leaving 'home' to go home

i just got home from a quiet dinner with a long time friend. it's christmas and there's nothing better than catching up with very good friends, people we consider 'family' in this place being far from the real family that we have.  what's more, this could be the last dinner i'll ever have with this friend dahil in a few days time, aalis na sya at uuwi na for good.

i worked with patrick in hadeed back in the early 90's.  and now, after 18 long years, he is saying bye-bye for good.  nong dumating sya sa office namin, he was a new father to a baby boy.  now that baby boy is a second-year college big guy.  ganon na katagal.  18 long years.

first thing you'll probably say is that ang laki na ng esb nya.  oo naman.  sabi ko nga pwede na syang bumili ng hasyenda sa ilo-ilo.  but he has to buy a horse too para maikot nya ang hasyendang yon.  lalo na at isa si patrick sa mga taong nakita kong walang bisyo.  maximized ang monthly net pay.  hindi tulad kong kung ano-ano ang pinagkaka-waldasan ng kinikita.  so financially, he'll be able to retire comfortably if he choose to at this point of his life.

but i can see retirement is still far from his mind.  bata pa naman sya.  in fact, he's already talking to prospective employers kahit hindi pa sya nakaka-uwi ng pinas.  a sign that he's still very much on the go, kayang-kaya pang bumuno ng ilang taong contract kahit sa middle-east o sa ibang lugar ng mundo.

i will definitely miss you pat.  wala na akong koneksyon at insider pagdating sa mga kung ano-anong kwento tungkol sa dati nating office at mga kasamahan.  wala na akong ipagmamalaking 'kaibigan' na talagang matagal nang kaibigan in the truest sense of the word.

saan ka man mapunta, saan ka man dalhin ng trabaho, i know jubail will hold a special place in your memory.  18 years kang resident ng lugar na ito.  almost half of your life, you've considered this place as your home.  now that you're heading to your real home, i'm happy for you.  and wish you better opportunities as you start a new chapter in your life.  embrace this opportunity to enjoy more quality time with your family.  and give yourself a very much deserved break. 

God bless you my dear friend. 

leyter leyter... aligeyter

last day ngayon sa work ni Chuck, ang bunso ng mga adiks.  and although he'd probably hang around for a few more days (hope not any longer plzzz!) waiting for his exit papers, siguradong mami-miss agad sya ng mga adik. 

2 years lang halos namin syang nakasama but he has already proven his worth as a member of the group.  masayang kasama.  makulit. bungisngis.  ma-jowk kahit puro mais and/or vintage.  babawi na lang sa kanyang signature na 'wala lang'. at yong mga kwento nyang narinig mo na for the nth time eh uulitin pa rin! hahaha!

Chuck, we just hope you're coming back soon, kahit saang kumpanya.  pero sana malapit lang dito para buo ulit ang mga adik.  meantime, good luck to you.  and remember the few words i told you this afternoon.  hindi yong mga kalokohan! hahaha.... 

and from my favorite desiderata, a few lines for you to ponder while waiting for that sponsor to show up with your papers...  enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.  keep interested in your own career, however humble, it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

GBU chuckie!

matt's bday

nong 23rd talaga ang bday nya when he treated the whole adiks to a subway sandwich binge.  then last night, nagluto-lutuan kami sa lichauco residence where we had seafood overload with maccoy and pop's shrimps, crabs and sweet n sour fish.  after that, wow kantahan na sa cariaga residence na inabot ng 4am.  syempre di na kailangan sabihin, enjoy na naman ang mga adik.  except that we missed tserman na lagi namang hindi pwede pag thursday, the laxamana family na may prior commitment, john, irwin na parating pa lang from vacation, and ega who had to be at work the whole night.  we missed you guys! 

maraming salamat po ulit sa pamilya lichauco and cariaga for welcoming the adiks into their cozy homes at nakapag-celebrate na naman ng bday na masaya ang isa sa mga true-blue original adiks.

ang mga chef while preparing the food

hindi ako napaiyak ng sibuyas... tinawanan ko pa sya

pops preparing her yummy sweet n sour fish

at ito ang kinalabasan... a sumptuous seafood feast...

with fried chicken courtesy of romy and junc

syempre main event na

let's eat na!

forget muna ang diet shiela!

sarap ba mga adik? hehehe

pang-ym... ay fb pala ang pose! hehehe

sing galing time na with maccoy

playing it cool huh, ren?

ah... waiting pala for this...  the very much anticipated soup of the day!





!!! HAPPY BDAY MATT !!!

john's bday

taking advantage of the already cooling temperature, the group headed out to fanateer corniche last night where our friend john chose to celebrate his ??th bday.  chance na rin para makasagap ng fresh air from the fanateer beach kaya nag-latag lang kami sa damuhan doon at nilantakan ang masarap na mga food na luto ni john at ega. 

as usual, the park suddenly turned alive dahil sa ingay namin, kwentuhan at tawanang umaatikabo while sofie practiced on two things:  her bike (with the help of daddy ricky) and of course yong kanyang miss congeniality skills dahil laging nawawala at nakikipag-chikahan sa ibang family na nandon sa picnic grounds.  sabi nga ni jun, 'sofie sabihin mo sa kanila fi fuloos?'... takbo naman ang bata pabalik don sa mga ka-chika nya! hahaha...

enjoy the pics from ega's camera na ang humawak ay syempre ang master photog ng grupo... si matt.  thanks sa lichauco family at naka-join namin sa picnic na ito even if it means they have to travel all the way to and from khobar (teka lang, bakit ako ang nagte-tenchu, di naman ako ang may pa-party! hahaha).  na-miss naman namin ang cariaga family pati si ariel at tserman na busy pag thursday night.

!!! HAPPY BDAY JOHN !!!

a new neighbor

after suffering a couple of virus attacks last year (one wiped out most of my files including some treasured photos and irreplaceable files na unfortunately ay wala akong back-up - now i'm using exernal hds, lesson learned!), i've limited my web surfing to familiar and trusted sites.  hindi rin kasi 100% guarantee kahit pa updated ang anti-virus mo, aatakehin ka pa rin pag minalas ka.  in fact i've already did the rounds of the more popular and supposedly reliable anti-virus software pero ayon at dalawang beses pa ring nag-crash ang comp ko last year.  kaya ngayon, di na ako ganon ka-adventurous sa kaka-explore ng mga sites.

in fact, kung na-notice ninyo, very seldom akong mag-share ng website in this blog na hindi galing sa mga news channel, youtube and a few other sites na subok ko nang safe.  but this time i'm sharing one blog na lately ko lang napuntahan (thanks to raoul aka seven na unang nakapunta dito at nag-tip sa akin).  and i thought i'd share it with DS followers coz it's also worth the time.  for two good reasons...

1.  i find the blog quite refreshing.  the sense of humor of the site owner is so obvious, napatawa (or should i say na-LOL) ako sa ilang nabasa ko. in fact, naisip ko nga parang masyadong serious ang tone nitong DS and my friends also deserve to have a dose of something light and funny once in a while.  sure i have a few posts na nakakatawa din, nag-e-effort din ako paminsan-minsan mag-comedy.  but i know my sense of humor is a bit dry and worse, ascerbic.  that's why i think this blog would be a very good alternative for DS friends who's aching for a few smiles on a gloomy day.  

2.  i said the site is refreshing but it sure has some serious stuff as well.  twice ko pa lang nai-scan yong site and yet may nakita na akong ilang seryosong posts.  real-life snippets of what's going on in the very challenging life of a young, working mom.  touching  stories about family.  at kahit hindi ko pa nababasa ang ibang posts, my impression is that the author has already suffered from some huge tsunamis of emotion pagdating sa usapang love.  kaya kahit bata pa sya (26 or 27?)  may lalim na ang kanyang mga sinasabi.

the site owner is a recent friend of DS.  kelan lang sya nagawi dito and yet naging regular na sya since then.  and i think i'd return the complement kasi babalik-balikan ko rin ang blog nya.  and i'd love to see you my friends sa bago nating kapitbahay.... si Yanah and her life's a twitch blogspot. (nasa side bar po ang link!)

an evening with the tserman

actually medyo early evening ang nangyari coz the party started at around 5:30pm last thursday for the 40th bday ng tserman of the adiks. at pag si tserman ang naghanda, siguradong talo pa ang catering ng 5-star hotel hindi lang sa dekorasyon.  may cute pang tokens ang mga um-attend with matching inspirational messages. 

at syempre ang highlight ng handaan, ang filipino food na lahat masarapppp!  hindi kinaya ng powers ko na tikman lahat kaya na-miss ko ang dessert na ginataan at tinikman lang ng konti ang laing na gusto ko pang damihan kaya lang super busog na ako from the tuna lumpia, relyenong crab, pansit palabok, kare-kare at adobong pusit.  nag-dessert lang ako ng konting sago at gulaman plus the baskin ice cream na courtesy of maccoy and pops pero ang square lulu pizza ni ren at shiela hindi ko na rin natikman!

lahat ng adiks, busog to the max.  happy talaga pag bday ni tserman!

(with thanks to ega for these pics)

HAPPY BDAY TSERMAN

(now your life begins!)

oktoberfest

Nag-invite po ang Cariaga and Lichauco family last Thursday sa kanilang palasyo sa Khobar para sa isang get-together. Syempre may masarap na dinner (ginataang alimasag with kalabasa ang highlight na nilantakan namin ng walang humpay!) at ang dessert ay isang major-major sing-along sa bagong vidoeke machine ni Matt. 

Kinukulit ko ang mga hosts kung bakit nagpa-dinner and Shiela even joked na preggy daw sya, na parehong-pareho naman ang reaksyon ni Pops at Weng na "haaaa?"...  hehehe.  So wala talagang okasyon, nami-miss lang siguro nila ang kaguluhan ng mga adiks kaya ayun, nabulabog ang tahimik at very cozy nilang bahay.

with thanks to Maccoy for his pics...

    

ang cool na mga hosts... hindi si Vic and Joey huh...  Ren 'the jazz artist' and Maccoy a.k.a. Axel of GNR!



ang major-major WOW karaoke machine ni Matt

si Ren bumabanat ng isang smooth na smooth na jazz... parang intercon hotel lang...



habang sinamantala ng mga little boys maglaro



but baby valerie just sat it out, cool na cool na ngumunguya ng kanyang skittles

  

group pic with the mommies and ninong ega



group pic naman ng mga gwaping



si weng humataw ng ironic



kaya si ricky tuwang-tuwa ...



kaya take ng picture si sofie!

thanks a lot po ulit sa mga hosts, we can do this more often di ba mga adiks???