Batman Begins...Again?

I watched "Batman Begins" with Sam and Ina. It was a good movie. I wish they had started the whole franchise with this rather than the previous ones. Even the original movie with Michael Keaton comes short of the movie directed by Chris Nolan.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to best mom anyone can ask for! I'm glad she and I share the same tastes in food. Hehehe! We ate at a Japanese Restaurant and ordered our usual favorites: teppanyaki beef, tonkatsu bento, miso soup and tempura. And of course, what Japanese meal would be complete without sushi and wasabe. I think I put a little too much of the latter because my nose was dripping right after eating the former.

Better/Off

How do you react when your boss tells you (as a supervisor trainee) are more visibly doing your job that those who are already supervisors?

At first, I thought she was joking. Then, I suspected she was just flattering me and saying that to other supervisors she was talking too so that they would feel inspired to do more. And when I began to think about it more, I realized that she was right. After all, they were already secure with their jobs; I wasn't.

I've never really believed I was better than anyone else. I don't like comparing myself to others but that's really hard to do living with 70 billion people in the world. From the moment I was born until the day I was promoted to supervisor trainee, it's been re-affirmed time and time again. I am different; I am better. Not everyone but most people.

Maybe it's the experiences that I've had or the opportunities I've been given, but I know I'm not like most people. Whether it's the fact I speak English well or the kind of friends I have or my preference in food, I am different. I don't mean to be elitist; I don't mean to separate myself from the masses. Heck, I like to believe I'm normal, that I can fade into the hundreds of faces in a crowded street. But I can't help but realize that I'm apart from it.

I am not like the other people who toil 9 to 5 for a salary that barely meets my needs. I am not an avid watcher of soap operas. I do not eat adobo or sinigang or galungong on a regular basis. I have friends who are single and are looking to find love when most people our age are already married and having people.

And with this realization comes the questions: What have I been doing in my life? Why haven't I taken advatage of my opportunities? Where will I be 10, 20 years from now?

Sadly, the answer is I don't know. I feel guilty that I'm not living up to my full potential. I also don't know what that is. A politician? A businessman? A teacher? All I know is I'm supposed to be better than this. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I guess I'll find out soon.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

We just watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith which turned out to be a good movie. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie look great together although I found that there was no chemistry between them. They were more like friends than anything else.

Angelina was sensual in this movie. More sensual in the film "Original Sin" with Antonio Banderas. I guess those pouting lips and chubbiness helped push her away from the "drug addict" image I've had of her. Unfortunately, her facial expression doesn't really seem to convey sadness very well.

But over all, it was a good movie. It may not win any Academy Awards but it's something to do when you're bored with nothing to do.

My Day Off

It's my day off today. I feel kind of disappointed that it's only for two days. I wish I could have more but I know that even then I would feel as if it weren't enough. I have a lot of things I could do but I haven't been able to get myself to do it. I think it's just the laziness in me.

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My brother celebrated his birthday last June 9; he turned 25. As in the previous year, he decided to lie low and not make a big deal out of it. I still haven't gotten him a present. He's always complaining about the fact he doesn't get any surprises. Usually because we always give him money or let him choose what he wants then we but it for him.

As his brother, you'd think I'd know what he would like. I do but they are either too expensive or detrimental to his health. I could buy him a new lighter, a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of liquor. But I don't want to encourage his vices.

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Tobie is coming home from the US. After 4 weeks of touring the West Coast, visiting relatives and participating at a Con, he's finally coming back. Tis time to game on! Have safe trip back, my friend.

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It's my day off but I can't stop thinking about work. Before I left the office, I was acting like a total idiot, dancing around, singing and harassing my agents. I guess I was just too happy about it being nmy day off. Now that I'm at home, I'm pretty much trying to decide if I should work on my unofficial assigment.

My boss's boss wants me to make a proposal for the suggestion I made about using a third-party fax sender. You see, a lot of the time, our customers are requesting that faxes be sent to them. As a rule, we don't offer that service; we send it through email. Or rather, the client doesn't. But to make our customer's happy, we do it. Unfortunately, we're wasting a lot of paper, ink and time. Not to mention that our fax is litterally being held together by scotch tape and thread.

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I spent the day looking for something good to buy. I hated the fact that there was no "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" Extended Version Set here. Nowhere was there a video shop selling it. Most of their inventory was crap.

I did find something I had been looking for in a long time: Transformers the Movie. Hehehe! I've been looking for this film for a long time. I got a copy for P100. Though the image wasn't too detailed, it blew me away again. I felt like a kid, smiling a geeky smile as I watched the Autobots fight the Decepticons.

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The Battle for Middle Earth game this Friday got post-poned until next week. Gerbert and I had other business to attend to. Too bad, because my business (family dinner) didn't go through. So I'm at home doing nothing. Well, not necessarily nothing. I'm updating my blog, researching on my office project and figuring out my company's stock option plans.

The latter is giving me a headache!

Happy Birthday, Adrian!

I'd like to say happy birthday to my brother, Adrian. Although we may not agree on a lot of things (as brothers are wont to be), we get along fine (most of the time). I'm glad he's my brother. I don't think I could as for a better one.

Gondor Knights Rule!

I just came home from a game with my officemates. We played "Battle for Middle-Earth" a real-time strategy-based game based on J. R. R. Tolkien's book, The Lord of the Rings. In it, you can command the armies of Rohan, Gondor, Isengaard and Mordor. Each army has it's own strengths and weaknesses. We played 2 against 3, with myself in the larger group. I chose Gondor for all three rounds.

In the first round, we lost. Mainly because the side of good (Rohan and Gondor) was limited to 100 units per person while the side of evil (Isengaard and Mordor) were twice as many. And though there were 3 of us on one side, we were beat because Gerbert and Jeff were experienced players. Also, my computer wasn't working as fast as theirs.

In the second round, we were beaten yet again. Though we were gouped in a team, we weren't playing as a team. Each of us was too preoccupied with developing our citadels. And due to the superior numbers of our enemies, were were brought down one after the other.

But on the third and final round, we managed to bring the two other players to theri knees. We cooperated and worked as a team should. I realized then how important team work is to meeting your goals. Gerbert and Jeff were aghast at how my knights routed them at every turn.

So what did I learn from all this game play?

• stay close to your allies
• learn to work together, using each other's strengths and weaknesses
• take your time, don't expand into areas your soldiers can't defend
• though you may not be in the frontlines, there is a reason why you're back-up
• harass your enemies, make them pay for every inch of ground they get

Hehehe! All that reading, especially Sun Tzu's Art of War finally paid off. I love this game.

Happy Birthday, Mils!

Happy Birthday to my godson, Mils Avi Santos! I can't believe how much he's grown. But then, I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. That was mainly my fault, of course. But I'm glad to see he is doing well and is cute as ever. He looks so much like his dad Marco.

This cute little kid turned 2 today. As a treat, we invited his mom and his sister out to dinner at North Park to celebrate. Being with them was a new and welcome experience. Nels, their mother handled them pretty well. Seeing her in action, I just shook my head at the thought I would be able to take care of him by myself.

I've taken the idea of being a godparent very seriously. Before I said yes to Marco's request, I thought about it for week. I didn't want to be the same type of godparent most people turn out to be (i.e. just buying them gifts and presents when the time came). I recalled what the word meant in my Religion class back in highschool: someone to stand in place of his father in case anything happened to his real parents.

I took that idea very seriously. I was honored Marco thought of me as someone who he could trust to take care his son, especially now that he is away in another country. I said yes, albeit reluctantly. After all, what did I know about taking care of children?!

It saddens me that I was not there at Mil's baptismal. And I'm ashamed I wasn't there for the 2 years he was growing up. I try to console myself with the fact that he as a child, he won't rememeber or think about those times. What matters is now and the future.

To make up for it, I bought him a remote control car. It's funny because it's been a while since I've been in a toy store. I can remember going into one as a child and wishing I had the money to buy this and that. But now that I am an adult and have the money to spend...well, it seems kind of useless to spend it on such temporary things.

Anyway, I chose a blue car for Mils. Last Christmas, I bought him a red one that wasn't remote controlled. Nels tells me that he still played with it. So I knew this would definitely make him happy. I wasn't let down because when he openned it, he squealed in delight. Although I didn't get to capture the sight of him openning his present, I was able to capture him shouting "Ayy, kotse!" (Wow! A car!").

Aren't children precious?! It's funny how somethign so small can contain so much wonder and joy. As I kissed him goodbye, I promised myself that I would take care of him as if here my own and make sure to keep as much of that wonder and joy in him.

Burnt Out...?

I am not at work.

While everyone else is at the office taking calls, answering questions, and freezing because of the air-conditioning, I am at home writing for my blog. I thought it would be a good way to start my leave. I can only afford to take one, mind you. I hoped to take about a week off but the year has yet to end.

Besides, I feel kind of guilty for leaving my agents at work while I'm at home resting. But I'm not doing them a shred of good if I'm irritable and unrested. I've been going to work earlier and staying longer just to be supportive. I'm losing sleep; I end up dozzing off on the way to work and missing my stop.

Today, is my third year working in the company. Three years. Wow! And to think, I said I'd stay only for one. I guess there really isn't anything out there worth getting out of this job. Sure, they're running us ragged now, asking sacrifices and cutting corners. Still, there is a sense of an accomplishment when you meet your goals and make your customers happy.

I feel weird talking as if I've been working for more than three years. This is my first job. I can't really imagine myself doing anything else. Except maybe writing but I am in such a dry spell right now, I couldn't write to save my life. I've tried but I just can't stick to it long enough for it to work. There's just no momentum.

You'll notice it from the articles I've been writing lately. Not exactly Nobel prize material, I know. But somehow, I always thought of my blog as a place to share my thoughts that have been written down into concise and interesting articles. Right now, it's just an update of what's going on in my life...which is, sad to say, boring as heck.

No, not exactly boring. My friends have made my life interesting. I'm just having a hard time transcribing it into words. It's hard to capture that feeling and be able to convey it to your readers. That's how you tell a writer from a successful writer.

Hmmm, this is post is becoming a realization. It's been a long time since I've felt writing something this long. True, it's basically jumping from one topic to another. But at least I've got my momentum going.

I've always preferred to write at night. Soemthign about the darkness and stillness makes it easier for me to hear my thoughts. I find it amazing that I am typing out just what I want to say. It's been a while since I've felt this way. Maybe I should start fixing up my other blog...