What my dog has been chewing on:

Meet my dog Sammie (Half Chow chow - half Japanese Spitz)

...and these are the things she loves chewing on! Grrrr...

Orange Roses

A trip to Dangwa a couple of weeks back was just supposed to be an errand for my mom who has to buy 3 dozens of white roses. But inspired by Faye & Herbie's wedding color motiff I decided to buy 2 dozen orange roses (Php 80/doz). Wala lang. I just wanna tinker with flowers.

eto ang sample ng mini posy for the entourage...dagdagan ko pa full bouquet na!
Hmm...medyo nasobrahan nga lng sa green thingy...

Tama na nga...i'll put it in a vase na...

I have a tita who's into the flower business and taught me a little about arrangements when I was a little younger. Usually on valentines and mom's birthday I'd buy flowers for my mom from Dangwa or Farmer's and do the arrangement myself para tipid!

I just realized how much money florists make out of these floral arrangements. Imagine a bridal bouquet could cost from Php 2,000 - Php5,000!!! A mini posy for the entourage could range from Php350 - Php500!!! Eh Php160 nga lang ang 2 dozens of roses plus mga Php30 para dun sa green thingy! Haaaay...if not for the hassle, I'd make my own bouquet for my own wedding! Malaking tipid din yun!

Hmmm...WHAT IF I open up my own flower shop?!?! Hahaha! Ang dme ko tlagang gustong gawin... *sigh*

Nostalgia...

It's been a month since I last saw this:

Beyond those blinds by my table is this great view during the day ...and this during the night

These 2 usually barge in our room whenever: 1. Wala si Big Brother... 2. Inaantok cla sa 7th floor... 3. Naghahanap cla ng pagkain... 4. Wala lang...nang gugulo lng... 5. (for achi) Pag wala syang magamit na pc...

With Ray and Achi - Thanks for all the kakulitan, guys!

Too bad I don't have pictures with Ate Tess, Jon, and Roen. Wala man lang remembrance! I do miss all of these people. I hope we get to go out sometime again!

Words to live by...

Jz finished reading a very dear friend's blog entry: A Letter to My Students

It was intended for his students but his entry would definitely benefit anybody who reads it. His words struck me and made me assess how I'm living my life.

Ikaw? How are you living yours?

What a nice surprise

Woke up feeling a bit lazy this morning. I wanted to catch some more sleep since I slept around 3 am already. It took me awhile to realize that my cel was ringing. It was my hubby. I was wondering why he is calling me thru my cel not the landline. I was assuming he was still in the office since his shift for the week is 10pm - 7am (and that he sets himself a quota of 4 hours OT before he goes home).

I answered my cel (complete with morning croaky bedroom voice). The line was a bit choppy and I couldn't understand what he was saying at first. "Buksan mo yung gate..." Then I thought to myself that he was supposedly calling their house and probably hit my number accidentaly. Then he repeated it again. "Beh...Buksan mo yung gate...nandito ko sa labas" Huh??? It took me awhile to absorb that he was indeed outside our house.

Medyo naghang yung utak ko. Di pa ko nagmumumog. Di pa ko nakakasuklay. I can't even open my eyes all the way since I was still too sleepy. Didn't really know anong uunahin ko. Oh what the hell?! I opened the gate and there he was... may dalang Jollibee for breakfast...awww...

It was indeed a sweet surprise. This wasn't the first time he did this but it still gives me the awww feeling... a bit more heightened actually since we had some sort of misunderstanding again yesterday over the phone. A good hug after a fight surely takes all the bad feelings away.

What a nice way to start my day.

Wedding Coordinator

I’ve always had the penchant for organizing events…even as simple as organizing barkada out-of-town trips, birthday parties and get-togethers. Then when I got to college I was given opportunities to organize bigger events (UP Diliman Freshmen Week 2002 – which included the Freshmen Concert and Movie Rerun of A Beautiful Mind, Engineering Gradball 2004 – Intercontinental Hotel, Jag & Lee Sales, and other org activities).

I knew from then that I have a certain calling for organizing events. I just had some apprehensions of making it as a career since it’s unstable as compared to having a corporate job, thus putting my dream on hold.

When my bestfriends Andrea and Ramil were getting married I volunteered to coordinate their wedding. I’d rather do the dirty work which I think would have more impact to their wedding rather than just walk down the aisle as part of their entourage. These two are both my bestfriends in the first place! And honestly, I felt that it was a dream come true for me – to become a wedding coordinator! It’s one of those ambitions I immediately think of if given the chance to do something that I really want, not considering the salary or stability of the career.

Now Faye and Herbie are having their church wedding soon and I am very much honoured that they chose me to coordinate their wedding. It’s a bit hard considering that they’re both in Australia right now until around 2-3 weeks before their wedding, but thanks to technology we can easily bridge the distance. So far so good! We’ve actually accomplished a lot already considering it’s still around 9 months before their wedding. Besides communicating through emails and ym chat sessions, we also came up with this blog to serve as their wedding memento as well.

Coordinating their wedding made me realize how much I enjoy doing these kinds of things. It's one of the catalysts that made me reassess my career plans. I wanted to have a job that doesn't really seem like a job since I'm very much enjoying it. And I realized that this may probably be it! Then I just suddenly found myself resigning from my corporate job. Well this is not just the reason why I resigned... I've got a lot more on my list. It was probably the timing issue as well that hastened making this radical decision since a major wedding expo was coming up at that time which can really serve as a jumpstart for this new career I'm embarking on.

The wedding industry is a booming industry. As what they say: "Palaging may nagpapakasal! Hindi yan mauubos!" Just this past Wedding Expo at the PICC, Php25++ Million worth of bookings from the different wedding suppliers was recorded! Wow!!!!

I haven't really gone full speed ahead with this new career since, as what I've always mentioned in my previous blog entries, I wanna get some rest and just take things slow for the meantime. I'm also still in the process of creating my wedding coordination website, so watch out for that!

I’ve got two more weddings coming up. And I'm having a blast! I hope I get more clients soon! Wedding coordinators expand their network through word of mouth. It usually starts from a friend or a relative and then their friends and other relatives and so on and so forth. So in case you know of friends and relatives getting married soon I hope you’ll recommend me! =) Spread the word, ayt? This will really be a big help for me and my hubby pursue our plans of getting married as well! =)

Radical Sabbatical

It's been 3 weeks since my last day at work.

Yep! I've resigned from my corporate job already. This may be surprising to most of you and you're probably wondering why I've decided on this…a couple of reasons actually. Even I cannot actually weigh which reason matters the most.

Don’t get me wrong. I like my job knowing that what I’m doing has a direct impact to the company’s future. I’ve been given opportunities to handle certain projects which could affect all the 7-Eleven stores. My last project could even save the company around Php 6 million .

I like the people I work with. It’s just a small organization and almost everybody knows everybody. Of course the company has its own flaws and I have my own work-related angsts but then again there’s really no such thing as a perfect company.

It definitely took a lot of guts for me to submit my resignation letter. But I realized that this is something that I have to do and cannot be put off any longer. There are a lot of things that I wanna do and I believe that I owe myself to give them a try… at least while I’m still young.

I’m not closing my doors to the corporate world but right now I have other options to assess. And more than anything, I want to take some rest…at the least take things slow for the mean time since I personally don’t think I can really sit still for long.

Right now I’m just enjoying the freedom of waking up whenever I want to. Rest whenever I want to. Go to places I wanna go to…anytime I want to. Within those 3 weeks I was able to do a lot already. I went to Batangas and Tagaytay. I attended the Bakers’ Fest at the World Trade Center, Manila and Wedding Expo at PICC. And I have more time for wedding coordination which I’m really really enjoying so far. (more about this in my other blog entries)

Sometimes I miss my corporate job, specially the thought of having a steady monthly income. But then again, I know if I play my cards right I’ll make much more than what I was previously earning. Haaaay…goodluck sa kin! Hehe!

Backlogs

Note to self for topics to blog:

Manaog-Baguio Trip (Feb 23-24)
Resignation (Last day Feb 28)
Wedding Coordination
Bakers' Fest '07 (Mar 8)
10th Wedding Expo (Mar 10-11)
Tagaytay Trip (Mar 13-14)
Potato Pot Pie Recipe
Dangwa Trip (Mar 16)
Batangas Trip (Mar 17)
Wedding Preps with Mylai (Mar 20)
Faye-Herbie Wedding Preps Update

Despite supposedly having more time...parang kulang pa rin! Sooo little time sooo much to do! Haha! But I'm definitely enjoying this new path I've taken. =)

Going up the corporate ladder (long post part 10)

I think almost all IE grads' ambition is to be able to go up the corporate ladder. I definitely believe that my course is very well designed to equip us for that challenge. I did enjoy my corporate life...being part of ABS-CBN and Philippine Seven Corp. But then again I sooo hate office politics and all the same other stuff employees usually complain about. And then there's that continuous comparison of salaries which is usually the cause of job hopping. One important thing I learned is that there really isn't a perfect company. Some may have higher salaries but have become corporate slaves. Somehow I don't want to fall into that trap.

Consultant (long post part 9)

Even while I was still studying in college I was already into consultancy. I used to work as a research engineer under my professors. I was fortunate to be included in the project for PS Bank and Globe (although this one I had to quit early since I had to focus on my studies already). It was really fun earning while still studying. Imagine having an extra 10grand tax free every month as a student. Consultancy is definitely another very lucrative opportunity.

I was so drawn to it that I agreed to work for one of my professors after graduation. It was supposed to start even before graduation but since the client was none other than the Supreme Court delays were expected. Didn't last me long before I resigned despite having an opportunity to be part of another project simultaneously, thus potentially doubling my income. I guess I'm just not too keen on dealing with government agencies and probably because I was already clamoring for a corporate environment. It was a good training though. Project Management ...scheduling ...staffing ...technical writing. Too bad, a few weeks after I resigned the team went to Cebu, Bohol, and Cagayan de Oro since these were pilot areas for the study. Oh well...

Restaurant Owner/ Caterer/ Chef (long post part 8)

Back in college when I was having trouble in some Eng'g subjects I seriously contemplated on shifting courses...to the point that I already got an application form for HRIM. But I asked for a sign that if I passed my Accounting subject I'll stick to IE. I did, and that's how I got stuck to my course.

But that didn't stop me from continuing one of my passions...cooking. I would often cook for my org...for genmeet pakain, christmas parties, acquaintance parties, sem-enders, and even breakfast during Eng'g week and Jag and Lee Sales. It wasn't easy cooking for 40-80 pax, but I truly enjoyed it! I guess that's one of the reasons most ciemers would remember me. They'd often request for my potato pot pie or pasta or my fried sandwiches or even my chocolates! They'd often kid me to open up my own catering business already. *sigh* ...if only it was that easy...

I've tried looking at available culinary classes...Boy do they cost soo much! Good thing the internet has endless sites as reference for recipes and cooking techniques. I've had a series of hits and misses with some of them . Probably I'll post my next cooking/baking adventures here soon and probably add some pix too.

Yesterday, I went to the Bakers' Fair at the World Trade Center. It was actually quite an experience and it merits another blog entry. I'll post pix too.

Agriculture related stuff (long post part 7)

There was a time I was into gardening. I used to take care of my mom's orchids, watering them every afternoon and sometimes even transplanting some of them. Our house was surrounded by pots and driftwoods of orchids. Sometimes my mom would sell them to friends for extra income. Unluckily our dog just loved trampling those lined up at our backyard.

I used to take care of malaysian mums and other flowering plants ...which didn't actually last that long before they actually wilted. Must be the weather. Then I had these herbs ...basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. It was great having fresh herbs for some of the pasta that I cooked. Too bad our dog trampled on some of them too (the others just decided to dry up). But that didn't stop me from my gardening feats. Up next was a lettuce box. It was nice having fresh salads whenever we wanted. Too bad these lettuces are very demanding for water. When we got back from the province after a day or two they were all dried out already. Darn!

I loved going to my lola's place in Batangas which used to have lots of trees! They range from mango, chicco, lanzones, guyabano, rambutan, caimito, langka, cacao, kamias, and even chesa. The clan also owned fields of sugarcane, cotton, and corn. I had memories of helping out harvest cotton and enjoy the fresh breeze of the wind. My mother side, on the other hand, have ricefields in Tarlac.

I used to dream of being in charge of our family's land share... but due to land disputes I got turned off with the idea.

Painter/ Photographer (long post part 6)

I'd like to believe I have an artistic side too. My dad used to buy me all these oil paints, brushes, and canvasses when I was still a kid. I used to paint mountains and sunsets. Not Picasso quality though, but definitely artistically done! Hehe! Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder!

And then I got into drawing but I was more into still life rather than draw out of imagination. I totally enjoyed my art classes back in grade school and high school. I know I'm not that good (yet! hehe!) ...but I know I got the potential! I seriously considered attending art classes during summers to enhance my skills...too expenive though.

And then there was photography. Since I got a digicam, I would (desperately) attempt to take nice photos. See samples below.




Hopefully now that I have more time I'd be able to take more pictures

Guitarist (long post part 5)

There was this (very) short period of time way back in high school when I imagined having my own band. It was probably brought about by the sudden rise of bands at that time (Eheads, Parokya, and the likes) We were actually able to put up a band back in high school (a very amateurish one) which only got to perform once (for the SAMAPI concert) ...thus being Time After Time as our national anthem.

CIEM allowed me to pursue playing the guitar more. We had this CIEM band wherein I play either rhythm or bass. We would play during freshmen orientation or org activities. I can still remember when my bedroom was transformed into a band practice room…complete with drum set and amps. Good thing we didn’t get any complaints from our neighbors

Come to think of it, I do miss playing the guitar. It’s been years since I last played. Too bad my guitar has this very big crack at the back already. =(

Writer (long post part 4)

I have this certain penchant for writing. I’m not saying I’m good at it but there’s something liberating with putting down into words one’s thoughts.

I've always wanted to write a book. I've imagined myself isolating myself into some far-away beach sitting under the coconut tree listening to the waves and contemplating the next phrases of my book. Yep, I'm definitely one frustrated writer.

When I was in high school I chose English Journalism as my elective class. It was my bleak attempt to be a writer. I wrote news articles as well as literary ones. Then when I got to college I became the Editor-in-Chief of Inhinyero, which actually didn't really require much writing. That was it. Well now I'm blogging. Atleast I'm exercising my writing skills again.

Doctor (long post part 3)

I can never forget my Grade IV English teacher. She was the first one who told me that I’m appropriate to become a doctor someday (then found out that the comment was because of my very nice handwriting!)

I remember when I was interviewed by the registrar of Pisay I said I wanted to take up BioChemistry then take up Intarmed (hahaha! Goodluck!). I dunno why I even thought about it. Watching Grey's Anatomy and the patients/ cases featured on the show just affirmed that I made the right decision not to pursue medicine. I don't think I could stand all the gory details of being a doctor.

Oh I remember...it wasn't really my decision that I didn’t pursue medicine. I can remember filling up my UPCAT applicaton form and being confused as to what course to put. I was swaying towards IE since we just had a career talk then and the speaker said that there's lotsa money in IE (hahaha! mukhang pera!) but I was still also considering taking up medicine (have either Psych or Bio as premed ...biochemistry is just too much! hehe!) Then I asked for a sign. I put IE as my first choice then Bio as my second. It was up to fate which one I will pass.

Teacher (long post part 2)

When I was a kid my ambition was to be a teacher…probably because my mom is a teacher. I'd always look forward to Christmas season since she usually brings a lot of gifts from her students ...which I usually end up using. Field trips were great also! I'd usually absent myself from school just to join their field trips! She used to bring me to their school and I'd watch her teach. She's a definitely a very animated teacher and I doubt her students ever got bored.

I remember having 2 classmates in college (Kas2 if I remember correctly) who were students of my mom. I felt very proud when they said that my mom was their favorite teacher back in high school and that she was able to teach them not just class lessons but more importantly, lessons in life. Teaching is indeed a very noble profession. It doesn't pay much financially but the imprints that they leave in the students are priceless...and that makes it worth it.

I did have experiences of teaching myself. I used to tutor Pisay kids (which actually makes me question why they actually need it... having tutors back then was a bit unthinkable for us... pisay students are supposed to be the creme of the crop...). We even had a class type tutoring for a certain batch in cooperation with their PTA. I can't believe I thought them Physics. I hated Physics.

I also had one-on-one tutorials...either home service or at mcdo or at my place. I would teach them geometry, algebra, chem, bio, and physics. It was actually a very lucrative sideline. I was earning Php 400-900 a session. I've had students who are actually bright but are just lazy...and then some ...uh... not so good ones. But one of the most rewarding moments I had with my so-called teaching career was when my student actually got the highest score in their chemistry exam! She was soo excited and very thankful. She said that her chemistry teacher was also surprised with her improvement. =)

I also volunteered to teach at Don Bosco for our org's College Entrance Review project. Oh boy! Those boys can be really rowdy...or too gay! hehe!

What do you want to be when you grow up? (long post part 1)

I should be able to answer that quickly but I can’t. Can you? Do you know definitely what you really wanna be? If yes, well then good for you! I hope you're on your way to achieving them.

As for me, it has been quite a journey...and admittedly, until now my answer to that question is still uncertain. Probably because there are a million things I wanna do in my life…too many for me to focus on just one. I would always be side-tracked by the other things that I wanna do.

The following entries are about some of things I thought I'd be when I grow up and some of the things that I love doing. It was supposed to be just one post, but my draft turned out to be 5 pages in a word document so I just decided to post them in parts.

nice dinner

Last saturday was a great night catching up with my bestfriends. It was actually the first time the three of us were together with the love of our lives...first time we were all in a relationship all at the same time... shucks! too bad we weren't able to take some pix.

Preparing dinner was a bit tiring but totally worth it with all the praises I got...bestfriends ko nga sila! hehe! I made buttered shrimp with garlic, calamares, siomai, and special fried rice with crab meat. Puj and Warren brought cheesecake from UNO which was soooo yummy and was a perfect match with the peach sparkling white wine.

It was nice catching up with them...with Ramil and Andrea being new parents and Puj and Warren being a new couple. We all had our moments of answering incriminating questions. Good thing Warren was cool about it. =) I hope we didn't scare him off! I hope we'll have more get-togethers like this. I miss these kinds of moments. Good food. Good company. What else could you ask for?

Too bad bryan couldn't join us since he was busy finishing a report which he would be presenting in China the next day. He has this crazy idea of a theme party that he suggests we have sometime soon. He calls it the Show and Tell party. The rule is: bring your favorite porno and explain why it's your favorite! Hahaha! Well...what dya expect from Bry?!?!

some fleeting thoughts...

I don't want to look half-hearted and unprepared on this new career I'm embarking on. I wanna handle this with full passion. It's just really a timing issue coz right now what I really wanna do is REST...give myself a break... probably for a couple of days...or even weeks. I think I deserve it...lalo na I've been sick these past few days. But no matter how deserving I am for that sought after rest I just can't stop right now. Opportunities are presented in front of me. I can't just let them pass by and say "Wait I'm still in my resting mode. I'll look into those when I'm done resting..." I just can't say that or else I will be wasting those opportunities and regret resting. I cannot say I'm not ready yet. I have to be. It's hard to slow down when you're expected to go full speed ahead.

Darn! But I soooo want to rest. Clear my mind. Relax. Then when I'm done resting that's when I'll do some thinking. Do some soul searching. Find out what I really wanna do. Think and plan. Then when I'm really really sure what I really wanna do then I execute my action plans.

I was hoping it's gonna be in that sequence. Unfortunately I got no time to rest (not as much as I want). There are lots of pending things to do and timing is an issue. Oh well. I hope things work out well. Hopefully I get this thing rolling and still get the rest I soooo badly want (and NEED!). pwede kaya yun?

Rest is such a luxury nowadays.

List of things to blog

Just so I won't forget to blog about them, here are some of the topics I plan to blog about:

1. soul searching stuff
   
2. work stuff
3. wedding stuff
   
4. bebe stuff
5. travel stuff
   
6. ciem stuff
   
7. pampayaman stuff
   
8. friends update
9. cooking & baking stuff
10. other stuff

...ang OC pa rin tlaga e noh?