Mahal

Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wild Life

Now, this post is two weeks late because the event happened two Sundays ago on Mother’s Day.  We didn’t spend it with our moms though – Alfred and I took Esban to the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife for a photo shoot.
Believe it or not, Alfred has never been to Wild Life before. I can’t believe that they didn’t go there on a field trip when he was in grade school?  I’ve been there so many times, but that was long ago.  I realized then though that I confused some of my Wild Life memories with days spent at the old Nayong Pilipino.  

It was a fun day, but I would have been a happier trooper had it not been soooo hot! Even with the dense trees protecting us from the direct heat of the sun, I was still sweating like a pig!  I was frustrated by many of my photos too, I just couldn’t make it work.  Alfred says it’s because I lacked sleep (I came straight from work, and with only two hours of sleep from the night before because that was the day after the BDP class) and was already irritable.  I think he was just trying not to make me feel bad.

We started later than we had planned so we decided to have Liempo Boy for lunch first, before finally heading to our final destination for the afternoon.

may-3928

Waiting for lunch to be served@Liempo Boy

Upon entering the park grounds, we were welcomed by this rubber tree.  We told Esban what it was, and encouraged him to go ahead and pose in front of it.  Little did I know that this tree’s brothers and sisters were going to have an even bigger role for the day!

may-3941

Can you see him? Right there in the middle… Here’s a closer look at his wacky face:

may-3942

Still can't see his face? Click on the image for a larger view

Okay, I’m testing the WP-SV Gallery Plugin that I just installed. The previews are smaller than what I want them to be, but please go ahead and click on the link at the bottom of the box to see a larger view of the pictures in each gallery. 

[svgallery name=”Rubber tree very pretty”]

I’ve always been fascinated by root systems, so these did not escape me:

may-4110

Now, Alfred told E that Lastikman got his powers from a rubber tree .  Now, I preferred the alien version myself, but Esban’s imagination was definitely stirred by what he was hearing.  Here he was looking for a cozy nook to simulate how Lastikman must have been trapped inside a rubber tree!

[svgallery name=”Esbantree”]

Fine, he doesn’t look trapped, he’s really just enjoying himself.  But you know what he really wanted to try?  Swing from tree to tree a la Tarzan!  We were laughing so hard the whole time. We were sweating, not because it was hot, but because we were having so much fun already!

[svgallery name=”Like Tarzan”]

He enjoyed swinging so much that he refused to go home without stopping by another tree and have another go at it. Problem was, we couldn’t find the one that had vines that would suit his purpose!  In the end, he agreed to leave because he was tired, and he had somewhere else that he needed to be at. 

We took photos of the birds and monkeys too. I’ll share those at a later post, this took way loooonger than I had anticipated. Thanks for sticking it out till the end 🙂

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

It’s day 1 of our 15 day trial with Sky Broadband. It’s hi-speed Internet cable. I was subscribed to this maybe two years ago but we decided to switch to PLDT DSL because of the savings we’d get for it (since it’s bundled with the phone service).  But their service has been so disappointing, so in two weeks or less we’ll make a decision to finally get rid of it or else just endure the inconsistent service we’ve received.

So far – I love it! My downloads are done in two or three minutes at a time. Sweet! 🙂

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I thought I’d be at the mall today, shopping for slippers and some supplies for our Baler trip.  I guess it’s a blessing too that we didn’t go, or else I would have had to practice a lot of self restraint while passing through the section for women’s shoes.  I certainly do not need a new pair, but when I see beautiful comfy footwear, I just can’t help it sometimes 🙂

 

Dell Pasay is now Teleperformance

On Friday morning, I received a call from a very agitated boyfriend – they have just been given the news that Dell has struck a partnership with Teleperformance.  Dell Pasay will soon cease to exist, and it will be fully controlled by TP.  The news was not meant with enthusiasm, on the contrary, many of Alfred’s batchmates are feeling uncertain.  They had just signed up with Dell, and it was the fifth day of new hire training.  Many, including Alfred, were wondering if there would be changes to the contract that they signed.  They were told that the new contracts should be ready this week, if I heard him right.

When I got home that day, I went crazy looking for online news articles or even gossip or speculation  revolving around the sale, but I didn’t find any.  The Internet was quiet about this new development.  I had asked Alfred to blog about it himself, because I wasn’t a first party in this event and felt I had no right to buzz about it. Yesterday, his worry was he wasn’t sure if Dell or TP allowed its employees to talk about their accounts.  Like at our office, we really shouldn’t be talking about our specific accounts.  Since I saw the news in today’s paper though, I guess he doesn’t have to use aliases for the companies anymore.  We were thinking about referring to Dell as Delta, and TP as ThePreatorians or something. Haha.

Alfred will most probably choose to stay there.  As long as the base pay stays, along with the allowance/benefits originally promised to them, there shouldn’t be a problem.  But he is disappointed that he won’t be an in-house tech, that he will once again be part of an outsourced project.  He was especially proud that he had been accepted to Dell.  After he got his ID, his bag and his Dell shirt, he was so eager to show them to me.  Soon, he will have to turn in his Dell badge, and I guess he won’t be able to brag that he supports Dell anymore.  Just like I couldn’t broadcast that I’ve been supporting so and so products.  He also has his doubts about staying on, stemming from co-workers who have previously been with TP.  I don’t think it helped that their trainer’s initial reaction to the news wasn’t very positive either.

Where am in this?  Well, my sole goal is to be the supportive partner – everything will turn out okay.

——————————

Hmm…

And again, forgive me for the ranting post earlier.  Right after I published it, I went up and snuggled in bed with the boyfriend for another hour until he decided it was time for him to get up and get to work. In my opinion, he left too early.  But I can’t really blame him for not wanting to be late.  And I really can’t stay mad at him.

My off is completely wasted though.  Dang colds.

Fun decided not to show up this weekend

After being away from the boyfriend for the week, I was really looking forward to this weekend being a fun one. Well, it wasn’t. 

First, my nose is dripping like crazy. Sorry. But it’s true.  I still have colds, and it’s like they wanted to punish me for taking all of those Sinutab ES that the doctor prescribed last weekend. On Saturday morning, I had a really bad headache but I had to finish the ton of work I had allowed to pile up on me, and leave the pining until I could go home.  I woke Alfred up by calling him so many times on his phone, and he came over to pick me up and take me to lunch.  We ended up taking a long cab ride to Greenhills because the driver wasn’t thinking about Saturday noontime traffic at EDSA when he decided that’s the route we were going to take.  The ride didn’t do much to make me feel better.

Lunch was fantastic though – The House of Minis.  I was craving for steak, you see.

But guess what?  Just so we could go out for lunch (and because I needed something to pick me up), I had taken some work home.  BUT because of the time it took to get us to Greenhills, we wouldn’t make it back home for me to meet my 3PM deadline.  So we had to stop by an Internet place so I could make it.  And I did. 

We decided to stroll around the shops for awhile, and we got to stop at the Dollar Store, and Daiso too. I took pictures (that I wouldn’t be able to show off because Mom has the camera with her and she’s off to Hong Kong)!  I must have been looking really crappy already because Alfred was the one who insisted on heading home. It really should have been me since I did have to go to work pa that night.

Saturday night wasn’t any better. To make matters worse, calls were coming in like there was no tomorrow.  And there were these issues that we just weren’t able to track right away.  And someone got the flack for it. Though I am happy it wasn’t me, I felt bad that it had to be her too. Something’s gotta change about our processes, seriously.  But I was going through the whole shift in a daze.  One minute I’d be sitting, staring at my monitor, the next I’d just feel snot dripping off my nose down to my shirt! Really yucky stuff I tell you.  Good thing my seatmate comes in 5 hours into my shift already.  

Alfred has been craving for another meal at Mister Kebab, and Sunday morning was supposed to be the perfect time for it.  Well guess what, I couldn’t wake him up.  I had waited and waited.  By the time he responded, I was outside the office ready to go home.  I called my dad and there was lunch at home already and I didn’t want that to go to waste so I asked Dad (with Esban) to pick me up instead.  After eating, I dozed off on the couch right in front of the TV while Alfred gave Zune a bath.  We went to sleep (at least I did) because I was feeling too warm and my head was just chasing my pillows.  We intended to go out around 6pm.  I needed to pay my bills, and Alfred needs a new wallet.  Well guess what? We didn’t go anywhere.  And I have the feeling that he’s blaming me for it.  

And that’s just not fair.  I was ready to stand up, take a bath, get dressed and leave for the mall.  But he decided it was his time to sleep.  Then he wakes me up at 9PM because he’s hungry for dinner.  Then he goes and finishes his dinner so fast and stands up right behind his chair and stands there next to me with his hands on his hips. When I asked him what on earth he was doing standing there, he made a move to go up and back to our room. What the heck?  Why couldn’t he at least wait for me to finish eating? So then he goes back and sits next to me. But what’s the point already? So I told him to go on ahead, which he does, but not without saying he just didn’t get it.  Well that was a revelation! Yes, he just doesn’t get it!

Sorry for the rant. Yes this was a rant.

Because after dinner, I didn’t join him up there. I stayed downstairs and slept again on the couch until the ABS-CBN station ID woke me up, just before the Philippine Anthem video was played and the station signed off for the night.  And in a few hours, he’ll leave for work and I won’t see him again until Friday night. That sucks.  

And I’m still sick. 

What a weekend.

Project 365 updates

My goodness.  I wonder when I’ll ever get updated with P365 posts?  Up at DigitalMe (that’s what I’ve taken to calling my photo blog, Digital Memories), I’ve only posted up to Day 14 so far.  And well, here are the stories behind the photos (clicking the photos will allow you to view them in DigitalMe):

Ahh pantry food.  I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about pantry food.

We are entitled to one free meal per shift at the company pantry.  You get two choices of viands, unlimited helpings of rice, a dessert and a glass of your choice of available drinks (iced tea for me – red, apple, or regular).  I have been working here for almost four years and I’ve come to the point where the tastes and smell of the pantry will stay with me for the rest of my life. Haha.

I don’t eat there as often as I used to.  On the one hand,  it’s not much fun eating alone; on the other, I don’t have time to enjoy a full meal.

When dining alone, I like sitting by the window.  This was something I’ve been doing since back when the pantry was located at the 6th floor, facing the MRT.  I used to imagine what goes on at the MRT station, watching the comings and goings of the trains.  When the pantry moved to it’s current location at the 4th floor, the window view drastically changed.  It’s not as conducive for musing while you eat, but it’s not so bad…

Alfred and Vanette were my frequent lunch dates in the past two to three years.  Now that they’ve left the company, I find myself sitting here again.  Today though, I had lunch there again with Edsel. 

 

Now this here for Day 13 is a rare photo.  By now you should be familiar with my office window right?  Well, on a few rare nights back in January, the console and TV were set right next to my station and my agents were able to enjoy playing video games while we were in a meeting.  Some of them hogged the controllers so they could play while on avail time.  Now that’s not the reason why this is a rare photo.

These two guys I was able to capture on my camera phone are no longer with the team.  They have already left the company.  Had I a choice, I’d have kept them.  To be honest, the high attrition rate for my team in the past four months is really alarming and something that really frustrates me.  I have sent out SFC (separation) notices more times in the last four months than I’ve had to in the previous year.

This attrition is actually a direct result of our high absenteeism – something that I thought I was already able to handle and finally address, but it keeps on recurring every couple of weeks.  Before moving to this current account, I already knew that absenteeism was one of their pain points.  I used to think that it won’t happen to my team, but well, guess what?  I was wrong.  I’ve ran out of ideas, now I’m prone to believe that the team name I inherited from their previous manager is jinxed! 🙂


 

There are days (and nights) when I just crave for a Mister Kebab meal.

No, I don’t actually order their Chelo Kebab because my favorite is the Keema with Eggplant, with yoghurt sauce on top, with buttered rice. Oohh buttered rice. Almost good enough to eat without the Keema. Haha. 🙂

I first had a taste of Mister Kebab when we had a family dinner at the original location along Quezon Ave, near the corner of West Ave.  We had seen it featured on TV and decided to meet up there one night.  It’s not your typical family restaurant.  That night many years ago, the place was full! We had a small table for the four of us (mom, dad, kuya and myself), and we tried out different dishes.  I liked the food but didn’t like the place much – it was too dark and stuffy for me.  Now – I love the new place and how cool and open it is.

It’s one of our favorite breakfast places now (or dinner for us since we go there after our shifts).  It’s very affordable and the portions are just right for us. Oh, and it’s open 24 hours so it’s very convenient for when our shifts end at 5AM. 🙂

 

Anyway, I’m not sure if anyone else cares about these stories but they serve to remind me of many things and that’s why I write here.  The photos are not very pretty though since they were captured using my camera phone and at the beginning of the project…

PS I Love You – the novel by Cecilia Ahern

psbook

Last night, just before going to bed, I ripped the plastic covering off the book that I bought many months ago.  After reading the first few chapters, I went to sleep (not because it was a boring read mind you, but it was really waaaay past bedtime).  In the morning, I woke up and picked it right up and devoured it.  I read untill well after lunch.  I stopped only for a few minutes to pour myself some toasted oats and mueslie with milk for breakfast; and then again for a snack of yoghurt; and finally a Twiggie for lunch.  Oh, I had put it down to watch the first E-heads reunion concert in August last year on DVD (the one I didn’t see Live!), while I put some Tea Tree Oil antiseptic on Zune’s insect bites.

But I finished the whole thing.  And just like the effect the movie had on me, there were moments that were just heart-wrenching.

I’ve got to say, I don’t know if it’s just Gerard Butler and all his sexiness, but I seem to like the movie version better.  But remember, I liked the movie version a lot. So even while I say I liked it better, that by no means translates that I didn’t like the book.  I did.

Though the screenplay adaptation was different in many aspects from the original novel, it still remained true to the core messages that Ahern communicates through her pages.  Finding your soulmate.  Love.  Friendship.  Loss.  Grief.  Picking up the pieces.

If the movie focused on the love between Holly and Gerry, and in Holly learning to open herself up for a new love, the book was more about the reality of grieving.  How it’s a selfish process, really, even when you don’t mean it to be.  Though Gerry’s letters were very much the center of it all, there was also the very important role her friends played in Holly’s road back to living her life without Gerry. 

Oh, another difference is that the book is set entirely in Ireland, versus the movie being set in America with the ladies’ vacation having been in the land of the Irish.  

I found myself wondering again, what would I do if this happened to me? How would I move on?


 
I have a confession to make, I’m a little loony this weekend.  That’s probably why I haven’t been posting like crazy, and why I finally picked up this book to read. It’s Alfred’s first day at his new job so that meant a break in routine.  I usually stay up on Sunday nights and have breakfast with him on Monday morning when he gets home from work.  During my rest days, he is always around to worry about what we’ll have for lunch; even if he had to work on those nights, he’d be game if I had wanted to go out.  Today was so much different.  He wasn’t here. I had talked to him on the phone many times during the course of the day, but it still felt like I was losing something you know?  I won’t get to see him everyday anymore, and I would be sleeping alone again for most of the time.  There wouldn’t be breakfast or lunch dates at work to look forward to.

I’m crazy, I know. He’s still here and he’s just an hour away, and that’s where he was before he kind of semi-moved in here (we really have an odd living situation) and everything was just fine. But I’ve just been so used to having him around all the time, I don’t want to go back to how it was before. I surprised myself though;after his long day at work and running around to fix his stuff, he called to tell me that he didn’t have to be back at work until 11am tomorrow morning, which means he could actually come over now if I wanted him to. I had given him the choice to decide for himself, and he very well wanted to come. But I pointed out that it’ll be tiring for him, considering he had had to go shuttling around so much today. So there, we decided for him to stay home instead. It was the right thing to do, right?

Boy do I miss him already.

%d bloggers like this: