Miguel's 2nd bday Jollibee Sienna 27jan08

I don't know what is it about Jollibee that makes every child in us jump with glee and hug the beejeezums out of the foam filled mascot. Never mind that we know that a poor Jollibee employee is sweating inside the suit. Never mind that the costume is soiled with ice cream smudges of childrens' fingerprints and according to Kiko, smells like socks. It's still Jollibee.

Cost Center NIghtmare

I currently have/had a project which was 3 years in the making. I came up with it as early as 2005 and only got the approval to proceed last year.

The reason why it took so long was the cost. The service provider gave me a quote of $10K to do the project (this was down from $20K). My boss pushed me to come up with the figures and present it to the head of the business for approval. I made my presentation and got his nod to proceed.

I was so overjoyed when it was approved. No more late nights for my people and the controls embedded in the program will eliminate, if not, decrease errors.

I submitted the signed approval to the provider and it was returned to me late last year as I have to get the approval of the head of the whole business as well as the business finance manager. Ok, fine. But since they were on leave, I was only able to accomplish this last Monday.

However, I was not able to indicate who's cost center it will be charged to. I asked my boss and she said it should be under the business head's cost. I went to the business head and he said, it should be under our cost. I went back to my manager who disagreed and said that it should be under the business head's cost center. Again, the business head disagreed. So I went back to my old boss and she then said that since we've transferred divisions, my new boss should approve it. Of course, my new boss was not in the loop before and was surprised that he was suddenly being charged $10K. With payback not in the same year and with a tight budget, he refused and I am now forced to cancel my project (which fortunately is only in the preliminary stages of data gathering).

For my readers who are not familiar with the corporate setting, you might have difficulty understanding what happened. But basically, I am so frustrated and discouraged. Sobrang sumama ang loob ko at naiyak ako sa sobrang inis. Because of that I left the office early. I told one of the team leaders to stay until the final upload to watch over the team and do some last minute sign-offs.

I'm ok with what I do right now. I like managing and leading a team. Somehow, it's times like these that really make me think twice on why I put up with it.

Mandarine Spa

Leo and I "discovered" a nice spa (Mandarine Spa) which was recommended to us by my father-in-law. Being the spa-addicts that we are, we readily tried out the place and was pleasantly surprised. Their foot reflexology service really hits the spot.

When you enter the reception area, they serve you tea with plum. They bring you then to this enclosed area with really comfortable seats. They make you change into a provided pajama sets. After you've changed, you soak your feet into these wooden tubs half-filled with hot (but tolerable--depends on your threshold for pain) water. While your feet happily soak, they give you a back massage (they use their elbows and arms).

Once you've been massaged and your feet are thoroughly soaked, they make you lie back on the comfy seats, put your feet up and give your feet a nice reflexology massage. During this time, I was already asleep (hopefully, not snoring).

The massage lasts for an hour and and 30 minutes (I think) and costs only P480 (tip not included). Not bad considering the service and the ambiance.

Unfortunately, for those in the North, you have to go all the way to Alabang to indulge. Their shop is located at Casa Susana beside Alabang Town Center. Their phone number is 809-6108.

Leo and I have visited them for 2 consecutive weeks already. We'll probably be regulars from now on.

January Weddings

This month is full of weddings--well relatively.

My hubby and I were invited to the wedding of a former boss. However, as the invitation arrived quite late, we made plans already and were unable to go. If I knew about it earlier, I would've gone. Instead, we had lunch at my father's house in Makati. We gave them our pasalubongs from Bangkok.

Yesterday, we attended the wedding of my one-down. He has been planning this wedding for less than a year and he's so excited over it. He obviously loves his girlfriend (now wife) very much. The wedding was held at Manila Cathedral with the reception at Ibarra's.

The beautiful bride was crying as she walked down the aisle. I remarked that I did not cry during my own walk. Actually, in our wedding, I was on the verge of crying while waiting outside the church. However, when the giant wooden doors of St. James opened and I saw all the flashing cameras and people looking at me, the tears just stopped. I just concentrated on smiling.

The reception was fun to watch--especially the garter and bouquet "tossing" tradition. One of our male officers (who happens to be gay), was roped into the garter ceremony. He got the garter and one of the female officers got the bouquet. It was hilarious watching his reactions to the whole thing.

At the end of the month will be the wedding of one of our friends in Mandaluyong. She has also been planning this wedding for a year. Good luck!

2008 Personal Projects

In lieu of new year resolutions, here are my 2008 Personal Projects:

1. Eat healthier
Every year, I always note down as #1 is to lose weight. Somehow, I've figured out that to lose weight I would either need to: go to the gym, find a sport or go on a diet. Thinking about it, my gym days are over and I don't have time to find a sport. Diet is also not my cup of tea so I decided to just eat healthier. My husband is into it so hopefully, I'll be influenced by his food choices.

2. Get a non-prof driver's license
As I mentioned in my previous posts, I'm dependent on the driver to bring me to the shuttle terminal every morning and for him to pick me up at night. I'm also dependent on the shuttle schedules which prevents me from going home the time I want. Hopefully when I get my license, I can bring the car to work and go home anytime I want.

3. Go back to school
I still have 2 subjects (6 units) to go before I can take my OCE. Leo already graduated this year and I hope to follow his footsteps.

4. Have a laser eye surgery
This has always been on my list. I don't know if this is possible though considering the cost. Nevertheless, it's still in my to-do list.

5. Visit my mom and sister in the US
And other relatives too. My husband and I are planning to visit the US later this year just in time for my sister to give birth. I would want to see my new niece/nephew as I'm sure it will be a long time next I will see him/her.

6. Go to Disneyland
When I went to the US when I was 11 years old, that was I told the consul when I was applying for a VISA. Unfortunately, I was not able to go and my dream to visit Mickey Mouse land was never realized. Hopefully this year, we can do this.

7. Visit another place in the country
We managed to visit Palawan in 2007 for our honeymoon. Hopefully we can go to Cebu or some other province one of the long weekends. Probably Boracay too. Leo has not been there and it was a LOOONG time ago since I've been there.

8. Finish our photo albums and scrapbooks
I have this one big chest full of pictures that I want to put into an album or scrapbook but have not the time to make it happen. Maybe this year.

9. Regularly visit my doctor
I was supposed to return to my doctor on October last year but was not able to go. I just returned this morning--two months after my schedule. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to the schedule.

10. Celebrate our first year wedding anniversary
Not as extravagant as our wedding--just something to commemorate the event. Leo and I have not decided what we'll do or where we'll go but hopefully it will be something memorable.

A New Year

Ever since I started my blogsite, I made it a habit of writing down my Personal Projects for the year and posting it on the sidebar. It's a permanent reminder for me on what I would want to do for the year. So far, it helped.

Last year, I managed to mark out 6 out of the 10 items noted down. Not bad. A 60% achievement rate is more than what I've expected. Considering last year was the worst, yet best year of my life.

Worst because I hit rock bottom with my worklife. I never realized I could feel that way with my work. I finally found my way out and have moved on. As the saying goes, when you've hit rock bottom, there's no way to go but up.

My paternal grandparents also passed away, four months away from each other. I also visited funeral parlors to pay my respects and condole with different families almost every other month. That's a record for me considering in the past, it's already an anomaly if I visit a wake more than once a year.

I also had a major operation wherein they had to take out my swollen appendix. The cost of the operation alone is enough to buy a second hand car (to think I only stayed for a day).

All those things were put aside though by one life changing event that happened this year on September 1--I got married to the man I love. A lot of friends also got pregnant and gave birth. Together with the deaths comes the baby boom. The circle of life in full effect.

Work-wise, I returned to my old unit where it began to feel like home. I moved on and hopefully, I've learned my lesson.

Hopefully 2008 will be better than 2007. I'm beginning to feel hopeful.

Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 4

Being our last day, Leo wanted to check out another mall at Central Chidlom.

We had our last breakfast at the hotel, checked out early and left our bags with the concierge. We took a few pictures of our hotel and of our surroundings.

The second picture was taken at the overpass near our hotel. You can't believe that this street will be full of cars by mid-afternoon. A New Year's countdown party is scheduled to happen that night in front of Centralworld.

We then walked towards Central Chidlom. As the malls don't open til 10AM, we waited at a nearby Burger King.

Central Chidlom is like Rustan's (although I like Rustan's better). We bought more pasalubongs and Leo bought more stuff. We went around for an hour and returned to Big C to have an early lunch at KFC as we will be picked up at noon by the van which will bring us to the airport.

The airport looks beautiful in the daylight. It looks so imposing when you drive towards it. It's design lets in a lot of natural light. They also have nice set-ups inside where you can take pictures.

(note the shoes. This was the shoes I bought in Siam. Such a comfortable pair).

This set-up, if I remember it correctly, was near the entrance and check-in counters.

Speaking of check-in counters, it's really different compared to our NAIA. They have hundreds of check-in counters all over the place. And the counter was already open when we arrived.

After checking-in, we went through immigration and customs and walked towards our gate. The airport is actually a mall extension. Lots of brand shops going to the gates. It also helps that they have a walkalator.

Our flight was thankfully on time. We left Bangkok at 305PM and arrived in Manila 715PM. We were home by 9PM. Just in time for the fireworks.

Bangkok was a wonderful experience. Too bad we did not have enough time to go out of the city to see the floating market or experience Chatuchak. Or even Phuket! Maybe in the future.

Until my next travelogue.