Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Basketball Game Worth Waiting


For those who have followed my blog, I have written not once how my nephew Alex Mallari had started as an amateur D League basketball player and has now transitioned to a  rookie for Petron Trailblazers. As what to be expected, it was not just I who wanted to watch him live together with the well known basketball players in the country but my other kids as well. So when they learned that we could ask for free tickets all of them got exited. That was  two weeks before October 21st , I sent him a message if we could watch the Petron vs Ginebra game at SM MOA Arena. As always, my nephew had replied telling me he can spare four tickets for free. My kids upon learning this did not give me a peaceful week especially Kookie and Sidney who both have special needs, always asking when they can get the tickets. I was almost tempted to rain on their parade upon learning I will not be able to go because of my work schedule, but then a mother is always a mother to her kids. So aside from having to work on a Sunday and watch the games at the office pantry's TV, I let my kids have a field day granting them their wish to have that first ever live PBA experience.


My 3 girls with Miakka Lim, Alex's girlfriend 

Though the Petron vs Ginebra game started at 6:30 pm, the kids arrived very early even before 6 pm so they can get their free tickets. The 4 girls were separated as two of them were at the lower boxes and the other two got the patron seats. My eldest daughter as always  took all the pictures at the hardcourt. I will just let the pictures tell their stories.


Warming Up 


 I could not help but feel a sense of pride watching this on TV


Petron and Ginebra fans ready to cheer for their teams 




Sam took a stolen shot at her sisters Kyle and Sidney 


It had always been known in Philippine Basketball that team Ginebra had thousands of fans owing it to the Filipino basketball legend Robert Jaworski who played and acted as coach during his last years before he retired. And his legacy had lived on until now. From my daughter's pictures, a cousin from CA commented that she could sense the tension among the crowd. My girls felt it as well but that did not stop them to cheer and root for their favorite player, Petron Jersey # 20.













                          

Go Mallari !


                              
                              


And despite the close fight, my girls got what they wanted when they saw the final score. It would be an understatement to say they had gone wild knowing Petron won. But that was just the icing on the cake. When the game finished they had rushed to the dug out, like any other fans so they can  get close to the reason why they had watched in the first place.




Excuse me. " Relatives first , " said my gutsy daughter Kyle .


Sam finally get to meet her cousin and favorite PBA player
                              

Seeing their happy faces made  me realize that I just did the right thing. It was indeed worth the wait after all.









Saturday, October 20, 2012

Spontaneous Answers

I love spontaneity. Before I did not even know what that meant until I realized that I was a spontaneous person. Perhaps it is the artist in me who just pops out and comes alive with thoughts and words that I have long kept but now openly shares by blogging.





For the past months I had a random visitor who would be kind enough to drop a line or two. Her name is Bing of  warmstonesite.com. She is a blogger and a writer long before I had started blogging as shown on her articles and the way she writes. It is quite flattering when an experienced and versatile writer visits my site, even tags me  in a meme considering I never had any background in creative writing nor journalism even way back high school. It maybe shallow for some but in writing, blogging or even in life, the best way to learn is for one to realize that humility is the key to learn more.

So for those of you who get a kick for  one word answers, come and get to know me more in this One Word Meme.

1. Where is your cell phone?  bed
2. Describe your boyfriend/girlfriend?  Nuts
3. Your hair?  gray
4. Your mother?  bookworm
5. Your father?  artist
6. Your favourite item? cellphone
7. Your dream last night?  None
8. Your favourite drink? water
9. Your dream car? Benz
10. The room you are in? bedroom
11. Your ex? alive
12. Your fear?  Cancer
13. What do you want to be in 10 years?  content
14. Who did you hang out with last night?  none
15. What you’re not?  mistress
16. The last thing you did?  eat
17. What are you wearing?  boylegs
18. Your favourite book?  Potter
19. The last thing you ate? Sinigang
20. Your life?  Crazy
21. Your mood?  Light
22. Your friends?  Few
23. What are you thinking about right now?  Investments
24. Your car?  None
25. What are you doing at the moment?  Blogging
26. Your summer?  Colorful
27. What is on your TV?  Blank
28. When is the last time you laughed?   Morning
29. Last time you cried?  Weeks
30. School?  Challenging


As I was answering the questions I found out that there were ones where Bing and I have the same responses. Frankly I was not surprised. It maybe hard to understand  but the existence of familiarity can be felt even in the cyber world. And for those interested to join, here are the rules. 

Directions: Create a new blog post. Write an introduction. Copy and paste the meme below into your blog, changing the ANSWERS to your own. Use the title of this meme in your subject line or create your own. Feel free to tag your friends or not. A LINK BACK TO THIS POST would be appreciated.

There you go. By the way if you are not too busy feel free to visit my blogger friend Bing here. And once you are there you may find out that you would want to stick around for more.





(photo credits to pinterest.com)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Zumba Love

Zumba, a Latin dance which became popular decades ago. I thought that hype will die down once a new fitness regime gets discovered.

When there was a free Zumba class at Convergys I grabbed that opportunity without second thoughts. The minute I started dancing, I was glad I made the right choice. Every move and dance step felt familiar. There was no pressure to follow without fail. I realized that I was having a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. I was hooked with the Zumba craze and from that day on marked my love affair with Zumba.




(This is my entry for the Zumba Goes Hollyween Holly Win Promo )

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Proudly Versatile

A few weeks ago I was visiting a blogger friend's site to get updated on her current posts. Since I started blogging I had made some friends who I planned to meet in the future and one way to get to know them better was  by reading their stories and articles. But when I blog hopped at Lousie 's blog, author of Mommy Practicality, I found out that she nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. And
I had never been happier.

So to accept this award I need to abide with some simple rules :
1. Acknowledge who nominated me for a link back.
2. Write 7 random things about myself.
3. Pass the award to 15 newly discovered blogs and tell them about it.

Here are the seven random things about myself.

1. I was a speech delayed kid. My mom told me that I uttered my first word by the age of two. Though that first word came out clear, she was not a bit worried that I will have difficulty in school.

2. I am a Denzel Washington fan. Though it was my only sister who introduced me to his movies while we were watching "Crimson Tide" on video, it was when I read a Time magazine article and found out that his face was considered to be a perfect symmetry that my admiration was triggered. Though he is uniquely good looking, the movies and characters he had portrayed and performed impeccably were the reasons that had made me an avid fan.

3. My mom became my fourth grade teacher and I even thought that I would fail in her class. She was a tedious teacher who expected her students to take their studies seriously and always did the extra mile in making learning enjoyable. She was very dedicated to her craft that when she retired on her 65th birthday, she chose to render the remaining months left in that school year without pay, worried that her fast learner students will adjust and suffer with the transition.

4. It was my dad who became my teacher in Music and the Arts. Most songs, musicians, movies and artists were introduced by my dad through his stories and songs. The knowledge he shared during my childhood years had widened my world even if it was not gained inside the classroom or from reading.

5. I had a kind hearted aunt who was a real life fairy godmother. The first and last time we were together was during my christening as she had lived in CA together with my uncle for the rest of her life. She had never forgotten to send me gifts until her last days. She succumbed to liver cancer and had crossed over August of this year.

6. Some of my customers over the phone had noticed and commented that I am far from being a Filipina. They usually tell me that I am Dutch, Irish or British. An old woman from CA with a European last name even pointed out that she had lots of Filipino friends and that my accent was definitely not from the Philippines but from Eastern Europe. Another male customer even asked me a question before I let him go over the phone if I had lived in Holland as he grew up there. Quite flattering considering I had never been to any other country other than my own.

7. I was featured on the latest  Linked which is the official Convergys Magazine.The photo was taken and picked by a member of the foreign press last May at a Fun Run  spearheaded by the European Community. My colleagues' group photo was chosen and it landed on the cover. I happened to be at the center and that issue was distributed on all sites including those in other parts of the world.


And here are my chosen Versatile Bloggers .

1. Jennifer of Mamarific.com
2. Ron of RonSilvoza.com
3. Grace of Chronicles of A Domestic Diva
4. Ria of Home Is Where The Heart Is
5. Khaye of Legally Mama
6. Michi of Michi Photostory
7. Crickette of The Drama Queen Can Tell Stories
8. Rossel of Mom's Ups & Downs
9. Janice of Roller Coaster Ride
10. Michelle of Stage Mom's Imaginings
11. Cheryl Ann of Riding the Breeze
12. Faye of Adventures of A Dilettante Mom
13. Yami of  Mom Writes For a Cause
14. Heather of Living On The Perimeter
15. Verabear of In Between The Covers






A versatile is someone who is capable of doing many things competently and  can also describe a person who is inconstant or changeable. In Biology it is the capability of moving freely in all directions, as the toe of an owl, antenna of an insect or the loosely attached anther of a flower. Funny but I feel I can relate more on that Biological term as I personally believe that to live one's life fully, a person should learn to reinvent himself and not just be content with a life that is monotonous and sedentary. One's horizon should not be limited with the workplace, home, family and friends. Learning and dreaming should not stop once we have kids, had sent them to school and built our dream house. The world is such a vast place for opportunities and there is really no harm in having a door opened for one more.

So to the 15 bloggers that I have chosen. kudos to all of you!