January 13, 2006
This is the day the ANNUAL people called “The Jigs Encounter”. It was almost eight years since the last time we saw Junel Jigs Jimenez here in Cebu. Jigs was our classmate and the first person I met in U.P. Cebu way back 1997. When Jigs told me that he will visit Cebu for a couple of hours, I quickly informed the other ANNUAL people so that we can meet and have a little reunion with Jigs. We were so happy to see Jigs again and have a little chat about him. After a few minutes, we have to say goodbye to Jigs. He will be leaving for Bukidnon. We asked him to stay for a while and watch the Sinulog Mardi Gras but he refuses to do so for some reasons.
January 14-15, 2006
A night before Sinulog, my girlfriend and I watch Sugarfree onstage together with some Cebuano bands. And for two consecutive years, my EDP friends and I had dinner and henna tattoos during Sinulog.
January 28, 2006
I was invited by my NEC friends to a mountain trekking at Osmeña Peak. Osmeña Peak is the highest place here in Cebu located in Dalaguete in southern part of Cebu. We successfully reached the campsite by afternoon. The following day, we decided not to cross to Badian because of bad weather. Instead, we went to a nearby resort to reward ourselves.
January 22, 2006
Our first EDP Boys Sunday basketball game started. It was held at Capitol Parish Gymnasium at Escario. We had a lot of fun that day so we decided to continue to have a Sunday basketball game. We have our reversible uniforms on our 3rd game last February 5, 2006 held at City Sports Club.
February 4, 2006
After 3 years and 5 months of working as an EDP Engineer at Taiyo Yuden, I resigned. It was a hard decision but I have to. I was thankful to Taiyo Yuden for the knowledge that I have learned. During college days, I hate database programming but Taiyo Yuden opens my eyes to appreciate the real beauty of database programming. I am also thankful to Taiyo Yuden for the true friendship between employees that I found while I am still at the EDP Department.
February 10, 2006
I received the Production Control Department Certificate at Bahia Resort in Lapulapu. I was the first non-PC personnel who received the certificate because I was PC’s "adopted child" back then. I was assigned to their department for a couple of months and was able to be friendly with everyone.
February 16, 2006
I started working at NCR Cebu Development Center, Inc. as a Software Sevelopment Engineer. I was happy to be reunited with my ex-EDP officemates: Mamul, Karl and Euphorts.
February 2006
These are my RC days with my officemates here in NCR. It took several months before our RC days faded away. We used to play remote control cars during our break at the office.
March 24, 2006
The ANNUAL people, my girlfriend and I went to Bohol to have a tour. The first stop of our tour was at Carmen. It was my first time to witness the wonders in Bohol – the chocolates hills. And after, we went to the manmade forest, hanging bridge, have lunch at Loboc River, visit the biggest snake in Bohol, blood compact monument, Baclayon Church (where I was able to reunite with the Taiyo Yuden accounting boys and girls) and the Hindagdanan Cave. After the tiring tour, we went to Dumaloan Beach Resort in Panglao where we spend the night. After playing with the waves at the beach the following day, we visited the Island City Mall to have lunch and shop some pasalubong. And then we headed to the pier and returned to Cebu.
The whole tour was great and I’m happy to spend my first Bohol experience with my girlfriend. It was our first time in Bohol. Thanks to the ANNUAL people for organizing the event.
April 29- May 1, 2006
Rey Talam (one of my Taiyo friend) invited the Taiyo boys to be in Bohol for their annual fiesta. To add more spice in our visit to Bohol, we planned a one day tour. Our first destination was at the Sagbayan Peak. Rey introduce us to Valerie, the daughter of the owner of Sagbayan Peak. Valerie treats us to breakfast and visit their butterfly sanctuary for free. After Sagbayan Peak, we went to Bohol’s other tourist spots (same places as my first visit in Bohol). In the evening, we had our dinner at Rey’s house. We end the night by drinking beers and singing videoke songs. The next day, Rey and I woke up early, have breakfast and fetch the other guys who are staying at a pension house. We went to Island City Mall to buy some pasalubong for our families here in Cebu. After lunch, it’s time to say goodbye to Rey’s family and return to Cebu. We we’re so thankful to Rey and his family for the preparations they have for us. I hope we can visit the Talams again in the future.
May 5, 2006
I was able to introduce mountain trekking to my NCR officemates. Our first adventure was at the Mount Manunggal located at Balamban Cebu. Mount Manunggal is where the plane of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay crashed and killed all passengers except one newspaper man last March 17, 1957.
June 3, 2006
My friend Jerson and his girlfriend Jane tied the knot. The wedding was held at Redemptorist Church and the reception was at the Grand Convention Center. And of course, the EDP Taiyo Yuden boys were there. Best wishes to Jerson and Jane.
June 8, 2006
It was the first time that our so-called adopted child Einan celebrated his birthday with us. It was his first time celebrating his birthday with cakes, ice cream and lots of food. His Mama (my mother), Amo (my father), Kuya Opis (my twin brother), Kuya Usa (me), Daddy (my elder brother) and Mommy (my younger sister) arranged the birthday celebration for him. His visitors were his Ate Kayle, Cyril (his love team), and Sylvia (mother of Cyril). He was so happy that night that even if he has fever, he was still very energetic and very “bibo”.
June 10, 2006
Together with Taiyo Yuden friends of the SE Department, we trekked the mountains of Osmeña Peak to Kawasan Falls. At the campsite we met the Kandingon Mountaineers and they decided to be with us in our way to Kawasan Falls. I was selected as the lead trek because on that expedition I was the only one who has the experience in traversing Osmeña Peak to Kawasan Falls. It was a challenging task because I traversed the longest trail once, so I have to recall every single details of our trek one year prior to this expedition. One single wrong trail we trekked would be costly.
After 4 hours and 45 minutes, we successfully arrived at the source of the Kawasan Falls with minor bruises. We were so happy because it was there first time to cross the trail and we were able to beat our schedule. One thing I cannot forget on this expedition is the teamwork and sharing we had. Even if we don’t know the Kandingon Mountaineers, they trusted us and let us lead the way for them. I remember that during our two hour trek, I have to put two of the Taiyo guys behind the Kandingon Mountaineers because they were always left behind, maybe because of stress and lack of sleep the other night. At the Kawasan Falls, they thank us for everything and we also thank them for the trust they given us. Before sunset, we have to say goodbye and headed back to Cebu.
July 29-30, 2006
More than a month after I trekked with the Taiyo Boys, I went to Osmeña Peak again with my NCR and NEC friends. It was my third trek to Osmeña Peak on that year. The plan was the NCR boys will depart Cebu in the morning and trek straight to the peak. The NEC boys and girls will depart Cebu in the afternoon and have a night trek to the peak.
When the NCR boys almost reached the campsite around 3:30pm, we were welcomed by a huge fog. We were so happy to see the fog but we later realize that it was time to “change gear” because a heavy rain was coming. The rain was so heavy that even if we put our raincoats and backpack flies on, we still got wet and most of our clothes, sleeping bag, earth pad and other things were also wet. I remember that we put up our tents shivering, cooked and ate our dinner inside my tent because of the cold wind and the heavy rains.
It was 7:45pm when the NEC boys and girls arrived at the campsite. We were so thankful that they didn’t experience the heavy rains. It might delay their night trekking.
We got up early the following day so that we can follow our schedules. But we were still delayed because we trek so slow and called many timeouts. But it was expected because most of the guys were first timers and they trekked directly to the highest place here in Cebu. It took us eight hours to reach our destination – the source of the Kawasan Falls. So far it was my slowest trek to the trail we traverse. But the experience was nice especially to the first timers because we experienced different scenario in these expedition like trekking under the heat of the sun, assault the peak with heavy rains and cold winds, cooking and eight trekkers eating inside a good-for-three tent, eight trekkers sharing a single chicken wing, two trekkers got lost after fetching water and night trekking in descending from Kawasan falls to name a few.
“I need sugar” by Ferds was my unforgettable pick-up line during that trek. He was stressed out and exhausted during the trek. Ferds is a very cool guy but on that instance I cannot afford to have a joke on him. He might use his martial arts move on me.
It was almost eleven in the evening when we got back in Cebu.
to be continued...
