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Obligatory Birthday Post

Mates from work.
This is a few days late but I just got a couple hours of alone time to allow me to write in isolation -- more on that later. This past birthday for me is one of the most special ones I've had so far because of a few things. I feel like the past year for me has gone way too fast having a lot of things happening between July 2010 and July 2011. This of course is the obligatory birthday post which I do outline things that I find interesting and even some things that I find annoying. Here goes nothing.



This birthday for me was a birthday of firsts. Let me list down what these firsts are because apparently I'm liking lists so much recently that I just have to make one every time I can. Here's the list of firsts:


  • First birthday in a foreign country. This is the first time I've celebrated a birthday outside of the Philippines.
  • First birthday in Australia.
  • First birthday as a Googler.
There are a number of things that are also annoying that I have to point out too:

  • First birthday where I'm away from extended family. I know I have a family of my own now but I am kinda missing the celebration with my sister and father. Although I did get to hang out with them and other friends on the same day as my birthday, there's something missing there. Google+ hangouts are cool but it doesn't beat having a meal with real people.
  • First birthday where it wasn't really "celebrated". No pool parties, no massage, not much booze. There was the great dinner with some friends from work and that was pretty much it. I think I just need to get used to that and start down-playing my birthday from here on out.
  • First birthday where I really felt like I am old. 28 is a lot closer to 30 now than 27 was. Not sure if I have anything to worry about when I turn 30 though.
Having said those in the above, I'm really thankful for the past year. I think I've experienced a lot in the past year and I'm taking this milestone as a "leveling up" marker. Now its time for me to start transcending my potential and work on coming into my own -- leveraging my experiences and becoming a blessing to others as I've already been blessed by so many others I've met in this journey of mine.

Thanks to all the well wishes and birthday greetings. I'm humbled to know that there are people who care enough to greet me a happy birthday.

Here's to hopefully another year of living an awesome life.

Cheers

PS. So here I am letting my beautiful wife bring our really adorable daughter to sleep while watching This Week in Google on our LG Smart TV using the built-in YouTube app. This is really something else -- I'm living in a first world country, living the digital native's dream, working in the most awesome tech company in the world. I don't think there's much more I can ask for.
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Location: Ashfield NSW 2131, Australia

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