10 Reasons why I love 10.10.10

Right, 10.10.10, astrologers say that it is one of the luckiest days of the century since the perfect row of tens signifies a powerful moment of rebirth. The triangulation of three numbers in perfect balance brings good luck and indicates success. I have celebrated my 22nd birthday yesterday and to a certain extent, I am buying what they said about the date. 

At some point, I stopped celebrating my birthday, I mean there is just not much novelty in it anymore. I usually spend it at home with family over dinner and that is basically it. But this year was really different and memorable, not to mention the BEST that Ive had in almost 15 years. I can easily think of 10 reasons why 10.10.10 was perfect. 

1. There are quite a number of activities that happened yesterday and I, along with my Global Xchange mates, participated in two events which are both for the environment. We volunteered at the 10.10.10 Run for Ilog Pasig organized by ABS-CBN which aims to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the Pasig River. It is the largest run in the world with an estimated 160,000 participants. According to news reports last night, the event was able to generate P12Million. The other event that we attended was 10.10.10 Global Work Party (by 350.org) at Quezon City Circle. 

GX Volunteers with two of our friends who participated in the run.

2. I got the chance to meet a man who I really admire. I am talking about Illac Diaz, he is the Executive Director and Founder of My Shelther Foundation. It is a social enterprise that looks for sustainable housing solutions for homeless and the lack of infrastructure in developing countries, like the Philippines. He also maintains a blog entitled Beyond the horizons or personal experience is the infinite possibility to reinvent one's life. He ran with Batangas Vice-Governor Mark Leviste, an equally pleasant guy. It was genuinely a euphoric two minutes of my life when I got the chance to chat with him about the environment, the run in Cebu City that is being organized by my colleagues, COP 16 in Mexico. He even wished us luck with the fundraising event that we are organizing on November 6. Actually, we really need it.

Illac Diaz, Founder and Executive Director of MyShelter Foundation with Batangas Vice-Governor Mark Leviste. 

3. While we were manning the evaluation booth, we met a 63 year old runner who was also celebrating his birthday. He ran for the 10K division and whats amazing was that he also ran the previous year and guess what, for the 42K marathon. He was indeed a superlolo.

Another "superlolo" that I met yesterday was Former President Fidel V. Ramos, such a pleasant old man but a bit intimidating. Well, he wants a buff look when you want to have a photo taken with him. I am not good at the department, sad to say, Id rather strike a fierce pose while sporting a good pout. That is my signature. He did at least 40 push ups with the other guys from the military who joined the event. That was intense.

Fail na fail ang picture na to sa totoo lang. Para lang akong tanga sa likod.

FVR, a true commander-in-chief. Eto ang chika, nauna pa ang mga military na tumigil mag-push up. Oh well.

4.  My birthday actually started quite early. Well, Toni, Des, Mark, and I had to stay at April's condo  overnight because our call time for the race is at 4:00am. Just like what Des said, and I quote, "Birthdays are best spent with best friends." I had no doubts about it. Watch this video here. It is quite H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!!

5. At 2:00am, all five of us were still awake, and because I have to be mindful of our 4:00am call time, We had to oblige ourselves to get at least an hour of sleep. Mahirap ng himatayin sa event, importante ang evaluation sheets eh, PRIORITY!

Just in time for our 3:00am commitment to wake ourselves up, my phone rang and it was a call from our British friends. They were calling from Birmingham, UK while they were having their Returned Volunteers Weekend. My heart almost melted and being the cry-baby that I am, you know what happened. But it did not end there, we had a 30-minute skype call with all ten of them! They even sang happy birthday for me which I  thought was the greatest version of the world's most famous song. Right, I am being patronizing, but seriously, it was one of those moments that you just want to melt.

With GX loves from the UK. I am missing them loads. SOLID. GRABE!

6. Global Xchange Team 107 has its own soundtrack, these are the songs that remind us of the five wonderful months we have shared together while in the program. One of them is Fast Car. There are just so many epic moments with that song being sung and played. Its actually one of our favorite Karaoke songs. And just before we ended the call, Neil and Patrick sang it one more time for more soppiness.

7. Birthday dinners are always a win especially if its with family. To be honest, the days leading to my birthday were not full of fluff. I have had a couple of disagreements with them because of going home quite late in several occasions. No matter how valid my reasons are they would not give a s*#@ because curfew is a divine rule to be followed at home. Well, nobody can be mad at you if its your birthday and I must say I played that card really well.

8. Right after the dinner, I went straight to bed. I can barely open my eyes and so I saved checking my Facebook and email for tomorrow. I have 762374 work related email messages to answer but I figured that the most logical thing to do is to have some rest and get my lazy ass to work when I am somehow recharged. I cant afford to answer an important email with something like this: Helo, aiu djewhjf fckwehuuk alsf buo fvwepe hamhe if. GoOD nIghtZZ poWEHZzz! :) Enough babble. So when I checked my facebook this morning, I found this:

Grabe, solid talaga sa dami ng nag-post sa wall. First time eh. Its quite a good feeling to receive birthday greetings and wishes from friends, people from other parts of the world, and people you actually did not expect to greet you.

9. And these photos:

Surely, the girl knows how to make someone happy. Thank you Trixie love for this.

Eto pa ang isa. Inna and Renee, two of my best friends in College. Oh how I miss them so much.

 10. I am now 22. Well, the year 2010 has been a great year for me. I could not thank the Lord enough for giving me another year. Hopefully, next year will be better and more fruitful in terms of my advocacy work around education, health, and the environment. Lovelife too! Joke lang.