It's been a year of ups and downs, but I've been lucky to have way more ups than downs.
Thank you to all my friends, new and old, for having stuck with me and our friendship for yet another year. I can never express my gratitude to you guys. I know I met many of you in university, and then I just left (I graduated, okay, not expelled :P) but I am sure we will all still keep in contact, what with the many online-based social networking sites we're all using now. Haha.. Here's to another year of friendship!
Thank you to my parents, for the endless moral, emotional, and financial support this year. I'm a graduate from a good school, and I hope I've made you both very proud. This has been an awesome year; thanks for being a part of it.
Skittlez Crew! This year gave me my third Remix dance competition with you guys, and I am honored to have led you guys for two years. I'm so proud and honored to have won two championships dancing beside all of you, when just a couple of years ago, "I wasn't good enough" to be a 'proper' dancer. How things have changed, and how we've all grown! We were champions of 2008, and this year, thank you for the graduation gift of being champions of 2010. Through ups and downs, you have all proven yourselves to be a true family, in every sense of the word. I love you guys, more than words can say. You've been there for me on my first week in university, my final week as a student, my first day on the job, and so much more. ONE LOVE, through and through. Thank you for making my 2010 absolutely amazing.
I have to thank my alma mater as well, De La Salle University Manila, for the high-quality education I received from this wonderful institution. I didn't know at first why the hell I took up a liberal arts course here, when I was coming from a science background with my Cambridge A-Levels. It was a decision that made me fall in love with politics, political science, world and international systems, as well as society and culture in general. Thank you also for my very first job. I can never be grateful enough to our President (and my boss) Brother President Jun Erguiza FSC. You saw something in me, trusted me, and have become so much of a father-figure to me. It's truly difficult to leave Taft when one is taken care of so well by a great academic institution. Here's to our Centennial next year, La Salle! Animo :D
Last but not least, the icing on the cake, thank you PJ for being that special someone who is willing to be beside me through thick and thin, and I think we've gone through enough to justify my saying that :P You've been nothing short of awesome, and you're unbelievably cool and laid-back. I know I can be really uptight, but you've slowly made me a more fun and outgoing person. Oh, and you're just so gorgeous on top of it all! LOL. If my 2010 was already freakin' great, you made it perfect. I'm looking forward to many more New Year's with you :) You make me better, in more ways than you know. You're the absolute best.
Happy New Year, and let's all welcome 2011!
Another year, another chance to be a better person.
Life has been great, 2010; I'm sure it can only be better :)Jay~
According to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), starting January 15, 2010:
The flag-down rate of taxis in Metro Manila will go up to P40 from P30, and the increments will go up to P3.50 from P2.50 per increment.
I bloody disagree.
As if we aren't already getting robbed by taxi drivers who insist on having "contractual fares", have faster-than-usual meters, or downright crappy meters that cheat the hell out of us private citizens.
I absolutely bloody disagree.
Source: 24 Oras News Report.Jay~
Nothing like a food-trip after party after a Christmas party :)
Chocolates and cookies.
Fish balls and soda.
Chips and conversation.
Especially conversation.
Lots and lots of conversation.
The sort that makes time fly..
:">Jay~
(100th post of 2010)
Malaysia has won the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time!
Congratulations and Malaysia Boleh! :)
Picture from allvoices.com
More on the AFF victory in The Straits Times and the AFF website.Jay~
Sometimes, the best words to tell a person who render all effort of humor, banter, and conversation is a big, fat never mind.
Yeah.
Something like that.Jay~
Seeking refuge from the busy life and working conditions here in Manila, I left for Tagaytay City, a highland city that is a pretty popular getaway destination for Manila residents such as myself. The famed Taal Volcano was also situated there, but I only stayed a night, so I didn't have the chance to really explore the place.
I stayed at a private villa belonging to the De La Salle Brothers. The view was sick, and since the villa was on a mountain-side, it was really chilly as well.
The La Salle Villa.
I didn't take pictures of my room, but I did of my simple breakfast earlier this morning.
View from my room.
The view from the outdoor porch was nothing short of breath-taking.
The La Salle villa conference room and chapel, respectively.
Right before leaving, lunch was served. Cream of crab and corn soup, fried tilapia, and chicken curry for lunch.
Then it was going-home-time :( I didn't have to particularly like it, but this just makes me want to go back to Tagaytay a lot more, and next time, I'm going to have a crack at that famous bulalo soup thing.
Thanks boss for the trip, and thanks DLSB for the accommodation!Jay~
Merry Christmas!
You may have all the Christmas loot that you desire and all the food you can eat, but never forget that this magical season is about remembering a human being, just like you and I, who through extraordinary faith, courage, and love, gave up His life for undeserving strangers.
Live love in our hearts :)
Picture from this blog.Jay~
I thought that in our almost four years of existence, the crew needed a proper Christmas party. That means exchanging presents as well, and it turned out to be a big load of fun! I also surprised the crew with some official-looking certificates just to show them that the effort, time, and talent put into the crew was not lost on anyone.
We played two of our most popular private games, the Stop Dance Challenge (where we would dance a routine, but the music could cut off abruptly at any time, thus enabling us to spot who was off-beat, too fast, too slow, etc. You get the idea) and the Araneta Level Challenge (where we'd try to dance a routine in the most exaggerated form possible, assuming that since Araneta Coliseum was pretty big, it would take much more effort for a dance to be seen). HAHAHA!
Winners of the Stop-Dance and Araneta Challenges, respectively :)
Recognizing the behind-the-scenes contributions: music mixing, make-up and costume, as well as transport and logistics.
Our Most Improved Dancers of 2010: Rocky Estallo and Richard Ong. Both were part of our UAAP dance team, as well as our championship-winning Remix team. I'm very proud of these boys.
We conducted a vote a week before this, and it was tallied that the Best Choreography for 2010 was our piece on "Walking on a Dream". It was made by Cheng Ortaleza (our music mixer) and choreography pool members Paulo Buenaventura and Nicole Carlos. We used it for our Remix 2010 championship piece.
There were also more than fifteen members of the choreography pool that received individual certificates, but that's quite a bit to post. Haha.. We capped off the night doing what we do best: we battled each other :D
Skittlez Crew: One Love, CHYEAH! :D
Jay~
Skittlez Crew! This year gave me my third Remix dance competition with you guys, and I am honored to have led you guys for two years. I'm so proud and honored to have won two championships dancing beside all of you, when just a couple of years ago, "I wasn't good enough" to be a 'proper' dancer. How things have changed, and how we've all grown! We were champions of 2008, and this year, thank you for the graduation gift of being champions of 2010. Through ups and downs, you have all proven yourselves to be a true family, in every sense of the word. I love you guys, more than words can say. You've been there for me on my first week in university, my final week as a student, my first day on the job, and so much more. ONE LOVE, through and through. Thank you for making my 2010 absolutely amazing.
I have to thank my alma mater as well, De La Salle University Manila, for the high-quality education I received from this wonderful institution. I didn't know at first why the hell I took up a liberal arts course here, when I was coming from a science background with my Cambridge A-Levels. It was a decision that made me fall in love with politics, political science, world and international systems, as well as society and culture in general. Thank you also for my very first job. I can never be grateful enough to our President (and my boss) Brother President Jun Erguiza FSC. You saw something in me, trusted me, and have become so much of a father-figure to me. It's truly difficult to leave Taft when one is taken care of so well by a great academic institution. Here's to our Centennial next year, La Salle! Animo :D
Last but not least, the icing on the cake, thank you PJ for being that special someone who is willing to be beside me through thick and thin, and I think we've gone through enough to justify my saying that :P You've been nothing short of awesome, and you're unbelievably cool and laid-back. I know I can be really uptight, but you've slowly made me a more fun and outgoing person. Oh, and you're just so gorgeous on top of it all! LOL. If my 2010 was already freakin' great, you made it perfect. I'm looking forward to many more New Year's with you :) You make me better, in more ways than you know. You're the absolute best.
