Sometimes I yearn for even just minutes of silence at a not-so-frequented location. One that is tranquil and invigorating. Gee! I could always find time if I’d want to. (Oh, I definitely will!)
There’s sooooo many things to do for this month and the next and the month after. Lol! Hai!
Stop and think. We all gotta do it sometimes.
Happy new year, everyone! I just gotta drop something off in this rant pit as 2008 kicks off.
Have a grand year of the rat! Mwah!
There hasn’t been a lot of things going on in this blog. However, a LOT of things has gone on in my life. Can’t even keep up with ‘em. Poof!
So many things have happened too fast the past few months. It’s been frantic in school. My bestfriend and I are growing bamboos around our ears..etc. etc. (No…scratch that…hihi!). And my Mama went to Manila and stayed there for about two months(to be with my preggy Ate Cy). But in a few days, she’ll be back. Yesterday, she went from Manila to CDO. And so this Friday or Saturday, I’ll be joining her there and we’ll be going back to Davao together.
Yeah, I’m excited and nervous at the same time about going to CDO. Why nervours? Well, I have gone there for more than just a few times already. However, it’s the first time that I’ll be traveling alone. Weheheh! My first 7-hour-long land trip. The last time I traveled alone, it was from Manila to Davao and that 1-hour-45-minute trip wouldn’t quite compare to this CDO-I’m-coming adventure. Wehehe! Can’t wait.
But that would be Friday pa. I would still have to deal with prelim examinations and a few project deliverables for the last 3 school days before Christmas break.
Ang super biles! It’s almost Christmas na. Poof!
Anyways, I’ll be off to Davao again tomorrow. Whoa! Time flies too darned fast. I’ve had a really great time with my relatives here in CDO. The food, the videoke, and of course - the presents. Ehehehe! A million thanks! Mwah!
Merry Christmas, everybody! I hope you’ve all enjoyed the holidays so far. God bless. 
The BSIT fourth years students paid a visit to the Queen City of the South just last Oct. 16. The Cebu Educational Trip was an enrichment activity for one of their subjects, Business Essentials and Administrative purposes with Mr. Leonardo Macarayo as their professor.
The BSIT seniors toured around Cebu for 3 days, catching a glimpse of the business world by visiting different establishments.
The first stop was Innodata XML Content Factory at Mandaue. This IT company specializes in digitizing printed materials such as books, comics, magazines, etc. They also offer services on technical writing, content management, and many other IT-related tasks.
Innodata has regional solutions centres and satellites throughout the United States and Europe. They also have research and development and production facilities in the United States, The Philippines, India and Sri Lanka.
The group also dropped by one of the outsourcing centers of People Support Incorporated located at the AsiaTown IT Park of Cebu. They were shown a few of the call center’s facilities. People Support was founded in 1998 and is based in the U.S. They were one of the first to open call centers in the Philippines.
Another IT company visited by the group was the Japan-based Advanced World Systems, Inc. AWS is a Japanese-owned company in the Philippines. This ISO-certified establishment engages in application software development, web-related software development, quality assurance service, and many others. Majority of their employees understand the Japan’s national language Nihongo. This is mandatory for them considering their frequent transactions with Japanese employers and clients.
The group not only visited IT-related companies but also those which were of different nature.
For instance, they got to see the real-score in manufacturing at one of the country’s leading manufacturing companies, the International Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. It was there where they witnessed some of the actual manufacturing processes of certain products such as Bioderm soap. IPI is known for manufacturing the latter as well as many other home and treatment products namely Efficasent Oil, Omega pain killer, Winner dishwashing paste, and the list could go on. Based in Cebu, IPI was founded in 1959. The company expanded throughout the years with branches strategically located in different parts of the Philippines.
Cebu is known for making world-class classic and acoustic guitars. The touring group learned how they go about in manufacturing these high quality instruments right at the factory of Allegre Guitars in Lapu-lapu City. The accommodating staff oriented them how the guitars were crafted and designed to give out the finest sound.
Among the
last few places visited by the group were the IT center of the Cebu City Hall and the control center for the Cebu Traffic System. During these last stopovers, they got to see the city’s sophisticated local government IT systems.It was a total learning experience for the seniors of BSIT. Educational trips similar to this were also done by previous senior batches of the ITE program.
It’s been more than a month of hiatus and I sure have missed dropping stuff here in my rant pit.
So much has happened - Erap’s verdict has been given, now this NBN thingie is surfacing..in fact it’s been suspended…we’ve had our thesis proposal already…and yeah…a lot of other stuff has occurred. (*wink*)
It’s been such a busy September. Thesis proposal. School paper. End-sem Literature play. Exams. Personal matters. And the list could go on. It’s been so hectic I hardly even noticed there’s only 7 days left before the month ends. Woh! I’ve almost become an all-work-no-play senior. Well…almost. Hihi!
So much will be going on for the rest of the school year. I’ve no reason to relax, actually. But I will be getting that chance real soon.
This October 16, I’ll be off to Cebu with a few classmates for an educational trip. It’ll be such a fun-filled and informative semestral break. But then, after that, it’ll be back in the city and devulge in the actualization of our thesis proposal. There are but very few months left to accomplish that.
Gosh…so much to do…so little time. Hmm..
As for now, though…a good sound trip would help me visualize which one to do first. So, then…ciao!
But before I dwell on`all those stressful details, I intend to reflect first on the untimely-yet-invigorating experience I had during our 3-day Seniors’ retreat.
Our beautiful journey with God, through a wonderful retreat master, Fr. Patrick Mariano, concluded not five hours ago. And here I am right now, missing that tranquil place somewhere in Digos.
I had such profound realizations. First one - where has life brought me? How was I shaped by my experiences? I realized, through Father Patrick’s talks, that I have been stuck up on a certain issue in my life.
There was one big question I have always wanted to answer - why do I sometimes feel a certain inexplicable emptiness? I blamed myself for feeling that. God blessed me with many good things. Wonderful parents and siblings. Thoughtful friends. An opportunity to go to school. And others. I had no right to feel empty. But I felt so anyway. And I found the retreat a great opportunity to answer the question which plunges a dagger through my heart each time it is asked. Thankfully, Father Patrick helped me open my closets. There were skeletons in it, I found out. And I didn’t realize it did until that 25-minute one-on-one with him. Thanks a lot, Father. You helped me let go. I can be freer now.
Second realization - behind the gaily smile may lie a wounded soul. This is true for me as it is for some of my friends who shared their taste of life’s bitterness. But there’s an attachment to this learning…the smiling behind the pain doesn’t necessarily mean hiding from it. On the contrary, it is one way of fighting it. It’s like telling yourself - "Life is painful but I won’t let it crush me to pieces."
It’s amazing, the pain. And it’s even more amazing to know that no matter how crushing they may be, they are never larger than life. They are never more powerful than we are. And it’s thrice as much amazing to know that there’s God, a million times more powerful than us, and willing to give us a hand.
The huts along the grassy field, the quarters where we slept in, the lounge area, and that special hall…they were all witnesses to the the hugs that we gave each other, the pats on the shoulder, and the heartaches that we once had and got rid of. Tears flowed like waterfalls and most, if not all negative energies were released.
Third slap of reality - how ready am I to face the real world? Do I already have boulders in my box? Or are they filled with sand and pebbles? Let the boulders be the wisdom, and let the box be the space where I put in all the things which is to become the foundation of my life.
I realized during the retreat that what I have in my box are stones which are a lot bigger than pebbles but a lot smaller than boulders. In short, I am not that ready to face the real world.
There’s one important thing to take note where our own individual boxes are concerned — it’s important to stock up on boulders.
All the learnings in the retreat goes down to one thing…the box. More importantly, the boulders in the box. The emptiness that I felt before, the pain, the lessons I learned from listening to the stories of my batchmates, the strengthened bond that we now have…how do I turn these things into useful wisdom that would influence how I deal with life and all its bitterness? I (and so have everyone else) have made the most out of the retreat. Now it’s application time. Time to fill in my box with boulders.
I have our retreat master to thank for all those realizations. Although I’ve said it infront of everyone else, I’ll say it here again…
Thank you, Father Patrick for guiding us in what has been the most beautiful and enriching spiritual experience I have ever had in all my college life.
My classmates have been bugging me to watch Troy and 300. Well, not the Brad Pitt Troy and not the Gerard Butler 300 original film but their Ilonggo subtitled and translated version which has been attracting viewers in YouTube. I finally found time to see for myself. I wouldn’t wonder now why my classmates are soo eager to let people around them check these out, too. You guys gotta see these… "Tonton, Ang Paghaharap" (Troy) and "Benjo Kag Ang Bataylon Pitbul" (300). "Tonton, Ang Paghaharap" "Benjo Kag Ang Bataylon Pitbul"
Source: The Humor Bin
Not only was it a night of acquaintance, people from the more significant side of the blogoshpere also shared their knowledge on turning blogging into a much more relevant endeavor. Aileen Apolo, a representative from Google Philippines, was there to share about Google AdSense and AdWords. Blogging ethics was also shared by Yuga of yugatech. I learned a lot from that talk. I’ve been told once before that there’s actually more to blogging than just expression of thoughts, mouthed or otherwise. Last night reinforced that info and I’m actually becoming motivated to explore the other arenas of blogging. There was also a presentation of DigitalFilipino Club by Janette Toral. She also spoke about iBlog 3. A blogging summit — waaaahw!
There was also Davao Blog Awards wherein certain blogs were awarded under certain categories. The organizers hoped to have more awards like that the next time. And more serious ones, they said.
And speaking of the organizers — congrats for a job well done! Blogie and all the others really initiated such a meaningful activity. And as far as I know, what you guys established was actually history! The first bloggers’ get-together outside Manila. Wow. Kudos!
Met a lot of fellow bloggers last night but I’m looking forward to meeting more at the next party. Can’t wait to get to know more of the bloggers I only talk with in shoutboxes or comment arenas.
Anywayz…here are some of the pics. Got them from village idiot savant and Blogie.
(Davao bloggers) 
(More Davao bloggers) 
(Ara, me, Blogie, and Raine) 
(More Davao bloggers) 
Will be scouting other blogs for more pics. Hehe. Ciao for now!
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