Merville Siege: Die Another Day

Going back to this picture of the teams that competed during the tournament in Merville Parañaque made me realized that I've been out of the game for the past three years. This was in 2005 and I haven't seen most of these guys since then...

I build a team and named it "Legion of Doom" with a logo of a Darth Vader helmet with an attitude of the legendary tag-team wrestling champion LOD. I got with me my nephew Ken, my cousin Erwin, my brother-in-law JP and his best friend King, my officemate Jun and my best buddy Jeff.

We were unfortunate to get an award but we enjoyed being part of the game and battle with teams who competes internationally, a couple of US marines, ex-militaries, mountaineers and guys from different professions...and kids as well...

We’re so disappointed that time because we're still four of us alive in our team and we're looking for just a single opponent to advance to quarter finals but could not find him only to know that we've passed over him and we didn't know that he's the one were looking for and he's just a twelve year old kid. I’ve seen him sitting in one corner so I thought he might be just watching the game…

If only we've studied every team specially their team members, we might have won a trophy... and that's a hint for you guys who are new to the sport!

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…

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!