COOLCARLOS blog

A friend of mine sent me this email and it made me realize a lot of things. Below is the email he sent:

THE GREATEST ADVICE
Rick Warren, author the Purpose Driven Life

Don’t date because you are desperate.
Don’t marry because you are miserable.
Don’t have kids because you think your genes are superior.
Don’t philander because you think you are irresistible.
Don’t associate with people you can’t trust.
Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend.
Don’t dictate because you are smarter.
Don’t demand because you are stronger.

Don’t sleep around because you think you are old enough and know better.
Don’t hurt your kids because loving them is harder.
Don’t sell yourself, your family or your ideals.
Don’t stagnate.

Don’t regress.
Don’t live in the past. Time can’t bring anything or anyone back.
Don’t put your life on hold for possibly Ms. Right.
Don’t throw your life away on absolutely Ms. Wrong because your biological clock is ticking.

Learn a new skill.
Find a new friend.
Start a new career.
Sometimes, there is no race to be won, only a price to be paid for some of life’s more hasty decisions.

To terminate your loneliness, reach out to the homeless.
To feed your nurturing instincts, care for the needy.
To fulfill your parenting fantasies, get a puppy.
Don’t bring another life into this world for all the wrong reasons.

To make yourself happy, pursue your passions and be the best of what you can be.
Simplify your life. Take away the clutter.
Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits, and dangerous liaisons.
Don’t abandon your responsibilities but don’t overdose on duty.

Don’t live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your family.
Be true to yourself.
Don’t commit when you are not ready.
Don’t keep others waiting needlessly.

Go on that trip. Don’t postpone it.
Say those words. Don’t let the moment pass.
Do what you have to, even at society’s scorn.

Write poetry.
Love deeply.
Walk barefoot.
Dance with wild abandon.
Cry at the movies.

Take care of yourself. Don’t wait for someone to take care of you.
You light up your life.
You drive yourself to your destination.
No one completes you - except YOU.

It isn’t true that life does not get easier with age.
It only gets more challenging.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose your capacity to love.
Pursue your passions.
Live your dreams.
Don’t lose faith in GOD.
Don’t grow old.
Just grow YOU.
When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back.
Your time is your life.
That is why the greatest gift you can give to someone is your time.
Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is T-I-M-E
Because the essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves.

This is my first blog for the year. I promised a good friend of mine that I’ll update my blog more frequently. So here it is.
I bought a brand-new ipod nano (3rd gen) and a Nike+ ipod kit in a local Apple Store Retailer here in Singapore a week ago. Yesterday, I did my first run pairing my Nike+ ipod kit, Nike+ rubber shoes and ipod nano. As the title said i completed 1 run for a total of 4.21 km. My average pace 9′16″ per km. I burned a total of 281 calories that morning. I need to lose about 20 lbs before summer. In fact I made a resolution which I posted at the Nike Plus website.
The nice thing about the Nike Plus website is I can set goals and track my progress. I must admit running was a bit difficult but it was a lot of fun. I managed to clear my head and breathe some fresh air. I also did a lot of thinking while I was running. The music helped me relaxed and stayed focus. Thank goodness, the sky was cloudy and the wind was slightly blowing so it wasn’t that hot but I was still sweating profusely. I must say I had a great workout that morning. My goal for this month (January) is to complete a total of 50 kilometers. So it means 45.79 kms to go. Wish me luck!

PS. I have an alternate blog: http://crfbernardo.blogspot.com/

Visit Nike+ website: http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/

It wasn’t so long ago that I almost set-up a kitchen fire when I heated-up our airpot without putting water inside. That along with my other housechore bloopers, I learned how to take care of myself so in a span of six months or so, I’ve managed to turn myself from a clueless MAKATI BOY to a DOMESTICED ME.
The first thing I have learned how to cook rice using the rice cooker with the right proportions of rice and water. Admittedly, it was a no-brainer cooking rice but at least I know now how to do it properly. It was actually my room mate who taught me how. The trick was to use a 1:1 ratio wherein 1 cup of rice = 1 cup of water. After that I learned how to do my laundry, I must admit I never did my laundry before. Good thing our washing machine was user-friendly and completely automatic. For myself, I just throw in my dirty clothes inside the bin, set the temperature to 40 degrees, set the timer to 45mins and press start. I made it a point to buy and use a low suds liquid detergent which is pretty much mess-free. Afterwhich, I also use fabric softer during rinsing. I must admit I use plenty of fabric softers so that I don’t have to iron them afterwards. Thanks to fabric softers sometimes I get away with un-ironed clothes and saves me a lot of time and effort ironing. Aside from doing laundry, I gotten used to washing the dishes (and even pots and pans) after meal. I even managed to do it while doing the laundry and the trick is to JUST PLAINLY DO IT with a bottle of dishwasher and running water (just don’t forget to wipe off the suds around the counter). A couple of weeks ago, I bought a vacuum cleaner to make it easy for me to clean our room. So far, I don’t have regrets buying one, in fact I found it amazing to use one because cleaning the room and vacuuming all those dirt and dust was a breeze (I was done in less than 10 minutes).
For now, my latest project is cooking. YES! I’m learning how to cook. To date, I can cook adobong pusit anytime. Well, in my first try, it tasted awfully sour then in my second try it turned out too sweet because I added a lot of sugar instead of just a pinch. But it was on my third try, I FINALLY made it taste decent. So after perfecting my adobong pusit recipe, maybe i’ll try another recipe.
In the end..well, they say that its “pogi point” to a girl for a guy who knows his way around the house but for me its a necessity because I only have myself to take care of and nobody will do it for me. Soon I’ll probably learning to change a light bulb, clean the aircons, fix a broken door knob or something. So eventually I’ll be from a CLUELESS MAKATI BOY to a DOMESTICATED ME to a DIY GUY. I know for a fact that girls love guys who knows how to use their tools. =)

     Together with Aileen (my friend and former officemate) and her husband Cons, we attended my first mass in Singapore at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Tampines (in the eastside of Singapore).  Its blue neon cross reminded very much of the St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Bel-Air, Makati.  I was a pastoral worker there serving as a lector/commentator and was active in the parish community before I moved to Singapore.

     I particularly liked the sermon of the Singaporean priest which I would like to share.  He began by calling all the children to go in front near the altar.  As they gathered, he told this story about a grandfather and his grandson.

     Once there was a grandfatherwho took his grandson to a park near the mountains to fly a kite.

     As soon as the wind blew, the kite went up in the sky.  As it flew higher and higher, it disappeared in between the clouds.

     The grandfather said to his grandson.  "Look your kite is gone.  Somebody must have taken it."

     But the grandson said.  "No, its still there."

     The grandfather again said.  "Look, your kite is missing.  Someone must have stolen it."

     But again the grandson firmly said.  "No, its still there."

     This time the grandfather asked him.  "How do you know its still there?"

     And the grandson answered while tightly holding on the string of the kite.  "I know its still there because I can feel its thug."

     Then the priest further went on saying that God is like the kite, you cannot see His face but you can feel His thug everyday in your life.

     Then he told the children to place their right hand in their chest close to their heart and asked them.  "Can you feel God’s thug?"

     At this point, I realized that you do really feel God’s thug in your life.  Early that morning I heard someone say that.."Wherever you go, there you are."  It means wherever you are you take your past, your present and your future with you but no sooner did it struck me that God is with you always making His presence felt.

     Eventhough I’m here all by myself in Singapore, I know God will always be there for me guiding me always.

"Welcome to Singapore"

     Those were the first words i saw upon arriving at the Changi Airport in Singapore.  Today, I start my new life in Singapore… independent and full of hope and dreams.

    In my six-year career as an engineer for a semiconductor company, this is my second resignation from work.  My first was last October 2001 when I resigned from Amkor to move to Intel.  I filed my formal resignation from Intel last March 03, 2006.  Among the two, the recent one was the most difficult.  I was depressed for a couple of days and was a bit sensitive at work.  At one point, I wanted to cry.

    Looking back, my relationship with Intel has been a mix of emotions, ups and downs and a lot of good ties in between.  During my five years stay here at Intel, this is where I experienced my quarter-life crisis, my first SMA, my first promotion and a lack-luster performance appraisal.

    Thank you for the experience.

It was during the 3rd week of January that I had a week-long vacation in Aklan.  I was pretty much excited because I was really looking forward to going back to Boracay and watching Ati-Atihan festival. 

     The trip going there was not as uneventful as I expected.  I took the half-day off in the office to take an afternoon flight to Kalibo, Aklan.  I arrived there quite early in the airport and I had to wait for another two hours or so.  While waiting, I received a call from my dad telling me that I got a call from Singapore and they were trying to contact me in my cellphone.  It was pretty unusual for me to get a call from abroad. 

     After a long wait, I boarded the airplane and after 45mins of a not-so-shaky ride I was in Kalibo airport.  I texted my friends there who came in much earlier there and asked where the nearest mall is because I wanted to buy disposable Kodak underwater camera.  Gaisano mall was about less than an hour ride from the airport.  There I got the call  from Singapore, apparently, they wanted to talk to me because they wanted to interview me for a job there.  I was scheduled for an interview as soon as I got back from my trip (Eventually, I did get the job from Singapore but thats another story).

    It wasn’t hard to find my way around Aklan, the jeepney ride going to Ibajay was okay.  July and May were already there at the waiting shed when I got down from the jeepney.  After exchanging hello’s and hi’s and a bit of teasing, I was led to the house the we would all be staying in over the weekend.  The house was a big pink bungalow with two big room with a large living room.  For the next five days, this will be my home…

This one I heard from a podcast from TopDogs in Manila.  According to their interview with Jay Server, in order to be a bad boy, one must:

1.  Wake up 8 or 9am and go to work around 4 to 5pm.

2.  Hang out with a bad boy.

3.  Have a place of your own.

4.  Wake up late.

5.  Have a business to have money or power to have excuse to pour in the drinks.

6.  Pretend to be misunderstood (Get into a fight for someone else but not about you).

7.  Own a car (Girls hates scrubs).

I must admit.  I have to agree… chicks digs a bad boy.

Once there was a boy who said "I’m sorry but its time for me to be happy"
He tried… he really did but he guess things are just not meant to be.
Once there was a girl.
She was important to him… He made her his world.
But that’s the problem… She had her own world
And right now she didn’t need him in her world.
Up to now… part of him still wants to pursue her,
but a part of him also wants to be happy

A friend of his once said that love should make him happy and not the other way around.
If it gives him the blues, it might not be a good love.
He doesn’t want to give up but he has to let her go and accept the fact that they can only be friends.

He thought he could bring back what they had before.
For the times that they would go out together,
He really… really enjoyed being with her.

He just didn’t knew what he was thinkin’.
He hesitated to tell how he felt.
She makes him smile… she makes him laugh… and she made him love.
But she changed and so did he.

He really thought this time it would work out fine.
Whatever mistake he made before, whatever foolishness he did… he took them all back
And he tried to prove to her that this time it would be different.
He didn’t want to quit… because she was his happiness.
But happiness is not a person but a state of being.
It is when you’re happy that you make the other person happy.
All this time his life’s goal is personal happiness… happiness that is meant to be shared.

He is just makin’ it difficult for himself. 
He must accept the fact and move on
He must accept that they are not meant to be…
He was sorry but its time for him to be happy.
This boy is my friend.

Last Sunday, we had out fellowship at the La Mesa Dam Eco Park and outreach program at the Bahay Ni Maria near Rockwell.

I was really excited that day not only because it was my 1st time to go to La Mesa Dam Eco Park or it was my 1st out-of-parish fellowship with my co-SARC-Singles but most especially because it was my 1st outreach program.  Actually that ’s one of the reasons why I joined SARC.  I wanted to be more involved in community service and parish works.

When we we’re there, I had a chance to spend sometime and talk to them.  They were really nice kids.  They go to nice schools like Assumption and St. Paul Makati (my alma mater) and have time to learn musical instruments like the guitar and flute.  They have time for study, for chores and for play as well.  They a roof over their head and someone takes care of them.  Surely, they we’re lucky even though they live in an orphanage but what sadden me is to know that some of them we’re there not because they we’re orphaned but rather because they were abandoned by their parents.

Before we left, they sang and danced two songs for us which were “I Will” and “Lean On Me”.  They were really cute and I appreciated it – I think we all did.  We took pictures and some, especially the little kids, gave us a hug before we left.

Fo me, being part of the LC Sub-ministry is my own way of giving back to God the blessing He has given me by serving Him to the best of my ability to proclaim His words but it is thru SARC that I give part of myself to my neighbors, my community and others thru community service and outreach programs.

This week I called up Sis. Rose (the program coordinator) of Bahay Ni Maria and asked her if I can volunteer some of my time tutoring the kid.  She said I can meet with her this week to work out the requirements and the schedule.  Hopefully, I get accepted as one of the volunteers.

Truly, this is an opportunity for me to realize my life goal of sharing my self to others.