Footie...

...is 'beautie'.

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by PAM

Hmmm, so I finally saw a live coverage of FC Barcelona game, and it feels... uhm, right - so right! The Catalan giants have already played six (yep, six... as in 6!) games this season in the La Liga, and I've only seen one.  Yep, what a sorry case of a pathetic fan I am!

6-0... no kidding.

There were unfamiliar faces - to me - on the pitch wearing the azulgrana strip.  And it was my first time to see Luis Enrique in action on the touchline at the FCB side.  That's how long ago I have been floating in 'sports limbo'... so out of the loop.  I didn't really pay the game much attention (talk about sorry fan)... I was re-acquainting myself with the beautie by which that 'round thing' rolled on that green surface... and some beautie-ful men chasing the rolling 'round thing' towards that net between the posts.  

Man, so awesome!  Uh-hmmm... this life is so worth living for, I tell ya! :) 

Alright... time to go back to my footie beautie-deprived 'non-life'.

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

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Hostile days...

...nah, make that 'extremely' hostile days!
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by PAM


Yep, hostile - very, very frustrating... it all is.  It's amazing how some people can have a great variety of ways to inflict frustration on people that even those who are most resistant to frustration sigh unusually heavily at the end of the day.  Yep, they can be that darn good at being 'frustration mongers'!  But life goes on... just because some people's causes are all that meaningful and absolutely worth fighting for that frustration cannot be allowed to settle for more than a day.

Therefore, I am bringing in my most potent frustration antidote these days....

"Butch and Sundance are back!"

Yeah, that feels good: Harvey Specter and Mike Ross, no less, talking about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid - no less!  How sweet is that?  It's very potent.  In fact, life is beginning to look all rosy again... but not quite there yet.  That frustration aftertaste still lingers... I need to wash it off.  I wonder if this is sweet enough...

"You said you're good... I'm good, too."

  

Oy, classic!  "You said you're good... I'm good, too."  And, hey, just so you know, I mean that!  Therefore, move over... 'cause you're so over! :)

Uh, wait, every good laugh deserves a third helping.  So, let's have it...

"I know body language..."

Alright, we're good.  Time to throw back frustration to its origin - by focusing on the cause now.  All set?   Let's do it!  :)

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Video credits:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

***

And, they did it...

...again!

#2 among 172 Schools? Can't complain! :)

Last year, around this time, we were celebrating how our Electrical Engineering graduates posted a passing rate of 96.5% (55/57) in the Registered Electrical Engineer (REE) Licensure Examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).  In the process, they also garnered the #2 Spot for the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the Top Performing Schools honor roll.  This year, our newest Electrical Engineering (EE) graduates maintained UST's grip of the #2 Spot in the honor roll, posting a passing rate of 95.16% (59/62)... and we're absolutely proud!  Thanks be to God!

Congratulations to our newest Thomasian Registered Electrical Engineers!  Way to go, guys!    

So, y'see, celebrating Our Lady's birthday in a pilgrimage is so worth it!

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'Suits' is suitable...

...for swatting the blues away.
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by PAM


Yeah, I never thought the day would come when I'd be waiting excitedly for the new episode of my fave American TV series since... well, I don't remember when, and I don't remember which either.  It's that long ago!  Perhaps, back in the 'Dynasty', 'Knots Landing', 'The A-Team', 'MacGyver', 'Airwolf' and 'Star Trek' days.  OK, I gotta admit 'Friends' and 'Will and Grace' made me laugh so hard, they were my "comfort shows" at some point.  Alright, so there was 'Gilmore Girls'... and 'Modern Family' in between, and those are good, too... but they never really made me drop calls. 

And then, 'Suits' of USA Network came along... and TV (in English) makes sense again! :)

The series is both hilarious and kinda intelligent.  Harvey Specter (played by Gabriel Macht), as the ruthless top "closer" of NY is awesome, albeit despicable at times, but never unfunny and always manages to put on the charm... and so is his genius protege, Michael "Mike" Ross (played by Patrick J. Adams) - awesome, I mean.  The two make a handsome pair for wits and style... contrasting in personalities and ways, but they always end up winning (well, almost always) - for better or worse!    

Harvey Specter = clueless?  Nah, not possible... but it is!

This series is so fun... therefore, when the going gets tough, I turn to the Harvey-Mike duo and their cohort for some "flat screen entertainment" that doesn't leave one with an "idiot box" aftertaste - so fun, I tell ya!  But, don't take my word for it... try it! :)

Here's another slice, go ahead, have a taste...

"It's not tennis... it's sports."

And, why didn't that make me go ballistic? 

It's because it came from Mike Ross, that's why!  I = big fan. :)

***
Video Credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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Happy birthday, Mama Mary!

Seat of wisdom, pray for us.

We had to travel back and forth between Manila and Manaoag, Pangasinan yesterday to have an early celebration of Our Lady's birthday.  I know, others might think we chose a tiring way to celebrate her birthday, 190 kilometers each way... but it was worth it. She is worth it.

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Picture of the Day

I looked up to the skies in exasperation earlier this evening, between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., as I gave up chasing our doggie, who enjoyed his "freedom", carelessly running around outside our premises without a leash, ignoring speeding automobiles and motorbikes... and then I saw something extraordinary in the night sky that made me gasp for breath.  The full moon was shining unusually bright with a rainbow of vibrant colors around it like a multi-color ring.  It was beautiful... and eerie at the same time.

I raced inside the house and grabbed my point-and-shoot in my purse, aimed it at the moon... but could only manage a faint representation of what I was actually seeing.  I'm not sure why the moon looked the way it did, except that we are supposed to expect the "supermoon" on the 9th of September this year.  

Well, I thought I'd document this day with a post.  So, there.

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US Open 2014...

...yay!
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by PAM


Yep, I've been paying attention... even if that doesn't seem to be the case.  In fact, I've seen this live on cable TV, too...

Man, this is like the RF of the not-so-distant past! 

Luv it!  Luv him! :)

...and boy, was it worth all the chasing of "lost" time later! :)  The commentator is right, it was indeed "a highly entertaining match"!  

I'm on self-imposed long work hours daily (yep, including weekends). I can't help it, there's just too many things going on.  Therefore, my other passions are taking the backseat.  And that happens often enough, too, that I feel I have "no life".  People from different groups at work expect me to be physically present in the Office, from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Monday to Saturday... while other groups who believe that I should represent my Office in every single "important event" expect me to be in their events, which usually happen simultaneously, too.  So, what to do when the going gets too tough that you feel like screaming already?  Well, watch tennis... uhm, Roger Federer's brand of tennis to be precise, what else?! :)  

Now, I feel so much better!  See?  ;)  Thank goodness for tennis... and for RF! :)  And, thank goodness, RF won that tough but really exciting match.

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

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Sunday foodie

Midnight snack... it's worth it!

I know, it's been... what, forever?  I mean, since the last time I had a "Sunday foodie" post, that is.  And, I'm sure ya know what that means.  If foodie post was getting compromised, some "grown-up stuff" (translation: work) must be "getting in the way".  In other words, my life is getting "boring" again.  Then again, that's technically inaccurate... 'cause I don't have a life!  Aw, well....  

But right now, I think this corner deserves some 'feeding'... so, let's do a Sunday foodie - midnight snack edition.  And, since this is like the "re-birth" of the foodie post, we can go completely off the healthy road, and go junk!  Ice cream!  Oh, yeah!  And why not?  My body's weight regulation kit is going bunkers anyway, it's stuck at 60 kg, so why care?  Another kg wouldn't hurt, would it?

Anyway, it's my first time to try this brand of ice cream... I have no expectations, so it was good, ya can actually chew on the fruits they promised on the label, never mind that the fruits are preserved.  We, food scientists, understand completely... aside from safety issues, it isn't all that easy to disperse fresh fruits in the ice cream matrix. The sugar coating helps the fruits to 'cling' to the matrix.  I gotta say though that the manufacturer of this brand earned my respect at an instant... 'cause did ya notice how they put water and refined sugar in the lead of the "Ingredients" roll-call?  Isn't that downright honest and brave?  It is!  Therefore, I'll have another dish-full!  Wish me luck. :)

Oh, and by the way, in case you're planning to follow my midnight food adventure example and decide to have this fic ice cream for yer own midnight snack, please do follow the instruction to keep it frozen at -18 deg. C.  All that water gives it that soggy texture if not frozen properly... and the fruits tend to settle at the bottom, 'preserved' notwithstanding!  Good luck! :)

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Saturday Photo

Break of Dawn

If only for this photo, sleeping at 12:00 midnight and getting up at 2:00 AM for a 4:55 AM flight is so worth it.  I got to my destination two-and-half hours later, and then had less than an hour to eat breakfast before getting to serious work. I walked around sleepily all day, of course, but hey, who said that this life's not all about trade-offs? :)

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Saturday photo

The Miag-ao Church of St. Thomas of Villanueva in Iloilo, Philippines,
a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Blending work with play, my colleagues and I at the Philippine Association of Engineering Schools (PAES), Inc. (formerly, Philippine Association for Technological Education, Inc. or PATE, Inc.) held our monthly Board meeting in Iloilo City in the Visayas.  While in Iloilo, we also held information dissemination and forum with colleagues in various Universities

"Work + play" is a winning formula for a balanced life.

in the region on the implementation of K-12, and how this will affect the operations of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly Engineering Schools, in 2016 when the first cohort of K-12 students attend Senior High School rather than the University.  

The weekend - well, this weekend - was spent educating ourselves on Iloilo.  Among many others, what caught my attention was the Miag-ao Church of St. Thomas of Villanueva.  The Church with Baroque-Romanesque architecture was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.  The massive structure earned it the "alias" of "church fortress" in the old days when there was still war between Christians and Muslims in the region, and the church was used to protect the region from Muslims/Moros who attacked it.

Sometimes, we go out and search for impressive stuff... and yet, right at our "backyard", we have "treasures", like the Miag-ao church.  Overall, it was a weekend well-spent.

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