These Days

Last night was the annual Employee of the Year and Champ awarding ceremonies at work.  We have EOY nominees from the Analytics team, including 2 from RM. Early birds. Myra Jing Jets Arnold, started with RM on Monday. Nominated from his previous role. And the winner is... =) Surprise appearance of Jing's parents. Best moment of the night. Back to the office!

This is a picture I posted on my Instagram account (@deecmf) yesterday.  I am doing the 100 Happy Days  project, the goal of which is to post a picture everyday of what made me happy.  Yesterday was day 16.  I created this text graphic on my journal to thank God for the blessings we received this week.

I saw this book on Daphne's Instagram feed and she described it as "charming, adorable and funny."  It had to be my next book, and I finished it yesterday.  I agree with her brief review.  I like quirky, weird and unconventional characters and the protagonist, Dr. Don Tillman, is just that.  He's a geneticist, socially awkward and extremely logical.  His character reminds me of Sheldon Cooper, though a lot less rigid. Spoiler Alert!!! Don developed a close friendship with an older neighbor who told him he would make a good husband.  When she died, he realized he did want to get married and so embarked on The Wife Project.  He checks compatibility with women using a questionnaire, of course.  Then he met Rosie who's very unsuitable but intrigued him in many ways.  Together they embarked on The Father Project, trying to find out who Rosie's biological father is.  In the course of this research and interactions with Rosie, Don's habits and rules sta

Some pictures from last weekend, before we go into the weekend. =) Neil and I went to the Salcedo Saturday market after his Enopi class.  We went around twice.  I bought 2 packs of the best banana chips in the world (Baby Juan Monkey label), showed Neil this live honeybees and let him play at the playground for a few minutes. In the afternoon, we had VG, then hitched a ride with the Ramoses going to Cash and Carry where we had dinner. We attended the 10AM service at VCF Fort on Sunday.  It was volunteer week.  Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban and his wife were visiting. We bumped into Joel, Mylin and the kids after the service and decided to have lunch at BGC.  Sometimes not having the car is a blessing, too.=) We went home to rest, and then I went to the Art Fair in the evening.

I first heard about Art Fair Philippines from a BPI notification.  This is the 2nd year of the Art Fair and it's staged at The Link in Makati.  The 6th-7th floor parking areas were converted to galleries from February 20-23. This was proof that the art scene is alive and well in the Philippines.  I went there on the last day and there was a good crowd present.  I enjoyed checking out the galleries.  My favorites were the metal sculptures.  Michael Cacnio is probably the most popular artist for this medium but there were beautiful pieces from other artists I just got introduced to that day, like Ferdinand Cacnio and Daniel dela Cruz. Appreciating art is one of my favorite activities.  I follow many artists and creative people on Instagram and when there's an opportunity, check out museums as well.  To be around objects created for the sake of beauty or expression does something for the soul.  I'm glad to have experienced it again even for just 2 hours on a Sunday afterno

Book # 6 for 2014 I've wanted to read this book for a long time but also dreaded it starting it.  I knew it was a very good book, based on the reviews, but the story is also tragic.  It's set during the 2nd world war and narrated by the character of Death, who described it as a very busy time with the sky always a different color when he picks up the souls of the recently dead. "People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment.  A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors... I make it a point to notice them." The Book Thief is Liesel Meminger, a German orphan taken in by the Hubermanns living in Molching Street, a very poor part of town.  Her brother died before her eyes and her mother left her to strangers.  She befriends Rudy, who became her partner in thieving adventures.  What this book made me realize is

The last two topics for the preaching series on love entitled 'It's Not Complicated' were on Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. ( Podcast here ) Samson and Delilah .  The story of Samson and Delilah can be found in Judges 13.  Before Samson was born, his mother was visited by an angel who said to her, "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razorbecause the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  Samson was destined to lead and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But we know that his life was far from simple.  He made personal decisions that changed the course of his life, including marrying Delilah, which eventually led to his death.  It's a tragic story and Pastor Joe explained why it happened to Samson - wrong place, wrong standard, wrong person. Samson, although he was set apart as a Nazirite, spent time in Philistin

The archive of this blog shows that my very first post was on April 20, 2009.  I actually started blogging in 2003 on blog-city which was deleted when I opted out of the paid service.  So there's 6 years of lost posts, including those from Neil's first year and early travels with Intel.  I am trying to build a memory bank here so I will be doing throwback posts on significant events every so often.  Personally, I enjoy looking at old pictures, so I might as well blog as much as I can remember of the stories as well. Let's start with Penang, Malaysia, my very first international destination.  I have been to Penang 8 times between 2003 and 2007, all for business.  Because I traveled quite often, I did not feel pressured to check out the must-see places until my 6th trip. Many different cultures and religions coexist in Penang.  This makes for very elaborate temples such as Kek Lok Si, Dhammikarama and Wat Chayamangkalaram.  Carlo and I visited all three in a day, plus Pen