Here, there and everywhere.

Just came back from a quick trip to Kuala Lumpur with 4 friends who were also my former colleagues (plus 1 best friend of a friend) .  It's interesting to know that some 3 years after they left the company (and ME!), we still go through the same issues albeit in different environments. It's funny how things change but not really. You grow up and move on but still deal with the same things.  It even appears that they get to deal with worse than I do. You know why? Because my issues are pang totoy. The kind that you encounter in highschool. They've discovered that the hell of a boss portrayed in The Devil Wears Prada really does exist in real life. Aside fromt the terrorism and personal attacks, they've got work calling at 3 am, on weekends, on vacation, whenever. Sad, but everything is a matter of choice. Perhaps I can say that because I can't relate (to the boss part, at least I don't get hell in that sense!).

Anyway, Malaysia was a great choice for a quick escape. Not quite as nice as Singapore but visibly more progressive than the Philippines.  We only stayed for about 2 days but it felt like 5 because we did so much. Extreme is the theme for Day 1 and I'm proud to say that I've already ziplined! I love zipline! I can't forget zipline! I keep on replaying the part where I step out of the platform, slide down, scream for a while, wave to people, and see the artificial beach beneath. Pure awesomeness! That's one thing I wouldn't dare do had I been in Malaysia alone without people egging me on.  We spent the whole day at Sunway Lagoon and even had time to swim in the pool before dinner but the zipline was the best part. Best 45 seconds in Malaysia. Wooohoo! Natural high so true.

Day 2 was all about touring the city, visiting the chocolate factory, King's Palace, Batu caves, central market, and shopping. This guy approached me (I'm not surprised, I'm in a foreign country) and asked me if I was Australian. That is the lamest ever... because I sure know people from Australia don't look like me!

But three weeks before Malaysia...

I was in the UK. A different kind of fun, and a different kind of natural high. England is so beautiful. I was always in awe of what I saw everyday.  I like that the city is so modern but the buildings and structures are old. The flagship Apple store was huge and so was the year-old Ferrari store on Regent Street. I almost spent a fortune on a notebook because I wanted a paperbag! Haha! Good thing I held back because although I like the brand and its history, I'm not a Ferrari fan this year... and if I got that notebook, I wouldn't write on it. I didn't want the apparel. It's just the same with what they have in Greenhills and Puma. And unlike in SanFo where photos are prohibited (at least during the time we were there that's why I didn't give a damn, eh), this one is a tourist spot so everyone took photos inside the store.  I saw Kimi Raikkonen's signature on the counter (knew it because I saw the BBC coverage when they opened the store last year). In London, I was like a little kid going to Disneyland for the first time. I was thrilled by the fact that I'm alone in a beautiful place, far, far away from everyone I know.  I just got paranoid at one point after getting approached randomly by strangers.  Hyde Park is desrted at night and I have to pass by it to get to where I live. Drunk men walk around, some of them young, some of them older with suitcases. It can get really freaky!

I love the tube. After seeing and being disappointed by the subway in New York, I got to appreciate Underground better. Mind the Gap! I also liked the music. Different genres for different stations.  And the street performers were very very cool. There was even a band, about my age, who set up randomly in the street near Tottenham Court station complete with amplifiers and all. No vocals, though, but the way they played familiar tunes was amazing. You just have to stop and appreciate. 

I have been to a lot of places in the past 9 months. New Jersey, New York, Washington, San Francisco -- 2 days after I got back, I was in Hong Kong. Three weeks after that, Singapore. And then in 2010, it was Singapore, Singapore, UK, Malaysia. Too bad Bangkok didn't push through because of the political climate. Everything was arranged, all we had to do was leave! After HK for my folks' wedding anniversary this June (and Father's Day), I think I'm done for the year. I will miss the smell of airports for a while. haha

*Blogging because I couldn't sleep. Sleep, where are you?

Can I just say

Na kahit si Superman, bayaran mo man ng P200.00 or P2 Million, napapagod din. I'm tired of hearing that you're tired plus my own tiredness. Okay?

Back to work. Service with a smile : )

But it's okay, really.

There's always a little truth behind every "just kidding",

a little knowledge behind every "I don't know",

a little emotion behind every "I don't care"

and a little pain behind every "it's ok".

Arrrrrgh. I hate it.

There are lots of pretty girls here, you know. French, Italian, Russian...

oh, that girl from Colombia is hot. Pero ba't ako???!

Kadiriiiiiiiiii! Sasapakin kita!!!

Gang Green

It's almost 2 a.m. and I feel like writing


a customer case study for one of our clients.

And in an attempt to counter this dorkiness, I closed Microsoft Outlook and logged on to Blogger instead. Here I am, staring at an almost blank white space which isn't so blank anymore because I managed to type a number of words to convey that I'm staring at an almost blank white space which isn't so blank anymore.

My life in the past couple of weeks has been really colorful. It's a frenzy of work, work, work, and also balanced by late nights with friends and family get togethers on weekends. I'm not sure why but since my birthday week, I've been busier in everything. At work, it always feels like I'm chasing something bust most of the nights after work, I get to reward myself for getting through the day (with a drink, a movie, something new).

Similar to the state of the nation now – we are swimming in the colors of the rainbow, more prominently in yellow, orange, green, red and blue. About four months ago, I decided on my presidential bet. I chose to go green. The turning point was when I caught a debate on TV which was participated in by most of the presidential candidates. I took notice of this guy, perhaps one of the youngest candidates, holding out his own against the more known names. A viewer questioned his affiliation to the president and while it is a drawback, he defended it quite well in saying that he won’t turn his back on the person who gave him the opportunity work in the government at such a young age. He wouldn’t turn his back on the person who saw his potential and trusted in his capability to handle the Dept. of National Defense, but he won’t stand in the way of justice should the soon former president find herself under prosecution in the court of law.

I’ve been impressed by this candidate who was relatively unknown until he decided to run under the administration party. Amid all the mudslinging and the negative vibe that emanates from the two more popular presidentiables, my president is promoting positive campaigning. Very few are the instances when he’d throw a jab at a fellow candidate. He isn’t part of the senseless arguments in presidential debates. He doesn’t even have a powerful legion of celebrities proclaiming support for him. To a certain extent, this is all working in his favor for most of the people who place their bets on him (at least most of the ones I know) are his true believers. People who actually see the feasibility of his plans and believe in his platform. These are the people who thought long and hard about the next president, and eventually decided to overlook his association with the incumbent administration based on the merit of his platform.

I am perhaps one of the few who do not see this current administration as a total failure. I actually think that a couple of years from now, people will get to appreciate what has been done in the past six years. It’s just that the politicking was too much that our current president wasn’t given the chance to lead properly.

I feel that the clamor for one presidential candidate to run was nothing more than an outpouring of emotion – love and gratitude for his parents who did so much for the country. It’s almost some kind of blind fanaticism that people fail to realize there’s so much more to the presidency than just lineage. He has done nothing. Unfortunately, it looks like he has the greatest chance of winning in this elections.

I remember a scene in Iron Man 2 where a news commentary was being aired on CNN regarding Pepper’s appointment as the CEO of Stark Industries. They said she was nothing more than Tony Stark’s assistant, what does she know about running one of the most powerful conglomerates in the world? BUT Pepper was Tony’s assistant. Pepper did the ground work while Tony was busy with Iron Man. Pepper worked behind the scenes and laid everything out for Tony Stark the CEO, which is different from his hat as Tony Stark inside the Iron Man suit. And because of this exposure, Pepper knew the ins and outs and has familiarized herself with the business, which makes her qualified to lead the multinational company.

Can we say the same for the Yellow Ranger? What has he done again? The yellow ranger didn’t play a big role in his mother’s time. He didn’t do anything remarkable during his tenure as a senator. His platform is a rehashed version of his mother’s. A lot of other people are more qualified for this role and the voters must realize this. May 10 is more than just putting that yellow ribbon to wherever.

On a separate note, I have a strong feeling that our Green ranger stands a good chance on this one. As we get closer to Dday, those undecided are no longer undecided. More people are coming out to support him. If he doesn’t win this, I think he’ll end up higher than fourth because we shouldn’t trust those surveys. Note that Fidel Ramos did not top the surveys but still went on to win the presidency.

I can feel Alanis Morissette when she lamented the no smoking sign on her cigarette break, the ten thousand spooons when all she needed was a knife... I carefully thought about who to vote for, participated in disucussions and debates with my friends, set-out to change the minds of my relatives to vote for Green instead of Yellow and Orange, only to find out last month that I would be out of the country on election day. Hahahaha.  I also realize that there's a good chance that these dirty, filthy politicians will work to influence the outcome of the elections so I won't really lose anything by not being able to vote. I will, in fact, gain another stamp on my passport and get to see another country, enter another continent and push on with my Thirsty Traveler series. The Philippines will always be the Philippines. I'll only be bummed if Gibo loses by just one vote, which is highly unlikely.

Just FYI. Hindi rin ako natanong sa survey.

The bottle is empty.

And it's broken.

Good thing a new one has arrived.  We just need to make sure we don't run out things to put in it . Otherwise, the new bottle will just be like the old bottle.

Wallowing in emptiness.

So emo, I know!!!

Change is good.

Way better than those Tag Heuer sunglasses that he used to wear as part of his F1 sponsorship deals.  Hooray.

2010

2009

Snoozefest

3 races into the season and I haven't even seen any of the F1 races live on TV. I used to make it a point to catch most of it wherever I was -- at home, in a bar or restaurant (because most of the races are shown live during dinnertime).  I seem to have lost half the interest I had in the previous years, add to this the post-race reports that indicate how much of a snorefest they were that even the drivers themselves complain of boredom.

The various rule changes over the years have significantly affected the quality of the show such that most races turn out to be nothing more than processions after the first lap.  I'm satisfied enough to keep myself updated on twitter without the desire to actually see the race.

It has become a template. I can predict which of the races would be most boring this year: Valencia, Singapore & Abu Dhabi. These are the tracks that Tilke designed. They look good but they don't inspire action.

The tracks that always produce good races? On my list are Monaco, Monza, Spa Francorchamps, Interlagos and Japan.

Oh well. They should do something about this next year... and for the rest of this year.

Take a look around

They say we move in circles. When the good comes to bad, the bad comes to good.

I find myself in quite a similar situation which others before me have gone through. I've seen it happen to them and, therefore,  I've been warned.  I was mistaken in believing that I was good enough not to let it happen to me, or perhaps I should say that I was led to believe I was good enough. Turns out I'm no exception. It really is bound to happen and based on the timeline, it's about time. To borrow from Coldplay: Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard.

Tsunami warning, I hear you.

Things change. Perspectives change. People can easily be swayed in different directions. Some fall into the trap of believing before thinking and jumping to conclusions before searching for evidence.

Even those who seemed to understand before don't seem to understand now.  Often, the judgment is not all that apparent. It can appear as a subtle insinuation, mere question or what not, but where I exist, I've observed that people are smart enough to decipher.  For my part, I face it, take it in stride, offer reasons and sometimes I'm successful in stressing a point, but there are times when I still end up feeling like a fool because those who judge and make false accusations will never consider that they could be wrong.

The same people who built you up are the same ones who'll put you down. Like David Beckham in the early years of his career, when he nailed that goal from midfield for Manchester United -- fans hailed him as the future of English football, the golden boy.  Years later, he joined Real Madrid and suffered a slump. They thought he wasn't the golden boy that he was as he couldn't even translate the free kicks, and he was crucified and ridiculed by the same people who put him up.

But, unlike David Beckham, I'd like to believe I'm not in a slump (at least not yet), and unlike the ones before me, I wouldn't allow this to end in the same manner it did for them because I'm not a cliche.

I just have to accept that the world doesn't always work in my favor and that I'll have to figure out my way around it.

Happy Birthday, Kuya!

Wish I could write overused dedications like,

"may you have many more to come."

Unfortunately, you're stuck at 31.

But I'm sure you're having a great one up there! Terribly missing you.