keep eyes on the road ahead

The past few days have been about carrying a huge weight inside my heart. After lugging around this pain in my chest, I felt that last night, a message was sent to me through a TV series I was watching while waiting for Dennis to come home. It was advice dispensed by Nora Walker, and it went something like this:

You have to believe that if someone is meant to be in your life, s/he will find his/her way into it. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the road ahead. Stay on course and trust that the road you're on is the one you're meant to be on anyway. If you keep looking at the rearview mirror, you might miss a turn on the road that you're supposed to make and end up even more lost than if you never took a peak backwards in the first place.

So keep your eyes on the road ahead of you. No to rearview mirrors.

That's the Christmas message to cap off 2011.

twiddling thumbs....

Now that my papers are all submitted and the exam has been taken...... I find myself strangely ill at ease. I know I should be enjoying this brief break until the 17th when I find out if I need to revise (rather, what I need to revise because for sure the thesis ain't perfect), or until January when the defense preparations are under way, but I guess all this stress build-up the past couple of weeks just makes me feel anxious over the lack of anything to do now.

Doesn't that sound strange?!

OK, I'll just look up new places we can check out in HongKong when we go in Feb. Maybe that's a good place to start. :P

Pathway

Praying for a new pathway to open up. Willing it. Wishing it. Praying for it.

thank you for...

the most supportive husband in the world! I mean this in the most serious way possible. Thank you for blessing me with a life partner who always believes in me, often much much more than I believe in myself. Thank you for giving me someone who is, in all the possible contexts of the phrase, the wind beneath my wings. Thank you forever and ever for giving me this man to have and to hold forever and ever.

2012 to-do's

Inspired by my brother, I will try to draft up a list of 2012 target milestones :) It'll mark my 30th year of existence, as well as (hopefully) see me cross the MBA finish-line, and maybe even go up the career ladder. Let's see..

Target to have this list up by the 3rd week of December. For now, need to focus on studying for my final exam in Strama and finishing the last paper (can't believe he assigned YET another paper...) and submitting the revised OrgBev refresher paper (paper again?!)

2011 has been such a tiring year, work-output-wise....

Yun lang :)

thesis "the" day

Today's the day the god-d*mn paper is due :p

Since I'm blogging, you can probably surmise I'm done. Well, I'm about 98% done now. What's left to do today is to proofread the paper, review my financials, correct the format of my reference page (need to be in correct APA format) and go over the entire thing to make sure the layout didn't get messed up and it looks pretty.

After this, I go home to eat dinner, head to Copylandia to get this baby printed and bound, then head over to RCBC to stick this paper up the... I mean, submit this to the professor. :P

Then it's just 1 more final exam, and this term is OVER!

Yay!

final stretch...

I have written 115 pages worth of STRAMA paper worthy of at least 100% of my tuition fee paid to the MBA school thus far. And I'm not yet done. I have about at least 80 more pages to go, and one big-ass financial projection to make, good for the next 5 years of SMART.

This is by far the most intense schoolwork I've ever done. And I'm finally on the last stretch - one more week til submission date. I've even filed for 2 vacation leaves just to make sure I have enough time to cover all bases, dot the i's and dash the t's.

Here's to nothing! Please wish me luck!

Bora virgin no more...

That is my husband :P

We went to Boracay last weekend, initialy because I had a conference that brought me there on Thursday, after which we decided to have Dennis fly in on Friday so we can spend the weekend there. It was his first trip to Bora, not being much of a beach person, and I'm proud to say that I've converted him! He now loves Bora and is now talking about our next trip there! Haha!

I think it's largely because we stayed at a really good area - more secluded, quieter, cleaner and much more peaceful part of the beach. Also, our hotel was really nice and the food we had was good. So all in all, it made a really good impression upon him and now, he's a Bora lover already! I feel so proud :)

I'm really grateful to have had the chance to do this with him. Thanks too to my company for the free ticket (for me!) and to the timing, because we went just before peak season came in and still got really good deals for the hotel and his ticket. Thanks too to Kayers for the tips! :)

Thank you for...

long weekends that allow me to:
1. Catch up on my paper-writing (a necessary evil)
2. Catch up on sleep
3. Take leisurely walks around our area with my husband

Thank you for also blessing this long weekend with good weather.

Thank you, lastly, for letting us live where we live. I love this area we're in, for its easy convenience, its peace & quiet during the weekends, and its proximity to everywhere I need to be - school and work :)

Thank you!

hanging up my teacher robes for now

My brand comm management class for SY2011-2012 just ended, and strangely, I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms from this batch of students. I often say it's because their noise level is through the roof, and everywhere else, in comparison to them, sounds sooooo eerily quiet. But I also think it's because this batch is exceptionally talented, and I'm excited to see what their prospects will look like after they've passed the baptism of fire called IMC 4th year. They're such a vibrant and energetic group of kiddos.

Also, I have a few observations about this batch, mostly gleaned through our interactions and in part from this final paper output I assign to every batch called "Brand You." The requirement is to draft a brand strategy paper about yourself, with future employers as the target market. The objective is to link your present self to your ultimate dream or career apex, by outlining the steps you think you need to take or barriers you need to overcome to put yourself in a good position to realize your dream. Typically, most of my students do not have a firm vision yet of their desired futures, and this is something I really expect. After all, they're 18-19 years old only; who at that age would already know where they want to go and what they want to be? When I was their age, I knew I wanted to be in client, but anything beyond that, I had ABSOLUTELY no idea.

What's interesting with this batch is that the majority actually had a concrete picture of their future! I was so surprised to read that 80 or even 90% of the kids in this class already knew what field they wanted to get into, what version of themselves they want to be, and how they think they should improve on their current selves in order to get closer to that "apex" they want to reach. IMPRESSIVE! I was so inspired, I wrote little notes on each paper on my suggestions and friendly advice on how to best navigate their chosen careers, at least the ones I'm familiar with. The ones I only observe and cannot claim to know very well, like theater and law, I only gave general encouragement. I find it so amazing. I don't know if it's going to be a general trend now, with kids being so internet-savvy and being bombarded by so many imageries out there, but I think it's a good sign. I can only be happy in the fact that they seem to have really liked my class and learned a lot from me. I intend to keep tabs on these kids, especially the talented ones that I even intend to hire in the future, just because I think they're gonna be, as they like to say a lot, "BIG".

I'm quite excited to meet 2012's batch and see if they're the same (or better)

:)

dream job?

I read this article where the author worried about this growing sentiment among his peers to want to drop their current jobs and go in search of their one true "dream job", inspired by the life of Steve Jobs and often quoting his famous speech at the graduation ceremony at Stanford. He says he's worried because people might not be seeing the bigger picture and are just choosing to focus on the nice-to-the-ears ideas of going to where your passion lies. Sometimes, what's more material and what's more doable is to change your attitude about the job you already have. Also, sometimes, you idealize and romanticize the idea of your "dream job" and never fully prepare yourself for the "job" part of "dream job", since your head was just brimming full of the "dream" component.

Also, it doesn't always translate that if you like dessert, your career path should be something along the lines of a dessert magnate or a cake queen. Because having a passion for dessert does not mean you have what it takes to get into the dessert business. At the end of the day, it's a business, just one about desserts as the product. If you don't prepare yourself for the qualifications required for the business, you'll just find endless frustration, not to mention expose yourself and your family to a level of risk you weren't ready to take on.

I think those were wise words and should be said as a P.S. to all these quotations of Steve Jobs' famous speech. True, you shouldn't settle and you should always strive to find work that's meaningful to your life and to your heart. But I guess the bottom line is you should also put in the required effort to prepare yourself for that kind of work, and not just assume that having enough passion for it will be enough. Just like with romantic life, love just ain't enough.

Another point to consider is that usually, people think of setting up their own business as the automatic best way to have their dream jobs. This is such a mistake. As I mentioned, business is a field altogether that needs preparation and oftentimes, an appetite for risk - something not everybody has. More importantly, owning a business means commitment akin to the kind you dedicate to a spouse. A business that's entirely your own can require endless hours, every day, including the weekends. It means having no real vacation days, because even when you're halfway across the world, your business is still at the back of your mind. It means never "switching off" or "logging out" completely, sometimes mentally and always emotionally. It means being relied on by other people for their source of livelihood, and sometimes this pressure alone can feel like one million tons. Having your own business means being entirely accountable, all day, everyday. Seeing my dad take this on is enough to make me see the immense responsibility, commitment and dedication required, and I guess, by and large, that's one of the biggest reasons I feel unprepared as of now to launch my own thing. Even if it's about something I like.

The author ended with wishing his friends well- the ones you jumped off the corporate ship and chose to swim alone, carrying their life's passion with them. I guess I'd do the same if I knew these people. There's no one formula in life, I guess, and Steve Jobs' story is just one that happened to work out, in hindsight. It doesn't mean everyone should copy what he did and risk things they may not be ready to. Especially in this world economy. Maybe an attitude adjustment would do the trick for now :)

thankfulness post of the day

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for giving me a dad who :

- loves my mother beyond anything and anyone in this world, including his children, as the best way to love your children is to love their mother

- gave us a stable childhood with all needs met and some luxuries provided.

- is sooooo OC and so adorably a neat and control freak. His compulsions always crack me up.

- takes responsibility seriously and gives 100% hard work behind everything he does ; he taught us about being accountable, "doing first things first", "fast play" aka do things in a fast and efficient manner, and always trying to stay detail-oriented. You can keep talking a big game, but you'll only attain success if you cover your bases and do your homework.

- is a loyal brother and a great friend, who'll make it his mission to help you up whenever you fall

- has such a voracious appetite for knowledge. He's my go-to guy to ask about anything and everything about the world of business and politics.

- gives a whole new meaning to the word "SUPPORT"

I love you, papa. You'll always be the first man I ever loved, ergo the man I will love the longest. I love you so much I feel like I married a version of you. Dennis reminds me so much of you in so many ways, that I feel like God cloned you and put you in the *chubby* body of a Xavierian-Atenean lawyer who's just as OC, control-freaky, responsible, loving, loyal, supportive and FUNNY as you. I can't believe this family is so lucky as you have two versions of you in it :) Love you!

Strauma

This class I'm taking this term in continued pursuit of my MBA is easily THE HARDEST CLASS I'VE EVER TAKEN IN MY ENTIRE ACADEMIC LIFE. The name of the class is Strama, standing for Strategic Management. But I fondly call it Strauma due to the traumatic experience it's giving me.

Reasons are as follows:

1. Every class we have on Mondays requires the following:
- Reading some 25 to 40 pages of readings, EVERY SESSION. And these are not the easy-reading types of readings. They are highly complex concepts and theories. Plus one reading is always a case, which you must analyse together with your groupmates.
- Meeting with groupmates to discuss the readings, analyse them based on the frameworks taught, and make powerpoint presentations itemizing the results of this analyses.
- Reciting in class to cover the readings and to make the presentation
- Listen attentively in class, lest you make an incorrect understanding of any of the frameworks taught and risk failing in the requirement # 2 detailed below.

2. The final output of the class consists of:
- A final exam, which requires studying all the readings (40 pages times 12 sessions)
- A final paper which is on average 150 pages long and written 100% by you and you alone. Research prior to writing the paper is required, since you are expected to quote facts and figures to make your conclusions and recommendations.

It's sooooo stressful, like you wouldn't believe.

There are times I want to quit this class but the following are stopping me:
1. My pride. I don't know if I can face myself calling my own self (haha, I know, you get my drift) a quitter. I've never quit on anything in my life and I think my pride has successfully garnered that achievement on its own. So I will NOT quit this one.
2. This is my last studying term in MBA. After this class and this term, I just have to make further polishing of my term paper and present it in the OCE (oral comprehensive exam) next term. Then I am done. The end is in sight. I did not study these 4 years only to stop 1 term short of finishing.
3. Dennis is strictly not allowing me to quit. If my pride is a strong force, my husband is a much much stronger one.
4. I really love business, even if MBA is purely the theory side of it. And I don't want to quit on studying something I love. Also, I took this up for a reason (reasons, actually) and these reasons are still valid, no matter how difficult the climb to the finish line may be.
5. I've paid xxx,xxx amount thus far. Self-explanatory.

Thank you, Steve Jobs

For someone I've never met, I feel really affected by the death of Steve Jobs. On one hand, he was taken away far too soon. He was way too young. More importantly, I feel like he still had so much to offer the world, but what else he could've come up with, the world will never know.

So much of today's cyberspace activity was devoted to eulogizing this great man. I've never seen this much mourning and admiration pouring in after someone passes. Not a President. Not a King. Not an Artist, even Michael Jackson. Not anybody in recent history. Amazing how one person's life's work influenced and touched the entire world that people feel they've actually lost a good friend when he died.

Apart from admiring the man for the visionary that he was and the sheer marketing genius he had, I also need to thank him for reminding me of a very important life lesson today. To paraphrase him a bit, the only way to live meaningfully is to do great work. And the only time work can be great is when you love it. You spend a great deal of your life doing work, so why settle for one that doesn't get your juices flowing, your heart beating and your tummy all filled up with butterflies? Definitely, work is not meant to be easy. But it won't feel (and shouldn't feel) like a cross on your back if it's work that your heart and mind are destined to be dedicated to. Do not compromise this, just like you wouldn't want to compromise on a choice of a spouse. It's like a love affair- this relationship we have with work. Why? It has its ups and downs, just like a marriage. It has its bad days and rough sailing points, but at the end of the day, you keep going and you never let go because at the heart of it all lies true, unadulterated and passionate love.

I feel this way about marketing and I feel this way about teaching. For that, I'll be forever grateful. But I feel that my love for marketing may not translate to love for my current company. So on this point I will need to keep searching.

I also love the theory side of business but feel a little (okay, a LOT) scared about the application side of it, because it involves risk at a level I'm not sure I'm ready to take on.

But see, I'm not yet sure if any of these two choices are on the "true love" level. I don't know. But at least now I'm reminded once again never to give up searching for it. Just like I wouldn't give up on love (good thing I found it rather soon), I shouldn't give up on finding that one true professional path that constitutes my calling. At the end of my life, I want to be like Steve- someone who did what he set out to do, without compromises and without apology. Someone who played at work and worked when he played. Someone who dreamed and had the guts to make those come true (or at least give it his darnest, best shot). Someone without regrets (at least professionally), as I didn't know him personally at all. I guess it's all part of living everyday as if it were your last - taking away all the bullshit of this world, the unnecessary temptations and distractions clogging our judgment, and focusing on what truly, deeply matters. Using only your inner compass and your very own mirror to show you where to go. Listening to your own voice first and last, even as you consult other people what they think. Knowing who you are, what you're about and what you stand for, and never letting anything change that.

Thank you, Steve Jobs. Rest in peace. This world is a much less interesting world now that you're gone.

Turning 29...

It'll be my 29th birthday in 25 days. Which means I only have 390 days left before I turn the big 3-0. I'll say (silently) my birthday wish now.

..........

There.

Hope it comes true! :)

thankfulness post again!

OK this time, I'm thankful for my co-workers. That is, those specific co-workers who have become very good friends of mine. I know that not a lot of people like the people they work with, but in my case, all my teammates in my professional career so far have been very good people and, thus, very good friends :) I'm grateful for them, most of all for my boss JJB who is not only one of the most brilliant and wise bosses you can ever hope to work for, but is also a boss who has your back 100% of the time, who will push for you and push you to go up the next level and who will fight for you all the time, even if it means taking a few punches from others in the process. It is SOOOOOOO rare to have a boss like that, and I'm so grateful to have worked with her for 5 years and to have known her as a friend :)

Come to think of it, I've been pretty lucky with bosses in my professional life. They've all been able to teach me and make me better, both as a person and as a professional. They're inspiring people to emulate and very good friends to have. Thank you, God!

PRETTY!!

The issue of tourism

OK, let's take a break from analyzing the ins and outs of my life, and talk about something on a national scale. I got inspired to write this post after seeing a barrage of really hopeful messages and quips all around cyberspace, about the newly installed tourism secretary. Many are optimistic about his appointment because he's a marketing man, an ad man, a communications man. I get it. After the fiasco over the last tourism campaign (a truly embarrassing endeavor), I understand why this new secretary has electrified people and gotten them excited. Yes, we have a good marketing man at the helm. But, frankly speaking, SO WHAT?!

Sad to say, and this may be ironic coming from a marketing person, but I sincerely believe that marketing is not the solution to a political problem. And tourism is nothing but a POLITICAL problem, first and foremost. People have NO idea what sort of political mess our tourism department is knee-deep in. Do you know the many agencies who have a stake in the airport, for instance? A different agency takes care of immigration, another for customs, another for the travel tax, another for airport operations, another to interface with the airlines, and so on and so forth. So to even be able to draft a concrete plan to fix the airport means convening a group of probably a hundred people. That's not a marketing problem. It's a f*cking HUGE political problem.

Also, people think that all we need is a communication campaign, a good slogan and maybe a jingle or an endorser to get tourists come flocking back. Again, this is SOOOO foolish. It's the product that's lacking, guys. It's the poor police system, whereby tourists are not protected from the Abu Sayyaf, pickpockets, or even the shady customs people. It's the lack of proper facilities and amenities. It's the broken roads, the broken traffic lights, the traffic that pops out whenever a little sprinkling of rain drops from the sky, the lack of an efficient transportation system, and many many more "lacking" things that make our product SUCK. And no amount of communication will distract tourists from those issues. C'mon, people, advertising cannot help a bad product. And for as long as we don't fix the root cause of the problem, believe me, the tourists will not come flocking in droves.

Some say, how come Thailand or Vietnam have more tourists than us when they're just as poor? Firstly, they're not "just as poor". Secondly, they have a proper tourism system that enables tourists to get in touch with authorities right away. Also, have you encountered Thai police? They're very professional, not at all like our not-so-trusty cops here. They may not have a rich country, but their tourism system works. And just like many of our other systems here, our tourism machinery is so bogged down it can hardly stand up at all.

I'm not saying we're doomed as a tourism spot. Far from it. I do dream of the day when the overall Philippine tourism system is in place and is something to shout to the world about. But let's please put in proper perspective what the problem really is, guys. We need new laws to create the proper (united) body to govern all things tourism-related. We need good infrastructure, and not just in the airports. We need to solve the political problem, before we come up with a comm brief and talk to agencies about a campaign. That's like saying we can sell a bad cake using really good icing. It's just not the way it works. The tail cannot wag the dog.

I hope Mr. Jimenez has a bigger take on his job scope, not merely the communication part. Again, as I also told my class before, marketing is not the solution to a political problem. Look at how Noynoy was voted in purely because of marketing. Look where that got us, because people bought into the communication idea and not the actual, real, true-blue PRODUCT. You end up with disappointment. We don't want that for our tourists. We don't want them getting lured by a great campaign, only to have a huge WTF moment when they land here. Marketing and advertising can be really convincing, I will attest to that. But to put more teeth into whatever brilliant communication plan, we need to look deep into our RTBs (reason to believe - an advertising concept) and be honest about what we can deliver and where we fall (very) short.

The other issue I find with Mr Jimenez's appointment is the fact that he's not a political player. Not that I don't find him refreshing, because I do, and I do hope he does a good job in spite of his lack of political experience. BUT BUT BUT I also know enough about our government system (through my husband) to know that the system can bog down even the most honest and well-meaning official. Corruption is systemic. The government-style thinking riddled with procrastination, 'what's in it for me' attitude and "makisama ka" way WILL NOT bend for Secretary Jimenez. He will have to work with it, or around it, and that's a herculean task. I hope he finds very good and very adept people to work under him; otherwise, I'm afraid his plans may just remain good on paper.

I do hope he succeeds. I guess that one, we'll have to wait and see.

Bow.

Bleh!!!!!

This week has been horrible so far (it's only Tuesday, take note). I feel SUPER "bleh" about work. I don't even think my face manages to hide the sentiment well anymore. I sometimes catch myself carrying such a dispassionate face, even around my boss. I don't know what it is about this week, but so far its two days have been nothing but full of this horrible feeling of "bleh".

I feel like much of my work now is so mechanical, I can do it with my eyes closed. What's worse is the feeling of not giving a rat's ass about what I'm doing. Which is even more worrisome for me. I want to care about what I do. I want to feel that emotional connection with my work. And feeling the total opposite is enough to send me into a panic attack... or subdue me to deep reflection mode.

Also quite timely are all these calls from headhunters. To be honest, I've been fending off calls and invitations to interviews for the past couple of months. Getting ultra-prepared for the next phase in our married life, I kept turning calls down and saying I'd rather stay where I am right now, to give way to the entrance of a "little one". After all, who wants to deal with a new employer, new colleagues, new culture and new office, when you are adjusting to being a first-time mother? Anyhoo, recently, I've decided to be open again to these outside opportunities, lest this restlessness kill whatever ounce of career-drive I still have. (In fact, someone mentioned to me recently the concept of "professional plateau"- that stage in your career where you're perfectly okay if your current state becomes your career's ending destination and you just want to work for the pay and go home at 5:30pm,, not having to stretch and "prove anything more). I do not feel like I've reached that stage yet, so maybe I'm doing myself (and maybe even my yet-to-be-conceived child) a disservice by just lying back and shelving my career just to make way for anticipated (and prayed for) motherhood.

Today was one such day again, punctuated by a call bringing external opportunities. Maybe it is high time to move. To something different. Something exciting. Something new. While I'm grateful for what I have now (I have a great boss, great people around me, great office-home distance and great renumeration), I'm sure there's nothing wrong with looking at other (external) greenery and see what else is out there.

OK, so, all those words just boiled down to me declaring I'm open to options. If you know me well, you know I think a lot about things before doing them. Hence all the paragraphs above. Thanks for reading! :P

China recap

This year has definitely been TRAVEL YEAR. My passport has had so many new stamps and visas, it's quite amusing :) The last time this happened to me was in year 2007-2008, when work-related travel was also monthly, if not bimonthly. Hehe.

OK, our latest trip was to China, on my family's annual pilgrimage trip + trip to see my dad's extended family who are still living there. It was Dennis' first trip with my family, and it was a resounding success. I loved the fact that we got to bond so much during a 3-day period, and I could clearly see how much my brothers enjoy his company and respect him as an older brother. Respecting Dennis as their brother-in-law is automatic and a given. But respecting him as if he were their actual blood kuya is another and a totally optional thing, so for that, I'm very happy and very grateful.

We went to the temple of our patron buddha, as well as 3 other temples of different buddhas. It was also during this trip that we prayed the hardest to be blessed with a child soon. I don't know if this makes sense to people who are not or have never tried waiting for a child to enter their life, but once you start on that path of wanting one, it can oh-so-easily consume every corner of your praying life. You can still ask for the usual keep-us-safe-from-harm and always-guide-us requests, but you will notice that your pleading and asking, sometimes reaching the point of begging, will always revolve around this deep desire. It's not that we're desperate, because we're not (yet) and we've only been really trying for 4 months, but I guess that's just how it normally develops (or at least I hope that's how it really is for everyone). Your heart naturally bares itself once your knees touch those padded red pillows, and since that's the one thing that consumes your heart's desires, it's what will automatically come out from your mind and your lips.

One of the key memories from this trip also involves my dad, and all the funny moments we had with him. I tell you, my dad is one of the most amusing travel companions ever, and I would like everyone to have the pleasure of traveling with him. Even the smallest quips from him were so funny, and I guess a big part of it is because he was so relaxed and stress-free. I'm glad Dennis got to see that side of my dad as well :)

I know we'll do this every year, it being a tradition in my family. But I'm glad that our first outing with Dennis was a huge success and it made him closer to my family. I hope next year will be just as happy, for my brother, since his fiancee (by then his wife) will be joining us :)

Here's to family! *click glasses*

thankfulness post 2

Today, I'm grateful for great friends - people who know me and accept me and share my life's ups and downs with me. Some of them are here in Manila and are easily accessible whereas others are abroad as far away as Canada, but they are all friends I hold dear to my heart just the same. I got especially reminded of this last night when a friend based in Singapore took time out of his busy schedule to call me to chat about a work-related semi-problem I have, which we didn't really get to discuss the last time he was home in Manila (which ironically was just last weekend). It was just a 25-minute call, far shorter than our usual meet-ups, but it was substantial enough to clarify some things in my head and give my thoughts a bit more direction. He's always known me very well, and knows just what to say, when to say it. It also helps that we have similar outlook in work life and work success. It was just what I needed.

Thank you for friends. Real friends.

Watch out for winter!

As Guia put it, maybe it's time we adjusted our lifestyle. Admittedly, the past couple of years have seen generous bonuses and additions to our savings, thanks to the good annual performances of the company, and as such, there have also been a few indulgences that were a celebration of this abundance.

While I am thankful that I experienced, at least once, the famed big bonus that starts with the letter L, I am also afraid that "winter" is fast approaching, and we will need extra reserves of "coal" to make sure our finances remain stable. Oh well, nothing that a good, old-fashioned belt-tightening cannot do.

Maybe this is also a reminder that not all good things last forever, and you will do better to appreciate them and remember always to save for a rainy day (or a wintery one, in keeping with my blog post theme)...

Thankfulness post

Had a new idea this evening, as I got home from visiting a friend who had just given birth.. And while waiting for Dennis to come home from his boy's night out. I will make a more conscious effort to be a grateful person - someone more deliberate and conscious about appreciating my blessings, and actually take time out to feel this gratefulness. Looking at my friend's newborn baby and seeing her joy with her newly delivered blessing, I couldn't help but feel wistful and, I dare admit, jealous. I want what I was seeing soooo very badly. And afterwards while walking the short distance home, I felt guilty for my impatience and for complaining about one thing I don't have (yet) whereas so many good and happy things grace my life. So here's my small effort to be more appreciative of what my life has been so blessed to have.

Ok let's start with what I am most grateful for. I am very thankful for the love that has filled my life, starting from my loving family to my super dedicated husband. Not everyone has such a concentration of love in their life and I am humbled by the blessing that my life is one such existence. There's a huge degree of esteem and inner strength that stem from being so well-loved, and all I can say is thank you.

So there. First effort. Let's keep this up as much as possible :)

lightbulb moment!!!

I have always loved the brand Benefit. Their skincare and makeup lines are so fun, girly and always has a unique benefit (sorry for the repetitive use of the word). Whenever I find their sales counter, whether it's in Singapore, HK, Malaysia or even Paris and Macau), I always make it a point to stop by. Usually too, I end up buying a couple of products. This last trip to Macau yielded additional purchases too, namely:



and



I've used them for the past 3 days. Love them both!!

Other products of theirs that I have and love are:



I also love going through the Benefit blog:
http://blog.benefitcosmetics.com

Which leads me to a lightbulb moment today!!!! I've been thinking of what business to put up, and maybe, just maybe, I can be the official distributor of Benefit in the Philippines!!!

I know this may be a HUGE stretch, and there might be millions of capital required, but it would be so cool to be able to work with Benefit, a brand I so dearly love! Also, for the first (and maybe last) time in my life, I actually wished I lived in the States so I can apply to work there! They actually have openings for marketing!!! Aaack!!

Or, if it's really impossible, just to get this brand to have a physical presence in Manila would be enough too. That way, I don't have to go abroad for my stash and to get to know their new products :)

stay positive....

Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive. Stay positive.

Repeat.

Macau recap

We're back from Macau! :)

It was a fun trip, overall. Everybody enjoyed, and Dennis kept thanking me for arranging everything. Told him it's my pleasure. The trip was, after all, partly his birthday gift. And partly our gift to his parents for their birthdays as well. It was a good trip, with a healthy mix of shopping, sightseeing, eating (a lot!), gambling (a bit!) and just hanging out and being together. It was a great family vacation, and I look forward to the next ones :)

I realized something from the trip though. Every family has its own culture. Much like country-level culture, each family has its own language, its own set of rules, its own ways of thinking and own methods of operating. Throughout the trip, I made so many comparisons between the Chans and my family, esp during points when I felt disoriented because my family's "way" was so different from theirs. I guess it just boils down to making adjustments, not making comparisons and just appreciating a family for their own virtues. They do love me, and for that I am very grateful.

Macau in 3-2-1

We're off to our first Chan family overseas trip this coming Wednesday evening - to Macau! We also plan to go on a daytrip to HK, since the total trip encompasses about 4 days. :)

I'm really excited! It's our first time in Macau, and our first time to travel with his side of the family. I'm also excited to shop (heard about the crazy summer sales!) and to eat!!! :D

I love traveling! :)

Pretty!

my life's work

I must say, no matter how much I whine about being moved back to Usage, I believe this is really my life's work. I get a great deal of fulfillment and excitement when I work in this kind of setup. Hence, it might make me rethink any plans to change industries (esp those that sell actual products). I know stress also comes at the flip slide of this exciting work, but I guess it really comes hand in hand. Everything worth doing is just wired that way.

Wala lang. Just realized that so I thought I'd jot it down before I forget.

marginal utility of money

Something our boss said this morning hit home more than I care to admit. He said the marginal utility of money is very small, much smaller than we give it credit for. When you've earned enough to cover your basic necessities, the quest for additional money just to keep up with the luxuries of life is often where you get into trouble. Definitely, when you are in need of money, because you cannot cover the basic needs of you and your family, then money is at its most use (and of most importance) to you. Then you crave more, to cover life's little luxuries, which I guess is still okay. After all, what differentiates life from existence is quality. And certain aspects of a quality life do require some measure of money. For example, travel is life-enriching but is also a rather expensive hobby. Education is another, though basic education would mean getting educated here whereas "luxury education" would mean a foreign degree or even an additional degree like an MBA. You would also need a cushion to cover a rainy day (or days, as last week proved to be), especially when you have aging parents or many dependents or simply just for your sanity. In Manila too, a car is almost a necessity, as is the occasional movie and dinner date to destress.

However, after you've checked those marks, and you crave more money, you'll find this incremental moolah to deliver way less than what the earlier amounts did, at least in terms of satisfaction and happiness. In fact, you'll discover that what you need to sacrifice, in the name of this additional money, may cost you more than the benefits to be derived by the possession of these incremental pesos. Such examples are time with your family, your health, your spiritual life, or simply just your life. In the quest for more money, you run faster and faster on the hamster wheel, only to end up not being able to enjoy the very money for which you exerted that much effort for. Worse, after earning so much money, you find yourself dying due to the stress of the quest.

So I guess the point is to continually reflect and evaluate the "point" in everything we do, including everything we sacrifice. There's obviously a tradeoff, and the reward that you're working for may or may not end up to be as satisfying as it appeared to be in your head.

Definitely, at this age, my husband and I are still very much justified to stay in the rat race. After all, we don't have children yet, and I've heard children tend to cost a substantial amount of money. Plus, we do have dreams yet to be achieved, before we can say we've had enough of our work. But it's good to see this perspective from a 50-year-old marketing veteran and learn that, after a certain point, you really don't need "more" anymore. Life is not about that at all. What's tricky is knowing where to draw the line and keep your sights at it, no matter the temptation (whether in your head or through people around you). Hopefully, you'll also be brave enough to get off the horse when you need to, in recognition of better things to allocate your time, effort and attention for, even if these things do not appear in a bank statement or chequebook. Unlike in the corporate world, achievements in life are not supposed to be in numerical format.

:)

building a pipeline or hauling buckets

I stumbled upon this story from a blog of a friend and wanted to post it here so I won't forget it. I feel it can be related to many things in life, most obviously to the ever-lingering idea of setting up my own business vs staying in this corporate rat race forever. Read on!

Are you building a pipeline or hauling buckets?

A village in Africa needed water, so they gave 2 people, Bill and Ed, the contract to supply it, reasoning that the competition would keep prices reasonable and the service good. Bill immediately ran out, bought to buckets, and started making the trek to and from the lake, which was a mile away. He started making money immediately, which was great, especially as Ed disappeared from the village. The downside was that he had to get up before everybody else to make sure that the village had the water, and his work was very tiring, as he spent his whole day carrying buckets of water.

Several months later, Ed returned with a construction crew, and built a stainless steel pipe from the lake to the village. Once it was ready, he announced that he would charge 75% less for his water than Bill, that his water would be cleaner than Bill’s, because it would be covered the whole way, and that it would run 24/7, unlike Bill’s, because Bill didn’t work on weekends.

When Bill saw everybody run to the new faucet at the end of Ed’s pipeline, he dropped his prices by 75%, bought covers for his buckets, and employed his sons to work night and weekend shifts. Once his sons had left for college (and inexplicably never returned), he had to hire more workers to cover their costs, and spent his days dealing with accounting and labor issues.

Ed saw the success of his pipeline in this village, and went on to build them in several other villages as well, earning only pennies on every bucket delivered, but delivering millions of buckets a day. He oversees his business from a beach in Hawaii, as the water flows whether he is working or not.

THE END

The story ends with this advice: don’t spend your days working for money when you could be designing systems to have money flowing to, and working for you. But I feel that it can be related to so many more things other than money. Are you sacrificing long-term gains for short-term contentment? Are you missing the bigger picture in the quest to have something solid now? Are you building a pipeline or hauling buckets?!

"Not much to look forward to this year"...

Some of my friends said this at the top of the year, especially in the context of 2010 being a action-packed, exciting year for all of us, peppered with memories of weddings and babies. I couldn’t relate to this feeling at first, since we had our Europe trip (of the decade!) in the pipeline during that period. I was too busy looking up itineraries, comparing hotels, preparing flight schedules, etc, to feel that there’s not much to look forward to. My heart was so full of excitement and happy anticipation. Now that that has peaked and we’re back to regular life, I can’t help but agree with the statement now. Especially given the recent work challenges, which either pull me to the direction of feeling work is so humdrum, or haul me back to the other direction of feeling overwhelmed and tired by this new assignment. Granted, the resurrection of my teaching career does put an exclamation point to my weekly sched, and my MBA does keep me extra busy, but I don’t know, I feel like something is off. Or, better said, something seems dissatisfying. I can’t quite pinpoint what it is exactly. All I know is what it is NOT about – I’m 100% happy with my marriage and 100% happy with my personal and student-related lives. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s about work.. and about my impatience with the next stage in life.

There's no solid point to this post. I just wanted to jot down this feeling, in hopes of untangling the mixed emotions and finding the center of it all. I'll let you know if it worked...

Not this time :(

Erased my last post about crossing fingers for good news this month because, well, the good news didn't come. I would be lying if I said we're not disappointed. Frankly, the feeling resembles heartbreak way too closely- and I doubt we can be faulted. The signs all pointed there, and I can be sure that while some may arguably just reside in the place in my heart that really wants it to come true, the other signs were so real they really had us fooled :(

Oh well, no use agonizing. We can always try again.

And let it be said that I have the best husband in the world. Hope every girl out there finds someone as devoted and as loving, to be with in good times and sad :(

Guam Guam

OK, this is an update from my earlier blog post today. Due to several circumstantial roadblocks to our plan to go to Bora, we've revised the plan and moved the destination to...

GUAM!

The biggest dependency for this plan, though, is a Mabuhay Miles Half-Off promotion. It's a showstopper (or show-go-er, depending on how you look at it), because we plan to use my miles to go Guam for free! (Thank you to Citibank Premier Miles VISA card!) Definitely a much better beach destination for us, and it also allows us to hit a second bird with the same stone - getting our US visas renewed! Yooohooo! I'm definitely more psyched about this plan. I really really pray it pans out.

:D

Bora Bora

I wish a thousand million times that PAG-ASA does NOT declare the end of summer by the end of this week. Just when we decided to go to Bora (in about 2 weeks' time), this happens. GRR GRR GRR!

Please! Extend summer just a teeny bit longer!!!!

wannatrepreneur

I came across this term and found it funny because it's supposed to refer to someone who always talks about being an entrepreneur but never actually does it. I can sooo relate! Haha! I've always had the intention to get into a side business, have thought up a handful of ideas of what to do, have talked some of those ideas to death with my husband,... and yet, nothing has materialized! Truly a wannatrepeneur.

Anyway, I had a lightbulb moment again the other day, a truly lucrative idea, but it seems like there's no available commercial area in my building. I have yet to scour nearby locations for an available space, and I don't know when I will actually do this "scouring", given the heat outside. A part of this wannatrepreneur in me tells me to go and do it already. Find a spot and open this business. But then the other more conservative part of me thinks maybe I should simply wait for a spot to open up and land on my lap. Tsk tsk. What to do..?

I really think I'm on to something good. I think I just need to that extra push to get the ball rolling....

:)

Teacher Teacher!!

I'm so glad to have been invited back to teaching. I must admit, I missed it! I took a 1-year hiatus from teaching, because first semester coincided with my wedding (and the months leading up to it). Since I also had my MBA to juggle work and wedding preps with, I didn't want to overload myself and decided to drop teaching for a year.

Then I got an email two weeks ago inviting me to go back. I was actually still in Paris when I saw the email, and couldn't contain my excitement when I told my husband about it and asked if it was okay to accept (I had to clear it with him because, you know, he's my driver! Hahahaha!) Luckily, I have a very supportive husband who said GO AHEAD as soon as I finished asking my question :P

The difference with this coming semester though is that they moved my class from being a 4th year class to a 3rd year class, replacing (I think) Marketing Management. They want my class to be a big-picture look at IMC and serve as a foundational course. This is VASTLY different from how I designed the course in the last 2 years I taught it, where it assumed the students already knew the basics and that I could throw out terms like segmentation and positioning without having to explain what they meant. Changing gears to being a basic, foundational course means I need to adjust almost 90% of the content, because this time my class would be what the 4th-year teachers will expect to have taught the kids the basics. :s

So now, I'm mulling over how to revamp my course content, syllabus, and lecture presentations (oh and the assignments and class presentations too!) to fill this new objective. Nooninooninoo.... Time to research again! :P

Anyway, apart from this slight inconvenience (plus, I really think my previous course content was really cool!), I must say I'm very excited. Teaching is such a source of fulfillment for me, and it's a great way to stay motivated with this professional field I chose, when work gets to be too much or I get too bogged down by office politics. It's a nice way to remind myself of why I love this profession. It also serves as a great way to make repayments for all the blessings I have. Lastly, it's also a venue to learn (or in some cases re-learn) the basics - which are far too easy to forget once you're too heavily into the thick of things)

Can't wait for June 18!

Trip of the Year!

We're back!!! From the vacation of the year!!! :D

I loved loved loved loved our trip. It was a glorious set of 10 vacation days, to the most romantic cities in Europe. Some highlights:

ON PARIS
1. We loved our hotel and the staff. They were so friendly and accomodating, and they made sure our stay was comfortable. We were upgraded to the biggest room and had easy access to the MRT.

2. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour, which allowed us to see the whole of Paris, with just 1 ticket. My most favorite site is the Eiffel Tower whereas Dennis really liked NotreDame Cathedral.

3. We loved the food, esp in our favorite restaurant George V. We loved escargot SOOOOO very much!

4. Speaking of food, our lunch with Miss Lunch was the best meal we had in our trip. It cost 55 euros per person, which may sound pricey, but no, it was sooo worth it! All the courses were top-notch, and she served 3 kinds of wines! We were also lucky to have such pleasant and fun company throughout the dinner. They were all so nice, and the conversation was lively enough that we were able to fight off jetlag (we ate there on the same day we arrived). It was such a great experience. Everybody going to Paris should try to get seats on Miss Lunch's table. She only does it every 2 month or so, so if your schedule jives with her, GO FOR IT! Don't even think about it anymore :)

5. We had an encounter with several suspicious-looking Shanghainese women, who asked us to buy LV bags and wallets on their behalf, even giving us the cash upfront. We tried to help them by going to the boutique and asking for the items they requested. But since the LV salesgirl refused to sell me anything w/o me giving over my passport, I drew the line there and just walked out. Told our Shanghainese auntie that we didn't bring our passports (which wasn't true, they were with Dennis) but I just didn't want to expose our official documents to a situation that might get us in trouble. Better safe than sorry. My gut told me it was the right thing to do.

6. We loved Chateau de Versailles. It was beautiful!!! But, our tour guide/driver was such a character! He was soooo funny, in a what-an-ass-but-he's-kinda-funny sort of way. Hehehe. Ask me more kwento about him to get more details. Dennis & I always share a huge laugh whenever we remember him.

7. We didn't get to see the Eiffel Tower at night, and we also missed our Da Vinci Code tour because we woke up too late (hehehe). It's not so bad though. As Dennis said, it gives us another reason to go back to Paris.

ON ROME
1. It was such a picturesque city, and the Fontana di Trevi was my absolute favorite site! Which was made even better by the fact that our room / B&B was around the corner from the fountain! LOVE IT!

2. Speaking of our room, it was so big and so conveniently located, it's the best spot in Rome, in my opinion. At a very reasonable rate too, considering it includes breakfast. The hosts are also sooooo friendly and made things so comfortable for us. I loved it! They even gave us champagne because I told them we were on our honeymoon, which is sort of true :)

3. The Vatican was an impressive site. HANDS DOWN. Even if I'm not Catholic, knowing the history behind the place and what the various spots symbolized, I was sooo impressed. There was even a Holy Week mass going on when we were inside St Peter Basilica, but since it was in Italian, we opted out and gave our slots to someone else.

4. Our Vatican Museum tour was the best! That was my favorite tour. We loved it so much we bought the book! :)

5. Dennis bought me red roses when we were along the Spanish Steps. A really simple gesture, but I really loved it.

6. We went to both fancy restaurants and really simple trattorias when we were in Rome. And guess what, we actually preferred the food at the cheaper places! Goes to show you don't have to spend big to get good food :)

We also shopped (mostly for other people) and dined to our hearts' content. I loved the trip also because it was such a nice set of bonding days. It was a good break from our everyday routine. While we would still get to talk everyday, there's a different sense of closeness when you travel together and really "be" together all day every day. I can't explain it. It made us decide to go on a long trip every year. Somewhere new, but doesn't have to be very far (i.e. Europe). Even when we have kids, we can still jet off to Korea, China, or even Australia, for a few days each year, to have that 1-on-1 time that's simply irreplaceable.

I'm so thankful the trip went beyond my expectations. After planning it for so long, I'm so happy that it turned out even better than I expected. For a while, I worried that I may have hyped it too much in my head. But thank God, no, the reality was even better. A classic moment of this was when I first saw the Eiffel Tower and the Fontana di Trevi. I had to stop because they just both blew my mind. I knew they were good sites to see, but when they were actually presented right in front of me, I stood there breathless and completely in awe.

I want this experience every year. If only for that reason, I'll continue on this corporate rat race, if only so we'll raise enough funds to go on this adventure once a year :)

TODAY!

Today is when we leave for our trip! We're going first to Malaysia, and stay for a night coz our flight to Paris is from KL and leaves really late tomorrow. So I figured since it's Atty's first time in Malaysia, might as well leave a whole day to explore it :) Then after that, we're off to Paris and Rome! :)

I was so excited yesterday that I slept past 1am already (really late for a weeknight, for me). My adrenaline was so high after packing and my head kept swirling with possible items I may have left out. Then today, I'll have lunch with the girls, then will go home to finish packing.. then it's off to the airport! :D

Will update again when I get back. Bye! :)

It's here, it's here!!!

Our trip is finally here!!!! 3 days from now, that is.... I can't wait to start packing our bags this evening, which leaves me enough time to buy toiletries and other missing items either tomorrow or Thursday.

We leave the condo at around 6pm on Friday, for our 9pm flight to KL. I'm so excited!!!! :D

A small setback though is I seem to be developing some sort of skin allergy or eczema... I'm getting it checked by the derma tomorrow to see what cream I can put. I also took antihistamines the other night, thinking it's a food or season related allergy. Usually this does the trick, but this time around, for some reason, the small, red, itchy blots are still there! And what's even more annoying is the skin around my eyes also seems to have them :( Boohoo.

OK, enough complaining. I'm going to Europe on Friday!!!! :D

1 week to go!!!

Until our Europe trip!!!!!!!

After months of planning, it all boils down to these last 7 days. I have to print out our tickets, hotel vouchers, tour coupons and itinerary. Admittedly, I slacked off a bit with the planning, especially on finishing the Rome travel book that my husband gave me. But it's okay, I have this weekend to do those things :)

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! :D

Time Frame

Some conversation topics today got me thinking about time frames. Just when you think you're in charge of your life's major milestones and the time frames on which they will happen, you get an awakening (rude or pleasant, depending on the situation) that the otherwise is what's true. A number of women I know have such trouble conceiving, to the point of desperation (i.e. IVF and other scientific ways of making a baby) that I can't help but think life is really out of our hands. We can try to schedule our life and put time frames that are convenient and/or feasible for us, but God will have His own plans and His own schedule for you. No matter how much you fight it, or want it to be different, you can't.

:s

The thing with being in front of a computer all day...

is you find things online that you didn't know you wanted!!!

housegirl saga continuation...

OK, so there's more update now with my housegirl situation. The in-laws of my housegirl did not allow for their probinsiyana daughter to come to Manila, mostly because it means her education will drag out longer than necessary. Completely understable, but still an inconvenient truth...

Anyway, another option has surfaced. What if we allow her to bring her son with her and stay with us from Monday to Friday (or sometimes Saturday morning)? Let's break that down into a list of pros and cons -

PROS
- She's very trustworthy; as in, I can trust her with money, jewelry, food, and basically everything and anything in my small household. And if you employ someone to be in your house by her lonesome all day long, you better have trust as the number 1 requirement.
- She's willing to be alone in the condo (or in this case, be with her son alone in the condo). Not a lot of maids are willing to do that, apparently, and I learned this yesterday from a coworker. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but it is quite a challenge to be alone all day, everyday, save for a few minutes of interaction with me and Dennis at the start and end of each day. It takes a certain kind of personality to be able to thrive in a situation like that, and this lovely housegirl of mine is one such personality. She is content and quite used to being alone, with no one to talk to (at least no one of adult age). It's another value she brings to the table.
- She cooks really well. In Dennis' words, she's the best cook he's ever had.
- She can be relied on to do a good job with the cleaning and washing.
- She's been with my family for ages, and because of that, I can entrust her to be my eyes and ears, when later on when we have a baby and I have to employ a yaya I may not know personally (I have to be realistic), I can count on her to look out for my family's best interest and make sure the yaya toes the line. I don't know how else to explain it but she's very good for my peace of mind.

CONS
- The son will be in our care, and will be our responsibility. While I'm sure she won't allow any harm to fall onto her son, if the kid gets sick, he is our responsibility. One way to mitigate this con is immunization, and I plan to check on what the kid has gotten (and has not gotten) so far in terms of vaccine. If needed, I'll pay for the additional vaccines, if only to make sure he doesn't fall seriously ill when in our household.
- Her attention might be split, hence it may take her longer to do her work. For now, at least, this isn't a big issue, since she's free most of the time, given the small amount of work needed to maintain our 124 sqm condo. She's mostly done with her work by 1:30 or 2pm in the afternoon, and she can afford to watch tv or take a nap for an hour or two, before starting dinner prep at around 4:30.
- The son is 2 years old, and as my officemates call it, still at the terrible age of being loud, rambunctious and very capable of breaking things in the condo. While I doubt the high incidence of this, it's nothing that a bit of childproofing can't do. Also, my mother in law has had experience of help bringing in their children to live in their property. From her (and Dennis') observation, their kids are not like the kids of the owners of the house. Their kids tend to know their place and be more behaved. I don't have firsthand experience with this so I really wouldn't know. This is the one "con" that I really don't have a hard solution for, so I guess we can just figure this out as we go along. For instance, if you've seen my place, you can close the kitchen swing door and keep the kid on the other side of the condo - the kitchen/ maid's quarter's area, which is farthest from our room. Thereby minimizing the noise level...

So there. That pretty much sums up the situation. Dennis says, after considering everything, he's willing to offer a trial period and see how it pans out. Hopefully the situation ends up win-win for both parties. I can tell she doesn't want to quit her job as much as possible. I know the extra income comes in handy for her small family; plus, if we do allow her to bring her child along, it's the same income level for her, for less expense. We do want to keep her as much as possible too, given the list of pros above. So I hope this situation does work out and we don't regret it.

For now, at least, I think this is our best alternative. Keep your fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!

housegirl problem

On top of the emotional rollercoaster caused by my grandma's condition, I have another problem looming in the horizon. My housegirl, whom Dennis & I trust completely and can cook to Atty's tummy's content, is again faced with the possibility of terminating her employment. As I said in my November 2010 post about her, she and her husband are going home in April for their son's first birthday. She told me that they've decided they do not want their son growing up away from them and that they will bring him back to Manila when they come home from the province in that April trip. Now the question is, who will take care of their son when his mom is with us from Monday to Friday every week. The plausible solution lies in the husband's younger sister, who is a 19-year-old girl still in 3rd year high school. There's an OHP program by the Deped that offers weekend classes for working students, and there's a handful of public schools that offer this program. Aha! A ray of hope! The solution can be that this girl comes to Manila with them in April and looks after the little boy JM from Monday to Friday, then on weekends, she goes to school while my housegirl takes over her rightful duties as a mom.

It's not a perfect option, though. Firstly, it assumes that the husband's parents will allow their 19-year-old probinsiyana daughter to come to Manila. Another assumption is that the OHP program of the school will accept the student (apparently, there's a huge demand for this and you need to present strong justification why you should be given a slot). Another is that the arrangement needs to work out, meaning the girl adjusts well and is able to handle the mom's duties from Mon to Fri, including keeping house.

But at least it's an option. She was visibly torn as she told me about the situation. She clearly doesn't want to leave us, partly because she needs the job but mostly because she has come to care for me and Dennis a lot. Plus she really loves my family, so she doesn't want to let us down as much as possible. However, she really doesn't want to be away from her son much longer, which I also understand.

Hay. Dennis is trying his best to find out more about the program, so we can present a good case to the husband's parents when they go home in April. But even assuming best-laid plans, if one of the factors above falls through, we'll have to face a housegirl-less situation. And my personal stand on hiring househelp is that if I can't trust the person 100%, I'd rather not hire her at all. :s

Help?

K&Co Love

Lately, I've been buying so many K&CO dresses - the jersey ones that are so light and soft to wear! I love them soooo much! And I was so happy to find some on sale last night - roughly P1000 to P1200 each! What a deal!

At the back of my mind, I also can't help but wonder if I'm doing this in preparation for the next stage in my life, where loose, comfy dresses would be a daily uniform rather than an occasional treat. Granted, I've been feeling so comfortable in dresses that jeans and slacks suddenly feel constricting. But I also wonder if this is my way of prepping myself for pregnancy. Everyone who knows me knows that I like to plan, and plan ahead at that, so maybe it's not such a far-fetched idea. :P

Just wanted to share that. This is an I LOVE K&CO post :)

5 weeks to go...

before we leave for Europe!!! Yehey!!! :D

silver-related post

It may sound really cheesy but I still get so kilig whenever I come home to my husband or he comes home to me, depending on who's home first. I love making discoveries about him, no matter how small, like how he chooses what to wear in the morning or how he likes his coffee made. I love waking up next to him and have little top-of-the-morning chats... or late-night, don't-go-to-sleep-yet-talk-to-me-first conversations about anything or everything. I love our little debates over what to watch on tv or our little fantasy-filled discussions about the future. I love being with him, all the time- and whenever we part, I look forward to when I'm seeing him next, even if it's just 6 or 10 hours later.

I don't know if this is just all part of the honeymoon stage, but I soooo wish it will never end. I had some recent run-ins with people carrying marriage problems on their shoulders and wonder if they ever had these little honeymoon-stage moments of glee. And if they did, did these moments just stop, or is it due to the stress of marriage's everyday hassles or the seemingly inevitable distance created when children come along? What possibly happened to take them from where Dennis and I are now to a co-habitation filled with errands, issues and problems?

Sometimes I think marriage is like a sterling silver bracelet from Tiffany's (which incidentally was Dennis' surprise gift for me). Sterling silver may dull after some time, and this is due to everyday wear. Inevitably, dirt or libag (hehe) or residue from sweat, perfume, pollution, etc envelop the silver, causing it to dull and lose its shine. But all it needs to go back to its original pristine state is the alertness and attention you pay to it - to realize when the wear is already affecting its brilliance and shine - and the discipline (and sometimes humility) to make the effort to polish the silver, to make the true shine come out. Obviously, if you never take the time to pay attention and make the effort, there will come a time when you realize you're just wearing a piece of dirt-ridden and libag-heavy metal on your wrist, and you can no longer see the beauty of what once made your heart go pitter-patter.

May this blog post serve as a reminder to me to always remember to take the time out to "polish our silver". It's okay to deal with life's everyday problems - someone's got to- and it's okay to prioritize your children on an ongoing basis, because they need you more. But make the effort to "do the polish".. and do it often. As with cleaning anything in the house, the more regularly you do it, the easier it is to wipe off the grime :)

Surprise!!!

Atty surprised me yesterday with this! After we had just come home from a dinner out with his future business partner (in a really chi-chi place where everything was expensively good), I immediately showered and hankered for the bed thereafter, wanting to hit the sack asap. So imagine my surprise when I took off the covers of our bed and found this underneath, waiting for me. Awww. I hit him for catching me so off-guard, but inwardly I was loving it to the max! Hahaha!

Such a sweet gesture! More than the actual gift, I loved what it's for, what it means, and the whole unveiling process it went through :) Thank you!

dragon vs dog

OK, so this afternoon, my husband and I were told by my mother-in-law that her sister-in-law (dami namang law in this sentence) commented about our plans of having a "dragon baby", i.e. a baby born in the year of the Dragon, which starts in late-Jan 2012. Apparently, since I was born in the year of the Dog, I am "chiong" (literally means contra) to a dragon-born. Hence, it would not be preferable for me to bear a dragon baby. Not that it's dangerous or anything, but in our culture, "chiong" means, at the minimum, the two sides zero-out or cancel-out each other. If one is having good luck, the other isn't, so net-net, the total of the equation is a zero. So, if you're "chiong" to the animal sign of 2011, you're generally told to be more careful, stay close to home and avoid long trips and basically look out because you're more vulnerable to weakness.

Another "hence" in the "comment" given today: We ought to procreate SOON so as to have a rabbit-born baby, instead of crossing over the mark next year and have a, gasp, dragon-baby, just as we originally planned.

Gosh! For one, good job, mother-in-law's sister-in-law! We didn't ask you, and seriously, did you just have to share your "comments"? For another, it's not that we were dead-set on a dragon baby, because we're not. But it's just disconcerting (as a POTENTIAL MOTHER-TO-BE) to hear that my baby will be "contra" with me, seeing as how I'm the child's mother and therefore he/she would only be alive in the world due to my participation in the matter. As I told Dennis this afternoon, "I'm the child's mother. I don't know how we can be "at odds" right away. At least give the child 12 years of existence before he/she can rebel against me during the teenage years!"

TSK TSK TSK!

Hay. This culture of ours can sometimes be so overbearing. So many "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts", padded by "just a suggestion" or "it won't hurt if..." Hay.

Anyway, I'm glad I have a mature husband who just smiled and said we can compromise by bumping up our "we'll start trying" period from mid-year to after-Europe, which is late April. Then we just leave it up to the child (or fate) to choose when he/she wants to be born. Does he/she want to be a rabbit? Or a dragon? Either way is fine with mommy and daddy :) Sounds good, right? I felt better, after experiencing a few seconds of ickiness after receiving the suggestion. Sounds like a plan :)

Hay. This just goes to show - Unsolicited comments never ever work out.

Why didn't I see this cuff before my wedding...

I loooooooooooooooooooooove this!!!!

Suddenly February

What happened?! All of a sudden, we're approaching mid-February! 3 working days to go before our VISA appointment at the French Embassy! Next thing we know, it'll be summertime and time to go to Europe! (yipeee!)

The other day, Atty turned to me and said "When are we having a baby?" Awwww. I can't even tell you how touching that moment was. I'm grateful to have such a mature husband, ready (and very much willing!) to be a father. I know some guys who'd rather wait (or sometimes categorically refuse to have a child), and I'm so thankful :) I told him time's flashing by so fast, before he knows it, it'll be mid-year and, before he can blink a second time, we'll be on our way to start a family.

I think this incident was spurred by the ff key things:
1. We're so settled in our home life already. Even if we've only been married for 5 months (woah, 5 months!), we've gotten so settled in our daily routine and in our little condo. We've established a life together already and, at least I think so, have made firm and stable roots upon which a small family can grow :)

2. We're ready. We're just emotionally, mentally ready to have a child. Granted, the finances can get some more improvement, but more or less we're there already. The only thing probably missing would be our long trip somewhere far, which will already materialize in 2 months. After that, we've ticked off all the boxes :)

3. Everyone's waiting. And by this, I mean everyone. His family, my family, our friends, our officemates. Everybody. Including us :P It's the next step, and everyone's excited to see us make it.

That's pretty much it. Just wanted to document Dennis' vocal request for a child, because I just found it so touching and endearing. I hope when we finally get our turn to have sleepless nights and have to endure toddler tantrums and cries, he'll remember this moment, when he asked for a baby. Wa ha ha ha ha! :p

A Tod's bag I actually like :)

I'd probably get a different color since something this light definitely has denim-transfer problems, but I'm really really really liking this new bag from Tods. It's called the Shirt Bag due to the drawstring top.

Isn't it cute? :)

Europe Trip 2011 Checkpoint :)

OK, to say that I'm excited about this trip is a DEFINITE understatement. Counting-down-the-months-psyched is more like it :)

I have a confession to make. A good number of my time at the office these days is spent looking up activities we can do, filling up our itinerary and putting together hotel options. I also can't wait to read the guidebooks we have on Paris and Rome - the two destinations covering Europe Trip 2011 (I'm so excited that even my Windows password in the office is Europe2011 :P ). To take stock of the trip-planning progress so far:

1. Tickets: We have all the airplane tickets already - from Manila to KL, KL to Paris, Paris to Rome, and the other way around.

2. Hotels: Only the KL room has been booked so far. I'm still working on the options for the others - it's harder to finalize if you only have a certain budget to work with (yet you also want a good location and breakfast to be included)

3. VISA: We've made a booking already with the French embassy, which is notorious for being both slow and busy. It takes about a month to get a schedule, would you believe?! Good thing I'm a planner, so we have more than enough time to secure a VISA.

That's about it so far. I'll make another update in a month's time (or sooner, depending on whether or not I can hold my excitement) :P

stained glass bulb

I'm really liking this! Hopefully, one of the hardware stores here start to carry it. I think it'll suit our lamps at home :)

biz talk

One of my reasons for taking an MBA is to better equip myself when the time comes that I want to venture into entrepreneurship. Now that I target closing out my MBA career by the end of the next school year (essentially, by March 2012), I'm now hard-pressed to think of my business idea and concept. I know these things don't just emerge on demand, so I want to start thinking of it as early as now. And if possible, I'll make my Strama (strategic management) paper on the business topic I settle on, so that the effort becomes even more worthwhile, since it'll be truly useful to me even after graduation.

But what is this elusive idea?! I've been racking my brains since early last year but have been more purposive in thinking of it after I got married. What do I want to get into? I know for sure I plan to keep my day job, so definitely it has to be something I can either manage remotely (like online, for example), something that I can confine my free time to (i.e. only do after office hours), or something I only need to jumpstart but can run on its own afterwards. Also, I don't have millions to invest,so something that can start off with a manageable amount would be best.

So what is this idea? I came up with an idea late last year but not sure where to take it afterwards. I'm also not sure if I need partners to make it happen.

Ho hum... Think think think... Hopefully the answer comes to me in a dream or something. Hehehe.

P.S. Can I just add how SUPER DUPER ADORABLE my husband is? He was thinking of ways to augment our income that he signed up for paid surveys! How cute is that?! :)