Happy Birthday to Me!

Hahaha, and today, I officially step out of the teenager's clique. Yes, my teen love life may not have been that 'colorful', but heck.

And nope, no celebrations for now. No food, no gifts. But I'm grateful to my loved ones, my friends, and to the people who remembered this special day of my life. Your thoughts are far more greater than any banquet nor gift.

Salamat sa inyo. :)

As much as I would like to give more detail to this post, but I'm still on my studies. I'll have the luxury of editing this (hope so), hmmm, maybe on my free time. Hah, I wonder when would that be.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother

This is another birthday blogpost, this time for my young brother Lucky, who will be celebrating his seventh year.

His real name is Cristerroi, a portmanteau of Mama(Cristina) and Tiyo Roy's names. One question people would really ask: Where did his nick 'Lucky' come from? And isn't Lucky a feminine word?

On how he got his nick, well...


I'll update this post later. :D

Hmm, What Gifts?

As already stated, today will be a dual birthday celebration for Mama and my little sister Fanessa. I planned on going to Danao today, but I declined due to a few concerns...

I hope that Ate Mikit's salary is already at hand. Yeah, I've gotten my allowance yesterday, but I've spent a considerable amount of the sum for the printing of our thesis. Fanessa requested for a badminton set for her birthday, which I would want to give her. But I only got roughly P300.00, and I think a badminton set would cost more than that, not to mention that this money I have to stretch until our payday at Lexmark R&D this 15th. The day falls on a Saturday, so I'm hopeful to get it this Friday.

Even if I will, I highly doubt if I can spare a huge chunk of it for gifts. Our thesis is resource-hungry - the cause of most of our expenditures. I may buy something else, but have to give up the badminton set. Not to forget, I am yet to buy a present for A-gie's - her requested anime songs/shows. Uhm, call it cost-cutting, but I think I would vouch for the game set both for A-gie and Fanessa. :)
Oh, not to forget Mama. What present can I give her? *rolls eyes* She has not requested me anything, nor hinted about her upcoming birthday.

I've never given those ladies birthday presents ever since, if my memory serves me well. And this year, I would want to make a difference. I'd go to Danao probably this Saturday night, after class.

Ooph, I have not greeted them yet! Better give 'em a call. :D

September: the Month of Birthdays and Worries

September can be considered our family's flagship month. It is in this month that most of the family members celebrate their birthdays. First would be my young sister Alyssa (who's celebrating her birthday today). Next would be my Mom and my young sister Fanessa this Tuesday, followed by my young brother Lucky the day after. Mine would be next Wednesday, and Tiyo Roy's next to me.

To reiterate, September 9 is my beloved young sister Alyssa's 17th birthday. She's in Danao right now, living with my other two young sisters and with Kaia as their caretaker (Mom is in Negros to attend Ate Yammy's wedding, and Ate Mikit's in Japan).

Sad that I can't give her a gift now. I don't have enough money to buy her a present; my allowance is yet to arrive tomorrow.

Don't worry A-gie, as soon as I have the money, I'll give you your requested anime songs. :)

Maligayang Kaarawan, A-gie.

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I'm very happy with how our thesis is going. Through our joined efforts, we are now creating the program modules. We've finished a prototype proposal of Mactan Cebu Trade Center.

It's amazing that for only a few days, we were able to make it this far. After suffering emotional traume, and going on the painstaking process of company searching, finally we have found the one that would satisfy our four criteria: one that has not been studied by similar students, one that has processes that can support us three, one that has the full permission of the owner, and one that is willing to give out their source documents. I'm really grateful to Ma'am Mayta and to the whole MCTC for allowing us to study their company.

Alas, even the prototype is not that secure. The reason is that, there are some points on their sales system that we need to clarify, especially on their source documents. There were fields on these papers that seem unclear of their purpose. And we hope MCTC can shed light on this issue through another dialog.

But what worries me is that, Ma'am Mayta (the interviewee) wanted our interview (last Tuesday) to be one-time; i.e. she cannot promise to give us another time for another interview. And also, she's quite busy and may not be able to entertain us. Though, she allowed us to drop a call should we have any concern.

Inasmuch as we wanted it to be, it's really hard to get all the information at once. Questions are inevitable to arise.

In regards with that, the one that answers the calls is not her but Miss Josy, her bookkeeper. I've called MCTC for some clarifications twice in a row, but Miss Josy can't give a definite answer. The details of the sales processes is not her main concern. And when I called her, she sounded a bit irritated. I even heard her exclaiming to Ma'am Mayta that we are calling again, in a sullen note.

I am determined to call them again, hoping for an appointment to push through. Better yet, have Ma'am Mayta talk to us on the phone, so we don't need to come personally. This may sound pretty straightforward and rash, but we don't have much choice. We can't move on with the study unless these issues are addressed.

I hope they can set time to answer our questions. It's one thing I pray. We direly need the answers, as the deadline (Sept. 27) is fast approaching. Please, have mercy on us. :(

Random Stories

I went to Atty. Go's office this morning to give him my present from South Korea, to show my heartfelt gratitude for giving me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to South Korea. I was kinda delayed; it is almost two weeks after the study tour ended. Procrastination on the loose again. My bad. :(

It was a box of porcelain teacups. I know it isn't that much, but it's not really the material worth. And I'm happy that Atty. Go gladly accepted my little token. Kamsa hamnida, Mr. President. :)

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I've drank a lot of coffee back in the office this afternoon. Perhaps I made the mixture too concentrated, that's why the coffee really struck my senses, and I feel really wobbly as of typing. @.@

I'm such a noob.

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Yesterday was our beloved Mr. Aahron Dinauanao's birthday. Sir, I know this may sound cliche, but I want to thank you for being there for us rain or shine, as an adviser, a teacher, and as a friend.

Sir, you're getting old. When will you marry? :D

Happy birthday, Sir A.

Of Birthdays and Parting Ways

Yesterday was a double-celebration: Ma’am Soque’s despedida party, and Anabelle’s 20th birthday, organized by Sir AA, the BITS, and The New Datatron. It was held at Kristine’s (our Datatron President) house at Consolacion. It was planned to be in Camp Marina, but later on decided to hold the event on the former for cost-cutting.

Ma’am Soq will be flying to South Korea to commit her Masterals. She was able to pass the scholarship, along with a fellow teacher. They will be flying this March 1 and will stay there for two years.

I will definitely miss Ma’am Soq. She has very helpful, especially for coaching me and Anabelle during the CESAFI and the PRISAA IT Quiz Bowl. She is our instructor, our Datatron adviser, and most of all a friend. No amount of words can tell how Ma’am Soque is as a person.

Though we rarely see her attend the meetings, but it’s understandable since she also has her own personal and professional work, and she also helps us in the background.

We performed a series of numbers: the first-years performing a life-portrayal of Ma’am Soq in class, and also a rendition of ____ (I forgot the song :P); the sophies and the juniors singing to the tune of ‘Journey’ by Lea Salonga; and a chorus of ‘Farewell’ by Raymond Lauchengco. What’s funny is that, our (sophies and juniors) performance was impromptu; yes, we know the songs, but we don’t have any actions. Another thing is that, they asked me to deliver a speech at that instant. Oh my God, what am I gonna say? But needless to say, I was able to formulate an instant speech. XD

We could see Ma’am Soq fell into smiles as she was watching us perform our numbers. And by the time we took the cake (both for her and Anabelle, of course with a special note written on icing) out of hiding, she fell into tears. I couldn’t dare to look at her face, for some reason. No, it’s not because I’m gonna cry (how I wish I could cry that easier, but I guess I have to peel more onions just to get my tear glands working). But I could already see the others falling into tears…

Now, it's her time to open up. She told us that she was thankful for everything good she has received. She was surprised and gladdened that we took the effort of giving her a little tribute, even if she wasn’t able to contribute much to the group. Though she still feels unprepared for the journey, but she’s gonna stand up and survive.

“I’m doing this not just for me, but for the school, to the teachers, and of course to you guys and the students…”

She was comforted by Sir AA. Sir AA has always been our stronghold, a very hardworking and dedicated man. He’s been the glue that sticks everyone together. Sir AA, I may as well write an article for you. So, I’m limiting my thoughts for you, and give it to Ma’am Soq for the moment. No stealing of limelight, ok? XD

And we ate the cake…

Oh, I almost forgot: Anabelle’s birthday. A teenie-weenie trivia: Kristine’s family are members of the Jehovah’s Witness, and it’s against their tradition to mention (and celebrate) birthdays. So what we did? We just hummed a line of the “Happy Birthday” song. Hope they didn’t found out. XD

Bon Voyage, Ma’am Soque. Happy 20th Birthday, Anabelle. Good health and God Bless to both of you!