Saturday, January 3, 2009


The Rest of 2008 ...
It has been a while since my last blog entry and several wonderful things happened since then.
  • I took a Cultural Anthropology class last Fall and it puts me more in the global mindset or perspective on the diseases of civiliation and effects of globalization in people's lifestyle and culture around the world. I started writing a paper in it and I'll post it in my blog soon.
  • I joined Eastbay MUD Dragons' dragonboat team in April for the Annual Paddle for Life: http://bayareadragons.org/content/view/17/36/
  • I was in Europe for three weeks in October and visited France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. I'm still working on updating my Traveler's blog at http://jocel.travellerspoint.com/ Check it out for some cool tips and ideas on traveling.
  • I spent Thanksgiving in Washington with my friends Grace, Arvin, Buenda, and her family. That was my first time to be in Seattle and it was one of my best Thanksgiving! At last, I finally get to see Chihuly's glass work in Tacoma's Museum of Glass. Dale Chihuly's The Laguna Murano Chandelier is really amazing. The glass bridge has a lot of his work displayed in a glass roof (section of the bridge) and in shelved glass display case.
  • I finally learned to make a Parol (Filipino Christmas Lantern) from a workshop and joined the Parol Lantern Festival this year in San Francisco.
  • I spent Christmas in San Francisco. It was a free day at the Jewish Art Museum and I joined the foreign film group to watch "A Christmas Tale" afterwards.
  • I finally joined Facebook and migrated most of my Friendster 411 there. Also, I started taking Jiujitsu and started playing guitar again.
  • 2008 is a big year in some places and for a lot of people. Olympics was held in Beijing. Manny Pacquiao won three times this year (against Marquez, Diaz, and De la Hoya). Arnel Pineda debuted as the new singer for Journey in February 2008. Eight is such a Feng-shui number that 08-08-2008 became a dream date for a lot of weddings last year. My best friend in the Philippines, Kathie Rose, got married in August and my cousin Marvilyn got married in December. My friend Ceijey had her first baby this year, too and he's sooo cute.
  • Barack Obama defeated John McCain in November and became the first African American president of the United States.
  • The sad and scariest part of 2008 is the ongoing recession - stock market crash, housing market bubble burst, rise of unemployment, and distress in global economy. Even at work, California state budget cuts is putting a lot of stress as far as dropping wages and furloughs. There was a mandatory 2-day furlough (unpaid time-off) each month for state employees that they'll start enforcing in February until June 2010. This ofcourse translates to about 10% wage reduction for me plus, no promotion or raise. Bummer!

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