I'm a happy panda XD

Borrowing from May's jargon, I'm a happy panda again. I sure am happy that that ordeal is over. (For me, at least). But I don't want to talk about that ordeal anymore. Past is past!

Now, moving over to other current events!

- I've started working out. The price is a little steep but I'll be making sure that Fitness First deserves every penny of the fees I'll be paying them from my hard earned cash. Mwahaha~ I plan to do at least an hour of cardio each day to burn those fat inducing calories. Hopefully, after a few months time, I'll be able to have my waist back again. If you're one of my friends and you want to support me by working out with me, feel free to contact me.

- I started playing Vietnam RO! Thanks for the installer Ate Ching! Their website and CD sleeve look nice and girly. Have not met many players yet though. I'm still in the Novice Training Grounds at level 30. :P

- BayanTrade, the company I'm currently working for, moved to The Fort. The new office looks great and I save on transportation expenses (it's only two rides away). We have the whole floor to ourselves, wide open spaces with fountains and greenery to boot, and proximity to Serendra and Market Market. The only bad thing is that it's far from where most of my colleagues live. Some have even decided to give up BayanTrade because of this. Very sad.

- Philippine RO's Sakray server is now on the Hugel episode. I tried playing Ninja. It has a great AoE skill but only for the fire element. My character is good for PvM only though as I haven't tried PvP or WoE yet.

And there you go. I can't think of any more news. Sorry if my life's boring you. But then again, why do you keep on reading? :P

Skill Simulator

My favorite skill simulator is not working anymore. My sister and her friend found a website that has a nice skill simulator. Click here to visit the website.

Nessum maggior dolore, che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria.

This song reflects how I feel right now.

I'm so sick

I've read somewhere that there is only one nerve that controls anger or sadness. So if you're feeling sad, the best cure would be anger because anger going through this nerve will prevent the feeling of sadness going through it. So if you're sad, get angry! Not angry? Listen to these songs!

Flyleaf is one of the rare bands whose female vocalist can do screams that I'm not sure how it is called exactly. Here's the lyrics of one of my favorite songs from them.

===

I will break into your thoughts
With what's written on my heart
I will break, break

I'm so sick,
Infected with where I live
Let me live without this
Empty bliss,
Selfishness
I'm so sick
I'm so sick

If you want more of this
We can push out, sell out, die out
So you'll shut up
And stay sleeping
With my screaming in your itching ears

I'm so sick,
Infected with where I live
Let me live without this
Empty bliss,
Selfishness
I'm so sick
I'm so sick

Hear it, I'm screaming it
You're heeding to it now

Hear it! I'm screaming it!
You tremble at this sound

You sink into my clothes
And this invasion
Makes me feel
Worthless, hopeless, sick

I'm so sick,
Infected with where I live
Let me live without this
Empty bliss,
Selfishness
I'm so sick
I'm so sick

I'm so sick
Infected with where I live
Let me live without this
Empty bliss, selfishness
I'm so
I'm so sick
I'm so
I'm so sick

Munting Buhangin Trip

Since our Boracay trip was canceled, we (me, Jeff, Janice, Donald, Kio, Louie, AJ, Magi, Rob, Mike, Ken and his girlfriend) went to Munting Buhangin in Nasugbu, Batangas instead.

We made a sand poring,

a Jepli Tan mask,

and a /gg emoticon.


We went swimming in the middle of the sea. I got a little scared so I wore a life vest (which I removed in a while because it got annoying). I lost my pearl earring when I got out of the life vest. It's easier to float in 10 feet of sea water. ^_^

After the island hopping, Janice was not yet sick of the water so we decided to take another dip. We let ourselves get bashed with the waves along with Magi and Neo. It was fun and we were noisy. We enjoyed ourselves immensely but our bodies ached so much after we did it.

We found a Polo shower gel in the shower rooms. Which was great because I forgot to bring any toiletries. (Only a toothbrush and toothpaste. ><) Going back to our cottage, we found everybody getting ready for the traditional "Balakubak". Everyone was put on the spot except me but when it was Jeff's turn, it felt like I was the one in the hot seat. >_<

After some hotdogs, we finally started the journey home around 8 pm then got hungry again at around 11 so we stopped over at a Cavite tapsihan. Since Taguig and Manila were out of the way and the driver was getting sleepy, Jeff decided to drop everyone off at different points in EDSA except me and Janice and Donald. Soon as we got to Jeff's place, we transferred to the Frontier. I finally got home at 1 am.

All in all, a very tiring trip. But it was well worth it. ^_^

Want to see our previous trip to Munting Buhangin? Click here!

A World Without Filipinos

I received this article from one of our HR managers Ms. Lucy. It made me appreciate more my being Filipino and I'd like to share this with everyone hoping it will help you appreciate our being Filipinos (for my countrymen) or to appreciate the Filipinos you work with (for other nationalities).

===

Let's imagine then, not just California, but the entire world, waking up one day to discover
Filipinos have disappeared. We're talking here about the six or seven million Filipinos currently working overseas in countries with names that run the entire alphabet, from Angola to Zimbabwe.

Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared; in fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week.

Just imagine... a world without Filipinos.

Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies, caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to stay home and realizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to be handled and how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange language they're babbling in? It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.

Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!

Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't take in any more patients unless the conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors' written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new complaints. The websites aren't working because of missing Filipino web designers and website managers.

Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets, hotels -- all close down because of their missing key staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia, hotels complain about the missing bands and singers.

In the United States, many commercial establishments have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis because of missing Filipino seafarers.

The shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for the oil industry.

Frantic Presidents and Prime Ministers call on the United Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but Kofi Annan says he can't do that because the UN system itself is on the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, having disappeared from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva,
as well as their regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.

Annan also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because the airports in New York,
Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.

Annan calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be remitted and projects can't run without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.

An exasperated Annan calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the frontlines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.

As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, both the laughter of the Filipinos and those they served.

I know, it's exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos to the world but considering what the
producers of "A Day Without Mexicans" had in mind: using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.

As their blurb for the film goes:

How do you make the invisible, visible?
Make them invisible.

To realize this not so much for the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and Americans who don't appreciate us enough, than for us, who as Filipinos, are pretty good at putting ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible.

Pinagmamalaki ko ako ay isang PILIPINO !

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!