weekend recap

This weekend started either early or late for me, depending on how you look at it. My family thinks it started early because I went out of town on Thursday morning. It's not what you think though. It's not for fun. I went to Antipolo for work (haha, is Antipolo even considered out of town? It did to me.. It was just soooooo far!!). We had our team-building there for all managers in my division. The thing was supposed to be until Saturday morning, but I managed to get myself out of there legitimately on Friday mid-afternoon.

Anyway, even if I didn't get to finish the entire session, I believe it went really well. For the ff reasons:

1. It made me get to know better the ones I already kinda knew and always admired. I loved the first break-out session we had, because I was grouped with people I've always admired and always wanted to know more about. True enough, the discussion covered so many things, from work to personal to family to interpersonal relationships that it gave me a whole new look into the lives of my officemates. I truly felt honored to be in their midst-- all of these people went through a much tougher childhood and life than me and survived so much. In comparison, I felt like such a pampered, naive little child who only knows the tip of the iceberg when it comes to surviving and triumphing past life's worst blows. It also gave me a lot of realizations and lessons on the things that are truly important.

2. It affirmed certain suspicions I had about some people and their motivations. It also gave me a look into the psyche of certain people and why they behave the way they do.

3. It taught me so much about trust, about good faith, and about what "quality people" really are. It pointed out to me just how much fakeness there is in this world, and in contrast, the people who remain pure and true to themselves and their pure intentions must always be appreciated.

4. No matter what the company, at the end of the day, you work for a boss. And I'm so mega grateful to have such a wonderful boss.

5. No matter what our differences about work style may be, my teammates are just some of the safest, best people to work with. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by people I can trust... people who have more dignity and integrity in the hairs on their heads than some people have in their bodies.

6. Its in moments of crisis when one lets his or her true colors come out. And some people's true colors are about as bad as colors can ever be.

7. For all its faults, this company does make it worthwhile for you to stay. If you don't need its rewards, then well and good. But I doubt one can find it so easy to just let "it" go and not miss it :P

So there was my teambuilding. After coming home from Antipolo, Dennis picked me up on Saturday for Karen's despedida de soltera. I've never been to one til that day, so it was refreshing to see what went on in such an occasion. Karen was radiant and beautiful in her Joji Lloren pink gown. I was so happy to see her so happy.

Today was family day, where apart from spending time with my family and Dennis, I also spent a ton of money. Hahaha! Not that those two things necessarily follow, but I just couldn't pass up a good deal when I see it. I bought myself a designer leather bag, with the justification that it was secondhand and therefore at a good good good price. I also told myself that since it's leather, it's bound to last long and really, for the price, what else is there to consider? Dennis was right beside me as I went through this internal debate. He just looked at me strangely and said, "well, if you like it, get it. That's how simple it is, if you ask me!" Haha, my darling boyfriend, if I followed that rule everytime I saw something I liked, I'd probably be starving from sheer poverty now. :) Hehehe. Still, it's so cute to hear something so simplistic :p

Today was also when I got two super cute summer dresses made by Dennis' mom especially for me. I loved how cute they are and the care that went into making them. For all their faults, this family of his has always made me feel welcome and special.

Oh, and we also watched No Reservations today too, which is your typical chick-flick except the little girl is just sooo adorable. You gotta hand it to Dennis-- it's not usual to have a guy who doesn't mind catching chick flicks with ya. :p

So that was my weekend. Very fun, very interesting and very expensive ;p Hehehe.. It's bound to get more expensive though, as there's something really big I plan to buy on Wednesday evening... Hay, will this cycle of purchase ever end?! (That's a rhetorical question..)

back!

I'm back! Finally, the series of back-to-back overseas trips have ended. As much fun as the trips have been (and they're super fun, especially this last trip to China where my family bonded like there's no tomorrow! Hehehe!), I must admit I feel really tired. I really need a massage, after all the walking and the not-sleeping-enough we did in our trips.

The China trip was great, as usual. We went first on our pilgrimage to the temple that's about 2 hours away from the city. We also went on a side trip to my lolo's old hometown, where he was born and where he spent the first few years of his life. My dad was especially wistful in this trip, I don't know why, but he kept bringing up old stories about my lolo and kept saying just how happy my lolo's soul must be just knowing that his grandchildren were stepping on the very same ground that he once did. Awww... I just knew how much my dad appreciated that the three of us agree to go on this trip year after year, no matter what our schedules were like and no matter how tiring and taxing the trip gets. He even made a comment that such trips may even include Dennis in the future. Hehehe :)

My gosh, it's almost October! (what an abrupt change in topic, hahaha!) I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It all just went by in a blur. I can hardly remember things that happened in Q1, Q2, Q3... Hehehe. Also, since October is almost here, so is my birthday. And then in just a few short weeks, the Madrid trip. Then finally Christmas! I'm so excited. This year has been sooooo good to me. I really love 2007.

off to china!

Going on our annual family pilgrimage to China! Wish us luck :)

grrrr...

I really really hate stupid, slow people. People who just ask for answers instead of taking time to think about their questions first to see if they can arrive at the answer themselves or realize that their question is plain dumb and doesn't deserve the light of day.

I also hate really slow people who need to be told a simple thing over and over for them to get it through their thick skulls. Some of these people are actually nice and don't mean to be slow, but still... Just because you're a good person doesn't mean that I have the patience to say something about 4 or 5 times to you just for you to understand it. Sorry, but stupid, nice people are still stupid.

GRRRRR!!!!

Hay, all the stress yesterday and today just erased all the relaxation I achieved in HK. Hay....

HK!

Off to HK tomorrow! Goodbye, work. Hello, family time, lots of dimsum and hopefully a bit of shopping! :)

it's here!

Tadaaaa! My brand new, almost free car is here!

I've never had a gwapo car before.. Scrap that, I've never bought a car before. So, I must say, it feels so damn good :P

current obsessions

1. Avenue Q


Can't wait to catch the Philippine staging of Avenue Q on Friday. I watched this in NYC with my good friend Karen and we loooved it! It's such a happy play and everyone who ever went through college will be able to relate with all its messages. I even bought the soundtrack in NYC and I listen to it every so often especially when I need a pick-me-up. Go watch it! You won't regret it.

2. Brothers and Sisters

Thanks to Guia, I got acquainted with the new series Brothers and Sisters, and I'm sooo obsessed with it now. Bought the 1st season DVD and I've been watching it til the wee hours every night ever since. Love it! Go watch it! You'll love it too! :)

OK enough plugging. Back to work :P

milan or madrid....

This company and this job has certainly spoiled me to bits, sending me to different places in the world for absolutely free (in fact, with pay pa if you count the per diem) Just heard that the next destination will either be Milan or Madrid.

OH MY GOSH! Lord, please make it come true! Please make everything fall into place so I can set foot in either one of those countries for FREE! Please!!!

:-)

looks like an exciting september...

September has me going on two definitely-going-to-push-through trips to HK and China, and one not-sure-yet-but-I-hope-it-does trip to Madrid. If all goes well, these three trips would happen one weekend after the other, with my 2nd to 4th weekends of September all booked up.

Also lined up for September is the despedida de soltera of K, my very good friend. It also marks the 2007 bar examinations, and I have two very close friends taking the bar this year. So, aside from the usual rounds done by D for his brods, I also want to drop by my friends' review rooms before the exams to wish them good luck.

September is also when I finalize my decision to take up further studies and hopefully make it to the upcoming exam schedule so I can start immediately this coming semester. I've come up with a pro and con list and it looks like the pros are winning... Hehehe...

An exciting September talaga!

journalistic boo-boo

Heard about this incident earlier and decided to check it out. Well-known Journalist MF wrote in two publications about a trip she recently took to Greece, with pretty deliberate insults directed at OFWs. This obviously earned the ire of many Pinoy workers and gave birth to so many seething reactions from Pinoys the world over.

Read the original articles at:
http://selvo.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/people-asia-p30.jpg
http://selvo.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/people-asia-p31.jpg
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife2_april16_2007

As I read these three articles myself, I couldn't help but feel offended on behalf of OFWs. I myself have flown coach on Emirates and Qatar Airways on more than one occasion, and I do have to agree on the noise-level complaint of the writer. Pinoy workers do tend to be quite noisy and chatty. Though understandable because this tendency to be talkative may be their best outlet for the anxiety of going somewhere totally foreign, when you're tired and sleepy, this can be very very annoying. I'm also personally not a fan of very cramped places, but this holds true whether I share the space with a roomful of OFWs or a roomful of kings and queens. The discomfort mainly comes from the "sikip"-ness, not from the fact that the sharers of the space are Pinoy workers. And, since I've been in the same situation as her, I can safely say that a lot of her statements are truly OA, such as her insults re their smell. The problem with the articles she wrote is not that she's overly sensitive (to smell, etc), but that she's not sensitive at all.

Which leads me to her initial reaction to the negative responses that her articles elicited. Check it out at the last paragraph of this article-- http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife1_july30_2007

Really, nothing has ever sounded so dumb to me. Esp from someone from the supposed upper crusts of society. She's mistaking humor for cruelty and prejudice. Good thing she finally came to her senses and issued a proper apology to the public:
http://www.geocities.com/fernandez_malu/

I don't think she deserves the death threats, but I seriously don't feel sorry for her either. I mean, she is reaping what she sowed. In a country that's 99% poor, it's almost a crime to say the things she did. She sounded like a bigot, for which there is absolutely no excuse. And it's an even bigger crime against the Filipino people to thump one's nose at the very group of people who are holding up our economy. The Philippine economy is not propped up by the "have's" as she termed it, but by the very people whose smell seem to have offended her so much she had to put it on paper.

Oh, and I also blame the editors and publishers for even giving an avenue for these irresponsible words. They're just as guilty as MF for giving these hurtful things the light of day. Let this just be a lesson to everyone that just because someone's not at the same level as us financially doesn't mean they deserve any less respect. And just because you were given a pen to write with doesn't mean you can write whatever you want. Part and parcel of press freedom is press responsibility. What a sad day for Philippine journalism.

THANK YOU!

I woke up this morning thinking about how blessed my life has been and how thankful I am to everyone who helped it become as full and as fulfilling as possible. So to you guys, God being #1 in this list, thank you thank you thank you! You cannot know just how grateful I am and how much this has all inspired me to do better and be better. :-) So, at the risk of sounding redundant.... Thank you, thank you, thank you!

longchamp les pliage

Have recently reignited my love for Longchamp Les Pliage bags. I love the fact that you can fold them up and stack them in your luggage, to accomodate those last-minute shopping sprees.. I love that it's the ideal travel bag because it can carry so much. And I especially love the fact that it's waterproof and can perfectly protect all possessions it contains vs. all kinds of rain. I love it, I love it, I love it!

I just found out that you can customize your Les Pliages too! You can choose the color combination and even get your name embroidered on it! I tried it out online ---



*Just because I'm on a shopping ban doesn't mean I can't window shop...even online! :-p

creed love

My darling beau is sooooo cute!

Last Saturday, we were in Rustan's Makati and found ourselves in the middle of the perfume section. We did our usual duck-and-avoid stance to get away from the various perfume salespeople waving their spray bottles in our faces.

However, in the midst of our duck-and-avoid dance, we noticed a new area in the perfume section-- the House of Creed. One of Creed's salesmen was too quick for us and held out a sample for Dennis to sniff.

Now, my darling beau ain't the fancy type of guy who has to use a certain branded perfume or have certain branded clothing and shoes... He's the if-it-works-and-is-priced-reasonably-then-maybe-I'll-buy-it type of guy. Which is why I was surprised when he actually took the sample and paused. He handed it to me as if to tell me to smell it....

And hey hey hey, it smells quite good!

Milismie Imperial is what caught my darling beau's and my attention. It has that nice, fresh, clean scent with refreshing marine and musk notes. Presented in a special “Antique Gold” glass bottle and with the added plus that it's unisex, my darling beau was actually tempted!



The price was a LOT to ask though, even if it's parfum... So, my darling beau graciously put it back on the display and calmly told the salesman he'll think about it.

...still, it's a feat bigger than the average perfume salesman has ever achieved with my boyfriend! Mr Creed Salesman should be proud of himself. Hehehe :)

shopping abstinence

Given my recent splurges, I've decided to take a shopping abstinence, a.k.a. a purchase ban.. on clothes, shoes, bags, accessories... anything fashion-related that I have NO need whatsoever for.

And this time, I'll stick to the real definition of "need." Not the self-justifying kind that wraps "want" under the guise of "need", especially when presented with a "good buy" (which for the time being is erased from my vocabulary)

Lord help me and give me strength!

:p

Wish me luck! Happy weekend!

HP7!!!!!

Bought the final book of the Harry Potter series last Saturday and was so excited I had to sit down in the coffee shop inside Powerbooks Greenbelt so I can immediately start reading HP7. Good thing my darling beau was also a book lover and didn't mind grabbing a book from one of Powerbooks' shelves and sharing a mug of coffee with me as I devoured the first twelve chapters of HP7 in one sitting.

Finally, by the next evening, I've finished the last chapter and read the epilogue of this wildly anticipated book and.... WOW! I loved loved loved loved it! Don't want to ruin it for anyone else out there who's still reading the book, but all I can say is JK Rowling definitely did not disappoint. And all those malicious people out there that released those false "reviews" and "spoilers" can go stuff themselves. None of their predictions turned out to be true. So, fellow fans out there, don't worry, your reading pleasure as you go through HP7 is intact :-) Happy reading!

london, baby!

I loved London!

Ok, let's start from the awful beginning. When I arrived in Heathrow (all by myself, I may add), I was so tired that instead of figuring out the cheapest way to get to the hotel, I opted for a chauffeured service instead. Had I stopped and gave it a moment's thought, I would've figured out that the hotel is only a subway stop away. Anyway, the service driver is now 32 pounds richer because of me. What a rip-off. Shit.

Anyway, after that, I met up with my colleague Gayle and we spent the next two days feverishly working to make the show as successful as possible. Given there's only two of us when usually we'd have at least a 5-person team, we divided tasks between the two of us to be able to cover as much ground as possible. Still a little jetlagged, I navigated the streets of Hounslow all the way to Central London all by myself. At first, I got a little lost... Ok, a lot lost. I remember calling Dennis all upset, swearing off London and telling him about how exhausted and hopelessly lost I was. After he calmed me down, I decided to save time and just shamelessly ask bystanders for directions. At the end of the day, I accomplished all my tasks, with a little time to spare to explore a bit of central London. All thanks to the London Underground-- the highly efficient underground transport system without whom I wouldn't have survived and in whose debt I will forever remain.




The show then took up the next 2 days of our trip, with each day ending with the two of us shlumped on the bed, unable to move and hopelessly hungry and thirsty. Because a bottle of mineral water costs 2.50 pounds in London, we reluctantly shared 1 bottle over the two days. Result of which is two very thirsty and very cranky girls.

We then had two days (well, 1.5 technically since the second day is when we fly out) all to ourselves. We then decided to make those two days count like anything. So, we went all around town, went to all the sites. I loved loved loved loved Central London! The architectural sites are just too beautiful to take in all at once.



We went to all the must-sees and ate hearty Chinese meals at Chinatown (hehe, sorry, you can take the girl outta China but...) On our last night, we watched the musical Mamma Mia, with Epy Quizon and Dong our friendly Pinoy tour guide. Mamma Mia ROCKED! I loved it! Couldn't stop singing the songs with Gayle all the way back to our hotel..

The final day we were in London was spent feverishly going through all the shopping sites naman. As I said before, it was right timing that we were in London (or bad timing, depending on your perspective) because the whole of Central London was on sale! It's their annual July sale! We went to Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Piccadilly Circus. We also made some time to pass by Oxford Street, where I went to Selfridges and Topshop while Gayle went off to look for her dad's and brother's pasalubongs.

Loved London! Can't wait to go back :-)

... where I don't feel like going back to right now is WORK. THE OFFICE. Hay, how I wish I can just travel for a living :-p

This weekend has a lot of good things in store, though. ---
1. HP7 book is finally out tomorrow! Can't wait to crack it open and start reading.
2. Darling Beau and I are celebrating his birthday tomorrow night, since I was in London on his birthday.
3. My cousin and her hubby are visiting from Canada. Will get to spend some time with them before they leave for Japan.

That's it! Happy weekend, folks!

going home!

I'm now back at the Emirates lounge in the Dubai airport, waiting for my flight to Manila to board. How was my trip, you ask? I don't want to get into the work part of it right now as I'm trying real hard to forget it (hehehehe), but the personal part of the trip was, contrary to my expectation, FABULOUS!!

I not only had enough time to see some of the best sites in London (i.e. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc)., I also happened to be in London right when the entire place is having one big massive sale! London shopping, which is otherwise totally unattainable (with the astonishing P92 to 1 pound exchange rate we have), suddenly became affordable! I even found myself at Harrod's yesterday! Beautiful stroke of luck!

Riding the Underground all around town, taking the bus, taking in all the beautiful sites, going around and doing a bit of shopping = one hella fun London trip! Loved it! :-)

If only I won't have to go back to work right away....

Hehehe..

That's it for now! Let you know more when I get back!

en route to london

Here I am at the Emirates Business Class Lounge at the Dubai International Airport, enduring the 4 and a half hour wait for my connecting flight from DXB to Heathrow International. As is obvious, I'm in en route to London today, given the fact that my VISA was hastily approved and delivered yesterday morning. Sucks, really, as I was actually looking forward to NOT going. Didn't want to miss my darling beau's 28th birthday on Tuesday, and didn't want to endure two 20+ hour flights just to be in the UK for a grand total of 4.5 days. Arg. Adding to my misery is my cheap-ass 6131 phone breaking down on me a few hours before my scheduled departure last night. I dropped it in my haste to get to the bank before it closed, and since dropping and spilling its battery and guts out, my stupid phone refuses to turn back on. All the contacts that I need are in there! Arg again.

Oh well. Might as well try to hold my chin up and enjoy this trip as much as I can. What else can I do anyway? I'm already here...

Hay... Will blog again when I return next Thursday. See you guys!

UK

I should be excited to be sent to London for work, really. But the combination of PMS, the stress of having so much work to do, the pressure of proving myself to upper management, and the overall fatigue I still haven't gotten over since my last trip, just takes out the excitement about the entire thing.

Add the fact that I'll only be there for 4 nights, with 3 out of those four filled with back-to-back work, plus the fact that our per diems rarely cover the cost of 2 meals a day, I'm finding it quite hard to look forward to this UK trip. If only it was at least for a week, and I'm allowed to extend, and I have enough money to actually go around town (oh, and take out the high-alert status now of the entire country due to those terrorist attempts), I'd be more than raring to go board my Emirates flight on Thursday.

But at this point, the way I see it, this trip will do nothing more than add to my lack-of-sleep quotient + cause me jet-lag to death + bloat my monthly budget + let me come home to even more work waiting for me.

Sounds like tons of fun, eh????

a spa treat and a celebration

My darling beau treated me to a spa day, after hearing my complaints day in and day out of sore calves and an aching back. One of the pitfalls of going on long vacations is that you usually abuse your body with the lack of sleep and lots of walking, and you end up with a really bruised, acutely aching body when you return.

So, anyway, given my rants about this, my darling beau decided to rescue me and take me to a luxurious pampering session at Suriya Spa. Aaaaaah.... Every stroke of the masseuse was heavenly! I loved loved loved loved it!

After spa-ing, the question then was... what now? Since I've sworn off shopping for the next few months and since we've already seen Transformers last night and a second viewing today was a little challenging to do given the hordes of people that reserved tickets online and were lined up at the theater, we decided to have a really long dinner instead, to celebrate my recent promotion. We headed off to Chef Laudico's at the Fort, where we ended up staying for about three hours.. relishing every bite and talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company all night long...

I loved Chef Laudico's! The adobo with foie gras and the prawns with the laing tempura were oh-so-tasty! Loved them soooo much! Dennis' eyes kept rolling upward with every bite of the foie gras, hee hee. The ubod spring roll with the vinegar sorbet was also very good-- totally worth the price! The ambience tonight was also perfect, because there were very few diners. The waiters were also at their most attentive and the place was so conducive to intimate talks and the occasional loud guffaws of laughter that usually accompany any conversation held by myself and my beau ;)

All in all, 'twas a simple day. Yet, in so many ways, 'twas also the most perfect of days. :)