problem that any country has. Corruption is a wide issue and is both social and moral problem. It has a wide-ranging effect on our economy and even peace and order situation. A classic example of the effect of corruption is the lingering woes of the Filipino people brought about by the Marcos regime.
But what relevance did the speaker's views have to do with corruption? Well, the speaker proposed; we must make a difference! If we really need a change to our system, we need to change our norms. And it should start from our individual selves.
Making a difference, as the speaker described it, is a kind of action, one has to make, which will lead others and make them realize and recognize the RIGHT and WRONG, the MORAL and the IMMORAL. If we are able to inculcate this to every Filipinos, only then we can say; WE HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE.

happy bday

today is my brother's birthday.

i wish him good health, successful career, inner joy and happiness, and long life. Our relationship became stronger after Dennis is gone. We value each other more, we exchange text messages more, we talk more often and we love each other and the rest of the family more. We treasure every moment we're together. Though we're not physically together to celebrate this day, our hearts are close.

i hope he got all be best in life that he deserves.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALE!

one of the best guy i've ever known..

Dennis..one of best guys I've ever known..one of the best man in my life..my dear brother.

Barely 7 months ago, a very unexpected thing happened. I was busy working in the office when i received a call from my youngest brother informing me that Dennis had a vehicular accident. At first, i thought it was just a minor accident, because i know that he was a very cautious driver. When i asked how's the condition, Chan told me that he's still in the emergency room, so i continued working. Then after 15 minutes, my cousin called me again, asking if i could go back to Batangas.. I began to tremble. I cant explain my feeling, i know something is terrible wrong. At first i didn't cry. I tried to be calm as much as possible, but when they told me that he's in ICU and is in coma, the world began to crumble. i cried so hard, my body trembled, it seemed that a pail of cold water was thrown to me. Still, i asked what's wrong, then i received the news that i never thought i will, he had a multiple fracture in skull. I began to cry bucket of tears, because that news meant that its quite impossible to him to survive...I never made it to the hospital to see him alive. He joined the creators hand barely 4 hours after the accident...30 minutes before i arrived. It was the most painful thing that I've ever went through...

Memories rushed through my mind..He was a very responsible guy..a very sweet guy...a funny guy...there's no dull moment when he's around. I wont be where i am now if he didn't help me. He sacrificed so many things for me..to the point that he stopped his studies so that i could pursue mine because during that time my dad lost his job. From then on, i promised to myself that I'll do everything to reciprocate all that he has done for me, but that chance that was given to me was so short.

His daughter, Alyssa is only 3 weeks old when he passed away. I felt pity for his little angel..she was not given the chance to see, and bond with her dad..although we promise to be with his daughter no matter what happened the presence of her dad is irreplaceable.

I still miss him to this day. I still cry for his untimely demise. I wish he's still with us..laughing, living...enjoying life the fullest.

the colors of spring

lets stop and smell the flowers..admire God's wonderful creation. be delighted with the colors of spring....


while walking around the streets of Tokyo, my fiancé took this photo. actually, this was located at the back side of the fence.

violets and blue..hues that were made for me and you.











i rarely see blue flowers. whenever i saw one, i made sure that i captured its beauty just like what i did with this one.














so simple yet so elegant.. so delicate yet so strong.. that's how i see this flower, somehow, i want it to represent me.













violet/purple is a symbol of royalty..one of my favorite hues..it so relaxing..







hope you enjoyed veiwing my pix...the resolution of this pix were not edited and this was the first time it was published...i'll be posting more in the coming days.
till next time..live and let live..enjoy life to the fullest!

trip to japan

Last June I went to Japan for a Kick-Off Meeting for our new project. During weekend i got the chance to visit places. Let me share with you some of my photos.

Ueno park is so big that it took me hours to finish the roaming around. I enjoyed looking all over the place, i even visited Ueno Zoo! I was amazed when i saw the flamingos, polar bear, seal, red head panda and penguins.

After two hours of walking, i took a rest at the base of this Giant Man-made tree in Ueno Park in Tokyo. I was so tired, but its all worth it.

Tokyo Tower before sunset. This photo is not edited. Maybe, i really had a knack in photography. One hobby at i want to pursue in the future.

At 333 m tall, with viewing deck at 150 m, i could see Tokyo 360 degrees. The view was spectacular. The place was so romantic. A must see for every tourist in Tokyo.

till next time..live and let live!

reposted

I posted this article in my other blog last april 2006. I really love this article. Let me share it with you even if its tagalog. One time i'll find time to translate it.

_______

naiinis akong makipagsiksikan sa mrt, so naupo ako sa isang bench sa station ng ayala mrt, umaasa na maluwag ang susunod na tren. asa ka pa, sigaw ng isip ko, eh rush hour ngayon. gaya ng nakagawian, wala akong pakialam sa lahat ng tao na nasa estasyon, kinuha ko ang "hope for the flowers" at itinuloy ang aking pagbabasa.
pagkalipas ng ilang saglit, naramdaman ko na may tumabi sa akin, pero kagaya ng dati, hindi ko iyon binigyan ng pansin, marahil isa rin siya sa mga katulad ko na ayaw makipagsiksikan.

mayamaya, nagsalita na siya.

"you still love reading books huh"

muli, hindi ko iyon binigyan ng pansin, masyado akong abala sa aking pagbabasa para bigyan ng pansin ang taong katabi, at isa pa naisip ko na baka pick-up line lang yun ng isang taong gustong makipagkilala. hehehehehe, umiral na naman ang pagiging snob ng lola.

muli siyang nagsalita.

"you're really a snob, hanggang ngayon"

opps, teka, parang kilala nya ako. matapos kong maiangat ang aking mukha, isang familiar na mukha ang aking nasilayan.

"hey jack, sorry, i've been busy with what im reading"

"i can see that. so how are you doing now?"

"im fine, busy with work?"

"oh, i see. still single? you look great now"

"thanks, yeah im still single, so what brought you here in makati?"

"finishing some business details"

"ah ok, i got to go now, nice meeting you again, jack. bye"

at pagkatapos nun, nakipagsiksikan na ako papasok ng tren. halos pitong taon na rin ang nakaraan ng huli ko siyang makita. halos wala pa rin siyang pinagbago, hindi nakikita ang marka ng pagtanda.

nakita ko na lang ang aking sarili na nagtatanong, "single pa rin siya kagaya ko hanggang ngayon?"

"hmmmm, bakit siya nagcommute?" muling tanong ng isip ko.

nawalan na ako ng balita tungkol sa kanya pagkatapos ng huli naming pag-uusap.

naalala ko tuloy....

"so is this all the you really want?" sabi nya.

"you have to understand, from the start you know what are my priorities."

"your family again. i heard that several times, ginagawa mo na lang scapegoat yun eh"

"look, from the start, i made my self clear. dont make me chose now. all im asking you is to give more time, my family still needs me."

"fine, what do you want me to do? understand you? again, gosh, its been 5 years now, i getting tired of all your reasoning."

"look, listen to me first"

"listen? i've been listening for long, will you listen to me now?"

"look..."

"hey, stop it, i'll chose for you. i'll make it easy for you"

tumayo siya at iniwan akong nag-iisa. mula nuon, hindi ko na siya nakausap. ang huling balita ko, lumipad na raw papuntang canada.

pagkatapos ng insidenteng iyon, isang araw, i got a message from unknown number. pero di kagaya ng dati, binigyan ng panahon na sagutin ang message galing sa number na di familiar sa akin. nalaman ko na si jack pala yun. nakuha nya ang number ko sa isang dating kaibigan.

"could we meet and talk, for old times sake?" ang sabi nya.

"for old times sake huh?? im busy."

"ok, i'll adjust to your sched."

"text me later, im bound for singapore tomorrow. i'd be staying there for a couple of month."

"ok, till then. see you when i see you"

bakit kaya biglang gusto nya akong makausap? for old times sake? para ano pa, we both moved on na. pero "both" nga kaya? pano kung siya hindi pa? common, tagal na panahon na yun, di ko na dapat iniisip yun.

pagkaraan ng dalawang buwan...

"hey, jack here, free tonight?"

...........


"hey, jas, would you like to come with us for lunch?" tawag sa akin ng officemate ko.

"sure" ang sagot ko, malayo na naman pala ang narating ng isip ko. :-)

till we bite the dust

We're total strangers, traveling on paralleled crossroads. I was alone and so you were, both were unsure of what road to take, dreading where life would lead. We were neither friends nor foes, just two individual, walking in seemed to be endless road, searching for unfeigned meaning of existence.

Incognizant, every step that we took directed us closer to each other. You presented yourself politely that left me no choice but to respond in the same way. Time flew so fast that we didn't realize how far we got. Though thousand miles apart, our hearts knew no distance. You became my refuge and I was yours. Our friendship intensified. My heart that was in slumber slowly woke up. The doors that I kept closed showed modest openings. The impenetrable walls of hate, fear and towering standards began to crumble. I was falling, and so you were, like a freely falling body, like the last dry leaf falling from the bough. We resisted but like the pull of gravity on freely falling body, our resistance did nothing, instead the feelings became intense. We were inseparable, discovering this wonderful feeling of love and being loved, unraveling the mysteries of life that lies ahead. We were walking on cloud nine.

Somehow, not everything was sugarcoated, not every road was smoothly paved. Soon enough, after half past year, we had petty disagreements and the fear of slowly drifting away began. But at the end of the day, it was comforting to know that we wanted to nip it in the bud.

At some point we maybe at sixes and sevens, we still have bones to pick, but it is clear to us that we still want to share the rest of our life together, till we bite the dust.

staad training

I will be starting my Staad refresher course by Aug. 12. I enrolled in one of the training centers here in Manila to study the said software last March 2004. But after completing the course, i did not get the chance to practice it because my line of work is not connected in concrete and steel design. Its good thing that i transferred work almost two years ago. Now i already had a chance to use it.

I've always wanted to be a structural designer, that's why i took up civil engineering in college. I'm fascinated whenever i see industrial plants, skyscrapers, towers, bridges. I always told myself, that one day, i will be designing one of them. I know, that each step i took each day, lead me to the fulfillment of that dream.

Gambari Masyou!

Till next time...live and let live.

nihonggo II

ohayou gozaimasu!

whew! i'm practicing my nihongo. next week, i be starting the class. 3.5 hours a day, twice a week. i must admit, at first I'm hesitant to enroll in this class for several reasons. first, i have a very busy schedule at work, managing the civil and structural group is hard, it requires full concentration and hardwork. secondly, i don't have time to study. I'm planning to pursue my masters degree by next semester, for sure, it will consume most of my free time. and last but the most important thing is, my fiance and i are preparing for our wedding next year.

come what may. i just have to manage my time well. this is a good gauge in measuring my capability in terms of time management.

till next time..live and let live.