Ignorance is bliss!

Having ignored all jos from "that" client starting 2pm yesterday, I managed to bring up my christmas party mood. Yey!

80s, our party theme, wearing a costume wasn't really mandated. But having spoken with Flo, a day earlier, I decided to look for an 80s costume at home. "Katuwaan" lang and if anyone won best in costume, Fabo would give away his painting as a prize. Not bad really. ^_^

I found my mom's really old blue and purple blouse. It looked more like shoulder pads with a blouse, rather than the other way around. Holding up her shoulder padded blouse she said, "I can't believe I wore that." Haha.

My sister unearthed mom's gray fishnet stockings and I went around looking for long colored socks.

After trying all that on for the first time, I realized I was glad to have been in diapers during the 80s (haha). With all the colors, I got confused. It was like all the design and color-choosing skills that I have as an artist were all thrown away in a multi-colored garbage bag.

I didn't even know which sneakers to wear. It's a good thing my sister was there to help me choose. I was literally color blind.

At the party, we started dressing up at 6pm. I was a bit hesitant and embarassed walking around in the shoulder padded blouse and fishnets.

But, guess what...I won! Lucky blouse! haha.

I am seriously thinking of not going to the party.

How can anyone think of having a great time, when you all know that tom, you'll be rushing for some stupid jo caused by a stupid client, who stupidly doesn't have foresight and drags everyone one else down with him.

And in 3 days, everything has to move. The bastard is still finding stupid revisions of previously sent jos. How the hell will it be done?

Not to mention, stupid regional clearances that chomp out at least half of your timetable to begin with.

I'm really seeing red. Fuck it.

I really, really need to fix this blog.

This is one of the busiest christmas ever. And I'm not exactly inside a mall.

Seated at my desk (well, soon to be ex-desk; we'll be moving floors again next year) I was worriedly glancing at my to-do list. It was getting longer and longer, while the days til christmas got shorter and shorter. I'm wondering if I even get to finish half of the list before the holidays (mostly consisting of 75% work and 25% from my personal life. Argh. I suck. Real. Bad.)

Sigh. Ah well. I'll be leaving Manila anyway come christmas. Going to HK Disneyland for the first time. I heard they had snow there (at least during the parade) and a really nice 3D light show. Can't wait. I promised my sister I'd take her to Mongkok ^_^

Fame.

Yeah. Some love it and would kill for it.

I won't.

I don't get high over fame. I won't even jack off on it (if I was a man).

I'm happy and thankful when it drops in for a visit. But I don't go out of the way looking for it. It's not even my motivation.

I like the curtains. I like it backstage, that's where the action is. Up there, in front of an audience, all facade, a play. Not real.
You smile because they want you too. You do all the things they all want you to do, just because it's the right thing to do. And you do it for the sake of everyone. That's fame.

I don't need fame to boost me up. I get my high when the job's finished.

It's that moment when I can prop my foot up, rest and say to myself "well done."

Everyday I get up, take a bath, dress my mood, have breakfast, go to work. Sit on my desk, turn on the laptop, check the work and do the work.

Once, it started out sun-kissed bright. Now, it gets a little darker. Everyday.

Like someone was turning off the saturation filter, lowering down the levels and shielding me away from the bright sun.

Everyday, it gets a little darker.

I wish it never did.

After so many months of wasted bloggable memories, I am back.

I've been capriciously in and out of myself. Depressed? No. Not really...well, maybe a little bit. But not enough to push me over the edge. I think I might have been transferring that energy into anger and angst.

The past months brought me nothing but jaded thoughts about work, people and my life. Details that up to now still cloud up whenever I try to think about it. Nothing big, just lots of the small stuff that I have to go through everyday about everything. They're like ticks biting all over but not really causing anything BIG enough for me to worry about. Well, until the wound gets rubbed the wrong way. Until, it opens up. Until, it never heals. Until, that moment runs right smack into you.

I had that moment. For months.

But it's gone now...

it did leave marks, but mostly, it's gone.

I even acquired a new lifestyle after it. But that's another story to tell.

Simpson versions of Peter and me.

Louie's despidida party at ProCom office in Salcedo with former officemates from Image Dimensions and friends from ProCom. I pulled the photos from Kitty's multiply. Thanks Kitty! ^_^








Ingat sa States, Louie at mag-ym ka! ^_^

Hopped to Hongkong for the weekend. Had my financer with me...my dad. hehe.

It's been over a decade since I last went to Hongkong. The minute my dad asked if I wanted to go with them to buy licensed software, I immediately said yes!

Yes to a fresh break!

Yes to free shopping money!

Yes to Hongkong food!

We ate at a cute japanese resto that was owned by Jackie Chan. He even had his own photo inside the resto.





At dinner, we went to a Sezhuan resto near our hotel. It was owned by a young couple who made kick ass hot soup. Yey!



Dorsett Seaview Hotel's room (Yau Ma Tei) was kinda small but that gave me enough reason to frequently step out and enjoy Hongkong scenery, which was mostly raindrops, puddles and Mcdonald's everywhere. The weather was horrible for shopping but I managed to invent a new shopping method in Mongkok. Hop-shopping! Literally hopping from one stall to another diagonally just to save myself from the rainy weather.

Found lots of new stuff to put in my closet and I definitely loved Argyle Mall in Mongkok. I had a hard time parting from these Evisu shoes on Sporting goods bazaar but they cost HK$ 880!! That's 6K here. Sighhhhh...



Ah well, I'll just look it over in Singapore on August. hehe.

Going home wasn't fun, but we had to. Ben & Jerry's at the airport made leaving a little lighter though.







Plus, the large cute kipling gorilla made my day.

Joey's friend left the wig for my sister (She's cosplaying as Magpie for the Toycon on Saturday). Our receptionist left it on my desk, so when I got back to check the hair piece everyone else joined in to check themselves in it!

It was our Xth (10th) High school reunion last June 9.

50% of our batch came while the other half was already living abroad or just sadly, couldn't care less about the event.

The core group who included Angeline, Ailee, Diane, Gennet, JB, Michelle, Dennis, Matthew, Dexter, Drenan and yours truly, had constant weekly meetings prior to the big event. It was exhausting yet inspiring to be able to come up with a successful event, especially for a reunion party that lots of negativism attached to it.

Gennet and I were in charge of Entertainment and Decorations, but I felt like we had a hand in almost everything. From planning, invitations, to implementation, we were there hands on. I was even the techgirl during the event, I had to sit behind the projector machine the whole evening. While Gennet and Argel had to work the stage doing the MC bit. I even had to write and edit the AVP. It took me two weeks to do all that, luckily, I had no overtime projects for the office and sidelines at that time. Sigh, next time, that would be my wish. I'd like to at least experience being the audience of the reunion. Let the others surprise me this time around.

One of the highlights that evening was when Argel managed to whoop up at least 13K from the batch for the Pera o Bayong game. Thanks to everyone who generously contributed.

Overall the reunion was a success. Thank you to the committee and to everyone who supported it. Best of luck to the next core group! hehe.

Hurley and I celebrated our birthday at Syfus in Makati. Thanks everyone!

It's was my first time in Pattaya and I'm too late to blog about it haha! I've got a lot lined up for the blog and I only have today to blog by bulk again. ^_^

Last March we went to adfest 2007, Pattaya. Hoping to grab one of the metals there (well we didn't, but only managed a finalist in photography thought, but Pattaya ROCKS!!) We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel. It's one great hotel. The details, the service, the interior and the people, I would to stay here again. Our hotel room had two beatles in it. While I slept with Paul Mccartney, Leigh slept with John Lennon. haha.

















The pool is sweet and you're near the beach.












Hard Rock was also sponsoring the Music festival, so on that day, we had fan girls in the morning. The korean boy band (i forgot the name) they REALLY liked were wearing apple green and white coordinated clothes (yuck). I think one of them was wearing a scarf.





On our way to the convention we had to ride the tuk-tuk.


In between seminars.







Delicious sweets! There goes my diet.



One really weird sandal.



Gay bar signages, too bad we didn't see it at night!




Derrick in Pattaya...


with Joey of course! haha

We're moving to the 27th.

And everyday my butt got heavier as the date neared. I think I've glued myself to this desk far too long without really wanting to unglue myself.

I don't what to leave the 20th. That about sums it up.

Leaving here means, lesser time spent with the people I genuinely like. The people who I am most comfortable with, who I want to see daily whether it be with or without angst. I also like the others who will move with me, especially some very close drinking friends. I don't have anything against them, I just find it really hard moving out of the 20th and detaching myself from everyone on the 20th.

And to top it all off, I dislike my new space. It didn't help make the move any easier. Yeah, call me a nut for believing in feng shui and such, but the minute I saw it I hated it for a lot of reasons.

1. I'm seated near the lmc (our call center). So imagine the daily conversation I'd hear "good morning, this is ling from Mazda Philippines.." fuck it sucks. I'd be having call center conversations everytime I'd sit there. Sigh. I just hope they do it quietly or that the sound doesn't seep throught the OPEN wall.

2. The creatives don't have an R2 or even a BOOKSHELF!! So just how am I going to fit all the magazine references and back-up cds I have? tell me, how? The accounts have a bookshelf, a cabinet and an R2! While all we have is a 2 inch measly drawer. And I keep hearing that they don't want us to clutter, that's why they didn't provide us with an r2. I think the one who did the design never really thought about the dynamics of the company. I'm not recommending the designer to anyone. Just give the creative team shelves or lockers, or any kind of storage. We need it badly.

3. No Privacy.

4. The fact that someone decided the seating arrangements for us without consulting us. Okay, maybe I'm asking for too much. But at least don't you think that no one would really complain out loud about the seating arrangement if we just drew ballots on the numbered seats???

5. The seats suck. You'd fall off if you lean back too much.

6. The color combination has no character whatsoever. Hello! We're working in an ad agency , a little color never hurt anyone!!! And what's with the retro fabric!?

7. Partitioning of spaces are a disappointment.

8. We have a carinderia for a pantry. Who the hell thought of putting mint green tables that look like carinderia tables in the pantry!?

9. Small space coupled with an impractical S-divider.

10. We're placed right smack in the middle of the accounts group. All the stress, the angst from clients, we'll hear it without any filtering whatsoever. Good luck, I think I'm buying myself new headphones.

It's common for someone to dislike or see the "holes" in the new office space. For fresh hires, I guess that's a common thing. But for an office space that was planned to fit a certain group or culture of people. They did a poor job planning it.

The Y&R Summer outing/training started off with a strategically placed banner (that I wanted to pull off) and a long drive. We met at the usual meeting place (Zuellig loop) at around 4pm and waited until the bus filled up.



Four hours later, we reached Anilao, Batangas. The road down to the resort was like riding a rickety rollercoaster back in StarCity. Sharp swerves pushed the weight to both ends of the jeep, squishing the unfortunate person at the end of the row.

It was more than relieving when the jeep stopped at the Eaglepoint entrance. There, we were greeted by the resort's welcoming party as they hung shell necklaces on us. The details of the resort were filled with hidden eagles. One the steps, on the the balconies. They even had a large eagle cage housing different eagle types.










The beach wasn't the kind you went in I loved the beach. The clear blue waters were just right for snorkeling and peeking at nervous fish. Heh.

But.

We had to start with the training first (awww). The call of the beach had to wait (urgh). So in between sessions where we had breaks outside, I had the chance to take a glimpse of the sea.

It was torture. In its purest, most innocent form.

The training was long but worth it. We talked about "positivity." It went well, considering that "positivity" is very flexible idea depending on where you see it. But I guess it could be about taking a shape and shoving positivity into it. Works for me.

Inside the room, I saw the hues of bright whites and yellows turn into orange and red. It was a sign. I was going to miss the sun today. Sigh.



Night came and I though a quick dip in the pool was the only saving grace for my missing the beach. Unfortunately, I didn't like the pool. Dipping in it didn't make me feel fresh. The water was warm and a bit ...er...slimy. So, drowning myself in alcohol was the next best bet (and of course the photo-ops that came in between).





And it worked. Heheh.

Our second day was better. We had half a day to run around the beach (on a separate island, owned by the same owner). They had a really nice setup with hammocks, a dining area, a volleyball net and kayaks. Weeh.





Looking at the beach, half a day was pretty annoying, add that to the fact that some "killjoys" wanted to leave earlier. Eventually the departure time was compromised, everyone was happier.

I think I'd like to take up underwater photography, if only to capture the fishes below. We found a starfish and it was unexpectedly blue! Underwater it was like swimming in Nemo's aquarium. I saw a marine angelfish, blowfish, parrot fishes, schools of fish and other sea creatures that I don't even know the name.







Eaglepoint will definitely be on my list of beaches to snorkel in. I love it here.