My first moon shot

I just got addicted to photography. I thought my shots are not so nice though but this is one of my favorites.

Details:

Camera: D60
Lens: AF-S DX VR 18-200mm F3.5-5.6G IF-ED
F-Stop: f/5.6
Eposure: 1/60 sec
Focal Legth: Full 200mm

Thanks to my brother architect for cropping it via photoshop...

Starting the month 'cold'

I did promised HWC for support but I failed them... It was like feeling an itch on my throat that's not willing to stop from scratching. My wife once asked me if I did gave the footballs and I told them soon... I often go to Asian Hospital anyway so I may have some time to visit the HWC address that Mr. Formoso gave me. Actually, I kept the address on my phone, and a reminder that says... 'Jay, the footballs for HWC...'

Until I realized that they left off to Melbourne last week for the competition... Now I am bad as ever...

Do I have still a chance? Of course, I am so sure I will be frequenting Asian Hospital for the rest of this month... and hopefully I could visit the Tuloy sa Don Bosco in Alabang. This blog will surely remind me of that more. It's published, for Christ's sake!

Last week, Josh celebrated his 4th birthday with a bang. He was actually asking for it since September when one of his classmates celebrated his birthday at school. 'Daddy, kelan ba yung December 8?' was almost always a question of the week... and it felt good, really, listening him utter those childish questions.

And so we prepared a big celebration for him. On Friday before his birthday, he felt sick. His asthma was getting worst so we took him to our Pediatrician. Both Josh and Lela had Tonsillitis and Josh's Asthma was really bad. We did thought 'it was just a birthday habit'. On Saturday, he started vomiting with a little fever. He had fever on Sunday when he celebrated in advance but he was better than the day before. He was very happy that day. A lot of kids, a good puppeteer who made everyone laugh, no clowns (of course!) and a lot of fireworks... It was also the time when we first lit our house with Christmas lighting which my brother and I prepared for almost a week. Generally, it was really a great day.

Last Friday, we sent him to hospital for dehydration. His body seem not to accept foods anymore, not even water. He peed on his pants for the first time since he was 2 and he was so weak. He had viral gastroenteritis... and his asthma was worst than ever. He complained a little on the IV. Maybe because I told him that he needed a dextrose for him to feel better... and that the ER nurse is pretty and he won't feel much pain because the nurses will be receiving bonuses because of him. He just listened to me and cried a little during the IV insertion. A few minutes, I thought he was getting better and he was already asking for a doughnut.

Today, he is better except that he is still having a diarrhea. We are expecting him to be out by tomorrow. He is looking forward for the Christmas party in school and I too is preparing with him for that day.

Last Tuesday, I had a CT Angiography on my Renal Artery. I was so freakingly nervous that day as I was thinking that I may be having an renal angioplasty should the result go out positive for arterial blockage. Thanks God, it's almost okay. I only have to trim down my cholesterol to normalize my BP. My skip beats will always be there said my Cardiologist. I just need to go back to gym. He made me stop having treadmill until he was so sure of the maximum parameters... now I should be back!

My thyroids are good. I only need one more test on my urine then I will be visiting an Ophthalmologist to treat my retracted eyelid. Hopefully soon, my face will look normal. cheers!

I started this month a bit cold but I am sure enough everything will almost be okay by Christmas.

And hopefully, I will be sending my late support to HWC guys... and cheer Mr. Formoso at least. Our yearly visit to an Orphanage, going back to gym, a better health for my kids and me and my wife actually are expecting for our third child by March...

A happy Christmas and a great year ahead...

Cheers!

HWC Diary #29

We welcome Ninong Bito Mantecon on board the 2008 Homeless World Cup project. We received an email yesterday confirming his support and await his decision regarding which company we shall acknowledge on his behalf. Thank you Ninong Bito for accepting our invitation. Welcome, welcome, welcome. On a party note:"Kublai's Rock for Homeless Team Philippines" is a benefit party being thrown by Kublai's Rock Mongolian Bar and Grill on October 24, Friday, in Magallanes, Makati City. The owners of 'Kubs', namely: Dong Longa, Manuel de Jesus, Christian Lozano, Poch and Mike Camahort, Bito and Javy Mantecon have agreed to support the RP Seleksyon with a fund-raising bash. The players will drop by for a few 'soft drinks and juices'.

PinoyHero: Jay Lagat, an OFW, emailed pinoysoccer.com wanting to contribute, in any way, to the Homeless World Cup project. He said he had some earnings from his small shop and wanted to donate to the team. He also offered to send balls. "Hey Jay. Maraming salamat po... from the entire team". Jay's in Cabuyao, Laguna. Check out his blog and see for yourself: http://ardylljay.blogspot.com.

2009MilanHWC: Loloy Fuentebella will be the 2009 HWC point man in Region 4-B as plans to stage a countrywide version for next year's event continue to roll. The provinces in Region 4-B are Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon and Palawan.

HWC Diary #28

By 10am, the team had climbed the Gawad Kalinga stage and introduced itself to thousands of kids, parents and GK volunteers. The RP Seleksyon to the Homeless World Cup was presented on stage and as each gave his/her name and age over the microphone, one could sense both nervousness and pride in their voices. The stage presentation at the Gawad Kalinga Expo Anniversary was a new experience for each.

YES, IMAGINE THIS ONE! ----- Coaches Hans Smit, Jess Landagan and Marlon Maro, Jeepney mag publisher Bill Shaw, and ABS-CBN TV Host Atom Araullo got into the hard court with the RP Seleksyon to the delight of camera men from ABS-CBN 2 and IBC-13. ABS-CBN was there to take footage for their 'Kalye' TV program that Atom hosts while IBC shot footage for their tri-network simulcast of One Morning over channels 4, 9 and 13 on Tueday, the 14th. For over 30-minutes, pinoy football legends Hans Smit, Jess Landagan and Marlon Maro went toe to toe against the Seleksyon. It made for great TV footage, memories for the players, and huffing and puffing moments for the 'RP Seniors'.
De La Salle University coach Hans Smit visited, played and gave motivational talk to the players before and after scrimmages; Atom Araullo did a fairly long TV-interview with player Ron Ron which will be featured in the 'Kalye' TV show soon. Good Saturday.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Seleksyon was the guest for over an hour in the only football show on Philippine radio....Football Connection, 12:15-1:30 every Saturday, and hosted by Cecile Quimlat and top coach Bob Salvacion over AM station 918 DZSR (Sports Radio).
When asked by Cecile which were his memorable moments since being named to the Seleksyon, player RonRon said, "the dinners".
Those dinners could mean our eating out in Jollibee, McDonalds, Chow King, Max, all the after-practice food...or Kublais Rock or Amici pizza pasta or some canteen. But the wonderful thing in his answer is the honesty and sincerity. This is the stuff that gives off the good feelings for the team and the main reason why they are liked. Of course, they love the football training and the practices...but the meals mean so much too. They understand Grace.

There are seven (7) weekends to kickoff in Melbourne, Australia. The team continues to work on its character and skills.

2009MilanHWC:Tito Clemente, chief of Butuan-Agusan del Norte Football Association has confirmed interest to organize Region 13, CARAGA, for the September, 2009 Milan tournament. Provinces in that region include Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.


Meanwhile... RP Lady Booters bowed out of the AFF Women's Championships after being beaten 7-0 by Australia and 12-0 by Thailand... One thing for sure, we will back next year...

P6.93M Contingency Fund and an Underequipped PNP

The Philippine National Police delegates to Russia were provided by the Philippine government 6.93 million pesos as contingency fund. A fund, just in case, will be used for emergency purposes in Russia. That's it, 6.93 Million Pesos as emergency fund for some PNP generals.

Possibly for a purchase of tons of caviar and thousands of liters of vodka.

As we all know, there are about 20% of the PNP personnel who have no guns. The SWAT patrol car of Calamba City PNP looks more like a push cart to me than a Toyota FX. A police outpost in Cabuyao is more like a 'tambayan' than an outpost.

So, here's my take on how far the contingency fund will go if smartly spent by the PNP.

1. 770 Norinco 9mm pistols. Twinpines at Festival Mall sells Norinco cal. 9mm at around PhP 9,000.00. This means there will be 700 more police officers that can be armed with a P6.93M budget.

2. 300 MAP1 Tanfoglio/Armscor pistols. I bought mine at PhP21,000.00 at Aquila Trading at Harrison Plaza, Malate. This means that there will be 300 more police officers that can be armed with a P6.93M budget.

3. 141,428.571 liters of premium gasoline. At 10 liters budget allocation per day per patrol car, the P6.93M budget can fuel 200 patrol cars for 70 days.

4. Seven ambulances for the SOCO officers.

5. If one set of PNP uniform costs P6,000.00, the P6.93M budget could dress around 1,100 police personnel.

6. If one set of shoes for the PNP personnel costs P2500.00, the P6.93M budget could be provided for 2,772 police officers.

7. If the basic salary for entry level Police Rank (PO1) is P12,000.00 per month, the P6.93M budget could feed 577 police officers and the families for a month.

8. 6,900 units of electric fans for the Police Outposts.

9. 200 units of personal computers for the Police Outposts which still uses the outdated typewriters.

10. 8 more patrol cars, 30 more M4A1 carbines for the SWAT officers, 120 units of AK47's, 866,250 rounds of reload pistol ammos, 330,00 rounds of factory load ammos... and a lot more...

Does the contingency fund for the generals and wives in Moscow really worth it???

Damn it!

Homeless World Cup Diary

From now on, I will be posting the Homeless World Cup Diaries and everything about Philippine Football. The HWC posts are republished from the emails I received from Mr. Ed Formoso of thejeepney.com.

HWC Diary #27

Indescribable!

The RP Selection to the Homeless World Cup found its story in Page 1 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer last Sunday...we was speechless....as in 'We'. The HWC was 'front-paged' and we could only stare and read and re-read all day. Thanks to Elvira Mata for writing it as it is...and then some. To add height to the Sunday high, Krista Montealegre, sportswriter for The Manila Times came out with her piece on the team too.

On Monday, Business Mirror sports columnist and blogger Rick Olivares had his say in an aptly titled piece, 'The Home Team'. Rick also posted the video he took on you-tube, which can now be seen on the team's two partner websites: pinoysoccer.com and pffmanila.org

By Wednesday, the players were in 10 newspapers after their appearance at the
Philippine SportsWriters Association forum courtesy of host, Bong Pedralvez. It's been an incredible first four days of the week for the RP 'Seleksyon'.

Tuesday night was at dinner with Ninong Mike Camahort in his Kublai's Rock Mongolian Bar and Grill. All the players and all their coaches received goodies from the big boss of 2Go, who is sponsoring the team's trip to the final camp in Bacolod with Ninong Charlie Cojuangco, November 9-24.

2Go caps and T-shirts for all. The team got interviewed in-between desserts. Lots of pics and goodies from 2Go. Kublai's Rock part-owner and manager Poch Camahort, older brother of Mike, laid it out on the table for the team. And before heading home from this past-bedtime affair, the players were treated to something else-----"Take Out's!" The players took home another round of dinner for their midnight snacks.

On public transports back to their institutions, the team traveled stuffed but verily satisfied.

On a quieter note, team Ninong Danny Moran sent a mass card and money as donation for the burial of little Diana, Nomer's 6-year old sister. After telling Nomer about Danny's financial assistance, Nomer remained silent for a few long seconds. And then he whispered the meekest "Thank you po" you'll ever hear. We heard his heart speak. And then we were speechless. "Thank you Danny, from everyone here."

2009MilanHWCnews: Dave Araral of the South Cotabato Football Association has agreed to work with us in the Milan Homeless World Cup qualifiers. Dave will head Region 12.

From the Asean Football Federation website, Philippine Lady Booters defeated Singapore 3-1 on their first match of the AFF Women's Championships in Vietnam. Rachelle Delos Reyes found her header just two minutes into the game but equalized three minutes later by Sun Jie's freekick.

Ruchell Latap scored on the 23rd minute and skipper Marielle Benitez put up the finishing goal on the 88th minute.

The Philippine Lady Booters will meet Australia later today. The Aussies beat last year's runner Thailand on an impressive 2-0 win.

Go Philippines!

Homeless World Cup

I read a 'surprising' article from Philippine Daily Inquirer last Sunday about the Homeless World Cup that will be held at Melbourne Australia this coming December. 'Surprising' because I haven't seen much newspaper articles for football here in the Philippines where Basketbal is really popular. 'Surprising' because our Basketball-crazy nation is sending a contingent to the Homeless World Cup. This will be the first time and we have the youngest teams of the tournament.

As a football fan myself (and I never been a fan of basketball), I could only wish our Philippine Football Federation (PFF) could have done so much to promote the Beautiful Game. Ironically, PFF was one of the founding Football Associations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and up to this year, we still haven't qualified for the ASEAN Football Federations Cup. We were better last year though but we still never got through the preliminaries. We even pitted some Fil-Foreigners for the Philippine Team but still did not got through.

On December, we are sending our Youth Team to the Homeless World Cup. I would say our team is well prepared, supported, very determined... and 'homeless.'

According to pinoysoccer (www.pinoysoccer.com), a handfull of ninongs already expressed support for the team. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Eric Guttierez of SR Metals Inc., Danny Moran of Amici Pizza, Monchu Garcia Accel Sports, Superferry, GNC Philippines are few of the Ninongs and more are chipping in including individuals who just want to help these kids take another chance in life.

Know more about our Homeless World Cup National Team at www.pinoysoccer.com and the PDI article here...

Below is the clip made by Bleachers' Brew and NTDTV.com





And to our National Team, good luck guys. Though you are not yet known, you will have a name soon... All the best!

For those who want to support, please visit the PinoySoccer website.

Just a screensaver...

My good friend just shared this to me... i just want to keep the chain.

If it is a chain...




Inspirational Quotes

Click the image above if you have some time to think about life... cheers!

Annie

Me and my wife decided to celebrate Lela's birthday at our newly renovated home together with the house blessing too. It was also the time when my father-in-law's cousins and relatives could come together and have a little reunion of sorts.

It was fun. Lela, as usual, was so aloof and didn't care if it was her big day. She was just trying to isolate herself until we decided to take her to our bedroom with my mom.

Anyways, one person came out 'loudly' out of the small crowd. She was the wife of Ella's cousin. She claimed to be the first AIDS nurse in the Philippines stationed at RITM. She also claimed that she attended most of the high profile AIDS patients.... and she claimed she is one of the very few certified Kinetic Massage Therapists in the country.

Hmmmm... Kinetic massage. Sounds interesting...

As it was new to us, my wife was immediately interested with it. She was complaining about feeling this and that, about being big, and about her long awaited menstruation even after the injectable contraceptive lapsed.

Well, as this lady was so 'versed' with some medical terms, she then suddenly offered to Ella (and to my sister) a 30-day massage session package. I was hesitant at first but Ella already decided to take the package. With the massage package, she claimed that it can cure a lot of illness like hypertension, stress, heart attack, etc... and that's it!

The following weekend she came. She brought two weighing scales, two sets of abdominal  bandage, and a vaginal dusch bottle. The first session was great. Ella and Joy claimed to have felt better after the massage... Ella also felt good after the dusching.

Then suddenly she came to me... 'Hala! Na stroke ka!!!'

What? Stroke? Shit!

So I was alarmed and was convinced to have myself took the package. She did my forehead, my scalp, and my arms. She claimed that I really had a stroke while pointing to some curled up veins right above my right eyebrow.

The following week, she claimed that she too can sense paranormal beings. Then she claimed I have a third eye. Freaking third eye and after that I felt something fishy about her. My wife and my sister too. Then my in-laws.

Then she make some stories.... and troubles... and then the rest was history.

So what's with the story? The following happened from the day she came:

1. Ella paid in advanced some sessions.

2. The weighing scale costs Php 2,500.00. When Ella canvassed from Watson's, it only costs P350.00.

3. The bandages cost P500.00 and claimed it was dipped with some freaking herbal medicine. In Watson's, it only cost Php 70.00.

4. She sold us some freaking miracle fruit tree for P2,500.00 per plant. My in-laws took 2 trees, and she claimed she bought 2 trees for Ella... and until now the trees where nowhere to be found.

5. She sold us an eye patch for P500.00 and as soon as I had the patch, I exclaimed... "Sa eroplano to a!" Then she told me that it was not the patch that she was selling. Taena!

6. Ah... the freaking virgin coconut oil worth thousands of pesos and weeks later, there was no virgin coconut frealking oil!

7. I have a freaking third eye... hehehe! She claimed the I have a paranormal friend who is Malaysian Indian who was following me eversince. Nyahahahahahahahaha! 

8. She claimed that our house help took half of her money and everyone was in trouble. Later we found out that she actually made it all up!

9. And most of all we were swindled!

Her name is Annie.

Smart Rob!

I decided to subscribe to the pre-paid broadband service from Smart Communications to speedup my communication to my potential customers. This is the one the you connect a wireless modem (or whatever that is) to your computer via USB port and with a 3G signal... tada! you are now connected to the internet...

at least....

errrr....

suckers!

I realize, I am being robbed everytime I log on... read it ROBBED! 10 precious hard earned pesos everytime I log on. Up to 7x faster than dial-up? Do I hear it right? or is it up to 7x smarter than a bank robberer?

Come on Smart, your system sucks! Your internet product is so slow (much slower than the freaking dial-up) even with a 3G signal and most of the time I had to restart my connection and have my blood pressure go up while restarting it, you freakin robberers!

You guys are not far of than any other criminals out there! May you rest in Jail!

By the way, I am using PLDT broadband right now and this afternoon I'll enrol to Digitel to have my small shop connected and not SMART ROBBED!

A Year That Was

A year and a day since I last blogged. Things have happened, some bad... most were good. Some were just plain stupidity, most were fun...

So here are some!!!

Career.

I'm still into selling. I do freelance with a Malaysian company doing business with the Semiconductors and Electronics Industry. Hopefully soon, a factory will be opened here and I know it would open up another opportunity for me. The only thing  I really missed about is working in a corporate world. There were times that I thought I made a bad decision with my career. Sometimes I feel like my career is going nowhere. But looking into the other side, I can see beautiful things. Now, I can easily explore on how I want to live my life to the fullest.

Recently, I opened up a small business in Cabuyao. It is a small one but I can see bigger things out of it. Actually, it is my second one, the first didn't go out that well. I tried franchising, together with a good friend, but it was not successful. We failed in the very basic fundamentals... Supply and Demand, freaking location and timing! It was also the time when food prices was going up. So it happened... And I am crossing my fingers now. Hopefully my second venture goes out fine... as my savings is dwindling... :(

Another one in the near future? There is one feasible plan and it is really big. This will really make me proud of myself!!! hay....

Family.

Great things have happened, I believe. My wife and I got to spend a lot of time with each other, we now talk a lot more with so much ease. We now have time to travel together. We went to Bohol, Cebu, Hong Kong, and soon in Bora and Singapore. Unlike before when I was traveling back and forth to Malaysia almost every week. Damn it was horrible at times. Now, I got to spend so much time with my kids! I came to realize how fast time flies that I didn't notice I am sending Josh to Kumon since February and he's now at Junior Casa at a montessori school in Calamba. Next year will be Lela's turn... and just recently we're pregnant again! Tatlo na!!! :D

So people think I am blessed? Yes, I am!

Health.

This one is on the downside... I have a slight thyroid abnormality, hyperthyroidism. In effect, my right eyelid is retracted. My Ophthalmologist was telling me that he can't do much about it unless I consider Botox treatment. My Endocrinologist was telling me that she can;t do much about it because my lab results are still within the normal range! So, next week I'm going to see another Endocrinologist to confirm.

I have a dilated left ventricle, an obstructed left renal artery and magnesium deficiency. That's why my blood pressure went up to 170/110 at one point. Now I am taking four pills to control my BP, my cholesterol, and to normalize the magnesium content of my blood.

Am I going to be healthy again? That remains to be seen. Of course, it still depends on how I discipline myself. At least, I seldom drink alcohol now... I mean very seldom and my intake is very minimal... One thing I missed though is eating a lot of pork... :(

Those were some significant things that happened to me. Until now, my Oil Palm plantation is still a dream. It came close to reality but some misunderstanding happened and it left me wandering around for some time. Hopefully soon...

Yup! Hopefully soon!

I'm back again!

It's been exactly a year and a day since I last blogged... the last time I thought I was saying goodbye to blogging, I thought it was the last. But I still find myself browsing to somebody else's blogs and I missed it!

So I'm back! Again... Could be once in a while though, but at least I know I am going back to writing some stuffs.

I am welcoming myself again!