Rushing Trains

Last 2011:

1. I was at the peak of my work for about 3 months (12-14 hours of quality work daily) when I launched a new brand
2. Had my first opportunity to travel Italy and France. And had my first taste of Italian and French. Food, i mean ;)
3. Got promoted.
4. Won the prestigious 7th YMMA Awards for marketing
5. Finished 2 21k run, 1 x 16k run, 1 x 10k run.
5. Finished a short cooking course and validated my love for cooking.
6. Fell in love (and as I write, still madly, madly in love)
7. Started classes in Spanish. Y...ahora, estoy todavia estudiando la idioma. Es muy muy deficil. lol.
8. Still amazed how #6 and #7 suddenly became related to each other (!)

This 2012:

1. I seek a new greener opportunity outside the fence
2. Visit Spain (for work, and some leisure) and India/Nepal (for leisure)
3. Cook more and have more people sample my food
4. Do freelance writing
5. Prepare for my MBA
6. Continue being madly in love
7. See Boracay in a different way this summer
8. Get an even fitter and more mirror-conscious body, lol
9. Do more charity work as I've done in 2010. One for my birthday and the other during Xmas again.
10. Improve my people management skills at work.

I turned 26 last July 1.

Got my ("finally") confirmed promotion to Senior Product manager last July 14.

and then in the past 2 weeks, I attended a conference in Torino, Italy and extended for a personal backpack trip to Venice, Florence, Rome, and then Paris. I survived traveling alone. It was life-changing.

So many things that have happened in this month. I'm so overwhelmed. And I am so in love still, lol.

I'm turning 26 this July. At this age, I've pretty much figured out that I'm the kind of guy who easily gets bored after doing or achieving something that I've longed for.

There are so many things that I still want to be good at (and where space for improvement is definitely big). Badminton for one is a sport I think I can still further polish.

This weekend, I had this painful feeling deep inside my chest of wanting to just drop out of the corporate world and do what I love with no pressure---cooking. If I were born to a wealthy family without the need to pay for my own bills, I would leave marketing and cook, and cook, and then start my own restaurant. Don't get me wrong, I do love marketing. But I've also fallen for cooking. Marketing will always be there especially when I start building my empire of restaurants, lol. When people say that you have to follow your heart, I think its cooking for me.

I'm a bit scared actually. I also have an MBA to sign up for in 2013 in NUS and I don't know where the cooking venture can actually fit in. So help me God.

Yesterday was bliss. We checked out of the hotel in the morning, did some regretful shopping (mostly office clothes) and escaped to spend the rest of the day at Samal beach.

I slept, read a few pages of the book I’m reading, had my dinner, and had a hard massage---all at the beachfront. Now, why didn’t I think of doing this in my earlier lifetime of stress.

You know that orgasmic feeling of eating right after you hit the waters? I realized that it was this awesome familiar feeling that I’ve longed for so many years. I was shoving spoons of rice, atchara and pork liempo and chicken barbecue into my mouth and i was like, “Lord, can I just be like this forever?” haha.

I’ve been reading “Eat Pray Love” since holy week and I know its a very girl-y book to read, but it does complement the vacation i’m having ight now. I try to cover the book when I read it in public haha, but oh well. If there’s Nick Hornby for intelligent dick lit (and I mean 10x better than those usual designer books), then its Susan Gilbert for chic lit. Or actually, I don’t mean to categorize her book as such. It’s a travelogue of sorts, but written in a fashion that provokes how women are women.

Its 8am now and I can barely feel the sun which is good because that means getting breakfast at around 10am later by the beach won't be that hot. In the meantime, I'll do some more reading (my work colleague, Des, is still sleeping in her bed and one important info that I'm really taking home with me is this---she snores! and I mean loud! haha). Ciao!

We're halfway down the road in launching our new brand. Our AVP drafts are done, my prints up for approval...things are looking good (this blog isn't supposed to be for updating work-related stuff, but hey I'm really excited lately with the progress).

Stayed at home during the holy week. Did DVD marathon til it hurt, lol (I had Neon Evangelion Genesis, FullMetal Alchemy, Junior Masterchef, and well, some porn). And did some homework too.

Tonight, I'm watching (or more like listening) to John Mayer's "Where The Light Is" (live in LA). I am so amazed with this guy's music, and his guitar tricks. I literally grew up with his music since college. John Mayer said it himself, he's more of a guitarist than a singer. He's a poet for me though. Simply great lyrics. The set he's playing is the same old set of songs I've been playing in my car since God knows when, but when you have your room loaded with a home theater system (which I'm ridiculously still paying for :p), the experience just becomes refreshing, and well, orgasmic.

Met someone last night. Still can't get over it. And can't wait to meet up again next week. Have to be in Davao for almost a week for work, and wish I didn't have to :| so I'd see this really interesting acquaintance again). On the bright side, I'm gonna be soaking in the beach this weekend, and try water rafting (or actually, everyone at work is required to :p). Later!

This week made me so much stronger. I'm a bit exhausted as I type this, but am I ever glad that the weekend is embracing me like a church would on a Sunday.

This week, we had 2 video shoots for a brand I'm launching in June---all of which took longer than expected (wee hours of the morning, man). We're bound to shoot some more, and how I just really wish there was someone cute to oggle at to ease the stress. Sadly, none so far.

A week ago, I bumped into someone's car (very minor, but reckless of me nonetheless) while beating the number coding scheme in the afternoon, and made me unnecessarily throw away some cash. The agreed payment was lower than I expected and I feel so lucky to have settled it fast, and practically painless (the other party was generously kind). I was texting while driving, and I learned a lot from this experience.

On the bright side, I won a case worth 6-digits against a telco company (ironically close to my heart) which I complained was charging me irresponsibly over some GPRS use. It took 10 months to resolve that and am I finally glad its over. OVER. (i've been quiet about this for some time so as not to jinx it, but hey, i'm ready to share this story now to the world--i really make a good case as a lawyer).

Today, I'm off to shop for a mattress enhancer, an LCD TV (ugh, I'd feel so poor after this) and that album of Whitest Boy Alive which I discovered from Tim's car. And then, I'm gonna get more sleep.

I had a usual dinner interface with a doctor tonight. Moments like this feel like a routine already. You enjoy good food in a nice restaurant, the medrep introduces you to the doctor, you get to know the doctor personally, and you consult matters about your brand. Work is done.

This one was different. The urologist brought with him his wife who was also so cool. After finishing our work agenda, we spent 4 hours talking about so many things---traveling around the country, the recent tragedy in Japan and how dignified the Japanese are despite all the troubles, Anime series and movies, and sci-fi/thriller books. It was so refreshing! To think that this dinner was intended for work, I never thought a dinner conversation could be this good. I wish all conversations were like this. No, actually, I wish all doctors were like him.

p.s. it was my first time to dine at Momo at eastwood, and I love the flavors of their menu. Very new york-y, and reminds me of Chelsea, only cheaper. Will definitely go back.

Last night, I treated my mom and sister to watch Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, now in its 3rd year of rerun. I saw this wildly funny musical in 2008 and thought of sharing the laughter with my family. Except for the pyrolympics in MOA which caused bad traffic in entire Manila and stressed me out (and surely some of the guests who also got almost late), the show was a total riot! Definitely a stress reliever

I forgot that my car was up for coding today. I realized this while I was already driving along C5 around 7:30am. I knew there was a big chance avoiding the MMDA personnel (I've done it twice) but unfortunately, a man wearing that familiar blue uniform hailed me. With a defeated look, I pulled over, got my license card and handed it like a kid surrendering to his mom a vase he just broke.

I sighed, "Sorry po, nakalimutan ko po na coding ako."

"Ganun po ba sir." the officer replied. "Saan po ba ang punta nyo?"

"Makati po."

"Ahhh, papunta kasi ako ng Kalayaan. Pwede ba makisakay sa'yo at ako ang bahala kung huhuliin ka ng mga kasama ko. Yun ay kung magtitiwala ka sa akin."

I knew the guy wasn't playing any jokes. He looked like a 45 to 50 year old decent man. The fatherly type. So I let him jump onto the passenger's seat.

In the next 20 minutes, he talked about his life. His two children finishing college, his college degree in marketing ("ahh, marketing ka din pala, ako rin, kaso dito ako napadpad"), and how he wished MMDA would give more compensation to people like him (he's been in MMDA for 20 years now, and is currently supervising a portion of Pasig).

"Alam mo, bata ka pa. Dapat mag-masteral ka." he added while he was swinging the door when he bid goodbye. He gave me his number and told me I can call him if I "encounter problems with the MMDA."

I knew it was wrong. But I felt so defenseless and I didn't know what to say. Half of me wanted to reason out, "Manong huliin nyo po ako, huwag nyo ibalik ang lisensya ko, mali po ang ginawa ko eh." LOL. It was really really wrong because I know I'd loathe someone who ended up in my position and didn't do anything about it.

Instead, I turned the volume of my radio up again. With a guilty heart, I welcomed relief as I entered the modern, speckless roads of coding-less Taguig city.

Got an eye-drooling, mouth-watering compensation raise today. And getting 1.5x month bonus salary for exceeding my targets last year. Not bad. Ok, now off to pay those credit cards, lol.

I'm listening to Adele's new album. Ten thousand times like. She may be...voluptuous, but her goddamn voice is sexy.