last working day of the year

"Dream over me with a tear, anything it takes to wish me here." - Nikki Hassman, Any Lucky Penny

Hooray! Today is the last working day of the year. I'm off to a two week vacation. Pretty long, huh? It's just 2 days before christmas and I still don't feel the holiday spirit. I may never will. But it's okay, I celebrate christmas everyday, anyway. =)

I feel a little awful because I can't get F the perfume that she wants. It's too expensive and I'm not that loaded. I might just get her something less expensive. Indeed, money makes life a lot easier and lack of it harder.

Still not over Wicker Park. What a good story! =)

"I take one step away, then I find myself coming back to you, my one and only you." - Parokya ni Edgar, One and Only You

MYMP

Last night, I saw MYMP and Freestyle perform live. It was our company's christmas party. They gave away a million pesos worth of raffle prizes and I didn't even get anything. I guess it just was'nt my lucky night. I did, however, get to dance with some of my batchmates to the songs of Freestyle. I also sang some of the songs performed by MYMP. I coudn't rave about the food though. We had a vegetable salad with olive oil dressing. We also had roasted chicken with brown rice. Their brown rice sucks. The dessert was no better than it should have been. As I've said, the food was nothing to get excited about. (And to think that that's the reason why I went in the first place!)

Well, as for me and F, we're okay again. Okay meaning we make each other happy more than we make each other sad. I believe that its okay for lovers to have quarrels as long as it is not very often. I went to see her yesterday morning. She was wearing a pink shirt and slippers. She colored her nails pink, too. It think it was cute. So kikay. lol!=)

storm

My life is extra crappy nowadays (especially right this very moment). Allow me to enumerate the things that made this possible.

1. F is extra moody. She used to make me happy more often than she makes me sad. Lately, it's the other way around.
2. Work is hard. This is normal.
3. I was not able to save my salary. I'm not sure where it went.
4. I am running out of friends and I don't have the enthusiasm to make new ones. Item 1 makes this worse.

But I look at the bright side. There's always a rainbow after the rain.

Filler #297

I recently discovered a cheap place to buy food. I've been buying from that place ever since. I don't know why I'm writing this down. Probably because I don't have anything interesting to write.

Let me think...

I'm still doing some testing on an application that is undergoing some enhancements. I have been testing for three weeks. I'll be done later. It has a lot of bugs! What can I say? Well, at least after this is done I can have my long weekend without any distractions. It's another long weekend. The third time this month. Wish I had planned to go somewhere. I really wish I did.

I am also part of the christmas party committee. I like to be involved in this kind of stuff. It's fun to meet people and it's fun to be responsible of something fun. lol!

I better get back to work if I want this to be done tonight.

Sayonarra!

One year

Today marks the first anniversary of my career life. On this day, exactly one year ago, was the first day of my work. Looking back, I can see that so much has changed, but it doesn't bother me at all.

Change was good.

Change is good -- sometimes.

untitled

It's Wednesday. Midweek. This should be a good day. I should be feeling great. Instead, I feel very low. I feel like crap. Probably because I woke up late this morning. Probably because the traffic was terrible this morning. Probably because I have so much work to do. Probably because F is mad at me for not liking the coin purse that she bought me. Probably because I was wrong to think that KFC's salad is good and ordered it for lunch only to find out that it sucks. Probably because it's cold in the office and my jacket is out for dry cleaning. Probably because I'm running low on cash sooner than I expected. Probably because I like my old location better than my new one. Probably because it is a rainy day and I hate rainy days. Especially if I have to leave the house. Yup, I think that's it. I hate rainy days. Dunno why. Probably something from my childhood. I think I'm going to be sick.

On a lighter note, I plan on updating my personal webpage, http://www.geocities.com/alphavictor. I also plan on getting contact lenses. I wonder where I could avail of Acuvue's free trial promo.

matar pulao on all saint's day

Yesterday was All Saint's Day. It is the time when everybody goes to the cemetery and visit their dead relatives. Frankly, I don't really care much about that tradition. I'd rather stay home and do nothing. I have nothing against going to the cemetery. It's the crowd that bothers me. They make me feel uncomfortable. I don't really know why. I just do. And cemetery crowds can be huge!

So yesterday, to avoid the stress that comes with the traditon, I talked to F. We talked and talked until we had nothing to talk about. After that, I resorted to eating. I ate and ate until I'm full. I like pancit malabon! My efforts to divert attention proved successful. The day went by with little turbulence.

Before the end of the day, we visited a relative who just came from Canada. She's my cousin but she's more like my aunt because of her age. She served us a Pakistani dish called Matar Pulao which simply means Rice with Peas. It was served with tuna and it was delicious! Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

Another thing that happened yesterday: a friend contacted me after a long time of being AWOL. I believe he had been very busy with his girlfriend. He invited me to drink on Saturday. I said okay but I'm really not sure if I could. Saturday is my younger brother's birthday.

I went to Enchanted Kingdom with some of my friends. Damn! The place was packed! I think we spent more time in queue than on the rides. Still, it was a nice visit. We all had a great time... I think. lol!

My family and I went to corregidor. It was a very enjoyable history lesson. If I had my way, I'd go in the ruins, explore, and try to imagine what it was like during WW2. But alas! I could only take pictures.

The World of Tomorrow

I've been busy lately. I am working on a few enhancements for an application that our team is supporting. It's okay. It beats doing nothing at all. Although it does have some paperwork work involved, it's still better that pure documentation.

Last night, F and I saw Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow. I didn't like it. In a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 3. I give it a three because I like Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Giovanni Ribisi (from Lost in Translation. I had the feeling I saw him before.)

Oh, there was an earthquake last Friday. It was the second earthquake in one month and it was bigger than the previous. It was scary. I immediately went down the stairs to evacuate the building. 24 floors down the stairs! What a rush! But I realized that it was wrong to try to evacuate during an earthquake. Now I'm thinking, should I run up the top floor or should I "Duck, Cover and Hold?"

tiger, jopay, and sky captain

I don't feel like blogging right now but it's been a while since I've posted here. I feel obliged.

Let me just post some of my favorite quotes.

"Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think."
"The best way to forget a woman is to get another."
"When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness; it is not excitement, it's not the desire to mate every second of the day, not lying awake at night imagining him kissing every part of your body. No.. don't blush. I'm telling you some truths. That is just being in love, which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love, itself, is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn't sound very exciting does it? ...but it is."
___________
This post is dedicated to three of my friends: two of which broke up with their boyfriends and one who is about to get married.

let's go to the beach

It's 8 o'clock and I'm still in the office. No, I'm not working. I'm just surfing the net. I love the internet! Anyway, I have just visited a travel forum and I've been reading the posts there. There are so many good places to go to. I like to travel. I like to explore nature and experience everuthing that this world has to offer. Right now, I'm thinking of going to Panglao, Bohol. Hmmm... When? That's one big question to answer.

I remember F telling me that she wants to go to Cebu this summer. I wonder if we will. I sure hope so.

I used to dislike going to beaches. Probably because I didn't have fun going there when I was a kid. But when I went to Boracay, damn! It's such a nice place. A little expensive though. Then there is Puerto Galera. This place made me love the beach. Of all the beaches in PG, I liked Lalaguna the most. I could still remember swimming in that beach. Floating around. Sonrkling. NIce! Now I read from the forum that Panglao's sand is finer than Puerto Galera's. This I got to see. I also read that the place is not crowded. That would be great! Peace and quiet. Then, there is also a P1,500 tour package around Bohol. They say it's worth it. I'm definitely going to Panglao.

All this dreaming is making me hungry.

music21

I have a cold. *sniff* I hate being sick.

Yesterday was F and I's 16th monthsary. We celebrated it with some of our friends over at Music21 in Jupiter, Makati. We sang to our hearts' content. We all had a great time.

Mark, Junni and I were signing most of the time. We love to sing. Who can blame us?
I finally met Junnifer's giflfriend, Winnie. She was a little quiet but i think that's only because she had just met us and she's still a little shy.
F and I sang duet. We sang our theme song, Moonlight Over Paris.
Christel was less reserved than when I last saw her. That's an understatement. She was rowdy -- in a funny kind of way. I could see that she loves to sing especially Japanese songs.
Nelson wasn't planning on joining us but Mark and I "persuaded" him to come. We held on to him until we were in there. lol!
I'm glad Mimi was there. I wasn't really expecting her to come. I guess she likes videoke. We made her sing Avril Lavigne songs.
Jeff was there. He sang, too but not as much as he made fun of the one who's singing. (And that's usually me. lol!)

I have a cold. *sniff* I hate being sick.

marketocracy

A few weeks back, I joined this stock trading game called Marketocracy (url:http://www.marketocracy.com) to test my stock trading skills. I bought $50,000.00 worth of World Airways Inc shares because I was expecting it to go up. A few days after I bought the shares, I was losing $12,000.00 already. I know better than to sell. I figured I'll just wait for it to go up. Well, it did! The stock value rose 35% in just one day. I was surprised. In just 12 hours, my loss turned into gains! I feel like I've just won the lottery, fantasy lottery that is. lol! I'm starting to love this game. =)

I wish the same would happen with my North-West Airlines stock.

I gave away my blog's url to my thesismates. I wonder if they're reading this. I know F is. =)

reading blogs and wishing for shabu-shabu

Check out Chona's blog. http://chona.blogspot.com It's funny. This could be the most popular blog in the Phils. I wouldn't be surprised if this will be in the news soon. (That is, if it hasn't been already.)

I read F's blog last Friday. She's been blogging for a year now and I didn't even know. She's really good in keeping secrets. She can keep a secret from herself if she wanted to. (Is that possible?) lol! It's a strange feeling to read about myself in someone else's blog. It's like watching the movie of my life through a different camera. I wouldn't recommend it. Not unless they're sure that what they're going to read is something good, or they're open-minded, like me. (Naks!) Although I enjoyed reading her posts, I don't think I'd be reading through her blog anytime soon. As I've said, reading about myself gives me a strange feeling.

I met up with some of my college friends last Saturday night. It was nice to see them again. We were supposed to have dinner in Mini Shabu-shabu (upon my request) but there were not enough seats to accomodate us. We were around... (let me count... Jen, Vero, Pete, Cuth, Rachelle, Dewey, Dorothy, Jeff, Aimeelyn (sp?), F, and Me) ...11. So, we ate at Taza Cafe (upon Rachelle's request). The food was delicious but the company was the best. I could go on and tell you that I miss the good old days but I won't. Because I don't. The old days are just as good as the ones that I'm having right now. lol!

Damn! I still don't know how to eat Shabu-shabu. What a shame. =(

Oh well, at least I have something to look forward to when Vero gets back from her province. =)

The Space Between

I had a very interesting experience this morning. I was sitting in a bus, listening to jam 88.3 from my phone when I heard "The Space Between" by Dave Matthews. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of nostalgia. It was delightfully weird! I was sad and happy at the same time. I felt like crying and smiling. I felt warmth but I shivered. It is hard to explain. I was suddenly feeling the emotions that I had when I was listening to that song a few years ago. It seems like somehow, the song got something from the past and brought it back to me. This is not the first time that this has happened to me. I discovered that I can package an emotion and send it to the future when I was 18. I bought Cranberries' album, Bury The Hatchet and listened to it everyday for two or three weeks. After a few months, I listened to it again and I was brought back to the past for a few minutes. That's when I realized that I could associate my emotions with a song. I did it with other songs but not all emotions that I've "packed" are good. There are some that makes me feel like I'm having a nightmare. But that's not a big deal. It's all in the mind anyway. =)

Misc

I really don't like documentation. I don't like it then and I still don't like it now. But I have to start liking it because I get a lot of tasks that involves a lot of documentation. It seems like it is part of the package. You can't have one without the other. I have been assigned to another high priority documentation tasks. A real no-brainer according to the lead. I agree. I can't complain coz it beats having nothing to do. Being bored at work is fatal. Well, at least for me. I am very prone to boredom but I think I have learned to cope with it.

An earthquake woke me up last night (3am). I was really shook up (pun intended) and I had a hard time sleeping afterwards. I was afraid that the building would collapse and I'll be stuck inside. That would be hell on earth for me. That is if I would survive. Yup! That's what had been going on in my mind. I can't help it. I'm paranoid. Well, no need to think about it now.

Last week, I transferred to the adjacent cube. I am now occupying my former teammate's space. I like it here. There's something about it that makes me feel comfortable. I can't figure out exactly what it is. It may be because of the lighting condition. Whatever. No need to over-analyze. Lol!

F and I saw The Notebook last night. We were a little disappointed because it didn't make us cry. Maybe it didn't strike us as much as it did with some of our friends but the movie was okay. It was a nice love story. Not too mushy.

I'm reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. I was hesitant to read it at first because I think that the author was capitalizing on the success of Tuesdays With Morrie and he decided to make another book about a dying person. Obviously, I gave it a try. I'll try to write about what I think about it when I'm finish reading.

Life is good, without it, I'm dead.

Work SOX!

Wow! It's been a long time since I last posted in my blog. A lot of things had happened. Good things and bad things. Mostly bad things. Last week sucks. I pretty much screwed myself last week with my work. Right now I'm doing my best to make up for the stupidity and negligence that I did. I won't delve so much into details. It just makes me feel worse. Instead, I'm going to tell you about a nightmare that I had when I was in college.

I was in a computer laboratory. I was in class but I wasn't paying attention to the lesson because I am good in that subject and I was a fast learner. I walked around the lab, mingling and chatting with some of my friends. Then, to my surprise, the professor announced that we were going to have an exam. Damn! I didn't know what the test is going to be about because I wasn't listening. I was definitely going to fail the exam. I was so stressed in that dream that it woke me up frozen stiff.

The lesson of the story is obvious but I still fall into that trap. If this keeps up, I might develop a complex. That is, if I don't already have one. Lol!*

the archers lost again (late post)

I should have posted sooner but I got busy (or lazy). I was supposed to write about how great my Saturday was. I had brunch with F, then I watched a movie alone (F had to go to a children's party). After that, I met up with F again because we are going to watch a ball game in Araneta with our friends. The Archers lost but its okay. The opponent was really good (and we suck). Still, we cheered for our team. We are really good cheerers. lol! In the evening, we had dinner at Gilligan's in Makati. The food was good and the price was not too expensive. I'm going back to that place.

night shift

It's a few minutes past midnight and I'm still here at the office. I'm not complaining. I'm working night shift now. My team lead and I are doing some testing on an application. We had to adjust our business partner's time zone. So I'm here, working in the office, listening to some music, hearing nothing but the sound of air -conditioning and keyboard clicking. It's a nice feeling to work on night shift for the first time. I hope I don't get sleepy at the middle of the shift. lol!

It's only Tuesday and already I miss F. We won't see each other until Saturday because she's kinda busy with her internship. I can't wait 'til it's Saturday!

my photo

This is a very recent photo of me.

Cooking Master Boy

I remember a text conversation I had with F, my girlfriend. It goes a little something like this:

F: How long does it take before you lose interest?

AV: What do you mean? Lose interest in what?

F: In stuff. Like your hobbies (photography, gym, anime, etc).

AV: Ah... 2 months, why?

F: No reason, just asking. 2 months?! Yikes! I better think of something exciting before you lose interest in me. lol! =)

The text conversation did not end right there but I can't remember the rest.

F noticed that I lose interest quite quickly. At one time, I get passionately excited by something and then after some time, lose interest. Well, I don't really lose interest in some of the things that I used to rave about. I still like them but not as passionately as before. I never really bothered myself as to why I am like that. I don't think it's important. One of my policies is "If it doesn't (or won't) cause harm to anyone (including me), then it's not a problem." lol!

Enough of the the introduction. Enter my new interest...

Cooking!

Yeah, it's kinda weird. It's not like me to work in the kitchen but I found out that I like cooking. F wanted me to cook for her for her birthday. I decided to cook spaghetti since it was fairly easy. And so I cooked. She told me what to do and I did. The result? My first spaghetti. It was edible. A little oily, though, but still edible. Delicious even. Not bad for my first time.

Maybe, there would come a time when I would not be as eager to cook like I am right now but it's not a problem. In the meantime, I'm gonna surf the net today for some recipes and cook breakfast tomorrow. lol!

*Bon Appetit!*

a nice weekend

I went clubbing with my girl and her friends last Saturday. It was fun. There were dancing, singing, laughing, talking, etc. -- all the things that a typical night out should have. Her friends are great. I didn't feel left out considering that they all came from the same school and they're adventures went way back early puberty. lol! They were all very friendly. Actually, I wasn't planning to go with them. It was their little reunion. But since it was already 11pm and I'm still with them, I decided to go. I don't know what time we left the club. I lost track of time. I do know that I arrived home a little before sunrise. The following day (so to speak), I woke up at around 11am, ate lunch, then went back to bed.

*sigh!*

It was a nice weekend.

My girl gave me a novel -- Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. I haven't finished reading it yet but I think it is a well written book. It's pretty popular but not as popular as The Da Vinci Code, its sequel.

*sigh!*

My girl... she's the best.

i spoke too soon

just a quick blog about my previous entry. i spoke too soon. we made up and now we're together again. life is full of surprises isn't it? *

What's another day?

I feel like crying. My girlfriend and I broke up just a while ago. I love her very much and i know she loves me, too. But I've been a jerk. And now, she can't trust me anymore. I cannot explain what happened. I don't even want to try. Right now, everything's a blur. Breaking up is not easy. It never is.

rants & raves

RAVE: this morning, while i was in a bus,i offered my seat to a woman. it's the second time i did that this week. it feels good when i help others. it's like a new experience for me since i haven't done that since i was a freshman in the university. i still have a long way to go before i become as chivalrous as i was before, but i'm going there. at least i hope i do. lol!*

RANT: i have a headache. it bothers me so much that i have to blog about it. lol!*

RANT: i haven't seen the new spiderman movie. i still don't know if i'm gonna watch it tomorrow. i just hope i don't miss it.*

RAVE: today is friday! ah, yes! this is self-explanatory.*

RANT: i think my girlfriend's mad at me for not agreeing to meet with her later. enough said.*

RAVE: my dad got a nokia 6600 for his birthday. ok, so i'm not really raving about it, but hey, i'm happy for him. lol!*

puerto galera

today, i'm going to blog about puerto galera. it is a really great place especially during the summer. my girlfriend and i went there last summer and i had a wonderful time. the water is clear(you could see the bottom), the beach is clean(cleaner than some places i know), and the sun is shining. those things plus being with my girl really made my stay great. ah... puerto galera, what a nice place. swimming with the fishes, snorkling, walking by the beach, seeing salt crystals on my skin, thinking about it makes me happy. i'm glad to have been there.

that's enough day-dreaming for today. i have to get back to work.*

peso pinching

i have realized that there is very little that i can do to increase my inflow(income). therefore, i have decided to decrease my outflow(expenses) in order to save money. this is a real challenge for me since i'm a very extravagant person. i like to indulge myself because i believe that i deserve everything i get and vice-versa. i realized that if i'm really serious about being rich, i should start right now. i should make it a habit to save as much money as i can. someone said (i think its ted turner) that the first million is the hardest to make after that, money will keep flowing to you. if that's the case then i want to start making that one million now.*

i know i'm very materialistic but i think its just being practical (...and ambitious).*

bench

i'm dying now. i'm dying of boredom and drowsiness. lol! i've got nothing to do today but sit here and wait for time to pass by. bench time sucks! my work load is so irregular. there are times when i have nothing to do (like now) and then there are times when there is so much work to do (and urgent, too)! sigh!*

honeyviolet11

know what? i think i've mellowed down. is this the price i have to pay in exchange for a happier life? i sincerely hope not! i don't want to be just another person in this world, walking around mindlessly, unaware of the infinite possibilities of life. actually, i'm not really sure if i really backed off from the edge. i think i'm still the same. i just lost my angst. somehow, i miss it -- the sadness of living alone, dreaming the days away, putting up a smile while i'm crying inside... you know. that kind of stuff. but, those days are gone. it may never come back. i will never be that lonely anymore -- not while my girlfriend is around. she chased those days away. the space in my heart that was filled with sadness and angst is now filled with love and warmth. it's all because of her. she even helps me fight my demons away!

sure we fight sometimes. i mean, who doesn't? it's part of the package. the funny thing is, although i hate to say this, it appears that i start most of our fights. lol! i really should try harder.*

payday

hooray! it's payday!

i really need to budget my money wisely. it really sucks when i run out of cash a week before payday. i would not want to experience it again. although i must admit that my being broke was self induced. i guess i was being kinda bored with my great life so i decided to add a little spice to it. it went well as expected. i get to suffer a little. but that's all behind me now. lesson learned: there are some things i can do without.*

condo dilemma

tonight, i'll be sleeping in my dad's condo. i'm not sure about the consequences of sleeping in a condo but i guess it won't be that bad. i hope i'm right. there is one problem though. there's no phone line in that place. that means i have to go to the office in case i get paged tonight. am i willing to take that risk? um, i haven't thought about that well enough to provide a very good answer. i'll think about that later. right now i have to think about my date with F.*

maybe i'm not sleeping in the condo after all.*

hitch

i was supposed to write something here, but i forgot was it was. and now i'm too lazy to try to recall. so there! lol!*

i was late for work this morning. i was supposed to be in the office by 9:30am but i arrived at around 10am. i usually come to the office at 7:30ish but this day was different. for one, my Dad was out of town. i had to commute. second, it was raining. along with the rain comes heavy traffic. fyi, it's really hard to commute when it's raining, especially if you don't have an umbrella. lol!*

so this is my adventure for the day...
i was standing under the stairs of an overpass. the rain was pouring. i had no umbrella, no jacket, no extra shirt. (it was a good thing i wasn't wearing my dress shoes.) the polo that i was wearing gets wet easily. i need to get to the other side of the overpass without getting wet. (or at least without getting VERY wet. lol!) out of desperation, (i was desperate to get to the office as soon as possible.) i decided to ask strangers with umbrellas if i could cross the street with them. i asked about 4 persons before i got a "hitch." now, how many people would do what i just did? not many, i think.*

it was not "happily ever after" after that. as i've mentioned, i was still late for work, despite my efforts. no thanks to the heavy traffic. oh, and the bus i was riding, it took a long route to avoid the traffic. because of that, the trip took longer that it should have. fcuk!*

paged!

my life is not really complicated. i wake up, go to work, eat, sleep,and do whatever. i'ts kinda like your average daily life -- only it's mine. lol!

early this morning (more like, in the middle of the night!), at around 1:30ish, i got a support call for an application that is not working properly. unfortunately, (as if being paged is not unfortunate) i am not familiar with that application so i have to call up a team mate -- too bad for her. i think i got off pretty easy. i just did what she said and went back to sleep (4am). Grrr! i haven't had any decent sleep this week. i hope tonight i would. it's not really that bad. i'm being paid by the hour for this. lol! oh i can't wait until the next support call!

ciao

Intro

great! my first blog post.

my life is one great adventure.