another long vacation trip

 *posting this on 01/02/2022 to fill up the missing parts of the blog (and for me to remember things by)

I am excited to be able to get a three-week vacation this year and it's a great setup because all the people I want to see is located in just one place, only less than three hours away either north or south!

Christmas angels along the NAIA 1 corridor going to the departure gates

Of course, since my flight has a long layover at South Korea, I went out of the airport to join some of their free transit tours ---

Had to climb a lot of steps to reach this place at the Heungrunsa Temple

View of the city from the Heungrunsa Temple (after climbing up a lot of steps!)

Steep climb to this monument in honor of the Incheon Landing Operation 

Really old tree at the Yonggungsa Temple in Incheon

my only airplane view photo as the first leg of my trip was in the middle of the night. this is already arriving in LA

Welcome again. 

Welcome to new experiences in this country.

work and doodles

When planning a project. And yes, my officemate and I understood each other.

Missing Doc Tamy when seeing this...

fun run

Joining a fun run just for fun is actually fun. Hahaha. No pressure at all. Since I am totally out of shape, I could only run 700 m of the required 5000 m so my friend and I just walked all the way to the finish line - but actually, not straight to the finish line. We saw a Mamang Sorbetero and just had to buy some dirty ice cream. So we walked to the finish line, holding an ice cream cone, and with big smiles on our faces.

Our fun run in the end turned out to be an eating fest because after the ice cream, we went ahead and walked to a food stand to buy our isaw, pancit canton, kwek-kwek, dynamite and softdrinks. Then, after a quick shower, we had dinner near my place where they serve bagnet sisig and pita/meat meal with beer.

So yeah, the fun run ending with a food fest and chicka-fest with friends is always fun (and much preferred way of spending our break time on).

Thank you, Lord, for the chance to have a physical activity outside, for our food, and for friends :) Amen.

mountain beauty

It was a nice surprise to find these beautiful mountain passes through the backdoor roads to Baguio City from Nueva Vizcaya. I am so glad my parents decided to take this road, taking me along their road trip adventure. Riding on an open air bus through that mountain road was an adventure and an experience I would always remember with a smile.

Thank you, Lord, for this chance to see Your work and the time spent with my parents. Amen.

early for nature

Glad to be invited to take a trip to the Masungi Georeserve today (feels like a birthday celebration for my friend and I). If only there are more of that here and that it's free and easily accessible, I will always be here. Just like William Shakespeare said,

“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.” 

Thank you, Lord, for this beauty... 

feeling grateful

So a month has just passed and it felt like time has just gone by. I still feel that I haven't done much cleaning in the house, nor finished with all my errands (or it seems that the errands just does not go away). At the office, it felt like I haven't gotten a headway into my technical work. I am glad that the on-the-job training period is almost over and I could just focus on work. Although...

It's good to be part of the training program where you can, for a bit, influence university students: teaching them new things, showing them a better way of doing things, and encouraging them to do better not only in their work but in their work character as well. It is my hope that one day, they would look back from their raging careers, and remember that they have learned significant from us.

It's also good that I am given time to do my pressing errands and still find time to rest (although I really need to clean the house they way I really like it).

The best thing for January though is that I was able to see that I can drive already (not expertly, but okay and if there's no traffic!) and I may be soon ready to take the test for my driver's license. Also, the next best thing (but most important) is that I am feeling better and healed! No more coughing nor colds.

For all these, I thank the Lord!

Remembering Doc T

Hello, Blog.

I'm back but not really back for sure. I thought I will be able to write more last year but things happened and sitting and reflecting did not involve writing it down (except on my journal) onto this blog. This year, I hope I am able to write down a few things again, even only for the reason that I will have something to look back at when I'm older.

This year, I would like to achieve a more prayerful life, with time to reflect on things. I hope for a calmer life than last year.

Today, I remember my teacher who passed away a little over a year ago. He was not my classroom teacher, but my mentor at work. When I got to know him, he was already a legend - at school and in the industry. He was a strict teacher and very intellectual. He had a passion for teaching and even with his arthritic hands, he made great efforts to draw the things he wanted to illustrate. The last drawing of his that I have was the one he made effortlessly while trying the writing capability on my iPad. He drew Snoopy, because he said, he is his favorite.

Doc T passed away after a year of fighting a sickness that we would only assume as cancer, with old age. He is missed. I miss him.

He was like a grandfather to me and a great teacher. I dreaded his wandering days early in my working days at the office because every discussion with him was like a thesis defense. Every correct answer or convincing point recognized by him during discussions with him would feel like I've hit the lotto. Every "You're right" comment from him will feel like you were in cloud 9. And every mistakes will make you try harder the next time to make your work better. I miss him.

He was never my classroom teacher. He left the University way before I entered it but I would see him from time to time visiting our lab during my Master's years when he would visit my adviser. It was only at the office though that I got to know him. Eventually, he would become one of the most important persons in my academic life. After struggling for almost ten years finishing my Master's degree, I find myself in front of a panel of examiners for my thesis defense. I feel honored that he was one of them. Some previous students of his, now professors themselves, were there to "watch him in action" because to them, he was  a terror. To me, he was a savior. Because of  him and my other teachers (who braved the typhoon on my way to my thesis defense), I graduated. So I am thankful.

Today, I remember him and all that is good that is him. I choose to believe that he came to heaven and became one of my guardian angels. Lord, keep him always by your side, together with my family who has also joined you in heaven as well. Amen.