Leyte Trip

         Ting ting ting ting!  Ting ting ting ting!  Ting ting ting ting!

        That’s my phone alarming at 2:00 AM.  I woke up and prepared for my flight to Tacloban at 6:00 AM (an official trip).  I left home at 3:00 AM and arrived at the NAIA Centennial at 4:00 AM.  (I see to it that I’m at the airport at least two (2) hours before my scheduled flight.)

        As usual, the two (2) side entrance doors to the terminal had long queues.  I entered thru the center door - where the VIPs, the business/first class passengers and the pilots/flight attendants pass.  I checked in at the Business Class counter then proceeded to the Mabuhay Lounge to wait for the boarding announcement.

        At the lounge, I ate my breakfast, drank three (3) cups of brewed coffee and a glass of orange juice, and surf the net - all for free.

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Bowling Tourney - Week 3

        Yesterday, I arrived early (5:00 PM) at the bowling center; because, amazingly, there was no traffic along EDSA from Makati.

        The host team (Cathay Industrial) members were already there posting the name plates on the respective lanes and making preparations.

        As per schedule, the shadow bowling started at 6:15 PM and the games at 6:30 PM.

Shadow bowling is a practice bowling sans the pins.  This is done prior to the start of the first game for the bowlers to warm-up and get used to the lanes. 

        Again, I played three (3) games.  As compared last week, my games improved (173 - 182 -156 or an average of 170).  My current average is 161.67 (6 games), which put me at the 33^rd place out of 227 male bowlers.  My current handicap is 12.

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Walk, Walk, Walk

         My daughter, Jaja, worked overtime today.  My wife, Beng, and I decided to drive her to work in Ortigas then pass by UP Diliman, on our way back home, to walk.  We left home at around 6:30 AM.  Ooooops!, don’t forget to bring Potpot, our shitzu dog, along.

        We called up my younger sister, Elvie, to join us.  She lives near UPD.

        I made two (2) rounds around the oval – about an hour walk, while the two (2) ladies and the dog made one (1) round only.

         UPD is a better place for exercising - walking, jogging, running, cycling, etc.  It has plenty of trees and less vehicles running around.  Plenty of trees means plenty of oxygen; while, less vehicles means less pollution.

              Roxas Avenue                     Bikers along Osmena Ave.                  Osmena Avenue

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Are You a BASTOS Smoker?

What’s your brand?

Philip Morris?

Marlboro?

Lucky Strike?

 

L & M?

Winston? 

Camel?

or . . .

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A Baby was Born

            On this same day, decades ago, Helen (her real name), who was pregnant with her second child, started to labor and was rushed to V. Luna General Hospital (a military hospital) in Kamias Road, Quezon City.

            Helen’s husband, Tobing (his real nickname), was personnel of the Philippine Army.

History of the hospital

            In 1937, the 1st Philippine Army General Hospital was established in Camp Murphy.

            In 1946, the hospital was transferred to the rumbling prefabricated buildings and Quonset huts vacated by the 331th and 312th US Army General Hospitals at the corner of Highway 54 (now EDSA) and Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, Rizal.

            On 3 September 1946, the hospital was named V. Luna General Hospital,  after Colonel Victoriano Luna, the then Chief of Medical Service and Medical Adviser of the Chief of Staff, as a fitting tribute to his heroism during the battle of Bataan.

            In December of 1950, the hospital transferred to its newly established location on Kamias Road (now V. Luna Road), Quezon City

            In 1970, V. Luna General Hospital was renamed V. Luna Medical Center and was redesigned Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center (AFPMC) effective 26 September 1975.

            The Center will celebrate its 70^th foundation anniversary this September 2007.

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PMS

            No, it’s not the Premenstrual Syndrome but, rather, the Periodic Maintenance Service of a vehicle.

            What is PMS? – the latter

            It is an essential SERVICE performed PERIODICALLY to a vehicle in order to MAINTAIN good performance and find problems before they become serious.

            It will aid in:

                    Good fuel economy
                    Long vehicle life
                    Driving enjoyment
                    Safety
                    Reliability

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Bowling Tourney – Week 2

        As I posted last week, I wasn’t able to attend the opening day (May 29) because of an important meeting.

        Yesterday (June 5) was the second day.  When I arrived, I greeted my bowling friends and acquaintances.  Also, I noticed there were many new faces.

        I played three (3) games and averaged 153 only (161 – 132 – 166).  Not bad!  I thought I couldn’t score more than 150, as I had not bowled for almost a year.   The last game that I played was in the championship of the Masters Event of last year tourney - I was the Class “A” Division’s 2^nd runner-up.  I wasn’t able to practice prior to this tourney; hence, my 16-pound ball seemed heavier.  On the first game, I could still carry and throw my ball with ease though most were not precise.  But on the second and third games, I had difficulty throwing the ball.  My middle and ring fingers joints and shoulder were already aching.  Until now, my muscles and joints are still painful.

        I hope I could improve my future games.

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License Renewed

        After 3 years, I renewed my professional driver’s license, which was due to expire on my birthday this month.  Driver's License is valid for three (3) years and expires on the licensee's birthday. 

        It’s a good thing that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has set up Driver’s License Renewal Centers (DLRCs) in selected Malls in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.  Another one has been set up in Ayala MRT station.  Thus, it makes the renewal of license convenient.  (See List of DLRCs).  I wish that more DLRCs would be set up by LTO in strategic areas all over the country..

        Being the nearest center from my office, I renewed my license at the Ayala MRT Station DLRC.  I left our office today at 1:10 PM and arrived at the center at 1:30 PM.  I just commuted to and fro: took a jeep from Makati Avenue to EDSA-Buendia then MRT from Buendia station to Ayala station and vice versa.

        The whole process took me exactly one (1) hour - from the time I entered the center until I received my renewed license.  At that time, there were more than 30 applicants.

        The total cost of the renewal and the medical/laboratory was P607.00.

        Now, I have to wait for another three (3) years to renew again my license.

 
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My Car

        I just finished washing my car.  I do the washing on weekends (mostly on Sundays) or holidays only, due to limited time on weekdays.  I do it myself - as an exercise, and rarely bring her to the car wash. 

        My car is an Innova J – VVTi (Gas).    I acquired her in February 2005.  I was one of the first owners of Innova.

        As soon as I got her out of the dealer, I, with my wife, test drove her up to UP Los Banos and fetched my daughter, who was studying there.

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Blog Exploring and Hopping

This morning, I explored my blog.  I opened the “Help” and logged in the forum for relevant topics to learn more and see how could I improve my blog.

I opened my e-mail and read that my application for Google AdSense has been approved.  Wow, that’s great!

I immediately activated my AdSense account by following the steps provided in the e-mail.  The demos were helpful.  I had a hard time, though, understanding the “channel”; so, I just typed my URL and it was accepted.  Then, I copied the adcode and pasted it in the Edit HTML Source of the Custom Content I added on the blog.   But, the ads didn’t appear.  I retried several times but to no avail.

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