Midyear update

How time flies. Last time I posted was January 1. So what have happened since then? Here is a quick recap...

January

• Spent precious moments with Miggy and Tim.
  
• Helped Ody and Ria stage their house. It was fun! I was doing something I like and I was learning at the same time.
• Saw the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
  
• Enjoying the hospitality of cousins, nephews and nieces in Winnipeg.
  

February

• Family reunion in Winnipeg. Al and Rela flew over for a week. They went back to Austin the day I left for Manila via San Francisco.
• I bought Sibelius 5.0 from Long & McQuade in Winnipeg.
• Arrived in Manila on Valentine's day and Harry was there to meet me. We had lunch at ATC before we proceeded to Greenwoods.
• Wedding of Ezer (bass, Caltex Chorale) and Celine in Tagaytay.
• Got my Globe broadband up and running on the 27th.
  

March

• Auditioned hundreds of kids for the new M.I.L.K. Choir.
• Juno got bumped in the butt. Major damage.
  
• My first "decent" choral arrangements - "Heal Our Land" and several hymns to St. Peter - premiered by the Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral Choir.
• Lenten recollection with Bishop Chito Tagle on Holy Wednesday in Imus.
  
• Chrysm mass on Maundy Thursday in Imus.
  
• Good Friday procession in San Marcelino, Zambales.
  
• Black Saturday in Naga City to attend the golden wedding anniversary of Uncle Ceto and Auntie Chayong.
• Easter Sunday in Tala to rehearse the new M.I.L.K. Choir, straight from the airport. Went to Imus to rehearse the Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral Choir.
• My first choral arrangement with a string quartet accompaniment - "Seasons of Love" - premiered by the Caltex Chorale.
  

April

• Renewed registration of Juno and Greenwoods house.
  
• Grand time with cousins Gigi, Gemma, Gladys and Bong (with wife Eylin): buffet dinner at Fish & Co., Shangri-La Plaza and a memorable trek up and down Taal Volcano.
• Cousin Ralph enrolled as civil engineering freshman at De La Salle University in Dasmarinas, Cavite as my scholar.
  
• Performances with One AChord as guest tenor.
  
• Visited Becky Alivio (soprano, Caltex Chorale) in Batangas with Sylvia (alto, Caltex Chorale) and her brother Victor, sister-in-law Mariz and niece Aleck. Becky took us to Montemaria.
  

May

• My four choirs at the 2008 Madz Et Al Festival Series (Voyages: A Wonderful World of Music) - M.I.L.K. Choir (Wednesday, May 7), Pfizer Chorale (Friday, May 9), Caltex Chorale (May 10) and Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral Choir (Sunday, May 11)
• Mother's day lunch with Mama Severina and family.
  
• Received free Sibelius version upgrade disk from 5.0 to 5.2 via post.
  
• My student driver license expired again... for the nth time!
  
• Renewed Juno's registration.
• Represented cousin Ken in the annual stockholders' meeting of The Columns.
  
• Tim came back to Manila to watch Gary V and Lea, again. He is coming back in August for Cinderella.
  

June

• Juno enters "rehab".
• Mr. C and RCS in the Lion City... in time for The Great Singapore Sale! Made new friends: Noel, Ernie, Cathy. Met up some not-so-new friends: Babes Conde (New Minstrels), Maricel De Guzman (alto, UP Singing Ambassadors), Kiko Dimalanta (baritone, UP Singing Ambassadors), Angie Choo (The A Cappella Society, Singapore), June Baisa, Ben Sherman, Zara, Marks & Spencer...
• My teeth were happy to see Dr. Cel Francisco again.
  
• Mama Severina's surprise birthday lunch.
  
• Started a recording project with Mr. C.
  

Thank you to my Excel calendar! Hopefully, I will be able to post the details of the entries above. I will also let you know if I missed out on anything.

That's half a year in my life... Am I too busy?

Ria's New Year query

Were it not for Ria asking me if I have a blog, I would not have remembered that I do have one! I checked my blog stats and since I started it in August last year, there have only been 3 hits so far... all by me! That is as good as no hit at all! I hope to get better stats this year. To be able to do that I need to post more entries so my visitors will have more to read... not just my introductory posting.

Oh, by the way, I am in Canada now, staying at Ody and Ria's house in Winnipeg.

I left Manila for San Francisco in 24 December 2007. Ria booked me at the Crowne Plaza along Airport Blvd. in Burlingame, CA. It is just a few minutes from the airport. The bellboy who brought my luggage to my room upstairs was Mexican but greeted me in Tagalog. He learned it from his co-workers, apparently. Of course, I showed off the little Spanish I know. Thanks to 4 semesters of Espanol in UP! Right after closing the door (Sorry, no tip... I only had a hundred dollar bill in my wallet!), I took advantage of the hotel's free wifi as I lost my connection in Greenwoods more than a week before I left. Talk about being deprived!!!

At 5:00 a.m. on Christmas day, I left the hotel. Rode the free shuttle service again. A Pinoy at the UA curbside check-in counter helped me bring my stuff to the check-in counter inside the building. My online check-in did not work out so I had to do it at the airport. The scanning machine, however, could not read my passport so I was redirected to the C-line (I never bothered to find out what that meant. If any one of you knows what it means, please send a message my way.). Fortunately, I was assisted so I got my boarding passes quickly.

I strolled around the terminal and had a leisurely breakfast at the San Francisco Soup Company before I sat at the pre-departure gate to wait for the boarding announcement. Horror of horrors when I realized that my travel documents were left at the check-in counter. I ran out of the secured area to the check-in counter. I was so relieved to be able to retrieve the documents but that was momentary... As soon as I realized that I had to pass through security check again, I feared that I might miss my flight. Was still lucky to have made it!

We arrived in Denver 6 minutes before the ETA. Had beef sanwich for lunch. Was ready for a 1:30 p.m. ETD as as scheduled but we were only able to fly out at 6:30 p.m. Ody fetched me from the airport and we went directly to cousin Lorna's house for Christmas dinner.

And as I start working on my aim to get more site hits, I am sending this to all of you. Happy freezing New Year from Winnipeg!