So Fucking Happy I Could Kick a Puppy

March has been really, really hectic. And it all started off with a job interview on the evening of Feb 28. All I can say about that right now is that I'm completely surprised and ecstatic about how fast things has happened. Within three days, I found myself getting interviewed and then getting an offer and then resigning from my current company to take the new job. Awesome.

After that great bit of news, I took a two-day leave from work to go on a four-day vacation in Boracay, which will never stop being an awesome place (hopefully, anyway.) Pics here, here and here.

Boracay Sunset

Zorbing with Jan and Ish

Messing around on the beach

Swimming and chilling and doing nothing on the best sand in the best beach in the world, partying at night, eating good food, having great company... Yep, this year's Boracay trip was awesome.

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My boss from Poland also swung by Manila for some meetings, and it was fun talking to him about Warsaw (I miss it) and Manila, the beautiful places in the Philippines he should visit (I tried convincing him to skip work and join us in Boracay, lol), which parts of a pig sisig is made from (ears, cheeks and brains) (I told him this after he finished eating some, of course), crossing the streets of Metro Manila (I think he'll be scared of our streets for the rest of his life), and how he should eat balut (even more scared...)

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I attended a couple of Couchsurfing activities. Both involved drinking and lots of talking (and a bit of awkward dancing), and both were completely fun. Kind of makes me regret not participating in more CS events!

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Just last week, another slight change of routine was in order. My soon-to-be-former team also moved in to a new building at McKinley Hill in Taguig City. The new office is actually really nice. It has lots of workspaces (thankfully! since our team was basically displaced in our old office in Ayala...), wider hallways and bigger conference rooms. The only problem is, since the new floor isn't fully furnished yet, we have to go to another floor just to use the washroom or get a glass of water. Such a hassle. Of course, I'll only be working in that office for just 2 more weeks, so I'm not gonna complain too hard.

Now, last 3rd of March, be awesome!

Boracay! With CSI! Pt. 3

Third day in Boracay - we went reef walking in the morning, but we had to wait until lunch time for our turn since there were many batches. We killed time by swimming from one boat to another (namely: kayak, banana and speed.) Reef Walking (aka Helmet Diving) in Boracay was an okay experience. The visibility in the water wasn't that great and there was exactly one (1!) coral reef formation to see once you're down there. Lots of fishes to feed though.

As I said, it was lunch time when we finished, so we had lunch at basically the first restaurant we saw after getting back on the beach, which was Hawaiian Barbecue. And I'm not complaining at all because the huge baby back ribs, Hawaiian-style lechon manok and fried fish were all yummy, and paid for by the very generous Pat.

After resting up a bit, we went to the zorb riding park for some downhill, wet, ball-rolling fun (and no, I don't mean for that to sound dirty.) I was really, really excited to try this. I remember the 5th season of The Amazing Race, on the New Zealand leg, this was the roadblock and part of the task was filling the zorb up with air, then rolling yourself on the plain to the pitstop, good thing we didn't have to do either... We just had to get inside the giant globe and wait for it to fall down the hill. And it was awesome! I couldn't stop laughing the entire time, even while water was splashing all over my face and Pat and Manny's limbs were kicking/hitting me all at the same time. Sana magkaron ng ganito sa Manila (or kahit sa Tagaytay.)

After that, we walked around the beach again, and ended up at Jona's again, ordering a set of milk shakes again. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if that became my daily routine. Also part of our daily routine: Happy Hour. This time we went to the rooftop lounge of The Tides Hotel for some beer and cocktails (and calamares and oysters and cheese sticks.) Their happy hour promo was Buy 1-Take 1 instead of the usual 50% off, so we ended up drinking more than our usual drinks (but it was our last day anyway.) So after happy hour, we went to Ele's at D'Mall for dinner. I guess reef walking and zorbing was too labor intensive for us, so we just kept on eating and drinking the rest of the day.

After dinner (which ended at about 11pm), we (around 8 of us) capped our Buhay Baboy day with a nice massage. Where the masseuse told us all to strip off our clothes. Which was kind of awkward since there were no dividers and we could all see each other, as well as everyone else who happened to be in the (public) area. I took off my clothes anyway.

Pics!

Boracay! With CSI! Pt. 2

Day 2 in Boracay - Played some frisbee (kunyari marunong), then met up with the rest of the CSI folks for lunch at D'Mall. After lunch, we went to Jona's (again) for some milk shake, then met up with Stephie and Eileen for some Flyfish action, which is always FUN. Manny and Pat weren't able to join us because they just got their henna tattoos and were waiting for it to dry up. On the bright side, they were able to ride the speed boat that was pulling the flyfish and were able to shoot some great videos (including the part where we were all trying to help Eileen get back on the ride.)

After that, we hung out on the beach and played some frisbee again (which I was really lame at, so I just decided to swim after a few minutes.) We also played our favorite Boracay game, batuhan ng lumot. After the games, it's safe to say I went crazy on taking pics of the sunset (which is what usually happens when I'm on the beach and there's a sunset and I've got a camera.)

We went to Hey Jude for happy hour drinks, had dinner at a buffet place near D'Mall, then went to Summerplace for some more drinks. As I said in one of my tweets, Summerplace is Boracay's Cafe Havana (Greenbelt.) Ang daming foreigners na may kasamang exotic-looking gnolutaks girls. We left after one bucket.

Pics!

Boracay! With CSI!

I didn't get to go to Boracay last year, so I was excited to go back. It looks even more like Glorietta/Greenbelt since I was last there two years ago. So yeah.

The CSI/L3 Team went to Boracay for their team building activity, so we (me, Pat, Mats, Becca, Yome and Manny) tagged along since kaladkarin kami.

First day in Boracay - March 14, 2010.

We arrived at around 3pm and were shuttled to Island Nook Resort. Island Nook is just beside D'Mall and along the main road of the island. It's a nice budget boutique hotel with really nice rooms, designed in exactly the way you'd think a budget boutique hotel would be designed (all white and minimalist.) Island Nook also has nice Persian resto called Island Kebab that servers good food and has that typical resto-on-an-island feel, complete with surfing photos and Bob Marley posters. It's just kind of weird that they've got Shawarma Rice and Pita Bread on their menu, but when you order the actual shawarma (the ones served on a pita bread), sasabihin nung waitress na hindi sila nagseserve ng ganun. Anyway.

We walked along the beach to our first destination: Jona's for some great milk shake. We just hung out at the beach in front of Jona's till the sun set (where Pat asked a random kid if we could bury him on the sand. The kid ran away.) After that, we went to Juice Bar in Plazoleta for some happy hour drinks (we were the only ones there.) Then we had dinner at Andok's in D'Mall, before joining everyone else at Club Parao (or what used to be Club Parao, I forgot what it's new name is) for more drinks.

/End of Day/Night 1.

Pics are uploaded on my Multiply and Facebook pages.

Traveling and Budgeting

Funny how last January, I was complaining about not having enough trips planned yet for the year. Fast forward to now, and I've got Boracay, Baguio, Singapore, Iloilo and Guimaras, Batanes, and Baguio all lined up.

Woot! Cheers to airline promos! Ubos na naman ang pera ko!

The Iloilo (with a planned sidetrip to Guimaras) and two Baguio trips are actually for weddings of friends/current & former officemates (Mich and James, Marlon and Camille, and Karon and Wayne), so those are pretty much planned out. The Iloilo flight is probably the cheapest flight I've ever paid for at 300 pesos (round trip!!!) from Cebu Pacific. And Guimaras is less than an hour's boat ride from Iloilo City, so that trip is definitely a steal. Baguio is a 7-hour bus ride, so we actually haven't planned those ones yet.

Last January when Cebu Pac had another seat sale, I was asking (a.k.a. begging) my office friends to go to Bohol/Singapore with me, but not enough people bit the offer for various different reasons... So when we heard that another team in the office was going to Boracay for their team building activity, Pat, Mats & Becca, Rommel, and I decided to tag along with them (we're crashing in on the other team's team building trip since they found discounted PAL flights and cheap accommodations there. LOL.)

And then last week, my college/office friend Mia was planning for a Singapore trip and found discounted flights on Singapore Airlines, so when she told me about it and found that an IT Fair and the Great Singapore Sale was going to happen around the same dates of the trip, and Mike confirmed that Universal Studios SG is now open, I jumped in on it too. We're planning on just crashing at our former officemates/currently Singapore-based friends' apartment to save on costs. Thanks for not objecting to our planned invasion, Ben, Jyue, Mike and Geebee!

Finally, we've been planning/trying to plan a trip to Batanes for several months now. We even have a discussion on Google Wave for it (because we're dripping with technogeeky hipster coolness as it is. Heh.), but found most travel options either too expensive (14k + on Seair, or a chartered flight from Tuguegarao), or too um, hardcore (boat from Curimao, Ilocos Norte, anyone?) So when Seair released their promo fares in time for this year's Philippine Travel Expo, we were finally able to finalize the dates of the trip. Woohoo!

So... now I really have to work hard to stay on my monthly budget (also: I guess now have to start setting a monthly budget) and reduce unnecessary expenses. As a first step, magce-Century Tuna at Ligo Sardines na lang ako araw-araw.

Also, kailangang humanap ng role na malaki ang on-call pay.

Lumot and Long Walks (Boracay 2008)

(click title above for pics)

Just got back from Boracay last Sunday. I went with my teammates from work, and most of the trip's expenses were paid by our company, which proves that company-sponsored off-site team building activities are still worth the stress of organizing. Boracay was fun! (Well, obviously.)

We stayed at a "resort for the budget-conscious backpacker" (or the budget-conscious office drones young professionals on a company-sponsored trip) and walked long enough most of the time to get to nice restos and bars and places that sell fruit (and mocha rhum) shakes that our legs got tired and stomachs well-starved for a nice big (free) meal but not enough that we could use it as an excuse to skip work when we get back to Manila.

Thanks to Club Paraw for selling us 5 expensive towers of mud slide and that blue drink that's like the Illusion Shaker from Cocomangas, and unknown numbers of Red Horse and San Mig Light bottles (and for making me buzzed enough that I was able to bust out my signature left-right-left-right dance =D).

And thanks to the boat guy who accommodated two dozens of us for some sunset sailing in paraws and snorkeling somewhere off the Coral Gardens in front of White Beach.

I passed on the island hopping trip on our second day because I've done it before (and it's not really island hopping if your only hopping off one island and then getting back to the same island, is it?) Anyway, those who did go on the trip didn't get to go to Puka Beach either because the sun was already setting. I spent my time instead walking all the way to Station 2 and swimming in the best no-lumot zones that I could find.

Speaking of which, I'd also like to thank the lumots for making their seasonal trip to the shores of White Beach and making it look like a group of vegans and various goats, cows and other herd animals puked on it after having a steady diet of broccoli, lettuce, and native grass.


(Oh, and right, thanks to SEAir for selling me last minute tickets because I umm... missed my original flight on that piso-fare selling airline. I love SEAir.)


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Now playing: James Morrison - under the influence
via FoxyTunes

Why does it always rain on me? (aka Boracay, 2007)

Pics from my Boracay trip last June 21 - 24. Woohoo!

First two days were really rainy, but still had loads of fun. Stayed at the creatively named Boracay Beach Resort. Almost had a slight mishap on the plane to Kalibo (almost didn't get in the flight :p), did some two-person wrestling in the waters while raining was pouring hard, rode the Banana Boat and the Flying Fish (fucking awesome as always, fell once and was holding on tight to the handles belly down, but the waves were hitting my balls so bad I decided to turn belly up, but then that's when I felt my shorts getting pulled off of me, so I just let go instead of being left in the middle of the sea bare-assed). Also went jet skiing for the first time. That was a complete 30-minute adrenaline rush! Tried the Still Standing after 15 in Cocomangas (I was still standing, sure, but I was also still puking after 15, unfortunately...) We were supposed to go island hopping the next day, but no one woke up early enough, so we just laid low the whole day. And by laying low, I mean try skim boarding. Jacq and Dalin tried it first; I tried it for about five minutes until our 1 hour session expired. Mike hired his own instructor and rented his own board, and got a sprained ankle after all of it was done. Boracay was fun, but next time, I'm going back during the summer =D

See pics -> here <-

To Commemorate the Hotness, 2007

My parents just got back from Boracay a few hours ago (They celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary there.) From the bits and pieces of stories that I've heard, looks like they completely enjoyed their first time in the island :D

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Boracay myself. Wooohoooo! I'll be there till Sunday with some officemates. Last year, I was at Boracay from June 21 to June 24 too. Looks like those four days have become part of my annual Boracay tradition. :p

I'll post pics later when I get back. See you then!

To Commemorate The Hotness

My Boracay trip was in a word, AMAZING.

In 393 words? It's this:

This trip was a shorter visit compared to my first one last year (this time we arrived and departed via the Kalibo airport so that automatically used up around 4 hours of could've-been-on-the-beach-instead time). But you know, despite that, this trip was definitely not any less fun.

Main highlights of The Amazing Bora Trip were going parasailing and riding the Flying Fish! Parasailing was expensive very relaxing and man, what else can beat the great great great view from a parachute?

If parasailing was relaxing, the flying fish was anything but... You really have to hold on for your life out there (or at least that's how you have to think of it so that you won't get thrown out into the water.) It's hella fun and way more expensive exciting than Banana Boats, and I'm sure as hell gonna do it again the next chance I get.

The beach of course is as perfect as before. I still am amazed at how Bora's white sands are so fine, it's like your walking on confectionery sugar. Good thing I never got wasted enough to actually put them in my mouth. And no green algae too this time! (The one ugly thing I hated about my last Bora trip, the shorelines was covered with them green stuff. They apparently come and go in seasons too, along with the droves of beach goers in the tropical summer.) So this time, I was actually able to just lie down on the shore where the waves die out. THAT, was just nice.

And the sunset... Need i say more? And we almost missed it too. The first two days we were there, the sun was blocked by clouds so we couldn't take pics of it setting. On our last day, the clouds gave way enough for us to get about five minutes of photo op with the sunset. And wow, that is just a thing of beauty, isn't it?

What's great about coming to Boracay in June is that it's off-peak season, so you practically have the whole beach to yourselves. The nights are less lively though (except for Bombom, there was not alot of activities), but as long as you go there with great company, then the trip should still rock.

As I said, Bora was amazing, and I shall commemorate the hotness again next year.

Maybe I should be less considerate about people's right of way from now on.

Boracay on Wednesday! Damn excited! :D

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I got my new car about one and a half weeks ago, and I've been driving it for about a week now. All I have to say is, damn, I need more practice on fucking parking that thing. And damn, nagasgas ko na agad siya. I hate this fucking building right beside my house (I can see the building right now from our window. You, yes you, you damn fucking building you, I'm talking to you. Dahil sayo nagasgas ang side mirror ko. Bilang na ang araw mo. Ipagdasal mo na fire resistant ka.) Our driveway is so narrow since they built the freaking building so close to our street, I have no choice but to squeeze the car in as close to its wall as possible so that people will still be able to pass through on the other side. And because I am so considerate of other people's right of way, I got a little too close to the beige wall and now my car has a nasty scrape on its left side mirror. Shit. Maybe I should start being less considerate about people's right of way from now on.

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Aaaah!!! I hate this! Shit! I can't get over it! Damn you fucking building! It's all your damn fault! AAARGGH...

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I need something to make me feel better. I feel like Roger Federer on a French Open final. I guess the Bora trip came right on time.

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Last week, I gave a short presentation to my managers and some team leads in the office. It was a progress report (about my growth/stagnation/regression (whichever applies) as an office drone.) The reason I did it was because I was literally bullied into doing it by my fellow committee members. You see, I'm part of the committee that organized the whole event as part of an initiaitve in the office. Basically, we force our new teammates, upon their sixth month of being hired, to present to the managers and team leads about their growth/stagnation/regression (whichever applies) in the workplace. I wasn't supposed to present because I've been in the team for more than 6 months already, but my comm-mates were all (and I paraphrase): "You should do it, para naman merong isa sa atin na maka-experience magpresent, para makakuha tayo ng direct feedback on what to improve on in the process blah blah blah..." So me being the considerate person that I am (ahem), agreed.

Why am I writing about this? No reason really...

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Now that I've made a big deal about and was able to rant about something that's not really rant-able, I feel slightly better about the scraped side mirror thing. Cool. Thank goodness for defense mechanisms.

See you in a week