Christmas Rhapsody

We made a lot of preparation for we expected a few invited to arrive. Unfortunately, one couple couldn't come and the others were arriving late. There were only few heads when we started to celebrate the Noche Buena.

I'm introducing here a few person. From left to right: That's Ate Helen; Alvin, Pinky's husband; then Pinky; Chamboy, the Afro-Filipino son of Ate Helen; Bert, martial arts and boxing enthusiast, one of our delivery staff for the purified water business.

Two more guests arrived later. Still there were plenty of foods left that we still celebrated the following day like fiesta. Most of us ate as much as we could. Diet programs were being set aside at that moment.

Gift That I Received

Aside from the Steve McCurry Photo Book that I and Jovy received, I was also receiving two gifts; a Penshoppe T-shirt from my beloved and a table clock from Pinky.

The T-shirt I was wearing (shown below) during the MIP Christmas Party is Maldita's early Christmas present to me.

Photo courtesy of Pareng Dennis

My Working Environment

This morning, I woke up with a different kind of spirit. It was probably due to sleeping late celebrating the traditional Noche Buena. It was Christmas anyway and I wanted to try at least something new for today. I grabbed my Silverado and went out of my quarter and roamed around. I was thinking of sharing this information to selected friends as well as my fellows at MIP. I got several photos here:

I guess there is no water delivery schedule for today. Trucks were still in their respective parking slots. In regular days, these trucks are out before 7 in the morning. That water tanker facing forward is used to deliver tap water within Antipolo areas. That aluminium van on its back is used to deliver bottled water to Metro Manila and Cavite areas. That miniature truck to the right is used to deliver individual orders within the vicinity. That building at the background is the water processing plant. As you might notice, the building is constructed with selected kind of woods. Our environment is surrounded with fruit trees. Few weeks back, I had photographed using my phonecam a set of instrument panel inside the plant. It can be found on this building.

These are water tanks. Contrary to most water processing plants that sourced out water from NAWASA, ours is sourced out 300 meters deep from the grounds of Antipolo. The building structure you can see at the background is the Antipolo City Jail located just 23 meters away from us.

Our facility is surrounded with different kinds of flowers. If I can only mix work and hobby I should always go out to take macro photos of flowers. Well, this is my take just this morning.

That's our staff quarter up there. It is an attic converted to air-conditioned male and female bedrooms. Mess hall and galley are also provided. That's Bert in his martial arts stance calling me for breakfast.

Down below the quarter is an internet bistro, my pastime 18 hours a day :( That black thing in the middle of the frame is my SLR bag and beside it is my laptop. The white thing is a satellite speaker for my computer sound system. On top of the air-conditioning unit is the switch and a UPS.

That's pure Internet rush out there with a top speed of 512Mbps when streaming direct from the network server, but that didn't give me life's satisfaction. My confinement to my job 18 hours, 6 days in a week is no different thing living at the city jail the next block.

I love the place, but I hate my job...