Quitting my corporate graveyard work after three years. In retrospect, I still can’t wrap my mind around how I managed to stay that long in the night shift. I started wanting to jump out the window almost every shift and I ended up three years later, still intact, with a huge bouquet and a wish-you-luck card with the best and sincere intentions. I’ve learned and earned a lot, met truly awesome people and created bonds of, hopefully, lasting friendship with the help of social networking.

Finding a new job in a new company. I’m still reeling from culture shock. Coming from a, um, highly volatile environment, this place looks sedated. It’s like coming to a gentle halt in a calm little pond after battling the expansive white water rapids. I came to that conclusion after that impromptu party I was slightly aware of. Where I come from, the mood and energy is to such an extreme until lunch time, you’d think they just had full night’s sleep. Nobody would guess these people have already been awake for 15 hours and just came from an eight to 10-hour shift.

Being an online content writer. I was looking for something worthwhile to keep me preoccupied in between jobs so I landed in this freelance gig. Four months later, I’m still doing it even if I already have a full time work. On top of the freedom and flexibility, it gives me an excuse to read about everything, I mean everything, and earning a little while I’m at it. Goes to show that even if you really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter how much you get paid. Besides, I’m also enjoying the online community.

Best Movie: Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Waiting one and a half years for this was worth it, even if I’m probably one in 50 people who are even vaguely familiar with these comics/cartoons. It’s like an animated 3D Indiana Jones, a comparison given in a gracious positive light. Nobody can pull off those adventure chase sequences as effectively as Spielberg, and with Peter Jackson by his side, this movie can almost do no wrong. It definitely gets my vote as the best animated movie of the year for the Oscars. Runner up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2. It fell a little short of being an epic finale, but it still offered a satisfying closure for hardcore and casual fans alike. Honorable mention: Captain America, because it exceeded my expectations and of course, Chris Evans.

Best TV Series: Community. I have fallen head over heels over this comedy series so much, I wanna marry it. Although it lapses with some obscure pop culture references and a highbrow wit that tends to smarter than its own good, I can watch some episodes over and over and still laugh over and over. Jeff, Abed, Britta, Annie, Shirley, Troy and Pierce, I would all miss you if NBC really decides to pull the plug. A very close runner up: Parks & Recreation. Ben & Leslie is my new Chuck & Sarah, only dorkier. With hilarious noteworthy one-liners and its own dose of dramedy moments courtesy of their likable cast, it can give Modern Family a run for its awards landslide.

Best Song: 4-Letter Word. It’s the most overplayed song in my iPod, and also the most maligned song in the fandom from the new album. I find it catchy. Honestly, I can’t keep track of new songs as much as I did. Runner up: Nothing by The Script.

Best Book: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. This is the first time I have loved and waited for a book series this much ever since Harry Potter. I got so hooked to the story that read nothing but Jim Butcher for the first quarter of the year. The nerdy sense of humor and the occasional pop culture references are right up my alley. I’m exercising utmost restraint not to read Side Jobs or Ghost Story on ebook. I really want to read them all on the classic dead tree version. Let’s see how long I can hold.

Best Sports Teams: Azkals. Not a fan of any sports in general. No matter how hyped the NBA finals or next Pacquaio match gets, I never did get much into it. Then the Azkals came into the picture. Maybe it’s their faces or their undeniable likability, I’m actually youtubing [sic] football videos just to understand what an offside is. Plans for 2012 include watching more football games live as much as possible. It pays to be just a walking distance from the venue.

Best Purchase: My new HP Laptop. Still crossing fingers I made the right decision.

Best Travel: Las Casas in Bataan. Although the weather was against our favor for that weekend, it never dampened the vintage and historic charm of the place. I really admire the dedication and hard work they did for restoring all those houses. I plan to return when the weather’s bright and sunnier so I can take way better pictures. Runner up: The Ilocos Road Trip. First time I ever travelled that far with my big jolly adventurous family.

Best Memory: David Beckham. Getting twitter replies from celebrities. Catching up with friends. The symbolic shutting down of my former work pc for the last time. Watching The Script live and getting drowned in the excitement of the crowd.

The bad ones: Sendong. Quiel. Pedring. Philippine politics. And that I only watched one concert for the year, a record low after four years. No out of town trips for Thanksgiving after five years.

Acknowledgements:

My ever growing and adorable family. My casework teammates, for making those crazy three years more wacky and bearable. Dreamteam forever. Friends from high school and college, especially my loyal blockmates, and to the official lawyers that I hesitate to joke around or else be served with libel. The PS TnC people who are still around and make time for a small talk every once in a while. You, just because I want you be to be happy. David Cook. Chris Greatwich, because he’s funny and seems sincerely nice. Neil Etheridge for being awesome. Joel McHale for inadvertently sending me a twitter direct message. And to my twitter followers who put up with the fangirling, football liveblogging, occasional emo ramblings and all the random drivel. Sorry, but I can’t promise to stop. I’ll try, but don’t expect any guarantee.

===2012 Plans===

• Pay off my credit card debt by the first quarter of the year.
• I need a bookshelf, a 50mm f/1.8 with AF (hopefully) and a new graphics tablet, Wacom preferably.
• Learn the piano/guitar, although I say that every year without really making an effort to do it. I either lack the time, money, inspiration or all of the above.
• Learn a new language, either French or Japanese.
• Travel more. Destinations include Avilon Zoo, Corregidor and Batanes.
• Increase my savings.
• Read more. Draw more. Blog more.
• Find a reasonable date before my brother’s wedding. Yes, seriously.
• I’ll add more if ever I think of anything else.

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Leave nothing to chance and everything behind. Onwards and upwards 2012, even if the world would come crashing down on December 21, 2012.

Azkals Huddle

I’ve spent serious cash on a game, stood in line for an hour, screamed for almost two hours and woken up at 5 AM despite the lack of sleep to watch a live telecast of Real Madrid versus FC Barcelona. I blame Chris. I blame Neil,Chieffy, Schrock, Anton, Aly, Phil & James. My mild interest with football has officially turned into a full-blown attraction. I now belong to the hundreds of Filipinos who’ve gone crazy for a sport that barely registered on our consciousness a year ago.

I’ve always been curious about football, that I’ve even watched the last two World Cup final matches just to see why fans go mad over this. Being raised in a country reigned by basketball, I never understood why people go insane over a seemingly boring game to the point of rioting, stampede or worse, death. I mean it’s just a bunch of guys kicking the ball for 90 minutes without even scoring. Boxing lasts only a quarter that long, and you can’t even blink or else you might miss the knockout punch.

The first Azkal game I watched changed all that. I wasn’t even familiar with most of the rules, heck, I didn’t even know most of the players then but I was hooked. When you have a team to root for, you watch their every move and you hardly notice the time at all. All it needed to lose my bored impression and wake my sleeping interest in this game is to have a national team to support. So a year later, leads to me to the Dream Cup.

An hour before the much-awaited match, we were still stuck in line in front of Starbucks in Torre Lorenzo. Even the smooth talking upper middle class folks, I even spotted a few celebrities, weren’t spared from lining up from RMS’s Vito Cruz gate, all the way around to McDonalds LaSalle. Why the organizers didn’t anticipate this and opened the gates earlier, I chalked it up to bad planning and logistics. Thankfully we got to our seats just a few minutes before the national anthems. There was still a really long line behind us waiting to get in, and those people most likely missed the first few minutes of the game.

Crowd Shot

A significant majority of the crowd were novice fans like I am, or for the discerning football elitists, the so-called bandwagoners. I’ll bet less than 30 percent of the people there doesn’t know anybody from LA Galaxy besides David Beckham and they’ve only heard about Landon Donovan when this friendly was announced. If being a new football fan because of the Azkals popularity makes me a bandwagoner, then charge me guilty. So maybe part of team’s popularity they owe to their billboard-ready bodies and faces, that it caused so many debates between success of the dragonboat team versus the football team. If the tables were turned, say the dragonboat team had the celebrity looks and the Azkals looked plainer, their fame might have been a lot different. But I see no reason for argument. All I’m grateful for is these guys finally gave me and Pinoys in general a reason to catch up with the world’s most favorite sport.

Being in the stadium felt as surreal as waiting for your favorite band before a live concert. I was so used to watching the games on TV, I expected a commentator, not that it matters. The acoustics were so terrible that even if somebody announced I’ve just won a million dollars, I wouldn’t have a clue. All I heard were the occasional vuvuzelas, the fans yelling at every Azkal ball possession and this group of boys behind us with their witty commentaries. They had funny banners out too, and from what I’ve eavesdropped, they flew all the way from another side of the country just for this game. They’re just one of the hundreds who really made an effort to grab this rare chance of watching Beckham show off on the pitch. You can tell from the excited screams everytime he had the ball that most of the people were there because of him. Beckham kicking that first goal in his trademark move was pure classic. Who’d have guessed I’d actually see that just a few blocks away from where my aunt lived? Okay, that might have been irrelevant but it still added to how dreamy, pun intended, everything was, from watching these guys play to the almost sold-out crowd that came, although a lot of them were screaming chicks (and gays?) who were there mainly for seeing sweaty, handsome guys taking their shirts off.

I don’t think anybody expected the Azkals to win anyway. From the fans to players alike, the whole experience was a testament to how dramatically things can change in a year. I’m sure it felt more surreal to the guys, like Phil and James, than it ever was for us. After struggling unsupported in the shadows for years, then finally playing in limelight against your football hero, scoring a goal in the same game he did, it had to be the coolest highlight in their career so far. I saw Beckham up close too, even if it meant temporarily losing propriety and chasing the LA Galaxy bus while it’s still stuck in traffic. I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my first live football game, except maybe if I’ve seen Etheridge, or I can get a picture with Chris, Rob or any of the guys from the history-changing Suzuki Cup. I’ll get my chance, there’s still more games ahead and hopefully it gets better from here on end.

Here's David Beckham, smiling at a kid who climbed on top of a jeepney roof just to wave at him

One last thing, even if it’s too much to hope for, I will never stop asking for the return of Simon McMenemy to the Azkals.

Since I’ve brought that up, my profile’s on indefinite hiatus until I feel like opening it again. Mostly because I prefer to keep my social networking background a mystery to prospective employers. I know my multiply’s still open but hardly anyone would care to visit that now and I doubt if they would stumble upon this site. And because of my self-imposed exile, I realized that people rely too much on notifications and unless they really know you or want to, they won’t really care to remember. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed but like with any other sad, unchangeable reality, if there ain’t anything you can do about it, deal with it and move on. Sounds passive, I know, but it’s just plain childish to cry for attention and keep a grudge against everyone who’s forgotten.

These are some material things in mind for my birthday wishes which are written in post-its in my corkboard. I’ve read that somewhere that if I keep looking at what I want, I’d be more determined to work at it. Here goes:

• A new graphics tablet. Wacom preferably.
• New portrait lens, 50 mm, f/1.8. Unfortunately, it’s pricier for my entry level Nikon but I’ll work on that
• A new bookshelf because I don’t know where to put these books I keep buying and that Coraline doll collection never got anywhere because of the lack of space
• An external drive. I’ve decided to finally let go of the old one. Like mentioned above, if it’s futile, let go and move on.
• Camera cover. That rubber one.
• ND8 filter. I’ve bought a CPL filter. I really, really should’ve gotten this way, way before. I don’t know why I never did.

Enough of the material things, so for the next year, here’s the non-material ones.

• A work I can enjoy, be really good at and stay long.
• Health, safety and happiness for my family
• I want to move on, from my old corporate zombie life among other things.

My realization as of another year of turning older, is onwards and upwards. Be thankful. Be happier. All this drama of moping around is a waste of precious time and energy and doesn’t really help. Seriously, I’ve got a lot going for me than I care to realize sometimes.

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I’m a quarter through A Clash of Kings so a bit of A Song of Ice and Fire reference there.

Coincidentally, Google went along with my childhood cartoons theme for the day and featured Art Clokey, the creator of Gumby. I only have vague memories of it but I distinctly remember the Blockheads. The rest of them, the woolly mammoth friend, and all the names of the other odd clay shapes, only came to me after I youtubed the old videos. Bless these folks for uploading the past in case anybody feels like surrendering to a wax nostalgic moment. I ended up with that silly, reminiscing smile that yearns of the carefree childhood days. I hate talking about it that way because I feel so old, which I’m really not in the grander scheme of things. Either that or I’m in denial.

To cap off this day of reverting to my childhood past, I watched the latest addition to our (original) Disney DVD collection, The Lion King. First few seconds into the Circle of Life playing against the panoramic backdrop of the African savannah with the animals cavorting in their natural habitat, I fell in sentimental awe. It takes me back to the nearest cinema in our area then, Quad 4, back it when it was still called Quad and to the countless replays I watched over and over on cable that made me remember every song and dialogue by heart even up to now. Out of sheer guess, I recognized Matthew Broderick’s voice but now I’m wondering whatever happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Its main theme song, Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” is one of the few songs I can half-play on the piano (half because I’ve been only taught the melody part of it.) I still remember asking my parents what vagabond meant but had to look it up the dictionary anyway.

Haku-nahh Mah-tata! - Pumba

I miss watching these 2D animations with the innocence of a kid. Now I’m nitpicking almost by instinct, wondering how Simba’s so gullible and how come there were never really any other male lions around. I reacted the same way with the weirdness of Gumby’s world; those kiddie creatures of unknown origins and species, almost as if they’re the clay predecessors of the disturbing yet adorable mascots on Yo Gabba Gabba. It sucks watching these things now with the jaded eyes of an adult. They seem to be a lot better when they’re viewed with the wide-eyed fascination of a child. It took shows and movies I haven’t seen in years to remind me to tap into my inner child and pull out every optimism I have left.

____________________

**I gave in and wikied it. I was right. It was Rio. Score one for my brain.

I did some preliminary research before heading out and renewing my NBI clearance. I’ve seen excerpts of ANC’s Future Perfect segment on the new NBI clearance application, an interview which probably tried to answer the countless complaints that came from the new process. As I understood it, they’ve upgraded their system. Correct me if I’m wrong, but apparently, all the previous information was not properly carried over to this current one so everything had to start over. That’s right: everything, and inevitably caused a tide of violent reactions from normal folks who had no choice but to follow it anyway.

All the renewal kiosks have been removed, like those in Park Square and Megamall. I used to go to Park Square before: bring my old clearance, line up for 15-30 minutes and that’s it. I never experienced getting any hits before so there wasn’t any problem at all. I also went through the Carriedo line, where you had to pay 20 pesos for entrance fee and takes me about 1-2 hours, at the most. That has been closed too so you either had to go to NBI centers in Robinson’s malls or their main office in Taft. They all had one common, important advice: be there very, very early since they have a cut-off number and lines tend to get very, very long.

My initial plan was to go Robinson’s Otis because according to what I read, fewer people come here therefore it gets done the fastest. Around 6:30 AM, I was already in Taft-UN, and the main branch was a harmless walking distance away so what the heck, I scrapped my Robinson’s Otis idea. Besides, I’m not even sure how to go there. I’m sure nobody’s heard of it much, except maybe if you’re looking for the least problematic way to get your clearance. In retrospect, I’m not really sure if going for my second option was a better idea.

They weren’t kidding about the lines. When I got there, it’s as if people had been there as early as 3 AM. It was the same story wherever NBI Clearance center you went to. The old Ermita Police Station had been demolished to make way for a waiting place. It’s not even completely done; the old building framework was still there, except instead of desks, there are rows of Monobloc chairs intended for the applicants, all occupied. It slightly frustrated me that slippers were allowed after all, and the only attire that got their attention were shorts and sleeveless shirts.

An irate guy with a megaphone was directing the endless stream of people. He was already masungit at seven in the morning so imagine how sour his mood would be towards late in the afternoon, after the heat and exhaustion from shouting at everyone kicks in. I’m trying to understand his perspective, after all, it’s what he does day in and day out. What I see is a bunch of grown-ups getting yelled at like lost first graders on a field trip. Call it weird, but I found it fascinating. It’s like a microcosm of why this third world country isn’t going anywhere: unending and disappointing inefficiency of bureaucracy, undisciplined people who cut in line at every possible chance and the hardheaded ones who won’t obey unless they’re put on the spot. Filipinos can properly follow instructions, I think, all they need is someone with a megaphone to drive it hard enough. Maybe that’s what we need to get our acts straight.

Anyway, I was surrounded by OFWs or would-be OFWs. (Sorry, eavesdropping can’t be helped here) We’ve been in line too long that strangers suddenly found themselves new friends who share the same aspirations of finding greener pastures in a foreign land. While they exchange stories like they’ve known each other for years, I kept to myself, as usual, reading A Game of Thrones and in between, taking notes of the entire experience, never really caring if my seatmate looks over and reads what I’m doing.

Ta-dah! New clearance! (Blurred some stuff, security reasons)

NBI should heed the call for more improvements. I’m not sure how much they earn from the thousands lining up on a daily basis, but they could use more staff: more data checkers, more cashiers, more biometrics people, data encoders. The entire process seemed straightforward enough but there’s just way too many applicants. An additional two or more persons to help would make a great deal of difference. Maybe they should adopt DFA’s appointment system. It wouldn’t necessarily lessen the number of people who would come but at least it would make things more organized. And it wouldn’t hurt if they can just migrate all the information from their old system and separate the renewals from the new applications. It’d probably be smoother and shorter that way. This whole ordeal took me five hours. I’ve got all the time in my hands, but for the busier part of the population that is just too much of a bother.

Cary Elwes & Robin Wright

After sitting in my hard drive for weeks now, I finally watched The Princess Bride. I’m two decades too late for appreciating the book: I just came across it two months ago. Since I’m still fresh off reading William Goldman’s version, I preferred it a whole lot better. It’s funnier and for the lack of a better word, more kakakilig (or endearing, that’s the closiest translation I can think of.)

The movie has its own merits too and the best of it’s casting Cary Elwes. He pulls off this smug romantic hero without coming off as a pompous, arrogant jerk. The British accent adds a nice charm to the character too. I sort of see what got him typecasted in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which at some point in my life, I found really hilarious. His silly thin moustache looks so fake, it’s almost whimsical, though all I know that was the intention. Inigo and Fezzik completes the comedic package, and were close enough to how I imagined them to be. I don’t know if it’s just the ’80s, but the movie almost feels campy. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to how flashy Holllywood movies are recently.

They’ve downplayed some scenes that I was looking forward to, like how Buttercup finally realizes her love for Westley and then finds out he’s actually alive all this time. It’s downright mushy, even in the books, but only medieval romances have the license to get away with overt declarations of true love and eternal devotion against all odds. You use that in any modern love story and people would tend to roll their eyes and throw up. I think only sparkling vampires deliver them now in such cheesy ways that people hate them exactly for it. Some people swoon over that but I don’t. What makes The Princess Bride different is that this is old school fairy tale, and gallant knights riding their noble steeds on their way to rescue their damsel in distress are allowed to carry romantic conversations in a theatrical manner.

In William Goldman’s version or even in the original by Morgenstern, there was no concrete happy ending. The book decided to go the happily ever after route. I guess if you were selling a fairy tale, might as well go all the way to the end. Even if Goldman explained how life is unfair and sometimes things won’t go your way, I’d still like to believe it was a happy ending. Sometimes we all just need that.

My ultimate dream destination is still a full European tour, Tuscany, Barcelona, Budapest, Venice, Paris, the works. Until I get to that, perhaps with a surprise 200-million lotto win or through perserverance and hard work for the next 40 years, I’ll first start with my local destinations. As the timeless quote by Susan Calo-Medina goes, Wag Maging Dayuhan sa Sariling Bayan.

In no particular order:

• Corregidor – This is only a two-hour ferry ride away and yet I still can’t get to it, considering I sometimes only live five minutes away from the ferry’s starting point. 
• Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar – Also in Bataan. I wanna time travel and this place is just perfect for it.
• Avilon Zoo – Manila Zoo makes me sad. I need to see that the hope left for zoos lies in the private sector.
• Bohol – Because anybody who’s went some place has been here and I needed to see it for myself.
• Davao – I’ve never been to Mindanao and this seems to be the best place to start
• CDO – Camiguin and White Water Rafting. Like bungee jumping, I just want to be able to say I did it at least once.
• Coron- One of the landmark beaches of the country, who doesn’t want to go there?
• Batanes – Now this is my ultimate Philippine destination. I’m gonna cross my fingers I’ll get there by next year. Hopefully I have better wide angle lenses too.
• Amanpulo – I know I can’t afford it, might as well go to Hong Kong for two months with the expenses, but it never hurts to dream.

I don’t have a set timeline for these but I’ll try to get to two or three places by next year. Now time to save some money.

So the doctor’s first diagnosis prior to x-ray was spastic muscles due to stress. Naturally he asked me what my work was and adviced me to take it down a notch. At the back of my head I was asking myself, stress? Really? That almost seems laughable. I’m not even as diligent and hardworking as some people I know and they seem to look perfectly healthy… I think. I was owing it more to drastic cold office temperatures, a maladjusted ergonomic chair, the zombie schedule and bad posture. If stress factors into that equation then maybe I’ve underestimated how my work has been affecting me.

My mother thinks it’s also my lack of physical activity. I spent eight or nine hours just idling behind a computer at work and when I’m at home, I’m either in bed watching TV or in bed, with the Acerton. I plead guilty to that. My muscles have become lazy therefore now’s the exact moment I hit the gym or get into some sport. Cue in snicker, eye-rolling and derisive laugh.

I’m bracing myself for the x-ray results. Speaking of x-rays, I was scolded by the technician because I didn’t follow the HMO protocol. In my defense, I’ve been healthy up until this stupid back thing so hospital procedures are alien to me. Besides, doesn’t that x-ray guy gets free pass for touching people everytime he pokes for the right bone for imaging? It was probably as routine to him as me reading my email and it was under legal medical pretenses, but when he told me to drop my shorts I still felt a tiny bit violated.

My lower back still aches although that prescription might’ve helped ease it a bit. At P80 per capsule, it’d better work. This is what I hate about being sick, I might get a vacation but it sucks going through the hassle of consultations and check ups.