Drifter

(a) travel blog (entry)

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:48:05 GMT

i think im going to be the first among my dad, mom, sister and brother to travel abroad.

i already have my passport, of which a classmate of mine who works at the department of foreign affairs personally processed. even in the foreign affairs, i realized that i was not able to withdraw money so i had to borrow from my classmate. haha. it took me not more than 30 minutes to process everything.

well, anyway, going back to the topic. my dad has not interest in leaving davao. he has a lot of things to do like manage our farm and stuff. my mom loves to travel but he loves my dad too much for her to leave him alone at home.

my sister? hmmm... i dont know. i think she can travel abroad anytime she wants but she never did. i dont think its money issue. maybe its the same with me, she got her passport this year only.

for my brother, i think its a money issue. he pushed for getting a car and its too expensive to maintain especially after the typhoon. he told me he spent around 60 thousand for it.

so thats that. i will be the first and its hong kong. i will be visiting my counterparts there. i will be flying with cathay pacific and staying at harbour plaza north point.

i am not really that excited. i always thought that my first trip overseas would be japan, but i guess that will not happen. im pissed about it, but its no use. apart from that, i did not extend my trip over the weekend since i do not have any plans of spending money during the trip. well except for a jacket maybe. i want to buy something to remind me of hong kong. a jacket would be nice.

also i have an exam on novemeber 30 so i have to be back. i dont want to retake any subjects. i have to graduate on time so i can work somewhere else. i am getting to attached to my current company. i am underpaid like i have always been. i want to do something new - something a lot more challenging.

oh well. this is good night for now.

down

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:33:02 GMT

i have not felt like this for a long time.

i dont look forward to coming to the office tomorrow. in fact, i felt like going home early at work last week.

i have not predicted that i will feel like this this early. i have not actually accounted for the resignations of people close to me at work. but i realized that its not it. im at ease knowing that they have moved on to greener pastures, so to speak.

what is really having me worried is the number of people ranting about how they are so sick of working - so sick of people they are working with.

the weird thing is people still ask for my advice. i dont really know why they find value in what i think, but that is just the way it is. i find it weird because i am not that proud of the decisions i have made. personally, i dont seek advice from other people. maybe its a pride thing. i dont know. i ask but i dont really follow it. its just a way for me to find some form of reassurance that i am still making rational decisions.

in as much as i would want to give a general opinion of how they can resolve their issues, it is case to case. i understand how difficult it is to realize that things are not that great, but the reality is wherever you go, you will always find things to rant about - negativities. even in non-government organizations, from personal experience, you would be surprised to find the same thing.

the key thing is really to find balance. balance in the negative and positive, while keeping your eyes on your goal

another important thing is to give yourself an objective assessment of your abilities. sometimes people they deserve better, that is good, but just make sure you do. people sometimes overestimate themselves.

a piece of advice for people. ask around. it helps.

first day of the month

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:04:59 GMT

my day started around lunch time when i went to QC to meet up with college friends. we live far from home so we have nothing to do in holidays such as all saints day or all souls day, so we normally meet up. we have been doing this since college. besides, we were all volunteers to an ngo. so we hang out a lot.

we were supposed to eat together at this italian restaurant in QC, Friuli's. i have eaten in 2007 i think and i remember that the pasta there are quite good. it is also very afforable with their courses averaging to about around 150 pesos. my friend who is a science teacher at a private all girls high school in ortigas was not able to come. so there were only three of us - my restaurant manager friend and the freelance architect.

when i got to philcoa, my resto manager friend called me to say that friuli's is closed for the holiday. so we decided to meet at mcdonald's and decide there where to go next. while waiting, i gave my parents a call. apparently, they were expecting my call for two weeks now. i have never been the type who calls up their parents on a regular basis. it just so happens that they were on my mind that time given that my sister had just been engaged. i wanted to ask what they thought about it. my mom was of course very happy, but my dad. my dad was at a loss for words. haha. my parents were really looking forward to hear from me, especially my dad. my dad loves to hear about how i am doing at work, school and also ask me questions about a lot of stuff. he keeps telling me how he really thinks i would become great in the future. he would also ask if i have given some thought on what i would do with the 'land' that they gave me - if i have decided what to plant there so we can make use of it. i would just laugh about it and tell them that they can borrow it for the time being.

when it was my mom's turn to talk to me, she told me that they are also celebrating my grandpa's birthday. he turned 97 years old last october. i will never forget the year my lolo was born since it was the same year as when the titanic sank at sea. hehe. me and my lolo talked over the phone. i asked what they would be serving for his birthday and who will be attending. he said that they can celebrate his birthday as they were waiting for my uncle and his family to become available. they live five or six hours away from us so its not that easy to organize a get together, adding the fact that they have a business to run. to top it off, my aunt is currently the mayor there so that made it even much harder. my lolo also asked me if i have a girlfriend already. haha. i asked if he knows anybody available. haha. he told me that i should not rush it. he wants me to make use of my time finishing school. my lolo can still really surprise me. at 97, he still has a lot to say. haha.

so back to my friends, my architect friend brough his new SLR camera with him. he used to work for a firm in makati and we would sometimes eat lunch together. but, he got so fed up with commuting thru the mrt train, so he resigned. he told me that he doesnt need to punish himself. he can go freelance and earn more. so he has been freelance since july. and since july, he was able to get a number of projects. he is set to go to china to visit another architect - a chinese architect. he also showed me a picture of his new cat named 'ondoy'. haha. he found the cat in front of the house he is renting after the typhoon ondoy. he took it in and gave it a new name. haha.

the other person there was my who is a restaurant manager for a japanese restaurant in greenhills. the idea of eating at friuli's was hers. after she told us that it was closed, my other friend said if we can just bury her instead so we can have a reason to visit a cemetery. haha. nothing is new with her except that she is still tutoring english to foreigners online. her part time work is actually nice and easy. all she does is talk to foreigners about anything as long as they speak in english. he hassle-free is that, right? well anyway, its nice that she has something to do on her free time.

we ended up eating at trinoma and stayed there until around past 5pm. i enjoyed their company as they can really make me laugh. i am laughing right now when i think about the jokes that they have told me. my restaurant manager friend was ranting about how she was rejected to volunteer in the typhoon ondoy relief program at the AFP. on the other hand, my architect friend was excited to tell me that i could always come to him if i want to hang out at a club in a venue. i have not even heard of the club but he says its a 'cool' pub and the entrance is pricey.

after my stint in trinoma, my sister called me up to go to outback in glorietta. we are celebrating her birthday there. so actually there are two simultaneous birthday celebrations in our family today. my lolo and ate. haha. and we are celebrating their birthdays separately. thats how it is. sad but you gotta make the most of what you have.

after glorietta, my brother drove us to church. we met bryan there hearing mass as well. bryan is common friends of us siblings. bryan and i are connected because he was an officer while i was a member at the ngo i mentioned earlier. we all went home together. we dropped him off at kingswood.

right now, a yahoo message just popped up from tere. as always, she is always invisible which i called her up for. i said she is corny for being invisible all the time. well anyway, we're chatting now. bye.

ok, what the...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:12:22 GMT

just when i was done watching Paranormal Acitivty, my brother left the house to spend the night at his friend's house in Quezon City. its 11pm right now.

i found the movie disturbing, so the first thing i did was to check it was true or not. they say its not so that was a relief. this means i dont have a reason to be scared. haha.

but just to help me forget about the movie, i found my high school friend who is working as a nurse abroad online - so we're chatting now.

towards the end of the movie, i was actually not scared anymore. i was more of pissed on why those things were happening to them. it was stupid. the movie was a little scary but stupid.

stupid because if it was real, the guy would have decided to have the girl sleep on the side away from the door. it was stupid because they are sleeping with the door always open.

genghis khan, you fool

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:16:18 GMT

i am almost done reviewing the notes for my exam this wednesday. i have yet to solve the practice questions, but the earlier i do them, the higher the possibility i would forget what i have studied as there are still three days.

i am chatting with a friend of mine in college whom i never talked to for a long time. she's been busy with her MBA. she just started. she's telling me how she's cried with how low her grades have been.

i was surprised to hear this because the last time i cried over an exam was during freshman year in UP. it was my first exam in Physics, and it was because i was overconfident. i got 36 out of 100, which really made me eat a huge piece of humble pie. i was able to make up for it and got one of the highest scores on the next exam. well anyway, that was the first and hopefully the last time.

time has passed so fast that i am so near to getting my masters degree. its only a matter of months.

my friend from cebu is visiting again next week. we are set to have lunch next week somewhere near makati shangrila.

oh my friend just told me that the construction of their new house is done. i didnt even know that her planned to build a new one. im excited to see their house. the last i went was in 2003 i think. haha

also, i read this interesting story about genghis khan. about how he killed his falcon because it was acting weird and disobedient. it turned out that the falcon was looking after him. sheesh. stupid genghis khan. hehe

my friend just said, '...namiss ko nang mkpagchat with u ha.. sa uulitin!'

octo-bare

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:42:19 GMT

i need to hear at least one good news.

a random thursday

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:08:34 GMT

i finally booked a flight home. it cost me around 2.7 thousand, which was a lot cheaper than the 4.5 thousand when i checked this weekend. of course thats only a one way ticket. hopefully i can agree with my counterpart that i would come back on the second week of january. its only fair since i would be leaving manila on christmas eve. this would mean that my parents would drive an hour and a half to pick me up in the airport.

the big news in the office is so near already. i cant wait to see the faces of my colleagues when they find out about it. a number of people already knows and i made it pretty clear to them that i do not consider it good news. to majority of the people it may be good news but not for a few of us. my initial reaction was that i felt like it was an insult. an insult to trust. of course i could not say to my managers that i feel betrayed. they too were betrayed. but my plan is really to say what i feel. i felt betrayed and they are going to hear it.

to update you about school. it has become a little bit boring. i am learning a lot still, dont get me wrong. its just that one of my batchmates had to drop out for this term. we kind of really get along so well. oh well. i guess my classmate saying that i am one of the few people she will miss is good enough for me.

again, i dont feel talking to somebody i know. this person really is very nice to other people, treating them like they are friends. but i just dont get it. this person is still keeping this secret that everyone already knows about. this person just keeps on denying it - pretending that nothing is up when obviously there is. i personally find it insulting that you act like people are stupid enough not to notice the obvious. people really do contradict themselves and there are no exceptions.

i am finally going to the bazaar booth of one of my friends in college. im going this sunday with another friend. i also plan on bringing along another person, lets just see how it would go.

we never say goodbye

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:20:16 GMT

it was the last day of one of my closest friends at work, but the funny thing is i dont feel sad. maybe its because i know we would still be hanging out. well, to be honest, i dont know what to feel. i guess i really haven't prepared myself for this.

lets see. how big of a change this will lead to.

last night we finally went to little tokyo. ever since i moved to makati in 2006, i have always wanted to go there. and i took more than 3 years before i could finally eat there. the food was great and the ambiance was very japanese. afterwards, we went to greenbelt to get dessert in cafe breton.

i cant think of a segway but here it goes. i will be having my first stamp on my passport next month. i am set to go to hong kong on november. and yes, i am talking like i already have a passport. i dont have a passport yet, which is so stupid right. haha. anyway, i will be getting one in the next few days - i promise. plus i am so excited to get one since it is a valid ID. woohoo!

i dont have a lot to say. so i think this is it.

the end.

people come and go

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:22:30 GMT

one by one, more and more of the people i know at work are moving on, or should i say leaving.

in as much as i am happy that the people coming in are nice people, it has really been hard building new relationships with people.

the big problem that i am seeing is that it is the good people that are leaving, which is nothing surprising given that they are 'good'. they would definitely find better opportunities elsewhere.

it has been 3 years and 4 months since i started at thomson. i remember my first day when i had my HR orientation. i absorbed nothing from the orientation. i also remember the night before that. i kept thinking if they would like me. would they hate my sarcasm? would they realize quickly that i am a slacker? haha

i remember the many times i was reminded that i was no longer in school, which kept me asking myself. was there really any difference? up to now, i still see no difference.

now i can easily count using my two hands the people that were there before me when i started working at thomson.

i cant wait to see whats in store for me? when i was a recent graduate in 2006, i was already considered for a job in hong kong, singapore and thailand but was of course denied. they found me too inexperienced. i am excited to see if they is any difference. i am sure there is. there will be a difference because i have worked for more than 3 years in this field. there will be a difference because i now have a masters degree. there will be a difference because i believe i have matured.

there will be a difference - i know it!

stress

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:14:30 GMT

it was almost two years since i started working that i felt this level of stress.

its really frustrating that you have to answer to difficult people. yes i admit that i am difficult as well, but thats is only because i dont act when the direction is not clear. it is difficult for me to take the word of just anybody.

this actually backfired today. a colleague in hong kong did not take my word for it when i made an executive decision regarding a client. my colleague did not take my word when i asked him what to do about the situation. it was frustrating because i really made sure that i was thorough about it. i see where the person was coming from. i was new at the position where i am now. dealing with clients is pretty serious especially with the current business environment.

the reason was pretty clear. i have not developed a good track record yet in terms of handling client issues.

another stressful factor is how difficult people have been. i have never gotten along with this person from the start. i find him very close minded. i also understand why he thinks that way. dealing with him feels like he is a father who is forcing his decisions to his son and saying i should follow it because he is older and he knows a lot more than i am. which is very stupid. i dont know why people think they are so right in their decisions. i dont even understand why people are at places where they are now.

to add to that is this feeling i have today. it feels sad but i have no reason to be sad. hmmm... nah, i think its just the gloomy weather. is it really? haha... my friend in the office told me that i am very negative today. i do, i admit that but i dont know why.

oh wait... before i forget, its nice that our telecom client did not respond before 6pm. in fact, they have no reply up to now. that the only good news today.

anyway, classes are suspended this week so this means more make up classes. BS! haha..