Who Me?

Who... me?

NAME

Well, my full name is Chris John Figueroa Alma Jose IV. No actually, my real first name is (... please take a deep breath now!) Crisostomo. Whew! Pronouncing it is quite a work out already, let alone spell it! A Greek friend of mine told me the word means "golden mouth".

Ahem!

I'm the fourth Crisostomo (and hopefully the last!) in my clan. My Grandfather (my dad's side) was Senior, my uncle was Junior, my cousin is the third and I'm the baby! Yeah!

BIRTH

I was born in Manila, Philippines a very long time ago... it seems like it. On the 24th of June, 1963 to be exact. Sometime in the evening, I believe. My dad told me he was so anxious that night he mistakenly put MSG on his coffee instead of sugar. Ha! Gotta love him!!!

EDUCATION

I had a pretty decent education while I was growing up. I was raised in Manila for almost 24 years till I moved out to California back in April of 1997. When I was 5, I went to Nazareth School, which is a few blocks from our house to take up my degree in Kindergarten. It was a weird experience. Imagine, all of us crying our eyes out waiting for our parents to pick us up.

I spent my elementary and high school days (all 12 years of them!) at a Catholic prep school called San Beda College. I was never really all too fired up about school back then. Everybody seemed to be just goofing around all the time. Though I've had my fair share of fun times as well. Especially going to those NCAA basketball games of which our school had been champions year after year. Hey, it was a legal reason to miss class. Ha! Gotta support the team. Yeah!

Then at last, the craziness was over. Time to go to college and get serious. I loved my college
years. I'd go back a second time if I had a chance. I guess, I was influenced by my dad to take up Architecture and since I'm an artist at heart, I thought... why not? So I enrolled at the University Of Santo Tomas, the oldest University in the world built by the Spaniards back in the year 1611. It was cool. Anyway, I did pretty good at it and I made some of my best friends ever during those years. I spent 5 years until I graduated. It was a very neat experience I will never forget.

FAMILY

I guess my family is just your normal everyday type, if you will. Five in all: mom, dad, a brother and a sister. Although we're not exactly the Brady bunch, we do have a lot of decent memories. Sure we've all got our fair share of I've-seen-better-days adventures, but I have no complaints. I'm grateful I even have a family.

Anyway, my dad is an architect. His name is Mamert P. Alma Jose. He's a cool dude. The neighbors love him they made him their community leader. He digs that gig, I tell ya! On the side, well, he's a professor at the University he graduated from. Plus he designs and constructs buidings here and there.

My mom, on the other hand, is a business woman. Her name is Lilia F. Alma Jose She'll deal with anything that sounds like million dollar jackpot. She's actually a chemical engineer. We've got test tubes all over the house. Sometimes, I would drink my lemonade out of one. I love her cooking though. She's the bomb!

Okay, so I'm the oldest kid in my family. I've got a sister who's 2 years younger and a brother who's 4 years younger than myself. They're both married now. With kids too. Hey, I'm cool with it. No sweat. My time's gonna come.

Anyway, my sister's name is Carmenita A. De Rosas. We call her Nennette for short (which isn't really short to begin with). She's married to Antonio (we call him Jumbing... don't mess with him or you'll lose you're front teeth!), and I think they're the coolest couple on the planet. They have a son named Touie whom I also think is the smartest kid in the milky way.

My brother's name is Joselito F. Alma Jose, Lito for short. He followed my mom's footsteps and became an entrepreneur (did I spell that right, by the way?) himself. He's married to Gina and they have a little princess named Lia.

All my family is living in Manila. I haven't seen them for a very long time. I really miss them a ton. They're my treasure and I love them dearly.

Hey, you guys, if you happen to read this, I just want to say... I love you all!