Let's Dance

It has been decades ago the last time I did some videogaming.

I'm so barbaric, never thought gaming would have evolved so efficiently nowadays. Never did like dance revo btw. This one's quite unique, your movements are detected by the sensor and it makes sports/dances quite interactive, everything's touchscreen, no need for remote control. I wouldnt be surprised if one day, we can do virtual reality at its best. (or bka meron na in the market?! ndi ko lng alam)

I think playing these games at home regulary would help a lot in keeping fit or losing weight! - Xbox Kinect rocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QovXC-gEa6I

The Last Train

After some time, again had ladies night with my good friend at Clarke Quay. I ended up with the famous Cinderella mode. (rushing to make it to the last mrt before midnight, gawain ng mga tayong ayaw magtaxi with the 35% surcharge after midnight :p)

Hectic day today. Subteam lunch, team dinner, meet up with some guy, meet up with some girl. 4 back to back parties/meetup in a day. (yes i still claim to be anti-social). Good to club everything together, para isahang kapaguran na. Really so lazy mode.

Had 5 shots of tequilla and no effect at all. I didnt know that if you dont have any drinks (vodka, beer, etc) before tequilla, even if you take consecutive shots = not much effect. Some things have to go through the normal transition phase gradually. A sudden attack wont kill in this case. I am NOT promoting drinking as a habit or lifestyle at all. Just that, sometimes parang medyo corny ang mga taong who cant handle even just a single drink :p I've encountered a girl who said she feels like fainting after a sip of wine. ? Anyway, I'm not really into drinking, for the plain reason I'm afraid it will blow up my tummy to be even bigger!

A picture goofing inside the last train, almost all empty seats.



Feeling depressed actualy today, after finding out my holiday weekend will be hectic. Hectic being a tour guide for 2 separate group of kakilala/friends. :( I could have planned going out with friends, or preferred going on a date, or just staying at home relaxing. why o why. The disadvantages of being unmarried, you dont have an excuse like 'I have to spend the special season with my own family'. ;p

Cant wait for my own vacation!

Glamorously Decorated Dishes

My top favorite presentation for this year:





A rice dish and a veggie dish. Be my guest!

Funny Preferences

Not until I met the lady friend who's so fixated about a man's virginity, I realize women have their own weird list of turnons and turnoffs (about men) - whether or not they are logical. :D I'll just do a short turnoff list this time.

No to non-v's
I havent given up trying to convince this friend about the topic.:p If you are an 18yr old girl dating an 18yr old guy, ok your requirement is fine. But if you are already 28 yrs old and dating 30+ yrs old guys, it will be too hard to filter out! Bka wala ng maiwan sa listahan mo! Besides, bka malamang ginusto naman nung babae nya, not something out of force. And also, I actually still wonder if it is fine to ask a guy his virginity status on the first few encounters. :p

No to veggie haters
It seems quite common to stumble upon men who dont eat veggies at all, I have a few male friends like that. I know of a lady friend who takes her veggies so seriously. To the point, if a guy picks on her like 'yikes puro gulay', her interest just drops so quickly. Likewise, it is so + points to her if a guy eats veggie.

and I figured out what my answer is :)

Apart from smelly/stinky scent (hygiene-related) which I seem to overly blogged in so many previous entries, let me share one more. Dont hate me for saying this, my interest level drops when guys have extremely BAD taste in women :). Come on, you are what you choose. I have a friend who has put it more harshly by saying 'basta nakapalda (pwede)'. Anyway honey, everyone's free to choose so me will be happy if you are happy. (hmm that rhymes)

I'm still X entries away from my ideal number of annual entries. With so few days left, I guess I have to write more useless entries like this one! :D

Christmas 2010 and Scribbles

Few days before Christmas time.. and yet i still dont genuinely feel it, except for a few parties on hand.

It's the first time I attempted to give a little christmas feel to my room. :)





This year was again a different year compared to previous years.

For one, I tried to move to a better job since I dont really seem to have a better reason to go home yet, I would wish I had, so as to spare me of some guilt... And this job has seized me by the neck. Fortunately things turn out ok so far, as they say the best way to conquer an enemy is to befriend him. Me and teammate are now ok, nilaglag nga lng ako pero tinulungan pa rin naman ako in the end :). Nothing much to rant.

I seemed to live in depression for about 2 months last year after the careles accident at home and rushing myself to emergency alone, dont worry I can laugh about it now. It might sound like a biggie, but this seems to be the most difficult issue I've faced after my dad passed away. Scary to be standing in the mirror everyday, trying to ignore the obvious but yet still thinking 'what the hell has just happened'. I felt uneasy, cant blame it women are women, they worry about how they look. When it's there, it's there, which is quite true. Thank God time heals all wounds, let's just leave it like that. Totally ignored.

And even I didnt expect I could regain the confidence and had this overwhelming photoshoot where I felt like a star. It was the first time I felt excited and insisted to my friend, 'hey put your (logo) watermark on it!' And I started using my marketing ideas for a tagline for her website, that is targeted to premium market. It goes something like this: 'Youth and beauty are priceless, let me capture them and make them forever'. She said 'wow, ang classy naman ng pagkaoffer ko, may talent ka sa mga ganyan ha'. Hehe of course I dont want to be the sole person to benefit from the effort, I think the pictures she has taken of me would be quite good to put in her website, the lighting, postproc, and my expressions are good (I dont know how I did it too) :) And as another advertising effort, I tried chitchatting with my MUA (make up artist) and she requested me to send her the pictures. I was betting maybe 50:50 she'll use use my pix. And yes, she liked it and put it on her website as well (cause it would also benefit her to show off her makeup and hairstyling skills). Sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone. Everybody happy kumbaga. :)

I didnt make good progress with love, if I can only force myself or teach my heart, I would have done so eons back. Sometimes my friend and I have this funny saying 'God kung magbibigay ka ng lalaki, lubus-lubusin mo naman sana, wag installment, may sablay eh' :))

I think my cooking skills have improved, or at least the decoration skills have :) My dishes look more appetizing now. I'm in the midst of honing my 'specialty dish' hehe. At least some fallback career when I retire, maybe I can do catering. Wow dream big! Honestly I cant cook for more than 2-3, mahirap magtantya talga. So there's much more practice needed here.

I travelled two places this year: Cambodia and Vietnam. I think I'm done with Southeast Asia. I like to travel, so many more spots to go. Yeah I love Europe and am still having this crazy idea that the time I'll be going there will be on honeymoon. My friend scolded me, 'gaga malaki ang Europe, just leave Italy and France on the last, until you get a yummy guy to marry to'. Ok this is normal for girltalk, dont squeak. Here's my converstaion with God: 'Lord, kung ndi mo pa ako bibigyan ng asawa, sana matinong travel buddy man lng '. :))

Stepping into 30 is again another scary number haha. But probably I just want to make peace with myself and hopefully be at peace with everyone. As much as possible I dont want to lie to myself anymore. Sometimes I feel I lie to myself too much. :D And I aint gonna worry about tomorrow. Life is just going to be simple. :)

One Year Again!

Tomorrow marks my 1yr at work. Hmm this is a milestone :D Time really flies.

I have so many things to say about this year! but too little time to blog. Still busy packing my balikbayan box at this second for my take-home goodies + disposal of my unwanted garbage as well :) As my sister puts it, 'wag mo na isama basura mo!' But what can I do, I dont have enough space!

Work is a little manageable now, no more instances to piss me off (keeping my fingers crossed). I suddenly become a release manager for the upcoming release next year, whatta name, but yeah I still prefer to be a follower, really! And oh there's occasional layoff (a dramatic one, I will blog next time). I care less now, kung matanggal man, SO? I'm really getting old, dont have the energy to waste time on these rants :D

Sharing one of my fave pix from the cheongsam shoot (aint over with it) :p I love this shot, my friend has labelled this as 'Wishful Thinking'. There seems to be elements of hope and tint of positivity. - exactly what I need, or everyone needs if I may say so. :)



Happy holidays!

P.S. I think this song suits the picture, one of my LSS last month

蘇打綠-無眠

你現在想著誰　有沒有和我相同的感覺
固執等著誰　卻驚覺已無法倒退
曾經想一起飛　在自己心中蓋了座花園
把你的一切　都種在這個地點
卻像魚守在裡面

Quick Translation:

who are you thinking of now, do we feel the same way
stubbornly waiting, yet knowing there's not much turning back
dreamt of flying together, grooming a garden in one's heart
have all about you, planted in this spot
and be like a fish, guarding inside it

It was too artsy, I am not sure how the garden relates to the fish, perhaps there's a fish pond inside it :p. But yeah even if I dont get it, anything catchy catches my attention. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2TtliknCEA

Ooops dont dwell too much on the voice/gender or whatever, I dont know the gender too, but I like the lyrics and melody :)

I Feel Like A Celebrity!

At the ripe age of 29 :p, I feel like a celebrity for the first time. :D

My photographer friend and I have been planning for a photoshoot for quite some time. With the numerous chinese movies and series that I have watched, I've always been curious how I would look like in the olden times of China. So here is the unique theme I have chosen: cheongsam! :D

This is a serious shoot with effort, I went for professional hair and make-up. Setting is at Chinese Garden.

I probably have never been this dolled up all my life. It was a holiday and there were a few tourists in Chinese Garden. While my friend was changing her lens and adjusting lights, a few of the tourist went up to me and asked to be taken photographs with :p. One from China told me 'hen piao liang'. Whew it's the first time I heard that compliment. :)

When I was doing another set for modern theme near the grassland, there was a leisure photographer taking scenery who suddenly change his theme from nature to me. We just let it be. Weird and unethical guy who didnt bother speaking to us for chitchatting or asking permission, basta na lng naki-shoot (nang matagal) at umalis :p.

Another couple asked me 'are you from a modelling agency'.

There were some rain drizzles and fortunately, my friend still managed to capture some good shots for me. Here's a teaser again :)


The shot ended well and I treated my friend for dinner (of course back to normal daily wear). The power of false eyelashes - it is quite strange to be stared at, including a guy on a date with his gf beside our table who kept on glancing every so often. This guy needs some serious spanking!

Everything felt so surreal. I know I am not really pretty or slim, but I am glad for once in my lifetime, I feel like a celebrity! :)

High Heels for the 1st time!

I never thought I'd wear high heels in my life until yesterday :)



I'm a late bloomer! Here's a teaser of how it looked like on my feet :D

Men's Watchout Manual for Stressful Women

Is my title catchy enough? :p

I almost forgot how it feels to have close female friends until I left for SG. So far I've met several here and formed real good friendships with them. I can vouch for any of them as good gf/wife material :D They are considerate, responsible, independent, well-rounded, fun to be with especially on vacation trips. All, except one. (may) God forbid me for being honest. I never lost my temper and patience with any close friend, yet. Unless you currently fall so hard, head-banged, with a girl who happened to be similar with what I'll be describing below, I strongly suggest you shun away every possible opportunity. Else, be ready indeed for a stressful life.

1) Self-centered and full of herself
The center of the universe. It's always her. When you talk, you want me to listen to your same heartache stories with your boy over and over again that it's already so annoying. When I talk, you dont listen because it's too obvious you dont remember what I've been saying.
I couldnt get more upset when you tell me 'hey mauna ka naman oh, try mo kung anong meron dyan. Takot kasi ako. Mas gusto kong mauna ang iba then tell me na lng what's inside'. - It sounds similar to me like 'mauna ka na bka nakakamatay yan, para safe ako. Ano ako, guinea pig?'


2) So so vain and slow
Before I thought I am considered quite ma-picture in trips until I met you, you are almost 10X worse than me. You want a picture in every corner (even beside some bushes and stones?), taken several times again and again with exactly the same background. When you have a few hair strands out of sync, it is considered unacceptable and you want me to retake again and again. You want every shot to be perfectly neat, which I find too monotonous, hey wind blown hair is quite acceptable to me (well my current profile pic says so) I never expected na ako ang susuko. I am so tired of taking pictures of you, yourself and yourself.

I understand women like to retouch (make-up), well I also do in dates or if I am out with a guy, paimpress or just to look good. I cannot understand what's taking you at least 15-30minutes for retouch in every break when you are just with me and some tourmates. I dont see the need, parehas tayong babae. And because of that I am always waiting forever and chasing on you, 'uy bilisan mo naman, maiiwan na tayo ng tour bus'.. Until we really got left behind by the bus and was asked to join another tour van. I finally lost my temper when the driver asked me to sit in the very small uncomfortable foldable seat in the middle lane of an L3 van. It's ok for a short ride, but hey it's a 4hour+ ride and I am suffering because of your slowness, we could have avoided it grrh!


3) Overly pacute in an attempt to be kid-like
A must-visit section in a department store, for me kid's section is not really an essential part of it. We both dont have kids yet so I dont see the urgent need to visit kid's section in a tour. It felt tiring to hear 'uy ang cute-cute ng bear oh', 'ang cute cute ni pooh', 'ang cute ng blouse'.. Lahat na lng 'ang cute cute'. And it was already 830pm and I didnt have dinner yet. Seems like it's going nowhere that I finally blurted, 'd ka ba gutom, kain na tayo, bka masarhan pa tayo'.

If you look like Kim Chiu, then I definitely will tell you it's ok to be kidlike and it just fits so perfectly and naturally. But if you dont, please don't attempt.


4) Strange thoughts
Perhaps it's me growing old and patience shrieking, but hey we are just born few months apart.
Nakakainis sa work, naiinis ako kay ganito. naiinis ako kay ganon. Even if you change project assignments, change jobs, it's still the same story. - Someone told me before that if your problems are always the same, chronic, repeating in every environment, it's a sign that the problem is not them, it's you.

Gusto ko ang magiging bf ko does not have any past relationships and should be a virgin - I almost choke. Nosebleed ang requirements :). May ganon pa bang lalake? Well I dont know. Perhaps if a guy did it with a serious gf (hopefull the gf is also of considerable 'quality' standards), it shouldnt be too much to condemn and dwell on? Well of course, you also still respect guys who are disciplined to keep their chastity. But in the ever-advancing modern generation now, people have changed havent they?

Sana may PA (personal assistant) tayong kasama para someone will carry my stuff and bags when we take pictures, para makapagpose. Nosebleed again. D ko tlaga masakyan. :)

I hope someone writes a similar guide for Women lol.

The Last Lecture - fave quotes

It's so rare for me to pick up a book and start reading.. that I have to note them down everytime I do :) .

Here are some of my fave quotes taken from 'The Last Lecture'. There are actually too many that I stopped taking notes before halfway finishing the book. Hence these lines can be found in the first half.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand

Just because you’re in the driver’s seat, doesn’t mean you have to run people over

Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome

If you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

I’m going to find a way to be happy, and I’d really love to be happy with you, but if I cant be happy with you, then i’ll find a way to be happy without you.

Hidden Potential: Hunting Rare Finds

I find it ecstatic when people tell me something about me that I never even noticed.

In almost all of my Manila visits, I am always close to turning insane on how to stuff my pasalubong in a small 15kg limit of a budget airline haha. Obviously I would have some goodies for my family and my mom will also disperse a few to some of her close friends.

If time and budget permit, I usually have the habit to dig good finds in every place I go, these should be uncommon and are price-friendly and of good quality and should NOT be available in Manila. Perhaps it also suits the tastes of the old filchi aunties in Manila, that's why 'bumenta'. Some of the rare finds are:
Milk tea (not lipton but another brand)
Satay bbq in sealed microwaveable packs
Australian Herbs and Spices
Dried orange peels
Bottled fried shallots
..etc..

Anyway, it turned out the goodies reach my kumare’s mom as well. Her mom asked my kumare to buy the same things. She then has to ask me back where to get those as she cant seem to spot them, thus I accompanied her one time to buy. It happened several times, that she finally concluded, ‘Les, may talent ka, you have the potential’. She said I probably can try my luck in the distributor business. Woow winner, love her to bitz hihi :D

Check out my latest find from Vietnam. I brought a pack to share with my officemate. Upon first munch, they also said 'hey Leslie it's good, you should have gotten 10 packs for us'. Seriously, I never knew that is such thing as cappucino peanuts. I am not a die-hard fanatic of either, but it is good combination to coat nuts with coffee indeed.



I wanna be a shopper! :)

Sleeping Longer to Shed Pounds

This article gives me more reason to sleep longer. I love the idea that extra fats are burned while sleeping :D

Want to shed pounds? Sleep longer say experts
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101006/tls-health-us-obesity-sleep-aeafa1b.html

Dieters lost the same amount of weight whether they slept for a full night or fewer hours, but those who got more sleep lost more fat and they also felt less hungry while awake, according to the study, which appears in the October 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

P.S. I'm late to office today because my alarm clock died and the aircon is finally resurrected. Parting with my bed seems to break my heart every morning. :)

Remarkable Answers (What A Guy Wants)

In all the encounters I had when I run into discussions about what are you looking for in a partner, so far these 2 are the standout answers from men :p

Attitude/Personality:
The very obvious trait 'maalaga' as top anser. I dont know how many times I've heard of it. Men like to be nursed, period. Few years ago, I remember an early-20's guy saying, he likes ladies who have an ambition. 'May ambisyon sa buhay'. That is striking. I've never heard of anyone who treats that as a best quality?

Perhaps now after years passed by, my outlook probably has changed, so has the crowd of people. To be honest, I dont know if I still have any ambition from a career perspective :p I get satisfied easily, I'm ok with what I have (dear God I cant take a more challenging job that this). I'm sometimes crazily thinking that maybe I should resign and follow Liz Gilbert 's ways in 'Eat Pray Love'. I'm happy that I'm not the only one. In fact, there are many of us, who wants a simple life.

People have the notion that women working abroad are hard-core career women. I was surprized that a friend here told me her biggest dream is to live in a small town. She asked me once what I fancy doing if I do settle down in the future, I gave a funny answer, 'gusto kong samahan ako mag-grocery'. :p

Anyway, I still find the 'ambition' answer to be quite unique.


Physical:
Top answers are usually 'cute' or 'ma-appeal'. I got this remarkable answer from a mid-30's married guy. He said his main criteria is 'yun mukhang bata pa rin ang mukha kahit tumanda'.

I was totally captivated. Obviously, we are not referring to women who are OA and childish! I kept insisting, how do you assess or foresee that? Can you actually predict accurately if this face would grow old in a lousy way and this wont? He told me it's a skill.

When I saw his wife, then I understood a bit. A mother of two kids, however her aura still looks like a young lady. So I blurted out, 'eh sa tingin mo, ako kaya mabilis akong tatanda'. Of course, we just ended up in giggles and I didnt get a definite answer to my question. He just said, 'you're ok', whatever an ok means from a guy.

Time to update skin care collection. I actualy sent tons of Olay home to my mom. Actualy I think it works on her, her skin looks better now, I managed to freeze her age a bit hehe. Time to freeze my own.

October feels good

No idea why I feel October seems to be a good month. Or perhaps I just choose to feel good without any particular reason.


Taking a light, happy song from my ktv clips again :p

So hard to say goodbye...

It's been a long time since I last cried.

Again, another friend is leaving. Not just a friend, but rather a best friend. My kumare had decided to take another role from her company's Europe office. I just sent her off to airport few minutes ago. I thought I'd be able to hold back, but then tears just kept falling and we both were laughing and crying at the same time.

Living away from home for the past 3 years have been bearable because of really good friends like her. We have too many similar interests that made it so effortless to blend. And now with her leaving is like one less friend, one less good listener, confidant, activity partner. Unknowingly there are people who have become too integral part of your life, they're among the first few people you think of when you want to share a good news, and also the first you run to when you have burdens that have become too heavy to carry. When they are away, you suddenly feel lost on how to live a life again without them. :(

People come and go, but I wish I find more of those who really stay. It's quite emotionally stressful to send people off. :((

I wrote this quote in my goodbye email in my last company.. it suits the mood tonight 'We part to meet again'....

I Wanna Sleep Some More!

Recently I read in a Yahoo article that the ideal number of sleep hours is 7. Too little is obviously not good, but I didn’t know that too much of it is also not good and can cause strokes.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/07/17/too-much-too-little-sleep-linked-to-stroke-risk.html

I am forcing myself to sleep early every night, but seems like I don’t succeed in doing so. Thanks to all the bad influences that have made this a chronic and unbreakable habit for me lol. I seem to be struggling everyday in the morning. (these were the days before the doomsday project)

Extreme case: I was in the office pantry, half-awake. Normally we have this reflex to turn a mug upside down to make sure there’s no water in it before dispensing coffee or any drink. I did the same, guess what, I forget I had just placed oatmeal on it. Viola, I spilled all the oats into the floor. Luckily no one is around, I silently tiptoed back to my seat like a quiet mouse. :p

Actually my previous job requires to be in office at 10am. Present job is a bit earlier, we should be in at 9:30am. Both are already considered late, normal standards are usually 9am or even 830am here. But hey sleeping 5 extra minutes in the morning feels actually like heaven!

If drowsiness can kill, I guess I would have been dead decades ago.

The biggest accomplishment on my July vacation was that I was able to wake up at 11am for four straight mornings. Thanks to the fantastic weather: no doubt it was raining every single day that added more to my laziness.

After starting to work from graduation, this is the only time I was able to do it again. I’ve always dreamt of a stint of bumming period, but seems like I am meant for a busy life :( Spot the common denominator in the number series...
1st job: May 17 to Apr 5
2nd job: Mar 26 to Dec 22
3rd job: Dec 5 to present

Job start dates…my last day of work is always overlapping with the next job! Pathetic! Loser! I cant seem to negotiate well. Or to be frank, all were unplanned job changes and career shifts, I am not confident people will wait for me :(

My mom used to say, ‘ndi ka pa naman sobrang naghihirap sa pera, you can afford a few days off before starting’. Huhu I also don’t know why I always mess up.

And I wonder when I sleep, can I dream inside a dream and how many layers are possible? Inception mode? I’m afraid to fall into limbo.

Ok ok this has gone way too far as an entry for sleeping.

Don’t take me wrong. I just want to sleep, not die. I still want to wake up!

And nothing happened..

This is what happened... nothing. As simple as that.

After a grueling, struggling, agonizing week of scratching my head and being bullied, this week starts off with all smiles, strangely. I got greeted with smiles by the senior bullies in the office on Monday. In group chats, I received some 'thanks leslie' with smiley icons once in a while. The bullies have become polite. Note that the doomsday project is not over yet.

I have no idea why the sudden change. Anyway I wont complaint, this is of course better. If you keep pushing, you might not like what you see when you challenge my patience limit. How I wish I can do AWOL or submit my papers with the note 'effectively immediately', a friend of mine has done that, I wonder how it felt :p

I felt like a dog! Sinisipa ka the other week, hinihimas-himasan ka nman ngyon, like nothing happened. Not funny. No fun. Do not groom me to be a bitch!

You are such an a**hole

And my career goal in life remains unchanged: retire. :p

Shoot Them All - updated rants

This is the lousiest week. When people make u look bad and can really make you feel you are the most stupid and slowest person on earth.

P.I. i dont know how many times these words kept repeating in my mind (or actualy murmuring them in my seat). Walang santa santa pag sumosobra.

I really cannot understand what this new dreaded task being assigned to me is about. Ganon na lng ba lagi? I dont want to think no more...

Dont pull the trigger please.

*updated*

It happened because my teammate went on paternity leave without handling anything. Unexpectedly I didnt know I am supposed to take over. I dont know at all what is going on. People are really smart ass, and compared to them, I am way way behind. I cannot just grasp things like that in a instant. In the real world, there are always people who are far more intelligent and capable than me. They just can handle anything.

I work in a top bank, pre-merger time, it is prestiguous enough to be mentioned in SATC movie (I didnt notice that before I watch that film in the moviehouse again). I cannot commit mistakes because a trading app that goes haywire means $ losses for the company - my boss told me that explicitly on my first day, because he knew I am not from investment bank background. We have monthly celebration that serves nonstop wine (i dont know the brands) and beer dripping from faucet (Herdinger and whatever brands) and fancy food catering. The best thing is finally I am able to have a real 930am-630pm job. When the clock ticks to 630pm, everyone is like being tossed of their chairs. Staying till 730-8pm already means martyrdom.

But still, the most painful thing is when you dont understand, because nobody is gonna teach you and show you how. Maybe slow talaga ako, ibang level sila. Some months I am very good. In 3 days, I screwed up my name again. No mercy.

Kaya mo yan les.. There's something that I would like to hear more.. 'Cge, resign na!' :)))

Wed night I went out with my good friend, drank too much because I was too upset, and anyway ladies night is all free. 7 shots (vodka, martini are nothing much, but tequilla is the killer) ok first time I knew what it meant to float.

A friend from Manila asked me why I am here and that I shouldnt be career-centered. It was not just about career, or it was never about career :p. Is it for money, I cant say no. Perhaps only people who havent experienced the scarcity of money or the bounty of it, will never know what money is for, ayoko maglinis to say money doesnt matter at all. Whatever your hobby is, sports or photography or travel or even providing for your family, I dont think you can fulfill any of it without money. Is it for exposure? Is it for experience? Anyway, I also dont know how to answer and what it is exactly for. Maybe you can give me an answer.

Loser mode. Pray hard that I'll be fine!

Tips on Domains

I think I have to share and note down my meager knowledge on different domains, before I totally forget again lol.

There are so much more factors to it for each of them, I will just state a few liners.

Point of Sale and Retail and Shipments
This is where I spent the initial almost 4 years of slavery with, a consumer good giant. Basically from a data warehouse point of view, this is none other than reporting of fact and dimension data: in layman terms: sales vs customer vs product kind of thing. SAP Barcode comes into play, different ways of computing for bundled products and promotion, etc. The level of granularity depends on how you want the information to be stored in the warehouse (star schema, dimensional, etc) and the analysis on what metrics to compute of which the top management people are actually tracking and dying to read and monitor. Basic KPI index on ROI, turnover would be among the favorites.

Telecoms
I spent almost 1.5 years on and off a telco company. Simply put there are 2 lines of businesses, the prepaid and postpaid. UDR (usage detail records) will be tracked, to the details like for a customer, how many local and international calls did he make, when (peak or non peak hours) was the call made, demographics, VAS (value added services) like voice call, 3g, incoming, call waiting, data plan, etc and equally important and volatile are the sim states which could be active, expired, terminated, reconnected. Datawarehousing sounds cool, but it is just a fancy tool for Marketing and Sales executive people to dwell and do their fancy forecasts and analysis. (I overuse the word fancy).

Banking: Forex
Ok finally working on an end-user forex trading application, as they say, where the money is, financial market focus. There are different ways of trading: I will state a few
Spots - trading today where settlement is 2 days from now.
Forwards – trading at a future date
Swaps – 2 streams of trading, a near leg and far leg. It could be even or uneven swap
Orders – putting of orders where you specify your own rate, once the market hits your rate, orders get executed as a trade

Aggegrated trading – for fancy trading for bulk trades of high volumes, minimum usually at 1M for an instruction. An instruction can be further broken down into orders, of which the orders further generate a deal. Some basic terms:
Buy & Sell – you are a market taker, taking in whatever rate the market has
Bid & Offer – you are a market maker, if there is nothing to sweep, you can specify the rate and market where you want to put a limit order in.

Market data adapters would be exchanges like Reuters, Bloomberg, etc which are liquidity sources. If a trader places 10M, it can be executed (risk is hedged by the bank) like 5M@1.03 goes to Reuters, 3M goes to Bloomberg @1.05, 2M goes to CME@1.06.

Some more fancy strategies:
Iceberg – as the name implies, you can have a shown amount and a hidden amount when you place your trade. This way the market won’t have a clear perception of what you place.

Sniper – you can put an open instruction at a rate you want. Once the market hits your rates, it continuous snipes for more orders until the instruction amount gets filled.

Just a side note, after working for forex, I get to be asked a common question, so ‘what do you recommend people to trade’. I once get mocked by an outsider folk for not giving a specific currency to recommend. Let me just set the record:
1) the bank’s forex trading application is for high net worth individuals (financial assets not including primary residence should exceed $1M USD) who do bulk trading. I don’t think it is applicable to common people who do small-time trading

2) whatever currency (ccy) you trade, the bank will never lose, it just hedges the risk outside, it will never keep a long position on a certain ccy. It will only earn, and never lose money. So whether it’s 10M JPY or 10M EUR or 10M USD, it doesn’t make much difference to me from my side of the barn. Perhaps it’s not part of the workstream I am involved in. Do not ask me for insider trading tips, if I do have, I’d be quitting job and practicing trading myself.

People tend to over-exaggerate things. Some people would consider trading as the next booming instrument to take over the world’s financial market. Everyone wants a slice of it and dip their a** into it, makes it sound like they are doing something extremely perplex and high-profile. From a practical standpoint, I can say from my few months, trading is like a glorified gambling casino console hehe.

It’s always handy to know a few of the acronyms and jargons and feel like an expert. As they say, when you can’t convince, confuse. :p

What Sh*t is This?

This is probably the first time you would see people blogging about ‘sh*t’ and I mean literally.

I was quite enthusiastic when I learned that it is a medical benefit of my current company to go for an Executive Health Screening package, maximum capped at 500sgd. (15k php). I looked at the packages, the screening center is situated inside a hotel, my first impression is wow. And since fasting is required for blood test, there is a complimentary hotel breakfast afterwards. Perhaps any free food rings a bell. :) What more can I ask?

I took the basic package of 300+, thinking that it may be good to be budget-conservative since it is my first time. To be fair, the basic package doesn’t look like it’s worth 10k php to me! Quickly browsing through, it’s just some basic tests: blood test, chest x-ray and some physical examination. Well I guess in sg, everything is more expensive and thou shall never compare.

After making the appointment, the screening center sent two empty vials to my office for collecting ‘specimens’. The vials here are a bit different, with the stool specimen bottle having even a narrower opening than the urine specimen bottle, I really wonder why. But it does come with a stick in it, you know what I mean… Ok here starts the dreaded part.

I have no idea how some people can manage to fast for 8hours+ and then wake up the next morning and collect stool specimen??? Where did the urge come from?! It has always been a difficult challenge for me to do this. Worst case, I will have to go back on another separate day, uggh.

That morning came, and true, despite shedding efforts, it has been futile. I walked into the screening center, completed all the tests. I told the staff that I am done except for the stool specimen and that I will submit that on another day. She then issued me the breakfast voucher. I came down for my breakfast. It was not buffet breakfast btw, just a simple local breakfast but good (I chose fish beehon). Still, it was fun, I feel like a feeling-executive haha.


Then came the long-awaited urge. I know I just have to swallow some food for it to come. I am on a valid sick leave for rest of the day. To minimize the hassle of taking another leave again to resubmit my specimen bottle, a brilliant plan came into mind. I brought the empty bottle, went back to the screening center and in a ladies room there, thinking how to manage to complete the task. Of course, the rest is history. I don’t want to dwell into gross details. All I can say is that it was yuck, grrh.

The climax: I went to the front desk, ready to submit the pending task. And to my surprise, this is what the receptionist said after like checking my profile for a long 5minutes.

‘I’m sorry ma’am. After double checking, you don’t need to submit anything anymore. The package that you have chosen is the basic one, and it only requires urine sample. You can leave for the day and we will call you after 2 weeks to claim your results’.

I’ve never felt so embarrassing in a long time. I said ‘ok thanks’, threw the specimen bottle in the trash can and rushed out to disappear quickly, all in about 30 seconds.

#$#!!!!#$#$ 'Takte! After everything, you now told me it’s not required, why didn’t you correct me earlier?? I wanna cry haha! And In the first place, why did you send 2 empty bottles to mislead me???? Back in Phil, urine and stool specimen are like too basic tests and are considered part of any screening package isn’t it. It’s your fault!

And after coming back to my senses, I felt that rushing out is actually too stupid. I actually should have asked how much additional do I need to pay and submit those darn stuff! I guess it’s another 20 or 30sgd. But who cares, I should be able to reimburse it! Grrh! I was carried away.

Just for laughs. I’m not going back to you again. Bitter mode! :D

Addiction to Scents

The best way to put a mild scent on your room, I've been addicted to these scents. Highly recommended: Glade Apple. Others are Lavender and Jasmine.

I prefer this than other methods like scented candles or fragrance oil burner. As simple as I dont have to bother about catching fires and it is less messy. And also more economical, for just around 2.5sgd and lasts for around 1month.

P.S. Yup some people use it for bathrooms but I dont mind. :)

Blackout Curtains

I have no clue why the architect of this building had designed to have windows covering the entire one side of my room. I usually have seen one or two panels, but havent encountered an entire side yet.

Unfortunately there were a few weeks of May that were extremely hot. My Saturday sleeps had been very much disturbed as I woke up sweating despite the aircon set at 18deg. Note that I am a ‘ginawin’ person to some extent. The sunlight passing through is just too much. This building is the first one in the block and there are no taller buildings or trees to cover the sun whatsoever.

Luckily I learned from a housemate that there is such thing called ‘blackout’. These are the types of curtains that hotel actually use. As the name implies, it aims to ‘black out' the surrounding. The cost is just a little higher than ordinary curtains. But I must say every cent is worth it!

Here’s a comparison, the left side is an ordinary thick curtain (note that is it very thick already but the sun penetrates through it easily), the right side is the blackout.


Amen to that, back to my sound weekend sleep.

p.s. Good things are for sharing with friends.

Men are from Mars...

Sometimes there are really men who are too dense. Ok I am also dense at times because I can get soaked up in my thoughts easily and ignore hints around me. But I feel men are worse, for mistaking even the obvious. Oops.

An easy one, take for example a number’s game. 90% of the time, the numbers that a woman uses are usually related to some important dates around her. It can be her birthday, her anniversary date (though I don’t recommend unless you are sure your bf won’t change), her parent’s birthday or wedding anniversary date, her favorite number, a date or a number that has a significant meaning, etc. But do avoid using such on your bank pin codes, but it should be fine for online account names. Net, it’s quite rare that it’s a number out of nowhere.

Whenever a fellow lady asks me for my messenger id, and I give them XXXXX716, it’s almost always 100% obvious to them that it sounds like a birthday. I would automatically get questioned, ‘oh your birthday falls on July?’ On the opposite, a guy could be talking to me for months in ym and has no idea what the numbers are for. See the difference?

Ok to be more explicit, I recently talked to a guy friend. He had a gf for the past 3 years, and he suddenly gets dumped for reasons he doesn’t have any clue and it’s killing him. He had been filial all the while. He tried all sorts of ways to win her back, countless attempts. Including standing in front of her house on a Christmas eve and he wasn’t let in, not until her parents let him in.

I, of course, don’t know what exactly happened but obviously this Christmas eve story sounds way too much. Honestly, from a girl’s perspective, this sounds like hopeless. There is a very thick line between ‘pakipot’ and ‘its over’. Different girls have their own pakipot ways, that I cannot expound clearly as it’s more of a gut feel.

Nevertheless, I don’t want to provoke a suicidal guy haha. In an attempt to help him write a birthday note for her, I composed the short lines below. Magnifico.

...Happy happy birthday. Wishing you all the best cause you really deserve it. I miss the days having you around in my life and I hope you could give us another chance. But if this is not what your heart truly desires, I sincerely wish you happiness and peace of mind. Thank you for sharing your life with me for the past 3 years. God bless.

Short and sweet isn’t it? I like. Not too edgy. Kung ako iyon, ndi ko cguro matitiis, unless I have a heart of stone, I think I would at least do something. Ok ok enough of being nosey in other people's businesses..

Hmm what do I have to say about Mars? Despite few people frequently asking for my opinion about their love issues, personally I don’t feel qualified at all to give guidance on such matters! I’ve previously dreamt of having a child before hitting 30. To accomplish that means I should be running around now like a mad whore every night and conceive in a few week’s time in order to make it happen. Probability: 0. And the reason of having 0 is that I might also be living in my own Mars.

Let me a cite a straight-forward one. When I visit Manila, looks like I am now bearing a sticker on my forehead that reads: ‘Beware, LDR’. Do not attempt the uncertain. (Google might not have the translation, it’s an unofficial yet common acronym that sprouted out of nowhere, especially in the world of overseas workers). In a world where physical presence is favored over cyber presence, I know. And yet, there seems to be a common statement people throw at me so frequently. If I happen to talk to random people in Manila and when I cannot relate to something localized that we are discussing and happen to flash a puzzled look saying ‘ay bkit ndi ako alam ito’, I will be immediately replied with ‘eh lagi ka naman wala d2’. :p It’s just a neutral statement of course, perfectly fine, nothing to be annoyed with because it's true. Just that… how should someone in Mars interpret it? Is it as it is or am I supposed to dwell on it if there’s any other attached implication. If I don’t dwell on it, I sometimes can become an official resident of Mars. If I dwell on it, it can also appear like my imaginations are way over nirvana.

Ok enough before my tongue slips.. my pen slips.. or even my finger slips in this blog. Let’s just remember this, whichever planet we are in now, can we all go back to Earth once in a while and speak in simple English, even if you dont have any major major problem. (Raj syndrome Aug 2010).

P.s. A funny entry in the midst of chaos in hostage incidents.
... and I am still lagging 30+ entries behind!

A Different View on Birthdays

People who know me probably would know how I used to fancy birthday greetings and birthday parties and all. Being a person who claims to have passion for life, I’ve always considered birthdays as a blessing. It just happens once a year, it wouldn’t hurt to celebrate no matter how busy I am or how lack of money am I running through. Actually to be precise, I have witnessed the lack of it, and so I do cherish it more. (I am not a party animal either)

This year, I finally seem to relate to people who prefer to be low-profile on birthdays. I have a close college friend who took out all his birthday reminders registered online. I even asked him ‘mamatay ka ba pag binati ka’. He replied, ‘hindi naman, hndi ko lng feel, pero gusto ko rin malaman kung sino tlaga nakaalala’. I answered back with a joke, ‘hindi pa rin yan accurate, malamang naalala ka lng dahil may reminder sa cellphone. Khit ako bka makalimutan kitang batiin kung nalowbat ako kasi hndi ko memoryado ang bday mo!’. It was just a whim, what he said actually has a point, khit ba na celphone reminder may effort pa rin.

True, or should I say sadly, in the gadgets and dotcom world, no one remembers birthdays by heart anymore.

I don’t know what air brings me to this realization this year. It suddenly makes sense. I disabled all the reminders that I can remember to have registered online: facebook, friendster, yahoogroups, etc. I am not thirsty for greetings, but I can be honest to admit that I am still probably dying to hear sincere birthday greetings from a few bunch of people who really matters to me (say probably 10). And I really do appreciate people who remembered. Childish, but a fun gambling game.

And yes, to my disappointment there were like 3 or 4 people who still missed it! Better late than never, but I still appreciate people who remember on time. May konting kirot pero ok lng, it makes it easier to filter out which people takes a conscious effort and which don’t. hahaha. Just for a change. :)

Kidding aside, I guess at this point in time, this is what I can say in my blog:
The hardest person to lie to … is not other people, but rather, myself.

Have a blessed everyone, this year and all the nexts!

For the Love of Singing (2)

And here's the English song..

As I listen again now, I suddenly get to appreciate the nice sound system of the new branch of Kbox in Scape, it comes with the new touchscreen ipad-sort of monitor for choosing songs. I'm impressed that there is a screen for handstroke writing to choose songs apart from the usual singer/song/category selection, as well as some poker games icons for those who want to kill time while others are singing. *unpaid advertisement* :)

For the Love of Singing

I’ve always been fascinated with singing, though no one seems to really know :p

After photography, I’ve also met another guru, this time in the field of music. It’s the first time I know of anyone who actually sings in a pub in Sg (ok used to be one of my crazy dream jobs!). He’s the same Filipino guy (married) who referred me to my current job. I was curious about his singing antics so once and for all, we decided to go to KTV. Yeah he is quite good. He told me this: usually there are only 2 kinds of people who are KTV addicts:
1) Those who have a voice
2) Those who sing very lousily and are just going to KTV to shout with friends

After hearing me sing, his verdict: I belong to the first type! Yey! And he did point out my problem: ‘namimili ng kanta ang boses mo’. True enough, I can only sing comfortably in songs of average ranges, the easier ones to manipulate. I can barely sing a fast song or rock for that matter. Unlike him, he seems to carry any types of song, any genre so well. Well that’s a ‘paid’ voice, so it is expected. I’m just a leisure singer.

For the past few years in SG, I’ve been to KTV several times, but most of them were with 1 or 2 friends only. I enjoyed every moment of it. Before it is just a sort of a stress outlet, but later on I realized it’s something I love to do and wouldn’t mind wasting time on.

Recently I went to KTV with a group of new friends. Because I have a member card promo which I feel is a waste if I don’t get to use frequently, I asked them to tag along. I have long forgotten the feeling of a lot of people in a KTV room, last one being in Redbox 3 years ago during some teambuilding I guess.

More people attending actually means less chance of singing actually.

Other people singing uberly bad is ok, sometimes people can still carry it through with a cute attitude. Cute is subjective though :p

There are people who can sing very well and who seem to confidently overflaunting it by raising the key to 2 or 3 notes higher. It doesnt seem necessary too? Or maybe it's just me, I'm just a leisure singer after all. :)

The more unpleasant:
*If people who don’t hold a mic prefers to shout along and sing his/her own, I guess everyone’s eardrums are nearing hemorrhagic bleeding. I don’t find it funny or enjoyable.

*Coming across ‘buakaw’ people continuously queuing 10+ consecutive songs, shows lack of consideration!

*Personally I don’t finish the whole song (perhaps I will stop the song at the end of the first chorus, to give others a chance, besides, repeating the whole song is quite boring. I only finish the whole song for a few favorite songs) – Anyway, I didn’t know some people could consider this ‘bastos’ not to let them finish the whole song.

*And one person asks me how many people have confirmed attendance, I said ‘I think 3 or 4’ – she answered ‘maybe we want to postpone it some other time, because the more the merrier dba’. Is 3 or 4 considered too small a crowd for KTV?? Seems like nowadays, majority of people equate KTV to group singing and shouting sporadically.

Perhaps that is also the reason why some guys don’t like going to KTV to accompany their girlfriends. I suddenly pity those who are forced to participate in such mini-chaos.

And I was laughed at when few people knew I had gone to KTV alone for a few times before. Well all I can say is we all have different satisfaction levels, especially for people like me and kumare. Buti na lng, two of a kind. And I did stop doing so, nagpa-apekto naman. :p

I would still consider my best KTV moments as those with my kumare friend. It makes KTV more enjoyable when both of you know the songs each one is singing (I guess we have the same preference and follow the same artists). Strangely our chemistry is extremely good, unspoken agreement and yet we seem to jive well. Rules don’t have to be explicit at all, else it lacks the fun and excitement! If everything is told to you, then it's a waste. The key is just to be responsive and sensitive and spontaneous.

As mentioned a couple of times already, I always prefer quality over quantity in terms of crowd! But of course, on certain occasions, I don’t mind going to KTV in large groups of close friends, I wouldn’t mind the chaos if the company is worth the few bonding hours.

Ok enough of the talking, here’s a few sample clips from yours truly (kapalan na ng mukha!). Disclaimer: I’m not good, just tolerably average. Have a nice weekend everyone as I sing to the world. Let's toast to that. :) No, I am not drunk.

A chinese song:


An English song:

Just a Little Make-up

In the world of false eyelashes everywhere, I always find it an amusing skill to learn. How in the world do Oriental chinky-eyed ladies make their eyes so vividly big? And yet till now I still did learn any of it…





Funny and coincidentally, there were two instances where people did some ‘coloring’ on my face last week, it was a fortunate accident to remind me that we all have the right to become beautiful, in our own eyes at the very least. And that is despite age. Oops I don’t mind admitting my age, there are 2 things to it:
- As much as possible, act like your age
- As much as possible, don’t look like your age

Hmm now that is something hard. :)

Think What You Wanna Think

I again slept late and woke up late today. Noticed some red marks on my neck, sheesh dont know where I got the rashes from. Nevertheless I put on nice white blouse, got my bread and started my usual rush ride.

Some meeting got me occupied whole morning with my team and boss. (10+ people). Having me seated and listening to people speaking on a meeting has become so painful nowadays, my attention span is very bad. Can you just cut the crap, I wanna go back to my seat or take a power nap, even if it's at the ladies room I dont care, as long as it is newly cleaned.

The napster teammate suddenly messaged me, 'How was your weekend'
I answered, 'quite good, the usual'
He said, 'Looks like you had so much fun'
I answered, 'Yup'
Then he said, 'Hmm better be careful next time :p'
I said, 'I cant get you'
He said, 'You should know... never mind'

After a little more talking, I asked him directly 'Are you referring to the red marks on my neck'. He just smiled and said 'just be careful'

I was a bit shocked. From what I know, we werent close, none that I remember?
They are rashes my dear. I wouldnt deny it if it was true. Had it been true, I probably would have used better clothing with turtle neck collar to cover up, hell we are all way past the tweetums age of feeling 'proud' to get such souveniers isnt it. And yeah, in the team I am the only female of Oriental origin. And this guy is the only unmarried male, who has the guts to ask me such crazy question. He said he just voiced out so I could be aware what the rest of the guys in the meeting might be thinking... I wonder if I should be annoyed or be thankful that he told me coz I totally didnt care initially. Ok fine, I'd probably make a good joke for today.

He reminds me of another instance when I was avoiding another one from his race. 'I think my fave brand of jeans would look good on you'. ???

When you have a company full of brainiacs, expect some topak people.

Times like this remind me how racist I can be...

My Fan's Club

My fan's club has 4 members now! Cheers!

Ironically, in my generation, we were deprived of males. Now the next generation are all naughty boys.

And yes kagwapuhan runs in the blood! oops :p

P.S. My friend and I were humorously talking about medical benefits of our respective companies. Paid maternity leave goes up to 4 or 5 months for us. Geesh too bad if we dont get to use it! tsk tsk

Converting your sala

Good to have friends who collect a little of this and that, converting your sala into something else once in a blue moon is fun :)

Artsy Bitchy Shot

I guess it's better I dont know the technicalities of photography, so I can just shoot subjectively and judge with fresh eyes. :p Like Ellen with her judging stint in American Idol. Everyone doesnt have to be an expert, she can just do it, simply based on gut feel and from a regular audience's viewpoint.

Referring to camouflaging the fats, I like this picture I took for a friend, I find the pose sexy :p.


And showing an ordinary shot of her that I didnt post in fb.


Angle makes a difference right? Or if you still cant see my point or deny that it makes sense, I guess it is better to just donate your camera to charity. :D

P.S: I wonder why some people have to post hundreds and thousands of pictures of a same event same background same everything, cant you filter and choose the best shots, do the audience a favor that they only have to scan through the best shots. hahaha

Photography and I

I submitted some beach photos in an online contest and unexpectedly won first prize! I am fondly coined as 'award-winning' among my close friends from then on. :)


What I get for a prize, a free 3d2n stay in Angsana Bintan Resort for two, worth 800sgd! I couldnt believe this can happen to me, I have never won anything this much by luck! Hearing about the good news, it was so amazing where u feel tickles all over you!

Nowadays there are so much people into photography, investing in more lens and other powerful tools. I am still using my 3yr old p/s digicam. Living by my simple ways (i.e. kuripot?), why buy when you can borrow :p Kidding aside, I dont want to develop a new addiction, I am satisfied to just be a leisure photographer. With the p&s, I am only limited to take nature shots, where the sun helps me a lot in achieving good scenic pictures. I am happy enough when some people say I have a potential in photography :))

I am not good with taking portrait shots. Ok with the numerous times I was taken portrait shots in a studio in binondo ;p, I guess there are simple secrets a photographer needs to know about taking portraits, especially women :)

1) Vanity and not reality
It's not just about how over-clear your picture is. No one wants to be taken over-clear pictures where big pores, pimples, blackheads, scars, fine lines are clearly visible. I've heard of male photographers responding back 'eh ganon naman talaga hitsura nyan'. If you are a taking a photo of a bride, I am sure she wants you to find her best angle and work on it, make it prettier. I am not spending 100k+ for a wedding package and posing for you to take pictures of reality.. I want it to be closer to fantasy.

2) Forget about lighting
Isnt it obvious that sometiems, over-exposed pictures always make a woman prettier? The skin becomes very fair and smooth. The imperfections are hidden. The overall face shines with a glow. Same with those in dim lights. Just dont overdo and overfollow lighting rules.

3) Forget about the rule of thirds
If you can take a closeup picture of me with symmetrical perfect 10 score, I guess I probably wont be talking to you and paying you, I should be a model and you should be paying me. There are only a luckly few common people who can look so good with the camera that you can fill the whole picture with her face. Refrain from doing this so often in prenup for ordinary-looking couples. And besides, most likely the women might have splurged on her gowns and some accesories that she wants to be captured altogether rather than just her face occupying 70-90% of a picture.

4) Camouflage the fats
Fats are the worst enemy of any woman. Avoid avoid focusing on any problem areas, big belly, big thighs, double chin and big shoulders.
Shoulder fats seem to be the hardest part to get rid of, and is also the most visible in a normal half-body picture
My friend shared to me what she learned in a paid workshop. (oops I am not supposed to share then) but who cares. :p An efficient photographer should naturally camouflage the problem areas by using other elements. If the bride has big shoulders, then have poses where the groom is hugging her or putting his arms on her shoulders. Sounds witty to me.

Here are some of the latest shots I had taken while enjoying my prize in Angsana resort :) On the contrary, I guess I won because only a few people joined :p. Who cares, the best things in life are free!

How to be Consistently Annoying

I guess most of my female friends are somehow same in thinking wavelengths with me, except for this. She seems to have built an annoying reputation quite well. Sorry for being honest...

1) Unbelievable
Kept saying that she'll take a leave on my December vacation last time. I know this is much to expect from her. 'Sabihin mo sa kin pag nakabook ka na, magleleave talaga ako para bonding tayo'
Then I gave her my leave dates.
Then I reached Manila, waiting for what she has to say
'Ay sorry d pla ako pwede magleave kasi naunahan ako, tawag ka na lng tom night, usap tayo sa phone'
Yeah right.
I called her the night after, she's out. I smsed her, 'hey I called u and you were out daw'. Well at least I did my part.
Then she smsed me back late in the night around 12midnight, 'ei sorry nalimutan ko, niyaya kasi ako ng friend ko magpafootspa so kakauwi ko lng'
Grrh you just push yourself out from trusted people list. Lang kwenta.

2) Strange lifestyle
I hate to say this but I somehow dont like people who overspend beyond their means.
She has a simple job in a bank that pays very modest, ok it's a little above minimum wage. From her stories, she has enrolled in a gym that costs 2.5k per month, she uses expensive branded make-ups and perfumes. From what she said, every payday is always 'quits', or sometimes negative.
And she has the urge to drop a hint to her suitor to buy her a lacoste bag that costs 4.5k php, and she got it and still display fb pictures using it, despite dumping the suitor. Poor guy

3) Invalid reasons
When she met her fiance, she told me she was having doubts because of 'chiong'.
She hardly speaks fookien and mandarin well, and far from being a very traditional filchi. How in the earth can a filchi from this generation to still bother about 'chiong'? This 'chiong' refers to bad luck in marriage for couples with 6yr-gap.

4) Not so convincing
"Les, pag kinasal ako, uwi ka, ikaw sa prayer ha."
Ok this prayer-thing is not appealing to me. Normally if we are very close friends, I would suppose u'd place me on entourage. Am I wrong here? My sister didnt place me in prayer before. :p

5) Dont you have shame
She asked me previously whether she can stay over at my house if she does visit sg, I answered 'sure'
Then she asked me again in fb, "uy sa next holiday punta kami ni bf pati si X and her bf. Bka pwedeng yun mga boys sa sala tpos siksik na lng kami sa room mo".
My goodness 2 couples going to SG, wala ka bang pambayad ng motel? I guess at our age, we probably can forge out few pennies for a hostel stay? And I dont like it that if I extended an invitation to you, you pass it on to more people that I dont even personally know.
I answered, 'oops parang masikip ata, tska may mga housemates ako eh. Pwede ka pa rin stay sa kin, here's the list of hostel, I can help the other 3 book a room if you want'. I sent the fb message a day after because I dont really check my fb inbox every single day.
She didnt reply, and after a few days I asked her again hows the plan going
She answered, 'ay ndi na kami tuloy, d ka kasi nagreply agad eh'...
#$#$#! If you need an urgent answer, well you can always call me up right? Pa-guilty effect. Sorry try harder next time.

6) Invalid reasons again
She was in her blues about relocating with her fiance to london, who works there as a nurse. Well in some way, I can relate to her goosebumps, about starting anew in a country without familiar faces.
So in an attempt to console her, I asked her ok what are your concerns. I was expecting she'd mentioned about her dad as I remembered she said something before that her dad has some sickness.
Her reply is 'natatakot ako wala akong kakilala dun, at ndi ko na makikita lumaki ang pamangkin ko!'

Brrh. i dont like it when titas tend to overreact about pamangkins. Her pamangkin is just a newborn whom I dont think they have too much bonding moments. Well I also care for my pamangkins. Just that isnt it an overkill to use them as a major excuse. Besides, 'hindi ikaw ang nanay!'. Go and multiply, you will have your own kids soon.

7) Overly pacute language ang status in fb, nosebleeding type. the worst is:
'i saw my look-alike Anne Curtis yesterday!'
??? What? Parang malayo ah. She looks ok, but not the pretty head-turning type.

Ok kidding aside, to be fair, what annoys me is that she is exactly the same way she used to be in high school. Her maturity and personality seem to have stopped from there. :p

Jay and Jolin again

Ok fangirl for the last time, well anyway only one person can make me crazy :D

Jay's concert finale in Taiwan has a special guest, no other than Jolin. Top 2 icons of Taiwan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQv3_dFfUN0

And the juicy part, Jolin is Jay's ex 5 yrs ago! When their careers were just starting, the two were once a pair. He has composed songs for Jolin in her earlier
albums. This is what the rumor is, grapevine. Due to Jay's womanizing ways, he dumped her for another famous pretty TV news anchor (who I actualy dont consider lovelier than Jolin). Jolin was said to be torn after the break-up. Both their careers grew stronger throughout the years, being the best-selling icon of Taiwan
superstars. Jolin seemed to be more competitive after the break-up and exerted lots of effort to improve her skills, now earning the title of being a dancing diva. It was said that her motivation was to beat Jay and she did, a few times in records selling. Jay broke up with the news anchor and consequently get linked to various women from time to time. It was said they were not in good terms.

And to everyone's surprise, they hooked up again in Jay's concert, whatever the dance means! Love it. Super kilig watching this. I hope they do get back together! They are just too good to be together, two of a kind, no one could ever compare and dare come close :)

Now the saying 'Nan Ren Bu Hwai, Nu Ren Bu Ai'. I am not much of a fan, but yes, Jay is an exception :p. Why bother the starlets when you can have the brightest star, wake up kid! :p

Old concert 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SQKBSfZH3E&feature=related

Admiration for Jay

Jay got me into so much temptations recently..

First Attempt
It was announced that he'll be having a concert in one of the Saturdays of July in SG. I was so upset hearing the news as the concert date coincided with my vacation in Manila. Haha to be honest if i did insist on preponing my return flight to sg, I wont be able to attend my barkada's wedding. Yup I am guilty of being unsupportive :) We werent really very close buds, just a newer member of the barkada and also someone whom I have much respect for.. (hmm he's the only person who has ever beaten me academically in my entire school life, need I say more how much of an uber alien this earthling is!) I would recall a Chinese saying my mom would jokingly say 'hong te chua bo, ke po tan tiong' = 'the king weds a concubine and all the kepo's (nosey people) wants to take part in the party'. :) Sorry but Jay Chou has become an influential person in my life.

The night before concert booking date, I thought it over and slept on it and woke up saying 'Yes I'm gonna do it, I'll move my flight earlier'. And again I was haunted by the OCBC credit card priority booking. I dont have one so I asked my friend to book for us. I thought things would go well, who knows online booking got screwed up with the numerous millions of people trying to get hold of the tickets, local and international. My friend should have queued in the booth itself, like what I did back in 2008 for Jay's concert. So tickets were sold out in 2hours or so. Selling like hotcakes literally.


Second Attempt
After all the chaos, same day it was announced there will be a new show added on the Friday (one day before the previously scheduled show). Again did the same thing thought about it whole night, it was actualy quite pricey to rebook my flight and much effort too. But as you grow older, things that tickle you and those you are so 100% deadly surely sure you like, it's just so hard to let go. This time my friend cant make it so it's a one-man battle. I smsed an officemate to bring his credit card. I'm gonna queue at 9am first thing in the morning before going to work. That said, next day (booking day), I ran into the chaos of being locked out with all belongings in my bedroom (refer to previous entry on 1st locked out attempt). Struggled till 8pm after work and finally able to get this fixed. I seemed to lose the enthusiasm that day. At the back of my mind, cant help thinking why on earth are the forces against me.

Is this an omen, like blocking off some misfortune that will be happening those days. Better something exciting awaits me in Manila for staying those extra days. I concede.


Third Attempt
Due to insistent public demand, a third show was added on the Sunday (day after the original scheduled show). My family was with me and I had depleted May's budget early on :p. Tipid mode and tamad mode too so I gave it up. My friend again has a failed attempt as the tickets again got soldout in 2hours. I actualy dont know why she didnt try harder. For myself, I just felt sad. Really dont understand why among the 365 days of 2010, the 3 concerts day should be during the time I will be out!!! grrh I surrender to faith. Not meant to be and I lost the energy to screw my plans :(

I didnt know scalpers are also famous in sg. Those lucky crazy people who rushed to buy the tickets, some are selling the tickets online, at least double or triple the price! scary. And also a lot of crazy people out there who have booked to watch all 3 consecutive nights!

It probably hurts not to get something you like with your whole heart. You wont know when the next opportunity comes, or will it still ever come? Life is just like that. Well as for Jay's concerts, it seems to come only every 3 years.. :(

And did anything remarkable those extra days.. yeah big time.. I got stranded in the airport as the flight was postponed for 2.5hours.

Misadventures and Reality

May 28 (Fri) was a holiday here. Since it's a long weekend, my friend and I hooked up for a KTV night. We had dinner and decided to try a first time at Kallang Leisure Mall, as it is the nearest mall to both our houses (our houses are just a station apart and the mall is a 4 short stations away from my house). We arrived there 10pm and a bigg room was given to us since it's running fullhouse. Big meaning it can hold 10pax and there's even a projector screen. Awesome, I've never sung with such a humongous screen, quite an experience. But after a few minutes, small rooms were vacated by others and we took over a normal-sized room. Nevertheless it was fun. We were singing latest pops to 90's to 80's. Since it was almost midnight where cab rates have already doubled, we decided we wanna do some more hours. We finished late, very late, wee hours of the morning. We walked out of the mall and roads were quite manless and cabless.

My friend suggested that we go to main road, and if we're lucky, we might even spot a Night Rider bus. Main Road looks near.. but after like 2minutes walking with empty lots beside the mall, and 2 chinese male strangers who I didnt notice were walking behind us, I told my friend, 'let's head back to the mall and call a cab'. (Calling a cab just have an extra charge of 2.5sgd) I know I have the habit to be praning (exaggerately cautious) about walking in the night, despite Singapore being a safe country.

***..
Back in Manila, I try not to take cabs at night, and if I do, I will have to murmur a prayer and hope I get out alive. :p Thanks to filchis having an elite kidnappable stature in Philippines, and my complexion seems to make it harder to camouflage in the general public. I was robbed in a Morayta jeep in college days, a man sat beside me and kept edging near. I was bringing my first ever self-bought pink Girbaud bag from OJT salary. I could feel a sharp object being nudged against my bag. I was feeling stiffed, I couldnt move or shout coz if I do, probably my stomach would have a hole. The jeepney trip ended and the man was not successful to take anything out of my bag, as it was a nerd's bag with notebooks, and the wallet/cellphone were luckily on another side. I went down shaking. My bag had several cuts at one end. And of course, it was never used again, no chance of repair. That is the worst encounter, I still have a few other similar incidents, mostly as witness and not a victim.

We headed back and called a cab, the trip was quite short. I was dropped off first since my house was nearer. I went up to my unit. To my surprise, the main gate doesnt open. I tried yanking the key, it just DOESNT open. Holy shit, I didnt know tbat in this house we moved to, my housemates are actually locking the main gate like that, 'double lock', 'child lock', coz I hardly go home at wee hours of the morning. I called my flatmates and no one responded. Sh*t again, seems like both of their phones were on silent mode. Countless doorbells, but I dont know if they can hear it. Countless knocking. (like what I wrote earlier in a blog entry, u felt that you kept knocking all your life that your hands have bled, of course just figuratively).

After 30min struggle, I was so damn angry and upset and tired and perspiring and sleepy. I gave up and thought of other options. The nearest decent 3star
hotel would cost me 200sgd. The cheapest option is the motel just across the next road, 70sgd, but sleeping there might be another problem and not a solution.

My phone was also about to die, with only 1 bar left. I managed to sms my friend, 'Can u send me your exact address. I am locked out. Seems like I need to sleep in your place. Sorry'. Times like this you realize hell I dont memorize anyone's number or anyone's address for that matter, Battery please dont die or else I dont know how to get through the night. And thankfully, my friend answered. Good thing she lives near and I was with her so she should still be awake. I waited some time in the nearest bus stop (again, manless), and took a cab to her place.

That's it. Being locked out is not funny, especially if you have it a second time. (refer to my earliert incident of being locked out)

And life goes on.

3 Days after, I was watching TV on a normal Monday night dinner. I have not watched TV in the last 2 years+ as the TV unit was faulty and TV is not really an essential thing for me. It's only when we moved in to the new place that I started watching TV again. Surprisingly I was watching news and not variety shows that night. What I heard was shocking. 4 people were robbed and nabbed in Kallang area on May 30 (Sun) early hours in the morning. 1 of them was killed. The others on ICU, one had his fingers dangling. It was a violent robbery. Only 2 of the 4 identified culprits were arrested then. Below has the story:
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_533469.html

I couldnt believe this can happen in SG???!!!! Last time I heard something similar was probably 3 years back in Manila. Where such things could be a commonplace elsewhere.

... AND I couldnt believe I was there in Kallang exactly a day before it happened.

Ok I'm still alive..