The year in review

When I was still working in San Miguel, one of my favorite things to do was to produce their Year-in-Review special. I think it's a great exercise to look back at the year that was and savor the highlights, as well as be aware of the flubs so that it won't be repeated in the coming year. My first foray into producing the YIR was the highly successful "Saksi sa SMC" where we got Arnold Clavio and Karen Davila to anchor.

Now that the holiday rush is over, I look back at the year that was and remember all the events that made it such a wonderful and memorable year for me. Ergo, i'm making my own year-in-review. But instead of segregating it by months, I decided to just make a list of all these highlights. Honestly, it was such an eventful year that I can probably list 500 things that made this year awesome. Then, I wanted to make it 365 so that it's one memorable thing a day. But for the sake of brevity, I've narrowed it down to 100, just because it's a good number.

And here's how wonderful my year has been:

100 RANDOM THINGS THAT MADE 2006 AN AWESOME YEAR

1. My parents’ 40th anniversary surprise wedding party
2. Biboy’s surprise homecoming for the occasion that made Daddy teary-eyed
3. The birth of Enrique Javier
4. Flying to Japan to surprise Mark on his birthday
5. Seeing Mark’s surprised face when he opened his dorm door.
6. Joannah’s uber beautiful and ultra fun wedding
7. Spending our first Christmas together
8. My ad making the cover of Campaign Brief Asia
9. Drinking spree with my Siblings on the last day of the year
10. Melrose Christmas Party for Streetkids
11. The endless slew of Christmas Reunions
12. Tokyo
13. Shanghai
14. Urasa
15. Dalian
16. Wuhan
17. Qingdao
18. Bangkok
19. Osaka
20. Kyoto
21. Macau
22. Talking about the future at the 2nd floor of Starbucks 6750
23. Bonique announcing her engagement to Vince
24. Getting a visit from Fiesta, Lisa and Arnie in Hong Kong
25. Tanya’s first pregnancy and baby
26. Watching Brokeback Mountain
27. Getting a finalist certificate at Ad Asia
28. Hanging out with Ovvian
29. Fernan and lara moving to Hong Kong
30. Having my first official houseguests: Joey and John
31. Having my second official houseguests: Lisa and Arnie
32. Eating at restaurants in Japan: Saizeriya, Bubba Gump and of course, McDonald's
33. Watching Tristan and Isolde
34. Seeing Joannah in Hong Kong, twice!
35. Spending the night at Discovery Suites
36. Meeting Kuya Obet and his family
37. Running into Ann at Central
38. Lunch with Larry and Timothy in Hong Kong
39. First Foray into on-line shopping (American Eagle! Woohoo!)
40. First Chinese New Year in Hong Kong
41. Launched my first ad in Thailand (Protex Propolis) with excellent results
42. Making two ads for Ricky Reyes
43. Getting a Christmas gift from Ricky
44. Getting locked out of my flat and paying $500 to get in
45. “Of course I know you. Who doesn’t know Lester.”
46. Riding a MagLev Train
47. Maneuvering Shanghai’s subways alone
48. Watching “Just Friends” twice – Greenbelt, then Asian Mansions
49. Helping out a homesick Pinay in Church
50. Bringing home little surprises for friends
51. Eula’s performance in “Rekados”
52. Going to Tokyo Disneyland. I've seen all 5 Disney parks. Woohoo!
53. Showing around a group of Romanian tourists (and getting a shirt as thanks.)
54. Cathay Pacific's Lounge at Chek Lap Kok
55. Discovering Stitch’s Jeans
56. Working with KC again
57. Hong Kong’s efficient Postal system
58. Sending packages to Japan
59. Guessing Arnie’s shoe size, and getting it right on the money
60. Finally eating at A Venetto! With Mark.
61. Jela’s first birthday party
62. Being mistaken for a foreigner for the thousandth time
63. My blog going on to year two
64. “You should add ‘genius’ to your business card.”
65. Hanging out with Kawei, Shahreena and the rest of the SG crew
66. Melrose Reunion Pictorial (our first after more than 4 years.)
67. Visiting Russia town in Dalian
68. Ice cream with Arnie at Salcedo Market
69. The memories attached to X-Men 3
70. Hanging out with Kin and the CAO people more often
71. Inside Man’s mind twisting story
72. Malvin’s bible
73. Reese’s convincing performance in “Walk the Line”
74. Ice Age 2 followed by dinner at CPK
75. Hanging out with Direk Mark, Cecile and Direk Simon in HK
76. Finally using “bongga ka ‘day” in a commercial with Iya
77. Being called an artista by a real artista
78. Receiving Lai-sees
79. Being hugged by a stranger on the train
80. Running into Claire at the Hong Kong airport
81. “Oh my Gosh”
82. Hugs from people you love
83. Kisses from the person you love
84. A Thai star calling me a Mexican telenovela actor
85. “Your gift wrappers are fabulous.”
86. Letters from Hazel and Christine
87. And Marcus Jose makes three for Elsie and Mac!
88. Getting to work with Mel and Lizzie more often
89. Seeing Ningning Po and Cousin Gemma at Unitel after so many years
90. Meeting Jingle in Yotsuya, of all places!
91. Bringing Lizzie to Snoopy Land
92. Running into familiar faces when you least expect it.
93. Rediscovering Stanley Market
94. Going to DFA for the first time in my entire life and discovering that it isn’t that too traumatic and experience
95. Being given a really nice leather jacket as a gift
96. Being given a pair of Adidas shoes for no reason at all
97. Long, leisurely walks in Japan
98. Being smiled at by a real Geisha
99. Getting postcards from all over the world
100. Completing my Christmas shopping early this year

Given all these events and little oddities, my reaction to this year would be the same one i'd say whenever the Shigmeister offers me a glass of wine:

"It's a good year. A really, really good year."