Random Thoughts #2

1. What a waste of time when you need to resolve something just because the one who did it the first time was not diligent enough to ensure that all information are correct prior to sending her request. What's worse is that when you ask her to correct it, she does not respond back right away. Nakakaubos ng oras, pasensya at focus sa ibang bagay. 
2. Sobrang nafrustrate ako sa nangyari last week. 30 minutes before a client meeting, saka ko lang nalamang may conflict in resources at yung project ko yung imo-move. Buti nagcheck ako ng email on the way to work. Nagpanic at narattle talaga ako kasi sobrang ura-urada naman. Three minutes before the call started, I asked my teammate to gather everyone in the call first. Ako, step out saglit at naghabol ng iyak ng kahit 2 minutes lang, otherwise, sabog ako sa discussion. Ayun, I also sent a feedback email to my boss expressing my frustration. Akala ko nga wala na akong work the following day eh hahaha. Meron pa rin naman. I just had to do that because I really felt we failed as a team to coordinate that time.
3. Been thinking of growing back my original curly hair since last month. I am more convinced this time so ok, no more rebond session in 2016. Kiber na sa bad hair days at mahangin sa labas moments hehe. 
4. Gusto ko makita yung super moon kagabi. Nilagay ko pa yun sa calendar ko. Kaso mostly ng articles na nabasa ko, hindi daw makikita sa Pinas. Olats.
5. Mas malaki pa rin daw than normal yung buwan tonight. Kaso cloudy naman, umaambon-ambon pa. Olats uli. Tumingala ako bago pumasok sa boarding house, ayun nga, natatakpan ng mighty clouds. Better luck next time.
6. Di ako updated sa AlDub. No comment din. O wag nyo ako kuyugin, nagtitipid ako ng kuryente kaya di ko na binubuksan TV ko.
7. Nung lumpiat kami ng office sa QC, balak kong mag commute sana pauwi. Mid shift ako. The first time na inattempt ko, na slash bag ko. Last week, pinag-iisipan ko uli para makatipid. Na hold up teammate ko. With matching tutok ng baril. Atras na uli sa balak ko. Tipid tipid na lang sa ibang bagay. 
8. Nung narealize kong halos same Lang ang rate ng taxi at Uberx, Uberx na ang choice of ride ko kasi: generally mas pleasant ang mga drivers, di na ako maiinis sa mga nagrerequest ng dagdag na akala mo ang layo-layo ng paghahatiran sa akin, straight charge sa card so  di na ako makukunsumi sa pagprepare ng change, at bago pa lahat halos ng mga sasakyan. Pero ang pinakatotoo nyan, gusto ko maexperience makasakay sa iba-ibang cars para may idea ako sa "feel" nila at di na ako mahirapan should I decide to finally buy a car hehehe. Meron na akong na-eliminate actually hehe. Sana makasakay ako sa Suzuki Ertiga. I'd like to check if spacious talaga and if di bumpy.
9. First undas ng tatay ko sa November 1. Need to go home. Baka magtampo eh. Syempre iba daw ang undas sa anniversary nya hehe.
10. Ilang days na lang 'til Christmas. No solid Christmas and New Year plans yet.

Fully Loaded Saturday

My friend and I squeezed in 2 activities into our schedules yesterday. In addition, I have another event to go to in the evening while my friend needs to go home to do some house chores. To help us manage our time well, we specified the exact time we should be spending for each event. 

Confucius Institute Day

My friend took up Chinese classes at the Confucius Institute in Ateneo so she learned about this event. I was expecting that there will be Chinese food so I went with her hahaha! When we got to the place, I felt a little awkward because most were students (high school and college) hehehehe. Anyway, there was an exhibit of everything related to the Chinese culture. There were also several activities like games, photobooth, making Chinese lanterns, and videoke featuring Chinese songs. Food? You need to complete the stamp before you can have siopao and siomai hehehehe. Since we were feeling out of place, we just tried one game, hoop, where you throw a rounded wire into a bottle of water. You have 3 tries. I did not get any. But I got one stamp hehehe. We left after a few minutes.

I also took a brochure of their short courses. Side story: I have this crazy plan of wanting to try to study in UP Diliman, La Salle, and Ateneo, either taking up full courses or just short courses hehe. I have started the MTM program in UP with the intention of finishing it. For Ateneo, and La Salle, maybe short courses will do :).

2015 Work at Home Expo

From Makati, we went straight to Bayanihan Center in Kapitolyo, Pasig to catch what's left of the Work at Home Expo. We reached the place at 11:30 AM and fortunately, there were still talks at the main hall in the afternoon so we registered and spent some time to check out the sponsors' booths. We went for a quick lunch at Jollibee Pioneer Center (we were shooting for a non-fastfood place that's also cheap but this is the best option we had so....) and back to the events place few minutes before 1 PM in time for the afternoon sessions. We were able to listen to 5 resource speakers.

• Joe Maristela of Katalyst.ph: His talk focused on how he started and operated his business in the US, right in his bedroom. He is a proponent for work at home because it is more efficient that way. He moved his operations to Manila recently and is now also into angel investing.

• Marilen Montenegro of Marilen.ph: Her topic was on Balancing Business, Home and Heart. She shared her tips on how to balance your business, home and family. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures of her presentation slides but I think all the things she shared are also in her blog.

• Impact Hub Manila (I forgot the name of the speaker): The focus of his talk is about coworking. It's basically sharing a space with other people, instead of working at the confines of your home or in coffee shops. With this setup, you get to network with other freelancers.

• Anna Meloto-Wilk of Human Heart Nature: She shared how they started with Human Heart Nature. Right now, their main focus is social entrepreneurship and supporting/putting up foundations. Her dad is Antonio Meloto, founder of Gawad Kalinga.

• Teresa Dumadag of FullLifeCube.com: Her topic was on time management for the work at home parent. She discussed 3 success strategies in managing her time and living a full life: 1) PLAN how she uses her time; 2) Manages her time based on her PRIORITIES; 3) manages her time based on her clearly defined GOALS.

After listening to all these talks, paying the Php 100 entrance fee to the main hall was really worth it. I was somehow inspired. There were a lot of lessons that's not only applicable to work at home parents but basically to everyone who would like to find balance and live their lives to the fullest. 

I want to attend more similar events so as to get inspiration to go into entrepreneurship. I have always been an introvert so I always have self doubt that I can make it but it is one area that I want to venture into eventually. One little step at a time, even though sometimes, I feel that I am running out of time already. That's too many "times" in one sentence so I'm reminded again haha. Whew. 

Beloved: A Journey of Love Concert

And before ending my day, I went to a concert. I have talked about this in my previous post. No regrets about going here. It's like having a date with the Lord, serenaded by world-class singers. This was what I shared in my FB post few minutes after the event. "My reward for attending the fundraising concert of the Cenacle Sisters? Was serenaded by none other than Basil Valdez, Noel Cabangon, the Cenacle Sisters, Hangad, Himig Heswita, Bukas Palad Ministry, and the Ateneo Chamber Singers! Thanks Ed for sharing this event. Thank you Cenacle Sisters Retreat House for doing this and reminding us all that we are beloved. Bitin!!! Hoping and waiting for a repeat. :)

I felt all sorts of emotions, and some parts of my life's journey flashed back depending on the song hahaha. But most importantly, I felt that I truly am beloved, despite all my flaws. Amazing. 

Loved all the songs, and related them all to my life hahaha. Here were some of the songs, on top of my head: 

• Ikaw - for someone who came into my life just recently :)
• Hindi Kita Malilimutan - for Mama and Daddy, who are now our angels :)
• Lead Me Lord - our elementary graduation song, which I almost always remember when find myself at a crossroad
• Kanlungan - true, pana-panahon ang pagkakataon
• I Will Sing Forever - indeed, I will sing forever of your love Oh Lord (and cling forever to Your promised love)

Thank you, Lord for the gift of time.

Beloved: A Journey of Love Concert

* Image from Cenacle Retreat House's FB account *

A friend shared the photo above in his Facebook timeline and I did not hesitate to buy a ticket because it is a fund raising concert which will support the ministries of Cenacle Sisters. I'm sure it will be a lovely night because the concert goers will be serenaded by Basil Valdez, Noel Cabangon, Hangad and Himig Heswita, Bukas Palad Music Ministry, Ateneo Chamber Singers and the Cenacle Sisters themselves!

It's happening tomorrow, September 26, 2015 starting at 6:00 PM at the B.F. Rooker Auditorium, St. Paul College, Pasig City. 

Tickets are available at the following:

• Tanging Yaman Kiosk - 5F SM Megamall
• Tanging Yaman Store - Ateneo de Manila University
• Cenacle Retreat House - 59 Nicanor Reyes Street, Varsity Hills Subdivision, Loyola Heights, QC (Tel. #s: 0947-194394/0917-9932204/Jesuit Communications - 426-5971 local 113)

Ticket prices (free seating within each section):

• Upper Box - Php 300.00
• Balcony - Php 500.00
• Orchestra - Php 1,000.00
• Loge - Php 2,000.00

Side story: The Cenacle Retreat House was my refuge when I was hit by depression in 2014 (more on this in another post). I spent several days there last September 2014 to break away for a while from the reality that I had back then. After that personal retreat, I came out more hopeful that things will become better eventually. Going to this concert then is just a small way of giving back and saying my thanks to that community. Also, Sr. Susay who was my retreat master last year, will be singing so all the more that I want to go! :)

All set for the concert!

Of Online Gigs and Work at Home Thoughts

Thoughts of doing online gigs have been swirling in my mind lately. I can't help but imagine myself transitioning from a corporate adventurer to a work at home diva sometime in the future. To push things further, I just saw a blog sharing about a Work at Home (WAH) Expo 2015 happening this weekend haha.

And if ever I want to go that route, I think I need to somehow build an online presence. So, I have decided to make more effort in updating this blog at least once or twice a week hehe. It might be quite a challenge because most days are just work and home for me but let's see. Maybe I would eventually be inspired to inject some other activities in between hehe. However, I would still like to keep it personal so that I won't be pressured to write or share things that I'm not comfortable about sharing. Let's see how far this goes. And since it is still a personal blog,  it will contain different topics. I don't think I am ready to shift to a niche blog just yet. 

Happy Thursday!