After weeks of cancelling and rescheduling, I finally got to meet up with my bestfriend on Sunday. We met up, sat down for a snack, and then we stayed there for the next 4 hours. It was nice catching up, and even more exciting to hear the good news. She’s getting married next year! 🙂
Preparations are already full swing and I’ll try to help her as much as I could though, for the life of me, I have no idea about these things!
Anyway, we talked about things we’re up to and things we look forward to. It was so nice to feel grounded again; that’s what seeing her does to me. She’s always a breath of sunshine, you know? I guess because we’ve known each other so long, and were inseparable when our lives were so much simpler.
We had spent the afternoon at this place called Secret Recipe at the Atrium in Megamall. We had no idea what they served, but the cakes on the display just convinced me to step in. Here’s the cake we shared (to be honest though, I ate most of it!):
See all those alternating layers of chocolate cake and mousse filling? Yummy, I tell you! And we were so fascinated about the smooth thin layer of chocolate that coats the cake. Ahhh this cake sparked a conversation on baking too. 🙂 We also talked about my new interest in photography, and my blogs!
But the most important news of the day? Of course, it’s about her wedding in a little less than a year’s time. Her fiance is currently working abroad (in Dubai, where her mom also works) and he hasn’t sent over the ring because he wants to give it to her personally (makes sense). So she’s preparing for the wedding all by herself! Good thing she has a wedding coordinator friend who’s helping her. And myself? Well, I’ll help in any way I can. Like I said, I have no idea about these things!
Oh well, I just hope we don’t wait another six months before we get together like this. I’ve missed having girlfriends around all the time. I miss being a friend to a friend, you know what I mean?
Bongga yung dance number/entrance ng 26k girls for today’s show. Apparently, it’s their last. It’s our local Deal or No Deal’s last airing, how many seasons did they run? Lately, it’s been really nice watching how Kris has been more comfortable and enjoying her time – dancing with the 26k or with her contestants.
We’ve been hearing about the new show (Bingo?) that’s coming soon, but I thought that DND surely will be back in a few months. But as today’s show progresses, it looks like they won’t. The other Kapamilya game show hosts are today’s contestants – Game Ka Na Ba’s Edu Manzano, and the Singing Bee’s Cesar Montano. They’re playing for a community of aetas in Tarlac, who were affected by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption that happened a decade ago, but continues to cause challenges for so many families and communities.
Anyway…
There was a fire drill at ABS-CBN this morning, and well, Mother Ignacia was blocked off because there really were fire trucks (or maybe just one) for the drill. My dad was picking me up and I had to meet him at the ELJ drive entrance instead. Received a message from one of my agents saying he’s stranded outside the building until the fire drill is finished. Ugh. Had to call Workforce to let them know.
When I finally got home, I realized that not only was Inday here for ironing day, there was Milo and his crew outside working on the roofing for our back porch. I had anticipated some noise that will keep me up, but surprisingly, I fell asleep again on the couch without any effort. Another welcome surprise is that it wasn’t so hot this afternoon, definitely due to the rainshowers.
We’ve had roofing installed on our doorstep and over the steps leading up to it, and then at our porch. But after all these improvements we’ve not thought to finally put railings on the stairs. I guess it’s not that important now since mom’s potter plants serve to block any of the kids from getting too close to the edge. Good thing I was blogging this because I just remembered that we’ve been meaning to have Zune’s fence properly made. I’ve just asked dad now to ask Milo tomorrow how much it would cost to include fence installation this week. Maybe we can finally give the makeshift fence some rest after two years of service. Besides, it’s high time we get something that people can open and shut conveniently when they need to pass, rather than step over like we do now. Haha.
I was at a leadership training all day at work, and I didn’t expect to, but I totally appreciated the theme of that particular training program. If things like these are made available to more employees, NCO will really be loved better by it’s people. All day I was thinking about how I was going to blog about the experience, but too bad I didn’t take note of my thoughts and now I just can’t remember what they were! Haha. 🙂
Oh I did take a photo of my name tent. One thing that NCO invests in is an ongoing learning and development program for it’s managers and employees. I’ve attended a lot of these trainings and everytime, without fail, we are asked to make name tents. It’s become a tradition that starts from Accent/Foundation training. I would write my name in so many different names, and include doodles. Today though, just a simple smiley was enough.
Mom is home from her work trip in Hong Kong. But you know what? I was more excited about having the camera back than the shirts she bought for us. LOL!
Teams are going off on their outing – to the beach resorts or private pool parties. Families are also going off on vacation. Me? I get to sleep on the couch and suffer the heat! Haha. 🙂
My dad bought ice cream yesterday and already, the container is almost empty. Nope, I’m not the culprit, it was more than half full after I filled up this glass. I just heard my brother comment how fast we run out of ice cream when he was helping himself to some of it.
When it comes to ice cream, I will always go for flavors that include chocolate, and Rocky Road is a favorite. The kids downstairs? They love mango ice cream, and I can’t complain.
It is so hot these days, that even the occasional rain showers don’t help cool down the surroundings. We have two electric fans in our living/dining area (which measures, according to Dad, 35 sq.m.) and it is hardly enough to keep more than two people comfortable in the afternoons.
So I guess it’s perfect timing that my work schedule will be changing soon – I’d have to be in the office in the morning until early afternoon. And I can stay there until it cools down a bit in the afternoon if I want to, and bask in the cold airconditioning. Haha. I remember how many times I complained last summer that I had to report to work at night, and go home with the sun up and bake in the heat while sleeping. I am so looking forward to not complaining this season.
I may have my offs changed too, which would hopefully mean I could have a full day free with the boyfriend on weekends. I was kind of hoping to change offs anyway, even with the evening schedule. Friday and Saturday nights off would have been perfect because the boyf and I could be together already as soon as he gets off work on Friday nights, and have the whole day Saturday and Sunday together. But… we’ll see.
I am cleaning up my Digital Scrapbooking Links and it is taking so long to go through the list. I realize that I have missed out on a lot of news from blogs that I used to visit at least twice a week. It’s nice getting re-acquainted though. It’s also very inspiring to look at all the lovely layouts showcased in many of those blogs. And of course, i’m happy to see all the freebies available 🙂
One particular designer blogger I was glad to have visited again is Vicki. She now sells at a new store with some of her friends, and that is amazing. One ad from her blog caught my attention, it was for Photobook Philippines! I checked out their website and things look promising. Kodak stations and Digiprint offer printing for photobooks and albums but if you choose bound ones, I don’t know if the photos will line up for two-page layouts (not that I have those). Photobook Philippines has a software that will probably help you figure that out. I don’t intend to have a book printed anytime soon, I don’t have enough layouts for that, but it’s nice to know what my options are.
OOohhh and looking at the various digiscrapping blogs have got me to thinking that I probably should be using templates more. Just a thought.
I still have a lot of mail to catch up on, but I’ve decided to stick it out with cleaning one particular mailbox for now. I have two email accounts that receive shares through sharing groups and I don’t get to see to them everyday. There are so many lovely graphics sent through them and it’s such a waste because I don’t get to see them right away. I probably should think about delisting from either one or both of those groups…
I’ve also tried to catch up posting Project 365 photos on DigitalMe. I’m still far from being caught up, but I know I must do this otherwise I will just forget why I took those photos or what they represented to me at the time. I wonder if I’ll ever scrap pages for those? Hah, I don’t want to say I’ll find time, that somehow jinxes things for me. Anyway, here are the photos I’ve added to the gallery:
You’ll see a photo of my big brother (who could be an Ely Buendia or John Lloyd look-alike depending on the angle haha), taken on January 16 at the entrance of San Benissa Garden Villas. We visited the site of our condo units to sign our contracts for the unit improvements. He and his girlfriend were actually back there yesterday to submit the signed contract for the property management office to take care of renting out our units to interested parties. I hope they find renters soon. That would definitely ease a bit of my financial woes.
There’s also the photo of my nephews and niece from my father’s side of the family (the other half of my family that hardly gets mentioned on this blog). The only girl in the photo is the beautiful Samantha or Sam as she is fondly called. She is so sweet, but also a handful! The whole time during the wedding ceremony, she couldn’t keep still. So endearing really. 🙂 Bench is the big boy here and he’s the same age as Sam. He talks a lot too and together, they can be a tough pair to care for. I have not seen these kids in a long time and it was good that they were there on my cousin Bryan’s weddin on the 15th of January. The baby in the stroller is Bryan’s little boy. He was christened right after the wedding ceremony. I don’t think I wrote a post about the wedding did I? Honestly, I think I kept myself from writing about it at the time, because I didn’t want to say anything nasty. But until now I can’t help it. I didn’t like the bridesmaid dresses! Haha. It was in bright green satin, a material that should never be used for such a purpose. I’m sorry, I really just don’t think it flattered anyone. The motif was green and yellow/gold. To be honest, the green and yellow combination in the linens and decor used in the reception turned out better than the bridesmaid gowns did. The bride was lovely though, no contest with that. And the wedding reception was held in a nice cozy place. Food was excellent too. Too bad we didn’t get to chat with my cousin (who is actually US based and only came home for the wedding) and his mom since we had to drive home already. We had to sleep soon since there was work in the evening.
The odd photo in the group is my March desktop. Both photos used here are ones that have me and my brother together. We’re six years apart. If you look at us now, you wouldn’t notice that age gap. Oh and I have to say this, I love that cute dress I had on in the bottom photo. My Lola Maggie (grandma) did that. She made us (me and my cousins) many lovely dresses while we were growing up, and she made some for my eldest nieces too when they were very small. I wonder if we have pictures of those? I hope so. They looked like dolls in vintage dresses. Seriously. Hehe 🙂
The last P365 photo is a very bad photo of my leg, to show off my ballet flats that I always wear to work. To be honest, I forgot to snap a photo for that day, January 17th, so I took a photo of the first thing I could think of. Hehe.
Anyway, I have a magazine to read and a letter to the editor to compose (haha). I really should go to bed instead, but it’s so darn hot!
UPDATE: I just remembered something that I tried catching up on today – Les Miserables, the book. Oh my god, I forgot exactly when I started reading this but I know I’ve finished at least two books since. And I don’t like doing that, picking up other books while I’m in the middle of another, which is why my to-be-read pile is just growing in number. It’s just that Les Miz is quite draining to read, with all the history and study of that time’s Paris society. And all that talk about the gamin of Paris is a reminder of the street children of Metro Manila at present day. And all the injustice in their prisons? Don’t those still exist today in prisons the world over? That’s sad. All I knew about Les Miz was a romanticized version of it I guess, and I wasn’t prepared to read all about the history of France or a study of it’s society. But it is a wonderful piece of literature, and I will finish the rest of the book someday. Haha 🙂
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…
