100 Things About Myself

It’s my birthday on the 28^th. So whether you like it or not, I am going to talk about myself, and nothing but myself today! So here goes 100 things about myself. I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you have fun reading it, too.

 

1. My name is Nelson.
2. Relatives call me Bobot.
3. I was once called Tuesday and Chuchu.
4. I’m the second to the eldest.
5. I have two younger brothers
6. and my sister is the eldest.
7. I grew up in Bulacan
8. and studied there too.
9. I hated bullies as a child.
10. I licked slippers when I was a toddler.
11. I look up to my father.
12. I admire my mother.
13. We were very poor before.
14. I worked my way to college.
15. So that means I have been working since I was 17.
16. I worked as an office assistant
17. and caretaker of a small library.
18. I competed in drawing contests.
19. I can still draw today, but I have no use of my talent right now.
20. I was a cartoonist in our high school paper.
21. As a child, I wished I was a comics writer and illustrator.
22. So I made my own comics using bond paper.
23. I also competed in declamation contests in elementary
24. and oratorical tilts in college.
25. I performed in a stage play before
26. and played the role of a bitch’s younger bro.
27. I feel sad realizing that the guy who alternately takes my role in that play died last year.
28. I like to sing
29. but I’m not a really good singer though.
30. I love videooke.
31. I’m a registered nurse.
32. I’m also a USRN.
33. I was once a private nurse,
34. ER nurse,
35. and neurosurgery nurse.
36. I was a nursing clinical instructor.
37. I was a local board exam review lecturer.
38. I worked seven years in Saudi Arabia and now I’m in UAE.
39. I like the high of riding in a speeding ambulance.
40. I need to cry when my patient dies.
41. But I do it where nobody can see me.
42. I can organize parties.
43. I can cook a bit.
44. My specialty is spaghetti.
45. And it’s my favorite dish too.
46. I like Italian food.
47. I’m allergic to seafood.
48. I like galaxy chocolates.
49. and moist chocolate cakes.
50. and cinnamon rolls.
51. Iced tea is my favorite drink.
52. I like coke, too but I’m trying to avoid soft drinks lately.
53. Superbowl restaurant is the best for me.
54. I play table tennis
55. But the last time I played was very long time ago.
56. I tried Aikido before.
57. I met my wife when we were 10 years old.
58. but we only got married when we were 32.
59. I am married to a civil engineer (and yup, I’m the nurse… not the other way around).
60. I am going to be a father soon.
61. I think first-time fathers are the most excited people in the world.
62. I always dream about how my baby will look like.
63. I enjoy staying in huge toy shops.
64. I want to give the best for my child.
65. I like to window shop
66. I dream a lot.
67. I might be in the US soon.
68. I treasure good friends.
69. I like people who can think of jokes very fast.
70. I love stand-up comedians.
71. I wish I can fly.
72. I am not into material things.
73. I value time.
74. I am not afraid to die
75. But I am afraid to lose a loved one.
76. I have never tried illegal drugs.
77. But I can inject a drug on myself using a butterfly needle.
78. I’ve done that for therapeutic drugs.
79. I’m a social drinker only.
80. I don’t smoke.
81. I’m not into pets.
82. Navy blue is my favorite color.
83. I want to give a poor deserving child a scholarship if I have the money.
84. I want to write a book
85. but I can’t think of anything to write about.
86. I love the internet.
87. I can spend the whole day without eating just surfing the net.
88. My favorite animation hero is Jin of Tekken.
89. He’s my friendster background theme
90. If I’ll have a tattoo on me, I’ll put Marvin the Martian on my back.
91. I like collecting things
92. I collected stamps, and key chain holders.
93. My weird collection included restaurant tissues, clothes tags, and chocolate wrappers.
94. I will only collect something that I don’t need to buy.
95. I took a video of myself posing like a ramp model last year.
96. It’s so funny but I hate watching it now.
97. I wish I can direct a film, but I know it is a very difficult job.
98. I wish I have more computer knowledge.
99. I wear contacts.

100. I love myself.

The Year That Was

Last May 2007, I arrived in the Philippines after resigning from my work in the Middle East. I spent seven long years there. I visited my motherland two to three times a year though, but I usually stayed only for about a month. Deciding to come home and stay here for a while was a major decision then. I knew I will be facing another chapter in my life. 

Looking back, I realized I have been here in the country for more than a year now. This is my longest 365 days in seven years. And I can say, I have done a lot more in my life than when I was abroad.

 After arriving in the country last year, Didith and I started preparing for our planned wedding. We only had about a month until the wedding date, but the vigorous preparations paid off. We were very much satisfied with how the wedding turned out. It was one of the grandest day in my life.

 We moved to our new home in AntipoloCity and started living a happy married life. We bought a lot of new furniture and made a lot of fixtures for our love nest. 

 Shortly after the wedding, I was called to start teaching in the nursing school where I graduated from. Being a clinical instructor was a new career for me. I initially thought I am not the teacher-type. But then, after taking the job, I started to like it, and found teaching in the hospital setting a very rewarding job. I worked in different hospitals in Bulacan and followed up third and fourth year nursing students who were taking up their clinical affiliations.

 Another new twist in my nursing profession was when I got a post for being a Nurse Lecturer for students who were reviewing for the local board exams. I also thought that public speaking is not my cup of tea. But after speaking with audiences of about 200, I was able to contain my stage fright. I have composed my self-confidence. Another good thing about this was that I was able to travel to different provinces for free.

 I started my website in October. Blogging was a whole new idea to me. It made me discover a lot of things about myself and the people around me. It has become an outlet for my inner self. Aside from this blog, I am also managing two other blogsites – iñigo’s first journal and nelsondidith.com.

 The news that my wife was conceiving our first baby made November my best month of the year. Realizing that I was going to be a father soon gave a new meaning to my existence. I knew I was evolving to a new and more mature individual. The plans I had set for my self has become plans I had set for my new family.

December was a great time for me. It was my first Christmas in the Philippines for several years and my first Christmas with my new family. I attended some parties and also helped organized one of the best Bautista clan reunions. 

My wife was operated on her ovaries while carrying our baby last March. It was good to be at her side during these times. She recovered well and has gone back to work.

 When I resigned from my work in the Middle East last year, I had strange thoughts of how it will be like to work and live again in the Philippines. But now, I would say, I have no regrets. The last twelve months of my life has been one of the best years in my life. It is this year when I finally grew up.

Sad to say, I am leaving again very soon. It is a difficult decision but I know that this is for the best interest of my family. Leaving has become more difficult after experiencing the best timesof  my life here in the country. But then, life has to go on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAGGED! 8 Things You Don’t Know About Me

This is the first time I am posting in my own site a reply to a tag. I usually answer the tags on the site of the person who tagged me. Andre of A Silent Blabber, tagged me last month and I promised to her that I’ll do it later. The tag rules say that I have to post my response in my own blog site, so here it goes:

 

 

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In 8 facts about yourself, you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. Then at the end you tag at least 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going. Here are the rules:

RULES:* Each blogger must post these rules first.* Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.* Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

 

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1.    I am allergic to seafood. I can’t eat anything with shrimps, crabs, prawns. Poor me. Poor me.

2.    I have several children. They are actually stuffed animals that I just call “my children.”

3.    I am very home buddy. I like staying indoors at the comfort of my home.

4.    I have a collection of key chains. I used to display them on a cork board, but I’m keeping them now in a suitcase.

5.    I have a stamp collection, but I stopped collecting already. Collecting has become more difficult now after the mode of communication has become more sophisticated than snail mail.

6.    I don’t have “Y” slippers. I only have those that don’t separate the big toes from the small toes.

7.    I have a talent in the arts. I did a lot of cartooning and I competed in art contests when I was younger. But I took up nursing, and I forgot about that talent.

8.    I like staying in huge toy shops like Toy Kingdom and Toys’R’Us. I was not deprived of toys as a kid, but I just enjoy the feeling of being around happy and smiling toys.

So there goes my 8 facts that most readers do not know about me. I am now tagging Marc, William, Marcus, Kian, Robert, and Allyn Ann. I am tagging only six, since most of my blog friends have been tagged already.

Have fun!

My Wallet Story

Personal wallets contain, not only money, but other interesting stuffs. People would put in something they think they will need again in the future, or something they need to remember. The wallet is something that we open every now and then. If it gets lost, it is like a part of your body was taken away. That is why to open a person’s wallet is like opening one’s self to another. To sort out what’s inside is to unravel a life story.

 

My wallet is a brown Walley Maucker made of leather. Unfortunately, I can’t remember if this was a gift to me, or if I bought it myself J. I just know that I got this while I was in Saudi Arabia and it has been with me for a while. The leather color is still the same as when it was new, and never faded.

 

Allow me to open my wallet for you and together let’s check out what’s hiding in there. Here’s a listing of what I found inside:

 

1. 820 bucks. That’s all the cash I have at this time J
2. an old 10-peso bill – I’m not sure why I still keep this
3. one dollar bill – For luck, perhaps
4. 3 pieces of a one-riyal bill – memories of my stay in the Arab world
5. my graduation picture – taken 5 years after I graduated
6. my latest prc license
7. my old prc license
8. a small piece of paper where I wrote my Saudi atm and credit card pins. I don’t use those numbers anymore, in case somebody is interested J
9. a small piece of paper where somebody wrote my name in Arabic. I already forgot the name of my Egyptian colleague who wrote that for me.
10. a small card with an image of St.Ildefonsus. This was given out in Guiguinto last year in celebration of our parish church’s 400^th year.
11. a small picture of a saint given to me by a friend. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the saint.
12. Saudi British Bank visa card
13. Arab National Bank atm card
14. RCBC atm card
15. Hewlett Packard shopping card for printer ink
16. King Fahd National Guard Hospital Medical Record card
17. a small piece of paper where a Saudi student wrote the Pizza Hut and KFC home delivery hotlines. I helped her organize a small farewell party.
18. Ate Aie and Kuya Reizen’s address and numbers in the US written in a small yellow card. At the back, I wrote the time difference of KSA and USA.
19. Calling card of my Saudi friend Saad Mohammed Al-Ateq, one of the the few Arab friends I liked in terms of attitude.
20. Calling card of my dentist, Dr. Dominic San Diego
21. OFW bank card
22. DXN membership card
23. an old prescription of a medication I used.
24. two Jun’s studios wedding promo slip
25. SM Foreign Exchange transaction slip dated 20 June 2007
26. Bancnet transaction slip dated 03 July 2007
27. Express Teller transaction slip dated 16 January 2008
28. My wife’s PRC license. She requested me to renew it for her.
29. My wife’s OB-GYN appointment slip
30. Shopwise card
31. Silverworks Card
32. Metrobank atm card
33. Timezone Powercard
34. Medicard

 

While inspecting my wallet, I decided to do some sorting out since I found my wallet becoming bulky. I took out the cards and pieces of paper that I do not use, but is worth keeping. The other stuffs I decided to throw away since I don’t use them anymore and they only keep my pockets heavy. And the rest I returned inside my wallet.

 

And that’s the story of my beloved wallet.

 

 

51 Blessings of 2007 (and still counting…)

Year 2007 is one of the best years in my entire life so far. It is this year when I was showered by so much blessings and I thank the Lord for all of them. I’d like to enumerate them and I hope you enjoy reading, as much as I enjoyed counting them.

            

1. 1.  Stronger Faith – I worked in Saudi Arabia for several years, and as we all know, the practice of Christian religion is not allowed there. That did not diminish my faith, though, but it has somehow made me miss my church. After I came back to the Philippines, I restarted hearing Sunday masses again.
2. My wife – I never knew that life will be this good after we started living together. She is now the reason of my existence.
3. My parents – They never got tired caring for me.
4. My siblings – It is this year when I got to make some real bonding with them.
5. Nicole and RJ – My darling pamangkins! They make me happy with their cute antics.
6. Relatives – I never knew we are such a very jolly clan.
7. The Gregorios – My in-laws. Thank you for the warm welcome.
8. Our dream wedding – Last June was a dream wedding come true. The weather was good. The ceremony was very solemn. Budget-perfect. Well-attended by people close to our hearts.
9. Kat and Diamante Event Organizers – Our wedding planner
10. Jun’s Studios – I was able to relive our wedding because of their wonderful shots – at a cheaper cost.
11. Ka Libring  – We had a last-minute problem with barongs a few days before our wedding. She solved my problem by making us rent her barongs with short notice, and at a cheaper price too.
12. Wedding gifts – Blessings indeed.
13. Friendships in Riyadh– I resigned from my work last May and I was saddened to leave a lot of  friends there. My older colleagues there are now my ninangs.
14. Jhun – My best buddy in Riyadh. I will always treasure his friendship.
15. Ma’am O – My second mother.
16. My barkada – Jing, Antot, Rymcon, Leizl and Meng. Through good times, and bad times. I enjoyed going out with them this year, than before, when my gimiks with them were done hurriedly because I was just on a short vacation.
17. Newly-found friends from my wife’s side – My wife’s friends are now my friends too. They are all so nice to me.
18. My Celfone – Ah, man’s greatest invention.
19. My laptop – My next best buddy. How can I live without you ?J
20. The Internet – Now the world is revolving in my hands.
21. My DSL connection – My key to the internet world. Faster.
22. My Mp3 songs – My world is colored by music.
23. Friendster – The network made me gain more friends this year.
24. Digital Catharsis – I never knew that I will discover this gift of writing through blogging.
25. My blog readers – My inspiration to write more.
26. Fellow bloggers – I also get inspiration from these people who are so deep themselves.
27. Our Antipolo house – My new home. Our love nest.
28. IKEA – My inspiration in interior design.
29. Woodrow Hills – Our subdivision. The peaceful atmosphere of the village is relaxing. The neighbors are friendly.
30. Shopwise – The nearest mall in our place.
31. SM Megamall – My new tambayan.
32. Television – I rediscovered television, since I came back from SA.
33. The Digital Pinoy website – I get most of my OPM mp3s here.
34. Dr. Yanga’s Colleges, Inc – My alma mater. I am now hired here as a Clinical Instructor.
35. San Pascual De Baylon Maternity and General Hospital – This is the first hospital where I got my first batch of nursing students.
36. B.A. Hospital – This is where I am teaching now.
37. Dr. Yanga’s Hospital – The second hospital where I also teach.
38. Friendly hospital nurses – I would not have survived teaching in a hospital setting without the assistance of staff nurses in the hospitals I mentioned earlier. 

39. My nursing students – You make me proud. Show them what you are made of. 

40. Sacred Heart Hospital – This is where my wife gets her prenatal check ups
41. Aerogym – I restarted my work outs here. Great taebo instructors.
42. My Blue Caterpillar shoes – Very dependable, doesn’t go out of style. It’s just the shoe laces that always comes off…
43. My Adidas knapsack – Always behind me.
44. My Penshoppe bag – So stylish.
45. My Silverworks necklace – A gift from my wife.
46. My perfect health – I never got any major illness this year. Thank God.
47. My family and friends’ good health – Thank God.
48. Christmas 2007 – My first Christmas in the Philippines, and with my loved ones, in several years.
49. A better outlook to the future – I think it is a blessing to be able to have a positive outlook to the years to come. I have never been so excited about a coming year. I guess it is because of the changes that are happening in my life which all started this year.
50. My wife’s healthy pregnancy – I am so worried at times, but I know God keeps eyeing on my mag-ina.
51. Finally, Inigo – One of the best 2007 blessings ever. I am so excited to meet my child.

 

I am sure I can add some more in this list. I can go on and on. These are just some I can think of right now. There are other things worth mentioning, but I suppose this list will not stop if I continue going on and on. I actually just planned to reach up to #50, but then I can’t help but add one more

 

Let me also mention that some blessings listed were there all the time, meaning, they did not appear in my life only in 2007. But my coming back and staying in the Philippines made me realize their worth more. Experiencing life with your loved ones is simply one of the best ways to live in this world. Staying in the country for a while is one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

 

Like other people in this planet, I also had my shares of some not so good events this year, but I think I should just forget all about it. They are not worth mentioning. What is important is that the good stuff outweighed the bad stuff this year. But hey, I think misfortunes are blessings, too. It is from them where you learn new lessons of life.

 

A few more days till 2007 finishes. The year has been very good to me. I could not ask for more. I just wish that next year will be as good, if not better.

 

Have you counted your blessings, too?

 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!

sound check…

Ei guys! I can’t believe I am creating my own blog spot! I wasn’t interested in making my own page before coz I know I have very limited writing and computer skills. But it has been my frustration to be able to write. I guess I got inspired by some friends who are writing their own blogs. If others can, why can’t I? Hehe!I find it quite interesting to be able to share your ideas and thoughts. And that people will have that opportunity to react on your views and opinions. I am thinking of writing stuffs about family, friendship, food (yeheey!), music and my nursing profession. I hope I can write well as my friends do. I guess this blog will serve as a medium to harness my writing skills.

Testing lang to, huh! I am not sure how well I will be able to maintain this account… and how well people will accept my ideas (Oha-oha! may ganun pa… hehe!). But everybody is welcome on my page! Leave a comment if you want to… wala lang bastusan ha… Hehe!

Cheers!