Eye gaze.

Timothy Ferris gave one good comfort challege: Eye Gaze. Look into the eyes of a stranger, then maintain eye contact till he/she looks away. It will teach you to move out of your comfort zone, to decide on something really big, to go for a dream that seems impossible, by simply (for a start) learning how to do the things that are uncomfortable, unusual or odd. makes sense right?!

A storm to remember

Today's not a weekend, as Ondoy washed away homes and stopped commuters in streets for hours amidst rain and flood. Indeed, there's so much loss today. Ironically the calamity peak happened while I was with ginpom people, celebrating Tisha and Jay's birthday in Alabang -We could've stayed longer at Starbucks ATC, if not a lot started sending text messages on how the flood is ruining almost the entire Metro Manila.

So even if it was only 4pm, we got up and decided to go home. Tisha planned to drive everyone to Susana heights to get buses (EDSA and Lawton-bound buses) while I planned to go with her till the corner near their house as I live just nearby. After dropping them, we two didn't go home right away as we waited for them to get buses, which never happened because each bus that passed by (at the rate of 1 bus per 15 mins) was so full. There were no jeeps going to Alabang either as all vehicles were stuck in San Pedro flood. So... in short, the birthday celebration turned into an impromptu Muntinlupa sleepover, with the majority of people in Tisha's house. the transpo problem was a blessing in disguise though. if they got in a bus then they could've been stuck for hours all night.

I didn't realize how serious the situation was when electricity went back and we finally got to watch TV. Ondoy damaged A LOT -poor and rich alike. I can't get over the videos of washed out houses, people waiting for rescue, and bodies found after mud flow =( I myself know a friend who lost their house, saving nothing except themselves (I just got the news this afternoon). I don't know how I could help at the moment, except for giving some of my clothes and sacrificing my coming salary.

I just have to share what everyone has been posting in facebook (I'm sorry for stealing pictures ehehe). I got the following pics from this facebook profile. Gosh, look at the marian quadrangle! I really feel like I have to show this to my fellow lasalista alumnus:





Ondoy is such a great storm, one of the storms I'll never forget (like Rosing when I was in grade school, Caloy during our company outing in Calatagan, and Milenyo 3 years ago). This time it was a storm that chose no one, it damaged all walks of life in Metro Manila. It wasn't even a signal #3 storm, but it brought water instead of wind, it poured a MONTH-worth of rain for just 6 HOURS, ruining most cities in very unexpected ways. In fact, according to the news, there are still people from Rizal, Marikina, Pasig and QC who are on their roofs and some inside their houses, trapped by flood, waiting for rescue since yesterday. In Arayat, Pampanga meanwhile, a lot were buried by landslide. By now, all in all, 70+ are dead, and 20+ are missing.

May victims get rescued soon, and may these places and bereaved families, recover after the calamity. May this storm also serve as a message to everyone (not only to filipinos), that mother earth can get even to anyone, anytime.
 

street dancing, revived!

I'm so happy that my fave dance instructor is back, now I'm into street dancing again! last night, after my street dance class (after more than a month!!!), I realized that indeed, street dancing helps me burn more, compared to cardio exercises using the usual machines. that, or I'm lazy with the machines... really, they can't let me stay for more than 20 mins! with dancing, I have no choice but to exercise for 1 hour straight! and, that's an hour of fun too! that alone makes street dancing better! I'm so glad it's back in my wed/fri sched! :)
 

Review: In My Life

A MUST SEE MOVIE! (no spoilers in this review, promise! hehe)



I watched this movie primarily just to see how John Lloyd and Luis Manzano would carry the gay roles, while I thought, everything else will be the usual and predictable as shown in trailers –Vilma will do good as a “kawawa” mom, John Lloyd and Luis will take extra steps in acting with their gay roles, Luis will die of cancer, blah blah blah. But NO, this movie did well beyond my expectations.

Vilma did well as a kawawa mother AND a first-time OFW. John Llloyd and Luis did VERY well with their gay roles and heavy drama at the same time considering that John Lloyd was originally for leading man roles and Luis for comedy and hosting. And the plot! It didn’t turn out as I expected or as you would upon seeing trailers! The movie also had a touch of comedy, from Vilma’s carabao english to Vice Ganda’s bakla hirits. It was generally full of surprises: from actors to cinematography.

Though for those who are squeamish when it comes to gay scenes, skip this one (you’ll miss a lot though!) not that this movie had bed scenes nor torrid kissing but I myself had lots of gritting moments on holding-hands scenes. I remember grasping my seat’s cushion tightly in the most gay scene, which I'd rather not describe to keep you curious. hahaha!



Again, I won’t write spoilers so I’d just say: surprise yourself, watch this very nice movie!
 

dark chocolate ice cream, home made!

Last night I made dark chocolate ice cream, and the main ingredient was... Goya dark chocolate! (of course choco must be cheap on the first attempt, in case of failure. haha. I wanted those pricey 60+% cacao bars actually)


Goya bars.

After simmering and whisking and stirring stuff, and after sleeping btw (I froze it overnight) I woke up excitedly to taste the finished product. ta dah!


the finished product, partly consumed by
me, mama and papa for breakfast dessert.
just 33% successful. hehe.

The texture wasn't perfect, the topmost layer had icicles, and the mid part didn't freeze well. the bottom part though was a success as it was so creamy! yay! mama said it's probably because it should've stayed in the freezer longer (but I dunno, that was 8 hours already). I say I should've used whole milk instead of non-fat, and 3 egg yolks instead of 2. or I should've used a beater. or an ice cream maker!

mama said it so tasted like selecta, concluding that we no longer have to buy ice cream next time! haha! I was a bit disappointed though because I wanted it to taste like real dark choco ice cream, like that gelato flavor in amici. perhaps Goya doesn't have that too bitter taste, I really should go for the more expensive dark chocos next time. or maybe I added so much sugar? hehe.

I'm glad though it's almost the real thing. hehe. especially when I got home, there's no more melted part! (mama's partly right then!)


my 2nd serving tonight. haha!

I'll do the 2nd version this weekend :)
 

mahirap talaga maging mahirap

Our helper just left for good. so we got a temporary one who's renting a room few blocks away. she's 20 years old, jobless, mom of 2 kids and married to a jobless 40+ yr old man. she's willing to work for us few hours in the morning to do the laundry and to clean the house, and another few hours in the afternoon to wash the dishes. just that.

the thing is, she's been asking for cash advance for almost everyday, not realizing she can be salary-less for the coming weeks. there was one time too when she volunteered her husband to clean the bodega for just a couple of hours, which was fine, but this man on his very fist day, demanded already for cash advance that's way beyond minimum wage pa. My mom has been tolerating until she got annoyed with it, so she talked to the new helper, and explained to her (the helper) that they can't go on like that everyday, as it's a habit that will put them to debt, and will consume our budget on the other hand.

eto naman ang sagot nya: "e pano naman po kami mabubuhay nyan!"

WTF?! when my mom told me that I was extremely aggravated. for one, she can't demand for more, infact we're the ones who should demand as she already owes us days-worth of work. two, it was never our obligation to feed them! it was just our responsibility to pay for whatever they work for. if they can't pay their bills and food and everything just because she wasn't able to get the cash advance/"bale" from us then she'd better not blame us and find other means right?! in the first place too, we don't get money from trees, we also work hard for it!

this reminded me of an old woman who also dropped by our house months ago asking if she could be a part-time labandera. my mom refused because we already had a helper that time. her response was something like "may bahay kayo, nakakabili kayo ng kung ano ano pero ako di nyo ako matulungan!"

F talaga! so it's like me saying to my boss: "grabe naman nakakapag UCC ka pero sakin ni 7-11 coffee di mo mabigay!" (tapos ang nasa job description e magprogram kapalit ang N-thousand na sweldo with no benefits) what could be more demanding and absurd and rude than that!? aba'y kung ganon masisisante nga ako at sasabihin rin ng boss ko "aba'y di ko obligasyon ang painumin ka ng masarap na kape!". maaaring magtimpi ako, mainggit, mainis o kung ano man, pero hindi ko sasabihin. diba!

So... kudos to those who work hard for their families, who have gratitude when given something extra, and who request for money in polite and sympathetic ways. these are the people we'd like to help even more. masarap bigyan ng bonus.

I remember this sampaguita boy who rode the jeep I was on, he sang and rapped to entertain everyone, enticing 2-3 ppl to buy his sampaguita (unusual right?). with the few left on his hand, he turned to me and said "ate... sige na... bente po ito pero sampu nalang po kung bibilhin nyo. para lang po maubos paninda ko...." yes he begged, not demanded. he didn't say "pano na po ako kung hindi kayo bibili!" or "nakakabili po kayo ng damit pero sampaguita ko ndi nyo po mabili!" get my point?!

so I bought everything he had. for 20 pesos. mabuti pa yung bata. sana di sha tumanda kagaya ng ibang nakakapang init ng dugong nakilala ko.

ang puso! gosh, babalik na nga ako sa trabaho ko. I just had to speak.
 

bisikleta to work -feasible?

I have yet another crazy idea: I want to go to work by bike, as in bisikleta/de pajak! haha! that would be a good exercise (while I'd be able to save P65 per day!). It's not practical for now though coz my gym payment is good until summer next year. if I buy a bike now, I'm sure I won't need further workout other than cycling, sayang naman gym!

Though really, it's not THAT crazy -my office's relatively near, less than 10km from house I guess (30 minutes by 1 trike and 2 jeeps). If I go to work by bike then that would mean cycling for an hour or even less. same as in cycling class, right!? and generally, muntinlupa's not chaotic as roads, sidewalks and street lights have been improved by mayor ASP. in fact I see a lot now who go to and from work by bike. specifically, Madrigal-Alabang is not that urban, not so polluted and less dense unlike other business districts in Metro Manila. also, I don't have to worry about the parking as there are slots here for motorcycles and bicycles, for free!

I wish it's summer already so I could think about this option again :) haha!
 

therapy called blogging

I just finished reading my posts in my old blog (LJ) (dahil wala lang! haha!) and so I had the chance to see things that have changed and those that haven't, and to remember so many blessings which God has given me in the past. some posts were funny, some were too yucky mushy, some were plain nonsense, but each one really entertained me. that reminiscing and senti journey was so fun, try it!!!

I realized that I was more appreciative back then, loving all things so easily, big or small! I found blessings and lessons behind all rants too. not like now. *sigh*

I also realized that indeed, 1) blogging is therapeutic AND 2) reading your own history is both therapeutic and entertaining.

SO... from now on I'll blog more often -positive posts as much as possible. to entertain myself 4 years from now (hehe), and of course to realize small blessings in my everyday life :)
 

8th sign of aging

1) The other day I tried to withdraw from Landbank ATM in BIR, but for some reasons my Metrobank card just can't be inserted. The lady behind me said that (yeah she got bothered hehe) the machine probably just accepts Landbank cards, since it's inside BIR and primarily intended for the BIR personnel. which was really weird because the ATM's bancnet, thus it must be able to accept other bancnet cards right? So anyway, I bought cheap foods because I had to extend the remaining P100 in my wallet, and decided to withdraw in Alabang instead. In Security Bank Alabang, I tried to withdraw again. then the same thing happened! the card can't be inserted! After staring at my card for like 10seconds........... I realized I've been inserting the card invertedly (not upside down, but rotated 180 degrees. gets!) omg ang tanga ko! I'm thinking, it's all because I sorted out stuff in my wallet last weekend, accidentally putting my ATM card invertedly, ruining my "hugot-sa-wallet-pasok-sa-atm" reflexes. but still ang tanga ko, I can't believe I wasn't able to figure that out while I was in BIR!

2) Last night, after workout, I went to Shopwise festival mall to buy my pang-baon for the next N days. I decided to leave my gym bag in the baggage counter since I didn't want to bring the heavy thing while walking around. While I was already falling in line to pay for everything, I reached for my wallet, realizing that the claim tag's no longer in my pocket. I searched all my pockets but really, it was gone. I got so scared that someone might have gotten it to steal my bag -which had no money, cards nor phones. BUT it was a Jansport bag which had my nike shoes, and my dearest pouch containing all my Clinique lipsticks and eyeshadows. I didn't leave the line though thinking it's so hassle to re-gather the grocery stuff if I go back to the baggage counter just to see if my bag's still there, right? so I stood in line breathlessly and prayed that no one stole my bag ...until finally, after paying and all, I hurriedly went back to the baggage counter, THEN KNEW THAT MY BAG'S STILL THERE! WHAT A RELIEF! I explained to the guy that I lost the tag, that I'll pay for it and that I could enumerate what's inside my bag to prove that I'm the owner. He just laughed and said "a andito yung claim tag, naiwan nyo".

:-| watda. either I'm so stressed or I'm getting older (I hope it's the former!)
 

when it rains, it pours

for the past 2.5 days I've been answering questions from trainees who had to do their hand-on exercises for this system we did. really, it's been so stressful. it's really different when you are introducing a new system rather than merely teaching a subject! with the former, you have to answer questions AND to troubleshoot at the same time!

But that was only until lunchtime today. Now I've been sitting in this empty, cold, computer lab for 3 hours, wondering what I should do next. The training's over but we can't leave yet as our transpo's not available until 5 pm.

see, when it rains, it pours! (and yeah, it literally rained hard too this day. hehe) good that we have internet connection, at least I can surf!

2nd AC-niversary

wow, this day marks my 2nd year in the company. well, it's not like "wow that's great", but it's more of wow- I can't believe it's been 2 years, time really flew quickly! yeah, I admit the last 2 years wasn't that great, but I can say that AC taught me a lot -from being a mini boss to being extra flexible by doing stuff outside of software development per se. like teaching, negotiating, persuading and dressing up professionally (just to be a high class chimi-aa during events and trainings. hahaha!). anything in life, really, is a blessing one way or another. no matter how much we hate it, sometimes. so, cheers to my 2nd year! happy anniversary to me! :)

4-Hour Workweek

Lately I'm reading this book entitled 4-Hour Workweek, written by Timothy Ferriss. Simply it will tell you (as the book cover says) that you can escape the 9-5 work, live anywhere and join the "New Rich" or NR.

My sister lent it to me months ago, with just a remark that if I read this, I'll be so excited to resign from work as soon as possible. whoa. This book intrigued me a lot, so I started reading it ...only till the first chapter as I became so busy at work (see the irony? haha) Anyway, last night, as it was a long weekend, I continued reading, eventually hitting the strong points, which really excites me a lot. slowly this book is becoming so encouraging. not really to resign (for now) but to deal with work and vacations differently. I think anytime next week I'll finish the book, with a different life perspective! thus far, here are the insights I got, written in my own words:

1) your "richness" isn't defined by income. It is defined by what you do, and when you do it. A top ranking employee, for example, may earn more than a million pesos annually but works 60 hours a week (for example lang ha!). He may be financially rich, but he's not living like a millionaire, so unlike the NR who earns just half a million annually, works 4 hours a week, and has a "complete freedom of when, where, and how to live". Just by looking at the figures, the NR earns more per hour. thus, teach boss to value performance over presence, or in your business, learn to trust, to delegate and to outsource -so you could earn while doing the things that you like more!

2) your dream is so possible. Timothy's example was a lawyer almost at the top of the corporate ladder, who suddenly decided to leave the law office in exchange for a surf-adventure company in Brazil. he's now living happily and at peace, not regretting the career he left. Point is, we could always turn to that thing which will make us genuinely happy. forget the corporate ladder, the comparing of new cars and all those stuff -it just sounds so risky because we are all, by nature, insecure of big changes but the truth is, if you want it, you can do it.

3) take mini retirements. a lot of people save for a one-time-big-time moment called retirement . but the truth is, 2 weeks after you retire, you'll die of boredom, wanting to do something else rather than bumming around. So spend your money once in a while for mini-retirements, which actually is the same as 20-30 years of retirement spread over the years, spent at an age when you need relaxation and when you enjoy travel the most. and this may not even mean travel, mini-retirements could actually be a year-long (or more) immersion in a non-profitable org intended to help other people.

Now I'm wondering if having my own business is the only solution to earn while doing something more meaningful in life. I definitely can't teach bosses to "value performance over presence" because hello, there's time and attendance. hahaha! I'm also wondering if there's actually someone I know who quit his/her job in exchange for an effective, radical, profitable business or job PLUS travels around the world. Shifting is really scary huh? But seriously I'm willing to go through the risk. as timothy said, shifting is possible. but, like what I said before, I don't know where to start.

I know I can't just rely on a random book for career change. Sometimes I'm thinking that the author could just be a plain lucky NR, a good writer and an idealist. I think there are so many financial/personal issues that he didn't consider.

But I can say that this book helps, at least to workaholics out there. As for me, the book's encouraging me so far BUT there's more to read, to pray about, and to learn when it comes to making money. I hope by the time I finish the book, I'm so full of ideas. for now, I can only make mini-retirements. hahaha.

september!

it's ber-month already, time flies so quickly! I can't believe soon I have to say goodbye to 2009, and to my age soon! (november actually. haha) omg! very soon I'll enter the late 20s!!! hay. admittedly, I don't want the year to end, I dread 2010! and I don't want to go older as well! 26 is sooooo far from 25!!!

(yeah I'm crazy -it's only september, and I'm cramming for inevitable things like I can do something. haha sorry!)

Anyway I'm glad that somehow there'll be something different at work starting tomorrow, as we'll train new batches of users for this software we're doing, and on friday, I myself will do the presentation! yay! I can smell a lot of coding too after this training, so I'd better savor this day! I hope this is a good start for my ber months :)