A long silence...

I was not able to post any blog last week because I really busy here at work. I am one of the 5 persons who were assigned to decorate the Tech Floor for today's Halloween Celebration. This year, the Tech theme is Harry Potter. So we have Witches Hat, Floating Candles (real candles), Dementors, Brooms, the Flying Car and the Tree, the Hogwarts Train and Golden Snitch and of the course the Hogwarts Castle entrance. Today is the judgement day for the Floor decoration. I can say that the Tech Department can compete with other departments this time.

This is the first time that I joined the decorating team. It was really tiring, especially the paintings job. But it's rewarding or fulfilling when managers and supervisors do appreciate what we're doing. It's a nice hear a "WOW" from them. Today, we have a Halloween Treat, a Go Nuts Donuts, Chips and bottled Iced Tea.

Then last Saturday, finally I was able to finished putting all the Christmas Decors at our home.

Tomorrow until November 2, I am on swap schedule (6:00 - 3:45 PM) so that I can go to Mexico Cemetery to visit my grandparents and at Tierra Santa Memorial Park for my partner's Dad.

16th MonthSary

October 28 is our 16th Monthsary. After the past months of not celebrating our monthsary, me and my partner decided to have a small celebration at McDonald's Dau. Why McDonald's? We want to make it something memorable because October 28 is the Grand Re-opening of McDonald's Dau after its major renovation. When I said yes to him, we were having our snacks our Mcdonalds (at dau branch) that's why, that place is soooo memorable to us.

My partner ordered Big Mac Meal because he really missed the Big Mac after months of not going there coz of a tight budget while I ordered Cheeseburger Meal because of my "diet".he he he

We only spend 35 minutes there because my partner is in a hurry for his Poll Watcher's Meeting for the Barangay and SK Elections.

Helkin Audrey Angeles Christening

The invitation
Helkin Audrey
Proud Parents
The Godparents
At Reception, KM. 86 Restaurant

Our Table
Our Group
One More...

Thanks to Whin for sharing the pics

A Sleepy Day

I am so sleepy right now and at the same time my stomach is aching. I woke
up at 1:23 AM last night because my stomach's so bad so I went to the bathroom
and download. Then at 2:30 AM, I woke up again to download again with a
watery waste. I did not took any medicines so that the toxins will completely be
removed.

Then last morning while eating breakfast at the canteen, two of my team
mates told me they had diarrhea last night. Then while having an online training,
all of my team mates are saying they all had diarrhea last night. So, all of
us are suspecting the food that we ate at the canteen yesterday especially
the chicken with soy dish.

Until now, some of my team mates including my supervisor are still going to
the rest room to download. My supervisor already reported the incident to the
proper contact so that they can investigate it and find out what happened.
We are also hearing other agents on other department discussing the same
thing.

Even though, the chicken is our suspect, I still ate fried chicken on my
lunch a while ago coz we have no other choice. The food in the canteen lately
sucks. : X. He he he =)

The Sun Finally Shine

On my previous post, I've mentioned about my partner's depression and frustrations. Well, now, I'm happy to say that the sun finally shines on him. Thank God that He answered our prayers.

Last night at exactly 10:12 pm while we are watching TV, his phone rang and immediately, he answered it. They talked for few minutes and I can immediately say what the call is all about coz I can hear him talking to the person on the other line. Guess what? My partner will start his COL (Language Training) today, that is from 11 pm to 7 pm. Upon hearing the good news, I closed my eyes and thanked God for this another blessing. Well, I hope that this time, he'll be able to passed the training so he'll be hired.

I feel two things for this news. I feel a bit sad yet happy. Sad because starting tonight, we won't be given more time for each other, especially at night. I will definitely miss his right leg lying on top of my left leg while we are asleep.

I can now imagine how our life would be affected by this. Knowing that his training is scheduled at night, that means, we barely see each other. Imagine that once I just got home by 7:30 pm, he has to leave comes 9:30 pm. And when I have to leave in the morning in order work, he just gets back to take a rest.

I am still not sure on how we can work on this but in the meantime, I'll observe the situation and make some plans. I am happy because finally, he now got a job; a job that will let him support himself and his family, not mention he can soon buy some things and foods he wants.

I am also planning to move to GY shift and move to Voice department because of this. I want to have more time with him. But I am also considering my health condition which is the main reason why I moved back to morning shift and left my GY friends. Right now, I'm starting to get confused. But just like what I said, I'll observe our situation first and then, make a decision later on.

This morning, I told him that I might go home tomorrow night after my shift. My alibi is that I'll start to put up the Christmas decors at home (my family's) and that I need more time. But the truth is, I don't want to spend the night alone (since he will start his training) at their house and i just prefer to just go home and be with my family. I'm just trying to be practical in spending my time with my love ones.

After the darkness that my partner and his family have gone thru, I just hope and pray that the sun will continue to shine on him (and his family too). = )

My Partner's Depression

Since Monday, my partner's depression is getting bigger and bigger. First one is more of a family problem which I consider a sensitive one. Second, he's current situation, that is being a jobless. What makes him really feels frustrated is that his batch mate (batchmate during the interview in a call center) called him yesterday and gave him a news; that he was called by the company to have his product training today.

We both don't know what went wrong with his application after his physical exam. I was thinking that there might be a problem with his physical exam or my partner was scheduled to attend the next batch of training. I really don't know how to help him in times of these situations.

Last night, he was so silent and did not even want to eat and was crying and even told me not to leave his family if he decided to go first. You know what I mean. I said "NO", I won't take care of them because that's your responsibility, that's what you promised to your dad on his graveyard, that you will take care of them. I just said those things so he would stop thinking about committing suicide just to get away from those "not-so-good" times.

I'm just praying for him, because this is the only way I can help him on this kind of situation.

Eleven Minutes & PBB

Eleven Minutes

I just finished reading the book "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho. Wow, I cant believe that I was able to finish reading that book here in our office in just two weeks. I was spending usually 5 hours of my office hours to kill the boredom. Well, there's an alpha for having this habit lately.

I now enjoy reading books more than before. Now, I got a new book to read. Its "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. I pretty sure you know who the heck Dan Brown is; the author of the ever famous "The Da Vinci Code".

Pinoy Big Brother Season

Its PBB season once again. This time, its the Celebrity Edition Season 2. I used to send out mailing list to my teammies and friends to give them updates and Live Stream screen caps which are shared to me by a group of PBB fanatics in a forum. These updates are sent almost in realtime and are not edited, unlike what we see in the "primetime" cast on TV.

To all the people on my list, my apologies I am not able to send you updates this time. In case someone would like to volunteer, I can give you my password for that account so you can use it and send us an updates. :-) I hope someone will, coz I badly want to receive PBB Updates before they gets aired in the Primetime show.

Another blessing...

Yesterday at exactly 6:10 PM, while reading the "Eleven Minutes" book, my
sister who is working in UK as nurse called me to share a good news she just
received; that is, she passed the recent NCLEX exam. : ) I can feel in her voice
that she's very happy because once their papers are done processed by her
new employer, her entire family will move to Arizona to start a new life.

Last month, she asked me a favor, that is, to offer and pray at Carmelite
Monastery in Angeles City. Carmelite is known to be as a miraculous patron. A
lot of people, including celebrities visits the patron to pray and offer
something in hope to grant their wish. I went there twice. I lighted candles and
prayed for my sister's success in passing the exam. And now that my sister
passed the exam, she ask me to go back to thank God and Carmelite and offer some
eggs.

Yes "eggs". Until now, I still don't know the reason behind or the power of
offering eggs at Carmelite. Do you have any idea? Well if you do, will you
share me the idea? Anyway, I'm planning to visit Carmelite this weekend. I also
asked her the thing she promised to me if in case she will passed....a brand
new cell phone. he he he.

My sister told me that it might take a longer time to comeback to
Philippines once they move to U.S, so, before moving to Arizona, they will visit us
here in the Philippines. I am really happy and got excited after hearing that
because after more than a year, I will be seeing my nephew again and for the
first time, we'll see her second baby who will be celebrating her 1st birthday
this coming November 27.

I really thanked God for the recent blessings he gave to my sister and to
our entire family. I'm excited to see my sister again along with her kids. And
of course, I am excited to have my new cell phone. =)

I Failed Again

I just got my feedback about my application last month. And the result is, I did not passed.

Yes, for the third time, I still did not made it. I'm a little bit sad about it but not surprised. This is not the end of my world, I know. It's just part of growing and becoming a strong person. There's no regret on my part for giving that application another try because I learned a lot of things and I gained more confidence after my third application.

Unlike my second application, there are lot of improvement on my end when I faced the four panelist the last time i tried. I was really nervous during the second panel interview and i, myself is not satisfied with my answers but during my third try, I was able to answer their questions with much confidence.

If there will be opening on that same position in the coming months, do you think I will apply after my third failure? Definitely YES. As long as I am meeting or exceeding the goals, I will re-apply again. As my Sr. Supervisor told me, "There's no harm in trying it again". He's right and I will take that as another challenge for me to achieve what I am aiming for.

"The Alchemist" book is also one of my inspiration. The book says "Follow your dreams, listen to your heart". Before achieving your dream, you need to face a lot of challenges or bumps that will make you a strong and competitive person, that's what I've realized with the help of that book. We are learning a lot of things on every challenges or bumps that we encounter in life.

Maybe this is not the right time for me to "SHINE". LOL (just kidding). But seriously, maybe this is not the right time for me to be in that level. Maybe I still need to improve something or learn a lot of things so that when the right time comes, I am ready to face that new role.

Right now, I am focusing on my performance. I am consistent in not accessing any web site nor engaging with IMs. I admire myself now because I never thought that I can also do this. Maybe because I am enjoying reading the "Eleven Minutes" book. =)

To my friend Alex, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Reminiscing My Chowking Life

Last night at SM Clark, I bumped into my college friend, Ces, who is now one of the managers at Chowking store. I asked her if she still have a work to finished or if she has something else to do. She told me that she just have to go to Chowking SM Clark to give some documents to her longtime boyfriend Jerome, who is also a manager at Chowking. After that, she's free for anything.

So I grabbed the chance for us to catch up each other's lives. Since she is working for Chowking, we chose to stay in their place. She treated me for some snacks. We talked a lot of things about me and her. We exchanged stories. I opened up some of my problems to her since I consider her one of my trusted friends since our college days. I thanked her for the merienda treat. he he he. Seriously, I was really thankful for her time, for listening and for giving me some advises about my situation.

During our chitchat, Sir Jimmy, one of the ex-Chowking managers, texted her. He invite her and ask me to tag along to join them in his "Despedida party at the Chowking Staff House in Marisol. Surely you have the idea what despedida party's for. Just like our other kababayans, he decided to leave the county and work aboard, specifically, in Canada as a Head Cook. By 8:45 PM, we decided to go there.

Right after we finished eating, we joined the "drinking session" together with some of my previous Chowking managers. I worked at Chowking Dau and Angeles branch From April 1998 to September 1999 while studying in college.

During the session, we had few laughs. We reminisced few things in our past. I got a chance to talked to another kitchen manager, Sir Philip, who once made me cry when I was still a trainee. He no longer remember what happened so I told him about it. Let me do a short story telling for you. I was in GY shift then. Since I am new to the job, I was always at the Noodles section. One time, Sir Philip swapped me with Arman to man the Short Order section. Since Chowking Dau is near at the Dau Bus Terminal, we always expect lots of customers coming-in at night at that time. I had no choice then but to take the Short Order section and do cooking at the same time. I cooked the orders that the cashier is airing in the microphone while Sir Philip was just there, standing beside me and observing what I am doing. While I am cooking and preparing the orders, he keep on asking me what the orders are and keep on instructing me on what to do. Since I am not yet familiar with the job, customers' orders got delayed. That made him mad and told me leave and take my break. I went to staff room at the back of the building and cried. Back then, I just wanted to finish my studies that's why I chose to work at night. That incident inspires me to improve. I doubled my effort to learn all the kitchen duties and procedures until comes the day they tag me as the "Short Order Queen". lols.

After six months, Chowking Angeles branch requested me to worked for them. I grabbed that offer since it is only 20 steps away from my school which I find convenient for me to go to work after school. No traffic, No lates. he he he

I also found out that two of the supervisors at Angeles branch, Sir Ekins and Sir Sonny, are now working in abroad as a Head Cook as well. I won't forget these two managers because they helped every crew while they supervise the outlet, unlike other managers who just stand there and watch crew staff do their stuff. he he he.

I got a little tipsy last night because I can't refused their drink offer but manage to get home at 11:55 PM. Just like Cinderella, I tried to be at home before 12 midnight.

For you Sir Jimmy, thank you and good luck on your next journey. =)

Sir Jimmy (last)

A New Challenge...

Yesterday, I started to challenge myself not to access web sites and send IMs. As soon as I signed-on to my account, I set my IM settings to "Block All" so as no one can contact me or send me IMs. Why I am doing this? I am doing this to focus more on my performance and honestly speaking, I am quite afraid about the remote viewing. he he he.

But you know what's tempting? We managed to empty all the boxes at around 2 PM and that gave us me a chance to access anything but thankfully, I was able to resist that temptation despite that I feel sooooo bored.

Today, I still don't access web sites nor do send IMs instead, I brought a book with me, entitled "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho. By the way, this book is about a woman who became a prostitute in search for her dream, love and life. I got interested to read this book because of the book "The Alchemist" written by the same author.

Now I got lost. hehe. Anyway, back to the issue, if in case we manage to empty the boxes again, I can get away with the boredom. I've got something to do, that is, to read this book while waiting for mails to pop-up on my screen. This is much safer rather than browsing the Internet right? I will probably access my Blog sites at "My Place" during my breaks or I might just go to an Internet Cafe outside.

Be Famous or Be Anonymous?...Be "ME"

I know that some of you are familiar or maybe have heard about the "Be Famous or Be Anonymous" on the Television, Internet and even on Radio. It is from a reality show, it's about search models for clothing line here in the Philippines.

I just want to use it for myself. After the issue about my blog, did I get FAMOUS? Maybe YES. After some peeps forwarded my blog site to someone else, I believe I got famous. It's not a surprised to me to see some eyes staring at me whenever I pass by the hallways.

I don't appreciate getting famous this way. NO WAY! I still prefer to be ANONYMOUS with a peace of mind and freedom to express my feelings or opinion. I just want to be "ME".

Today, I am so sleepy because I only slept for 3 hours. I had a hard time sleeping last night because of my blog issue. I am still mad about the situation. Also, my partner, being the eldest of their family, is struggling on a difficult and sensitive family problems right now. I cannot help him because the issue is only for their family and the only I thing that I can do for him is just to be on his side and listen.

He got drunk last night. He cried infront of me and told me to not leave him, especially now that he's on such a situation. I cannot stop him from drinking until 5 AM in the morning that's why I only slept from 5 AM to 7:30 AM. And now I am so sleepy, dizzy and have a headache.

What is "BLOG"?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) or sexual topics (Adult blog), and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.

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What is the relation of "blog" about this post? Well, yesterday a concern citizen told me that my recent posts are controversial because I am kinda or sort of attacking my old and new company. WHAT??? Yes, I was shocked to hear this but not surprised because I know that my blog site already spread out to most of the employees.

For what I know, blog is where you can express your OWN OPINION and FEELINGS about yourself, about others or about anything that comes into your mind. Are they trying to limit me? Where's my "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" here?

If I am commenting something, those are my personal comment or point of view. If others are commenting to it, so what? It is their right to express their OWN feelings or opinion about the issue that I posted. I did not forced anybody to read and reply to my posts.

And why they are doing that? Am I disseminating some sensitive or confidential information about the company if I am just telling my comments based from my what eyes are seeing?

I am mad right now. For those people who don't understand what is blog, I hope Wikipedia explanation will enlighten you.

in the meantime, my Blogspot and some of my posts here at Multiply are hidden. I promise that everything will be back to normal once im finished editing those posts.

To all my friends who are commenting to my posts, "THANK YOU" and don't be afraid to express your own feelings.