Last Friday, my officemate invited me to watch a movie. I joked and asked her, “Shake Rattle & Roll? Haha”. I don’t know if she thought I was really serious with what I said that’s why she decided to really watch that film. Actually it was a treat from another officemate that’s why I just kept my mouth shut on what movie to watch. I was thinking of watching Desperadas, Iskul Bukol or Tanging Ina Niyong Lahat. But my mood that time was more on watching a horror  film. I expected three episodes in the movie, as well as some moments of laughter instead of being scared.

Episode 1: Emergency

The setting is in a hospital which makes it scary in a way already. What makes it scary? Some scenes that will make you shock. What makes it funny? Janus Del Prado, and the “troll look” of Mylene Dizon. And if I have to appreciate something on this episode, it is the way on how they fought the bad creatures.

Episode 2: Class Picture

I want to say that this is the scariest among the 3 episodes of SRRX, but I am quite disappointed with the ending of the episode. The setting of the story is inside a school managed by nuns, which makes it really scary. What makes the episode funny? IC Mendoza. Questions in my head: Why don’t they turn on the lights during that night? And if I have to apprecaite something in this episode, it would be the story itself, not to mention, the conclusion.

Episode 3: Nieves

If I have to describe the episode, it would be it’s like you watched a telefantasya/fantaserye. It’s actually not scary.

Posted in Movies, Review, Videos   Tagged: Shake Rattle & Roll X   

Good day everybody! January… It’s a fresh start for most of us because of New Year’s Day last January 1. But what makes this month more exciting are the wedding anniversary of my parents and birthdays of some of my relatives (Happy Birthday Nanay!) and friends.

January is also National Birth Defects Prevention Month, Volunteer Blood Donor Month, and Oatmeal Month.

January 4 - World Braille Day
January 8 - World Literary Day
January 11 - International Thank-You Day
January 24 - Belly Laugh Day

Aside from those days, I also want to observe…

January 14 - National Clean Off Your Desk Day
January 27 - Thomas Crapper Day

Well, that’s more than enough to make this month interesting. Happy January everybody!

Posted in Events, TJWACYL   Tagged: Belly Laugh Day, International Thank You Day, January, National Clean Off Your Desk Day, Thomas Crapper Day, World Braille Day, World Literary Day   

It’s time again to name my most favorite song of the year. And if you’ve been to my Multiply site regularly  and if you know the most played song in my music players last year, it’s pretty obvious what song made it for 2008… Drum roll… It’s Mr. A-Z’s “Im Yours”! Yahoo! Anyway, here is the music video of the song.

I’M YOURS
Jason Mraz
We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

“We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things” is one of my most awaited album last year. The album is really great! Anyway, since Jason is on Spotlight today, I’ll also post the two other songs that were currently released from the album, including “Make It Mine”, and the latest released “Lucky” with Colbie Callait. Enjoy!

MAKE IT MINE
Jason Mraz
We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

LUCKY
Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Callait
We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

Posted in Jason Mraz, Mrazmerized, Soundtrip, Spotlight, Videos   Tagged: Colbie Callait, I'm Yours, Lucky, Make It Mine, Song Of The Year, We Sing We Dance We Steal Things   

I was thinking this morning what I’ll be posting next here in my blog till I came up with my blog entry exactly one year ago entitled, “New Beginnings“.

Obviously, the new year spirit was still with me during that time I posted that entry. I really felt hopeful that time for the year ahead of me. I read and suddenly remembered the last sentence in that blog entry… “Let’s see on new year’s day of 2009 what will happen with these resolutions.”

I want to keep my promise that’s why I’ll post down the resolutions I made last year, and see if I have been able to do those things…

• To have a constant communication with the Lord. Unfortunately, I failed. I did not manage to attend the Holy Eucharist regularly, as well as read the “Our Daily Bread” I bought for the year 2008 the whole year.
• To buy only the things I really need. A big failure also!!!
• To maximize my time. Check!!! My problem now is… I don’t have much time to do all the things I want to do…
• To have time for my family. Check also!
• To have time for my friends. Hmmmm… We didn’t meet that much last year due to our busy schedules.
• To have time for the things I want to do. Hmmmm… Oh well, I have a lot of plans, but they still remain as plans. Hahaha…
• To control my temper. In fairness to me, my being hot tempered lessen last year! Congratulate me!
• To continue learning about new things. Check!
• To be a better me. Hmmm… All I can say is that I am happy that I found new buddies at work and I learned a lot of things last year through experience.

My resolutions every new year seems to be the same as mentioned on the list above. There might some changes or new items but still, the thought is still the same… to become a better person.

I don’t want to quit. I still want to try to be able to live up with my new year’s resolutions. See you again next year as I analyze again this list!

Posted in Anthology   Tagged: New Year's Resolutions   

New Year… New season for Rowjielogy. Welcome to Colorsplash!

This is a celebration of a decade of writing about life - from journal/diary to web blog. It was actually in 1998 when I had my first journal, which is sort of a trial only just to kill boredom. It was in May 1999 when I became serious on journal writing. Meanwhile, as technology progresses, web blogs were born. It was in 2005 when I had my first blog. I have tried different blog services, and right now, I am happy and contented with WordPress & Multiply blogs.

Why Colorsplash?

Lomography is a current trend. I passed by Team Manila in SM Mall of Asia with my friends and I was happy to see that the store is selling different kinds of lomocams. What really caught my attention is the Colorsplash lomo cam which they are selling for 4500 pesos. I love colors that’s why I am interested to have the camera.

After a few weeks, the thought “Why don’t I use Colorsplash as a subtitle for my blog?”, and I thought it would be perfect because aside from my love for colors, when I came to think of it, if there’s something that has been with me throughout the last decade of my journal and blog writing, it would be colors. Colors define our mood… it speaks for itself. The past 10 years has been filled with different colors. I had been colorsplashed.

It just began from a simple journal, then it became a habit that I cannot erase from my system. It evolved with technology until we reached the era of blogs. I am happy that this passion is still with me after a decade. I want to release it and express it while I have all the means.

This is a journey to the past and to the present.

Posted in Anthology, Plugs, Rowjielogy   Tagged: Colorsplash, Journal, Lomography, SM Mall of Asia, Team Manila   

First of all, I want to greet everybody a Happy New Year! I really looked forward to this day because it’s our first New Year in our new house. I was amazed last night because of the wonderful fireworks I saw. Anyway, though we have celebrated it in a new place, the tradition doesn’t change - eating together by 12 midnight, jumping around the house while making noise, etc.

It is the day of the year when I have full of hopes for better days to come. It is also the day of the year when I make a lot of promises. I just hope that those feelings don’t only come every first of January, but also on ordinary days.

Happy New Year everybody!

Posted in MoBlog   Tagged: New Year   

Oh well, here we are again… last day of the year… Looking back on the year that was, and forward to the year that will come. I do actually have of “supposed year ender blog entries” but I did not have enough time to do so. Maybe I’ll be posting them on the next few days while 2009 is still fresh.

Anyway, it has been a busy and challenging year for me. It took me some months to adjust to my new work. The adjustment period was really hard. I can also say that 2008 has been sad because my grandmother died this year. It’s really sad whenever I remember her because I do miss her.Life has also given me challenges that tested my strength as a person.

Just like what is written in “This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009″…

The new year is fast approaching! Re-Vamp That Resolution. Write down your 2009 masterlist. Place everything you want to do, change, create, leave behind, overhaul, put an end to. Give yourself deadlines for each and get it witnessed.

Well, it sounds quite hard! Haha. But I do admit that I do make resolutions every first day of the year but I actually don’t do it. But just like what they say, try and try until you succeed.

For 2009, I actually want to save money. I want to cut down my spendings on unimportant things.

I also want do better in my work. I feel grateful for the people who gave positive feedbacks in my performance this year at work. This pushes me to do better because I don’t want to disappoint them, and I know that this is also for my advancement.

I still want to learn new things.

2009 is a special year for my blogging life… You’ll find out soon!

I want to go places where I’ve never been yet. I want to do things which I’ve never tried yet. I want to meet people whom I’ve never met yet.

I want to be more of a positive thinker. I want to have more time for God. I want to have harmonious relationships with my family and my friends.

I want to leave everything that caused me pain this 2008. I want to forgive and forget…

I want to be open to people.

I hope 2009 will be a better year for all of us. Let’s keep in my mind that we should not rely in fate alone. We should also do something for it.

Well, that’s it for this year! Goodbye 2008! Hello 2009!

Posted in Anthology, TJWACYL   Tagged: New Year   

Prepare for your year to be transformed. Filled with witty facts, unusual holidays, eye-opening questions, and so much more. Not a day will go by where you will be bored, after all, this isn’t just an ordinary planner.

Not only does this Journal change your life, it helps change the lives of others as well. All proceeds of this Journal go to the building of wells and schools, and the planting of trees all over the world.

Few weeks ago, I saw pictures of the Starbucks Planner for 2009 in a “Multiply” blog entry. Starbucks planners are really controversial every year. At first, I believed what I have read that it wasn’t nice. But actually, I started to like it after I held one. Anyway, I also came by a blog about “This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009″, and I was convinced after reading the article that’s why I decided to buy it in Power Books.

I am actually curious and interested about the said planner that’s why I wanna try it. It actually starts on December 29, which is tomorrow, so I think I will have some sort of “dry run” first before the year 2009 comes.

The journal/planner has a monthly view, and a weekly view and summary, aside from the things mentioned in the first two paragraphs.

So, if you don’t have any planner/journal yet for the coming new year, you might want to try this one and see if it can really change our lives in 2009.

www.freespeechpublications.com

Posted in TJWACYL   Tagged: Journal, Planner, Starbucks Planner   

Yah, I know this is a very late post. Wahehehe. But at least, I still managed to post this one before the year ends.

Actually, this trip was really unplanned. December 1, I was already decided not to join my work mates because I really had lot of things to do back then. Decembe 2 morning, I told my mom and sister that it was the “supposed” day of our Bohol Trip. They insisted me to join. And without any further thinking, I finally decided to join my work mates.

During that time, all I thought was, “It’s the experience…”

I know that if I tell everything we did in Bohol, I would need a very long blog entry. Haha. So as much as possible, I want to just summarize my Bohol experience.

We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Bohol. We stayed in Dumaluan Beach Resort on the first night, then in my officemate’s friend’s house on the last night. We spent our first day on the beach right after we arrived in Bohol. The second day was the most exciting day because it was when we tour around Bohol. My favorite destinations where we went were: Loboc River (I cried here due to unknown reasons! OMG!), Man-made forest, Loboc Tarsier, Hanging Bridge, and of course, the amazing Chocolate Hills.

All I can say while I was looking at the Chocolate Hilss was… “Wow!”. God is truly amazing for creating such a wonderful scenery. I just hope we take good care of His creations.

Besides seeing and experiencing Bohol, I am really thankful for the people who let me join the trip - Linnette, Jas, Sharon, and Wella. These ladies are wonderful. I really can’t say that we are friends already but at least I got to know them better and I hope we’re already on our way to being good friends.

Posted in Road Trip   Tagged: Bohol, Chocolate Hills, hanging Bridge, Loboc River, Loboc Tarsier, Man-made Forest   

Matapos ang ilang araw na sobrang busy dahil sa mga Christmas parties at shopping, heto na uli tayo at Pasko nanaman! Binabati ko ang lahat ng isang “Maligayang Pasko!”

Nawa ay maging maligaya ang Pasko ng mga kapwa nating Pinoy na nasa ibang bansa na hindi makakauwi sa kani-kanilang mga pamilya ngayon, pati na rin sa mga kapwa natin Pinoy na bagama’t nandito sa Pilipinas, ay kailangan namang magtrabaho kahit sa araw ng Pasko. Alam ko medyo malungkot ang pakiramdam, ngunit hangad ko pa rin na sana ay maging masaya sila sa araw na ito.Hangad ko rin na maging maligaya ang Pasko ng ating mga kababayan na walang makain, walang masilungan, at walang maisuot.

Huwag sana nating kalilimutan ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit natin ipinagdiriwang ang araw na ito. Ang araw ng Pasko ay araw ng kapanganakan ni Hesus. Magdasal tayo ng taimtim kahit saglit lang. Magpasalamat tayo. Sana marealize nating lahat na hindi ang mga materyal na regalo ang mahalaga sa araw na ito, kundi ang pagkakataon na magkasama-sama ang magkakamag-anak at magkakaibigan, at yung makapagbahagi tayo sa iba ng ating blessings.

Maligayang Pasko sa ating lahat!

Posted in MoBlog   Tagged: Christmas   

We thought that we will be having “White (Shining and Shimmering) Christmas” as the theme of our Christmas party for this year. But according to our poll, the 80’s Christmas Party won.

I have been listening to a lot of “New Wave” songs again recently. I love new wave music. I remember back in 1999 when I became addicted to this kind of music. Well, thank you to the Chorus Girl CD.

I have told my fellow rookies (new employees in the previous year) that I will join them in the presentation, if ever we will have one. And so I did! Practicing at night after work is so stressful, but it’s just fine since I like dancing. Seeing my officemates practicing their presentations made me more eager to perform. Our Finance & Admin department (where the MIS department belongs too) was supposedly not going to perform anything due to busy schedules. But maybe they realized that it would be okay if most of us will perform. I can see that they also didn’t care much about winning. They just wanna have fun, which is a nice thing actually.

The preparation for the party was really stressful for the people who organized our party. But it was all worth it when we saw the outcome last Friday night. It was so nice to see my officemates wore their 80’s outfit. It was a very colorful and happy night.

The two groups I joined in the presentation both did not rank from first to third, but I don’t care about it because I really had fun that night. I realized that 80’s party is so cool.

What made me happier is that I was supposed to win the “Rookie Of The Year” award. This award is given to those employees with less than one year of stay who have a good performance. But I was disqualified because technically speaking, I have been an employee of the company for a year already last Wednesday. But still, I feel happy, since a friend of mine won the award.

I was also nominated for the “Jack Of All Trades” award. I am also happy for it even though I did not win. Being nominated is already more than enough.

It was a very memorable night for me - food, new friends, nice performances, prizes, disco, etc. At least for a while, we left our work behind and had some fun!

Posted in Work Files   Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Party   

I woke up with a lot of things in my mind this morning… work… things to do for Christmas party… Christmas gifts… etc. I was really lazy to move because it was really cold since last night. I really miss staying in my bed for lot of hours.

Everything was just normal till I am about to go down the underpass. I suddenly remembered that today marks my first year in my present job. Wow, how fast time flies! It’s already been a year. And I didn’t expect this… honestly.

Why? It really took me a lot of time to adjust in my new environment. I almost resigned during my first week of stay, as well as with my 4 months of stay in this company, but I kept on giving it a chance. I also thought that I will just finish my 5 months contract. Lots of plan in my mind that did not happen.

In fairness, I have learned to mingle with the people here and I realized that most of them are good and easy to be with. They are all different from one another, but at least they blend with one another.

Work is really tough but I am happy that I feel challenged and growing as well.

But this doesn’t mean that I already see myself growing old with this company. I still have this passion to do something else… doing new things, and doing what I like. But this company has already been a part of my life which I am really grateful for.

If I will stay here for another year… well, I still don’t know.

Posted in Anthology, Work Files      

Christmas is fast approaching that’s why there’s a lot of Christmas parties going on this season.

I wasn’t able to attend any Christmas party last year (except for our annual Christmas Party/Reunion in my grandma’s house), that’s why I somehow wanted to attend Christmas parties this year, and so my wish did come true! Haha. Lots of Christmas parties!

Last Friday, I went to our Outbound department’s Christmas party in Parañaque City. It was really unplanned. Honestly, I really wanted to go. It’s just that I did not have any contributions to their fund, as well as I am not invited. But thanks to the girls who forced me to join.

Their party was fun, especially when they had the raffle and their exchange gifts. They also asked me  to speak in behalf of our MIS Department. Haha. I took the opportunity to thank them for being kind to me.

Speaking of the MIS Department, last night, we had a dinner in Barrio Fiesta in Makati Avenue. The food was really great. I really felt sleepy after. Haha.

Our office Christmas party is on Friday, and our theme is 80’s. Pretty exciting… After that, I will still attend several Christmas parties. Hehehe.

Posted in Work Files   Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Party   

Finally! My list of my “must-have” albums for this year is now complete. Last week, I unexpectedly saw the limited edition of Jason Mraz’s “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things” in SM Makati. I am happy that I did not buy it online because it will cost me twice the price.

And yesterday was the much awaited day for all The CompanY fans like me because they already launched their album, “Group Hug”, The CompanY’s tribute to all legendary groups who left their marks in the music history.

Standing in the bus from Cavite to Pasay, and walking from Robinson’s Galleria to Shangrila Mall were all worth it… I arrived at Shangrila at exactly 6:00pm that’s why I have to stand up at the back already. Filharmonika at Sir Gerard Salonga came in first at the stage, where they played a medley of traditional Christmas songs. Yah, Christmas was in the air last night. Later on, The CompanY entered singing an impressive cover of The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour”. They sang songs from their new album. And if I have to describe my feeling while they are performing… it’s “nakakakilabot… nakakatinding balahibo… sobrang galing”.

I waited for them to sing other songs included in the album, most especially “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I have known the song when “The Fugees” had a cover of the song. I just realized recently that this is a hard song to do. “Side A” has a good version of this song too. When I read that The CompanY did their own version of the song too, I knew it that they can do it… and I wasn’t wrong. It was a job well done!

They also sang the only original track from the album, “Nandito Pa Rin Tayo”. It’s such a nice song. I somehow get emotional whenever I hear this song. It’s perfect.

“Group Hug” is an audio/video CD. It contains “Nandito Pa Rin Tayo” music video, directed by Chuck Guttierez. The video was nicely done. And as they say, it is the best The CompanY’s video to date. Here is the track list of “Group Hug”.

1. Nandito Pa Rin Tayo (Music Video)
2. Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)
3. Blame It On The Boogie (The Jacksons)
4. You’re The One/I Just Fall In Love Again (Carpenters)
5. Play That Funky Music/Superstition (Wild Cherry)
6. Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
7. Should We Carry On (Airplay)
8. More Today Than Yesterday (Spiral Staircase)
9. Take A Chance On Me (Abba)
10. Boogie Wonderland (Earth, Wind And Fire)
11. Walk In Love (The Manhattan Transfer)
12. All Apologies (Nirvana)
13. Nandito Pa Rin Tayo
14. Nandito Pa Rin Tayo (Minus One)

What makes this album a “must-have” album? It’s The CompanY, plus Filharmonika and Gerard Salonga as the conductor. Do I still need to explain? Haha.

After the show was the “meet and greet” portion. I did not manage to get good pictures huhu, but I had my CD autographed by all the members of the group.

Here is a nice story…

Ms. Annie signed my CD, she asked for my name and the spelling. I thought she heard me right, till I saw that she wrote, “Rowenn”. Hahaha. Ms. Sweet, Ms. Cecille, and Mr. Jay signed too. And what an honor for me to have Gerard Salonga signed too!

The last one to sign my CD was Sir Moy Ortiz. While I was in the line, I was thinking if I have to introduce myself “Hi Sir, I am your friend in Multiply, etc”. But I did not bother to tell him so.

He looked at me then he stood and said to me, “Kilala kita!!! Hmmm… Row….”, and I said “Rowell”. He said, “Yah, Rowell! Ka-Multiply! Finally! How was it? Did you like the show? Thank you for coming!”. I forgot what I answered him. Haha. But the feeling is so nice for a Moy Ortiz to know someone like me. Hehe. These guys are really down to earth.

Posted in Soundtrip, The CompanY, Trip   Tagged: Group Hug   

The much awaited new album (Group Hug) from The CompanY is about to be released on Sunday, December 14, 2008. And I hope I can go to the album launch.

The carrier single of the album is “Nandito Pa Rin Tayo”. It’s a nice and touching song. I hope I can use it soon here in my blog. Anyway, here is the very nice music video of  the song.

Posted in The CompanY, Videos   Tagged: Group Hug, Nandito Pa Rin Tayo