Thursday, November 16, 2006

Failure



Remember Guns n' Roses' "Civil War?" The first narrative line goes: "what we've got here is failure to communicate." In our case, "what we've got here is failure to make a goal."

11th Alaska Cup 2006. IRRI Men's team had no wins, made no goals and, oh boy, were they generous... Four games and 28 goals. All against us. Bummer. Well, call it sour graping, we were bracketed with teams raring for the championship. They doing half and full volley kicks, mid field attempts (I think one even got it!). They have bodies built for medium weight wrestlers!

First game, beginning of the first half, "IRRI, let's play!" Second half, "IRRI, let's pray!" Imagine that...

But all did not end in total failure. The women's team fared much better than last year, and much, much better than us! Two wins, one draw and one loss, however, was not enough for them to advance to the next stage. Still, being part of the "team management," it was great improvement for the ladies. :) Congratulations!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Today...

is my birthday! November 7. And I am 30... so that would make it 1976. :) Well, not quite 30, yet. My mother was always recalling that she gave birth to me at around 10 o'clock in the evening and boy, did I give her a hard time.

I don't know my specs when I came out (weight, etc..., hey which reminds me to look for my baby book!), but I was a blue baby! Nanay described: the umbilical cord was entwined and entangled around my neck and my face was all blue.

More can be read on blue baby syndrome here (c/o wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_baby

Anyway, Nanay and I survived the ordeal of my birth. :) And I am happy. :)

From Baby Pics

Friday, July 21, 2006

Hat Trick

Hat Trick: (n.) scoring three goals in a single football match

Yes, I did a hat trick today. I scored 3 goals against the Gold Team, and our team, the Maroon, won 5-2. Geert scored the other two. Well, I could have “easily” made at least four goals but it is not my nature “not to pass to more open teammates.”

It was the last match of the eliminations of the 2006 IRRI Sportsfest Football tournament. The Gold team is consistently lacking players. But some of our teammates were over confident with how the team was doing this year, and did not show up. We men were just 7 (no male substitutes!) and the ladies had one. Even though the Gold team were just 6, they gave us a hard time, and even made 2 goals.

Anyway, it felt so good deep down inside to do a hat trick. Too bad, I don’t have pictures to brag about. It was also comforting that my colleagues were there watching. And they even said they understand the game more. :)

We face Rhulyx’s unbeatable Apple Green team. Just one win of the best-of-three. Or even two. I won’t complain.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Palauan: Chapter 1

Prologue lang yun una. :)

So now, where do I start? Let's see... Okay, I'll start with money (or lack of it). I got the cash advance for this trip. I'm carrying cash for two persons: Jie Chen and myself. Jie is our collaborator, and policy dictates that I be responsible for her (oh well). Maricel of accounting sent an email saying that my cash advance request of Php20k+ can not be claimed today (friday) because it was late (blame it on the travel office), and since the amount is greater than Php15k, it has to be on a check. Imagine, a check on a friday afternoon??? I resigned to the fact that it will be trimmed to 15k, the rest of the amount will be shouldered by me (and I will reimburse). Sigh... I got the cash. And then Ate Mayee suggested that the remaining amount be deposited to my account next week. Wow, a great idea!

And then there's the poster. Here's a classic buzzer beater in extension! The editor, Tess Rola, finished editing the hard copy of my poster quarter past 4... Good thing Gatty (the artist) was only printing two (may be three?) posters. He was kind enough to stretch his time a few minutes after 5. :) Thank you! Special mention goes to Tappy Peralta-Jimenez who printed the draft, sent it to Tess and lent me her PC to do the editing. Thank you, Tappy!

Anyway... at least I can go to Puerto Princesa City to attend the FCSSP Conference- and go back! I had trouble booking my flight back home because almost all seats were taken. Good thing one seat was left for me on the flight back on the 14th.

Still much to do over the weekend, though...

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Never misses a Season



Now this one is always present...

Every since Nanay told me the name of this flower, I have always been looking forward to its bloom every year. And even though it doesn't fail to show off its petals annually, my excitement never wanes, and I feel like a kid again every time I see the gradient yellow-orange petals, the yellow anther/pollen and the finely curved filament.

It is a beautiful flower but, of course, tulips are better; but this bulb is adapted to the Philippine climate, needs no special attention- just weeding and watering will do!

How I wish the other flower that Nanay liked so much- her fire orchid- would be as consistent.

The Easter Lilly...

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Palauan

to come in a month's time... abangan!

Monday, April 03, 2006

SOOOBEEEC





This past weekend really was different. I was in Subic to play beach footbal. Our team was composed of players from IRRI and those from Makiling United (Makiling United is one the "regular" teams from Los BaƱos- some of us from IRRI join them when the IRRI team can not field one).

We went there for fun, not really thinking much of winning the championship. Out of seven teams, we ended up fourth after the eliminations- which was good enough to qualify for the semifinals. And being fourth, we were to play the no. 1 team. Sigh.

Surprisingly, we beat the best team (Baguio Football Club). However, we ended up being runner ups,after being trashed (2-0) by Mama Sita Chili Labuyo. Still, it was a nice experience, playing beach football for the first time, meeting new faces on the football community, and being the "import" in the team (I was orginally the only Pinoy, hehehehe).

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Institute Sportsfest


IRRI's annual sportsfest commenced yesterday (March 22nd), opening the battle ground for the "OU Wars." I belong to "Unit Two: The Maroons," which we all call "The Morons" (we wanted no less than ourselves to bring our spirits high!).

The opening events were the women's basketball and men's softball. The Maroon men played Apple (Epal) Green and took the first game. You can see me about to hit the ball in the bottom of the 1st).

The Maroon women played the Apple Green later today. Sadly, we lost. Tsk.

Tomorrow we take on the Gold (Diggers) Team and try be the only unbeaten team in the softball charts!

Go Morons! :)

Monday, March 13, 2006

Tulips in the Tropics

Taken 09 March 2006
My first successful (er, may be somewhat successful) tulip growing.

6 out of 20 bulbs grew and matured
2 out of 6 have already bloomed (not that spectacular, though)