Farewell Paulo...

People come and go on our least expected time.

Paulo Clemente is our wedding singer/emcee and among our suppliers he and Ces (who takes care of coordination) are closest to our hearts. Xave and I always look forward on our meetings. They are very easy to talk to and very much into details. The last time we had our meeting was in Starbucks Alabang Town Center which ended so late almost 12 midnight if I remember it right.

Little did I know that that would be our last time to see and talk to Paulo. He collapsed the other day, went to ICU and had complications. He passed away last night.

It saddens me to hear the news more on losing a friend rather than my wedding getting affected. For me, wedding is just a one day affair. Marriage is a lifetime. I’m beginning not to panic that much anymore and hopefully do away of worrying. I know things will be alright without me stressing out.

I heard the news before lunch, right after I came back to the hotel from a meeting. I barely touch my food. I’m thinking of him. Picturing his face in my mind, the last time we talked the things we discussed and the espresso I handed him during our meeting. I can still vividly recall everything.

Life indeed is a breeze! You’ll never know when your time is.

Just right in time, I’m reading 5 People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It talks about death and life lessons. Plus the people who will meet you after dying.

Reading the book somehow will eradicate the fear in us of dying. But that doesn’t mean that I’m ready. (no, please not yet). So, whilst trying to finish my lunch my mind was thinking where he is now…

They say heaven is a place wherein your stay on earth will be given meaning. As for Paulo, he made a lot of brides and groom (couples) happy, us included. In spite the fact that he will not be able to sing during our wedding anymore. Indeed, it would be hard for us to get someone to replace him and we are not even sure if we can still find one.

Having the chance to know a good man like him is more than enough to us already.

Pau, our prayers are with you. We will miss you…

For Paulo’s website, click here.

2 days in KL

2 weeks passed and I can’t believe I’ve survived this long! 13 days feels like 130 days. I admire a friend of mine, Jeng who is in Spain now for school and I guess she has to be there for years. I wonder what she does every time she thinks of home, her family, old friends and hmm, Pinoy food! Jeng, I always admire you for being so independent (since highschool). *smiles* How's your W-plans?

When I left Penang yesterday for Kuala Lumpur, I bid goodbye to my girl friends and I was in sudden state of being where in I didn’t want to move towards the door. I felt my heart sort of tighten (of course, I’m exaggerating) because I felt the pain in them. The sadness in their moisten eyes speak a thousand words. They all wanted to go home. Proven, it is always easier to leave than be left. (in all phases!)

Btw, for some of you wondering what am I doing here in KL. There is a Dell office (aside from the one in Penang, which is the head quarters if I may say) here located in Cyberjaya where my team is based. Failed to take pictures, I was extremely busy the whole day.

Hmm, maybe I can share my hotel room and bathroom instead. *beams* I always have this thing for very nice rooms and bathrooms. Err, I think I have mentioned it many times here already. Sorry for the redundancy. *smiles*

Here you go…

King size bed just for Moi, my work table on the left side

I opened the sliding door so you can see my bathroom on the right side

bathroom main door

and this is my bathroom

my sink which I find small...

my tub for my warm bubble bath
Robes that I rarely use, too big for me...
The TV failed to impress me

My bed minus me *hehehe* I like the effect of the headboard lights

This is Shangrila Putrajaya by the way which is far better than my hotel in Penang, Equatorial Hotel. But still, nothing compares to Ritz Hotel of Jakarta. Superb!I will post the picture here when I get back to Manila.

Woooohoooo! I can’t wait for tomorrow. I better wash up now and jump to bed. There’s only one flight going to Manila which is 10am, I can’t imagine myself missing it. *hahaha*

Goodnight peeps!

Last Minute Shopping

Today is my last night here in Penang, I’m going to KL tomorrow night. Before going to the hotel, I did my last minute pasalubong shopping…

Skinny jeans, cellphone straps, money clip and accessories bag

Time to pack my bag. So tired, I hope I can go to bed earlier. I still have a meeting that will about to start anytime now. *sob*

Bored Stiff

It’s me again. *smiles* What can you expect on someone so bored and no one to talk to? Blog! *heehee* Some friends picked me up at the hotel and we tried hawker for a lunch. Hawker is very popular here in Penang. When I checked the dictionary, I saw this:

hawk·er2 [haw-ker]
–noun
a person who offers goods for sale by shouting his or her wares in the street or going from door to door; peddler.

Except that they are not doing door to door or peddler. They are stationed by stalls in one location all together with a lot of tables and chairs (think Tiendesitas in Pasig, Manila). I failed to take pictures I damn forgot my camera! If I’d still have a chance to eat there on the coming days, I will definitely post photos here.

Time check, 4:50pm and I just had my hot bubble bath. It was so relaxing that I almost fall asleep. The sun is still up (I think, hahaha!) as I never open the curtains to make my bedroom cozy all the time. *wink*

It’s not my first time here in Malaysia but staying this long is a different experience for me (think, 2wks!). Sun up to sun down for 14 days! Oh by the way, speaking of sunrise and sunset for the number of times I’ve been here I didn’t notice that sun rises only at past 7am (yes, 7am is still dark as 5am in Manila) and sun sets at the same time in the afternoon. 6pm is still like 2pm sun is piercing my skin. I wonder why it was only now that I realized this and I remembered, all the time I was here before I was always inside a function room for business meetings. Never saw the outside in day time. *haha*

Oh dear, I better sign out now before I make a novel. *hahaha* I think I have to check my work email. Bye folks!

OFW

OFW stands for Overseas Filipino Worker.

I have this enormous admiration for all OFWs. Last night, I was in a house party and I had the privilege to meet a number of Pinoys (Filipinos) here mostly are working for IT industry --- Dell, IBM and Intel. Good companies I may say. They are truly blessed to have the opportunity to be working for these multi-national/multi-billion companies however, for the single people they have to sacrifice and be away from their families. Lucky for those who are married as they can bring their husband and children all expenses charged to the company they are working for children’s education and housing included. What a great deal, right? Who can say no to that?

Albeit all these, there’s still sadness in their eyes.

Everyday routine would be house-office-house. It’s all work! On weekends they go to the mall, eat out, shop and evenings are for house parties. They usually do house party hopping. One week can be at one’s place then the following week would be on someone else’s house. Eat, drink, kwentuhan, drink, dance. That’s their typical life here.

Then one moment I was thinking whether can I survive a set up like that and I heard myself whispered, “NO I can’t…”. *sob*

Today is my 7th day here and I’m beginning to feel gloomy. If not because of my friends and laptop, I’d weep! *haha* I can’t wait for Saturday!!!

To lighten up the mood, let me share with you some of our photos.

Queensbay Mall @ Starbucks

@ Jamie's appartment with all the Pinoys

Can you see those good food? Yummy! I suddenly miss my Mommy's kare kare *sob*

Surely, I will miss them all. On the contrary, we work in the same company and we have this thing in our laptops called communicator wherein we can keep in touch with anybody in Dell, worldwide. *smiles*

BEE Surprised...

It's weekend once again. I’ll have longer sleep and no reason to rush. Everything at my own pacing, I miss this life! *hahaha* But I still have to go back to my normal schedule come Monday. My countdown never ends…same goes with my lists! *wink*

Today I went to Queensbay mall with Karen for lunch. Before leaving the hotel, I promised myself not to buy at all. Argh! Prices in Malaysia are waaaaaay cheaper than Philippines. I can’t really help myself not to buy! My loot mostly from Roxy (my super favorite shop), Mango, Topshop and Forever 21 (not the ones you see in Manila ha, those are local stores a.k.a. copycat). For the benefit of others who do not know, Forever 21 is like Zara and they have in US and Singapore to name a few. You can also buy online. *smiles*

Oh, how can I leave without something for my Bee? I’m sure he will be surprised to see this.

Oakley Romeo 2.0

He’s been looking for this exact frame and titanium lens which is not available in Manila. I can’t wait to see him! *beams*

Here’s a peek of what I got for myself. *heehee* I really have this thing for Roxy, I don’t know why.

bag, multi-purpose bag/pouch and a belt (for office use)

Others packed in my luggage already, too late to take a snapshot…

I better get going, I’m attending a house party. Ciao!

What's your Value?

I’m not asking how much you make each day. Nor even the amount of money in your bank account. But I may ask how old you are; how much more time is left for you to make a “difference”…

There are pros and cons of being away from everyone. In my case, I tend to reflect on my life ---the things I do and what more to do (among others). I usually assess a lot of aspects in my life --- what did well, what went wrong? what needs to be done? If feels nice to have ample time for myself (a.k.a. “me time”), to pray and to catch up on my reading. *smiles*

This morning, I thought of changing a bit of my routine. I had breakfast before shower. I normally do it the other way around. I find it interesting to be seated in one place, observing people around me whilst I eat. *haha* I was in the hotel restaurant at 7am and looked at each people entering the door from different places, different nationalities, who were dressed differently and have variety of food on their plates…Then, I realized the common denominator --- everybody was in a hurry, very busy and seemed like there’s a lot of things running in their heads.

I wonder what’s on their mind...having the power to read peoples’ mind is something I would like to have even for a day. *hmmm*

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

An excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie

Do you happen to think this way? Have you thought about these questions? I do. I want to make a difference. I want to give meaning to my life and touch lives of people. How? That I have to answer by myself. *wink*

Detach!

Take any emotion --- love for a person, or a grief for a loved one, or fear and pain from a deadly illness. If you hold back on the emotions---if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way through them --- you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid. You’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief. You’re afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.

But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then you say, ‘All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.’

We fear, sometimes to the point of tears, but we don’t let those tears come because we are not supposed to cry. Or how we feel a surge of love for a partner but we don’t say anything because we’re frozen with the fear of what those words might do the relationship.

Turn on the faucet. Wash yourself with the emotion. It won’t hurt you. I will only help. If you let the fear inside, if you pull it on like a familiar shirt, then you can say to yourself, ‘All right, it’s just fear, I don’t have to let it control me. I see it for what it is.’

Same for loneliness: you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely --- but eventually be able to say, ‘All right, that was my moment with loneliness. I’m not afraid of feeling lonely, but now I’m going to put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I’m going to experience them as well.’

Detach.

excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie

Punta Fuego + Tagaytay

February 7 marks my 2nd month in Dell and spent 2 days in Punta Fuego for our FY09 business planning. It was a blast though I’m lacking some sleep.

First day we ended at 4am partying included. Second day was mere leisure and food tripping.

I can say I joined the company at the right time. Start of the fiscal year (February) and it’s always nice to be working with a clear direction and strategies set. A good leader as a boss who inspires and motivates people is a big bonus! *wink*

Crazy people: (Top-bottom) Albert, Mike, Allan, Apple, Ricky, Barry, Leng, Tey, Jamie, Pinky and Me


(Left - Right): Sarah. Me. Pinky. Jamie. Apple. Leng in Tagaytay


Dell Asia Pacific Sdn. Team


Tomorrow I will be leaving for a 2-week training in Malaysia together with Mike and Sarah. I don’t know if I will have spare time for blogging (I hope). I will be meeting some people there who used to be my officemates when I was in HP but remained as good friends. Expect a lot of pictures when I come back (Feb. 23). *wink*

Oh dear, 2 weeks is long…*sobs*

I better get going. I have to squeeze in my time to do a bunch of things.

Ciao!

Har...har...har!

Busy busy busy! Tired tired tired!

Thursday, I left office 130pm to meet up with Xave and do some stuffs for the wedding. I’m coding (thank God) so he was forced to pick me up and I was excused to drive. *wink* I slept in the car while he was scouting how to go to Kamias. Yes, we went to Kamias to meet the designer who will do his suit. Little did I know that we're going to Randy Ortiz and Xave was giving me this silly smile! He got what he wanted. Xave brought me back to the office as I need to read some mails and go to Greenhills after to meet up with my Samsung friends. Home by midnight.

Friday, I had to actually work from home to find time to talk to Xave on more details. We have to be damn in synced. So many things to do, so little time. Argh! We went to suppliers from North to South --- Gifts for the principal sponsors and entourage, showroom in Vivere and Bellevue, ocular in Fernbrook Gardens and finally with Paulo Clemente. Meeting ended almost midnight and we haven’t eaten our dinner yet. Oh gawd, dinner at midnight?! Waaaaah! My first time in this lifetime that I wanted to skip dinner for sleep. Miracle isn’t it? Home by 130am.

Today was all for the preps. Guest list is the hardest part to handle so I’m giving Xave the authority to head it as we still have a number of things to take care of…My body is in pain now. All I want to do is go to bed and close my eyes but my mind is saying I have to work some more…

This is my 5-minute break. I have to get going…

P.S. Belated happy birthday to Joscel a.k.a. KUYA (the guy in yellow).

I was a bit tipsy already on this picture. I had one bottle with Dell officemates before going here. Nay!

L-R: Arsie, Bernie, Ronnie, Lizzie, Ai, and Me
R-L: Neil, Stu, Joscel, Annaise, Mommy Su and Tek

Hmm, 5 of us already working for another company. (Intel, Dell, IBM, 2 I forgot. Haha) Ummm, I badly need a hair cut!