Category Archives: journey
After the rain
After the very tiring, exciting, emotional, extremely fun, syempre stressful din, joyful weekend wedding/reunion of Mae and Ariel, and after a day of rest and catching my breath, I’m now relishing on sitting at my desk, drinking my cup of coffee and catching up on my day job.
Pics to follow. But in the meantime, check out the blogs of Mae and Loids.
Here’s a run down of my favorite happenings during the weekend (in no particular order):-
- Ang ganda talaga ng Sonya’s. It was absolutely beautiful.
- Talap talap the food of Sonya’s!
- Joreine’s prayer in blessing the food;
- Reunion nga – seeing most of my Dubai friends all at one time;
- During the ceremony, when Mae and Ariel said their vows (naiyak ako sobra! sobrang touched!)
- Galing ng priest – most impressed;
- The onsite AVP of Buddy (the videographer);
- The best man’s (Toti, brother of Ariel, na sobrang kamukha nya!) speech (winner!)
- The dinner the night before (with my brother, ate in law, the coordinating team and some friends) at a bulalohan. Talap, busog, talap.
- It didn’t rain! Saturday, the day before, it rained heavily. Cats and dogs raining kind. The wedding day, the weather was beautiful.
** Picture with the couple and the other Maid of Honor **
Congratulations to Mae and Ariel. I love you both.
6 banks today
I feel that my chosen professional life (in Marketing/Sales/Events, where there’s variety and expression) is a direct opposite of the Banking world. My prejudice of bankers were that they were strict, monotonous, and follows all the rules. Don’t get me wrong. I feel there’s a certain discipline that is followed by bankers. But heck, it definitely is not for me.
Today I spent almost 2 hours in 6 different banks were my patience was really tested. Here is a roll call on what irked me, and pleased me na din on the different banks.
- EPCI – Irked. They do not allow for non account holders to exchange foreign currencies. I just don’t get the logic on this one. I also don’t like the fact that their tellers were walking around in slippers(?!). As in the pambahay kind.
- BDO – Pleased. For once, BDO was pretty reasonable to me today although there was a pretty long line just to have money exchanged. After experiencing EPCI, I feel that BDO was pretty easy to deal w/. Not too strict on rules, which helps a lot. Their tellers just need to smile some more.
- EPCI – Irked. Most Definitely Irked. Went to another branch to deposit money and after 30 mins of waiting in line (ang laki laki ng banko,- pang 9 or 10 tellers, tapos 3 lang ang utilized, kaya haba haba ng pila), they told me that they don’t allow more than P50K interbranch deposit w/o a charge. I don’t get it. It had worse logic than my first concern w/ them. (Pwede pala ako pumila tapos deposit na lang uli ako, para it’s considered as another transaction. Weird!) They also don’t allow use of celphones inside the bank (which I never did understand).
- BPI – Pleased. Pretty fast, no worries, no pila, thank God. Efficient. I guess the best bank I transacted w/ today. Oh and very pleasant tellers. Maybe dahil walang nag aaway sa kanila sa bagal na pila.
- China Bank – Irked. Not naman slow, but super sungit ng teller. When it was my turn, I went to an empty teller (kakaalis lang ng isang client), sabihan ba naman ako, “hindi mo pa turn, bumalik ka sa pila, at hintayin mo na tawagin ka”. I transacted w/ another teller instead, kse mapapaaway lang ako.
- HSBC – More Pleased than Irked. super, dooper slow tellers although no pila. On a bright note, I like the look of the branch and they have pretty staff.
All I can say is, thank God my office is located along the bank row and that all the banks were walking distance to each other.
It rained pala kanina. Hard. I’m glad I was already inside HSBC (which is sa baba lang ng building namin) and not walking around the different banks.
Family pic
I chanced upon my dad in chat kanina. After the basic kamustahans, I asked if he had any new pictures of my nephews. Since they were about to leave, he sent me some pics via skype. Some means 89 pictures kse wala na daw siyang time to choose which pics to show me, so he sent me all! Hehehe. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

By the way I told my favorite Ate in law about it, she said na kulit ng tatay ko and dapat gawa na lang siya multiply account. Hehehe. Actually not a bad idea… maybe I should do a Caratao family multiply account. Hmmm. Pag may time na siguro…
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Sitting in a coffee shop in Alabang with free wifi, my favorite cafe mocha and yosi. Now this is the way to work.
Although signs that I need to leave:
- i’ve been here since 7pm
- it’s past 9pm
- coffee shop is closing and my cafe mocha is almost empty
- my lighter just ran out haha
- and my battery in my laptop malapit na maubos
- dead batt na rin phone ko, kailangan mag charge
- di na as traffic as kanina kaya driving should be a breeze
Fine, fine, time to head home na, get some rest to recharge for the upcoming week.
July report
It’s the first day of July and officially the second half of the year has just started. June was very tiring, a bit disappointing, stressful pero kahit paano exciting. I’m looking forward to the coming month kse daming happening neto, specifically – AM wedding, KD wedding, GS arrival, closings, closings, closings, closure with boys (di pa kse sila men eh, boys pa lang).
Firstly, it’s just 1 week to go before Maeyo’s wedding. I have my MOH dress (isn’t it so pretty?) already and my shoes (which are just as adorable and fits me perfectly!) . Thank you to Maeyo and Loids for having perfect taste! Just the shoes that I wanted to wear! Was able to do finish some tasks for the bride, the coordinating team, and also personally for me this weekend. Konti na lang ang mga left to do’s so mejo excited na for the upcoming week. Oh and I got over the sniffles na, so feeling much, much better.
- Final coordination meeting with the team
- House warming gift for Chie and Chris (send to Tita Perla)
- Follow up signed COL of DIP (due Fri)
- Meeting with EUA for AP - done
coming down with the sniffles
Stressed w/ demanding clients, last minute clients, mabagal landlords, people who owes me money, upcoming and previous weddings, wedding suppliers, my bank, my finances, and let’s not forget the boys – I’m starting to feel like I’m coming down with the sniffles. Oh no.
Need for hot calamansi juice and some TLC. Overload with vitamins and throw in a secretary for free please.
Carrot, Egg & Coffee
We need moments of inspiration daily. Here’s one I received that lifted up my spirits. Just when I’m about to take my morning coffee, I might add.
Hugs!
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A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.
In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
May you always have the best COFFEE to your taste!
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Personally I feel like I’ve been a carrot. Hmm, maybe that’s why I crumble easily. Another cup of coffee please…
high and low
My high this week: A client expressed their intention of pirating me (boosted my professional esteem)
My low this week: not feeling the support of my team, daming away and disappointments
old and new
As part of my decluttering goal this week, I arranged the files in my laptop and and also went through my emails. I deleted a lot of very old and unused documents, pictures, emails etc. Here’s something I saw.
Left picture taken sometime August of 2006 and picture at the right around May 2007. New do, new glasses, new mobile.
tagalog blogger!
When I opened my blogger account, everything was in Tagalog! (Ang aking account, Matuto kung paano magsimula ng mobile blogging, Karaniwang mga komentaryo, etc) It was so funny! Hahaha!
Last night I viewed a padala from my friend-bride Maeyo. She sent me a sample misalete and I was shocked to see that it was in Tagalog! Okay, so if in Tagalog it should be more intimate, feel more personal. And I get that. I wouldn’t understand most of it though, but I’d get the general feeling. But in blogger? It was just so funny. (Sorry, if you don’t get it, maybe I’m just weird, but I still found it funny).
What a way to start the day.
Umpisa ngayon, hahanapin ko ang mga nakakatuwang sitwasyon o eksena para lumigaya ang araw ko. Kailangan ng panibagong tingin sa buhay, hindi na lang yung puro palpak, negatibo at masamang nararamdaman. Madaling sabihin, mahirap gawin… pero susubokan ko.
Salamat sa blogger, na sa simpleng paraan, kahit hindi nya alam, natawa ako sa ginawa nya. Hulaan nyo kung pinalitan ko yung wika ng blogger ko?

