A Quote from Ratatouille

If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead.
- Gusteau

Blog Blackout

I won't be posting any job related entries here for a while.
If you want to know what's going on, you will have to ask me personally.

And so it begins...

Patching Holes

I visited my dentist today to have my teeth checked because I was having problems with one of the dental fillings (amalgam) I got when I was still a kid (90's).

The last time I was able to visit her was during 2004. Talk about effective time management... :P

She found a problem with the dental filling in my second molar which caused a decay. No wonder it's aching sometimes. She told me that if I came a little later, it's going to be painful... whew!

Aside from a broken filling, she also found a new decay in my third molar... :(

She did some cleaning and removed the old dental filling while I was watching through a small hand held mirror. I was surprise when I saw the new hole in my tooth. I think you could almost fit an eraser of a Mongol pencil in it... >.<>.<

Stressful Weekends

These past few weekends have been really stressful for me.
I've spent most of my time thinking about my plans in the future.

I've also been consulting some friends both local and overseas.
I never thought it was going to be this hard... >.< style="font-style: italic;">The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty.
It is constantly being filled.

Contemplate

con·tem·plate (kŏn'təm-plāt')

v., -plat·ed, -plat·ing, -plates. v.tr.

1. To look at attentively and thoughtfully.
2. To consider carefully and at length; meditate on or ponder: contemplated the problem from all sides; contemplated the mystery of God.
3. To have in mind as an intention or possibility: contemplate marriage; forced by the accident to contemplate retirement.

v.intr.

To ponder; meditate.

http://www.answers.com/topic/contemplate

Architect Glenn

A post dedicated to my best friend Glenn for passing the Architect Licensure Exam last June 2007. He also ranked 3rd out of the 467 who passed the exam. He's really great.

Here's the link for the news:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=architect_july_21_2007

Although we never really had the chance to maintain our friendship after high school, I still consider him a very important friend. I'm really hoping that we could still pick up were we had left off before.

Here's a picture of us from kindergarten.
If I remember correctly, this is the 1st picture of us together.

To my best friend...

Congratulations! Wishing for more success in your life.

Another Night in the Office

It's been a while since the last time I spent the night in the office. Something I never really expected when I came in this morning.

We had a very long meeting about our project plan for this development phase. It took us almost an hour for each productivity and quality target for every phase of the project.

It wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. In fact, I was able to pick up a couple of new things during the course of our lengthy discussions. Besides from having the opportunity to be part of a deeper estimation process, I came to understand and appreciate more the efforts made by my past project leaders during the planning process of our projects.

It's really not as easy as it may seem. Sitting in a conference room for a total of 7 hours trying to foresee any possible problems the project might encounter and prepare contingency plans for them is never a simple task.

It was past 11PM when the meeting ended, so I have no other choice but to spend the rest of the night in the office. I figured I could do something while nobody is around.

Looks like the perfect time to start updating a very important "document".

Realizations

The series of events last week had caused several commotions in my workplace. I anticipated most of it, and made it a point to condition myself not to give in to any negotiation attempts. Bottom line is, I told my bosses that I just don't agree with what had happened.

I don't really give a damn whoever screwed up. In both conversations, I assured my bosses that I'm not applying for a new job. Well, at least for the time being. Until I'm able to come up with a concrete plan of what I really want to do in the next 5 or 10 years.

It seemed like a wake up call for me. To realize that the are some things are never and will never be under your control. And that I just shouldn't rely on others to satisfy my career and personal goals.

In the past few months and weeks, even though I've not sent a single application to anyone. I've received several job invitations from different persons, teachers, classmates, relatives, and ex-officemates. All of them promises a better opportunity for me but I never took any of them seriously until after last week.

Looks like it's time to move on...

A Slap of Harsh Reality

No wonder I'm feeling a bit anxious and weird yesterday. My body seems to anticipate bad things even before they actually happen.

This morning, I've received a bad news about the AOTS. The original 2 slots for Manila was change to 1 in favor of Cebu.

Just yesterday, we were told that those 2 slots already belong to Manila. And just now, we got news that it no longer is.

So why the hell did they offered 2 slots in the first place??? We're professionals here, not small kids.

If they're plan is to wipe out the Manila office. Well, they seem to be doing a pretty good job. Screwing the right people at the right time.

First thing tomorrow, I'm going to inform my manager that I'm already withdrawing my AOTS application.

The selection process is flawed to begin with, so there's no reason for me to stick with my initial decision.

For me, the best way to fight office politics is to stay out of it. And that's exactly what I am going to do.

Crossroads

Stopping halfway is more difficult & tiring than progressing towards reaching the final goal.

I bought a fortune cookie during my afternoon break and got this message. I'm still wondering if I made a good choice of accepting the AOTS offer. That would mean being stuck here for another year and a half. But that would also mean another learning and growing experience for me.

What are my goals anyway? That's a question I've been asking myself these past few weeks. Recently, I've been accidentally meeting people who either wants me to work for them or wants to offer me a supposedly better job. I'm not trying to find a better job, I'm not even applying for another job.

Ultimately, I just want to become a better person than I am right now. And just like The Secret mentioned, you really wouldn't know and understand the "how", the universe will eventually reveal this for you as you go along. I hope they're right.

I'm just grateful for having these opportunities coming to me. I guess I just have to take a single step at a time until I reach my destination, whatever and wherever that is.

Now, I just have to re-write my plans for the rest of the year.

Sister's Wedding: New Beginnings

A rather late post...

A Sister's Wedding

Just wanted to wish my sister the best in her newest chapter in life.
She was married last week, July 1st at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Jesus near SM Mall of Asia.

It was indeed an unforgettable experience for me.
To see a member of the family in one of her most important events in her life. And to be part of that celebration.

I still couldn't keep myself from wondering what's gonna happen.
I could only hope for the best in whatever lies in front of them.

One lesser

With my sister leaving home to live with her new family. Our home will never be the same.

Though, sometimes we may feel incomplete, I guess things like these happen so we could learn and grow more. She has done her part in this family. Now it's our turn to do our share.

Photos

Here are some of the photos that I've taken...

The wedding gown...

My sister with her make-up artist...

My youngest sister...

The wedding rings...
At the church...

My other sisters...
My aunt from Taiwan and my mom...

The couple at the reception...

Cheers for the newly wed!

Perrin and Fritzie Sy

Sister's Wedding: The Conversation

The Job Offer

I met my ninong and ninang before the reception began.
This is one of the rare moments that I could get to talk to them as a grown up.
We had a little talk about job opportunities in Japan...

Based from our conversation, I think that they have a recruitment firm which
trains people in Japanese language and sends them to Japan as contract workers.

She asked me if I'm interested in working in Japan.
They're currently waiting for the deal with Panasonic.
A 3-year contract, renewable, 150k yen/month, the company will shoulder
the travel and lodging expenses, a free trip back home each year of service.

JLPT

The job offer talk was relatively good.
She told me that she would contact me if the opportunity arrives.
I told her that I would think about it.

Because its a job in Japan, Nihongo skills is important.
She asked me what level I am, I told her level 4.
She told me to take level 3. I told her that I'm already
preparing for level 1 this December.

She straightforwardly told me that I could not pass it.
And added that her daughter had a hard time just passing level 2.
Her daughter happens to teach Nihongo classes as well.

She's the 1st person to tell me that, and I felt she's probably right.

Filipina

The last topic of our conversation was about my relationship.
My ninong asked me if I already have someone.
He asked if she is Japanese, Chinese, or Filipina...

I never imagine that I would met someone in their generation
that uses the word "Filipina". I was happy to know that there
are people who doesn't use "hua-na" to call Filipinos.

I made a quick research and found an article written by
a DLSU (MSA,MSE) graduate. According to the article,
the word basically means "not Chinese" and it appears to
be no written character for it. In reality, this word is used
by most Filipino-Chinese to call "maids" or "helpers".

I find the use of this word offensive and inappropriate.
I don't like using this word and I don't like people who uses
this word as well.