The DJ who's not a DeeJay

 My mom bought her first and only house in the late 1960's. She was still single then, and so her parents and other siblings initially all stayed there. Over the years, as each of her siblings got married and started raising their own respective families, they moved out. When my mom got married, she and my dad moved to another country and raised...

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As a content creator, I've had several ideas for a themed YouTube channel. If you asked me 4 years ago, cats wouldn't be one of them. Back then, I knew very little about cats, never owned a cat, and our condo had strict rules on pets. I grew up in a house where our family had dogs. At one point in time, we had...

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The 50th and last item on my list of definitive things I'm thankful for is that I turn 50 today. Yes, that's me today. As I celebrate my 50th birthday, I am thankful for a lot of things. As I continue on to this second half of a century, I wish and pray for continued support and love from family and friends, good health,...

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One of the lifelong experiences I am most grateful for is being a dad.   Being a father is a unique journey. For me, it has been full of quiet times of developing trust, like being there for him when he needs it or even when he doesn't know he needs it. Making the connection takes time, but being an only child myself...

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I'm glad that having a fitness tracker makes it easy to see the number of steps made in a day. Throughout the years, I've been consciously trying to maintain a regular number of steps. It was usually at the 6,000-step mark. Depending on the activities scheduled for the day, it would determine if I would be able to attain my daily goals. Working...

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When I was considering where to study in college, I was choosing among three courses: computer science, business management, and math. Ironically, when I was accepted into the university of my choice, they offered me a course I had never heard of before: interdisciplinary studies. I initially thought it was the same as International Studies, but only because they had the same acronym.Luckily,...

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In 2013, my friend Joey Alarilla went on a "no beef, no pork" diet. During this time, I needed to lose some weight and lower my cholesterol levels. Inspired by this type of diet, I decided to take on a "no rice" diet challenge. I started in November 2013 without any end-target date in mind.  I also added a "no soft drinks" rule,...

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I never dreamed of managing a business at the highest level. The first instance was with my work friends, who decided to break away from the company where we worked. We worked for an Internet Service Provider, and I was the webmaster. We saw the potential of developing websites for prospective clients instead of being handed projects from the company. This was during...

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This is the first and longest blog I've managed since 2007. I wasn't new to writing then. It was just a new venue for me to publish my thoughts and other opinions, which I wanted to share online.My earliest writing contributions would be in the newsletter of my college Math Club.  Also during college, I programmed my own computer journal, inspired by Doogie...

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Nature is beautiful. I love watching clouds form, ocean waves glide, and the sun rise and set. Whenever I had a chance, I would capture these moments through pictures.So it was a delight to be able to experience this on a daily basis in two different settings. When I used to work in Manila, I would drive along Roxas Blvd., which is known for watching...

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Didn't know the meaning of OC in my early years. It wasn't a something I've heard in our home. I did later find out it was short for OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.I read about it, and I don't have the behaviors that can disrupt my daily life. I'm more on the side of wanting to be proper, orderly, and clean. So I'd...

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I thank my dad for introducing me to this. My dad had a culinary hand in the Navy and was tasked with serving Naval officers with lunch. He usually prepared salads, and I think that's where I got my liking for salads.I remember my dad creatively carving vegetables for salads, cutting tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers into different shapes, making them visually appealing in...

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Many years ago, I took an interest in hacking. The earliest experience I witnessed of this was in 1997 when I used to work as a webmaster for an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and the systems administrator team demonstrated to me how unsecure some networks are. I was fascinated by this other side of technology and did some reading about it. I realized...

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I didn't travel a lot during my single years. The few times I did travel were with family or friends. So booking a flight, computing travel fees, or planning overall was a shared responsibility. Sometimes, I don't even have to do anything and just pack stuff for the trip.   That changed when I got married. Since my wife was based in another...

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After 5 years of organ lessons at the early age of 14, I self-studied how to use a computer to arrange songs. My first submission of original songs I composed were instrumentals, which were first published as part of Sound Canvas Users Group (SCUG) Archives Volume 11 in 1995.   After that, I focused more on musical arrangements, and got hired by Samsung...

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I learned how to assemble a desktop computer out of necessity. My course in college was Computer Science, which deals mainly with software, so we weren't focused on the hardware part of computers.     During the years I was studying computers, though, the advancements for computer upgrades were insanely fast, and turnover for newer and faster computer parts was constantly on the rise. ...

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If I was asked as a teenager if I wanted to work for the government, I would've immediately said, "Not a chance." Most of my career was spent working in the field of music and tech. It never occurred to me that I would eventually land a career in an Embassy. Social media was the bridge that got me to switch careers. Having...

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I wasn't bilingual until I was 9 years old. Before that, I only knew English. For those who aren't familiar, Tagalog is the national language of the Philippines. Growing up, it was the language spoken by my parents and relatives. I, however, only knew basic words in Tagalog. So moving to the Philippines forced me to understand and speak the language. It wasn't easy,...

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My mom is my hero. One moment I'll never forget is when I was 4 years old and we were crossing the street. Suddenly, a huge car wasn't stopping, even if the stoplight was red for the car. Due to the driver's excessive speed, the car's brakes failed to bring it to a complete stop, causing any remaining momentum to collide with us. While...

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During the pandemic, we made use of the limited space on our 22nd-floor balcony and started to plant. We tried different fruit and vegetable plants. I wanted to try growing an ornamental plant. After carefully selecting which one would most likely grow and look nice, we decided on planting sunflowers.  We initially had three, but the other two did not survive past a...

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I received my driver's license while still in college. When I was 17, I obtained a student license and a driver's license shortly thereafter. I was fortunate because my parents occasionally let me borrow the family automobile to drive to school. We had a Ford Mustang, so driving to school in a sports car seemed cool. "Fast forward" to now, and with over...

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Among the things I am grateful for, I didn't need to do anything or work hard for this one. I thank my parents, particularly my mom, from whom I inherited her curly locks. For a few years since birth, I didn't have curly hair. When I was a teenager, it just started to grow in different directions. It wasn't so curly, so I just...

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4. BEGIN CODEOne of the skills I that really helped me in several aspects is that I know computer programming. Nowadays, it's called coding, but back then, you needed to learn computer languages to program.I'm thankful that my Computer Science degree in college is forward compatible with new skillsets needed today. I may not be creating programs, games, or apps, but the analytical...

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 3.  Almost became a black belter in Tae-Kwon-Do.During summer break in my third year of high school, my parents enrolled me in a summer class of Tae-Kwon-Do at the Virramall gym in Greenhills. I was lucky to be under the tutelage of Grandmaster Sung-Chon Hong, the founder of the Philippine Taekwondo Association.It was fun and I made new friends in the two months of...

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2. I Love Drinking WaterIt's a good thing my parents got me into the habit of drinking water at a young age. When I was younger, my parents made sure I drank fluoridated water. I believe it was to strengthen my teeth, but I was too young to understand why.In my teen years, I recall being depressed about a girl liked in college,...

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Today, I will start a list of things for which I am grateful. It could be a talent, an event, or a memory that helped shape who I am or had an impact on my life.One blog entry, one item, one day. The items will be in random order but they will all be things that have influenced me in a small or...

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Domain Dreams: My 20+ Year Journey Investing in Digital PropertyBack in 2001, the internet was a wild west, and domain names were like gold nuggets. I, starry-eyed and optimistic, dove in headfirst, and at one time owned over 20 domain names. Two decades later, the landscape has changed dramatically, and my digital property portfolio is a mixed bag. I computed a total of...

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I've been having a lot of thoughts, insights, opinions, and realizations and haven't been diligently adding them to my blog. I've been a bit preoccupied with a lot of stuff left and right, but I do think it's a missed opportunity if I don't get to share my thoughts with the world.It may be something I have just learned but known to the...

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The theme for this year's World Tourism Day is "Tourism and Green Investments," emphasizing the need for greater and better-targeted investments for people, planet, and prosperity.In celebration of World Tourism Day, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to catch up with my travel blogger friends and revisit their blogs. Wendy from whywendywrites.comI reconnected with my former colleague, Wendy Ng, who is...

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I can't say I'm celebrating an anniversary as it's not something I'd like to celebrate. But it's been just about a year since I experienced COVID-19 and acknowledging it is an understatement.Having experienced COVID at a time when the pandemic wasn't able to assure you of getting well or having nothing to worry about is something that I will remember for my lifetime. (Read...

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We've been decluttering since we merged all our stuff from 3 different places. You'll find out that duplicates of things per household will pile up and take up space. We've covered a lot of ground, especially with clothes and books. We're now on to decors and the one thing that we found we have a lot of are picture frames.Picture frames are a great way...

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My Instagram account @transformersAD, which is dedicated to toy photography, especially Transformers, has reached a new milestone of 1,500 followers!I began this account on January 1, 2022, intending to publish everyday images of my passion, toy photography. It's Day 550, and I've shared 677 posts so far, sharing multiple times on some days. Finding innovative ways to share images of toys online has been...

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