Friday, January 4, 2008
It's Baaaaaack
The Filipino Channel (TFC) is back in our household, thanks to my mom requesting it as a Christmas gift. I'm hoping that I won't get sucked back in to the whole jologs/showbiz world; I've been quite content with my Korean TV shows all these months. God help me to resist all the temptation that is known as ChristianBautista! Keep me away from watching ASAP! HaHa!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Year End Review 2007
Usually at this time of the year, I do my end-of-the-year survey, but let's do something different to spice things a bit.
It was a banner year. If I could put everything that happened this year and put it in a bottle so I could display it on a shelf forever, I would.
There were a couple of not-so-happy moments (when I decided not to renew my WV contract and when I initially didn't get my current position), but everything else was awesome. I don't know whether I've gone through so much in the past two years that I was much stronger at handling things so nothing was ever "bad" or truly only good things came my way this year. Regardless, I might have to call 2007 as my best year ever (so far).
And because this year was also the year when I came back to the US, I have to talk about my self-imposed exile and have *ahem closure on the experience.
I sort of still hear some negative comments from family regarding my having gone back to the Philippines to work. But for me, I don't have any regrets and I don't think I'll ever have regrets regarding that journey. It was great, I learned a lot, and it allowed me to have a new perspective on the world. Simply put, the experience was priceless.
Work
I'm thankful that I ended up working for W0rld Visi0n. There was a point in time when I was trying to decide between P&G and WV. I can totally see how my working experience would've been so different if I ended up at P&G instead, or any other workplace in the Philippines.
Working with an international scope thrilled me. I loved how I interacted with people all over the world and had a chance to see them all in person. I loved how things that I worked on were shipped all over the world. I loved how I built my City Mug collection by working for WV...just kidding. HeHe. I want to do this again.
I'm very thankful for having the officemates that I had. They became both family and friends. They were always there for me when my friends weren't. I don't think there was even one day when I dreaded to go to work because I knew I had people to biatch to about work at work. :)
Travel
Like I said before, I'm proud of myself for not being a chicken and doing what I had wanted to do since day one. From Luzon and all the way to Mindanao, traveled I did. I have very fond memories riding public transportation with Lillian to get to Vigan/Laoag/Pagudpud/Bagiuo/Manila. Good times. Thanks also to Pen and Raissa who were true friends, supporting me to make this Wow Philippines endeavor a reality by getting their family members involved. HaHa! No, seriously, I felt the love, yo! ;P
I also can't believe I traveled all over SE Asia alone, but I really did. Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Macau, and Hong Kong, oh my. Looking back, my solo trip signified that my self-confidence was truly back in its right place. It's that whole "I'm ready to take over the world" kind of mentality. Hear me roar!
All the glory goes to God on this one though because at every single country, I really felt that he was looking out for me. There were so many ways the trip could've gone wrong, but whenever there was an issue, He always presented me with a solution right away. It was amazing to experience that in addition to seeing all the amazing things in each country.
So, the big question was always if the grass was greener on the other side. My answer would have to be: as long as the grass is green, I'm fine. Wouldn't it suck if your grass was brown?
It was a banner year. If I could put everything that happened this year and put it in a bottle so I could display it on a shelf forever, I would.
There were a couple of not-so-happy moments (when I decided not to renew my WV contract and when I initially didn't get my current position), but everything else was awesome. I don't know whether I've gone through so much in the past two years that I was much stronger at handling things so nothing was ever "bad" or truly only good things came my way this year. Regardless, I might have to call 2007 as my best year ever (so far).
And because this year was also the year when I came back to the US, I have to talk about my self-imposed exile and have *ahem closure on the experience.
I sort of still hear some negative comments from family regarding my having gone back to the Philippines to work. But for me, I don't have any regrets and I don't think I'll ever have regrets regarding that journey. It was great, I learned a lot, and it allowed me to have a new perspective on the world. Simply put, the experience was priceless.
Work
I'm thankful that I ended up working for W0rld Visi0n. There was a point in time when I was trying to decide between P&G and WV. I can totally see how my working experience would've been so different if I ended up at P&G instead, or any other workplace in the Philippines.
Working with an international scope thrilled me. I loved how I interacted with people all over the world and had a chance to see them all in person. I loved how things that I worked on were shipped all over the world. I loved how I built my City Mug collection by working for WV...just kidding. HeHe. I want to do this again.
I'm very thankful for having the officemates that I had. They became both family and friends. They were always there for me when my friends weren't. I don't think there was even one day when I dreaded to go to work because I knew I had people to biatch to about work at work. :)
Travel
Like I said before, I'm proud of myself for not being a chicken and doing what I had wanted to do since day one. From Luzon and all the way to Mindanao, traveled I did. I have very fond memories riding public transportation with Lillian to get to Vigan/Laoag/Pagudpud/Bagiuo/Manila. Good times. Thanks also to Pen and Raissa who were true friends, supporting me to make this Wow Philippines endeavor a reality by getting their family members involved. HaHa! No, seriously, I felt the love, yo! ;P
I also can't believe I traveled all over SE Asia alone, but I really did. Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Macau, and Hong Kong, oh my. Looking back, my solo trip signified that my self-confidence was truly back in its right place. It's that whole "I'm ready to take over the world" kind of mentality. Hear me roar!
All the glory goes to God on this one though because at every single country, I really felt that he was looking out for me. There were so many ways the trip could've gone wrong, but whenever there was an issue, He always presented me with a solution right away. It was amazing to experience that in addition to seeing all the amazing things in each country.
So, the big question was always if the grass was greener on the other side. My answer would have to be: as long as the grass is green, I'm fine. Wouldn't it suck if your grass was brown?
Friday, December 28, 2007
Motherly Advice on Love
Mom: Alam mo, huwag kang maghanap ng mayaman. Mas okay pa ang mahihirap dahil marunong mag-adjust sa buhay.
Me: Poor?!
Mom: Hindi naman mahirap na mahirap.
Ahh, love advice from mother dearest on a Friday night. Miraculously, I do agree with her line of thinking. There are a whole lot of guys in the Philippines who were born with a golden spoon in their mouth that they don't know "The Essentials" (like cleaning the bathroom or frying a friggen egg). It was always a turn-off for me. Sadly, I think ChristianBautista falls under this category. There goes my only hope. Tsk! Someone give him Toilet Duck and a toilet brush, pronto!
Me: Poor?!
Mom: Hindi naman mahirap na mahirap.
Ahh, love advice from mother dearest on a Friday night. Miraculously, I do agree with her line of thinking. There are a whole lot of guys in the Philippines who were born with a golden spoon in their mouth that they don't know "The Essentials" (like cleaning the bathroom or frying a friggen egg). It was always a turn-off for me. Sadly, I think ChristianBautista falls under this category. There goes my only hope. Tsk! Someone give him Toilet Duck and a toilet brush, pronto!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Tourguide Stint #3
For the third time this year, I played tourguide to former co-workers from the Philippines. Kuya Orly, Bespren Bernard, Lillian, and two new employees (Kuya Dennis and Doreen) arrived on Wednesday night. Thankfully, they were able to stay throughout the weekend and spend time with me.
Friday
After work, I hauled butt to Federal Way (which isn't the easiest thing to do in this traffic-infested metropolis). The first thing Doreen said when she saw me was, "Ang ganda pala ni Mina." *Ahem. I feel like I should end this post with that line. HaHa!
Since Lil had a shopping list to finish, we just went to the mall where the women did some damage at Bath and B0dy Works. I know there's The B0dy Sh0p at Shang, but I swear I never saw BBW in Manila. It turns out that Watson's sells the products, P650/bottle to be exact. I think I would rather spend that money on food than lotion any day in Manila, but that's just me. ;P
After finishing off the rest of the pasalubong agenda at Target, we headed off to Applebee's for dinner. Ahh, girl talk on a Friday evening. Loved it! I also got the lowdown on the latest drama in the office...and there was a lot. This is when I found out that Russel is indeed leaving WV! I thought he was kidding when I talked to him on Skype the week before, but it turned out that he really resigned. I guess the resignation wave is still going strong (For the record, I didn't start the said wave, I was merely number 2. HeHe.)
With wallets thinner, stomachs fatter, and loads heavier, we headed back to the hotel where I got all my requested pasalubongs (not pictured are Bernard's stash of banana chips and peanut brittle for me):
Merry Christmas to me most definitely! I couldn't sleep that night from being all giddy. Gotta love dependable friends. :)
Saturday
I had expected that by the time I got out of my Dreamweaver Level 2 class and made my way to the hotel at 6PM, the gang would've seen Downtown Seattle already. Well, I should've known better: they weren't with me or Russel so they ended up just spending the whole day at the mall. Tsk! We packed my car (Doreen became the martyr and opted to be the person who got left behind) and headed to Downtown. The boys decided to be a choir while all sitting in the back and decided to give me a live concert of Christmas songs - Kulit style. Ang iingay! Grabe!
We ended up eating at Old Spaghetti Factory (no relationship to the one in Robinson's Galleria) where I spearheaded embarrassing Bespren: since Doreen, the birthday girl, got left behind, I felt like we should still celebrate her birthday...so I made Bernard the proxy birthday celebrant. The waiters all sang and gave him a spumoni with a birthday candle. Eh April pa kaya birthday ni Bernard! HaHa! What a riot!
Afterwards, I brought them to Pike Place Market to see the first Starbucks store, Space Needle and Seattle Center, pointed out Safeco Field and Qwest Stadium, and made a pitstop at Starbucks headquarters. We were all freezing our butts off, but it was good times indeed.
Sunday
I had intended to bring them to Microsoft, but the girls decided to sleep in. We only had enough time to eat breakfast at the hotel before my dropping them off at the airport. Oo, special VIP treatment at hinatid ko pa sila! Kinareer ang pagiging driver. HaHa!
As I also told them, life is quiet again now that they're gone. I'm glad that they came at this time of the year, so they could see what Christmas is like here and at the same time, sure gave me good cheer (yeah, that rhymed). Hopefully, they'll be back...or I'll be back in Manila for a visit. Visit lang ha; hindi maging alipin, este, officemate ulit. ;P
Friday
After work, I hauled butt to Federal Way (which isn't the easiest thing to do in this traffic-infested metropolis). The first thing Doreen said when she saw me was, "Ang ganda pala ni Mina." *Ahem. I feel like I should end this post with that line. HaHa!
Since Lil had a shopping list to finish, we just went to the mall where the women did some damage at Bath and B0dy Works. I know there's The B0dy Sh0p at Shang, but I swear I never saw BBW in Manila. It turns out that Watson's sells the products, P650/bottle to be exact. I think I would rather spend that money on food than lotion any day in Manila, but that's just me. ;P
After finishing off the rest of the pasalubong agenda at Target, we headed off to Applebee's for dinner. Ahh, girl talk on a Friday evening. Loved it! I also got the lowdown on the latest drama in the office...and there was a lot. This is when I found out that Russel is indeed leaving WV! I thought he was kidding when I talked to him on Skype the week before, but it turned out that he really resigned. I guess the resignation wave is still going strong (For the record, I didn't start the said wave, I was merely number 2. HeHe.)
With wallets thinner, stomachs fatter, and loads heavier, we headed back to the hotel where I got all my requested pasalubongs (not pictured are Bernard's stash of banana chips and peanut brittle for me):
Merry Christmas to me most definitely! I couldn't sleep that night from being all giddy. Gotta love dependable friends. :)
Saturday
I had expected that by the time I got out of my Dreamweaver Level 2 class and made my way to the hotel at 6PM, the gang would've seen Downtown Seattle already. Well, I should've known better: they weren't with me or Russel so they ended up just spending the whole day at the mall. Tsk! We packed my car (Doreen became the martyr and opted to be the person who got left behind) and headed to Downtown. The boys decided to be a choir while all sitting in the back and decided to give me a live concert of Christmas songs - Kulit style. Ang iingay! Grabe!
We ended up eating at Old Spaghetti Factory (no relationship to the one in Robinson's Galleria) where I spearheaded embarrassing Bespren: since Doreen, the birthday girl, got left behind, I felt like we should still celebrate her birthday...so I made Bernard the proxy birthday celebrant. The waiters all sang and gave him a spumoni with a birthday candle. Eh April pa kaya birthday ni Bernard! HaHa! What a riot!
Afterwards, I brought them to Pike Place Market to see the first Starbucks store, Space Needle and Seattle Center, pointed out Safeco Field and Qwest Stadium, and made a pitstop at Starbucks headquarters. We were all freezing our butts off, but it was good times indeed.
Sunday
I had intended to bring them to Microsoft, but the girls decided to sleep in. We only had enough time to eat breakfast at the hotel before my dropping them off at the airport. Oo, special VIP treatment at hinatid ko pa sila! Kinareer ang pagiging driver. HaHa!
As I also told them, life is quiet again now that they're gone. I'm glad that they came at this time of the year, so they could see what Christmas is like here and at the same time, sure gave me good cheer (yeah, that rhymed). Hopefully, they'll be back...or I'll be back in Manila for a visit. Visit lang ha; hindi maging alipin, este, officemate ulit. ;P
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Buck Stops Here
The biggest frustration at work: I can't change our college's web site to make it "better".
The biggest frustration at being a newly elected Board of Director: I can't change our organization's web site to make it "better".
I guess this only means one thing: I need to pour out all my frustrations and finally redesign my personal web site. There's the new year's resolution!
The biggest frustration at being a newly elected Board of Director: I can't change our organization's web site to make it "better".
I guess this only means one thing: I need to pour out all my frustrations and finally redesign my personal web site. There's the new year's resolution!
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