i am

.know be by what you see in me not by what you hear from people...

.see the heart inside me, not the face i'm masked with...

.think of me as who i am, not as somebody you want me to be...



*forwarded quote

Sick and Haunted

I didn't report for work today. I got sick, maybe because of stress, getting up early and sleeping late, add the weather too and you get a flu.

I don't have voice either. I'm having a hard time talking.

Plus the fact that my life I think is falling apart. I don't know what's really wrong and what I can do to make everything go back to normal again. My problems aren't the ones you normally hear from troubled children or from the people with nothing to eat. But I have issues too, and it makes me worry.

My problems haunt me and make me anxious for my tomorrow.

Corregidor Discovery

Sure thing I'm part of a pioneering BPO. But I didn't realize that I get to do a lot of things for free because I am simply part of the first batch - oh well, that's how I'd like to put it - not necessarily and entirely TRUE.

Anyway, today I get to go to Corregidor! It's my first time and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't too hot at all today so I thank God for that. Marvin and I had an anticipating mass yesterday so I am very happy to just spend the Sunday touring. :)

Our day began at 7AM (but I was awake at 4AM). We all met at CCP Bay Area Terminal and at 8AM - we headed to our ferry which brought us to Corregidor.

I'll blog the rest of the details when I have the time ok. :)

recap

i wanted to post a lot of things that happened during the past week. but our PC was down (blame the LAN card)


so i forgot all about it! darn.

1. i wanted to post the review about my dismay of Pinoy Dream Academy.
2. i wanted to share how my PST class ended
3. i wanted to basically update my blog everyday.

but i just forgotten a lot of things na.......

hay..

A Friday to Remember

Today God made me realize another miracle of life.



For the many reasons I love my job, it would be my students who I have always been thankful for. I guess because I'm naturally shy, naisip siguro ni Lord na hindi ako matuto sa buhay so he made me a trainer so I get to learn LIFE through my students and the people na nakakasalamuha ko every time I have a class.



I had countless classess na over the years and yes, I am very thankful for each of the learning experiences I encounter.



To Janice, Bam, Ann, Margot, Leslie, Francis, Arthur, Rael, James, Ariel, Meng, Marissa, Brie, Yna, Adele, Aki, Venice, Edward, Boom, Rommel and Jules --- thank you for unselfishly sharing everything. You pretty much know what I'm talking about.

My deepest and warmest gratitude.

I Hate Being Late!!

I got home 12:30 AM last night because of the unpredictable weather. Badtrip. Baha sa buendia, can you imagine. I was alone and dripping wet that night. I was exhausted but was patient as I need to just go home. Gosh, dahil sa baha, 3 hours ata akong stranded sa BUENDIA alone. Then i took the jeep papuntang blumentritt. Ok. nakarating naman ako sa bahay ng maluwalhati. :p

I had dinner, cleaned myself before I went to bed. I made sure I have my alarm ready by 4AM because my first BIG day will start tomorrow. And then I slept.

I woke up 6:30 AM!!! I can't believe it. My call time is supposedly before 7AM but I overslept or maybe I didn't even hear the alarm clock. Stupid mistake talaga. Marvin called me lang kaya ako nagising. Imaginin mo - nagising ako 6:30, I was out of the house by 6:45 - naligo naman ako noh. I didn't know what to do.

But I showed up. My manager took over the class for the meantime. But I was devastated today. haaaaaaaaaay, sana me mangyaring maganda towards the end of the week para makabawi.

I hate being like this. It has not happened to me in years, and I mean in years ---- God Bless me na lang.

whew

my blog's layout is back and fixed. i didn't realize it was just that easy. anyway, haven't been blog hopping yet, will do soon. :)

tired and sleepy, - and still irregularly blogging.

here's my favorite song of the week









Hurry up and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste
But you just can't touch

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

You believe and you doubt
You're confused, you got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours
If they only knew

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
when you need to find the strength
It's the faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

What's Up?

Ok.. so I heard so many news while I was away.
Let me update lang po my blog...

1. My blog has officially been damaged. Bloggertricks is suffering from bandwidth crisis so the background images of my blog aren't showing anymore. So YES, i might have to find another template soon. Sigh.
2. Ely's concert has been cut short for a lot of reasons. I was shocked to hear that her mom passed away. Naisip ko nga, pano sya magcoconcert kung nawalan siya ng mahal sa buhay? Hindi nakakapagtaka na hindi niya kaya magconcert that day. His mom is my father's cousin. Ely is technically my second cousin. We couldn't do anything for him at this point but their family is always included in our prayers. We support you. We are wishing and hoping that you get well soon. I wish the entire family can cope up with the loss. God Bless.
   
3. Francis M has leukemia. Hmmmm, when I can watch Eat Bulaga before, I would always comment namumutla si Francis sa tv. I didn't pay attention, but I would normally tell my sister that - maputla ang rehistro nia sa TV - un na pala un. Me sakit na pala sya. Our prayers din po. Hope you get well soon.
4. My brother is now assigned in Bacoor, Cavite. He goes home every weekend.
5. My back pays aren't processed yet. Hay. I need moolah.
6. Today is my first day at work again. Half Day - weeeeeeeeeeh. :)

My back tracks are being created pa. They have already been composed as drafts but I can't publish them kasi I need pics sana.

Manila Here We Come

After having dinner, I rushed to the nearest restroom to freshen up.

After which, marathon na naman papuntang waiting area where we get to board. Hay, finally talaga. I didn't forget to buy water and chocolates to aid me in this long trip.

Fifteen minutes before 10PM which is supposed to be our boarding time sa plane, someone announced that we aren't stopping at GUAM anymore, and that instead of 10PM, our boarding time will be 11na. Ay, mega text naman ang majority of the Filipinos na kasama namen. Ako for one texted my family kasi they will be picking me up from the Airport. Hehe, sabi ni Seset they shouldn't be doing that on a last minute basis. Anyway, ok na din kasi straight ang byahe, no need to refuel - which might mean - magaang kami or konti lang passengers.

Akalain mo, when we were inside the plane na - andami ngang bakanteng seats. Hehe, ung iba na walang katabi eh humiga sa mga 4 seater na upuan - good for them. ako? keber kahit nakaupo na natutulog - i'm happy.

ayun, we endured 13hours flight from LAX to Manila.

3:45, the plane landed. It was almost 5AM when I got out of the airport and met Mama and Kuya. :)

welcome back to Manila!

from Denver to LA

what a journey, I swear.

majority of us had to re-do all our bags because we exceeded the 50lbs limit. we had to dispose some of our extra stuffs or put it into someone else's luggage if they have extra. Like few of my pambahays are in Marika's box - hehe, sorry Mariks.

Hay, finally we get to pass the check-in counter. Had a meal from PANDA EXPRESS which fortunately serves rice. and then... enduring the bitin 2 hour flight from Denver to LA. 8PM, we landed in LAX and waited for almost 30 minutes for our bags... and then finally.

Running from Domestic to International side of LAX Airport, we made it to PAL check-in counters. Weighing the bags, explaining things, bringing our luggage to the x-ray machine - we ended checking in at 9PM. Our supposed boarding time is 9:50. We are so exhausted and hungry, we then decided to settle down and eat - i loved the japanese food i bought from Sushiya.

hay... tired and sweaty.. in an hour we will be heading to Manila na. :)

... to La Quinta

it wasn't an easy travel - we were all exhausted at the end of the day. or should i say, we were exhausted even the day after.

Saturday, August 29, 9AM (Wyoming time)

we checked out of the lovely Holiday Inn. we were in a hurry to finish all the thank you cards seset and johann bought. after loading all our luggage into our new rental car, we were all set. we went to Enterprise first to surrender our old rental car and then to Startek. we bid goodbye's and see you soon's to everyone we knew. i personally hate goodbye's, so even if i can roam around and shake hands; i decided not to. i just waved to jay jay and brenda and shook hands with john - the site director.

before we head to Greeley, CO to drop off Broz, we stopped by at Outlets at Loveland (CO) to shop some more. In between shopping, we had KFC for our lunch. They have so many selections (I think) compared to our KFC.

After strolling and some more shopping.. we finally reached Fairfield Hotel in Greeley where Broz will be staying for another week. Before driving out of Greeley, we stopped at Dollar Tree to buy things we would still need and McDonalds drive-though to have dinner. While eating, Johann's driving. I'm thinking close to 11PM, we reached La Quinta Inn near Denver International Ariport. After unloading our luggage unto our respective rooms, we drove to Wal-Mart to buy packing tapes, boxes, water, etc.

3AM - I called Marvin.

4:30AM
what a day. I called it a night,,

ah, yes! filipino food

we met a very friendly kababayan.

see, we are currently in Holiday Inn - Laramie, Wyoming and one of the managers is a Filipina. Today, on our way to Wal-Mart, she invited us to a dinner. I couldn't stop myself from blurting out that I want Sinigang. woooooooooooooooooo, she cooked us sinigang, and anim kami...

siyempre, nahiya naman ako, i brought drinks, dessert and ice cream. her house is so nice. parang ang sarap makinig ng story ng isang pinay na naging ok dito sa states. i look at her while wondering what does it take for her to get what she has now?

she's married. with two kids. one is 20 years old who lives on his/her own now, and the other is still going to school and is living with them. she works in a hotel, her husband works in an IT field. she has a house in laguna where they are originally from and she owns their house here in wyoming. parang gusto ko tuloy magmigrate.

after the steamed tilapia, pressurized sinigang, fruits, ice cream and Magic Sing - we called it a night. sarap ng tulog neto - yummy tyan. :)

weekend at estes park, colorado

saturday morning around 8AM, the entire team headed to denver. We met the Laramie Site Director at a specific highway then we convoyed until we get to a mall where he can park his car (so we can just use one - our white expedition).


10 or 10:30 - we reached Broadway Inn where we get to stay for the night. it was a long drive. i'm now getting used to long drives - wyoming and denver is just HIGHWA YS for me. After checking in we went downtown to have some lunch, picture taking and souvenir shopping.

a glimpse of our room

actually first we did was ride the air trams. from downtown, this cable car brought us up to the nearest mountain. it was soooooooooooo cool. from this mountain you can see the entire downtown, highways, mountains and other tourist destinations like the haunted hotel. we fed the squirrels and chipmunks too. it was just lovely. hehe. upo kami sa bato and call them and they would just come over and grab our peanuts -aliw talaga! :)

got tired, we had lunch at grub steak where I had wrangler and soup.

we then visited the stores along the street. there were variety of stores out there, clothes, food, antiques, etc. We couldn't resist this ice cream store. we had ice cream, i love my blueberry cheesecake and snickers. after some comfort walks, we headed back to our hotel and rest. 10 minutes after, we went horse back riding. the smell was just awful - but the horses were so tamed. i had a great time.

my blueberry cheesecake and snickers flavored ice cream

we get to have dinner at the end of the horseback trail, steak and beans. it was 5:30 then.after dinner, horseback riding again.

after the sombrero ranch, we had go-karts. it was my freaking first time and I had a really good time. gas and break - wohooooooooo.

after go karts, we went putt-putt golf. that's what they call it :p my first time too. whew, we were very tired. we ended the golf around 8:30PM and we won. :) it rained half way through the game so we had to stop; maybe 5 or so minutes. then we called it a day.

SUNDAY

we checked out by 9AM, had a buffet breakfast somewhere in downtown where i feasted over bacon, bacon and some more bacons, sausage, roasted beef, fruit and juices. GOSH! this sunday breakfast is soooooo worth it. we then drove to the rocky mountains national park. its not a zoo, nothing's really there except for the wonderful sceneries surrounding the mountains we're climbing. uber sa ganda! at the very top of the mountain, 12,000ft in elevation, we found trailridge

we went back to where we left our car, at k-mart then we headed to outlet shops where i got my kenneth cole wallet and nine west bag. i spotted a RL bag which i saw from Kim before (but I want the big one), but I hesitated - magsasale na e - labor day sale. :p for our dinner this day, we had black-eyes peas where I had Chicken Fried Steak (menu says real angus beef, but its name is chicken, i dont' understand but i think it was indeed beef)

School Year - University of Wyoming

We've been hearing a lot of things about when the school year will start, and that laramie will be busy again because there will be students again... but man, parking spaces nowadays are fully occuppied, mas marami ng cars sa kalsada - ayos - dumami na tao - hindi na mukhang haunted ang laramie. hahahaha.

kasi pala, dito sa states - ung mga konting population na state katulad ng wyoming, mas mura ung universities. So ung mga ibang students from other states go to different places to study... parang las pinas and manila - ur living in las pinas but you go schooling in manila. parang ganito din pala dito - you live in california, you want to study in wyoming - pwede. dun kumikita ung mga apartments and boarding schools. population daw ng wyoming pag walang school eh 18,000 - pag school year na, nagiging 27,000 - i don't know how true. you know me pag dating sa numbers - hehe.

our resource manager came here from denver and visited the laramie site. so we went to walmart earlier to buy food to pig out. it's so late na, tomorrow we will be heading to estes park for a tourist visit. :)

have to getup early - but i feel the need to update my blog.

it's 23 already (in manila) while i'm writing this, but its still 22 here. It is our third year anniversary. Last year, I was in australia during our 2nd year anniversary, this year - I'm here in US.. hmmmm, what's for next year - I'm hoping it will be the BEST!

hiatus

i LOVE to update my blog all the time but i guess i don't have the resources to do so for now. so the previous posts that you will be reading (previous to this post and after VISA UPDATE) are all BACK TRACKS.


thank you. :)

Alas; Thai Cuisine

us and our ehem.... many to mention

Wohooooooo!

At last, Training Certification is done! I did pretty bad with my last presentation compared with my first one. Oh, well. What can I do? not enough time to prep.

We had lunch at Sweet Melissa's - Vegetarian Restaurant. I had Pizza Pita.

Today we had a blast of dinner at Anong's Thai Restaurant - it was so relieving to finally eat in a non-american restaurant. LOL.
I shouldn't be whining - im in the US - what do I expect.

Crab Rangon was nice. Stir Fried beef in garlic sauce is wonderful. Sour soup with mushroom is just heaven - and the Fried Rice - nothing can compare to other american restaurant that offer fried rice. This one is really rice.

Their Thai Iced Tea was a bit weird. I drink milk tea in Chowking but the color of this one is different - i don't want to say terrible - but orange for a milk tea? i'm having second thoughts as to what i was drinking....

Mexican Food this time

Tomorrow we are having our trainer certification final presentation.

Instead of making the material, here I am with the rest of the gang at a mexican restaurant. because our country manager and HR director drove from denver to wyoming, we had to eat out and catch up a bit.

here are the singers serenading us with their mexican songs...

the restaurant is called Corona Village which serves purely Mexican cuisine

i liked my food; couldn't remember what it was

Prairie Rose

Today we tried a very neat and small restaurant in front of our site.

They serve good burgers and fries and the one I had which was foot long chili-dog. I couldn't remember exactly what it was called - but I liked it. It was just too much for me.

Today I learned that as part of the American culture, you shouldn't wave or call the attention of your waitress. When you enter a restaurant - doesn't matter how small or big, you have to wait until they ask you to proceed to your table. You don't call their attention if you are ready to order. Apparently, it is their responsibility to come to you and take care of your dining experience.

Unfortunately, when I wanted a pepsi refill - i waived my hand - before a colleague told me its a bit rude. Gosh! Oh well, tourist lang! :p

My First Breakfast

Sige, super detailed post na.

But this is my blog, what can you do? hehe. Here's my first breakfast here in the hotel. Gosh, should I be scared that I will be eating the same food for the next 20 or so days? I'm not a fan of pancakes - pero BACON, ay pwede!

First Sunday

ok.
sorry for the OA posts.

we had dinner at perkins - a restaurant just beside the beautiful Holiday Inn Hotel.

I'm just overwhelmed. finally, i'm here. safe, sound. doing ok. here's the pics of my room, i just took a picture of it via my phone since the batteries of my camera is not working.

Lovely.