You know what I really miss about living in the Philippines? Tambayan: the ability to spend countless hours sitting around in a public place doing absolutely nothing productive with people that you love to hang out with. Promise, in the Philippines lang yan.
Last week, my two co-workers and I decided to go to Happy Hour to avail of cheap food and possibly eye candy. After venting about work and scarfing down my plate of waffle fries and chicken quesadilla, the girls started getting uneasy and wanted to leave because they thought the waitress minded us being there without ordering any more food. Sa Pilipinas? Walang pakialamanan dahil paying customers kami.
We window-shopped a little bit and we ended the night with a waffle cone full of green tea soft-serve (I've never used this phrase since the last decade, but it was absolutely "the bomb"). At 8:30PM, S quipped, "Should we start heading home now?" Ay nako, kung sa Pilipinas 'to, hanggang madaling araw kami doon.
Although unproductive as heck, I see tambayan as quality time. When you have already talked about the usual daily whinings and you're trying to find something else to talk about, you end up talking about real stuff to fill the dead air - real stuff that are rated R at times and are not for public consumption like in a blog. ;P
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
FREEdom
My current United Mileage Plus miles: 54,406
Total United Mileage Plus miles required for Japan: 60,000
Can you say, "Totally do-able"? I'm not sure about going to Japan with Co-worker S this summer anymore because I don't want to be all sticky when I finally hug the Little Twin Stars in Puroland, but it's nice to know that I can go to Japan for free...and spend all my money on useless things instead like a Hello Kitty wafflemaker. ;P
Total United Mileage Plus miles required for Japan: 60,000
Can you say, "Totally do-able"? I'm not sure about going to Japan with Co-worker S this summer anymore because I don't want to be all sticky when I finally hug the Little Twin Stars in Puroland, but it's nice to know that I can go to Japan for free...and spend all my money on useless things instead like a Hello Kitty wafflemaker. ;P
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Lady in Red
It's been a little less than three years since I gave birth. I'm happy to announce that Papa and I have a new addition to the family. Meet Red:
It's the most adorable thing since...well, since Kulay. It's so small! The story behind this is that when I was walking around the neighborhood last summer, my pants kept falling down because Kulay was so heavy (remember, he's an iPod Color, waaaay before the iPods went on a diet). Hence, it was time for a new baby. Kulay will be used during travel and in the office while Red will be used during exercise. What's even nicer is I got a sweet deal on this: $48 including s/h. How sweet it is to be loved by you, Red.
It's the most adorable thing since...well, since Kulay. It's so small! The story behind this is that when I was walking around the neighborhood last summer, my pants kept falling down because Kulay was so heavy (remember, he's an iPod Color, waaaay before the iPods went on a diet). Hence, it was time for a new baby. Kulay will be used during travel and in the office while Red will be used during exercise. What's even nicer is I got a sweet deal on this: $48 including s/h. How sweet it is to be loved by you, Red.
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?
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