landing london

august 9-23, 2009

the office sent me abroad for the 3rd time and this time, i was sent, together w/ 2 of my colleagues, to two countries in the UK, England & Wales. in fact, we only learned later, through our british boss, that we actually hopped from one country to another hehe.

we flew etihad to abu dhabi for 8 hours then abu dhabi to london for about 14-more exhausting hours.

my etihad breakfast; not bad, even on coach, there's tv for each passengers which contained dozens of new movies, tv series & music

arriving at abu dhabi, wondering how the weather was outside

ofcourse i looked for the first smoking room i can find. that's their smoking room poster, it was accurately a smokeless-smoking room i tell 'ya!. abu dhabi's airport terminal was impressive, internet as well was efficiently fast & available in every corner, we facebook-ed while we waited for our connecting flight to london *:)

my mother's uncle, uncle franco, greeted us at the heathrow airport; mama mia theater poster at the background.

we had lunch at a restaurant inside the airport. take a look at these fabulous desserts, yummy!....but expensive (when converted to peso that is)!

at the avis terminal near the airport to pick up our prepaid rental car; right-hand driving through london

above were my chaperones ahehe, cyril and vince (w/ cap)

our UK offices are located in cardiff, wales. including our miscalculated routes, road mishaps etc, it took us a total of 6 hours to get to land of the welsh. next, post, Wales!

baby shower

july 25, 2009
makati prime towers

friends & workmates threw a surprise baby shower for abcd. abcd's been one of my staffs since the last office team reshuffle. everybody chipped in for the food & drinks & shiela, abcd's buddy in my team, bought tokens for the baby shower game prizes.
and just recently, another colleague is pregnant yay! another baby & baby shower in the making! goodluck in motherhood abcd & khaye! it's fairly easy, after giving birth that is *:)

breakfast at the shangrila

may 20 2009,
shangrila hotel, makati

so my team won a P10k food & accomodation gift certificate to the shangrila hotel courtesy of our company. i did mention in my twitter that i too won an overnight stay at the crowne plaza hotel for two after the shangrila raffle! i am one lucky b@$t@rd!

the old-er men in my team (ahehe) decided to use it for breakfast (kill joys, ehehe). after an exhausting night shift & empty bellies, we sped to nearby shangrila & drooled over the plethora of food from eggs to danishes spread in the buffet, inviting us for a taste at every corner...& that's only for breakfast!! for two hours we all felt very high-class w/ appetites absolutely satisfied!!haha

my 1st plate: eggs benedict, bacon, waffles, sausage & meatloaf, an olive, tuna, hash brown. maximum pleasure!

the wedding after

april 30, 2009
pier one/dolce

the kids (wehehe) wanted not to waste the remaining hours from khaye's wedding day & planned for a night-out next. 'twas a good call since myself & my team were super 'bitin' from the wedding.

we fared to timog's pier 1, ordered a bucket of gilbey's premium strength alcopops for the ladies & a bucket of sml for the boys. it was noticeable that the occasion had become utterly dull in the succeeding minutes so i invited them to dolce which was just a block away. the kids were so excited we marched to the club after just 2 buckets of beers.

at pier one

dolce

i was astonished to see that everyone amply enjoyed the evening. i had no regrets for bringing them to dolce for i had then learned that these people love to dance!

now i ponder if i'll expect an equivalent reaction from everyone if i brought them to a rock gig instead. i don't think so. *:P

wedded bliss

april 30, 2009
the oasis

my colleague & good friend khaye got married! too bad i was on shift & did not witness the vows. my team was able to follow in the evening, went straight to the oasis for the reception & still arrived too late. the newly weds were already wrapping up their wedding day & guests were already leaving.

a couple of quips:

me (when i bumped into our boss as he left): at least we arrived on time for the wedding reception's conclusion!

khaye: oh well, i'll schedule my next wedding on your day off!

hahaha

the busy bride was still able to join us for a couple of photo shoots.

this couple won't need luck as they obviously are the perfect couple! they both have a good heart & a steady future.

by the way, out of us 10 ladies in our department, she's the first to tie the knot. who could be next???

a bachelorette party

march 28, 2009
sommerset place, makati

my dear friend/officemate khaye has marked april 30th for her wedding.

the girls at work altogether brewed a surprise bridal shower slash bachelorette party for her, a month before she ties the knot.

a suite at the sommerset place was rented overnight. the close proximity of the hotel to our office was an intention of the organizers so none of the ladies would make an excuse not to be present.

i myself came from work, worked early the next day too which sucked coz i had to leave early.

when we got there, w/ 3 other colleagues, the bachelorette was all weepy & thankful. she hugged everyone who entered the suite.

the food was already served when the last of us arrived. there was sugpo (prawns), max's chicken, a very tasty carbonara (c/o abcd), a variety of sumptuous fruits & desserts & a round jumbo plate of finger foods. the drinks, a bottle of tequila, 2 bottles of champagne & vodka ice alcopops.

for the entertainment, dick-shaped balloons & boxes of condoms were strewn across the floor hahaha! we popped confetti's, smoked flavored tobacco from a bong c/o lea & took sleazy pictures of the bachelorette all night hahaha!!

that's khaye beside me at the left photo

(left photo) from left to right: cel, khaye (our pretty bachelorette), gigi (standing), shiela, lea, tisha, jenny (about to suck the bottle), myself & brigs (shielding herself)

& ofcourse there was the midnight delight: the male stripper who stripped off his soul to 2 virgins, 2 mothers & 7 others who screamed mightily like virgins while the nudity, 'fencing' & atrocity ensued. segments of obscenity from khaye's party will remain stored in my laptop & are never to be exposed here for my blog is rated GP hihi!

5 year awardee

march 6, 2009
bagaberde bar, roxas

our company held a service award program for 5-year service celebrants like myself at the bagaberde bar, the same venue where we held the company-wide christmas party 2007.

it would sadly be the last recognition awarding for our company as cost-cutting of expenses has been reinforced in many foreign or outsourced companies including ours, gravely impacted by the economic meltdown in the states.

we in our department are very lucky to have maintained & retained job security in the company compared to the thousands of ill-fated callcenter agents that were laid-off.

the thropy came w/ a P2000 electronic appliance GC, a simple yet grand token that we may not be able to taste for a couple of years or more until the recession in the states comes to an end.

my co-awardees obet & april

all 5 years spent w/ blood, sweat & tears. the 5 year technical department awardees

the best in service was awarded afterwards.

the best of the best in technology service
drinking & dining w/ the bosses

after the recognition dinner, awarding & a toast to all who have serviced w/ loyalty for our company, the program came to a close. a few of us gathered at pier one, located beside bagaberde, to reminisce the past 5 years as colleagues, gossip & bond. the people in the below picture are a few of the infonxx/kgb pioneers.

lito, april, mysel & edward. gigi (the best service desk awardee) joined us briefly & left before we had this picture taken