Bowling tourney – Week 4

        It’s week 4 and 20 more weeks to go.  Indeed, this is the longest tournament that I’ve participated.

        My first game was just fine at 183.  But my next two (2) games were dismal, 131 and 150 respectively.  I was hitting everything but the target.  My day average was 154.66 and my current average is 159.33 - increasing my handicap from 12 to 13.   My standing fell from 33^rd to 38^th place.

Luckily, on the 3^rd game, I got one of the magic numbers (58, 65, or 77) and won a special prize – a water jug.

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Number Coding

        Monday is my number coding day as the last digit of my plate number is 1.

        If you’re buying a brand new car, you could choose your number coding day by requesting LTO, through your dealer, for the last digit of your plate number.

        I chose Monday (last digit of 1 or 2).  Hence, I’d be forced to leave at least one (1) hour earlier, thus avoiding the traffic.  Otherwise, I have to commute and avoid driving through traffics.

        Today, I woke up at 4:15 AM and left at around 5:15 AM.  I dropped my daughter, Jaja, off in front of KFC near her office building along F. Ortigas Avenue (formerly Emerald Avenue), Ortigas Center.  I arrived at my parking slot (3^rd basement of our office building) at around 6:15 AM.  Then, I slept in the car for about 45 minutes.

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Ped Xing

        I saw this road sign first inside Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the former US Naval Base.  Then, I saw them along Roxas Boulevard, Manila City.

        Ped Xing means – Ped for Pedestrian and Xing for Crossing or, in long, Pedestrian Crossing.

        It seemed a Chinese name.

Pedestrian (Ped)

        A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running, on a road or sidewalk.

Crossing (Xing)

        A pedestrian to reach his/her destination sometimes needs to cross a road.  For his protection, pedestrian lanes or crossings are placed in strategic areas of the road.  These lanes are commonly placed around intersections, to go with the flow of the traffic.  Some are placed in between intersections, where more pedestrians are crossing.  The lanes are properly marked.  Some even have signage.

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Coming Home (from Leyte Trip)

        Mission accomplished, Dan - my friend and officemate, and I left the plantsite yesterday (June 15, 2007) at 10:45 AM for Tacloban City for my 2:55 PM flight to Manila.  Instead of using a service car, Dan, who lives in Tacloban, offered to drive me in his car.

        At lunchtime, we’re in the vicinity of Carigara, Leyte (still an hour away to Tacloban City).  So, we ate our lunch in Newtown Kitchen in the poblacion.  This small restaurant is famous to and frequented by travelers going to and from Tacloban.  It’s almost full when we entered.  We ordered the favorite tinolang isda (a fish soup popular in the Visayan region), fried squids still with roes in them, pinakbet (a popular Ilocano dish of assorted vegetables), rice and 500 ml softdrink.

        We arrived at the D. Z. Romualdez (Tacloban) Airport at around 1:45 PM.  After thanking Dan, I proceeded to the check-in counter and then to the departure area.

Sad Note:  The modernization of the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport worth P3.36 billion has been delayed for another two years because of lack of local counterpart fund. (Manila Times, Jan. 11, 2007)  

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How Much of the Philippines Have I Visited?

Thanks to Lakbayan and  AlohaPenny.  I got this from her blog.

And, here is my grade:
 

My Lakbayan grade is B-!

About Lakbayan

Eugene Alvin Villar, is the creator of Lakbayan. He also go by the handle, seav, and he primarily blogs at vaes9, where he posts about technology, web development, movies, music, and some general geekiness.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or reactions about Lakbayan, head on over to his blog post about this project.

You might also be interested to read his other blog, Vista Pinas, where he feature Philippine locations as seen from satellite images in Google Maps.

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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