before i disappear for a few days...
tonight i leave for what will most likely be my last multi-day climb for the year. as i transition from government to private, i might as well bid farewell to the lackadaisical life that i’ve enjoyed this past year. i’m still not totally sold on the idea, really, of moving to B&M. there’s still that chance -- and not a slim chance (a fat chance, perhaps?), i must hasten to add -- that i’d probably decide to stick it out with DENR. although just the other day, i found out that one of the decisions i labored over was trimmed from 18 pages, to 5. worse, the master cutter made very glaring mistakes, and i was very shocked to read the MFR. one of the parties very flatly insulted the office for not doing in-depth research. the 13 pages that were skimmed weren’t surplus at all, but provided the reasoning and basis for the decision, which we here call the “dispositive”. i won’t be surprised if this is flipped over once it’s appealed to the OP. i don’t really mind being edited. as long as i’m edited by someone who’s better than me. and as can be seen from the result, the talent of the ASec’s staff leaves much to be desired.
anyway, this 5-day trek to the summit of pulag is more than enough cause for me to dread what lies ahead. i worry a lot. about having too much weight but at the same time not having enough food. about walking without end for hours and hours. and about freezing to death. yes, i’m worried, and with good reason. i don’t know what else i can remove from my load. my burden is already too much to bear.
and work is piling up as well. i have to dispose of a few things before i all of a sudden disappear from work. i’ve told no one of my intended flight, except a member of my staff. and there are other responsibilities as well. i’m choked!
* * *
last sunday’s badminton tournament was quite a blast! i lost all my games, to be honest (made up this excuse that i just met my partner in the men’s doubles that day -- which was true, other than the fact that i really suck at the game), and since i had nothing to do the rest of the afternoon, i just helped to tally the scores, make announcements, and do a short hosting job during the awarding ceremony. i’d give a longer recap, but here’s something i posted at the AMCIchika yahoogroup:
last sunday’s AMCI badminton tournament was a resounding success, and we’re not just inflating our balloons, or lifting our own rackets here. with the support of the board of trustees, and some “anonymous” financial contributions from members, more than 70 badminton aficionados and their friends turned up for the tourney, and hostilities promptly began at 9am. the blue team took an early lead when its women’s doubles teams in both level A and C waxed hot on the court on a string of wins. but the yellow and red teams weren’t too far behind. the level B men’s tandem of the yellow team and the level C men’s doubles of the red team also outclassed the opposition. when it was time to break for lunch, the three teams were neck-and-neck, disputing the overall title with very close scores.
lunch was a feast, and most of the AMCI bads proved that they are, in the first place, mountaineers when they wolfed down two lechons mardel ordered from cebu. kuya mar bankrolled the delivery of the tasty treats, and francis decena picked them up at the airport. after a brief respite, the showdown in badminton arena’s blue courts resumed. after a few more games, the red team started to pull away when its level B mixed doubles and level B women’s doubles refused to share points with their counterparts. the yellow team was still within smashing distance when its level A men’s doubles were thwarting any attempts from their rivals to reach the elusive 21 points.
all along, a small TV set, courtesy of alexis was tuned to the pacquiao-morales bout on ABS-CBN and boxing fans would sneak in a few minutes in between their games to watch the fight. by this time, the delayed telecast had already been preempted by news that manny won by TKO in the tenth round, but how he delivered the winning punch was something everyone was eager to see. so on the tenth round, the courts were temporarily emptied when everyone trooped to the lounge to see the combination punches that sent the mexican flying to the floor. AMCI bads celebrated pacquaio’s victory with cheers and shouts. but it was time to return to the court because there were still a few games to play.
towards the end of the afternoon, eliminations were over and the finals showdown was underway. the front-running yellow team tandem of bitoy and joey squared off with the blue team’s simon and jhun, and the latter bucked the advantage of the other team in winning the cup in the men’s division, level B. it was the first finals win for the day, and it wasn’t the last turnaround. alvin and francis of the red team also swept the eliminations, but gave in to the aggressive yellow team of gilbert and jecan who won the championship in the men’s division level C. the last surprise was pulled off by another yellow team when angie and heidi refused to give the title of level C women’s champion to tintin and mercy of the blue team, who had earlier won all their eliminations games.
the more anticipated games of the day were later played: the killer combination of mon and ver of the yellow team turned back jay and doc to win the trophy in the level A men’s doubles while the blue team’s tatax and jenny crushed their foes in the person of marris and eira of the yellow team for the title in the level A women’s division. the yellow team had a living megaphone and pompoms and yellow hotdog balloons brought in by team captain xenon to support their campaign. other teams who made 4 wins in 4 games were the level C mixed doubles of kuya mar and roan (red team), level B women’s doubles of maimai and melay (red team), level B mixed doubles of maimai and mardel (red team), level A mixed doubles of vanessa and jay (red team). the winningest individuals of the tournament were maimai with 2 championship titles in her belt, and jay who won a championship and runner-up honors.
at the end of the day, when the scores were tallied, the red team emerged overall champion of the first AMCI badminton tournament, with more than enough cushion from their closest rival, the yellow team. kuya mar was the red team’s captain. all that’s lacking now is a celebration befitting the triumph. hong kong disneyland sounds nice. :D
there have been suggestions to make the AMCI bads tournament a quarterly affair, while others suggest that the next one be held in june. what do you guys think? kudos to marris and nats for putting this all together.
text by alman
photos by alman and reyferbs
anyway, this 5-day trek to the summit of pulag is more than enough cause for me to dread what lies ahead. i worry a lot. about having too much weight but at the same time not having enough food. about walking without end for hours and hours. and about freezing to death. yes, i’m worried, and with good reason. i don’t know what else i can remove from my load. my burden is already too much to bear.
and work is piling up as well. i have to dispose of a few things before i all of a sudden disappear from work. i’ve told no one of my intended flight, except a member of my staff. and there are other responsibilities as well. i’m choked!
* * *
last sunday’s badminton tournament was quite a blast! i lost all my games, to be honest (made up this excuse that i just met my partner in the men’s doubles that day -- which was true, other than the fact that i really suck at the game), and since i had nothing to do the rest of the afternoon, i just helped to tally the scores, make announcements, and do a short hosting job during the awarding ceremony. i’d give a longer recap, but here’s something i posted at the AMCIchika yahoogroup:
last sunday’s AMCI badminton tournament was a resounding success, and we’re not just inflating our balloons, or lifting our own rackets here. with the support of the board of trustees, and some “anonymous” financial contributions from members, more than 70 badminton aficionados and their friends turned up for the tourney, and hostilities promptly began at 9am. the blue team took an early lead when its women’s doubles teams in both level A and C waxed hot on the court on a string of wins. but the yellow and red teams weren’t too far behind. the level B men’s tandem of the yellow team and the level C men’s doubles of the red team also outclassed the opposition. when it was time to break for lunch, the three teams were neck-and-neck, disputing the overall title with very close scores.
lunch was a feast, and most of the AMCI bads proved that they are, in the first place, mountaineers when they wolfed down two lechons mardel ordered from cebu. kuya mar bankrolled the delivery of the tasty treats, and francis decena picked them up at the airport. after a brief respite, the showdown in badminton arena’s blue courts resumed. after a few more games, the red team started to pull away when its level B mixed doubles and level B women’s doubles refused to share points with their counterparts. the yellow team was still within smashing distance when its level A men’s doubles were thwarting any attempts from their rivals to reach the elusive 21 points.
all along, a small TV set, courtesy of alexis was tuned to the pacquiao-morales bout on ABS-CBN and boxing fans would sneak in a few minutes in between their games to watch the fight. by this time, the delayed telecast had already been preempted by news that manny won by TKO in the tenth round, but how he delivered the winning punch was something everyone was eager to see. so on the tenth round, the courts were temporarily emptied when everyone trooped to the lounge to see the combination punches that sent the mexican flying to the floor. AMCI bads celebrated pacquaio’s victory with cheers and shouts. but it was time to return to the court because there were still a few games to play.
towards the end of the afternoon, eliminations were over and the finals showdown was underway. the front-running yellow team tandem of bitoy and joey squared off with the blue team’s simon and jhun, and the latter bucked the advantage of the other team in winning the cup in the men’s division, level B. it was the first finals win for the day, and it wasn’t the last turnaround. alvin and francis of the red team also swept the eliminations, but gave in to the aggressive yellow team of gilbert and jecan who won the championship in the men’s division level C. the last surprise was pulled off by another yellow team when angie and heidi refused to give the title of level C women’s champion to tintin and mercy of the blue team, who had earlier won all their eliminations games.
the more anticipated games of the day were later played: the killer combination of mon and ver of the yellow team turned back jay and doc to win the trophy in the level A men’s doubles while the blue team’s tatax and jenny crushed their foes in the person of marris and eira of the yellow team for the title in the level A women’s division. the yellow team had a living megaphone and pompoms and yellow hotdog balloons brought in by team captain xenon to support their campaign. other teams who made 4 wins in 4 games were the level C mixed doubles of kuya mar and roan (red team), level B women’s doubles of maimai and melay (red team), level B mixed doubles of maimai and mardel (red team), level A mixed doubles of vanessa and jay (red team). the winningest individuals of the tournament were maimai with 2 championship titles in her belt, and jay who won a championship and runner-up honors.
at the end of the day, when the scores were tallied, the red team emerged overall champion of the first AMCI badminton tournament, with more than enough cushion from their closest rival, the yellow team. kuya mar was the red team’s captain. all that’s lacking now is a celebration befitting the triumph. hong kong disneyland sounds nice. :D
there have been suggestions to make the AMCI bads tournament a quarterly affair, while others suggest that the next one be held in june. what do you guys think? kudos to marris and nats for putting this all together.
text by alman
photos by alman and reyferbs