the thoughts inside my head

New blogspot

2010-01-02T14:47:00.000+08:00

I've moved. :)

Please click the title so you'll be directed to my new blog. Thanks!

Photoshop Typography Project 1

2009-11-01T11:02:00.000+08:00

All Hallow's Eve

2009-11-01T10:55:00.001+08:00

Originally posted from: http://jenniebebe.tumblr.com/post/229386572/all-hallows-eve

It’s that time of the year again when horror movies are shown on tv, there are Halloween specials and the retelling of ghost stories abound.

For as long as I can remember I have loved watching horror films and listening & telling ghost stories. Pretty ironic, specially because I am one of the worlds biggest cowards.

I don’t know if it’s because I have an active imagination or because I sometimes sense other worldly things. My aunt used to tell me I may have inherited my maternal grandmother’s third eye, but mine is only partially open. Let’s keep it that way. :)

When I was in grade school, I used to stay at my grandparents’ house after school. Then after work mom & dad would fetch us and we’d go home together. St. Scho was near lola’s house and I liked staying there playing with my cousins after doing my homework (yep, mabait ako, homework first before playing, magagalit kasi si lola. haha!)

Lola would cook merienda and we’d ask her about the things that she saw when she stayed in the province and when Manila was not as populated as it is right now. I don’t recall her telling the stories, she’d just smile and continue cooking but my cousin Ate Weng & I would bug our auntie Dely and she’d be the one to tell us the stories of lola’s scary encounters with white & black dwarves, a headless horseman, a hairy hand grabbing her ankles and ghosts. We also heard testimonies like this from lola’s sister and our other relatives.

I don’t know if those beings are real or not, but we thought, if it weren’t true then why were there many stories of lola’s encounters? She didn’t want to talk about it, but our older relatives used to tell us all about it.

I’ve always been sensitive. Sometimes out of nowhere, I just get chills up my spine & I’d get goosebumps. Or I’d see something in my peripheral vision, but when I look there’s nothing there. Though I’d feel like someone’s watching me. Or I get these uneasy feelings about certain places without knowing why. But afterwards I’d learn that something bad happened there.

The first “encounter” I can remember was when I was 4 years old. I remember that clearly because it was 10 days before my 5th birthday. We used to live in Manila and I woke up in the middle of the night. Mom woke up to see me waving at the door and she asked who I was waving at. I told her my dad’s sister. who lived in Baguio was at the bedroom door waving & smiling at me. I asked mom, “Mommy bakit maliwanag si Tita M?” Mom woke up Dad and they asked me to point where she was, I pointed to the door but she was gone. They didn’t tell me that my tita had passed away that night. I don’t know if we were close or not, but I remember that we just visited her in Baguio a few weeks before that night.

There are other instances I’d rather not remember. Tatakutin ko na naman ang sarili ko. Hehe. Suffice to say that I don’t see “them”, I just feel them. Sometimes it’s just the chills up my spine. Or I’d feel like my head was expanding. Not a good feeling at all.

These instances are not often though, Thank God.

Can you blame me if I sometimes sleep with the lights on & I keep all my bedroom windows and drapes shut at night?

typhoon Santi

2009-10-31T15:32:00.000+08:00

Originally posted on: http://jenniebebe.tumblr.com

Finally, after almost 12 hours, our electricity is back. Weee!

I was alone in the living room at 4am when the lights went out. I had a feeling it was gonna happen when the lights started flickering around 3am. So I readied the candles & the matches. I couldn’t find the flashlight, but I thought my phone’s backlight would be sufficient, as I have used it briefly as a night light before.

When the lights went out, I quickly lit a candle & ran as fast as i could without snuffing out the flame. Hahaha! Classic cowardly move by Jennie. :p

I stayed in my room reading a book. If mom were alive she’d tell me my eyesight s going to go bad if I continue reading a book with a candle light. I used to tell her my eyesight has been bad since the 2nd grade. Hehe.

While I was reading the book, I was scared & distracted by the howling wind. I think that was during the peak of the storm. The wind was really intense. I thought our roof was going to be peeled off, by the sound of it. It seemed like it was shaken loose. I found out in the morning that the branches of our mango tree was scraping the roof & that was the sound I heard.

There wasn’t much rain fall but the wind was really strong and it went around in circles.

In the morning when I went to the backyard, all of dad’s banana trees were uprooted as well as the big ipil ipil tree. As I passed by the mango tree, I heard gushing water. The water pipe broke because the tree was almost uprooted. Yikes!

My phone’s battery was almost dying so I couldn’t take a picture of the destruction left by Typhoon Santi at our backyard. I’m just happy none of us got hurt & the typhoon is going out of the country.

Paranormal Activity

2009-10-25T08:50:00.002+08:00

Originally posted on: http://jenniebebe.tumblr.com

I woke up at 1 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Seeing the light in the living room, I decided to get up & watch tv, knowing that my brother is still awake. (I don’t know why I like watching tv in the living room even if I have my own tv in my room :p)

I was watching NGC Apocalypse: The Second World War (good doc

umentary, by the way, with actual declassified footage), when my brother said he’ll watch Paranormal Activity.

Having heard the buzz about the new “mockumentary” sweeping the US, similar to the buzz created by The Blair Witch Project 10 years ago (gosh, has it been that long?!), I told him I wanted to watch it, too.

If you know me well, you’d know that I’m afraid of the dark and things that go bump in the night, but I love watching horror movies. I’ve been known to watch scary movies and sleeping with the lights on for months after watching it. Sidenote: when I was in 2nd grade, we watched Fear No Eviland couldn’t sleep without my mom beside me for months.

And I’ve digressed.. ^_^

So, at 3am (witching hour?) my brother and I was watching Paranormal Activity, Friday’s #1 movie in America.

It’s about a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural entity in their home at night and how they document the paranormal activity with their handheld camera. I thought the film was well made. And unlike Blair Witch Project, the actors were likable and very natural. It also didn’t make me dizzy watching it.

I think what makes it scary is the anticipation. You just know that something’s going to happen. Well that’s what happened to me anyway. I scared myself waiting for the next thing to happen. :p

If you’re the type who likes horror films that scare you nonstop from start to finish, this movie isn’t for you. It kinda starts slowly, nothing significant happens until about 40 minutes into the film. But the buildup tot he denouement is great.

While I was searching on Wiki, I found out that there are several alternative endings to the movie. My brother and I watched the original version, which was creepy. Reading the ending of the version being shown in cinemas however, I think I like the ending of the theatrical release better.

I have to watch it. Even if I know it will scare me more.

Go watch the movie, it’s just in time for Halloween.

It’s scary, but don’t take my word for it. I’m a coward, remember? ;)

why?

2009-08-30T01:34:00.000+08:00

These are my dad's lovebirds.

A few weeks ago he was wondering why the female hasn't laid any eggs yet, when it's been a while since we got these lovebirds.

Yesterday he found out why.

Turns out both birds are male.

Wahahaha! Brokeback Birdies.

emo mode

2009-08-07T13:08:00.001+08:00

I admit it. I've always thought Kris Aquino was irritating and maarte. I'm sure many people feel the same way. I can't count the times I shook my head after hearing something she's said or done. I've rolled my eyes a million times when she'd brag that she bought this or that, or how she's been to this country.

But the past few days, I've seen a different Kris.

One that I can relate to.

I've heard some people say that she was her normal overacting self when she couldn't stop crying every time she's interviewed. I dare these people to say the same thing after they've gone through numerous checkups, waiting for test results, taking care of a mother undergoing radiation therapy & chemotherapy and having them die in your arms. I doubt if they can still say that.

It's been 4 years since my mom passed away. And not a day goes by when I don't think of her and wish she was still here with us. Losing a parent is without a doubt one of the most difficult events in life a person can undergo. Lalo na kung nakita mo kung gaano naghirap yung taong mahal mo.

Kaya siguro sobrang affected ako nung namatay si Tita Cory. Not only because she's a fellow Scholastican that I really admire but because in some way, alam ko yung hirap na pinagdaanan nya at ng pamilya nya.

Sobrang nakarelate ako sa lahat ng sinabi ni Kris. Lahat ng kwento nya about staying in the hospital to take care of her mom, waiting for test results, talking to the doctors about her mom's condition, how painful chemo is, not only for the person undergoing it but for the family too. Ang hirap makitang nasasaktan yung mahal mo tapos di mo alam kung paano mapapabuti yung nararamdaman nya.

I wouldn’t wish cancer on even my hatest enemy.

Someone told me before that at least we were prepared for the eventuality of death, because it was cancer and not a heart attack or a sudden death. I said that for me it was harder. It’s easy to say that you’re prepared for that eventuality but when you’re in that moment, IT’S NEVER EASY.

The hardest thing to do is to let go. But sometimes you just have to, because if you’re holding on but the person you love is suffering, ang maiisip mo lang, “di bale nang ako ang masaktan, wag lang sha.”

Healing

RIP Pres Cory Aquino

2009-08-01T09:32:00.000+08:00

As my shift ended at 6 this morning, I felt so excited because it was finally my rest day. I was happy beyond words that the work week had ended.

On the drive from the office, I admired the yellow ribbons on the trees at Fort Global City. I was going to take pictures because it was a beautiful sight. Then our driver said, "Namatay na si Cory, no?" I felt sadness wash over me. All I could say was, "Ha? Kelan pa?" He said, "Kaninang 3:18am".

I couldn't help it. My lachrymal glands went on overdrive and I was thankful for the big shades I was wearing. Since we were gonna pass by Heritage on the way home from work, I wanted to tell our driver to go there. Feeling ko naman kapamilya ako.

But I felt as if I lost a relative, too. I only knew 2 Presidents growing up: Marcos & Tita Cory (she was everyone's Tita, it seems).

Tita Cory held power but she remained humble. I guess that's why she was loved by many.

We were listening to the radio on the way home and I couldn't help but remember how it was when mom passed away 4 years ago. Siguro kaya din sobrang nalungkot ako at naiyak, kasi nakakarelate ako. Pareho silang cardi-pulmonary arrest ni mommy & they were both battling stage 4 cancer. Emo mode na naman ako kanina.

Then when my tears ceased, Jose Mari Chan's song written by Ninoy Aquino for Cory, played on the radio. Which started another bout of crying. I texted my tita and I just had to laugh at her reply. Sabi daw nya sa cousin ko kanina na pag nalaman ko na namatay na si Tita Cory, iiyak na naman ako. Hihi. My Aunt knows me so well. :p Alam nyang numero unong iyakin ang pamangkin nya. ^_^

Tita Cory had a lot of contributions to our country. She showed the world the true empowerment of women in a very patriarchal society. She remained humble and showed utmost courage.

Thank you for helping restore democracy in the country, Tita Cory. Rest in Peace.

Kulasa ka ba?

2009-03-31T06:13:00.000+08:00

Answer these in your notes and share with a fellow Kulasa:

1. Have you ever been to Salazar's office?
Suki ako ni Ms. Salazar nung 2nd yr HS, kasi halos everyday late ako. Hmpft. carpool kasi kami pos lagi sila late, kaya damay din kami. Kulang na alng sabihin sa kin ni Ms. Salazar, sawang-sawa na ako sa iyo.

2. Do you know what the pink slips and blue slips are for?
Ahaha! Of course. blue is for late, pink is for absent

3. Did you ride a school bus going to school?
1st yr HS only

4. What was your favorite food in campus?
deviled egg sandwich, roast beef!, sizzling, barbeque and hotdog na kahit mahaba pila, pipila pa din, melon shake

5. Do you prefer the St. Cecilia's hall or the little theater?
Little Theater kasi malamiiig. pos may mumu ^_^

6. Do you think putting down your straps was cool, weird, untidy, stylish?
mas cool pag isa lang ang bagsak. parang di sinadya :)) <--- haha! agree ako jan, chie.

7. Have you ever worn long socks that you rolled down to become shorter?
ay baduy, di nakaroll, nakascrung yung St. Michael's pa na socks yun

8. Which clubs did you join?
art, kampil, amnesty int'l, blue flame art dep't, benedictine circle (hihi, oo maniwala ka!)

9. Did you ever have your own stone table tambayan?
ay may issue jan hahaha! may pang-aagaw na nangyari ^_^

10.Have you ever stayed overnight in campus?
nung nastranded kami sa sobrang taas ng baha. pos i remember sleeping in school to attend the simbang gabi

11. Were you ever stranded in campus?
yep. i was in 2nd yr HS. Slept in Rm 205

12. Who was your favorite teacher?
madami. Ms. Mina, Ms. Juaregui, Ms. Brotonel, my elective teacher, Ms. Kanapi, Mr. Ablong

13. Who was your least favorite teacher?
ahh.. wag na lang natin i-mention. hehe

14. What was your favorite subject?
World History, English Lit

15. What was your least favorite subject?
Trig/any math subject

16. What was your most memorable field trip?
oh no. I cant remember kung saan kami nagfield trip nung HS. ahaha! memory gap. Oh yeah, I remember na Divisoria for Con Ed. first time ko magpunta sa Divi nun. hehe

17. Have you ever had a loyalty award?
op kors. prep to HS ako dun eh.

18. Did you apply in SSC for college?
Hehe, I did. Bad pa, paniguradong school.

19. Ever dreamed of being a Valedictorian?
er.. nope

20. My favorite classroom would be:
Rm 205, daming fun moments dun, Rm 305 din, chaka Rm 409 kasi malaki, haha

21. How long did you stay in St. Scho?
Prep to 4th yr HS, 11 years

22. My favorite restaurant outside the campus would be:
mango brutus, hotside coolside, sfter taste and the ever reliable jollibee

23. Have you ever been to a soiree?
once or twice lang yata

24. Have you ever wished SSC had no uniform so that you could wear civilian clothes everyday?
nope, i liked wearing the uniform, at least di ka magiisip everyday kung ano isusuot mo

25. Do you know Nancy?
oo naman. institution si Nancy sa Gate 1. Saan na kaya sha?

26. Did you ever hangout @ UM or HP?
HP pag walang elective pos magsestay sa National Bookstore maghahanap ng books, UM nung college na ako

27. Have you ever borrowed a book in the LRC?
ahaha! Nancy Drew books, nacomplete ko yun. Sa HS Lib yung mga Sweet Dreams

28. Have you ever watched our pep squad compete?
Pag required :p

29. Do you remember your sections when you were in SSC?
from Prep?
Prep F - Ms. Mejia
1A - Mrs. Silverio
2 - St. Wunibald - Ms. de Leon then Mrs. Hufancia
3 St. Ethelburga - Ms. Manila
4 St. Bernard - Mrs. Agbunag
5 - St. Aurea - Mrs. Agbunag then Mrs. Go
6 - St. Gregory - Ms. Octaviano
1- I - Mrs. Bascon
2 - O - Mrs. Villarosa then Mrs. Iguaras
3 - L - Ms. Tumagoy
4 - O - Ms. Brotonel

30. Do you know the life story of St. Scholastica?
yup

31. Do you know the scholastican motto?
Ora et Labora

32. Have you ever been to an SSC fair?
yup! had so much fun specially during 3rd & 4th Yr when we manned the dedication booth

33. Have you ever been stuck in the jail booth?
hehe, yup

34. Which gate did you usually use?
gate 1 nung HS, grade school Gate 7 in the morning, pag uwi sa Gate 6.

35. Do you remember any of the PEP squad cheers?
oo naman. AEAGO

36. What was your favorite PE class?
swimming, taekwondo & arnis. i hated basketball & volleyball

37. What was your favorite sport during intrams?
watching. bwahahaha!

38. Who do you really think was SSC's rival school, Assumption, Miriam or Poveda?
Assumption

39. What was your favorite recollection/retreat venue?
subiaco chaka yung sa OMI kasi masaya yung reco na yun

40. If you had a daughter, will you enroll her in SSC manila?
kung kaya ko pa ang tuition. ahahah!

good luck sa ken :p

2009-02-28T06:17:00.000+08:00

Ang bilis talaga ng araw. Training is over and on Monday, we'll be on our nesting period already.

My gah! 5 weeks na yun?!

I haven't even blogged about my training and now it's over.

Hay.

The account is relatively easy (compared to my last program, any program would be easy :p) but i'm not as confident in the application/screen navigation yet. We'll still be using a Citrix program but it's DOS based, coz it's a financial account and it's harder to hack into a DOS based system than a web based one. Ugh. I'm so out of my comfort zone on that one.

I'm getting anxious.

Wish me luck on Monday! :)
--------------------------

I got bothered by something I read earlier and how I reacted to the statement of the driver of the vehicle that pinned and killed an Ateneo Grade School student. Yes, accidents do happen, but the wording of her statement felt off to me: “I also deserve compassion and understanding as I am also a victim of circumstance. I could hardly speak due to the traumatic situation that incident has brought into my life,” Torres said.

In fairness to her, she did apologize to the family, but if someone deserves compassion, I think it would be the family of the 10 year old kid. Ewan, mahirap ipaliwanag yung point ko. Feeling ko kasi she's demanding na maawa din sa kanya ang tao kasi natraumatize din sha. Oo di nya sinasadya yung nangyari, and I have no right to judge her, I just feel that if someone deserves compassion, it would be the child's family. Maybe I felt that way coz it wasn't even her who brought the child to the hospital but a bystander. :(

Driver Apologizes for Ateneo Student's Death

halo halo #3

2009-02-10T08:15:00.000+08:00

Yikes! How long have I not been updating my blog? It's been so long I can't even remember. Has it been three weeks? Hehe.. It's possible, coz if I remember correctly, the last post was when I was trying to decide which job offer to take. Eh bakit kaya di ko na lang tignan yung date yung last entry ko?

Anyway, I haven't been able to update much because I'm currently on my third week of training. Oh, I forgot to mention it, I took the first job offer. No regrets so far. Haha! I'm actually supposed to be sleeping by now coz we'll have our first exam, but when I'm bitten by the writing bug, I have to write.

Training is ok, so far. The program I'm in is eons away from the program I came from. And compared to the telco program, the account I'm in is easier. I think. I mean, I can't really say that for sure coz I'm still in training, but based on the topics and the navigation part, it's so much easier. Thank God!

My team mates are okay. We're in the getting to know you stage, but I like them. I miss my superfriends and the SMEs and I can only hope that my new team mates and I would bond well. If my new work friends and I would be half as close as my superfriends or the SMEs then I'll be a happy camper. :)

My adjustment was made easier by the fact that I'm in training with one of my friends, Yveth & superfriend Rome is also there. That made the transition easier.

I don't know what the future holds for me in the new company, but so far, I am liking my journey. Ask me again in a few months if I'll still feel that same way. Hahaha!

-----------------------------
Hmm.. nabother ako sa news na to: Chris Brown Lowdown: Cops Continue Probe, Wrigley Halts Ads, Rihanna Recovering

My gah! Chris Brown was charged with domestic battery?! And the alleged victim was Rihanna. Ang sad. I still can;t believe it. I mean Chris Brown has this squeaky clean image ans I was shocked to read about what happened yesterday.

Yep, affected ako coz I like Chris Brown. Tsk.

------------------------------
On the way home the other day, I was listening to the radio and I heard the first few bars of my favorite Close up jingle, Closer You & I. I haven't heard that in a loooong time that's why I smiled when I heard it. But I quickly lost my smile when I heard the song. It wasn't the original singer, Gino Padilla, it was Sponge-frickin'-cola! ARGH!

Ay nakoh, sorry na lang sa may gusto ng Spongecola, pero nairita ako sa version nila. Wala na yung emotion ng song. The original was sweet but their version was blah. First it was Crazy for You now it's Closer You and I. Anuba? Why mess with something that's not broken? Ayaw ko pa naman sa lahat yung gagawa ng cover version na pilit. If you're gonna make a cover of a popular song, at least make it better than the original. Hmpft.

---------------------------
Did anyone see the lunar eclipse last night?

Hehe, nagka-stiff neck ako kakatingala, di ko pa din nakita kasi super cloudy. Sayang. But on my way home at 6am, the moon was still visible in the horizon and it was so full & big. Super baba pa nya. Ang ganda. Too bad all the pics I took was kinda blurry coz the McKinley Shuttle was quite fast.

----------------------------
Crap. It's past 1pm. I have to go to sleep na. I have to be at work early tonight pala.

i'm confused again :(

2009-01-21T10:18:00.000+08:00

I'm soooo confused.

I got my formal job offer last night and their offer was lower than what I asked for but significantly higher than my pay with my previous company. There's a very big chance of promotion in a few months because it's a relatively new center and they are moving to a location that is nearer. It's just in Magallanes. ONe of my friends work there now and he was promoted in 3 months. And if I take the job, I'll be training with another friend.

I made up my mind earlier to take the job offer, but I just got a phone call from another company saying that I'm shortlisted for another position. It's with a company I applied for last year, but I didn't take the offer because I wasn't ready to leave eTel. I got a very good job offer from them last year and if they are going to be offering me the same package then it's going to be bigger than my job offer last night. The office is at The Fort. I have friends in the said company, who are quite happy there, but they are in different departments.

I don't know what to do.

I'm pressured to take the first job offer coz the offer expires at 7pm and it would be awaste to let it go. But I also want to know what the other company is going to offer me.

I need a sign.

Hay.

I'll blog about my one week vacation in Aklan & Boracay as soon as I figure this out. Hehehe. And as soon as I find the USB cord, so I can post the pictures.

this isn't goodbye, it's just see you soon

2009-01-11T15:02:00.000+08:00

It was my last working day earlier and I had mixed emotions. As early as 3 hours before my shift ended I was literally counting the minutes until I logged out. And with that I left with renewed optimism and I must admit, a heavy heart. Officially my last day will be on Jan. 16, but as of today, I am on my terminal leave.

I've been thinking how to compose my farewell letter and I've had a lot of drafts. OO, pinagisipan ko tong mabuti :) Since the day I started thinking about moving on, I've been trying to compose it. I've had funny drafts, cheesy ones, dramatic drafts. But, Ive decided to write when I really felt like it.

Go with the flow. No drafts. Straight from the heart.

I've spent some of my best & worst times in eTel. I've established friendships that will last a lifetime and I've learned an awful lot of things. Not just about the industry, but about myself and about people.

I admit that I was one of the people who didn't think highly of the industry. Oo na, snob ako. I found it ironic that I went into this industry thinking that, but I am really glad I became one of the vampires (figurative yun ah. haha). And that I have been proven wrong.

I'm thankful that I've met friends like YOU. You made going to work enjoyable. You guys did the impossible. You actually made me want to go to work. Yes you did. This was the first job I had that didn't feel like a job or a chore. So when I stopped feeling that way, I felt it was time for me to move on.

To Vonage Wave One, kayo ang unang dahilan kung bakit nag-stay ako. I told myself before I started training that if I didn’t like my batchmates, I wouldn’t show up the next day. Damn the bond! (ang bond na panakot lang pala, hehe). From 25 iilan na lang tayo. I hope that for everyone that remained, you’ll reach all your goals and that you’ll always be happy. I enjoyed every minute we spent together.

To my Superfriends, sabi nga ni Dads, you added flavor to my life. Thank you sa lahat ng bonding moments: inuman, kantahan, asaran, iyakan, tawanan, lakwatcha, movie days, overnights, summertrip. Lahat lahat. Hindi ko na iisa-isahin, you know who you are and you know how special you guys are to me. Amameshu!

To the Sprint Champs: It was fun while it lasted. I had a blast cooking up ideas with you guys. And we had a lot of them. Sayang hindi na-follow through, but I hope someday, yung mga plans natin dati hindi lang sa paper. Maging reality na. Di ko pa din naabutan yung Champs jacket. Hahaha, gawa nalang tayo ng sarili natin.

To my trainers, Steffie, Alu, Mikey, Miggs at ang matagal nang nang-iwang si Chester (hehe): Thank you for imparting your knowledge and for being enthusiastic about it, kahit madaming pasaway (ouch!) At some point I wanted to be like you, but narealize ko na hindi yun ang forte ko. Hahahaha! I appreciate the guidance and tips, but it wasn’t meant to be. DI ako bitter. Ahaha! May disclaimer.

Vonage friends: Team Anna, Kria, Ronan, Alfie, John, at Anna uli, na unti unti nang nalalagas. Na dati pag naglalakad ako sa floor, bawat quadrant may tatawag sa kin, na naging dahilan kung bakit ako muntik nang ma-late sa paglog-in kasi bebeso at chichika pa ako. Hehehe. Miss ko na yung mga masasayang araw natin sa Makati. From GB to ACS, here’s to the number one rated digital phone service! ^_^

To Sprint Wave One & Team Orion, you made my first few months in Sprint bearable. Hahah! Ang team na laging kina-career ang dress up your quadrant days. Na gumawa pa ng “costumes” sa bahay namin nung off. In fairness, nanalo tayo. Haha!

Team Kolokoy (Alfie),here’s to more GAs kila Mommy G (sana makasama na ako :p). Nasabi ko na lahat ng gusto kong sabihin dun sa spamming natin before tayo mag-hiwahiwalay, but let me thank you again for embracing me in your team back in August. Bum bum dee bum will always remind me of you guys.

Team Kotics, thank you sa pagtanggap sa akin. Sad na sandali lang tayo magkakasama but I enjoyed being part of the team. TL, Nangangatog pa din ako sa takot. Hehehe.

To the LCB Teams and the teams assigned to me, Team Francia & Team Ziggy, thank you for putting up with me. Hahaha! Sensha na if I have masungit moments. I’ve learned a lot from you and I hope you learned something from me, too.

To my TLs & SMs, Anna, Ronan, Alfie, John, Paul, Cy, Kria, Nardz, Kayeser, Karen, Margaux, Abby & Cha. Thank you for your guidance and for making me believe that I can do better. Thank you for pushing me to be the best I can be and for believing in my abilities. Sorry for my pasaway moments, hehehe.

My TL friends, Jayme (whoo! For more overnight trips!), Francia, Hawie, Rye, Tin, KB, Skelliebelly, Revery: even if I wasn’t part of your teams you were always there for me. Thank you for the advice, guiding words, happy times. I truly appreciate it.

And how can I forget my SME family? We’ve been through a lot last year, there were lots of ups and downs but I wouldn’t trade it for anything coz it only made our bond stronger. Most of us have left and moved on to bigger and brighter things but the bond remains. Here’s to more summer trips, movie days, team lunches sa Shang, and reunion parties kila Carlo (hehe, vinolounteer?). I wish you all the best and I know that wherever we all decide to go, we’ll succeed. Sabi nga ni Chris, “This is the BEST Team EVER!” Love you guys! May separate letter ako na ginawa. Hehehe.

OMG. Ang haba nito. This is how much eTel has touched my life.

Again, my heartfelt thanks. I am going to miss you all.

This isn’t goodbye, it’s just see you soon!

this is it :)

2009-01-03T08:15:00.000+08:00

I don't believe in horoscopes and predictions but I like reading them. Hehehe, nakakaaliw lang basahin coz sometimes it really fits my situation. Take this one for example:

"Don't allow fear of change to paralyze you.

The card in the Blocks position points to self-undermining tendencies, areas where you could be in denial, where you could get stuck -- unless you examine yourself and make some corrections.

You feel a need to change yet are fearful of doing anything about it. You are stuck. It's important to remember that nothing you can lose is truly yours, and what is truly yours never will be lost for long. Your essential nature, your eternal identity, your basic quality of being is unique and permanent. No amount of change will rob you of who you really are.

Release your attachment to appearing any particular way to yourself or anyone else. In turn you will free yourself to go through what is in front of you and gain the benefit1s."

It's so me! I just read it today, a few hours after I submitted my letter of resignation to my immediate supervisor. Ano daw?! Letter of Resignation?!

Yes, you read that right. After 4 retractions, I finally had the courage to do it.

It's only the 3rd day of the year and I've already made my 1st major decision. Papanindigan ko na ito. I've been evaluating my life for the past few months, and a few days after 2008 ended, I've come to a conclusion: that it's finally time for me to make a move, spread my wings and leave my comfort zone. I've been dragging myself to work the past few months and I'm not happy at all. I figured why stay if I'm miserable?

It was not a spur of the moment thing. Ang tagal ko to pinagisipan. But earlier while I was composing my LOR, there was no hesitation, unlike before that I had second thoughts. Of course I'm still scared, but this time, I know I will and I have to overcome my fears and apprehensions.

Our Operations Manager hasn't signed it yet and I'm still not sure if he'd let me leave on the day I noted on the letter, but one thing's for sure: there's no turning back. :)

Wish me luck!

year end survey

2009-01-02T02:07:00.000+08:00

I was browsing my old blogspot and I found the year end survey I did last 2006. I thought it would be nice to answer it again and reminisce on my 2008. :)

What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
travel a lot in the summer. ignored the idle chatter coz i know and the people who know the real me, knows the truth (redundant mashado :p)

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I haven't kept a new year's resolution. Ever. I always say I'll do it this time but I never have. Hehehe.

Did anyone close to you die?
My great aunt passed away 5 days before Christmas but we're not close. It doesn't change the fact that it's still sad.

What countries did you visit?
Sadly... none.

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Stability. More moolah. hihi

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Summer of 2008. Bonding with family & friends

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
become more independent, stayed focused no matter what

What was your biggest failure?
giving up a lucrative job offer

Did you suffer illness or injury?
thankfully, nope

What was the best thing you bought?
hehe, babaw lang, but i loved the chocolate cookies my sister introduced me to. sobrang na-addict ako dun. hahaha!

Whose behavior merited celebration?
mine. my sme friends (c'mon, sobrang pagtitimpi :p)

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
not worth naming

Where did most of your money go?
bills and food. travel expenses

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
summer trips

What song(s) will always remind you of 2008?
disturbia, with you, forever, lucky, i'm yours, dami pa :p

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? -- sadder
ii. thinner or fatter? -- the same
iii. richer or poorer? -- richer (ng konti :p)

What do you wish you'd done more?
sleep, have dinner with my postepeeps,

What do you wish you'd done less of?
being disappointed, eating (haha! i say that every year)

How many one-night stands?
wala

What was your favorite TV program?
house, er, grey's anatomy (hehe, puro medical drama?), 30 rock, october road

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
hate is such a strong word. disappointed & indifferent maybe

What was the best book you read?
well the only books I've read this year were the Twilight books. It's not the best, but I loved it :)

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hehehe... I didn't like R&B before but I found myself liking alot of R&B this year. Through the years I've been more inclined on the rock/alternative genre, not this year though.

What did you want and get?
real friends

What was your favorite film of this year?
naman.. obvious na ang sagot ko dito :p

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
i was on birthday leave, didn't do much but rested :p how old? wag na! :p

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
hmm.. i haven't thought about it yet

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
hehe, largely dependent on my mood. if not in the mood to dress up, it's jeans, tshirt & flipflops to work. of course, there'smy staple black blouses :p

What kept you sane?
My friends, and writing.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
edward.. este, rob pattinson pala ;)

What political issue stirred you the most?
sad to say, i've become apathetic to the political issues. but just recently, I became so incensed when I read the blog about this corrupt warlord of a politician who beat up a businessman and his 14 yr old son, a day after Christmas at Valley Golf. Grabe!

Who did you miss?
a lot of friends who moved on to better things :)

Who was the best new person you met?
Team Kolokoy :)

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
1. It doesn't matter what others say as long as you know and the people who matter to you know the truth.
2. The best way to recover is to let go and move on. It's no use dwelling over the past as you can't change it. Instead, make the present count and look forward to the future.

What was the nicest thing someone told you about yourself:
I know the real you.

the most touching experience you've had this year?
What touched me the most was how a bad situation made the bond between my sme family stronger.
Then there was a time na hindi kami naguusap ni Dads, sobrang nakakalungkot yun, umiyak ako sa cr nung bati na kami. hehehe, yaw ko kasi may makakita.

What did you like most about yourself this year?
i stood up for what i believed in, made a lot of new friends

What did you hate most about yourself this year?
how i became so affected about everything and it made me feel a lot of disappointments

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
If the mind keeps thinking
You've had enough
But the heart keeps telling you
Don't give up
Who are we to be questioning
Wondering what is what
Don't give up
Through it all
Just stand up

Was 2008 a good year for you?
It started great, by the middle of the year there was a bit of turmoil. towards the end of the year, things are a bit better

What was your favorite moment of the year?
summer trips with family & friends. annual summer outing with my cousins in Laguna, SME overnights in Antipolo & Nasugbu. Puerto Galera with the Superfriends.

What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Board room meetings which never ended well. There's always bad news when we had the meetings at the board room. It became so bad, my teammates and I have come to hate that boardroom.

Where were you when 2008 began?
at home :D

Who were you with?
dad, sister & brother

Where will you be when 2008 ends?
i was at the office

Who will you be with when 2005 ends?
my team mates

Do you have a new years resolution for 2009?
venture out of my comfort zone :) totoo na to!

What was your favorite month of 2008?
April & May

Did you lose anybody close to you in 2008?
You don't lose people because you don't own them.

Did you miss anybody in the past year?
I missed close friends who resigned after the "fiasco"

What was your favorite record from 2008?
There were several records I liked in 2008: We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. by Jason Mraz; Viva La Vida by Coldplay, Year of the Gentleman by NeYo, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded by Rihanna, Riot! by Paramore (techinically this was a 2007 album whiche I liked in 2008)

Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2008?
only during summer

do a lot of drugs in 2008?
nope, legal or illegal. ehehe

Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
no

How much money did you spend in 2008?
I don't want to know.

What was your proudest moment of 2008?
when i stood up for myself :)

What was your most embarrassing moment of 2008?
ay madami yun, haha! wag na lang. secret na lang

If you could go back in time to any moment of 2008 and change something, what would it be?
Turning down a lucrative job offer back in July because I wasn't ready to leave my comfort zone

What are your plans for 2009?
Become a better me. Venture out into the world. Leave my comfort zone (I've said that quite a lot haven't I? Hehe, kasi feeling ko ready na ako)

How are you different now that the year has ended?
I'm not afraid anymore.

What are your wishes for the new year?
Better, brighter, more fulfilling, richer 2009 :D

happy new year!

2008-12-31T07:21:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year!

may 2009 be a prosperous year for everyone

hay... nasa-sad ako... may pasok ako mamayang gabi :( hindi na-approve ang leave ko. Isipin ko na lang for more pay ito. pampalubag-loob. hehe.

twilight pinoy version?!

2008-12-27T07:16:00.000+08:00

Sobra na talagang pag-ka-addict sa Twilight to.

I was supposed to blog about our Christmas celebrations but I got so distracted by the rumors circulating that there's now a Twilight Pinoy version, entitled.. drum roll please... Takipsilim. I mean WTF?! Shempre napamura ako. Hahaha! Maisulat ba naman pati ni Perez Hilton. Di ba kaloka?

Then I realized,"Hey, Kian is a friend of Cathy Garcia-Molina, the rumored director. I gotta confirm this." So I texted Kian and after a few minutes he replies, "May nagtanong din sa akin nyan na friend kahapon. Hehe. According to Cathy, she's not the director and she's not aware if meron ngang porject na ganyan ang abscbn for development."

Thank goodness for connections. Hehehe. I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

a rude awakening

2008-12-21T04:34:00.000+08:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of the house phone ringing. I didn't want to answer it because it felt so nice sleep inside my comforter cocoon with this morning Christmas weather. But I guess my dad was in his garden at the back of the house, my sister already left and my brother is still asleep. I had no choice but to anwer the extension phone in my room.

I said hello groggily. The male voice no the phone said, "Hello, pakilakas nga po, di ko marinig."

Wow. Ginising mo ako tapos demanding ka pa?! Grudgingly I said hello louder and asked who was calling. He said his name was Jomar, who sounded like he was between the ages of 15-17.

The caller asked, "Pwede po ba magtanong?" and I said, "Yeah, ano yun?"

I guess you know where this conversation is going to lead to by now...

He then asked if he can bang me. Eew. Pardon the term but that's what he said.

By then I was irritated. I woke up for this?!

"Dude, it's 8 am on a Sunday, don't you have better things to do like go to church to atone for your dirty mind? I am still sleepy, I am not interested and for the record, I like men with brains."

And then I hung up with a smile. Ahaha! Bitchy me strikes again.

changes

2008-12-08T04:47:00.000+08:00

I haven't been in the mood to blog lately. I put the blame on the Christmas cool weather, coz let's admit it, it feels so much better to sleep and hide under the covers.

It's funny how I keep a list of thing I want to blog about and how I try (operative word: try) to write a blog about it. Lately, I haven't had much luck posting anything except my previous team's pictures.

Now that I'm in the mood to write, I'm still trying to figure out what to post first. Hehe. Should I post chronologically or depending on how my thoughts flow? Ampft. Ang OC! magsusulat lang, ang dami pang arte - that's my subconscious talking, or "ang aking konsensiya" in the vernacular.

Anyway, I'll just go with the flow.

I think I'm jinxed.

In a span of one year, 3 of my TLs resigned. First was Paul, then Kria, and now Alfie. Anubeh?! At that rate, I should be used to it already, but when we had our last team meeting, I couldn't help but cry again. I learned about TL's resignation about a month ago, and I didn't want to believe it first. Why? Coz TL Alfie was one of the TLs I'd always approach whenever I wanted to resign and she would always be able to convince me not to. Nakukuha ako sa positive scripting, hahaha! Sometimes I wonder if I'm so gullible or her convincing powers are that good . It's sad to see her go, especially since she's one of most supportive TLs I know, and when our beloved SME TL Kri left, I requested to be transferred to TL Alfie's team.

I didn't tell my team mates that TL was resigning even if I wanted to tell someone just to get it off my chest. A promise is a promise. Besides, It wasn't my place to tell them. That's why when another agent approached one of my teammates and said, "So, ano naman ang feeling ng mawawalan ng TL?" I wanted to clobber her. Antipatikang chismosa to! Until now, whenever I see that agent, nagsasalubong kilay ko.

TL resigned coz she's fulfilling her dream and we are happy for her, it's just sad that the team had to be dispersed to other teams. At least we'd still be in the same shift, although not for long, some will be resigning, too.

Ano ba? naiwan na naman ako.

I'm so indecisive. I think Mike L is right. Isa ako sa Big Four. Hehehe. I have this list of Pros and Cons, that normally helps me make a decision, but this time I'm having a hard time deciding. Most of my friends have left and more are planning to leave. Most of those who left are generally happy that they've moved on to different companies. but here I am, very vocal about leaving, but CAN'T even do it. I've given up 2 good opportunities and for what? I, too am perplexed that I gave it up. But I can't say I regretted giving it up. I really don't. Maybe it's not the right time. Or the right opportunity. I just hope I realize it's the right time & opportunity when it hits me.

Maybe I'm reluctant to leave because I've been to 4 different companies already and I know how it feels to start over. How challenging it is to adapt to a new environment and work with new people. They keep on harping about how good the culture of my present company is, and I agree, of all the companies I worked for, nothing beats the culture of eGS. Ang tanong? Kaya ba akong buhayin ng culture? Hahaha!

I wanted to write about the EK Trip we had on Thanksgiving Day, but my mind is so cluttered. Ang daming nangyari, there new "Carlo-isms", shrieking moments, etc. I had fun during the mini-reunion that the SME Family had and although there were some that didn't go (hmm...), the ones that did go had a blast. We had so much fun, I completely forgot about taking pictures. I just hope the ones who took pictures would upload them soon. (paging Enri... hehe) I'll probably write about it another day, hopefully. Hehe.

Ooo! I got new glasses. Finally! It's violet. Wee! I'm still getting used to it coz my eyes are weird. My left eye's grade went down, while the right one went up. So if you see me walking like I'm drunk, it's just my eyeglasses. Haha! I've colored my hair chestnut brown (di ko pa kaya mag-red hair ), but I still haven't decided on how to cut my hair. What is with me and making decisions?!

I'll upload a picture soon.

virtual makeover

2008-11-28T07:07:00.000+08:00

Hehehe.. natuwa ako sa virtual makeover. ^_^

I've actually been thinking of changing my hairstyle (eh.. may style ba ngayon? ) for a while but I don't know which hairstyle fits me. So I was really glad when I found a link to a makeover site on Yulo's multiply page (thanks, teh :D).

I've narrowed it down to the 12 pics above, but I still can't make up my mind. I'm partial to photos # 4, 5, 6, 9 & 10.

Hmm... which do you think is better?

Twilight Premiere

2008-11-25T22:26:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the kindness of friends, I was able to attend the Premiere night of Twilight at Cinema 3 of Megamall earlier. And for free. Weee!

I'm still on running on a mix of Twilight, caffeine and sugar high. Addict na to.

I went home early after shift so I can still sleep a few hours before going to Megamall. I met Yulo in Starbucks Megamall Bldg A at around 7pm, thinking that I'd be late. But loand behoild, ee were the only ones who arrived on the agreed upon time (hehe, excited) and were frantically texting the others. We were supposed to get the tickets from Stef's friend at the Bowling Center but Pia texted that Leann was already at the Cinema, so Yulo and I went there. Stef was on the way, Mike was still stuck in Pioneer and Pia was in a slow moving cab along Ortigas.

Everyone was running late but we met up at the Cinema thankfully before the movie started. Yulo & I met up with Leann & Jeff. Stef arrived next, followed by MIke then Pia. Filipino time nga naman :P It was supposed to start at 7:30pm but the movie started an hour and a half later. Magic 89.9 sponsored the premiere, and so like all sponsored events, there were games first before the actual movie. Ang corny! It was so boring. hahah! Or maybe I was just too excited to watch the movie that I felt like saying, "C'mon, let's cut to the movie!" Hehehe.

Finally it was time for the movie. Oops, di pa pala! The Proactiv ad wouldn't load. Haha! We were joking that the ad was pirated coz the screen showed "Not available at this time." Basta parang pirated DVD sha ^_^

I was beginning to get fidgety when the logo of Summit Pictures popped on screen. Wee! Twilight na. My friends and I couldn't contain ourselves. Kilig kung kilig. During one scene, you could feel the crowd's excitement. Pos nagpipigil ng kilig, but there was one person in the cinema who couldn't contain herself, so ang lakas ng voice nya na kinikilig talaga. Everyone laughed and hooted. It was so funny! It's hard for me to write about the movie without giving parts of it away, and as I've said before I'm not a movie critic so I am not going to attempt to make a film review. :)

I'm sure this revelation isn't gonna be a surprise: I loved the movie. I think as a whole, the movie stayed true to the book. Yes, there were a lot of cheesy scenes (c'mon, who doesn't like cheesy scenes sometimes? ), some scenes were deleted, some characters were not like I envisioned them to be. But all in all, I liked it.

The good thing about reading the book before watching the movie is the excitement you feel when you know something's coming up. The anticipation builds and if it lives up to your expectations, the better it is. On the downside, you're left wanting more when it doesn't.

It's no secret that I love Robert Pattinson. I don't care what the others say, I think he's the perfect Edward. Kristen Stewart as Bella was okay. Although her Bella is not as frail or as vulnerable as the Bella in the book. I think she's more of the Bella of Breaking Dawn than Bella of Twilight. As for Jacob, he was okay, too. I think out of all the characters in the book, he was the only one with all his scenes intact. No more, no less.

I liked Emmett and Alice, as well as Carlisle & Esme, but their exposure was too short for me. Jasper felt robotic, or as Jessica in the movie said, "the one who looks like he's always in pain." Ahaha! I was disappointed with Rosalie though. Methinks Nikki Reed got the part because of her connection with the director, Catherine Hardwicke (Nikki co-wrote her first movie, thirteen, with Catherine - first name basis, close lang?). Hopefully on the next installments of the Twilight Saga she'd warm up to me.

As for the villains, Cam Gigandet was the perfect James. And Victoria? She was beautiful and menacing.

The movie ran for about an hour and 50 minutes but it felt "bitin". I was left wanting for more. Hay, I can't wait for the New Moon.

On the way out of Cinema 3, we were joking what if there's going to be a reporter outside who'll ask us how we liked the movie? And true enough there was someone with a video camera taking footage of the premiere crowd. Ahaha! Iwas kaming lahat.

The Volvo Edward drove in the movie (well, not the exact car, but the same model) was outside CInema 3 and we wanted to have our pictures taken there, but there were a lot of people who had the same idea.

I got home around 1 am and because of the coffee I drank, I didn't feel sleepy. Yulo's also online and found a link where we could watch the movie again. Hahaha! PM me if you want the link. The quality is not that good (it's pirated, what do you expect? ), but it's passable.

Gotta go, watch uli ako. Hahaha!

eheads' reunion concert in cinemas

2008-11-22T10:04:00.000+08:00

For those who were not able to watch the Eraserheads' Reunion Concert last Aug. 30, 2008 and for those who did, here's your chance to relive the much awaited event.

In cinemas starting Nov. 26 (kasabay ng Twilight. WHy not watch both consecutively )

on expectations

2008-11-19T12:03:00.000+08:00

"It is wiser not to expect, but to hope. For in expecting, we meet disappointments; whereas in hoping, we invite surprises."

--forwarded text from TL Kri.

Maybe I should take that quote to heart. Time and again I've been disappointed because maybe I expect too much, or I expect the same courtesy from others.

I remember what my lola used to tell me, "It is foolish to expect the same treatment you give to others be given back to you. Iba-iba ang tao. What's important to you may not be important to them and vice versa.."

The sooner I learn that, the less disappointments I'll have.

e.r.

2008-11-18T05:59:00.000+08:00

Before i proceed to my entry, let me greet a very special person.

I was up late last night browsing youtube for the Chris Brown/Rihanna concert footage coz I wasn't able to watch it. Boo hoo. Eh kasi naman, tagal na namin nagyaya ni JR walang sumasagot kung sino gusto manood, pos at the last minute nanood sila. Uy, bitter? Ahahaha! Joke lang. Of course I wanted to watch, but I can't coz 1. It's dad's birthday and my family and I had plans (which fell through, but we were able to celebrate on dad's actual birthdate, so yay!); and yung 2nd reason, secret na lang. Hehe.

Anyway, I actually didn't expect that an hour after the concert, someone would upload videos immediately. So I was pleasantly surprised to find some. A good Samaritan actaully posted footage of the whole concert. Hahah! Kamusta naman yung ngawit ng kamay nya nun? Not that I'm complaining, coz at least even if I wasn't physicall at The Fort, I was able to watch it. Ang galing ni Chris Brown, love ko na sha. Ahaha!

After browsing the concert footage, I suddenly remembered that the e.r. episode where Anthony Edwards returned, albeit in a flashback, was shown in the US last Thursday. I was so glad to find a full episode posted on youtube (thank God for youtube coz the streaming videos on the nbc e.r. website doesn't work outside the US).

e.r. has always been one of my favorite shows. It was always on my must see tv list every week, and I watched every episode from the pilot until Season 8. Why just Season 8? Coz the old Channel 5 carried e.r. but after that season, they didn't carry it anymore. e.r. resurfaced on the cable channel 2nd avenue, but they started with Season 12. WTF?! If you're gonna continue showing a series, shouldn't you start where it left off? So when I watched that, I felt disconnected to the series coz a lot has happened in 3 seasons. A number of series regulars left the show, new characters were introduced, whom I never understood completely coz there was no backgrounder for me; new story arcs which completely confused me, so I lost interest in watching it.

Way before Grey's Anatomy and House, MD, the medical drama to watch was e.r. Created by the late Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg & John Wells, e.r. is the longest running medical drama and most awarded drama on American television. It catapulted George Clooney from obscurity to the star he is today. You could say he's the original McDreamy. :)

This is e.r.'s 15th and final season and my interest piqued again because of that. So yesterday when I watched the episode where Anthony Edward's character, Dr. Mark Greene returned (as a flashback, coz his character died at the end of Season 8), I was reminded why I loved this show in the first place. And naturally, I watched the seasons I missed. I had an e.r. youtube marathon. I enjoyed it so much, I watched the bloopers from all seasons, as well as the countdown of the top 50 e.r. moments.

My top 3 e.r. moments: 1. the death of Mark Greene (that was a real tearjerker coz I really loved his character); 2. when Carter & Lucy got stabbed by a psychotic patient & 3. Ambush, the episode they played live.

I laughed my head off. I bawled my eyes out. If you would have seen me yesterday, you would have told me, "Para kang tanga. TV show lang yan!' Hahaha! You can't blame me though. It's still tops my list of the best shows ever. Even better than Grey's Anatomy (sacrilege!). And you know how much I love Grey's Anatomy, but hey, nothing beats the original.

I am excited to know the other original cast members would return. I know for sure that Noah Wyle (Dr. John Carter) is set to do 4 episodes, Eriq La Salle (Dr. Peter Benton) is returning and will direct an episode, Juliana Margulies (Nurse Carol Hathaway) has already declined (but I am still hoping she comes back). Most of all, I am excited to know if George Clooney will be back. I really hope he does! If not for anything else, he owes the show, coz he wouldn't be the big start that he is right now it fit weren't for e.r. Latest entertainment news says he will be back, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I will watch more e.r. episodes online. All 15 seasons :)

ano nangyari sa friendster?!

2008-11-15T10:41:00.000+08:00

WTF is wrong with friendster.com?! I haven't been able to access it since yesterday due to a scheduled maintainance and then when I was finally able to access it just now, I found out that I lost some friends. I have 800++ friends there and what pisses me off more is that I can't seem to remember who's not there anymore. ARGHHH! Bad trip. They better fix this soon. Hmmpft.

music rewind

2008-11-05T07:16:00.000+08:00

While most of the world was watching history in America unfold by electing the first African - American as President, I was watching youtube videos of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

It's not because I'm not interested in current events (I am!), but because I felt giddy watching live performances of my teenage music, plus I had a feeling it would take Sen. McCain a miracle to win. As I write this, I am watching John McCain's concession speech on CNN. I must say his speech was heartfelt and showed humility and grace in defeat. At one point his supporters booed when he mentioned Pres. Obama's name, but he reprimanded them. I think that showed class.

Anyway, back to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. It was held on April 1992 a few months after Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, died of AIDS. I hadn't planned on watching it but I just kinda stumbled upon it, when I got a myspace bulletin that one of the bands I liked back in High School, Trixter, had reunited at Rocklahoma 2008.

So, I browsed youtube for videos of Rocklahoma and watched videos of my favorite bands as a teenager - Warrant, Trixter, Skid Row, Guns & F'N Roses, Metallica, etc. O nagulat ka ba? Hehehe. I was a metalhead back in HS (well, a metal head who liked New Kids on the Block, hehehe. go figure.). I had all the albums of GnR, Warrant, Skid Row, etc. I bought Metal Head Magazine (but I also bought Teen, 16 & seventeen magazines :P). My binder cover was the Guns n' Roses logo I painted. Hmm.. I wonder where that painting is now?

One of the videos I browsed was Extreme's More Than Words they performed live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. I was transported back to the time I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. And that was because of Extreme's guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt. My parents' generation had Jimmy Hendrix, my generation had Slash and Nuno as guitar gods. Anyone who's heard GnR's Sweet Child of Mine & Paradise City and Extreme's More than Words know what I'm talking about. :)

After viewing More than Words, I browsed the videos of Extreme performing a medley of Queen's songs, and I was again awed by Nuno's guitar skills. Napanganga na lang ako. Their lead singer's dance moves were funny, but the vocals were great. And the crowd? Wala ako masabi kungdi WOW. Great energy. I loved their reaction during Radio Ga Ga. Amazing.

Sharing these videos (Nuno is the guitarist wearing the white long sleeved polo shirt with red necktie):

Forward to 2:03 for the start of Radio Ga ga & 3:27 for the crowd participation:

You may watch the concert videos here, with performances by GnR, Elton John, George Michael, Annie Lennox, David Bowie, etc.

those damned shoes!

2008-11-04T12:47:00.000+08:00

I swear I will never, and I mean NEVER, ever wear my pointed 3 inch heeled shoes.

Slap me silly if you see me wear it again.

I used to love that pair of shoes. I used to wear it everyday to work (when I worked at a normal office). Dang it! I used to run wearing those shoes. Yes, I ran. hahah!

But as of today, I am never wearing it again.

My feet are freaking killing me! @#$#^!#%&$!!!

Is it really the price we have to pay for vanity? Or after 2 years of wearing flat shoes, sandals, or flipflops to work, I'm just not used to wearing heeled shoes?

Hay, ewan. Pano yun? Weakness ko pa naman ang shoes? Pag may nakita ako sa mall na shoes na gusto ko, i'll buy it basta maganda, forget the comfort. haha! bobo lang.

harry potter and the half blood prince trailer

2008-10-27T07:00:00.000+08:00

SNL Weekend Update Thursday

2008-10-24T10:36:00.000+08:00

Will Ferrell and Tina Fey returns to Saturday Night LIve. Wee!

'stig!

2008-10-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

I watched the final trailer of Twilight for the nth time this afternoon (adik lang ^_^), and imagine my surprise when I saw the Philippine flag displayed prominently on one of the scenes from the movie.

Wee!

Cool no? :D

where are our manners?

2008-10-11T06:11:00.000+08:00

I found this article on the web and I wanted to share it with you guys. This article was an observation of a writer from the US but I think this applies to us as well. I've noticed that our good old Filipino manners are becoming a rarity. Call me an old geezer but I think everyone, especially the younger generation, needs a refresher course on good manners these days. That's why I'm foregoing my usual for contacts only entries and I've set it to be viewed by everyone :)

I am not perfect and I admit that I've committed some faux pas, but I also try to be mindful of others. I hope most of us would be too, coz it would really make things better. :) Aminin nyo, minsan naiinis din kayo pag may nakikita kayo sa Mall na teenager na sinasagot-sagot ang parents nila. ;)

Where Are Our Manners?

By: Rebecca Brown

As I crammed myself onto a crowded train this morning, I noticed there was a very pregnant woman standing near me, jammed in tightly and hanging on for dear life. I looked at the passengers sitting in the seats that are supposed to be surrendered to the elderly, physically challenged, and other people who need to sit, and all of them were listening to iPods. Most of them were also texting or reviewing email, one person was reading on a Kindle, and two people were watching movies. Not one of them even looked up; everyone was too absorbed in what they were listening to, reading, or watching to even notice the protruding belly and flushed face of the pregnant passenger.

Over the past few years, there have been countless discussions on minding our manners within our new modes of communication. Is it rude to text someone and ask him on a date? When is it appropriate to forward an email? Do we befriend someone on a social networking site we’ve only met once?

But while we’ve been debating the dos and don’ts of technology etiquette, it appears that many of us have forgotten some of the old school manners that our parents, grandparents, and teachers taught us—manners that have nothing to do with a keyboard or a monitor, but have everything to do with the long-forgotten Golden Rule. Maybe technology has eroded our brains so much that we can never go back to those golden days, but there are a few simple courtesies that I’d like to see make a comeback.

Hold doors for people.
This doesn’t just mean men holding doors for women—anyone who has the arm strength to hold a door for someone should. Holding a door shows that we’re paying attention to what’s going on around us and that we care about others even if they’re a complete stranger. That little bit of awareness also helps take our minds off the busy, crappy day we might be having. Plus, it’s a nice and unexpected way to pay it forward, kind of like smiling at a stranger. Hold the door for someone and someone else will hold it for you later.

Give up seats.
Lizzie Post, great-great granddaughter of Emily Post and author of How Do You Work This Life Thing?, says this is one practice she’d like to see happen more often. “Giving up your seat to someone is so easy. Even when people don’t accept your offer, I think it’s nice to get up and stay standing so they know you’re sincere. The more that we become the good example, the more it will catch on.”

Most of us were taught that it’s good manners to give up our seat to the elderly, pregnant, and physically challenged. But if we pay attention on trains, buses, in waiting areas, and other places where people stand, we might notice someone else outside those categories who could also use a seat—like someone carrying a bulky box or a heavy load of groceries. Common sense should prevail; if you see a situation where you think you’d prefer to sit, it’s a good idea to offer your seat.

Let those inside the elevator exit before you enter.
You know the scene. The elevator doors open and a crowd of people waiting to get on rushes toward you, making it difficult to get out. Post says the onus of politeness falls on those waiting for an elevator, meaning they should clear the exit path for anyone getting off and not enter the elevator until it’s clear. She also recommends that waiting until all people exit is a good rule to follow before entering anything—restaurants, shops, dressing rooms, etc.

Mind your telephone manners.
Our chief etiquette concern back in the “olden” days of telephones was remembering to write down a message when someone called. Now that we can take our phones anywhere and use them to do scores of things beyond just making telephone calls, our problems have spiraled out of control. Obnoxious ringtones, picking up calls in public places, sending a text message when a call would be more appropriate, and subjecting innocent bystanders to inappropriate conversations are just a few common telephone missteps.

But Post says that many of our phone snafus could be corrected if we’d follow one simple rule. “Excusing yourself to take a phone call in a private place is something I’d like to see more of. We’re so used to people being on the phone now that this isn’t a common practice anymore.” But what if we we’re in a place where we can’t step out to take a call? Post recommends to keep it brief and to keep the conversation appropriate. “Making plans is okay,” she says. “[But] if you’re gossiping, talking badly about someone, or saying something inappropriate, those should be closed-door conversations.”

Introduce people.
In Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget’s friend Shazza nails it when she advises Bridget to “introduce people with thoughtful detail.” Walking up to a group of people and never getting introduced is awkward and rude. This is often a sign that the person who should do the introductions has forgotten a name, which makes a great case for simply asking the person in question to tell you their name again. It also proves that introducing someone with some details and flair makes a difference; the person on the receiving end of the introduction will have more information to use when committing a name to memory.

Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome.
It sounds simple, but the magic words really do work magic. Using them shows our appreciation for what someone is about to do or has done for us. Says Post, “Pretty much everyone says thank you, which is fantastic. But I would love to hear more people use ‘please’ and ‘you’re welcome.’ If I say ‘thank you’ back to you and not ‘you’re welcome,’ that’s overriding your ‘thank you.’” Our moms weren’t just being cute when they told us we would catch more flies with honey. “Please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome” are some of the sweetest—and most useful—words in our language.

Respect elders.
Recently someone I know well surprised me by saying that he thought respecting our elders was a silly courtesy since not everyone deserves to be respected just because of his or her age. Touché. But how about simply showing them civility and common courtesy? An elder is, by definition, someone who has lived longer than we have, so they’ve accumulated more experiences and thus, more wisdom. We don’t have to agree with their wisdom, but acknowledging that there might be some helpful information that comes from their experience is nice. It’s also considerate to express gratitude to a related elder who helped pave the way and/or care for you or a family member who came before you, such as a mother or uncle.

Handwrite thank-you notes.
Paper correspondence in general seems to be a dying practice and unfortunately, handwritten thank-you notes are part of the casualties. I know I’m often guilty of sending a thank-you email when I’m pressed for time, which seems to have made its way on the list of accepted practices. But it’s that taking of time that really shows our appreciation. Anyone can send an email, but finding a nice piece of stationery or note card, handwriting our thanks, finding a stamp (who has those anymore?), and then getting to a mailbox to actually send it goes above and beyond in expressing our gratitude.

Sophisticated technology doesn’t mean that good manners have to be a thing of the past. In fact, Post says she defines good manners using three simple, everyday principles: consideration, respect, and honesty. “Apply those to any situation and toward all the people involved—including yourself—and [the solution] will make sense.”

Source: Where are our manners? by Rebecca Brown-

be happy

2008-10-02T12:21:00.000+08:00

Be happy.

That's the message Dads wrote for me on his farewell letter to his friends at work.

Simple pero sapul na sapul.

I haven't been the same cheerful Jennie since God knows when. My life is one big routine. I wake up, go to work, go home, sleep and wake up again to go back to work (of course I eat and take bath in between :p).

On the outside I might seem the same but on the inside, if I'll be honest, I am sad and hurting. Only my closest friends know why but I'm not going to talk about it. I'd rather stay quiet and let it die a natural death. I don't think I have to defend myself to people who don't really know me. What's important is that my true friends know who I am.

It's going to be a lie if I say I don't care. Because I do.

I am really bothered and to add to that, I spoke with my TL last week and she asked me what my goals are and I couldn't give her an answer. Talk about being stumped by a question. It's easy enough right? I thought so too, until I was asked that question.

I am stuck in limbo. F**k it! At my age, I cannot afford to be stuck in that state. Back in school, I had a timeline. I had a plan on what I would be at a certain age. But life happened and I am no where near those plans. I can't even remember what those are right now.

How pathetic.

I was watching tv earlier and I had an epiphany. I knew what I'm missing in my life. I have lost faith. And it was such a sad revelation that I couldn't help but tear up.

I've never been a religious person, even if I studied in an all-girl's Catholic school from Prep to High School, and I went to a University run by Christian Brothers for College. I knew the religious rituals, I know the prayers, I know the BIble Stories, but it was all mechanical. I didn't take that to heart.

I can't even remember the last time I went to Church and heard mass. Was it two years ago? Grabe. I've always said the religion doesn't matter, it's my relationship with God that does. But I realized earlier that I don't even have that now. Yes, I pray but only when I need something or when something is wrong. Ang pangit pakinggan, but it's true.

I prayed a lot when mom was sick. But when she was gone, my faith slipped. I mean who wouldn't? I'm not justifying how I felt but I've always had this question in my mind, "Why mom?" Why did this have to happen to us? They say God isn't going to give you a challenge that you cannot overcome, or that you are given challenges for you to learn an become stronger.

Maybe. I don't really know.

I don't want to sound preachy. And this really doesn't sound like me because I've always had issues with scripture spouting people, but that's another story.

I see my cousins who have strong relationships with God and I am in awe of them. Sure they have problems but they have this aura around them. I can't explain it profoundly, but it's like no matter how big their problems are, they don't feel burdened like I do. I stayed at their house over the weekend because it was lola's despedida and I felt so much lighter there. I asked one of my cousins why and she told me, "Kasi ate, alam ko He'll provide." Not that she said she's not going to do something about her problem, but that she knows there would be someone to guide her in the right direction.

I need my faith now more than ever.
-----------------------

I've always loved Take Me Out Of the Dark by Gary Valenciano but I've never really taken the lyrics to heart until now. I felt like the song was made for me (hehe, vain much?) No kidding, yung lyrics ng song, yun yung nararamdaman ko ngayon.

Take Me Out Of the Dark
Gary Valenciano

Just what is it in me?
Sometimes I just don't know
What keeps me in Your love,
Why you never let me go

And though you're in me now,
I fall and hurt you still
My Lord, please show me how
To know just how you feel

You have forgiven me
Too many times it seems
I feel I'm not what you might call
A worthy Christian after all

And though I love You so
Temptation finds its way to me

Teach me to trust in You
With all my heart
To lean not on my own understanding
I just forget
You won't give me what I can't bear

Take me out of the dark, my Lord
I don't wanna be there

You've never left my side
You gave Your hand to me to hold
Oh Jesus, I'm no longer in the cold

And yet, I leave You there
When I feel satisfied
I'd like to thank You every day
Not only when I feel that way

I've never known a Man
Who'd give His life for sinners like me
And yet, because He loves us so
He's promised us eternity
And we can have that promise
And be His if we have faith
And just believe

Teach us to trust in you
With all my heart
To lean not on my own understanding
We just forget
You won't give us what we can't bear

Take us out of the dark, My Lord
'Cause we don't want to be alone
Take me out of the dark, My Lord
We don't wanna be there, My Lord

Trust in You with all my heart
Lean not on my own understanding
I just forget
You won't give me what I can't bear

Take me out of the dark, My Lord
Cause we don't want to be alone
Take me out of the dark, My Lord
I don't want to be there

uaap finals 2008

2008-09-26T09:34:00.000+08:00

The Ateneo Blue Eagles captured the UAAP crown yesterday, but not without controversy on the officiating and Rico Maierhofer's finger.

First, congratulations to the "Hail Mary Squad" from Katipunan. I may be disappointed that my Green Archers didn't win this year, but I think it was a deserved win. It was a good game and I think the Ateneans were ripe for the win, as evidenced by their record starting from the Elimination Round to the Final Four and finally during the short-lived Championship series.

I guess it was time for them to capture the crown. I mean look at the Special Awardees, pinakyaw nila. Hehehe.

I might be burned at the stake for saying this being a La Sallian & all, hehe. but i don't agree with Coach Franz's observation that it was the worst officiating ever. There may have been lapses in officiating and it affected not only DLSU's game but ADMUs as well. In my humble opinion, it was just the breaks of the game. (Eh? tama ba yung term? you know what I meant right? ^_^)

We can't be champions every year (no matter how we wish and pray :p). Isa pa, sayang yung second chance points coz they don't rebound. My gah. I kept screaming at the tv. They didn't box out like they used to. Maybe because this year's DLSU team was relatively young. They have a lot of rookies and for a Championship squad, they need more time to gel. But hey, we must look at it this way, even with a relatively young squad, we reached the finals. It just shows how good the DLSU system is.

On Rico's behavior, I cannot give an opinion coz I didn't see that part. If it was true that he flashed a dirty finger then it's very disappointing. It doesn't leave a good impression. If it was not true that he did it, malas na lang.

Oh well, as disappointed as I am that my team didn't win this year, there's always next year. :)

Sana lang, the team went and got their trophy and medals. I understand that they are disappointed, devastated even. But I believe that a person's greatness is evidenced by their actions during defeat. It would have been nice to see them holding their heads up high instead of being thought of as spoiled brats or sore losers. Sayang. They would have been magnanimous in defeat.

a bus story i'll never forget

2008-09-16T10:57:00.000+08:00

I never run out of bus stories.

I have a new one.

And out of all my bus stories this is one story I will never forget.

Last Friday as usual after work, I rode the bus from Shaw to the corner of Roxas Blvd. & Coastal Mall. It started out like an ordinary day. I logged out at 9:30am, walked the short distance from the World Wide Corporate Center to the bus stop in front of StarMall and waited for the NAIA bound bus. I was already sleepy coz I only had 4 hours of sleep before going to work the previous night. It was a good thing I didn't have to wait long for a bus and the bus I rode had a lot of free seats. Yipee! I really hate riding a packed bus, with just half my butt on the seat (hehe!).

I sat on the right side, near the window. I didn't have a seatmate until Guadalupe when a guy sat beside me. I minded my own business at first and tried to watch the film being shown on the bus (it was Resident Evil 3, if you're curious :p).

After a while, I noticed that the guy beside me kept bumping me whenever the bus driver hit the brakes. I thought to myself, "Ang OA naman nito, di naman ganun kalakas yung pagbrake." Because I was so sleepy, while we were stuck in traffic at EDSA, I closed my eyes a bit. The sun was also hurting my eyes (vampire?).

I woke up when I felt someone breathing on my neck. PUNYETA! Maniac yung katabi ko! Eeew! Kadiri!

It was a good thing I had fast reflexes coz the moment I felt his breath on my neck I sat up straight and hit him in the face with my elbow and screamed, "kuya manong, may maniac sa tabi ko!". The guy was surprised coz 1, he didn't think I would react like I did and 2, I think I broke his nose when I hit him with my elbow. Wahaha! Vengeance is mine!

He got up as soon as I screamed and he was able run out coz unfortunately, someone just got out of the bus. The conductor and some of the other passengers tried to run after him but they weren't able to catch him. Too bad! I would have loved to see that guy in jail. But I guess it was okay coz I broke his nose. How could I be sure? Hehehe.. nagdudugo ilong nya nung tumakbo sha palabas eh. ^_^

Meanwhile, back in the bus I felt weird coz everyone was looking at me, talking to me (or should I say, interviewing me?), or was talking about me. I've never liked the spotlight and I felt really uncomfortable.

I think my adrenalin was on overdrive that time coz I didn't cry like any normal girl would if something like this happens to them. I didn't feel helpless. I felt furious. Then I felt like laughing coz I remembered my reaction. My gah. Palengkera mode. But hey, at least I was able to defend myself, right?

While I was laughing at my reaction, I texted my friends about what happened. They were worried but they laughed at my reaction, as well.

Moral of the story: Always be aware of your surroundings. Always be on guard and don't close your eyes for even a second if you're commuting alone. Having fast reflexes is a must :) Wag ka na mahiya mag-eskandalo, if it will save you.

Do I still ride the bus home? Yup

Am I scared? Not really. Hmm.. Maybe a little bit. But I'm comforted by the thought that I was able to defend myself.

Do I still close my eyes while on the bus ride home? Hell, no!

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

2008-09-14T10:47:00.001+08:00

Saturday Night Live's 34th Season started last night and the opening was hilarious. It's good to see that Tina Fey had a cameo. :)

I just love Tina Fey & Amy Poehler. Their parodies of Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin & U.S. Senator Hilary Clinton was spot on. Hehehe! Kamukhang-kamukha ni Sarah Palin si Tina Fey ^_^

twilight saga

2008-09-08T10:28:00.001+08:00

I finished reading all four books from the Twilight saga in 5 days. Yup, you read that right, 5 days.

5 days na puyat ako kasi pagkauwi ko ng bahay babasahin ko yung ebooks, tapos sasabihin ko sa sarili ko na, "one chapter na lang, promise." hehe, yung one chapter naging 10 chapters hanggang matapos ko na.

I believe I got eyestrain, but it's worth it. :)

I loved Twilight and Breaking Dawn (many fans didn't like it, but I really did). I didn't like New Moon and Eclipse was okay.

My favorite character is still Edward Cullen. He can't seem to do anything wrong for me. Hahaha! Kahit pa sabihing, "Ang martir mo, kakainis ka!" Di ko magawang mainis. Ahaha! affected.

I liked Bella in Twilight but by the time I read New Moon, until I finished Eclipse, she annoyed the hell out of me. "Make up your mind, Isabella Swan!" She turned out all right by Breaking Dawn, though. :)

I'm not going to attempt to write a book review, I'm not an expert in that. But I can honestly say that even if there were scenes and characters that annoyed me, or there were cheesy parts, I loved it. I mean, c'mon. Who doesn't like cheesy scenes? ^_^

I can't wait to watch the movie. Sana Nov. 21 na.

Stand up to cancer telethon

2008-09-06T04:19:00.000+08:00

I am currently watching the Stand Up to Cancer telethon on StarWorld and I couldn't stop myself from writing about it.

It's no secret that I lost my mom to cancer 3 years ago and my family and I know first hand how devastating it is. Cancer is "the incurable" disease and people diagnosed with it, always feel like it is like having a death sentence. I'm sorry if that sounds morbid, but it is a reality.

For now.

And I believe that. I have to be optimistic. I want to see in my lifetime a cure for cancer. I want to able to say someday that it is a disease that we can all defeat, not just by early detection.

I think its noble that they've put up a fundraiser like this, with big name stars in the entertainment, sports and medical field. Admit it, having celebrities involved generates more interest. And I hope they raise a large amount for cancer research.

My mom was a fighter. She battled the disease for 9 years. In that span of years she lived life to the fullest. She went to work, we had our parties, our family vacations and roadtrips. She had 2 surgeries, 4 rounds of chemotherapy, 2 rounds of radiation therapy and she never gave up. Yes it was hard for all of us. Most especially her. And although there were bouts of sadness, she didn't let the disease define her. And I admire her strength. If I had a third of her strength, I'd be happy. She lost the battle but it didn't defeat her spirit.

Oo, iyakin ako. Umiiyak ako habang nanonood ng telethon. Hehe.

So, if you have something to spare, you can donate online, just go the the Stand up to cancer website: http://www.standup2cancer.org/

hard to believe

2008-09-01T05:34:00.000+08:00

"...I wanted life to be this way
Just a little bit of love could mean so much

Oh please don't take it all away
But with you heaven is still close enough to touch

Because your love is still the only thing
That matters in this world

The only thing I can believe..."

- Hard to Believe, Eraserheads

Hard to Believe. My ulitmate, favorite Eraserheads song. That's why when Cueshe did a cover of that song, I was livid. I thought to myself, "What a sacrilege!" Hehe. but that's another story. ;)

There's quite a lot of Eraserheads' songs to choose from and picking just one favorite is really hard. At some point of my existence, there's a different Eraserheads song that would fit any phase I was in. That's how universal their songs are to me (and probably most of the Ehead's fans).

So what brought on this nostalgia? As if you didn't know. Hehe. Of course it's because of the much awaited Reunion Concert.

I wanted to watch it the moment I heard that they were going to have a reunion. Sadly it wasn't meant to be for me. But through the power of camphones and youtube, I was able to watch the Eraserheads perform together again after several years. And they sang the songs of my generation.

It was electrifying.

Even if I wasn't there to watch it live, I felt the energy of the crowd. Kiniliabutan ako pagkapanood ko ng opening. Grabe. I was so envious of the people who were able to watch Ely, Raimund, Buddy & Marcus play together as a band once again.

I felt like I was in high school once again . Hehehe, oo na, my age is showing. I don't care. Before the Eraserheads, I didn't listen to OPM. Call me elitist or whatever, but I was so into American & Brit Pop, Rock & Alternative music then that I didn't listen to OPM. Back then, the OPM scene was not thriving like it is now. I think the only OPM I listened to was The Dawn, and I was influenced by my older, more music savvy kuyas. Thank God. :)

As we all know, the concert was cut short when Ely was rushed to the hospital. Yes, it was bitin, but I echo the sentiments of the people who were there. The 15 songs were worth it. There weren't any boos or shouts of refund, or bottle throwing, like expected, when they announced that it was the end of the show. I guess the crowd matured already and they understood the situation. I'm glad Ely is okay.

Whoever thought of the reunion concert, thank you. And to the people who made it happen, bless you. I hope there's gonna be a part 2.

Is it too early for me to ask for another reunion concert? :)

twilight

2008-08-23T09:01:00.001+08:00

I started reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer today and I love it! Sobra! I can't wait to finish it and read the next three books (or ebooks, in my case). Which means I am also looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out in November 21, 2008. I wanted to read it the first time I heard about it but I haven't had time to read it. I'm sorry Stephenie Meyer, I'm in kuripot mode so I just downloaded all 4 books. I promise that when I'm out of this mode, I will buy all four. Heehee!

Highly recommended.

Go ahead and read the book.

You'll love it, I promise :)

I'm gonna go finish reading the book now, and I'll leave you with a picture of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter), who play Bella & Edward from Twilight the Movie. :D

why can't i save a blogpost without a title?

2008-08-16T08:18:00.000+08:00

If there was one good thing that came out of the SMEs disbandment, it would have to be the our closeness. We are closer than ever. I mean we were close before, but now we're really, really tight.

I guess we're all hanging onto each other, lengthening the times we spend with each other until the inevitable schedule change in September. We haven't really felt the full impact of our dispersal to other teams because we still have the same blocked schedules, and our workstations are near each other. But come September, we'd follow the schedules of our new teams, and we'd see each other less.

This week we still had our breaks and lunches together and we were still in one or two quadrants. It's funny how we gravitate to one another. It's like our first instinct when we arrive at the floor is to look for one another and find workstations that would be close to one another.

Twice this week most of us would go to Shang after shift to have lunch before going home. Parang we can't get enough of each other's company. It's like we're accumulating the time we spend together because we know that we'd see less of each other soon.

Yesterday was Chris' last day and we had planned on going out for lunch after shift again. But after shift, Chris & Chie were no where to be found. Ang daya! Nauna na sila umuwi. Hmmpft. Chris said he had to go somewhere, but my gut feel tells me he left before we all have another drama mode.

Even if Chris & Chie went home already, Joan, JR, Mike, Kayeee, Rome, Marj, Rona, Sofie, Ness, Herwin, Minnie, Rox, Mae, Carmie and I still proceeded to Shang for lunch. Hehehe.. ang dami namin. As usual, maingay at masaya kami. You can't put us in one place and expect us to be quiet. :p Lunch was fun. It was like having lunch with your family during a family gathering or being in a reunion with friends you haven't seen in years. Yung maingay, halo-halo at patalon-talon yung conversation, naguusap like we haven't seen each in 10 years. Asaran. Karinyo-brutal. My gah, mamimiss ko yung ganun.

It's funny how in all our gimmicks, Joan ends up being the treasurer. Hahaha! Parang pagkatapos ng lahat, we'd look at Joan and ask her, "Magkano babayaran ko?" Pos si Ms.(Mr.? :p) Sungit, ma-aasar pero sha din ang magko-compute. Ahaha!

Marj said something while we were waiting for our food to be served and it struck me most. She said she doesn't feel sad yet coz we have the same schedules and that she knows she will feel the full impact when we all have to be with our new teams. Hay. I have to agree. Ngayon pa nga lang na magkakasama pa kami nasa-sad na ako, what more pag iba-iba na ang schedules namin at hindi na kami mashado magkikita-kita?

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata... :)

The only SMEs we rarely see are Wil and Carlo who are both on the night shift. We see each other on the floor before they go home but because of the different schedules, bihira na kami magkwentuhan. Wil was supposed to be on terminal leave already but she texted yesterday that her resignation letter hasn't been signed yet.

I always see Carlo in the pantry when we're on break and Carlo, who rarely joins in our daily email spamming emailed last night, "Teammates, goodluck sa ating lahat at nami-miss ko na team natin =)" Aww.. anchweet. He doesn't seem the type who'd say that coz sometimes he's just deadma, so everyone found his short email sweet.

Natatawa pa ako kasi nasalubong ko sha kahapon. I told him that we're planning to go to Shang after shift to have lunch and invited him to go with us. He said he can't because he has an early shift. And I said, "Ok, next time na lang." bade him goodbye and proceeded to walk to my station. Then he calls me, I looked back and asked him "Why?" He said, "Hindi ka mawawala sa T-shirt mo." Waves bye and left. Meanwhile I was still standing near MR-014 looking confused. ANO DAW?! Then it hit me, I was wearing my Orion shirt (yes that shirt again :p), with my name printed at the back. I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head while walking to my workstation.

Mamimiss ko talaga silang lahat!

legends

2008-08-11T08:57:00.000+08:00

I hate this. To add to the sadness and aggravation I'm feeling now, all 5 paragraphs I wrote earlier were erased. Argh!!

My previous entry was about positivity and its proving to be a hard thing to do. I can't make myself feel positive and I just feel so sad today. I've been sad since last week and it's been a real challenge feeling positive.

Last Saturday was our TL Kria's last shift. She'll be on terminal leave and my beloved SME Team has been dispersed to other teams.

It's official: The SME Team is now just a legend.

Saturday shift was our last shift together and it had been a great run. The team may have dispersed but the friendships we made and our bond will remain strong. It's very disheartening to think that after all we've been through, we still lost the battle.

To be honest, we have been dragging ourselves to go to work these past few months. Ever since the "big reveal" in April. We went to work and did our best hoping against hope that everything will stay as it was. To no avail. We all know that TL Kria did everything to fight for us and we certainly appreciate that. We hold no grudges that she was one of the first to leave because we know how hard it was for her. We understood and I know that she understood us too, and supported us wholeheartedly when we said we were also looking for better opportunities outside the company, where hopefully, we would be more appreciated. Where our talents and capabilities will be given importance.

Last week, I felt like there was this big, dark cloud hovering above us. That at any moment large torrents of rain would just pour over us. Even if we didn't say anything and we seemed like we were back to our normal selves, it's not the same. We laugh and joke around but if you look, really look, you'd see that the smiles never reach the eyes. If you look closely, you'd see the sadness in all of my team mates' eyes. You'll see how demoralized we feel, you'll see the hurt.

We were comforted by the fact that we were still together as one team and even that has ceased to be. Some of the SMEs have resigned, most, if not all are going to follow soon. We all volounteered to go back to production and we only had ONE request. That we'll stay as one team. Even that was not granted.

Last Saturday, time seemed so slow. An hour into the shift, JR was surprised that it has only been an hour, it felt like we've been there longer. I agreed, coz the past few days, we were actually surprised that it was time to log out already. TL Kri also commented that it felt like the night dragged on. I said, "TL, baka naman pinapatagal lang yung time na magkakasama-sama pa din tayo." Maybe it was that. Or maybe we were just wanted the day to end so badly that we felt time was slow.

Everyone wore red last Saturday. We all agreed it would be nice if everyone wore the same color but when we got there, Sofie said we looked like we were going to a rally. (KMU? :p). Hehe. It wasn't our intention when we thought of what color we're wearing, it was just the color that all of us had on our closets. But maybe its our subconcious' way of telling them we wanted to go out with a bang. I don't know. All I know is I'm going to miss everyone. Yes we'd still see each other, but it's not the same as being in one team, under one shift.

We made plans after shift, we were gonna have a despedida GA for TL Kri, but before we left we discovered something that made us feel like we were used all over again. Ang saya. And yup, I was being sarcastic.

We went to Muchos in Pasig after shift for 3 hours of videoke fun. Nothing releases stress better than beer, the company of friends and singing your hearts out. We had our own version of The Singing Bee, with Peds as our host. It was a riot! The finalists were Joan, Chie Tiu and I. Joan was the first to be eliminated and I was next (damn you avril lavigne! I would have won if I knew the lyrics to your songs by heart :p). Chie will be defending her bling-bling on our next videoke session.

Then it was time to go. We were going to sing "Thank you" to Tl Kri and we promised ourselves there will be no crying but that promise by broken. I'm sorry, I was one of the first to cry. I really tried not to. But as soon as I tried to sing I felt the tears flow. And then I heard someone sniff and then the floodgates burst. There was no way to stop the tears from falling. We weren't able to finish the song, kasi yung background parang pang-horror movie. A bell tolled during the song. Weird. So we moved to the next song, which was Through the Years. Anubeh?! Di lalong bumagsak luha ko. Our last song was With a Smile. Hay, iyakan pa din kami.

After the song, TL Kri gave her last message to us. By this time everyone was crying. Ang bigat sa dibdib, coz now it's final. Aalis na sha at magkaka-hiwahiwalay na kaming lahat. Starting Tuesday hindi na sha yung TL namin, at kahit pare-pareho schedules namin, hindi kami magkakasama. Habang nagsasalita si Kri, nagfaflashback sa isip ko yung mga adventures at misadventures ng SMEs. How we all stuck by each other through the ups and downs and how Kri was there to fight for us every time. Naalala ko yung mga trips namin nung summer, yung mga Carlo-isms, mga rebelde mode namin, kung gaano kami kakulit tuwing meetings, kung paano kami natahimik nung pinagsabihan kami ni Kri during our first rebelde moment. Madaming masasaya at malulungkot na times together. But what struck me was how we all bonded. Nakakatawa na ang pinaka-bilin sa amin ni Kri ay magpapakabait kami. Alam nya kasi na yung personalities namin, pag inagrabyado mo yung isa, kalaban mo lahat. Mabby and I were in the cab on the way home and weren't able to stop the tears again. I think that's when it hit us that we're not a team anymore. I literally felt like a zombie. We were so dazed I wasn't able to say goodbye to everyone. Mabby and I just got in the cab. We were already in EDSA when we realized that.

I felt so sad when I got home. My dad even commented on it. Mukha daw akong pinagsakluban ng mundo. My team mates and I were texting each other and everyone felt the same way. Sobrang lungkot and it felt like we lost our drive to go to work. Sana sandali lang tong feeling na to. Ang pangit kasi eh. I feel so defeated. Shyet. Kelangan ko ng chocolate ice cream. I need my comfort food.

Thanks Kri for everything you've done for us. We really appreciate it. I hope that you'll have a less stressful time where you're going. God knows kung gaano ka na-stress sa amin at sa situation natin this year. Be happy coz we're also happy for you. We're happy that you will now have peace of mind. We're sad that hiwalay na tayo pero sabi mo nga, we should all choose to be happy and not wallow in the sadness. Promise, we’ll really try to.

WITH A SMILE - Eraserheads

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared
Of the things that could go wrong along the way
You'll get by with a smile
You can't win at everything but you can try.

Baby, you don't have to worry
'Coz there ain't no need to hurry
No one ever said that there's an easy way
When they're closing all their doors
And they don't want you anymore
This sounds funny but I'll say it anyway.

Girl I'll stay through the bad times
Even if I have to fetch you everyday
You'll get by with a smile
You can never be too happy in this life.

In a world where everybody
Hates a happy ending story
It's the one you love can make the world go round
But dont let it bring you down
And turn your face into a frown
You'll get along with a little prayer and a song.

(Too doo doo doo...)
Let me hear you sing it
(Too doo doo doo...)

In a world where everybody
Hates a happy ending story
It's a wonder love can make the world go round
But don't let it bring you down
And turn your face into a frown
You'll get along with a little prayer and a song.

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared
Of the things that could go wrong along the way
You'll get by with a smile
Now it's time to kiss away those tears goodbye

(Too doo doo doo...)
Let me hear you sing it
(Too doo doo doo...)

positive thinking

2008-08-06T05:34:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I posted a blog pala. I guess I was either too tired or I just wasn't in the mood to write.

So my beloved SME Team went back to prod last night. Surprisingly, it wasn't as toxic as I remembered. I took my last production call way back in January and I was prepared for panic and toxicity last night but I didn't feel it. I even made several upsells without even trying. Hahaha! Pure luck, and my previous TL Paul can attest to this, I don't upsell if I don't feel like it. ^_^ Pasaway! But I was still able to receive upsell spiffs before, o di ba? Hehe.

I think it also helped that all 23 of us (out of the original 34) were still in one team, under the guidance of TL Kria (huhuhu.... not for long, though, but that's another story). I realized last night that our team is really noisy. And I mean loud, booming voices, and we don't laugh, I think the proper word for it is guffaw . I'm sure some of the agents on the floor were irritated because we were noisy, but we didn't care. We were too preoccupied to notice it.

I actually made a vow last night before going to work that I wouldn't think too much about our situation at work. I wouldn't gripe nor would I complain. I also said I'd just ignore the people involved in the "big change". It's hard but I'll try. Coz it really wouldn't solve anything. I'd just feel bad about it. Maybe it's because I've accepted the fact that some people are really there to make your life challenging. Whooo! MARTIR! So not me.

I've always been a fighter. I don't like people who take advantage of other people just because they're the ones in position. I always fight for the underdog and I'm brutally honest. If I don't like you, you'll know it. You wouldn't ask yourself, "Galit ba sha?" rather you'll say, "Ah, galit sha." I'm also very vocal, but always try not to be rude (I hope I've succeeded in that). And during meetings I'm not afraid to ask questions or give my opinions when asked for it. So, doing nothing about a certain situation is not me. But I guess sometimes we all reach our saturation point. Fighting something or someone who's stubborn and don't want to budge is tiring. And rather than focus on that, I'd rather shift my focus to more positive things. Like looking for a new job that would satisfy my financial needs as well as my growth. Coz at the program I'm in, the career path is quite foggy.

So here's to more positivity. I hope I will be able to sustain it.

Last Song Syndrome

2008-07-30T11:52:00.000+08:00

LSS since yesterday.  Asows. 

The Art of Letting Go - Mikaila

Put away the pictures
Put away the memories
I’ve poured over and over
Through my tears 
I’ve held them till I’m blind
They kept my hope alive
As if somehow that might keep you here
Once you believed in a love forever more
How do you leave it in a drawer 

Now here it comes
The hardest part of all
Unchain my heart that’s holding on
How do I start to live my life alone
Guess I’m just learning
Learning the art of letting go

Try to say it’s over
Say the word goodbye
But each time it catches in my throat
Your still here in me
And I can’t set you free
So I hold on to what I wanted most
Maybe someday we’ll be friends forever more
Wish I could open up that door

Now here it comes
The hardest part of all
Unchain my heart that holding on
How do I start to live my life alone
Guess I’m just learning
Learning the art of letting go

Watching us fade
What can I do
But try to make it through the pain
Now one more day without you

Where do I start to live my life alone
I guess I’m learning
Only learning
Learning the art of letting go

bus music

2008-07-25T07:46:00.000+08:00

I've written about the things I like about riding the bus home, now I"m going to write about the reasons why I hate riding the bus home.

Let me enumerate:

1. crowded, standing room only bus
2. the driver driving the bus at 80 mph & above, swerving left & right and ther braking too hard;
3. the kunduktor (ano ba English nito? Conductor?) telling you, "maluwag pa, maluwag pa" then when you board the bus, you end up standing for half the trip.
4. seatmates who sit like they own the bus, that you end up with just half of your butt on the seat;
5. smelly seatmates (oo na maarte na, eh ikaw, gusto mo bang may katabi kang may B.O.? di ba hindi rin? ^_^ aminin!)

ang lastly...
6. i really hate bus music!!!

OMG. #6 is the reason why I am grateful that my phone has a music player. If not, I'd probably tear all my hair out listening to bus music.

Common station: Yung "kelangan bang imemorize yan?" radio station. Tanggap ko na yung every after 3 songs, they'd ask that. What I can't take is the music. SIge, may times na ok yung music, like pag 80s love song or new wave song, or 90s music. Pero may OPM songs na hindi ko kinakayang pakinggan.

Most recent pet peeve? Tagalog versions of Low & Umbrella. ARRRGH!!! Ang sakit sa utak!

Umbrella:
"di ka na mababasa ng ulan.. di na.. di na.. di na.."

Low:
Mansanas Pantalon
at sapatos na balbon
Buong beerhouse nakalingon
ayy nadapa!
Bigla bigla!
Nagspaghetti pabababa ng pabababa ng pabababa

Kairita.

I hate goodbyes

2008-07-21T07:10:00.000+08:00

I feel sad today. And it's all James, Dads and Shelay's fault. Hehehe.

I read their entries this morning and it all had one theme. Goodbyes. :'( I hate goodbyes. Then again, who doesn't? It's just that I realized that my little work bubble is about to burst. Over the past year, a lot of my work friends have left the company. Most of the Vonage people I worked with during my first year at work have already left.

My distribution list which had more than 30 people is down to 15 or less and it's still shrinking. I saw the latest roster and Sprint Care Wave One which had 150 agents, now only has 27, including me. Sa original team ko, Team Orion, si Ish na lang ang nandun. I feel sad whenever I see our white board na sinulatan ni Paul (our TL, who resigned months ago) ng names naming lahat. My SME team has gone down from 35 to 26 (and counting) And of course, my beloved Vonage Wave One, then 28 is now just 12 and will go down to 11 in the next two weeks. Pakshet. Halos lahat ng close ko umalis na. I'm glad yung mga natirang matibay close din sa puso ko, siguro lalo ako ma-sa-sad kung pati sila unti-unti na rin nawala. Nagtataka nga ko kung bakit nandun pa din ako. Hehe. Tanga lang.

Sabi ni TL Rye, di pa ako handa iwan yung comfort zone ko. Pano ngayon unti unti na nawawala yung comfort zone ko. Time to move on.

I posted the pic above, which I grabbed from James coz that's one of the pics I saw that made me sad. Of the four people in that pic, I'm the only one that hasn't left. Ako na lang ang natitira. Memon & Shelay resigned almost a month ago. James is set to follow in two weeks. I looked at my Photo Page earlier and I almost couldn't look at the Photo albums. Kasi sa lahat ng pictures, except sa pics na ako lang mag-isa, nasasabi ko na, "ay wala na sha, ay nag-resign na din sha." Nakakalungkot.

Nagtataka ang management kung bakit madami nang nawala. Sabi nila karamihan newbies na hindi sanay, na na-overwhelm. I say otherwise. Karamihan sa tenured agents na kaibigan ko nagresign na. Isipin nyo kung bakit. Isipin nyo kung bakit sino pa yung magagaling, yun ang mga nagresign. Sa mga kasabay ko sa Wave One ng program, tanungin nyo kung bakit 27 na lang ang natitira at madami pa ang aalis soon.

Hay.

I hate goodbyes.

ramdom thoughts on a monday

2008-07-21T06:08:00.000+08:00

I just checked my email and was surprised to find out that I was supposed to have a job interview today in Pasig. Yikes! Why was I not informed via text message or a phone call? I mean I check my email accounts daily, but its kinda weird that they inform people this way. Not everyone is OC like me, who absolutely MUST check my email everyday. And as OC as I am, I was still surprised that I was scheduled for an interview today. As in right this very minute.

So I just called the company and was able to speak with the recruiting director and rescheduled for tomorrow at 10 am. Wish me luck! :)

Funny, as soon as I placed the phone down, I got a text message informing me to check my email because I had an interview request. Ahaha! Kung kelan nakausap ko na yung dapat na maginterview sa akin, nun lang dumating yung text. What a weird system they have ^_^

---------------
Yesterday as I was on my way home, I received a text message from my sister. Dad was asking if I could buy 2 cans of evaporated milk. So as soon as I alighted from the jeep, I went to the 7-11 outside our village and bought the milk. As I got the milk, I saw a Gardenia Choco-mocha bread and grabbed a bar of Goya chocolate-almond bar (my current favorite). While paying for my stuff, I saw chupa-chups, my favorite childhood lollipop and got one.

When I got home, Dad said he made champorado. Yum! (So, that's what the milk was for.). As I was taking out the contents of my plastic bag, I realized one thing: everything I bought, save for the milk, had chocolate. And let's not forget the champorado. Ahahaha! My gah! How chocoholic can one get?

---------------
A couple of weeks ago, I watched The Holiday on HBO, starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black & Kate Winslet. I didn't want to watch it before because I thought it was corny and I don't really like Cameron Diaz that much. Well, that week I was glad I watched it. I absolutely loved it! I still don't care much for Ms. Diaz but I genuinely liked the movie.

I wonder if on my next vacation I'd meet someone like Jude Law? Heehee! Highly unlikely, but who knows?

-----------------
I haven't blogged much lately coz I can't seem to make up my mind on what to write, but today I can't seem to stop myself. :p. Rather than writing numerous short blogs I thought I'd write one long blog with snippets of ideas.

Just for a change.

-----------------
So this is my what? 4th topic? ^_^

How about celebrities this time? Hehehe.

I really can't understand what the fuss is all about Mylie Cyrus? Did I get the spelling of her name right? No? How does one spell it? Lemme check trusty ol' google. Oh, so it's Miley ^_^. Hehe, my bad.

I don't get why there's so much hype about her. (There goes the hate mail I'm gonna receive from pre-puberty fans...) I I don't like her voice. The few times I scanned the Disney Channel while her show is on, I found her acting OA. Her mouth is too wide (ang perfect ko no? :p). And she has a big ego. I saw her interview on tv and she was asked about another Disney star, Selina Gomez (now, she's way better and more humble too. At my age, why do I know her?!), and she said she's better. Che, mabuhat ba ng sariling bangko? And she wants to make a G-rated Sex & the City? Ahahaha! that's funny. And why do I even care?

-----------------
So, Angelina just gave birth to twins. Their first pictures are reportedly worth south of $16M, according to MSN. $16M or more?!! For baby pictures? The world has truly gone paparazzi crazy.

I've liked Brad Pitt since Legends of the Fall but ever since he hooked up with Angelina, I lost interest in him. Maybe because I'm on Team Aniston. Hahahaha! Affected much?

----------------
Over the weekend I read that Britney Spears just gave up full custody of her kids to her ex-husband, Kevin Federline. Ang sad. I mean I can't fathom how a mom could give up her rights to her kids like that. Mas maiintindihan ko pa kung yung dad yung mag-give up ng full custody. Not that moms deserve their kids more. But because I believe mothers and their children have this special bond. After all, the babies were in her for 9 months. Sure she has visitation rights, but its not the same as having custody of the children. Hmm.. why am I affected again?

----------------
Last na to (for this particular entry only).

I'm sure everyone have watched The Dark Knight over the weekend. US box office results say it earned $155.34M over that period, eclipsing the record previously held by Spiderman 3's opening weekend ($151M). Whoa di ba? Galeng.

Did you think that Christian Bale as the Dark Knight was overshadowed by Heath Ledger's The Joker? I thought at first that since its one of Heath Ledger's last movies (he has another one coming out within the year) the people focused more on him, but I was wrong. I still think Christian Bale fits the Batman mold best, but Heath Ledger really shined as The Joker. I mean, Jack Nicholson is a hard act to follow but his performance was nothing like Heath's. Hello? Trailer pa lang mapapa-wow ka na, sa whole movie pa? Galeng.

This early there's already a buzz that Heath could possibly get a posthumous Oscar nomination. :)

-------------
And this ends Jennie's ramdom thoughts on a monday...

Boyce Avenue

2008-07-15T08:02:00.002+08:00

Whoa.. I am so impressed with Boyce Avenue, I am speechless. I'll just let the youtube videos of their covers speak for themselves. I've posted two of my favorites, hope you like it.

No Air - Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown

Because of You - Neyo:

Boyce Avenue's Official Youtube Channel

when greed takes over

2008-07-14T12:26:00.002+08:00

I don't like conversations regarding the distribution of assets to heirs. It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. People's greed surfaces and it's even more disappointing to know that they're relatives. There should be a fair distribution and no one should take advantage. But I guess that's just wishful thinking. Hmmp.

what a shift

2008-07-10T07:09:00.000+08:00

I had a fun shift last night. It started out normally. I got there 30 minutes before my shift started and I talked to JR & Carlo,while I was checking my email. Then Rome & Chiqui transferred workstations, while they were on break (they couldn't stay at our quadrant when they arrived co the ERP was still there). Rome had chichiria, pero since madami kami, nabitin kami at naubos agad.

JR said he was still hungry, Chiqui said she was too. Then the others arrived. Marju came first, followed by Wil, Carmie, and Mike. Then Mabby also transferred to our quadrant. Everyone, we found out, was in different states of hunger.

Then someone said we should buy some chips downstairs. We agreed that we'd pay P10/person, so Mabby, JR & I went to Ministop to buy some chips. We bought 2 Tempura snacks, Vcut, Chippy and Nagaraya. Did I mention we bought the big bags? Hehehe. We were already at the cashier when Mabby & I saw the cheesebread and decided to get one pack. We looked like we were going on a picnic or a field trip because of the food we bought.

When we got upstairs our teammates were like little kids during Christmas morning. Sobrang tuwa na may pagkain. Ahahah!

We said, "It's not P10/person, its' P18/person na. No pay, no food."

To which Carlo said, "Hindi ako gutom." Wahahahahaahah! Mr. Kuripot strikes again.

At 11pm we had a scheduled training about the latest phone Sprint introduced, the Samsung Instinct. Some of us weren't on the list but joined the training, as long as the number could be accommodated because there was a client directive that the training class shouldn't have more than 25 participants. After we signed the attendance sheet, our trainer RJ said that unfortunately, we were more than 25, so some of the people who weren't on the list would have to attend the other training run. No one wanted to leave. Hehehe. Then Stef, one of the trainers said they can still accommodate 3 people, so only one would leave.

Nobody moved. Ang kukulet.

Then Joan said, "Carlo, ikaw naman ang lalaki, magbigay ka na, kaw na lang." Wawa naman. Hehe. Then Carmie said, "Eh ikaw di ka ba lalaki?" To which Joan answered, "Hindi no, half-half lang ako."

Carlo had no choice but to leave and go back and man the helpline. Before he left the room, he switched the lights off in jest. Hehehe. Funny, pero parang naawa ako. Sabi ko pa, ang laki-laki nya, inaapi natin. It's a good thing he's not pikon.

meme time

2008-07-08T07:47:00.000+08:00

I've been trying to blog for the past few days, but I can't seem to organize my thoughts. In the meantime, let's answer some memes. :)

1.What is more difficult: To let go everything or forget what happened?
♥ to forget what happened

2. Think of the last time you were angry. Why were you angry?
♥ Hmpft… let’s just say that lately I get angry when I think about the developments at work.

3. You will die in three minutes. Last call?
♥ family

4. If you could do anything OR wish anything, what would it be?
♥ Good health and wealth for family & friends

5. You can have one of the following two things: trust or love
♥ trust

6. Would you or have you ever blackmailed someone?
♥ I haven’t and I’d like to say I wouldn’t, but depending on the situation, I think I might be forced to. Engk.

7. Think of the last person you've met.
♥ Sino nga ba? Ah! Lam ko na, yung QA Teammates ni Dads

8. Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend?
♥ Yes :p

9. Would you sleep with someone if you had the chance?
♥ ano sa tingin mo? ;)

10. Are you old fashioned?
♥ about certain things

11. What would be harder for you, to tell someone you love them or that you do not love them back?
♥ Yikes! Both are hard to do but I think it’s harder for me to open up and tell someone I love them.

12. What things would be the hardest thing for you to give up on?
♥ life, love

13. Romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them?
♥ nyiii… it’s been a long time

14. Imagine. It is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, and you hear someone walking around outside your window. WHO do you wish was there with you?
♥ my significant other

15. Would you give a homeless person CPR?
♥ I don’t know how to do CPR, I’d like to think I will. If not, I’ll call someone who would.

IF YOU HAVE 3 months TO LIVE

16. Do you tell anyone or everyone you are going to die?
♥ yes

17. What do you do with your remaining days?
♥ go through my list of things to do before I die, and do everything that I can

18. Would you be afraid?
♥ of course

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What do you want for your birthday?
♥ macbook air (yes wishful thinking to :p)

Who will be your next kiss?
♥ that i dont know

When was the last time you went to the mall?
♥ Saturday

How did you spend your summer?
♥ swimming with the family, superfriends and the SME Team; overnight trips with the SME Team at Antipolo & Batangas; went to Puerto Galera with the Superfriends

Have you been to the cinema in the last 7 days?
♥ nope I haven’t. Hopefully this week.

What was your last purchase?
♥ kikay bookmark from Powerbooks; dinner at A Veneto

What was the last food you ate?
♥ bacon & egg

Who would be the person you would call if you’re up in the middle of the night & couldn’t sleep?
♥ someone I know would usually be up that time of the night; my best friends

Have you bought any clothing item in the last week?
♥ nope

Do you have a pet?
♥ 2 dogs, Meatball (spritz-retriever mix) and Popoy (beagle-labrador mix)

What made you laugh in the last 5 days?
♥a lot of things. Kulitan with the superfriends, phone conversations with Pee-em, looking at pictures posted by my friends online; looking at the old ID pictures on the Public Share drive at work. Ehe.

If you would be anywhere right now, where would you want to be?
♥ Tagaytay, Tuscany or New York

One thing you hate about yourself?
♥ one lang? hehe. impatient.

Do you miss anyone?
♥ mom

What are your plans for tomorrow?
♥ work, get lots of sleep

Last person you messaged?
♥ text? Chie Tiu, wishing her luck

Ever went to a camp?
♥ nope. Di uso dito ang camp

Were you a good student in school?
♥ I’m proud to say I was, but I wasn’t nerdy. Hehe

What made you smile today?
♥ the weather. It’s rainy and cool. Sarap matulog.

Are you tired right now?
♥ Nope. Just a bit sleepy and lazy. It’s cold coz it’s raining and I have a shift later. Boo!

Are you in a fight?
♥ no

Do you love your best friend/s?
♥ of course

What song are you listening to?
♥ Staring at the Sun – Rooster

What is your favorite song/s for the moment?
♥ Because of You – Neyo, No Air – Chris Brown & Jordin Sparks (Can you believe it? May gusto na akong R&B songs ngayon?); Collide – Howie Day (yes, I know luma na sha. Fave ko pa din sha)

Give your favorite line from this/these song/s.
♥ Because of You:
I got a problem and I
Don't know what to do about it
Even if I did I don't know if I would quit but I doubt it

No Air:
But how do you expect me
To live alone with just me
Cause my world revolves around you
it's so hard for me to breathe

Collide:
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find, you and I collide

What is your biggest fear?
♥ be alone

Write down names of important friends.
♥ postepeeps, superfriends; sme team

Do you have sex-bestfriends?
♥ ano?! Fu-bu ba? Wahaha! Kalokang tanong to. Wala noh.

Do you like to watch the sunset with your love?
♥ Of course. Pero kahit with anyone I would. It’s always nice to watch the sunset. Masaya din yung watching the sun rise.

What is your favorite thing to do right now?
♥ take pictures, answer surveys like these, facebook!

Have you ever loved your close friend?
♥ I love all my friends ;)

Do you think break up sucks?
♥ Always.

Is time an important thing to you?
♥ oo naman. Time is gold diba? Hehe

Are you bored?
♥ yes, that’s why I’m answering this. I should be asleep by now though.

Do you wanna go back to the past?
♥ Yes.

Do you have bestfriends from the opposite sex?
♥ yup

What colors do you like?
♥ purple, blue, black (parang pasa lang)

Do you like to drink beer until you get drunk?
♥ Nope. Mas matindi ang effect sa akin ng beer kaya mas pangit ang feeling ng hangover.

Do you have important things to say to someone right now?
♥ secret na lang ;)

What do you do for fun?
♥ depends sa mood. Road trips, food trips, malling, hang out with friends, etc

What's one thing you like to have right now.
♥ tangible: Macbook Air or iTouch
Intangible: peace of mind

Are you sleepy now?
♥ a bit

If you have a chance to say i miss you, to whom would that be?
♥ hmmm…

Saturday night with the Postepeeps

2008-07-06T00:32:00.000+08:00

It's 4:30 in the morning and I am on my lunch break. Yep, for the first time in almost 7 months, I have a Saturday night shift. ACK! HIndi na ako sanay!

The good thing about this shift is that it's quiet because there's less agent headcount. I'm almost done with my service observes and my uptraining quota. Ang dami kong na-accomplish today. :)

Thank God for the very strong brewed coffee that I drank at the start of my shift. If not, I would have fallen asleep when I was doing the service observes. I only had about 4 hours of sleep because I left the house early so I could meet my friends in Glorietta.

Ria set up a get together for the Postepeeps before she gives birth on the 16th of the month. I wasn't sure I would be able to make it because I have a Saturday night shift, but I am glad I sacrificed sleep because I haven't seen them in a year and a half. My gah! The last time I saw them was during Aimee & Eric's wedding. Although we communicate via text and email, seeing them is waaay better.

I met Ria & Freg with their hubbies and babies at Glorietta and we had dinner at A Veneto. Too bad the others that were here in Manila couldn't make it. It was great seeing my friends, although I couldn't relate to the baby stuff. Ahahaha! Monanita at Maita, asar kayo at di kayo pumunta. Wala tuloy akong kasama na hindi makarelate. ^_^ But it's okay, I had a wonderful time. Too bad I couldn't stay as long as I wanted to because I had to go to work.

Guys, let's do this again soon. Sana lang hindi na years noh! Maybe we should set a get together once a month? What do you think? :)

2 years na ba yun?

2008-07-03T07:26:00.000+08:00

Today is my 2nd anniversary at work. I still cannot believe I lasted 2 years, after all the complaints, rants and frustrations, specially during the past few months. ^_^

Out of the 25 people in our batch, only 8 remain, 12 if you add the others that joined our Client Specs. Whoa di ba? I've lost touch with s few but most communicate in some way. And the 12 that reamined are as close as ever.

I've learned a lot during the past 2 years. there have been many ups and downs. I've been in two accounts, have been given the opportunity to take in more responsibilities. There are a lot to be thankful for but what I treasure most are my superfriends (wave one and friends), the sme team, my tl friends. Without them, I know I wouldn't have made it to this day. Friends have come and gone but the friendship remained.

My wave one friends and I were spamming earlier and we listed the things we learned during the past 2 years. It was hilarious! I wish I can post it, but it would reveal too much, hehe.

Happy Anniv Wave One! Akalain nyo yun, nagtagal tayo? ^_^ Whatever we decide on the next few months, I konw the friendship wouldn't end. Sa dinami-dami pa naman ng pinagdaanan natin? :) Here's to more bonding moments, inuman sessions, overnights and roadtrips.

my latest embarrassing moment

2008-06-25T12:29:00.000+08:00

I felt so sleepy at work earlier I can barely keep my eyes open while I was listening/rating the calls of the agents assigned to me.

My allergies struck and I couldn't stop coughing whenever I went the quadrant of my assigned team. Kamusta naman? Paano magfloor support if tumatahol ako pag nagtatanong sila? It was a good thing there was antihistamine in the clinic (hooray! may supplies sila ngayon!) otherwise I would have continued barking throughout my shift.

And that's the reason I felt so sleepy.

But I wasn't able to sleep (which is a good thing) coz the whole floor was a-buzzing about the "show" that happened a few hours before I got to work. I won't go into details coz it's really none of my business, suffice to say the incident brought entertainment on the floor. Hehehe.

OMG! I just remembered something really embarrassing that happened to me when I got to work.

It was already 12:30am when I arrived and I was a bit frazzled coz I fell asleep in the car. When I woke up, we were already at the stoplight near Shang (which was just a few meters from teh office. When I got out of the car, I was still a bit sleepy. You could say that my reflexes aren't working normally.

There were about 20 people by the stairs, outside Mcdo & Starbucks, coz I think it was the trainees' lunch or break. Basta, madaming tao.

So I got out of the car, walked up the flight of stairs, and I was halfway up the stairs when I miscalculated my step. And then I felt my knees start to buckle. And then BAM! Nadapa ako. Bwahahaahah! Nakakahiya!!!

Hindi naman ganoon kahalata na nadapa ako kung hindi lang ako napasigaw ng P#%^$@&*! But I couldn't stop myself, pos parang slow-mo pa yung pagkakadapa ko. Hehehe... Eh may kasabay ako maglakad paakyat, shempre nagulat yung guy nataranta sha, ask sha agad, "Are you okay?" Sa sobrang hiya ko hindi ako nakasalita, nagthumbs up lang ako sa kanya, pos lakad ako ng mabilis paakyat. WAHAHAHHAHA! Tang-ina talaga, nakakahiya.

Eto pa ang kicker: I was wearing my Team Orion shirt with my nickname printed at the back. Ang saya di ba? Heehee!

ang cute nya no?

2008-06-19T10:31:00.000+08:00

aminin mo... ang cute nya dito. hehehe.

i saw this pic and i just had to post it. ^_^

ebooks galore!

2008-06-17T08:30:00.000+08:00

I love limewire!

I've spent the last 30 minutes downloading ebooks and I am so excited to read them (if I find the time ^_^). I already have the latest books of my favorite guilty pleasures (Deveraux, Garwood, McNaught), as well as their books that I don't have yet. I also downloaded the complete Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse); and some chick lit.

I only downloaded songs from limewire, but lately all I've downloaded are ebooks. I still have quite a list, but I think what I've downloaded for the past 30 minutes will last me a few weeks.

I hope.

I'm a fast reader and whenever I purchase a new book, no matter how thick it is, I just have to finish it in one sitting. OC! I don't like to read a book without knowing the outcome and I usually finish a 300 page book (depending on how big the font is) in an hour or two. WHich is why I used to buy 1-2 books whenever I go to a bookstore.

There are two types of stores you should never leave me. Shoe stores and book stores. And I find it hard to leave the store without purchases. Hehehe. That's why I never go near them unless I have to. ^_^

Gotta go, I'm gonna start reading my books now! :D

it's time to make a move

2008-06-14T12:25:00.000+08:00

My week started sluggishly, then I became inundated by uptrainings (my gah, too many aux 2s for my team, I"m running out of things to uptrain. hehe) and crew briefs. But my work week ended well and I'm so happy!

First, instead of me conducting the uptraining/crew brief, I attended the training for the National June Pricing (finally! SME pa ang nahuli iupdate, anubeh? :p). At least now I am confident that I will be able to answer my team's questions regarding the new June Pricing, which will be effective tomorrow. Pahinga din for at least half of the shift from the reports, service observes and floor support. Hehehe.

Secondly, my team's metrics are above their goals. Whoopee! Looking at the latest Advanis reports, my team is running 5th for the whole site (out of 50 teams?) and 1st in Care Bay. Yehey!! Kayeser and I are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way. For next week, we are going to focus on the 2 agents that need more improvement, as the rest of the team are already hitting their goals.

Lastly but the most important of all, my friend and I, who had a big misunderstanding, are okay now. We haven't been speaking to each other for the past two weeks and it's my fault, I admit it. Which is why I was scared to approach him. But I am glad we are okay now. Of course, my ilang factor pa. At least on my end. Shempre after a misunderstanding, di naman agad babalik sa dati. But I am praying that we'd both put this unfortunate thing behind us and be like how we were before.

One of my co-SMEs, Kian had his last day at work last Wednesday. I was sad that he left (nabawasan na lunch buddies ko..) but at the same time I am happy that he got a good offer and he took it. I'll surely miss his one liners and patok na hirits like, "buhay na basura" - for a child "starlet" that we all dislike. Ahahaha! I know, it's mean, but damn, he comes up with these colorful descriptions that no one can match.

I envy him coz he was able to make a decision and stick to it. Unlike me, who already has this contract with a lucrative compensation which should make the decision a bit easier. And here I am still thinking about it. I mean really, what is there to think about? Especially after the new developments at work? That alone should have made my decision easier. May start date na nga ako dun eh, di pa din makadesisyon, anubayan?!

I think TL Rye is right. I am scared to leave my comfort zone. And it's not about me leaving my friends anymore coz many have already left and most are thinking of moving, too.

Today when I woke up, I made a conscious effort to make a move. And so this afternoon, I've sent out my resumes. Hopefully, I'll find a job that will not only satisfy my financial needs but my growth as well (sad to say, as much as I love the culture at my current work, that's my only need that has been satisfied). As my friend said, "Maganda nga ang culture, ano naman napala natin sa culture na yan? Nagkagrowth ba tayo sa program na to? Mabubuhay ba tayo ng culture? Magpaka-practical na." Tama ka jan friend. Kaya as much as I would love to stay, it's time for me to think far ahead.

Google Image Meme :)

2008-06-13T13:06:00.000+08:00

I started this entry 3 days ago. Finally, I am done. ^_^ (I copied this from Maine. hehehe, thanks Maine!)

Go to Google/Yahoo images and search for your answers to the questions, then paste ‘em. This is good.

1. How old will you be on your next birthday:

SHHH...

2. A place you want to travel:

Tuscany, Italy

Ireland

New York City

3. Your favorite place:

Boracay Island

my green room (this isn't my room though, hehe)

4. Your favorite things in the world:

my cellphone, my books, sunflowers, my purple snooze time pillow & bath & bodyworks wild raspberry lotion :)

5. Your favorite food:

Carbonara and Prawns in Garlic & Butter

6. Your favorite animal:

doggies

7. The city you were born:

Makati City. :)

8. The city you live in:

Las Pinas

9. Your favorite color:

10. Name of a former pet:

Dinky :)

11. Name of a past love:

12. Name of the one you love:

13. Your first name:

14. Your middle name:

15. Your last name:

16. Your nickname:

17. A bad habit of yours:

18. Your first job:

Account Officer for Winternitz Insurance

19. Your major in college:

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science (AB - BSC) Major in Behavioral Sciences and Business Management

20. How do you feel right now:

sleepy and tired

kalokang bus story

2008-06-10T10:50:00.000+08:00

I've always said commuting home is fun because of the people watching and in this case, eavesdropping. Hehehe!

I was on my way home this morning and as usual, I rode the bus to NAIA. As soon as I stepped inside the bus, I heard a man's talking loudly. At first I thought he was talking to his seatmate, but then I found out he was talking to someone on the phone.

I took the seat opposite his seat and as I was fumbling for my fare, the man said, "Ay pare, eets so preemeeteeb (primitive) here. And I heb meyni karteyns por yu." (ano daw? ah! CURTAINS pala!) Grammar Nazi me was startled and had to stifle a laugh. I couldn't help but eavesdrop for the guy was talking so loud, I think the whole busload of people could hear him clearly. He kept talking to his friend in Carabao English (you know, the kind of English popularized by Jimmy Santos back on the 80s & 90s) and I actually wanted to tell him, "Kuya, magTagalog na lang tayo."

I tried to ignore him, believe me I did. But I don't think he wanted to be ignored. Yung tipong, balikbayan sha from somewhere na gustong magyabang kaya English ng English kahit balubaluktot. Shempre may pagkamaldita ako, text agad ako sa friends ko :p

Okay lang sana if what he's saying is positive, but he kept criticizing his environment, as in it's primitive and all. I had to stop myself from saying, "Kuya, kung primitive pala dito, bakit bumalik ka at bakit nagba-bus ka? di sana bumili ka or nagrent ka ng limo diba?" I'm sorry, mukha kang karpintero (no offense meant to carpenters, parang ininsulto ko pa nga sila sa pagcompare ko sa kanila with this guy).

Unfortunately for me and the other passengers, there was bit of a traffic jam in EDSA (so what else is new?) and we had to endure his presence a bit longer. The guy, who was seated behind the driver, tapped the driver's shoulder and said, 'Kowya, wer is Bweynja (Buendia)?" Bwahahahaha! Hagikgik talaga ako. Malas na lang ni kuya nasa Ayala na kami at nakalampas na ng Buendia or Gil Puyat Ave. as it's now called. Naiiyak na ako kakapigil ng tawa ko, pero hala, text pa din ng text sa mga friends about the guy.

The call ended but he got another call and it was from his pangga. By then, we were at the Magallanes flyover. The guy exclaimed, "Oh aym skerd hani, da bus is preemeeteeb, ay mayt pol in the oberpass" (translation: "Oh, I am so scared, honey. The bus is primitve, I might fall in the overpass.). Kaloka! Itulak ko kaya sha?

The driver and the conductor were already shaking their heads and my seatmate and I looked at each other and tried to stifle our laughs (again). Then the guy said, "Aym wandering (wondering) why there are no flying tour buses here." Hello?! Kuya, saang lupalop ka naman nakakita ng flying tour bus? May sapi sha!!! Di ko na napigilan, tawa na talaga ako ng tawa, pati yung katabi kong guy, tawa na din ng tawa. Nakakaloka si kuya!

By the time we got to MOA, I felt the beginnings of a terrible headache. The guy was still talking to someone on the phone. Then he said, "Pare, i gotta go, bababa na ako. See you in hell." WTF?! Pagbaba nya lahat ng tao sa bus tawa ng tawa.

Whoo! Another memorable bus ride for me ^_^

decisions, decisions...

2008-06-06T11:38:00.000+08:00

A lot of things have happened during the past week and I am still overwhelmed.

I am still torn and confused and I still don't know what my final decision would be. I didn't realize that things will be moving this fast and I guess I wasn't ready for that big decision. I've spoken to a lot of people over the past few days and they certainly have good arguments on both sides, which confuses me even more.

I apologize if I'm being vague again, in time I'll speak more freely about it, I'm just not ready yet. But it's no secret that I'm disappointed and frustrated at work. And though I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm motivated to go to work because of my friends and co-workers, certain developments at work are making me look into other opportunities. I just didn't realize things will be moving this fast.

I got to work last Tuesday morning looking dazed and confused. Overwhelmed talaga ako. Ang bilis ng mga pangyayari. At ang bilis din ng balita. Hahaha! It was really funny when I was walking from one end of the operation's area to the other end that people would ask me if what they heard was true. Hello? I just told my co-SMEs and a few friends about it. Hehe, may pakpak nga ang balita.

I bumped into one of the agents I handled in the Communications Care Bay around lunch time and she asked me if it was true. And I asked her how she knew about it. She said one of her team mates emailed her about it. And I said I didn't tell her anything. Apparently, my friends and I weren't discreet enough and our conversation was overheard. Hehe.

I already have a pros & cons list, and the offer is really tempting but my gut feel tells me something else. I'm apprehensive to take the offer at the same time I feel I might regret it if I let it go.

There's another situation at work that makes it quite harder for me to leave (ay, nadulas? :p). Siguro magaling lang ako magtago, walang nakakapansin ng lungkot ko (o kung meron man, di na sila nagtatanong kung bakit). Ilang beses na din ako naiyak sa workstation ko kakaisip kung paano aayusin yung sitwasyon. Pinagdadasal ko na kung magdecide man ako umalis, sana maayos ang lahat.

DC Rocks!

2008-05-22T06:38:00.000+08:00

Ay naku, dapat tulog na ako or at least nagpapack for our SME Outing tomorrow, but here I am stilla wake. Nawala ang antok ko. The suspense almost killed me pos alam mo yung pakiramdam na sudden rush tapos biglang subside? Hahaha! That's how I feel right now. ANd it's all your fault, David Cook!

My Gah! I was afraid America will vote for the adorable one, but they got it right this time and voted DAVID ROLAND COOK as the New American Idol.

Ang tagal ng two hours, sobrang daming performances from comebacking artists and the Top 12, plus an annoying performance by the "We are Brothers forever" guy, complete with the marching bands.

I did like Jason Castro's Hallelujah and THe guy's performance with Bryan Adams, but the night belonged to David Cook.

Halfway through the show, I though they were pimping out an Archuleta win, because he got to sing Apologize with One Republic, while David Cook performed with oldie rockers, ZZ Top. Hello di ba?

David Cook not only won, he won BIG! 56 million votes and 12 million votes over Archuleta. Now that's what I call a WIN.

It was funny how the camera panned to Jeff Archuleta, David A's dad when Cook was announced the winner. Parang everybody was anticipating what his reaction would be. Gracious naman sha, in fairness.

Hay.. I need to sleep na. BUt first, I gotta download more DC songs. Hehehe!

Congratulations, DC! You truly deserve it. :D

PS: Feeling ko vindication to. Kasi tanga sila dati vinote out agad si Chris Daughtry chaka si Elliott Yamin at ang pinanalo si Taylor Hicks. Hehehe, conspiracy theory.

Go David Cook!

2008-05-21T07:49:00.000+08:00

David Cook for the mother-effin' win!!!

I don't care what the judges said, David Cook was brilliant.

I loved his song choices - songs from two of my favorite artists, U2 & Collective Soul. The 2nd song was okay, but it wasn't as cheesy as DA's song.

Simon said DC should have sung "Hello" or "Billie Jean" again, but I agree with David, why sing something you've already done?

Not to take anything away from David Archuleta, his rendition of Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was great. Overall though, I hink DC is the better singer/performer.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2:

I liked this performance better, because it showed David's emotional side. The World I Know - Collective Soul

C'mon America, choose the better singer, not the "adorable" one.

on coping

2008-05-12T07:29:00.000+08:00

People have different coping mechanisms and it differs on the situation.

I, for example, either pig out on ice cream, blog, listen to very loud music or sleep. It can be done simultaneously, like i'd eat ice cream and listen to rock/metal/alternative music while blogging, or one after the other. Hehehe.

In light of the news I've received last week, I've had a hot fudge sundae for 3 consecutive days (baaad), and I've listened to all the loud music i have (good luck to my eardrums) and tuned out the sounds at the office. I've also blogged, though most of what I composed are just for a select few. And I slept.

When I got home last Saturday I was so depressed, I slept at 11am and I woke up at 7am Sunday morning. My gah. Tulog kung tulog. I guess it was my body saying its drained.

Friday morning was a bad morning, and last Saturday, my teammates and I were just like walking zombies. Just going through the motions.

We all felt the same way. We wanted to rant and rebel but we thought it best to be the better persons. We were just comforted by the fact that though this crisis (and yes we consider it a crisis), we stuck together and were able to be there for each other. It was nice having lunch with most of them and talking to one another on a different level.

Whatever happens within the next couple of weeks, I'm glad we became team mates and I'm glad I became part of the BEST team there is.

mom

2008-05-11T17:06:00.000+08:00

I composed this on my phone while dad and I were at Loyola Memorial Park this afternoon. We were there to visit mom's grave. This has been a typical Sunday for us for almost 3 years now and I still can't get used to mom not being here in every aspect of my life.

My friend Aimee is right, the pain doesn't go away, we just learn how to deal with it better. And I think we've done just that.

I still miss mom everyday and I miss her even more during special occassions and on days I need a shoulder to cry on. She was my bestest (yes, I know it's not a word) friend and I honestly felt that my world crumbled when she passed on. I'm still not the same Jennie I was when she was here, and I doubt I will ever be the same again. But during past couple of years my family and I learned how to cope and I think we're doing okay so far :)

Hay, I so miss my mom. If you still have your moms with you, don't let a day pass without telling them and showing them you love them.

.....

2008-04-19T16:08:00.000+08:00

OO, Naiinis pa ako. Pikon na pikon na ako actually. So you might find it harsh na di ko kayo pinapansin or nagwo-walk out ako, pero put yourselves in my shoes din. Pinalampas ko na nga yung nangyari dati, inulit na naman. I don't have any problem kung close kayo mashado, masaya pa nga ako for you, but when you forget that there are other people too, I not only find it insulting, I find it disrespectful and insensitive. Courtesy lang naman ang hinihingi ko eh. Gaano ba kahirap na itext ako or I-IM or i-email na you'll go ahead? Ako namang tanga, nagaantay sa wala.

Ewan. OA ba reaction ko? Siguro. But when it happens more than once, I think I am entitled to be pissed off.

Weekend in Bulacan

2008-04-15T11:32:00.000+08:00

I spent last weekend in Bulacan with Kitkat, Kulot, Dads and Pee-em and I had a blast.

I had planned on sleeping at the lounge because my shift ended at 4am and their shift ended at 10am and 1pm. Prior to that, I finished my coaching logs but by the time I was done, sleep evaded me. So I stayed near their workstations and since the escalation team had avail time, we talked and made plans. The SME team also had a picture taking session while we were recounting our McDo Breakfast Forum the day before. Hehe.

It was already almost 10 am and I had slept only for an hour. Bangenge time na to! So I went to the lounge to sleep. Buti na lang antok na talaga ako kasi may isang TL na natutulog pero naghihilik na parang dragon. hihihi! I think I was able to sleep at least 2 hours.

We had lunch first and then we were on our way. Ang init ng byahe pero mabilis naman. I think the travel time was almost the same as my travel time from work to our house. Sa sobrang antok I fell asleep sa van but there were times I can hear their conversation.

When we arrived at Dads' house nagvideoke agad kami. Hahahaha! Naaliw kaming lahat sa dvd/videoke unit nila. as in 10,000 songs. ahaha! Videoke until dinner after that we went to Dad's sister's house coz we were gonna sleep there. Ang kukulit ng mga pamangkin ni Dads, specially the little girl, sorry I forgot her name, nagmomodel complete with kikay walk and beauty queen wave. Ahahah! Kaloka sha.

After freshening up, videoke uli (ganun din yung unit! pero mas bago songs) habang nagiinuman. Ewan, 5 lang naman kami pero ang saya. Tawa kami ng tawa, asaran, kwentuhan. Bonding moments with pareng Johnny Walker, sabi ko sa susunod, with pareng Jose Cuervo naman ^_^ Tapos videoke pa din kami, eh sobrang nag-enjoy kami kakakanta ng 'My Immortal" biglang may bumato sa bahay. BWAHAHAHAHA! Hagikhikan kami. Nakakaloka! Ang ending? Kumakanta pa din kami per wala nang mic pos nung simula pabulong pa kami kumanta habang tawa ng tawa.

We had planned on going to Kitkat's house in Pulilan (we were in Calumpit) around 7am but we slept around 3 am so that didn't push through. Kulitan pa kasi before we even got to sleep.

I woke up at 6am because my phone was ringing. It was the office. Engk. So I groggily answered, "Hello?" habang nakapikit pa. It was Rome who answered perkily, "Hello, te Jennie, nanjan si TL Kitkat?" Waw. Diredirecho pa sha nagsasalita. Sabi ko, "Rome... hangover... what are you saying? Can't understand..." Wahahah! ang tagal bago nagregister sa brain ko yung sinasabi nya. Hehehe. Finally nagkaintindihan kami then I went back to sleep.
We then had breakfast at Dads' house and was on our way to Kitkat's house by 9am. We arrived around 11am and had lunch. I swear wala kami ginawa kungdi kumain. Hahahah!

We rested a bit then we went to the resort a few meters away from Kitkat's house. Ang daming tao may nag-outing kasi. But the place had 3 pools so okay naman. 2pm na yata when we got there. Kamusta naman, parang hindi kami uuwi the same day. Hahaha! The resort closes at 5pm but the 3 hours that we were at the resort was ok. I mean di naman nakakabitin. Masaya pa din.

We left their house after dinner (kain na naman!) but it took a long wait before we were able to board a Manila bound bus. On the bus to Manila, tulog kaming apat: Dads, Pee-em, Kulot and I. I woke up when we were almost at the MRT station. Nagmamadali kami umakyat kasi baka di namin maabutan yung last train. Hehehe.

As usual, tawa na naman kami ng tawa sa MRT kasi ang sosy ng pagkakasabi ng driver ng Kamuning station. May American accent pa. But when we got to Ortigas and Shaw, he said Ortegas and Show Bolevard. Ahaha! I know ang babaw ng kaligayahan namin.

I got home at 10 pm, exhausted but happy. :)

Game K N B?

2008-04-15T08:36:00.000+08:00

I just finished watching Game KNB because one of my friends from work, Dads, was a player. It was taped last Monday and he didn't tell us the complete datails, so we were excited to watch him play.

It's a good thing I'm on birthday leave and I was able to watch him. Bad trip lang kasi as the program was about to start, our cable went out. Nyak! Panic mode. Buti nakapanood din. I was on the phone with Pee-em while watching the show while the rest of the Superfriends were text spamming. Wow. Send to all, parang sa outlook lang. Kitkat, Franchie, Skellie, Racquel, Kulot and JR were at the office and watched the show at the pantry.

Naiiyak kami ni Pee-em kakatawa kasi nag-opening spiel pa sha habang iniinterview ni Edu. Ang lakas pa mang-kantiyaw sa text ng superfriends kaya tawa kami ng tawa. Kasi may mga sabaw moments sha, which is understandable. Mabroadcast ba naman yun sa buong Pilipinas isama pa ang world dahil sa TFC? Kung di ka masabaw, ewan ko na lang. :p

He reached the top 3, sayang di sha yung umabot sa P1M question, but we're so proud of him for reaching that far. :)

Lagot lang sha kasi papasayawin namin sha ng papaya dance pagpasok nya. Ahahaha!

birthday thoughts

2008-04-14T21:40:00.000+08:00

Another year, another birthday.

My gah. How time flies. Bday ko na naman. I said to myself earlier that how I wish birthdays end at a certain age, but my tita told me I should be thankful that I've had another year and that I will have lots and lots of birthdays to come. And she's right, birthdays should be celebrated and I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have my family, na kahit minsan may di pagkakaunawaaan (ay ang lalim), pag kelangan nanjan;
I have my postepeeps, who I haven't seen in a year, just communicating by email and text, but whenever we see each other it's like we just saw each other yesterday. I know they're always behind me;
I have the superfriends at work (di ko na kayo iisas-isahin, you know who you are and you know how special you are to me), who make work fun and who makes me look forward to being there. na kahit wala kaming pera basta magkakasama kami sa lakwatsa masayang masaya na;
I have the SME Team, na kadamay sa lahat ng issues. Breakfast at McDo forum uli tayo, guys!
I have friends from all over, who even if we rarely see each other are as close as ever.
My family and I are in good health, and even if mom's not around anymore, I still feel her presence specially when I'm feeling blue;
I have work, na kahit nakakapagod masaya naman.
I have a roof over my head and I eat 3x (sige na nga more that 3x, wahahaha!) a day.

I have a lot to be thankful for, I may not have everything that I want, but I have everything that I need.

end of the week survey

2008-04-04T15:35:00.000+08:00

ang dami ko gusto iblog, pero di na gumagana brain ko. hehe. survey na lang uli ^_^

1. How old will you be in 3 birthdays?
☻☺ = waw. wag na natin yan tanungin ^_^

2. Do you think you'll be married by then?
☺☻ = ewan

3. What do you look forward to most in the next 3 months?
♣ summer outing

4. Who was the last person you called, and who called you last?
☺☻ si kulot. pos si kulot din. haha!

5. Have you ever played a team sport?
☻☺ oo naman

6. Who was the last person to text you?
☺☻ kulot pa din

7. Current thoughts?
☻☺ matuloy kaya kami next week? matapos ko kaya lahat ng SO ko this week? hay...

8. What were you doing at midnight last night?
☺☻ sleeping

11. What happened at 11:00 a.m. today?
☻☺ nag-SO ako

12. How many states have you visited?
☺☻ eh, wala

13. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
☻☺ sa beach or sa pool, kahit saan wag lang dito

14. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
☺☻ depends

15. Are you a social person?
☻☺ very

16. What was the last thing you drank?
☺☻ water

17. Favorite ice cream?
☻☺ double dutch

18. What is your favorite dessert?
☺☻ leche flan, ice cream, chocolate mousse

19. What’s your favorite color?
☻☺ blue, black, purple

20. What jelly do you put on your PBJ?
☺☻ i don't like jelly

21. Do you like coffee?
☻☺ yep! :)

22. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average?
☺☻ more than 8

23. What do you drink in the morning?
☻☺ water, juice

24. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?
☺☻ doesn't matter, hehe

25. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
☻☺ in the middle

26. Do you know how to play poker?
☺☻ waw. ilang tao na ang sumuko sa akin

27. What's so good about Fridays?
☻☺ last day at work

28. Any plans for this week?
☺☻ hmmm.. still thinking

30. How big is your TV?
☻☺ which one? in my room 14" yata

31. Ever stolen a street sign?
☺☻ nope

32. Do you keep a piggy bank?
☻☺ i used to

33. What kind of camera do you have?
☺☻ cybershot

34. Have you ever been in an ambulance?
☻☺ no, thank God

35. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
☺☻ for swimming, pool; for relaxing (coz of the view) beach

36. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?
☻☺ window seat

37. Do you know how to drive a stick shift?
☺☻ yes

38. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
☻☺ food, shoes.

39. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
☺☻ nope, i don't sleep with any jewelry

41. Can you roll your tongue?
☻☺ yes.

42. What should you be doing now?
☺☻ sleep coz i have work later

43. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
☻☺ yes.

44. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
☺☻ because of you - neyo

45. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
☻☺ la na. pinamimigay namin eh.

46. What is the color of your bedroom walls?
☺☻ mint green

47. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth?
☻☺ yup. conserve water!

48. Do you like someone right now?
☺☻ yeah.

49. Do you currently hate someone?
☻☺ i plead the fifth

50. Where are your best friends?
☺☻ all over :)

bus advetures with shelay

2008-03-26T13:06:00.000+08:00

I didn't go to work today and I am bored out of my wits. I woke up nauseous and had an overall eeewy feeling (for lack of a better word). And since it's already summer, it's very hot and humid at home. That’s a good combination, don’t you think? Hahaha!

It’s a good thing that I had downloaded a lot of ebooks lately (huhu, I still remember the ebooks I had before the pc crashed, but that’s another story.) and I've already finished reading two in two hours. :)

I almost pulled a double shift yesterday. My shift starts at 4am and ends at 1pm but I was able to leave the office before 7pm. Soulmate Shelay, Memon and I still had to fix the Communications Wall in preparation for the Board of Director's meeting last night. I was so sleepy that I was already cranky (hehe, sorry naman Shelay and Memon, pagod lang) and I didn't like the thought that the opening shift would already be there by the time we got home. As a matter of fact, as we were packing up, Yveth arrived followed by TL Ziggy (who I saw when I got to the office at four am). My gaaah! Nakatulog na sila nandun pa din kami! We met our co-SME, Reji by the lockers and he looked like he just woke up from a long, restful slumber. Nainggit ako. Hehe.

Hay, the next time this happens, learn to say no. Di naman utusan ang Champs eh. This happened twice already. I actually wouldn't have minded doing that (Comm. Wall) if I was given ample time to do it and not at the last minute. Soulmate, next time, uuwi na talaga ako. hehehe.

On the way home, I felt hungry. I normally just ignore the manongs who board the bus and sell food, but last night I couldn't. Sabi ko pa,"ay, bibili ako soulmate, pangtawid gutom din yan." Wahahahah! Parang line sa cheesy Tagalog movie. Shelay and I just had to laugh at that. Come to think of it, Shelay and I have a lot of bus stories to tell. It's certainly isn't boring when we're on our way home.

One time we were seated at the back of the driver and the conductor just changed the dvd. We were curious what movie would be next and as soon as the first scene played, Shelay exclaimed, "Ay! Anak ng Kumander yan!" I was like, "how could you know?" "Basta, soulmate, yan yun." Tawa na kami ng tawa. at I'm sorry, ang lakas talaga ng tawa namin nun pinakita yung title ng movie. Anak ng Kumander nga! Manny Pacquiao's movie. Shyet.

We had no choice but to watch it. As much as I wanted to ignore the movie, it simply cannot be ignored. Pigil na pigil yung tawa ko habang pinapanood ko si Manny Pacquiao umarte. Sorry talaga, pero magboxing na lang sha. Umiiyak na ako kakatawa, si Shelay naman hinihika na. Needless to say, it was an unforgetable bus ride.

The next day on the way home, the bus that we were riding also had a "video on board" The movie? Tataynic, Dolphy's movie that was set at a cruise ship (shades of Titanic?). Okay lang yung movie, typical Dolphy film, pero ang panalo sa bus ride na yun ay yung ale na katabi ko. Hagalpak talaga sha kakatawa. At yung mga reaction nya kaloka talaga. She was so into the movie, she almost missed her stop. Hahaha!

The most memorable bus rides would have to be the times we rode the ordinary bus. When we boarded the bus, there were 2 groups of gays (as in screaming fags - no disrespect meant) on the bus one group was near the bus driver and the otehr group at the back. Shelay and I were in the middle. They were really loud during the whole bus ride but I didn't mind it. Some of their comments were actually amusing. Then the driver suddenly braked hard and yung gay na nakaupos sa harap tumilapon sa upuan nya and landed on all fours. I was trying to stiffle my laugh and it was hard specially when the gays at the back commented. Turns out they knew each other and were actually together. Haha!

Riding an ordinary bus while cruising Macapagal Avenue is certainly an adventure. Sa lakas ng hangin kulang na lang matanggal mukha ko at ang buhok kung saan saan napupunta. I had the misfortune of sitting by the window and I didn't know how to keep my eyeglasses and my big hoop earrings from flying off, while trying to keep my hair from flying all over the place. Imaginin mo na lang kung ano ichura ko nun. Hehehe.

Bukas kaya, anong klaseng bus story meron kami? :)

wow. where's your brain, man?

2008-03-23T14:41:00.000+08:00

I'm watching the news as I write this and I can't help but say, "Waw. Where's your brain, man?"

John Estrada was detained last Maundy Thursday at the airport, on the way to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix (Commercial: Yey! Kimi won!). Why? Because when Mr. Peabrain's luggage was xrayed, 17 bullets for a 9mm gun was found.

When interviewed, Mr. Peabrain said, "It was an honest mistake."

Honest mistake?! In this day and age how can you not know that it is illegal to bring bullets/ammunition at an airport?

Susmaryosep.

ang init!

2008-03-23T13:40:00.000+08:00

OMG ang init.

Sobra.

I feel like I'm melting.

I can't think straight. The heat is making me feel so sluggish.

Summer outing na!!!

nyar.

2008-03-17T09:00:00.000+08:00

I woke up feeling sad today. Ewan. Ang panget ng feeling. Parang tanga pa coz a few minutes after I woke up I just burst into tears. Shyet talaga. Hormonal? Hehehe.

It must be the heat. Pucha, summer na nga. Kahit yung hangin mainit. Swimming na!

on patience

2008-03-17T05:54:00.000+08:00

"Patience is a virtue."

Unfortunately, I don't think I have that virtue. Hehehe. See? Im being honest. :) I've always said that patience is not one of my virtues. Believe me, I have been trying and for the most part, I think I'm suceeding.

I've learned to count 10 times before blurting out anything, I always have my stressball with me, and I think happy thoughts (hehe). But there are days that no matter what you do, it just makes you snap.

Last Saturday was one of those days. And I was on full biatch mode the moment I entered the Ops Area. Well, maybe about after 30 seconds coz I was still perkily greeting my co-SMEs when I entered the room.

Then one of the agents I was handling ruined it for me.

For the past three weeks that I've been handling them, she always asks me the same question when she arrives. "Jen, saan tayo nakaplot?" And I understood that the first two weeks coz they're TL was still in learning lab and I was the one in charge of them. Add the fact that by the time they arrive for their shift, the workstations plotted for them are occupied because there's a shortage of workstations. So I had to look for workstations for them. But after talking to the TL who does the plotting, they're always plotted on the same quadrant and I told them the day before that they're still plotted there the next day.

So when she asked me the same question last Saturday, as I was about to log in, my patience wore thin. I answered, "Honestly, do I look like a workstation plotting to you? Girl, for a change, can you check the plotting posted?" Ang baaaad ko!!! Pero ikaw di ka ba mapipikon if everyday for the past 3 weeks yun ang tanong sa iyo, eh pwede naman nya icheck? Pero tinuro ko pa din naman sa kanya kung saan sila.

Then as I was approaching their quadrant, another girl from that team screamed, "Jen! wala akong amplifier!" Anong gusto nyang gawin ko? Ako pa maghanap ng amp for her? Eh 10 minutes na after their log in time nandun pa din sha hindi naghahanap? Waw. Pumaparaan na naman sha. Ay nakoh, nakakaloka sila!

I told her, there are a lot of ws with amps, you can set up there or if you can't find one, you can go to the security office and ask if they have extra amps. One of her teamates said, "Kaw naman, di naman natin secretary si Jen" OMG! Thank you! I could have kissed her when she said that. Di naman nila ako utusan. I'm there to help them improve their Issue Resolution, language skills and assist with calls but I am not her slave. Mabait naman ako eh, wag mo lang abusuhin.

Hay... nakakapagod magbitch mode.

I need more patience, Lord.

I wish I was there

2008-03-11T13:47:00.000+08:00

Four years ago, i had this blog entry about Incubus's first concert in Manila. Nakakatawa. What a difference four years make. Parang ewan yung entry ko. First thought when I was rereading it earlier was, "Yii! Ang juvenile."

Too bad I wasn't able to watch their concert last Sunday. But I can still remember the 2004 concert vividly and I still have the music clip I recorded. Sayang walang video, low tech pa phone ko nun eh. Hehe!

Next time na bumalik sila, promise manonood na ako uli. Sana lang hindi uli four years after noh.

Bb. Pilipinas blooper and the Manila concert season

2008-03-10T08:02:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend most of the blog posts were about the disastrous BB. Pilipinas Q & A portion with eventual Bb. Pilipinas - World titlist, Janine San Juan. I won't post the video anymore, kawawa naman sha eh, but you can find it in youtube if you haven't seen it yet :p

Di ko talaga kinaya si BB. Pilipinas World. Paki-explain nga kung paano sha nanalo? Nakakahiya na nakakairita panoorin! She succumbed to the pressure. Nawalan ng poise. Sana gamitin nya yung time until her pageant day to improve her grammar, pronunciation and poise. Di na ako mag-eexpect na manalo sha, or masali man lang sa "tof ten". Ayan na. Lumabas na naman ang pagka-mean girl ko.

Speaking of youtube, have I told you I love that website? Hehehe. The main reason is that I'm able to watch snippets of the concerts I missed. It's concert season here and I haven't been able to see any of the artists live (huhuhu!) but I got to watch their concerts in Manila on youtube. Buti na lang. Hehehe, kuripot mode kasi eh. But at least, even if I was unable to watch Vertical Horizon, Ne-Yo, My Chemical Romance, Maroon 5 and see Incubus again in the flesh, I was able to catch them online. Okay na din. Hehe.

Next artists on the list are Toto, Mandy Moore, Harry Connick, Jr and Duran Duran. On the rumored list are U2 and Justin Timberlake (although Justin already wrapped up his world tour and has announced that he will not be going on tour in 2008, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed). Ano kaya ang pwede ko ibenta para makapanood ng U2 concert, if ever? Wahahaha!

----------
it's survey time! got this from cher:

1. Who was the last person to put their arm around you?
- JR

2. Do you still talk to the person you kissed last?
- what kind of kiss? wahaha! If it's that kind, then, No. If it's the beso-beso kind, yes

3. Who was the last person you couldn't take your eyes off?
- hehehe, wag na lang.

4. Are you a morning person or a night person?
- depends on my shift ^_^

5. What would you do if you opened up your front door to a dead person?
- Inaaang... I'd probably scream first and then faint

6. Are you there for your friends?
- of course

7. Are you a forgiving person?
- no. matagal

8. Do you drink every weekend?
- nope

9. Are you talking to anyone while doing this?
- talking to myself, hahaha!

10. What do you want right now?
- new shoes :D

11. Three actual feelings at the moment
- sleepy. bored. anxious.

12. The highlight of your week?
- last saturday when I finished uptraining the modules and checking their quizzes, certification na lang! Highlight yun kasi i was able to meet the deadline. pero yung totoong highlight ng week ko, i'll keep it to myself na lang. heehee!

13. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?
- s0ulmate shelay

14. Who was the last person to text message you?
- ish

15. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb?
- hehe, can't remember

16. Name someone with the same b-day as you:
- 4 HS batchmates, mildred, eleanor, sunshine and karina; found out that we were all born in the same hospital

17. Ever had a drunken night in Mexico?
- di pa nga ako nakarating mexico eh. - ako din di pa :p

18. What are your plans for tonight?
- sleep. my shift starts at 4 am eh

19. Where’s your top 3rd friend in your top friends right now?
- sa friendster? I think she's at home

20. What's the last piercing you got?
- waw. ears pa.

21. What would you say if somebody told you they were in love with you?
- If he's the one I was in love with too, then of course I'd be ecstatic.

22. Do you want to be married right now?
- not really

23. What were you doing at 4am this morning?
- texting

24. What do you usually do first in the morning?
- before getting up, i'd check my phone for messages first.

25. What did you do last night?
- watched cable, listened to the radio, surfed the net, slept

26. How many different beverages have you had today?
- 2. coffee and water

27. Any plans for Friday night?
- wala pa

28. What is your favorite flavor of JELLO?
- violet ay grape pala. hahaha!

29. Do you want children?
- yep

30. Do you smile often?
- yes :)

32. Name one thing about the opposite sex that automatically turns you off.
- one lang? yung mukhang mabaho. wahaha! eewwy!

33. Name one thing about the opposite sex that automatically turns you on.
- smile

34. Do people underestimate you?
- i don't know

35. What do you hope to have accomplished by the end of the year?
- sana tuloy - tuloy na yung level up sa work

36. Are you named after a grandparent?
- no

37. Is your birthday on a holiday?
- nope. pero malapit na, hehe

38. Name things that you love?
- my cellphone, anything purple, bracelets, hoop earrings, books

39. Who was the last person who messaged you?
- sa friendster? I think it was Chres

40. Are you taller than 5'6?
- waw. wish ko lang

41. Favorite fruit?
- grapes, mangoes, banana

42. Does it bother you when someone says they'll call you and they don't?
- It used to bother me, but not anymore. Kung tumawag o hindi, it's fine ;)

tuesday afternoon survey

2008-03-04T13:05:00.000+08:00

Di ko talaga kayang hindi sumagot ng survey. Hahaha! Quick entry lang to, kasi i still have to review the modules as I will conducting an uptraining session later.

Hehe, bukas na starbs sa baba ng office. Magagamit ko na yung mga GCs na naipon ko sa commendations/prizes. Hehe. Ang layo kasi ng Starbucks dati, ngayon bababa na lang at meron na. Yey!

--------------
Survey from cher:

1. Name one person who always texts you.
♥ ay one person lang? madami sila eh :) si soulmate shelay, kitkat, mitch, jat, ellen, bonbon ni shelay

2. Name two negative things about you?
♥ procrastinator. pos pag ayaw kita, sorry na lang, ayaw talaga kita.

3.What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
♥ talking to globe customer service

4. Sport you wanted To learn?
♥ gymnastics (waw. grade school pa ko nun, patpatin pa ako)

5. Ever tried gymnastics?
♥ oo nung grade 4. believe it or not, cheerdancer ako nun. ahahaaha!

6. What was the last thing you bought?
♥ cinnamon roll sa starbs

7. Do you talk a lot?
♥ oh yeah ^_^

8. Where is your brother?
♥ probably on his way home from work.

9. How was your day yesterday?
♥ it was okay, it was my off day

10. Are you an optimistic one?
♥ yes. or at least i try to be

11. People describe you as....
♥ friendly pero mataray. ahaha! weird combination

12. Contented in life?
♥ mejo

13. Do you skip meals?
♥ yes :(

14. Are you happy with the love of your life?
♥ i dont have a love life. but i love someone. haha -> ako din!

15. Do you consider Yourself smart?
♥ okay lang

16. Are you typically a jolly person?
♥ yep

17. Name one enemy of yours:
♥ wag na lang ;)

18. Name one close guy friend:
♥ kulot

19. Whos the first person in your phone list?
♥ abby antonio

20. What did the last text message you received say?
♥ message from soulmate saying she sent me a voice message.

21. Do you go to gym?
♥ waw. ako pa?!

22. Song playing at the moment:
♥ not listening to music eh, but KC's commercial is on TV. "more energy, mas happy!"

23. How do you cope with stress?
♥ eat, sleep

24. Ever broken someone's heart?
♥ yata

25. What makes you happy?
♥ mababaw lang kaligayahan ko, maalala mo lang ako masaya na ako :)

26. What is the last thing you said aloud?
♥ "nanalo sha ng kotse!"

Engk.

2008-03-03T09:38:00.000+08:00

Last week, one of my closest friends at work texted me asked me if I'll be free on Mar. 1 (last Saturday). I told him I'll be on leave and asked him why he had to text, when I was on the same floor a few meters away from him. He just said, "Wala lang".

I got intrigued so I told my team I was going to the ladies' room (hehe) and walked to his workstation, which is actually on the way to the ladies' room. So I didn't entirely lie to my team, I was gonna go there, but after speaking with my friend.

I called his name as I approached him, and asked him why the cryptic text. He smiled sheepishly and seemed uncomfortable. He was about to tell me why when my least favorite person in the world (who happens to be his favorite person) passed by, to go to the ladies' room. Typical me was just deadma. I didn't even look at her but I saw him trying to steal a glance of her. Then it hit me. Whatever it is he's trying to tell me has something to do with her.

I looked back at him and was a bit startled that he was looking at me with those big sad eyes. He held my hand and said, 'Jen, if I ask a favor from you, would you grant it?" Fully aware what he was asking me to do, matigas-na-pusong-Jennie said, "As much as I love you my friend, I cannot do what you're asking me to do."

He looked even sadder and I felt for him coz I know he's torn. He just asked me why. And I told him I don't think it's the right time to patch things up. He said, "Not even for me?" I told him, "If I talk to her just because you asked me to it wouldn't be sincere on my part and I don't want that. If and when I'll talk to her, it has to be because I want to, not because someone asked me to." I know it sounded a bit harsh but I'm not a hypocrite.

Then he said, "Can I ask why you're mad at her?" I told him there are a lot of reasons why and I'm not comfortable telling him that because I know he'll get hurt. He asked if it had something to do with him and their situation. I told him it's part of it but it's something deeper than that. He kept asking me what the reasons are, but I couldn't make myself tell him so I tried to change the subject. "Baket mo tinatanong kung ano gagawin ko sa leave ko?" He still couldn't tell me and then he tried changing the subject back to her. So I said, "Okay, whatever it is that's happening on Mar. 1 & 2 has something to do with her, right?" He just nodded and said, "Punta tayong Galera."

Ayun. Finally, nasabi din nya. Hehehe. Kaya gusto nya ako makipagbati para sama-sama kami sa Galera. Engk.

I told him I couldn't go for a number of reasons. And no, her being there is not one of the reasons. I actually couldn't care less if she's there. Bitch na kung bitch, pero kahit naman sa office or even if nasa cr kami pareho okay lang sa ken. Deadma. Salbahe nga ako kasi di ko na talaga napapansin if nandun sha. Non-existent. Napapansin ko lang na magkasama kami sa isang room pag nilalakasan nya boses nya na parang nagpapapansin. Even then, deadma pa din. Bad ko no?

Sorry, I digressed, hehe. I couldn't go because 1. I'm on kuripot mode. No trips, frivolous purchases until further notice; 2. It was mom & dad's anniversary; 3. I just wanted to sleep because I've been rendering OT for the past 2 weeks. He said he understood but I know he's still a bit hurt.

After our talk, we went back to normal, like nothing happened, but as I was on my way home, I thought, "Is he right? Should I patch things up with her already?"

I was bothered but I didn't dwell on it. When I woke up, I had several text messages from friend #1 asking me again if friend #2 and I could follow them to Galera. I told him I can't and wished them a good time. The other text came from friend #2. He got the same text and was asking me if we'd follow. I told him I couldn't. He said he's not going to follow as well because like me, he's also on kuripot mode . Then he asked me if I'm really on kuripot mode or is it because she's there. And I told him, "C'mon, kelan ba ako umiwas sa kanya? Deadma naman ako lagi." He agreed and said he remembered an instance we were about to go out but she said she couldn't go when she heard I was gonna be there.

Then I asked friend #2 if our situation is making things difficult for them. He said for him not really, but it is quite difficult for friend #1. I told him sometimes I tell myself to talk to her already bu tI can't make myself do it. He said it was just my pride. I don't know. Maybe he's right. Pero di ko talaga feel.

Bato.

Ampotah.

happy anniversary, mom & dad

2008-03-01T20:47:00.000+08:00

Thirty-three years ago today, our parents, Ben & Divine, got married.

In this day and age, 33 years is an accomplishment and I am happy that my parents stayed together for 30 years, until mom passed away in 2005.

There have been lots of ups and downs but it only made their bond stronger. It was evident when mom got sick and all throughout her chemo sessions.

It was a bit weird greeting dad earlier. I can tell it still hurts that mom not here anymore. Naisip ko, if it's still hard for me, what more para kay daddy?

I greeted him while we were having breakfast. Then he had this wistful smile on his face and he closed his eyes. I knew that he's remembering the good times they had together. Ang ganda ng smile nya. Pinigilan ko lang umiyak, kasi alam ko kung nakita nya na umiiyak din ako, maiiyak din sha. And I didn't want him to lose that smile on his face.

wolfmann+

2008-03-01T14:37:00.000+08:00

I haven’t watched MTV in a long time. With the schedule I keep (there goes that line again.. :p). I rarely have time to sit down and indulge myself in watching TV.

By the time I get home, I’m so tired I’d rather sleep than watch TV, although I must admit I sometimes force myself to stay awake so I can watch my favorite shows. Hehe.

Today, I was fortunate enough to have my leave plotted. I had planned on sleeping all day (Jason mraz moment :p) or get in touch with my couch potato self.

I was surfing channels and when I got to MTV, I saw the video of the Tribute song Wolfmann+ the Group, did for Wolfmann the Person. The title of the song was, “Walk Slowly”. I had goose bumps watching the video. You see, Wolfmann or Wilfrid as I knew him was a college classmate. He passed away almost 3 years ago due to an aneurism at the age of 28.

Kinilabutan ako while watching the music video because there were pictures and videos of him there. He was so full of life there.

I have a feeling that he’s probably making great music in the afterlife.

people power?

2008-03-01T12:34:00.000+08:00

I’ve come to a realization that I've become apathetic to the current political situation in the country. I'm not really sure if it's because of my schedule or it's because I've been disillusioned. Ang sad pakinggan, whatever the reason may be.

I can blame it all on my schedule and say I know nothing about what's happening because I'm asleep when the rest of the country is awake. Sure, it has something to do with it but it's not the real reason. I think that if I look deep inside myself, I’d have to say I’ve become apathetic because it seems like we’ve always resorted to people power whenever we don’t like something about the government.

I’m not saying that this current scandal is trivial. Far from it. I am outraged that the very people we placed in power are the same people that are screwing the country over. What I’m trying to say is that it we’ve become too into the people power movement.

I am very proud of the 1st people power revolution and even if I wasn’t in EDSA during that time (I was at home watching from the sidelines, and I honestly would have loved to be there but I was too young.) It’s a part of our history that every Filipino should be proud of. But when we, as a nation, think it’s always the solution to everything wrong with the government, it makes me wonder. When will it stop?

It’s probably unrealistic of me at this time, that we should change the way we solve things. It would probably take another lifetime for us to change the way things are run here, but we should start somewhere.

Yesterday, I was on my way home when the bus I was riding passed by the thousands of people marching to Ayala. I felt sad because you know what I first thought? “Hay, rally na naman.”

And it is sad, believe me. Especially if it came from a full blooded Scholastican. My whole grade school and high school life in St. Scho, taught me to fight for what I think is right. To be part of a movement that will change the world. Since I can remember whenever there’s a political issue plaguing the country, I’ve been part of it. I’ve been to my share of rallies with our school officials; I’ve marched from school to the Senate. Even when I studied in DLSU, I brought that socially aware Kulasa in me. When I used to work in the Makati area, count on me to be there whenever there’s a big rally.

Kaya nalulungkot ako sa naging reaction ko kahapon.

When I was watching the news and I saw the throngs of people in Makati, I thought maybe if I was still working in the Makati area, I would have had a different reaction. Because there’s a different kind of rush when you’re in a situation like that. And I felt proud when I saw the banners of St. Scho and DLSU. I was especially proud that Sister Mary John and Bro. Armin were in the forefront.

Yes, the ZTE/NBN scandal is an outrage. It’s at par with the Garci Scandal. And it’s infuriating that the people in power are involved in it, screwing us over, while there are millions of Filipinos who are hungry, living hand to mouth, no healthcare, no education.

Natatawa ako sa sarili ko. As I write this, I’m beginning to feel differently. I’ve become furious how people like that stay in power. Maybe I just needed to wake the sleeping, indignant, activist in me. ;)

it's idol season once again

2008-02-23T11:07:00.000+08:00

American Idol is back! And yes, I'm still hooked. Every year they say that it's the best batch and every year I'll believe it. Hahaha! Gullible much? ^_^

This year, I think the guys are better than the girls. I don't know if this years crop of Idol hopefuls would match the batch of Chris Daughtry and Elliot Yamin, but I dont' really care. I'll still watch it. As long as the winner is another taylor Hicks. I mean c'mon?! I still can't believe he won. Where is he now, again? Hahahaha! Ang bad ko no?

Anyway, my favorite so far is Jason Castro (pic above). I loved his performance a couple of nights ago. It was so refreshing. I'm looking forward to watching his next performances. Plus, I love his eyes. Ang sarap titigan. Ahihi!

I also think Aussie Michael Johns (hmm... any relation to Daniel Johns of Silverchair?) has a chance. I liked his rendition of The Door's Light my Fire. Astig. David Archuleta is quite good too and he's being hyped as one of the early favorites. Danny Noriega is sassy. Hahaha! I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction to Simon's critique. Ang taray ng lola mo.

There are two guys I didn't like the first time I watched them. One was the Justin TImberlake lookalike "rocker". I don't even remember his name. Robbie Something. Haha! He looked like a rocker poser. Fake ang dating. Even Simon commented on that. Then there's Garret Haley, the first guy cut from the Top 24. Ewan, basta lang di ko sha type. Hahahaha! That sounded bitchy.

As for the girls, of course I'm rooting for Fil-Am Ramiele Malubay. NOt just because she's Filipina, but because of her voice. She's so petite but when she sings, you'd wonder where the voice came from. Haha! As in lung power! I hope she makes it. :) I also like Asia'h , but when she sings there's too many runs. Nakakairita minsan, pero maganda boses nya. And of course there's Carly Smithson. I think she's good, too. Plus, it's like she's the one being hyped to win the competition.

I hope my bets win. :)

starting over

2008-02-21T11:58:00.000+08:00

Inaagiw na yata yung blog ko. ^_^ Tagal na ng last entry ko. Sorry naman, blog, di na kita napapansin, kasi pag-uwi ko pagod na ako, tulog na lang. Ahaha! Parang tanga lang, kinakausap ang blog. Katakot pag sumagot sha. :p

I think I haven't blogged in 3 weeks? Oops, 2 weeks pa lang yata. : ) It seems longer, coz I haven't been online much lately. My new tasks at work are tiring, but I'm enjoying it. Weird nga daw ako, coz I enjoy scrubbing the Invalid Cases that have been filed by the agents at work. Haha!

So, how was your Valentine's Day celebrations? I haven't bloghopped yet eh. How was mine? Hehehe.. let's just say this year, hindi sha malamig. Bwahaha!

Another reason I haven't been online much is because our PC's harddrive went pfft! I said goodbye to thousands of songs and the numerous ebooks I've downloaded over the past couple of years. I'd have to rebuild my playlist, hay. But i'ts a good thing I saved some of my favorites here on Multiply and I was able to save it on the new Hard drive. I don't even want to think about the files that I lost... I might just cry.

Hay.. when did I last blog about losing my files? 2 years ago? And I haven't learned my lesson yet. I didn't back up! ARGH! I was able to back up some files but not the most recent ones. Nakakaines.

Oh well, isipin ko na lang, it's time to start over. Fresh start. Pero nakakapanghinayang pa din, when I think about the thousands of songs sa music library ko. Huhuhu! Tigas kasi ng ulo, di pa din nagback up!

Mag-Thursday meme na lang tayo:

1. Do you wish your previous relationship could have lasted longer?
~ nope.

2. What did you last eat?
~ ponkan

3. What is your name?
~ jennie

4. A line from the song your listening to?
~ "you probably won't remember me, it's probably ancient history, i'm one of the chosen few who went ahead and fell for you..."

5. How is life going for you right now?
~ ok lang

6. Are you keeping a secret from someone that needs to know the truth?
~ nope

7. Who was your last text message from?
~ mitch

8. What was the reason you last cried?
~ when my friends and I wnet to little Cj's wake, we couldn't help but cry

9. What was the first thing you said when you woke up today?
~ waw, may text sha ^_^

10. What's your perfume?
~ right now i'm using bath & body work's sea island cotton, alternating with victoria's secret pear and marks and spencer's lavender

11. Last time you couldn't take your eyes off someone?
~ hahahaha! 2 nights ago ;)

12. What do most people call you?
~ jennie, jen, jay

13. Last drink of liquor?
~ waw, tagal na, last dec pa, frozen margarita

14. Have you ever hated someone, but ended up being friends with them?
~ hmm.. wala ako maisip. yun yung bad sa akin, if i don't like you sorry na lang

15. Are you more independent or dependent?
~ depends on the situation. haha!

16. What are you gonna be doing this afternoon at 12?
~ ay, 4 na, but i had lunch kanina

17. Who will you see today?
~ family, my titas went to the house coz lola's leaving for the US tomorrow morning

18. Have you ever been cheated on?
~ hay nakoh.

19. Women are ______?
~ fabulous!

20. Men are _______?
~ from mars? ^_^

21. Last time you broke a rule?
~ 2 months ago

22. What did you buy the last time you went shopping?
~ hoop earrings lang

23. Do you give out second chances too easily?
~ not really.

24. Last car ride?
~ Tuesday on the way to work

25. What is the last book you read?
~ the rescue - nicholas sparks

26. What are you reading now?
~ uh.. this survey

27. Who are you jealous of?
~ wala naman

28. Who can always make you laugh?
~ memon, kulot, shelay

29. What were you doing at 11:59 PM on Monday night?
~ just woke up, had to leave for my shift an hour after that eh

30. When did you last ate french fries and with whom?
~ last Tuesday with memon, dads and rome

Rest in Peace, little angel

2008-02-05T13:59:00.000+08:00

I woke up last night to one of my friends' text message that his 7 month old niece, CJ, was in the NICU of the Medical City. Cj was brought to the hospital last night and was diagnosed with dengue fever. It was heartbreaking to think that little CJ had several tubes hooked to her.

My friend, Dads, was giving us updates on the condition of his niece, that she already had 3 blood transfusions. My blood type is O, the universal donor, and I was prepared to give blood if needed. By midmorning, my friend smsed that little CJ was awake and already had a stronger BP and we felt somewhat relieved.

While Rome and I were on lunch, we received another text from Dads that their little angel has passed away. I cannot imagine how hard it is for CJ's mom to see her little angel go. It's always hard to lose a loved one and I hope Dads' sister would be able to take the pain. It's easy to say that everything will be okay, that they already have an angel in heaven looking out for them, but it will not erase the pain the family is feeling right now. I hope and pray that they will have the strength to get through this.

Rest in Peace, little angel.

Wait For You - Elliott Yamin

2008-02-05T13:41:00.000+08:00

I never felt nothing in the world like this before
Now I'm missing you
& I'm wishing that you would come back through my door
Why did you have to go? You could have let me know
So now I'm all alone,
Girl you could have stayed
but you wouldn't give me a chance
With you not around it's a little bit more then i can stand
And all my tears they keep running down my face
Why did you turn away?

[Bridge]
So why does your pride make you run and hide?
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what you keep inside
This is not how you wanted to be

[Chorus]
So baby I will wait for you
Cause I don''t know what else i can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life

Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what i have to do I'll wait for you

It's been a long time since you called me
(How could you forget about me)
You got me feeling crazy (crazy)
How can you walk away,
Everything stays the same
I just can't do it baby
What will it take to make you come back
Girl I told you what it is & it just ain't like that
Why can't you look at me, you're still in love with me
Don't leave me crying.

[Bridge]
Baby why can't we just start over again
Get it back to the way it was
If you give me a chance I can love you right
But your telling me it wont be enough

[Chorus]
So baby I will wait for you
Cause I don''t know what else i can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life

Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just aint true
I really need you in my life
No matter what i have to do I'll wait for you

[Bridge]
So why does you pride make you run & hide
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what you're keeping inside
Thats not how you wanted to be

Baby I will wait for you
Baby I will wait for you
If it's the last thing i do

[Chorus]
Baby I will wait for you
Cause I don''t know what else i can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life

Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what i have to do I'll wait for you

I'll Be Waiting....

I've always thought Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry should have made it to the finals of their batch of American Idol. Sadly they were only 3rd & 4th, respectively. But they have been more successful than the winner and the runner-up (uhh.. where are they now? oh.. their label just dropped them. ahahah! bitter pa ako at sila yung nanalo ^_^)

Favorite song of the moment namin ito ni JR. The song is a few months old already, pero hindi sha nakakasawa.