Business Class Again

It was a surprise on our way back to Manila that we were assigned seat 1A and 1C... the business class area... given our economy reservation... and it was our second random business class upgrade in less than a year... the last time from Bangkok last June... It didn't really make much difference except for the wider seats and the personal in-seat entertainment since this was just a two hour flight... Though it was cool laughing our hearts out watching How I Met Your Mother, Just For Gags and Samantha Who... Lucky for us that the plane was packed and we ended up being the one upgraded... again...

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It's been a nice business trip... Not so much place visited this time given that we have new printers and that we've been to almost all the accessible locations last year... Too bad that we missed taking the High Speed Rail to Kaohsiung, which is South of Taiwan but it's not a trip for this time since if something always pops out that moves the trip, it must be a clear sign not to go...

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We were able to go back to Tamshui (it's empty on weekdays)... and the Zoo (the cute and fluffy panda were the stars of the show)... and the the Yehliu Geopark (Great Natural Attraction) and Ocean World (dolphins and seals are so entertaining)... Also, realized that there are different nice coffee shops around... Next time, we should try the other coffee shops aside from the usual Starbucks... and we've also had a chance to try out different restaurants on our own... but my favorite for this trip is their cup noodles... Can be bought at convenience store... add water and wahlah... instant dinner... hehehe...

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Well, now I'm back after 13 days in Taipei... and except for the transition for the warm weather, I'm glad to be back in Manila... and as I was on my way to my parking lot, I saw that there was already Illongo's Grill near the office... Time for early dinner... hehe... I missed our local foods... It's gonna be a short week of work next week with two plant tours and after that... It's time for vacation in Bohol... Yipee!!!

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And now back to another thing I missed... My Own Bed... ZZZZZZZ

Thinking of New Beginnings

Had a big round of laughter with the save the trees comment of one of our Directors... Not really something rib-tickling but given the circumstances at how it was used... Ok, it was used to prove a point in an i-told-you-so fashion... Save the trees - I totally agree... The rest of the content... Maybe given time I might budge...

Speaking of saving the trees, we were able to consume less paper in this year's annual report... and it seems that compared to the previous year's discomfort... this was one big improvement... At least, we weren't bothered by unresolved issues up to the last minute... and the corrections were mostly "dui qi" - it's mandarin for align... one of the few words I learned this year... Xie Xie Christine!!!

Glad that's over... It's been my sixth annual report ... and there's a part of me that hopes that it's my last... The busy times ends with the annual report but this year seem different... I'm craving for new beginnings... I've done so much already... even far beyond what is expected and what is appreciated... and I'm not sure that aside from increasing stress marks due to numerous day by day problem, I still have something to look forward to...

So enter new beginnings... Though it's something I want, I haven't really had the time of day to dwell on this matter... nor probably would want to entertain some thoughts... All I know that I need sometime to dwell on the finer side of life before really pursuing a clear direction... and the finer side it is... with a trip with family to Bohol in two weeks from now, business and pleasure trip late April in Singapore and another trip to Bora with friends come first of May...

Whenever I have thoughts like this is, I usually end up with the do nothing syndrome... and at times, I end up fine and the rest of the time, I end up looking back... and lucky me that even though there may be some tinges of what could have been, I'm have still content with where I am... Timing, really plays a huge part and given that the whole world have taken steps back, it really takes courage to take giant strides towards a new direction... Will get there sometime... though it's tempting to take a mini-breather and instead just end up doing nothing... but REST...

New beginnings... I just wonder if it's my nature to look for new beginnings... At times, it's easier to just have a reboot than figuring out some complicated puzzle that gets bedazzling by the minute... Well, the harder way out isn't always the better way... and not all those who tries the hardest, always win or gets the prize... That's just how things revolve, not always as we wished but always as it is meant to be (So it shouldn't be an A... LOL)...

Thinking of new beginnings... definitely!!! What's next??? A step at a time should be fine as of now... =>

Excess Inkblogs: Since I'm doing nothing relevant had fun with a mandarin website where you can generate your chinese name. I ended up with Ran Fu Rui (pronounced Ran Fu Rei). It's just a randomly generated name based on your Surname, Characteristics, Name and Birthday. This is just for fun and I'm not really adopting it... I'm still Franc Ramon by any language... hehe...

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Yehliu Yohoo

The hard part of this trip is almost over... We're not really that outgoing anymore since Jing and I have already gone over most of the places in Taipei during our trip last year... and probably have gone over to the different places for so many time already given my 6th year with the annual report routine....

So was able to pull out a Jingy Bear out of hibernation... hehe... and thanks to Susan we were able to go to the North East part of Taiwan... Yehliu Geopark, which took us a 45 minute train ride from Taipei and 30 mins by taxi from Keelung... and it was nice to visit the various rock formation in this area... more common of which is the Queen's head rock... It's just amazing to see the different rock formation being a natural attraction... Of course, the ocean view made the attraction even better...

A stone throw away was our next stop, which is the Ocean World featuring a giant aquarium... (there's a dog-faced fish)... a dolphin and seal show (the large one was really funny)... and additional exhibition from other performers (this part was a bit stale since the seal and dolphin has set the bar high)... A real nice combination of unique fishes and nice entertainment... Before heading off ot Taipei... tried a few street foods along the market...

And back to the hotel, I'll also be in hibernation mode... hehe... for a lazy sunday in Taiwan... late breakfast... warm jaccuzzi bath... and probably just a walk in nearby places... Time to recharge for next week... =>

Half Way

It's half way into the month and I'm cramming to pack my stuff for our business trip to Taipei tom... Annual Report... Tough times again... I just hope that we finish on time and patience still intact... It's always a harder time after each passing year... For one, the disclosure requirement has been increasing... come to think of it... does anybody still understand the financial statements with all those disclosures... Have to live on the comfort that... I still can decipher the relevant information hidden inside those volumes of disclosures...

First part of the month was the easier and more festive (birthday... hehe)... and the past week has been light with a few minor disturbances... I remember that Thursday afternoon that I had my mind set on early evening Spa... only to be caught at the last minute for some changes in the Annual Report... Shortly, I'll be taking offense on why some factions insist that we do the encoding soon... I still am in awe why this has been an issue since last year...

At least, I finally had my Spa this afternoon... my good deed in helping a friend wrap up his Strama... Hopefully, this would be the last strama I get to do for friends... After all, my friends should all be done with their MBA as of now... At the very least, I get to practice my financial forecasting skills... Also, helped another friend do some of her chores for the day before heading to this moment...

Now... I'm in the middle of packing my stuff for Taipei... I hope I don't miss up on things I have to bring... 1) Clothes... check... 2) HP Mini... check... 3) Canon S3 IS and Sony T77... check... 4) Old annual report... check 5) Files... check ... 6) Toiletries... on going... 7) Calculator... Where'd I place that... hehe... 8) Passport and Visa... Check... 9) Razr V9 and 6300... Check and most important of all, Patience (I hope that there's still enough left)... Wait... Should I bring my PSP and Ipod Touch... Hmm... As if there'll be so much free time... hehe...

Fingers crossed and hoping for a smoother finalization.... It's always not good feedback at this time of the year... You can always check in my blogs from previous years... that this are not the best time of my year... but we'll see... =>

Happy Happy Birthday to Me...

It's my Birthday and so far I've received greetings via SMS, YM, Facebook and Friendster... Thanks really... Appreciate the thought...

Spent my bday at the office... and just remembered the idea that given the profession I have... it would have been nice being born on a different month... laging busy season natatapat... hehe... Come to think of it, maybe a different profession would have been better... hehe...

Of course, the busy season also brings a lot of pent up frustrations... Ok, it's the peak time again for annual report and as things are, it look to be a difficult trip for me and Jing for the finalization... Must reserve patience for that trip...

Anyway, just have to be thankful that there are friends and well wisher that remembered me on this day... though syempre pwede pa naman humabol yung iba kasi di pa tapos yung day... hehe.... =>

Sat-Birthday

My birthday is still on Monday but I cramped up all the celebrations yesterday...

Chilis Bday with SGV friends... Picked this place due to the nice overlooking view of Gbelt... An afternoon get together and it's a nice way to catch up since some have been Missing in Action for quite some time... still have that summer getaway to plan...

Good Earth Birthday x 3... Third Birthdat celebration in Good Earth with Ateneo friends and this time 3 x the celebration with Anton (March 18) and Ronan (March 16) also sharing in the celebrations... Of course, these parties are the one that last through the night and to the early hours of the morning... Just like old times...

Well, a little bit of rest now after Sat-Birthday but I'm hours away from turning a year younger... hehe...

Now on a Single Timezone

Almost a year ago, I was cramming in preparing my materials for a German Bank... It was a full day before my Bday and I ended up having a nice presentation... which led to a letter of intent... then a very tough due diligence process... real tough that I'd practically have to make do in my regular Ph timezone and be alert on my emails on German Timezone... and that lasted to almost a year to this day...

I now have my second disbursement today... so except for routine queries time to time, I am now back to just a single Ph timezone... Yipee... The difference after such a diffilcult task... Well, not much monetary reward but there's a thing we call as fulfillment... and plus the fact that there'll be more time to relax (ok... that'll be after the annual report)... Just keeping funds at this time and circumstances is a real challenge and it's a plus to be able to raise funds...

So what's next... I'm in dire consideration of a consulting practice... I just feel there's a niche market for mid size companies needing people to do funding activities, developing controls, financial projections, strategic management and some accounting matters without the resources to hire someone on a full time basis... Then again, there's still a lot school of thought that has to go on this business model... and of course, I'm still employed full time... Something worth considering especially if I could be of help to these companies... It'll be a nice application to developed skills and all those things learned in MBA (Yes, aside from the usual get together among Ateneo friends, I did learn a lot in these phase of my life)...

Of course, a lot of those plans are still made on a dreamy phase and still a lot of cost benefit analysis involved... but we'll get there... For the mean time, there's still a tough annual report stretch and more importantly, all the fun and festivities that comes when celebrating a birthday... See you friends during the weekend... =>

Almost Done

Checklist for my busy season...

• - Funding activity - done
• - Board Meeting - done
• - Full year announcement - done
• - Annual Report - First draft done (though definitely still a lot of headaches on this)
• - AGM - a month to go

Days going to my birthday, I still am in deep thought leading to things to do after I complete my checklist... A flashback in my recent past would have the milestone of raising funds as the time to consider moving on to other opportunities... Chances are with an erratic world, clouds of uncertainties will still hover in the future... though it'll be an exciting challenge to raise funds at these times in a different environment... I guess after I finally tick off everything on my list, I'll be a free agent... Not necessarily moving on but being open to more changes...

From almost done to adding another year to my young (ehem) age... A bit excited on meeting friends again for my birthday... Well, unlike some people, it's one of the days I look forward to since it's a day I can all my own... For the rest of the time, I'm more of others first but this day is all about me... I just hope it does not end up ruined by anybody this time... Maybe I should avoid the weird self righteous newbie in the office and (ok, better not to list down people to avoid... hehe)...

Roller coaster... That's how things have progressed for the past year... Bitter... Sweet... Downbeat times... Minor victories... Impossible Situations... Improbable Solutions... I guess, when the world is in recession just having some peak times must be something to be thankful... and probably the tiring up and down pace has kept a nice mix just as a full course meal would have its variety...

And speaking of going up and up... there's a lot in store up in the air with travels to Taiwan, Singapore, Bohol and Bora in the next few months and probably a lot more in between... and the down... I wouldn't want to dwell on that cause it's just part of the equation... For the mean time, at least I can smile a bit cause the difficult times are almost done... =>

Ceasefire

Spent today as a personal leave... a ceasefire of sorts... after the announcement and the funding activities... and also, to renew my drivers license...

Today started on a terrible note, our store in Baguio City Market has been gutted down by fire... It's really a big loss... and soon as my sister and I help my mom reestablish capital... It's gonna hit my savings BIG TIME... I guess, there are just time you lose and as soon as everything settles in... I'll just say adieu to a chunk of my savings... The store have been a family business since my Lola's days and now that it's sad to see all those assets to waste... but the important part is to move on after all the losses... there's always a new tomorrow...

Had to renew my drivers license for the rest of the day... had done the processing via LTO in Ayala MRT and the fast paced license renewal was slower with all the biometrics involved... but the good part is after you finish you're medical, you'd be advised what time you should come back... and after the long wait, license was renewed at around 3pm... At least, I have to deal with this again 3 years from now...

It's a full week before my birthday... and I have set out plans for some minor celebration with friends... It's just unfortunate that the fire has to happen a week before my birthday (or have to happen at all)... It just really ruins the mood for the celebration... Still have a few days and hopefully, things will brighten up... Just a reminder how erratic the world is at this point... and ironic as it seems, the fire had to coincide with the Penagbenga celebration so while a part of Baguio was in festivities... a part of the city is wondering how to rise from the ashes of the fire...

It's gonna be back to normal tomorrow... Ceasefire over and back to rushing for the annual report... and it's the last uphill step before the busy season is over... but it's gonna be a struggle as always... Hope that after all that has happened... The sun would shine in our direction... my fingers are crossed...