Happy Birthday Papa!

Hi Papa,

Sheng ri kuai le! That is Happy Birthday in Mandarin. You should have turned 62 years old today. I wonder if the age meter goes back to zero once you’re in eternal life. Judy went to mass today at Don Bosco Chapel in Makati. Of course, the mass was intended for you. We supposed to attend it after bringing Chloe to school however I was dead tired so she attended mass alone. I know in my heart that you were a good man during your mortal life and I hope that it gets acknowledged in your present dwelling place. I will continue to pray for your soul as long as I live. Please continue to watch over us and whisper to the BIG BOSS to guide us, keep us healthy, free from harm’s way and continue throwing us trials and challenges to make us better persons. Do visit us in our dreams so we’d know how you’re doing.

We love you and we miss you so much!

Your son, DyLac

Introduction to Intramuros

The plan today was to introduce the family to Intramuros, Manila where the famous landmark Fort Santiago is located. Our P150 escapade (w/o fuel) brought us to the following sites:

1- Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier

2- The Rizal Shrine

3- Baluarte de Santa Barbara

4- Almacenes Reales

5- Dulaang Rajah Soliman

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SIGE KUHA

A family escapade won't be complete without our precious pictures. Three hundred pictures were taken from 3pm to 5pm which was a combination of portrait and landscape. The Nikon D40 again proved its worth and an opportunity for me to practice my skill as well as a de-stress exercise.

DI KO NAGAWA

We wanted to ride a calesa (horse drawn carriage) but cost prevented us. The price was p50 per head and you'd go around a single 400 meter loop. We felt it was not worth it. We also wanted to watch a film show scheduled at 430pm but we stayed there until 5pm but the show didn't materialize. We just thought the operator was late but apparently he was absent.

The cost to bond with the family is inexpensive. You just have to invest in time and effort. The return on investment is priceless.

The Gathering Place

O'ahu, Hawaii
Location 21°28′N 157°59′W / 21.467°N 157.983°W / 21.467; -157.983
Area 596.7 sq. mi.
Rank 3rd largest Hawaiian Island
Highest point: Mount Ka'ala 4,003 ft (1,220.1 m)
Population 905,034 (as of 2008)
Density 1,468/sq. mi. (567/km²)

My mother, CSL is now in O'ahu, Hawaii. She's been there for the past 3 months staying with my Aunt Lu. (If you're reading this entry Aunt Lu and Unc Dong, words are not enough to say how grateful we are for your support to Mama during this period of adjustment). She currently works for a Catholic Pre-school which is about 10 minute walk from Aunt Lu's place.

Anima Christi

(This is my wife JML's fave gospel song. I like it too that's why it is an entry in my site)

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, give me strength

Hear me Jesus, hide me in Thy wounds
That I may never leave Thy side
From all the evil that surrounds me, defend me
And when the call of death arrives, bid me come to Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints forever

Mandarin Lessons, Take Two

After 6 months in hiatus, I've started attending Mandarin (Chinese) lessons again. The lessons had to stop because of unexpected changes in my life. So unexpected that I'm still trying to cope up with the loss. I reckon I already paid 25% of the total enrollment fee amounting to P3,500 for 21 hours. The school is called Luke and Wendy's Language school located in Legaspi Village. It's about a 15 minute walk from our office in Salcedo Village. Better to walk than take the car becasue of the traffic, if you have the energy to do so.

LAO TZE
My new teacher is a Chinese native. The real one, probably born in mainland China. Not like me, a fake Chinese, with strong Chi physical features but don't speak a word of Chinese, that is before attending Mandarin class. Lao Tze's name is Iris. She gave me her Chinese name but it didn't register in my mind. I was surprised to attend her 3rd session because I was just warming up my seat when she already gave a seatwork!

YI-ER-SAN-ZI-WU (1-2-3-4-5)
We were supposed to study numbers yesterday but she was not around so classes had to be cancelled. I just wish they texted me so I didn't have to go to school. I saw a classmate, a white female who's name I learned was Natalie. I have 5 more classmates so this should be fun!

There are 7 more sessions to go and I'm hoping to learn more basic Mandarin words and phrases. The whole Mandarin course consists of 6 modules and I shall assess after the first module if I should proceed further. This is exciting. It's actually a breather for me as well as a for of networking.

SBC tromps JRC

Hi Papa!

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Your alma mater San Beda College completed a historic 3 peat at the expense of Jose Rizal College. They trounced JRC 3 games to 1. I didn't get to watch any of the games but your grandson B5 watched some of the games and kept me abreast. In fact, he gave me the usual blow-by-blow account.

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Their dynasty is about to expire though as their prized center Sam Ekwe played his last game as a Red Lion. There's no player in their current roster who can fill in the big shoes that the Nigerian will vacate. My assessment is that at the very least, they'll make it to the final four.

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Keep reading my site!

Ateneo is it!

(September 26, 2008)

It's official, Ateneo de Manila University is the 71st UAAP season king of men's basketball senior edition. The basketball team trounced defending champions De La Salle University two game to none. They were the best candidate to win the award and proved that not even their arch rival can get in the way.

SO STRONG
The Blue Eange team is so strong that they can probably beat a UAAP star player selection. In their player roster is Most Valuable Player Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Mythical 5 guard Chris Tiu, Defensive Player of the year Nonoy Baclao, Rookie of the Year Ryan Buenafe, some non awardee players capable of scoring double digits night after night and then a couple of effective role players.

BACK-TO-BACK
After the euphoria from the celebration has subsided, the next big question is if they can make it back to back. In Y2009, the core team is still intact save for 23 year old superstar Chris Tiu hence they can still power their way to a repeat and probably even a three peat.

Go La Salle!!!

Is Armstrong's arm still strong?

(September 17, 2008)

I'm talking about cycling god's Lance Armstrong who recently announced that he's going out of retirement and attempt to seek his 8th Tour de France title. At age 37, he's no spring chicken anymore. He'll be battling it out with men at least a decade younger than him.

Can he make a comeback in the sport that he dominated? Let's stay tuned and we'll know by during the year of the Ox (Y2009).

The Donut Story

(September 19, 2008)

We just learned today that Go Nuts donuts set up a 4 sq.m space at the second floor of WalterMart Mall in Makati. They started early this week. The big question is - will they be able to recoup their investment?

Around July 2007, we explored the possibility of franchising a Mister Donut store and place it is WalterMart Mall in Makati. We submitted the necessary requirements and passed all the required interviews only to be advised that the location is NOT profitable. At best, we've be earning P10,000 a month for almost half a million investment. The mall gets P27,000 a month for the rent so they make more money. If it were the other way around, we'd probably be celebrating our first year anniversary. The 2% return on investment is actually good however the return on investment pegged at 5 years is bad reason why we abandoned the idea.

Going back to the question, will Go Nuts recoup their investment? If they are still in WM Mall 3 years from now then they probably made money.

Cherry Cute Cute

(September 12, 2008)

Imagine going around Tarlac City on a cute front wheel drive 3 banger that definitely contains melamine but won't pose as a hazard to the passengers. Today we bought a booklet of tickets at the local parish raffle were the grand prize is a 2008 Cherry QQ subcompact car. The cute China made car retails for P318,000.

I read a book in college which says if you really, really want something, you should plan as if you already have it. So if we win this car, we'd sell the Chinese made auto, keep our Jap made auto, invest the amount is stocks or mutual funds - 30% allot for MC's college education, 30% for B5's education, 20% for the family travel next year and the balance goes back to the church.

If we don't win, at the very least we were able to help the church with their projects. It's a win win situation and that gives us more reasons to buy more tickets.

My Fourth Dream about Papa

That I miss my father is an understatement to the infinite power. I dreamt about him again last night. It was the usual dream - I was talking to him and he was flashing his winning smile, the difference this time is that I got to hug him REAL TIGHT! He's always happy in all my dreams which makes me wonder if this is a sign that he's in heaven. I guess he is. I know he is. I pray that he is. I love you, Papa.

Ilocano 101

Ti ayat ti masya nga baro

Ken balasang nataina

Uray man uray man uray man

Haan unay nga nadonya

The lyrics came from the Eraserheads hit song titled Toyang. One paragraph of the song is in Ilocano and not sure what it exactly means. Here are some of the Ilocano words that I learned:

Greetings

Naimbag nga malen - Good Morning

Naimbag na adlaw - Good Afternoon

Naimbag nga rabii - Good Evening

Courtesy

Agngina ak la unay - Maraming Salamat

Intayon mangan - Halika na kumain

Pasensya kayon apo - Pasensya na po

Basic Questions

Anya iti nagan mo? - What is your name?

Manu iti tawen mon? - How old are you?

Paggigyan nam? - Where do you live?

Directions

Idiay - Doon

Ditoy - Dito

Dita - Diyan

It would be good to learn a new dialect aside from Tagalog and Kapampangan. Learning Ilocano completes the three dialects that the province of Tarlac uses. This would be a good preparation for my ambition in life - to join Tarlac's political foray.

Month of Subscription

They say that impulse buying is not good and I completely agree. When I was single and even until my early years in marriage, I was a self confessed impulse buyer. I bought a sub compact handgun that I actually didn't need almost a decade ago. If I opted to save the amount, placed it in mutual funds, the figure would have at least doubled. In my recent international trip, the impulse buying spree became active again and bought some stuff which I actually haven't used like a bluetooth handsfree kit, a camera cleaner, bike jersey (my 6th jersey), bike gloves (my 3rd pair) and a Honda Civic EX emblem. Sayang pero nag enjoy ako nung binili ko. Reality struck when we were paying the credit card bills.

MONEY SENSE

This month, we subscribed to2 magazines on impulse - Money Sense and Reader's Digest. For Money Sense, we just renewed our subscription. Early this month, I was wondering why they haven't sent the July-August issue and when I checked, I learned that my subscription has already ended. I sent an email to the publisher and this kind man in the person of Mr. Nonoy Torrijos called me and told me that my subscription had expired. He went to my office to give the July-Aug issue and collected almost P700 for the renewal. That's what I call personalized service.

READER'S DIGEST

When we were growing up, we had an RD subscription at home. We had a bookshelf filled to the brim with RD magazines. I used to read All in a day's work, Campus Comedy, Points to Ponder, Drama in Real Life and challenge myself in the vocabulary. I recently learned that my wife belongs to an RD family as well so it didn't take a lot of convincing for us to shell out almost P1600 for an annual subscription. It comes with an alarm clock and a chance to win a Volvo S40.

I wonder how much I'd be able to sell the Volvo S40 so I can get a BMW 320i, on impulse!

Retirement: 20 / 20 Rule

Finance gurus say that the retirement rule is 20 - 20. This means that 20 years before your target retirement date, you should be saving for THE DAY.
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TARGET DATE
My target age for retirement is 55 years old and that's 19 years from now. We've started saving last year and have various "small" sources. Most are forced savings therefore we can't touch them until a certain period. By the time I retire, the kids would have graduated from college and would be on their own. My last day at work should be December 31, 2027.
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TARGET AMOUNT
When I was in college, during my finaman or financial management subject, I computed that I need P10 million to retire comfortably. I guess I made a mistake in computing as I didn't foresee that inflation would hit 14%. Besides, back then, I didn't give a hoot about inflation. Inflation for me then was a term used to fix a basketball that needed some air. :) My new target is to have P40 million in liquid assets or a monthly income of P200 thousand from various sources by 2027.
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It's a huge amount indeed and I actually haven't even scratched the surface. Add to that is the fact that our family is just starting so there are tons of bills to pay, insurance, children's education, the list goes on. Will I meet the goal? Only time can tell.

Arriva Avida!

Avida Land is making headway with their Makati West project. Located between Yakal and Mayapis street and covering one block, tower one's foundation is complete and they've already started with the ground floor.
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When we purchased our units via pre-selling mid last year, we were told that the 300 something unit tower one is 70% sold out. It was initially offered to Ayala Corp employees. Lucky them! We got a 10th floor unit with a Manila Bay view. It was not an ideal floor for us (currently living on the 18th floor of a condo in Salcedo Village) but what we got is acceptable.
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Our loan in BPI should kick in this month. Seems like they're a bit delayed. Not sure if it's the sales agent's fault or the bank. How much does this delay cost? I was recently told that the annual interest increased from 10.99% to 11.75%. Somebody didn't do their job properly and we were charged additional 0.76%. Only in the Philippines. And the messenger of the bad news even had the gall to lecture me about inflation reason why the interest went up. Anyway, I knew that the situation was similar to a hostage taking (since Avida Land and BPI both belong to the Ayala Corp) and there was no recourse but to pay the ransom.
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The turnover is Y2010. That's 2 full years from now. We're excited to move to our own home. As for now, home sweet home will be at a rented condo in Salcedo Village.

Will this be my next UV project?

Last Sunday on the way to the farm, I chanced upon an 80s Toyota Mini Cruiser at a vehicle lot. It's called a mini cruiser because it's big brother is the mighty late 70s Toyota Land Cruiser (first generation). Based on my assessment, the vehicle used to be a Philippine Army service vehicle hence that the utility vehicle (UV) is used is an understatement.

My novice analysis on cars tells me that I'll be spending in the the neighborhood of P70,000 to make the vehicle serviceable. Here's the list of possible expenses:
1. New Toyota 12R engine = P15,000
2. New set of all terrain tires = P15,000
3. Body works & painting = P15,000
4. Seat upholstery & canvas top = P 6,000
5. Registration = P 6,000
6. Miscellaneous expenses = P10,000
TOTAL EXPENSES = P67,000

I called the owner through his celfone and he said he'd sell the junk jeep to me for P50,000. Therefore the project would cost about P120,000 without airconditioning and unforeseen expenses which only a real mechanic can tell. I therefore conclude that it is not a wise project. A better option would be to get a 90s Suzuki Samurai or a 90s Mitsubishi Pajero which would cost in the neighborhood of P130,000.

Meet Tatang Carlos

Carlos Bautista is a second generation farmer in Barangay Balanti. He and his children plant corn, tomato, eggplant and other vegetables in our farm. Our landowner-tenant relationship started more than 5 years ago. I like our relationship because his accounting of income and expenses, though not scientific, is clear and accurate. He values integrity and one of the few tenants who takes care of the expenses. Normally, the landowner pays in advance the expenses - seeds and fertilizer.

Today, he told me that he's going to retire from farming and endorsed his children - Dado, Dhod and Nick to deal with the family. I just hope that the children are as trust worthy as the old man. Tatang Carlos turned 73 years old this year.

Meet Cong Cenon

Cenon Mendiola is a 61 year old male from Barangay Balanti, Tarlac City. He is happily married with 12 children (or more) and 36 grand children. He is a boatman in Brgy. Tibag which is an adjacent barangay from where he lives. Everyday, he ferries people across a 400 meter wide river and the passengers pay P5 per person. His boat can carry up to 6 passengers and the ride will take about 2 minutes. On a good day he earns P200 but on the average only earns P100.

I've known him since my teenage years because he used to drive our jeep and does alot of errands for my parents. He together with his ka-barrio attended my father's wake in May. Everytime I see him, I'd give him pang merienda as advised by my father. Last Sunday, I gave him more than pang merienda so he'd have a hearty meal with his family that day. I told him not to use the money to buy alcohol to which he obliged. He told me that my old man knows him better than I do because he doesn't drink.

This is my small way of giving back to the less fortunate. The next time I see him, I'll give him pang merienda and some clothes.

FN: Cong is a Kapampangan word for an older brother. It is used as a sign of respect.

Death Becomes Him

Everybody is saying how year 2008 is a very lucky year. Olympics opened 8-8-08 and in the Chinese way of life, eight is a lucky number. Months in advance, event sites are booked because everybody wants a piece of triple 8.

While there are four and a half months before the lucky year 2008 ends and a lot of things may still happen, I've already concluded that it is a sad year for me. The untimely demise of my father due to a natural cause is a big blow to a closely knit family like ours. We relatively live a simple life, just enough monetary resource but overwhelming with love. I pray that the love strengthens with the loss of a pillar.

Long Time No Post

It's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted an entry in my blog. I'm at a challenging phase in my life were I have to sacrifice certain things that I enjoy doing for a greater good or at least that's how I view it. Mountain biking has to take a back seat. My blog entry is suffering in consistency. Web surfing is limited and no time to practice taking my precious pictures. Practically all my sources of anti stress are taking a breather. As a result, the stress level is at an all time high. Admittedly, I am outside my comfy zone right now and just surviving on a day-to-day basis. I hope months down the road, I can look back at this day at this blog entry and say that - I SURVIVED!!!