I've been reading friends blog and syempre.. two of them Tagged me.
No Choice Lady's Choice :)
Randomizing....
1) I'm a good navigator but not a good driver... I realized that I should have taken driving lesson seriously when I was still young. Kc noon mas matapang pa tayo to try things out pero ngaun... dinadaga tlga ako everytime na pinagdadrive ako. Kya nyo ba to... tumirik more than 5 times while driving from SM Sucat to Evacom Home Base Gatchalian?! (me 2km ba un?)
2) Not really a book reader.. weather weather lang kung baga. Me times lang na within a month nakakabasa ako ng more than 2 books pero mas madalas open ended ung mga books na nasimulan kong basahin.
3) I kidda like pala indian food :) though I can't stand their smell (feels like nasa ilalim ako ng kili2 ng me BO na tao). I tried several times ung food sa 'new bombai' and it does not taste bad at all. Maspice lang tlga or cguro puro safe lang ung mga kinakain namin like keema and masala stuff nila. One catch nga lang sakin after eating... parang akong nakadrugs. air-headed na parang lumilipad ung isip ko. haha!
4) New Tea Drinker! nagtsatsaa na ako because of my lunch/Tea buddy kitkat. Naovercome ko na ung di masayang lasa ng tea. Just put honey on it. hehe... I'm kidda hooked na din in drinking tea every afternoon sa ofc.
5) Naovercome ko na din ang lasa ng Cilantro(coriander)! I remember when we were in the US, harbie bought a guacamole flavored doritos. Di ko tlaga makain ung chips dahil sa lasa ng cilantro. Si Harbs lang ata ang nakaubos nun... as in sarap na sarap sya with the Dip :p
6) A new celphone in mind. Lately parang gusto ko ng bagong celphone ung nafiflip at medyo manipis... kaya lang di nman sira ang phone ko at di ko din nman madalas magamit. So useless! Wag na lang at baka maholdap pa hehe..
7) How I met your mother season 2! finish na namin panoorin ni hubi. I'm gonna miss Barney! Ano na kyang ibang chukchakcheness ang pede namin mapanood together?
Finally done with randomizing! hirap magisip ah.. lalo na kung nsa work hehe...
Friendly friends.. updated na ko ;)
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
best bud literally gone...
In the past few days, I was in denial that my best bud in the office will be leaving me. I don't think much of the idea because it breaks my heart. :( Now it's for real and she is gone. Mare!!!! I'll miss you so much! WAHH... It makes me teary eyes when I think of you not in the same office as I am 7 years ago. If only I pursuaded you not to leave but I know it will be selfish on my part.
Hay... I know my sadness will eventually subside and in time I will get used to it that you are literally gone.
I already missed you and will definitely be missed! Good luck on your adventure. Wish you happiness and hope you'll find a job right away. I'll pray for you! Love You Mare Weng! :)
Hay... I know my sadness will eventually subside and in time I will get used to it that you are literally gone.
I already missed you and will definitely be missed! Good luck on your adventure. Wish you happiness and hope you'll find a job right away. I'll pray for you! Love You Mare Weng! :)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Pig at rest...
Everytime we go home to pangasinan, I feel so rested and recharged. Life in province is really simple... all we do was eat... sleep... eat... play with gian... sleep... eat again... and finally before 8pm go to sleep! I felt like a nurtured pig just waiting to be slaughtered. hehe...
Mama (gilb's mom) does all the work in the house. I don't even wash the dishes! The only thing I did was collected the plates placed it in the dishwashing area and took away the leftovers in the dining table! Is it laziness or what?! Maybe the reason was... mama alway says... "iwan mo na yan ako na bahala" I was used to it but most of the time I feel guilty for not working in the house. But I also felt it was the only time I could rest. What about mama? she works all the time!!! Now I feel really guilty.. next time we go there.... i'll make sure to help in the household chores!
Mama (gilb's mom) does all the work in the house. I don't even wash the dishes! The only thing I did was collected the plates placed it in the dishwashing area and took away the leftovers in the dining table! Is it laziness or what?! Maybe the reason was... mama alway says... "iwan mo na yan ako na bahala" I was used to it but most of the time I feel guilty for not working in the house. But I also felt it was the only time I could rest. What about mama? she works all the time!!! Now I feel really guilty.. next time we go there.... i'll make sure to help in the household chores!
Friday, May 18, 2007
12 hrs
it's been awhile since my last graveyard shift that lasted for 12 hours. I think it was when I was still single and craming from the support tasks. I'm kidda new that time... and i was forced to extend because I couldn't handle my tickets and other tasks all at the same time. But now it's different.... i'm more confident in attending conference calls, answering email queries from the business, calling users for ticket updates and gathering information. This was also the first time I enjoyed night shift... though I missed my baby because she's staying with her grandparents in the pangasinan. We couldn't find yaya so we had no choice but to leave here there for a while. Anyway back to my story, I think this became my opportunity to be exposed and be known to some important business users. I also learned to provide feedback immediately and not to be scared when asked instantly.
I've been doing a lot of multi-tasking too! It was because my lead assigned me to several application "assist" task. The first main task I had was to help one of my co-worker with his ER. The users is getting frustrated on the output of the request because it was long overdue. Finally, after of almost a year of investigation task from our side, I was able to find out the problem and provided feedback to the user and to my teammate. He should be able to test and make the necessary changes in the codes.
I was also assigned to be the point person for the SCM upgrade in dev server. The result of the upgrade would be a major turning point on whether it should be implemented in production.. The timeline for the dev upgrade was 2 weeks. So far so good.
The last task I got was installation of the SCM purge process in both dev and production servers. I'm done with the installation. DW night shifters will need to take the rest of the testing phase. The target prod run for the purge is this May 27th.
I've been doing a lot of multi-tasking too! It was because my lead assigned me to several application "assist" task. The first main task I had was to help one of my co-worker with his ER. The users is getting frustrated on the output of the request because it was long overdue. Finally, after of almost a year of investigation task from our side, I was able to find out the problem and provided feedback to the user and to my teammate. He should be able to test and make the necessary changes in the codes.
I was also assigned to be the point person for the SCM upgrade in dev server. The result of the upgrade would be a major turning point on whether it should be implemented in production.. The timeline for the dev upgrade was 2 weeks. So far so good.
The last task I got was installation of the SCM purge process in both dev and production servers. I'm done with the installation. DW night shifters will need to take the rest of the testing phase. The target prod run for the purge is this May 27th.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
VDay = Very Bad Day
late post for vday but i still want to share my experience.
I woke up early that day to prepare breakfast for my swity. He was on a night shift so we planned to eat breakfast together as our vday celebration. Also I had an 8:00am meeting so I hurried to catch the next shuttle going to makati. When I reached the shuttle terminal, (1st bad luck) I stumbled on a broken aisle and almost dived into the ground. Gladly I was able to grabbed on the girl in front of me and managed not to fall. On my embarassment, I just went inside the van and didn't care if it was the shuttle van that we usually avoid. (2nd) When I got seated, the girl seated right next to me step on my foot. That time, I already felt that it was not a good day. I prayed not to experience it the entire day but it didn't happen. (3rd) When we were in NAIA, I realized that our trip is slow. It was the van the we don't ride much because the driver drives very slow and alway grumpy to the passengers when asked to stop. I knew then I won't be able to make it to my meeting.
(4th) Our shuttle route continued until we passed the south super flyover along edsa. Suddenly... the guy in front shouted 'HOLDAP to! diretso mo lang!'. Four of the passengers were holdapers, 3 of them was holding a gun. They've asked for our cellphones.. money.. jewelries. They personally checked each and every bag (every zipper!) of the passengers for any valuables. Before the holpader asked for my bag, I was able to remove my wedding ring and necklace and dropped it inside. I was just glad the holdaper didn't digged much into my it and find my ring. But sad to say he got my IPOD (waahhh!!). After they got everything, they left the van in the overpass near Petron - Taguig C5 area.
We reported the incident to the Taguig police station but there was nothing else we can do to recover what was taken from us. We are just hoping that they will be caught and pay the consequences they've done. The description of the bad guys: all of them were thin, brown complexion, has tattoo in their left hand. One of them looks 35 to 45 year old then 3 of them looks like in 20 to 30 year old. They dressed like normal passengers (office attire; polo shirts and jeans).
At around 11 am, I finally reached the office and talked a bit about the experience to some my collegues. After 20 mins, my lunch buddy kitkat called me to have our ID pictures taken. (5th) When it was my turn, the laptop rebooted. It took several mins to have it worked. Is it me or it is really me??? Oh well.. at about 2:30 pm we decided to just take the day off because I was not able to focus on my work. (6th) But before we went home, Hubi and I dropped by in evangelista because his side of window was stucked open. The power window was not working since the night before. He parked the car since 10pm to 3pm (vday) with the window open. So much for a bad day...
I woke up early that day to prepare breakfast for my swity. He was on a night shift so we planned to eat breakfast together as our vday celebration. Also I had an 8:00am meeting so I hurried to catch the next shuttle going to makati. When I reached the shuttle terminal, (1st bad luck) I stumbled on a broken aisle and almost dived into the ground. Gladly I was able to grabbed on the girl in front of me and managed not to fall. On my embarassment, I just went inside the van and didn't care if it was the shuttle van that we usually avoid. (2nd) When I got seated, the girl seated right next to me step on my foot. That time, I already felt that it was not a good day. I prayed not to experience it the entire day but it didn't happen. (3rd) When we were in NAIA, I realized that our trip is slow. It was the van the we don't ride much because the driver drives very slow and alway grumpy to the passengers when asked to stop. I knew then I won't be able to make it to my meeting.
(4th) Our shuttle route continued until we passed the south super flyover along edsa. Suddenly... the guy in front shouted 'HOLDAP to! diretso mo lang!'. Four of the passengers were holdapers, 3 of them was holding a gun. They've asked for our cellphones.. money.. jewelries. They personally checked each and every bag (every zipper!) of the passengers for any valuables. Before the holpader asked for my bag, I was able to remove my wedding ring and necklace and dropped it inside. I was just glad the holdaper didn't digged much into my it and find my ring. But sad to say he got my IPOD (waahhh!!). After they got everything, they left the van in the overpass near Petron - Taguig C5 area.
We reported the incident to the Taguig police station but there was nothing else we can do to recover what was taken from us. We are just hoping that they will be caught and pay the consequences they've done. The description of the bad guys: all of them were thin, brown complexion, has tattoo in their left hand. One of them looks 35 to 45 year old then 3 of them looks like in 20 to 30 year old. They dressed like normal passengers (office attire; polo shirts and jeans).
At around 11 am, I finally reached the office and talked a bit about the experience to some my collegues. After 20 mins, my lunch buddy kitkat called me to have our ID pictures taken. (5th) When it was my turn, the laptop rebooted. It took several mins to have it worked. Is it me or it is really me??? Oh well.. at about 2:30 pm we decided to just take the day off because I was not able to focus on my work. (6th) But before we went home, Hubi and I dropped by in evangelista because his side of window was stucked open. The power window was not working since the night before. He parked the car since 10pm to 3pm (vday) with the window open. So much for a bad day...
Monday, February 12, 2007
Advance VDay Celebration
Yesterday was supposed to be our bonding day with gian. We planned to take her to a shopping mall for her 'lakwatsa day' but we didn't pushed it through because of some conflict with our errand.
Our initial plan was to get the package 'padala' from Tita Glo (hubi's tita) after lunch with Gian then go straight to the mall. But the balikbayan friend of her tita told him that they won't be available until 6pm. Because of that we got lazy to go out early and decided to take a nap.
I woke up 4:30pm and already had no plan to come with hubi in San Juan. Maybe he really wanted to have a companion that he insisted I come then have our Advance VDay dinner together.
After we got the package, we went to Metrowalk for the dinner. We went to eat at 'Brazil Brazil' as suggested by Bes earlier that day.
It is a buffet restaurant and have the following selection:
Grilled: chicken, pork Belly, pork tenderloin, pork ribs, beef brisket, beek tenderloin, sausage, squid, pineapple, banana, corn.
Soup: seafood with mushroom soup
Salad: mediterranean salad, shrimp salad, fruit salad, and salad bar with 3 salad dressing(ceasar, thousand island and italian vinegrette),
Main Dish: deep fried fished in red sauce, mushroom dish... polanchay veggy... crab fat rice... baked macaroni...
Desserts: fruits(watermelon, pineapple and mango), jelly with fruit, coffee mocha flavored cake.
I tried all the grilled stuff, soup, and dessert except for the main dish and some salad. It was a good experience but we don't think we would visit them again. For me, the meat was overwhelming and the amount of fats/grease that I got from eating it makes me feel sick. I also didn't liked the grilled squid and the italian vinegrette dressing (to sour for me!).
After the dinner, we watched people playing in the mini amusement park. The rodeo ride was fun to watch because some people couldn't stand a second once the bull started to move. The basketball shooting range was exaggerated! The distance and the height of the basketball ring was to far and to high to reach. Oh well.... m not a fan of basketball anyway. :)
The best part of the night for me except for the dinner of course! was our DVD hoarding hehe. We bought 9 DVD movies for only 400 pesos. Not bad! I just wish all of it is watchable. Can't wait for the movie bonding with hubi!
Our initial plan was to get the package 'padala' from Tita Glo (hubi's tita) after lunch with Gian then go straight to the mall. But the balikbayan friend of her tita told him that they won't be available until 6pm. Because of that we got lazy to go out early and decided to take a nap.
I woke up 4:30pm and already had no plan to come with hubi in San Juan. Maybe he really wanted to have a companion that he insisted I come then have our Advance VDay dinner together.
After we got the package, we went to Metrowalk for the dinner. We went to eat at 'Brazil Brazil' as suggested by Bes earlier that day.
It is a buffet restaurant and have the following selection:
Grilled: chicken, pork Belly, pork tenderloin, pork ribs, beef brisket, beek tenderloin, sausage, squid, pineapple, banana, corn.
Soup: seafood with mushroom soup
Salad: mediterranean salad, shrimp salad, fruit salad, and salad bar with 3 salad dressing(ceasar, thousand island and italian vinegrette),
Main Dish: deep fried fished in red sauce, mushroom dish... polanchay veggy... crab fat rice... baked macaroni...
Desserts: fruits(watermelon, pineapple and mango), jelly with fruit, coffee mocha flavored cake.
I tried all the grilled stuff, soup, and dessert except for the main dish and some salad. It was a good experience but we don't think we would visit them again. For me, the meat was overwhelming and the amount of fats/grease that I got from eating it makes me feel sick. I also didn't liked the grilled squid and the italian vinegrette dressing (to sour for me!).
After the dinner, we watched people playing in the mini amusement park. The rodeo ride was fun to watch because some people couldn't stand a second once the bull started to move. The basketball shooting range was exaggerated! The distance and the height of the basketball ring was to far and to high to reach. Oh well.... m not a fan of basketball anyway. :)
The best part of the night for me except for the dinner of course! was our DVD hoarding hehe. We bought 9 DVD movies for only 400 pesos. Not bad! I just wish all of it is watchable. Can't wait for the movie bonding with hubi!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Finally... Australia
After months of inquiries and preparation for supporting documents from Australia I finally managed to send our application to Australian Embassy last Sat. My sister insisted that I should do it myself and not ask for an agent. Primary reason is the cost... 5500 each applicant if we let the travel agency do the lodging for us. While it only costed her 2900 each for the application. So it's a lot cheaper but collating documents and asking it from my brother's family is such a pain in the ass. I have to remind them almost everyday for their supporting documents... have to get it from their place or somewhere near them thinking it's out of our way... provide the application document (which they did not use! grr..) and at the last minute my husband need to get it from their place because they filled up the outdate form they got ages ago. I'm ranting because it showed that they were not supportive in doing the application on our own. At least I got it all worked out.
Overall it's really easy to apply for a visa going to Australia.
Some tips for applying Tourist visa (Subclass 676):
--- Get all updated application forms from this site: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/visitors.htm
Required application docs: Form 48R, Application Document Checklist (it should be the first docs in the application), Form 1229 (Consent Form if minor is travelling).
--- Have a valid passport
--- Complete supporting document: NSO certified birth certificates, certificate of employment (if employed), financial docs (bank statement/bank certificates).
--- Documents from visiting party in Australia: Letter of invitation, statement of general support, financial statements, first page copy of their passport, certificate of employment.
--- To know all other requirements, you can also check infosheet 20 from the Immigration office in Manila site http://www.philippines.embassy.gov.au/. And all supporting documents should have a copy so that they will return original copies.
--- When all docs are ready, need to have a manager's check issued to Australian Embassy for the payment (2900 each) of the application. For group application it can be have one issued manager's check. You can get this in any bank but preferrably in a bank that you have an account.
--- Make a phone call to their accredited Call Center. Each min cost 32 or 52 pesos so it is advisable to have all documents and manager's check ready before calling. The number can be found in the infosheet 20.
--- The agent will get the necessary passport details of each applicant. Then they will inform you that the courier service will get all the application from the place you'd specified. Courier service will cost 320 (picked up and deliver). The agent will also give the transaction number of the lodging. It should be written in the long brown envelop with the name of applicants. Finally have a signature in the sealed envelop. :)
In our case, I lodged our application last Friday then I had the courier service picked up the application forms the next day. Australian Embassy in Manila and courier service are available Monday to Fri (8 to 5 pm) and Sat (til noon). The agent will also inform you that the application process will take 5 to 7 working days (provided all necessary docs are provided).
After four working days, we finally received the result of the application. Gladly all six of us were granted tourist visa to Australia valid for 1 year with multiple entry!!! Lucky us! (my mom... my aunt... my baby gian... my sister in law and my brother). :)
I'm really happy and excited because it will be my aunt's first time to travel abroad. My sis will pay for their tickets except for me, my sister-in-law and my brother's ticket.
And this doesn't end my task in getting us to Australia. I still have to find cheap if not affordable tickets for us. Find dress for mom and aunt, find nice footwear for myself, buy all stuff that my sis would like me to bring with us. And the most frustrating thing I need to do is...... to lose weight!!!
REASON: It's my sister's wedding and she wanted me to standout in the wedding ceremony because my gown is different from the rest of the entourage.
Overall it's really easy to apply for a visa going to Australia.
Some tips for applying Tourist visa (Subclass 676):
--- Get all updated application forms from this site: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/visitors.htm
Required application docs: Form 48R, Application Document Checklist (it should be the first docs in the application), Form 1229 (Consent Form if minor is travelling).
--- Have a valid passport
--- Complete supporting document: NSO certified birth certificates, certificate of employment (if employed), financial docs (bank statement/bank certificates).
--- Documents from visiting party in Australia: Letter of invitation, statement of general support, financial statements, first page copy of their passport, certificate of employment.
--- To know all other requirements, you can also check infosheet 20 from the Immigration office in Manila site http://www.philippines.embassy.gov.au/. And all supporting documents should have a copy so that they will return original copies.
--- When all docs are ready, need to have a manager's check issued to Australian Embassy for the payment (2900 each) of the application. For group application it can be have one issued manager's check. You can get this in any bank but preferrably in a bank that you have an account.
--- Make a phone call to their accredited Call Center. Each min cost 32 or 52 pesos so it is advisable to have all documents and manager's check ready before calling. The number can be found in the infosheet 20.
--- The agent will get the necessary passport details of each applicant. Then they will inform you that the courier service will get all the application from the place you'd specified. Courier service will cost 320 (picked up and deliver). The agent will also give the transaction number of the lodging. It should be written in the long brown envelop with the name of applicants. Finally have a signature in the sealed envelop. :)
In our case, I lodged our application last Friday then I had the courier service picked up the application forms the next day. Australian Embassy in Manila and courier service are available Monday to Fri (8 to 5 pm) and Sat (til noon). The agent will also inform you that the application process will take 5 to 7 working days (provided all necessary docs are provided).
After four working days, we finally received the result of the application. Gladly all six of us were granted tourist visa to Australia valid for 1 year with multiple entry!!! Lucky us! (my mom... my aunt... my baby gian... my sister in law and my brother). :)
I'm really happy and excited because it will be my aunt's first time to travel abroad. My sis will pay for their tickets except for me, my sister-in-law and my brother's ticket.
And this doesn't end my task in getting us to Australia. I still have to find cheap if not affordable tickets for us. Find dress for mom and aunt, find nice footwear for myself, buy all stuff that my sis would like me to bring with us. And the most frustrating thing I need to do is...... to lose weight!!!
REASON: It's my sister's wedding and she wanted me to standout in the wedding ceremony because my gown is different from the rest of the entourage.
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