6/30/13 - Company teambuilding

This post is way too late but it's better late than never.

Two weeks ago, we had our company's first ever team building and I can say I am so happy to be a part of it.

It was held last June 14-16, 2013 in Tagaytay. For personal reasons, I won't reveal the name of the place but it was a beautiful place with enough rooms to accommodate many people, a spacious garden and activity area and a fancy dining room. It has a good set of amenities and despite the lack of air conditioning, the fresh and cool weather is able to suffice, except for the mornings when it was really hot in our rooms.

Because of a holiday during that week, we had to do some work in the morning before leaving the office in the afternoon. We arrived late in the afternoon but we had to wait for our other colleagues and bosses so we had some free time to look around and relax. We even caught the afternoon snack they prepared for us.

It was getting dark already so we took advantage of the free time by using the pool which was as deep as 7 ft.  

By the time everyone has arrived, it was time for dinner. I have to commend the place for serving good food all throughout our stay.We were served various meals such as baked macaroni, fish fillet (the best one!), and other dishes made of fresh ingredients, or so they say.

Our sleeping quarters were in a separate house. We were divided into different rooms. Our bosses had their own rooms while the rest of us were divided between boys and girls. But it didn't really matter in the end as we barely spent time to sleep.

We had good doses of fun and games. We even had videoke sessions and I joined in for the first time and exposed my horrible voice for all of them to hear.

On our first night, I had a great bonding time with my fellow colleagues as well from our sister company. We had humorous chats and played card games. We were so high and this was the night I fell in love with Bacardi.

I had to pay for it the following day with my entire body turning red but it was all worth it. The itchiness couldn't stop me from participating to all the activities we had on the second day. We had a lot of group games an even though we lost in the end, the experience was something I'll cherish forever. Our boss even pulled a prank on us at the end but I will never tell how he pulled it off.

For our group presentations, my group was unprepared for the day so we had a few hours  to come up with an idea quickly. We eventually arrived to the decision to perform a sexy dance number inspired from Magic Mike with all of us guys in the group doing the seductive number and the girls providing support. I am still sad that our efforts didn't pay off but it was all in good sportsmanship nonetheless. We had one final night to bond with the whole group and aside from singing in the videoke, I also spent it by playing monopoly with some friends which lasted for long hours.

But honestly speaking, despite the good experience I had, there's a small part in me that was left feeling lonely as I missed an opportunity to get to know that one particular person that I wanted to be closer to as a friend.

In fact, after the team building, my officemates told me I came out a different person ( in a good way)  as I became more open and cheerful but it seemed to be in reverse with my treatment to my other officemate as I felt farther. The atmosphere seem to be awkward when it's just the two of us in a close proximity and even if the person doesn't show any signs of irregularity, I can sense that my officemate suspects something from me. Admittedly, I see him chatting with one of our gay officemates regularly since then and I don't mean to eavesdrop but they are getting closer and I sometimes see their conversations are about me, like how I have been constantly "picking" on him everytime. I don't really pick on him, it's just that he expressed his "desire" to one of our colleagues and I tease both of them a lot which he seems to enjoy. I saw their conversation just this past week where he told our officemate that he sense that I wanted to tell him something ever since the team building.

I didn't want to make him know that I have been spying but deep inside, I felt so stupid for making my intentions very obvious through my actions or words. I have been trying to restrain myself away from him in attempt to avoid further complications in our friendship and I don't know if that's any good. If I can only be honest, I am not just putting our friendship on the line but my whole personality and reputation to the whole company and I'm not sure if I'm ready to lose that yet.

Overall, the team building made it easy for me to feel close to my officemates and the thoughts of quitting the job seemed to drop by less by this time around.

6/29/13

Went to the cd sale again for the third time. Bought a couple more CDs and a DVD. I didn't really have a specific album to buy beforehand but since this will be the last weekend, I might as well go back. I was able to buy CDs that I have seen before as well as some new ones.

I headed back to Makati afterwards to stroll around before heading back home.

Right now, the rain is getting pretty wild. I hope it's nothing serious.

6/28/13

Eating out with my officemates are slowly becoming a weekly habit for us ever since we came back from the team building. Yes, we also eat out during lunch but eating out after office hours seems to have a lighter and more honest atmosphere.

In fact, we had another dinner today but this time with more people from the office and in a fancier restaurant since we were planning this since last week. I really had fun spending time with them and looking forward to the next one.

However, I still feel that something isn't going well and it's my fault. It seems like my words are really hurtful. I haven't really confronted the person I'm worried about as I couldn't read his thoughts this time. We seem to be fine for a moment and the next minute there's a huge tension between us. 

I really value our friendship and I hope nothing will ruin it.

6/26/13

This day was quite fun. I left the house early and caught the last trip of the shuttle and arrived at the office early enough to eat breakfast in Mcdo.

During the morning, after around an hour or so, the internet has went bonkers and our supervisor found out that there was some sort of connection problem in the city so we basically had no internet for quite a long time. 

We spent most of the time having fun and chatting with each other. I was fortunate enough to at least write one article even without resources.

After we had our lunch, we just had some meetings and discussed some concerns with the workflow. But unlike our other regular meetings, this meeting felt so light and didn't have any pressure at all.

One thing that I learned from the meeting though is that my colleagues think I like to tease a lot and that's true but at the same time, I am worried that it's all they think of me and that I am hurting them already. I already feel like I'm pushing one of them away and I really hate when that happens especially to people I want to know better. I'm trying to restrain myself from making hurtful remarks but it might be too late.

But moving on, since we had no internet, we were dismissed an hour early so some of us decided to go to the mall. That is where I was heading to go to the gym anyway so I tagged along.

We decided to buy a gift for one of our supervisors since her birthday is coming up and we got her a simple card to give it to her on Friday. We had a snack in the food court afterwards and had a very fun conversation. These past few weeks have been amazing in terms of making our relationship with each other closer. The team building really had an amazing effect on all of us working together. I really hope these would happen regularly. I miss having a social life and going out with people I love.

We're already planning to go out on Friday and I hope a lot of us could go.

6/25/13

This week has been so bad and I'm just so tired from all of it.

The shuttle I've been riding on my way to the office every morning seems to have changed its schedule and I don't get to catch the last trip anymore. It has happened to me for two days already. I'm going to try to leave the house early tomorrow but I don't think I can do it everyday if ever I catch it. I don't want to go back to my previous way of going to work which is to ride several vehicles and taking a long walk under the heat.

My internet has also been unstable and I seem to be the only one who's having that particular problem.

One of our interns is leaving probably after this week so I am really worried how I'll handle my clients now. I am already tired of juggling 15 clients with assistance, what more when I'm alone?

6/23/13 - Man of Steel

One of the most anticipated movies of the year finally hit the big screen and I got to watch it yesterday after a week of airplay.

I have to admit that despite my fascination for superhero films, the Superman franchise is something I'm indifferent too. I've always found him quite boring with his super strength. But I still wanted to watch this movie, after all, it's Superman.

It was just some years ago when a previous Superman movie was shown starring Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth called Superman Returns. The film didn't bomb but it didn't achieve the success it aimed to be. A lot of critics panned the film which leads top why there is a reboot now.

With an all-new cast starring a star-studded ensemble featuring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russel Crowe, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, they have invested a huge budget for this film. The movie is directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Batman director, Christopher Nolan which hyped up the movie even more. I am personally not a fan of Nolan but I'm curious how he's going to replicate his treatment for Batman to this film.

The result? Epic for some but to me, it was just an average popcorn flick. Acting-wise, they were all good but the storyline is shallow and the camera handling was too unstable. I understand they wanted to make it more realistic but this is still a fantasy film and they have overdone the shaky camera effect. Some storylines were also too fast paced, such as Clark and Lois' falling for each other. I mean, just one talk in the graveyard and that made them close?

I did enjoy the action scenes though. I also liked the use of flashbacks. I normally don't like flashbacks but they did it perfectly this time. We also get a glimpse of Smallville and Lex Luthor somewhere in the film so they could be easter eggs for the upcoming films.

We also learn what the "S" stands for which is actually a symbol of hope in the planet Krypton but learned to adopt the moniker here on Earth. There is also a change in costume as the iconic red trunks is no longer present. No matter how silly it seemed, I kinda missed the classic Superman look.

I appreciate their efforts in showing the history of Superman. Normally, we wouldn't see in movies or TV what happens before Clark landed in the farm but we get to see it in the film. 

Fans looking for romance may be slightly disappointed as Clark and Lois' relationship is downplayed and not the main focus of the movie. That may be a welcome treat fir fans though or they could just be building up for a bigger storyline in the next film/s.

A sequel is pretty much guaranteed and I'll still watch out for that.

A minor spoiler to those who haven't seen it yet, there is no scene after the credits so no need to waste your time.

6/22/13

Had dinner for the first time with my officemates last night. Technically, the first time was at our team building but last night was still different. It was right after office hours. We had a good fun and got to bond even more. I'll miss them when I leave the company.

I got to squeeze in a quick workout right after and today, I might go out and watch a movie.

6/20/13

I can't believe I'm having the same feelings I had back in high school and I feel so childish.

I think I'm falling for someone even though I know that person will never like me back for more than a friend. 

This person is someone I met early this year and we've been hanging out together a lot due to work. The funny thing is I've always thought this person has some appeal but I've never have any feelings invested and now I'm just going head over heels.

Now, I can't even think of leaving my job because of some silly crush. I have to stop this soon before it gets worse. I don't want to ruin what we have right now and that is more important.

6/16/13

This weekend was spent with some of the most amazing people in the world. But I don't want to talk about it right now as I'm still enjoying the moment.

I also had spare time upon arriving in Manila and decided to return to the CD sale at the Universal tower where I went last week. I decided to return for some CDs that I wasn't able to buy and try some new ones. I bought 24 CDs this time for a grand total of 620 pesos. Not bad when compared to my previous purchase of 1600+ for 33 CDs. This is their last weekend soI didn't want to waste the opportunity.

Most of the albums I bought this time are artists whom I haven't heard of so I am looking forward to discovering new music this coming weeks. I'll list down the CDs I bought next time.

It's hard to believe it's going to be back to regular work tomorrow. I'm suffering from a mild case of fever and a severe case of Asian flush from all the alcohol I consumed. But it's all worth it. Can't wait to share all about what happened this weekend.

6/12/13

Our country is celebrating Independence day today which is considered a holiday. That means we don't have work! But that doesn't mean I stayed home all day long.

I went out with my mom and grandma to take a look at the recently opened SM Aura. My mom wanted to treat my grandma because it was her birthday recently. The original plan was to go out during her actual birthday and have a meal somewhere else but plans were ruined so we decided to do it today. We haven't been to the new mall so that's why we ended up there. Also, I also got curious to see the bomb site in Serendra so I had to tag along.

The mall looked good on the outside. Though it was too big and had a small entrance. There were also a lack of pedestrian lanes so people would just cross the streets anywhere.

Upon entering the mall grounds, we were greeted by a lot of closed stores with tarpaulins covering them announcing that they will open soon. I admit that was a bit disappointing as I was looking forward to checking them out. 

But there were still plenty of stores to serve the customers. Most of the big ones are already opened. Stores like Cotton On, Forever 21, Uniqlo, Human,Penshoppe,Bench,Bayo,Plains and Prints are some of the stores that are already open. They also had a grocery, convention center, and cinemas.

The fastfood was very disappointing. The chairs and tables looked good but there were only a few selection of food chains. The lines were very long and would take more than half an hour just to get to the cashier so we couldn't eat there.

We spent a lot of time looking for a place to eat because most restaurants are either full or closed. Aside from the fastfood, there were some Japanese restaurants and the closest fast food you'll get is Jollibee and KFC, which as anyone can expect, was about to explode with the amount of people eating in the venue.

We ended up eating at a Thai restaurant called Tamarind in the fifth floor which was where the open-area of the mall was. It was very hot outside but there was some shade in the sides. Some stores like Coffee Bean and Happy Lemon were also there. Other restaurant on that floor were still closed. There was also going to be a chapel and a gym, both of which are still under construction.

We were placed 3rd on the waiting list. We were already hungry so we left to look for other places to eat. I did not like Thai food so much so I was hoping we'll find another resto but since every store was full, we just went back and planned to eat in Serendra if the place was still full.

It turns out that the people listed above us on the waiting list left which allowed us to take the next available table.

I knew the service was going to be bad when the clean-up of the table took so long. There were two waiters cleaning our table and it took a long time to clean it up. They also caused additional mess when some food spilled on the chair I was supposed to sit in and took a long time before cleaning it up.

By the time we finally settled in and had our orders taken, we realized our table still had unwanted waste. There was an empty cup of Starbucks at the side of our table and a spoon on the floor.

We ordered soup, catfish salad, chicken, spring rolls, rice and shakes. We were all annoyed by the sluggish service. Even setting up the table with plates and utensils took so long. Our food came one by one and it wasn't even in order. The rice and soup were delayed. The viand was served first and couldn't touch it until the rice arrived. There was even a mix-up on one of our dishes. We had to call the waiters several times just to follow up on our orders. Showing how incapable they were, even the waiters would forget what we ordered and probably wouldn't attend to it unless we follow them up.

I'm quite disappointed with the catfish salad. I've had better ones from other Thai restaurants.

The only positive concern was the price as our bill was not as high as we thought. But still, I would not want to return to that restaurant again. Even other customers were complaining about the ridiculous amount of time before their food was served.

Customers who arrived after us even had their food first before ours arrived.

I just wanted to leave right away. We spent so much time for that place with terrible quality of service.

Since it was getting late in the afternoon and there was nothing else left to see, we left the venue and I couldn't wait to do so. 

I expected to be awed by seeing the new venue, or the new place to be as they say, but instead, I found myself wasting time on a place that offers nothing new and incompetent employees.

6/11/13 - Forever Halloween

The Maine released their latest album a few days ago. It is their follow-up to 2011's Pioneer. It's called Forever Halloween which could explain the album cover.

I've grown to love this band as they have a strong catalogue under their belts. I've also seen them live three times and witnessed how good they are.

Their journey to build a strong credibility continues as they dropped their first single, Love & Drugs, which got me hooked in an instant. However, when I listened to the album in its entirety, I have to admit that I was taken aback. Their music seemed to change which can be a good thing. It's not exactly bad but it wasn't the same formula they've been using.

But I did not simply give up on them. I continued to listen to the album on a daily basis and it is a grower. I finally appreciated the change in their music and must say that they have grown a lot. The change in label really had a positive effect on them.

John's voice is a strong as it has always been and the songs has a deeper message and less filled with unnecessary production.

They manage to keep a good balance between upbeat and slower paced songs as well.

I ended up loving this album more than I thought

Top tracks: Happy, Take What You Can Carry, Love & Drugs

6/10/13

This has been such an awful day and I don't know how to explain it.
 Everyone has been so inconsiderate and selfish.

It started out alright when I resumed reading the current book I'm reading and I didn't expect that I'm already in the chapter where one of the main characters died. I teared up a bit in the shuttle, and I don't get teary-eyed so much which shows how good the book is.

Then things in the office were quite bad. My boss complained about the poor rankings of 2 of my clients and told me to manage my time better. If he only knew that those clients were the ones that are eating my time. It made me want to resign and even told my officemate about it.

Another unwanted incident earlier was when my supervisor was looking for the report of another client when she clearly told me before that she will do it herself for this time because it's new and has a different way of reporting so I was dumbfounded when she was asking me about it. I had to rush it just so I can accomplish my other tasks. 

Just when I thought things will be better, the people at the gym were quite horrible. They were hogging all the equipment and taking al the time as if no one was waiting for them. Special mention goes to that one trainer who has been acting like he owns the place and tries to overtake your turn just because he has a client to attend to so I'll have to wait another set even if it was my turn to use the equipment already. I've heard bad stories about him so I'm not surprised. The other trainers are still nice though.

I've spent way too much today. I bought food for breakfast,lunch and dinner. I usually eat breakfast at home but there was no available food. Good thing I arrived in Makati early to buy a quick snack from McDo. It was also our boss' birthday so he treated us with food but the thing is, I didn't like the food which was pansit so I had to buy food for my own.

The best thing that happened today was discovering that Pepsi Blue was back in stores. It's only available for a limited time so I'll make the most out of it.

Hoping tomorrow's a better day, especially since it looks like we don't have work on the following day because of a holiday.

6/9/13

I spent the first half of the day rearranging my storage cabinet to make room for my new cds. I bought a total of 35 cds yesterday and when I counted all of them this morning, I had a total of 161 cds. My mom sent me a picture of the cds I was asking her to buy so I'm expecting 4 more cds this Tuesday.

I didn't realize I had that many, to think that I still have tons that I lack. In this modern age where downloading digital files are the trend, it is good that someone still find the importance and excitement of an actual physical cd. The smell of fresh paper and ink with different designs still fascinates me.

Here's a list of the cds I bought from the sale:

Lady Antebellum-Need You Now

Conor Maynard-Contrast

Evanescence-Evanescence

The Departure-Dirty Words

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus-Don't You Fake It

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus-Lonely Road

OK Go-Oh No

Stereophonics-You Gotta Go There To Come Back

Stereophonics-Language.Sex.Violence.Other?

My Favorite Highway-How To Call A Bluff

Yellowcard-Greatest Hits

Yellowcard-Lights And Sounds

The Perishers-From Nothing To One

The Kooks-Konk

The Cinematics-A Strange Education

Hockey-Mind Chaos

A Sunny Day In Glasgow-A Sunny Day In Glasgow

The Dandy Warhols-Welcome To The Monkey House

Shout Out Louds-Our Ill Wills

Seth Lakeman-Freedom Fields

The Doves-The Places Between

The Doves-Kingdom Rust

Steriogram-Shmack

Ben Harper and The Relenteless-White Lies For Dark Times

Sick Puppies-Tri-Polar

The Verve-Forth

Thousand Foot Krunch-Phenomenon

Air Traffic-Fractured Life

The Decemberists-The Hazards Of Love

Turin Brakes-JackinaBox

David Guetta-Nothing But The Beat 2.0

The Bird And The Bee-Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

Jim Guthrie-Now, More Than Ever

I wanted to buy more but as I mentioned, it didn't fit my budget. I also went to Makati right after and bout Evanescence' Fallen which was on sale too. To reward myself for a good day, I bought Walk Off The Earth's REVO album  (regular price) which surprised me since Id din't expect that album to be sold here.

I want to come back but I missed my chance already. I remembered that Metric and Third Eye Blind had albums in the sale but I didn't find it. I hope to find it next time.

The cd sale on Universal Tower is going for its last run next week if anyone's interested.

6/8/13

Haven't blogged the past few days because I was so tired. I'm so glad it's the weekend.

By next week, we'll be having our company teambuilding and I'm a little excited about it and at the same time, I'm a bit anxious because I have a lot of things to do and I'm not so sure of extending my personal limits to them. But I do look forward to having fun.

Anyways, I went to the CD sale today! I was looking forward to this and I'm so happy I made it without getting lost. I bought tons of cds and spent way more than my budget. I'm so tired to list them all down but I can't wait to listen to them all one by one. I also need to make space for them in my room.

I admit I was disappointed a little when I couldn't find titles that I like but at least it gave me opportunities to discover new ones. I just wish I had more money to splurge on.

They are open until next week but I won't be able to come back since we are having our teambuilding. I'm looking forward to next year's sale, if they continue to do this.

6/5/13

I'm really excited about Saturday's trip!I really hope I won't be disappointed. So far, there's 2 cds that I will definitely buy, assuming they don't run out of stock.

But before the big trip on Saturday, I still have to get through this week which has been so slow and terrible. A few change in the workflow has wrecked my sched and I'm having trouble adjusting my tasks. I'm also worried about the impending departure of our interns who have been helping me finish all my duties.

I don't want to get swamped with work and be tempted to resign even before I reach my target. We do have a new colleague and I hope she adjusts soon to the fast and heavy pace of work.

6/4/13

It almost turned out to be a similar day as yesterday.

We almost had no internet for half a day but luckily, it came back on just before lunch break.

We had lunch in the LKG tower for the second time. We usually eat at the GT Tower but we decided to eat somewhere else instead. They were almost the same canteen anyway.

We decided to order one bottle of soda and share it with each other just for fun. I rarely buy food or drink since I bring food with me but I decided to chip in. I was actually planning to buy a drink just to get smaller change for my whole bill but I didn't have the chance to do so anymore. Looks like I'll have to buy again tomorrow.

My clients have been really annoying and it may be my fault but I don't know what to do. I'm just praying that no matter how demanding they are, they won't pull out all of a sudden because they're big accounts and it's gonna be my fault no matter which way you look at it.

I've also been riding the shuttle service on my way to work everyday and it's very convenient for me! I even get to sleep on the trip which is something I couldn't do when I'm on a jeep.

It's only been two days of work but I can't wait for Saturday!I have already decided that I will go to the cd sale somewhere in QC. It's gonna be an awesome adventure for sure!

6/3/13

After a day at the office where half of it was spent without the internet, I didn't think the day would be good. In fact, everyone just felt so slow today. Two people were absent today and there were some minor changes in the workflow.

Everything just didn't seem right.

But that was about to change when I decided to leave the office early (as usual) since there was no internet anyway. I headed for the gym and voila, I saw my crushes at the gym including the one that I haven't seen for a long time! It's been so long since I've seen the person and I was just starstruck. I could believe that I was a bit taller so I had doubts if my eyes were deceiving me but I was right. I couldn't concentrate as their were lots of them but it did motivate me to work out harder. I even overstayed at the gym for a bit.

How I wish this was like any regular gym day and I could see them again and again and again.

We also have a new intern but she's not really staying here for so long so I'm not expecting a lot of help from her. I felt quite embarrassed for her since her computer is having a hard time connecting to the net and continued until all of us couldn't connect to it as well. I hope tomorrow will be better because I have a lot of tasks lined up.

6/2/13 - Biography Of Heartbreak

This Century released their latest album, Biography Of Heartbreak, last May. This album is a follow-up to Sound Of Fire. I've been looking forward to this album because I liked every song they have previously released. This also feels like a complete LP as their previous album only has 8 tracks which is similar to an EP.

We got a taste of the album when they went here in my country last year and performed their lead single, Bleach Blonde. A song that is tailor-made for the summer weather as it talks about falling in love over a girl and has this bouncy tempo played throughout the song. It would later on top radio charts here in Manila.

They released the second single called Skeletons and it's another upbeat song that got a lot of airplay in Philippine radio stations. Just a few days before the album release this year, they released a new song, Slow Dance Night, that has started to climb its way on the radio once again.

With the name of the album, one would expect a bunch of ballads that reeks of heartbreak and emotion but instead, we get this album mostly filled with catchy summer anthems that is sure to swoon the hearts of their listeners. But don't get me wrong, aside from these infectious party tracks, we get a glimpse of their softer side with songs like Footsteps, Run & Hide and Deadly Weapon.

I am not surprised that they have a lot of Filipino fans as most people here love these kinds of songs.

This is turning out to be my favorite album from them. The production seems to be a little overdone but the songs themselves are a gem.

The only downside is that they don't have any progression in terms of music but that is not so bad at all when you get these types of songs in the album.

This is one of the best pop albums released this year.

Top tracks: Love Killer, Deadly Weapon and Fool's Game

6/1/13

How time flies so fast!

It's already June which means we're already halfway of the year. It's also going to mark my fourth month working in my company and the time for students to go back to school. Our company team building is also coming up soon and I'm excited for it!

Though I know it's still too far away. I can't wait til the year ends. I'll have to make big decisions in terms of my career. 

Meanwhile, I can't wait for all the midyear sale at the malls!