My Awesome year of 2011

Wrapping up My 2011

I consider this year as a year of many beginnings. I finally was able to join the work force, so it was the start of being independent - financially. I was part of the Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines Corporation family as their Wastewater Engineer starting January 3 to September 30 2011, that's almost 9 months of enjoying my Chemical Engineering profession in a multi-national company. During those times - I was able to try a lot of things I haven't for my past 23 years of existence.

one of the many night outs I had with office mates...

joining team dinners where I was the only girl...

being part of the fire brigade and first aid competition

attending a lot of business seminars...

learning a lot of things - not just technical but also about work ethics...

saying goodbye to people who touched my life even in a short span of time...

As I mentioned, this was a start of being financially independent, I was able to live on my own for almost 5 months - I rented a place along Pedro Gil. Although I still went home from time to time because I can't do my laundry and I got home sick, I can say still that I pay my own bills. I was also able to buy stuffs that I want and need. Sadly, I was really not able to save anything yet from my salary.

2011 was also the start of deeper friendship with my college girl friends. This year we got to spend more time together for out of town trips and chilling out. Most of the time it was me, Popples and Ave because Iris was too busy with work but she still managed to join us whenever she can.

watched my first Pyro Olympics on top of Ecom Tower courtesy of Iris Siy (her work perks)

my first super club experience (VIP treatment c/o Popples' friend)

We tried laser tagging at greenhills! :)

Food markets at night were very popular so we hang out at Mercato Central at BGC

We went to Subic to chill last August

My Second bar experience -Izumi

After resigning from work, we enjoyed the beach of Laiya

My third and best bar experience - Attica (11-11-11 madness)

2011 was a year of acquaintances. I had got to know a lot of people from work and from friends of friends. Some just come and go while others became close friends. I just hope that the friendship established will continue to grow as we get to know each other more.

2011 made our family bond stronger. Trials came along but we still manage to stand strong as one family. We support each other on every obstacle that we encountered.

We manage to get through because of Him -Calleruega trip

My grandparents together with their grown up granchildren...

Though Angkong wasn't with us anymore, we gotta stay strong - Luk Foo Cantonese Restaurant

Christmas at Summit Ridge Tagaytay

When it comes to the matters of the heart, 2011 was a year of happiness and pain. I thought there was really something special between the two of us, but I guess things were different after all. During those times that I had spent with him, I felt very happy, contented and secured, but things change in just a blink of an eye. I found myself in deep pain after almost 4 years of staying single and not entertaining anyone in particular. It's nobody's fault, maybe I just misinterpreted his gestures, maybe all along what he could just offer is pure friendship. That is why it is very wrong to assume.

They say you cannot have it all, although my heart was in pain, I manage to find a job during the last quarter. This job that I currently have is something extra-ordinary because I will get the opportunity to travel. I consider this as a fresh start. I hope that I could grow more as a person with this change.

Global Water Engineering PE family

To summarize everything, my 2011 was really awesome. My life was complete with the right combination of sweetness and spices. I am very thankful to God Almighty for always being there for me and my family. For making me strong in times I felt weak, for making me happy in times of loneliness, for ensuring I will remember to be humble it times everyone is saying that I should be proud.

I am also grateful to family and friends who manage to be with me not just when I am happy but also during those times that I felt very low. Thank you for being true and saying things without sugar coating.

I now welcome 2012 with open arms. :) Happy New Year everyone!

Ode to My Grandfather

Ode to My Grandfather

His love to his children

will never be forgotten

He tried to be the greatest father

so everybody might have their happy ever after

A man with pure heart and soul

that tried to reach all his life's goal

A person who always extend a helping hand

in everybody's heart he lands.

He held me high to see the sky

and patiently taught me how to fly

He pushed me to be the best

and to do good in every test

My dear angkong you'll definitely be missed

but we know you are now at peace

We love you with all our heart

Wherever you are we hope you have a great start

Free your heart

(image source: www.weheartit.com)

There will come a point where one will realize it's time to let go and move on because you have nothing to begin with. You thought you have something special with someone but truthfully it might just be one sided, it's not mutual. You kept on telling yourself for the longest time that there's something special, but in reality there's none.

Realizing that you gotta move forward is a fresh start. From time to time, you will still feel the pain and the questions behind your mind will still bother you, but you gotta stay strong with your decision to start a new life-without him/her.

You're fine without that someone to begin with so I guarantee that you'll be ok if that someone will be not part of you anymore. It will take a lot of courage and faith that you can do this, but believe me in time you'll eventually be fine, just like you once had been.

There is always a master plan for all of us. In God's time, we will find that someone who will truly love us for who we are and accept all our flaws in life. That someone will receive us as a package deal equipped with everything we have and has a "no return, no exchange" policy.

For the meantime let's just take one step at a time to mend our fragile heart so that when we meet "the one" we are ready to love and be loved again.

All I want for Christmas

I could feel the Christmas breeze already so I guess it's time to make my wish list.

What are the chances that my closest friends will read this blog entry? I honestly don't know but I hope they could stumble upon this so they can have an idea what I really want for the Holidays haha :)

So first on my list is this hoodie from Nike. I could probably use this a lot! I just love sporty looks. Maybe I'm a medium or a large? haha.

I want this chuck taylor sneaker so badly. I'am a size 7 :)

To complete the sporty get-up is this Jansport Bag that will be useful for stuffing all my things.

To not get me bored during flights for work are the books of Francis Kong (I already have 2 of his books "Duh" and "The Early Bird Catches The Worm"

I wish to have this wallet from Mango to put my moolah $$$

To be always on time means I need this watch from Tomato

Lastly, to be in touch of my feminine side, I would gladly want to receive this dress from Bayo. I'm just a Small to Medium size for this shop.

So I guess making this wish list made me happy but it will make me happier if I receive even just one of these items on Christmas. haha :)

Confusions

image source: www.weheartit.com

Just when everything in my life seems to be in order, something unexpected happened. That something made me question my "plan".

Why now? Now that I kinda figure out what I already want. I would like to take this situation as a test if what I want now is really what I want. Confusing isn't it? At the back of my mind, I have this two columns comparing the pros and cons of the present plan and the possibility of the "new situation".

I wish it's that easy but sadly when it comes to the matters of the heart, it will never be easy. Everything is just complicated. Maybe I am not confused, because I really know right from the start that it's still Plan A. I just need assurance that Plan A will work. On the other hand, Plan B complicates things because it keeps on giving me a lot of reasons to go with it compared to Plan A that is just waiting for me to choose it.

I am praying that Plan A will finally give me tons of reasons to assure me that everything will go well if I stick with it because we never know if Plan B's persuasion can give me a clearer picture of a better future.

On Friends

(image source: www.weheartit.com)

In our journey of life, we will meet a whole bunch of people, some are easy to get along while others might be a total opposite of us. What matter is, from those bunch you will have a few who'll stick with you no matter where life takes you.

Honestly, finding those few is not as easy as ABC. Certain situations will test who are worth keeping and who are just so so. Those people that we had built intimate connections will stay in our hearts forever. Distance is never a hindrance because you know it in your heart that your relationship is more to that. The memories you had shared through thick and thin were priceless.

Way back in elementary and high school, I was so used to have friends around me already but I have this gals who I considered as my closest friends. Up until now, we communicate from time to time. Even though we don't hang around that much, just a simple text or chat message can instantly connect us.

with Nani, Che, Jana and Len

College life wouldn't be that awesome if I hadn't meet my girl friends there. We had each other's back always. We had been through a lot, and I mean it a lot from heartbreaks, to failed subjects to childish acts, so on and so forth.

with ave, popples and iris

The two pictures I had shown are the sets of barkada I had, but I have this long list of persons I considered genuine and can be called true friends. My point is people are tested along the way. They may not necessarily be the goody goody friend who'll agree with you at everything but he or she might be the one who can say nasty things about you upfront. Yes, he or she might hurt you but she's just being true and real, no pretenses.

A true friend is someone who'll never leave you hanging. He or she is someone who is silently hurting if you're hurting. One who can laugh with you real hard even if there's nothing funny. A real friend is someone who, despite the distance, will stick around no matter what happens.

Finding real friends is being at peace. It is God's gift. Just be careful not to lose those gifts. Life just keeps on getting better especially knowing you have friends that can walk with you through your journey.

Justice and Equality

Funny how the outcome of the board of governor’s election of our village turned out last october 9 2011. The very common expression one might hear is that “We were massacred”. Why is that so? Before answering that, let me walk you through what happened prior the election proper.

The event started at four in the afternood in the function room of our clubhouse. What was really interesting were the points raised by some homeowners regarding the frequency of meetings that the members were allowed to join. Clarification on annual meeting was also a concern. Members were basically asking for TRANSPARENCY, they wanted to be AWARE on what was happening, they wanted to be INFORMED on the progress and changes that our village undergoes and lastly, they wanted to be INVOLVED on the projects or concerns of our village- after all, we are one community.

Sadly and nerve-crackingly, it is not the way peoples in charge of running our community sees it. They cannot even give concrete and precise answers to the inquiries. All one can hear was “You can call a special meeting to discuss your concerns, and let’s talk about it in a different time”. The arguments turned out to be circular since the people in charge were trying to deflect the questions.

My vision for a person who leads a small community like ours is someone who’ll listen to his/her people even if the concern raised is small, he/she still will not take it for granted. A true leader understands his/her people, treats them equally, listens to their concerns and respects them. A leader is someone who is honest, credible and has integrity.

After all questions were raised and no precise answers were given, the election pushed through. There was already hear say that prior election, the winners were already decided. Why? Because the “Proxy Votes” were already counted in. Come on, please do justice with the so called proxy votes. It is just a subtle way of “pandaraya” . What do you get from that? It’s such a shame for someone to win like that. At the end of the day, those people are the true losers.

To give a clearer picture, the proxy votes assigned to our president was 67 counts. That 67 counts was allotted to her choice of candidates. The second highest proxy votes was 33, same thing is applied, the person who was assigned to that 33 votes will automatically have 33 counts of votes to the canditates of his choice. Losing is normal but losing by cheating is a different story. I ask for justice. I believe we are all intellectual people here who can see clearly what had happened during the election- monopoly.

Writing this was triggered by the question of how will the ‘elected leaders” be able to see and treat things equally. After all that happened during the election, how can they assure us that they will be able to lead us in a fair and right manner? Respect is not given, it is earned.

Suggestions were brought up that we need at least 28 signatures to ammend the by-laws and the possibility of eliminating proxy votes on the next election. I am asking each one of you to help me gather those 28 signatures. This is a small step each of us can do to start change in our village.

The true winners are those who took the clear and honest path towards the end. I salute those people.

Change

Change is inevitable. Most say it is the only constant thing in the world. For me, it is something I long and dread. I long for it in a sense that new stories will be written, new connections will be started and new things will be experienced. I dread it because I basically need to restart everything- from finding friends, learning stuffs and getting comfortable with the new "life".

I took a BIG risk for resigning on my first job without even having a "back-up plan". So here I am, having all the time in the world pondering even small things left unnoticed by others.

My stay for 9 months in Samsung was a roller coaster ride, literally. There were times I just wanna stop and seize the moment when I see my subordinates' smiles after a long day of hard work and repairing of equipment; but hey there were also times I wish I could just vanish in thin air especially when the effluent water is not that 'good' and there is surprise visit from a government body.

As they say, you just can't have it all. It took a lot of thinking, internalizing and reflecting before I decided it's time to say goodbye. The experience I got handling the wastewater facility was priceless, but sometimes it's just not enough. We seek for more, things we have to discover outside of what we currently have.

I will be forever grateful with my wastewater family. The lessons I learned from them will always be remembered.

At control room with wastewater family

In Samsung, I was also able to find friends who'll stick with you through thick and thin. Friends who will stay true and real. I know leaving the company won't mean the friendship will be terminated. As I quote again, "absence make the heart go fonder". I am confident that the distance won't be a hinder to making the friendship stronger.

Farewell party at Archie's place

with shuttlemate, breakfastmate Bop

with fridaymates at Padi's SM North

My last ilink with Facilities, Environment & Safety

TQP batchmates dinner at Shakeys

Leaving Samsung is just leaving the company. The relationships I made with my coworkers won't be gone. I may be miles away from them but there's always a way to catch up with them.

I welcome CHANGE now with open arms. I might not be that ready but I will try to cope, to learn again and to start things over. What I experience in Samsung will forever be an integral part of what I am today.

on dreams and plans

Have you ever experienced waking up with so many ideas that you gotta write it down because you might get so overwhelmed and forget the simplest detail of that random thoughts?

Well, I was bombarded with a lot of juicy plans this morning. It felt good that my resignation has a positive effect on me. (Yes, I already resigned, and is currently job hunting) The reason for me to leave my first company deserved a separate blog entry.

Anyway, I must say that this is really the first serious time that I plan about my future- what I really want to have/do n years from now. For my short term goal - I want to have a work. By WORK, I want it now to be something I'm doing because I love it, not just because I have to gain experience or simply because it's related to my course. I don't wanna make the same mistake, gotta learn. :) I wish for my next work to be something that totally fits my personality- that must include working with a lot of people without compromising my technical skills. About compensation, yes, I must say money matters now. I want it also to be manila bound (I got tired going south).

I realized that I really want to be independent, Gosh I'm turning 24 next year. I want to own a condo unit (rent to own). I have to learn how to do laundry, cook for myself, budget my money, and the lists continue. By being independent, I want to learn to be happy because of what I do not just because my family, friends or somebody special is doing something for me. I gotta learn to love myself more. Nobody can take good care of me better than myself.

Lastly, I wanna practice my driving skills. Would you believe I learned how to drive since 17 years old, but my dad is too afraid to give me the key and execute my "skill"? haha. So I really wanna own a car, drive around the metro with my wheels and enjoy my life to the fullest.

By the way, these ideas are very ideal, but mark my word that I will achieve this one by one. I was never this driven since I plan to pass the board exam last November 2010.

So Good Luck to me :)

Big things come in small packages

Hello 2011!

After several months had passed, this would be my first post for the year. Wonder what happened? I had neglected my hobby of writing. I was too busy doing things that I sometimes think took the fun, youthful me.

What now?

I am truly blessed to have a job that fits perfectly to what I took in college. I am a Wastewater Engineer (although I sometimes play as the Environment Engineer) of a Korean owned semiconductor company. I was finally able to find the path I have to take. Being able to be with the company for almost 5 months taught me a lot of things (not just technical stuffs but also with what's happening in real life).

I must admit the compensations I get is not that big compared to what my friends have with their respective companies, but hey no worries, as long as I love what I'm doing, I'll stick with what I have right now.

Choosing this kind of work, made me aware of things that I took for granted before. Those realizations are the following:
1. Importance of complying.
2. Value of Loyalty.
3. Dirty Politics.
4. Choosing your peers.
5. Difference of Knowing and Learning.
6. Worth of Money
7. Want and Need aren't exactly the same.

and the long lists of line will continue. I will not expound but you will hear from me (maybe soon) discussing those stuffs.

Until then. :)