Life, Escapades, Notions, Great people

Our project's resort

We had our “one of the last” team buildings this weekend in Kaiser. Last Friday, directly from work, we went to a resort in Laguna. This was the second time for me to go there. It is actually owned by the relatives of one of our team mates, Jericho. The resort has a swimming pool, karaoke / dining area, 2 big bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. We didn’t get all there at one time, others had to follow after 12mn because they’re night shift. Anyways, the party started to pick up around 10pm. We had like 4 cases of beers, and then 2 cases more followed. Girls had fun with the Franzia wine. Almost everybody was drinking, singing karaoke, dancing, others were just hanging out, laughing and swimming in the pool. Speaking of pool, I had a quite experience. I was standing by the pool, and suddenly, our team lead, Cel, pushed or hugged me and we jumped into the pool. I was surprised. Good thing I was already wearing my swimsuit under my t-shirt and summer pants. I got to put them on while I was still not high with the wine. Cel wasn’t contented. She pulled Cookie as well and they both jumped into the pool. Too bad though that Cookie didn't bring extra clothes and she was still in her rubber shoes and her cellphone was inside her pocket. It was really a “riot”! But you know what Cookie, you said you wanted to buy a new one right, only you didn't have a reason. Now, you have one! Happy shopping!

I was surprised at myself that I didn’t get to sleep that night. I was just hanging out with my team mates, trying to get to know them better, singing karaoke, taking pictures, laughing, smoking. And to sober down, I got contented sitting on the bench, playing cards, with my beer on my side. (The wine ran out very early in the evening. If I could’ve known sooner, I should have bought 2 boxes of Franzia. It was really funny because the first time we had our team building there, the girls weren’t that interested with the wine. So, I think, I finished like 90% of it!) And then suddenly, I saw the sun coming out from the skies. Some of the people were already coming out from the rooms, looking for breakfast. And so, it was another day of fun again.

I wasn't able to see most of the people leave that day because I was sleeping. Haha! Finally, I got tired and hit the bed. KC, Jericho, Jeff, Juan, Jobu and I stayed for another night in the resort. But I felt so tired that I slept all afternoon. By the time I woke up, it was almost dinner. The guys was very kind enough to prepare the food for us. They grilled liempo and tilapia. Jericho also cooked sinigang and adobong sitaw. Everything was a hit! Specially the sinigang na baboy. Yummy! After dinner, we just continued singing, playing cards, the others went swimming again. It was really a relaxing weekend.

Sunday, it was my chance to contribute something. I cooked fried and plain rice, washed some dishes, etc for our brunch while the boys went out to buy roasted chicken (it's like Andok's), soda, etc. After lunch, I finally was able to have a good swim, even just for an hour. At first, I got easily tired after 1 lap of whichever stroke, but I think I improved after several laps of trying. After an hour of my so-called exercise, it was time for me to take a shower and pack my stuff. It was time to go home again and work. It was kind of Jericho that he dropped us at our homes.

It will be another ordinary day of work tomorrow, but the weekend that passed had been extraordinary!

posted by Leng @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

Si Raymond at Si Miguel

I had a chance to hang-out with my brother today. It so happens that he went to Makati to buy a television to replace the old one. I'm so proud that my brother has already a job and is now helping the family.

It's been a long time since we last hung-out. My brother and I usually catch up on gimiks like this or when he rides with me to work. At first, I said to him, we'll just have a bucket of beer and then head home. But, he seemed to enjoy the taste of beer in Gweilo's. And then after a few minutes, a few of my project mates also followed. And so the 1 bucket of beer ended up to 5.

I can say my brother is not the shy-type of person, even if he just met the person first time. I don't know maybe because of the beer, but this is not the first time that he's been with my friends. He always joins in almost every conversation in the group, wants to contribute something either by sharing his thoughts, experiences or just by laughing with the jokes and stuff. Sometimes I see my traits in him. It's really amazing for me that we get closer everytime we hang-out. I get to know more about him everytime. Even if he's a lot younger than me, 8 years gap, he has already been through tough times and I see him mature and learn from past experiences.

I will be forever proud of him. I hope he finds his dream in life and live it. It's never too early to find your dreams...

posted by Leng @ 11:30 AM 0 comments

WFH and errands

It's Monday today but I decided to just work from home. I told myself to just lay back and relax since there are no meetings and not much work to do in the office. Well, not really much work. There are still work to do but i really don't have to be there physically to get the work done. I know its gonna be tough again on the next few days because of deadlines, end of month and stuff. But then again, I really didn't plan on staying the whole day to work. I also thought of doing other things, silly.

9AM - logged online to chat with my teammates on stuff they have to do, email
1130AM - took a shower
1230PM - decided to get my tv fix so I went to the repair shop. They told me if I could just come back. They close at 6.
1:15 - Went to SM, bought some tokens for my former team mates who just rolled-off
2:00 - went back home and logged online again. Of course I still wanted to appear that I was working hehehe
3:00 - email, chat, still pretending to work...
4:00 - email, chat, still pretending to work while watching Endless love Summer Scent for the nth time!
5:00 - decided to head out and pick up the tv. went to my fave hang-outplace and tried to shop but to my despair, my manager called. I tried to ignore but what the heck, I went to my car and called. But then thetalk was just brief and so I decided to go back and checked out stuff.But, I failed. It's either I don't have enough extra money or I'm so fatthe clothes don't fit me...arggghhh
6:15 - i decided to have a facial and foot spa instead in let's face it. whew!!! what a relief!
8:30 - went to buy dinner
9pm - went home

posted by Leng @ 11:03 AM 0 comments

Saturday movie and frozen zombie

It's Saturday and I have to pass by the office to do a few stuff. And so, since I'm on Makati already, I decided to call some friends and invited them if they fancy watching a movie. Jeff, Juan and I met at Figaro, Greenbelt3. We watched Wedding Crashers after going to Glorietta to grab some food for take out. It was a funny movie.

After watching, I called Jule and invited him to hang out. Jule is one of my long-time friends in Accenture. We have been friends through rough and good times. He's my friend through thick and thin. Well, after the drinking last night at Gweilo's, my taste buds are telling me no more beers for tonight. And so I thought of us going to Masas in Greenbelt2 and just have their famous frozen zombie on a pitcher(costs P295). Jule, Sergio (Recy's bf) and Cookie followed shortly but Sergio had to work and so he cannot stay for long.

Are Filipinos brave enough to approach a lady they fancy in a bar? For some reason, Juan decided to approach this girl who's sitting next to our table with her girl friends. The girl is pretty and seems to be nice but not the type who's "adventurous". He was able to overcome his fears, maybe with the help of alcohol at first, but he was able to pull it through. Although, he wasn't successful in getting the girl's number, the point is, he took the courage and did whatever he wanted.

When does one stop and say 'The search is over' (for Mr. or Ms. Right)? After all the questions on what does the group look for in a girl or guy physically, after all the pitchers of frozen zombies, this became one of the big questions of the night. Different thoughts and views, realizations and reactions. One will keep on looking for a better person until she decides who to love. As Cookie said, Love is a decision. The group agrees.

Everybody left Masas sleepy but happy and hungry. We grabbed some breakfast at a nearby McDonald's store and Juan was so generous to treat us. Maybe because he was happy that he was able to do the thing that he never imagined he could do. Or just simply, we had some good conversation which made us all feel good.

posted by Leng @ 4:14 AM 0 comments

Counseling group, LDGL team and drinking buddies

We had our counseling group lunch today in Sugi at Greenbelt2. Ms Maybs, our counselor, let us order what we wanted. The place offers authentic Japanese cuisine and the prices are much expensive than other Japanese restos. Salmon sashimi with 5 slices costs P335. I've always loved sashimi and so I ordered for a mixed sashimi bento. However, they didn't have the salmon so I ordered for a separate one. The salmon sashimi was a hit! It was so tasteful, fresh and thick.

It's always a nice feeling when you get to see again old acquaintances and friends. Like our old friend, Nikko. We shared what's been going on with ourselves, plans, love, career and stuff. Cookie, a fellow gehlpren, and I are happy for Nikko. He had a tough breakup with his previous girlfriend but now he found a new love. They are a great match! I wouldn't be surprised to hear wedding bells soon for this couple.

Left picture, from left, Nikko, Cookie, Bernard, Anne, Von, Mahar, JP, JR, Anna, Bojo, Oscean and me. Right pic, with Nikko and Cookie, 2 of my long-time friends in Accenture (> 5 years).




It was roll-off time on several Kaiser folks today. We had to ramp down because two teams (Cookie's and myself) is about to finish. We just had to share resources across teams. We had our last LDGL team meeting with them and it was sad that we have to let them go. We rolled-off 4 members in our team. Starting from left, Oj, Roel, Jericho, Marce, Lhen(sitting), Remy(in pink), Paul, Joy, Cathy and me. I hope they learned many new things from our project as well as gained long-time friends.



It's a Friday and so of course, my drinking buddies and I went out again to Gweilo's to have some fun. They are also from our Kaiser project. Our office building is just a few blocks away from Gweilo's so this place is our fave hang-out, not to mention the cheap prices of the food and beers too. 1 bucket of beer which has 6 bottles only cost P180, garlic peanuts P100. Not bad at all in Makati area, huh? Starting from left, Mace, Badong, Cookie, Henry, Me, Jericho, Jeff and Jobu. There were several people who still followed towards midnight and we sure closed the bar again.

posted by Leng @ 10:48 AM 0 comments

KP-Manila folks

Kaiser Permanente's Teambuilding

My project mates at Kaiser had our teambuilding at Rockwell. We had dinner first in Dencio's which is inside the Powerplant mall. We occupied 3-4 tables. There were more than 30 of us. The food was delicious especially their crispy pata. Though, their kare-kare was kinda weird. It tasted ok but it smelled burnt.

Some of the KP folks, from left, Pat (Coredev's manager), Cookie, Caloy, KC, Kaytee, Badong, Michelle, Nats, me, Jeric, Uly, Victor, Nats, Carlo, Joy, Cathy and Ever. I consider our project to be relatively young compared to others. We develop SW applications using Psoft HR and GL. Right now, we have 40 members, 2 managers, 3 STL's, 2 TL's, and then SSE's, SE's and JSE's. It seems we have a good team structure, but I had to admit, that most of the time we still get swamped with so much things to do and other responsibilities. But, oh well, life's a challenge. I wouldn't mind learning anyways.




After dinner, we went to play bowling, also located inside the mall. When we got there, there were 2 company tournaments and so we just have to wait for them to finish. The others started to bowl since there are 2 available lanes, the others went to play billiards and the others just started drinking, like me. When the tournament was over, the party began, we started to bowl. An hour or so later, they turned on the cosmic bowling and everybody was dancing. It was so fun. We had 6 teams, 4 -5 members each team and I think we were in 4th place. But it was all good and all laughter.

Some folks, Cookie, Pads, Jericho, Jeff and Carlo still wanted to continue the night and so we went to Good Earth Roasts. It's in the vicinity of Rockwell. It is a good place to hang out for beers and pulutan.

posted by Leng @ 7:20 AM 0 comments

Vince's Bday

My Babee's Bday



It's my babee's birthday today. Unluckily, we weren't together physically. Instead of me giving him a birthday gift, he sent me flowers. I hope on his next birthday, or on my next birthday, we'll be together finally, for good. Being in a long-distance relationship is really quite a ride. But definitely it takes both to make it work. As Vince told me during one of my birthdays that we're not together, the feeling is only fleeting. As he knows that we will never be away for our birthdays again.

posted by Leng @ 9:30 AM 0 comments