As the waves crash

Those Little Red Packets

2012-01-22T22:11:00.001+08:00

It's been a week since I returned my Geo to Suzuki for an overheating problem after the previous week's timing belt adjustment. Since they would only use genuine parts, it was kind of making me very cautious on all my expenses last week. I took public transpo whenever possible (been quite sometime since I was last on a jeepney) and hailing a cab only when there's no other choice. Since it's Chinese new year, it's customary for Chinese people to be generous and give those red money envelopes. With a very generous boss, I received one last Friday. So yesterday, armed with my red packet, I went to pick up my baby fresh from parts replacement and other services. When I got the bill, I couldn't help but smile. The amount was exactly how much I received from my "ang pao," give or take a couple of hundred pesos.

My boyfriend would always feel bad that I never get to enjoy my 'red envelopes' as it is usually spent for Geo, rent, or some other needs. He feels bad that instead of me going shopping or getting a massage, I would have no choice but to spend it on some other things.

I don't feel the same way. I feel so blessed that God gives me just enough, and gives me those little extras whenever I am in need. Thank you po!

Rerun

2012-01-11T09:21:00.000+08:00

Time and again I say that I'm not gonna wait for you. That it's not worth it, or it's just not gonna happen. I make believe that I had the strength and that I've moved on. But seeing a photograph of you, of us, of how we were before, just makes me want to time travel and repeat those memories...

How pissed I always get when I arrive and you're not there, but one "Hi" gets me frantically looking for my boots.
How you used to call me and sing "Hey There Delilah" and replace the name with Katrina.
How I felt so much like a kid making snowballs and throwing them at you.
How for the first time I sang karaoke and didn't feel self-conscious coz I'm with you.
How I always fall asleep on the passenger seat on our way home.
How I bought new curtains and linens to surprise you with your redecorated room.
How you forgot to file for a leave on our anniversary.
How I wondered why you never cry, and how I cried so much the first time you did.
How you told me what you had to say, and it numbed me for months.
How you showed up three days later at our doorstep--halfway across the world.

And a rerun of the heartaches would just be okay, and maybe now I'll decide differently.

A TV for Me!

2011-12-29T15:30:00.000+08:00

I finally bought a TV. Make that two! I can't believe I did. I'm not a TV person and I've lived through more than a year in my apartment without one...but oh boy, the Abenson-HSBC promotion was too good to pass up! Bought two LG LCD 32" TVs yesterday with my dad: one for my apartment and one for our home in Navotas. It's relatively big for my apartment use, to think that my place is a studio apartment and is just a few square meters in total.

Each TV is just about PHP 600 per month, at 0% interest for 36 months! That's like, one less dine out per month lang!

SM--Reducing/Reusing/Recycling?

2011-12-18T17:22:00.002+08:00

I'm not sure if I've blogged about it, but I call myself a Save the Earth girl. This is true most especially when it comes to paper, plastic and styro. I switch off lights during Earth Hour, and everytime it's not needed.

I grew up with our printing press where every inch of paper is essential. Rejected works are reused for other purposes, and scrap paper were sold to a recycling company. I never had to buy paper during my school days, and my parents would always frown upon not using scratch papers. Growing up, this turned out to be a good upbringing (like with most lessons that my parents instilled when we were younger--which I used to not understand).

In the office, I'm one of those people who'd load printers with used paper if printing drafts for approvals. While most employees think it's such a burden, I gladly go out of my way to do so.

I used to envy Korea, where you purchase every plastic bag you use for groceries. This prompted people to bring bags and/or boxes. In the UK, particularly in Marks & Spencers stores, they also do the same or you can purchase Eco bags and use it again when you shop at M&S. I even used my M&S bags while shopping in other countries. I wished that the Philippines would do the same; passing by the Smokey Mountain for decades, I know how plastic bags really don't decompose.

When I was still working in Ortigas, I was so happy when Pasig City government launched Straw-less Fridays and mandated that fast food chains use paper for packaging instead of styro and plastic. Take out food are now in brown paper bags. The SM Hypermarket in Pasig also had Bring Your Own Bag Wednesdays. Bring a bag for your groceries, otherwise you'll be carrying them in brown paper bags or in reused boxes. From then on, I always carry my reusable bags whenever I do my groceries, Wednesday or not.

Soon enough, the craze expanded, and now most--if not all--SM malls are selling Eco bags. I now have at least five of those.

So yesterday, I planned on shopping til death at SM Megamall. Of course I brought my Eco bags. After hours in the department store, I head to the counter and pay for my stuff; brought out my Eco bags for the bagger to use. I had to tell her, "Miss wag mo na iplastic, may dala akong reusable bag."

Now the funny thing is, she goes, "Okay po ma'am. Ipa-plastic muna po natin bago ilagay sa Eco bag, kailangan po kasi yun." I was so pissed that I couldn't help but tell her, "So miss, ano pang sense na mag dala ng reusable bag kung ilalagay mo rin sa plastic?"

Unbelievable. I sure hope this is an isolated case. Otherwise SM is just doing a side business selling reusable bags, and is just trying to appear as if they're trying to help in reducing waste.

Boosting Ego, the F Way

2011-12-10T23:57:00.001+08:00

Everyone says men have big egos. It gets bruised easily, and they work all their lives to build it. Little do people know--or maybe most women just don't admit--women do too. Women mask it for 'confidence' at times.

So how do some females boost their, uh, confidence? It's in the number of people that had liked them, took them out on a date, or fell in love with them. No, it's not dependent on how much schooling you've done, nor how successful your career is. It's also not how many cars or properties you own. Because even with all that, if you have no boyfriend or at least you're not dating (or no one is asking you out), people would still think there is something wrong with you.

This is where flirting comes in. Taken in moderate amounts, this dose of ego-trip can boost a woman's ego, and be harmless. If you're lucky then your God-given face is enough to make men line up for you and there'd almost be no question regarding confidence.

However, I have noticed that for ladies with average or below average looks, this can spell disaster. Imagine this, you're a high school nerd or a nobody. Every boy wants to get the cheerleaders' attention, not the one who could pass for a younger version of the school librarian. Fast forward, you get to college, and go wild. You dress seductively, you learn how to put on make up, you start going out to pubs, get drunk, party all night--eventually you meet boys.

It's exciting, it's flattering, and you just can't get enough of the attention. It can be addictive. It's when you don't only want to make people like you, you want them drooling over you, and the worst is when you are so addicted to it that you want those guys to love you--even if you have no intention of reciprocating.

To be honest, I know at least a few. I don't like seeing them posting all those come-hither photos trying to attract people on Facebook; I don't wanna know that they've had sex with x number of guys. I know people change, but I hope not so dramatically. I hope they still know who they are, their values, and that beauty is not measured by how many people adore your photo every time you post one.

Party Party?

2011-12-10T18:28:00.000+08:00

I used to think that doing nothing but socialize and attend parties is great. But not now that I sort of get a piece of it. December 2011, employed in a group of companies and by the top executive, I am invited (and at times required) to a lot of Christmas Parties. I've just had two weeks of it and I already wanna go back to being invisible.

Dec. 04 - ePerformax Red & Black Ball, SMX Convention Center
Dec.07 - Globe Telecom Appreciation Night, Makati Shangri-La
Dec 09 - TDG Managers Up Christmas Party, Casa Marinero
Dec 11 - NYK Fil-Japan Christmas Party, PICC
Dec. 14 - Air and Travel Division Christmas Party, Casa Marinero
Dec. 15 - TDG Corporate Center Christmas Party

I'm supposed to party tonight, Dec 10, with my Origin team (college barkada) at Republiq bar in Resorts World, but I really can't na. I am swamped! Whew!

Tin and Abet, you're next.

Tell Me About It

2011-12-07T11:07:00.000+08:00

Excerpts from today's workday:

"I don't know what you're doing or maybe you're not doing anything."

"I'm not sure how long you've been doing this but you'll never be as efficient as them because they've been doing this for a very long time."

"You have flown a lot, but I have traveled a lot. And I'm three times your age. You don't know what's happening."

Nice.

My Compromised HSBC Card

2011-12-01T07:50:00.000+08:00

Most of the time when you see a bank's name on a post title, it's a hate post. And yes, this is too.

27 October 2011:

I was in our office's Halloween party and I receive an SMS from HSBC asking me to call their hotline for security reasons. I call, and I was told that MasterCard had reported that my card's security may have been compromised. Period. They can't tell me more in detail--as they have none. The solution: Block my card and provide me a new one. It should take five to eight banking days. I think to myself, it's gonna be a long weekend (All Saints Day holiday) and will probably get it after two weeks. Well, it's either that, or someone else uses my card. So what the heck, I give my go signal.

Today, 01 December 2011:

Y'got it. It ain't here yet. That's after over 10 calls to Customer Service, with agents sending a "follow-up" and nobody can tell me why I don't have my new one yet. Nobody can even confirm if they received my last payment (since I pay online and input the card number). Now I'm not sure I want to pay again as it may get lost in transit...

I'm thinking of just closing this account. Anyhow, I have a Citibank Shell. Maybe I'll just get a new one that earns miles or something. There's no use paying annual fees if you can't use your card. It's Christmas--shopping time--and I'm supposed to be earning points on my card for purchases, but no, I'm shopping on cash basis right now.

Blogger App

2011-11-30T21:57:00.001+08:00

I remember a few months back l was looking for the perfect iPhone app for blogging. Simply because Blogger hasn't released any yet, and the third party apps were bleh. I sold my laptop mid year so I really depend on my phone for my online needs.

Thanks to Google, I learned today that they've release the official app September this year. I'm blogging from it right now and will check tomorrow when I get to the office how the posts are. Oh and I'm supposed to be able to add photos too. Let's try that one out... [takes a photo of my migraine meds]

Hmm. I can't seem to choose where to position my newly snapped photo.

Now let's try using something from my camera roll... [uploads photo collage from Peri-Peri]

Same problem. I'll have to see how this ends up tomorrow. I have no idea where my photos are gonna be.

Proposals: Are you really ready?

2011-11-26T23:54:00.000+08:00

At a quarter of a century, I have already been proposed to. Twice. I have always thought I'm ready to settle down, have a family and all that. I browse Facebook albums and you see friends getting married and lately, having babies and sharing tips about it. I'm not in a rush to have babies though. If given one, I'd be happy; but I'm not yet on the desperate level.

Colleagues ask me how it feels, being proposed to. It's surprising, it's overwhelming. But for the most part, it's heart-pounding. I know it is too with the proposing party, but guys have to understand that it's a different level of confusion and happiness for the ladies. Sure, men are nervous about being turned down, but that's about it. Unlike men you have thought it through over and over in their heads if they wanna marry this lady, the ladies have to go through that thinking process in minutes.

The pressure is intense. You can't think about it for more than five minutes, otherwise your possible groom-to-be would have been brokenhearted already. As much as possible you want to say yes, but you also think about it if you really want to spend your life with this person? Are you ready to soon end this in a relationship stage? With marriage there are no break-ups, divorce is a frowned upon option--so is your time/years/months with him already enough to get you hitched?

Yes, these went through my mind in a few snaps. The second time though, I felt like it was too soon, so I just couldn't get any words out of my mouth. I had to cover my mouth as my jaw literally dropped!

No, my current boyfriend has not yet proposed. I'd like to keep it that way hehe. But I had this weird dream the other night where people were telling me I was pregnant and need to go give birth already (though in my dream I look at my tummy and exclaim, "Eh parang namang galing Lang ako sa buffet eh?"). And people were asking me if I'm gonna get married, that same panic went inside my head and I can't say anything. I know the boyfriend wanted to (in the dream) but I can't get myself to do so.

Is this a sign?

Family Dinners

2011-11-19T11:08:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, the great news of my brother passing the Licensure Exam for Teachers (Sep 2011) reached everyone in my family like an outbreak. We are all so happy, and of course as the one who paid for his schooling, I'm grateful. Ecstatic, even. I immediately sent an SMS back to my whole family. In an hour, my mom starts texting my bro if he wants to have dinner with the family, since "Ate is scheduled to go home tonight." She CC's everyone.

I reply and tell my mom that yes, I am planning to go home, but I don't have a car. I'm hitching a ride from my friend Mel; given my recent track record on cars and driving, I have no plans on driving through the Christmas-holiday-rush-traffic / payday weekend / Breaking Dawn Part 1 opening night. And more importantly, I don't expect to be out earlier than 7PM as my boss is leaving the next day. I'd probably just eat morsels by the time I get off work and brave through the Friday traffic. Emailing everyday, it's second nature to me to copy everyone too. (If only there's a Reply All button on SMS, I'd hit that.) My bro, being an anti social, is not so thrilled about it (or family gatherings in general) and couldn't care less. He replies and reminds mom that Ate's schedule can't make it.

So of course, the mother--a Taurus like me--calls me up and puts it on me indirectly that it's somehow my fault that we can't have family dinner that night. I get so pissed, and lose my momentum at work. I literally stopped working and kept pacing around.

Don't get me wrong, I love family dinners. My family is used to bonding over food. Dinners and lunches are usually three hours long because of the unending stories. But what I don't understand is how my mom would still kind of instill in us like it's a chore. I know it's some unwritten rule on responsibility to catch up with your family, but my point is, won't they understand that the kids grew up and can make plans on their own? It's not like I go home from school, and I have no money so I have no choice but to stay home and wait til my 'rents figure something nice to do that night.

It's not as easy as telling your kids to drop everything, do it later coz we have to go somewhere. I have friends who have adjusted their schedules, meetings that were set prior, and work that I must pay attention to.

Daydream Mode: My Cars

2011-11-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

My first two hours at work were spent checking out cars online. Here are my likes:

For an everyday Sedan: Chevrolet Cruze in red

For an everyday SUV: Nissan X-trail in whatever you call this color

For a cutesy-girly look: Volkswagen Beetle in Blue
(Photo courtesy of sebeetles.com)

My not-because-I'm-girl-you-can-mess-around-with-me vehicle: Hummer H3 preferably the same color as the X-Trail

I have not decided on which car is my show-off car, the one you bring to night outs or something. A Camaro looks nice. But not really sold on it. And I haven't thought of my elegant car as well. How about you?

11/11/11

2011-11-12T00:40:00.000+08:00

Just a few minutes or an hour ago, it was 11/11/11. It's not big deal, it's meant to happen, right? There's an eleventh month, an eleventh day of the month and a year ending in eleven.

Intertwined in a cuddle--would you believe--I kinda figured out it's quite cool. We get to experience all these palindromes. A lot of other people did not, think about those people born after 1920s and dies before 2001? That's a lot.

True it may not even matter. It's not like the stars give you something great every palindrome day that you live, but it's just cool to be able to live through 01/01/01 through 12/12/12 and even 12/13/14 (pray to God that nothing bad happens to me). The next series of these dates will be in a hundred years. My kids might not even be able to live through it!

Note: This just lets you in on how weird I can be. My boyfriend finds it amusing that I find something cool out of ordinary no-big-deal stuff. But yeah it doesn't get me off the hook that I'm weird. LOL

The Undeserving Princess

2011-11-12T00:27:00.000+08:00

Friends would know that I've been very uncertain with my current relationship. Don't get me wrong, I have a great boyfriend. Of all the partners I've been with, he is the one you could see yourself having as a husband. He'll make a good husband and a loving dad to his future kids. I'm a princess. I'm his everything. He's loyal and loves me a million times than I do.

And that's the dilemma: I can't figure out what's wrong. I can't quite honestly say I have zero feelings for Al, but I know that that's gotta take a back seat. That one's not gonna go anywhere. He doesn't wanna try anymore and I understand. Like he said, make the best of what we have.

But I want to give it a shot. Deep in my heart I know I'd try having a Skype relationship. It's bullshit but what the hell. But I have to constantly remind myself that he's not willing to do that and it might just not work.

I hope I get my closure soon. No more "maybe not right now", but more like "I'm sorry it's just not gonna happen." I hate it when people can't say things as it is. The truth and even the half truths hurt, and I'd settle for the complete ones hands down.

I can't move on. I can't wait; I don't want to wait. I wanna start living my life without that percentage of hope. It breaks my heart admitting to all these. My boyfriend does not deserve this, he deserves so much better. I need to move on and start living my life with him as my focus and not because he's what I just settled for. Not just because he's the next best thing.

I need to move on. But I can't. I don't know how.

Car, Driving and the Road Bad Luck

2011-11-08T10:19:00.000+08:00

How does one rub off bad luck? I'm on my fifth week. And it's all about my car, driving and being on the road.

First I get into a minor accident involving my car and a biker. Entirely not my fault with him swerving in front of me while I'm running 60kph. He's okay, he's got a bruise but no broken bones or anything. His bike was a different story though. So I had to pay his days off work (to recover), buy him a new bike and get my license back. My conscience would eat me if I don't. It's a man after all.

Next, on a payday weekend my Geo gave up and got me stranded in Edsa. Like, dead. Had to leave him at a gas station, commute going home, go back the next day. Brought it to the mechanic and money went down the drain again for repairs and replacement of my timing belt.

The following weekend, Geo's radiator is no longer in shape; leaking out half of its content in a short trip. So out goes PhP 4,000 for a replacement cover.

Another long weekend after, the previous incident happened regarding engine oil cap. By this time, it's becoming unbelievable.

And the latest of the five-consecutive-weekend streak? A ticket. Apparently the traffic enforcers got me a ticket for beating the red light (I swear it wasn't) and added--get this--reckless driving for trying to outrun them. Point being, I didn't even know they were flagging me as I wasn't guilty. Now I'm without a license.

This is just. Plain. Un. Believable.

Simple Mishaps: Big Risk

2011-11-04T11:55:00.000+08:00

My month hasn't been the greatest. For the past three consecutive weekends, I had to worry about my car or bring it to the mechanic. Week 1 was for its timing belt, week 2 was for its radiator. Last week though, was not even my fault. Unbelievable. I have written a complaint letter regarding the incident, so allow me to copy and paste it as it has complete details.

---------------

Mr. & Mrs. Desi Tomacruz

Owners, Donica Corporation

Shell at the Fort

32^nd Street, Bonifacio Stop Over

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Dear Sir/Ma’am:

I am writing to file a formal complaint against an oversight by one of your crew in re-placing my engine oil cover. Please allow me to relay my side in chronological order:

On Monday, October 24, 2011 at around 7:00 in the evening, I brought my vehicle, a Suzuki Vitara `97 model, to your The Fort station for gasoline fill up. Once the tank was full, I handed over my Citibank Shell card for swiping. While waiting for the charge slip, a lady attendant—Liezel Nullan—offered to check for oil and water levels. Popping the hood, she does, and eventually notifies me that the engine oil level is low. I proceeded and purchased her recommendation, a Shell Helix H5 (according to the receipt), which retails at PHP 234.00.

Trusting all is well, I proceeded to do my daily routine. I live near C5, a stone’s throw away from your Pasig-Valle Verde station. On Friday, October 28, 2011 around 6:00pm after arrival at home, I went to check my vehicle and prepare it for my next-day early morning trip to my hometown, as it is the long weekend for the All Saints Day. To my surprise, oil is scattered all over my engine and the engine oil is uncapped.

Unable to contact your station through the number given by Shell Customer Care, I asked my staff to go to your station and look for a supervisor. I was able to talk with Jimmy Espeleta, and was given feedback through SMS later that night. Unfortunately, they were unable to find it, and was assured of reimbursement instead.

The following day, Saturday, October 29, 2011, I went and bought one instead, from Suzuki Pasig (along C5). Brought my vehicle to the mechanic to check and clean up my engine. I had to delay my plans on going back to my hometown for a day.

Today, Thursday, November 03, 2011, I was reimbursed for the amount of PHP 306.89 for the replacement.

Though reimbursed, it does not take away the fact that the simple mishap of not re-placing the engine oil cover (or, screwing it back on loose enough to fall off) had put myself, my vehicle and even nearby vehicles and establishments at risk. It could have:

· Resulted in an explosion or be engulfed in flames had the oil been in contact with an exposed electrical part of the engine;

· Resulted in fire if anybody was smoking by the vehicle, as the oil had spilled and possibly dripped to the ground;

· Caused malfunction of the engine due to lack of engine oil—it had already been driven nine times, to and from my home and office by the time I had discovered it;

· Put me at risk of being stranded somewhere if I had not been able to check on it and proceeded with my planned long drive.

I certify that the above-mentioned information and events are true and correct. Please find attached copies of any supporting document I have with me.

As a frequent customer on both your the Fort and and C5 Pasig stations—and Donica Corporation being a Shell Global Multi-Site Retailer awardee—I believe that you value customer satisfaction. I am hopeful that this event does not happen again to me, or to any other customer for that matter. May this incident be a wake-up call for the crew members in knowing the responsibilities they take whenever they do anything with anybody’s vehicle.

Thank you for your time and more power to your company.

Sincerely,

(signed)

My Complete Name

---------------

In all fairness to me, I really wasn't looking for any compensation. I should reimburse the oil but decided not to, since it still has enough oil in it. This could have been a lawsuit in the making, if you ask me. But I would pity the lady attendant, who for all I know, is not even earning enough and that PHP 300 is already a big chunk off her payslip.

Today, I got a call from Mr. Tomacruz and he offered to reimburse my payment for the engine oil as well. I appreciate the call, sincerely.

So to all the drivers out there, make sure you watch and check if they replace those thingies: gas cap, engine oil cap, and radiator caps. Simple mistakes like these can put you at risk big time.

Emotionless Online Life

2011-11-03T18:15:00.000+08:00

There was a time that blogging was about what's in your heart, what your soul was screaming about. Then came a time for me that blogging was no longer that. It's just a mere what-I'm-doing-or-spending-time-on. Looking back and reading older posts, it does mean a lot...

You read through a person's blog and you feel the emotions. How certain posts make you smile and say, "those were the days." You read heartbreaking posts and you can connect with the emotions; most likely post a comment with comforting words. With Facebook and Twitter, online life just seemed so...emotionless. I'm listening to this, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, I'm with who, I'm watching this. Just so boring.

I love blogging for the fact that you can just say, "I just can't get over you." No judgment, no holds barred. If there are no comments on your posts, it doesn't even bother you.

I remember how I got friends online, and knowing which ones to trust by reading their posts. Knowing how they think and what they value in life.

I miss you, blog world.

Geo's Pamper week

2011-08-26T11:14:00.000+08:00

Last week, I had my Geo--my white 97 Suzuki Vitara--go through shakedown maintenance from people I met online at the Honda Club Philippines forum. They're good and saved me money than going to a Suzuki casa. I'm scared to go to auto shops by myself for fear that they know I'm a girl and know nothing much about cars.

I spent about 10,000 pesos for the following:

change engine oil / oil filter
change front and rear differential gear oil
change automatic transmission fluid
change transfer case gear oil
change power steering fluid
change spark plugs
change air filter
overhaul throttle body
clean IACV
disassemble, clean and regrease wheel bearings
disassemble, clean and regrease front auto locking hubs
disassemble, clean and inspect front and rear brakes
Full engine, drive train and suspension inspection

Then come work day, I had the registration renewed :)

I'm an overachiever

2011-08-26T10:48:00.000+08:00

I feel bad.

I'm not in the position to judge or tell people what's best, but it depresses me knowing I'm such an overachiever and other people aren't. Ego gets in the way.

Partially can relate to this post.

F**ked Up Cupid

2011-07-12T17:17:00.000+08:00

Maybe you do, maybe you don't
Deep inside, I know you won't
There's not much to say
But I still hope and pray
Yes, I know I'm stupid
Goddamn, f***ed up cupid

But seriously though,
I just can't let you go.

Back to blogging

2011-07-12T17:07:00.000+08:00

I have sworn to start blogging again. It's just so different than tweeting, or updating your status message on Facebook. Blogging is pouring your heart and mind out, even though you know it's possible that no one is gonna read it. It's therapeutic. I love it, miss it, and I am back. My goal is to blog at least once a week. Here we go.

iPhone app for blogger?

2011-06-03T10:13:00.001+08:00

I have yet to find the best app for blogger.com. Suggestions?

Online Assessment for Promotion

2011-04-25T14:02:00.000+08:00

I might just be looking for a job.

I'm currently working for Sitel in Ortigas; took a job as a sales chat rep for a measly sum. The good thing about it was that it was a pioneer (start up) account. For non-BPO/call-center peeps, this means you're the first batch in the account and in turn may provide you a huge possibility of getting promoted once the account expands. I am now considered a regular employee since February 2011 and have just been waiting for this account to expand or for the company to post internal job postings for which I could apply for. Through the six-month probationary period I gave it my all and the best I can be, in preparation of a good background check if ever I apply for a promotion.

Finally, last March our Operations Manager had informed us that she is actively looking for two people to fill in two vacancies. You guessed it right, I applied for one. One was team lead position and the other was for a Quality Analyst. I applied for the latter, knowing I ain't really good in 'leading' per se.

Tuesday last week, a couple of my colleagues had taken their online assessment test for the team lead position. One passed, the other didn't make it. I got quite nervous so I asked my own TL (team lead) to coach me on what to expect, and got tips from him. He mentioned I'd be doing a little math, analytical problems and a few abstract stuff. I honestly did not worry about it--this is easy.

Wednesday, I was asked to come in early, and it was my turn for the assessment. I sat in front of the PC, the test administrator asked me to start. I asked, "don't I need paper or something?" She said I didn't need it, and I grabbed the headset. Voila! The first part was a 30 to 50 item exam about MS Excel. This may not be surprising, but it was so difficult. I mean, I could use Excel, no problem with that. I even enjoy making spreadsheets even for my own finances...

But be asked about questions asking about which tab or which menu to find a certain option, or what dialog box pops up for a certain error certainly did not have anything to do with what I know. I was cursing the entire time...this is bull. This is bookish. I can certainly navigate my way around MS Excel without memorizing those things, and the worst part is, I was not even given a heads up that this was the kind of exam I'll get.

F*** it. The results will be in today, I don't know but I'm not expecting to pass. If by some miracle I do pass, I'm definitely making sure that I get the promotion and raise within a couple of months. If I don't get it, then I guess there's no stopping me from getting a higher paying entry level job. My CV is printed. Ten copies.

Blog Friends

2011-04-17T18:23:00.003+08:00

After three years since the first time, I met with my blog friends Tin and Abet last night at Bonifacio High Street. These two were the first of many online/blog friends I made when my addiction for Internet started. Both used to have Blogspot accounts; but with the emergence of other sites like Multiply and Facebook, blogging seemed extinct and resulted to Notes in Facebook or Multiply blog. We were actually talking about it last night, on how blogs are almost extinct, but at the same time how different it is to be blogging for real--not those that you want those 'friends' to see. The mystery/anonymity is lacking, and the chance that anybody can possibly stumble upon your posts and you might be able to help them (with your ideas), or in our case, be interested in them and become your real life friends.

Side note: It was my first time at Clawdaddy. Either I was hungry or everything was superb! We ordered: carbonara, pizza (the salmon one) and even the appetizer sampler is great! Will definitely go back.

Photos to follow, since our photographer Abet is currently far far away, doubt that he's able to upload it last night. It was fun, catching up: how different our lives are from the first time we met, or the different partners we are now referring to as our present/s. We definitely need a part three for this one, as the things discussed last night would need to be reassessed, for the lack of better terms. It's funny how you meet a lot of people online and be actually friends with some of them. Amazing.

Cebu-Bohol Family Trip

2011-04-10T16:41:00.001+08:00

As a graduation gift to my youngest sib, mom booked us flights to Cebu. Having been a flight attendant, I have been so used to flying, but my two brothers--my Kuya and the youngest--have never been on one. Mika, my sister, had flown to Indonesia for her practicum; my parents have flown domestic and international flights. So to have them experience flying--with a former FA like me--would be great.

I had so much fun traveling with my family. We don't get to do this a lot since our annual Baguio trip usually comes with a lot of other people, so having a trip just the family (and my 5-year old niece, Yana) is rare. I filed for unpaid leaves while Kuya and Nanay both filed for VLs.

We went hotel-hopping in Cebu and Mactan, went to see Magellan's Cross and the Sto. Nino Basilica. We took the ferry to Bohol/Tagbilaran for a day trip. Went to see the Chocolate Hills, Panglao Island, tarsiers, etc. We are so grateful for our host, tita Tere (mom's friend) who had been so generous in letting us stay over at their wonderful home in Talisay, Cebu. We got the chance to spend nights there, play Guitar Hero and lounge around even when they aren't home. Tita Tere was the same aunt who toured me around London and saw the Stonehenge.

So what did we learn? To have pictures taken not lined up like it's a firing squad. (See photo) We call this the American Idol pose. Nothing, just because most reality shows on TV would show you photos like these and my parents are hooked on the latest season of AI.

Weddings Here and There

2011-03-27T17:53:00.000+08:00

In this Facebook age, I constantly find myself browsing through wedding photos of friends. Maybe I am in the marrying age indeed, since weddings happen here and there, and it's not like they're my uncles or aunties--they're my friends!

My boyfriend must be crazy-thinking maybe I wanna get married already. The thing is, at this point, I don't. I was in a [chat] conversation with the ex-fiance the other day and I was just telling him I met up with Precious and MM, who are getting married and happily married, respectively. He was asking me if I had plans [again] of getting married. In a split second I was able to say, "nope."

One, my boyfriend and I are barely half a year together. Yes we spend 5 out 7 days a week together, but it's just gonna be too soon to think about that. Following two very serious relationships (including that of with the ex-fiance), I seem not to be in a very committed or serious relationship at this point. I am enjoying every minute I spend with my dear one but I don't see myself walking down the aisle just yet.

Second, I am 24. In a month or so, I'll be 25. Yes for some this is a good age to marry. For me, this is a reminder that I have finished college and six years have passed, and I am still in an entry-level position. I crave for a career path, growth and stability. I am so working on getting promotions.

Maybe I could cite more reasons, but I guess, you'll just know when you're ready when you are. I realize I browse through the wedding photos with amazement and happiness for these people who have found the one they'd chosen to spend their lives with. How they figure out that their partner is 'the one', that I am still yet to find out.

Apathy

2011-03-14T07:51:00.001+08:00

We were in Sunday dinner with my Lola, aunt, and cousins. The usual over-dinner talks turned out to be some sort of an excerpt of a primetime soap. Emotions poured from negative feelings towards an in-law. Aunt is almost in tears for the pent-up emotions so I chirped, "it's mind over matter; if you don't mind then it don't matter." This had made me realize that not everybody is capable of doing this. For my Kuya had said that I am the best when it comes to apathy. Well what can I do? I am talented in this department. I guess I have learned of this trait/emotion when I was still young. During my high school days, I'm one of those people very much affected with what other people say or think of me; but my mom is always to the rescue, reminding me not to care, because it's my life. And that I don't live for those people, so as long as I'm not doing anything wrong, to hell with them! I kind of think this had made me a stronger person, battling with the norm and peer pressure. I feel bad for people who can't do the same (as much as I can) because they wake up every day with a heavy feeling. Do you do this too?

1.1.11

2011-01-01T11:54:00.000+08:00

Happy 2011 everyone!

It's the start of the new year and surprisingly I'm blogging. I have the privelege of not working on both Christmas and New Year's this 2010. So anyway, a new year comes with new year's resolution/s. Mine? Hmm.

I'm not sure I still have them but there are goals I wish to achieve, that's for sure.
1. Be successful; get promoted.
2. Lose weight. This starts today!
3. Stay happy and contented.
4. Survive.
5. Be independent. (Doing this right now!)

What's yours?

After my workaholic November

2010-12-05T22:05:00.000+08:00

Whew! It's December already. I was so caught up with work last November I hardly realized the month had passed. I was literally at the office everyday. Okay so maybe I wasn't for about...two days. We have 11-hour shifts; and I was doing pre-shift overtime, post-shift overtime and rest-day overtime! Yeah, yeah, no work-life balance. But I disagree. :)

I enjoy my work as a chat support agent, regardless if our chat customers are plain stupid, or are from Convergys (oh yeah, the competition TRIES to waste our time, little do they know they actually contribute to the success rate). And we recently had one agent terminated, a few suspended and this pioneer account happens to need a few sets of fingers to reach our goal of 11,000 chats a month. So there, my reason for all the overtime.

Partly, there is nothing much to do at the apartment--mmm oh yeah, I live in Pasig now, studio apartment--except sleep as there is nothing there yet except for a fridge. So when I wake up, I shower and the office is just 10 minutes away (my record is seven minutes from engine start to engine shut off!) so I just go there and help. I try to think of all the stuff I wanna buy for my new place as a motivation. Hehe!

Another is because I enjoy being with my team. My coach rocks; didn't use to like him at first and now we always complain when he's not around! He says stuff at you like, "f*ck you, girl", or "whatever, man!" like he doesn't care, but at least he's pretentious. Not like those other suck-up coaches on the floor. He knows fun and knows discipline too.

My team, on the other hand, knows nothing but being pasaway:
- We turn the music up so loud that it annoys the other teams (regardless if there's a voice account nearby).
- We talk in Tagalog even though some coaches have complained we don't comply with the English-only Policy. (Side story: A coach approached our coach and complained about it. My coach said, "You get to pick on them if they're not following schedules, online time, break scheds and shit. But not what doesn't affect their performance. If not for them (the pioneer team), you won't even be here handling your team.")
- I walk from the pantry to my station eating my cheeseburger (so much for no eating on the floor).
- We sleep on the floor.
- We watch movies on hulu.com. If Facebook was accessible, I'm sure we're all updating our stats.
- I text freely on my iPhone 4, despite the rule of no gadgets on the floor.
- We're on instant messengers.

I guess it's not all about being pasaway, but more on we know how to work hard and what could affect our job--or how not to fall asleep while chatting!

Decision Making in Relationships

2010-10-09T01:47:00.000+08:00

My family doesn't meddle much with relationships that we have. Not much, sometimes not at all. For one, it's not theirs to decide on. But if anything, they'd simply give inputs on their stand on relationships. Here are some of the lessons they've told us in advance:

Never be with someone who throws plates at you when you argue.
If there's a trait that you don't like about him/her, think about it if you can withstand, accept and live with it for the rest of your life. If not, stop wasting your time.
Be with someone who brings out the best in you.
Find someone you enjoy talking with--because that's what you're most likely to do in your life together.

I brushed it off, shrugged it off, and put it at the very back of my mind. I didn't think I'd need that. I know how to choose. And yet, when time came for me to decide, I came back to all of these. The very basic suggestions that my parents laid down years back are actually some of the most important ones; they are somewhat my deciding factors.

I'm glad to have had these points to ponder on; it really helped me. I hope it does the same to you, or to anyone reading this blog.

Errand Runners - Philippines

2010-09-09T19:51:00.001+08:00

Oh. My. Gosh. It's been months?! Hahaha! Oh well, I've really been so busy.

Updates. Now. (That kinda sounded like Krispy Kreme's "Hot Doughnuts. Now.")

1. I quit my job at IGT for the Travel Process Associate post. Reason? I effin' hate my TL.

2. Now I have a new job! Yep! That's just weeks in between. I don't even have my clearance and my last pay from IGT yet. I am almost done with training with Sitel, for a chat support account. Great, right? It's chat, I love typing than talking BS over the phone, and there's one major thing that made me apply at Sitel: I'm on wave 1!

3. We finally managed to launch the business last June, and I'm so proud to say that the business is slowly picking up. Of course, I'll discuss!

Errand Runners is some sort of errand/concierge/all-around help. This is already a growing industry in other countries; however, people used to have househelp here so it's not absolutely necessary. Initially, we thought of condo-living people who are at times helpless coz they don't have a houseboy or a maid to help them out with stuff like bills payment, moving furnitures around, etc. etc. Right now, we are also inclined on helping businesses save on their messenger expenses: we do documents transport, billing and collection, to name a few.

As exciting as it may already seem (well, at least to me), we currently have a growing market for: overseas Filipinos who need to do some errands in the Philippines (like we had one who needed to send a cake to a loved one); and brides/grooms (we have an errand tomorrow which needs to acquire a copy of the Certificate of No Marriage).

I am giddily excited! We have errands on a daily basis now.

I hope you can refer us to whomever you deem needs our service. Pretty please? :)

------------------------------
For more info, visit us on the web: www.errandrunners.ph

On Blog Leave

2010-04-26T17:34:00.000+08:00

Hi! I'll be on blog leave muna... We're currently setting up a new business and we're so busy. I'm getting workaholic with a full time job and two 'sidelines', co-managing the station and now an entirely different business.

Will blog back to advertise when we're all set. Have a great summer, you guys!

How're ya?

2010-03-23T10:28:00.000+08:00

It's almost a month since I blogged! Can't believe days went by that fast. I'm currently on our second(?) week for product training...and again, it's exhausting. It does make my brain work, and since it's a travel account, I'm pretty much enjoying myself.

We've gone from 8am to 4pm shift to 4pm to 12mn shift, and now it's our third week on 12mn to 8am shift. My body clock is just ruined and I seem to be very unhelpful when I get home because all I wanted to do is sleep. But anyhow, I try. Yes, I do.

I'm getting the shopping feeling again; it's like I just can't get enough of shopping. I've endlessly been browsing through eBay.ph for bargain and unique stuff. Bought a few items too. I love shopping. Last Sunday we went to SM Megamall, bought ourselves a pair of Chuck Taylors and I bought another pair of brown flats. I finally went back to the Memo store and bought a black topper I've been eyeing for the past couple of months. Finally! Haha. More shopping to come!

I've been so detached from reality and I don't even know what's going on with people lately. So, how have you been?

My English-exhausted mind

2010-02-26T20:55:00.002+08:00

Oh wow, Friday. It had been so long since I last said, "Thank God it's Friday!" Whew. What a week!

Last Monday marked my first day at my new job at InterGlobe Technologies at McKinley Hill. This week ~~was~~ is the first of the three-week voice and accent training. And I tell you, it's exhausting. It's my first time to undergo such training because the last time that I was in a call center, I was only a part-time employee. Thus, they didn't bother to train us as thorough.

But this week, I--and the rest of the 'wave'--underwent a lot of pronunciation, grammar and thought organization hardships. It makes you wonder why one had to learn such terrible English from kindergarten to college. All this time, I used to think that I am good in English, but come voice and accent training, I was totally lost.

For example, there was this discussion about prepositions, and some parts of it left me dumbfounded. I was on training from 8am til 4pm, but as soon as I got home, I always had to Google something. William, our trainer, is good at what he does. I thank him for that. I even told him that I'm kind of rethinking about my grammar in all of my previous posts!

Tiring as it was, the perfectionist in me is craving for more information. I want to be good at writing and speaking English. I could not allow myself to write for all the world to read, or speak, in wrong grammar. And to this I say, "bring it on!"

Rudeness at the Moviehouse

2010-02-17T17:10:00.000+08:00

After a long Valentines weekend composed of a three-hour treatment (that includes a hot milk bath) at Devarana Spa with our overnight at Dusit, and the Crossover Buffet on V-Day, we decided to go out and see "Valentines Day" at Eastwood. It's a holiday, it's a weekend, it's family day Sunday. People are all over the place.

We always get our movie tickets as soon as we get to a mall so we don't have to worry about that later on... Come movietime, the final seats on our row was:

EMPTY--Couple1--EMPTY--Us--EMPTY--Couple 2

We literally strategically chose our seats so we don't have to rub elbows with anybody considering the jampacked screening times. Right before the opening credits rolled in, here came a middle aged couple with a teenage son walking up to our row, at Couple1's side.

Apparently, she bought the three empty seats and asked us all to move sideways so they can fit and sit together--smack in the middle of the screen. What got to me more was how she asked me. She just said, "Siguro pwede namang yung isa doon diba," sternly, and pointing at the empty seat between us and Couple2. It may be dark but I knew she'd see my expression with the glare of the screen. I rolled my eyes at her.

The son sat beside me and said a quiet "thank you," and he seemed so ashamed of how his mother had behaved. Well he should be! The mother asked Couple1 nicely if they could move to the empty seat to their left, and talked at us like that.

Fuck these people who ask you of things like you owe them.

Be my link?

2010-02-17T16:53:00.000+08:00

I checked on my blog right now and I suddenly remembered how long ago it was since I bloghopped, you know given the fact that a lot of people check on their Facebook accounts more than they check their email. So I was looking... and looking. Then it hit me: I don't have my links!

Grr. Okay so people I could add your blog as links if you want to, just leave a comment on this post with your blog url. Thanks!

Stuck with Blogger Comments

2010-02-12T10:41:00.002+08:00

My comment hosting site, Haloscan, will shut down tomorrow, therefore I wouldn't be able to maintain my black-and-green pop-up comment box. Guess I'm stuck with the comment section that comes with every Blogger account. Hmm it took me two hours to figure out how to get it back since my old template was still on HTML and given the *new* templates on Blogger... Safe to say I got lost.

***

I finally have a parking space for my car! Yesterday we met up with the owner of a parking slot one buildings away and paid for three-month rental of the slot. One building away is still better than street-parking! :)

NBI Clearance - Mandaluyong

2010-02-03T16:11:00.002+08:00

As with any pre-employment procedures, I am required to submit an original and valid NBI clearance. Of all possible requirements, I hated this one for the single thought of going to Carriedo and making my way through hundreds of people clamoring to get that sheet of paper. I have lost my personal copy from years back so I had to apply for a new one. I Googled for other areas/satellite offices that accept new applications and found out that Mandaluyong city hall has one (SM Megamall only accepts renewals).

Days and weeks went by gathering enough courage to do so, I finally went there today. I chose to go after lunch since most people would line up early in the morning hoping they'd finish early. From experience I've noticed that proceeding to government offices BEFORE they close would make you one of the few who are yet on the first steps of their procedure. Took a cab and asked around, I found the satellite office--more like a makeshift counter in the city hall grounds--and I can't make out what the first step was. There were none of those big signages telling you where the first steps were. In the middle of the waiting area (seats under a collapsible tent) I saw a table where fingerprinting ink was all over. On it was a small pail, yes a pail, with sheets of application forms. Then came the guy who's in charge of fingerprinting. After I filled out my form I approached him and he said, "limang piso". Despite the fact that I already brought my own pack of wipes I handed him the coin and proceeded with it.

Up in front of the cashier for payment, I was told I needed a cedula (community tax certificate). I had mine with me, but they needed one from Mandaluyong. Hmmm.. As far as i knew all I needed was a valid ID but anyhow I hesitantly paid twenty pesos for it. The cedula guy said "hmp walang kita" when I handed him exactly twenty pesos. Hmp back!

I returned to the cashier and paid P115 for the clearance and had my photo taken. The people at that "office" were rude, shouting at people who didn't know the procedure. I wanted to yell back at them for the sake of other people to tell them that they're so disorganized so how would the people know what exactly was the flow of the process. I was back at the waiting area when I heard someone shout at one of the applicants, "hoy kuya wag ka magsolo dyan dahil may nagpapafingerprint dyan hindi mo alam ginagawa mo". I looked around and saw that the fingerprint guy wasn't there. Finally he's back and he's lecturing newcomers too. He kept saying, "hindi pwedeng kayo kayo lang naggaganyan alam nyo namang may tao dito." A middle-aged woman wasn't able to contain herself and said back, "eh wala namang tao pano namin malalaman?"

And guess what the guy just kept shouting at how stupid the applicants were. Oh cmon! A handwritten instructions would have saved them a lot of trouble. So a note to everyone, yes you'd get it fast but they're rude!

2009 Holidays and Nurture Spa

2010-01-06T15:02:00.005+08:00

Well hello and happy 2010 everyone! Supposedly it's the year of the tiger (well technically after Chinese new year) so this might be the year for me. Yep I'm turning twenty four this year!

Anyhow, my holidays were so tiring, leaving just the 27th and January 3rd for me and my partner to actually breathe. We didn't get to have our own Christmas thing for ourselves. We feel so deprived! Haha. And lo and behold, the long holiday was over and done with.

As for resolution, and one of the most common at that, we're trying to lose weight. Hmm. Like our happy-new-year SMS text went, we hope that it will last past the first few weeks of the year. Ha-ha! Oh and we got our own planners from Starbucks so hopefully we get to plan a lot. Plans that get executed, hopefully!

Career-wise, I'm getting a little bit frustrated applying at different companies with job openings I actually like and I know that I am competent enough to do, and then after every possible interview and exams, I pass--but then positions are not available. Hmm. I know I shouldn't be waiting for a call back for some of them telling me they'll call me back if they're hiring for the next batch but anyhow, I am. Haha. Stupid me, I know.

***

And by the way, since this is supposedly a travel blog (not so apparent, I know) let me share our latest trials. December 16th, my partner Joycey and I were celebrating her 2-th birthday. We've been racking up our brains where to go, and Tagaytay being my happy place (coincidentally hers too) and the fact that we indulge ourselves lately with home service massages, I suggested we go to spa-resort.

We've tried Sonya's before and I felt it was a little too popular and crowded already, and the plants didn't look refreshing (they looked like drought was on), I Googled Nurture Spa and booked through SMS. (Oh yes, I so love this techie generation!) Still on the techie thing, I bookmarked the website on my phone and used it for reference so my partner can give me directions while I drove. The birthday girl's license expired. Haha!

It was a Wednesday and not a very crowded day at Tagaytay and soon as we turned right onto the street supposedly leading us to the spa, we were on our own. No worries though, as the roads were cemented and there were still signs of life. Haha. Pulling up to their gravel-covered parking lot, only the sound of the engine was audible, apart from the sounds of the birds and the leaves brushing each other as the wind blew. As soon as we got off, we were like, "Okay, nice choice!" Talk about de-stressing and feeling like you're so far away from home.

Walking up to the receptionist, we were greeted, "Welcome home." We have made reservations so it didn't take long before they were ready for us. While waiting we asked if we could check out their rooms (for staying overnight) and we promised ourselves we'd check-in sometime next year. Pictures just won't do for describing the feeling when you're already there, especially on a weekday. We have booked for a three-hour treatment: 1hr body scrub, 1hr wrap, 1hr massage. As we were being led to our treatment room, I jokingly asked the girl, "Wala bang free? Birthday niya eh." She smiled and said that we should have informed her earlier.

Before our session started, the girl came back and said we'll get a complimentary 30-minute facial. Yey! That already made the birthday girl's day! The scrub turned out to be coconut, the wrap was dead sea mud wrap as we requested, then the massage and a honey facial.

Two thumbs up for Nurture Spa! Will definitely go back.

Hmm Christmas

2009-12-12T02:31:00.002+08:00

Two weeks before Christmas and I was already relaxing and just counting the days til Christmas. My partner and I have finished our Christmas shopping list, wrapped all the gifts, decorated our humble condo unit with decors... We're so ready for Christmas!

Anyway, I still have yet to find out how Christmas is here at Taguig since it's my first holiday season here in up and coming city, as compared to all my Christmases and New Years in our hometown in Navotas. But anyhow we don't really know when we'll Christmas together since we're pretty booked!

Christmas eve: We're closing the gasoline stations and heading to NAIA Terminal 3 to pick up my partner's sister who's coming home from Singapore.
Christmas day: We'll go home to Navotas to help out at home. At night we'll be at Terminal 1 to pick up Peggy.
26th: Bulacan for my maternal side's Christmas celebrations

See, the days before and after are booked!

Inventions I'm Grateful For

2009-11-24T01:41:00.004+08:00

There are a couple of things off the top of my head that I could say I'm thankful to have been invented. Not the kind of thing wherein Twilight fanatics would gush, "thank God for Edward Cullen."

First off, the Internet. Oh yes, the world wide web. Everything seems to be at hand if you've got internet connection. From the days you spend hours trying to connect through dial-ups, to easy-breezy wifi connections, I still am grateful that some brainy people got to create the cyberworld. Without it, my mom would still tell me to browse through that unabridged Webster's dictionary whenever I don't know a word; or the yellow pages when you need to call some place: or wait through snail mail to get in correspondence with someone miles away; and of course the need to have a complete set of encyclopedias that always get outdated after sometime. Luckily enough for my generation, I could simply Google everything and even get translations online, find restaurants nearby and so on and so forth. Through the web, you get a gigantic amount of information, opinions and inputs. Say for example if a new phone comes out, and you're thinking about getting one, you'd have the liberty to Google it to know the specs, read about user's opinions, etc. Whereas decades ago, if you didn't know anyone using it yet, then you'd only have to trust the salesperson who's of course just trying to sales talk you into getting one!

Next up: dental braces. Who could have predicted that teeth could be rearranged? For people who didn't have dental alignment problems, they'd probably not appreciate the existence of dental braces fully. But for someone like me who went from bite 3 (lower teeth in front of upper teeth) to the normal bite 1, a lot has changed. It gave me a boost in confidence, not to mention that it also got rid of my lisp. If they had invented it centuries ago, then probably Mona Lisa isn't smiling without teeth showing, coz she wouldn't have that crooked teeth that she's trying to hide, according to dental experts. :)

Ondoy's Attack

2009-09-28T12:31:00.002+08:00

On Friday night my partner and I were still planning to party on Saturday night somewhere in Ortigas. I picked her up from the office and went home as it started raining. No biggie. It always rains. When we got home (at the condo in Taguig) the winds started blowing really hard. Whenever it does, it made a howling sound as it passed through metals of the balconies. Pepper, on the other hand, looked so wary. Even when it's time to sleep, he wouldn't, and would just be close by. I fell asleep with my arm dangling from the bed just so he'd feel like he's beside somebody.

Saturday morning. Still raining. The balcony's so wet now, I got the feeling it must be flooding already. I tiptoed on the balcony to check if my car is still parked outside our building--or if it was already submerged somehow. Elmo (my car) is still okay. No signs of flood. But a lot of cars had already illegally parked. I knew something was wrong. We switch on the tube and tuned in to the news... Horrible.

We start calling people from Navotas. As I expected the phoneline was dead. I called up my mom and got a hold of her. They sounded so calm. They have electricity. Almost all of them are home, and the flood--like most high tide days--were just knee deep and didn't even reach our backyard. Hmm. Tolerable. Thankful.

Seaoil Merville calls up to stop operations. It was waist-deep already.

SMS started pouring in. I knew people must be worried about the flood capital Malabon-Navotas, seeing the one-storey flood in Pasig, Marikina and Rizal. I assure people we're okay. Then I started wondering, and worrying, about people I know who live/have their families in the said areas. Some of my friends are not in the Philippines and I'm sure they're worried sick about their family.

This post goes out to MM, who was in Manila but their home was flooded in QC. I'm glad you're okay now. And to Lyka and Precious, who are both away from home while in Japan and Korea, respectively, and whose family are still in danger. I am texting every hotline I see on the news to report your area. I know how it must feel being so helpless so far away.

And to everybody whose houses, cars and businesses (like in our case) was damaged by the floods, let us be thankful we are still alive. And let us pray for those who weren't able to make it, or are still waiting for help to arrive.

Passport Renewal

2009-09-13T02:27:00.002+08:00

When I was still flying, I would shudder at the thought of renewing my passport in a few year's time. I was using my very first passport then, the one I applied for through a travel agency. I still had to go to DFA though for the personal appearance. I remember so vividly the queues under the scorching sun, the fixers who take advantage of people who know less of the processes, the owners of the photo studio who trick you into having your photo retaken and the general fear of pickpockets in such a crowded area.

Researching on it, I realized I could do it hassle-free through a travel agency again. But since they recently approved the machine readable passports (MRPs) one must still go for a personal appearance for renewal from the old school passport. Darn it.

A few weeks back, we chanced upon a Cebu Pacific seat sale and booked roundtrip tickets to Singapore. Grabbing the chance, I urged my partner to renew our passports together since I happen to have read through email that starting next year MRPs are required to travel. Be it true or not, my passport would still expire January of next year so it would be inevitable to have it renewed (and converted to MRP). CJ gave in and browsed through sites to gather more info on how to go about it.

Finally, we signed up for Passport Direct by Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. (www.passport.com.ph) for the renewal. The service worth P1,300 offered document pick-up, filing, scheduling for appearance appointment and delivery of passport. Though it may sound so worry-free I still was expecting the worst since I learned that some "appointments" don't actually mean a thing. *ahem US visa application* Sign up and pick up was a breeze if not for one thing: our dog chewed on my passport minutes before the pick up guy came.

The next day a Passport Direct agent called up to give me a heads up on possible delays caused by torn pages of my passport. There was nothing I could do but sigh and hope the filing goes through smoothly. Luckily after a working day we were informed about or appearance schedule day, so again I prepared for the worst.

We woke up at 5am and parked around DFA at 7:30. Hand in hand, we started walking along Libertad street from Roxas bou. One by one fixers started swarming telling you to do this and that, get this and that. We didn't stop walking and when we finally got near the gate I saw plastic chairs for people waiting for their turn. I uh-oh-ed for a moment til we noticed a guy wearing a Pilipinas Teleserv uniform holding out a placard to catch the attention of any Teleserv clients. We approached him and in we go, passing everybody else on queue. We were assisted all the way by these uniformed guys and they even have benches especially reserved for their clients (we had to wait coz the office starts at 8am). By 8:15 we were already back in our car wondering how to waste an entire day my partner filed a leave for.. :) I am so recommending this service to anyone especially my flight attendant friends!

So many things

2009-08-27T00:53:00.002+08:00

Mmmm. Such a very long time I haven't blogged. Things are way too different than my previous three years wherein I'd die without internet connection. So maybe just a few bits on what's up and new with me.

Well I'm still managing the gas station though I don't go there as often since the station sup is back from maternity leave. Side story, I got so mixed up whether or not the employer shall pay the employee the maternity benefit apart from what she's supposed to get from Social Security. Ohwell. I'm not very familiar with government stuff anyways.

We got me an individual healthcard (Medicard) account since I'm currently classified as self employed...or something like that. I miss having that Maxicare benefit I used to have with Asiana wherein I feel like it's okay even if I get sick. My wakeup call came during the time I thought I had the A-flu virus. Eee..scary. I seriously didn't go to work for a few days.

I finally got to meet up with two of my college friends, Lyka and Darylle, whom I haven't seen since Christmas season of last year. Hehe. We just had dinner at home and catching up. As for my highschool friends we were supposed to go to Enchanted Kingdom last weekend but it rained. And oh my partner and I just booked for roundtrip tickets to Singapore on October! Finally... I'm gonna be on a plane and be a real passenger. My partner's so excited to take a plane ride with an ex-flight attendant. Hahaha!

My partner got me a new phone after I got her one. Haha. We so love our N97s allbeit difficult to use while driving. On the brighter side there's less texting while driving.

I'm so loving my car Elmo--'99 Honda Civic Vtec Vti in red. Got leather seat cover few months ago, replaced wiper blades and we're thinking of changing the tires. Beats me. At least I know how to open the hood and fill coolant and water in and check the oil. My trunk carries three liters of water, small bottles of brake fluid, automatic transmission fluid and engine oil. Super chilly a/c that I get headaches sometimes due to the cold. My brother absolutely loves the white headlights and signal lights. Wonder what else I could do to my car...

Our shih tzu Pepper is almost 8months old and we've already experienced him getting sick. Boy I felt like a mom worried sick about her child! Took him to the vet a couple of times and the vet prescribed meds for toddlers(!)and...YAKULT! Anyway he didn't like it that much so the vet suggested we give him yogurt since he need the good bacteria in his tummy. Seems strawberry yogurt is far yummier than cultured milk. :)

i'm currently job hunting and I couldn't figure out what job I'd like. Hehe. I don't have many luho in life. Or maybe just one: good food. I'm constantly on the search for good new restos... Suggest any?

Dumbing Sensation

2009-06-17T00:41:00.005+08:00

I feel incompetent and worthless. And it sucks even more when I don't know where all these are coming from. I'm scared when I don't have the answers, or when I'm unable to make the simplest decisions. Used to be that I'm this uber-confident person but right now I just feel plain dumb and stupid--that sometimes no matter how hard I try I just can't do things right. It feels as bad as when you get stuck at 2+2 and you're at a loss then out of nowhere a 7-year old pipes in, "four." That bad.

Guilty Innocent

2009-06-04T19:12:00.003+08:00

Sometimes I get giddily scared. Gut feel says you have to hold this thing or it would go away. There was this one day I woke up and I thought that my partner isn't completely honest and loyal with me. The logical me would tell me, it's just a thought; the paranoid in me would try to find out. In as much as it takes me sometime before I actually get suspicious on people, it takes me about the same amount of time to get my suspicions off someone. And I don't want to live on suspicions every day.

I get sad when my partner thinks of me that way; maybe it's the same reason why I thought my partner isn't honest. Because the simplest things would tick her off, because the simplest things would mean so much worse than it actually is. I start to wonder that maybe that's the way she does it that's why it freaks her out that much..

It's tough living without trust, or not being trusted, for this matter. I feel low of myself; guilty unless proven otherwise. Should it not be innocent until proven otherwise?

Toothache

2009-05-26T09:53:00.001+08:00

I have a major toothache. Of all the aches in the world, I wouldn't want to have this. You know how it is, when you have a toothache, it's like you're paralized all over. My right cheek is bigger than my left. And I'm gonna see a dentist later. Hardly slept because I wake up to a piercing pain. Darn.

I'm 23?!

2009-05-09T02:59:00.003+08:00

A few weeks ago, I told Ella, my cousin, I don't like 23. I just don't. Doesn't sound right. I'd rather be 22, or 24... But it's inevitable. It's a bittersweet day.

I woke up to a bowl of yummy champorado with Alaska powdered milk on top, danggit on the side, bacon and my favorite sugarfree bread on another plate. A cup of UCC coffee and my breakfast was perfect. Headed off to work, where my partner prepared a blowout lunch for me and the rest of the Seaoil Merville crew: pansit bihon, lechon manok, rice, Pepsi and Red Ribbon cake from my Pepper, the shih tzu.

Got a surprise audit from somebody from Seaoil head office, hmmm. Timing. *sarcasm* Anyway, car shopping from all over QC area--EDSA, Mindanao and Visayas avenues. Crossing my fingers. Let you know when I get one. Hehe. I'm sooo excited...nuninuninu..

We were already exhausted when we picked up Pepper again from Merville and Friday night really slows traffic. We got home around 9-ish, changed and headed out for dinner. We don't want to gamble on the traffic so we stayed at Bonifacio High Street. Dinner and coffee.

It's 3am and I'm still replying to people who greeted me. Thanks everyone for remembering!

Too Much Fuss

2009-05-06T23:04:00.002+08:00

It's been over a month since I last posted anything. Oh well. Probably that's what happens when you don't get much idle time. Unlike I used to have when I still spend my days off in Seoul with nothing very much to do but stare at my laptop...

So what have I been up to, now that I'm no longer a flight attendant? Oh, by the way, to those people who sends me messages, thank you. I am honored to be a "role model" or "someone to look up to" or "someone who inspires" you. And to sassymonica who says my writings are "good for print"! Wow. :) And don't worry, to the girls who want to be a flight attendant in the future, maybe I'd write something on that sometime. And to Tin, I will blog about my reasons for quitting too.

I had a really good Holy Week (okay so this update is soo ten years ago), a couple of weeks of bum time, then started getting my ass to work. I am currently helping out with my workaholic partner's business at Seaoil Merville in Paranaque (plugging!), as station-supervisor-and-everything-else. Haha. So my brain actually works. Geez. Thought it was already stuck or something.

You might be thinking, "from flying to petroleum?" It's nice to learn new things everyday, you know. I'm not a person who'd probably have her own business as I'm afraid to gamble on money so this is a very different learning experience from me. I went from choosing which scents to buy from Bath and Body Works to issuing half a million checks and making sure we don't go bankrupt. My concerns went from foreign exchange rates to oil price hikes. LOL.

+ + +

So my big question is...what's all the fuss on Martin Nievera's version of the national anthem at Manny Pacquiao's match last Sunday? I mean, hello? Watch Superbowl and you'll see all versions of the American national anthem; every singer would always give his/her own version. If they wanted what's on tape, why pay someone the money to sing what's exactly on tape? It's not like he made the song into hiphop or something... Seriously!

Earth Hour

2009-03-29T15:15:00.001+08:00

So I'm pigging out the first two days of my bum life. But at least I did something worthwhile. We supported the Earth Hour! No lights for one whole hour, living on a candle! Good thing we were done having dinner then, otherwise it's gon' be dinner by candlelight. Haha. So, did you do the same?

48 Hours of Goodbyes

2009-03-27T02:29:00.003+08:00

On my last flight from San Francisco to Seoul, I was giddily excited and weirdly smiling the entire twelve hours or so. The plane was half empty and the passengers were really nice. Or maybe, I was just on a high that nothing could actually annoy me. Two hours prior to landing I was surprised with thirteen glasses of champagne, a message from the manager and a card with notes from my all-Korean cabin crew workmates for the flight. A senior even called up the cockpit so I could come in and take pictures.

From the airport to the hotel, I was uncannily awake and I was tuned to my iPod and I kinda smiled remembering this might be the last time I'd ever ride the airport bus in Seoul. The smile reached the driver's seat. Checked in, I got my favorite room 406. Took my 'ref bag' and as soon as I got to my room, it all just sunk in.

I opened my bag and just stared at everything in it. It's time. I shall be packing one last time and soon enough, I'd be done living out of a suitcase. No more handwashing my laundry in the shallow sink, no more eating canned-microwave-heated food all the time, no more checking in on Creworld if my showup got delayed... And the list goes on.

Morning came and I was up at eight. Took a bath and headed to the office. I paid the tickets for my parents' US-UK trip, which by the way costed me around $1200, then went to see the overseas crew deputy general manager, Mr. Won. I didn't know what to say when he asked, "What can I do for you," I just handed him a piece of paper with something printed that I had drafted over two months ago.

"My resignation letter," I said to answer his questioning gaze.

We talked on what the problem was, and I was able to give my honest to goodness insight on how it was with Asiana, and what possible solutions they can give. I was surprised that I was delivering every line without bitterness or hatred. It was as if I was a third person and not at all the person affected by all the things I was talking about. I was calm, and I was speaking to him with grace, confidence and conviction. He must've asked me three times if it was my final decision and he would receive a very confident yes. If only he knew!

On my way back to the hotel, I felt like I was in transition. In Manila, on the day before I leave each month, I have what I call my transition period when I fall silent and I'm just watching everyone around me, trying to absorb "home" and preparing myself for another few weeks of broken English or possibly nobody to talk to all the time. But this time it was the other way around; the intake was for Korea. At one intersection, I glanced over to see the hotel where we stayed at during the training, and on the left was the supermarket where we gladly go to every weekend of it.

Soon as I arrive, I packed my stuff. We--Gillian, Cha, Kara and I--had samgyupsal for dinner. We hanged out at my room until now, and half past three in the morning, where we were joined by Jila, Precious and Kat too. I was able to see Ms Revi, Debbie, Denise and Gandy at the lounge and I was happy that they were able to see the happiness in me when I told them that I quit. "Twinkle in [her] eyes," as Ms Debs puts it.

----

I will be forever thankful to have been able to travel and see some of the most interesting places on earth, but most importantly I believe that my almost-three-years stay had made me stronger, more independent and matured in so many ways.

To my seniors, thank you for all the guidance, tutoring and help especially when we barely even knew what the galley even looks like.

Thank you--
Ms Kara and Kat, for spending the last night with me.
Ms Tonette, for making me realize that I have the option to quit and not wait til it may be too late. And that life will not end after Asiana; that it may actually start. You are one of my biggest influences on my decision. I am glad to have flown with you.

To my batchmates, I will so miss you. From training days, to church days, to everything. We've learned to depend on each other and without all of you we wouldn't have been able to survive the bulls**ts in flights, the scarcity of food, nor the times when we would get sick and homesick.

My special thanks--
Precious, my roomie. For being ever so honest and dependable. Alam mo na yun.
MM, for the insights I sometimes overlook but you never fail to present to me.
Gillian, from yosi breaks to, yes, sharing life stories.
Cha, the frankness on what to do and what nots.
Mica, for all the time that I've felt I found a true friend in you.
Jila, my churchmate, alam mo na yun.

To my nine batchmates no longer with Asiana, well welcome me to the club as your tenth member! Leona, Erika, Mara, Sebie, Anne, Bianca, Ate Jacq, Kat and Gab: I feel the excitement. I know you guys are happy with where you are now and I know you feel how I feel--that Asiana days would always be buried deep inside our hearts.

For the last time, sugohashutsumnida. Annyeonghi gyeshipsio. Safe flights always.

Yet Again

2009-03-07T06:58:00.002+08:00

It's a crazy, crazy and unexplainable time. One minute everything's okay, the next you have nothing.

When people get too shattered, all they have to do is drop things, go back to their comfort zone til they're well and ready enough to step out of it again and take the risks. I, for one, don't have this comfort zone anymore. It feels like my family treats me as a visitor and nothing more. My friends are still kinda in the dark and my best friend won't talk to me.

I'm lost. Yet again.

And now I'm sick, literally.

One Word

2009-02-11T10:20:00.002+08:00

From Abet. USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? ROOM
2. Your significant other? HARDWORKING
3. Your hair? UNTAME
4. Your mother? EMAILING
5. Your father? HOME
6. Your favorite thing? LAPTOP
7. Your dream last night? SCARY
8. Your favorite drink? COFFEE
9. Your dream/goal? MARRY
10. What room you are in? OFFICE
11. Your hobby? PHOTOS
12. Your fear? UNLOVED
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? SF
14. Where were you last night? MM'S
16. Muffins? HMM
17. Wish list item? NOTHING
18. Where you grew up? NAVOTAS
19. Last thing you did? URINALYSIS
20. What are you wearing? COAT
21. Your TV? HOTEL
22. Your pets? DEAD
23. Friends? GREAT
24. Your life? BETTER
25. Your mood? FINE
26. Missing someone? ALWAYS
28. Something you're not wearing? HAT
29. Your favorite store? H&M (one word ba to?)
30. Your favorite color? PURPLE
33. When is the last time you laughed? YESTERDAY
34. Last time you cried? MONTHS
35. Who will resend this? DUNNO
36. One place that I go to over and over? BAGUIO
37. One person who emails me regularly? MOM
38. My favorite place to eat? ANYWHERE
39. Why you participated in this survey? BORED
40. What are you doing tonight? PACK

Mouthwatering

2009-02-10T18:20:00.002+08:00

I was outside a coffee shop when this car (in gray) zoomed by. The lights turned red so it stopped a few meters away from me. /i checked it out like I was checking out the next person to date! Haha. It was... mouthwatering! LOL. Honda Civic Coupe. Nuninuninu....

Stickers on Tabby

2009-02-05T16:57:00.003+08:00

The Old English silver stickers that spelled out T-I-A on Tabby got lost so Tabby was nameless for quite sometime. Cha bought a pad of stickers and we used the leftovers. It stuck on so well that it didn't give me a chance to realign the T which as you may notice has its own direction... :) Cute!

Nightmares

2009-02-04T22:25:00.002+08:00

Geez it's Feb already. It was as if it was just the beginning of the year, but hey we're already done with one-twelfth of the year! It's been a crazy time for me, oh yea.

I had been having nightmares for quite sometime now and I've been having them lately more often than I used to. A week won't pass without a couple of nights when I'd just wake up feeling breathless and sweaty. In my dream, it would always be something like a dark alley and someone is running after me so I had to run the fastest that I can and all there was was a bright exit, much like if you were in a subway then you go find the end of the tunnel. I don't go to that exit of course, much to my conscious unconsciousness, for fear that that might be the end of life as I know it.

It's so difficult to wake up; in my dream I tell myself, "wake up, wake up!" I feel like screaming so that the sleeping me would wake up but no sound comes out. I feel so stiff but I'm running (weird huh?) and now I dread every single night and I won't go to bed unless I'm almost bumping into my laptop... I fly every flight like a zombie and it gives me terrible migraines...

On Twilight saga

2009-01-21T14:07:00.003+08:00

So out of boredom, I stayed at a 24-hour coffee shop nearby the hotel yesterday for about four hours. One pretzel and two grande sized mocha latte mugs later, I've finished my fourth hardbound book of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn. What can I say, so much hype, so much hype. Stephenie Meyer, is...okay.

I watched the Twilight movie after I read the book, so as only to compare who I've imagined with who they casted for the roles, the way I did with The Da Vinci Code. Haha.

Bella - just right
Charlie - he's okay but I pictured someone a little chubbier
Edward - not as handsome as they had described in the book, but his acting perfectly suited him; would've casted Sean Faris if he could do the acting
Carlisle - I don't know who the actor was, but he suits the character
Esme - with Grey's Anatomy's Ava, hmm... I think she looks too plain for the role, I would've imagined something to the Nicole Kidman-ish elegance
Rosalie - a major disappointment; the book exudes her as someone so high up the pedestal in terms of beauty; should've been at least Elisha Cuthbert
Emmett - good casting
Jasper - he looks exactly as described in the book: he looks totally in shock most of the time; Seth Green would do exactly the same thing to me
Alice - perfect
Jacob - I couldn't say much about
Jessica - so highschool, like her character
Eric - I didn't know he was supposedly Asian
Mike - a little frail looking than I would've thought
Angela - I imagined she was white, sorry
James - he's okay-ish, the acting did it

And for the future semi-major roles, here's my imagination going on again...

Victoria - Alyssa Milano or something, the one in Twilight didn't really register in my head; she's that forgettable, or say, the one who played Jean Grey in The X-men movies
Jane - I can't imagine a pretty frail looking actress but then again, maybe Amy Adams can do this
The Volturi - I have no idea
Renesmee - a younger Abigail Breslin
Sam - I couldn't really imagine for those American Indian characters...

Oh well that's all for now. Til the next movie.

A plane crashes

2009-01-19T02:40:00.002+08:00

I was aboard a bus the night (at least in Seoul) that the US Airways flight 1549 crashed morning in Hudson River. I was absently looking at the television on the bus when a submerged airplane came on. It perked me up--that being a big deal to my work. Of course, I didn't understand a single thing as the news was in Korean. As I got to my hotel room the first thing I did was browse the net for news. Pretty soon enough Jack, my batchmate/workmate, had already sent a news excerpt to our Yahoo! groups email.

As flight attendants, we should have had been worried, scared even, that planes go crashing. But instead we were like, "OMG that was so good!" We were trained to evacuate a water landing, that's right, but history shows that water landings aren't actually that survivable. Especially for big aircrafts, a water landing could mean disaster as most big planes would break in half if the landing isn't very much controlled. The plane had to glide like paper before it hits the water or else it break and simply crash. The plane on flight 1549 is relatively small, but the pilot and crew did an excellent job. Every other flight attendant is sure wishing now to be able to be as calm as the crew on that flight if it becomes our turn to do our evacuation procedures.

Kudos to the crew of flight 1549 and more power to US Airways. :)

Getting on my nerves

2009-01-18T21:24:00.002+08:00

It's really been difficult focusing on work lately. I dunno if it's just me or the fuckin' Korean culture is getting on my nerves again. Yesterday I flew and got blamed for something I didn't do, simply because they thought I did it cause none of them Koreans did it... or so they say they didn't.

Today I flew with an amazing set of crew... But the male Korean passengers on my flight were like the least likeable on earth. They treated us like a personal maid or a psychic who'd read their minds once they thought of something. Duh!

On the way back I went with a different team and flew as a passenger. Then I got blamed for whatever mistake that one of the juniors in my set of crew had done earlier. It got the manager upset and the junior on the flight where I was supposedly not even working even had the nerve to scold--no one else but--me. I'm pretty sure that had I been Korean, that junior won't even have the least confidence to tell me of "my" mistake; that of which I didn't even commit in the first place. She just got lucky that I had a good flight before she did that or else I would have retorted angrily with something condescending till she doesn't understand a single English word I'm saying!

Until I Don't Know What It Is Anymore

2008-12-06T16:46:00.002+08:00

When you can't cry anymore, when you run out of tears, how do you express your sadness? When frowning just won't make it...

I have practically given up on myself. I used to have everything going on for me, and now that's just not the case. For a month or so already, I have not been talking much to people the way I used to. Everyone would just throw me "why's" or "how's," and I just won't be able to come up with a single answer. It makes me want to dig deeper into the ground and just bury myself, so that people would just stop noticing.

I had basically lost everything. I don't have a dream, I don't have goals. I don't have a plan and summarizing it all up, I don't have a life. What's the sense in living if you don't have a life? The depression is unbearable. But I guess in a sense, I deserve all these.

If tomorrow I don't wake up, I want everyone to know that you can't judge me from hearsay nor from what I say because believe me, that's just half the story. I love, loved, until I don't know what love is anymore.

Sympathy

2008-11-24T08:54:00.002+08:00

My condolences to Bianca and her family. A few days ago five men broke into their house, robbed them and stabbed her grandmother to death. In Bianca's own words, "there is no way to justify" all of these.

I wish them strength and peace of mind.

Answers

2008-11-02T15:27:00.003+08:00

When finally you get the answers and it still doesn't feel any better, what hope is there that tomorrow will be? Though the last piece of the puzzle is finally in place, I still feel incomplete. I feel inadequate.

All this time I was blaming myself; that maybe I didn't do enough, or all of these are results of my weakness, mistakes and inadequacy. Then finally the bomb drops and you realize that all along, it wasn't even you. It should have made me feel better, knowing it wasn't me... But then it didn't.

The Drive

2008-10-30T05:35:00.002+08:00

Have you ever felt like nothing--absolutely nothing--is going right with your life? That's exactly how I feel right now. I was in San Francisco the other day and I was literally crying my heart out. I slept so long (a big thanks to my sleeping pills too) to lessen the hours that I have to think things over. I'm numbing myself--the way Al would always do in times he's problematic. The last time I felt like this was February 2005.

Then you start shunning people out of your life and create your own little world where people won't ask, won't care and you won't have to explain a wee bit. I've had my life turn out exactly the way I wanted it to turn out. But right now, the way my life drives is like it's making a sharp turn without even putting the blinkers on. It doesn't really matter anymore whether the lights are green or red; I better let the people know that I'm switching my hazard lights on now, for the steering wheel has lost its grip.

It's me against the world. I'm being tried...like the trials before aren't difficult enough. I would usually just go with the flow and let my instincts, fate and God take the wheel and bring me to the path I should be on. But lately none of those that I rely on would show and lead me. It's just me, myself and I, plus the biased opinions and more confusion that is all there is to it.

I am not the person who wouldn't have answers, but as of late, my answer bank is just empty and not a single hint comes up.

The drive right now isn't even choosing on Y-road. It's wandering aimlessly at a desert and not knowing whether or not you're even on a path or you're just driving around in circles.

Yes, I'm eager to quit my job

2008-10-09T11:19:00.000+08:00

You know you're not really into what you're doing anymore when you did something negative and you're not even bothered.

I'm writing this post as I await my showup here at the office. I was supposed to fly Bangkok today, but I went to the medical center instead to complain about my back pain that had been around for more than two weeks, and got me crying and cursing a couple of flights back. The drama doesn't end there--it hasn't even started. The doctor checks on me and the nurse hands over the meds and cool patch to me. The next step: schedule team.

I approach Ms. Yoon, the one in-charge of anything that has to do with filing for sick leaves, and recognizes me from my nametag. I propose to her that to avoid getting a miss flight record for today, I would fly my Bangkok flight, but instead of going on a layover and be back on Saturday, I said if it's possible I won't get off the plane and just go with the flight going back to Seoul. Quickturn, in short. That way, today's flight is still okay and they have more than 24hours to find someone to fly the Bangkok-Seoul leg on Saturday. Capital rule: informing the schedule team that you can't fly coz you're sick at least 24 hours before showup time.

Ms. Yoon understands and calls the schedule team. Skd team says, it's still a miss flight record since I can't fly the Bangkok-Seoul scheduled flight on Saturday. I rebut to Ms. Yoon by saying, 'if I fly to Bangkok, get sick in Bangkok and call the schedule team from Bangkok, it wouldn't be considered miss flight since I was able to inform them 24 hours prior to the flight; now how come I'm telling them 48hours ahead and they're telling me it's considered a missed flight?' We get up and go see Mr. Won, our overseas crew manager. He says the same thing: miss flight record.

Ms. Yoon looks at me and awaits for my decision. Will I fly, will I not? It took about three seconds for me to decide, "Then Ms. Yoon, I'll just miss my flight now. It doesn't make any difference that I fly Bangkok then get a miss flight record or miss my flight now and go home." To which Ms. Yoon said, "Yeah, makes sense."

You know how those Mastercard commercials are? The "priceless" tagline? The way that Mr. Won's jaw dropped as if to say, "I don't believe you're actually missing your flight," was PRICELESS. I stood up to follow Ms. Yoon and Mr. Won still can't find the words. Finally when I was almost at the door he said, "Katrina-ssi, miss flight record is serious and I'm sorry to hear that you had to have one. Take care of your health." I smiled and simply said, "Kamsahamnida, Mr. Won."

You know you hate your job when you do things to endanger your career but you don't even feel a tinge of regret. Couldn't care less. =) Can't wait to finish this contract and resign.

Reposting from ate Kaye

2008-10-07T17:55:00.003+08:00

My second-cousin ate Kaye reposted this forwarded message on her Multiply account. Reposting.

+ + +

DOES LOVE FADE?

My husband is an Engineer by profession, I love him for his steady nature, and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders. Three years of courtship and now, two years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it. The reasons of me loving him before, has now transformed into the cause of all my restlessness. I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings, I yearn for the romantic moments, like a little girl yearning for candy. My husband, is my complete opposite, his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about love.

One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce. "Why?" he asked, shocked. "I am tired, there are no reasons for everything in the world!" I answered. He kept silent the whole night, seems to be in deep thought with a lighted cigarette at all times. My feeling of disappointment only increased, here was a man who can't even express his predicament, what else can I hope from him? And finally he asked me:" What can I do to change your mind?" Somebody said it right, it's hard to change a person's personality, and I guess, I have started losing faith in him. Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered : "Here is the question, if you can answer and convince my heart, I will change my mind, Let's say, I want a flower located on the face of a mountain cliff, and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death, will you do it for me?" He said :" I will give you your answer tomorrow.... "

My hopes just sank by listening to his response. I woke up the next morning to find him gone, and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting, underneath a milk glass, on the dining table near the front door, that goes.... My dear, "I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to explain the reasons further.." This first line was already breaking my heart. I continued reading. "When you use the computer you always mess up the Software programs, and you cry in front of the screen, I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs. You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open the door for you. You love traveling but always lose your way in a new city, I have to save my eyes to show you the way. You always have the cramps whenever your "good friend" approaches every month, I have to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy. You like to stay indoors, and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom.. You always stare at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes, I have to save my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails, and help to remove those annoying white hairs. So I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand... and tell you the colour of flowers, just like the color of the glow on your young face.... Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do... I could not pick that flower yet, and die.. "

My tears fell on the letter, and blurred the ink of his handwriting. .. and as I continue on reading... Now, that you have finished reading my answer, if you are satisfied, please open the front door for I am standing outside bringing your favorite bread and fresh milk... I rush to pull open the door, and saw his anxious face, clutching tightly with his hands, the milk bottle and loaf of bread....

Now I am very sure that no one will ever love me as much as he does, and I have decided to leave the flower alone... That's life, and love. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away, and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness. Love shows up in all forms, even very small and cheeky forms, it has never been a model, it could be themost dull and boring form.. flowers, and romantic moments are only used and appear on the surface of the relationship. Under all this, the pillar of true love stands... and that's our life... Love, not words win arguments...

My Blueberry Nights

2008-09-28T22:17:00.002+08:00

I saw this movie (starring Norah Jones) while on my flight as an add crew from New York to Seoul. It was a bit dragging at first, but there are just a few lines I wanna share.

"How do you say goodbye to someone you can't imagine your life without? You don't. You just walk away."

"I just wanted him to let go of me. But now that he has, it hurts me more than anything in the whole world."

That's not the point!

2008-09-28T21:49:00.002+08:00

On a London flight sometime mid-September, it was another hellish flight for me. As usual, it's not the passenger (well maybe partly) to blame, but I'd rather blame it on the crew members I was working with that day.

On long-haul flights like these, we usually serve two meals, the first one having a choice between Korean food (bibimbap or sometimes it's ssambap) and Western food (usually beef steak). As I approached the last row of my zone, I ran out of the steaks. Panic mode. People don't usually like having no choice especially if they're not that adventurous on food. Serving the last two Australian passengers, I was stuck with one steak and a bibimbap tray. Unfortunately, they both wanted steak. I gave the steak to the lady and asked if the man wanted to try the Korean food. No, of course. I go back to the galley and recheck that we have absolutely nothing else. Turns out, we do have the steak, but the side dishes that come with it, we don't. I'm asked by my senior to offer the steak on a tray of Korean side dishes.

They look really upset, and I'm surprised, as Western people are usually more understanding than demanding Koreans. And it's not like I did not apologize for the choice shortage in American English. Turns out, they've been irate for days already. Their original flight was cancelled so they had to take the flight that was three days later; that day was the man's 60th birthday and they had to cancel his 60th birthday party in Sydney all because their original schedule was cancelled. Also, they were told they'd be upgrade to business class as compensation. Obviously, I'm serving them so they're in economy. Then of course they got the last seat and now not a decent meal he can eat. I sigh, told him I'll see what I can do and head back to the galley.

I looked for the economy class senior and told her my dilemma. This couple is really upset and I know that a complain would soon follow. I am not afraid of complaints, it's just that I understand where these people are coming from and they're helpless. My senior reiterates offering the steak on a Korean tray. Absurd. I asked her if she could at least get a tray from the business class or some fruits or bread. Anything. She shrugs, gets the interphone, talks, hangs up and tells me all the business class trays/china/cutleries are used already. Unbelievable. Business class would always have 120% of what they need.

I head back to the passenger, so sure he won't take what I kept on offering him. Sure enough, I get shouted at, his eyes rolling like a slot machine and how I knew my face was already beet red and wished I could open the door at 36,000 feet and jump out of the plane. I go back to the galley, with every other person's eyes on me of course. There's not a word to explain how I was feeling.

At the galley, my senior asks me what happened. I'm so furious I can't even say a word, I was just taking really deep breaths. I wanted to tell her, I wouldn't be shouted at and humiliated in front of a hundred people if she'd just listen and understand why this is just not about the food. She even tells me that the passenger can't expect special treatment just because today was his birthday. I told her, "That's not even the point!" I was like an angry customer and I was looking for our cabin manager. Like magic, he appears from behind the business class curtains. One more time, I relay my story, his story and orders--yes order--my manager to get something from business class. Anything. I told him, "I am very sure you will get a complain today if you don't." That seemed to do the trick, they're so afraid of complaints, especially from non-Koreans as they won't be able to follow what an irate English-speaking passenger would be saying.

Poof, in a couple of minutes, the manager was holding a business class tray complete with wine glasses. I shot my senior a what-the-fuck-did-you-do-earlier look and walked out of the galley and to the passenger. I apologized one last time that there are no more of the side dishes that he wanted and instead I got him something from business class. He was appreciative and sighed as I wished him a happy birthday despite everything.

When I got back to the galley, I needed a minute to stay composed as I was so mad at my senior for lying to me that there's nothing she can do when I know too well that that's impossible. She had the nerve to ask me, "Is he okay?" To which I nodded once and proceeded to do what's next. I was serving coffee and I saw her approaching the passenger telling him, "I hope you're okay, if there's anything I can do, please let me know." I looked at her with my eyes saying, "After doing nothing, you'd tell the passenger that?" Kapal ng mukha.

For Lola's 80th

2008-09-15T06:59:00.002+08:00

Naunahan ako ni Dete Jan magpost ng gantong entry! Wahaha. We have a surprise for lola, initiated by Tita Doris who will make a video presentation on how each grandchild perceives Lola to be. Here's my share:

Lola is THE SUPREME COURT. Nothing is final until Lola says so. She will make most decisions when it comes to almost everything. She knows what's right, what's best, all the time. She has taught me to stand by my own decisions in life, even if it means defending it to her like a lawyer defends his case. She will point out the cons of a certain matter, showing just how much she is concerned about your welfare. That being said, no approval is more sought after than Lola's nod; it's as rewarding as being acquitted of charges in a trial and winning your case.

Michael V

2008-09-05T11:42:00.000+08:00

Kudos to my favorite local comedian! Michael V just made it to the cover of Reader's Digest Asia for this month of September 2008. The article on him (made available here thru RD Asia online) is just as interesting as he is. He is one person I never get tired of watching. For me he's like the Adam Sandler of Philippine television. Anyhow, I just wanted to say I'm proud of him and he deserves the attention of a good publication like Reader's Digest. :)

After a quarter

2008-09-03T07:22:00.001+08:00

It's like I've been away from some of my [highschool] friends for three months coz I wasn't able to squeeze em in my schedule when I used my days off to go to SF. I soo missed them. Drunks talk at around 3-ish in the morning. Haha. You know your friends are drunk when they start talking about the "why's" of each of her own love life. Round two pa! :)

Classes that make you dumber

2008-08-24T22:05:00.001+08:00

My batchmates and I are nearing the end of our second year here at Asiana so we were required to undergo our recurrent training for us to be able to renew our work contract. For two days, we were given lectures, tests and drills. It reminded me again how much [bad] English you could get in Korea. Out of boredom, I wrote some lines that our instructors had said :)

- When you open the [lavatory] door fastly, the fire will get bigger than bigger.

- Touch the door from the upside to the downside.

-The air in the cabin is circulated to the outside by ventilate system.

- At 10,000 feet, all passengers can alive so it's possible to open the door.

- During ditching, the aircraft will slowly down to the water.

- We can experiencing that in the current state.

- But this requires a money.

- Now we back to the first slide. You don't need every things.

- You need to memory the category of aviations.

- When you report, who is investigate this events?

Saving the Earth One Switch at a Time

2008-08-14T11:18:00.001+08:00

My hoodie says: Go Green

My confession: I'm an eco-freak. I love the nature and I notice how much green there is in a city. When my dad asked me what Singapore is like, I said, "It's clean and green." Then for a second I thought that was a really funny thing to say. Clean and green. But it's true.

And I try to "save the Earth," seriously. I don't plant trees or anything like that, but my motto is what my post title is: Saving the Earth, one switch at a time. Small things I do on my own. And hopefully if people start doing their little things then it's gonna be big. :) Here are the things I confess that I do (call me freak it's okay):

- I switch off the lights in my hotel room if I'm watching TV or just surfing the net. I don't really need the lights, do I?
- Still fails, but I TRY to use just one towel per stay. I try. Not always successful on this one.
- I hardly watch TV. Yey!
- Because I can't sleep when it's warm, I don't use the heater during winter.
- I open the drapes and use natural a.k.a. sun light during the day.
- I try to remember to unplug my laptop once it's charged and let it discharge and then plug it back in when it's low on battery, rather than having it plugged all the time. Saves my battery too.
- Al and I started using candles at night when we're just watching a movie, instead of the side lamp. Smells good too!
- I don't let my mobile phone plugged in too long after it's charged.
- I bring my own toiletries on layovers. I don't like using hotel amenities and leave them three quarters full; the housekeeper would probably just throw the opened bottles and used soaps away.

There are things though that I'm still guilty about:
- Not turning off the shower while shampooing/soaping. Eh mahirap buksan ulet to the right temperature that I like!
- Full blast aircon. I try to think this is neutralized with not using the heater on winter :)

How do YOU save the Earth?

My Parents' SF Week

2008-08-09T12:56:00.006+08:00

Having my parents in the United States was fun. Finally I was able to benefit from my work. They were excited, I was excited and their friends and relatives are even more excited! Everyday my T-Mobile kept ringing and a new number would appear and immediately pass on my phone to my mom. San Francisco was their first city in the US and as my father said, it wasn't much of a culture shock. He wouldn't be, knowing there are a lot of Filipinos there.

Day 1

My hunny dropped me off at the airport before he went to work and I waited for over an hour until I saw them come out of the automatic doors. Wee! I almost exclaimed, "Welcome to the United States!" Haha. Mama picked us up and we went home and gave them time to unpack and nap. I should know how sleep deprived they were, going through what they went through, just a week earlier. By dinnertime Papa is home and we head to Henry's, a Filipino restaurant where a band plays. Al came as soon as he got off work.

Day 2

Mama dropped us off at Serramonte where we were to meet tita Beth, a friend of theirs from Navotas. While waiting, we ended up browsing through Target and shopping for shoes at Payless. Tita Beth eventually came, and we went to Fisherman's Wharf. Starving, we dig in to clam chowders and everything seafood :) Pier 39 for pictures and then bought souvenirs too. I was insistent on going home already as my fresh-from-the-Philippines parents don't really know the time and thought that the sun is still out so it must still be 4-ish in the afternoon when in fact it was already past six! I had to go home to cook dinner coz Mama will be home soon and she doesn't have dinner. I was to cook Kare-kare and Nanay ended up doing it, haha! We invited tita Beth to have dinner at home to have a Filipino dish. Meanwhile, Al and I had to go to downtown San Francisco as soon as he got home from work coz they had a recording session.

Day 3

It's a Sunday and Tatay wanted to go to a thrift shop that tita Beth was telling him. It was an hour away and we took the BART to save on gas money--meet tita Beth instead of her going to SF to pick us up then to her place (Walnut Creek) then bring us back to SF. The store hours wasn't what we thought was so we had breakfast at Denny's muna then went back shopping. My parents spent about $150 in total, to think that items are $5~10 on the average! We weren't able to catch the 2pm Tagalog mass in SF so we went to meet tito Edwin and Gab (tita Beth's husband and daughter, respectively) and had snacks of ukoy and lumpia at home. I asked Nanay to cook her masterpiece Korean beef stew, then we went to hear mass at the nearby St. Augustine's church. It was five blocks away, we don't have a car so we gotta walk. Tatay said it's difficult to explain how strong the wind was, I say it's like you're driving on NLEX with your windows down. Then add to that the temperature of 12 degrees Celsius.

Day 4

Finally Al has a day off so we went to Union Square and gave them a dose of huge American steaks at Tad's. Then, off to the crookedest street--Lombard. We were at the top so we had to descend the stairs and then climb it on the way back. It was also my first time there. We went a few blocks down to Embarcadero and then later that afternoon we went to CostCo. We waited for Papa to get off work and we headed to Milpitas and dined at Hot Pot City.

Day 5

Brunch at the Half Day Cafe, the only place that I actually want my parents to go to. It reminded me so much of Cafe by the Ruins in Baguio. Brunch was followed by endless tries to get a Golden Gate shot sans the fog. Then proceeded to "Italy": The Palace of Legion of Honor. Afterwards, we cruised down Ocean Beach and attempted to have snacks at the Cliff House, but failed. It was expensive! We checked my parents in at an inn that they were really supposed to be at and we had dinner with Mama at a Chinese buffet off the airport highway.

Day 6

We drove thru McDonald's for breakfast and picked up my parents from the inn Now I put the Painted Ladies on the top of the list. I must say it was disappointing to see. It's a lot prettier in pictures! Anyway, dad insisted we go to Danville for reasons I don't know so we drove a good hour going there. Temperature was so different than in San Francisco, I was perspiring endlessly. We ended up at another thrift shop and while they shopped, Al and I hanged at Taco Bell for a cool fix of shakes. Had an early dinner afterwards with tita Beth and tito Edwin at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Drove back to San Francisco and panic packed my balikbayan box.

Last day in SF

I never imagined I'd be using a balikbayan box, ever in my life. My parents shopped for so much that I'd be bringing an 18x18x18 box going home and leaving a 22x22x22 box at Al's for them to send it by ship. We woke up early and picked Nanay and Tatay from the inn, and dropped them off to the domestic terminal. They took the 11:30am United flight to LAX and I went to the international terminal to take the Asiana flight going home. My flight was at 1:15pm so before I flew, my parents were already in LA!

Finally... "Welcome!"

2008-08-02T02:59:00.000+08:00

After so much stress and playing-it-by-ears, finally my parents are here in the States for a visit. It was both their first long haul flight and they were as tired as I was when I got here a week ago. They were lucky enough to have been granted American tourist visas--ten years multiple entries visa--a few days back and were luckier to have gotten on board as chance passengers on the first try.

You would say there's nobody else more thrilled than I am, but you're wrong. Nanay's highschool barkadas here in the States are waaay more excited than I am! They had been wanting Nanay to come to the States for around five or so years now but Nanay never applied for a visa. And now they're here. On free tickets!

They'll be spending a week here in SF and then they're flying to LA to visit some friends and relatives too. Hopefully next year they're going East Coast naman.

Thank you to Ms Jane (and Ms Sweet) who were really nice to my parents during the flight :)

Free Doesn't Mean Easy

2008-07-23T20:32:00.001+08:00

Good morning sunshine! ...Well at least for me. It's sleeping time in Manila right now but hey I'm not there. I'm far behind and my July 23rd is just starting. 08:43am as I write. I'm finally on my vacay that I've been calculating and planning and planning and planning for at least a couple of months now. But hey, it didn't come easy.

July 20th. I went home on the morning flight. Arrived at NAIA at around lunchtime. Off to get a 3G phone that will work in Korea. Luckily mommy dearest has two new phones: one from Smart that she gets every two years, and another from an upgrade of her company phone. Tatay, Nanay and I all talk into switching phones to save me from a possible PhP12,000 spend and kuya from PhP5,000 (coz he was gonna buy my phone when I get a new one). So yea you guessed it, I got the Nokia 6500 classic by using my "communication skills". Finished off businesses I needed to take care of in Manila.

July 21st. Woke up at 9am. Packed my bags, called up Expedia, booked for an inn, talked to the work manager who called me about some "irresponsibility" (like I care), and by 9pm I'm at NAIA once again. Went to the check in counter and found it odd that they're still putting me on standby eventhough it isn't a full flight. (Free tickets are standby tickets.) I dig up Joseph's number (my UST batchmate who now works ground for Asiana) and ask him stuff. The power of texting prevails and in a matter of minutes I have my boarding pass.

Who knew that on the leg that I'm not worried about is where I'd have more difficulties? I was in at the immigration booth and this officer tells me I need my OEC(?) which was the OFW card. I told him I'm not one, yet. He's like, "You've been working overseas for two years blahblahblah." He orders me to go to the OWWA center, where they tell me I don't need it coz I'm flying for sightseeing and not for work. That makes sense. Just because I wrote "cabin crew" on the Occupation field I get in trouble?

I went back to the officer and thoroughly explained that I don't need it since I'm traveling not to work. Leisure. Sightseeing. Every possible word. And he was like, "You're flying to your home base to tour?" And I'm like, "I have standby tickets to the U.S." Then he goes, "Even so. Blahblahblah..."

I dunno what the hell is wrong with that bading pero he just doesn't listen. Finally I go back to the Asiana counter and Sir Sandy confirms that I don't need whatever the bading was asking of me and takes matters in his hands. I stand back a good 50meters away while Sir Sandy talks to the immigration officer and then gives me a go signal. Approaching the officer for the third time, he was like smiling and saying, "Oh magttour ka pala?" Tanginang yan. Which part of 'leisure,' 'travel,' 'tour,' and 'sightseeing' did he not understand? Tanginang yan. I smile with a sarcastic tangina-alam-mo-naman look. Hell, he asked me that I was going to Seoul to TOUR then he's gonna tell me, "Oh magttour ka pala?" The guy next to him was coughing "Bias" out loud and they were just laughing. Tanginang yan. He was like telling me to go to POEA earlier to do this and that and I'm telling him this flight is not for work. Heck I'm not even in uniform! Well maybe I should've just worn my uniform then pass through unharmed then changed into casual clothes just so I wouldn't have dealt with that horse. (I say horse because he's like one, you know, he sees only one direction and that direction only.)
July 22nd. I get to Incheon at a very early morning: 04:45am. The flight to San Francisco isn't for twelve hours. Hell yea you read that right. Half a day at the airport. I felt so Tom Hanks in The Terminal. The transfer desk I can't be issued a boarding pass yet as the SF flight is overbooked and I'd just have to pray and wish someone gets stuck in traffic and/or decides to go on another day. I'm instructed to go back to the desk ten minutes prior boarding. With that, I pull my luggage and find a dark spot in the airport where I put on my eyemask and sleep. After a couple of hours, I peek through my eyemask and see that the sun is up and the human density is increasing. I get up and freshen up before I choose McCafe as the place to have breakfast. I dig in the hotcakes while sighing, "Ten more hours."

Hella bored, I try my laptop at the wifi hotspot. Doesn't work; guy says something's wrong with the IP address. Good thing they have their own VAIOs so I use it and people are still asleep so it's no use. My phone works though. Good. By 10am I have walked past gates 30 to 50 and prolly have memorized the flights on those particular gates. I check out gate 40 where the SF flight would be at and notice there aren't many Filipinos. I settle for a seat and made a friend with an equally bored person and equally on the twelve-hour wait. Brian (from Vallejo) and I play Sudoku, play music on my laptop, get up, freshen up, he smokes, we eat, he sleeps, I shop... We've prolly done everything we could imagine but there's still more hours to pass.

By 3-ish I meet up with Cielo who's on the way to Singapore to get my money that she withdrew from my account. (Thanks Ciel!) 3:30 I wait around for Mi-Jin, who will go as add crew on the SF flight and hand her an English workbook that I bought from CostCo. She wishes me good luck in getting a seat as it's really full as per Ms Gandy and Ms Mariane (who would also be in the flight as duty crew and add crew, respectively). 3:40 I proceed to the counter and the manager tells me to return after ten minutes.

It was probably the longest ten minutes I could ever think of. I was literally staring at the clock until it struck 3:50. Ten minutes prior boarding. I hand over my passport, ticket, ID (for confirmation that I'm an Asiana employee) and cross my fingers. She still doesn't look up from the computer and it was making me nervous. Finally she says, "I'm sorry... You don't have a choice of seat, we only have one available." And I'm like, "OMG I don't really care which seat, as long as I get on the flight!" So lucky. Very lucky. I get an exit row so she briefs me: "Your seat is on the exit row so..." I just smile and confirm and she smiles back as she's saved from muttering more English words. On the plane, the cabin crew do the briefing. I memorized that by heart.

She hands me back my documents plus a boarding pass with one last sentence. "Go to the gate now." To which I wide-smiledly obey after saying endless kamsahamnidas.

Define DELAYED

2008-07-10T07:27:00.000+08:00

July 08, 2008 - OZ 752 - Singapore to Seoul
Scheduled Time of Departure - 23:30 Seoul Time
(all times are in GMT+9 timezone)

21:30. Checked out from the hotel.
22:25. Preparing service items for the flight inside the plane.
23:05. Getting myself ready for boarding of passengers.

Over the PA system, the cabin manager announces we'll have delayed boarding by two hours because there's an engine problem so they're still trying to fix it. Crew meal preparation starts. Hmm dinner. Just right, I'm starving. Took my celphone out of my bag and texted Al.

00:10. Having crew meal dinner on a passenger seat.

It was getting really warm inside the cabin as the engine won't be able to support the airconditioning system while it's being fixed. Meanwhile, we hoard blankets to provide the passengers at the gate area, where it's really cold. I remove my coat and continue eating.

01:30. Feeling really sleepy already, I made myself a cup of coffee.

Chatting with Ate Sofie, it's getting really really warm so I undid my scarf. Most of the crew is asleep on business class seats. I can't imagine how they could fall asleep when I'm sweating endlessly. Ew. Every now and then we hoard more cups, water, blankets, orange juice and hand them over to the ground staff who were taking care of the impatient passengers outside.

01:50. I overheard the first officer tell the captain that we will be extending another two more hours (lead time) to let the maintenance team work on the engine, and if it doesn't get fixed by then we'll have to head back to a hotel and fly in the morning. Right, as if it isn't morning yet.

By now passengers are really mad. I could tell by the faces of the ground staff. There was even a time when they asked one crew to go and talk to them coz the passengers wanted to speak to a Korean. More water, more juice, cups and almost every blanket has been given out by now. A number of passengers had gone back to hotels and will take the next Asiana flight the following night.

05:30. Over the PA, we were notified to prepare to go back to hotel.

Well finally! Scorching heat inside that metal tube called airplane got me looking like I already came from a flight. Oops, why can't we go out yet? They're trying to get as much passengers out from the gate area before we go through for fear that they'd attack us(?) We've been advised that some passengers are sleeping there already and will be flying on a Singapore Airlines flight in a couple of hours or so.

06.30. We're back at a hotel. Will get sleep before the sun rises!

13:30. I woke up from coma.
13:55. The phone rings. Wakeup call. Leaving the hotel by 14:15, flight by 15:30.

What the hell! Twenty minutes to prepare?! I call up Ate Sofie then literally run and change to my uniform, pull my hair back to whatever bun I could manage, dab a little makeup and run. Once inside the coach that takes us from the hotel to the airport, all of us were doing our makeup.

14:50. Airport. We learn it's a ferry flight!

Oh yea. So we really didn't need the makeup after all. We're flying ferry flight (no passengers). Hmm. It's my first. What do we actually do? No idea.

15:45. We're still in Singapore. WTH? Why aren't we moving yet? More delays! Waaaaaah! Some unclear paths over Manila (of all the places) makes it impossible to pass so we aren't cleared for takeoff.
16:00. Crew meal again. Me thinks, will the delays ever stop?

I'm so worried coz unlike most of the crew onboard who gets a dayoff on July 10, I don't. I'm scheduled to fly to LAX the following day, and yes Los Angeles is one of the most tiring flights and particularly the one I hate the most. I haven't had a decent sleep nor a decent shower--oh if only there's a shower room onboard I'd be the first one to use it!

17:00. Takeoff. Finally!

We just had to do the doors and then we're free to somersault in the aircraft. We all are in business class doing our own businesses. Haha. There's a galley full of supplies so when I get thirsty I just get up and serve myself. Add crew life in business class with absolutely no passengers. Hair down, coats and scarves off, and wearing slippers... We lounge around like I was just in Seokyo Hotel.

The big question in my head was: What's my schedule for the following days?

To the passengers who were freaking out and shouting, I have just one thing to say: Don't complain when there's a safety issue like this engine problem. There's always a choice: Fly then die in a crash, OR wait and actually get to your destination. You think we actually like delays? If you have to get to your destination asap and it's a matter of life and death, I believe you won't think twice about getting another flight. There always are other options.

I got LAX cancelled for me and was given days off if you must ask. :) Wee. I got checked in at the hotel past midnight. You could imagine the shock of the people at front desk. Haha.

Tips for an NY tour

2008-07-05T18:42:00.000+08:00

Tabby's really slow. I'm thinking of getting it downgraded to XP although Al said HP wanted to do troubleshooting over the phone before they send us a box to send Tabby to them and alter the configs. Like, it takes 30 plus minutes for a complete boot, otherwise it's gonna hang.

Updates, updates.

To those reading this on my official blog, I've been to New York where Al joined me for a three-day layover. Officially the navigator and tour guide for a good three days, not to mention travel agent. Everything's great. Getting lost and figuring out the subway station, referring to maps, getting drenched in the rain, queuing up with fellow tourist and of course, getting our cameras on their best modes for the must-capture photos.

Here are some tips to a good New York tour:
1.) Check the weather and dress accordingly.
2.) Buy an Empire State Building Express Pass off the internet. You'd be wowed how express "Express" could be. If you need entrance tickets, get them through the internet rather than onsite to save your time. If you plan on visiting a lot of places, consider the NY Pass.
3.) Use the subway (not advisable for late nights) and get a day pass.
4.) Street food is great.
5.) The less you carry, the longer you'd survive.
6.) Comfortable shoes and 5th Avenue go together.

That's all I could think of right now. I'm hella tired and sleep from my SF flight where I stayed for two days over at Al's. Shopped one day (ooh I love the 4th of July sales!) and the other dedicated to doing home stuff like laundry and cooking dinner. I'm on my fourth week of the six-week work period that I have--and my back hurts already. =[

TV Series addict

2008-06-23T23:20:00.005+08:00

Oh yea, I finished Grey's Anatomy's Season 4 in three days. And now I'm starting Gossip Girl. I just found out that there a lot of links online where you could stream videos, prolly TiVo-d episodes, and I'm enjoying it. No commercials, no fuss. I have to get a lot going on so I won't spend too much time looking at myself in the mirror and getting disappointed over my spots--which are now visible on my neck while wearing a t-shirt. Sigh.

Aaaaaanyway... I'm flying over to New York tomorrow and he's flying over too. Would you believe I'd wear a ring (that was in a jewelry set that my mom bought me for my 18th birthday) coz I'll be telling all the other crew that my fiance is coming over? Yea, to stop those gossipy gals from making a big deal out of boyfriends. They just don't get it, having boyfriends in another country. Oh well I hope NY weather cooperates and gives us just the right amount of shade to be in places we wanted to be.

New York. Haha. So Sex and the City. So Gossip Girl.

Bits and Bytes

2008-06-20T16:32:00.000+08:00

Thanks to everyone who wished me luck and offered prayers for me regarding my last post. Anyway, as usual I'm trying to make the most out of everything and now I'm making PLEVA an excuse to wear those bikini tops (ahehehe Hun, peace!) and get a tan. Maybe I do need to be tanner. I used to be. Then winter came and US flights too... Hmm gotta be more conscious about that from now on.

I've started my six week work period about a week ago so I'm down to five. What is it exactly? Well I had my June days off starting on June 1 and won't be home til last week of July--that's what we call "back-to-back" work (there's also back-to-back day off which is you go home last week of a month and it continues to first of the next)--and that means six weeks of no Manila. Could've been waay too hard for me but I was blessed to soon be able to feel a sense of home as I'm gonna see Al three times before the six weeks end.

On other news, I've been studying Manhattan subway system and I really found it hard at first and then I dug deeper into research and it's not so bad at all. Though it might not be a no-brainer as the LRTs we use in the Philippines or the Metro Seoul in Korea, but a subway map and common sense would be all you need. Hah! Let's see where it's gonna take me on my next layover--New York!

On yet another news, I absolutely hate Vista now. I'm thinking about going back to XP. Any thoughts on that? I'm just adamant that I'm gonna put that genuine Vista to waste.

Oops my time's almost up I'm here at Shangri-La New Delhi, and it's awesome. It's not all the time we get to stay at real five-star hotels. Hmmm. Wonder where we're gonna have dinner now... Til next post you guys! Will visit blogs when I get back to Seoul.

Back to Spots

2008-06-13T19:40:00.000+08:00

PLEVA (Pityriasis Leichenoides et Variolaformis Acuta) also known as Mucha Habermann's Disease is thought to be a disease of the immune system because of the white blood cells present. It is characterized by rashes and lesions, slightly raised red spots in layman's terms. It gets itchy when it's warm, spreads all over, looks like psoriasis and other people mistake it for chickenpox. It gets scabbed at times depending on how dry your skin or how much you scratch or pick on it. Predominantly on males but there are also women who suffer from the disease. Noticeable during the second and third decade of life.

I had this two years ago, right before I applied for my job. I went to three different dermatologists before someone actually diagnosed that I had PLEVA. Very little is know about the disease, the cause being unknown therefore the cure is too. Ultraviolet treatments help make the spots disappear for a period of time, going into remissions. Most antibiotics--oral or topical--are mostly ineffective. When the rashes flared up and I went on sick leave for a week, I went through steroids, creams, lotions and nothing worked. UV treatments at Makati Med are costly, so my dermatologist suggested I go sunbathing as often as I can since I'm always away on flights so I can't make it to the thrice a week treatments.

It went away after half a year or so, to my delight, because I'm already the color of wood from too much sunbathing. I never expected it to be back so soon, just a couple of years! Some people say theirs stay for years and some say they go away for years. Looks like mine's short-term.

It's depressing, yes. And I feel for those people (on blogs, forums and sites) who has had them for years. Yes, it does bring you down. The helpless feeling that you get when you're in a warm humid weather (a.k.a. Manila) and the rashes flare out, you're itchy but you can't scratch. The stares you get when you're in an elevator or riding the MRT and people move slightly away from you, thinking it's chickenpox. Oh yea, I'm getting depressed.

I try to sleep all the time to prevent myself from picking on it, from even remembering I have them. I stand in front of electric fans, under the airconditioning unit just so I'd feel cooler and less itchy. Pretty soon I won't be wearing sleeveless again or my signature V-cut blouses as the rashes would show. I kind of get why someone on one site said that if only the cure would be developed, he/she'd pay whatever the price just so he/she could live normal again.

I wonder why I get the medical stuff that can't be cured. Last week it was PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which might actually lead to stage two Diabetes, obesity and a difficult pregnancy or infertility, and then now it's PLEVA's return...

Humps on my Vacay

2008-06-11T04:18:00.000+08:00

I had been planning to go on a vacation on the last week of July connecting to the first week of August for so long. Planned to use our free tickets and tour my parents 'round Los Angeles and San Francisco (West Coast) but it seems it's getting difficult for us to do so.

First, I should request for a last-week-of-July days off in Manila and then do another request for the first week of August. The July ones got granted and then I heard that some pages of the request for August got lost... Nice. :(

Then as for my parents, I've been telling them to apply for a U.S. visa ever since the time I thought of this but they just prepared their stuff a couple of months back, and then a few days ago I learned they still haven't scheduled themselves for an interview so I pushed my mom to do it already... And I was right, there weren't any more slots for interview for June and July before our preferred departure! They got scheduled for July 28th.

Looks like I'm gonna go alone or something... Hmm. I'll have to wait for August schedule to come out and then I'll decide.

Lovin' Tabby!

2008-06-03T17:18:00.002+08:00

My HP tx2000 series baby--Tabby--is a week old now :) I'm still figuring some things out but anyhow, I'm satisfied and I am actually browsing for a protector for its screen. I saw this website from a review and I'm thinking of getting it.. The price isn't so bad at all, compared to the price of those I saw on eBay and stuff.

I've been to two different locations today and spent ample time surfing the net thru Wifi for free and I'm happy about that! I'm definitely on the hunt for free wifi hotspots now. Hahaha. Cheapskate! Battery life, I have no idea whether to be impressed or not as my old laptop was always connected to power supply, hahaha.

Vista... Hmm it's my first time to use Vista and I'm lost! Seriously. Hahaha. I miss the desktop gadgets that I used to have on my older laptop as the World Time gadget available for Vista isn't as lovely. The notes too; I can't pull it and make it longer so I have to scroll downwards to see all my notes. I do like the calendar reminders though, more efficient than before. The Start menu feels like a mess and I'm still on the quest on clearing as much system tray icons as possible. My desktop is already neat except for the Recycle Bin (as always) and the desktop gadgets.

Yahoo Messenger for Vista, currently on its Beta version, is a no-go. I just have it coz I like how it looks. But feature-wise, it isn't so wise to use it now. Go back to the older YM version.

I still don't have a full-version of an anti-virus, I just have the pre-installed trial version of Norton. I'm also still running on trial MS Office version. I haven't bought any Adobe Photoshop
software yet...and I'm itching to. :)

That's it for now folks!!!

My Baby

2008-05-30T18:16:00.001+08:00

I was back in SF after six weeks of waiting. Can't imagine how much I missed my Al. Ayun lang. I brought him some stuff I bought from Baguio, London, Manila and Sydney for him. Geez how many flights was it before I went back? And next month I don't even have an SF flight! Ohwell that's how it goes...

For other news, I got a new baby :) If last year it was D (my Nikon D40) and then a few months back it was Polly (my Nintendo DS Lite), now it's Tabby--my HP tx2000 series tablet laptop! I had been saving up for this baby for quite sometime now, and it was in and out of the market with its price going up and down. As soon as we got to SF, we headed to the only Circuit City store in a 30-mile radius where it was still available. And this is the last one in stock! Hahaha. Almost didn't make it!

We went in to the store, told the guy the model we're looking for, he says, "Yeah we have one." I go the counter, pay it and then leave. Yeah.

Anyway, SF layover was all about money this month. After paying a thousand or so for my laptop it was time to make tipid moves. Haha. I've sworn off being a nonchalant spender and keep in mind what my dad told me a few weeks back, "The problem that I see with you is that when you have excess money, you think of what you could purchase even if you don't need it; but when in fact you just have enough, you think of what you need and then you save for it." I'm quite guilty about this, especially this birthday month that I was home, I think I spent a month's pay in half a month.

So, enough window shopping for me. Will try to think of what I need instead of "browsing for what I need". Wish me luck!

Lips of an Angel

2008-05-18T20:14:00.001+08:00

That song, by Hinder, makes me shiver every time I hear it.

I gotta whisper coz I can't be too loud
My girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish it was you...

Fuckin' cheaters. I so hate cheaters, and just the thought that they're out there lurking plus the fact that anybody could actually become one pisses me off. As if cheating can't get any worse, it actually does. The worse part is when the person is married.

But girl you make it hard to be faithful...

If you can't be faithful with the one you're with right now, then leave him/her and go with the other one. There's no sense in being together when you aren't really in it. You have the guts, because you have the guts to go behind his/her back so use the guts and go head-on with your problem and tell your partner outright that you wanna see somebody else.

No I don't think she has a clue...

Knowing people cheat, that married people cheat, that some married people who you never expected could cheat are cheating makes me wanna throw up; kinda lost my faith on marriage for the meantime.

100 Q's from Obi

2008-05-15T21:59:00.000+08:00

1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT
Right arm, 1 by half inch rectangular scar from an inflight oven burn~ think 180degrees Celsius

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
A small corkboard and wall mirror

3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
Started snoring lightly when I gained weight, and when I'm really tired

4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Kahit anong isend sakin: Alternative, Pop, Techno, Rock, R&B, Soul, Hawaiian,, wag lang Hard Rock aka Slapshock type :)

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
9:46 am

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
To have the best of both worlds (al and family)

7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
San Francisco layover

8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?
my D

9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
5' 7"

10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
nope

11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
nope

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
edi si Al, lagi nalang! kainis!

13. WHATS YOUR WORST FEAR?
To be unloved

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Not very particular with hair/eye colors, basta lang bagay

15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF PROPOSING / BEING PROPOSED TO AT?
Somewhere may sunset? But yea anywhere might just be as nice

16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
Coffee! Tinatanong pa ba yan!

17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
Bacon, meat balls, extra cheese

18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Taho! Shet naman isang linggo na ko dito di pa ko nakakain ng taho ulet!

19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
Purple

20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
Like alive? Ew :)

21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
I think every gift is meaningful naman, I can't remember

22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
No

23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
Huh? Ano yun, paki explaaaaaaaaaaaaain!

24. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
Brand does not matter, design does

25. WHO IS THE HOTTEST FEMALE/MALE CELEBRITY?
Female: Megan Fox
Male: Chad Michael Murray and that guy on Step Up 1

26. DO YOU HAVE A PET RIGHT NOW?
No he died a couple of months ago and nobody told me! WAH!

27. WHAT KIND IS IT?
A dog

28. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
Been there, done that! Lech bat ganun!

30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
76

31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
Brunettes

34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
Uh, yea?

35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
Food :)

36. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
Yep

37. FIRST JOB?
Technically eRep sa PeopleSupport

38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
Yep to a classmate during first year highschool

39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE?
Yes, some people are just too lazy to find em

40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
Kausap si Al sa phone

41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
Nope

42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
Nothing I could think of right now

43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
Yes, two years to be particular

44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
That HP Laptop I've been eyeing for months!

45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT?
Two?

46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Katia came from a Russian ballerina(?) my mom saw on a magazine

47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Feel na feel na gwapo: Kahit gano pa sya kagwapo kung ang ugali nya e feeling nya nagkandarapa sa kanya yung mga girls e pasensya sya dahil hindi ako madadapa

48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU MISS ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
Tambay after classes

49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
Anti dandruff

50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Ayos naman

51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
HMMMMMMM?

52. ANY BAD HABITS?
I don't smile when there's nothing to smile about

53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
A very firm NO

54. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yeah kasi hindi ako plastik

55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
You mean if I have friends with benefits or if I understand? LOL

56. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Kinda thought it does pero now I don't think like that anymore

57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
Rolling my eyes

59. WHATS YOUR MAIN GOAL IN LIFE?
Be happy

60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
I don't have one

61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
IDK

62.WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
Bakit, cute ba sya?

63. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
I'm a master of it :)

64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
Mac and cheese men!

65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
No pretentions

66. WHAT ARE YOUR NAMES?
Katrina, Katia, Tia, Kat, Katsie, Ryne, Rhino, Ninang, Ate~~

67. Sino nag-bura ng number 67??

68. WHATS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
Mythbusters saka Aircrash Investigation

69.WHATS THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
Forget them

70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Ben and Jerry's chocolate almond brownie fudge

71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
Ooo namaaaaan

72. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
nope

73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
Timog siguro or Q Av?

74. WHAT'S THE FASTEST YOU'VE EVER GONE IN A CAR?
120 kph

75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Para may matutunan naman ako sa kanila

76. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Secondhand Serenade songs :)

77. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
Pepsi Max

78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Al

79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Eyes,, ay, hair?

80. WHAT DO U LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Mag internet

81. FAVORITE THING TO HATE?
My weight, hahaha

82. FAVORITE MONTH OF THE YEAR?
May kasi birthday ko saka bakasyon days :) tapos December kasi Christmas

83. WHATS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
Chewy candies

84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
Proud to say Yes

85. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Brownish black

86. EYE COLOR?
Dark Brown

88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
KFC and McDonald's: present in almost every country :)

89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
Hirap naman mag decide :) YlangYlang Cafe at Manila Hotel :)

90. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
Sashimi please

91. LAST THING YOU WATCHED?
Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Plus (naks kumpleto! minsan lang manood ng tv yan)

92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Birthday ko din syempre

93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
Nothing im really good at, a little of piano and guitar

94. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
I don't really care

95. KISSES OR HUGS?
Hugs

96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
WTF?

97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
Bagong bala kay Polly (my DS Lite)

98. DO YOU HAVE A LOW SELF ESTEEM OR A HIGH SELF ESTEEM?
High

99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
Wala, mga self-study Korean books galing kay MiJin

100. DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE LIFE:
OK naman, rolling (interpret!)

Happiness on GQ

2008-05-12T22:29:00.003+08:00

Excerpts from an article on GQ UK, June 2008:

"We live our lives under the godless heavens, we turn to man's final question: how to be happy?

To elbow our way to the peak of the working world or leave the rat race behind? To strive without ceasing for the nicer seat, the bigger house, the better job, the faster car, the prettier woman, all the gilded laurels of the big boys -- oh, would you be happy then?"

"We think we know what it takes, but soon learn that we know nothing. Happiness is more than the absence of pain. Happiness is more than a momen of transient bliss."

"We think that the recipe for instant happiness is to stuff it all in. All the women you can bed, all the drink you can hold down, all the fast, white powder you can shovel up your greedy little snout. But hedonism is merely the desperate flight from unhappiness."

"Success is a prerequisite of happiness but it doesn't get you there. It merely means you have collected your boarding card. The foundation of lasting happiness is built on many things, not least knowing when you have got it good."

"What links the high priests of happiness is their emphasis on balance, especially between opposed principles. The balance between longterm goals and immediate needs; the balance between self-interest and social benevolence; the balance between our potential and our limitations; the balance between family and work, love and sex, me time and them time, delayed gratification and the needs of right here, right now."

"Happiness is not a permanent state. You can't suddenly and unexpectedly arrive there, as though it was a destination just beyond the edge of the A-Z. Even with all the stalwarts in place -- the work going well, the weight kept off, the money coming in, the family happy, the sun shining -- happiness comes and goes, and the heartbreaker is that we so rarely appreciate it when we are up to our necks in it."

24 Hours of Turning 22

2008-05-10T00:43:00.004+08:00

00:41 ~ On my way home from Clark airport, I switched my phone on and messages started coming in. Unsurprisingly, my best friend Jhen's was the first to come.

01:25 ~ I called dad to tell him I'm on my way home and he told me he isn't home: he's at Makati Medical Center where my mom is confined for the second night already. Late news! Mom didn't want me to worry so they didn't tell me; I asked the driver to drop me off at Makati Med instead.

01:58 ~ Woke Nanay up and got settled into a sofa. Dozed off.

06:30 ~ My eyemask gets pulled off and it's kuya waking up the birthday girl!

07:30 ~ Off to the hospital's chapel to hear mass.

08:10 ~ Walked my way to Asiana's office at HV Dela Costa street. Passed by Maxicare office to get referral letters. (I have decided that since every birthday marks another year of life, I will make it a point to get an annual physical/dental checkup every birthday. And since my mom is in the hospital, where better to get the checkups done?)

09:26 ~ Waiting outside a gynecologist's office. I'm fidgeting, it's my first time to do a gynecological checkup.

11:15 ~ Out carrying specimen and lots of doctor's papers, headed to the lab to get three tests done (the other three will be done the next day). Mom was settling her bills too, got released :)

13:35 ~ Strolling by Greenbelt 5, chose Chateau 1771 for my birthday lunch. The waitress overheard me talking about birthday plans and pulled of a Happy Birthday surprise together with other crew and with a signature 1771 coffee cake :) I so love surprises!

15:15 ~ Gave in to Nanay's request of desserts at Damaso.

16:00 ~ On our way to Manila to meet with kuya and the rest of the family.

16:48 ~ Arrived at Robinson's Midtown, Nanay and I went in to Dashing Diva at Beauty Bar to get our nails done. :) Mommy bonding! She's turning 50 in a week so she does deserve pampering.

19:00 ~ Kuya's finally off work so we start heading for a Korean resto at Jupiter Street but heavy rains flood the roads to our destination so we retreat and tried to find one in Malate.

20:18 ~ Finally found a good Korean resto at Malvar Street called Hwaro 92 :)

21:55 ~ All to Diamond Hotel for desserts and coffee. Another birthday surprise by the crew! Two more candles blown :)

23:39 ~ At home, finally.

Job Opportunity: Flight Attendants for Asiana

2008-05-09T22:30:00.001+08:00

I remember I applied for this job two years ago on my birthday. And now exactly two years later, they're on the hunt for flight attendants again. What's with my birthday and Asiana Airlines' hiring for cabin crew? Haha.. To those interested follow the directions here. Let's be workmates and suffer Korean culture together! Cool right? :)

Cheating

2008-05-05T23:44:00.003+08:00

What actually entails cheating? For over a week now, I've been--for the lack of suitable term--paranoid. One night I dreamt I caught Al in bed with another woman, the slightest delay in sending me messages would tick me off. I seem to hear more stories of breakups, cheaters and unhappiness in relationships lately.

One of my seniors, who happens to be also in the battle of getting SFO flights every month for her boyfriend, has told me that in this job, the pattern for LDR (long distance relationship) breakups is within the proximity of the second anniversary. If for normal relationships, it's the seven-year itch, it's just a couple of years here. I wondered why.

My opinion is that because the people in LDRs, if given the choice, would always opt for the non-longdistance one. That being said, they're always in the midst of giving up. Letting go after holding on. The strength, the courage and the enthusiasm to hold on depends on how happy the relationship is. But of course as in any relationship, it's not always smiles. So when time comes that a big argument errupts, they call it quits, as if to say it's not worth holding on to if during the only time you get connected (chat/phone/etc) you just fight.

Then there's this story of a friend's friend whose relationship lasted 18 years, before they got married. The woman filed for divorce after 8 years of marriage upon finding out that her husband had been cheating on her for four years already.

A friend in Santee, CA whose boyfriend happens to be with the US Navy had been waiting for her boyfriend for about nine months now. He went away on a mission. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I guess too much absence makes you forget. They've just broken up a few days back, because he slept with another woman.

Yesterday I woke up with a wrenched feeling. I dreamt I was sleeping comfortably snuggled on my boyfriend's bed then I heard someone open the door then I saw Al. I was jolted wide awake realizing that in my dream I slept with another guy.

Korean Wannabe

2008-04-27T00:07:00.006+08:00

Disgustingly, a number of Filipinos right now are Korean wannabes. Trying so hard to copy their fashion, learning the language, forcing themselves to eat kimchi, you name it. Fired up by the boom of Korean TV shows/series and movies, a lot of the young people would kill to be in my position: deals with Koreans, eats Korean, speaks Korean and practically lives in Korea.

Well, it's disgusting. Yes, I am absolutely disgusted with their rudeness. Especially of their men. "Gentlemen" is the most inappropriate way to address the he community of Korea.

Last night, we were at Starbucks at Camp John Hay and my kuya and I were trying to find ourselves a table. We found three unoccupied coffee tables at the veranda and since we were seven in total, we tried rearranging the tables and chairs using two tables and seven chairs. As we were counting on and rearranging the chairs, three Koreans came and saw the other unoccupied coffeetable. As I grabbed one last chair to complete the seven, somebody tugged it back. My sister needed to go somewhere so she nudged one of their chairs a little to the right so she could pass, and the Korean seriously moved it back kahit hindi pa nakakadaan.

Kung matino kang tao, kung may nakita kang nag aayos ng mga mauupuan na nauna sayo, tama bang makipaghilahan ka ng upuan? Hintayin mong matapos sila dahil nauna sila dun. Problema mo maghanap ng kulang mo. Nakita mong may dadaan, hindi ka ba uusod ng kaunti para makadaan yung tao?

I angrily glared at one of them, and I almost spoke to them in Korean; I wanted to tell them last night, "Hey, are you Korean? You're in the Philippines and you're being what Koreans are--rude. I tolerate your culture/rudeness when I'm in your country and respect the way things are in Korea; but when you're in my country learn to respect the people here."

+ + +

Here are just some of the reasons why I hate them:
:: Like what the image (from this source) text says, they push and shove and won't even say sorry.
:: They are discriminate racially.
:: Fakes. They pretend, a lot. From being nice down to pretending their LVs are authentic.
:: Makeup. All the time. Even janitresses wear makeup. Beat that.
:: Too much seniority that you can't reason out to higher up. True even outside Asiana though it's worse in Asiana.
:: Korean men. Enough said.

On Arranged Marriages

2008-04-25T15:02:00.004+08:00

I met up last night with my best friend Jhen who happens to be here in Baguio on the same days that we're here. She came with three of her cousins and I asked them to join us for dinner. All are younger than us, teeners, to be exact.

Joanna, whom I'm familiar with, told me bluntly, "Ate Katia, kasal na ko." (I'm married already.) I said she's bluffing: she doesn't have a boyfriend, she's bisexual, she's nineteen, blahblahblah. She showed me her wedding ring which she used as a pendant.

As they gulp down margaritas and snack on sisig, so goes the story of her fixed marriage. Came this American citizen Filipino national boy who was a family friend, now with the US Marine, trying to find someone he could marry for--in what I understood--a salary increase. He met Joanna and is actually fascinated by her, proposed the idea to his and her family. Personally, she doesn't want this, she told me. She was given the time to think, and finally she agreed, last month. I asked what made her decide to go for it, knowing she's not happy (as of the moment at least) about it. She told me she'll be going against everybody's will if she doesn't.

Yea, she'll be a step closer to becoming an American citizen, she'll take her family with her... So maybe that's why everybody pushes her to marry that guy. The [Filipino] American Dream. Almost every Filipino has it, and it's what makes people narrowminded about such decisions. They didn't even think about her happiness; marriage is a lifelong decision, and even if the marriage can get divorced/annuled, the thought of using your daughter to get what you want is still not excusable. What about the years she'll be wasting if the marriage turns out so bad?

Sacrifices are something you do because you want to do them, I'm going to live in another country because I want to be with my boyfriend; but I can't imagine her leaving her home, her friends, her family and everything she can call home for someone she barely knows. And all because the people push her to do so. This is nothing short of selling your kid.

She's nineteen, for crying out loud. She may not be able to realize right now what that decision entails, and the people who are supposed to be thinking for her is too blinded by 'future' it's gonna bring to them.

Helped and Pissed

2008-04-15T04:01:00.000+08:00

Brushing my teeth inside one of those small lavatories in the plane when I heard someone paging for a doctor or a nurse over the PA. Being the one who'd always make the announcements, I know it isn't that serious because they skipped the "we have a patient onboard who needs immediate medical attention" part. Yes, it matters to them. So okay I still brushed my teeth at my own pace; how many times on the flight could I actually do things my pace, right?

When I got out, I asked some crew if there was anyone sick. They just shrugged and said that someone just wanted his blood pressure checked. I said, "I can do it if he has the sphyg and stethoscope." Her face went blank and she looked up from her meal tray, "Really?" Then she interphoned one of the seniors and told them I could.

I was told to get to the middle of the plane as the passenger was on the 21st row. When I got there, the passenger doesn't actually have the equipment; we do have it inside our medical kit but the thing is, because of some medicines inside it, only doctors and nurses are allowed to use the kit (we, on the other hand, are allowed to use only the first aid kit). I can't do anything about that, I'm not a nurse nor a doctor and the Koreans are really bookish about these things. (They can't imagine me using the stuff and I'm not a nurse--like I'm gonna be able to kill the patient with a stethoscope?) I shrugged and started to walk away.

But the patient--an American, by the way--really wanted to have his blood pressure checked. I could imagine, my mom always felt that way. I tell you, if this passenger was Korean, they would have given me the equipment without hesitation. Yes, they are way more racially discriminating than you could ever imagine. It's not who's black, who's white, who's Asian, who's Latino, no. It's Korean or non-Korean.

The manager, who seemed like a newbie and didn't want complaints on her records, looked helpless and asked me if I had medical training. No. She looked at me as if I was wasting her time. "But I can do it if you have the equipment." I do it for my parents, grandparents and to anybody possible. Hesitant, she called for one junior to get the stuff. She handed em over and said, "Could you check if you can use this?" And upon opening up the velcro and saw the stethoscope with it, I said yes. She looked at me with an are-you-sure look. WTF.

What, like it's hard? Like it's complicated?

After checking for the first time, I usually recheck and do the process all over again. So I said to the passenger, "One more time, okay?" to let him know what I was doing. SHE, on the other hand, is ready to tear me off the medical equipments and told me, "If you can't do it, then don't." Say that in front of the passenger? What the fuck? The passenger obviously knows that I KNOW what I'm doing. Even the wife knows how to do it because she helps me keep the velcro in place coz the man's arm was huge. Heck, the manager doesn't even know if it's okay to put the meter just about anywhere. I glanced up at her and proceeded for my recheck.

Confirming his blood pressure I told him, "It's a hundred and forty over eighty, what's your normal?" And this inconfident manager pipes in, "She's not sure, but maybe it is." I wanted to smash her face right then and there. Really. I gathered up the materials and handed it back to her while the passenger was telling me his normal was 120/80, and she was still saying, "she's not sure" to the passenger. That's it, I started to walk away before I say anything to her. As I was walking away, the wife assured the manager that I'm right coz she was watching the gauge too while I was checking his blood pressure.

I was fucking pissed. I was there trying to help a passenger and get her out of the dangers of getting complaints and possibly someone having a stroke on board and she was saying those things IN FRONT of the passenger? Fucking bitch.

I so wanted to tell her, "Not because you don't know how to do it means I don't too." Get a life.

Living THE life?

2008-04-09T09:42:00.004+08:00

"This is the life others can only dream about."

I saw this slogan handwritten on an Asiana planner that must have been forgotten here at the computer area of the office. Wow. She must be living the life. Well, why wouldn't she? She's in her own country, with her family, and possibly her boyfriend/husband too. Then you work, get the money and travel. That's really got to be the "life others can only dream about."

This isn't true for me though. I'm a very domesticated person and though I love to travel and see places too, I realized it isn't as fun when you do it alone. You get to London and see all the architecture but no one to share your awe to. You see the Statue of Liberty and no one's there to take your picture. Who's gonna go with you to climb the Angkor Wat?

The sadder part, is being away from my family. Not only do you feel greatly left out during flights--with everyone speaking their language and you're on your own on how to amuse yourself, like counting how many seconds/minutes it takes before the next passenger call button is pressed.

For the past few days, I've been itching to go home. I know, my scheduled flight home is not for another 10days or so, but I have been trying to find a way to cut that short. My lolo, who was in the hospital when I left Manila, had not been eating. Dad told me they hadn't been avoiding the subject of death so as to prepare Lola of what may come. I felt so helpless. I'm here, nobody to share my loneliness, sadness and grief to; not at home even to be with the person I fear won't make it long.

I don't know what else to say.

4 Days 4 People

2008-04-04T23:11:00.002+08:00

Aren't we the luckiest people on earth? Last flight, we went to SF where I was with Mica, Cielo and MM; and now I just arrived back in Seoul from Seattle, spent the layover with Mica, Nicki and Monica!

Day 1: Hella tired--the mind was willing but the body won't cooperate. Slept after arrival and woke up and had Thai food delivered at the hotel.

Day 2: Took Mica downtown with the 30-minute bus ride and blocks of walking. Good thing that the weather cooperated with us and though chilly, it's sunny. Public Market and the first Starbucks (which was soo crowded with Chinese tourists) then a little bit of shopping here and there. I so wanted to buy a pair of swimsuit at Old Navy but I dunno maybe not this month, LOL! Ate at Westlake Center's foodcourt, then bought some food to go from Jack in the Box and retired at the hotel.

Day 3: Woke up just before Mica left my room and prepared as Monica arrived. Went to the mall with ate Nix, shopped a little bit more, then went with Monix to Circuit City to get a laptop for ate Sophie. Don't we just love gadgets! Haha. I was drooling over DSLR lenses and the laptop I've been eyeing for the longest time... I'll get that sometime, somehow, I should! Hmpf. Went back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and met Nicki's friend Kris, who drove us to Ikea. Why Ikea? I don't know, but it was fun. Can't wait to decorate a room or something :) Then drove downtown and had Monica's first photos at the Starbucks store and Space Needle; had dinner at a pizza place and then back.

Day 4: Thirty minutes before showup, I was starving; I asked Monica if she wanted to have breakfast at Denny's across the street but we ended up having coffee and croissants at the cafe at the lobby.

My Sassy Girl remake

2008-03-30T21:43:00.004+08:00

I saw the trailer of the Hollywood remake on Jai's Multiply blog. My Sassy Girl is one of my favorite movies of all time, as some of you know. As for the casting, basing on the trailer, I think it's awful. Elisha Cuthbert has a strong personality already, and the lead role needs someone whose face is so angelic but turns into someone really mean looking. The guy part, I forgot his name, needs someone who looks/seems a little more stupid like someone you could push around.

Anyway, we still have to see the movie to see if the actors can really remake the Korean movie despite the casting.

+ + +

Got back last night from my SF layover with Mica, Cielo and MM. It was so much fun! We had Golden Gate bridge photos for Cielo and Mica, went shopping and spent a lot on H&M, Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret and CostCo! Gawd I spent a half month's pay in three days! I so love H&M, and he does too; I think it was his first time to H&M and he likes it.

Oh and for the first time he did remember the monthsary! *LOL*

When flying isn't work

2008-03-24T10:51:00.004+08:00

I wonder why I'm such a crybaby, a simple hurt would make me well up instantly; so maybe not bawling but a tear would always drop. It's something I rarely could stop. My friends can always tell me if I'm about to cry: my nose turns red, I blink endlessly, the corners of my mouth go down and I'm taking deep breaths. No matter how I try, I've never succeeded NOT crying. But ask me to cry for a school play? I can't even produce a single tear!

I was chatting with Eisel yesterday and I was crying! WTH!

+ + +

I miss my Al so much! We haven't seen each other for five weeks, but that's about to end, I'm flying SF tomorrow, with Mica and Cielo and eventually MM will join us. I love flying alright, but for a person as domesticated as I am, the only way to enjoy it is to be with people I'm at home with: my family, loved ONE and friends :) Being with them makes me feel like flying isn't work at all!

+ + +

When I was in Manila, everyone was telling me I lost weight but honestly I think I gained weight. I try clothes on and they fit but when I look at the mirror, I think I look horrible. I don't want to lose weight, I just want to look alright. Maybe I gotta shop for clothes, nuninuninu...

Online Entertainment

2008-03-21T15:36:00.003+08:00

"Loneliness feeds whining; friendship divides sorrow."

This was the last line from today's dose of inspirational shorts/essay from a book I received last Christmas, Devotions for Women on the Go. So true.

+ + +

I'm so enjoying online, especially videos uploaded by people on YouTube. It's where I first watched the Binibining Pilipinas winner's Q&A portion, Britain's Got Talent's Connie Talbot from last year, the infamous I Am Your Brother guy on American Idol auditions and lately, Ken Lee song on Bulgarian Idol, it's a must-see if you haven't!

These sure helps me get through boredom when I'm away from home! :)

10 Things That Made Me Happy Recently

2008-03-19T00:58:00.003+08:00

Tagged by Victor, here are ten.

1. I got my first credit card. And the credit limit isn't so bad. :)
2. Ate a lot of seafood during Tatay's birthday.
3. Went on an impromptu hangout night on a late MONDAY evening so we got a bar to ourselves and danced like crazy.
4. I got a San Francisco flight on April...out of nowhere.
5. People are starting to realize and recognize who's who and who's doing what.
6. Yana saying, "a-yey" while trying to mimic my "Haller!"
7. Being able to keep my promise to Al to be good, despite lotsa guys around.
8. I like my new hairstyle.
9. A mobile phone charm I had made.
10. He makes me happy every single day. Just by being there and being who he is.

Proof of Billing

2008-03-17T12:58:00.002+08:00

REALLY Lazy. That's how I've been. When I'm online I'm just mostly checking my mail, eBay and then bank stuff. I feel so old. I spend hours banking online and going through bills; and now most of my Makati days are spent going to--still--banks and paying bills! I feel so old.

I had the broadband account transferred to my name since I pay for it. And the CS officer asked me for a proof of billing, I said, "I don't have any. That's exactly why I want this under my name, so I can have a proof of billing." Which is true: Everywhere, everybody NEEDs to have a billing statement to start something. I opened a savings account at BPI and they asked me for the same thing. Good thing my dad was with me and he's a good client of that branch so the account officer accepted my dad's proof of billing. If, as they say, it's just the address that they need, why can't they ask for a driver's license or a voter's ID or a postal ID?

Oh yea, I got my HSBC Red card. So fun that there's a free Kenneth Cole wallet for new-to-bank accounts/subscribers.

Lazy Leap Year

2008-03-03T19:50:00.003+08:00

Look who's been a lazy blogger! :) Haha! So while I've been missing here's what had happened with me:

My eBay account got suspended for reasons I don't even know; filed an appeal for account reinstatement and faxed some documents for that; got it back yesterday so it's up and running again.

Because my eBay was down for almost a week, I listed my items over at Sulit and got a buyer for one of my products. So maybe I'll maintain two accounts now. She said she found my site when she Googled up where to buy it in the Philippines--tags work! :)

Got to stay at a condo during my three days in Manila, and now I'm looking into investing in one--told Al about it too.

Al forgot our seventh monthsary. He never did remember any of the seven.

Was at home for my best friend's birthday celebration, coolness!

Updated my bank account, opened another and got a call from a credit card company that I applied for...nuninuninu...

Been referred to as the "girl I was most serious about," and "the one that got away." Don't ask me who it was I'm not gonna say.

Had my first real cry for 2008. And it isn't because somebody did me wrong or anything. Complicated.

After a year and a half of flying, me and three Asiana batchmate-friends finally had a common day off here in Seoul!

Felt he loved me more than I do.