From Cebu To Manila

I was here in Manila three days last week. And now, I'm here again. I was here since Monday. Tomorrow I'll fly back to Cebu, but I'll be back here again on Tuesday next week for another meeting. You know, Manila is only an hour plane ride away from Cebu.

I usually take the 6AM Cebu Pacific flight. It means that I have to be at the Cebu airport before 5:15AM. But last week, I had my flight scheduled at 445am. My boss was even kidding me, "Are you sure you'd wake up in time so that will not miss your flight?" I nodded and confidently replied, "I had never missed a flight."

So the night before, I had everything readied. I set my cellphone to alarm at 3AM. I also did the same to my wife's phone. Two loud ringing phones just to be sure. It was almost 1AM when we dozed off.

I had a very good sleep, until I remembered my flight. The first thing that I did was to grab my cellphone. Wow! The clock says it's already 4AM. The cut-off is 45 minutes prior to departure. I rushed to the shower. But when the flowing water hit my face, I was like being hit in the head by a baseball bat. I complained to my wife and she just told me to relax. Relax? I'd miss my flight.

In 10 minutes, I was already waiting for a taxi. "Your fastest run to the airport" I told the taxi driver. It was more of a demand. He obliged and in ten minutes, we arrived at the domestic airport. I checked the airport clock. It's 420AM. I ran to the check-in counter and handed in my ticket. I was silently praying. I didn't bring enough cash in case I had to pay for a rebooking. I heard from the loud speakers that our flight is now boarding. "Did I miss my flight?"

I checked the boarding pass. I'm in the 445am flight! I called up my wife to report the good news. She said she was praying for me. I slightly massaged my forehead and took a deep breath. I didn't miss my flight alright, but I suffered from a severe headache and some body cramps that whole day.

Still Nothing For Chelsea

Forgive me if you don’t know what my title is all about. The Chelsea I am referring to is not a name of a girl or that of Miss Clinton. If you have read my sports archives, you will know what I mean.

11 pm last night I browsed the sports channel in my hotel room here in Taft, (Yep, I’m in Manila since yesterday), looking for the schedule of the Finals game between Manchester United and Chelsea FC, two leading football clubs in England. It’s an all-English finals for Europe’s elite club tournament, the Champions’ League. It’s really very ironic. Two English clubs, one is majority owned by an American, the other by a Russian. They battled in Moscow. Despite their clubs’ strength, England will not be seen in Euro 2008 next month. Their national team failed the cut. So sad!

I woke up 2am and turned on the TV. I was just in time to watch my Chelsea team tormented by Ronaldo’s header that found its way to the goal. Just before half time, Lampard found the net to level the score at 1-1. I turned the TV off at half-time and slept. But my mind wandered into a deep sleep that I missed the whole second half and the extensions after that. By the time I pushed the button, it was already towards the end of the 30-minute final extension, and the score still tied at 1-1. It went into a more exciting finale, a kick-out.

I thought it was the end of Man U when their superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, failed to convert. At four all, everyone’s eyes were on John Terry, the Chelsea and England Captain. If his shot will go in, Chelsea will be a first time Champ. I was so confident that he’d deliver, but his ball missed the entire goal. Abramovich, the team’s Russian owner, could have had a heart attack at the owners’ box. He couldn’t believe what he just saw. Two more United players found the net, but Chelsea’s rarely used Anelka, had his ball blocked by Man U’s supergoalie.

It’s the end of Chelsea. Four times of reaching the semis in the past, and now the finals, this one should have been tailored fit for them. Yet they failed. They have not won any trophy this season, they failed to defend their titles, they lost their fiery coach earlier in the season, and they could lose more fans.

I am just happy for Manchester United. They deserve to win both the English Premier League and the Champions’ League this season. Cristiano Ronaldo is awesome too. The young Portuguese is truly deserving of all the awards he won. Had they lost, his miss on the box would have been remembered forever. I can also cheer for the team, since they are one of my top 5 faves. Cheers to Manchester United! Still nothing for Chelsea!

From The Archives

In the past, when I hop into a blogsite (a personal one) for the first time, I usually read the latest 2 or 3 posts and then crawl to the first post. I’d like to read how the blogger started out. I also like to dig into the archives if a title interests me. I don't hop and leave. I read and comment too. I don’t comment on long past post because the author might not be able to notice it. Comments are only reserved to the latest 5 posts. But it’s just me. My commenting practice may not be the same as yours.

And if you visit here, maybe you’d only read the latest post or whatever is shown on the first page. But if you’d like to read some of my past posts, I’d refer you to 15 out of my 280 posts. These are not really my best posts, but these got the most interactions from my readers.

1. Hit List – This is about an experience me and my wife encountered while getting our NBI clearance.
2. Oh When I Was In love With You – Young love that changed the behavior of a young man.
3. The Way We Blog – This is my second year anniversary post. It kind of reflects my own blogging experiences for the past two years
4. I am A Cebuano Blogger - The post declaring myself a cebuano blogger.
5. The Problogging Experience - 25 things I learned in blog monetization.
6. Nothing – Writers' block? I just wrote about nothing, when I had nothing to write
7. Where’s The Eject Button? - Sometimes, we want to get rid of people out from our lives. But later on, we realize that they play a very important role in shaping us.
8. Old friends – I was just reminiscing my childhood friends.
9. A year Ago - My first anniversary post, and the reasons why I blog.
10. Prom Night – My first time experience of JS Prom. I escaped from my partner. Crazy me!
11. Lovers And Friends – This is just some love stories.
12. Stained Gift - I sincerely thanked the friend who gave me a gift not knowing that it has stains on it.
13. Termites and Troubles - Termites ate away 6 steps of our stairs.
14. The Library: A Love Story – It's my own dad's love story and how he met my mom.
15. Bold As A Bear - It’s about my classmate who was kicked out in high school, but fared excellently after that experience.

A Surprise For Mama On Mothers’ Day

As of today, I still don’t know what to give to my mom and to my mother-in-law this Mothers’ Day. I am thinking (even blogging) of a surprise for her. What should I give her?

AskMen.com came up with a list of 9 Worthwhile Mothers’ Day Surprises. Here they are:

1. Create a photo album of old memories
2. Make a tribute video
3. Offer her some spa treatment
4. Plan a weekend getaway for her
5. Take her out for a private, formal dinner
6. Make her dinner
7. Enroll her in an interesting class
8. Help around the house
9. Buy her a gift

We don’t have that much pictures and we don’t have videos either so items 1 and 2 are out. Though it’s a very creative idea, I just lack the resources right now. Mom is not into some beauty treatment and she will not go to a weekend getaway without dad. Taking her out to a formal dinner would not work as she might complain of the exorbitant food prices. To make her dinner may work. I’ll do that for mom-in-law, as she lives very near to us. No. 7 will not work because there is no interesting class that I know of. Helping around the house, is good only at that time when we were teens. And mom won’t appreciate it since she expects us to help all year round.

So, I’m left with number 9. I’ll buy her a gift, probably a bouquet of flowers arranged by my wife. But throughout these years, my mom would always prefer time spent with her than any other gifts we can afford.

Yeah, that precious time, is better than diamonds for Mama. Happy Mothers' Day to my mom and to all the mothers in this world. May 11 is Mothers' Day.

Of Kids' Summer Camps

Not so long ago, I looked up to summer with much anticipation. You know the feeling when school’s out, and you don’t have to wake up early everyday. But there is a particular week that I really looked forward to: It is the Kids’ Summer Camps.

It is the time of the year for kids to troop to our campsite in the hills. I grew up with these kinds of camps organized by our church denomination. During schooldays, I make it a point to drop a peso a day at my piggybank just to save for this event. The savings may not be enough, but add to the points I earned at Sunday School, my camp fee is secure.

I was eight years old when I first joined a kids’ camp. I was quite a shy kid. But since my dad is quite popular among the camp counselors and organizers, I always get their attention, despite my efforts of ducking low. In groupings, I don’t volunteer to lead because there are other older kids around. But I always got picked whenever there were Bible quizzes and Bible Drills around. It’s almost automatic that I got to be the group’s representative. In my 3 years of attending kids’ camps, I got so many awards to boast of. And I can always narrate to kids at church nowadays about the excitement and the fun of these summer camps.

I really miss those summer camps. It’s the time of the year when I get to learn many things and meet new friends. I can just recall those lovely days, and how behave we were in the few months that follow.