chuc mung nam moi!

today's the last day of work...will be having a week-long vacation due to tet...yey!

some facts about tet

the flower in the pic is called "hoa may"...it's the tet version of our christmas tree...almost every home in the south has the hoa may tree during tet...in the north, they have the "hoa dau"...flower is pink- said to be related to the peach family...

some told me that in english, hoa may is called an "apricot blossom" although it's not really apricot as we know it because the hoa may tree does not bear fruit...so i guess they're just related or something...apparently, it (similar to hoa dau) blossoms once a year only- during the tet...so that's why it's the tet tree...

sigh...

so tired..have had two presentations for two days straight now...and one more to go tomorrow before we leave for vacation for the tet (vietnamese new year)...i dont feel like doing the one for tomorrow as results are not really positive...client brand is dying (really) and to think they are market leaders in other countries, including the phils...oh well...they need to change their brand/marketing team and should listen more to us! sorry, sometimes i get attached to the brands. very strange. hehehe.

last weekend, had dinner with jerry (and son and the finance avp) again...this time, he sortta outlined what his plans are, what methods he'll be using, how he plan to win/steal clients from my current company etc...no formal offer yet- i mean no mention of the package...he mentioned about contacting me in near future so can clearly outline the offer as soon as he gets the vietnam operations etc. ironed out...oh my what am i to do, i dont really have very concrete plans for my life right now...

received a text today from khoa the chef inviting me to have dinner with his family (and relatives- he mentioned about an uncle) during the tet...my fault...i dint really tell him to stop calling me etc, i hate doing that- which of course does not imply that i do this A LOT...waaaaa why cant life be simple...people should just have one problem at a time...simply cannot handle this...

anyways, just ranting again...hehehe

so anyway, we had our year end party on friday the 13th- performed a traditional vietnamese dance with teammates wearing traditional vietnamese garb called ao ba ba. as expected, we weren't really synchronized as we just rehearsed about three hours before the party begun. but anyways, i dont think the audience had high standards so i guess it was just fine- but wouldnt be caught dead doing that in pinas. otherwise, i will certainly melt!

by that, i just meant i don't mind doing crazy things in a foreign land. chuks.

oh, so that's jowin! i forgot na kasi di sya masyado prominent, chuks! hope glo will accept the invite, si con din.

re sa comment ni glo...onga i should be careful about what i say online regarding work as there is the risk that my boss would read this...

so this will be the last time i will talk about her para may closure lang...anyways, so we had our one-on-one...major saykolow comment from boss, "i have a feeling that whenever i say something, you think it's stupid" (that's 95% verbatim- said with with eyebrows arched.). i replied by saying, "i'm sorry if i gave you that impression but i do not mean to do that." it's partly true. now don't get me wrong, i admit that most of the time i do think that her comments or questions are way off (i.e. asking me what a graph/chart means when even a non-researcher who can speak english and can do simple math can understand it; or asking me to stop our fieldwork operations for a project because client has not signed the contract yet- sans confirmation from the department who handled our contracts. of course i did not follow her because it was a trusted and major client. when i did check with our client and department in charge of contracts, client not only signed the contract but already paid for the project as well!)...

but i dont say anything to her to let her know that i think her comments are kindda weird. she's just human too (haha. defensive!); i guess it must have shown on my face...oh well...i guess i'm just disappointed as i expect to learn research techniques from my boss because at this point im also still new in research...i dont have impossible expectations...i dont expect my boss to be all-knowing but at least she should know the basics...she says it's because she's new she's not familiar with the company process and all but i dont think so...those areas where i get disappointed are just basic research and operation skills that i expect someone senior to have...

grr i'm ranting again...

con...ano email add mo? add kita as member.
bat ka nagnanamaste? nagyoyoga ka ba? yan kasi parati sinasabi ng yoga instructor namin pag nag-greet...

who is jowin? did i miss something? i haven't heard anything about this guy eversince. so please "expound"! :)

parang ang daming kalalakihan ni belinda. now i am seriously considering transferring to vietnam (as an immigrant? chuks!) kaso belinda will have a competition na. but i don't think she'll mind. hahaha! glo try ko gawa kita account sa blog na to. text kita if magawa ko.

si lani and shiela buhay pa ba?

god...been really exhausted these past few days...finished a couple of reports...presented one report last tuesday and conducted a training to a client just this morning...had a mini-argument with new french boss about the word dramatically as i made a statement on report that "brand xx makes a dramatic increase in equity." she said i should not use it as it's negative, i said "no" and sent her this google definition (see pic)...now not sure if i did the right thing as she might hate me forever...working with my british boss was so much easier...will have a one-on-one talk with her tomorrow (about my performance and career plan)...hopefully will turn out well...im already outlining what i need to say otherwise it might slipped that i am planning to leave very soon...

glo wag ka na papilit. magblog ka na utang na loob. paste ko rin naman mga email mo dito. haha.
pag iisipan ko ang magfriendster. chuks. check ko rin yung meebo.

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kakarating ko lang sa office. nag lrt ako. ABA!!! at nakita ko si gigi gurl... pumipila kze ako ng fx pa ayala at xa nasa oder side of the road pa xa .. mukhang kakababa pa lang ng lrt. To think na tinext ko pa xa minutes earlier asking for her e-mail add... awa nga ako kc ang laki2x ng bags parang papasok sa kinder (joke)... sana sinamahan ko na lang para kunwari ako mommy nya. nasa friendster ko na nga ung pics natin e. Belinds, parang awa mo na mag friendster ka na. For convenience kc friendster e madali lang makasend ng message at madaling mag update ng mga pangyayari sa buhay2 kc may mga pics..kung gusto mong maging private mag tago ka na lang sa name na vietnam rose at makikilala ka talaga namin...

re blog:
satisfied na ako sa pag comment2x na lang . created pala ang red-squirrel para sa blog entries ng 1 gay and 4 squirrels este girls pala. para namang manghihimasok ako at ma threaten sa ganda ko si gay squirrel. kaya comment2x na lang me...UNLESS pipilitin nyo ako...Kaya parang awa nyo na pilitin nyo na ako.


ung meebo, chat site un...may access kasi kami...

just wanna see if this works...

airport fiasco

a new system was implemented in the international airport. i arrived at about an hour before my flight but line was long; it took me about 15 minutes before i was able to get in. i then went to a counter with "overseas filipino transit" sign on it. i was told by the woman at the end of the line that the pinoys have already checked in prior to lining up...so i tried to check in but asked the guy behind the counter first if i needed to do something else; he told me to go to the poea counter to have my overseas employment certificate validated afterwhich i could check in...i was about to go to the boarding area when a guard stopped me and told me to go to counter 62 first! so then went to counter 62- it had a "visa check" sign on it...and #*%^! it had a sign to go to another counter beside it...it was by now 30 minutes prior to my flight. it should have been enough to get me really stressed out but i was confident that the plane would not leave without me as i already checked in. haha (evil laugh). i was in the immigration counter when i first heard my name being called. line was of course long again in the entry way to the boarding area...so i cut in and told an airport personnel i needed to get in as my name was called (by now, my name was called twice). fortunately, she agreed.

airplane tragedy

and so i thought that my ordeal was over...i hurriedly walked towads seat 24b and by some twisted joke of nature, jowin was on 24c! grr...i still smiled at him and was really polite...he said that i have been avoiding him (which was partly true) and i shook my head in denial (so that made me partly a liar)...i got scared when he put the armchair up (so it looked like those love seats in glorietta)...i moved a little bit closer to 24a where a really fat guy was seated...i closed my hands into a fist as i was afraid he was gonna try holding my hand...the nerve! maybe i am too paranoid but i had a feeling he was gonna do it...he must have noticed my reaction and so he put the armchair back down again...i was planning on sleeping but with him beside me, it was impossible...hahaha...guys can really go crazy, i think even on airplanes...so i deemed it best to be on my toes...and yes, when he noticed mr. 24a sleeping, he did try holding my hand! waaa! i took it back and he asked me, "pede?". i said "no," (politely). he asked, "why? do you have a bf?" i know, i know...guide books on how to reject a guy say that use having a bf as an excuse to ward a guy off...but i couldn't lie as i was unprepared (i.e. what would be my ghost bf be like; his name; where he's from, etc.)...but on the bright side, it did remind me to already start outlining who this ghost bf is...yeah maybe tomorrow...so then i said "no, i dont have a bf"..."e bat hindi pede?"...for godssakes how do i answer this question properly? tell him "i just don't like you, dammit. dont you get it until now?"...that didn't sound nice, so i just kept quiet...he offered to give me a ride which i really tried to decline because i was kindda out of the way...but he was insistent so i gave in...it was still nice of him though because he offered to carry my suitcase; this time, i did not reject his offer because it was really heavy and vietnamese airport personnel aren't really very helpful.

career dilemma

so had dinner with jerry around 730 in a thai resto...by now, he was a bit more detailed about his offer...but not very much...regarding finance, he said he's offering me ownership; 5% of the company profits...he said nothing about salary, housing, transportation, etc. (think maslow's most basic needs; i needed them satisfied first of course!)...i did ask him about methodologies as this was part and parcel of research...they have created their own...i was pretty confident with his methodologies, after all, he used to be a up professor in industrial engineering...they were pushing for an iso certification (acn vietnam does not have one) which he believed he will get as the philippine office will definitely have one...anyways, he finally told me which international company he was going to be affiliated with...it is pretty impressive...but still unsure; still weighing the pros and cons i.e. im thinking if i accept it- if the offer is good- i would also be accepting spinsterhood...hahaha pag aasawa ang inisip ano!

vietnamese chef

khoa called me up while i was having dinner with jerry and his son who later joined us...he asked me if i could go out with him...but it was already 9pm...my fault though, because he did text me a bit earlier but i forgot to reply...so i said no, using jet lag as an excuse...i don't know, we have already gone out thrice...i'm afraid it's enough otherwise, he might be expecting something more...he's really nice, i hate to break the news to him.