DRAWING MY LIFE:MILLBRAE GOTHIC

My crossover version of Grant Woods' American Gothic. This is entitled Millbrae Gothic

DRAWING MY LIFE:MEMORIES THRU A CAR WINDOW

DRAWING MY LIFE:SELF-PORTRAIT AS THE THINKER

...a classic by Rodin, modernized in a crossover rendition

DRAWING MY LIFE:JACK'S EPIC BIKE RIDE

Comic strip based on Jack Narciso's exploits... biking up to Baguio City from (La Union?). Took him all of 5 hours...and lost of sweat, I guess. So if he sweat that much he must be so much thinner when he reaches the top!

DRAWING MY LIFE:JAJA'S SHOENAMI DREAM

DRAWING MY LIFE:HEAVENLY DECISIONS

Why is God the Father always portrayed as an old man with graying hair? Must be because of the problems and the things we pray for. This is how it must be at His end. :)

DRAWING MY LIFE:STILL LIFE OF WINE AND CHEESE WITH A YELLOW BULLDOZER

the idea was just to put an unlikely pairing in a drawing. here is elegance and brute strength in one picture.

DRAWING MY LIFE:ONE FOR THE DOGS

A sketch of my elder sister Alen with her Shih Tzus: Chuck,Ganda and Poknat. The dogs are really cute as cute-ness goes but I gave this drawing a twist. These are poker-faced dogs after all!

DRAWING MY LIFE:COLOR SKETCH FOR A MURAL

My architect sister asked me to do a mural design based on a photo she sent. It's a scene in Amsterdam. After she saw the sketch she now wants me to do the mural! haha

DRAWING MY LIFE:TOILET PAPER HUMOR

I joined the Everyday Matters FB group recently and one of the artist-members,Fabio de Consoli, my kind of fun graphics designer, posted a drawing about Toilet Paper. Got me thinking about drawing something funny...and this came out of the "bowels of my creative mind."

DRAWING MY LIFE:LOST IN DOG TRANSLATION

Our maid was telling our Labrador,Angel, to fetch her slippers but was doing it in the vernacular (Tagalog.) The dog just stared at her and didn't move an inch despite her pleadings. It made me wonder if foreign-bred dogs go through a process of translating before they go into action. So if you have a Shih Tsu, better talk to it in Chinese...or speak French to a French Poodle?

DRAWING MY LIFE: A TWIST ON A SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF

The idea for this toon came when I was jogging around our village the other day and saw a black cat. it got me wondering about the saying that it's bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. There doesn't seem to be any logical explanation about the belief...unless i thought if the cat was a huge,man-eating one...then you'd better not cross its path.

DRAWING MY LIFE: MY NEPHEW'S DOG

This is a quick sketch of my nephew's puppy Beagle, RAWR. The name may have really given him a huge ego because he thinks he's the toughest dog on the block!

DRAWING MY LIFE: ANOTHER PRIVATE JOKE

Filipinos have a way of mangling the Pilipino dialect by combining it with English and adding "gay" ways of expression. This toon is about that. It's based on a true story,with some slight re-writing of the script to fit a 9 page cartoon. It's something only Pinoys will appreciate I guess.

DRAWING MY LIFE:PRIVATE JOKE

This toon can only be appreciated by Pinoys.

DRAWING MY LIFE: WHERE HAVE ALL THE INSECTS GONE?

DRAWING MY LIFE: COOL AND CLEAN WATER OF MY CHILDHOOD

When I was a kid, we could play and take a bath in the rain without having to worry about "acid rain." We would have so much fun we didn't know when to stop...we had to be called out of the rain by our parents.

Water then was also free of pollutants that you could drink from the tap or from any faucet or water fountain without any fear of getting any gastro-intestinal disease.

So thanks to progress, our kids nowadays can't have the same fun and convenience.

DRAWING MY LIFE: A CUP OF CALM

Taking a cue from Michael Nobbs, I decided to reward myself with a cup of chamomile tea yesterday after having completed two drawings. The layout of the cup and the colorful tea package looked interesting so I drew it.

DRAWING MY LIFE: BARBER'S TALES

A friend, Jack Narciso, suggested I draw something about Barber's Tales so I gave him first shot at being barber.

DRAWING MY LIFE: FUNNY OUT OF NOTHING

This was originally intended to be simply just a color sketch of TJ reading a book beside a stroller. I entitled it the Negligent Babysitter to make it appear like he was in fact babysitting. However, to make it more fun, I added a baby reaching for his bottle and a caption....Perfect!

DRAWING MY LIFE: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

Believers of the Chaos theory explain that small events occurrences can start a ripple effect that will have huge effects or consequences. As an example, they say that the fluttering of the wings of butterflies in Africa can cause tornadoes in the USA.

I said to myself: "These must really be HUGE butterflies!" Hence, the drawing.

DRAWING MY LIFE: DRAWING A LA MAD

This is a piece made unto the image and likeness of MAD Artist's Sergio Aragones' "The Shadow Knows"

Funny how the mind is able to see things behind the ordinary. Being able to turn it into something visual that I can enjoy is a blast.

DRAWING MY LIFE: INNOCENT INTO INSIDIOUS

I was working on a sketch of my daughter Tasha, drinking a Frappucino in Starbucks,Greenhills when something inside my head (...the "Crazy" in me...) said: "Why not make it exciting. How can you turn this sweet, innocent-looking picture into something interesting...EVIL even?" And this is what came out.

DRAWING MY LIFE: PUTO 'NAPOY MEMORIES

Some of my early childhood recollections are about buying rice cakes (puto) and sweet breads from vendors who sold their goods inside the military camp (Ft. William McKinley,now Ft. Bonifacio) where we used to live.

These forerunners of the food delivery guys we see nowadays really worked hard to make an honest living. Then, the cost of these snacktime treats were about 5 to 10 centavos each. But that was during the time when the dollar -peso exchange rate was P 1 = $2! So you could buy a lot already with 5 centavos!

Anyways, these vendors were the highlight of my day! I looked forward to hearing the bread vendor with his goose horn or the puto vendor with his familiar " Pu-tooo, kutsinta!" cry, as they announced their presence.

Since I didn't know anything about money yet, I think Mom just gave me coins to hand over to the vendors and they would ask me to choose what I liked and gave me what my money could buy! I guess because I was only 4 years old they were probably willing to give me a bargain for my money.

I don't see any bread vendors around anymore, but I was told that there are still puto vendors around.

DRAWING MY LIFE: A BORING DAY

My young nephew Joel Cinco was bitching about having a lazy afternoon. It gave me an idea to draw what being bored would really look like. This is literally a boring toon.

DRAWING MY LIFE: WHERE'S THE CAT?

Angel, our Labrador, was being taken out for a walk by our maid Jek, when they saw a cat enter one of the houses being constructed in our village. As Jek peered inside to look for the cat, Angel stood on her hind legs and did the same. She stands almost shoulder height of her handler!

DRAWING MY LIFE: PRACTICAL JOKES BY THE DEAD

Recently,there was an exchange of emails among my siblings and cousins about when exactly did our parents die. The 4 Antiques as we call my Dad and his 3 siblings, are all reunited in heaven now, but they must have played a practical joke on us because we can't seem to get a fix on the exact dates of their deaths!

Well maybe this is what really happened. Har! Har!

DRAWING MY LIFE: ONE JUMP SHOT TOO MANY

I was browsing through photographs taken by my nephew Kris Mendoza when I saw shots of his family jumping in front of famous landmarks around the globe (e.g. Abu Simple, the Sphinx,Macchu Picchu etc.) Then the idea for a cartoon hit me...so I had to sketch it. This is what came out.

Moral lesson: "Look before you leap...for a 'jump' shot...it may be your last!" :)

DRAWING MY LIFE: STILL LIFE WITH A GARDENIA LOAF OF BREAD

I was making a quick sketch of my wife Jaja preparing a sandwich when my attention turned to the loaf of bread and its packaging. I made a more detailed drawing of that and came out with an interesting drawing.

DRAWING MY LIFE:A DOG AT BREAKFAST

Our yellow Lab, Angel, is occasionally let inside the house by my wife. Usually she lingers around the table until someone mercifully gives her a tidbit.

When I sketched this scene one morning, she was beside Jaja longingly waiting for a handout.

We don't really know what's going on in the mind of our pets...but maybe, just maybe...Angel might really want something else than the usual piece of bread,no? After all she's a dog with breeding and probably has a taste for a good cup of java!

DRAWING MY LIFE: THE PINOY TRANSFORMER

A toon I made based on the concept of Transformers.

We did have a robot back in the '60's. It was known as the Admiral. It stood about 3- 4 storeys high at the front lawn of the then Ysmael factory at E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City.

It didn't do anything much except stand there.

However, during the Christmas season, it was transformed into a Santa Claus robot. And that was the only time of the year that it had some entertaining value!

DRAWING MY LIFE: ANOTHER ORANGE CLASSIC

One wonders where Orange, who was about 4 years old then, would get this idea of how to get her Ninong Dennis out of bed!

DRAWING MY LIFE: JAMES ASLEEP & GAINING MOMENTUM

I saw my second son James sleeping on the couch in our sala and drew a quick sketch. As I was drawing he turned around in his sleep so I sketched that too...THE RESULT: A DOUBLE EXPOSURE.

I experimented with the coloring,trying to make most of the colors all pure and flat...the effect was great.

I seem to have gained some momentum in my drawing. It's getting easier by the day. I just make sure I have something done within the first 2 hours of the day...and everything else is a breeze. I feel a burst of energy that keeps me going all morning that sometimes...before I know it, it's LUNCHTIME!

Besides drawing, I've started on another passion of mine which is papercraft.

More than a year ago, I downloaded a papercraft model for a Yamaha motorcycle. I never got to assembling it but yesterday I set aside drawing and started cutting away and gluing. The model is complicated...but I finished the first stage.

Can't wait to see the finished model!

DRAWING MY LIFE: A BANANA IN MY EAR

Sesame Street was one of Orange's favorite TV shows. She learnt her alphabet and numbers from this edu-taining show. But she also picked up some lines that she would use to get her way. Like this : "I can't hear you I've got a banana in my ear!" which she picked up from Ernie.

DRAWING MY LIFE: A SCENE FROM A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ORANGE

Sometime in 1982 I made a mural-like piece entitled "A Day in the Life of Orange" which showed by way of cartoon illustrations what a typical day was like for my precocious niece Orange. For my Drawing A Day challenge I thought I'd draw a scene from that mural.

This one's a classic showing Orange scolding her Lolo Pito for not using 2 eggs for pancakes the way her Tita Bie does.

It just occurred to me that if I can recall the scenes from that mural I might be able to piece together a book of the same title. Hmmmm

DRAWING MY LIFE: MEMORIES OF TUYO (DRIED FISH)

The drawing explains it.

DRAWING MY LIFE: KETCHUP MEMORIES

Seeing the ketchup bottle at breakfast this morning triggered the idea for this drawing for the day.

I recall that when my siblings would see me eat a ketchup sandwich, they would look at me as if I was some kind of weirdo who could eat the stuff! But the ketchup sandwich was delicious...and it filled the stomach...which was the more important thing.

So if I had a good dose of lycopene when I was a kid, it was thanks to the lowly ketchup and its many applications.

DRAWING MY LIFE: SPOOF OF HILLS BROS ICON AND MY BLUE NOTE

My elder brother made a comment about how the Turkish coffee he got as a gift from my sister didn't live up to expectations. And to think that Hills Bros,even made a Turk as its icon, as if signifying that the Turks knew their coffee!

I sent him a spoof of what the icon was really saying, but got lost in translation.

The other two are my studies on My Blue Note... a self-portrait of me playing the guitar at our living room. I played around with the Photoshop filters and got some cool effects!

DRAWING MY LIFE: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ILLUSTRATION

My brother in law sent a funny poem about The Perfect Man as his Father's Day greeting. I decided to put some illustrations to accompany the limerick.

This is my 3rd drawing a day.

DRAWING MY LIFE: JUNE 14

I came across Michael Nobbs website "SUSTAINABLY CREATIVE" which gave me the idea to journal my day via drawings. So that same day I quickly sketched the day (June 14) in summary. I finalized it this morning. It helped that I didn't have to worry too much about detailing it too much. Felt good to get something done at once!

DRAWING MY LIFE: THANKS MICHAEL NOBBS

I came across a blogger's site, SUSTAINABLY CREATIVE by Michael Nobbs, who "draws" his daily journal and has come out with mini-magazines, The Beany. It was just what I was looking for to inspire me to keep on drawing.

In fact I got some great ideas for toons that will keep me busy for the next few days.

I'm posting one I made today which was based on an email from my sister who's travelling around Istanbul and sampled some of it's Turkish Delights.

I know "Turkish delights" are sweets...but to hot-blooded males,like my brother in law ZEN ...it can mean a different a totally different thing. :-)

DLSU Animo Squad Fil-Oil Champions 2011

The DLSU Animo Squad won the 2011 Filoil Cheerleading Competition held at the San Juan Arena. My daughter Natasha Marie is a member of this team. They practised hard for this often going home late just to perfect their routine. Good thing they also got a new choreographer who fixed their routine early unlike before when they would do things photofinish. Tasha said that after their presentation everyone felt really good about their performance. This was the first time the Animo Squad won gold.

Congrats and kudos to all of you. May this be the start of many more gold winning performances.

DAY 4: ROME OR BUST

Chris Guillebeau's prompt for the 30 day writing challenge was to identify the place I'd really like to visit before I die and write down what I've been doing to get there.

I'd really like to visit Rome (and some other places in Italy) to say I've really lived!

I've not really mapped out any concrete plans for making this dream happen although I've brought up the idea of getting the Redemptorist Fathers to sponsor a trip for us ex-Juvenists to their headquarters in Rome.

I've also checked Rick Steves' website and have an idea of the cost of such a trip ( a 14-day European tour using the Rick Steves tour services will set us back about $ 5,000 each!)

Maybe I need to firm up in my mind that I would like to see the place and from there detail a course of action.

I'm not as driven yet because the vision is not that clear.

DAY 3: CAN I REALLY LIVE ON MY PASSION ALONE? (OR DO ARTISTS REALLY NEED TO STARVE?)

It's been six months since I left a cushy,good-paying consultant job at a leading company. I've resisted the temptation to go back to my former corporate job in order to hone my skills in drawing and writing funny stories (aka comics.)

I've made progress in the drawing and illustrating part...in fact I've learned a lot! My comic strips are now colored and show some command of Photoshop which I didn't have six months ago.

But...it hasn't brought in money to feed my family and pay the bills...yet.

And at the rate I'm going I'm not sure what will happen first...either I run out of funds and have to go back to the cubicle world...or I get a break and start making money from pursuing my passion and never have to go back to a 9 to 5 job again.

I'd like the latter to happen of course, and eventually be able to tell others...and maybe help other dreaming artists like me to "not starve" while achieving the happiness we get from being creative!

DAY 2: WHAT TODAY WAS ABOUT IN ONE SENTENCE

Today was about earning a living by interviewing people who were in search for (hopefully) a better means of living.

15 MINUTES TO LIVE...AND TELL MY STORY

So I've got 15 minutes to live and tell my story...

Actually, if I knew I was going to die in 15 minutes I wouldn't be bothering writing this story but would probably be going around telling people I love them...and saying I'm sorry if I ever hurt them.

Maybe that's the story of my life. There are people I have loved...and there are those I might have hurt or failed.

One thing this exercise made me realize was that if I were to die in 15 minutes... (I've got 10 minutes more at this point)...I would feel bad because I hadn't done things I wanted to do or realize "visions" of things that should be.

For one, I wouldn't be able to experience the fun of being a cool grand daddy to the grandkids I would've wanted to have...

Then there are the places I would've wanted to see...

Then there are the "highs" I would get from having achieved the unthinkable....( the 10 million bucks I would have generated from a 100,000 investment)...which I would be nowhere near of getting.

My 15 minutes are almost over...

I didn't finish "my story"...but I surely got a spark of life to keep me going for another 15 years or more.

FOUND A LONG LOST BROTHER...ONLY TO FIND OUT HE'S GONE

It was one of those," I wish I had found him earlier" kind of experiences...

I was looking for people on Facebook, specifically ex-Juvenists...people who had lived with me in the Seminary during my High school days...so out of the blue I think of Rene Noda, a guy from Marikina who was one year my Junior.

It turns out he has a Facebook account, and I recognized him from the profile photo. I immediately sent him a message,telling him to email me if he wants to get in touch with his former classmates via our egroup.

Next morning, I got an email message through his Facebook account, but it was written by his wife, Gloria, who informed me that Rene had died just recently (February 12,2011) of an aneurysm.

All that time he was within reach but I found him too late...

I informed the group about Rene's passing away and asked for prayers,as his wife had requested.

Within a year we've already lost 3 of our former brothers: Elmo Katigbak, Julius Jongko and now Rene Noda.

Maybe we ought to have that grand get together again this year.

(Photo above shows Rene at the left)

Janet Merewether: Maverick Mother

I caught this on TV,broadcast by Australian Network. It was a feel good movie. Janet, a filmmaker, whose biological clock was ticking, decided to have a baby and after trying artificial insemination, got pregnant after a one night stand with a Swedish friend.

It was a well done piece and when I got a glimpse of the story just as it was starting I couldn't change the channel anymore. No wonder it got an award as a Best Documentary film.

Am sure single mothers who have gone through heaven and hell raising a kid on their own will be able to relate to this "reality movie."

JAMES' APPLE STRUDELS

James,our resident chef, has been his honing skills in making desserts while working at the Buon Giorno restaurant located at the Rockwell Business Center beside Meralco. Last Sunday was his second time to bake Apple Strudels for our dessert and this time around he used Granny Smith apples,which gave it the right bite and texture. Before, he used Washington apples and although it was delicious, the apples became a bit soggy after a while. Topping it with vanilla ice cream made it just perfect! Bon Appetit and our compliments to the chef.

" WHAT DO I DO DAD?"

...hardest question to answer!

...specially if you know that it's up to your son to figure out the answer.

TJ arrived home from work looking glum...so I knew something bad had happened at work.

Bottomline is, although he was recently regularized, he wasn't complying with a WFE -thingy (Work Efficiency something) that he had been warned about, and since he still didn't use it, he was given a written warning...with the possibility of suspension, and even termination.

It was one of those moments that I wished I could just wave a magic wand and make his troubles disappear...but I had to walk him through why he was in such a predicament in the first place.

Simply put, he just didn't seem to appreciate the need for doing something that had been prescribed---the WFE, whatever it was. He was also not meeting important metrics like his AHT (average handling time) and CRR ( call return rate.)

What wasn't good was that he was starting to put himself down again---saying something like if he couldn't hold down an easy job like being a call center agent---then what was he good for?

I had to do my best in pointing out that being a call center agent wasn't easy to begin with, and that actually many call center employees have been known to quit even before their probationary period ends. The fact that he made it through 6 months says something about his staying power! (If it was any consolation,even his cousin Bruce had tried working in a call center but eventually resigned.)

The father and son talk dragged on for more than an hour...and I could understand he was feeling real bad, because in spite of the pressure, the job still paid well. So, he felt that losing another job was going to seem like the end of the world!

I could only think of helping him see options that were open to him.

First, he could always salvage the situation by catching up on his stats. (He wasn't so enthused about this because he said any mistake he would make next week would already be counted.)

Second, he could voluntarily resign but check if there are other options within Convergys for him. But even as I said this,I also told him he should make other plans already, like what would he be doing if he was out of work...look for another job? Skill up for his "dream?" (like one of his friends CJ, who had taken a sabbatical to learn game development, and was eventually hired at the Lady Luck gaming company.)

I think mentioning his dream, made the situation a bit lighter..and maybe gave him hope that it wasn't really the end of the world if he resigned from Convergys.

After all too, I didn't really want to see him make a career out of becoming a call center agent!

I didn't let him off the hook easy though. I had to point out to him that the one thing that was always getting in the way of him spending time on developing his skills....was PLAYING COMPUTER GAMES!

And unless he gave up this addiction...it would be the same story all over again.

I told him to write down his plans and set his new objectives.

It didn't solve his problem...but I think it did pep him enough to want to focus on his dream again...and (hopefully) resolve to do something radically different from the way he's been running his life today.

TAKING A LEAVE... IN ORDER TO LIVE: WHY WE SHOULDN'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS

I had just come from the second floor restroom at the Podium when I saw an Asian man (Korean,I thought to myself) rushing out of the Banana Leaf resto. Following closely behind was his girlfriend (I thought,because she was younger and didn't look like his wife) who seemed like she was pleading to him about something.

As the two made their way down the escalator, a supervisor from Banana Leaf (I thought because he was dressed like one) hurriedly tried to catchup with them. But seconds later, one of the waitresses arrived holding some receipts which she showed the supervisor. When he saw these, he seemed to pause for a while then gave up the chase.

Judging from what I saw,I told myself:" The Korean couple must've gotten away with a free meal. Maybe the supervisor didn't want to make a scene so he didn't call security."

I saw the Korean couple later and they still seemed to be arguing.

I forgot about the incident until the next day, I found myself at Banana Leaf eating lunch with my wife Jaja, and her officemates. It so happened that the waitress who served us was the same waitress I had seen the day before. So I asked her what the story was, because I had concluded that the Korean couple had pulled a fast one on them.

On the contrary,she said, the couple had paid their bill.

As it turned out, the man seemed to have had an argument with the girl even before they had started to eat. He must've been upset because,according to the waitress, he got up, went to the cashier and paid the bill and didn't even wait for the change!

The reason the supervisor went after them was to check if they were still going to eat the untouched food (which had cost about P 3K), and the reason she followed with the receipts was to tell her supervisor that they still had unclaimed change!

When we heard the real story, we had a good laugh over lunch. And as a way of livening up the meal, the girls started making up scenarios why the couple had an argument in the first place.

For example, one said that maybe the girl wanted Brown rice but the guy ordered for Nasi Goreng...that's when the fight started.

Moral lesson: "Don't judge me...I'm not a book!" (Melanie Marquez) :-)

COMMENT ON BOO CHANCO'S: FAVORABLE BIZ CLIMATE OPTIONAL

While waiting for my lunch at Pancake House,Katipunan the other day, I picked up a copy of The Star and after checking the price of Jollibee stock (P 74,) I decided to kill more time by reading Boo Chanco's column.

He wrote about Ramon S. Ang (RSA) of San Miguel, who when asked to comment about the poor rating Philippines got re: its business climate, was heard to remark: "Eh di mabuti!" Boo went on to explain that RSA took a different view of things...if the bad climate discouraged foreign investors,then there would be more opportunities for Filipino businessmen to exploit.

It just struck me how maverick types like RSA viewed things, and I guess that's why they're on a class of their own. He seemed to me like an iconoclast, not happy with San Miguel's old portfolio of beer, food etc., he diversified the business, going into businesses that were not within the old SMC's "core competencies" (read: "comfort zones") It appears though that the risk taking is paying off, at least for stockholders, who have seen the price of SMC stock rise since RSA made major changes.

It kind of reminded me of TTC (Tony Tancaktiong) of Jollibee. He was always breaking Jollibee out of its comfort zone so we could rise to the next level.

For instance, when he seriously envisioned that Jollibee would have 100 stores by 1988, no one thought it possible...mainly because our batting average for opening stores was only 2 stores a year. The 100 store vision would demand that we open at least 20 stores every year for three years (from 1985,when I joined.)

But lo and behold! In 1990 and 1991, we were able to open more than 20 stores within a year. The sudden spurt in growth of our store base left McDonald's eating our dust. George Yang didn't know what hit him.

Again, in 1995, TTC declared that we should hit 500 stores by the start of the new millenium. Once more, he was dreaming the impossible because that meant opening about 50 stores a year when our current capability then was only 20+.I remember having to meet my Training staff and telling them we have to re-think our current way of doing things because no way could we keep up with the demand for trained managers if we did things "as usual."

The new direction gave birth to our memorable MDP sessions, which introduced new management programs to Jollibee. Those who went through these eventually became heads of RBUs, and core of the middle management of the Jollibee brand.

TTC has set his sights on Jollibee becoming recognized as one of the top three QSR brands, not only in the Asia Pacifi region, but in the whole world. He and the JFC group are doing that slowly but surely...whether the business climate is good or bad. One of these days, I will not be surprised if one day Boo Chanco will write about Jollibee, as a brand that made it to the top of the world...in spite of the unfavorable Philippine business climate.

TAKING A LEAVE... IN ORDER TO LIVE: Things I've Learned

Some things I learned one month into my free fall into a life without a net...

1. Even if you try to run away from your profession, it somehow runs after you. - Just several weeks after my contract ended,I was back in action conducting a Teambuilding session for a Regional Business Unit of Chowking (North Luzon.) Two weeks after that I was contracted to do targetted interviews of applicants for the Peace Equity Foundation.

2. There are many backpacking consultants like me scattered all over the place. They usually hang out at Starbucks where you can hold meetings for hours for the price of a tall java (and the Starbucks crew don't seem to mind.) I discovered that the Starbucks beside the Makati Stock Exchange has one of the cleanest restrooms. And at the Starbucks Anson's along ADB Avenue, you can access the free WiFi from Podium.

3. The 4th floor lounge at the Podium is an ideal office if you are into backpacking consultancy. I jokingly call it my posh office. Imagine,I've got airconditioning, security, P45 all day parking, clean restrooms, free WiFi, piped-in music and a lot of eating places to choose from. I usually kill time in the afternoon at Cinnabon because for P 75, you have a humongous cup of coffee that can last you 3 hours. And if you're in need of a good foot massage, you can go down to Lotus at Basement 1.

4. There's a quick route to the SM Megamall Chapel via the Healthway Clinic. Jaja's been using this shortcut for ages and it's a wonder the security and elevator boys don't suspect she's just been using their facilities to go to Mass. Actually, this has been one of the greatest fringe benefits of my freelancing...I get a chance to have coffee, lunch and Mass with my wife!!!

5. Never try to ride the MRT at rush hour! (5:00 PM onwards) We tried once to go to Quezon Avenue via the MRT for a meeting,but the coaches were all jammed with people, we couldn't get in without getting squished.

There's just an abundance of LIFE out there...I guess one just has to change one's perspective in order to see it!

TAKING A LEAVE... IN ORDER TO LIVE

My contract with Chowking ended on December 31,2010. Actually, I told CK HR Director Alfie Suarez,that I didn't see a need for me anymore since the Training department's team leaders were already taking charge of things, so I wasn't adding any value really.

By then, I had been with Chowking for 10 years (originally intending to stay only for one,) and I had seen the brand recover from being a bleeding company (PHP 10M in 1999,with 140+ stores) to becoming a formidable contender in the QSR industry with over 400 stores and over PHP 10B in sales.

For the past two years though,Chowking had been experiencing declining samebase sales and transaction counts,which eventually led to changes in top leadership...first with Erwin Elechicon,taking over from Raffy dela Rosa in 2008, then Ariel Fermin replacing Erwin in August, 2010.

The 12B benchmark we had been trying so hard to reach remained an elusive target.

I knew I could help in any way I could, but I also knew that in hard times,any reduction in expense would help the company terribly in keeping it profitable...and I was such an expense. The way I looked at it...from any angle...it made good business sense that I leave.

What I didn't realize was that taking a leave from corporate life, which was how I viewed my new journey...would allow me to "live"---and appreciate life in a way I hadn't experienced it.

Unlike 1999, when I first resigned from Jollibee,and planned on going it on my own as a consultant, this time around I made no plans. I just wanted to take a different path, and see where life would take me.

Unlike before, when I really worried about where the money would come from to finance my kids education (since they were still in high school then,) now, I wanted to test how far my faith in God's Foundation would go! Would He, as the Matthew Bible verse on God looking after the birds of the air,really look after my needs without me worrying about them?

What I immediately realized when I knew I didn't have a job,and that I didn't need to rush to work everyday...was that I became more attuned to what was going on around me. I paid more attention to the sights and sounds...to the people around me...to what they were saying and not saying.

I found myself wondering what their individual stories were about, and it hit me hard that while I was cooped up for so many years inside the comfort of my cubicle,something called Life was taking place outside.

For example, when I took it upon myself to drive my eldest son TJ to work (he works as a call center agent at Convergys) at 3:00 in the morning, I realized that many of the working class heroes were already up and about struggling to earn a living.

In fact I viewed what TJ was doing in a different way. He was in a job (that he didn't really like) but kept at it because it was a step towards a dream of perhaps working at a leading game development company in the USA. With this realization came more respect for him.

I never dealt directly with customers, but TJ was facing them everyday,albeit virtually, trying to find ways to solve their technical problems,while at the same time trying to meet some seemingly unattainable metric called AHT (Average Handling Time.)

For several weeks,on my way back home via the Skyway, I could see the girls inside the toll booths trying to stay awake just so they could take the toll payments of early morning travellers like me.

Then there were the vendors pushing their karitons on the way to Bicutan market with their goods, just so they could get a good location before buyers arrived.

During the next few weeks of my "taking a leave...in order to live" I would really be just that...More Alive!

WHAT'S UP WITH "UP" ?

"You and Mom should watch the movie 'UP'...specially the first 20 minutes!"

Intrigued by our eldest son TJ's insistence, we finally watched Disney Pixar's movie last Sunday night,with all three kids in tow. (The three had watched it previously via a movie download,but they wanted to see it on the big screen.)

After a very delightfully entertaining "short" about a stork unfortunately assigned to a bumbling child-making cloud, the movie began...

...with how Carl Fredrickson met the love of his life, Ellie...and how the two, who both worshipped their hero Charles Muntz...decided (cross my heart & hope to die) they'd take a trip to South America someday and see the (Magic) Waterfalls.

The first twenty minutes (or so) that TJ wanted us to see was a fast-forward run through of Carl's and Ellie's married life...from their wedding day... to their purchase of the run down house where they first met...their dreams of having children...to the frustration of not having kids...to their saving money to finance their dream trip,only to spend the money on a busted tire or a roof that got trashed by a falling tree...to Ellie's funeral.

My guess is that TJ wanted us to see this part because it must have reminded him of how Jaja and I lived out our married life.

And it was very touching...not because it affirmed that we were both doing a good job of modeling to the kids what we thought a good marriage should be...but because TJ was growing up to be the sensitive man we wanted him to be.

When we were discussing the movie on the way back home,TJ said that one of the parts he liked most was when Carl "saw" the pictures inside the section of Ellie's Adventure Book entitled Stuff That I'm Going To Do---and the note Ellie wrote: "Thanks for the Great Adventure...Now It's time for you to go on a new one!"

Made me think...maybe we ought to plan for more new ones!