i haven't blogged in ages!
a few days ago, my family and i arrived from a trip to Russia and Dubai, which we took during the Holy Week. it was weird experiencing 2 extremely different weather conditions in one trip. we were freezing in Moscow & St. Petersburg, then feeling the scorching heat in Dubai. but it was fun...one of the best trip i've had in years. i'm glad we got to explore some "exotic" locations.
of course, the only way to show how much fun we had during our trip is to post some pictures. but right now, i'm too lazy to upload from our digicam so maybe i'll do that in the next post.
March is coming to an end tomorrow and before we know it, we have another month to contend with. i can't believe how time flies so fast but i guess there's nothing much we can do about it, eh?
work is still work. it sure as hell feels like work everyday. not that i stopped trying to have fun, though. i try to squeeze in some occassional laughter and "chika sessions" with officemates from time to time but when you really look at it...it's all just work. just a job. and i guess i'm so glad i'm learning to have a life outside of work. i just wish i had more to look forward to. i have a feeling i should be trying something new this year.
What? Yes? :)
- back from the (former) USSR
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rinatots- March 30th, 2008
- going to Russia
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- rinatots
- March 14th, 2008
finally...some time off from work! going on a week-long holiday to Russia (with a short stopover in Dubai) with my family. i've been looking forward to this trip for so long. actually, i'm looking forward to a lot of things...hopefully they will work out. :)
i hope you all have a pleasant Holy Week. :)
- cute quiz
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- rinatots
- February 6th, 2008
You are the moment when the last bell rings and school lets out for the day. You are resistant to schedules and obligations, so you love feeling like you're in control of your life again. You are the very moment when the second hand hits the 12, and the halls fill with noise and motion. Even if your after-school time is packed with activities, lessons, or a job, somehow, you just feel freer in the late afternoon than you do earlier in the day. Maybe it's all that blue sky and afternoon sunshine? Nah -- even on rainy days, 3:15 is always a beautiful time.
- i'm still here
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- rinatots
- January 20th, 2008
despite my laziness to update this blog...i would still like to make my presence felt. i've been busy with work lately, or at least i'm trying to be busy. it's a struggle to keep things interesting with the work that i do but i think i'm getting there. it may not be the best thing to do right now but...a job is a job and i guess i have to put up with it until something better comes along. whenever that may be, i just don't know. :P
so to keep my mind off the usual reflections on said job/career, i try to distract myself with little things like drinking coffee, window-shopping, watching movies and reading books. just recently i finished reading Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" and i was amazed by the novel. i think it's even better than the film. in fact, i'd like to watch "The Godfather trilogy" again, just for kicks.
speaking of films that i've watched recently...i saw "Sweeney Todd" and "The Heartbreak Kid" this weekend. both are interesting films and are a must-see if you want to be entertained. :)
i really wish there were more weekends. i'd like to escape sometimes.
- hoping for a great 2008 :)
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- rinatots
- January 1st, 2008
Happy New Year, everyone! :) i was looking through past blog entries and realized i've always had a year-end entry but last night (Dec 31, 2007) i think i was just too lazy to blog. the year-end celebrations were a bit more "subdued" this year, but i still got a glimpse of a wonderful fireworks display from outside our window come midnight. oh well.
i'm just thankful for another year. i don't know how to sum up everything that happened in 2007....there were the certain "career highs and lows" but looking back, i think it was a good year for me to learn new things and meet new people, and to improve on existing relationships with friends and loved ones.
i'm really hoping that 2008 will be much better for me. i want to focus more on certain goals and just..."try harder" when it comes to everything in my life. :)
i think this song totally sums up what i want to happen in 2008. it's from the soundtrack of "Serendipity"...one of my all-time favorite movies:
This Year
Chantal Kreviazuk
This year, is gonna be incredible
This year, is gonna be the one
All the planets are lining up for me
This year, I'm gonna have fun
This year, I'll paint my masterpiece
This year, I'll be recognized
I can feel like I'll fall in love for real
This year, this year
January, I'll learn to fly
February, love's gonna find me
March, April, May, I'll get carried away
Oh, oh...
This year, I'll reach the pinnacle
This year, I'll get to the top
People will ask where she gets that energy
This year, I'm never gonna stop
January, I'll learn to fly
February, love's gonna find me
March, April, May, I'll get carried away
Oh, oh, oh, oh...
This year, is gonna be incredible
This year, is gonna be the one
All the planets are lining up for me
This year, I'm gonna have fun
I'm gonna have fun
Just watch me now
This year
This year
This year
- Merry Christmas!
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- rinatots
- December 25th, 2007
Happy Holidays, everyone! :) just a few pictures from Christmas parties i've gone to this month. :)
me, Stef and Jacq at the BDO Treasury Christmas Party (Dec. 7, 2007)
with the girls at the annual Beach Christmas party at Mickey's (Dec. 15, 2007)
the Alarilla cousins at the Meycauayan, Bulacan house (Dec. 23, 2007)
- blast from the past
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- rinatots
- December 8th, 2007
oh wow...i haven't had a decent blog post in a month? whoa.
anyway...i don't know if you guys have heard of the website FutureMe.org. it's a site that allows you to send an email to yourself which will arrive at a specified time in the future...like, a year from now. i completely forgot about the website until i received something that i wrote to myself a year ago...December 5, 2006 to be exact. here's what it says:
Dear Rina,
somehow, as you were composing this letter a year ago, you were going through some sort of quarter-life crisis. the crisis was mainly career-related. it seemed as if you were stuck in a situation that you can't get out of due to the lack of options.
a year ago, you would've contemplated resigning from the present job you were holding to look for greener pastures elsewhere. i don't know. maybe you've found those greener pastures, or maybe you're still stuck working for the same company.
for the first time in your life, you were unsure. you thought you had it all figured out but apparently, plans can change. there was a time when you weren't being yourself. you'd skip work just to avoid certain dreaded feelings and responsibilities, when you've never even skipped school in your entire life if you weren't sick. that's alarming behavior for the likes of you.
i just hope that when you remember all of that hoopla from last year, you will realize how foolish it all was. maybe you can just laugh it off and chalk it up to experience. maybe you are a much stronger person than you were before, and i do hope that happens.
don't be afraid of change. change may be difficult but in the end, it's all for the best.
count your blessings. don't be tempted to wallow in self-pity like i did. you are surrounded by a family who loves you and friends who support you constantly. nothing can ever beat that.
try to find a glimmer of hope and happiness in every day. sometimes it's the little things that can make a difference. we just refuse to see it that way.
when you read this, i hope you're happy and content. hope this finds you well. :)
**************************************************
i can't describe exactly how i felt after reading something from my "past self". after a year, i got to thinking...am i still the same person i was as before? did things change? did things improve? or am i still stuck in the same boat? so many questions but i don't want to bother with the answers right now.
on the other hand, it's nice to know how insightful i was back then. i'm thinking of sending another email to my "future self" again soon.
- birthday girl
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- rinatots
- November 8th, 2007
i'm 23 as of yesterday. thank you for all the greetings and for everyone who remembered and made the day extra special for me. :)
i didn't go on a "birthday leave" yesterday...it was business as usual for me, and besides, i'm allowed to file the birthday leave on any day of this month. plenty of time for that.:) i'm just surprised that a lot of my officemates remembered my birthday...the BDO Treasury people in Ortigas, the EPCIB traders in Makati and some of the BDO/EPCIB branch managers too. thanks guys! :)
i also had a great lunch at Racks (El Pueblo) with my girlfriends who were in the Ortigas area. it was great seeing them again...it made my birthday much more memorable. :)
many thanks to my parents who bought food from Conti's for my birthday dinner at home. yumyum! :)
here's to another year of blessings. thanks everyone. :)
- and another week went by...
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- rinatots
- October 29th, 2007
...and i still haven't blogged as much. i can't believe i'm just breezing past the events that happened the past week. oh well...maybe i've been too busy checking out Facebook. :P
anyway, it's great to have another long weekend. i spent Saturday morning with Mom at the clinic. she accompanied me to the doctor for a check-up so i could finally get rid of the cough and cold i've had for a week. as usual, the doctor prescribed these heavy-duty antibiotics that are bound to cure you fast but leave you drowsy in the process. oh well. i guess the long weekend's the best time to make up for all the hours of sleep i lost when i got sick.
Saturday evening was spent with Martin. we decided to avoid traffic and stick to the Greenhills area. had dinner at Racks. the food is good but their service still leaves much to be desired. ho-hum. i hppe they improve on it soon.
Sunday lunch...we headed off to Chili's for more good food. Ralph used the 15% discount coupon i gave him last week and we ended up with two more coupons at the end of the meal. looks like we're going to have lunch/dinner at Chili's more often. :P
today i accompanied my parents on a shopping trip to Rustan (Shangri-la). Dad said he was pretty stressed out for the past week and he needed some form of "retail therapy". i definitely agree with him. woohoo! so all i did was follow my parents around while Dad scouted for the perfect pair of shoes....and ended up buying three pairs for himself. oh and Mom bought me a new blazer that i can wear to work so i can stop borrowing her old 80's/early-90's coat. thanks, Mom. :)
tomorrow it's back to work for me...i have a long to-do list waiting for me on my office desk but i think i'll accomplish everything as soon as possible. i'm just hoping tomorrow won't be too stressful. :P
- blog-free week
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- rinatots
- October 23rd, 2007
i can't believe i went through a week without blogging about my first out-of-town trip for work (i went to Angeles City, Pampanga), or that awful incident that occurred last Friday at Glorietta 2. i guess i haven't really found the time to sit down and gather my thoughts.
oh and i must say...this whole Facebook thing is quite addicting. i didn't think i'd join the bandwagon until Martin told me he did. so guys...if you have Facebook, add me up. i'd be so happy. :P
work has been pretty uneventful lately.
- room to breathe
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- rinatots
- October 16th, 2007
i need space. literally and figuratively.
we did some sort of re-shuffle at the office yesterday and i was transferred to a new desk. i don't really like it there...or maybe i'm just not used to it. i'm right smack in the middle of the dealing room and it's kinda hard to concentrate on work with all the noise and the aircon directly above me and sitting near the water cooler so you can see everyone pass by. oh, and the fact that the guy who was assigned to the desk i'm now occupying didn't really clean up and left a lot of his stuff around. like old coffee mugs/tumblers. yuck.
anyway...on the figurative aspect of needing space...sometimes i'm just tired of people telling me what to do. i'll leave it at that.
- so grateful for the weekend
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- rinatots
- October 14th, 2007
yup...i love the long weekends. :)
Friday
Martin and I had a lunch and movie date at the Power Plant. we ate at Cafe Mediterranean and made the mistake of assuming that their four-cheese pizza was good enough for two. it turned out that the pizza was more than enough for both of us but we nearly finished it anyway. then we watched Stardust and i must say, i really enjoyed the movie even if i had no idea it was from a Neil Gaiman graphic novel. i went into the theatre with no expectations and i was pleasantly surprised that we both liked the film. thanks to Jasonblurredlights for the recommendation.
Then i had a family dinner, along with Dad's business contacts at Casa Armas in The Podium. as always, their paella is to die for and i think i stuffed myself with a lot of tapas and a huge glass of Cabernet. oops. :P thank God i didn't do much of the talking and entertaining that night. :P
Saturday
i spent the afternoon with Mom at Market! Market!. she wanted to get a head start on some Christmas shopping, but first, we stopped by the Trellis Grill for yummy sisig lunch. as expected, Mom was craving for some desserts so we went all the way to cupcake heaven that is in Serendra (Cupcakes by Sonja) and indulged in a cupcake each. my treat, of course, and Mom was so happy about it. i also bumped into Karlo, my blockmate who i haven't seen in ages! it's good to see old friends. :)
after helping Mom picked out some gifts for relatives and friends, i headed off to Shangrila Mall to meet up with some friends for Dana's birthday. dinner was at Misato in Metrowalk, and it was great seeing all the girls again after so long. we spent the whole night just hanging out and exchanging stories while enjoying the delicious Japanese food. after dinner, we headed off to Tiendesitas/SM Hypermart for coffee and more stories and laughter. i really missed my friends and i think this is the most fun i've had with them in quite a while. i especially enjoyed Crisel's stories. :) speaking of Crisel, she finally put up some photos from her birthday party/outreach i went to last month:
i do hope i can see the girls again soon. hopefully before Christmas? :)
Sunday
didn't really do anything today. just stayed home and caught up on episodes of "The Office", "Prison Break" and "Gossip Girl". oh wait...i did work on something. i went through a pile of my old receipts and sorted them into different categories like food/entertainment, fuels and clothing/accessories. we need to liquidate the uniform allowance and representation/advances given to us by the company which is why we need receipts. i had no idea i spent so much on clothes this year and i noticed i have a lot of Starbucks receipts. :P
i think i'll be pretty busy for the next couple of days. sigh. i can't wait for the next long weekend. :P
- my brain cells are dead
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- rinatots
- October 10th, 2007
i've been getting headaches nearly every day this week. i don't know why. i'm not stressed at work...or at least i don't think i'm stressed. anyway...the headache got so bad, i had to skip work today just to try and sleep it off. apparently, too much sleeping and the lack of sleep can both cause headaches. nyeh.
i'm just glad it's a four-day work week. just need to clock in another 8 hours of work tomorrow and then i'm all set for the weekend. the week started off pretty well when we had a reunion/despedida/birthday party for Bernice at her place last Monday night. as usual, i pigged out on pizza, chicken wings and the desserts...which are to die for, by the way.
(taken from Mickey's Multiply site)
i'm also excited to meet up with my high school barkada on Saturday for Dana's birthday celebration. whee. :)
oh well...work again tomorrow. :P
- already October?
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- rinatots
- October 7th, 2007
i can't believe the months have gone by so fast. it's already October and that means the Christmas season is approaching soon. i haven't drawn up a Christmas shopping list just yet...i think i'll have plenty of time for that.
the week has been pretty eventful. i went on 3 or 4 client calls in different areas of Metro Manila and thankfully, i think i did a good job of making a sale. well...i hope i did make that sale. oh well. :P
i finally got to watch "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" with Martin at the Power Plant yesterday. i missed our weekly movie dates. we were supposed to meet up with friends after the movie but that didn't push through. it was okay, though. we spent Friday night with Iza, Mickey and Micki at Micki's house just playing cards and eating snacks.
the latest book i've read was "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and honestly, i'm thinking of reading the whole "Shopaholic" series of books...and maybe explore the "chick lit" genre for that matter. so last night, i went to Fully Booked and bought "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan" and "Citizen Girl" (from the author of "The Nanny Diaries"). i hope i'll get to read them soon. :)
it's a 4-day work week starting tomorrow. i can't wait. :)
- no pressure
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- rinatots
- October 3rd, 2007
so i finally got a new cellphone number and i'm in the process of updating my phonebook. thanks to those who have been helpful with providing me their contact info. :)
i had some after-lunch quality time with my officemates in Starbucks Podium. it was great hanging out with people experiencing the same "quarter life crisis" that's so prevalent among people our age. except in my case...i refuse to call it a crisis. i guess it's high time that i stop second-guessing what i'm supposed to accomplish at a certain age and just enjoy the moment. they were all talking about getting in to the good MBA programs or thinking of how to become a Chartered Financial Analyst. i, on the other hand, just wanted to drink coffee and shoot the breeze. :P
don't get me wrong...i have plans but i don't think i have them all mapped up right now. and i'm in no hurry because i think i've get plenty of time to think of plenty of room for improvement. so, there's no pressure on my part.
hopefully the next time we have coffee together, we can talk about something else. :P
- disappointment
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- rinatots
- September 30th, 2007
Ateneo lost the game against La Salle. it was a good fight, though. oh well.
i lost my cellphone today. it happened so fast...i think it got stolen from my bag while i was walking around the Greenhills area. whoever did it was probably a professional thief because i didn't feel a thing. i just realized it when i got to the restaurant for lunch and noticed that my bag was slightly open and my phone was gone. :O
i've been thinking about it the whole day and i kept on telling myself that i could've been worse. i could've lost my wallet or credit cards and those things are harder to replace. luckily i still have my old cellphone and im borrowing my mom's other SIM card for the meantime. i'm also thinking about getting a postpaid plan so in case something happens to my phone again, i can have the number blocked.
sigh. i hope this doesn't ruin the rest of my work week.
- giddy because...
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- rinatots
- September 27th, 2007
...Ateneo won today!
...the stock market is going up up up! hooray for recovering financial markets!
...i got free Starbucks coffee today (thanks to Ms. Shiela of BDO West Avenue - Baler branch)
...i nailed 3 client calls this week!
...Martin's coming home this weekend :)
and how was your day? :)
- I Am The Walrus
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- rinatots
- September 17th, 2007
- winding down this weekend
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- rinatots
- September 15th, 2007
i'm home on a Saturday night...and that's not something i'm used to. :P i just decided to relax and have dinner with the parents since i've been so tired from work lately. Mom and i went to Trinoma for the first time, and we spent the whole day just eating, walking around and checking out the stores. the place is quite huge and confusing, at first, but i think it'll take some getting used to. we plan to go back there soon. :)
yesterday was an interesting day at work. after a really hectic morning of talking to branches and clients, i decided to tag along with my officemate for her client call at the SM Mall of Asia branch of our bank. we met up with this old couple and surprisingly, they were convinced with my presentation of our company's market outlook and forecasts for the next couple of weeks. i'm glad the sales call went well. :)
i had dinner last night with The Beach somewhere in Glorietta. this time, it's a despedida for Enca who just left for London to complete a 2-month training program for HSBC. wow, everyone's going off somewhere for work. :P i'm just here. :)
- listening to The Beatles over and over again :P
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- rinatots
- September 15th, 2007
Eleanor Rigby
The Beatles
Aah, look at all the lonely people
Aah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?
Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Aah, look at all the lonely people
Aah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
