Last year, I created same themed posts titled 27 of the Bests and the Worsts of 2007 and My 27 Best Photos of 2007. New found blessings top my own 2008 chart. Few entries last year still made it on this year’s list and remain precious. Not a controversial year. 2008 is a peaceful time.

28. Kapwersa – I really felt the force of the barkada. Intact. Full-force. We bonded and celebrated with Jannie, the mother of all Kapwersahan, on her homecoming and shortcoming too when it comes to relationship. I, then realize besides members being coffee-lovers, most of us are single. Reason for being single? No single reason. Perhaps, high standards just like brewing coffee beans. I asked Jannie to slow down (and not to settle down). While others are looking for their Mr. and Ms. Right, be the best guy or best girl instead. Let love find you.

27. Rapidshare – I ordered my premium account online which charged me less than 500 bucks for every 30 days that I extend it through Paypal. It was my first transaction ever over the unsecured Internet. Instead of looking for someone with the complete downloads of series episodes and movie rips or waiting hours after hours for my computer to download large files for free, Rapidshare premium is rapid and hassle-free.

26. Trinoma Food Tour – One of the celebrations that kicked off 2008 is the Trinoma Food Tour for Bloggers. And it’s free! Together with fellow online journal-ists, I tasted home specialties from the higher class fine dine in restaurant to the popular fast food chains.

25. Jackets and Shoes

2008 is the year of jackets and pairs of shoes. I recently found out that I can't resist the temptation of the 'arriving' look when I put those jackets on display on me. What an expensive fetish.

 

Pair of shoes is just a past time of the past time. This year, I was charged the highest total amount of shopping bills in a day. I hadn't swiped. It's pure cash! Yabang? Yaman!

24. DTR – I’m back with filling up daily time record sheets for the human resource department to process my salary. It was the same case when I was a student assistant during college years. No pure flexible schedule after HP. It’s kinda hybrid because we’re allowed to come in a time that suits us but we should work at least certain total length of hours per week.

23. Dark Knight, Forbidden Kingdom, Wanted, Indiana Jones – I really missed the Shububu and the movie nights I usually organized. Guess what? These blockbuster movies – I watched them with a single ticket passport. So lonely.

22. Shuttle to Washington Tower – I often rant about this. In order to get on and to get out from the building tower where our office is located, we are fetched by two shuttle in a certain schedule. There’s no problem if I was able to catch our own office cab. However, since I enrolled in a gym at mornings and a masters degree class in afternoons, I can’t adjust easily. I have to wait at most an hour for a shuttle under a ready-to-abandon building of Uniwide Coastal Mall.

21. Nokia N95 and 6300 – I lost another Nokia phone again! Too bad that it was attached to an installment plan that I haven’t completely paid the time I lost my 6300. Too bad, it was red! Two weeks later I availed my N95 phone which is free as a loyalty reward from my 2-years postpaid engagement with Globe.

20. Stacker and Super Mario

So the Stacker game is not a fraud at least in Time Zone Trinoma. Beginner's luck made it to pile up red and moving blocks in its highest possible tower in the said game. And I won the Super Mario stuffed toy after watching Wanted. I think I have the same special ability Wesley Gibson has.

19. Malaysia – No, it’s not because of Kahit Isang Saglit, which is another ABS-CBN masterpiece. But it crossed several times for me to decide whether to work abroad as a SAP Basis Adminstrator at Malaysia. I turned down such opportunities even it knocked me not just one time, but two.

18. Staff House – It was my first experience to lodge in. Staff house is one of the privileges that my new company offers to its employees. It’s located very near the Centerpoint. Recently, I changed my plan of homecomings from weekly to thrice a week because I really miss home. It’s true that there’s no place like home.

17. PSP – My favorite red gadget is the portable Play Station. It came with 8 DVD’s of games when I bought from an HP officemate. There are more exciting role-playing, adventure and versus games around yet I prefer to play mind and race games to prevent addiction.

16. Credit Cards – After I got my second credit card courtesy of HSBC, BPI extended my initial credit limit after a year. It’s very essential to have the best of both worlds of MasterCard and Visa. Many claim that credit cards are shopper’s worst backstabber friend. Only if you’re not careful. An obsessive-compulsive like me who watches debits and credits time after time is safe. But having a crave on jackets, tsk tsk, I’m a candidate.

15. UP Centennial Kickoff

I've shown my pagka-Peyups more after I graduated. Perhaps, it's because I feel more than ever the benefits, glory and prestige that UP Diliman alumnus/alumna is experiencing.

UP Centennial Kickoff was the very first party I’ve attended that blasted and started 2008 right. I took a vacation leave just to cover the event. I only exited from the partying crowd when camera batteries got empty.

14. UP Fair

Another Alma Mater event that I enjoyed was the UP LoveRage 2 during the UP Fair happening every Valentine's week or should I say, Single Awareness Week.

I met, greeted and took pictures with OPM Bands like 6 Cycle Mind, MYMP, Imago and celebrity Victor Basa and his Penshoppe club.

13. Kido, Jay & Jen

2008 is not complete without gimik nights with bestfriends Kido & Jay and Kido's girlfriend Jen. They don't forget to invite me in their gimik nights when they prefer to hangout with a smaller circle. It's nice to have them having me around. Poker nights, motor shows, and Tagaytay. Woohoo!

12. Heroes – I am certified addicted to Heroes series. I was late to catch the first two seasons. Yet, when the highly anticipated third season started, I am one of the early birds who’s watching the fresh episode, just an hour after it was shown premiere at US. Rapidshare, baby!

11. Job Interviews – Just right after the graduation, I landed on a job effortlessly but 2008 let me experience the hard way of getting the best job that suits me. I started flashing my resume at jobs database over the net later 2007 and was able to received several calls from interested companies and companies where my interests are. It took me more than 5 companies, 3 offers before I finally hit my target. There was this company, although our expectations didn’t align, was made me realized that I’m a programmer – and not a Basis administrator. Well, it’s a case-to-case basis.

10. Punta Fuego

I spend the remaining HP day-off's left with my computer science batchmates, all UP Cursor members, at Punta Fuego, Batangas.

I enumerated 123 fun points of Punta Fuego in one of my blog posts. It was so much fun with these berks that even after Punta Fuego we still have energy to watch Shutter at Gateway. Ayaw talagang maghiwa-hiwalay.

09. MSCS – After two years at HP, finally I was able to enroll a masters degree. My original plan was to take MBA but I wasn’t able to beat the deadline of application. During those times, I was busy with answering job interviews. Although that was the initial option, MSCS is a better option too since I’ve already set one foot forward after taking BSCS. Less effort in catching up yet the effort to exert in complying is still the same as BSCS. I’m back to machine problem solving.

And the greatest 8 this 2008…

08. 24th Birthday – It was only after six years when I finally jammed with my high school batchmates and friends this bigger crowd. It was a double celebration – a reunion and my birthday. It was a simple gathering, usual tagayan of Pinoys yet full of fun, laughters and flashbacks.

07. May – On and off. Sometimes, she’s wrong. Sometimes, I’m right. Sometimes, I love her. Sometimes, I hate her. Petty quarrels. Exchange of text messages. D2 na me. Wer na u? Kanina pa me. Bahala na u. What can I say? She’s really an adeek! Just like what our theme song says – So far, we are so close… So close and still so far.

06. Laptop – My favorite item this year is the HP Pavillion Artist Edition. Thanks to BPI Madness and I was able to buy this much-wanted, artistic and very-me laptop. With my laptop, solving MP is not as hard as programming on someone else’s PC. Movies, music files and the games like Counter Strike 2, Call of Duty and War Craft are also played.

And with Hiro Petrelli (HP), my laptop's name, I can doodle ambigrams whenever, wherever I like.

05. Resignation@HP

I care about my job, sir. I care about the team.

I’ve decided earlier but waited for the right time to come. Timing is everything. God knows I’m not a villain to step out and leave everything behind to blow in a chaos.

Heaven knows how much I miss Shububu and the rest of the team who have been the source of my happiness and strength during my stay at HP.

04. E-Konek – With HP, my problem during conversations is to explain what my job is. When I joined E-Konek, it is not also easy to explain what the company is.

It may not be as loud as it sound like HP. Yet, if you love your work and you can show your best on what you do, the name of the company you are working for is just a name.

Our company’s main client is the Bureau of Customs. I guess it’s my time to pay the government back who’s been responsible for granting a scholarship during my college.

03. Fitness First – It’s time to get physical. I wanted to get out from the shadow of being paper thin and feather underweight. So I seek the help of Fitness First. I knew it is never easy. And it has never been. I’m not athletic and bowling is only my sports. Lifting weights is really tough especially the first rounds. And after six months, lumapad and kumapal na ako. Yey! The result is obvious as seen by my friends and family. Few months more and I’ll get the body of those models in the big billboards of EDSA. Dream big.

02. Ace – He is not just my personal trainer but also my spiritual chat mate. It’s been really a long while since I’ve talked about faith, religion and God with someone. Aside from circuits, sets and weights of the club, we enjoy dogs, light beer, movies, PC games, my ambigrams, his bike and the yummy isaw. Well, 2008 has been very nice to me and to have a best friend around.

01. Tokikot – All year round, I’m turning my whole world upside down with my tokikot ambigrams. This special ability was discovered two years ago but it was only 2008 when the manifestations went so fine and extravagant. Comes 2009, Tokikot will be printed on shirts.

If 2007 was described as year of Barkada, I describe 2008 as My Year – a year of pampering myself and self-learning.

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