My Extended Family: The Cruz Family

My friends from college were all present at Mela's wedding and it was a good thing. I got to talk to people I really miss a lot and two of my best friends in college was there with their kid.

Congrats Mel and Edjo!

Reminiscing was given but the chance to reconnect was even more spectacular. Lisa is my twin Sister, we had the same thing for English Literature when we were in college. She impressed me in a lot of ways and she was born on the same day and year as I was so do you see the coincidence?! We almost did know how to finish each other's sentences and it was a delight to see her and my other best friend too.

I think I shot the first one on top right sis?! =)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, my 2 best friends from college got married. I think I have this thing for pairing up people, they kinda know how to get together after I tell a thing or two about them. Call me an unprofessional bridge of sorts but that's how I probably end up LOL. Anyway, my sis worries about me too much but I guess she does have a lot to really worry about me because I did not have that much direction in the past. But I think I turned out pretty good huh?! LOL

My other best friend is Arvie, I don't even know if he treats me like his best bud too but I do that to him... I don't care! LOL. He's an airhead sometimes and I do consequently know how he thinks already. I know it has been pretty long since we have talked but if we do, I know how he is and he's really good at what he's been doing. Both of them are civil engineers so you kinda know how busy their lives are now. Maybe they are not that perfect; but for me they will forever be good friends. Their kid is my godson too so I think we'd probably be seeing each other really often no matter how busy our lives are. I'll be praying for them too so they get to have the same luck I have too this year. Don't worry sis you'll be doin great I know!

Plus the Cruz's family are quite close to my heart. We kinda bonded when we were in college and I kinda miss em already. Ara the Janet Jackson look a like =) , RZ who also got married the other day with Babielyn (I think?! LOL) and Mommy and Daddy... they were such a cool bunch when I was in college and I really darn miss em a lot. =( awe.... I missed going to their wedding because I was so busy with photo shoots. I guess that is one thing that I did regret doing this week, I could have seen them all including Nanay from Caloocan. Hayyy! =( I also miss Liza's Mom who always was there to help me in the Engineering days... aw =(

Congrats Arzie and Bie! =)
Sorry wasn't able to go there but I'm sure you guys had fun on your special day!

*note all pics are stolen from my sis Liza's cam and grabbed from facebook =P hope you don't mind sis!

The Art of Moving

As you can see, moving here in the Philippines is totally different. It is triple hard I guess and everything is informal. Even if you do not know people they will try so hard to still help what ever and where ever they can. Movers come in different packages and in Manila; it is so primitive that they just dump everything on 6 to 10 wheeler trucks. From Cabinets, Drawers, whole beds, tables, chairs and ship anchors are just but a regular site to see. It emanated from a local term BAYANIHAN which literally means heroism. In regular terms, it is how people help other people. It is inculcated in our culture but it would be nice if there are corporations that do this professionally. Who would want their things missing all of a sudden when moving from one apartment to the other anyway?!




People should start being civilized and the way to do it is by handling things with care. I remember the time when I helped my Aunt move from East of Manila to another city in the South; she was already packing lots of clutter and the movers thought it was trash. There were actually antique items from the 30's and 40's on the packages and they almost had thrown it out. Imagine thousands of Philippine pesos worth of designer furniture almost ended up just thrown away by people who do not know what they were doing. That could have spelled disaster and loss of property already. Sometimes we should never let other people handle what we treasure because they are not capable enough to handle educated decisions. The question is; are there moving services in the Philippines that can do this?! I guess not!

There are no institutions here like HIREAHELPER which handles people who know what they are specifically doing. From landscaping, moving, cleaning and everyday labor; the list goes on with the expertise they can handle. With that, I hope these moving companies try to reach out in this part of the globe so we get the same services they have in the United States. It would really be a big relief on a very burdensome task for regular people like us. I envy they have professionals who can do this in the US. If you need to, just make sure you give them a call. You'll end up happier in that new home you love!

Mooore Philippine News Rundown!

In Philippine news, here's what's new!

92 percent of people from Metro Manila do not want the RH bill or what we usually call the family planning bill because the Catholic church I guess had influenced their minions to resist this one.

The Department of Trade and Industry just released a suggested retail price list for cement. This includes local and international brands because it apparently has gone over the top in prices. They are planning to control it like local commodities.

Rupert Halmed of Sunday Times UK died of a road side bomb in Afghanistan. Hey that is international news already LOL.

Transport protests were done with the implementation of the RFID that was planned to be installed on all vehicles. LTO is under huge scrutiny because of this.

Lee Van Corteza was able to enter the top 16 players in the Predator Billiard Tour. Hopefully he will enter the finals too. Its been too long since we got an award in this sport we excel in.

2 NPA Rebels were shot dead in Sorsogon, a province in the island of Mindanao. Good job whoever has done that!

A shuffle in the cabinet members happened again yesterday by Malacanang. Duque got the CSC and the undersecretaries got the post for DOH.

2 carnappers shot dead in Quezon City. It's about time to kill those darn people who steal cars!

Prices of bread expected to increase in February. What's new! Almost all prices increased anyway!

I'll try doing this everyday so I can update people from outside the country.

Remembering Typhoon ONDOY

We had a couple of months watching the rain pour down in Manila that flooded most of the eastern part of the city. I believe in divine intervention but it never happened here. It ravaged most of my office mates houses and trashed all the appliances, cars and livelihood they have in the PASIG - RIZAL Area. It was a nightmare for all of us and I wish there was something we could have done to make life better. Our house was not spared because part of the roof gave in. Rain water washed in the ceiling and rendered our piano unusable, pictures wet and sofa disfigured. I was really not into handyman jobs so I employed the work of professionals to do the deed. I was really not happy with the existing Metal Roofing we had so I had it redone. I was uncomfortable sleeping because I kept thinking about the others. I was even lucky on such an unfortunate day.

Things that I did not even see on our roof came down. Imagine black mold crumbling down together with the rain water. It made the place doubly filthy. I know I had to make them cement based or stainless treated. Roofing contractors agreed about the suggestions I made and got the best there is from the market. Installed it a week after the typhoon and made guarantees that we would not experience it again. What a good day to start over and I hope we all start rebuilding our lives and never lose hope that everything will be fine.