A Letter to Me a Year Ago

It's been a while since I've done a blog post. I've needed that time off for a long time and it was for the best. A lot of things have happened to me over the course of more than 2 months.

Since this is my first post of 2014, I thought I'd start it with sort of a look back post on what I've done since I've graduated from college. I'm gonna do it like I'm writing a letter to the me a year ago. Here we go:

3/24/2013

Dear Me,

Congrats on graduating college! I'm writing this because I wanted to let you know how you'll be a year after you graduate. As you already know, you were hired almost a month ago. Don't be intimidated on what comes your way because just being yourself could bring out the positivity in other people.

Work's kinda like school, except that competition and teamwork are like the core focuses. You would want to be ahead of the others and also help out in the growth of the company. You will meet new people (and maybe some familiar faces too). Some of them may leave when you least expect it. Others will be your guide as you discover yourself more through your work. Just remember to always have fun in what you do.

The people close to you change from time to time due to their ever-shrinking amount of time available. Make sure that you make the most out of the time you spend together.

Never forget that family is always there whenever things go wrong in all aspects of your life. They have always been there to support you. Don't push them away.

Never be afraid to love. You may encounter a person who has loved countless times to a point that standards have already been set. You shouldn't put all the blame on her because she already knows what she wants. Just forgive and move on. Who knows? Someone migjt just be around the corner to surprise you and give all the love that you deserve.

Lastly, always say thank you to the Lord God. He is always there through your ups and downs. Never ever forget to pray to Him.

Enjoy the next chapter of your life. I know I did.

Best Regards,

Me, 1 Year Later

2013: Annoyingly Fun

Ahh, 2013. What a great rollercoaster ride you are. From the last Sinulog as a student to the various Christmas parties with family and friends. From the college graduation to finally being a regular employee. From hanging out with college batchmates to having a great time with office batchmates and good friends. From all the happy nights out to the stressful OTs. From the great successes at work to the devastating failures in lovelife. I really had fun going through all of them though I get annoyed by those bad moments and the annoying viral videos. I mean, What Does the Fox Say? Haha.

Thank you to everyone who made 2013 a very memorable one. To the Maluya Family, BSCSMA, @NOW, Batch PHP, NSP Friends, USC CS/IT/ICT Batch 2013, Sci-Hi friends, thank you very much! Thank you also to the person who really changed my outlook in love. I hope you'll stay happy and love the person you are with now.

Most of all, I would like to thank the Lord God for getting me through this topsy-turvy year. Without you, I would never be where I am right now. THANK YOU LORD!

Thank you for being annoyingly fun, 2013. Here's to a wonderful 2014 guys! Happy New Year!

A Christmas of Family and Golden Friendship.

The mood before taking the trip was very positive. We were excited to go back to Cagayan De Oro because it has been a long while since we went there. Unfortunately, we heard some sad news before we even boarded on the plane. The mom of our relative there just died and had to leave for the wake. It was a bit melancholy after I heard the news but that didn't stop us from enjoying our trip there.

We arrived at the house of our relatives in CDO and soon enough, happiness and laughter came in the house despite what happened. We've been to malls (even that new Ayala mall named Centrio), and even had fun despite the trouble with the dogs when they would go out of the house! At the end of the day though, it was all about Christmas and the one we're celebrating for: Jesus.

On Christmas Eve, we had our usual Noche Buena, attended the mass and had a special little program. It's usually long because we had a lot of time before Christmas struck. The program started with the usual song from our relatives from Manila.

After which, we had a nice game of charade relay! It's a mix of message relay and charades where the actual message is the charade. Then there was the Christmas story where "Right" and "Left" were so involved. Haha.

After all those games, the gift giving commenced! First was the traditional Manito Manita with my fellow cousins, then it was the giving of gifts for everyone. It was a good thing that Christmas didn't stop no matter what happened.

On Christmas Day, we went to the wake in Gingoog. It felt melancholic since it was one of those unique Christmas days that this happened. In this trip I have come to realize that we have to move on with our lives despite the sadness we felt that time. It served as a reminder of our life.

Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, will be posting that year-ender in a hour. Laters!

Days of Yolanda

All text for now, guys. The damage is too sad to see so I decided not to put a picture for this one.

We just got out of the monstrosity of that Magnitude 7.2 earthquake that happened 3 weeks ago and now we had to face another: Super Typhoon Yolanda. At first, I just dismissed it as just another typhoon. When I found out that it would be as strong as Ruping (a typhoon that caused a lot of damage in the '90s), I became super concerned. Unlike that one, people were more prepared.

Thanks to PAG-ASA's Project NOAH, the weather forecast for the days when Yolanda would strike, everyone affected was able to prepare. Everyone was panic buying for groceries, people suddenly buying powerbanks so that problems wouldn't arise when we need to call for emergency purposes. This just proves that with the right and accurate information, and swift preparation by the government, casualties could be minimized (even prevented).

On the day that Yolanda struck Cebu, I wasn't just at home. Together with my dad and relatives, we went to my dad's office to get some power supplies. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is a device that provides temporary power to any electricity-powered device in order for them not to suddenly power down and cause problems. Besides that, we just dealt with the situation that we had at our own homes.

It was hard trying to get the latest information on the typhoon because there was no internet due to the brownout, and the cell signal's not enough to handle mobile internet. Good thing I was still able to text for the whole day (Thanks Globe!). As soon as we got the UPS running, we used it to get internet access. Since the electricity didn't come back yet, the internet connection was faster than usual. I saw a lot of pictures of the damage that Yolanda caused, particularly in Leyte.

Even though most of us are okay, there may still be people who need it. People in the Northern part of Cebu are in dire need of food and water. People in Leyte cannot be reached because all lines of communication are down. A lot more need our help. We should do everything we can to give them what they need. They should be our top priority.

As people have said,

"Since Yolanda is the strongest typhoon (of this year), the Philippines is the strongest country."

Bye Yolanda! You won't be missed.

#BangonVisayas.