That, I never saw that coming.
Nothing against Kris (though I’ve been giving Ria, my Kris Allen fanatic friend, a hard time on this), but I called this to be heavily in favor of Adam Lambert and boy was I wrong. I even considered how the votes from the female population would swing given that Kris is the “FOGI” (as Ria would say) boy next door while Adam is the… well, flamboyant one. So why did he lose (from my point of view)?
- The finale song “No Boundaries” just reeked. There wasn’t anything you can do about it. The lyrics were sappy and the tune was just plain weird.
- Adam’s studio records were inferior to his live performances. It’s also tough to sing Adam Lambert songs.
- He was the judges’ pet. AI was actually renamed by some to the “Adam Lambert Show” sensing it was an easy win and this cost votes.
- Maybe America just isn’t ready for a gay (as in really gay) idol.
Either way, despite my best bet losing in the 2nd to the last round, I still think this is one of the best seasons ever. =)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
It's Idol Season
Jaye and I love idol season. Last year we were big David Cook fans and we were so happy he won the whole thing.
This year, Jaye picked Danny Gokey to win the whole thing in the episode where he auditioned for Idol. His audition episode – that’s when she first saw the guy. She really has an ear for singing skills. She also had a second pick – Adam Lambert but he’s a distant second since he barged into the competition with a punk rock reputation. Jaye’s not into those. I on the other hand cannot differentiate a guy singing in tune from a guy snoring. I didn’t even have a pick early in the season.
Now the competition is down to 5. Danny Gokey had a strong performance from “Rat Pack” week. I was going with Danny as well when the top 13 was introduced but I was keeping an eye on Adam. I remember his first few performances were all screaming and shrieking but if he can pull off a slow ballad he’d be my bet to win the whole thing. I want Danny to win the whole thing but I think this will be Adam’s year because he can hit a note that only he could reach (and only a few dogs could hear). All he has to do is find a way to use this note in his arrangement and it’s a sure hit. He could sing the Seiko wallet theme song and still win a Grammy. What I love in this season is the depth of the competition.
Last year, it was a 2 horse race between the two Davids. This year, I think it will be a Danny – Adam finals with Kris Allen and that girl who looks like Ruby Rodriguez a perfect song away from an upset. That guy who thinks he’s Justin Timberlake? I think he’s going home.
This year, Jaye picked Danny Gokey to win the whole thing in the episode where he auditioned for Idol. His audition episode – that’s when she first saw the guy. She really has an ear for singing skills. She also had a second pick – Adam Lambert but he’s a distant second since he barged into the competition with a punk rock reputation. Jaye’s not into those. I on the other hand cannot differentiate a guy singing in tune from a guy snoring. I didn’t even have a pick early in the season.
Now the competition is down to 5. Danny Gokey had a strong performance from “Rat Pack” week. I was going with Danny as well when the top 13 was introduced but I was keeping an eye on Adam. I remember his first few performances were all screaming and shrieking but if he can pull off a slow ballad he’d be my bet to win the whole thing. I want Danny to win the whole thing but I think this will be Adam’s year because he can hit a note that only he could reach (and only a few dogs could hear). All he has to do is find a way to use this note in his arrangement and it’s a sure hit. He could sing the Seiko wallet theme song and still win a Grammy. What I love in this season is the depth of the competition.
Last year, it was a 2 horse race between the two Davids. This year, I think it will be a Danny – Adam finals with Kris Allen and that girl who looks like Ruby Rodriguez a perfect song away from an upset. That guy who thinks he’s Justin Timberlake? I think he’s going home.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Longing for the Tube
The Nokia 5800 aka the "Tube".
Don't you hate it when you want to buy something but you just can't seem to justify it?
I'm a big gadget freak but for some reason, I'm not a mobile phone kind of guy. I still do upgrades though as my current Nokia 6300 is actually my 6th phone however I always stray away from the high end ones.
Until now.
I first saw the Nokia 5800 when I bought a new charger at this phone store at the mall. I was fascinated by it and started to set aside a budget to purchase it. After a few weeks of analyzing and arguing with myself to buy it, I decided that this was an unnecessary purchase and that I should purchase some basic photography lighting equipment instead since I needed that more. I bought the lights and scrapped my plans for the 5800.
The phone seems to follow me everywhere still and now I'm considering purchasing it again.
Don't you hate it when you want to buy something but you just can't seem to justify it?
I'm a big gadget freak but for some reason, I'm not a mobile phone kind of guy. I still do upgrades though as my current Nokia 6300 is actually my 6th phone however I always stray away from the high end ones.
Until now.
I first saw the Nokia 5800 when I bought a new charger at this phone store at the mall. I was fascinated by it and started to set aside a budget to purchase it. After a few weeks of analyzing and arguing with myself to buy it, I decided that this was an unnecessary purchase and that I should purchase some basic photography lighting equipment instead since I needed that more. I bought the lights and scrapped my plans for the 5800.
The phone seems to follow me everywhere still and now I'm considering purchasing it again.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The One Minute Manager Book Review
I was asked if I write. I said I kept a blog. They asked me to do a book review. I said writing a book review is different than posting blog entries. They insisted. I agreed to write the entry only if I write the whole thing my way. They agreed.
So one of the most unusual book reviews was finally written:
The One Minute Manager Book Review
by Arn
One must appreciate the beauty of working in such a competitive environment as it brings out the best in us in so many ways. To succeed, we must perform better than our peers. If they can close fifteen tickets in a day, you close twenty. If they deliver requests in four days, you deliver it in three. If it takes them three minutes to get coffee from the pantry, you get yours in two… you get the idea. It’s no wonder that most, if not all are willing to learn new tips and tricks to ease work and increase their productivity and efficiency.
Enter the One Minute Manager book written by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. It’s one of the most popular management and self improvement books around because its message is simple and it’s easy to read. The book tells a simple story about a young man and his search for the most effective manager which led him to a man they called the “One Minute Manager”. The One Minute Manager is not a wizard on a quest or a vampire who drives a Volvo but he’s this cool guy who has a simple strategy to get the most out of his people and keeping them happy at the same time. He’s not an autocratic manager who concentrates only in results or a democratic manager who looks out only for his people. He’s there right down the middle and his technique is further discussed in the book.
The book won’t bore you with complex philosophies, charts, calculations, catchy acronyms (as if we needed more) or any big words. It concentrates on three major concepts and how to use them effectively together: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praises and One Minute Reprimands – all of which are not really new to us in Accenture.
The book, apparently written by Captain Obvious explains that setting goals, commending and reprimanding people at the correct time are all important. A little too simple isn’t it?
If it’s so simple, why is the book such a big hit? Why do some companies have this as a mandatory reading material for all their leaders and managers? Personally, I believe it’s because most of us have over-analyzed our managing skills and have implemented complex changes to improve. The book reminds us some of the basics of managing, most of which we probably strayed away from. Think about it: do you set realistic short term goals or just say “to do my best and get promoted”? If someone did a good job, do you approach them right away to tell them or just IM them with an animated thank you smiley? After reprimanding someone, was it done in such a way that that someone walks back to his/her desk to do a better job or storms off to the 12th floor to smoke?
Sophisticated problems are mostly solved with very basic solutions – a powerful message from a short book.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, but my recommendation comes with a waiver. It’s a good read for everyone however I don’t recommend doing exactly what the One Minute Manager did in the story. You have to analyze why it worked for the One Minute Manager, analyze your own current situation and customize your own processes keeping in mind the basics discussed in the book. Remember, the book uses a generic setting with examples which can be applied to virtually any industry.
Again, the book can certainly improve your productivity and efficiency and can give you the edge you’ve wanted, unless of course everyone has read it which means you’ll need to check if someone has already written “The 20 Second Manager” (No, I checked and it doesn’t exist yet. Sorry.)
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
The Server Move Release
97 hours.
That’s how much work I logged last week alone. If you do the math, there are 168 hours in a week which means 57.7% of my time was spent on working. The remaining 42.3% would be for sleeping, eating, and driving to and from the office. This isn’t even counting the work I’m doing while stuck in traffic as I have my laptop with me on the passenger seat. This doesn’t even include the 3 additional hours I did last Sunday AFTER I passed my time charges at 7pm.
I wasn’t alone though as my entire technical architecture team – Jeff, James and Fred were all part of this. I told my team at the beginning that this particular week would have a reality show aura and I was dead right.
This is Jeff showing off his shirt. I took this picture when I took over the day shift on Sunday.
The whole experience (including the previous 2 weeks) brought out the best and the worst out of us. I saw emotion from people I’ve never seen before. I never saw people acted like this before and I guess stress has that effect on people.
What kind of work did we actually do? Well, we were moving our servers from Little Rock, Arkansas to Chicago, Illinois. Believe me, it's not as simple as it sounds. Even though we already drew up plans for these things, half the time we were scrambling for alternative solutions. We had to be creative enough to make MacGyver proud. The last two days – the actual deployment weekend were the worst days of the activity simply because none of us had any gas in our tanks left.
This was our team picture when the day shift team (me and Fred), relieved the night shift team (Jeff and James). Yes, I wore shorts to the office since they turned off the air conditioner and there weren't any fans around. To complete this outfit, I even wore my blue Crocs.
The good part about this? The project sponsored our food. I ordered this Yellow Cab pasta for lunch.
Sunday mid afternoon, I had a massive headache and I officially declared myself a zombie. I couldn't think anymore as all I could do was sleep on my desk. I also had a tummy ache and my back and my legs were all sore. I was in such a sour mood... until an angel dropped by to visit. Yep, Jaye dropped by to visit me and bring me drinks. I was so happy! My body aches were gone. Too bad she had to leave a few minutes later but her short visit made the difference that afternoon as that enabled me to finish the day strong.
Sunday midnight and we were done. We passed over the tasks to Chicago who will be finishing up the rest. We were all so beat up and stressed. Fred was bored while Jeffrey and James were stopping by the condo unit to rest up. I was walking to Jaye’s but then we decided to stay a couple of hours more in the condo unit to talk about what happened and to relax. Past experiences have told me never to sleep with too much on my mind and so I thought this was a good idea, I could spare an hour anyway. We picked up a couple of beers and hanged out.
We didn’t have any bottle openers though so each of us had to think of a way to open up the bottle.
Fred tried to open his with a spoon. (He did but got a gash on his finger).
James tried to open his with a knife.
And Jeff tried to open his with the side of a spoon. (He did and ALSO got a gash on his finger)
Me? The lead that I am, whoever opened his bottle used the same technique to open mine. What a great leader :P
My team (Jeff, me, Fred and James)
That’s how much work I logged last week alone. If you do the math, there are 168 hours in a week which means 57.7% of my time was spent on working. The remaining 42.3% would be for sleeping, eating, and driving to and from the office. This isn’t even counting the work I’m doing while stuck in traffic as I have my laptop with me on the passenger seat. This doesn’t even include the 3 additional hours I did last Sunday AFTER I passed my time charges at 7pm.
I wasn’t alone though as my entire technical architecture team – Jeff, James and Fred were all part of this. I told my team at the beginning that this particular week would have a reality show aura and I was dead right.
This is Jeff showing off his shirt. I took this picture when I took over the day shift on Sunday.
The whole experience (including the previous 2 weeks) brought out the best and the worst out of us. I saw emotion from people I’ve never seen before. I never saw people acted like this before and I guess stress has that effect on people.
What kind of work did we actually do? Well, we were moving our servers from Little Rock, Arkansas to Chicago, Illinois. Believe me, it's not as simple as it sounds. Even though we already drew up plans for these things, half the time we were scrambling for alternative solutions. We had to be creative enough to make MacGyver proud. The last two days – the actual deployment weekend were the worst days of the activity simply because none of us had any gas in our tanks left.
This was our team picture when the day shift team (me and Fred), relieved the night shift team (Jeff and James). Yes, I wore shorts to the office since they turned off the air conditioner and there weren't any fans around. To complete this outfit, I even wore my blue Crocs.
The good part about this? The project sponsored our food. I ordered this Yellow Cab pasta for lunch.
Sunday mid afternoon, I had a massive headache and I officially declared myself a zombie. I couldn't think anymore as all I could do was sleep on my desk. I also had a tummy ache and my back and my legs were all sore. I was in such a sour mood... until an angel dropped by to visit. Yep, Jaye dropped by to visit me and bring me drinks. I was so happy! My body aches were gone. Too bad she had to leave a few minutes later but her short visit made the difference that afternoon as that enabled me to finish the day strong.
Sunday midnight and we were done. We passed over the tasks to Chicago who will be finishing up the rest. We were all so beat up and stressed. Fred was bored while Jeffrey and James were stopping by the condo unit to rest up. I was walking to Jaye’s but then we decided to stay a couple of hours more in the condo unit to talk about what happened and to relax. Past experiences have told me never to sleep with too much on my mind and so I thought this was a good idea, I could spare an hour anyway. We picked up a couple of beers and hanged out.
We didn’t have any bottle openers though so each of us had to think of a way to open up the bottle.
Fred tried to open his with a spoon. (He did but got a gash on his finger).
James tried to open his with a knife.
And Jeff tried to open his with the side of a spoon. (He did and ALSO got a gash on his finger)
Me? The lead that I am, whoever opened his bottle used the same technique to open mine. What a great leader :P
My team (Jeff, me, Fred and James)
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Eclipse
A lunar penumbral eclipse.
Ok, I know “lunar” and “eclipse” but penumbral sounds like a part of your body. Oh, google it up (in simple terms: it’s a part of a shadow)
The Monday night skies were the stage for a lunar penumbral eclipse which is perfect to my newfound mission to take a really good shot of the moon this year. If you read my last moon entry, you’ll know how sentimental I get when staring at the moon so this day, I dragged Jaye along to take another moon picture.
The eclipse was scheduled from 8:30pm until just past midnight. I setup my tripod and my camera and looked up.
Clouds. Clouds. Clouds.
The clouds were so thick we didn’t even have an idea where the moon was.
We were looking up the rest of the night until eventually, we realized that the clouds looked so pretty and the light bounced off the moon had a cool effect. We took a picture of the clouds instead.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Starting The Year
2008 was a crazy year.
While it was generally a happy year full of love and laughter, it had its share of struggles and challenges. Life taught me a lot of things and I spent the final 2 weeks of the year figuring things out.
2009 came and it was time to change strategies. Instead of taking on the new year with resolutions and promises, I spent the entire month of January on the sidelines observing things and getting rid of bad habits. Before I introduce new habits, I have to get rid of the old ones. This time, I’m being more patient with myself.
I watched myself do things I usually do – observing my routines, how I deal with problems and constructed my overall pattern. Funny how that works though since I became ultra passive with my actions. I didn’t make any major decisions, I didn’t purchase expensive items, I didn’t have major activities. It was just one month spent resting, healing up, analyzing and strategizing. Heck, I didn't even post a single entry here.
Things have been weird with me doing things the way I normally don’t. The month ended and I didn’t know myself anymore.
I guess the plan worked and now I’m excited.
I plan to live all the days of my life from hereon.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Day The Earth… Huh!?
Mom bought some DVD’s and while we were going through the titles, we noticed something off.
Well, technically, if it “stood still” it is “stopped” right?
Either way, mom got gypped.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Kris Kringle
I really suck at Kris Kringles. I guess it's because I always insist of giving the right gift to the right person. I don't fall for the commercialization of Christmas wherein you just give gifts for the sake of giving. I don't agree at all.
Another factor is that most (note... MOST... not all) people don't take Kris Kringles seriously and you always get something that fits the criteria but is far from useful.
This year, we had 4 categories.
- cute and heavy
- funny or naughty
- geeky
- chemical
There was a 50 Peso minimum requirement. The workaholic that I am, I was late with my weekly gifts and ended up having to shop for all of them at the same time at the very last minute.
Cute and Heavy. Paper weight? Scotch tape dispenser? Paper weight? Really now, office supplies are the second worst gifts you can ever get. The worst gifts? Christmas decors! We'll discuss that some other time though. What's cute and heavy? Paper weight. Darn it! I can't get paper weight out of my head! After walking around, I settled with this photo holder (which doubles as a paper weight :P)
Funny or naughty. My personal experience - never go with naughty. If you HAVE to go with naughty, go with the most conservative "naughty" gift you can find. Why? Let's flashback to 4 years ago - Kris Kringle of 2004 which had a "naughty" gift requirement --> a senior executive holding out a pair of thongs and a very embarrassed dude in the background. Poor guy. This time, I was going for funny. Almost all the time you'll get a Pugad Baboy or a Pupung comic book. At the last minute, the sponteneous guy that I am, I suddenly went with naughty with probably the most straightforward gift I've ever given, a keychain that says "Naughty".
Geeky. It was the first time I had to shop for something "Geeky". I had one thing on my mind though - a Sudoku book. Easiest gift of the day.
Chemical. Another first time category. cleaning agent? too household. cologne? too complicated. scented oils? nah. I decided to go with a fancy soap and pray that my gift "baby" is a girl.
The Christmas party came and like all events in December, I missed it because I had to work. My "baby" was Tina who thanked me for the gifts. She said a lot of thought really went into the gifts and there was no way it could be from a guy.
Hmmm, I'll take that as a compliment.
How about the stuff I got?
Cute and heavy - a souveneir jeepney. I never saw that coming but it was actually more than decent. I find it hard to see jeepneys as cute though :-/
Funny or naughty - a Shrek 2 VCD. One of my favorite movies! Too bad I already have it in DVD.
Geeky - a Sudoku book.
Chemical - alcogel, which is actually in my shopping list. :)
We oughta do something else next year... :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Driving Through
It was close to midnight on a weekday. Mom and I picked up my brother at the MRT station and on our way home, as "payment", we went to a drive through at a nearby burger chain. Itago natin sa pangalang "Burger Ming"
Our car trigged the sensor and the voice box greeted us "Welcome to Burger King!" (este... Burger Ming pala... sorry sorry)
My brother wanted combo #4. I wanted combo #1. Mom wanted combo #6.
I said we'll have #1 and #4 with large fries and a number #6.
"So sir, you ordered for combo meal number 1, 3 and 6."?
I quickly corrected her: "No, it should be 4, not 3".
"Ok sir, that's one number 1, one number 3 and one number 6".
I looked at my brother who gave the same bewildered look back. I repeated my order and slowed down: "number 1, number FOUR, and number 6!".
No response.
We heard discussions in the background from the crew as they were asking each other what the meals were and what the numbers were for. (?!?)
She repeated my order: "So isa pong number 1, number 3 and number 6?".
I glanced at my mom and she gave me that "If you won't do it I will" look.
Before I repeated my order, I told them to look at the security cameras. "Number 1 with large fries" (while holding up my pointer finger). "Number 4 with large fries" (while holding up 4 fingers and point at them one by one with my other hand as if counting it slowly). "Number 6" (while holding up 6 fingers together with my other hand).
We continued to the second window and there was this van with a very angry driver. He was pointing at something and returning the plastic bags. It looks like he also got his orders crossed. The guy sped off and it was my turn. I decided to give them a break... I think that other guy already gave them a hard time. I opened my plastic bag and confirmed my order. What do you know... they DO know what number 4 looks like :P
Our car trigged the sensor and the voice box greeted us "Welcome to Burger King!" (este... Burger Ming pala... sorry sorry)
My brother wanted combo #4. I wanted combo #1. Mom wanted combo #6.
I said we'll have #1 and #4 with large fries and a number #6.
"So sir, you ordered for combo meal number 1, 3 and 6."?
I quickly corrected her: "No, it should be 4, not 3".
"Ok sir, that's one number 1, one number 3 and one number 6".
I looked at my brother who gave the same bewildered look back. I repeated my order and slowed down: "number 1, number FOUR, and number 6!".
No response.
We heard discussions in the background from the crew as they were asking each other what the meals were and what the numbers were for. (?!?)
She repeated my order: "So isa pong number 1, number 3 and number 6?".
I glanced at my mom and she gave me that "If you won't do it I will" look.
Before I repeated my order, I told them to look at the security cameras. "Number 1 with large fries" (while holding up my pointer finger). "Number 4 with large fries" (while holding up 4 fingers and point at them one by one with my other hand as if counting it slowly). "Number 6" (while holding up 6 fingers together with my other hand).
We continued to the second window and there was this van with a very angry driver. He was pointing at something and returning the plastic bags. It looks like he also got his orders crossed. The guy sped off and it was my turn. I decided to give them a break... I think that other guy already gave them a hard time. I opened my plastic bag and confirmed my order. What do you know... they DO know what number 4 looks like :P
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
I Hate These Days
Weekday. 5am.
My alarm goes off and I try to sit up. My chest hurts. My body hurts. My head hurts and my nose is all clogged up. I lie back down to reduce the shock to my body. Makes me wish I hadn't let myself get wet in the rain two days ago.
I sit back up again. My head now stings a little. I'm a bit dizzy but I can walk and read. My coordination's a bit shaky but overall ok. My body hurts but it's more of an inconvenience than a hindrance.
I hate being half sick. I am sick enough to feel I am but I'm not sick enough to miss work.
Ugh.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Che Che and Elmer's Wedding
Che Che's married!
Che Che is one of my closest friends back when I was in Chicago for the first time in 2005. We were the one-two punch sent by our project to work as liaisons in the windy city. She knew me before I met Jaye. She knew Jaye before Jaye and I fell in love. She knew Jaye and I when we were still friends and now she knows us as a couple. :)
Che Che and Elmer Buan tied the knot on November 26 with a beautiful wedding ceremony at Christ the King church in Pasig and followed it up with a memorable reception at the Shangri La hotel.
They also sent out the most creative invites I've seen to date. The invitation was a passport and a boarding pass. The story behind this is that they both met for the first time in an airport. Pretty neat!
Nov 26 was a Wednesday work day but Jaye and I filed leaves ahead of time so we could leave the office early. Jaye had her hair done at the office right in her office cube with all her officemates watching.
From the office, we dropped by McDonald's for a quick bite then went to her apartment to change clothes. Jaye wore a simple chic brown dress while I was wearing my congressman barong we bought just 2 nights ago.
I'm still not used to wearing barongs. I'm really more of a suit and tie type of guy. I know barongs are meant to get wrinkled one way or another but well, I move like a robot when I'm in a barong. Besides, I look fat in white.
and red, orange, yellow, green, blue, gray, brown...
Jaye and I arrived at the church and sat at the back since we were a tad late. She was checking out the flowers, the dresses and the motif. I was checking out the equipment used by the photographers. After the wedding, it was picture taking time and when it was time for the bride's friends to come on down, we ran to the altar to greet a surprised Che who probably thought we would miss the church wedding. A few pictures and a few hi's and hello's to CeeJay and Gegs and we were on our way back to our seats.
After the wedding, Jaye and I left the church early so we could make our way to Shangri La for the reception. Upon parking the car, we followed the "lift" signs.
We saw another sign "lift" sign and followed it.
at the end... we find stairs. Nice.
The ballroom was big! The decorations were nice and simple. The food was great too as we had so many options - salads, fish, meat, rice, pasta and dessert.
I whipped out the card that Jaye and I bought and she asked me write on it. I wrote "Best wishes and Gob Bless!"
"Gob"?
I was staring at the card thinking how I could misspelled "God" while Jaye was laughing her butt off. I quickly changed b to d and ended up with...
Gold bless? Close enough.
Overall it was a great event and though it lasted for more than three hours, there wasn't a boring part in it. They even had a photo presentation (just like the surprise videos we created in Chicago) with Jaye and me in it (though there was no way you could have recognized me).
Che's sister approached me and asked if I was Arn. I told her yes and she followed it up with "Ah! IKAW pala yun!". Yikes!
Congressman Arn with his beautiful wifey
Jaye, Gegs and CeeJay
Che Che and I had our picture taken then we realized it looked like WE got married. :S
The happy couple
Last comment for the night: Parking was 190 bucks for 4 hours?!?
Che Che is one of my closest friends back when I was in Chicago for the first time in 2005. We were the one-two punch sent by our project to work as liaisons in the windy city. She knew me before I met Jaye. She knew Jaye before Jaye and I fell in love. She knew Jaye and I when we were still friends and now she knows us as a couple. :)
Che Che and Elmer Buan tied the knot on November 26 with a beautiful wedding ceremony at Christ the King church in Pasig and followed it up with a memorable reception at the Shangri La hotel.
They also sent out the most creative invites I've seen to date. The invitation was a passport and a boarding pass. The story behind this is that they both met for the first time in an airport. Pretty neat!
Nov 26 was a Wednesday work day but Jaye and I filed leaves ahead of time so we could leave the office early. Jaye had her hair done at the office right in her office cube with all her officemates watching.
From the office, we dropped by McDonald's for a quick bite then went to her apartment to change clothes. Jaye wore a simple chic brown dress while I was wearing my congressman barong we bought just 2 nights ago.
I'm still not used to wearing barongs. I'm really more of a suit and tie type of guy. I know barongs are meant to get wrinkled one way or another but well, I move like a robot when I'm in a barong. Besides, I look fat in white.
and red, orange, yellow, green, blue, gray, brown...
Jaye and I arrived at the church and sat at the back since we were a tad late. She was checking out the flowers, the dresses and the motif. I was checking out the equipment used by the photographers. After the wedding, it was picture taking time and when it was time for the bride's friends to come on down, we ran to the altar to greet a surprised Che who probably thought we would miss the church wedding. A few pictures and a few hi's and hello's to CeeJay and Gegs and we were on our way back to our seats.
After the wedding, Jaye and I left the church early so we could make our way to Shangri La for the reception. Upon parking the car, we followed the "lift" signs.
We saw another sign "lift" sign and followed it.
at the end... we find stairs. Nice.
The ballroom was big! The decorations were nice and simple. The food was great too as we had so many options - salads, fish, meat, rice, pasta and dessert.
I whipped out the card that Jaye and I bought and she asked me write on it. I wrote "Best wishes and Gob Bless!"
"Gob"?
I was staring at the card thinking how I could misspelled "God" while Jaye was laughing her butt off. I quickly changed b to d and ended up with...
Gold bless? Close enough.
Overall it was a great event and though it lasted for more than three hours, there wasn't a boring part in it. They even had a photo presentation (just like the surprise videos we created in Chicago) with Jaye and me in it (though there was no way you could have recognized me).
Che's sister approached me and asked if I was Arn. I told her yes and she followed it up with "Ah! IKAW pala yun!". Yikes!
Congressman Arn with his beautiful wifey
Jaye, Gegs and CeeJay
Che Che and I had our picture taken then we realized it looked like WE got married. :S
The happy couple
Last comment for the night: Parking was 190 bucks for 4 hours?!?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Of Surveys and Gas Stations
I was on my way to work when I stopped by a nearby gas station to fill up. I was in a hurry because I wanted to beat the morning rush in Pasig and Makati. The attendant did a quick job and he handed my my receipt and something else. He asked me to fill it up.
It was a customer satisfaction survey.
I didn't mean to be rude but I really had to be on my way. I told him I'll pass for now. He told me it was required.
A required survey?
He added that I could win some souveniers. I checked the form and there was no place where I can place my personal details. If I "won", how could they bring me my prize?
I told him no thanks but he was really persistent that I answered his survey.
Fine.
I wrote his name down. I gave him a 0 for courtesy, a 3 for promptness and gave him a 0 for everything else. I handed him his survey and smiled. I hate conflicts during that time of the day but that was an exception.
It was a customer satisfaction survey.
I didn't mean to be rude but I really had to be on my way. I told him I'll pass for now. He told me it was required.
A required survey?
He added that I could win some souveniers. I checked the form and there was no place where I can place my personal details. If I "won", how could they bring me my prize?
I told him no thanks but he was really persistent that I answered his survey.
Fine.
I wrote his name down. I gave him a 0 for courtesy, a 3 for promptness and gave him a 0 for everything else. I handed him his survey and smiled. I hate conflicts during that time of the day but that was an exception.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Back to Blogging
It has been THAT long since my last post? Wow, I never realized I was that overworked the past few months.
Work has been brutal.
Life has been unreasonable.
I learned a lot the past few months. Plenty of things happened and while for most I would start writing, I’d end up saving the draft then delete it afterwards. Like Gwen’s, I intent to keep this a happy blog.
Sure, I could have written about all these but I’d rather talk about it as I’ve learned…
It’s so easy to misquote me. For some reason, people love to take my words out of context. I trusted they won’t, and yet they did. This brings us to lesson number two:
I trusted people, and I got stabbed in the back. Sad isn’t it? The sadder part is the “kick you while you’re down” bit. You do all these great things for them and this is how they pay you back. This sets up the third lesson:
You don’t always fight fire with fire. My instincts tell me to do so but as Jaye taught me, I shouldn’t. This starts a vicious cycle. Violence begets violence. We’ll deal with these things the right way. Some people are just plain jerks.
There were more lessons but you can derive those from these three. I guess that sums up the past what has happened the past few weeks. I’m bouncing back though. I promised myself not to write a lick about these things until I have a plan and until it’s on its way.
I learned that work becomes brutal when life is unreasonable. Life is unreasonable when you stop fighting.
Ladies and gentlemen, the gospel of Arn.
Work has been brutal.
Life has been unreasonable.
I learned a lot the past few months. Plenty of things happened and while for most I would start writing, I’d end up saving the draft then delete it afterwards. Like Gwen’s, I intent to keep this a happy blog.
Sure, I could have written about all these but I’d rather talk about it as I’ve learned…
It’s so easy to misquote me. For some reason, people love to take my words out of context. I trusted they won’t, and yet they did. This brings us to lesson number two:
I trusted people, and I got stabbed in the back. Sad isn’t it? The sadder part is the “kick you while you’re down” bit. You do all these great things for them and this is how they pay you back. This sets up the third lesson:
You don’t always fight fire with fire. My instincts tell me to do so but as Jaye taught me, I shouldn’t. This starts a vicious cycle. Violence begets violence. We’ll deal with these things the right way. Some people are just plain jerks.
There were more lessons but you can derive those from these three. I guess that sums up the past what has happened the past few weeks. I’m bouncing back though. I promised myself not to write a lick about these things until I have a plan and until it’s on its way.
I learned that work becomes brutal when life is unreasonable. Life is unreasonable when you stop fighting.
Ladies and gentlemen, the gospel of Arn.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saving Someone's Life
It's not like I dramatically jumped in front of someone getting shot or running across a street to save someone from getting hit by a car. I'm not sure if my story is even cool at all.
I was at a nearby mall on my way up to the 3rd floor to buy some printer ink. I took the escalator going up and 3 steps in front of me, there was a mom, her kid and a grandma. The kid was horsing around and so grandma tried to settle her down but in the process she lost her footing and fell back first where "super Arn" saved the day.
Actually I wasn't able to catch her. I wasn't able to react fast enough. She fell towards me, bounced off my tummy and landed on her feet.
Super Arn: tummy so big, it can catch falling grannies! Nah, I'm not the superhero type. I look terrible in tights anyway. It still feels good to save someone though... accident or not. =)
I was at a nearby mall on my way up to the 3rd floor to buy some printer ink. I took the escalator going up and 3 steps in front of me, there was a mom, her kid and a grandma. The kid was horsing around and so grandma tried to settle her down but in the process she lost her footing and fell back first where "super Arn" saved the day.
Actually I wasn't able to catch her. I wasn't able to react fast enough. She fell towards me, bounced off my tummy and landed on her feet.
Super Arn: tummy so big, it can catch falling grannies! Nah, I'm not the superhero type. I look terrible in tights anyway. It still feels good to save someone though... accident or not. =)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Olympic Thoughts and Updates
The Summer Olympics in Beijing was underway late last week and unfortunately, it's not really having a big impact for Filipinos other than the guys watching Team USA basketball games especially since they have some good games coming up with China, Spain and Greece.
The Philippines hasn't won a medal since Onyok won the silver back in Atlanta. Hmmm, do you really "win" a silver? Doesn't "winning a silver" really mean you "lost the gold"? Think about it.
We sent 15 Filipinos to Beijing and analysts are not expecting anyone to bring anything home. Our flag bearer isn't even an olympian (it was Pacquiao). Out of the 15, there are four people who are long shots (Taekwondo, Shooting and Archery). Malay mo nga naman diba? Stranger things have happened. Maybe we can ignore the fact that we sent better prospects in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004) but still wound up with nothing. Maybe we can build from the moral victory we had in archery back in Athens. Maybe our lone boxer will win something... anything.
By the way, the shooting (trap) event has concluded. Out of the 36 nations who qualified, the Philippines finished...
36th. :-/
(... isipin nyo na lang... may 14 pa)
The Philippines hasn't won a medal since Onyok won the silver back in Atlanta. Hmmm, do you really "win" a silver? Doesn't "winning a silver" really mean you "lost the gold"? Think about it.
We sent 15 Filipinos to Beijing and analysts are not expecting anyone to bring anything home. Our flag bearer isn't even an olympian (it was Pacquiao). Out of the 15, there are four people who are long shots (Taekwondo, Shooting and Archery). Malay mo nga naman diba? Stranger things have happened. Maybe we can ignore the fact that we sent better prospects in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004) but still wound up with nothing. Maybe we can build from the moral victory we had in archery back in Athens. Maybe our lone boxer will win something... anything.
By the way, the shooting (trap) event has concluded. Out of the 36 nations who qualified, the Philippines finished...
36th. :-/
(... isipin nyo na lang... may 14 pa)
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Bye bye Long Hair
I finally said good bye to my Fabio-esque hair. I went to the salon one day and told them I want a new clean cut look. The stylist walked closer, looked at my scalp and noticed right away how dry it was. She suggested that I get treatment and since it was one of these boring Saturdays, I told them to go nuts.
They shampooed my long locks and gave it a quick towel buff. The stylist cut my hair and immediately told me “Ser! Mas bagay sa inyo!”
After cutting my hair, she told me it was time for my hair/scalp treatment. She whipped out some plastic wrap and…
What the hell is that?
Next, she took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around my head like a bandana. I looked horrible.
Good thing she didn’t use the…
Oh no no no no
No no no no no
Noooooooooooooooo. Bye bye pogi points =(
In fairness my scalp wasn’t dry anymore… for the next 2 days.
They shampooed my long locks and gave it a quick towel buff. The stylist cut my hair and immediately told me “Ser! Mas bagay sa inyo!”
After cutting my hair, she told me it was time for my hair/scalp treatment. She whipped out some plastic wrap and…
What the hell is that?
Next, she took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around my head like a bandana. I looked horrible.
Good thing she didn’t use the…
Oh no no no no
No no no no no
Noooooooooooooooo. Bye bye pogi points =(
In fairness my scalp wasn’t dry anymore… for the next 2 days.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
The Rise and Fall of a Band Named Rakista
It started with three ladies sharing an apartment in downtown Chicago. One loved to sing. One loved to play the drums. The third one... well, she wasn’t much into rock music but she played the guitar now and then. Looking for a full time guitarist, they obtained the services of this third roomie’s love interest. The band was called Rakista and they entered the Chicago music scene playing around in certain places and earning fans here and there.
Looking to boost the band’s popularity, they added a hunky* singing phenom* to the group. He was too hunky* though that his tight fitted shirts were too distracting and so they let him play the bass in the background instead.
It was a decision that worked as the band earned more fans. More fans meant more money and so the group decided to play in New York, Boston and even Los Angeles. Fans grew from the hundreds to the thousands and everything seemed to go right.
It always does… until comes a series of unfortunate events and bad decisions.
One time, without the lead guitarist, the group tried some new and harder songs and these were met with boos from the crowd. The band also tried some new twists to their existing playlist and they struggled and lost more fans. They found it rough and the bassist started playing while lying down on the floor – bored. More and more fans left and the band was going nowhere.
The bassist, sensing that he would do better as a solo artist, left Chicago for the Philippines and started his own band with him as the front man. He bought a mirror and realized that his tummy was just too big (that’s why his shirts were tight fitted).
The lead guitarist, still frustrated with how he’s being ignored by his love interest, left Chicago as well and flew to the Philippines where paparazzi photographers caught him having dinner with another certain someone. He quit the music business.
The drummer, continued to rock on and is now reportedly “radioactive hot”. She recently arrived from her tour in Toronto.
The lead singer, continued her career but without a band, she focused on learning how to play the piano from lessons posted on youtube. She was physically with this band but her heart is in another.
A sad story for a once promising band. They released no albums and made no money yet their legacy continues:
Don’t you just love playing Rockband?
Looking to boost the band’s popularity, they added a hunky* singing phenom* to the group. He was too hunky* though that his tight fitted shirts were too distracting and so they let him play the bass in the background instead.
It was a decision that worked as the band earned more fans. More fans meant more money and so the group decided to play in New York, Boston and even Los Angeles. Fans grew from the hundreds to the thousands and everything seemed to go right.
It always does… until comes a series of unfortunate events and bad decisions.
One time, without the lead guitarist, the group tried some new and harder songs and these were met with boos from the crowd. The band also tried some new twists to their existing playlist and they struggled and lost more fans. They found it rough and the bassist started playing while lying down on the floor – bored. More and more fans left and the band was going nowhere.
The bassist, sensing that he would do better as a solo artist, left Chicago for the Philippines and started his own band with him as the front man. He bought a mirror and realized that his tummy was just too big (that’s why his shirts were tight fitted).
The lead guitarist, still frustrated with how he’s being ignored by his love interest, left Chicago as well and flew to the Philippines where paparazzi photographers caught him having dinner with another certain someone. He quit the music business.
The drummer, continued to rock on and is now reportedly “radioactive hot”. She recently arrived from her tour in Toronto.
The lead singer, continued her career but without a band, she focused on learning how to play the piano from lessons posted on youtube. She was physically with this band but her heart is in another.
A sad story for a once promising band. They released no albums and made no money yet their legacy continues:
Don’t you just love playing Rockband?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Of Ria, Dinners and Fun Time with Friends
Dinner with friends: One of the best stress relievers. Period.
Ria flew home from Singapore and was in Manila for a few days. We organized a quick dinner for the onshore people over at North Park along Ayala Ave and it was nice to see these people again. I think the last time we were together was either eating out at some restaurant in downtown Chicago or at some apartment. I miss the gool ol’ days.
Thanks Ria for the dinner treat! =)
You still owe me a hot choco though...
Ria flew home from Singapore and was in Manila for a few days. We organized a quick dinner for the onshore people over at North Park along Ayala Ave and it was nice to see these people again. I think the last time we were together was either eating out at some restaurant in downtown Chicago or at some apartment. I miss the gool ol’ days.
Thanks Ria for the dinner treat! =)
You still owe me a hot choco though...
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