Stress...

... is in the mind of the beholder...

Just came from a Stress Management Seminar
last Feb 16 and 17. It was indeed a learning
experience for me and my officemates.

I finally realized that...
It's about time that I take control of my life,
at home and even at work!

By the way, here's my long and a bit overdue
plans and targets for 2007...

1. JLPT Level 2
I almost destroyed my hopes for getting
this by accepting an offer for a 2-year stay
in Japan. This time I'm gonna make sure
I'm taking the exam this year and in the
Philippines... :)

2. Read more
Pocket books, tech books, magazines, etc...
Hopefully I will be able to keep the habit
of reading during lunch time, before sleeping
and during travel... :)

3. Get more certifications
PhilNITS SW, LPIC, Brainbench Certifications.
Hopefully I'll be able to try the PhilNITS SW exam
this year, though I'm not hoping to pass right away.
I just want to be familiar with the questions.

LPIC, I really want this, but it seems that I'm
having problems preparing and even deciding when
to take the exam, though I already have set aside
money for this.

Brainbench, I started taking some free exams
late last year, hopefully I'll be able to take the
real ones this year. Here's my Brainbench
Transcript ID: 6225436.
Honestly though, I'm not so comfortable w/
Brainbench because I was able to pass the
C# exam without any experience on the language.

4. Spend more wisely
Minimize my online purchases and save, save, save
more. Which probably means, I won't be planning
on getting a DSL connection in the early half of this year.
I also want to be familiar with financial planning and all
the banking and investments stuffs so I can manage
my money better.

5. Play more, sweat more
Badminton! Badminton! Badminton!
I'm going to do some experiments w/ Badminton... :)
Hopefully I'll be able to be good at this sport.

2007... My theme for this year...

"Self Preservation"

Made in Twenty

At long last, after more than 2 weeks of waiting...
I finally got my shipment...

BoA's latest album: Made in Twenty(20)














It's her 5th Japanese Album,
She's really successful and popular in Japan,
despite of her Korean origin... :)

I admire people who, despite of being different,
are capable and willing to make a difference... :)

This is my 12th purchase for my BoA Collection.
Ranging from singles to CD+DVD packages.
Costing around Y1500 to Y4000 each.
I'm not so quite a BoA fan... Am I? :)

Anyway, I love her Japanese songs,
even though I'm still not able to understand
the lyrics completely... but I'm really trying
my best in Nihongo class.

Speaking of which, I just received the results
of my JLPT Level 4 Exam: 389/400
Pretty good huh? Lucky bastard... :)
Well, this is all thanks to Tanaka Sensei...
for preparing us and giving us motivation for
learning Nihongo.

Congratulations to my Nihongo classmates,
all of us passed the Level 4 Exam.
Sensei is really good... :)

Going back, here's my current BoA collection:
In no particular order,

1. Everlasting - Single
2. Love and Honesty - Album
3. Dakishimeru - Single
4. Best of Soul - Album
5. Valenti - Album
6. Next World - Album
7. Atlantis Princess - Korean Album
8. Key of Heart - Single
9. Outgrow - Album (CD+DVD)
10. You Color - Single (CD+DVD)
11. Winter Love - Single (CD+DVD)
12. Made in Twenty - Album (CD+DVD)

Not much at all... :P

So much for this entry,
I'm looking forward to writing another blog post...
Hopefully soon... :)

Choices...

My 1st post for the year...

Things do not always go the way we wanted it to be...
Most of the time, it just won't no matter how hard you try.

At every failure, we face a question...
Whether to give up or try again.

How long can you keep on trying?
When do you know that it's time to give up?

Giving up does not seem to be bad at all...
It's a form of acceptance...
of defeat...
of weaknesses...
of mistakes...
of reality.