Nakikiuso

At dahil uso ang magpost ng graduation pictures at kung ano-ano pang patunay na gagraduate sila ngayong taon, gusto ko ding makiuso at ipagyabang na grumaduate din ako--2 years ago. I present to you guys and gals yung 3=page acknowledgement section ng thesis ko! Yay! Mas mahaba pa sa related lit section. HAHAHA! Ang sarap grumaduate. Congrats sa mga grumaduate ngayong taon at sorry nakikisawsaw ako sa inyong tagumpay. Kudos to y'all!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Finally, my four years of college is done. And what better way to end this other than thanking all those people who helped me all throughout?  I didn’t know how hard it is to translate in to words how thankful I am to these people, but I think I will give it a shot. To the following people, I offer the very last paragraphs I would write as a college student:

To myself

            Thank you for not giving up whenever it seemed like everything is not going the way you want it to be. Thank you for always believing that you can finish your thesis and that you will graduate on time. Thank you for not giving in to all the distractions. You may have the tendency to be lazy and to procrastinate almost all of the time, but I am glad you get things done on time (well, most of the time). Your efforts to stay awake at night and skip a good 8-hour sleep finally paid off.  

To my family

My mommy and daddy, who never failed to show how much they love and care for me, despite the distance between us. Thank you for all the encouraging words and all the support you have unfailingly provided me throughout the years. I may not say this often but I do love and miss you very much. Thank you for always believing in me.

To my siblings, thank you for putting up with all my mood swings. To Lara, thank you for your understanding those times whenever I am too busy to help you with your assignments or your drawings. Thank you for your understanding whenever I am not being a good sister or when I am being very masungit. To Tan-tan, thank you for making the Power Point presentation for my thesis defense and for all those other projects I am not capable of doing.

To Mamu, Dadu, Nanay, and Tatay, cousins, aunties, and uncles, thank you for all your support and for always believing in me. Thank you for providing me everything I would need, be it, financially, or encouraging words. You have always been there for me whenever I need help. Thank you for being so excited over the thought of me graduating.

To Mam Pulumbarit

            For being oh so motherly to all your Pulumbarit Babies; For being very supportive; For always answering all my questions (in person, in Facebook chat), whether it is irrelevant or relevant to my thesis; For saying ‘maganda pala ang thesis topic mo’, thus encouraging me to continue what I am doing; And for understanding whenever I am too lost and too distracted to function—thank you. I could not have finished my thesis without your guidance. Being your advisee was circumstantial, but I am sure glad I did become one. Also, I always love sitting on your desk because the inspirational message posted on your table (the one that says ‘YOU say… GOD says…’, really gives me hope and inspire me to go on every time I read it. 

To Sir Henson and Mam Aclan

            Thank you for being so forgiving during my thesis defense and for improving my thesis through your intelligent comments and suggestions. And thank you for proving my theory that thesis defense is easier than it sounds. Thank you very much.

To all my professors

            Thank you for imparting your knowledge and for not making it easy for us to pass your subjects, thus, making us all better persons. We may not realize it during those times, and all we thought of was how toxic your subjects are, but I know, now, that all of that is for us to be ready in facing the challenges of the ‘real world’, outside the comforts of the UP Manila campus. 

To my OrCom 2010 batchmates

            Four years of being with very multi-talented, brilliant, and intelligent people will truly be unforgettable and irreplaceable. I may not be very sociable and expressive, but being with these kinds of people remind me every day how privileged I am to study and graduate in UP.

To my UP barkada   

            To Ryo, Jhe, Angge, Paula, Dave, Nike, Jona, Marie, Kamil and Jasper, among others, you know I am not a very friendly person, I value my time alone, and I am not the kind of person who easily lets people in to my life but I am glad you guys managed to get through. Thank you for all the help and support you have given me throughout the entire four years of our stay in UP. I may have relied on you so much, most of the time, kaya nga I can’t be thankful enough, to all of you. Thank you for sharing with me those rants, stories, jokes, gossips, bonding moments, everything. Basically, thank you for making my stay at the University bearable and enjoyable.  I love you. Ayiie. Parang mag-jojowa lang. Hahaha.

To my best friends   

            To Celine, Jobeth, RJ, and Mia, thank you for always sticking up with me through basically everything I’ve gone through. You have always been there for me all these years and I know you will always be in the coming years, I could never be thankful enough for that. You are those very few people who understand me even in my silence. Thank you for bringing me up whenever I can’t bring myself up. Thank you for lending those ears when I needed people to understand. Thank you for everything. We may not get to say this everyday to each other, because we know we’re not that kind of best friends, but I love you very much mga days!

To Puroy

            Thank you for sticking up with me and for being very patient whenever I am being very impossible to deal with. Thank you for not giving me up whenever it seems nothing is going right between us. We may not always see eye to eye, argue every single day because of every petty thing there is to fight about, but I am very much thankful of having to spend three (and counting) wonderful years with you. And by the way, thank you for giving me something else to think and worry about other than my thesis. Haha!   

 And ultimately, to my Lord God

Thank You for giving me everything I needed in life. Thank You for making me feel blessed through these people. Thank You for not leaving my side during my darkest days. Thank You for always being there to listen to whatever it is that I am going to say. I could not have done this if You have not given me the strength, guidance, and wisdom I just need. Lord God, I am offering all of what I have and all of what I am to You.

  

I firmly believe that, whether it is good or bad, happy or sad everything ends.  As the saying goes, ‘this too shall pass.’ And I am ecstatic this chapter of my life finally did.

Again for all those people who made this sweet ending possible, thank you.

2012 Quantumlinx Conference and Team-building

On my previous post, I mentioned that the company that I am working with was having a conference and team-building at Boracay and that I was rather nervous than excited about it. For one, it will be my first time to meet all of my workmates whom I have been working with for almost half a year now. And second, it will also be my first time to be apart from Saab. As you may know, she's still breastfeeding and this will be a test run if she could actually bottle-feed.

Well, the event was held last March 19-21and surprisingly, I enjoyed all the activities prepared by the company for everybody.

Day 1


On day 1, the company held a conference tackling the objectives and goals our executives have for the company. We discussed every objective and how this can be attained through the help of our ideas on how to make our every department better. We also had an activity wherein we had to align the company's goals to our own personal values and I must say that I enjoyed that activity very much as it helped me reflect on the things I valued most.

During the conference, it was also the first time that I was able to talk to some of my workmates and to be aware that these people actually exist in the company. Pardon me, but I have this personality that I don't mingle with a lot of people and that as much as possible reserve myself to the circle of friends I already have. The activities such as the 'speed dating' activity wherein you have to talk to everyone of your workmates about a certain topic at a time was very refreshing. It gave me jitters but it was something new and I kind of enjoyed it.

This is me leading a presentation from our department on
how to further improve the company's processes

Yay for me for making new friends!

In one of our short breaks during the conference,
we managed to get on the shore and be silly

Us working on an activity which in essence is aligning your personal values
to the company's processes and objectives

Day 2


On day 2, the HR department prepared a whole day of team-building activities that were all fun and enjoyable. We were grouped not according to our departments so I was able to sort of widen my connections as I am not only friends with the people on my department but with people from the other departments as well. First impressions were all replaced with good laughs, team work, and friendship.

After the team-building activities, we finally had the time to swim  on the beach. It was surreal that after almost two days of being there and not being able to get ourselves wet, we finally were able to do so. Of course, jump shots on the beach are a must-- I don't know if this is for everyone or if it's just me.

Boracay, still is the nicest beach I have ever set foot on. I know I have yet lots of places to go to but so far, Boracay is still unbeatable.

Company Photo Op

Day 3


On our last day, we were allowed to do whatever we want so we decided to go on banana-boating and helmet diving. We also wanted to avail the island hopping package but we don't have the time to do so. I actually enjoyed banana-boating because I requested for our guide to make it extreme or to make us fall on our seats. We didn't actually fall from the banana boat but at least the speedboat driver tried his best to have us fall on our seats. The first time I tried this, I was with my sister and cousins who are just kids so safety first, we weren't allowed to go on the extremes.

Helmet diving was unbelievable. I was so terrified of actually going underwater I had doubts of joining them until the very last minute. I was continuously asking the divers and the tour guide random questions like if there would be a chance that we would encounter sharks, or that if there's a chance that we would drown, or other questions that would make it evident how bad I was freaking out. I was asking questions and silently praying for God to give me strength and to take away all the fears and jitters that I was feeling at the moment. I was even more scared when some of my friends on the first batch to dive slipped underwater and the other one emerged after just 10 seconds, I don't know, because he was nervous as hell, too. But I made it! I lasted for more than 10 minutes underwater (too bad the divers said that that time was up already). It was definitely an experience I should try again come May.

All in all, it was such a refreshing experience. I met new people, I tried new activities, and I realized a lot of new things during the team-building and conference. But one realization impacts me the most. It is that I don't enjoy things as much when I do them with Saab. I know, it is supposed to be a company event but I was actually asking them if I could bring my baby with me. I did enjoy the three-day event but I know I would have enjoyed it better if I were with Saab. I don't know, I was just thinking of her the whole time I was there and I was calling Ferald, every hour or so. I cannot wait for our Boracay trip on May!

Shopper's Remorse

Shopper's Remorse: The guilt a person feels right after shopping for an item or items.


Basically, shopping remorse is what I have been feeling for not just a day but for the whole month of February. Up until now, I cannot think of any logical and sane reason why I spent all my salary for the exact items posted below.

Yes, ladies and gents, that is where exactly my entire salary went. And no, I am not exaggerating here. Okay, maybe a bit because I also bought a pair of swimwear for Saab, a month supply of diapers, and paid for last month's credit card bill, but hey, apart from a month supply of diapers, I don't think I bought something that I really need this month. Oh, on second thoughts, maybe a thousand worth of chocolates is indeed a need. 

So, why am I writing this post? No, not because I want to brag how much of a 'shopper' I am or how rich I am. Besides, if I am rich, I won't be posting this in the first place. I am posting this so I could realize and I would be able to remember how stupid I was for acquiring all of these in a month. Yes, it is not bad to buy things for yourself sometimes, but not in expense of your monthly budget. <insert all curses available in here>.

I don't know what's about me that when I like to buy something, for example, a swimwear, I won't stop buying every other swimwear that I would like from then on. I like to hoard stuff, as you can see. Now to divulge more information about this stupid habit of mine, let me tell you how I started hoarding Nyx lipsticks and swimwears. 

My friend, Jona, gave me a Nyx matte lipstick last Christmas. I found it nice and inexpensive so when I found an online store for Nyx products, I was like buying lipsticks from there almost every week. I was thinking, I want to start a collection of Nyx lipsticks and I want to have every color in their palette. Crazy, right? 

As for the swimwears, I will be having Boracay trips in March and in May, and I thought of buying a pair of swimwear at first. But then I found all of these cute high-waist swimwears and thought, "hey, these are the perfect swimwears for me. These can hide all my flabs ad stretch marks. Fantastic!" And then there was I, browsing through online stores and hoarding all the high-waist swimwears and monokinis I can find, ALMOST ALL DAY, EVERYDAY. 

No, I don't want to sound like someone from Twitter whose tweets have #conyoproblems hashtags on them. But, seriously? All of a month's salary for just these? Sinusuot ko na nga lang yung mga swimsuit ko when I feel like it kahit nasa  kwarto lang ako nagtatrabaho. I also wear lipsticks at times and ask Lara and Sophia if I can put make up on their sweet, innocent faces. Just so masulit ko man lang yung sweldo ko. HAHAHAHAHA!~

I guess that's the downside of having your salary deposited on your account just once a month. You think you have all the money in the world to spend not realizing na after spending all of those, nga-nga ka na lang for the rest of the days of that month. Sana tumigil na ko sa pago-overspend.

At sana, mag-March 15 na, para dumating na sweldo ko.