Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Tuesdays #8

Grabe, medyo swapang ako sa blog entries ngayon...

April, I'll try to write more.

One of my friends told my na medyo kuripot ako sa blog entries ko ngayon. Well, if you're busy, you're busy.

I watched Wrestlemania 26 last night until 1 in the morning. I had to see for myself the final match of Shawn Michaels. HBK!!! I was a wrestling fan in the 90's and early part of the decade. I was a fan of the Attitude Era specifically during the time of Austin, DX, and The Rock. Raw was pretty creative then. They had Vince Russo has the head writer I think. Then he moved to TNA if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, yeah, Wrestling is "fake" in a sense that you know more or less who'll win. But they get hurt don't get me wrong. They're athletes in "sports entertainment". Vince McMahon practically created soap opera for men.

One of the things I need to do before I die is watch Wrestlemania Live! Wherever it may be. Hahaha. Hopefully Wrestlemania 30? We'll see.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesdays #7

Jeez. It seems like I only have Tuesdays left to blog...

I've been really tired for the past 2 months. Work is work. I had to work last Sunday. I was in Davao. We had a presentation yesterday morning and then flew back to Manila. It's been tiring for me. Now I'm getting sick... I think it's because of fatigue. I hope all goes well by tomorrow morning since I have a ton to do on my desk.

It's graduation season now. For the grads, congrats! Well done! It's time for me to welcome you to the rest of your life. I don't mean to be negative but it means saying goodbye to Summer Vacation, Sem break, No school on a rainy day, etc...

It'll be a huge transition and the best way to go about it is to adapt. Why? Because change is the only thing constant in this life. You need to be adaptive to change for you to succeed. That's the best advice I can give at the moment.

I gotta go. My nose is killing me... I really have to rest.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tuesdays #5 and #6

I don't think I can do this every Tuesday... :( It's been pretty hectic for me. But since I'm still in the mood to blog, here goes.

This Tuesday, I have to tell you another Lola Cory story...

On the day I found out that she was diagnosed with cancer, it was the saddest day of my life. Even more than when she had passed. It was the day that I literally couldn't cry anymore because there weren't any tears that were falling. I used up all my tears and I was still crying! My eyes were swollen the next day. I took a leave from work the next day to spend time with my Lola. I was with my Mom and she told me not to cry in front of her... I didn't. I had to be strong for my Lola.

However, my Lola did see that my eyes were swollen... It was back in September that a friend of her told me that my Lola told her about that day. My Lola told some people that it broke her heart seeing me with swollen eyes... My Mom also told me that Lola would often ask her how I was. Even at that point she'd still think of others. She thought of how her apo was... That made me real sad...

It's been months and I still haven't moved on. I still miss my Lola very very much. The campaign has been keeping all of us busy but at the same time, we miss her words of wisdom, her patience, her faith, her optimism...

In my cellphone, my wallpaper is a picture of me and her... It's something I can no longer change. I made a decision that it would always be the wallpaper of my cellphone.

I just tell myself that Lola's in a better place now... She doesn't have to suffer anymore.

No one can ever take her place. In my family, everyone's stepping up to fill in that void. It can never be the same but at least all of us are loving and supporting one another.

I'm proud of my family. I'm proud of my name. I'm lucky to say in confidence that my grandparents were good people. They raised 5 wonderful children. They were awesome parents and great leaders.

Before I tear up... I'll say goodbye for now.

Keep the faith dear reader... Keep the faith. Mabuhay tayong lahat!

Monday, March 15, 2010

What it's like on a campaign trail...

Forgive me for not blogging that often anymore. Sometimes, my mind just doesn't want to think at night. It's really tiring most days. You get to work around 730am and you leave work at around 7pm. This is just a long overdue update.

What have I been doing?

I was in Cebu recently and what an itinerary. My friends think I'm there to have fun and all but it's the opposite really. I had to take a leave from work on a Friday to be able to talk to students from the University of The Visayas. We went around the city to meet with the Cebu HQ people. The next day, we woke up at 5am to go to 5 public markets. But since we  were ahead of time and the campaign people wanted to utilize our presence, we went beyond the target of 5 and went to 7 public markets.

What do we do at the markets? Well... We shake people's hands and ask them to vote for my Tito Noy :) I usually say Noynoy-Mar po tayo ah? Aquino-Roxas po sa Mayo. Carcar was awesome because the people there had the biggest smiles! I even got balat ng lechon for free! The lady selling the lechon cut me this huge piece and handed it. I got it but I had to split it with my brother. It was real good but man... the oil!!! Woooo!!! Sarap magsoftdrink after. (Too bad for me, I gave up softdrinks for lent) So anyway, I also rode a tricycle or try-sikol in bisaya. :)

The distance we had to travel was really far. We reached Argao and it was around 90 minutes away from Mactan. That's what a campaign is...

That afternoon, we went to University of Cebu. It was the main campus and it was amazing. The students were so full of life! It was where I gave my longest speech to date. Hahaha. How do I give speeches? I usually have an outline in my head and I just go extemporaneous. People like that better right?

That night, I crashed in bed. I had to wake up at 6am for a presscon. It was the first press conference me, Jonty, and Miguel had. Sun Star of Cebu were the ones who came and asked the questions. I appreciated the fact that they didn't have any bias with the questions. They were all very respectful and we did our best answering what they asked.

We left Cebu lunch time and was back in Manila by 2pm.

It's a hard life during the campaign season. But it's all for love I guess. :) Anyway, that's it for now. I leave you all with some images from my Cebu trip. :)










Sunday, March 14, 2010

O.D.M. - Pilipinas Watch :)

OK, I got a greenlight to blog about this. So here it is! It's the watch I was telling you guys about. :)

This is by O.D.M. :D The first billboard is up and it features Kim and Gerald. It's along EDSA. Northbound - Boni Station.

I love the watches! They gave me a Black, Yellow, and White. I normally wear the Yellow variant. I think they're pretty awesome! Now I can show the Philippine map on my wrist!

My cousin Miguel and I are endorsing these and the billboard will be up by April. We're nervous and excited at the same time.



The watches are exclusively sold at all L Time Studio branches and it retails for 4700. But they give 10% off so the watches will be around 4200. :)


The watches light up when you need to tell the time in a cinema or at night. While idle, text will scroll across the screen and will show "BAYANG MAGILIW...  PILIPINAS..." I think it's awesome!!!


They're targeted for the youth I know. Thankfully, they still think I'm part of the youth. Haha! But do check these watches out :D



Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuesdays #3 and #4

Sorry, I was quite tired last week. Didn't have the energy to post an entry... Sometimes you just get really tired after work.

Anyway, first of all, I now have 393 followers on this blog!!! Thanks a lot to everyone following this. I really appreciate it! But to be honest, I appreciate those who comment more! You know who you are! :) I get to see how the readers feel when they comment.

I have no topic in mind whatsoever so I guess I can tell you what's been going on in my life.

Last week I was told that I made it to the Twitteratti on spot.ph. It's really strange for me because I never considered myself as popular. Sometimes I ask myself, "Am I really that interesting to be followed?" So to the 21000+ on twitter and the special 393 here on The Tangled Web... Many thanks!

I don't know if I'm allowed to say it yet but I won't fill you in on the full details. Believe it or not, I'll be endorsing a watch pretty soon. It's fairly new so please don't expect Philip Stein. That's reserved for my Tita Kris. But this one is pretty cool! As soon as I can show you guys, I will post it here. Miguel and I will be on the billboard together with a popular love-team in showbiz. Blind item na lang yan muna.

I tweeted my "after work" schedule will be busy... It's because of interviews and photoshoots. April, I'll be appearing on Metro Society and Meg Magazine. I try as much as possible to accomodate these requests for as long as work permits me too. Have to be nice :)

That's probably the last time I'll talk about what's happening in detail. I wanted something different this week. Haha.

======================================

Oh yeah, summer's on the way. To the graduates, CONGRATS!!! Take a well deserved break. Cherish your last vacation. But!!! And it's a big but!!!

1. Please don't spend too much time with the vacation. You want to get a job as early as possible. If you can work Mid-May, GO FOR IT! Be ahead of the pack!


2. Apply apply apply apply apply. Go to as many interviews.

3. Pray :)

Monday, March 1, 2010

My Laoag Trip


2 weeks ago I went to Laoag for work. We had to meet with the North Luzon Sales people. But I won't talk about work. I just wanted to tell you about my experience in Laoag. To be quite honest with you, I had my apprehensions in going to the Ilocos area because of the "political territories". I wasn't really sure if the people there hated or resented my family.  I thought of removing my glasses just so I wouldn't be recognized as an Aquino.

But it was totally different!!! Let me tell you why.

After my presentation, I really wanted to try the emapanada of Laoag. I was told that I really have to try it. So in front of our hotel, there was an empanada stand. :)




So in front of the Renzo hotel is Joker's Empanada :) No, there wasn't any picture of Batman's archnemesis. OK, back to the empanada. This is not your typical chicken or pork empanada you can get from a bakeshop. This is THE empanada that's being sold in the street. Freshly cooked! Sorry... FRIED!!! :) The empanada is served from 5pm-1am only. It's tradition.

 
  

As we ordered, the vendor asked special or regular. So I was curious on what the special was. The regular empanada has beans and cabbage while the special one contains additional longganisa and egg!!! So I definitely had to go with the special one man!!! Can't pass on that!!! So the vendor got made the wrapper. Do you know the orange batter used for Kwek-Kweks? I think it's made of that :) Haha. Sorry hindi ko alam. 

  
  

You have to wait a bit before eating because it's extremely hot. Dapat may warning na "CAUTION: The Empanada you are about to devour and enjoy is EXTREMELY HOT!!!" 
Sauces are usually banana ketchup or the special suka... Guess what I got. Special Suka of course!!! My gosh sobrang sarap nung empanada!!! Winner winner chicken dinner!!! (Sorry, I watched 21 on HBO yesterday)

So the empanada stand had a table on the side so you could eat there. It was funny because the vendors were watching SNN. One of them looked at me then at Tita Kris and then me again... So she recognized me and I said to myself "Oh crap, here we go..." But she smiled!!! So I smiled back. She said "Tita mo oh!". I said oo nga po, hehe.

We then talked about the empanada. I said that it was really good. They said that it's better if it's eaten late at night when it's cool. I agreed. It was better at night. They said that they were only open from 5pm-1am. 

So if you ever go to Laoag, check out Joker's Empanada. It's located across the Renzo hotel :)


 
 

I stayed there for less than 24 hours. The next day as I checked out from the hotel, the front desk people asked for a picture. I was shocked! They recognized me and said they were going to vote for Tito Noy! How cool was that??? :) In general, people were real friendly in Laoag. Plus the place was clean!!! Wala akong masabi. Maganda sa Laoag!

Plus I had to buy Chichacorn before leaving!!! That snack is just made of awesome!!! Love it!!!

My trip was short... I wanted to stay longer and see the place some more...
 
Til the next time Laoag!!!