We’re barely just a few days away from 2014 and I just wanted to take a quick look back at the year that was. 2013 was an amazing year filled with a lot of challenges, blessings, and losses. To celebrate the last 12 months, I compiled thirteen major blessings and milestones that I’d like to call “13 Cheers for 2013” (lol). It was actually a surreal experience compiling these moments and looking for photos to visualize them. Writing this post was an enriching activity in itself and I’d recommend it all of you guys (if you can find the time to do it, hehe). Okay so in no particular order, here my the 13 Cheers for 2013! Making the Big Leap to Advertising — Joining Di9it-DM9 Leaving TV5 was a very difficult decision but it turned out to be a wise one! With Digit I’ve been able to learn so much at such a short amount of time. I’ve only been here a year but it actually feels I’ve been doing this for much more than that, hehe. Anyway, thank you to Merlee, Alex, Bonat, GGC, and Eugene for the trust. 2014 will be much bigger and better for all of us! Here’s the write-up that Adobo Magazine made about my career switch (thanks Angel, Apple, and Janelle for the feature). Goodbye Tiffany Mansions, Hello One Beverly Place! One of the biggest literal “moves” for 2013 was when we left our condo in Tiffany Mansions and moved to a bigger 3BR unit in One Beverly Place (still along Annapolis Greenhills area). The unit was actually the condo that Pastor Dennis’ family used to stay in! 3BR set-up is awesome — Masters, Home Office, and Guest Room. Hopefully we convert that Guest Room into a Baby Room this year! RAWR! Building the Team — Di9it Growing and building the team was just as exciting as changing jobs, hehe! We’re still a pretty lean and small group but I’m very happy and proud of the people in Di9it! We’ve done so much in just 1 year and I strongly believe that we’ve set ourselves up for a superb 2014. Thank you Eugene, Buboy, Peepo, Leng, Belle, Bea, Carlos, Archie, Max, Alex, Rogin, Ila, and Nike! Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, Spain Earlier this trip we went on our first Europe trip! We went to Barcelona, Spain so I could attend the Mobile World Congress. Other than tech stuff, this was also the first time I had a long vacation with just my wife in a far-away land (lol). I was also able to meet Mich’s half-sister, Chrissy (currently studying in Spain). Definitely one of the best weeks in 2013. Rumfold the Scottish Fold Around October we bought and brought home a new member to our family — Rumfold! Rumfold is a male Scottish Fold with a pedigree and official papers. Ridiculously sweet and loving cat! Got him from Bonnevie Cattery. So I rode an Elephant in Thailand Company outing was in Bangkok, Thailand! Great bonding time with DM9 peeps especially since I just joined the company. Highlight of the trip? Riding an elephant. That was a crazy experience. Momo As luck would have it we found a really good deal for a Honda Accord. Since the tires read “Momo”, Mich and I decided to name the car… “Momo”! Lol. Anyway, always been a fan of Honda and one of the cars that I drove that I loved the most was the Honda SIR way back in college. Cheers to Momo! π Winning an Award! Winning an award from Globe even if our podcast and our tech site was sponsored by their competitor, Smart! Awesomeeeeee! Kulala Lumpur, Malaysia Got invited by the awesome folks from Sony to cover the regional launch of the Sony Xperia Z1 in KL, Malaysia. Had an awesome time there! Played with new gadgets, met with the Sony regional team, and had some free time to go around KL and see the sights. Two thumbs up Sony! π The Day I Did 16,899 Steps Mich and I went to Hong Kong and one of my goals was to go around the shopping centers in Mongkok. Earlier that day I bought a Fitbit Flex, a gadget that tracked the number of steps I took. After a grueling day in roaming the streets of Mongkok (and getting lost twice), I checked the number of steps for the day — a whopping 16,899. My Wife is Hotter than a Supermodel Went to Singapore to cover the Singapore Digital Fashion Week courtesy of Opera. Met and had a conversation with supermodel Naomi Campbell. She was definitely beautiful but my wife’s hotness is beyond words, hehe. It was my first time covering a fashion event. Felt sooooo out-of-place but fortunately I was able to find an angle for it that was related to tech and gadgets, hehe. Awesome moment of the trip — we met with one of our friends, Mavie, and she treated us to a superb crab dinner at a restaurant called Crab Party. Arguably the highlight of the whole trip! Celebrating in Singapore Went to Singapore again in December but this time with officemates from DM9 for our annual planning session. There we received the bestest news ever — DM9 won as the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Agency of the Year for the Philippines and our Chairmom, Merlee, won as...