My brothers and niece were just laughing at me as I refused to get into those rides again. So I ended up on the ferris wheel. I have already lost that daredevil attitude. I guess worrying about exploding eardrums and breaking a bone are signs of growing old. So I ended up the trip’s photographer trying to get a shot of family members who went crazy over the Space Shuttle ride from those stainless steel barrels at the corner of the mega structure.

Nevertheless, that was fun.

It would be a visit to a dear friend who is now based in Singapore. This is going to be exciting, knowing her to be adventurous and all. I might just pick on some of that positive vibe. And hopefully I won’t be spending the entire 4 days just sleeping, or worse, doing conference calls.

I’ve just prepared an itinerary for the trip to make the brief stay worthwhile. I might also include visits to some of my former workmates who have been living there. If you’ve got tips as to where the best places are in Singapore, feel free to pitch in.

So I will change some things the way I run my life. I will let go of certain attachments that keep me from doing what I should have done a long time ago – be my own person. It would be this year’s ultimate decision.

1. Get my own place. Somewhere near the workplace and everything else – mall, market, etc. While it would be a temporary set-up (I’ll be renting a small room), it would allow me to save more time, energy and money.

2. Buy a property in the city in two years time and live in there. Part of the plan is to make that property self-liquidating. I will lease out studio units. The income it will make goes to the mortgage. That covers my rent too.

3. If I already have money to burn, visit a foreign destination every year. Like Eastern Europe! There’s so much about those former Soviet countries that is mysterious, quiet and reserved. Like the Bran Castle in Romania. (Creepy.)

4. Keep healthy. I am starting feel my immune system is getting weaker. I easily catch cold and have fever almost on a monthly basis. I need to find out what natural anti aging product or other sort of treatment I would need.

Should done these things in 2-3 years. I guess that would be a reasonable amount of time.

I know. It’s not new orleans la. But don’t worry, I am more likely to see the place this summer. Yey.

I haven’t been to the northernmost part of the country. The farthest was Baguio and that was about 3 years ago. Ilocos Norte, being a former home to deposed President Marcos, has so much to offer from bagnet, the legendary stone houses of Vigan to the pristine beaches of Pagudpud. A trip to this place up north makes everything worthwhile, as you get to tour around a number of places you don’t often find in other local destinations.

Of course, if you’re a beach bum, Pagudpud is top-of-mind.

The only hassle in reaching the place is the 8 to 12 hours worth butt-breaking bus ride from Manila. It’s 350 miles away. But there are already other options as well. Private vans offer Manila-Ilocos-Manila transfers, and side trips to Batac, Laoag and Vigan. But if you want to spend more time on shore than you do on the bus, go for the plane. Philippine Airlines and some local carriers offer trips to Laoag City.

If you are to travel this month, which is by the way an off season for them, you can allot a budget of P5000-7000. That’s good for 3 days and 2 nights, inclusive of plane or bus fare and service vehicle, hotel accommodation, and meals. Not bad.

Here’s the map.

Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis) on my screen. This is one of the most wonderful artistic creations God has made. If there would be a wish to make, it would be a trip up north Scandinavia, Alaska or the Arctic during winter.

I’m on my Day 7 of my holiday break. It’s been a wonderful week of full sleep, food, movies, internet-lurking, and short trips to the mall and Tagaytay. It wasn’t that cold the past few days; the noonday sun was acting like a Ladybug steam. We’ll be somewhere in Eastwood tonight for the New Year’s Eve countdown. Year 2009 was full of ups and downs.

Oops. Phoenix Suns vs Boston Celtics on TV now. Go Nash them!!!

I’m down to my last list of Christmas shopping. It wasn’t really a long list. I managed to cut it down to half since most of my inaanaks are far and away, and I couldn’t locate the others. My friends are not that difficult to please either. I bought myself a nice black blazer last week, a pair of Nike cross-trainers (so I can start running), a watercolor pad (because I plan to paint…again) and Max Lucado’s book called “Fearless” which is I can’t find locally (maybe I have better chances of finding it online and go through those Amazon books as well). I also received my Christmas gifts earlier: a laptop case and a bag. Sweet.

I’m scheduled to take a break from work on Dec. 23rd and will be back Jan. 4th. That’s a whole lot of time in my pocket. Can’t wait.

If there's one thing I associate the Bicol Region with, it's the siling labuyo.

It’s one small planet down south that I have always been eager to see, feel and explore. The place doesn’t seem to run out of good things to share – from a dedicated and honest local government to its enterprising folks. Naga City seems to be one of the few bearers of hope in the Bicol Region not even typhoons are able to beat down.

Naga City is in my current list of must-visit places for the year. Mayan and I have been talking and planning and talking about visiting her beloved hometown for nearly a decade. Every year, there is always something new to look forward to. Local coffee shops that offer better alternatives than Manila’s Starbucks. First class gyms with spa and sauna at bargain fees. Even the buses have taken interior upgrades with those comfortable recliners to keep passengers in shape after an 8-hour ride. But there’s always a plane to take if you want to get there fast and not furious.

Fairly convinced, I have included in my year’s itinerary a trip back where those luscious spicy hot Laing and Bicol Express came from.

Visit Planet Naga while I go about re-structuring this blog, reviewing the life insurance quotes I received from my agent and checking for different ways to keep myself financially sound this year. At least you get the idea how the planned vacation is going to be like.

The last Christmas tree standing

It’s not yet too late to set your personal goals for 2009. The cold January weather makes the surroundings conducive for goal-setting, like Christmas has never left at all. (Wait until the April sun burns a hole on your roof.) I also suggest reading Max Lucado’s “Cure for the Common Life” should you be interested in unearthing those gifts God gave you. Believe me, every living person is gifted with something and we all have specific roles to play. I will share what I have discovered in the next few days.

I have put one of my notebooks, and the pens Arni gave me last month, to good use. Two days ago, I decided to come up with my own list that would either accuse me of procrastinating or cramming at the end of the year. Here they are:

Visit two places I have never been to. Potential candidates are Naga City (Mayan and I have been discussing this for a decade) and Batanes (hopefully).

Get another investment. While the chips are down and everyone around is having a sale.

Create my own web template. I have announced it to the world after my “graduation” from Dreamweaver class. So I really should start doing something before I say this again in 2010.

Do a wardrobe inventory. There isn’t much in my closet I tell you. I’ve been wearing the same set of clothes for the past two years or so. My newest shoes is turning 1 in two months. The oldest, a Naturalizer, has just celebrated its 4th birthday. Maybe I really should consider updating my style.

Buy a pair of running shoes. For early morning walking exercises. Instead of enrolling in a gym or buying a best weight loss pill, walking is the most economical way to get rid of those flabs.

Learn oil painting. I have not graduated from watercolors for the past 10 years. It’s time to do an upgrade.

Join a small group. It’s high time to go back and think of ways to serve. By the way, I attend church services at CCF.

Give. Give. Give. God’s blessings are in fact too much for just one person to handle.

Laptop. I’ve missed out on this one last year. Actually, I wonder where all that money went.

Start dating. Seriously.

Now I’ve got a long list to go back to from time to time. What are yours?

Dining inside a fast food joint at midnight is fun. Queer, no?

The holiday fever is over the moment leftovers of New Year’s eve disappear from the fridge and “bah humbug” literally takes the form of your supervisor or those annoying collection agents from hell. (Now what did I just tell you about those uncontrollable appetites credit cards would love to baby sit?) The dreaded race to survival officially starts TODAY. Uh-huh.

Don’t worry, the magic still does work come Valentine’s Day. Splurge and repent by Holy Week. Anyway, given that scary scenario, I thought about a handful of antidotes to ease up the post-Christmas pain and sadness hovering above you like rain clouds.

1. Pray. Set your goals for the year, everyday ask God for guidance in prayer and do something about it.

2. Buy a book. Because I also belong to the Weekday Fright Club, I bought Max Lucado’s Cure for the Common Life. Excellent read for those faint in heart.

Tuna on wheat bread plus freebies

3. Schedule your own Sabbath. Decide a place and a day when you can laze around and do nothing but refresh your heart, soul and mind. I find lurking inside Starbucks with a good book between 10am and 11am on a Sunday therapeutic. I get freebies too (he he). Also try McDonald’s at midnight. It’s fun.

4. Movies. Can’t go to Australia? Escape through here.

5. Make new friends. Not that the old ones have died. Some simply decide to spend the rest of their lives with their better halves. Others were hostaged by mommyhood or have gone abroad. You need to expand that little horizon of yours.

6. Work. Hard. There are electric bills to pay, school fees to settle and auto insurance quotes to consider. Convenience comes with a price tag.

Tito Red greets you a happy new year

If there is something I would tell a person who remains uncertain of his future, I’ll go recite him this list I pilfered from my private journal. I think we all went through life’s roller coaster ride, with some of us turning white as paper, shrieking and vomiting in the middle. The only consolation is we can always choose to come out of it better or remain bitter.

1. God is faithful.

Of course, what is there to know? Even if you’re drunk you know that already. Everyone who professes to have faith recites that so well to the point it cheapens the sentence, or the word “faith”, already. But for those who went through the fires of life and came out unscathed, this mind-boggling truth would hold the solid ground not even the worst earthquake can move. Every year that passed since the countless times I sat outside the chapel in PUP savoring the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 a decade ago spoke only of one thing – God saw to it that every promise was fulfilled.

2. When someone slams the door on you, break through the window.

I welcomed 2008 with an empty bank account and a career that met its death sentence in the latter part of 2007. I have never been that scared losing grip of my own life and reluctantly handed over the reins to an invisible God. Looking back now, what I thought was the end of my story was actually just a beginning of a new chapter. So far so good.

3. It’s better to give than to receive.

There really is some grain of truth in it. Earlier this year, I read a book by Pastor Ed Lapiz called “Siksik, Liglig, at Umaapaw” (pressed down, shaken together and running over) that spoke heavily on God’s challenge to every believer – tithing (Malachi 3:10)- and the promise of His reward. The book brought wealth management into proper perspective. God owns everything and assigns men as stewards of His vast property.

4. There is no place like home.

I have learned to really appreciate each day I live and move in this overpopulated polluted city I call my home. London, like all other cities outside the Philippines, was a fling.

5. Don’t burn bridges if you can’t even build one.

Help came from people I least expected during the time I was at the end of my wits. No matter how far or how long you’ve been gone, keep in touch with people you’ve made friends with. Life is too short to be spent in making enemies.

6. Count your blessings.

Only those grumpy miserable people don’t.

7. Learn something new.

This year, I learned to monetize my website, design a website, work around WordPress, do SEO, facilitate a workshop, play PSP and grill chicken properly. Twilight the movie is not exactly a disaster, the director was.

8. Blessed not are the poor.

How can you call a person blessed if he has no food to eat and no money to spend? God continues to work up to this day, busy minding erring humans. So why shouldn’t you? Go work, find one or if you’ve got what it takes to have a small business franchise, do it rather than procrastinate.

Happy new year to all.