It’s certainly been awhile since I last blogged. This is my first post since I arrive here in Singapore late February. Although I have not really done much since I got here except look for work and stay in the flat for most part of the day, I have limited internet connection which is the reason why I have not updated my blog nor my flickr as often as I wanted to.

A lot of things has happened the past 6 and half weeks that I’m not even sure where to begin with. I’ve received some bad news from home which really took a lot of me. Around 1am of March 27 I received a call from my brother-in-law. I already had a bad feeling when I received the call because it was quite odd for him to call me that late. My brother-in-law passed the phone to my mother and she then informed me that my father suffered a stroke and they are bringing him to the hospital.

I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night thinking about what’s happening back home. It was supposed to be a big day for me as I was scheduled to have an interview with RIM at 10am that morning. My concentration was broken and instead worry occupied my thoughts. I did get on with the interview and survived it but I thought I could have done much better if i had my concentration.

It’s definitely not easy being far away and knowing that a family member is sick or suffering. I would say it’s an acid test for me. My father was discharged from the hospital last week and he will be needing therapy as his right side has been paralyzed. I am hoping and praying for his fast recovery.

It’s been a long time since my last post. I did try to blog after Sinulog however I wasn’t able to publish it so this is officially my 1st post for 2008.

Anyway, a lot of things has happened the past 3 or 4 months that I’m not even sure where to begin. The past few months work has really taken a lot from me well now, I’ve finally got the time. It kinda feels weird though to have so much time in my hands. It’s something I’m no longer used to.

The next few weeks is going to be a real test for me. I am embarking on a new journey. I don’t know what lies ahead of me but I won’t know unless I try. I’m just hoping and praying everything will be fine for me.

I am looking forward traveling again though. After almost a year, I’ll be back in Singapore again which is quite exciting! Compared to last year’s travel, I’m much more anxious now with all the uncertainties. Last year, traveling was just for pure fun but this time my future is at stake which is not easy.

I have finally updated my blog to the new version of WordPress which is version 2.3. It’s been awhile since my last post.

I have another long weekend coming up with August 20 declared as a special non-working holiday. I will definitely make sure this time that I’m going to do something on the weekend and not waste the holiday like the last time.

I need to have new photos for Flickr. I have a good opportunity to shoot this weekend as we will be having a trek in Argao. Just what I need. I just remembered I need to buy a waterproof bag for my camera. If I can’t find before Saturday then I might have to bring my point&shoot camera. I can’t risk bringing my 400D without any good waterproof protection.

The Boxing World Cup: Philippines vs Mexico was held in Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA, USA. Six Filipino fighters were pitted against 6 Mexican boxers this morning Philippine time. Now that all the six fights are all done and over, the Philippines came out with 5-1 victory just as Trainer Freddie Roach predicted.

I woke up late and was only able to watch the last 2 fights. The first one I was able to watch was the fight of Gerry Peñalosa against WBO bantamweight defending champion, Johnny Gonzales. The first few rounds was a close fight with some furious exchanges. I thought Gonzales had the upper hand on Peñalosa who was shorter and older than him then came the 7th round. Peñalosa hit Gonzales with a fatal blow on the lower section of the body. Gonzales had a delayed reaction before losing his balance and felling on his knees on the canvass a few seconds after the big punch. He was no longer able to recover and Peñalosa fell to his knees knowing that he has snatched WBO bantamweight title from Gonzales. Peñalosa won via knockout over the heavy favorite Johhny Gonzales. It was a stunning victory! Gerry Peñalosa who hails from Cebu is once again a champion after 10 years.

In the last fight and the main event, Daniel Ponce De Leon slugged it out with Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista. It was a very short match though. De Leon was very aggressive and demolished Boom-Boom in the first round knocking him down twice in the round before the referee finally stopped the fight. It was the only defeat of the Philippines and a painful one for Boom-Boom who came in before the fight without any loss. De Leon retained his WBO super bantamweight title.

Prior to the Johnny Gonzales and Gerry Peñalosa match, the Philippines already had a 4-0 lead. Diosdado Gabi defeated Jose Angel Beranza via a unanimous decision. Michael Domingo gave the 2nd win for Team Philippines with an upset six-round decision over Miguel “Mickey Mouse” Roman. AJ “Bazooka” Banal stopped Jorge Cardenas in the third round to give the Philippines a 3-0 lead. Z Gorres helped Team Philippines in clinching the World Cup title by stopping Eric Ortiz in the 8th round.

Cebu-Sugbo 777 EB at D’ Family Park
Originally uploaded by CrasHBURN

July 7, 2007 or 777 only comes once in a lifetime so the group decided to have a photoshoot meet. After a discussion with the other members in the group it was decided to have the EB at D’ Family Park in Talamban. It was a rainy day yesterday and I thought the meeting was going to be canceled. It was already 4pm and the rain was still quite heavy. I texted Farl and I asked him if the meet was going to push through as it was raining and he told me that they are already heading to D’ Family park and will be arriving in 10 mins. I looked outside but the rain was still pretty heavy. I was lying in my bed thinking if I should go or not. Then Kulas texted me asking where the people were as they were already in Family Park. That time the rain was starting to dwindle so I took out my camera bag and jacket then headed outside.

After arriving in Family Park there was Farl, Dia, Jenny, Kulas and Rico waiting for the others to arrive. The same people that usually shows up during Cebu-Sugbo Flickr meet. We thought that the others would not show up again then after awhile we saw Lito Inso aka crasHBURN then Marvin aka mab888. We headed towards the mini zoo but the weather was just not good for shooting. It was dark and the sky was gloomy. I just ended up watching the animals in their cages.

Other members of the group then started to arrive like Paolo Mañalac, Harry, Martin and 3 other members who I met for the first time. The group decided to have dinner in Neo2x Banilad to have a talk and get to know the other members of the group.

Old members like couple Gerald and Janice Yuvallos also came. Joseph Ong who just came from a photoshoot in SM also showed up. It was nice to see new faces. We capped the night with a group shot.

I’m not feeling well today. I think I’m having dyspepsia again as I’m having nasuea and I’ve got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I’ve abused myself the past few days not eating at the right time and feeling so stressed out with all the work load I have. Adding to that I also have some personal issues to deal with.

My boss just asked me if I have read the news. He told me the 3 Pinay climbers already reached the summit of Mt. Everest today, May 16, 2007. My boss knows I like to climb that’s why he asked me if I was on top of the Everest news of the 3 Pinay climbers. I’ve been so busy the past few weeks that I haven’t kept track of the news lately.

My boss further asked me if I also aim of climbing Everest. I replied to him that I dream about but I’m not sure if I’m physically fit like them and it costs millions of Pesos to climb Mt. Everest. The permit alone costs US$10,000 then add travel, food, equipment, oxygen, insurance and Sherpa fees. I think I’ll just have to dream about this

It was May 17, 2006 when the First Filipino, Leo Oracion, summitted Mt. Everest. One year after Leo Oracion, Erwin “Pastour” Emata and Romi Garduce successfully summitted Mt. Everest, it’s the women’s turn to summit the world’s tallest mountain.

I opened the Official Website of the 1st Philippine Mt. Everest Exepedition but there was no recent news there. The last news on the site was still April 17. I opened ABS-CBN’s website since they are the one sponsoring and covering the climb and the news was there – Three Pinays on top of the world!

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I am now in Singapore. The plane touched down around 11:30 pm but I was able to get out of the terminal a quarter past midnight. I’ll just be walking around the vicinity of Betelbox to be able to take some pictures. Tonight i’m flying to Denpasar (Bali).

I totally forgot to activate the International roaming on my phone. In my panic last night of missing my flight I just totally forgot that I haven’t activated yet my roaming.

I guess there’s good and bad side to it. Bad thing is my family and friends won’t be able to contact me but the good thing is I’ll be totally be voided from work stuff.

Backpacking alone in KL (Kuala Lumpur) is not bad. It’s my 3rd day here and so far I have enjoyed my stay. I just came from Putrajaya, the Administrative Capital of Malaysia, and the place is definitely nice and pretty. The highlight today though is meeting my friend Noor and her family. Noor is a penfriend of mine way back when I was still in high school when Internet was not the “in” thing yet. When the Internet came in we were still able to contact each other through email and YM. After so many years of correspondence I was finally able to meet her and her family. They took me to Putrajaya and showed me around Cyberjaya. Then, they brought me to Kajang for a taste of sate in HJ Samuri. Sate is a Malay food wherein meat or chicken is grilled then dipped in a sauce made up of grind peanuts. They told me that Sate in Kajang HJ Samuri is the best in Malaysia and they surely did not dissapoint me. It tasted good!