this week has been absolutely crazy.
i clocked in 12 hours every day of the week (except today! yehey for that ^^)
my mind's spinning from all the japanese. i'm still struggling with how to respond to customers' queries in correct, polite japanese. i'm learning though~!
this week was overwhelming, from gathering data to answering queries, reading emails, making files, running reports. time just flew by.
yokota-san and ohgane-san have been such a great help, assisting with the emails and teaching me the different processes and operations.
im just happy this week's over. we made it through the first week of operations! =)
i have to go work on monday though...after i vote, that is. To everyone who's registered, vote!
my family's coming back tomorrow from korea. bring on the kimchi!
last saturday, met up with mic, jerome, malt, raech, char, sherry, derrick, and cha at moa. had dinner at this restaurant (i forgot the name >.<) that serves new york fish and chips and wasabi pizza. we talked a lot over iced tea refills and repeats of finding nemo and how to lose a guy in 10 days. they make such lovely and interesting conversation partners.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 03, 2007
<(_ _)>
gosh, it's now may.
i've been working for two months now.
saturday, watched firehouse dog. it's such a cute movie.maybe we can have pictorials for our dogs too. that'd be cute ^^
may 1 was zel's birthday. we played taboo for kids - it was fun and had dinner at saisaki. that same morning, had a buffet breakfast at marco polo club (my uncle's treat as it was his birthday too). it was an enjoyable way to start the day. then i had to go to the office coz it wasn't a holiday in japan. I had a telecon, stayed for a few hours, and was picked up by my dad. We had snacks at red ribbon and bought chocolate mousse for zel =)
my japan contact person is coming next monday. hopefully he's as nice in person as he is on the phone =)
yesterday, <(_ _)> appeared in one of my chat conversations. I was talking to my Japanese contact person then. Three of my officemates saw the emoticon and they had three different interpretations. One said it looked like a butt crack, the other said it was eyes closed shut, another said it looked like a nose ^^ It was actually an icon of someone bowing down in apology. Of course, i could have thought that because i had read the message in Japanese and therefore understood the context. I just found it interesting how people can have different perceptions on the same thing, and how something that's so familiar to the Japanese and me and other Japanese emoticon users could be alien to other people ^^ Omoshiroi!
This week, I'm tying up loose ends, trying to remember what needs to be remembered for my process and hoping that i don't forget anything.
Tomorrow, my family and grandparents are headed off to korea. so, home alone for 9 days~ i hope i don't cause too much trouble 0(^0^)o
i've been working for two months now.
saturday, watched firehouse dog. it's such a cute movie.maybe we can have pictorials for our dogs too. that'd be cute ^^
may 1 was zel's birthday. we played taboo for kids - it was fun and had dinner at saisaki. that same morning, had a buffet breakfast at marco polo club (my uncle's treat as it was his birthday too). it was an enjoyable way to start the day. then i had to go to the office coz it wasn't a holiday in japan. I had a telecon, stayed for a few hours, and was picked up by my dad. We had snacks at red ribbon and bought chocolate mousse for zel =)
my japan contact person is coming next monday. hopefully he's as nice in person as he is on the phone =)
yesterday, <(_ _)> appeared in one of my chat conversations. I was talking to my Japanese contact person then. Three of my officemates saw the emoticon and they had three different interpretations. One said it looked like a butt crack, the other said it was eyes closed shut, another said it looked like a nose ^^ It was actually an icon of someone bowing down in apology. Of course, i could have thought that because i had read the message in Japanese and therefore understood the context. I just found it interesting how people can have different perceptions on the same thing, and how something that's so familiar to the Japanese and me and other Japanese emoticon users could be alien to other people ^^ Omoshiroi!
This week, I'm tying up loose ends, trying to remember what needs to be remembered for my process and hoping that i don't forget anything.
Tomorrow, my family and grandparents are headed off to korea. so, home alone for 9 days~ i hope i don't cause too much trouble 0(^0^)o
Friday, April 27, 2007
little things
Apprécions les petites choses dans la vie quotidienne.
Appreciate the small things in life.
These past few days, I've been looking for something to look forward to.
Could be that I'm tired from work.
Could be that I'm tired of my daily routine.
Could be that I'm sad I can't go abroad.
Could be just my mindset.
So, I decided to list down 5 things that make me un-sad, if not happy
1. Micah's despedida later. I'll get to see the ASEC peeps =)
2. Ai's birthday on May 1. I like shopping for gifts.
3. The new KBS dramas Hello! Miss and Lucifer (which is a bit creepy)
4. American Idol raised $30million for charity. I hope it'll help Africa.
5. The Mixi survey B and Nancy posted with the title: "I'm pregnant." I was shocked when I read the title, but it turned out to be a harmless, interesting personality questionnaire =)
*~*~*~*
From Nancy's blog:
想要從別人身上得到幸福...
如果自己能夠感受到幸福
一定是因爲自己為自己做了些什麽吧。
Sometimes our happiness depends on another person.
If I were to feel happy, it would definitely be because I did something for myself.
I realized, We make our own happy endings. We make our own happiness.
Appreciate the small things in life.
These past few days, I've been looking for something to look forward to.
Could be that I'm tired from work.
Could be that I'm tired of my daily routine.
Could be that I'm sad I can't go abroad.
Could be just my mindset.
So, I decided to list down 5 things that make me un-sad, if not happy
1. Micah's despedida later. I'll get to see the ASEC peeps =)
2. Ai's birthday on May 1. I like shopping for gifts.
3. The new KBS dramas Hello! Miss and Lucifer (which is a bit creepy)
4. American Idol raised $30million for charity. I hope it'll help Africa.
5. The Mixi survey B and Nancy posted with the title: "I'm pregnant." I was shocked when I read the title, but it turned out to be a harmless, interesting personality questionnaire =)
*~*~*~*
From Nancy's blog:
想要從別人身上得到幸福...
如果自己能夠感受到幸福
一定是因爲自己為自己做了些什麽吧。
Sometimes our happiness depends on another person.
If I were to feel happy, it would definitely be because I did something for myself.
I realized, We make our own happy endings. We make our own happiness.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
global workplace
I'll start with ni's birthday. The day went by ordinarily enough at work. In the evening, we had dinner at Shanghai Bistro. Mom wanted to try the resto out after reading about it in the newspaper. Afterwards, we bought a few shirts at plains&prints. zel got a choco drink at xocolat which was really bitter - extreme dark chocolate!
thursday was memorable. i had a meeting that whole day. i got at the office at 730, then got a bit frazzled when i found out that my pc still hadn't been transferred, but that was fixed quick enough =) when the meeting started at 830, i was the only filipino in the room. i had thought that the meeting would be for the manila team and the japan in-country team, but no, it turned out to be quite an international meeting. there were 14 of us: 2 britons, an american, an australian, 2 indians, a korean, 4 japanese, a hk person, and 2 of us from the manila center. it was really interesting to see how globalization works in the business world - how decisions are made, where data is to be sent - it was a really long discussion because all four corners of the world were involved! But it was cool to listen to all those different english accents and to just experience the dynamic atmosphere.
friday was dedicated to trainings. i'm getting used to talking in japanese (again). talking over the phone isn't as hard as it was at first ^^ i still do stop in the middle of a sentence though, seems that my japanese just can't catch up with my thoughts sometimes.
last night, watched The Last Mimzy with my mom and sisters. when zel and i had our bags checked before entering the cinema, the guard said to me, "kamsahamnida!" I smiled and said thank you, which prompted him to ask if i was korean ^^ i enjoyed the movie =) the two child actors were really cute! They managed to make the simple storyline work ^^
Currently listening to Yui's and Avril's new albums =)
thursday was memorable. i had a meeting that whole day. i got at the office at 730, then got a bit frazzled when i found out that my pc still hadn't been transferred, but that was fixed quick enough =) when the meeting started at 830, i was the only filipino in the room. i had thought that the meeting would be for the manila team and the japan in-country team, but no, it turned out to be quite an international meeting. there were 14 of us: 2 britons, an american, an australian, 2 indians, a korean, 4 japanese, a hk person, and 2 of us from the manila center. it was really interesting to see how globalization works in the business world - how decisions are made, where data is to be sent - it was a really long discussion because all four corners of the world were involved! But it was cool to listen to all those different english accents and to just experience the dynamic atmosphere.
friday was dedicated to trainings. i'm getting used to talking in japanese (again). talking over the phone isn't as hard as it was at first ^^ i still do stop in the middle of a sentence though, seems that my japanese just can't catch up with my thoughts sometimes.
last night, watched The Last Mimzy with my mom and sisters. when zel and i had our bags checked before entering the cinema, the guard said to me, "kamsahamnida!" I smiled and said thank you, which prompted him to ask if i was korean ^^ i enjoyed the movie =) the two child actors were really cute! They managed to make the simple storyline work ^^
Currently listening to Yui's and Avril's new albums =)
Monday, April 16, 2007
of missing teeth, chili sauce, and caffeine-induced sleep deprivation
saturday. went to jing's atelier to have our measurements taken for the dresses jing will be making for ama's birthday. i wonder how they'll turn out. afterwards, had lunch at max's before dropping ni off at csb. mom, zel, and i then headed off to cerealicious where zel tried their nutting hill. while eating it, zel kept touching her tooth coz it was all wobbly. suddenly, she was able to pull it out but she couldn't find the tooth. we searched the tissues, the floor but the toothe was nowhere to be found. so, zel continued eating the cereal dessert and let my mom take a few spoonfuls. as my mom was eating, zel suddenly exclaimed "i think my tooth fell into the cereal bowl!" my mom almost choked @@ zel used her spoon to go bowl-digging and luckily, the tooth wasn't there. She did find a small marshmallow which was really hard, and she thought for awhile that it was her missing tooth =)
after french class, where we introduced a french administrative region (i did pays de loire which has beautiful castles), i went to rockwell with zel and mom. ni was still shooting her mcdo commercial for class. we just walked around, bought ni's gift and waited till my dad came before having dinner. we ate at mati, a greek restaurant with a slightly somber ambiance. the food was okay but a bit pricey.
sunday. after a pancit canton breakfast, went to the block with dad. mom, and zel. ni had to stay home and do hw =( we bought ni another gift ^^ and i was able to get the shoes i wanted. it was the last pair and they had it in my size. yey! we had snacks at mexicali, where my dad had a semi-hard time eating the burrito. Hehe. Also, he mistook the chili sauce for salsa and put a whole lot in his burrito. For the next 10 minutes, he was really silent. His eyes got all watery and he finished his calamansi juice in huge gulps, even eating the ice cubes. My mom was just laughing the whole time. Hehe.
We went to Wilcon's Building Depot afterwards to get shower heads and faucets for the house. Our house is undergoing renovation/maintenance work so everything's scatterd around and it's really dusty. We spent around 3 hours there, just looking at the different brands and types. We also got this cute japanese-style light fixture for the kitchen ^^
at home, zel and i took turns playing mario. she's in world 8. i'm in world 3 - -: my parents went to banawe for dinner and got ni and i banana java chip and iced caramel macchiato starbucks drinks respectively. i had been craving for that drink since friday, which is probably why my mom got us grande-sized drinks. Finishing the drink was quite a task. Although i was happy to have that craving fulfilled, the downside was sleep deprivation. I couldn't sleep. I watched the Project Runway rerun until 1 and i still couldn't sleep. I think i tossed and turned and when i felt like i had just fallen asleep, my phone alarm rang, signaling the start of another work week.
...and thus ended my weekend~ ^^
after french class, where we introduced a french administrative region (i did pays de loire which has beautiful castles), i went to rockwell with zel and mom. ni was still shooting her mcdo commercial for class. we just walked around, bought ni's gift and waited till my dad came before having dinner. we ate at mati, a greek restaurant with a slightly somber ambiance. the food was okay but a bit pricey.
sunday. after a pancit canton breakfast, went to the block with dad. mom, and zel. ni had to stay home and do hw =( we bought ni another gift ^^ and i was able to get the shoes i wanted. it was the last pair and they had it in my size. yey! we had snacks at mexicali, where my dad had a semi-hard time eating the burrito. Hehe. Also, he mistook the chili sauce for salsa and put a whole lot in his burrito. For the next 10 minutes, he was really silent. His eyes got all watery and he finished his calamansi juice in huge gulps, even eating the ice cubes. My mom was just laughing the whole time. Hehe.
We went to Wilcon's Building Depot afterwards to get shower heads and faucets for the house. Our house is undergoing renovation/maintenance work so everything's scatterd around and it's really dusty. We spent around 3 hours there, just looking at the different brands and types. We also got this cute japanese-style light fixture for the kitchen ^^
at home, zel and i took turns playing mario. she's in world 8. i'm in world 3 - -: my parents went to banawe for dinner and got ni and i banana java chip and iced caramel macchiato starbucks drinks respectively. i had been craving for that drink since friday, which is probably why my mom got us grande-sized drinks. Finishing the drink was quite a task. Although i was happy to have that craving fulfilled, the downside was sleep deprivation. I couldn't sleep. I watched the Project Runway rerun until 1 and i still couldn't sleep. I think i tossed and turned and when i felt like i had just fallen asleep, my phone alarm rang, signaling the start of another work week.
...and thus ended my weekend~ ^^
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
mata shigoto
yes, it's back to work. these days, i've been feeling a bit worn around the edges. Probably because i've been doing translations. Although i think the actual cause is i've been sleeping so much my head hurt XD
holy week passed by without much funfare. we stayed home and played mario and sims2 on the ds. i read (and still am reading) teruteru ashita, which is about a girl who has to live with a distant family relative because her parents are wallowing in depth, and in that small sleepy town she meets all sorts of bizarre, wacky people. it's pretty cool. i can read through it without searchng through a dictionary that much =)
saturday, eizel got sick =( sunday, she felt better so we (me, ni, and ai) went to the block to shop for my dad's birthday gift. it was fun =) we had snacks at sugarnot and it was a good chance to bond. sunday evening was angkong robert's post-birthday dinner get-together at gloria maris roxas blvd. conversation revolved around taiwan and chiang kai shek, proposed trips to korea or japan, etc. i love listening to the conversations during such occasions. they're funny, informative, and great ear fodder. lyxen and i were also able to bond. she shared her fourth grade experiences and asked me to teach her basic french. she and lynford are off to canada for a month.
monday night was mic's surprise birthday party at gerry's grill promenade, organized by elaine =) got to catch up with malt and raechelle (who has an unbelievable amount of energy^^), and got to see some of the celadon alumni. afterwards, found my mom and dad at xocolat. loved the mint chocolate drink my mom was drinking. yum =)
yesterday was dad's birthday. Had dinner at the restaurant that was formerly known as north harbour. Then, we had halo-halo at razon's. it was my first razon halo-halo and i liked it - just milk, saba, and leche flan; no multi-colored beans and other what-nots.
so it's back to work. i have lots of chances to talk in japanese. Rather, i need to speak japanese during telecon meetings and telephone training sessions. It was kinda hard at first. I had to clarify a lot of things, and my ears are still adjusting to the japanese (it's been a while). But, hopefully, i'll get the hang of it soon enough. It's quite challenging, actually. So, it'll be mostly work for the next few weeks or so. 頑張らなくちゃ！
holy week passed by without much funfare. we stayed home and played mario and sims2 on the ds. i read (and still am reading) teruteru ashita, which is about a girl who has to live with a distant family relative because her parents are wallowing in depth, and in that small sleepy town she meets all sorts of bizarre, wacky people. it's pretty cool. i can read through it without searchng through a dictionary that much =)
saturday, eizel got sick =( sunday, she felt better so we (me, ni, and ai) went to the block to shop for my dad's birthday gift. it was fun =) we had snacks at sugarnot and it was a good chance to bond. sunday evening was angkong robert's post-birthday dinner get-together at gloria maris roxas blvd. conversation revolved around taiwan and chiang kai shek, proposed trips to korea or japan, etc. i love listening to the conversations during such occasions. they're funny, informative, and great ear fodder. lyxen and i were also able to bond. she shared her fourth grade experiences and asked me to teach her basic french. she and lynford are off to canada for a month.
monday night was mic's surprise birthday party at gerry's grill promenade, organized by elaine =) got to catch up with malt and raechelle (who has an unbelievable amount of energy^^), and got to see some of the celadon alumni. afterwards, found my mom and dad at xocolat. loved the mint chocolate drink my mom was drinking. yum =)
yesterday was dad's birthday. Had dinner at the restaurant that was formerly known as north harbour. Then, we had halo-halo at razon's. it was my first razon halo-halo and i liked it - just milk, saba, and leche flan; no multi-colored beans and other what-nots.
so it's back to work. i have lots of chances to talk in japanese. Rather, i need to speak japanese during telecon meetings and telephone training sessions. It was kinda hard at first. I had to clarify a lot of things, and my ears are still adjusting to the japanese (it's been a while). But, hopefully, i'll get the hang of it soon enough. It's quite challenging, actually. So, it'll be mostly work for the next few weeks or so. 頑張らなくちゃ！
Thursday, April 05, 2007
5-day weekend
Today's the start of the 5-day weekend. We don't have any special plans, just lounging around the house. Might be going to canyon woods on sunday, but other than that, we'll just be staying in manila.
So far, i've learned how to play Sims on my DS. Ni and Ai had to teach me how to cure the dogs and how to cook food. I'm so slow with video games and the like =( Hehe.
I also need to get some work done. Translations take a while to do and I'm thinking I might have a hard time with the documents I need to translate.
Starting next week, I'm going to be busier, with trainings and phone calls. And yeah, the great Lenovo move happened yesterday. We're all seated at our new workstations now =)
Had dinner with Albert, Ash, and Joyce yesterday at Recipes Eastwood. It was really nice of them to treat me to dinner. It was our first time at Recipes and we pleasantly surprised by the good food ^^ The three of them are leaving for the states this saturday. Awww~ I'll miss them and our wednesday lunch dates. But they'll be back in June. Good luck guys! =)
So far, i've learned how to play Sims on my DS. Ni and Ai had to teach me how to cure the dogs and how to cook food. I'm so slow with video games and the like =( Hehe.
I also need to get some work done. Translations take a while to do and I'm thinking I might have a hard time with the documents I need to translate.
Starting next week, I'm going to be busier, with trainings and phone calls. And yeah, the great Lenovo move happened yesterday. We're all seated at our new workstations now =)
Had dinner with Albert, Ash, and Joyce yesterday at Recipes Eastwood. It was really nice of them to treat me to dinner. It was our first time at Recipes and we pleasantly surprised by the good food ^^ The three of them are leaving for the states this saturday. Awww~ I'll miss them and our wednesday lunch dates. But they'll be back in June. Good luck guys! =)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
weekend rundown
friday, march 30th was my graduation day. it was happy, sad, tiring, hot, painful (high heels andi will never be best friends) and i think a fitting culmination to 4 years of ateneo education. the ateneo high school grounds were a sight for the eyes, with swarms of blue toga-clad graduates and their proud parents, as well as smiling faculty members offering warm words of congratulations. Sir Guidote was there during the rehearsals, and Ma'am Cara even went up to the parents' section to congratulate me after I got my medal (Shucks)^^ The commencement talk was about failure, learning from it, rising from it, and also knowing about which things to prioritize and give importance to in life.
Senior year without my original batchmates was challenging in a way, but it allowed me to meet so many new people. I'm thankful for ASEC for the warmth and friendship they extended to me; for my theo groupmates and immersion friends, without whom immersion wouldn't have been as memorable and fun; for my thesis groupmates who were patient, level-headed, and just fun to be with; for the psych peeps who made the year so much easier to get through.
And so, with that simple graduation ceremony, university life has ended. It's all about work for now I guess and of course, language studies =)
Had dinner with the family at CPK because i was craving for pizza, shanghai garlic noodles, and bottomless iced tea ^^
~*~0~*~
Saturday, had breakfast with my mom at Cafe Mezzanine.
French class was fun. We had this role play activity and the five of us just talked and answered questions about "neoruraux" and the pros and cons of living in the city and the countryside/province respectively. I think my problem with conversing in french is that i get worried about not using the correct verb conjugations that i end up sabotaging my chances at conversing well. Must work on that~
~*~0~*~
When you put yourself out, open up and share a bit of yourself, do you set yourself up for disappointment?
I didn't even realize i was expecting something...it just kinda crept up behind me.
Man is a fickle-minded being - always hoping for something though never really welcoming that something when it is right in front of them.
In the end, it's all about self-preservation, ego-boosting, and validating your worth as a person.
~*~0~*~
music one's selling ayaka hirahara's album! ^^ I wonder if they'll sell albums of other japanese artists. I want Yui's new album~
Senior year without my original batchmates was challenging in a way, but it allowed me to meet so many new people. I'm thankful for ASEC for the warmth and friendship they extended to me; for my theo groupmates and immersion friends, without whom immersion wouldn't have been as memorable and fun; for my thesis groupmates who were patient, level-headed, and just fun to be with; for the psych peeps who made the year so much easier to get through.
And so, with that simple graduation ceremony, university life has ended. It's all about work for now I guess and of course, language studies =)
Had dinner with the family at CPK because i was craving for pizza, shanghai garlic noodles, and bottomless iced tea ^^
~*~0~*~
Saturday, had breakfast with my mom at Cafe Mezzanine.
French class was fun. We had this role play activity and the five of us just talked and answered questions about "neoruraux" and the pros and cons of living in the city and the countryside/province respectively. I think my problem with conversing in french is that i get worried about not using the correct verb conjugations that i end up sabotaging my chances at conversing well. Must work on that~
~*~0~*~
When you put yourself out, open up and share a bit of yourself, do you set yourself up for disappointment?
I didn't even realize i was expecting something...it just kinda crept up behind me.
Man is a fickle-minded being - always hoping for something though never really welcoming that something when it is right in front of them.
In the end, it's all about self-preservation, ego-boosting, and validating your worth as a person.
~*~0~*~
music one's selling ayaka hirahara's album! ^^ I wonder if they'll sell albums of other japanese artists. I want Yui's new album~
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