a full week of interest

This week has been quite interesting for me and a lot of people from Citi. Well, I seem to be improving at work, I think... People are getting stressed because of all the ad hoc tasks we are being given aside from our main job of making sure payments are made to suppliers.

It was the middle of this week that I did foreign currency processing. I had a better grasp of what to do but I am still not used to it. It is not an easy task to order foreign currency so you could pay the supplier in their desired currency. I got two more next week and I gotta be honest, I'm not so happy about it... I was also assigned to validate the TANDE invoices, and Aging reports aside from my GIRO report and it is taking a good amount of my time-time that should be focused on processing. Hopefully, I could pass back the TANDE to my co-worker who is on mandatory leave when she is back.

Enough about work. (as in work) I attended my first company christmas party and it was pretty interesting. I got to see a couple of people I don't really know and I was able to chat with a couple of them, which is pretty cool. Kinda reminds me of the days of parties in college I attend wherein I barely know anyone and end up chatting and laughing out loud with people. Oh, I danced by the way. I was so nervous I had to do my regimen for releasing pressure and stress. (I'd rather not post it here cause my dad knows about this blog... haha) It was pretty cool. It made me kinda stressed looking for a hoodie to wear cause I don't have one and am not planning on wearing one on a regular day. My sis accompanied me to sm dept store Thursday night to look for the cheapest one I could buy. We got one for like 500 or something but my older sis said the brand looks terrible. Good thing my sister's bf lent me one so all is well that ends well. Thanks dude! It was quite nice that people said our presentation was great and some girl said, "Hey! You were the dancer right? I'm from West but I was cheering for you guys." Gave me a big smile so I courteously said, "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the night. She was going back to the office at 10pm on a Friday to work. Geee... We really are workaholics. Oh! And my boss told me I work too hard. I took it as a compliment. It was nice hearing it. Feels even better than getting my paycheck. :)

Oh! And the most important thing about this week was what transpired this morning. My dad gave me an opened envelope that was sent by UA&P. I was quite surprised when I read it...

"I'm being invited to take my Master's degree in Applied Business Economics by Dr. Terosa. I did not expect this because he told our group we were not good researchers back in 4th year. Of course Jared is in the 5th year on his way to MA in Industrial Economics. But yeah it was quite flattering to be invited five months after your graduation by Doc T! I don't think I can accept it til next year or in 2011 though. I do not want my parents to shoulder the expenses so I want to pay for my tuition on my own. Secondly, I gotta make sure I am in the position wherein I could avoid having to render OT on class days because Doc T is quite strict with attendance but you can't really leave your obligations at work behind..."

I do want take my Master's some day so I gotta save up. :)


P.S.

My mom and grandma are back from Aklan... Crabs and suman galore! ;p

when men try to act like gods..

If you are an avid fan of asian telenovelas (by this, i am referring to the oriental ones), you would probably have seen meteor garden and boys over flowers. These shows show to us how 4 brats live like as if they own the whole country because they are so affluent and powerful... Some would find this attractive and cool. But if you try to be rational about it, it is very dismaying to have these people exist in the real world... Unfortunately, there are punks like these in the real world...

What the country has witnessed recently is the shameless massacre of over 30 people (mediamen and those filing for candidacy) by the alleged incumbent governor of a province in Mindanao (somewhere in Maguindanao). I find this utterly dismaying because not only is it cold blooded massacre; it is a manifestation of how the killers have lived their lives (I am not certain until now who it is. Nobody is certain because we cannot simply state the obvious. We need strong proof.). Let us look at this objectively, it is not by simple impulse that one could do such a vile and horrific act. Whoever did this has been doing a lot of repulsive wrongdoings throughout his/her life. It would take a gravely scarred and callous conscience to even think of such an act; more so, to have it executed!

I am not one to condemn but whoever did this deserves nothing but a slow and painful death. I have never thought I would think of this being a pro-life and all but this is really terrible. The husband of the murdered wife has all the reason in the world to act like the guy from law abiding citizen. I just hope he does not resort to that. I hope he can find a way to move on and keep living. If he couldn't, I can't blame him.

As a final word, "FOR THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THIS MASSACRE, SHAME ON YOU! YOU ARE ALREADY BURNING IN HELL EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE STILL BREATHING!! YOU BELONG TO THE GROUP OF HITLER AND STALIN. YOU WOULD FOREVER BE REMEMBERED AS THE TYRANTS OF THIS PLANET!"



"Hey Megalomaniac! You're no jesus! Yeah, you're no fucking Elvis! Wash your, hands yeah know yourself maniac! Step down! Step down! Step down!"

AND BURN IN HELL!!! YOU ASS!!! X(

time to update my johari's window

I think I am old enough to keep myself interested in something for a significant period of time.. as we get older, our attention span should extend longer.. however, i have realized how easy it is for me to lose interest in something that i am doing and it is a very bad thing. it could either mean that up to now, i haven't found my passion (which has always been centered in the economics/finance industry) or i really just do not have what it takes to endure boredom and keep myself focused on achieving my goals...

I am so confused right now and I definitely need to sort things out!!

ACCEPTANCE

why must i force myself into a herd when i am being embraced by everyone else outside the herd?

there are times when thick is good! (even better than thin)

Contrary to what seems to be the crazy fad ongoing right now, thick is actually good! Fine! I can live with the thin cellphones, models, pizzas, tvs, laptops, etc. They are all pretty good and I like them all thin. However, thick seems to be another way to go in some cases (i.e. wallets, books, sandwiches, coats, skin, etc.). And yes, you read it correctly! It is at times good to be thick-skinned.

On several occasions, people especially us Filipinos tend to be mahiyain (Please don't lecture me over making generalized statements!). We are prone to feeling shy when we are alone and we are not comfortable in other people's company. Hence, neophytes and newcomers have a tendency to become pushovers because they would like to jive with other people. Gusto natin makisama sa ibang tao. However, there are occasions when you just have to put your foot down and say, 'Oh no! You can't do that to me. Nor can you treat me that way. I won't be swayed; this is my stand!' Why do I say this? Because there are occasions, when we are swayed regardless of intention. If we are being influenced for the better then excellent! Let us be swayed and changed. However, when the people around us are influencing us for the worse, you gotta stay firm in your principles baby! Strengthen your stance and don't let nobody destroy you. There are times when people act like rust.. They put their residue in you and they destroy you from within. They plant ideas in your mind hoping that it will be enough to make you vulnerable and destroy you.

I am sorry. This bamboo is fully grown. Though it wiggles; it fights for its place because its roots are firm-planted in the ground. This bamboo can't be pushed!

There are times when thick is good!

The metropolis is sinking...

Just as the owners of the Titanic never saw the possibility of its sinking; I never saw Metro Manila sinking amidst the anger of the unforgiving rain-nay!-storm. I have never thought of the city as an invincible. unfailing place but I have never envisioned it to be incapable of defending itself against natural calamities.

True, the city has its resources; it is advanced; and it has the majority of the better off citizens. But yesterday, we all witnessed that even the grandest of walls could be faltered and deterred by a million stone-throwers, given enough time. The rain was strong but not unforgivingly strong. What made it cause damage is the length of time and continuity it was capable of withstanding. It almost never stopped raining yesterday and just when it seemed that it would surrender and leave, it shouts an angry scream-as if shouting at the people, houses, buildings and streets. Quite a sadistic storm Ondoy is.

Earlier that day, people were calling me, telling me that their parents would not allow them to step foot outside their houses thereby forfeiting their seats to my birthday party-a party that was to set a milestone in my life. My time to formally become an adult; a MAN. I remained optimistic that all would be well. After all, never has it been in the past that the metropolis did not stand tall amidst calamities. No, no, no, no, NO! The metropolis has much to boast to be taken down by a petty storm. What made me more optimistic was the fact that a good number of people were assuring me that they'd come til I woke up to my senses. Was I being selfish? Or maybe I just did not want to waste money since the contracts we entered were non-transferrable; non-refundable? When our relatives texted us of the situation in Sta. Mesa, I knew I should definitely cancel my gathering. This day was not about me. This day was about my loved ones who I may endanger for my stubbornness and when I saw the situation in the tv, I realized it further branches out to a grander scope. This day was about a good portion of the city being enslaved by nature's anger.

And so with this, we are left with more or less 50 people dead and a good hundreds or thousands displaced. People being stranded in their roofs. People being stuck in the streets. Cars being washed away in the streets as if they were mere debris, crashing into each other and floating around like they were cheap, disposable items...

It saddens me and I feel great sympathy to those who were affected by this tragedy. I am thankful that we were lucky enough to be unaffected by this calamity. However, I feel a strong urge to act. To do something about this dismal state we currently face.. I will talk to my siblings how we could send donations. If Citi will not have any campaign, I will simply join what Sunlife started early today.. Let us all do our part..





This truly is quite a humbling situation.. I now fully understand what the Bicol, Batanes, VISMIN areas go through each year when they get struck by these types of calamities.




God bless us all and may we all be better prepared in the future. Resilience does not prevent deaths and destructions caused by calamities..

i'm a year older.. i'm 21 baby!

i turned 21 yesterday. i wouldn't say i'm no longer a boy; i'm finally a man! since that is just sily..

it was quite a magical feeling actually. i never felt like it was my birthday. i was just happy that i got my first pay last friday so i was able to pay for dinner. that moment actually made me THE MAN! you know, providing and stuff.. lol.. i know it's petty but it's a nice feeling.. to digress, i am happy mark and kaye anne joined us for dinner. my parents and my grandma enjoy meeting our friends. i enjoyed a lot needless to say.

ok. i finally know how it feels like to be thrifty at all cost. i found a 5Gs pair of shoes in rockport and i felt hesitant to buy it-because i worked hard for the money i was about to spend. normally, i would have bought it but i declined this time. lol. i was kind of dissed they didn't have my size in leaveland. i really wanted to buy this authentic leather shoes on the side, crocodile leather up top shoes. i eyed on it 2 weeks ago and wanted to buy it when i get my first paycheck but they no longer have my size in their inventory. but God is good! i was able to get two pair of shoes for the price of one! my sister has great eyes on sales! 50% off baby! it also made me happy that my purchase allowed the sales guy to reach his quota. :)

i know this is senseless but i worked for 11 hours today. my mind is all hazy and i could barely keep my eyes open. hence, i'm dog-tired.

i'm so excited for saturday and the day before that and the day after that! lol.

i know what you're thinking... this is so retarded!


and even though i'm all legal to enter casinos and stuff, i won't! i hate casinos! i despise them! but that's another story to tell..


bon courage!:)

knowing if you really love what you are doing...

I have been thinking on what I really want to do with my life... And I couldn't think of a better question to ask myself than,



"If you had 100M in the bank, would you still get up in the morning and go to work?"



Makes you think right?



Market forces are stronger than you think...

For the desire of a normal life, I end up living THE LIFE!

If you would look at the title of my blog, I claim that I am an average Juan Dela Cruz. Indeed I am. I live the same way as everybody else does. (As I write, my sister's pestering me to convince me to watch kimi dora which i think may well be pure rubbish!). I have wanted this for myself. To live a life that everybody else could relate to.

Working is not living.
Partying is not living.
Eating is not living.
Sleeping is not living.
Bumming around is not living.


Being able to focus on what's at hand is living.

Working when one is working.
Partying when one is partying.
Eating when one is eating.
Sleeping when one is sleeping.
*Bumming around is not living; resting when resting is living.

I got this idea from a Chinese proverb discussed in Ernie Zelinski's The Joy of Not Knowing It All.

Living is being able to focus on the present; the task at hand.

If one lives the present well. There should be neither be regrets in the past nor worries in the future.

I say this because up until a year ago. I was focused on accumulating as much wealth as possible; gain financial independence and live life or so I thought.

But living that kind of life is almost like not living your life at all. Pissing your years away. A real shame for mankind. Living this kind of life not only makes us empty but confirmed freeloaders in this earth. We are consuming-draining its resources without toiling for its betterment and progress. What else do you call that?

And this is why I have set my mind that no matter how well I become; no matter what happens; I will work and toil; I will party and be merry; I will eat and replenish; I will rest and recover; and I will do all of those enjoying each and every aspect along the way.

It's the beauty of life. It does not bore you with one specific thing. It makes you see all of its aspects. It is up to you to live life as it is. Enjoy life as it should be and not indulge in one aspect of it.


I live life to the fullest! I hope you also do the same.


Enjoy the ride! :)

Erratum and Addendum to remembering Sir Tioseco...

Erratum:

I was in the ledge with some friends when he lent me the DVDs..

Addendum:

The 9-hour film was entitled Heremias.

Remembering Sir Tioseco...

I don't have much time in my leisure during the day. What is sad is I don't have much to think about since what I do for a living is very mechanical. Almost everything is done systematically by a set of procedures developed way before I started going to college. So it is not until I travel home or when I am alone in my bedroom; trying to get myself to sleep that I start to think about stuff, id est if I am not kept busy by a book or video games.

There is nothing to be fond of this day except for the nice-ness of finally having new hires in our company that makes me feel less of an alien to my surroundings. (To be fair, let me point out that a lot of people have been very nice to me. I won’t give names for the simple reason that one’s being unnamed might be presumed as a sign that they have been hostile or unfriendly to me. I am very thankful to my officemates who did their best in trying to make me feel that I belong; that I am someone they enjoy having around them. And I certainly hope that the arrival of my co-neophytes and the apparent warming of my colleagues would be an indication that I would finally be in the inner circle. I certainly hope I will never have to go to Paseo Center and tell the waitress to give me a Table for ONE.-I’m sorry sir?-Table for ONE. AS in ONE. Let us all pray for this.)

I am sorry for digressing from my real intent of creating this entry. As I have said, there is nothing to be fond of this day. From the start of my day when I was suddenly given additional batches when I am not yet done with the current load that I have; from the arrival of the urgent batch; to the text message that I got from a close friend:

“Bien! D’you knw what I heard in th news? Sir Tioseco is dead! He was murdered by a thief in his house together with hs Slovenian girlfriend. T_T” (Message copied in verbatim)

Coincidentally, I met this friend from Mr. Tioseco’s film class where we were asked to create a presentation about cinematography. Believe it or not, a simple requirement from this class would allow for three-years of wonderful friendship that we do not even think of each other as friends. We consider each other siblings as I call her my Lil Sis and me her Big Bro. It is not just the tie that Sir Tioseco allowed for us to have that made my film class special; it was Sir Tioseco himself that made the subject a big part of my CAS life.

I will never forget the very first day that I entered Mr. Tioseco’s class: I was 15 minutes late for class because I got confused with the classroom assignments. It was unusual at that time for me to be embarrassed for being late; being cocky and all. But I was a bit embarrassed when I entered his class late because he was interrupted in explaining the course syllabus.

I shyly said ‘Hi sir. Sorry I’m late. I was confused with the classroom assignments.’

He in turn replied politely: ‘Hi, sir. What is your name?’

With this warm welcome, I became more comfortable; once again back to being the cocky teenager I was. ‘Bien Landicho, sir.’

I was weirded out when he said: ‘National Artist! There is a certain Bien Landicho(?) that became a National Artist a couple of weeks ago. So you’re a National Artist!’

With this, I replied with a bit of sarcasm that could easily be mistaken as being unsure, ‘Great!?’

To this, the class laughed and Sir Tioseco told me I was a very polite young man. To this date, I was not sure if he returned my sarcasm with his own.

The weeks that passed by were quite out of the ordinary. We spent a lot of time viewing short films and discussing in class our thoughts about the film. We discussed cinematography, editing, directing, audio-visual effects and prior to this class, I only cared about the actors and how I could relate to it. It was an interesting experience. It is also quite interesting that it was the first time I heard of such names as Khavn, Lav Diaz, Kidlat Tahimik, (Dennis Marasigan even!) etc. It was quite nice. He asked us to write journals on the films that we have seen. One of which, put me into tears as I remembered my deceased paternal grandfather. And it was quite amazing how a professor would show empathy to his student’s journal entry and even send an SMS and tell to you in person his concern.

He really was not just a professor or a film critic in that sense; he was a person who cares. In every class we had with him, he would make sure that no voice is unheard. If you have something to add and say in class, you’ll have your chance to do so. If you’re sharing something, he makes sure everyone gives you their full attention. At one point, one student was not yet done speaking when it was time to leave and we were preparing our stuff to leave when he said, ‘Listen to ___.’ To this, we continued to pack our stuff while listening… And he shouted, ‘WITHOUT PACKING YOUR STUFF!’ We definitely obliged. He was sensitive enough to make sure, everyone is given their due.

The thing that made him most popular or unpopular to the students is the required screening of the sequel to Batang West Side; a 9-hour film. I do not understand why I remember petty details but I cannot seem to remember this film’s title. A lot of people were dissed and annoyed with this movie. And I have to be honest; I was one of them-at first.

Come the first class after the screening, the cocky teenager that I was, I made a sarcastic comment before classes started with Sir Tioseco listening, ‘Hay Kat! Too bad you missed the movie. It was a very wonderful movie! There’s nothing like it. It’s the best movie I have ever seen.’ People found it amusing. Even sir himself, found it amusing but I would soon eat my own words when a day or so ago, I was able to gain so much from that viewing. And to this day, I would never forget those realizations. Movies are shortened for economic purposes but movies should be created not for economic purposes.

Second to the last gesture that I would not forget of sir, was when I was hanging out with some friends in Prom A and he came running towards me saying, ‘Hi Bien. I brought the DVDs that you were borrowing from me. Just return them when you finish them.’ And it wasn’t until two weeks after the semester that I would return them; almost forgetting to return them.

The final gesture that I would have to point out as it may not be known by other people (possibly because it is overshadowed by his achievements) is his concern for the less fortunate. When we were shown the film High and Low by Akiro Kurosawa, he put us in a predicament that the rich guy was placed in: ‘Would you give the money to the kidnapper that would cause you to lose your position in the board for the son of your driver who was kidnapped in place of your son?’ When one student from an earlier class (I won’t mention the name), ‘I’ll say, ‘screw you! That’s not my kid!’’ Sir Tioseco replied, ‘______, every morning I see your driver cleaning your dad’s car in the parking lot and sometimes I tell him, ‘Manong, baka pwede namang padamay.’ He makes sure that your car is clean and he does it so without extra pay. He does it out of concern.’ Beat that! And when I approached him twice to ask for donation and to buy some raffle tickets when we were gathering money for Mt. Pinatubo evacuees and our organization’s funds, I did not have to say two words for him to help out. He quickly took out some cash (meager or substantial, it doesn’t matter).

And though I do not get to watch much indie films nowadays, he is responsible for me, having On the North Diversion Road (which I watched for the 4th time a month ago) and Bayaning Third World in my movie library. And even after film class, my friend and I who became siblings after his class try to make time to watch indie films (Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Mababangung Bangungot [Perfumed Nightmares], Bright Future, etc.]

Thank you sir! For the values you instilled in us; for the dedication you have given us; and for allowing us to have better taste in our choice of movies!

(Wow, I really have great memory)

Rest in Peace. May justice be served! I have you in my prayers.

--------------------------

Looking back, I am amazed with how Sir Tioseco lived his life. Though he could have reached higher places and I know he could have helped the Philippine film industry in a bigger magnitude, I have always admired his persistence in pushing through with his passion – INDIE FILMS in the PHILIPPINES.

Looking back, how come I haven’t started my lifelong dream? Reminiscing on how you lived your life, I wish one day I will have the courage to do what you have done-pursue my passion against all odds.

------------------------

entry written yesternight, just got home from his wake

c'est magnifique! je suis tres bien!

d'accord (ok), i'm not even sure if that's grammatically correct. my french has become as rusty as a century-old bell..

i am very, very excited for tomorrow to come! it has been a while since i felt this rush... this fresh feeling of having another milestone in life.. only God knows when i will have this feeling again... the thought of doing something new; meeting new people and expanding my horizons really make me excited!! i can barely hold it... haha!!


i was having musings last night... when i could afford to buy my own car (UNDER MY NAME!), when i could move out and live independently, stuff like that... the thought of being capable of earning my own money excited me... the thought of not needing to ask money from my parents and stuff.. and the thought that i could actually help out in the house bills excite me... i mean, all this time i was dependent on someone else's income.. i now have the capability to fend for myself and actually extend a hand to my parents... it's a thrilling feeling!





LORD, please help me do a good job! =)

citi never sleeps!

i am almost officially part of the citi family! i am so happy! i was put in a great position and i am very grateful for it.. i am so excited to start!! i just hope i could get everything done by thursday next week.. i have to submit all my pre-employment documents already.. aja! aja!



THANK YOU LORD!! YOU SURPRISE ME IN SO MANY WAYS! =)

WEAK

i get so weak, ... ok not the song! i feel so weak! like i can't do anything! i mean, a lot of things going on in my life right now are reliant on other people's decisions. will HR finally give me a call and give me an offer? will i get another interview with a different firm? will i have money for my lakad (dependent on my parents' benevolence since i am no longer entitled to an allowance), will i ___________. i don't wanna talk about this one. just thinking about it makes me anxious enough as it is... problem people!






and i have no idea what i should do rather than wait and just do my very best in my part to keep on applying and being thrifty and well, i don't wanna talk about the other thing...




i want to be there but i'm stuck here because that other thing does not seem like that other thing will ever wanna be there...




this is so freaking retarded!

i wanna see LESNAR-MACHIDA next!!!

did anyone else watch ufc100? well, of course!! here's what i think of the matches

BISPING-HENDERSON

very unexpected.. i mean, henderson is a great athlete but he's 38! 8 years older than bisping.. he's nearing retirement whereas bisping is at his prime... so it is surprising that henderson would be like pacquiao and bisping hatton during the fight! i mean, come on! bisping is a terrific striker and he ended up looking like a beginner... it's incredible... i thought it was wrong that henderson pounded him even if he was ko'd already

ST. PIERRE-ALVES

i gotta love this fight! st. pierre is one of my most favorite fighters... i really felt bad for alves though... he was really pounded throughout the fight... and st. pierre really got a lot of points for all of those takedowns! that was a lot of takedowns!!

LESNAR-MIR

as usual, the big dude decimates the much smaller opponent... here's a suggestion for dan white, force lesnar to lose some weight... i mean, it's just not fair to have those kinds of matchups... lesnar should be in like, super heavyweight or super duper heavyweight... i felt bad for how badly mir got beaten... did you see his face? dang!! and i don't like how lesnar rubbed it to his face and how he confronted the fans... they allow you to make money!!!


so, i wanna see LESNAR-MACHIDA NEXT!! i bet kyoto will shut him up and beat his ass to the ground!! freaking arrogant monster!! GEEZ!!



SIDE NOTE:

i recently realized that i like gh... haha!! i bought a lot of wii games but i have to have my wii updated to play the other games....

my endorphins are at an all time high. I hope i spelled that right.

i'm posting this entry using my phone. I gotta say i'm happy my sis gave me this phone as a grad gift and bday gift in one. When she gave it to me, i was thinking, what will i do with it. I barely use my other phone. And she said i could use one for sun. I lost my previous sun phone when my room was repainted. And i was not that affected since i barely used it. I felt sad of course since it was a v3x. Anyway, this phone comes with wifi and it's awesome! You see, i live with my grandma and we don't have landline or internet there so i bring my laptop to my parents' place since my family does not lend laptops to other people. I don't know what's the big deal but they get pissed when you use their laptops. So we all have passwords. Ever since i got this phone, i don't bring my laptop over that much. It's nice.

Anyway, i really want to share to you that apple has good customer service. They agreed to repair my ipod and possibly replace it if it can't be fixed. I'm really happy about it. Hopefully, they'll be true to their word when they diagnose it on monday.

I have updated my 1 hour walk from my place list. I was inspired by doc t's guadalupe to cubao walk. So i have done this ever since. Occasionally, i try this. I now have mantrade station, sm makati and powerplant mall! I decided to walk home after dropping off my ipod to apple center. It was very fulfilling and i'm in such a good mood. Probably because of the endorphins. Lol

Side note:

I just realized i don't know where the entrance for powerplant is. It has always been carpark for me. It's weird. Well, at least now i know. Taking cabs and walking home give sense of direction to people.:-)

the HUNT

the HUNT... oh this reminded me of helen hunt... hahaha! i'll watch as good as it gets before i sleep.. anyway, i am yet to be fully devoted in this whole job hunt thing.. i mean, i am starting to realize that i really do not have any money left... i have a couple of bucks in my wallet but that amount wuld not even last me four days if i was going to school. i do spend a lot but i mean, this is just sad. so i was thinking of really focusing on getting a job.. the thing is, i have enjoyed bumming around so much... hahaha! this is very uncharacteristic of me... i find fulfillment in doing something and making things better but i have actually enjoyed taking a breather from everthing... but just in case, i forwarded my resume to daryll and maxpher to give to their HR... i'm definitely calling deutsche tom if my application is still active cause it has been a month... and i'll probably look for company addresses online after grad practice tom so i could walk in next week... i only did it once this vacation... i have three pending applications to three great companies... the other two are sure jobs but i would like to go for the third one... though they haven't called yet... i'll follow up after i graduate on saturday...


i would like to continue resting though... hahaha!! i mean, once this starts, it'll be hands on again and i know how hard i work... hmmm...


oh... i should give kay a call about that business thing... probably next week...

i hate the rain! good thing CH cheered me up...

i hate the rain! i really do! it has been flooded in pasong tamo for three or four straight days now... i mean come on!!!!



so i wasn't able to buy milk... yet... i'll pass by shopwise later when i pick up my sis... i hate the rain!!!!





so i want to share the video that cheered me up.. enjoy!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

inactivity blues...

believe it or not, even though i stayed home most of the vacation, there was not a day when i felt bored.. not even close to bored.. until now... i am literally bored... B-O-R-E-D. and despite this boredom, i still don't wanna do anything. i'm even too lazy to go to shopwise to get milk! i am too lazy to take a 10-minute walk to get milk! this is effed up! i wanna buy a hammock.. hang it in the garage or our living room... hahahaha!! that might make me want to get up my ass.. oh! magic got owned! damn! i wanted a close game...















know what? i'll take a shower then get the milk... i'll get 4 liters so i won't have to come back this entire month... ahahaha! i'll see if i need to buy something else too..



SIDE NOTE:

i'm watching a movie with my friend on sunday... should we watch angels and demons or terminator? terminator has bad reviews but presly said it was awesome.. now i'm having doubts... hmmm... i'll let my friend decide na lang... hahahah!

...

was supposed to upload this last night but i had no inet so, here...


I wanted to write this entry before I go to sleep. It’s 2320 so this will not take long. I just finished reading chapter 4 of freakonomics-and it is a rather sensitive chapter. It talked about the possible link between legalized abortion and the decrease in crime rates. I am very much pro-life and anti-choice mind you but it is hard to dispute the author’s (Levitt’s) point when he has data to back it up. He’s not pro-abortion himself. To be fair and objective, my economic side actually believes his claim. Again, I am anti-abortion; all I’m saying is it makes sense. The decrease in cases of homicide was caused by potential trouble kids being aborted. In their supposed teen years were they are prone to commit crimes, crimes went down because they were not in existence. It’s sort of like a trade-off thing; trade abortion with homicide. However, crimes should have actually gone up because if you think about it, abortion in itself is a crime. It’s practically murder. So I mean, legalized abortion would be a counterproductive solution to homicide. You replace homicide with another crime, murder… err abortion.

I thought this sensitive issue was interesting. But if you ask me, I do not want to seem close-minded or ideological here but the problem is decision-making. If we are all responsible and accountable for our actions; we should not be aborting babies to begin with…

SIDE NOTE:

The word ideological made me remember criss angel being called an ideological bigot by this paranormal guy who claims to be capable of being possessed and talk to dead people… hahaha! Criss was justified for what he did… you’re fooling people! And criss never fooled anyone in his mindfreak show. He always said he’s a performer and an illusionist! DUH! You claimed to have the power to be possessed… how can you call him a bigot when he never made claims that you made…

With regards wise decision making, I also remembered the much talked about scandals by now… I think… well, the entire thing is messed up but the issue is not something I would like to comment on… at least, in my blog… hahaha!

GO MAGIC!! ELIMINATE CLEVELAND FOR GOOD! =)



>>FINE. THEY LOST TODAY. WHATEVER DOUCHEBAGS... hahaha!

i dunno if this is funny or appalling

check out this mma mismatch.. it's like david against goliath! man!

http://smotri.com/video/view/?id=v9846620e28

i feel bad as it is...

i don't understand why you have to strike the knife that is already stabbed deep into my heart... i really don't...










ok, i'm exaggerating... but seriously, that message really made me sad... and the sad part is, i'm the one who's really sorry...










i'm fond of you and i dunno why... funny thing is, i can't help it but be fond of you... i took a nap while staying in the house.... alone... and i dreamt of you being pissed at me... and i woke up with sweat dripping from my forehead...












what's with the nagging?? =(













i bet nobody would undestand this post.. hahahaha!






SIDE NOTE:

i really miss this other friend.. but i can't figure her out...



"you're hot one minute.. you're cold the next; you make me feel inadequate.. - Sebastion Valmont"

nahanap ko rin!

i have been looking for someone's profile for such a long time.. it just vanished! and i couldn't get a hold of her.. having her account was kind of like a way for me to check on what's happening with her.. what's new with her.. cause i can't be there for her.. figuratively and literally.. it sucks...





i was alone the whole day in the house (my parents') and i watched a lot of college humor videos and a movie called married life. the movie was not good but college humor is as usual, very entertaining.. i remembered that i did something really bad way back in sophomore (college) year to some guy who was sending me weird messages in friendster.. it freaked me out that he was asking me for my address DESPITE the fact that i did not respond to any of his messages.. i sent him a very mean message... AS IN!! i said something about him creeping me out and there's something wrong with him... and you should not just go ging to profiles and asking them weird stuff... it's really mean... in fact, i saw the guy in MoA that weekend and he looked really angry.. for a second there, i thought he was following me... it's weird... but i did not think he was gay... i just have an aversion with strangers for some reason..











when i remembered this event, i went to my inbox archive in friendster to look for him and apologize for the cruel words i said.. i was just hoping i could make peace with him... i couldn't find the messages though but i saw the messages i had with a girl that i have been trying to talk to so i was able to message her... i've been meaning to talk to her for so long... i called her twice but she was always out of the house... good news is, i found out she changed her name to _________________.. hehe... i should have thought of this sooner.. God I miss her! I just wanted to hear from her.. see how she's doing... we've been friends since first grade... and as far as i remember, she was my first crush... hahahahah! i hope she'd drop me a line... haaaayyyy...








and i still feel bad about the guy but i don't know what to do anymore.. i don't even remember his name.. but i think my sincere eagerness to apologize for my past mistakes was a blessing... at least now i know i could still talk to her... over the internet... HOW GEEKY... hehehe.... ciao!







SIDE NOTE:

i'm off to SMX tom for this job fair... i have a couple of things going but i wanna see if there are better things in store for me... i'm excited.. in the sense that i'm pursuing a job... and i'm also scared because i heard there are lots of people... i have this thing with crowded places... i feel like i can't breathe... i'm claustrophobic (i'm not sure if the spelling's right)...

But April Fool's was over a month ago!

my friend wanted to prank me last april fool's but it did not work out cause i wasn't replying.. haha! i thought he was done trying until this event happened yesterday:



i woke up at around 12:15 yesterday since i always sleep late. when i was bout to go back to sleep, i received a text message from an unknown number.

12:18
bien

i replied:
12:21
yes. who is this please?

12:22
ara, i got your number from a friend.

12:24
have we met? can i help you with anything?

12:40
yeah you could help me bigtime. im going straight to the point. i need to get my mind off things. can you do me



(OH GOODNESS!!! imagine kung gano ako nashock!! nagising na talaga ako..)

12:42
i'm sorry. who did you get my number from?




after sending that message, i wanted to call a friend to ask for advice. i thought i'd call presly but he has class so i thought i should call jav. whilst hearing his usual weird ringbacks; i was feeling anxious he might be busy at work but i really needed to talk to a friend. he finally answered his phone.




JAV!! ALAM MO BA!? SHIT! GRABE! DI KO ALAM GAGAWIN KO! blah blah blah....



JAV: Go for it.











HUH!? ok ka lang?








JAV: Why not? Go na!







HUH? ANO KA BA? malay mo sino to.. ano itsura nito.. loko...





JAV: ako nagbigay ng number mo... ok yan.. go!



(i get a message during the call but i could not read it since i'm talking to jav..)








G*G*! mukha ba akong nakikipag one nightstand? loko ka ah... baka naman kung ano itsura nito.. loko! sabihin mo if she needs to talk to someone.. kausapin ko na lang siya...










JAV: that will be my new hotline.. please call me in that number if you can't reach me here.. yan yung work number ko ang mahal na kasi ng bill ko...






HUH?? IKAW SI ARA? BAKIT? WHAT? HUH?










JAV: Belated happy April fool's day! Na-touch ako na ako tinawagan mo ha...









after dropping the call, i read the message...




so you don't want to. from jav..







How nice. Well played. GRRRR!

wii bummer..

i dunno if it is my lack of HDTV or it is my sudden craving for EA Sports and EA Games but i am starting to loathe the games that the wii has to offer. i'm enjoying zelda, red steel, mario and sonic at the olympic games but i mean come on! i want better graphics! i want boxing, basketball, and all those stuff.. all the ea sports versions in the wii are all oh-so-crappy! i hate NBA live; they don't have fight night; they don't have UFC rampage; GTA; metal gear; and all those good graphic games... and you know the real reason why i'm pissed off?










in 2007, EA released a statement they plan to have fight night in the wii.. 2 years later, still no fight night! and even if they do have fight night in the wii, i could just imagine how it will turn out. have you played live 08 and 09 in the wii?










anyway, i want to buy a bandset, wii sports resort with motion-plus ad wii fit.. it's weird why i still wanna buy more stuff for the wii..
















maybe i should get a ps3 and an hdtv.. like i have money for those... haha! asa pa!

LSS to ricky's chants

Ricky Hatton's chant:

there's only one ricky hatton
one ricky hatton
walking along
singing this song
walking in a hatton wonderland




i got LSS when i watched the replay of his fight with mayweather.. well, you won't notice this chant with manny's fight cause they did not get the chance to sing this one loudly.. didn't expect an early knockdown did you!?

haha!



anyway, i thought the brits were creative.. hehe... just sharing...

GO MANNY!

It's another great day for the Philippines... Manny Pacquiao has once again made us proud... 6-Division Champ na siya! Just the 2nd boxer to do it, i think... I'm really happy for him... I just hope he stays at 140... And I hope mayweather fights him next.. let's put that undefeated record to the test... i would also like to see him fight marquez but after he fights mayweather...

anyway, i'm glad he brought another title to the philippines and he made hatton and mayweather, sr. shut up... they gave a lot of bad comments and manny simply accepted them... as he said, "you will never hear those things from me..."

SOBRANG PROUD AKO SA'YO MANNY!!! please give us more exciting fights... don't retire at your prime. you gotta admit it, you've never been this powerful... you're at your best... don't retire just yet...


here's my status message in YM and it is pretty much the recap of what happened in the fight:

"CRACKER WENT DOWN TWICE IN RD 1 AND STAYED DOWN IN ROUND 2!! GO MANNY!"



P.S. i'm not racist... i'm just emotional right now... hehehe...






SIDE NOTE:

i want a new tv!!! a bigger one!















an HD one!






hahaha!!

hilarious!

i was searching for freida pinto's pics in google and i saw one with her and dev patel.. one of the comments said, dev looks like a dark-skinned ross geller. and you know what? it's true... dev patel does look similar to david schwimmer.. haha! take a look:


DAVID SCHWIMMER A.K.A. DR. ROSS GELLER

DEV PATEL A.K.A. JAMAL MALIK (i dunno why it is underlined)

eh!?!? what do you think?

time to be positive...

my last posts have been filled with very infuriating comments on some events that has managed to piss me off... i am saddened by that fact but i am now finally back to my happy mode...

lola nita (my grandma from seattle) stayed with us for three days and it made me really happy. i like having her here.. she makes me feel good about life. she is very optimistic and appreciative. i really like her. she is such a nice person and she told me i'm a good kid.. hehe... i would like to keep it that way... i'm not being plastic, i just like the fact she saw my good side.. ;-)

so my mom and i took her and lola meny to glorietta and greenbelt cause she has not been there since she got here so we ate in cabalen and we bought some tagalog movies and some clothes for lola rommy... then i went to kish's party but i went home around 11... i don't want her too think i stay out til the morning.. hehe..

i'll finish my clearance either tom or wed since i wasn't able to surrender my car sticker last friday...


SIDE NOTE:

I'M ADDICTED TO ZELDA AGAIN... i just finished the dungeon part so i freed one of the lights... anyway, i only play in the morning... i get creeped out at night for some reason... hahaha!

another jumbler

ok, turns out not evertything in men of honor is real...





HOLLYWOOD IS PISSING ME OFF BIG TIME..





HAAAAAYYYY...

TO ALL THE FAKE BIOGRAPHY MOVIE DIRECTORS, I'M INDIGNANT AS A MOVIE-GOER!!!!!!!!!!

i happen to like watching biographies... who hasn't watched of pursuit of happyness (chris gardner)? men of honor (carl brashere [pardon, i'm not sure of the spelling])?

well, i just found out after reading the pursuit of happyness that the movie WAS REALLY EXAGGERATED... i watched the movie for so many times already and all along i thought everything in it was real!! WTF!? i mean come on! put a disclaimer or something! i feel deceived... i'm indignant as a viewer!!

some stuff that aren't true:
1.) he was not part of an unpaid internship! he was paid 1k USD a month during the training program... they also accept everyone who passes the license test... YEAH! SO MUCH FOR DEAN WITTER COMPETITIVE INTERNSHIP!
2.) he was not hit by a car!
3.) he did spend 13 days in jail for failure to pay parking tickets but he did not go straight to his interview after jail... he had a day to prepare but his wife took all his stuff with his son...
4,) his son was with his mom during his first four months as a trainee.
5.) he actually did drugs... sorry... i really thought he was all righteous...
6.) he left his wife for his mistress for the amazing sex and he got her pregnant...
7.) he did not use his savings to buy and sell bone density scanners... he actually made 30k USD a year being a salesman...
8.) he actually finished his work full-time... he did not have to leave early for christopher... he wasn't so disadvantaged... work-wise...
9.) he did not have an appointment with this walter guy who took him to the 49ers game....
10.) the reason he got accepted in the interview is because of his common experience of being left by his girl with the head of the company...




there were a lot more stuff that i would no longer list down...





at first, i thought they only took out the really bad stuff... like being beat by his stepfather and being raped at 13.. for a second there i thought he suffered more... i mean he suffered a lot but the movie was toooooooo exaggerated!!








i mean come on! don't claim it's based on a true story when you jumbled the story!!! LIKE A LOT OF JUMBLING WAS DONE!!!









the movie tricked me into believing that whole movie was true... that was even the reason why i went to IEP... and now i found out that IT WAS SO MEGA OVERLY DISTORTED!?!?!?!? HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO REACT!!!!










it is almost no different from The Da Vinci Code book... it mixes reality with fiction to make it all the more dramatic, convincing, powerful... and what we have is a blockbuster and PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!!!









PUH-LEASE!!!! PUT DISCLAIMERS SAYING THAT THE STORY IS NOT THE EXACT THING!!! THAT HOLLYWOOD EXAGGERATED IT TO DRAW AUDIENCE AND FLUIDITY IN THE MOVIE!!!!!













I HATE THIS!!!!!! NOW I GOTTA RESEARCH ON CARL TO MAKE SURE I GET THE FACTS RIGHT!!!!!!! I GOTTA RESEARCH ON BIOGRAPHY MOVIES I MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT TO BE GIVING ME FACTS!!!!!!!!!!!






















THIS IS CRAZY!!!!!!!! I HATE THIS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hooked up on a lot of things...

ok, i stopped playing zelda for a while... there was a time wherein my eyes turned really red after playing for 9 hours in a day so i thought i should lay back first... and i was starting to imagine twilight creatures in our hallway so i thought break muna... hehe...

anyway, i have these pending books to read:
1.) Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
2.) The Snowball Effect: Warren Buffett
3.) The Millionaire Code
4.) Buffettology
5.) The Little Book that Beats the Market

i am 75% done with book number 1, 10% done with book #2, 2% done with book #4 and i have not opened the other books.

after watching pursuit of happyness for the nth time yesterday, i thought i should get a copy of the book version... kinda like what i did with the last lecture (though this was not a movie)... however, i could not find a copy in the bookstores so i just downloaded an e-book.. it ain't right but how else could i get a hold of a copy legally eh?

NOTE TO THE PUBLISHER:

please be more conscientious in providing copies to people so you don't lose money!



ok, i'll finish pursuit of happyness first before i finish buffett's books... his story turns out to be worse than the one portrayed in the movie because they skipped his childhood and his son turned out to be 19 months old amidst his job search... so yeah... it's more depressing by tenfold... anyway, i should probably read it already... i think i could finish the book today. i read it for two hours yesterday and i have covered 76 pages out of 370 or so pages...



i'll also watch forrest gump... i got myself a copy yesterday...

no side notes on this one...

he's a tracker... the hunt is his obsession....

ok. i am in the middle of my most exciting hunt ever! well, just take out the exciting part. it is not exciting.


so i went on job hunting a couple of days ago and i did not do that well... things could have really been way better... anyway, i messed up an interview i had with *toot*. i don't think i should name any company.... anyway, everything felt awkward. i knew she did not like me from the start (if you guys haven't met me yet, a lot of people say i have an aura). so anyway, the interview went this way:

INTERVIEWER: what position are you applying for?
ME: i don't really know.. i just went here to give my resume cause my friend went here a week ago for an interview so i thought i should give my resume as well. what openings do you have?
INTERVIEWER: hmmm... (thinking) well, for your background, i think you can be a researcher or administrative staff. are you interested in that?
ME: ok, i think that sounds good.
INTERVIEWER: what is your expected salary?
ME: well, i'm not really expecting much for a fresh grad. and my expected salary would be different from my desired salary... so i guess 15k would be ok...
INTERVIEWER: what if i tell you that most fresh graduates in your field gets way below than 15k?
ME: (oh GOD! keeping a straight face) well, how low is low?
INTERVIEWER: well, it depends kung saang company ka mapupunta. i can't really say...
ME: it's ok.
INTERVIEWER: you're graduating in june?
ME: yes. those who finished early would graduate with those who have summer classes because we only have around 200 or so graduates. it would be quite expensive for us to have two graduations...
INTERVIEWER: I understand. Well, there is not that much demand as of the moment for the position you're applying for... and well, we need your transcript and diploma so I guess, you could contact us in june so you could take the test. it is quite impractical for you to take the test now.. so please contact us in june na lang...
ME: ok... thank you...













and then,













i left the room....





it was really awkward....









and i realized, the interview was not done yet. but why wouldn't she stop me from leaving the room? (even the people i talked to afterwards said i left in the middle of the interview) it was terrible! i didn't know what to do....









so i talked to my sister's friend, Kuya Bong yesterday and he told me how to go about my hunt and how i should handle myself in interviews.... it was interesting, he said you could go for the lion's crawl or something like that... i really learned a lot! so i asked my sis to give him a small token i got for him yesterday as a thank you...









MAIN POINT: life is about selling. AND I AGREE!!!




THANK YOU!






this post is senseless....






AND I AGREE!!







SIDE NOTE:

to the interviewer: i am terribly sorry for what happened. i know you found me obnoxious and arrogant. i really thought it was over when you told me to just give you a call in june.. i did not intend to make any disrespectful gesture... i am terribly sorry. if we cross paths again, i would apologize to you personally...




AND ONCE AGAIN, you probably won't read this, thank you kuya bong! =)



i got blisters in my feet because i walked all over buendia, ayala and makati ave...








in formal attire. WOOT! i have been sending out e-mails as i recuperate from my foot injury...

ZELDA is the SHIT

ok... i'm really addicted to this game... i always get stuck midway though... doesn't say much about my intuition... so i downloaded a walkthrough so i could just look at it when i'm not sure what to do next... MAN! I LOVE THIS GAME!

SIDE NOTE:

ate mc just got back from her quezon trip yesterday and she was really, really dark... for once, i feel like i'm not the only dark one in the family...

Grabe! si dora nasa pilipinas na! hahahahaha! i'll take a pic of her when i get the chance...

so i made this joke yesterday:
ate len! san na si ate mc? aba! nauna pa umuwi si dora! hahaha! *you should really be there to appreciate the wit*


ok, i'll go back to zelda....

fishing....

so it said, it really takes a while and if the bobbler goes down, it means a fish took the bait so hold up the wii remote until it says fish on and just hope that link would be able to reel it in real good....







HAAAAYYYY.... IF I'M SUCCESSFUL WITH THIS, THE FOLLOWING STUFF BETTER BE GOOD CAUSE I DON'T LIKE THIS GAME SO FAR.....




SIDE NOTE:

why the hell was i singing love story earlier?




cause presly's so into it?...




cause it is jav's ringback?





'nuff said...

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess makes me look like a moron!!

i have never been the rpg guy.. i mean, i literally hated final fantasy and there was this other game wherein this guy has an alter ego something that i stopped playing... the problem with rpgs is they give me a headache because i have a hard time controlling the character... you go on running in circular directions... it gives me a headache...














and i rarely have patience for long games. these are the reasons why i enjoyed fighting games, nba live, and nfl











i am literally stuck in call of duty 4 in this certain stage so i stopped playing it and now i am playing zelda...












and sadly it makes me look like a moron.... REALLY!












it took me a while to realize that i could use the eagle to get the crib from the stupid monkey... but now i'm stuck trying to get the fish....












a freaking FISH!!!!!!!!













WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





ok, i'll look online for tips on how to get the fish....





SIDE NOTE:

the only rpg game that i finished is harry potter in the ps1... i know.. how sad.... and geeky....

the closest cool rpg game that i finished was pokemon in nintendo gameboy... and it was only cool cause everybody else was playing it...

is it just me or does rodney stuckey look a lot like floyd mayweather look? REALLY!!

ok i don't have that much time in my hands right now... but do you think these two look a like?

i happen to think they look a lot similar... check out these pictures and observe...

Floyd Mayweather - 5-division champion who is yet to lose (i wanna see him fight PACMAN and HE WILL MOST PROBABLY HAVE HIS RECORD TAINTED... FINALLY!)


Rodney Stuckey - starting point guard for the pistons. he replaced chauncey when they traded him for AI (who was taken out of the rotation.... i hope AI gets signed by another team next season)

so honestly, do they look a like? i'm not being racist at all here. i just think they look similar... i wonder of they're like second cousins or something...




what do you guys think?


SIDE NOTE:

pwede na ulit kumain ng meat... YEY!

GRANDE ISLAND SUCKS AND I"M OFFICIALLY BOYCOTTING THAT RESORT!!

well, presly, cat, mia, nadine and i went to subic two days ago... we went to grande island (which was a BIG, BIG MISTAKE) and ocean adventure (which was awesome). we have a couple of pics and vids but i won't post 'em yet. i won't even blog about our fun trip together since i'm not yet in the mood (as i am currently suffering from the molar tooth extraction i got yesterday). anyway, grande island pretty much ripped us off and since i am not getting a reply from management, i thought it would be nice to share my grievance to the online community. here's a copy of the complaint letter that i sent to their management:

April 08, 2009

To Whom It May Concern,

I alongside four of my friends stayed in your resort from April 6-7, 2009. When we got to the seaport, we were immediateely asked to pay prior to our visit to the resort. We were informed that the two packages available are as follows:

Php 1,650 - accomodation, three meals, one banana boat ride, free use of volleyball and other stuff... we would however have to pay for the use of ATVs, kayak, raft, etc.

Php 2,200 - accomodation, three meals, unlimited use of banana boat, ATV (15 min intervals), towable rides, kayak, raft, etc...

Upon our arrival, we were quite happy with how the manager received us since he was friendly UNTIL the personnel in charge informed us that the watersports amenities (raft, kayaks, etc.) were not available because they do not work. What made this disappointing is the fact that we inquired in the seaport if all of these amenities are available and they said yes. The explanation given to us in the front desk is the personnel in charge of the watersports did not make any mention of broken gagdets, therefore they may have been saying it is working even if it is not. Another dismaying excuse is the fact that the use of rides are subject to availability. Given that a lot of people are on vacation because it is summer and holy week is approaching, we were amenable that we would fall in line when there are people waiting to use the rides. HOWEVER, the fact that they are claimed to be NOT WORKING means that the sales department SHOULD HAVE NOT INFORMED US THAT WE WOULD HAVE UNLIMITED USE OF THESE RIDES FOR THE Php 2,200 PACKAGE. HOW CAN WE USE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT WORKING? We thought it would be JUST FAIR for us to ask for a refund of Php 550 per person the following day because what was PROMISED in the Php 2,200 package were NOT AVAILABLE DURING OUR STAY but the front desk personnel said it is not possible for them to do it. And since the manager is out until 5 PM, we had nobody to address our concern to. I think this is really UNJUST because the customers did not get what they paid for. IT IS VERY DISAPPOINTING... The personnel claimed that the only thing they could do is to address this concern so that it would not happen in the future. To be honest, most businesses would give free souvenirs or freebies to compensate for their shortcomings. Management did not do any form of compensation. To make things worse, 2 hourse after the incident, when we got back to the seaport, we asked the personnel regarding the available packages and they still said the exact same thing DESPITE the complaint we gave.

Earlier in the resort, I asked for a customer satisfaction survey which the personnel said was not available. It is hardly believable but to address this concern, I wrote a handwritten complaint and they said I could also said an e-mail regarding this VERY DISMAL event. I do not know how long this complaint will go and if your management will do anything to resolve this issue (considering it still persists) but this is the least that I could do.

Truly,

Bien Landicho



sorry for the possible typos because i did not proof read the letter.


ALWAYS REMEMBER, GRANDE ISLAND SUCKS SO DON'T BOTHER WASTING YOUR MONEY THERE!!!!

so it is Php 11,000 down the drain for us in grande island but i enjoyed ocean adventure and the company of my great, great friends! FRIENDS FOR LIFE! =)

SIDE NOTE:
oh! and we also went to duty-free for pasalubong and to buy stuff that are not available in manila (e.g. craisins).. did you guys know the products sold there would expire within a month after purchase? i'm currently eating pringles spicy guacamole that would expire in may 2009.. hehe..

oh i believe in yesterday....

ok... so yesterday did not turn out to be the best day but it was actually quite fun! we planned to have the sushi buffet in sakae sushi but things sort of got delayed and when i was finally on my way to The Fort, the car won't start. the battery sort of got discharged. i think i might have left the headlights on... so i told my dad i'll just take a cab but he insisted everything'll be fine so... hmmm i don't know the term, pinatulak yung car para magstart yung ignition? basta yun! the battery recharges while it's on so i thought everything's gonna be alright or so i thought... you guys know what's coming!

when i reached the fort, i sort of got lost on my way to sakae cause it is in a secluded area near s&r and i took a wrong turn. so when i was about to call cat, i parked in the side and i forgot to put the car in neutral and when i stopped, the engine died....














and it wouldn't start....... =(













SHIT! so i put the car on hazzard, got out and sort of looked like a hitch hiker asking cabs and private cars to help me out. charge my battery, push the car and stuff...













NOBODY heeded my call... WOOT! so, i noticed there was a construction site to my right and i waved at the foreman and he sent five workers to help me out! after which, i emptied my pocket... i wanted to give them all the change i had (and i do keep a lot of coins in my pocket) but they refused to accept it. probably one of the many heartwarming gestures i ever had. so i told nadine i 'll just drop by to say hi and i'll go straight home... presly then said, just meet us in serendra. we'll eat there. so i decided to go home.. couldn't turn off the engine anymore otherwise it won't start again. i was very nervous on my way home cause if the engine dies, i dunno where i could ask for help and i did not want to text my dad cause i don't want to get him worried....





i finally made it home-accident free! yey! and then presly said we could still eat dinner in sakae (oh! they're closed from 2-7pm so they missed sakae as well)... so they wanted to pick me up from my place but the directions were kind of hard to understand... so i told them i'll just meet them there...







lo and behold, the car started again and it was fine! my dad said it probably recharged already on my way home.... so i picked up my sis, brought her home and went straight to the fort where i'll be pissed off with my friend. hehe... there was a misunderstanding but at the end of the day we're ok... =) right?








so as if the day has not been effed up for us, turns out the sushi buffet is only available on weekends! and we don't really like sakae unless it's sushi buffet... no ala cartes please! so we decided to go to el pueblo (from the fort) to eat where mia and i would get lost(we took the wrong lane)! wooot! we were already in pateros! hahahahaha! we just kept on driving til we saw lanuza ave and that was the start of the smile. we just went to city golf and ate in uncle moe's.... one of the best shawarmas ever! and then i brought mia home and i got home around 1140... walang traffic! went back to the fort first to try out the buendia exit! hehehehe=)










we're off to subic tom! YEY! and there are problems with transportation... dad won't let me drive to subic cause he said the cars are too fast... =(



so it's either cat's driver or commute for us now.... my dad recommended the ferry that goes to corregidor and then we could take an FX to subic... haaayyyy......











anyway, i feel like i became stronger because of what happened yesterday... first time ko magstart ng ignition sa tulak ever! WOOOOOT! *applause*

and another lesson is to always check your headlights!





SIDE NOTE:
i told my dad, di ka ba proud na start ko yung ignition sa tulak?

he said, sus! kasimple nun eh!



hahaha! thanks a lot! =)

i'll get a job soon...

ok, being a bum doesn't work well for me... i wasn't able to get the bike and i feel really sad about it... turns out i have to buy the more expensive ones because the one i had my eyes on is good til 170-180 pounds only and i weigh.... NO I'M NOT TELLING YOU! hehe... anyway, my mom said i could keep the money she gave me... it serves as my grad gift... so i think i'll get a wii fit. =)

my experiment did not work so well. when i was getting the cup of water to see the results of my water evaporation experiment, the cup was gone and i lost interest in going for a second try so nevermind. but i checked on it a couple of hours after i placed it outside and the water did go down. my dad said i should have done this experiment when i was in kinder. hahahaha! later that night, he was doing silhouettes in the light. he was doing a talking deer so i told him, dad, you should have done that in kinder as well. =))

i got my first bentosa treatment ever and it turns out i have a lot of colds in my legs! bentosa is cool! it IS the SHIT! i feel lighter. anyway, i'm excited for lunch later. i'm meeting my friends(presly, cat, nadine, mia(?)) in The Fort to have lunch. I'll be with them two days from now to Subic! WOOOT!

anyway, after our trip, i'll start looking for a job cause i could see my money disappearing right before my eyes. it's sad but it's reality. i can't mooch off my parents forever and my parents are doing a good job not giving me money so i should really get a job so i could have money to spend already.. but i still have enough for like 3 months. pero still, i should get one by the end of April. I'll start applying next monday since we'll be back here in manila on friday. WOOOOOT!

SIDE NOTE:
i damaged the car cause i did not notice the gutter had a huge hump and the street was really small. my dad said he'll take care of it. i said i would pay for the damages but he got pissed.

he said, wag mo ko daanin sa pera at wala ka pang trabaho!

and i said, naguiguilty kasi ako. ako may kasalanan eh! ano dapat kong gawin?

he said, kalimutan mo na lang! ok lang naman kasi!

i said, well, sorry talaga.....

he said, wala ka namang kasalanan kasi masikip talaga doon.. pasong tamo na lang next time ha?

i said, ok, sorry...

then i called nadine cause she calms me down and makes me feel everything'll be ok... thanks nads! =) see you guys in 2 hours or so... =)

hotta! hotta!

i felt like it was a hundred degrees today and it won't even be in farenheit, CENTIGRADE!

despite the fact that it rains, the ground easily gets dried up because it's so hot! precisely my point. the heat is enough to evaporate water! i'm thinking of doing an experiment tom. i'll leave a cup of water outside our house tom and see how much of it would be left by night. i think it'd be interesting. DON'T YOU THINK SO?? haaaayyy... iba na talaga ang bored.

anyway, i was actually pretty busy today. jc, tim, kish and i worked on our paper and we decided to delegate the other stuff to those who did not go to the meeting. so i hope they'd get the job done tom cause everything's in their hands already! i think we did well earlier though.

after we finished working on our paper, i decided to drop by jav's place first. my decision was based on the following reasons:

1.) my sis was already on her way home from the baguio bus terminal (makes sense?) so she no longer needs me to pick her up
2.) my other sis is on a date
3.) i will be alone when i go home
4.) i don't want to run errands today. I'M ON VACATION HERE... HELLO!
5.) our drinking session was cancelled last night because of our paper (btw, we did not drink)
6.) i miss my friends... =)

so thank you jav, tito and tita for stuffing our stomachs with two family pan sized pizzas (three of us finished everything... hahaha) and jav, you're welcome for all the files you got from my laptop... hahaha!

anyway, sigit told me about this HS teacher job in indonesia. at first, i thought teacher? for my first job? in a diff country? but then he told me standard of living is cheap and i would earn a thousand to a thousand five hundred USD. so i changed my mind. hehehe... that'd be way more than what i'd earn here so i gave him my resume and hopefully, i'll be qualified. (crosses fingers)

tomorrow, i'll be getting my advance birthday gift-stationary bike! WOOOOT! i'd also get my ipod to stereo jack and jav said we might go out... ano na updates dun?

SIDE NOTE:
jav and dio said there's a "party place" on top of starbucks pearl plaza called 6 underground and it sucks that i study in UAP and i've never been there... i was like, it's ok! who the f**k parties in front of the school anyway? hahaha! so he said i was a nerd (and i would admit, there's some truth to this, hehe...) but i thought i'd stab him back..




you see, he was delayed for graduation cause he was deferred (he already graduated, otherwise i would not joke about this) so i told him:





I might be a nerd BUT at least I am not DEFERRED!



(sana nga, wala pang grades eh... hehe)



wahahahaha! take that! have fun nga pala sa date(?) niyo ni celine.... WOOOOOT! :D





i wonder how the earth day went? hmmmm....

i don't like this but i'll bear with it

i honestly thought school was over... today's supposed to be my first day of vacation but presly kept on bugging me about the powerpoint and i won't say i enjoyed how we argued earlier. most of the time it's fun arguing with him but sometimes it gets a li'l bit too edgy. but all's well that ends well.

i wanted to buy an ipod to stereo jack and a stationary bike but i obviously couldn't leave the house today cause i'm coding. my dad asked me to run some errands (go to the bank and pay the bills using our top of the line PUVs of course) and i was pretty much stuck in the house watching twilight, made of honor and FRIENDS. i was supposed to go to my friend's (philip from HS) place tonight (after coding hours) to hang out but i just found out i gotta be in school early tomorrow to revise our paper and jav has another thing later at 9 so we decided to reschedule. so i'm a li'l pissed that i wasn't able to go out tonight and surely i'm not happy i won't be able to buy my shit tom but hopefully we get to finish our paper so we won't have anything for next week anymore. anyway, i'm excited about the stationary bike cause my uncle broke the other one. i wanted to get a treadmill (tama ba spelling?) but it would take too much space and i intend to keep this in my bedroom cause stuff tend to get broken whenever my uncle uses them. love ya tito!

anyway, i better get some sleep cause it'll be a long morning for me. can't wait to hang out at flip's (again, from HS) tom evening. i'll just buy my ipod jack and bike on sunday.. i hope i would remember to bring my econmet book and extension line tom.

au revoir!

soceconess

not only did i finish my RRL on time last time i blogged, i also finished my volunteered parts for today! let's celebrate!=)

the last requirement

as most of you may know, classes and exams in UA&P are over and for us who do not intend to take the 5th yr, college life is over. however, we still have this last requirement for one of our subjects. aside from our take home essay exam, this paper will be our professor's only gauge on how she will grade us for our performance the entire semester.







and it is quite horrible for me to not have the drive to finish it.. it is due on friday so i actually have ample time to prepare for it IF i was doing this whole thing on my own... however, this paper is a group paper so if i do not finish my RRL this afternoon, i will cause my other groupmates to lag behind their work as well. haaaaayyy... the only motivating factor for me right now is the fact that i do not want to let my groupmates down.. but i am really feeling lethargic today.. i hate it! i shouldn't be like this...








i tried so many things to motivate myself to finish the paper but somehow i just couldn't..








ok, i'll try to start again.... i'm not letting you guys down... i'll keep my word. you'll have my RRL this afternoon. =)

i just want to whine... hehe

i am really exhausted today. i feel like i did 2 weeks worth of labor in one day. i was up as early as 1am struggling through my soc eco global financial crisis readings so that i would be able to answer our take home essay exam. it was terrible. i enjoyed the readings because i love financial and business stuff but i could not help it but take a nap once in a while.

soon i realized that it will take me a long time to finish reading my stuff so i took a bath first because i won't be able to do so anymore once my eyes get strained and i have a morning meeting. it was a little funny cause i watched the videos that i made yesterday for my soceco exam. well, after finishing episode 3 of commanding heights, i thought it would be a good idea to keep track of the details in the movie but i didn't want to write them down so i took out my videocam and i recorded myself narrating the stuff that i learned from the documentaries. i'm still thinking if i should post the video here... hehe... it's embarrassing and it's 200 mb so... maybe not... hehe...

come 7:30 am, i ate breakfast while i was skimming through my soceco powerpoints and i realized i would not make it on time to my meeting at 9am so i texted jc i would be late. the main factor that made me know i was gonna be late is because i didn't like what was served for breakfast. i do not like hotdogs and local corned beef (i only like hereford and armour). so i asked manang to fry me an egg and open a can of sardines (i love spanish and normal sardines!). anyway, i was able to finish my paper around 930 and i sent it to miss's email immediately cause i thought it was due 12 noon. JC called me and i found out we no longer need to submit a hard copy so i drove off to philip's place (i am never going to take a car to north ave. again! unless i'm in the backseat =p). anyway, we had a lot of problems regarding our regression. The economic model that we worked so hard for has a poor Durbin-Watson result and so we had to look for other variables to put in our model and after hours of toiling... bagsak pa rin yung durbin-watson! waaaaaaahhhh! so i decided to call dr. de vera and dr. u for help and dr. de vera agreed with me that it'd be ok to have a bad DW test since our model won't be used for forecasting so we summed up the meeting and agreed on our variables. however, when i got home, dr. u told me that failing DW could indicate biased t stats so i started to sweat... hehe... but all is well that ends well. he said i could use newey-west to correct my t stats but i'm using white cause it gives me better results... =)

anyway, we have a pretty good model and i hope we would be able to pull this off.

we are off to kish's house tom to finish the paper. i don't wanna drive tom so i'll just take a cab... napagod ako sa traffic kanina...

anyway, tulog na muna ako cause i really need it... i'll wake up early morning to do further research...

personalized quote for the day (inspired by the QC traffic and the durbin-watson failure):

"you do not give up on anything half way. when you are stuck in traffic, you don't stop in the emergency bay, you stop when you already reach your destination.."

SO I ONLY HAVE ONE THING TO SAY: NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME!!!! GAGRADUATE AKO SA JUNE! AND I'LL GET A N OFFICIAL JOB OFFER SOON!

I hope my profs. and companies read this... hehe... =p

P.S. Mia, I'm really sorry for telling you the wrong deadline. It really said 12nn in the text message.

time is a commodity and you shouldn't waste it

it is fairly accurate to say that i have been following what randy pausch has done over the last couple of months... i DID NOT know that he had another talk in the University of Virginia.. so i was searching through his account in Carnegie Mellon and i found out that there are links to his powerpoint slides and some of his talks that have fortunately been recorded and uploaded to youtube and google video. so anyway, i found one of his talks about time management.

i think he was really in authority to talk about maximizing the use of time considering that he had terminal cancer during the talk. i would like to share a particular part of his intro. Time is a commodity. When you would be working, how much does your time cost? how much would i pay you for an 8-hour work? think about these things. how much does an hour cost? i mean, hearing from dr. villegas is definitely more expensive than hearing from a graduate school student.

it's quite interesting to look at things this way because when you place a price on your time, you don't want to watch TV anymore... hahaha!

Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture Book

i have blogged countless number of times about a video that has been well dispersed in the online community by now. but i was buying some highlighter and sticky notes in national bookstore when i bumped upon a copy of randy pausch's last lecture. i didn't know he came up with a book. well, i actually, i could have downloaded an audio book from torrent but it didn't feel right. he left jai three kids to take care of. they'd need the royalties although i'm sure he left them a significant amount of money but still... they're all below 6 years old. anyway, i advise those who were moved by the lecture to buy one themselves. there are a lot more insights and advices in the book. Buy it and read it!

immortality... take it! it's yours!

when we lost in the finals of ecoknowmics, our professors comforted us and uplifted our spirits by telling us, "don't be disappointed. at least we made it to the finals." This is at least true for our Dean and I would like to think that the rest of the faculty shares the same insight. During our Industrial Organization class, Dr. De Vera told us that one way of accepting defeat is by asking ourselves, in 10 years, will this matter? what about 20? a hundred? (I'm not saying that it wouldn't matter if you won but think about it.)

so i was thinking of immortality or at the very least, the capacity to leave something behind that would outlive us. something that would well exceed our lifespan. A lot of people have left significant contributions in this world and they are always and will forever be remembered. so i was thinking, what could i do to leave something behind? something that will not be constrained in the memories of those that i love? when your funeral comes, people won't talk about your grades or earning capacity or anything. they will talk about the person that you are. problem is, sooner or later, those people will also die and with them, stories about you will fade.

thinking about death at age twen-teen (i refuse to admit i'm no longer a teenager) is a bit peculiar, i know... but there is something in me that wants to leave bread crumbs or ass prints of myself so that i would be present long after i'm gone. it's not necessarily about having my own statue or museum but some contribution to mother earth that would MATTER! something that will be of help... something that will be beneficial for others....

ok. so i was thinking about this when i decided to watch randy pausch's the last lecture. i actually watched bits and pieces of it cause i have to study for econometrics. i might watch the whole video over the weekend. either after the ecodev test on saturday or on sunday since i decided not to join the debate competition. randy pausch exemplifies exactly what i am talking about. i am almost sure he would outlive a lot of best-selling authors such as robert kiyosaki, stephenie meier and even j.k. rowling. this is not to be taken in the literal sense because the great randy paush died of pancreatice cancer months ago but he would mostly be remembered by a lot of people because of the nature of what he has done. he has inspired a lot of people to live their dreams and live their lives well.

i want to do something that will leave my footprint in this world... immortality through impact... is that too much to ask for?














apparently, you gotta earn it... =)