A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "TO THE GREATEST EVER..."

My parents often told stories of how they barely had anything when they started a family. When I came along, my folks had to hustle real hard just to keep things afloat... Especially my dad. My old man had to sacrifice a lot of himself just to give his family a good life.

Looking at us now, we have come a long way. We are now living like kings in our own little kingdom. Every single comfort that I'm enjoying right now, I owe it to my father.

I thank him for being a man for his family, a good father, a loyal husband, a gangster and a hustler... And since he's an OG and the best ever, I broke these out the other night for his birthday dinner.

Here's to you, pops! Happy birthday! Cheers!



A day in the life.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "AEGIS"

Wow! It's been a while. Hope you folks are doing good!

Anyway, yesterday I was invited by my good friend and #SwooshFam Jino for a quick meeting over at the Nike Ph headquarters.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "SHE ROCKED IT WELL."

Power Plant Mall has this "Sartorial Fridays" feature on their Facebook wherein every Friday they scour the mall for their more fashionable shoppers.

Well... My girlfriend Cess got featured and they published her photo last weekend. I'm proud... Because those are my pants she's wearing! Haha I'm kidding. Anyway, excuse this proud boyfriend moment - I know it's not some billboard along EDSA or a TV commercial.


We were in our hotel in Bacolod when she showed me this, and she rambled a thousand things that was wrong with her photo: her pose, how her clothes fell, how her hair was this and that. She didn't like her photo because she looked tired and stressed... And exhausted.

I don't know what she's talking about. All I know is that she's beautiful.

A day in HER life.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "ONE LUNAR CHRISTMAS"

Let it be known: I HAVE THE GREATEST GIRLFRIEND IN THE UNIVERSE. And here's why.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "2PARKADE"

Happening in an hour.



History. Be there.

#GAMECHANGERS

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A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "JEFF STAPLE IN MANILA"

While having dinner last Sunday, I told my parents about Jeff Staple's trip to Manila. I told them about the talk he gave - how he dealt with his personal obstacles, his addiction to "work", and his relentless pursuit of success. Over Japanese food, of all things, I told them about the compelling story of "The Sword Maker" - my favorite part of the talk.

I told my parents how "happiness" was his main motivation for pursuing his multi-disciplinary job. "Life sucks...", I told them quoting Jeff, "So just do what makes you happy". Both my folks nodded with approval, replete with comforting smiles on their faces.

I hate to turn this "Jeff Staple Live In Manila" post into an entry of self-indulgence, but I was relieved to see that look on my parents' faces. I was happy - no, more like thankful that they gave me that acknowledgement. I've been practicing architecture for a good 5 years, and just like Jeff, I jumped on the chance to pursue something that, unconsciously, is actually my life's passion. Some people know about this shift - and I think those select few are happy that I am finally living my dream.

As far as my government ID is concerned, I am still a licenced Architect, and most likely will be one for the rest of my life. But on a daily, I now chase dreams and do dope shit for a living... And I can't help but be thankful to my parents who are all out with their support over my switching career lanes.

I remember my folks saying finding happiness and making it ones 9-to-5 is something most people struggle with through out their lives. They said I was lucky I found it while I still had enough youth in me to enjoy it.

Golden.

That's what I got from that talk. Thanks to Jeff for affirming that idea. For telling people that it can be done. That you can have dreaming as a hobby, and making it happen as a job.

Thank you Ian and WIP Caps for making this event possible! I've been picking this dude's brain via YouTube for as long as I can remember, I didn't think I would physically be part of this experience. Thank you for real.

Props to Sarah and Banjo for hosting the event. Shouts to Nix for providing the music. Shouts to everyone that was there: Archiebolz, B-Roc, Mark Legendary, Martin Solemovement, JC, Notti, Christel and Julo of the UNSCHLD fam, Jose and George of SCRT SRVC. Shouts to Sassa Jimenez and her killer shoes. Shouts to Sudan The Player. Shouts to the STNDRDS crew. Shouts to Rjay Lionheart who is about to drop his birthday capsule collection this Friday (more about that later).

I am sorry for being selfish. I was more into digesting the talk than documenting it, hence the photos - or lack thereof. I was not able to take a photo with the man either. I didn't even make an effort to ask him... I dunno, but something tells me that we will meet again.

But for now, thanks Jeff!

"There are no directions or formulas left to make ancient swords."

P.S.

DT and I had this conversation over lunch one day. I just had to share it with you: 

Kids, I know Jeff ditched the whole Business Plan process when he started out, but that does not mean you should too. What was good for him does not necessarily mean that it will be the same for you. Do your homework and embrace the process.

Just saying. :)

On with the photos.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "COLE WORLD"

So nice...

...I had to do it twice.


Thank you.
A day in the life.

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Happy birthday to the sexiest and most beautiful supermodel in the world!
I know it's not your best photo, but you and Cess look mad cute in this one...

Haha! I'm kidding! I love you, Dear... And happy birthday!

///_^

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "HONG KONG HAUL"

It's not much of a haul, but I think it is worth sharing.

I just got back from a quick trip to Hong Kong. I was not able to go to any of the usual spending stops because we had to follow a very tight schedule. It was fun nonetheless.

I was able to cop a couple of things that I think made my quick trip special. Thank God for dope HK newsstands!

THE WISE OWL

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "O.G. ANIMO"

Preparing for a very big family reunion, my dad and my mom were going thru my grandma and grandpop's old photo boxes last night. They somehow unearthed old DLSC mementos from way back.

Even then, De La Salle College - or what is now known as De La Salle University - took their games very seriously, especially basketball and football. These are probably half a century old and I'm assuming very valuable. Real OG joints.





Animo La Salle!
A day in the life.

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DAY IN THE LIFE: DOIN' IT IN THE... PHILIPPINES?

If you don't know who Bobbito Garcia is then shame on you, son... LOL I'm kidding. In a nutshell he's a New York streetball legend, a DJ, a sneaker designer and connoisseur, an entrepreneur, and an all around cool cat, among other things. If you know your video games - specifically NBA Street, he was there as himself: DJ Cucumber Slice.

Anyway, I've been checking on this Bobbito Garcia project called "Doin' It In The Park" for a minute now. It's a doc on how New York street ball changed the game and the culture of basketball as a whole. So last friday (Manila Time) Bob blasted the trailer on Facebook and Twitter. Yooo... It was bananas!



So as fan and a fellow street baller, I can't help but congratulate him for doing a fine job on the teaser as well as express my excitement for the movie. Here's what I sent him via Twitter *FIXED*:

I never thought the dude would tweet back! SIDEBAR: Just to keep it real, I got starstruck! And I'm a dude that rarely gets high from celebs... Almost never. But Bob is a dude I look up to. Hard not to be all excited. Going back... So yeah, he replied with this:
New York recognize The PI! For real! From one hoop holy land to another, there is no denying the love for the game on both fronts! So I invited him to roll thru our courts:
Dude replied:

#Bookit. Oh ano? Let's make this happen? A local "Doin' It In The Park" viewing party perhaps?!

Haha Let's do it in the Philippines, yo! :)



A day in the life.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "THE JUDGE'S GAME"

Last night I was chilling at home and Zombieland was on HBO. That movie was chill. Badass, yet cute. The closing credits were rolling already but I didn't want to call it a night just yet.

I didn't notice that there was this coin poking my side until Boardwalk Empire went on - it was my Titan Player's Club poker chip!

I was staring at it and thinking how dope it was for my favorite hoop store and sneaker joint to use a poker chip as their membership token. I was reminded of a movie that I haven't seen in a while - a favorite when I was growing up, and oddly enough, it was about poker.

The movie was ROUNDERS. It starred Matt Damon, John Malkovich, Martin Landau and that guy who played Emilio in Mr. Deeds - John Turturro. That movie taught me very early the principles of the game way before it blew up here in The Philippines.

A minute to learn... A lifetime to master. The judge's game, so they say.

I started rummaging thru my old stash of DVDs to look for it. It's been a while, so I might have misplaced it already.

Anyway, there's this particular scene that I want to share with you. This was right before things went complicated for Matt Damon's character... And, well, without giving away too much, this scene demonstrated the beauty and complexity of the sport.

Shuffle up and deal! And hey, if you're looking for someone to fill a spot in your table... You know where to find me. Holla!


A day in the life.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE"

Cess and I were supposed to go out out on our special night, March 15th, but we were too busy to even think about it. Told ourselves to just ball out on the weekend so we could enjoy ourselves completely without work on our minds.

But ball we didn't! #SIDEBAR: You see, when we started hanging out we were always on a budget... And we looked at it as a game. Php200.00 for dinner? No problem... Let's cook dumplings! Php100.00 to get around? No sweat... Let's take the jeep to Galle, walk to Shang, train to Trinoma, train to Ayala! We'd get dirty, we'd be tired, we'd see some nasty shit on the road... But we always had fun! We'd laugh and go crazy over it!

I miss the thrill of the days when we were living on a student's budget, a far cry from the convenience our lives now provide. Don't get me wrong tho - we still don't live a life of fancy, popping Rose' and shit... But we get to live a bit more comfortably now. We get to experience life's best once in a while.

Back to the story: So we went to The Landmark's food court to take on our Php150.00 lunch challenge: Each would have to spend less than or equal to of Php 150.00 on a good meal: should include a starter, the main course, a drink and dessert.

And so we YOLO'd our way around the joint, scouting for cheap eats. We landed on an old college favorite: STEAK ESCAPE! Their menu will go HAM on any hungry dude, on a budget or not. LOL We were about to get ourselves a tray right, then... BAM! A baby cockroach was on the rack! Haha Cess was trying her best not to flip, but I could tell she's already losing her mind! LOL I flipped the tray and I was expecting the bustboy to elimate the pest, but crazy man just let the roach walk! Dufuq was that? LOL was the roach on mob protection or something? Anyway, I grabbed a cleaner tray (?) to carry our lunch to a free table. Here's what we had:

Cess had the single porkchop meal, with egg, an Ice Tea, and soup.


I had a double porkchop meal, a Sprite, and soup.


Score so far. Cess - Php95.00, Me - Php100.00.


Foodcourt swag!


After that surprisingly good meal, we decided to ditch Landmark and look elsewhere for dessert. We stumbled upon this very stylish lolo on our way out. Grampa is a sir!


Cess scored first blood on the dessert round... 2 bars of brownies from Brownies Unlimited, and a bottle of water... Php55.00! Haha now she's stuck at the ceiling and her budget's maxed out! This is good as done... I got this. But I have yet to select my dessert.


"Balling on a budget" was just limited to food tho. She was on a mean shopping tip and was all BMF! At Forever 21... Place was packed!!! She didn't see much but she did leave the store with a bag.


Ah yes... That's how I like my adult movies.


At Zara waiting for her. #SeizeTheDay #Fourth


We went back to the car to dump most of her shopping in the trunk. Then off to John and Yoko for a well-deserved dinner. No crawlers here. LOL Spicy Tuna Salad is crack! The garlic rice was nice too.


Neeeewwwwww Yaaawwwwwk! NOM!

After a quick stop at my ninang's house, we rolled thru WeLegendary Ronac to celebrate the return of Specks! Here's something for you buddy... Benmore! Shuwave naman... Not bad! Co-Signed by Borgie! Had a dope evening of convo with Mr. WeLegendary and the Ronac Boys over a couple of shots. (Photo via @WeLegendary on instagram)


Got home. We promised no gifts but I lied. Haha I copped her a yoga mat... Told her its a late Christmas present. (Photo via @Cess_0921 on Instagram)


...Not to be outdone, she got me this! I ain't mad tho! Top shelf display right now.


Watched Return of the King on DVD then I rolled home after.

We've explored a sunken gunship together, free dove in the middle of South China Sea, kayaked from island to island, crashed a motorcycle, and explored a jungle among other things. She's always down for anything! She may be soft-spoken, prim and proper, but the girl's tough as nails! I've seen her bark at a dude thrice her size ghetto-style, ready to go on a fist fight.

Surprisingly, she knows how to hand wash the laundry, and she knows how to cook, clean, and do dirty chores. I was birthed and raised in the harder areas of Makati till I was 5 and unlike me she was born with every possible convenience a girl might need. But for some reason, she knows how to deal with the toughest of life's situations like she was from the streets.

She's a trooper. A fighter. And she's real. We've been best friends longer than we've been together. So trust me when I say that she's a "ride or die" type. A Bonnie to a Clyde. When shit gets real crazy - though I pray it won't, I find comfort in thinking I have someone equally tough who got my back.

LOL she rarely reads the blog... So don't tell her I said that.

Anyway, you might be wondering how that Php150.00 challenge went? Well... Let me be real with y'all... So I was en route home, right? And the entire day I've been fiending on Chowking Halo-Halo! Dude, I just had to give it up... Pulled over at a 24-hour joint along Sucat!


Book it! Chowking knows how to chill. I'm Php20.00 over. Defeat never tasted this good.


HAHA Don't tell her about that too! I'll never hear the end of it. LOL


A day in the life.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "WELL OILED MACHINE"

Right after Titan Taft's opening, I hung out with Cess and her girl friends. I wasn't my usual self and I felt so lethargic in the party... Alcohol did not do the trick, and I was not in the mood for coffee.

I felt so light-headed. And then I realized I never had a decent meal all day. I realized it right after I brought my girl home, which meant I was already alone in the car... and I had a gastronomic free pass to eat whatever I want!

This came to mind!

Sometimes lavish dishes and expensive flavors take a back seat to nostalgia and the familiar. BURGER MACHINE was very much part of my childhood. My father was a professional race car/rally car driver back in the TRD days of Dante Silverio and Team Toyota, and I can remember, whenever he would take me to their garage, a hulking piece of colorful metal stood prominently outside. I wasn't sure if it was the smell of grilled burgers or gasoline... But it smelled good. So my father would buy me a burger just to get me out of the dangerous pit.

They say when you're hungry everything tastes good so don't quote me on this: The burger I had that night, was the best burger I ever had. Yes sir. I felt like a kid again.

///

The chef grilling my Jumbo Bartburger... Buy one, get one.


My body is ready.


Does not look like it, but it can satisfy a really hungry belly.


Fried bread, grilled meat, coleslaw, and extra cheese. Cardiac arrest never looked nor tasted this good.


A day in the life.

DEEZ NUTS.

__________________________________
SLEX Sucat Exit, North Bound

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "SEX, DRUGS, AND SHAKEY'S"

At the "69 1/2" premiere at Fully Booked BHS with the boss idol Tado. Go buy his book!

Don't do drugs.

At the happiest place on earth (not Disneyland). Best pizza joint ever, and you can't tell me nothin'!
Shakeys... I'm a big fan... Holla at your boy! #FRANCHISE

CHOWKING.

Deer Valley Weather.

...A day in the life.

A DAY IN THE LIFE, Vol. "UNDER THE BRIDGE"

...A day in the life.