boinkboinkboink

long time!

it's the post-Ondoy/Pepeng post. we were spared from the two tropical storms (or were they typhoons? i really don't know!), thank God. Luckily, we in the family were too tamad to leave the house that rainy Saturday (except for Bonini who wasn't aware that their grad pic taking will be postponed, no thanks to the heavy rains), else we'd be stranded (or floating, even) somewhere.

i did my part by donating old clothes, some meds for kids and adults plus some groceries like powdered milk, instant noodles and drinking water. it's nothing, i know, compared to hundreds who went out of their way to help out by repacking the donations and actually handing the relief goods to the typhoon victims. there were rants, raves and controversies here and there about celebs helping out (one in particular who "braved" the floods to save the leading lady) and politicians doing what they do best--mudslinging, but still life goes on. i just wish all the incoming weather disturbances will skip us the same way Pepeng did.

heniway...

it's October! ilang tulog na lang, Pasko na naman. Tapos 2010 na. Ambilis, exaj!

Here's hoping life gets better for each one of us. Happiness + Positivity!

did 5km yesterday at the Globe-Ayala Land Run for Home. went with the boyf, telyn and jace. it felt really good to sweat it out!

i was so proud of myself, i didn't walk the entire time. hehe there were a handful of periods where i did brisk walking but i basically ran more than half the time (unlike the New Balance run 3 years ago).

i'm starting to think running is one thing i should be addicted to--with the health benefits, the natural high, plus the chance to bond further with my runningmates.

i should get a good pair of running shoes soon. will head back to Runnr as soon as i get my egc's. :)

hooray for sweat-inducing activities!

oookay, that sounded kinda kinky.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen's fight scenes were really awesome.

I just wish they did an alternative to the scene where Shia HOTNESS LeBeouf died and went to heaven to meet the other Primes. sheesh.

we'll see it on imax when the hype has died down a bit hehe :)

and yeah, i'll be downloading the soundtrack. pirate alert!

it's been about 2 years since i realized a huge part of me is an introvert.

i'm not like the boyf who always seems to want to be around people, around friends to be exact. don't get me wrong, i love hanging with my barkada (hello, DS_TOG friends!). i guess i just value alone time more than greg does.

when i went to college, i initially found it difficult to make a new set of friends which is why i tag along my high school barkada's various set of blockmates instead of my own. it's probably also because in my block, during our first year together, there seemed to be established groups already--the girls from ICA, the boys from AHS, the girly girls, the Magic-cards-playing guys, etc. I didn't seem to fit in any of those so I didn't exert any more effort and opted to just go with my high school friends in ADMU, even though they have new friends of their own. looking at it now, parang medyo nakakahiya yun hehe pero from another angle, it's fun, too, kasi i got to meet people from other blocks.

halfway through freshman year, i started to be friends with one of my blockmates--Adi. He was a clear introvert right from the start but even he was part of a group. we clicked since pareho kaming jologs, matipid, barubal, cowboy. i felt comfortable around him dahil barubal din siya sakin, to the point na he treats me as if i were a guy from his barkada. haha gagong yun. actually when you think about it, parang siya na nga ang pinaka-close kong blockmate. from there, nag-widen yung group of friends ko from the block. nung una, i'd always go with adi and the rest of the boys--lloyd, mike, jason. we'd have lunch and even watch movies in galle. then i became forever-groupmates with lai, jeah, even johanne! then towards graduation, adi and i got to go on trips/dinners with sherwin, jason, eunice, fumi and mar. bottomline: it took me quite some time. ours wasn't like the other comtech blocks who'd always have block lunches together or watch movies all the time. we definitely weren't like greg's block who'd always make it a point to go drinking or even out of town pag free cut (i missed that term!).

now naman that i'm working, parang the only group i make an effort to go on nights out with is my high school barkada. i don't mean to say i dislike being with my other sets of friends, it's just that nasanay lang ako na sila ang kasama ko. probably because we've been together for a long time (especially the CSA-ADMU contingent: macky, kathy, karen) and we more or less like the same stuff--not to mention having the same spending capacity.

it has even reached a point when greg thought i don't like his ua&p friends at all since i seem to be too tamad to go with him whenever they have scheduled drink nights. i honestly like them--they're a cool bunch. they're all affluent (heller, they're from ua&p) and yet a huge part of them is jologs. funny, even. they know the coolest places to hang out in, and it doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. they're really nice to me and i have fun with them. yun lang talaga, medyo biased ako to going with my own set of friends on nights out.

this quite saddens me as kath will be leaving for singapore in a couple of weeks. she'll be trying her luck there, which i think is good for her. for me, she's the independent, work-abroad type. medyo nalungkot lang ako since on trips out of town or out of the country, it's always me, greg, kathy, macky and karen (plus drew now! :P) who go together. the realization set in deeper after the coron trip. we had a blast, and since she'll be leaving soon, we're not sure when the next trip will be. like i said, biased ako. sila ang travel and gimmick buddies ko. hindi na kami makukumpleto (unless kathy doesn't get to find a job there. hehe honestly, a part of me wishes for that. selfish.).

here's to a fresh start for kathy. i'll miss you, yayat. you'll forever be the twin sister i never had :)

PS: painom ka before you leave!!!

back to work, back to all the stress.

here's how the trip went:

DAY1

-left the house at about 645pm and picked up kathy & zy.

-went to the airport, found the boyf in the waiting area.

-waited for macky outside since Globe was out and i was the only one who had the e-ticket.

-checked in soon as karen & drew came.

-waited til 10am to board. the zestair flight was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes in total.

-flight was really bumpy. nahilo ang lola mo.

-kuya mike picked us up, brought us to Coron Village Lodge where we finally met ate ezel, our tour guide. we had a quick lunch then we got ready for that day's activities. we had to bring our snorkeling gear (goggles, in my case) and aqua shoes (i had to make do with makeshifts--slippers with garter. hehehe! kuripot alert.)

-we got on 2 trikes and were brought to the pier. boarded the boat and headed off to Atuwayan Beach. it was called such because it had lot of "tuways" or shells. drew and greg did some snorkeling. the rest of us opted to just stay by the shore to take photos since per ate ezel, sea urchins and jellyfish frequent the area. nyikes.



-Twin Lagoon was next on the iti. the water was 70% salt and 30% fresh water hence the mixture of hot and cold water. it started to rain so it got difficult for us to move, especially with kathy afraid of the water. hehe good thing ate ezel and macky were able to accompany her. buwis-buhay actually, they both almost drowned because of kat. hahaha! kaasar lang, i lost my nice speedo goggles. i was trying to fix my hair so i took off my goggles for a while. it slipped my hand. thinking it'll float (like it does in swimming pools), i didn't make an effort to scurry and look for it. yun pala, lumulubog yung goggles dun. ayun, wala naaa.

-We went to Kayangan Lake next. this was my favorite if not for the trek. the water was very serene. contrary to Twin Lagoon, this was 70% fresh and 30% salt water. our stay here was more relaxed since it stopped raining, plus there wasn't the fear of jellyfish or sea urchins. hassle lang because you have to go up to view the much-photographed entrance to the lake, go down to the actual lake and take that same trail to get back to your boat. hasslehoff talaga!



-Next and final stop was the Maquinit Hot Spring. we were supposed to do fish feeding at Siete Pecados kaya lang it was too dark already so we put that one off for the 3rd day. Greg was planning on jumping into the super hot water, buti na lang di nya tinuloy. Aaray yun, for sure.

-we then headed for home to bathe, have dinner, watch Tayong Dalawa (part of the itinerary yun! :P) and then sleep. we didn't have any more energy to drink so borlogs na kami after watching Bok JR and Bok Dave.

DAY2

-We had to get up early to go up Mt. Tapyas. The view from the top was so-so, nothing extraordinary. We just took photos then went back to the lodge for breakfast.



-Rested a bit, the others did some CR time and prepared stuff for that day's trip.

-We rode the boat for almost 2 hours (ang sakit sa pw*t!) to get to Calumbuyan island. the others took a nap on the hammocks while ate ezel prepared our lunch. after eating, we re-applied sunblock then went snorkeling. there were lots to see! there were various corals and fishies. we were all very proud of kathy as she was able to swim by herself :) no need for ate ezel to assist her every second. hehehe good job, kat.




-it took another hour to get to coral garden. grabe ang alon, ayaw mambasa! this time it was only zy, greg and drew who took a dip. the rest of us took photos with the beautiful scenery hehe camwhores.



-then we were off to the Japanese gunboat shipwreck. scary, nagkaron na ng corals yung ship. lots of fishies pa rin. we even saw scuba divers way below us.

-we headed home, did the same routine as day 1 except greg, macky, drew and kathy went for drinks after Tayong Dalawa. hehe other than greg, everyone was asleep by 230am. the boyf went drinking with the neighbors and the Bobs from the lodge's resto. 5am na natulog ang lolo mo. ayun, puyat.

DAY3

-we were an hour late. we stopped by Siete Pecados to feed the fish pandesals and monays. bilang puyat, si greggyboy lang ang hindi nagpakain ng isda hehehe




-headed to Malcapuya island. malakas pa rin ang alon but it wasn't as scary as day2. the boatride was again exhausting (kahit na sila kuya bangkero naman ang nagddrive :P) so derecho lunch when we got there. rested a bit then we started taking photos. what can we say? the beach was so photo-worthy. actually, naubos yung oras namin taking pics. the only time we went to the water was when we were looking for the scary giant clams as we boarded the boat. kaya lang dahil nakakadiri at nakakapraning ang mga damo sa ilalim ng tubig (stingrays likewise hide in the sand so we really had reason to be paranoid, okay? :P), we all decided to just board the boat and leave. hehehe





-we decided to take on Twin Lagoon for the second time. it was hectic the first time we went there, thanks to the rains. this time around, the water seemed as fine as that of Kayangan Lake. Kathy was extra confident in the water by this time, kaya lang when she got tired, kuya bangkero had to pull her around using a stick. hehe! everyone took their time swimming and taking photos as we bade Coron goodbye.



DAY4

-after having breakfast, we took a bath and prepared to head for Manila :)

-cebu pacific was 20 minutes early. way to go, CebPac!

-we took a van from terminal 3 to glorietta to have lunch at A Veneto.

-after buying dessert, we all split up and went home to get much-needed sleep.

theme songs for the trip: Boom Boom Pow (c/o idunnowho) and Broken Strings (c/o Zy)

'til the next one, guys!

we'll be off to coron tomorrow! yipee! this trip is about 5 months in the making. it's really a good thing cha was able to endorse her tour guide to us. at least nakamura kami somehow. if there's something the bangkok group likes, it's cheap-ness! wehehee :P

our per-pax budget for our 4D/3N coron trip?

1,826 - 2-way airfare (zest air and cebupac)
6,000 - inclusive of lodging, meals, transfers, entrance fees, boat & tour
guide for all 4 days
350 - terminal fees

around 8,200 in total :) not bad, especially since we don't have any plans of going out of the country this year (aside from Kathy who'll be trying her luck in Singapore next month. next destination for Bangkokers: Malaysia and Singapore! :P probably next year na hehe), thanks to the AH1N1 virus.

updates from last week:

tuesday - watched Terminator Salvation, thanks to my movie passes

wednesday - had dinner at Razon's and waited for JR at Uncle Moe's. katamaran kicked in kaya nag-uwian na lang hehe

thursday - did the metro station event. had dinner at North Park then went to Buendia. we were supposed to check out Ponti's crowd since they play alternative/rock music every thursday, kaso puno na when kathy got there. had a drink at Bistro10 in C Palanca, kaya lang 11pm pa lang, last call na. buti na lang din, otherwise we wouldn't have ended up in Tabu. That's where all the hot men are!!! a bunch of the guys were really smokin' (and i don't mean yosi :P). apparently, a lot of brazilian male models live in that area so they usually hang at Tabu. got really tipsy with the beach kamikaze, i could barely walk straight from our doorstep to my room.

friday - thank God for holidays. bummed around at home 'til the boyf and RG picked me up to have dinner at the latter's house. went to discovery suites for abner's birthday celeb. just had 2 shots of tequila, actually. hung out with the Hudyo boys. they even tried to strip karlo naked. good thing i didn't see his goodies. brrrr.

saturday - i had to leave for the office to fix some stuff for the event on Sunday. Greg picked me up from the office and went to his house for his dad's birthday naman. got a brazilian hehehe then went back to his house, tambay lang.

sunday - tambay with the sibs at home, went to church at 3pm (i was late!), had snacks at Chef D Angelo in G5 then bought groceries--a weekly family thing for us :)

over all, it was a fun week. buti nalang may 3-day weekend. hehe!

will be back on monday for updates on Coron :)

If there’s one thing I find hard to resist (aside from Starfish hihihi :P), it’s dessert. The world stops whenever I take in my Red Mango medium swirl with almond slices and semi-sweet choco chips. It’s a science for me—the way I get 1 choco chip plus around 3 almond slices (depends whether the server from Red Mango gave in to my request to give me extra almond slices for free :P) with every spoonful of fro-yo. I have to focus and take my own sweet time whenever I take a mouthful. Sarap talaga, pare! Nauubos na ang pera ko sa sobrang sarap! Hahaha!

It wasn’t always like this. Parang ever since I started working, lunch ain’t complete without anything sweet—be it chocolates, a drink from Quickly, a slice of cake or ice cream. Must have started when I get stressed at work. If I feel I have been working too hard and that I have to reward myself. What can I say? Dessert makes me happy—it’s comfort food! Kaya kahit namumulubi na ko, sige, dessert pa rin. Thank God for cheap sweet treats such as:

• 100 grams of dark chocolate with almonds from Candy Corner (P70.00)
• Taro choco sago with extra sago (P60.00)
• Slice of cake from Red Ribbon (P50.00 more or less)
• Selecta’s rocky road ice cream stick (P10.00)
• Mango crepe with raspberry ice cream from Crepes & Crème
(around P120.00, yeah not exactly cheap but it’s good :P)
• FIC’s Raspberry ice cream (P50.00 per scoop)

I’m thinking this might be a problem when I’m older and my metabolism isn’t as fast and reliable as it used to be. Di bale, bahala na si Batman. Basta ang alam ko, masarap kumain! :P

told the 'rents about the work being offered at the head office. as expected, they were all for it. here's how they saw it:

*so i don't tire out typing the names over and over, let's call *** "HEAD OFFICE" (or "HO"), and my current employer as "CURRENT EMPLOYER" (or "CE).

PROS:

1. HO is recognized as one of the top employers in the country, therefore i shall get great benefits. i agree. i see how they take care of their employees naman.

2. as mentioned in #1, cool benefits are up for grabs--better health insurance, more GCs monthly, bigger bonuses, i guess. it's something we don't have in the subs, i know.

3. salary will definitely increase, although i doubt if it's that significant. it's actually the benefits i'm vouching for.

4. i won't have to take the train going to and from the office since my dad works in makati and he isn't retiring anytime soon.

5. more opportunities to do training abroad (with the position being offered in HO, i don't think it's a possibility) and take post-grad studies. about that, i don't see the latter as a direct pro since i really don't intend to do any more studying. i look up to people with masteral and doctorate chuva degrees but i'm really not the diligent student type. i'd rather use my time putting up my own business than study to get a degree (which my dad tells me is primarily for better marketability and bragging rights--from which i won't exactly be filthy rich unless i'm in a high-paying job, i think). might be mediocre of me, okay, i get that, but i'd really rather take cooking or dance lessons. to each his own. apologies for digressing.

6. HO definitely has more equity than CE since the former is the mother company, the latter is merely a subsidiary.

7. more space for career growth in HO. daw. i don't kinda see it that way but we'll see.

CONS: none daw. but i feel if i move to HO, i'll be in the thick of all the politicking. i think we may just be a bit detached from all that crap here in the subs.

the boyf wants me to stay with CE. there might be more opportunities for career growth daw here. i'm not quite sure, either. basta all i know is i don't wanna be stuck working in the office until i get a loyalty award. i hope to have the datung to put up my own business so i have better control over my time.

wala pa naman yung formal offer (salary + benefits) so i guess i'll cross the bridge when i get there... or technically when the formal offer gets here. :)

i just spent 270 pesos on my lunch. well, okay it's supposed to cover merienda as well. nothing exciting's going on and there's tons of work to do (but i'm still too freakin' lazy to move) so i felt i had to reward myself (yet again, i know) by giving in. i bought a half order of baked ziti with meat sauce, a slice of sausage pizza plus raspberry iced tea. i tried to fight it off, thinking raspberry iced tea will just give me UTI and that i have to stick with water. unfortunately, the iced tea won.

on another note, mench followed up on my decision on the position being offered to me. still hasn't changed, actually. i'm 90% for trinoma and 10% for head office. unless the salary's twice there, that is. hehe but i seriously doubt it. i'm still not aware of the salary/benefit package so i've yet to make up my mind.

i'm just happy i can go home early now.

this is such a senseless post, i know. hahaha!

May's over, June's here! bilis ng panahon. the sale seemed successful (though i haven't gotten any form of congratulations from the bosses)--the event was richer and more thought out relative to last year's. at first i thought i'd be going through hell once again. things went smoother now. surprisingly, it was easier than i'd expected.

anyway, to recap last week:

may25
the mom's birthday. just had dinner (pansit was on the menu, of course) at home. we had a roll of chocolate cake from Red Ribbon for dessert.

may26
mench calls me into her office. thought it was for the sale, yun pala i was being considered for a position in AMG. i'll be working in mench's team which is a good thing. i'll be helping her do start-up Marketing/Events work on community malls like Marquee, UP Technohub and Nuvali. after which, we turn the projects over to the respective marketing teams. the spoiler there's i have to partly do work under corporate sponsorships which means i'll have s***y for my boss, too. shit. who would want that? i've yet to know the salary and package for the said position. i'm sure the salary increase wouldn't be that significant, but i'm definite the benefits will be way better than what i'm getting now. haaay. i'm about 90% sure i won't be taking that job but i am very curious how much it pays. :)

may27
sorta ngarag mode--the sale's on the following day!

may28
i wasn't able to go shopping as soon as the mall opened (as planned. harhar!) because i had to go to makati for a meeting. tried going around when i got back but to no avail, there was so much to do, still. ended up shopping for 2 tops after mall hours.

may29
i initially intended to have my hair dyed but we had a team lunch meeting (at Cyma... opa!) which ended at 2pm. good thing mench allowed us to go around. i was able to buy 3 more pieces--got back to my desk at 330pm. hekhekhek! went back to Plains&Prints at 5pm to buy another one. left the office to meet up with Greg at Gateway. we headed off to Malcom's Place in HV Dela Costa for dinner. quite pricey for ordinary-tasting pasta, actually. in terms of value for money, i give it a 2 out of 5. after dinner, we had drinks at Capone's A Venue. good music by the band, Overtone (or was it Overtones?). Greg and I will be back there next Friday :)

may30
did choir practice for Lenlen's wedding from 1030am to 2pm. went home to rest and do some grooming chores. left the house for the TriNoma Green Party at 530pm. had good food from Cibo and drinks (mixed with Mango Rum!) with the officemates. nakipag-Englishan pa nang konti with the cute guy from Green Drinks. did some last minute shopping with Greggyboy then headed home.

may31
watched How I Met Your Mother before Greg picked me up. went to Carlo Bro's house since we'll be riding with him to Roni & Richelle's wedding in Caleruega. haha late kami, greggy kasi eh! it was raining when we got there, buti na lang may umbrellas si Bro. drove to Splendido for the reception. grabe, it took some time before we got to eat. haaay. during the reception, we periodically discussed what we like and what we don't like to have in our wedding. hehe ang kyut, medyo nagpaplano na.

moment of the night: when the couple was doing their first dance, greg and i were seated together. he thanked me for coming with him and i said, "baket?". he said, "wala para may kausap ako, may kasama ako" or something to that effect. i said, "baket, andyan naman sila JR and Carlo ah?". he replied "gusto ko lang kasama kita. mas kampante ako pag kasama kita. kaya nga gusto ko kasama kita parati eh--sa mga inuman, sa mga lakad ko. kasi pag kasama kita feeling ko kaya ko gawin lahat."

muntik naman akong naiyak. "i love you" lang ang nasabi ko.

love you, greggyboy. you really are my high. :)

it was a great way to start the month. here's to great starts!