Tuesdate

Last night was a surprise. I normally don't enjoy ktv bars. For people who know me, I don't sing in public. Trust me when I say that it's better if I just watch and sing in the background.

So after day 1 of the strategic planning, the whole office went to Music 21 for a celebration. Lo and behold, when some of the managers went home early, all hell broke loose. Or rather, everyone loosened up. And guess what? I started singing. I didn't have a care in the world if I was off-key. We just sang 'til our throats were sore and we danced like there's no tomorrow. We were so into the moment that we accidentally broke at least three bottles of beer.

I am so glad that I finally have a fond experience singing karaoke. So girls, when is our next gimik?

<Sorry for all the cam whoring>

Today, I Decided To Take an Adventure!

It's been raining non-stop for the past few days - weeks, actually.

Yesterday: The chaos was unbelievable. Many streets were already underwater, there were more people who needed saving than volunteers, it was madness!

6:30 AM: I received a text from our HR informing us that only government work was suspended. So that meant we had work.  Since it was still raining really hard, I already texted the office that I cannot go to work but I will try to do so once the weather improves.

10:44 AM: I woke up with the sun shining! :) I will go to work today. Took a shower, had brunch and headed out without checking the news. It started raining a bit in Q.Ave but I thought it was just a little rain. It will be over soon.

12:40 PM: I arrived at the office. It was drizzling.

1:30 PM: How wrong was I?! It started raining really hard = worry.

2:30 PM: Regretting that I decided to go to work. But still continued answering emails, fixing files, etc.

4:30 PM: I can't take this anymore! I want to go home, I don't want to be stranded in Makati! There's no cab outside the building and since I heard that EDSA is already flooded, I decided to take the jeep and the train. Boy, the line was really long.

5:30 PM: I'm at the Q. Ave station already. Cars were starting to counterflow on the northbound lane of EDSA. Know why? Yes, Centris is flooded already (EDSA side)! And the funny thing is, the underpass was not even flooded. After minutes of contemplating whether I will wade in the flood water, I decided that it's time for me to go home. What would happen if the rain worsens? It means that more streets will be submerged underwater and the flood would start to rise even more. Last I heard was that Philcoa was waist-deep and Maginhawa was chest-deep. Come on, I have to pass Philcoa in order to get home.

5:40 PM: I was able to get a cab after insisting (almost begging) that I have to go to UP (about 20 minutes away from Q.Ave). He probably felt pity in his heart because he agreed to take me but we have to go around Mindanao Ave, Visayas Ave and go out at Central in Commonwealth. City Hall and Circle were super traffic according to the previous passenger as the flood is really bad.  I immediately said yes despite the long route.

6:30 PM: I'm still stuck along Mindanao Ave. Traffic would literally move inch by inch = flood. Good thing manong driver still went ahead. He must have sensed my desperation. There was also a bit of a flood along Visayas Ave. but we were able to manage.

7:00 PM: I'm at the Commonwealth (Central) gate of UP waiting for my mom to pick me up. We were supposed to pick-up my brother at Ateneo but he said someone will bring him home. We ended up at MiniStop buying bottles of booze. If the rain continues tonight, I have no plans of going to work tomorrow. I will drink myself to oblivion.

So there goes my day, not much of an adventure but it definitely is one-of-a-kind. I also learned a couple of things. First is to listen to the people around me. Several people were already telling me not to go to work but the minute I saw the sun, I rushed to work. Second is I have to think of myself. I've been thinking about my unfinished work in the office that I forgot to check if I will be ok, if I can make it home without any problems. And lastly, I found out that I can be strong and I can think of a way to solve my problems. When things get difficult, I always call on my mom and expect her to fix things/ situations for me. This time, I only called her when I was in the cab already. And I'm so proud that I was able to wade in flood water. I was already thinking of crying and complaining but I did not do that. A friend told me that I have to be more careful when walking in flood water as I may step on something sharp or fall into holes. Thank God none of that happened.

Anyway, this day has not been a total waste. Yes, I could have spent time helping out in a shelter or a relief center, but that's where the universe led me. It's still a learning experience for me.

And by the way, the text I was waiting for yesterday never came. But I received it today. Thank you, you made my day. :)

Boracay 2012

*another long overdue post*

This is only my second time to Boracay. But boy oh boy, it’s very different from my first experience. For one, this is a company outing, a reward for good sales and performance. Yey, for qualifying! Second, we took the Kalibo route. That’s an additional two-hour bus ride to Caticlan, after almost an hour of delay because of runway traffic. Did not matter though since I was asleep most of the time. And lastly, for this trip, I had no wallet!  I went shopping the day before and left my wallet in Tani’s bag.  I just had a couple of hundreds at home and my lola was in Philam so I had no one to borrow money from.  

Nevertheless, I had a great time.  It was fun to mingle with my colleagues, some about my age, some older by at least 10 years.

with my colleagues

:)

sunset. photo courtesy of ms. ann.

We stayed at Willy’s in station 1 and our room was so convenient since it was on the first floor.  We hit the beach right away and enjoyed the sun.  Noeme and I went for a walk and guess who we spotted? Dennis Trillo and Bianca King sporting a tan and holding hands.

Dinner buffet at Astoria was definitely a treat. I loved the different kinds of salad and the grilled seafood! There was a band and one of our Beauty Advisers sang a couple of songs. And as usual, the fire dance.  I was even asked to stand in front while the balls of fire were dancing in front of me, just a couple of inches from my face. I was so freaked that my pictures sucked big time. Haha.  There was also a little bit of dancing.  But the spotlight was on a middle-aged Korean or Taiwanese lady. Now, this lady joined our group when we were dancing. She had really funny and exaggerated dance moves and her energy was unbeatable.

Myra with the Asian lady

The second day was valentine’s day and island-hopping day.  We went snorkeling.  I was one of the first who jumped since some of our companions were a bit hesitant.  I was also one of the few who went back to the boat early since I was not that fascinated with the marine life. I’ve seen better reefs and fabuluous fish in Coron, Puerto Galera and Batangas (I’ve been snorkeling since I was about ten years old). We had lunch in a shack in one of the islands and then we visited Crystal Cove. Now, that’s a first time for me.  The place was beautiful. We had tons of photos in this place. Check out this gif, it’s so funny! Let the waves roll in!

Find me. I'm the one without a life jacket.

The buko vendor

JUMP!

After the long and exhausting boat ride, we ended the afternoon with a banana boat ride! Woohoo!

For the evening, we had dinner at The Sandbar. Food was pretty ok and the fire dance was a bit of a drag. Hearts and glitters were a bit overrated. Even so, we had a good time partying at Cocomangas. Went back to the hotel extremely tired and dozed off instantly.

Valentine's dinner

Party rock!

Last day was really crazy.  A tiring two-hour bus ride back to Kalibo and then lunch at Sampaguita Gardens. I had to lead half of the group since we were split into two batches. I had a little trouble since they were so excited to take pictures and it took quite some time before the tour started.  Because of exhaustion, I had to really control my patience and I was on the verge of snapping.

At the airport, we bought crabs. I bought “2 kilos” for only P400. Still worth it even if there was something fishy with the weighing scale.

This trip was indeed worth the effort we exerted. I wonder where next year will take us?

Bye! Where to next year?