2016 Week 14 Recap: Ad hoc project = Hectic

March 28 - April 2, 2016

And just like that, we're done with the 1st quarter of 2016. Whew!

Work

The ad hoc project where we need to fix systems ASAP made the team busy last week. The kind of busy that you need to extend hours most of the days to get things done. What a relief when Friday rolled in hahaha.

Anyway, most of the target deliverable for last week were completed. The ones left were not really critical but still needs to be checked nonetheless. We are moving on to the next step this week and next week, and that's the end user's testing. Crossing my fingers that there will be no issues. Otherwise, it means we did not test well hehe.

Oh, and finally, the vendor for another project showed up. Pero hay naku pa rin!

Living Quarters

So it's really bye Sky Cable for me since last week. My digibox was pulled out last Wednesday. The coming bill should be my last.

Weekend

We availed of a promo at Lee Hak Korean Restaurant at Pioneer Center, Kapitolyo, Pasig. Php 322 for a weekend lunch buffet, unlimitted iced tea included. To me, the food was ok for the price (but I'm not choosy in general). According to my friend who is more versed in anything Korean, their food was somewhat "Filipinized". While the selection may be few for some, it was enough for me as it's not overwhelming which ones to choose. They don't have much dessert options though. I guess there were just 2 fruits. But for that price, I think we got our money's worth. 

We dropped by EDSA Shangri-la because my friend was interested to check out the wedding expo to get some ideas for her brother who sometimes does styling in weddings. While the prices were overwhelming, we enjoyed all the displays. We were especially amazed by the Ecuadorian roses displayed by one supplier. They had big, beautiful roses!

Beautiful Ecuadorian roses in different colors!

We were amazed by these roses in glass (or not sure if it's plastic) bubbles!

Golden Winterland, which I liked the most. Simple and clean. I'm sure your color motif will be highlighted if you have this setting in your reception. Ganda lang!

We also passed by a Starbucks event at the Shang mall so we spent a few minutes there. There were lectures about their different types of coffee and demo on their new coffee presses. We were treated to free coffee in different variety. It was good to know that the Kape Vinta coffee beans is from  the Philippines. 

From the Starbucks website

From the Starbucks website

Random thoughts while we were in that event.

Me: I want to get rich through agriculture. Why can some people do it and we can't?

Friend: You need to have hectares of land so that you can produce enough to supply the big chains.

Me: nuninuninuni

But let's see about this dream. There has to be a way.

We went to Megamall less than an hour before closing time to check out the treadmills. 

Sunday was spent doing some domestic chores and mass.

I hope you all had a great week. Cheers to another great week ahead.

2016 Week 12 Recap: Eating Galore

Work

So, while we were busy closing all the issues on a major project so that we can move on to the next stage, a teammate accidentally discovered that our system is running out of employee numbers in the 6 series. End result if we don't fix this? Some will not be paid. While there is always the option to go manual, it's complicated and will have more room for human errors when you're in a BPO where operations is 24 hours. Given this, we need to implement the fix in one month or less...or else....hahaha. Kaya 'to. Join forces lang at kulit kulit lang sa mga testers para bilisan nila.

On another note, the March birthday celebrants and those newly hired (for their first blood) treated the team to buffet dinner at Don Day. Busog lusog for everyone hehehe.

Living Quarters

Unfortunately, the pechay I planted did not survive sniff sniff sniff :(. Maybe it's the weather and my limited location. My aunt said it would have been better if they get the morning sunshine. Mine gets the afternoon sunshine eh. The soil may be another factor. Not too fertile. I'll make some compost first this summer so that it gets fertilized. I'll try to plant again during the rainy season when the heat is more forgiving.

Weekend

We were supposed to visit Pinto Museum but had to postpone for some other time. My friend is going through a rough time and does not feel like going out. So, instead, I just treated her to a buffet dinner at Seven Corners at Crown Plaza Manila Galleria. Lamon pa more hehehe. Plus, there's a 50% off on your birth month if you pay using your BDO credit card. But I think that's just if there are 2 of you eating. It's a different discount (I think) if there's 3 or more. The information is in BDO's site.

It's Palm Sunday today, the official start of the Holy Week. Just attended the mass this morning. 

Dropped by SM Megamall for some errands. Also checked out the National Food Fair at the Mega Trade Hall. All regions in the entire country are represented. Most stalls have free taste hehehe. It's always good to see entrepreneurs showcase their products. I'm amazed at their entrepreneurial skills for them to be able to come up with a unique product that can be showcased in events such as this. I always wonder where my entrepreneurial sense is every time I see events such as this hehe. Hopefully, the DTI do these types of things more frequently. Or maybe they do, I'm just not updated. 

I also wanted to buy some of the products but I had to control myself because I'll be out most days of next week so I'll be turning off my ref.

That's it pansit! I'm excited to go home this Holy Week. Time to bond again with the nieces. No outing. Maybe just a picnic at Burnham on Easter Sunday but we'll see. I'll just stay home for the rest of the break.

Got to go for now. I'm watching he PiliPinas Debates 2016 via live streaming. It's entertaining but I also cringe sometimes at some of the answers. 

I hope you all had a great week. Cheers to another great week ahead.

2016 Week 11 Recap: Hectic But All Good

March 7-13, 2016

Work

It was a bit stressful last week but we got by so still good in general. Some of my timelines were affected though so need to strategize on those this week.

Living Quarters

I was expecting Sky Cable last Saturday to disconnect my line and get the digibox. I waited until 6 PM but no one came. Need to follow up again. Kaloka sila. 

Weekend

One word-hectic. Hehe. But all good.

We attended the Financial Wellness seminar last Saturday sponsored by BDO. I learned new things, and some of my personal thoughts were validated. More on this in another post. 

We also watched Les Miserables on Saturday night. Those actors and actresses must be so talented, skilled and focused to be able to memorize everything, act, sing and set up their props real time. While I have watched the movie in the past, seeing the play on stage was a totally different experience worth spending time and money for. It was a night to remember. 

On Sunday, we were supposed to visit the National Museum. Oh wait, we were already there at around 2 PM. However, the line was a little bit long and slow moving and the sun was so unforgiving emitting so much heat. We just aborted the plan and decided to visit another time but ensuring that we go there early the next time around.

From National Museum, we went to Rustan's to avail of Wacoal's promo and a little window shopping for luggage. 

Went home earlier than usual as I still had to attend the mass at 6PM and should be home before 8PM for my massage. 

I hope you all had a great week. Cheers to another great week ahead.

2016 Week 10 Recap: Patience is a Virtue

February 29 - March 6, 2016

Work

I had challenges working with a new colleague that. It was a real test of my patience but I still tried to be patient given the circumstances. Lesson have been learned and I can pat my back for surpassing the test on patience. It was a test because I am not the most patient person there is hehehe. I am thankful for her presence because she's really teaching me to be patient and we are still moving forward with tasks anyway so no sweat.

I got so drained last Wednesday that I requested for work from home. I just honestly told my boss that I need some peace and quiet after the crazy Wednesday. I am again thankful that she granted my request.

We completed our second session on strategic planning and the team has a good and doable plan. I'm excited to introduce change in one of our documentations. That should speed up our work while ensuring that it is still understandable to both our clients and our developers. I'll pilot test it in my current project. Hopefully, the other boss wouldn't be too surprised of the new format hehehe. I'll convince him that change is good. Haha!

Living Quarters

Finally got a confirmation from SkyCable that my request for deactivation was filed. More details of how it finally happened here. Earliest disconnection will be March 12. I'm patiently waiting. I just want to say bye bye to one bill, regardless of the small amount hehehe.

I also got my dormant Metrobank account reactivated. I just need to request for reactiviation of my online account though. I'll do that next week. 

And finally, I was able to get my niece's first Confirmation of Participation for her BDO EIP. More details here. So happy and excited for her and hope she stays focused on her savings. 

Weekend

I planned on staying at home to do the laundry and update my blog's layout. So that's what I did. I spent the whole Saturday afternoon onwards searching for templates with minimalist theme. Unfortunately, I was not successful. I've downloaded everything that I liked and tried it all but not even one perfectly suited my current layout without me having to tweak it. So, I just resorted to what's available in Blogger for now. I'll try again some other time. Anyone who knows where I can get free templates other than what's on Blogger?

On Sunday, first on the agenda was to attend mass. Hay. Another test of faith and of being good while inside the church. I got annoyed because someone had the guts to take a selfie while the mass was ONGOING. While all of us already stood up, she was still sitting there for her selfie. It was so annoying but I just tried to focus on the mass itself (which was hard by the way, because she was in front of me hehe). And ironically, the gospel was the Prodigal Son, so that's about forgiveness and all. But anyway, moving on...

I went to Shang for some peaceful mall and lunch time before going to Megamall for my weekly grocery. Went home right after and cooked my weekly lunch. I work mid shift so to save money, I must ensure that I eat lunch at home so that I'll only spend for one meal outside.

Just finished watching The Intern. Good movie on girl power. I liked the ending. 

That's about it. Getting excited for the coming weekends because I have some things planned. And it's my and the BF's birthday month. I still can't believe that we share the same month and his comes a day after mine. Ha!

I hope you all had a great week. Cheers to another great week ahead. Goodnight for now. Trying to sleep early so that I can start training myself to become an early riser.

*Image from here*

SkyCable: How to Deactivate Subscription

I'm not using my cable anymore since I bought the TV Plus from a colleague for 50% off the market price last December. Once I was able to set that up, I sent an email to SkyCable for my request...and the reason why I resorted to email was because no one was answering their hotline EVERY TIME I CALL THEM. Unfortunately, even my EMAILS did not get noticed. 

What worked? Twitter! I sent them a tweet yesterday (not thru DM) telling them that I want my subscription deactivated. Diretsahan na, wala nang paligoy-ligoy. Aba, reply agad and asked me to send them a DM. They requested for my account details, reason for deactivation and if there is no one  where I can transfer the service instead of disconnection. Sorry, none hehe. Just this morning, someone replied that my request has been facilitated and that the earliest schedule for pull out of the Digibox will be on March 12. Yehey! The digibox will also be deactivated prior pull out, and that the service fee is Php 356.00. Pfftt! Ok, fine!

I also inquired if they can prorate my bill since the latest covers up to March 16 but they did not address that. Anyway, fine, as long as they pull it out ASAP and stop charging me.

P.S. Nothing against SkyCable (well maybe, except for their customer service hehehe). I just seldom watch TV these days so I'm ok to let that go.

Gardening: How I Planted Pechay

Actual pechay seeds

This year, I'll try growing some vegetables in the apartment. I only have a "balcony" outside the window to put my pots. Also, given the weather in Manila, I'm not sure if my plants will survive but I still want to try it anyway. 

It will also be my first time to grow vegetables in pots and plastic seedbed (this is used to grow seeds to young plants before they are transferred to a garden or field). 

For my first try, I planted pechay.  Again, this is just my first try so I don't know yet if I'll be successful or not. But I hope I will be :).

What you need:

• Pechay seeds - I used the flowering variety and bought it from a farm supply in Baguio because it's cheaper there. Got it for Php 25.00. I think in supermarkets here, the prices start at Php 50.00.
• Soil - brought it from Baguio in the past. Too expensive in Ace Hardware :p. I cannot really convince myself to spend that much on soil so I just brought down some every time I went home. But wait, talo ako ng friend ko...maleta ang dala nya para sa lupa hehehe....
• Plastic seedbed - I saw this lying in the backyard, used by my late father. I just got it to see if I can use this. You can use any other container like water bottles or plastic as long as it can hold soil.
• Water

Steps:

1. Put soil in the seedbed. Don't push it down too hard so that the soil does not become compact, thus roots will have a hard time to spread/grow. If there are clumped soil, break it into almost fine particles.
2. Water it. (I had the mistake of planting the seeds first before watering and the soil sank a little and I worried that the seeds may have been buried deeper than they should be hehe)
3. Plant seeds. Just dip your middle finger in the soil until it sinks to about 1/4 inches deep, drop one seed, then cover with soil. 

NOTES: 

• If you are using bigger pots, distance of seeds from each other should be about 4 inches.
• Be careful to just take out enough seeds from its container as bringing out all but not using it might contaminate the rest of the seeds.
• Be sure to seal the pack if there are still seeds in it. Better yet, keep it in a tightly sealed container (like bottle, just how I remember my parents store leftover seeds back in the day) and away from direct sunlight.
• For those in Makati---a friend who lives there (at least in the San Antonio area) told me that their barangay is giving soil for free for those who are interested in growing their own vegetables. 

That's it. I did not put any fertilizers. I don't plan to use pesticides either since this is just for home consumption. 

Pack of pechay

Information at the back of the pack

The plastic seedbed after putting soil in it. No plants yet 

For its maintenance, I just ensure that the soil is moist so that's watering it every other day. 

Two days after planting, there were signs of growing plants already. As of this writing, they are around 4 inches tall, but still so...thin hehe.

Looking forward to my first harvest after 40 days.

P.S. I'm struggling with some of the correct terminologies in gardening. Note to self: wag kalimutan ang pinanggalingan. Aralin ang English terms ng mga nakasanayang gardening terms sa sariling wika.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an Agriculture graduate. I am also not an expert in gardening. I just happen to be a gardener's daughter so what I know is limited to what we were asked to work on in our small garden. As I mentioned here, most of our work as children were in the preparation of the plots, watering the plants, weeding out, and harvesting. Not really so much on planting. If I relate that to office work, most of our tasks back then were just the boring, routinary admin stuff hehe.

Living Quarters: MERALCO Bill

I always thought that my MERALCO bill was too high as compared to my other friend who has almost the same set of appliances as mine and who frequently uses hers. Namamahalan ako kasi in the first place, wala naman akong aircon :p. I only have a TV, ref, a microwave oven (mostly used), an electric stove (which I only use when I do batch cooking), 1 electric fan, iron, laptop (which I don't use everyday), my router which is turned on as long as I'm home, and gadgets to charge. I also turn off lights at night and at daytime. I unplug everything (except for the ref) when I go out.

So for several months now, I was looking for ways to lower it. One of the big factor was the TV. I used to watch TV all day, especially on weekends. Sometimes, I don't really watch. I just turn it on for the sound. Every night, I also watch ANC's replay of On The Money. However, I guess they have rearranged programs and it's not showing at its usual time slot. Then I got tired of all the commercials and political ads so I just stopped watching. Plus, I became comfortable with silence so turning on the TV means noise now. I still watch from time to time but very seldom. The TV is seldom used since September, hence, one of my goals for this month is to cut my cable subscription. It has lowered my electric bill but I still think it's high. During these months, I was averaging from Php 700 - Php 900 in my bill. Lower than the usual more than a thousand pesos!

In December, I went home for the holidays so I decided to consume all perishable goods and turn off the ref. It was turned off for 13 days, these days covered in my current bill. The result? See below.

MERALCO Bill

This is by far the lowest I got to date hehe. So....looks like the biggest contributor is the ref. Well, maybe it's because it's more than a decade old already. It's not one of those energy efficient models which are abundant these days. Anyway, I'm still not changing it unless absolutely necessary. I'll just continue to consciously turn it off when not needed.

Now that I'm almost back to regular programming (aka staying at home especially on weekends), let's see how my next bill will be. 

I wonder how others keep their electric bills to a minimum?