Rekindling the Passion

One of my favorite hobbies besides MT Biking is playing the guitar. Almost 20 years ago I learned to play it through a free lesson at church. Since that day I loved playing it. There are lots of guitars and I liked acoustic the most. The sound of the steel strings as you strum makes a nice tone pleasing to the listener. On top of it I met my wife through playing the guitar so knowing to play an instrument has advantages. I used to play the guitar at church and camps however I have not bought one for myself. When I went here to Japan I have not played that much and my skill stagnated. After a while suddenly the passion came back after we transferred to a new church.

At New Hope Yokohama I auditioned for the Frontline Ministry as an acoustic guitar player and by God`s grace I passed. A new beginning for me to relive my passion, after that I have been praying for a new guitar so I could skill up at home. After 5 months of waiting the answer came, one day after practice my pastor came and gave his guitar. A Martin guitar ALternative X limited edition since it has an aluminum top and a sleek cutaway design. I was very surprised since this guitar costs a fortune, maybe a month`s salary at the most. I was grateful to God in using him as a channel of blessing, my pastor said " the Lord told me to give it to you... it was given to me by the worship leader at Oahu, Hawaii" I was joyful and it made me more inspired to play more skillfully. The guitar is a treasure to me not because of the amount but due to it`s history.

Includes a hard case and ready for rough environments.
The Cutaway is very nice and makes the ALternative X a unique guitar

The Fishman on board amp suits this great acoustic guitar

The Family

I got married 5 years ago and for the first 3 years of marriage my wife and I were separated due to work. She has to work as a supervisor in Makati while I continue my work here in Japan. Looking back it was a great nine years of friendship before settling down, we have overcome a 3 year long distance relationship, thank God for that. Well I overcame Japan, the pain of living alone and separate from your loved ones, how agonizing it is when you leave the airport and feel your heart is aching, longing to be with your wife and loved ones even for just one more hug. Those days have passed and never again will be. A year ago I started living with my wife here in Japan. How joyful am I, being a couple everyday of my life, being together, knowing each other. I think no one is as joyful as I am when that happened but wait there is much more! God has more blessings to give us. After 3 months my wife got pregnant, at long last! a baby is in here womb, Oh how grateful I am because we have been longing for a child since we got married. All things are beautiful in His perfect time.
Erika at 7 weeks the first time we saw our little angel!

There were ups and downs especially, I have to take time off and go with my wife to the hospital. Eventhough I am the only guy there I need not be shy because I love my wife and my baby, that is it ! period... I learned a lot of Japanese medical terms also while being asked by the doctors, hitting two birds with one stone.

Peewe outside the Sagamino Hospital.

Everynight before I go to sleep I always say to ERika( my daughter`s name ) Daddy`s here! then I could always feel her kicking my wife`s belly , maybe she`s is trying to tell to shut up dad! I am sleeping.

Me and my wife also got the habbit of eating hehehe against the advice of our doctor we ate ramen often especially Nagahama Ramen, I think ERika loved it too!

Weeks were like days and it was the 40th week so its time for Erika to be born, we went to the hospital on Dec. 18th and waited, Peewee started to labor and there are pains however it was not enough to have a natural delivery. On the second day we are the first to go to the labor room but each pregnant woman who came after got to the delivery room first. Hmmmm God is good all the time, I thought. I read the labor pain graphs of the other women and its the same as my wife but how come she did not feel that much pain. All things work together for good, the whole day in the labor room we just laughed and shared memorable stories maybe thats why she did not feel any pains. The second day was over and still no Erika. Third day, I went to office in the morning and worked half day. When I arrived at the hospital the doctor told us that it was not possible to have a natural birth. Caesarean operation was needed, ok so we decided to have it the doctors way, the doctor also asked if it would be a bikini cut or the normal cut.Hmmm, whichever I thought would suffice, since my wife would not wear two peace anyway.

The Day we checked in at the hospital, only the two of and GOD. No problem God is with us!
Peewee at the labor room relaxing hehehehe
Outside the operating room

After two hours they prepared the operating room and at exactly 4Pm my wife entered the O.R., I was never but I did not show it to her, I just kissed her I think on the forehead and said I love you, see you later. That was a long 15 minutes....jajajan! then the O.R. opened and viola! Erika came out sleeping...but I could never forget her reaction when I said Daddy`s here!, you know what she cried! hahahahahahaha it was time for her to see the handsome guy who always says those words....then after an hour my wife came and we were together at the recovery room and

I took pictures and held the princess of my life for the first time.

Erika when she went out of the Delivery room

Peewee and Erika

This was the best moment of my life ! and no amount of earthly treasure could suffice.

Sagami River Trail Ride

We live in Sagamihara City, which is located in the south of Tokyo. This city is blessed with tons of industries and natural resources. One of the known place to go is the Sagami River. The Sagami River is one of the mother rivers that runs right through the middle of Kanagawa Prefecture. It's a blessing for us that we're just 7.5Kms. away from this wonderful river. It's a great place to experience outdoor activity in the heart of an industrialized city. Many people go to this river for fishing and camping, but we went there to explore its riverside trail and to enjoy our Creator's abundant creation.

Our usual meet up time is at 6A.M.
Since we're just next door neighbor, in case one of us got carried away dreaming in a long way, either one of us can just push the door bell's button (to eject the rider, hehehe ...).

Before we start pedaling, we always make sure that our bikes are properly adjusted to our riding preferences and well conditioned to absorb the beating. Actually, the riders are the ones being beaten up, and not the bikes. hehehe...

Now that our bikes are well conditioned, we made an emergency pit stop along our way. We had our usual McDonalds' breakfast set.



When we got there, we had a short warm up on a slightly steep track.


We just agreed to keep on pedaling until the end of the river side trail. Our purpose - to start from one endpoint of the trail and finish our trail ride for the day on the other end point.

We took a short rest once we reached our starting point and enjoy the scenery.


We needed to carry our bikes, for us to get closer to the river.


The classic pose, Joriz with XAM.


Some nice pictures in action... here we go ...

This one here, fail to survive ...


That's the Takada bridge and this is where our MTB's had fun. Since it's a river side, we expected that it would be as rocky as a rocky road ice cream.It was indeed a bouncy trail ride, but our bikes didn't disappoint us.


Xam got to cool down in the middle of our hottie trail riding, while J-mee is off the river keeping his heaten up momentum.



Note : There are no other girls that I love other than my wife and my daughter, because I chose to be faithful... That's why I chose to be with a boy and not with the other girl... and that's J-mee... ;-)


The stretch of Sagami river side trail.




The river was too deep, that it can only be crossed by carrying our bikes on our back and swim with it. We failed to cross the river... Not now baby ...


Anyway we got a nice bridge up there.




At last we reached the end of the rocky river side trail, and we pedaled and crossed short wooden bridges.


Finally, we reached the other end of the Sagami riverside trail. But we had a cardiac killing climb (about 400m) before we got there.




Until our next trail ride. Ride safe !!!

Count Your blessings

Wow such a nice expression...anyway each day is a blessing big or small. I am really excited to enjoy little things in life, just like another trail ride today. Even though my friend and I lack sleep due to family time or just surfing the net hehehehehe, we just can`t resist to have a ride with J-mee and Xam.


At 6am we are ready to go
( every ride be sure to have your helmet and gloves). Our trail is about 10 Km only but this fun ride is enough for us.

Our trail is the one I take going to my office in Machida and since it has lots of hill climbs and nice nature parks, this is good for us to have stamina.

On our way to the Machida Technopark, we are overlooking the Sagamihara City.


Jowelle looking over Sagamihara City.


After a brief practice with his new shimano LX hydraulic brakes at the area, we went to another trail at the back of Machida Technopark all the way to Hashimoto Station and through the route 16 going back to our home.

Jowelle posing like a pro XC biker....J-mee is a full suspension bike
for XC riding and with Fox Coil as the core of the frame suspension, surely it makes the ride smoother and safer.



Xam is an all mountain bike which means she can take the long trail ride of an XC MTB and absorb hard downhills. Thanks to the Fox Float forks and air DHX suspensions. Anyway she is not at fat and heavy as you can see I could carry her all the way....

Xam is not that heavy for an
AM( all mountain) MTB






Another blessing to count, we really enjoyed this short and simple trip. Till our next ride... Have a safe ride.

First Moulting

Last week, J-mee just moulted his stock Shimano mechanical breaks. Now with his new Shimano LX hydraulic breaks, his poor master will now enjoy the luxury of soft and less effort breaking, hehehe. The upgrade didn't came cheap, as his poor master will be a household weekend slave for few weeks ( oh I love it, hehehe ).

Saved more than 50% from the SRP of the LX breakset (rotors, calipers, hoses and levers), courtesy of Yahoo Auctions Japan. The transaction went smooth, and I was almost tempted to negotiate if I can pay for it on a monthly basis... for 1 year.... aha...

Before :

After :