Goodbye Vacation!!!

I'm officially canceling my planned vacation to Australia... reason: lack of time... too bad, I was even able to build up my asset base for my visa application... I should have pushed through with the trip last September but for one reason or another... it got moved and moved and finally, it's gonna be year end soon... so much work and events already in store... somehow, it was not meant to be... at least this year...

Maybe, I'll try to squeeze it in May next year after our AGM... or then again I just remembered summer in the Philippines is real fun... it's not really going to waste though, at least I get to cash in on all my leave privileges come December... I was able to save a bit in building up my cash base for the vacation ... and come to think of it, I've been out of the country already so much this year and with various getaways and gimmicks with AGSB and SGV Friends as of late... and more to come, I'm sure...

So hopefully, it'll be two major vacation next year, the Australia vacation... and if pushes through the FAA babies reunion in US or UK... so there 's still a lot of upside on a canceled vacation... the downside is that how to tell my relatives and friends in Australia that I'm not going on vacation this year... they've been expecting me for some time now... I guess, it's just a case of bad timing of events unfolding... =<

On a last note, I haven't been on a jet setting mode lately... in fact, I'm planning on missing the auditors visit to our China subs... probably in my comfort zone here right now... hehe... but I'll get that itch to travel soon... I'm sure because travel is one of my passions... but there'll be time for everything... =>

A Long Day Ends @ Cig's

Day started earlier than expected as I've forgot to update the time when I shifted the Sim card of my two phones... so had my alarm an hour earlier...

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Client meeting at 9 am... that turned out well so I can now finalize their financials... Had to rush back to the office since I may be required to attend the management meeting with our CEO... but there was no urgency there so went to GB3 to meet up with Joshua (Former CFO) and Bobot (SGV) but since Bobot got sick so the carting event got cancelled... Some leeway for a long day... I just bought the chips Grace requested from healthy options... Then got back to the office wherein I got called in for a short meeting... so many developments... I'm still not sure if it'll be a good thing or bad thing for me... hehe... = / Had late lunch at Velasquez Park with their Tiendesitas like setup during Saturdays...

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Finally, went home at 4 pm to take a short rest... dozed off at around 5 pm and woke up at around 8 pm... It'll be Bogz and Steve Bday Celebration shortly at Cig's...

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Left home around 915 pm... traffic at Cubao Area in Edsa... Arrived there before 10 pm... then time to party... Bogz, Grace, Blue, MJ, Cig, Jan, Owen, Anton, Steve and Lisa attended... Too bad the other wasn't able to come for various commitments... Despite the short nap, I was still on low energy the whole night... Anyway, still tried to make the most out of it and enjoy the night... The festivities lasted until past 2 am... then was home at around 230 am... and the came the rest... 'til next time folks... =>

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So Much for a Blogless Day

I was really planning to go blogless today since I thought I've already freed my mind of so many thoughts and events I need to sum up...

I lost momentum in my work today upon hearing that one of my friend was a victim again of the hacker using my account... My account was hacked last month... The hacker's mode of operation is to pretend to be me and inform you that I'm in another country needing load and the unsuspecting friend would then send prepaid loads... I'm really protective when it comes to friends so just imaging how I felt that they're being taken advantage by the hacker using my account... I'll try contacting my cousin in DILG if there's an agency who can track down this hacker... I'm sure it would be easy to track the hacker down since his ISP can determine his location... Friends, please ignore any message from franckxethee@yahoo.com... it has been hacked and I've lost control of this account...

Had lunch with our former Singaporean CFO Joshua ... and quite interesting to catch up since he's now based in Singapore... I just get to visit Singapore only once a year... I've gone a long way and have been here more than I expected... resumed work thereafter... Still not in the mood even if I need to report the financials come Monday... I'll find a way... but in a short while, I'll be off to Fitness First in Eastwood with Jing for a workout there and get some of my membership freebies...

Tomorrow is gonna be a long day... Meeting at 9 am with a client... possibly need to attend management meeting at 10 am... Lunch with Joshua and Bobot at 12 noon then carting in the afternoon and finally, Steve and Bogz party at Cig's... got tired just noting the things I have to do tomorrow... to think it's suppose to be a weekend... Haay....

Hopefully, Sunday might be lighter... I'm sure gonna need some rest before a busy week next week when we prepare some SGX related stuff at work... but then that's just how the cookie crumble... at times, it's light and at times, it's heavy... you'll just have to make the most out of it... =>

Season Begins...

It's now the start of new seasons for most of the US-based TV series I watch... so far watched 2 episodes of Heroes... 1 episode of Smallville... 1 episode of Desperate Housewives and 1 episode of Grey's Anatomy...

It was great to have Heroes back and it has evolved into a better show... most of the cast are back and there's new heroes as well... Nathan and Peter are back!!! Claire Bear has a new life... HRG and Suresh has a hidden mission and Parkman is in charge of Molly... but speaking of anticipation, you'll still need to piece the puzzle since Season 2 starts four months after... I guess, viewers like me are still left with unanswered questions from the end of last season...

Smallville season kicks off with a high profile battle between Clark and the Bizarro Clark (Phantom)... Solar powered Clark prevailed over Kryptonite powered Bizarro Clark after Bizarro got exposed to the Sun... The fight was really nice to watch... Super Girl Kara turns up to be hot and mysterious... Chloe managed to be alive after being dead... and of course, the best part is that Lana is still alive... though Clark will still go on the next episodes struggling with the loss of Lana...

Desperate Housewives was funny but then again there's this part were the writers went out of line with a comment by Susan Meyer that she'd like to make sure that the doctor did not graduate from some med school in the Philippines... Ouch... where did that come from??? When it comes to skill based I'm sure the Philippines is one of the best... I hope they make an apology for that since it's such a nice series to boycott...

Grey's Anatomy was more exciting than I expected with the then interns Meredith, Cristina, Issie and Karev now turning to tough residents... Issie is still kind hearted... Meredith is still lost on so many issues in her life... Cristina is still heart broken over Burke... George is struggling to come to terms with repeating his internship... Bailey still down on not being chief resident (though Chief did make a nice point at the end that Bailey's place is in the O.R. and that not being chief resident gives her more time to be better)... and Derek and Mark are friends again... By the way, Lexie Grey is a nice addition...

I hope I'll still have time to watch the rest of the season... and also that I get my DSL installed at home soon... It's been very difficult following up PLDT lately... and to think I already paid the installation fee... =<>

Working in a Workout

I've been put in a unique position yesterday while I was about to start my workout... I got a call from our CFO that I need to cross check the figures for the announcement... so what to do next??? Hmmm.... Ok, I still have one colleague left who can do it but still I need to be sure that it would turn out right... so between workouts, I was on the phone entertaining queries on the computations and asking for updates... One of the skills I've learned is the ability to work in different situations and still virtually manage things... but this is a different situation without a doubt... hehe...

Anyway, still got away with it this time... as we were able to give a go signal to the announcement even before I finished workout... so it probably took twice the effort working in a workout but at least, both goals were met... The perks and quirks of this job... at times you get to have a very easy day and suddenly it becomes so intense and urgent... and at times, on call... I guess, that makes it exciting as you foster an attitude on how to adopt to different problems at the oddest time... hehe...

Maybe I can work at home already once my dsl has been installed... hehe... but historically speaking, I'm not good working at home... and for one, I won't like to live like a hermit... I still need people around me... hehe... and even still, they wouldn't allow it... with the Company trying to setup a system on how to monitor department heads... and comes the question, how do you measure the performance for finance and accounting? My job evolves by the minute with the varying requirements from bankers, auditors, management and regulatory agencies... The only KPI I can commit probably is that I'll go to work if I'm not on leave... hehe... => Anyway, even if I'm away they still manage to track me down and do their bidding... hehe...

Not Another Bad Day!!!

My day got off the wrong way again... and the reason is the mix up at Somerset parking... They implemented a new policy that you cannot park unless you've paid in advance... so I was prevented again from entering my parking slot... what is unnerving was that they gave the bill for October parking last Friday... how can you pay a bill billed to you in the same day in a corporate settings with so many approvers (I'm one of them) for each payment??? and no notice was given yesterday when I parked... and I even left my card to them that if ever there was any problem with payments, they can call me at my office land line... How reasonable can you get...

Of course, you can say policies are policies... but then again the amount involve was just P2,000 and for a 2 day delay which was partly their fault for billing us late... Even if you factor in the time value of money for 2 days at prime lending rates that won't be enough to cover for the gas for 10-15 minutes while I was awaiting them to allow me entry and to take another turn back to the parking area after talking to the front desk... and even the time of all people involved were wasted (Me, the Guard, Front Desk, Ms. Del) and having one dissatisfied customer... I forgot to mention that we do have a credit line for hotel bookings... and they allow us to have credit for larger amount bookings and give so much damn about a P2,000 advance payment for a parking slot...

After all the fuss, I was able to enter my designated parking lot... and at the very least, I was able to give the front desk a piece of my mind... of course, in a highly civilized manner... hehe... The incident won't ruin my day but I guess, it'll reduce hotel bookings from Medtecs (with Ms. Del also having to start her day with this incident)... and while there are always rules or policies to follow (even blindly) but then again for a service intensive industry like hotels... a large part of the work is being able to respond positively to situations like this... and they may have erred on this... It was a simple decision to start with... how much damage can a 2 days delay of P2,000 be worth and with them being partly at fault?

Back to making my day happy...

Excess Blogs: I checked on the check in the office... it was already available for pick up since Friday... but they didn't pick up the check... there wasn't suppose to be a delay to start with if they just managed to pick up their check...

A New Month...

It's October... so for people saying wake me up when September ends... time to wake up!!! Hehe...

Anyway, before going forward, let me move back a bit... Had an unusual weekend... First, had my PSP to waste my time with... then in the afternoon I dropped by PICC to visit AGSB friend Grace in their Skinline booth... it became more than a visit since I ended up having a Bentusa massage... for Bentusa they use a candle in a glass to absorb toxins from your body... and it usually leaves a mark at your back... but the odd thing was that it was gone in a while for me and it would take hours or days for others... hmmm.... must have regenerative powers... hehe... At least, I was relieved of toxins and at the same time had a nice soothing back massage for the day...

The next day was a bit unusual... with me needing to go to Eastwood to catch the end of the Fitness First membership promo... and I'll be paying less for membership soon... Had my directions wrong and then there's a hard time looking for a place to park so ended up having several rounds at C5 and that is big round since the U turn slots in Libis Area is in Tiendesitas Area... Anyway, had to rush back to catch the Ateneo - La Salle Game on TV... Go Blue Eagles... and as it is common knowledge right now... Ateneo lost to La Salle 60-65... but still it was a hell of a game... and this season was quite a treat for UAAP fans with 5 Ateneo-La Salle face offs... and each game was a thrill to watch... Ateneo won 3 of the 5 games but La Salle won the bigger games, the one earning a twice to beat advantage and the one clinching the finals birth... It's gonna be a Pumaren vs. Pumaren affair... As the Ateneo hymn goes..."Win or Lose its the school we choose..." It was still a gallant stand...

Ok then comes October... there'll be Steve and Bogz birthday at Cig's... It'll be Anna's birthday soon... there'll be an IFRS training hopefully in Tagaytay... I've got a new gym buddy with Jing joining fitness first and hopefully, I get to squeeze in my vacation this month... and it'll definitely be a great month... but a month always start with a day so have to get back with my tasks for the day... hehe...