mini blogging

i've been working really hard the past few weeks and stressing over a lot of things in the office. so as soon as i left work yesterday (which was a saturday, i know), i've decided to try very hard to enjoy the rest of my weekend and really take my mind of work.

not sure if trying hard not to think about work counts as not thinking about work though. oh well... 

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since the last blog post, the 30-day blog challenge which i failed miserably, i've had the opportunity to visit our Berlin office and stay there for 2 weeks. and since it has always been my goal to do some sort of European tour before i turn 30, i tried to make the best out of it.

the trip was a bit of a rush and since i was there for work and limited visa time, i really did not have time for a tour. but then i thought, if i could just see Paris, then i'm good. and with a little push from my friends, especially from K who researched flight, tour and hotel options for me -- i had an expensive, impromptu but very much worth it weekend trip to Paris.

it was sometimes lonely and scary to travel alone, but most of the time i was lucky. my colleagues in Berlin really took care of me and tried to keep me company if they can. in Paris, it just so happened that a high school classmate who is based on the US was spending that same weekend there, and so we met up. it was cold and snowing, i loved it!

memories from that 2 week-long trip now up on my wall

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the past few months, i've already received a number of postcards from my friend M in Singapore. 2 of those are also up in my wall (in the pic above) and the other is in the office.

i repaid her by sending her postcards when i was in Berlin and Paris also. 

i love sending and receiving postcards. the message itself almost does not matter. it could be a bunch of nonsense. but just thinking of how much that message has to go through to get to you, it makes it so much special.

not to mention it's always better to see something else in your mailbox other than bills.

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i finally finished reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman! (okay fine, not yet done. i still have a few pages to go through in The Wake. but that's negligible, right?)

i love Neil Gaiman's work, and Sandman is the first graphic novel that i really appreciated. the other day, M had this as her status message, one of my favorite lines from the series:

Sometimes you wake up,
Sometimes the fall kills you.
And sometimes when you fall, you fly. 

then i just saw Neil Gaiman blogged about this same line. he saw it tattooed on some woman's shoulder blade, while he was in Australia.

i wonder how it feels to have your own words inked forever on some stranger's skin. a stranger from the other side of the world, nonetheless. 

more

friday drinking with the Francisco, Elena, Lars L., Morten and Christopher before watching Harry Potter

the viking ship

the hotel breakfast food

the english guys - Graham, Mark, Alex and Andy

and more in my multiply site. :)

goodbye oslo

Unlike my first week in oslo, my second and third weeks felt more like work. Well, i need to be grateful now for the trip so i must work. I stayed out late (up to 8pm) in the office, a number times, during my second week, and my last week was just full of meetings. Therefore, not much sightseeing were done, but that doesn't mean there weren't "happenings" that occurred after work. I still managed to have time to have dinner, or drinks, or go around Central Oslo with Andrew and/or Christopher. Last thursday, for the first time, i had finished a meal (i've never been able to finish my food before, for some weird reason, since i got to Oslo) and played mini-golf. Of course, i let Christopher win, as a "thank you" for accompanying me all around. But i did manage to get two hole-in-one's, something he wasn't able to do, to redeem myself (though they were 90% caused by luck). Last Wednesday, guys from the London office visited for a whole day meeting. They will be leaving the next day (yes, they only flew to Oslo for a one-day meeting) so we "had to" take them out that night. We went to have dinner at a chinese restaurant called "Dinner". It has been one of the best foods i have ever had! Not just in Oslo (though definitely, the best in Oslo), but ever! Andreas took charge of the ordering and we ended up with 10 dishes, 2 servings of each, to feed 7 men and me. I was way too full to eat the last 2 dishes which broke my heart. Both my Fridays were spent drinking with guys from the office. This is what i really like about the people in the Oslo office, they are always available to have beers on Friday nights. Last last friday, i saw Harry Potter in the theater, but had been drinking way way before it with Christopher, Morten, Lars L. and Francisco. I tried some crazy liquors that night, particularly one Danish drink c/o Morten, who i really think is worth mentioning so as to remind me to never try it again. Unfortunately, i forgot what it is called. This last Friday was the most fun of them of all. Using "my last day" as tag line, i convinced a lot of people to join the drinking. My flight the next day was leaving at 8:30am, and really my plan was to go straight to the airport after the "party" (more on this later). All in all, there were Andrew, Brendan, Camilla, Christopher, Morten, Diego, Lars L., Francisco, Hanne and Arild there. Camilla's friend, Rosie, and Christopher's friend, whose name i'll later insert here, also joined us. The "party" ended around 4am. Had lots of pictures that night, but that would have to wait since i no longer have the means to transfer them to my PC. :D Anyway, i did manage to catch my flight despite the lack of sleep and i am here now in Madrid. I know now that i will definitely miss Oslo and the people in the Oslo office. I have now considered some of them as more than just colleagues or acquaintances, and i hope we could really be friends under this environment. And i do wish i'll see these friends again... and again is already better than anything else. Thanks Oslo, for having me there! I really had a very great time. :)

the trip so far

the plane that took me from Manila to Amsterdam.

this is how 8:00 PM in Amsterdam looks like.

my work station in the Oslo office. i just love that ergonomic chair! the extra monitor i have though is "astigmatic". so i'm learning to work with just my laptop now.

the big Oslo office! this is the view from my office room (yes, i got my own room. quite lonely sometimes but i think this is the best situation. this way, i get to call manila everyday). people in the office usually use a scooter like this to go from one end to the other.

one of the tourist spots my colleague/tour guide, Christopher, took me to. i forgot what it's called, just basically he said it is "THE" tourist park. that picture in the middle is a tower made of people. first time i saw it, all i can remember is that tree of dead people from the movie 300. quite disturbing...

basically, i've had a blast in my first week here in Oslo. i went sight-seeing almost everyday with Christopher. we had a drink with Conor, Arild, Brendan and Graham last friday by the Fjord. Arild took me biking yesterday. and later, i'm meeting up with Andreas, Andrew and Hege for dinner. i love the people here, they've been really kind and accommodating. this trip definitely feels more like a vacation than work. i'm hoping it'll stay that way until the end. anyway, i'll be uploading the rest of the pictures in my multiply site, check them out if you have the time. i miss you guys in Manila. i'm really having a great time here, but i'm also looking forward to going back home.

first day in oslo

yes, so i finally got to Oslo intact. my first day didn't start off so well. my flights (yes, plural) were delayed and so i had to spend around 30 minutes running around the Oslo airport; from one end to have my money changed, and back to the other end to catch the train. All of this while lugging around 2 big bags. Not to mention i was already very tired by this time... my whole travel time took about 22 hours. Then when i got to the hotel, they thought my reservations were cancelled. This is because i already arrived on July 2 at 1 am, when i was supposed to arrive on July 1. but anyway, apparently they just can't find my name, and it was all okay as soon as i told them i was from Colibria. also, there was no air-conditioner in my room. but okay, all i had to do was open the window and that was enough, yes.. even for me. :D anyway, after i had my sleep, things started to look up. the breakfast the hotel served was not that bad. then i was picked up by my colleague from the hotel to accompany me to the office. he was very nice and friendly, and he even gave me chocolates! (i know, i'm a sucker for chocolates. :p) the Oslo office was very big, the whole Manila office could probably fit in there. people were very friendly, and they go out of their way to speak in English just to include me in the conversation. :) well, after work i'll be "touring" the surrounding areas. everything here looks so historic, very postcard-like. pictures would have to follow! stay tuned! :D

ready for the trip

just 3 more days to go! now, i am officially excited. i have been keeping myself from the feeling since i was leaving room for disappointment. but now, there's very little room left for it, and i think i'll be able to handle it now whatever happens. my Spain trip is also pushing through. so i'll be staying in Oslo for 3 weeks and 6 days in Madrid. i'll try to chronicle my adventures in Europe through this blog, so i'm making a new label for it. be sure to check it out! :D in other news, i just finished watching Pinoy Big Brother, and i found that Bodie just got evicted. it has been a long standing "joke" in the office that we're all hoping for him to be kicked out since we need him back at work. but now i feel a bit guilty about not voting for him these past weeks. the truth is, we were all confident he'll make it to the Big Four... but, well you know what happened. too bad i'll miss his first time back at work (if he ever gets back soon). i wanna see for myself what kind of ruckus he'll bring to the building. now that would be exciting. :D