my cute next door neighbor has just moved out. i assume he and his wife, who's very much with child, needs a bigger place to raise their soon-to-be born baby. there goes one nice neighbor!
anyways, seems like some things are moving too fast. a week or two after hearing about our big boss being forcibly moved to shenzhen, instead of hk, we learned that our hk chief rep is also moving to the dump across the border.
and i'm not liking this
the likelihood of being shifted to the dump as well is growing by the minute.
and, again, i'm not liking this
so i spent an hour or so this morning just rummaging through jobsdb.com for other opportunities here in hk. i absolutely wouldn't want to be based in the dump. i might stick it out for a couple of months just to turnover work, but that's it. and i definitely have to remain based in hk period.
maybe this is an opportunity for me to go back to my "roots" - of going back to journalism and production. bloomberg, cnn and starnews have their headquarters here, there must be opportunities with them.
but i've got issues with moving to another job
bulk of my 6 year professional experience is with marketing (or what may resemble as marketing). and that's my current line of work. most of these news outfits are looking for people with professional experience in the field - and i just don't have that.
then there's compensation. i don't think i'll be able to get roughly the same pay scale for a relatively new and totally different line of work in a new company. and going down in terms of position and pay seems like a bad career move.
this company has held me hostage that my options are to either stick it out or retire.
a career re-direction at this point feels weird. the thought of starting again from scratch just isn't sitting well with me. plus, i've been with this company since grad. and i don't know what else to expect out there. i haven't had any experience changing jobs.
i'm just at a loss ...
moving
countdown
stumbled upon these two interesting countdowns ... read on, enjoy, and hope it brings back *sweet* memories!
Top 15 one-hit-wonders of the '90s
15. Semisonic, "Closing Time"
14. Deadeye Dick, "New Age Girl"
13. 69 Boyz, "Tootsie Roll"
12. Tag Team, "Whoop There It Is"
11. Deep Blue Something, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and The Rembrandt's "I'll be There for You"
10. Snow, "Informer"
9. Edwyn Collins, "A Girl Like You"
8. Lou Vega, "Mambo No. 5"
7. Joan Osborne, "One of Us"
6. 4PM, "Sukiyaki"
5. Chumbawamba, "Thubthumping"
4. Marcy Playground, "Sex and Candy"
3. Los del Rio, "Macarena"
2. Apache Indian, "Oh Carolina"
1. 4 Non Blondes, "What's Up"
VH1's 40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs
40. Hero - Enrique Iglesias
39. Is This Love - Whitesnake
38. Joanna - Kool & The Gang
37. God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You - N'SYNC
36. You're The Inspiration - Chicago
35. The Search Is Over - Survivor
34. Get Here - Oleta Adams
33. Truly, Madly, Deeply - Savage Garden
32. When You Close Your Eyes - Night Ranger
31. Heaven - Warrant
30. Suddenly - Billy Ocean
29. You Got It All - The Jets
28. Endless Nights - Eddie Money
27. Eternal Flame - The Bangles
26. All My Life - K-Ci & Jojo
25. Love Of A Lifetime - Firehouse
24. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) - Meatloaf
23. Rosanna - Toto
22. I Get Weak - Belinda Carlisle
21. When I See You Smile - Bad English
20. Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
19. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You - Heart
18. High Enough - Damn Yankees
17. As Long As You Love Me - Backstreet Boys
16. I Drove All Night - Celine Dion
15. All For Love - Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Sting
14. I'll Be Loving You (Forever) - New Kids On The Block
13. The Flame - Cheap Trick
12. Sometimes - Britney Spears
11. To Be With You - Mr. Big
10. I'll Make Love To You - Boyz II Men
9. Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx
8. I Need A Girl (Part 1) - P. Diddy & Usher
7. Love Somebody - Rick Springfield
6. Key Largo - Bertie Higgins
5. How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends - Michael Bolton
4. Tonight I Celebrate My Love - Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack
3. I Adore Mi Amor - Color Me Badd
2. Even The Nights Are Better - Air Supply
1. Truly - Lionel Ritchie
vday scrooge on the loose
i must admit, i can't stand v-day like i can't stand someone playing with his cellphone ringtones. see, i can't even say it straight. let me try again, vah-lhen-taynnssss dehhhy...
lovers crowding the malls - hhpssp - on a fierce battle to get the last seat at the restaurant, shelling out tons of cash for something they can actually do on a regular day with less stress, less hassle - and less cash.
i actually wanted to shoot dead the first couple i see smooching at the subway. gosh, couples are out in droves today. at 1030pm, the mtr was dead full of them - in various intensities of pda. i'm glad none of them were smooching - unlike last year.
i don't hate vday because i haven't had a really decent one since birth. i just feel vday is way too romanticised! way too commercialized! way too overrated! all the cheesiness, all the mush, all the drama! it's just too much! yech!
so vday suckers, enjoy the hype that is vday. for tomorrow, everything will be forgotten and life goes back to where it was the day before - back to normal. mwahahahaha!
(just a footnote: the irony of it all is that today, in my mailbox was a "thank you for the christmas card" note from my relatives in the u.s. ... and it's in a vday greeting card!!!)
2006 grammy faves
the more i look at the nominees for major categories, the more i get this eerie feeling that, thanks to the magic of jermaine dupri, mariah might just bag a number of major awards.
another guy to watch out for would be john legend. every now and then, a new artist grabs the spotlight away from the veterans. in 1999, it was lauryn hill, and in 2002, it was norah jones. this year might just be john legend's turn.
having said this, here are some of the ones that i want to win or i think will win tomorrow:
• record of the year: we belong together, mariah carey (but i'm really rooting for boulevard of broken dream by greenday)
• album of the year: the emancipation of mimi
• song of the year: ordinary people, john legend
• best new artist: john legend
• female pop vocal performance: since u been gone, kelly clarkson
• pop performance by a duo or group: don't lie, black eyed peas
• pop collaboration: gone going, black eyed peas & jack johnson
• female r&b vocal performance: free yourself, fantasia
• male r&b vocal perforamcne: ordinary people, john legend
• rap solo performance: gold digger, kanye west
• rap performance by a group: don't phunk with my heart, black eyed peas
• rap/sung collaboration: 1 2 step, ciara featuring missy elliot
• female country vocal performance: mississippi girl, faith hill
• country performance by a group: bless the broken road, rascal flatts
• country collaboration: like we never loved at all, faith hill & tim mcgraw
i hope i get a lot of them right. in any case, here are predictions from e!
maxed out
i've been terribly maxed out at work today. was just getting into the groove of a new workweek when my boss called me in. the coo needs help in cleaning up a major ppt. and he wants it done asap.
we were hoping to nail it down by the end of the day, but the original looked like a dog's dinner that i was only halfway done at 6pm. so i ended up canceling my haircut appointment, skipping dinner, and leaving the office at 930pm. geesh!
now on to some random thoughts:
... the stampede at the ultra remained hot news for the third day. this time, it's talk about criminal liabilities, and the government trying to stay away from a potential political controversy
... speaking of controversy, i'm kinda overwhelmed with the violence surrounding the publication of a cartoon depicting the prophet mohammad. it's spreading becoming more violent. people say there's nothing wrong and they're just exercising press freedom. i say, it's plain and simple cultural insensitivity.
... was surprised to read about sheryl crow and lance armstrong splitting. thought of them as a glam hollywood couple that would last. unfortunately they didn't.
... speaking of sheryl crow. loved her grammy nominated song "good is good" (best female pop vocal performance).
... the grammy's are just a few days away and i still can't decide which song i'm going for for song of the year. last year, john mayer's daughter was the clear cut winner for me - and it did win. but this year, i'm torn between john legend's "ordinary people" and rascal flatt's "bless the broken road". although i'm standing by "boulevard of broken dreams" for record of the year. i'll post the rest of my grammy faves tomorrow.
... finally, patay na pala si ernie baron!
stampede
a colleague texted me mid-afternoon yesterday asking if i've heard of the stampede at the ultra. unfortunately, i haven't checked inq7.net the entire day - something that rarely happens. so i was totally clueless.
then while at the gym, i got the dreaded confirmation. something indeed happened. they were running the story on local news.
i was just shocked... then saddened. it pains me that there are people who are so poor and desperate back home that all they can do is count on luck to get them out of poverty, or at the very least, get themselves a decent meal.
sometimes we stereotype the poor as a lazy bunch of people without any goal in life. while some of them are. others are simply victims of a faulty and grossly mismanaged economic and political system.
no matter how sound economic fundamentals are, reality is, life back home is getting harder and harder. sipag and tiyaga - two virtues our elders have always tried to instill in all of us - have become overrated. a better life is nowhere in sight no matter how much sipag and tiyaga you have.
and it sickens me that the government keeps on turning a blind eye to what's really happening. they've been so out of touch with reality that i think all government officials need a wake-up call - electric shock down at their groins!