partey!!!

as you prolly noticed, i have been looking forward to my birthday (umm.. let's count how many blogs i made related to it...). obviously, i wasn't excited about getting old. i was actually very much excited to the celebration i have been wanting to have for years. and last night, it finally happened. :D my "party" was held in the Top Grill restaurant in Jupiter Street, Makati. i chose it because it was near and seems accessible, and when i was there once, i noticed that their prices are not that steep. the food isn't bad at all, and they also have videoke. only you would have to sing on the stage! :D i really really wanted to invite a lot of people. but there were still budget constraints since (as you know) i have no savings whatsoever, and i also need to keep some money because i will probably be moving again (which will cost about 3-months worth of rent). i'm really sorry about that. i originally had a guest list of about 50 people, and i counted 29 attended last night. it was too bad though that lots of people couldn't make it, and some even canceled the last minute (too bad since i could have invited more people if i only knew... :P). by the way, you guys would still HAVE TO make up for it (paging Jonas, Novis and Tami). hehe! :P but anyway, i am really really thankful to all that came. my birthday has really been special because you were all there with me. my favorite moment was when everyone sang "happy birthday" when the clock struck 12mn. it was expected, but it was still special when it happened. thanks so much again! :'D

my pisay friends. they turned on the smoke machine that is why the picture is a bit blurry.

my college "wehehe" friends.

my friends from work.

someone needs to start using the videoke and sing on stage. but no one was gonna do it first. so i requested Oliver to do it with me. and after that, the dam was wide open. :D me with my best and longest friends. my birthday "loot". the gift from J has gone missing though. waah! i'm sorry. i wonder where it went. :(

overall, i'd say the party was a success. most of the people i wanted to be there were there. there seems to be enough food and drinks for everyone, and still i didn't go over budget. i had so much fun and i hope everyone else too. and by the end of the night, i was wasted. :P see you all again next year. :) more pics will be available in my multiply site soon. check them out. :)

bora bora boracay... again!

yep, went to boracay again. and yes, i went to the beach AGAIN. i might be unrecognizable to someone who hasn't seen me in the past month. i've got a tan! i am dark! anyway, i went with my ex-officemates this time. and though i've only been to boracay last May, this is definitely a different experience. it's like being in a new place. first of all, we weren't dying of dehydration or heat stroke this time. now, only was there no sun, there were strong winds and some rain. it was not peak season, so there were less people. no lounge chairs on the shore. there were waves -- it'd sure be great if only i know how to skim board! the water activities like parasailing, banana boat, jetskiing, etc. that we used to see last summer was replaced with people kite-boarding. and most fun of all, there was definitely a lot of time for drinking and relaxing! yes, despite all the bitching because of the weather and the constant "who's bright idea is it to come here on September, anyway?!!", i did have fun. thanks everyone for coming! ;) now, on with the pictures!

the jump shots. we always do some everyday.

people in the pics with me are j, parks, paul, vida and kuya bry.saturday night drinking. after devouring 1 liter each of Smirnoff vodka, Kahlua and Baileys. i love these group shots very much. it's so iskul bukul. hehe!wasak pictures on Sunday night. i have never been this red from alcohol my entire life. i even had red spots on my leg! we drank about 3 liters of Vodka, etc.

i also got a new henna tattoo of a celtic cat, which i really liked. however, 15mins of walking later, it sort of got smudged and ended up looking like a fox instead. still ok, i guess.

pics were from Kuya Bry's cam. got lazy taking pictures. blame the weather! anyway, hopefully i get to upload them in my multiply. check them out if you have the time! :)

ContentDev memories

it's been a year since i left ePLDT and the ContentDev people went on their separate ways. most of the group ended up in same companies with at least 2 other people. luckily, that includes me. it made "moving on" much easier. still, my ContentDev experience would always be on the top of my list. and with all the stress now coming in and "one-year anniversaries" such as this, i can't help but miss a lot of these things. i miss Ms. Therese Borra. Ther and I came in on the same day (july 16, 2003); we filed our resignations on the same day (january 18, 2006). we saw the first, second and third waves of resignations. we were there when the branding changed to Spoon Interactive Arts, and again to Cube Interactive. i miss how she used to not usually know what her lunch baon is called, or how to tell if it is already spoiled. i miss her crazy dancing which makes Lio cringe. i miss how we could play Sentinels in DoTA together so well. i even miss how she often loses her glasses and how casually she talks of, um..., shit. (hehe!) i miss the Incubation Room. this is the place where we eat, rant, laugh, cry, sleep, drink, smoke and play. and it is the only place where the bosses are "afraid" to go. it is where we convene privately, away from prying ears. it is where we let go of frustrations by any of the ways mentioned above. it is where we hide. "sacrifices" were made, to keep the Incubation Room ours and ours alone. seniors who used to be in the room have to move out to the cubicles outside since they are usually called or approached by the bosses, and they can't enter the Incubation Room. the Incubation Room is what kept us sane, help us destress. it is probably why i managed to stay for 2.5 years in ePLDT. i miss the crazy black bean bag. it's where we relaxed and slept. it is where we all lied at one time. what more can i say??? i miss Lumiere, the cafe/restaurant on the second floor of our building. it is where we get our coffee fix when Sandy (the pantry guy) refuses to give us brewed coffee ("Pang mga executive lang yan e!") or forces us to take instant decaf coffee instead. i miss the travels abroad, for trainings or conventions. i never thought i'd miss standing all day in a booth, trying to impress people with how our game works and how it'll be beneficial for them to partner with us; not to mention while wearing a business attire complete with heeled-black shoes. i miss the meetings and forming personal relationships with different kinds of people i meet while i travel. i miss the Forum Nokia people who i consider my friends, and who i have to meet when i'm in Singapore or when they're here in Manila. i miss "promoting" the work we've done and the company of people who made it happen. i miss the honor and importance of being the representative of the team. and of course, i miss seeing new places. i miss Chester, who seats 2 cubicles away, singing Endless Love or some kind of old mushy song in his very deep voice, looking at me and raising his hand which means to say that it is my cue to join the duet. i miss Pol and Ting, who used to live near me; and how Ting would force us to walk home even if there were jeepneys available. i miss the "we are encourage to play games" excuse, which allows us to play Dota, CounterStrike, Call of Duty, Battlefield and Unreal Tournament after 5pm. i miss the lunchouts in Big Buddha or Crocodile Grill whenever it is someone's birthday. i miss the panel interviews we make, making sure that we would all get along with each applicant we accept since it is THAT important for us. i miss the out-of-town trips we make, sponsored by our own money, just because we all want to go away together. i even miss the going to the market thing, cooking for the rest of the team and most especially the drinking in good company. i miss ContentDev, Spoon and (maybe even) Cube. well, it was good to have that much fun as my first job. because i'm sure, now that i'm getting older, i wouldn't be able to afford life by just having fun. but i thank everyone for giving and sharing the ride with me. it was fun while it lasted. and i really really miss you guys.

long due post on Christmas (?) reunions

yey! blog blog blog! i missed blogging so much! i've been really busy lately and though there were lots of things i wanted to blog about, i just have NO time. so how long has it been? let's just say that www.blogger.com was not in my browser history anymore, so is "Sakura Mind Speaks". anyway, enough of the "emo"-mode... here comes the multi-blog again. :) A lot of my friends came home this past Christmas season that many mini-reunions cannot be helped. Seems that lately, people only have the time or the excuse to get together when it's because of "something/someone special". (heheh! drama!). anyway, fun fun fun for me! i love get-togethers! but sad sad sad for my wallet, despite the many libre of the balikbayans. let's just say that i cannot use my credit card anymore after that (and i mean CAN NOT). happy new year, yeah! ------------------------------ ContentDev Dec 22, 2006 first off was the reunion/dinner with my former officemates. we had dinner at Banana Leaf in Glorietta 4. it didn't last long since people are already getting OLD and CORNY! they were all gone before 10pm (can you believe that?!?!?)!!!! hehehe! but anyway, it was still nice to catch up with my good old officemates. pictures here c/o Kuya Bry. ------------------------------ Pisay '98 Dec 29, 2006 then just before new year, i met with my great friends from high school. we've all been friends for almost 13 years now, what more can i say? :)

before:

tagaytay retreat, January 1998. where did i get the frisbee???

now:

hindi kami kumpleto, pero magaganda pa rin. hehehe!

we sure are getting older. now we usually meet for special events like someone's wedding or someone's child's baptism. and we're all growing, horizontally that is. except for Luz who still managed to stay under 100Lbs. hehe! :) ------------------------------ UP EEE SAL Jan 11, 2007 next get-together was with my college labmates. these guys helped me through the last years of my college life. seriously, CoE got much easier after i joined the lab, seriously! oh, and it was these guys' fault that i became a JAVA programmer (i was a C-fan before then. now i don't remember C at all.) the "guest of honor" for this gathering was Richie, who was about to return to California then. i don't have much pictures since Kuya Bry was there as well. hehe! so just check out his multiply site. ------------------------------ UP EEE '98 Jan 18, 2007 And then, just when i thought the spending was about to stop, Nox emailed me that he would be here in the Philippines for about 2 weeks. I haven't since him since after graduation (that's about 3.5 years ago) so it would really be so wrong not to meet him. but all is good, i missed the guy. we met up with a LOT of our old classmates. apparently, Nox is THAT important (hehe! joke lang nox). anyway, i'm really glad that a lot of my friends were here during the season. it made my Christmas much more special. and though i'm now drowning in debt, i'll take it anytime if it means spending more time with them. :D

random, nonsense thoughts

my 3230 broke down last week. suddenly, for no reason at all, it refused to switch on. luckily, it was still covered by the warranty and i was able to have it fixed in nokia care. there was a problem with the software, they said, and to fix it, they had to re-flash it. now silly me, very trusting with my gadgets, never backed it up since i got it last february. so there, i lost my phonebook (my only means of keeping in touch with the "foreign" friends i met during my traveling days), my calendar notes (where i list those important moments, naks!) and my collection of Jam's haikus. hay naku, promise magba-backup na ako ngayon. anyway, if you think i don't have your number yet, please please send it to me. i would really love to stay in touch. thanks in advance! :) --------------------------------------------- for the past 2 weeks, i've been trying to decide on what phone to buy. i really want a wifi-enabled, 3G phone with a camera (kahit 1.3 megapixels lang). so far, i only have 3 choices (all from Nokia), the N91, N80 and E70. I really want the N80 but it is also the most expensive one at the moment. and it also has a 3-megapixel integrated camera which i think i won't be able to use much unless i get rid of my Sony camera. but i LOVE my Sony camera. dilemma! hay.. i never thought getting an almost-free phone can be so stressful... buti pa si buddy, panay free phones (hehe! peace buddy :p) maghintay na lang kaya ako.. kelan kaya magda-drop yung prices? --------------------------------------------- life and work have been stressful these past few months that i've been craving for a massage for the longest time. well, i got my wish last saturday. chris and i decided to try out South Spa, the spa on the ground floor of our condominium (very convenient). For 650 pesos, i got a steam bath, a moment of peace and of course, the one-hour massage from a super girl (man, she was a short and thin girl and she suddenly hoisted me up! and seriously, i was also the "smallest" client in there). anyway, it was worth it and i plan on getting another one soon. anyone else interested? :D --------------------------------------------- grabe, nami-miss ko nang mag-videoke ha!!! i think the last time i was in a videoke place was last March. seriously!! should i start worrying that maybe something might be wrong with me? hmm... --------------------------------------------- o, last na of the multi-blog.. pictures from the ContentDev semi-reunion last last week. hoy pips, kelan na ba yung totoong reunion natin?!? grabe, i miss the people of ContentDev, ibang klase kasi e!

man, i need to blog!

do i miss blogging... i mean, i've been on blogging hiatus before.. but it was different this last time. before i don't blog because i have nothing to blog and don't want to blog. but this last time, i just don't have time for it. work has literally taken over my life. i'm such a loser! waah!!! anyway, just some updates before i get back to work (sh*t!). ------------------------------------------------------ today, it's been 6 months already since this. time really flies. anyway, i didn't get a raise. just some additional tax-shield that's supposed to increase my net salary by a few thousands, or maybe just a thousand... i've yet to know. i don't know how i feel yet. definitely disappointed but i don't know how much. also, i've kinda prepared myself for this after hearing ET's story. so i'm not really shocked. but what i can say is that i really worked my butt off for the last five months (yeah 5, coz i wasn't really doing anything the first month), more than ever. and now that i'm writing this, i realized that i'm also a little bit angry. they promised bonuses though, for the projects i worked on, once they are signed, sealed and delivered. but from experience, i learned that PROMISES SUCK! and so.. well, you know... anyway again, i know that i shouldn't complain much. i know i was getting a little bit more than the other people here (stress on the little bit) for starters. so they get the raises, i dont, and we're all equal now. after all, i did say the organization here is "flat! mas flat pa sa lupa!". yet, why do i get this nagging thought, "kasalanan ko ba kung may experience na ako?". i mean, i did spend my first 1.5 working years earning less than the standard! ang gulo ko noh. balak ko na rin naman umalis dito early next year, ang dami ko pang satsat. hehe! :D ------------------------------------------------------ i met up with Jam, Allen and Luz last night, just to have dinner. ang sarap magkwentuhan. i missed my old friends so much. it's so nice to be back in that comfort zone, di ba? :) ------------------------------------------------------ i just finished watching House Season 2 (thanks mapet! :D). i can't wait for Season 3, which is about to start this September. sobrang bitin naman kasi nung season-ender e. hehe! anyway, i like this season better than the first one. well, except for Friends, i noticed that the best season of the TV shows i like is the 2nd season. Don't you agree? However, it's not like that when it come to movies. yech! ------------------------------------------------------ i've completed my Calvin and Hobbes collection. i was supposed to start on a new collection, like Sandman. But then Mapet showed me this, so i guess i'll be waiting. For now, i'll be parasiting on Chris' Fables collection which is really good, by the way. :D ------------------------------------------------------ i'll have dinner with my ex-officemates tomorrow. wala lang, dinner lang. i hope lots of people will show up. i missed their company so much. iba pa rin talaga ang ContentDev.

my "hard work" paid off...

i woke up this morning to rush to the Makati City Hall and get my cedula (community tax certificate). what's the cedula for?? to get my back pay from e-! i remember the stories from former officemates (who resigned first) that you'll probably be shocked of how much your back pay will be, not to mention that i have dedicated 2 and a half years of "hard work" to them. Minimum would be at least your one month salary... which is not bad since it'll be twice as much of what i expected. so i got my back pay and cashed it during lunch. let's just say, it was enough to keep me smiling all day. not because i'll get to buy a lot of things with them, but because i'll finally be able to settle my credit card debts! woohoo!! :) (time to start saving!) --------------------------------- remember my new year things-to-do list?? 1. start saving money!!! thanks to "back pay"! woohoo! 2. find a new job 3. start that business we've been planning 4. learn to cook or learn wood working. 5. pay all my debts thanks to "back pay" again! woohoo! 6. choose a sport and play err.. badminton, i guess... 7. learn how to swim <- i'm getting there! :D 8. get out of luzon and go to visayas or mindanao! 9. trim! 10. take a real vacation at least i'm making my progress, right? :)

movie test for the movie buff in you...

back in ContentDev, we used to "play" this game a lot. i think it was "invented" by our number one movie buff, Anton Gustilo. it's got no name but it was really fun and pretty addicting. so i'm telling you... if you've got lots of things to do, don't play this. you've been warned! :P so here's how it goes... i'll give you the names of two actors/actresses. Try linking them by naming actors who they've shared a movie with. The catch is, they must be linked by 6 actors or less. for example... Tom Hanks <-> Tom Cruise Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones - The Terminal Catherine Zeta-Jones and Brad Pitt - Ocean's Twelve Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise - Interview With a Vampire gets?? here, try these: 1. Charlize Theron and Renee Zellweger 2. Julia Roberts and Johnny Depp 3. Sean Penn and Jude Law 4. Natalie Portman and Keanu Reeves 5. Ben Affleck and Tom Hanks 6. Clive Owen and Mark Wahlberg 7. Gwyneth Paltrow and Robin Williams 8. Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis 9. Uma Thurman and Reese Witherspoon 10. Robert De Niro and Hugh Grant 11. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan (c/o ET) 12. Drew Barrymore and Drew Carey (c/o Chris) 13. Haley Joe Osment and Dakota Fanning (c/o Chris) 14. Katie Holmes and Kate Winslet (c/o Mark) 15. Jim Caviezel and Vin Diesel (hihihi...) ok... yan muna. most of those, i already know the answer. for some, i'm not even sure if they share a movie together or if they can be linked at all. but there's no such thing as only one answer in this game. so just try it and enjoy! :) edit: dahil kay Maco na di maka-gets, papaalala ko lang, NO CHEATING!!! (or else, you ruin the game) :P