The 2012 Year Ender

Quite an eventful year methinks.

• Started the year in love, a love that seemed mired with struggles despite the happiness and contentment there
• Pondered on finding a new job due to future financial concerns and said as much to the bosses during the first quarter of the year
• Spent time in Davao for work and reconnected with one of my godparents
• Finally decided, in a small apartment in Davao City, to resign from my job by midyear, after weighing the pros and cons of leaving a company I had been with for four years
• Lost love shortly after my return from Davao, but found something better -- acceptance
• [insert typical pick up the pieces of your life things here]
• Near year end, I finally got a new job, which led to me singing my heart out and jumping off a stage as part of the company Christmas party presentations -- singing live in front of a large audience is now checked off my invisible bucket list
• Compiled fragmented stories I've written over the years and started one that I seriously believe I should finish

Through it all, I will always be thankful for those pillars in my life -- friends and family and a spirit dog named Kenji

Cheers to a year of change and struggle and in the words of Outsourced (TV Series):
"Jolly Vindaloo Day. May your life be filled with flavor"

A rare Manila taxi driver

In all my years of getting cabs here in Manila, tonight was one of those rare instances wherein the taxi driver was made of awesome.

These are the reasons:

• He said that I should just pay him a hundred pesos (roughly USD 2.5) as he picked the wrong route when I gave him the freedom to choose which roads to take to hasten the trip.
• His playlist consisted of Queen and Freddie Mercury tracks, including the tribute concert and some remixes

I decided to give him twice the fare that he mentioned when he dropped me off.

Let’s just say that some Manila taxi drivers have this general rep of being swindlers.