Lookback: 2008

Today marks the beginning of another year of uncertainties.  It is both exciting and scary.  I can't find a phrase more fitting to describe what I'm feeling today than Forrest Gump's line: Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.  

I'd like to make a list of things that stood out the past year and I'm curious as to what this list would look like next year: 

1. Both my brother and I have been confined. (I hate to be sick.) 

2. Em-J, Willie and Rhommel, all members of the QM Emerson leadership team resigned leaving Clarice and I all alone. 

3. If 2007 was filled with many theater events, 2008 was the exact opposite for me.  I've been swamped that I can only keep on promising to watch a show to no avail. 

4. Rhommel and I started and ended our business this year.

5. 706-PINK

6. Addicted to Frozen Yogurts! (For 2007, McDonald's shakes remained to be my addiction)

7. Chili Peppers!

8. Attended service at VCF. 

9. Visited Baguio and loved it!

10. Had the chance to travel again, something that I promised to do the previous year.

11. Weekends at Malabon. 

12. New laptops for Rhommel and me. 

13. First time addiction to a teleserye.  (what's happened to me?)

14. Solving the Rubik's cube for the first time.

15. Lost a friend, gained new ones and lastly, found old ones.  

Journal: Christmas Break

December 23, 2008

Orchard was bustling with people.  Almost all the check out counters in every store have a very very long queue.  I decided not to purchase the moleskine journal which I liked at Kinokuniya because I figured it would take a good 30 minutes for me to reach the counter.  Royce was the same, they even had to set-up another Royce store to accommodate all their customers.  

I met up with Em-J and Will for dinner at Thai Express in Bishan.  I loved their food especially the dark tofu which Em recommended.  

Here we are discussing whether to go see Cinderella which will open right after the new year.  

December 24, 2008

Instead of eating out since all the hotels jacked up their prices to up to as much as P6,580 per person, we decided to prepare our Christmas dinner ourselves.  We went to the grocery and bought a lot of food!  

The complete group posing for a picture right after dinner.

Em-J's gift to his housemates, a couple bottles of champagne and chocolates!

December 25, 2008

In true pinoy fashion, we headed to the cinemas Christmas day but we couldn't agree on what film to watch since "The Spirit" is not playing at the cinema that we went to. 

December 26, 2008

Since I've been out almost every day, I decided to just stay home and rest.  Did a little bit of cleaning and spent the rest of my time in bed. 

December 27, 2008

We initially planned to go see a movie but upon checking all the theaters, we still can't find where "The Spirit" is playing.  (I later found out that it's being screened exclusively at a lesser known cinema chain.)  We decided to go to Novena Square to check out the new mall.  We then went to Raffles City, City Link mall then to Marina Square.  This is because we have been in search of the very elusive Cranberry body bath and lotion from The Body Shop.  (I was later told that it's no longer available, island-wide.)

Before going home, we stopped by AMK Hub and I got this Break Talk goodies for half the price!

December 28, 2008

Em-J and I have both been craving for the Swedish meatballs at Ikea so we trooped there despite the long travel time.  We didn't get to do much since most of them were feeling a bit under the weather.

Clarice, these are the cute chairs that I called about.

Pepper Lunch

After spending my first two days here mostly sleeping, we decided to spend the day out.

We ate out at Pepper Lunch which was a bit of a disappointment.  Since it always has a long queue, I kind of expected a lot from it.  I initially wanted to order the Salmon Pepper Rice but I had the notion that it is marketed as a beef place more than anything else so I ordered the Cut Steak.  I found it bland and a bit tough.  The dish relied heavily on the sauce which wasn't as tasty either.  Also, their gigantic bean sprouts probably added to my overall impression of the place.  As some of my friends know, I don't like them.  

I did love Em-J's Salmon Pepper Rice and their soft-serve ice creams, both the caramel and black sesame flavors.

We then headed to Expo to check out the Courts Megatex Sale.  Afterwhich, we went to Junction 8 to checkout a couple of toy stores.  We still wanted to have snacks at Ya Kun but Joy was already complaining that her feet were already sore so we decided to head back home but not before ordering KFC's bucket feast!  

On Vacation

Today marks the first day of my really really long vacation. I'm glad to be able to take a breather from the unending activities for both the office and at Pink. I have been sleep deprived for such a long time that I'm really looking forward to just sleeping the day away which I intend to do once I hit the sack later.

This is weird. I have been up since 2pm of Wednesday with only about 2 hours of sleep till today but I really don't feel sleepy. I took the straight shift from Wednesday to Thursday in time to catch my scheduled appointment late afternoon Thursday. After work, I headed straight to Pink to drop the document that we need for SEC and Oliver accompanied me while waiting to catch my ride.

Portia, Clarice and Selle, I'll make it up to you guys once I get back. :)

Pink

Our new project, 706-PINK is already on its soft opening. On top of my work load, this has been taking up much of my time. Our weekend bookings exceeded our expectations and I am truly grateful to our friends who helped us and tried out our services. Your comments are most welcome and we have been continually improving based on your feedback.

24 is back!

I haven't visited www.tv.com for quite some time and was surprised to find out that the season 7 trailer of 24 is already out!  Though it is not set to premiere till January, they have a two hour prequel this November 23.  How exciting is that! 

24: Redemption Trailer

24 Season 7 Trailer

Craving for Chili Peppers

Barely a few hours after Selle and her team's dinner at Chili Peppers, she is craving for their delicious food again via Plurk. Hehe.

I was already sleepy but still awfully hungry and I don't know what it is with me but lately every time I'm feeling bored, I can't help but crave for their beef rice. 

Selle got confirmation from a friend that Chili Peppers is still open so we decided to meet there after her shift at 630am.  (She introduced her friends and team mates to the place and she told me that all of them had dinner there.  Selle and I should get a referral discount which I will share to Rhommel who introduced the place to me.)

Unfortunately, when we got there the staff were already closing it down for the day in observance of All Saints Day.  :( 

Determined to still have breakfast, we decided to try the weekend market but it's not there.  Apartment 1B as well as SBC were also closed.  We then decided to give Makati Avenue a try to see if North Park is open and joy of all joys, it is!  We stuffed ourselves silly with good food and laughter before deciding to head home.  Can't wait for Portia and Clarice to finally join us for our official meeting on Monday. 

Another goodbye

On our way back to the office from Galleria where I was supposed to get a new phone from Sun, Oliver decided to have a late lunch at our favorite comfort food place "Cavana".

The place was packed, first time I've seen it that way.  Usually, there would only be a handful of people dining in which is a real pity because of the good food at very affordable prices. 

I was wanting to try the chicken satay this time when we were informed by our regular cashier that today is already their last day.  They are closing down for good.  :(  I asked about the store in Trinoma and she told me that it will be closing down as well.  And this news really disappointed me...big time.  

Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street

Based on Benjamin Pimentel's novel "Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street" opens at CCP's Tanghalang Huseng Batute on November 7 and will run till November 30. Contact TP for tickets at 832-3667

Interesting Ad

Multiply buddy blooey posted this on her site and I thought I'd share it to my contacts. 

Flap opens to...

And then the milk formula in the corner.

You can drink all the Enfakid you want, but basic MDAS will still tell you that

9+5 · 2 - (7 · 2)=14 (as proclaimed by the ad) is wrong!


Multiply  7 x 2 to get 14. 
9+5 · 2-(14)=14 

Multiply 5 by 2 to get 10. 
9+10-(14)=14 

Multiply -1 by the 14 inside the parenthesis. 
9+10-14=14 

Add 10 to 9 to get 19. 
19-14=14 

Subtract 14 from 19 = 5.

Tsk. Tsk.

Imponderables

"what is nagrereminisce" - jencarps

Found this old entry and it brought back a lot of memories.  Good thing blogs were invented. 

Just as the questions why are the male urinals along edsa colored pink and why are more and more tv shows becoming mere copies of "wansapanataym" play in your minds, let me share some more... 

The MRT the preferred method of transportation along EDSA because it is by far the fastest alternative available, why then does it have the country's slowest elevators? 

Don't just just that! (wag mong basta-bastahin yan) is a phrase that has got to be one of the most overused punch lines in tagalog sitcoms. Delivered by sexy stars portraying mindless nuts trying hard to speak the english language is still being used long after it stopped being funny. If someone is to say that phrase, I don't think it would even elicit so much as a smile from the people who would hear it...unless of course that someone is serious. 

As they are paying us, we are to get up day after day early on, get ready, travel all the way to the office to attend an informal training where mono-nucleotic modules are dissected, if it still possibly can be. Is it really worth all the effort just so the money making machine that is the corporation that runs our office gets their money's worth that is our salary. Given this scenario, is it then true that money is worth so much more than time? 

If you sign in to the MSN Software, is it not true that you also get automatically signed in to Messenger?! Surely a manager would be aware of that. As Manel says, click on the butterfly and learn. 

Secret Indulgence

One of my secret indulgences nowadays is primetime bida's teleserye.  It's not really much of a secret being that almost everyone that I know are addicted to at least one among the current primetime line-up so it amost always ends up as one of our topics of discussions.

I have to admit that I haven't really followed any of their soap operas.  True, there are series that I liked but I haven't been addicted as Clarice and Em-J have been to Sana Maulit Muli and Clarice to Lobo. 

When I was still working for ABS, my very first daily show was Lorna's teleserye and even that, I didn't follow.  The moment that it was reassigned to someone else, I also stopped watching it. Sure, I like it but I haven't been a fanatic.  How could I be, having to watch all the local shows day in and day out is sure to make one crazy.  Not to mention that I also monitor the competing teleserye at GMA which I absolutely hate!  To give you an idea, daily, I watch Angelika's soap followed by Tanya Garcia's soap.  After that, I switch to video to watch the taped episodes of Lorna's soap followed by Juday's soap.  (I do admit that it was a fun way to make a living.)

Anyway, I noticed that the teleseryes have come a long way...a really really long way.  It's still under the helm of the same creative forces at ABS and I wonder why it took them this long to finally make series with fully developed storylines.  True, they still follow the same formula but at least you no longer need to wait a year for them to locate the diary.  

Carie, our previous coordinator at ABS mentioned that she is organizing a reunion of our previous team with Sir Ricky, still the creative director of one of the drama depts there.  I really can't wait to tell him that now, I truly am a fan of his teleserye. 

I like Betty because I love how strong the family values are, also Wendy Valdez is a revelation.  Likewise, Vhong Navarro whose brand of comedy irritates me is simply likeable here.  

I like Iisa Pa Lamang because of their over the top dialogues.  

I like Kahit Isang Saglit because of the storyline and because of Carmen Soo and because I get to appreciate once more how great an actor Jericho is.  I'm not a fan of him especially after the "Heart-Jericho" episodes but he is pure talent here. 

By the way, Oliver, Clarice, Cha, Myles, Chammy and I have already made this our daily habit.

Mixed Feelings

Last Friday, Rhommel told me that he finally received the offer that he has been waiting for. It was wonderful news for him. I was, however, itching to tell Clarice since we will both be affected by this and earlier that day, she was already asking about it. But I couldn't since it wasn't my place to do so. This week, when he finally announced it, I have to say that most of the people from our team were really surprised.

Now I ramble. I can't seem to come up with one coherent paragraph.

My realization is this, when you really really want something. It is really worth the wait. I have never seen Rhommel in such high spirits for the longest time.

I am happy and saddened at the same time and it is the weirdest feeling. I am happy because I know that no one deserves it more than he does, his persistence and patience have finally paid off. However, It will really really be sad to one day go to the office and not see his lunch box at his table.

One more thing that seriously makes me and Clarice sad is the sudden realization that our small circle is now suddenly way smaller. Also, it has made us come to terms with the fact that the two of us really need to make concrete plans now and start thinking about the not so near future.

The two of us have had minor misunderstandings but it doesn't really matter now. I just wish that when he finally has the chance to keep his word, he does. Hehehe.

No Definite Plan...

Its a holiday tomorrow and I have no plans.  I initially wanted to watch a movie, nevermind if I'm alone, but since I twisted my ankle on my way home today I'm not sure if I'm gonna be as mobile.  Anyhow, I'm seriously considering staying glued to the tv or my laptop catching up on my backlogs on Grey's Anatomy and Boston Legal with a tub of B&Js!  

Random

The Friday after I got back from vacation (Aug. 22) we were sent to a video summit over at RCBC. (The same talk attended by Manel and Obie, live!) Coming from a late shift, some of us had difficulty staying awake.

After the seminar, we went back to the office to do some admin stuff before heading to Batangas where a friend was to be interviewed. He was scheduled to be interviewed at 10PM and we were there on time, however, he was finally given their time of day at 2AM!!! (There is only one call center in Batangas so go figure.)

Since we really haven't had time to eat, we originally planned to have dinner after the interview at some place nice but since it took forever for the interview to actually take place, I could no longer bear my hunger that I ate at McDonald's. :-(

***

We attended the 7PM service at VCF last Sunday and proceeded to Serendra for dinner. Micah, Shobe and I decided to try the french restaurant Cuillere but it turned out to be a bit disappointing. I'm not saying that the food is bad but for its price, I expected the taste to at least be interesting. Let's just say that you can get the same amount of satisfaction at your favorite diner (and I'm being nice). I also tried their carabao milkshake which I have heard a lot of but it was ordinary. Nothing too special.

To feel a little better, we then headed to Miss Desserts for dessert! There's nothing like desserts to perk me up.

An American Crime

Last Thursday, I had the chance to watch An American Crime with Clarice and Oliver. I remembered watching the first few sequences of the film early on but it was pretty difficult because of the heavy scenes that I stopped.


I have to say that this is one of the few films that truly affected me. I woke up late at night and just started thinking about it again. I was unaware of what the film is about before watching it so I was really surprised with the developments.

How can so many people see a child's suffering and do nothing about it? It got me thinking, are there things around me that I'm already oblivious to?

Junk Foods

After my shift, I went to our apartment to get my laundry and then headed straight to Malabon. I then had breakfast of cheese hotdogs and rice before hitting the sack. After 4 hours of sleep, I spent the entire day eating. I had Kare-kare for lunch and dinner.

In between, I stuffed myself silly with junk foods. Pancit, potato cheese balls, chocolates, chips, leche flan, and cupcakes. Upon realizing what a voracious eater I had been, I immediately checked my blood sugar. Good thing it was stll within the normal range. I promise that come Monday, I will be back to my Abs Diet.

8/29/08

Clarice and I had a discussion over what's been troubling us the past few days and it seems to have hit the ceiling today. Needing a different perspective, I asked Jencarps about her online friend and got the message below:

August 29, 2008

Lighten up about yourself! No matter how bad things may or may not be right now, there is plenty of stuff in your life that you can celebrate. So stop dwelling on the worries and the woes that have been swirling around your head lately. Flip through some old photos and laugh at the haircuts you thought were cool and the fashion mistakes you made. Bake yourself a batch of your favorite cookies and eat them all by yourself! Just be silly and avoid getting too deep into your own thoughts.

Journal

Friday 4pm.
Clarice and I, fasting for 14 hours, went to Medical City to have our blood sugar levels checked only to find out that we can't fast for more than 12 hours to get accurate results. Our effort and hunger pangs were wasted, not to mention us braving the Ortigas traffic late that afternoon.

Friday 10pm.
My friends and I trooped over to Megamall to excitedly watch "A Very Special Love" and we were not disapppointed. Rhommel who initially had apprehensions in joining us also had a good time. I enjoyed the film immensely that I can't wait to watch it again.


Saturday 3am.
I am once again addicted to Cake Mania that I can't stop playing. Clarice, on the otherhand, is busy with "Iisa Pa Lamang" and Diner Dash.


Saturday 7am.
I revisited Grey's Anatomy and is now halfway through the 2nd season. I'm loving it.


Saturday 1pm.
Rhommel and I have been checking out laptops to replace our laptop cum desktop Neos but we can't find a unit that has good enough specs but is cost-efficient...until yesterday. He excitedly showed me his HP find and contacted the seller immediately. We were supposed to get the same units but he opted to wait for another one with better specs to be available. Now, I have a new laptop on loan from Rhommel. Thanks thanks!


Saturday 4pm.
Em-J from Singapore called me up to tell me that he finally got a new laptop! Also an HP. What a coincidence.


Saturday 2am
Feeling nostalgic while watching the "Larawan" videos from Ms. Girlie's multiply site. I remember being a fan boy and chasing the cast after the show for autographs 11 years ago!

Cinemalaya 2008

As I was not able to catch Cinemalaya's first weekend, I had a Cinemalaya marathon last Saturday. (Too many movies, not enough time! Hope they can extend the run next year.) I arrived at CCP quite early and since Paolo lent me his Prod Pass, I didn't feel the need to rush thinking that just like last year I only need to show the pass to the ushers. But I was wrong. I still needed to get the complimentary tickets at the Ticketron and by the time I was made aware of this, all the tickets have already been taken.

This was only when I realized that lines to the Box Office were impossibly long! Really really long! I will not be able to watch the first few scenes of "Ranchero". I talked to the other person inside the booth selling the tickets if it was possible to get the daily pass without queuing since the students buying the tickets are taking forever. Thankfully, he agreed and I was able to miss only the first sequence of the film.

I was not able to catch "Jay" and "Boses" since tickets were all sold out. I, however, was able to watch apart from "Ranchero" which I liked, "Concerto" which I found to be technically sound, "Imoral" which surprisingly, I also liked (eversince Donsol and Kadin, I vowed never to watch an Alix film in theaters) and "100" which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Above, is my picture with Direk Connie Macatuno. I have been a fan since her impressive OBBs. The highlight of the day is seeing Joanne's face light up upon hearing that Arnold Reyes is in the LT lobby! I will leave the reviews to the professional cinephiles but would definitely recommend catching the films if they get shown in IndieSine at Galleria or if you live near UP, catch the Cinemalaya run there this July and August.

Virgin Labfest 4

After quite sometime, I found myself back in CCP. Gratefully so, I was able to catch Tuxqs’ and Shamaine's powerful performances last Sunday as I watched one of the 5 sets in this year's Labfest entries. Among the three plays in the set, theirs is without question, the best!

The first one, Ang Mga Babaeng Too Bright, is funny, thanks to the animated performances of the actors. I don't know if there were miscues but I found the lighting design to be a bit distracting.

The third play, Ang Pangalawa Niyang Libing, tackles an interesting topic. Interesting, because not many Filipinos are aware of the customs of the Muslim families, but that's about as far as my interest in that play goes. Next.

Floy Quinto's Ang Kalungkutan ng Reyna is relevant and hilarious. It was a joy watching Tuxqs and Shamaine. If only for this play, troop over to CCP tomorrow night for their last performance. It's so worth it!

Yesterday, thanks to the Pasig Day celebration, I had time to catch Pagbabago, Paghahanap and Pagkakataon. Another set in this year's entries. 2 of the previous Didis are here so expect to laugh out loud.

Ricci Chan and his Mengina is surprising. A tragic ending turned out to be not so tragic after all.

Ang Bayot...is my favorite from this set. It provides the audience with insights regarding discrimination without really trying too hard. I loved the approach plus both Joey and Arnold were both outstanding.

The third play, Ang Gumamela, had its moments. It is predictable and the lead's powerpuff alter-egos are a joy. The fact that they were the gayed up version of his lovers is brilliant.

I'll still be catching the last 2 sets this Sunday and I really can't wait to see "Las Mentiras de Gloria". Regrettably, due to my schedule, I won't be able to watch the restaging of Ellas Inocentes.

Back With A Sun Sim

I now have a Sun number again. A long time ago, my friends and I joined the Sun craze when it was first introduced but we reverted back to our good old reliable network providers after encountering a lot of problems with it.

I decided to get another Sun number today upon seeing their Call & Text International Sim. It sells for only P49! And if you have loved ones abroad, forget about the Globe OFW sim, this is by far the most affordable package that you can get. My parents are both in the US and I have friends over at Singapore that I keep in touch with. Globe used to charge just a peso for text messages sent to Singtel so I only have to worry about the costly text messages to the US. However, Globe introduced a new promo just recently, in order for you to enjoy the cheap rates to Singapore, you still have to register to their promo which requires a weekly fee of about P50 which to me is appalling. It's as if they are not earning enough that they still have to charge you for wanting to send text messages abroad.

Good thing I discovered the Sun sim, it costs only P1 per text message sent to 20 popular destinations and only $.10 per minute for 10 popular destinations. Cheaper than a local call! How great is that? Spread the word!

Wise Spending

I realized that my spending habits have got to be controlled. Thanks largely to the influence of Rhommel and Clarice I have managed to keep my expenditures way under the past work week. If I can keep this up, I'll finally be debt-free real fast. :-)

I also came across an interesting book at Powerbooks, the title escapes me, but the first part is devoted to controlling your latte factors. It is actually a term that refers to things that people spend a lot of their money on without even realizing it. An example would be the daily Starbucks fix. It might be as inexpensive as your one-stick-a-day cigar or as pricey as your weekly massages but the idea is to track it and eventually get rid of it. Accumulated, you'd be surprised as to how much money that is.

I have determined mine to be doughnuts, chocolates, and ice cream. Never a day goes by that I don't indulge in any of the three. I have realized that by avoiding these things, not only do I get to save more but I get to live a healthier life by doing away with refined sugars and trans fats!

But back to spending, if I have been successful in controlling it the past work week, this weekend, I haven't been as successful. A quick trip to the mall for lunch and a little pampering amounted to nearly P700. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered by such an amount but my conscience is nagging on me. I could have gotten an asado rice for half the price elsewhere!

Oh well...

Awaited Visit

Em-J paid us a visit over the long weekend and he brought boxes and boxes of pure chocolate ecstasy!

Clarice and Oliver have both been surprised over Em-J's visit since it has only been 3 months since he last left. Little did they know that Em-J and I have planned for this much earlier.

I picked him up at the airport last Friday at 4am and upon seeing him at the arrival gate, it was as if he never left. He was still in his trademark get-up and even at the wee hours of the morning, he was still his very much his bubbly self. The weekend was a flurry of activities trying to accomplish everything that he needs to before heading back to his new home.

Will be seeing you real soon, friend! :-)

Addiction

The Rubik's cube is our latest addiction!

Well, at least mine and Rhommel's. He has been carrying his cube for quite some time now but nobody really paid much attention to it primarily because no one in our team can solve it's mystery. He then had the bright idea to buy a new one to check out the instruction sheet that came along with it about a week ago.

Incidentally, Penny also posted an instructional video on her multiply page.

Here's Rhommel completing his first cube!

Being that the local Mabuhay cube is a bit tight and a little uncomfortable to play with, we set out to look for the original Rubik's cube. The search over at the nearby malls were all futile so we resolved to ordering the cubes at Amazon. Unfortunately, they can't ship the cubes here!

Still decided on getting the original ones, we tried several malls in Makati. The store assistant at Kidz Station told us that the elusive cube is exclusively sold at Toys 'R' Us. Armed with this little bit of information, we rushed to Galleria and we each got a piece. Yey!

They're Back

Our furry and fuzzy friends are back!

June 21, 2PM

Tickets available real soon!

Finally, an update!

I haven't blogged for a long time. The first week of the new year, I was swamped with work with the backlogs brought about by the holidays. Add to that our long lunch outs at far flung places...well, not really...but by lunch break standards, it's still quite far.

"At Seaside ready to stuff ourselves full"

"North Park Medical City while waiting for Willie's lab results looking more plump than ever"

The following week gave me enough leeway to complete and present my month-end report before getting sick.

By the way, Em-J, this is how our station looks like now. Clarice is now occupying your station and it's still as messy as ever. Good luck to Willie's 6S project.

This week, I'm back to work, I received an invitation from one of our managers to transfer to another team. It will be a promotion for me so I really had to think things over which was kind of difficult since he gave me roughly about just an hour to decide. Our account may be shaky but I feel secure here. As of now, I'm still not ready to leave my comfort zone. I just hope my decision is right.