oh yeah!

after what seemed like 7823629512375623523 times of both solicited and unsolicited (explicit or subtle) prodding from practically everyone i know, i have been starting to save since june (my 1year self-imposed splurging has already elapsed)

i never thought i would have fun while being thrifty at the same time... i'm really enjoying my youth --- without being materialistic, aha!

=============================

knowing myself, i rarely (read: never) care about people having the same birthday as mine... fact, i even sometimes - fine, many times - forget about greeting others during their birthdays. heck, i even at times forget to greet my uncle and the brother of my grandfather despite the fact that we have the same birthday! if i happened to greet you, i then must have a *great* reason to have done so :)

much more to the entertainment industry. people having their birthday during april 24th include (fictional character) Charlie Andrews of Heroes. ok, obviously i am a geek knowing this mundane character's birthday (implying i don't not like heroes ;p). of all 365 (or 366 during leap year) days, she --- or aptly, the creators --- chose april 24th. but, who cares right? i don't.

what did not escape my attention though was Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects. i'm not really the hard core rocker type --- me? hardcore rocker, come on! --- but i do like the genre (with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, The Fray, Snow Patrol, etc.) of the music they play especially It Ends Tonight. uhmmm... i also selectively listen to secular music, hehehe. actually, when that song landed number 1 in a particular tophits countdown, i downloaded and even kept a softcopy of the said video in my harddrive.

small world, or is it really? the band made a guest appearance in one of the *many* series i watch, Smallville season 6 episode 3 playing this song. more over, not with the rest of the band, but Tyson again appeared as himself in another one of my favorite series, House season 3 episode 17.

and lo and behold, of all birthdays, he has the same as mine! exactly april 24th, but just a year earlier. even if i hate his junkie and bulimic appearance (hey, i could even close my eyes and just opt to listen to the music, haha), me having weird and very selective likes of songs do like some of the songs from this band (well, at least this particular song). mind you, it's not just because he has the same birthday as mine --- i don't care, remember?

imagine if i had continued with those drumming lessons and further polished my keyboard/piano *skills*, then proceeded to playing the guitar/bass, then maybe even violin! i guess these are the instruments april 24th people are supposed to play after all, haha.

i just pray that one day, they would finally encounter Someone and would play so that other people might know too! ;p

things do not necessarily happen as what we expect

the mindset I had before the vacation was *me, myself, and I*. like, I would be on vacation, I would enjoy, I would be stress-free… but at the end of it all, *I* had been practically omitted from the 26 letters of the english alphabet.

[start background] skip this part if you knew already
this bataan (mt samat) adventure was borne, even as early as summer of 2006 (yup, you read it right, last year).

it was conceptualized by kuya derf (as far as i could recall), as concurred by kuya arvin, then i was informed. ate sharon fangonon was also invited. one by one, for various reasons, people backed-out. naturally, i also backed out, hehe.

and then summer of 2007. while my officemates and friends went to portugal, spain, bangkok, hongkong, the ever loyal poland, and somewhere else, i opted to stay here in the philippines (well, i still have passport issues thanks to DOST XD, hehe)…

i have applied my out-of-office leave from march 31^st to april 9^th even as early as february. this was possible because i had more than enough CDOs (Compensatory Day-Off, meaning our regular vacation leaves would not be consumed) since there have been times that i would work during weekends and wee hours in the morning.

monday (april 2^nd) came, kuya arvin texted me that he could not go, then the next day, ate sharon said that she was supposed to go home to baguio for the lenten season and kuya derf said that he would just follow after he would finish some pre-commitments… same scenario as last year XD however, i have already applied my leaves, finished what needed to be done at work, prepared the necessary stuff for this vacation, etc. in short, i was then ready… i could not back-out now. so, off i went ;p
[end background]

‘brief’ summary (sat to mon not included): might be very long, skip it if you are impatient

tuesday (april 3^rd)
i was at the hot seat, as in really impromptu interview. but for sudden twist of events, my host’s family was the one sharing. and in just one night, i have comprehensively known the background! nyee… in fairness, i have nothing to say except that they were so kind :)

wednesday
we went to my host’s brother's newly bought house and lot in a modern subdivision. it was oriental-inspired (private-joke ;p). then by afternoon to his newly born nephew (comment: awww… we are getting old XD) AND, we were engaged into a very deep-faith discussion with my host’s sister’s father-in-law, being old and with the proximity of relationship kinda added to the excitement for like 2hours. everything ended cordially at least.

thursday
supposedly rest day. but no! we assembled an amplifier XD haha (and yes, we used that amplifier for some P&W *jamming* sessions ;p)

friday
my very first witness of ‘cenaculo’ ever, after 21 years. kumusta naman! ;p

saturday
we were supposed to go to mt samat as culmination (err… araw ng kagitingan, remember o_O), but we instead had pizza at a national pizza parlor. reason: we were waiting for my host’s sister, but it was getting very late already and we decided to just eat, hehe… yeah, sad since that was the primary motivation last year :(.

sunday
we attended the sunrise (read: 4:30am, good luck talaga) service of the church of a fellow DCF alumni (as referred to my host by kuya caloy). in fairness, it started on time. and come 3pm, back to manila XD

after those kind of events, the *I* became *others*:

• i had very productive quiet times, free from clock worries

• i was impressed that i should do some *charity act*. not really for fun, but i was my challenged by my host and our friend we met friday for me to have a ‘scholar’. for that, i have talked with my younger brother that i would be the one to spend for his tuition this summer. unfortunately, my parents outdid me with it. they have already spent for his tuition. oh well, i am just reimbursing instead :)

• realizing that i could not commit to going back to the campus at least once a week, i have been thinking of transitioning discipleship to other people who have better load. this has been also because, we have been praying for like a year already for a D-group commitment in the church that we go to during sundays. and yes, i now deem that our prayers have been answered already (might even months ago pa).

• since this is the time that i would be seriously doing my AP role as i have said months ago, i would still continue to be responsible for students via AP (AP need not be every week / month). my current APs are kuya arvin (though he is set to graduate this april also ;p) and lutoy! (ehem, luther pala… dapat formal dcf chair na kasi) :) and after contemplation, i have crossed the boundaries of dorms when it comes to commitment. i have been afraid before to have something to do with people from other dorms when it came to responsibilities, but as one of the lessons i learned last lenten, i have now a third AP, my host last vacation - jason. (so, be my host for later vacations, baka kayo yung magiging next AP ko, hahahaha, joke lang po. being AP should not be taken lightly)

and yeah, even if i have not *publicized* this blog here in the workplace, POPE did able to locate it, haha... guess, i really should be opening my blog(s) not only for students (part of moving on) :)

speaking of work, i am now bound with HP for the next 6 months. it's because i had ITIL Training (last march 27^th to 29^th - basically, set of books regarding best practices being complied with leading IT companies) and Oracle 10g Program with PL/SQL Training come april 16^th to april 20^th, whole day from 9am (man, good luck nalang sa akin!) to 5pm in Oracle University (hahaha). 6months because HP would be spending at least PhP86,000 (without discount) for the two trainings... hmmm… this amount of money could pay for the tuition of 2 (actually, 1.5 rounded off) students for a 4-year course in UP save for the tuition hike that is set to be implemented this June (and to think the aggregated number of Training Days is just 8 days vs 8 sems!) lubus-lubusin na natin ito!

back to back, CHEERS! =)

folks, the title says it all =))

i just hope these *CHEERS* would translate to something more tangible, like e-awards, haha...

the following is my second *CHEERS* ever since i got into HP last september '06.

additional FYI:
pope galang - my project manager in one of my projects
monika studnicka - a pole and also our technical leader

(just click on the pix if you want to enlarge)

if the preceding *CHEERS* does not suffice because it corresponds to a technical perspective, the next *CHEERS* is my third and says how *Business* appreciates our services accordingly :)

3 CHEERS in less than 6months...

...PERFECT!!!

i just love my work :)

PS, i am ready to divulge to the public my other blog, a livejournal account... it showcases some of my random (and sometimes innermost thoughts, hehe)... HINT: if you are my Y!M friend, you would easily know the URL ;p

major update! (sort of a long post, hehe…)

i just resigned from my JOB!!! my resignation takes effect by the 1st of september 2006.

no… i did not resign out of bitterness or something, or for greener pasture, but rather more of career growth and social growth.

with regards to career growth, initially i found my current job OK, but after almost four months it was becoming boring. i felt that i have been not learning significantly… reason: my job is *maintenance*. meaning, it does not require you to think that much. i have been left out by my UP DCS batchmates (at least in another company) wherein they have been acquiring knowledge to the next level. not for anything, but i do not necessarily believe that a person like me is needed to handle this task. adding to the feeling of being stagnant is the mere fact that i had no real mentor. sure indeed, there are some people here that are really good. however, much that they liked to share their knowledge, i could not understand what they are trying to say. i’m completely at lost! henceforth, i am always stuck with taking the minutes of the meeting, and being in-charge of the documentation galore. handling the operators was sort of, how do i say it, synonymous to boredom too. there is nothing bad about the job but rather the problem is with me, so please don’t get me wrong.

now, the social growth part. as a person still in his very early 20s (as in!), of course, i was looking for people who could relate with my views AND within my same wavelength. i found people who have joined the company at the same time as i did, and they also came from prominent schools like ateneo and la salle. naturally, i was inclined to go with these batchmates, however, they are in other departments. it was really not that bad, but i find it not comfortable whenever they are talking about their teams, project managers, *team lunch out*, etc… this surely made me out of place, plus there was this atenean guy (i believe he also resigned already) that always make (present tense, because he still does it) people not welcome.

this taught me to reach-out to my officemates. i thought that i was the type of the person having the ability to respond well to any given people. i was proven wrong! rather, i have become so judgmental, in other words… instead of edifying, i was more or less sinning! here’s the set-up in my office / department… we have contractual employees (that are not somewhat young) and we have regular employees (that are definitely not somewhat young). logic would tell me to first associate with the regular employees, after all, they are the ones who have *permanent* tenure. thus, fostering friendship with them could be lasting. however, no matter how i *forced* myself to bond with them, it just did not click. they always ask me out for lunch and other activities, like drinking sessions and the like (oh no!!!) but i just am not that comfortable with their company. once again, generation gap proves to exist! whew… this leads me to the only choice of befriending the contractuals. this is the part that i have been sinning. this is a test of my character for i have viewed the casuals as inferior. [i'm now expecting comments at this point from readers] i could not swallow the scenario of having to lunch out with the contractuals, while at the same time my regular batchmates-employees, that are actually more or less at my level, having fun by themselves. God, i beg thee to be just and merciful in forgiving me and that teach me how to show compassion and acceptance for others…

when everything has been said and done, i am leaving soluziona without any bitternes. i have cultivated relationships, though not that deep. i am leaving a position that many people would aspire for, good for them. and now, i really hope that my new job come september 1st is really meant for me :)

one of the updates...

look at the Current Amount Due located at the mid-right side of the picture...


haha!!! i do not know whether or not to consider this an achievement, but hey! we need to pay almost 3000 bucks for just an aircon-dominated electric consumption... coolness!!! [literally] pun, not intended ;p

there have been a lot of things that i would like to say here in this blog...

but, having no right to tell the future... i opt to just disclose things that have already transpired.

other updates shall be made available IF and WHEN things materialize.

tschüs! :)

who will be next?

what do you get when you have:

a people-pleaser and mission-inclined person +
a choleric-melancholic and OC person +
a brutally candid elitist and dense person

under one roof?

what else? but RIOT!!!

aldous just moved-in with us last sunday. technically, *riot* should ensue.

but so far, by grace, harmony is still with us ;p

for the 24/7 live streaming subscription to this reality show, just tune-in to nothingwhenapart.blogspot.com :)

you may also get regular updates from your respective weekly dorm fellowships and also during sunday church services...

haha!!! now, aren't we having fun yet? XD

wanna bet?

though i act apathetic on a normal day, me acting very dense is very different. it simply means, Me Da Igual (roughly: pakialam ko, bakit ba?). mwehehe... XD

sorry nalang po, this is one of my inner characters. and unfortunately, it was forced to be released... haha! kinda kyubi / kitsune of naruto ;p

one word though, KEBS XD

^hehe, this pertains to my new life, having to meet a lot of different people.

before the month ends...

hmm...

seems like my posts do not follow regular basis anymore ;p

company outing was last weekend. it was for free, and the food was great! it was held at the batangas country club. of course, i was not with the group of my officemates, malamang... they are so old na kaya. hard to relate. the youngest, apart from me, is in his uber-late twenties. kumusta naman? i was just 20 last month! ;p

naturally, during the *big chill* (this was saturday night), there was a drinking spree. good thing i was with my batchmates, there were 11 of us in our group of newbies who joined. but only three have the principle of not drinking. so, it was pressure-be-gone drama during the night. one of the non-drinkers is my batchmate also from UPDCS. the other one is from ateneo. i am not that close to that UPDCS batchmate since she was not one of my cliques during college days, while this arnean guy maintains this intangible effect. nice evening. fine, bring it on! ;p

hehe... generally speaking, the outing went just fine. an ordinary event for me. it's very different compared to my college orgs' outings. i believe it's because, in a college org outing, the people you are with are first, within your age bracket; and second, you have something in common: like passion for debate (or some elitista way of thinking ;p), same faith and conviction, scholarly thoughts, etc...

coming from an elitist org in UP - which was one of the groups that influenced me a lot - situates me in the middle: (on one end) out of a UP stereotype of being tibak and geeky, (and on the other end) not that much association with the uber-suplado (and the i-do-not-care-who-you-are) people.

it's just a mixture of being an elitista at the same time, being not that numb with other people. being in the middle can really be a very good asset, or sometimes a liability. and in this current situation, i say that it is more of a liability. oh well...

now i know how it feels in the real world... unlike in my comfort zone back in UP college wherein the world seemed to be perfect - that is, being in the middle was just fine. now, there is a pressing need to make a choice.

i shall still hold that choice yet and disclose it sometime, i do not want to make a hasty decision. for now, i'll just enjoy this thing called - life :)

due to persistent public demand, UPDATES. at last!

last update, march 9, 2006!!!

woohh... that was like so ancient.

many things really have happened, but due to the fact that time was then a luxury for me, i was not able to update.

i do not know where to start...

some important highlights of these past weeks (months even ;p) were my graduation, my first day of work, and the third one [the secret one] =) wait! there's also the part wherein we transferred to a new house :D

read on...

first stop, graduation!

honestly, i really was not that confident with me graduating, especially when the month of february came. people around me may have noticed that i was always emphasizing that i was to graduate. little did they know, that was just one of the ways i did inorder for me to boost my confidence level. why i was not confident? simple... my grades were not that high to assure me of a clear mark.

oh well... time went on and poof! history says that i have finally graduated by grace (though i still am not cleared yet. our thesis documentation has yet to be finished ;p)
the graduation was not really emotional on our part, unlike other graduates. kumusta naman? most of my batchmates work by BUNCH in different companies, the majority of which are now in HP. wala lang, the graduation rites were just for fun and seeing my batchmates (especially my blockmates) at the end of it all was such a relief. we started things together when we entered our freshmen year and we are about to end this ALSO together in a *major* block event :D

these guys (special mention again to my blockmates) are deserving of what they are right now. the college valedictorian was from IE, but the salutatorian and the first honorable mention (if there is one) are my blockmates! 6 out of 8 of my block graduated as either (3) magna or (3) cum laude! congratulations is really an understatement. hence, they have luxurious job offers (like generally, the rest of my batch have).

our *block event* is tentatively scheduled during our (first, for some) payday! whew... this is gonna be one heck of a celebration. BUT! good luck to me, i am assigned as the primary *organizer* :((

best of wishes to all of us, my dear blockmates!

(pictures during the graduation rites will be posted later, bagal kasi ng net ko dito sa opisina :D)

second stop, JOB!

at last! first day of my job fell on my birthday. it is a company policy that during his first day, a new hire would be introduced to the rest of the *company*. ms anj [my friendly and pretty HR] went like: "hi, (name of the person or group of people). this is lg, today is his first day and also his birthday". people were like saying, "oh hi! happy birthday!". that is why, i believe that i was the person during that day that has received like a million *happy birthday* greetings! [with a little exaggeration, of course ;p]

after the hi's and hello's in the libis head office, i was *delivered* to the project assignment - Meralco main building in ortigas. kumusta naman? security has been as tight as a hole of a needle during my first day. before i could enter in my floor, i have to ask the guards to open the door for me. they have this floor very secured since this floor is the data center. good thing, i have been issued a magic key (the white card key ;p) to let me go in and out of the floor.

when finally i was assigned a desk, i immediately checked the desktop they have given me. it is a hewlett-packard vectra VE cpu. but... Intel Pentium II 333MHz ZZZZzzzzzz..... (sorry, i dozed off). i checked... no! no internet! what? i have a landline in my desk and i thought of connecting this *abacus* cpu via dial-up. but lucky me, i now have a net connection after one week. now, i can be seen online (especially Y!M), though if i appear to be offline, i am invisible ;p

good luck to a CS graduate like me, my first project is to document an alien computer system! fine, i have been documenting all my college life, but documenting a *what the heck* system is really absurd. oh well...

but because, i was a good interviewee during one of the job interviews here, i said that i was receptive to the idea of dealing with the business side of IT and CS. pordat! i am also being assigned to determine a particular business unit (perhaps two units) whether to determine it as *should be a closed shop*.
for crying out loud, i only took econ11! friendship connections, do not fail me now... ;p

of course, the topic of me transferring from a dormitory to a real house :D

yup, yup...

we (of course, at this point in time, i am not living alone) found a very good place in cainta. but hey, do not let this *cainta* fool you, it is really near UP and just a 15minute ride to my office in ortigas (take note: without traffic ;p)

the house is practically a bachelor's pad with two floors. the first floor is where you can find the living room / dining room. also, it is where the kitchen and bathroom are located. this part of the house is complete with interiors ONLY (ie, tiles, varnished walls, etc...).

upstairs, the second floor. now this is my place! it has a nice wall (my guess would be the wall costs cheap lang, pero hindi halata kasi maganda siya :D). i consider the bedroom my place because it is only the place in the house having an air-con. downstairs, you have to be contented with an electric fan ;p

though the house has 24hrs supply of fast-running and clean water (so strong that you can take a shower bath), a very cool (literally) bedroom because of the aircon, and nice tiled and (varnished) wooden interiors, we still lack furniture.
we still have no bed, couch, tv, ref, water dispenser, gasul, etc...

guess we just have to start from scratch. and i say (even if it is challenging), i like :D
so, here we go with spending our first salaries...

cheers to spending to our house and the life of being a bachelor and independence (from other people lang, but not from God).

no need to challenge me ;p

this is my only pic in lavinia's digicam last GA...

i'll upload more when others give me the links :)

wait for the other pics!

tribute to lavinia :)

since, ikaw yung pinaka-unang nagupload ng mga pics...

i give you a tribute :)

i am posting pictures na kasama ka (obviously, wala ako. read the post above this ;p)... but these pix are the ones na di naulit ung ibang tao :D