First Day Funk

What do you know I have another pending entry before I decided to compose this? It got bumped off because it was incomplete and my Multiply export tool is taking forever to download all of my memories circa 2006. I was planning to do a top 20 list complete with pictures and everything as a tribute to my insanely colorful past. 

But okay. Here goes. 

It's barely a minute before 1AM and I'm up doing leftover reports for my former employer. Yup. Tomorrow is my official first day at the new palace. I never thought it would be more exciting than it should, but it is. The only reason why I'm still up is because of the adrenaline rush (despite the tiring 4 day 'hiatus/self-errands' transition period) that's been picking on my nerves. I booked a lunch date with a friend (who I think is reluctant to show up since he didn't rsvp) and a dinner with my marketing foursome (I kind of have to call them that now since that has to be our x factor) just to keep the day's momentum. 

I can't believe I'm back to square one. A week ago, I couldn't believe that I was leaving the place I called home for over two bittersweetly agonizing and euphoric years. The decision to transfer to another company, let alone a bigger, more mature, more economically relevant one was a bit of a surprise for me too. But I felt that, and this of course is paired with reasons known to my peers and I, it was really time for me to grow and move forward to do greater things like I am destined to. 

A room full of unfamiliar faces is enough to make me press the panic button, what more an entire building? It's like freshman year all over again. Despite not being able to tidy up my warehouse of a room (still longing for the time I can vacate and move to the new higher ground) I have already packed my bag with notebook and pen, decided on my outfit and of course prettified myself for the occasion - such a cliche. I'm ready as hell to take the new road again. I guess what makes me more excited is the fact that I can take more challenges now and buckets of to do lists await me plus the fact that I feel I'm becoming a more responsible and a wiser person each day. Couple that with the perk of earning at least 3x more to give way for my lifestyle (hello travels, investments, stocks, masters, business) and the time to do so many other things like my orgs. 

I left with a caveat from most of my friends and professional peers that if I left because of a few unpleasant people at work, this bigger sea I'm about to dive in has 100x more filled with them.  In the first place I didn't and of course, I already knew that. And that's no big deal.Because no matter where I am, I know I'm a step closer to where I should be. 

Christmas Wish List :)

HELLO! Long time! As per usual, I have failed to keep this blog alive thanks to all the yuppie problems enough to keep me busy on a daily basis.  

Some good news: I have kept true to my promise of cooking meals for my family on a weekly basis, I have found a way to solve my career dilemma, I have remedied a few of my short sighted crises in the past months. In fact, 4Q is turning out to be the best period of the year so far. 

In the middle of all the pre-holiday planning, pre-shopping and food scouting for the looming festive season, I took the initiative to organize all probable expenses into a wish list. This way, I will be able to  prioritize the assortment of goodies I already earmarked since day 1 of our pre-shopping spree this first week of October. 

1) Table top oven 
    I have not been able to test my skills in baking and desserts because the gas range and the oven     have yet to be replaced here at home. Thank God my parents are allowing me to buy a smaller oven this Christmas. I saw one today while looking for a portable emergency light (because my parents are really paranoid about typhoons and the climate change) which is a bit under 10k. Pwede na! I'll treat it as part capital for a hobby-business. Hahaha.

Goodbye to no-bake desserts! I already have a gazillion ideas in mind, maybe even do this as a sideline on weekends. I've done a mental layout of the packaging and sticker design to top it all off. Hahaha :) 

2) Baking and cooking materials 
    Of course I won't be able to pursue sweets and pastries without the right cooking ensemble. I've been eyeing on the basics but nothing fancy. Just the few that will help me survive since I have been using improvised molding pans for quite a while. Hahaha. I also need a sushi mat, outdoor grill and food processor. Hihihi :) 


3) External Hard Drive 
    Yes, I love my series. Plus I'm working on some freelance projects for PS and web content. I might need to free up some space and give way for a formal portfolio. I'm kind of lazy to take pictures lately but since I'm looking at upgrading my camera, hope I can do my 2012 travel photodump soon! :) This year was indeed the beginning of my travel years ;) 

4) Classes 
    Since I'm still on my 2nd year off of graduation, I have a year before I can pursue parttime teaching and eventually an MD, so I want to invest in all types of learning I could use. Short courses on cooking, Adobe apps and of course another set of refresher course for driving. Finally getting wheels (oh so delayed gratification) but I don't know if I'm happy since I'll be paying for it and the gas. I might have to lay off on the clothes and travel for a while. It's a good thing I've already invested in great gadgets this year. 

5) Treadmill 
    With my mom lobbying for opposition, my dad and I have been canvassing for treadmills that we can use when our veranda gets built. Nothing can surely replace jogging in Makati parks, but let's face it. This is a more practical (and lazy-friendly) way to ensure that we all do our mandated dose of cardio every day, even during the rainy season. Here's hoping my mom isn't right about us. Hahahaha. 

Well what else? Looking at my wish list, I can see that I'm maturing in terms of selecting purchases and investments. I hope everything fits my budget since we're upgrading almost everything in the house starting November. 

I'm so excited! Never been more excited for the holidays! I have a lot of dinners, reunions and travel lined up for this! :D 


    
    

The Quarter Quell

A seemingly plateauing career with several mountains and avalanches of workload. 

Always the first to come in and the last to leave. 

Heightened caffeine intake. 

Increased weight and body fat. Delinquency in health. 

Clothes that don't fit. 

Negligence of personal care. 

Unfinished passion projects. 

Long overdue to-do lists. 

Speech slur. 

Overwhelming responsibilities and accountabilities. 

Never ending and unjust deadlines. 

Dissatisfied friends finally taking the huge leap of faith to leave. Something you have been planning to do for the longest time. 

An empty bank account and wallet. 

Autopilot social sessions. 

Not seeing great friends for too long. 

Long time couple friends getting engaged. 

Long time couple friends getting married (at 23).

Nagging parental authorities.  

The call that never comes. 

The plans that have not materialized. 

What is this? 

Signs

When wheeling around a decision that is bound to utterly change your life, you will always go for the standard method of singling the other one out. The pros and cons checklist. 

But what if, all circumstances granted, the pros and the cons don't seem to outweigh one another? What will you do? 

You pray to God, and ask for a sign. 

This week I've had a couple. 

In the nearness of the highly anticipated pre-clincher activity, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about God sending me the signs. I wanted to prepare myself and gradually be inclined to the more favorable outcome. 

1) I let go of all the usual anxiety at work despite all the looming deadlines and they, in one way or another, found a way to deliver themselves.  

2) On the first day of school, I asked the cab driver to take the usual route, despite the qualms about slow moving traffic in Service Road. He told me we would take the express way but I insisted on going the usual direction. 

We took the Service Road and we breezed through it. No traffic, just a 5 minute ride all the way. 

I was right in trusting my instincts and in taking the risk. I took the way I trusted more and it was smooth sailing. 

3) The biggest sign? I was asked to submit writing samples. I dug deep into my HD to retrieve all reaction papers and position essays that I did in college. (Since, in the absence of such at my present work, I have none)

I found this in one SOMBA paper that I wrote for a post-talk reflection on starting a business. 

 Of all the people I quoted right? :) 

Who is John Rockefeller? You'll find out soon enough! 

Fingers crossed! 

A Real Food Blog

Today I was talking with parents regarding my career and a possible change in route (this early). It was a pretty sneaky ninja attack since I told them that I've already laid out some action to progress my plan and I was just waiting for the favorable results. In short, I wasn't just thinking of doing it, I have done something about it. 

Of course, as usual, they have always trusted my guts and instincts ergo very little reason not to support my cause. I just promised them a couple of things that would buy me time before I make the move and I was very certain that I could get the spot. What this is, I'm sure to update you when it's already final. 

So during the course of the conversation I tricked my mom and my dad into thinking that I wanted to take a degree in culinary. Hahaha :) OF COURSE NOT. As a not-so-recently transformed foodie and cooking enthusiast,  I wanted to channel the cravings and weight gain into something more adventurous and suffice it to say, beneficial. 

I want to take short course in main entree, desserts and baking. (On top of teach at my alma mater. This were the justifications that I used when I told my parents about wanting to leave my current job. I won't be the full career woman/entrepreneur/teacher/government worker that I intend to be if I stay.)

When I do take up these short courses, I want to open up a small store that specializes in comfort food, like a coffee shop or a tea shop with snacks and desserts. As cliche as it may sound (and saturated in the market) I have to argue that there is a shortage of these places in the south especially near residential areas. A lot of commercial food establishments are available, why not homey coffee shops? In order to go to coffee shops you have to be in the mall areas or the business districts that sometimes, it defeats the purpose of wanting to be in an ambient surrounding so you can use the peace and quiet to be productive with work, or catch up with good friends. 

I know it's a long way to go and it's a stellar-ly ambitious dream. By the time I might have the resources to go through with this, all residential areas might have staple little coffee shops and my dream will be history. But it's worth a shot. After all, my love for food will always be there and I will never ever give it up as one of my passions. 

In the meantime, I could use the practice to explore and to hone my skills, develop the tastebuds and think like food lovers with adventurous palates. I want to start the ritual of cooking meals at home on weekends and trying out new places on weekdays. It will be pretty costly for my weekday routine and it will be definitely a hit or miss but the weekend habit will be a breeze. My mom hates cooking on weekends that's why we eat out. It's her only time to rest so it will be my pleasure to be of service to the family on Saturdays and Sundays. 

I've tried to start the food blog on several attempts but to no avail. I would get carried away experimenting with the recipes that I forget to document everything that I did. Plus, my kitchen and dining area have really bad lighting so I can't count on them for scrumptiously appealing photographs of my hard work. 

First order for my food blog: find a list of blogs to emulate. From there, it will be easy breezy. Next will be shows to get inspiration from, cookbooks as well as dining areas. These will all contribute to what will be the next food blog for a foodie wannabe like me. 

Next to my dream of wanting to be in the food business, I also wanted to have my own cooking show in TLC, Lifestyle or AFC. Since I'm sure that this is never (or too far off) to happen, this career in food blogging will be the next big thing. It's the most convenient way to document gastronomic experiences while being able to share it with other people. 

My love for food, it will never ever die. 

Let's join the Feast! :)

I've been saying this for quite a while and I have never been more excited that tomorrow's a Thursday because, I miss the Feast! 

Been so stressed lately I've been channeling a lot of rollercoaster positive-negative vibes since the year kicked in. My life's flying with colors if it's about family, friends and my goal to travel but my work life started taking an unexpected route to burnout. I'm super lucky to have a friend like Patty, who I share a lot of things in common with. She's very active in extra curricular activities like helping out in an NGO for less fortunate kids, short of a visionary that's not contented with status quo and being a corporate slave, and of course she was the one who introduced me to the Feast :) 

For everyone who was active in serving faith-based orgs in college, the Feast is like a gathering of people from all walks of life to listen, share and praise God's Word. 

Patty invited me to one session and I've been trying my best not to miss every now and then. But of course, for as long as my schedule permits I could only make so much time for other things right now. 

The first time that I attended was the key to unlocking the door. 

We assembled at a conference room in AIM, with about 400 people in the hall. There is a theme for a whole month called the 'series' and that's where the topics of the builders/speakers will center on. After inspirational stories were shared, worships songs with one of the most amazing bands played for everyone to participate in. It was like a big jamming session for all people to take the songs in and the message of the earlier talks. It reminded me of the worship sessions that my lola used to bring us to after Sunday school (of course back then I didn't know what Born Again was). 

After which all updates were made for past events, announcements were released for succeeding dates, invitations to join care groups and ministries were held and there were even intermissions for our entertainment. 

The night capped off with finger foods lined up at the tables outside the hall so that we can fill ourselves up before going home. 

It was truly a Feast in the truest sense. 

Unlike Sunday masses (which I do not discourage of course) is that this is not the preachy, traditional and uptight celebration of God's Word. It is a sincere modern approach to bringing across the message of God that relates to everyone no matter who they are, where they come from or how they feel. 

What touched me deeply was the fact that I was with genuine people, with genuine feelings who were all willing to let go and spend time with God. May it be to ask for pardon, for supplication, to ask for strength in trying times. Whatever the reason is, people go there to be with God. 

I'm so amazed that a friend has ignited the spark for me to be active with my faith again. Despite everything that's happening, being able to spare a few hours in order to remember what God did for me for the past years of my life is such a blessing. 

And so tomorrow will be the day that I finally can go back to attending the Feast. 

Thank you Lord, for the gift of life :) 

I'm still alive.

After two hell-ish months, I am still here. Struggling to keep my promise of updating this blog. Hahaha :) 

Turning 23 was a bit awesome for me. It was timed right smack into a flurry of events at work, in my family, summer, etc. etc. Then my laptop died. That's why I had to wait and buy a new one before I regained my techie dependent life once again. 

The whole of April turned out to be some kind of spread for me. Capped off two events, had a lot of weekend sales, had to do my regional rounds (and still ongoing), so on and so on. I have a whole line up of posts that I want to make: 

1) Bohol Trip 

2) Work & Burn Out 

3) New recipes! 

4) On being a semi-foodie 

5) Debunking the diet myth 

6) Canon events!!! 

7) The oblivion called the friend zone?

8) Room make over 

9) Volleyball 

10) Summer like no other 

11) The Life Plan 

And many many many more. Don't know how and where to start but at least I got to list them down. I'm so happy with my new laptop (although I don't have funds for any shopping until before Christmas) that I promise to be diligent with all my work. I have yet to organize my files and my contacts. 

Plus I have work to do now so I better continue and get my beauty rest. 

Til then. Just wanted to let you know I was still alive.