Dreams Of A Brownman: 2012

The Year That Was - 2012

This year is about to end in a couple days so I think it is just appropriate for me to go down memory lane and look at the year that was.

Yes this is actually something new for this blog, imagine six years of blogging and this is the first time maybe because I never really thought that anybody reads my blog before as I kept it more of a personal journal. Though the blog still remains the same purpose the difference now is that I think about the people who reads them hence, my improvement in writing albeit the grammatical errors from time to time.

Last year I have written 62 articles in this blog and this year? This would be the 48th article fewer than last year, true but only for this blog. You see last year when I met the people who makes up the community of Filipino travel blogger which caused my writing to explode to more articles and new blogs.

I love my PTB Family a lot of them inspire me so much that I found different lifestyle options for me which are still being decided up to this very moment.

Because of this blog I have around 6 blogs that I write on (ir)regularly. hahaha but they do get updated at least once a week.

This year I've also experienced earning a bit to pay for the expenses of my blogs that are self hosted. Yep some of the blogs that I have are self hosted.

I also got to win and received some gifts for my flickr account where I store that photos that I put in my posts. I actually won a year's worth of flickr pro so I didn't have to pay for the 24 dollar renewal then just before Christmas Flickr gave away three months free pro accounts. So I got my one year renewal extended to three more months, in effect I would have to renew my Flickr pro account as late as 2014! =D

Christmas Coffee: A Tradition Of Friendship

Truth be told I don't really have lots of friends. So I really treasure that ones that stick up with me despite me being a bad friend -me thinks.

Every year me and my friend would go out on Christmas night and have coffee. We often go out and coffee till morning until we got busy this year but a tradition is a tradition and I intend to keep it that way.

How about you? What traditions do keep with your friends? Leave it at the comments box! =)

peppermint mocha and black cherry for Christmas.

They Way We Do Christmas

We as Filipinos are full of traditions and the Christmas season is not an exception.

Aside from going to church at Christmas eve, on the day it self our family go to our elders and pay our respects. Often times we end up eating at each and every house.

A few of our elders have passed already and a new generation has also been born this year that is why I call my generation in our family as the bridge. We are the ones who are responsible for keeping the family traditions that we have alive.

Coming into my senses

Over the past couple of weeks I have been going gaga over my blogs including this very blog that you are in right now.

I was trying to achieve more of a lifestyle blog by fixing the layout and everything making more hip and artsy. But nothing has satisfied me yet.

I have also been reading more these past few days and it has renewed my passion for writing, really? I have a passion for writing? hahaha I have not realized that until I this very moment that I am writing this line. But I guess yes I maybe I do have a passion for writing, even though my writing skills are mediocre.

While reading a blog that I have been following for a while now, it sort of reminded me about what this blog is all about, Me.

Sure this blog has gone through so many forms from being my therapy, to personal, a travel blog and now a lifestyle blog wanna be but now I have restored my vow to keep this blog as a sacred ground of my thoughts and my being.

Christenings and Simbang Gabis

Today was quite a busy day for me. I had two things to do that requires me of dressing up and go outside of my house I know my life has not been that exciting these past few weeks.

But for today I've got lots of stuff to do. My dad woke me up early 10 AM -hey that's early for me I sleep around 4am to 5am.

First thing for today is my niece's christening at our local parish church. Yep I'm one of the god fathers but all I can give right now are my prayers! hahaha!

Last Thursday the world witnessed as a new Miss Universe has been crowned in the casino capital of the world Las Vegas. A total of more than 80 candidates from around the world competed for the title but in the end of course only one went home with the crown, Miss USA the new Miss Universe 2012.

Of Writing and Photographs

I am getting more time into blogging and I am getting the feel of having blogging as a job rather than a hobby. But just to clarify I ain't really making that much blogging.

It is a difficult job specially for somebody like me who has an attention span of a five year old toddler. I need a break like every ten minutes of writing maybe suddenly listen to music at the middle of writing an article, some say that it is how creative people work but I don't think that I am creative enough. Well yeah at least I consider my self as creative but I still think that I have got a lot to improve.

Let me lay my cards on the table, I am not a college graduate and I worked in the BPO industry for about 10 years and I guess that is where I got my communication skills honed to how it is today. But still I am not satisfied with my composition skills.

I started feeling this way since I started following this food blog of a culinary student. He hails from Zamboanga but lives in Pasig City. I like the way he writes his stories as he seems to personally communicate with his readers.

His choices of words are ordinary (though you'd need your friend google from time to time) but seem to run deep with a soul. He writes beautifully.

As I read through his food blog it made me wish that I could go back to college and finish a degree and may be really learn about writing.

Well I am still alive I guess I could still go back ey? any sponsors out there? hahaha.

Si Enteng Kabisote, Si Agimat At Si A.K.O

"Panata ko na ito " Vic Sotto explains to bloggers last December 17, 2012 at the Annabel's restaurant in Tomas Morato, Quezon city why he continues to make the Enteng Kabisote (EK) series. Vic wants to make every one happy at least even just for an hour or two this coming holidays.

On this episode the EK team decided to add another character Angelina Kalikasan Orteza who calls here self A.K.O played by another box office queen, Ms. Judy Anne Santos. Asked why add another character bossing Vic explains that it is broaden the story more and the adventure that they'll be going through.

A.K.O is another encantada who is assigned to protect the environment Vic explains, to add up "Hindi naman natin matatawara ang box office appeal ni Judy Anne"

Read More Here>>>

Another horrific day unfolded today in Newton, Ct. as a 24 year old guy named Ryan Lanza open fired over students at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

As of this writing a total of 27 people have been found dead including 18-20 children aged 5 to 10 years old.

The shooter was later on found dead with two weapons. It is has also been made known that the suspect's mother and brother are also found dead, the mother inside her classroom and the brother on a residential area near the school.

All Saints Day 2012

Every year us Filipinos has that special date to commemorate our dearly departed. But I guess this is also a time for us to come together once again and gather as one big Family.

be with the newest member of the clan.

the proud grandma that holds him tight.

reminisce the stories and celebrate the lives we live.

offer prayers.

Short Haul Holidays: 10 of the Best Waterparks

We can’t all jet to Wet ‘n’ Wild in Florida, or Atlantis in Dubai, but Direct Holidays offers mean that our next short haul Turkey, Cyprus or Tenerife holiday is just that little bit more affordable. A high paced, thrilling waterpark is the highlight of many families’ holidays.

Aquatic Park, PortAventura: a short haul tropical paradise, and a guaranteed favourite among youngsters. Junior slides and thrilling chutes make this a fab attraction for all ages.

WaterWorld Waterpark, Ayia Napa Cyprus: a waterpark based on ancient Greek mythology. Ride the Fall of Icarus and more.

Siam Park, Tenerife: Tenerife’s own ‘water kingdom’, located in the Costa Adeje region of Tenerife. This Siamese themed attraction is owned by the highly acclaimed Loro Parque group.

Adaland, Turkey: without doubt, the best aqua resort in Turkey. Offering three days out in one, Kusadasi holidaymakers can enjoy Adaland Waterpark, Dolphin Park and Seapark.

Aphrodite Waterpark, Paphos Cyprus: the Aphrodite Waterpark is a fun-filled pit stop at the heart of the cultural centre of Paphos. Treat the kids to a chilled out stint on the slides.

WaterPark, Faliraki: the ‘biggest waterpark in Europe’, WaterPark in Faliraki is the only attraction of its kind in Rhodes.

Fasouri Watermania Waterpark, Limassol Cyprus: popular with tourists and locals alike, Fasouri is aqua based fun for visitors to the laid back resort of Limassol.

Aqualandia, Benidorm: ride the Big Bang or swim with dolphins – the choice is yours at this waterpark cum marinelife attraction.

Caneva Aquapark, Lake Garda: black holes, waterfall jumps and crazy rivers; Caneva is an alternative day out in the relaxing Lake Garda region of Italy.

Western Park, Magaluf: a simple waterpark with tens of attractions, to keep the tots, tweens and teens of Palma Nova and Magaluf entertained all day.

Look online at Direct Holidays offers for the lowest price deals on 2013 family getaways.

Death

They say that when you dream about death it symbolizes a new beginning. True enough I have dreamed of it quite a few times and a new beginning did follow.

After being hospitalized for about five days and some rest for a few more, I finally came back to work, but the night before I was suppose to work again I felt something, I felt as if I was about to die. I thought that it could really be my last day on earth so I wrote up a Last Will and Testament assigning my stuff (hahaha as if it's a lot).

The view that I ain't gonna miss

I felt at peace after writing it down and so I slept. The following day I woke up (late) and headed to work. My supervisor wasn't there and I was on my own. My access to my online tools to help customers weren't working and was just giving me a prompt that because of an extended time that I was out the access has deteriorated, or something like that.

I asked for help from some SMEs but to no avail, my access was blocked.

My supervisor came and tried to talk to me and left. She just left me hanging there trying to make things work without telling me that my access was intentionally blocked.

After several attempts I gave up and told her about the situation. She joking said "Kase Mateterminate ka na" (Because you will be terminated), that really didn't came out as a joke for me being someone who just came in from hospital confinement.
We talked about what happened why I wasn't able to advise for two days. I really don't wanna go into the details of our conversation, but the way she spoke to me is just appalling it was no way near how a supervisor should speak to his/her subordinates. One should treat each employee with respect and dignity, hindi yung parati ka nalang nakasisi sa ahente, remember that what your employee does is what management thinks that you do. When speaking with a subordinate you should make them feel that both of your share the responsibility and please DON'T LIE KUNG DI MO KAYA PANINDIGAN.

My TL told me that another department filed a memo because of something I did and then later on I heard her speak to someone over the phone that she is retracting the paper and that she is the one that filed. COME ON!!!! ano ba talaga... ang hirap kase nagmumukha kameng tanga eh di naman talaga... tandaan kung di kayang maging consistent sa pagsisinungaling wag magsinungaling. ALSO, don't do actions that you can't OWN, gagawa ka ng isang bagay di mo naman pala kayang akuin ang responsibilidad at ang bigat ng implikasyon nito? KAMMMEN!

To be fair, Mabait naman yung TL ko (on a personal level) but bait doesn't get you any farther when it comes to your career.

Hmm.... now that gives me an idea.... going back to an agent level gave me a different view of being a supervisor. How about writing a book about supervising people. what do you think?

Quarter Life Crisis

Quarter Life Crisis - The quarterlife crisis is a period of life following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the late teens to the early thirties, in which a person begins to feel doubtful about their own lives, brought on by the stress of becoming an adult. The term was coined by analogy with mid-life crisis. (Wikipedia)

I guess that is what I am going through right now. But for me I know what I want to do and I accept the facts that it may take time to get there, but still I am no where at least a quarter of where I want to be. Things aren't working out for me no matter what I do. Crisis.

I feel like I am trapped, but I refuse to stay at this state. I will succeed

Renewed Dreams

I just got back from the hospital after being confined for over four days and because of the nothingness that I can only do ( well not exactly nothing as I can still watch TV) my mind was forced again to go into this endless state of realization. Nakakainis din minsan pag you get to realize your life a lot because you realize that nothing much really has happened so far.

Well ano nga ba mga napagisipan ko habang nakaconfine ako?

Location.

Ever since the day that I became ~~single~~ free again, I have been constantly contemplating on whether should I permanently immigrate somewhere else. Not that I have a solid decision now but it made me lean towards moving out permanently. I can always go back here but I would not always have the opportunity to relocate.

Jobs.

This is final, I really don't like what I am doing right now. I am back in the call center industry, yes, unfortunately. I don't earn that much with my photography, just enough but it keeps me happy and challenged. It gives me an answer every time I ask my self that is what I'm doing important or do I just have to this, and every single time the answer I get is because what I do is important and I like what I am doing.

Friends.

I miss my friends. My real friends, konti lang sila yung isa pasaway pa pero I miss them.

I just wish I could make my renewed dreams come true soon.

How To Win Raffle Draws.

Have you been joining raffle draws and and have not won any one of them? Starting to get frustrated? well let me share you the secret that I have perfected after two decades of preparation.

NOT!

Hahaha... I was just kidding. What I really wanna share with you guys is about the series of stroke of luck and bad luck that I have so far.

The luck came mid of this year when I won the philippinetravelogue.com's Jamba Juice raffle. I wasn't actually wanting to win but voila! I got two gift certificates for two servings of Jamba Juice. And yes it was the first time ever in my life to win something in a raffle draw. Yes not a single instance ever in my entire existence!

image from source

After a couple of months I got lucky again! and guess what this time!? I got one year FREE membership for my Flickr account! hehehe... Guess that takes care of one of my annual maintenance bills. hehehe thanks to Audrey of www.audreyisms.com.

What I did? I just liked and share a page that is it! then after a while I received a message from Audrey and then came the Email!

With matching announcement sa website pa iyan ha! hehehe

So yeah you could say that I am really luck this year. But what I am thinking of is this what was given in return of the badluck that I am also getting this year?

Just to name some I have to cancel three trips and miss one flight (trip didn't push through anymore) so far. I hope that the trips left for this year wouldn't get as unlucky as the past few.

Anyways I am still happy of these blessings that I got!

Cine Europa 15

Cine Europa on it's 15th year has just got bigger! With multiple locations throughout the country, more people can enjoy and learn more of Erope's culture through film.

Thanks to its partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines Cine Europa has increased its number of venues from three to six!

As of now the festival is running at the Shangri-La Theater ( 6 to 16 September) who is known for supporting initiatives like these.

Here are the schedule for the other venues so you can catch them.

Ayala Center in Cebu (21 to 24 September)

Liceo de Cagayan in Cagayan de Oro( 27 to 30 September)

Additional Venues are

FDCP Cinemateque, Davao (4 to 7 October);

FDCP Cinemateque, Baguio (11 to 14 October);

FDCP Cinemateque, Iloilo (18 to 21 October).

Today I watched a short film from France called "Cuddles in the Kitchen" which due to technical difficulties was shown thrice, followed by full length film starring Adam Goldberg called 2 Days in Paris. It was so hilarious that the cinema house was full of laughter!

You can still catch the remaining movies up until the 16th at the Shang so be sure to watch a movie or too. And by the way have I said that this is for FREE!? Just come early as seats are on a first come first serve basis.

here's the schedule of movies to be screen for the rest of the screenings.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

1:00 pm Will You Marry Us (Switzerland)

3:00 pm Father of My Children (France)

6:00 pm 2 Days in Paris (France)

8:10 pm Everlasting Moments (Sweden)

Friday, September 14, 2012

1:00 pm Senna (UK)

3:15 pm Poll (Germany)

6:00 pm Father of My Children (France)

8:30 pm Will You Marry Us (Switzerland)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

1:00 pm Breathing (Austria)

3:00 pm We Can Do That (Italy)

5:30 pm Poll (Germany)

8:30 pm Senna (UK)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

12:30 pm Turquaze (Belgium)

2:40 pm The Last Emperor (Italy)

6:00 pm We Can Do That (Italy)

8:30 pm Breathing (Austria)

Your Cowardliness Messes Other People's Lives

After a seven year stint managing accounts I decided to lie low and put up a business (which later on had to take a backseat and slow down. ). In between shoots I took a job as a CSR to learn more about the Inbound part of the call center industry.

For the past few days I have applying for a management job in the BPO industry and I prefer to walk in for these job applications as they are faster. Unfortunately, I encountered this certain BPO with ethics that I don't know what word I would use.

I came to their office around 11:30 because as stated in their advertisement that cut off for application is by 12:00 PM, to my surprise the nice lady told me that they only conduct interviews until 11:00 AM. I should have taken that as a warning, well I guess I did. The lady told me that they will let me know what time I should come in for my interview.

The whole day passed and no message was received.

The following day I decided to just drop by their office I rang the bell and the nice lady told me that "Her boss is the one that decides who gets to be invited for an interview and that if I did not receive a call or text message it could be either her boss is too busy or I was not qualified.

I was saying inside my head that "Wow! I wouldn't be hurt if I don't get accepted at this company, with that kind of etiquette, I wouldn't wanna be in."

The "Don't call us we'll call you" line is no longer used. The trend and the right thing to do is to let your applicants know whether they pass or not. Come to think about it, the don't call us we'll call you statement says a lot instead of just telling your applicant well call you later. right?

I was starting to get frustrated that time. I mean why not put on your advertisement that FULL and REAL DETAILS and stop messing everybody's time and yes I knew something was coming.

The lady came back inside the small office and told me to take a seat. After a while she came out again and had a look as if there is something that she needs to tell me but is having a hard time on finding a way on how to break the news to me.

I stood up and looked her in the face, finally she was able to blurt it out my boss says that you are not qualified because your past two jobs are just of a CSR, of course I reacted but in a mellow way. I told the nice lady "That is find I just thought that seven years of management experience is enough. Thinking that I might feel better she told me further that I am qualified as a Quality Associate but the position has already been filled up, I replied smiling "No problem ma'am it's okay because I don't want that position anyway I am looking for something in the operations department"

Common! Letting me know there is a position that I qualified but it is no longer available? It doesn't make sense at all, why mention it?

For seven years of working in the management side of the business I was tasked so many difficult things including interviewing people for the job and yes I am the one that tells them if they passed or not. Not just that I also terminate people face to face. So I don't find it logical for someone to tell an applicant lies.

Being offered something lower than what I am applying for was something big, parang gusto kong manapak nung mga oras na yun. I doubt that the manager even read my qualifications. Now I am not gonna brag about my credentials and achievements here, all I know now is that they lost someone really good.

Now reading this some may think that I feel bad. Well yes I feel bad but not because I didn't get accepted but because of the hassle that it has caused me. We need to learn how to respect other people's time. I could have spent the time going to other offices instead of waiting for them to have the courage to tell me that I didn't qualify.

Well I guess that's about it.

To the call center HR Managers out there reading this, PLEASE LANG HUWAG TULARAN ANG KUMPANYANG ITO.

Cheers!

Sunday Mass Reflection: 09/02/2012 THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURN

So I just got home from Ortigas, aside from working there today which is a Sunday, I decided to attend church at the mall at the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord. It's a huge chapel inside the mall where you could attend Mass then go straight shopping. Come to think of it, this set up is very Filipino, remember as kids when malls aren't really that popular for every one, that after church our parents would take us either to a fast food or the market and buy something like food or a toy (which ever you would successfully negotiate) that you could bring home.

Anyways today is kinda special, why? Well I really liked the homily on today's mass at the mall because I learned something new.

click the picture for a bigger image

The Law Of Diminishing Return

We often say that "Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result is insanity". Well the Law of Diminishing Return suggest that doing the same thing (specially when it is effective) over and over, in time, would diminish the effect.

No is an exception, even us priests do get this as some point, what do you think would happen if you have said Mass after like 1500 times? the priest said. So it is important to reconnect, calibrate and re-enforce.

I can totally relate to what he said. In my work in the operations department of call centers, I often experience this just like any other agent. A lot of us would come to a point where the things that we use to do that has been effective would seem like not working anymore.

So remember, again what you need is to Reconnect, Calibrate, Re-analyze to come up with a new approach.

The Procession

The procession on the start of the Mass reminds us that we are on a journey, a pilgrimage, as the saying goes let all the good that I can do be done now as I would not be back on these roads we should always seize the moments.

We all say that we only live our life once so live it to the fullest, be a blessing to others as long as you still have the opportunity to do so.

As pilgrims we should all learn something through this journey.

Honestly this is the shortest part of the priest's homily but I would have to say that this is the deepest and I don't have enough words to verbalize it. But I hope that I got my message across.

The Liturgy of the Word

Listen and don't just hear. Well this is a task and I know a lot of people does have a hard time focusing on the readings but we should listen to the scriptures and learn from them just like how the first Christians listened to the same scriptures that we read every Sunday, sent to them as letters from Jesus's apostles.

The Offertory

If you would think about it, the priest opened everybody's mind and set the bar higher when it comes to the offerings that we give every Sunday. Why? what he said was it doesn't matter how much you gave what matters is how much it costed you. In other words its the not the amount but the value of your offering.

Each offering should be sacrificial, this means that it must cost something from you to give it. Say for example your 10 pesos that you were suppose to use to buy, say an ice cream but instead of buying your ice cream you just decided to offer it. Remember that Christ mentioned before that the old lady that gave her last silver offered so much more than the people who gave more than a silver coin.

The Holy Communion

This one is also close to my heart as it opened my mind. Every time when we pray most of us pray for something that we need. But why not when we receive the body and blood of Christ, why not pray to God and ask, What Can I Do For You.

I guess that makes a lot of sense, so I am not gonna say anything further.

Till next Sunday Reflections.

Ian

MyOwnWeekend: 08.08 - 08.09.2012 (+08.07.2012) Braving Habagat (Southwest Moonsoon)

Last week the country experienced one of the worst monsoon rains ever. And this is my own story of that week we'd all remember.

Day 0 Tuesday afternoon ( A day before my rest day)

Got off at the last station of the metro to get into a bus going home. I know that the rains were unusual so I observed the areas where the trains passed by to see if the floods have rose already.

It took a while before I finally got a bus, and when I was handing my payment to the conductor while stating where I am going the conductor told me that they aren't gonna go the full trip.

So I got off at Monumento and this stream of flood was my welcoming sight.

The scene was like of a tragic movie where tv stations are camped out for any breaking news.

I had no choice, I walked from Monumento to Malabon and the road was like one huge parking lot! Nothing was moving. At this point I realized that what's happening is all too familiar, remember Ondoy?

McArthur Highway

The events was like a flashback when I got to the boundary of Malabon and Valenzuela from what happened like three years ago. Everyone was stuck at the Malabon side of the bridge that connects my city to the rest of the metro. The current of the water though is not that strong so some brave people still attempted to cross.

I stood for a while and kept on thinking, I really wanted to get home. I have got not much money, no extra clothes but just the shirt on my back

After about an hour of thinking I decided to just go back to the office and rest. I had to walk all the way back to Monumento from Malabon. Good thing that the MRT was working so I got to spend lesser. df vvvvvvvv

Day 01 Wednesday (It is officially my rest day I need to get home)

I wasn't able to get home yesterday and the weather hasn't improve at all. It was, I think even worst. Zero visibility still on the road.

I tried to preserve my phone battery so I don't have much pictures from this day. But yeah same story as yesterday the roads going home are still impassable.

I called my sister for help and since the express way was passable already I decided to just stay with them for the night. Thank God that I had at least 50 pesos in my wallet just enough to get to their home.

We watched news and seeing the extent of damage it has caused reminds me of Ondoy even much worse.

Day 02 Thursday (Rains have mellowed)

The sky was clearer and it wasn't really raining that after that I decided to continue my journey home. From my sister's home in Marilao I took a jeep to Meycauyan exit and then to McArthur highway. The road wasn't flooded since it was the higher part of the city but traces of the flood and trash can be seen every where.

There was nothing to ride, no jeep or bus going to my city. But my mindset was that it is nearer to walk to my city from that point than to go back to Malabon and face the same dilemma anyway.

I started walking south and soon enough just beyond the Meycauyan bridge I was greeted by the flooded part of town.

Military Trucks bringing some relief goods.

Eveyone was walking, well except for those who have their floaters to ride, so I really didn't feel tired along the way, only when I got home.

After about an hour of walking, My city's border marker greeting welcomed me, You are enterin~~g Venicezuela~~ Valenzuela ~~Sea~~ City!

The photo below is where I usually take bicycle with sidecars (Trike) going to my house's street, but for today this terminal is dominated by bancas (small boats) yes you can ride your way from this point all the way to Obando for a hundred pesos (at least)

Okay okay, this is not the floating market in Thailand.

bed weather? water bed? ano ba??? lol!

This dad pushes his floating basin with his daughter inside.

This was the last 500 meters from my home. Nothing changed with the view just the water getting higher as I go farther

Thank God that I got home safely and that our house has a second floor. I think having a second floor where your valuables are is a requirement if you want to live in place like ours so that you don't have to carry every thing out to the evacuation center. Also I guess you would have to be acustomed to this kind of life, at least until they have built the flood control projects. But then again be prepared since rains like this may not be something that is controllable. once in while this kind of disaster would strike one way or another.

Sunday Mass Reflection: 07.15.2012

I should have written this last week right after mass. But I have a shift that night so I really didn't had time to write it up. So better late than never as they say.

The homily last week somewhat answered a part of the questions running through my head. How do we really have to live as Christians.

In the homily it was explained that as Christians we should not complicate things specially how we follow Christ's steps.

It's good that we learn God's words and share it to others pero wag naman daw yung over acting na. I guess a lot of people know what I mean.

So ayun. Wag pahirapan ang sarili. Make it simple. I am having difficulty explaining this matter coz I don't have enough words or may be I simply can't verbalize my thoughts.

Basta don't hurt others, respect every one and Love your neighbor as how you love your self.

Meron pa palang sinabi si father. In our journey as a Christian these are the things that we should bring A staff/cane/tungkod which is God's words to help us through the journey and Sandals/Pangyapak which is our faith so that we could bear the rough rocks that we will step on. These are the important things that we should bring in our journey, don't bring those that are not important.

MyOwnWeekend: 07.18.2012 Friends, Reward and Memories

Hi everyone! This is my first post for MyOwnWeekend. See I now work in a call center ~~again~~ and my schedule really isn't normal. I wake up in the middle of the night around 1am take a bath, fix my self and ride a bus to work. My work week starts on a Saturday and ends on Wednesday, everything is quite the same as everybody else except for the time and days that I work that is why I do things that normal people can only do on a weekend.

Off I go from the office it was Wednesday afternoon and it was soooo hot! humidity was really bad I felt like I had a fever. Yes! that bad. Well tiis tiis nalang.... I walked all the way from my office in Shaw blvd. to Megamall, as soon as I stepped inside the mall I felt soooo blessed! It was so nice and comfortable inside.

As I walk out of the department store section of the Mall I saw a fruit shake stand that made me crave for a Choco-Banana shake, my favorite. I like the way the choco and banana's flavor mixes and gives me a texured subtle choco taste.

Unfortunately they don't have that mix but just a regular banana fruit shake with milk. Good thing that I was trying to inspect the store's fruit basket and saw one of my favorite fruit! Avocado!!! yes! Avocado is really good but it should taken in moderation. Seriously! Avocado is high in cholesterol that could make your blood pressure high and for people like me, our cholesterol level raised.

The shake was fine though medyo malabnaw yung consistency nya.. I would still prefer the like of what I do at home. I would scoop out the Avocado sprinkle some a bit of sugar and a lot of powdered milk and some evaporated milk and put some ice! geez.... this part really makes me hungry! hahaha

I walked around the mall and crossed and bought some doughnuts for a friend that I was visiting that day. I walked back to Shaw and took a jeep to get to their home. She's 7 months pregnant and it has been a while since I got to see her so I paid a visit since it was just a ride away from where I work.

We spent the after noon catching up about life and what we have missed about each other. The sky was getting darker so I decided go home.

The sky was showing off again, it was burning with bright yellow and eventually turning to orange. But the clouds were winning the battle. Soon the sky over me was as dark as night but beyond the horizon the orange sky was peeping through.

I was trying to get into a bus going home but the rain was pouring hard, so I decided to go back inside the Mall and roam around.

It has been a while since I have been back to Robinson's Galleria and roaming around brought back a lot of memories. Specially when I hang out at the Tom's World area. This is where me and my daughter use to play around and bond. I miss you bhembhem.

As soon as the rain stopped I went back outside took a bus home where I felt dead tired. I just checked my mail, fb and slept. My body was aching I succumbed to my bed's call as I haven't slept for almost 20 hours that time.

What is up lately?

So yeah I know! Hahahaha.... It has been a while since I last posted.... it was the first week of June when I last publish..... hehehe..... You might be asking what's happening OR NOT? Hahaha...

The truth is I have been busy.... uhmmmm not that much actually..... with work. Siguro tinatamad lang talaga ako mag post Why? you may ask. Well I have good reasons naman which would also be the reason why this post is going to be real short (at least for my standards LOL!)

So now really what have I been up to lately? Well yes I have been working again in the call center industry with uhmmm..... I was impressed initially with the processes of this bpo but when I got inside the "department" I was dismayed.... because of a lot of things. Really I was... really disappointed

Photography on the other hand has taken the back seat for now and work is taking the center stage #NOCHOICE lang talaga. #lugi #na123

Travel is on a underdevelopement mode nagiipon pa para sa big trip later this year =) yep I am excited about it. I'll be selling some of my stuff for the trip so visit kayo ulit next time so you can buy some of it.

Blogging... hmmm medyo tamad ako ngayon why? because I am now an employee I have to wait every 15th (uy bukas na yun ah! hehehe ) and 30th before I get any money unlike when I still doing photography every week merong kita.... hay I miss my business na...T_T

Graphic Design. Well wala lang I do some stuff for friends and my own satisfaction so nothing really big about that but I love doing it even if I am not that really good about it. #Masaya lang

Hmmm..... Lately I love eating too... and it shows on how big I have become.... siguro I'l start swimming again to shed off the pounds! =)

Well hopefully I can buy a new keyboard and mouse tomorrow para di na ako tamarin magblog aba mahirap kaya magblog ng sira ang keyboard at mouse.... baka may magdodonate jan! hahahaha

Anyways till next time! Hou hui you qi! OHHH! did I mentioned I was studying Mandarin too? hehehe Zaijian!

The Force Moves In My Life

My mom just finished using my computer after 15 hours of surfing the internet with just one bathroom break and internet credits reloading for rest.

As I open my facebook I see these wonderful posts about traveling from my blogger friends, just in case you don't know yet I belong to a group of travel bloggers who share our passion for traveling and sharing it by blogging. I got teary eyed, actually realizing that these are the places that I may not get to see anymore or at least for a while.

I know that it's gonna be a while before I see them again since I'd be miles away.

As I said before on my facebook account that I just made a "heart and dream breaking decision but I know that they are the right decisions"

If everything thing goes as I think it would turn out to be, I will be leaving the country by November after my dad's birthday.

I'll be selling my equipment by July after my last booked trip, and I'll be buying my plane ticket by September.

Yes, I'll be selling my treasure. I don't know what force is telling me that this is the right thing to do, but I am so sure that it is.

It is truly sad. broken-hearted (again) and dream broken too. Traveling the Philippines and Southeast Asia and Photography has to take a back seat for now. I hope.

The Best Way To Learn English

As I grew up my parents instilled to me the importance of learning how to speak English. I grew up knowing that it is to my advantage as English is the international language that is most accepted in most foreign countries as a second language and much more importantly as a business language.

For someone who grew up in a country with where English is a second language a lot of factors helped me in developing my skills in speaking English.

The leading language institution in the world, Kaplan International Colleges, recently released this infografic about learning English which I could not agree more than anyone else that these are the best ways on How To Learn English.

I have been traveling for quite some time now and I would say that I actually learned a lot when I traveled to the United States and speak to native English speakers. It gave me a boost in my confidence and sounded more conversational.

Looking at the second part of the Infografic a had a good laugh as memories came back when I saw that just like me a lot of people got their English skills enhanced by watching one of my favorite sitcoms, Friends! Oh! how could I not stick to the TV? They were so hilarious! I guess the Infografic below really is a spot on in saying that it sparked for some to desire to travel to the U.S. because it did to me.

Though a lot of people would also say that games and comic books helped them in improving their English skills, I would say that the only one that cuts across all boundaries is Music.

Music no matter what your mother tongue is, would get into your soul and touch you. No wonder that most people say that it is Bob Marley that influenced them most in learning English when it comes to music as Bob's songs are from the heart.

How about you what do you think is the best way to Learn English?

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Too soon to end...

it is seven past eleven in the evening. sitting in front of my computer pondering on the things that has been for the last four months. Plans of not working for half a year this year isn't really going as I have planned it. Unexpected expenses, clients not paying on time are just some of the reasons that I am seriously thinking about being employed again.

It is hard to stay at home when you are supposedly out there exploring the world. But again reality bites I need to join the workforce again. This time I'll be working on my long term goal to go back to the United States and travel down latin america.

the price tag? well my estimate to start up the journey is 150 thousand pesos. But the challenge is to produce it by september so I could save some of it since PATA will be held in Manila and I think that they will be giving away good deals with airline tickets.

Anyways, the point is I have got to work.

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