Gimikera Is In

About Haloscan

2005-07-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

I finally got a Haloscan comment/trackback system implemented in my Blogger blog but at the cost of two comments. Two people had dropped by already and given positive feedback but they were unceremoniously deleted by Haloscan.

Still, I like the fact that it supports gravatars so hurray Haloscan!

2005-07-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

In Memoriam of Cardinal Sin

2005-06-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Early Tuesday morning of June 21, I was shocked to hear the news that Jaime Cardinal Sin was dead. Suffering from multiple organ failure, the former Archbishop of Manila died at Cardinal Santos, the same hospital where my best friend Lyra works as a PT.

Last Friday (June 24), my officemate Roger invited me to go to Manila Cathedral where Cardinal Sin's body was located for public viewing. We planned to go after work and we were supposed to meet Roger's college friend there. We left at around 8:30 P.M. from Ortigas and arrived at Quiapo about an hour later.

Quiapo Church was decorated with banderitas (colorful banners) as part of the celebration of St. John the Baptist's feastday. We couldn't help ourselves from taking photos of the centuries-old church.

Where's Jocie?

We then took a ride to Intramuros and got off in front of Manila Cathedral. I had expected to see a lot more people attending Cardinal Sin's wake especially since he was a fairly controversial figure in his time.

For me (and probably most of us in our generation) thought only of Jaime Cardinal Sin whenever the term Cardinal or Archbishop ever comes up. And why wouldn't we know him when he figured prominently in two EDSA Revolutions and was cited in the Reader's Digest as having one of the most ironic names in terms of chosen careers (Cardinal + Sin, get it?).

Yet above all these, Cardinal Sin represents the monolithic influence of the Catholic Church on the destiny of the Philippines.

My last encounter with Cardinal Sin. The first was during EDSA Dos.

Jaime Cardinal Sin may have passed away but those with positions of responsibility in the Catholic Church will, either covertly or overtly, still have a certain amount of control over the course of history of this country.

My 24th Birthday

2005-06-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Mood: Still mournful about the loss of my Smart Amazing Phone but also blessed for being able to celebrate another amazing year

I was pretty excited about celebrating my 24th birthday at the Gateway Mall, the newly-opened high-end mall boasting of an elegant steel and glass architecture.

I was even more excited because I got to reserve a place in the most beautiful spot in Gateway Mall -- the Oasis. Imagine a 450-square meter floating garden complete with flora and fauna as well as 60-foot Royal Palms and Japanese koi residing in its fishpond. This lush tropical paradise is being managed by Pizza Hut Bistro, the first of its kind in the country.

The open-air garden called The Oasis in Gateway Mall is home to these mighty Royal Palms

Together with our neighbor Meg and her friend Beth, as well as Joseph's girlfriend Janice, we rode the LRT to Araneta Center-Cubao station, which was already conveniently linked to Gateway Mall. We were several minutes early so we could have time to enjoy the scenery at the Oasis.

My family at The Oasis

Capturing the beauty of The Oasis

The Oasis was soaking wet because of the rain that suddenly poured. The manager told me that the people who were dining there had to run for cover inside the mall and they had to finish their meals standing up since Pizza Hut Bistro was already filled to capacity. Incidentally, June 19 was also Father's Day so I was glad that I had reserved our place the week before.

Lyra and Anthony came together and we also took the time to snap some silly pictures in The Oasis.

Leo then arrived and I didn't recognize him at first because of the huge amount of weight he lost. Jasper arrived and he was shocked too by the dramatic weight loss of Leo, whom he met way back during their ROTC days.

Eloisa came to Gateway Mall straight from work (she had overtime that Sunday) and we shared the same fate yesterday since her wallet also got stolen. The crook had managed to open her backpack unnoticed and took her wallet. Fortunately, her cellphone was secure in her pocket.

Maui arrived and I found out that she was living in a condo in Makati with her brother who was taking up Nursing. I told her about the open climb to Mount Daguldol and she expressed her interest in joining future activities like that.

Joseph and Meg got a kick out of taking photos of themselves using the murals behind us as their background.

I like the effect of the mural since it gives the illusion of having another restaurant behind us when in reality, it's just a wall.
(It's really just a tarpaulin decorated wall!)

The crew found out that I was celebrating my birthday so after they served the dessert sampler, they also served a (free) slice of cheesecake with a lighted candle and decorated it with chocolate syrup letters "Happy Bday." To top it all off, they sang a wacky birthday song that really made my night.

Time to blow out the candle!

After all the great food, great conversation, and great company, it was time to go home, filled with thoughts about how to celebrate my 25th birthday next year.

To all those who went, thank you for coming!

Update: I pointed out a Smart Amazing Phone to my mother and she urged me to get another one. The saleslady sweetened the deal by including a 16Mb memory card and I couldn't resist...can't wait to fill my new SAP with new memories! =)

Logging on

2005-04-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

This is Gimikera logging on! I'm quite new to the blogging community so please bear with me as I learn the ropes.

After a long hiatus I have finally found the time to create a blog. A lot of adventures have happened and I hope to post entries (and upload pics and videos) about them soon. For now, let me sum up my activities for the past few months.

I got employed in Software Ventures International located in JMT Condominium, Ortigas Center, last October 2004. I was a Content Editor for the True Advantage project and I looked for news articles for our clients. It was my first time to be in the night shift and I had no problem adjusting especially I am a night owl.

Unfortunately, the project got terminated because the client was no longer paying the company. We were given one month's notice in January 2005. My last day there was on February 4, 2005 -- the day when Tita Connie and Tita Carol arrived in Manila. I was already in the morning shift then so I was able to accompany Mama and Tito Jun in picking them up from the airport.

I saw Tita Carol for the first time in years and resembled Lola except that she had black hair. She shared a story on how she argued with Tito Jess into allowing her to come here to the Philippines. She pointed out that he was able to have his vacation here and she wanted to experience it as well. Her final argument was that she wanted to visit the Philippines to help her decide if she wanted to live here when they get retired. Tito Jess finally relented and she booked a flight to the Philippines and got to use her frequent flyer miles so she got a good deal.

About a month earlier, Tito Jun arrived on January 14 and we also had our share of adventures with him. I'm backtracking here a bit so I hope you don't mind.