INVICTUS

When I resigned from my previous job, I used this poem to say goodbye to my colleagues.

I'm moving again and I consider this great as I'll be able to get my family with me this time. The kids will surely be affected the most as they'll have to adjust to a new environment. Though it's not their first time to be in another country, it will be a whole new experience for them. We will be living there now, they will be studying there.

I'm almost always out of the country anyway--away from them. So, when this opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it.

I'm positive that it will not be that huge of an adjustment for us. I got friends who are already there, with their family. Their presence will reduce our anxiety of living in a new place; the transition will not be that painful, hopefully.

Wish us the best of luck, peeps!

Here's the poem:

Invictus
by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

Bote's New Room

I moved to a new place. It's only a few blocks away from where I previously stay. The place is neat, it's an old but newly renovated HDB . I'm staying here with an uncle who, per him and I found it to be true, is working permanently on night shift, 7 times a week. I only get to see him every Saturdays and Sunday as I'm not working on weekends. He's living alone, probably the reason why am here; he needs someone to take care of the house when he's out for work at night. Clever Uncle!

Take a peak in my room. It's pretty neat, and I mean that literally! If you're wondering why? 'Coz I'm positive that in a months time, neat will not be the word I'll use to describe it.

I'm occupying the master's bedroom. I have my own comfort room, with hot showers--quite specific with that one: I'm old, I need it.
I also have a very spacious cabinet and was provided a table to work on, plus it has an A/C.
I'm not allowed to cook, which is absolutely not a problem with me. Uncle doesn't cook anyway and I'm lazy. No problemo!

I don't plan on trashing the place, in case somebody thinks I intend to that, but it will definitely look so much different after a month. Oh, I also got a bike inside my room now. So, it's gotten a bit crowded. Edwinsan asked if I want to take it with me for a while (for me that will be for a month, now that I found out that biking is fun, hehe). I don't want to place the bike in the kitchen 'coz I don't want uncle to make an issue off it. Not that I'm certain that he'll make an issue out of it, but in cases like this, taking the safe side is always best.

Since I can't cook, I buy everything. Last night, I felt a need for coffee--that's 12 MN. I went down to the hawker station and ordered for coffee-no sugar-with condense milk-take away. They don't have a styro-cup, just the plastic plus straw. I don't have a choice because that time they are the only place open, I bought it, of course--better than no coffee at all. Sipping a hot coffee through a straw, cool! Apparently, Singaporeans are used to it.
No complains though, it still tastes like coffee.

Now, I need to get in touch with my feminine side so I can keep the place neat. Problem, will it get in touch with me?

That's all for now, folks. See my room in a month.

Man's Best Friend

I'm re-posting the entirety of the news I read yesterday, which I planned to blog last night but could find time because I just moved to new place yesterday, here--with the link of course in case you would want to verify its authenticity.

Man 'marries' dog to beat curse
An Indian man has "married" a female dog, hoping the move will help atone for stoning two other dogs to death.
P Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing.
The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The "bride" wore an orange sari with a flower garland and was fed a bun to celebrate.
Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses.

'Tried every cure'
Crowds cheered the newly-weds at the end of the ceremony in Sivaganga district, about 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Madurai.
The "bride", who is called Selvi, was led to the temple in Manamudurai wearing a sari before vows were exchanged in a traditional Hindu ceremony.
A relative of the groom who attended the wedding said he hoped Mr Selvakumar would now be cured.
"Fifteen years back Selvakumar was physically fit. But, once he attacked a pair of dogs and thereafter Kumar could not move his limbs freely," the relative, Ramu, told the BBC.
"He tried every cure for his ailment but could not be rid of his disability.
"On the advice of an astrologer and others, he decided to marry a bitch to get cured. Then we arranged Selvakumar's marriage with a bitch."

Things that crossed my mind after reading that piece:

1. Talk about marrying your best friend.
2. Was it consumated? Will the guy get tired of doing it always in dog-style? Will the dude be able to coax the bride to learn a new style?
3. This is a reality TV material, why no takers?
4. Were they cheered or were they jeered? Really
5. No, Sir! Curse won't cured 'till you have kids!
6. I can be an astrologer, I give better advice!

Weird, huh! But, entertaining, right? hehehe

Bote Gallery

This black beauty here tastes good with Cranberry juice. It's a concoction introduced to me by JayTabs.

They are not a pair! It's just that in a party/gathering, there should be something prepared for the ladies because you'll never know. It doesn't hurt to be always prepared, eh.

Deepavali is not our thing. Nevertheless, we welcomed it with Gil here, who's with sexy, green Islander.They are one cool pair! Too bad we're only allowed to bring in a liter. I would have bought a pair more.

Uh, the Vitamin C is not part of the mix. I never tried it and I don't plan on trying it, like ever!

A bit of bad news, Gil there will be my last for this year. I need to go on a two months abstinence in preparation for something next year. So, bye for now Gil, Jack, Johnny, JC. Whatever happens, we'll party again next year.

For now, I'll have to make do with Red, Tiger or Migs.

Rich Filipinos Hit BOTE More Often Than Others (rev. 1)

Rich Filipinos hit bottle more often than others. For a moment there, I thought we’re out-drinking the world.

“We discovered that overall consumption levels of alcohol among affluent Filipinos have risen steadily in the country by 4 percent since last year,” it said.
“Rising alcohol consumption levels would both indicate that more affluent Filipinos have higher levels of disposable income and more social time on their hands to indulge themselves over drinks,” Synovate’s Carole Sarthou said.
The firm said a higher percentage of affluent Filipinos consumed alcohol (37 percent) than in other countries such as Thailand (34 percent), Sing-apore (32 percent), Malaysia (28 percent) and Indonesia (8 percent).

This is unfair! Why do a research just for the rich? Why not do it for the whole population? We would have trashed our neighbors.

Question: when they say alcohol consumption by nation, are they very specific on the race of the consumers in that country? Take for example Singapore, most Filipinos in Singapore are occasional drinkers, with occasional I mean on every occasion that they meet they drink. How many times have you been to a Pinoy party/gathering where alcohol is absent? Rarely. And, how many times have you been to a Singaporean gathering where alcoholic beverages are offered? Rarely. In bars, it is mostly foreigners who really drinks that much--notably Japanese.

I’m not surprised with Indonesia as it is a Muslim country. Perhaps of the 8 percent, 3% are foreigners. Besides, San Miguel beer there doesn’t exactly taste like the San Miguel beer in the Philippines.

I’m surprised with Malaysia, 28%? Dang! It is still a Muslim dominated country, is it?

Can’t say any for Thailand, I haven’t been there yet. But, I plan to visit Thailand soon, go Bangkok!

Anyways kidding aside, I still doubt the veracity of any research data, if there really is one. How credible it is? How stringent is their conduct of the survey? In this case, I wonder how they distinguished an affluent alcohol consumer from a not so affluent alcohol consumer. If they set some criteria, how do they verify that the subject of their survey is really their target?

In my whole existence, I still have to meet someone from a research firm who subjects me to one of their studies. It's probably the reason why I doubt all surveys.

Hey guys, conduct a poll one more time, this time for the whole alcohol consumers of a country—the villages and the Philipine kantos included, and me. Perhaps, I can start giving you the benefit of the doubt, eh!

+++bote+++

Also in the news: Angelina Jolie shy about nudity in Beowulf. Ahahahahaha!!!!

I need coffee!

Bote, Bote Paano Ka Ginawa

bata, bata
paano ka ginawa?

tanong mo sa nanay at tatay kong
parehong walang magawa

bata, bata
galit ka ba?

sino naman ang matutuwa
sa buhay na isang kahig, isang tuka

bata, bata
saan ka tutungo?

ewan ko
tsaka
ano bang paki mo
matutulungan mo ba ako?

BOTE & MIND

Health buffs will tell you that one has to take at least two (2) types of supplements a day. The reason being that we are not guaranteed to get all the vitamins and minerals our body needs by relying solely on the food that we consume.

Considering my lifestyle, the foods I crave and take, I guess I need to take heed and invest on ‘em supplements.

I used to take a multivitamins and a vitamin-c daily. Those I get from GnC, ‘coz I was once told by a health fanatic to refrain from taking the synthetic types for the reason that slips my mind, and too lazy to google why it should not be synthetic. All I know is that synthetic is synonymous to artificial. Anyways, those were in the times that I live an active lifestyle; I go to the gym at least 2 times a week, minimum of one (1) hour each session, I do swim in between and play basketball on Saturdays. See, with all those activities, if I just rely on food alone, I’ll be doing injustice to my body coz I don’t have anything to supplement my food intake. So, off I go to GnC and bought those non-synthetic supplements, mind not if they are damn expensive.

It has been two years though since I’ve been inside a gym. Rarely do I swim, either. I still play basketball on Saturdays but that ain’t enough to convince me that I still have an active lifestyle. Those non-synthetic supplements, I don’t have a need of, I told myself. So, I took them off my budget; don’t want any drugs in my system anyway.

However, yesterday the bulb unexpectedly pops: you may not be living that active lifestyle anymore but does that mean that you’ve no need of those freakin’ supplements? You still need them! Re-take them.

I still take vitamin-c, although not religiously, but I don’t doubt a bit that I can again condition my brain on not forgetting taking them on a daily basis. I don’t take a multivitamins anymore. I don’t plan to purchase them, this month and the month after, coz my budget simply won’t permit me. I need an alternative. Bulb pops again: Oh, why not take an ANTI-OXIDANT instead? Isn’t this a supplement too?
Here what’s I thought of solving this ‘coz like I said I don’t have the budget to get them in tablet form nor in capsule form. Starting today I’ll take a vitamin-c, the tablet of course, I don’t want those that needs peeling, biting or squeezing; those are chores you know! For my anti-oxidant, I’ll take two (2) cups(styro) of brewed coffee--this I need not buy coz it’s free in the office, plus for variety I'll take two cups more only this time the instant coffee—that coffee in a sachet. Four (4) cups(styro) should be able to do the trick and give me enough dosage for the Anti-oxidant my body needs for the day.

And, since my budget is really bitchy, I need not buy milks, I might as well make a cup of coffee tonight before I hit the bed and I’ll have an extra dose of Anti-oxidant, isn’t it? Damn, I still have that boy scout in me! Surely, with this new routine, two types of supplements a day is considered solved, right? RIGHT! You need not complicate your routine to live healthy, heh.

If only Ms. De Leon gets to read this, she’ll be proud!

BOTEous Filler: Remove Your Hands

I heard this sooooo many times yesterday at our "supposedly" Team Building's Wall Climbing (or is it Rock climbing?) activity.

When a climber reaches the top, he is supposed to shout "falling" so as to alert the one supporting (don't ask me, i don't know the right term and am too lazy to google) him/her and that he/she has to wait for the acknowledgement, which is "fall on", before he releases his/her grip on a stone and lowered to the ground. There were cases when climbers won't release their grip, probably out of fear, or whatever. This is when I heard one of the climber's teammate shouted a very encouraging instruction: "let go of your arms", another teammate shouted: " release your hands", and another: remove your hands". Yes, I heard those numerous times. Yay!

If I were that climber I would have shouted back: I REFUSE TO DO THAT!!!

Lucky for them I'm one ice-cold bote who climbed effortlessly and descended perfectly, that I never had that much need for instruction. Yebah!

Oh I forgot, am now a rock climbing, or wall climbing whatever that is, ex-virgin! Woohoo!

BOTE BEGINS

A story that has never been told.

Scene : 2nd year, first sem
Manny : uy pre, di ba sa San Andres ka?
Zap : Oo, kilala kita. Naglalaro ka dun, di ba?
Manny : Manny nga pala.
Zap : Reden, pero Zap na lang. Zapico kasi apelyido ko, hehehe.
Manny : Syangapala, nakaklase ko nung 2nd sem
Ako : B____ Bautista, pre.
Zap : Di, Bote ang tawag sa’yo?

Thusly, I developed an identity that can, and will, never be a secret.

Bote Naman Ako

Finally, I'm doing it. After close to two years of thinking and planning, I just decided to create my own blog tonight.

What am I going to blog, you ask? Dunno yet. hehehe. Sabi nga ng mga basketbolista: we'll take it one blog at a time. Bottom line is: I'm now blogging! Yebah!