christmas bonus - update

i did not receive a bonus!

syet!

wait, let me think on what i can do.

im checking the hk labor law now and IT IS COMPULSARY!

ay ayoko na ng ganitong compania... kayang magthrow ng lavish anniv party sa marriott, pero ayaw magbigay ng compulsary payment sa employees na nagdadala ng pera sa kanila.

tang ina di ba...

sukob

anak ng tinapang panis, nakakatakot ang SUKOB!

pinapanood ko sa youtube at talagang pigil ang hininga ko every scene!

galing ng pagkagawa!

christmas bonus

alam mo ba, two years na ko dinedeprive ng company ko ng 13th month pay?! fucker talaga! nadulas ung housemate/officemate ko na since broke ako, bawi na lang ako sa yearend, kase doble naman ang salary. i was like: we do have a bonus?! everybody gets it, that's what she said. apparently not everybody! pota talaga di ba?!

ang dami ko na lang iniisip kung bakit ako dineprive nung 2006. siguro dahil half a year pa lang ako. nun namang 2007, sobrang nalugi sila sa airfares ko. imagine, they paid 2 x hk$45k for my mexican trips. e ang normal fare, 7k lang. alam ko di naman ako ang dapat sisihin dun, pero sige pabayaan na naten.

pero itong 2008, wala na talagang ibang rason para di ako bigyan. well, baka bigyan ako ng lusot na kesyo wala un sa kontrata. e tang inang pusang gala, kung bibigyan ung mga officemates kong kalahating taon lang pumapasok, bakit ako hindi? in two days supposedly bibigay na ung 2 months salary, di ko alam kung makakatanggap ako. pero alam mo naman ako, masyadong paranoid. what if di pa rin ako bibigyan, ano na lang ang gagawin ko?

ito lang ang naiisip kong gawin: kakausapin ung direct manager ko. IDEALLY, my speech should go like this: i was wondering, why is everybody getting a bonus, while i am not? assuming she says it's not written in the contract. i'd say "i believe im entitled to what each employee here is entitled to. im not sure if they have a contract and it states there that they get such. i may not be the best employee that you have, but i believe im one of the most diligent ones. in my two and a half tenure here, i never applied for a sick leave. you occasionally make me work on sundays and public holidays without any compensation or any writing off an annual leave. i cover for another colleague for half a year. i've expended as much effort for the growth of this company. i dont see any reason why i should be deprived of a bonus like everyone else".

so ganun, ang kailangan ko na lang, good memory at isang toneladang lakas ng loob. ako pa naman, ako ang pinakamahina when it comes to confrontation. feeling tibak ako, pero ewan ko ba.. pag ako ang inaapi, nananatili akong api. parang masyado akong inooverpower ng self pity na umuurong ang dila ko. namemental block ako.

if not, i will really resign.

i know i found my niche here, when we speak of extra curricular activities. andito si b. andito ung mga taong naniniwalang marami akong kayang gawin. but the main reason why im here is the worst. dumating na ko sa point na narealize kong wala na kong natutunan. dumating na ko sa point na alam kong dead end na. wala ng higher position after this. im one of the senior execs pero hanggang dito na lang ako. unless mapatunayang anak ako sa labas ng big boss, di ako uusad. dumating na ko sa point na naiiyak na lang ako kase di ito ung sinabi ko sa sarili ko na gagawin ko. kaya ko naman magsimula ulit at unti unting maabot un.

si batman na ang bahala. malay mo itong christmas bonus na to ang maging simula ng aking "leap of faith". alam ko one of my best decisions pa din ang pagpunta dito, pero alam ko naman kung kelan dapat tumigil. e ano naman kung walang back up plan? siguro kailangan ko mag-isip kung ano ba talaga ang gusto ko.

so what did you do on christmas eve?

it would have to be the best christmas celebration i had in hk.

on the 24th we played badminton for two hours after office. then on our way back, b and i reminisced how we were just 'flirting' the previous year. we were happy to realize that a year later, we are celebrating christmas again together. this time with a real noche buena.

only problem is we got injured from badminton! yeah, call us sissies, but i got a twisted hip and he got an injured wrist. so much for being a sporty photographer couple. so just imagine us preparing the ingredients half disable.

we had chicken caldereta and fruit salad -- cooked by b. i helped out a little but you have to give him most of the credit. we only felt our injury after eating. we slept with our still sweaty bodies from the game because we really couldn't get up anymore.

our christmas may not be as glamorous as other christian households. but i like it that way.

spare me this cheesiness

i know the future is uncertain, and i am not sure if we are ending up together... but im truly happy with the person im with right now. a few more weeks and we'll be on our first anniversary. woohoo!

someone's been nice...

i got a nikon d90! woohooo! christmas came in early! with an advance, too! this is my xmas, new years, valentines, holyweek, labor day, bday, all saint's day, boni day gift to myself.

now im broke. give me time to explore my new baby first.

upaa-hk xmas party

last saturday i hosted the upaa-hk christmas party. it was the lousiest i ever did. it's so obvious that i did not feel at ease with the audience and i was not really close to my co-host. he's a real funny guy but we became too serious during the programme that i knew i could have done better. it's different when you're facing a UP crowd. you know they'd love you no matter what, but you also know that they judge you based on your grammar skills, pronunciation or posture. you tend to be vigilant, that sometimes you forget to act natural. but it was a fun night nonetheless. ang kulit ng taboo game. it would have been nice if it we had more time. but it's good to see super dignified people getting panicky on some games. haha!

highlight of the night: meeting dean raul pangalangan. when i was handed the programme two days before the event, i did not give it much attention. yes, he did have an "atty." attached to his name, but so do a lot of people i know. then come dinner time, at mag-isa akong umupo sa dining table. bigla syang umupo dun sa chair beside mine. sya pa nagpakilala ha. fun thing about being an EL major is that people get mesmerized by your undergrad course. it never fails. all of a sudden you're the center of everybody's attention. people wouldn't care if you know the law of every nation, or if you know all economic theories. but if you say you speak spanish, ayan na..either ide-dare kang magspanish or magpapayabangan na sila ng alam nilang spanish nung high school sila... kahit anong mangyari, you broke the ice.. BAEL rocks! somebody addressed him as dean, pero di pa rin nag-sink in saken. then ayun na.. programme proper.. nung binabasa na ang credentials nya.. ayy grabe ang achievements! ang haba! dean pala sya ng UP law! nagturo pala sya sa harvard! imagine, di lang nag-aral.. nagturo pa! now he's a visiting prof in hku. columnist din sya sa pdi. dun ko na narealize na ang ka-casual chikahan ko kanina ay posibleng maging supreme court justice. bad trip, sobrang nerbyos ko, namali ang tawag ko sa kanya! bad trip talaga! sabi ko "pangalanganan"! waaaaahhhh! syet! anyway, tapos na un.. siguro pag naging sikat na ko, at supreme court justice na sya, maaalala nya ako.. bilang ung batang nag-eespanyol at tinawag ang pangalan nya ng mali, sa harap ng 40++ pinoy expats. haaaayyyy....

tapos farewell party na rin for congen vicente. sa dami ng events na inattendan at pinaghostan ko na andun sya, beso beso terms na kame ngayon. haha!!! ang saya di ba, ilang 25yr old's ang rubbing elbows (and cheeks) with dignified people overseas?

here are some photos:

secret

sometimes i wish i would die under tragic circumstances while im still young so people will remember me for everything i could have been, instead of growing older and failing to live up to the expectations set for me.

- postsecret sender

crazy about silhouettes

my very own silhouette after a tiring hike at the sunset peak. grabe ang buhok ko dito: mahangin sa labas!




at ito naman ang ppc-hk angels! one of the best shots evahh!!!


lahat galing kay kuya gerard. :)

guess the pic

taken photo by kuya gerard during our boat trip.

he called it PISCES

holiday greetings from the ppc-hk officers

i was re-elected as the secretary of ppc-hk for this term. here's a photo with the rest of the officers, robbed from kuya gerard's flickr photostream:

mantra

Sabi ni Mark Twain:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones that you did. Sail away. Explore. Dream. Discover.

i could not agree more. ang dami kong mga ginawang mali, pero ngayon tinatawanan ko na lang.

pero yang mga punyetang what if's na yan.. haay naku... they haunt you all the time.

sarah geronimo... once again

ewan ko ano pang definition mo ng "fan" ha... pero ako fan talaga ako ni sarah geronimo. alam ko baduy sya manamit. alam ko oa ang pagiging nice nya, pero siguro un ang dahilan kaya malakas pa rin ang hatak nya sa tao all these years. you just cant help but love her! she's gotten prettier since i last saw her in feb. gusto ko tuloy magpahaba ng buhok at magpakulot tulad nya! haha!

she came over with mark bautista and john lapus.



one downside of the event: ung mga bad trip na pinays sa likod. tama bang binabato kame na mani dahil di daw nila makita? they were squatting on the floor and of course we, as photographers, should stand up and do our thing. grabe talaga sila! nakakakulo ng dugo! gusto kong sabihin na: mga ale, respetuhin nyo na lang po ang division ng class naten.. pwede rin naman kayong tumayo.. garrrr... i can be a real jologs when the situation calls for it. pero dahil lumabas na si sarah, kinalimutan ko na sila. at the end of the day, mas malapit pa din ako. mamatay sila sa inggit. and yes, i did the raising of the hand so she can tap it. ha! :)

sunset peak hike - my photos

as promised, here are my photos of the sunset peak. such a difficult hike! but when you look at the picture, as the cliche goes, it's all worth it.

concert at the park

one thing that i am proud of being a pinoy is that we know how to party! my chinese colleagues are the worst! they find it astounding that we can smile, dance, sing and be happy even if we're poor. im tired of telling them that poverty is not an excuse to become depressed. it's all in the state of mind. you can have all the riches in the world but if you only think of acquiring some more and not give yourself a break, you're headed to suicidedom.

a couple of weeks back, the phil consulate general asked ppc-hk to cover the annual "concert in the park". it was a full house! of course most of the guests are pinoys, but you can see some foreigners in the crowd having a good time! im not really good at covering events, so here you go:

hk wetland park

i dont want to do a smear campaign against hk wetland park but with all the trouble that we've gone through to get there, IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!!! just imagine all the train changes only to be seeing normal birds that you can see in farms. arrrggg!! a complete waste of money. or i just need a very good telephoto lens. my 200mm camera is futile!

ay wait, i've got a story. b and i were seated on a bench and we noticed that one guy forgot his videocam beside us. b and i were exchanging glances that we'll just put it in our bag and go away. the place is bleh anyway. we were so busy eye-debating and it got too long that the owner came back. arrrggg.

anyway we were there for one whole day and i was clicking my camera most of the time but these are the photos that i managed to get. no photoshop. i've no time!

what's a park without butterflies?




it's so far you can see china from there. those white buildings that contribute to the high pollution rate are from futian, shenzhen


one of us


birdies






one of the viewing decks


water lilies

oh my effing god, another exhibit!!!

syet!

can i just say it again? syet!

my moscow train is making waves in hk AND pinas! we had an article in phil star before because of our connections. now another photographers' group in pinas is doing an exhibit in trinoma middle of this month. and they chose my infamous (infamous daw, oh!) moscow train image! woohoo!

you know what's best about this exhibit? there are about 370 entries and they only choose 30 images to be exhibited. that's less than 10%! it's like passing the upcat! very slim chances, especially if you're going against the best people. they chose my photo not because i am merely a member, but because they think my photo is nice. even if i still do not understand why!

woohoo!

to my friends in pinas, please go to trinoma on dec 15-19 and check the exhibit. im sure you'll be proud on the pool of talents! and you get to see my image, too! tapos sendan nyo ko ng pic nyo standing next to my photo as a proof! haha! pero seryoso, i'd appreciate your support.

if you want to see the other entries, check out this link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/flckristasindios/discuss/72157609489394116/

ppc-hk shirt

i haven't shown you our cool photo club shirt, have i? we've had it since september.

im sure this is one of the coolest designs you'll ever see... especially if:

1) you're a photographer
2) you're pinoy
3) you're a pinoy photographer

here it is, as modeled by b unknowingly.

blsm the hiker

my last hike was almost a year ago. now i realize that my knees are already brittle that i get tired easily. haaay... effects of old age. anyway, here's one photo of me taken by my fellow photographer romeo. we're only halfway the trail here. you should have seen us when we finished the hike at almost 10pm. we totally abused our legs and back that we still get muscle pains three days after the hike.



and another one, waaaahhhh!! a definite fave!



ill post my photos in a bit.

ppc-hk group photo

i super love this pic. it's not so often that the photographers have nice photos of themselves. photo taken from our tai o shoot from tito vic's cam. he captioned it "who farted?", each one of us showing a unique constipated look.

click to enlarge and see the pinoy photographers in hk.

banig

natatandaan mo ba si banig? ung pinay singing sensation nung late 80's. napanood ko sa youtube kagabi ung performances nya nung 11 y/o pa lang sya. grabe ang galing nya! sana pag nagkababy ako ganun din ka-bibo.

re-cast

i've got more lines now. i got this email last night:

POMPEY - tapster, bawd and clown; AND
The Boy - who accompanies Mariana. This is a singing part. (170 lines total)

a boy? a singing boy? i need more luck!

158 lines

the best thing about relocating in a foreign land is the opportunity to start anew. you just have to be brave and go beyond your abilities. you have plenty of time to create a good impression. people judge the brand new you. you don't have to worry about your past which you think you could never escape. distance is so powerful that it heals all wounds, opens a world of possibilities, and gives you a lot of opportunities to self-discovery. you realize that it's an exciting world out there and you can be much larger than life if you only have the drive.

in more than two years, i have been a totally different person. i am a modern day hero as what the crappy govt ads say, an unselfish breadwinner, a gf to a bf, a hiker, a snorkeler, an NGO trainer, a program host, a photographer, and now... A THEATRE ACTRESS!!! woohoo! i got some parts in the play. not really one of the major roles but i still think they are essential to the story.

the audition wasn't as dramatic as what you see in reality shows. it's not as traumatic but it gives you the feeling that you have to get serious because it IS serious.

and dig this: i get to play four roles! that's two plus two! three plus one! waaahhhh!!!

here's a part of the email that i got from the director/producer:

So, without much further ado, please allow me to welcome you to the ensemble of one of Shakespeare’s enigmatic comedies or “problem plays” as they are known now, by offering you the role(s) of :

POMPEY, the Clown, Tapster and Parcel-Bawd, with a total of 158 lines.


amongst all four, pompey is the one with the most number of lines.

but wait, did you see the number of lines? 158! that's a lot of lines! way much more than the table of elements! or a deck of cards times three! waaahhh!!! good luck to me.

this will be fun!

ppc-hk in action

semi-stolen shot of mine, as taken by mike a.

osyasya, i've two days of hiking. later we'll go to sunset peak. then tomorrow i'll see petra again.. nakuuu... i hope her proposed hike trail isn't as difficult as the previous ones.

two years na kame!

dalawang taon na kami ng blog ko. dalawang taon na naming binabagtas ang paghanga at pagkamuhi ng ibang tao. ilang beses ko din sya pinaglaban. paki ba nila? e blog ko naman to. kung gusto nila i-air ang side nila e di gumawa din sila ng blog, diba?

aaahhh basta.. pagsulat ang isa sa mga therapies ko.. pakiramdam ko writer ako two lifetimes ago.. prinsesa ung last haha..

pero seryoso, i like composing emails to clients and suppliers - tapos dadagdagan ko ng motivating or sales factor sa huli. i also enjoy doing the minutes for ppc-hk. ang boring ng mga pinagmimitingan minsan pero nalalagyan ko ng creative and naughty comments once in a while. oh well, kailangan nila magtiis... ako lang ang may tyagang gumawa nun para sa kanila. haha!

nga pala, nameet ko si arnel pineda kagabi.. ayoko sana ipost kase ang taba taba ko dito. pero dahil pinagyabang ko na, ilalagay ko na din... promise nagwowork out ako pag gabi. pero buset naman kase pag sabado at linggo. lamon kung lamon kame ni b. tig - 2 takal kame ng bigas -- every meal!!! syet!



(salamat kay kuya tony para sa picture, at kay kuya jong para sa invite)

alam mo isa sa mga plano ko sa buhay? iprint tong blog ko.. saka ko na ififigure out kung pano mapiprint ung videos.. pero once in a while, nangarap din akong gumawa ng autobiography -- kahanay ng mga world figures kumbaga.. pero syempre ung akin mas personal.. medyo sablay nga lang sa english minsan. haha!!

and lastly, papunta nakong audition in a bit para sa shakespearean play. sana makakuha kahit pokpok role lang. o kaya tindera. ung mga walang speaking lines. ung tipong nadadaan lang at nakikiusyoso.. haha! o sige na, wish me luck.

let's do this for fun!

yaiks!! i look so bad now! need to shape up. tapos neg neg na ako kakasnorkel! sorry this is one of my most unflattering shots eva!!!!

due to public demand about my post on "tory", pagkakatuwaan ko na din ang sarili ko.

here's the pic with my troy (chinese version) plus the girl who stole zac efron from me by supposedly copying my looks. haha! yaiks!



naku vanessa, nakalamang ka lang ng isang linggong workout at nose lift. babawiin ko din si zac sa yo! hmmmpppp!

comment! comment!

pap smear

i had a pap smear check up two days ago. i was thinking of relaying how it was done but that would be awkward. but to satisfy your curiosity, yes they really insert something IN there! twice! yaiks..

wish me luck! i hope nothing's wrong with my vajayjay.

update after a month!

syeeettt!!! all this anticipation is k-i-l-l-i-n-g me!

ocean park - entrada gratuita

the best things in life are free! i could not agree more! b was able to redeem the points his boss acquired from her groceries and we got twin tickets to ocean park for free! it's b's first time and it's my third but im still mesmerized by the magic of it all. we came on a sunday and surprisingly there were not much people around. well it must be the chinese version of all saint's day that's why majority of the locals stayed home. just about the right time for us! we were able to go to all rides.

for those who have been to ocean park hk, you'll relate how bloody scary THE ABYSS was! syet! all your arrogant, strong, rude, adventurous, strong nerve will just chicken out in this ride. i could feel my toenails shaking from all the excitement and fear. we also coincidentally went there on a Halloween, so there were creepy creatures roaming around the park. You have to give them credit for dressing up and doing their make-up – and doing it everyday!

Ocean park is not just an amusement park. It may be a place for adventurous souls but it is really a haven for geeks like me! With all the marine life awareness, it’s one of my visions of paradise.

Oh, don’t forget the cable car! Me like cable cars! Yeeyyyy!

Pictures! Pictures!

moscow pics

i went to moscow more than a month ago. i just didn't have that enthusiasm to post pictures these days.

i got four lenses now, a new camera bag, an insanely powerful hard drive to store images, but i feel somehow unable to produce good images.

it's like the more techniques you know, the more you'd realize that you're talentless to begin with. the more you'd realize that you still have a lot to learn and then youll doubt if you really have "it" when you get serious about it. now you're aware that your photos are overexposed, or not in the proper framing, etc..

before, i was only taking photos just because i like documenting stuff. but now i really want it to be a serious hobby. i've invested so much money on this already, so i better take it seriously.

it's never too late. but i need to act soon.

due to some limited factors, im afraid i wasn't able to produce an image as nice as my train photo last year. we were using the metro every day but i never got the chance to get one decent train shot.

so here are the images that had been edited by lightroom, photomatix and photoshop cs3:






whilst these are the unedited images. as raw as they could get.