2011 – The Year That Was

(There goes the lame title again. )

The previous recaps:

2010 – The Year That Was
2009 – The Year That Was
2008 – The Year That Was
2007 Year-End Blog

I know I started this year right when I let go of the hurts and heartaches of the past and finally decided to move on. Waking up in the morning of 1/1/11 couldn’t get any easier with the thought of a new year and new life ahead. It was a delightful feeling, and I was happy.

Nobody really knew what was gonna happen in 2011. I told myself before not to make plans to avoid frustrations. But I guess that habit has been nailed to my bones and the more I tell myself not to plan, the deeper I drive the nail. Of course, not everything was planned. In fact, most of them happened on their own. And guess what? Those unplanned things were the ones that made my 2011 worthwhile.

I know I’ve lived this year right when I looked back and saw that everything that happened was pure awesome. Wanna go tripping down 2011′s memory lane with me? Come! It really isn’t hard when all you have to do is go over the pictures (click ‘em to enlarge) and read the bullet-ized items.

School / School Friends

• By the start of the year, thesis has been the biggest thing that occupied my mind. It actually stayed there for most of the first quarter.
• Jan.1 – Outreach activity at Batang Pinangga Foundation, Inc.
• Became part of our yearbook committee where I became busy experimenting with Adobe InDesign.
• Jan.21 – Batch pictorial!
• Feb.24 – The most heart-pounding oral defense ever for our thesis. Satisfactory! Wuhoo!
• Mar.11 – Got busy with student awards stuff. I got the PIIE Campus Achievement Award.
• Mar.18 – Our group was one of the presenters in our annual IE Research Presentation!
• Mar.25 – At last! Our five years of effort finally paid off! On our graduation day, we felt victorious!
• May 21 & Sep.10 – Met with school friends for Lester’s despedida and did some catching up, too, during Nonah’s surprise birthday party.

D’ Hacienderas

• Jan.21 – Celebrated Jessa’s birthday at Maitre Chocolatier! Sweetness overload!
• Mar.26 – First outing after graduation day at EGI Resort & Hotel.
• Mar.31 – Overnight stay at Jessa’s house for the planning of our Davao trip!
• Apr.11-13 – And yes, the adventurous Davao trip! Yeeeaaahhh!
• Aug.21 & Dec.18 – Since we got busy with work already, the next bonding after the trip was on August where we had a sumptuous lunch at Lamesa Grill, then the next during our Christmas celebration at La Tegola.

Gawad Kalinga / GKabarkada / GK Friends

• Feb.5 – My first build was at GK Budlaan with some CWTS students. Kind of a practice for the upcoming Bayani Challenge.
• Apr.3-9 – Bayani Challenge 2011 in Bantayan Island! The most tiresome but heartwarming week of the year! This is where GKabarkada was formed.
• Apr.29-May 1 – 4th Gawad Kalinga Builders Camp. After that, everything was history.
• The GKabarkada spent a lot of nights staying at our friends’ places, watching movies, videoke singing, playing games, talking, laughing… Also, badminton nights! Unforgettable!
• I got to join a lot of bayanihan activities at different GK sites (including Kalayaan Build, Mini Bayani Challenge, and those with government officials and a lot of student volunteers): Budlaan, Madridejos, Maguikay, Dumanjug, Eversley, Lilo-an, Bantayan, Lorega, Minglanilla, Mananga.
• Other outreach activities like Brigada Eskwela by our team, Sagip Conference at USJ-R, and Pilipinas Natin launching.
• Call to Care and Courage to Care forums. Learned a lot!
• Nov.7 & Dec.3-4 – Outing at Ocean Pearl and Alegria!

Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc.

• Jan.14 – Funky Bowling! Who’d have thought bowling could be this funky and fun?
• Feb.19 – CBSi’s 3rd anniversary where I sang (again) in front of the bloggers. 26 Cents by The Wilkinsons.
• Mar.5 – Filipino Blogosphere and Political Participation Forum in Cebu. Statistics and the likes about plogging.
• Group Development Sessions where we had various team building activities for the betterment of the society.
• May 2 & May 28 – Pool of bloggers at the World Bloggers’ Day and Cebu Blog Camp!
• May 27 – Gabii sa Kabilin. Cebu is that great!
• Jul.10 – A scrapbooking event that gave me some scrapbooking materials and made me want to create my own scrapbook! Duh!
• Aug.22 – Krispy Kreme teaser… at Red Box. Ha!
• Oct.7 – Tibiao Fish Spa while waiting for our dinner at Bob Marlin Restaurant. Fishy night, huh?
• Oct.13 – Bilibidding! I got an iPod Nano! Nice!

Note: I became inactive in CBSi during the later part of the year but recommitted for 2012.

Work

• Jul.25 – Got my first job at Xlibris Philippines, Inc. Lotsa books!
• Mandatory work on the last Saturday of the month. But the good thing about that? Free lunch!
• My original partner and another friend from the department resigned, but I got 2 new colleagues.
• Dec.10 – First ‘bonding’ with the rest of the post-publication team during our Christmas party (breakfast) at Kul Kitchen. They’re all night shifters and there are only 3 of us day shifters.
• Dec.20 – Another breakfast with the team at Joven’s Grill. Who doesn’t love food?

Personal

• Jan.15-16 – Rainy Sinulog! We had a very wet experience during the solemn foot procession the day before.
• Read a couple of books: To Kill a Mockingbird, Looking for Alaska, Syren, Darke.
• Watched a couple of movies on the big screen: I am Number Four, Thor, X-Men: First Class, Le Marquis (old movie featured during the French Film Fest), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Real Steel, Enteng ng Ina Mo (as I said before, I’m not really a moviegoer).
• Mar.23 – Shuttr met the world! My love for photography got more intense!
• Early morning jogging days with my aunt during the second quarter. Unfortunately, I got lazy after a couple of weeks. Harrr.
• I fell in love. And now, he’s mine. Hi Mumu! Hahaha. 06152011
• I became a pig with Mumu: Joed’s Lutong Hapon, Outpost, La Marea, Fudge, La Bella Napoli, Casa Verde, East West, Ila Puti, Simply J’s, Siam, Boosog, Handuraw, Maitre Chocolatier, Yellow Cab, Dong Juan, Kul Kitchen, Tokyo Joe’s, Vienna Kaffehaus, etc. I lost weight, yes! *sarcasm*
• The feeling of tiredness and sore muscles couldn’t get past the pinches and presses from the masseurs and masseuses of Nouveau and Healing Hands. Bravo!
• The Big Bang Theory! Favorite sitcom evurrr!
• Mumu passed the ECE Board Exam last October 2011! So happy! He had his oath taking last November. We celebrated our birthdays with our GK friends after that.

Ain’t my year cool? It may look too ordinary for those who had a bonggang-bonggang 2011 but it was enough for me! A year full of love for self and others… What more could I ask for?

I know I’m ending this year right by acknowledging that there were good and bad things that came up, but everything happened for a reason, hidden or obvious. And whatever that reason may be, I know I just gotta trust. Just a thought, though: if you feel like the world is tumbling down on you, cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it. And of course, think of happy thoughts, then you can fly.

For everyone who made my year extra special, a thousand thanks to you! I know you’ll still be there to make 2012 even better. I love you all!

By ending this year right, I’m starting the next one right.

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Mikyu. 22 y/o. From Consolacion, Cebu. Gawad Kalinga volunteer/builder. Semi-geek. Dreamer. Lover. Friend. Writing and photography hobbyist. Sucker for pens and papers. w/ Mumu. ♥

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