OFFICIALLY part of the company...:)

yep yep...3 months of classroom training is over, we got through the final defense...and now, we're officially part of the company! thank god all of us passed because on the average, about half of every batch don't make the cut. everything seemed to happen so quickly.well the first month was a bit of a drag because it was the programming part, but the succeeding months just flew by. i'll miss training, eating endlessly in the room, praying that the teacher for the day won't show up, rubbing elbows with the manong guards, and being with my batchmates the entire day. The eight of us are soooo unbelievably bonded i swear!

the results came out last week, group assignments were given and luckily, i got in the Manufacturing and Retail division -- the group i wanted!!:) we'll be dealing with semicon, retail companies (McDo, Mini Stop, etc.) and i think it's really exciting! out of town trips almost every week since manufacturing plants normally aren't located in manila.

I had my first client call last friday with a senior accounts manager, one of our engineers, and the country sales manager of the solution the client requires. I found it to be very interesting and learned that the key to being a good salesperson is having the ability to build a good relationship with the client... We spent about 20% of the entire time talking business and the rest, talking about anything under the sun. From the new tourist spots in singapore to my senior's daughter. hahaha...:)

all i can say is I'm happy with where I am right now. you know the feeling when you get excited everytime you wake up in the morning and you just can't wait to know what will happen that day?! It's a very tough job though but I think what pushes me is my interest in this field and the amazing people i'm working with.:) so yeah....wish me luck!

CLICK
Oh god...this movie makes me love Adam Sandler even more! I just finished watching it (courtesy of my dibidi from MCS!) and it was really really touching! Made me think a lot about my own life though. It's a living proof that trying to escape from some shitty things in life to move on to the better ones just makes you miss the best parts.

and the songs! man, it made the old songs sound greater than ever....i'm currently digging Linger by the Cranberries! and that "will you love me in the morning?" thing made me feel tears in my eyes and a huge lump in my throat.

one more thing..it showed how working in a Japanese company is so full of pressure..

Michael Newman: Three days? Couldn't I have a little more time for this project?
Ammer: Michael, our clients are Japanese. They can't wait for their fish to cook

soooo true! hahaha.:)

queer eye!

after a grueling day at work last thursday, my officemates and i decided to have dinner to relieve stress. we knew the fab5 was coming that day but we didn't really have serious plans of going. i, myself was already too tired and didn't feel like working my through the crowd just to see them. i was actually excited to go home and sleep. My friend Louise though was very persistent and convinced me to just "check" the event. She triggered my usisera side and made me agree.

So off we went to greenbelt park. We were very surprised to see a very thick crowd composed of hispanic looking people, celebrities (Claire dela Fuente for instance..haha), and yuppies who were as curious as we were. We walked around trying to find a spot where we could get even a glimpse of them knowing that seeing them really clearly was out of the question. Some people had stubs which meant that you had to pay to get in and get the good seats so we were contented with seeing them merely as dots or even silhouettes. Little did we know that we were standing right beside the entrance. People were starting to line up so out of curiousity, me and my friends followed them. then my friend asked me to turn to my left and there THEY were, right in front of me, making there way to the stage! i was starstrucked. Thom passed by right in front of me and said hi..in my face! so did kyan. the others were too busy walking through the crowd. they are sooo hot...i almost forgot they're gay!haha. I knew i looked stupid....i was too struck with awe i think i just waved back unable to say a single word.

The guard opened the barricade and with a blink of an eye, we were inside! so yeah...we were 3 of about 20 people who were lucky enough to get in for free!:D long and short of it....we got seats and were able to see the show/interview. I was so satisfied at that point and was ready to go home but then, they announced that an autograph signing session and photo op would follow but only for those who have stubs. my friends and i were really tempted to run to power books, buy their book and have it signed but of course, it would be useless because we don't have stubs. The next best thing to do was to go near the stage and get their pictures taken! so here they are..enjoy!

thom, ted and kyan

jai, my jai.:D
jai and carson with those very lucky kids

ted signing a book

ted trying to kill thom

poor thom...he looks tired

kyan looks so cute here.:D



kyan in shock

and how can i forget this uber hot road manager! while everyone's cameras were pointing at the fab5, i was taking a shot of this guy...or gay.haha! my sister says he's gay because of his well-defined and pointy eyebrows. doesn't make him less hot though.:D

my friend louise and i, all giddy and kilig over these gay men.:D

i never realized how fun it is to be a fan until this event.haha. :D

no more waiting for ched's announcement...:(

nothing could be worse than waking up to a really really bad weather and knowing that no matter how hard it rains, you still have to get up and go to work. it sucks big time. I love this kind of weather IF i would just be lounging around at home and not when I'll be out in the streets. when i was in college, i would cut class if it's raining really hard..considering I live just an overpass away from school. haha....see?? that's how i hate getting all drippy and having the bottom of my jeans wet. and now...no matter what...i have to TRAVEL all the way to makati and back despite the shitty weather. ugh...and now I'm hearing my cousins say that their classes got suspended today..darn it.

anyhow....

we've been bums in the office since monday. programming is officially done and over with and now we're off to other modules. bumming days lasted only until today though...back to some more serious stuff tomorrow. and oh..back to that programming thing, the final exam was hell. 2 more months to go before this training thing comes to an end!

it's so cool...i get to bump into a friend/s every week. aside from tarcy who i told you about a few days ago, i saw jeff sy at the lrt2 station, ordo in greenbelt, drew in gateway, and iking in the mrt station. haha...it's really nice to see friends you haven't seen for a while. gives you a chance to somehow catch up in the midst of a lot of people or while walking really fast to catch the train. down side is, it makes you miss your other friends more. hmmm...so who do i see next??

so there....have to get some shut-eye. still have to get up early tomorrow. i just hope it won't rain as hard.....:) goodnight everyone!:)

Happiness...

A psychologist from the States said that more and more people are becoming unhappy day by day. Probably because they feel they aren't blessed enough or because they pay too much attention on the hardships they are going through and see it as some sort of punishment. If you were able to read my previous entry, you could definitely say that i'm not THAT happy right now.

My officemates and I heard mass at greenbelt after work today because it's the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The homily was about what the psychologist I mentioned earlier was talking about. People always yearn for more and take the things they have at hand for granted. without exaggeration, we really felt like the homily was speaking to us. Eventhough my officemates and I laugh our heads off all day, there are still moments when we feel extremely frustrated and hopeless. we sometimes even question why we put ourselves where we are now. endless rantings, discrete signs of giving up, these could all be observed in us for the past few days. Come to think of it though....continuing this kind of attitude won't take us anywhere. the homily reminded us to count our blessings because dwelling on frustrations, hardships, heartaches and pride will just make us more depressed. Recognizing our blessings, even the seemingly insignificant ones, will on the other hand, continue to brighten us up and give us hope.

so yes... this will be my way of thinking from now on! i am in this situation for a reason and there are a lot more things to be thankful for than to sulk about!:D

why don't I start now?!
here are a some things I am very much thankful for.:)
1. my work!:) even though it's really tough and challenging, i'd have to say that i'm learning a lot from it! plus, it opens up a great opportunity for me IF i pass.:D

2. my officemates! im really grateful to have officemates who I get along with really well. Everyday, there's always something that makes us realize how much we jive well with each other no matter how different our personalities are.

3. that it hasn't rained while I was going to/home from work since I started working. It is not at all easy to travel in your corporate wear if its raining!haha.

4. that Brinie is my officemate because I get to commute with someone everyday.:)

5. that I eat without a care in the world now unlike before when i was super super conscious of what I put in my mouth! haha...I have to thank my officemates and the stress Fujitsu gives me for this.

6.my family! they never fail to boost my confidence and support me in times when I feel like I can't handle all the pressure anymore. Also for allowing me to make decisions on my own but still remind me that I can turn back to them anytime the decision I made turns out to be all wrong.

7. that I unexpectedly bumped into tarcy at greenbelt last night because I felt so tired and groggy that time and talking to her even for a little while definitely perked me up!

8. that I get to pass by 6 malls (Greenbelt, Landmark, Glorietta, Farmer's and Gateway)everyday because all the people and the window displays don't make me realize how far we walked everyday.

9. that we have 7/11 and mini stop near our office! mini stop's huge soft serve ice cream cone definitely brightens up my day!

10. that we're right across greenbelt!

11. my friends of course, whether high school, college or the others..haha.aside from my family, they always make me feel welcome to call on them when I need moral support.

wow...there's just too much! the list goes on and on;

it's just amazing how timely the homily was for us. it did serve as a good reminder and I hope to be able to hold on to it for a long long time...:D

first 3 weeks

yep..im in my 3rd week at work. i wouldn't have noticed it if my officemate didn't remind me. well...time does fly.


for the nth time, i haven't blogged for so long. and again, i've been wanting to write about how my first day went etc.etc. but i'm just too drained to do it when i get home. Now i feel like filling you guys in with some details though.hehe:)

i've been drained since i started working..physically, mentally, emotionally, you name it. I was really excited about it before I entered and eventhough they told me during the interview that the training will be really rigid blahblah, i didn't seem to mind it thinking that college has trained me to handle all kinds of pressure imaginable. Well...let's just say that I thought wrong. The training IS really tight! i don't want to dwell on the entire thing because just thinking about it makes my tummy go upside down. We're on our second module right now and it's about programming! something i am not at all interested in! we had it in high school but i always asked my seatmate to do the programming part for me while i do the objective part of the test for him in return. and now it's haunting me....so now, I attest to the fact that there is KARMA!haha...:) The sad thing about it is I'm training for an accounts/sales position...which means that I am not responsible whatsoever with programming the solutions i'll be offering to clients! but nooo....the company insists on torturing us with with all these codes and syntax. The instructor teaches us super basic stuff in a hurry and then gives us very very complicated homework that we have to finish in a certain number of days. And mind you, even if we were given about 3 days for some of them, they still weren't enough. That's why I don't get to go online that much. I'm too fed up with facing the computer the entire day that i don't even want to touch it when i get home. They say this is a test of character, like how we buckle up to pressure, how we handle things we barely know, how patient we are to learn something as foreign as this, etc etc. They also say that it's important so we won't sound cluecless to our cliets. Whatever, it's too much. Well, I can't wait for this module to finish so we can move on and read normal English again. haha...i swear...computer language is just pure gibberish.

but! God is good....despite all the stress I'm going through right now, He kind of compensated it by giving me wonderful officemates for me to keep my sanity. I swear, I'd go crazy if i'd be in front of the computer all day in a room full of people i don't get along with. kill me instead. but He gave me whacko people as officemates which makes the burden feel so much lighter...Oh well, you cant have it all.:)

also...I'm still adjusting to the environment. A Japanese company really reflects their culture. As compared to companies owned by Western countries, the Japanese ones are way stricter. I think they have some hierarchy issues. haha. Like us trainees can't just loiter around the building and mingle with the regular employees during office hours. it reminds me of amateur geishas.haha.:) Also, we can't use mp3 players in the office (which, of course, i don't follow), because they believe it makes the person less productive. I find it stupid though because it doesn't work for everyone. Also, We can't eat at the ground floor (which, again, we don't follow), which is where our room is located as of now, because we might leave crumbs that would attract insects and make the whole ground floor smell like food. hay...

I might sound really unhappy about my job but in truth, I'm not. It's just this programming thing that drives me nuts. I hope it won't be this shitty during the remaining time of the training. This is a position I really really want. The company itself is not bad at all because quite a number of the regular employees have been with the company for at least a decade. What scares me though is that some people fail this training . So yeah..double pressure. guys...please help me pray that I pass this thing. If not, please help me find a new job if ever i don't make the cut. hahaha!:)

ok...my eyes are feeling really heavy now. have to go to bed and wake up early tom for school. I'm so sleepy. I still want to write some more but i'm really really knocked out. Again, friends, please include me in your prayers.:D

goodnight world!

last few days of bumming....

all good things do come to an end....mine will in 4 days. 3 months of bumming is hard to get over with. each day (well...almost) is worry free and spontaneous...but of course some days could be pretty boring and yeah...i can't live like this forever. if i would...i'd be as wide as the fridge i raid everyday, or the couch I lounge in for hours. haha...not a good idea.

i haven't blogged for quite some time. there have been a lot of days when i want to write about something but don't muster enough energy to actually do it. a lot has happened since the last time I posted something here.
--> First off, i officially landed a job which will be starting on monday (and also officially ends my bumming days). I'm kind of excited because as weird as it sounds, i miss all the stress and work i get from school. I always long for a vacation during school and now I realize that I really can't handle too much of it. A good dose, say 3 months..hehe, is enough to de-stress and recharge me to face another pressure-filled life.
--> The last few weeks have made me a lot more domesticated! I do know how to clean and do chores but it's just not my favorite activity. i do have an idea on how to cook because my family is just fabulous with food so i've seen how some are cooked and i've been so fascinated with cooking shows since i was little (along side home tv shopping...haha) i've been baking since i was little but i didn't really have the chance to make "real" food because it has always been the elders' or my sister's share (or maybe they didn't trust me enough to do it.haha) and soooo....now that my mom isn't here and my sister is in katipunan....i'm left at home with the maid and my guinea pig little bro...which means i can risk doing some experiments in the kitchen! what do you know....i've discovered that i have the knack for it!:) yehey...and now...i plan and cook our every meal, everyday...and it isn't bad at all!:D it doesn't end there...i've been grocery shopping for the house and fixing stuff my brother needs for school. i get to do something productive in between my all-day tv sessions after all!:) lesson learned...being a mom isn't easy!
--> most importantly, i met new friends who "re-introduced" Kuya Jess to me. Every minute of that weekend is so worth it.

so there...the block's going out on friday and i know all of us need it..time to unwind and savor the last few days of freedom before setting foot in the corporate world. oohh...also to save our sick and vacation leaves for later and better use! hahaha.:) see ya!

not doing anything can be tiring

i stayed home the whole day...watched every decent show on television...and of course..satisfied my cravings.haha.:) this vacation is just way too long for me already...i can't wait to start working. but then, i'll probably miss all the free time i have in my hands right now when that time comes!

the entire household is asleep already and no matter how much i want to get some shut-eye...i still can't. i'll try again a bit later.

hmm..what to write..what to write?

as i said earlier...i was a couch potato the entire day and i saw all the cooking shows in food network. emeril is driving me nuts. i don't get why his audience claps and cheers when he mentions the ingredients. like if he says "let's put in the garlic!", the crowd goes wild. i swear...it's crazy!

and we have pinoy big brother 24/7. haha!! and we didn't even pay for it. my brother was channel surfing and found it. it's in black and white though...but it's tolerable.

now, do i sound bored?hahaha..:)

i miss my friends...

guys let's go out!!!

anyhoot...

belated happy birthday to my sister!

she treated us to dinner which made us feel 20 lbs heavier. but as they say (and this is very much true in my case)...there's always room for dessert!

This is called Joaquin and Fleur de lys. It's like chocolate mousse but made of Bailey's. Bailey's, in itself, is fantastic. How could you go wrong with this?

Too much eating! tsk tsk...

And at this ungodly hour....I want Holy Kettle Corn and Chicken Joy!

hahaha.:)