Our Wedding Coin - For Distribution

I was cleaning our display cabinet and noticed that there are still unopened souvenir boxes. Those are for our Ninongs and a Ninangs who could not make it to our wedding from Canada and US.

I collected them and took a picture of two coins showing both sides with our unity coins as the background. We have collected several coins during our travels but this has been one of my favorites.

We'll be celebrating our 6th anniversary in a couple of days and God has given us so much blessings and love in our family...

Pretzzy Saturday

After giving a short inspirational message yesterday to graduating 13-year old kids, I’ve gotten a very warm reception from the audience including the Mayor of Manila. I couldn’t be happier than seeing those kids responding to me and my exploration of their energetic and full of fun lives.

But today my daughter surprises me most; I guess it’s one of the best rewards after motivating a number of young minds on how to be successful and how do you really measure it. We’re at the sala and I’m browsing the Internet in our laptop and she’s watching Playhouse Disney when she asks for her pretzel’s merienda.

So I ask our new yaya to get it from her stocks and ask her to go have her lunch and I’ll take care of Bela for now. Mom is in the office so my daughter and I have a little bonding time. Then she walks beside and told me that she wants to share the pretzels with me. So I get one stick and bite some but she stops me and told me, “No, no, not that way, dad.” And she gets another stick and put the tip of the stick in her mouth and the other end in mine. I’ve seen this before when she and her mom eats spaghetti, but never tried with me.



So I got exited and brought down my camera to get some snapshots…

Write-Out-Loud.Com - Public Speaking Guide

A few days ago, I was invited by my grade school Alma Mater to be the guest speaker for this year’s graduating class in April.

It’s going to be an exciting activity for me delivering a speech in front of young audiences which I haven’t done for quite a while now. It’ll be my second time to grace my school with my new experiences or thoughts to share.

Eager to obtain their attention, I’m doing a little research of this generation, of what are their favorite games, activities, boy bands, dance moves, movies, superheroes and etc. Looking for better ideas and ways to be effective to my audiences, I also came across a website called write-out-loud.com and the tips are easy to learn, concise and very helpful.

I want it this time be delivered in Tagalog to better inject some humor and great stories because I planned to share my personal stories when I was at their age and at present. I’ll also impart the lives of some personalities to uplift their soul with encouragement and inspirations.

Right now, I’m making my draft while my daughter is playing around as "Bela the Pretty Mouse Not the Eewie Eewie One" and her mom is the "Neigh Neigh Horse" and I'm the "Christmas Deer"...

Birthday Surprise - From Mom and Bela

Another year had passed and another one is coming but I’m always thankful for having a wonderful and loving family. Thank you Mom and Bela for a surprise birthday party! I’m so excited!

This year we have both our families in one roof to celebrate my birthday and it feels great and I hope to have it every year in our house.

Thank you for understanding my short comings and I love you Mom and Bela! You're my greatest gift!

About Me After Two Years

This subject used to be in my "About Me" tab but after two years, I felt like it's no longer more about me, it's more of my past so I've made an updated one...

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Dec 1, 2007 9:41 AM

About Me

My childhood revolves in a small town in Sorsogon where I spent most of my time in an adventure phase from morning till dark until my family moved to Manila when I was 9 but always went back during summer and Christmas until my college years.

Aside from managing more than 20 servers, supporting a thousand users and maintaining more than 800 machines, I work in an International Organization where diverse personalities are ordinary and service is the soul of its existence.

My wife Abie and daughter Ysabela loves to travel so I always carry my camera making sure I captured those precious moments...

I feel that my passion for photography is innate because I see myself as an artist with an eye for extraordinary moment. I provide photography services for any event when I’m free on weekends.

I love collecting all sorts of things which I find unusual and significant to my life and to my family…

Keep on reading!

-Howie-

A Christmas Carol... A Wonderful Life

I remember this book way back in high school where we did a Christmas presentation for our class where I played one of the ghosts, I think… But early in my teens I seem to have acquainted with the story through the classic movie and one of my favorites, A Wonderful Life.

Which is, by the way, is so hard to find in the video stores few years back. But now almost every one of them seems to have a copy for sale. I got mine from Borders in Virginia which I bought on a very cold night in December of 2007 so it’s somewhat memorable to me because it’s winter season and almost Christmas and I’m away from my family…

Good thing, I don’t have an out-of-country training this year which I’m almost accepted to and be able watch Pacquiao-Dela Hoya’s fight along the way but good thing though, it wasn’t meant for me. So I got to enjoy the happiest place on Earth this holiday season, with my family… And now 2008 seem to be over and I’ve been very busy for more than a month with a lot of things and activities.

Tonight I just finished a wedding shoot and hopefully, more events next year so we can travel again before we have our second baby. For the past weeks, we celebrated Bela’s 3rd birthday, took two birthday parties, one christening, been out of the country for couple of days, supported two major office conferences, configured three servers, played a role in our section’s party and to capped it up, I got to sing again…

Here I am with my band kuno, Ryan, Notski and Tufe.

Bela's Birthday - A Thanksgiving Day

Our daughter's birthday is our day of celebrating joy and love with kids in the orphanage. It’s our way of thanksgiving for her recovery from VSD, a congenital heart disease and our hardships during those months.

We don’t have much cash but we got our families and a lot of friends who are donating and joining us in this event. We are forever grateful to your help and we hope we can return your kindness with our friendship and love to you and your family.

It’s going to be our second year with Hospicio de San Jose kids and we’ve added a magician this year, so it’s Jollibee feat Ferdie the Magician. Hope the kids will love it.

The hardest thing about the orphanage is the feeling of going home. We wish those kids can go home with us or their family would take them home. One thing is certain though, that Bela’s coming back next year and they’ll have a different fun for sure.

Happy 3rd Birthday to our sweety pie, honey bunch, "Ice Age", chickiwowow, “I can’t open it” baby love Ysabela!

I Got Two More Girls - Sassy's Twins

Our daughter Sassy got pregnant without our knowing and she delivered last Sunday two girls. One is black and another is brown...

And Bela would surely love them! They're gonna be her sidekicks and we can't wait with what names she'll gonna give them.

Sassy's been renting an apartment for months now, one block away from us, and Abie wanted her to move back since we don't like her landlord. Her family's moving back soon... I got a welder to do their condo unit in our place.

Here is Sassy in puppy days with Jett and Bubba, her parents, and Bela's new chickiwowow girls. We welcome our granddaughters to this planet called Earth!

Our Margrette's Turning 3 - The Madagascar Adventure

It’s the time of year again for our little Ysabela Margrette’s upcoming birthday in a few weeks. As usual, Dad is busy again doing her invite, tarps and all sort of stuff that her Mom wanted for her party.

While Mom is almost done with bookings, cakes, magicians, giveaways and other extraordinary things that she can think of, the designs are now in progress…

First in the many lists, the director’s chair design for her school party with names of her classmates and the cover design for some backpacks…

The theme is special to us since we’ve been to Central Park Zoo a year before she was born and a year before the movie was released. It’s also one of her favorite movies and she know most of the lyrics since we’ve bought her the official sound track CD.

Can you imagine a two-year old girl singing “New York! New York!” and “What A Wonderful World” in your car? Awesome!

My Baby Love

The best way to a dad’s heart is a little girl’s laughter, kiss and hugs. It takes away all the stress and worries of life…

I hope this is true to all dads. And when you start hearing her saying “I love you, Dad!” that will complete your day.

“I love you, too, baby love!”

Empire of the Sun and a Weekend in Recto

When I was little, Claro M. Recto Street, formerly known as Azcarraga Street used to be my hub. We once lived in the third floor of an apartment in the streets of Soler corner Severino in Quiapo for almost five years and at the end of Severino is CM Recto, the most popular street for students at that time.

Every weekend, my agenda was to scout Recto on movies that accept 11 year-old kid like me. Oftentimes, I got lucky to watch the most interesting movies at that time from Tagalog to foreign movies with movie passes that my mom got from friends. One of these great movies is Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” which featured a story of a boy of my age who was caught in the time of World War II.

I remember when I watched this movie, it was a weekend around nine in the morning and the movie houses in Quiapo and Recto are already open. Most of the times, I can see that I’m the only person watching inside the theater but I wasn’t afraid though it was very cold inside. With my small body and just wearing a shirt, a short pants and a pair of sandals makes me fold in my seat until my shirt is stretched enough to cover my whole body while doing an Indian sit on my chair.

Some of the names of the theaters that I was a suki of are Maxim, Tandem and Ever Emporium Cinemas. In the morning, I’d go for early breakfast and if we have extra money, my mom would buy us a hot and delicious pancit together with pandesal from Sandra bakery in Recto. After a heavy breakfast, I’d start my strolling and look for something to do…

I am always alone when I do these adventures, as I always did with my adventures in our barrio in Sorsogon. I explore the river and roam the fields all by myself. I always got the privilege to sing our national anthem more than five times a week, five at school and the others at the theater.

My favorite theater is Tandem, located at the corner of Recto and Severino which is less than a hundred steps from where we lived. On the second floor of the building is a video games arcade so whenever I got extra money, I’d play there. If I don’t have money, I’ll just watch the other kids play. At the ground floor are clothes and shoes stores. At the basement are billiards tables where you'll find college students playing or gambling.

Empire of the Sun introduces me to Spielberg and Christian Bale. So when Batman Begins was shown, I remember Bale as the boy almost same as my age who’s journey in that movie has been a similar path as mine, survival.

In Quiapo, you must be street smart; else, you’ll get into some kind of trouble with bully kids. Good thing for me, I got a bat cave that I can be at peace, a theater…

The I.T. World For Ms. Universe - Philippines

Eight years ago, I wrote an article for my wife’s contribution to her organization’s gazette on Information Technology. A week before that is the Philippine launching of Microsoft Windows 2000. And at that same week, the Binibining Pilipinas 2000 pageant was just shown on local television…

Here’s the original article….

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The I.T. World For Ms. Universe - Philippines

It was on the night of February 26th that I was struck on my seat by the reaction of the Bb. Pilipinas finalists on the question “How you should pursue your ambition and become successful in the fast changing world of the new millennium?” Except for one Ms. Alagao who subsequently became our Miss Universe contender. According to her “That question shouldn’t be difficult for someone who’s very receptive to new ideas. I guess I have to be on guard all the time. I can’t be caught unaware of things to come. One have to be always on the lookout for what is new.”

A very timely and informative reply not just for us in the IT related course and profession but for every field that we are bind. Even I who has been in this field since my college years could not bear the fast enhancements of hardware and software. I was full of excitement when I first bought my ‘clone’ PC on my sophomore year in college but became dismayed when MMX technology was a big boom just four months after I bought it with their prices not much of a difference. The suggestion of being ‘aware of things’ is not new to us since we all have the tools of downloading information such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television and other means of communication.

Today, the ability to utilize the power of computer has that edge anywhere you may be. It is inevitable and undeniably the trend of this generation. The gradual transfer of the industry from manual system to electronic system has affected us as a labor force in the future. Many companies would likely acquire someone who knows how to use the computer in a white-collar job and even some for the blue collar ones. Even my mom who is an grade-school teacher is so eager to learn how to use our PC at home but I just couldn’t alot few hours for her, perhaps one of these days. It’s not only the system that changed but also the ownership of companies.

What else has happen this past few months? After the prestigious launching of Windows 2000 last February 17 and 18 at the PICC, it’s seems the term ‘IT World’ has just been transposed with ‘MS World’ i.e. Microsoft World. With its dominance in the market, it would not be impossible that it would manufacture its own processors or bought the Intel Corporation. Who could possibly think of what Bill Gates can do next with their new release of ‘X-Box’, a game console that will deliver the most realistic, intense and action-packed game experience available. The Sony ‘PlayStation’ and other play station manufacturer have now a new competitor in Microsoft. In programming development, Borland Corporation has its product free for downloading and many programmers would comment that its software is far more effective than those of Microsoft’s. It is possible to say that this effects to other companies has much to do with the products released by BG’sMS but I’ll give you this part to think about it.

Engaging in the Internet business is an emerging turnabout in the telecommunications field. These companies who lose much of their salability because of the two dragons of telecoms have found a new strategy in wireless communication using the Internet. Instead of a local phone lines they are marketing by the use of transceivers at from both ends, providing much more gigabytes of information compare to 56 Kbps of modems and 64 Mbps of lease lines. Whether this project will obtain their projected net or not, sooner or later PLDT can no longer be in used.

The developments in the field of Information Technology are very active and we cannot be dormant in this new millennium. The need to acquire information is for all of us, who should always be aware and pro-active…

BIG - Growing Up at 32

Another movie that I've seen at my favorite cinema when I was a boy is Tom Hanks “BIG”. This movie was in my head for weeks and whenever I go to sleep, I dreamt that when I woke up, I'll be this 30-year old guy which my mom would not notice sleeping in my bed and she’ll throw me out as if I'm a burglar.

Today, I feel BIG because I just got promoted to senior position with much bigger responsibilities and the tough thing about it is I feel sad for my colleagues who're not chosen. But the toughest thing that creeps my mind is that I don’t want to grow up yet. I feel like I’m still a happy-go-lucky kid.

But I got a family now and because I want them to have the comfort of a good life, I have to grow up fast…

You can never be certain of your future but you can always do something today. To help you prepare for it, you’ve got to take bits of improvement whenever possible. And whatever decisions you’ll make, it is because you dream big and you want something more than usual.

Complacency more often plays the role of our “Failure to Launch”, as the romantic movie suggests. We feel satisfied with what we have or what we are right now but the world isn’t.

The day you stop believing in your career advancement is the day you let go of your opportunity to grow as an individual, a family person and as a professional…

In Pursuit of True Happiness - Brooklyn NY

Few weeks before Christmas of 2005, I'm at the office working as the Saturday duty personnel and my wife called me, she was crying and her voice seems to falter every now and then.

She together with my In-laws went to CGH that day for Bela's first checkup after birth with her pediatrician and everything was OK except for one thing and said that she heard a quiet, indistinctive sound and to medical interpretation, a murmur. She immediately referred them to the best cardio doctor she knew for a second opinion which sadly is the same result and in her very early stage of life, she undergo 2D-Echo to make sure...

And so the findings stand, she has a congenital heart disease and it broke mom's young mother's heart and that she'll carry it in her load every second, every minute and everyday for several months...I finished my tasks and before going home, I browse the internet for other hospitals and called them one by one and ask for the best cardio doctor's name and number to make an appointment. When I was on the cab reviewing the names that i got, i saw two the same name, the previous doctor in CGH is the same name of the cardiologist I got from St. Luke’s so I explained to her "Mom, I think we already got one of the best doctor in town." From then on, we put our trust to him and followed every bit of detail that he wants us to do for daughter's health.

We're young parents to experience this but I'm a very positive person as an individual and I guess and hope that I remain strong for my family. I always make sure that I gave her strength and encouragement every time I see her sad...It was the saddest Christmas we've experienced but I never cried nor see me sad in front of them not until now, all my tears are flowing from left and right eyes, all in red, from thousand miles away from home in very cold and snowy NY city...inside the bathroom...so as no one would hear...

Before I got the news from mom thru YM, I was on my way to NY from DC and as we would do before when we're here in 2004, we'd consume our time by watching a movie at the Regal Cinemas beside the Verizon Centre near Chinatown and we would eat there afterwards. And after my meal, I got a traditional fortune cookie, and as I open it, i said to myself, "Whatever it is, i will not put my full attention to it." And so I went to the bus station for 2AM ride. I arrived in NY at 6am which is an hour earlier than scheduled and went to McDnalds for something to bite. After having my breakfast, I went to Time Square and at 7AM, ToysRUs is already open for the holiday shoppers. At about 9AM, I was already at Kuya Andy and Ate Marivic's place in Brooklyn.

It's good to be back, knowing that I have a family in them and with Jesse, the prettiest boxer I've ever seen...We drank coffee and did some chats and they got a Mac and asks if I can use it later and so did...I logon to YM and there was mom already online and she broke the news that after two years, Bela's heart is totally healed coming from a Saturday checkup with our cardiologist! It's the biggest gift we could ever ask from God and we could not ask for more...

After a while, I suddenly remember the fortune cookie that says something about happiness. Truly, we're so happy for our daughter and for all who prayed and stayed with us in this challenging stage we've been through...

Thank you so much for all your prayers and love! Thank you God!