team out @ carafe

june 6, 2008

at work, when one accomplishes his/her probationary period, or gets his/her first paycheck, or has his/her birthdays, it entails non-stop heckling & teasing until the celebrant treats the entire group. so there goes the plan for another team night out to celebrate my staff gigi's regularization. eric, celebrated his birthday w/ us at the same day, at the carafe bar makati.

eri'c wearing maroon (or purple?) & that's gigi wearin' the black & white blouse

an equally fun night was when i took my team out, for the first time, as their sup, using company money (reimbursable), a month ago. it was a little solemn i suppose compared to the above. we had dinner at a non-smokin restaurant at metrowalk but eventually went out to drink a few beers..surprisingly few.. having spent just a few pesos on dinner & a beer bucket, we decided to get coffee. wherelese... but at starbucks. after gossiping about people not present (don't we just love doing this?) & light bonding, we called it a night before 2am.

sportsfest

it was the boys turn to organize the annual IT department team building. ofcourse, they picked what they love doing the most, sports.

i remember being asked via email months ago, which sport i'd like to have a hand in. i ticked all, except basketball. them being badminton, bowling & billiards. being often preoccupied compared to everyone else, i did not forecast choosing those 3 sports inattentively actually put me in trouble. i had to play in all 3 games, & compete w/ another group to win them. i only started to get nervous when the days came closer, when colors (teams) were chosen & divided. i picked white. then there were 4 teams, black, yellow, green & white. why nervous? i don't win in sports! i just 'play' them!

anyhow, days came & went by. teams in couples compete for different games per day. i never played badminton though. i was absent on the first date, my kid's nanny was out of town so i couldn't leave her. i played bowling once. tried out for billiards too but never really got to join the competition itself. i got a chocolate for getting a '69' score in bowling though!

since i'm no fan of the subject, let's just proceed w/ the pics *:P

at the basketball championship - white vs yellow

espasoul

may 23, 2008

remember my post 1 or 2 years ago when i watched a gig at the saGuijo bar here in makati? & coincidentally met my grade school & highschool class mate nelson (aka jon) padilla?

we exchanged sms recently. it started when i got inspired by how i successfully (not minding the number) cooked up the skycablenet's reunion last month. i reached out for my schoolmates back in immaculate, my alma mater, for a similar engagement. my attempt failed though. the weather was awful on the date we scheduled it. the communication didn't stop there for some of us. jon & i chatted about their band 'chillitees' & lucky for my timing, they were soon to launch their 2nd album 'espasoul'. he sent me an sms invite so off i went w/ a friend.

it was held at the pablo art gallery at the cubao shoe expo, formerly know as the marikina shoe expo. i got iggy when i heard the place. it was my numero uno there, to watch a gig, or shop or dine even. i passed by a few posts from my kumareng ayn's blog site recounting her visits to the art galleries & the gigs she sessioned with scarlet tears. she gave me a tip before i went. she suggested that i try halo cafe's (just 1 store away from the pablo art gallery) specialty, the malunggay pasta.

we got there by 9pm..err..because that's the time jon asked us to come. we ate at halo's first, strolled a few of the still open galleries & stores. dj mickecons & eggboy played their pieces first to warm up the evening's mood. free bacardi shots were given away, shirts & cd's sold at reasonable prices. we bought ourselves shirts by the way. didn't bother to buy those cd's since jon promised me a complimentary copy which he later on gave me at another gig at il ponticello. sandwich played next, & it was past midnight already. after 4 songs, chillitees' alternative but soulful melodies rocked & 'chilled' the cubao expo atmosphere up to 3am.

here's jon after the gig
testing
sandwich (mong alcaraz me HD ako sayo! woohoo!)

chillitees' merchandise

eula, my friend got this poster

jon, i got this naman

may 28, 2008

2nd time around. i got my complimentary cd from jon. done at a 2nd floor bar at il ponticello, valero, makati city. first time there again. it was a music local's pa-gig. i got to see up dharma down up close & personal for the first time too. kewlness *:)

lea's goodbye

may 20, 2008

bummer.

lea, whom i fondly call lilia, recently resigned. she grabbed the 6-month contract as a change analyst at barclay's singapore. she'll be working side by side carol, another impressive former workmate, whom 2 years ago, found her bliss in singapore.

she broke the news to me first (aint flattering lilia!). she begged me to keep hush about it. but i wasn't able to contain my disappointment (stubborn i know). lea was the crème de la crème amongst the service desks..however, she felt doing her best wasn't given credit. it did, just so you know lilia, we often talked about your impressive work during supervisor meets, the position just aint ready yet. anyhow, she got bored waiting, waiting for her turn to seniority, but it never came. so when the opportunity in singapore presented itself, it was her cue to leave.

came the 20th, she threw her own despedida party at fat johnny's grill timog. it was one heck of a party lilia! me drama, me sumusuka, me tulog, me naliligo sa alak, me love story in the making haha, walang katapusang pichuran, at marami pang iba. the booze was nonstop. it's always fun watching colleagues get drunk & go crazy diba.

that's lea

lilia, abs & the rest are packin up for singapore on sunday & gettin problematic on how they're gonna carry all those packs of marlboro menthol you asked for! i told them to scatter the packets in their check-in luggages then lito butted, buksan na daw yung mga kaha at iscatter mismo yung sticks para di na talaga mahalata sa sg immigration! bwahaha!

i know i'll see you by the christmas season? so this is really not a goodbye, it's 'paalam babalik ako' (ika nga ni lolo for big lola, along with the british accent... teehee!)

nagkita na ule kayo ni auntie lah sa me noodelan near bencoolen? si uncle lah na cab driver na maniac? si ron?? hahahahaha...i miss you girl!!!!

xcablenet reunion

april 18, 2008

relied on tough luck, i brought together a quarter of the noc staff from my former company, skycablenet/bayantel, for a reunion. they are equally my closest friends, where 2 of them are my daughter's godfathers, louie & juvert. agnes (aka pusa) on the other hand, was one of the support staffs i used to supervise before i transferred to the noc, my yosi-buddy who's a girl (we were the only chicks who smoke overall), & one of the few who i chose to bond with in that department. dhon, haay dhon, ahehehe, who faithfully carpooled me, dropping me right at the corner of batasan, before he headed home to nova. i remember those small chats, fatherly advises, brotherly mocks, etc etc. no doubt i missed him the most. *:) & lastly myce, very appreciative of my eccentric being, & the magnificent bassist from the band we cooked up during one of our office christmas parties.

the result, a reunion of friends, superior to just being former workmates, perfectly brewed, by whoelse but me. *:)

held it at gerry's grill makati. here are some pics:

pusa, dhon, louie, juvert & myce

oh..i almost forgot. marco tagged along, the former linux guru in skyinternet, the boy next door who smoked while he worked (literally, his desk was just across our support department door), & my best man friend. i don't need to schedule any reunions just to see this guy. *:)

first official haircut

june 4, 2008

after our siesta, i took my daughter to trinoma. it was a long overdue mommy & baby bonding out & i owe her several more......mommy's been busy for the past few weeks.....

after dinner at five cows, i took my precious rayna to cut 4 tots for her very first parlor haircut. pretty kewl for a P100 bang trim. *:)

manila ocean park

i lost the memory chip of my cellphone. so gone are several sequence pictures of my daughter. some of them were shots from our manila ocean park visit last march 29.

i gave my family a treat, once again, at the newly built & first ever ocean park in the philippines. having been to HK's ocean adventure, in comparison, ours is much bigger in fairness, but since our visit was premature, a few departments were still being refurbished, HKs still rocks solid!

pics included.

after the trip, we contained our hunger (the long walk around the gigantic parked starved us) because we all decided to have dinner near our place, at don antonio heights, at the tree house resto.

singapura - last chapter

march 1

last day in singapore, sentosa

lea already transferred hotels to be w/ her friend so khaye & myself had the our room for ourselves. we packed most of our stuff the night before since we decided to spend the whole day at sentosa this day. carol, a former workmate, & his bf, who both work in SG, joined us.

commute to sentosa

takin lunch at the sentosa station, that's carol beside khaye

at the cable car station

we took the horrifying cable ride to sentosa (pinagkaisahan nila ako!)..& since i have acrophobia, i begged to take the train back after sentosa..relunctantly, they all agreed. haha! thanks khaye for holding my hand for the whole freakin duration. haha!

inside sentosa

by night, after a couple of thrill-seeking rides, we watched the incredible 'songs of the sea' show. it was shockingly amazing. there were fireworks, waterworks & dancing lights.

after the show..in the plastic bag were stuff i got for my rayna

headin' back..at the train station this time

gettin' mrt cards; dinner at lea's hotel room

khaye & myself stayed at carol's condo overnight & fled to the airport before sunrise.

back home, i was greeted by my whole family & shopped til I dropped at duty free.