While there have been many souls that made my life this year really colorful, there are those who were able to influence my mind and heart directly or indirectly and those who brought remarkable experiences, enabled me to reach new places, and steered my life’s direction beyond my expectations.

I want to make this clear that this is not a list of my favorite friends. I have plenty of friends that brought good things in my life in the past 12 months, and I cherish them always. They understand that their names don’t necessary need to be included in this list.

This year, to be different, I’ve decided to remove the numerical ranking of top 10 people of my life.

So let’s begin.

David Williams (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)

David Williams is one of my web-development-clients-turned-friends in 2010. I worked on some of his marketing websites and developed graphical banners to increase his online venture’s visibility. David started to become significant in 2010 when there was a time when I needed serious help on something. Since then, I felt comfortable sharing what life is like where I live and we conversed about farming, snow sports, and pets. David is a mature guy so it was always interesting to hear his stories about his younger days in England. He is one of the persons that I know that consistently reminds me that I could succeed in the future.

Kelvin Flood (Dublin, Leinster, Ireland)

Kelvin Flood is a rare gem I found in 2010. A very direct and infinitely humorous person, he taught me a few Irish phrases, words, and jokes, that managed to make me giggle and laugh boisterously in the middle of the night. He was not really that new to me: I came to learn about him through our common friend named Shane, who was an avid viewer of my tech show. The joy this guy brought in 2010 came to its peak when he participated in my show and when he wrote my full name on Ireland’s snow. It really made me feel special. Who else would do something like that to me?

Beau Dylan Sinclair (Bright, Victoria, Australia)

After a petty misunderstanding that led Beau to “unfriend” me on Facebook in 2009, he resurfaced in my life again in 2010. Beau and I were able to re-establish as good online friends as it has always been since the first day we met. Strongly driven towards radio-related stuffs and passionate towards computers, he’s an “uber” geek with random humorous flair. Like what we used to do in the past, we talked several times on Skype video at night about random things and many times our conversations ended up with me seeing him falling asleep. We even had a virtual party and karaoke session on Skype video call. It’s crazy, I know, but his desire towards music is just very contagious. Whenever I record a cover for some songs, he would always be the first one to receive the complementary copy and the first one whom I’d ask for an opinion.

Chris Morris (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Chris Morris is one of my long-time online friends whom I was able to share many details of my life. He’s very smart. We would always exchange stories and debate tech politics when we had the chance and offer advice to one another during challenging times. In 2010, we communicated less frequently than ever though when we do we never miss to exchange life updates. I believe he intentionally decided to put himself hidden or busy on many chat programs so he could focus doing what he wanted to do. I think his decision was wise. I’ve wished early in 2010 that he would figure out solid objectives for his career path. Now I hope he was able to do just that. If there’s something I’d like him to become, I would absolutely prefer him to develop into a person he wants to become.

Brad C. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

It’s not very common that you encounter a stranger from the Web that would become a reliable and trustworthy friend. People are just wired not to give too much trust unless they see the person’s face. My Aussie friend Brad is just an exception. I met him from a website called Justin.TV in 2008 and although I’ve seen him a few times, I still consider him as the most camera-shy person in my life in 2010. Nevertheless, Brad is also one the kindest persons I’ve known. Because of him and the green screen he recently donated, my Tech Conclave videos turned better than ever in terms of their quality. In 2009, he escalated the quality of my show’s audio by providing me a condenser microphone. As always, his passion to deliver episodes for his own podcast show, the Tech Webcast, continued to amaze me as he did last year. I’ve consistently believed that he has this unique skill to socially connect to people more easily and it allowed him to do beyond a hundred podcast episodes and still increasing.

Gerardo Velasco (Los Angeles, California, United States)

Three years after we first met as colleagues in a web hosting company, Gerardo continued to be a very close person to me in 2010. We generally consider each other as best friends and we strongly intend to remain like that for life. For three years, he supported me in every venture that I do online and offline. Life was easier because he was around. He was there when I started Tech Conclave, he was around in countless times when I was in distress, and he was always a person who would appreciate what I can do. I felt the same for him as this guy’s very talented not only with computers but with music as well. Although 2010 put Gerardo in a much occupied position due to his tremendous work and studies, we never missed to share updates when we had the chance to do it. He also started to work on his own rendition of “Why Come, Why Go” – a song that I composed ages ago and something that means a lot to me. I cannot wait to meet him in person in the near future.

Tom Maxwell (York, England, United Kingdom)

I am very fortunate to have Tom in my life. We’re so similar in many ways especially when it comes to the outlook of life. In 2010, Tom spent several months away from home – he went into a camping in the United States to serve disabled people, to meet new friends, and to travel across the America. Prior to his departure, he introduced films namely “The Bucket List,” “Into the Wild,” and “The Lovely Bones.” These movies were something Tom and I can relate with as they underscore some important aspects of life and how to appreciate it regardless of its circumstances. Tom brought me so much joy when he wore the shirt I gave him when he went to the United States – it felt like I was there. He’s undeniably one of few people whom I always feel comfortable sharing my day-to-day thoughts with – somebody whom I’d like to sit together with watching the afternoon sunset. In fact, if I could “apparate” to Yorkshire, I’d do it every time Tom’s free so we could meet and chat. I know there were times that I’ve cackled too much information about myself, but he really didn’t bother. Although Tom lives in a very far place in England, very far from where I am, I would never waste a lifetime not to try working hard just to meet him.

Eric V. (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Eric will always be one of the most significant people in my life and that will not change. I adore him so much for bringing positive changes in my life in the past three years and I vowed that if I get successful, I would absolutely visit him in Montreal. In 2010, however, I had to drift away from his company to welcome new opportunities. It was a very sad and a very difficult decision though I think it’s also smart one as I believed I would never develop much if I continue to be stuck under his business’ umbrella. I just want a job that lets me advance my skills, knowledge and wisdom, in addition to the financial reward.

Michael Bolton (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)

Michael Bolton was one of the people that I met online in 2008 and since then we rapidly developed into very good friends. We shared ideas and insights about our lives and exchanged opinions regarding the life and politics where he lives – in the land down under. When he expressed that he wanted to travel across Asia Pacific for a month-long vacation, he accepted my suggestion to travel to some Philippines cities and he invited me to accompany him in that part of his trip for free. That way, we could also meet in person – and we did. I will always feel grateful to Michael for the fantastic travel enabling me to write a lot of new records in my life. For the first time, I experienced:

• Travelling by plane all by myself from Davao City to the city of Cebu where we first personally met; and during my return from Manila to Davao.
• Eating Thai foods in a Thai restaurant in Cebu.
• Entering a casino and eating in a posh hotel restaurant in Waterfront Insular Hotel in Cebu.
• Watching 4D film in Cebu and IMAX theatre in Manila.
• Seeing awesome fishes in Manila Ocean Park.
• Seeing an ice skating rink at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
• Visiting the island of Bohol where we saw the Chocolate Hills, the tarsier, and the nice beaches in the island of Panglao. We also experienced eating in a floating restaurant there.
• Visiting the city of Tagbilaran, Pasay, Makati, and the country’s capital, Manila.
• Sleeping in the 25^th floor of a four-star hotel in the Philippine business capital of Makati. The highest level I’ve ever reached and slept in a building.
• Visiting the SM Mall of Asia, one of the largest malls in the Philippines, and other posh malls in Metro Manila.
• Tasting Wendy’s and Burger King’s burgers, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
• Riding in a train (LRT) in Manila.

Those were just the highlights of my trip with him; there were way too many new things that I happily experienced. After traversing the Philippines, he continued his trip to Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore before returning to his country. If I ever get to visit, work and/or live in Australia one day, I will never hesitate to visit Sydney to meet him again. And oh, he gave me my first vegemite experience as well. xD

Michael Bowie (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

How frequent do you get to see a rainbow or encounter fireflies? I am asking you these questions because amongst all other things that happened to me in 2010, nothing can ever compare the rarity of Michael Bowie’s abrupt entrance in my life when he randomly visited my country to meet me and to know what life is like in the city where I live. I featured him as a Geek of the Week in 2009 and since then we remained online friends, although distant. He was someone whose online absence is something I would not worry about. Not anymore.

His random travel allowed me to visit some new places in my region. Together, we crossed the seas, explored the islands, and climbed hills and mountains. We experienced adventures, enjoyed sights, and made memories that we’ll forever carry in our lives. His glimpse of my culture, and his exposure to the people I’m personally connected with, made him learn about my personal life so quickly in a degree that superseded anyone’s knowledge that almost blew my mind. It even made me write about something, which I did, because I felt increasingly unfair not to let him know about myself fully. I was just glad how nice he was in person than how I first perceived him to be. Things can just be very different when you meet an online fellow in person.

Michael’s return to Australia left me unintentionally on shaky grounds. It made me question where I am now in my life. While I hold true to my words to work hard and to be more productive to achieve my plans, it was not in my expectations that our parting would cause great sadness, temporarily slowing me down. I would always search for his presence every day and I still am. It was only when I began to mend I realized that his two weeks stay with me were actually the most euphoric days of my life so far. At any moment each day I would recall the happy memories of the travel. And I’m ever fortunate that we continued to communicate despite the distance, otherwise things would be less manageable.

If things were all congruent, as I wished were so, I could easily consider myself as the happiest man in the world, at least for the moment. But like everyone else, I’m bound with challenges, and these very challenges remind me that there are still plenty of work to be done to make things happen for me to get closer with the people I want to meet and be with. Michael stirred and softened my mind and heart, forcing me to reset my strategies respecting the new circumstance – a circumstance that screams this person’s new significance in my life. It would be a pain to let him go now. Fortunately, he’ll continue to be around as we will be working together on my tech news network. Only the future knows where it will take us.

This post is one of my year-ender posts for 2009. This is about the top ten people outside my direct biological family that brought happiness, helped me, or significantly influenced or contributed changes to the perspectives and ways of my life as a dignified human individual. It was difficult to come up with this list because there were many good people whom my life engaged with this year, but the people below are the creams of the crop and the roses among thorns.

10 – Demitri Aleksejev (Chester, England, United Kingdom)

I met Demitri through the online tech show I established this year, the Tech Conclave. Demitri found my show through Dylan Comb’s Live Show and since then he expressed his support and became a tech correspondent for my Internet show. Through him, I also met online a new friend, Sean Jonze, Demitri’s best friend who also appeared in a Tech Conclave episode. Demitri is a smart young bloke who loves all things tech especially web graphics, gaming and video production. In most of our chats, we talked about our tech passion and exchanged wicked jokes. I’m always hit by his sharp sense of humor which I find quite amazing as it always made me interested to engage a conversation with him. He originally came from Estonia which means he has a rich Latin and Russian background. These are few things that made him unique on my top-ten list.

9 – Geoffrey Moffett (Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)

Geoffrey is a new friend who just surfaced this year. He is my first friend coming from Northern Ireland. I think he found me through Tech Conclave. We share same passion towards technology except he has strong liking towards Internet marketing and online money making. He is frequently a busy guy oriented so much on his online ventures which is really good. He had shared some web work to me this year and helped me through that. And yeah, he has an outstanding English accent that is unique among the rest of people on this list. I tried to mimic it with no success – LOL – but I’m not giving up. Geoffrey is a good friend and I feel there’s going to be a lot of business work we’ll share in the future.

8  – Brad C. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

I really never expected to become a close friend of an Aussie guy who just popped up randomly when I was broadcasting at Justin.tv a year ago. At first, I was so hesitant to believe about Brad because of his unusual behavior especially when you compare it with other people among his age. However, I recognized I was too quick to judge and he turned out to be a very good friend among the rest. In fact, I owe the existence of my show, the Tech Conclave, to him as he influenced me into podcasting and sponsored me a condenser microphone this year. We also created a podcast together, called Tech Webcast, which I didn’t really expect to last long. However, his unusual determination slapped me in the face, as he stunned me in disbelief when his show reached over 50 episodes and he was able to engage many people into his show.

7  – Dylan Combs (Cincinnati, Ohio, United States)

It was Brad who brought Dylan Combs on my table this year. He runs his own tech blog featuring a live stream show called Dylan.Combs.tv. When I formally met this person, I had initial impression that he was a strong influence of Chris Pirillo shortly after I started the first episode of Tech Conclave. Our first few conversations on Skype gave me the impression that this guy has an impressive vocal tone on par with the quality that I’ve usually heard from radio and TV broadcast shows which I really, really find attractive because it sets the bar up of his potential in becoming a great show host virtually on any broadcast media channel he likes. At first I was quite hesitant to befriend him because he seems rather dominant and frank person when I listened to his broadcasts. I later realized when I finally made him as a friend that he’s also very friendly, very supportive and very professional on the flip side. What more when you learn you’re on same boat? Well, it just escalated my desire to work with him, share geeky thoughts and things that we can only understand. LOL Dylan truly made history by becoming Tech Conclave’s first ever Geek of the Week, which soon he later became a very active tech correspondent.  He also contributed so much to the exposure of the show and through him and his live stream I met many new geek friends from around the world. He also supported me big time with the HP contest that I participated in September. He created a testimonial video and wrote a blog post in support for my entry. Such noble acts are things that I’d always remember and never forget in 2009. You will know how special they were for me when you learn that I consider him as one of my favorite online geeks. I hope that we meet one day. That would be freaking awesome.

6  – Michael Bolton (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)

I met Michael Bolton online and became my first friend from Sydney. Because we share similarities when it comes to our orientation, he was always one of few people who can easily relate my rough roads. Michael strongly supported Tech Conclave and extended my attraction towards Australia. He also gave me opportunity to visit KFC a few times and I shared that joy with a few people around me. If I ever have the chance to visit his country one day, I’m sure he’d be on my list as one of the many people that I’d like to meet.

5 – Chris Morris (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Chris Morris got to be one of few people who know where to hit me humorously. He has been my close friend for almost two years now – and like everyone else on this list, I just met him randomly online. He is possibly the most expressive, well evolved, and very talented young Aussie I’ve met so far. He’s one lucky person too – when it comes to ownership of good computer systems. Hahaha. And that inspires me to work more to be able to gain them one day. One thing that I really appreciate about Chris is his dynamism in dealing with people, his out-of-the-box attitude (our similarity), and his strong passion towards technology (again, our similarity) and innovation. If in the future there’ll be a nice shiny product that people appreciate, I would not be surprised if the creator is named “Chris Morris.” Perhaps he’s one of few people whom I can trust to share and understand whenever my pent-up emotions go overboard.

4 – Dimitar Avramov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

I’ve written a few articles for Dimitar since last year for his online business. Since then, he became very supportive of me and helped bring me and my endeavor, the Tech Conclave, into spotlight. Since I met him, I was exposed to his online feats and activities. They made me form a deep inspiration of him and his ability to travel from country to country to do or to attend business events. I have strong feeling that he will play a huge role in evolving my personal, business, and career life in the future. I believe he’ll contribute some unique history in my life that no other person on the list would be able to rival. I’m prepared for that and will do my best to reciprocate all of them with good service and relationship.

3 – Bryce Thomas (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

If I have one good friend that’s shrouded with mystery without question that would be Bryce Thomas, also known online with a codename "bilsta57." He owns a tech reviews blog with same name. I first met him on Skype earlier this year through Brad’s podcast called Tech Webcast and I was able to converse with him about many tech-related things for nearly a year now. I must admit the first few weeks after I met him I was totally awestruck with all his computer systems — it’s my first time to know a person and a friend living a geek’s dream in real life. Oh dear! He owns many computer devices and gadgets many geeks can only dream of (including myself). His Apple computer systems are just his little toys among his massive geeky collections. Unbelievable? Why not watch his YouTube setup video that garnered tens of thousands of views? The chair that I sit everyday can’t even compete his’. LOL. But yeah, enough envy. What makes Bryce mysterious for me is that for so long I’ve communicated and exchanged thoughts with him, I still have no idea what he looks like! I don’t have a single clue either so imagining has no use. However, I respect the reason underneath the clouds when he told me that he’s doing it for his own security. I think I can understand that. I’m just very grateful that he let me witnessed his true character that goes beyond his hidden identity and purchasing power. He overwhelmingly supported me this year when I joined an HP contest on YouTube. A level of support that gave me and a few members of my family some tears of joy. I may have failed to know what he looks like, but his act was enough for me to get convinced to understand the shape of his heart.

2 – Gerardo Velasco (Alhambra, California, United States)

I’m really glad that Gerardo remained one of the most special friends I’ve ever met online. This year, he has been super supportive with all my online endeavors. He actively participated on many Tech Conclave episodes and supported it through his talent and time. I trust him with anything without doubt. It comes from his distinct honesty, keen listening, and open-mindedness. He’ll probably become one of the friends that I will cherish and keep for life. I think he’s already one since last year. This year, we both experienced major crossroads in our lives that made us really busy. He’ll go to university soon so I expect that we’ll not be able to communicate as frequent as before, which I feel sad about. Even so, I’m confident to meet him one day and be able to share stories about our lives, work or do tech-related business together. And yeah, he was my first Hispanic friend. That’s special.

2 – Tom Maxwell (York, England, United Kingdom)

If Batman has Robin and if Harry Potter has Ron Weasley, I believe Tom Maxwell has earned the same place and importance in my life this year. I met him online through Chris Morris early this year and since then we get to know each other well. He listened my daily stories of happiness, joy, and sorrow – things that not everyone would be willing to listen. He simply made a difference. I am eternally grateful for the time he spent with me whenever he’s online and for his eagerness to share his own exciting life in Yorkshire. He has helped me a lot by becoming a good company of whom I can comfortably share my thoughts about the world and our evolving, yet contrasting lives, as they run parallel. I would never forget the person who made history with an Easter egg and good thoughts. Hehehe. Tom has really become a special friend for me — no doubt it’s something permanent, and I’d really work hard to reciprocate the good things he brought me this year and the years to come. We might meet next year – who knows – and that is something I strongly look forward and extremely excited about. Fun times, big times ahead! I’m sure we can celebrate our lives together as good friends.

1 – EV (name withheld) (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Don’t ask, don’t tell. Always remember, that the list above is a result of my personal assessment only for this year. In the future, I will look back on this post and I will be able to identify whose people remained attached in my life.

Check last year’s top 10 here.

While my work may have contained my life in the four corners of my home, it also brought some unparalleled events and evolution not just in my life but also to others who were directly attached to me in the offline and online world. I personally believe that I experienced some things that you can’t get in a real office environment. Of course, I also recognize that there are also things I have missed. I guess I can just say “C’est la vie.” I think that if I was working in the city, it would have exposed me to different places and people. Unfortunately, that’s not my circumstance and that being said, I’m relying on my holistic dynamism and upbeat intellect that have brought advancements despite my situational constraints. I believe it will continue to push me forward in the next years to come. After all, I think and dream about my future every day and I parallel that with hard work.

Recollection and Evaluation

When I started my work 2 years ago, I had nothing else in my mind than just four goals that boosted my motivation:

• to find an opportunity to visit, work, and live abroad,
• to solidify my career in Information Technology,
• to make money to help my parents and brothers, and
• to find new special people that I could integrate and be part of my life.

My first goal didn’t happen yet; I kind of fulfilled the second one but not to a sustainable point due to changing circumstances; the third one is a continuous work and that’s evidenced by what I do online; and the latter, I believe I managed to find special people that are now part of my life.

The past two years working at home have taught me many things and brought realizations that I have presented in the past milestone posts listed below.

• 18 Months Home Work Performance as Freelance IT Professional and the Bed!
• 365 Days Of Home Computer Work
• My Workplace After Nine Months Of Home Work

Professionally-talking, I think being a freelance developer has a risk especially when you’re not eager enough to teach yourself to be better in your field of expertise. As in my case, I have no choice but to develop my knowledge. It’s the key to realizing my goals and it has always provided me ways through life’s obstacles.

What’s Ahead

As uncertain as the future can be, I can only pledge to be consistent with my hard work to realize the goals I have and to be dynamic with each new circumstance. I’m looking forward to meet my online friends, I’m excited to the development of my tech news show, to start new venture and engage more in online business, to hone my I.T. expertise, and most importantly, to fly somewhere. With all these goals I have, it only means there’s an opportunity to do more in the years to come.

Now to the gist: the clock just hit 12:00 AM! Drum rolls…I’m officially 22 years old! But whoa, the memory of my 20th birthday is still very fresh in my mind. Time flies, huh? It does.

Speaking of which, this year’s birthday is probably one the simplest natal day that I ever have. I don’t have plans of what to do today: don’t have any money to go/hang out or start a celebration and I’m clueless if my parents are going to do something special because they just spent a good amount of money recently from their modest income to send my two brothers in college this year – one of them is a senior college student and the other one a freshman. Anyway, who knows? I might get a surprise! However, it’s a thing I’d less expect. Life goes on.

However, despite the drought of celebration (I’m thinking about eating  my favorite chicken curry with lots of potatoes, fruit salad, etc), I’m happy because I got plenty of greetings and blessings from my online friends. Brad of Tech Webcast, for instance, sponsored a condenser microphone to help improve my tech news show, Tech Conclave. Hopefully when it arrives, I’ll be able to use it for the upcoming episodes.

I’m taking Tech Conclave (and all the other shows that I participate or co-host with) seriously because I believe that it brings a lot hope in realizing my dreams, helping my family, finding new friends, and reaching places that I can only think about for now – as well as meeting that special person dearest to my heart and rather one of the reasons why the show exists and I put so much effort into it. I’m also thinking of recording my karaoke songs and hopefully they’ll sound good enough for me to be able to share to the world. lol

My wish this year is that I hope my family’s health will remain stable and good, that all the relationships and things I’m involved with will improve, and I wish that the global recession will end so that I’ll not be choked anymore with all the bills and I will have more freedom. I don’t want to stuck here forever and I’m looking forward to reaching new places.

To myself: happy 22nd birthday! Thanks for being so productive, objective, dutiful, and persevering and hopefully one day you’ll find what you’re looking for. Everything that you do is a legacy that will remain in me.

While many would agree with that, I’m lucky that here in the Philippines, Valentine’s Day is not intrinsically exclusive for lovers and committed couples. Valentine’s Day is for everyone who is loved and knows how to love. Pretty much I can say, it’s for everyone. Of course, those who belong in mutual relationships are proud to express their love during the day. My mother joked that in the break of dawn of February 15th, there will be new unborn kids that will have no parents. Well, that’s quite agreeable.

My greatest valentine fantasy is to play a piano for someone whom I care and in love with. I want to play the popular musical piece of Johann Pachelbel — the Canon,  especially the C version. It’s one of my biggest dreams in my life. Why? It sounds extremely romantic to me and the tunes parallel in many ways my styles when I fall in love. I pretty much have been listening to this music piece since four years every day up to this writing. I would continue to listen it until the very day this dream is fulfilled. The melody of Pachelbel Canon easily melts my heart and makes me feel so vulnerable and human in a good way. The music is so eternal to me and whenever I imagine myself playing the piano in front of a special person in my life, I feel so inexplicably happy from deep within.

I want to be as good as this kid or better:

w-XmsJV7I00

So from final fantasy, let’s go down and check the reality: Well, I don’t know how to play a piano – not yet. I’m slowly saving up to buy a musical keyboard (one day) in order to practice, learn, and master Pachelbel’s Canon in C. (Would you like to help?) I would passionately work for that to make one of my dreams a reality. I am sure that will be easy for me because I’m so filled emotions that have continued to push me forward for so many years.

If you don’t know yet, I have composed two songs three years ago – the Why Come Why Go and Do You Understand. My friends have loved my songs and they even shared and used them for themselves. I am still amazed myself how I did them. All I can remember is that during that time, I was so passionately in loved with someone and that passion made me extremely productive in a way that I can easily express myself through literary works – a poem, a story, a song, among others. Shakespeare in love? Hehehe, well maybe, but I have my own, unique style: I don’t play games nor with fire. 

Remember that:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Am I in loved with someone? If you’ve read my previous posts, I’m sure you have found out. For now, I ask you to wish me luck that my valentine fantasy will come true in the near future — and thank you for doing so!

Spread the love to the world and hope you had a happy valentines day!

Our hangout was really unexpected that afternoon – I was supposed to go alone to the city to meet my parents and give them money to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary.  When I thought it would be merrier if I would go with someone else, I invited out of the blue my youngest brother and my two female cousins to go with me.  Amazingly, they did not hesitate.

So, here’s our little trip to the city. I hope you’ll have fun with our pictures.

On The Way

We rode a Land Car, Inc (LCI) bus from Lasang and took one hour to reach the mall we were bound to. As you can see from the picture below, my two female cousins named Jobeth and Bianca, were extremely excited of the trip. This was the first time the four of us travel together without our parents. Well, we’re all grown up now.

Arrival At SM

When we arrived at SM, I immediately headed to Banco de Oro to get my pay through Xoom remittance service. It took 30 minutes to get the money, but that wasn’t really a problem since I was amused listening and watching the two lovely bank teller ladies exchanging gossips with one another while they were working. After leaving the bank, we went straight to Jollibee to eat. Jollibee is a top locally-owned fastfood chain restaurant that competes with MacDonalds, KFC, and the likes here in the Philippines. My cousins and brother were very happy for the treat. We ordered burgers, fries and ice tea.

After we satisfied our stomach with foods, we headed to the World of Fun – the mall’s arcade and amusement center: the major goal of our hangout. So, we tried to collect tickets there in exchange for prizes. An arcade token costs PHP 5 or 10 US cents.

Super Mashimaro

How to play: Drop one token. When the game starts, little bulldog-headed-like figures pop up randomly and you will have to hammer them to get a score. You’ll get tickets as a reward for making high scores.

Jungle Jive

How to play: Exchange your money bills into Philippine peso coins at the counter. When you are ready, you drop each peso coin on the slot. If you are lucky, that coin will cause other stuck coins inside to fall and you will get a lot of tickets.

King of the Hammer

The Super Mashimaro wasn’t really amusing for us. So, we tried this game called King of the Hammer which has similar concept. Me and my brother had a little competition with this game and I ended up the loser. ^_^

How to play: Drop a token. Once the game starts, you can do 2 hammer blows to the round metal target in sequential manner. The stronger you hammer the target, the higher your score!

Bump Cars

How to play: Well, you only need to pay PHP 20 (0.43 USD) for a two- or three-minute ride. It’s really fun. You can tell just by seeing my face in the pictures below.

Dance Dance Revolution

We knew that this game machine was pretty old school. However, I never experienced dancing in the arcade yet in front of many people watching — too shy. This time, I grabbed the opportunity and danced with my cousin. Getting both fun and good sweat, I really wished that I had this kind of machine at home so that I’ll not get chubbier with my current sedentary life/workstyle.

How to play: You only need two tokens to play. Hit the right steps in proper timing.  

SM’s World of Fun was really fun! We could have played more games there if we didn’t notice that the night was already late. Someone was always on my mind and I’ve missed my laptop a lot. So, we left the arcade and did the thing that I needed to do as well while in the mall: I paid my monthly Internet bill at Cyberzone. 

After that, me and my cousins and brother headed to the supermarket and bought some potato chips and drinks (I picked yogurts, they picked Gatorades) to be eaten in the bus. The mall was already closing when we started marching outside. It was already 9PM.

When we jumped in the bus bound for home, we felt very exhausted and talked a few times about how fun the arcade was. I didn’t regret that I brought my crazy cousins with me. I realized that it’s not that bad at all to change my mind sometimes. However, as I solemnly watched the places we came to pass by from the bus’ window, I was deeply aware that though I can fool my eyes and ears what to see and hear, I can never trick my heart what to feel. Bottomline is, I had fun at World of Fun. I lived like a kid in a few couple of hours.

Reviewing it will give me hint where the direction of my life will point this year and I will be able to find out necessary ways to continue my pursuit of happiness and success for myself, for my family, and for the top people directly connected to me (top 10 of them were listed in my previous post). It has been noted that the year has been pleasant in 2007, let’s find out if this was the case in 2008.

January 2008

• I’ve set the official goals of this blog for 2008. Its objectives were to be able (1) to be able express what I have in my mind and heart, (2) to be able to monetize this blog, and (3) to be able to entertain a greater number of readers with what I write. These goals were achieved successfully.
• I stumbled online and befriended John MacDonald, a computer skilled bachelor blogger from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
• Six months milestone working at home alone as web developer.

March 2008

• I’ve met and befriended Chris Morris online, through connection with John MacDonald. He is highly-skilled computer guy from Melbourne, Australia.
• I’ve made a teaser video for this blog using 3Ds Max. A big  professional accomplishment for me.

April 2008

• Made a post on how bloggers should spend their breaktime: do the locomotion.
• I bought Altec Lansing VS3251 surround sound system to amplify the celebration of my father’s 50th birthday.
• John Raul Dot Com gains Google Page Rank of 3.

May 2008

• Nine months milestone working at home alone as web developer.
• I had my 21st birthday. I entered the age of adulthood by concept.

June 2008

• My online friend Gregory White of Perth, Western Australia, Australia, passed away from kidney failure.
• I opened up the feeling I have for my boss. He didn’t feel the same.
• I’ve met and befriended Gerardo Velasco. He is very good, highly-skilled computer geek from Alhambra, California, United States.

July 2008

• I upgraded my laptop’s RAM from 1 GB to 3 GB.
• John Raul Dot Com gains Google Page Rank 4.

August 2008

• One year milestone working at home alone as an IT professional.
• Brad C. from Melbourne, Australia, popped up from my channel’s chat page on Justin dot TV and we became friends.

September 2008

• The Google PageRank of this blog shrink from 4 to 2, and two weeks after, to zero. It was the greatest loss of this blog this year.
• After 21 years, I got my own room (no bed yet so it can’t be called bedroom – LOL ).
• I met new friends, Dimitar and Alexander Avramov, executives of Host Color.
• I bought an external mobile SATA drive.

October 2008

• I got an aircon through monthly installment payment basis.

November 2008

• After 7 years, I met Lynden Libres again after arriving from Brisbane, Australia. She was a girl of my past.
• When the love I have for someone in Montreal became clearer, it encouraged me to slowly open myself up to my family and some trusted friends about my same-sex feelings and self-identification. They were generally accepting and supportive about it — but action speaks louder than words. Of Kinsey’s scale, I put myself between 3 and 4 from 0 to 6 — that’s bisexual, but you can call me non-effeminate, manly gay if you want — not an issue. After all, I agree with what modern psychologists found out that sexuality is fluid throughout lifetime and I’m motivated to succeed. The issue is with narrow-minded, less-evolved and fearsome people who find it hard to deal with people like me. I believe I can continue to be more productive and compassionate by being myself. I know what I protect: home and family, the younger people, and the people on my side directly connected to me, regardless who they are. I want everyone to be happy and each of them deserves equality and respect as a human.

December 2008

• No bonus. Slightly lower salary due to monetary crisis — yet I was still able to make my family/relatives happy with little gifts full of good thoughts. I am happy about it.
• I sent cards to the people who matter most in my life in year 2008.

Conclusion

The year 2008 has brought many changes with my standards of living and my life, due to the hard and consistent work I did in 12 months. I got my first room and aircon, something I didn’t have for 21 years. I am grateful to what I have and to everyone who contributed and involved in this.

Before the end of the year, however, I had to define myself better based on what I feel so that others will be able to define me and they will know how to deal with me personally and professionally. I would have been more productive if circumstances were favorable but it turned out that I was still productive enough due to my personal commitment, selfless love, and promises. The number one person in my 2008 was instrumental to all of this so I can’t let him down, neither are the people and friends who stayed on  my back regardless of circumstances.

Happy New Year and peace be with you.

What Happened Last Year

A year ago of same date, I was preparing to quit my software testing job from BHI Pro (locally Hubport Interactive) in Davao City, Philippines. I was sleeping in the office every night there to meet my client online from North America at 4AM (Philippine Time, GMT +8). I was offered a position with our local city’s most reputable and stable company, the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC). However, during my application to resign from my current employer, somebody from Canada offered a job to me. He said I would be working at home to do an outsourcing job. Because I am so inclined with my dream to work and live abroad someday, I accepted it without hesitation and I dropped DLPC’s local work offer. So, I got a new laptop for a start, and my work at home begun.

Here are the posts related to my office many months ago:

• My Workplace After Nine Months Of Home Work
• My Workplace In The Corner Of The World

My Social Life Is Gone, Or Is It?

Many said working at home is like a suicide of social life. While somehow I agree to it, my social life wasn’t really zeroed. I used to work in a corporate office before, so I know the difference and the feeling. It is just beneficial for me that I am different than typical people — dynamic and non-traditional.

I had a lot of time with my family (and I say a lot with a little emphasis on “too much”). I met many friends online, too: Gregory White and Chris Morris from Australia, Ken S. from New Zealand, John MacDonald from New Brunswick, Canada, and partners Mihaela Lica and Phil Butler from Germany. Although I may never be able to see them in person in my lifetime, they were no different to my previous college friends, as they also brought me happiness during my daily work. It was sad though that one of my few online friends who bothered me a lot, Gregory White from Perth, Australia, passed away last June and my online social life went limped until I moved on. Since then, I struggled with my remaining online friends and my beloved employer.

I am fortunate to discover and to know that I have one of the best employers (persons) of the world, whom my social and professional life is laid with towards the future — and I will not spoil my happiness by saying the rest.

Working at home can definitely kill someone’s social life if you leave the steering wheel to spin by itself. However, if you are wise enough to realize that the key to happiness is within your hands and with what you do, you will know that there is always a way to keep your social life active and vibrant — even at home. Just be true.

Realization

During my one year computer home work, I realized many things. I have no one to talk in most times, but I’ve got so much time to think. Now, here they are:

• Money is a universal problem, but there are fortunate people.
• You work by yourself and you are not necessarily the only one who reaps the pay.
• Even at home, loneliness and self-pity strike. And they stab your heart as well.
• If you work with love, you don’t feel like working at all.
• It is necessary to pass through loneliness to realize many things.
• You can do work even if you don’t have a room or if you are on the floor.
• One can be very productive if the employer is not only after the money a person can bring.
• It’s not easy to work without air conditioning in the Philippines. It distracts work and not good for skin.
• Consistency of work leads to trust and success. And this is crucial for online based ventures and relationships.
• Money brings freedom, it may or may not bring happiness.
• Patience is a virtue and an asset.
• The farther the person is, the more nice they are.
• Working at home full time has risk of getting fat.
• Online friends can make you cry as well.
• Customers will love your business if you love them, business talking.
• You have to endure everything to realize your dream and work hard to realize your wants.
• You should feel fortunate because not everyone has a good job at home.

Another 365 Days Challenge?

As of this writing, I am still uncertain for how long will I be working here at home alone. For sure, this has to change one day. Working full time at home is just something I need to pass. I still have to experience other things in life. I have so much to do, and to experience and to learn — and sadly I can’t find everything here at home. So for now, I will just do my whistles, be patient, and continue to work hard, bring money. Opportunity will come along the way one day and it is something for myself. I feel like there is a great journey ahead of me and I’m quite excited to embark on it. I hope it would come at the earliest. If you believe you can contribute, I would be forever grateful to you.

Looking back, here are the highlights of my life until this age:

• When my mother got pregnant for me, she took medicine and attempted to abort me due to family disputes.  It failed, I’m alive. I’m wondering if the medicine has side effects on me. I learned this when I was second year high school.
• At age 1, my mother said I was fond of listening instrumental piano music she played on cassette tapes. We used to live in a wooden and creaky house beside a river. It was taken away by a flashflood.
• At age 3, I first played a computer game Super Mario from our neighbor’s Nintendo family computer game console. My addiction with this game lasted until my high school days before it was completely replaced by Squaresoft’s (now Square-Enix) Brave Fence Musashi and Final Fantasy series.

Kindergarten

• During my kindergarten one, I reigned as first honors in our class. My father got promoted as manager, so I got a chance to study in a private school for one year. When my father’s company closed, I went back to public school and moved on.
• I spent my vacation in my grandmother’s place. There, I experienced selling bananas on the street and in the villages every afternoon.

Elementary

• During my first grade, I punched and broke the tooth of my classmate named Eleazar when we were on the line towards our classroom. I also broke my leg after swinging much in a “hamac” or swing.
• I was a consistent honor throughout my elementary years. I was not into sports really, but I joined some athletes during their baseball and volleyball practices. I was a cartoonist in our school organ and an active Boy Scout attending several jamborees in the city. I also had my first crush named April Love, our valedictorian, while I was one of graduating pupils with honors.

High School

• During high school my life significantly changed. I became curious about life and started to learn philosophies through experience. I studied in Maryknoll High School of Panabo City. During my first year, I got 78/100 grade in my report card — my all-time lowest scholastic grade — and the subject was T.H.E. (or Technology and Home Economics)!
• I met Lynden, the first girl that I fell in loved with passion. She flew to Australia during third year and drifted own our ways. We still chat sometimes but she told me I have no future for her.
• During high school I participated actively in many school organizations. I became involved in campus journalism (became a Chief Editor), an active Outdoorsman scout, and wrote my own fantasy epic stories. I graduated with no academic but special awards.

College, University and Beyond

• I entered tertiary education as a working student in AMA Computer University Davao Campus, more than 33 kilometers from my place. Life was tougher during those days financially. Me, my mother and brother experienced quite numerous tearful nights. Attending school the next day is always uncertain because of the financial obstacles. I rode a bus to school (and always standing) back and forth. These experiences urged me to take schooling seriously — and I learned a lot from both misery and limitations.
• At age 18, first time I got a foreign American friend, Eric Pangburn, who helped me buy on-the-job training uniform and brought me to restaurants in the city that I could not afford during that time. He was my only friend with height of 6 feet and 8 inches.
• At age 19, I graduated from my tertiary school, AMA Computer University, acquiring a title of Bachelor of Science Magna Cum Laude in Information Technology. I had my first time graduation speech that brought tears to audience.
• At age 20, I got my first official graduate job as Software Tester at BHI Pro. The management wanted me to work on graveyard shift. So, I slept in their office every night for one month and I decided to resign on the third month. They brought me to my current employer, which honestly, weighs and plays more significant role than I could imagine in my life. I am committed, and will do anything for him and he knows that. I got good online friends as well, John MacDonald from New Brunswick, Canada, and Gregory White from Perth (who passed away two weeks after my birthday).

Looking back when my 21st birthday dawned, I realized that I have learned many things in life — more than the people of my age — no wonder why some people told me that I have an old mind. I had a simple celebration on my debut with few friends and family members, yet with tremendous thoughts for me. I thank God for everything for all of this. I still can’t believe I am already 21 though. Time was fast.

The Most Destructive Habit: Worry
The Greatest Joy: Giving
The Greatest Loss: Loss of Self Respect
Most Satisfying Work: Helping Others
The Ugliest Personality Trait: Selfishness
The Most Endangered Species: Dedicated Leaders
Greatest Natural Resource: The Youth
Our Greatest Shot In The Arm: Encouragement
The Greatest Problem To Overcome: Fear
The Most Effective Sleeping Pill: Peace of Mind
The Most Crippling Failure Disease: Excuses
The Most Powerful Force of Nature: Love
The World’s Most Incredible Computer: The Brain
The Worst Thing To Be Without: Hope
Deadliest Weapon: The Tongue
Two Most Powerfilled Words: "I Can"
The Greatest Asset: Faith
The Most Worthless Emotion: Self-Pity
The Most Beautiful Attire: Smile
The Prized Possession: Integrity
The Powerful Channel of Communication: Prayer
Most Courageous Spirit: Enthusiasm

The list is quite straightforward, yet I strongly believe it. Remember always, that in the world you may just be one, but to one person, you may be the world.

To The World You May Be One, To One Person, You May Be The World

I hope this will help you.