30@30 – ZephyrInTheSky.com

Davao Resolutions

September 25, 2011December 6, 2012
by Josef

It’s my last week in Bangalore. I don’t have a whole lot to do at the office, so this week I’m basically going to be bumming around. I think it’s a good time for me to finally add another entry to my 30@30 project. I’ve only made 2 entries so far and I’m way behind schedule.

I’ll be in Davao in a few weeks, and I’m so excited because there are so many things I’m planning to do. It’s kinda like how I felt when I first arrived in Bangalore, but on a much higher level. It’s probably because I’ll be in the Philippines, and somehow I know there will be less challenges for me to do what I want in my home country.

Here’s a random list of the things I want to do:

1. I want to travel to places in the Philippines that I’ve never been before. 2011 so far has been about going to places in and around India, but for the rest of this year and for 2012 in particular, I want to visit all the major places in Mindanao. As soon as the Piso Fares by Cebu Pacific are available, I’m booking every possible flight out of Davao. I’m particularly fascinated by Tawi-Tawi, because apparently it isn’t as dangerous to be there as you might think considering it’s part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. When I finally go, I’ll probably only tell people after I come back, so that people don’t freak out and worry too much. Hehe.

2. I’m going to be at the beach during most of the weekends where I’m not travelling out of Davao. I have missed the beach so much since I arrived in Bangalore, and Goa was fun but not really as amazing as the beaches in the Philippines. I’m excited about exploring the Island Garden City of Samal, especially since a lot of the beaches are less than an hour away from Davao, and I want to do all the beach stuff like snorkeling and getting tanned until I’m dark. I want to learn how to dive too, though I’m hoping that it won’t be too expensive a hobby.

3. I want to study again. For the longest time I didn’t even consider studying again because I needed to fund Lisa and Jelu’s education first, but now that Lisa’s graduating next year and it looks like Jelu’s not going to med school, I can really begin thinking about studying again. I’m choosing between the Masters in Management program at UP Mindanao, the Masters in Distance Education through the UP Open University, and Cosmetology at some beauty school. I’m not kidding about the 3rd option, and it’s ranking pretty high on my list of choices at the moment. Or maybe I’ll take cooking lessons, something that will make me more domesticated. Piano lessons seem like a good idea too, or photography lessons.

4. I want to join an NGO. I started helping out with a school for blind children here in Whitefield when I first came to Bangalore, but I kinda stopped when my boss and friend Prashanti left Aegis. There are a few that I’m thinking about joining, like the Bantay Bata foundation or Gawad Kalinga. I want to contribute to education-related causes. I’m also thinking about starting a program on personal finance management. There are so many people out there who don’t know how to manage their money, even if they’re educated, so their families end up staying poor because of bad financial choices.

5. Lastly, although this really should have been the first thing I wrote about, I’m going to finally live healthier. I will lose weight, and I will go to the gym regularly. These aren’t even things I want to do; they’re things I have to do. Seriously. Enough is enough. I just want to get rid of my tummy, and I did it in 2005 so I know it’s a realistic target to start with. That and I want to not have to lose my breath every time I climb up a few stairs.

There’s a lot more I want to do, but I can’t think of any of it right now. That and I’m hungry and need to eat dinner. I’ll write about the other stuff later, maybe.

30@30

Sax and Violins

August 7, 2011
by Josef

Since this morning, I’ve pretty much just been sitting around waiting for the inspiration to start writing my next blog post for my 30@30 project. It’s not that I’ve been too lazy to write anything, it’s just that I got sidetracked by watching my fish, and reading articles online on how I should take care of them. I haven’t had pet fish since I was a kid, and I’m super excited to have them as pets again. I still haven’t figured out though who’s going to take care of them when I go to the Philippines, but my neighbor’s pretty nice, so I’ll probably just ask him.

Part of the reason I found it so difficult to write, I think, is that I’ve been listening to Kylie’s “Put Your Hands Up” on repeat all day. It’s hard to get all introspective and pensive when all you want to do is dance. So this evening, even though I was still bouncy and dance-y, I changed the music to the instrumental piano version of Faye Wong’s “Eyes On Me”, and presto. I was in the mood to write.

The instrumental version of “Eyes On Me” is one of the many songs I want to learn how to play on the piano. I’ve written about my love for the piano before. I still haven’t completely learned how to play The Heart Asks Pleasure First, but I’m getting there. I know the first half of the right hand part pretty well, though my timing’s a bit off cuz I’ve only been able to practice on my USB piano. Still, I’m confident I’ll learn how to play it eventually, cuz I’ve always been good with musical instruments.

Music has always been a big part of my life. I have to thank my music teachers when from when I was a kid for teaching me to love music. I guess my love for music started when I learned how to play the recorder. I don’t know what age I was, but everyone had to buy a recorder when I was a kid, and I always wanted to play the most difficult pieces with the crazy high notes. There was even a time when we had a school play and the recorder playing group or whatever they called themselves had to play this pirate song I liked. I wasn’t part of the group, but I didn’t care. I liked the song, so I brought my recorder to rehearsal and I thought I could get away with playing it in the background without anyone noticing. Well, the teachers did notice, and apparently I played it better than some of the others in the recording playing group. From being a background extra all of a sudden I had a solo part in the production playing the song I liked.

When I moved into secondary school, I started to play the saxophone after my parents bought me one for my birthday. I wanted to buy a flute, but my Dad convinced me that a saxophone was cooler, and I was really into the Simpsons and Lisa had a saxophone, so I thought yeah a saxophone’s ok too. But I really wanted a flute, so I didn’t take the saxophone lessons too seriously, much to the disappointment of whoever was my music teacher back then. Still, I played enough to be able to join the school band, and by band I mean an orchestra without the string section — a marching band, basically, except without anyone marching to anything. Hmmm. Well, anyway, I had loads of fun in the band. We played at embassies and all sorts of school functions, and we played for Princess Anne when she visited Bahrain among other things. I eventually sold my saxophone to a family friend, but in hindsight I kinda wish I didn’t.

Being part of a school band helped me appreciate all sorts of music. I was one of the few kids who actually enjoyed music class, and in turn one of the few kids who enjoyed listening to classical music. There was this radio station in the Manila before, 98.7 DZFE-FM, and all they would play was classical music. I would listen to that station whenever I wanted to chill out. I even bought a relaxation CD once where it was just a solo violin playing some Mediterranean chord structures or something, and it really was relaxing.

As for contemporary music, I’ve leave that for another blog post. Consider this entry #2 for the 30@30 project. I’ll try to write some more stuff tonight. I’m delayed enough as it is on the project, and I’d really like to see this one to completion.

30@30

30 Posts at 30

August 2, 2011August 4, 2011
by Josef

I’m turning 30 this month. There will be no major celebrations, and with all the stuff going on at work I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to come home for a vacation. I do, however, want to reflect on my life for the past 30 years, and I’m going to do that by writing a new post every day for the next 30 days. As much as possible I’ll try to avoid password-protecting entries, but if I feel like writing about something nasty, I just might. Hehe.

A few years ago I contemplated writing a memoir of my life up to that point, whenever that was. I posted one entry in this blog. It was crap. As I was writing it, it sounded like shit. So I’m not going to write a memoir. I’m just going to write random thoughts. I have a few ideas for my next few posts, and hopefully I’ll be able to follow through and actually write them. Come to think of it, I might actually get super excited and write more than 30 posts, but I wouldn’t bet on it. 30 posts in the next 30 days is a reasonable target though.

I’m counting this post as Post #1. I haven’t decided what to write about tomorrow, or the day after, but I’ll think of something. Wish me luck. It’s about time I finished something I started. After all, I’m going to be 30 for fuck’s sake.

My blog has gone through many reincarnations since I started it. Its focus has changed as many times as my focus in life has changed -- from writing about the start of my career to writing about the most private details of my life, to reading people's auras online to sharing details about my health issues, and now...

I'm about to start my dream job in Bangkok with one of the largest online travel agencies. I'm also trying to be more creative, and I'm trying to be a better writer. Ultimately, I'm still all about my family, my friends, and my husband. I'm all about supporting them and helping them make their dreams come true. Their dream is my dream.

That is what I will write about.

Tag: 30@30

Davao Resolutions

Sax and Violins

30 Posts at 30