Reaping harvests in 2012

Year 2012 has been the start of reaping harvests. And I am thankful for a lot of things that God has given me this year. Here is a list of the things I am thankful for this 2012:

1. Permanent job for Jong (my brother) as a fireman.

2. Graduation, passing of Nursing board exam, and acceptance of Gringo (my other brother) in RN Heals (P-Noy’s program for nurses). Also, Jerryl’s (cousin) passing of Agricultural Engineering exam and Josephine’s (another cousin) passing of Teacher’s board exam.

3. My promotion to Team Lead. This was really unexpected but something that I am really, really grateful for.

Fun at the office

4. Reunion with Gensan friends and trip to Boracay.

5. Project experience as a Java programmer and passing as an Oracle Certified Java Professional.

6. Parents’ 30th anniversary and gift trip to Manila.

7.  Serving at the Feast and attending the Kerygma Conference for the first time.

8. Acquisition of condo investment and gadgets – Sam, Non, and Kata.

9. Outreach activity at He Cares Foundation.

10. Reunion with my family.

Thank God for all the blessings this 2012! 🙂

Going home for Christmas!

One of the things that I’ve fervently prayed for this year is that I would be able to celebrate the Christmas season with my family and I’m so thankful that this prayer was answered. I see my beloved family only once or twice a year. That’s why it’s something that I really look forward to. It’s been a hectic journey to the airport. I had 4 bags with me and it was very hard to get a cab. I had to carry my luggage and cross the street to get a cab only to see it being taken by another passenger. I felt so pathetic and worried that I might not get any cab. My mind was already frantically searching for a solution when I saw the cab again! Apparently, the driver took a turn around the corner so he could go back to me. He refused the other passengers because he saw me fumbling with my bags and crossing the street. Awww.. Although he was asking for 300 pesos to take me to the airport – that’s double the usual fare – reasoning that the traffic was bad and I would have a really hard time getting another cab. I took the offer immediately. I was already very grateful that he chose me among all the other eager passengers who were desperately looking for a ride. Whew! Thank God for another answered prayer. I’m sooo excited to go home. The airport was so full of people excited to spend Christmas with their loved ones. Thank goodness it’s not doomsday yet. Haha.

Posted from WordPress for Android

My Top 10 Favorite Android Apps

I’ve been using my Android Phone (Kata i1) for almost 3 weeks now. By the way, I got it for 9,500 because I used my credit card to purchase it (my first time to use the card for purchases). It should only be 8,400 if I paid it in cash. As I’ve mentioned in my earlier post, the phone has nice specs and so far I’m pleased with its performance.

I’ve downloaded and installed free apps from Google Play and here are my favorites:

1. Expense Manager – It’s a great app for managing your daily expenses. Now I no longer have to keep a small notebook for my expenses.

2. Evernote – I use this for writing my journals and I’m currently exploring this to draft my blog posts.

3. My Calendar – I use this to track my menstrual period – It’s a girl thing! :p

4. Calendar – helps me keep track of my appointments

5. DX Toolbox – manages the apps running on my phone and cleans up memory

6. Shopping list – I use this to list the items that I need to shop for. It allows me to categorize the item and helps me keep track of my budget by setting the number of items to be bought and the price per item

7. Any.DO – One of my top fave app. It’s an excellent and easy to use to-do list app.

8. WordPress – Of course, it should be on my list! I’ve been using this to write and publish my blog posts. However since I am using the phone keypad, I often have lots of typos on my posts. 😛

9. Dropbox – syncs my files – esp. photos from my phone with my online storage. 🙂

10. Adobe Reader  – I am happy that I am able to read my e-books conveniently on my phone and the app also allows me to highlight key words in the book. I still prefer this over Aldiko. 🙂 I wanted to include the Bible app in this list but lately I’m disappointed with the fact that I had to buy the pro version for me to listen to the audios. Maybe I just had to tinker with the settings and download the audios when I have the time.

How about you? What are your favorite Android apps?

What I’ve been up to

It’s the Christmas season!

I and my housemates Matel and Jo went to Ayala triangle to see the lights and sounds they’ve set up for this year. Look at the elegant Christmas tree!

My video of the dancing lights is on my cam so I can’t really share them with you now.

By the way, the charity event we conducted last week was a huge success.  A lot of people helped to make it happen. I’m really grateful to everyone who shared whatever resources they had to make the children of He Cares Foundation feel loved. A BIG thanks to you!

These are the loot bags that we’ve prepared for the kids.

This is a sample of the cupcakes that Dale has donated for the kids.

Last week I also watched Samurai X with some of my x teammates. It was fun. 🙂

One of our favourite team bonding sessions is movie nights. Recently we also watched Breaking Dawn2 together. Aside from watching movies, we also love videoke and playing arcade games at WOF or Timezone. 🙂

I’ve also been spending quite some time at the gym with Suzie. We joined the hip-hop dance exercise and the taebo. That’s why my body is aching all over right now. Haha. I miss zumba but I’m sure I’ll have lots of time for that when I go home.

By the way, Suzie knows so much about makeup, fashion, and tons of girly stuff. Now I found a fashion – slash – beauty consultant. 🙂

Reunited after 8 years!

Ate Honey, one of my closest friends during college, has been working in Dubai for the past 3 years already and we haven’t seen each other after college graduation – 8 yrs ago!

When she said she’s at the airport at around 9 pm last night, I immediately said I’ll meet her, without any hesitation. We spent 2 hours chatting and catching up on each other’s lives.

I’m really happy that we got to see each other again. And she’s about to embark on another journey. She’s currently very happy with her beau. 🙂

We look really round on this pic but thanks to the kind waiter any for taking this pic for us. 🙂

Outreach activity for He cares foundation

I am really amazed with how my friends and officemates responded to our call for donations and volunteers for our outreach activity at He Cares Foundation.  It started with the benefit concert that Brian and i watched. We were deeply moved by how other people have worked so hard for the sake of these kids that they dont even know. We then realized that we can also do our share in making a difference in these children’s lives.

Since this is one of the ministries of Bro Bo Sanchez, we really wanted to do something to help. Brian Rommel and I conceptualized this Christmas outreach activity. We sent emails to our friends and previous projectmates. We were surprised because a lot of them really responded and were very generous in sharing their time, talent and treasure.

We went to divisoria and bought toys and school supplies. Although  we were stressed with the gitgitan and pushing at divi, we were still very happy with all the things that we were able to buy for the kids.

Last night we bought the chocolates, candies, and other food for the party. We also bought items for their hygiene kit such as toothbrush,  toothpaste and bath soap.

I’m so excited for this Sunday!  May God bless the careers,  business, and families of these generous individuals..

bonding with my brother

A whilw ago my brother arrived here in Manila for his training at Laguna.  he’s going to be a fireman! 

I’m happy that we were able tp spend some  time  together.

but after just about 7 hours, he had to leave with his colleagues and go to Laguna..  😦 but it’s okay, I’m going to visit him there if their supervisor allows me. he looks older and darker because of the rigorous training that they went through.

Good luck and God bless dear brother!

Christmas shopping at divisoria

Shopping at divisoria with the apugan sisters..

Finally, a smartphone!

i’ve been thinking about getting a smartphone since July. And I’ve been eyeing note2 and blackberry. i didn’t  want iPhone because it’s too restrictive. i like the freedom that android phones give me. I have been an advocate of free and open source software so i love these cool stuff.

but note 2 was just too expensive for my taste.  i wanted a phone that is

testing the cam on my hausmate jo

dual sim, has a front camera, has a fast processor,  and can render ebooks beautifully.. and of course,  it should fit nicely within my budget. And luckily i found Kata! I was already thinking of getting a Lenovo when the saleslady offered me kata.

Hmm…so far i am happy with my smartphone!  It has an 8 MP cam,a dual core processor,  and 4Gb internal memory.  🙂

My gosh, i am blogging using my smartphone! Yey! Cool!