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…

3 inchIS More

Just got back from a 4 days vacation in Bohol with my family and was surprised by a 3-inch pile of SI magazines on top of my table. The subscriber's name was familiar so I went to his office and thank him for the mags.

This guy is our chief of security and every morning, he'd stand at the yard overseeing the security procedure of his staff. I would open my car window and greet him before proceeding to the north parking area, he then would shout "Howie Mandel!" and for a while I did not bother to check who's this Mandel guy until now.

And so Howie Mandel is a Canadian and the host of the US "Deal or No Deal" tv game show. He may be a fan of the show that's why he kept calling me with that name every morning as a way of making a joke. Anyway, he's a cool guy though many are afraid of his status, I got used to his type coz i'm more comfortable dealing or communicating with people with bold personality even when i was still young...

Thanks again, Jake!

Blood Diamond - Sierra Leone

In my three weeks stay in the U.S., I have studied a system so secure, well planned and strictly implemented but across the Atlantic Ocean, I never thought that I would hear a different story and almost an exact opposite of this system.

In class I met Mohamed, another Foreign National sent for training and he's a great story teller, he talked about his childhood, his family, his community and his country Sierra Leone. We have almost the same history, traditions and culture, we've been both under a colonial power, both experienced certain type of militarism and with unmanageable poverty and corruption. But I think no country has ever endured the turmoil that took place in their country several years ago...

If you've seen the movie "Blood Diamond" it took place in Sierra Leone and during this chaos Mohamed was a young family man with 3 kids and extended family. In that time, everybody seems to be an enemy, a rebel in military uniform, a military doing a rebel's act. For them to survive, he took his family on a journey out of the country on Dec 23 and reached Conakry, Guinea on Jan 3. It was hard, he said because you'll have to pass through forests, rivers, swamps and most of the time hiding from the rebels...

Amistad, remember this movie? The hero in this movie is also a Sierra Leonean Sengbe Pieh who was portrayed by the same actor in Blood Diamond Djimon Hounsou an African from Benin. Mohamed gave me a book "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah who was a boy soldier during those dark years which I read from from cover to cover during my flight going home. He gave me a 5000 Leones which has Pieh as the hero...

SI's "First" ISsue

Today, I received the best birthday gift to start the year.

I got a Sports Illustrated gift set from mom and bela. I actually saw it at a bookstore in Rockwell and I called mom’s attention and asked her this, “do you know what I want for my birthday?” and then I showed her the book from my back and said, "This!"

And of course, she bought it as expected, Yahoo! What's great about it is it has reprint of the first issue, the very first SI issue dated 08-16-54 included also is a hardbound book entitled "The Best of Sports Illustrated". I guess being a sports fan, you'll have to know also or at least have a copy of this magazine issue... I always wanted to build a room full of sports memorabilia’s like posters, movies, balls, books, coins, jerseys, action figures and also picture frames of SI best covers hanging on the wall...

SI, inspired me, reading stories of athletes is like reading about your life struggles and challenges…You learn from their stories the importance of giving your best all the times, of being humble and thankful to those who made you what you are today, of how to handle defeat and losing, and how to make your family a part of your success…

I love your gift, mom and bela! You’re my inspirations, every single day of my being!

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!

My First Winter - Let it Snow

When I left LA, its been raining all night and Niel drove me to LAX around 430am and its still raining hard. Not too many people at the airport at that time but during the inspection, i was a bit slow, i put everything to the tray that goes thru the scanner and a guy announced to not include the tickets but mine is already on other side of the conveyor so I waited till they saw it from my things before I passed thru the scanner.

My first stop is St. Paul and seeing from the top, almost everything are covered with snow and its my first time to see this type of scenery being from a country with only dry and wet seasons. I arrived at DC around 430pm and went to a friend to drop off my things before I watch the NBA game at Verizon Center. I got lost a bit but found the place after reading the map and it was very cold. Whenever I remove my gloves i can feel numbness...I can see also ice on the grass and sidewalks so its really cold...

Well...Let it snow!

Welcome

Welcome to my site! Hope you'll have a wonderful time reading my stories...

-Howie-Dude-