Crowds & Conversations

        Before i start this relatively long post, let me first thank my good friend KENNA for my layout. Salamat dude, alavet!

         While driving home last night, I was listening to BNO on my car radio and I thought it be cool if I got to hang out with the boys. They sure know how to have fun and they do that every night even though they’re confined by the 4 walls of the booth they’re in from 6-10pm. With that, I started to think of the people I hang out with on a regular basis these days and I can put them into 4 different groups or cliques if you may. I have my PMs (Project Managers/Mentors), My WTFs (Weird but True Friends), my Teammates and during weekends, my Bulacan buddies. Of course I spend time with other people besides them but they are the ones that I should say, I spend most of my time with.  Since I’m lazy I’ll only write about the first two (PMs & WTFs). I’ll leave the rest for another post in the future.

PMs

        First is my Manager/Grandmaster, Rommel (i call him “Roms”) an almost if not already 30 still not married guy. A Business Man/Photographer/PM. He used to co-own the bar “6 feet Underground” and currently runs a photo and video coverage business “Cinematic Concepts” (You should check out the site, the videos are really cool). A laid-back and always “steady” type of guy, which make me really lucky to have him as my manager (I have a super-flexi work sched).

        Next is Cezar (Cezario). He is also a PM on most of the projects I’m in. mid 30s, married with kids. A jack of all trades, “madiskarte”. He also teaches at MAPUA and PUP (i think).

        Then there’s Arnold (Arn-Arn). Also a PM in my department. Early 30’s and recently married. This guy has 8 (yes, eight!) certifications. This includes microsoft, java etc.. Plus he also teaches SAP! With all that you would think that he is a bookworm/nerd, but he’s not. He’s a really cool (and really smart) guy.

          Hanging out with these guys makes me feel older and a lot younger at the same time. 4 guys talking while drinking and/or smoking usually results to a single topic, girls. We have very different types & standards but almost the same experiences with girls. Like when i was in college, we also rate girls when they pass by us. But instead of using numbers (0.0 - 4.0) somehow it has come to a point where we just say if the girl is “doable” or not. “Pwede!” means she passed and “sarap sampalin” means she failed. Having consecutive “pwede” girls usually leads to drinking and getting massages with “happy endings” after work (i’ve never tried this, i swear. haha).

WTFs

           I won’t enumerate all the members of my WTFs because they already know who they are. If I could spend all of my time with this group, I will. They are everything that one person could ever need (both Good and Bad, hehe).  Its weird how well we get along during great nights or even bad days, even weirder that we are very different yet so much the same.

            Last Friday we went to Central Pio for drinks. That night it was just me, Ron and Kenna. Like most of our talks during drinking sessions or any other time, it was about “Gym”. During the course of our conversation/debate we realized exactly what I explained in the previous paragraph. We were all amazed and happy of how things turned out for us. With this group we can be our true selves without having to worry of not being understood. For me, that is heaven. Small and seemingly insignificant choices led us to having this small and tightly-bound group and I’ll gladly make those same choices again.

Okay, it was not that long, so what?! Sue me! hahaha

RIP - RRP

after a very long week, i decided to file for VL last friday, feb 13. i’ve been busy with work since the start of the year and i needed some time off. a lot of things (work and non-work related) happened and i haven’t had the time to really let things sink in. there are only a few things i do and places i go to whenever i need to think, going to visit my dad was one of them. so, i woke up early on a cloudy and a bit gloomy friday morning, took a bath, my coffee and yosi breakfast, got in my car and started driving towards everest hills. it wasn’t very far from my place, just a 30-40 minute drive from makati (everest hills is located at susana heights).

i arrived at everest hills at around 9am. One thing that i really love about this place is the peace and quiet. the day was starting to be less gloomy and a bit more sunny by this time. like any other day that i’ve come here, there are only very few people around,most of them are the maintenance crew of the cemetery. i parked my car under a very tall tree (narra, i think) just below the hill where my father lies. close to my dad’s grave is another tree, which is very convenient because i usually spend the whole day here and its good to spend it in the shade. i sat down on the grass and leaned against the tree. Ricardo Ramon Pena, RRP. A Richard Pena is written under his name, an older half brother. He died a month after his birth. My dad was 33 then he passed away, i was 7. i’m not one for traditions but it has been somewhat a thing between me and my dad to smoke together everytime i visit. i don’t bring flowers and/or candles. just 2 sticks of marlboro reds, one for him and one for me. i know it sounds corny, but its the only thing (as far as i know) that my dad and i have in common. i didn’t have the chance to meet him when he was still alive so i can’t really know for sure how he was as a person. but judging from how much my mom loves him, i’m guessing he’s a pretty decent guy. anyways, so i lit one stick and placed it over his gravestone then i lit another one for me. now, this is usually the time when i share with him recent and significant events in my life, but i don’t have anything to share today. i just came to spend time here and relax. so i turned my ipod on and closed my eyes. The rest of the day was spent in silence and some walking around. Next thing i know, its past 5pm and starting to get dark. i don’t know about you, but i don’t like spending nights alone in a cemetery. hehe.. i stood up, gave my dad one last glance and headed towards my car. as i started to drive away i realized something, smoking isn’t the only thing we had in common. i smiled as i looked back and promised, “i’ll bring beer next time dad, i’ll bring beer”

surrender (a fresh start)

So, i’ve been fighting the urge to write about my daily life for quite a while now. i used to have a blog (which noone knows about) more than a year ago, but like almost everything i start in life, i didn’t finish it. i quit. mainly for personal reasons.(i’m VERY lazy). Why write again now, you ask? Just coz i feel like it. i’m not sure if i’ll be able to write/blog regularly from now on, but i’ve decided that i’ll try. for me, writing is an escape, its like taking a quick unplanned vacation and i miss the feeling. well, there. that’s a start. til next time (or not). peace