Relax

In the last couple of weeks, I had (no kidding here) 2 key investigations, 3 business trips, 4 workshops and 5 work-related telecons. I must have missed the partridge-in-a-pear-tree to make the set complete; it probably got buried in my inbox somewhere.

But despite the work, I'm thankful for the opportunities to relax.

In my last business trip to Malaysia, Cris took me and Frat to one of his best-kept secret places to chill out: the SKYBAR. It's located on the top floor of Traders Hotel. Inside, it's got a relaxing atmosphere with the subdued lighting, soft music, a 25-m lap pool in the middle and a jacuzzi pool on one side. It also has a spa on its mezzanine. The place is open air, but overhead beams give the place a homey feel and make it appear enclosed. It's best feature though is the spectacular view of the Petronas Twin Towers overlooking KLCC park -- the place has glass walls on the side facing Malaysia's most-known building.

Anyway, we got seats by the windows and Frat treated as to two rounds of 'Tiger Towers' -- it's just Tiger beer in very, VERY tall glasses -- and unlimited wasabi-peanuts. We chatted a lot --- it's actually my first time to have an open chat with 'adults'. We talked about regional economies, leadership at the workplace and future options (career and marriage --- Cris was evading the latter topic). I was surprised to find myself finishing my two glasses ahead of Cris and Frat, hehe. Maybe it's because of those peanuts.

Last Saturday it was the 2nd Chairman's Cup for Badminton, held at The Zone in Makati. I just got back from Malaysia then. My problem everytime I return from a business trip, my biological clock is all messed up because I always fall asleep on the plane, no matter how long or short the flight is. The day before the tournament, I had insomnia.

In the elimination games, I and my partner won our first game fairly easy (me: awake for 26 hours straight). An hour later, our second game ended in a draw --- we could have won it except that my mental state was already bad and I was playing the game purely on instinct; hell, I had a lot of unforced errors on my serve. Fortunately, we had a 90-minute wait for our last elimination game. I took that chance to sleep underneath one of the bleachers (and skipped lunch). When I woke up for our third game, I felt totally great (thanks to those power napping tips!).

Anyway, we qualified for the finals. The finals game in our level was an exciting match-up. Unfortunately, our opponents had a series of mishaps during the game (one of them got hit on the face by his partner which resulted to a minor cut on his forehead, and later on, his partner got leg cramps twice). We won the championship trophy after 3 sets. =)



We celebrated later that night at Sherwin's house. Geland poured some brandy for everyone (mostly to me, Jourdan and Ferdie, but Ferdie had to leave early) and poured again and poured again. When we adjourned, all of us were drunk but Jourdan was worst. Hahaha... his speech was slurred and was walking like a drunk Englishman so Geland had to escort him home.

On Friday, my best friend booked appointments for him and me at a spa along Roxas Boulevard (Senko -- it's a very decent place, in case you're about to ask). He thinks that both of us could use a break and could use the time to discuss with me his hesitations on his next big step forward (changing careers). He told me that he needed me in my most relaxed state when I dish out my advice.

And what else makes me relax?

- Alone-time at Starbucks
- Emails from my parents and sisters. Even if there's a nagging tone in their messages, reading through them makes me feel nostalgic and homesick hehehe.
- Receiving happy xthday messages daily. You know who you are. =)
- my Xbox360
- long phone chats with MJ, or Ube, or Tin
- browsing through Lissa's blog

Happy Wednesday to all! =)

Lucid Moment

After a hectic evening with my best friend last week when his wife delivered their third son at Makati Med and going over his personal 5-year plan to manage his family and potential career change:

"Dude, thanks for being my best friend."
And I blurted, "No need for that, Kits..."
"Shut up, let me finish."
(ooops...okay....)
"Really, I am very thankful in having you as my best friend. I really wouldn't have survived college, employment-hunting, settling with Marge and raising my family without you. You were there for me when my parents separated, when I got Marge pregnant, when we were troubled financially, raising my family... (he's getting teary-eyed at this point)... Really pare, thanks."

I was sort of smiling already at that point.

"What are you smiling at?"

"First time I've seen you cry."

"Tangina mo, pare."

Hahahaha.... and we were back to our schoolboyish behaviors.

Tidbits

The FLU

I was pretty badly knocked out by the flu last week. It took me 5 days to recover but I managed to do it without antibiotics. Also, I had to come to work on the last two days of my flu bout because of very urgent work items.

So urgent that my colleagues had to apologetically call me up and 'requested' me to check my mails and attend meetings and telecons because they're in a schedule crunch at that time.

Going back to my flu, Tuesday night was the worst. I was having very severe chills and body pains to the point of deliriousness. Gawd, I thought I was going to die that night.

And I lost 3 pounds. No exercise, 4 days of liquid+juice+gatorade diet, and 14+ hours of sleep per day. I've been absent from the gym for more than two weeks now, so I'm back to square one on my program.

But I learned some new tidbits regarding the flu:

1) You cannot take flu and cold medicine for more than 5 days. These meds have a high strain on the liver, and it can lead to liver damage.
2) You cannot have alcohol if you're frequently on paracetamol and ibuprofen. San Mig Light + Biogesic = liver damage.
3) Colds can cause symptoms of sore throat IF your nose is blocked. The mucus secretions for your colds have nowhere to go, hence they drip down to your throat (gross!). If you're on cold medicine for 5 days already, you can't take any cold meds further.
4) My doc recommended that I go to a sauna to unclog my nose. Hahaha. But having a nebulizer or looking over a pot of boiling water will have the same effect.


WEDDINGS

I attended Normann and Jenny's wedding two weekends ago. It's the biggest and most posh I've attended so far. Guest list is over 800 people! Congratulations Normann and Jenny.

Only a handful of the college friends were invited, so I'm pretty flattered when Normann called me up weeks earlier for his wedding. He even had my invitation delivered to me.

Back in college, Normann is one of the few guys who weren't bashful in asking for my help for reviewing in exams and going over their projects and thesis papers. I've always declined his (and his parents) offers of monetary compensation for my time. To show his gratitude (despite my protests), he'd usually take me to various country clubs and road trips (like the 'day-trip' to Baguio Country Club).

Pin's wedding is coming up next month. Advanced greetings, Pin!


OVER CUPS OF COFFEE

Ube was in town last week, and we had a long chat at Starbucks Batangas. Initially she was hoping for a scrabble game but we couldn't find two other players to play with. Anyway, it was really nice chatting with someone about anything in general who is not from my workplace.

We talked about my friends and her friends, and discussed in length about MJ. Hahaha. We also talked about when will my next trip to Cebu be (probably Sinulog?) and when will be her next time in Manila.

Last Saturday night, Chie joined me, Tin, Buddy, Chard and MJ for coffee at Starbucks Fort. Haven't seen Rhichie in a long time. All of us were perspiring heavily that night from all the laughing at Rhichie's remarks (mostly on MJ, haha). Too bad he had to leave at midnight because he's got a party to go to.

Chard was with Kat by the way. She's the latest addition to our group.

Oh, and according to them (a private joke that night), apparently a couple of gays were checking me and Rhichie out that night. Ngak.


XBOX-ing

Last night, I played online on XBOX Live (Splinter Cell Double Agent). I was simply awed with what Microsoft was able to do for the XBOX360.

I played about a 5 games last night. Hehehe... I teamed up with a guy from Korea and a girl from Australia. We went against 2 French guys and a German gamer.

We won 4 out of 5 games, haahahaha. Asians rule!

It's a good thing I got the headset for my XBOX last weekend. It was pretty intense gaming with me issuing out the orders to my squad, and them reverting back on what they're doing.

Later tonight I'm hosting the connections for some Pinoy XBOX gamers. Apparently I have one of the faster connections available.

7 Reasons Why I Haven't Been Blogging Recently

7. PLAY: It's October! Daming Octoberfest gimiks!

6. FRIENDS: Been very busy with coaching and coercing MJ on her first official blind date! Wahoo, it's the end of the world!

5. LIFE: Badminton. The Shell Chairman's Cup is upcoming, and I'm sort of re-training.

4. LIFE: Gym. I had to shave off those pounds that I'm gaining in the wrong places because of all the business trips and company-sponsored lunches/dinners.

3. WORK: Short-staffed. Several of my colleagues are on business-travel recently, so I had to cover for some of them.

2. WORK: Review review review. I personally want to make sure that I understand all the premises in the 1+ billion-dollar-project that I'm participating in.

1. PLAY: This is called an XBOX LIVE gamertag. =) As of Oct 14 2006, I'm part of the XBOX LIVE community.

Rainy Day Thoughts

I was thinking, what do people need on a rainy day?

Something to keep them warm and dry
and something for them to indulge in,
Maybe something to let idle moments pass by
and something perhaps that's good for cuddling?

Something perhaps that elicit smiles
or something that could make them cry in surprise?

It's raining today, so I wonder
will I get any of these when the shower's over?

Or will it just rain forever?

=)

You're So Special

Mad was right. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed, banks announced bank holdiays, and about 11 million people had dinner by candlelight last night.

What a way to celebrate your birthday!

Since you love the rain so much, nature decided to let everyone in the mainland experience rain. =)

Belated happy birthday greetings, Ube!

What's On My Mind

It's not super-dry beer.

LEADERSHIP vs AUTHORITY

In my mental dictionary, leadership is the quality to influence people's actions, thoughts and behavior towards a set goal or vision. Authority is a power of rank to dictate one's expectations and actions to an individual or group of individuals.

What I look for in my workplace's management team is leadership, not authority. It seems that recently, most of them have lost their sense of leadership because one has decided to exercise authority, in my opinion, frivolously.

Senior colleagues at work whom I looked up to before as role models seems to have lost their balls. Their sense of leadership is only one of the few things that make me look forward to working every day and under current circumstances, it's in dire need of a defibrillator. Or a Doctor Frankenstein.


CAR PROBLEMS

Speaking of Doctor Frankenstein, my car decided to play dead on me last Thursday night. I arrived at a new bar in Batangas (San Mig Station, quite a good place) and as soon as I turned off the engine, there was no juice! No courtesy lights, no cabin lights, no indicator lights at the dashboard. Fortunately, Ferdie and Jun Z. were around and did some tweaking here and there. Soon, we got lights back on the car.

On Friday night while stuck in traffic along EDSA, my car almost stalled on me. Got scared at that point.

On Saturday morning, I stripped off the car battery, cleaned all the contacts and re-installed everything. The cause of my problems: a loose connection on my electrical system's grounding.


PERSONAL TIME
After three weeks of absence from the gym (because of business travel and an injury to my left hand), I dropped by at Ponte Fino on Saturday night. I've gained about 3 pounds from my business travels, so I hit the treadmill and stationary bike for half-an-hour each. After that I did 45 reps each of cruches, leg raises and oblique twists for my midsection and proceeded with 45 reps each for leg curls, dumbbell squats, calf-raises and fisherman's walk.

When I got back to my pad, I rested a bit and decided to take a very long hot shower. Feeling the need for relaxation, I turned off all the lights, lit some candles in my bathroom and turned on my iPod to play acoustic music. For over an hour, I did a body scrub, foot soak, shampooed and conditioned my hair and rinsed.


XBOX 360

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. And the answer is: I'm buying an XBOX-360 next week. Wahooo!

I'm ditching PC-gaming (and probably retire my PS2-gaming) in favor of the XBOX-360 and its LIVE capability. I miss the days when video games had to be played cooperatively or against another human being --- playing with/against the A.I. is too anti-social.

The irony in this is I'm getting an XBOX-360 to socialize my video gaming world at the expense of my social life. =)


...ad infinitum

1) I lost a couple of bets to Rhichie two weeks ago, so I owe him dinner AND a venti coffee frappe. I need to invite another guy or girl for this, lest the two of us might be mistaken for a couple of males on a date.
2) Emer, Jherae, and others (colleagues at work) in their band group will be performing at a local bar here this coming Wednesday.
3) Marijo, Blossom and Kat will be taking up street-dancing lessons next month.
4) Tin and Buddy are attending boxing classes, in preparation for their upcoming wedding (intended for physical fitness and for Tin to be in shape for her wedding dress fitting, but the skills can also be used when they're already married hehe...)
5) Maqui: Happy birthday! Ninong will take you out this Saturday for toy shopping. Then ninong and your dad will go drinking in the evening.
6) Marge is due to give birth on the last week of October.

U'd be happy to know that...

I gave in to my personal whims.

It was raining heavily in Kuala Lumpur tonight when I checked out of the office.
Taxis were scarce.
The hotel where I'm staying at is a 20-minute walk.
I didn't have an umbrella.
So guess what?

I walked in the rain. Dressed in business attire. With an occasional jig here and there. =)

Half an hour later, I was inside the hotel lobby with my shirt all wet.

Happy rainy Thursday!

P.S.

I'd dare you that you the same. =)

Pseudo-SGSI

People here at the Kuala Lumpur office of Shell Global Solutions are saying that if I can survive my two-week stint with them, it would be a great achievement for me.

I flew here last Tuesday to join the project group and assist in making the Basis of Design for one of the project's key areas. You see, we're trying to design a new refinery. Actually, just a preliminary design and scope. In half the time that is normally required.

Normally, a 6-month time frame is needed for the preliminary design of a refinery. But since SGS is a service-provider, and their client wants the preliminary design in 3 months.

This week, I've been pushing 12-14 hours of work. Technical work. Very technical work. Very technical geeky work. The type of work that I need to make use of all sort of charts and graphs and do engineering calculations and triple-check everything. The type of work that requires me to visualize abstract concepts of flow across several piping routes to aid in solving a puzzle of logic. The type of work that requires me to test every sort of permutation in an array of equipment to make sure that it's economical but robust.

UGH!

But hell, I'm enjoying it despite the pain. I must be getting crazy.

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Something of a confidence booster for me (also gives me a good start in the morning):

Wout, the section head of the group I'm assisting, is about 25 years my senior. Every morning since Wednesday, he'd pass by my temporary desk and ask me smiling: "Are you sure you don't want to work for us here at Shell Global Solutions?"

Hahaha... thanks Wout. Now if only my company will release me to SGS...

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Benny, Erick and Ronn tagged me along for lunch at what they call a 'chipipay' food stall. It's a stall in an old building just across Petronas Towers. They serve food carinderia style. Hallelujah, there's pork!

The next day, Cris tagged me there for lunch. Hahaha... I don't mind.

Thursday night was dinner at Benny's place with Ronn and Lorelei, Erick and Cong, and Sam. Dyaske, andito lang din pala sa KL si Sam, hindi ko man lang alam. As usual, we talked about the inadequacies of Tabangao in terms of management and training. What's mentioned at that dinner table is best left there. Ngapala, Benny's pork binagoongan was good! After dinner we went to Hard Rock to escort Sam buy a Hard Rock shirt, and had a round of beer.

Friday, Cris and I were last to leave the office (Friday night, and we're still working). Cris suggested a break at around 730pm and have a quick bite to eat. We had dinner at a cafe outside of the building, and a 'kabayan' was our waiter. Very friendly and professional, but he knows when to be personal to us. Good food, good service, and a hearty discussion with Taga regarding the project and the career.

Much as I wouldn't like to admit it, I've enjoyed Cris' company and his mentorship. I wouldn't have thought of that situation years back when he was still with us in Tabangao. Benny's a superb mentor and great company too. But they are as different as a good book and a pistol, yet I enjoy both.

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If this is life as SGSI, despite the hard stuff, I'm confident I can conquer AND enjoy it.

Need a Laugh?

The following in their virgin form (not corrected for grammar or spell-checked) are scribbled on the whiteboard at Julie and Maimai's office:

Yellow rule: Do not do unto others what you can't do.
Red rule: Do unto others, before they do it unto you.
Blue rule: You do not need to do unto others what they can do to themselves.

If things get tight, kelangan mo nang mag-diet.
..... If things get tight, sit next to a fatter ass and feel sexy.

If others can do it, don't help.

Ang ilog na tahimik ay malalim, ang ilog na maingay may naglalaba.

Oilyness is next to ugliness.

Kung maigsi ang kumot, punda yun.

What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger. RAAR!

Pag nahuli, wag aamin. Pag huling-huli na, mandamay.

J1: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
...... J2: BADING! Anong dancing?? Di ka marunong sumayaw!!
..........J3: Bakit ako ba ang tinutukoy ko? Baka ikaw ang bading? Iyakin pa!!!

Ahihihihi... I think there's a case of craziness inflicting my workplace. =)

Saturday Socials

The nature of my current work has deprived me substantially of socializing with my peers outside of the workplace. The last time I played airsoft was sometime in March, I think, at the Steel Mill. The last time I climbed at Power-up Pasig was October last year! My present life priorities are skewed and needs normalization. It's work first, followed by family, church, personal health, and lastly friends and leisure.

Despite my very tight schedule, I decided to make a day-trip to Manila (yiiii...me talking about 'day trips' to Manila is so low for me).

A. Climb at Power-up

Blossom and Kat gave me a default invitation to join them in their wall-climbing training for the month of September. I joined them yesterday and found myself a bit overwhelmed by Power-up Pasig. It's been almost a year since my last visit there. Kat tagged along her pamangkins and guy named Sam.

Dong was there too. Ha, he still remembers me from the days when I join up with Chie and Mad for the regular Tuesday climbs a year ago.

Anyway, I climbed walls 3 and 4 flawlessly, had a bit of difficulty at wall 5 (my pinky finger is still giving me grip problems), and traversed the whole length of the wall including the bouldering section. And I thought I wouldn't finish it, because my arms were already pumped towards the end of the afternoon.

Kat's endurance has very much improved, and her techniques have upped a level. Blos has also shown improvement but needs to focus more on twisting and weight shifting (or lose some weight hahaha -- just kidding, Blos).

B. Starbucks at Power Plant Mall

Blossom hitched a ride with me going to Power Plant Mall (well, I had to get a haircut at Bruno's Barbers anyway). She invited me to have coffee with her and I agreed.

We talked about furnishing her pad, Marijo's sluggish lovelife, siblings Chard and Mond, and her and Kat's plans to study street dancing versus Marijo's preference for ballroom dancing.

We parted after our coffee socials. On my way to Bruno's, I met Tito Gabs (Papa Hondo) of RBG at the escalator. We exchanged warm handshakes when we were both level at our opposite escalators. RBG was having a team dinner at Dencio's.

C. TMS Dinner at Saisaki

The most 'cozy' team dinner I've attended, it was a night of revelations. Hahaha.

It was just Nikko, Dee, Kara and Mikko at Saisaki G3 when I arrived. And I was 40 minutes late even!

I haven't seen Kara since our team's Christmas party at their residence. She's still the same bad-ass girl I know, sporting her trademark Gothic fashion. She's the only girl I know personally who's comfortable with the Gothic look, and has the attitude to look good in it (probably I've been watching too much anime lately hahaha).

Nikko and Dee are looking more and more as a couple. Blooming people. Niks needs to go on a diet really soon; their wedding date is near already and the pictures won't look that great if his tummy shows. =D

Mikko is still the funny man. As usual, he's got plenty of stories to tell. He's so good at telling stories that sometimes I find myself at a doubt -- whether or not to believe his narrative -- when he's telling something serious.

And the revelations? I'll have to be cryptic about it. Hehehe.

1) "It's because our schedules won't match."
2) "The 'It's not you, it's me' speech is actually good, but because of the movies it now seems lame."
3) "Number two."
4) "Custody-battle for a 10-month old..."
5) "May sinapak akong lalake..."



Tin and Buddy joined us late in the night.
Anyway, hanging out with TMS was a welcome thing for me. Sa uulitin.

Fishyfishy Chronicles 24531: The Davao Incidents

Sorry for the late post. Doing so many things at the office recently. Photo attachments to be done later.

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Hayaaaa... Fishyfishy availed of the 10-peso flights from Cebu Pacific and we were lucky to get travel dates for Davao's Kadayawan Festival (Festival of Festivals). For 4 days, I, Richard, Marijo, Tin and Buddy checked out what Davao has to offer at its peak tourist season.

Well, yun yung official 'reason' nung trip. But underneath that, the trip in itself is another junket session to (1) humorously torture Marijo and (2) get to know Buddy better (aba! eh pakakasalan nya si Tinters next year so kelangan ma-scrutinize siya ng malapitan at matagalan!).

If this were a traveler's diary, I'd simply say that we:
1) Spent the first two nights at the Marco Polo hotel
2) Dinner in Davao City's street party scene(which looks more like an open-air booze-and-barbeque tiangge)
3) Went to Paradise resort for a day at the beach
4) Went white-water rafting
5) Watched the Kadayawan festival dancing
6) Shopping for souvenirs and durian
7) Spent one night at Eden Nature park

But there's nothing exciting in that, right?

So here's a list of the exciting and memorable incidents.

1. As usual, the group sticked together --- nasa isang hotel room lang kaya kaming 5 (officially checked-in 3, yung 2 itinakas!). May target budget kasi for the trip e. So everybody had to bear with MJ's no-lights policy, hilik ni Stip at kakulitan ni Chard. Si Tin and Buddy... hmmm... wala e, ang tahimik nila. *hehe*

2. Eating durian is an acquired taste. Eto proof. Does it look like that we're saying 'yummy, ang sarap ng durian!'?



3. Football catching at the beach (Paradise resort). Okay sana, except nag-fumble si Stip on one of Chard's throws. Ayun, he got his finger forked. Kelangan tuloy i-splint yung pinky finger nya.

4. White-water rafting! Enjoy kami sobra! It's an exciting activity. Buddy, Chard and Stip also went drifting. At the last section of the rapids, they were 'encouraged' to get off the raft and drift in the last section of the rapids with just their lifevests and helmets on. Safe naman daw e. End-result: lahat sila maraming nainom na tubig, got near-death experiences (that almost-drowning-and-i-can't-hold-my-breath-underwater-any-longer trauma), bumped into rocks underwater, that washing-machine-tumble-dry feeling. The three boys agreed that it was exciting but doing it once in their lifetime is good enough for them.

Question: Sino sa kanila ang naiiba at bakit? :D



5. Kadayawan Festival. The street dance performers were very entertaining. Daming pa-cute na kuha si MJ and Tin with the dancers.

6. Shopping at Aldevinco. We bought a lot of shirts. And, magaling pumili si MJ ng blouses para sa mga nanay nila Chard and Stip. (Actually, si MJ yung pinapasukat nung mga blouse --- so mala-mommy pala yung appeal/projection ni MJ).

7. Kwentuhan sa Eden Park. Spent the night there. Over beer, pringles and snickers, we got to know everyone better specially MJ (tungkol sa automatic rejection nya sa mga suitors nya) and Buddy.

8. Fishy-fishy goes fishing. Ni-science ni Stip yung fishing dahil sya yung unang nakahuli ng isda using worm bait lang (no aid of fish food pellets while fishing). Chard insists na chamba lang daw yun. Hahaha.

Davao's been fun. Have to do that again in the future, or something like that.

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OUr official travel itinerary: 2 nights booking at Marco Polo hotel, 1 night booking at Eden Nature Park, day trip to Paradise Beach resort, dinners at the following places: Kaan Dawet, Inihaw sa Flyover, white water rafting (jump-off fro Crocodile farm), shopping at Aldevinco, durian hunting at Magsaysay, watch Kadayawan at Roxas avenue.