… 30 Days in Love …

I hardly noticed that 30 days has passed since I got her “I'm Yours”. Here’s a recap of all the things that happened and how the two hearts unite. Hopefully I can still pick up all the details in my memory.

Friday July 18, I met Jake at NAIA and asked him “where’s Carla?” he told me maybe she’s late. As usual, she’s always late. At the ODC Office I always notice her as a late person and when she enters the room I think she’s always lost. Ok, no comment.

I sat beside Jake during our trip from Manila to Japan because we checked-in our luggage at the same time. And Carla, I don’t know where she sits. Hahaha. Upon arrival at Narita International Airport, we tried to wait for Carla coz we have the same flight from Japan to Chicago while Jake has a different flight number. Carla sits beside me during our trip. We talked about everything under the sun. We enjoyed drinking some vodka with apple juice in the midst of the turbulence. That was the first bonding moment we had.

During our stay here, I never thought that I will be falling in love with her. I just knew that she’s so kind and generous in every aspect and I also never imagined that she will also fall in love with me because we are on the different track. I’m her opposite, I always sermon her about the things she does, but I know those advices I gave her was for her own sake. I always get mad when she sleeps so late then go to office floating. But I understand her because she told me that she’s an insomniac. Ok!!! Reason accepted.

We had lots of good memories here in Chicago, we’re not conscious about the things we do together but some of our friends noticed that we are so attached. We always found ourselves sitting next to each other or beside each other and I always provide her drinks during meals. Is that an indication that we are in love? I think not, because I usually do it to my other girl friends. That’s me, how sweet…hahaha…

We’re always together during our groceries and we asked each other’s opinion before buying or doing something. Actually, sometimes I feel there’s something different but of course, as always you need to pass to a denial process. Until that farewell day comes. Ruby and I will stay here in Chicago for another project and the rest of the team will be going back to Philippines. I can’t imagine myself without them, I don’t know how to react and feel. I’m so scared coz I can’t see myself alone, but I have no choice. I need to face my fears and be man enough to conquer my ghost.

Two more days left before they’re going back home, I remember I texted her “I will miss you” before we go to sleep. I know in myself there is something inside me that bothers me most but I don’t know how to express it. I told myself this is nothing; you will just miss her company and tomorrow you will forget that feeling. The night has come and the feeling was still on me, it didn’t dissolve. This is something I need to voice out, else I will explode or regret this someday. I don’t wanna see her packing all her things and putting it all back in the luggage. I want to tell her to stay but It’s not possible. I wanna say please don’t go these tears are no yet ready to flow, take my hand and don’t leave me here tonight. I wanna hug her but I can’t coz that time there were no strings attached yet. I might get a bad impression and she might be shocked with my action. The saddest day came, I couldn’t control it anymore. Her eyes were looking into mine and I was having the hardest time. Her hands were ready to wave goodbye and my lips were ready to kiss her goodbye.

My longing continued when I transferred to Butterfield even though we ensure that we’ll always keep the communication lines open. When we were in the middle of a conversation, I suddenly exploded, I voiced out all the feelings I have for her coz I was trapped inside the moment. I don’t know how will she react but I need to release this feeling and tell her. She was shocked I know, but I know she will absorb everything I said at the right time. I didn’t wait for her answer coz I have no right. I thought that was our last time to chat but the day after that breath taking moment, she also expressed her feelings and I got her “I’M YOURS”…

Now I’m happy, she’s happy, we are in LOVE.

I pray that this will last forever. I LOVE YOU, bebe.

… Wake Up Call …

Every Friday afternoon Jun picks me up at my apartment to spend my weekend at their place coz I always told him that I feel I’m inside the rehabilitation center when I’m spending my weekend at my apartment. Most of the time we usually slept at Pete’s house and before we sleep, we always share the experience we had when we were in the Philippines. Boys talk, problems, anything under the sun. Sometimes we didn’t notice that it’s already 5am. Waaah.

As an older brother, I always give him some advice for his problems. I know he absorbs every opinion that I utter and listens to every word I say. Bro, just keep on believing, God will show you the answers to all your questions in His time.

… The Outlet …

Nothing to do today so Ate Hope decided to go to Kenosha outlet because she has 25% discount coupons at Aeropostale. Kenosha is one of the biggest outlets in Wisconsin. I haven’t been there so I immediately agreed to Ate Hope’s suggestion and I also want to buy some “pasalubong”.

Upon arrival, Jun and I teased Ate Hope and call her MOM. Hahaha…We entered Aeropostale boutique first to use the discount coupons then we decided to look for some shoes at Converse, my favorite chucks store. Jun found a blue-stripes long sleeve at J. Crew and he instantly bought and wore it. Cool! What a unique style.

Unexpectedly, when we’re inside Aldo store Jun and I found a cool pair of shoes. Actually, I don’t have any plan to buy shoes because it’s not included in my budget but just to satisfy my cravings we decided to buy the same shoes.

When we got the shoes, Jun immediately changed the shoes he’s wearing. He told us that he needs to break-in the shoes to test the durability. Hahaha… Bro, what if you also buy new pants?

… Looooooooser! …

I went to Wisconsin with Kuya Pete, Ate Hope and Jun to attend a birthday party. Actually, I’m not invited and I don’t know who the birthday celebrant is. Kuya Pete just told me to come to meet other Filipinos. Hahaha. As always, I’m a gate crasher.

After the eating session and Q&A questions, all the girls played Bingo Game and we decided to play “Onse” game because they have a built-in basket ball court in the garden. We set the rules of the game and the punishment.

RULES

1. You need to shoot the ball in the free-throw line to gather 2 points then another follow-up shoot that is equivalent to 1 point.
2. If you won’t able to shoot the ball in the free-throw line, you don’t have a chance to shoot the follow-up ball anymore.
3. The ball should only bounce once after successful shots in the free-throw line, else you won’t be able to shoot the follow-up.
4. When you got three points you still have the chance to shoot again.
   

PUNISHMENT

1. The loser or the player who got the lowest points needs to “lusot”.

I lose 1 time and Jun 5 times…hahaha…What a loser Bro!!!

… Keep Moving Forward …

Most of us will do everything just to live here in USA because they believe that this is the promise land even though they still don’t know what consequences are waiting for them. They will sacrifice everything and take the risks in order to achieve their goal.

Living here in the home of the brave is not that simple especially if you still don’t have your legal papers, there are so many limitations and restrictions. I’m so fortunate coz I’m staying here legally, but still need to become competitive in order to aim high and hit the mark.

... Classics ...

One thing I love hanging out with Pete and Jun is that, they introduced me to classic music.

• Handy Man.
  
• Lonely People
• Sweet Home Alabama
• You Can Do Magic

... American Dream ...

When I was a kid I always dreamt of entering the Land of the FREE even though I know pigs can’t fly. I never believe that every cloud has a silver lining because it’s too difficult and expensive to get a Visa. So when I heard that I was selected for an onshore project I was so excited, this is a dream come true. I will discover new places, work in a new ambiance, meet new people and have a new life.

Then when I got here I keep up with adjustments especially on time zone, weather, traffic rules and other stuffs. At first it’s so hard to adjust to a different culture, you don’t know where to start. But now I’m all set, I already enjoyed staying here. I met new friends and things are working fine.

God is good and He granted my wish. Given a chance, I want to stay here longer with my family and loved ones. Now I know everything will happen in God’s time, just walk by faith.

… Brothers in Crime …

Hey Pex it’s your birthday, we're gonna party coz it's your birthday…

Bar hopping, girls searching, alcohol drinking and even crime buster…hahaha…This little kiddo is always on my side, he knew every little detail about me. Good, Bad and Green… I remember the cop beating night, that was expensive but it was a great experience. I will never…Ooops…let’s try doing it again…hahaha…just kidding…

Happy Birthday Par!!!

… Expert Mode …

It’s been quite a while since the last time I played Rock Band. I think the last time I played was when I’m still living at Arbor Lakes with the Magic 12. When I transferred at Butterfield I never got a chance to remove it from the box until Jun asked me to play to fight the boredom. At first I was so skeptical co’z I already packed it tightly for delivery but for the sake of getting all the nerves active I assembled it.

I played the drums and Jun the guitar. Never knew that Jun is an expert in playing the guitar, he was able to beat the expert level mode. Great job Bro!!! I need more practice to beat the expert.

… Video King and the Holy Hill…

Accompanied Jun in his work at the Video King, a small video rental store along Waukegan Ave. He usually works there alone so he decided to invite me to have someone to talk to. We’ve watched Elf (Will Ferrell)…hahaha…vintage comedy movie…we just wanna laugh that’s why we chose that film.

Inside the store, they have this secret room 4-d-boyz only…hahaha…and guess what’s inside the room?…YES, you're right! All the stuffs playing in your imagination can be found inside this room. COOL!!! We stayed there until 10pm and after we went to a birthday party.

At the party we met Ting, the birthday celebrant, some invited Filipino guests and this 12-year-old boy who caught my attention. His name is Christopher, at first glance you just see him as an ordinary kid but when you talk to him you will notice he’s special.

When he saw us he immediately asked our names and what are we doing there. So, I thought he’s just teasing us but after that he repeatedly asked the same questions. OMG, this is weird, and the famous question I remembered was “Have you been to Holy Hill?” he asked this question twice, thrice or every time he sees us.

… The Painter …

Pete is a registered architect in the Philippines before he transferred and focused his life here in the USA. He already sketched unique buildings and transformed it to reality. But here in the USA he was not able to apply his talent as an architect. Currently, he's working as a manager in Office Depot near their area. He only applies his drawing ability during winter time.

He taught me some basic steps on how to paint and transform my thought into a portrait. He provided me some simple tips on how to gather my ideas and start my masterpiece. He well-informed me how to combine colors, one of the most important thing I need to know before creating my own work of art. After the architectural training I made my own masterpiece.

… Rack’ Em Up …

Tim Bowen sent us invitation for a get together and farewell party for those consultants who will go back to Philippines. He reserved 8 tables of billiards, some booze and pick-a-snack at the Rack’ Em Up bar.

The party started around 6pm and finished at 9pm. We played lots of billiard game even though I’m not good in it and Bin Bag.
Bin Bag was a new game for me, I haven't played it before. They explained the mechanics and I thought it's too easy because the mechanics are simple; you just need to select an opponent, throw the bin bags and make sure that it will get into the hole, that’s it. But when I tried it, It was a challenging game because the weights of each bin bags differ from each other.

Next time I’ll never say easy unless I tried it.

… Game of LIFE …

As we grow older and attempted to level up we will struggle tough obstacles and experience different dilemmas. Trials will keep on blocking our way and pulling us down and if we won't able to handle it we will just give up and raise our white flag.

But during our expedition we will discover some useful things that we could use in our battle and of one of the most important potion that we need is FRIENDSHIP. It will bind us to an invisible shadow which gives us additional strength and powerful weapon. It will give us extra hand to handle every tough situation we might stumble upon. It will help us regenerate our life to be able to conquer all foes and set us free to the labyrinth of life.

… The Journey …

Got an email from Pouch about the journey of the two angels and this is a really great story.

" THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM "

Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guestroom. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it."

"Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until sometime later.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go, some people become friends and stay awhile leaving beautiful footprints on our hearts and we are never quite the same because we have made a good friend!!

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called Present!

… Technical Support …

Received a call from Pete asking me if I can help his friend regarding computer stuffs. So I’ve talked to his friend and assisted him how to fix his problem, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to solve it because I’m on my way and I can’t visualize what’s going on. Then he said we can just visit his place this coming Friday to fix the problem.

When I got home another virus issue message received from Jun. His computer was infected, so I just told him to scan his PC, remove all the cookies and other temporary files, run the disk cleanup utility and defrag the system and uninstall all the unnecessary softwares.

After that technical and virus support, a trojan virus tried to attack my laptop while surfing the internet and thanks a lot to my Norton antivirus co’z it was able to block the virus. Being paranoid about virus issues I scanned my laptop to make sure no another virus gets into my system.

… Brunswick Zone …

Quick recap of the activities I’ve done today:

1. Drank some margarita, whiskey and champagne with Pete and Jun until 5:30 in the morning
2. Slept around, waaah I don’t know.
3. Woke up around 1 in the afternoon and wait for Jun to get up in bed.
4. Went to Steak and Shake for our dinner.
5. Visited Best Buy to check out some affordable digital cameras.
6. Played Bowling at Brunswick Zone with Pete, Jun and Bong.

7. After, Jun sent me back at home.

… Sweet 16 …

First time to attend a birthday party here in the US so I have no idea what kind of party it would be. I haven’t met the celebrator, I just knew her based on the stories I’ve heard from my friends. Actually one of my friend is so passionate about her, he admires her most and I think he’s totally head over heels in love with her. But unfortunately this girl is too young for him and her parents are so strict with regards to this matter. So my friend needs to keep distance from her, else he will be pissed off.

I know it’s hard for you Bro to accept the fact that the whole family will always guard and monitor every move you'll make and step you'll take, but I know you will overcome and surpass your feelings. You’ve already conquered many obstacles you encountered in your life so this is just a piece of cake for you. There are lots of single girls out there and who knows one of them is reserved for you. But if you really love the girl, just wait for the right time. If both of you were destined for each other, no matter what happens your road will cross again.

… Stressful Day …

Stress Percentage

40% = Test Script Creation
35% = Functionality Testing
25% = Database / File Validation
10% = UI Testing

Just do the math...

... New Pal ...

Jun introduced me to Ting, another Filipino who lives here in Illinois for almost 8 years, via yahoo messenger. Ting welcomed me here in the US of A and he invited me to attend his brother’s birthday on Saturday but unfortunately I already committed an appointment to Jun.

I will hang out with you next time Bro!!!

... Season 4 ...

At last! after almost 1 year of waiting, Season 4 of Prison Break is already on air. New characters emerge, new story line, new plans to reveal and new twist. Actually, I’m an avid fan of Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, he plays the best character in the show.

... Disconnected ...

I’ve been so busy these past few days so I wasn’t able to talk to my family. I missed them so much specially my mom and my sister. No YM’s, no calls, no text messages and no connection at all. But I promise when I got a spare time I’ll make sure that I will give you a call. I love you guys.

... Master of Infinite Imagination ...

Aside from Lorenzo Baylon, I met another cool photo addict yesterday night. He’s also the guitarist of the band. Jonefere "Jun" Villaruz, another master of photography. Here are some of his masterpiece:

... Leader of the Band ...

Being a member of the band is one of the most exciting experience I had. I’m so thankful coz I was given a chance to become a band member, a vocalist to be specific even for just a night.

My cousin introduced me to his band mates Pete and Jun. Actually, at first I declined coz I don’t know what to do in front and I don’t have any idea how to become a vocalist but they forced me to sing because they need a front man during their practice. We played some alternative and opm songs.

That was a great experience!!!

... Coincidence or Not? ...

"The greatest thing I’ve ever learned is just to love and be loved in return."

And I'm, Crazy over you,

I dont know what to do,

I'm Crazy over you

A love that never ends

You're more than just a friend

And my heart and soul I'll always give to you,

The only in my life

Someday you'll be my wife,

And I'll be with you until the end of time

And now that I have you bebe

I promise I'll never leave

Cuz you are the only one

that makes my love complete

... A Message from Spike ...

Spike has something for you and hopes you like it Bebe.

... HP DV2910US ...

Got my new laptop!!!

• Intel Centrino Processor Technology featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
• 3072MB DDR2 Memory
• 250GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
• 14.1" WXGA High-Definition Brightview Display
• Intel WiFi Link 4965AGN WLAN
• 8x Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Windows Vista Home Premium OS with SP1
• Integrated Web Cam & Mic

... Slumberous ...

Insomnia strikes again last night and didn’t allow me to sleep. I don’t know what time I fell asleep and then I just heard my cellphone buzzing me to wake up. Even though everything was so blurry I need to get up to break this laziness. SHIT!!!, I don’t feel so good today.

I feel so sleepy in the office and my eyes are closing every time I have an idle time. I tried to fight the drowsiness but I can’t, that’s why I wasn’t able to focus on my work co’z everything seemed so cloudy. When I got home I just ate my dinner and take a rest.

... US Labor Day ...

Planned to buy laptop today because I heard every holiday here in the US all stores has some great deal for you, “Big Discounts”. We went to Best Buy to canvass the laptop I want but unfortunately they don’t have available stocks. So we went to Circuit City to check it out and wohooo! they have the laptop model I want and some freebies.

Lexmark printer, router and Norton security are the free stuffs after buying the laptop. But here’s the catch when you buy the laptop you need to buy the 3 freebies first then you will get the mail-in rebate after 6 weeks. Not bad at least all stuffs are still free.

After talking to the staff for 30 minutes he told me that they don’t have available stocks for the router and the Norton security. Crap!!! You wasted my time…At the end of the day I got home with nothing.