First time in what feels like a long time

I couldn’t believe it! No entry has been posted in my blog for almost two months. Oh well, as if I have lots of followers. =P
Of course, many things had happened in those 8 weeks.

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I applied as a Communications Analyst for our program last June. I went through two interviews and I’m glad I passed. Training started last July 7 and will end on September 7. Hopefully, I will be confirmed as the Communications Analyst for Email and Chat. I am under the supervision of Allison whom I consider as a very considerate and generous mentor.

This new job proved to be much more physically demanding than I expected since I already lost a few pounds after a week. It’s like I enrolled myself to a workout program I am not aware of. Monitoring the agents’ emails or chats and conducting huddles and trainings everyday keep me up whole part of the shift.

There are times I would miss being an agent – sitting all day answering emails/chats, handling my own time, keeping my own pace (at least, that’s how it was for me). But, with all the new things I learn everyday, I just need to remind myself of how blessed I am to be doing what I’ve been wishing for. There’s no reason to be ungrateful.

People ask me if working as a Communications Analyst is hard. For me, it is, but since I enjoy what I’m doing, it makes everything much easier to bear. I’m happy that I am helping agents to do their jobs better. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to share what I know. I’m excited to learn new things that will help me be a better teacher.

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My dad celebrated his 55th birthday last August 15th. He arrived from Bicol last August 10 to spend a week here in Manila for much deserved vacation.
He had a party at my aunt’s house with most of his siblings and nephews and nieces present. I wasn’t able to come to the party because Ceasar, Josine and I had to drop by at Nini’s house to greet her a “happy birthday”. (Nini is like our adopted child.)

I did go to church with Dada, Tita Liza, JV, Josine, Ceasar and other relatives for a thanksgiving mass.

Ceasar and I celebrated our 5th anniversary (since August 17 fell on a Monday this year) by catching the last screening of the hilarious film, “The Hangover” that Saturday. We just had a little snack at the Coffee Bean. Laughing for almost two hours sure made us hungry. We grabbed a late dinner at Javi’s Sikatuna on our way home.

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L.A. visited the Philippines again after a 3-day mission in Vietnam. We had dinner at Cabalen, Trinoma branch. Too bad, I was not feeling well that day. I didn’t get to enjoy her company, but I’m glad that we spent time together. Hopefully, she will be back again in January.

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Rodney, Jefferson and I got together one Saturday. I missed those guys. We met up at Trinoma and grabbed an early dinner at Bigoli’s, my favorite Italian restaurant (good food at an affordable price). They wanted to have a few drinks so we went straight to Quattro at Timog, Q.C. We stayed there until 3 a.m. since they still have to catch up with some of their guy friends back home.

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Last Sunday, Mau, Kuya Raul and Doie were here at our place. I miss hanging out with them. It’s been a while since we last got together. I just hope we would put an end to the habit of watching our old gigs and showing them to new friends. =P

Hopefully, our plans to go to Sagada soon will push through. I really feel the need to get out of the city.

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In two months, I was able to watch 3 movies. THREE MOVIES!! That’s a personal record.
Nothing But The Truth – watch it at your own risk. You may like it or you may not.
The Hangover – SUPER FUNNY!! It’s a combination of wit and slapstick comedy, so I guess, it’s a good formula for a hilarious movie.
And I Love You So – bring packets of tissues and I mean, PACKETS! Confirmed, Bea is one of the best actresses of her generation. Sam Milby is so hot!!

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I’m so excited!
WHO: ATO Reactive Uno Animo peeps
WHAT: Uno Animo’s Anniversary and mid-year Wish List party
WHEN: September 5, 2009, Saturday, around 6.30am
Finally, this much-awaited event has a date. Yup, you read it right, guys! Around 6.30am. With our different shifts, this is the best time to get together. I’m so happy that everyone was okay with it. It shows that everyone misses everyone. Hehehe.. I can’t wait to take our pictures na yung iba ay pagod dahil sa puyat o pagod dahil kulang pa sa tulog.

another lazy entry

As usual, I'm too tired (or lazy) to write a decent blog entry...

First, I would like to apologise to my Uno Animo teammates. No pictures yet from our get-together last March 30. I know the pics I have are not a lot but I know you love to see them too. When I have the time (yeah, right!), I will post them in Facebook and our yahoogroups site. =)

Here is a presentation (uh-huh) of the things I've done, been doing, will be doing and would've wanted to do:

I had dinner with my bessy, Gran a few days after he got back from his Asian tour. He got me a bag, a couple of keychains and a fridge magnet from Singapore. What a thoughtful sweetheart! The pictures he and JB took of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were amazing, but the stories he told were hilarious. =)

Uno Animo (Alex, Cacai, Dustin, Febe, RJ, Tetay, Vayie and me) and Grumpig (Milo) had merienda/dinner at Dad's Glorietta last March 30, Monday/payday. Tin was missing in action but for a valid reason so she's forgiven. =P We also met Cacai's boyfriend, Ivan.

As you already know, Tita Tess, Tito Josal, Inna and Iris arrived from Canada last March to attend the funeral and burial of Tito Josal's father, Mr. Bartolome del Castillo, Jr. in Bicol. They are now in Baguio with my Tita Bebot, my cousins Andrea and Camille, my sister, Josine, my brother, Joshua and my niece, Nikki. I was supposed to join them but work got in the way. (What's new?!)

I watched the movie , "Race to Witch Mountain" with Bubi. The plot was predictable but the characters were entertaining.

Csar and I learned that tea latte tastes awful - the hard way. It is a rarity that I would dare try something new and it was not a good experience. =(

I went to a bookstore sale and found this cool dictionary from Oxford: The Official Dictionary of the Unofficial English. It was on sale for Php150, but wasn't able to get it -- found that I only have Php110 in my pocket and didn't have my ATM card with me. Bummer!

I would like to greet my bessy, Apol a very happy birthday (April 7). I wish we could see her soon and spend loads of time with her since she's been working for the last year - almost nonstop.

Birthday wishes also goes to my gradeschool friend, Ivylaine (April 6), my supervisor Mitch (April 7) and my ex-boyfriend, Cerwin (April 8) and to a baby sister, April Adap (April 9) who is now a wife and a mother to a beautiful family.

These are the songs that I just love listening to these days: I Stay in Love (Mariah Carey), Heaven Sent (Keyshia Cole), Insomniac (Craig David), One Step at a Time (Jordin Sparks), More to Life (Stacie Orrico), Forever & Because of You (Boyce Avenue version).

Csar and I did our best to catch the movie, "Knowing" (starring Nicholas Cage) together and we did. We found it interesting as subtly showed the unity of faith and science in our lives. The movie looked like a blockbuster movie in the making. I've seen a few movies these past months and I've never seen a cinema this packed since Harry Potter and Twilight. With or without the hype, it was worth it. The movie will leave you thinking.

Before we watched "Knowing", Csar and I had lunch at Bigoli's (Trinoma), an Italian restaurant Tetay and I "discovered" (from a clickthecity.com review) while looking for a nice place where we can hold the Mean Girls' little get-together with our former supervisor, Spawn.

Bigoli's has this new promo: Eat-All-You-Can Pizza for Php199 only. The price includes a refillable drink. Eat the most number of pizza slices will earn you a place in their Hall of Fame and a shirt. So far, a Nursing student from UST, "Jogar" Garcia holds the record for eating 25 slices of pizza. Beat that! But remember, this promo is only available between 10am-2pm everyday.

I dropped by at the Fully Booked Gateway Mall branch and National Bookstore Superbranch last Monday. I got a couple of stuff added to my wishlist: an LED slim book light and a red grab bag (super cute) which I want to buy this coming payday. I also passed by the Girbaud store and I found the three most adorable bags I have ever seen since I visited the store last Christmas. I hope I will have the extra cash to take at least one of those cuties home.

I will soon be seeing my ex-boyfriend who I haven't seen in a decade. (Yup, he's the forgetful ex. hehehe) We still haven't agreed on the details because of my crazy schedule.

I'll be taking Education classes starting April 13. My classes will be from 9am-1pm, Mondays to Fridays. I'm so excited! It'll be a little bit tough since I will be attending my classes after my work shift at 7am, but I welcome the challenge because finally I'll be doing something beyond the walls of the office. That doesn't mean you will be seeing me more relaxed.