shoes

...pinatulan ko na rin sya! i just got myself a nifty new pair of black leather shoes...

comment

...to hear it come from my boss was totally unexpected, but it didn't come as a surprise either...

"this guy?! (referring to me, obviously) quiet and concise?! you must be kidding!"

...indeed, i am a man of few words - NOT!

sick and tired

i am sick.

had another bout with allergies today. it's the second within a week. been sneezing and blowing nose and sneezing again the entire day... all because of lots of stress and lack of sleep.

i am tired.

for the past week or so, leaving the office 830pm-ish has become the norm rather than the exception. the next two weekends are to be spent in the office as well. and this is just the beginning, august looks worse, and there's no end in sight.

i am lost.

gotta take care of product a. gotta take care of product b. have to be involved with project c. have to be involved with project d... what should i do first? where should i start? will this ever end?

i am pissed.

need to clean-up after colleague e's mess. need to clean-up after colleage f's bigger mess... why do i always have to fix the blunders of other people? why do i always have to help save their asses? why do i always have to do other people's job just because they are so dumb to do it themselves?

i wanna do gym and stay on track with my workout plan, but i just feel sick to even bother.

i wanna shop, watch a movie or have a drink, but i am way too tired to even make a side trip to the grocery.

i wanna put some direction and sense into my work (and life), and help colleagues who really need my help, but i am lost somewhere beneath truckloads of work and poop.

i wanna stay positive, optimistic and patient amidst all this, but i am sooo pissed that i just couldn't.

hay...

questionnaire para sa mga atenista

...stolen from lhasyus, na originally nanggaling kay tiborce... pambuwelo muna for a long day at work...
----------------------
1. ano'ng student number mo?
- 960300

2. nakapasa ka ba or waitlisted?
- pasado

3. pa'no mo nalaman ang acet result?
- via our guidance counselors sa high school. tinago nila yung letters until the very last day of school para hindi daw makaapekto sa final exams

4. first choice mo ba ang ateneo?
- yes, courtesy of all my older cousins who graduated from or were still studying at ateneo

5. alam mo ba ang acet score mo?
- very good ata sa lahat except for english na satisfactory

6. ano ang first choice mo na course?
- ab communication

7. second choice?
- bs management ata or ab psychology

8. chinito/chinita ka ba?
- chinito big time!

9. taga-ateneo high?
- nope

10. nag-enjoy ka ba sa orsem?
- hindi ko na maalala yung orsem - ibig sabihin ba nito i didn't enjoy it?!

11. saang gate ka pumasok nung first day?
- most likely gate 3

12. nakapag-dorm ka ba?
- nope, but nakiki-crash ako sa dorm ng cousins ko

13. nagka-f ka ba?
- muntik na. super late ko ng sinubmit yung 4 papers sa gen psych (read, past deadline na), so hindi na tinanggap ni ebrada. buti na lang at d ang naging final grade ko kasi i won't be able to stand another sem of gen psych.

14. nagka-a?
- math!!!

15. highest grade?
- a

16. lowest?
- d

17. worst experience sa admu:
- experiences... anything that had to do with these people with initials jt and ot.

18. lagi ka bang uma-attend ng klase?
- nung first year at second year, oo. pero third and fourth year, pasaway na big time. kung kaya inuubos ko ang cuts ko. biggest casualty is gen psych na minsanan ko lang inattend kasi it's at 9am at hindi nagche-check ng attendance.

19. may scholarship ka ba?
- wala

20. nangarap na mag-"laude?"
- oo

21. kelan ka gumradweyt?
- march 2000

22. fave teacher?
- dr. garcia, philo 101 and 102. bobby guev who has a certain vibe na mahihiya ka not to do good in his class. dax manacsa for his ep-fi moments. mommy (doreen) dahil super nanay sya sa klase. same with patty domingo. fr. nick and his childlike laughter. and of course, sir tony.

23. worst teacher?
- ebrada and ibana dahil tulog ako lagi sa klase nila, and my professor in physics that i couldn't remember kasi he's so forgettable

24. fave subject?
- philo of man (philo 101 and 102), experimental psych,

25. worst subject?
- gen psych and english/literature subjects

26. favorite landmark in admu?
- wala e... does comm dept count?

27. building?
- of course, the comm dept!

28. fave kainan?
- hands down, manang's. inihaw na liempo, pork chop at giniling!

29. estudyante ba ang binabayad mo sa jeep?
- deadma.

30. lagi ka ba sa rizal lib?
- nung first year tambay lib ako - until i joined guidon and ran for the edboard.

31. nagpunta ka ba sa infirmary nung minsang nagkasakit ka?
- once lang para humingi ng caladryl kasi na-higad ako.

32. may crush ka ba sa campus?
- most likely meron, pero hindi ko na maalala

34. may balak ka bang mag-ma or -phd?
- definitely wala

35. anu-ano ang mga pe mo?
- pe 101, weight training, table tennis at arnis

36. kamusta naman ang block n'yo?
- our quest for world domination continues!!!

37. nakapanood ka ba ng graduation?
- does my grad count?

38. memorized mo ba ang "song for mary?"
- pag may kasabay ako

39. memorized mo ba ang "fabilioh?"
- cheer yun di ba?!

40. e ang "halikinu?"
- cheer rin ito di ba?!

41. e ang "blue eagle spelling?"
- hanggang spelling lang

42. member ka ba ng team ateneo?
- mukha bang athletic mga bilbil ko?!

43. sino paborito mong uaap basketball player?
- not a basketball fan. not a sports fan - period. besides, lagi namang talo ang eagles e. pero naalala ko itong certain tonichi something. kaklase ko ata sa experimenta psych at ang bano nya maglalaro. kaklase ko practically buong basketball team sa philo 101.

44. naka-perfect ka na ba ng exam?
- oo ata - sa math. yung midterms ng math muntik na, i just missed this reverse matrix question. pero don't ask me to do any math now.

45. ano ayaw mo sa hell week?
- studying?! (read, going through all the readings!!!)

46. dito ka ba natuto uminom o manigarilyo?
- hindi. super good boy ako e.

47. ano ang gusto mo sa school natin?
- yung pagka well-rounded ng approach to education at idealistic

48. ano ayaw mo?
- laging talo sa uaap

49. bumili ka ba sa a-shop?
- do phone cards and exam booklets count?!

50. maganda ba id pic mo?
- ok lang sya

51. may ginawa ka na bang illegal sa loob ng campus?
- *secret* hehehe... super good boy nga ako e, so i really doubt it

52. nakabili ka ba ng gamit sa national katips?
- marami... in one instance, earl ignacio and tintin bersola (nung sila pa - retro!) were queing behind me at the cashier

53. nag-starbucks ka ba sa katips?
- oo... at inabutan pa ng lindol dun

54. gusto mo ba'ng mag-aral ulit?
- nope. definitely not a fan of classroom learning

hale

late friday night (it was more like early saturday morning), over nightcap with friends, we had a brief chat on how opm is flourishing these days.

we are no longer stuck with side a, martin nievera, gary v, zsa zsa padilla or regine velasquez. there's now nina, nyoy volante, kitchie nadal, kyla, artstrong, and a whole bunch of up-and-coming, and, i must say, very talented "alternative" bands and indie groups.

i now hear groups such as orange and lemons, cueshe (named after their usual merienda - bananacue), and soapdish... and there's hale. i recently downloaded their album and i wasn't disappointed.

for the uninitiated, hale is the group who sang "the day you said goodnight" (na i understand ay kasalukuyang nilalapastangan ng mga kapamilya by making it the theme of this koreanovela green rose - gaya ng paglapastangan nila sa kaganda-gandang "huwag na huwag mong sasabihin" na ginawang theme ng lovers in paris).

i couldn't exactly make recommendations on which songs to check out in the album since most of them really sound great. i would simply recommend everyone to get a copy. my personal favorites are, unfortunately, the day you said goodnight, broken sonnet and bent down.

pahabol lang, for those who enjoyed and preferred bo bice's live performance of the american idol single "inside your heaven", you won't be disappointed with the album version. it's miles better than carrie's interpretation (well, she didn't do good one during the live performance in the first place). bo's version has got more soul, depth and flavor than carrie's. definitely a must-hear/must-buy.

PALpak

...it never fails. at least they're consistent - consistently late, that is.

during my three-year stint here in hk, 13 out of my 15 flights to and from manila were via pal. my first two round-trip flights were very much on schedule that i began to wonder what the fuss over "plane always late" was all about. i was even telling people that i've so far got no problems with pal. then reality kicked-in.

while all my four flights into manila during the past two years were right on time, four of my five flights out of manila weren't.

january 2004, flight out of manila delayed by 2 hours... july 2004, departed a little behind schedule... january 2005, at least 45 minutes delayed - in fact, it was already departure time yet we, and truckloads of other people, haven't been checked-in... and last night, almost 2 hours delayed.

traffic to the airport was very light, so i got there earlier than expected. there was considerably less people at the airport. no queue at the main entrance for the first security inspection. checked-in and got through immigration within 10mins of arriving. spent another 10mins or so queueing for the second security check because they only have one freaking xray machine working!

by around 410pm, i was already waiting for boarding time - scheduled for 520pm at gate 5. at around 515 i heard the ground staff page some passengers from my flight, but i noticed that there wasn't any ground staff positioned at gate 5. then i saw security personnel cordoning off gate 5's waiting area - which they only do for u.s.-bound flights.

then i saw another passenger look pissed then walked away, followed by a few more passengers. apparently they moved my flight to gate 2 without any announcement. so i moved and waited again, and by 550, i was already wondering why we haven't even started boarding. then i checked the screen at the gate. flight time: 7pm. we are now officially delayed by 1hour - and no one bothered to make the announcement.

boarding time came, i gave a sigh of relief. but no, the horror didn't end there. we waited for another 45mins inside the plane for passengers from a connecting flight that got delayed. f**kin' hell! by around 740, we took off - finally.

saying that i was dead pissed off was an understatement. right at that very moment, i wanted to launch a signature campaign calling for a boycott of pal. i was also already plotting how to ensure that pal loses business big time so it will collapse under the weight of mismanagement and inefficiency. for pal, schedules are mere suggestions, not something that should be strictly followed. something similar to the state of philippine tv today (don't even get me started!).

but i'll be a hypocrite if i say that i won't ride pal anymore, ever. i prefer pal because i prefer to get stuck at terminal 2 because i get claustrophobic at terminal 1. i also prefer pal's flight schedules. 9pm departure from hk and 6pm departure from manila (sans delays) are just right - sakto!

truth is, while i may have second thoughts about riding pal when i fly home, i don't think i can totally eliminate it from my options altogether. oh well!

iffy

it's past midnight. in around 18 hours, i shall be heading back to hk. although i've been flying in and out of manila regularly for the past two years, for some weird reason, i'm having butterflies right at this moment. and there's only one clear explanation for feeling this way - WORK.

i'm getting stressed just feeling anxious about all the urgent projects vying for my attention over the next two to four weeks. i don't know how i can attend to all of them when i get back.

in fact, i've just spent the past two days organizing the results of our community survey. i still have to figure how to do the tabulations and analysis. and tomorrow, while waiting for my flight, i plan to type up some overdue meeting notes (similar to what i did in april on my way back from shanghai to hk).

...then there are powerpoint presentations, media kit updates, new media kits, house ads, sales flyers, and a major new product launch - all to be rolled out by early august. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!