Vacation

A few shades darker and a few pounds heavier --that's what I came back with from my recent vacation, but definitely worth it. ^_^ Our family trip consisted of a departure of 2am to arrive on time for our 4am flight. Then a 6-hour drive from Iloilo to Boracay. Summertime peak season meant no more flights left from Manila to Caticlan. 1 and a half day stay at Bora, then a 6-hour drive back to Iloilo. 15 minutes of ferry to Guimaras, 1 hour drive in Guimaras, an overnight stay, an hour drive back to the pier, 15 minutes ferry back to Iloilo, and a few hours short of an overnight stay at Iloilo, and back to Manila via the 6am flight. Sounds stressful? It was. In fact I was kinda expecting the same level of disappointment we had with our Sagada trip. Well, that was the pessimist in me. Surprisingly, it wasn't like that. For every mishap we had, I catch myself actually thinking, "Hey, this is still tons better than the Sagada experience, no biggie." Although tiring, I found myself enjoying the time off from work.

Boracay is Boracay is Boracay. Meaning, Boracay will never disappoint. The long stretch of fine sand and clear water never fails to put a smile on my face. This was despite the algae washing up on the beach and the low tide. I'm still really bummed about the condos being built on the small island. It kinda takes the "vacation" feel away. T_T They're ruining it. Anyway, I got to do some shopping and bonding with my brothers, and the seafood albeit expensive was scrumptious.

Guimaras was an altogether different story. It was a good change of scenery; see for yourself:

Unfortunately, the resort we stayed in exhausted whatever patience we had left from the tiring island transfers. We stayed at Villa Igang. We were originally given a shack (look closely at the walls) which I could not fathom to be a legit room. For people. Actual, real, live people. Not a house of pigeons. Or that furnace box where you roast pigs in.

To give the staff (at least 2 of them, the rest were playing cards the whole time) credit, they were accommodating and really kind, but well their umm policies, for lack of a better term, were weird. This was the only place I ever stayed at that charged for service water and ice and everything else! Anyway, after complaining about the shack, which had one puny light bulb, and a tiny air conditioner (that probably has less than 1 horsepower), we got transferred to a better room, where we didn't have to marinate in our own sweat. This, believe it or not, was a cheaper room.

Moving on, we went island hopping and stopped to take pictures with a hundred year old pawikan, bigger-than-me groupers, and tons of colorful fish I can't name. My brother and the turtle:

For pasalubongs, we stopped to buy mangoes to take home. I have yet to taste one so the verdict on them would have to wait.

Going back to Iloilo, we sent the rest of the trip with my brother's girlfriend's relatives --hands down, the coolest family I have ever met.

That's it so far. If you think I've had enough, you're mistaken. I'm still hoping for at least two more summer outings. I guess It's the heat. :D Ciao!

P.S. I'm not ready to go back to work yet. x_x

Not Used to This

Started out to blog about the past weekend, but kinda changed my mind after receiving a reprimanding e-mail from the VP. Admittedly, it was my fault. Kinda frustrated about it right now because it was a rookie mistake, which I obviously have no business committing. I forgot about one of the attachments I was supposed to include in the work order prior to having him sign.

I'm not used to this. I'd like to think of myself as a thorough and diligent worker, if not a perfectionist. It kills my ego to actually go through this, but every once in a while, when I get full of hot air, the dreaded pin comes and pops the balloon that is my over-sized head. It's a humbling experience that I shouldn't forget.

Anyway, here's what happened last Saturday at Sky Ranch. I think I left my soul on that Viking ride.

Nostalgic

Who doesn't recognize these? When I was a giddy little high school girl, this was the most popular Christmas gift ever. I don't know why, nor can I answer why not, but here you go...

Feel it with me... Nostalgia.

Times have changed, but sometime ago, I can't remember whether it was for a birthday or Christmas gift, I got this from Ms. Connie:



If it were a car, I'd say it has accumulated significant mileage already. Sadly, it doesn't look like that anymore and out of embarrassment, I won't be posting the current condition my pen. Let's just say it served me well, and made me want another one. So here's my new pen.


But what's a Parker pen without the usual engraved name of the owner, right?

The OC in me is not satisfied with the font, the girl in me, however, is ecstatic!

...And no, I did not use my new credit card for this.

Credit Card Confusion

Finally, my BDO credit card arrived yesterday. Although I am undeniably happy at the arrival, I was less than satisfied on the whole process. Before I walk through it, let me clarify though that it was not entirely BDO's fault and I am by no means condemning their services to hell. This is more or less a petty grievance rant vent thing. So those avoiding a teensy bit of bad vibes, go browse someone else's blog. Ok, here we go.

December 2012, (yes, it was that long ago) if I am not mistaken, I decided to apply for a BDO credit card. I have recently terminated my Metrobank credit card due to their unsatisfactory service and their audacity to bill me for the annual fee, which they promised to waive for a lifetime --an altogether different story and I'm not in the mood to get into. Anyway, the lady at the counter said that since I had standing savings accounts with their bank, I could be recommended for the card instead of applying for it from scratch. She assured me that this would entail a shorter processing time. True enough, by January 2013, taking into account the holidays, etc. the recommendation was approved and my card was supposed to be enroute to my billing address.

I usually use my home address since I do not want bills coming for me at the office. I was not aware, however, that BDO has a strict credit card delivery policy, wherein upon unavailability of the card holder to personally receive it, they do not deliver/release the cards without proper authorization and/or endosement. Moreover, even if the receiving party does have a letter of authorization, it is still upon the courier's judgement whether to release the card or not. Since during their delivery hours, nobody's at home to receive it and they won't trust the condo's guards with it, the delivery kept being deferred... for months.

Now this rule speaks volumes of the importance BDO puts into their customers' security and I was really impressed, albeit the hassles I was about to go through to change the delivery address. I had an HSBC credit card before, and as previously mentioned, a Metrobank card as well. Both cards were delivered without needing any authorization note. I can just imagine the horrors of going through endless hours of trying to sort out a fraud.

To change my delivery and/or billing address, I needed to email them a formal letter of request as well as a billing reference to prove I am indeed working at my office. Since all my my bills are being sent home, I did not have anything with my name and office address except for my mobile account statement. The hurdle? Since it's being sent to me online, the billing team did not have the correct floor on the address. I had to have it changed. They told me it would reflect on the next bill... a month from then. After a month, I was finally able to sent the email request to BDO.

In less than a week, I was able to receive a response confirmation that my request has been processed and to expect the adjustments 10 working days after. This would have been more impressive had the card been delivered to the new address. Guess what? I received it at home (original address provided) yesterday.

To add to the confusion, I distinctly remember wanting and ticking the BDO classic mastercard black on the application, simply because the black card looks sleek and elegant. Yeah, I'm shallow that way. So, which one did I get? The white shop more card. I'm guessing this might be because I went through the recommendation path instead of the usual apply from scratch path. Luckily I've been on a fancy-white-feeling-classicly-clean phase for a while now so I did not throw a fit.

I wonder what my first unjustified purchase will be.

Edit: By the way, they also sent me a complementary SM advantage card. I already have one. So I guess I would have to go to SM to sort the cards out. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about it.

Oh, April

I want need a dose of happy. I'm not sure why I'm plateau-ing on a blah phase. Maybe it's because of the depressing Sagada trip I just had, or maybe I'm craving for that Summertime high normal people get at this time of the year. As I do not yet have that beach bod to be proud of, I'm trying to lessen the food binge. At the same time, I'm trying to look for stuff to keep me active, entertained, and/or at least to keep me from thinking about work. April doesn't seem to be a good month for me so far.

Browsing through facebook posts, I've been encountering a lot of complaints on the hot weather. Everything's so dry and dull. The weather, nature, my hair, my skin. It's probably why I've been pining for a summer outing... to cool off. Since it's not an option yet, my short term fallback plans are as follows:
1. To get my hair treated and hopefully lessen the dryness, static, and frizz.
2. To get my long overdued facial.
3. To find an effective facial moisturizer. 

Side story: I am not a big fan of cosmetics and the like, and have zero knowledge when it comes to makeup. I do know, however, that when my skin feels tight and stiff, I need to soften it back up by applying moisturizer and intaking lots of fluids. I have tried Olay's Facial Moisturizer and it has worked fairly well with my skin, but there was a time when it went out of stock at the nearest supermarket and I had tried Celeteque's Facial Moisturizer. That one left me with a sticky feeling afterwards, so upon deciding to try another different product, I recently purchased L'Oreal Hydrafresh Anti-Shine Icy Gel.

Now, I do not have oily skin; I think I'm bordering on normal and dry. I bought this in hopes of hydrating my currently peeling face. I am not sure yet why or when the peeling started as I haven't been exfoliating or experimenting with other products, but I found this one helps with the dryness. After applying a minimal amount, my face feels cooled and matted. It gives me that soft, smooth face that feels like a baby's bottom. Olay doesn't have the matte effect. Unfortunately, L'Oreal doesn't last as long as I hope, but it's good for an hour or two, sometimes three. At almost 400php a bottle, it may be too pricey for long term use. I'm still in limbo deciding between L'Oreal and Olay. I'll make up my mind after I empty the tub.

Procrastinating (Late Post)

So, I started doing this yesterday, but was not able to post.

I'm feeling a bit blah lately so my brother and I decided to go on a short jog last night. We initially decided on doing around 3km, but later found out we were so out of shape that we had to cave 'round 1.5km. That sucked. We'll try again tonight.

Note subject. I am currently at the office, procrastinating on things I have to do. I don't really feel up to it right now. I don't exactly know why, but I'm hoping it'll pass in a while. So here I am, just sort of posting what's on my mind.

Changed my laptop's wallpaper today. Sort of a blunder on my part. Now, every time I return to my desktop, I get strong cravings for an omelet. It's ok, still love the cute rat.

March Recap Part 2

Continuation...

I was finally able to go to Sagada. Spent 4 days (March 27-30, 2013) there. While I enjoyed the short trek down a cave to see the hangging coffins, the buwis buhay spelunking in Lumiang Cave, 2-hour turned 7-hour (I did not enjoy the delays that caused this) hike-trekking experience across the banawe rice terraces to the hidden falls within (forgot the name of the falls), hindi ko nasulit yung experience.

How I wish I had a gazillion pictures to prove my bliss, but alas, the pictures and the bliss were not meant to be. Not yet, at least. Due to this, for the sake of maintaining good vibes, I have decided to defer narrating this less than acceptable experience and have instead vowed to redo the whole trip... sometime this year... somehow.

For April, we're bound for Iloilo, Guimaras, Roxas, and Boracay. Let's see what will happen then.

March Recap Part 1

It's not a thing here, but well, happy April Fool's Day, everyone.

So, I've been quite busy lately. Before the the Lenten holidays, I had to transfer files to a new-old laptop. While doing that, I tried to blog to take advantage of the network freeze we were having that time, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish it. It's a refreshing change though. For 6 years, I've been bypassing the freeze and working despite it. This year, I really had that short break to unwind a bit.

Well, here's what I've been up to lately. Last March 23, 2013, we went to MOA to watch pyromusical display of Canada. This was supposedly a treat since Canada was last year's winner.

While I am no expert, I'd say it was very nicely done. The music firework sync was good, and there was very little dead air. I was not able to watch their performance last year, though, and this being the first time I ever had a chance to watch a pyromusical, there was nothing I could compare it to. Canada ended up bagging 1st runner up for 2013.

After Canada's performance, the event was interrupted a bit by Earth hour, then on to the Philippines' performance as a guest participant, since we're hosting the event. This time, even though the fireworks display was amazing, I did not find it synchronized with the accompanying audio. The audience, being loyal Filipinos, oohhhed and ahhhed at the right places despite this. :D All in all, a good experience.

One last thing, something bothered me a bit throughout the performance... Who's going to clean up the mess they made on the bay? Are they even going to?