[ music: Miyavi - Ashita, Genki ni Naare ]

Ok, I am kind of experiencing sort of a life-lag. Turns out last December I was misdiagnosed a bronchitis, which of course won’t heal even after several weeks of medication, because it wasn’t freaking bronchitis at all. You just gotta love mediocre doctors and their behind-the-desk diagnoses. Anyway, I finally got properly treated last Saturday and I am beginning to heal at last. However, all December and up to now I kind of drowned myself on stasis mode. I have not done much besides working, coughing, playing videogames, coughing, sleep, coughing…

Soooo… yeah, happy belated New Year! xD

I am glad that I am feeling all better now. I am very excited about a few things that are coming up in my life, but before I jump into that, I feel like I should go back for a quick glance of my first entry on January 2011… let’s see how it went:

So, any new resolutions for 2011? Traveling, learning from life, reading more, being a nice person, avoid ill-intentioned people and overall just enjoy life, even at its simplest details. I’ll keep weaving memories, definitely. ^^

Interesting. Let’s see. Traveling, check. Learning from life, check (in the form of a huge whacking hammer, if you please). I did not read as much as I should have. I tried my best to be nice and stay out of useless drama. I enjoyed life, mostly. And I surely got some memories weaved, those bitches will hardly go away, LOL. I should have added “not being naive” to the list of resolutions.

But hey, such is life.

This time I made a decision regarding my “resolutions” (or any of the sort). I am not going too crazy over them. This will be my year to stop pushing myself over other’s expectations, specially those related to my studies and career. It’s not like I don’t care, it just seems others care more than I do (and they don’t particularly attend those three hours of class four days a week after work!) I want this year to be different. I want to learn something new. So here it goes:

• Japanese. I thought about taking Chinese, mostly because of a business advantage. But come on, I rather finish what I started first.
• Driving. It seems like that license is not gonna get itself (though I’d love that!)
• New skills. I have been thinking about taking photography for a while. Some days ago a  friend came over and offered to teach me a bit too, so I think I will give this a try.
• Recycling. Among other environmentally friendly changes on my everyday life. Giving back should not be that hard!
• Go places. I still want to travel this year. I will probably be sent out because of my job too, which I cannot complain for, but I think I should start getting to know my own country a bit better too.
• More cardio. I loathe it, but I need to tone up right now. No more resistance training for a while. Which leads me to my next goal…
• Cosplay. Because hell, it’s about time. >:)

[ music: Hide - Misery ]

I guess I should be writing at least a bit, given the fact that the year is almost over and all…

Lots of stuff has happened since my last entry. I won my PMP certification, which pretty much renders my university degree as a minor milestone, at least within the Project Management scope. But what the hell, I’ll get it anyway. My family would probably kill me if I don’t.

I was sent to China too. It was such a great trip. I got to meet part of my team, great guys all of them. I learned about a whole new culture, though surprisingly, we are not that different. I got to see amazing places and even got to hold a beautiful lion cub in my arms. I even dealt with my fears a bit, as I am not much of a fan of flying and certainly 6 flights and a total of over 38 hours of flight time do challenge your sanity. But hey, even when travelling alone, getting to know new airports and hotels, waiting during layovers and sleeping on a gate bench a time or two was quite enjoyable. I cannot complain about having to stay at New York City either. The more I visit that city, the more magical it seems to me.

I had a great time, I really did. I wish I could write paragraphs and paragraphs of all the things I experienced over those two weeks. My trip was almost perfect, if it wouldn’t had been for the news I got when I was practically at the other side of the world. I lost my dear friend Illidan to poisoning. :( And there I was, being completely unable to do anything about it. It breaks my heart every time I remember it, and yet I still can’t believe it happened. Somehow I still hope for him to come through my window as he always did, and I don’t think I will get over my sorrow any time soon. I miss him so much. :’(

So… I apologize if my tales about such an epic trip seem so unexciting, it’s just that I would not think it twice on giving all of it away if that would bring Illi back.

Among other news, my car is here now and has been pretty much parked for the last month and a half. Between university’s final terms and an awful bronchitis that I’ve been carrying for the last three weeks I have not had the chance to take driving lessons. They will have to wait for January. On the positive side, I passed all my courses and no longer have to worry about studying, at least for the rest of the year.

On a more happy note, this year I finally got to decorate home for Christmas. For those who don’t know the background of this, it means a lot to me. All of my decorations I inherited them from my mom when she passed away. Since then, I have not had the courage to unpack them, until this year. It was certainly a very emotive moment, but at the same time it made me feel a beautiful connection, that kind of sensation that makes you feel warmth in your heart. I am glad that it got to happen in the right time, with the right person by my side. Christmas time was very special too. I rarely celebrate at home, but this time “the family” (that one you get to pick) gathered here and we had a nice, homey dinner. Those are the moments that really make you appreciate the people you have kept close to your heart.

And now, as the year comes to an end, all I can wish for all my loved ones is for the new year to come full of new opportunities and enriching experiences. May we all be showered with blessings, prosperity and specially, may our bonds continue to grow.

Mom, Illi, I miss you so much. I love you.

[ music: Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs ]

So many things, so little time!

As expected, September has gotten me quite busy. The first ten days of the month were the most intense and stressing times I have had since… ever. At least academically speaking. I studied so much and slept so little that I felt I was not going to make it to the test date. The exam itself was the toughest test I have ever been challenged with. 200 questions in 4 hours… I barely finished on time, like 90 seconds before the deadline. The questions were also a lot more difficult than any practice I (or any of the other PMs) did. Anyway, that is done and all I can do now is wait for the results, which seem to be counted with an abacus because they will not arrive until the end of October.

Then came the concert season, which was okay but not as epic as I expected. Blind Guardian was pretty good, though the sound that day could have been a lot better. Still pretty enjoyable, but just as with Red Hot Chili Pepper and Whitesnake/Judas Priest, it was the company what made those nights the most enjoyable. :) The last concert was yesterday. I feel exhaust… damn concerts on weekdays, I may be too old for them. xD

All of this is of course going around as I adapt myself back to university life, which by the way seems to be a lot tougher than it used to be. I guess it has to do with these courses being already advanced into the career, but teachers seem to be way more demanding, homework more complex and overall subject matter a bit more complicated. Yes, this is the phase where I complain a bit about why I signed up for so many classes, how now I almost have no time off, yada yada yada. Don’t mind me, this is usual though I am really thankful for being able to improve myself and move forward.

Also, for a variety of reasons, I managed to renegotiate my business trip to be sent to China instead. This works better for my current work efforts, and now I am in the process of requesting my Chinese visa. I really hope to be sent out around mid next month, though such a long trip scares big time and I will probably have to take a pill or two to sleep thought he whole flight. :P

Oh and it seems like my car won’t arrive until early October. Seems like all of this was too much awesomeness for just September to handle it. Not that I mind, I haven’t really had time to practice my (nonexistent) driving skills anyway.

Time sure flies by when you’re having fun! :3