An Open Letter for a Special People like you

Dear All,

As 2013 inevitably comes as close, I sit back and reflect to those who have shape my life for the past 365 days. I am overwhelmed of the happiness and success in my career I’ve chosen and inspired by the people behind this success in my fruitful year.

To all my real friends which include all my anak-anakan, batchmate, my Columban College family- your thorough advise and support will always be treasured and I will always be grateful having you in my whole life. I realized that good camaraderie is utmost important than other things.

To the Daewoo family, I really appreciate the kindness, support and understanding to my failures. It helps me a lot and I’ve learned more experience from you and will continue to strive more for the company. I really be indebted to the good friendship from you all.

To my detractors and back-stabbers, you’re my inspiration and the reasons I became stronger and believe in myself no matter what. I was blessed to have you because you spent your time talking to me at my back unknowingly that I became important part of your life. Lol

And most importantly for their untiringly sharing their love, affection, patience and understanding despite of my lapses I would like to express my deepest thank to my extension of life- my family and my wife Arlyn.

Lastly to Almighty God, the unconditional love He always willing to offer. May He always guide us with good health and I sincerely ask forgiveness to my behavior and moral difficulties.

I thank all of you for touching my life in different ways thereby enriching it; I am truly blessed for your existence.

And also, I share my adversity to those who have had suffered and I’m praying for them to have hope, peace, happiness and a worth living this coming year.

And to those who were favorable, wish the continuation of astounding experience in their lives.

This coming year of 2014,  wishing a bountiful new year with a good prosperity and good health from my family to yours.

Happy New Year!

Thank You 2013

2013 is about to end and we will officially bid goodbye and will welcome the 2014 with a fabulous year for us.

2013 is not an easy year for me.  The 2013 brings a lot of trials and determine my strength. Grow and develop my complacency and positive outlook. The 2013 brings me also tears despite of the accomplishment I achieved.  And notwithstanding in my share of “falls” - my work and my wrong decisions, I always stood up and shown audacity and toughness. And I learnt a valuable lesson in every vast of experience.

No turning back. No regrets. And I never give-up.

The year that has just passed was remarkable for many reasons; some good and some less so. Nevertheless, I will consider as a wonderful year.

And before the end of 2013, allow me thank everyone behind my happiness, tears and success in Year of the Snake. I’ve learned so many experiences and lessons.

Thanks to Almighty God for the blessings and the constant reminder of my sinfulness. And for allowing me to have a constant relationship though sometimes I failed to attend my obligations of being a Christian. Oh Lord God, I always lift-up all the blessings I received from You, for giving me a healthy mind and spirit; and emotional strength to be able to take care of my family and to continue to serve them. In my heart, You are always number one no matter what.

I have to thank You also for giving me a glorious family and wife, they serve as my inspiration, my motivation and my inner strength. May You continue to grow our love for each other in coming year.

Thank You for the friends You had placed into my life, the people who shared their lives, even they are goofy and they would like to be lean on top of happiness. We were so crazy then.

This coming 2014, may holds numerous good surprises. And illuminate with lights of hope and aspiration of a brighter and better years. May God continue to bless us with love, happiness and success in life and continue to opens up more opportunities and avenues of success.  May the unfulfilled dreams and desires I had last year of 2013 be fulfilled with God’s guidance and blessings. Moreover, I just hope and pray that those who were affected by the tremendous calamity especially in my home country, may they surpass all those trials and keep in mind the spirit of hope. And to all our political corrupt leaders, may You help them to enlighten their mind and spirit; focus rather to the true commitment and obligations not only to the constituents but also to society and to a broader human race. May they improve our country for better and the human condition as their primary focus.

For the 2014… We welcome you aboard and hope you will give us full of true spirit, grit, determination, vitality and endurance...J

IT’S PAINFUL TO SAY GOODBYE TO SOMEONE YOU DON’T WANT TO LET GO

People say you don’t know what you have until you lose it. And if someone is losing is like falling over the edge of the cliff especially if you consider this person as half of your life. It’s like they’ve taken a part of you.

Everyone is facing a failure and suffer the loss of someone. And sometimes is not very easy to accept of what life brings. Acceptance might be often easier said than done. Accept and embrace those things which are sometimes unacceptable. And it’s not easy to accept and move forward but feel unable to. Because it seems it’s greatly unfair and rightfully not deserve.

But I believe God’s has always plan for us. And I always put my trust in Him. But it saddened me and I’m almost died. It’s like a nightmare that I can’t move while I’m struggling to death in order to survive.

I hope there’s a second chance.

I hope it's just a bad dream.

And I hope I could turn back the time.

And we will spend more of happiness than what we had. I will give them hope, inspiration and feel the time each moment that we need to be cherished. I assure that everything is a substantial and with bounty of love. And will appreciate every single moment of our lives.

I know it's hard to imagine; it’s painful to see and realize but I’m still hoping that God’s might change His plan for us.

God know's how much we love you. 

misUNDERSTOOD

I know that this is not a harsh statement, but please do understand the reason why do people works abroad, it’s because we wants the best for our family aside from the essential needs. We have a full obligation and responsibility as a parent, a husband, a father and a brother of the family. Truth hurts but working in the Philippines would make us become poorer than what we are now.

And it’s really painful every time we travel back and leave again our family. It’s like sentencing oneself into exile into a hostile land. And we need more courage to overcome our yearning for home. And extremely bad ‘coz we’ve always failed to spare much of our time to the special events of our family especially our children are growing up. In reality, the material things we always provide are not enough to feel our presence. They are also longing of real affection, time and feeling that we could share.

And it’s saddened me that some people couldn't understand our situation being an OFW.

Pre-Nup MTV

We've decided to make it official
We're going to tell the world that we
love, honor and cherish each other

And now, we are inviting you to share and be our witness
in our matrimonial moment
on Saturday, the 16th of November, two thousand thirteen
at four o'clock in the afternoon 

St. Anne Catholic Church, Gordon Heights, Olongapo City Philippines to be followed by dinner party at Golden Dragon Restaurant, SBMA Freeport Zone

Thanks to I-Focus

One Love...One Lifetime

We will treat ourselves with dignity and respect; remind ourselves often of why we live together in Matrimony and why we promised this commitment in front of our our Almighty God, friends, family and loveones. We will give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that our marriage deserves. We will focus on what it seems right between us when frustration, trials and disappointment comes in our lives. And when we lose our sight, always remember that the sun is still there to light us in some other ways. And we will take our responsibility being husband and wife, a father and mother of our children. Assure the quality of life together with abundance of happiness.

Thanks to I-Focus (Video Coverage)

One love... one lifetime...

Arlyn, I affirm my love to you as I invite you to share my life. In the presence of God and those who are here today. I promise to love you unconditionally, comfort you in hard times, encourage to achieve our goals, grow with you in mind and spirit and cherish the love we share for as long as we both shall live.

I promise to be a faithful husband, never to take you for granted, nor forget that you need to be loved. I shall be a responsible father, loving our children, caring for them, and giving them the best possible examples. I shall stand firmly by your side, in joy and in sorrows, in happiness and in tears, in fulfillments or frustrations until death do us part. I love you more you'll ever know.

- JONNELL

Ce n'est pas dire adieu Arnel

It’s very rare to find a good friend outside of your home country. Sometimes we have to go with the flow to appreciate things in life. We have to learn and understand every breath and adjust to the new environment, new people and new culture in order to survive.

But here’s Arnel Maramag De Leon who became one of my good friend who always been there to listen to my problems, my insanity, my hatred and my happiness. For accepting and understanding my mood swings (minsan lang), my foolishness and my misadventures.

I can still vividly remember my first day I joined in Daewoo E & C, I feel hesitant because most of you are ex-Daewoo and I feel out casted among the group (Liaison Office that time). But you were there who break my silence. You are such an amazing friend. And you gained my respect.

Time runs so fast, and now over this long period of time we spent and work together since 2010, you are now going to leave the four corners of UAE. It’s hard but we have to embrace it ‘coz I know that there’s a good opportunity awaits you.

But we assure you that we will miss our fond memories we had.

We will miss on how you cook and prepare food for us. You are one of the reason why I became bigger (I won’t deny that). That’s why; I guess it would be better for you to leave us so I have time to discipline myself and to lose my weight…lolz

No one will treat us again like a real parent. There’ll be no sermons and no wake-up call from your louder voice every morning. So, after 20^th of June will be different. We have to wake-up now once the clock alarms. Before, we are used to set our alarm clock at 5:30 or 6:00 but even it alarmed we just turned it off and sleep again(sayang pa kasi ang ilang minuto to take a nap) because we set our mind, someone will prepare our breakfast hohoohoo..But now, it’s different because it’s our turn to prepare our own breakfast. No one will cook anymore.. If there’s a BIG MAMA, you are our BIG YAYA…and we gonna miss how you prepare our breakfast and dinner.. L

I will miss your sobbing moment every time you are watching the telenovela. You are truly affected by the teleserye you are watching. It seems that you are one of the casts. When they cried (actors), you cried too. And when you cried, you almost die crying!… And we are affected because we are worried about you and thinking that something happens on you (kaya nakakainis…lol)… We are truly an actor of our own story. There are no scripts, no directors and no need cameras...J

But in some other way around, there’s an opposite reaction from your crying moment. Because when you laughed, you almost die laughing… and you always break our silence even our time of rest (tulog pa kasi kami hehheeh)

For sure, you will miss our big events every Thursday. The Khalifa City A is a truly remarkable place for us with Ka Albert, Ryan, Edmon, Samuel, Lomio, PJ and Ronn. Our jammin’ together with bottles of love (alcohol), our dance showdown, our escapade and our jogging after office hours or even early morning in order to lose our weight. The Khalifa City A Supermarket have played an important part of our daily lives. (Diyan tayo tumatakbo pag nagugutom tayo to escape sa nakakaumay na ulam sa Villa, Kapag walang pulutan every thursday at iyan ang end place ng jogging natin di’ba?)

After stressful week, it’s time for us to unwind and relax our stress mind over work. We always enjoy our bar hopping at Manila Bay, Howard Johnson, Arcadia, Blue Bay, Ratzky, The Buzz at Regency Hotel with our friends from site.

We will miss our sharing of foods together, even the lunch invitation of our bosses na hindi natin pinatawad..I will miss our coffee break with Kaycee at Barista, Papparoti Café, Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Costa Rica, Bloomsbury and many more…Our food trip at Ponderosa, Fridays, Fuddruckers, Oasis Chinese Restaurant, Figaro’s, REdstar, Shanghai Surprise…and of course our very own Philippine Restaurant (o ayan, free

advertisement) and many more...We always shared our secrets together, our hatred, our resentment over the stressful days, our funniest experience we had that day and even our plans for the future..




Our Christmas Party and New Years celebration with the Branch Office Team is one of the memorable moments we had..We belong in a small group but we always see to it that everyone will enjoy; our exchange gifts and our foods.. And of course our grilled party at Khalifa Villa..

There’s a lot of happenings and adventures that we will always remember. And for sure you will smile if you remember our funniest moment together …













We always tried to explore and experience something new and more adventures, (kahit buwis buhay ‘ika nga). Our Ferrari World adventure which I almost failed to enjoy the F1 Formula due to I closed my eyes and I am singing a worship songs while onboard in the world’s fastest roller coaster which accelerate up to 240 km/hr in less than five seconds (ang kulit lang e). And you? You closed your mouth because maybe something might happen unexpectedly (lolz). And even the Italy adventures that I hold your hands tightly because I’m afraid that I might fall (bangag lang). Our two times experience together at desert safari. We enjoyed the dune bashing, quad biking, sand boarding and the camel riding that I almost fall on the ground because of you…But we have so much fun and we enjoyed a lot.  Of course, we will not forget our swimming at Corniche beach with Francis, Gemma and Edmon.  And even our road trip in Dubai with Ms. Elvie and Mervin, Francis and Gemma.  And the Al Ain Adventure at Jebel Hafeet with Francis, Gemma, and Mohd Yousaf our good friend.

We will never forget our Thursday happenings with you. By this time, I’ll drink your share with Kaycee, Glenn and Dong. The problem, after the happenings I will go home alone. And no one will guide me anymore and assist me when I’m drunk and I feel groggy. No one will remind me again na “Jonnell, umayos ka na, lasing ka na.”

But we have to move-on and step ahead for a new beginning, a new journey and a new adventure with new people. And we have to thank you for the insights and support you shared. On a personal level, thank you for the special bond- the laughter, patience, and for sharing a great learning experience. We are looking forward to meet you again.

It’s normal to feel sad, especially if someone who becomes part of your journey and close to you will say goodbye. But I must be happy because it’s for your own good and you will pursue something better.  And I know, even you are far and a thousand miles away, . It’s very easy now for us to say “Hi” and “Hello”, “How life in Singapore?”… (The first message you will receive from me when I caught you online via skype..hohoohoh). Our world is dominated by the high-technology which is very vital for us to communicate…so don’t fail to update us.

We believe, in every story has an end, but in life every ending is just a beginning. So, we will not say goodbye, instead we will send you with our prayers to have a better life in your chosen career. As I said, don’t cry when you leave but smile to the success awaits you..

I know, we will see each other again…