My temporary Digs in Brussels (some serviced apartment called New Continental Flat Hotel)

I've got about a month's stay in this serviced apartment near my office while househunting for my residence. In the meantime, it ain't bad, it's functional and comfy.

The Living Area, the curtain covers a huge picture window with a view (More Pix soon, in daylight)

My Desk viewed from the Countertop

More of the Living area

The kitchen's got the basics I need

My Chair

The Bedroom

The Bedroom again

More of the Living Area

The Other side of the bedroom

My Bed

and the Living Area, again

Prev:

This is it, am really gone from My Manila/Philippine Life sob sob sob

That's Me, Don Miguel, il Signorino at the
Marco Polo Business Lounge in HongKong
while waiting for my CX255 00:55 flight
that they moved to 01:40

This is it . . . I'm really gone . . . from Manila. sob sob sob.

I'll miss my loved ones like crazy, my family, my dearest friends, my loved ones . . . =( Oh well, I guess it's time to grow up now (It's been long overdue)

My dearest pals, Pam and Aimee: I'll miss our weekly eastwood nights. (Looking forward to to our having coffee al fresco at the Champs Elysees though.

I'll miss my lowly but functional pad.

I'll miss my rugged truck.

I'll miss my dogs, Monica and Napoleon.

I'll miss Manila, for all it's worth. Roxas City and Boracay.

I'll miss having to fight your way through traffic just to get to work daily.

I'll miss the beautiful people of our country.

I'll miss living in the Philippines.

I'll miss driving around manila. I'll miss driving to and from Tagaytay, even just for coffee.

I'll miss the malls, (they're so mall-challenged in Europe, everything's closed after 8 and on Sundays)

I'll miss our churches

I'll miss our Greenbelts, Eastwoods, and the Fort.

I'll miss being a Filipino living the Filpino dream indeed. (yes there is such a thing, and it ain't anything materialistic, hehe, although sometimes yeah)

NB: This ain't a poem, just an enumeration at random of my thoughts.

Geeez, what drama. Whaddaheck. I'll be back in January, hopefully for a meeting.

I'm stopping over at Heathrow (London) then Brussels, next.

Then by next week I'll be in Geneva. By first week of December in Spain. Geeez Luis. Am back to my old ways, and to think that I've quit my last job because of too much travel, (different timezone, city/country a week), amongst other reasons, hehehe. not too mention inadequate pay and volatile per diem. haha.

It's 12:38 am here at the Business Lounge and I can hear the cleaning people talk loudly in cantonese to each other hahaha

I better drink as much fresh OJ here while I can, I dun wanna dig into my bag for my vitamins anymore.

Luckily I was able to McGyver my mac's plug with two other adaptors, these HK outlets are really really wierd.

Yup folks, it's time to grow up. Everyone's gotta grow up. Bring it on! hehe

2nd NB: sorry for the cheesy drama :D

A Camera and a brand new pair of shades

I impulsively decided to replace my handy but well utilized Canon ixus 500 digicam with an Canon Ixus 75 over the weekend. It's dying, sadly, the focus warps when exposed to bright lights. (one can not always handily bring around a digital SLR, although it is a must for photo enthusiasts like me) when I was out buying socks and luggage among other things in preparation for my move to Brussels tomorrow. (already) I was at megamall the other day and voila, there was an installment madness fair at the trade halls. Within a second or split,I was buying the ixus 75, which luckily for me came with a free leather pouch, a 1 gig sd card AND get this, a pair of brand new shades from rayban. Hahaha. So, there, like a kid I rushed to sarabia optical (they had little stock) and then to the optical shop,where I picked my spankin' brand new pair of rayban shades worth P7,500, from two boxes of choice brand new models. A good going away present for misself eh, whaddya think? Hehehe expect more pix from Il signorino folks . .. 

Don Miguel 

The Look of a Soon to be Exile

Running around like crazy
Trying to figger out what else I might have missed
with an unshaved beard, and dark circles around the eyes, and a lousy shirt
from point A to point B to Z
before i leave this city for a good 4 years
my flight is this monday
barely even time to say goodbye to my loved ones and dearest friends and my dogs
and my life for the past four years are almost all in luggages and boxes
geeeez luis . . . story of my life

Tic Toc Tic Toc and a bout of Strep Throat

The clock is ticking tic toc tic toc and before I know It, am flying off again to Europe, but this time for a good four years of work . . . Last week I shipped my car to my parents in Roxas City, and then I flew in last Sunday for some quality time with the folks. Time flies so fast, and I really can't say enough of how I love living in the Philippines.

I seem to be destined to spend every winter (or at least a part of it) in Europe, or somewhere temperate, as I have done for the past 4 years . . .

This means Christmas away from family and dear friends and in the middle of the cold winter . . .

Bye guys, see you around, follow me through my blogs . . .

Don Miguel, il Signorino

Tanya (in Africa) is finally coming home for good (I hope)

my childhood pal Tanya's finally had some sense knocked up her her head and she's coming home for good (i hope) on the 10th of November. While I, on the other hand, am leaving for Brussels on November the 5th. Waaah, we won't get that get together before I leave . . . maybe in January, when I'll be home for a couple of days for a meeting . . .




she keeps a wonderful blog about her life in the African Bush (Iko Esai, Cross River State, Nigeria, where they are fond of kidnapping pinoys.)


Tanya's always been an outdoors person, even back in Roxas City in high school/ college, she's had that stallion named macho and she would ride him along the beach . . . then in college she was with Loyola Mountaineering to the dismay of her really prim and proper mom, Tita Rose. Then she worked her life for Haribon Foundation, swimming with the whales and helping conserve tribal communities , cloud rats and watersheds. Finally she volunteered with VSO and got sent to very remote Nigeria, far far away from Abuja the capital. Crazy girl, I admire her anyway though. hehe

Sore Loser (as defined in urbandictionary.com) and Guess who comes to mind

The Sore Loser, definitions:

1. A sore loser is someone who loses in a fair competition but whines about it on a constant basis, blaming everyone around them for their loss except themselves. Fun to taunt, but no fun to play with.

"Stop throwing chess pieces at me, ya damn sore loser!"

2. Someone who can't simply be honorable, by accepting defeat and/or trying again. On the contrary, said individual or group engages in childish pissing and moaning; bitching about how it's not fair and the other side cheated, etc.

Al Gore, Cynthia McKinney and John Kerry are all prime examples of winners. You won't find a single sore loser in that jolly little group!

3. A sore loser is somebody whose hand falls asleep when they're jackin off

ure a sore loser, you son of a balut!
(disclaimer: random picture, no relation to post, hehe)

Must we suffer justice?

Must we suffer Justice for the sake of Peace?
Must the white dove with the laurel leaves come before the lady in the blindfold with the measuring scale and the sword?
Must we give up our principles for the sake of compromise?
Must we give up our principles for the calm and the quiet?
Is this cowardice, is this bravery?
Is this the day in history that marks the death of lady Justice in our Land?

Before we pass judgement,
The Power of Absolute Pardon is IN the constitution for a reason,
and rightly so, the President has the absolute power to wield it.
It is not our place to say when and when not she will exercise it
Let us hope for the best . . .




Photo dated May 3, 2001 shows President Arroyo shaking hands with detained former President Joseph Estrada at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Manila, Manila, What If

What if the war did not ravage Manila, one of Asias most beautiful cities in pre-world war days. If you look closely at the photos, the men wore hats . . .



What if we knew better how to preserve our patrimony . . . would we be earning billions to rival that of thailand's tourism trade?





What if we can go back in time and walk the streets of Escolta and Intramuros in their heydays . . . will you get used to walking over cobblestones?

Will you read the papers to see what's on Sale? Will you be checking the entertainment section to see what's on stage?

(Clickez les images . . . click the images for a bigger view)


Sigh Manila, I'll miss you indeed. . . again

Stardust - My feel good movie of the moment

Amidst Bombings, the woes of moving out of your pad, packing four years of your life into boxes, getting rid of your favorite car and at the same time trying to get ready for a new life (for at least 4 years in Europe) . . . It's good to have a feel good movie like Stardust . . .

Think witches and princes, and ghosts . . . a leprechaun and Robert De Niro - Gay hahaha. (oops sorry if I spoiled it). Although I hate Claire Danes for her previous derogatory remarks about Manila years back (listen you dumb blonde, you where shooting in the slums that's why it smelled like that)

The best part of all is Michelle Pfeiffer . . . she's really the best there is, not to mention, she is the ultimate MILF still

In Memoriam of the 9 Filipinos killed in Yesterday's Bomb Attack at Glorietta

May the precious lives of those who perished be not for naught
May justice be nourished by the blood they spilled
May courage awaken the Filipino spirit
To fight these cowardly acts and vanquish the poor excuse for human beings that commit this deed.
May we, as a nation, finally find the unity that we badly need
And arise above the dirt and grime, filthy politics, corruption, extremism and fundamentalism
that is undermining the very foundations of our great Nation.

Requiescant en pace . . .

Cowardly Bombings at Ayala Mall - We will rise above this!

Just when our currency is rising, our stock exchange outperforming the others in the region, our economy  whizzing by with  thesecond highest growth rate in south east asia, second to singapore . . . (of course we still have muck politics, poverty that's not eradicated overnight, and all that) . . . the cowards-poor excuse for human beings that they are, blast Ayala's Glorietta with C4 explosives.

8 dead, 80 plus injured . . . my prayers for the victims . . . My good God, poor innocent victims of useless propaganda . . .

Puto teroristas de mierda! que quemen en el infierno por toda eternidad y mucho mas! Joder !!!

For more pictures and news reports, check fellow multiply denizens trueasiatik and disneycute

http://disneycute.multiply.com/photos/album/25/Glorietta_2_Bombing

http://trueasiatiktribe.multiply.com/journal/item/9/Flash_Report

Funny email I got from a dear friend

Mike!

Hey - sorry I've been soooooooo busy. And very sick! I miss you and Pam already. Believe it or not, I haven't seen her either. Have been busy both at work and in the home front. You know I'm in the process of breaking in the new help. But I desperately need another one because we're sending this new one home. She has lice!!! Imagine that!

She's very weird, so we're sending her back. Please please please don't ask me how we got her. Please lang. I'm just so stressed these days it's not even funny. And my cough isn't helping either. Of all times to get sick. Geezzz...

Anyway, let's meet up soon. Maybe this Friday?

XXX

(name withheld for fear of the helper's vengeful wrath)

Poignant Childhood Memories

A short trip to the farm
Harvest Time once again
The farmers would gather around this contraption
Smell of Cut Grass in the air
The constant whir of the Rice machine
Cut hay flying over the air in an arch

Something I picked up in Gender Sensitivity Class Today

I GOT FLOWERS TODAY I got flowers today. It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day. We had our first argument last night, And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.. I know he is sorry and he didn’t mean the things he said Because he sent me flowers today. I got flowers today. It wasn’t our anniversary or any other special day. Last night, he threw me into a wall and started to choke me. It seemed like a nightmare. I couldn't believe it was real. I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over. I know he must be sorry. Because he sent me flowers today. I got flowers today. And it wasn’t Mothers Dat or any other special day. Last night, he beat me up again, And it was much worse than all the other times.  If I leave him, what will I do? How will I take care oof my kidss? What about money? I’m afraid of him and scared to leave. But I know he must be sorry.  Because he sent me flowers today. I got flowers today. Today was a very special day. It was the day of my funeral. Last night, he finally killed me. He beat me to death. If only I had gathered enough courage and strength to leave him,  I would not have gottten flowers . . . today.

My New Office Address in Brussels, Belgium

207 Avenue Louise, Brussels is a corner office building overlooking 

the wide thoroughfare and the parks across from it.  

Very near the Center, where the European Union head quarters is

I'll be staying at Hotel Brussells about 4 blocks away.  For a month at most, 

just until I find my own pad, and fill it up with Ikea furniture. 

I realized I haven't checked out yet my new office surroundings, so I whipped out my trusty Mac and Google Earth.

Hahaha. Guess what, I now know where I'll be going to work for the next four years. (visually I mean) Not bad, jack, not bad at all . . .

My New Office Address, 120 sq.m. of work area for me and the staff . . .

207 Avenue Louise, Bte 5, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Click click click to zoom and see where I'll be working my ass off . . .