Let's pause for a few reminders
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Thanks for dropping by.
I haven't been posting anything since July 18th not because of work or plain laziness. But because I've moved to another host and for now, I like to keep it that way.
If you like to keep yourself updated AND also keep me updated via YOUR blog, e-mail me at my addy that 'describes' me and I'll add you up. ;) It's all about having a give and take blog relationship.
See yah!
I haven't been posting anything since July 18th not because of work or plain laziness. But because I've moved to another host and for now, I like to keep it that way.
If you like to keep yourself updated AND also keep me updated via YOUR blog, e-mail me at my addy that 'describes' me and I'll add you up. ;) It's all about having a give and take blog relationship.
See yah!
1:00 PM | Permalink |
6 years, 3 days
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
6 years, 3 days ago today I walked into a building 10 minutes away from where I live. I had just come back from backpacking in Baguio with a good friend the day before, little did I know that that would be my longest out-of-town holiday for the next three years.
6 years, 3 days ago today I joined the IT workforce with a bag in one hand and a mix of expectations and aspirations in the other. I learned the ropes in dealing with application support issues side by side with digesting all programming languages and tools our team used. Then of course, there's the part of establishing rapport with my teammates, batchmates and colleagues both here and overseas. I was ready to embrace the IT corpy life.
In my 4 year-something stay with my first employer, I developed a love-hate relationship with my cellphone. I discovered that Sunday is a great day to go out and drive, if only there's no scheduled 'cutover'. Thursdays meant after-office night outs with colleagues since most of them would have to go home on Fridays. I learned to play bowling, trumps and did my first and definitely my last solo song number outside the bathroom. Colleagues turned to good friends, good friends turned to kumare's while some good friendships turned bitter and better left forgotten. But overall, it was a fun ride and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
As all good things come to an end, the time came for me to explore other opportunities.
And so I exchanged my casual tees and jeans get up with business casual attire, kicked off the driving shoes and put on the commuter's walking shoes. In contrast to the old job's hodgepodge of technologies handled, my current job focuses on two technologies I wouldn't mind being an 'expert' in, lol. Though I'm not as outgoing as I was in my previous work, I still enjoy the company of my 'more matured' teammates be it at work or at play. I guess IT people somehow have similar wavelengths making it easier for me to adjust in most situations. I've been here for almost two years now and so far, I'm still one happy camper.
Six years! Was it really that long ago?!
6 years, 3 days ago today I joined the IT workforce with a bag in one hand and a mix of expectations and aspirations in the other. I learned the ropes in dealing with application support issues side by side with digesting all programming languages and tools our team used. Then of course, there's the part of establishing rapport with my teammates, batchmates and colleagues both here and overseas. I was ready to embrace the IT corpy life.
In my 4 year-something stay with my first employer, I developed a love-hate relationship with my cellphone. I discovered that Sunday is a great day to go out and drive, if only there's no scheduled 'cutover'. Thursdays meant after-office night outs with colleagues since most of them would have to go home on Fridays. I learned to play bowling, trumps and did my first and definitely my last solo song number outside the bathroom. Colleagues turned to good friends, good friends turned to kumare's while some good friendships turned bitter and better left forgotten. But overall, it was a fun ride and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
As all good things come to an end, the time came for me to explore other opportunities.
And so I exchanged my casual tees and jeans get up with business casual attire, kicked off the driving shoes and put on the commuter's walking shoes. In contrast to the old job's hodgepodge of technologies handled, my current job focuses on two technologies I wouldn't mind being an 'expert' in, lol. Though I'm not as outgoing as I was in my previous work, I still enjoy the company of my 'more matured' teammates be it at work or at play. I guess IT people somehow have similar wavelengths making it easier for me to adjust in most situations. I've been here for almost two years now and so far, I'm still one happy camper.
Six years! Was it really that long ago?!
Labels: Day Trippin'
8:02 PM | Permalink |
About a girl
Friday, July 13, 2007
"When not being Database Engineer for *****, Lui can usually be found either at home, at some suburban gig place at the foot of Cynthia Alexander's throne, or on a road trip in search for the most bang for the buck hole-in-the-wall food experience."
Written for our quarterly newsletter at work by yours truly. Our team was tagged as the next one to be featured. Props to the boss who took it upon herself to write the article after our display of indifference to her e-mail, hehehe. I guess her staff are better left writing shell scripts and database queries than making us come up with a newsletter-worthy article. That's the only thing she asked from us: a one- or two-liner description of ourselves -- perhaps some personal trivia unknown to others.
Will try to post a soft copy of the hard copy of the paper (in short, kukuhanan ng pic, right Mareng Joanne?) when the issue comes out.
Good night for now ...zzzzzz
Ambient Noise: Wait - Cynthia Alexander
Written for our quarterly newsletter at work by yours truly. Our team was tagged as the next one to be featured. Props to the boss who took it upon herself to write the article after our display of indifference to her e-mail, hehehe. I guess her staff are better left writing shell scripts and database queries than making us come up with a newsletter-worthy article. That's the only thing she asked from us: a one- or two-liner description of ourselves -- perhaps some personal trivia unknown to others.
Will try to post a soft copy of the hard copy of the paper (in short, kukuhanan ng pic, right Mareng Joanne?) when the issue comes out.
Good night for now ...zzzzzz
Ambient Noise: Wait - Cynthia Alexander
Labels: Day Trippin'
12:04 AM | Permalink |
Transformers
Saturday, July 07, 2007
I finally got to watch Transformers last night at the Power Plant Mall after my shift. It's quite untypical of me to catch a movie a week after it opened. I usually let the movie-going crowd thin out first before venturing into a movie house. Last night was an exception since I brought my car to work and I got no plans for the night. So I figured I might as well go out and see the much-raved about movie.
I grew up watching Transformers in cartoons but for the life of me, I can no longer remember the names of most of the robots much less their stories. One thing I can vividly recall though is the game my cousins and I usually played on weekends. We formed a lateral 'L' with our outstretched arms to improvise some sort of human chair then we'll shout 'Transformers!'. Then we'd carry the 'victim' to another part of the house. Hehehe, the games of our youth :D
Going back to the real Transformers... What can I say, I love it! For my film-review, movie-critic untrained mind, it was simply awesome. I loved the effects of how the desert war was executed, the humor and wholesomeness of the Witwicky family, and Bumble Bee's cute and kulit personality. I just wish there had been more of Optimus Prime, the other Autobots and the Decepticons.
Rats, I wish Peachy's color were yellow so I could rebaptize her as a him and name him Bumble Bee!
Labels: Day Trippin'
10:01 AM | Permalink |
The wait is nearly over
Saturday, June 30, 2007
If our stateside friends have been eagerly anticipating their watches to strike 6pm to get hold of what could be Apple's next big thing after iPod, I have my own cause of excitement.
My first ever night-shift experience in my almost 6-year IT 'career' is nearly over. It was just a short 2-week graveyard stint, and happily so, an uneventful one. My first three work nights were the hardest for me with regards to trying to stay awake after 5 am. But just the same, I was successful with keeping myself in a wakeful state all throughout. Not bad for a first-timer, yes?
1. Drinking a glass of ice cold water on my desk all night long. Keeps me up and alert by having countless trips to the ladies' room.
2. Keeping myself busy. I guess I was lucky that idle time was kept to a minimum what with the high priority project and a few other tasks on the side. On those times when I had nothing to do but wait for my Mainframe counterparts to send over the files and the other jobs haven't finished yet, I turned to the internet to blog-hop, hehehe. I also had the chance to update Gabay's birthday reminders, expense tracker and to-do's for the coming weeks.
3. Waiting for the sun to rise. One Tuesday dawn was all it took for me to look forward to 5AM. How can one resist the skyline of the Metro's east with a stunning sky filled with reds, golds, pinks and purples?
4. Staying away from coffee. I thought this night shift was a good excuse to get my daily - or nightly - dose of caffeine. Turns out that those first 3 days that I mentioned earlier when I had difficulty staying awake were driven by coffee but 'twas good for only 7 hours tops. And then I found myself on my own.
5. Getting enough sleep during the day. Of course, there's nothing like a good night's sleep but duty called so I had no other choice but to reverse my body clock. I owe my job to my employer and it's but my professional responsibility to give back what's due them. Asus, dami ko pang sinabi. Ayoko lang mahuli akong natutulog sa trabaho. :D
And so, let the countdown begin.
Ambient Noise: Sinking - Jars of Clay
I've found the following techniques most helpful in my attempt to keep my late night shifts sleep-free.
1. Drinking a glass of ice cold water on my desk all night long. Keeps me up and alert by having countless trips to the ladies' room.
2. Keeping myself busy. I guess I was lucky that idle time was kept to a minimum what with the high priority project and a few other tasks on the side. On those times when I had nothing to do but wait for my Mainframe counterparts to send over the files and the other jobs haven't finished yet, I turned to the internet to blog-hop, hehehe. I also had the chance to update Gabay's birthday reminders, expense tracker and to-do's for the coming weeks.
3. Waiting for the sun to rise. One Tuesday dawn was all it took for me to look forward to 5AM. How can one resist the skyline of the Metro's east with a stunning sky filled with reds, golds, pinks and purples?
4. Staying away from coffee. I thought this night shift was a good excuse to get my daily - or nightly - dose of caffeine. Turns out that those first 3 days that I mentioned earlier when I had difficulty staying awake were driven by coffee but 'twas good for only 7 hours tops. And then I found myself on my own.
5. Getting enough sleep during the day. Of course, there's nothing like a good night's sleep but duty called so I had no other choice but to reverse my body clock. I owe my job to my employer and it's but my professional responsibility to give back what's due them. Asus, dami ko pang sinabi. Ayoko lang mahuli akong natutulog sa trabaho. :D
And so, let the countdown begin.
Ambient Noise: Sinking - Jars of Clay
Labels: Day Trippin'
2:45 AM | Permalink |
'Morning!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Labels: Day Trippin'
6:07 AM | Permalink |
I'm a Lakbayan C Traveler!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
My Lakbayan grade is C and it's nothing to be proud of. Shame on me for having 'road trip verve' for a blog but haven't really traveled that much. I've never set foot in Mindanao and have traveled to Visayas only once when I went to Bohol last year.
That map will be changed in a couple of months with my forthcoming trip to Cagayan de Oro/Camiguin sometime August. But just the same, that's just a peck on an immaculately clean canvass. Time and budget-permitting, I'd love to go to Batanes, Sagada, Davao and Cebu.
How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.Labels: Road Trippin'
12:00 AM | Permalink |
My Visual DNA
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Labels: Day Trippin'
2:16 PM | Permalink |
Waiting for the Weekend
Friday, June 15, 2007
I've been eagerly anticipating this weekend since Tuesday (uhuh, that's the start of the work week for us Manila-dwelling humanoids) and now it's almost over. Well, almost.
It's been a very, very, busy week, work-wise. Make that a very busy past 3 weeks. I'm involved in a high priority, high visibility project that interfaces with another development team. Or more of this project needs to interface with the enterprise data warehouse, which happens to be my team's accountability, and just like that I kissed the luxury of leaving work early goodbye and said hello to my past life.
The irony of it all is that this effort came about coz of a new law that requires CA-based companies to pay their employees if and when their employees didn't get to take their lunch on the 4th hour of their shift. Here we are in the Philippines working our butts off, and yes, missing the 4th hour for lunch break, if not skipping lunch at all. Life is weird like that.
Will somebody send over the files.. now?!
It's been a very, very, busy week, work-wise. Make that a very busy past 3 weeks. I'm involved in a high priority, high visibility project that interfaces with another development team. Or more of this project needs to interface with the enterprise data warehouse, which happens to be my team's accountability, and just like that I kissed the luxury of leaving work early goodbye and said hello to my past life.
The irony of it all is that this effort came about coz of a new law that requires CA-based companies to pay their employees if and when their employees didn't get to take their lunch on the 4th hour of their shift. Here we are in the Philippines working our butts off, and yes, missing the 4th hour for lunch break, if not skipping lunch at all. Life is weird like that.
Will somebody send over the files.. now?!
Labels: Day Trippin'
8:03 PM | Permalink |
Food I'm Missing
Monday, June 04, 2007
One of my inherent Pinoy traits is my love for food. Growing up, my birthday dinners were spent in Max's in the Scout area. The default order for the birthday girl is one WHOLE Spring Chicken. And I still end up eating my little brother's left-overs. So you gotta believe me when I say I've mellowed down in the binge-eating department.
The chicken from the house that chicken built is just one of those food I've loved, and will always love. Good for me that Max's is still around serving its trademark fried chicken. I'm not as lucky with my other favorite treats that are already discontinued or no longer available in Manila.
So far, these are what I've been missing for the past couple of years or so. I'd give a year's consumption of Lattes and Krispy Kremes for these goodies.
Red Ribbon's Chocolate Angel Pie - ako lang ata ang umoorder nito, ayan nawala tuloy sa product line.
Universal Bakery's Chocolate Revel Bar - I used to ask my college buddy M to buy these for me whenever she'd pass by the Muntinlapa/San Pedro border. I've learned from S that Universal no longer carries this.
Cinnzeo - I was at their Greenbelt branch a few days before they closed down all their stores in Metro Manila. It almost felt like serendipity that I got to drop by Cinnzeo and had what could be the best cinnamon treat for me unaware of their impending closure.
Magnolia Drumstick - yung makunat-kunat na cone
Horlicks Malties - just like Ovalteenies only a lot better!
Presto Funwich - haven't tried Penny Brown's but I heard it's a good, if not better, albeit more expensive substitute.
Alpine White - is Nestle White just as good?
The chicken from the house that chicken built is just one of those food I've loved, and will always love. Good for me that Max's is still around serving its trademark fried chicken. I'm not as lucky with my other favorite treats that are already discontinued or no longer available in Manila.
So far, these are what I've been missing for the past couple of years or so. I'd give a year's consumption of Lattes and Krispy Kremes for these goodies.
Red Ribbon's Chocolate Angel Pie - ako lang ata ang umoorder nito, ayan nawala tuloy sa product line.
Universal Bakery's Chocolate Revel Bar - I used to ask my college buddy M to buy these for me whenever she'd pass by the Muntinlapa/San Pedro border. I've learned from S that Universal no longer carries this.
Cinnzeo - I was at their Greenbelt branch a few days before they closed down all their stores in Metro Manila. It almost felt like serendipity that I got to drop by Cinnzeo and had what could be the best cinnamon treat for me unaware of their impending closure.
Magnolia Drumstick - yung makunat-kunat na cone
Horlicks Malties - just like Ovalteenies only a lot better!
Presto Funwich - haven't tried Penny Brown's but I heard it's a good, if not better, albeit more expensive substitute.
Alpine White - is Nestle White just as good?
Ambient Noise: Motorbykle - Cynthia Alexander
Labels: Food Trippin'
4:32 PM | Permalink |
