Remembering our dearly departed

We finally made it to Cempark since I was on leave from work today. Ahhh, the downside of working for a BPO… paid time-offs don’t happen at the snap of a finger! :) To make the most out of my one day-off, we paid our respects to my grandma and my uncle, all the while secretly praying that we get no heavy downpour on our way to the cemetery. 

Now I can’t help but reminisce. Gone were the days when the entire family would troop to Memorial Park on November 1. We’d meet up with some relatives, spend the whole day chatting and catching up on each other’s lives. It was a welcome reprieve from whatever toxicity work had to offer. But now it’s different. Everyone’s just so busy. 

Occasional visits are all that we can offer our dearly departed nowadays. I won’t deny them that. It’s the least I can do after all the good things they did in their lifetime. We promised to be back over the weekend for a more solemn visit. Perhaps by then the weather would finally cooperate.

Day 8: Today feels like a Monday…

I’m back to work again after a one-day birthday leave. But it’s cool because I accomplished what I planned to do during that period. Had dinner last night with Isa, the only one among my college friends who still lives in the same city as I do. It’s funny how we never really run out of things to talk about. That said, I hope the reunion with the girls pushes through in November. We have to do that Harry Potter marathon we’ve always planned about! :)

I’m done with my Annual Physical Exam as well. What took me three hours last year only took me about less than an hour earlier today. I guess it pays to be early at the venue after all. And never go on a weekend! I learned that the hard way.

So how did you spend the long weekend?

August 21 = DISASTER

No internet, no water… on a ‘tingbits’ (read: no money) weekend. Could things get any worse? Shallow rant on my part, I know. But the universe owes me at least my internet connection because I’m staying put instead of going to the mall. 

It’s ironic how I’m suddenly having this internet problem (again!) after I agreed to an upgrade for my broadband DSL. And the tech support isn’t of any help. I’m being fed the standard apologetic and template-y response when customers complain about their connection. Troubleshooting did not get us anywhere because I know the problem isn’t on our end. And because this happened on a weekend, tech visit isn’t until tomorrow. Gahhh! I hate being an irate customer because I was nothing but kind when I was an agent with my current company.

Please let my luck change by next week. It’ll be my birthday weekend and I hate to spend it with bad vibes bouncing all over the place.

Crazy, crazy day!

What a way to start your week after a holiday! This is why I should never take Mondays off. (I never learn!) Things get a little crazy once you get back to work the next day. And yeah, lesson learned? Spoon-feeding is the way to go. 

Perhaps this was the price I paid for that little white lie. But on to the good stuff… look what we experimented on over the weekend!

pasta w/out the toppings! (from Yummy's July issue)

Our very own version of Yummy's Breaded Spanish Sardines w/ Garlic-Basil Pasta

Yummy magazine’s proving to be very handy these days since we’re running out of dishes to try out. This pasta turned out okay despite our reservations however I think I preferred our version of the Pasta Puttanesca more. Zaragoza spanish-style sardines, FTW!

Milestones and HPDH2

Guess who’s having a long weekend? Thanks to the fourth of July, I’m getting Monday off next week. So I’m catching up on missed mall dates with my sister that were abruptly halted when I got sick. And yes, catching up (again!) on my blogging. It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway into the year. Where did all those months go?

July, though, is a month of many milestones for me. It was the same month last year when I was told of my promotion. OA na kung OA, but I was full of good vibes that month especially since Spain recently bagged the World Cup championship a few days prior to the announcement. Everything fell into place after that. Twelve months later, I’m still here --- continuously learning and definitely getting better at what I do.

The seventh month is also something that I usually associate with Harry Potter. This year, we bid goodbye to the movie franchise as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 opens on July 14. We’re watching this on IMAX, as promised! But SM Cebu is just too far that I’m having bouts of laziness in reserving the tickets. Guess I’ll just have to purchase them personally (at SM) when we do watch it then.

Oh what a busy week it has been!

I am on a blogging backlog. The past few days had been so hectic I barely had time to keep up with my entries here. For starters, the ‘rents are currently in town for the summer. It’s fun because they brought my younger cousin as well so it’s basically a full house in this otherwise gloomy residence before. Mom’s keeping us all busy. I love it when she’s around because the house looks impeccable, plus we get to taste home cooked meals again! With a work schedule like mine, the only time we ever get to cook decent meals before was over the weekend… when I’m on a rest day. Otherwise it’s most carinderia food or take-out. Oh the woes of a yuppie!

Also, my weekend was packed. Saturday was spent on a team building activity with my officemates and I was their designated photographer. We proceeded to Mountain View Nature’s Park right after shift. Surprisingly, I had fun. I only wished I came better prepared since I forgot to pack some slippers and was in sneakers all throughout the day. Given the park’s terrain, it’s best that you go there wearing comfortable clothing since you’ll be walking most of the time especially when scouting for photo opportunities.

Our manager's treat... Cang's Spicy Lechon! Yup, those are true-blue silis stuffed inside the pig.

I'm getting the hang of taking jumpshot pics! :) Finally, I have willing subjects to my photo schemes. Hehe!

I’m glad I actually went to the outing despite having only four hours of sleep the day before. The Manila trip may have been postponed (long story…) but it was worth spending those hours away from city life and just enjoying the moment with my officemates.

How Globe almost ruined my Holy Week…

Last Wednesday’s fiasco with Globe was strike two on my list. Our internet connection chose this prolonged weekend to die on us and it was pure torture. Thank goodness I still had my Blackberry. It was hard to stay unplugged when we’ve become slaves of technology. After four days of getting an earful from my calls (irate customer –> ME), technicians finally dropped by the house this afternoon to fix our connection.

So now we’re back online, but the connection is still far from satisfactory. Can anyone say dial-up?

I’m trying to catch-up big time on all the things I’ve missed for the past four days. Next week’s bound to be a very busy one for me. For one there’s The Royal Wedding – I’m very excited for this (parang a-attend naman!) but it’s a bit overkill how networks are trying to milk the event for all its worth. And please, stop with the Diana – Kate comparison. You’re not making it easy for the lady.

Today we’ve also finished buying the basic necessities I need for my quickie trip to Manila on April 30. Yes people, the trip is finally pushing through. But it’s all business, a team building of sorts as what they say. It’s a quickie trip because we fly in on the 30th and leave on the evening of May 1st. Haha! Good luck if we can squeeze in some malling in between.

So how was your Holy Week?

Summer = Burnout?

What is it with summer and burnouts? Lately it has become a repetitive cycle in our company. People start to get bored and yearn to get out between March to May. Once it normalizes around June, those who stay now wait in anticipation of the 13th month pay and the perks of the holiday season. Then it's back to square one again when the new year comes in. 

Is it really that hard to find contentment nowadays? Or people just yearn for growth too much? All these talks about leaving make me sad. I never handle goodbyes well. More often I choose to face it blindly, as if it’s the white elephant in the room. But I know that there will come a time for me to seek greener pastures outside my comfort zone. I just hope I’ll be ready by then… and that it won’t be too hard for me to say goodbye.

F@#% you, Canon!

That's it, this should serve as a lesson for me not to trust any freebie campaigns in the future. Guess what Canon Customer Care replied to me yesterday after I made another follow-up on my freebie and warranty card?

Oh the nerve! You couldn't even get your date right? My sarcastic self kicked in and I furiously typed a reply...

I googled this little misleading promo and apparently I'm not the only one dissatisfied with the way they're handling customer service for freebies they offer. Some receive their stuff three months after registering on-line and sometimes, the photography book isn't even included. Friends, again the freebies aren't the issue here. It's transparency.

They should've made it clear to their distributors that the promo was only until December 31, 2010 (if that's what they really meant in the email). When we bought the camera, we were told that as long as we register the purchase on-line then were are eligible for the promo.

So there. If you've made it this far, sorry for having to read through my rant. I just needed to blow off some steam. This will be the last time I shall ever talk of this issue. Good thing I bought a camera bag already. Maghihintay lang pala ako sa wala.

Still waiting…

It's been 2 months and 14 days since we bought Yogi, but until now I have yet to receive my 3 year warranty card and the freebies (Tamrac bag + photography book) that were supposed to come with my purchase. Frustrating is an understatement. I've emailed Canon's customer service countless 5 times already and I keep getting the same generic answer. So what's a poor customer left to do? Wait, of course.

One thing this experience taught me was to stretch my patience a little longer, especially after a friend mentioned that she received her stuff three months after she had registered for it. I'm close to the threshold... what's another two weeks, right?

Canon better make good with their promise to deliver those stuff once they have the bag available. Freebies aside, I fretted because they never delivered as what was promised on the website. The three-week waiting period stretched for weeks and is now nearing the three-month mark. As a customer, wouldn't you be frustrated as well?

For the meantime, I'm buying a back-up camera bag.

Just Their Luck

Now where's Lady Luck when you need her the most, huh? The results of the 2010 Bar Exams just confirmed my worst fears. No, I wasn't one of the examinees. I've decided ages ago that law will never be a career option for me. But my friends? They've set their heart into this. They've hurdled four grueling years of law school that it breaks my heart not to see them on that list for three years now.

Was it because they never took it all-together? (one took it a year later)

I went through the results countless of times. Even my sister helped in double-checking. I saw some familiar names. But none of those I really wanted to see. A few phone calls and text messages later,  we managed to clear the air. I don’t think they’ll have another go at this anytime sooner.  Everyone has had enough. The bright side of everything? This might just be the sign for them to pursue other interests than a law career. The justice system’s loss will definitely be another industry’s gain.

Which is why I can’t wait for our get-together in May. The trip itinerary is still hazy. But it doesn’t matter where we’ll go actually. What’s important is that I spend some quality time with my best gal pals in the world.

All work and no play…

Makes me a dull girl? Hmmm, almost. I just realized I never once took a week-long vacation last year. No beach outings, no out-of-town trips... nada! I was stuck being a corporate slave. Or maybe I was just too much of a homebody.

But nevertheless, I'm working on changing my luck this year. Summer is meant to be enjoyed, right? And I'm doing just that. For someone who has never been out of the city in like eight years, I have a trip to Manila planned in April (work reasons). Yayyy! So excited to see my friends who are already based there. Plus I have this summer outing of our department to look forward to. Woohoo, beach time!

Then by May, it's reunion time for me and my best buddies from college. The fact that we've been friends for almost a decade now is still so surreal. One of them proposed that we go to Coron to celebrate the first time that all 5 of us will be together. The thing is, I'm not sure my budget would permit that. Kuripot na kung kuripot, but I have some bills to pay noh! I’ll just have to cross the bridge when we get there. Bahala na si Batman. I’m sure we can work something out.

There’s the silver lining!

I had been in a foul mood for the past few days. My BB Social subscription screwed up and I couldn't login to both UberSocial and Twitter for BB. Yes, I have a lot of Twitter clients on my phone. Haha! That's because I tweet most of the time when I vent out or rave about things when I'm too lazy to blog at the moment. My sister googled every possible solution but none managed to solve the problem. I restrained myself from throwing a fit whenever "no access token" or "twitter services are currently unavailable" alerts would appear on the phone's LCD. 

I don't know why or what happened, but today the silver lining I was looking for finally manifested itself. Maybe it's because we switched to the new twitter? It's the only reason plausible because battery pulls (I did countless of those!), updating the OS and reinstalling apps never worked.  Oh well, I am just so happy. Today's Friday and I'm in a good mood. I even bought my favorite Cornetto flavor to celebrate the occasion.

This is my story (and yours too!)

We finally had the chance to watch Crazy Little Thing Called Love this evening. I’d been seeing the title for quite sometime in message boards I visit although I never really paid attention to it. But thanks to FunnySexyPH, I was finally convinced to give this movie a chance. Hey, it’s Mario Maurer (who reminds me of a younger Francis Magalona) after all!

It’s easy to see how this became a hit by word of mouth. The characters are people you can relate to. Never mind if Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon (Kim Chiu, is that you?) is just too cute to play a plain Jane character. My sister and I found ourselves laughing at almost every scene. It was like being transported to high school and reliving all those memories you both cherished and would rather forget. Who never attempted to pass by their crush’s classroom (at the pretext of going to the comfort room) just to steal a glance? Or who never secretly squealed, in one way or another, when he actually acknowledged you for the first time?

How come we never make films like this? And no, I’m not talking about those teeny-bopper flicks. I’d like to see a Filipino rom-com flick make it big in other countries because really, there’s more to the Philippines than poverty, prostitution and homosexuality.

I’d like to say we all had a Chon in our lives. Someone who made us look forward to everyday life despite the disasters that come along with it. But like Nam, no one gets a happily-ever-after in a snap. Others wait for years. My own Chon might just be right around the corner. But I’m in no hurry. He'll come around. For now, I simply enjoy the company of my friends and my dearest family.

Online Assistance for Unresourceful Children

"S is the quintessential overachiever, who excels at almost everything in school. C is her brother, an average student."

I have nothing against helping students with their homework. But when it goes down to actually "doing" the assignments for them, then I think we have a problem. Who would find it cute when you get a text at 10PM for an assignment that is due the next day? My own parents would never have allowed that. What's worse, these kids aren't even resourceful enough to consult the library first before running to their elders for answers.

It's frustrating really. For a Grade 5 and a Grade 3 pupil, we shouldn't be spoon feeding them answers. Homework, after all, is there to gauge how much the child has learned from his/her lessons in school. How hard can it be for parents to realize that? I don’t want them to grow up thinking this is a practice worthy to be emulated. This Online Assistance for Unresourceful Children has got to stop.

Rosey the bookworm

 

I’m a happy camper. It’s been a while since I bought books for myself and for this week alone I got two. Yayyy me! First off was the “elusive” Paper Cuts by Pam Pastor, whose blog entries are just made of awesome. I said elusive because it took me weeks before I can find a copy of it in National Bookstore. But the whole wait was worth it. Her experiences will have you wishing what it’s like to live her life. My favorite accounts were those about Inday. Oh what a riot it must be to have a househelp like her! I finished the book in one sitting, but I still read it from time to time. Somehow it actually motivates me to keep on blogging. 

 

The second book I got is a chick-lit from Summit Books. Popped is basically a chronicle of what it’s like to be a K-Pop fangirl. And by fangirl I mean the extremes, such as (1) acquire any possible merchandise pertaining to the fandom you’re currently obsessing about; (2) travel to where your idols will be holding a concert, never mind the grand you’ll be forking just to breathe the same air as they do; and (3) obsessively go through every clip about them on YouTube or articles posted about them on the internet. 

My friends, there’s a reason why this blog is called iamnofangirl. I can never do any of those things. I do not have the luxury of giving up my job and following the call of my fandom. I can never plan for a trip impulsively because I have a lot of other factors to consider. If only life were as simple like Andie’s (the book’s main character), huh?

*photos swiped from Anvil Publishing and FunnySexyPH

One Saturday at Red Box

...the WFM people decided to get-together and unwind. It was, after all, the weekend. We opted for some videoke instead of the usual lunch + photo-ops routine. But the photo-ops still happened. I was raring to try Yogi on someone other than Gwen or my immediate family.

I couldn't be more thankful. It was the perfect opportunity to blow-off steam. Shift bid had me in a bad mood when I left the office and I felt like snapping at anyone who dared to cross me that instant. But the bad mood vanished into thin air as soon as we started singing our hearts out.

Yes, Bubbles... sing your heart out.

I would've loved to stay longer. It was fun hanging out with my officemates for once. Sadly, that monthly thing ruined the rest of my Saturday and forced me to retire to bed early.

Oh well, there's always the next time, guys! I'll still be your photographer if you'll let me.

My plans for Sinulog...

… did not push through, unfortunately.

Fate must've willed it that I spend the entire day at home and be spared from the torrential downpour. Part of me was disappointed because this was probably the only time I was excited to be "out there". But my sister was not feeling well and I hate to be out while someone is sick at home. So yeah, maybe next year.

But who said I had to spend my entire restdays at home?

Mom put us up to task of buying my brother's surprise birthday gift. No thanks to my dad, the surprise was ruined even before we could hand the gift to the rightful owner.

He finally has his own phone that isn't a hand-me-down. My brother is no poster-boy when it comes to saving up so we had to bug him for years to buy a gadget from his own money. He refused to budge. And NO, he's not the most "kawawa" (kawawa = least fortunate?) among us three. He's just a little lost when it comes to his priorities.  Sometimes I wonder how he'd feel if there was no one left to pick up where he slacked off?

Ever watched Family Guy? The Griffins are the closest fictional equivalent I have of my own family.

Hello, Yogi…

At last, you are all ours.

My beloved sister wouldn’t settle for a point and shoot camera. So what’s a poor “ate” left to do? Go for an entry level DSLR that’s right within our budget. After an initial pushback last December, we finally got our wish yesterday. YEEESSSS! Finally a decent shutter in the house. For years we had to settle for the good, old camera phones to document important milestones both at work and at home.

Yogi is an EOS 1000D. We’re having so much fun tinkering with it until now. Quite a long way to go before I reach the level of those photography enthusiasts. But I’m learning. My sister is such a quick study. She really has an eye for taking great pictures. Her favorite subject? Our dog, Gwen.

Thank you, Mom, for partly financing our new toy. You are so getting a photo shoot when you visit over the summer.

My sister's favorite subject ^____^

My lame-ass attempt at a new profile pic

On the day we bought Yogi (that's my sister's hand)

Happy New Year, everyone!

I was supposed to make a year-end post last night but since we were all too busy with food preparation, the plan slipped through my mind. Not enough pictures. I promise this year will be better once we have Yogi. It was a hoot seeing our dog scared shitless of the fireworks though. She kept following us around all over the house. I didn’t know whether I should be amused or pity her in that state. Were your pets scared of the fireworks/firecrackers too?

Speaking of holiday festivities, it is probably the only time of the year (except maybe for Holy Week) that people are in-town and reunions can be scheduled with ease. I met up with some of my block mates from college a few days ago and we had fun reminiscing over dinner at Mesa. Gen, who’s currently based in Dubai, initiated the meet-up.

Wanna know a secret? I have this really bad experience on meet-ups with this batchmates of mine. A few years ago, I was at the mall with my sister when I spotted a couple of them having lunch at this certain restaurant. It turns out they were having a get-together and I wasn’t invited because they didn’t know my number. I mean, seriously? I have Facebook (where they are even my friends) and I have Twitter. Not having my mobile number should never have been an excuse. I don’t force myself on people but when your block was composed of only 20 – 25 people during college, from freshman to senior year, surely you’d expect at least a sense of courtesy for an invite to be sent your way. But that’s all water under the bridge now. I’ve moved on.

I have high hopes for the new year. I have yet to come up with resolutions but I hope to be as productive as I was last year. Just not as sickly, please. I hate being sidelined due to health issues. It destroys my focus.