It always feels nice to be greeted during birthdays. I intentionally turned off my Facebook birthday notification, just to see if people would still remember. Silly me! But of course, with the exception of 3 significant ladies. From a simple and casual happy birthday greeting to a number of well-wishes, thank you very much.

But not all people celebrate their birthdays. I just learned that Witnesses often reject birthdays as pagan and will therefore refuse to participate in them.

No worries, I’m not here to question their belief. But I’m here to appreciate the gesture of one Witness friend. Despite her hectic schedule and my lousy fashion sense, she did spend time with me.

I think she’s the reason that delishusizes Toast Box’s Kaya Toast.

My Facebook page is boring!
I’m just not the type who posts anything significant andor insignificant on The Wall..
But of course, I can change…

I saw The Social Network, with my sister on the big screen.
It was a good geeky movie.

I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, alone.. on a 13-inch screen (MBP’s lcd display, that is)
It was a great geeky movie!
Sex Bob-omb! Ramona! Knives! Envy! — are my four favorite proper nouns in the movie..

I also saw Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, alone on the 13-inch screen of MBP.
It was a good ahh-err movie!

Oldboy still rocks the ahh-err-wow-ohh-woooOOOh! movie category!
It’s just me saying…

My next oh-i-so-wanna-watch-this-movie-i’m gonna-die is My Amnesia Girl.
Oh! Please let’s watch it together. <3

Showing on November 24.
Nood na!

Manila Water Co. EDT as of 13 July 2010

This is awesome!

Manila Water Co. closed at 17.50 today.
RSI shows that it’s overbought.
So expect, a pullback very very soon!!

But consider this, according to COL, MWC’s fair market value is at 22.50.

I’ve got four words for you, Buy high! Sell higher!

I woke up earlier than usual. 4:45 AM. This is the same time, when I am to prepare myself for a 6:45 AM BodyPump cover class at RSC. A lot of firsts for me today, really. It is my first time to arrive at the office at around 7:30 AM. Early log-in means early log-out. First time to log-out at 4:30 PM. I usually log out at around 6:30 PM.

I also asked permission with my manager beforehand, that I would be leaving the office at an earlier time during Thursdays and Fridays. I don’t know if it’s a good thing, that work is not hectic nowadays. Manager says it’s all OK. I’ll take it as a good thing anyway.

I arrived at school around 5:40 PM. The assigned room was still empty. I entered the room…

I am learning how to teach.

The course title is Teaching of Mathematics. Since I really have no formal Education units, some of the ideas discussed were new to me. Ideas like constructivism, deductive and inductive teaching, and understanding by design makes me feel like an alien in the company of professional teachers.

At the start of the class, our professor asked us to answer a form with our personal details and expectations for the course. I always answer, not boring, when ask what do I expect of a class.

I can say that I didn’t get bored during the class. Sleepy? Not even! That’s another first.
I think our professor and my classmates were all in the groove for a two-hour session of teaching and learning.

P.S. A minimum of eight students is required for a class not to be dissolved. We were only five students during the class. I really hope the class will still push through.

P.P.S. There’s a closing prayer after the class. I didn’t do the sign of the cross. Does it even matter?

COL, as an online stock broker, offers convenient access to different resources to its clients’ trading needs. They even give their recommendations on what stocks to buy, hold and sell, which I think is really great considering I don’t want to be bothered by the Fundamental and Technical Analysis thing.

Well, I might take that back. I think the FA and TA thing are quite interesting. Imagine, if you’ll just be able to master these things, be a day-to-day trader, and create a program that can alert you to hey-it’s-time-to-buy-this and hey-it’s-time-to-sell-that.

Since, I’m not that geeky yet to study these analyses, I chose their Easy Investment Program.
I define convenience as minimum risk with high earning potential over time. Haha! How do I convert that to a formula?!

With the EIP’s convenience, an investor will just have to invest a certain amount of money each month to buy stock positions of the top companies. Do this for ten to twenty years, faithfully, and one can retire a multi-millionaire. COL recommends investing to six solid companies, namely:

• Ayala Land, Inc. — ALI
• Bank of the Philippine Islands — BPI
• Jollibee Foods Corp. — JFC
• Manila Water Co. Inc — MWC
• SM Prime Holdings Inc — SMPH
• Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. — TEL

On the course of the seminar, different topics were discussed like inflation, cost-averaging, buy low, sell high, and the likes. And it all translates to me as money working for me.

Haha! Do I suck at product endorsements?! Yes?!
I’m not a sales person. But I’m rich!

Take control of your finances.
A 70:30, money-to-spend to money-to-save ratio of your income can be a good start. Every month, try to live by 70% of your income. My mentor also suggests that the 30% you save, be allocated to emergency funds, money-to-invest, money-to-pay-debts-in-advance and tithe.

Yay! To all agnostics out there, you can just disregard tithe.

PS: Learn more about the Philippine Stock Market, and know how it can work for you.
Visit CitisecOnline.com

PPS: Do You Want to Gain Financial Wealth and Spiritual Abundance at the Same Time?
Yes! Of course!

Kanina sa PBB Double Up, tinanong ni Jason si Melissa kung gusto ba daw niya ng HHWW?

As for me, it’s been years since I held hands with someone while walking.
Oh! I would still love to hold hands with someone while walking, running even.

Just to make it clear, I want that someone to be a girl.
People around me are wondering if I am gay or not. FML.

But I did finish a half-marathon pacing a girl friend. We finished at 2:40-ish.
Still, it can’t be considered a couple’s PR, because we didn’t actually crossed the finish line at the same time. I guess, I was ahead by a couple of seconds. So I guess, that can still be counted as a couple’s PR.

Err, is my term couple’s PR correct?

Come Sunday, I’ll be running at Condura. For the record, it’ll be my 4th full mary. My goal is to finish it in five hours. I think I can do it.

I have read that you’ll be running your first marathon this Sunday.
Be safe. Run strong.

Any tips?!
Bring Salonpas. The liquid liniment one. Buy the small one at the Supermarket.
I’ll bring one myself and I will offer it to any runner who feels like needing it.

About Our Mac

I’ve been a Windows user, since I knew when. But I think, it’ll just take a few more weeks for me to be familiar with the new operating system. Mac OS is all intuitive, anyway.

Here are the things, that I have done and discovered so far:

• Do Software Update. Still downloading though as of blogtime
• Download and install Yahoo Messenger, but I soon realized that I can finally use Adium
• VLC, Flip4Mac, MenuMeters, The Unarchiver, Vuze, and Firefox
• Screen capture is: Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 and release all key

Err, the geeky me is still getting to know MBP.
I’m thinking of creating programs, presentations, Photoshop, and many more.

By the way, we got the best deal at Digital Hub.
Yes, free plugging is the punch line.

Buwan na ng mga puso!
Langhap ko na ang halimuyak ng pag-ibig.

Let’s talk about love, within the context of interpersonal relationships.
I found this lecture on Academic Earth, which discusses the Triangular Theory of Love.

The three components are: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Different combinations of the three shows the type of love that may arise on the course of a relationship.

And as I do a quick evaluation of some of my girl friends… Nah! erase! erase!

Let’s talk about running.
No road races for me last January. It seems like, everybody is running. And the registration fees are getting more expensive –desu. I’ll join these road races, anyway.

My scheduled road races for this month include the Condura Run and the Century Tuna Superbods Run.

You ask, why do I run?
Because I want to.
And so I can run with you.

Alam mo ba yung masarap na feeling?!
Edi yung, maka-feeling ka!

I really miss writing here.

8:30 AM
I woke up late for the GMK sessions last Saturday morning. Next week, I’ll just try to make it up with the kids.

1:30 PM — 5 PM
I remember my sensei asking yesterday, もうブログをかきますか？
And with an Elementary 1 reply, I said, いいえ、まだです。きょうのばんブログをかきます。

I’m really having fun with my Japanese classes.
Shameless plug: Nihongo Center

I had the 39 peso, cheeseburger + egg + ham + bacon + 12oz. Mountain Dew combo as merienda during the break. Ito yung isa sa mga burger stands sa may kalye malapit sa FEU at PSBA.

Sensei mistakenly thought of dismissing us early. But we reminded her, that we still have one full hour left. And so we did some Kanji writing.

Ok, enough of the introduction.

My Urbanite Run
I had my early dinner at around 5:30PM. My favorite fastfood combo: crispy chicken fillet meal + hot fudge + burger mcdo, for only 100 pesos.

I arrived at The Fort around 7:30PM. I thought Fitness First will be open until 10PM. Too bad, they’re only up until 8PM on a week-end.

I find the Urbanite Run singlet nice and cool. I will wear it in a BodyPump class. Maybe in a Cycling class, too.

Shameless plug #2: Discover BodyPump.

There were lots of people.
I see happy people.

The Kenny Roger’s Urbanite Run is supposed to be my kilometer 275. I wasn’t able to post my stories on the past races which includes the Mizuno Infinity Run, PTAA Run, Milo Marathon, and Run for Home.

Oh! Milo Marathon is still the toughest among the races I joined in.
I survived it too. Thank you very much.

I am looking forward to next year’s Bataan Death March 102k Ultramarathon. I think, it will be the toughest.

I was not happy with my run. I felt pain in my legs. I was in the verge of having cramps too.

But I was happy seeing lots of people.
Mostly, happy people.

I even saw the girl who hooked me into running.
She was actually the reason why I run.

I run and join road races hoping that I’ll be able to run with her.

Maybe, give her a “Be safe” message as I passed by her.
“Strong finish!” is a good encouraging phrase too.
Or maybe, talk about anything under the sun (the moon and the stars too) as we run.

I did the math, I finished at 1:03 on the 10km digital clock.
I drank Powerade and water too.

I felt like waiting at the finish line.
By the law of averages, she should be arriving in 5 minutes or so.

At around 1:10, I saw her sprinting towards the finish line.
I really wanted to call her name (which doesn’t start with a D. Her name doesn’t even have a D in it).

I was able to shout “Go! Go! Go!”

Seeing her just makes the caterpillars in my stomach, metamorph into butterflies. Butterflies that pollinate the flowers. Yes, just like the flowers in heaven.

Going back memory lane, here’s a snippet of how was it like during my first day with the kids.

Last Saturday was my second stint as a mentor for Hands On Schools’ Galing Mo Kid!

Our sherpa texted me two weeks ago, if I would be interested to be part of GMK’s last module for this school year.

Yes! I’m interested! Where? When? What should I bring?

Where?
Nueve de Pebrero Elementary School

When?
For five straight Saturdays. 9am to 11am.

What should I bring?
Just bring yourself. Err, Ok. I just made this last one up.

Oh, yes. This is my way of changing the world, one kid at a time.

So you want to know more about Galing Mo Kid! eh?!

Hands On Schools — Galing Mo Kid! is a program of Hands On Manila that mentors high-achieving public school students.

Project Goals

• To enhance the learning potential of the high-achiever students in four subject areas: Science, Math, English and Civics
• To enhance their leadership skills, creativity, and cognitive skills
• To develop values such as love for the country, honesty and integrity

HOS-GMK Program
30 high-achiever students were selected from the three pilot schools:

• Nueve de Febrero Elementary School
• Plainview Elementary School
• PEMBO Elementary School

Volunteers will mentor a 2-hour mentoring session every Saturday using teaching materials.

Volunteers are to commit a minimum of 5 sessions.

Grade 4 GMK students will have 20 sessions in total, while the Grade 5 GMK students will have 10 sessions.

The teaching materials have an over-arching theme of Heroism for the Grade 4 students and Entrepreneurship for the Grade 5 students.

How can I become a mentor?
You do not need to be a teacher or have a background on education. All you need is commitment, passion for kids, and dedication in making a difference.

Here are the 4 easy steps:

1. Attend the orientation and workshop
2. Choose a school and select a grade level
3. Sign up to be a mentor and commit to a minimum of 5 sessions
4. Show up

Orientation of new mentors will be on July 11, 2009 at the PEMBO Elementary School.

Be the Change. Volunteer.
Hands On Manila