The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Several random events transpired today...

Bumped into SGV Friend Anna after lunch with Jing and ECP... She's gonna be back to work and her office is a stone throw away from my office... Yehey... more of my Sioberella in the next days to come... Good!!!

Met AGSB Friend, Grace for the much postponed movie time... and after all the postponement... we ended up watching invasion (about invasion later)... anyway, had dinner at a japanese restaurant in Rockwell... Still Good!!!

The movie, Invasion, was not that good... People being infected by an alien strain which would genetically alter the person genes and become a different person without emotion... after all the build up, it ended so abruptly with such a simple solution... a kid who was immune from the strain... Really Ugly!!!

The only good thing was that it was the first time that we were well behaved and silent in a movie, too bad Alpha (busy with her hubby) was not able to see our behaved version... we are usually noisy during movie time... Good, I guess???

Maybe the effect of the movie, everybody was rushing home so traffic started at Rockwell carpark... then Makati Ave... then Jupiter... and the worst of it was I wasn't able to get a decent carpark at home... Real Bad!!!

Anyway, will probably do something fun tomorrow... hehe... Great!!!

Close Shave

I suffered cramps in my left calf muscle... and the worst part of it was that it was during a run in a thread mill at fitness first... it was a good thing that when I felt that my left muscle is about to stiffen, I was able to leap out of the thread mill using my right leg... or it could have been worst being thrown of the thread mill... that could have been quite a scene...

Anyway, several personal trainers came to help me and in a few minutes, I was able to shrugged the cramps and was able to stand up and walk around... I resumed my workout, this time focusing on the chest... after a while I decided to end my work out for the day and drive myself home... good thing the cramps didn't recur while driving...

The muscle is still a bit sore until now but I guess it'll be fine in a few days... at least, I get to usedthose Medtex elastic bandages at home... hehe...

Scowl in my Face

Suddenly found a scowl in my face... I was expecting more for our planning meeting with the auditors... the tentative venue is Hyatt though since it's just an all day affair... I was hoping that they'd have a venue where the facilities are great... just like before in Palms Golf and Country Club with bowling, badminton and more facilities... My first as group head with the usual annoyance gone... The first planning meeting wherein I could actually drive myself to the venue... Well, maybe sometimes work is just work... I just had my expectations so high... I guess, it'll be more conducive to work... =<

Some Days Never End

Talk about a long day...

Call time was at 7 am in Makati office to meet our driver for our service to Bataan... then we the picked up Sheila in Ortigas and Jing in QC on our 3-4 hours drive to Bataan... We had to meet the one of the bankers for our credit facility to tour them in our plant facilities in Bataan... The tour is routine by now, since we've gone through this exercise for so many times now... Anyway, it was Jing's first plant tour since she joined Medtecs last week...

The tour went well and the discussions were smooth and lunch in Bataan was fine... on our way back we drop by Razons in Pampanga for a nice round of Halo Halo and Palabok... then it was back to Manila for us... Arrived in Manila at past 6 pm...

And as I dropped by the office to leave my laptop, I was asked to join dinner with the laundry provider of our hospital services line in Hossein in Serendra... A free dinner is not in my list of expectation for the day since I've practically spent the whole day traveling... Well, the hospital services has been one of our favorite service line being the main theme of my Strategic Paper in MBA back then so might as well join them... Food was great and Serendra is such a nice place to hangout...

By the time dinner was over, I'm so exhausted that I had second thoughts on driving myself home, which I still did anyway... and was home 1030 pm last night and need I say more what happens after a day which seems to never end...

Bits and Pieces

Hacked Attacked!!!

Still feeling the effects of my yahoo account being hacked... such a burden getting to locate all your friends email address again... but the worst part was knowing that one of my friend has been victimized using my yahoo account...

The mode of operation was that the hacker using my yahoo account would inform my friend that I'm in trouble in some place then would request that you send a prepaid card through ym... then the hacker has his fresh set of loads at the expense of my unsuspecting friend... if it helps shut down the hacker, please spread the mode of operation of the hacker. I still not have full access of my friends list though I've SMS most of my friends not to fall for this trick. It would help if people would know that there are some hackers operating this way, then unnecessary loss would be avoided...

Sorry again for any damages which may be incurred by the hacker. I'll try to make up for it someway...

Prison Break to Lazy Day Break

I've been bed-ridden all day... not cause I'm sick but because I've been stuck in a lazy day syndrome on a holiday doing my time of Prison Break marathon.. Nice series.... Finally, had the guts to go out at four pm... Hey, everybody deserves a lazy day break...

Hellos and Goodbyes

SGV friend She is again off to Cayman to resume her audit career after a two week vacation here... Glad to meet up with here even for just a few hours... Anyway, we're not really oceans apart but just a phone call away... a bit expensive mode though... Godspeed She!!!

Another SGV friend Donald would be leaving soon for the US... too bad, we won't be able to visit their place in Coron, Palawan before he leaves... and Donald will (or has already?) tie the knot via civil ceremonies in Pangasinan... Best Wishes Donald... and i hope that there'll be enough beer for Madz (another SGV friend) in St. Maartens...

Of all the surprises, I got a call from Mike, another SGV friend and batchmate, who's now in Saudi mentioning of his intention to come back here and quit his job in Saudi... though it'll be just a stopover as Mike still wants to work outside of the Philippines... but he'll be a welcome addition to our FAA Bakasyonistas escapades while he is here... Wishing you all the best of luck and see you soon, Mike!!!

New Heroes

It's a funny thought that Mike called me a hero for staying here in the Philippines... Of course, it used to be that the OFW where the heroes of the economy, sacrificing the warmth of their home for the opportunity to earn more for their respective families... probably in the world of audit, it has been the other way around... Why stay here when there's a multitude of opportunities to earn so much outside??? Well, as I always say, someone still has to do the job here and even if I can't give a logical (meaning socially acceptable to all) answer to that, I guess it all boils down to where you are happy... Anyway, we're all heroes in the economy as we do both have parts to play... OFW infusing dollar and liquidity to the economy and some people making sure that the economy is still running...

An Improved Economy

Another thought that makes me think twice with the recent resurgence of the peso vis-a-vis the dollar was She's question, when we met, Is there still anybody happy with the strengthening of the peso??? Of course, given that most Filipino household probably has an OFW member... plus the fact that prices didn't really go down or that there were no major improvement in the infrastructure in the country... Hard to be a critic... but some people view economic growth not by the strengthened peso but increased dispensable income per individual... Wishful thinking states that somehow in the future there can be real economic growth felt by all...


A Busy Week Onward

It'll be an exhausting week this week with two plant tours for our bankers, Tuesday in our Bataan Plant and Thursday in both our Subic and Bataan plant... Then there's the audit planning meeting just around the corner... Well, got to go back to my lazy day break to ensure that I'll have a high energy level for the rest of the week... ciao

Escape to El Madero

On a long weekend, an escape was such a welcome treat... so the planning was hush hush... yet somehow, we (Me, Mascy, Eunice, Gryf, Cig and Raquel) found ourselves in the massive El Madero Farm and Resort in another AGSB Escapade...

We arrived at around 7 pm, Saturday Night after traffic at SLEX and the long stretches of Star Tollway... You would underestimate the place at night but it was quite a wonder, 100 hectare resort with almost a dozen pools and a portion overlooking taal volcano... Starving the moment we step foot in the place, who wouldn't be after a long drive... hehe... Anyway, found a way to fulfill our tummies wishes with a dinner at Mr's Bulalo (sic)... with a nice warm bulalo as the centerpiece of our craving... food was great or were we just hungry??? hehe... maybe it was great... then bought a few drinks on our way back to the resort... It was a fun night and things turned even better after several funny mishaps at the pool... hehe... Nice one Mascy and Eunice... Still continued running on high energy and was able to catch sleep at past 2 am...

Had a simple breakfast the next day and that was the time we knew that the place started with just 8 hectares and now, it's 100 hectares so had a tour around the place before we went home... We were on our way back at past 1 pm and had our lunch at Leslie's in Calamba... then at around 3 pm it was our way back to Manila... was able to reach home before 4 pm and after a fun exhausting weekend... I had spent the rest of the day in a nice slumber... hehe... charging up for the next escape...

photos

Goodbye Franckxethee@yahoo.com

Looks like I'm gonna bid adieu to my email account for over 10 years... franckxethee@yahoo.com... My email address had been hacked... Happened this afternoon in the midst of a busy Friday and a the exhilarating wait for a long weekend...

It happened through one of my friends ym account which had been hacked and after a short chat, which was in Tagalog, so the hacker was definitely a Filipino, there's a message to check out a link in geocities and which would require you to login your flickr account and as you log in, the hacker would then have the password... access your account... change your password and security information... and walah.. you lose your yahoo account... then the hacker moves on to the next victim using your account this time...

Too bad, I lose my address book, my yahoo account, my emails and have my friends in peril from a hacker, who may be interested in using other people's account for personal gain... I just hope that I'd be the last victim to be hacked... and that no further damage be done to me or my friends... except maybe to the one who hacked my account... =>