here i am at the airport ... again. this time i'm going to take the arduous journey back home and i'm hoping that this trip won't have the same delays i've had the last two times i was here. the airport is seemingly quiet right now, not busy like most airports are. i see some eye candies and i can't help but get a second look. the past three weeks has been mostly a blur, what with all the traveling and sightseeing i did with bel and maricar. i'm not saying it wasn't fun, actually it was so much fun though it was tiring. it has been a bit of a struggle being here in arizona, workwise that is. and though i did manage to deliver some stuff, it still feels like i've slacked off. this is the problem with doing projects, there isn't enough critical deadlines to beat - you mostly sail through it. the only yardstick to which i will be measured are two things : (1) is whether i will be able to deliver the project; and (2) whether the customers will like it. while i do LOVE the freedom my job provides, i don't like to slack off but i've been doing it nonetheless because maybe working hard for the last eight years has taken its toll. hopefully, the changes in responsibility will help bring the fire again.
i'm officially a fatness monster. and while i haven't really checked the scales lately, i can see in the mirror how plump my cheeks have become. my tummy has started showing again so i don't look as fab as i was back in december. major bummer. when i get back to manila, its time to pay the price. i'm going to have to swear off rice for a while, try to get back into my weight training program and start taking my hydroxycut. ok, so maybe taking the hydroxycut isn't the greatest thing to do, but well i'm in need of some drastic measures.
me & the mall is such a bad, bad combination. there were only two items on my list yesterday but i ended up with 3 pairs of jeans and a cute long-sleeved shirt ... and instead of one, i bought mom two naturalizer shoes. i kind of felt guilty that i could splurge buying so many clothes, even $100 shoes and i can't spend as much for her. so ok, i'm not the poster boy right now for saving money and spending money wisely but i'm following this new adage "live fully." and that includes doing things that make you happy. hahaha
i can't wait to get back home. 1 1/2 hours to LA. 3 1/2 hours layover in LA. 12+ hours to HK. 2 hours layover in HK. 1 1/2 hours to Manila. oh yeah, is that fun or what.
note : i was going to post this while i was still at the phoenix skyharbor airport but for some reason i kept dropping off the wireless. that was probably 18-20 hours ago. right now, i am at the business lounge of cathay pacific where wireless is stable. just a 2-hour flight and i'll be home. yay.
April 30, 2007
April 26, 2007
a trip worth remembering
we went to vegas during the second week of our US trip with me behind the wheel of our rented kia sorento suv. the only thing keeping me awake was a can of "rockstar" energy drink, after too much partying the night before in scottsdale. the 6 hour drive breezed through quite fine with occasional restroom stops and some architectural sightseeing at hoover dam. lots of pictures snapped here and there. our day in vegas went by quickly after having a feast at the alladin buffet and some touring of bellagio and caesar's palace, we were beat from all of the walking. it was surprising to bump into the tensuan family with the strip being that long and with that many people but you know pinoys --- "we find each other. wherever." there were more pictures taken during our leisurely walk that night with bel & car exchanging ohh's & ahh's at how lovely the strip seemed with all the lights and sounds. vegas is a truly a sight to behold, it lives up to its reputation as sin city and the city that never sleeps. i wish though next time i'm here, that there'd be less hotel viewing and more partying.
after vegas week, the days seemed pretty much to breeze through with the face-to-face (what we really came for) coming full-blown beginning wednesday and lasting through half of friday. we did go through another round of teambuilding & org stuff with new leadership and all. like all these face-to-face that deals with this kind of stuff, we were pretty much bored during the 2nd day that the after-office get together (dinner & hanging out) was a welcome change. we went to "rawhide" which is a western-themed amusement town with shows, carriage & train rides and animals and an old-fashioned restaurant where we had our dinner. we were treated to some western "delicacies" which did not freak me out at the very least - first taste of rattlesnake (eww!) and rocky mountain oysters (which turned out to be not seafood at all but bull testicles, double eww!) - believe me, they weren't that bad at all. we watched some shows and hanged out a little, even trying out the carriage ride (hmmm we wondered if it was that bumpy in the olden days). it was fun to be outside of work with people you work with all the time.
at the end of the face-to-face week, bel & i left phoenix to go to california. it was a 5 hour drive that wasn't as bad as it seemed and we managed to reach ron & rudy's house around 10pm or so. the house was awesome - it was big & spacious and well decorated. r&r also had 2 bmw's and an accura suv, ugh!
rudy brough bel & i to disney around 9am the following day. we got in for free since rudy was an employee of disney. i'd have to say, disney was fantastic - i really felt like a kid again. i'm right now excited to bring my nephew to hk disneyland this august for his 4th birthday. we were able to enjoy star tours, bobsleds, space mountain, pirates of the carribbean @ disneyland and soarin' high and the big rollercoaster at california adventure. and to top it off, disney had twice the eye candy than vegas that time. we managed to buy some souvenirs @ 35% discount so we were quite happy that day. we spent sunday visiting carlo & mark at orange county. i have to say OC is so much different it leaves me speechless. we had lunch there where afterwards we went ahead and looked at the new houses/condo's (Vantis by Shea Homes) which totally blew me away. the model houses were awesome that we spent the better part of the afternoon just moving from one model house to another trying to figure out which we liked best. right there, i wish i lived in the US and could afford such a great place. truly, an american dream i wish i shared.
pictures here are posted in my multiply account. check it out at the following :
www.yuan1025.multiply.com
after vegas week, the days seemed pretty much to breeze through with the face-to-face (what we really came for) coming full-blown beginning wednesday and lasting through half of friday. we did go through another round of teambuilding & org stuff with new leadership and all. like all these face-to-face that deals with this kind of stuff, we were pretty much bored during the 2nd day that the after-office get together (dinner & hanging out) was a welcome change. we went to "rawhide" which is a western-themed amusement town with shows, carriage & train rides and animals and an old-fashioned restaurant where we had our dinner. we were treated to some western "delicacies" which did not freak me out at the very least - first taste of rattlesnake (eww!) and rocky mountain oysters (which turned out to be not seafood at all but bull testicles, double eww!) - believe me, they weren't that bad at all. we watched some shows and hanged out a little, even trying out the carriage ride (hmmm we wondered if it was that bumpy in the olden days). it was fun to be outside of work with people you work with all the time.
at the end of the face-to-face week, bel & i left phoenix to go to california. it was a 5 hour drive that wasn't as bad as it seemed and we managed to reach ron & rudy's house around 10pm or so. the house was awesome - it was big & spacious and well decorated. r&r also had 2 bmw's and an accura suv, ugh!
rudy brough bel & i to disney around 9am the following day. we got in for free since rudy was an employee of disney. i'd have to say, disney was fantastic - i really felt like a kid again. i'm right now excited to bring my nephew to hk disneyland this august for his 4th birthday. we were able to enjoy star tours, bobsleds, space mountain, pirates of the carribbean @ disneyland and soarin' high and the big rollercoaster at california adventure. and to top it off, disney had twice the eye candy than vegas that time. we managed to buy some souvenirs @ 35% discount so we were quite happy that day. we spent sunday visiting carlo & mark at orange county. i have to say OC is so much different it leaves me speechless. we had lunch there where afterwards we went ahead and looked at the new houses/condo's (Vantis by Shea Homes) which totally blew me away. the model houses were awesome that we spent the better part of the afternoon just moving from one model house to another trying to figure out which we liked best. right there, i wish i lived in the US and could afford such a great place. truly, an american dream i wish i shared.
pictures here are posted in my multiply account. check it out at the following :
www.yuan1025.multiply.com
April 23, 2007
she's back
one of my more favorite artists is back with a new album ... american doll posse. i'm already playing the tracks from her latest album non-stop. so far my favorite tracks are digital ghost and secret spell. such a wonderful treat from a truly awesome & unique artist.
April 11, 2007
April 09, 2007
holy week
i never make plans during the holy week. for me, it is a time to pay respect and remember what the Lord sacrificed for all of us. yes, i grew up catholic - and while i may not be as "religious" as i should be today, there are practices & teachings i have strong belief in. no beach, no parties, no drinking during this time for me.
jack of all trades
jetlag is a bummer.
while i slept only for an hour when i got to phoenix and drove short of 500 miles (back & forth) the grand canyon with bel & car, i was awake by 2am. where's the sandman when you need him?
i was mulling the previous days on whether i should consider buying a digital slr. it wasn't really because elmer & jona both have one already but it was a logical technological evolution from a point & shoot digital camera. i was holding back on buying one mainly because there wasn't really time to pursue photography, even as a hobby at this time. i still haven't finished graduate school (1 more subject technically but i want to major, so 2 more subjects) and i haven't even decided yet when i am going to go back. and i was already planning on taking up short culinary courses - again, not because i want to become a chef but because i enjoy cooking - period. while i was looking at some pictures the past hour though, i realized that i enjoy taking pictures of people and moments more than say landscapes, or objects, or anything artistic. i guess being technically-oriented for a long time has robbed me quite a bit of artistic talent or probably the desire to see things in a different perspective. i like the practical shots. the simple moments without so much fuss which is why i like p&s cameras a lot. i just need to capture the "memory" of the moment without the need for grandeur ... having a dslr feels like there's this pressure to turn out beautiful, artistic, wow-photos all the time. i don't think i want that.
thinking about the dslr thing made me think about what i was good at - and i couldn't think of anything i was really "great" at. sure, i was smart in school, could play volleyball, write decently, lead/manage, have some artistic talent but i was never exemplary. i think i get bored easily that i tend not to stick to doing something long enough to "master" it - maybe being an industrial engineer, or a jack-of-all-trades was fate. or maybe the reality is i have a.d.d. i really don't know but hopefully i find something that i love doing (and make a career doing it). sigh, suddenly feel like i'm not good at anything na tuloy. damn it. mumble. mumble.
ay, i realized i'm kind of good at driving ... uhmm, so delivery? hahaha
hmmm ... i type really fast too ... uhmm, so taga-type ng thesis?
double bummer!
while i slept only for an hour when i got to phoenix and drove short of 500 miles (back & forth) the grand canyon with bel & car, i was awake by 2am. where's the sandman when you need him?
i was mulling the previous days on whether i should consider buying a digital slr. it wasn't really because elmer & jona both have one already but it was a logical technological evolution from a point & shoot digital camera. i was holding back on buying one mainly because there wasn't really time to pursue photography, even as a hobby at this time. i still haven't finished graduate school (1 more subject technically but i want to major, so 2 more subjects) and i haven't even decided yet when i am going to go back. and i was already planning on taking up short culinary courses - again, not because i want to become a chef but because i enjoy cooking - period. while i was looking at some pictures the past hour though, i realized that i enjoy taking pictures of people and moments more than say landscapes, or objects, or anything artistic. i guess being technically-oriented for a long time has robbed me quite a bit of artistic talent or probably the desire to see things in a different perspective. i like the practical shots. the simple moments without so much fuss which is why i like p&s cameras a lot. i just need to capture the "memory" of the moment without the need for grandeur ... having a dslr feels like there's this pressure to turn out beautiful, artistic, wow-photos all the time. i don't think i want that.
thinking about the dslr thing made me think about what i was good at - and i couldn't think of anything i was really "great" at. sure, i was smart in school, could play volleyball, write decently, lead/manage, have some artistic talent but i was never exemplary. i think i get bored easily that i tend not to stick to doing something long enough to "master" it - maybe being an industrial engineer, or a jack-of-all-trades was fate. or maybe the reality is i have a.d.d. i really don't know but hopefully i find something that i love doing (and make a career doing it). sigh, suddenly feel like i'm not good at anything na tuloy. damn it. mumble. mumble.
ay, i realized i'm kind of good at driving ... uhmm, so delivery? hahaha
hmmm ... i type really fast too ... uhmm, so taga-type ng thesis?
double bummer!
April 04, 2007
eagle point layouts
i threw in some pictures from our eagle point resort getaway into a picture book. here are some of the pages of that book.
tax season
i finally managed to file my income tax return today 11 days ahead of the deadline. i was supposed to file it yesterday that's why i went to the makati office but i couldn't get through UBS by phone to reset my password. i couldn't remember if i sold stock options in 2006 but i finally managed to access my account today. luckily, there weren't any stock options sold in 2006 so the only additional income i had were the proceeds from the quicksale i elected for the stocks i purchased in 2006. i wish there was some way that i didn't have to pay so much on taxes. i feel bad everytime i have to surrender my hard-earned cash for taxes knowing most of it will likely go into some corrupt politician's pocket. i probably am stereotyping and that the government might really be using it to do some good ---- not! sorry for being jaded, i guess not really seeing where my taxes go leaves a bad taste in my mouth everytime i see how much they are getting.
i hate april 15.
i hate april 15.
April 02, 2007
summer fun @ eagle point (0331-0401)
it was one of those times when we just thought two weeks back that we should enjoy the summer and relax at some beach. we weren't really sure if it was going to push through having been told by those resorts we were eyeing for that they were fully booked march 31 & april 1. we were lucky though when allan said that he managed to get reservations at eagle point resort somewhere in batangas. we excitedly checked out the website and thought it was a place good enough to spend the weekend and relax.
everyone pretty much were giddy the whole week eagerly counting work days before the weekend hits. i myself was bouyed by idea of spending the weekend with great friends at the beach no less. there were a lot of e-mail exchanges talking about what we should wear, what we should bring, what time we should meet, even the motifs for the pictorials. we were already having fun just thinking about the coming weekend.
i was up around 2am and realized that a bunch of us pretty much were either still up (from partying or whatever) or woke up excitedly ahead of schedule. call time was between 430-500am since we wanted to get a headstart of the day with eagle point being about 3 hours away. pretty much everyone made it at 5am - its like a record and everyone managed to avoid some serious tonguelashing & slapping - bummer! breakfast was at mcdonald's along petron south super hi-way where we noticed a large number of people that early - seems, everyone have plans of spending summer in some beach or resort. the ride was pretty much uneventful - we talked, bitched about r (not trixy's "r"), laughed uncontrollably in between thousand calorie krispy kremes and some water. surprisingly we didn't miss any turns and the map was pretty helpful during the trip.
when we got at the drop off point, we were trying to figure out how to slip in both our alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages since we kind of brought a lot (of the latter) to avoid any of the steep corkage fees. we crammed them in every nook & corner of our bags and allan later on realized that putting too much weight on his kenneth cole bag proves to be disastrous. since we were quite early, we couldn't check-in yet and decided to go straight to sepoc island via boat. sepoc island was quite nice - the water was clean, the sand was great and there weren't really a lot of people to crowd the beach area. we rented a cottage so we had a place to stow our bags and shhhh, take our snucked-in beverages without worrying about paying the corkage fees. there were hammocks and kayaks and life vests and beach volleyball - there was a lot of things we could do but we opted to wading in the cool waters, taking our pictures, taking more pictures, and more pictures and doing some kayaking on the side. kayaking is quite fun and i didn't mind being under the sun that long. we put so much sunblock i guess that we were pretty confident we weren't going to burn under the hot sun. it wasn't surprising that towards the end of the day (and after a bottle of sangria - yum!), we all (except acs) looked sunkissed.
the dinner was filling when we got back and the pictures during the sunset was quite nice. we spent the better portion of the night just chillin' on our veranda with a glass of cabernet or mudslide on one hand and the other digging for chips & some salsa. there wasn't really a need for any more bonding session since we (jaa, tv, ac & acs) pretty much have built a lasting friendship already. we decided to call it a day early that night, each of us being tired from the day and from the previous night. it wasn't hard to get some sleep with the aircon being full-blast and being weary from the day pretty much knocked everyone out.
morning. breakfast was fantastic. yummy food makes me weak so i ate more than i should - oh well! we slept a bit right after breakfast before we went swimming with the fish & baby sharks and then later on went to the kiddie pool and played model while the camera snapped some "for our eyes only" pictures. ok ok, nothing requiring parental guidance. we quite dreaded the time when we all had to get out of the pool and dress up for home. it meant the weekend's over and our uber fun time at the beach was coming to a close. we stopped by red ribbon for lunch where surprisingly, acs told us some funny stories about the time when jps met with her 'rents.
the weekend was quite tiring but fun. it wasn't as expensive as a trip to boracay but being able to getaway from the busy city life with great friends is priceless. we're already planning our next trip - club paradise in palawan - and though it probably is months away (around aug or octoberish), i am already excited with just the thought of it.
but first, there's still a flight to arizona i need to catch this coming saturday. grand canyon. vegas. disney. its going to be fun.
click the link to view the pictures via multiply : summer fun
everyone pretty much were giddy the whole week eagerly counting work days before the weekend hits. i myself was bouyed by idea of spending the weekend with great friends at the beach no less. there were a lot of e-mail exchanges talking about what we should wear, what we should bring, what time we should meet, even the motifs for the pictorials. we were already having fun just thinking about the coming weekend.
i was up around 2am and realized that a bunch of us pretty much were either still up (from partying or whatever) or woke up excitedly ahead of schedule. call time was between 430-500am since we wanted to get a headstart of the day with eagle point being about 3 hours away. pretty much everyone made it at 5am - its like a record and everyone managed to avoid some serious tonguelashing & slapping - bummer! breakfast was at mcdonald's along petron south super hi-way where we noticed a large number of people that early - seems, everyone have plans of spending summer in some beach or resort. the ride was pretty much uneventful - we talked, bitched about r (not trixy's "r"), laughed uncontrollably in between thousand calorie krispy kremes and some water. surprisingly we didn't miss any turns and the map was pretty helpful during the trip.
when we got at the drop off point, we were trying to figure out how to slip in both our alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages since we kind of brought a lot (of the latter) to avoid any of the steep corkage fees. we crammed them in every nook & corner of our bags and allan later on realized that putting too much weight on his kenneth cole bag proves to be disastrous. since we were quite early, we couldn't check-in yet and decided to go straight to sepoc island via boat. sepoc island was quite nice - the water was clean, the sand was great and there weren't really a lot of people to crowd the beach area. we rented a cottage so we had a place to stow our bags and shhhh, take our snucked-in beverages without worrying about paying the corkage fees. there were hammocks and kayaks and life vests and beach volleyball - there was a lot of things we could do but we opted to wading in the cool waters, taking our pictures, taking more pictures, and more pictures and doing some kayaking on the side. kayaking is quite fun and i didn't mind being under the sun that long. we put so much sunblock i guess that we were pretty confident we weren't going to burn under the hot sun. it wasn't surprising that towards the end of the day (and after a bottle of sangria - yum!), we all (except acs) looked sunkissed.
the dinner was filling when we got back and the pictures during the sunset was quite nice. we spent the better portion of the night just chillin' on our veranda with a glass of cabernet or mudslide on one hand and the other digging for chips & some salsa. there wasn't really a need for any more bonding session since we (jaa, tv, ac & acs) pretty much have built a lasting friendship already. we decided to call it a day early that night, each of us being tired from the day and from the previous night. it wasn't hard to get some sleep with the aircon being full-blast and being weary from the day pretty much knocked everyone out.
morning. breakfast was fantastic. yummy food makes me weak so i ate more than i should - oh well! we slept a bit right after breakfast before we went swimming with the fish & baby sharks and then later on went to the kiddie pool and played model while the camera snapped some "for our eyes only" pictures. ok ok, nothing requiring parental guidance. we quite dreaded the time when we all had to get out of the pool and dress up for home. it meant the weekend's over and our uber fun time at the beach was coming to a close. we stopped by red ribbon for lunch where surprisingly, acs told us some funny stories about the time when jps met with her 'rents.
the weekend was quite tiring but fun. it wasn't as expensive as a trip to boracay but being able to getaway from the busy city life with great friends is priceless. we're already planning our next trip - club paradise in palawan - and though it probably is months away (around aug or octoberish), i am already excited with just the thought of it.
but first, there's still a flight to arizona i need to catch this coming saturday. grand canyon. vegas. disney. its going to be fun.
click the link to view the pictures via multiply : summer fun
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)